Character File: Caspian Elaphus

Implied Swear :) Also ignore the small picture of Cas, I'm experimenting...

When you forgot to hit publish on the last Character File...what who said that?

    It really is strange to me how Caspian is a character that has been here since day 1 of Forest City. For context, I am a big fan of deer and in that first drawing of all of the Forest City characters, there was a deer. I probably should dedicate a character file just for that original line up. The original line up is the most important piece of art in Forest City. Obviously things have changed, probably for the better. I feel that more people tend to actually take their drawings of OCs and turn them into digital art almost instantly. I didn't of course, but I'm curious to know what Forest City would be like if I had turned that original line up into digital designs. I would have more content of course, but I'm curious to know if Caspian would have been any different. I always felt bad for Cas, he went through so much and didn't deserve the outcome, I'm glad he moved on, a lesson that most FC characters need to learn. Caspian feels the most like myself, I remember that time in my life I was going through a lot of friend related issues, when I was writing him that is, and I wanted to cope with it. So Caspian became my best case scenario, at the time, I'm not sure if it would have been best to leave those friends or not, maybe it was...maybe it wasn't. Of course I don't want to info-dump my life onto my audience, but my personal conflicts seep into the FC plots sometimes. I mean the story is about being kicked out for being trans.

    Onto the incarnations... 

Prototype: So the original Caspian design is interesting...obviously it is bad. At that point in time, Forest City hadn't been written yet. You can see the prototype Cobalt over there on the left. All I can think of with this design is Becky from Tuff Puppy, but not as bad, perhaps it is the snout. From what I can see we have some Invader Zim esc. ears going on which is part of my old, developing art style. An aspect of Caspian that has always been a struggle was the antlers, they look like garbage, I think that the asymmetry is fine, but I don't like the general shape, it isn't natural. His clothes is very similar to what he wears now, hoodie, t-shirt, (he wears shorts now, but will wear actual pants lol), and a major change is that most of the hooved animals in Forest City (and birds) don't wear shoes, it feels awkward when they do. I don't remember too much about the character of Prototype Caspian, but I do know he was college aged and that he was friends with the Prototype Cobalt. Prototype Caspian would help Cobalt escape authorities and in general despised Prototype Cobalt's crime shenanigans. I definitely want to talk about the prototypes eventually. This one was done in 2019.

Incarnation 1: Sorry for the poor quality of this one, this drawing was done almost a year ago now on 28 November, 2021. I believe that Book 2 had been finished at that point, so Caspian designs were needed. I think that the hair in this one is more accurate to the final hair that I created. His personality shines through in this one. I think the main problem I faced with Caspian was his clothes. He is quite literally the definition of "everybody's OC." He wore Converse, a hoodie, had emo anime hair, was shy, etc. Caspian is kind of a generic OC when it comes to clothes, but I think that is fine. SEE! Your boring OC can wear a hoodie and be fine. I think that the basic clothing is something I rather enjoy about Cas, he doesn't need to be the center of attention and he is quite a conflict avoidant person, so I don't want him to be as extravagant as Bonnie, Midge, or Cobalt. He does gain the hoodie, wears shorts, and loses the shoes from this sketch.

Incarnation 2: I don't hate this drawing. It was done on my birthday lol, so 10 February, 2022. Yeah, Cas doesn't have too many character sketches. There is a full body design from this design specifically, but it's kind of ugly and I liked this sketch more. There is a lot of familiar things on this Cas design. I think that the only thing I really changed from this design was losing the zipper on the jacket and making the hair less curly. Something I wanted to achieve with Caspian was have his face surrounded by a heart, this was achieved with the lighter parts on his fur. I actually like this sketch and I kind of want to do it again. Sad boi hours indeed.

Incarnation 3: Did I design these for art fight? Yes, these were done on 11 July, 2022. So, yeah, I know what is wrong with this image, I won't point it out to you though. I like the colors on this design, I like that Mac and him have essentially the same eye color, I LOVE the hair, the antlers are cute, the heart design on the face is not distracting. BUT THE STUPID COLOR OF THE SWEATSHIRT. I don't hate it, but I think it is unnecessary, I would redo this design just to fix those minor problems, but this is mostly a guide for me now. I also don't like how the legs just stick out like bricks, I could define the shape a little more. I still love this design and this character though, but I really want to go back and fix this up a little. Also the sketch in this incarnation is actually unfinished.

    I think that is enough for now, I love Caspian, I really do. However, the next Character File I have been dreading.

And the next character file goes to...Tora Panthero

OH GOD D-