Crafting Carouselle: The Story of My First Wholly Original Character

I dabbled in talking about Carouselle's origins in my "Why I Do What I Do" article, but that was a truncated version, shortened for the sake of contributing to the article's main point of explaining why I was making Eternity Kingdoms. Consider this a full-blown Carouselle exposé- not in the shocking sense, fortunately. There's nothing dark hidden within her development history. Instead, this is a glimpse into how and why I made her, what role she'll play in Eternity Kingdoms (primarily its first season), who I think she may sound like, and where God impacted her creation.

Let's-a go!

GENESIS- Branching Out

February 12th, 2019.

I was a budding artist then, still relying on my love of Steven Universe to propel my artistic development forward. Don't get me wrong, it still influences my style; it's just that back in 2019, I felt uncomfortable drawing outside of the show's style. That being said, things began to change when I started meeting with a table of predominantly female artsy folks.

These gals appreciated my art, and one of them was kind enough to suggest doing something original. Then, I was curious. What COULD I make that was original? Now, I know God placed that young woman there for a reason. If it weren't for her, Carouselle likely would've never came to be.

On the 12th, I went straight to work in coming up with a new character. After a first sketch that didn't go well, I tried again on the other side of my papery canvas. My brain was swirling with thoughts. At the time, Sardonyx (a Steven Universe character) was on my mind most of the time, and she influenced the end result. However, unlike many a young Sonic fan, I didn't want to make a simple recolor of Sardonyx and call her "original". That would be lazy. As I drew this character, my mind was racing.

"How could I make her different from Sardonyx?" "She could be a robot and have a carousel theme!" "Yeah, that could work!" "She needs a hat!" "What colors should she be?" By the time I was done, this character was... unique. She simultaneously looked like and yet distinct from the character who inspired me in the first place. Both Sardonyx and this character had four arms, but my character didn't look like she'd share the same personality.

In Steven Universe proper, Sardonyx was a coquettish, haughty "fusion" of two of the series's main characters. In her words, she was "specific, accurate, faultless, elegant, controlled, surgical, graceful, powerful, and occasionally known to smash." That last one was in relation to taking down an alien communications tower that was messing with television broadcasts. (It makes more sense in context, honestly)

Conversely, my character had a childish aura to her being. Her smile looked innocent, ready to sing about something or say "Happy Birthday" like Frosty the Snowman. She was different, and I liked that. In that moment...

... Carouselle was born.

You'd think that I would spend the next 7 months obsessing over my creation, but surprisingly, I didn't. I spent the next 7 months drawing Steven Universe art, occasionally revisiting Carouselle's design and trying to improve upon her. In fact, it wasn't until I broke away from her "model sheet" and tried recreating her from memory that I ended up with something closer to what I have for her current design.

Early in September 2019, though, things changed. God planted the seeds for the idea of Eternity Kingdoms in my head, and my mind was racing with ideas for an original series, untethered from any preexisting properties. I knew I wanted a main quartet for EK...

... and Carouselle was there, waiting in the wings for her starring role.

EXODUS TO ETERNITY KINGDOMS

Shortly after creating Takoyaki, Lucian Evernight, and Prodigus Lionheart (the other main characters of Eternity Kingdoms), I felt like Carouselle would be a perfect fit for the series. Since I didn't want a pure fantasy world where technology was stuck either pre-Industrial Revolution or during the Revolution, I decided that EK would have serve as a fantasy world that reached modern times without losing the basis of what made it so fantastical. Think Pixar's Onward, but if people still cared about magic in the modern day and normal humans existed in that world*.

*Disclaimer: I came up with the idea of a modern fantasy world prior to seeing Onward in April 2020. An alternative interpretation of my idea for the world of Eternity Kingdoms could be seen as an inverted Star Wars. Instead of light science fiction with mild fantasy elements, EK is a hard fantasy series with dabblings of modern technology. The series won't become a space opera at some point, but I wanted robots of all varieties in the series.

Now that she was part of the larger tapestry that was Eternity Kingdoms, I took to developing her personality and backstory. Early on, I wanted her to be the ringmistress of a circus within the circus kingdom of Barnumia. After her circus is attacked by the Dark Lord's forces (the Dark Lord is EK's main villain), she would've joined up with our main trio, bumping them up to a main quartet.

My plans for her have since changed- she's no longer a ringmistress (just a member of a human/robot circus), she joins the main trio at the end of Season 1, and she meets them prior to the "final battle" of Season 1. In addition, I've crafted quite the backstory for her that involves her creator, the mystery of why she was made, and an "older brother" designed to retrieve her for her creator. No spoilers for that backstory here, although if you've been following me for long enough, you already know who that "older brother" is.

And if you're wondering about her personality, well-

PERSONALITY- Robo-Bundle of Joy

Carouselle is a joyful sort, if you couldn't tell by how often I draw her looking happy. She is, in the words of the Reverend Awdry when describing Thomas the Tank Engine, "the eternal child". She's rather innocent and childlike, primarily due to her lack of knowledge regarding the world outside of her kingdom. She approaches new things with wonder and curiosity, as any child would.

She maintains a sunny disposition, doing what she can to cheer others up and offer support when it's needed. Carouselle is a born entertainer, often performing her stage magic for those who wish for a bit of entertainment. She feels like magic is her calling, and since stage magic is something she loves doing, it's a perfect match.

However, she often struggles in social situations unfamiliar to her and can be clumsy at times. Fortunately, she's been treated well and loved on in Barnumia, although not everyone is willing to accept her as is. Yet in spite of this love, there are times when she doubts if she's really as useful as she thinks she is. She doesn't let those thoughts overwhelm her, though- she presses on and continues to serve, using her service to bring joy to others and contentment to herself.

In addition, Carouselle can be deceptively mature. From her appearance and mannerisms, you'd assume she was just a child-bot who happens to have a lanky frame. However, get to know her and you'd see she's capable of empathetic and surprisingly insightful analyses of a person's character or their situation. Just because she's peppy and energetic doesn't mean she's unable to slow down and be serious. Sometimes kids can provide a perspective that older folk could overlook in the constant busy-ness of life they're trapped in.

Unbeknownst to many, Carouselle is developing real magical abilities. She primarily uses this "real" magic to create portals and zip around Barnumia with relative ease. Later in the series, she's going to learn of healing magic, making her the main quartet's medic and mage. Speaking of the main quartet, she enters the series when Takoyaki, Lucian and Prodigus are all dealing with the aftermath of a boneheaded decision Prodigus made a few episodes prior.

Simply put, they're not doing great.

Through her encouragement and positivity, Carouselle indirectly helps motivate the team and eventually joins them by the end of season 1. She develops a surrogate siblinghood with Prodigus and friendships with Lucian and Takoyaki. Alongside her newfound friends, she's ready to see the world beyond Barnumia and head into the unknown!

VOICE- Lend Me an Actress

For the longest time, I knew I wanted Carouselle to sound at odds with her appearance. Instead of sounding elegant or mechanical, she sounds cute but not cacophonous, sweet without being suffocating, and retro without sounding too out of time. Her vocabulary is rooted in 50s and 30s slang, adding to the strange nature of her being. Listed below are some voice actresses who I think would do a good job with what I'm expecting from her character-

1. Tara Strong: If you've seen a cartoon from the last 20 years, chances are you've heard this gal at some point in your life. She's been a plethora of DC Comics characters (Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Raven of the Teen Titans), Bubbles of the original Powerpuff Girls, the original and reboot incarnations of Ben 10, average kid (who no one understands) Timmy Turner, Dil Pickles, Sari Sumdac of Transformers Animated, and too many roles to list. If she were to voice Carouselle, she would probably find a halfway point between her Batgirl and Twilight Sparkle voices to match what I've described for her personality.
2. Sarah Stiles: Okay, she's not a full-time voice actress, but her very person (from what I've seen of her) matches the energy I can picture Carouselle having. She's best known for starring in a Broadway adaptation of 1990s comedy Tootsie and voicing fan favorite antagonist Spinel in Steven Universe. As those suggest, she's quite gifted in the area of singing. Since Spinel's debut occurred shortly before God planted the idea of Eternity Kingdoms in my head, Sarah was a top candidate for voicing Carouselle. However, I'd rather not cast someone who may be unavailable due to Broadway complications. (that's not meant as a knock against Sarah; I'm just saying that I don't want any character in EK to be rendered unable to speak because their voice actor/actress was too expensive)

These two are really the only two I've considered as voice actresses for Carouselle. Nothing is set in stone yet regarding casting (at the time I'm writing this, I'm still in college), but when the show eventually enters production, chances are God will provide someone who identifies with her character.

WHAT CAROUSELLE MEANS TO ME- Made With Purpose and Love

Carouselle, as a character, has been through many changes. Her design has been refined, I've implanted new elements into her backstory and personality, and her role in Eternity Kingdoms is one that took me a while to figure out. That being said, I feel as if God wants me to use her as an example. Let me explain.

A key part of Carouselle's arc (again, no spoilers) involves her seeking out her creator and the reason for why she was made. She remembers who found her in Barnumia, but she doesn't know where she came from. Where did she come from? Who made her, and are they good? At some point, her "older brother" tells her the truth of her origin. It's a bit jarring for her at first, with part of her rejecting this origin and another part of her accepting it. Eventually, she comes to terms with her origin and creation, accepting herself for who she is in her creator's eyes.

If that sounds Christian, then that's because it is. Eternity Kingdoms is a Christian series and spiritual successor (in more than one sense) for serialized cartoons like Gravity Falls and the aforementioned Steven Universe. I make efforts to honor God throughout my work, and with Carouselle, I'm doing that in two areas. I've already mentioned accepting herself as a beloved creation of her creator, but another aspect is her finding a family within the main quartet.

Truth be told, Takoyaki, Lucian, Prodigus, and Carouselle won't be a perfect team. They're going to squabble, they're going to struggle with their personal demons, and they're going to fail in certain points. Despite that, they still care for each other and work together for the greater good. That's much like the body of Christ, isn't it? We may not agree or understand each other all the time, but in the end, we're all working for the greatest good that could ever be and (ideally) will be there for one another when we need it.

In addition, I used my own experiences as a young man on the autism spectrum to influence Carouselle's character. Now, autistic female characters (or even female characters "coded" with autistic traits) are nothing new- in recent years, we've had a whole lot of them. Peridot of Steven Universe, the main character of Pixar's excellent Loop, and Entrapta of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power are all recent examples. I've drawn quite a bit of Peri and Entrapta (well, my reinterpretation of her at least), but Carouselle is drawn directly from my own experiences.

She's loyal, has set routines, has a "special interest" in magic, and perceives the world through her own lens. How she sees something is going to be different from how Takoyaki, Lucian, or Prodigus would see it. That being said, she struggles in certain social situations and her trusting nature could easily be taken advantage of by those who wish to do her harm.

Carouselle isn't going to be some savant who everyone likes or someone that needs to be fixed because of their faults. I want her to be real and genuine, despite being a robot character. Some on the spectrum would argue that her being a robot could hurt autistic people because those who don't know us would think "oh, all autistic people are like robots".

That's obviously not true. It's called a spectrum for a reason, folks. If you've met one of us, you've met one of us. And as you read in her description, Carouselle is NOT a traditional robot character. She's meant to have tons of personality and energy while also dealing with some of the things we autistic folk deal with on a daily basis.

In summation, Carouselle is emblematic of both the Christian aspects of Eternity Kingdoms and my own personal experiences as someone on the spectrum. Then again, all of my original characters incorporate part of my being into them, but still. She exemplifies what makes my work unique.

CONCLUSION

February 12th, 2021.

Today marks the second anniversary of Carouselle's creation. Some could argue that this is her "birthday", and... yeah, it kind of is. Over the last two years, I've worked to improve on her and make her the best I could. I've received countless comments praising me for how much care and creativity has gone into her and even received a very kind piece of "fan art" from an artist that I'll leave anonymous for privacy's sake.

But I can't take credit for her. God placed the concept for her and the purpose of her character in my head and heart, and I desire to carry out that purpose. Eternity Kingdoms, when it eventually releases, is going to glorify and honor Him.

And if I ever get asked where it all started, I'm just going to say this.

"Disney began with a rabbit and a mouse. Tezuka began with a lion. Miyamoto began with a carpenter-turned-plumber. For me...

... Eternity Kingdoms started with my faith first and Carouselle second."

Happy birthday, Carouselle!