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Okay folks, this is a huge moment for Tod the Prairie Dog. This marks the first time in this character’s 25 year history that he has received a ref sheet of his very own. This is also the first time one of my characters other than my two fursonas has received a ref sheet. So not only Tod has come back out of retirement, he is fast on his way to becoming a big major player in my character roster along side Tamias the Chipmunk and my other fursona and Tod’s best friend and romantic partner Bri the Raccoon. So big steps for the Prairie Dog are being made.
As you can see I have changed up Tod’s color palate from how he was when I did the drawing of him and Bri by the lake shore. I wanted to be a bit more faithful to the colors of the real prairie dog species. I feel this gives him a more natural look. Also I revised the color palate of his clothing as well to better reflect the fact that he was born into a military family with an older brother and father serving the Prairie Dog nation and both making the ultimate sacrifice.
Without clothing, Tod reveals himself as a sleek slender figure with detailed muscle tone to emphasize the fact he is very active, mainly in BMX freestyle riding and an idea I’m toying with in which he would play Taiko like drums as part of a tradition among his fellow prairie dog kindred. Both are physically intense activities, burning off body fat and maintaining a lean yet muscle toned figure. Also I want Tod to have a slender figure to contrast him from Bri and other raccoons. That aspect will help emphasize Bri’s cuddly factor and serve to stress an important aspect of Tod and Bri’s story that influenced the shaping of Tod as a person for both better and worse. Oh and I think Bri would find Tod’s slender figure to be rather attractive.
And Now for Tod’s Character Bio
Tod the Prairie dog.
Full Name: Tod O’keef
Species: Anthropomorphic Prairie Dog (Cynomys Sapient)
Gender: Male
Gender Identity: Male
Sexual Orentation: Homosexual
Age: Mid 20’s
Birth Place: Oklahoma City, Cynomys
Education: Associate's degree in IT at New Orleans University, studying for a bachelors in computer science at the same aforementioned school.
Job: Currently interning in IT field.
Hobbies: Video Gaming, BMX, Hacking, and working on cars with his best friend Bri the Raccoon.
Current Home: Baton Rouge, Procyon Lotor not far from Bri the Raccoon's home.
Family: Mother, older brother (deceased), Father (deceased).
Religion: Atheist due to feeling disenfranchised over family tragedies and resultant upheavals in life. Tod feels that if there was such a thing as a loving God, none of the tragedies would have ever happened and his brother and father would still be alive while his mother would have remained the more caring person she once was.
Medical/Mental Health: Tod is relatively healthy physically with no notable ailments. His BMX riding maintains a slender yet physically fit frame. However he suffers from generalized anxiety disorder and bouts of depression brought on by the devastating effects of his brother and father’s passing and the upheaval for him and his grieving mother. Unfortunately, other than being prescribed antidepressants which he barely even takes, mental health care is hit or miss at best due to neglect by his mother. Besides, Tod sees being with Bri as a far better help in mind, heart, and soul than any amount of pills and shrinks could ever hope to offer.
Visual appearance:
Height: The highest most reaches of Tod measures up to the bridge of Bri the Raccoon’s nose.
Nude: Tod is of a slender yet healthy build. His body fur is a light beige color throughout his entire body with a lighter shade of the same color covering his chest, belly, loins, inner thighs, and buttock under his tail. He is accented by light chocolate brown colored hair arranged in a dreadlock like hair style. He has loving deep blue eyes, a key feature of his expressive face. Being a rodent, his muzzle takes on the key shapes and features of his prairie dog species. His nose, which is the same as his hair color, is a narrow chevron shape pointing downwards to a cleft line connecting his nose to the upper lip of his mouth. He is usually shown with visible rodent buck teeth, (think Bugs Bunny though not so exaggerated) The rest of his anatomy is humanoid in shape, has five digit hands like human hands, and four digit feet. He has a short yet expressive tail about 18” inches long.
Clothing: Tod is seen in a dark navy blue t-shirt untucked, dark olive green pants, and black shoes with white shoe laces, toe boxes, and soles. He wears a pair of dog tags as a tribute to his father and older brother, both having been killed while serving in the Cynomys military.
Personality:
Quick summary of Tod’s personality is that he is quiet to others but, with Bri the Raccoon at his side, comes to life as friendly, intelligent, full of wise cracks, and has a bit of a spark. Plus he is as mischievous as Bri. Tod is the more emotional one as compared to Bri. He's apprehensive and self defeating at times when dealing with difficult situations. However he looks to Bri as an escape, a pillar of strength, and his one and only hope. Deep down, Tod is caring and fiercely loyal to his best friend to which he has growing feelings for. This will prove to be a motivating factor to break the chains that hold him back.
Silent by Loss:
Tod, though friendly, tends to be quiet and shy around others, though he comes to life only when his best friend Bri the Raccoon is at his side. Perhaps the quietness comes from the traumatic life changes resultant of the death of his older brother and father. Outside of his friendship with Bri, Tod tends to stay to himself as a means to avoid further stress than what he and his mother endured as he mistakenly blames himself for his brother and father’s passing and feeling unable to do anything to stop it. Also weighing on him is his mother who is so grief stricken that she collapsed into a hole of self pity placing her own misery over the emotional needs of her only remaining son, constantly dismissing his problems as insignificant to her own problems as if he does not matter. Lastly, without proper role models in his life Tod has had to struggle with his own homosexual orientation fearing that coming out would further add stress to his already bad family situation and loosing his best friend.
Bri Unlocks the Quiet Shell:
Tod tends to divert himself from the daily grind with his hobbies of video games, and riding BMX bicycles, as well as being a bit of a hacker type. However, the biggest escape for Tod is his best friend Bri. The prairie dog comes to life as expressive and mischievous as Bri, joining the raccoon in antics and mayhem. Tod is very intelligent with an innate ability to see the complete picture in a situation and act accordingly. That rational logic tends to enable Tod to act as an effective counter balance to Bri’s impulsiveness. However, due to Tod’s underlying emotional issues, he tends to be a little apprehensive in new situations, especially when Bri is not with him. So, Bri being the more outgoing one encourages Tod to try new things, push through his challenges, and expand his horizons.
Flaws:
Tod in his desperate attempt to avoid stress can sometimes bring stress on himself, often worrying too much about making mistakes when trying new things hence why he can be apprehensive at times. He tends to overreact to minor bumps in the road making big mountains out of them worrying that he would fail to overcome those challenges and thus incur yet more loss. As a result Tod tends to be self defeating at times. It could be said that Tod suffers from stress and anxiety issues making it very challenging for Tod to handle “leap of faith” decisions. Though Bri’s presence, confort, and encouragement, tends to alleviate a lot of these issues.
Attractive Virtues:
When Tod is with Bri, he feels safe to open up and shine. An otherwise quiet figure brightens up to a friendly witty person that has many wise cracks up his sleeve. Tod is fiercely loyal to Bri and empathetic of Bri’s personal burdens and thus shows the raccoon a more caring side, doing everything he can to make sure his raccoon friend does not feel the same pains that the prairie dog does.
Tod’s fear of causing further stress is actually a fear of further loss that whittled away his life as a viable person until he met his one and only hope, his best friend Bri. Tod goes out of his way to care for the one and only person that he trusts. Bri is the one person Tod does not ever want to ever lose, as the raccoon is his escape and freedom allowing Tod to be the person he really is without fear of being dismissed or ridiculed. Bri is the only person that truly cares about him. Losing the raccoon would mean certain destruction of Tod as a viable person. As a result, Tod is fiercely loyal to his best friend, showing his appreciation of the raccoon’s friendship and goes out of his way to always be there for Bri and to make him feel like he matters, never ever letting him down. Bri, being born into a Roman Catholic upbringing and as the youngest of his siblings feeling like he is being judged based on different standards than his siblings, is attracted to Tod because the prairie dog puts so much effort into making the raccoon feel the validation denied by his Christian family and circumstances.
Love Life:
Tod has always seen Bri as the one and only person that makes him feel at home and free to be who he truly is as a person without fear of being dismissed, or even ridiculed, something that Tod appreciates without end. Unlike his mother who tends to put her own self pity over any issues Tod may have, Bri seems to care about Tod and accept him as the person he is. Tod seems to look up to Bri as his sanctuary, his home, the one and only person on Earth that accepts him and cares about him, and what he goes through in life, always comforting him and offering words of encouragement. To his best friend, he matters in the eyes of the raccoon. Tod has always seen the raccoon in a positive light. However being gay, Tod has always had growing feelings for his best friend ever since he befriended Bri in junior high school, a yearning to take the bonds between him and the raccoon to a higher level.
But his apprehensiveness of adding further stress to his own life and due to Bri’s Roman Catholic upbringing and fear of getting Bri in trouble with his religious family. Tod has yet to really spill the beans about his growing feelings for Bri. Though those feelings are growing so strong that the Raccoon seems to be taking notice anyway rather Tod realizes it or not. But regardless Tod loves the raccoon all of his heart. He craves Bri and cannot imagine a single day without his best friend and soulmate and wants above all else to open up his feelings to his raccoon companion, the one and only person he feels safe with and whom he matters to.
Character Development Goals:
With growing feelings for Bri getting to a point that he is finding it nearly impossible to contain them as well as situations both he and his raccoon best friend must face together, Tod is fast approaching a reckoning that will shape his future and that of Bri forever. Tod must summon the inner strength to come to terms with his past and realize that the death of his brother and father and emotional collapse of his mother is not nor ever was his fault. He needs to realize that he does not need to carry that immense guilt nor it being his place to carry such a heavy load upon his mind, heart, and soul. Tod needs to move on, so he can be free to finally accept the feelings he has for his best friend and not be afraid of losing the one and only hope he has left in his life, his cherished raccoon friend and soulmate.
The Make or Break Test:
For Tod to break out of his apprehension and overcome his fear of further stress and loss, he will need to be put in a situation in which he has only two choices available to him. One is its either hide from his challenges at the cost of losing Bri, his last hope and the one person he never wants to lose, or face and overcome his fears to make a leap of faith to finally be free from his chains to fall in love with his best friend and make the relationship with him life lasting.
How Bri can help Tod Achieve character development goals:
Even though Tod has disparately been holding back his growing feelings for Bri, the raccoon's keen sense had long been picking up the clues. One major clue was when Tod and Bri went to college together. On their summer break the both went camping together. On the third day of camping, Tod and Bri, being the mischievous duo they are, decided to go skinny dipping at a secluded lake they knew about. After their fun swimming, Todd and Bri went to grab towels they hung on a nearby tree branch. However, the wind blew the towels away, never to be found. With the both of them sopping wet, there really was not much choice for Tod and Bri but to sun themselves by the lake shore until they were dry again. Tod could not help but blush at Bri, seeing him naked. It was not out of any embarrassment of seeing another person nude. The prairie dog had seen Bri naked before many times in Junior High and High school in the gym locker rooms. Though, Tod was able to find ways to hide his feelings back then. But not this time at the lakeshore. Maybe Bri with his keen raccoon senses may have been picking up the vibes even back in their junior and high school days because, in privacy, Bri always cared about Tod in ways beyond what typical school buddies would do. Tod was blushing because he was having arousing feelings for Bri as made clear by outward physical signs, the prairie dog could not really hide no matter how much he tried.
Tod remembers Bri smiling that ever charming smile and encouraging him to just roll with those feelings. The two found themselves laying right there by the lakeshore cuddled up together. Bri had his arm wrapped around Tod pulling the prairie dog close until his back was pressed against the raccoon's soft cuddly body. Tod remembers how warm and soothing Bri’s embrace felt, how blissfully loving it was. It felt like Bri was a mighty fortress protecting him from his harsh life. Here he was free, free from his guilt and fears. He also remembers something else too. He could feel the raccoon’s immense love pouring from his heart. Let’s just say that night was an unforgettably passionate night that marked the trailhead of a tight friendship's long winding road to an undying relationship.
Bri helps Tod by encouraging him to just roll with his feelings and never be afraid. Also Bri cares about the prairie dog by always being there for him, never letting him down. Nothing is too much for Bri to take, showing Tod that there is at least one person in this world that can be trusted. After all Tod has bent over backwards to make Bri feel like a valid person when his family did not. So the least Bri could do is make Tod feel free and at home by being his sole mate and maybe…maybe… his romantic partner. After all Bri has had the same feelings gathering steam for Tod as the prairie dog has for the raccoon.
Bri needs to encourage Tod to overcome his burdens and muster the inner strength to make the leap of faith necessary to start a relationship as well as overcome the adversities that Tod and Bri must face together…and triumph over…together. Bri can complete his task by continuing to care for his friend and assure him that he will never rebuff nor abandon him come hell or high water. Bri is most of the way there on that front given the long standing friendship with Tod. However, the raccoon needs to make it clear to Tod that he too wants to take their bond beyond a friendship. To do that Bri must realize that he himself is not beholden to his family nor his religious upbringing. Bri must realize that he must remain true to himself and accept the fact he has feelings for Tod just as Tod has feelings for Bri.
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Published:
2 years, 1 month ago
24 Mar 2022 04:46 CET
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