#and like anything involving characterization of the blue guy himself i’m not confident in it.

[sonic-adventure-3]

i like thinking sonic just doesn’t entirely get shadow. i don’t think he completely understands him and i think he tends to take his whole deal way too lightly. i’m shth05 posting again in shth05 sonic continually calls the situation a game and fun and overall treats it like another fun adventure while shadow’s having the (second) worst day of his life. (my favourite example of this is when shadow remembers what it was like to die and then immediately next sonic says “it’s time to get this party started! let’s rock and roll!”)

also “he was what he was, a brave and heroic hedgehog” from the end of sa2, contrasted with shth05’s marketing of “there’s good guys, there’s bad guys, and then theres shadow” and etc. and while ultimately in last story he’s more or less on the same side as sonic and co, he doesn’t actually fight alongside them. while the pure hero route is probably closest to what i’d consider having really happened in shth05 since there’s no canon route, it’s still shadow being dragged along by what other people think he is/was like all the other routes. if shadow betrays sonic at the last second, after defeating him sonic says “man, i didn’t think you had it in ya…”. i think sonic believes that at shadow’s core, he’s a hero. and i think that’s a sort of shallow reading of shadow.

or, that’s at least what he acts like he thinks. idk

[itoldsunset]

semi-translating/summarizing some things p’boss said on the hardest brief podcast. putting it under the cut because it ended up being wayyy longer than expected. also, my thai knowledge is that of a little kid who left her country very young so i probably missed some words/references, sorry!

(i got lazy and skipped the last part where they talked about the props and the colors (red = oh-aew, blue = teh, purple = tarn) but i feel like enough folks on here have done the color/visual analysis so we should be good):

he had this story he wanted to tell about two childhood friends and also knew he wanted to cast pp and billkin, but to make it work they had to pull from pp and billkin’s personalities to make sure that the characters they ended up creating would mesh with who pp and billkin are as performers; in writing the script, they sometimes asked pp and billkin to talk about their experiences as teenagers and adapted it to the series, so for example the storyline where teh and oh-aew meet each other again at afterschool chinese class and start out not liking each other, comes from pp and billkin’s real life when they first met and didn’t like each other

the interviewer asked p’boss to talk about how the itsay team has balanced representation in terms of gender and sexual orientation, and p’boss said it was important to have a team that understands the human experience and can draw from life experiences from multiple perspectives, which led to diversity in gender, sexual orientation, and age

when asked whether itsay is a Y series (BL), p’boss said his intention is to tell a story about the relationship between two boys, so it depends on how you define what counts as BL, LGBTQ, etc.

the interviewer and p’boss had this conversation about what characterizes something as BL, and the interviewer said after asking around it seemed like BL is about relationships between boys but more from a fantasy lens and tends to be different from gay couples in real life, and focuses on scenes between the two male leads, scenes that make you “pinch your pillow” (op: like scenes that make you squeal), but not so much on other moments outside of that; p’boss’s response (approximate translation): “i’m not sure myself, but from what i know, BL series seem to be about relationships between boys, but from the perspectives of girls, since that tends to be the target audience. so it tends to be what makes girls happy, what entertains them, that ends up being the content of BL.”

p’boss on lgbtq series: “i think it looks deeply at the real lives of people who are lgbt, it might be more realistic. it might be like, this is a real thing, but when you tell it in a series it becomes dark, but it’s real. in terms of itsay, in the beginning i didn’t know how to classify it, but when a lot of people started calling it lgbt, i thought, okay. [...] it’s just the story i wanted to tell, and i wanted to tell it with as much humanity as possible. i don’t want to limit viewers, i want as many people to see this as possible, so we can call it whatever they want as long as they watch it and it makes them happy.”

this is his first series focusing on lgbtq characters, but in hormones he wrote goi and dao’s characters (op: i didn’t know this?!)

with itsay, p’boss said it was important to him to have slower pacing to explore the intricacies of the emotions in each scene (different types of anger, different ways of sulking, different types of happy, different types of crying), making it somewhat different from my ambulance where things had to move more quickly to keep up with the speed of a tv drama

the interviewer asked “how does having two male leads change how you work?” and p’boss said there’s nothing different in the way you build chemistry between the two characters because you would just pull from their personalities, but the difference is in the conflict of the story which involves confusion and questioning about sexual orientation which a straight couple wouldn’t go through

p’boss: “when we think about how teh is the kind of person who doesn’t say what he’s thinking, or how oh-aew is the kind of person who’s upfront, anyone can play those roles--women, men, gay people, trans people can all have these roles.”

the interviewer said “itsay seems to be expanding the scope of lgbtq narratives by presenting it as easier for the characters to come out and say they love someone of the same sex. for example, especially compared to love of siam where the kiss scene between mario and pchy was considered something shocking, or in hormones, with the relationship between march and tou (phu and thee) where the characters spent a lot of time fighting with themselves about who they were attracted to. but in itsay, oh-aew was totally straightforward in saying he liked bas. do you think that’s because it’s easier and more open today?” p’boss: “i think the content changes depending on the generations, and oh-aew is really of today’s generation. it’s not that there are no longer kids who are confused about their sexual orientation or afraid to come out, even if ten or twenty years pass there will probably still be some kids who experience that. but there are people who are open and happy about how they live their lives. oh-aew is the type of lgbtq character that’s like, ‘i’m gay, and i’m proud to be who i am.’ [...] and it’s very positive that he sees himself as equal to straight people, because when we’re born, we can love anyone. if you’re a man, you can love another man and that’s a normal thing. that’s oh-aew’s attitude: i’m lgbtq, i’m gay, i’m proud, my parents accept me, and i can tell anyone confidently who i can love. i think a lot of people in this generation already see this as something normal, and we really need to make it something that’s equal. oh-aew represents that equality.”

p’boss on teh: “teh is a character who seems to come from older societal expectations where he’s a man, and he has to love women. but there are people who do still think this way. for teh, it’s hard for him to accept that he might like boys, but when he finds out oh-aew likes boys, he’s totally fine with it and sees it as normal. i feel like society needs to progress to this point, and beyond it, because it all has to be seen as normal. a lot of people when they talk about gay people they say there has to be a top and a bottom, but in reality anything can work, love can happen however. one day i could date someone who’s a trans woman, that’s possible, because it’s about feelings. or a woman who has always loved men could one day date a woman, that’s possible too. there’s a lot of freedom, and i want the characters to show that.”

they talked about how in the scene where teh pretends to hit on oh-aew in front of all their friends, the friends are shocked not that teh is attracted to guys, but they’re shocked that teh likes someone in the friend group. and that goes to show that it’s normal for someone to like someone of the same sex, whereas 20 years ago maybe the characters would have reacted in confusion or shock.

p’boss talking about what was challenging about making this series: “in terms of writing the script, we had to think about how to tell the story in a way that shows the characters’ emotions at all times. for example in episode 2, we explored the restlessness that teh feels when he’s confused about he feels jealous or possessive of his friend. when we say it like that, it’s relatable to people who know what it’s like to feel possessive of their best friend, but how to execute that on the screen is a different matter.”

why phuket? p’boss: “when i decided to tell a story about two boys, i wanted the atmosphere to be romantic. even if the story isn’t romantic, like two boys who are best friends eating together, but i wanted the visuals to be romantic that it looks like it could be a romance film. it intrigues the viewers and adds a certain sweetness to it. i wanted a good environment, so i searched in a lot of different provinces. at first i went to ayutthaya, mae hong son, chiang mai, chiang rai, songkhla. but when i talked to the team, one person wanted to go to the mountains, another wanted to go to the cape, another wanted to go to the beach. even if there’s a beach there has to be a city. we wanted everything, and phuket has it all. old town has a city feel, but there’s also the beach and mountains, so we decided to go to down to phuket while we were writing the script, to confirm whether it would actually work. i’m from hatyai, so i’m from the south, but i rarely ever went to phuket so i wasn’t sure if it would work.”

p’boss said filming the underwater kiss was difficult because there needed to be sunlight in order to capture everything in the way they wanted, but when they got to the island, there was no sun and it was about to rain. so they looked up the color of luck/success for that day and it was purple (op: i don’t have context for this so i can’t explain further lol), so they told everyone to wear a purple shirt. the day they went to film the scene, they all wore purple shirts, but when they got to the site it looked like it was about to rain, so p’yong took off his shirt and hung it on the boat, and as they were filming, every time they said “action” the sun would come out and every time they said “cut” the sun would go away, and p’boss said it was magical and that’s how it came out to be the scene we saw.

[comfeyworks]

Alastor writing/ Character ref sheet

NOTE: This is MY interpretation/ notes of my characterization of Alastor. Most is speculation and the other parts are just me having fun imagining what his character could be like. This is no way meant to be official or taken as cannon in any way.

A wonderful user by the name of dolly moon complied a lot of information from Viv’s streams. I’m referencing some of the information here so please check them out, they did a fantastic job making notes.

Warning: Contains talk about murder, cannibalism and other possible triggering subjects.

General

---NAME: Alastor--- Died: 1933 Age: 30′s Occupation: Former radio host and serial killer. Currently powerful overlord in hell

Main Personality/ notes

Always smiling (He sees people frowning as weak)

Sadistic

Charming and charismatic

Very proud( puffed out chest, arms behind back)

He's controlling/ does things his own way

Careful! He's not too braggy, or too forceful/ demanding. Ex: Viv stated in her qna that the pilot was originally going to have Alastor boast about himself and his backstory. Instead vaggie narrates his backstory. She changed this because Alastor wasn’t the type of person to flaunt his achievements. He knows that everyone knows how powerful he is, he’s not the type to rub it in. He's supposed to be charming, but still proud, juuuust in the right way

He knows what he wants, but doesn’t necessarily brute-forces his way to get it. Ex: "He-" "-llo!" He KNOWS he's getting in hotel regardless, but waits for Charlie to open up the door before invading the hallway.

Deceitful; When asked why he wants to help out at the hotel, he says: "Consider it an investment in ongoing entertainment for myself!" 'This is what you can think my reason is...' is essentially what he's saying. He answers Charlie’s question in a roundabout way that givers her what she wants to know while still keeping his true intentions secret. Time and time again, he lets his mask down slightly when Charlie isn’t looking. At 24:10 he narrows his eyes when she has her back turned to him At the beginning of his song he distracts her with magic so he can push Vaggie away. When he says “...And it’s just laughable-” during he reprise he turns away from Charlie to say this, he leans down to Vaggie.

He’s a hypocrite (hates being touched, invades other’s personal space)

Watches people do things the hard way and then reveal he can do it once it's done just to watch people fuck up

DELIGHTS in watching people failing/ struggling to do things. He likes observing people/ sinners as they are battling with their conflicted emotions.

He’s curious (He stopped by the ‘radio shack’ place to see what Charlie was talking about on the broadcast, and cocked his head when she started singing. To me that meant, “Oh? What’s this now? Something new?” he was intrigued and wanted to know more)

He analyzes people. He looks at the Magne family portrait when left alone. You can briefly hear him playing Charlie’s “Inside of every demon is a rainbow” song, and smiling.

He picks up on things quickly. Vaggie makes it clear she doesn’t like the idea of him being there, and he messes with her. He puts his elbow on her and pushes her away ( 20:44-20:48) He pulls her chin up and tells her to ‘smile’

He’s egotistical. No one is really ‘up to his level’

He gives verbal and physical affection constantly throughout the pilot, but it’s not genuine.

Likes being unpredictable

Primary drive:   Decisions are weighed in his own wants/ feelings. He wants to be amused, he chases exciting/ entertaining things. Think of him as like a cat chasing a mouse.

Fears: He doesn’t fear anyone. But is wary of powerful threats. He dislikes dogs Physical Expression: He’s VERY, VERY expressive through his body language and eyes. Large/ easy to read emotions can be perceived through his body language (Leaning towards someone, or leaning away). Smaller/ pinpoint emotions can be read through his eyes and type of smile (Wide eyes, squinted, closed vs open smile, etc.) He’s like a bird, fluffing out his feathers constantly. (He fixes his hair briefly at 24:41) He expresses himself proudly. ‘This is who I am, remember that!!’. Viv said the reason why almost all of characters have nicknames is that a soul’s real name is dangerous, its a way others can have power over you. Yet Alastor uses his first name, because he’s not scared and confident in who he is as a person. He doesn’t hide from any aspect of himself. I’ve stated he hates being touched by others. When he picks up Nifty in the pilot, she poofs out and spreads her limbs out. At 25:41, Alastor turns his head away from her briefly so she doesn’t touch him.

Flaws/ Weaknesses:

(Note: Basically anything already stated can be a problem depending on the situation, I’m just saying things about his character that he’d find weak or naturally cause problems)

His mother, he’d do anything for her.

He has a darker/ more powerful demon side to him where he runs purely on instinct/ primitive emotions.

He’s arrogant. This can cause problems!

---

Killer/ moral compass profile (Living)

Motivations:

Thrill Killer- Pleasure from pain

Slight power/control aspect involved as well.

‘Causes’

Childhood trauma (abusive father)

Environmental factors (mother died when he was 18-20)

Type of killer: *Note: I’m still not 100% satisfied with this part, I might make some changes later*

He won’t just kill anyone. They have to meet a certain list of requirements.

Viv compared him as someone similar to Dexter

He’s a very goal oriented killer. Whatever he did it was with reason and purpose, meticulously planned. Ex: Maybe one year he’d kill someone who was a real jerk, to see how the others around him flourished. Likewise he might kill someone who was important to the community just to see how the grief made everyone react.

He was a very careful killer, he ended up dying purely on accident, bad luck.

He killed for the fun of it, pure joy, excitement, curiosity. But he only killed people he thought deserved it.

He considers what he does to be ‘work’. He expresses in the pilot how after decades in hell it’s become ‘mundane’ and ��aimless’.

The victims had to be overconfident to some degree.(This ties into the ‘he wouldn’t chase his victims.’ They had to be somewhat full of themselves or naive)

Some kills are personal (Someone wronging him, trying to hurt him, otherwise he just wouldn’t care if some guy is an asshole) but others are just because he feels like they’re bad/ they’ve have done something that they need to die for.

He used ‘personal’ ways of killing people. (Knife, his hands). I don’t think he would have used a gun of any kind because of the noise, but he could have once every blue moon.

Generally doesn’t draw things out for too long ”...If I wanted to hurt anyone here... I would have done so already.” (He defeats Sir Pentious in under a minute. But still takes the time to crush him and drag his body across the floor.)

He ate people, and knew how to make delicious meals out of them.

Buried his victim’s bodies/ remains on a hunting ground for deer.

Morals

No human is pure or kind just because. They’re selfish beings. Who take and act to help their own causes. Everyone is a monster on the inside. “...redemption, the nonexistent humanity!”

Everyone puts on a mask to hide who they truly are. Life is one big game to see who can survive. “...the world is a stage! And the stage, is a world of entertainment!”

People don’t change “...there is no undoing what is done.”

Puts himself first, and above everyone else. He also degrades others. “I don’t think there’s any hope left for such loathsome sinners...” ”Inside of every demon is a lost cause, but we’ll dress them up for now with just a smile!” “...and show these simpletons some proper class and style...” “...do I know you?” “You think I’m [husk] some kind of fuckin’ clown!?” “...maybe!”

People deserve the consequences they get for being themselves “...the chance given was the life they lived before, the punishment is this!”

He understands what society views as good and evil, but doesn’t really believe in those standards himself. What is considered evil he just views as a hobby or something fun to explore. Ex: Cannibalism is wrong by society’s standards, but to him he thinks the greater wrong is killing something and not making use of it.

He has some level of empathy. (Again, He’d never kill a child or those running away.)

People’s emotions are a fun little game to him. “...I want to watch the scum of the earth struggle to climb up the hill of betterment! Only to repeatedly trip, and tumble down into the firey pit of failure!”

Doesn’t see value in being nice or honest. (He does find it funny to watch)

Other notes/ hc

He’s knowledgeable. In more ways than one. He knows not to fuck with certain people if he doesn’t want to get hurt, he’s got knowledge on the workings/ operations of hell and deal-making.

Likes to cook

He likes bitter things (Bloody meat, alcohol, black coffee)

He’s got a party side to him.

He speaks french!

He plays musical instruments

He knows how to fight without his powers

He’s an only child

He’s part creole

He hates silence, he always surrounds himself with noise of some kind.

Husk and Alastor have a long, complicated relationship

He does things to make Nifty happy (Wearing sweaters)

He’d go out into a hurricane just to let it beat him down for fun (Why is this so funny to me)

Despite all he is, Alastor is capable of having friends and loving.

Has absolutely NO romantic experience.

He hates modern technology in general, but hates tik tok the most

The idea of Alastor cross-dressing to lure his victims in is absolutely hilarious to me, but I don’t think he’d ever do it.

[crusherthedoctor]

The Lutrudis Hadeer Characterization Masterpost

A while back, I made a big post about the thought process that went into the design for Lutrudis, as well as her name, species, and choice of weapons. In the midst of doing a bunch of other stuff (like the Eggman Sweet or Shite review, which is definitely still coming guys I swear, please don't leave me D':), I recently figured I could do the same for the character's... well, character, and provide some further insight into how her personality was shaped together. Cause why not, right?

Obviously, we won't be covering literally every single personality trait that Trudy has, like her hobbies and whatnot. If we went over all of that, we'd be so far into the future that Tumblr's search system might actually start working again. No, we'll just be keeping it to the central ingredients that make up the overall package.

1. A cool head? In my Sonic OC?

The recurring cast in the Sonic universe is filled with fiery, hot-blooded sorts in one way or another. Sonic might as well be the love child of Mentos and Diet Coke with how full of energy he is, Knuckles and Amy are both prone to letting their temper do the talking, Eggman... is Eggman, and the list goes on. And while there are a number of characters who are more low-key or even outright introverted by comparison, they still tend to exhibit a trait or two that makes them more in-line with the rest of the crowd, be it youthful excitement (Tails, Cream), a fiery temper (Blaze), or the odd bit of cockiness (Shadow).

So what better way to help make Trudy stand out... than by not really having anything like that at all? Contrary to most of the hot-blooded cast, it takes a lot to truly enrage her, and even then, you'll be lucky to get anything past tranquil fury. She's not particularly hammy either - flowery with her language at times, certainly, but not hammy - nor is she a cocky type, even against the weakest or most ridiculous of opponents, and although she does grow as a person over the course of the story she's involved in, all of this remains fairly consistent.

That's not to say that Trudy is not a passionate person. Far from it, in fact. She has a lot of passion. She just shows it in a different way than the average Sonic character.

2. Lutrudis? More like Unsureofdis.

Uncertain characters are also somewhat rare in Sonic's recurring cast (at least in the game universe), and just like with the previous point, even when they're there, they'll usually have something to counter it. Blaze may have been a bit insecure before meeting and befriending Sonic and Co, but as mentioned, she’s got a fierce temper, and even when she started off on her own, she felt that only she could take care of the threat of Eggman and Inferior Eggman Nega. Likewise, while Silver may have doubted himself about Leslie the Crack Dealer’s Iblis Trigger ruse cruise, he still got cocky when he had Sonic on the ropes, and he could be quite full of himself in the Rivals duology as well.

The point being, they still tend to show some semblance of the same “yep, I'm the one for the job, no questions asked” confidence and swagger that nearly everyone else has, no matter the flavor. Trudy, suffice to say, does not have this mentality. Trudy accepting Sonic and Co's help in dealing with sinister affairs in Viridonia without any haughty protest on her part isn't just because she knows they can handle it, or because they're Sonic Heroes and they'll show 'em the real superpower of teamwork... it's also because she's genuinely not sure if she would be able to take care of the matter on her own.

When she saved Cream from the wrath of the Wraith for example, she wasn't thinking “This looks like a job for Miss Hadeer!”

She was thinking “This could very well get me killed, but I have to help the poor bunny somehow...”

In other words, Trudy doesn't consider herself to be some sort of destined protector who has to do this herself. She constantly second guesses herself, and frequently believes her friends are more qualified and competent than she is. Her only reason for doing her best and helping out regardless is simply because she wants to.

3. A light at the end of the tunnel.

For the sake of tact, it's not shoved in your face relentlessly, but reading between the lines, it can be easy to get a sense of melancholy from Trudy. Particularly due to past experiences, she does indeed have an element of depression within her, and this can occasionally show in her body language and facial expressions, even if she's currently feeling positive emotions.

And yet, notice how she continues being a friendly pony. Notice how regardless of her experiences, and her thoughts on said experiences, her actual behaviour is (mostly) free of bitterness or cynicism, and that she doesn't hide the joy that her new friends make her feel. She's not outright ignoring her experiences or pretending they don’t affect her, because they clearly have affected her, and she's never ignored her scars (metaphorically and literally, the latter being a permanent side-effect of her condition), but she knows better than to let it consume her, so she tries her best to look at the bright side of life even during the darkest days.

It's Sonic's opinion that Trudy's inner spirit is a lot stronger than she thinks, with or without his help. Her refusal to give into misery and lash out at the world foreshadows that he's not unjustified in that belief. That, and it ties into the franchise’s usual taste for optimism and idealism against the odds.

4. Hadeer? More like Hadork.

So, everything thus far helps set Trudy up as a mellow, down-to-earth sort of personality. So far, so good. However, it's still the Sonic the Hedgehog universe we're talking about, filled with many colorful characters of all shapes, sizes, and eccentricities. When a franchise has a larger than life cast in a larger than life world, the characters who are meant to be grounded often risk coming off as boring and could end up easily overshadowed, because the creators or writers often neglect to give them any quirks of their own, usually out of fear that it'll disgrace the character's gracefulness. In fact, I personally feel this was a common problem with Sally, in both SatAM and Archie (mostly pre-reboot admittedly).

IMO, these writers are just being plain old silly. Just because a character is quirky doesn't mean they forfeit all their dignity altogether. Like a lot of things in life, you just have to balance it out, and that's what I did (or tried to do...) with the green equine.

So yes, Trudy is elegant, but she's also a really goofy dancer. Yes, she's gentle and motherly, but she also goes back and forth between being a heavy sleeper and being an insomniac. Yes, she serves as a warmhearted auntie figure for Cream (and a big sister figure for Amy), but she also spends a quarter of her time looking like a ninja with the way her bandana covers her face (whether it be due to cold weather, strong scents triggering her sensitive nose, or doing it in the presence of villains as a mildly theatrical way of visually conveying her disdain for them).

And of course, in the right situation, she can be just as much of a dork as the titular blue hedgehog is.

Which leads me to my next point...

5. “You might know everything I'm going to do...”

Trudy was created with the intention of having a character who is actually like Sonic himself in a lot of ways, but it's not apparent initially.

This sort of yin-yang contrasting routine has been done before a few times in the series, with Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze being the most obvious examples. But with them, their similarities are easier to spot from a distance. Knuckles is more earth than wind, but you can tell he's as stubborn as Sonic is. Shadow's methods and outlook differ, but you can tell he's still a mirror of Sonic (cause you know, he looks like him). Blaze is more distant, but you can tell how she can easily be just as worked up and angered as Sonic.

With Trudy however, if you take her at face value, you would think she's the exact opposite of Sonic. She's an introvert, he's an extrovert. She's got a calm temperament, he can get impatient even at the best of times. She's quite fancy, he's more rough and tumble. She takes things slowly, he leaps ahead without a care in the world... You would think that, outside of them both fighting for good, they would have nothing in common, and that their dynamic would be more akin to Sonic's relationship with Sally, which although they were friends, their relationship could often be somewhat rocky due to their differences in... basically every area and opinion imaginable.

But then you get to know Trudy, and the unfolding of the adventure reveals the rest of what she has to offer. The aforementioned soldiering on in spite of any depressed moments is in itself a small hint that Trudy shares Sonic's philosophy of never giving up. She believes that most people are good at their core, and while she won't excuse especially evil people or actions and will punish them appropriately (albeit with regret that it had to come to that), she's willing to give a chance to those who are willing to take it, just like with the Blue Blur. Not only does she NOT find Sonic's jokes and hijinks annoying, she actually has a similar sense of humor herself. And while reasonable people generally tend to loathe injustice and oppression, Trudy shares Sonic's uniquely intense contempt for it, and believes in one's own personal freedom just as much as the hedgehog does, let alone freedom in general.

In short, Trudy is what you get when you take Sonic's deeper qualities and general outlook on life, and apply them to a more introverted and taciturn personality. The exact same beliefs, but from a different perspective, so to speak.

6. A different kind of intelligence.

Tails and Eggman are the resident kings of scientific prowess in Sonic's world, and it goes without saying that I wouldn't want to do them a disservice by having Trudy one-up them in that department. But that doesn't mean your character can’t be talented in other areas, right? Contrary to what all those Mary Sue tests dictate, your character can in fact have a high IQ without intruding on an official character’s territory.

Therefore, Trudy is pretty good at innovation and craftsmanship in her own right, but whereas Tails and Eggman do it through technology, her field of expertise is more to do with arts and crafts, and to a lesser extent geology. For example, both her bow and her whip were crafted by the lady herself, using nothing but her decorative knowledge and flair.

Outside of that, she tends to know a fair bit about a lot of things in the world, largely attributed to her photographic memory, meaning she's bound to have a few answers no matter the subject of discussion. Granted, she's unlikely to be the absolute number one expert on any of those things, but she's at least a useful jack of all trades in that regard.

7. Feeling a little horse.

I very much approve and flat out adore the idea of Sonic characters having characteristics that remind the audience of what species they're supposed to be, so I made sure that Trudy had a wide selection of little mannerisms that would reveal her for the little horsie that she is. These include, but aren't limited to...

- When she’s fascinated or concerned by something, she’ll lean a little forward with her hands close to her chest, which subtly mimics the act of prancing.

- When she wakes up, she briefly stretches her arms and legs (albeit not too recklessly so as to risk straining her sensitive limbs).

- Her tail has a number of quirks. If she's happy, it might slowly swish to and fro. If she's REALLY happy, it might flick...

- And if she doesn't approve of someone or something, it might stiffen and raise a little bit, as if to helpfully inform the bad guys where they can kiss, if ya know what I'm saying.

- When she's being affectionate with her friends, she might give them the ol' nuzzle.

- When she's in a playful mood, there might be a little skip in her walk, the anthro equivalent of trotting.

- When she's annoyed, she might humorously let out a snort that sounds identical to a real life horse snort. And while she certainly doesn't neigh in the traditional sense, when she finds something hilarious or Sonic's making her laugh with his antics, her laughter can't help but take on a neigh-like touch to it. (The latter was actually a headcanon suggested by @darklightheart​, and I immediately agreed with it because it's cute and funny in equal measures.)

Naturally, she gets all shy and embarrassed when the neigh-laugh comes out, thinking it sounds silly. At least Sonic finds it endearing.

Note that I'm well aware that some of this differs from how real life horses react to certain things. (Eg: tail swishing tends to happen when a horse is agitated rather than happy.) But I freely admit that it's more for the sake of giving the character that extra bit of soul than it is for utmost accuracy. That's the way it goes with fiction sometimes. :P

Interestingly, Trudy tends to get Sonic indulging in a funny hedgehog characteristic of his own. That being, he might curl into a ball if Trudy's being particularly... ~complimentary~ towards him.

And there we are! These are the core elements that make up Trudy’s characterization. If you ever wanted a general list of what makes her tick, then hopefully this post will help in scratching that itch. And if it doesn’t, then hopefully it still proves that more thought was put into her than Scourge. :]

[abirdandabeast]

Story Telling 101: The Justice League vs. The Teen Titans

Now that DC has once again become active in producing stories, there’s been some debate rearing up among the tags. Namely, involving the DCAU animated series and revolving around a certain pair of ships.

Most recently, a post has surfaced in the BBRae tag thanks to negligent use of the ship name in the post that’s very...anti-BBrae. Ironically, it’s essentially a “clap-back” to my dear friend @fireflyxrebel‘s post on why BBRae won’t be canon in the DCAU. Which makes zero sense, considering OP of the post that shall not be named was bashing the ship. Funny, how that works. 

Still, what catches my eye is that the OP seems to not grasp the full realm of storytelling and how it can be used to also analyze a piece of work, hence why I’ve decided to jump on board and discuss it. There’s two reasons for this; one, to help those who want to learn more about storytelling as a craft and two, because I like analyzing stuff.  

So strap in and hang on for the ride, because this is gonna be a long one. 

Read more under the cut!

There’s a few things someone needs to tell a story, regardless of whether or not it’s animated, written, a play script, etc. All of these things are stories, and stories all require the same ingredients;

~Plot

~Characters (Characterization)

~Theme

~Setting (Time, Place, etc.)

~Point Of View (First, Second, Third; Most important in written stories, but applicable in all)

~Tense (Past, Present, Future; typically used in written stories for verbs)

~Camera Angles (Movies and Animation; Yes, this important to story telling.)

These are some of the biggest things stories require, depending on the mode of story telling. But in terms of JL vs TT, there’s three I really want to discuss; plot, characters, and theme. So let’s talk about them, shall we? 

Plot

This is a big one. Stories can’t function without them. They drive things forward, get us from point A to point B. They make things interesting, they give us rising action, conflict, and a climax. This is the meat and potatoes of a story; what makes it tick. 

So what’s the plot of JL vs TT? 

The bare bones; Trigon has possessed the Justice League, and it’s up to the Teen Titans to save the day.

Pretty straightforward, right? 

See, here’s the thing about plot; without the other ingredients, the story would be...boring. Yes, plot is 100% necessary, but so is everything else. Characterization, setting, and all the other aspects listed above is what can set a story apart from the others, and with a story like this that has literally been told numerous times (numerous comic runs, an animated series, and now this movie), you need more than just the plot. 

Which brings me to the next part;

Characters and Characterization

Characters. These guys are pretty important. They’re the eyes through which we see the fictional world around. They are often what keeps us hooked on a story; the way they feel and how that makes us feel. We can relate heavily to characters and the conflicts they find themselves in, and and more often than not, these characters are what makes a story leave a lasting impact on us.  

Why am I making this point? Well, think about it. Why did you watch this movie? Because plots with evil demons are interesting to you? Or was it because certain characters you liked were involved? 

For most, it was probably the latter. Whether your favorite character is Damian, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, Blue Beetle, or some of the mainstays of the Justice League, chances are you saw that character and got excited. Maybe the plot intrigued you too. Or, perhaps, a subplot. Still, the reason many people will come back to this story is the characters. 

So, what makes a character?

Well, my friend, that is what we call characterization. 

Characterization is sort of a conglomerate of numerous things; background, personality, voice/diction, appearance, beliefs, political views, etc. Basically, everything that makes up a character is thrown into characterization. And characterization in action, is how you get this character across to the audience. 

So let’s look at an example. 

This is the titular scene in which Raven sees Beast Boy naked. Why am I using this scene, you ask? 

Well, my friend, this is the scene is where the Teen Titans are introduced, so in a storytelling sense, it’s pretty important to characterization. 

So let’s break it down. 

First thing we see is Blue Beetle battling it out with the hologram soldiers. We get to see how he fights, which for those well versed in fighting styles, can clue you into his personality. From what I see, he’s fighting fairly offensively and has quick reflexes. He’s a good fighter, and sure on his feet. He’s got some confidence, though how much of that is the beetle vs Jaime is yet to be determined. 

Then, we meet Raven. She’s fighting more defensively and removed from the field. She’s closed off, and her powers reflect her more defensive personality. 

Whereas Beast Boy is clawing at anything that moves and shifting at his own whimsy. This shows he’s pretty fast on his feet and 100% hands on and offensive. He’s an open book, for the most part. 

But what really lets us see these characters, is how they interact with each other. 

At one point, Beast Boy flattens the holograms as a Rhino and confronts Raven. He says, “You were having a nightmare last night. I was just wondering if everything’s-” 

There’s a lot we can learn from just this line alone. 

1. Beast Boy is concerned for Raven. This shows that at least on a very loose basis, he considers her a friend. They are on the same team, after all, so this assumption certainly makes sense. Especially given how often Starfire likes to reinforce the idea that they’re a family, as well as the general familial themes that the Teen Titans maintains historically. 

2. Either Beast Boy is a night owl, or he has a room nearby Raven’s. Chances are high that both are accurate. We don’t get a gauge for how late Rae’s nightmare was, but since it was at night, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was late. BB does maintain the entire animal kingdom, as he claims. It’s not a shocker if he has a tendency to stay up later than most. 

3. Beast Boy probably has enhanced hearing. Unless Raven was screaming in her sleep, he probably wouldn’t realize she was specifically having a nightmare unless he has super sharp hearing, even if his room is right next to hers. After all, most people tend to mumble in their sleep, and unless you’re in the room, it can be hard to decipher what they’re saying. So this could be hinting at Beast Boy having enhanced senses. 

4. ‘Last night’ also refers to the night Superman got attacked and possessed by Trigon’s minion. So this line also ties back to the plot, and gives us some hints into Raven’s character. 

Look at that. A single line can build a character and push a plot forward. Who knew. 

So, how exactly can Beast Boy care about Raven if he’s only checking up on her now, you ask. Why couldn’t he have checked up on her last night while she was having said nightmare? 

Well, think about it. 

This Teen Titans team is relatively new. So while BB may think of Rae as a friend, they haven’t been friends long enough for him to feel comfortable about invading the space of her room. I dunno about you, but I certainly don’t go barging over to my new friend’s house and waltz right inside. That’s something I only do after knowing someone for a really, really long time. I’m talking years, here. Not a few short months.  So the fact that BB waited until it was daylight and they were both in a neutral space makes sense. He doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable, he wants to make sure she’s okay. 

And when Raven brushed him off with “It’s just a dream,” he drops it. 

This scene tells us quite a bit about Raven, too. As mentioned above, Beast Boy’s comment about nightmares gives us a little hint that Raven may be involved with the demonic possessions. But we learn a bit more than just that. 

Raven cut Beast Boy off mid sentence. To me, that shows she has no interest in talking about her own personal issues. At all. She shuts him out before he even has a chance to come in. This shows us that Raven does not trust easy. Yes, she and Beast Boy have known each other for awhile, and yes, they’re loosely friends, but she still has not opened up to him or anyone else on the team. She’s distant and reclusive, reluctant to trust anyone. 

However, this doesn’t mean she isn’t comfortable being around her teammates, as can be seen by how...unphased...she is when she sees Beast Boy in his entire glory, as well as when the same shapeshifter hides behind her. This shows that there may be more to Raven’s closed-off nature than just a general mistrust, which ties into her lineage and destiny; aka she feels like she doesn’t deserve their trust, and perhaps they won’t let her stay if they knew the truth.  

There’s a lot more you can learn from the rest of the scene too, and not just about Raven and Beast Boy. It really just comes down to watching the characters and the way they interact with each other and the world around them. In fact, if your story doesn’t offer any insight to your character’s state of mind at any given moment, chances are, you’re doing it wrong. 

Theme

While plot revolves around the mechanics of what a story is a bout, a theme is the underlying message that a story contains. Pretty much every story has some sort of theme, and most tend to come hand-in-hand with the main plot. 

Take for instance The Great Gatsby; Its theme revolved around how money and riches lead to corruption, which tied into the main plot of Gatsby losing himself trying to win over Daisy and ultimately dying. 

As such, themes can be just as important as the plot. It’s essentially the message the author is trying to deliver to their audience through the medium of storytelling. Comics are no exception, and JL vs TT the movie in particular definitely has some themes to it. 

An interesting thing to note, though, is that the themes of JL vs TT seem to butt heads with the plot. How so, you ask? Well, quite simple; the overall theme is Damian learning the meaning of trust and teamwork, while the plot is Raven’s titular arc against her father. 

What do I mean by that? 

Well, this arc of Raven vs Trigon is central to Raven’s character, and is generally recognized as her story. And most of the source material supports this too, both in plot and in theme. 

*Scans provided by @fireflyxrebel

The theme here also revolves around trust, but the story puts Raven in the spotlight and makes things about her. 

She is the one that needs to learn how to trust others and let others trust her. Not anyone else. 

Whereas in JL vs TT, it’s Damian who has to learn this. 

See? Damian is the focal point here. It’s Damian who we see first. Damian, who is introduced to the Titans. Damian, that has to be healed by Raven. Damian, who gets to see into Raven’s mind. Damian, who has to step up and help save Raven and encourage her to defeat Trigon. Damian, who has to defeat his grandfather, and Damian, who ultimately has to learn what it means to be a Titan. 

This is what people refer to when they talk about how Damian stole Raven’s arc. In a way, he did. This story is Damian’s story about learning friendship and comradeship, not Raven’s. Yet in the past, this particular arc was always her time to learn the very same thing. 

See? In this arc, it’s all about Raven. Yes she has her friends, but that’s sort of the point. The theme isn’t about Damian Wayne learning trust; it’s about Raven learning trust. 

And thus, Raven learns the truth and stands her own ground. There is no black haired dude in a Robin suit to save the day for her; just herself and her own newfound confidence. That’s why a lot of people tend to poke and prod at this story. Raven doesn’t get to shine in her own plot, her own arc. 

Damian does. 

And while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the development seems to have stuck this time around, it is still incredibly disappointing. There were probably better ways to execute this so that the overall theme of trust and friendship actually extended to the entire team, allowing the story to be more cohesive and feel more genuine. 

Everyone could have had real character development and grown as a team, Raven and Damian’s blossoming romance would have felt more genuine, organic, and less like a damsel in distress story, and the story would have been stronger overall. But alas, that’s not what we got. Instead, we got a story with a theme focused heavily on Damian, and the other characters suffer for it. 

~

So yeah. I wanted to hit on these three points mostly because as I said, it seemed as though some people don’t understand how a story is built to literally be interpreted. In a good story, all of these aspects intertwine together so that at every page or every scene, you can pause and analyze what’s going on from multiple categories. 

The other ingredients are important too, of course, but I really wanted to spend my time on the three listed above. However, here’s a few resources for anyone who wants to learn more about each of these things!

Setting:

X  X

Point of View:

X

Tense:

X

Camera Angles:

*This channel is great with this stuff. I’d recommend this if anyone likes learning about the art of film. 

Thanks for giving this a read, and if I missed anything, feel free to let me know! 

-mod vixensheart

[sunwukong-stoaway-blog]

...A minute of your time for a late night, headache induced chat, if you please.

A lot of people who know me understand why I have a problem with the RWBY Bees. It’s less about the ship itself (an utterly underdeveloped ghost ship in canon if I’ve ever seen one, but aesthetically pleasing to some) and more about the bee shippers that used to/sometimes still do strike down Sun because he “gets in the way.” And in turn the bee shippers who attack/attacked anyone who likes Sun with Blake as, among other things, homophobic.

That was the aftermath of volume 1 in a nutshell for anyone who played either Sun, Blake, or Yang. And the arguments, the personal attacks, the actual abuse that spawned from it, hurt a lot of people. Myself included, being honest.

But, I admittedly have a ship that in turn has irked me, though once again more because of the shippers I used to know than the actual ship. Seamonkeys.

...Hear me out. Please, just... Hear me out. Seamonkeys as a ship is... strange, to me. The two characters involved seem extremely focused not on each other, but on honest-to-goodness brotherly activities. Whether it’s one-upping each other, acting goofy, confiding secrets or pushing the other to do things like be good guys to their potential romantic interests. I have brothers, I’ve seen them behave exactly like this. I’m older, so I never had that direct connection, but I’ve seen that same kind of competitive bond. But that’s not why the ship started, or how.

The ship started as soon as Neptune’s character design was revealed. By, who else, Bee shippers.

And I know why. It’s the same reason Kali Belladonna has been forcibly shipped with Sun in a way I’d never thought canon could be perverted. Anything But BlackSun, or as I call it, the ABBS principle. This absurd, desperate need for any ship besides Sun and Blake to sail. I remember when Neptune was first shown, he got characterized as being (alongside a transgender man and exclusively gay) hanging on Sun. There wasn’t any question in this. As soon as he was confirmed Sun’s partner in the field, FNDM declared the blue-haired boy Sun’s partner in bed, too. And that’s... frustrating to me.

Especially because I see it just used so haphazardly, and almost exclusively to prop up another inter-rwby ship. Whether it’s Weiss with Blake for efficiency, Blake and Yang for a real dose of spite, or Weiss and... Huh. No, I’ve never seen Weiss paired off with anyone else making usage of Seamonkeys. It’s almost like this is just a Blacksun thing.

What this ended up being for me was an inability to play my Sun with any Neptunes back in the day. Just... Feeling completely numb to even the notion. Because with rare exceptions, the Neptunes I saw were playing exactly to that FNDM expectation of Sun’s uber-gay partner. There wasn’t a hint of genuine character I could find in them back then, because there wasn’t anything canon... Vol 2 hadn’t even come out yet. But there was a fantasy, a young gay man ready to throw himself at the nearest shirtless monkey. And that’s when I realized.

This was the same problem I’d faced back in the day with Blacksun, now from the opposite side. With a few key differences, of course, but still... A frustratingly eye-opening experience. The differences were naturally the canon characterizations of the characters. In Sun’s case, it was sparse but defined. In Neptune’s it was non-existent, built entirely out of the FNDM. So, for those first few months before Vol 2, I couldn’t will myself to play with Neptune, Sun’s canonical partner... Because all I could find was those wishing to pair the guy off.

This is a trend that has never stopped. The ABBS principle is absolute, honestly. Why do you think Sun was shipped with Penny after episode 15 in Volume 1? Seriously, Optimus Primates was a thing. Or why Blake has been shipped with a certain Chameleon girl after they’ve only shown hostility and shooting Blake’s companion? Why Kali’s approval of Sun has been forcibly morphed into a cheating ship that, in any other context, I don’t believe one of these people would approve of? Why people have been booing Sun at RTX, wishing for the character to actively die, for anything BUT be anywhere near Blake?

ABBS.

The FNDM’s entire concept for him is ABBS.

...And that’s why I’d like your Seamonkey posts tagged, please. It’s nothing personal. It’s just a reminder of a ship that, like Bumbleby, has been pushed solely to kill and remove the character that gave me hope in a dark time.

If you ship any of the abovementioned ships but would never actively attack another person in defense of them, then this post should not concern you in the slightest. Thank you for listening to an old fan’s old issues.

If you did... I genuinely wish we could both be better fans, able to not care one way or another. To not feel scarred by characters.