Tell Me About... Marco Diaz
(This was something I wrote in my notebook before bed last night. I wrote it imagining I was giving an interview for, like, a bump between commercials, or to promote the story if it were a show on Disney. Someday I’ll illustrate this with some concept stuff.)
The first thing you need to know about Marco is that he’s not very... cool. And to you that might mean dorky - big, gross glasses, pimples, talks with a lisp... but he’s not that, either.
Marco is mostly just a stick-in-the-mud. He’s very naturally grounded, and safe, and likes to follow the rules. He’s the kind of person who likes to brag about mundane things. You’ll never get him to go out partying, but he’ll tell you about his perfect tooth brushing technique, or his grade on a test.
Marco’s very detail-oriented. He likes things to be neat and tidy, and perfect, which comes out sometimes as an overbearing, sort of, compulsion for neatness.
“What’s His Drive?”
Early on you realize that Marco can quickly default to a sort-of “unlikable know-it-all” if he wants, but Marco doesn’t really like it when people see him like that. He likes being “safe” but hates being the “safe kid,” so he’s always trying to play “by the rules,” but also trying to push outside of his comfort zone. To sort of, you know, try new things, and figure out who he is. That’s part of why he’s drawn to Janna, I think, is because Janna pulls him out of that box...
Janna is Marco’s wild side. Marco will overthink things, but Janna will push him to do stuff he normally wouldn’t, without thinking, and so he kinda enjoys hanging out with her. There’s always something new going on when she’s around.
“If he likes doing new things, why can’t he talk to Jackie?”
Heh, I don’t think I’ve ever met a teenager who’s comfortable talking to their crush. Even Janna - well, you’ll see.
New chapter within the next 7 days.