Characters

I realized that I'm progressing the plot by simply using my friends, as they are now, as the characters. However, I do not want to continue doing this. My friends are separate people from their characters and I feel as if their character should texture to them, especially the main character.

First off is names. There are three characters, played by Summer, Alex, and I. Summer's character is really the one who needs the most character development and layers within her. While Alex and I's characters are still important and require traits and names, we are still background characters compared to Summer's character.

Summer's real name is Sukaina, but she goes by her middle name. I wanted to follow this process like she does because it shows the assimilation and fusion of her character into American and modern culture. Also, it symbolizes her having two different lives. With her family and her own culture she's Sukaina, but with her friend and herself she's Summer. I really enjoyed this idea of seperation, even if it's not extreme within Summer's life. Within her character, it would add onto her emotional and mental struggle with herself, her family, and her culture.

After researching Arabic and Pakistani names I came up with Malika, which means "queen" or "ruler" in Arabic. However, she will go by Mia to represent her desire to assimilate and just be normal.

As for Alex and I's characters I want to use names that have very positive definitions and connotations. For Alex I decided on Mateo, which means "gift of god." For myself I chose Ellie, which means "bright shining one."

Malika "Mia"

Ellie

Mia is a very artistic and friendly girl, but she tends to keep to herself a lot, the only exception being her two friends, Mateo and Ellie. She loves taking pictures and documenting her life through social media. She practices Islam, but is more modernized, while her family practices are still very tradition. Mia is also a closeted bisexual, despite it being against her religion. She also has depression, but it goes untreated, as she is too afraid to tell her family.







Ellie is the wild and spontaneous friend. She is always loud, but always loving. She is friendly to everyone, but has found her fit being with her two friends, Mia and Mateo. Ellie is also very artsy, but more through music. She and Mia have been friends for a little longer, recently adding Mateo into their tight knit group.

Mateo

Mateo is the sweet, funny boy who loves to make everyone laugh. He was placed in a class with Mia and Ellie and they quickly became great friends. Mateo is also the reckless one of the friend group, doing crazy things just to get a laugh out of his friends. He is typically the one who inspires them to go on random adventures all the time.