Artwork by Lady_List ( aryion.com/g4/user/Lady_List )

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Continuing the train of thought from the previous page of this story (and as I never wrote a story for this in the first place) let's discuss one of my key inspirations for Kat. That should be fun.

I've always enjoyed the phrase "There is nothing new under the sun." An old proverb that postulates that there is nothing truly novel in existence; every new idea echos past ideas that came before it. I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. Humanity as it is now innovates moreso than invents. Creating original ideas and characters, no matter how outlandish or unique they may feel, carry inspirations from characters or concepts that came before them. This is true of my entire cast, but as Kat is the star here, doing her version of the Joker's pencil trick, we'll focus on her.

Many people I've discussed my characters with are always surprised to learn that one of Kat's key inspirations is Eddy from the cartoon Ed, Edd n Eddy. EE&E is my favorite cartoon of all time. With a cast of likable characters despite themselves. When I went about trying to create my own thing, I of course tried to learn from the things that I love first. After all, you should be the biggest fan of your own creation. Because if you don't like it, why should anyone else? I wanted to capture that sort of informal dynamic of the Eds in AKO. Not necessarily just make girl version of the Eds or anything like that. But the way that a story could be built around three characters that represent generally negative traits. Greed, a lack of empathy, gross neglect for safety, crude mouths, and often harsh words. The ability to take a cast of characters that by all accounts shouldn't be likable, and in fact aren't liked by their own supporting cast and make them some of my absolute favorite characters ever is nothing short of magical.

Kat has other inspirations of course, Daria, Dan (from Dan Vs.), Mandy, Gaz (From Invader Zim), Vicky (From FoP), etc. Characters that are often blunt, standoffish, and financially motivated, helped carve out just how I think of Kat. You may notice I don't have any anime influences on here which might seem strange considering the girls all wear Japanese school uniforms despite being in America and I clearly have anime influences in my work. But honestly, I can't pick out too many anime characters that really make me think of Kat insofar as her personality is concerned (If you can think of any that she reminds you of lemme know in the comments). Her design itself can be linked to a few popular black haired hime cut wearing girls though.

There's a lot more I could go into, but I don't want this to run too long. Thanks for reading this far if you did! Maybe sometime later I'll talk a bit more about Amber and Olivia's influences.

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All characters belong to me. Always welcome engagement, fanart, and fanfic!

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