Sookie Stackhouse

Sookie is a telepath from northern Louisiana. She arrived in-game on date and currently lives in Kurzweil.

age: 27

origins: Southern Vampire Mysteries, canon

app link:  Hola, Sookie aqui.

hmd: Yep.

played by: Wicke

contact:  discof1refly @ aim

Setting
The timeline in the books, from their beginning to where I'm taking her, goes from mid-2004 to early 2006, not long after Hurricane Katrina. The entire series is told from Sookie's perspective, going only where she goes and following events and mysteries as they play out in front of her.

Rural northern Louisiana, in the fictional town of Bon Temps, is where the bulk of the novels take place. It's a lot like any backwoods town full of both good and bad, except that it's also a hotbed for supernatural activity without most of its inhabitants even knowing. Vampires, shapeshifters, Weres (werewolves), wereanimals (shifters confined to one alternative form), fae, demons, goblins, angels, genies. . . those are each and every one of them a reality for the world.

Some hide. Vampires do not. They did until the Japanese invented synthetic blood in a laboratory that they could survive on. A vital tool for the public face they needed, taking into account the bogeyman vampire legends circulating the globe. They needed to be able to say that preying on humanity was not a necessity before they could hope to reveal themselves. And they did, with the whole world watching-- especially the supernatural community who stayed hidden.

Humanity feared vampires. They were in awe of them. They hated them. Some countries like America welcomed their new citizens, but others were happy to declare a bounty on every vampire's head within their borders. Factions split, for and against the undead assimilation. The situation would have become far worse if the politics of the supernatural world came to be widely known. No matter what they told the public, the base nature of the undead was to feed on the bodily fluids of humans. Synthetic blood was to real blood was like a juicy steak was to McDonald's. They were cruel, some of them downright bestial. Among their own kind vampires were a law unto themselves, as any human who spent more than fifteen minutes alone in that atmosphere would find out.

Vamps were a pariah to other supes, too. Weres loathed them and the feeling was completely mutual. Bloodsuckers couldn't be around faeries because their blood was like dangling a triple decker chocolate cake in front of a diabetic (Sookie being 1/8th faerie through her father's side, this explains the allure of her blood), leading to near-extinction of the fae via vampiric pursuit. Shapeshifters just wanted to be left to their own devices, and thought the undead were pretty damn stupid to play their hand. Witches, who could be any of the living supes or regular human beings, practiced the occult alone or in covens.

Southern Vampire Mysteries' main focus is the profound effect navigating through the supernatural has on Sookie, her world view, and her moral compass. Supe politics are the other focus, and what it's like to be a telepath around creatures who could really, really use a mind-reader.

Pretty dangerous as it turns out! Human extremists, witches and various other things that go bump in the night don't particularly like people who work for the undead. . . which Sookie does, at first through coercion, and then because she needs the money. She survives a domestic terrorist attack on a vampire hotel, narrowly avoids being tied to a burning man as the sun comes up, ends up in the middle of a bloody skirmish between witches and werewolves over control of a city, is almost shot by a shifter who turns into a fox and various other unfortunate encounters. So there's a lot of violence in the supe community, and every book essentially boils down to Sookie keeping her mind and body safe.

Personality
Wry, tactful and wary is a good start for describing someone who knows the hateful thoughts people have that they don't dare say out loud. Sookie has always been aware of prejudices and desires so awful that even awful people don't want to say them. Until her association with supernatural creatures (henceforth known as supes) she knew when somebody was lying to her face or wanting to see her dead approximately one hundred percent of the time. Having seen the worst, Sookie has learned the importance of being alert without letting those around her know just how much she knows. Consequentially, her facial control is excellent. Working as a barmaid in her kind of town, it needs to be; a vampire remarks what a sad reflection it is that the minds of humans are so repugnant to Sookie that she can't stand to date one.

She's not without her own prejudices, though an intelligent self-aware person. Most of the time she catches it and scolds herself, having been raised to be hospitable and treat others as she would like to be treated, to respect her elders, etcetera. Sookie makes harsh judgments on character, to her chagrin. She may or may not be entitled to these judgments after having a look-see in someone's brain, but it makes her uncomfortable, and is part of the reason she hates to read her friends' minds. The other reason is that it's plain rude to intrude; still, the curiosity is there, and she's not nearly immune to temptation.

Until she was around twenty-five years of age, telepathy had been more of a disability her whole life than a gift. Imagine trying to concentrate in a classroom when your peers' thoughts are all blasting into your skull at once, or trying to have a friendly discussion and knowing the exact moment your conversational partner wonders whether the carpet matches the drapes, or isn't listening to a word you say in the first place. Sookie's grown a thick skin and better defenses where the thoughts and opinions of strangers are concerned. That doesn't stop her from having a shit-nasty temper, or getting offended, or losing her cool entirely. She has rightly been described as savage in her own right if something/body of hers is threatened. One can hurt Sookie Stackhouse and maybe get away with it, but Lord help the one who betrays her kin.

She knows her faults. She can be petty and spiteful, but it's a rare day she allows her worse nature to take precedent over doing what needs to be done. What she wants isn't always best, and the world does not revolve around her. Sookie realizes that and thusly tries to keep everything in perspective, whether the truth is pleasant or stings like a mother. While a faithful church-goer whenever possible, much of her naivete has dissipated in the face of practicality. Consorting with terrifying bloodsuckers and other supes with laws of their own will do that to a woman.

In spite of the difficulty of being afraid, of deciding between the right thing to do and the survivalist thing to do, Sookie generally tries to do what's right if it's a viable option. Anything otherwise weighs on her conscience, but as she told another telepath: we all have different things we can live with. She's incredibly passionate and driven when it comes to accomplishing a set goal. When Sookie is around decent folk, her niceness is not a facade. She truly, genuinely believes in living proudly and freely as long as nobody gets run over in the process..

Abilities & Weaknesses
TELEPATHY. A fun foray into someone's brain, picking out thoughts, images, emotions, impulses, you name it. Her reading is limited to what someone is thinking at present, though if she can get them to reflect on a memory, anything is game. Everything she picks out is a jumbled combination of feeling. Sookie can translate into straight-up dialogue, but none of it is so simple as coherent sentences. Physical contact, and on occasion eye contact, amplify her ability. Holding onto another telepath will do the same.

Supes are where the power gets muggy. Creatures like Weres and part-demons are difficult but not impossible to read, whereas she can only get a glimpse of a vampiric mind once in a blue moon. People who know how to shut her out – i.e. a witch – can still be read if their guard is down. Likewise, people of the supernatural persuasion can sometimes feel her presence in their minds.

Character Relationships
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