Vox

[Dariusprime]

Vox

 

20 Questions

September-October 2019 Vignette

Edited November 18, 2019 by Dariusprime

[Dariusprime]

20 Questions

 

1. Where is your hero from?

Nick hails from the flat desolation of central Iowa. Specifically, Nevada, Iowa. Many days past on his grandparents’ and great uncle’s farms.

 

2. How would your hero physically describe him/herself? Is this different from how others would?

 

To Nick, he is a short but physically fit guy that dodged some of the more awkward teenage problems. Other people tend to see him as small. That really doesn’t bother him.

 

 

3. Does your hero have distinguishing speech characteristics or recurring mannerisms?

 

Fidgeting. The kid fidgets a lot when he is anxious or uncomfortable. Which is often but is improving. Speech characters are another kettle of fish. He doesn’t talk due to his powers, but he seems to have a gift for ASL. If you could hear his real voice, it would be a rich, gentle bass.

 

 

4. What is your hero's motivation?

 

That’s a good question. Nick is trying to figure out his motivation. He is very much a reluctant hero. A lack of confidence in his powers plus skepticism about being a superhero are major demons he is wrestling.

 

5. What are your hero's greatest strengths and weaknesses?

 

The inability to communicate with his normal voice is a problem. A small minority understands ASL, and even using his tablet to type or verbal messages has its own problems. Additionally, Nick is a bundle of nerves around people. Probably his biggest weakness is his sensitivity to electromagnetism and enhanced auditory capabilities. The input can easily overwhelm him.

 

Nick can operate around people though. He reads people surprisingly well, and can organize people with a subtle touch. His willingness, his dedication, to his causes makes him a surprisingly resilient and tenacious person. Power wise, hearing the entire EM and acoustic bands means he knows things. He’s just not telling.

 

6. What does your hero love? What does your hero hate?

 

Nick loves many things. In particular he loves his family, judgmental as they are. He loves his life. No matter how stressful things become, he is grateful for his life so fair. There is a real love of life in him.

 

Nick hates little. More often he feels a deep sense of disappointment at evil things.

 

7. How would you describe your character's mental and emotional state?

 

His emotional state can be best described as tightly wound. Even without his powers, few places and situations really made him comfortable. This manifests as a pervasive anxiety that, assuming his powers don’t stress him further, he can manage without exhibiting too many symptoms. Mentally though, he is always thinking and thinking.

 

Those surface emotions aside, a deep well of melancholy colors his world. Melancholy makes him a watcher and thinker. People equate melancholy with depression. That’s not Nick. Nick watches the world curiously and wonders why. Introspection is a way of life. Admixed with an upside-down life makes him an accepting and gently cynical person.

 

8. What does your hero fear the most?

 

The first few months with powers, never speaking normally again haunted him. Now that the possibility of doing so is diminished, he fears never being part of his family again.

 

9. What is your character's greatest ambition?

 

Now more than ever he wants to see what his powers can do. To refine them. To see how far they can go. And find the source to the message that triggered their manifestation.

 

 

10. How does your hero feel about the state of the world and his/her place in it?

 

 He’s just a kid trying to figure out how the world works and what his place could possibly be.

 

11. Does your hero have any prejudices? How does he/she get along with others?

 

Bullies. He detests them. They’re the closest thing to something he hates. Insightful enough to know many have underlining issues, bullies of all stripes, young and old, poor and rich, must still be opposed. This if nothing else will drive his superhero work.

 

12. Where do your heroes loyalties lie? In what order?

 

He loves his family, but their priority is lower now. Only his Great Uncle Otis, the eclectic radio engineer and ex-DJ, ranks high on his list. Interestingly, Claude and several of his classmates sit at the top of the list. Claremont too keys his loyalty. Where it sits he isn’t quite sure. His feelings are conflicted: he dislikes being beholden to Claremont but realizes how special the place is.

 

13. Does your hero have a lover or partner? How do they feel about the hero now?

 

No. He has or had crushes but has never had a girlfriend or even been on a date. Part of him isn’t terribly interested, and shyness keeps him from opening up.

 

14. Does your hero have a family? What is the relationship there like?

 

Generations of EM and acoustic sensitivity made his family eccentric, which isn’t bad, but also insular and more than a little reactionary. They’re disowned him indirectly, but he still loves them and wants to see them. His Great Uncle Otis, another black sheep of the family, is more parental than his own parents. He stays in contact with Otis regularly.

 

15. How would the people closest to your hero describe him or her?

 

Kind, self-contained, reliable, patient, smart.

 

16. Is your hero a role model?

 

Oh, no. Maybe someday.

 

17. How spiritual is your hero? Does your hero follow a religious tradition?

 

Religion isn’t part of Nick’s life. His family hewed to the conservative side of the United Methodists. They expected him to a participate in various religious activities. Nick himself didn’t much care one way or another.

 

18. Is your hero part of a team, or would he/she like to be? Why?

 

He’d like to be. There’s strength in numbers and teammates. People can protect and compliment each other. Plus they could be friends.

 

19. How does your hero feel about the place of metahumans and aliens on Earth?

 

Where else would they be? Let’s talk.

 

20. If you could give one piece of advice to your hero, what would it be?

 

This too shall pass. Painfully, like a kidney stone, but it will pass. What will you do then?