Cars and Characters

So the below meme (or post or whatever you want to call it) has always made me laugh. And it popped up again the other day and I thought, you know, I should do something like that for my Red War Trilogy characters.

So I did. And below is the result.

The original post.

Marywyn doesn't even have a moped or motorized scooter, much less a car or a license. However, she would think nothing of walking or biking 5 miles to a store. Has hitched rides with local grandmas, farmers in tractors, people on horseback, lost families on vacations, and once a celebrity (who she had never even heard of). 

Duren drives anything, from tractors to semi-trucks, automatic or manual. Has stories about driving each and every kind of motor vehicle. His own car cost like $500 and grinds horribly when it changes gears and the brakes work intermittently. No one knows what the original color was supposed to be, but it probably wasn't "rust".

Jaran had a license, but it gets suspended frequently, as he's always getting caught speeding, doing doughnuts in parking lots, or drifting around curves. His car is one of those little manual sports cars, used, but still fast. He modifies it from time to time, usually when he's unable to drive it because of his license getting revoked again.

Rayn has an expensive sports car, washes it once a week, has a strict "no food" rule for passengers. Has memorized when and where the cops usually are and only speeds when he knows he can get away with it. There's a chance his parents took out the loan for the car so he hasn't paid a thing, but he'll neither confirm nor deny it... 

Wisdom has the biggest, loudest diesel truck around, and likes to dare everyone else to attempt to drive it. Grew up on a farm and was driving tractors when she was 10, though she did get her license on time.

Lavern has a cheap "piddly gray car" that everyone helped her find. She paid for it herself with cash, and it's not fancy, but it's reliable. She learned to drive later in life, and can be timid, though she's working on that and trying to drive to places that would normally make her nervous.

Mask runs everywhere, or else begs someone to pick him up. No one realized he doesn't have a license because no one ever taught him to drive (they just assumed he didn't have money for a car), so once, Duren asked him to take a turn behind the wheel on a road trip. After the normal instructions anyone would receive when first driving Duren's rust bucket, Mask proceeded to take out a line of caution cones and scrape the side of the car across the concrete divider. He was careening towards a line of stopped cars when Duren pulled the emergency break. That was his one and only time in a driver's seat.

Connaven has a cute little Jeep, brand new, purchased for her by her parents. Everyone tries to get her to take it out four-wheeling, but she refuses--mostly because she doesn't want to get it muddy, but also because she's terrified of driving it on anything that's not a fairly quiet road. So the other characters view it as "a waste of a good Jeep." She had her own private driving instructor, but hasn't gone on a highway since the lessons were over.

Ondore has a motorcycle license, but never bothered to get one for driving. She will drive, but only trusts herself in the drivers seat, and everyone knows she doesn't have a car license, so they don't let her drive. So she usually just takes her bike places, which is fine with her. Has a couple bikes, suitable for all occasions, most of which she fixed up herself. 

Gillian lives in the country in the middle of nowhere, and never bothered to get her actual license. She obeys the rules of the road and has never once been pulled over. Happens to know all the local cops and even waves at them. It's never occurred to her that she needs to get a license. Then again, she goes to like, five places when she leaves home and that's it. For special trips, someone comes and picks her up. Current car belonged to her grandma; no one knows what will happen when the tag gets expired.

Tach trades vehicles so often, he hasn't actually paid for inspections in years. Gets pulled over frequently, but never for speeding. Usually because his current car is breaking safety regulations: no lights, no turn signals, exhaust not working, and the like. He doesn't fix the problem; he just trades the car again.

Maxin is a good citizen. Keeps his license and his vehicles up to date, obeys all laws and regulations. Except he never wears a seat belt (because when he was a kid, he never had to). Also eats while driving with his knees. Has been driving the same station wagon for 30+ years; the transmission has been replaced twice. No one knows how the vehicle is still running.

Tan drives a small truck that's completely covered in rust and sounds like a sick tractor. He learned to drive without a license, but does have one now, because "that's the way things are these days, gotta make it all complicated with rules and regulations. Back in my day, you just slapped an engine on some tires and drove it into town." Has multiple run down vehicles in various states of disintegration behind his house.

Hope you enjoyed that! Now go do it with your own characters--it's pretty fun!