Friday Essay Test!

[rolanni]

OK, everybody pipe down, turn off your cellphones, take those buds outta your ears -- yes, you over in the corner, I'm talking to YOU! -- and you there, close that math book and I don't see it, right? Do that on your own time.

Everybody awake?

Good.

Here's the assignment:

Describe, in as much detail as possible, Cheever McFarland. You may be as concise or verbose as you like -- but be warned! If I get bored with your exposition, I'll stop reading.

What's that?

No, I don't think that it's at all unfair to ask you to work under the conditions I work under myself.

Other questions?

. . .

Fine.

Get started, people.

Comments

[drammar.livejournal.com]

Tall (even by Terran standards), muscular, easy on the eyes. Brown hair, clean shaven, medium skin tone, brown eyes. Finely honed sense of justice and loyalty, sardonic sense of humor. Master Pilot, crack shot, can boss himself or a gang, but takes direction well. More than half in love with Nova.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I would add that I picture him as not just muscular but also large frame. Not fat but solid, he'd make a good bouncer at a nightclub. Well-proportioned, so he probably doesn't look as tall as he is unless he's deliberately making his presence felt. And an eye for the ladies in general -- he'll flirt but he wouldn't hurt anyone (unless they deserve it). Otherwise pretty much the same.

(Not fair wanting me to put away the math book, though, how am I going to calculate his size without it?)

[liadan-m.livejournal.com]

5'8-9"
wide shoulders, stocky, looks like a hockey player.
Sandy, slightly shaggy hair, about 2" long
deep set brown eyes, shaggy eyebrows, pronounced cheekbones, wide mouth, thin lips, average WASP nose, squared chin.
large hands, well calloused and slightly stained from grease.
Reminds me of a wolf, in contrast to the Liaden catlyness.

[lornastutz.livejournal.com]

Cool...
Body like a linebacker
dark brown hair worn in a pony tail
green eyes that can look like green lightning or a summer breeze

a full but well trimmed mustache

Lorna

Cheever McFarland

[k-10b.livejournal.com]

Big easy-going guy, except when he's not. Big heart and a teasing sense of humor. Master pilot and crack shot. You might not be impressed at first sight, but he tends to grow on you to the point of indispensibility (is a word?). You'd trust him with diplomatic missions and small children. In fact, small children trust him instinctively and use him as their personal play-ground (until he tells them otherwise).

I picture him as wide-shouldered, barrel chested Scot ... medium brown hair and bright blue eyes that twinkle with mischief.(now that I think about it, he resembles my husband. hmmmm...) For a large man, he's light on his feet and moves well. Voice would be a baritone with a bit of a burr.

hope this helps.

Proposed Backstory

[reedrover]

I'm avoiding work bigtime this morning. Thanks for the essay test.

----------------------

The second son of a second son, Cheever McFarland came from the kind of family we all know: a sprinkle of kids and a pair of hardworking parents. Surrounded by a small and loving family, he had the room to grow and the time to figure out who he was. This conviction of value has been demonstrated over and over again by the still pool of self-confidence from which he has drawn while dealing with everyone from high-strung Liadens to drunken dockworkers.

His family worked in the small-hauler trade, so Cheever was called upon to do everything from load-balancing calculations to engine repairs. Everyone in the family was involved in the trade, and problems were brought to the dinner table for discussion. In this way, Cheever learned as early as eating how to use his physical strength and also his mind.

As he began to venture out onto the docks, his father taught him the basics of honest trade and respectful dealings. His mother taught him that size would not always carry the fight, and to be as cautious of the little guns as the big ones. His big brother - seven years his senior - convinced him to smile rather than grin, and that a clean and neat appearance would open the doors for him that were closed on his scruffy age-mates.

Even from the variety and challenge that the family trade enjoyed, Cheever constantly hungered for more. When the day came that he was offered a berth on a larger ship, he embraced the opportunity. Through hard work and study, he taught himself what the "big boys" already knew, and drilled himself in the basics until he could be perfect. Then he presented himself to the First Mate... etc.

While looming large in comparison with those of average size, and especially next to Liadens, Cheever is not a gigantic man who is awkward in every setting. Cheever is simply big, and fills his space completely. He is solid, complete. His sandy brown hair and warm brown eyes put others at ease in his presence. He smiles lightly, but is completely present in the moment. His wide eyes see everyone without landing judgment upon them. When intent on his own thoughts, Cheever moves as though gravity never quite put a full hand down on his shoulder, and with more cultured grace than his roughened leathers might suggest. However, when the thunderclouds cross his face, then he expands to fill more than his frame. When anger rises in him, he looms large in the room. His hands bunch into cannonballs; his light eyes darken and squint into almond shapes.

[queenmaggie.livejournal.com]

Cheever was tall,big frame, but not fat; solid muscle... and solid in personality, too. He has large hands, calloused from working with them, but they have a curiously delicate touch. One doesn't expect a man of such seemingly practical a bent to cherish delicate little trifles the way he does: he can hold a bit of filigree as though it were the most precious object on earth.
His hair is reddish, a little faded, and there are wrinkles around the eyes: lots of late nights and too many hours of sleepless work. He's learned not to worry: it doesn't get anything done. He just plans for all contingencies, then does what comes next. his eyes are icy blue, and can lash like lightening if someone comes up with an egregiously stupid comment.
There is a stillness to his pose that doesn't make itself obvious: he seems as though he's just relaxed, calm, and interested in what's going on right in front of him, but if you spend a little time, you realize that he's aware of everything going on all around, and centered, balanced, and ready to move either into a dance or a fight given the right signal...

merchant marine

[muehe.livejournal.com]

McFarland, merchant marine (pre-WW2 era)
But, his association with Pat Rin is both sharping him and softening him.

McFarland

[(Anonymous)]

I always pictured him as a "John Wayne"

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

You could put Cheever MacFarland into a 1950s Technicolor Western and he'd look completely at home; suddenly the pilot's jacket would be what everybody wore in the Old West.

He's tall, somewhat rangy, cheekbones for miles, sandy brown hair worn about 2-3 inches long with an unruly forelock. Lights up when he smiles.

(and now I have no idea what *you* said about him; that's what he looks like in my mind, and I've probably got it All Rong.)

[dievalkyrie-99.livejournal.com]

One word? - Laconic.

A BIG man, but not necessarily 'tall' - although I'd put him at 5'10" 5'11" - barrel chested, with big hands - not 'meaty' hands - but nimble long long fingers. Long, solid legs. Much faster than he looks. Most of his 'big' is in his chest and shoulders - a man that big shouldn't be able to move that fast, type big.

Honorable. VERY honorable, but with a very checkered past - boy was a 'wild child' - survived a tough world long enough to grow and learn. He's got scars, and lots of them, hides them well. Compulsively rescues, teaches, and makes others grow up, or at least realize they need to.

If you're in trouble, any kind of trouble, from math homework to the Juntavas... you run to Cheever. He'll get you out and safe. Even if you've only just been casually introduced, or seen him in the same shop... you KNOW you can run to Cheever - and he'll help.

Women are real people to him, he and they both get along better than well, but he's never met one to steal his heart, except for, possibly, Nova. Also? there's a definite 'class solidarity' about the man - he's blue collar down to his toenails and would *never* so much as flirt with Nova, her being more than a touch above him. Whether or not they can overcome such things to meet in the middle? - your choice. *grin*

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

(without looking at other responses)

I imagine him as a largish person, not overly-tall for a Terran, but heavy-set. He has a face tending to round, with reddish-brown hair and a mustache. His appearance is the sort that makes people trust him instinctively.

[orlacarey.livejournal.com]

I don't remember ever reading what he looks like so I'll just supply the picture that pops into my head...

short-ish - maybe 5'6"? stocky, sandy hair, paul newman eyes, mustache, brilliant smile

[pedanther]

I don't usually form specific visual impressions of characters, so all I've got is a few generalities: He's large, which is not just tall but also broad. He isn't young -- he's lived long enough to have been around the block a few times -- but he's not old enough to have started slowing down, neither. I get the impression that he's not exactly handsome. Not ugly, but -- well, you know? If it turned out he had a nose that had been bent out of shape in a past excitement, or something along those lines, it would not be inconsistent with my impression of him.

...

I've just been flicking through the books again, seeing if anything new was sparked. It wasn't, but I did notice that there's a bit in 'I Dare' where he's described as "rugged", and another where his face is associated with the phrase "strong lines", which goes along with my idea of his looks. I also noticed that the scenes where he meets new people are mostly not from the point of view of the new person - the "rugged" scene being about the only exception - which I guess explains why there's not so much description of him in the text. By the way, the scene where he meets Shan for the first time, despite being from his own point of view, mentions a couple of idiosyncratic details about his clothing; you're probably on top of that, but I mention it in case.

[pedanther]

Also, having now read the others' contributions, I don't picture him with cultivated facial hair (although there are places in the story, when he's been kept busy with something, where I don't think he could accurately be called "clean shaven"). It seems to me like a moustache is a detail that would have been mentioned by now if it existed.

[katmoonshaker.livejournal.com]

I've always seen him as large-boned but light on his feet. One of those whom you would expect to be... clumsy... but turns out to move as well as a Master in one or more martial arts. This includes guns. He is tall and has medium brown hair. No facial hair... except when he's unable to shave. His eyes are hazel.

He's quite capable of going "invisible" when needed or filling the room with menace likewise. But his primary mode is mid-level. If that makes sense. One who always stands to the back and right of someone, ready to protect and serve... a shield-brother as it were.

Cheever

[(Anonymous)]

45-50 TALL - 6'2 - Sturdy build, but very fit.
blue eyes, laugh lines at corners, grizzly short hair.

Lives quiet... self contained. Confident manner.

[kimuro.livejournal.com]

bushy dark eyebrows, head thrust forward so that he seems to be pushing against a headwind all the time even when standing still. muscular, but not muscle-bound. You describe him as being tall - I'll take your word for it (I didn't pick up on that). Hair dark, cut short because of spaceflight conditions, but there a bit that falls onto his forehead. Not a high forehead, though. Nose a bit squat - (Irish stub nose).

Face like an intelligent monkey, not ugly but interesting and interested.

I just re-read Partners of Necessity and Cheever made an impression on me as more Irish - and black Irish at that - than Scottish.

[(Anonymous)]

I think of Cheever as sort of a more rough-hewn early John Wayne - large but not fat, big capable hands, shock of indeterminate brown hair, and with a definite twinkle in his eyes, which are more gray than blue.

Sometimes I wonder how did he get in whatever the trouble was that led him to get entangled with Korval..
- sbs

Cheever and Korval

[capricchio.livejournal.com]

Ah, There is a little tiny thread in a couple f side stories, "Quiet Knives' being one of them, that leads me to believe that Cheever was the pilot that moved the Clutch turtles over to Shalgren, the Juntavas home planet. THey sent him to Nova with the message about the Juntavas giving aid and assistance to Val Con and Miri.

[jennifer-dunne.livejournal.com]

A perusal of his pilot's license would give the impression that he was entirely average -- average brown hair, average height (for a Terran), average skin tone (for a Terran). The one saving feature woud appear to be his gray eyes.

But in person, a different story is told! Solidly built, he has broad shoulders, not just physically, but metaphorically. This is someone who takes his responsibilities seriously, and has the quiet skill and competence to see them through. He is adept at what the mystics know as expansion of his aura -- he can make himself the focal point of attention and fill a room with his presence, or withdraw into himself so that glances sweep right past him, dismissing him as being as average as his looks. Cheever himself thinks this has to do with whether or not he's holding a gun, not realizing the weapon is *his* cue, and he can take control just as easily without it.

Interesting ...

[elgordo303.livejournal.com]

everyone seems to be describing someone that they personally perceive to be larger than life ... nobody seems to have taken into account that most of our image of Cheever is taken from observations of a Liaden perspective ... Liadens ... short, slight build etc ...

I see him more as a young Ernest Borgnine than a young John Wayne or Gary Cooper ... stocky, middling tall, easy sincere smile, just a little grubby looking, the kind of guy who would be driving a cab in the old days ...

[(Anonymous)]

Laconic. A younger Clint Eastwood.

Wendy

[angela-n-hunt.livejournal.com]

To Liadens, tall and solid, a wall of a man in relation to them. To other Terrans, a hair over average height and weight. He carries himself with confidence and knows how to be invisible. Brown hair, brown eyes and an easy smile.

However, I've always imagined with a beard/mustache, and/or 5 o'clock shadow.

Coming late to play,

[ellenru.livejournal.com]

this always happens. After perusing the above, I see him as something like my youngest brother. Just a hair under 6 feet, brown hair, brown eyes, square build, fast enough to play various receiver positions in college ball back in the day, but solid enough to take a hit or block for someone else. Sort of average looking until the personality kicks in.

And if you're asking for this for the new chapbook (which I've already ordered) - I'm hoping the earlier entry about Luken means he's back too. He's one of my favourites.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Built like a halfback. Wavy thick hair kept just long enough for padding but not long enough to grab in a fight. Brown like pine bark. Brown skin, medium tone. Olivine hazel eyes. Sweet smile but rare. Heavy brow and squarish chin cleanshaven. Subtly sexy.

[dimansheart.livejournal.com]

Cheever is tall for a Terran, but not actually towering (call it 6'2" or so) -- but he's so broad across the shoulders that he gives an impression of looming anyway. He has dark hair kept trimmed relatively short, and is generally clean-shaven, though not especially fussy about stubble. His eyes are dark, his eyebrows bushy; his nose has been broken at least once before. He has narrow lips and one slightly crooked tooth. He is equally capable of looking like a friendly goofball or a stone-cold killer.

Tommy Lee Jones attitude

[(Anonymous)]

My mental picture has always been Tommy Lee Jones attitude.

My daughter says

Linebacker build
huge hands that look as it they could crush skulls
sandy blond hair going gray
Ruddy complexion
perpetual five o'clock shadow