For me that would be Ariel, whom I created roughly around 2015 at the earliest, but the oldest drawing I have probably dates back to 2018. She originally started out as a side character in a fanfiction that for some reason I latched on heavily.
First I rewrote the story for her to be the main character, then I realised that what I was writing did not match the tone/setting of the original franchise it was based on so I metaphorically filed the serial numbers off. After that, it through multiple years of reworks the fantastical elements were toned down just as what was supposed to be a quick backstory establishing the world ballooned in scope to the point where it became its own story, rivalling it in scale. The character was then put mostly on ice as I focused on other stories for a few years.
Finally, I revisited the character around 2022 maybe?, I decided to strip the character to its barest elements and rework the story from the ground up to cut all the baggage it had accumulated over the years. With the hindsight of no longer being a teenager, I manage to untangle all the ideas into something more coherent with actual themes and a story arc that is not about saving the world. The character of Ariel changed from being this slightly autistic girl with a rough childhood, and became a lot more sociopathic, unhinged, immature, and it is a minor miracle she's not even worst.
In November 2024, due to certain world events, I had to find a healthy way to release all the pent up frustration, and I finally started actually writing the story with the intent of eventually publishing it online. I also did a few drawings for thumbnails and such.
