#sorakh's design methods 101

[bewarethefangirl]

Designing Luxendarc with Doll Makers #3- Growing the Family Tree

So, kids. When you ship characters, sometimes you have them have kids, and I'm not the only one.

My problem is, sometimes, it can get a little outta hand when you have lots of AUs. I had to make a freaking LIST of which children goes with who- and that's just with two characters, Janne and Yew! They have fifteen kids in all my AUs between the two! Thankfully, due to headcanons, Tiz and Agnès do not have the same problem as those two and only has four kids, and as for Edea and Ringabel... Let's just say I'm waiting for Third and leave it at that.

THE LISTS:

Arch-Geneolgia -All AUs that follows the canon ship of Yew and Magnolia, because those two deserves happiness. Rubina Basil Branwen

Balestra-Geneolgia -Mainly 'Berryverse, but can be used with any universe that utilizes THE POWER OF LUNAR MEDICINE Wolfram Esteban Alstroemeria Branwen

Balestra (Denys) -This is mostly Swanverse canon. The Japanese artist Oukan got me into it. Eloise Falk Aurel

Balestra (Minette) -I blame Miss Tree to get me into the ship. Granted, the idea that Minette is older than Janne is funny already. Bastet Oskar Astrid Remus Romulus

THE KIDS:

Rubina Arch-Geneolgia

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. My adorable Ruby. I managed to use a customizer made to create your own Corrin to design you, Ruby. You are the heiress of House Arch-Geneolgia and YOU OWN IT, sweetie. You were the biggest evidence that your mother's looks wasn't due to albinism when you were born with everything but her hair color- instead, you inherited your uncle's hair color, except a tad darker. In Swanverse, you and your cousin Eloise are as thick as thieves, and as older sisters to your respective siblings, how can you not? The same thing happens with your cousin Bastet. You're also very close to Uncle Janne- in fact, he taught you everything you know about swordplay, making sure to take care of the wounds you end up with. Nikolai was also your grandpa figure, as warm and kind as your father.

Once you got old enough, you continued the Geneolgia tradition of joining the Crystalguard, and even used the Kaiser Asterisk as a Sub to help your abilities. The scar on your nose was a result of a successful mission as a cadet, a badge of honor that represented the will of House Arch-Geneolgia. You'll even end up as a member of the Three Cavaliers, though without the influences of the high houses, you weren't the leader. Being the heiress of House Arch-Geneolgia is responsibility enough.

Basil Arch-Geneolgia

Oh, Basil, you and your poliosis. Your role as member of House Arch-Geneolgia made you perfect in becoming an ambassador, and your charming Geneolgia looks helps you in that role. While your sister Ruby looks more like your mother, you, on the other hand, look a whole lot like both your father and your uncle. You're three years younger than Rubina, in fact, and four years older than Branwen. While you're not interested in being an Asterisk Bearer, you did had training with them, preferring the skills of the Ranger and Pirate Asterisks. You end up being best friends with Yasu, who's parents were once trainees under your father and your grandpa figure. Your family is very important to you, as well, and you always make sure your parents and sisters are always in good health.

Of course, you're not exactly perfect- you have an immense fear of wasps and had learn fire magic to deal with them. And because you know so many languages, sometimes you end up a little tongue-tied at figuring out the word in one language while knowing said word in another! And yet that also adds to your charm.

Branwen Arch-Geneolgia

There's another Branwen, when your father Yew is married Balestra instead of Arch. You two Branwen almost share the same name. Both of you are the youngest children. The two of you have the typical Geneolgia glasz eyes, with your non-Geneolgia parent's eye shape. And speaking of your non-Geneolgia parent, the both of you inherited their hair color, as well as their skin tone. You've also inherited your mothers', ah, bust-size (or in the other Branwen's case, her grandmother's as well). Neither of you prefer combat, and instead preferred in dabbing in every Asterisk for non-combative utilities.

However, you are the youngest of three siblings instead four, and you prefer Asterisks such as White Mage, Bishop, Performer and Patissier. You end up working for the Orthodoxy as some sort of cleric, but your main role as a member of House Arch-Balestra is to make sure everyone in Gathelatio aren't being idiots. Especially the high houses, who does have a history of making stupid decisions.

Wolfram Balestra-Geneolgia

Wolf, you take after your father Janne and uncle Denys in looks. You have Janne's dark hair and Denys's eye color, thought your eyes are darker. You are a stoic young man, yet as passionate as your parents and as scholarly as Yew(berry). You are the eldest, your brother Esteban born three years after you. Your name was chosen to match your parents, but the "ram" also doubled as a nod to your Crystalfather Tiz, the shepherd of Norende. Your kind heart made you follow in your surrogate grandfather's path and become the next Bishop Asterisk Bearer, but you added an impressive skill to your repertoire- bo staff training. You've also trained in the White Mage Asterisk for some offensive abilities, but your greatest weapon is your politeness- you know politeness judo, and you use it well.

You are the heir of House Balestra-Geneolgia, however you decided not to become the head, instead giving the role to your younger brother Esteban, that you see as the better leader of the four of you. Thankfully, your siblings agreed with that decision. You've started a school funded by the high houses of Gathelatio for the impoverished children, thanks to your younger sister Alstroemeria's rather... forceful personality. (Honestly, it wasn't a surprised that Meria was very much a chip off the old block named Janne. People has joked she was born via budding.)

Esteban Balestra-Geneolgia

Born three years after Wolfram and two years before your sister Alstroemeria, you look so Geneolgia that it's sometimes easy to forget you've inherited your father Janne's green eyes and your Balestra grandmother's freckles. Training has left you a scar at your eyebrow, which you kept as a reminder to be careful. You're a pretty quiet guy, but you're also rather adventurous, hot-blooded and outgoing. You never wanted to be an Asterisk Bearer, but you do dabble in Emperor when the time is needed. You are fond of archery, and have trained intensely in it since you could hold a bow.

You are next in line as heir of House Balestra-Geneolgia, but your natural leadership skills made Wolfram choose you over him as head of the household, which you accepted. Like the rest of your family, you worked in improving Gathelatio and its citizens, and your main goal was to ensure enough jobs were created to help sustain Gathelatio's citizens and keep the economy growing. You also help created a boom of tabletop games, creating a new reason for social gathering.

Alstroemeria Balestra-Geneolgia

Meria, you just look like a female version of Janne with Yew(berry)'s hair and eye color. Heck, you were even born on the same day as Janne! Younger than Esteban at two years while older than Branwen at four, you are the most vocal of them as well as a natural-born leader like Esteban. Because you take so much after your father Janne, it didn't came as a surprise when you became the next Fencer Asterisk Bearer. You've also studied under Kamiizumi to learn the ways of the Swordmaster Asterisk, bolstering your aptitude with the sword.

While you are a natural-born leader, you weren't interested in becoming head of House Balestra-Geneolgia, and was overjoyed when Esteban took the position. Instead, you aimed to use your talents to become the leader of the Three Cavaliers, and became the first Balestra to do so, while being the first Geneolgia to gain the position without the influence of a High House. You enjoyed helping out trainees find their talents within the Crystalguard, and your willingness to aid people quickly made you a popular figure in Gathelatio. You also have a massive sweet tooth (thought not to the insane intensity that is Edea Lee) and would always go to the local bakery and sweet shops to buy the daily specials.

Branwen Balestra-Geneolgia

I've already spoken of your Arch-Geneolgia counterpart above. The baby of the family, born four years after Meria, you are reserved and formal- and yet you're an extrovert who eschews tradition. Thanks to the former Pope Agnès, a group of untouched Asterisks were found, and you got up to the task of trying them out, seeing if everything was polished to be useful for potential Asterisk Bearers. You seem to have an affinity to one known as the Engineer Asterisk, which you end up being its Bearer.

Like the other Branwen, you ensure that the high houses doesn't do anything stupid with the influence of House Balestra-Geneolgia, however it's your technological prowess that put you on the map. Your studies of the Celestial Altair's creations help in revolutionizing Luxendarc's technology to a new level, while ensuring that these creations were environmentally friendly, knowing what resulted in the Celestial Realm's state of affairs.

Eloise Balestra

No one could guess that your fathers adopted you when you were three- you have enough resemblance to Janne's parents as it is, but your personality is, well, just like Meria, you're another chip off the old block. Yet you take pride of your origins as a girl from the New Grandship Republic, and like the corsairs before you, you've had a tattoo made when old enough celebrating your identity. Yet you also take pride of being part of the reborn Balestra family, recreating your father Denys' markings on his mechanical arm for your tattoo. In tribute to your father Janne, you try to mimic an old hairstyle of his... as thick as your hair is, you still can't get it as wild as good ol' dad. You like to play hairstylist on your spare time, as well.

You inherit the Fencer Asterisk, while dabbling in both Spell Fencer and Swordmaster for extra help. You end up, like your cousin Rubina, becoming a member of the Crystalguard as well as the Three Cavaliers. You also currently possess what was once known as Vendetta- you rebaptized it Redeemer, a fitting new name under your hand. You also technically own Boots, a cat that came into the family before you joined, but who only likes you, and you alone.

Falk Balestra

You fell short of inheriting the Fencer Asterisk, but at the very least you're capable of using it as a Sub-Asterisk! The main reason why you had problems with Fencer is that one day, you've misused one of it's abilities, and your rapier whack your face and left you with a scar over your left eye. Cue your fathers freaking out and Janne forbidding you to use Fencer until you were a bit more responsible. You and your twin Aurel joined the Balestra family a little after Rubina's first birthday, taken from Eisenburg at the age of four. Your parents died when leftover toxic mist mixed with something that resulted in a nasty explosion in your small village.

As you grew older, you mellowed out personality-wise and decided that perhaps being part of the Crystalguard as a knight just wasn't ideal for you. Instead, you aimed to become a swordplay teacher to the cadets hoping to be knights of the Crystalguard, guiding them to responsible use of their chosen weapons- something you had to learn when you received your scar. With a smile and a kind but aggressive attitude towards teaching, you've not only met your goal, but became the go-to person to teach Janne's famous fencing skills.

Aurel Balestra

Taking an Asterisk who's former Bearer was, well... You received Salvemaker from Eternia thanks to your intense studies in chemistry and alchemy, and sworn to not become another Qada. ...Which is easier done than said in your case, seeing that you were raised by kind hearted people who adopted you after you lost your parents and hometown. Besides being an Asterisk Bearer, you're also a well-known fashionista and you let your older sister Eloise style your hair. Personality-wise, you're quite similar to your uncle Yew, and it's his talk about his studies in Al-Khampis that made you want to be who you are nowadays.

Your work in the alchemic fields helped making new medical discoveries that would've been impossible without the help of Salvemaker. Qada's famous poison, you not only managed to find how he managed to make it, but what would be the perfect antidote to it, and how to prevent its misuse from happening again. This, among other findings, made you join Eternia's Council of Six per your uncle Yew's suggestion, which suited you perfectly, as you would take the position once held by the former wielder of the Spiritmaster Asterisk.

Bastet Balestra

Bast, despite being named after a goddess of cats, you grew fond of foxes. At first glance, you look like your father, but there's much more of your mother with a second glance that you're a good blend of your parents. Personality-wise you're quite similar to Edea Lee, except without the absurd sweet tooth, crazy appetite, black and white insanity, and aggressive matchmaking. You were pretty little when you received the scar on your face, but you don't remember how you got it and who did it to you- your grampy Nikolai simply said it was from some animal, but it was never clarified. You were born exactly between your cousins Rubina and Basil, who are three years apart.

You also became a Six-Stars graduate of Al-Khampis, thanks to your studies in both fabric fibers and magical manipulations of medicine. You are also the current Bearer of the Arcanist Asterisk, however you only use it in dire need, having been trained in your parents' Asterisks themselves. And although you're a fox person, you're forbidden from touching the Yokai Asterisk for now, until your uncle Yew feels comfortable with you using it. Your main goal, however, is to start your own clothing lines that would benefit the poor somehow, either by being part of your team or via funding supported by the brand.

Oskar Balestra

You resemble your father quite a lot, and inherited your Balestra grandmother's freckles, but one look at your eyes and anyone can tell you're Minette's kid. At first glance, you didn't seem remarkable among your siblings. You and your twin sister Astrid were born three years after Bastet, but among the five of you, you seemed the most plain. That is, until all of you were able to distance yourself from each other a bit that your personality- that you're a total goofball with a nack of improving utilities. Weaving looms? You managed to design one perfectly for rugs. The kitchen stove? You've redesigned it for new types of fueling. You turned the saw into a musical instrument, even! Not that you couldn't invent things- in fact, you are Luxendarc's creator of the scratching post.

You only have Catmaster and Fencer as Sub-Asterisks, but that's because you preferred refining utilities over combat. You often visited Sagitta to understand their technology and how to peacefully apply it to the current standard of the rest of Luxendarc. While not a Six Stars student like your older sister, you did place your mark for your re-inventions in Al-Khampis, and your studies on applying your discoveries became part of many a curriculum, and not just in Al-Khampis!

Astrid Balestra

Your father once joked to your mother that your calico looks came from her- and indeed, part of your hair is your father's color and the other part is your mother's. You also have your mother's eyes while, like your twin Oskar, you have your grandmother's freckles. You were born without your left leg, but prosthetic technology helped you in being able to walk- and your false leg is pretty resourceful as a bludgeoning weapon. It wasn't a surprised when you ended up being the new Catmancer, or that you grew fond of your trademark color- the purple of a Five-Stars Al-Khampis student.

You've decided to join the Crystalguard, since your father was a member, and one day replaced him as a member of the Three Cavaliers. Soon, and not surprising in the least, you became THE face of the Crystalguard, which helped you when the role of the Three Cavaliers' leader was given to you not long after. You continued on your parents' work in the reformation of the Crystalguard and the Orthodoxy, including creating the Order of the Metal Limb, a honor given to people that helped society grow despite their disabilities, named after the fact that you yourself have a prosthetic leg.

Remus Balestra

The third chip off the old block, and the eldest of the mirror twins. Romulus and you are a year and a half younger than the other twins (much to your parents' distress), and both of you are redheads with heterochromia of blue and green- however, it's the placement of the colors that identifies you: green on the right, blue on the left. There was no surprise when you inherited the Fencer Asterisk, or that you joined the Crystalguard. Like father, like son, after all.

What made people caught off guard was that you weren't interested in becoming part of the Three Cavaliers. No, instead, you suggested creating a new unit in the Crystalguard that you could help develop, the Inner Guard- a unit specifically build to ensure the mistakes of the old Orthodoxy and the Crystalguard never happened again, being aware of the crimes that plagued Eternia for generations, and how they affected your parents. And once you were old enough, you were given the position of leader of the Inner Guard, who's only bosses are the Three Cavaliers and the Pope. You also playfully doubled as a model for your sister Bastet's clothing lines, wearing them during down time.

Romulus Balestra

While you are the mirror twin of Remus, you are much more like your grandfather Jerome in personality. Your eyes are green on the left and blue on the right, and the small scar on your cheek was from training with your father in survival. You also had the potential to inherit Fencer, but you left it in the hands of your brother Remus, not interested in the least in anything involving Asterisks, the Crystalguard, or anything related to them as a whole. You were much more interested in the history of Eternia and the fallout that resulted by the Great Plague, as well as how it changed all of Luxendarc.

You've decided to undertake perhaps a rather unusual challenge- rebuilding the lands destroyed by the Great Plague. Your first target was the village that turned into Gravemark, finding land not far from it suitable for rebuilding. With the information provided by Braev and Mahzer Lee, you also kept the culture of the area alive as well. This started the ball rolling as the Duchy, with the help of the Orthodoxy, decided to follow along and rebuild other villages and towns, revitalizing Eternia's population. You end up mayor of the new village you've put sweat, blood and tears into, a fitting conclusion for you.

...Two guys, four family possibilities, fifteen kids, who knows how many AUs. Yeah, this is me in a nutshell.

[bewarethefangirl]

Designing Luxendarc with Doll Makers #2- It's All Relative

Warning: This post contains spoilers about the Three Cavaliers' background.

Parents aren't the only blood relation characters has, and hoooooo boy do I know a lot about aunts, uncles, and cousins; namely, I don't have a family tree, I have a family forest. So, when I create relatives, it's kinda because as someone with a family forest, I tend to want to give my favorite characters an extended family. A good part of them were accidents in the making as a result- I'll even post my AIM chats with my friend Elentir where it's appropriate.

Aoide Geneolgia

Doll Maker used

Back when Second was only out in Japan, I knew I wanted to give Yew aunts and uncles, and among brainstorming, decided his youngest aunt on Griede's side was to be a popular singer, something akin to Akiko Shikata who's songs were the source of inspiration. I of course didn't hesitated in naming her Aoide. Now that I had an idea of who she was... but not what she looked like. So I played around in dollmakers until I arrived with this particular look. For Aoide, I wanted her look to remind people of faes, nymphs and/or the mori fashion. The flower-like look for her dress suited her more as Aoide the singer, than Aoide a child of House Geneolgia. It's a representation of her freedom from a House who's dark history was minimized by the national corruption of Eternia. I've been adding a few other music genres to her repertoire as time went on.

Maristella Balestra

Name Origin

Dollmaker Used

January-23-16 [...] EliwoodGabriel (8:41:54 PM): ...I just made this cleric/shaman mix in a dollmaker and now I don't know what to do with her. XP elentir3 (8:42:02 PM): Heheh. EliwoodGabriel (8:45:11 PM): Maybe a member from a group of the Valestra family that fled to Florem? elentir3 (8:45:28 PM): That could work! EliwoodGabriel (8:47:57 PM): ...And it could tie into Janne's story in Swanverse as he discovers that in his bible/scripture book, and not long after, a lone woman demands an audience with the Geneolgia Patriarch in the Valestra name... elentir3 (8:48:19 PM): Oooooh! EliwoodGabriel (8:50:46 PM): Aka "Janne meets a distant cousin and discovers most of the Valestra side of the family that are alive live in an area of Florem where men are allowed. elentir3 (8:51:15 PM): Perhaps we could call it Outer Florem? EliwoodGabriel (8:51:22 PM): YES. elentir3 (8:51:34 PM): As opposed to Inner Florem, the city and a small region around it. EliwoodGabriel (8:51:40 PM): Yes. [...] elentir3 (9:20:44 PM): Oooh, cool! And interesting costume! EliwoodGabriel (9:21:14 PM): kinda shamanic, still befitting a cleric of the Crystal Orthodoxy. elentir3 (9:21:37 PM): Yes. EliwoodGabriel (9:24:16 PM): And the only reason why the Duchy didn't attacked them was because it was the Duchy that helped them escape, and these Valestras actually wanted Anti-Crystalism to be, well, Crystalism. XP

March-03-16 EliwoodGabriel (8:58:36 PM): ...Since in Inheritanceverse Jerome Balestra doesn't own a dojo anymore... why not Maristella's father? elentir3 (8:58:46 PM): Sure! EliwoodGabriel (8:59:44 PM): Since Maristella's father is Jerome's cousin. elentir3 (8:59:51 PM): Right. EliwoodGabriel (9:00:09 PM): That way I can include more of my OCs! ^^

After some development of Maristella's character, as well as the many AUs I have, a new dollmaker popped up, giving me the opportunity to present another side of her that I wanted to show off. And so it resulted in the following design:

Maristella in the summer

Doll Maker Used

July-29-16 EliwoodGabriel (7:40:20 PM): Maristella: Coming right up is our village's most popular dessert! Everything here is sweeten by our very own honey, the ice cream is flavored by our famous vanilla, our chocolate sauce is enhanced with cinnamon, and our garnish is candied Echo Leaves! elentir3 (7:42:08 PM): ..I was already hungry for dinner, now I'm ready to move right to desert XP

Verochka Nikolanikov

Verochka... came because of the perfect dollmaker coming out.

July-13-16 EliwoodGabriel (9:57:34 PM): HOLY SHIT. EliwoodGabriel (9:57:40 PM): A NEW DOLLMAKER JUST CAME OUT. elentir3 (9:58:07 PM): Oooh, sure you'll find a few characters for that. [...] EliwoodGabriel (9:58:51 PM): AND I COULD MAKE NIKOLAI A SISTER OR SOMETHING. EliwoodGabriel (9:59:12 PM): *Since nothing in-game either prove or disprove that.* elentir3 (9:59:22 PM): True XD elentir3 (10:02:19 PM): Funnier if she looks nothing like him X elentir3 (10:02:21 PM): *XD EliwoodGabriel (10:02:42 PM): Eh, well, I would give SOME hints. XP elentir3 (10:03:03 PM): Yeah. But if she was small and slender. EliwoodGabriel (10:06:43 PM): ...Nah, there aren't many chubby doll makers and Nikolai looks more like a bodybuilder according to the novels. XP elentir3 (10:07:16 PM): Ahhh. elentir3 (10:07:23 PM): ...Riiiight, I remember that pic. EliwoodGabriel (10:14:56 PM): http://www.behindthename.com/name/verochka ...I kinda like that named. Verochka Nikolanikov.

Doll Maker Used

July-14-16 elentir3 (7:14:33 PM): Nikolai's sister? EliwoodGabriel (7:14:38 PM): Eyup! elentir3 (7:14:48 PM): There is a bit of resemblence, yes. EliwoodGabriel (7:15:10 PM): She's an archeologist. ...Thought it's not obvious here. XP elentir3 (7:15:28 PM): Ahhh EliwoodGabriel (7:16:08 PM): Also she's one of the reasons Nikolai wanted to atone- she wasn't happy that he was part of an obviously dark group.

And of course, once a sequel game of sorts pops up, how am I not gonna use it to design Vero even further? Seriously, playing with dollmakers, especially once you have a design figured out, is always fun. The bonus of being a former art college student is a plus, too.

Vero in formalwear

Doll Maker Used

Beatrice Geneolgia

Doll Maker Used

WHEN DID I CREATED HER?

July-01-15 EliwoodGabriel (9:58:24 PM): What if Brigitta's pendant appears on a relative of Yew's in Alstroemeria? Elentir3 (9:58:43 PM): Hmmm...why not? EliwoodGabriel (9:59:53 PM): And Janne sees it and it's like, "MY GODDESS." Elentir3 (10:00:24 PM): Ohhhh, yeah! EliwoodGabriel (10:01:18 PM): And the poor girl is absolutely confused- OMG. EliwoodGabriel (10:01:29 PM): WHAT IF HER NAME IS SOME FORM OF BRIDGET, TOO. Elentir3 (10:02:15 PM): That'd be a bit excessively coincidental. EliwoodGabriel (10:02:46 PM): OR BEATRICE.

July-26-15 EliwoodGabriel (8:50:13 PM): Also I just made Beatrice Geneolgia. EliwoodGabriel (8:51:21 PM): Aka the cousin with Brigitta's necklace.

...Aaaaaaah, that's when. Looking over Beatrice, I noticed that I intended for her to be a psychic user. Good reminder. Also, a huge Norende fangirl, apparently. XP

ADDEDUM- January 4th, 2017

In Inheritanceverse, Janne’s family survives, and he ends up with two sisters.

And thus, with this dollmaker, I made adult versions of them.

Elisa Balestra

Is similar to canon-Janne without the baggage. The middle sister and six years younger than Janne, while four years older than Sini. Has her dad’s hair color and her mother’s eyes color, while having her dad’s eye shape and her mom’s freckles.

Sini “Sinikka” Balestra

The baby of the family, and has the same hair and eye color as Janne... but looks more like her mom than her two other siblings.

[bewarethefangirl]

Designing Luxendarc with Doll Makers #1- Parental Guidance Needed

Warning: This post contains lots of spoilers for Second, related to Yew, Janne and their parents, as well as both of their backgrounds.

Just because I’m not comfortable drawing designs for my original characters didn’t mean that I couldn’t design them at all. When Second was out in Japan and information kept pouring in, of course it didn’t stop me from creating new original characters... despite the fact I didn’t have 100% of the information needed to stay canon. Thankfully, the existence of alternate universes was canon to the Bravely series as a whole, so the story I was brainstorming, Waiting For The Swan To Dance (or Swanverse) quickly became an AU.

One of the biggest obstacle that resulted into making it an AU was Janne’s parents- or, more precisely, what I thought happened to them.

Dollmaker used.

Link to original

Here we have Swanverse’s interpretation of Janne’s parents, Kielo and Jerome. Kielo was chosen as a nod to Janne’s etymology itself. For one, lack of information resulted in my assumption that Janne had lived in a poor household, which influenced my design of his parents. I did wanted a strong resemblance between Janne and his father, but I knew there had to be some details that could’ve come from his mother- so I chose his hair color. Using the doll maker I found, I managed to get close to the design I was looking for.

Dollmaker used.

Link to original

Adela Geneolgia née Vicario

One thing was also certain- Yew’s mother (whom I also assumed was Denys’ mother as well) also needed a design. Her backstory was tragic as she died for daring to suggest accepting the Anti-Crystalism idea in hopes of protecting her sons, and so I designed her with a somewhat melancholic look upon her face. I also wanted some traits to be found for Yew, and back then some traits for Denys, which helped later on with the design for Denys’ own mother (because apparently I gave Griede a type- blue-eyed blondes. You’ll see further fellow).

Then Bravely Second came out in North America, and HOH MY GOD canon kicked me in the butt, but at the same time, canon helped me decide how Swanverse became an AU. (Long story short, a member of House Geneolgia that’s obviously dead in canon didn’t die when he should in Swanverse.)

So, once I understood what canon stood by, more AUs grew, and the desire to create more canon-friendly designs came to me; so, I continued on.

Dollmaker used

Link to original

Adela Geneolgia’s portrait

Often, when a new doll maker appears on my favorite sites, I often try to recreate my designs in them. This one wasn’t just a successful attempt at Adela’s portrait, it helped me figure out exactly what House Geneolgia wanted to immortalize her as, and how the Geneolgia brothers remembered Adela. It also helped me finally figure out the design of Denys’ mother, as well.

Link to original

Cornelia Geneolgia, née Agresta

When I suggested the name Cornelia to my buddy Elentir, he pointed out to me a Final Fantasy trivia I wasn’t aware about, which made the naming choice even more perfect for Denys’ mother. I kept the idea of the blue-eyed blond for Cornelia, but went with different directions- her hair is more obviously blond and her eyes are pale like her son’s. Obviously her portrait demonstrates a more different personality than Adela, but in the end, even her fate no matter the universe will end in tragedy.

Link to original

A bloodied painting of Lady Balestra

Sometimes, you’re given a tool that just works with the narrative. The idealized portrait of Janne’s mother, stained with the blood of the victims of the attack that cost everything for House Balestra. I imagined it being one of the stolen treasures of House Geneolgia, hidden away in a special vault until one day, Yew Geneolgia reopens it.

Link to original

Kielo Balestra, née Lehtonen

And Yew being Yew, realizing that while he couldn’t get the original painting fixed, the painter was still alive and redid it, this time painting Kielo as she actually was- a freckled beauty. Because apparently the best way to make Janne cry is to make him happy.

Link to original

Dollmaker used

Griede and Cornelia, before Denys’ birth

Of course, that doesn’t mean my designs for Swanverse were done. No, on the contrary, canon gave me a push to wonder how things were during certain changes of the story, and how certain designs could work for more than one AU. (In this case, it also works with an AU I called Inheritanceverse, which existed before Second was announced.) While Griede may have a canon design, I wanted to design how he looked when he was younger- and holy crap he looks like both his sons with this. You can really see where Denys gets his looks from.

Link to original

Camillo and Laura Angard

I’m just gonna say it right now- Laura’s name is a pun based on “lower your guard”. Even I can pull off silly puns. Designing those two was with one thought in mind- show how easily it was to fool anyone that Janne could’ve been their biological child. As a result, I joked that Camillo and Jerome had similar tastes in women, seeing their wives have both black hair with blue eyes.

Link to original

Dollmaker used

Of all meetings to happen...

So, we saw Kielo as nobility, but Jerome was a harder one to design, due to the lack of male doll makers, and because I really wanted to keep his hair short like in his fallen noble one. Then this one came out, and I realized: “Nope, I’m gonna make it so people knows where Janne gets his looks. I’m giving Romi longer hair.” And WOW, like father like son, am I right?!

Designing parents to resemble their children is rather easy if you give yourself an idea of what part of their parents they inherited. And with the aid of doll makers as well as color theory, I think I did a pretty good job of doing so.