cw: suicide, death mention just in case

i enjoy aesvic for many reasons and tbh i always struggle with putting my thoughts into words but i think what really draws me to them is how poetic(?) their relationship feels. from their similar pasts and personalities, their own unconventional unique perspectives on life, two people who prefer being alone are attracted to each other instantly, how they understand each other and wish to connect, to even the imagery/symbols they share (predator and prey, roses, butterflies, flames, and so on).

this is mostly my interpretation but in love stories, characters saying they will die/kill for the person they love is a familiar romantic expression and while it's nothing really new in the genre, imo i do think aesop and victor's relationship execute these ideas in such an interesting, tragic way that i find unique to them and am drawn to.

based off group 3's birthday letters, victor is emotionally cut off, numb, and continues to feel guilt for what happened with the police officer in the fire, despite the smile on his face. the postman, the one who failed to achieve perfection the first time, makes "final" plans where he himself views it as a second chance at redemption and "where all imperfections can turn into ashes."

victor has reached a point where he is filled with guilt yet numb and is willing to go so far as to even die to make up for the past. and aesop can tell he is suffering. he understands him.

jerry taught aesop that death is kind, life is filled with nothing but pain. helping others is putting them out of their misery and making sure wanderers sleep peacefully for all of eternity. aesop, in the only way he knows how, wants to help victor by killing him.

it's bittersweet how victor, someone who wished for most of his life to make a friend that he can share letters/secrets with, and aesop, while he prefers to be alone does end up finding a sense of purpose and sees someone he wants to be friends with in victor, first meet in the manor where "wishes" can come true and while ultimately both of their wishes do get fulfilled, it does come at the cost of their own lives. thinking about how things could have been different if only they had met sooner adds to the tragedy between the two and is one of the aspects i enjoy about them as well.

aesop and victor are two passionate, even stubborn, people who aim to fulfill their duties perfectly... and both failed, yet, the two of them got their wish in the end. victor who failed to keep a secret the first time with the police officer incident and aesop who failed to send victor off properly and never got to see victor close his eyes. however, in their final moments, victor's letter was able to reach aesop and aesop knows victor's suffering is over. the two were able to get their wish fulfilled and become friends in the end. even in death the two are the same with how they were both buried in a sea of flames and were "imperfections" who turned into ash.

sorry this got long, super wordy, and if this doesn't really make sense and that it took such a long time for me to try putting my thoughts together. i'm pretty sure i left some things out that i enjoy about them especially bc there are other things to consider like skinships ahsjjsjsj but i like them very much... i just think they're neat lol

tldr; i think aesop and victor are meant to be together. i enjoy their relationship both platonically and romantically. there are so many aspects of their relationship that i enjoy that i have a hard time putting it into words.

hey anon! sorry i'm so late but waaa that's a good question! looking back, my style and inspirations have definitely changed over time but i think their impact is still there. for artists, i remember loving tetsuya nomura, CLAMP, jun mochizuki, kouri, jayd ait kaci when i was younger and more recently satoshi kon, princecanary, ami thompson... for films/shows/directors, treasure planet, the iron giant, monster's inc, neon genesis evangelion, night on the galactic railroad, satoshi kon, masaaki yuasa, charlie kaufman, wes anderson, lars von trier... for games, kingdom hearts, fragile dreams, nier automata, danganronpa series, ib, persona 3, off... while these are kind of all other the place and i'm most likely forgetting some influences, these were quick to come to my head. i think overall, i'm really drawn to dream-like, melancholy, heartfelt pieces of media? and even if some of my influences are in a different medium, it definitely inspires me to create art a certain way?? i'm having a hard time explaining it sashjdhskdhs.... sorry if i didn't really answer your question but here are some things that i enjoy that i believe had an impact on my art! tysm for the ask anon, this was neat to think about<3

hey anon! for coloring, sometimes i do look back at my older art if i like how the colors turned out for that piece but i think i mostly try to see what looks nice if i can depending on the mood i'm going for (ex. saturated, warm, cool, soft). it doesn't appear when i draw on stream for some reason but i often play around with the saturation and hue slider in order to see what looks right to me in case the colors i picked isn't exactly what i'm going for. sometimes i do color tests on a different canvas before i start coloring on the final piece which can be helpful especially when working on a detailed piece so i don't have to color over and over if i don't like it. i think when i'm coloring a character for the first time, i usually do a color test to see what palette looks nice to me. as a little example, i remember i used to have a hard time coloring victor because i wasn't used to coloring red and yellows together and would try to put together a palette for him and over time it's been a little easier to figure out the more i draw him. sorry if i didn't quite answer your question, feel free to let me know if i didn't and i'll do my best to answer but thank you so much for the ask<3

ooooh aside from aesvic and other idv pairings, some other ships i am enjoying atm are silver and idia from twst, p much all the main pairings from alien stage, ryoji, aigis, and minato from persona 3 (p3 reload is making me enjoy these three again i missed them :'] ) and while i'm super behind on dunmeshi i am enjoying marcille falin and mithrun kabru chilshi fanart through osmosis haha

i'm pretty sure i'm missing some lol but some other ships i love from the top of my head are saiouma, kawoshin, ryokira, madohomu, shuake, 2b9s, kurofai, kumi and yuri from alien9... there is a pattern of liking tragic pairings for the most part haha