character survey
Cadogan Eamon Thomas
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Cadogan isn't as tall as he feels. He's just a hair shy of 6 feet tall and on the trim side, although that's half from a poor diet and smoking and half from actually keeping fit. Being on the gangly side often makes him appear taller than he actually is.
2. How old is he?
Pushing 30. Rather hard.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Cadogan is very posture conscious. He spent his early life on display and was trained to keep himself properly upright, then spent quite a few years in the armed service. With family in particular he is incredibly rigid, not from discomfort so much as training. With most, he holds himself well, very upright, conscious of staying at his full height. With children, however, he slouches like nobody's business. It's easier being down close to them.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
He's maintained a healthy body weight his entire life. Frankly, he's not the best eater, a bit on the picky side, making him a somewhat scrawny child who grew up into a somewhat lanky man. Somehow, he’s maintained a decent physical fitness level in spite of this and in spite of the smoking. He has yet to test positive for any serious complications from smoking. He is currently on his umpteenth attempt to quit-thus far, he has beat his previous record of one month ‘sober.’ He was born without fully developed vocal cords, so he is unable to produce sound.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Cadogan is generally a very fluid mover. He doesn’t hesitate, although he does sometimes pause. Jerkiness comes out when he fights. It isn’t so much a lack of remaining fluid as a transition from resting to tension. Movements have to be very short and acute in his training, so he looks somewhat sharp when he’s in combat. His hands are the most graceful part of him and his movement.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He’s a fairly average looking man that some find charming and others find boring. He never really gives his physical appearance much stock beyond the very basic demand that he look presentable-he does have somewhat particular taste in suits.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Like many Welsh, he is rather impractically pale skinned. This means he blushes like a lobster, primarily around his ears and neck. The only habitually visible scar he has is primarily hidden by his eyebrow.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
His hair is a strawberry blond colour that looks startlingly red in some lights and a much calmer tone in others. When he was younger, he used to grow it out in a shag. After having it shaved when he joined the Royal Welsh, he’s kept it close-cropped. It’s rather stiff hair, on the spikey side.
9. What color are his eyes?
Cadogan has slightly murky blue eyes.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He has quite a few notable scars, although they’re always covered by his habitual suits, and a tattoo on his shoulder-also always covered.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
All his tension is carried at the base of his neck between the shoulder blades.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
He has a million of the same suit. Most of them are black, a few of them are a slightly greyer shade of black. Some of his ties are in muted solid colours. He might own one shirt that isn’t white. Apart from this, he does have a few rugby kits that he wears when he’s training.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Cadogan was made to live in a suit. It is his uniform and it makes him himself.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
Yes. He only wears things that aren’t suits when Adrien steals all his clothes. This has thus far only happened once. Never again.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxer-briefs. Absolutely.
Speech -- Modified responses, clearly
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Cadogan’s hands move very smoothly when he signs. His baseline communicative ‘tone’ is very fluid and seamless.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Although he’s usually very reticent to actually speak-he favours nonverbal communication and/or Not Talking About Things-he always signs very evenly and without hesitation. Like his movement, he does sometimes pause, but that’s usually to make a point as he shifts into sharper, more authoritative movements.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Those who speak BSL and TCÉ fluently will notice his ‘accent’ in the way his left hand sometimes lilts unnecessarily long, a hangover from his childhood of home-sign; in TCÉ, he sometimes substitutes in home-sign for proper words. This doesn’t carry over into ASL or ISL.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Cadogan signs fluently in BSL and ISL, and is nearly fluent in ASL and TCÉ. He understands and writes English and Welsh fluently, and has a spattering of knowledge of German, French, and Italian as well as a few other bits and snips of European languages.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
When he’s able to write in Welsh, he does.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
As mentioned above, he’s usually reticent to communicate, so he tends not to speak unless he’s thought things out very precisely. That said, when something makes him feel passionate, he can be awkwardly eloquent off the cuff in what’s usually an endearing manner.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
He’s a very well-spoken man, except when it comes to his emotions. Oh, hello next section.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
Although a very cultured youth, Cadogan does not have beyond a secondary school education. He does have very specialized arms knowledge. Most of what he learned, he learned from other men in the army, most of whom had higher levels of education than he did.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He prefers time to deliberate, but he knows he doesn’t always have the luxury. His physical response time is fantastic. His emotional response time is horrible.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He strives for logic and practicality. Everything else scares him a bit.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
He went to a very good primary school, got kicked out of a very good secondary school and barely graduated his second fairly average secondary school.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Cadogan has a brain for languages and enjoys them very much. More practically interesting, however, is his enjoyment of armory. He has a specialized knowledge of rifles. His hand-to-hand specialty is garroting.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Entirely introverted.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Although generally speaking he is one of the most stolid people in the universe, from a young age he’s had immense anger issues that demonstrate in violent tendencies. Being in the army helped him learn to channel his aggression and emotion into something more regimented, and since then he’s been fairly even-keeled. When something does make him hot up, however, he’s been known to swing incredibly far out into left field.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
He’s not particularly afraid of new situations, although he does take a tense period to adjust to them. New people aren’t a problem. He takes a bit of time to properly warm up to anyone, but that’s mostly because he’s horrible at sharing.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
React-he’s a better follower than leader.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight-but only in the head-bashing sense. Emotional confrontation makes him run away.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He’s generally a very serious person. He does, however, appreciate a dry sense of humour and the incredibly ridiculous.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Anger management issues, which he deals with by shutting down all his emotions and packaging them in little boxes to never open, and an oral fixation, which he deals with by smoking-or, now that he’s not smoking, by celery. He's also on mild rounds of antidepressants, which his army doctors found helped alleviate some of the anger issues.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
If he had to pick three, they would be: one, realizing that he might die in the alley where Aisling stabbed him. Two, waking up in the hospital to see his father’s face and knowing he was about to be cut out of his family’s life. Three, joining the Deck. Notably, the first time he saw a man die and the first time he killed a man are not on this list.
14. What does he fear?
Becoming overly involved with anyone to the point where he might hurt them (see: Aisling).
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He wants to be the sort of man his father would have been proud of, and ideally someday to have a quiet little house in Wales with two dogs, possibly also with a wife and a child who would be loved and treated like a proper human being.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
He doesn’t really like sharing much of anything about himself, but he doesn’t have any secrets that he would mind those closest to him knowing.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Cadogan loves his mother deeply and without complication. She was and continues to be a loving guiding figure in his life. His father never fully approved of him, and eventually kicked him out of the family. There was no reconciliation before his father’s death. He’s never really attempted to unpackage his emotions around his father.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
He does not, because after he was born without the ability to speak, his father refused to try again.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
His maternal grandparents helped raise him when they were in Wales. He has fond memories of them.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Helena has been a little sister to him for ages. He adores her and is rather doting. Since joining the Deck, he’s come to feel a similar sort of emotion for Sophie and Leigh. His relationship with Sophie is fairly reciprocal care. Leigh is a bit more of an unknown factor, but he’s doing what he can to look out for her.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
At this point, it’s probably Adrien. They met when Cadogan was new to the Deck and instinctively had each other’s backs in a bar brawl that got out of hand. They’ve been muddling through a very strange and very fulfilling friendship since then.
6. Does he have other close friends?
…this section confusing and under development.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
He doesn’t really have trouble being civil with people, but he’s not great at actively making friends. This is at least in part because he doesn’t know why he has to go be friends with everyone.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
His mother is the most important person in his life, and the only real family he has left, so family it is.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
His first crush-turned-love was Aisling. The only person he’s had (unacknowledged) actual feelings for since then has been Mel, although he crushed on his Ace pretty hard for a pretty long time.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
His first requirement is that she be nothing like Aisling was. Beyond that, were he to consciously be looking for someone, it would likely be someone who understood a good silence and could weather the discomfort that emotions tend to bring him. Also someone who would hit him back if he ever lost his temper-because he’s fairly certain that, precedent aside, one is not supposed to hit one’s wife, and that being hit back would stun him out of ever being so horrible again.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No. In the hypothetical future, he could see having one child.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Not that he knows of, although he’ll feel more confident of that once Avery becomes a Ten.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
He’s straight, Kinsey 0-0.5 at most. That’s all. (Although in gender-bend funtimes, he has proven to be Sade/Santeri and Mel sexual, but that's... I don't know. It just is.)
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
He likes it objectively, although it isn’t horribly important to him. He’s currently at about eleven years without having any and is doing just fine without it.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
He’s just a vanilla sort of guy. Strong ladies are very attractive, and ladies who want to control his hands are unattractive, maybe?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
Cadogan is a Scorpio--direct, focused, unvarnished. This is absolutely a true fact about him. He was born in the Yin Water year of the Pig-- honest, gallant, sturdy, patient, loyal, hard-working, scrupulous, fatalistic. Plus a bunch of other attributes that don't match him at all!
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Cadogan is a quasi-practicing member of the Church of England. Religion is important to his mother and therefore comforting to him. He is also incredibly superstitious, which is an actual factor in the way he lives his life.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
If it comes from army drilling, I don’t think it’s personal.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
Generally indifferent tolerance; he thinks people should be allowed to have the things that make them feel the most comfortable without other people judging them.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He’s ever so faintly prejudiced against the English, the Scots and the French. It’s totally reasonable because it’s based in RUGBY.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
He’s comfortable enough. Saving is important to him.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
He was a diplomat’s son until he was disowned, an infantry man for a long time, and then finally a quick riser up to Ten in Diamonds. The thing he’s liked being most is Ten of Diamonds.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
He lives in his quarters in the Diamond Castle. They’re very sparse and generally have only enough in them hold his clothes, let him do work and sometimes sleep. His one luxury item is a nice television for watching his sports.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Nice surprises for his mother and other people he likes, when he has money to spend on them.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
He’s a Ten of Diamonds. It’s taken some growing into, but he is getting to be quite good at it and he loves it to death. There is nothing he would rather do in the world.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
If he had free time, he’d play rugby more.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He skips meals most of the time-but never tea. Although he isn’t a big drinker, he does drink whiskey from time to time. He’s a picky sort of eater.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Grey
2. Smell? Fog
3. Time of day? Dusk
4. Season? Midwinter
5. Book? Something by Dylan Thomas
6. Music? Suo Gan
7. Place? Wales
8. Substance? Smoke
9. Plant? Creeping ivy
10. Animal? Dingo
END
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Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Cadogan isn't as tall as he feels. He's just a hair shy of 6 feet tall and on the trim side, although that's half from a poor diet and smoking and half from actually keeping fit. Being on the gangly side often makes him appear taller than he actually is.
2. How old is he?
Pushing 30. Rather hard.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Cadogan is very posture conscious. He spent his early life on display and was trained to keep himself properly upright, then spent quite a few years in the armed service. With family in particular he is incredibly rigid, not from discomfort so much as training. With most, he holds himself well, very upright, conscious of staying at his full height. With children, however, he slouches like nobody's business. It's easier being down close to them.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
He's maintained a healthy body weight his entire life. Frankly, he's not the best eater, a bit on the picky side, making him a somewhat scrawny child who grew up into a somewhat lanky man. Somehow, he’s maintained a decent physical fitness level in spite of this and in spite of the smoking. He has yet to test positive for any serious complications from smoking. He is currently on his umpteenth attempt to quit-thus far, he has beat his previous record of one month ‘sober.’ He was born without fully developed vocal cords, so he is unable to produce sound.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Cadogan is generally a very fluid mover. He doesn’t hesitate, although he does sometimes pause. Jerkiness comes out when he fights. It isn’t so much a lack of remaining fluid as a transition from resting to tension. Movements have to be very short and acute in his training, so he looks somewhat sharp when he’s in combat. His hands are the most graceful part of him and his movement.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He’s a fairly average looking man that some find charming and others find boring. He never really gives his physical appearance much stock beyond the very basic demand that he look presentable-he does have somewhat particular taste in suits.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Like many Welsh, he is rather impractically pale skinned. This means he blushes like a lobster, primarily around his ears and neck. The only habitually visible scar he has is primarily hidden by his eyebrow.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
His hair is a strawberry blond colour that looks startlingly red in some lights and a much calmer tone in others. When he was younger, he used to grow it out in a shag. After having it shaved when he joined the Royal Welsh, he’s kept it close-cropped. It’s rather stiff hair, on the spikey side.
9. What color are his eyes?
Cadogan has slightly murky blue eyes.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He has quite a few notable scars, although they’re always covered by his habitual suits, and a tattoo on his shoulder-also always covered.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
All his tension is carried at the base of his neck between the shoulder blades.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
He has a million of the same suit. Most of them are black, a few of them are a slightly greyer shade of black. Some of his ties are in muted solid colours. He might own one shirt that isn’t white. Apart from this, he does have a few rugby kits that he wears when he’s training.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Cadogan was made to live in a suit. It is his uniform and it makes him himself.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
Yes. He only wears things that aren’t suits when Adrien steals all his clothes. This has thus far only happened once. Never again.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxer-briefs. Absolutely.
Speech -- Modified responses, clearly
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Cadogan’s hands move very smoothly when he signs. His baseline communicative ‘tone’ is very fluid and seamless.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Although he’s usually very reticent to actually speak-he favours nonverbal communication and/or Not Talking About Things-he always signs very evenly and without hesitation. Like his movement, he does sometimes pause, but that’s usually to make a point as he shifts into sharper, more authoritative movements.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Those who speak BSL and TCÉ fluently will notice his ‘accent’ in the way his left hand sometimes lilts unnecessarily long, a hangover from his childhood of home-sign; in TCÉ, he sometimes substitutes in home-sign for proper words. This doesn’t carry over into ASL or ISL.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Cadogan signs fluently in BSL and ISL, and is nearly fluent in ASL and TCÉ. He understands and writes English and Welsh fluently, and has a spattering of knowledge of German, French, and Italian as well as a few other bits and snips of European languages.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
When he’s able to write in Welsh, he does.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
As mentioned above, he’s usually reticent to communicate, so he tends not to speak unless he’s thought things out very precisely. That said, when something makes him feel passionate, he can be awkwardly eloquent off the cuff in what’s usually an endearing manner.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
He’s a very well-spoken man, except when it comes to his emotions. Oh, hello next section.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
Although a very cultured youth, Cadogan does not have beyond a secondary school education. He does have very specialized arms knowledge. Most of what he learned, he learned from other men in the army, most of whom had higher levels of education than he did.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He prefers time to deliberate, but he knows he doesn’t always have the luxury. His physical response time is fantastic. His emotional response time is horrible.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He strives for logic and practicality. Everything else scares him a bit.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
He went to a very good primary school, got kicked out of a very good secondary school and barely graduated his second fairly average secondary school.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Cadogan has a brain for languages and enjoys them very much. More practically interesting, however, is his enjoyment of armory. He has a specialized knowledge of rifles. His hand-to-hand specialty is garroting.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Entirely introverted.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Although generally speaking he is one of the most stolid people in the universe, from a young age he’s had immense anger issues that demonstrate in violent tendencies. Being in the army helped him learn to channel his aggression and emotion into something more regimented, and since then he’s been fairly even-keeled. When something does make him hot up, however, he’s been known to swing incredibly far out into left field.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
He’s not particularly afraid of new situations, although he does take a tense period to adjust to them. New people aren’t a problem. He takes a bit of time to properly warm up to anyone, but that’s mostly because he’s horrible at sharing.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
React-he’s a better follower than leader.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight-but only in the head-bashing sense. Emotional confrontation makes him run away.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He’s generally a very serious person. He does, however, appreciate a dry sense of humour and the incredibly ridiculous.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Anger management issues, which he deals with by shutting down all his emotions and packaging them in little boxes to never open, and an oral fixation, which he deals with by smoking-or, now that he’s not smoking, by celery. He's also on mild rounds of antidepressants, which his army doctors found helped alleviate some of the anger issues.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
If he had to pick three, they would be: one, realizing that he might die in the alley where Aisling stabbed him. Two, waking up in the hospital to see his father’s face and knowing he was about to be cut out of his family’s life. Three, joining the Deck. Notably, the first time he saw a man die and the first time he killed a man are not on this list.
14. What does he fear?
Becoming overly involved with anyone to the point where he might hurt them (see: Aisling).
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He wants to be the sort of man his father would have been proud of, and ideally someday to have a quiet little house in Wales with two dogs, possibly also with a wife and a child who would be loved and treated like a proper human being.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
He doesn’t really like sharing much of anything about himself, but he doesn’t have any secrets that he would mind those closest to him knowing.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Cadogan loves his mother deeply and without complication. She was and continues to be a loving guiding figure in his life. His father never fully approved of him, and eventually kicked him out of the family. There was no reconciliation before his father’s death. He’s never really attempted to unpackage his emotions around his father.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
He does not, because after he was born without the ability to speak, his father refused to try again.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
His maternal grandparents helped raise him when they were in Wales. He has fond memories of them.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Helena has been a little sister to him for ages. He adores her and is rather doting. Since joining the Deck, he’s come to feel a similar sort of emotion for Sophie and Leigh. His relationship with Sophie is fairly reciprocal care. Leigh is a bit more of an unknown factor, but he’s doing what he can to look out for her.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
At this point, it’s probably Adrien. They met when Cadogan was new to the Deck and instinctively had each other’s backs in a bar brawl that got out of hand. They’ve been muddling through a very strange and very fulfilling friendship since then.
6. Does he have other close friends?
…this section confusing and under development.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
He doesn’t really have trouble being civil with people, but he’s not great at actively making friends. This is at least in part because he doesn’t know why he has to go be friends with everyone.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
His mother is the most important person in his life, and the only real family he has left, so family it is.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
His first crush-turned-love was Aisling. The only person he’s had (unacknowledged) actual feelings for since then has been Mel, although he crushed on his Ace pretty hard for a pretty long time.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
His first requirement is that she be nothing like Aisling was. Beyond that, were he to consciously be looking for someone, it would likely be someone who understood a good silence and could weather the discomfort that emotions tend to bring him. Also someone who would hit him back if he ever lost his temper-because he’s fairly certain that, precedent aside, one is not supposed to hit one’s wife, and that being hit back would stun him out of ever being so horrible again.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No. In the hypothetical future, he could see having one child.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Not that he knows of, although he’ll feel more confident of that once Avery becomes a Ten.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
He’s straight, Kinsey 0-0.5 at most. That’s all. (Although in gender-bend funtimes, he has proven to be Sade/Santeri and Mel sexual, but that's... I don't know. It just is.)
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
He likes it objectively, although it isn’t horribly important to him. He’s currently at about eleven years without having any and is doing just fine without it.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
He’s just a vanilla sort of guy. Strong ladies are very attractive, and ladies who want to control his hands are unattractive, maybe?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
Cadogan is a Scorpio--direct, focused, unvarnished. This is absolutely a true fact about him. He was born in the Yin Water year of the Pig-- honest, gallant, sturdy, patient, loyal, hard-working, scrupulous, fatalistic. Plus a bunch of other attributes that don't match him at all!
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Cadogan is a quasi-practicing member of the Church of England. Religion is important to his mother and therefore comforting to him. He is also incredibly superstitious, which is an actual factor in the way he lives his life.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
If it comes from army drilling, I don’t think it’s personal.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
Generally indifferent tolerance; he thinks people should be allowed to have the things that make them feel the most comfortable without other people judging them.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He’s ever so faintly prejudiced against the English, the Scots and the French. It’s totally reasonable because it’s based in RUGBY.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
He’s comfortable enough. Saving is important to him.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
He was a diplomat’s son until he was disowned, an infantry man for a long time, and then finally a quick riser up to Ten in Diamonds. The thing he’s liked being most is Ten of Diamonds.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
He lives in his quarters in the Diamond Castle. They’re very sparse and generally have only enough in them hold his clothes, let him do work and sometimes sleep. His one luxury item is a nice television for watching his sports.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Nice surprises for his mother and other people he likes, when he has money to spend on them.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
He’s a Ten of Diamonds. It’s taken some growing into, but he is getting to be quite good at it and he loves it to death. There is nothing he would rather do in the world.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
If he had free time, he’d play rugby more.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He skips meals most of the time-but never tea. Although he isn’t a big drinker, he does drink whiskey from time to time. He’s a picky sort of eater.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Grey
2. Smell? Fog
3. Time of day? Dusk
4. Season? Midwinter
5. Book? Something by Dylan Thomas
6. Music? Suo Gan
7. Place? Wales
8. Substance? Smoke
9. Plant? Creeping ivy
10. Animal? Dingo
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