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Character Profile: Stranger
09 June, 2010 @ 8:57PM
Let’s pop the cherry on this blog by discussing the main reason I started up one.
I’ve not mentioned this character before, particularly because he is somewhat new. Actually, he has been around a lot longer, though I have never really developed him until recently. He fights zombies, wards off rabid senior citizens with metal teeth, sleeps with his sister, is a closet nudist, constantly shops for shape-shifting cookware and ingredients, wears tight pants, transforms into a Predator when the moon is full, razes buildings, rips the hearts out of abominable snowmen, crossdresses, and fights more zombies. He is very Mary Sue-ish, in that he’s attractive, god-like, and, hell, looks a bit like me (but oh so much sexier and hunky and awesome). He is my “dream’sona”.
The dream that spurred me to go “Goddamn, why isn’t this guy an OC yet???” occurred about a month ago. I had Busiris call me up at around 8am to wake me up, as I’d been oversleeping all week. After the phone call, I fell back into slumber, and during the next 1 ½ hours had one of those rare, incredible dreams with an actual plot… or something like a plot.
Like most dreams, it makes almost no sense and is predictable (I don’t know about you, but somehow I always know how the entire dream will go before it actually happens). I pieced it together into something that made more sense while trying to keep most of the original elements in it.
There is an alternate world where humans absorb “life” from each other in order to survive. Taking life from another doesn’t kill them and rarely affects them at all (a light-headedness is the only effect, which goes away quickly). A fresh dose of life leaves the absorber chipper and in a good mood. This world appears as a small Southern town, complete with vast farmlands, a small “city” area, and lots and lots of diners.
A short, thin, meek young man suddenly appears in the town, not really knowing who he is and only wanting to “return home”. We’ll call him Stranger. The town’s sheriff—who kinda looks like my dad—finds him in the middle of the city. He agrees to help Stranger find his way home as escort. Unfortunately, as soon as they get into the sheriff’s car, the engine stalls, as the engine of several other vehicles they try. They end up traveling on foot.
A grocer’s dog—a Rottweiler—cheerfully comes up to Stranger and attempts to lick his face. However, upon the tongue’s contact with Stranger’s skin, sparks occur and the dog shies away. Stranger comments that while it appears that he had hurt the dog, he felt a positive rush inside him. He’s unaware of the absorption effect in this world. The sheriff explains it to him, adding that humans are unable to absorb from animals and he wonders why Stranger was able to do so.
They continue on their trek, cutting through less populated areas so as not to disturb anyone. They come through a park, where some deer reside. The lead deer, a large buck, appears threatened by Stranger and charges him. Stranger narrowly avoids the attack, brushing an elbow against the buck’s flank. Similarly to the dog, he absorbs some of the buck’s life, but this time much more of it. The buck weakens and collapses. It is later discovered that the buck had been rid of a skeleton, hence the collapsing.
The sheriff gets peeved, stating that no human was able to absorb more than just a pinch without dying. Stranger’s ability to absorb life from animals and a physical part of them and survive is unique, though unlike the other humans in the town, he seems unable to control it.
By nightfall they’ve reached the outskirts of town where there’s nothing but dusty roads and farmland. They stop at a nursing home for the night, as it is the only shelter around for miles. After cleaning up and having a warm meal, they lounge in the TV room. An old woman and her cat enter, and the cat immediately makes its way to Stranger. Stranger tries to avoid the cat, but it is to late. As he starts to absorb it, the old woman attempts to save poor Fluffy. She gets trapped in the current, and Stranger absorbs them both whole, leaving no scraps behind.
There is an uproar at the nursing home and Stranger and the sheriff flee, somehow with one of the young nurses tagging along. They spend the rest of the night trying to find another place to stay. By morning they reach a diner. It is then that Stranger starts to notice a change in him, feeling stronger and more confident, maybe even taller. A romantic tension builds up between him and the nurse, though the dream ends before it could be explored further.
While the trio have breakfast, a large explosion is heard. Up above, a passenger jet has lost both its engines and is hurtling towards the town. Panic ensues as everyone tries to evacuate the diner and the surrounding area. The aircraft comes in too fast, and as a last resort, Stranger tries to stop it. With his hands outstretched, he begins to absorb the plane as everyone looks on with revulsion. During the absorption, his body changes drastically, becoming taller and bulking up in muscle. He ends up taking in the entire jet and all of its passengers. He saves the town, at the expense of 300 or so lives.
When the dust settles and the ungrateful townspeople turn on Stranger—intent on driving him out of town before he could absorb anyone else—and as the realization of what he had done dawns on him, the dream ends.
At this point I did a mental “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” and struggled to go back to sleep, but this time I was really awake. :’(
Ah, dreams…
I don’t know if this is his origin story. There have been other dreams where he is already buff, so maybe. He might have some science experiment background going, too. He doesn’t get freakishly huge—these pics are more his actual size. It takes a lot of people to make him that buff. Thankfully the absorption only happens in that particular town, so anything or anyone he touches outside of it has no effect. (I am also pretty sure that there is some comic character out there that has the same ability, but for the life of me I cannot recall who).
I also don’t want to get too serious when it comes to this character, because, come on, he is as Sue-ish as they can get! He will be my guilty pleasure OC with whom anything goes!
Also, ALSO! I don’t intend on using this guy as an internet avatar. I’ll still be using myself or my fursona, lol. Do me a favor and treat him like a separate person, please!!!
Okay, I feel embarrassed that this blog post is so long (okay, more embarrassed that I am admitting this little fantasy to everyone) so please enjoy the sketches for now. I will talk more about him later. I am also planning a “debut piece” that will introduce Stranger to the wider audience on my art site accounts (I did try sketching a few right after I had the dream, but was still in an art funk and kinda failed). I don’t know when I’ll post it, probably after I’m done with the zillion pictures that I owe people, ahahahaha…
…woot.
10 Comments
I am shhhhhyyyy o//////o
I am sure a more active imagination contributes to dreams. I’m just wondering where my imagination went. I want it back. D,8 Somehow I lost it amongst all my belongings when I moved so much in the past 4 or 5 years. You can’t say I don’t day dream when you know where I work! XD; *sigh*
Dood, he is a cool lookin dood- lot’s a neat backstory and mythos already brewing~ I hope ta see more of him. and NEEK ROUGHS!? RAWESOME.
#32 | 11:12 am on June 10th, 2010 |Nice
He looks like a very cool character and i specially like the absortion sketch xD
Mmmm…thats quite a dream, almost like a movie o_o i wish someday i can have such action packed dreams xD and if he ends looking like you then its OK, most of our OC looks like us or looks like we want to be xD
Wow. I wish I had creative dreams like that! Great background story, and by the way I really do like your rough sketches.. Although, my favorite sketch on this page has to be the corn.. Jk, I like everything you decide to put on paper. lol. ;) He looks awesome. I hope to see some more creations on Squiby!
~OOZE
That last scene sounds a bit MAdrox-like. Defintely hunky.
I hope he gets control of his powers enough so he can choose what to absorb…
Hmm… A lot to absorb. @3@
#30 | 9:07 pm on June 9th, 2010 |I feel like this is all totally new news to me, but that’s because you didn’t wanna talk to me about it. XD I guess that’s cool though because there is stuff I am too shy to talk to you about, except your shy stuff is far cooler than mine. lol
This also proves that having a mary sue OC is fine. It’s inspiring. I’d like to do that, but then again, sometimes I guess Bu is pretty… sueish? XD Still he is a nudist. like Bu.
Oh and I can’t understand why I don’t ever have coherent, memorable, or fun. lol Hell, I don’t really ever remember mine anyways ;3; lol