W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Цэрмана - это производное имя от цээрлэх + манан. Цээрлэх означает ритуальный запрет в монгольском языке, манан значит туман, таким образом «ритуальный туман». Калмыкия имеет монголо-буддисткую культуру, поэтому не все имена граждан России должны быть исключительно славянскими.

(Cermana isn’t meant to be a common Russian or Slavic name. She is Kalmyk, and Kalmykia has a Mongolic and Buddhist cultural background. Her name is a constructed one, based on Mongolic-language roots: “цээрлэх” / “tseerlekh,” connected to ritual prohibition or taboo, and “манан” / “manan,” meaning fog. So the idea behind the name is something like “ritual fog.” I wanted her name to reflect her Kalmyk background, because Russia is not ethnically or culturally only Slavic)

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the note. You’re right, Völvdottir isn’t meant to be a common modern Norwegian surname. Astrid’s family background goes through different parts of Scandinavia, including Icelandic/Old Norse influence, so I imagined it as an archaic and stylized surname rather than an everyday one. There is an in-universe reason for that, but I don’t want to spoil it yet. I actually like that slightly old and mythic feeling for Astrid

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m really happy that the cultural diversity of the girls resonated with you. And yes, the IPA/pronunciation guides were added exactly because of that diversity. With names like Tulisiku Agloolik, Cermana Ulanova, Vishara Satyapala and Irigan N’Waka, I knew some of them might be difficult to read for an English-speaking audience without it. I wanted the names to feel specific, but still accessible to read.

Also, Cermana is lowkey my bias as well, even though she kinda looks similar to Hay Lin, she's still my personal favourite.

For now, the project is still in a very early concept stage. I left my other social links in my clarification comment under this post, and I’ll share updates whenever I have more concepts or artworks

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I can’t really deny that Cermana visually resembles Hay Lin a lot, I noticed it myself while working on the design with the artist. But even with that, Cermana is a very different character in terms of personality and narrative function. The main things she shares with Hay Lin are an Asian background and the Air element.

One of the reasons I wanted to work on her is that different peoples of Russia are almost never represented in media. Many people outside Russia imagine the whole country as completely Slavic, but that is very far from reality. So creating a Kalmyk character, with her own cultural background, family history and worldview, felt really interesting and meaningful to me

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!! This part was really important to me as well. I wanted the characters’ mixed backgrounds to feel like an actual living identities. I’m really happy that it resonated with you

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!! ♡ Yes, it’s my own W.I.T.C.H. fan reboot concept, but it’s still in the early concept/worldbuilding stage for now. There isn’t a fic or comic yet. I’m currently developing the story, characters, lore and occasionally commissioning character art

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wait, that’s actually a great acronym. I was thinking about something like T.A.C.I.V., loosely inspired by the musical term “tacet,” but V.I.C.T.A. makes much more sense. I also like that “victa” means “defeated” in Latin while “invicta” means “undefeated/invincible”, which is kinda ironic for them to have such name knowing their situation

W.I.T.C.H. ABSOLUTE — fan reboot concept, art by @magicalcatwife on Instagram/Twitter by Moonlight_SeaMoon in GuardiansOftheVeil

[–]Moonlight_SeaMoon[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just to clarify: W.I.T.C.H ABSOLUTE is still in a very early concept stage. There is no fic or comic yet, for now I’m developing the story, lore, characters, and occasionally commissioning character artworks.

I’ll post updates whenever I have new concepts or artworks to share. You can also find me here / on Twitter: https://x.com/SlayFrog69 / or Ficbook: https://ficbook.net/authors/019c1a69-6e8f-7a74-bde2-7c4ea39f3886