Today’s card is focusing on Backstory and Origin. It really hits on how every main character in every story comes from somewhere. And it’s usually somewhere that helps make a character who they are in the first place. Whether their behavior compliments their upbringing or goes against it.
Knowing where a character is from, could very well map out the way that they carry on.
Charlie’s background is not something I have gone into in depth yet. But for the sake of this card, we’re going to go into a backstory today! I am decent at backstory. I feel like depending on the character, I either go too much into backstory, or too little.
Obviously, since my main character Charlie is trans-masc, I could go the route of “Oh, his family doesn’t accept him. His sister is all he really has.” But we live in a society where for some reason, trans folks are enemy number one for some really bad people. And since this story is part horror, I am not going to add an underlying trauma to Charlie.
I am looking to solidify his character as it pertains to the story. So like, his love for art and his other interests. His relationship with his family. Things like that. It’ll definitely be a bit all over the place, as this is just a brainstorm session.
Charlie was born to his parents, Beauford and Anita Davies, in June of 2001 six minutes after his sister Shannon was born, a fact that she likes to remind him of whenever she can. Beauford worked in carpentry and Anita was a seamstress. Growing up around his parents and watching them work lead to Charlie growing up with a desire to learn how to build and craft things. His favorite toys as a kid were Legos, or whatever off-brand, non-copyright infringing name I can come up with.
Middle school was when he really started to take interest in the work his dad did. Wood working and the like. This part kind of comes from something I did when I was a kid, when a family friend from church offered to teach me woodworking for a month or two. Charlie, of course, was a bit young to work with the big power tools at that point. And of course, Beauford was happy to teach his child some of his craft. He also started to taking up sketching at around this time. If he wasn’t in the shop with his dad, he was sitting on his front porch sketching the house across the street.
His family life was decent at most. Before he came out, his relationship with Shannon was a little dicey as there was a bit of a one-sided rivalry that was fueled in part by Charlie’s relationship with their dad. When he did come up, his dad was the first person he told. As expected, Beauford was ecstatic. He immediately wanted to know everything. Like “How long have you known you were more masc?” or “What should I call you?” The excited response of his dad kind of caught Charlie off-guard. There was a point where Beauford hugged him and cried “I’m so happy I finally have a sooooon!” Mostly to get the “Daaaaad!” reaction.
His relationship with Shannon improved after he came out to her. It was a slow process for Shannon, not because of any biases she had; it had more to do with watching Charlie get more confident and happy as he started to embrace his masculinity. She felt like her and Charlie didn’t really know each other, and that it was her fault. Charlie had never felt any of the competitive energy that Shannon had felt towards him and was apologetic that his relationship with his dad may have isolated his sister. They started doing more together, like camping, movie nights, game days. Charlie really wanted to mend their sibling relationship because of their twin bond. As they got into their twenties, they live together in the same apartment to help each other save money.
Anita probably was the only one who started off with a little problem with it. It was the standard misgendering because “It’s just always been this way” or “What about the beautiful name your father and I gave you?” It slowly started to take with his mom. She’d use his new name and respect the pronouns, but claimed to still not completely understand it all. Her first true moment of acceptance was when a friend from her church decided to lift up “Insert Charlie’s Deadname” as a prayer request because “the poor child is so confused.” Needless to say, that “friend” isn’t a friend of hers any longer. And no one in the church dares look the wrong way at her son. She’s still not perfect, but she’s learning.
Charlie and Kyle met in his junior year of high school. They started out as partners in chemistry, and after long study sessions at a local diner they hit it off. And for the time they were in high school, till their second year of college. Kyle is big into competitive swimming and water activities. He worked a lot as a lifeguard over the time that he and Charlie were together. But as they both got into their mid-twenties, Kyle started to become less invested in their relationship as they got further along. Kyle’s disinterest was projected on to Charlie to the point where Kyle just found Charlie boring. Even though Charlie was the same person he fell in love with.
The relationship ended between two weeks before Charlie left for Camp Sapphire Springs. Charlie is very much still attached. He was very invested in his relationship with Kyle and, despite the talking to Shannon gave him in the first scene I shared a few months back, takes a bit longer than he should to let go of him.
I hope this wasn’t too convoluted or messy. It’s a pretty loose background. I know he’s going to be the main character of a horror romantic comedy, but I really wanted to focus on the romance for him and just have the horror elements going on in the background.
Have any tips or suggestions for other parts of his background? Or any questions that could help me flesh him out more? Let me know!
(ALSO IF YOU’RE READING THIS AFTER JULY 1st, 2025! The anthology I am a part of, Wild Hearts, should be out now! Check my BlueSky and Mastodon accounts for the link! I will be sharing the crap out of them!)
Scribbles of a Chee 
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