I've been telling a lot of you about the art thief problems I've been having. Now that the person in question has overreacted and deactivated their account, I think it's time you know what was going on.

!Rayne200 was a long time watcher and a friend. I won't lie, she had a lot of potential and talent with art, but she had a few fatal flaws. Now I only had one problem with her in the start. This being when she copied my twili Goddess, Lunira. She pretty much copied everything of Lunira, outfit and patterns and then she stole Aria's necklace design. I called her out on it and we resolved the issue peacefully. Her OC looked less like Lunira in the end and was not using design ideas from my Original OC Aria.

I continued to watch her and enjoyed her stuff. I thought it was all behind us and that she wouldn't do that again. That is until I started up EotP again. For a while things were alright and then one day Rayne asked me if I had a resource for the Metroid series. I linked her out to Wikitroid to help her create an OC.

This was the result a handful of days later compared to Salina and Samus: [link]

In that comparison I explain it was purposeful on my part to reference Samus. I also didn't directly steal anything but the heels and a part of Samus' hairstyle. What is typed up bio wise on that is exactly what Rayne had for her OC's bio until I helped her. Also, she used a concept from *Niraven which was adapting a luminoth's design into an outfit. Tawny did that with her old "Luminoth Armorsuit" ([link]) pic seen on her dA page. She even concluded it was too much of a coincidence and seeing as how it was favorited by Rayne not long before Nyx showed up, we're confident she got the idea from that armorsuit pic and didn't even credit. I know the luminoth torso symbol on Salina's chest is game canon, but the fact Rayne placed it in the same place bugged me.

With this I was upset and brought it up with her via notes. Salina is like my baby, I won't lie, she's been with me for years and seeing that much ripped from her hurt me. I explained this to Rayne and she took everything I said and cooperated with me. I got somewhere with her by linking out to places of inspiration for me, giving her ideas, telling her how the canon in Metroid worked, etc. She redesigned her OC well in appearance and I made her OC a bio to make her unique. Rayne agreed to stop copying my OCs and I was happy with what we did together to correct the problem. I didn't have to worry then. She did ask me to help with designing an armorsuit too, but that's asking a bit too much from me so I denied to do that.

Point being, Rayne cooperated with me again and we resolved the issue peacefully without conflict. Time passed and I thought I didn't have to worry, believing that Rayne learned her lesson. That had been issue two that was resolved.

In fact, here's the results of that collaborative effort:
<-- I can't access the bio she posted, but she used that entire thing for a bio

So, I thought things were solved, but then come my EotP contest she made an OC that looked like Jayde with minor edits.

This is what I saw and made into a comparison: [link]

Now when I told Rayne she could enter the contest, I thought she had learned her lesson and wouldn't copy me again. I thought that maybe I wouldn't see something like past incidents again. Rayne asked me to contact her if there was a problem when she posted her OC. I did so after seeing the similarities. I pointed out that the initial bio had similarities with K-Tol, Echo, Jayde, and Salina, and that her OC looked too much like Jayde. Rayne said she'd fix that by the end of the contest and told me she didn't mean to steal ideas and that she was bad at creating OCs. (Seeing that this was the THIRD TIME she'd copied me I didn't believe her words about not intending to steal) Come contest end it was hardly changed. The original bio is gone now (she deleted it after my contest ended since she lost), but I still remember what it had.

Bio similarities were still there (anything in ( )s tells of my OCs and their story):

- Antennae are a weak point (Jayde's antennae are considered one of her weaknesses)
- Valkyrie was taken from the Space Pirates by Nyx while she was on a mission (Salina took Echo from the Space Pirates while she was on a mission)
- She created a luminoth name for herself (Jayde christened herself "J-Nia" after mutation which is her self created luminoth name)
- V-Xan's name uses the OC's initials in the name like Jayde's (Jayde Nerine used the J-N in reference to her name, using "ia" from the fallen luminoth's name to make "J-Nia")
- V-Xan was left on Aether by Nyx while Nyx was out on missions, leaving an OC luminoth to care for V-Xan (Salina leaves Echo on Aether in K-Tol's care when she leaves to pursue her job as a freelancer)
- Had a sister that died (When I released info about Ava Nerine, I noticed Rayne gave her OC a sister in her final bio. This was most likely taken from Ava since she was supposed to be Jayde's sister. I can't confirm if that's true or not but events pointed to it.)

I was willing to let it slide and just give up. The OC was made for a contest and wouldn't have any involvement with my stuff anyway. Then an open collab was posted so I did that because I figured it'd be fun. Then days later she posts this:



This made me draw the line. She used the same reference I did and added the moth like I did with my doll. Not only that she took Ava's 3 finger idea and gave it to her OC, clearly showing she took the idea from me since I had recently posted Ava by the time that sketch showed up.

Today I decided to call her out. That's what my last journal was about. I didn't want to see that happen anymore so I was speaking from my heart on that issue. I had hoped for her to see that, but then I remembered Rayne only comments on my journals where I was offering trades or having a contest. So after some prodding from my friends (won't name who to keep it confidential), I decided to leave a comment on that picture. I was at my limit but I never once was vicious and cruel, flaming Rayne or anything. I was expressing how I felt with some facts thrown in. I did tell her to stop copying me and that she should redesign her OC or trash it. The reason I said trash the OC was because Rayne once told me she'd go that far. I was bringing up an old reference that could have been a possible solution.

Next thing Rayne did was snap at me saying "FINE. I WON'T MAKE OCS ANYMORE >:U " and then shortly after I choked out a reply, she posted a journal saying she was leaving dA for good. Shortly after that, within 30mins of her last posted journal, Rayne deactivated her account.

I never once flamed or bashed her. I knew Rayne had issues with getting negative comments, but I didn't think she'd be quite so immature and just leave dA out of the blue over a little negative feedback. I'm sad to see her go. We were friends and we did a lot of art-trades and commented/faved each other's work a lot. In the last month she was more active with commenting me than ever before and I thought we could talk more and be better friends because she was hanging out here more. Turns out the internet isn't/wasn't a place for Rayne after all. She saw that getting negative comments on her stuff was like the end of the world or something. Internet = not serious business. I think a lot of people misunderstand that.

I have been in her position before but I opened up and became who I am today. I learned the hard way that leaving a site to get away from things is not the best option, especially when it's something so trivial like negative comments. There was nothing to merit a real reason as to why Rayne should have left. I honestly wish she had let me speak to her before she left so suddenly.

Moral of this story: This is what copying other artists will do to you. Don't steal ideas. I was being nice until the end, but to be honest, I think many other people out there would have been incredibly mean from the start and let their watchers attack the poor person who copied them.

Disclaimer: I only brought this to the attention of my watchers and those who read this to help give a message. Now that !Rayne200 has left dA there's no way anyone can harass her and make it worse.

Until next time, folks.

I've ranted on this subject before, but it really is beginning to eat at me. People copying me is something I find offensive and rude. I do not like to see people copy me in any way, especially when it comes to my OCs. I realize a lot of people are dollers as well and that bases are free use, but that isn't what bugs me. Go ahead and use the same base, a hundred other people already have, but please, for the sake of my sanity, stop copying my OCs!

It used to be just design rips but now it's gone into the bios. This is very upsetting. Copying and taking things from other people shows a severe lack of creativity! It's not cool, it's not going to help your case, and for crying out loud, it doesn't make the OC yours if it's a bunch of copied ideas and designs. Slightly tweaking it doesn't help either, such as changes colors or minor physical details. I'm very upset by the fact people take from my OCs. Why? Read on:

When I create an OC I go through a lot of effort and stages. First I choose a personality and from there it goes as follows: age, gender, physical appearance/species/race, outfit (if needed), powers (if any), research (to make the OC more plausible), role in a/the plotline, back story, and finally I'll look back at the initial design and tweak it.

This takes a lot of time and effort, especially with fandom OCs. Salina Aran for instance wasn't the way she is now her entire existence. No. She started out as a twin sister, but that's all that's remained in tact. She was originally a GF affiliated researcher/scientist who was raised among humanity. She was not a rude, malicious, cold-hearted killer either. All of that started to bud around the time MP2: Echoes was released. I've had Salina for many years and she's developed (and continues to be developed) over that time. I've done extensive research on the Metroid series to make her how she is today, adding in my own original ideas. I've done so well that some people can't see Samus without a twin sister anymore. They find canon a bit strange after they have gotten to know Salina.

All my time and effort goes into my OCs and to see people so freely take ideas from them makes me hesitant to post any original material. I refuse to post much of RoD anymore because I'm too afraid of people stealing my original ideas. I plan to make a story of RoD someday so this is why I am very hesitant. And now, with people copying things from my fandom OCs and taking direct content from their bios, I'm leaning towards just pure fanart. I don't like doing just pure fanart. It's hard to get into that for me, hence why you only see OCs out of me with a few canon character appearances here and there.

So really guys, please stop taking my ideas and hard work to use as your own! I do NOT permit the use of any of my work unless otherwise stated. I have been nice up until now, but I can't take it any more. I WILL call you out, and if you get nasty with me I'm okay with making comparisons to show the entire world. I will not go easy on you. And I will not help you. If you suck at being creative, it's not my problem, and I'm not going to sit here, hold your hand, and create your OC for you. I'll answer questions and give opinions while YOU make your OC, but I will not design or give your OC a bio. I'm through with that. People have taken advantage of me and I'm not going to allow it anymore.


So please, STOP RIPPING IDEAS AND DESIGNS FROM ME!

Alright, the EotP contest comes to a close. I have carefully read over each entry and analyzed everything I could. A lot more people said they'd enter so I think I'll extend the contest further for other people who didn't make it. BUT the winner of that only gets a 3month subscription to dA. They missed the chance for the one year sub, a feature, and a pixel of their OC. Unless I'm really wowed by an entry, I don't think I'll be adding another OC to EotP that wasn't of my own design.

AND NOW FOR THE WINNERS!


Grand Prize Winner!:


with her OC, Lexine Steiner!

After painstakingly analyzing everything about Lexine I found her to fit in the best. The OC is very well balanced. Lexine is a strong OC but not overly powered and without faults. She was based heavily into Metroid canon, even coming from a canon planet (Jigrad). I must say I really like her history as an experiment. Seeing the development of Lexine's character through her bio made me like her even more. She was on track to be successful only to have it taken away in a short amount of time, showing a harsh reality for the character. Research was clearly done melding canon with fanon. I especially love how Lexine became a freelancer, tying her into the EotP AU with a chance encounter with Salina (who we all know is a b**ch |D). Congratulations *Stormsworder!


Runner Up!


with her OC, Zoe Thales!

Zoe is a hilarious little OC, I'm not going to lie. She is an incredibly laughable (in a good way) character who can be amusing in an odd way you wouldn't typically expect. Geemers aren't big time creatures and rather pathetic which is why I took a liking to Zoe. She didn't use incredibly powerful DNA from an alien race or a really strong species but is good enough to pass. The thought into her mutation astounds me. The creator has found a way to make the geemer spikes work while not making the mutant child a reject of an experiment. It's clear by the inspirations area that Tiffy put a lot of thought into Zoe, even merging the behaviors and abilities of the geemer instead of just the physical looks. I like Zoe a lot and it was seriously hard to choose between her and our grand prize winner. Zoe will be featured in EotP. Congrats for being runner up, Tiffy! Very amusing and well thought out entry!

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! I hope you have a wonderful day and get lots of presents and stuff. Remember: spend time with your friends and family and let them know how much you care. Even simple acts of kindness go a long way. To those non Christmas celebrators: I hope you have a wonderful day and are having a wonderful holiday season.

Gifts I have Received:





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Alright! With that out of the way I'd like to announce that my contest for the one year subscription to dA (among other things) is coming to an end at 5PM (PST) today (the 25th). I have entrants for both categories, so what I'll do is choose the best entry from each category and analyze everything further on how well the contestant's OC will work into my story. With two entries to choose from I'll choose the grand prize winner and give the runner up a feature in my story as well. So this means we'll have a mutant kid and a freelancer emerge as featured OCs in the story.

If anyone plans to enter they might want to hurry! Also, this would be the time for last minute changes for current entrants!

Entries so far:

with her OC Zoe Thales:
with her OC, Valkyrie Xantara:
with her OC, Lexine Steiner:
with his OC Kinno Shioyu:

EDIT: Alright so this is an extended version of the last contest. Same subject, same rules, blah, blah, blah. BUT! This time the grand prize winner gets a 3 month sub. I have entered a new end date for this contest. If I don't see any entries by the time this continuation ends then I'm keeping the sub and scrapping the contest.

CONTEST INFORMATION AND RULES:

Theme: Make your own Freelancer or Mutant Andra Kid
Fanbase: Metroid (Prime trilogy)
Amount of Possible Winners: One
Prize(s): 3 month subscription to dA and (optional) a pixel of your character.
End Date: Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 5:00PM (PST)

Guidelines for Freelancer Characters:

- Your character can be an alien or a human.
- If an alien, you are allowed to use a canon series race or make up your own alien.
- Races you may not use: Chozo, Luminoth, Diamont, Ing (or anything Ing possessed)
- Freelancers sometimes have definite partners (such as my OCs Nova and Dark Void). You can give your character a partner if you want... limit is one.
- If you make a human character, be creative with them. I will look for exact rips from canon material and you will be marked down for any exact or slightly twisted canon material.
- I do not want to see Samus clones... or clones of any character for that matter!
- Colored references are required. They can be flat colored, dotted around the image, or even color coded.
- Because EotP is based in the Metroid Prime trilogy, it'd be best to stick to those games for references.
- Be realistic with your human character if you make a human. I don't want to see things like red eyes and blue hair.
- You may use references from Metroid Prime: Hunters as it takes place between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2. Be aware I haven't played this game to the end. I researched the story and it's details so don't think you can fool me so easily.
- You need to make a bio/history for your created character! It's required!
- (Optional) Tell of inspirations and how you came to your design.

To learn more about the EotP Freelancers, check out this deviation: [link] (You will be judged on how well your OC fits into the EotP Universe)


Guidelines for Mutant Kid Characters:

- Your character must have been human before their mutation. All the Andra kids in EotP were human and from the human colony/station of the Andra Organization.
- Kurtis and Echo are one of a kind with their mutations. No others were infused with the DNA they were infused with.
- Echo and Jayde are the strongest mutant children followed by Kurtis. DO NOT overpower them.
- Creatures found in the Prime trilogy are to be used as foreign DNA sources. (Creatures from Metroid Prime Hunters may not be used)
- I will not allow made up creatures/races for DNA sources as it breaks the canon set forth in EotP. Sorry.
- DO NOT use DNA from the following as a source for your character's mutation: Samus Aran, Ridley, Metroid Prime/Dark Samus, any of the MP:H bounty hunters (Noxus, Kanden, Weavel, etc), the Chozo, Metroids, Gandrayda, the Ing,.
- Colored references are required. They can be flat colored, dotted around the image, or even color coded.
- The oldest canon mutant is 19 and the youngest are 9. Stay between 9 and 19 for an age limit as it corresponds with the timeline of the accident that caused the kids to gain their genetic anomaly. (Also keep in mind the kids were all captured at the same time and have been in Space pirate custody for about 4-5 years)
- DO NOT copy existing mutant's appearances. I want to see your interpretations.
- No using phazon based/enhanced creatures as a DNA source. Phazon has been eradicated by the time EotP starts so it no longer exists and things enhanced with Phazon are now useless while bioforms dependent upon the substance would now be dead.
- You need to make a bio/history for your created character! It's required!
- (Optional) Tell of inspirations and how you came to your design.

IMPORTANT READ:
The reason I am so specific with the DNA sources is because in EotP, the Space Pirates used whatever DNA they could get to mutate the Andra kids. Since EotP is placed in the Prime Trilogy I have made it canon that they used sources from those three games. Space Pirates were not present (save Weavel) in Hunters, and Phazon was also not a part of that game's direct plot which excludes all creatures in that game. Also, even though it is entirely canon that the Space Pirates can get certain DNAs (IE: Ridley's DNA), I don't have them use it. This would create a character that would be overpowered and have no place in the plot. If you are concerned you mutant kid's DNA source is something I don't approve of, then feel free to ask. In fact, I encourage you to!

It's OKAY to have your OC know any of the canon mutant kids (Echo, Kurtis, Jayde, Triesta, etc). The children were all from the same station and most families knew each other on the station. With such an environment it's plausible that your mutant kid OC could know the others. Of course, you don't HAVE to affiliate with my OCs. It's just out there to help you develop a better OC. Though I will say now that Echo was a very stubborn child and hard to befriend. So don't make your OC BFFs with her. Kurtis, on the other hand, he was a social guy so being friends with him is way more plausible than being friends with Echo. Should be noted that everyone should be aware of Echo's status on the station. She was the lead scientist's daughter after all.


For more Information on the Andra Organization (containing info you will need to know for their histories/bios): [link]
Information Regarding the Mutant Kids: [link]

Accepted DNA Sources:

Aether Creatures ((All Ing/Ing possesed creatures and boss creatures (Amorbis, Chyyka, Quadraxis, Dark Samus, and the Emperor Ing) are prohibited)
Tallon IV Creatures ((DNA from Ridley, or any phazon dependent creature (such as lumigeks) are not allowed. Bosses like Thardus, the Omega Pirate, and Metroid Prime are also not allowed.))
Bryyo's Creatures ((Phazon based/dependent creatures and ULFs are not allowed.))

NOTE: Elysia and the Pirate Homeworld were not listed as both planets have creatures that are entirely or near entirely machine based. Norion was excluded for the fact it's a Galactic Federation military stronghold.



Contest Entries will be judged by creativity and how well they fit into the EotP universe. I will be the only judge because this involves my fanfic which is in progress. I know everything of EotP while others don't, so try to wow me! Winner gets a 3 month subby.