ooc: character survey
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Average height (5’6”), slim build, noticeable curves.
2. How old is she?
20; 22 post canon update~
3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?
Shirley carries herself well to show off her figure and clothes along with trying to convey an air of superiority and haughtiness. The high heels help.
4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Shirley consistently suffers from anaemia due to the nature of blood sacrifice and as a result has an impaired immune system. She suffers from migraines/severe headaches before she performs a death wail and additionally can, at times, suffer from dobrón (grief) which is like depression and leads to fatigue and lethargy. All of this, along with her aversion to exercise means that she’s fairly unfit.
5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
She’s graceful, aware of her body and how to move it and there’s an unconscious swing to her hips from wearing high heels that has carried into her walk regardless of footwear.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?
Vanity they name is Shirley McAllister. Shirley is very pretty with good bone structure, smooth skin and the contrast between her pale complexion and her dark hair and big blue eyes. Shirley looks good and she is very aware of that, rendering her unable to pass a reflective surface without preening.
7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Pale, smooth, blemish free.
8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style.
Very dark brown/black. It’s on the long side and worn in a variety of manners: straight, curls/waves, updos, bunches, ponytails etc. Always glossy and freshly washed, smooth and on the thick side.
9. What color are her eyes?
Bright blue.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
She has faint silver markings in various locations corresponding to spells and her legs have scars on them/a healing wound or two from where she has to cut herself for the blood sacrifice her magic requires.
11. What are her chief tension centers?
Her neck.
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?
Shirley’s wardrobe is extensive and she doesn’t own duplicate items and her clothes are always well made and very pretty. She favours dresses and skirts with black tights and heels or ballet flats. She fits into the indie style of dressing and adores vintage and because she feels she must always look good, most would see her as dressy. She likes colours and patterns equally and isn’t afraid to experiment.
13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?
Being comfortable is a key part of looking good so yes to both.
14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?
More or less yes, she does. If it’s just family she’s around though she might relax and just pull on jeans and a borrowed t-shirt from her dad or brother.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Bikini cut bottoms, boy shorts or tangas. The bra and bottoms must always match, at least in colour.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Here we go
2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?
It all depends but Shirley isn’t one to mumble and usually she paces her words so that people can understand her although due to being Scottish, a lot of people not from Scotland would find that she talks a little quicker than normal and thus they might not always catch what she’s saying. She only hesitates if she’s very unsure of herself or nervous/upset - in nearly all cases she’s completely comfortable with just opening her mouth and getting on with it.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
She works hard to suppress her tics because she was brought up to speak properly, even by most standards and her accent would be considered quite posh by some. It’s also called a rhotic accent due to her pronouncing the ‘r’ in words such as hard. This should demonstrate what I mean a little more rhotic vs non-rhotic and if you really want to know, please see what wiki says
4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?
Shirley can speak English, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic fluently. She can also understand Old English and the runic alphabet and write comfortably in all of them although her Old English pronunciation can be somewhat hesitant. French and German to secondary school level.
5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
She switches languages for magic, saying oaths or if she really doesn’t want someone to know what she’s saying about them.
6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?
She’s a bit of both but she prefers to be able to think about what she says so that she can phrase it correctly; some of her requests or demands sound perfectly sweet but her motives behind them won’t be and she needs a moment or two to think about how to disguise said motive.
7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Eloquent unless she’s under duress or in a situation that makes her very uncomfortable.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?
If sciences and maths are excluded, Shirley is incredibly book-smart especially with languages (Irish and Scottish Gaelic and Old English in addition to a little German and some French, English (both language and literature), music and history. In terms of being street-smart, she is for her respective area but she grew up in a good area and so she knows how to keep herself safe but would rely on magic to get her out of trouble. She does know how to deal with drunks though due to her time working in a supernatural pub.
2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?
She can think on her feet but she doesn’t enjoy doing so as she might make mistakes that come back to bite her in the arse.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Mmm...practical for the most part considering but there’s a great deal of intuitiveness to her that comes from how much feeling is involved with being a banshee so she is happy to go with her gut and it has served her well in decisions she’s made in the past.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
Very good. She went to a great school and her parents - both accomplished university graduates with successful careers - pushed her to work hard. She’s currently at university studying English Language, English Literature and History. Shirley has since graduated; she now is working as a barmaid while she looks for jobs/looks at post-graduate education.
5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?
Languages and history. Fashion. She’d love to learn more about all of those. That and mythology, specifically Celtic mythology.
6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?
Extrovert. Everything about Shirley is a bright, shiny package and she isn’t afraid to be the certain of attention - indeed she relishes it.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Baby has mood swings. Being a banshee means that she has the grief of her ancestors and feels the grief of others when they lose a loved one and that weighs on her heavily which causes symptoms that could be diagnosed as depression. Shirley’s driven though and motivated to get what she wants in life and when she isn’t dealing with the grief or suffering from a headache right before she performs a death wail she’s cheerful or at least pretends to be; she’s a bitch in sheep’s clothing so cross her and beware.
8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Suspicious but she hides it well. She likes to get to know people and suss out their Achilles heel/sore spot or
9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?
Act.
10. Which is her default: fight or flight?
Flight. She is useless in a fight unless she can curse them quickly.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Shirley is sardonic, sarcastic - it’s more a caustic sense of humour mixed with some deadpan.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?
Not really no. The depression caused by the grief passes quickly once the death is over usually and it’s magical in nature. She has tokophobia but good luck getting her to admit that.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?
Her banshee powers becoming active when she entered puberty. Her visit to orbis alia. The dream conversation with the Dullahan. Later it will be killing the Dullahan and then killing her mother along with giving birth to her daughter before she gives her up.
14. What does she fear?
Having a daughter and passing on the curse, being dragged to orbis alia forever while still relatively young. Failure too. Getting old and withered and ugly.
15. What are her hopes or aspirations?
Breaking the curse and getting to live a normal lifespan. And taking hold of the bloodline but she can’t do that. To a lesser and more immediate extent, she wants to graduate from university; Shirley has now graduated from university and wishes to become a Scribe of The Morrigan (and is entertaining thoughts about becoming a writer.)
16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?
That she’s going to die young and just how much death affects her. It’s the driving force behind her treatment of others as it stops them from getting too close to her and helps to disguise that she does actually care about them; if they died she would feel terrible and she already has enough grief from others to contend with.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.
Shirley is a daddy’s girl, his little princess, the apple of his eye. She’s very close to him and shares the sort of bond that most girls would share with their mother and she is more likely to talk to him about issues in her life even personal matters. Lachlan is the one she goes to in a crisis and who sees her at her worst.
Shirley and her mother have a very tense and fractious relationship which is common with banshee because the younger banshee will always desire the power as they see it as their right. This invades every aspect of their lives and there’s a great deal of point scoring that goes on between them and Shirley really feels she cannot trust her mother or indeed ever live up to her.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
Shirley has a twin brother, Cedric and for twins they get on well. She trusts Cedric with her life and they had a private twin language as children. They do tease each other mercilessly and Shirley often calls him a bum, a slob and says he’s so laidback that he’s horizontal.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?
Her maternal grandfather Fionn who lost her grandmother to the banshee curse.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?
Cassandra Verity, a seer and Cedric’s girlfriend and they do a lot of research together.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Cassandra Verity who she met at school when they were both young.
6. Does she have other close friends?
Not really. Shirley keeps her distance from getting too close to people and there is a very definite barrier put in place to stop them from getting close so she has acquaintances/girls beneath her in a clique rather than friends.
7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?
On the surface it looks as though Shirley is making friends but as previously stated, they’re more people who are/might be useful to her than real friends. She doesn’t get on with older women at all and other girls might find her to be bitchy and overbearing.
8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?
Family if only because she has no choice in how close they are to her.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?
She has a boyfriend.
10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Unmarried.
11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?
Someone on the rugby team most likely. Her latest is Blair Lawson, her boyfriend.
12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?
Being utterly shaggable (even if she isn't really one for shagging), good sense of humour, snappy dresser, same taste in music, able to deal with her being a perfectionist. Being educated helps because Gods forbid she has to talk to a moron. She likes well-read men as well. She's likes chivalry. Look, I am aware she's kind of a 50s housewife and a hypocrite; Shirley is well aware of this too.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?
No and she has no plans to as she fears having a daughter (as only children in her maternal line always default to daughters) and passing on the curse.
14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?
Older women can gtfo.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?
0. So, so straight and no interest in other girls beyond ‘oh she looks nice’ or ‘she looks good in that dress’.
16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?
Shirley has a few issues with sex that stem from her a) having scars on her inner thighs from magic use, b) having tokophobia and being scared she'll get pregnant and c) generally being an uptight bitch. Shirley will slutshame. She doesn't approve of sleeping around and she is so uptight she finds it very hard to relax when she has sex. She eventually manages with Blair because he's a decent human being and actually knows what 'no' and 'I don't like that/I don't want to do that' means. Her first time wasn't the best. Sex becomes more important to her in the course of her canon because she actually needs to have a baby but it's about power then. Shirley has a hard time letting many people see the real her and she feels that sex makes her vulnerable which is why she's uncomfortable with it.
17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Turn-ons: Being given time to relax? A good neck/shoulder massage as well. She's kind of uptight.
Turn-offs: Men who don’t believe in the female orgasm, selfish lovers, being tied up
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type?
Shirley is a Cancer and it says: “the Cancer individual is a deeply emotional person inside, but is smooth and confident on the outside. Their first love is of home and family and they are nurturing and caring in the family setting, creating a cozy, comfortable, safe existence behind the doors of their own home.” This first part suits Shirley very well as most don’t see what’s going on behind her pretty little face. There are some things that match and some that don’t so please see here
Born in 1990, Shirley was born in the year of the Horse (Metal Horse to be precise). Metal (Wu Xing) from wiki says:
“The qualities associated with metal are firmness, rigidity, persistence, strength and determination. The metal person is controlling, ambitious, forceful and set in their ways as metal is very strong; and they are self-reliant and prefer to handle their problems alone. The metal person is also materialistic, business oriented and good at organization and stability. However the metal person can also appreciate luxury and enjoy the good things in life. Just as metal can conduct electricity, the Metal person has strong impulses and generative powers and can bring about changes and transformations for those who come into contact with them.”
Which really suits Shirley.
For the horse sign itself ( full link here) it says:
“Horse people are active and energetic. They got plenty of sex-appeal and know how to dress. Horses love to be in the crowd, maybe that is why they can usually be seen in such occasions like concerts, theaters, meetings, sporting occasions, and of course, parties.
The horse is very quick-witted and is right in there with you before you have had the chance to finish what you are saying: he's on to the thought in your mind even before you've expressed it. In general, the Horse is gifted. But in truth he is really more cunning than intelligent - and he knows that. That is probably why, most of the horse people lack confidence.”
Some of this fits Shirley but a great deal doesn’t so it’s a mix and match of both that fits her.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?
Spiritual more than religious due to her belief in Celtic deities and this is so very important to her and she often prays to them for help and guidance.
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?
Just your every day, regular person morals for now from being raised to be a decent, civilised human being. It’d probably take a lot to compromise it in a major way but if someone is annoying her, she isn’t above cursing them.
4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
She’s tolerant of everything bar Christianity due to the effect Christianity had on the religions she draws her heritage from.
5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?
None really unless you are stupid or ugly. Sorry, stupid and/or ugly people do not deserve to live.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
Privileged. Shirley grew up in a salubrious area with an author mother and a psychologist father and she is accustomed to a great deal of disposable income.
2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her?
Queen Bee Fashionista in Chief. And she always has been.
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?
She lives at home with her parents currently and her room is her domain, utterly spotless and a sophisticated girly paradise.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?
Clothes, make up, shoes, shoes, shoes, jewellery, accessories, music, books, magazines (Vogue etc) - girly stuff. Oh, books and DVDs. But girly stuff.
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?
Barmaid. Very good at it and she’s tipped well. She enjoys it but can’t wait until she graduates and gets a ‘real’ job.
6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?
Parties, nights out, off being a banshee. Shopping. Shut up, shopping is a hobby. Watching TV.
7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
She’s very conscious of what she eats and denies herself junk food - because she loathes exercise she has to be aware of what she’s eating to putting into her body so that she won’t get fat. She eats plenty of fruit and veggies, poultry and fish but avoids red meat for the most part and pasta/rice. Pasta and rice are evil, evil foods. She likes alcohol in the form of red wine, girly cocktails and alcopops but she doesn’t drink to get drunk because that’s unseemly. She doesn’t eat breakfast - it’s far too carb-based. Carbs are bad mmkay?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:
1. Color? Black
2. Smell? Cherry
3. Time of day? Dusk
4. Season? Winter
5. Book? American Gods
6. Music? Indie rock
7. Place? Alea Iacta Est
8. Substance? Red wine
9. Plant? Hibiscus
10. Animal? Crow
END
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