in progress
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Ellie's on the short side, just a little over 5'1" - maybe about 156cm. She's extremely thin, going from a healthy weight to having to live off barely anything at all. She's pretty wiry, though, strong for someone of her size.
2. How old is she?
Sixteen at the beginning of the series, since they lose track of time I'll just say she guesses she's seventeen by now.
3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?
It depends. She has pretty okay posture, but between exhaustion and just wanting to curl in on herself sometimes, sometimes she slouches pretty badly. When she's really getting into an argument, though, having to assert herself or stand her ground, she straightens up.
4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
She's fit and strong for her size, but pretty unhealthy in a lot of ways. Insomnia and exhaustion, malnutrition and being pretty severely underweight, acute stress. She's a bit better so far as weight go since she and the others had that break in New Zealand, but she's still too thin from returning to the war zone. She also has a bad knee which she always seems to land on.
5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Tense, and extremely careful. She used to say that she and the other's looked horribly ungraceful next to Fi and Robyn, though. She tries to keep her movements controlled, though, it's a habit that's developed from the war.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?
Ellie's pretty ordinary, though she doesn't seem to have any trouble attracting people, seeing as there are four or five people who take some interest in her over the course of the Tomorrow books and The Ellie Chronicles. Actually six, if you count creeper army guy. BUT Ellie herself isn't super duper attractive, she's pretty normal and rough and ready - she's got energy though and is very engaging, which I think is what probably makes her attractive to people. She's pretty cute sometimes, though. She doesn't tend to think about her appearance much, it's been shoved pretty low on her list of priorities.
7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Working out on the farm and just living in Australia have given her a pretty tan complexion. It's probably kind of weatherbeaten from being so exposed to the elements. Her current canon point she doesn't have any particular scars, but she does get them later.
8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style.
Her hair is long, coming mid-way down her back. She tends to wear it down, or more frequently, just pulled back in a low ponytail. It's sort of a mid-brown, and it can look really nice, but it tends to look a bit abused - stringy, dry or sometimes hella oily since she doesn't have access to haircare living in the bush. It's probably kind of sad and brittle from her tragic diet, too, but maybe after being in the garden for a while it will improve.
9. What color are her eyes?
Brown.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
She has a tendency towards scowling or sharp, fierce smiles. She used to be a very happy, free, reckless kind of kid, but the war has made her very harsh, and it translates to a lot of her expressions.
11. What are her chief tension centers?
She gets a lot of tension and a tendency towards the shakes in her legs and her arms, although her thighs and back and neck also suffer from tension a lot.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit?
She wears a lot of practical things that she can wear around the farm or to pop over to a friend's place - jeans, shorts, maybe a singlet with a button-down shirt thrown over the top. She probably prefers dull, dark, natural kinds of colours these days, rather than colours that will show up easily in the bush.
13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?
Most of her clothes are probably on the loose side since she has lost so much weight, but she is pretty comfortable in them. They're in pretty poor condition, though, and probably wearing out.
14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?
She doesn't really have access to many clothes, so yes.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Simple things! Simple bras, sports bras, probably super basic underwear. Plain cotton, hooray.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Her voice is pretty low, for a teenage girl, and kind of gravelly. Her voice sounds pretty nice.
2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?
Ellie talks pretty easily. She's good at talking, unless she gets nervous, but words aren't generally a problem for her. Ellie is expressive when she talks, although sometimes she can get very emotionally flat, and that probably shows in her voice, too.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Definite Australian accent. Her dialect can be very casual and of the kids, she is one of the ones who speaks with the most stereotypically Australian dialect. She is still very proper with her language a lot of the time, though, and likes to speak properly, so she's nowhere near so informal and slang-y as Homer and Kevin.
4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?
English, but it's... Australian-English, is there is such a thing. She is very fluent in English, although if she heard British or American-English there might be some words that make her go "wait, what?"
5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Nope!
6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?
She pretty good as an impromptu speaker, but she doesn't always think things out or speak in an especially empathetic manner, so she can wind up saying really brutal, mean things under the guise of her "speak honestly" policy.
7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
She is pretty eloquent, although in high pressure situations words are sometimes abandoned - sometimes to due to the need for silence, or just because CAN'T BRAIN, FRANCTIC GESTURING. In general, though, she remains pretty articulate unless she is totally overwhelmed and just can't brain something because she's been completely ambushed. Sometimes when she is very angry it's hard for her to express herself.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?
Both! She often likes to quote or make reference to things she learned about in school, although she is only in high school so she is not especially highly educated. She is extremely street-mart, or... at least has a lot of life experience. She knows about farm life and guerilla fighting and all sorts of random-ass things, but she is also kind of an awkward teenage girl. It rather depends on the scenario, really.
2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?
She's good at thinking on her feet, and acting on instinct. Usually she and the others need to have a plan and coordinate, but if things veer away from plan (and they often seem to) then usually Ellie is good at coming up with something or devising a way to get things back on track or just keep them alive. Ellie does tend to Think Deep Thoughts, though, and when she has time to deliberate things it can lead to her being really caught up in her thoughts and unable to decide what to do.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Ellie has gotten a lot of flack for being too logical and thinking about things too much, so that she never is able to really do anything or take action. Sometimes she has to just go with her cut, but usually even when she is in a tight situation she is thinking logically about what she can or can't achieve, even if it's a split second decision.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
Rural Australia has varying degrees of the standard of education, although from Ellie's accounts it seems like Wirrawee High is pretty decent. She was just about to start year eleven, I think, before canon started, so she had completed her School Certificate but not gotten into her Higher School Certificate yet.
5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?
She knows a lot about raising sheep and working the land - she helped on her parents farm almost her entire life, so she can birth cattle and help with shearing, do all sorts of things. She knows how to drive a whole bunch of vehicles - tractors, dirt bikes, cars - although her driving can be pretty crazy. Hunting is also something of a skill, and she can use rifles (although not the fancy automatic ones).
Past that her skills include guerilla warfare, big explosions, bizarre feats of various kinds... she'd really like to learn how to live a normal life again, sob.
6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?
Extrovert, although she kind of becomes an angry introvert at times.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Ellie before the war and Ellie during/after the war are pretty dramatically different. She used to be capable of being serious and taking on responsibility, but fun, inclined to laugh a lot, adventurous, into her studies, she was captain of the netball team - she was out there, cheerful, and sure, inclined to be snarky, but pretty cool. During the war, she become very warped. The pretty severe PTSD she develops has a massive impact on who she is, with mood swings and an inclination towards the melancholy becoming very much the norm. She always over-thought, according to Fi, but she now has a tendency to be brutal and vicious, and very aggressive. She sees it as using common sense and just being honest, but she can be downright cruel and judgemental, from time to time.
8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Suspicious. Ellie has almost learned to doubt on instinct, and always be prepared for the worst - hoping for better rarely pays off, and she seems to get frustrated with herself when she gets invested or reliant on other people. She almost only trusts herself out of her regular group, and that's with people who she should know she can count on by now.
9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?
Depends. The very act of going on guerilla attacks is acting, and from the first book where she creates a giant explosion from a lawn mower instead of giving in to being captured when on the run definitely suggests someone more inclined to act. Sometimes she is forced to react to survive, but Ellie's preference is almost always to act, although she is hesitant to act when she can't be sure it's the right thing. "Time in reconnaissance is seldom wasted" is something of a mantra for her.
10. Which is her default: fight or flight?
Flight is usually the more viable option, but when flight isn't an option, she'll fight. It should be noted that she is usually the one getting herself into situations where she needs to make the decision to fight or fly, rather than just lying low.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Ellie's sense of humour is... rather diminished. It's morbid, really, although she can appreciate different forms of humour, it can take her a second to get an actual joke if she's in a serious, action!!! mindset. That said, sometimes she cracks jokes as a means to help her and the others cope - they're just usually accompanied by fierce, sharp smile that might detract from the actual humour because it's scary.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?
I think Ellie has post traumatic stress disorder, although that is my extremely amateur, uninformed assessment, so I could certainly be wrong. Given what happens over the course of the books and the way she changes, though, I think it's a fairly reasonable conclusion. She's also mentioned in the books to get diagnosed by New Zealand doctors as having acute stress after what happens in the third book.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?
14. What does she fear?
15. What are her hopes or aspirations?
16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
6. Does she have other close friends?
7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?
8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?
10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?
12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?
14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?
16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?
17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type?
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?
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?
4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her?
3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?
5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else?
6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?
7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:
1. Color?
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season?
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?
END
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