got together recently, from a set. Her character is Ne ("neh"), the smaller pink creature with scythed arms. I got the larger one, who is Ni ("nee"). They are brother and sister, despite seeming so unlike the other. An odd duo, but I like them quite a bit. Avvy has drawn them as well, and you should take a look!!
These are just my various sketches exploring the design, working out details of his anatomy and personality. Ni is a bit of a fussy little brother, but he very much loves Ne, they are very close physically and have lots of silly little interactions.
From Ni's toyhouse profile: "Born in the wild, in an aquatic larval form, Ni has known his entire life to be with his sister, Ne. They were once more similarly shaped and sized, in this state, though eventually their life changed as they developed more and took to the land. Ni's body did not take to the transition well, and he is a bit stunted and irregularly developed; he retains features that Ne lost during the shift. As such, his multiple eyes and extra set of small, vestigial arms are neotenous in nature, atypical. Ni's teeth and muzzle never quite developed right either; it's incredibly soft and delicate to the touch, like a rabbit's nose and lips, but no teeth.
Neither Ne or Ni understood why he was different, they simply accepted this as a fact of life. Ne would continue to hunt food for him, just as she always had. The only difference was that she had to shred his food into tinier pieces, so he could suckle blood directly from flesh and swallow down small pieces of meat, organs. It doesn't always settle well with him, but he is still technically a carnivore, just a poorly developed one. Together, they got by, and it was the same as ever. Until...
Through unfortunate incident, Ne was separated from him, and could not find her way back. Ni waited as long as he could for her return, but one day had to move on from their shared den. Without her, he was subject to starvation, and easily driven away by other animals. Eating became more painful, as he had to swallow food he was not equipped to ingest. He became covered in scuffs and cuts. Eventually, he began to take roost in abandoned human settlements, and through stumbling through them, he realized he could manipulate tools with his strange dexterous clawed hands. Ni has never seen or known what a human is (they are long-dead in this world) so he cannot intuit much about where he lives; to him, the abandoned town is a strange structure of the world. He runs into things by happenstance.
This change in lifestyle helps Ni survive, but he doesn't realize the dangers it incurs. One day, he gets caught by a snare around the neck, and struggles for days with the rope around his neck, steadily choking him. He manages to escape, but carries the scar with him. Finally, at this point, the memories of his sister made him too grief-stricken and in despair; he was convinced now she had to have died. He became out of touch with his emotions to survive the pain of her loss. This repression of his self is so effective, that even when they are reunited, he is in disbelief of her return, and how much he has changed since she has gone. It is a bittersweet circumstance. He is still learning how to be with her again. But, she makes him very happy; this is always the truth. Love endures..."
