Midi Playing: Sweet Dreams
Name: Gordon Bister (yes, Mister Bister, which people tease him about all the time) Age: 45 Gender: Male Sexuality: Hetero Occupation: (Failed?) essayist; amateur philosopher and scholar; part-time reference librarian; full-time cynic, curmudgeon, crackpot, and misanthrope Description: 5'5" 193 lbs; black hair just turning gray, usually unkempt and sticking out in odd and amusing directions; grey-green eyes; a bit podgy and soft -- not a result of old age, he just hates exercise; he also hates shaving, so most of the time has a salt and pepper scruff; roundish fellow, in both body and face Personality: A lot of people call Gordon a nut, and he doesn't disagree. He has sort of an odd outlook on things. To him, the world is completely insane and meaningless -- the guilty are not punished and the innocent are not rewarded because there are no punishments or rewards. Events just happen, and people suffer or not completely at random. Not so odd an outlook; a lot of people have built philosohies around it. What's odd is the way Gordon approaches it. Most people find such a perspective rather depressing. Gordon can't quite understand that. He finds the whole situation highly amusing. He loves life, not in spite of, but because of its insanity. Needless to say, he has a weird sense of humor. He's a bookworm. He loves reading and writing, learning and thinking. He doesn't relate to people well. Not that he doesn't get along with them; he can be quite socially adept -- even charming -- when he tries. But he does have to TRY. Talking to people, being around people, just isn't natural for him. He doesn't form connections, and feels no lack in his life for it. He can be very sensitive to other people's needs, at times, but usually he sees other people simply as curiosities, specimens, interesting studies in morality and psychology. Pretty much the same way he sees the walking dead, actually. Background: Gordon was born in Jamesville in 1958 and has lived there his whole life (except for the six years he spent at the University of Arizona in Tucson getting his Bachelor's in English Lit and then Masters in Library Science). His father served in Vietnam, piloting supply helicopters. He was killed in 1974 when his helicopter was struck on the pad during a rocket attack (Gordon was 15). Gordon's mother, Sylvia, took it badly. For the rest of her life, she suffered from chronic depression and bouts of alcoholism. Her reaction disgusted Gordon, and he became very distant toward her (to this day, he knows that this drove her deeper into depression, but he refuses to feel guilty about it -- he considers the whole situation inevitable, as are most fucked-up things in the universe). His father's death affected him strongly too, but instead of running away from the event, he sought to understand it. He immersed himself in studies of philosophy and religion, trying to find an explanation for what he could see only as the abject callousness and capriciousness of the universe, and it was at this young age that he constructed the pseudo-existential/nihilistic philosophy that he now follows and which has changed very little over the years. It was also during this period that he began writing, trying to sort out his thoughts, and it quickly became an addiction which he has avidly indulged ever since. He tends to stick to essays; most of the things he wants to write about are too abstract for narrative or description (and he can't plot worth a damn). Despite the fact that in almost 30 years of writing he's sold only a handful of pieces to obscure journals, writing continues to be the one thing that gives his life meaning, direction, and purpose. His essays and other writings (his "deformed brain children" he calls them) have provided him more pleasure and solace than any human being ever has (or probably ever could). While at college, he met another Jamesvillian (Jamesvillite?) -- Miranda Sailes. They were both a little twisted, appreciated each other's senses of humor, and the sex was reasonable great, so after graduation, they got married. They realized almost immediately that this was a terrible mistake. They moved back to Jamesville and spent a year making each other miserable before they finally gave in and got divorced. It was the best thing they ever did for their relationship. She still lives in Jamesville, and they've been close friends (and periodically lovers) ever since. Anybody who regularly uses the Jamesville Public Library knows Gordon (the librarian who refuses to shave and insists on wearing sweats and sneakers to work) and Coop knows him from when he (Cooper) was a beat cop patroling Gordon's neighborhood in the evenings. Gordon's next door neighbor, Mrs. Dumkowski, has called the police several times to insist that they arrest, "Those perverts next door!" It seems Gordon and Miranda have a bad habit of getting together on summer evenings and sitting out on his back porch in their underwear, listening to Queen or The Rolling Stones or The Doors and sipping peach schnapps mixed with ginger ale. (Gordon: "You realize, Mr. Cooper, that this is how the Nazis got started -- ordering people to wear clothes. That's why the Germans look so grim in all those old pictures." Coop: "For Christ's sake, Gordon, just put your pants on. I don't want to have to cite you again.") Skills/talents: Gordon is a diletante of knowledge (he knows a little about a lot of things) and a skilled researcher (if he doesn't know it, he knows where to find out about it). Whether any of this will prove useful in the midst of a Zombie Invasion remains to be seen. He's a bit paranoid, so he's become competent with a shotgun for purposes of home defense. Strengths/Weaknesses: Gordon's second greatest strength is his brain. He's intelligent, perceptive, and possesses all sorts of odd bits of knowledge. He's a keen human observer and can usually guage people very well. Of course thoughtfulness is a two-edged thingee: he often gets bogged down analyzing a problem when he should be acting, so he might be well complimented by more direct, agressive companions. In this situation though, his greatest strength is probably his worldview. His belief in the innate chaos of things gives him immense psychological flexibility. He expects things to not make sense and to go to crap, so once he can see that the dead actually are ambling about eating people, he can deal with it pretty easily. In fact, he finds the whole thing rather validating: proof that, as he has argued many times over the years, the universe is completely insane. There's an inherent weakness here as well: he doesn't really give a crap that people are suffering. It just doesn't affect him. There's a certain coldness and ruthlessness to his personality -- stemming, like his keen observational skills, from his lack of connection with others -- that hasn't really had a chance to come out before. This situation will probably bring it out (whether as a strength or weakness remains to be seen). Also, Gordon is out of shape. Not completely flabby and useless, but he'll break a sweat and have to stop to rest well before anybody else. Also, he's very near-sighted, almost blind without his glasses, and he's not a good marksman (which is why he uses a shotgun; aiming isn't so important). Back Next Character
Name: Gordon Bister (yes, Mister Bister, which people tease him about all the time)
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Hetero
Occupation: (Failed?) essayist; amateur philosopher and scholar; part-time reference librarian; full-time cynic, curmudgeon, crackpot, and misanthrope
Description: 5'5" 193 lbs; black hair just turning gray, usually unkempt and sticking out in odd and amusing directions; grey-green eyes; a bit podgy and soft -- not a result of old age, he just hates exercise; he also hates shaving, so most of the time has a salt and pepper scruff; roundish fellow, in both body and face
Personality: A lot of people call Gordon a nut, and he doesn't disagree. He has sort of an odd outlook on things. To him, the world is completely insane and meaningless -- the guilty are not punished and the innocent are not rewarded because there are no punishments or rewards. Events just happen, and people suffer or not completely at random. Not so odd an outlook; a lot of people have built philosohies around it. What's odd is the way Gordon approaches it.
Most people find such a perspective rather depressing. Gordon can't quite understand that. He finds the whole situation highly amusing. He loves life, not in spite of, but because of its insanity. Needless to say, he has a weird sense of humor. He's a bookworm. He loves reading and writing, learning and thinking.
He doesn't relate to people well. Not that he doesn't get along with them; he can be quite socially adept -- even charming -- when he tries. But he does have to TRY. Talking to people, being around people, just isn't natural for him. He doesn't form connections, and feels no lack in his life for it. He can be very sensitive to other people's needs, at times, but usually he sees other people simply as curiosities, specimens, interesting studies in morality and psychology. Pretty much the same way he sees the walking dead, actually.
Background: Gordon was born in Jamesville in 1958 and has lived there his whole life (except for the six years he spent at the University of Arizona in Tucson getting his Bachelor's in English Lit and then Masters in Library Science). His father served in Vietnam, piloting supply helicopters. He was killed in 1974 when his helicopter was struck on the pad during a rocket attack (Gordon was 15). Gordon's mother, Sylvia, took it badly. For the rest of her life, she suffered from chronic depression and bouts of alcoholism. Her reaction disgusted Gordon, and he became very distant toward her (to this day, he knows that this drove her deeper into depression, but he refuses to feel guilty about it -- he considers the whole situation inevitable, as are most fucked-up things in the universe).
His father's death affected him strongly too, but instead of running away from the event, he sought to understand it. He immersed himself in studies of philosophy and religion, trying to find an explanation for what he could see only as the abject callousness and capriciousness of the universe, and it was at this young age that he constructed the pseudo-existential/nihilistic philosophy that he now follows and which has changed very little over the years. It was also during this period that he began writing, trying to sort out his thoughts, and it quickly became an addiction which he has avidly indulged ever since.
He tends to stick to essays; most of the things he wants to write about are too abstract for narrative or description (and he can't plot worth a damn). Despite the fact that in almost 30 years of writing he's sold only a handful of pieces to obscure journals, writing continues to be the one thing that gives his life meaning, direction, and purpose. His essays and other writings (his "deformed brain children" he calls them) have provided him more pleasure and solace than any human being ever has (or probably ever could).
While at college, he met another Jamesvillian (Jamesvillite?) -- Miranda Sailes. They were both a little twisted, appreciated each other's senses of humor, and the sex was reasonable great, so after graduation, they got married. They realized almost immediately that this was a terrible mistake. They moved back to Jamesville and spent a year making each other miserable before they finally gave in and got divorced. It was the best thing they ever did for their relationship. She still lives in Jamesville, and they've been close friends (and periodically lovers) ever since. Anybody who regularly uses the Jamesville Public Library knows Gordon (the librarian who refuses to shave and insists on wearing sweats and sneakers to work) and Coop knows him from when he (Cooper) was a beat cop patroling Gordon's neighborhood in the evenings. Gordon's next door neighbor, Mrs. Dumkowski, has called the police several times to insist that they arrest, "Those perverts next door!" It seems Gordon and Miranda have a bad habit of getting together on summer evenings and sitting out on his back porch in their underwear, listening to Queen or The Rolling Stones or The Doors and sipping peach schnapps mixed with ginger ale. (Gordon: "You realize, Mr. Cooper, that this is how the Nazis got started -- ordering people to wear clothes. That's why the Germans look so grim in all those old pictures." Coop: "For Christ's sake, Gordon, just put your pants on. I don't want to have to cite you again.")
Skills/talents: Gordon is a diletante of knowledge (he knows a little about a lot of things) and a skilled researcher (if he doesn't know it, he knows where to find out about it). Whether any of this will prove useful in the midst of a Zombie Invasion remains to be seen. He's a bit paranoid, so he's become competent with a shotgun for purposes of home defense.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Gordon's second greatest strength is his brain. He's intelligent, perceptive, and possesses all sorts of odd bits of knowledge. He's a keen human observer and can usually guage people very well. Of course thoughtfulness is a two-edged thingee: he often gets bogged down analyzing a problem when he should be acting, so he might be well complimented by more direct, agressive companions.
In this situation though, his greatest strength is probably his worldview. His belief in the innate chaos of things gives him immense psychological flexibility. He expects things to not make sense and to go to crap, so once he can see that the dead actually are ambling about eating people, he can deal with it pretty easily. In fact, he finds the whole thing rather validating: proof that, as he has argued many times over the years, the universe is completely insane.
There's an inherent weakness here as well: he doesn't really give a crap that people are suffering. It just doesn't affect him. There's a certain coldness and ruthlessness to his personality -- stemming, like his keen observational skills, from his lack of connection with others -- that hasn't really had a chance to come out before. This situation will probably bring it out (whether as a strength or weakness remains to be seen).
Also, Gordon is out of shape. Not completely flabby and useless, but he'll break a sweat and have to stop to rest well before anybody else. Also, he's very near-sighted, almost blind without his glasses, and he's not a good marksman (which is why he uses a shotgun; aiming isn't so important).
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