character development questions #11 / inbox cleaning + not accepting.
6. is your character easily creeped out by ghost stories, horror movies, scary images, etc.? if so, what kinds of stories scare them the most? why?
not really. rome kind of likes the adrenaline rush of haunted mansions and good horror movies, will get a good surprise/scare but he does not actually get that affected by them or creeped up in a lasting way. and when being told ghost stories and such he doesn’t actually get all that invested considering he’s quite aware of the fact that ghosts and all those classic “monsters” certainly do exist and he interacts with them on a daily basis. stories that could perturb him a little bit are maybe heavy psychological horror types of films.
7. has your character ever had to overcome a big fear in order to complete an important task? if so, what was the fear, and what did they have to do to overcome it? if not, have they ever failed at a task because of a fear?
rome is an adrenaline junkie and the type of dude that gets “fueled by fear” into overcoming that which scares him or doing what needs to be done, so conventional things (like public speaking) that might give others anxiety are nothing for this juggernaut of an extrovert. however, he is legit scared of more emotional endeavors. he was afraid of confessing his feelings to his best friend luke and admitting to himself that he wanted to be in a relationship with him. he had to overcome that fear in order to achieve it.
8. describe how your character deals with failed or failing relationships, whether familial, platonic, romantic, sexual, or otherwise. do they easily let go of people, or are they more likely to hold onto a relationship for as long as they can? does this affect how they form relationships?
if something doesn’t work, jerome will be the first to feel it and the first to think it’s time to call it quits. that applies to friendships, romantic relationships, sexual relationships, business relationships, etc etc -- if it doesn’t work, if it isn’t fruitful, if there’s no rapport and he sees no possibility of it unfolding/working out then he will wrap things up as promptly as possible. he won’t be super tactful (tact is not a way to describe jerome) but he won’t be an asshole about it and he will just be a honest as possible about it. that’s just how jerome navigates relationships and so they can be made as easily as they can be unnmade. familial relationships are a little trickier but he doesn’t cling onto them if he feels like they’re toxic in some form -- he will try to keep the contact as scarce as possible.
9. is your character gullible, or do they tend to be more skeptical? if they’re gullible, do people ever take advantage of them for it? and if they’re skeptical, is it hard for others to convince them of things that are actually true?
i’d say he stands at a medium... neither gullible nor too skeptical. he’s got common sense and his bullshit sensors are alright and well, but he does have his idealistic moments that can hamper his decision making. sometimes he will believe the idea that is too good to be true because he wants to be optimistic about things and that might put him in a bad spot. but this doesn’t happen 100% of the time, and he’d like to believe with time he’s become more business savvy. experience has taught him how to do better. but still, if you’re skilled enough you may be able to take advantage of his generous nature.
this all said he’s not stubborn at all about his ideas (unless he has deep set beliefs about them) and he’s quite open minded and willing to listen to different perspectives so he’s not hard to convince if you give him a good argument. and you know sometimes the argument isn’t very good but he doesn’t know enough about it to dispute it, so he’ll just say he’ll do some research before forming an opinion (that is something he learned from his parents).
10. if your character emptied the contents of their pockets/purse/backpack/etc., what would be inside? do they often have a lot of stuff on them from day to day, or are they light packers?
pockets: money clip with ids, cash, debit and credit card; his keys, some loose change, his phone, sometimes his wireless earpods.
backpack, usually for when he’s going over to a friend’s place: hair brush/comb, his laptop, fresh change of clothing, toothbrush, deodorant, grooming products.
gym bag, usually... when he goes to the gym or to the neon hq: fresh change of clothing, deodorant, soap, toothbrush, grooming products.
he carries only the essentials on his person. on his day to day it’s only what’s in his pockets. then if he has to go to a specific place he will pack accordingly.
