Character updates! ♥︎

 

Happy July!

Hey, recognize these ladies?? 👆

Yeah, they're featured in the header of this blog! But I bet you don't know who they are...

This little group is what I like to call the main cast of my fantasy-inspired series, "Tales of Majestica"! They live in the modern-day United States of America in a wealthy, gated community/neighborhood known as "Ivory Heights". They also have special ties to the fantastical universe of Majestica, made up of various kingdoms. You can think of it as one of those Barbie movies where the main character is a modern schoolgirl who's related to a princess of a magical world and they get to visit said world... or something, I think that's how those plot lines go.

Anyway, the Majestica girls have gone through several revamps throughout the years ever since I started developing them around 2015. So maybe I should start introducing them to you!

First up is arguably the main member of this group; she actually has a special place in my heart! Her name is Liliane Noëlle Palmer, but she's known to everyone as just "Lily". She's around 17-18 years old and the eldest child in her family with four younger siblings. Lily was the first Majestica character to ever be developed, and actually began life as an elf named "Violet"! She eventually became just a regular human princess with the same name, and I would later change her name to "Violette", then to "Liliane". This year, I decided to change her from a princess to just a regular, modern-day schoolgirl (albeit she is still very wealthy and lives in Ivory Heights along with the other girls in her friend group).

As I really liked long, jet-black hair and green eyes (these traits being most notable for their association with my notorious Mary Sue and self-insert character, Charlotte Li), I thought it was fitting to give these to a more developed character. However, as I made more and more OCs, I didn't want Lily to look too similar to other characters, hence why now she has brown hair, and though she still has green eyes, she now wears glasses over them. Her "hime cut" hairstyle has always been a trademark of her appearance, and now, she even likes to temporarily dye parts of it from time to time (pink in this image).

Lily was originally born in Manchester, England; because her parents share a love of traveling and learning about other cultures, she was given a French name. She is the newest resident of Ivory Heights, moving there with her family shortly before her eighteenth birthday. Though rightfully nervous about moving to a new community, she is willing to get to know others... just as long as her younger siblings stay out of her hair. Quiet and studious, Lily's favorite hobbies include reading, writing in her diary, playing the flute, and painting. She speaks fluent French and is particularly interested in French culture, much to the delight of her parents. She also loves her younger siblings and often finds time to spend with them despite the occasions when they get on her nerves. She is starting college (which is the whole reason why her family moved in the first place) where she is an elementary education major.

In Majestica, Lily has ties to the neoclassical European-inspired kingdom of Leggenda.

This is Mahina Okelani Kameāloha, Lily's closest friend in Ivory Heights. She's around 15-16 years old and also comes from a family with five children (perhaps why she was able to connect so much with Lily). In Mahina's case, she is the middle child with two older brothers and two younger brothers. Cheerful and outgoing, she loves to hang out with other people; she does love her parents but very much dislikes having all brothers. She is originally from the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands and has always felt proud of her culture. She loves going to beaches and especially showing off the luau dances she learned back home. When she and her family moved to Ivory Heights when she was around ten years old, she felt excited, especially when she found out a lot of her neighbors were girls her age. However, she always wants to make sure others are comfortable and willing to talk before inserting herself around them.

Mahina was formerly known as "Mirembe Nubia" and was seemingly of African origin. However, I have quite a bit of African-American characters and thought it would be interesting to make a Polynesian one. I myself have been to Hawaii several times and really liked it there.

In Majestica, Mahina has ties to the tropical island kingdom of Wasavista (it used to be called some weird name like "Dagganaashiyo" or something and I changed it to something simpler for obvious reasons, haha). Mahina also happens to be my first character with a plus-sized/heavy-set body type, which actually came about because I used a character creator with different body types, including a plus-sized one (she was originally named "Mirembe" here). I used a different body type for another character named "Leilani", who seemed to be inspired by tropical cultures. I like to think the characters of Mirembe and Leilani were merged to create the present-day incarnation of Mahina.

Here is the probably second (well, technically, like at least fifth or something as I created Lily's parents and one of her younger siblings before her) Majestica character I've ever created: Mariangela Ariel Constantina Thorley, occasionally known as "Mari". She's around 18 years old and is a treasured only child from a family originally from Louisiana in the United States. They would move out of state into the neighborhood of Ivory Heights when Mariangela was still fairly young, and from the moment she arrived, she was determined to show the other girls her age how privileged and rich she was. She loves dressing flamboyantly and showing off whatever she's got on, and she's somewhat of a spoiled brat who doesn't take lightly to competition. She's considered a frenemy to the other girls in her friend group, especially to Lily; she's fairly nice when she wants to be but doesn't hesitate to tell everyone off when the opportunity arises. 

Mariangela has consistently kept her name and appearance since she was created back in 2015. The only thing I'd say that really "dramatically" changed about her was the fact that she was initially a baroness, then a grand duchess, and now she's just a regular (albeit still wealthy and privileged) schoolgirl.

In Majestica, Mariangela has ties to the kingdom of Knighton, which resembles that of a stereotypical fairy tale (that being a large, grand castle on a hill surrounded by a quaint little village).

Following Mariangela, I created Mahina, then this character! Her name is Lara Alessia Preziosi and she's around 16 years old. She is originally from Valletta, Malta, and was adopted by an American woman when she was a toddler. She is plucky, tomboyish, and vivacious, preferring to live an active life rather than stay at home and study or do other quiet activities. She shares Lily's love of traveling and exploring places like forests and parks, and likes to get the other girls in her friend group involved in things like sports. She also gets along pretty well with Mahina due to their similar outgoing and outdoorsy personalities. She isn't afraid to speak her mind, similar to Mariangela; but while the latter does so mostly out of spite or to make herself better than everyone else, Lara does it to mainly call people out when they're acting like clowns. Her mother later married the father of the following character, and they settled in a home together in Ivory Heights.

Lara was created solely because I wanted a blonde-haired, green-eyed character (similar to Rapunzel from "Tangled") - stupid reason, I know. She really deserved to be fleshed out into a better character. She was originally named Victoire Mirabelle Brisbois (sounds like she came from a French family), later changed to Fidelia Amista (I don't know if she kept the surname), and this year, she was given the name she has now! As for her backstory, I think she consistently had the plot line of being the child of a single mother, living in a non-wealthy family, and her mother later marries a wealthy man who has a daughter of his own. Oh, and her eyes were also changed to a more hazel color to avoid having literally the exact same trait as Lily.

In Majestica, Lara has ties to the steampunk-inspired port village of Villerreult.

Here is Lara's stepsister, Tomoko Itō! She is also around 16 years old and is originally from Osaka, Japan. She lived there with her single father until she was around ten years old, when they decided to move to the United States. Her father later fell in love with a sweet-natured woman who happened to be working in a restaurant, and he was delighted to see that she too had a daughter whom he thought would be the perfect companion for his own. One thing led to another, and they married, moving to their permanent home in the Ivory Heights neighborhood.

In contrast to Lara's outspoken and tomboyish personality, Tomoko is more reserved and feminine. She loves doing her hair and dressing in soft, delicate fabrics. She shares Lily's love of reading, writing, and music. The two also share an interest in history, as Tomoko is fiercely proud of her Japanese heritage (she even claims her family was descended from rulers of the country's Imperial House) and has learned a great deal about how her native country came to be. As much as her slightly aloof personality is somewhat similar to Mariangela's, she prides herself on respect and doesn't take kindly to the other's bratty behavior.

Similar to her stepsister, Tomoko initially had French roots; her name was Héloïse Marie, later changed to Opaline Saranna, and finally given her current name just this year. Her backstory has also remained relatively unchanged, being the daughter of a wealthy single father who marries a middle-class woman with a daughter of her own.

In Majestica, she has ties to the Oriental-inspired kingdom of Magnolium.

Lastly, this is Ameerah Binte Makeen Al-Almin, a 17-year-old girl originally from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Like Lily, she is the eldest child in her family, having three younger siblings. She and her family moved to America shortly after her youngest sibling was born (they wanted to live somewhere safe so their children could have the best life they could provide) and settled in the Ivory Heights community. Owing to her heritage/birthplace, she is quite religious and is not only loyal to her faith, but her family as well. She can be somewhat timid at times, purposely avoiding certain topics when she talks with her friends as she may grow anxious over what they will think of her. She even occasionally puts off meetups and other social events in favor of spending time with her family. Fortunately, Lily and Mahina have especially helped her come out of her shell.

Little has changed about Ameerah since I first developed her a year or so ago; her old name used to be Noor ul-Ain and she used to be a princess before I changed her into a regular schoolgirl.

In Majestica, she has ties to both the desert kingdom of Qadai and the Stormcaster people, a tribe-like, nomadic group blessed (or perhaps cursed) with the power to create storms.