( task x 2. )
character survey
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character’s height and build. Are they heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
↪ pretty tall for a female at 168cm with a build in-between slender and lanky. mostly lanky because all she ever eats are vegetable and fish anyway.
2. Describe their posture. Do they carry themselves well or do they slouch?
↪ slouches a fair bit, especially when in an environment she is comfortable and somewhat relaxed in. the only occasions she might feel conscious enough to straighten is during moments of tension or curiosity. kind of like a cat.
3. How is their health? Are they fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
↪ by looks alone, seemingly healthy, but because she lacks protein, sebin is prone to tiring out easily and other related conditions (fatigue, hyperventilation). probably fairly weak but generally healthy. other than that, no known illnesses and no physical disabilities.
4. How do they move? Are they clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
↪ languid and lazy. sometimes she moves with softness but not necessarily graceful nor fluid. it’s because she’s constantly physically and mentally tired, and it shows in her movements.
5. Describe their complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
↪ very fair, almost pallid and pasty. some blemishes and scarring on her arms and legs attributable to either injuries from childhood or scratching.
6. Describe their hair: color, texture, style.
↪ naturally a solid black, but currently she has it dyed a light chestnut brown. whenever she can be bothered, sebin uses a hair mask, so texture is sleek and shiny, with a long and usually unbrushed aesthetic.
7. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
↪ a prominent nose and round forehead that she is lowkey self-conscious about
8. What is the character’s wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or do they have six of the same suit?
↪ casual or smart-casual, depending on her mood. sebin loves straight-cut clothing with clear lines, her favorites being blazers, denim jackets, pleated skirts. she also owns items of the casual variety, such as oversized sweaters, jeans, and t-shirts. although she prefers pastel tones and light colors, they don’t match her aesthetic well, so she tends to find a comfort zone in neutrals. her wardrobe contains a variety, really, as well as berets of all the colors of the color wheel.
9. Do their clothes fit well? Do they seem comfortable in them?
↪ comfort is sebin’s requisite. second to only fashionable appearance.
Speech
1. What does this character’s voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
↪ smooth and airy fairy. when speaking it may drop a pitch lower, just out of habit.
2. How do they normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Do they talk easily, or do they hesitate?
↪ just like her actions, her words are languid and slither rather than flow. in normal conversations she tends to speak softly and slowly, she’s really reserved in that sense. but she talks with confidence and there’s always a sense of finality in what she says.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
↪ sebin has more or less trained herself to subdue the harsh accent involved with jeju dialect. though familiar with the vocabulary of her hometown, while she’s here in daejeon she speaks only mainland korean with a seoul accent. she also likes to enunciate her S’s a lot.
4. What language(s) do they speak, and with how much fluency?
↪ fluent in jeju dialect, korean, and fairly fluent in reading french.
5. Do they switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
↪ nope. as mentioned she’s very adamant on not using her jeju accent nor dialect, the past being something she doesn’t like to bring up with other people. sometimes she speaks french be it to tease others, or when writing to add artistic flair.
6. Are they a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
↪ she would be a good impromptu speaker, in the sense that sebin speaks what’s on her mind. she has a nonexistent word filter.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Are they book-smart or street-smart?
↪ unbeknownst to many and contradictory to her lifeless demeanor, sebin is very book-smart in the area of her practice. that being music theory and just music in general; from the culminating crescendo to the whispering adagio.
2. Do they think on his feet, or do they need time to deliberate?
↪ she’s very straightforward and impulsive, so deliberation is null. then again, it really depends on the weight of the situation in sebin’s point of view. if it’s over something that she holds dear to her heart, she will definitely need to take time to ponder.
3. Describe the character’s thought process. Are they more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
↪ on the daily - intuitive and tends to be heavily reliant on emotions, though she would deny even having any said emotions. when it comes to beliefs she’s somewhat practical and a dogmatist.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
↪ only a small-town grade school and kindergarten. she switched to mokwon high in her second year and is currently pursuing a degree at mokwon university.
5. What are their areas of expertise? What, if anything, are they interested in learning more about?
↪ music theory, a fair bit of composition, and language. sebin is interested in culture and fine arts, cinematography, sculpting, but she would rather appreciate them from far than to try them herself.
6. Are they an introvert or an extrovert?
↪ leaning more towards introverted. she wouldn’t make the first move or be the one to strike up conversation, but when she does eventually engage in a conversation she doesn’t have trouble with holding them more often than needed.
7. Describe the character’s temperament. Are they even-tempered or do they have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
↪ although usually placid, sebin’s biggest weakness is her bitter, volatile temper. she often lets her anger drive her actions, leading to undesirable circumstances. due to her twisted mindset that the world has so cruelly wronged her, she is compelled to melancholic bouts and insensitivity, though she knows, in a way, that it’s wrong. other than that, she can be laid-back when with a person she’s taken a liking to.
8. How do they respond to new people or situations? Are they suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
↪ she responds to the unknown with welcoming open-mindedness. she loves exploring different tastes, preferences and rationale. when facing with a new person or situation that has piqued her interest, she would subconsciously probe more into them/it, wanting to expand her horizons.
9. Are they more likely to act, or to react?
↪ not a natural-born leader, sebin has always been a follower. definitely react.
10. Which is their default: fight or flight?
↪ she is stubborn, she is self-centered and she believes in tearing down obstacles. fight.
11. Describe the character’s sense of humor. Do they appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
↪ possessing a rather dark and morbid sense of humor herself, she has somehow depreciated her reactivity to other types of humor. she finds herself rolling her eyes or dismissing with a scoff the sort of humor that other normal college kids like her have.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how do they deal with them?
↪ none that have been officially diagnosed, but possibly atypical depression and a borderline bipolar disorder, from symptoms alone. she has no specific ways to deal with them, nor is she actively looking to deal with them or get them checked.
13. What moments in this character’s life have defined them as a person?
↪ the move from jeju to daejeon; picking wrong crowds to mix with during her prepubescent years; the decision to leave her parents behind.
14. What do they fear?
↪ mental breakdowns, eventual failure in her planned route, people who are always one step ahead of her, be it in terms of academics or mentally.
15. What are their hopes or aspirations?
↪ monetary success, academic success, all kinds of measurable wealth because that’s all she’s been taught to prize.
16. What is something they don’t want anyone to find out about them?
↪ the current status between herself and her family, her past in jejudo, her underprivileged background.
Relationships
1. Describe this character’s relationship with their parents.
↪ estranged by her own choice. it had been smooth up until the move to seoul, then her relationship with her parents grew sour because of either unnecessary grudge that she built from the fact that they tore her away from her childhood, or just the fact that she was beginning to change her mindset, being at the age very vulnerable to personality changes and such.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
↪ she’s an only child.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom they are close? Are there ones they can’t stand?
↪ her blood relatives are a thing of the past now, too. she would faintly remember some aunts and uncles who were very nice to her and whom she had loved, but that’s it.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom they consider part of their family? What are their relationships with them?
↪ her cat banjo. human relations are still a frontier when it comes to sebin based on the fact that she’s a bit guarded and most people are repelled by her persona. she doesn’t really know how to react to people who actually like her for who she is (or at least tolerate it). i guess family is also a sensitive topic.
5. Do they make friends easily, or do they have trouble getting along with people?
↪ lots of trouble. right off the bat, she doesn’t get along well with strangers. there’s always something she’s peeved about.
6. Which do they consider more important: family or friends?
↪ if it came down to it, friends. but still she’s a bit of a lone wolf.
7. What do they look for in a romantic partner?
↪ sebin is inexperienced in this field. i think she would like someone who could be patient with her, and who would accept and adore all her spikes and thorns, along with the little bit of beauty that she comes with. most importantly it has to be somebody she isn’t easily irritated with and isn’t constantly trying to screw over.
8. What is the character’s sexual orientation?
↪ assumed pansexual. other than a little crush here or there throughout the years she is, after all, inexperienced with romantic relationships. she assumes that she is open-minded enough.
9. How do they feel about sex? How important is it to them?
↪ not important at all. she believes it does not define anyone as a person and it really isn’t something she actively seeks. like, it’s not a line to tick off her bucket-list but as any other virgin, she is curious and intuitive of the act.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character’s astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well do they fit type?
↪ a leo/cancer cusp. safe to say she identifies more with the attributes of a leo, that being arrogant, ambitious, creative, independent. but sometimes the sensitive aspects of a cancer takes over, and that’s where she gets her bouts of moodiness, introversion and nostalgia.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in their life?
↪ she is agnostic. in no sense does she have any spiritual or religious beliefs. she believes that everything bad that has happened in her life would all come down to the fact that there are actually no spiritual beings or entities to help her.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
↪ she would have her own made-up code of morals and ethics. as time grew by she threw all that she had learnt growing up with her parents out the window and carved her own beliefs. these are morals she’d picked up through the movies she’s watched, the things she’d seen on the internet, personal observations, etc. it wouldn’t take a lot to compromise it. as she easily discarded her previous code of ethics, she can just as easily abandon this one.
4. How do they regard beliefs that differ from their own? Are they tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
↪ curious. largely curious. though she might show some disagreement or lack of understanding towards differing beliefs at first, she is open-minded and any refutation is but natural instinct when facing something you disagree with. she will eventually try to pry or seek comprehension but she wouldn’t directly ask about it. it’s the wonder of discovering inner workings of other people and other things that she loves.
5. What prejudices do they hold? Are they irrational or do they have a good reason for them?
↪ sebin does hold prejudices quite often, as a matter of fact, and over small trivial or irrational things. in this sense, she’s very emotionally reactive. more often than not, the prejudices and grudges she holds against others are due to either personal offense or just plain dislike. also she tends to blame the sinner, not the sin.
Daily Life
1. What is the character’s financial situation? Are they rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
↪ blatantly poor. originally a fisherman and his wife, her parents have scrimped and labored just to put sebin in mokwon, and they are still sending money to the school for her tuition fees but sebin herself does not know of this. she is currently holding two part-time jobs to salvage her situation, including daily necessities, leisure items and rent. despite all this, neither her nor her family are in debt.
2. What is their social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected them?
↪ throughout her earlier teenage years, sebin never really had an obstinate social status or clique. it’s because she has had a rather volatile and changing personality, and up until now, she had only been finding herself. only when she entered university did she find fixed interests and hobbies and settled with the Hipsters, the only clique accepting enough to keep her this long. if there’s one thing that has been established throughout all this time it is that she has always been on the lower tiers of the social pyramid.
3. Where do they live? House, apartment, trailer? Is their home their castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Do they share it with others?
↪ a tiny, boxy studio apartment near the campus. initially when she first moved to daejeon and was living in a three-room apartment with her parents, she had found it suffocating. a concrete prison rather than some place she should call home. now that she’s on her own, she’s quite fond of the little apartment she rented. the furniture and decorations are rustic and mostly secondhand, but at the moment, she wouldn’t ask for more than a cozy home to embrace her brittle bones after a long day. however, it’s a tad bit cramped so her only housemate is her cat.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what do they spend their money on?
↪ she swears she shouldn’t be spending that much on expensive coffee, music records and foreign films, but she is. the older the production date, the more expensive they are. once in a blue moon when she’s feeling rich she pampers herself with new camera accessories too.
5. What are their interests or hobbies? How do they spend their free time?
↪ a huge side interest of hers is photography and her photography blog. free time is spent either watching film noir to the melody of 70’s jazz tunes, or finding a new museum or orchestra concert to go to. playing the flute is something she does too, when she feels sick of filling in the scores of her homework and wants to do something practical.
6. What are their eating habits? Do they skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
↪ does not usually skip meals unless she happens to oversleep breakfast or forget dinner while watching movies. sebin is a peskatarian and that mostly just means she is a pesky eater because she would only eat fish, refraining from other meat from mammals. it is incredibly hard for her to find suitable dishes when eating out, so she prefers to make something simple at home and that usually just results in salad with a side of grilled dory. she does not drink alcohol either, simply because she hates the taste.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is their favorite:
1. Color? dark apricot or grays 2. Smell? mixed spice over fire 3. Time of day? twilight 4. Season? autumn 5. Book? some pretentious french novel, probably 6. Music? tear in my heart - twenty-one pilots 7. Place? the crystal blue sea 8. Substance? kale juice 9. Plant? fern 10. Animal? sleek domestic cats
