Thursday, July 15, 2021

Scorpion's Nest: Jago, the Passion? Heart? Reckless? One

 So, you've met the Brains

And you've met the Brawn

Quite honestly, I don't know what the other crew member is, exactly. I mean, yes you have the Alpha, Female Alpha, Right Hand, Joker, Tech guy(thank you "Furious 7" for that list). 

But that's if you have a big heist crew. 

The Gutter Rats aren't a Big Heist Crew. 

So I'm not sure what exactly Jago's "role in the crew" is. 

But I do know he's reckless, and passionate, and the youngest, so I guess that makes him...the Heart? 

Maybe?

Anyway....

Jago LeValle is the final member of the Gutter Rat crew. Like everyone else, he has an animal parallel(because everyone in the Sherwood Cycle does). It's a squirrel.


 I know, I know, I've said before how I feel about these bushy-tailed--things but this particular animal fits Jago's persona. Squirrels are symbols of passion, preparedness, ambition, peace, joy, and lightheartedness). See? Perfect fit.

And in my head he looks like this:


This is Hnery Golding, from "Crazy Rich Asians", "Last Christmas" and most recognizable currently as Snake Eyes in  the "Snake Eyes" reboot (which BEAUTIFUL, by the way, I don't care what anyone says). Mostly it's the sound of his voice that I adore. There's something in his speech pattern and tone register that just seems to scream "Jago" at me. (Also, he's related to a certain person in the Sherwood Cycle, so that's cool)

Here's his soundtrack:

Push It, by Rick Ross

 


Kingdom (feat. League of Legends), by JAXON GAMBLE

 

Starts Right Here (feat. Kenny Mason & Foreign Air), by League of Legends


Caught in the Fire (feat. Sam Tinnesz), by Tommee Proffitt

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Scorpions Nest: Bellamy, the--erm--Brawn

I said Scorpion's Nest was a Heist Play, right?

And in every Heist, there's a "crew"

In every "crew", there's the Brains, and the Brawn. 

The Brains comes up with the ideas and gives instructions on how those ideas are to be carried out.

The Brawn carries out those ideas. 

The Brains is--usually--the one that everyone listens to. 

The Brawn is--usually--the one who protects everyone, including the Brains, and--sometimes--has the loudest voice or most intimidating stance. 

The Brains of the Gutter Rat Crew is Petra

The Brawn of the Gutter Rat Crew is Bellamy. 

Not because he's bigger or stronger than anyone else in the Gutter Rats (ok, fine, there's only three in the crew but still)

But because this is a man who has Intimidation down to an Art. 

You know those characters in films and tv shows that just stand in a corner and the first time you see them you think "oh, crap, that is so not someone I ever want to screw with"?

Well, that's Bellamy. 

To a T.  

He's one of those people who when they say jump, they expect to hear "how high".

Except the Scorpion's Nest isn't ever among those people, so that's fun!

For someone who's perfected the Art of Intimidation, Bellamy has an interesting animal parallel. It's--a rabbit.

Doesn't look very harmless, does it? But, if anyone has ever read or seen "Watership Down"(both the BBC/Netflix miniseries and the frankly terrifying 1970s animated film) you'll know that rabbits can be downright deadly. They have vicious little claws that can slice their attackers like nobody's business and are certainly animals you don't want to piss off even if they do look all cute a fluffy. 

Rabbits symbolize survival, divination, wit, psychic abilities, abundance and protection, which are all facets to Bellamy's personality. He might look totally harmless, but if you threaten the Gutter Rats, you're dead before you hit the floor(sometimes literally).

Bellamy's model is someone that I adore watching onscreen, whether he's running around in 16th-century leather armor, or disabling bombs in Iraq, or meekly helping a very creepy Ben Barnes carry out his plans to take over the world(I actually felt really bad watching him do this, poor guy).


This is Luke Pasquilino from BBC's "Musketeers", Netflix's "Shadow and Bone", and BBC's "Our Girl"--among other things. Having seen and loved him in all of these roles(including the meek crony of Ben Barnes, see above) I would love to see him lock horns with the Scorpion's Nest.

Also because seeing "D'Artgnan" go head to head with Declan aka "Aladdin", Enzo aka "Benny/Dr. Dre/Eric Carter" and Mai aka Awkwafina would be MAGICAL and make my little fangirl heart so friggin happy.

Bellamy's Soundtrack

Made For The Battle, by UNSECRET & GAITS(originally, this was just part of the soundtrack, but the more I listed to it, the more it sounded like Bellamy, so there you go)


  

Won’t Go Down Easy, by JAXON GAMBLE

 


Bad Boy For Life, by Black Rob, Mark Curry & P. Diddy

 


Battle Scars, by Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian


Thursday, July 1, 2021

Scorpion's Nest: The Gutter Rats and Petra, The Brains

 So remember when I said that "Scorpion's Nest" had a heist type plot?

Well, one of the things in a heist-type plot has to do with rivalry either between the heroes and the villains or with in the heist crew, or with another crew pulling the same job. 

This particular plot deals with the latter. 

The Scorpion's Nests is going head to head with the Gutter Rats. Which is kind of amazing. The particular crew is rougher around the edges than the Scorpion's Nest, but they're also a bit more polished in terms of how they work together(since this is Declan/Enzo/Mai pre "Nottingham's Legacy", and all). They even have their own theme tracks:

Reckless, by JAXON GAMBLE


 

Dangerous, by UNSECRET and Manafest


 

Remember the Name, by Fort Minor 


 

Every successful crew has to have a leader--the "Brains" as it were. In this particular instance, the "Brains" of the Gutter Rats is:

Petra.

I love this woman. 

Ok, fine so I tend to "love" all of my women characters, so this isn't a new sentiment. I haven't written a female character yet that I despise(ok, some of the villainesses are kinds icky, but that doesn't mean they aren't fun to write).

Petra is shrewd and tenacious and level-headed and maybe just the tiniest bit self-sacrificing. She's protective of her fellow Gutter Rats and will do anything to keep them alive. 

Literally anything. 

In my head, she looks like this:

This is Anna Popplewell, known for the Chronicles of Narnia films, the television show Reign, and most recently as the narrator for AJ Pearce's Emmy Lake Chronicles(which--even though there's only one book so far unitl the second one comes in...August, I think?--are fantastic, by the way)

Petra's soundtrack is relatively short at the moment, but still pretty good. It gives a little insight to her personality:

Bad Girls, by M.I.A.


 

Wild Thing, by JAXON GAMBLE


 

If I Die Young, by The Band Perry


 

Never Say Die, by CHVRCHES