So I know I already posted a couple previous versions of Kayla-La, and normally I’d add a further update to that post, but honestly it’s gotten so long that I want the current version to be at the top of a new one. Besides, a fresh post for Kayla seems like a good way to kick off the wrap party!
There’s not a TON of change here, so no worries on updating your mental image or anything. Mostly I fixed up how I drew her spines, now that I have more experience with drawing other echidnas in the story; I didn’t realize it at the time, but her original spines came out looking very hedgehog-y, kind of like Amy’s spines. It just really didn’t look right, so I decided that you guys were owed a more accurate design sheet and touched it up. Beyond that, I fiddled with some of the text, particularly to add in a comment about how I see her fur color (as that’s something I apparently do now, even though I’m kinda bad with colors).
Other than that, not much more to say that I haven’t already said before! More character art and other fun Season 1 stuff coming up shortly!
(Is it really a “re”design if HE WAS NEVER FUCKING SHOWN IN THE FIRST PLACE?? Whatever there’s a ton of chars like this, I’m still calling it a redesign. It’s a redesign of an empty fucking void.)
Considering that Spencer, along with many others to come, is someone I don’t actually have a bad design to start from, I just leaned a lot more into what I’ve decided about him from a storytelling standpoint. In a way, he’s sort of the prototype of the sort of person the Guardians (and especially Knuckles) will eventually become: Extremely outdoorsy, somewhat inept in social settings, valuing utility over appearance, and a strong dedication to his duty. Where his mother was sliiightly out of touch with society because she lived in a privileged bubble, Spencer’s disconnected due to spending a lot more time interacting with the island itself, which is a trait that will definitely be handed down to future generations.
I particularly enjoyed creating this guy, he’s a very good noodle and I’m glad he does still have a tad more screen time left! I hope you enjoy his look, and I’ll see you soon on the next design!!
Brotherhood: Origins - season 1 wrap party this weekend!
Hey guys, I hope you’re all as excited for the next season of BH:O as I am! I’m glad we’re finally moving on to some fresh faces and new storylines, but I had an idea. I was thinking that, before we fully move on, why don’t we have a little celebration for completing season 1! I’ve FINALLY gotten back on top of finishing the drawings of my character designs, and since most of the characters in season 1 won’t be seen again moving forward, I think it’s important to release those now before moving on. But what say we make it more of an event? Let’s have a big Q&A about whatever you want from season 1 (especially since there were details there I’d have liked to expand upon but it didn’t quite support the story), and I’ll see if I can get some songs rounded up that would make nice character themes!
If you guys are interested, go ahead and send in your season 1 questions starting now! (And I promise these WON’T sit around on the back burner forever, because I’m excited for this party for us and I want to answer them right away!) I’m thinking we’ll take the next few days for you guys to send in your asks (or other comments too, if you just want to share something) and for me to finish up the artwork, and we can celebrate going into the weekend!
Between the quakes from the impact itself and the near-perpendicular tip immediately after, some residents have lost everything, as entire city blocks have collapsed. Triage stations are set up throughout the remains of Echidnaopolis to treat everything from severe physical injuries to life-threatening altitude sickness side effects. Confusion and disorganization mar attempts to rescue the trapped and account for the missing, all of which is exacerbated by offline power grids and ruptured pipelines.
Several weeks pass before the city is back on its feet enough to finally address the obvious question: What, exactly, are they to do now? All of their plans revolved around becoming a suspended island, not a free-floating one. Public reactions to the new status quo are mixed, to say the least; despite the fact that it is now an absolute necessity to their survival, much of the population becomes incredibly jaded and numb to the topic in record time, while others are simply grateful to have survived the White Comet at all regardless of any hardships they now face – and a smaller (albeit not insignificant) chunk of the populace is just plain pissed. All they’ve been hearing about for years is chaos this, chaos that, trust in chaos, blah blah blah. Well, look at where it’s led them, they say; THIS is what real “chaos” looks like!
Kayla-La’s reputation suffers rapidly as the discourse intensifies among the discontented. She didn’t just mess things up, she completely botched her own plan!! How could she have let this happen?! Was she just overconfident in her abilities, or did she actively lie to the city to get what she wanted?! Maybe they should’ve just gone with the governor’s proposal after all, and just airlifted as many people as possible from the start! Surely the trek to find the Albion settlement must be better than THIS!!
But unfortunately, the fact remains that the unsatisfied citizens of Echidnaopolis are just going to have to make peace with the fact that Albion is now out of the question. For the foreseeable future, there is no safe way off of their floating island. Those that continue to support Kayla-La’s efforts to protect their society propose that she continue leading the government to ensure nothing else jeopardizes their safety, but this idea is quickly quashed; leaving EVERYTHING up to Kayla-La is how they ended up in this mess in the first place, so who knows what other predicaments she could potentially get them into! Still, the governor’s idea realistically wasn’t great either, so the real issue may be leaving decision-making in the hands of one person, regardless of whom that is. Maybe the leadership of Echidnaopolis should be a conversation, among voices from all facets of society, to ensure all points of view are heard. Instead of a singular governing figure, they could elect several, who must all confer with one another to enact new policies…
It’s the outcome of such discourse that draws Jarvis out of the city and onto the all too familiar path to the Emerald Chamber. He knocks his knuckles against the crystalline wall before announcing his presence to Kayla-La, finding her crouched in front of the Master Emerald’s pedestal as usual. It’s been so long since he’s gotten to visit her – uncomfortably so, he admits. The fact that she’s had to endure so many interrogations and public reprimands from people that had once begged her for help, while he’s more or less gotten off completely free of consequence, has riddled his conscience with guilt over these last few weeks. It’s honestly bewildering that the city is saddling her with practically sole responsibility for the White Comet incident, despite the fact that he’s at least as culpable as she is.
Her hips pivot 180 degrees so she can flop backwards against the Master Emerald to fully face him. Don’t worry about it, Kayla-La says on a long exhale. Jarvis may have been heavily involved, but that doesn’t mean he’s equally responsible. It was her proposal, her project, and her duty to fulfill. While she did save thousands of lives, the fact remains that she overpromised on what she could deliver. The scrutiny and backlash she now faces is to be expected, whether it looks fair or not.
Even if that’s true, she shouldn’t have to face it alone, he replies with a frown. Taking a seat at her side, Jarvis leans back and peers up into the opening of what used to be the Zoot Chute, now buried by debris at the other end. Everyone’s so caught up in how these changes have affected their own lives that no one’s stopped to think about what it’s done to hers, he says after a long pause. Kayla-La has devoted almost her entire life – certainly her entire professional career – to the understanding of chaos science, and so much of that has been taken away now. Her classes have been cancelled, she’s no longer receiving grants to continue her studies, and the press has no interest in what she’s up to unless it’s to chastise her! That would be hard for ANYONE to handle, let alone without support!
Kayla-La quietly chuckles. Yes, she admits, her career is effectively over, but in all honesty? She really doesn’t even care that much. Obviously the constant ridicule and shaming isn’t her first preference, but the downgrade from local celebrity to public disgrace hasn’t been as rough of a transition as it sounds. If anything, it’s allowed her to get back to her roots and purely focus on the Master Emerald, faaar away from the court of public opinion. It even leaves her some time to study geology again; that’s a silver lining, right? Kayla-La has spent plenty time in Echidnaopolis’ spotlight, but now she’s more than ready to fade into obscurity and just be left alone.
Well, Jarvis grins, maybe not complete obscurity. That’s actually part of why he came to find her today: It’s been officially announced that Kayla-La will be the city’s designated Chaos Engineer! Her career isn’t over after all!!
What?! Kayla-La bolts upright with wide eyes. That can’t possibly be true; surely Jarvis misheard that. The governor would sooner toss her off the edge of the island than give her any kind of authority again!!
It’s not the governor’s decision anymore, Jarvis counters with a poorly suppressed snicker. The governor is now one of a nine-member council, which means no more single-handedly turning bad ideas into policy on a whim! The position does hold a bit more authority than the others, unfortunately – the title of “governor” is now the “high councilor,” with the intent of leading and moderating the rest of the council – but the important thing is that decisions are voted upon by all of them. The governor definitely fought against Kayla-La’s appointment, but realistically there was never another candidate for the job. Like it or not, Kayla-La is still the most qualified person to manage and monitor the Master Emerald, and the people of Echidnaopolis know it.
Eh, she may be the most qualified, but Kayla-La’s not convinced she’s even necessary anymore. The Master Emerald’s energy intake is approximately equal to its output, and it also appears to attract ambient heat, which she guesses is what’s keeping their floating island warm despite their proximity to the stratosphere. Minus one or two details of general maintenance, the system is naturally self-sustaining. There’s nothing Kayla-La’s really needed for that can’t be easily taught to other technicians…
She knows as well as he does that that’s not good enough, Jarvis says firmly. This is about so much more than knowing when to push which buttons or what parts are needed for repairs! This is about the future of Echidnaopolis! About the safety of the Master Emerald and their floating island! Hell, it’s about her legacy! She’s worked outrageously hard across DECADES at this point! She can’t just give up now!! Sure, she can train someone else to take over the responsibility – she’ll obviously have to do that eventually, since she won’t be around forever – but whether or not she’s replaceable isn’t the point! Their people need more than just a technician; they need someone that personally cares about watching over the Master Emerald and protecting the citizens of Echidnaopolis!
Kayla-La abruptly laughs, louder and harder than she has since the plateau became an island. Her mind can’t stop lingering on the vow she pledged to the city so many weeks ago. Surely, that can’t be a mere coincidence. He’s right, she says in an incredulous but amused tone. They don’t need a technician, they need a guardian. Maybe this really is exactly where she’s supposed to be...
Her face turns toward his, and the eager smile he’s known and loved since college finally crosses her features. No one ever said that a guardian can’t still have a great assistant, though, right?
A matching smile fills Jarvis’ face as he reaches over to squeeze her hand. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
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AHHHH THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE DESIGNS SHE’S SO DAMN CUUUUTE!!
So like Spencer, she has no canon appearance to draw from, so I was pretty much free to go hog wild here and do what I want. The main thing I decided to lean into with Rosa is the idea of primping. She’s definitely the sort of girl that got really into things like experimenting with hairstyles and trying out different fashions when she came of age, and it continues to be a big time hobby for her. Sometimes it takes her a while to get ready, but thankfully not in a stressful way; that is, she doesn’t agonize over one look or another being ‘good enough,’ she’s just deciding which one she loves the most. It doesn’t make her feel like less of a person if her presentation isn’t perfect because she treats it more like an adult version of playing dress-up.
This is why I think her pairing with Spencer is so fun, because he pointedly doesn’t care what he looks like. As a result, their relationship has two very important flexibilities: 1) He’s not judgemental about her looks either, so she can try out lots of new things without interference, and 2) if she ever gets the urge to dress him up in something that’s caught her eye, he doesn’t have much of a preference in any direction and she can treat him like a big dolly to play with. She thusly gets to share her favorite past time and he’s content to trust her judgement.
I’m sad that we don’t get to see all that much of Rosa and Jeffrey interact within the story, because they have really great chemistry and they’re one of those feel-good couples that makes me feel like maybe people aren’t all that bad. I’m going to do my best to put a few moments of them together in the next episode, but I may be limited by the constraints of where we are in the narrative. HMMM MAYBE IF I GET A FEW MORE PATRONS I COULD DO SOME ONE-SHOTS OF CHARACTERS LIKE THIS THAT ARE ONLY FOR SUBSCRIBERS.... just a thought~
Brotherhood: Origins has been stalled out for a couple months because there’s a VERY CRITICAL PIECE of the next arc that I still hadn’t completely worked out, and because it’s so central to the plot I wasn’t willing to risk just charging forward anyway and hoping it would come to me while I’m working. I fully advocate that stories will eventually fix themselves if you give them enough time, but Y’ALL. THIS WAS MOST OF THE SUMMER AND I’LL ADMIT I WAS GETTING WORRIED, BECAUSE I CAN’T JUST NOT WORK ON THIS FOREVER.
Anyway last night just as I was going to bed, the gap I’d been missing suddenly filled itself in, out of fricking NOWHERE. BUT I DON’T CARE, I’M SO FUCKING EXCITED I HAVE THIS LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE AAAHHHHHH I CAN START WRITING AGAIN!!!!
At last, we have the final character design for this first arc! I’m so, sooo so so sad that we only see Dian-Na for one episode, because she’s such a good noodle and she deserves a lot better than what Jeffrey puts her through. If there’s any silver lining to the situation at all, it’s that having to stop him pushing her around may have helped her with her confidence and taught her how to not let anyone else do it, too.
What I really like about both her and Jeffrey’s designs is how they each take an otherwise normal piece of clothing and end up having to repurpose it because it’s not made for someone of their stature. It’s mentioned in passing in the Knuckles comics at one point that most echidnas are “about the same size,” so I imagine that means there’s not a ton of options available for those that aren’t in that very same-y range. Maybe there are specialty shops around, or maybe you have to have them custom made; either way, it’s not as easy as just going to the local store and grabbing something off the rack, so safe to say Dian and Jeffrey had to learn to adjust to clothes that don’t properly fit them.
Dian’s height is increased by about a muzzle’s worth as well, so she’s about as abnormally tall as Jeffrey is abnormally short. I think it’s safe to say that Dian definitely gets the better deal in this scenario, because there are plenty of other Sonic characters that skew taller within this same continuity, plus we the audience have similar builds ourselves, so that probably causes us to be less jarred by her altered proportions. She’s a lot skinnier than I normally make my characters, but as noted in the image itself, her body is based on a girl I actually knew IRL once that was also very tall against the average, so I’m taking the proportions as just one of those things that can/does happen in an outlier situation.
This concludes the fanart portion of the party! I hope you guys enjoyed these designs as much as I have creating them, and I hope you look forward to the ones to come for other characters!! Next up I’m going to answer the rest of the questions, and (hopefully) get a list of themes up! Stay tuned for more!!
Guys, I promise I didn’t go into this planning to make Jeffrey look ridiculous, I SWEAR. I already had the height difference determined in my head, aka “about a muzzle’s worth or so.” I did not realize that going down just that amount would result in him looking so much like a little kid, I SWEAR IT. Rest assured this man DEFINITELY grows a beard in adulthood, I can’t conceive of any scenario in which he wouldn’t.
One of the challenges of this design was to physically express his unpleasantness, as I don’t have a big range of emotions that I’m good at. I decided to draw him pouting because it’s a good way to communicate his problem with entitlement. It’s not that he’s a generally negative person, a la Sojourner; it’s more just that he constantly feels slighted because he’s not getting what he believes he deserves. If he actually did get those things, he’d have the appearance of a much nicer person -- but ONLY the appearance, because the fact of the matter is that he’s just plain not nice. Not in any of the ways that really matter, anyway.
I guess on the one hand I do feel bad for him and kind of pity him, because to some extent his attitude is a result of how he’s been treated by others; I can’t say with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t end up really bitter and obsessed with what I should be getting if I grew up being denied so many things because of a trait I can’t control. And in further fairness, he is still a high school kid at this stage. However, I’m not at all letting him off the hook, because no matter how much you feel like the world owes you something better, that doesn’t excuse making the sort of demands he does or the way he treats others when he doesn’t get what he wants. This guy needs to learn some empathy yesterday.
Unfortunately, though, not everyone’s emotional development goes that route. Some people go through emotional pain and come out the other end with MORE compassion for others, because they understand what it’s like to be denied it; others, like Jeffrey, come out the other end unwilling to extend ANY compassion to others, because if he never received any himself, then why should he?
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this design! It was nice to get out of my usual stencil and draw someone with a different body shape. It’s a little tough to tell with his trench, but he has kind of an egg-shaped body, so that was nice practice for branching out. Stay tuned for Dian-Na in a little while!!
