#they're all supposed to be chibies. but for some reason. I ended up drawing them in slightly different styles lol

[salty-an-disco]

just a bunch of lil guys. itsy bitty

[neroastoria]

working on a more serious piece but here's some reposts of Outis art in the meantime.

these are some chibis i made alongside one for the 13th Lord of Chaos (which is in her post). I'd love to do more of these eventually for Riastrad and Mumei but they're just soooo much effort to render.

this is a portrait from the very start of the year before i really even knew how to render metal. you can see my taste for shiny, glowy stuff peeking out even then and i still kinda like the piece but it's admittedly far from my best.

Back then, Outis didn't have a name and was a extremely different character personality and character arc-wise. Their lack of a name was the original reason I chose the name Outis.

These were Outis' original designs. While I quite like some of them, they didn't fit the story or role I intended for them to have. -The helm had to be discarded because it was too similar to Sepulchure's despite my efforts to dinstinguish it from him. -The armor on the left was too plain and unremarkable for the sort of 'Dark General'-type of character I was looking for, despite how practical and utilitarian they were supposed to be. -The right ones just didn't have the power in their designs I was looking for and the top-right looked a bit too chunky for sharper, more triangular shape i wanted.

I still quite like the hairstyles and, to an extent, the middle armor. I did eventually end up reusing the top-left hair for The hero.

in-story reason for this is Lynn has always loved to dress Outis up in all kinds of pretty clothes when they're alone because Outis would never wear normal clothes otherwise.

I drew this while my tablet was broken so I had to do a lot of the lineart on my phone with no pressure which just about drove me insane. I decided to stop midway and just do it all on csp with my mouse but rendering everything with a mouse was taxing on my sanity and right hand.

this is just a fun lil doodle i had while in a good mood. I'd like to redraw or maybe just refine, line and render it eventually.

this is a lil sprite doodle thing i made drawing over an FE sprite. I'm not a sprite artist so it's pretty eugh lmao.

[emeritiii]

Heck do all the asks

I had two more cups of coffee while working on these and my nervous system is undergoing a transformation

1. Art programs you have but don't use

I bought Clip Studio Paint on sale but still haven't dragged myself over the learning curve. I also have FireAlpaca downloaded and only use that for cropping images.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

I find forward the easiest! Left and right are about the same for me, but I also do a lot of canvas-flipping, and about half the time the angle I start drawing is not the angle I end up with.

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Project-wise? I still kick around character designs from when I was a kid. In general, I think the brightest constant is that I do pretty much exclusively character art and not scenery, still life, or real-world living subjects because all my ideas are related to fiction.

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

I love monsters and extremely complex character designs, but they're hell on my stamina.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

Right now, I post maybe ten percent of my art? Most of it is just for me or for one other person.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

I guarantee there are still remnants of anime influence in my art, since anime and manga were what really cemented my identity as an "artist" (insofar as I can cal myself one, which is probably up for debate). One bit of evidence that comes to mind is my love of like... knockoff chibis? I don't think I can call them chibis, but funky lil guys.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

*Watercolor.* My sister works mainly with watercolor and it's something I have never been able to grasp.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

At some point I wanted to make a collection of group pictures with the main characters from all of my comfort stories.

9. What are your file name conventions

You need to see the thumbnail if you're going to have any idea what the file contains. I drew a three-part series of doodles and the filenames are "BEE," "too," and "tree." I'm also fond of variations on "HELP" and "ohno."

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

Tailcoats or long, flowy dresses

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Whatever I'm feeling! Music, a podcast, an audiobook, a YouTube video that doesn't require me to look at it, a stream if I'm on a call with ~Geoffrey~ while she's playing a game. I'm not picky but my autistic ass (affectionate) needs the sensory input to focus

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Lukewarm take, I know, but eyes. Or eyebrows if I'm allowed to be a smartass

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

I don't know anything about this person so it's purely from an artistic standpoint, but I respect how wildly recognizable the JJBA art style is (the actual art, the expressions and poses, the character designs, all the things)

14. Any favorite motifs

e y e s and also bones and time-related symbols

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

Almost entirely at home at my desk, but sometimes I doodle during downtime at work

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

*U h* I don't think I'm good at a wide enough variety of things to have an answer to this

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

I need to have a drink nearby at all times or I will Die. Flavored water, soda, and coffee are the big three, but I also like sweet tea and assorted fruit juices. I don't love eating while drawing for sensory/cleanliness reasons, but sometimes I'll have something crunchy

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

Not too many! I do tend to mangle colored pencils because I'm too rough when sharpening them, but I don't use a lot of materials that are easy to break and I'm neurotically careful with my tablet because I can't replace it. The closest I've come to breaking that was keeping the cord in a drawer my kitten learned how to open

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

Anything That Glows

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

Armor, mechanical parts, and bones. I'm not saying I don't find them difficult, mind you, but I love it

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

Slowly grasps Cinder's sleeve. Also Fern's. Also ~Geoffrey's~. If I have to choose someone I don't know personally, crow-caller

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

This is a thing I definitely *should* do :)

23. Do you use different layer modes

YEAH I abuse Multiply and Screen

24. Do your references include stock images

Oh naturally. AdorkaStock is my go-to

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

Nothing that I can think of? I think that's mostly because the art communities I used to participate in heavily discouraged comparison, so I haven't heard any variant of "Your art reminds me of ____" in at least five years.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

I don't have anything specific on hand, but I had a friend in middle school who jumped to sexualizing everything I drew, if that counts. There's not a lot to interpret in my art, though. It's. How do I put "shallow" nicely?

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

This is another thing I should really do!

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

I used to do Art Fight.

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

Most live-action media! I also don't generally feel artistic inspiration from podcasts—the exception would be TTRPG podcasts, but even those don't tend to do it for me unless the characters have canon designs.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

I don't have it anymore, but there was a drawing I did a few months ago of two characters of mine. It came out to about twenty hours of work (which is a lot for me) and no one really seemed to like it, but I attribute that in part to the fact that I drew a lot of it in a stream, which kind of desensitizes people.

[inhuman-obey-me]

On Simeon and what it means to be an angel

The beautiful, gentle angel who can smile through just about anything. But what's underneath the ever-present smile of his? Is he really just pure, sweet, and kind?

Not at all. Simeon can be very mischievous at some times, and scarily wrathful at others. Some of you may be thinking, just what kind of angel is someone like that? Well, let's talk about that.

(includes spoilers up to lesson 52)

Starting with the idea of what angels are supposed to be like - the common, pop-culture characterization of angels is that they are pure, merciful, peaceful beings who can only do good and are horrified by anything dark or bad.

And admittedly, Simeon doesn't seem to quite perfectly fit that mold.

[Disclaimer: Neither mod of this blog belong to the Abrahamic religions, so this is purely from our own research]

In terms of how angels have been described in various scriptures, however, this isn't actually what they are like. Angels act on behalf of God, and are usually not meant to have any free will of their own. The thing that separates angels from demons is not a tendency towards kindness and purity, but that their actions are aligned with God's desires rather than their own. What this means in effect is that, both in actual scripture and in the game, angels can and will do things that are a lot less pure and peaceful than their modern mainstream depictions would suggest.

For example, there is a part of the Bible (at least in various versions) where it is mentioned that an angel was ordered by God to kill one hundred eighty-five Assyrians, leaving their camp full of dead bodies in the morning.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke states in his The Duino Elegies - "Every Angel is terror".

Seraphim - which is what OM!'s renditions of Simeon and Lucifer both formerly were - are basically six-winged snakes. Cherubim, as OM!'s Beelzebub formerly was, are actually multi-faced humanoid-lions with wings. "Do not be afraid," is a line angels often say when they meet humans because they are just as scary-looking as demons - just they're, you know, the "good" ones.

Actual descriptions of angels aside, even in-game, we are presented with example after example that angels are not perfect "pure and good" beings either. The game itself emphasizes this point at various times - if you upset Simeon during Surprise Guest interactions, one of his displeased lines is: "Just because I'm an angel doesn't mean I'm all forgiving." In lesson 51, though he initially says he left Satan to be with the Angel versions of his brothers for Satan's benefit, if MC actually agrees that he was just being kind, he is surprised that they really believed him.

It's not just him, either. Similar to Simeon's upset reaction, if you give Luke a present he doesn't like, he says, "I know I'm an all-forgiving angel and everything, but even so, this is a little too much..." When MC briefly lands in the past, the brothers actually describe Simeon as the least intense of the seraphim. Back when the brothers were angels, Lucifer was still known for being strict and arrogant. On the more extreme end, Raphael was known for keeping the angels in line via the pointy end of his spear, as Asmodeus fears will happen to him as punishment for going to a party. And Michael himself, the top-ranking leader, who one might think should be the most angelic of angels, is described as a sadist. In the Angelic Demons event, Michael even gets Simeon to give the demon brothers cursed bracelets that temporarily turn them into angels. It's not a very nice prank to pull on them, as it makes the brothers miserable to be converted back to their old forms, not to mention that the curse goes so far that they are turned into the caricature of overly nice and polite angels - but as it could be considered more in line with pulling them towards "God's will," this would actually be considered a good angel thing to do.

As the game points out, being the least intense doesn't exactly make Simeon easygoing, either. In fact, we have seen at this point quite a few examples of Simeon's rage. As a play director, he berates the brothers so much over any mistakes that they call him a dictator. Not to mention, the reason they are in the play in the first place is because the entire previous cast quit because they couldn't deal with him.

Later, when he and Luke are running the Angel's Halo, he drags the brothers into helping out. Though he is shown still smiling, everyone agrees because they are terrified of his menacing aura. Even Diavolo, when on the home screen, remarks about hiding because he made Lucifer mad again, but it's Simeon who he calls "the one person in this world I don't want to anger."

On a much lighter note, some of his less "angelic" behavior also comes from his playful, mischievous side. As referenced earlier, he is surprised if MC believes he was just being nice, but if the player says they thought he was pranking Satan, it gives intimacy points with him, and he says:

He also joins in on the teasing of Luke, having his name as "Luke (Chihuahua)" in his D.D.D. contacts. Multiple of his home screen lines also show how much he loves messing with Luke in general:

"I'm free right now, so I think I might go and tease Luke."

"Luke is like a Chihuahua who thinks it is a German Shepherd. Cute, huh?"

"I'm back! I was so excited to meet you that I left Luke behind."

"If you don't eat enough breakfast, you'll turn out tiny like Luke."

Plus, in dance battles, one of his chibi poses is him teasingly scaring someone, while Luke has a corresponding scared pose, suggesting that he may be meant to be scaring Luke in particular.

He also gets MC to mess with Belphegor when they are looking for him, instructing them to kick the tree that he knows he's probably asleep in as hard as they possibly can.

However, while none of those things make him any less of an angel, there is evidence to support that he is, in fact, a "bad" angel in a different sense.

As the two Celestial Realm exchange students, Simeon and Luke represent two opposite ends of a spectrum of angel attitudes. Luke, having still been very young when the Great Celestial War happened, has been taught to have very uptight views of the demons, insisting that they are evil and should be avoided at all costs. When he first arrives in the Devildom, he is terrified at the idea that the two of them could get corrupted by the demons and fall. This is the prevailing attitude taught in the Celestial Realm: that demons are wicked, and that angels are inherently better than them.

By contrast, Simeon does not hold this view at all. He is happy to spend time with the demon brothers, and doesn't look down on them for falling. On the home screen, Luke complains, "Simeon is too sweet to demons! He's sweeter than a cake from Madam Scream's!" In the Rain, a Fire and Simeon Devilgram story, Simeon even talks about how he actually prefers the hustle and bustle of the Devildom, feeling that the Celestial Realm feels too quiet now.

This difference between him and Luke is not only expressed in his fondness for the demons, either. Simeon understands the nuances of good vs evil, and he himself seems to operate in shades of grey at times, rather than being perfectly aligned with Michael's (and by extension, it's implied, God's) wishes. More than once, he displays quite a flippant attitude towards following the rules, such as his very hand-wavey dismissal when MC asks about his lying.

Luke also calls him out on his disregard for rules, saying that Simeon is just too loose about following them:

However, this glib attitude should not be taken to mean that Simeon doesn't know exactly what he's doing. When it seems the only solution to restore stability to the three realms is for MC to sever all their pacts with the demon brothers, he quickly realizes that the other option, the Ring of Light that used to belong to Lucifer, must be hidden among Michael's things rather than lost to time as everyone thought. He tells Luke that he needs to go back to the Celestial Realm to take care of something, but he is firm that Luke should not come with him - because he is going to steal the ring from Michael, a risky, rebellious move that he doesn't want Luke to get involved in. He is perfectly aware of what he's doing, and actively chooses to do it anyway, consequences be damned, because he wants to do what he feels is right.

When Michael does confront him about it, he's not the least bit sorry, either. In fact, he sasses him and talks back, unafraid to show disrespect to God's top angel.

We also know that he's been demoted at some point. Luke tells MC that Simeon is an archangel, making him one of the Celestial Realm's warriors, or as Simeon himself has jokingly described it, a "low-level grunt" who is overworked by higher-up angels like Michael. However, during MC's time travel back to the Celestial Realm, we learn that Simeon used to be a seraph right alongside Michael and Lucifer. It is again referenced during the fairy incident, when he makes the low-level grunt joke again but is then reminded that he was a seraph at this point in time. We're not sure yet why he was demoted - there's a lot of speculation on this point, and we can't draw any definitive conclusions yet - but if we take that being a "good" angel means being obedient to Michael and God, we start to get a far less rosy picture of Simeon's good standing as an angel.

What does this mean? Is he a "bad" angel? Kind of, but not for the reasons some may think. His mischievous, devious, and playful side is not what makes him less angelic. It is his more rebellious, nonconformist way of doing things that actually opens up the possibility of him gradually getting further and further away from being an ideal angel, and potentially putting him on the path of falling from grace.