SPOILERS!!!!!!!! Rn I’m in Austria and typing with a phone so ye it’s pain Here are holst and shosty designs because I think they look rlly good imo If you don’t know what fortea is it’s edgy composers work at a boba cafe but end up killing each other it’s pretty dark so TW!!! So I added stuff to lore. I think that since each composer ends up murdering Mahler there should be some kind of scale as to how willing they are to do this. The composers are technically reincarnation of their previous selves (who knows if they are real or illusions or why they exist loll). The mysterious dark aura is what persuades them to kill him and is a visual warning that death is near. The murder is inevitable but it can take time for the composer to be completely taken over by it. Please note that when I explain how they feel murdering him that THE COMPOSER HIMSELF IS NOT A PSYCHOPATH AND DID NOT ORIGINALLY HAVE BAD INTENT, THEY WERE BRAIN WASHED IN A WAY TO HAVE THIS MINDSET/MOTIVE Ok I will explain each ref in detail I tried to put little things here and there that represent interests/their identity instead of just generic stuff Gustav holst! Idk I just thought of an idea: what if holst’s outfit looked studious (because let’s be honest he was kind of a nerd and that’s pretty cool because I am one too) but was also hip and a e s t h e t i c? Well here you go, the color palette is mainly white, black and indigo/dark blue because night sky yknow He has a black choker which I really like because it’s simple but makes the fit more interesting His main sweater/focal point has constellations on it, which symbolize his interest in astrology. (The front has the star sign Virgo because he was born on September 21 I think sorry if it’s incorrect I had to draw it from memory and guess) it’s like how the planets are his one hit wonder so it’s the main part, but there are other details that represent other parts of him but they are kind of hidden because no one even knows his other pieces :(( His socks have red stripes, like the flag of England because that’s his nationality and he also liked English folk music His shoes are shiny black but not dress shoes, because he loves traveling and walking Tbh he’s like holst irl (plays trombone has asthma etc) When the dark aura takes over him, because (idk that much about him so pls take with a grain of salt) he was average person regarding death and all so it is easier for him to kill someone. When he brutally shoots Mahler in the stomach/chest he believed that Mahler wanted him to do it, and he just wanted to make him happy (in some twisted way) because they were friends and talked about death and conspiracies. After he did it he felt no shame because he knew Mahler got what he wanted (he didn’t holst just thought that way) The skull shows how Mahler dies from them and the rebirths are how many times Mahler has been reborn Dmitri Shostakovich! For shosty I didn’t rlly know what to design for his outfit so I just winged it and decided to draw him. This fit is kind of unfinished because I want to add some aspect of the contemporary art thing that was happening during shostys life I decided to put him in a long coat because it is cold in Russia and kind of more dreary because his life was kind of depressing. But there is this wooden x thing or is it a bandage idk and also a football badge/pin because he was a football fanatic Shosty has ptsd from his past life and can have panic attacks/flashbacks. When the dark aura starts to appear, his panic attacks are more frequent and intense, until he’s completely hallucinating and distressed. He hears a voice from his loved (and dead) ones telling him to murder Mahler, but he refuses to, as he knows how much pain killing someone causes (his friends/family were killed during stalins reign and he lived through the siege of Leningrad where a bunch of his people died). He goes sick and locks himself in his room on days on end and is trying his best to resist the urge to end his suffering and kill Mahler. When the two are hanging out and sitting on the roof of the apartment, he just can’t take it anymore and refuses to look at him, and pushes him off the root while closing his eyes, only opening them after his corpse is on the ground below. (This part will probably not be shown in the comic) seeing his dead corpse and realizing what exactly he’s done, he feels horrible and guilty for it and starts crying/panicking. He thought this pain would end if he fulfilled his duty and did what his supposed people told him, but it just made it worse. With the immense emotional distress and mental pain he was feeling, he jumps off the roof himself, taking his own life. (Poor shosty :((( now I want to comfort him rip) Also the web dark aura comes from his heart, and gradually grows as his panic attacks get worse. It’s supposed to also resemble shattered glass Ok now I think I should make a whole side story from shostys perspective
(Cont) Ok just so you know I’m very uncomfortable with heavy gore and heavy topics but I still love writing about it/drawing it so idk TW Also future art is probably going to be pretty bloody and sort of gross? Because I’ve started adding a human heart for some reason that the composers hold idk but it’s pretty interesting One concept is that Mahler has a heart given to him that’s supposed to be his first life heart and a dagger/knife and stabbing the heart will end his life (it’s basically offing yourself but easier) I feel like it would be too complicated that way but I still want to incorporate the human heart somehow I love fortea and drawing edgy stuff so I will probably post more fortea content in the future Yes this originated from my band teacher casually mentioning his favorite composers and the fact that he loves boba tea