#may jagger moodboard

[stalouh]

֗ ᷼♡ ⁽ ﹫georgia jagger - moodboard ꜝꜝ⠀๋ ୨୧⠀◌⠀❛͜⭐⠀ֺ̹

[kennedy-writes]

Some More Info About Aidan :)

So @decantae tagged me in the Character Creation Tag (thank you!), which is perfect because I’m posting lots about my OCs this week. I made a post about Aidan here, and now here is some more info: 

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.?)

In the earliest stages of my WIP, back in summer of 2017, maybe earlier, Aidan was named Elaine. The story was suuuuper different it’s crazy. But the concept of her role in the story was the same, and I believe this was the first thing I considered for her. She would be the first to break away from the cruel programming/conditioning imposed on her generation and successfully escape to discover an alternate way of living and feeling. She also always had a close ally in a man whose name has been Thor, Jagger, Aryeh, Lev, and now Sammie. Jagger is a different character now.

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Elaine (proto-Aidan?) was the first character I really designed, but I designed her knowing that she’d have a close platonic relationship with someone like Thor. Elaine was re-designed into Aidan, and it’s the same thing: I designed her knowing she’d have a close relationship with two other people: Stella, a girl from the city, and Aryeh, now Sammie, the librarian. I’m thinking now that Stella might actually be unnecessary to the novel so I may have to cut her out though :( but we’ll see

3) How did you choose their name?

I love names for girls that are traditionally masculine, and I wanted something that meant sunny or fire or something of that sort. This was because I was toying with the idea of having her with a fiery name and then Thor with the thunder-god name. But it also fits her personality so I didn’t change it after Thor left the picture.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

I don’t have all of Aidan’s backstory perfectly figured out yet (I’m doing this as I go whoops). But the city is a proclaimed techno-utopia run by rich inventors, scientists, and engineers acting on their wildest fantasies and discarding all ethics, a utopia that serves only their society (governors, celebrities, the wealthy and their favored individuals), at the expense of a class of laborers and staff who were literally made to do certain types of work and nothing else. SO Aidan was one of these people but she was a bit different because she was designed to play in the orchestra. The environment of the city - very sterile, imposing, restrictive - is probably the most influential part in her development once she runs away.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair colour?

Sort of, not really. I think black hair is cool. I dyed mine black a bit ago and felt good about it. I wanted Aidan to evoke that vibe. 

6) Is there any significance behind their eye colour?

No.

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

No. She is shorter than most other characters though. 

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

Her whole arc is partly a metaphor for coming into your emotions after having them suppressed for so long, and navigating what that feels like. So that’s a thing I can relate to. 

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

Yeah, somewhat. She’s the only one who is, though. The others may have bits of me in them, but not Based On Me. 

10) Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Yeah! I mean I thought bisexual at first but I changed it to pansexual because it seemed to fit her better.

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: Writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

I don’t do art (yet. I try, sometimes) but I have made a mood board for her. So no difficulty to report yet. Here is the moodboard btw:

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

This is a hard one to answer because I don’t know when the canon events end. There might be more than one book? I don’t really think too far in the future for her, as I don’t imagine she does much either, because the desert is a very in-the-moment kind of space. Aidan hardly knows what she’s going to do tomorrow, and neither do I.

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

1. The trauma from having to suppress her emotions and being forced to play music for the rich for so long absolutely informs the way she goes about her new life. She is angry. She tries to just forget about everything about the first 20 years of her life, and truly believes it doesn’t affect her anymore, but it totally does in ways she doesn’t realize. She’s also a little jealous of people who’ve lived in the desert all their lives.

2. This anger often mixes in with the overwhelming love she feels towards all the new things - the friends, the landscape, the freedom and agency she has now, etc. At her core she’s very much in love with the world and wants to help others. The desire to help feels like an immense pressure, and she often overdoes it on her training with Vala. She’s just a very intense but compassionate bean.

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

When she gets to the desert, she might as well have been born yesterday, everything’s new to her. Her enthusiastic reactions to ordinary things that everyone takes for granted are funny in my head. (Haven’ t written this yet!)

15) What is something about your OC can make you cry?

Aidan wants to be close to people, wants to let them in. But she’s afraid that there’s nothing insider her, because she’s from the city and was “made” rather than raised in a human household. She’s scared that she will bring people close only for them to find out she is empty with nothing to give. She covers this up with a loud and energetic demeanor. She’s also very emotionally open and candid despite this fear, which is proof that her fear is unfounded, but she still freaks out when people get too close. The emotional turmoil that comes with that is super heartbreaking to me. Also how attached she gets to Sammie - this will Hurt later. 

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

Not necessarily a regret (I’m not so far in that I can’t change something), but I’m like…. How am I going to come up with a plausible way for her background in the city to deprive her of a sense of humanity - sci fi isn’t my forte, but then again, fiction isn’t either. I’m a poet, mostly. I’m just figuring stuff out as I go.

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

That she isn’t in love with the librarian. It’s very specific, but Aidan wants platonic intimacy more than anything. She does experiment with sex but her relationship with the librarian must be platonic. Aryeh became Sammie, an eccentric gay man in his late 30s. (That they don’t fall in love allowed me to widen the age gap; I felt that Sammie had to be a bit older.) He has a huge collection of curiosities and books and artefacts, and Aidan’s drive to learn as much as she can about the world that’s been hidden from her brings her close to him.

18) What is your favourite fact about your OC?

She has a segment on Laurie’s radio show called The Finest Hour, in which she talks about music and plays her favorite records she finds in Sammie’s archives. I really really could not resist giving her my music tastes. also she loves climbing rocks.

So that’s Aidan! Next up is Sammie!! I was going to do Vala next but I’m really excited about Sammie because he’s basically the newest character and I love him a lot. After him is Ryan - I did merge and adapt that one flash fiction piece with my bigger WIP and I have no regrets. and then Vala, then Marian, then maybe Laurie then Jagger, then anyone else I didn’t do. Cool? Cool. 

I’ll also take this time to apologize for all the WIPs I sort of started or teased a bit ago, I saw a post yesterday that made me really self conscious about that lol. I don’t mean to do it. but also those WIPs came from a different me and I’m not that me anymore, if that makes sense. If I do pick them back up, and I do intend to for some of them, they’ll be a little different.  But my main focus right now is Where Stars Go To Die. Thanks for understanding!