The Epic Character Mem!
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
5’11”. A bit lanky, he’s very active.
2. How old is he?
He doesn’t know, having lost track of time while in the asylum. His best guesstimate is somewhere in his late twenties, but he often acts much younger, due to his limited life experiences and naïve mindset.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He has a tendency to roll his shoulders in or lean to one side, anything that creates a look of imbalance. When sitting, he also slumps a little.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Physically, he’s fine. Mentally, his brain is deep fried like a Twinkie at the county fair.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
He’s tends to just appear and disappear. When he stays in the present time flow, he has the tendency to be a little clumsier than the average person, due to being more than just a little scatterbrained.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He doesn’t really think about it all that much, but if asked would respond “Not GQ but not Elephant Man status either.”
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Light, but has tanned a bit since being outdoors in the jungle for a few months.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
A light brownish-blonde that’s cut short at the moment. He doesn’t really care about it that much, running his fingers through it every so often if he thinks it looks too messy.
9. What color are his eyes?
Green, a recessive gene trait that runs in the paternal half of his family.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
His watches, having a ridiculous number strapped to both lower arms,
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Right shoulder, which locks up when he gets stressed, and his neck, which he cracks when tense.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Well, he doesn’t really care much about clothes, usually borrowing whatever he needs at the moment. He is completely casual, usually decked out in a T-shirt and jeans, and occasionally a jacket. He does prefer darker colors, blacks and blues. He's usually seen wearing a leather jacket that originally belonged to Ric.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
He borrows most of his clothing, so it’s never a perfect fit. Currently, he's wearing layers, so warmth is more important than comfort
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He wears the standard Team X uniform, but keeps his watches on, as usual.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxers. Next question.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
A deep California voice.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
He speaks a little quicker than most others, something he chalks up to his accent. He does converse easily, liking a good and intelligent conversation.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
A California accent, but not the stereotypical surfer dude. Mostly, he’s just a little louder and quicker with his words. He drops the ends off the beginning of some of his words, turning them into ‘em, about into ‘bout, and enough into ‘nuff.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
He knows Spanish, but understands more than he speaks.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Around Ric, he has a tendency to use Spanglish.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Think, definitely. Schzophrenia creates verbal as well as hallucinatory problems, so every time he speaks, he has make a conscientious effort to think of what he wants to say. But that hasn’t managed to nullify his occasional bluntness.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
He’s eloquent enough, unless you get him pissed. Then his speech patterns break down into sentence fragments, sounding stunted. ‘You hit like a girl’ turns into ‘Hit like girl.’
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
He’s smarter than most given him credit for, pointing out that crazy doesn’t equal stupid. Most definitely he is book-smart, having limited, if not stunted experience in the real world.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He thinks on his feet, making split second decisions and sticking to them, no matter how illogical they may be.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
His thought process…uh, non-existent? Seriously, his thought process is as fragmented as his mind, bouncing from monkeys to underpants and thinking it all makes sense.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
Up until the age of seven, he went to public school, and was noted as being a bright pupil. Self-taught afterwards, through lots and lots of books. He enjoyed the classics quite a bit, a fondness he stills holds. And TV. Charles Dickens and Jerry Springer side by side make for one interesting education.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
His powers. Unlike some mutants, he has very good control over them. And his watches, he has a knack for taking any timepiece apart and making it run with perfect time. Oh, and he’s a good thief, not that he sees it as such. Interested in? Everything, he’s quite a curious little critter.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Extrovert. Definitely. He needs to be around people. One of the best ways to punish him is stick him in Solitary Confinement. It drives him up a wall, almost literally, and is a great fear for him.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Extremely even tempered. Nothing really phases him, as odd behavior or mood swings from other people seem to him perfectly natural behavior. Almost always cheerful, it takes an awful lot to piss him off. And he’s laid back. Relaxing is an art form with him.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
With great enthusiasm in regards to people. He’s always curious as to their inner workings. With situations, he also is curious, but may shut down as a result of sensory overload if there’s too much going on for him to process.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
React. He prefers to kick back and let others plot and scheme, then figure out what to do.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight, a habit he doesn’t like. When your natural instinct is to age someone into a pile of dust or freeze them permanently in time when they are threatening you, disasters occur.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He enjoys pretty much all forms of humor, even though certain types of sarcasm and sophistication go completely over his head.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Schizophrentia. He sees visual hallucinations, partially due to his powers and partially due to his insanity. He currently is supposed to be taking medication in the form of Clozapine, a psychiatric drug. However, he hates taking the pills, and instead prefers to simply cope with the delusions as is, a strategy that doesn’t work as well as he would hope. Ric has been more successful in making sure he stays on top of them.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
Getting committed to the asylum as a child. Deciding that he didn’t want or needed to be “cured”. And agreeing to be a lab rat instead of a patient. Joining Team X. Meeting his friends.
14. What does he fear?
Being alone. And the people he cares about leaving his life permanently. And doctors.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
Someday, he’d like to own a little clock shop.No, really, he would.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Just how many things he knows about everyone that he wishes he didn’t.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
From what few memories he can recall, he had a happy childhood up until his powers manifested. Afterwards, his relationship with them deteriorated rapidly. It was just too difficult to deal with a child who had the ability to mess with time. Surprisingly, he harbors no ill will towards them for committing him, rather he’s just relieved they did so before he permanently injured or killed either of them. It did, however, leave him with some abandonment issues.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
None that he knows about, but he doubts his parents would’ve risked the possibility of another child turning out to be a mutant.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
He was very close to his paternal grandmother, who continued contact with him, despite his label as “crazy”, until her death when he was in his early twenties.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Friends are his only family, as such he would die for them. Edie/Tammy, the first person he met, he considers her to be like a sister(s) to him. He also has recently become close to Rogue, after switching powers, he feels has a better understanding of what she goes through. Opehlia as well, the two craziest members of the team get along swimmingly. And of course, Rictor.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
He’s loathe to put such labels on his friends. It’s like asking him to pick a favorite familt member, ridiculous and completely pointless.
6. Does he have other close friends?
Jason, Atticus, and a few others.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Very easily. He thrives most when around people.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Friends, as they are the only family he has.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
He's in a relationship, but not married.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Yes, with Julio Esteban Richter, a.k.a. Rictor a.k.a. Ric.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Showed him you could still be quirky and find love. Latest would of course be Ric.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
Someone intelligent, with a good sense of humor. And a lot of patience, since he knows he can be quite a handful.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No, and not really.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Jean, but then, she's got like half the camp after her.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale ?
A doctor once asked him to picture two ideal romantic partners in his head, as part of a human sexuality experiment. The first remained consistently a woman, the second shifted from a woman to a man to a lightbulb to a baseball to a rug to a washing machine to a monkey….at which point the doctor said the session was over. So a 2 on the scale.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
He likes and enjoys it, but it’s not his number one priority.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Ears, oddly enough. He enjoys nibbling on them. And a bit of the rough treatment. Turn offs for him are someone who wants to take control too much.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice ) sign? How well does he fit type?
Aries. While not fitting the natural leader role one finds in most Aries, and lacking the independent streak, Martini fits the Aries mindset to a T. From a website: “Independence is key to Aries astrology, they do not like to take orders from others and enjoy getting their way. They can get childish or moody should they be given orders that they do not like. Aries easily take offense to comments made. Aries are self-involved and can be self-centered, if they do not pay attention to the feelings of others, Aries can easily become spoiled and resented by others. In order to get their way, Aries will tell a lie if it seems advantageous to do so. They are however, not very good liars and other people can usually see through them. Underneath the strong, independent surface may lie insecurity. This is due to the intense drive to succeed and Aries put too much pressure on themselves, thus resulting in self-doubt however, the natural optimism and enthusiasm overtakes this and the underlying insecurity may never be known to others. Aries are very impulsive and usually do not think before they act - or speak. Too often Aries will say whatever pops into their head and usually end up regretting it later!”
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
He’s agnostic, but nothing further than that.
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?
He does, as shaky as it is. No necessary killing, take only what you need; nothing more, stay loyal to your friends, and don’t lie being the main core principles.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
Since he lived in such a diversified area as California, he came in contact with a range of people. As such, he’s tolerant of about anything short of devil worshipping.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Being someone on the receiving end many a time of someone’s prejudices, he keeps an open mind.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
Non existent. He has no money, never having held a job and being property of the U.S. government. It doesn’t bother him, he finds money to be a nuisance.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Martini has the status of “mental patient”, and the social stigma that comes attached with it. He tries not to let it show, but he is deeply affected by people who simply write him off as being crazy and nothing more without attempting to get to know me.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
Currently, he's sharing a room with Atticus, which is kept clean and tidy. He also spends a great deal of time in the room Ric shares with Wade, even if he is driven up the wall by its pigsty appearance.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Well, having no money, he steals whatever he wants. Mainly food, books, and a watch if it catches his eye.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
Currently, member of Team X. If he ever gets a chance to do some field work, you’ll see. He very much enjoys it. He’s never had this much entertainment in his entire time.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
He’s an avid reader, and also enjoys simply being around people.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He’s more of a snacker than a three square meals a day kinda guy. And he tends to mix them up, eating pizza for breakfast and pancakes for dinner, since the times he considers meal times vary. Just don’t give him anything with too much sugar in it.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Earth colors, like dark green and browns.
2. Smell? Smoke and soap.
3. Time of day? Sunrise and sunset. He’s seen every single one for almost 20 years and still likes them.
4. Season? Spring, with all the growing things.
5. Book? One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. If this isn’t obvious, Martini demands you go and read the book and/or watch the movie. Now.
6. Music? Anything loud, with a strong bassline.
7. Place? Disneyland. What better place than the Happiest Place on Earth.
8. Substance? Toothpaste.
9. Plant? Roses. Which he’ll never admit.
10. Animal? A tie between platypus and chinchilla