Shards Of Sombra: Tourmaline · 11:40pm Aug 3rd, 2021
[Artwork by the incredible Magfen]
[ TOURMALINE ]
Sly and magically-adept, Tourmaline is an oily sneak who manages to be the first of Obsidian's siblings to encounter her - through a cunning trap that would have worked, had it not been for outside meddling. He can be hot-headed and tempestuous, but given time, he actually turns out to be much more wise in the long run. Though he has his faults, he ends up begrudgingly accepting Obsidian's path, and nearly fights Amethyst to a standstill, until the aforementioned sister separated them rather effectively.
Since his horn has been ringed, Tourmaline has adjusted quite well to living on the lighter side of Life; not only does he have his own schedule, but he also gets exercise from mowing the lawn, as well as finally having time (and interest) to pursue his alternate lifestyle with Gunther Gadfly, the griffon. Hopefully, this trend continues, and the once-evil brother will turn out to be a true asset to Obsidian's family.
[STORY NOTES]
Tourmaline was originally simply a lackey character; I had zero plans for him in the future, and fully expected him to end up blasted or otherwise dealt with... what I didn't plan on was Siddy's sense of family. I eventually saw quite a bit of merit in keeping him around, and he most certainly does show that Siddy's siblings are redeemable... well, MOST of them are, anyway.
His gay relationship with Gunther the griffon was something I chose to show in him. I, myself, am straight - but I've always been an ally to those who just want to express themselves. Notice, however, that Tourmy's being gay isn't the central part of his character; I believe that's important, here. See, I've seen so many gay characters whose writers feel a need to effectively 'Flanderize' the gayness to make it the only thing one can recall about the character... which is poor characterization, I feel. His affiliations should be one of his traits, NOT his only purpose in the story, and that by playing it off in such a low-key manner, it shows that sexual preference should be just as acceptable as an old scar, or a nervous stutter, or a winning smile. Who cares WHO you love, as long as you're happy, right? Plus, notice the proper earring placement for his sexuality, a holdover from the 70's\80's style, as well as another subtle nod to his preference.
Tourmy has wisdom - it's just not something that's easy to see, at first. He may come across as hot-headed and quick to speak, but there are a number of times in the story where he actually takes his time to think, and comes up with some decent plans. After all, his FIRST plan successfully separated Obsidian from her liaison... can't be too shabby of a thinker if you can get away with something like that!
ALL the ANGRY typed WORDS when HE gets PISSED. I wanted to have little quirks for each sibling that would help define them a bit better... but for some reason, when it came to Tourmaline, I had this urge to express some of his haughty nature in his words somehow, and I felt that STAGGERING the CAPS was a good way to communicate that. In my own head, I can hear each upper-case word practically *hooted* from him with an almost parodic Dracula-style cadence, every time the AngrySpeak showed up.
His Cutie Mark... all we could think of was how he was sharp-witted; therefore, spikes... r-right?
Originally, I was going to have Amy and Tourmy as incestuous siblings... but I decided that sibling rivalry was more fun to play with, and went in that direction instead. Good thing, too; that rivalry helped me set up some scenes in the story, and it all turned out well in the end. Well... as well as can be considered, I suppose. Plus, I wanted to keep the first story sorta PG-13... and that first idea would've nixed that.
I try to play it off as though he's coming off as cool and collected... but GET him ANGRY, and he sorta gets wrapped up in what he's doing. The sort of wrapped up that allows a certain mare-shaped mini-nuke to blast him in the ribs with a headbutt from out of nowhere. Something he's regaling Gunther with at the end of Daughter, and something he will ALWAYS remember. And, for the record, yes - a well-trained unicorn can, indeed, headbutt an opponent without goring them with their horn. At least in MY story, they can.
[Factoids]
A Rat Like Me by Motley Crue (my boys) sounds not only right for the self-deprecating lyrics, but the almost muddy and slinky feel of the song as well. Tourmy's one of those who knows he's an ass, and he certainly fits the bill by thinking he won't save the world. (Though he IS trying to be a bit more approachable, lately.)
Magfen came through on this one, because I was clueless as to what I could do for his Cutie Mark; the ideas that came up became what you see, but I had to be sure to credit him for it - thanks again, good sir. }:)
I always made sure that a fight between Tourmaline and Amethyst always seemed to come out with HIM being the physical victor, while SHE would best him almost every time in an argument; this way, there's a balance between their rivalry - though it remains to be seen if that sibling hatred between the two is gone for good.
I modeled the personality and feel of Tourmaline after a number of 80's vampire flicks (like The Lost Boys), some pouty 90's boy band types and just a touch of Sombra's own haughtiness. In his more lucid moments, though... I think I was channeling some good old David Bowie while I was writing for him. Which is kinda nifty, in my opinion.
{SPOILER}
Each one of these files will get a spoiler for the upcoming, unpublished story; read at your own risk.
Tourmaline truly shows his wisdom as he helps plan and set an irresistible trap for Amber's spies... and nearly sacrifices himself for his siblings with a distraction towards the end.
I agree with that and how you handled it.
I'm glad you didn't as well... but for reasons that some possibly wouldn't like. I'm... not a big fan of it... even as a joke.
The lost boys... my roomate finnaly got me to watch that a couple years back... it was a good movie, needs more attention.
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I really liked this, I look forward to seeing more. I need to look back and see if I missed any you have already done.
So, he has the type of intelligence that my Bionicle OC would test.