A Galaxy of Possibilities: Discussing Character Writing, Diversity, Star Wars and Fandom – Week 27: Talia Stryder

Talia Stryder, The Sovereign Galactic Empire
SWRPG Wiki Page | Tumblr Gallery

Talia Stryder was originally created with Kim Basinger as her image claim (when watching Tim Burton’s Batman movie I was reminded of how much I liked Basinger’s performance in L.A. Confidential and before I knew it I was plotting Talia’s creation). I eventually switched her off to Andie McDowell, who worked better with how I had started to write the character and I have stuck with this actress since then. Talia came up to me as an imperial right away, though she wasn’t born in imperial territory, but on Gala, in an upper class family. Her father is a politician and her mother a businesswoman. She has a younger sister and while she has close relationships with her family, she left her home world in her twenties.

She went to different university to study marketing, finances, with a minor in psychology. She worked as a consultant and professional writer in these fields during the following dozen years, until she got an opportunity on the imperial capitol world of Bastion, thanks to acquaintances. She considered it a professional position as any other, but eventually got to enjoy life on Bastion more than she had thought she would. She works in the imperial political branch as a financial representative, thus working with the military as well for certain reviews and she regularly goes off world for diplomatic and commercial missions.

She has an uncanny ability to get herself tangled in the most improbable and often dangerous situations, but manages to get through them, though shortly after joining the Empire, she made sure to hone her shooting skills. She also has a literary interest in historical fiction and has been dabbing into writing short stories in this genre again, though none have been published so far.

Very old fashioned, Talia never accepted any suitor until her late thirties, for none had ever been the right fit for her. She always preferred being on her own than settling down for someone she didn’t have a real connection with, no matter how much concern her family expressed regarding that topic. On Bastion, she met a Bakuran noble serving in the Navy. They got along well and discovered they shared values and tastes, and Talia fell for him. The two began a courtship and for the first time in her life, she introduced someone to her family, shortly before she accepted to marry her fellow imperial.

• How do your characters handle societal and familial expectations?
• How involved in politics can your characters be?
• Are some of your characters, writers? Which genre(s) do they write?