Making Magic for an Old Story | Concept Corner: HEARTLESS #4 

Hi hi, thanks for stopping by! I can’t believe it’s been nearly two years since the first one of these! 🤯 Thanks so, SO much to all of y’all who’ve continued to encourage me to carve out a lil’ space like this to talk about my story ideas. These videos always take a lil’ while and a lot of effort to make, but it really means the world to see that my characters and the worlds they occupy are something that people can have fun with - even just through the small bits and pieces that I’m able to share in these videos. Thanks again 💛 (Also, I said as much in the video, but I’ll probably have a poll on my community tab soon so that you guys can vote for what you’d like to see in the next one of these!) (Also Also! - (since I tend to get a LOT of questions about this series, both here on RU-vid and in my various inboxes) - I figured it might be worth including a lil’ written disclaimer at the start of any Concept Corner videos going forward. Hopefully it makes sense and helps to answer any of those sorts of FAQ’s! 💖)

Alex slapping the roof of the Heartless characters: these bad boys can fit so much queer metaphors in them

I could imagine river having a finishing move where she turns the dial of something down to zero, calling it "Flatline"

ive always had this funny image of creed using his curse to cancel flints magic but then flint just decks him anyway

Hooooo man, River using her magic all her life and not realising bc nobody had explained it to her and bc she had no frame of reference for what life would be like without it? BIG “neurodivergent kid doesn’t get diagnosed for years” energy. MASSIVE mood.

An Eira and Lance ship would basically be that one tumblr post that says: “Marry a blacksmith to get free swords whenever”

How much do you want us to ship Eira & Flint? “Well, they have blue/orange color schemes, narrow/bulky frames, swordsmaster/brawler styles, and ice/fire powers respectively… Oh, and they were *roommates!”*

My personal headcanon is that Moira and Alchemy could’ve put Eira in his own room but looked at the fire and ice powers and just went “omg what if they were roommates”

I feel like heartless’s little ghouls are like chaotic little gremlins to everyone but Heartless. Like, to him, they’re essentially just funky looking doggos. They’re good boys.

Imagine Flint and Eira telling everyone that they're dating and everyone else is like "Yeah. We know."

Okay but Heartless’s ghoul friends purposely tripping Heartless. Or them comforting him when times are too rough. Or eating grass and then immediately spitting it back out.

Imagine Eira's magic finally manifesting in like, full-blown ice armour and then he freaks out because he can't get it off and he starts to freeze over and everything else starts to freeze. So Flint has to calm him down and thaw him out. So much shipping fodder.

Fun fact: the rose petals for alchemy actually represent the fact that I'm falling in love with him

I love how Alchemy’s pronouns were changing throughout their entire synopsis. It’s just little details like that that really make me appreciate the character.

ABD: "His power is called hungry ghoul" Me: Huh, that's kinda dark and contrasts with the character being fairly cheerful... ABD: "It's fairly unusual of a name" Me: ...but the evil sounding power for the protagonist is a cool idea, because it sets up potential plot developments ABD: "It sounds festive" Me: What.

I feel like the Jury's view point on their own powers is something like "This isn't magic its a gift from God to strike down the bad Witches" kinda thing

I have this funny scenario in my head where after River realizes her prosthetic legs are actually really heavy she eventually accidentally kicks off one of them and it hits Heartless in the face and she’s worried and terrified that she might’ve accidentally killed him, but then Moira or Alchemy reassuring her by simply saying “Don’t worry, he’s fine.” Since Heartless is undead.

As soon as you brought up Heartless being struck by lightning I immediately thought of how you could turn it into a running gag, he could just be a natural lightning rod so every now and then (it wouldn't even have to be raining) he could just be hanging out with his friends and then he get struck by lightning and while they all show concern, he's just laughing saying something like, "Oh don't worry about it guys this happens all the time, my body can just kind of absorb it I guess." and if it's not raining they would probably be confused and maybe the newest member at the time would be like, "Where did the lightning even come from?" while the rest are pretty much used to it.

Alchemy: Prepare for trouble Also Alchemy: And make it double-

That "Final technique" Flint is learning could totally be "Solveig School of the Sun Roads Wandering Arts One's Own Path: Flint,"

One of the parallels I love about Flint and Eira: Eira is icy and cool and structured in power, but comes off as very hot-tempered, erratic, and wild/unorganised, at least at the beginning before he begins to refine his creations and discover the depths of his power and so on And in contrast, Flint's magick is named combustion, which isn't just fire, it's explosive flames. But in contrast, he's calm and collected, the metaphorical rock of the group. It's nice to see the pyrokinetic being the level-headed one, and the "ice prince" being the hot-tempered punk. Plus, Flint being bulky and large and weilding flames? Best hugger right there. He gives major mom-friend vibes, I'm telling you. ALSO DOPPEL AND GLASS It may sound a little weird to say BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE DOPPEL AND GLASS. THE BOISSSs Alchemy, Doppel and Glass could most definitely team up to pull off the Team Rocket speech, and Doppel totally has "Meowth, that's right!" energy. I adore Doppel and Glass so much and I am highkey eyeing my sketchbook right now and gahhhhhhh their entire vibe and aesthetic and character and portrayal I adore them I realise it's going to be a while until something like this will become published because this is a massive project to pull off but I am already proclaiming myself an OG Doppel and Glass fan

I think it'd be cool that as a result of Glass, Doppel has no reflection, since Glass literally IS his reflection. I can also imagine Doppel often has to coax Glass out of a puddle or shop window or somethn because whenever Glass gets scared, he just jumps into the nearest reflection

Picturing Flint slowly teaching Eira to be less afraid of his own magic, leading at least indirectly to him developing his icesmithing technique, then a long arc where the two are separated, then Flint being knocked down in battle facing a killing blow, and them reuniting as Eira marches furiously onto the field in a full suit of ice armor to save him... (muffled screaming)

Okay but River and Alchemy sharing a room having a sleepover vibe and Alchemy hyping up River up confidence wise or River asking out the childhood friend Heartless and the Doppels bouncing about happily and sneaking into the others' rooms to scare them/hang out

pov: they'd just won their first fight, pretty exhausted and pumped Alchemy: WE F*%^&£$CKING DID IT! Heartless: YEAH! Alchemy: LET'S GO GET SOME FOOD! Heartless: YEAH! *gets struck by lightning and collapses* ... Heartless: *sits up, raises both hands up Everyone: YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Okay, hear me out. Doppel overhears his parents talk about turning him in due to his powers. So he uses his powers that he really JUST started getting a hang of. He tries to create a fake him so he could sneak off, but Glass turns out to be a part of him and not just a reflection given form. So now they're both on the lamb.

I can just imagine Doppel and Glass getting into an argument and going “Stop copying me!” At the same time😂😂

I just LOVE that Eira's weapons would be the only ones that Lance would not be able to keep with his curse, because they'd just melt away the nemesis layering, oh god

I feel like Alchemy's "voiceline thing" would be something along the lines of "It's showtime", before they go all out with real flashy magic and stuff.

Alex: Flint and Eira might be roommates! Everyone: Oh my God they were roommates

Maybe the little ghouls Heartless summons could be called “Starving Specters”? Gives Grim Grinning Ghosts vibes

I feel like Filnt and Eria would have a split room and whenever Eira gets mad his half just freezes over with spikes and Flint just has to melt it so the whole room doesn't freeze over.

My brain has decided that I need to share what I think each protagonists favorite soda would be so here we go Flint: He seems like a coke guy Eira: We're already pretty similar so let's just continue the pattern and make him like diet pepsi Heartless: I feel like he'd go for sprite I just have the feeling he likes lemon lime sodas Alchemy: I think they'd like fanta but I don't think he'd stick to one kind I think she'd like all of them Doppel: If this man doesn't have a root beer addiction I will be very confused Glass: Probably cherry pepsi idk why I just think he'd like cherry pepsi River: Either mountain dew or sprite it's gotta be one of those I just don't know why

Moira: Take off your shoes on the way in. River: *Takes off legs*

You mentioned Glass being able to move through reflections, and that immediately made me think that, if the group ever split up for a mission, the team could have a set of mirrors that they carry around, and if anyone needed to deliver a message, Glass could play messenger using those mirrors. Like he shows up in the mirror and the teammate could tell him a message, which he would just move to the other mirror and communicate that to the person. Kinda like a magic cellphone.

Omg, when you said his dad was a blacksmith my immediate thought "And accepting his magic is him going home....." and i got emotional

Again. I think a great twist should be that, in fact, Dopple is the reflection and Glass is the original. I love the idea of Dopple constantly looking for a way to undo his mistake and get rid of Glass, only for it to be revealed that Glass created Dopple. Like, he was this scared kid, alone in a world that never wanted him with nobody to look out for him, so, one day, he wished that he could have someone else by his side. Someone brave, funny, and confident. His opposite. Now that he has him, he doesn't wanna let him go, no matter if he's weaker. He loves his brother.

Honestly? As dumb an idea as it is, maybe Flint calls his magic “Just Fire”. It’d be a pretty fun contrast with his overly elaborate martial arts naming conventions, and/or a signifier that “yeah, I’m a witch, but that’s not nearly all I am”

5:58 ME. I’m a potential reader. I’d read this. No seriously if it EVER comes out as a webcomic or something, I’m GOING TO read this

ABD: *Talking about River needing things to make sense to her in certain ways involving her interests* Me: Hello my new AHC (Autistic Headcanon Character).

You know you read too much angst when seeing a character with a "twin" immediately makes you wish one of them would die tragically just for the emotional anguish it would cause

Flint giving River and Eira a "find yourself" speech and then teaching them how to use their powers in different ways sounds like a legit episode or arc

Gotta say I love the concept of the fire-themed character being the patient, more passive one, and the ice-themed character being more uncontrolled and more likely to lash out. It's a nice reversal of expectations and made me think of a cool way to describe them- "fire like a hearth, ice like a blizzard"

As a black boy with anger issues, i Stan the emotional dis regulation. Yes he was angry but it’s for a good reason, not to stereotype. I really find the theme of rage stemming from something you don’t completely understand about yourself. Anything done well is well great. I’m v excited to see flint. I just love being able to say I was here. I just know this project will blossom & bloom.

My idea for a cool name for Lorelei’s curse is “Songbirds Requiem”. For starters, her design is a lot more bird-like with the thin delicate limbs and facial features along with feathers and her “black swan” transformation rather than fishy aspects as associated with sirens. Secondly, it can lend itself to her deception in a couple of ways; she claims to be a gentle and assuming songbird but underneath the surface she is a bird of prey trained to kill and harm lying in wait. Another being how beautiful the name of the curse sounds what with its call to a songbird and a music type, however, requiems are songs meant for the dead. Its as if she would be giving any who hear her song a cruelly beautiful final gift before their demise and ultimately her own downfall, whatever that may entail. Last bit being that requiems tend to be called operas in disguise, which I think is a final added layer of correlation to her background there. Anyway, thats my brain going brr at ungodly hours finished! Thank you so much to anyone reading this and let me know your thoughts!! :D

As a neurodivergent person, I found that alongside the whole patterns and numbers thing with River, her magic being mislabeled and trying to figure out who she truly is sounds a lot like the journeys most ND women, girls and AFAB/feminine presenting people go through. Since most studies on neurodivergence are performed on cishet white boys. So that whole experience sounds very relatable.

Doppel yelling at the enemy: FOR THE LAST TIME! WE DONT USE THEY/THEM PRONOUNS BECAUSE WE’RE NONBINARY!! WE USE THEY/THEM PRONOUNS BECAUSE WE’RE LITERALLY TWO B******!!!!

A couple of ideas; You mentioned how River's powers would be able to render Lorelai's useless, and on the previous villain episode you said that you created each villain as a foil to each hero. What if each hero had one of the villains as a foil and conversely each villain has one of the heroes as a foil? River's foil is Dock because he can cause injury to her and she can't heal it, and opposite to that he can transfer off all afflictions from himself yeah? Additionally he is narratively opposite to her. Then you say Lorelai's ability can be nullified by River's magic, and it gets me thinking, how interesting would it be if Lorelai was a huge threat to the group near the start of the story, and gives particular struggle to Doppel and Glass because she is their foil, but then River becomes Lorelai's foil much later? Someone else could be Dock's foil, someone else can be Diana's foil (like doppel and glass are a good contender because they could maybe throw off her homing abilities) and so on and so forth. This would also make Alistor an interesting main villain from the Jury because perhaps Heartless and Alistor are each other's foils, but Heartless needs to grow a lot before he is able to counter Alistor. Lots of interesting narrative parallels to explore here in my opinion. You also said that it could be cool if Doppel and Glass can use reflections, and maybe only one of them possess that power. What if their powers are literally split? Doppel could make more temporary "mirrors" of himself (he figures ut out after the failed attempt perhaps while trying to find a way to put Glass back. This can also tie into him being a foil for Diana by throwing off her perfect aim) and I saw someone else mention that Glass could literally be Doppel's reflection so the two don't have a reflection, well that could tie into Glass being capable of traveling through reflections/hiding within reflections. Each one could have individual powers/properties that when combined cod become an interesting stacked effect which is where the full potential of their powers come in.

ABD in a dilemma if Heartless should be continued, as if we are all not already waiting for the Manga to finally be produced xD

I actually like the idea of the villains having “curses” and still hating magick, like they blame witches for their curses

I’ve just listened to the intro and wanted to say that the reason I personally enjoy Concept Corner is because I get to hear your thoughts on things like character design or worldbuilding! Just hearing you talk about your creative process is what brings me back, because it can be really beneficial to hear about others and their processes. I’m very happy to see a new episode, and it’s just what I think a lot of us wanted when we hoped for a new Concept Corner :D

the idea of glass being the only one able to travel through reflections is really cute, I can see him being all anxious and worried in a fast paced battle only for doppel to shove him into a mirror or on a more wholesome note encourage him through it

Flint: *finishing up a rly deep talk with eira* Eira's mind: woah... thats deep Eira: Shut up man and finish painting my nails

One thing I love about Hermes being an inspiration for River's design is that the staff we see used for medical, his Cadeuceus, is not actually the staff of medicine! Its been mixed up and misconstrued as the Asklepian, a staff wielded by the god Asclepius who is associated with healing and medicine. This almost directly mirrors the fact that River's power has been mistakenly categorized by those around her as 'just a healing power' until she goes out and obtains more knowledge and finds out its not really a healing power by category at all. Its probably completely unintentional but oh my gosh is it such a great and befitting coincidence and I will forever adore it.

"Eira and Flint are roomates", we kinda saw it coming but I personally still went bananas over this. Bless you and your hands that make everything gay(er).

HEARTLESS SHOULD HAVE MOVES FOR (and named after) EACH ONE OF HIS ALLIES!!!

If River can amplify energy, those that mean she can power up Heartless? Since his main weakness is low battery, they could have very strong combos together. (Also I would gladly hear more about villians powers.)

Interesting that Doppel and Glass are purple. Especially when they come from a rich family. It works very well that purple is usually the symbol of royalty. Works out.

Love the idea of Heartless releasing a massive blast of magic towards a bad guy, who just barely dodges it and is like "You got some serious fire power there, kid!" but as the dust settles he sees just Heartless snoring on the floor.

I love River's character!! As someone who is going into a STEM field, I think her power would be the most fun. My understanding of it was where Alchemy is the power to affect/change matter and tangible things, River can affect/control processes or forces! So it makes sense why she would involve herself greatly with the scientific theory behind her power, since it is the most common way by which to conceptualize it. (Also, maybe a long way into her growth as a witch, she could eventually go into the more nonscientific "forces" that affect people - dialing down emotions? I think it might be harder for her to grasp as it isn't something that fits her standard model (and perhaps morally questionable) but it could be interesting!!)

First of all Doppel & Glass are the most aesthetic members of the crew. Second of all. Doppel out here being the older brother figure of the two who wants glass to be more confident like him and Glass is just like “But you’re so much better than meeeee!!!!”

9:49 okay but, imagine: -Heartless lived a normal life thinking that he isn't magic -Boi somehow dies and gets buried for a while -Some graverobber digs him up during a storm -Heartless gets struck by lightning and just wakes up all "ayo what did I miss?"

Me, watching Flint's section: "Y'know, it could be cool if flint and Eira could end up together. 'Cause- ice and fire. Haha, yeah.. >_>" Alex, in Eira's section: "That room could also be Flint's. And they could be roommates." Me: "Oh my god, and they were roommates. ;)"

I'm curious what Doppel would do if Glass was ever "shattered" and ended up fully powered again. Would he stay as just one person or would he try to get Glass back

Oh my god if that illustration of Eira isn’t the exact moment he finds his purpose within his own magic I am going to throw hands /j that would be so powerful, especially since it’s so incomplete. (I imagine he’d also have that one step forward two steps back where he can’t quite create the same image of the sword and shield again because it was a high tense, very emotionally taxing event that led him to doing that?)

these are some of my thoughts: the idea that when Eira gets embarrased instead of his face going red, icey snowfakes appear on his face. when i heard Eira had a dad and you liked princess bride i said: oh no... but also the idea of you drawing his dad saying "you seem like a nice man id hate to kill you." honestly im loving this series and hope to see more of its journey!

Eira and flint ship vibes; “And they were roommates.” For real tho I think a ship between them would be the most wholesome supportive shit ever, just Flint helping eira feel comfortable with his magic and helping him calm down to ✨channel his magic ✨(insert martial arts movie stereo type here) would be really cute

I can imagine, that even though doppel wanted to get rid of glass, he’s grown very attached to him, almost like a twin brother. And if alastor uses his magic and glass disappears for a bit, doppel would freak out . Doppel: Glass?! Glass?! Glass, this isn’t funny! Where’d you go! Are you hiding in a reflection again ! Please come back! Alchemy: it’s okay, it’s not permanent, creed got rid of glass for a bit but he’ll be back, I promise. Doppel: are you sure? Alchemy: yeah. But first we gotta kick creeds but! FLINT! FLINT! Get over here!

Heartless, throwing his ghoul/demon soccer balls at someone: THIS BITCH EMPTY, _Y E E T_ Alchemy, at some point: *tricks the main villians with a Team Rocket-esque trap*

Maybe once River starts realising the potential of her magic, she studies magical history looking for someone that had a similar magic to find a name. And when she's getting frustrated because she can't find anyone, Alchemy suggests naming it after herself since it's clearly unique, could align with a personal growth within River that she can be herself, she doesn't have to follow the standard way (maybe learnt from a lifetime in a magical city trying to keep itself safe from the jury, with leaders and protectors trying to keep the old ways that have worked and refusing to change because what if the changes fail?). While travelling, River starts to realize change and standing out isn't so bad. Eventually leading to her naming her magic Dial and customising her uniform

i imagine that in flint’s school of arts, the final thing to do before becoming a full-fledged graduate is finding your move, that’s personal to you and only you. flint’s “newfound move that can’t be taught” could be an improvement to his polaris when he concentrates so much that he can fight with his eyes closed. make it a cool scene in an important battle and voila - coolest character ever

The fact that Heartless himself has such a distinct magic that is almost like a tradeoff, i originally thought heartless was a wonder himself, because of the tradeoffs 😅😅

So, if Doppel and Glass can make copies of things, could Alchemy make a weapon, and then Doppel and glass can copy that and hand them out to the team? just food for thought

it would be funny if river finally understands her power and she's like "man, i failed physics in school!"

I have a headcanon. Heartless’s ghouls can appear without Heartless using his magick and talk to him but no one else can see them without Heartless using his magick

stupid idea, just imagine with me. river and lance are fighting lance gets kicked hard lance has a epiphany lance: Nice legs you got there, would be a shame if someone were to just *poof* *lance's hoard has acquired magick metal leg*

Picture this: an emotional outburst from Eira leads to roomie gay Genji/Zenyatta self discovery bonding conversation, where Eira understandably cries and awkwardly has to ask Flint to melt the now icy tears keeping him from opening his eyes.

I just imagine Flint being able to read Eira like a book right off the bat and Eira being annoyed but also endeared by Flint. 🤗🤗 I’m just imagining very very cute shippy moments between these two

28:45 ABDillustrates: “It’s just that that room could also be flint’s” Me: “OH MY GOD THEY WERE ROOMMATES” But seriously though I love the idea of them being roommates especially as Eira is figuring out “his big gay feelings” I also love the fact that Eira and Flint’s magicks are complete opposites. It’s just so great that they’d be paired up together. Also it was mentioned at some point in a different video that Flint doesn’t do well in hot climates, I keep imagining Flint like- leaning on Eira because he’s naturally cold or something like that lmao. I love them so much and the whole concept for this story is super super cool I love hearing about it

I just remembered the same between Zoro and Sanji in one piece where Zoro was badly injured and still in a fight and Sanji ran up in front of the villain and said “kill me instead of Zoro” and Zoro proceeded to knock out Sanji and Sanji woke up somewhere completely different and and immediately got worried and started running around looking for Zoro and I completely see Flint and Eira doing this

A fun way to continue "Concept Corner: Heartless" could be making a small (less than 5 page probably) comic with the characters! Add panel layout to Concept Corner, and talk about character interactions! You could also design their rooms...I can guarantee we'll all enjoy that and it would probably take less planning than a scene/dialogue 👀

Flint: Hello, roommate! Eria: OH NO HE'S HOT

whenever heartless kicking his ghouls around is mentioned i can’t help but imagine that they make the same sound that a red kickball does

DO NOT start forcing yourself to make these videos it's all about fun and creativity and forcing it would spoil it for you. So give yourself breaks when you need them we will be here

Whenever I see Alchemy I'm like: "Mmm, yes, tis a good day to be pansexual"

If I might offer a suggestion to up some stakes: The power from curses might need to be drawn (at least originally) from a naturally born Witch's ability. You have to kill them in a specific way, and you essentially gain either their powers or a warped version of it. So with the Wonders division, you have the risk of being killed by them, but even worse, you have the risk of being killed, and your own magic being used to hunt others. This would also match Heartless's need to draw energy from around him: that way, magic isn't created, it's only transferred. The only way to get more in large quantities is from elsewhere - where you choose to get it and what sacrifices you're willing to make would be up to the person in question.

Since heartless saps the life force out of things around him to stay alive, I think it’d be really cool to see him having to hold back and not be able to go all out in a fight where his friends are around because the more power he uses the more lifeforce he takes wich could end up killing his allies if he’s not careful (for visuals the scene from ATLA fullmoon bloodbending scene lol)

I would love to see River power up Flint, a well taught and experienced fighter on essentially magical crack destroy an enemy.

I'd like to think that the spell for Doppel IS actually reversible, it's just that it's responding to Doppel's feelings of not wanting to be alone, to be lonely, to have someone that he can trust. That's why both Glass and Doppel has no idea how to reverse the spell, the subconcious feeling of not wanting to be lonely is affecting the magic and making it "irreversible". Glass and Doppel are 2 halves of a whole, and that whole one person didn't want to be alone, so they split themselves into 2 and *kept* it that way. (a bit of LOL inspiration from The Kindred) Another is that it could be that Doppel didn't want to acknowledge the fearful part of himself that is always scared, frightened of the future, the "cowardly" part of himself, thus strengthening the split. Maybe Glass was made because when Doppel saw himself in the mirror, he saw the cowardly version of himself that was scared. Now that time has passed by, it might be that the two of them really can't reverse it, because both of them have grown as their own person despite the reflection thing. Feels like Doppel and Glass would play off each other in a very interesting way and more symbolic way if it was true though.

I feel like Eira would be able to learn a lot from Flint considering Flint started off fearing his abilities. The idea of them sharing a room does sound fun though 😄

I imagine that, after losing a fight because Glass got held-up somehow and couldn’t help Doppel with their magic, Doppel blowup at Glass and blamed him for losing the battle. Then Glass, feeling hurt, goes through a mirror(or a piece of glass that he had) and leaves not wanting to cause anymore trouble. Then that would be the start of a character arc for Doppel and Glass. The arc will be Doppel looking for Glass and this would be the arc were we found out about Doppels past. I also imagine that the way Heartless came to MOJO was that, when he awoken with no memories(maybe and some panels hinting at what happen), it was raining. He got up and saw a little shop. He got up and knocked on the door, then a little old lady opened the door and let him in. And that’s how he got a job and a room at MOJO!

Rivers voice-over: her power is a metaphor for adhd me: OMG hugs River

I'm not even an artist. I'm an author, which means more than anything, I'm invested in the story and lore! On topic with your magic system, I'd like to imagine the curses are limited to the technology or technique from which it is created, therefore limiting the range of abilities. While not many people have the curses, there could be a mass produced version of the curse. Cheap, ineffective, and with minimal downsides. It's only those that actually DESIRE the eradication of magic that willingly submit themselves to the stronger curses. It makes the villains seem just that much more motivated, since they'd be willing to subject themselves to that. Edit: I feel like Alchemy should carry a mirror or otherwise reflective surface with them. While most people view it as a vanity thing, Alchemy uses it to remember what they look like, no matter what they look like at any given moment. Like, it's an insecurity about losing themselves again, so they need the reassurance that they are still A person, no matter what person they happen to be at that moment. It also helps cement their favorite forms in their own mind

The: "and they were roommates" picture of that vine, sent me. Great 100/10.

Ok I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet but the fact that Eira comes from a blacksmith family and he makes weapons with his magic is kinda another parallel to Flint and HIS family's school of martial arts and like. making his body into a weapon. but where Flint had his family to help him refine that ability Eira seems to have just repressed it. So Flint being like. yet another character for what Eira could have been like Lance is sort of fitting. His two paths you could say. His. Wandering Path, perhaps?

Just given River's name and powers, have you considered maybe naming her magic, "Ebb and Flow"? It seems like it would fit thematically while still letting her sort of "own" it by having it relate to her name

Okay but Consider: if Lance uses his powers to hoard weapons and Eira's father was a Smith then Lance could have a stolen weapon forged by Eira's dad

For Eira, I am just obsessed with the mental image of him almost getting shot by say a bullet or an arrow only for him to create a shield made of ice around his chest completely subconsciously. The thing he kept burrowed in himself for so long is what saves him

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this before, but the Hermes's connection to medicine and healing is actually a mistake that comes from confusion between his symbol, the Caduceus, and the Rod of Asclepius, as both look very similar and include a snake wrapped around a rod. Asclepius was a Greek god associated with healing and medicine while Hermes was mostly just associated with commerce, travel, and even trickery. Honestly though, I think including the wing-like things on River's design still works really well, as it kind of reflects her backstory with the whole idea that she was pushed into seeing her abilities as simple healing magic while actually having a lot more complex and nuanced ways of being able to interact with other peoples' abilities :>

absolutely adore the roommates with flint being sensitive to hot temperatures, imagine eira cooling him off with his powers somehow when they're going through a desert.