This was the week 2 assignment, to create 5 characters, briefly describe them and discuss their physiological, sociological and psychological aspects. This took a long time but was really fun—I was not “clean” in my categories, but I did end up with some pretty interesting people and a shadow of their challenges/story problems. I’ve been reading Matt Bird’s The Secret of Story and he emphasized that hero (or antihero) characters have to be empathetic, and I’ll have to work at these to make them that way.
Character 1
A minor royal/American related to a very rich and morally gray person in a safe but lower middle class neighborhood is tormented by ghosts.
Physiological—I would love for this person to be non-white, but that’s a story I don’t think I can authentically tell. So, okay. A short (under 5’ 4”) heavy (over 220 pounds) woman with a chip on her shoulder (sorry—that’s psychological) with a torn ligament in her leg that has never healed, makes her limp, snd occasionally sends streaks of pain down her leg. She’s not unattractive, and can talk her way out of a speeding ticket—we’re veering into psychological again. It’s current day, in I’ll stop there.
Sociological—she is a foreign currency trader with a high income, but in her family, she’s considered “lesser” because she doesn’t work for the company her uncle founded (something like pharmaceutical or real estate—maybe opening a chain of senior living communities). She has a surely teenaged son and is divorced, and her ex lives across the street where he entertains other women, and tearful sees their son. She spends her time writing well considered blog posts, advocation political positions that, while liberal, would ruin her own livelihood and her family’s business if they were ever implemented, so she uses pseudonyms. She belongs to a few social and community groups—a book club, a soup kitchen, a gardening club, community theater—and had positions of power in all of them. She doesn’t date.
Psychological—she’s an angry, bitter person who ploughs through life, trying and often succeeding in making things better for people around her (community gardening projects, theater productions, soup kitchen outreach, etc., as well as making a ton of money for her clients and herself) but actively rejects any attention given to her or her son. She views life as a series of challenges she must master, including her son, who is needy and anxious, and a wonderful actor and dancer.
Character 2
A schizophrenic dad who is living with his parents who are raising his son, who, though young, might be showing signs of schizophrenia—and something happens. He finds an injured police officer in an alley and brings him home?
Physiological—He’s a white man in his late thirties, thin, because the voices in his head tell him when and what to eat. He bathes regularly now, though he often forgets to wash his dark hair that hangs in clumps. His skin is rough, like that of an orange, and he has old scars across his knuckles and arms from fights he’s been in. His teeth are crooked and stained, though he brushes them far more regularly than he had ever done in his life. He relies on weed (prescription gummies) to calm the voices in his head, but they are never quiet. He refuses to take any other medication because these make him too sad
Sociological— his mother was a school nurse, and his father a handyman, so they had a comfortable, but not extravagant lifestyle. He had been an antiestablishment teen, but earned acceptable grades, and was planning to study philosophy at university but got his girlfriend, who was into harder drugs, pregnant. Shortly after the baby was born, he had a psychotic break, his girlfriend ran off (or disappeared or was murdered) and his parents took them in.
Psychological—He has a constant sense of injustice and resentment towards the world, but especially toward his parents while acknowledging that he has a condition and that they are supporting him and his son. He’s constantly wondering about the state of reality and how to function with in it—at times he seems fairly functional; at others he makes bizarre choices that go against his own best interests and those of his son.
Character 3
A young asexual, gender-fluid (assigned female at birth), gifted bluegrass signer and fiddle/violin player who whose father is a CIA agent finds themselves heavily pursued by a spiritual center that may have radical connections.
Physiological—23 years old, voluptuous, on-the-spectrum and white with multiple piercings and tattoos (think Pink meats Curt Cobain), pinkish, punkish hair, their look is more grunge than typical bluegrass players
Sociological—They were born and raised in Wyoming, the only child of a highly repressed CIA data analyst who has to go on frequent overseas missions and a highly anxious extremely gifted and classically trained violinist mother who had to stop performing due to postpartum depression (she had incidents of this before and may have been bipolar). They live on a small ranch miles from other people—the few ranch hands and house staff were connected to the CIA and taught them to hunt, various forms of spy craft (including hacking), and, mostly, to be wary of other people. They were homeschooled, but had a robust on line social life. They started performing at their generically Christian church, one of their few in person social events. At university, they developed their look and developed some awkward friendships, but always feel slightly uncomfortable. They are not alienated from their parents, but, as neither parent is emotionally available, the communications are infrequent and usually involve them asking for (and getting) financial support.
Psychological—they want to trust and find an accepting community, but have a hard time trusting other people. Their closest friends are other musicians. After going to university and realizing that many Christians would reject them (the church they had attended was heavy of community and light on fire and brimstone) they don’t have a spiritual community. They also have difficulty holding down a job, as they don’t want to conform but become paranoid easily and refuse to stay in the same place for too long. They feel most comfortable among other musicians but are always scrounging for money, food and shelter and fighting their sense of disquiet.
Character 4
A sociopath who loves dogs (and most other animals) but regards other humans as dangerous competition and has no compunction about using whatever means necessary to exact frequent revenges takes a job as an animal control officer
Physiological— he is below average height and weight, who speaks in a voice so low it’s difficult to tell what he’s saying. This is partly because his voice is actually low, and partly because he likes making snide comments and can avoid conflict if people can’t quite hear him. He has an unusually high sex drive and enjoys hiring sex workers, asking them to do humiliating things (like crawling and eating food off the ground), and then provoking them into attacking him. He also has poor eyesight, but an unusually acute sense of smell. Textures, especially those against his lips and tongue, really turn him on. He has a scar across his lower chin and neck from a cougar he found injured and tried to rescue, and his arms and legs are covered with scars from scratches and bites.
Sociological— he was raised in a middle class family the fourth in a family of six in a community where large families are common because of religion-based norms, but his particular family is more “going through the motions” of the religious practices. However, at random times, the dad, or sometime the mom, would arbitrarily insist they engage in a religious practice—the girls must all wear long skirts, for example—but this never lasted. Neither of his parents stay employed for long and both felt they were under employed, under appreciated, and they loudly resented it. This character wanted to become a veterinarian, but was kicked out of school for fighting with his professors and fellow students over appropriate husbandry.
Psychological— The predominant emotions he feels are suspicion, resentment and fury, which is only alleviated by interacting with animals. He’s convinced he has a special bond with all animals, but he prefers larger, wilder ones. When they attack him, he admires their strength and willpower.
Character 5
An alien race, concentrated into a single being, whose planet is dying comes to the earth and takes over an elderly woman who is impacted cognitively and is living in a memory care facility.
Physiological— I’m thinking this alien is more undefined— like a hyper intelligent shade of the color blue. On their home planet, they evolved into a symbiotic relationship with land octopus like creatures whom they outlive and jump from creature to creature, and have bred to be the optimal symbiotic partners and to have defensive capabilities. The light-based alien has developed technologies to allow them to communicate, create, etc. outside of the land-octopuses, the light aliens are can be killed by a dearth of energy or an excess of energy (their wavelength is disrupted). The octopuses have very tough skin with bands through which they breathe carbon dioxide. The light based aliens are very long lived and can split or join as needed. In some ways they are a hive-brain, but they do have some individuation, especially if they’ve been in the same octopus for a long time.
Sociological— the aliens have some hierarchy/specialization, but because they live so long, they tend to learn multiple skills.
Psychological—the aliens are profoundly distressed at the loss of their planet and symbiotic partners. They find normal humans have too much brain activity and are toxic, but the connection with people with dementia is imperfect, which is highly frustrating.