[Fiction question] What does my character do for a living?
Asked by
Jeruba (
56106
)
October 31st, 2009
My character “R” (one of the antagonists to “J” of this question) is a tall, brawny, muscular guy (not like a weight lifter—more like a middle-aged guy who is really fit). He looks and dresses kind of like your classic cowboy stereotype, and he has a Texan accent, but he isn’t a cowboy.
What is his occupation?
— It keeps him fit and strong.
— He is a free agent at least part of the time.
— He has work that brings him to California.
— He is not any kind of private detective or law enforcement person, but he has weapons knowledge.
— He is not terribly well paid.
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28 Answers
He sure sounds like an assassin to me, but I think those get paid well.
How about an oil rig specialist that is hired to put out oil rig fires on a contract basis.
See ya….Gary/wtf I probably should have read the other question, first
He might be, @gggritso, but he isn’t well paid, which is why money motivated him to get involved with “J”, to his own misfortune. My assassin is a petite, wispy, platinum-haired 22-year-old Finnish girl who looks like a 12-year-old ballet student.
Good idea, @Gary! I might be able to use that. Thanks.
Park Ranger (park maintenance)
Firefighter (of california wildfires)
@whatthefluther Awesome!
How about an oil rig specialist who served in special forces when the oil rigs were set ablaze in the Middle East- thus gaining his skills and also his knowledge of firearms etc.
Except I think that pays quite well.
State park rangers do carry weapons. That’s a good one, too. Thanks, @phoenyx.
@tinyfaery Only when there are actually wells on fire. If he moved to CA due to lack of work (oil drying up) he would in fact be rather poor and susceptible to the lure of money.
He is Sam Shepard; he writes plays; he is naturally lanky and smokes a lot. “Shepard was often the target of his father’s anger. In high school he began acting and writing poetry, and he also worked as a stable hand at a horse ranch in Chino from 1958–1960.” Source
@tinyfaery….Yes, but he is hired on a job by job basis, and doesn’t like to work hard. See ya….Gary/wtf
Perhaps he’s in construction, a carpet layer or contractor. Something requiring intense manual labor. Being an ex-soldier gives a person a weapons background.
@gailcalled
His plays aren’t too bad. Except he seems to be angry with me every time I open his book.
As for the character: I just met a one-eyed woodcutter (his own words; he had ocular cancer and now wears an eyepatch). He delivered my parents’ firewood for the winter and seeing as he chops it himself, unloads it himself (unless customers are willing to help), etc. he’s pretty fit at 42 years old. It’s not his only job, and people only need the wood in winter so he’s kind of a ‘free agent’.
I’m not sure but he seems like he could be a weapons enthusiast. I don’t think he’d have reason to go to California, though. It doesn’t exactly get cold there.
Also, he is racist and he said he is being a pirate at a Halloween party tonight.
A bouncer or a bodyguard?
Wow, great ideas! Maybe a former Texas oil rig firefighter who came to California to work for J and became his bodyguard, only to resign because he could not countenance J’s unscrupulosity, so now he is a part-time park ranger or maybe even a California wildfire fighter and he’s coming after J….
Aside of j’s unsavory disposition being a bodyguard for him would mean hearing what a creep he is by those he has trodden on to get where he is.
He owns his own landscaping/lawn service. He and his sons make up 60% of the company. It might not seem like a big deal, but he is amazing when it comes to topiary work, hence the trips to CA. We loves us some giraffe shaped bushes over in sunny California.
Pawnbroker
Freelance security
Roadie
Marshal Arts instructor or small studio owner
Former military is a good way to work weapons knowledge into almost any profession
He is a cabinetmaker. He does quality custom work -mostly by hand – and is rather picky about how it gets done. He has a “people can take it or leave it” attitude. This leads to a feast or famine climate for him almost always. J saw some work he did restoring an old wooden boat and is considering having some custom work done in the interior of his baby.
^^. Old, tired and over-used for this site. And unhelpful for this question.
@gailcalled I couldn’t figure out if you were referring to my answer. Of course it’s silly but really he is fit, ‘a free agent’, his work brought him to California, he knows weapons and he’s paid in survival. So really it fits all the criteria but is, in fact, a joke. It’s the first thing that came to mind.
@Clair: The zombie theme, both verbal and visual, has been done to death here. We need to find a new chthonic deity here. The picture was on-target, however.
Check this out,
Answer 111. (by @Jeruba)
@Clair: I know and I promise not to use if for another six months.
Oooh, now I want to see if I can work chthonic into my story. It really has no place there, but—who knows—if J had dirty dealings in Africa (as suggested in the companion thread), especially around the mines, R could wish the curse of a chthonic spirit on him.
R is taking shape, thanks to some great help here. I think he used to work on oil rigs in Texas but lost his job on account of drinking, and J gave him a chance—or took advantage of his weakness and held it over him—and hired him as a bodyguard, which is why R knows a lot of J’s secrets. Now he works on California wildfires during the fire season and in between does freelance work in security and whatever he can get. He has a huge vendetta against J, but he is also still very vulnerable because of things in his own past, which of course J would have made it a point to know.
I’d love to use some zombies, @Clair (I haven’t exhausted my zombie quota for this year), but they might only be metaphorical in this story. Maybe in a dream. Hmm….
Thanks for the picture!
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