#qvr_mine

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For the longest time, the only thing about my pokesona that was certain was "eye ridges are sharp. Not the typical droplet shape." The bag was also around because, well, I like messenger bags, they're super handy.

Everything else kind of started forming as I was drawing. wave frill ends? yeh. looplet? originally was a regular bracelet but then i remembered looplets exist and i was like..... fuck yeah

the adventuring rope? well in d&d rope is a default thing, so figured it would be a cool thing to add! I did want a tailbag, but figured that with my messenger bag it was kinda pointless, so tail rope instead.

the diamond patterns on thighs? i like diamonds as a shape, and it felt like a nice easy way to diversify too. I mean, the typical /\/\/ pattern feels similarly arbitrary. So I got two, or something.

Did I forget to draw in the mouth on the smaller pic? Maybe. Did I forget to do the slots for emeras darker? Perhaps. Are those minor enough that I don't care? Absolutely.

Young Chaoxi knew he was just a tool. Sold like one, treated like one, being a servant surrounded by nobles constantly jabbering and gossiping. He resented every single reminder that his scales are "dirty", and that he's not "proper" enough. His master was the only one that showed him any respect, teaching him ways of the court. But magic, Chaoxi taught himself and he was incredibly good at it. Surprising everyone with his abilities, which have been called divine, Chaoxi managed to break through the social barriers, gaining more and more respect.

The kobold adapted phenomenally to it. Playing with people was just as natural to Kaox as magic, and soon enough he himself had servants to tend to his needs. Those, of course, Kaox treated fairly and with understanding. Nonetheless, some nights Kaox was nowhere to be found, escaping the self-important society to hide in some bar, drinking cheap ale and throwing coins to performers, enjoyment that he never got but always desired. After all, if you force a river to dam up, you should be prepared for it to burst with more strength than you could ever fathom.

Having incredible affinity for water, Kaox is resourceful and clever, able to manipulate circumstances and people into his own favor. A servant ennobled, driven by his ire towards the nobility, rebelling with every breath and act while still staying within their made-up rules. Despite his name being Chaoxi, he goes by Kaox with anybody he deems worthy of his real respect, and is a patron of numerous artists, often employing street musicians as background for his own performances of magic.

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So, Kaox. First of all, the most base inspiration was Saba: A Sonnet of Scales [Youtube link] which I found out like two days ago. Pretty much fell in love, and to my dismay I found out that none of my characters fit a violin background track.

I always liked violins though so I spent a whole day thinking about it, because I didn't want to just do the same story beats as anything that ever fit a violin [vague 1900s rebellion vibes, gentleman thief and/or european nobility [honestly it's mostly that, i love that vibe a LOT but i didn't want to just do a knock-off of Saba]]

Hit by a different inspiration [I could blame Xiran Jay Zhao [Also youtube] for this, I found her unrelatedly but really enjoyed her view on Mulan movies] I decided to go with an eastern vibe and somehow it all kinda fell together?

To note, Chaoxi is not chinese, he just takes inspiration from chinese culture. His "nationality" is completely undefined, if vaguely modernish. On that note, his name means tide [if google and wikipedia didn't lie to me], and the three lines to the left of K in Kaox are a radical used to symbolize water [but only in combination with other things].

He has eight fasteners on his coat for good fortune, and black pants to fit the color associated to water with wuxing. The gem on his horn, however, is there as a slight reference to a magic system I made up.

However both his hair color and scales color... are a complete accident! Like, okay, I intended for hair to be blue, yes, but I kind of did them too harsh at first and had to attempt erasing them. I think everyone knows how hard it is to actually erase a color pencil. But the result looked pretty neat so I went with it.

And now for bonus character traits: - Kaox is utterly awful at all instruments. All of them. He tried. It did not work out. - That's why he employs musicians though - he still really likes music. He might as well get it his own way. - His hair is dyed, it's actually just white. He's acting up the whole "water mage" thing. His eyes are natural though. - He had an eastern dragon father, but never really knew him as originally he was in a regular kobold burrow. That's also why he's so good with water. - He also didn't knew his mother - the burrow was communal. He doesn't blame the elders for selling him though, but it took many years for him. - 90% of things he does are motivated by spite. - He's bi. Also out of spite. - He genuinely enjoys low quality food and drinks. A cheap beer for him is much better than ancient wine. He sometimes gets hot dogs from gas stations, and gas stations alone. - Violin + Accordion is the best combo and he will fight you on this. It reminds him of himself, a mix of high culture and street culture working together - He owns a double bass. It's mistuned and he's too short for it, but it's still his pride and joy.

Raic was an old, B2W2 OC of mine, who was on a quest to find his counterparts to be whole again. But it makes sense that, seeing two dragons that kinda like their life, he'd give up on it - Raic is a good guy! So instead he decided to follow suit and become his own individual. Sadly this came in the shape of an oversized holiday sweater thrown away because it didn't sell. And a personal choice of looking less like an energy plant accident, and more like a proper dragon. He's still working on how to best be friends with people, but he made great progress and isn't gonna stop yet! I had a lot of fun designing the HOLIDAYS sweater, yes. =D

and bonus tumblr trivia: He got the sweater on before styling his wings. Broke them for a moment, slid the thin ones through the holes, and then went ice sculpting.

His name comes from dragon and ice. Yep! It's that easy. His counterparts are called Dram (Reshiram) and Agun (Zekrom), and both had a theme of life breaking what they stood for - Dram was lied to mercilessly, and Agun felt no satisfaction from an ideal laidback life.