Voice acting blog · 4:36pm Dec 21st, 2017
A little late, but then again, I have had a crazy few weeks.
I think I want to talk about the voices and music of Fall of Starfleet and Starfleet itself. Yes, know it’s kind of weird to talk about it on what is a literary medium. But the author keeps envisioning this stuff as a show [While I am more ordained to imagine mine as a shenin magna that pops up with Berserk] and I kind of like doing this for funsies. It also helps to get the juices flowing and its fun besides.
Now, come along, lets have some fun!
Now, the music will be a different article itself, since I usually make soundtracks for not only my fics, but the stories I read as well. But, I will say that I do imagine mine always to have a instrumental score by eith Michiru Oshima [Fullmetal Alchemist composer] Yoko Kanno [need I say it?] or Noboru Uematsu [my all time favorite video game composer], besides the list will be a long one with many vids and the arcs that I imagine the story would be placed in.
So, lets talk voice acting for a second. It’s a very important subject to cartoons as they are what gives life to the characters. One of my biggest issues with DBZ’s voice actor’s when they started, especially Goku, was that they didn’t sound right. Goku was played too straigh and much too superheroish. A bad voice could take you away from the character or worse, out of the scene entirely. Also important to note is that sometimes voices can be so well connected to a character that we can never seen anyone else in the role.
How does this connect to fanfiction? Well, I tend to read all of the parts in the fic in my head as the appropiate voices. As a matter of fact, the closer the character is in character, the more I can actually hear their voices in my head (So yes, try to imagine the girls speaking some of the lines from your favorite fic...it’s fun.) As for the roles that have no voices, I tend to pick the best character for the role, like Grey Delise for Checker Monarch or James Earl Jones for Titan. It’s kind of a fun experiment as it allows me to help interpit the character and see what they are like.
See, this is why in a show voice is important. If you have the wrong kind of voice, it really does mess with the scene.
So, let’s look at the starfleet cast and crew, and compare it to my choices. I’ll even give out some of thier memorable roles and talk about them.
So lets start with the Equestrian side of things...
I hate them. Allo of their voices suck and I can never imagine them going onto doing anything great. Especially that tara Strong girl, how I hate her. I hate every single one of them and totally do not follow one of them on twitter.
...
...
Ok, now that’s done. I love the voice cast of MLP to death, as I note each girl seems to give their all into their peformances. Hell, I find it interesting to go back to season 1 and listen to the higher pitched Applejack. What’s also fun is to note just how many of the cast and crew have featured in some of my favorite cartoons and shows of the past. Like Andrew Francis, or Shining Armor in this case. When I was writing Dark King’s dialouge, I was even channeling Dilandau for good measure. Although, since some of the Equestrains are new, I had to pick some new voices for them.
Derpy is played by the only one I think can be her, Bald Dumbo Rat. Raindrops is played by Colleen Clinkenbeard (Luffy and Kai Gohan), Carrot Top Tabitha St. Germain, and Sombra...Steven Blum.
Now, onto the main event!
Lighting Dawn
His character as described in the cannon: Heroic and straight forward, while tending to race headlong into battle. He is a man who strives to help out when he can and where her can.
What is shown: Arrogant, full of himself, sexist, and has way too much pride. He tends to abandon his friends in order to fight for himself and rarely interacts with anyone. His duty is to the country first.
Voice: Greg Cripes. (W.I.T.C.H: Caleb, Iron Fist, Keven, and Beast Boy)
Opinion: While not a bad actor in the least, he is not what I would consider a leading man type of voice. If you listen to his previous work, you’ll note that he is mainly a side-character/comic relief type of voice. He mainly likes to just joke around and be goofy. While he does have his serious moments, I can’t really see Caleb doing this voice.
Replacement for Fall: Quinten Flynn (Raiden-MGS)
Reson: Well, I personally think he could pull of the role with a lot better finess. Just watch his role as Axel for a bit and tell me if that isn’t the type of thing you would love to hear from Lighting Dawn. Hell, I could hear it myself.
Starla Shine
Character as talked about in her profile: Strong and brave and smart. Is the secodn in command of the team and an astromener
Character as presented: A Self-absorbed bitch who does nothing but follow Lighting around all day and is just one step away from being a faux action girl.
Voice:Ashely Jonson (Terra, Gwen Tennyson, and a character on Recess.)
Opinion: Another decent actor, and does some pretty good action girl voices. MY main problem with this is...she is only here because of the Terra/Beast Boy connection. This is one of those relationship voice actor things that pops up from time to time. I just don’t see her in the ‘Super sentai’ kind of role.
Replacement for Fall: Hynden Walch (Starfire, a girl on Lucky Star, Penny from Chalkzone,
Reasoning: I can see her pulling off the serious bits of the role as needed. Since her voice as Starfire allows for her to shwo off an impressive range of softness and roughness, I feel like it would be perfect for her to show off what she can do.
Artie Bristles
As defined in the story: What character in the story? He is usually background noise and has at least four episodes. He is supposed to be an artist, but nothing shows how well he does.
As shown in the series: One of the few nice guys I can see on this seires.
Voice: Joshua Seth (Tai from Digimon...Do I need to say more? Really? I mean, this is one of the characters we all wanted to see back from the original cast to return!)
Opinion: Not too much of a disagreement with this voice. While he is known to be the hyper and tough Tai from Digimon, he also has had some damn good serious moments in his career as well. He was Tetsuo so he could have some sombre moments as well. So, no replacement for this guy.
Buddy Rose:
As talked about in his profile: A heroic gardener and a brave fighter. A father figure.
As presented in the story: In spite of being a father figure, doesn’t really show much in the way of worry for his little cousin.
Voice: Matt Hill (Ed-Ed,Edd,and eddy; Kira Yamato-Gundam Seed; Keven-Captain N; Ryo of the Wildfire-Ronin Warriors)
Opinion: Really? Matt Hill as your badass heroic gardener? I am sorry, but no matter what role he takes, Matt usually has the same tone of voice in his characters. And if you watch him long enough, you can usually hear his voice and I don’t really imagine him having the power to bring out a character that needs to be like a father figure. I may love this guy for several of his roles, but everytime I hear him I half expect him to start talking about chickens.
Replacement: Michael Reisz (Matt from Digimon, W.I.T.C.H Nigel,)
Opinion: Ok, so I’m a little guilty of doing a relationship voice actor myself. In this case, since it seems like Artie and Buddy are friends, it kind of works to see Buddy and Artie voiced by two similar friends from oen of my favorite anime! Not to mention, Buddy needs a voice of a guy who can be a father figure and be a kinder voice that has some reluctance to his fighting. Although, I do get tempted from time to time to use Dan Olsen (Donut from Red Vs Blue instead. Hey...those guys can do serious roles too. Just watch season 10)
Rhymey Wardsmith
As presented in the show: A heroic and brave swrodsman. Owner of his own shop and a song writer.
As shown in the series: An arrogant bastard who is so focused on his own ego that I am surprised that he doesn’t name his own shop after himself.
Now, before we are introduced to the voice actor, remember this is the first Starfleet character created. He is a swordsman and thus is an important piece of the project. Being the connection with the Equestrians and the character with the most episodes, he should have a great voice actor! And that is...
Voice actor: Bob Strutt (XY7Z https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySUCu99sW0)
*BANGS HEAD*
Opinion: This...is a sucky voice. I don’t know if he’s better on callicou or not, and I don’t know how well he plays on Fraggle rock, however it is with this voice that I find to be DEPLORABLE! When you tell me that a guy is a badass swordsman and a poet, I expect say...Richard Harris (Kenshin Himura-Ruroni Kenshin) or even Sam Vincent (Edd or my favorite Athrun Zala) This voice, doesn’t fit the character at all and really doesn’t sell me on how anyone could mistake him for Fluttershy. If anything, this voice makes it worse and I can bet that if this was a series it would be canceled on episode 3 just from the voice work alone.
Replacement for Fall: Micheal Rosebaum (Lex Luthor-Smallville; The Flash-Justice League)
Opinion: Ok, work with me on this, but listen to a clip of his Lex Luthor voice. That is the type of thing I want to hear from Rhymey when he is showing off his other side. I want to hear something that sounds intimitating. He also plays well to his convining side and can bring out quite the intimitating baratone.
Dyno and Myte:
Roles in the show: They exists?
As presented: No, seriously, who are they?
Voice: Brian Donovan (Davis from Digimon, Rock Lee Eh-Naruto...no one will remember the NAruto abridged reference)
Opinion: Eh, I really don’t see it. These two aren’t hot headed enough or scenery chewing enough for someone like Brain. There are roles out there for a quiet approach and there are ones meant for guys like these two brothers who are not really hot headed, just chummy.
Replacement for Fall: Spike Spencer (Shinji Ikari)
Opinion: I like SPike’s voice well enough and he can most likely give the role a lot of depth. He could pull off some more of the sullen scenes when Myte dies. And besides, it helps to sell some of his brokenness from the loss of his brother.
And wrapping up this side of things is
Grand Ruler Celesto
As decribed in the story: A brave ruler who watched over and protects all he surveys.
As presented: A manipulative dictator who will use your own emotions and strenghts against you if it means getting what he wants.
Voice actor: Mykan himself.
Opinion: Opinion left out, you can pm me for the results.
Voice Replacement: JohnSwasey (Crocrodile-One Piece, Dodoria-DBZ, Van Honeniem-FMA Brotherhood.)
Reasoning: I have a thing for Gendo Ikari, in spite of the fact that I have never watched a single episode of Eva (Yeah, I know, weird. All of the desconstructions I do and not a single episode of one of the prime deconstruction animes in existance.)
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Villians:
Before I begin with the normal villians, I want to talk about Conquest’s voice. I was orginally trying to go for a Steven Blum voice for his role, someone menaccing but with a slight bit of snark in him much like Blum’s more famous role (You know, that anime about a Cowboy and that genre of music?) but, someone gave the idea of instead giving him the voice of Curtis Arnot. Have no idea who that is? Well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn6WT3n3wSI
Yeah, DBZA’s perfect Cell. What can I say, it makes sense to me. HE can present the menace and the sheer comedy of the character. Plus, some of the stuff Cell does is kind of rapey. Plus...Cell is my favorite DBZ villian of all time.
As for Titan’s trio, while having no offical voices in the current version I did find out the trio had voices in the original: Dimentia-Kristen Bishop (Zoicite), Rep-stallion- David Lodge (Several swan princess movies, Final Fantasy XV, and Puppetmon. Ok, I have a problem with this. You do not give a character who is supposed to be the joke character, a deep voice like this) and Mysterious-Tony Daniels (GAMBIT?! Nice choice but really, I don’t see his voice coming from a character like this.)
While not bad choices...I think we can do a little better.
Dimentia- Martina Sitris (Demona). I want a girl who can be dark and serious, while also giving her a sense of humanity. While many remember her as Troi, I remember her more as the villian from my favorite cartoon.
Rep-Stallion: Jhonny Young Bosh (Vash the Stampede) I wanted Rep to be both a noble character while being a more snarky character in comparison to his friends.
Mysterious: Carl Lumby (J’onn J’onzz from the DCAU. See, my list of voice actors is far larger) I think mysterious needs to be calm and a relaxed character. I also helps that Carl Lumby is a very calm voice.
Raven:
As presented in the fic: A menacing powerful assassin with ultimate power
As shown: A joke of a killer who write more like a child who had read baby’s first threat.
Voice: Tara Strong (Yeah, Twilight ends up killing herself. Werid.
Opinion: Upon first evaluation, I have no probelm with this voice, but now that I think about it...Why? Why have Raven be voiced by Tara other than the cconnection to the actual Raven. However, I think we need a deeper and more menacing voice than what Tara usually gives (Especially since she already has three roles in Fall- Twilght/Belle (Imagine her slightly higher pitched)/Spark (Raven)
Replacement: Jennifer Hale (Samus freaking Aran, Sheppard, Cinderella.)
Reasons: It’s Jennifer Hale, do I need to say more? Just listen to her in Mass Effect, or playing some of her more badass roles like the above or Carol Danvers. She has a tough voice that is a match for anything that a good person could throw, but I also know she has the range to show the emotional hurt that Raven is going through.
Kudos
As introduced in the story: A heartbroken man driven by anger and hate to seek revenge
As presented: The worst villian in the whole damn show. A freaking coward who is probably the worst thing I had ever witnessed.
Voice: Illia Volok (Who?! Um...*Reads Imbd* Master ORg? He also has this tendacy to play Russian villians alot) Ok, again, here we have a problem with voice vs character description. Kudos, as presented, is supposed to be a wounded person. A man who feels at a lost because of the pain and suffering he has gone through at the hands of so many others. Master Org, sounds like none of these things. What’s more, I do not see a russian villian coming from this. I would think of a more deeper villian that has a more tragic side than just a man known for being typical russian villian #1.
Replacement: J Micheal Tatum (Eneru, Shiro, The cool guy from ORan Host Club) Wich voice I would have him use? Why his usual deep, cool, and collected voice of course. I am using a dark and calm character who wants to put on an air of superiority. Tatum give me all of that.
And lastly...
Titan
As described in the fic: The ultimate foe
As Shown: Generic world destroyer
Voice: Tony Daniels (Yes, him again...) Ok, no...When you describe to me the ultimate evil or power house, I think of voices that inspire evil and fear. Not freaking Remy LEbeau!!!!!
Replacement: Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor) What? I love the DCAU for one and Clancy has just the right charaisma to pull this off.
Well, that is my list for the voices of this fic and their comparisons. Questions? Comments? OR do you have your own opinions, please let me know.
Sounds good.
Myself, I'd probably be a bit narcissistic and British-up the cast.
My prime choices would be...
If I made suggets a few other voices, though obviously more for what you did in your story with characters:
Hugh Laurie: For Brain. not in the way that he channels Dr. House but more his general voice when he speaks to others.
Christoph Waltz: Emil Kudos. I think Waltz has just this way to speak some rather evil and sinister lines in a very casual, almost affably way, that would totally fit Kudos in his calmer, controlled moments.
Mekai Curtis: The voice of Zack from Milo Murphys Law, who in my opinion could work as a voice for Buddy if portrayed as a sort of big brother figure for Daphne. The voice also has a certain level of snark to it that I think owuld work great for when he starts to turn against Starfleet.
As for your choice of Steve Blum as Sombra... I like Blum. Like if I could have sex with a voice, I would fuck it.
But I think it wouldn'T work too well. Aside of his work as Shishio in Kenshin, I know Blum with what I like to call a very slimy villain voice . His villains are great and creepy, but for someone who is meant to be more of an evil overlord and "force of nature" as Sombra, I think a slightly deeper voice than what he has is needed. Ironically, I would know spontaneously someone who shares a certian connection to him: David Wald. Wald is the most recent VA who voiced Makoto Shishio (one of shonen animes greatest villains) and in my opinion his voice is somehow even colder for Shishio than what Blum did.
As for the NEcromancer... lets just say if Tony Jay hadn't died over a decade ago, there would be your voice.
My own idea for Lightning Dawn in my own version "Sutarenja" I would go with Shunsuke Kazama Who was the voice of Yugi Moto (Yu-Gi-Oh) in Japan.
Rhymey's Sentai version would be voiced by Koutaro Tanaka who is also known as AbaeKiller from Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger
Wow these sound pretty good😊😊
I can see Celesto having Lex Luther's voice
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Eee, those will be cool to see for a japanese version of the fic (then again, I always see my stuff as Sentai.)
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See, this is why I love having fans across the globe, they give me such great ideas. Although, hearing Tom Baker be Titan is such an awesome thing to think about.
Never played Halo 2 to that part, but looking him up I see he was in Robin hood men in tights.
*Reads* Thrawn!!!!! Oh my sweet baby Celestia. He's my one of my fave extended universe villians.
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I think I always love the more manipulative villians than just the straight up ones.
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Never watched much of house, but that does sound awesome and would make for an interesting cameo.
*Looks up and sees his roles* Fitting actually. I had just finished watching Django and Bastards and I loved his performance in those.
Dang Straight!
Does he voice Shishio in the live action dub or the new Kyoto arc?
*Le sigh*
If there are three people I wish would be my villian voices for everything I did it would be Tony Jay, Christopher Lee, and Tim Curry.
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Not quite. He was Guy of Gisburne in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham in one of his most epic roles ever and if you haven't seen it then holy hell are you in for a treat!
Agreed. So much agreed.
Would you mind if I think of latin/hispanic dub voices for the characters?
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Go ahead!!! I would love to see it.
What about fratello?
4761498
Oh shoot! I knew I forgot somebody!!!!
Call me insane but I would like further elaboration on the differences between the characters' descriptions and presentations and excerpts demonstrating said differences.
Honestly, I see Alex Hirch using his Bill Cipher voice as Dark Conquest. DQ's jokes and sick form of humor isn't that much different from Bill's sans all the NSFW stuff DQ does.
Interesting choices. I too agree with choosing Quinten Flynn as Lightning’s VA (I think you and I discussed that in one of our chatzy encounters if I’m not mistaken).
I knew Flynn from his voice work as Kael’thas Sunstrider from World of Warcraft
I’ve got a pretty good hunch as to why his highness made this selection. Because of this scene from Power Rangers Wild Force, one of his favorite Power Ranger incarnations:
David Lodge was the voice of the org. His highness did a similar scene to this when Titan’s trio meet the MLP protagonists. Just replace Cole with Cadance, and the org with Rep.
I’ve also got a list of some VA ideas in my sta.sh on DA. I think I’ve sent it to you before, but I’ll PM it again just in case I didn’t.
So... who's Melantha then?
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Hmmmmm...A paart of me wants to bring in Melissa Fawn.
So Shining Armor's voice actor is called Andrew Francis, huh? Now, I get why Friendship is Witchcraft renamed him Francis Sparkles.
Alos, just who is Bob Strutt anyway? I searched the web, but I could not find a single mention of this guy that is connected with voice acting.