#Liora (Slime Team)

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

No big lore dump today, just two art pieces and not much more!

(original Tweet: "Drawing is so much fun right now! Come meet the latest design of my three-eyed character, Ziyan!

Tried going for a magazine shoot aesthetic with his clothes and pose and it was so fun throwing him in funny clothes.I had a Glamrock/Dracula-mix design in mind. Like the result!", August 22nd, 2022)

(original Tweet: "I also drew another OC of mine in the same session, Liora.

I like her, cause to me she combines two aspects of manga I grew up with into my story - both shonen and shojo. In concept, she symbolises fragility and strength which is something I try to build into all my protagonists!", August 22nd, 2022)

I tried going for a magazine shot aesthetic and I still love how the Ziyan one came out today.

I've tried changing and tinkering with his design for a while now, but I think this is his best variation until now.

Basically, with his backstory and roots inspired by the Ottoman empire and such, I wanted Ziyan to look more Mediterranean, but this vampire-esque design just looks so fresh and whatnot. I'm always scared to let my characters suffer from main character syndrome - it's important to me that while they stand out, they don't look too different from the side cast and unimportant characters. And then there's Ziyan with a third eye, bangs, a little piece of hair there and a long earring on the other side and a hair bun there and hairs sticking out from the sides... I'm just worried it's too much!

At the same time, I once read that a good design is achieved when, by their mere silhouette, you can make out who the character is or what his defining traits are. I'm still trying to figure this out, and I think there's a lot of yet unused potential in Ziyan. I want him to have some cowlick-like hairs sticking out from the side that look like devil's horns, so it complements his grim and scary appearance. I think a mix of this and his newer design ideas would be perfect, I just have to figure out how to keep his peak design aspects and coolness and make them work with more simple and effective choices.

Liora's design, on the other hand, hasn't changed so much ever since I created her. But then, Liora's story changed a lot, while Ziyan's stayed mostly the same! Which is a funny coincidence, because I first shared and introduced concept sheets for Liora and Ziyan on the same tweet!

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

It's me again. Today, we'll be talking about group dynamics! One thing I'm always enjoying a lot in anime and manga is the often times beautiful bond and friendship of the protagonists. There are many different kinds of relationships - best friends like it is in One Piece, people who hate each other so much that they love each other as in Ranma 1/2, people who were friends in an instant like those in Dr Slump, people who are united by fate and grow to attach to one another like the sailor guardians in Sailor Moon... There are all kinds of group dynamics and it is probably very hard to make different people come together and have them be authentic friends.

(original Tweet: "Today's practice session's product. I tried to be faster again and could get this WIP done in ~40 to 60 mins. I'll probably colour it too.

Wanted to draw my story's group and their chaotic dynamic. They don't always get along but also love each other. :D", August 5th, 2021)

Well, as for me, I wanted to create characters who complete each other and who I would love to be friends with. Basically, each of my characters represents a side of myself in a way, so it's not hard for me to think about them interacting with each other.

There are very active and outgoing characters, such as Risebert, Liora or Miles. There are distant and suspecting characters, for example Ziyan, Sarim or Patra. But it is as a whole that I want them to shine. I think the group dynamic is very chaotic at times, because the party lacks some kind of leading figure.

(original Tweet: "I scribbled an update on the protagonist team of my story! Really want to do one digital drawing of them again in full colour since some designs have changed and new team members have been added!

Feel free to read the Alt-text for an elaborate description of some background info!", June 29th, 2022)

Sure, Liora might be considered the leader of the team. But she surely is not a great leader. Everyone can and will take their own decisions according to their personality, but as a community, they will look out for each other in a way or two. Having a leading figure is not bad, though. Luffy for example, is a great leader despite his goofiness. His friends respect his choices more often than not and acknowledge him as their leader. Conan Edogawa leads the Detective Boys with his natural leading qualities and earned respect of the other kids. There are badly written leaders, too, though. Yu-Gi-Oh's Yami Yugi helps Yugi be confident and successful, but there is kind of no reason for Joey, Tristan or Thea, Bakura and Mai to follow him so devotiously. Monster Rancher's Genki is kinda thrown into a leading role when in fact Holly is the one who brings the group forward.

(original Tweet: "Been drawing a little bit. With the tablet I have for studies, I tried scribbling, but the pen isn't really suited for drawing and I don't think I've seen a good free program yet, unfortunately (sketching w/o colours is fun tho). Also drew on actual paper again, it's so fun!", October 6th, 2021)

As you see, heaving someone in charge can be a very hard role to write. I like my protagonists to be on an eye to eye level, with everyone's motivation kept mostly equal at most times. When the party comes together and works on achieving the goals of one single member, they do it because they're friends, not because they're told to by a leader. So that's how I'm sticking with them for now!

I think there are many many layers that make a good group dynamic. It isn't enough for the whole group to work together greatly, I think. You also need them to be able to shine when they're on their own. On top of that, you need them to be able to come together in very small groups and get their dynamics to work out as well. This is the hard part, I think. Ranma 1/2 and One Piece do a great job with this. You can put two randomly chosen main characters together and they just feel authentically great together with no hesitation.

(original Tweet: "Quick midnight doodle trying to get into (digital) drawing again~", January 10th, 2022)

Miles is an outgoing, energetic character. But he will help Victorine with mundane tasks and I feel like it is going to be a genuine interaction. At the same time, Miles can go on missions with Risebert and both stand their own. Miles can meet up with Sarim and both, with their own different personalities - one carefree and the other a coward -, can still authentically feel like best friends.

I really need to draw more pictures with single members of the main cast together, because I really want to see those scenarios act out on paper. It is a fun thing to imagine and I think they all work. It doesn't have to be all lovey dovey between them, though. For example, Risebert and Ziyan, much like Zoro and Sanji, have an unspoken rivalry going in between them with one being outdoorsy like a dog and the other reserved like a cat. I think it's fun to watch friends bicker amongst each other. It makes me appreciate them even more when they have each other's back in hardships. This is something the Sailor Moon anime does really well, too. I loved the season 1 finale with everyone dying one after another. When Usagi and Rei were the last girls standing, their interactions felt so genuine and authentic... All thanks to their constant arguments when they weren't in danger before.

I think putting together characters who are polar opposites is a great way to shake and freshen up the whole dynamics and friendship formulas! Figuring out one main characteristic of each character can help putting them together to create the right dynamics, I think. It's like mixing and matching colours, in a way!

(original Tweet: "As a German saying goes: "once the cat leaves the house, the mice will dance on tables" - if chief Liora were to leave for a few days, her team mates would try to fill her place in the guild reception.

I wanted to visualize how each member would do in today's practice session!", August 13th, 2021)

All those parameters can help you create a great group of individuals with each one having room to shine! I hope I can make my characters shine, too!

This is it for today's blog entry! If you want to look up a post to a specific character, you can check out the tags! I tagged all posts with the names of the characters I mention them in! See you soon!

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

Today's episode deals with struggle! So bear with me as I struggle to find words to work through the post. Don't worry though, it's not about real life struggles, it's more about the struggles of my OCs!

Originally, I wanted the story to start shortly before or right after Liora joined Pure Prosperity. There, she was meant to climb the ladders until she was met with problems - problems her guild mates create and problems she encountered while getting to know the leader better.

Much similar to Patra, she has her own goals in sight, but she struggles far more in trying to keep a good attitude and stay motivated as she is met with difficulties on the way. It is not easy being on top. Everyone wants to be liked and acknowledged, even if they're trying to hide it, I'm sure of that. As she feels that everything starts falling apart by the time she is nearing her goals, she tries to put up a strong face.

(original Tweet: "So I saw a report about actress Mena Suvari on TV yesterday talking about her experiences while shooting for American Beauty.

They showed the infamous rose bath scene & as it seems, there have been many iconic scenes.

Wanted to reimagine the scene with my OC Liora so here goes!", July 24th, 2021)

Originally, I had planned to let the women who the guild leaders had "his hands on" have them cover their shoulder-arm areas to hint at domestic violence. I don't know if I want to keep this concept up, but you can see some marks on her arm if you look closely. Same goes for Patra too. As Liora reaches her breaking point with the guild, she starts wearing clothes more freely again which I wanted to be a symbol for her breaking free as she breaks the shuckles of Pure Prosperity. Patra on the other side I drew very rarely with uncovered arms and shoulders which is an interesting parallel as she can't break away from him so easily.

Of course, all of my characters go through difficulties and struggles they overcome with time. Beating our fears makes us stronger and I want to see my characters succeed and grow with the progression of the story! Another character I have yet to formerly introduce is the three-eyed character that used to go by the name Seth.

(original Tweet: "In my practice session the other day, I wanted to try to draw faster. It kinda worked out and I hope I can reduce my drawing times and draw more efficiently.

On the picture, you see my character Seth with his native clothes. I wanna make the scarf work and have a few ideas." August 21st, 2021)

I already shared his first character sheet earlier. I think his story changed the least in the meantime! First of all, his name changed from Seth to Ziyan. Ziyan is a Turkish word for wasting something. When you say "ziyan oldu", you pretty much say something like: "oh it's a shame! It's a waste!"

Now, why would someone call his child that? That, I can answer. Ziyan is the son of the ruler of the far Sherbet Islands. You see, he was born with a third eye. This is not the problem in itself, though. In the royal family, heirs and rulers are usually born with a third eye, too. The common folk is born with a third eye. The difference is that, in their beliefs, only those who are born with a vertical third eyes are fit to believe and carry the blood worthy to rule over the kingdom. Even though Ziyan is one of the three children of the ruler, he is not born with a vertical eye, but a horizontal eye. Which is what made his father call him Ziyan - a waste, a shame.

Originally, he meets the party by just being a regular in the motel the party is staying at. They never see or meet him early on, but after some time, they catch him which is the first opportunity to introduce him to the story and the party. For some reason, he needs to leave as soon as possible, so the party helps emptying his room. There, Miles and Sarim see that photograph of Ziyan's family.

(original Tweet: "In today's practice session, I wanted to draw something in a manga panel-esque style!

Since I'm not sure if the compression will make the text unreadable, I've attached cropped pics as well.

Tried to be a bit quicker than before. Info about chars/story in thread if u wanna know!", July 25th, 2021)

If you look closely, you will be able to see Ziyan's dad, his mother (the ruler's concubine) and his sister with the royal vertical eye. His sister is called Ziyafeth. Ziyafet is a Turkish word for, you know, a feast, a banquet, richness in a kind. You get the metaphor, I think! Those two words, ziyan and ziyafet, just sounded so good together that I felt like they are just perfect as names for those two characters.

In Sherbet Island, a civil war is sparking. The common people storm the castle in their blind rage and try to kill the ruler, but are held back by ultimately. Ziyafeth will later rise to be the current ruler. Ruthless and violent, she sees everyone without the vertical third eye beneath her. That's why she starts hating Ziyan from an early age, too. Basically, they have a similar dynamic to Avatar's Zuko and Azula.

Even though the civil war fails at some point, they manage to take away Ziyan who they think is just a common child taken there to serve or something since he doesn't have the royal eye. Then, as they are hunted by the royal family, some of the rebels flee the island with Ziyan by their side which is how he ends up in the places our party is living in.

He lives in constant fear of being hunted down by the now grown Ziyafeth which is why he struggles to trust anybody. He feels the need to hide his third eye, but will, much like Liora, break free of these chains as he begins trusting his newfound friends!

Ah, today's blog was very fun to write, but this much is enough for today. Everyone struggles, but our struggles define who we are set to become. It is decided by how we manage to get through our struggles, so I hope you're never giving up and always try to fight your way through. Give it your best and you will always succeed.

Next post, we will be talking about the party and their overall dynamic again which I am looking forward to! Take care, see you then!

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

Today's post will show you some of my earlier sketches where I tried planning out the meeting of a new addition to the party!

(original Tweet: "A couple of hand drawn doodles I wanted to draw digitally for the sake of doing a warm-up!

They are OCs of my story (that has had like six major arcs in my head now but none on paper lol). Click on the alt texts to learn more about them! Ah if you knew about them what I know....", August 20th, 2022)

So, as I told you last time, Liora leaves that prestigious guild, along with Victorine and Hertz (who would later be renamed to Sarim, so I'm going to call him that after this point). After some recollection, she is going to operate from Victorine's motel, trying to earn her own name with her own guild. It's just that... well, there are no members yet! There is Victorine who has no combat abilities at all, Liora who has avoided danger at all costs and Sarim who is trying to earn money in other, less harmful ways.

In the meantime, Miles, the Mii Brawler with the slime, joins the group. At this point of the story, I wasn't really sure how to let him join and at what point, but what I knew was that the first four members of the guild would be them. Someday, they find a letter in their mail. Some old guy from the other side of the town is asking all kinds of guilds for their support. His youngest daughter seems to have been possessed by a demon or something like that.

Liora, who thinks this seems like a pretty unserious mission, accepts in her desperation. She needs the money, after all. So she sends Miles to the old guy to get a first impression on the situation. There, he meets another guy who looks like a solitary adventurer. Turns out, the old guy didn't only send an invitation letter to Liora's guild, but put up a huuuge note on the community board hoping to get as much as help as possible to lift the curse on his daughter.

(Previously unreleased sketch of the old guy and his three daughters. July 23rd, 2021)

The old guy owns a medium sized pub or restaurant that he runs on a family business basis. He thinks his youngest daughter, who would serve the guests, caught a curse since and says she's getting more gruesome with each passing day. He claims it's been getting so bad his guests will not come visit anymore. His other daughters will happily bully the youngest sibling.

(original Tweet: "Daily practice piece. Feel like drawing (almost) daily makes my drawings look cleaner with each try, even if it's just sketches & flat colours.

I get a better grasp of how to draw my characters & the routine & drawing regularly makes my attempts & progress more efficient, I feel.", July 23rd, 2021)

However, the girl seems pretty fine, so the group is at a loss at first. After a day of spectating the girl and her family dynamic, Miles and the adventurer make their way back home. Liora comes to pick up Miles which is when she and the new guy are introduced, at last.

(Previously unreleased sketch of Liora and the new guy; Liora is dressed up as Rinoa Heartily from Final Fantasy VIII which was just a choice for the fun of it. July 23rd, 2021)

To be honest, I initially planned this mission as an opportunity to introduce the man who would be named Risebert to the main party. I was wondering how their paths might cross and I wanted to make sure that he, with is simp qualities, would make sense in a guild and missions setting, so having him attend the same mission as Miles made sense since the mission's objective was to lift a curse off a young maiden.

Clearly, I've drawn inspiration from the simp trope for Risebert's new reincarnation. He has been a reoccurring character ever since the earlier sketches. From originally being hedonistic he has changed to simp for a pretty long time. I have toned this quality down a bit because I think there's always a very thin line between funny and annoying / borderline harassing in the in-story universe such as seen with Sanji from One Piece. Don't get me wrong, Sanji is one of my favourite Strawhats, but the way his worst qualities are portrayed, especially after the time skip in Fishman Island, was very off-putting. It has become an even more prominent personality trait during that time because it was used as a running gag so frequently, but it has reached such heights that it started to affect the character in my opinion. Another great example for a flanderized simp character in such extent is Pokémon's Brock. I didn't want that for my character, to be honest.

In my newest iterations of the character, I plan Risebert to be significantly less simpy. There will be no or at least much less heart-eyes love jumps such as shown in the sketch above, and I want him to be more flirty and charming which I think is when Sanji, for example, is most brilliant at, too.

Also, besides the introduction of Risebert to the party, I wanted a simpler mission to kick-start the beginning of Liora's guild and establish the dynamics between guild members without having to concentrate on a complicated plot. I think I need to think up scenarios where single members are paired together to showcase their dynamics more. In my head, they're already chosen family to each other, but this is something only I know and find logical since I am the one who has been spending the last years with them and their evolution.

However, upon meeting Liora, Risebert seems to fall head over heels for her and takes an interest in the party. This goes so far that he will soon be a constant guest in Victorine's motel, too. The curse of the ugly sibling, however, turns out to be true in the end. It will be revealed that the girl does indeed have an aura of darkness around her which was a point in the story I brought up to introduce another key element in the story then - in the world of my story, people were originally going to be "cursed". By curse, I mean getting strange powers really, comparable to devil fruits, magic powers yada yada. It was a way to make sure the reader knew something was coming up with the curse thing, but I have dropped this concept in later stages of my planning.

There are still special powers involved, but they're implemented in another way. I still remember so clearly how Risebert was supposed to join the party in this arc, but I have other plans for him now! He also has his own motivations and goals and I think I will introduce him properly in another blog entry.

As always, it was very fun to cover yet another part of my story! I think as soon as I've caught up to the other Tweets and older art, I will try to create a timeline-post where I talk about the order of events that lead to what is going to be. But this is for another day. Thank you again for reading! I hope to be seeing you soon, again!

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

Today's post contains pictures about the time I tried to write down the first steps in the making of my story!

(original Tweet: "Reference sheet post for my story because I love posting about it and sharing with u :D

I plan the introductory chapter & 1st portion of the story to start out with Liora and the backgrounds that lead to the critical part severing her ties with her initial guild, Pure Prosperity.", July 17th, 2021)

So, the blonde girl from my last post (who would go to be called Liora) joins a guild in that world. Just like it is in most animes and video games that habe guilds in them, guilds are groups of people who carry out dangerous and fantastic missions for their clients. It's an extra fun concept in my opinion, because it mixes that yearning for adventures and unusual jobs with the flexibility of a fantasy setting, so those guild jobs are only bound to the boundaries of the creator's imagination!

So the girl, Liora (which is a name of, I think, Hebrew origins, meaning something such as "light"), she somehow joins this prestigious guild called Pure Prosperity, filled with some pretty cool and strong people. She is not very popular with most of her guild mates, though - her habit of selfishly trying to steal the spotlight all the time and provocative behaviour is not well met. Soon, her close relationship with the guild leader Sarec (anagram of Caesar - although I now notice that for that, Sarec is missing an additional A! Oops!) sparks further controversy among her peers, ultimately leading to them plotting against her with their goal being her kicked out.

(Previously unreleased sketch of Liora trying to be filled in on current affairs in the guild by her chaotic assistant Victorine to purposefully crash a guild interview or press conference in order to get her name in the limelight and be known as the face of the group despite not participating in any missions. July 15th, 2021)

Behind the plot stands the strong guild member Patra (inspired by and shortened form of Cleopatra), who was pretty close to Sarec before Liora came along. Patra is a cold and distant lady on the outside. She's got her own goals and knows she needs to stay on Sarec's good side in order to follow her plans. She puts on a good face and tries to bear through it as she thinks he will lose interest in that new girl and even introduces her to her own friends. In the meantime, Liora even manages to get some of her old friends in the guild, such as Victorine and Hertz (who would later be named Sarim), who I will be formerly introducing her at a later post.

(Previously unreleased sketch showing Liora, Patra and a few of her yet unnamed lady friends from other guilds - no one really likes the new and exciting girl, so they too would like it best if she could be avoided. July 11th, 2021)

(original Tweet: "Just a couple of lazy doodles I did between studies and uni stuff", April 2nd, 2022)

But soon, Patra is overrun by her emotions eventually as Liora gains more power that is taken from Patra and begins climbing higher positions inside the guild despite having no real competence to fill them really.

Patra fears a hindrance for her plans as Sarec begins paying her and her objectives less attention. Sarec has had various affairs in the past that came and went, so she swallowed her pride for the greater good, but it seems that Liora poses an even greater threat than she thought, so it's time to get rid of her...

(original Tweet: "Just a couple of late night OC concept art. Uni feels so overwhelming atm, I feel like I'm at my limit. 😭

Struggling a bit mentally but I always found comfort in drawing, so I guess that's why I find myself scribbling more (on suboptimal media/with suboptimal tools) these days.", April 7th, 2022)

While the guild members succeed in shattering Sarec's trust in Liora with their lies and plots, their relationship is hurt further and further as times moves on. Sarec is getting more violent and ruthless by the day, not only in the guild affairs and politics, but he starts treating Liora worse, too. A breaking point is met when Liora catches on to Sarec's and Patra's relationship as the both of them start meeting up romantically again.

In the next press conference, Liora puts them on blast and publically announces her departure from the guild, while she's all dressed up in an iteration of a "revenge dress".

(original Tweet: "This weekend, I started drawing again after a long time (didn't have time, exams amirite). Freedom's taste SO GOOD.

Also traced my traditionally drawn art for the 1st time today! Was fun cause I could incorporate my "real" style into my digital style a bit more. Will try again!", June 26th, 2022)

She is then stripped of all her guild money and ends up losing the place where she's staying. She loses all of her prestigious friends who only pretended to like her because of her newfound and now lost power. Unexpectedly, Victorine and Hertz stay by her side and give up their respective positions in Pure Prosperity and prove to be real friends. Luckily, Liora can stay at the run-down motel in the lesser parts of the town owned by Victorine's family that would later become her legitimate base.

Later on, Liora, who is burdened by a breathtakingly high debt she made to keep up a charade, will be setting up her own guild (which goes under the name Slime Team as of now) and meet various new friends. They help her to trust for the first time and together, they go on all kinds of adventures to earn their money and fame back!

As you can see, I am very much influenced by soap operas, but the way I imagine my story, it is a blend of soap opera, slice of life and shonen! It is so much fun to imagine all the scenarios and arcs my characters go through and as strange as it may sound, I feel so attached to them! As always, I send you my heartfelt thanks for your time and for reading! See you soon with my next art and story pieces!

Opening this Tumblr and just writing my heart and soul off feels so fulfilling! I hope to be reading some of your stories soon, too. It's a bit hard for me to coordinate websites as I'm not very talented with doing so, but I will surely be diving into OC- and artist-Tumblr to get a glimpse of your beautiful worlds too and I can't wait!

[slimehatart]

Oh I loved drawing this specific picture.

(original Tweet: "I finally finished the drawing of my protagonist team.

Think I will formally introduce them with new inidivual sheets I'll do in the next days.

I admire artists that are able to sketch, line, colour and shade their artwork regularly and quickly. It sure is fun but also so tiring!" July 14th, 2021)

It shows the protagonist group. It includes slimes, Mii Brawler, the Pique Kingdom people, the three-eyed character and another girl. They are still members of the group, but in the meantime, two more characters have joined it!

I just love the vibe, the feel of the picture. After all this time, I could call this my personal magnum opus, they're so vibrant and full of individuality and personality to me!

[slimehatart]

And this is when the first OC sheets began to come to life! The first sheet belongs to what used to be 00028!

(original Tweet: "Drew a few new OCs!

Sheet 1: woman, getting kicked out of prestigious guild after jealous co-workers set up a plot. Will create her own, isn't good w/💸 & has huge debt

Sheet 2: man, 3-eyed, will join guild. A bit arrogant. Laugh: Trehehe. Will get angry when called threeclops.", July 11th, 2021)

As you can see, the plot has shifted notably from Pique Kingdom era. The way it is described in the tweet, it still is to this day. There's still a few details that need some fine-tuning, but that's the basic storyline. "Threeclops" has changed over the course of time as you will see, but I have such fond memories of drawing and showing around this sheet!

[slimehatart]

So the first time the Pique Kingdom chars and slime and Brawler came together was in this picture, I guess!!

(original Tweet: "Did a quick concept sketch of the chars I had in mind for the story I've been thinking bout at work for the past time. 👉👈

Issa bit embarrassing sharing sketches SO unclean but at the same time it took me a bit longer than I'd like to admit LOL

Whatevs, lore in thread if u care", June 23rd, 2021)

This was also the first time I introduced the Red slime, I guess. So obviously, One Piece is a series I enjoy very much, so a few characters may have been inspired by it!

00571 also began shifting from narcissistic to hedonistic here, I guess! 00028 dropped her serious attitude and began leaning a more playful and risqué side. 01043 just stood the same lol! I love characters who aren't afraid to be afraid, so he just didn't change at all.

[slimehatart]

I always used the notepads they would give me at work to scribble some sketches and ideas. Slime and Brawler were not my first OCs, but before them, I haven't been drawing too much OC stuff. After them, I started to feel very inspired for more again and so I started on drawing on something that I quickly began to call the Pique Kingdom, named after that ♠️ symbol here.

They started out as soldiers for one of the four great kingdoms, inspired by ♥️♦️♠️♣️ obviously, and the plot would play out similar to the beginnings of Xenoblade 3 (funny, now that I think about it!).

(original Tweet: "A very rough but fun sketch I made for practice purposes & to check how different colors will look on another screen.

Had the idea for the story a couple of days ago & wanted to visualize it.

If you'd like to find out bout the plot I've had in mind, feel free to open this thread.", March 29th, 2021)

(original Tweet: "Was browsing my sketch book at work while breakfast & noticed I had very early sketches & concept notes prepared about a year ago (pretty sure it's March '20) or so! I found it mildly interesting & thought I'd share!

Sometimes, some ideas just don't leave your mind, it seems! LOL", March 30th, 2021)

I later kinda ditched the setting, but kept the character designs. Their designs went quite through an evolution and most had a fair bit of change, but I love looking back at the start designs!

(original Tweet: "OK I think I can settle for those designs!!

I think I'll keep 00571's design from the digital scribble I shared yesterday, but I worked on 01043's design based on my old sketch & reworked 00028 wholly. Never had an OC with pigtails & now I have two! LOL

I like the numbers tbh!", March 30th, 2021)

After some back and forth with design and story ideas, most of them manifested in these three end results. Seeing them now, I notice how crucial those three core designs have been because, in 00571's case, they haven't really changed or, like it went with 01043 and 00028, never changed the basic idea the designs were based on!

(original Tweet: "A lil more Pique Kingdom art ♤

I overworked the designs a little more & feel like they're perfectly harmonizing with each other!

Kept 01043's design from earlier but made him a bit more androgynous. 00028 went from blonde pigtails to gingerish pigtails/bob. 00571 got hairier lol", March 30th, 2021)

I might come back to Pique Kingdom, but now, two years later, the plot I'd thought about in my head, went into a different direction! Let's see how things go.

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

I really feel like my Slime Team might need an addition to the group! Basically, who I really want is someone cheeky, who can act a counterbalance to dominant characters like Liora, Risebert and Ziyan.

Despite knowing I want someone new in the group and imagining his role and main dynamic, I can't really think of a nice design to complement the rest of the group aesthetically. I just started scribbling! See for yourselves.

(Previously unreleased picture of my character creation session. These are all men who were spontaneously created as potential Slime Team group members! - October 26th, 2024)

These characters were all created in one session, just going for different aesthetics and vibes. All of them could've become a member of the group, but choosing one is really difficult! I settled for one character to flesh out and try to go for. Come meet Oleander!

(Previously unreleased sketch of Oleander, a new guy who could've been the next team member! - October 26th, 2024)

My new man Oleander intrigued me the most during the drawing session, so I went for him. He kinda looks like a mix of Ziyan and Sarim and on top of that, he doesn't really look cheeky, he looks... evil? I imagined him bickering with the others and I couldn't help myself but feel like the others would straight up be afraid of him, so I kinda aborted the mission. I think I might keep him, but as a leader or member of another rival guild! There are no deeper plans right now, but I'll keep him, but as a rival.

Drawing him and trying to categorise his general vibes made me realise it is really hard adding a new character, and thus new energies and dynamics, to an already established group. Established is a really strong word here since most of the character dynamics exist in my head right now, but it made me chuckle to see how thrown off the balance felt when I imagined Oleander with the rest. This realisation made me want to make today's blog entry about roles and tropes of my main protagonists!

Generally speaking, Liora herself is cheeky and kind of bossy as I am imagining her. Also, Ziyan is pretty edgy and straight forward, so he too is a good counter measure for happy-go-lucky characters in the group such as Ed, Victorine and Miles. I want Risebert to be this charming man who will, while trying to charm the ladies, go on Ziyan's nerves, sparking a rivalry between them. But there is no one to grind... EVERYONE'S gears from time to time!

But I don't want someone too gloomy, because there is Ziyan on one side to fill this role. On the other side, I want to have fun with with that character, nothing too deep, just a little naughty guy who loves to tease. That, in return, has got to correspond with the character's looks. Some kind of foil to Liora, someone who can provoke the enemy but will run away along with the other cowards of the group!

Unfortunately, I think it's very hard to come up with male designs, because I never know what to do with hairs! But I might need to let my creative juices flow. Maybe I should use some kind of head accessory? Maybe goggles? It's so hard not to make the character too edgy like Ziyan, too bossy like Liora and too innocent like Miles - I want them to potentially have a great synergy with the new character, but not have the new character be a 2.0 of the other one. Let's see what I'll be cooking up!

Oleander now will either join a existing guild such as Pure Prosperity or a member of a yet unknown guild! I like him, so let's see where it goes with him! Character design is fun, but so hard!

That's it for today's blog entry. Thanks for reading. See you soon with another drawing and story to tell. Until then!! Take care!

[slimehatart]

Hello everyone!

Today's blog entry is about... slime creatures! Yay!

(original Tweet: "Choose your slime, bitch", June 26th, 2024)

Slimes come in many forms and variations! They have been beloved early game enemies in many JRPGs. Dragon Quest's Slimes, RagnaroK Online's Porings, Final Fantasy's Flans, and many countless more variants in other media. I love these little guys. As you know, I began drawing slimes more frequently when I started drawing my Mii Brawler (who would later turn out to be Miles). Ever since, slimes became a recurring element in my drawings! I think there rarely ever are drawings of my OCs (especially the the protagonist group) without slimes in them somewhere!

(original Tweet: "Slimesitting", November 24th, 2023)

Slimes are widely populated creatures in my world. Their in-world popularity varies from being held as beloved pets, used as farm animals but also to being seen as little pests!

Miles grew up on Slime Island, which is an island that's, as the name would suggest, closely related to slimes! He was born and raised on a slime ranch which is why he is so attached to the little critters!

What is a slime farm, you ask? Well, the answer lies in their slime - in my story, the slime of slimes can be used in many different ways! Slime beer, slime medicine, slime foods, you name it, you get it! Well, the usability of the slime depends on the slime race, but there definitely are slimes that are pretty useful!

Miles grows up with his grandparents. His mom and dad leave him to them to pursue their careers as slime scientists in the big city on the central island! They never come visit him, though. After some time, they even stop sending letters to Miles and his grandparents. So, as he grows up, he misses them dearly and has that deep urge to find them and confront them. Miles is not a boy who holds a grudge, but he must know the truth. Why don't they love him, why don't they worry about him? So, one day, he packs his things and asks his grandparents for permission to leave.

Knowing they shouldn't stop him, his grandparents let him go. They're worried because Miles is naive and grew up knowing no bad. How will he do in the big city? At the same time, the farm can't be abandoned and the grandparents are too old for long voyages already, so they let him go with a heavy heart.

When Miles leaves the next day on the water train, he won't even dare to dream about all the adventures and things he would see on the central island! After his arrival, he is ambushed by mobsters who beat him black and blue, mug him and take all of his money! Stranded in a big town like this on his own with no money and no way back, he is at a loss of things to do and so he just wanders about, hungry and beat up...

When he meets Liora, he notices that she's trying to escape shady guys who are trying to catch up to her. She's got a little pet slime in her arms, visibly scared and so he decides to help her out. Miles is a capable fighter despite being beat up earlier! He is very well versed in an acrobatic kind of martial arts fighting style. After rescuing Liora and beating up the bad guys, Liora notices his bad state and decides to help him out as thanks for rescuing her, cementing the first step in their long lasting friendship!

After quite some time has passed in the story - Miles being a long and constant member of the party now - Liora signs her new guild up for some tournament in a desperate attempt to earn money because they just don't get any missions. At the reception counter, the guild is asked to sign up the guild under a guild name. Liora and the others, being busy with other things to do, send Miles to the counter to get the sign up process done. Under pressure to come up with a name for the guild, it is Miles who signs the guild up under the name Slime Team. When the others find out, it is far too late to change the name - Slime Team it is, from now on! At the tournament, they are handed protective gear that matches the guild name, and so, the guild is known as Slime Team.

(original Tweet: "Before going on vacation and not being able to draw digitally for 2 weeks, I wanted to draw down a few ideas.

Started this one as a rough sketch, then evened out some edges, eventually coloured and finally shaded it! That was fun. You can read some background story on alt-text!", July 4th, 2022)

As you can see, Miles is always surrounded by a blue and a red slime. These little guys are slimes the party finds in the story. They are his pets, the guild's mascots and Miles' fighting partners, too! As he has an affinity for slimes due to his upbringing, he's able to teach them some techniques and tricks, and so he incorporates them in his battles!

(original Tweet: "Earlier this week, I was thinking of how to incorporate the slimes into a fight scene. Slimehat could fulfill a Beast Tamer archetype, he could train his wobbly friends to use some techniques.

The blue slime would specialise in defense, the red one in offense. Alt text for lore!", August 21st, 2022)

I am not sure if I want to name the slimes, but I'd thought about Bubbles for the blue slime and Pepper for the red slime. Pepper can spit firy slime pieces and seems to be in a state of constant anger. The party finds him when they investigate a series of arson cases in the neighbourhood. Pepper's techniques are more on the aggressive side, so his attacks are meant to hit the enemy hard!

Bubbles on the other side is a little ray of sunshine. Miles finds him in an egg before he is born at some early point of the story and is then handraised by him. He loves to sit on Miles' head and does no harm to anyone! Bubbles' fighting style is more defensive, so his techniques are meant to defend or dodge enemy attacks!

Later on, the party finds more and more slimes, so maybe the name Slime Team for the guild isn't so bad, after all? For example, they win a golden slime egg in a tourney! It's very fun coming up with attacks. I'm excited to see where the Slime Team concept will lead to. Until now, the series is called Slime Team for the lack of a better title, but I don't think it will stay as that! I like to decide on such things later on.

(original Tweet: "OC doodles! One of them… > wants peace but ends up with a new scar every arc, > has a slime that commits arson, > starts as villain but will defect to end a man, > ran from responsibility, > collects debts like a hobby and it gets worse, > lies about their 3rd eye to scare children", October 1st, 2023)

However! This concludes today's episode! Thank you for reading the blog entry. I really enjoyed writing it! There are not many older Tweets and pictures left I want to explain, so I'm very excited to catch up and post in "real time", soon! Until then, take care!