Cradled From Death

Oh my. Any backstory on this, may I ask? Since when did Zane grow a pair of angelic wings? And, most importantly, what happened to him?

3 hours ago, sh1ny said:

Oh my. Any backstory on this, may I ask? Since when did Zane grow a pair of angelic wings? And, most importantly, what happened to him?

I've always had this idea that Zane is supposed to be quite frail (although I lost his design a bit when I made him too buff) and that Red is always having to care for him physically. That's why he's a mage that can't use magic and why he's never seen fighting.

There is also the chance that Red is perhaps contributing to Zane's sickly nature in some way but his selfish demon nature makes him blind to what he's doing. Hence why he chooses to use a brute force approach to care, ignoring when Zane is ill and only focusing on physical threats as that's all he's equipped to deal with. Not that Red's relationship with Zane is entirely negative, Red is also seen as a huge motivating factor in Zane's life. Zane isn't just being dragged unwillingly through life, he actively fights for it with Red's help, even if it pushes him to the extremes.

Zane's wings here could just be a manifestation in Red's mind, showing how he genuinely believes he's 'saving' Zane from death and how he sees anything holy, such as the afterlife, as the real evil as it is trying to steal Zane away from him.

The broad theme for the set was to show how for some the idea of death is the ultimate enemy but for others it's the ultimate mercy.

Anyway, maybe that's too pretentious for a Skyrim screenshot but thank you for allowing me to share   

Thank you very much for such detailed insight. 

I never intended to take this deeply dramatic triptych at face value, yet I'm glad that I asked.

Buffing up Zane to Skyrim standards was certainly a rare kind of eye candy. His fragile nature and the way the story unfolds before him are still eloquently put and subconsciously picked up. This is further amplified (and shamelessly exploited!) by seemingly ridiculous size difference, which, admittedly, has been my guilty pleasure for quite some time.

In that context, I'd like to think of Red as some primal, relentless, almost natural (how ironic) force that carries Zane away in a stream that is life itself. He's that blunt, straightforward kick in the butt that any of us has to endure one way or another – or stay in the cradle forever. And as with each push, where does this take Zane to? You've shown the ultimate destination, from Red's POV. Only as a metaphor, I dare to hope.

Watching Zane's journey has been surprisingly enlightening to better understand his creator. Thank you once again for this glimpse. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts more often, whether I gently elicit them from you or just silently lurking in the shadows. 

Oh! I focused on what was beneath the surface so much that I completely forgot about the aesthetic side of these frames. Despite you went unusually gloom and the contrast is so sharp, they are still so high above what I consider the baseline for great screenshots that I cannot let that stay implied. Simply gorgeous, as always. 

19 hours ago, sh1ny said:

Thank you very much for such detailed insight. 

I never intended to take this deeply dramatic triptych at face value, yet I'm glad that I asked.

Buffing up Zane to Skyrim standards was certainly a rare kind of eye candy. His fragile nature and the way the story unfolds before him are still eloquently put and subconsciously picked up. This is further amplified (and shamelessly exploited!) by seemingly ridiculous size difference, which, admittedly, has been my guilty pleasure for quite some time.

In that context, I'd like to think of Red as some primal, relentless, almost natural (how ironic) force that carries Zane away in a stream that is life itself. He's that blunt, straightforward kick in the butt that any of us has to endure one way or another – or stay in the cradle forever. And as with each push, where does this take Zane to? You've shown the ultimate destination, from Red's POV. Only as a metaphor, I dare to hope.

Watching Zane's journey has been surprisingly enlightening to better understand his creator. Thank you once again for this glimpse. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts more often, whether I gently elicit them from you or just silently lurking in the shadows. 

Oh! I focused on what was beneath the surface so much that I completely forgot about the aesthetic side of these frames. Despite you went unusually gloom and the contrast is so sharp, they are still so high above what I consider the baseline for great screenshots that I cannot let that stay implied. Simply gorgeous, as always. 

Thank you so much. I love your in-depth responses, they help me think more critically about my own content as well as just being genuinely heartfelt  

Spot on assessment of Red, primal is the perfect word for him. And as you sort of implied, Zane does act as some kind of facsimile of myself albeit and idealised version.

Again, thank you