OOC: Background Memes
Two background memes I've taken to using as general backstory generators for all my characters. First, a 14-question piece written in-character as Simon:
1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for? Well, I’ve killed zombies, but that was more or less to save my own skin – didn’t look like anyone else had survived in that town. I’d like to think I’d do the same to protect my friends. As for dying. . . . To prevent anything nasty like that zombie thing from getting passed on. I was REALLY lucky not to be bitten, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why? I guess work to spread something like zombism? I’m a monster hunter, not a monster creator. Though I’m kind of new at the former, to be sure. Anyway, I don’t want to go wrecking people’s lives, so yeah. If I got bitten by one of those freaks, my first request would be for someone to kill me so I wouldn’t hurt anybody elseand so I wouldn’t have to see myself
3. What do they dream about? [Either literal or figurative, specify please.] Literal dreams tend to involve the craziness I find in everyday life. I’ve had a lot of zombie nightmares after that one trip, let me tell you. The ones about falling out of the airplane aren’t so bad, though – in those, either I discover I can fly, or me and that squid end up going on adventures. As for the life goal sort – really, my only goal is to survive whatever the world throws at me at this point. And maybe keep the rest of humanity safe from it. (Though sometimes I wonder if I’m really the hero type.)
4. What’s their biggest fear? Ending up a zombie. After battling those corpses in that weird little town. . . . I mean, being a vampire I think I could deal with. Vampires don’t rot. But a zombie. . . *brrr*
5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why? . . . I can’t decide between the chainsaw, the shotgun, or the flamethrower. All were pretty much vital to me surviving that zombie plague, and I’ve gotten pretty attached to all of them. You never know what’s around the next bend – especially when you’re me. If I absolutely had to pick one – I think the flamethrower. Though the shotgun comes a close second. (The chainsaw I like, it’s just heavy.)
6. What is their fondest memory? Winning that court case was pretty nice. I sued the manufacturers of the airplane I fell out of, you see – I mean, I’m clumsy, I’ll admit that right off the bat – but after I got back on dry land and started thinking straight again, I realized I should have NOT been able to open that door so easily in mid-air! What if it had been a passenger – or a passenger’s little kid – who fell out? So I sued the guys for defective products. It was a hard case, but eventually word got out, other accidents involving those planes came to the forefront, and I won two million dollars from the bastards. Ahh, the sweet taste of victory. Plus, I know now there’s a lot less people who are going to get hurt from falling out of a defective plane door. (Not that that happens often, but you get the idea.)
7. What is their worst memory? That one moment in the zombie-infested town where I gave up hope. That whole trip was kind of a series of bad memories (losing my car, getting grabbed by a zombie, seeing that sword fly out of my hands), but that was the absolute worst. I’d been hiding for hours, just barely avoiding getting eaten, and just for a second, I thought, “I can’t win. I might as well just march out there and get killed.” Luckily I regained my senses enough to realize that I shouldn’t just do that, I should at least go down fighting. Still – not a good moment.
8. What or who was were their most significant influence? Expound. I don’t know about a who, but I’m pretty sure I know the what. You see, my birthday happens to be – wait for it – April Fool’s Day. I firmly believe that being born on the day everybody knows for pranks has affected the rest of my life and makes me a weirdness magnet. It didn’t start with falling out of that airplane, you know. I was getting into weird shit even as a kid. Once got stuck in the school ventilation system. I was – kind of susceptible to peer pressure back then. Though it was kind of fun crawling around in all those tubes.
9. What do they believe makes a successful life? Well, not being born on April Fool’s Day would be a good start. I guess working hard, making friends, and making a mark on the world. I guess I haven’t done too bad by those standards. Even though nobody’s probably going to believe me about the zombie thing. And falling out of the airplane wasn’t exactly my best moment. . . .
10. What makes them laugh? Well, I’m a big fan of guys like Weird Al – I love parody songs. I’m a fan of limericks too. However, I feel it necessary to say that I don’t like most April Fool’s Day pranks. Some of the website ones are funny, but most the ones actual people play. . . Well, try having April 1st be your birthday and you’ll see what I mean.
11. What are their religious views? I believe God exists – I mean, a guy who survives falling out of an airplane mid-flight thanks to an appropriately timed squid would have to. I’m still trying to figure out if he’s toying with me or if I just have really weird luck. Either seems plausible.
12. What is their greatest strength? Does “incredible luck” count as a strength? As much as the universe likes to toy with me sometimes, it doesn’t seem ready to kill me off just yet. I’ve yet to suffer any serious injury from one of my adventures. I mean, I broke my leg as a kid, but that was from falling out of a tree – fairly standard stuff. I fall out of an AIRPLANE, and I survive with nary a scratch because a squid catches me. I run into a town full of ZOMBIES, and the worst I get is one of the sleeves of my shirt getting ripped off. It’s crazy, seriously.
13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it? I’d have to say my fatal flaw is my clumsiness. I tend to trip and slip on stuff a lot, and drop stuff too. Since that’s led to me falling out of an airplane 20,000 feet up and nearly getting eaten by zombies, I’d say it’s pretty fatal! If not for the incredible luck, mentioned above, I’d be dead about five times over by now.
14. Who is the most important person in their life? Uh – well – I haven’t seen any of my old friends in a while, I’m currently wandering the countryside alone, I haven’t talked to my parents or my brother in ages. . . . I guess, for the moment, me. I know, sounds selfish, but I’ve all I’ve got at the moment, until I get my hands on a cell or find somebody to talk to.Though if we’re including museverse in this, I’d have to say Lucy. Great gal, really.
And a twenty question survey exploring mostly Simon's romantic issues.
01.) Full name? Simon Arthur Garfunkle
02.) Best friend? His brother, Carey Casey Garfunkle, and his grade school friend Tom Richard Harrison. (He hasn’t talked to either in a while, though, thanks to his crazy adventures.)
03.) Sexuality? Straight male
04.) Favorite color? Green
05.) Relationship status? Single (has a crush on Lucy in the Museverse)
06.) Ideal mate? Someone who doesn’t mind that he tends to be clumsy and get into really weird situations. Somebody else with a knack for finding zombie-infested towns or falling out of airplanes would be perfect. Either that or someone with a talent for pulling people out of such situations.
07.) Turn-ons? Red hair, musical talent, and a nice pair of legs
08.) Last sexual experience? About a week before he hit zombie town, Simon decided to catch some drinks at a bar near the motel he was staying at. A girl named Cathy was there, loudly bemoaning her breakup with her fiancé. Simon provided a friendly shoulder to cry on, they both got very drunk, and Simon ended up taking her back to his motel room. The morning after, Cathy told him she didn’t want to start a relationship – she was actually a little embarrassed about going to bed with a guy she just met. Simon felt roughly the same, and they parted ways amicably – though Simon left town a little earlier than he intended, the whole experience making him feel kind of awkward.
09.)Favorite food? Potato chips and peanuts – his first job was a flight attendant, and he developed a taste for the snacks they served.
10.)Crushes? He has a bit of a thing for Ally Sheedy. He also had a major crush in high school on a girl named Matilda, who was in his sophomore earth science class. Asked her out twice, got rejected both times.
11.)Favorite music? He likes the band Lemon Demon – of course, they’re the reason he exists, so. . . . He’s a fan of Weird Al too. He likes that sort of parody music.
12.)Biggest fear? Ending up a zombie, like the ones he fought. He’s a little cynical, but in general a good-natured guy, and the idea of ending up as something that eats other human beings makes him squirm. Not to mention the rotting thing. . . .
13.)Biggest fantasy? To be a proper badass hero. He doesn’t like that he can only do the whole ‘Terminator’ thing occasionally, and the rest of the time he’s a klutz. He’d like to be more like your typical action hero. At the very least, he’d like people to stop looking at him funny when he says he was a flight attendant. (Not, it is not just a girl’s job, thank you very much.)
14.)Quirks in bed? He’s noisy. Not loud – noisy. He tends to grunt and groan a lot, no matter what he’s doing.
15.)Bad habits? He bites his nails. Has ever since he was a kid. He also trips and falls a lot, if you consider clumsiness/not always looking where you’re going a bad habit.
16.)Biggest regret? Losing his cellphone after the airplane incident. After receiving that random call in mid-air, it disappeared from his pocket – Simon’s pretty sure it got flung out when that squid tossed him. Since he didn’t use it much, he never bothered to replace it. Then he stumbled into that zombie-ridden town where the payphones didn’t work. He’s looking into getting a new one, just so he can call his family and tell them he’s all right.
17.)Best kept secrets? After a lot of disbelief, strange looks, and outright declarations of “What funny farm did you escape from?”, Simon’s learned to keep the real reason he survived that fall from the plane to himself. Not many people know the full story about the squid. And he hasn’t really gotten a chance to tell anyone about the zombies yet.
18.) Last thought? Would probably be, “Oh, I knew this was going to happen someday. Bring it on.”
19.) Worst sexual/romantic experience? His prom date. Simon took a girl friend named Harriet to the prom, with the intention of showing her a good time and maybe going a little further than friendship. (Hey, he was a teenager, cut him some slack.) The date started off well, but then Simon’s clumsiness came into play, and he ended up dumping two full glasses of punch all over her, ruining her dress. Harriet was furious and stormed out of the gym – Simon followed her, only to trip again and tear her sash. He attempted to apologize, but Harriet was too angry to acknowledge it and called her parents to take her home. Simon was left sitting on the sidelines for the rest of the prom. Harriet eventually forgave him, but the friendship petered out after the incident.
20.) Biggest insecurity? That one of these days he’s going to mess up and get either himself or someone else killed. His clumsiness generally goes away when he’s being badass, but Simon’s worried that he’ll just be walking down the street with his weapons, and – BANG! He’s compulsive about leaving all the safeties on if he’s not using them.
1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for? Well, I’ve killed zombies, but that was more or less to save my own skin – didn’t look like anyone else had survived in that town. I’d like to think I’d do the same to protect my friends. As for dying. . . . To prevent anything nasty like that zombie thing from getting passed on. I was REALLY lucky not to be bitten, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why? I guess work to spread something like zombism? I’m a monster hunter, not a monster creator. Though I’m kind of new at the former, to be sure. Anyway, I don’t want to go wrecking people’s lives, so yeah. If I got bitten by one of those freaks, my first request would be for someone to kill me so I wouldn’t hurt anybody else
3. What do they dream about? [Either literal or figurative, specify please.] Literal dreams tend to involve the craziness I find in everyday life. I’ve had a lot of zombie nightmares after that one trip, let me tell you. The ones about falling out of the airplane aren’t so bad, though – in those, either I discover I can fly, or me and that squid end up going on adventures. As for the life goal sort – really, my only goal is to survive whatever the world throws at me at this point. And maybe keep the rest of humanity safe from it. (Though sometimes I wonder if I’m really the hero type.)
4. What’s their biggest fear? Ending up a zombie. After battling those corpses in that weird little town. . . . I mean, being a vampire I think I could deal with. Vampires don’t rot. But a zombie. . . *brrr*
5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why? . . . I can’t decide between the chainsaw, the shotgun, or the flamethrower. All were pretty much vital to me surviving that zombie plague, and I’ve gotten pretty attached to all of them. You never know what’s around the next bend – especially when you’re me. If I absolutely had to pick one – I think the flamethrower. Though the shotgun comes a close second. (The chainsaw I like, it’s just heavy.)
6. What is their fondest memory? Winning that court case was pretty nice. I sued the manufacturers of the airplane I fell out of, you see – I mean, I’m clumsy, I’ll admit that right off the bat – but after I got back on dry land and started thinking straight again, I realized I should have NOT been able to open that door so easily in mid-air! What if it had been a passenger – or a passenger’s little kid – who fell out? So I sued the guys for defective products. It was a hard case, but eventually word got out, other accidents involving those planes came to the forefront, and I won two million dollars from the bastards. Ahh, the sweet taste of victory. Plus, I know now there’s a lot less people who are going to get hurt from falling out of a defective plane door. (Not that that happens often, but you get the idea.)
7. What is their worst memory? That one moment in the zombie-infested town where I gave up hope. That whole trip was kind of a series of bad memories (losing my car, getting grabbed by a zombie, seeing that sword fly out of my hands), but that was the absolute worst. I’d been hiding for hours, just barely avoiding getting eaten, and just for a second, I thought, “I can’t win. I might as well just march out there and get killed.” Luckily I regained my senses enough to realize that I shouldn’t just do that, I should at least go down fighting. Still – not a good moment.
8. What or who was were their most significant influence? Expound. I don’t know about a who, but I’m pretty sure I know the what. You see, my birthday happens to be – wait for it – April Fool’s Day. I firmly believe that being born on the day everybody knows for pranks has affected the rest of my life and makes me a weirdness magnet. It didn’t start with falling out of that airplane, you know. I was getting into weird shit even as a kid. Once got stuck in the school ventilation system. I was – kind of susceptible to peer pressure back then. Though it was kind of fun crawling around in all those tubes.
9. What do they believe makes a successful life? Well, not being born on April Fool’s Day would be a good start. I guess working hard, making friends, and making a mark on the world. I guess I haven’t done too bad by those standards. Even though nobody’s probably going to believe me about the zombie thing. And falling out of the airplane wasn’t exactly my best moment. . . .
10. What makes them laugh? Well, I’m a big fan of guys like Weird Al – I love parody songs. I’m a fan of limericks too. However, I feel it necessary to say that I don’t like most April Fool’s Day pranks. Some of the website ones are funny, but most the ones actual people play. . . Well, try having April 1st be your birthday and you’ll see what I mean.
11. What are their religious views? I believe God exists – I mean, a guy who survives falling out of an airplane mid-flight thanks to an appropriately timed squid would have to. I’m still trying to figure out if he’s toying with me or if I just have really weird luck. Either seems plausible.
12. What is their greatest strength? Does “incredible luck” count as a strength? As much as the universe likes to toy with me sometimes, it doesn’t seem ready to kill me off just yet. I’ve yet to suffer any serious injury from one of my adventures. I mean, I broke my leg as a kid, but that was from falling out of a tree – fairly standard stuff. I fall out of an AIRPLANE, and I survive with nary a scratch because a squid catches me. I run into a town full of ZOMBIES, and the worst I get is one of the sleeves of my shirt getting ripped off. It’s crazy, seriously.
13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it? I’d have to say my fatal flaw is my clumsiness. I tend to trip and slip on stuff a lot, and drop stuff too. Since that’s led to me falling out of an airplane 20,000 feet up and nearly getting eaten by zombies, I’d say it’s pretty fatal! If not for the incredible luck, mentioned above, I’d be dead about five times over by now.
14. Who is the most important person in their life? Uh – well – I haven’t seen any of my old friends in a while, I’m currently wandering the countryside alone, I haven’t talked to my parents or my brother in ages. . . . I guess, for the moment, me. I know, sounds selfish, but I’ve all I’ve got at the moment, until I get my hands on a cell or find somebody to talk to.
And a twenty question survey exploring mostly Simon's romantic issues.
01.) Full name? Simon Arthur Garfunkle
02.) Best friend? His brother, Carey Casey Garfunkle, and his grade school friend Tom Richard Harrison. (He hasn’t talked to either in a while, though, thanks to his crazy adventures.)
03.) Sexuality? Straight male
04.) Favorite color? Green
05.) Relationship status? Single (has a crush on Lucy in the Museverse)
06.) Ideal mate? Someone who doesn’t mind that he tends to be clumsy and get into really weird situations. Somebody else with a knack for finding zombie-infested towns or falling out of airplanes would be perfect. Either that or someone with a talent for pulling people out of such situations.
07.) Turn-ons? Red hair, musical talent, and a nice pair of legs
08.) Last sexual experience? About a week before he hit zombie town, Simon decided to catch some drinks at a bar near the motel he was staying at. A girl named Cathy was there, loudly bemoaning her breakup with her fiancé. Simon provided a friendly shoulder to cry on, they both got very drunk, and Simon ended up taking her back to his motel room. The morning after, Cathy told him she didn’t want to start a relationship – she was actually a little embarrassed about going to bed with a guy she just met. Simon felt roughly the same, and they parted ways amicably – though Simon left town a little earlier than he intended, the whole experience making him feel kind of awkward.
09.)Favorite food? Potato chips and peanuts – his first job was a flight attendant, and he developed a taste for the snacks they served.
10.)Crushes? He has a bit of a thing for Ally Sheedy. He also had a major crush in high school on a girl named Matilda, who was in his sophomore earth science class. Asked her out twice, got rejected both times.
11.)Favorite music? He likes the band Lemon Demon – of course, they’re the reason he exists, so. . . . He’s a fan of Weird Al too. He likes that sort of parody music.
12.)Biggest fear? Ending up a zombie, like the ones he fought. He’s a little cynical, but in general a good-natured guy, and the idea of ending up as something that eats other human beings makes him squirm. Not to mention the rotting thing. . . .
13.)Biggest fantasy? To be a proper badass hero. He doesn’t like that he can only do the whole ‘Terminator’ thing occasionally, and the rest of the time he’s a klutz. He’d like to be more like your typical action hero. At the very least, he’d like people to stop looking at him funny when he says he was a flight attendant. (Not, it is not just a girl’s job, thank you very much.)
14.)Quirks in bed? He’s noisy. Not loud – noisy. He tends to grunt and groan a lot, no matter what he’s doing.
15.)Bad habits? He bites his nails. Has ever since he was a kid. He also trips and falls a lot, if you consider clumsiness/not always looking where you’re going a bad habit.
16.)Biggest regret? Losing his cellphone after the airplane incident. After receiving that random call in mid-air, it disappeared from his pocket – Simon’s pretty sure it got flung out when that squid tossed him. Since he didn’t use it much, he never bothered to replace it. Then he stumbled into that zombie-ridden town where the payphones didn’t work. He’s looking into getting a new one, just so he can call his family and tell them he’s all right.
17.)Best kept secrets? After a lot of disbelief, strange looks, and outright declarations of “What funny farm did you escape from?”, Simon’s learned to keep the real reason he survived that fall from the plane to himself. Not many people know the full story about the squid. And he hasn’t really gotten a chance to tell anyone about the zombies yet.
18.) Last thought? Would probably be, “Oh, I knew this was going to happen someday. Bring it on.”
19.) Worst sexual/romantic experience? His prom date. Simon took a girl friend named Harriet to the prom, with the intention of showing her a good time and maybe going a little further than friendship. (Hey, he was a teenager, cut him some slack.) The date started off well, but then Simon’s clumsiness came into play, and he ended up dumping two full glasses of punch all over her, ruining her dress. Harriet was furious and stormed out of the gym – Simon followed her, only to trip again and tear her sash. He attempted to apologize, but Harriet was too angry to acknowledge it and called her parents to take her home. Simon was left sitting on the sidelines for the rest of the prom. Harriet eventually forgave him, but the friendship petered out after the incident.
20.) Biggest insecurity? That one of these days he’s going to mess up and get either himself or someone else killed. His clumsiness generally goes away when he’s being badass, but Simon’s worried that he’ll just be walking down the street with his weapons, and – BANG! He’s compulsive about leaving all the safeties on if he’s not using them.