a character study

I wanted to do something a bit different, so I'm filling in one of our favourite things- a character sheet (the writing kind rather than the RP kind) and then you can compare it to how things are when you get this. (not that I've decided when I'm going to send it to) Character creation Name Hannah Mary Stilwell Have they ever had a nickname? As a child? As an adult? How did they feel about that nickname and how did they acquire it? Hannahlulu- Kemi calls me this because she wanted to give me a Nigerian sounding name (sounds more Hawaiian really) and it makes me laugh Hannah-hans- Vikki started this one. I kind of like it Han-Han- Diana, and I like it Haminal- Peter started it and mum uses it Hannahmuffin- Peter again Meg- the lads in club call me it, though most have forgotten it now Manimal- Peter again! Spanner/ Banner- Just about everyone calls me it Name they want to be called Just Hannah really, or Han, but I mostly don’t mind Do they have a name that they most resent being called? Who has called them by this name? Meg. They started calling me it in club because I apparently look like Meg from ‘Family Guy’. I wouldn’t mind so much except I don’t even like the show! Age 27 Birthday 5th October 1984 Star sign/ Chinese year Libra/ Rat Height About 5’4’’ Weight Uh… I think around 13stone. I can’t remember because I only weigh myself at mum’s Shoe size I fit in a lady’s 8, so long as the toes aren’t too narrow Body type Um… rounded on top, but kind of trim these days Physical condition Not great, but not terrible either Eye colour Blue/green Hair colour and style Currently it’s a mixture of natural brown-blonde and very faded purply-red. It’s straight, shoulder length, thin and fine. The sides around my face had been trimmed so I have these bits hanging down even when I’ve got the rest tied back Do they dye their hair? Yes, regularly (when I have the money). I’ve been red, blue, black, purple and dark brown. Black really, really didn’t suit me! Wear glasses/ contacts? I have had contacts in the past, but they cost too much for me to keep doing regularly, and I am meant to wear glasses for reading, watching telly, being on the computer, etc, etc, etc, but I don’t know where they are at the moment, and when I do find them I wear them all the time. Right handed, left handed or both? Right Distinguishing features Large *****, wide feet, usually flexible joints in my hands and arms, a scar on the base of my right thumb Any tattoos or piercings? Six piercings. Two in each earlobe, and then two at the top of my right ear How does character feel about his/ her face and body? I feel better about it now than I have done in a long time and have realised that I can actually look kind of attractive when wearing clothes that fit and suit me Most vain about I don’t know. I would like to say my face, but I’m rather harsh about my looks. I guess I really like my eyes though. I want people to notice my eyes Physical imperfections would most like to change I would love to be able to have less scars and marks on my hands and legs, a lot less moles and no spots at all Characteristic gestures I tend to stand with my hands on my hips a lot, and I run my hands through my hair a lot too. Set your character in motion across the room and describe how he or she moves I walk as though I’m marching most of the time, with my arms swinging by my side and my head up, but I often walk with my head down and hands in my pockets, or head up and hands in my pockets. I tend to walk quite quickly with large strides, and I look around me a lot as I walk. I will usually be talking to myself or singing. Race Human Ethnic group White British/ English Religion Christian What do they really believe in? I believe in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but I don’t believe in every word that was printed in the bible. I do believe in evolution and dinosaurs, and I also believe in Dragons. And, importantly, I believe in an ever-loving God with eternal forgiveness of all of His children and He would never punish anyone for truly loving another person. Family background/ lineage Parents are both teachers- mum is a private teacher, dad is a computer teacher in a community centre. Place of birth Watford, UK Where character lives now Netherley, Liverpool, UK Home Three story mid-terrace house with a paved front and back yard, attic conversion and conservatory Neighbourhood Closest neighbours are older couples, but there are many young people living nearby How do they feel about where they live? I love my house and our square. I really don’t want to leave here, and not just because it would involve having to pack everything up and move it all Married/ living with someone/ living alone? Not married, but living with friend from Uni- Diana. I look after her because she has ME- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Any children? Living with them or not? No children, but currently in the process of being approved to foster Siblings? Real- Two brothers, one older (Daniel, actor, lives in London) and one younger (Peter, IT tech, lives in St Helens) Step- (Jim’s) 3 Step-brothers; Chris, Gary and Jamie. (Sylvia’s) 1 step-brother (Stewart) and 1 step-sister (Lisa) Were their parents happy together when they were born? Later? It is kind of hard to say. They separated when I was four. They must have been happy at times though because they did get married and they had three kids before separating and we got to see both of them still. When they were growing up, did their parents argue? About what? Almost definitely, and probably about the amount of time dad spent on the computer, but I am only guessing here. Current relationship with parents and/or siblings? I love both of my parents and get on pretty well with my step-parents. I’m a little distant with my older brother, but that’s because we’re just so dissimilar and I don’t think we always know what to say to each other. Me and Pete get on pretty well though and we mostly wind each other up on purpose and we know it’s a joke. I love Lisa, though don’t really get to see her much, I can’t even remember if I’ve met Stewart and I don’t really like my other step-brothers, especially Gary. Other important relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents?) Uncle Tom, actually my step-granddad, my nanny’s second husband and the only ‘grandparent’ I have left. Which of these relatives was most important for good or ill? I… don’t know. We have a very big family, but most of the stuff that might have made any of them important sort of happened at times when I was too young to really understand or I just didn’t care. I was very self-absorbed even when it came to my own family. Which relative did the child hear that he or she looked like, and how did they feel about the comparison? I look, and sound, a LOT like my mum. I’ve seen photos of her at my age and we are basically the same person. I get told that I look a lot like dad as well, but I don’t see that as much. I have picked up a lot of his traits though. I have only occasionally been told that I look like my brothers and that… I have mixed feelings about. First experience of ***** in or out of the family? I think the first experience for me would have been my grandma. I don’t remember it very well and it was while we were still living in Runcorn, so before I was ten-years-old, so the first time it actually made an impact on me was when Granddad died. We cried together on the settee and Dan went up and played ‘Everybody Hurts’ on repeat. I still consider that to be the song for Granddad. Where and how educated? Regular schooling, though changed school a number of times due to moving. Summerswood School- London Brookvale County Primary School- Runcorn Halsnead CP School- Whiston Rainhill High School- Rainhill (while living in Whiston) 1 year taught at home- Whiston St Helens College- St Helens (while living in Whiston) Roby College- Roby (while living in Whiston) York St John University- York Years of schooling From age… 4 or 5 to… uh… 19, took a gap year, and then had three years of university Proud or ashamed of their education? Have they ever lied about it? I am very proud of Roby and York SJ, I sort of gloss over St Helens a little because it all kind of went a bit wrong there. Grades achieved in school Mostly Bs I think, and a few Cs. St Helens was U, E, U, E, E, U (like I said, it went a bit wrong there) and York was 2.1 Major/ minor studies in uni Counselling Studies Italian Degrees Counselling Studies Special occupational training Health and Safety at work First Aid at Work Lifesaving (lifeguard training) Skills, abilities, talents Can play guitar Writing Dexterous Doing accents Drawing faces Areas of expertise Writing Past occupations Paper round Bar work Coffee shop Cleaner Charity Shop Volunteer Bakery Uni dining room and Crush Bar Youth Worker Leader with the scouts Current occupation Youth and Children’s Worker at Woodlands Christian Revival Centre Is that what the person expected to be doing at this point in their life? Did they expect to be doing better or worse? When I was little I wanted to be a teacher, but eventually realise that this was a bad idea. Then I thought about social work and finally settled on being a school counsellor. But I have always known that I would be working with people and preferably young people. So it is partly what I want and partly not. Is this what their parents expected of them? I am not exactly sure What did their parents urge them/influence them to do? Mum never really tried to influence me to do anything in particular and I think dad just wanted me to do something where I actually got to use my skills At what age did the person first find work? What was the job? I was 15 and I did a paper round What was the best and worst job that the person ever had? Why? I HATED working in the coffee shop because of the manger there, who was not a very good manager. I loved working in the dining room, behind the bar in the ex-services and the job that I have now. It all comes down to the people I work with in the end. What would be their fantasy job? Full-time author Military experience None Goals To get a book published professionally Get official counselling hours Write a musical Get onto a best-sellers list Needs Money and lots of it More motivation Hobbies Writing Playing guitar Cycling Playing DS games Playing Sims Reading Making cards Making jewellery Role Play Games (D&D, d20) Interests Music Film Games Sports Cycling I guess, and swimming when I get to go Favourite past time Reading, writing, roleplay Favourite TV shows ‘Merlin’ is the only thing I actually watch on telly (via iplayer), but I also love ‘Dexter’ and ‘NCIS’, both of which I watch on DVD or streaming sites Favourite films God, there are so many! Accepted Enchanted Lion King Repossessed And these are just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head; there are many, many more! Favourite music I listen to just about EVERYTHING from Abba to Metalica, to Rod Stewart, to Hillsong. I list to rap, hiphop, blues, soul, Japanese, Nigerian, soundtracks, folk, rock, etc, etc, etc. The only music I don’t like is where it’s just someone screaming into a mic. Favourite travel destination Well I like going to London because it’s where my dad is, to Rainhill to see Rachael, and to York because it’s York. I loved Ireland, but don’t remember it very well, and I would love to go back to Denmark. Of places I would like to go to one day- Japan and Italy are at the top of the list Smokes? How often? When did they start? I have smoked a total of nine cigarettes in my whole life. It just never took with me really. Drinks alcohol? How often? I have never found an alcoholic drink that I like enough to keep drinking so I just don’t bother drinking, but I am willing to try drinks that are bought for me- I don’t always finish them though Favourite drink Lemonade Favourite meal Probably either my spaghetti bolognaise or lasagne Favourite books … *staring at my huge collection* Again, hard to pull out just a few Any of the main Dragonlance series, Lies of Locke Lamora, uh… Harry Potter, any of the Jill Mansell books, The Rachel Morgan books, Priestess of the White, um… so many others. Phantom of the Opera. Little Women. Secret Garden. Ballet Shoes. Are You There God? It’s Me Margret. Starring Sally J Friedman As Herself. Plex. Most Tom Holt and Robert Rankin books. Peter Pan. Winnie the Pooh (yes, I did just put that). Beatrix Potter. Terry Pratchette… So many, many others Diet Mostly homecooked, and often kind of unhealthy I’m afraid. But I try to eat pretty well so I’m not just guzzling down burgers and chips. We eat a range of things really, though I often go for whatever is quickest and easiest to cook, regardless of its nutritional content. Favourite restaurant/ ethnic food I love food in general, regardless of where it’s from, but if I get take out I tend to lean more towards Chinese, mostly because I can’t make a lot of the Chinese meals that I choose. I also love Italian foods, but can make a number of my favourites. I like Indian though I haven’t had any in a long time due to the fact that Di doesn’t like spicy food and I don’t want her to have to put up with the smell of curry when she doesn’t like it. Sense of humour I laugh at all sorts of things and collect bad and rude jokes. And bad rude jokes. Inappropriate jokes kind of stick in my head and I always want to tell them but know that I really, really can’t! Type of laugh I have two types of laugh really, maybe three. There’s my natural big laugh which tends to be quite loud and boisterous, and then there is my quiet breathy laugh which has been named my Mutley laugh due to how I sound like **** Dasterdly’s dog. I also giggle sometimes, but I think this is mostly affected and done on purpose. Do they sing? Who with, where and what? I sing almost all the time! I love music and song and dance. I sing when I’m working, I sing when I’m walking down the road, I sing when I’m at home, I sing along with anything that’s playing on the laptop and I sing when there’s no music except what’s in my head. I sing with other people and on my own and I really, really don’t care! Type and number of close friends I have Diana who lives with me and I’ve known her for about… six years, more or less, Wole and Peter who I’ve known for the last three years and work with them, Ben I’ve known properly about two years and I work with him, various people online that I’ve known for various lengths of time, Vikki who I met in York on the same course as me, so about seven years, and then Rachael, who I first met in my second year of Senior school, so I was about 11 or 12. Best friend Rachael. We’ve known each other for about 16 years and have been there for each other through some of the most horrible and difficult times in our lives. I don’t know what I would do without her. Other friends Di, Vikki, Peter, Wole, Ben, Kim… uh… Helen, Maddy, Nic, people, people, people. Crucial experience I don’t know if it counts as an experience, but being told that I was liked for just being me, with all of my oddities, and then, much later, being told that I was popular in uni. Pets Three cats, though one is actually Diana’s. Purrcy- Black and White male tuxedo cat who adopted us after being a stray for about five years Bran- Grey and white male tabby (Diana’s), was bought my Di’s ex. Name means ‘Raven’ in Welsh Suki- All black female kitten, currently about 8 months old and so cute. Name means ‘to like’ in Japanese General personality type Friendly, easy going Introvert/ extrovert An introvert who covers up her introvertedness by being extroverted. Quirks Having a song for every occasion Eccentricities Uh… song for every occasion again? IQ Not a clue, never checked Temperament Easy going I think, laid back What does he or she do when angry? Depends on what/who I’m angry at. I can be very quietly angry, wanting to avoid confrontation or unable to show anger for another reason and I will rant about it either on paper, or to Rachael face to face or on messenger if I’m able to. Or I can get very loud and yell and scream and hit and kick and generally just be really, really ******* angry! What does he or she do when depressed? Quiet. Withdraw. Start to *think* about self-harm. Wonder if there’s any point in certain things. Stop wanting to do the things I want to do. Admirable traits (This is really hard to write for myself) Accepting of everyone Giver of second, third, fourth and fifth chances Negative traits Lazy Bad habits/ vices Nose picking Prejudices Um… I guess I’m a little prejudice against some scousers, but at the same time I will defend them to the hilt. It’s not scousers that are the problem; it’s people. Pet-peeves/ gripes People not letting someone finish a sentence Not listening to answer once a question has been asked. Ignoring someone completely Being impolite Things that make uncomfortable/ embarrass People in church/ work talking about ********* and asking questions about mine. Most painful things in life Being bullied constantly from the age of five to fifteen simply because I was ‘different’ Ever been arrested? If so what for? No If they were to confide in someone, who would it be? A friend? Bartender? Family member? Religious leader? Doctor? Therapist? Stranger? Probably Rachael, and if I wasn’t able to talk to Rachael… I guess I would just bottle it up. What is your character’s most closely guarded secret? From work and church it’s that I’m ***. From almost everyone else it’s my true and unadulterated feelings about each and every one of them If your character could undo one thing they have done in their life, what would it be? Not just one thing, I would change so many of the things that caused me to be bullied even more than I already was. If they could have any wish, what would they get? I don’t know. Not world peace. Maybe money. It’s what I need more than anything at the moment. If they had the power to hurt anyone without punishment, whom would they hurt? Gary. How often do they fall in love and what happens? I believe that I have been truly in love just once, though I have been attracted to others. I smile like there is a coat hanger stuck in my mouth just at the mention of her name and I talk about her all the time. Do they have a physical or character type they repeatedly engage? I seem to go for people with dark hair a lot, but physical looks have never been important to me. I want and need someone who makes me happy and can make me smile even when I’m feeling depressed. Car None- can’t drive Colour See above Drives fast or slow/ obeys traffic laws See above Fears Spiders, aeroplanes, being buried alive What is their biggest/ most irrational fear? Being buried alive. I really don’t get where this has come from Phobias I guess spiders Manias I… don’t think I really have any. I suppose you could say that I’m slightly OCD and kind of depressed, but I don’t consider those to be manias Physical illnesses/ afflictions I have a bad jaw which sticks and clicks, and I have dodgy joints which regularly click Mental disturbances None Traumas/ psychological scars from the past Uh, you could make an argument for me having issues from my parents’ separation and from being the middle child and only girl, but they are only theories. Clothes style/ favourite outfit Tend to wear jeans almost all the time, and mostly dark colours. I like t-shirts with slogans even if I’m the only one who gets the joke, I wear hoodies with most things, I have a lot of ‘male’ clothing, and things that are too big for me, but I am comfortable in. Favourite pet sayings, words/ idiolect “Guess what? Love you!” “Fair enough.” Speaking style I have NO idea! Philosophy of life “Whatever can happen does happen, just not always where you can see it.” Believes in angels Yes… mostly Believes in demons Yes. Believes in aliens Sort of, but I don’t think they’ve been coming to earth all the time Believes in soulmates I don’t know. Not sure Believes in the afterlife Yes. Most of the time. Believes in Father Christmas No. Believes in destiny/ fate Hmmm…. Sort of. Believes in ghosts Yes Believes in Dragons Yes. Very much so Political/ social issues of importance *** rights Opinion on abortion “I think it is the right of every woman to be able to decide how they deal with an unwanted pregnancy, but I don’t think that it is right for everyone and it should only ever be used as the last resort.” Opinion on environmental matters “There is so much more that we need to do for this planet because we are quickly losing many of the animals and plants that we once thought would be around forever. We need to do something or the only animals our children will know will be ones in picture books.” Opinion on homosexuality “As a *** female my opinion is that it’s great. Heh.” Opinion on military intervention “I understand, to a certain degree, why we need the military and the defence that it gives us, but I think the people who are in charge often send in troops far too soon and give them far too much power.” Opinion on progress “Well… progress is good, because without it we would still be stuck in the dark ages, but I think there are times when we let progress get in the way of seeing what is actually needed and important.” Opinion on crime and *** control “We need to do a lot more work on these things!” Opinions peculiar to character “I don’t think that it’s that ‘peculiar’ but I believe that everyone has a form of creation inside them and we should nature that inner creativity and let them find out what they can make, whether it is a physical object, a story, an idea, a piece of music or even a building.” Political party None Liberal/ conservative/ middle of the road/ radical I guess… liberal? Income £11,000 a year gross Opposite ***, same *** or both? Same. Favourite attribute of same/ opposite *** Nice eyes, nice hands, a similar sense of humour, nice voice Attributes about character that attracts others I have been told that I am beautiful, I know that I am friendly Is the character a virgin? No Age they lost their virginity 16 or 17. Can’t remember Who was their first time/ who do they plan it to be? I guy I met online. I know. Bad decision What did they think of their first time/ think it’ll be like? What do they think now? It was alright, and he was nice to me, but… I have regretted it ever since. ****** turn-ons A bit of biting, stroking my sides and back. ****** turn-offs Anything involving poo or piss. Something happened to your character when they were young, perhaps in primary school that they are embarrassed about to this day. What occurred? Peter dug a hole in the backgarden, we were outside with sparklers on Bonfire Night and I fell in the hole. Twice. If you surprised your character in the street, where might they be going that they would least want you to know about? I suppose it would depend on who caught me. If it was people in work I might be going to a *** bar or the tarot section of the book shop. Other people… I’m not sure if there’s anywhere I wouldn’t want them to know about. What is the most physical thing that they do regularly? Probably the cycling every week to Rainhill and home. What do they resent most that another person did to them or caused to happen to them? Michelle. She told Steph, who was my best friend at the time, various things that I had supposedly been saying about her. Steph sadly believed her and I lost my best friend. I became much closer to Rachael because of it, but I have never quite got over the fact that I lost the friendship of someone I had known since first year in seniors. Fantasy life? Content and frequency of daydreaming? I have an extensive fantasy life. I dream about the future that I want to happen, about the future that possibly *Will* happen and everything in between. I also dream about the past, both the recent and far distant, and what might have happened. And I dream about my characters and what they are doing. I look forward to seeing how things have changed.