I actually finished this a few days ago, but did so right as I got a new laptop so I’ve been busier than usual with transferring files and whatnot! Apparently I wanted to go ham on the texture detail for this particular drawing though, so I’ll likely simplify that more for the design sheet later haha

This is Phoenix! Her design might change a little bit as I continue developing where I place her in the story, but the general idea is she’s a leader of a dance group with some of the other bird constellations and was once a part of Ura’s circus until their relationship soured over time. I wanted to go for an aging debutant / 1920s flapper kind of inspiration, as both she and Ura’s performance styles and aesthetics match a similar era. The brooch she wears is called the Phoenix Heart, and was a gift from Ura when they first fell in love.

True to her name and unlike most other constellations, she can resurrect herself after burning out, and this death defiance was of great appeal for Ura’s performances initially. But Phoenix isn’t completely immortal, and she’s one of the only constellations that shows her age visually because of this. The more times she burns out, the more her feathers turn to ash and stardust, and her fire magic takes a greater toll to use.

She carries a lot of distrust towards the zodiac after what happened with Ophiuchus and his connection with Ura, and thus doesn’t exactly give Cassie a warm welcome when they first meet. She does eventually come around to at least help them find Ura in Chapter 2.

The constellation symbol for Phoenix was originally designed by Denis Moskowitz and released to the public domain. https://www.suberic.net/~dmm/astro/constellations_t.html