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Entry tags:
Personality
Susan has always been sensible - something which she has always regarded as a serious character flaw. This is in large part due to her upbringing, where her parents made a concentrated effort to bring her up as logical, straight-forward, and normal. This was an attempt to protect her from her heritage as Death's granddaughter - who, as an anthropomorphic personification, was the furthest you could get from 'logical' or 'normal'. This, unfortunately, did little to inoculate her against being drawn into this world, and was also probably not the best course of action on the Disc in particular, a world that practically runs on illogic. But she's stuck with the personality, now, and the need to always take a practical, straightforward-approach.
She's also someone who keeps her cool in dangerous situations, and is usually the one who's holding it together when everything goes to hell. When someone says, 'someone ought to do something', that someone often ends up being Susan. She has little patience, though, for people who are inefficient and unfocused, and tends to take a dim view of excessive sillyness.
She is, however, curious, and hates leaving mysteries unsolved or not knowing things. She's simply a nosy kind of person, and tends to see not much issue with invading the privacy of other people. (At least, when she is the one doing the invading. Obviously, it's wrong for other people to do so. Just not Susan.) She also has the kind of stubbornness that will lead to her doing the exact opposite of what she's told to do, especially if the person telling her is her Grandfather.
When it comes to relationships, Susan is a very chilly character who almost never demonstrates affection. Part of it is that she is naturally undemonstrative anyway, and straightforward to the point where she is perhaps not the best person to go to if you want a shoulder to cry on rather than someone to point out exactly everything you've done wrong. She also rarely has romantic relationships, both because people are intimidated by her and because she really doesn't know how to express attraction for someone. But it's also because, thanks to her heritage, there's always a part of her mind that views humans as just a temporary and fleeting collection of atoms.
She also completely lacks any kind of romanticism. She regards most great literature as pointless, and much prefers logic and maths to disciplines like language and history. Philosophy also is something to be distrusted, since she views it as a gross oversimplification. In general, Susan just doesn't have much appreciation or ability for art. She's distinctly unmusical, and when presenting with something like a poem on daffodils her response is to say that while people can like daffodils, they shouldn't be allowed to take up a whole page saying so.
But while Susan is often a cold character, one emotion she does often demonstrate is anger. It takes a lot to rattle her, and she tends to react not by getting scared to upset, but by getting angry. To her, this is preferable to fear - fear will control you, but anger can be used as a weapon.
Also of note with Susan, is how she changes as she grows older. During Soul Music, when she's sixteen, she's logical to the point of stubbornness. Seeing something that couldn't possibly exist, she will insist, is no reason to actually believe in it. And then once she can no longer refuse the existence of the supernatural, she moves onto trying to be as normal as possible and distancing herself from her supernatural heritage. She also lacks the confidence and assurance that she will develop as an adult, and has that mix of feeling superior and special while also still wanting to be a normal person who isn't different at all. Susan's also hopelessly idealistic and naive, in the way that only teenagers can manage. She thinks that only the bad should die young, and will insist that people should 'change the world for the better' if they can, even if there are complex and good reasons why they might not be able to do that. She insists that things should be fair, even though life isn't fair at all. By the end of Soul Music, she has started to understand that things are more complicated than she realises, at least in regards to Death. But she still has a lot of growing to do, at this age.
In just a few years time though, in Hogfather, Susan has matured considerably. She still hopelessly attempts to be 'normal', even though she's regularly battling the monsters that the children who are her charges see. And she also feels the need to visit Biers, a pub for other entities who don't fit into human society, when the pressure of being 'normal' gets too much - even though she doesn't actually like the place. But she's no longer as naive and hopelessly idealistic, and in her role as governess she's developed into someone who is actually very good with children. They respond to her sensible personality and unusual tactics - like handing a child complaining of monsters a sword, or giving them coursework too advanced for them so that they learn. Children, as far as she's concerned, are people who should grow up to be adults, not coddled or romanticised.
Later again, in Thief of Time, Susan has matured even further. At this age, she's come to terms with the fact that she isn't completely human. She's living a human life, but she freely uses her abilities in her daily life now, and accepts that much of the universe doesn't abide by the rules of logic. In fact, she now detests those who adhere only to 'the rules', like the Auditors, who give no room for the chaos and changeability of life. She's also much more accepting of her familial ties with Death - before, she often pushed him away because his world wasn't one she wanted to be a part of. But with the acceptance of her partially immortal nature, she's also more accepting of Death himself.
She's also a force to be reckoned with, cutting an imposing, intimidating figure who has a manner that makes her seem older than she really is. She is a schoolteacher, yes, but she's not the bright, cheery kind - she's the kind who's authority and rule over her classroom is unquestioned. She's the strict, demanding teacher with high standards, who pushes you not to see you fail but to see you grow.
She's also someone who keeps her cool in dangerous situations, and is usually the one who's holding it together when everything goes to hell. When someone says, 'someone ought to do something', that someone often ends up being Susan. She has little patience, though, for people who are inefficient and unfocused, and tends to take a dim view of excessive sillyness.
She is, however, curious, and hates leaving mysteries unsolved or not knowing things. She's simply a nosy kind of person, and tends to see not much issue with invading the privacy of other people. (At least, when she is the one doing the invading. Obviously, it's wrong for other people to do so. Just not Susan.) She also has the kind of stubbornness that will lead to her doing the exact opposite of what she's told to do, especially if the person telling her is her Grandfather.
When it comes to relationships, Susan is a very chilly character who almost never demonstrates affection. Part of it is that she is naturally undemonstrative anyway, and straightforward to the point where she is perhaps not the best person to go to if you want a shoulder to cry on rather than someone to point out exactly everything you've done wrong. She also rarely has romantic relationships, both because people are intimidated by her and because she really doesn't know how to express attraction for someone. But it's also because, thanks to her heritage, there's always a part of her mind that views humans as just a temporary and fleeting collection of atoms.
She also completely lacks any kind of romanticism. She regards most great literature as pointless, and much prefers logic and maths to disciplines like language and history. Philosophy also is something to be distrusted, since she views it as a gross oversimplification. In general, Susan just doesn't have much appreciation or ability for art. She's distinctly unmusical, and when presenting with something like a poem on daffodils her response is to say that while people can like daffodils, they shouldn't be allowed to take up a whole page saying so.
But while Susan is often a cold character, one emotion she does often demonstrate is anger. It takes a lot to rattle her, and she tends to react not by getting scared to upset, but by getting angry. To her, this is preferable to fear - fear will control you, but anger can be used as a weapon.
Also of note with Susan, is how she changes as she grows older. During Soul Music, when she's sixteen, she's logical to the point of stubbornness. Seeing something that couldn't possibly exist, she will insist, is no reason to actually believe in it. And then once she can no longer refuse the existence of the supernatural, she moves onto trying to be as normal as possible and distancing herself from her supernatural heritage. She also lacks the confidence and assurance that she will develop as an adult, and has that mix of feeling superior and special while also still wanting to be a normal person who isn't different at all. Susan's also hopelessly idealistic and naive, in the way that only teenagers can manage. She thinks that only the bad should die young, and will insist that people should 'change the world for the better' if they can, even if there are complex and good reasons why they might not be able to do that. She insists that things should be fair, even though life isn't fair at all. By the end of Soul Music, she has started to understand that things are more complicated than she realises, at least in regards to Death. But she still has a lot of growing to do, at this age.
In just a few years time though, in Hogfather, Susan has matured considerably. She still hopelessly attempts to be 'normal', even though she's regularly battling the monsters that the children who are her charges see. And she also feels the need to visit Biers, a pub for other entities who don't fit into human society, when the pressure of being 'normal' gets too much - even though she doesn't actually like the place. But she's no longer as naive and hopelessly idealistic, and in her role as governess she's developed into someone who is actually very good with children. They respond to her sensible personality and unusual tactics - like handing a child complaining of monsters a sword, or giving them coursework too advanced for them so that they learn. Children, as far as she's concerned, are people who should grow up to be adults, not coddled or romanticised.
Later again, in Thief of Time, Susan has matured even further. At this age, she's come to terms with the fact that she isn't completely human. She's living a human life, but she freely uses her abilities in her daily life now, and accepts that much of the universe doesn't abide by the rules of logic. In fact, she now detests those who adhere only to 'the rules', like the Auditors, who give no room for the chaos and changeability of life. She's also much more accepting of her familial ties with Death - before, she often pushed him away because his world wasn't one she wanted to be a part of. But with the acceptance of her partially immortal nature, she's also more accepting of Death himself.
She's also a force to be reckoned with, cutting an imposing, intimidating figure who has a manner that makes her seem older than she really is. She is a schoolteacher, yes, but she's not the bright, cheery kind - she's the kind who's authority and rule over her classroom is unquestioned. She's the strict, demanding teacher with high standards, who pushes you not to see you fail but to see you grow.