10 & 13 for detailed writer prompts :) your choice on characters, etc.
Thank you! For these ones, Iāll talk about Michael Shepard,Allistair Shepardās dad, because heās a hot mess and a challenging bugger towrite sometimes.
10. how do you think yourcharacter fits into your view of society? do you see them as a social critique?a celebration of certain societal values?
Michael Shepard is far from a celebration of any societalvalues, let alone any of mine. In the beginning, heās carefree, flirtatious, andplayful. However, before Shanxi, there was nothing in his life to challengethose qualities or to disturb the surface of his character to reveal itsfoundation. When his whole worldview is challengedāis threatened, evenāhisreaction is to turn inward. Being carefree gives way to being reckless,flirtation to condescension, playfulness to selfishness. On a fundamentallevel, Michael is a self-involved individual. Compassion is nearly impossiblefor him to practice when he feels threatened, and he never was one for honestself-reflection. Perhaps his pre-Shanxi life had been too easy, N7 trainingnotwithstanding. When heās suddenly surrounded by aliensāall of whom hebelieves to be hostileāhe doesnāt actually have the emotional tools to cope ina healthy and flexible way.
Iāve said many times to my betas that Michaelās an asshole,and he is. But heās not a social critique of assholes. The challenge I enjoyand hate most about writing Michael is that he can, at any moment, choose to bea better person. If were just able to get his head out of his ass, heās absolutely capable of it. But at this point, heās too entrenched in preserving aworldview that has gotten him in some pretty deep shit. Everything heās risked has to be worth something. Admitting heās beenwrongāthatās heās been the assholethis whole time, not everyone elseāwould be too much to ask of him. So he digshis heels in more.
13. how has yourcharacterās socioeconomic background influenced their ideology?
Michael grew up on a ranch just a couple hours outside ofCalgary, Alberta. It was a good life for him, growing up. Lots of sunshine,plenty of work to do, physical challenges aplenty, and not a few neighboringfarmersā daughters to flirt with. His family never had a lot of money, butthere was always food on the table, supplies for school, and loving parents.All told, he had a pretty good childhood. He joined the Alliance the moment heturned 18 because he wanted see what kind of adventures the galaxy had in storefor him. That was it. That was his entire thought process: āSpace seems prettycool. How do I get there? Join the Alliance.ā To be fair, though, nothing hadever really gone wrong in Michaelās life. What could possibly go wrong now?
