sideblog to @maybeayapper

Training: How did they learn to sing? Have they had any formal training? How do they continue to maintain and develop their singing voice?

Shana learned from her parent, Arwa (in future referred to as her Awa). Arwa was a local musician in their own right, making most of their money through songwriting for others and some regular gigs at a local bar. Shana had always been very musical, and Arwa started teaching her how to sing and play guitar/piano from a young age. After their death when Shana was 10, Shana never stopped playing, though she stagnated in skills until High School. In HS, she joined the school choir until the band (Lyra) was formed. She improved with her guitar and piano by making covers with the band :3

Nowadays, she does the standard treadmill while singing routine for endurance, but she also does kickboxing recreationally. Sometimes she sings while doing it.

Songwriting: What’s their process? Is it different than it was when they used to write songs with Seven?

Shana usually starts by brainstorming concepts/themes with a partner. This partner used to be Seven, later it became Sage (@panichoodie's oc). In a world without Seven and Sage, she just starts writing out the brainstorming in a notebook if the band isn't there to bounce ideas off of.

From the concept, she will start writing any and all phrases, lines, narration--anything that comes to mind is noted down.

The next step is usually a little jam session with instruments trying to find a sound she thinks matches the idea. She usually records herself doing this, as this is where a lot of lyrics just come to her, and she starts improvising a first draft. Shana's process is extremely improv based, as she has a gift for bullshitting shit that sounds good

In a more controlled environment like botb's third week, she struggles. However, during that week, she was dealing with her family finally paying attention, which was pretty inspiring to say the least.

Persona: How does their day-to-day personality compare to their on-stage persona?

Honestly? Not much. Shana is always quite group-minded and charismatic; it's just her natural response to her experiences. She likes to be liked, but is also pretty protective of her people. In social situations, the best way to protect her friends is to seem approachable. She's playful, easygoing and unserious, but she has a sharp wit and sometimes smiles so sharply you can tell she's not buying what ur selling... she can be a bit cynical and sour about the industry, but she covers it with positivity and a level-headed approach to conflict. She tries to stay cheery so the band doesn't worry, because she hates being fretted over the way they do, but it's not ironclad. They know her too well, sadly.

Change: How has their personality changed since Seven left the band? Are those changes related to Seven leaving?

Seven left around the same time of a vital loss in Shana's life. The two events back to back led to her throwing herself into work, and scarcely doing anything else. Before Seven left she was less chatty, and had a more sarcastic and deadpan humor. Seven was the morale, in Shana's mind, and she was the brains. When Seven left, Shana naturally grew to fill the gap. She'd always been a charmer, but her charm used to be more lowkey and mellow. Now she's bolder, more outgoing. She always was an extrovert, but the loss of Seven made her louder about it.

Bandmates: How do they feel about the members of the band? Would they still be interested in stardom if they weren’t with that group?

she loves her friends to death. They're each other's ride or die! Even if they are letting the stress of BOTB get to them, and they're bad communicators. At the end of the day, she loves them.

Without them, though... she would still be doing music. She would want enough fame to live comfortably. She doesn't need the fame, but now that she's given the chance with BOTB... she's gonna take it all the way. Shana doesn't do anything by halves.

Manager: Do they get along with O? What do they think of them as their band manager?

They are business soulmates fr 🤞🏻O is Shana's emotional support manager atp. She trusts them more than shes ever trusted anyone with her creative vision--though it doesn't stop her from disagreeing with them, especially when it comes to making friends on tour. O and Shana are very close friends, and Shana is constantly joke flirting with O and finds their reactions hilarious. She trusts O completely, and would straight up refuse a label deal if O wasn't part of it.

Development: How did you come up with your character? Is their design still evolving? How do you think they might develop through the story?

Shana was originally conceptualized in early 2020, where she was a far more passive character, and kind of close to flawless. She was originally based around the concept of a character who cheats death, with many near death encounters and a raging eldest daughter complex--the latter is still accurate, i think.

She used to be a scholar more than a protector, which is a major change to now. I think her design is pretty settled at this point, but there's always a chance she'll go blonde and get bangs. I think Shana will increase in her ego and confidence throughout the story, as well as being more critical of the band and becoming more honest. A lot of her story is about allowing emotions such as anger, grief, and even jealousy. Shana has trained herself to ignore such feelings if they can't be made into art. She's become someone who is always ON and always entertaining. She doesn't allow herself to just... be human. She's deified herself and become something other.

Storybeats: If you could design one scene to happen in the story, what would it be? How would it change your character? What would make it so satisfying for the character arc?

Scenes I would add would mostly be unique to Shana and probably be in the rewrite at some point:

Victorias discovery that Shana has a deceased twin

G/Ori/Vic confronting Shana's self-deification

Shana snapping at the band for their switch-up around Seven (going from saying theyre not a jerk, just angry, to thinking theyd put the band on blast given the chance)

Getting to call out the band on never talking, just always assuming and concluding things and ignoring conflict rather than resolving it

I want shana unwillingly opening up to valenreign the way they do to her.

i also wanna see valenreign happy together WITHOUT CAMERAS AROUND