LINK TO 2ND ENTRY: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/427306163/ Press space to proceed! I recommend using fullscreen, Scratch butchered the quality on the art ^^' KEY: 1. Entry piece (you are here!) 2. Reference sheet 2.5. Close-ups of the first two 3-5. Traditional doodles 6. Pixel art. Tried my hand at chibi but I think I'll leave it to the professionals lol 6.5. Not art, but this is a Pinterest board I made inspired by the design! 7. Original ref, art by @-Artistiq! School is killing me qwq but I just had to enter for this pretty bby! NOTE: Extremely long backstory warning. If you don’t want to read it all, skip to the Notes & Credits and look for the section titled “Backstory Summary” for a short version. Credits are right behind that, too! || BIO || Name: Princess Delphina, or just Princess Gender: Female Age: 23 in cat years, around 2 in actual years Likes: Thunderstorms, rain, blue skies, meadows, flowers, cozy places to hide Dislikes: Extreme cold, crowds, smoke from fires (it makes her eyes sting), homesickness MBTI type: INFP-A Personality: Imaginative, carefree, and bold, she finds no fear in being alone and can keep herself occupied in her thoughts for hours. If she could read, she'd be a massive bookworm. She loves starting each day with a new adventure, even if it's just having a pretend tea party with stuffed animals! || BACKSTORY || Before she was known as Princess, Delphina used to be the housecat of a family living in a small town near a forest. Every day, they gave her milk and fish to eat - as well as all the chin rubs she could ever want - and in return, she kept their house free of vermin. She recalled drowsy nights falling asleep to the warm glow of a fireplace, sunny afternoons spent batting around a toy bird, and wintry mornings running outside in the snow, trying to catch the pearly flakes on her tongue. And, of course, there was the family. Her family. She could immediately pick up the sound of footsteps and know who was walking; she'd run to greet them before they even managed to open the door; her heart had memorized their voices, their faces, their laughter. But one day they were there, and gone the next. The family left the house one morning and failed to return at their usual time. Delphina anxiously waited by the doorway all day, until the night fell upon her in a smoky veil, promising nothing but emptiness. Disconsolately, she curled up and went to sleep, hoping that when she awoke the next morning, they'd all be back. Despair rose with the following dawn: It was evident that she remained the only one in the house. Dutifully, she kept guard over the empty property, sustaining herself on the mice that lived beneath its floorboards. The patches of light on the floor marked the sun's passage. Still, they did not return. And so it was for a third day, a fourth, until an entire week had passed. It was not until many months had gone by that Delphina finally accepted that they would never come back. She fled into the forest that night, her heart throbbing as wildly as the profound grief swelling inside of her; it was her paws, not her mind that led her on that escape. She called for her family over and over again. Where have you gone? Why have you left me? But even if they were nearby, the dense trunks silenced her cries. So she ran, trying to outstrip the memories that hunted her in fast pursuit, memories of happily living in the house that she could no longer bear to recall. Her family was gone. And with them, her happiness. The next morning greeted her with a glimmering, gossamer dew on the ground, and Delphina finally stopped at the foot of a vast stone castle. It looked as though no one had inhabited it for decades. Furry moss covered the cobbled path to the entrance, and the entire structure smelled of dust and decay. Curious, she slipped inside its crumbling doorway, leaving little wet pawprints behind her as she walked. She could tell the castle had once been a glorious spectacle to behold. Colorful banners draped all across its worn walls and golden chandeliers hung from its endless ceiling. But sunlight had bleached the cloth of their vibrance over time, and cobwebs strung between the chandeliers’ candles in wispy filaments. She felt a surge of sympathy. The castle had been abandoned, just as she and the house by the forest had. She went on to explore its many rooms, growing a little braver with each step. Whoever had once lived there had not bothered to take their possessions with them. Imported rugs carpeted the ground in some, and ancient volumes could still be found on bookshelves in others, and - much to her delight - she even discovered a trunk full of old dolls and stuffed toys, forgotten there by some long-lost child. At last, the walk tired her too much to continue, and she curled up in the musty blankets of one room's bed.
[Backstory cont.] Delphina stayed in the castle the day after. And the day after that, continuing to poke into the furthest corners of its stony expanses. On one adventure, she even found a delicate golden crown, and she carried this beautiful find back to the palace room she now considered her own, often wearing it on her following adventures. Weeks flew by, and she began to grow more familiar with the castle's hallways, tracing her own scent trail back every night to sleep in her room. She never failed to find something new to do each day, whether it was playing with the stuffed animals and dolls like she'd seen the children of her family do, or digging around in one of the castle's secret passageways, or simply taking a stroll in the nearby meadow, breathing in the perfume of flowers and light and springtime. One day, in the midst of another adventure, she finally caught herself mewling with laughter. And at last, at long last, she knew she'd found happiness again. How strange it was that this lonely, empty castle should be the place to give it to her. Perhaps it was not as different from her as she thought. Cold, dark, and desolate, it had only needed a little laughter to brighten it up. This castle was home, home like that house near the woods had never been, despite how joyful she'd felt with the company of the family. No, true happiness lay here, where she could journey to her heart's content and fulfill her boundless curiosity. Delphina no longer seemed to suit her as a name, either; it carried too heavy a weight from a past that no longer mattered to her. She was Delphina no longer. She was guardian of this lonely castle - its Princess. || BACKSTORY SUMMARY || Princess’s original name was Delphina, given to her by her human family. She lived with them in a house near the woods, until one day they left and didn’t come back. She waited for them for months, but to no avail, and she fled into the forest, saddened with the knowledge that her family would probably never return. Delphina ran till the early morning, where she discovered an abandoned castle. She eventually made the castle her new home, finding treasures such as her crown and exploring something new each day. She finally felt happy again, healed from the loss of her family, and changed her name to Princess, a name more suited to her new life. || EXTRA NOTES || - "Delphina" is a shortened form of delphinium, a kind of blue flower with a hue similar to the color of her eyes. It's also a given name meaning "from Delphi". - Princess rarely calls herself Delphina anymore, as it brings back too many sad memories, but she’ll sometimes go with Princess Delphina. - I never mentioned her collar in the backstory, but her owners likely gave it to her, and she carried it with her to the castle. - She is a Birman/Snowshoe cat mix, hence her fluffy coat and point coloring. - The scene I drew for the entry is the part in her backstory where I mentioned she loves walking in the meadow! Finally done with my entry! I tried to stick to the original design as much as possible, but some of its aspects didn't translate that well into my realistic style, sorry ;w; and I also made her really fluffy, haha. Two little things I changed were giving Princess a white nose for that iconic Snowshoe cat look, and making the crown a little more detailed! Hope that's okay! This was a lot of fun to make and took some stress off of school for me. I hope to include her in a story of mine (with credit to the design) if I win :) I love her sm aaaaa. Good luck to everyone entering, and thanks again @-Artistiq for hosting this wonderful DTA! Go join it, it's a rotating one, so there are always beautiful new designs coming! <3 || CREDITS || DESIGN AND DTA: The talented @-Artistiq! ART AND WRITING: @Ivgliss (sorry about the ugly watermarks on everything, art theft issues :’)) TIME TAKEN: Several hours over the span of ~ a week PROGRAM USED: FireAlpaca, PC & mouse MUSIC: Among the Clouds - Brian Balmages Photos in the pinboard & the background of the reference are from Google. || TAGS || #dtae #dtaentry #cat #princess Please do not trace, steal, or heavily reference my art. Thank you!
