Characterisation
Here's what I came up with at lunchtime:
Jay Gee:
26 years old (that means he was born in 1998), thin framed, skinny, beard.
Cerebral, well-educated and good at languages.
Jay has lived inside The City most of his adult life and has hardly left his flat in the last five years; has never left his building. He works at home, for a computer company developing automatic translation software (tweaking and checking other people's work mainly). Although he obviously has dealings with lots of people through his job, he has a very superficial relationship with them, and only ever "meets" them online.
His only real human relationship in the last five years or so has been with his mother. His father died when he was very young, and he only has a fleeting memory of him, as a larger than life figure who sometimes invades his dreams. He is a very selfish person, and thinks of his mother's death in terms of how it will affect his life. This is the only form of "grief" he feels.
Apart from working, he passes his time reading and playing the flute. This he does for himself only, although playing the flute was how he originally met his once-best-friend Aimee.
Aimee:
26 years old (born 1998), dark-haired, intelligent, reflective, kind, caring.
Aimee met Jay at the music class they both started going to when they were 7.
They both played the flute. They became good friends when they realised that they were both different (odd?) from the other children. They both found it difficult to connect at school. They started going to each other's houses to play computer games and practise the flute, etc. This continued until they were thirteen, when, during an (unspecified? What happened?) incident at his house, Jay's mother caught them (doing what?) and complained to her parents. Her parents and his mother got into an argument, and Aimee was pulled out of the music class and she was told she couldn't see Jay again. Jay didn't know what had happened (His mother told him that Aimee had had to go away quickly and there hadn't been time to say goodbye) and closed himself to other people, studying and reading. He continued playing the flute and became proficient. Eventually, he took a job with the software company after studying languages at a virtual university. Aimee blamed Jay's mother and programmed her smart chip to notify her the day Jay's mother died. She told her thirteen-year-old self that she would not try to get in touch until then. This is what brings her back into Jay's life. she gave up the flute and forced herself to socialise with other people. She has been able to do this well enough, but she now feels restless and is looking for something different (she doesn't quite know what) (Note to self: How does this sound? Is it all too contrived? Or can it be made plausible?)
I realised when I was writing these notes that the society has to be a right-wing, almost fascist state. abortion, is prohibited, as is adoption. The belief of the state is that only a natural birth is correct. Now is this because of a faith in a God, or due to the lengthening of people's lives, and the idea to control the poulation? There is much here that I need to think about and develop.
The story of outsdiers, and insiders also make me think of the differnece between legal citizens and illegal immigrants. Relaly, could this be a story about the treatment of immigrants in society?
Jay Gee:
26 years old (that means he was born in 1998), thin framed, skinny, beard.
Cerebral, well-educated and good at languages.
Jay has lived inside The City most of his adult life and has hardly left his flat in the last five years; has never left his building. He works at home, for a computer company developing automatic translation software (tweaking and checking other people's work mainly). Although he obviously has dealings with lots of people through his job, he has a very superficial relationship with them, and only ever "meets" them online.
His only real human relationship in the last five years or so has been with his mother. His father died when he was very young, and he only has a fleeting memory of him, as a larger than life figure who sometimes invades his dreams. He is a very selfish person, and thinks of his mother's death in terms of how it will affect his life. This is the only form of "grief" he feels.
Apart from working, he passes his time reading and playing the flute. This he does for himself only, although playing the flute was how he originally met his once-best-friend Aimee.
Aimee:
26 years old (born 1998), dark-haired, intelligent, reflective, kind, caring.
Aimee met Jay at the music class they both started going to when they were 7.
They both played the flute. They became good friends when they realised that they were both different (odd?) from the other children. They both found it difficult to connect at school. They started going to each other's houses to play computer games and practise the flute, etc. This continued until they were thirteen, when, during an (unspecified? What happened?) incident at his house, Jay's mother caught them (doing what?) and complained to her parents. Her parents and his mother got into an argument, and Aimee was pulled out of the music class and she was told she couldn't see Jay again. Jay didn't know what had happened (His mother told him that Aimee had had to go away quickly and there hadn't been time to say goodbye) and closed himself to other people, studying and reading. He continued playing the flute and became proficient. Eventually, he took a job with the software company after studying languages at a virtual university. Aimee blamed Jay's mother and programmed her smart chip to notify her the day Jay's mother died. She told her thirteen-year-old self that she would not try to get in touch until then. This is what brings her back into Jay's life. she gave up the flute and forced herself to socialise with other people. She has been able to do this well enough, but she now feels restless and is looking for something different (she doesn't quite know what) (Note to self: How does this sound? Is it all too contrived? Or can it be made plausible?)
What both Jay and Aimee don't know (this is Isabel's ide) is that they were both "bought" illegally by their parents, and were actually the offspring of outsiders. Jay's parents were old when they got together, and his mother couldn't have children. They went to the blackmarket to "buy" Jay (why?), and so did Aimee's parents. (Is it too far-fetched, too Star Wars to say they were brother and sister?) This is why they both feel "different". On this fact hinges one of the major twists of the story - When Jay finally manages to get a DNA test to prove who he is, he is not the person he thought he was, and so cannot be allowed back in to take up his old life, which was based on a stolen chip at the time of his birth.
When Jay meets Aimee again, Aimee is working as a carer, looking after the aged. It is through the stories that they have told her, about their memories of nature, and the world as it was, that make her feel she would like to go outside and experience a different side of life. Even if it's only for a short time. She is restless and doesn't know why, and is suspicious about the way people are locked in the protective bubble of the city and do not get to hear anything about what is outside. She is also looking after her aged father (her mother died two years ago) and her plan is that when he dies, she would like to make a move.I realised when I was writing these notes that the society has to be a right-wing, almost fascist state. abortion, is prohibited, as is adoption. The belief of the state is that only a natural birth is correct. Now is this because of a faith in a God, or due to the lengthening of people's lives, and the idea to control the poulation? There is much here that I need to think about and develop.
The story of outsdiers, and insiders also make me think of the differnece between legal citizens and illegal immigrants. Relaly, could this be a story about the treatment of immigrants in society?
posted by blog-efl at 10:45 PM
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