Potential Character for Mrs. Kelsey and Tumblr 4/30/2024:
Cheermole, Shy Morale-Booster:
What she’s from: Gamma World (maybe).
Background:
(Note: I'm not sure what sort of theme park the Performapals are a part of, I just made a guess or something)
In one worldline, a bunch of artificial life-forms were created as “living mascots” for a beloved bunch of theme parks. Called the “Performapals”, their only goal was to help and entertain everyone around them.
One figure created was a rather ironic creature: Cheermole, a being created to keep morale of her fellow Performapals (and others) up. There was just one problem with this: She was painfully shy, and lacking in self-confidence. She spent much of her time hiding underground or attempting to hide behind her pom-poms. She had a few friends, including the greaser-esque Swordfish. Like the others, she revered her creators (the “Makers”), and trusted in their plan for her and her fellow Performapals.
Then, one day, the Big Mistake (known to the Performapals as the “Showstopper”) occurred, and everything changed. Like the others, she remembers where she was and what she was doing on that terrible day (sort of like how a person might remember where he was or what he was doing on 9-11 or during Pearl Harbor): She was involved in a show, and did her best to help keep morale up among those who were helping evacuate the park.
As time wore on and news came in about everything that was happening and people came to the park less and less, Cheermole and her fellow Performapals watched with abject horror and confusion: Why would the Makers (who were seen as wise and benevolent creatures who only wanted what was best for them) allow this? Why would ANY human (who the Performapals saw as kind and gentle creatures that came into their lives to play with them and have fun with them and be entertained by them) commit such madness? Even the wisest among the Performapals had no answers.
At some point, Cheermole had a sobering and worrying thought: What if the Showstopper was some kind of punishment from the Makers? Did they do something wrong? Didn’t they make humans happy anymore? Even as her friends assured her that this wasn’t their fault, she still worried.
To make matters worse, “humans” (at least, they were MOSTLY looking like humans) came… but they weren’t like the humans they were used to. They were mean, and had guns. And then Wilton Dempsey, one of the greatest of the Makers, returned… but something was wrong with him. He began making suggestions for the park. Suggestions that didn’t seem very “fun” in the eyes of the Performapals.
Now, others begin coming, and Cheermole and her fellow Performapals must decide what to do about this situation. Whatever their choice, it will likely be spectacular.
How she is like me:
I’m not exactly SHY, per se, but I don’t always talk at times. Plus, various social situations affect me in various ways. Social situations like Inspire, where people make noise, sometimes, and do things that frustrate me. I do my best to endure, doing things like going somewhere else to calm down.
Kelsey Notes:
As you continue to grow and progress, you become more aware of complex social situations going on in everyday life and in the world
It can be scary when you start to realize that you can’t trust everyone like you used
As you progress, you start to balance out your shyness because you are able to tolerate social situations you weren’t able to handle because you now have better coping skills
Still, at times, having better understanding to how the world works, it can be overwhelming and you can develop anxieties that cause you to question your ability to handle stressful situations
As adults, we deal with rewards and punishments less- we have to face upsetting or disappointing others because of our actions with that being the main consequence of our actions.
This can make us feel guilty which can moticate us to make better choices in the future because we don’t want to let anyone down
As you make this transition, catastrophizing can cause our judgement to get clouded and our anxieties to take control