Character Designs and other stuff (original title, I know...^_^)

[lordnitemare]

Well, I thought I might as well post my first post (besides, the introduction), with my first WIP...a char I am working on, for a Golden Sun idea I have. Basically knocked this up in the 1/2 hour I was waiting for my registration e-mail to come through.

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His name is Caleb, and yes, he DOES have Star Ocean's Albel style hair (and if you don't know who Albel is, that is what Google is for). He's got some beastman in his heritage, hence the ears, and violet eyes. His basic bio reads: 'A young Venus Adept, he is shy and rarely speaks. He was bullied in childhood, due to some family quirks/traits (haven't decided which one yet). He wears a vintage heirloom yellow scarf with ancestral pride'

It is still a WIP, only got the basic sketch and base colours, as well as the Djinni (which was the hardest part of the sketch BTW). So yes, I know his right hand looks to big, and his right forearm is too small. That is what WIP are for. And I suck at backgrounds, so don't look for anything earth-shattering. If you want to know the basic plot of the story he is in, just ask and I'll be happy to tell.

Oh, one more thing, he is NOT Matthew's son, or even grandson. More like great-great-great-great grandson. So just take it on faith that a yellow scarf would survive a few hundred years if properly taken care of. Or has some sort of Psynergenic energy to re-new itself as needed (it WAS there at the rising of the Golden Sun after all  ^_^) And that is Flint as his Djinni (the first part of his bio reads: 'This ever-faithful Djinni has been in Caleb's family for generations.' Haven't decided about the last part yet. Probably be something about being full of knowledge.)

[Rolina]

So a descendant, but not an immediate one.  Interesting take.

[lordnitemare]

Yes, I am still alive. And still slowly working through my Golden Sun Children. To that end, I have a new piccy. Also a WIP, basically the base sketch and some base colours to test them out etc...but I thought I might as well quickly whip this up so I have SOMETHING to show. As it is, I am not happy with Spynel's design. I just could not think of a decent outfit for her. As it is, Caleb's design and colours are pretty much down pat, as are Talise. Dustain has the right sort of outfit, just not to sure on his colours though. And Spynel's hair is right, as is the colour, just not happy with her outfit. So here is the piccy:

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As you can see, I still need to do some work. They are the children versions, not chibi forms of their teen selves.

Caleb is the blonde, and the leader of the coterie. He is a Venus Adept, but has some beastman in his heritage. No, he cannot use Jupiter Psynergy, he is most definitely a Venus. He is a Pure specialist, using Earth and Stone, like Matthew and Issac. He is also a Fighter style, mostly attacks and a few healing buffs. Essentially he is a clone of Matthew. However, there really is not much else for a Pure Venus Fighter than that particular archtype. His Djinn is Flint, and like the other 'family' Djinn, Flint has been passed down generation to generation, as has the yellow scarf. And it is actually longer than him atm, since they would all be around 6-9 or so at this point.

Spynel is the redhead, and a Mars Adept. I still need a better name for her...maybe...I am trying to keep with the gemstone type theme - Garet could come from Garnet, which is a red stone. I chose Spynel which is what I made up from Spinel, a rare red gem. However, something to do with Ruby might also be good. I just need to work on it more. So Spynel is Garet's descendant. I am ignoring Tyrell because he is a immature dooshe. As such, her hair actually does spike up. If she didn't put it into those Temari-like pigtails, she'd have a red afro. She is a Greater Sol specialist, and a Spellsword style. Her attack lines are pretty much like Garet's: with the basic, intermediate and advanced, along with the ward buffs and debuffs, she just trends towards the explosives side: Burst line, Nova line and Volcano line, as well as a few others. Her family Djinn is Flint. And no, I am not happy with her outfit. Not really. I kinda like the colours, but I think I need a better outfit...

Dustain is the Jupiter Adept, and he is Ivan's descendant. Dustain actually means Thor's Stone...I think...or at least it is something extremely similar to Dustain. And, yes, his name is open to change. Just something to do with thunder. He is a Striker Style, Greater Luna specialist. He is purely the lighting side, with the buffs and debuffs. His family Djinn is Gust. And yes, I did forget to colour in Dustain's ear...-_- I like his outfit, basically that is what he'd wear, just not too keen on the colour scheme of it.

Talise is the Mercury Adept of the coterie. She is not actually Mia's descendant (for that, to keep with the Warriors of Vale descendants, she'd have to come from Reif, whom I always thought was a wet blanket). So she is Amity's descendant. Which means she comes from Alex as well, who is Mia's cousin...so it all works out...I guess...Anyway, she is a Balanced specialist, using Ice and Mist, and is the Magus style. She is mostly Mia in attacks and benedictions, and pretty much in Class lines as well, and is the healer of the group. Her family Djinn is Chill. Her design is pretty much set as well, the colours might need a bit of tweaking, but that's pretty much her outfit. I also think of her as having the personality of Captain Unohana from Bleach.

So there you have it. Long post is LONG, so I hope y'all managed to get through it. But before I do go on, one last piece of information. In this age, Djinn are very rare, well, at least free Djinn are very rare. And by free, I mean like how you meet them in the games. Due to various reasons, that I shall not go into here, the Djinn are 'dying' out. By some strange and convenient coincidence, there are exactly 9 of each Djinn still free, including the 'family' Djinn...

And the children all meet in an orphanage, or something similar, due to various reasons. For Caleb and Spynel their parents died when they were only a year or two old, for Dustain, he was the youngest of 6 children, and so was abandoned by his family (still living quite happily), because they did not want to look after another child, and Talise was sent there by her father after her mother died, since he could not look at her without seeing his beloved wife.

So yes, any questions, or advice, please feel free to ask and tell...

[Rolina]

Awww, they look really cute~<3

[Kioll]

If you didn't want to use Rief as an ancestor, you could've used Nowell, his sister.  Also, you used the name Flint for the Mars Djinn.  I think you meant Fever.  But not sure.

[lordnitemare]

@Kioll: Yeah, I guess she could come from Nowell (and if what we think might happen, actually happens, she may also come from Piers as well). I actually thought we were going to get Nowell when we met them in the Kolima Cave, and was most upset when we got Reif instead. Oh, and yes, I was meaning Fever. Thanks for picking that up for me ^_^.

Also, I do have an updated piccy:

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Discovered that Dustain was actually Dustin (no 'a'). And changed Spynel to Rubia. And Talise to Naida (keeping with kinda-sorta-based-on-water names; Naida = Nyaid, a water spirit). I think they are a bit better. Still open to change, but Dustin and Caleb are set in their names.

Also refined their outfits a bit. Added a gold trim and embroidery design to Naida, as well as changed the direction of the wrap. Maybe I'll refine the design a bit more to reflect the Mercury Lighthouse emblem-thing (if it has one...-_-).

Changed Dustin's shoes, now he looks more Golden Sun-y (is that a word?). Also added a trim to his collar and some shoulder pads, which I think make his outfit look better. And coloured in his ear.

Made Caleb's scarf a bit wider, since he's smaller than the others who have worn it previous, and it'd be a bit large on an 8-year-old. Also a gold trim down the center with Chinese-style buttons (if he didn't have the scarf, you'd see the Chinese-style collar with gold trim as well). Also adjusted the colours of his boots.

Rubia went through the biggest change though, completely changed her outfit. She now has a red sleeveless dress with a white undershirt, the dress has gold trim and embroidery on the bottom, changed the shoes and socks to boots, and gave her a sleeveless long vest-thing. Am thinking of shortening it just a little, maybe to just above where the gold embroidery is so you can actually see the gold embroidery on the bottom. And gave her the front bits of hair which I forgot in the last piccy.

So there we have it. I think I am liking these outfits more, especially Rubia's. Any comments or questions y'all have, please feel free ^_^.

[Aile~♥]

I have just one thing to say: Rubia's boots are a little too tall, in my opinion.

Other than that, looks pretty darn cool.

[lordnitemare]

@Jamie: Hmmm...maybe you are right. I think I'll lower them just a tad. I had originally wanted them to be around knee-height. And I think I will raise the over-vest thing.

@Everyone else in General: Although I was wondering if I should add an undershirt to Caleb's outfit? Looking very critically at his outfit, his arms seem a little bare.

Oh, and if anyone was wondering about Caleb's genetics, I read Role's guide-thing a few times, and came to the conclusion that the beastman genetics were watered down with a few generations of human partners after the initial Matthew/Sveta pairing (yes, I am a Spiritshipper). But the beastman genetics are dominant to the human ones (according to Role), so the traits still apply, even this watered down.

As it is though, even with the dominant beastman trait (which tried it's best), all he inherited was a heightened sense of smell and eyesight (he is quite sensitive to very strong smells, and he can see farther than most humans) although they are not as advanced as a pure or even 'half' beastman, as well as the physical sign of his ears (and subsequent hearing, which is almost but not quite as good as a pure or 'half' beastman).

He does not have enough of the beastman trait to have the 'other' form, nor use any beastman-related Psynergy though, so he can't use the Spirit Sense Psynergy, nor the Track Psynergy (his sense of smell is not advanced enough for that) although he can use the Slap Psynergy but only if he equipped the Slap Gloves. He also cannot use Jupiter Psynergy, except if he equipped a Jupiter-based Psynergy Item.

[lordnitemare]

Hey peeps.

This be hopefully the final rough draft of my next gen kids. Here be the piccy for perusing.

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Basically I changed the swirl thing on Naida to the Mercury symbol, raised Rubia's vest thing so we could see the embroidery on the bottom, and added the Mars symbol there, as well as lowered her boots a touch. Dustin remained the same, as I had no issues with his outfit. Caleb however gained an undershirt, which I think adds that last touch to his outfit.

If anyone is interested, Dustin and Caleb have their symbols (the Venus and Jupiter ones) on their backs, as there was no place I could really put them that they would look good on their fronts. Dustin is up the top (like Naida), and Caleb's is down below (like Rubia).

Also, worked out their ages. Rubia and Caleb are both 8, Dustin is 7 and Naida is the eldest at 9.

When they first start on their journey (shortly after this 'photo' was taken), they all 'borrow' some basic weapons. Naida got a short staff (well, she 'appropriated' the Matron's walking stick actually), Dustin took the slingshot he had made, and Caleb and Rubia both took wooden bokken (practice kendo sword things) that they used in gym.

It was actually a split second decision, made after the orphanage they were in had a visit from the main villain and his son (who was around 13-14 or so). The Family Djinn got freaked from that so they advised their masters to flee, and they did.

I have some more of the 'verse they are in. Basically this is a few hundred or so years after Golden Sun Dark Dawn, well, it's closer to a thousand really, and at this point everyone has at least a very basic usage of Psynergy, if only the Move Psynergy, thanks to the Lighthouses. However, a hundred years previously, some bright spark of a ruler decided that if the Djinn were basically the Elements in flesh, then they would provide a good source of power. So he and his city began kidnapping the Djinn and using them as power sources. Soon all other cities began doing it as well. The main baddie and his son are from that original family.

Anyway, after being used relentlessly, without the ability to go back to Sol Sanctum to 'recharge', the Djinn started to 'die'. Well, they couldn't die as such, they are tied to the Elements after all, but their power was drained, leaving them as lifeless zombie-like husks. And the 'supply' of Djinn is running out. Djinn are now a precious commodity, and any which are found are immediately brought to the main city to be placed in the power vaults.

By sheer coincidence there are only 9 of each element of Djinn still 'free', including the Family Djinn. Caleb and his coterie set out to find the Djinn 'dumping' grounds, so they can rescue them and take them back to Sol Sanctum (which was rebuilt over time by the Wise One).

Of course, this is just a basic idea. I'll probably refine it more, but for now that is basically what Caleb and his coterie's journey is about. They start the journey as children, and by the time they have finished they are around 10 years older, and the 'free' Djinn they get stay with them, after their brethren have been rescued.