Protagonist

17; turns 18 in the story

Beck leaves a lot of stuff pretty vague and his gender is one of them--he uses he/him pronouns but doesn't mind they/them, and although he uses "brother" to describe himself in relation to Cora, he opts towards "kid" over "son" (the thing with Beck is that you never know how precise he's being with his word choice--and neither does he). Likewise, whether Beck is AMAB or AFAB is also left up for interpretation.

Beckett Hadley Randall

Beck, Randall, Zooey (by Cora, and Cora only)

The Loveliest Euphemism

Death of a sibling, sexual assault/rape, implied CSA

Beckett

Beehive

Beck-it

Hadley

Heathery Field

Had-lee

Randall

Shield-Wolf

Rand-ull

Beckett for Samuel Beckett, his mother's favorite playwright

Human (1/2 Italian, 1/4 Arab, 1/4 Norwegian)

A bit below average height with a slim build. He played baseball through high school and walks a lot so he's got some muscle, but nothing noticeable.

Average weight

Olive-tan, some freckles across the bridge of his nose and his cheeks.

5'6"

Dark brown

Dark brown

Usually very tousled, due to his hat. Has very thick and wavy hair.

None

Beck is the sort of person who just blends into whatever background he's in. He has very thick and wavy dark brown hair that's generally tousled and a little overlong, but nowhere near long enough to tie back. He's got a fairly short, fairly slim build, a near-constant contemplative look and his eyebrows are knit with concern. His skin is an olive-tan shade--he gets some double-looks when he's out with Paul Randall Jr. since Paul is very pale and blonde-ish, but that's the extent of people being weird about his background. He usually has some grey under his eyes, especially later in the story when he's not sleeping as much. After his trip up north, he gains an array of thin white scars on his left knee from falling, and they're visible if he's wearing shorts (which he usually doesn't).

Beck's voice is a medium-high pitch and a bit raspy. He alternates between being deadpan and very emotional. Beck describes his singing voice as "a lousy tenor"; on a technical level he isn't that good, but he has passion y'know?

Jeans and battered red Converse. A slightly worn t-shirt (probably a band shirt) under a red hoodie, which is itself under a jean jacket with that faux-wool stuff. He doesn't always wear all three at once but he'll usually wear at least two. He also has his mom's old grey beanie, which is something he grows attached to after Cora's death for reasons he couldn't even explain.

Beck is pretty closed off, usually focusing on talking about any subject besides himself. Not a big fan of small talk, he enjoys discussing things that matter. He tends to get a bit existential over things that most don't as well. Despite being quite smart, following the death of his mother and Cora, he doesn't put much effort into anything. When he leaves for college, he often grapples with feelings of being trapped or confined and unprepared, as well as--though he won't admit it--lonely. Spends a lot of time alone. Struggles with feeling that he's both wise beyond his years yet also fully unprepared for college/adult life. He feels things very deeply, and therefore decides to try to feel nothing at all. Generally has a sense of unease to him, even when he's around people he trusts, an almost palpable tenseness. He tends to feel very lost, and that he doesn't have a path in life. He really doesn't know what to do. He's actually got a pretty decent sense of humor and cracks jokes a lot, but they always have a sense of unease to them as well, or are very esoteric literary references. God-awful at carrying on relationships, even with childhood friends and his own father. He's dealing with a lot of grief and trauma and suppresses it as to avoid confronting it head-on. Surprisingly good with kids; he understands what it's like to be talked down to and treated like you're just a dumb kid and so he tries not to do that to others. Very touch-adverse and a bit jumpy.

• Tends to be very tense at any given time, attempts to take up very little space


• When speaking about deeply personal topics, he often deflects with "anyways" after sharing something


• Resting face is a frown, often looks lost in thought even when he isn't


• Swears frequently, in both meanings. As in, he'll use vulgar language (although he will self-censor--or attempt to--around younger kids) as well as promising that things happen the way he says/his feelings are genuine.


• Often replies to questions with "I don't know" as a knee-jerk response, even if he does know or have strong feelings on the matter


• Very prominent speech patterns, namely stressing certain words, or even just specific parts of words


• While I wouldn't go as far as to call it echolalia, he has a tendency to repeat words and phrases, especially when upset.

Good with instruments, he's a pretty good drummer and decent with a guitar. Fairly good student, although he usually doesn't fully apply himself.

To get through college.

Hanging out by the park, discussing/studying philosophy and psychology, going on walks. Exploring nature, reading. Listening to music, messing around with instruments.

Snippy, very introverted, awful at putting his thoughts and feelings into words, rude. Seeing him again in college, he seems to have grown a bit paranoid, and more disillusioned than before. Cynical. Smokes occasionally (a habit he picked up for a month or two after Cora's death, but then weans off for the most part) as an indirect form of self-harm.

Generally skeptical towards everyone, and always seems a bit on-edge.

PTSD
Schizophrenia

His hat, a well-worn grey beanie from his mother.

Della Colacino-McCarthy
Harper Carys
Marisol Ortiz

• Nita Alvarez (ex sort-of-girlfriend)

Cora Randall (sister, three years younger, deceased)

Doesn't really have a favorite animal, although he likes pigeons.

Carries a small, slightly crappy knife in his backpack in case he ever winds up in a tough situation, although he privately admits that he doesn't think he would ever use it. He bought it on a whim from a gift shop; it says BECKY on the handle and he figured it was close enough. He scratched out the Y.

Student, majoring in philosophy

Left-leaning

Agnostic. Raised Catholic, but fell mostly out of religion as a teen.

Grey

Kettle chips

• Went through a major "not like other teens" phase in middle school and high school; he's less obnoxious about it now but he still does judge people with "mainstream" interests.


• His favorite book is Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger.


• He loves going on walks, especially at night or on chilly days.


• He hates geese. Hates them. They populate his walking paths and poop on the sidewalks, hiss at him, and sometimes even chase him.


• Played baseball for most of his middle school and high school time, although he was never super skilled at it. He mostly played right field, although he subbed in as pitcher once. It lasted about half a game, since he took a line drive to the chest and bruised his sternum.


• Super into nature, he has a state park pass and it isn't unusual for him to just disappear and pop back up a day or so later after hiking.


• That being said, he doesn't really like camping that much. He likes it in theory, but not in practice.


• Until he breaks his wrist in Not Crazy, Beckett has never broken a bone.


• He's named after Samuel Beckett, his mother's favorite playwright. He's just relieved that he wasn't named Godot.


• He goes by Beck, Beckett, and Randall more or less equally; of the main people he interacts with Harper calls him Beck, Marisol calls him Beckett, and Casey just calls him Randall. If a stranger asks his name, he's just as likely to say Beck or Beckett as he is to say Zooey or Godot.


• Sometimes Cora would call him Zooey, which is something his dad also picked up on. His dad calling him Zooey after Cora's death is what causes him to throw his phone, since it was very much a Beck-and-Cora thing and he didn't feel right with his dad saying it when Cora was gone.


• Along the Godot line, he makes a lot of really esoteric literary references, mainly to J.D. Salinger stories or other classics. And yes, he judges people who don't catch them.


• He's got a really crappy old flip-phone. Everyone assumes it's the phone he's always had, since it fits with his sort of old-timey persona, but he actually used to have a smartphone. How did he get this one? He threw his old phone against the wall before breaking down into tears after Cora died, and it broke.


• His favorite band is Green Day.


• He was super into the Beatles for all of middle school. He's not as much any more, and definitely takes any opportunity to tell music snobs that he finds them overrated, but still holds a soft spot for their later songs.


• He wishes he was a bit younger; he feels very unprepared for "adult" life, not to mention that his 17th and 18th years have been the worst of his life.


• He's Gen Z, and he feels stuck in-between feeling mature for his age while being unprepared for what he's facing as an adult. He whiplashes between carrying on a serious discussion about a ridiculous topic and contemplating life and death in a way that's pretty common for Zoomers to.
  
  


• He's usually wearing three layers of shirts at any given time (a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a jacket). Wisconsin weather is unpredictable.


• Although he never wants kids of his own--or even to adopt--and generally hates being in large groups of children, he's actually surprisingly good with one-on-one interactions with kids. He takes their interests seriously, and will carry on a genuine conversation with them.


• He has three older cousins (Gwen, Paul/Junior, and Amelia) who live in the Twin Cities, although Paul and his family move to Bell Creek after Cora dies.


• Everyone sort of assumes that he's a stoner, and while he has smoked weed in the past (namely for a bit as a sophomore in high school), he doesn't in college, save for once or twice with Harper.


• People also assume that he's a skateboarder, which he isn't. He's never even stepped on a skateboard.


• He wants to just live on his own in some little mountain-y city surrounded by woods and not by people, that's his long-term goal.

Born and raised in Bell Creek, WI, Beck was always a fairly reserved person. His mother was close friends with Emilia Colacino, and so he bonded with Della Colacino-McCarthy, becoming fast friends. Shortly before his high school graduation, Beck's younger sister Cora (with whom he was quite close) was killed in a hit-and-run. Beck felt responsible for her death, since she was walking home alone and he had recently failed his driver's test (he has a strong fear of being behind the wheel) and being unable to drive her home. This prompts him to retreat into himself. He does mostly alright in class, but rarely talks to his peers with the exception of Harper Carys, who he shares multiple classes with. Beckett refuses to acknowledge his grief over Cora's death, trying his best to ignore it. His self-imposed "exile" and avoidance of friends leads to the deterioration of his already poor mental health, especially after he is sexually assaulted at a party.

Graduated high school with passable grades (due more to a lack of effort and motivation than a lack of intelligence), which is a trend that continues to college. Attends the University of Wisconsin Bell Creek (UWBC) and is majoring in philosophy.

October 25th

https://www.pinterest.com.mx/ZooeySpring/beckett-randall/