Story Concept

Inside Out but with snakes and trauma :)

Yo! Coming back here after months. I forgot how this site works.

This is frankly the most original thing I'll over come up with.
THEME: Repressed Emotions.

SUMMARY
The first one appeared when she gave up on waiting. A small snake clinging to her arm like a child to their mother.
She never understood what it wanted but in the end it was the only friend who stayed.
She hated them, she loved them.
They made things hard for her and…easy at the same breathe.

After all, keeping them hidden was always better than being vulnerable.

But for how long?


I have a character with snakes that can come out of her back. Her name is Nena. The snakes are the outward extension of her emotions so if they get hurt, she senses it too....and too much. Because they are literally what she feels.

4 main emotions, therefore 4 snakes:
(not specifically emotions but what she feels on a daily basis.)

Anger- Ritz
Colour representation- red, orange black
The most aggressive
Twitchy movements
Curls around her the tightest
He is like a “I’ll hurt you if you hurt me” type of guy
My nick name for him: Good boi waiting to burn

Relationship with Nena: She strokes him on the head and asks if he wanna talk about something to cool his head when he is being aggressive (ADULTHOOD)

Isolation- Torro
Colour representation- white and grays (darker shade of gray)
Is almost transparent and looks like a ghost
Shy
Demands her presence
Human version would probably be the youngest and the most childlike
My nick name for him: emotional support noodle

Relationship with Nena: he is the one who stays with her the most. Always wants to know what she is doing and just watches her. Sometimes helps her, sometimes stays curled up around her arm

Hesitation- Vex
Color representation- fully silvery gray with patterns (Lighter shade of gray)
Question her constantly- asking her why she didn’t speak up when it mattered
Never in a blaming tone
Slow movements

Relationship with Nena: Hesitates even to come near her. Flinches when she reaches out and doesn’t like to be touched. Nena just lets him be

Trauma- Kael
color representation- I am not sure… maybe looks half dead and rotten but has hints of his natural color underneath it all

Symbolism tied to it: there is beauty in pain

Reminds her of what happened
Always on guard
The anxious one of the group
Always expecting danger
Human version would probably be the oldest of the group
A tired father of 5 including the fellow snakes and Nena
Cracks on the scales
Cloudy eyes
He is usually quiet- speaks only when he feels something is wrong
Honestly he would be the most fun to draw and animate

Relationship with Nena: He sighs a lot and Nena jokes about it. She says something like, “You always act like an old man. You don’t have to stay if you are tired.”

I didn’t want it to be gender specific. But they are all boys. Which shouldn't matter, I hope.
I swear if there is someone who is like…why all boys?
Honestly I don’t know… I just wanted to pick cool names for them.. And also I hate referring to any animals as it because they are not objects.

FUTURE POTENTIAL: I want to draw these 4 as humans and maybe even animate them?

Okay so, Vex and Torro are connected and Ritz adds fuel to the fire to what Kael says.
a) hesitation and isolation are connected- if someone struggles or hesitates to open up, they might slowly start to isolate themselves thinking no one will understand. That’s why they both have grays in their color scheme.. Torro has a darker shade because he is ultimately the end result.
b) trauma and anger are connected because Ritz knows that Nena deserved better and wants to hurt others who hurt her. Ritz is like the way he is because he wants things to be better and he even tries to calm Kael down when he is being anxious or panicky.

Q) Why pick snakes?
A) Because I couldn’t think of a critter that would fit more for this


Q) Why not more in number?
A) Because those are the main things that she feels and also I suck at choosing names. These 4 names alone took too much time. I feel like too many would be hard to keep up with so…it’s these 4 for now.

They are non poisonous- plot irrelevant detail
They react to her emotions:
They try to hide behind her when she is scared
They cover her when she is lonely, wrapping around her arms, neck and shoulder but never to hurt
They lash out when she is angry
She can hide them on will , which is pretty much all the time. They hate it though (Torro especially). But keeping them out physically hurts her. She struggles to find a middle ground. SYMBOLISM I AM GOING FOR: No one talks about their inner trauma that they silently go through. But keeping it in still hurts.
She lets them out only when she is alone.

Random details:
Torro likes to bite her to get her attention and he is the one who expresses his discontentment at being hidden away the most out of the 4 snakes. He represents her isolation so he has separation anxiety (in a way.) and hates it when she is not around.
My personal favourite if you ask me. I love him and how I managed to write him.
He is basically the baby of the group but with teeth (literally because he has fangs)

Will be more clear after you know the back story which I'll share here:
Okay one thing: those snakes manifested at different times of her life.

CHILDHOOD
Workaholic parents spending minimal time with her. They sent her to her uncle’s house when they were not around.
They try to make up for it by buying gifts for her but she just wants them to be near
(isolation comes from here.)

UNCLE:- divorced with a drinking problem. Tries to take advantage of her when he is under the influence. But she never lets him do anything to her and stays away. He is a really sweet person when sober…but her fear overrides closeness. He also shares a lot of deep stuff with her about his life but being a child it often becomes heavy for her making her uncomfortable.
She tries to talk to her parents about this. But they never looked into it. Saying something like “He wouldn’t do something like that.” or “He is a nice person” or “You are probably overthinking.”
(Hesitation comes from here). That made her think that her problems don't matter and that no one cares. So she stopped asking for help and started to hesitate before making new bonds and friendships or even talking to more people.

This got to a point where she would refuse to go to his house and would just ask them to leave her alone at home.

OKAY HEAR ME OUT…
What if her parents and her uncle have snakes of their own.
For her uncle I was thinking: Unresolved grief and sense of unworthiness. His snake makes him think that no one likes him which leads him to the drinking problem
And maybe a snake of confusion of why Nena stays away from him? He is not aware that he is making her uncomfortable.
And for her parents: a snake of guilt and stress. They know they are not spending time with their kid and stress because of their workload.
And a snake that thinks it’s doing the right thing. You know…parents think they always know better for their kids…so…

But the problem is how can I integrate this into the story without losing focus on Nena

AGE 16- 17
That’s the time where she started to be more vocal. Something like “I had enough of this.” but that too was often dismissed as teenage attitude.
(Anger comes from here along with frustration.)

And at last Kael- embodiment of her anxiety, fear and uncertainties (Towards Adulthood - !8-20)- his natural colours (Dark purple and greens slowly fading as she grew up ending up in that rotten look)

Adulthood
Left her parents, working several part time jobs to fund her college.

Main ones:
Cafe waitress
Baby sitter
Tutor

Proud of her independence but the greatest influence is Torro. Silently encourages her to open up but the other shut him out (Specially Ritz), physically hurting him. He stopped approaching Nena when they were around, only coming out alone.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:
a) cafe owner
b) her adopted son, Nelson.

Okay that’s enough spoilers for now.
Go find out what happens in the end. I promise it won't be a disappointment.

Just know that the characters won’t be as awful as I described them here.
I literally cannot write a 100% bad character so be prepared to meet the most morally gray character you’ll ever read.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BKP-wdA5m2Ii5E2VELlj97Ug8I0UGKFRIyt_8temYLU/...
(Link For The Story)

Not much progress since i started with this days ago