Character Solidifying: 20-25 for Casey, 32-37 for Caleb, and maybe the last 5 questions for Ryn?
from this prompt list
Thank you so much for asking!!!
Casey MacKinnon-Theirin
20. What were the most deeply impressive political or social, national or international, events that they experienced?
Well, safe to say the Blight. She’s about three or four at the time of it, so she has some vague memories of it, plus she hears stories from her parents and their friends, as well as Fergus and her uncle in Highever. She is very aware of the events instigated by Rendon Howe at Highever - again, through those same sources. In fact, when she is older, she asks her mother some specifics about it because for the first part of the Blight, Serafina is in occupied Highever.
21. What are your character’s manners like? What is their type of hero? Whom do they hate?
Casey is very well mannered for the most part; as a child, she is subject to the behaviors of a child, of course, which are as unpredictable as they are varied. Her parents introduce her to the Hero of Ferelden - for a man who has the word in his ‘name,’ she tends to think of the Wardens as her ‘typical’ hero, though she is well aware that her Mama and Uncle Sean and Fergus are heroes in their own right, too. Casey doesn’t really discover what true hatred of a person can be until she is an adult. I’m not going to go into details on that right now as it is part of a plot line that will include her in the stories.
22. Who are their friends? Lovers? ‘Type’ or ‘ideal’ partner?
Oh boy, you really want me to think of her as an adult, don’t you?! lol Let me see ... she has a group of friends (fellow pages/squires) when she is training at Highever with whom she is close. As for lovers (I seriously haven’t given this any thought at all yet!), I suppose her ‘idea’ is someone who treats her as an equal, who respects her (as she will them) and with whom she is comfortable. Her ideas of ‘perfect’ relationships are the ones she sees around her - her Mama and Alistair, her Uncle Sean and Aunt Josie (they’ve known one another since they were kids and always knew they’d end up together), Teyrn Fergus and his wife, etc. I think she’d use those as ‘guidelines,’ if you will in what she looks for. As to what she actually finds, that will have to wait and see!
23. What do they want from a partner? What do they think and feel of sex?
For the first part of this question, see the previous one. When she’s older, Casey wants to have a long term relationship with someone, definitely, and she knows sex will be a part of that. As for her specific thoughts about it, again will have to wait. (that’s something I need to think about more in specific terms of when I know who she’ll be with!)
24. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?
Casey is the ‘observer’ most of the time in a group. She’s a people watcher, basically. She’s pretty good at figuring them out based off body language and things like that. Like her mother, she’s the lone rogue of her group, and because of some of the specific training her mother gives her from a very young age, she has a bit of an edge in that department. There are times she likes to be the leader in the group, but those times are rare and far between, and usually only in a closed sort of setting (like her mother and uncle, Casey and her friends like to gather down at the Cove and have bonfires without anyone else around)
25. What are their hobbies and interests?
Casey loves to read, sing and perform. Outside of that, her grandmother (who is also in Highever when she’s there) teaches her how to knit, though she is bad at it. At some point in her life in Denerim (before going to Highever), she spends some time during visits (either in Denerim or up at Vigil’s Keep) with the Grey Wardens and Nathaniel teaches her how to carve things out of wood. Surprisingly, this is something she takes a liking to, and she becomes quite good at it over the years. Figures, decorative pieces that can be turned into jewelry, etc. It’s only later and a passing comment by her Uncle Sean that she recalls her great grandfather used to make instruments in a similar manner.
Caleb Shepard
32. How does your character react to stress situations? Defensively? Aggressively? Evasively?
Caleb learns early on to compartmentalize things. Life is all about survival. He doesn’t recall his life before he was about age 6, and when he joins the Reds, the tactic comes in handy, especially if things go bad. More than once he’s watched someone he considers a close friend die right in front of him. This training is something that follows him through into his military years. Only once or twice does he have difficulty shutting away his thoughts/feelings because of it.
33. Do they drink? Take drugs? What about their health?
Caleb will drink occasionally - usually beer (if it’s Guinness) or whiskey. Drugs are out of the question (it will tie in with his Reds experiences). His health, outside of the punishment he is dealt on a daily basis as a soldier, is pretty good.
34. Does your character feel self-righteous? Revengeful? Contemptuous?
In a way (and he and Thane have long conversations about this during the hunt for the Collectors), he is very similar to Thane in the way he views himself. He is a highly trained weapon. Unlike Thane, he has a bit more leeway in deciding when to implement and utilize that. I wouldn’t say he’s self-righteous or revengeful or even contemptuous. However, afterr the Reaper War, he will have to face certain things that might well change that ...
35. Do they always rationalize errors? How do they accept disasters and failures?
Colin. Nora. Brennan. Aoife. // Akuze. Virmire. Thessia. These are some of the biggest ‘disasters’ and ‘failures’ in his life. He takes them hard. VERY hard, and never really gets over them. As he gets older, the longer he serves in the Alliance, he learns to hide them better. He and Kaidan will actually argue about this at some point in their stories. (I’ll wait and let the rest play out then)
36. Do they like to suffer? Like to see other people suffering?
This is an interesting quesiton. Caleb doesn’t like to suffer, no. Will he? If it means someone else won’t have to, sure. But suffering for the sake of suffering? Nope. Not his style.
37. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot?
He is a son of Ireland - of course he has a sense of imagination! I wouldn’t say he daydreams a lot - maybe once in a while, but very rarely. Still, he loves the stories and poems and music of his native land and especially once he leaves the Alliance after the War, he will see what he can do about ‘reclaiming’ some of that in his life.
Ryn Bailey
46. Is your character tall? Short? What about size? Weight? Posture? How do they feel about their physical body?
Kathryn Bailey is a biotic, a Vanguard to be specific, so her metabolism has always been on her side as far as that’s concerned. She’s about 5′6 - 5′8 or so; pretty average height for a woman, perhaps a bit taller than usual. (Reyes doesn’t mind, trust me! ;) ) She isn’t an overly physical person outside of her Alliance training. In other words, she isn’t an athlete or into physical exercise really. She’s pretty satisfied with herself, truth be told, and that was BEFORE she met Reyes (and oh yes, he approves! lol)
47. Do they want to project an image of a younger, older, more important person? Does they want to be visible or invisible?
Ryn sees her self as an ‘average’ human woman. Given her training, she likes to blend into a crowd rather than be seen, and she does that pretty well. Even within Reyes’ group, she’s there, the others know she’s there, but she can be in the same room as everyone else and people will ask, “Where’s Ryn?” That’s what I mean by ‘blend in.’
48. How are your character’s gestures? Vigorous? Weak? Controlled? Compulsive? Energetic? Sluggish?
Um ... when she’s in biotic mode? Definitely energetic. She is, overall, a pretty controlled person. “Weak” or “Sluggish” only comes into play if Reyes has been teasing her recently. LOL
49. What about voice? Pitch? Strength? Tempo and rhythm of speech? Pronunciation? Accent?
Pretty average. She and her twin both grew up in the Midwest US (Chicago area) and have a pretty plain way of speaking, no accent really. She’s not a shouter unless she’s in the heat of battle and then adrenaline can do a number on her! She might occasionally get into a situation where she’s caught too far off guard by a situation and it’s obvious in her voice, but that’s only happened once to her that she can remember, and that was when Reyes found out the truth about her. He got over it, and so did she. :P
50. What are the prevailing facial expressions? Sour? Cheerful? Dominating?
I’d say probably closest to cheerful. She and her twin learned to be pretty independent from a young age and especially after their parents split up, but they always had each other. Even now, 600+ years away from the Milky Way, things in Andromeda falling apart around her, she’s practical, but always seems to have a smile on her face when the going gets tough.