InsaneJournal

All About Savannah
Savannah McBride, often known as Savvy or Vannah to friends and family, is the youngest child of James and Leighanne McBride, named after the city in Georgia where she was born. Her older siblings - fraternal twins Mason and Dixie - were named after the Mason-Dixon line. Savannah grew up helping her parents out at The Peach Tree, the bed and breakfast they run in Savannah, and James and Leighanne instilled in all three of their children the value of hard work, good manners, and Southern hospitality. Close to her family, she calls and e-mails regularly and visits home as often as she can, but not quite as often as she used to. She feels she should visit more, but Leighanne McBride's tendency to smother her 'baby girl' over the death of Savannah's boyfriend (and would-be fiancé if he'd gotten the chance to ask) in Iraq in 2005, shortly before she graduated college, makes going home for more than a short period difficult for her daughter.

A model student, Savannah went to NYU on a scholarship and graduated with a degree in hospitality and management, with a focus on the hotel industry, as at one time she wanted to open a location of the The Peach Tree out west or in upstate New York. Then she got a job at The Gin Mill on Manhattan's Upper West Side to pay part of her rent (her parents helped with the other half) while she was in college, and her ambition changed. Now, she wants to own her own restaurant and bar someday, and bring a little of the South as she knows it to other people. She grew to love New York, though Georgia is still 'home' to her - even if a lot of the memories it holds are painful.

The death of her boyfriend is something she talks about with very few people, and hides from everyone else. The only people who know are her family and friends back home in Georgia, and her co-workers at The Gin Mill in New York, as she got the phone call from her boyfriend's mother while she was at work. Her own roommate doesn't even know, and she's known him for a year, back to when she still lived in Manhattan.

Behind the bar, Savannah is friendly and outgoing and always has a smile and a kind word for her customers. She's there to serve them - with drinks, friendly conversation, as a sounding board, whatever they need, the way bartenders have been doing for decades. She's good at what she does, always experimenting with new drink combinations behind the bar, and she can invent something on the fly for someone if nothing on the menu catches their fancy.

Off the clock, she's spent a lot of time alone by choice since losing her boyfriend. She's a very different person now than she was before he died, and she's a work in progress - trying to find some middle ground between the two. She's friendly enough and enjoys meeting new people, but it can take her a little while to warm up and let her hair down. She's pragmatic and practical, with a sarcastic sense of humor and a good heart, even if she can be direct and blunt with her opinions at times - and she tends to bottle her emotions up until the cork pops, which means her temper is somewhat infamous among people who know her well enough to have borne witness to it. But she's loyal to a fault and family and friends are the most important things in her life. She enjoys good drinks, good food, and good company, and loves to entertain friends, and she isn't one to back down from a challenge (or a double dog dare), even if she knows she'll probably lose. She's sort of like a little dog that thinks it's a big dog and it's gotten her in over her head on a few occasions.


Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy? She's 5'5", average for a woman. Weight-wise, she's thin, but not skeletal. She used to be curvier before she moved up to New York for college, and if you ask her mother, she could stand to gain back some of what she lost.

2. How old is she? 27.

3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch? Depends on the situation. Her body language is a good indicator of her mood, so if she's slouching she's probably unhappy with something, be it where she is or the company she's keeping.

4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? She's in good health, and in good shape for her current build.

5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? She's pretty graceful - unless she's drunk. Then it's a little less than.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror? She doesn't think she's better or worse looking than anyone else, she just... is what she is. And she is somewhat self-conscious of people noticing she has a body.

7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? She's pretty fair-skinned with a clear complexion, aside from the occasional minor break-out.

8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style. Reddish-brown, soft, and naturally curly so it can be unruly at times. She will occasionally blow it out straight or use some type of styling product, but most often she lets it air dry and pulls it back with an elastic band or a clip of some sort if it's a particularly bad hair day.

9. What color are her eyes? Blue.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? She has a strawberry birthmark on her lower back. Other than that, no.

11. What are her chief tension centers? Neck and shoulders, and the area between her shoulder blades. She also gets tension headaches right behind her eyes or in her temples.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit? She lives in jeans. Or at least pants. She will wear skirts or dresses, but she prefers jeans and dressy tops that can be worn to work or out and about. She wears jeans in varying shades of blue, usually with squared-toe boots that give her a few extra inches of height. Her tops tend to be jewel tones or blacks and whites, though she does wear the occasional pastel. Usually light blue.

13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them? She likes her jeans to be snug, but not painted on and she likes her tops to be fitted but not too fitted. Dresses and skirts, she tends to wear a-line things with a bit of a vintage feel to them, but she has some that are decidedly not vintage or a-line. She doesn't wear those often.

14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences? Depends on where she is and what she's doing when she's off the job, but for the most part, she dresses the same.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? Never commando; she prefers French-cut briefs or the occasional boy shorts. She owns a few things from Victoria's Secret, but not many as most of them are too trashy for her taste.



Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Her voice is somewhere in the mid-range of the women's scale, but leaning more toward the upper than the lower.

2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate? She can be loud and boisterous if she's drunk or tipsy, but by and large her voice is even and she speaks at a moderate pace. She generally talks easily, unless she's trying to choose her words carefully. She has secrets she guards closely, so she will choose her words carefully to avoid arousing other questions.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? She's from Georgia, so she speaks with a drawl. Not particularly thick, but readily noticed. She frequently uses 'ain't' and double negatives, in addition to common Southern turns of phrase and syntax patterns.

4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency? English is her native language and she is fluent in it. She knows a smattering of Spanish and Italian words, thanks to the neighbors in her apartment building back in NY, but her pronunciation is atrocious.

5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Her accent gets twangier when she goes back home to visit.

6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words? She's a good impromptu speaker about most things, but there are times when she will weigh her words carefully.

7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? She is generally eloquent, less so when she is self-conscious, nervous, angry, or otherwise emotional.



Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart? She was a good student in both high school and college, but she is less street-smart. She can be idealistic at times, but just as easily cynical, depending on the situation and the topic at hand.

2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate? She can think on her feet, and will waffle back and forth a million times if she's given the opportunity.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? She's generally practical and logical in terms of dealing with solutions to problems. When dealing with people, she's usually very perceptive, but she does run across the occasional person who is difficult to read and that frustrates her.

4. What kind of education has the character had? She has a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree from NYU.

5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about? She majored in Hospitality and Management, with a focus in the hotel industry, as opposed to sports (NYU's other program). She's a skilled bartender and an accomplished cook, albeit not a professional one. She's always on the lookout for new drink recipes and new food recipes in general.

6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert? She's extroverted behind the bar, and introverted most of the time she isn't working, but once she feels comfortable enough around whomever she happens to be with, she'll come out of her shell, so to speak.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? She is even-tempered for the most part and will put on a good front of being cheerful if she's around others. Alone, she leans more toward melancholy - though with the move from New York to San Diego and the breathing space it's afforded her, that's starting to change. She is driven enough to want to open her restaurant and bar, but she's stopped short of actually putting things in motion to make it happen. She's working at Elle's West now, taking it as a hands on learning experience in how to set up a restaurant. Whether she'll ever get hers up and running remains to be seen.

8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? Depending on the situation she can be any one of the above. It's really a matter of how personal things get and how quickly.

9. Is she more likely to act, or to react? Generally, she's reactive.

10. Which is her default: fight or flight? Usually flight, but push her far enough and you'll have a fight on your hands.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? She appreciates humor in most forms and often bad puns or mild sexual jokes will be met with a roll of the eyes. She can be easily embarrassed by vulgarity if it's addressed at her specifically, however.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them? No.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person? Moving away from home to attend college in New York. Then losing her steady boyfriend of five years (her first and only serious relationship) in Iraq the summer before she graduated college. It left her sour about war, and scared and cynical about love, relationships, and happy endings.

14. What does she fear? Losing another person she loves - be it a family member, a friend, or a significant other.

15. What are her hopes or aspirations? To open that restaurant and bar, and to find a way to be happy again - once she remembers what that is.

16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her? Losing her boyfriend, and the way in which she lost him. It's a secret she guards closely from new people she meets. The people who have been in her life long enough to know the secret have a tendency to smother and watch everything she does or doesn't do; she likes having people who don't look at her like she's fragile and made of glass and she likes that she can be 'normal' with them.



Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents. She's the youngest of three and very much a Daddy's Girl. She's close to her mother as well, but her mother tends to smother her and is something of a worry wart and it's left the relationship a bit strained.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? She has an older brother and sister, fraternal twins, and she's close with both of them. She may be slightly closer to her brother, though, and she trusts him to keep her secrets if she tells them.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand? Her grandparents; she was closest to her maternal grandmother, but close to her mother's father and her paternal grandparents as well. Her paternal grandfather is the only one of those four still living and she's his favorite. She's not particularly fond of her cousin Beth, who makes no secret of the fact she thinks Savannah should be over it all already and settled down with a man and babies, just like she is.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them? The people she worked with in New York. They may smother her at times, but they were there through the worst she's ever faced and she won't forget that. As far as back home, Tara.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? Tara DeWitt, back in Savannah. They lived next to each other and grew up together.

6. Does she have other close friends? Jenna is probably her closest female friend in New York, even if she does want to throttle her at times. And Riley is her closest male friend; their history is a complicated one.

7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people? Generally, she makes friends fairly easily.

8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends? Family.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once? Single, but she would have married her boyfriend had he lived.

10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? No.

11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest? First was Evan DeWitt, Tara's older brother. As for latest, she hasn't allowed herself to think about crushes much since losing her boyfriend, though it's possible that might be changing.

12. What does she look for in a romantic partner? Someone who makes her laugh and doesn't mind taking things slow, who likes her for who she is and won't try control her or tell her what to do. All the standard answers about not cheating, etc. also apply.

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any? No she doesn't have any, but she might possibly want one or two of her own one day; she's not sure yet.

14. Does she have any rivals or enemies? These days, no. But Debbie Turner tried to steal her boyfriend in high school.

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale? Less than 1 but more than 0. She will acknowledge another woman as pretty/beautiful/gorgeous/etc. but that's as far as it will ever go.

16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her? She enjoys sex but she doesn't think the whole world needs to know her habits. She has been known to engage in the occasional one night stand to meet a need but she tends to move slowly with someone she knows or someone she's interested in. As far as its importance, it's important but it's not all there is to a relationship. She's still here and it's been a while for her.

17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? Turn-ons and turn-offs can depend largely on the situation, but animals, kids, dead people, urine, feces, blood - all definite no's in her book.



Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type? She's an Aries, and though she doesn't fit many of the traits now, she did before her life was turned upside down.

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life? She comes from a rather religious family, though in light of past events, she doesn't know how much of it she still believes. But she does try to live a good life.

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? She takes the Southern hospitality thing very seriously, and it would take a hell of a lot to make her deviate from that.

4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? She's tolerant, and mildly curious. Depending on how interested she is, she'll ask questions to try to understand better.

5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them? I don't think she holds any, she makes an effort not to.



Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? She's comfortable enough. The last 4 years or so she's done nothing but work, so she has a fair amount saved, and now that she has a roommate and cheaper rent, she's even better off than she was in Manhattan.

2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her? Working middle class. She's always been working middle class, so there really hasn't been much effect.

3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others? She recently moved to San Diego, California (Hillcrest), and shares an apartment with Patrick and a sometimes stray cat. She's not a neat freak, but she's not a slob, either, so she keeps the common areas and her room clean.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on? She loves to cook and bake so her kitchen is usually stocked with ingredients for many of her favorite dishes to make. And she buys bourbon and other types of alcohol for experimenting with new drinks.

5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else? She's a bartender at Elle's West in Hillcrest, San Diego. She's good at it in that she can mix up a variety of different drinks, including her own concoctions, and she can size a person up and figure out what kind of drink they might like. She enjoys the creativity of the job.

6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time? She cooks, bakes, comes up with new drinks, reads, chats online, listens to music, goes to the occasional movie, and is at home in a pool hall or neighborhood bar. Her new building has a pool and the beach isn't too far away, so swimming and beachcombing are options now, too. And she likes the park and the zoo, as she's an animal lover.

7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? If she's working, she'll eat there. She loves food and eating, but she can be a bit of a snob about certain things. She will not eat fast food burgers or the things that McDonald's purports to be apple pie or cinnamon bun-type-things. She prefers to make them herself if she's going to eat it. She drinks alcohol of all different kinds.



Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:

1. Color? Red
2. Smell? Cinnamon
3. Time of day? Sunset
4. Season? Winter
5. Book? Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash by David Wondrich
6. Music? Southern rock
7. Place? That shaded spot in the park
8. Substance? Bourbon
9. Plant? Rose
10. Animal? Dog


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