Patty Character Diary

What Patty Needs

At her core, Patty has a distinct need to be accepted by those she considers her peers, to be seen as worthwhile in their eyes. Complimenting that need is the desire to not be seen as weak, worthless or false. It is not a need for love or friendship, but rather respect and validation that she is worth their attention and admiration. While romantic love and companionship as something she does crave, it is not what drives her primarily as a motivation. In addition to this, material comforts and power or control do not interest her, as coercion goes against her secondary motivator: Freedom. Being told she cannot do something is a sure-fire way to draw her into wanting to do it, simply because she feels outside controls on her life are degrading to her self-worth. Acceptance is primary, but she will only bend so far on that front to gain it when it comes to her view of herself.

What Patty Wants

Her actions are often spontaneous and ill-advised, but can be viewed as ways of making her feelings known about things she wants. She wants to be seen as equal to any man or woman, at least physically. She wants to be acknowledged as someone who ca be trusted and demands a level of respect by her peers and enemies. As noted before, power does not interest her, but leadership is unconsciously aspired to as she wants to present herself as an icon of self-determination and tenacity. Being seen as afraid, insincere or weak is something she strives to avoid, and will go to outlandish feats to avoid this. To a lesser extent she wants creature comforts, but not in an extravagant way. What she seeks is the freedom to enjoy her life as she sees fit, being trusted to be strong enough to live how she wants. She enjoys being seen as attractive and wants this, but has serious doubts to her ability to be so. Most of all she wants to be seen as honest, loyal and worthy of respect. When that is lacking, she lashes out.

How Patty Acts

With her core need of being respected, she often acts in ways that make her disrespected. Her brash, thick-headed, stubborn actions are often done in active contempt for how she's expected to act. It might seem mindless, but she is a creature of emotion before thought, and if she feels like someone expects her to act in a certain way she will chafe. Her rebelliousness rears itself in crude language, non-ladylike behavior, violent outbursts and sexual permissiveness. In her mind, if you don't accept her as she is, then you don't really respect her and she's going to confront you with this. When her strength or courage is challenged, she will often go overboard in an effort to show she is not that person. This is as much for herself as it is a show for the people around her or challenging her that she is worthy of respect or caution. The need to prove to herself that she is not a coward often leads to risk-taking behavior like drunken binges and driving far too fast, as well as picking fights she cannot win. if beaten, she still feels validated that she pushed against her fear and won, re-affirming her value to herself. In personal relationships she will take great efforts to show herself as honest and loyal, as this reinforces the view of others that she is worthy of trust and praise. If this puts her at risk it is all the more rewarding to her, as it doubly enforces both her courage and her loyalty.

How Patty Fails

Patty's bad life choices are a result of all these feelings and needs, combined with a tendency to overreact to anything that challenges this. When she is found to be wanting, to be scared or weak, her outlandish behavior will also scare her as well. It doesn't please her that she's so hot-headed, and she feels like this prickly nature has cost her many friends and opportunities in life. While failing at a challenge does not break her, failing to show courage in the face of a it will shake her core belief that she is worthwhile. Likewise failing to be honest to others and especially to herself makes her doubt the goodness and loyalty she believes she's earned. In the end, the lowest point Patty can reach is not when she cannot succeed. She is broken when she knows her lack of action will harm her friends, either by lies or by fear of what is to come. The coward, the poser, it brings her back to feelings of powerlessness of her younger years.

When Patty Succeeds

Despite her numerous shortcomings, her tenacity to succeed and prove herself makes her invaluable to those with insurmountable problems. To Patty, things that are hopeless are all the more worth fighting for. Loyal to a fault, brash and courageous, willing to suffer indignities to prove herself as a friend. When she is weak she is likely to lash out, but when others find themselves backed into a corner, she is one of the first to take their side. If the odds are against someone, she will even the odds despite joining the losing side. While proud, she is not pompous and is more down-to-earth and pragmatic than most when times are grim. She's been through worse, and even if she hasn't there's no way out but through. If that means she has to take the punch for others, she gladly takes it. Life is risk, and nobody wins. You can only hang on for the ride with your friends by your side.