Writing a song is a bit like writing a poem. The two most important parts of are rhyme and rhythm.
What to write about
That depends of course on the type of song that you are writing. But you should write about something that you are familiar with, something you should always do. If you write a theme song, you have a few routes that you can go.
Your theme song should encompass the mood of the series and perhaps even explain things about it. The most important thing to consider with a theme song is it's length. You can write a full length song if you want, but only part of it is actually going to make it into the show.
A parody song will take a different approach, you will already have a tune and rhythm for which to work, while trying to write an entirely new song all together.
How to write a theme song
Though theme songs are becoming obsolete in favor of short instrumental openings and overlaying the show with credits. If you do chose to go the way of writing a lyrical theme song you must consider the tone of the show.
If the tune of the theme song doesn't reflect the mood of the show it can be quite jarring. The show and theme song not matching in moods can be done intentionally for comedic or dramatic effects. Such as, misleading the viewers who are expecting a typical show, when yours is anything but.
How to write a parody song
Parody songs are meant to be funny and where you decide to draw the humor is up to you. You could make fun of the song itself, the type of song or just base the lyrics off of the song. Each line will have to fit by syllable and sound. In other words, you need to be able to substitute your lyrics with the original and not miss a beat in the rhythm.
Rhyming is very important in parody songs, particularly at the end of the line. Don't fret about matching thing perfectly or even using the same syllables in each lines, if you come close enough and it doesn't disrupt the beat it should be usable.
Final tips
- Songs usually tell a story, with the chorus line typically being the most emotional portion of the story.
- Think of your song as being a poem, using flowery language and purple prose as you would a poem.
- Setting the tune will be of enormous help as you'll be able to figure out the right amount of syllables and lines you need in each verse.
- Don't forget about the instruments.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Eri Inagaki
Eri is the main protagonist from Maho no Hogosha!
Origins
Eri was created around mid to late 2012. She was created alongside three of the other four protectors (Amy and the idea for Maho no Hogosha! was actually created in 2007 or 2008) and though Amy was originally the main character, this role was eventually shifted to Eri.
Bio
Eri was born March 22nd, 1998 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Orphaned in babyhood, Eri has no memory or knowledge of her parents and her grandmother won't tell her anything about them. She and her grandmother left Japan when she was five and moved to Anaheim, California, USA where they have been since.
She first met Amy in Kindergarten and they've been friends since. At around age nine, she joined the soccer team along with Amy. That is where they first met Alex, and while she does hangout with her, she finds her rather annoying and considers her to be Amy's friend.
Personality
Eri has been described by many people who met her as boring and a fuddy-duddy. Eri is usually a nice person, but she has the potential for cruelty, particularly towards Alex. She enjoys soccer and magical girl mangas.
After finding Chiyo in her trashcan and learning about her destiny as a protector of magic, Eri was ecstatic, believing that being like Sailor Moon would a lot of fun. Though this feeling wouldn't last as many of the things she was asked to do were against her religion of Buddhism and the reality of her job began to dawn on her.
Eri is a passive person, often taking the path of least resistance and letting people steamroll over her. She dislikes conflict and will often act as a peacemaker.
Miscellany
1. Eri plays defense next to Alex. Though Alex is a better defender than her, Eri is ranked 1st in the league. This is due to Alex missing many games due to misconducting herself on the field.
2. Eri is the third protector of magic, the equilibrium. She has an orange pendant.
3. Amy's little sister, Ariel, looks up to Eri and thinks of her as a big sister.
4. Eri is exactly one half inch shorter than Alex.
Author's comments
Eri is currently torn between two different roads her characters could take. I can't tell you much about them as they're likely a spoiler, but I find it quite interesting and while I'm not sure exactly how she'd be I think that it fits more with the rest of the story.
I'm sorry if I was confusing. Eri isn't the most interesting of characters when she first starts out, but I love how she changes over the course of the story.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Want to see pictures of Eri? Check out my gallery on deviantART: http://tal63.deviantart.com/gallery/46281645/Maho-no-Hogosha
If you would like more information on Alex, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Origins
Eri was created around mid to late 2012. She was created alongside three of the other four protectors (Amy and the idea for Maho no Hogosha! was actually created in 2007 or 2008) and though Amy was originally the main character, this role was eventually shifted to Eri.
Bio
Eri was born March 22nd, 1998 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Orphaned in babyhood, Eri has no memory or knowledge of her parents and her grandmother won't tell her anything about them. She and her grandmother left Japan when she was five and moved to Anaheim, California, USA where they have been since.
She first met Amy in Kindergarten and they've been friends since. At around age nine, she joined the soccer team along with Amy. That is where they first met Alex, and while she does hangout with her, she finds her rather annoying and considers her to be Amy's friend.
Personality
Eri has been described by many people who met her as boring and a fuddy-duddy. Eri is usually a nice person, but she has the potential for cruelty, particularly towards Alex. She enjoys soccer and magical girl mangas.
After finding Chiyo in her trashcan and learning about her destiny as a protector of magic, Eri was ecstatic, believing that being like Sailor Moon would a lot of fun. Though this feeling wouldn't last as many of the things she was asked to do were against her religion of Buddhism and the reality of her job began to dawn on her.
Eri is a passive person, often taking the path of least resistance and letting people steamroll over her. She dislikes conflict and will often act as a peacemaker.
Miscellany
1. Eri plays defense next to Alex. Though Alex is a better defender than her, Eri is ranked 1st in the league. This is due to Alex missing many games due to misconducting herself on the field.
2. Eri is the third protector of magic, the equilibrium. She has an orange pendant.
3. Amy's little sister, Ariel, looks up to Eri and thinks of her as a big sister.
4. Eri is exactly one half inch shorter than Alex.
Author's comments
Eri is currently torn between two different roads her characters could take. I can't tell you much about them as they're likely a spoiler, but I find it quite interesting and while I'm not sure exactly how she'd be I think that it fits more with the rest of the story.
I'm sorry if I was confusing. Eri isn't the most interesting of characters when she first starts out, but I love how she changes over the course of the story.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Want to see pictures of Eri? Check out my gallery on deviantART: http://tal63.deviantart.com/gallery/46281645/Maho-no-Hogosha
If you would like more information on Alex, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
How to write a villain protagonist
In one of my first posts, Making villains - Part 1 I talked more about villains as antagonist. In this post, I will talk about villains as protagonists.
Types of villain protagonists
There are three main types of villain protagonist.
Anti-hero: Usually, the villain will start out this way and become a fallen hero or the reverse will happen when changing sides. In the case of the latter, she would no longer be a villain protagonist.
Anti-villain: While in anti-hero is a hero who possess qualities of a non-classic hero, an anti-villain is a villain who possess qualities of a non-classic villain. There's usually some overlap between anti-villain and anti-hero.
Villain: These are the guys who do it for the evulz. The guys who torture little puppies and tear down orphanages for her own amusement. Classic villains.
When picking a villain protagonist all choices are valid, but it of course depends on the type of work your aiming for. If you're doing a comedy, a classic villain can work quite well, especially with a healthy dose of incompetence.
Though in a more dramatic work, an anti-villain is probably a better way to go.
You probably want to stay away from anti-hero's altogether unless you want to show a rise to villainy.
Keys to writing a villain protagonist
It's probably counter-intuitive as a writer, but the most important thing about the villain protagonist is that she's likeable.And if you're writing a character who is truly villainous , this might prove difficult.
Here are some tips on writing a likeable villain.
1. Have an amusing personality. Of course all your characters should have good personalities, but readers will forgive a lot more transgressions if they find your character to be amusing.
2. Give your villain standards. Your villain can be an arsonist, serial killer and even a terrorist. But some things are just hard to redeem, such as killing young children and raping people. Better than simply not doing these things, would be to oppose these things.
3. Show the villain as a person. Give her a family, give her struggles. Maybe she's a thief because she was a homeless teenager (yes, that is one of my characters).
4. Gray morality is your friend. Your villain, in all likelihood, doesn't see herself as evil. The thing is to show your readers that your villain isn't evil. Show the light side of what she does, show why it's necessary (to return to the thief example, she's a homeless teenager). Show the dark side of the heroes, show why what they're doing could be construed as evil.
It's important to remember that while you will want to justify your villains to some extent, they're still supposed to be villains. Otherwise they're not villain protagonists and more like anti-heroes.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Types of villain protagonists
There are three main types of villain protagonist.
Anti-hero: Usually, the villain will start out this way and become a fallen hero or the reverse will happen when changing sides. In the case of the latter, she would no longer be a villain protagonist.
Anti-villain: While in anti-hero is a hero who possess qualities of a non-classic hero, an anti-villain is a villain who possess qualities of a non-classic villain. There's usually some overlap between anti-villain and anti-hero.
Villain: These are the guys who do it for the evulz. The guys who torture little puppies and tear down orphanages for her own amusement. Classic villains.
When picking a villain protagonist all choices are valid, but it of course depends on the type of work your aiming for. If you're doing a comedy, a classic villain can work quite well, especially with a healthy dose of incompetence.
Though in a more dramatic work, an anti-villain is probably a better way to go.
You probably want to stay away from anti-hero's altogether unless you want to show a rise to villainy.
Keys to writing a villain protagonist
It's probably counter-intuitive as a writer, but the most important thing about the villain protagonist is that she's likeable.And if you're writing a character who is truly villainous , this might prove difficult.
Here are some tips on writing a likeable villain.
1. Have an amusing personality. Of course all your characters should have good personalities, but readers will forgive a lot more transgressions if they find your character to be amusing.
2. Give your villain standards. Your villain can be an arsonist, serial killer and even a terrorist. But some things are just hard to redeem, such as killing young children and raping people. Better than simply not doing these things, would be to oppose these things.
3. Show the villain as a person. Give her a family, give her struggles. Maybe she's a thief because she was a homeless teenager (yes, that is one of my characters).
4. Gray morality is your friend. Your villain, in all likelihood, doesn't see herself as evil. The thing is to show your readers that your villain isn't evil. Show the light side of what she does, show why it's necessary (to return to the thief example, she's a homeless teenager). Show the dark side of the heroes, show why what they're doing could be construed as evil.
It's important to remember that while you will want to justify your villains to some extent, they're still supposed to be villains. Otherwise they're not villain protagonists and more like anti-heroes.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Aden Sanmalari
Aden is the chief antagonist of Sanmalari. He was selected as the subject of this post by my lovely friend, Naomi M-B.
Origins
Aden is one of my oldest characters, being created sometime in 2010 or 2011. Shortly before he was created the sanmalari line was familial and one of the four elemental powers was passed down by birth and death.
Tera actually was apart of the sanmalari line and had inherited three of the four powers at birth (because she was the second born and her mother died in childbirth). Though now, the sanmalari is in possession of all four elemental powers at birth and solar and lunar powers.
Bio
Aden was reborn May 23rd, 1686 inside of the Ketra Wake forest.
There is only ever one sanmalari alive at one time and the gender alternates with each reincarnation. Aden is the 63rd reincarnation of the sanmalari. Shortly before he was born, the elves found Tera and mistook her to be the sanmalari.
When he was born he was found by Athfas Nashon, a dalsam (which is an elf like creature that has a more limited range magic wise). Aden is the first sanmalari to ever be found by the dalsams and they decided to keep his existence secret from the elves.
Aden was initial taught in lunar, water, earth and air magics, magic that the dalsams are capable of manipulating. As he reached high levels in these doctrines they decided that he needed a teacher for solar and fire magics so they kidnapped an elf and forced her to train him.
Personality
Aden is arrogant and despite being younger than his teachers, he acts as though he is their superior, because he is the Sanmalari and the rightful King of the Elves. Being the Sanmalari, he believes himself to be nearly invincible.
He does understand that he is beatable however, but he expects to win every single one-on-one battle and even most battles where he is outnumbered by one or two people.
Aden quite lacks patience and will try to force things to go along as quickly as he can.
Miscellany
1. Aden like all sanmalari lack a sex drive and reproductive system.
2. Aden's name means fire which was originally the name of one of the first four sanmalari.
3. Sanmalari is derived from the Yarq words san ("Sun") ma ("Moon") and larai ("Earth").
4. Speaking of which, the Sanmalari is the child of the Sun, Moon and Earth, hence the name.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Author's comment
Aden is quite possibly one of the last changed characters that I have ever made. Though he is arrogant, his arrogance is not unfounded as he is the most powerful character in Sanmalari and one of the most powerful characters I have ever created.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
If you would like more information on Aden, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Origins
Aden is one of my oldest characters, being created sometime in 2010 or 2011. Shortly before he was created the sanmalari line was familial and one of the four elemental powers was passed down by birth and death.
Tera actually was apart of the sanmalari line and had inherited three of the four powers at birth (because she was the second born and her mother died in childbirth). Though now, the sanmalari is in possession of all four elemental powers at birth and solar and lunar powers.
Bio
Aden was reborn May 23rd, 1686 inside of the Ketra Wake forest.
There is only ever one sanmalari alive at one time and the gender alternates with each reincarnation. Aden is the 63rd reincarnation of the sanmalari. Shortly before he was born, the elves found Tera and mistook her to be the sanmalari.
When he was born he was found by Athfas Nashon, a dalsam (which is an elf like creature that has a more limited range magic wise). Aden is the first sanmalari to ever be found by the dalsams and they decided to keep his existence secret from the elves.
Aden was initial taught in lunar, water, earth and air magics, magic that the dalsams are capable of manipulating. As he reached high levels in these doctrines they decided that he needed a teacher for solar and fire magics so they kidnapped an elf and forced her to train him.
Personality
Aden is arrogant and despite being younger than his teachers, he acts as though he is their superior, because he is the Sanmalari and the rightful King of the Elves. Being the Sanmalari, he believes himself to be nearly invincible.
He does understand that he is beatable however, but he expects to win every single one-on-one battle and even most battles where he is outnumbered by one or two people.
Aden quite lacks patience and will try to force things to go along as quickly as he can.
Miscellany
1. Aden like all sanmalari lack a sex drive and reproductive system.
2. Aden's name means fire which was originally the name of one of the first four sanmalari.
3. Sanmalari is derived from the Yarq words san ("Sun") ma ("Moon") and larai ("Earth").
4. Speaking of which, the Sanmalari is the child of the Sun, Moon and Earth, hence the name.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Author's comment
Aden is quite possibly one of the last changed characters that I have ever made. Though he is arrogant, his arrogance is not unfounded as he is the most powerful character in Sanmalari and one of the most powerful characters I have ever created.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
If you would like more information on Aden, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Kagami Amaya
Kagami Amaya is the antagonist of Mahō no Hogosha!
Origins
Kagami was created around mid to late 2012. She was based around the trope Dark Magic girl and off of the page picture (which is Fate Testarossa). Initially Kagami was very incompetent and lacked self-confidence.
Though as time went on, Kagami became a cooler, more confident person eventually becoming the stoic realist that she is now.
Bio
Kagami was born on February 25th, 1997 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. When she was two years old her mother vanished without a trace, her father often spoke fondly of her, except when he talked about her walking out on them.
She started martial arts lessons when she was 5 and sword fighting ones when she was 8. Growing up, she was incredibly close with her father, but when she was 12 he too abandon her, leaving her in the care of Hamasaki Masume.
The dual abandonment of her parents soured Kagami on human relationships and she decided that they were pointless as they would inevitable end in heartache, whether through one party getting sick of the other or dying.
Personality
Kagami is very blunt, though she speaks in a verbose manner. She speaks in a monotonous voice and is usually very serious. Her favorite brand of humor is wit and deadpan, making it next to impossible to tell if she is joking or not.
Kagami is decidedly literal minded, resenting sayings such as "It's a pleasure to meet you", especially since meeting people is more of a bother to her than a pleasure.
Kagami is calm and quite confident in herself. She has no qualms about injuring other people with her martial arts, though she will usually threaten violence before actually using it on people.
Kagami does not dislike other people or their company. She simply finds forming lasting bonds with them to be a pointless endeavor. She has never allowed people to use her given name (which is Amaya) because it indicates closeness.
Miscellany
1. Kagami's favorite color is purple.
2. Kagami loves the water. She's a good swimmer and also enjoys dancing in the rain.
3. Kagami ("Mirror") and Amaya ("Night rain") were chosen for her name because of Kagami's primary powers which are mimicry and water.
4. Kagami is terrified by fire.
5. She dislikes being called Kagi and Kaga.
Author's comment
Kagami is a very interesting character to me and one of my favorites. She is definitely the best antagonist that I have created so far. Her personality change from weak and incompetent to hyper-competent and stoic will always remain one of the best decisions I ever made.
Though it wasn't entirely a conscious decisions (as I said before these sort of things "just happen") I have to allow it and sort of nurture the change and try to guide it into the right direction.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Want to see pictures of Kagami? Check out my gallery on deviantART: http://tal63.deviantart.com/gallery/46281645/Maho-no-Hogosha
If you would like more information on Kagami, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Origins
Kagami was created around mid to late 2012. She was based around the trope Dark Magic girl and off of the page picture (which is Fate Testarossa). Initially Kagami was very incompetent and lacked self-confidence.
Though as time went on, Kagami became a cooler, more confident person eventually becoming the stoic realist that she is now.
Bio
Kagami was born on February 25th, 1997 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. When she was two years old her mother vanished without a trace, her father often spoke fondly of her, except when he talked about her walking out on them.
She started martial arts lessons when she was 5 and sword fighting ones when she was 8. Growing up, she was incredibly close with her father, but when she was 12 he too abandon her, leaving her in the care of Hamasaki Masume.
The dual abandonment of her parents soured Kagami on human relationships and she decided that they were pointless as they would inevitable end in heartache, whether through one party getting sick of the other or dying.
Personality
Kagami is very blunt, though she speaks in a verbose manner. She speaks in a monotonous voice and is usually very serious. Her favorite brand of humor is wit and deadpan, making it next to impossible to tell if she is joking or not.
Kagami is decidedly literal minded, resenting sayings such as "It's a pleasure to meet you", especially since meeting people is more of a bother to her than a pleasure.
Kagami is calm and quite confident in herself. She has no qualms about injuring other people with her martial arts, though she will usually threaten violence before actually using it on people.
Kagami does not dislike other people or their company. She simply finds forming lasting bonds with them to be a pointless endeavor. She has never allowed people to use her given name (which is Amaya) because it indicates closeness.
Miscellany
1. Kagami's favorite color is purple.
2. Kagami loves the water. She's a good swimmer and also enjoys dancing in the rain.
3. Kagami ("Mirror") and Amaya ("Night rain") were chosen for her name because of Kagami's primary powers which are mimicry and water.
4. Kagami is terrified by fire.
5. She dislikes being called Kagi and Kaga.
Author's comment
Kagami is a very interesting character to me and one of my favorites. She is definitely the best antagonist that I have created so far. Her personality change from weak and incompetent to hyper-competent and stoic will always remain one of the best decisions I ever made.
Though it wasn't entirely a conscious decisions (as I said before these sort of things "just happen") I have to allow it and sort of nurture the change and try to guide it into the right direction.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Want to see pictures of Kagami? Check out my gallery on deviantART: http://tal63.deviantart.com/gallery/46281645/Maho-no-Hogosha
If you would like more information on Kagami, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
How to write characters different from you
Considering that ~95% of all my major characters are girls, I do this all the time. There's a very simple way to write characters that are different from you.
Know other types of people
Most of my friends are white, teenaged girls. Knowing other types of people will help you learn many things about them, the first and most important things is this.
The description of white, teenaged girls means next to nothing. They're all individuals and very different from one another. The fact that they're all teenaged girls seems to only mean that they like the internet.
At the end of the day, we're all just people
Different gender
You may notice that I didn't use opposite gender. For one thing it implies that males and females are like night and day and it also implies that there are only two genders. There's many different genders (genderfluid, nonbinary, intersex) you may have heard of these terms, if you haven't you should look them up.
If you think it's weird. Don't. The mantra of the day is that we're all just people.
What does it mean to have a different gender? Really it doesn't mean much at all. The thing you should know is the roles that society expects everyone to fit in and whether or not your character embraces or rejects these ideals.
Different culture
I'm skipping the section for race and sexuality, because that is basically the same as gender. The real difference amongst groups of human beings comes from culture.
People will not inherently be a certain way because of their culture, but a culture will have a large impact on how a person is.
Here are some tips on making characters from a different culture.
1. Don't assume you know the culture. Just looking it up will usually be enough, but nothing beats actually experiencing the culture firsthand.
2. Being from a different culture is not a personality trait.
3. Don't use stereotypes. Even though some have basis in reality, many also do not. Even if they DO have basis in reality, they're exaggerated to unrealistic proportions.
4. Many countries speak the same language, such as England and America. Not only do they speak different styles of English (though it's mostly similar) they are quite different cultures.
5. There are many different types of cultures within one country, and even within communities.
In general, the best way to make people is to simply make a person. Think about how being the same as others and different from others effects them and influences their behavior.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Know other types of people
Most of my friends are white, teenaged girls. Knowing other types of people will help you learn many things about them, the first and most important things is this.
The description of white, teenaged girls means next to nothing. They're all individuals and very different from one another. The fact that they're all teenaged girls seems to only mean that they like the internet.
At the end of the day, we're all just people
Different gender
You may notice that I didn't use opposite gender. For one thing it implies that males and females are like night and day and it also implies that there are only two genders. There's many different genders (genderfluid, nonbinary, intersex) you may have heard of these terms, if you haven't you should look them up.
If you think it's weird. Don't. The mantra of the day is that we're all just people.
What does it mean to have a different gender? Really it doesn't mean much at all. The thing you should know is the roles that society expects everyone to fit in and whether or not your character embraces or rejects these ideals.
Different culture
I'm skipping the section for race and sexuality, because that is basically the same as gender. The real difference amongst groups of human beings comes from culture.
People will not inherently be a certain way because of their culture, but a culture will have a large impact on how a person is.
Here are some tips on making characters from a different culture.
1. Don't assume you know the culture. Just looking it up will usually be enough, but nothing beats actually experiencing the culture firsthand.
2. Being from a different culture is not a personality trait.
3. Don't use stereotypes. Even though some have basis in reality, many also do not. Even if they DO have basis in reality, they're exaggerated to unrealistic proportions.
4. Many countries speak the same language, such as England and America. Not only do they speak different styles of English (though it's mostly similar) they are quite different cultures.
5. There are many different types of cultures within one country, and even within communities.
In general, the best way to make people is to simply make a person. Think about how being the same as others and different from others effects them and influences their behavior.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Stella Nakamoto
Stella Nakamoto is the deuteragonist of Sanmalari and the second oldest character of mine.
Another one of my lovely friends selected her as the subject of this post.
Origins
Stella was created circa June 16th, 2007. She was originally a 12-year old human, with blonde hair before she became Japanese, at which point her hair became black. She kept the name Stella against reason, but this helped shape the Yarq language.
Around the time of 2009-2010 when Stella first became an elf she had curly black hair and emotions. She was very smart, sporting a photographic memory and eventually synesthesia. She had an adverse emotional reaction to a traumatic event, prompting me to give her psychological problems.
Instead of giving her "psychological problems" I decided to look up psychosis and try to find a specific one for her. This lead me to psychopathy, which she already exhibited many of the symptoms of being a psychopath.
Though rather than being incredibly emotional, she became incredibly emotionless.
Bio
Stella was born August 23rd. 1686 in Prophet's Circle, Sun Shrine. The native language of Sun Shrine is Yarq, which is based on English, Italian, Greek, Latin, Japanese, Tagalog and Spanish. The language does not have a c, instead having the letter é.
Sun Shrine is a harsh desert climate and it encircled by four volcanoes that spew sulfuric acid into the skies above it. The residents are very unhealthy, being inflicted with lung and heart ailments. This, poverty and violence, is why life spans in Sun Shrine are typically short (10 years is a milestone).
Stella herself has asthma, a condition that she manages with frankincense. Her mother died when she was young and her father was convicted of a crime she has no idea about. As a convicted criminal, he has to do hard labor for eight hours a day. He is unpaid during those hours, so he has to work even more hours to make money for him and Stella.
Stella was a copper miner until she met Amrello, a girl a year younger than her who was hustling elves in chess. Stella was one of her marks, but after losing all of her money to her she honed her skills and sought her out again.
The two have an on and off again friendship. Stella considers Amrello to be a learning experience about "common elves" however.
Personality
Stella is a psychopath with a limited capacity to care for others. She has high observational skills and learns things quickly.
She is sadomasochistic and enjoys inflicting and receiving pain, though she much more enjoys inflicting it. Though she is 14 (preadolescence) she is very promiscuous. Sex, herself, power and food and the four most important things in the universe to her.
Stella suffers from delusions of grandeur. She believes that she is immortal and also that she is a God, of escalating importance (i.e. fire, than universe than God of Gods).
Stella is very curious and hates not knowing things.
Stella is a pyromaniac and a pyrophile. She really loves fire and fire loves her, making her a very rare empathetic fire user (which is a story term which I am not going to explain in this post.)
Miscellany
1. When Snetian Elves reach age 10, they receive a crown of grass leaves. Stella loves this crown more than her own father.
2. Stella does not have a photographic memory nor does she have synesthesia anymore.
3. Stella loves reading and her favorite author is Zanoro Blue-Windsor.
4. Stella's hero is Tal San, the third Sanmalari. His name means "God of the Sun" and there is a religion dedicated to him in Sun Shrine. Stella debates whether it is appropriate for a God to have heroes.
5. Stella's English is horrendous. It is her second language and the way she speaks it is using substitution. She speaks using the Yarq sentence structure and English words.
6. Stella's hair is now dark brown and ratty.
Author's comments
Stella is my favorite character that I've ever made. Her role within Sanmalari has changed substantial with a formal diagnosis with psychopathy. Originally she was meant to be a straight up hero, the brains of the operation.
Her role in the story falls somewhere around anti-villain and anti-hero, which I'm not entirely sure. But she's certainly a lot of fun to write about.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Want to see pictures of Stella? Check out my gallery on deviantART: http://tal63.deviantart.com/gallery/46281648/Sanmalari
If you would like more information on Stella, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Another one of my lovely friends selected her as the subject of this post.
Origins
Stella was created circa June 16th, 2007. She was originally a 12-year old human, with blonde hair before she became Japanese, at which point her hair became black. She kept the name Stella against reason, but this helped shape the Yarq language.
Around the time of 2009-2010 when Stella first became an elf she had curly black hair and emotions. She was very smart, sporting a photographic memory and eventually synesthesia. She had an adverse emotional reaction to a traumatic event, prompting me to give her psychological problems.
Instead of giving her "psychological problems" I decided to look up psychosis and try to find a specific one for her. This lead me to psychopathy, which she already exhibited many of the symptoms of being a psychopath.
Though rather than being incredibly emotional, she became incredibly emotionless.
Bio
Stella was born August 23rd. 1686 in Prophet's Circle, Sun Shrine. The native language of Sun Shrine is Yarq, which is based on English, Italian, Greek, Latin, Japanese, Tagalog and Spanish. The language does not have a c, instead having the letter é.
Sun Shrine is a harsh desert climate and it encircled by four volcanoes that spew sulfuric acid into the skies above it. The residents are very unhealthy, being inflicted with lung and heart ailments. This, poverty and violence, is why life spans in Sun Shrine are typically short (10 years is a milestone).
Stella herself has asthma, a condition that she manages with frankincense. Her mother died when she was young and her father was convicted of a crime she has no idea about. As a convicted criminal, he has to do hard labor for eight hours a day. He is unpaid during those hours, so he has to work even more hours to make money for him and Stella.
Stella was a copper miner until she met Amrello, a girl a year younger than her who was hustling elves in chess. Stella was one of her marks, but after losing all of her money to her she honed her skills and sought her out again.
The two have an on and off again friendship. Stella considers Amrello to be a learning experience about "common elves" however.
Personality
Stella is a psychopath with a limited capacity to care for others. She has high observational skills and learns things quickly.
She is sadomasochistic and enjoys inflicting and receiving pain, though she much more enjoys inflicting it. Though she is 14 (preadolescence) she is very promiscuous. Sex, herself, power and food and the four most important things in the universe to her.
Stella suffers from delusions of grandeur. She believes that she is immortal and also that she is a God, of escalating importance (i.e. fire, than universe than God of Gods).
Stella is very curious and hates not knowing things.
Stella is a pyromaniac and a pyrophile. She really loves fire and fire loves her, making her a very rare empathetic fire user (which is a story term which I am not going to explain in this post.)
Miscellany
1. When Snetian Elves reach age 10, they receive a crown of grass leaves. Stella loves this crown more than her own father.
2. Stella does not have a photographic memory nor does she have synesthesia anymore.
3. Stella loves reading and her favorite author is Zanoro Blue-Windsor.
4. Stella's hero is Tal San, the third Sanmalari. His name means "God of the Sun" and there is a religion dedicated to him in Sun Shrine. Stella debates whether it is appropriate for a God to have heroes.
5. Stella's English is horrendous. It is her second language and the way she speaks it is using substitution. She speaks using the Yarq sentence structure and English words.
6. Stella's hair is now dark brown and ratty.
Author's comments
Stella is my favorite character that I've ever made. Her role within Sanmalari has changed substantial with a formal diagnosis with psychopathy. Originally she was meant to be a straight up hero, the brains of the operation.
Her role in the story falls somewhere around anti-villain and anti-hero, which I'm not entirely sure. But she's certainly a lot of fun to write about.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
Want to see pictures of Stella? Check out my gallery on deviantART: http://tal63.deviantart.com/gallery/46281648/Sanmalari
If you would like more information on Stella, particularly of spoilerish nature, you know where you can contact me. If I don't know you, I won't give you any spoilers. I'm sorry.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
How to write traumatized characters
Often times the effects of traumatic backstories are underdone.
How do characters get traumatize
People can get traumatized by a number of things and at any stage in their lives. It's important to remember that while anything can be traumatic, there is a difference between something merely being upsetting and traumatizing.
In general. things that are traumatic are things that nobody should have to experience or witness. Make sure that your characters don't go too far on either end, either treating something traumatic lightly or something non-traumatic too heavily.
Effects of being traumatized
The traumatic event is unforgettable to the victim and she may experience flashbacks and nightmares. These are often brought upon by triggers by anything that reminds them about the trauma. Obviously, she will do her best to avoid such triggers.
Trauma manifest itself in many different ways, depending on the type of trauma and of course the individual being traumatized. An important thing to remember is that people who are traumatized do not just have nightmares and are depressed.
Adults and children react to trauma in different ways. While adults do sometimes block out traumatic experiences, young children are far more likely to do so. Young children can be far greater effected by trauma as they're beginning to shape their world views, trauma will likely play an important key.
Though trauma can be more impactful on children certain types of trauma, such as child abuse, is easier to overcome when they're young and still in their formative years.
Overcoming traumatization
Simply being remove from a traumatic event isn't enough. For a concrete example, let's say say the character is a victim of child abuse. Telling her that everything is over now is not enough for her to believe it, she will have to learn this on here own.
Giving her hugs and telling her that she is loved is not going to solve all her problems. She is used to being abused so she will continue to expect to be abused. In real life, people may never overcome being traumatized, at least not fully.
Getting over trauma is a long process and can even be life long. Fictional characters should strive to be as realistic as possible but at the end of day, they're fictional characters. They should overcome their trauma faster and more fully than their real life counterparts. Especially if they're major characters.
Unless their purpose in the story is to be traumatized, allowing them to overcome it faster and better is usually a good idea because while characters who are in angst is fine and good so long as it's justified and doesn't last for too long. Readers will grow tired of it, lessening the impact of the trauma.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
How do characters get traumatize
People can get traumatized by a number of things and at any stage in their lives. It's important to remember that while anything can be traumatic, there is a difference between something merely being upsetting and traumatizing.
In general. things that are traumatic are things that nobody should have to experience or witness. Make sure that your characters don't go too far on either end, either treating something traumatic lightly or something non-traumatic too heavily.
Effects of being traumatized
The traumatic event is unforgettable to the victim and she may experience flashbacks and nightmares. These are often brought upon by triggers by anything that reminds them about the trauma. Obviously, she will do her best to avoid such triggers.
Trauma manifest itself in many different ways, depending on the type of trauma and of course the individual being traumatized. An important thing to remember is that people who are traumatized do not just have nightmares and are depressed.
Adults and children react to trauma in different ways. While adults do sometimes block out traumatic experiences, young children are far more likely to do so. Young children can be far greater effected by trauma as they're beginning to shape their world views, trauma will likely play an important key.
Though trauma can be more impactful on children certain types of trauma, such as child abuse, is easier to overcome when they're young and still in their formative years.
Overcoming traumatization
Simply being remove from a traumatic event isn't enough. For a concrete example, let's say say the character is a victim of child abuse. Telling her that everything is over now is not enough for her to believe it, she will have to learn this on here own.
Giving her hugs and telling her that she is loved is not going to solve all her problems. She is used to being abused so she will continue to expect to be abused. In real life, people may never overcome being traumatized, at least not fully.
Getting over trauma is a long process and can even be life long. Fictional characters should strive to be as realistic as possible but at the end of day, they're fictional characters. They should overcome their trauma faster and more fully than their real life counterparts. Especially if they're major characters.
Unless their purpose in the story is to be traumatized, allowing them to overcome it faster and better is usually a good idea because while characters who are in angst is fine and good so long as it's justified and doesn't last for too long. Readers will grow tired of it, lessening the impact of the trauma.
Any questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at emanation63@gmail.com
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