The Character I'd Rather Be

I was actually pretty close once, and I didn't even know it at the time.

Those of you who follow me both here and on DeviantArt might remember a picture of myself that I posted around Christmastime. It was one my grandmother took of me at the end of my first year of college, when I had a big mess of hair on my head and a wild beard, neither of which had been trimmed in the course of the year. Here's the picture in question if you'd like to see it.

In the description for that picture, I posted links to a fan fiction series I'd co-written using a character based largely on myself, using that for his physical appearance. In one of the later chapters, the other author had one of their characters come for a visit to “my” theater, when, naturally, a “villain” character attacks and tries to force us to watch a bad movie. The bad guy wound up losing because my character would have done the same thing by choice anyway, which only bolstered the other character's will to make it through.

I say I'd rather be that character instead of the one I am now because in real life, I'm not so sure I'm as confident or inspirational as my character in the fictional universe I'd created for myself back then. I certainly try to be, but it's a lot harder in real life than it ever was in the stories. Still, it's something worth working for, somebody worth trying to be.

Here's to the effort, I guess.