#bouquetfox

[31-radical]

bouquetfox replied to your post:on a random note, I revamped my about page!! Now...

checked it out now on the computer and gosh that’s cute! I like how you did the Peeps area :D

Thank you!! ; v ; The Peeps area features the best and sweetest Peeps around!

[31-radical]

What was your biggest inspiration(s) for Sundown? Like forget the biggest part actually what were your inspirations for it in general? What made you think "Yeah, I'm gonna write this and have it be this specific way, with characters like these." For the plot, setting, characters, extra details that may not be considered relevant to plot but are there anyways, what made you want them that way?

Hooo boy, I need to make a list! Mainly so I can remember what inspired the creation of Sundown and its characters :’D

– GTA V, one of the biggest inspiration with the location (Los Santos) and fantastic soundtrack and some of the characters such as Franklin Clinton (him being more grounded compare to the others is similar to Merci.) Whenever I go back to playing GTA V I’m more inspired how the landscape and general feel of Sundown is.

– I named Terry after my old friend’s character! When I first joined online, Terry, the hedgehog in the picture, was one of the first characters that was paired with mine, and I had good memories. It’s sort of my way of being like, hey, I do remember this character, and his name is being carried on in my character as a nod.

– This is a trend that’s being picked up where there are pieces of my friends within the characters, such as Bonita Luna being Chilean-based and Saya giving Marina her name and species. I want everything to fit in as smoothly as possible though I do plan to add more there’s tidbits of my friends in these characters. I either tell ‘em about what I plan to add or ask hey, for this character, what species and name do you have in mind? Then go from there.

– There’s two things that inspire me in the creation of Antonio: the guy in the music video “Born to Die” by Lana Del Rey inspired Antonio’s concept design (which was later revamped to be more dorky, sensible and rockstar-ish rather than a cool bad boy who smokes.) The other thing inspired Antonio’s full name: Antonio Romero, and it comes from two anime characters. (Antonio + Romano)

– Speaking of Lana Del Rey, Lana’s name comes from her!

– Actually, there’s a bunch of songs that inspires the characters and ideas I have. “Skeletons” by Stevie Wonder and “Sleepwalking” by The Chain Gang of 1974 both is how I imagine Sundown to “feel” theme wise. “Don’t Come Close” by Yeasayer inspired a pretty important scene between Merci and Terry. All three songs come from GTA V soundtrack. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails (Coil remix) inspire a pretty dark scene (empathize more on the music rather than the lyrics.) “Ghost of Utopia” by IAMX is ultimately the song that fits Sundown’s plot and protagonists (Merci and Terry), and I use the line as a lyrical description for it: “you are the ghost of Utopia – you’re the conquered stars, the divided hearts”

There’s more songs but these are the five songs that I can immediately think of, in terms of feel or theme of Sundown, and how it describes a scene I have laid out! I planned at one point to make a track list of songs that relates to Sundown in plot and scenes.

(actually, there’s one more song I need to put down: “The Definition of Not-Leaving” by Hands like Houses is a significant song for Antonio and Merci – both ‘em and this song is very personal to me.)

– Steven Universe has been a great inspiration to me in terms of seeing raw emotions from characters, and I find it to be fascinating to what how much these characters can breakdown. I inspire to display the same kind of emotions with my characters, especially there’s highlighted points where some of ‘em do breakdown (I’m so looking forward to drawing Colby snapping and saying, “No one loved me like Antonio did!” as confirmation that Colby did love Antonio back and that for all the times he acted like an uncaring asshole, he really did miss him just as much as the others.) Plus young Greg possibly serve as inspiration for Antonio HEH

– I draw some inspiration for Sveb, one of the main antagonist, from David (The Last of Us) in terms of the front they put on to lure specific people (Vanida and Merci) and uses them for his own gain. In truth, it’s less of an inspiration and more like, “I know this behavior all too well.” which is why it is incorporated in Sveb’s character.

– Merci’s – and later Terry’s – red hoodie that says “60 Seconds until Sundown” is a play off of 30 Seconds to Mars, that also points out the series’ title! No reason for this I just thought it was cool.

I believe that’s about it! I don’t doubt there’s more I draw from, since there’s a BUNCH of songs, series, and such that gives me ideas to work with. Some inspiration are fun things that comes from what I like, or I was formerly in, as a small nod or ‘cause I thought it’s a neat little thing to add in! Along with showing appreciation in whatever way possible through the details I add on characters. So when it does become a comic, one of my friends can point out and be like, “That character’s name + species / trait comes from me!”

Sundown started off with “What ifs” and thinking about how a society treats hybrids (along with albinos, since in the very first concept was thoughts of how albinos were either abused or used as personal slaves.) The albino idea was actually the first thought I had with the main character being possibly one. Somewhere down the line, I scrapped it and went with hybrids, first going with a Jungle Cat/Tiger hybrid but then decided Tigon was much easier with more research behind it (such as health concerns and growth.) From there I thought that, well, there’s gotta be more than people on the bottom chain being mistreated and told that they’re basically nothing, despite they do the most work to keep Celestia on a foundation. It’d be pretty messed up if say, the country passed itself off as a paradise first world country while underneath them, the government ran what is like a third world country to make “cheap” (as if the workers are actually being paid) goods all while having “Made in Celestia” stamped on ‘em, technically correct. Then, what happens if you had a war criminal, exile by his country, now in this one, and he has all these people wanting freedom and he can be their promise to rise up? In a country where fame, riches and image has more empathize on than power, fear and torture? Mainly to cover up the deporting of some citizens to the underground and make it look like there’s nothing bad going on – we’re just talking about De Winters - Ashford family, celebrities and latest trends society should get in on!

There’s some inspiration for this as well.

[31-radical]

bouquetfox replied to your post:I spent too much time on something I didn’t think...

POSTITPOSTITPOSTITTTTTT

OH MY GOD

I WILL ‘CAUSE IT ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD SO FAR

[31-radical]

5 tallest characters, have their life together the most, AND which are your favourite (that are not a fursona)

TALL ASS MOTHERFUCKERS

(adult) Keras and Micah, both at 6′4 (and their fusion, Noah, being at 6′6)

Sveb, 6′3

Merci, 5′11

WHO HAS THEIR LIFE TOGETHER THE MOST

Emily, while she is a corpse, she’s married to a man who loves her more than life itself, and a son (then two sons, after Micah joined the family) plus the additional three Keras befriended. She also is a grandmother figure to Kiyoshi and Aisha’s daughter, Vienna. She feels happy in her paradise.

Zach, despite having to get a mechanical arm his life is going okay for the most part: he went to a good college, he works at his dream job, made good friends through it (SNARK FRIEND KADEN), develop a crush on Whitney and has a pretty good relationship with his parents despite their occasional nitpicks.

Mel, there’s not much going on in her life besides tending to patients (both at the clinic and at home) and making sure Jamie is doing okay, plus giving her training. She lives more out in the country side of Celestia, in a slightly bigger-than-typical house, and she ensures that there’s little problems to be dealt with. Her only main concern is making sure that she knows where Merci is and that she can always find them.

MY FAVORITES

Keras / Micah, the original children and I love ‘em A LOT. Just so fun to developing ‘em ‘cause both are so different and yet, they still click together, and I can’t pick one :’D

Antonio, he pretty much has all the traits I love in one being: a compassionate, goofy sweetheart (with good looks!) Still, he’s flawed, and it’s been interesting to dig at those flaws to see what’s under all the smiles he gives.

Kaden, he’s sarcastic, he’s pretty reckless, and not much of a professional in such a complex world. However, he has heart inside his mechanical body, and his relationship with the others has been so wonderful to work on.

SPECIAL MENTIONS: Colby, Pip, Jamie, Merci, Whitney, and Ricky

[31-radical]

bouquetfox replied to your post “It’s nearly 12am and I just got the picture nearly inked ahaha… ha”

YEAH YOU GOT THIS MAN!! And if you don't finish by 2 am, it'll still be 11 pm in Alaska by then!! ;3

I KNOW FOR SURE I GOT THIS NOW

[31-radical]

✎✁ for Keras, Kaden, and Mimi Cri! (Pardon if I spelled her name wrong)

You got her name right!

✎ What inspired the makings of your OC/s?

-- Keras

Keras was made in 2006 and during that time, pretty much EVERY couple I had was gonna have a kid! So with Ricky and Emily together, I wanted to make ‘em a son! Admittedly, most of Keras’ personality, at the time, came from Mariko Kurama from Elfen Lied haha :’D  With him being an adorably sadistic type of character.

That was scrapped five or so years ago.

-- Kaden

Kaden was created around the same time in 2006. I was inspired by Ghost in the Shell and robots in Sonic the Hedgehog to create an android character. Kaden was originally a Sonic character and I thought I was being “original” by having an edgy killing android that was also based off of the characters in Elfen Lied ahaha... ;;

THAT WAS ALSO SCRAPPED. Though Ghost in the Shell influence remains!

-- Mimi Cri

Mimi Cri was created to be a contrasting rival to Liliane de Valleé! Liliane is all formal and wears dresses while Mimi is more of a punk / casual chick. Mimi’s name is a play off of mimicry so she can transform herself to look like anyone though her eye color remains as a symbol of window to the soul or SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I wanted a different kind of character that’s supernatural but not like the characters in Vermillion.

Mimi is a cat ‘cause I love cats and ‘cause Liliane is a cat. A Schrodinger’s Cat to be more specific!

✁ Did it take you a long time to get your OC just right?

Both Keras and Kaden are nearly ten years ago though I haven’t been working on ‘em most of that time! Keras took a few years between his 1st revamp and 2nd / current revamp. Nothing major change, but it’s more of his designs and changing up his story (along with Vermillion plot and lore.) I haven’t worked on Kaden very much except here and there. Last spring, when I worked on the Inner Blue project, I’m gonna say it took... about one to two weeks to flesh Kaden out more? All the concept has been there, I just needed to rework it, and expand more on his character.

Both Kaden and Keras are fairly easy to work on. They existed for a LONG time and because they have, they went through their bad concept stage early on. So it doesn’t take long for me to ditch stuff that no longer works, take the good concept and rework it to develop the character more. I wouldn’t say Kaden and Keras are just right yet, there’s always room to improve, but I don’t think either of ‘em needs a MAJOR overhaul.

Mimi is still a work on process. I had to revamp her design since last year, I need to work on her personality, and backstory for her. So there’s bits and pieces of her concept is just floating about. Though I think in time I can get her just as developed as my other characters! She’s still a baby basically, being little over a year old in terms of creation.

[31-radical]

*Nudges this into you ask box* Once you get this, name 5 things that make you happy! Then put this in the asks of the last 10 blogs in your activity list

1. My friends! Like, it makes me super happy to talk with ‘em, and reblog their post, and joke around. They’re all so supportive and I love ‘em all ‘cause they’re super cool ♥

2. My characters! I’m happy with how far I’ve come with developing ‘em and more so when others take interest in ‘em. It gives me such a boost to keep drawin’ and writin’ about ‘em!

3. CATS. Oh my god. My cat, my mom’s cats, just CATS. CATS IN GENERAL. I love cats so much. Best believe I’m gonna become a cat lady.

4. I love looking through fashion blogs on here or on Pinterest! It helps jog my brain for character designs and overall, it’s just so fun to look through the different designs, and creating a certain look for my characters.

5. Getting a mocha frappe from McDonald’s. That’s heaven. Especially when they add a generous amount of whip cream and chocolate syrup.

[31-radical]

jasmine tea, strawberry iced tea, orange tea, and banana popsicles

jasmine tea: an unpopular opinion that i have

I really do not care much if a female character is designed to be sexy. I do not see it as sexist. I do not see it as fetishizing. I do not see it as degrading. I do not think sexy clothes equals bad character. I do not think huge breasts on a character is horrible.

I can see it being tiring. Absolutely. There needs to be a variety so that people can feel connection to a character. Every company should thrive to expand and be as diverse as possible. It would help out so much. I know while some people, like me, are 100% fine with it, there’s also others who would appreciate something different they can identify with.

But I honestly do not mind it. It’s why Skullgirls or Kill la Kill doesn’t bother me. I mean, yes, I think tits are hot, they’re great, but I also do not sit there and drool over ‘em. For me, it’s just a bonus. I’m mostly here for the characters and story, and ultimately, that’s why it doesn’t rub me the wrong way. In general, I don’t follow the trend of how female characters should be, I do what feels right while still giving said character good development and flesh out personality. That’s what matters to me the most.

strawberry tea: favourite outfit

MY CAT SHIRT. It’s a shirt. With pictures of cats. All over it.

Not really an outfit. It’s just one item of clothing, but that’s the only thing that matters.

orange tea: a secret that i've kept

HAHA, WELL I’ve got a lot of secrets, but most are either a bit too dark or it’s something others told to me, so my lips are sealed.

So a secret I’ve kept? I draw / write prettyyy kinky stuff.

That I’m not gonna show on here but NOW YOU KNOW.

banana popsicles: 1 memory i have of you

That one night where you and I stayed up like, 4am / 5am my time just talking about each other’s characters on here! Like, it was two separate events, but I remember your ask about Antonio, and how it got me rambling on, and then I ask you about your Dead Prince character, and you drew him out! That was so awesome, I treasure those times where we just stay up late talking about characters. ♥