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3wisellamas · 5 years

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Character Creation Tag

Tagged by @the-golden-ghost

I...don't talk a lot about my OCs on here. ^^; But, for the purposes of this thing, think I'll rant about Kelly, since I just think she's neat. If you don't know her (and you probably don't), uh...think big blob alien.

1) What was the first element of your character that you remember considering?

To be honest, she kind of came out of me trying to think about how her species would really work, or especially how they'd interact with the humans that had taken over their planet, back when the plot happened after a SUCCESSFUL human invasion. Since I was still figuring out the characters in general I didn't have any aliens yet, it was actually mostly about the robots, so I just...made her up, to have a way of exploring that stuff.

2) Did you design them with any other characters from their universe in mind?

Admittedly, not really. She was just...some rando, a test character that I figured I would end up plugging into a tiny part of the story eventually, after finally coming up with it. Her having any real development or even being a major character wasn't a consideration for a while!

Heck, she still clashes with the non-gel characters a lot, kind of on purpose, to show how alien she is -- or, rather, how alien THEY are compared to her!

3) How did you chose their name?

Uh...picked it at random? ^^; Okay, I actually did have a thought process. I came up with her full name, Alkeli, first -- a little play on the word "Alkaline", since she's made of an extremely basic/low-ph material. Kelly was just a cute nickname for her that stuck.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of their world played the most influential part?

Hoo boy, here we go. Like I said, she was originally a VERY inconsequential character that I was just using for playing with concepts, but then I changed the plot to deal with the consequences of a FAILED human invasion of the aliens' planet rather than a successful one. So, since the aliens were still top dog and actively trying to wipe out the few humans left, the human characters needed some leverage in order to survive. I reworked Kelly as a character with connections to both worlds -- she's an alien, but was raised by the humans. And I thought it'd be especially funny for her to technically be considered one of the main humans' "twin" sister as a part of that (I get a lot of joke mileage out of reactions to that little fact.)

5/6/7) Is there any significance behind their hair color/eye color/height?

Well, she doesn't have hair, so that's a problem. She also doesn't actually have eyes, though she does have fake ones as part of her translator device -- them being blue really isn't too significant, other than her dad just picking it because it's his favorite color. :P

Her height actually is kinda significant, though! Most gel who interact with humans do so via translator devices, which give them a "face" and shape them to look a tiny bit more humanoid as part of it, but they usually still stay kinda blobby and close to the ground. Instead, Kelly is super tol and intentionally tries to look more human-ish with hers, to show that she literally considers herself more human than gel.

8) What do you relate to within their character/story?

Let's see here. Zero social skills, doesn't relate to really anyone at all, and is often a jerk to others without realizing it? Check. Forced by her parents into their own future plans, with her own dreams pretty much disregarded? Check. Low-key wants to be an artist even though she has exactly zero talent? Check. Total weeb loser who mostly just hides in her room playing video games all day? Triple check.

9) Are they based off you in any way?

She might actually be the closest character in the whole thing to a self-insert. ^^; Which is saying something...

10) Did you know what your character’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Nope. I still don't even know. Her species doesn't actually...reproduce, like at all (that's even a major plot point, since Kelly's birth and existence is VERY unusual!), but that's as far as I went in thinking about it. Like to think of her as ace/aro nowadays though.

11) What have you found is the most difficult art form in creating your character?

She's actually pretty easy to draw in my usual 2D cartoony style, but...I honestly have NO idea how she'd work in 3D space at all, so if I ever tried to render her in any 3D medium it wouldn't go well. ^^; And neither does anything more realistic either -- did I mention she's literally a mass of semitransparent goop? Trust me, I've tried. It doesn't work.

12) How far past canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story?

I typically have my characters' ENTIRE lives planned out. So...yeah. All of it. Not elaborating though, because spoil.

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things you MUST keep in mind while working with this OC, what would they be?

1. Even if she's pretty much a human culturally, she is NOT one physically. She works very differently from the other non-gel characters; she can only see in certain circumstances, for instance, and her other senses all work differently too, including ones humans don't actually have. Her physical capabilities are also very different, too, which I gotta keep in mind for the various shenanigans the cast get into -- if everyone has to jump off a thing she can't follow them, but if they need anything underwater they'd be stupid not to go right to her!

2. Her manner of speaking is also VERY different from the humans and robots, because like all gel she doesn't have a mouth and all her speech has to be translated -- can't slip up and accidentally have her use a contraction! (until the plot twist that she's totally faking it for reasons and CAN speak like everyone else, hehe...)

14) What is something about your OC that makes you laugh?

She's definitely one of the snarkier characters, always taking shots at my more ridiculous characters and plot points. ^^ Plus, take away her mask and she's...literally just a big angry blob of jello. That sleeps in a tiny fishtank. There's just something inherently funny about that.

15) What is something about your OC that makes you cry?

Just...a lot of her backstory, and how it shapes her attitude as an adult. I put a LOT of the shit I've been through into her, good and bad, and sometimes it's...a bit much for me admittedly.

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

She can be TOO standoffish and aloof, REALLY taking after her father, and her character development goes along some pretty dark routes. It fits her, and is totally appropriate for her role in the story, but...unlike her dad, she isn't always a lovable asshole, and writing those scenes is NOT fun or easy, when she ends up making mistakes and hurting my other OCs and especially her family because of it.

17) What is the most recent thing that you’ve discovered about your OC?

Um... oO Not 100% sure what this means. The newest thing I added to them? Probably that she'd totally make a kickass spy if she actually went for it. She's definitely got the stealth and detective skills!

18) Favorite OC fact?

She considers herself a white hat hacker. Well, as long as she's hacking the people she cares about -- to her enemies, she can wreak a surprising amount of havoc, and is the main source of info on the villains' plots from all the data she steals from them early on in the story (and continues to be, as she starts decrypting it throughout...)

Tagging: Nah. If you wanna steal and gush about an OC, go for it.

#may...not keep this up long sorry #i'm not too comfortable gushing too much ^^;#even about this wip #emwrites

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