Fae and Evelyn Part 1 - Design to Life Downside Up

Fae and Evelyn Part 1 - Design to Life Downside Up

Fae is the first character I truly created,

Originally she was planned to be kind of shy and reclusive but deep down she would be kinda a dark femme fatale, kind of like a Jessica Rabbit meets Morticia Addams kind of thing.

She came just a few days before I created Evelyn on a similar basis to her, at first I mainly used her to test expressions and poses for Evelyn while I started to work out her actual story.

Fae was created with the idea of writing a story centred around a lead character with depression and bipolar disorder, she was based on a mix of friends who suffered and her story would be based upon my own battle with depression.

Initially my idea was to have her battle her own mind and eventually come out the other end and turn into a majestic woman who was barely recognisable to the original iteration of her character. Rather than create a veneer around Fae I decided that whatever happened I would tell her story brutally and accurately account the battles Fae had with her own mind every single day. Every single tortured aspect of her life would be laid bare with often mentally torturing accounts of the way her mental health problems ripped holes in her life.

The problem was that her story was almost impossible to write as it was so dark and bleak, though her story had a good basis it lacked something, it needed someone to add the light at the end of Fae's tunnel, that was where Evelyn stepped into the mix.

Evelyn was the second character I created along a similar basis to Fae, but where Fae got the killer figure, Evelyn was a short and intricately petite redhead. I had already worked on a story with Evelyn and with her being almost as opposite to Fae as possible it didn't take long for them to gel beautifully. Evelyn added the spark to Fae's story that it needed and helped me to turn Life Downside Up from a few pages of paper into over 500 pages of text, accounting the battle that Fae endured with depression and bipolar disorder.

Slowly they develop a deep and unparalleled bond with each other, becoming deep and trusting friends who place their utmost faith in each other and sharing a journey of discovery together. Rather than changing Evelyn's backstory I kept hold of it and used it as part of the strange and enigmatic side of Evelyn that Fae finds so utterly enthralling.

Something that I decided early on was that their story together wouldn't be based upon a magical relationship that just instantly blossomed, it would slowly grow over time. Learning more about each other and finding solace within each other over time as they came to discover that their new friend is the missing piece of the puzzle that they didn't realise they had been searching for. Eventually their story together would be based upon two polar opposite beings meeting their soulmate, inspiring each other and being inspired themselves. Evelyn and Fae would go through all the ups and downs of friendship, the moments when they doubted each other or found themselves questioning why they were around each other at all.

Fae initially is both mesmerised and utterly perplexed by the strange Evelyn but she also sees her as a strong and almost heroic being. Nearly idolising the chaotic, confusing but adorable redhead as she scatters all Fae's personal fears to the winds. Evelyn often pushes Fae to break her own barriers and grasp opportunities before she regrets not taking them.

Evelyn sees Fae as the woman she wishes that she could be, believing that she is the bravest and most determined woman that she has ever come across. Evelyn spends time in fear that Fae will ask her to leave at any moment, something she dreads as for Evelyn at least Fae is something far more special than anyone she has ever met before.

Gradually the pair become utterly inseparable and as their bond deepens so does the significance and meaning behind it, with both becoming unable to conceive their daily lives without their new found friend.

However during a few early tests one problem emerged and that was one of size. Evelyn is 140cm (4ft 8) tall and incredibly petite where Fae was around the 183cm (6ft) mark and posing them together was nearly impossible. With Fae still being an undisclosed character at the time rather than adapt Evelyn to suit Fae I adapted Fae to suit Evelyn. Overall I shrunk Fae down to be around 172cm (5ft 8) and reduced her overall size accordingly to make it more viable to pose them together. I retained the features I had planned for Fae to keep the basic premise behind her intact but making her more workable in accordance with Evelyn. Primarily the main purpose was so that when hugging Evelyn’s head would rest perfectly just above Fae’s chest. Furthermore so that when Fae was having a dark moment Evelyn could rest her head into her shoulder quite nicely to give her support. After all, what good is writing about a magical friendship developing over time if the images when the