Deadliest and meanest of nails 👿💅
As far as badass, terrible middle-aged lady archetypes go; Olivia Pierce from DOOM, the patron of steel, epitomises 'stepmother' with ushering in a whole army of demons.
Hi ferocious glamour ,
I never thought that stories would... inspire me to to paint my nails.
Before I lose you thinking you accidentally subscribed to a beauty newsletter which will be followed by TikTok tips (which I am very much not qualified to deliver), bear with me for a second.
Because there's another wonderfully terrible trope that has wormed its way into my work...
Yubaba from Spirited Away
Dr. Olivia Octavius from Spiderman - Into The Spiderverse
Captain Amelia from Treasure Planet
Have you worked it out?
They like to call it the 'Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss' archetype, and it involves a feminine character who is some level of badass but also either a villain or otherwise tough in behaviour. They also tend to be closer to middle-aged or older.
Of course, the phrase is generally not intended as a positive description, nor is a mean-spirited person a good rolemodel. But when it comes to these women in stories, they are a fascinating bunch due to their dedication to their chosen values and purpose... even to the detriment of others.
As someone who's always held back or felt the need to make myself approachable, it's no surprise their psychology and intensity strike me as enticing.
So, to break up the brilliant masculine monsters I've so far shared in previous newsletters, let's change it up a little.
One example is a character who has a limited role in the game she appears in, but is through-and-through as miserable as they get.
WARNING: some art and subject matter in this newsletter will contain gore and horror.
And spoilers for the game: DOOM 2016.
Olivia Pierce, who's only slightly driven to bring demons to our world so she may be rewarded with immortality among them.
I went into DOOM (2016) with minimal expectations for the story. It's just going to be bash-and-smash, right? Just an amusing amount of gore, a lot of angry man, and the standard ripping and tearing.
Wrong.
I came out smitten with how they incorporated humour to the rafters with silent storytelling from the point of view of the furious soldier you’re playing (punching a screen never felt so good). And then slipping between the cracks; Olivia's atrocious actions, of lying to her employees, performing rituals and poisonous ambition.
It's not that the game gives her a full backstory or a clear motivation, but she offers a surprising contrast to the brutality. Whereas the environment is blockish and harsh, she is brittle and precise. While there's gib and blood in stinking puddles, she's pristine. You would expect someone involved in this story about corruption to be a violent general or pompous politician. Instead Olivia comes in fresh as mint (and cold like frozen nitrogen).
In the end, she's more terrifying than the demons because she is in total contrast to the horror she causes.
I like to affectionally call her 'The Demons' Foster Mum'. If there's one thing I wished they could've done with her is let her be a doting caretaker to the demons. It just fits the ridiculous hilarity of the setting. How would they treat her, would they respect her, or as fodder like everyone else?
To fill some of that gap, of course, I had to draw it myself.
To see a higher resolution of these, find them on my blog.
((I'm also convinced that they did hold her in high regard, at least to some degree, because in the sequel game they made a statue in her honor))
Now, this newsletter wouldn't be complete without a monster.
As you progress through the game, you get the vibe that Olivia's hubris will land her a terrible transformation. That's what she's asking for, right? And the way they pull it together in the end, for anyone who's familiar with the earlier games, is a marvelous Easter Egg. (I will refrain from giving anything further away than that)
But before I reached that big showdown, I put pen to tablet and interpreted what I thought she might look as a demon.
In a future blog post, I'll dig into the thought process behind these, but essentially: the idea of a flying centipede-like demon that's fast, difficult to hit, and stabs you with needles seemed like an apt, alternative way to capture her sharpness. "Pierce", after all, right?
Conclusion?
I may not have four-foot long needles, but I paint my nails midnight black, stark blue or vermilion red to channel some of that drama~
What's your favourite villainous lady character you love to hate?
catch you next month,
Jennifer
Project Updates
Look, look, look, I'm keeping it up!
And, to compare, last month's starting point with writing Hateship:
In non-numerical terms, this means I wrote a lot of material for Avak, Reidak, and Zaktan. They're not complete, but what's left to write are small tie-in moments.
You may also notice that I've shifted the writing deadline to the end of July, 28th. As frustrating as that is (I would just like to get to drawing myself!), keeping this up along with part-time work and commissions means I need to pace myself.
Dang. 50k words. That's uh... a whole-ass novel, huh?
There are 4 more characters left to go, and then to focus on refining each character's various pathways. I still can't foresee a clear final deadline for the game, so stay tuned for more updates!
Have a pleased Reidak in the meantime.
Production Timeline
- Writing by 28th July, 2023. Strategies in place:
- 30min of writing or coding a day: 500 words min.
- write first thing after I’m back from my day job.
- use my task manager, with a Gantt chart, to break up the writing into smaller goals and schedule them ahead.
- 'Dangerous writing' (which will delete a note I'm working on if I stop typing for longer than 5 seconds) to get SOMETHING down and keep going!
- Final release date not yet announced.
Blog bites
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Skulduggery Pleasant & Co. sharp sketches
June 12, 2023
The skeleton detective Skulduggery Pleasant and the crew illustrated getting into trouble, looking sharp with rendered pencil.
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Dark matter or magic?
June 05, 2023
For a World of Darkness campaign set in space, where the bizarre and the scientific are nigh impossible to differentiate, an eerie logo comes into play.
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The Demon's Foster Mom
April 27, 2023
The demons found they had not only an open portal, but the lady, the patron of steel, to welcome them with open arms.