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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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Was planning on making this my own post, but I thought you would be more suited to discussing this sort of topic. Something I've noticed when it comes to the more prominent/important/strong female characters (Nora, Pyrrha, Penny, Robyn, Emerald, Sienna) is that RT often has the tendency of giving them masculine allusions (Thor, Achilles, Pinocchio, Robin Hood, Aladdin, Shere Khan) as if they are unable to stand on their own as characters unless they have that connection to a male character. 1/3

It is worth discussing! Yeah, I hesitate to call it a pattern just because, as you say, Team RWBY themselves are an exception to the rule — and as the title characters of the story, they’re a pretty big exception. We also have good women allusions turned into good women characters (Glynda with The Good Witch, May with Maid Marian) and bad women allusions turned into good women characters (Winter with The Snow Queen — I don’t think she was ever meant to enter full antagonist territory, but that’s another post). So it’s not just a matter of saying, “RWBY models their strong women after male inspirations and turns all female inspirations into male characters.” It’s not that simple. But the fact that it’s not simple doesn’t mean there’s nothing there to unpack because I definitely understand the feeling you’re pointing to, anon. Team RWBY feels like it has the most thought put into it in terms of changing up these allusions, specifically when it comes to subversion: the little girl in a red hood who previously needed a hunter’s protection has become the hunter herself, Belle overcomes both her Gaston and the now evil Beast, Snow White extracts herself from her own abusive situation (with a little help from the Dwarves still), and Goldilocks is no longer lost and in need of basic necessities, but can rather punch her way out of any establishment — like, say, a club. The execution of these themes aside (how Adam was handled, turning Jacques’ arrest into a joke, etc.), there’s a commonality here that works. Or at least, it works for me. Yet when we expand the allusions past our title team, things get... very messy. That’s when we start to hit on these concerns.

I’d say the problem stems primarily from that lack of thought, not the act itself of turning women characters into men or vice versa. Meaning, as I’ve said in the past, RWBY’s use of allusions is terribly unreliable nowadays, and that’s not just in terms of plot expectations like, “Why did Penny have to become a flesh girl because Pinocchio, but Ironwood didn’t stay good because Tin Man?” It also includes these questions of why these changes were made and what sort of messages they send. As you lay out, why are so many of our heavy hitters — the most talented huntress, the lightning-immune smasher, the Maiden android, etc. — based on men? Why are many of the effeminate and “weaker” men — Jaune the untrained, Ren the emotional councilor, Oscar the kid who wants to talk it all out — based on women? Again, I don’t intend to sling any hard accusations, but rather to point out what’s likely a subtle, unconscious bias. To provide another example, I’ve seen talk recently about how RT (again, unconsciously) depicts the faunus, where all the good characters have culturally established “good” animal features and all the bad character have culturally established “bad” features. It’s cat ears, rabbit ears, sheep ears, monkey tails, dog tails, and beautifully changing skin color vs. scorpion tails, spiderwebs, bull horns, tiger ears, bat wings, and crocodile scales. Is it a perfect 1:1 divide? No, Ghira has panther claws and Fennec has fox ears, but there’s enough there for us to go, “RT tends to give the good guys cute features and/or features we associate with safe animals, whereas the bad guys tend to get ugly features and/or features we associate with dangerous animals.” I feel the same way here, that there’s a bit of a trend at play, with the caveat that there are more complications simply by virtue of these allusions being, well, complicated. But there’s enough there to make us stop and think, “What were RT’s intentions with this? If they just chose something based on the rule of cool, what might those inclinations tell us about gender norms in America?” Meaning, when someone goes, “Idk, we just thought it would be cool to change this up” there’s a lifetime of media consumption driving that choice. It’s not actually random, but based on whatever has been normalized — unless you actively counteract that by thinking through what you want the change to do.

Unconscious biases are always at work. When we analyze something like this it’s often not a matter of saying, “The author is [insert accusatory term here]” but rather just, “The author is falling into expectations, patterns, and normalized decisions based on the culture they’ve grown up in.” Which includes things like thinking, “Well, if this character is based on a male god, she must be crazy strong. If this character is based on a woman fighter, he’s probably more emotional.” Such biases may be driving a lot of decisions because, as said in the past, I really don’t think RT is putting much thought into these allusions, if any at this point. For me, Penny was proof of that — the inability to see how following her allusion utterly destroyed her character growth — but even if we don’t agree about Penny, what about Salem? Far from just using her name, this volume gave us a blatant reference to the events of Salem Trails in the 1690s. Namely, the burning of the witch.

Except references like this can’t just look cool. This isn’t a video game Easter egg with no real connection to the story, it’s a cinematography/plot choice that carries meaning. So what is that meaning? Well, the thing about the women on trail at Salem is that they were innocent. This is what that reference says: “Hey, remember that real life event where women who weren’t witches were horrifically killed because others thought they were evil? None were actually burned, but culturally we tend to think they were. So that’s the image in our collective mind: innocent women on fire.” Except... Salem is actually a witch. Salem is evil. Salem is guilty. Or at least, the questions surrounding the extent of her guilt — How much responsibility does she hold in comparison to the Gods? How much agency does she still have after the grimm pool? — has not been acknowledged by the text. Yang just yelled at Salem for killing her mom and Oscar is about to blow her up. This is not a “Question Salem’s humanity” scene, it’s a “Kill the witch” scene... yet it uses an allusion that is contrary to what the moment is trying to achieve. So what are we supposed to take away from this? Do we adhere to the subtext and believe that Salem is innocent somehow, ignoring what the actual text says, or do we uphold the text and in doing so undermine the reliability of every other allusion in the show? If we can’t trust Salem’s, why would we trust, say, Penny’s?

RWBY’s allusions are all over the place and yes, I think that lack of consideration extends to who they randomly decided to genderbend. There’s no acknowledgment of — let alone engagement with — how many of these characters and historical figures were trying to pass themselves off as another gender, nor does RWBY acknowledge how the need to do so feeds into our current and historic assumptions about gender as a whole. Why does the man dress as a woman? To keep himself safe and seen as a non-threat. Why does the woman dress as a man? To gain access to places previously barred from her and to gain the respect she otherwise wouldn’t be afforded. And, of course, in 2021 there’s the expectation that media will include trans characters, GNC characters, non-binary characters, cis characters uninterested in practicing traditional femininity/masculinity, etc. None of which RWBY tackles outside of May, a woman who references a systematic transphobia we otherwise never see in the show. May, as a minor character, is great and I am in all honesty thrilled that she exists in the RWBY canon. However, the rest of the show is built on an anime conception of gender — combat skirts and bare midriffs in the snow — while nevertheless engaging with the very complicated question of how you re-imagine canonically/historically gendered people. As a “girl power” show, RWBY has opened itself up to questions like, “Okay, it’s great that you made these four fairy tale girls kickass, but can we talk about making Joan of Arc into a bumbling guy whose presence as a blonde, blue-eyed, sword-wielding man taking up lots of important screen time has generated accusations about this being a male-centered show?” It’s not a “RWBY is horrible for doing this!” issue, but a “RWBY is deliberately playing with gender and marketing itself as a progressive show, so... let’s figure out what these individual choices are actually implying and whether or not we consider that progressive.”

#rwby #mymetas #Anonymous

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shiredded · 5 years

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A white animation student’s take on Soul and POC cartoons

This got long but there’s lots of pretty pictures to go with it.

Hi, I’m Shire and I’m as white as a ripped-off Pegasus prancing on a stolen van. Feel free to add to my post, especially if you are poc. The next generation of animators needs your voice now more than ever.

My opinion doesn’t matter as much here because I’m not part of the people being represented.

But I am part of the people to whom this film is marketed, and as the market, I think I should be Very Aware of what media does to me.

And as the future of animation, I need to do something with what I know.

I am very white. I have blue eyes and long blond hair. I’ve seen countless protagonists, love interests, moms, and daughters that look like me. If I saw an animated character that looks like me turn into a creature for the majority of a movie, I would cheer. Bring it on! I have plenty of other representation that tells me I’m great just the way I am, and I don’t need to change to be likable.

The moment Soul’s premise was released, many people of color expressed mistrust and disappointment on social media. Let me catch you up on the plot according to the new (march 2020) trailer. (It’s one of those dumb modern trailers that tells you the entire plot of the movie including the climax; so I recommend only watching half of it)

Our protagonist, Joe Gardner, has a rich (not in the monetary sense) and beautiful life. He has dreams! He wants to join a jazz band! So far his life looks, to me, comforting, amazing, heartfelt, and real. I’m excited to learn about his family and his music.

Some Whoknowswhat happens, and he enters a dimension where everyone, himself included, is represented by glowing, blue, vaguely humanoid creatures. They’re adorable! But they sure as heck aren’t brown. The most common response seems to be dread at the idea of the brown human protagonist spending the majority of his screen time as a not-brown, not-human creature.

The latest trailer definitely makes that look pretty darn true. He does spend most of the narrative - chronologically - as a blob.

but

That isn’t the same as his screen time.

From the look of the trailer, Joe and his not-yet-born-but-already-tired-of-life soul companion tour Joe’s story in all of its brown-skinned, human-shaped, life-loving glory. The movie is about life, not about magic beans that sing and dance about burping (though I won’t be surprised if that happens too.)

Basically! My conclusion is “it’s not as bad as it looked at first, and it looks like a wonderful story.”

but

That doesn’t mean it’s ok.

Yes, Soul is probably going to be a really important and heartfelt story about life, the goods, the bads, the dreams, and the bonds. That story uses a fun medium to view that life; using bright, candy-bowl colors and a made-up world to draw kids in with their parents trailing behind.

It’s a great story and there’s no reason to not create a black man for the lead role. There’s no reason not to give this story to people of color. It’s not a white story. This is great!

Except...

we’ve kind of

done this

a lot

The Book of Life and Coco also trade in their brown-skinned cast for a no-skinned cast, but I don’t know enough about Mexican culture to say those are bad and I haven't picked up on much pushback to those. There’s more nuance there, I think.

I cut the above pics together to show how the entire ensemble changes along with the protagonist. We can lose entire casts of poc. Emperor's New Groove keeps its cast as mostly human so at least we have Pacha

And while the animals they interact with might be poc-coded, there’s nothing very special or affirming about “animals of color.”

So, Soul.

Are we looking at the same thing here?

It’s no secret by now that this is an emerging pattern in animation. But not all poc-starring animated films have this same problem. We have Moana! With deuteragonists (basically co-protagonists) of color, heck yeah.

Aladdin... Pocahontas... The respect those films have for their depicted culture is... an essay for another time. Mulan fits here too. the titular characters’ costars are either white, or blue, and/or straight up animals. But hey, they don’t turn into animals, and neither do the supporting cast/love interests.

Dreamworks’ Home (2015) is also worth mentioning as a poc-led film where the deuteragonist is kind of a purple blob. But the thing I like a lot about Home is that it’s A Nice Story, where there’s no reason for the protagonist to not be poc, so she is poc. Spiderverse has a black lead with a white (or masked, or animal) supporting cast. But, spiderverse also has Miles’ dad, mom, uncle, and Penny Parker.

I’d like to see more of that.

And less of this

if you’re still having trouble seeing why this is a big deal, let’s try a little what-if scenario.

This goes out to my fellow white girls (including LGBTA white girls, we are not immune to propaganda racism)

imagine for a second you live in a world where animation is dominated to the point of almost total saturation by protagonist after protagonist who are boys/men. You do get the occasional woman-led film, but maybe pretend that 30 to 40 percent of those films are like

(We’re pretending for a second that Queen Eleanor was the protagonist, because I couldn’t think of any animated movies where the white lady protagonist turns into and stays an animal for the majority of the film)

Or, white boys and men, how would you feel if your most popular and marketable representation was this?

Speaking of gender representation, binary trans and especially nonbinary trans people are hard pressed to find representation of who they are without the added twist of Lizard tails or horns and the hand-waving explanation of “this species doesn’t do gender” But again, that’s a different essay.

Let’s look at what we do have. In reality, we (white people) have so much representation that having a fun twist where we spend most of the movie seeing that person in glimpses between colorful, glittering felt characters that reflect our inner selves is ok.

Wait, that aesthetic sounds kind of familiar...

But I digress. Inside Out was a successful and honestly helpful and important movie. I have no doubt in my mind that Soul will meet and surpass it in quality and and in message.

There is nothing wrong with turning your protagonist of color into an animal or blob for most of their own movie.

But it’s part of a larger pattern, and that pattern tells people of color that their skin would be more fun if it was blue, or hairy, or slimy, or something. It’s fine to have films like that because heck yeah it would be fun to be a llama. But it’s also fun to not be a llama. It’s fun to be a human. It’s fun to be yourself. I don’t think children of color are told that enough.

At least, not by mainstream studios. (The Breadwinner, produced by Cartoon Saloon)

It’s not like all these mainstream poc movies are the result of racist white producers who want us to equate people of color with animals. In fact, most of those movies these days have people of color very high up, as directors, writers, or at the very least, a pool of consultants of color.

These movies aren’t evil. They aren’t even that intrinsically racist (Pocahontas can go take a hike and rethink its life, but we knew that.) It’s that we need more than just the shape-shifting narratives of our non-white protagonists.

It’s not like there isn’t an enormous pool of ideas, talent, visions and scripts already written and waiting to be produced. There is.

But they somehow don’t make it past the head executives, way above any creative team, who make the decisions, aiming not for top-of-the-line stories, but for the Bottom line of sales.

When Disney acquired Pixar, their main takeover was in the merchandising department. The main target for their merchandise are, honestly, white children.

So is it much of a surprise

that they are more often greenlighting things palatable for as many “discerning” mothers as possible?

I saw just as many Tiana dolls as frog toys on the front page of google, so don’t worry too much about The Princess And The Frog. Kids love her. But I didn’t find any human figures of Kenai from Brother Bear, except for dolls wearing a bear suit.

So. What do I think of Soul?

I think it’s going to be beautiful. I think it’s going to be a great movie.

But I also think people of color deserve more.

Let’s take one more look at the top people who went into making this movie.

Of the six people listed here, five are white. Kemp Powers, one of the screenplay writers, is black.

It’s cool to see women reaching power within the animation industry, but this post isn’t about us.

We need to replace the top execs and get more projects greenlit that send the message that african, asian, latinix, middle eastern, and every other non-white ethnicity is perfect and relatable as the humans they were meant to be.

Disney is big enough that they can - and therefore should - take risks and produce movies that aren’t as “marketable” simply because art needs to be made. People need to be loved.

Come on, millennials and Gen Z. We can do better.

We Will do better.

TLDR: A lot of mainstream animation turns its protagonists of color into animals or other creatures. I (white) don’t think that’s a bad thing, except for the fact that we don’t get enough poc movies that AREN’T weird. Support Soul; it’s not going to be as bad as you think. It’s probably gonna be really good. Let’s make more good movies about people of color that stay PEOPLE of color.

#soul #pixar #disney #poc #animation #long post #shire screams

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beings-from-the-otherworld · 7 years

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OC Summaries (revised)

I’ve decided to revise the post with the information about each of my OCs, especially since when I posted it, I’ve changed some of the character’s names and races. I’ve also made a better summary to the story I am writing.

The summary of the story is this: Siblings Alex and Robbie have lived with their grandparents for two years, after an incident that involved their parents occurred, and have often wondered why haven't they learned of their grandparents before from their mother...and what's with all the locked rooms in the mansion they're not allowed to go into, the locked shelf of books they're not allowed to read and the questions they're not allowed to ask. They find the answers to these questions one night, when their grandparents are out of the house and a mysterious being invades the mansion and attacks them. What are their grandparents' histories, who are these strange beings that keep showing up and trying to kill them, and what is this Otherworld that they keep mentioning?

And now information about each of the characters.

First, the human characters:

Samuel Verrat: Robbie and Rikku’s grandfather, who is a very level-headed and respectful man. Nobody knows where exactly he came from or how he and Beast got together, and that’s not the only secret he’s hiding.

Beast Wagner: Robbie and Rikku’s other grandfather, who is Samuel’s husband. He has some facial scars that he claimed he got in a “war”. What war it was, he never told his grandkids, and it doesn’t seem like he will anytime soon. He has a very high IQ and has knowledge of world history and cultures. He also tends to be very temperamental.

Alex Verrat-Wagner: A 6-year-old who is mostly innocent, if not a bit naive. She’s very sweet and caring of her family and friends, and is very enthusiastic about learning. She loves hanging around her grandparents, but it never dawned on her to question Samuel and Beast’s family history and why their mother never mentioned their existence to her or Robbie.

Robbie Verrat Wagner: A 16-year-old boy who is striving to make it in his teenage social life, such as by trying to have a lot of interesting friends and being great at a lot of things. So far, he’s had the people that he lives with on his list of “interesting friends” and using being a loner as being a thing he’s “great” at, but he still wants to have some sort of adventure. Maybe like one of the ones his grandfathers hide from him and Alex.

Darrian Jones: A woman who lives in the city far away from where the mansion is and is a friend of Zara’s. Darrian is a very strong-minded and proud woman who would do anything to keep her son safe, but she can be a tad strict at times.She is proud that Skylar is informed about social justice movements, but she’s worried that he might get into trouble because of it someday.

Skylar Jones: An 8-year-old boy who lives in the city and is Alex’s best friend. Skylar is also very big on human rights activism, especially Black Lives Matter, and he will not hesitate to call someone out when they’re being offensive to a marginalized group. He really likes hanging around the Otherworld beings, mostly Broker.

Clayton Jones: Darrian’s older brother, and Skylar’s uncle. He’s a pretty cool guy who can get along with pretty much anyone. He was aware of Darrian and Skylar visiting a “house that’s very far away from the city” where some friends live, but he’s never been to the mansion. When he does, he’s very taken aback by the Otherworld beings but he gets used to the chaos very quickly and sometimes helps the people fit into the Human World better.

Constantine Alvarez: A Cuban man who is a very enthusiastic and kind-hearted. He cares a lot about his wife, daughter, and friends. However, every now and then, he and his best friend, Ivan like to pull jokes on other people, and he can be a bit of a smartass sometimes, which drives Beast insane.

Zara Alvarez: A very loving and kind woman who almost always has a very sweet smile on her face. She rarely gets angry, but according to Constantine, her husband, when she is, she’s kind of scary. She also tends to be a little blunt with her opinions on things, which can be kind of painful since she seems like such a nice lady. Her biological daughter is Leah, but she treats Robbie and Alex like they were her own kids ever since they moved in, mostly because she feels bad about what happened to their mom.

Leah Alvarez: Constantine and Zara’s 18 year old daughter, who is very smart and cool, but she has a big of a sassy attitude and a bit of sarcastic sense of humor sometimes, something she probably inherited from her father. She is pretty protective of Robbie and Alex, since they’re like the younger siblings she’s never had.

Ivan Azarov: A Russian hacker, robotics expert and a bit of an inventor, Ivan came to America after Samuel discovered him after an incident involving a Russian robotics lab (though he won’t say what). Ivan is a goodhearted man despite his hacking hobby and he’ll help his friends when he has to, but he can be a big of a joker, usually assisted by his best friend, Constantine. He has a husband named Frederick Wage and a little daughter named Carina.

Frederick Wage: A British man who is very skilled in hacking. Frederick is a very dignified and friendly person, but he can kind of lose it when he’s angry or his anxiety’s through the roof, which is usually caused by someone doing something stupid or crazy, but he’s getting used to it. He has a little daughter named Carina, who he’s very protective of.

Carina Azarov-Wage: Ivan and Frederick’s 2 year old daughter, who they adopted not long after getting married. She’s a very sweet little girl who loves stuffed animals and knows a few Russian words from Ivan, specifically ‘da’, ‘nyet’ and a few curse words, much to Frederick’s chagrin.

And now for all the non-human characters!

Bog the Ampman: An Ampman is an amphibian-human being. Bog is a very amiable person, who offers his friends advice when they need it and answers any questions regarding biology that they have. He was a very respected scientist from Ampman Country in the Otherworld, so when he came to the Human World, he was very interested in studying the environments. He has a Nigerian accent and knows Hausa.

José the Playa: A Playa is a being that appears human but is slightly stronger than that of a normal human’s and has an strong immune system that can protect against a lot of STDs. José is a very outgoing man who cares a great deal about his friends’ well-beings, especially Broker, who he has a crush on. He is also very informed on the concepts of sex, reproductive health, sexuality and gender orientation, since sex education is taken very seriously in Playa City, where he’s from. He has the appearance of being Latino and knows Spanish.

Jane the Nymph: A Nymph is a human-looking being that wields a music instrument as a weapon, whether they use it to bludgeon their enemy to death or use the supersonic sound mode to blow their foe away. Their type depends on what genre of music they’re involved with and what instrument they play. Jane is a Rock n Roll Nymph with an electric guitar. Jane is a very bubbly lady who loves her friends and is always eager to learn new things about them and the Human World. Despite appearances, Jane is ready to kick anyone’s ass when they deserve it. She has long curly blonde hair, brown skin and bright blue eyes.

Broker the Loaner: A Loaner is a human-looking being that’s culture is mostly built around wealth, which can either be attained by mining or stealing. What differentiates Loaners from Humans is the fact that they all have super speed when it comes to running and thought-processing, so they’re quick physically and mentally. There is a caste system in Loaner Valley, where Broker is at the bottom, a Brown-neck, signified by a brown bandanna tied around his neck, meaning he’s the poorest, takes the least, and treated badly by the upper caste levels. He is very caring of his friends and always tries to do what he can to help them, though most of the time he doesn’t use the best method to do it. When he’s in the Human World, he’s surprised that they have a similar classism problem in their society like back in Loaner valley, but he’s even more surprised that people judge others based on their skin color more than their wealth, which doesn’t make sense to him since he’s used to being mocked for being poor rather than for being what humans say is “black”. Skylar does his best to explain what social injustice in the Human World is to Broker whenever he can. Broker is also a trans male.

Beatrice the Goth: A Goth is like a Nymph but the music genres they all play are mostly forms of goth rock, metal and punk. They broke away from the Nymphs centuries ago and became their own race, residing in Goth Grounds. Beatrice is a Punk Goth with a bass guitar. She’s a very bitter and blunt woman, and prefers to be by herself most of the time. Beatrice doesn’t show it, but she does have a soft spot for her friends and would fight anyone that would try to hurt them, especially Jane. She has the appearance of being Latino.

Kiowa the Askarian: An Askarian is a bit of a warrior race that is very skilled in fighting and hunting and well-known for their superhuman strength Kiowa is a very strong Askarian soldier, but he doesn’t let his strength go to his head. He has a lot of respect for his friends. Kiowa also has a pet micro-bunny (A bunny that’s the size of a 9-month old rabbit) a named Crooked-Ear, who’s been his companion ever since he was a kid and Crooked-Ear was the size of a cotton ball. Kiowa also has a lover back home named Sallali, or Sal, who he loves talking about and misses a great deal. He has the appearance of being indigenous.

Catty the Aristocrat: An Aristocrat is a very wealthy race that have very fancy lifestyle. They got their riches from mining, textiles, jewelry and other forms of production and they’re very proud of it. Catty is a very well-mannered and sweet lady, but that doesn’t mean she won’t act out when someone upsets her or one of her friends. She has a plus-size figure, which is common for Aristocrat women, but she dislikes how most humans seem to associate being fat with being ugly. Catty is also a brilliant baker, so she helps Alex and Skylar with making cookies or cupcakes when they need them for a class party or bake sale.

Platinum-Teeth the Tough-Tooth: A Tough-Tooth is a race of people who are known for three things: their large size, both height and weight-wise; their ability to use a large ax in combat; and having metallic teeth, hence their name. Platinum-Teeth has platinum teeth, hence his name, but he mostly goes by the name of Platinum. Despite his scary appearance, he is very level-headed and kind, not to mention very philosophical. He gives his friends advice when they need it and whatever wisdom he has to offer, which usually helps fix a situation that occurs. He tries to figure out if there’s a way to solve a problem logically, before anyone, mostly Nightshade, has the chance to do anything that worsen it.

Wimpy the Weakling: A Weakling is a human-like being with pale white skin and pastel or light colored hair. For instance, Wimpy has light green. They also tend to have very small frames and are generally low in strength, but their running speed is equivalent to that of a Loaner’s, which is good since they’re more so flighters than fighters. Weaklings also have this weird birthmark on their forehead, which is some sort of symmetrical shape, like a star in Wimpy’s case. Like most Weaklings, Wimpy has the worst anxiety and gets easily nervous and stutters a lot. He is a very sweet guy and he means well, but sometimes, it’s hard for the others to take him seriously. Since he’s moved into the mansion, some of the others, especially Kiowa, Platinum, and Jane have tried motivating Wimpy to get stronger and learn to cope with his anxiety better so he’ll feel more comfortable when he’s staying with the others.

Wolf the Werewolf: A Werewolf is a canine-human beings. (but you probably could figure that out) But these werewolves are pretty different from the ones we’re more familiar with. They usually appear as humans with canine ears, tails, sharper teeth, and claws instead of normal nails, and they’re very hairy regardless of what gender they are. They have a more monstrous form that resembles what we expect werewolves to look like which they use in combat and can also morph into full wolf forms. Wolf is a very tough werewolf, but he does have a bit of a temper and tends to try to avoid most problems his friends have,though he’s hardly ever successful. Despite his aggressive attitude, he cares a great deal about his friends. He is also sensitive to extremely loud noises, like thunder and fireworks, since he is after all part dog.

Florence the Fairy: A Fairy is a human-like being with insect-like wings, ranging from butterfly to housefly, that have power over magic, mostly of the elemental and healing sort. Florence is very serious and distinguished, getting easily annoyed whenever someone does anything stupid or annoy him…or both. Florence thinks of himself as being better than any of the other non-human world residents, thinking of himself as perfect and flawless, which isn’t true. He tends to get easily irritated and be very judgmental towards others. Florence can be nice to his friends sometimes, but it takes a lot to get his respect. Nezo and Nightshade still have yet to earn this.

Nezo the Shadow: A Shadow is a being that looks human, save one thing-they all have black hair and black skin, and when I say black skin, I mean black like a shadow you see when it’s sunny out, hence their race’s name. They use a form of dark magic and each have odd colored eyes, which are said to represent their personalities. For instance, Nezo has yellow eyes, which means he’s quick-witted, confidant, playful, enthusiastic, and easy-going, which he can be sometimes. However, yellow also describes dishonesty, jealousy, covetousness, and treachery, which also describes Nezo well. He tends to be a bit of a prankster, mostly picking on Florence and Wimpy, but when he’s not messing with people, he likes to sit back and relax, or have a friendly chat with the other people in the mansion, mostly Gloomy.

Gloomy the Alkristal: An Alkristal is a being that can have a variety of skin, hair and eye colors, usually associated with a gem or mineral color of some sort, like Gloomy has light blue skin, baby blue hair, and sky blue eyes. They also have crystalline wings that they can make appear and disappear and a form of light alchemy. Gloomy’s real name is Gloomstone, but lets the others call him Gloomy for short. Gloomy appears to be a very smart, respectful and content man, who helps his friends when they need it, cares about their well-being, and tries to make sure that none of them are feeling down. However, Gloomy himself as gone through some episodes of depression, where he isolates himself from the others for the whole day, which concerns the others, especially Nezo.

Abigail the Werecat: A Werecat is a feline-like person, who all have cat ears, whiskers, tails, and claws for nails, similar to a Werewolf. However, unlike Werewolves, Werecats tend to be a cat-person of a particular feline species, like Abigail is an Ocelot. She’s a very excitable and out-going person that just loves to get on everyone’s nerves. She tends to be a little sassy and enjoys poking fun at the other residents of the mansion, even when it’s probably not necessary. She and her best friend, Nightshade, like to play pranks on everyone and have a lot of good and happy fun together. However, Abigail also has some bad anxiety, which tends to cause her to be twitchy and stammer a lot whenever it acts up. She has a difficult time calming down alone and someone has to be around her whenever she gets like this to be sure that she’s okay. Aside from the cat features, she has the appearance of being Latinx.

Nightshade the Malopix: A Malopix is a being that is like a fairy, except they don’t have wings and their powers are mostly dark. They use the elements, like fairies, telekinesis, which can allow them to levitate objects and themselves, and can apparently manipulate death. Nightshade is a very energetic and overly excitable guy who adores pulling pranks on his friends, especially horror-themed pranks, with the help of his BFF Abigail, and tends to do the most ridiculous stunts. He seems to be very happy all the time, but there are moments where he goes through an episode of depression, which usually renders him inactive for awhile. His depressing episodes are very rare, but when he had his first one around the other people living in the mansion, the other residents were very surprised. He has gray skin, coily white hair and purple eyes.

#ocs #original characters

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