I made this character recently, and because they had a side shave, I made a "buzzed" version of their portrait before putting the hair on top. However, I ended up actually liking the buzzed hair, and still can't decide which way to go. So, I wanted to ask for some other opinions.

Character Context/Story: Mika is a pretty boy who has recently developed depression after his girlfriend's sudden death via suicide. Along with "therapy" sessions with a teacher at his school, he ends up hanging out with and playing volleyball with Colton (second slide) as a way to cope; and the two eventually start dating.

My current thoughts on the hair:

• The full hairstyle is very pretty, and I like it a lot. It makes him look a bit more feminine than intended, but he is suppose to be a pretty boy, so it's not a big deal to me. I don't know if having hair like that would also be inconvenient for volleyball, so that's a consideration.
• I do like the buzzcut as well; brings more attention to his face, and I don't see a lot of pretty boys with buzzcuts. Plus, it does work better for a depressed and sporty character that might not put as much effort into their hair. Also, on top of the color contrast, a buzz cut would be a neat contrast to Colton's very long hair.

Ultimately, I do think I'll use both hair styles for his story; so the decision is which one is going to be his "main" design during his story. Or, in other words: does he shave his head early on because of the depression, but regrow it by the end of the story when he's in a better place; or does he have the hairstyle for the entire story, and shave it at the end as a symbolic choice for him growing into a new person and embracing the life of a volleyball player (or something along those lines).

I still can't settle on one haircut as his main one, so I'm asking for opinions from others.

Character Context:

• Mika is a depressed pretty boy that's still recovering from his girlfriend's sudden and recent death.
• He ends up dating another guy name Colton (second slide) and they play volleyball together as a form of therapy.

My thoughts on the haircuts:

• I do like his side shave with the ponytail, it's very pretty and fitting for the pretty boy character I imagined him to be. It does make him a lot more feminine than I originally intended, but that's not a big deal.
• Alternatively: the buzz cut also looks pretty nice; it brings more attention to his face, which is also pretty, and it'd be kind of neat to have a pretty boy with no hair. Also, it would kind of make sense for a sporty character to have short hair that doesn't need to be managed as much; but idk if that would matter as much for a volleyball player, nor someone who only recently got into playing sports.
  • Also, the buzzcut WOULD be a nice contrast to Colton, who has ALL the hair XD

Regardless of which way I go, both hair styles will still be canon; the fuller hair for before everything, and then shaving his head later for character development reasons. Whether the shave happens at the beginning or end of his story is basically what's being determined lol

If you didn't know: made new OCs, Mika and Colton, and drew them in some drinks for fun. Mika is an ocean themed soda (or maybe like a carbonated flavored water) with a tropical fruit flavor. Probably something coconutty, but not sure on the specifics. Colton is Chili Orange soda; which sounds pretty good tbh. I'd try it if I could find it, but I don't think I can find it where I live =3=

Anyways, I'm curious what your OCs would be: would they be something weird like my two boys here, or something more basic and common? I'll also give it a rating on how much I'd want to try it or how much I like it if I've had it before lol

Update: Okay, I'm gonna stop replying because my internet is being unreliable XD I think I've exposed my drink preferences enough anyways lol

If you are curious, their story is here; and if you want to know more about Mika's design, you can read that here :D

Like Mika, Colton also his little drink Chibi: for Colton, I imagine it as a chili orange soda: spicy and sweet. His cup has little lipstick stains on the straw, just for a fun extra little detail. I wonder who's lipstick that is...

Also like Mika, don't really have a full outfit in mind, but I saw this one character on Pinterest with a bandana like this one, and it made me think to give him one. Maybe that's where he keeps his copius hair when he's playing volleyball lol. As for the scar: it's gnarly looking, but I imagine it's just from a sports accident. Got hit during a game and had a very unfortunate split lip, or maybe he played other sports before volleyball and got hurt there.

>Lots of room for these guys to grow. Also, these little drinks are so cute and were so fun, I might make a pair for Derum and Chen (although in cups instead of plastic containers lol)

If you didn't see it: working on a new pair of OCs (see story here); this is the first of the two pretty boys, since it's the one I have more of an idea of what I wanted to do for him :D

Also, for fun, I'm drawing little chibi versions of them in drink containers because I've always wanted to draw those kinds of drawings. Mika's drink as being called a "sea-spray soda", or some kind of ocean inspired flavored drink lol. Made the logo a little octopus because Mika's hair lowkey makes me think of one. Doesn't make much sense for a soda to be in a carton, plastic or not, but idk, I just like the aesthetic drawings of clear milk cartons, what can I say XD

Still don't have an outfit in mind for him except that he wears dark clothing and has a big hoodie. Something I'll have to think about :/ Also, as much as I like the hair, I also kind of like the buzzed look; and it WOULD be interesting to have a pretty boy character with a buzzcut... keeping both options just in case. Maybe he shaves his hair later in the story or something idk

Working on some new characters; two bisexual pretty boys that play volleyball with each other as a form of therapy :3 I still haven't figured out how I want them to look, but I wanted to talk about their story a bit. Overall, these two almost represent visible and non-visible depression, with Blue hair being the more visibly sad and distressed, and Red hair being seemingly normal, but really messed up inside about everything.

Trigger Warnings for: suicide, murder, and non-sexual grooming

Story Summary

Blue hair is dating a girl who is known as the "school idol", and she is currently running a week long festival. On the sixth day, Blue hair is put on as a sub for a missing member of the volleyball team; where he meets Red hair, one of the ace players. They get along, Red hair thinks Blue hair would be a good player with some practice. It's all fun.

At the end of the day, the girlfriend approaches Blue hair and says that he should be ready, because the final day is going to have a big surprise for him. Unfortunately, when the next day came, everyone arrived to school to find the girl hanging in the girl's bathroom. It's ruled as a suicide by the police.

Blue hair is hit hard by the suicide, and one of his teachers volunteers to play therapist for him. But, along with daily "therapy" meet ups with the teacher, he also grows closer to Red hair; who also happens to be mourning the loss/death of his girlfriend. Blue hair joins the volleyball team, the two get close playing together, then later become boyfriends.

That's about it, though there are some background details that the boys either aren't aware of:

• Yes, they were dating the same girl. No, neither of them knew this, and they still don't know after her death.
• There are suspicions that the death was not a suicide; but investigations came up short, so the case was dropped.
• "Therapist" Teacher is grooming Blue hair; not for anything sexual, but his intent is to make Blue hair mentally and emotionally reliant on him because of some weird obsession with psychology and seeing how far he can push people through manipulation.
• "Therapist" Teacher is the murderer of the girlfriend, and may or may not intend to do the same to Blue hair if the grooming fails.

And all of those details never come up in their stories directly; it's all in the background and out of the view of the two boys, who are more concerned with their relationship and recovering from the incident :/

"It makes it impossible for them to hide their crimes."

As you can see from the sketch, I was originally going to give him shorts; but I just couldn't get them to work and he looks good without them anyways, so leotard it is =w=; Still, this probably won't be the final outfit for Vampire Derum; or at least if it is, it will have significantly less detail to it; but I like it for this one off piece :3

Yippee! Took me way too long to make at least one art piece for this event XD

Coming with his moth friends hopefully soon :D

I have my own preference around Vampires, of which I'm using for my new Vampire AU; where whatever moon phase a vampire is "born" under determines their abilities, weaknesses, non-human features, and so on:

• New Moon vampires are more monstrous or animalistic and have better night vision, and are the most neutral/"good" vampires. They aren't affected by holy symbols or metals, but very weak to the sun and fire.
  • New Moon vampires are also the most "tame" in terms of being able to control themselves around humans, making them the "ideal" vampire to live alongside people; except that their feral and animalistic attitudes and hunting practices often put the "refined" society of humanity.
• Full Moon vampires are ghostly and dead-like; more human in appearance and attitude (think of them as the "royal" vampires, with noble attitudes and lifestyles), but are the most deceptively evil of the vampires. They aren't effected by the sun or fire, but are very weak to holy symbols and metals.
  • They also have a lot of "self-control" like New Moon vampires; but more in the sense that they are very good at luring in and creating that sense of safety in their victims; as opposed to actually being relatively peaceful with humans.
• For the other moon phases, they are basically different ratios between the two: New Moon vampires are totally animal-like in behavior and have animalistic appearances, as well as lean more into the animal/monster side of vampires; Full Moon vampires are very human like in behavior and appearance, but lean more into the dead/undead side of vampires; and all the in-betweens are ratios between the two:
  • First Quarter is probably more animalistic in behavior, but human in appearance; vice-versa for Third Quarter.
  • Waxing Gibbous is mostly human in behavior and appearance, but somewhat animalistic in behavior; Waning Gibbous is similar, but somewhat animalistic in appearance instead.
  • Similar to the Gibbous' moons: Waxing Crescent is mostly animalistic with somewhat human behavior, Waning is animalistic with somewhat human appearance.
• Blood Moon vampires are more aggressive and blood-hungry; but also much harder to kill because they are so strong, and often only have one very specific weakness.
  • They are also very rare to find and can't create new vampires; since the Blood Moon is less of a moon phase, and more like a unique phenomenon. This would probably also apply similarly to other moon phenomenons like Blue Moons, Super Moons, Eclipses, etc.

While I don't have exacts planned out for each moon (it's mostly just vibes based right now; I have no idea on specific powers, weaknesses and such), I would like to hear about your vampire OCs and which moon you think they'd be in. Feel free to also talk about them a bit if you want, I don't mind yap sessions :)

>As for my OCs: Derum (first image) is a Full Moon vampire (thus the ghostly and pale appearance), and his sister twin Demona (no art) is a Blood Moon vampire. Julias (second image) is probably a Waning Gibbous; though probably leaning more into his Full Moon half, with the small "animalistic" part taking away from him having a deathly appearance, making him look more normal (if a bit more scruffy/wolfy compared to his canon counterpart; who is what the art is for).

Sorry everyone X'D I'm just so insanely scatterbrained and everywhere that completing this is impossible right now lol. Maybe when I'm less scatterbrained and don't have so many different projects going, I'll come back to finish this character with another Friday offer =w=;

These images display all the things I got done; but both people who did and didn't get their OCs drawn in will be credited in the comments.

>I'm still working on his full outfit (and Chen's design); but I got his portrait done, so I thought I'd share :D

So, a little more development:

• I've always had the idea that Bloodletters in the Blood-verse have different abilities based on what moon they became a Bloodletter under (Demona is a Blood-moon vampire, for instance); and I'm carrying that over into this vampire universe, and Derum is probably going to be a full-moon vampire, just because of the pale and ghostly look he's got going on.
• Chen is also in the works now: he's not a vampire, but he's scary af. This is a version of Chen that sort of embraced his curse: living the cannibal lifestyle, while specifically targeting supernaturals, like vampires, whenever he eats; since he still considers himself human, and has a one-sided "we are humans, we gotta stick together" thing. Though he's still a monster in his own right.
  • Best way to describe his demeanor in this AU, here is a quote from when he confronted a vampire that came near his home:

>"You think yourself above humans, yet you are nothing to me. You still look like a human, you still scream like a human, you still bleed like a human. The only difference between you and a human is that you won't be dead when I'm done with your carcass... and if you dare come near this house again, I'll gladly remind you of that."

• For those who saw the last post: yes, Derum did in fact come veeery close to getting murdered when he first met Chen. It only didn't happen because Derum was so pathetically weak and vulnerable that it triggered that same empathy Chen usually only reserves for humans XD

I like these two as a duo in this AU; "Be careful, they'll eat you alive" - A cannibalistic beast and a scavenger vampire; one devours you alive, and the scraps go to the other. Though their relationship is less romantic, and more an owner/pet dynamic; where Chen keeps Derum around for companionship and entertainment, and Derum fully relies on Chen to get food and shelter (cause he'd otherwise have to go back to being homeless and starving on the streets like a stray).

>Feel free to ask questions :3

Derum's new cloak inspired me to draw him as a vampire, though I kind of ran out of time today making his updated cloak reference =3= But just to talk about him a bit:

Story: he and Chen meet when Derum, in a last ditch effort to get blood before he's too weak to hunt anymore, tries to jump him. Of course, it doesn't work because Chen's skin is too tough for a normal vampire to bite through (cause of his whole curse thing making him physically tougher), and he ends up collapsing after Chen throws him off. Chen feels bad because, vampire or not, he can recognize the desperation his attacker was feeling; so he takes Derum home with him, and becomes a blood donor of sorts. He uses HIS natural fangs (again, relating to the curse) to bite his arm open so that Derum can drink from there.

And that's about it~ It's just a cursed cannibal man and his little vampire companion living together. I've been making a lot of AUs, so I'll at least spare myself of writing more non-canon story lol

As for the ideas I do have now:

• Vampire Derum has short fangs that can't properly pierce skin, so he struggled to feed properly. It's not IMPOSSIBLE, but the person he drinks from would have to have decently delicate or thin skin for him to get a good amount of blood. Because of this, he's bullied by other vampires for being "defective".
  • Because he's gay, there's also a lot of jabs from other vampires saying he should've been a succubus instead; among some more inappropriate comments along the same vein.
• This version of Derum is not terminally ill; but he is still generally weak because of the aforementioned reasons leaving him blood-starved and weak. He can't really even properly hunt at this point.
• This version of Derum is probably going to look more youthful (like maybe 16-18~ish) since he got turned while a child. He is still his canon age of 27, but he's been aging slower because of the vampire stuff. He wouldn't be aging at all on a proper vampire diet, but he can't really do much about that lol
  • The idea is that vampires can technically die of old age; but only in the sense that not taking care of themselves properly can lead to their bodies "decaying" in the same ways a mortal does. So these vampires can go out in the sunlight and not drink blood if they want; but at that point they are just a shittier human who's weak, tired, and sickly all the time...
  • I am solely doing this so I can made Derum look cuter; because I think it'd be funny to have this cute lil fluffy vampire getting grumpy when his donor says "no" to giving him blood XD
• Whenever he brings out his wings; he just flips his cloak open and the fabric magically transforms into his wings. Although he can also just manifest wings out of his back if he's not wearing the cloak for whatever reason.
• He will have a cute little goth casual outfit with a lace parasol for going out during the day. This AU's fashion will be a little bit more modern. Just for the vibes; I do enough historical fashion anyways =3=

What can I say, the ADHD has been STRONG for the last few days XD

but here's a lil cute Derum in his new lil cloak for compensation :3

>Bonus Challenge: How simple can you draw your detailed OCs while keeping them recognizable?
I actually could've gotten away with removing some of the details from this doodle and kept Derum recognizable, but I added them just because ///=w=///

Who are your OCs that are the perfect balance of cute and cool (or at least, capable of being both)? What are some of the particularly cute and cool parts you like about them?

(Warning: Character yap up ahead)

I mean, it's pretty obvious who I'm going to be talking about lol: Derum is either being a cute lil goober, or aura-farming the shit out of everything. He's cuddly, friendly, and a huge boy-failure; but also has the coldest glare and takes his work very seriously. "Crouching boy-failure, hidden badass" if you will XD

Idk if I've ever mentioned it before, but I've always imagined Derum bouncing on his toes and doing little hops to psyche himself up for missions and get ready to do a lot of running/jumping. Especially so for one of his recent AU versions; who is always sort of hopping around and bouncing in place when he's excited to spar with his fellow trainees. And for someone who is an absolute hoe and has a body count in the hundreds (some are one night stands, some he actually dated and had a serious relationship with for a period of time); he still gets easily flustered and embarrassed, and is strangely timid for someone who is VERY experienced in the field XD (Derum's got that true bottom energy lol).

Also, though it's not present on his new cloak design, I like to think he tends to wrap himself in his hand-scarf to hide his face when he's embarrassed, saying he's "just a bit cold" or "something is irritating his asthma" whenever anyone asks why tf he's putting a scarf on in the middle of summer lol

On the more serious side: Derum is really fucking scary when he's locked in. He's extremely fast and agile, great at tracking and trapping people through their souls, and can be absolutely ruthless at pursuing you when he's motivated to do so. There's a reason Chen often has to drag Derum back after a mission; and it's because he always pushes himself to his limit when the adrenaline is going, and immediately collapses as soon as the adrenaline wears off. He's also a bit of a sleeper build; while he's not STRONG, he can still kick ass in an emergency. After all, he WAS trained by Lian Yu; he may be built for a dodge tank build, but that doesn't mean he can knock you out.

And that's just on a human level; his spiritual abilities are not limited to seeing your soul, but also being able to grab and control it, or even yank it out of your body. And his guns are soul-powered; which makes them worse than regular guns, because no matter how tough you are, their shots will ALWAYS pierce the physical form to hit the soul directly. In the case of the Undertaker, that also means anything put in front of it just dies; completely obliterated, basically nothing left unless it's a particularly giant victim. There is almost nothing that will survive a shot from it.

>By the way, Derum's the support unit: Chen's suppose to be the primary fighter of the two, while Derum sticks to a more passive role lol

First off: I deleted my last post about getting rid of the cloak just so I didn't have to get more people commenting on the situation, especially where who did comment already pushed me into drawing these concepts; and nobody (except for maybe one or two people) were actually giving advice on what to do with it anyways, so it's not like there was anything helpful being given (again, besides those one or two people).

Second: I've mostly decided on going with one of the short cloaks, but the other designs are here just so you guys can see. I don't dislike the longer cloak designs; in fact, Medic and the Military one with the Medic pouches I like a lot, and Necromancer is just cool even if it's not at all fitting for Derum as a character. But, I feel the shorter cloaks just look better on Derum, and they got the right balance of cute and cool to them lol. And it serves the original story behind the cloak better; which was that the cloak was a gift from his father so he can obscure his sickly thin frame and look bigger/stronger than he actually was.

I think I'm going the simpler design with the orange inside, with extra pouches and charms on it. I like the hands on the inside, and there is a lot of ~dramatic~ potential; but they are just slightly too much. I think the orange inside is just as flashy, but easier on the eyes; and it just has a nicer shape silhouette wise ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, just extra side notes:

• The slimmer, more "skin tight" collar looks really nice; but it's also basically a corset collar, which brings his corset into the cape design, AND I can attach straps to it, which gives me a reason why he'd be able to wear his rifle over the cloak without conflicting with it :D
• Do the pouches on the outside of the cloak restrict movement a bit? Probably, but they're just a nice little bonus element; and as long as it looks like Derum could reasonably still reach into them and use them with them on, I don't mind =w=;
• The stole didn't work on the short cloak designs. It broke up the nice shape too much, it looked too awkwardly long or too awkwardly short, it was just a tad too much. I think that's fine; I don't mind leaning away from the priestly look for a more military medic look, since Derum does both sides, but leans more medic/support for the most part.
• While I'm not using them; the hands underneath the shorter cloaks is neat, but maybe a bit too flashy for his purposes. However, couldn't you imagine him throwing his cloak open or off and the hands sprawling out; maybe making it look like he has wings or he's come kind of eldritch being with his many hands reaching out for you?
• The lace on the last cloak concept slide may not work for what I want it to; but he's definitely going to have a lace cloak for a sort of ballroom/formal party look, cause that shit is clean af
• If I wasn't so charmed with the "floofiness" of the shorter cape designs, I'd probably go the medic design, or a less... necrotic version of the necromancer design. I think I just don't like his body underneath the cloak being exposed, and the designs that work for me are the ones that obscure, but not restrict =3= I also kind of like the lack of Disciple motifs on the outside, even on his hat. It's kind off... oppressive? It's a very strong visual impact.
  • Maybe I could have it be that early on he used the medical design; then as he got more adjusted and integrated into Disciple life and Divine Spirits culture, he crops it shorter and trades the priestly look for a more Disciple medic look. It could even be a bit symbolic, since the cloak eventually gains a more cuter, lighter look that better fits his personality underneath the obscurities.
  • That'd also means I'd have a reason for him to switch from using the stole to using it as a scarf. Again, more of that cute/cool balance Derum has to him :)

Love to hear your thoughts, though I think I've convinced myself on what I want along the way while writing this post lol

Recently I have been feeling like I just like Derum's AU designs significantly more than his canon design; and while I haven't figured out what other parts I want to change about his design, one of the constants across the board for all of them is that he just doesn't have a cloak design. And I like his current design WITHOUT the cloak, it's just the cloaked version that doesn't feel right to me.

Which is... kind of a shame. It certainly gets rid of that exorcist vibe, the hand motif, and the ~dramatics~ of having a cloak; but it just isn't working for me anymore. I think I'm most timid about removing it as a feature because Derum's whole design was built around that black cap, black cloak combo (and the contrast between the colorful, Asian and the monochrome, European clothing, but that never really applied to the cloak anyways).

Edit: alright, I'm keeping the cloak. I'm still redesigning it cause I still don't like how it looks, but clearly I'm the only one who doesn't like the cloak...

>Now, I know there are probably more elements of the AU designs that make me like them more than the main design besides the lack of cloak, but I'm still figuring out that half of the equation =3= First one I could probably point to is them being generally simpler, either in details or color palettes; though I also still like all the details and colors in the uncloaked main design, so idk how I'd approach removing anything...

Feel free to leave your own thoughts on the situation; be it the cloak part, or just the design part in general. I suppose I'm a bit indecisive on the situation and want to hear some outside opinions to help me clear up the issue at least a little bit for me.

>Look guys, I managed to get every single one of the eye suggestions in :D

These eyes are REALLY cool, and are definitely going to be the most stand out feature when this character is done. I have to take a break to let my phone charge before I can do more, but I figured I'd post individual batches to make tagging everyone easier XD

Thank you to:

• u/Mr_Mozerella for the suggestion of heterochromic eyes of two opposite colors and u/TrexALpha1 for the suggestion of orange eyes with a yellow sclera :D
• u/Lalolliuwu for a second set of eyes, leaving more room for everyone's suggestions
• u/Messiah_Char for suggesting moth/butterfly pupils (I ended up doing both for the fun of it, u/Peabdy (didn't submit character) for the butterfly/moth wing eyelashes, and u/GainDiscombobulated2 for suggesting eyes like Doma from Demon Slayer (that's where the butterfly/moth kanji pupils came from, hope I didn't write those wrong lol)
• Special thanks to u/UragiriDumpling who I haven't drawn in their OC yet because my phone desperately needs to charge; but they suggested Polycoria, which all these funky pupil shapes would technically fall under, even if it's in a more fantastical sense than they probably imagined XD

Man, I may have gotten TOO many suggestions for the eyes specifically; but you guys (intentionally or not) really came together with a strong theme lol

Premise is simple: I made this base for a character what will eventually be holding a bunch of smaller, chibi characters.

You suggest a physical trait or a piece of clothing/accessory for me to add to this character (or change, for things like the ears and eyes), and if I choose your suggestion, I'll draw your OC in as a little chibi :D

>All other images are art examples with various versions of my main boys =w= second example with Klas (black hair) and Vagabond Chen is drawn on my phone like the base art, so it's the most accurate to what the final result will probably look like.

Edit: Just a heads up: LOTS of suggestions specifically for the eyes and scars, and basically nothing for hair; everything else is pretty free, but those areas are notable for anyone considering suggestions :)

>Too tired to draw today, might as well do something simple lol =w=;

Feel free to ask any kind of questions to Derum and Chen; backstory, lore, personality, silly stuff, whatever. Multiple questions are okay too, so feel free to ask as much as you want :)