#i've had these guys bouncing around my brain since june 2022.... i love them dearly

[birdmetaphors]

kicking off this new art account with my two most beloved original characters! their names are Vinra (left, she/they) and Peony (right, they/them). more info under the cut and in the tags :)

estranged childhood friends now reunited in their early 20s, peony and vinra both work at mayrose free library, an organization devoted to maintaining physical media in a world where information is increasingly confined to the web, controlled by corporations, and rife with AI hogwash (sound familiar?)

peony got scooped up off the streets by the library's president after dropping out of college and wandering dejectedly around the city, holden caulfield style; they're now an artist-in-residence at mayrose dabbling in various musical and painterly projects.

vinra is one of the nine high proctors, a highly respected team made to organize, preserve, and religiously protect the library's most valuable works. how she got this job and the necessary qualifications is a mystery, but she's doing.... alright?

their story is still developing, but it's not explicitly focused on societal commentary; the dystopian landscape serves as more of a backdrop that guides and influences character-driven drama. will peony and vinra's teenage friendship rebuild itself even though they've become different people? where are their families, and why aren't they in touch anymore? just who is the mysterious library overseer—a benefactor to peony, a parental figure, or something more sinister? and what, exactly, are the high proctors protecting?

you will be seeing peony and vinra and their friends/coworkers a lot, so i hope you like them :)