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Welcome and Hello,
Today i wanted to write about something a little bit different. My idea: to show, that everyone, even such untalented people like myself
can create a character and how, over time, even a simple idea can become something you fall in love with 
So, this isn’t an instruction to how to do it, it's more just my story how my OC was created and evolved over time, and a way to show people who might struggle with an idea, not to give up and who are maybe afraid showing what they created, not to fear.
And yes, I admit, I have no real life when I took so much time thinking about something like this
---
So, let me introduce you to my OC Crystal Sakura / Zaephyr Fox
You can read her Bio
![]()
---
When my OC was created, I never really thought that she would be more than just a few written lines on a piece of paper. Between 2002 and 2005 I was in a group who tried their luck with some pen and paper role-playing games. We started with some normal board games and also Warhammer 40k but later wanted to try out some games like D&D and Shadowrun. But I am honest with you, we never really played them, more we experimented with the rulebooks and were more into creating scenarios. I played a little bit with character sheets but was never really happy with just throwing some things together.
This was already the time I was more into deeper characters and was interested to create a player character and not only give a little bit more backstory, but also one that wasn’t already overused.
Now my idea was to create a more Rogue/Thief like character and I struggled a lot with it in the beginning, because one thing I wanted for this character was, that he or she wasn’t an asshole but also not a Robin Hood like character. This character should have some kind of selfish side, but also be someone who would stand up partly against injustice. Also, she or he should be more of a kind of lone wolf, but if you gain this one’s trust, they would fight alongside you.
I think some of you will now, just from my description already see where my problems were – there was a lot to avoid so this character wouldn’t become just a copy of some other character. But the first thing I had to decide was what gender my first character would have. I thought a female would work best with what I had planned.
So, I had to find a good way to combine the ideas I had for her, with a backstory that made sense and not let people think about other (maybe even copyright) characters. But first I had to find a name for her and also there should be a second name, like an artist name she is known under. With the second one I had not so many problems, but her main name brought me near to a break down (don’t take it to serious ). I had some names in my head, but with some, It just didn’t make click and others just were too strange. I can't remember anymore why in the end I went with “Crystal Sakura” but it took me a while I think I had some idea about her parents naming her after two specific things – it’s one part I might have to think about again ^^
Her artist name was a little bit easier, but I would lie if it was the first name I came up with
Now I should mention, that I wanted to do something a little bit different with my character. One thing you normally should do when creating a character (at least I personally think this should be done) is giving the character a reason why she or he is traveling through the land or doing what they do. And for my character, I had this idea that she was some kind of Lycanthrope. Not the evil version out of the mainstream media, more someone who knows what she is and how to use it and maybe try to find out more about how she became this.
So, her first version was called Zaephyr (a word I found through a song from Luca Turilli) Wolf, who was a thief just for fun, because she loved the thrill, helps out people who she thinks got wronged and if you get on her good side, get an absolute loyal companion as long as you don’t piss her off.
Sadly, our group broke up a few months later and I never was able to use her in a game. I through most of the things I had from this time away, where I knew it couldn’t be used anymore – lets face it most of the things we agreed on where house rules that only could be used by us – but I couldn’t delete her, I already put so much time thinking about her (even if I didn’t write a big backstory or something like this) she really grew on me.
Over the next years, I always had her on my hard drive. I had no one who played any pen & paper games I might have tried to use her, but she started to become a character I started to create in RPG video games.
This was also the time I started to fiddle a little bit more with her and not only tried to design her appearance but also started to write a real backstory for her. I just felt it was time to do a little bit more with her, and so I started to take some time and thought about her life.
My first step was looking where she came from. I still wanted her to be a thief, but how did she come to this profession? The idea that came to mind was, that she was an athletic person, and this had to come from somewhere. So, the idea of a performer of a traveling circus was born. This worked in many ways because it not only explained part of her talent but also how her name was chosen (her parents might get the idea from different parts of the world) but also why she had an artist name. I thought why not let her grow up in this place but being someone who just had a free spirit and one day left this life, but with everyone knowing – so I avoided some tropes that you would normally see in these cases
Now I had the first part of her origin but how did she become a thief? This was not that hard, because I had this idea where she wanted to teach someone a lesson. And this brought another idea. I didn’t want to create a perfect character, I wanted to have someone who makes errors and can be a little bit hot-headed. So, her first burglary was something that failed in a big way. But this was the turning point where she started to train and become the thief she is now.
We know now where she is from and how she became a thief but what is with the Lycanthrope story part? I would lie when I say this wasn’t again a part where I had to wrap my head around. I had two problems with this: 1. I didn’t want her to become one through getting bitten or scratched, I wanted to find another way and 2. I wasn’t really anymore sure if I use a wolf form for her – in my eyes, it just didn’t match with her character. So, what should I do?
But through sheer luck I found a solution, and this was even better than my first idea. At the time I was reading a story about a kitsune character that not only gave me the idea to change her animal form from Wolf to Fox, but also create a second character that she was somehow connected to. And so not only her name was changed to Zeaphyr Fox but also the fox spirit Aiko was born. And with it the idea that she was transformed through a contract that was made through a pendant.
And so slowly her Bio page was created
At this point I will admit I never really thought about showing this character to anyone or that it even will become something more or that there would be even another big change in her design and character coming. I was happy with her and she went back to her place on my hard drive.
Some time passed again, and something happened. I got the possibility to appear as a character in a panel in a future issue of “The Beast Legion”. Now I was not very keen on been myself there, so I asked the creator Jazyl Homavazir if he would have a problem to use my character for this - I am honest I was really sure if he is ok with that – lets face it he is a comic writer and is already working a lot with fictive characters, but he said yes and so the first drawn version of her was created
Now I was really happy about this. Seeing your character for the first time drawn in some way.
But this wasn’t what sparked her next evolution – this took nearly another year. Again, through some luck I got a drawing from NotImportant (Creator of Replay) in a way that would fit into the world she created. Believe me, when I say that this was one really amazing opportunity (for me at least) and this was the second time I gave my small description of Crystal out. And this is what NotImportant did with her
People who have read my small journal entry about kemonomimi
know how I feel about them, and yes, I had tears in my eyes seeing her in this form created by one of my favorite creators out there. And this was the point where I was thinking about not only going for the silver fox variation but also thinking about going for this design. What do I mean with that? I was thinking about giving Crystal the idea that she liked this form in some way and run with it when she is alone. And so her fox ears and tail where added to her design.
And now you can find her in this form in many different versions from different artists in my gallery (and there are still some coming in the future – because I started to collect all these interpretations from my favorite artists )
![[SteamPunk Crystal] by DarkRinoa88](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/00cd14e5-e11c-4f7c-93d1-10e0d2d5494c/dc0pmkh-673afd5e-9daa-4fd7-95e5-afc3f1e2d000.png/v1/fit/w_150,h_150,q_70,strp/_steampunk_crystal__by_darkrinoa88_dc0pmkh-150.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTM0MSIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzAwY2QxNGU1LWUxMWMtNGY3Yy05M2QxLTEwZTBkMmQ1NDk0Y1wvZGMwcG1raC02NzNhZmQ1ZS05ZGFhLTRmZDctOTVlNS1hZmMzZjFlMmQwMDAucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.rNCvE-3AKXEFj-D7vsB_tfBJlIbBiiSOdySDFm4PogU)
I am still NotImportant thankful, not only that she drew her but also gave me the most obvious idea that I have never seen because it was directly in front of me So yes, this was the short story of how my character was created and how her evolution was over time. I know this is a bad story, and my character might not be that interesting for many people, but like I said, this was more the idea to show people to never hide their work. Even if you are the only one who likes your creation, this is something no one can take from you. I had to learn this the hard way, but I am happy that I found people who kicked me in the butt for this.
And even if I might never finish writing my story, I have it in my head and know how my characters live their life
So thank you for reading this overly long ramble and I hope to see you next time
Today i wanted to write about something a little bit different. My idea: to show, that everyone, even such untalented people like myself
can create a character and how, over time, even a simple idea can become something you fall in love with So, this isn’t an instruction to how to do it, it's more just my story how my OC was created and evolved over time, and a way to show people who might struggle with an idea, not to give up and who are maybe afraid showing what they created, not to fear.
And yes, I admit, I have no real life when I took so much time thinking about something like this
---
So, let me introduce you to my OC Crystal Sakura / Zaephyr Fox
You can read her Bio
Mature Content
---
When my OC was created, I never really thought that she would be more than just a few written lines on a piece of paper. Between 2002 and 2005 I was in a group who tried their luck with some pen and paper role-playing games. We started with some normal board games and also Warhammer 40k but later wanted to try out some games like D&D and Shadowrun. But I am honest with you, we never really played them, more we experimented with the rulebooks and were more into creating scenarios. I played a little bit with character sheets but was never really happy with just throwing some things together.
This was already the time I was more into deeper characters and was interested to create a player character and not only give a little bit more backstory, but also one that wasn’t already overused.
Now my idea was to create a more Rogue/Thief like character and I struggled a lot with it in the beginning, because one thing I wanted for this character was, that he or she wasn’t an asshole but also not a Robin Hood like character. This character should have some kind of selfish side, but also be someone who would stand up partly against injustice. Also, she or he should be more of a kind of lone wolf, but if you gain this one’s trust, they would fight alongside you.
I think some of you will now, just from my description already see where my problems were – there was a lot to avoid so this character wouldn’t become just a copy of some other character. But the first thing I had to decide was what gender my first character would have. I thought a female would work best with what I had planned.
So, I had to find a good way to combine the ideas I had for her, with a backstory that made sense and not let people think about other (maybe even copyright) characters. But first I had to find a name for her and also there should be a second name, like an artist name she is known under. With the second one I had not so many problems, but her main name brought me near to a break down (don’t take it to serious
). I had some names in my head, but with some, It just didn’t make click and others just were too strange. I can't remember anymore why in the end I went with “Crystal Sakura” but it took me a while I think I had some idea about her parents naming her after two specific things – it’s one part I might have to think about again ^^Her artist name was a little bit easier, but I would lie if it was the first name I came up with
Now I should mention, that I wanted to do something a little bit different with my character. One thing you normally should do when creating a character (at least I personally think this should be done) is giving the character a reason why she or he is traveling through the land or doing what they do. And for my character, I had this idea that she was some kind of Lycanthrope. Not the evil version out of the mainstream media, more someone who knows what she is and how to use it and maybe try to find out more about how she became this.
So, her first version was called Zaephyr (a word I found through a song from Luca Turilli) Wolf, who was a thief just for fun, because she loved the thrill, helps out people who she thinks got wronged and if you get on her good side, get an absolute loyal companion as long as you don’t piss her off.
Sadly, our group broke up a few months later and I never was able to use her in a game. I through most of the things I had from this time away, where I knew it couldn’t be used anymore – lets face it most of the things we agreed on where house rules that only could be used by us – but I couldn’t delete her, I already put so much time thinking about her (even if I didn’t write a big backstory or something like this) she really grew on me.
Over the next years, I always had her on my hard drive. I had no one who played any pen & paper games I might have tried to use her, but she started to become a character I started to create in RPG video games.
This was also the time I started to fiddle a little bit more with her and not only tried to design her appearance but also started to write a real backstory for her. I just felt it was time to do a little bit more with her, and so I started to take some time and thought about her life.
My first step was looking where she came from. I still wanted her to be a thief, but how did she come to this profession? The idea that came to mind was, that she was an athletic person, and this had to come from somewhere. So, the idea of a performer of a traveling circus was born. This worked in many ways because it not only explained part of her talent but also how her name was chosen (her parents might get the idea from different parts of the world) but also why she had an artist name. I thought why not let her grow up in this place but being someone who just had a free spirit and one day left this life, but with everyone knowing – so I avoided some tropes that you would normally see in these cases
Now I had the first part of her origin but how did she become a thief? This was not that hard, because I had this idea where she wanted to teach someone a lesson. And this brought another idea. I didn’t want to create a perfect character, I wanted to have someone who makes errors and can be a little bit hot-headed. So, her first burglary was something that failed in a big way. But this was the turning point where she started to train and become the thief she is now.
We know now where she is from and how she became a thief but what is with the Lycanthrope story part? I would lie when I say this wasn’t again a part where I had to wrap my head around. I had two problems with this: 1. I didn’t want her to become one through getting bitten or scratched, I wanted to find another way and 2. I wasn’t really anymore sure if I use a wolf form for her – in my eyes, it just didn’t match with her character. So, what should I do?
But through sheer luck I found a solution, and this was even better than my first idea. At the time I was reading a story about a kitsune character that not only gave me the idea to change her animal form from Wolf to Fox, but also create a second character that she was somehow connected to. And so not only her name was changed to Zeaphyr Fox but also the fox spirit Aiko was born. And with it the idea that she was transformed through a contract that was made through a pendant.
And so slowly her Bio page was created
At this point I will admit I never really thought about showing this character to anyone or that it even will become something more or that there would be even another big change in her design and character coming. I was happy with her and she went back to her place on my hard drive.
Some time passed again, and something happened. I got the possibility to appear as a character in a panel in a future issue of “The Beast Legion”. Now I was not very keen on been myself there, so I asked the creator Jazyl Homavazir if he would have a problem to use my character for this - I am honest I was really sure if he is ok with that – lets face it he is a comic writer and is already working a lot with fictive characters, but he said yes and so the first drawn version of her was created
Now I was really happy about this. Seeing your character for the first time drawn in some way.
But this wasn’t what sparked her next evolution – this took nearly another year. Again, through some luck I got a drawing from NotImportant (Creator of Replay) in a way that would fit into the world she created. Believe me, when I say that this was one really amazing opportunity (for me at least) and this was the second time I gave my small description of Crystal out. And this is what NotImportant did with her
People who have read my small journal entry about kemonomimi
Why Kemonomimi?One thing i interestingly get asked a lot, at least every time I talk with someone about my favorite fictional characters, is, why my top three all have animal traits and if I am someone with a fetish (this makes it even harder to deny when they know my OC ^^)
To be honest, this really is just pure coincidence, but against what everyone might think, this isn’t why I love these characters this much.
So, what is it what fascinates me so with the characters:
Holo/Horo from Spice and Wolf – created by Isuna Hasekura
Caster (Tamamo no Mae) from Fate/Extra – created by Nasu Kinoko/Kazuya Niinō
<b>
know how I feel about them, and yes, I had tears in my eyes seeing her in this form created by one of my favorite creators out there. And this was the point where I was thinking about not only going for the silver fox variation but also thinking about going for this design. What do I mean with that? I was thinking about giving Crystal the idea that she liked this form in some way and run with it when she is alone. And so her fox ears and tail where added to her design.
And now you can find her in this form in many different versions from different artists in my gallery (and there are still some coming in the future – because I started to collect all these interpretations from my favorite artists
)
I am still NotImportant thankful, not only that she drew her but also gave me the most obvious idea that I have never seen because it was directly in front of me
So yes, this was the short story of how my character was created and how her evolution was over time. I know this is a bad story, and my character might not be that interesting for many people, but like I said, this was more the idea to show people to never hide their work. Even if you are the only one who likes your creation, this is something no one can take from you. I had to learn this the hard way, but I am happy that I found people who kicked me in the butt for this.And even if I might never finish writing my story, I have it in my head and know how my characters live their life
So thank you for reading this overly long ramble and I hope to see you next time
Edit 08.02.2018
So many things can change over time. I just got this lovely rendition of her by Claarin and this brought me back to continue writing small stories (Tapas) with her (they are not very good). I am not sure if i will make them all public, but there will be more of her, i just can't let her go
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Replay Comic Fan Trailer
A simple, quick and dirty video editing experiment, that was given the OK from the creator of the comic, NotImportant, herself. Please check out the comic and support the artist behind: https://replaycomic.com
Fox and Spirit Comic Teaser
Just a little thing I put together the past days to promote our comic - hope you enjoy it :)
Sunrise - A relaxing Photoshow
I was playing around with iMovie and my phor library a little bit. This was the outcome.
Coloring a sketch - just having some fun
It is quite funny. There I am, someone who has zero artistic talent, who always tries to do something with art. I am just an idiot ^^; But I think I finally found something I actually am able to do - coloring some forms :D Ok, let´s stop joking around. I don´t know why, but even after I stopped drawing, I still wanted to use the rest of my markers I have lying around. So I thought I ask a good friend of mine, who is a real artist, NotImportant (check her out if you can), if I could color one of her sketches she puts out form time to time (and also told her she could chose which one I should do). She chose one of her newer ones, only known as "Bread Girl". I know, coloring something shouldn´t really called "art", but tbh, I still believe it is a good way for people, who follow artists, to create some kind of "fanart", if they are unsecure about creating something for themselves - but I still would ask the creators behind these sketches if they are OK with that (like in my
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