First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Uncle Lynn (38)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: Uncle Lynn

Real name: Unknown (Merlyn, maybe)

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Lynn is very thin, but vigorous. He has a long, white beard usually adorned with one or more rings. He also has long white hair (bald on top) pulled into a pony tail. His clothes are only predictable in the sense that they will be odd – bright colors, mismatch of cultures, etc. His spryness and energy are the only things that suggest anything at all youthful about him – otherwise everything about him suggests some unknown advanced age.

Personality: Lynn is animated. He’s usually on the move and is hard to pin down. Even when chatting with people he usually has something in his hand he is fiddling with. He is excitable and sees wonder in things that others don’t. Anyone who knows him, and his shop are mystified that he seems to make a living as he’s been known to overpay for junk and vice versa. He’s been known to treat people in much the same way. Someone with nice clothes and a superior air he will often be rude to, while meanwhile he’s been known to engage in conversation with street people others dismiss as crazy for hours. He does bond with artists and mystics, and is “uncle” to many people although he has no known blood relatives.

History: Little is known of Uncle Lynn’s history. Mai met him when she was young and living in the city (and he seemed old even then). She soon became one of his honorary nieces and often spent time in his antique (junk) shop. She was known to paint there and he was always happy to have her. Whenever she would experience a creative ebb/block she would spend time with Uncle Lynn and reliably found new inspiration. He was always happy to tell her stories about the items in his shop, most of which she assumed were fanciful but real to him (she sometimes got different stories for the same item). She absolutely considers him family and couldn’t love him more if they had been blood relatives.

While she was away at college Uncle Lynn would often send her parcels of random items. Grant could not understand why Mai kept a relationship going with a clearly crazy man but assumed it was out of charity. Unsurprisingly when Mai and Grant moved to New York Uncle Lynn took a disliking to Grant right away.

Uncle Lynn instantly loved both Eri and Kana. Even as Eri became more driven and serious, she still liked spending time with Lynn even though she realized he was pretty flakey. Somehow his stories and junk would often prove somehow useful to her (classroom projects and whatnot). Kana was like getting a new Mai for Lynn and they got along swimmingly. Lynn definitely blames Grant for Kana being more withdrawn and sullener now.

Unfortunately for Grant, one of the errands he promised to do with the girls was to stop by Uncle Lynn’s for a visit. During the visit Lynn is in rare form. He tells them that there is a magical device that has taken many forms over the years (a wardrobe, a small door, even a tornado) but always takes special children on a magical journey. He believes he has found this item in its current form. While at an estate sale he found some items once owned by a famous children’s book author. One item seemed impossible for the author to own, as they didn’t exist during the author’s lifetime. Lynn is convinced the author had been on a magical adventure, kept the magical device which after his death changed itself for the next generation of children.

This leads to Lynn proudly giving the children a broken smart phone and Grant to roll his eyes so violently they nearly do a complete 360.

Lynn encourages Eri to take it as she is the one who patiently listens to his story (though he throws Kana some meaningful looks). She does and later that evening Grant, Eri, and Kana will find that Lynn may not be as crazy as he sounds.

Role in the narrative: Lynn provides the method to begin the Journey and is the call to adventure/mentor character. He’s also a bit of a foil to the grounded Grant.

Abilities: It’s a little unclear if Lynn is good at anything in particular. Many artists seem to be drawn to him and find his shop inspiring – so perhaps he is a skilled muse.

Inspirations: I have a friend at work named “Lynn” and I often mused it would be cool if it was short for “Merlyn” (it’s not). The Arthurian wizard serves as the inspiration here (as does other mentors who call heroes to action).

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Kana Stothert (37)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: No nickname

Real name: Kana Stothert

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Kana is 13 years old with shoulder-length black hair. She is short and thin, and usually wears black clothes (often baggy).

Personality: Kana is reserved and quiet. She has a tendency to sigh, which gives her a melancholy vibe. She doesn’t tend to make eye contact, which some people read as aloofness. Her nose is often buried in an electronic device (usually a tablet she totes around with a stylus).

There is a whole other side of her, only seen by her online friends.

History: Kana is Grant and Mai’s second daughter, two years younger than her sister Eri. Things were good with the family when she was born, although Grant was starting to focus a bit more on work. Still Kana was very attached to her father and looked forward to him coming home. She would frequently want to play games of pretend with him. Grant, being less imaginative than her, would often act as a prop (not fully understanding their games). It didn’t help that he would often multitask or think of work.

Kana was also very close to her mother and they were similar. Kana seemed to inherit her mother’s creativity and their games were rich and wonderful (though time was balanced with running Eri around to her many activities). Perhaps because her time with him was more limited, she’d sometimes take her mother for granted and seek time with her father.

Grant growing distant and working more weighed more on Kana than it did on Eri (at least overtly). She took the separation very hard and further withdrew (when not being outgoing outside the family to begin with). Mai worries about this a great deal. She knows Kana is gifted and worries that the world will never see it. She aims to be supportive and patient with her younger daughter.

Grant meanwhile struggles with connecting with Kana. She understands Eri, her activities, and her goals. Meanwhile Kana just seems sullen and unmotivated (he blames it on teenage years), and when he does get her talking about something it is invariably something he doesn’t understand or is uninterested in (e.g., manga). Mai encourages him to try to talk with her more, but Kana’s apparent disinterest causes Grant to stop trying (not to mention that Mai and Grant aren’t communicating as well as they might).

Role in the narrative: Kana is secretly our protagonist. When the film starts, it will be easy to see Grant as a nice guy at least trying to connect with a sullen, distant teenager (the viewer won’t know the history here). Between him being self-centered and Eri drawing attention, Kana will seem (and somewhat be) a supporting character. When they start the Journey together, Grant will first think that the Journey is about him (his next guess will be it is about Eri). The reality is that the Journey is not just about Kana – it IS Kana.

Abilities: Kana is very bright (though her grades don’t reflect it) but she is fabulously creative. When it seems, she is “wasting time” on her tablet she is writing stories or poetry, or sketching. She has entire, rich worlds stored in her imagination, but she doesn’t share them with the world.

She never thought anyone would come visiting.

Inspirations: Kana is the whole idea for the film. I wish I had the skill to make it clear how easy it is for someone shy and quiet to be ignored when they have secret talents. Also, I want to try to capture how parents often see their children through their own narrative. In the case of Grant, he misses her being so excited every time she sees him and views the distance between them as a change to her. Don’t worry – it all ends well. In terms of inspirations, I see a little bit of the Neverending Story in all of this.

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Eri Stothert (37)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: No nickname

Real name: Eri Stothert

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Eri is 16 and sporty. She is tall (for her age) and thin with long black, straight hair. She is rarely seen without her lacrosse stick.

Personality: Eri is more like their father than her sister is: she is confident and goal-driven. She is an A student, great athlete, and already has her college and ultimate profession picked out (a physician specializing in sports medicine). She is generally good with people but only her closest friends (and he sister) tend to hang out with her for long periods of time (she’s a bit intense).

History: Eri is Mai and Grant’s firstborn. As a toddler, she got a fair amount of attention (more from Mai than Grant – but Grant was better about making time then). This reduced a bit when her sister was born, but Eri has always been good with having a sister. Eri sees her sister as part assistant, part cheerleader, part project, and part sister. She loves her sister and they get along rather well, though Eri has less time for her as they get older.

When Eri was very young, she seemed to have a bit of a creative and playful streak. This aspect of her personality dwindled somewhat at the start of school. It turns out she has a sizable competitive streak and once she was in an environment where achievement seemed to be formally measured, she quickly became goal-oriented. She is not overtly obnoxious about this. She is a good sport when she loses (she even likes it – it gives her a new goal) and is not mean when she wins. Still her competitiveness sometimes rubs people the wrong way – as does the sheer amount of winning she does.

She was drawn to sports in addition to academics, where her competitive nature was welcomed (her best friends are the team mates she both competes with and supports). Her favorite sport is lacrosse, and even at 16 a few college scouts have taken note of her.

When her parents separated, she was sad about it. But once there was a new routine and it was clear that school and extracurriculars wouldn’t be overly affected by the change, she let her busy schedule distract her from any worries about her parents. How much she has adjusted versus how much she is suppressing remains to be seen.

She has a decent relationship with her father. It is easy for them to speak in terms of their various recent achievements and he sees a lot of himself in her and is happy to support her goals (at least, financially and conceptually). They rarely do more than scratch the surface conversationally and are generally content to work on their respective projects/work in parallel when they are together.

She naturally draws attention and it is easy for her sister to get ignored by comparison. Were she aware of how this sometimes bothers her sister, Eri would try to help (she loves her sister). She just simply misses it most times.

Role in the narrative: Eri will be able to recognize some things faster than her father and will help bridge the gap between her father and sister. In doing so, she might gain a new perspective about her sister and herself.

Abilities: Eri is good at anything she has set her mind to (school, lacrosse). She could probably be pretty good at about anything, given her willingness to work.

Inspirations: Maybe a bit of Leslie from Parks and Recreation. I liked that show and thought that it got better when they let Leslie succeed sometimes (she was smart and dedicated and deserved some wins IMHO). Eri isn’t as quirky as Leslie, nor as nontraditional in her goal setting, but they share vision and dedication.

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Sven Johansson (36)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: No nicknames

Real name: Sven Johansson

Group affiliation: Grant’s startup

Physical description: Sven is in his mid-20ies, is short with blond hair and blue eyes. He’s short and often tries to dress the same way Grant does.

Personality: Sven is eager to please and hero worships Grant. He is smart and good at his job.

History: Sven will only be in one scene – so how about we have some fun?

EXT. – GRANT’S OFFICE, AN OPEN OFFICE FLOOR PLAN WITH ROWS OF TABLES AND WHITEBOARDS WHERE SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE WORKING AT THEIR COMPUTERS

GRANT is walking across the office when Sven jogs up to him.

SVEN

Boss!

GRANT

(feigns matching Sven’s excitement)

Sven!

SVEN

I was just on with the customer – we need to add a feature – stat!

GRANT

Did you just say “stat”? I’m not sure development has a stat.

SVEN

Sorry! I mean we have a critsit! Ummm…we need to crash the sprint?

GRANT

I take it back. I think I liked “stat” better.

SVEN

The customer wants a push alerts feature added.

GRANT

(Repeating something he has said many times)

What’s the job, Sven?

SVEN

(Hesitantly)

Um – we need to add push alerts?

GRANT

Remember your Levitt.

SVEN

(Reciting)

People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill…

GRANT

…they want a quarter-inch hole. You are being asked for a drill.

SVEN

And I need to find the hole?

GRANT

Eloquently put. Push alerts is not the job. Find the real job.

SVEN

So, I need to go back and see why they want the push alerts. Thanks boss!

GRANT

Sven, are you making me repeat lessons just so you can talk to me?

SVEN

Ummmm…no?

GRANT

(smiling)

How about we grab a pizza after work and talk about your future?

SVEN

YES! I mean, yeah, sure…if you need me to work late, I’m there.

GRANT

I can always count on you, Sven. How about we…whoops!

GRANT had just peeked around a corner and seen his daughters in the reception area. He steps back before they see him and puts his back against a wall. SVEN looks around the corner before GRANT pulls him back.

SVEN

Did you just see your kids, say “whoops,” and hide?

GRANT

(sighs)

Where are those keen observational skills when you are working with customers?

SVEN

(thinking)

Is this a lesson? Something about drills and holes? Are your kids the drills?

GRANT

No, I just forgot I promised to run some errands with them today. Pizza is off.

SVEN

…still not getting the lesson, boss.

GRANT

Imagine teenage girls as the toughest, most inscrutable customers ever.

SVEN

(glancing around corner)

They look like they are pretty nice.

GRANT

They are great. But intimidating. It has been years since they have said anything overtly nice to me. They are like customers who you know have already decided to take their business elsewhere.

SVEN

Um, they are going to a new father vendor?

GRANT

(thinks for a moment)

OK – more like customers trapped in a contract with you when they want to take their business elsewhere.

SVEN

Really?

GRANT

No, not really. It’s just, I don’t know. They just don’t seem all that impressed with me, and I don’t know what to say. So I just need a minute to put on my game face.

SVEN

To hang out with your kids?

GRANT

Sven, work on understanding why somebody wants push alerts. You aren’t ready to explore the mysteries of fatherhood.

SVEN

OK, boss. Well, good luck figuring out what the job is, I guess.

SVEN walks away. GRANT sighs, puts on his “father face,” and strides forward.

 

Role in the narrative: Sven is here to show that Grant is a good, competent dude at work, but that Grant is intimidated by his own kids.

Abilities: Sven is good at pulling exposition from other characters J.

Inspirations: Sven is pretty much a device at this point and not really a full out character. He deserves more thought to move beyond the eager to please cliched character. I’ll also have to reread and ponder the above scene – hard to figure out how to show Grant feels distant from his kids without him seeming too jerky.

Text from: http://www.picturetopeople.org/p2p/text_effects_generator.p2p/3d_stone_text_effect

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Note: I think I’ll kick off a new project – a Pixar-inspired movie. As always, go to the Character Index if you want to see a little project overview.

Grant Stothert (35)

Project: Family movie (“Journey”)

Known as: King Granite

Real name: Grant Stothert

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Grant is in his late 30ies and is of average height and above-average weight (he’s pudgy). He has an attractive face with brown eyes and brown hair (which is only receding a little). He takes is appearance seriously and is a master of stylish “business casual.”

Personality: Grant is confident and a good talker. He is fast on his feet (figuratively – he’s literally a slow runner) and has gotten to where he is based upon intelligence and being good with people. He is ambitious and loves his work.

And he loves his family, though that isn’t always clear to them. He’s a workaholic who justifies it by telling himself he is trying to give his family a better lifestyle. Still his prioritizing work was a big contributor to the strain on his marriage, so that is debatable.

He’s not a BAD guy. He just sees many things only from his perspective.

History: Grant grew up in the Bay Area, the son of two computer science professors. People would say tech was in his blood, to which his family would say that it was more in his firmware (they were computer scientists, not comedians). He was a very good student although not as good as he might have been. At times his personal projects and interests trumped what school wanted him to do, and he didn’t see the value in some courses (e.g., Literature). Still when the time came, he gains admittance to a good west-coast university.

His college years largely went as expected with one exception. That exception was Mai Sato, an art major at the same university who was originally from New York City. She was the exception to his normally ordered and deliberate life. He watched her painting at the quad and was smitten. He summoned his courage, walked up to her, and asked her what she was painting. He didn’t understand much of her explanation and even blurted out that he didn’t see much point to art. She countered that humankind would not move forward without feelings which was the realm of art. He swore to convince her that reason was the cornerstone of human existence, while she swore to get him to appreciate art. They both failed, but both enjoyed trying, so they became a couple.

Grant dreamed of his own start up and having a big impact on the world. Mai dreamed of pursuing her art and having an impact on people. After college they married and settled back in New York where Mai felt she could pursue her art while Grant expected he would be successful anywhere. They stayed with Mai’s parents, which was less than ideal, and Grant found that getting a startup going wasn’t as easy as he thought. He got a developer job at a corporation just to help them get on their feet and have some independence, but he ended up thriving in a corporate environment. He was surprised to find he was good at coordinating people.

Soon Grant found himself taking leadership roles and working later and later. When Mai became pregnant, he felt more pressure to increase his income while Mai wished he would spend more time at home. Truthfully, Grant simply felt more interested in work and liked the sense of accomplishment he got from delivering projects and growing profits.

Years later, with two daughters, Grant became the cliched absentee father (even working on his MBA in his “spare time”). He and Mai began to argue about money and time and this wasn’t the sort of debate that had originally brought them together. Grant didn’t feel appreciated at home the way he was at work and Mai didn’t feel appreciated at all.

Two years ago, they separated but stayed in the same city for the children. They seem hesitant to divorce, though it seems to be moving that way. Grant used the separation to finally begin his start up, using his corporate connections to secure angel investors. He still plans to be active in his daughters’ lives but knows that this is a crucial time for his business. He always plans to be there for his daughters, but things come up.

His eldest daughter and him have an understanding. She, like him, has a very full, busy life and is focused on her goals. His relationship with his younger daughter is a different matter. He finds her to have become sullen (and maybe disrespectful) towards him. He hopes it’s a phase she will work through.

The story begins with him forgetting he was taking the girls for the weekend.

Role in the narrative: Grant’s role is to believe he is the protagonist – but not be.

Abilities: Grant is a good business person, a smart technologist, and highly rational.

Inspirations: In this project you’ll see lots of Pixar influence (this will become clear as I write profiles). Many family films have a busy father learning the importance of family (Mary Poppins is the first one that comes to mind for me). This will be a part of this story, for sure. I’m aiming for more of a statement on how parents can be casually self-centered. I’m worried I wrote Grant as unlikable above – I’d want to adjust if I ever wrote the project. BTW, his nickname will make sense as I write other profiles.

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Note: A brief return to Wells; I’ll likely return to Dark is Noon tomorrow if I don’t decide to start a new project.

The Creature (35)

Project: Television mini-series (“Wells”)

Known as: The Creature, the Golem of Flesh, Frankenstein’s monster

Real name: Chayim Freud

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: “His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.” (From Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein)

Shelley’s fictional account of the Creature was fairly accurate. In reality he’s not as tall as she described (“only” a little under seven feet tall). His skin is also not so thin or stretched. She does capture his eyes well, however (in modern times, he often wears sunglasses). His most striking feature is he has the Hebrew word “emet” (truth) carved into his forehead (many years ago he had it tattooed over, so it looks mostly like a tattoo; a scar is still visible under it).

Personality: The Creature is lonely and nihilistic. He has attempted a few forms of suicide but the magic that animates him causes him to recover from most damage. The fact he hasn’t tried more extreme measures (e.g., complete immolation) suggests he has some sort of drive to survive. He is not cruel or destructive by nature. He does have a curiosity to see new things and go to new places but more in a “what else can I do?” than a zest for life kind of way. His nihilism means he is not particularly adverse to killing; he simply does not go out of his way to harm innocents or those who have done him no ill.

He does occasionally form attachments, but these invariably disappoint. Those who know him tend to try to exploit him in some way. Even if this doesn’t occur, staying in one place for too long tends to reveal his special nature and most humans in most of history react poorly to monsters in their midst. The rare times he has had a true friend and was isolated enough to avoid persecution he was invariably disappointed due to the fragility and limited lifespans of humans.

History: Tales of golems being created stretch back to early Jerusalem (and even before – some believe the first man, Adam, was a golem created by God). In the world of Wells, a number of Jewish mystics managed to create animated golems from dirt or clay (the Golem of Prague was a famous example of the latter). For the most part these were unintelligent creatures used to do mundane things like household chores.

A few became uncontrollable and need to be stopped. While not always easy, all golems usually had a straightforward way to return to their true, inanimate state. Some were animated by a piece of paper with the word “shem” upon it placed in the golem’s mouth; therefore, removing the paper would deactivate the golem. Others had the word “emet” impressed in their forehead (remember, clay). “Emet” meant “truth” but the removal of the aleph character would change this word to “met” meaning “death” (again deactivating the golem).

Vaschel Freud was a Jewish mystic who decided to try to create a golem. However, he did not use common materials like clay – he decided to use flesh. Combining parts from different dead bodies he created a figure and then used the ancient secrets to try to animate it. He carved “emet” into the flesh of his creation’s forehead and it indeed came to life.

Perhaps due to being made of flesh, his creation was more intelligent that its golem forebears, and Vaschel named him Chayim (“life”). However soon enough Chayim showed himself not easily controlled and further Vaschel suspected Chayim was in love with Vaschel’s wife. As a few had before him, Vaschel was challenged to deanimate his creation.

Removing the aleph from flesh proved to be a much more difficult, and grisly, challenge that it would have been for clay. To Vaschel’s horror, Chayim (or the Creature as Vaschel began to call him) would heal from most wounds, including the removal of the aleph, reanimating the creature. Vaschel worried that he had gone too far in trying to create a golem from flesh, trying to recreate Adam. For his hubris, god was punishing him.

The Creature for its part felt that Vaschel creating him was indeed a foul deed. Cursed with an existence he never asked for, the Creature was neither man nor god but somewhere in between. What Vaschel read as a romantic love for his wife was the Creature seeking a connection and a mother figure. He felt ill treated by Vaschel indeed – going from unwanted life granted by Vaschel to Vaschel attempting to destroy him.

The Creature killed a number of Vaschel’s family members, including his wife. To save his children, Vaschel desperately tried a final gambit. Managing to remove the aleph again, he booked passage for himself and the Creature to the far North, where Vaschel hoped the cold would retard the Creature’s healing. Grimly he regularly damaged the aleph as it healed. The Creature both started to heal more quickly and became harder to damage over time.

At last Vaschel’s gambit somewhat worked. Taking his creation further that most men dared, both of them ended up lost and frozen. For Vaschel, this was his true end. Those few who knew the true story assumed the same for the Creature.

Speaking of, the legend of the Creature was spoken of in some circles. This ultimately inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein (the fact, like Wells, she wrote of a mystical creature as science fiction had no direct tie with Wells, other than they both were capturing the zeitgeist). In the Freud family it was a tale passed down and some generation later the legend inspired some thinking of Sigmund around how psychology was shaped by our feelings towards our parents (or creators).

Little did any of them know that as the years passed the Creature continued to heal slowly. Eventually it reanimated and managed to move south. Vaschel’s death had removed the Creature’s anger and desire for revenge. Sadly, this also removed much of the Creature’s purpose and it has wandered the world searching for…something. Anything, really, that would show that its existence had some purpose.

Immortal the Creature has survived until modern times. He has recently read that some interesting and new things are occurring in Austin and travels there. If he will be friend or foe to Morgan is yet to be determined. However the return of magic might just give him the purpose he has forever sought.

Role in the narrative: I was considering how to expand the Wells universe a bit. As prolific as H G Wells was, eventually one will run out of material. My first thought was to posit that Wells was a ghost writer for some contemporaries (e.g., Jules Verne). But I’ve likely stretched my gimmick/device to the breaking point already (Wells cast a spell that bound magical creatures told as SciFi). So, when I was thinking about this around Halloween, I decided that “Season 2” might be things not tied to Wells the character, but might be things that either simply survived or are being created anew by the return of magic lead by Morgan.

Abilities: The Creature is immortal, resistant to damage, and regenerates quickly. He is much stronger than an ordinary man. He is intelligent and knows a great deal of history (having lived it). However, his perspective on history doesn’t always match modern takes, his being more accurate (remember, history is written by the victors). He is also a fine handyman, picking up these skills to produce some income (he needs no food, and can survive well enough in most environments, so has little use for money). He has no particular fighting skills, having no need to develop them (being resistant to most harm and strong enough to pull people apart).

Inspirations: My first exposure to golems was Dungeons and Dragons (clay, iron, stone, and flesh). I claim no originality in seeing a tie between Frankenstein and the golem – many have written about this before I. In looking for a Jewish “Victor Frankenstein” I came up with “Vaschel Freud,” which made a nice tie to inspire some of Sigmund’s work (a little cheesy/groan-inducing I suppose, but I couldn’t resist). Lastly it was rather handy that the Wikipedia entry for golems suggested that Adam himself might have been one. Likely I overindulged in knitting all these things together but it was fun for me and likely nothing will ever come of these profiles anyway so I might as well enjoy J.

Crown icon By Kelsey Armstrong, US, the Noun Project.

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for more of an overview of the characters.

Queen Cassandra (34)

Project: Fantasy novel (Soluna trilogy Book 1: Dark is Noon)

Known as: Her majesty

Real name: Cassandra Salington

Group affiliation: Salington family

Physical description: Cassandra only looks a little like her younger sister, Beth. She is tall, her hair is more auburn than red, and she has a pale, clear complexion. Their features are similar, however, and there is a family resemblance. Cassandra is very striking, and Beth might be jealous/intimidated if a) Beth valued appearance and b) Beth ever felt those emotions (which for the most part, she doesn’t).

Personality: Cassandra shares her sister’s sense of responsibility to the people and is a good queen. She is however more expressive in her emotions and can even have a bit of a temper when she feels others are being obtuse. She is concerned how history will view her and wants to not only be a good queen but have significant events attached to her reign. This tempts her to perhaps extend her reach beyond her grasp at times. She is also very serious and is somewhat lacking in the humor department.

She loves all her family.  However, like Beth they are secondary to her duties. Interestingly, she resented Beth a bit for “shirking” her duties and traveling so much. Cassandra was always heir apparent, and focused on diplomacy, court affairs, and affairs of state. She found Beth to be rather flighty by comparison. Matters weren’t helped by Beth manipulating her way to be Duchess of Greentop. Since then, however, Cassandra’s view on her sister has softened as Beth has been a very competent ruler of Greentop and has increased its value to the throne.

History: Cassandra Salington was born to be queen and seemed to instinctively know it. The people of the court even felt as an infant that her crying was unusually dignified. She was serious and proper at an early age and was dutiful in her lessons and duties. While she loved her siblings, she always felt a bit apart from them. This was only reinforced by the fact that others did not treat them all the same.

She was ambitious and as she grew, she took on more and more responsibility. In early adulthood it was clear that she ran the kingdom as much as anyone. By the time she was 30, her parents abdicated to her despite the fact it was a bit early for them to retire. In her short reign, she has been a great queen and the kingdom is both more financially stable and expanding than it has in centuries. She also has a reputation for being fair in her judgments no matter who is before her for a ruling. She is a very popular queen and people have been known to debate if the beauty of her spirit outshines the beauty of her face.

She has been also restless however. She has gotten pressure to choose a consort and secure an heir. It’s not that she is waiting for love, she simply has not yet found someone to be a good enough match to her goals and ambitions. She also is looking for some moment to secure her place in history. She knows that while she cannot seek out war for the sake of her legacy, little matches a decisive victory in war to secure one’s legacy.

She ends up regretting what she wishes for when the Darkin attack. Nearly invincible at night the Darkins wreak havoc on the kingdom. Even in the daytime when humans have the advantage, so little is known of the Darkins’ abilities, goals, and motivations that they are a very difficult foe with which to deal. Their greatest weakness seems to be that they have trouble invading and holding land where they don’t have good places to hide in the daytime. No one knows why they are attacking now or why they press so strongly against notable limitations.

Cassandra however suspects. The Soluna prophesy speaks of a person being born who can turn day to night and vice versa, who will tip the scales. It seems apparent that the prophesy speaks of these times and finding the Soluna becomes one of her top priorities.

Her adopted nephew, Joshua, seems to fit the bill. Cassandra does not view Joshua as a Salington and even if she did, he would be a small sacrifice to save the kingdom (especially as the prophesy does not necessarily say he needs to die). Her sister Beth has a different view on what would be best for the kingdom but is perhaps biased by her love for Joshua.

How far will the sisters’ disagreement go? Is Cassandra prepared for armed conflict to secure Joshua (at the worst possible time given the Darkin attack)? Will Beth raise arms to defend Joshua and will Greentop rebel to support her? What will Joshua do when he sees this conflict arising?

Role in the narrative: She is ally, then antagonist…and then who knows? She is at her core a good person who loves her family. So is Beth. Yet they are on a collision course, both with the best intensions.

Abilities: Like her sister Beth, Cassandra is a bit of a phenom. However, where Beth explored many places and activities Cassandra focused mostly on things that she felt would serve her as queen. She has a tremendous knowledge of the people who help her rule the kingdom and knows how to motivate them. She is an expert diplomat and is very knowledgeable of all the laws of the kingdom. She is also one of the foremost experts on history in the kingdom. As a result, she knows quite a bit about prophesy.

Inspirations: Maybe a bit of Frozen in the older sister feeling isolated due to the fact she would rule one day (minus, you know, the snow powers). Mostly I started to think of her just as a means to fill out the cast a little but I was pleased when it occurred to me she might end up in conflict with her sister even though both are good people. I wish I could think of way to make the Darkin stand out from so much of what precedes them (be it orcs or white walkers). Perhaps a horde of monsters motivated by evil is just too tempting of a trope for fantasy works. I’ve also recently watched the Dragon Prince on Netflix, where the moonshadow elves are nearly invincible at night.

Puppet/manipulator icon By sachin modgekar, IN, the Noun Project.

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for an overview of the projects and characters.

Minyune (33)

Project: Fantasy novel (Soluna trilogy Book 1: Dark is Noon)

Known as: Minyune

Real name: Unknown (even “Minyune” may be a title)

Group affiliation: Sorry, can’t tell you yet

Physical description: Minyune is over six feet tall and a striking figure. His eyes (almond shaped and dark), cheekbones, chin – basically all his features are sharp and well-defined. His jet-black hair is never out of place and he wears fine clothing frequently with embroidery of magical creatures (even when wearing practical clothes, they are obviously on the premium end). He exudes dignity.

Personality: Minyune is reserved and controlled. Those around him wonder if he even experiences the normal range of human emotions. There is, however, an intensity about him. He chooses his words carefully and it is clear he expects them to be heeded. Those who serve him respond to his requests quickly – and few have the courage to see what happens if they don’t.

What most don’t know is that Minyune is a master thespian. He is gifted at disguises and still more gifted at pretending to be all sorts of people. When he took Joshua to the Salingtons he was an earnest, sincere, and desperate figure. He slipped away so completely in part because he was no longer that person when he left Greentop.

He is tremendously manipulative and definitely believes the ends justify the means.

History: The other members of the Order of Destiny do not know Minyune’s origins – only that he became their leader by order of the Emperor. The Order has existed for centuries and its mission is to uncover prophesies, evaluate their likely accuracy and value, and then manipulate them to the Empire’s benefit (the Empire is an ocean away from the kingdom ruled by the Salingtons, and they have very little contact). As such, the Order’s influence over the Empire waxes and wanes with how compelling the prophesy is currently driving their activities.

The truth is that Minyune grew up in the Order, but between his abilities as a chameleon and his long absence people don’t make these connections. While away from the order he worked in the emperor’s spy network (further honing his disguise skills). Whether it was chance or planning, Minyune was molded into the ideal leader for the Order. He has tremendous knowledge of prophesy and its interpretation but also wide knowledge of the world and political connections.

Both due to Minyune’s leadership and the fact a number of powerful prophesies seem about to be realized, the Order is currently at the zenith of its power in the Empire. Minyune’s primary focus concerns the prophesy of the Soluna. He believes that the prophesy speaks of a celestial event of a known cycle. That is, he has a prophesy of a great power being born and he knows the date it will occur. This gives him a rare opportunity.

Minyune’s plans go beyond identifying and manipulating the Soluna. As he knows that this prophesy is well known, he also wants to create false Solunas to confuse and manipulate others who seek the Soluna. Years in planning, he gathered many mothers who would be expecting around the prophesized date (and even manipulated things to generate a few of these mothers). Those born on the right day, or near it, were then taken to further suggest that they were the prophesized ones (e.g., marked with gold and silver – the sun and the moon). Thus, while he hides away the true Soluna, he has released into the world multiple false ones (including some in faraway lands).

But his machinations go beyond even this. He not only means to cause confusion, he has created some false Solunas to be specific traps for specific groups. A very small number of his false Solunas are not even strictly human but rather magical creatures in human form. These are functionally timebombs, waiting for the crucial moment for Minyune to set them off.

Joshua is one of these.

Role in the narrative: Minyune is one of the main antagonists. His machinations might have benefit to a large group of people down the road, but he treats people like game pieces. He will gladly sacrifice about anyone to meet his goals. This means that he is a real threat to our protagonists.

Abilities: As noted above, he is a gifted manipulator and actor. He is extremely knowledgeable and intelligent, and his study of prophesy has made him an extraordinary strategic thinker. He also has tremendous resources at his disposal – human and financial.

Inspirations: Prophesy is a staple of the fantasy genre (e.g., the Song of Fire and Ice, the Wheel of Time, LoTR). In fact, they are even considered by some to be cliché and a sign of bad writing (the prophesy I dashed out on the Character Index for this project is certainly an example of bad – I’d really have to rewrite it were I ever to actually write the book). I do think they are often tropes and clumsy foreshadowing, and you should probably find another way to motivate your characters. I’m enamored with the idea of a group of people in a fantasy story who try to manipulate prophesy, however. I think it could make for a good story. Likely I’ve seen this somewhere before, but I can’t recall what I am proposing exactly off the top of my head (note – even if I haven’t seen it before, I’m quite sure it has been done).

Icon By BGBOXXX Design, SG in the Noun Project.

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for an overview of the projects and characters.

Joshua Skinner-Salington (32)

Project: Fantasy novel (Soluna trilogy Book 1: Dark is Noon)

Known as: Josh

Real name: Joshua Skinner-Salington

Group affiliation: Salington family, Skinner family, Greentop

Physical description: Joshua is an infant when the book begins, but over the course of the book grows to his mid-teens. Joshua’s almond-shaped eyes and olive skin makes him stand out among the people of Greentop who commonly have pale skin. He also stands out for being unusually handsome. One outstanding feature is that Joshua has two birthmarks. One is a nearly perfect circle on his right shoulder, the other a crescent on his left.

Of course, there are times Joshua is covered in scales with fangs and claws, but we’ll save that for another time.

Personality: Joshua is curious and confident (which sometimes gets him into trouble). So far in his life his quick-thinking and physical gifts have been enough to get him out of most scrapes, though sometimes he has to rely on his charm and personability. He is unconsciously cocky – he has not yet realized that everyone else in the world isn’t as gifted as him and that others can feel threatened by his exceptionalness. He is brave and selfless, as well.

Note his confidence will be shaken when he comes to realize he isn’t exactly the person he thought he was.

History: Joshua was left as a baby at Greentop by a man named Minyune who said he hailed from a faraway land. Minyune had very little to say about the child, other than the child’s parents were dead and that the infant was in danger from enemies of his family. As Minyune seemed completely exhausted, they sent him to bed while others cared for the child.

During the night Minyune vanished leaving behind a note:

“Protect the child and make him one of your own. I will lead away his pursuers, but he has a special destiny and others may come. Keep him secret. Raise him to be good, strong, and brave – he will need all of these qualities when his time comes.”

Beth and Tom sent scouts to try and find Minyune to no avail. Seeing no other choice, they began to care for the child. While they discreetly tried to uncover more of his background when they could they were cautious due to Minyune’s warning. Caring for the child became loving him and at some point they realized he was their son. Though the Salington royal family would never recognize him as one of their own, the people of Greentop were perfectly happy to have the extraordinary boy around. Beth and Tom loved him dearly, as did (to Tom’s surprise) Pitch.

Beth and Tom told Joshua the truth early on about how he came to be their son, including their belief that the Goddesses of Destiny arranged it. Joshua had a fairly idyllic childhood, though he was gifted at both finding and extracting himself from trouble. He would have been hard pressed to find a set of parents with more knowledge to share, and he loved Greentop and its forests. Occasionally people might comment on his unique physical characteristics, but Joshua took these to be either innocent (forgivable) or ignorable.

At some point, however, it became clear that Joshua was truly extraordinary. For one thing, he started to show a strength that was well beyond his musculature. By the time he was 14, he could lift roughly as much as his grandfather (Pitch). His memory and senses were unusually acute. Most unusual of all when he was enraged or in danger his body would change. He’d grow tough scales to protect his body, claws on his fingers, and fangs. Once he calmed down or the danger passed, he would revert to his usual form.

Beth and Tom advised their son to keep these things a secret. While Joshua had always been curious about his origin, the family agreed that they time had come to explore his history in earnest.

Then the Darkins attacked and an ancient prophesy suddenly seems very important. Joshua seems to meet the requirements of the prophesy – is he the Soluna?

Role in the narrative: Joshua is one of our protagonists and drives much of the plot. Read the inspirations section below to better understand his place in the story.

Abilities: Already covered in history above – but he is superhuman in strength, mind, and senses. He also transforms into something of a monster when enraged or in danger. Note – he has not yet reached his full potential.

In addition to that, his mother and father have made him into a Swiss army knife of a person. He has many skills both wild and civilized.

Inspirations: Hulk and werewolves likely inspired his physical transformation. The main inspiration, though, is Cambell’s monomyth. Several of the story ideas I have start with the monomyth. After all, the story is likely retold so often in part because it has all the elements of a story we all enjoy. On the other hand, if I follow the monomyth I risk being cliché and having no surprises. Therefore I have a few story ideas (including this one) where I think I can tell the monomyth but with some twists. In this case, Joshua is in every way the standard hero by design (and not just my design – by the design of another character). He is not the Soluna – he is a red herring deliberately placed by Minyune. Well, the kind of red herring designed to be deadly to those who fall for it.

Bear icon Ghigliano Sarah, FR, Noun Project

First time at this blog? Check out Home for details on the project and the Character Index for an overview of the projects and characters.

Pitch Skinner (32)

Project: Fantasy novel (Soluna trilogy Book 1: Dark is Noon)

Known as: Pitch

Real name: Pitch Skinner

Group affiliation: Skinner family, Greentop

Physical description: Pitch looks part grizzly bear. Tawny and shaggy, he is a very large man (over six and a half feet tall and somewhere north of 250 pounds). In his early 50ies, he certainly has some fat on his frame but make no mistake it is layered over muscle. He can out fight, hunt, and drink nearly anyone – and is happy to demonstrate it.

Personality: Pitch is gruff and temperamental. He became a hunter and trapper in part because if he spent enough time among people trouble seemed inevitable. That and he is his own best company; others tend to get on his nerves. One exception was his wife (Elanor). He first fell for her for old fashioned reasons (she was beautiful). But what really made him want to marry her was that she helped him recover from a bad injury and demonstrated throughout that she was utterly unintimidated by him. In fact, she was able to cow him and brooked no nonsense.

This allowed her to see a side of Pitch no one else did.

History: Rumors among the folk of Greentop is that Pitch was raised by bears. This is tough to refute, as Pitch never spoke of his family (except to Elanor, who also never spoke of it). Secretly Pitch is the son of a disgraced knight who murdered a rival in a fit of rage. To escape the law, Pitch’s father took his family to the wilds of Greentop, changed his name, and generally hid from society. This made Pitch’s mother miserable. When Pitch was in his early teens his mother vanished. Whether she ran off (as his father maintained), committed suicide, or was murdered by her husband Pitch did not know – they all seemed equally likely in his mind.

Pitch was basically a servant to his abusive and bitter father. His father’s only priority was his still, while Pitch had to supply food and trade for what his father needed. As Pitch grew into adulthood one thing became clear to him. One day his father would get drunk, go too far in beating Pitch, and Pitch would need to kill his father to preserve his own life. After that day came, Pitch would often wonder why he hadn’t just left. Sometimes he thought it was because he had hoped he’d be wrong about his father. Other times he wondered if he knew in his heart the world would be better without his father and it was his responsibility.

Pitch was unsurprisingly defensive and untrusting of others. He mostly stayed away from other people. Unfortunately, when he was around other people some imagined slight or competitive instinct would lead to him blackening eyes and loosening teeth. Of course, his size and demeanor would often be enough for people to give him a wide berth.

Only Elanor was able to get past his defensive shell. She saw that he wasn’t inherently cruel but broken. And Elanor was a healer.

Pitch loved Elanor deeply but would still frequently go on hunting trips. It was his livelihood, but also he feared if he was around too much she would come to her senses. Things became more complicated when their son, Tom, was born. Pitch would return home and feel a bit like an outsider. He loved his son but didn’t know how to connect with him. He always assumed the problem was that he wasn’t good with children. But Tom grew into a very strange man in Pitch’s mind. A classic man’s man, Pitch struggled with a son that followed in his mother’s footsteps.

When he lost Elanor, his plan was to remain in the woods forever. He can’t help, however, checking in on Tom. Some part of Pitch that he doesn’t fully understand still wants to connect with his son. Their meetings tend to end in arguments, insults and resentment.

Still, Pitch loves Beth (sort of the son he felt he should have had). And a new grandson might be a new opportunity for Pitch.

 

Role in the narrative: Sometimes fantasy stories need some muscle. They also need drama, and an awkward father/son relationship is very minable.

Abilities: Pitch is a tremendous fighter, woodsman, tracker, hunter, trapper, and drinker. Not much beyond those things.

Inspirations: Lots of bits and pieces. Beorn from LOTR, Sloth from Goonies, and I don’t know where else. The monster with a heart of gold is a pretty common trope.