#Ibunet

[captain-azoren]

Name: Ibunet

Description: A cobra/komodo dragon zoanite, Ibunet is a princess of the Dragon Empire, granddaughter of the current emperor, and twin sister of Prince Qing Long. Ibunet is a driven young woman, seeking ways to obtain wealth, power, and influence within the Emperor's court. This is out of spite for her underachieving brother, whom she feels is unworthy of the throne.

Ibunet takes after her mother, who was herself a noblewoman from the lands to the South of the Empire. Not being born a true dragon zoanite like Qing Long, Ibunet takes pride in her mother's heritage, choosing to follow the fashion and customs of her mother's home. This includes the worship of Nehebu-Xuan, the snake god of the afterlife.

Ibunet's uncle, a high-ranking advisor and her mother's brother, took Ibunet under his wing and taught her their people's brand of sorcery, a form many consider dark and twisted. Ibunet is able to send forth blasts of eldritch green fire, but her most powerful talents are in miasmas and mind tricks. Still, in terms of sheer combat prowess, her brother has the edge with his lightning.

Like Qing Long though, Ibunet loves to bask in the luxury of royal life, and especially enjoys sampling the finest of desserts and delicacies from all over the empire, utterly spoiling herself.

One day, after having had enough of her brother's arrogance, Ibunet made the decision to leave the empire and carve out her own kingdom in the Wilds. She discovered lore of an ancient weapon hidden somewhere in the Forgotten Lands and went searching for it in hopes of using its power to tame the Wilds. Ibunet's search would lead her to a certain individual with similar ambitions...

Concept: Ibunet is one of the main villains early on, and I deliberately designed her to seem that way, from her visual design to her backstory. I wanted her to be as surface-level "evil" as she reasonably could be for the story I want to tell, short of murdering her minions. Less "evil" and more a mean, elitist snob who looks down on everyone. While she is spoiled, that's not to say she isn't talented or driven either. Ibunet is highly ambitious, and what she wants she gets, but she's really not that bad.

Aesthetically, she's sort of a mix of South-East Asian and Egyptian, as cobras and monitor lizards are native to both those regions. I also wanted to give Ibunet a more distinctive body type, being a sort of Golden Age Hollywood voluptuous. Think something like Christina Hendricks for someone more contemporary. She's a big, beautiful woman. Ibunet's figure is partially a result of her rich diet and the fact that her fighting style is more stationary than most of the other warriors, so she doesn't need to exercise that much to be effective.

And when I say she's big, I mean it. Ibunet is around 183 cm tall, or 6 feet. She really stands out in a crowd, and rather than be made to feel self-conscious of it, it just fuels Ibunet's vanity. Her size and stature are partially meant to contrast the main character Lygron, who is only average height for a guy at 173 and shredded with hard, chiseled, lean muscle, as opposed to Ibunet's squishier, curvier form.

Personality-wise Ibunet is based on Naga from Slayers (if you can't tell from the pose), with a dash of Azula. Ibunet can be cold and calculating when she needs to be, but when she's relaxed she can be very playful, teasing, and flirty, even towards her enemies. She is prone to the noblewoman's laugh when she's feeling humorous, and can even be a bit of a goofball. Ibunet lives for pleasure, but she feels like she's earned it and deserves it.

I had originally thought of having Ibunet be an outcast and raised by a cult or be a servant to play up the idea that she had grown up without fun or pleasure. That way, when she grew up, she would overcompensate by spoiling herself rotten, and it would give her a ympathetic backstory. Overall though, I think it overcomplicated things, so I decided to just let her be a princess from the get-go, albeit an envious one. I don't want her to be too sympathetic.

I reworked her design a little since the last time I drew her, but the colors are basically the same. I changed the eyebrows and the hairband a bit, as well as her staff. I'm a lot happier with how the second sketch came out, a much better conveyance of her demeanor;

[rei-is-hiding]

I don't know whether to request a drawing of Azula and Soren from The Dragon Prince or a drawing of my two OCs, Lyodin and Ibunet, so... if you feel like doing either just go for it :D

omg pls forgive me for this @captain-azoren , but the first thing i got when i thought about azula and soren was SHARPAY AND RYAN FROM HSM xD

i think their dynamic would be similar, i had to ~

[captain-azoren]

Sympathy for a Villainess

Let’s say I wanted to set up a villainess to seem irredeemable and unsympathetic. Let’s say I made her a seductress who toys with her enemies and has little remorse for her actions, who dresses provocatively and looks down on others. She has all the trappings and framing of a wicked witchy succubus.

Now let’s say at one point in my story, I suddenly pull the rug out from under the audience and show this villainess in a state of complete vulnerability and desperation as she’s about to be killed by her own hubris. Everything she’s done up to that point makes it SEEM like she’s had this coming… and then one of the heroes makes a last second decision to save her.

There’s a specific type of female villain I see every once in a while, and they usually get killed in some ironic death they bring on themselves. I want to take a character like this and give them a second chance. I want them to seem undeserving of salvation, but it’s a trick.

What would you do to make this moment feel appropriately shocking yet still believable? Would you drop little hints that she’s not so bad, so it would make sense that the hero would try to save her? Would that make the save less shocking? Or would you just make her play up her villain role without crossing the line into being irredeemable? How bad could you make her actions?

I’m obviously wanting to do my spin on an Azula-type character, but I want to do it right. I want to get the audience to find her unsympathetic, or love to hate her, and then I want to make the audience feel guilty about wanting to see her dead or punished.

I don’t want saving her just to prop up the hero. Saving the villainess does serve a part in his own character development, but she has her own story beyond this moment. I just can’t reveal that she has depth and character yet because I need the audience to feel things from the hero’s POV; this evil woman has been a nasty thorn in his side for some time. She isn’t his nemesis, but she has earned his ire by being a major obstacle.

There comes a moment where his goal is finally within his reach, and a window of time that he can save himself. He almost does, as she thrashes about angrily, trapped as the area around them crumbles, shouting obscenities at those who wronged her. But her cries get more frantic, she begins to beg as she fears for her life, and then starts to cry when it seems like no one is coming for her, her death inevitable. And the hero can’t ignore his conscious, because his journey began when he found himself trapped, helpless, and awaiting death. So, he gives up his chance to finish his mission, runs back and saves her.

It costs him even more than his mission, as they both end up trapped but alive. It’s from this point that I can finally delve deeper into the villainess and start turning her into more of an anti-hero. I don’t exactly want to redeem her, and I don’t want to change her. What I want to do is to reframe and recontextualize her, show what she’s like when she isn’t being an antagonist, just an uneasy ally.

Without really making her act that different, I want her to go from being seen as this evil, alluring witch to just being a playful, teasing flirt, one who is a thrill seeker and lives her life to the fullest. She does have a loose moral compass, but with more focus on here is becomes clearer that she does have some standards. She can be mean to her enemies, but not excessively cruel even if she threatened to be so. Her time as an antagonist to the heroes was still bad, but I want to show there’s more to her than what was seen in that time frame.

I’ll probably have more to say later, but if you’ve ever seen Slayers, imagine if Naga the Serpent was, for half a season, played as a straight villain before suddenly revealing what a stupidly charming loon she actually is.

@eshusplayground and @wingsfreedom I would love to hear your thoughts on this, if you’ve got the time. I just want to get it right.

[captain-azoren]

Just another Friday night...

[captain-azoren]

Did a little more work on this sketch, like shading and details. Might color it eventually.

[captain-azoren]

I'm trying to think of a good backstory for one of the main characters of my original fiction, and here's what I got;

An emperor sires two daughters, one of them is deemed his heir, the other one is cast out from royalty while still only a baby.

The outcast daughter, Ibunet, is taken in by a mysterious sect. They raise her and teach her along with other wayward children, learning dark magic. They have a very strict upbringing though, and are denied normal pleasures like games or even treats.

Ibunet proves to be adept at dark magic. One day she gets her hands on a piece of candy, and it's a huge burst of dopamine right into her brain. She makes a vow to become the best student, in hopes that the sect will let her see the outside world and she can experience the joys it had to offer.

Ibunet grows into adulthood and she passes her final exams perfectly. She's excited, believing that her time has come. However, it's just the opposite. Because of her talent exceeding expectations, the sect wants her to stay with them permanently in studying the dark arts.

Driven to the edge, Ibunet steals the sect's ancient staff and tomb of spells. She runs away for good, setting off to live her life to the fullest, one of hedonism and selfishness. Ibunet makes a new vow, to live the rest of her life in supreme luxury.

Soon, she's approached by a handsome man, who promises to make her his queen of a new world...

[captain-azoren]

Here's a concept mockup for my character Ibunet. Super rough, but it's got the design elements I want.

She's based on monitor lizards and asps, but I threw in a bit of diamondback for a little extra cool factor.

Part of her backstory is that she used to be part of a cult that practiced some extreme asceticism, and when she escaped she became a hedonist. That being the case, she's supposed to be a little husky, a little bit voluptuous in the classic Hollywood sense. I tried to go for something like Theda Bara or Christina Hendricks, but with a face like Uma Thurman with a kind of Cleopatra nose.

I'm very happy with how the skirt came out. The staff not so much, but this is more or less what I'm going for.

[captain-azoren]

Inverted Castle Pt. 1

(Hey, so if you've been paying attention tot his blog, you may have noticed me posting some stuff related to my original project, "Kingdoms of Gaia." I've decided that, instead of languishing as I try to come up with a good, meaty plot to write, I would write out these quick little scenes. Not much prose, more like transcripts, just to show what I have in mind.

I know this is primarily an Avatar/Dragon Prince blog, but I'd also really appreciate checking these too. They're a taste of what I want to do. Hopefully I can make a separate blog for Kingdoms of Gaia if I can get it enough attention here.)

Summary: In their journey towards the Dragon Empire, Lygron and Ibunet find themselves pinned down by a snowstorm only to encounter an ominous castle that has been turned upside down. With few options for survival, the pair enter the castle seeking shelter, and they encounter its mysterious lord...

Cast of Characters:

Lygron, Pantheran Pugilist

Ibunet, Reptilian Sorceress

The Inverted Castle, Part 1.

*Lygron and Ibunet are trekking up a rocky mountain trail through ankle deep snow. They are dressed in thick furs. Ibunet is shivering, her tail coiled around her waist as she uses her staff as a walking stick*

Ibunet: Uhg, it’s freezing… why do we have to go this way?

Lygron: Because it’s a shortcut and we’re in a hurry. We have to get ahead of the storm. Besides, it’s not that cold.

Ibunet: You’re warm-blooded and hairy. My body was made for much hotter climates than this.

Lygron: Really? You look like you’d be pretty cozy under all that blub-Ow!

Ibunet: *tail whips his ass* Watch your mouth. My plumpness is what makes me so pleasant.

Lygron: Whatever. Just keep yourself bundled.

Ibunet: *latches onto his arm* Hnmm, you should share that precious body heat. Stop hogging it all, be my personal heater!

Lygron: *frowns with exhaustion* Seriously? Uhg…

*more snow begins to fall harder as the sun sets between mountain peaks and the wind picks up*

Ibunet: It’s getting dark… and this snow is getting heavy…

Lygron: Yeah, maybe this was a bad idea. I don’t think we can outrun the storm at this rate…

*Ibunet squints ahead of them through the snow. Embedded the side of a nearby cliff face is a gothic castle, standing upside down as its black stonework contrasts with the white mountains. A small light can be seen through a window*

Ibunet: Hey, what’s that? Is that a… castle?

Lygron: Yeah, and it’s upside down? How...? *the wind whistles and he looks up at the dark clouds above* Come on, let’s take shelter in there.

Ibunet: What about whoever lives in there?

Lygron: Let’s just hope they’re a generous host. Besides, we don’t have much choice, unless you’d rather set up camp out here.

Ibunet: I’d prefer not, my tail is gonna snap off if I don’t get some heat soon…

To be continued...

Part 2.

[captain-azoren]

I don't have a complete plot for the story I want to write, but I do know the specific sequence of events and character interactions I want to build it around;

Protagonist is seeking revenge on his nemesis, an old supposed friend who savagely broke him in the past. It really messed him up and turned him into an a him, antisocial broken mess prone to anger.

The nemesis is working for a charismatic Big Bad who has other villains and mercenaries in his employ.

Protagonist is harassed by a quirky but powerful minion of the Big Bad. She is a witch who loves to toy with him. She likes seeing him get angry and flustered and is usually at an advantage in their fights.

At the climax of a dungeon crawl, the witch gets caught in a trap due to her own hubris, likely involving getting left behind or sacrificed by the Big Bad to die in, let's say, a cave in.

Protag has a chance to kill the nemesis he's been after, but he hears the witch begging for help as rocks fall around her.

Instead of taking his revenge, he saves the witch but is injured, and they both end up stuck in a cave system under a mountain.

Protagonist mentally kicks himself for letting his conscience get to him, saving someone who has been messing with him just because she was crying and missing his chance to complete the goal he's been after for years.

The two call a truce so they can work together to survive, make it out of the cave, and then both take revenge on those who wronged them.

They travel a while together and learn more about each other. Protagonist is closed and mistrustful at first, but the witch is actually very extroverted.

The witch feels extremely embarrassed that the protag witnessed her begging for help. She teases him to make up for it and keeps trying to get him to lighten up, even if they are on a revenge quest despite all the teasing and insults she's thrown at him in the past.

They complete a side quest on their travels that gets them to trust each other and even act like friends, but there's still some underlying unresolved tension.

Witch turns out to be more morally grey rather than outright evil. She joined the big bad because she wanted to share in the thrill and fortune of his exploits, and because he was cool and charming.

She also reveals she grew up in a very strict and sheltered enclave where she learned magic. One day she escaped and went off to indulge in her every hedonistic whim, as she had been starved for pleasure her whole life.

Tension finally boils over after the former minion teases the protag a little too much. Protag has had enough and demands she either be honest with him or stop teasing.

He silently confesses he's attracted to her, but doesn't want to open up unless she's willing to be real with him.

The witch is attracted to him too and was trying to get him to make the first move. The two of them share their first really intimate experience with another person.

Protag acts awkward about it at first, but he finally starts to get over himself and cheers up once he has someone he can really trust again.

The two catch up to the other heroes and villains to stop the Big Bad from taking control of a super weapon that can wipe out the environment.

The witch helps the supporting cast fight the Big Bad while the protag fights his nemesis that's in the way.

Protagonist gets another chance at revenge. He beats his nemesis in a fair duel, but refrains from finishing him off as he doesn't want that anymore and there are more important things to take care of.

The Big Bad is defeated (for now), and the protag and witch decide to stick together as an adventuring battle couple.

So what I'm missing is a good chunk of the beginning, because all this is like the second and third acts. I have some ideas, but I have a hard time putting things together to get all the pieces where they need to be. That's my last big roadblock to this story. I need more reasons for these characters to collide.

[captain-azoren]

Did some slight edits to my two Kingdoms of Gaia characters, Lygron and Ibunet on Hero Forge.

Mostly just changing Ibunet's colors and measurements. I made her taller than Lygron. She's around 5'10", he's at 5'8".

[captain-azoren]

A very rough WIP of my other main OC, Ibunet. I took a lot of inspiration from the Kyoshi Warriors makeup. I still might change the colors up later to see what works. I like the design, even if I kind of hate my drawing skills.

She's meant to be part venomous reptile, but I haven't really decided which species. Either an asp to fit the ancient Egypt/Cleopatra aesthetic or a monitor lizard/komodo dragon. That being said, the only purple venomous reptile I can think of is a bush viper.

Here's the original pencil sketch;

[captain-azoren]

Some more Hero Forge stuff, this time for my reptilian sorceress, Ibunet. She’s inspired by characters like Naga the Serpent from Slayers, Tala from DC/Justice League, and other ladies of black magic. I wanted her to have a bit of a Kemet/Ancient Egyptian aesthetic. Her sorcery resembles the kind of dark magic you’d see in The Mummy films, so think curses and miasmas and summoning swarms of scarabs.

I was thinking her animal base should be either an asp (Egyptian Cobra) or a monitor lizard.

[captain-azoren]

New character profile; Ibunet, based on an earlier concept.

Ibunet is a poisonous reptile woman from the desert. She wields a pole arm with a curved blade designed to deliver her own venom to her enemies via special grooves running down the handle and blade. Her venom is secreted from her claws and fangs, and she can spit it as well.

Ibunet is a priestess of a mysterious sect, and has learned various types of debilitating curses and hexes, including creating miasma clouds and paralyzing victims with a gorgon stare.

She also possesses a long, prehensile tail that she can whip when in a jam. Ibunet can also inject venom via biting with her fangs or scratching with her claws.

Ibunet has a cold and haughty exterior with a mischievous streak, looking down on the weak, the unambitious, and the common. Ibunet enjoys using her mysterious allure to tease and lull others into dropping their guard before she strikes.

She enjoys the wealth, luxury, and power she has attained, but it is all to distract her from the lonely emptiness she feels deep down.

I designed Ibunet with an ancient Egyptian aesthetic in mind. Her hair is meant to resemble both a pharaoh's headdress and a cobra's hood. I gave her high, prominent cheekbones and upturned eyes to give her a more "evil" look. Her facial markings are inspired by Kyoshi's makeup from Avatar as well as Narti from Voltron.

Originally I had her look like Azula, but I didn't want to copy that too much.

[captain-azoren]

Had some more Castlevania Netflix headcanon stuff; the ancient Egyptian God of the Netherworld Galamoth exists (yes he's from the games), and seeks to take over the power vacuum left behind by Dracula. He doesn't exist in the physical world yet, but his dark agents seek to bring him to Earth. Their cult practices dark magic and demonology, curses and the like.

I'm trying to come up with an OC who is a dark priestess of Galamoth. I'm thinking something like a cross between Elizabeth from Skullgirls and Mileena from Mortal Kombat, with a heavy snake theme. Think something like the the Stygians from Conan.

I'll name her Ibunet for now. She'll wield a long scepter as well as a dagger. She'll be less mobile fighter, but have a lot of big AOE spells and defensive barriers, specializing in debuffs and slow, debilitating curses. Maybe summon demons too. Kind of warlock-y. I'd like her to interact with Raiger/Rufus in some way, maybe as an antagonist before partnering up.

Also, going with the Conan parallel, I guess Raiger would be like a Pict. Fitting for a werebeast.

[captain-azoren]

Rough sketch. Might work on it more later.

[captain-azoren]

Showing off the height difference between Ibunet and Lygron. Lygron is 173 cm, and Ibunet is at least 183, though I think she looks even taller in this sketch. I think I made them both look a bit older than they should be; they're both supposed to be in their very early 20's.

This scene would take place when they first meet. Ibunet isn't the first taller woman he's met, but she's the only one who's ever made him feel small, so to speak.