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My OCs: the squid girl
12 years ago
Hey look another TL;DR journal post.
First off, a big heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful artists who have drawn Lux, either through commissions or as gifts. I've also gotten some positive feedback on her design and personality, which means quite a lot to me. I plan on posting some stories that feature her at some point in the not-too-distant-future, so I look forward to seeing how people respond to her further development.
While Lux is really dear to me---she's basically my 'sona---I'm still rather attached to my other characters, some of which have been kicking around the back of my head for years. One of these is the squid girl you may have seen in some of my commissions. Her name is Bring-Back. I was a bit fixated on her (and the band Sigh) when I created this account a few years back, hence my username.
Older art will likely depict her with four humanoid arms, but something about that arrangement bothered me. I think maybe she looked a bit too awkward, not streamlined enough? I've since dropped the second set and elongated her midsection somewhat in an effort to make her sleeker and more squid-like. Also squids have ten appendages, so if she has four arms and two legs, that only leaves four tentacles which added to the awkwardness of her design a bit further. Six tentacles forming her "skirt" seems better, plus it allows her two human arms to stand in for the two longer arms squids possess.
Anyway, one of the ideas behind her design was that the tentacles around her waist form a sort of organic skirt. They're somewhat flat and broad to accommodate the set of humanoid legs she has as well. In that sense she's not a mermaid-type character; she can walk on land without any difficulty. But yeah, if the tentacles were too rounded it would add too much bulk down below like a massive bustle-y Victorian dress, so I made them more like strips of flesh. They move around but have a somewhat limited range of motion. At some point I want to carry the "living dress" thing a bit further and add a web of skin covering her chest from shoulder to shoulder like a capelet of sorts. Skin texture is somewhat rubbery I'd imagine, and it varies in color from lighter flesh tones to a darker purply color. I also picture splotches of this darker coloring in places. I'm thinking her 'hair' is maybe some kind of analog to human hair. Maybe.
This is actually a species design too, as the main inhabitants of Lux's world are these squid-folk (I haven't settled on a name, but I have several ideas). In that sense Bring-Back is pretty run of the mill. I'll post more about the species as a whole later, but for now suffice it to say Bring-Back is actually quite stereotypical in a lot of respects despite her attempts to be original. She's also something of a troublemaker. Her father is the Grand Inquisitor, which means he's the head of that region's "morality police" which sits at the intersection of their society's religious institutions and law enforcement. She harbors a profound bitterness toward him, so she had dug up some dirt to try to discredit him.
Which landed her in a lot of hot water. When her father discovered his daughter's treachery, he had her stripped of her title and social standing and branded one of The Dead. It's a designation for social undesirables and outcasts, a scarlet letter of sorts. As such her full name with title is Bring-Back The Dead. She's forbidden to enter residential districts and visit certain establishments now, can't interact with higher castes, can't own property. The real punishment comes at night however. Dreams are extremely important for her race of squid-folk, and they have a certain collective subconscious wherein they interact more intimately and share thoughts and feelings. The Dead are basically shut off from the rest of their kind when dreaming, alone and forced to stifle their emotions without an outlet to offload onto. Over time it takes a huge toll, and some unfortunate souls end up going mad and/or committing violent acts during the daylight hours. To add insult to injury, The Dead are also tasked with cleaning up other peoples' psychic residue. In other words they're janitors of the dream world. This residue is quite potent, and exposure to it can trigger very unpleasant thoughts and sensations. Also they're sometimes tasked with capturing nightmare beasts. It's one of the only highlights as far as the mind-numbing tedium is concerned, but unfortunately it's an exceedingly dangerous one. Their name ('The Dead') comes from their hollow stares during daylight hours, as they are often emotionally and physically exhausted.
Personality wise, Bring-Back is not particularly pleasant. Her race is known among outsiders for being arrogant and somewhat conniving, and she doesn't do much to dispel these negative stereotypes. She has quite a haughty attitude to boot. Many of her kind seem resistant to opening themselves up to others, but this is partially the result of their being more emotionally intimate during their sleep cycle. Not having this outlet has taken its toll on her, and she feels vulnerable and lonely, but she's reluctant to admit as much. It becomes somewhat obvious however that this is a driving factor behind her befriending Lux.
Speaking of, the shark humanoids I mentioned before are somewhat common in this society. The squid-folk have been in contact with humans for a while now, and they've taken to using human stock for the purposes of familiars and as a convenient labor source. The squid-folk are highly predisposed to the arcane arts; they use their magic to mix humans with various "lower lifeforms," usually infusing said lifeforms with cataloged human properties, but in some cases abducting humans and doing it the other way around. These hybrids are often bonded to a particular wizard and serve him/her obediently; in those cases their level of care depends on their benefactor, ranging from 'slave' to 'one of the family.' Now and then a hybrid will be dismissed or its master will die, and so it enters society at the bottom of the social ladder so to speak, basically eking out a living doing menial work.
Lux actually does quite well for herself, and she has a bit of social standing relatively speaking, at least as much as hybrids tend to get on their own. Still, associating with her is something Bring-Back would likely not do if it weren't for her being an outcast herself. The two have a somewhat shaky friendship for a while, but gradually things begin to thaw. I'll probably elaborate more on their interactions later.
First off, a big heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful artists who have drawn Lux, either through commissions or as gifts. I've also gotten some positive feedback on her design and personality, which means quite a lot to me. I plan on posting some stories that feature her at some point in the not-too-distant-future, so I look forward to seeing how people respond to her further development.
While Lux is really dear to me---she's basically my 'sona---I'm still rather attached to my other characters, some of which have been kicking around the back of my head for years. One of these is the squid girl you may have seen in some of my commissions. Her name is Bring-Back. I was a bit fixated on her (and the band Sigh) when I created this account a few years back, hence my username.
Older art will likely depict her with four humanoid arms, but something about that arrangement bothered me. I think maybe she looked a bit too awkward, not streamlined enough? I've since dropped the second set and elongated her midsection somewhat in an effort to make her sleeker and more squid-like. Also squids have ten appendages, so if she has four arms and two legs, that only leaves four tentacles which added to the awkwardness of her design a bit further. Six tentacles forming her "skirt" seems better, plus it allows her two human arms to stand in for the two longer arms squids possess.
Anyway, one of the ideas behind her design was that the tentacles around her waist form a sort of organic skirt. They're somewhat flat and broad to accommodate the set of humanoid legs she has as well. In that sense she's not a mermaid-type character; she can walk on land without any difficulty. But yeah, if the tentacles were too rounded it would add too much bulk down below like a massive bustle-y Victorian dress, so I made them more like strips of flesh. They move around but have a somewhat limited range of motion. At some point I want to carry the "living dress" thing a bit further and add a web of skin covering her chest from shoulder to shoulder like a capelet of sorts. Skin texture is somewhat rubbery I'd imagine, and it varies in color from lighter flesh tones to a darker purply color. I also picture splotches of this darker coloring in places. I'm thinking her 'hair' is maybe some kind of analog to human hair. Maybe.
This is actually a species design too, as the main inhabitants of Lux's world are these squid-folk (I haven't settled on a name, but I have several ideas). In that sense Bring-Back is pretty run of the mill. I'll post more about the species as a whole later, but for now suffice it to say Bring-Back is actually quite stereotypical in a lot of respects despite her attempts to be original. She's also something of a troublemaker. Her father is the Grand Inquisitor, which means he's the head of that region's "morality police" which sits at the intersection of their society's religious institutions and law enforcement. She harbors a profound bitterness toward him, so she had dug up some dirt to try to discredit him.
Which landed her in a lot of hot water. When her father discovered his daughter's treachery, he had her stripped of her title and social standing and branded one of The Dead. It's a designation for social undesirables and outcasts, a scarlet letter of sorts. As such her full name with title is Bring-Back The Dead. She's forbidden to enter residential districts and visit certain establishments now, can't interact with higher castes, can't own property. The real punishment comes at night however. Dreams are extremely important for her race of squid-folk, and they have a certain collective subconscious wherein they interact more intimately and share thoughts and feelings. The Dead are basically shut off from the rest of their kind when dreaming, alone and forced to stifle their emotions without an outlet to offload onto. Over time it takes a huge toll, and some unfortunate souls end up going mad and/or committing violent acts during the daylight hours. To add insult to injury, The Dead are also tasked with cleaning up other peoples' psychic residue. In other words they're janitors of the dream world. This residue is quite potent, and exposure to it can trigger very unpleasant thoughts and sensations. Also they're sometimes tasked with capturing nightmare beasts. It's one of the only highlights as far as the mind-numbing tedium is concerned, but unfortunately it's an exceedingly dangerous one. Their name ('The Dead') comes from their hollow stares during daylight hours, as they are often emotionally and physically exhausted.
Personality wise, Bring-Back is not particularly pleasant. Her race is known among outsiders for being arrogant and somewhat conniving, and she doesn't do much to dispel these negative stereotypes. She has quite a haughty attitude to boot. Many of her kind seem resistant to opening themselves up to others, but this is partially the result of their being more emotionally intimate during their sleep cycle. Not having this outlet has taken its toll on her, and she feels vulnerable and lonely, but she's reluctant to admit as much. It becomes somewhat obvious however that this is a driving factor behind her befriending Lux.
Speaking of, the shark humanoids I mentioned before are somewhat common in this society. The squid-folk have been in contact with humans for a while now, and they've taken to using human stock for the purposes of familiars and as a convenient labor source. The squid-folk are highly predisposed to the arcane arts; they use their magic to mix humans with various "lower lifeforms," usually infusing said lifeforms with cataloged human properties, but in some cases abducting humans and doing it the other way around. These hybrids are often bonded to a particular wizard and serve him/her obediently; in those cases their level of care depends on their benefactor, ranging from 'slave' to 'one of the family.' Now and then a hybrid will be dismissed or its master will die, and so it enters society at the bottom of the social ladder so to speak, basically eking out a living doing menial work.
Lux actually does quite well for herself, and she has a bit of social standing relatively speaking, at least as much as hybrids tend to get on their own. Still, associating with her is something Bring-Back would likely not do if it weren't for her being an outcast herself. The two have a somewhat shaky friendship for a while, but gradually things begin to thaw. I'll probably elaborate more on their interactions later.
