IN DOG YEARS YOU'RE DEAD,

. . NAME . . carlos álvarez
.        alias.   charlie, carlitos, charles
.        titles.   B.Sc., M.Sc.
. . OCCUPATION . . PhD student ( full-time ), copy-editor ( part-time )
. . AGE . . twenty-eight
.        birthday.   may 17th
. . ORIENTATION . . heterosexual aromantic
. . RELIGION . . jewish, non-practicing. brought up with catholic influences.
. . ETHNICITY . . hispanic, white
. . NATIONALITY . . mexican-american
. . HOMETOWN . . san miguel de allende, guanajuato, mexico ( born ) / damariscotta, maine, usa ( raised )
. . LANGUAGES . . english, spanish.
. . EDUCATION . . honours undergraduate degree in psychology; master's degree in forensic psychology; PhD in forensic psychology ( in progress )
. . FAMILY . . nathaniel rhames ( father ), ana-rosa álvarez ( mother ), malena álvarez ( older sister )

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–––––––––––– THE MAN IN THE MASK

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. . EYES . . blue-gray
. . HAIR . . black, loose curls
.        style.   varies between short and mid-length. he has a tendency to let it grow out without upkeep, resulting in a dishevelled appearance.
.        facial hair.   in a similar vein, he varies between stubble and a beard.
. . HEIGHT . . 6'3" / 192cm
. . BUILD . . average. long legs and awkward posture. prone to slouching, which makes him look shorter.
. . SCARS . . skin scarring from septicaemia ( left leg, spanning from the knee to halfway down the shin )
. . WARDROBE . . sweaters, button-up shirts, long sleeves, jeans, khakis, sneakers, boots. layers. dark or neutral colours.
. . NOTABLE FEATURES . . flat affect and inexpressive face. light eyes, dark features. scruffy appearance. direct, forced eye-contact.

———————EVERYBODY WANTS TO GO TO HEAVEN,

. . TRAITS . . intelligent, patient, meticulous, curious, intense, apathetic, private, sadomasochistic, manipulative, arrogant
. . MBTI . . intj-a
.        the architect   introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging
. . CONDITIONS . . autism spectrum disorder, asthma, underactive amygdala
. . NOTABLE VICES . . thrill-seeking
. . TROPES . . beware the quiet ones, an axe to grind, even evil has standards, malevolent masked men

BUT NOBODY WANTS TO DIE.

* VERSES

. . MAIN . . charlie is a PhD candidate with aspirations of achieving psychological enlightenment. he has no real occupational ambitions for the future that lies ahead of him, but works as a copy-editor to support himself. as a part of his program at the university, he volunteers at any number of medical and criminal justice institutes — including, at times, assisting police in creating psychological profiles. although it might reasonably be assumed he intends to become a forensic psychologist, he has no particular desire to work with patients. he studies psychology because it interests him — not because he wants to help or provide relief to others. the first time the strangers’ home invasion escapades turn to murder, charlie is tentative but committed. it’s harder to take a human life than he thought. after the first time, however, it becomes a much easier affair. in many ways, serial murder feels like much more his occupational calling than psychology.

. . DBD . . based on the original script of the strangers: part 2. lis is the first to die, and as she goes, she takes a part of him with her. he finds naomi next, sprawled across the backseat of a police cruiser like she’s taking a nap. in a rage never before seen, he pursues the only surviving victim with reckless abandon. for his efforts, he is rewarded with an axe to the hand. when the entity comes for them, charlie’s sitting between the bodies of his only two friends in the whole world. the fog envelops them; when it clears, they’re in the living room of their very first murder scene.he didn’t much believe in the concept before, but the entity’s realm proves to be his own personal hell. stripped of his interests and life’s work, he becomes more sullen than usual. chronically understimulated. the longer they’re there, the more violent he becomes — not for any good reason besides his own boredom and desire to feel even just a twinge of excitement. as lis shies away and naomi rises to her calling, charlie resigns to his new reality. he tests the limits of his newfound immortality, often extending the chase by giving survivors the opportunity to try whatever they might in the name of escape. what does it matter? it’s hardly even murder now. just killing.

ana-rosa álvarez and nathaniel rhames never marry. she converts to judaism for him; she bears two children for him; she leaves her country for him. she does everything for him; still, your father never seems all that interested in having a family. that's alright, at the start. you have your mother to simulate a father’s love. the more you grow up to be like him, though, the more she begins to resent you. i love you more than anything, carlitos! she says, trying all the while to change you into something that better resembles herself.you don't have a lot of friends growing up. kids say you're weird and their parents say you're obtuse. you tell them you're a boy –– not an angle of more than 90 degrees. one time you're invited over to a girl's house; when you sit down for lunch, you tell her mother that sandwiches taste the same whether they're cut into squares or triangles and argue the point until you're blue in the face. you're never invited back. this is the first time that you feel like everyone's been given an instruction manual on how to be likeable except you. don't worry; it won't be the last. you'll have plenty of time to get used to the feeling.because you don't have friends to visit, your parents leave you at your uncle’s house when they have to work. david is your dad’s brother — but, unlike him, he likes to talk to you. and he loves to tell stories. david served in the war when he was younger, although he never says which one. he tells you all about the terrible things he saw and did. one time he even shows you a blurry picture of a dead girl. her body is folded into unnatural angles, like a puppet practicing its own death. when david's fiancé comes in with apple slices, he tucks the polaroid back into his wallet and presses a finger to his lips. you mirror the motion, swallowing his silence and making it your own.

——HISTORY——

you really like david and callie. they're warm and personable and interact with each other in a way that your parents never do. you figure that that's what true love must look like — and then one day he shoots her in the head in front of you. david doesn't even look at you as he walks out of the room. he leaves you in there with a corpse named callie and goes on about his day. the look on her face suggests she doesn't know why she's dead. you tell her sorry and that you don't know either.david rhames receives a life sentence for second degree murder. you aren't allowed to go to the hearing; they leave you at home, sitting alone with wide eyes and invisible blood on your cheeks. you hear the news from the tv just like everybody else, but somehow it means less to you than to all of them. “what a tragedy” is the official word on the street. “how does somebody just snap like that?” you shrug, turn off the tv, and watch yourself eat apple slices in the reflection.the change is subtle; you always did read a lot —– first about dinosaurs and then about boats. once when you were younger, you decided you wanted to be an astronaut. for weeks you read about the molar mass of different planets while the other kids sat in a row on their couches and pretended to blast off into space. but after david goes to jail, you put down the library card and go to the bookstore instead. seems safer to own these next books, and after what happened, people give you more money in birthday cards. it's like a consolation prize. the first book you buy is called serial killers: the method and madness of monsters, by peter vronsky.

you spend a lot of time studying crime. you prefer the scientific accounts —— the ones where the authors scrub all the words clean like rocks on a riverbank. when you turn seventeen and say you're going to apply for a degree in psychology, nobody bats an eye. “he’s coping,” they say. “he’s trying to make sense of it.” and in some ways they're right. how are they supposed to know that your interpretation of sense making will leave a slew of corpses in your wake. they don't know. you make sure of it. and so the general consensus remains that you're using your trauma for good. "he's always been curious," your sister tells your mother. "he just wants to understand."the first time you meet lis, they’re standing behind the counter of a bookstore that doubles as a coffee shop. hung crookedly along the walls are paintings with her signature on them. you order a book you need for a literature review, decline to have it shipped to your address or even provide one at all, and leave while she’s still talking. when she calls to let you know you can pick it up, you let it go straight to voicemail."you’re like a freshly painted beige wall," she tells you as she scans the back of the book. you ruminate on this for exactly three nights and two days, furious at the unwanted attention. when you eventually walk back into the store, they’re perched on the part of the counter where people pick up their orders — the only clean seat in the whole shop. you point at a colourful piece of her work and say that it’s not art. it’s just pretty decoration. while frowning profusely, she tells you that’s the dumbest insult she’s ever heard. in the same breath, they invite you to a painting and wine night taking place at the store later that week.

NOT YOUR KIND OF PERSON,

. . NAME . . lisbeth semple
.        alias.   lis, isa
. . OCCUPATION . . freelance artist, waiter and barkeep, retail clerk
. . AGE . . twenty-seven
.        birthday.   june 22nd
. . ORIENTATION . . lesbian ( she / they )
. . RELIGION . . christian (baptized, non-practicing), spiritual ( non-denominational )
. . ETHNICITY . . korean
. . NATIONALITY . . american
. . HOMETOWN . . daegu, north gyeongsang, south korea ( born ) / vernon, texas, usa ( raised )
. . LANGUAGES . . english ( southern accent )
. . EDUCATION . . diploma in art and design (incomplete / dropped)
. . FAMILY . . bruce semple (adoptive father, estranged), edie semple (adoptive mother, estranged), four adoptive brothers (estranged)

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THE PIN-UP GIRL

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. . EYES . . brown-black
. . HAIR . . brown-black with any number of dyed undertones
.        style.   changes often, typically worn long and incorporating bangs. she grows her hair out and then cuts it short, repeating this process regularly.
. . HEIGHT . . 5'4" / 162cm
. . BUILD . . petite. small frame and relaxed posture.
. . SCARS . . several, small burn scars on their hands and arms from art-project misadventures.
. . TATTOOS / PIERCINGS . . several piercings in each ear. many greyscale tattoos scattered across her body.
. . WARDROBE . . patterns, button-up shirts, cover/overalls, platforms, sneakers. loose-fitting, androgynous style. bright colours.
. . NOTABLE FEATURES . . expressive face and eyebrows. elaborate fashion sense and styling. wandering eye contact.

HOW MUCH CAN YOU TAKE

. . TRAITS . . free-spirited, creative, hardworking, rebellious, outspoken, honest, reactive, over-imaginative, fanatical.
. . MBTI . . enfp
.        the campaigner.   extroverted, intuitive, feeling, prospective
. . CONDITIONS . . undiagnosed C-PTSD from childhood
. . NOTABLE VICES . . abuse of psychedelics
. . TROPES . . eccentric artist, affably evil, not so above it all, blithe spirit

———BEFORE YOU SNAP?

* VERSES

. . MAIN . . lis is a struggling artist forced to work several passionless jobs to make ends meet. they often indulge in psychedelics to take the edge off, embittered with the state of the world and seeking an escape. she is an eccentric who appears much more well-adjusted than she is. sociable, empathetic, and witty as hell — but beneath her attempts at societal integration, she’s unfettered from laws and social norms. they are an anarchist with a dangerous disregard for human life. the first time the strangers’ home invasion escapades turn to murder, she apologizes to the victims for her part in it. as the trio blossom into fully fledged serial killers, however, her feelings of guilt slowly transform into feelings of ultimate liberation. their artistry begins to reflect this: they hone a particularly unsettling niche, depicting the brutal and the macabre in the style and detail of classical art.

. . DBD . . based on the original script of the strangers: part 2. lis is killed by a would-be victim, who sinks an axe into their chest. she dies laughing. she dies choking on her own blood. she dies — only to awaken in the realm of the entity. a bad dream, she thinks in her half-conscious state. their chest burns uncomfortably with the memory of the axe. turning around, they see naomi still asleep beside them. her face is buried in her hands. a few feet away, charlie sits with his fingers clenched into fists, looking troubled. looking like he hasn’t slept in days.when the reality of the situation begins to dawn on them, her death in a past life seems trivial. lis suffers tremendously in the realm of the entity, stripped of her freedom and forced to live in near-perpetual night. regardless of the sins of their past, lis is unable to cope once their life has been reduced to nothing but the chase. the kill. it’s charlie who figures out the rules first. it’s simple, really: whenever they’re sent new victims, they have to kill them or otherwise let them go. but they can’t ignore them. they have to play the game or else be punished. leave the killing to naomi, he says. she agrees. nowadays, lis may engage in the hunt. she may wound. but she never delivers the finishing blow, and she never hooks the survivors.

history tba

——HISTORY——

TEMPORARY BULLETPOINT SUMMARY:

history tba

. . . YOU'RE ONE OF THEM,

. . NAME . . naomi anne mctague
.        titles.   B.A.
. . OCCUPATION . . undergraduate student, model
. . AGE . . twenty-five
.        birthday.   february 3rd
. . ORIENTATION . . bisexual
. . RELIGION . . atheist
. . ETHNICITY . . white
. . NATIONALITY . . american
. . HOMETOWN . . manhattan, new york, usa (born and raised)
. . LANGUAGES . . english, french
. . EDUCATION . . ongoing undergraduate degree in business
. . FAMILY . . sean mctague ( father ), helen mctague ( mother ). only child.

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THE DOLLFACE

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. . EYES . . green
. . HAIR . . golden blonde, straight
.        style.   worn long and often kept loose, only tied back on occasion. natural hair colour, never dyed and hardly ever curled or altered in any way.
. . HEIGHT . . 5'11" / 180cm
. . BUILD . . thin. long legs and confident posture.
. . SCARS . . scar along abdomen from appendix removal.
. . TATTOOS / PIERCINGS . . double-pierced ears.
. . WARDROBE . . simple patterns, cropped shirts, sweaters, hoodies, jeans, dresses, sneakers. pastels.
. . NOTABLE FEATURES . . soft features with large eyes. down-turned lips. light eyebrows. gestures while she speaks.

I THOUGHT OF DEAD THINGS.

. . TRAITS . . short-sighted, charming, determined, ambitious, fearless, outgoing, sadistic, aggressive
. . MBTI . . estp
.        the entrepreneur.   extroverted, observant, thinking, prospective
. . CONDITIONS . . anti-social personality disorder
. . NOTABLE VICES . . hedonism
. . TROPES . . alpha bitch, freudian excuse, improvised weapon, nightmare fetishist

———I COULDN'T HELP IT.

* VERSES

. . MAIN . . naomi is a business student with one foot in the shallow and superfluous world of runway modelling. she thrives in her environment, surrounded by people as fake and unapologetically ruthless as she is. naomi lives her life doing whatever feels best for her in the moment, regardless of consequence. she has the privilege of not having to worry about her financial situation, cushioned by parents who can afford to support her fancies. she is feared more than she is liked — and she acts in exactly the way needed to keep it as such. still, her cold personality does not come across as out of place in the context of what she studies and who she spends time with. while she isn’t exactly a wolf in sheep’s clothing, few people really notice a wolf among the dog pack. the first time the strangers’ home invasion escapades turn to murder, naomi is the driving force behind the escalation. she has no qualms. she does not hesitate. she feels that she was born for this, and she only becomes more self-assured in her ways as the trio fall into a pattern of serial murder.

. . DBD . . based on the original script of the strangers: part 2. naomi is killed by police officers responding to the scene of the crime. she takes a gun shot to the face and dies slowly — but not before taking the officers with her. naomi’s death is a humiliating affair, reducing her to her weakest and most vulnerable. the thought of it makes her nauseous, and she wakes up with her stomach in knots. her face is hot and flushed. she sits up in a sweat; on the other side of the room, lis and charlie are discussing something in hushed voices. every so often, lis rubs her sternum with a wince.the entity doesn’t need to convince her of anything, really. given the opportunity to act on her most violent and intrinsic impulses, naomi thrives. she cannot be bargained with, reasoned with, or stopped. survivors become the subject of now-immortalized rage, and she hunts them with a glee that does not come naturally to all who become the entity’s bloodhounds. although they hunt as a trio, it is naomi who puts in most of the legwork — and she does so without complaint. she no longer has to play the part of lover / daughter / woman / human. embracing the very darkest parts of her nature, she rises to the challenge and becomes a monster in supple skin.

you’re born in february, which is almost january. so really, you were pretty much the first person born that year! sean and helen treat you like the only kid in all the world; they make you feel unique, the way that parents are supposed to, but they forget to teach you that you really aren’t. that’s the good thing about siblings. they’re proof that we’re all just the same story written differently. shame you never have one.recess is for fun and games, and you have the most fun when you’re playing games. you like to play pretend, and every good movie starts with a casting call —— so you line up all the girls and pull their hair to see how convincing their crying is. after one of them goes to the teacher to tattle about your crimes, you make her play the monster. because you’re a really good director, all the other kids believe you; they run away from her, and when it’s just you and her left, you tell her about your script. the plot twist: you’re the monster, and they’re all running towards your lair! she moves to a different school that summer. her mom tells your dad that it’s because she was being bullied, but she’s too afraid to say by who.in middle school, people ask you “hey naomi, how’d you get so tall? did your parents pick you up too much while gravity tried to pull you down?” you say no. you say it’s because everyone always keeps the good stuff on the top shelf, and god be damned —— you like to get what you want. you say you strapped stilts onto your legs and one day you woke up to see they were a part of you. you say you’re like pinocchio’s sister: a girl playing a doll playing a girl.

——HISTORY——

on every given day you have to pick someone to hate. if you don’t, all those feelings you keep inside will explode like popcorn in a bag and you’ll get fat. mom always says: “whatever you do, honey … don’t you get fat! men only want skinny girls. they like to fill them up with pieces of themselves. they call it the last supper.” you're not really sure what she means by that. for your own amusement, you stand on the curb on thursday mornings to see if the garbagemen will whistle at you as they drive by. they always do. you smile with your hands behind your back, fingers crossed.the first time a man calls you dollface, you’re sitting in a restaurant applying chapstick in the reflection of a napkin dispenser. he says you’ve got cartoon eyes —— pencils in whatever he wants to see. there’s so much to fill in that by the time he’s done you’re a pop art piece of perfect girls. he says you’ve got candy lips and you grin sweetly, your teeth as white as winter mints. maybe if he sees your skeleton he’ll remember you're just bloody flesh wrapped in butcher’s paper. when your parents come back from the washroom, he tells them about his cousin who’s a modelling scout. you think big deal —— my cousin’s a lobster fisherman. everyone in new york’s got family. within a week you’ve got your first gig.

you enrol in business because the only way you know to be happy is to win while other people lose. they never make you take a class in corporate crime, and so you’re still under the impression that pain is a personal affair. they never tell you just how many psychopaths occupy high-ranking positions in the corporate workspace. because of this, you still feel unique in your lecture hall of 400 prototypical capitalists.when a freshman in your building jumps out of the 13th storey window, you watch the firefighters crowd the scene with a liquorice stick tucked into the corner of your mouth. sometimes you get distracted by your own reflection in the glass and wonder if that girl looked at you on the way down. the school sends out emails with links to the psychology department: [MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY: the university understands that mental health—]. you mark them as spam the same way that people flip past the obituaries in the newspaper. but then come the volunteers ( hi, we’re psychology students who work for health services, and— ) there’s a knock at the door.he says his name his charlie. he’s got one earbud hidden in his hair, and the other hangs down along the front of his shirt like a broken noose. you can hear the music; it’s the same distant notes you used to hear from the 13th floor —— the favourite song of a freshman's corpse. you smile and invite him.