Sorry for being AWOL this week. I’ve been sick (turns out I have a double ear infection— fun!). Anyway, I thought I’d get back into the swing of things by writing a new post for one of my old series. This series? Flashback Friday, a fun way to take a look back at my past. For this, I thought I’d discuss some of my favorite characters from years of playing pretend. I don’t know how other kids played games of pretend, but my characters had arcs and growth. They were involved in continuous stories. They were detailed and real. And I’d like to introduce you to a few of them today. So, in chronological order, these are the characters I played as at different points in my life:
- Jessica (Last Name Unknown): Jessica was a fun, interesting character. She was the greatest Pokémon master and owner of a Mew (which eventually evolved into a Master Mew and then a Double-Headed Mew, both my own creations). She was also somehow both Ash Ketchum’s aunt and Harry Potter’s. And she was somewhere between her teens and her twenties (I’m not sure of her exact age, but I remember imagining her as grown up). She was, in essence, a total bad bitch.
- Misty Carlie McGuire: This fiery redhead was everything at once. She was a mermaid who could also be human. She was a pop star. She wrote for the newspaper. She was a secret agent. Homegirl could do anything. She was the kind of girl who could save the world before the curtains went up. She had a lot of love interests, but her other half was my version of Jake Long (yes, from American Dragon). He was also a pop star and secret agent, with a bit of a bad boy streak. And they had a bit of a Romeo & Juliet thing going on, being a mermaid and a dragon. Much like her predecessor, MCM was an absolute bad bitch.
- Alexander Carter/The Terminator (no relation): So, this one is a little fucked up. Alexander existed in the 1800s, a poor boy abused by his father. One day he ran away and, one thing led to another until he accidentally killed a guy. It made him feel powerful, so he became a cowboy who pretty much just killed people. That is, until he fell in love. Then he gave it all up. Many iterations of this followed, including a modern day version in which his entire family (now with many members) is forced to do this by evil cowboys. It made less and less sense as time went on and the character was eventually abandoned completely.
- Tanner McCain/Macek: Another character that saw many iterations, Tanner began as a mean, spoiled prince. As he was retooled, he became a kind, well-meaning prince with a loyal group of friends. In one iteration, he was an actor. In that same iteration, he (and his family) is also a descendant of the Valkyrie. Somewhere along the line, his last name was changed to Macek, as that sounded more regal. I could see using some aspects of this character in one of my future stories (or at least the Valkyrie angle).
- Ron Warford/Riley Frayer: This character is the one that went through the biggest transformation. He began life as Ron Warford, an underappreciated actor. Then he became Ron Warford, star of The Best of Both Worlds as Carter Madsen/Tennessee Sparks (my take on Hannah Montana, but as a dude). Eventually, I decided he was also a diviner, foretold by a prophecy. Then I changed his name to Riley Frayer. And then, after a while, I decided I wanted him to be a girl instead. I kept the name Riley Frayer, but retooled all her “famous” roles (ie. now she’s Kara Madsen/Stevie Sparks on TBOBW and has gone from Austin Gardella to Waverly Quade on a made-up show called Paravale). She’s still the character that fascinates me the most, and was the central figure (or at least the inspiration for the central figure) of a series I was planning. I have since decided not to write that series. At least, for now. Riley Blackstone Frayer may someday rise again.
Do you remember any characters you playacted as when you were a kid? Tell me about them in the comments!
Strange Storyteller 