Opal Maritza-Santin
Piano Cover by tomochi-pianocover
Overview
The strong-willed leader appointed by Their Divinity themself, Opal is the heart and core of her guild. With her head held high, she has a very bright and optimistic outlook on things, and tries her best to be the best role model she can be for the rest.
She loves to travel, and also dabbles a lot in writing as well— hoping to document his journey and one day go big as an author. She can be a bit idealistic with her dreams and desires, and although her peers hold her in high regard for her candid and supportive attitude, it can be noted that he never seems to give himself a break. Even at his limits, he fails to open up to others when he needs support himself. It’s even more difficult to convince Opal to talk about much deeper troubles too, feeling like he has to carry the sorrows, hopes and dreams of everyone around him to fulfill that ideal leader he dreams of being.
She loves to travel, and also dabbles a lot in writing as well— hoping to document his journey and one day go big as an author. She can be a bit idealistic with her dreams and desires, and although her peers hold her in high regard for her candid and supportive attitude, it can be noted that he never seems to give himself a break. Even at his limits, he fails to open up to others when he needs support himself. It’s even more difficult to convince Opal to talk about much deeper troubles too, feeling like he has to carry the sorrows, hopes and dreams of everyone around him to fulfill that ideal leader he dreams of being.
Personality
She is a very uplifting and bright leader who knows just what to say to bring someone up, so many of her peers find her very dependable and easy to rely on. Opal is very selfless in that regard and won't turn away almost anyone in need of help, so you can always go to her. He can generally be described as very idealistic and headstrong. He dreams big and she usually gets a lot done, and most of the time this works out just right for her. Sometimes she moves forward faster than she is capable of though, and makes a lot of mistakes along the way. He hardly relies on others and thus takes and carries every burden on her back without telling a soul because she thinks it makes her a strong leader. This results in bottling all her unpleasant feelings or thoughts, so she secretly feels burned out all the time.
Preferences
- Likes
- Quality time, sightseeing, cheesy novels and collecting postcards.
- Dislikes
- Overly sweet foods, heavy rain or thunder, hearing herself laugh and criticism.
- Motifs
- Opal gemstones, cloud or sky imagery, wind related magic, books.
Hobbies/Skills
- Writing
- Short stories mostly, doesn't consider her skills anything special but is pretty decent all things considered.
- Reading
- Hasn't read much in recent years, but still is fond of it. Ocassionally will get obsessed with one series or another for random lengths of time.
- Traveling
- She prefers doing so with company, so being surrounded with many people gives her lots of opportunities now.
- Doodling
- She likes to make quick doodles on her notes or other things. Has a somewhat cartoonish almost anime-like style of drawing.
- Dancing
- Likes swing dancing and other forms that involve a partner, but hates the idea of dancing alone in front of other people.
- Combat
- Sort of forced to practice for the saving the world thing, lacks confidence but his quick and creative improv makes up for it.
Content Warning
This section discusses the following: mentions and/or implications of child abuse and neglect as well as unhealthy thinking/mindsets. Please caution before proceeding.
Past
Living with her mother, father and older sibling, Inez, Opal was born and raised in Aetherain essentially all her life. He got along well with his sibling for the most part, but had a rather difficult relationship with both parents. Both seemed to be pretty engrossed in their work lives to the point they didn't spend much time with their kids. Inez was more of a good parental figure than her actual parents in fact- and to add on, Opal was even the lesser favored of the two siblings by their parents.
At first, Opal grew up trying to please her parents, both to seek approval and to avoid their scorn. She always tried sharing things she was proud of or trying to ease their burdens, but lied and went to extreme measures to hide even her smallest mistakes so they wouldn't hurt him in one way or another. But even as she tried her hardest to come off as a golden child, they always still had something to nitpick, something to compare, or they didn't care at all. It wasn't worth it at some point. Even going to them about struggles, nothing but scorn and talking about how much harder they had it, how much harder Inez had it than him. The only reasons they ever cared was when they needed various favors from her, and she couldn't ever really talk back or say no to them.
Although Opal had a positive influence in her life in the form of Inez, he wanted to search for connection elsewhere- not depending on someone but being depended on in an attempt to feel capable. This led to many many friendships and a few romantic relationships where she gave her whole self; energy, time, and support; to her peers. In those relationships however- she never asked for anything in return, she never let herself be open about her struggles or showed herself to them. Her peers would offer their help and support if he ever needed it, but never would he take them up on that offer. He was a master of pulling wool over the eyes of those around him, nothing would ever be wrong, he'd say.
Despite believing he was being true to himself in front of others, he really only presented the sides of himself people cared about, sides they wanted to see. Helpful and never throwing her problems onto others. Everyone had it worser than her, surely. And while she was carrying everyone's burdens, her burdens were always her own. Yet everyone liked her, needed her even— and she thrived on that appreciation, one that she couldn't even fathom giving to herself. She loved and cared about all the attention on her, but also cared so little- it was fulfilling yet it wasn't at all. Something missing that couldn't be satisfied. But as long as the people around her were happy, Opal was sure he was doing something right, surely?
While Opal's life had always been full of needless selflessness, she had always found personal joy and happiness in the act of storytelling. She loved stories for as long as she remembered, idolizing the heroes of the stories he read and dreamed of being just like them: strong, resilient, dependable and unwavering. Writing itself had brought her comfort over the years, she poured her heart and soul into her works, filling up books upon books of random plotlines and stories that crossed his mind. She loved to do it, it offered a form of escapism and coping from her difficult home life. And once she was nearing graduation, both his peers and Inez encouraged her to pursue writing further.
He wanted to pursue this- he really did. But in his home his parents would never accept that sort of career. He didn't need that acceptance, he didn't care what they had thought. But at the least- it would be much harder living at home and trying to get ahold of himself unless he had left home. And with that thought- that is exactly what he did. Of course he told those around her as to not make anyone worry over suddenly leaving- but he left nonetheless no matter what. Said he was going on an adventure to explore the world to broaden her horizons, but really she just wanted out of that stuffy house. She wanted freedom and inspiration, control and stability over her own life. With a newfound hope, she took off with a skip in her step, completely unaware of what story was about to unfold right before her eyes.
Universal Character Notes
Do not use/claim/repost my art of my characters without permission.
Do not draw any of the following with my characters: nudity/nsfw, fetish art, genderbent art, or heavy gore/body horror art.
Do not heavily alter skin tones, body types or hair textures.
However, feel free to mess around with hairstyles/outfits, I usually list clothing preferences individually.
Please adhere to individual character notes for specific character permissions like ship art.
Individual Character Notes
Romantic content is allowed for this character with Dar! Refer to the relationship tab for info on them.
Opal has no preference between fem, masc or neutral clothing, but does not like tight/form-fitting clothes. Flowy, comfortable clothes work best.
In miitopia, she is a princess class character. To anyone who isn't familiar with miitopia she is not an actual princess. The game features a magic class called princess, similar to how you'd think of a mage or cleric, with a fan as the weapon of choice. Drawing her in miitopias princess outfits is perfectly ok.
He doesn’t like to wear makeup, jewelry or form-fitting clothes whatsoever because of sensitivity issues.
References
Original Art
The icons have gotten a couple of slight revisions over time which... might still happen even now. I'm very jumpy with my designs sometimes.
I wanted something comfortable and flowy. She drapes the shawl on her arms around her shoulders or head when cold, sometimes covers her face with it if embarrassed. The outfit itself was partially inspired by Salvadoran trajes.
I still like this outfit! I do think maybe he would own something similar as travel wear but not as casual clothes. I would hate wearing this because I don't like wearing coats, long pants or boots so by extension neither would she lmao.
I said I would make these chibis for all my ocs. Not only is the outfit Technically Outdated but I gave up so fast after adopting other chibi styles and not wanting to redraw these in it. Oops.
Aughh even if the outfit will probably be changed I still am so proud of this piece. It's very pretty for what it is and I had so so much fun doing it.
I believe this was supposed to be in response to something else but I can't remember the context.
My tiny head icon era. I still think this one is cute.
Not too fond of this piece art-wise I'll admit. Anatomy is SO wrong but I did have fun drawing this since it's based on my favorite song. Go listen to Siinamota's music thanks.
This is actually interchangeable and honestly? Might be more accurate the other way around. But it does fit both ways around. I also lost the timestamp on when I actually made this lmao so it's purely guestimate.
Group artwork!! I love this piece, even if the outfits are outdated I think it's cute and captures the fun adventure party vibe the Valverde team had as the first group. This was also before I swapped Gin's and Lunele's placements in the team.
He finally got the design upgrade! Admittedly this was one of my first attempts to hair texture variations as well, so it doesn't look too accurate I think. But it was a start at least :]
I think at the time of drawing this I was really into thinking about the Huotan arc and how Opal was alone during it mostly. The intent was to make Opal look really cool and serious, also an excuse to mess with lighting.
This piece is a bit funny to me looking back, it was my first attempt at making Opal "chubby" even though it really did not turn out to even look that way. I also wanted to try changing my style at the time, but the muted colors I used on a lot of the other art in this style just didn't work...
Apologies for the low quality it's the only version I have of this piece...
I wanted to think about if Opal never left Aetherain, and maybe ended up working with Dar? I think he looks cute in the scientist esque fit.
Looking back on old pieces are odd because Opal was very purple-coded before, now I see a mix of colors, but primarily blue. So sorry to anyone who used these references with my shitty color hexagons and the shaded reference.
This one's also cute! I used to be able to churn these out icons so fast it was kind of scary. I think hers looked really nice though.
At this point, you can tell I redesign my designs very often. I still like this one, it's simple yet I kind of wish I didn't make the background colors so close to some of the design colors lmao.
Ah the times when I wanted to make a whole webcomic and was brainstorming covers. The story definitely was MUCH darker than it is now. Or at least, dark with the intent of shock value...
I was OBSESSED with these palette challenge things at the time. They're lots of fun and made for decent practice. I didn't have a particular concept in mind for this, I just wanted to draw something pretty.
Okay this palette challenge in comparison to the other one had lore. I was supposed to kill off Gin back in the day, which is NOT canon now. The gems were supposed to contain their lifespan sort of like a soul gem situation so I wanted to draw Opal reacting to the broken shards from Gin's gem. I... honestly don't know where that outfit came from though.
This was a doodle I did for the eventual icon that looks the same as this one pose-wise.
I wanted something dramatic and cool. If you go to Theikah or Safi's page, this one is meant to be a mirror to a drawing I did of those two with the same composition. It's sort of supposed to be a symbolic thing to parallel the battle those two had. Redrawing this sometime would be fun.
I cropped this from a doodle page I made mainly showing Etoze. If I'm correct, this was supposed to be Etoze using Out of Tune.
This art was like my pinnacle when I made it, I was SO proud of it I didn't shut up at all. I still am proud in a sense, it's really nice for the time that I drew it.
Baby's first Daropal!! Genuinely one of my favorites. It's so cute.
Opal's first digital drawing. I didn't have much to her character or design frankly, I just wanted pretty oc drawing in the standard Princess dress from the game.
Art by Others
Ribbons
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Never Shall Us Part - When a character is homed by its creator, but is also their forever home and has never moved nor considered for trade, and never will be. |
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El Salvador - This character has or is coded to have ancestry from the respective country. |
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Bigender - This character either identifies as two genders at once or fluctuates between two genders. This particular character identifies as both a girl and boy at once. |
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Panromantic - This character is romantically attracted to people of any gender. |
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Demisexual - This character may experience sexual attraction after a strong emotional bond is formed. |
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Face Off! - This character is a Miitopia fan-character, was inspired by Miitopia or was made in Miitopia. |
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Royal Wave - This characters Miitopia job is that of a Princess. |
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Wind Magic - This character is proficient in Wind magic. |
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Protagonist - This character features in a story as a protagonist. |
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Main Character - This character is a high priority, very important character. |
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Best Developed - This character's development/story is among their owner's favorites. |
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Mirror Image - This character is heavily projected onto by their creator. |
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Homely Love - This character is in a relationship with another character the owner owns (Dar) |
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ADHD - This character has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. |
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Dermatillomania - This character has the excoriation disorder Dermatillomania. |
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The Write One - This character is a writer or generally likes to write. |
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Sojourner - This character travels a lot/is nomadic. |
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Libra - This character was born between Sept 23 - Oct 22, making them a Libra. |
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ENFP - This character's MBTI type is Extroverted-Intuition-Feeling-Perceiving. |
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2w3 - This character's primary enneagram type is 2, but they have a 3 wing. |
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2017 - This character was originally made in the respective year. |
ribbon credits
miitopia ribbon was made by me
mistermuse on toyhouse - foreverhome, pan/demi, protag, main character, best developed and year ribbons
pandanen on toyhouse - country flag ribbon
stormystarlight - bigender ribbon
jackqnya on toyhouse - royal wave & type 2 ribbons
angeloshadows on toyhouse - wind magic and libra ribbo
slasher_wife on toyhouse - mirror image ribbon
kyovella on toyhouse - homely love ribbon
radiostorage on toyhouse - adhd & dermatillomania ribbons
nuclear-hydrangea on toyhouse - writer ribbon
rabbitjaguar on toyhouse - sojourner ribbon
coramagics on toyhouse - enfp ribbon
Trivia
Opal is inspired by the Opal gemstone. Her first name, Paloma, is a Spanish name meaning "dove" although it also carries several other meanings. Her first last name, Maritza, is a Spanish surname meaning "star of the sea" and her second last name, Santin, is a Spanish name deriving from Latin sanctus, meaning "saint."
She's relatively good at drawing, but considers it more of a little comfort hobby than something she wanted to make into a big thing. She likes ink work in particular.
Given he's been writing ever since he was young, Opal probably wrote some very bad and cringy fanfiction or stories as a kid. She probably tore them up in her tween years out of embarrassment, but growing older now she kinda regrets that she lost her earliest works.
She does it anyways at times, but she hates wearing anything extra or unnecessary like jewelry or makeup or tighter clothing because of his sensory issues (he hates the physical sensation it gives him)
He doesn't worry about how he dresses in front of others despite being really insecure about herself otherwise, wearing pretty much anything casual and airy because it feels comfortable and it doesn't take much effort to put on and get out of. Also because he'd get sad if her fancy pretty clothes got all messed up.
Opal's a little mediocore when it comes to cooking and feels a bit distraught about it, only being able to cook or make some dishes that dont require much effort but also isn't like a basic untoasted white bread ham sandwich. Fortunately for her, she got to stroke her ego when it came to Auremos because all of her teammates there were either on par or couldn't even flip an egg at the time.
Her voiceclaim is Melissa Fumero.