APRIL 2019 (first design concept): nullified upon the first redesign literally two months later FHFHF?? but anyway roan was originally a traveling adventurer and aelu was one of four? sibling nymphs he rescued along the way. iirc they were all like video game romance options, and aelu Wasn't the one roan ended up with. roan actually had his own roan figure, aka miserable sickly creature whom he nursed back to health (the youngest sibling).
JUNE 2019 (first redesign): next thing you know roan is the sickly thing and aelu is the savior. first iteration of their present story, and first iteration of many characteristic traits:
--- roan now has Two dangly hair braids, white flowers in his hair, a teal shawl thing, and is missing an eye (which has since translated into scars). i did find an actually horrifying old piece of art with a large scar over one of his eyes with a crystal eye placed there instead, which was an element in the old story
--- aelu, meanwhile, randomly has melanin now, longer hair, and has established his black/white/gold color scheme (plus. brown) an early iteration of his light blade, lucis, is visible in the crop
NOVEMBER 2020 (second redesign): first of all, big art style improvement? new characteristic traits have appeared:
--- roan has leaves in his hair flowers and white sleeves. aelu now has the afterlife insignia brooch on his (black) cloak, and he now has his signature golden bracers <3
JULY 2021 (third redesign): roan steers ever closer to his present design, while aelu takes a random swerve that i nullify afterwards:
--- roan now has a white shawl over his clothes and brooches of his own, i believe his ears are beginning to droop too. and idk what happened with aelu here. it IS, however, the first time he has armor
MARCH 2022 (fourth redesign): aelu's design takes inspiration from his nov 2020 iteration (carrying in the july 2021 armor in the form of one? pauldron, not visible in the image i chose) and is FINALIZED (till now)! roan gets closer:
--- roan's hair ribbons are now blue, his uhh not shawl idk what to even call it but it's now maroon with white scales. AND, his hair is finally not dangling in two loose braids by his ears, but braided behind them. huge step for mankind
MAY 2023 (roan's fifth redesign): roan gets a solo revamp here, combining the white shawl from the july 2021 design and the maroon thhhhing from the march 2022 design!
OCTOBER 2025 (latest redesign): here we are :)
--- i gave roan some tassels to match aelu's tassels, tweaked his hair so there's only one main leaf per flower and they are braided directly into his hair and higher on his head, made him cozier since he prefers being covered up (hence his shawl in earlier iterations), and made his white under-dress a pair of pants plus boots. heart emoji. i wanted their designs to be less 'vague fantasy design' so roan's is actually inspired by traditional scandinavian dress.
--- i gave aelu more dark blue in his design, which i'd always meant to do RAHH, and lightened his shade of gold to represent light (which he wields). i also gave him golden greaves to match his bracers :) and a chestplate to match his pauldrons, plus he's always in battle. aelu's outfit doesn't exactly have an irl parallel but i purposefully did away with the crossing-over-front thing and now his clothes are fastened straight down his chest. also made his golden tassels black, with a golden border to match roan!
in sum...wow. what a journey :') i really have grown as an artist/storyteller/designer, and these two are absolutely a testament to that. roaelu my everythings </333
