ASK MEME TIME! Bunnie: 12, 14, 22 Naomi: 4, 8, 27 Kadin: 2, 16, 32 Brook: 1, 18, 35 AND FOR YOU B, C, D about all of them >:D
12: How do they deal with an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?
I feel like Bunnie would definitely bother Naomi until she helped. If they were not together, she'd simply be like a bear and scratch against a wall.
14: What animal do they fear most?
They have live-cams on the surface that the residents of the Undursa watch like Old Time Discovery Channel. I'd say they have some sort of unofficial deadliest animal poll going around base that Naomi and Bunnie watch with joy. Bunnie would be all about watching the animals on the surface but for sure has a mental list of one's she would not fuck around with.
I don't have names for a lot of the Cauterized wildlife but the guy on the cover is everyone's least(most?) favorite sharp friend on the surface. Huge green monster that prowls around deep wooded areas. Different residents call her different things but Naomi calls it the Jabberwocky based on a song from her childhood.
22: How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)?
Bunnie is for sure a 'I simply won't leave your side' kind of jealous. :) No one else can get too close without also having to deal with her. Possessive, but in a 'I'm taking care of you' way. Having an unrequited crush for 20yrs will do that to you.
She'd never actually get in the way, but she's definitely be making sure you deserve her person and that you're treating them right. And she'd be quick to let you know if you crossed those generally reasonable lines. She totally would not fight you over Naom
B) What inspired you to create them?
Naomi needed a foil and had been one of my characters for years. I was evaluating the team and decided that it needed someone softer to bring it together. This was born Bunnie! And her sister. :) Brook is a more firm character that offsets Bunnie's non-serious demeanor. With Kadin, it created a well rounded team that could play off each other's strengths.
C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?
Bunnie was created to fill in a gap, so it felt like the story always was missing her once I added her in. She brings them together in a way I love and appreciate. Bunnie is the glue to the team, irreplaceable 🙃
D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?
Bunnie went through several rapid design changes. She was loosely based off an old webcomic character of mine named Lo. The blonde hair spilt off to the side comes from that design. When I showed her official design to my brother-in-law, he immediately said she looked like me with blonde hair/no glasses. I sat on that comment and decided to redesign most of my characters to reflect their voice actors. :)
4: How easy is it to earn their trust?
Naomi isn't a particularly trusting person, though she just keeps herself at arms length from others. She has a small group of people she lives and trusts. If one of those people trusted someone, she'd follow suit however.
8: What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child
Naomi was definitely a 'I will not shut up about my special interests' kind of kid and I can imagine her being told to be quiet often. She was a pretty extroverted child before everything happened to her. I imagine being repeatedly told to hold her joy closer to her chest created an adult version of herself that doesn't talk much about what makes them happy.
27: What causes them to feel dread?
The smell of smoke and the sound of fire both make Naomi's stomach drop. It makes her scars burn. She avoids fire at all costs, which is thankfully generally easy in an underwater base.
B) What inspired you to create them?
Naomi was actually originally a waterbender ATLA OC. This was VERY short lived because I immediately fell in love with the concept of her character. She's for sure a vehicle for my own daddy issues, though she's got it much worse than I do. Naomi really is a character for working through my own issues at age 19. She's not nearly the self-insert she used to be. I've grown a lot in the last 7 years. Naomi's kinda like the scared kid I used to be. I love her very much, like she's a younger version of myself.
C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?
Nope. The story was designed for Naomi. She's the main character, even if it's mostly told by Bunnie. Everything in Cauterized revolves around Naomi ❤️🔥
There was a period where I couldn't make sense of her team as a whole and couldn't figure out how they'd make it on the outside. The team was originally just Kadin and Naomi, after all.
D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?
Naomi's appearance has changed a lot. I think I've changed her skin tone more than anything. Where she was an ATLA OC, her race was originally really ambiguous. When I cast you as her, I decided to rebuild her around your favorite parts of yourself, as you know :') Now, I think she feels like the character she should be. Her core character has never changed, but her outside appearance has gradually shifted.
2: How easy is it for your character to laugh?
I like to think Kadin has a good sense of humor and laughs easily. I just think it's only around the right people. Kadin's good friends with the engineer Henry Gertsen. Their actors are good friends IRL. They probably get along really well and cut up together.
16: What makes their stomach turn?
Kadin has a sense of justice and seeing someone hurt really makes his stomach turn. He's not always the best at acting on that feeling, but always takes metal note of the underdog. He keeps watch over them for an opportunity to step in. Cruelty makes him sick, though he can be caught in inaction for fear of retaliation from command.
32: Do they have a go-to story in conversation? Or a joke?
Kadin, unlike Naomi, actively makes jokes about his burn. "Gotta hand it to him, he had one hell of a grip" type jokes.
B) What inspired you to create them?
Kadin is a really cool character that's hard for me to go into detail about without revealing too many spoilers. He was created to be someone Naomi could rely on. Originally, he was her love interest, though now he's like a complicated almost friend, more co-worker type friendship.
Naomi's kinda scared to interact much with him personally because she wrongly thinks he has some sort of negative feelings towards her over their shared burn origins.
C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?
Kadin was one of the two original main characters, yet I've always kind of struggled with his deeper character. He's got a somewhat cold outer shell, calculating, though he's really a warm person who cares a lot. He's just very cautious and plans or ever move he makes.
Originally he was Naomi's guide on the outside and that's really not changed, he's just not her trainer any more. Funny enough, now Naomi's more his trainer over the bio-raptors at least.
D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?
They were several years younger in the original. Kadin was 23 or something like that. He's 28 now. Naomi was 19, she's 27 now. Honestly, they've swapped skin tones. Kadin got an overhaul when I cast Mitul as him to match him a little(I'm planning on doing a little more, though).
Kadin was also originally trans and in a sense, that's not changed, but he's not trans in a traditional sense. I'd say he's more he/they/it which is as close to spoilers as I can get.
1: What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?
Brook is a never sits kind of person. Being forced to be still would probably be torture. She could sit through a lecture or a concert but she'd be totally bouncing her leg the entire time. She'd die after anything longer.
18: What embarrasses them?
Brook would be embarrassed by crushes or by a public slip up during the trials she runs with the bio-raptors. Those, I think, would be hey only two blush buttons.
35: How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive?
Brook is a very good big sister. She's very protective of Bunnie and looks out for her all the time. Their parents are both scientists in another lab and we're always pretty busy. As the oldest, Brook took it upon herself to fill in wherever needed.
This isn't always a good thing, however. She's not a very big fan of Naomi and could've been a better support to her. She thinks Naomi derailed Bunnie's life. Otherwise, Brook almost can't help taking control of a situation and fixing it. She's over all very supportive.
B) What inspired you to create them?
Bunnie was added for Naomi. In a sense, Brook was added for Kadin. She's a rival, a bright mirror, a foil. I wanted a firm, strong character that would step in when no one else would. She's a very important character to the team.
C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?
She was designed to fill in a gap much the same way Bunnie was. It was pretty easy to let her full the hole in the story she was made for. She's the strong, supportive big sister of the team who's not scared to lay down her truth.
D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?
Brook took a long time for me to settle on a design for. She's the newest character to the show. She's still in her original design as the one painting in doing is the only one I've made so far.
Apart from her place in the team, she's a very self-indulgent 'what I think an attractive woman looks like' + features from my best friend Jess who plays her. I realized after doing most of her character painting that she really just looks like a female version of my husband + a little of my best friend.
Thank you so much for the questions, Izze!!!
