Zeal "Shadowsong" Ashbridge

Face-up artist(s):

aakik_o

Date of acquisition:

1/11/2022

Reason for choice:

He is one of the only sculpts I have found that has my OC's face shape

Best Points:

I finally have a doll I'm satisfied with for face shape for my OC. I've had maybe 4 or 5 attempts by now.

Worst Points:

I dislike the Volks SD17 body and would like to put him on a new one. It's annoying to pose, but above all he's supposed to be pretty tall as a character. His profile isn't correct because the sculpt is pretty old, but I'm still on the hunt for one that looks more accurate.

I don't have any good portraits of him yet - I want to wait for his official wig for that, but I was too excited after a trip to see my best friend and wanted to upload the pictures we took together on our big vacation.

Eyes:

aakik_o

Wig:

Planning a canon one, this one is a placeholder.

Favourite colours:

Red, maroon, black, gold

Fashion style(s):

Eccentric, joggers and bombers, loafers, oversized hoodies and oversized everything

Name story:

The reason for his first name is a secret, his earned last name was given to him through his story arch, but he took on "Ashbridge" from his husband.

Character age:

532

Character gender:

Male

Offsite roleplay:

This doll's character is not available for offsite roleplay.

Zeal has a very long, very complicated history. He was born with nothing over a first name and a ring. He was born tainted with demon magic, looking vastly different from the others of his kind, and was ostracized. Originally based in the WoW universe when I made him almost 20 years ago, he has now moved on to a complex fantasy universe my GF and I are creating. At an early age Zeal was taken by people who didn't want him and needed to out of obligation from his MIA parents. He wasn't treated well and eventually took the opportunity to escape when he was still a little boy. Out on his own, he faced many troubles and adversities. One day, when he was weak from hunger and lost, a very, very powerful demon targeted him with promises of power and revenge. If Zeal accepted or not, it didn't matter, and the demon forced a pact with him. Meanwhile a war on warlocks grew in the world - the world wanted dark magic and demonology eradicated, so they started a mass banishment. Zeal hid, but eventually was found and banished to Earth where I placed him for ease of RP. After a long, long time, he made it back to his home world where he finally got revenge, burning the mage city that hurt him down and becoming a force to be reckoned with to say the least. Between coming back home and his character arch, he met his now husband - his soulmate - Uriah Ashbridge.

There is much, much more, but these are the sparknotes.

Zeal's warlock abilities focus on flame, fel flame, soul magic, demonology with a tiny sprinkle of curses. He is extremely self reliant, selfish, every aspect of the word - aggressive, opportunistic, untrustworthy warlock. But he has a sense of humor, a lot of pain and a desire to be loved. On the opposite side, he loves flowers, painting and reading. Uriah has been the only one in his life to offer him these things and a safe space to be, as well as patiently allowing him to be himself without any correction or judgement. Uriah deals with dark magic as well and in every way they are perfect for each other.

We have several AUs and he is taken by his necromancer in every single one of them. In the modern AU from when Zeal was on Earth, he is exiting out of a bad relationship born from desperation and inexperience and a desire for someone to be kind to him, into the arms of Uriah where he will begin a new, long, wonderful life with someone who truly loves him. Both in modern AU and in the fantasy verse, it is extremely relieving to finally find someone who can write dark, complex themes and many individual characters. I've been writing since I was a tween, I'm in my 30s now and after many failed attempts (and finding some very bad friendships along the way) it's very nice having a good writer in my life to create stories with True writing soulmate to help Zeal shine and vice versa. Uriah's writer and I have been friends since we were children and we never knew how perfectly we fit together for this!

The cameo is my other character, Maxwell, who also has a doll profile. Max is present in the modern AU as their mutual friend and chosen family member. In the fantasy AU, he is named Malu, but a doll profile will eventually come of him.