Passing this on ~
Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💞
Why Can't I Hold All These Sonic Fics.jpg
1. The big one is, unsurprisingly, the story that was formerly known as Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars, but is now known as Sonic Stellar. Yes, the former wasn't finished due to morphing into the latter, and the latter hasn't actually appeared on the site yet… and some of the changes made in the transition are almost opposite to how they were initially lol. But if it wasn't obvious from how long I've been working with the frame of this story, it's always been a work of passion for me.
The one-shots helped to warm me up, but with this, I wanted to make a full-on adventure. I wanted to share my portrayals of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and everyone else used in a context that comes with the textbook thrills, twists, and so on. I wanted to write the biggest, smartest, most ruthless version of Eggman I could, without sacrificing his comedic qualities. I wanted to create an OC that could endear instead of turn away, and help other writers - and critics - understand that it shouldn't be seen as an automatic death sentence for your story. I wanted to create a setting that had its own detail and character, one that could stand tall with the likes of Angel Island and the Little Planet. I wanted to pay the biggest tribute I could to the games. And all of this and more got amplified once IDW kept dropping the ball with all of it again and again and again and again and again and-
There has been stress, with how long I've spent on writing, editing, and re-editing constantly. There have been doubts, particularly when I compare it to what others have done in less time (I've always been self-conscious about not being an artist/animator, so when stuff like @skaruresonic's VN came out, I felt like a clown with how I only have words on a screen to my name). There have been fears of whether all this time spent will even be worth it reception-wise, whether any old readers will still like it after all this time, or if any new readers would see something they like. We can all say we write for ourselves, and that is true for me, because I'm not the kind of person to write something I would absolutely hate just because I have something to prove, but the fact of the matter is that we all want our work to reach out to others. We all want our stories to strike a chord with at least some people beyond just yourself, and to pretend otherwise is illogical, as is painting it as an inherently selfish or unhealthy thing so long as it doesn't consume you. Because if you did it only for yourself, if you didn't want it to connect with anyone else at all… why would you bother sharing it online?
But make no mistake. While I hope my story can appeal to those who could find an appeal in it, it's still firmly my story. I never made it, or spent all this time modifying it, for the sole purpose of appeasing anyone. It's always been my vision, and it should say something that despite all the stress, despite all the second-guessing, and despite all the moments where I've considered doing so when the fears of inadequacy and comparison have gotten too much… I've never gave up on it. Never gave up on Viridonia. Never gave up on Trudy.
2. Christmas Time, Christmas Island - Out of all the one-shots I've made, this is probably the one I'm most satisfied with. We've all had our own interpretations of what Sonic and Eggman's first encounter was like, and I'm happy my interpretation has its fans. I wanted it to have muh feels, but in a way that still portrayed Eggman as an unrelenting bastard that didn't actually care about Sonic. By making the bond seem genuine, it would cut deeper when it turned out to be a ruse cruise. It was also fun to write Sonic's recollection of it to Trudy, as well as her reaction to it.
3. In the Hall of the Would Be King - A deep dive into Eggman's psyche, and all without making him soft. Aside from naturally wanting to apply this treatment to my favourite character of all time, this was made as a stealth prequel to you know what, and despite the differences in the latter's current form as Stellar, it still works pretty well as one.
4. Tails and Amy Talk Things Out - The first one-shot I posted on here. At the time, I was sick to death of everyone hating on Tails to such an insane degree for his controversial Lost World portrayal (remember, there were people trying to petition his removal from the series), so I attempted to look at it from an angle that could feel plausible and in-line with his usual self. Casual interactions between Tails and Amy are also shockingly rare, so…
5. Shadow and Omega Get a Life - There are things I would have done differently if I made this one today, but overall I'm still happy with the intent, and writing Omega was really fun, to the point where I regret that he's not in Stellar since there wouldn't have been much of a role for him with everything else going on. Shout out to me for using the "Shadow looking at objects that briefly make him contemplate Maria without sending him into a breakdown" trope years before it became mainstream.
When will you write something that isn't Sonic, Crusher? I don't know, when will you write something that isn't full of shit, Ian Flynn? Haha gottem.
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@darklightheart
I'm wonder if you considering making post about how do you come up ideas when you write fanfics, kinda like Crusher's Viridonian Fun Facts & Creating Viridonia.
It's always interesting to see the inspirations & ideas behind the fanfics.
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4, 39, 40 :D
4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?
The first one is obvious… Sonic himself! Wouldn't make sense to spend so much time on a Sonic fic if I didn't care about his universe. That said, I don't intend to pull an Archie with the lore. Stellar focuses on its own story and setting that just so happens to partially incorporate one previous bit of lore, in a similar manner to what SA1 did with the backstory introduced in S3&K. There are some mild references to other lore, but never in a way that tries in vain to wrap it all together in a neat little bow.
The environments are also largely inspired by that of previous Sonic locales. Mostly from non-mainline installments, since for various reasons (being on a handheld ala Advance/Rush, being a racer ala Riders/Rivals/Sonic R, being on motion controls ala Storybooks), they didn't have the same level of freedom as those in the main games, meaning there's a lot to expand on and make something new out of.
The other major influence for environments and aesthetics is, you guessed it, Spyro. I make no secret that le purple dragon has helped shape up the world of Viridonia aesthetically, but unlike fans who think Sonic should be little more than Furry DBZ, or IDW making random anime references that don't work, there is some thought put into it, and never at the expense of the Sonic universe's own identity. I think both worlds are very similar in aesthetics anyway, so if I see something in Spyro that makes me think "Wow, that would be so cool to see in Sonic!", I then think of how to translate it in a form that benefits Sonic's world, as opposed to wondering why the square doesn't fit in the round hole.
For the mystic entities that are tied to the Ethereal Zone, since they each have different powers, shapes and colours, I got the idea to base each of them on a different mythological creature for a subtle thematic resonance despite how otherwise different they are from each other. They're not one-to-one like the creatures they're inspired from mind you, they're definitely Sonicy interpretations (eg: the fire-themed one is a mix between a phoenix and a feathered serpent ala Quetzalcoatl, since I wasn't sure if making it a phoenix straight-up would make it sound too similar to Ifrit from Rivals 2), but I thought it'd be a fun twist on the giant monster schtick… though it helps that all of them are controlled via Time Eater-esque cybernetics by a certain round chum. Going out of control? Upstaging Eggman? In a Crusher fic? Not happening, son.
And speaking of the doctor, obviously I've took notes from many of his game portrayals, with S3&K's determination, SA1's dickery, and Forces' cunning being three of the biggest examples. But another influence for my interpretation of the doctor is the Mother 3 portrayal of Porky Minch: specifically, how he is clearly working towards a big end goal, yet is also simultaneously setting up seemingly unrelated projects all over Viridonia, playing its population (save Trudy) for fools, and overall treating the island as though it's his personal playground. This is not a Mephiles situation however: all of this does turn out to play a part in his endgame. He just happened to plan it out in a way that can also feed into his ego and hedonism in the meantime.
And Trudy… is Trudy. There were some mild influences for certain aspects of her design, but her personality pretty much grew upon itself as I built on her. I wanted to create a character that was mellow, but still fun and quirky, and could still bounce off Sonic and Co without being seen as "the boring one" or "the nag who can't be bothered with Sonic". I also find an appeal in shy characters finding the courage to do things they'd never expect themselves to do, so y'know.
There are other bits of inspiration I could mention, which includes concepts that are neither Sonic or Spyro-related… but I don't want to spoil more than necessary for now. XP
39. Share a snippet from a WIP
Note: This is a slightly older draft of the moment in question, so there might be some minor differences in the final one.
Sonic grew concerned by her stunned reaction, hoping that he didn't offend her. "You don't mind it, do you?"
"No, of course not. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's just…" Her right hand clutched the fingers of the other, subtly squeezing them in the process. Her vision was directed at a nonspecific pile of red leaves not too far away from them. This all seemed so silly. There was really no justification for this. No excuse for her to treat such a thing with the kind of awe reserved for being within the presence of an omnipotent. And yet…
"No one's… no one's ever given me a nickname before…"
Sonic appeared to be puzzled by this, which was then followed by him exchanging a brief glance with Tails. His lifelong pal simply gave him a shrug in response.
"If it's any consolation," the fox piped up, with a faint hint of a smirk morphing on his face. "Some of his nicknames are better than others."
"Hey!" Sonic playfully raised his arms in defense, which did nothing to hide his sheepish grin. "So what if they can get a little simple! If she doesn't like it, I can totally drop it! If I have to get my head around the right pronunciation of her name, then so be it!"
"No, it's… it's nice," she insisted softly. A gentle smile slowly found itself on her face as well. "It's an honor, truly. You can call me that if you want to."
"You sure?"
A simple, meek nod was what he received, and it was at this point that her eyes shifted once more. After what appeared to be some hesitance, they gained the courage to meet with Sonic's own.
Sonic's eyes held onto their shared gaze for a couple of seconds, before he turned to Tails again. The fox only gave another shrug, this time to suggest that there was no further reason to debate the matter. After a silent understanding between the two heroes, the hedgehog nodded triumphantly.
"Well then," he announced, with a wink for his new friend. "I guess it's truly Trudy from now on!" As he gave a characteristic thumbs up, she could only continue smiling at the display, and her ears lowered ever so slightly. This was all so very sudden for her even now, but if they sincerely value her company and assistance, then maybe... maybe... it wouldn't hurt to keep tagging along with them.
40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?
I wouldn't be fussy, since I'd be grateful for any moments, or environments, that they decided to portray.
But if I had to pick one… I suppose a certain confrontation between Trudy and Eggman would be awesome. Or a certain heart-to-heart between Trudy and Sonic. :>
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13 + 73
13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?
This is a difficult one for me to answer because TBH, I rarely look at writing advice posts anymore.
Reason being because, as there's usually a subconscious bias from the person making the post (which isn't inherently bad mind you), that means you'll have plenty of advice lists that end up contradicting each other. One will tell you to do something, then the other will tell you not to do it. When I used to look them up, this almost scared me away from writing because it convinced me that no matter what I did, I would always be getting everything wrong according to someone's list. And on top of that, what's all well and good for one type of story might not work so well for another. That especially holds true when you're comparing franchises with wildly different universes, tones, rules, etc.
So nowadays, I just rely on my own instincts. I keep in mind the no-brainers, like "make sure everyone's in-character", "don't drag out a single paragraph for too long", all that good stuff, but otherwise I have faith in my ability to put what I know about a franchise I'm already a fan of to good use.
73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?
Eggman is actually the villain and doesn't get abruptly killed off or turned into a loving dad.
In hindsight, in my efforts to make my story not come off too much like a copy-paste of a previous story in the games, there's ended up being a lot of deliberate contrast instead. A lot of elements that seem similar to This Thing from This Game, or This Thing from That Game, but with a twist that becomes more obvious over time. Considering the overall plot of Stellar, and the beautiful yet mystical and occasionally disorienting nature of Viridonia, this actually worked out pretty well.
Aside from the previously mentioned attempt to write with the original flavor in mind, my desire to create a memorable setting causes me to put some focus on the scenery. I try not to go overboard and drag it out for pacing's sake, but I like to emphasize things like colour scheme and architecture, really painting a vivid image in the reader's mind. It's fun. :)
In the original Beyond the Stars, there was a firm distinction between the Story Narrator and the Gameplay Narrator, in that the latter would be more snarky so as to add yet more personality into the fic and help it stand out all the more, with the more serious narration being reserved for the actual story moments so as to avoid tonal issues. This overall idea is being maintained for Stellar.
I guess in a way, for better or for worse, Sonudis might also help. At the risk of making it sound like it was inserted for clickbait, OC/canon ships have always been equated to an instant bad fic, so once it was decided that I'd tackle the ship to see if I could pull it off while keeping Sonic in-character, I knew I was painting a huge target on my fic's back. But I wasn't afraid then, and I'm still not now.
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The beach trope: another one that often comes early in Sonic's quests, and this one's no different, though expectations are very mildly subverted by making it the third zone instead of the very first. (Careful Crusher, you had the audience on the edge of their seats there.)
More importantly though, it's possibly one of the most famous and celebrated level tropes in the series. Emerald Coast is undeniably iconic, Seaside Hill is just as iconic while also merging with the Green Hill setup, and Wave Ocean... is a poor man's Emerald Coast, but it's probably better than most levels in '06 by comparison, so it too is iconic, from a certain point of view. We can't forget Jungle Joyride either, even if that's mostly because we got to see the frame rate die before our very eyes.
So how do you make your interpretation stand out? How do you prevent having a Wave Ocean 2: Wave Oceaner on your hands? Well, it's actually very simple...
Creating Zone 3: Coastline Resort
3-1: Shining Shore
Remember when I said that sometimes all it takes to make an environment feel different is the time of day, or a change in weather? This is one of the first major examples of putting that philosophy into action, as compared to previous beach levels, which were usually content with taking place in the bright sunny daytime, this one takes place under a pleasant purple sunset.
This of course contrasting heavily with not only the blue sea, but also the sands, which although given a mild touch of purple courtesy of the sunset, cannot fully hide their natural shade of white.
And of course, waterfalls.
We can’t forget the waterfalls.
Despite being a true blue beach level first and foremost, there are also a few hints of plaza, further setting it apart from the Emerald Coasts and Not-Emerald Coasts of old times past. This aesthetic in particular is based heavily on the seaside town of Whitby.
No doubt Sonic would admire this place, at least when he's not forced to go deep underwater. Maybe when the adventure is over, he can come back here and have a relaxing moment with... someone. Dunno who though. I doubt Eggman would be interested, and not just because he's actually in-character. Oh well, plenty more horses in the sea.
Speaking of, what about the underwater sections? Shining Shore does have them after all, in full 3D, as opposed to making them bottomless pits in disguise. Unsurprisingly, everything's a lot more blue than purple down there, gorgeously so, but the coral reef provides its own variety of colour.
The local fishies don't seem to mind you being in their line of sight... nor do the Badniks, but probably for a different reason.
Since we're three zones in, you might have noticed by now that each zone, regardless of their overall colour scheme, has one element in at least one act that goes all rainbow with the colours than everything else. You had the flower patches in Gleaming Meadows, you had the wood barriers in Tricky Tropics with their rusting paint jobs, and now we have the coral reef in Coastline Resort... any reason for this?
Alas, the answer is a mundane one: it's just a little way of tying all the zones in Viridonia together. As this quest revolves around the mystery of the elusive Ethereal Zone, this seemingly inconsequential aspect is a way of ensuring that it will always remain at the back of your mind. It may be relatively more subtle and easy to miss than, say, a giant moon glaring down angrily at you no matter where you go on the map as it literally comes closer and closer to killing everyone, but the intention is effectively the same: the central meat of the setting and story is always present in some form, however indirect, even if the characters aren't currently discussing it.
Also, shout out to the lighthouse that helped our heroes by inadvertently blinding the pursuing mechanized orca.
You really put a dent in Heavy Gunner's strategy.
First Section (calm):
Lagoony Tunes (Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced)
Peach Field (Mario Hoops 3-on-3)
Second Section (adrenaline):
Lost Palace (Team Sonic Racing)
Hang Eight (Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back)
3-2: Crazy Rapids
Being a whimsical water park, made even more whimsical to fit the video game format, this one explains itself in a lot of areas. But let's go over the finer details anyway, shall we?
As mentioned in the fic, the park has been made to fit in seamlessly with the ruins present in the area, thus creating a Good Future-esque wonderland of nature and technology in harmony. For an idea of how the ruins aesthetic would work, imagine something akin to the Sunset Beach Resort in Jamaica, particularly the long bridge and archways you can see in both of these shots:
Kind of has an Aquatic Ruin vibe, doesn’t it?
Even then, that only applies to half of the architecture, as the other half breaks up the yellow with some white, reminiscent of a certain OTHER watery location in Sonic's past...
We also have the giant fountains sprinkled around the place. There are two types of fountains to be exact, both of which may seem familiar to the attentive eye...
The difference? They're larger. MUCH larger. As in, you can actually platform your way on and around them.
As for what’s inside? It's exactly how you'd imagine it to be, albeit exaggerated even further to befit a Sonic level.
And in-tune with the beachside mood, the Chao Garden found nearby would take a page from the one in Station Square...
...with a little extra flavor of this...
...complete with miniature water slides and the like for the adorable inhabitants... the inhabitants that Eggman currently has an unexplained interest in. How do the Chao factor into his latest plan?
Heh heh, only I and those I've discussed it with in PMs know that for now.
First Section (outside):
Windy and Ripply (Sonic Adventure)
Ocean Palace (Sonic Heroes)
Second Section (inside):
Data Select (Tee Lopes)
Wii Shop Channel - Mii Channel (Super Smash Bros. Wii U)
3-3: Aquarium Gallery
Disappointed that Crazy Rapids lacked that smooth red-on-blue contrast that Aquarium Park from Sonic Colours had? Well we can’t all be in the same league as Eggman sadly, but fear not, for the similarly named Aquarium Gallery gets right in on the action, combining red walls and an overall upper class aesthetic...
...with the expected quantities of shimmering blue that comes with the aquarium setting. And with glass tanks of great size, comes great fishies to go along with them.
The black and white checkered floor would also be a must. It's a Sonic game, we gotta have a checkered pattern somewhere. It just works. /ToddCrusher
Don't worry about the living conditions for the fish here, by the way. Eggman mechanizing them aside, the people who work at the park - and those who visit it - make sure to treat all the marine life with the utmost respect and kindness. Just a shame that they're apparently not so willing to lend that same understanding to Trudy... but it does provide an early hint that despite the few genuine bad apples who are outright antagonistic towards Trudy, most of the folks ignorant to her condition are exactly that at worst: ignorant. Meaning, despite first impressions, most of them are not bad people at heart, and with a little help and persistence, it's not entirely impossible that they can eventually learn to understand and sympathise with Trudy's situation.
In other words, they have more dimension than the background characters in Sonic Boom, where they're all mostly a bunch of one-note arseholes with little redeeming qualities and don’t deserve to be saved by Sonic in the slightest.
Anyhow, eventually, after a trip through one of those sweet underwater tunnels...
...we find ourselves in the cavern area, where red is exchanged for turquoise, and there are reflected ripples galore. Since the Marble Caves in Chile already look halfway to being a Sonic level due to its unique formations, that's the best comparison I can make here.
Too blue, you might say? Well, the sunset from earlier would be poking through the holes in the wall, adding some warm to the cool once more... the giant seashells everywhere help spice it up too.
Like these, but bigger than Ken Penders’ ego.
If that’s even possible...
First Section (aquarium):
Rooftop Run - Night (Sonic Unleashed)
Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)
Second Section (caves):
Sea Shell Shenanigans (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex)
Dire, Dire Docks (Super Mario 64)
3-4: Hydro Plant
The outside structure for this place is shaped like a giant wall, which predictably brings the Hoover Dam to mind:
And that applies inside as well, at least initially. The similarities indoors come mostly from the generators, as well as the sheer size of the place.
Since it's considerably rustier however, we have darker lighting in place, with the sunset outside preventing it from being too dark inside. There’s also a copious amount of daring graffiti caused by hoodlums... or maybe Eggman, since he'd probably be the type to do that to any property that isn't his. Some of this graffiti would look very impressive...
While others would... uh...
Look, they tried, okay?
With all this graffiti, that means there’s opportunity for a generous helping of cheeky references to previous installments if you’re able to find them... and if you can understand them. To this day, the typo in “make belif reborn” has not been corrected. Absolutely disgusting.
But as the fic dictates, the further you go on, the tidier and more high tech it becomes. Simply put, this section would remind one of Aquatic Base from '06, mainly because I've always liked the idea despite its characteristically terrible level design, so why not salvage the concept and give it a second chance?
With some added flavor to make it less monotone, mind you. Like actual water sections, some green lights to break up all the blue, giant crab robot threatening to kill you... the works.
Sonic may be glad that this zone is behind him, but little does he know, it's not the only zone with intense water action around these parts. Luckily for him, that won't be for a while, so he can breathe a sigh of relief for now. Still, we know Eggman has other ways of keeping the gang on their toes...
First Section (rusty):
Wily Stage 2 (Mega Man 7)
Pokey Pipes (Donkey Kong Country 3)
Second Section (high tech):
Ocean Base Act 1 (Sonic Advance 3)
H2 Oh No (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex)
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As someone who plays games and enjoys stories that aren't terrible, I always love it when the setting of a tale is allowed to truly manifest. That is to say, when there's just as much attention put into it as there is for the characters, to the point where the setting might as well be its own character. It doesn't always have to be completely in-your-face mind you, but generally speaking, if you can feel the amount of personality given to the location, there's a nine out of ten chance that I'm going to appreciate it. Bonus points if it's really pretty.
Naturally, this extends to the world of Sonic. Though the level of backstory varies when not taking Japanese manuals into account, the many islands/planets/theme parks in space/parallel dimensions Sonic has visited over the years nonetheless tend to hold a lot of charm with the way their zones and stages are presented. And when it comes to Sonic in particular - when they're at their best - his style of environments have the perfect aesthetic for my personal tastes: full of whimiscal, cartoony character, yet beautiful and sincere at the same time (or ominous and sincere, in the case of Eggman's moodier fortresses and the like).
So it goes without saying that this has been one major focus of mine while writing for Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars, my own little fanfic adventure for the blue hedgehog. From the moment I started putting my story into words, I wanted to make an effort to give the land of Viridonia the same love and focus that was given to the likes of Angel Island and the Little Planet in the official installments. Granted, it helps that the nature of my story already relies on a considerable amount of presence for my setting, but that alone would be insufficient. We have to go deeper. We have to go... advanced.
Long story short, I spend far too much time imagining locations in my head for my oh-so-epic fanfic where a 90's caricature confronts his breakfast mascot arch-nemesis for the nth time. Seriously, do not underestimate me on this. I think about the colour schemes. I think about the architecture. I think about not only what type of music would fit each location, but also the specific mood to go along with it. “No guys, it would have THIS kind of icy music, not THAT kind of icy music.”
Hell, I even make crappy MSPaint flags that represent each of the zones, Unleashed-style, which are “proudly” displayed in the appropriate chapters. I'm on a drug, and that drug is making Sonic settings come to life despite existing purely in written form. Please help me.
So I figured I might as well expand a bit on some details that may interest those of you who read my fic, that couldn't be acknowledged too much in the fic itself without severely ruining the pacing of the story in the process. Note that you will NOT miss anything important in the fic proper if you skip on these posts. It's just a fun bit of behind-the-scene elaboration on the thought and inspiration involved, if you're into that sort of thing. Nothing more, nothing less.
Oh, and by the way? I hope you like Spyro the Dragon comparisons, because there's gonna be a lot of them as this series goes on, and I won’t be sorry for any of it. :] Yes, it's hardly surprising that my equal love for Spyro's environments (specifically Classic/Reignited Spyro, as I was never a Legend or Skylanders fan) plays a recurring influence in the way I visualize my Sonic zones, mainly with the way colour contrast is often used. That's not to say that the Sonicy aspects are lost or forgotten, though. After all, their universes are already pretty similar in terms of general aesthetic, so it's not too much of a stretch anyway IMO.
Anyhow, this intro has gone on long enough, so let's begin with the central hub of Viridonia, shall we? (I was originally gonna lump in Trudy’s castle and Gleaming Meadows in the one part, but each of them ended up being even longer than I expected, so uh, guess they’ll have to be separate.)
Creating the Hub: Lime Shores
Right off the bat, my goal with Lime Shores was very simple: to make it different from Station Square. No disrespect to Station Square, I love it as much as the next SA1 fan (especially its music!), but considering that a recurring motif of Beyond the Stars is to mirror certain aspects of SA1's story WITHOUT completely copying the whole routine, it was doubly important for the central town of Viridonia to have its own identity to help further that point. And since Lutrudis - and the rest of the folk on the island - are all inexplicably English to varying degrees and varying stereotypes, I knew what had to be done.
I’d make it look like Solihull, of course.
What? You thought it'd be based on London? HA. That comes later, in more Eggmanian territory. No, for Lime Shores, I wanted something a bit more gentle, something more quiet, something that looks rustic yet refined in equal measures... and something that contrasts greatly with the unique oddity that's been placed upon it.
Because let's not forget, as an everlasting side-effect of the Ethereal Zone's lingering power, much of the stony architecture has been given a nice gleam that causes it to change colour depending on the time of the day. Whereas in the daytime it looks suitably turquoise, the tones change to purple and pink by nighttime.
This might also explain why some occasional buildings look a bit... SEGA World-y...
It was important to make the town down-to-earth (for Sonic standards), because that way the Ethereal effects would be more striking. If it was a big proud metropolis like Station Square or Empire City, it wouldn't have the same impact. You'd still probably notice it, sure, but the contrast between the quaint vibe of the town with the increasing wonder if it was touched by aliens or some shit would be lost. (But don’t worry, a big proud metropolis is indeed featured in this story. You’ll get your Speed Highway fix in due time, though as expected, that too has an identity of its own...)
And of course, no area with Shore in the title is complete without, well, a shore. And sure enough, the waters near the shore are a slightly deeper sea green than average, even without the help of its nearby shiny rocks...
But what sort of music, pray tell, would accompany this unique town that kicks off Sonic's latest adventure? Well it may have a gentle disposition in spite of the Ethereal alterations, but it's still a Sonic adventure we're talking about, and Sonic is obviously going to be excited as hell to explore this new land with or without Eggman shenanigans in the mix. So to reflect his particular brand of upbeat passion, I think something along these lines will do nicely. (NOTE: I’ve decided to include two tracks for each location - some of them not even being Sonic-related - for the sake of more comparison and for driving the intended tone home all the more.)
But then, that's for the daytime. When it's night, however, we'll need something a little more relaxing and calm, yet still capturing a similarly mysterious atmosphere...
Also, there's a (completely optional) training simulator set up by Tails in Lime Shores. Should you ever try it out to brush up your skills in beating all those Eggman robots, the simulation would appear very reminiscent of the Colosseum from Sonic Battle, if it decided to trade in its green for blue. This is apparently the only noteworthy visual change in this piece of Miles Prower technology since 2004. Go figure.
And finally, yes, the town comes with such charmingly English luxuries like a post office, a tavern, a museum, a spa, and... a Chao Garden.
Yes, they would all have different music tracks of their own.
No, I'm not going to list what I have in mind for each one. That would make this post longer - and sadder - than it already is.
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When taking Lutrudis as a concept into account, it could be argued that the decision to have her live in a big, fairytale-like castle would be an unwise idea, maybe even counterintuitive, since a place so extravagant might undermine her intended loneliness and yearning for a more fulfilling life, adventure, and all that jazz before Sonic and company entered the picture. The last thing I’d want with Trudy would be to remind people of Chris “woe is me” Thorndyke and his rich kid mansion lifestyle. Not to mention that since some of the townspeople in Lime Shores can act rather ignorant (and in some cases, antagonistic) towards her, a lavish castle might also undermine the underdog nature of that particular setup.
Despite these concerns however, I felt confident with my plan, and I figured that as long as I knew what I was doing, readers would understand what I had in mind. I’ve explained in the past that a castle would better accommodate someone with her EDS, so right off the bat, you already have a practical justification for it. It also helps that whereas the accursed Thorndyke had his parents, friends, grandad, butler, etc etc etc etc... Trudy genuinely had no one to turn to before the heroes arrived for their intended vacation. So with that said, let’s examine this particular building for a bit, complete with pics for comparison’s sake, as well as a certain cavern full of Ethereal goodness that happens to be nearby...
Creating the Residence: Trudy’s Castle
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: The outside environment is not too subtly inspired by Autumn Plains from Spyro 2, better known to non-Spyro fans as my blog background.
A serene yet lonely autumnal forest backdrop, with a big stone castle smack dab in the center. It’s not one-to-one the same of course - instead of a pool, the front area boasts a lovely garden full of different flowers, and there’s also a lake nearby - but the mood is more or less what you see here.
However, this partly serves to contrast with what’s behind closed doors. As acknowledged in Beyond the Stars proper, the interior of the castle instead goes for a different and grander, yet equally inviting atmosphere when you take that first step inside. Instead of stone, you see marble and wood, and instead of grey and green, you have reds, creams, maroons, and golds (with a few complimentary blues and purples thanks to the flags hovering above).
As the lady herself mentions, Trudy discovered that the interior was in a state of disarray when she obtained it, and she was of the belief that a castle as beautiful and rich in history as this one deserved better than to be forgotten and wither away in the coming generations. The least she felt she could do was give it a modern, yet respectful redecoration, and give the old building a second, loving life in the process.
Yes, that means every spot of detail inside this castle was done single-handedly. Entirely on her lonesome. It took ages to complete, especially when taking her EDS into account, but she was determined to give the place its due, and lo and behold, the effort more than paid off. (You know, such levels of determination bring a blue hedgehog to mind...)
And that’s just the intended vision for the main hallway! We haven’t touched the other rooms yet! (Since a castle would have quite a lot of rooms, it goes without saying that for the sake of keeping this post from going even longer, we won’t be covering literally every single room... just the most important and/or most noteworthy ones. :o)
The bathroom can be described as a mix between the two examples below, combining the semi-medieval build of the former with the sky blue palette and general relaxing style of the latter.
Though that said, while the bath remains there for any guests to use, Trudy personally uses a shower since it’s more convenient for someone with her condition.
The kitchen (or as Sonic likes to call it, “the palace of chili dog magic”) mostly comes in cool browns and blacks, and its intended appearance is probably one of the more obvious combinations of old-timey and modern. It also has a slightly country aesthetic compared to the other rooms, because ha ha, horses, geddit.
The greenhouse at the back brings back the heavy amounts of green (well duh, the clue’s in the name, isn’t it?), while also providing contrast with the whiteness of the structure and architecture. Complete with giant arched windows, because of course.
And the segue point between the greenhouse and the rest of the castle looks something along these lines, at least with the way the building itself connects.
Even the chambers underneath the castle manage to look classy and clean. And just as well, since it’s where Tails parks the Tornado for the remainder of his time in Viridonia, once he FINALLY remembers to get it off the Lime Shore beach...
You know another benefit of such a spacious area? You get to turn it into a makeshift workshop for all your gadget needs, Tornado-related or otherwise. I’m sure that won’t come in handy at some point...
The guest bedroom is one of the most curious rooms of the lot, because even though it’s as nice and tidy as you’d expect, it’s also rather... muted compared to everywhere else. Perhaps Trudy felt no need to modify it further in any specific way, since no one had ever bothered to stop by anyway... until you-know-who and the gang.
And we can’t forget to mention our fair equine’s OWN bedroom now, can we? Her bedroom opts for darker colours, yet no less therapeutic, which includes the canopy bed that she rests in. You can actually see the general idea with the bedroom (and the outside of the castle for that matter) for yourself, in the Dame of the Daisy mini-comic, courtesy of my awesome friend @benignmilitancy.
Likewise, although this shot is currently incomplete (don’t worry, Benign is fine with me using it :P), meaning some details haven’t been added yet, you can also get a basic idea of how the balcony is supposed to look here, along with the complimentary view of Viridonia’s oceans.
So what kind of music would befit Trudy’s castle, you may ask? Well, taking every detail into account, we would need something that goes for that perfect mix of adventure, wonder, warmth... and a faint hint of sadness lurking beneath. Something that gets all four across, but not in a generic, run-of-the-mill orchestra sort of way. Something a little more ambient and down-to-earth, with a more unique and specific kind of intimacy. Something like...
This would apply for when you’re inside, mind you. Outside the castle, the surrounding forest would have a theme of its own, though it would share that similar combination of melancholic friendliness. So for the outside, we would go with something more like...
Overall, the idea behind Trudy’s castle - aside from being her residence and looking enviously pretty - is to add to Trudy’s own character. It’s said that one’s home can say a lot about a person, and I made sure that every room shared a consistent narrative when reading between the lines. They may differ in shape, and they may even differ in colour, but the story is kept consistent at all times. We know that our girl is elegant, we know that our girl has slightly antiquated tastes... and we know that until the arrival of Sonic and Co, our girl was extremely lonely, and isolated by her peers, to the point of staving off said loneliness and isolation by making the place as lavishly detailed as it is in the first place. And just as the stony exterior hides the more fanciful interior, so too is there more to Trudy herself than at first glance.
Besides, not counting Eggman’s endless list of tributes to himself, we don’t often see the characters’ homes in the games, do we? We’ve seen Angel Island for Knuckles, the Space Colony A.R.K. for Shadow, that shack belonging to the Chaotix in Heroes, a few pads of varying consistency depending on the game (Tails’ workship in SA1 VS his house in Battle)... but not much more than that. And what better contrast to Sonic being something of a nomad, than by Trudy living a place like this?
But we’re not done just yet. Last but not least, we can’t forget that mysterious cave hiding down below, where countless amounts of Ethereal Crystals can be found undisturbed... You can bet that such a place would be suitably attention grabbing.
Since the crystals themselves come in practically every shade of the rainbow and then some, the resulting combination - specifically their reflecting shine - ends up painting the cavern walls with just as much colour.
It may feel a tad surreal and almost alien, to the point of being a little intimidating for some, arguably. But you know in your heart of hearts that as long as Eggman isn’t in the equation, there is no need to be fearful. After all, Trudy knows it better than anyone else, and although the crystals and their properties may hail from unknown, possibly uncomfortable origins, the horse herself continues to use them for wholly benevolent purposes.
Such a cavern would deserve a theme of its own, no? We’ll need something that drives home the point that the power within has no inherent morality, and can only be as good or as evil as the person using them. So although Trudy’s own intentions are firmly on the side of good, we’ll also need an added touch of minor eeriness lingering in the background, to represent the overarching threat and subsequent implications of Eggman dipping his own hands into the metaphorical Ethereal well, on top of its already unexplained otherworldliness...
So yes, it’s quite a pleasant castle that Trudy has, eh?
But this isn’t the only castle that can be found in Viridonia...
Well, it used to be the only one of its kind on the island... until a certain doctor stopped by, decided to beat the horse at her own game, and create his own, darker counterpart in response... But we’ll get to that when we get to that, ho ho ho.
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It goes without saying: the first level always matters. If it doesn’t leave a good impression, it would hardly motivate you to give the rest of the journey a chance, would it? Being in fanfic form aside, Beyond the Stars is no exception, and because of this, Gleaming Meadows was actually one of the longest zones to work out. Viridonia is meant to stand out from previous Sonic settings after all, and kicking things off with a poor man’s Green Hill wouldn’t cut it.
Since the first level in a Sonic game usually tends to be either a hilly area (Green Hill, Emerald Hill, Seaside Hill) or an urban area (City Escape, Westopolis, Windmill Isle to an extent), I decided a good way to set this zone apart would be to... combine the two! This was inspired very much by Neo Green Hill from Sonic Advance, since although that zone wasn’t a city, it did add some minor urban elements the further it went on, most notably the bridge at the end where you fight Eggman. So as tribute to a forever underrated installment, Gleaming Meadows does that too, but in a different way.
Creating Zone 1: Gleaming Meadows
1-1: Blossom Fields
What’s a good way to make your first level stand out from all the Green Hills? Give it more than green, obviously. While it’s important that the entire adventure is full of interesting locations, I really wanted the first level to sound as gorgeous as possible in order to leave a strong first impression for this new journey, so what better inspiration than tulip fields, particularly those of the Netherlands?
The added use of yellows, oranges, reds and pinks already help set it apart, but there’s also the fact that although there are some lakes and rivers here and there, it’s not particularly coastal.
This aesthetic not only serves to get things off to a good start, but it also sums up the running theme with Beyond the Stars in general. Namely, that although plenty of the basic level tropes will be familiar to us all, many of them will be handled in rather different ways, thus proving that as long as you can think outside the box, there’s plenty of life in them yet. Some examples are more extreme than others, but other times, even a simple change of colour, weather, or time of day can make all the difference.
I mentioned in Chapter 1 proper that the cliffs in Blossom Fields have unique markings that convey a vague, lore-hinting narrative. I couldn’t find a better image to explain how this would look, so I’ll have to resort to this shot from Paper Mario:
See the cliff behind them, with its starry patterns on the soil? That’s basically the gist, but with a more complex pattern.
Also mentioned was the addition of a tunnel near the end of the stage, which is one example of the Neo Green Hill-esque hillside with minor urban elements that I intended.
Don’t assume the inside is drab however. On the contrary, it comes with abstract graffiti in a style reminiscent of the Colinton Tunnel in Edinburgh:
Very Jet Set Radio, eh? In addition to simply being more interesting this way, I figured it fit Sonic perfectly.
But you might question what a tunnel inspired by Edinburgh is doing in a level inspired by the Netherlands. Well, this is another running gag with Viridonia. While not always the case, a lot of times there’ll be combined aspects of real world inspiration, as opposed to Unleashed and its clear cut Not-Greece, Not-New York, etc. This is not just me throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, there is in fact a purpose to it, as it’s one of the more subtle ways of showing how peculiar Viridonia can be compared to other places in Sonic history - partly due to the Ethereal Zone - with only the Little Planet truly competing with the island in that field.
And y’know, it gives it that extra bit of identity and variety, eh?
Now, with music choices to explain what sort of musical atmosphere I’d have in mind for each level, I’m gonna have to use basic links from now on, since I rediscovered the hard way that Tumblr only allows up to five or so direct posts. It’s also worth noting that if this were a real game, it would do what SA1 (and, uh, ‘06) did before it, with each level having at least two different bits of music for the appropriate sections to add even more flair. I’ll still be listing two examples each for extra comparison’s sake, so with that said...
First Section (the fields):
Opening Demo (Sonic Mega Collection)
Ending B (Sonic Advance 3)
Second Section (the tunnel):
Topical Tropical (Sonic: Before the Sequel)
Shooting Ristar
1-2: Swanky Suburbs
Continuing the Netherland theme going on, the local town has a touch of Giethoorn to it, with its calming rivers and little pathways. Though unlike Giethoorn, there would be some cars and short roads sprinkled about.
Again, really wanted to convey that feeling of low-key beauty and coziness, and provide more justification for why Sonic and Co would come here for a vacation. But that’s not all: when it comes to the houses and other buildings, the red and white colour scheme is more based on those of Portugal:
And of course, you have the local parks as well. You can even interact with the slides and swings if you want, because you’re never too old to make the kids wait their turn.
First Section (calm):
Neo Green Hill Classic
The Amazon (DuckTales Remastered)
Second Section (when Badniks start wrecking things up):
Wave Ocean ~The Inlet~ (Sonic ‘06)
Andy’s Neighborhood (Toy Story 2)
1-3: Yellow Hills
As we go on, we leave the Netherland influence behind, and with the countryside in sight, the clue is in the name. Lots of yellow to be had indeed.
And inbetween all these fields, we have some villages, of which the rural vibe suits the place just fine.
Then as we go into farmyard territory, the yellow actually starts taking a back seat in favor of red, because I guess even I’m not immune to the subverting expectations fever. Hopefully I’ve done it in a way that isn’t asinine though.
The barnyards would be the stereotypical red and white, since it works well enough with the autumn colours, and can still pop out despite there being so much red surrounding them.
And yes, there are many farm animals hanging around here.
Yes, that includes horses.
No, they’re not Trudy’s family.
First Section (yellow):
Tornado Alley (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex)
Mount Lineland (Super Paper Mario)
Second Section (red):
Green Hill ‘12 (Tee Lopes)
Menu (Mario Tennis)
1-4: Rusty Mill
A wooden mill doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination, so it would look pretty much exactly as you’d expect, albeit a tad more old and worn.
The same goes for inside, really. Since the interior of mills are tricky to find interesting images of when elaborating on your quirky Sonic the Hedgehog zone, I’ll be using another game for comparison instead, specifically Donkey Kong Country 3:
Except multiply the cobwebs by five.
It’s decayed, and a bit grim, but not enough to the point where it would feel like it’s near the endgame. Yet another thing I go in hard on in this story: escalation. In order for later zones and climactic moments to be more striking and impactful, you gotta start off by taking it easy. There’s still action to be had, and there’s still mysterious and/or ominous touches here and there, but it’s for the purpose of organically building things up, so that when things do escalate, you actually feel it when shit starts going down. Pacing, boys and girls! Learn it!
Then again, as with Angel Island in S3&K, this place gets set on fire halfway through, so maybe I need to remember my own lessons. But on the other hand, also like S3&K, it still pales in comparison to what happens later, so...
Lastly for today, when you’re fighting the fearsome Paindozer, the section of the mill that you confront it in suspiciously takes a form more akin to a old fashioned warehouse. Like... IKEA, I guess. But on fire.
So congratulations, you got through IKEA Zone. Looks like Eggman should have stuck with B&Q Zone instead.
First Section (calm):
Pogo Painter (Crash Bash)
The Walk of Life (Rayman 2)
Second Section (on fire):
Vs. Rotatatron & Refreshinator (Sonic Colours)
Set Point - Match Point (Mario Tennis)
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Jungles may commonly appear earlier than other environments on the sliding scale of video game geography, and Viridonia is no exception to that cliche. But in this case, I purposefully used a jungle as the setting for Zone 2 to make a point.
Jungle levels are full of greenery, just like with Green Hill-esque levels, which means if done poorly, they can risk ending up blending together despite the different climate. By going all out with Tricky Tropics however, and giving it its own distinct qualities, the different (yet still upbeat) atmosphere compared to Gleaming Meadows would further my point about how you can breathe new life into any level trope if you know what you're doing. And if these two zones can feel unique when compared to each other, despite all that green between them, it sets a good precedent for the potential it suggests for later zones...
Creating Zone 2: Tricky Tropics
2-1: Luscious Jungle
When comparing Luscious Jungle to previous jungles and other foresty areas in the franchise, one of the two biggest inspirations was the very first of its kind: Jungle Zone from the Master System version of Sonic 1. Specifically, how the green REALLY pops out, and gives off a warm and inviting atmosphere despite the dangers present.
The other main inspiration being, as you'll already know from reading the fic, Frog Forest from Sonic Heroes, what with taking the idea of using fruit as a gimmick for obstacles and platforming, and heavily expanding on it. Unlike in Frog Forest however, they don’t require giant frogs to activate them. They’ll help or hinder you by their lonesome.
Though I suppose the wildlife hanging around in all shapes and sizes means there's a slight touch of Dinosaur Jungle in there as well, at least in spirit... if you replaced the dinosaurs with elephants, tigers, zebras, and all the rest.
Aside from the oversized fruit, as well as the deep brown trails of soil on the ground, additional flowers and other plant life help round off all the green, with the flowers in particular taking a page or two from the most striking ones in the Amazon rainforest. This doesn't just apply to the gimmick-related flowers either, it applies to the ones that are just part of the scenery as well.
Viridonia does not half-ass its vegetation. What motivation is there to saving the place from Eggman’s insidious influence if it doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing as possible?
And obviously, the savannah area would be considerably more yellow, though its appearance and gimmicks would prevent it from feeling like a repeat of Yellow Hills from the previous zone. The beaming sunlight peeking through the clouds mixed in with the sprawling landscape may go as far as to bring back nostalgic memories of... LEGO Racers 2?
Um, sure, okay.
And before you ask, this isn't Trudy's family either.
First Section (jungle):
Jungle Classic
Tiny Temple (Crash Nitro Kart)
Second Section (savannah):
Rock Star (Kirby 64)
Jungle Falls (Diddy Kong Racing)
2-2: Temple Village
Remember the echidna village from the ancient past, before Chaos activated his trap card and sent them all to the Shadow Realm? Violently?
Well, we've got a similar schtick here, but different at the same time. The Mayan influence remains, as evidenced with the blocky pyramids sprinkled around, but you also have huge idol structures keeping them company, not unlike the ones you see in Idol Springs from Spyro 2.
The camp site and its explorer NPCs also help to liven up the place. But then, so do the Badniks, for a certain definition of “liven up”. (By which I mean, the intention to do the exact opposite of that.)
Then you have the wooded blockades, which are similar to those in Sonic '06, but with much more colorful paint markings, despite the rust accumulated over the years. They're also less prone to making the Havok physics engine shit itself. So they wouldn't make it into Tracy Yardley's good graces.
Meanwhile, up in the trees, the process of going through carved paths within the trees may bring Honeycomb Highway from Sonic Lost World to mind. But there's plenty of wooden walkways as well, and rope bridges of varying rickety quality, with all that risk that implies. Whoever designed them may not have the most advanced skills, but they’re still more qualified than Bioware.
And going inside the pyramids themselves will cause another bout of cultural whiplash, as instead of keeping up the Mayan feel, it's more reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves in India, gold lighting and all.
Perfect for somewhere so mysterious and potentially deadly, yet still early on in the adventure, and thus nowhere near as oppressive in sheer tone as Eggman's factories or what have you.
First Section (outside):
Planet Wisp (Team Sonic Racing)
Golden City (Bug Bunny & Taz: Time Busters)
Second Section (inside):
Leading Lights (Sonic Adventure)
Deku Palace (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
2-3: Gloomy Bog
Gloomy Bog's rivers have been corrupted by Mega Mack. I assume you know what Mega Mack is; it's purple, it's unhealthy, and it gets a No from Trudy.
Despite this setback, the swamp otherwise has a laidback mood. The vegetation may be a darker green than two acts ago, comparable to the dark green present in the original Dreamcast version of Mystic Ruins...
...but that's to be expected for a swamp. And even so, the blue and white flowers still add some complimentary brightness and - say it with me, boys and girls - contrast.
As does the omnipresent white glow in the air, which even reflects off of some of the plants as well. It brings cloud forests to mind, except in this case, it's not actually fog.
Shining and hovering over the Mega Mack-infected rivers, it almost seems like there’s meaning to it, as if the swamp itself knows that despite its current predicament, the light will overcome and ultimately vanquish the dark. Very George Lucas as far as visual metaphors go, but whatever works, right?
As for the boardwalks, they were inspired by this concept art for Sonic Saturn, AKA one of the many decapitated heads of the video game hydra that was Sonic X-Treme(ly doomed to fail).
Fortunately for Sonic, his nose wouldn't be mutilated this time.
First Section (walkways):
Misty Bog (Spyro 1)
DK Jungle (Mario Kart 7)
Second Section (lake):
Salad Plain (Sonic CD)
The Great Boggly Tree (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)
2-4: Hornet’s Nest
In the fic proper, I compared the exterior of the giant mecha bee hive with Great Megalith from Sonic and the Black Knight. This is because it shares similar thorny fortifications on the outside, albeit in a more modern and industrial form, as you'd expect from man who will conquer the world with his tools.
Even comes with the flags and banners! Though they too have been given the Eggman flavor. (Maybe he's getting revenge for not being in that game?)
As for what's inside... well, what do you expect the inside of a giant bee hive to look like, mechanical or no? Since Donkey Kong has probably one of the most famous examples in a video game, we'll turn to his franchise again to get the gist.
It wouldn't be all yellow though. Remember, this is the plant that's producing all that Mega Mack, so among all the honey and honey-associated gimmicks, there's some purple contrast as well.
And the area outside the hive entirely? There's still a bit of honey (and Mega Mack) here and there, and though the white glow from the previous act has largely disappeared, the blue flowers and dark green plants and trees remain. So in that regard, you could say it's akin to Honey Marsh from Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly.
Less buggy, though.
Probably.
First Section (outside):
Mushroom Hill Act 1 (NicoCW)
Wizard Peak (Spyro 1)
Second Section (inside):
Minty Mines (Spyro 2: Season of Flame)
Zip Line Shrine (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
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13 years after it first graced the television screens of Sonic fans everywhere, what can we say about Eggmanland?
Aesthetically, I do love the way it looks, and it's a wonderful representation of Eggman's lifelong dream come to life. At the same time however, as time goes on thanks to hindsight, I can't help but feel they didn't go far enough with the concept, since while it starts off absolutely glorious, the amusement park elements eventually fizzle out and start taking a backseat. (Maybe they based Colours entirely around the amusement park concept because of this, lol.) I guess you could say that while I obviously really like it as a representation of Eggman's dream goal, I'm not sure I'd regard it as the representation so to speak. If you asked me to create my own interpretation on Eggman's ultimate one-sided utopia, I'd have... a lot of ideas and variety to give it. As Viridonia will find out the hard way.
Gameplay-wise, I'm similarly mixed. Controversial though it may be, I actually really like the idea of the final zone being a massive one-level gauntlet that puts everything you've learned to the test... but even for final level standards, it's arguably a tad too long for its own sake, longer than most Heroes levels. And of course, most of it is spent doing Werehog combat, and you all know how I feel about that gameplay (spoiler: it bores me to tears).
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39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?
I'm quite pleased with how I put just as much effort into the environments as I do with the characters, story, etc.
See, a lot of fanfics don't really tend to think much about the locations. Either they just reuse pre-existing locations for convenience's sake (which can be unintentionally hilarious sometimes: "Sonic and Amy were walking down the street of City Escape..."), or they don't even bother with names at all, with the lack of detail to match. This often extends to fanmade animations as well, and while I understand that not everyone will think about it as much as I do, I'd be lying if I said it didn't annoy me to constantly see Sonic and whoever else fighting/talking in Random Generic City, or Random Generic Forest, or Random Generic Base.
Since Sonic's quirky yet gorgeous locations (or quirky yet ominous, in the case of Eggman territory) are one of the things I love about the franchise - and since Beyond the Stars is already partly a game idea anyway, what with having zones and all - it's important for me to create areas that can live up to those we've seen in the games, and give the overall setting of Viridonia the same level of character that was given to the Little Planet, Angel Island, etc. Plus, it's just plain fun to think about the little things, like what level tropes to experiment with, or what type of music would suit each area.
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Sorry for being absent for yet another two weeks or so. I don't mean to keep pissing off for extended periods, honest. D: Just been working on the Sweet or Shite review for Knuckles is all, since with all the games and additional media he's been in, doing a review on him is a tad more time consuming than Silver and Cream. Also been building another Creating Viridonia part, since it’s been a while since I made one of those.
I'd ask if anything's been happening with IDW, but considering most of what I've seen and heard about the latest issue is the predictable Sonamy gushing and copy and pasted Egg Vipers (can they come up with any new robot designs in this comic?), I'm gonna assume I'm still not missing anything substantial.
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Question for my followers:
Seeing how I've been gradually making more detailed posts about my opinions, tastes and ideas as of late (the Sweet or Shite series, the Creating Viridonia series, my post about Sonic aesthetic tastes), I realise that some of you might like to see certain subjects get a similar treatment on my end.
So is there anything Sonic-related or otherwise that you'd like to see me go into detailed analysis about? As long as it's something I have an interest in one way or another, I'm willing to consider any suggestions. :>
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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. :]
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How often do you use history and science as a starting point for coming up with ideas?
I wish I had a more thought provoking answer, but generally speaking, I simply do the appropriate research based on what ideas I implement.
With Trudy, my research on EDS played a huge part in forming her character and her arc, and obviously I did a lot of research on the behaviours associated with horses in order to see what fun attributes I could give to an anthro horsie. With the Wraith, I examined a whole variety of different reptiles when working out his different forms (in contrast to how Chaos' transformations took on the form of various aquatic creatures). And with Viridonia and its many zones, whenever an idea would spring to mind, I would then look into real life places and/or art to help verbalize the key components to what I'm visualizing in my mind.
And in fact, one of the points behind my Creating Viridonia posts is to reveal and explain the thought process that went into my end results. :]
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The Lutrudis Hadeer Design Concept Masterpost
Every now and then, I get the occasional question about my very own Lutrudis, which I'm always gladly willing to answer. Yet for all the times I've answered such questions, it seems some folks are still a bit left in the dark as to how Trudy came to be. So I figured I could make one big post all about the creation process. Maybe not every single detail per say, but at least everything that I think is worth mentioning in a post of this sort.
I'm aware that fellow pal @benignmilitancy covered this subject herself recently, but I might as well do my part to back up what she said.
1. When did Lutrudis become an idea?
The basic idea for Lutrudis - and indeed, the setting of Viridonia and Beyond the Stars itself as a story - was thought up as early as 2014. When I say basic idea however, I really do mean it, as aside from the general concept of her being the latest Friend of the Week helping Sonic and Co fight evil on her home island, very little else about Trudy was set up, including her name and species. While some aspects of her personality were already set in stone by that point, I focused on the design first when I decided to go ahead and make her and Beyond the Stars a real thing. The idea being to use what personality traits I had in mind to create a mental image, then use that mental image to help figure out the rest of her traits, as a design can often help out with working out a personality.
So basically, I scratched my back, so that I could scratch it again. Made sense to me.
2. Why a horse? Is it because friendship is magic?
Maybe...
Actually, I wanted a species that hadn't been used before, at least in the games, its continuity being the one Beyond the Stars takes place in. But at the same time, I also wanted to go with a fairly mundane species rather than anything rare, extinct, or extravagant, as I felt that the latter would undermine the story arc that I had in mind for this particular character. Compared to the likes of Sonic, Shadow, or Blaze, Lutrudis is more akin to Amy in the sense that she's ordinary by comparison, despite her living conditions and the magical brand of ammo she eventually decides to use. To have the arc of a “normal” lady becoming a hero in her own right be represented by a T-rex or a dragon wouldn't really land the same impact in the context of this universe.
Already, I was quickly warming up to making her a horse because of this. But then I realised that many of Trudy's personality traits - her loyalty, her passion, her elegance - were ALSO commonly attributed to horses in real life. And if you're not aware, I'm a big fan of letting Sonic and Co have character tics representative of their species, and a horse in particular had plenty of potential to have some funny and cute moments by letting their horsiness show itself. This additional thought helped make my decision on the matter final.
...Well, that and I wanted Trudy to have longer hair than the average Sonic female due to how, IMO, short hair wouldn't work as well for her. Obviously horses have manes, so that made it easier to get away with than it would have if she were a hedgehog, though it also helps that Trudy's hair is never any more detailed than the rest of her, meaning her hair actually looks like her own rather than her wearing an overly detailed wig to appease a certain disgraced comic writer, one of whom I will probably have the entirety of Beyond the Stars uploaded by the time he actually does something with his echidna libido-fueled comic at this rate... Looking forward to it in 2030.
As for what kind of horse she is, I decided to go with an English Thoroughbred, if only to further justify Trudy's English accent, which is nonetheless fairly mild compared to everyone else in Viridonia, who sound as though they jumped out of a 90's Rareware title.
3. “THIS IS WHO I AM... But who am I?”
Believe it or not, but even by 2016, I still hadn't decided on what to call my little pony. I had already figured that whatever I was going to call her, it would abide by the same naming convention as Amy Rose, Miles Prower, and Ivo Robotnik, to help further add to the aforementioned notion that she's an ordinary lady who wasn't born with any superpowers. That, and because “___ the Horse” doesn't have the same ring to it as “___ the Hedgehog” or “___ the Echidna”.
So what did I do?
I looked up a list of female names for baby girls. Duh.
Well, it worked out, because I stumbled across “Lutrudis”, which was German for “strength of the village”. The more I repeated it in my head, the more it appealed to me. Sometimes, you can have various names that mean the same thing, yet one in particular will just have that perfect sound to it. That was me with this name. This horse being named Lutrudis felt right to me, even if I perfectly understood that it was perhaps a bit more exotic than your usual Sonic anthro name.
Not that it mattered too much, since I was quick to think of “Trudy” as a nickname for her, since in addition to being less of a mouthful, that name - also German in origin - had a similar meaning, “universal strength”. Fit her character and arc just as well.
So that was the first name sorted, but what about the surname? Well, when looking at a selection of appropriate words, I stumbled on “Hadeer”, and while the Arabic meaning of the name is slightly unclear - some sources say “adventurous”, others say “sound of the water falls” - I felt that the meanings associated with it were all equally appropriate regardless. Then I combined it with the first name, said the full name over and over again in my head, and thought “Yeah... this sounds correct.”
I realise the irony of a part-German, part-Arabic name being associated with an English character, but considering this is the same universe where a man who is presumably not Polish is given a Polish term for a name (Robotnik), I think we can let it slide.
4. “You guys know what EDS is, right?”
It's no secret that another friend of mine, @greenyvertekins, has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has a lot of unfortunate complications to it, but in laymen's terms basically means your body is more fragile than that of the average person's. This condition is rather rare, so much so that a majority of people have never heard of it. Sure enough, I was one of those people, until I became friends with Verte.
After hearing Verte talk about her EDS and what she's had to go through, along with doing my own research on the condition, not only was I considerably more informed on it, but I also felt very sympathetic to not only my friend, but everyone else who has had to experience it, particularly with how ignorant other people continue to react to it due to lack of public awareness. It made me want to do something in dedication, and in the process, a certain pony eventually crossed my mind.
This wasn't done for the sake of appeasing blue checkmarks on Twitter. I genuinely wanted to help raise awareness of EDS however I could, and I considered that perhaps its inclusion in my story would help do that, so long as it didn't sacrifice everything else about the story or forget that it was still a Sonic the Hedgehog story. Yes, it's a fanfic, and thus not as well known as a Hollywood blockbuster or a bestselling novel, but if even a few people were to end up learning about EDS through Lutrudis, I would be happy.
However, I was well aware that the idea of a Sonic character having EDS might be seen as a bit jarring, and if done badly, could potentially be accidentally insulting. So I made sure to consult Verte about it, saying that I would only go through with it if she was comfortable with me doing so, and made it very clear that I would try to make its representation as tasteful and as faithful as I can, despite the inherent nature of the Sonic universe that Trudy is part of.
By the way, horses in real life can fall victim to very similar disorders, so that was yet another reason why I went with that choice.
5. “Hey Benign, I'm shite at art, please help.”
I can't remember the exact conversation that led to it, but after I talked to @benignmilitancy about Lutrudis, she offered to bring the character's design to life through her mad art skillz. Initially I was hesitant to take up the offer, since I felt guilty about having to rely on someone else to show people what my own character looks like, but I was giddily honored by the offer and decided to agree as long as she was willing. Luckily for her, she wasn't working with a blank canvas so to speak, as I had a relatively complete image in my mind regarding what Trudy would look like, having already reasoned to myself why this or that would apply.
When putting my vision into words to Benign, I mentioned that...
- Since Trudy is the same age as Rouge, logically that should mean she's given a similar mature build as the latter, as opposed to the pipe limbs you see with the other female characters. Since Trudy spends a lot of time with Amy and Cream and has a lot of motherly interactions with the latter in particular, it helps signify that she's older than them.
- Being a horse, she would have two slits for nostrils rather than the usual dot nose that most characters have. Similarly, though you don't see them most of the time anyway, her feet are grey hooves, but they abide by the usual Sonic-style feet rather than being more realistic ala Clove's hooves, if only because the latter didn't look right for this character IMO.
- To add to her gentle warmth, her eyes would be a honey shade of brown. Just like how Cream has brown eyes. Again, it's like poetry, they sort of, they rhyme. Every stanza kinda rhymes with the last one. *shrug* Hopefully it'll work.
- Since EDS tends to apply several subtle physical traits to those who have it, at least some of them should logically apply to Trudy as well. Those with EDS often have a bluish-grey tint to their sclera, and they also tend to have paler skin than most, so Trudy would have those qualities too.
- To emphasize her love for Mother Nature and all its amazing sights, and also to contrast with Amy and Cream's colour schemes, Trudy herself would be green, albeit a more gentler green rather than the brighter tones of Vector and Jet, while her clothes would be blue, with slightly different shades depending on the clothing to prevent her from looking like a drab curtain. After a few initial sketches, Benign eventually suggested that some of her clothing could be changed to brown to balance out her overall colour scheme, as well as to further add to the subtle nature motif by having brown (trees) go along with blue (water) and green (grass). Needless to say, I wholeheartedly approved of this idea, and decided that the best placement for the brown sections would be for her leggings and glove cuffs.
- Speaking of, as a nod to her equine status, she would wear leggings that could pass off as Equestrian jodhpurs. (Not that she has an aversion to wearing skirts or dresses, since she's girly and tomboyish in pretty much equal measures, compared to how Sonic females usually lean towards one or the other.)
- People with EDS are unable to wear heels since they can hurt their feet, so heels were out of the equation for this little horsie. But I also figured that regular shoes or sandals wouldn't mesh well with the rest of Trudy's clothing, so I went with boots that were flat at the heels. They can allude to her adventurous streak AND allude to how there's a lady willing to kick ass behind that quiet, mellow, introverted demeanour. Plus, much like how being stomped by a real horse's hoof would be very painful to put it mildly, so too would being stomped by this horse's boot.
- Seeing how Trudy's arms have permanent scars on them - permanent scars being another common effect of EDS - she would wear elbow-length gloves over them, since she wouldn't be comfortable with showing them publicly. Note however that she would still wear long gloves even if she didn't have those scars, since they genuinely happen to appeal to her fashion tastes as well. Covering the scars up is just a bonus. And since long gloves are often associated with royalty and high class, they're also suiting for a lady who lives in a fancy castle (despite not being royalty).
- Her hair is kept in a big bouncy ponytail, not unlike Coco Bandicoot or Shantae, since it's both cute and tomboyish... that and because the visual pun of a horse with a ponytail was too good to resist, let alone it humorously mirroring the general shape of her actual tail.
- To contrast with Sonic's spiky quills, a lot of Trudy's design is emphasized to have a round quality, such as her tail, her ponytail, and her sloped ears. To add to this design philosophy, she would wear a headscarf similar to Wave's. Me and Benign contemplated on whether Trudy's muzzle should be more blocky like that of a real horse, before we agreed that the softer muzzle fit both the round aesthetic and her general character better.
- Trudy has trouble breathing in colder temperatures, and she also has a sensitive nose that reacts strongly to heavy scents. As such, she would have a bandanna that she could cover over her mouth and nose to help out with either of those things whenever the situation called for it, or any other scenario where she deems it appropriate. It helps that a bandanna suits a horse anthro anyway.
Truth be told, I was worried that I was coming off as too demanding. But Benign assured me that giving all these details helped rather than hindered. In any case, I was more than pleased with the final result, as it was precisely spot on to what I had in my head, although even her initial sketches during the work in progress were great stuff.
6. If Amy uses a hammer, then Lutrudis uses...
Trudy has surprising arm and leg strength despite her appearance, which is mainly due to her horsie genes. But since she's still got EDS, it's still wise for her to equip herself with a weapon or two to even the odds. I contemplated a few ideas in this case, including a quarterstaff, but ultimately I decided that the following would be a little more interesting, while still remaining appropriate for the character in question.
I thought to myself “What's stopping her from having two weapons, one for short-range, the other for long-range?” I decided on the long-range weapon first: bow and arrows, the latter of which would eventually include the Ethereal Zone-powered crystals inside the cavern below her castle. Goes without saying that a bow suits her elegance and how it can be used from a stealthy distance, and the use of the crystals and their different abilities also helps to keep the reader guessing on what exactly is the nature of the elusive Ethereal Zone itself. I also reasoned that Trudy using a bow was a nice contrast to Amy's hammer, although I'm aware that Amy herself used a bow in the Fleetway comics. But no one uses a bow in the games (yet), so it's fine, right?
As for her short-range weapon, I thought it'd be funny if she had a whip that resembled a riding crop. Not only would it be used to give Eggman's robots the Simon Belmont treatment, it could also extend up to a certain distance to help grapple onto things and allow her to overcome areas that would otherwise cause complications for her body. Is it a bit ludicrous? Maybe, but so is a blue hedgehog fighting a Roosevelt lookalike. You just kind of have to live with it.
So there you have it! Everything you need to know about how Lutrudis Hadeer's name, species, design, and EDS came to be finalised. Now when you turn her into a monkey without my knowledge or permission for the sake of dunking on her because you don't approve of me making fun of Kingdom Hearts rejects, at least you'll have a better idea on what you're actually talking about. :^)
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