Hey. I'm going to ramble about some of the thought process on Elena's design, my Warcraft OC.
Small disclaimer:
- Everything is still a WIP, but they indicate a strong direction.
- A lot of the art have gaps between their date of creation.
- Fic screenshots are taken from my published chapters.
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My OC has a human first name to be semi-discreet, while Harrowstrider and her father speaking Thalassian would raise some eyebrows.
Admittedly, 'mindore' is Darnassian at best. I'm still looking around, but also decided to move on for now. But I think it's also funny because Caden Harrowstrider is a kind of a second-gen immigrant and things like this can happen in my experience.
Honestly? The words 'harrow' and 'strider' sound great together.
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I continued to add more elven titbits by giving her very long hair and exaggerated fairytale ends, while referencing the human/Blood elf's Raquel and Night elf's Long in-game options for hair.
The fairytale ends really stuck because it screams to me: human at the front, elf at back. Business, party. Heh.
In the fic, she keeps her hair tied up most of the time.
The final decision on her hair-parting was directly influenced by Edwin VanCleef (and the easiest access to forehead kisses).
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Despite it all, Elena is only about 1/4th high elf and she's born and bred in Stormwind. She doesn't even know nor identify as one when she does. It's like finding out you're kinda Irish.
Other than for a whimsical conflict with Katrana Prestor, her elven heritage is only 20-30%~ important to her fanfiction lore.
But, it's also encouraged by the existence of Hallowfall Arathi because I wanted to lightly touch on generations of interracial relationships in Azeroth. They definitely happen amongst NPCs.
I like to think characters such as Wenren Althal and Great Kyron, who heavily lean towards their elven features, would notice my hints since they're surrounded by it.
I kept Elena's ears human to blend seamlessly in a human city (and also as a wave to Alistair Theirin of Dragon Age). I have almost decided her father's situation with that one.
Most importantly, Elena's ears intentionally sticks out by design (regardless of what hair she ends up with).
Her eyebrows are decently dense, but I'm still unsure how I want to express it. But it's always been there.
Plus, elves are very adaptable as we all know. Just decided to stretch the genetics and that idea more. And that blood is thin for her. Variation is also a thing.
This is whole elven thing is like a fun, experimental side-lore more than anything in her TWW era.
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Hair colour comes from personal bias for black hair, but it is also for her more humble features from being VanCleef. Her father also has black hair.
Edwin's eye colour varies between artists, but I settled with brown for Elena to sell the more unassuming characteristic that came with her uncle. Also to separate between Vanessa's blues and Edwin's in-game greens.
I want to make sure Elena's familial ties were believable and that she bore resemblance to Vanessa, hence why the short-hair sketch in the beginning exists.
I had this little pinboard/shrine always up as a constant reminder when I first started. Hoping it's been fruitful.
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I don't have specifics for Elena's height other than she's about Anduin's nose or so. She's neither too tall nor too short.
Her elven and VanCleef genetics are fighting for their lives on this one because Caden is tall and Edwin is apparently on the smaller side.
But the combination does give her an overall smaller frame (not height). I do want to realise the level of her muscle definition one day because it will undergo some changes story-wise.
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Her gear comes from... VanCleef's Battlegear for more finger-prodding and nods to the guy. But because Elena has this constantly fixed and remade in Khaz Algar, I'm trying to figure out how to implement the local earthen touch as evidence of her journey.
I removed the shoulders and helm for ease, personal taste and to facilitate Elena's acrobatic skills.
Initially, I wanted something more baggy and pirate/rogue-esque, but I kept it grounded with her soldier background in the end.
I also removed the Alliance colours from the gear set for her lack of personal political affiliation. It's just a job. It's more symbolic and situational than a conscious choice by the character. Plus, she stole it and people (like Flynn Fairwind) might recognise it.
I described in my fic that she might come off like a 'local bandit' than someone who works for the Alliance. This worked well with toning down her armour among other things.
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Her earrings are a gift from Anduin during their time TWW. It's another elven nod, a mirror to her master Swansea and a sense of possession from the gifter. It's small with earthen engravings since it was bought in Dornogal.
The piercing is a helix sort for now, maybe low.
Elena doesn't have this in her earlier iterations and drawings because I wasn't sure whether and when to confirm this and whether to do it after the chapter releases.
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She does bear scars, but barely to none on the face. Elena has vanity that never truly goes away from her childhood. She has a personal healer in the military that makes sure she stays decently flawless.
However, coming to Khaz Algar changes some of this since this is her first journey without quick and easy access to Swansea and co.. I have noted that she got messed up in her shoulders after arriving in Hallowfall and so forth. >:)
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I'm letting her physical appearance carry all this heavy lifting because in the end of the day, the story I wanted to tell is about an NPC soldier's transition to the more dangerous and fantastical side of the wars. I want to explore whether ignorance is truly bliss, especially when it involves your world, your love and sometimes your blood.
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