Showing posts with label class: the future of storytelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class: the future of storytelling. Show all posts

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Iversity: The Future of Storytelling Unit 2: Character Profile & Hook

YOUR CHARACTER PROFILE LIST

Gender: Female
Age: 16
Physical Description (Size, Weight, Defining Attributes…): average height/weight, pink hair in flipped shape that looks vaguely like a tulip
Personality/Nature:  Himeno is kind of a stereotypical genki girl, very cheerful and smiling and impulsive. She's sweet, but she's not afraid to stand her ground and she values herself the most.
Ambitions/Desires: to be recognized, to belong
Is mostly seen as: improper (by her stepsisters + stepmother + the house maids), a wonderful girl (father), kind & observant (Sasame), idiot/impulsive (Hayate)
Sees her/himself as: being worthy of attention,
Loves: her father, her deceased mother, flowers, platonically the other knights, it is implied she may have a crush on Hayate by the end of the series
Believes in: herself, the knights (eventually)
Trusts: herself
Fears most: not being able to take care of or protect the people she cares about
Fights for: the people she cares for
Hates: being left behind, being yelled at and not knowing why
Most important event in life up to date: her mother's death (pre-series), her father's remarriage (pre-series), meeting the leafe knights (1st episode), being the White Pretear (final episode)
Most influenced by: her mother's memory, her father's alcoholic depression, the knights's history
Best Friends: Yayoi
Worst Enemies: Fenrir, Sasame briefly when he turns Dark
Relationship/Family status: step-daughter of a rich business woman, daughter of a single father, doens't quite feel like she belongs in her new family, though
Social/Ethnic Background: her biological mother died when she was young, this sent her father who wrote trashy romance novels into an alcoholic depression and they lived more or less in abject poverty with her becoming parentified, until he met Natsue a rich widowed businesswoman with two daughters of her own from her previous marriage.
Occupation: n/a
Education: high school student, martial arts training, cooking
Hobbies: gardening, martial arts
Special Skills/Talents: green thumb, martial arts skills, Pretear - in combination with the Leafe Knights has the ability to transform them into elemental weapons and shields, at the peak of her selflessness, she can turn fenrir's red snow white and revive the Knights.
Flaws: impulsivity
Disabilities: like the Leafe Knights at the peak of her power, she can drain her own energy too deeply (and the only solution is spoilers)
Special behaviourism(s), quirks,…: gives pep talks to herself, talks to flowers/plants
Style (Dress/Life Style): casual/comfort. Most often seen in her school uniform or the various transformations she undergoes when paired with her knights
Name: Awayuki Himeno
Nickname: Tulip-Head
TV Series, this character is in: Pretear - The New Legend of Snow White
Think about what makes this protagonist worth following through a whole series of episodes. What is it that HOOKed you?
The whole theme of belonging is a big one for me and the fact that the knights are trying so hard to bring her to their side in the first couple episodes. And then the twist in the middle when they finally tell her the truth. 

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Iversity: The Future of Storytelling:: Chapter 1: Creative Task

The story that has most impressed me in my life is The Mouse in the Manger by Rev. Gennaro L. Gentile.

Oscar is the youngest mouse in his family and loves his straw bed very much. However, one winter night he gets into a fight with his father because he wants more straw for his bed. So, he decides to run away. Eventually, he comes to a stable and encounters several different barn animals and attempts to be friends in exchange for straw. However, many of the animals turn him away for various reasons until he befriends a pregnant woman and learns the true meaning of friendship.

While I know the author is no longer a Reverend of the church, I  no longer consider myself Catholic, and the story is a bit dated in the stereotypical characterization of some of the stable animals's diction, I have found this to be one of the most touching renditions of the religious branch of the Christmas story without being heavy on the religious angle. I love how realistic Oscar the mouse is. I think all people can relate to Oscar's desire to have what he wants now and wanting to run away and his struggles with trying to make new friends. I also love how in the end he learns the meaning of true friendship and radical generosity.