Character Conversation #2: Brown Sugar

[Doctor Robo]

It takes a special kind of woman to be a member of the Superheroine Squad, and someone even more special to be a member with no superpowers of her own! Brown Sugar made her debut in the "Mission Control" chapter of the "Twisted Tales" saga, shortly after Silver Satin, and by the responses I received she quickly became a big time fan favorite. I am not afraid to say that she is easily in my own top three favorites of all time, and that's saying something because I like just about ALL of my creations.

So what is it about Brown Sugar that you like and/or dislike? I know she's due for a starring role in her own story, but I am waiting patiently for just the right idea come along. Until then, a friendly discussion about our favorite hot chocolate sweetheart will have to do!

http://metrobay.wetpaint.com/page/Brown+Sugar

- Doc

[Trishbot]

I love Brown Sugar. But I'll be honest and say I didn't like her at first. But that's a sign of good character development.

She wears her influences proudly on her sleeve. She's a great homage to blaxploitation films such as Foxy Brown, but channeled through a modern view and crossed with a healthy combination of Batman-ish realism. She's the counterpoint to all the heroines. Where someone like Valient Grrl is strong, brash, and leaves alot of damage in her wake, Brown Sugar is restrained, quiet, skilled, and resourceful. She's blessed with great calm under fire, the talents to be their chief martial arts expert, and the experiece and wisdom to approach situations in the most sensible way possible. And that proves why, even as a normal person on a team of superheroes, she's so invaluable.

Now for a few things I don't like, and the list is small. Originally, she was pretty stereotypical, which got a laugh out of me when someone mentioned her "hilarious stereotypical black speech", but that's tempered greatly as time's gone by. My problems aren't even real problems so much as potential I want to see realized. It's heavily hinted at her expansive pre-SS career as a bit of a globe trotter, and seeing that side of her is what I enjoy most, whether it's speaking to Jade Lightning about their past in Japan or her referencing her time as a soldier in the army. It's easy to get lost in the here and now and forget that she's a woman with years of hard training and life lessons thrown at her. She wasn't just a natural fighter and leader; she earned those credentials.

That said, I adore her personality and raw sex appeal. Any excuse to have her strut her stuff around is okay by me.

[madcap]

One of my favorite characters. When most of these stories involve white women, it's always a pleasure to see a little ethnic diversity. She is strong-willed and tough, so seeing her brought down from that to "mindless fucktoy" is always a fun contrast. There is something about seeing her particular face with a totally blank, white-washed expression that is extremely hot to me.

Trish makes a good point about how she was a little too stereotypical at first but that has improved a lot. Of Ted Twiss's initial controlled heroines, I thought she had the sexiest costume, being the first to have only a collar instead of a helmet, and being more covered up with just that little bit of leg showing, which was kind of a nice tease.

I look forward to seeing her appearing in more adventures, but only if she's being mind-controlled at the time.

[Akonkid]

This has nothing to do with the character, but I'd hold off on more character discussions for at least a week. Checking the wiki shows there's almost 100+ characters, so no need to crowd them all together. I liked Trish's idea of a "character of the week", but maybe it doesn't matter.

Back to what does matter: Brown Sugar. My, oh my, what a sexy character. Whereas Marcy is sexy without trying to be, Brown Sugar knows she's got a rockin' body and has no qualms about flaunting it. Her costume is tight, skimpy, and emphasizes all her best assets. She also had my favorite robo-girl outfit, and I agree that her slave collar really pushed her up and over the edge in the sexy mind control department.

A few other things I like about her; for starters she's actually got a rather conservative set of morals. Despite her obviously sexy get-up and raw beauty, she's got high standards when it comes to relationships and she's even a bit religious, which is a vast and satisfying contrast to when she inevitably gets mind controlled and becomes an uninhibited sex slave to some fiendish villain.

I like how she’s one of the most mature and experienced heroines as well. Whenever she’s around, even if she loses, she always acts like she’s in control of the situation and never lets her emotions get the best of her, which even more “veteran” heroines like Ms. Metrobay and Omega Woman are prone to doing sometimes. Many younger heroines have expressed outright respect and admiration for Brown Sugar, especially since she’s taught most of them first-hand. She’s almost a mama bear type figure for many of them, and I find it hot when she lets out the claws from time to time.

Now for some things I feel need improved. For starters, she exists almost entirely as Brown Sugar. When she was introduced she was just as captivating as civilian Caramel Georgia Brown. That side of her has all but been lost, which is unfortunate since I think that’s actually her BEST side. As a heroine, she’s great, resourceful, and sexy, but as Ms. Brown we can see the social side of her that other heroines, such as Alpha Woman and Ms. Metrobay, routinely enjoy because they have no secret identities. I’d love to see what she does during her downtime. Is she still undercover at APEX? Does she date socially? Does she struggle to hide her dual lifestyles? And does she indeed produce chocolate milk?

As Trish mentioned, she also has a very interesting history (one that I myself might hope to leave a little imprint on), and I’d love to see more of it. Like Batman, who trained all over the world, she’s got global experience that makes her sort of a cultural melting pot. She’s adaptable and can adjust to almost any environment. She’s an ex-spy and that’s another side of her we don’t see often, not since her introduction. Tapping into what she’s good at, which is the whole espionage and infiltration bit, would be great. Disguises, gadgets, the whole secret agent bit. She’s a one-woman Charlie’s Angels and that could probably be played up a bit more.

Other than that, she’s a great character. She’s overcome her status as a stock character, or “token ethnic heroine” and stands proud as an individual with compelling potential. I would love to see some fresh ideas with her, especially considering just how versatile and adaptable she is.

[ashleychloroformed]

Now for some things I feel need improved. For starters, she exists almost entirely as Brown Sugar. When she was introduced she was just as captivating as civilian Caramel Georgia Brown. That side of her has all but been lost, which is unfortunate since I think that’s actually her BEST side. As a heroine, she’s great, resourceful, and sexy, but as Ms. Brown we can see the social side of her that other heroines, such as Alpha Woman and Ms. Metrobay, routinely enjoy because they have no secret identities. I’d love to see what she does during her downtime. Is she still undercover at APEX? Does she date socially? Does she struggle to hide her dual lifestyles? And does she indeed produce chocolate milk?

As Trish mentioned, she also has a very interesting history (one that I myself might hope to leave a little imprint on), and I’d love to see more of it. Like Batman, who trained all over the world, she’s got global experience that makes her sort of a cultural melting pot. She’s adaptable and can adjust to almost any environment. She’s an ex-spy and that’s another side of her we don’t see often, not since her introduction. Tapping into what she’s good at, which is the whole espionage and infiltration bit, would be great. Disguises, gadgets, the whole secret agent bit. She’s a one-woman Charlie’s Angels and that could probably be played up a bit more.

Other than that, she’s a great character. She’s overcome her status as a stock character, or “token ethnic heroine” and stands proud as an individual with compelling potential. I would love to see some fresh ideas with her, especially considering just how versatile and adaptable she is.

I totally agree with Akonkid here, I also love her chocalate milk from when she was milked yummy

[dumbtime]

The best quality that Brown Sugar has is her confidence in her entire self to handle any situation that she deems important enough to act upon. Most of the superheroines have confidence in their 'super power.' Valiant Girl charges in brashfully because of the confidence in her brute strength. Ms. Metrobay's super stamina allowed her to garnish experience over time from a naive farm girl to the leader of the SS. I could go on down the line, listing how each 'super' is confident in their 'super powers,' except Silver Satin. She lacks confidence. You take away these super strengths and these woman don't even have half the confidence Brown Sugar does. This best quality comes from Georgia Brown's pre-SS history. I hold it to be the complete substance of her super confidence. And, its still very mysterious to us, the reader, becasue not much has been revealed.

This confidence has produced a dominate trait/attitude towards how she interacts with the situation, the 'Foxy Brown' pesona, if you want to call it that. She sticks a badge in the face of 2 heroines not in the right state of mind while telling them they are going downtown. She takes Jade and jumps in line with the other mesmerized woman headed to Sentius' lair right after being told to be careful by Ms. Metrobay. To me, this quality makes her takedowns that more sexy. She puts up a pretty decent fight but it turns into such a futile, helpless one as the villian finally wrenches control of her mind from her free will.

Even though she partnered up with Jade, she acts more like a lonewolf. I pin that one on the spy, espionage background and history. She has the gumption to handle herself in any situation but cannot account for who might be with her. If the Metrobay Universe were to do an origins type series like Marvel is doing with the X-men, then, I think, Brown Sugar would be the best candidate to do first. To see her in action as Georgia Brown, the solider; the spy; and the police officer would be awesome.

I do agree that the 'keeping it real' black woman sterotype isn't what a decorated solider and police woman would have.

[Doctor Robo]

I would like to challenge - or more correctly explain - the notion that Brown Sugar is a 'stereotype', because I get the feeling that the personality I created for her early on is seen as a bad thing. Here's the thing: It isn't easy to impart any sort of personality on these characters in the scant few pages that they get before being turned into mindless slaves. Because of this, sometimes we have to take shortcuts and fall back on recognizable personality traits, which I suppose you could call 'stereotypes'. When I created her I had in mind someone who combines the most interesting qualities (physical and mental) of Eartha Kitt, Pam Grier, and Tyra Banks. She did end up a little more Foxy Brown than Catwoman, but that's how the creative process works I guess. They can't all be winners all the time.

So, if that's the biggest complaint about her, then I can live with it.

I do find it very interesting that you all have latched onto her rumored past, which as of right now really only exists as a few lines of narration with some embellishment in the wiki. I am curious as to why that is...

- Doc

[madcap]

Doc, your explanation about the "stereotype" thing definitely makes sense. I think exploring her past could be interesting, but to be entirely honest I (and I think most of us) am here for seeing sexy tales involving mind control. I like the fact that these characters are fleshed out a bit so they're not all the same, but my interest in detailed origin stories only goes so far. I mean, you could work mind control scenarios into many of these characters' back stories, but I fear that too much might dilute the power of their first encounters with the present-day villains who employ mind control techniques, and to ignore the MC element completely for an extended time strays a bit far off the mission of this website.

[Doctor Robo]

...you could work mind control scenarios into many of these characters' back stories, but I fear that too much might dilute the power of their first encounters with the present-day villains who employ mind control techniques, and to ignore the MC element completely for an extended time strays a bit far off the mission of this website.

I agree with you, Madcap. I don't know how we would go about telling Brown Sugar's 'origin' story while keeping with the erotic mind control theme of this site. Perhaps the occasional reference in present day stories and some extra details in the wiki will have to suffice, for both B.S. and most of the other characters we have created.

- Doc

[Trishbot]

Yeah, I should clarify. When I say I'd like to see her past explored more, I don't mean like an origin story or even flashbacks, but rather in the way she talks with others and handles herself. Like when she was with Jade, "remember what sensei taught us", that immediately establishes several things. 1) she and Jade trained together in the martial arts, 2) it was likely in Japan considering "sensei" is the Japanese term for master (as opposed to the Chinese "sifu"), and 3) if she was in Japan, it was likely during her military or espionage days and established she had connections with superheroines prior to her SS membership.

See? That's ALOT of info from just one simple off-hand comment. I'd love to hear more references to her past like that, such as "this mission reminds me of that time in Madrid" or "you're tough, but not Agents of D.E.S.I.R.E. tough". It's not really impotant to the main stories, but it does alot to flesh her out.

And so long as she doesn't start yelling "Aww snap!" and "Sweet Christmas!", I can forgive the occasional "When I find that sucka..." and "Aw hell no!"

[pelusa1ca]

Well Brown Sugar has been one of my favorite characters since she first appeared. I guess because I always like the story lines where the "robots" try to mask their identity as slaves of a nefarious villian, when we first saw Brown Sugar she was Georgia Brown, who was working undercover at Apex.

Her first induction at the hands of Ted Twisted was great in that she was arguing why he should not turn her into a female robot, always loved that one. Then Ted used her as a spy to extract secrets (really enjoyed the camoflauge outfit to let her walk around Apex) doing almost the same job she was for the police.

I think it was the fact she was not a "super" and just a really kick-a$$ crime-fighter (and a kick-a$$ babe to boot) has some appeal as well.

I am all for her being the centre of a story!

She is also a character I have always sought to try and render and spent many hours tweaking Victoria 3 until I discovered she was a pre-made character ( ) only to find out from her creator that the model is no longer available for sale and that she would give me a copy if she had one, but a hardware crash had removed that ( ).

P

[pelusa1ca]

There is another reason we love her so much...it seems that while not a super heroine with mystical strength or other powers, Brown Sugar has the impressive ability to be enslaved by whatever new method on mind control has been unleashed into Metro Bay.

In fact the only time she has escaped her "destiny" was in the Hooter County where she declined to do the necessary paperwork after bringing in the Dairy King...in fact somehow she dodged by Dairy King's control and the Prison System...

P

[Northern Chill]

One way of exploring Brown Sugar's past (or any character for that matter) is to work it in for an existing or new story. For example, suppose the Squad finds her mind controlled and zero memory of who or what she was. Ted suggests they may have to transfer data into her mind to reactivate her memory and shake her free from her blank state. Doing that, they go over her files with maybe focusing on one mission where she tangled with a heretofore unseen villain.

Just thinking out loud...

[madcap]

That's actually not a bad idea at all. A lot of her past adventures could be covered in very brief, summarized way, but it would still give us a lot of insight into her past.

[finister]

You know... she never returned my calls or my fan mail or signed autographs at the fundraiser. Those are definite negatives against her.... unless we're talking about a babe to be MC'd. If she were MC'd I could have her sign my... poster... what were you pervs thinking

me too!

I love that Gilbert the Dollmaker decided to make a big titted Brown Sugar doll and he'd have none other. Not sure what Brown Sugar thinks about that... will have to send someone brave to ask her - ha ha. Not me!

I wonder who'd play her in a movie?

Since you asked... here's my vote.. sexy ass Lacey Duvalle



Yummy