My very weird brain.

There is a downside to growing up in a family of clowns. Today was a great example.

This afternoon, I treated myself to lunch at the yummy Davis Street Tavern. To my left, a gentleman was interviewing a lady for some kind of tech/design position.

(first off, can I just say "Euuuwww" to interviewing someone while they are trying to eat? In public, where strangers can listen in? Isn't the lunch portion of an interview supposed to be a break so the interviewee can relax and let their personality emerge?? Sheesh)

The gentleman (who looked like he was about to mow the lawn - I mean, come on, dude! She's interviewing you, too) said something that went a little something like this:

"You are in a meeting with a client. You've done your research and come up with what you think is the best proposal. I come to the meeting and I completely disagree with you. My proposal is the exact opposite of yours. What do you do?"

I had to clap my hand over my mouth because I wanted to answer that question for her. And I wanted to say, "Well, naturally you stand up and scream:

'WRONG! YOU ARE WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING???'"



Lord, I crack myself up.

Sweet, tasty love

As I daydream about my Weapons Dealer Woman, I wonder what kind of man would love her. Of course, her clients would attempt to seduce her - after all, wouldn't you expect your lover to give you an incredible discount on your order for a gross of Super Seekrit High Powered Killing Thing?

But that's not love - it certainly can be funny, and perhaps fun, but I don't think she'd enjoy getting laid, not paid.

True love comes when someone sees your essence - the person you have the potential to be if you had enough courage. What would he see in this woman who had already sold her soul for revenge? What would she see in him?

I think he's going to be pretty compromised himself. Perhaps he'd be on the opposite side of the law - sort of. Perhaps he'd be her competitor.

And couldn't you just see these two violent and dangerous people meeting in the local coffeehouse and getting to know each other over a couple of decaffeinated lattes?

Coffee dates amongst the corrupt and wealthy! Now there's a situation for my angry girl.

Down the rabbit hole

Ever since I posted my weapons dealer thoughts, I've been obsessed with the concept of a woman who deals arms. I haven't done any research into the world, I haven't looked at anything, but I keep going over and over what would drive a woman to an extreme career.

I followed my strange brain into this new character. While I was eating breakfast today, I jotted down her Goal, Motivation, and Conflict (previously here). I don't know what she would look like, what her name may be, or anything else. I was just playing with what kind of toll this would take on someone.

Character: Female Arms Dealer

Goal: Death.
Now, goals are supposed to be concrete, instead of vague. I mean, really - death? That's guaranteed for everybody. So I thought about it and decided she would want to destroy Warlord X. I think she'd start off wanting to kill him, but her character arc could be that she'd rather take away what he most loved (power? His drug fields? His alligator farm? Who knows yet?)

Motivation: Revenge
At first I thought she would want to avenge the deaths of her parents/family (shades of Melina Havelock from For Your Eyes Only). It's a pretty good idea, but I didn't want to get too trite. Perhaps Warlord X destroyed the school or hospital she worked at and she had to use a handgun to escape the devastation. Or someone she loved was ruined beyond healing by his actions.


Conflict: Stymied by agents of the law
This felt a bit weak to me at first, but it certainly introduces the hero! A hot, serious anti-terrorist guy? An agent from Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms? Her pissed off ex-boyfriend?

Sounds like a cool story, doesn't it?