SKY META
This started out as a fandomhigh-related post about how I'm going to play Sky, but as things tend to do inside my head, it blossomed into something a LOT bigger. So bear with me, this will have a point.
For the past few days, I have been troubled and a little frightened by the prospect of playing pre-series Sky at fandomhigh. For you see, in case you couldn't tell, I'm a pretty big Sky/Bridge 'shipper. The fact that he's with someone else in the RP doesn't bother me, but the point is I'm not used to writing Sky being a jerk to Bridge unless there's makeup sex or snuggles afterwards. In the Soul's Bonds (my Epic Fic) continuum he has softened considerably, in fact, because the fic is post-end of series and getting into a relationship with Bridge plus experiencing a lot of trauma brings out a completely new side to him. I was afraid of playing Sky how he was before all of that- an arrogant ass- fretting that he'd never have any friends in FH, so on and so forth.
However, as kimera pointed out in chat, Sky really wasn't all THAT bad a character as the series began. A little arrogant, oh, yes, and a little misogynistic as well, but he wasn't as huge an ass as I was thinking originally. He liked Bridge and Syd, but he wasn't so much an asshole to them as he underestimated and partly dismissed them. He considered them friends and respected them as teammates, but also thought... not that they were beneath him, exactly, but that they were a little goofy and odd, and he was much more mature than they and the much better Ranger candidate, being Mr. Perfect Cadet. For the most part, they got along fairly well, though. It was Jack's arrival (and Z's, to a lesser extent) that brought out the worst in him. Here he'd been, training for a lot of his life to be the Red Ranger, then these two people from the street come in, one of them usurping the position he felt he quite rightly deserved. Somewhat understandably, this is when he truly turned into more of an asshole, not only because he was miffed about Jack, but more importantly, he felt as though he was a letdown, a disappointment, and not honoring his dad's memory because he wasn't Red. Sky walked off by himself to pout and became confrontational, ornery, whiny, contrary, and downright mean on occasion because of this, lashing out both in anger and because of insecurity.
But before this, again, he wasn't as bad, and later on he got a lot better, to the extent where he told Jack that he'd done a good job and developed a strong friendship with him. It was his own feelings of inadequacy that kept him tightly-wound than anything. Even during his pouty, OMG THE WORLD HATES ME stage, he still had a playful side, as well. One thing I've liked about Sky but also found curious is how Syd brings out a side of him that's affectionate, almost playful. He'll hug her, and tease her instead of being vicious like with Jack, Bridge and Z. I'm not a 'shipper of those two (not a big fan of the pairing in general), I just find it kind of cute that he's such close friends with her. Not that it has any bearing on the RP since Syd's in it, so, moving on...
One of Sky's major problems as a character, I think, is his social skills are stunted. He was a part of SPD for YEARS- and considering that they accepted the child Sam as a cadet, possibly since he was 7-8 years old. All of the B-Squad, in fact (with the possible exception of Syd), have pretty poor social skills- in the cases of Jack and Z, it was because they were street orphans and couldn't relate to other children normally both because of this and their powers. In Bridge's case, his powers paradoxically make it both easy and difficult to relate to others- he can emphasize with others, understand how they're feeling, make them see things about themselves that others or even the person themself cannot see- but he is also unable to truly identify with another person since he can't ever turn it off and see them without seeing everything about them. Even with his gloves, he can't- they give him relief but also shut him out, making him very different from everybody and very aware of it. Sky's social skills are lacking in a different way because he has been in SPD so long- it's all he's known, pretty much, even before he joined, because his dad was a part of it. All Sky knows is how to follow rules and orders, yes sir no sir, do this and this, this or that way or you'll get in trouble. He can't relate to people who are from outside of that environment, hence why he sometimes has such conflicts with the others.
Down to my point. I want Sky to get along with the others in the RP, hence why I won't overemphasize his assholishness like I was leaning toward. I want him to get along with Bridge, Z and Xander-tachi especially, since he'll likely be spending the most time with them, though I hope he'll make other friends, too (like Zuko, hehe- fellow emo warrior with daddy issues). kimera's given me a bit of background, and I realize he's been an ass to them in past RPs where he was an NPC, so that will take some mending fences to fix. But Sky's not an ass. Not truly. Arrogant, oh my yes, but socially stunted more than anything. I'm also going to actively encourage the other muns to pick on him and try to make him develop a bit of a sense of humor.
So I'm all set. I can't wait to get started. :D
For the past few days, I have been troubled and a little frightened by the prospect of playing pre-series Sky at fandomhigh. For you see, in case you couldn't tell, I'm a pretty big Sky/Bridge 'shipper. The fact that he's with someone else in the RP doesn't bother me, but the point is I'm not used to writing Sky being a jerk to Bridge unless there's makeup sex or snuggles afterwards. In the Soul's Bonds (my Epic Fic) continuum he has softened considerably, in fact, because the fic is post-end of series and getting into a relationship with Bridge plus experiencing a lot of trauma brings out a completely new side to him. I was afraid of playing Sky how he was before all of that- an arrogant ass- fretting that he'd never have any friends in FH, so on and so forth.
However, as kimera pointed out in chat, Sky really wasn't all THAT bad a character as the series began. A little arrogant, oh, yes, and a little misogynistic as well, but he wasn't as huge an ass as I was thinking originally. He liked Bridge and Syd, but he wasn't so much an asshole to them as he underestimated and partly dismissed them. He considered them friends and respected them as teammates, but also thought... not that they were beneath him, exactly, but that they were a little goofy and odd, and he was much more mature than they and the much better Ranger candidate, being Mr. Perfect Cadet. For the most part, they got along fairly well, though. It was Jack's arrival (and Z's, to a lesser extent) that brought out the worst in him. Here he'd been, training for a lot of his life to be the Red Ranger, then these two people from the street come in, one of them usurping the position he felt he quite rightly deserved. Somewhat understandably, this is when he truly turned into more of an asshole, not only because he was miffed about Jack, but more importantly, he felt as though he was a letdown, a disappointment, and not honoring his dad's memory because he wasn't Red. Sky walked off by himself to pout and became confrontational, ornery, whiny, contrary, and downright mean on occasion because of this, lashing out both in anger and because of insecurity.
But before this, again, he wasn't as bad, and later on he got a lot better, to the extent where he told Jack that he'd done a good job and developed a strong friendship with him. It was his own feelings of inadequacy that kept him tightly-wound than anything. Even during his pouty, OMG THE WORLD HATES ME stage, he still had a playful side, as well. One thing I've liked about Sky but also found curious is how Syd brings out a side of him that's affectionate, almost playful. He'll hug her, and tease her instead of being vicious like with Jack, Bridge and Z. I'm not a 'shipper of those two (not a big fan of the pairing in general), I just find it kind of cute that he's such close friends with her. Not that it has any bearing on the RP since Syd's in it, so, moving on...
One of Sky's major problems as a character, I think, is his social skills are stunted. He was a part of SPD for YEARS- and considering that they accepted the child Sam as a cadet, possibly since he was 7-8 years old. All of the B-Squad, in fact (with the possible exception of Syd), have pretty poor social skills- in the cases of Jack and Z, it was because they were street orphans and couldn't relate to other children normally both because of this and their powers. In Bridge's case, his powers paradoxically make it both easy and difficult to relate to others- he can emphasize with others, understand how they're feeling, make them see things about themselves that others or even the person themself cannot see- but he is also unable to truly identify with another person since he can't ever turn it off and see them without seeing everything about them. Even with his gloves, he can't- they give him relief but also shut him out, making him very different from everybody and very aware of it. Sky's social skills are lacking in a different way because he has been in SPD so long- it's all he's known, pretty much, even before he joined, because his dad was a part of it. All Sky knows is how to follow rules and orders, yes sir no sir, do this and this, this or that way or you'll get in trouble. He can't relate to people who are from outside of that environment, hence why he sometimes has such conflicts with the others.
Down to my point. I want Sky to get along with the others in the RP, hence why I won't overemphasize his assholishness like I was leaning toward. I want him to get along with Bridge, Z and Xander-tachi especially, since he'll likely be spending the most time with them, though I hope he'll make other friends, too (like Zuko, hehe- fellow emo warrior with daddy issues). kimera's given me a bit of background, and I realize he's been an ass to them in past RPs where he was an NPC, so that will take some mending fences to fix. But Sky's not an ass. Not truly. Arrogant, oh my yes, but socially stunted more than anything. I'm also going to actively encourage the other muns to pick on him and try to make him develop a bit of a sense of humor.
So I'm all set. I can't wait to get started. :D