#development001

[yaflwlss]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤTASK 001 : FAMILIES ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤthe akhmatova household.

𝓝ㅤ: ㅤ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ㅤnüwa akhmatova grew up in a world steeped in artistic brilliance, where intellect and creativity were not just valued but demanded. her family, descendants of proud kazakh and tatar heritage, live with a sense of cultural legacy that runs deep into their blood. though she is an only child, nüwa's world is not without the influence of a sprawling extended family, each with their own complicated place in her life. her parents, alma and timur akhmatov, loom large over her identity. their accomplishments cast a long shadow over nüwa, something she often struggles with internally as she navigates her own path in life.

MOTHER - The Intellectual Tyrant

alma akhmatova is a force to be reckoned with—celebrated for her incisive critiques of society, her words have won her prestigious accolades, including the pulitzer prize. she is sharp, unapologetic, and relentless, especially when it comes to nüwa.

to the outside world, alma is a figure to admire—an intellectual giant whose works tear through the hypocrisies of the elite with an unwavering hand. but to nüwa, she is an ever-present critic, the mother who sees her daughter’s life as another narrative she can craft and perfect. there’s love between them, certainly, but also a battle of wills. nüwa inherited her mother’s fiery intelligence and defiant spirit, and this makes their relationship both magnetic and volatile. nüwa’s admiration for her mother is deeply rooted in her intellectual respect. alma’s ability to dissect human behavior and societal flaws has always been a fascination for her daughter. yet, this admiration is poisoned with resentment, as alma’s high expectations of nüwa are a constant pressure. she has never been one to offer her daughter an easy compliment. instead, their conversations are laced with sharp observations, hidden critiques, and passive-aggressive comments. in many ways, alma sees in Nüwa the potential for greatness, but she’s reluctant to show it. her love is conditional upon success, and nüwa has always sensed that she is more a project to her mother than a cherished daughter. there are moments of tenderness, fleeting instances when alma lets her guard down—but they are rare, overshadowed by a lifetime of striving to prove herself.

FATHER - The Quiet Storm

in contrast to alma’s vocal brilliance, timur akhmatov is an artist who speaks through his work. his paintings, renowned for their violent strokes and vivid colours, reveal more of his soul than his words ever could. he is a man of few conversations but many moods, a storm brewing silently beneath his serene exterior.

for nüwa, her relationship with her father is complex. where alma is sharp, timur is softer—at least to the outside eye. but he is no less intense. he has taught nüwa that art is born of pain, and through his work, she has come to understand the beauty in suffering. his influence over her is profound, not in the loud way of her mother, but in the subtle, deeply emotional connection they share through art. there is an unspoken understanding between nüwa and timur. he has never been one to lecture her, but his quiet expectations speak volumes. he often watches her with those eyes that seem to pierce through her, as if trying to unravel the secrets she keeps. his love for nüwa is gentler than alma’s, but it is no less intense—his pride in her artistic abilities is clear, though he rarely vocalizes it. however, timur’s deep emotional world has always been somewhat detached. he can become absorbed in his art to the exclusion of all else, leaving nüwa to navigate her inner turmoil without his guidance. she craves his approval but knows that it is given silently, through his brief smiles or his long looks across the dinner table.

THE EXTENDED FAMILY - A Web of Expectations

nüwa’s extended family is vast and eclectic, a mix of kazakh and tatar bloodlines that bring their own histories and personalities to the table. holidays and gatherings are chaotic, filled with loud voices and strong opinions, all underpinned by a shared sense of pride in their heritage.

aunts and uncles:

her aunts and uncles are scattered across the globe, many of them involved in creative or intellectual pursuits themselves. nüwa often feels as though she is constantly compared to them—each one a reflection of some aspect of her family’s legacy. one aunt, aisulu akhmatova, is a prominent poet, much like alma, and constantly vies for alma’s recognition, leading to subtle competition. there’s a silent rivalry that nüwa, by default, becomes a part of, whether she likes it or not. aisulu has always seen nüwa as alma’s little clone, something she resents and quietly works to undermine, planting seeds of doubt in nüwa’s mind about her mother’s affections. uncle marat, timur’s younger brother, is something of a family outcast. a sculptor who never quite achieved the fame of his elder brother, marat is a brooding presence at family gatherings. his bitterness towards timur is palpable, and nüwa often finds herself caught in the crossfire of their veiled tensions. he drinks too much, smokes too much, and offers nüwa cynical life advice that she pretends to ignore but secretly treasures. in marat, she sees an alternate version of her father—one who did not reach the heights of brilliance but has a different kind of freedom because of it.

cousins:

her cousins are her contemporaries, and their relationships are a tangle of competition and solidarity. nüwa has always been closer to her paternal cousin, zoya, a fashion designer in paris who walks the line between rebellion and tradition. zoya, though older by a few years, shares nüwa’s disdain for the expectations of their elders and has always encouraged her to push boundaries. their bond is built on late-night conversations about family and freedom, but even zoya’s independence is something nüwa can’t quite replicate. she envies her cousin’s ability to exist outside the suffocating circle of family expectation, even as she admires it. there is also arman, her older cousin on alma’s side, who is a lawyer and the “golden child” of the family. arman is everything alma wishes nüwa could be—disciplined, focused, a paragon of kazakh intellect. nüwa resents him deeply but hides it behind a thin veneer of polite conversation. he is the constant reminder of her mother’s disappointment in her “artistic whims,” as alma refers to them.

Grandparents: The Patriarchs and Matriarchs

nüwa’s grandparents on both sides are figures of reverence, looming in the background of her life like ancestral gods. her maternal grandparents, now in their late eighties, were survivors of political turmoil in kazakhstan and hold strong traditional values. they have always been slightly bewildered by alma’s fierce independence and intellectual dominance but remain proud of her nonetheless. for nüwa, her relationship with them is respectful but distant—she knows they hold little understanding of her more rebellious tendencies. her grandmother, especially, has always been a quiet, strong woman who tries to keep the family grounded in their cultural roots. she knits nüwa beautiful scarves and tells her stories of their ancestors, hoping to ignite a love for tradition that nüwa secretly appreciates but rarely shows. timur’s parents, on the other hand, were nomads in spirit, traveling artists in their younger years. now settled in their old age, they have always encouraged nüwa’s creative pursuits, much to alma’s chagrin. her paternal grandmother, in particular, was a sculptor in her youth and sees nüwa as the natural successor to the akhmatov artistic legacy. the bond between nüwa and her paternal grandparents is stronger; they are quieter, less judgmental than her maternal side, and their house is a sanctuary for nüwa when she feels suffocated by the high expectations of her parents.

[mari-zuko]

MEET THE ZUKO FAMILY.

DEAN ZUKO (TIMOTHY OLYPHANT)

RUTH ZUKO née FRIEDMAN (RACHEL WEISZ) 

BRYN ZUKO (EMILY RATAJKOWSKI)

MARI ZUKO (KAiA GERBER)

Dean Zuko (54 years old) - dean of faculty at Ogden College

Ruth Zuko (53 years old) - restaurateur, owner of a prestigious restaurant in Boston’s north end

Bryn Zuko (27 years old) - bartender, currently lives in Brooklyn

Mari Zuko (22 years old) - student, currently at Ogden College

[n8-shaw]

MEET THE SHAW FAMILY.

ELLA QUENTIN SHAW QUENTIN (MINKA KELLY) - 44 years old : mother

LUKE SHAW (BRADLEY COOPER) -  49 years old : deadbeat “musician” father

MELANIE “MELLY” SHAW (ALYCIA DEBNAM-CAREY) - 24 years old : older sister

LIAM SHAW (COREY MYLCHREEST) - 23 years old : older brother

NATHANIEL “NATE” SHAW (JACOB ELORDI) - almost 22 years old

QUENTIN “QUINNIE” SHAW (EMILY CAREY)- 20 years old : youngest sister

Ella Shaw (neé Quentin) - Ella was the type of teenager who constantly made bad decisions, which culminated in her getting pregnant to her boyfriend of a couple months at 20. Their parents pressured them to get married, and despite the fact that they weren’t all that into that idea, they did it, popped out 3 more kids over the next four and a half years, and were in a very unhealthy relationship for their childhoods. She tried to make it work, at one point even moving back to Australia with Luke, but eventually she told him to go fuck himself, and relegated herself to raising the four kids mostly alone, moving them back to Sag Harbor where she grew up, and working multiple jobs to make it work, anything to just manage to pay the bills. She always wanted them to have opportunities she couldn’t, so she enrolled them in as many activities as she could possibly manage, hoping something would work out for them, like Nate and his swimming.

Luke Shaw - What to say about Luke Shaw? He was a terrible father, for one. He’s Australian, and uses it to his advantage. He was 25 years old to Ella’s 20 when he knocked her up while they were dating. He has always fancied himself a musician (a trait he passed on to Nate, not that he likes to acknowledge it), but with only mediocre talent, never got very far on making that pay the bills. When Nate was fourteen, his parents split up, and Luke pretty much dipped on the family completely, occasionally sending the child support payments he owed, but not regularly. He stayed in Australian as Ella brought the kids back to the US. When he is around, he tends to be at least mildly intoxicated, occasionally getting in fights, and a regular for needing to be picked up from jail in the morning from the combination of bar fights or public intoxication.

Liam Shaw - In all honesty, Liam is the foil to Nate in a lot of ways outwardly, but extremely similar inwardly, which is probably why they don’t get along very well. He was the football player to Nate’s swimming, and managed to be extremely popular in high school, with the ego to match. He was always down to be around people while Nate preferred to sulk alone. While they both ended up befriending the rich kids who vacationed in the Hamptons, Liam fit in in a way that Nate never did. Liam is in law school now, which Nate just absolutely rolls his eyes about every time he brings it up.

Melanie Shaw - Melly personality wise is actually the most like Nate. She comes off very aloof, takes herself extremely seriously, and tended to get herself into trouble, though she was usually able to talk herself out of it. She has a bit more charm than Nate does, which is not a hard thing at all. She also has the most work ethic out of all of them, despite the fact the she could probably just skate by on her personality. She played basketball and softball all through high school, and used that to get an athletic scholarship just like Nate and Liam did.

Nathaniel Shaw - see his bio here

Quentin Shaw - The baby of the family, and also the only sibling Nate really tolerates. Quinny and Nate are definitely a team against Liam and Melly, and that’s the way it’s always been. She’s a freshman in college, got all the brains Nate seems to have left behind in the womb, and the only person he actually genuinely openly likes. She’s also the only one who isn’t majorly athletic, because as she got older, she hated playing all sports, and she’s smart enough that their mother let her quit to focus on her academics.

[eloiseabernathy]

MEET THE ABERNATHY FAMILY.

NAOMI ZHONG-ABERNATHY - ( jackie chung ); 44 years old. single mom.

UNKNOWN FATHER - ( colin ferguson ); 48 years old. unknown.

ELOISE ABERNATHY - ( lola tung ); 20 years old. english major.

NAOMI ZHONG-ABERNATHY - Not much is known about Naomi's past. It's not something that she would be open about, especially with her daughter. She has to put on a front, that she isn't dealing with the demons of her past. As much as Naomi loves her own family, she isn't close to them, at all. As hard as she tried, Naomi could never live up to her family's expectations of settling down, getting married, and having a huge family of her own. It was something Naomi never imagined for herself. And when she tried? He left before Eloise was born. Naomi realized that her and Eloise would be better off on their own - living without expectations. Or so she thought.

UNKNOWN FATHER - Naomi married Eloise's father when they were young - Naomi was 23 years old while he was 27. He never really wanted to commit to having a family. So, with the first possible chance he got, he ran away from it all - leaving Naomi and her child. Naomi has never mentioned her father, and Eloise has never dared to ask. It was an unspoken rule in their house. They had gone 20 years without him, why would they feel the need to bring it up, now? Part of Eloise always wishes she knew her dad. To know the other half of what could've been her life. However, she loves her relationship with her mom - it's not something that she would give up for the chance to know her father.

[ogdencollegerp]

Happy Friday !!! We decided this week to bring you the first character development task. These are never mandatory, but if you feel inspired, have the time, or just want to delve deeper into the lore of your character, it’s highly encouraged you to do these tasks !!! Feel free to complete them at any time, or all at once when bringing in a new character. 

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TASK 001 :  FAMILIES

This task is all about delving deeper into your character’s families and their relationship with each member. This can include just direct family - parents, guardians, siblings - but also go into extended family -  aunts, uncles, cousins, or any other significant people who may be considered family. You can format this in any way you like, including pictures of FCs and descriptions of the relationships - and feel free to go into as much or as little detail as you’d like !!! If you do choose to do a written out explanation for how your characters get along with their family members, please remember to put it under a “read more” as they may get pretty long.

Remember that this is not mandatory !!! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask. And remember to tag your completed task with #ogdendevelopment !!!