Thank you for all of your input. Now that I have a general idea of where you want our story to go, I can finish scene one. Yea! I'm working on it now. In the meantime though, I'll post some character summaries and questions in the forums.
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Character development techniques
Some of the best ways that I know to develop characters quickly are:
1) Decide on a few words that describe their personality, appearance, or role.
2) Give them some unusual traits and then figure out where those traits came from and how they affect the character's life.
3) Give them strengths and flaws. Real people are not perfect; characters shouldn't be either.
4) Create moral and emotional conflicts for the characters, especially major characters. This gives the characters depth, makes them seem real, and makes them more interesting.
5) Determine what flaws and/or moral or emotional conflicts they will struggle to overcome throughout the story. This is the character development that will guide your story along and create the catharsis that's necessary for a good climax.
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Cypher Nahuel (Cy)
History and personality
Half-faerie, half-human, Cy was abandoned as a child by his sidhe father. His human mother, who had to have been a stunning beauty to attract the conceited and fickle sidhe as well as young and naive enough to bed him, died of tuberculosis when Cy was eight years old. He lived alone on the streets until he was a teenager, despised by the sidhe and the other rich and conceited faeries of the High Court because of his mixed blood and distrusted by humans because he's part fey. Because of his faerie blood, he longs for the green places that he's never seen and has always felt restless and unhappy living in the packed and dirty slums of the sprawling, industrial metropolis disaffectionately nicknamed Slag City by its downtrodden inhabitants.
Cy has his mother's human, working-class morals. He's kind to whoever will let him, which unfortunately aren't many because most people look down on him because of his mixed heritage. He's loyal to a fault to the few people he calls friends and turns a blind eye to their flaws, refusing to consider the bad things that might come of them because he wants so desperately to be loved and accepted - although deep down he believes that he will never have either. He values hard work and honesty and takes what little honest work he can find, which is usually back-breaking or degrading positions with minimal pay. He is therefore dirt poor and feels resigned to the "fact" that he will never escape the slums of Slag City. At the core though, he has always been a survivor and harbors a deep, bitter anger at the injustices of the world, so when he can't find honest work, he's not above turning to thievery or participating in underworld crimes. He hates himself a little more after every crime, suffering from conflicting emotions of guilt and pleasure when his actions hurt strangers or those who have wronged him.
When Cy was
fourteen sixteen, he finally scraped enough money together to afford a tiny, dilapidated apartment and get off the streets. At nineteen, he met Moxie, who had just immigrated from the country with her parents and twin sister. He was enchanted with her stories of forests and fields and fascinated by her mechanical aptitude and ability to create useful items out of scrap metal and spare parts. She didn't treat him like dirt or look down on him for his mixed heritage, all of which earned her his fierce loyalty. He helped her adjust to living in the city slums and did odd jobs for her parents, often for free.
Two years later, after
a devastating fight with her family her parents are executed, Moxie moved in with Cy. They soon became lovers. Cy never knew why she instigated it, whether it was out of genuine affection or a twisted sense of obligation [it was both, and her affection soon developed into an obsessive type of love], and was frankly too shocked that she even wanted him to dare question it. Now, three years later, he still wonders, but loves her too much and wants to stay with her too badly to ask. He knows she loves him - she makes sure to show him that every day - but he doesn't understand why she does because he sees himself as defective and undeserving of love.
[Moxie loves Cy because he's sweet and kind, loyal and honest, and she finds his dry, cynical humor endlessly funny. It helps too that he's devastatingly handsome, having inherited both his father's ethereal beauty and his mother's stunningly sweet, girl-next-door sort of looks, which is part of the reason humans distrust him so much although he doesn't know it. He also completely lacks the conceitedness that runs rampant amongst the fey and despises looking in mirrors. She keeps putting them up when he's not around to try to show him how handsome he is, and will find them missing within minutes of him getting home - although she's never actually caught him taking them down. In Moxie's eyes, Cy's only physical defect is his faerie flaw, which is a small third arm on his left side. It creeps her out and she tries her damnest to ignore it and pretend it's not there, which hurts Cy because it's as much a part of him as his hands or feet.]
Moxie and Cy now live in a small apartment adjoining her mechanical workshop. Their main income is from selling her steam tech inventions. Cy tries to do his part by performing whatever honest work he can find, interspersed with the occasional illegal activity that pays better than weeks of his other work. His working outside their home, whether it's illegal work or not, is major point of contention between them because Moxie wants him with her at all times, more than she wants to eat. She has also noticed that her steam tech machines always work better when Cy helps her build them, although she doesn't understand why. [It's because he infuses her inventions with the raw creative magic he inherited from his father. He has never been trained on it and doesn't know he has it, but it comes out whenever he creates something, and it's getting stronger as he ages. Incidentally, his cooking is nearly orgasmic.]
Fatal flaws
1) Cy's mixed blood makes most people despise or distrust him.
2) Craves affection and acceptance to the point of obsession. Although he distrusts everyone when he first meets them, if they are kind to him for any length of time, he will give them his loyalty and steadfastly refuse to see their flaws, even if they treat him poorly or take advantage of him.
3) Deeply undervalues himself. Unconsciously self-destructive and shy.
4) Secretly vengeful, especially toward those who lie to him or abuse him.
Saving graces
1) Kind, generous, and honest to a fault.
2) Fiercely loyal to the people he cares about.
3) Prefers honest work and tries to do the right thing, although he doesn't always succeed.
4) Values life for its own sake and is determined to survive no matter the cost.
Physical traits
Cy's features are more beautiful than handsome. Delicately boned, high cheekbones, slightly too large eyes, and slender nose from his father. Moves with unconscious grace and has the seductive and enchanting voice of the sidhe. Rich brown eyes and golden hair from his mother. Tawny skin and strong, lean muscles from a lifetime of working outside. 5'9" tall. His faerie defect is a small third arm on his left side, usually hidden by his clothes. He prefers nondescript brown clothes and never wears jewelry or anything that will get him noticed. Despite being dirt poor, he is always neat and clean, and his clothes and boots, though old and well-worn, are always in good repair. Cy doesn't mind getting dirty at work, but itches for everything to be neat and orderly (a faerie trait).
Cy's appearance is altered - some would say ruined, although Moxie doesn't think so - before our story begins. He was murdered and, with the magical assistance of a sidhe, Moxie revived him and replaced the damaged parts of his body with custom steam tech parts.
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By the way, for those of you who are wondering, yes, I am making all of this up off the top of my head, and no, I had nothing more than vague ideas when I wrote
scene one. Also, yes, Cypher's name is a conscious nod toward Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, whose main character is Richard Cypher.
Please check out these questions being discussed in the forums and give us your input!
