magicastuck sketches, kids and beta trolls

It occurs to me that I never posted this set on a few sites I frequent, so I'm fixing that.

Some of the art is a bit old now, since it took me a full year to do all of them, but I'm glad to have it all done! I never did work out everyone's wishes, but I had fun thinking up the costumes, and classpectanon and I figured out witches for most of them. Maybe I'll get around to making those? Probably not. They're more difficult to do than just these!

Some stuff about the designs ahead! Warning: Kinda longwinded.

Beta Kids:

John: I decided to give him a sort of Fool/Jester theme, since I originally drew his weapon as the Warhammer of Zillyhoo. It didn't take quite so well, so I toned it down a bit and changed the hammer. Not sure what it looks like now. His soulgem is on his collar, shaped like a lollipop as a nod to Trickster Mode.

Rose: Rose was actually the first of the humans I drew, and I immediately knew I wanted her to look a little bit like a nun or some kind of religious figure in general, hence the shape of her dress and the veil. Her soulgem is on her headband, shaped like an eye.

Dave: Dave was easy, I wanted to mix in a knight and a butler. There was a small nod to Homura somewhere in there I think? But I don't quite remember what it was anymore. His soulgem is on his cuff, shaped like an elongated diamond. That's probably the Homura ref, now that I think about it.

Jade: Jade was also easy, because I based her outfit off her godtier and the dress of eclectica. I'm not fully satisfied with her soulgem placement, though, and if I ever redraw her, I'll try to incorporate it better into the themes of her outfit. Her soulgem is on her head, shaped like Bec.

Alpha Kids:

Jane: I had a harder time with Jane, mostly because I couldn't decide on a pose. All I knew is I wanted to give her a poofy "cake" skirt, and I'm really happy with how it turned out in the end, especially with the melon sleeves. The floating cutlery was inspired by a tumblr user's take on magicastuck, but I can't remember who it is anymore, so if you know who it is, please tell me! Her soulgem is a heart with a little curl, on the ribbon in her hair. No particular reason for it, I just thought it looked cute.

Roxy: Roxy was also hard because I have no idea how to draw guns. Figuring out her outfit was much easier than figuring out the gun itself. I'm particularly proud of the poofy hair ribbon! Her soulgem is the triangular pendant at the collar of her bolero jacket. I also don't have a reason for that besides running out of ideas.

Dirk: Dirk had to be redrawn because I didn't like his original pose or outift. It initially had a little cape and a lot of zippers and a metal arm. Really quite a mess! This version is based on his godtier + his dreamer pajamas, and I threw in Homura's tights because why not. His soulgem is also a heart, on his tiara. I made it a heart less for his classpect and more because it seemed like Dirk would enjoy the classic Magical Girl aesthetic the most.

Jake: Jake and his Bayonetta legs gave me a lot of trouble with the pose again, but the outfit came together pretty easily. I wanted him to look like an old timey magician for some reason? I don't really remember why. His soulgem is the square on his bowtie, because I didn't want it to draw much attention.

Lowbloods:

Aradia: Aradia's witch is one of the first that show up in classpectanon's fic "Licht und Hexen", so I already had a few things to work off of. Her theme is witch executions, so I went the obvious route and gave her a cute witch theme as a magical girl, with a scythe to nod to her whole death thing (and because I didn't want to figure out a whip). Her soulgem is the butterfly on her belly, another nod to her death thing in canon, and she becomes the witch Herodias. Classpectanon came up with the name.

Tavros was really difficult because I didn't want to draw him with functioning legs, so I had to figure out a way to incorporate the chair but also make it magic. The solution was to make it a chariot/cocoon of sorts, since he had that butterfly thing in canon with Rufioh and the Summoner, which was ALSO no easy feat because I kept getting the size wrong and it ended up looking more like a doppel. His soulgem is that star shape on his chest, because I wanted a nod to Peter Pan in there somewhere. He becomes the witch Tamlane, named after Tam Lin, as a nod to his fondness for fairies.

Sollux: Sollux was hard because I kept running into designs that made him look too cyberpunk. I'm not really sure if his current outfit has a "theme" so to speak, but I'm happy with the overall result. Most of what I kept in mind was like, tesla coils and honeycomb. His soulgem is the hexagon with a bar through it on his collar, and he becomes the witch Heinrich-Viktor, after Heinrich Hertz and Victor Frankenstein. A bit on the nose with his monsters and lightning theme, but it works.

Karkat: Karkat was also redesigned. I wanted his outfit to also be Knight based, but different from Dave, and that gave me some trouble. To that end, I fixed him up just today and now he's got more of a Robin Hood thing going on, with buttons on the hood as a nod to his original horns, popular depictions of the Signless, and the godtier hoods. Bared midriff is just author appeal reasons. Resemblance to Iroha Tamaki is coincidental, but I guess works? His soulgem is the largest "teardrop" on the chain connecting his pauldron to his hood, and he becomes the witch Michael. Classpectanon came up with the name and gave him a weeping statue theme, and being that Eridan's witch is Gabriel, is also a fun parallel.

Midbloods:
Nepeta: Catgirl. Absolutely wanted her to be a catgirl. In the first sketch her hat was Kyuubey, as a joke, but then I decided it was cute, so I turned the flappy things into paws. Nepeta is also a very hands-on character, so I designed her outfit partially after Kyouko from the OG Puella Magi, and partially after Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2 (albeit, cuter and sillier.) Her shoes weren't originally paws, but I thought it was too cute to pass up. The tail isn't real I think? But I liked it and the costume felt incomplete without it. Her soulgem is the bell on her neck, and she becomes the witch Raspelgeiss. I can't remember what her witch's theme was, but a rasselgeiss is the female version of a rasselbock, which is like a jackalope with wings.

Kanaya: I wanted her to have a long skirt since it just didn't feel quite right to give her a short fluffy one. She ended up looking a little like an old timey nurse I think, or a vampire. I had fun drawing the chainsaw, though! Not often a magical girl fights with a chainsaw. Her soulgem is the clover/club on her wrist, which is probably just because I wanted a new shape and she's associated with auspistice. Her witch is Lorelei, after the story a woman being accused of witchcraft by a faithless lover and falling to her death after climbing a large rock. Fun.

Terezi: I had her godtier and Legislacerator outfit stuck in my head, but when I gave her the naginata instead of her cane swords, I decided to lean into the weapon a little, so there's a bit of samurai armor inspiration in this one. I regret not giving her a blindfold, but if you look closely you'll notice she's still blind. Mostly I wanted to keep her signature glasses even with the new outfit, and I put in a nod to the blindfold with her scarf. Her soulgem is the oval on her forehead, and her witch is Marthe, named after St. Martha who tamed the Tarasque.

Vriska: Vriska was pretty easy, the pose came to me almost immediately and her outfit is a fluffy magical girl version of Mindfang's. The hardest thing to figure out was whether or not she should keep her arm. In the end I decided to keep her arm because I couldn't figure out a way to incorporate the assymetry of it into her design. I'm pretty happy with the eyepatch, though, which is also her soulgem, shaped like a small sun. Her witch is Norn, named by Classpectanon. I assume because her witch has a thing about yarn.

Highbloods:

Equius: I wasn't sure about Equius' weapon at first, but then realized that since the magica weapons are, well magic, I gave him a bow, which he'd probably be delighted by. The maid outfit is partially a nod to his need to serve and partially a nod to his canon maid outfit, and I kept his stockings from canon because they're really cute. The gloves don't quite fit the aesthetic, but I needed a way to make it obvious it's him. His soulgem is the shield shape on his collar, again because I was running low on ideas. His witch is Alonso, named after Don Quixote. I don't really remember why, unfortunately.

Gamzee: Definitely wanted a kind of priestly/clown look, hence the vestments and elf shoes. I fucked up and forgot to give him a soulgem the first time I posted, though. Juggling balls instead of juggling clubs because they just look nicer, and I worked in the aspect symbols on each one because I thought it was neat. I also got a surprising number of people saying the Bard godtier should've looked like this. His soulgem is the diamond on the fancy bit in the middle of his collar. His witch is Cain, named after the Biblical figure.

Eridan: Eridan was the first of the troll magicas that I designed! It kind of shows, where I was still getting used to the style. I wanted him to look like the popular depictions of angels, hence his feathery "wings" cape and the vaguely Roman-looking armor. I probably should've given him a sword or his gun, but I was too lazy to and just drew him with a wand. His soulgem is the head of the snake bracelet on his arm, and his witch is Gabriel, with a stained-glass/serpent theme. Named by Classpectanon.

Feferi: Another tough one, mostly because I wasn't sure where to go with the mermaid theme. I think it looks a little too close to her canon appearance, honestly, but it's not so bad. The skirt was the most difficult part for me, since I wanted it to have a mermaid tail effect but I couldn't give her an actual mermaid skirt because it just didn't look very good. So I compromised by putting a giant ribbon on the back, the tails of which form the "fins" of her skirt. Also gave her glasses instead of goggles so you can still see her eyes. Her soulgem is the centerpiece of her tiara, and her witch is Cabaletta, named after the musical form. She mirrors Sayaka's story a lot.