(no subject)
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy? She's 5'5.5, which aside from being pretty alliterative, is probably around average. She probably weighs a little more than average, too (her actress had to put on 10 pounds for the role, and she looks really weird in Serenity which was filmed after Jewel lost the weight again).
2. How old is she? around 21- it's not exact because 1) lol what are dates in Firefly and 2) lol what is time when you skip over your birthday getting wormholed onto a spaceship. So she's probably physically a few months younger than that (I haven't headcanon'd a date for when she was taken) but it doesn't make that much of a difference.
3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch? She spends a lot of her time hunching over to work, so she probably does that naturally even when she's not working. She just tries to be comfortable! She slouches, leans against things, sits on the floor to play and sleeps in a hammock.
4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? She's probably healthier than the average person because of lol future tech.
5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? She's not elegant or graceful, but she's... sturdy, I guess would be the best word. She can't really be clumsy when she's working on machines, so she's steady, but she's nowhere near as graceful as Inara or as fluid as River.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror? She perceives herself as pretty average- she's always covered in engine grease and dirt, so she doesn't think many people would be into that, but if you say that she's going to take offense. Physically, though, she's pretty cute, even if she doesn't think that.
7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? She's not as pale as you'd think she'd be living on a spaceship, but she's still very light skinned. She'd be the type to have a tan from manual labor if she weren't... you know, living in space.
8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style. Her hair's brown, pretty thick, and more often than not just pulled back into a ponytail. It's probably pretty knotty, too, just because she doesn't have the time or resources to take care of it well. It's better on the Thor than it was in the show.
9. What color are her eyes? Brrrrown I think.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Not really.
11. What are her chief tension centers? ...idk what this means UH since she's always bending over her lower back and shoulders must be pretty cramped?
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit? She looooves bright colors, flowers, fun prints, things like that, but she wears them underneath work coveralls that get pretty well-used. She's probably only got one or two pairs of work clothes, and she's customized them- there's a teddy bear patch on her pants and Chinese characters stitched into the corners.
13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them? Any clothes she has are going to be well-worn and comfortable, since she doesn't have that many to begin with. Besides the cupcake dress of course.
14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences? She's pretty much... always on the job, so she doesn't really bother to change. On the Thor, she probably goes without the overalls, but she's still sticking to bright prints and probably pretty sturdy utility pants.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? Briefs, but she'd think things like thongs (and going commando) were really sexy :3c
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Her voice is deeper than people expect it to, though she goes into a higher register when she's teasing or excited.
2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate? She speaks easily, she's got a drawl going on. She only looks for words when she's trying to come up with lies or is completely caught off guard.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? Hoooo boy. She talks like a cowboy, to put it bluntly. She says ain't, doesn't always have subject-verb agreement, truncates gerunds (truncatin'), drops some letters, things like that. She's got a vocabulary that's partly wild west (especially for cursing, gorramit) and partly futuristic machinery, all the slang that comes from being a mechanic and an outlaw. She also has a sometimes "cutesy" way of phrasing things that's hard to put into words (like when she's looking for bugs or mechanical problems that might relate to River talking about stomachs and she says there's nothing on "Serenity's tum.") She's basically very laid-back and informal.
4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency? Oh yeah, take everything I just said above, and add mangled Chinese to it. Theoretically she's fluent in both Mandarin and English- I say theoretically because her pronunciation is atrocious. Still, I headcanon that it's not just common insults and things that she picked up as loan words, but actual fluency in both languages- and a lot of things for machinery are written in Chinese, too, so it's probably necessary.
5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Hhhhhhhhhah. Yes. For cursing, mostly, though she does that less than a lot of the crew. When she switches into Chinese, it's either for one or two words- cool, shiny, yes, thank you, little sister, etc etc- or for full sentences- why don't you tell the cow about its beautiful eyes. Which is why I think it's actual fluency instead of lone words (what are the chances there'd be a common phrase about cow eyes?), pronunciation be damned.
6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words? Nnnot really. She's more for comforting people than making wonderful impromptu speeches, but she doesn't really... hm. She says what she means, so she doesn't really bother to think them over beforehand unless she's trying to be very delicate or explain something difficult (emotionally difficult, she'll go on rants on complex topics without a thought if she knows the information).
7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Inarticulate inarticulate inarticulate. She might have some poetic turns of phrases or the occasional zinger, but I wouldn't classify her as eloquent.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart? She's more intelligent than she seems- not because she's hiding it, but because she's an outlaw who talks like a poorly translated cowboy, so you don't really expect her to repair generators or discuss complicated parts at length. Still, it's all street-smarts; she wasn't formally educated in mechanics (and probably not in much else, either) and she's very knowledgeable about crime, the underworld, etc.
2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate? She can definitely think on her feet- she has to, in her job, when the machine's falling apart and they don't have any spares.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? Definitely intuitive- she fixes machines based on just feeling what's right. She's mostly idealistic, especially when it comes to people and their relationships.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Not much of one, if any. She was working from a young age and has a way with machines, but it's stated repeatedly that it wasn't taught to her, it just came naturally. The rest of it comes from hands-on experience flying around and talking to people.
5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about? Machines, definitely. She's also pretty creative- she goes around decorating the ship, for instance, so she'd be interesting in that. She'd focus a lot on learning the new technology around her, and finding out more about the other people around her.
6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert? Deeeefinitely an extrovert.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? Very cheerful except in emergencies (people getting injured, the air running out, hoards of space cannibals descending upon them, etc), but how she perceives someone (Simon) can swing pretty quickly. One minute everything's shiny, then he says something stupid and she's really mad, storms off in a huff, treats him badly for the rest of the episode, then gets over it.
8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? She loves meeting new people, and talking to them. If you give her a job that she's never done before, she'll definitely try it, if warning you that she might not do a good job.
9. Is she more likely to act, or to react? React.
10. Which is her default: fight or flight? Fliiiiight. She is the least cowboy-y cowboy....
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? She loves laughing. She'll resort to gallows humor as a defense (ie, when she's nervous, she'll weakly joke about it: "if I mess up, it's not like you'll be able to yell at me...") Bathroom humor probably makes her laugh more than it should, pranks if they're not malicious, puns also probably make her laugh more than they should... yyyyeah. It's only when people's jokes fall very flat (Simon) that she doesn't laugh, and only then when he's insulted her so she won't try to laugh to make him feel better.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them? No, but she deals with them enough with her friends as it is.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person? Getting her job on Serenity- by sleeping with the old mechanic and diagnosing the problem while on her back.
14. What does she fear? Failing her crew/ship, them getting hurt in their many violent dealings, a lot of combat, losing River to the Alliance again (and by extension, Simon), that her home planet was destroyed along with the ship... nothing really unusual.
15. What are her hopes or aspirations? GET SEX WITH SIMON. Fix Serenity (almost accomplished!), find the rest of the crew, keep flying.
16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her? ...there really isn't anything. She's open about everything. I guess she keeps her smuggling/crime things an open secret- she won't announce it to the world, but she'll throw it out in casual conversation without fear. She keeps Simon and River a secret if only because she's still a little worried that some Alliance person would be on the ship and would try to arrest them.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents. She's got a good relationship with them! She worked in her dad's shop and he encouraged her abilities. He apparently hit her after she slept with a genetically-modified 14 year old, though she laughs about the situation so it's hardly something traumatic. She doesn't mention her mother, but I headcanon that they're a happily married couple living on a poorass hunk of spacerock.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? She doesn't mention any. I headcanon she's an only child anyway.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand? Nnnnope. I figure her extended family isn't very big either.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them? Yessss. The entire crew of Serenity, all nine of them. She honestly and truly loves everyone on that ship, even if she's mad at them for not considering her feminine side or if they're making fun of her. And even if she wants to fuck some of their brains out (Simon and maybe Inara)
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? Inara, they met when Inara started to rent the shuttle from Mal. Kaylee thinks she's the most glamorous person ever :>
6. Does she have other close friends? River, towards the end of the series! As well as everyone else on Serenity in one way or the other. Also on the Thor she's got a ton of friends too.
7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people? Very very very easy to get along with. Literally the only way she will not get along with someone (barring them finding her annoying) is if they insult her/her way of life/her ship.
8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends? Frrrriends, probably, but that doesn't mean she'll just leave her family to the wolves.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once? Single and hating it :'c
10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? As long as Simon's not being a douche, yep.
11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest? Hmmm her first crush was probably some attractive soldier boy back when she was a wee little girl. She's always attracted to... attractive people, basically. Her latest is Simon and good god will that boy appear on this ship already?!
12. What does she look for in a romantic partner? Attractiveness. Intelligence, fanciness, cultured, knowing something she doesn't that she thinks is cool, nice, funny, friendly... she likes a lot of people, though, this is... difficult.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any? Nope! She probably wants some later canon says she'll get them THANK GOD but right now no.
14. Does she have any rivals or enemies? Not her personally, but there are plenty of people out for Serenity and she just gets caught up in that.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale? She's definitely bisexual, though she's probably had slightly more experience with guys than with girls. We only see her actively pursuing relationships with guys (Bester, who she had sex with in a one-night-stand sort of way, and Simon, as much as her little shyness could be considered actively pursuing), but she's definitely been attracted to Inara at least, in a more significant way than just "oh lawdy my best friend is pretty", is somewhat jealous and longing towards Inara's lesbian clients... I'll give her a 2, if only because we've seen more of the heterosexual leanings than the homosexual ones.
16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her? She looooves sex. She has no idea why people are so uptight about it, because it is a wonderful and fun thing. The only reason she hasn't had any booty calls on the Thor is because she is in utterly romantic goo-goo eyes with Simon, in a sort of martyred hero way.
17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? Machines 8) She would love to sleep in the engine room. Love it (and she has! up against the machines in the engine room unf unf) Rough/dirty sex in general is probably a turn on, too. At the same time, she's a hopeless romantic, so she'd get a huge kick out of "fancy" courtship and things like that (as long as she recognizes it for what it is, because Simon fails at that aspect). She likes fancy things. Also maybe foodplay.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type? She's a Cancer and a Rooster, according to the info on the Serenity Bluray. From what I know of Western astrology, she fits pretty well, if not a little more outgoing; idk I'll come back to the Chinese one. She probably knows both lmfao and it's probably popularish info even if it can't be applied to non-Earth star systems.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life? No, but she respects the people who are- she likes talking about religions and probably has a passing knowledge of future Buddhism and Christianity, at least.
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? She's got her own ideas on how a captain should act, things like that, which she takes pretty seriously (she judges the Thor's captains harshly for it). I dunno about anything else, though, I'll get back to this one.
4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? She's pretty tolerant of them- I think she'd have to be, considering all the contact she had with others. She really likes listening to other people talk, but if she hears something that she thinks is just wrong, she's going to argue it pretty intolerantly (ie HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT?)
5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them? She haaaaaates the Alliance. She might not have been in the war itself, but I'm willing to bet propaganda still ran pretty high, so she sees the Independence as THE ONE RIGHT WAY OF LIVING WHO CAN DO NO WRONG. She's not completely adverse to liking someone due to their war alignment, but she still believes pretty strongly in a good/evil dichotomy along Independence/Alliance lines.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? Oh god she's poor as fuck. Always, constantly. She's certainly got much more on the Thor than she's had before, because money is much more consistent on the Thor and things are a lot cheaper.
2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her? She's from basically the space equivalent of rural farmland. She's an outlaw (or at least, associated with outlaws, and has been bound by law at least once even if the charges were dropped/ignored) flying with people who were on the losing side of a civil war, which is looked down upon in high society (and possibly many aspects of low society too). I guess it's changed on the Thor just because no one gives a damn about the politics of her universe, so she went from all that to standard refugee?
3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others? She lives in Serenity, and shares it with up to 8 people depending on the point in the series. It's a hunk of junk, basically, but she loves it so much. It's one of her best friends. Even on the Thor, she lives in Serenity, and will maybe spend a night a week in her official room, and only then if she's got something to do early in the morning that's nearer to the residential sectors than the hangar.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on? Her ship. She pours so much money into the ship, even on the Thor, she's never really had any extra.
5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else? She's a mechanic, and she's great at it. And loves it. She might occasionally daydream about being in the upper crust of society, but she'd never leave her job for it (and wouldn't like it if she did).
6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time? Mechanics, people watching, art- if she's not working, she's probably talking to someone.
7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? She eats pretty regularly, considering her food stores on the Thor are much better than they've ever been. She'll skip meals for work sometimes, but she's used to weird eating habits anyway, so it doesn't bother her. She loves going out for drinks with friends- she likes alcohol on its own, so it's not just a social thing, but she loves the experience of going out and drinking. She eats out a lot because she usually doesn't have the chance to, and she eats a lot of fruits and refrigerated items, since she usually can't get to them. She's probably not picky about anything, because everything is better than protein paste.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:
1. Color? Pink and brown
2. Smell? Engine oil
3. Time of day? about 3 pm
4. Season? Summer
5. Book? ugggggh idk I'll get back to this
6. Music? Folk music
7. Place? the engine room of Serenity
8. Substance? ...bwah?
9. Plant? Sunflowers
10. Animal? some sort of dopey cute puppy
END
{{ Get the HTML here so you can do it yourself. }}