Henry Townshend (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
21st_sacrament) wrote2011-08-09 10:17 am
21st_sacrament) wrote2011-08-09 10:17 am
Entry tags:
The New, Improved Character Survey of Doom
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? I've always placed Henry around 5'11'' or 6' and he's built fairly sturdy. His shoulders are broad and he's got long limbs with big hands. He doesn't have much muscle definition and upper body wise, he's fairly soft. He has some tone in his lower body, particularly his legs (he's a jogger).
2. How old is he? We're only told late twenties and I tend to go older than most of fandom, mine's 28.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? Oh, Henry. His posture isn't normally bad but he has a habit of hunching down to make himself smaller when he's uncomfortable, to give the illusion of taking up less space.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? Henry's health is fairly good, he goes running and while he doesn't always eat three meals on the dot everyday, he takes care of himself. He has no allergies and shows no signs of any long term pain or disease. He does have sensitivity when it comes to smell and part of my headcanon has always been if he'd stayed near Walter's corpse long enough the stench would have made him throw up.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? Tense, Henry's loosest when he runs or listens to music.
Otherwise, he's rather stiff and in general he doesn't like to make much movement around people. He does fidget when he's tired and he's aware of it when others are around.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? Henry's pretty bangin' |D
Henry is quite attractive, he's tall and lean and has very smooth facial features (he's kinda pretty). His hair has a very clear part to it and it's clearly styled, his clothes fit him well and save for a little stubble, he obviously makes a point to be neat and clean. He's very much aware of how he looks but not in a vain way. If you asked Henry how he looked he'd say,
"Okay, I guess."
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? The lighting in the games makes colors and shades a nightmare >_____>; In a lot of the fanart I've seen in him, his skin tones all over. I've never thought of him as naturally pale and he has a fair amount of pigment to him. I've always enjoyed describing his skin as olive. Henry doesn't have any scars and has a very clear complexion. Tanning comes easy to him.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Brown, it's short and somewhat thick. It's certainly styled, parted to the right, but I'm not sure how else to describe it :|; He has to brush it before he leaves his apartment, he wakes up with a killer case of bedhead.
9. What color are his eyes? Green ♥
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Not really /o/
11. What are his chief tension centers? houlders, neck. He'll get horrible knots or muscle spasms in them.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? Henry's got a pretty good wardrobe. Not too much variety, jeans, khakis, sweats, and some shorts. He likes long sleeve shirts, many of them button ups and he has plenty of t-shirts. He favors muted and light colors. He doesn't like to wear bright colors (especially warm colors) but dark cool colors are fine. His patterns get as wild as stripes and plaid |D
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? Yes and yes, his clothes aren't loose enough to hang off but they aren't so tight they cling.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? THANK YOU HEAD CANON, mister freelance photographer pretty much gets to wear whatever he likes. At most it's been business casual if he's being admitted to an event he got a job for and hey, professionalism sells.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? Pfft, boxers and boxer briefs.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Henry's voice isn't all that deep. It's very obviously male but light.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? Soft spoken, Henry's so damn quiet I had to turn up the volume a lot as I was playing the game.
When Henry is caught off guard or especially nervous, the stutter he had as a child reappears.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? Nothing noteworthy.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? English only.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? N/A.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? This is very situational |D Without much prompting, Henry will bust out a What The Hell? or immediately question when something is off if he feels it's warranted.
Otherwise, he likes to piece together the things he knows before jumping to a conclusion.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Despite his reluctance and awkward pauses here and there, Henry is a fine enough speaker and able to engage others easily. It's the part of getting him there that takes the most time. The more comfortable Henry feels, the less hesitation there is.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? Considering all the crazy shit and murdering going on and he still managed to work out all of Joseph's notes
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? While in-game he certainly had no choice but to think on his feet, Townshend does his best planning in rest. With the use of the holes, he was able to go back to his apartment, locked up but safe for a majority of the game, at any time and use it to think and piece together each new thing he finds.
He is capable but he's at his best with time to stretch.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? For an artist, Henry is very logically minded. His thought process is much like his scrap booking, collecting all of the information he can and laying it out in a way that makes sense and that can be followed to some sort of conclusion. Because of this, he is more practical, but there is some idealism when it comes to people. Though they often make him nervous, Henry prefers not to think bad of anyone unless they show reasoning for it.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Henry has a college degree o/
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? Photography \o/ Henry also enjoys painting, sketching, and dabbles in short story writing. Scrap booking photos and interesting articles is also one of his legit hobbies. Henry actually has a wide interest in things, he likes to watch documentaries on TV especially :|c He's shown to have a small collection of books though we aren't told what they are but given he hasn't touched them since he moved, he isn't a big reader.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Looooooool, introvert.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? This man is so even tempered
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? He's shy. Pending on where, when, why, and who, it may even seem somewhat crippling. Henry doesn't dislike people but they do make him nervous and at times a little anxious. He has difficulty making eye contact at first and may have trouble looking at the other person (or group) at all. He doesn't gesture much and because his expression isn't the most flexible, he can come off as cold or uncaring. It takes a lot of pushing or a really bad day for him to get this way. In most new situations, while his shyness is still evident, he's more likely labeled as harmlessly socially awkward and no feelings are hurt |D;
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? Act, if there is a problem and especially if there are people involved. Henry didn't waste time in attempting to help many of the victims he ran across, especially once he figured out what was going on. He has a lot of compassion and he's a natural born problem solver. It's because of the distance he keeps it may be harder for him to know when things need help, doing, or fixing.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? Henry's spent most of his life relying on a flight response first, fight response second. When faced in a situation where for his chances of survival he has to he can jam the switch in fight. But Henry isn't a fighter and excluding needed game mechanics, it's a miracle he didn't die. As it takes a lot for Henry to get steamed, he's more likely to be avoidant than in your face.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? His sense of humor is a lot like him, quiet and subtle. It says alot that when he laughs he tends to cover is mouth. He likes puns and his humor can be on the drier side, he may just surprise you with a deadpan quip here and there.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? I wouldn't say so.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? There's a difference between being alone and lonely and it's easy to tell Henry doesn't fear loneliness when being alone. He likes the option of being by himself most of the time, he doesn't need constant interaction with others and chooses to stay in far more than go out. No one can go without zero interaction with the world or people but his need to be with others is fulfilled at a lower level compared to most. It says it all when we learn he's moved into his apartment two years ago and that he's happy and not too long after we learn Henry knows no more then the names and faces of his neighbors and quite a few don't even know that much about him.
If The Room has taught Henry anything though, when all possibility of human contact is ripped from him, he would benefit and grow to be out more in the world.
The most defining moments without a doubt are Henry's attempts to save the other victims. The results of the first four ended in failure that could have crushed him and when he saw that all his attempts to save Eileen failed, he did hurt and we see his pain in one of the most telling moments of the game, he falls to his hands in knees. But when he finds evidence that she could be alive he still gives it his all to find her. While it is the most brutal escort mission the game pulled :|;; It says alot that Henry does his best to protect Eileen and keep her safe and yet involve her and treat her as more than an invalid.
14. What does he fear? He doesn't like being or getting angry. He has a breaking point, no matter how long it takes to get to it, and he does explode. It's horrifying for him.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? He's not a man of many ambitions. He wants to live somewhere quietly, continue to do things at his own pace. He would like a house of his own but that costs more money than he can afford at this point in his life.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? Heh, he knows he's a little strange and people know that when they meet him. Despite that, Henry does try to keep the extent of his unusual-ness on the down-low. If anything, the fact he has the ability to do what he did to survive Walter's worlds, the dark place he had to go to kill (even if they were already technically dead and inhuman) is something he never wants anyone to see.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. The game is so frighteningly tight lipped about this (we seriously know so little about him canonly) that fandom has taken to run in all sorts of directions.
HERE'S WHERE I RAN. Had mom, had dad, around 8 or 9 his parents divorced and he lived with his mother, never seeing his father again. From that point on he has no relationship with his father and it isn't something he misses or regrets. His father was an alcoholic, who may or may not have been abusive and Henry was more worried about his mother's safety than his own. Henry doesn't drink as a result (brought on by there being a full bottle of wine in his fridge, after days locked in a nightmare you'd think it would be cracked open by now, I imagined it was a gift).
Henry is a lot like and very close to his mother. They live in different cities but they talk on the phone every other week. There is some quiet tension, there are things they don't talk about and things they refuse talk about but they're willing to forgive and forget. Not many things get solved this way but it's what they're comfortable with. She's the one who introduced him to scrap booking and the reason he's a photographer now. His favorite memory of her from when he was a child was using the point and click cameras she would buy him once a month and going down to the store waiting for them to develop.
She helped him out financially when he first moved out on his own.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? Only child.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? His mother has a sister and her husband and all four of them lived together at one time after the divorce. He likes his aunt and uncle but never felt particularly close to them. He hears about them through his mother from time to time.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? No one really.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? AFTER POST GOOD END, Eileen could definitely become his best friend once they take time to get to know each other. And she most likely is, there's already a barrier of closeness spurred on by the ordeal they went through together, having the actual time to learn about each other makes this sort of relationship easy to develop. Henry will always feel protective of Eileen and this will grow as well.
6. Does he have other close friends? N-Not really.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? There's the shyness again. There's a reason Eileen is an ideal friend for him and it's because of her personality appealing to shy types. She is friendly and outgoing but also sensitive enough to know when to back off or give a gentle nudge. Eileen doesn't mind starting conversations or being the one to invite someone out and Henry needs that. Being a passive person, it's more probable for him to act when someone makes a point to show interest in him.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? Henry has so few personal relationships it's. Kind of hard for me to believe he would consider one more important than the other. No matter the ties if he's managed to have a close relationship with someone, they'll be important to him regardless.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Single.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? Nope.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? Over the course of his life, Henry's actually had feelings for quite a few people. Many of them were passing and far from serious, particularly in his childhood he had habit of crushing on a teacher every few grades. He had crushes on people to closer to his age in college, his last relationship was also in college and then decided to remain single since then.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? Ironically, someone who likes to talk, especially if they don't mind filling the spaces he can't seem to fill in a conversation.
In intimate settings he likes touch a lot and wants someone to be able to lie around with quietly, maybe to spend time and participate in leisure activities with. Henry definitely needs his space and still wants to be an individual even when he's part of a couple (meeting his partner's friends is one thing, becoming their friend is another) and can't tolerate being smothered.
Something that is key is them being able to do things he can't do or has difficulty doing. Friendliness and sociability are important, to encourage him to try new things and get him out doing something for a few hours (it's easy to slip into staying home and withdraw too long, which has surprising effects once he gets used to sharing some time with someone else).
Big, boisterous personalities clash and drown out his quiet one.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? None, being an only child he's been prodded about having children. Henry is very confidently child free and wants to remain that way. He likes kids fine, as long as they belong to someone else. He's uncomfortable and isn't confident with thought of being father himself.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? Considering he's the only SH protag who has no connection or guilt tying him to the town and is Walter's victim based on a stroke of bad luck |D; He flies under the radar and out of people's minds easily.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? Mine's a 3, he's slid back and forth between 2 and 4 throughout his life. His sexual orientation has never been a source of grief for him, however he's more wary about outing himself pending on the company.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? Interestingly, Henry likes sex fine |D If he's having sex, he must feel comfortable and familiar with the person he's with. His sex drive isn't very high, his partner's more liable to be the initiator but he enjoys himself. It isn't extremely important, he takes care of himself and is just as satisfied.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
His neck is very sensitive ♥ Curling up against his side and kissing his neck gets him in the mood quite nicely. Holding the back of his neck and running your fingertips down it also gets very pleasant results.
Going on a run with him, cooking him a meal, or wearing his shirts.
He likes men's backs, women's legs, and hips for both.
He can spend his whole night eating his partner out. Seriously. Let him do it.
He doesn't care if you drink but don't kiss him afterwards. He doesn't talk much but answer him if he asks you something, he wants you to feel good. Food should never be a part of sex.
...bedroom habits. I'm sure he has some :|; IDK if they're weird. Aren't everyone's to some extent?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? I MADE IT UP BUT he really fits Taurus for me.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? Neither, though after everything he's more willing to concede on the existence of things that aren't human :|;
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it? Henry is a genuinely good person, part of it is his upbringing and because he doesn't understand the point in being cruel.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? Curious, he's willing to discuss differences and be shown new things. Being so aware of how he thinks of things, he's always interested in how others think.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? He lines faces a bit harder at people who invite him out only for it to be drinking.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? The game says nada but mine's a photographer and he must have some pretty sweet connections to afford an apartment that size all on his own. He's comfortable but he isn't in the clear, he has to track his spending or he can end in the red.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him? He's lucky, he falls somewhere on the middle class scale.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others? An apartment all to himself and he loves it. It's kept clean with some loving clutter here. He doesn't entertain often but he isn't uncomfortable inviting others over if he's had a chance to clean up from his work sprawled over.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on? Photography equipment and materials.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else? I answered this in the beginning and repeatedly throughout, YOU KNOW WHAT HE DOES. He very much loves it. He wants to keep taking pictures until the day he dies.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time? ...I answered this already. See Mental + Emotional #5.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? Henry eats when he's hungry, he always eats in the morning. There on it gets a little messy. He'll go all day to have a big meal at the night or nibble throughout the day here and there. He doesn't eat out much, he'd rather stay in and cook for himself (he's not great but good enough).
...onions. Love/hate relationship there.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
(favorites)
1. Color? Blue
2. Smell?
3. Time of day? Mid-morning
4. Season? Autumn
5. Book? He strikes me as a Robert Frost fan :|c
6. Music? 80's fan
7. Place? New places to photograph
8. Substance? He has a cigarette here and there
9. Plant? He doesn't know much about them, he does like flowers.
10. Animal? He's a cat person, meaning I just made one of the hauntings more horrifying |D
END
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