@ironqrowweek: Role Swap (technically day 6, but I’m a little late)I was hoping that I’d

@ironqrowweek: Role Swap (technically day 6, but I’m a little late)I was hoping that I’d be able to draw a proper thing for the role swap prompt, but unfortunately I haven’t had the time this week. I did, however, do these design sketches a while ago in preparation, so for once I’m sharing something from my scribbles sketchbook. So, behold, independent Huntsman James and military general Qrow!The roleswap idea I’m working with here is basically ‘what if Beacon was the militarised kingdom and Atlas was just the technologically advanced one?’ Don’t ask me how the overall plot of the show works when it’s that way around, but I figure maybe the kids end up travelling to Atlas for the Vytal Festival in the early volumes and after the kingdom is attacked by Salem James ends up being the one who goes on the roadtrip mission with them while Qrow returns to Beacon. He’s probably not quite The General the same way James is, sharing the role with Glynda and with Ozpin above both of them, but Qrow does rather get the short end of the straw in the swap. He gets all of the stress James had to deal with after Ozpin disappeared on top of his other issues, poor chap. James, meanwhile, gets to hang out with the kids more, which I really enjoy because he could have had such a good dynamic with them if he’d gotten to spend more time with them. And, since this is an Ironqrow AU, Ruby and Yang are still technically travelling with their uncle. There’s a lot of fun potential character stuff there, with Ruby and James butting heads over who’s actually in charge, and Yang having someone around to talk to about losing a limb, and then there’s also the fact that Weiss would already know James (since he’d still be a mentor to Winter).As for the designs, I tried to stick to their usual vibes while moving in a more practical/rugged sort of direction for James and a more military formal one for Qrow. James is probably always going to be the neater of the two, he’s just like that, and I just can’t redesign him without keeping the tie. I also like to think that, without the pressure of being a public figure, he would be a little more comfortable letting people see his prosthetic arm, which is my excuse for the rolled up sleeves. The emblem patch on his shoulder is based on my headcanon for the emblem he used before he was a soldier, which is an anatomical heart shape formed out of the same swirling patterns from his guns. And he keeps the beard because I enjoy it, although here it’s a bit shorter and neater even while his hair is a little more windswept.I based Qrow’s outfit vaguely on the Beacon school uniforms, reasoning that if Beacon had a military the uniform designs wouldn’t be dissimilar. He gets to keep his usual colour scheme (which, you might notice, matches James - I really liked the fact that their outfits in vol3 were so complimentary to each other so I’ve kept that vibe), and his cape, although this time it’s a half cape to try and lean into the fancy military vibe. I figure the loose tie is his small act of rebellion against wearing a uniform, and went with him being clean-shaven and keeping his hair more slicked back, although I reckon both of those things would slide as he got more overwhelmed with responsibility. I figure the kids would eventually make it back home to Beacon by around vol7 the same way they travelled to Atlas to find military aid, and I can’t imagine poor Qrow would be doing too well by the time they got there…I do enjoy redesigning these two, and one of these days I will actually get around to drawing some proper stuff with this concept, it’s an especially fun one. -- source link

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