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.

Tibalt Turkey (41)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: Turkey

Real name: Tibalt Turkey

Group affiliation: MM’s plush animals

Physical description: Turkey is the odd duck (pun intended) of the Mobile Mobile’s animals. He’s the largest of the dangling animals (half again as big as the others, who are all about the same size). Furthermore, while all the animals are whimsical in their design rather than overly accurate to the animals they represent, Turkey is really odd. He has a pink body, blue feet, and his tail feathers are rainbow colored. Even the string attaching him to MM is different (yellow where the others have white). It’s pretty obvious he was a replacement.

Personality: Turkey is belligerent and aggressive. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder about being an unusually hued turkey and not matching the other animals (note the other animals are nothing but kind to him). He finds insult in even the most innocent comments directed at him. He’s quick to defend both himself and turkey-dom (“Ben Franklin wanted turkeys to be the national bird of the United States you know, pal.”).

History: It’s pretty obvious that Turkey was a replacement toy on the mobile, at least in the real mobile that inspired someone to think up the Mobile Mobile. As far as MM, the other animals, and Turkey can remember he has always been a part of the group, however. Turkey will tell people that the Dreamer created him to stand above the other animals. He is the truly extraordinary one. Secretly, however, he wonders if he is cursed.

When Grant tries to get on his back (since he is the largest), Turkey is indignant (of course). He not only tells Grant no, but goes on a lengthy rant about his status as “Lord of the Turkeys” and the history of turkeys. His droning only adds to the annoyance of the spinning and the lullaby as they travel.

At the end of the trip, Turkey is actually singing his woes to the tune of the lullaby. A tear may even be sliding down his waddle.

Role in the narrative: A little comedy relief, hopefully. Also maybe some stuff around being different. In the case of Turkey, MM and the other animals already accept him. He just needs to accept himself.

Abilities: He can dangle from a mobile and act indignant well.

Inspirations: This one was pretty short – I wasn’t aiming to pad my 100 or anything (e.g., I won’t be doing a profile on each of the animals). Turkey just struck me as kind of funny yesterday and I have the vague sense there is something of worth about Turkey. I may have to think about it and return to him.

Mobile icons – By Mister Pixel and By irene hoffman, US of 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.

Mobile Mobile (40)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: MM

Real name: Mobile (as in movable) Mobile (as in what hangs in over baby’s cradles)

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: MM is a giant baby mobile. At the top there is a large circle that has his face and on the back there is a large knob (on a standard mobile, this would be something that could be wound up to make the mobile turn). Below his “chin” there is a short chain that attaches to four arms that protrude like a large plus sign laid flat. Dangling from end of each of these arms is a plush animal (an elephant, a zebra, a tiger, and (oddly enough) a turkey). To get a sense of MM’s scale, each of these plush animals is large enough for an adult person to sit on.

MM floats so his animals are just above the ground. When he moves in any direction, his arms rotate moving the animals in a circle and a little lullaby plays. It’s initially charming, but quickly becomes annoying.

MM can also magically reduce his size to that of a standard mobile in a baby’s room (he can only shift between the two sizes). When he is small, he can turn extremely fast (he looks like a blurred frisbee).

Personality: MM is very sweet and helpful, if not particularly smart. His zebra is smart and rather chatty; his elephant likes knock-knock jokes; his tiger is often sleepy; and the turkey is mean and rude.

History: After the Stotherts escape Da Ogre, they begin walking in the direction of the sound of water. They notice the very unusual flora, and Grant and Eri are mystified (Kana is very quiet, though occasionally she seems to sort of nudge her family away from some of the plants). They then notice this blurred disk flying towards them, darting like a bee. It makes a very odd sound (it is a sped up lullaby). Grant picks up a stick, ready to swat it, but Kana tells him to wait.

The disk settles at eye level before them and slows down. It eventually stops and hovers, the animals dangling. The face greets them and asks if they need a lift anywhere. Grant tries to ask it several questions about where they are, but MM gives very vague and unhelpful answers (he is trying to be helpful, the questions are just beyond his ability). He keeps offering them a ride.

Grant begins to get impatient but Eri asks where they would get a ride to (Kana is looking very sheepish and blushing while this is happening). MM says he only goes to a place that is safe with food and places to rest. With it getting dark, Eri thinks they should give it a try. Grant points out that MM couldn’t carry them, at which point MM expands to his full size and tells them to hop on.

The three decide to do so (Grant at first approaches the turkey, but the turkey rudely dismisses him). The ride begins, and the three smile at first, but quickly find the song and the turning to be annoying. Eventually they arrive at the safe place.

.

Role in the narrative: MM gets them from A to B. The way the characters react to him also start to plant clues: Grant finds MM annoying, Eri thinks he looks familiar, and Kana seems embarrassed for some reason.

Abilities: He can change size, float, move fairly quickly, turn, and play a lullaby.

Inspirations: We will find that this world is populated by creatures imagined by one of the characters. I thought of something that might inspire the imagination of the very young and liked the “mobile” and “mobile” wordplay. Talking objects are nothing new (e.g., Beauty and the Beast).

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.

Da Ogre (39)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: Da Ogre

Real name: Dorian Alexander Ogreton

Group affiliation: None

Physical description: Da Ogre is, well, an ogre. He’s eight feet tall, cartoonish muscular, and dark orange. His head is abnormally large for his body and he has very little neck visible. He has two black ram’s horns that curl around his ears and stick out past his chin. His lower canines are huge and their tips are even with his nose (which is tiny – basically just two holes). He carries a rough club that looks like it just might have been a small tree ripped out of the ground.

Personality: Da Ogre is vicious, roaring monster. At least to what he considers easy prey. He is quite refined and proper with those he considers powerful.

History: When Grant, Eri, and Kana get back to Grant’s apartment, Eri takes some time trying to charge or somehow get the broken smart phone from Uncle Lynn to work. After some time, she gives up and leaves it to study. Kana curiously picks up the smart phone, and it begins to glow. It then begins to shake and she drops it. It then begins to blaze with light and Kana calls to her family.

When Grant and Eri arrive in the room, the phone is in the middle of the room with a large energy vortex surging from it. Kana desperately grasping the edge of a couch as the vortex attempts to pull her in. Everything loose in the room is flying about. Eri without hesitation leaps to the other end of the couch and starts making her way to her sister. Grant, entering seconds after Eri is stunned and confused.

Eri calls to her sister to hold on while Kana cries for help. Grant tells them he’ll get something to help, takes a step away, but immediately returns as he’s at a loss on what to get. He holds the door frame and tries to reach out to the couch which has started to slide. Eri reaches her sister and grabs her wrist and uses her other arm to grab the back of the couch. The couch begins to slide more and the other edge of it moves past Grant’s reach. The couch tips forward and both girls yell as they are pulled into the vortex and vanish.

Grant stands agape for a moment and glances around utterly confused. He calls to the girls then notices the vortex is starting to shrink. He reaches out a hand and hesitates. He then swallows hard and dives to the vortex and vanishes.

After a crazy trip through a mystical portal, on a wooded hill a couch suddenly falls from the sky and lands with a crash. Two young women soon follow and land on the couch before bouncing off. Moments later, their father hits the ground with a grunt, missing the couch. A couch cushion falls a moment later, hitting Grant in the face. The stunned people get to their knees and stare at each other. Grant begins to speak only for what he was going to say to be drowned out by a deafening roar and a crash of something large moving through the woods. Without comment the three begin running away from the sound.

A large wooden club crashes down on the couch shattering it. It is held by Da Ogre, which again bellows and begins running after the people. Running through the forest, Grant begins to fall behind. He yells, “Keep running!” and then mutters under his breath “when did both of them get faster than me?” Da Ogre meanwhile is running through the forest like a wrecking ball, roaring the whole time. Kana, running full tilt, trips and falls hard. Her sister several steps ahead hears her fall and turns around. Grant nearly collides with both of them. Spinning around, he sees Da Ogre run up and raise his club above them. Uselessly, Grant stands in front of his daughters and throws up his arm to block the blow.

One of the girls yells, “Daddy!” and in a flash of light Grant is transformed. He becomes larger and is covered from head to toe in shining silver armor. A great shield appears on Grant’s outstretched arm and Da Ogre’s club splinters against it. Grant and his shield do not move an inch. Da Ogre, surprised, looks at the remaining stub of his club then down at Grant.

“My liege,” Da Ogre says (in a rich English accent), as he kneels before Grant. “Terribly sorry about that. Are you injured? Of course not – a feeble blow such as I can manage would not trouble King Granite. You see I was…ah…defending the realm against what I assumed to be interlopers. It is not as if I was pursuing what I thought to be easy prey, or anything along those lines. No sir – I remember you forbad eating people, quite clear on that. But, well, interlopers, you understand. The consumption of interlopers is something we should discuss at your leisure.”

Grant stands motionless, looking up at Da Ogre.

Da Ogre scratches his chin, and says “Should I perhaps…”

Grant interrupts him “Go.”

“Of course, of course,” Da Ogre bows his head a final time and rises to leave. “Delightful to see you, my liege, regardless of the circumstances.”

Da Ogre stomps off. King Granite melts away into mist, leaving only Grant behind. He and the girls look at one another, dumbstruck.

Role in the narrative: Da Ogre provides some action and shows that the realm they have landed in is not completely safe. Grant’s transformation into King Granite will at first make Grant believe the Journey is somehow about him. He will later learn that he only becomes King Granite when one of his daughters believes in him the way she did when she was a small child. This will convince Grant that the Journey is about him restoring his daughters’ faith in him (he’ll be wrong again).

Abilities: Fabulously strong, incredibly hungry, and fairly eloquent.

Inspirations: Grant and his shield reminds me of Captain America taking a hit from Thor in the Avengers (I was going to have Da Ogre knocked over by a backlash of energy until I realized that was a rip off). The monster not quite being what he seems at first has been used lots of times (the Snowman offering snow cones in Monsters, Inc. comes to mind).

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.