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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 1578175" data-attributes="member: 16760">This started out as a physical description of the major characters, but as usual with me I ended up branching out into characterization a bit. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />----------------------------------------------------I just realized that I've never really described the major characters in the story hour, save a little for Carlos.  I'm not all that visual a person, but still, it's worth correcting.Alex is 6'1" and has a large, imposing frame to go with it;  he is definitely not most people's image of a scientist.  He tends to hunch a little and minimize his presence, though, a habit he picked up in adolescence.  He has dark brown hair and slate-grey eyes that can get colder than any winter in LA ever managed, though his usual expression is one of neutral interest.  Alex walks with an enviable poise and no wasted motion;  the mark of a highly-trained fighter.  His voice is a rich baritone, resonant and commanding attention.  It seems a little incongruous coming from the mousy image he projects.The Shadow, on the other hand, gives the impression of being a coiled spring, ready for action at a moment's notice.  Even before his mind's powers are unleashed, he exudes danger - anyone on the street can tell at a glance that here is a man not to be trifled with.  He uses his cloak to good dramatic effect, and it and the vest make him seem even larger than he really is.Alex dresses fairly conservatively;  he usually wears an understated suit and tie to work, and when he gets home just takes off the tie and jacket.David has recently overtopped his father but his height seems to be stabilizing at 6'3".  He is, if anything, even more powerfully built than Alex;  his musculature is obvious and well-defined, but he doesn't have a bodybuilder's sculpted look.  (Having no body fat is not metabolically efficient, and his body is nothing if not efficent.)  David has an unruly mop of brown hair (a lighter shade than his dad's), and soulful brown eyes he inherited from his mother.  The boy has an easy confidence often mistaken for arrogance.  David's moods are more unpredictable even than the average teen's;  often the smallest thing can set off gloom, or rage, or hot tears - the more so if he's been trying to hold it in for a while.It is his anger that is most frightening, however - he projects a primal, razor-sharp readiness for physical confrontation that is quite unnerving to most people.  (One reason why the coaches at his high school have stopped bugging him to join up is that he has a reputation for not being a "team player" - he's lost his temper before and injured people.  The only reason he hasn't gotten in serious trouble is that so far, they've always clearly started it.)Despite the fact that he's not on a sports team, David is pretty solidly slotted into the "jock" role at his high school.  His grades are decent but lackluster, nothing like John's or Mary's or even Miguel's.  (Alex has managed to resign himself to this, and doesn't nag overmuch.)  While not one of the pretty people, he is fairly popular, the more so since he hangs with Little Dave, a much-loved clown and athlete of no little prowess himself.  David himself is respected by many and feared by a few, and he doesn't seem to mind either reaction much.David is not at all adverse to showing off his muscular frame to the girls, so he often wears muscle shirts and the like.  He has inherited a touch of his father's tastes, however;  if he's going to be dressier than workout clothes, he's going to dress neatly, not loud.  (Jennifer's good taste in clothes has rubbed off on both her men.)  Nor has he ever been much inclined toward hair-dying, piercings, tattoos and the like - probably because he knows full well there'd be no fun shock-value from his dad.  (Most likely reaction to a brightly-colored mohawk:  "Hello son.  You got a haircut, I see." <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  And also, truth be told, David wants his dad's respect and approval badly, though like most teens he'd slit his wrists before admitting it.  Losing his mom at a tender age has only heightened this natural need.Alex is of Scotch-German descent, and Jennifer was from a mostly-German, partly-Nordic Midwestern family.  Alex weathers southern California reasonably well;  David is fairer than his dad but tans up nicely, with little in the way of burning.  (More of that ultra-efficient metabolism.)I've already described Carlos, but here's a recap, with a few extras.  He's 5'6 (and sensitive about it) and skinny, though he's been filling out since getting regular meals and daily workouts at the base.  He's got straight jet-black hair, and eyes so dark they're almost black too;  his features are noticeably mestizo (Indian) and his skin tone matches.  (Yet another source of friction with the Garcias, who pride themselves on being of Spanish descent.  To say nothing of the Gypsy connection!)Though unfailingly polite and eager-to-please around Alex and other "decent folks", Carlos has not lost his streetwise edge.  He can blend in on the street effortlessly;  or, if he prefers, he can project enough dangerous, swaggering "bad-dudeness" to cause most to give him a wide berth.  Doing the latter actually embarrasses him, though of course he doesn't let this show;  he'd feel very uncomfortable playing that part around somebody he liked and respected.  He maintains some contacts from the old days, though they're mainly useful only in and around Lions territory, which he doesn't care to visit often.As mentioned before, Carlos has an appalling collection of scars and welts on his body, especially on his back, sides, and forearms.  Most are courtesy of his uncle, some are presents from the Lions and a rival gang, and a few are self-inflicted.  He is very self-conscious and ashamed about these, which is one reason why he always wears long-sleeved shirts when going out.  (It's a mark of how comfortable he is around Alex that he doesn't feel the need to do that at home.)Carlos takes great pride in his appearance when he goes out, making a point of dressing neatly and well.  (And he goes through hair gel like it's going out of style. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  To hear him talk, he's the last of the great Latin lovers, but in point of fact he doesn't really date much - too busy, he says, but it's at least as much that life is emotionally complicated enough lately. (He also no longer believes in having sex before marriage, which some of his dates have found quite sweet, and others quite naive.)  Any given month, he's liable to be all swoony over the latest Latina pop sensation;  he's got posters of any number of 'em on the wall at the base.In short, Carlos is an uneasy combination of adult and child - far uneasier than most guys his age.  He is hardened, competent, and utterly reliable, on the one hand.  On the other, though he would never admit it even to himself, he's also trying to pack as much concentrated childhood into his time at the base as possible.  (In his heart of hearts, he feels it's just plain too good to last.  Eventually some cosmic sense of justice will notice he's having it too good and punish him.)  Around Alex he is a little boy trying to please his dad - but a little boy sophisticated enough not to whine or seek negative attention.  He will please Alex by being the mature, reliable, inobtrusive helper that the Shadow (he thinks) wants and needs;  in return he soaks up approval and affection, and basks in "irresponsibility" in the sense that he doesn't have to be thinking ahead to his next meal, his next bit of shelter, and how he's going to avoid or minimize his next beating.  (Carlos has never really made longer-term plans before.  He fully expected to die young, as so many gangbangers do.)The recent ratcheting-up of their relationship is both the unimaginable coming-true of a dream so wild he'd never even dared to think it aloud to himself, and a terrifying, perilous abyss to him.  It promises change, and change is terrifying when things are already better than he'd ever hoped for.  And he can't help but feel a certain terror that he'll screw it up somehow - he'll do something wrong and Alex will hate him and it'll be all over.  If there's more emotional involvement there's also lots more ways to get hurt - and to hurt Alex too, without even half-trying.  (He's much more willing to get hurt than to dish it out to someone he loves.)This is yet another reason why he'll be so exasperated with David - David treats as his casual birthright something that to Carlos is El Dorado.  It will INFURIATE Carlos that David can feel free to sass his dad and *not have to be afraid that their relationship will end*.  (Not that Carlos feels even the slightest desire to sass Alex, you understand, but it's the principle of the thing. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  The SECURITY of it.)  David will always be Alex's son, no matter what happens, but Carlos is, he fears, treading on thin ice every step of the way.</blockquote>

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