Let’s talk characters.

Not just what they do on screen or on the page, but the marrow of who they are.

Their wounds.

Their fears.

Their defenses.

The cracks where the light gets in.

Because behind the armor, the psychic gift, and the Irish small-town whispers—are people wrestling with the same things we do.

Which of these characters resonate with you most?

Odd Thomas - The Prophet Nobody Asked For

Yes, his name is Odd.

And yes, he’s odd.

Odd Thomas can see the dead.

More than that, he sees bodachs—shadow creatures who swarm around tragedy and feed on death.

One time, he found a man who could see them.

"I've never met anyone who could see them before"

But here’s the catch: Odd can never let the bodachs know he can see them.

"Don't you know? If they find out you can see them, they will kill you."

And...no one ever belives him.

The message is clear: sometimes survival means pretending you don’t notice the darkness around you. Play dumb.

Smile.

Carry on.

Because truth-seers get killed first.

Odd doesn’t just carry this burden alone.

He has Stormy, his girl, equal parts light and anchor.

Destined to be together forever.

Their love feels unshakable, like two outcasts who found refuge in each other.

But it’s bittersweet, because Odd knows what his gift costs him.

Symbolically, the bodachs are the monsters we all know but never name.

Predators.

The vultures who feed and profit from misery.

Normal People – Two Hearts That Can’t Beat in Sync

From superheroes and seers to something quieter: Normal People.

Connell and Marianne.

Two people pulled toward each other like gravity, yet blocked by shame, fear, and the weight of their own wounds.

Connell struggles with his mother, resentful, dependent, insecure, and her unique ability to give her dogs more humanity than him. He’s like a radio antenna that can tune into everyone else’s frequency but can’t hear his own.

He hides his love for Marianne because vulnerability feels like a trap.

His fear? Rejection. Exposure. Not being enough.

Marianne comes with her own scars.

She’s strong, sharp, but used to being mistreated.

She doesn’t expect tenderness from the world.

There’s a line that exposes Connell’s inner world completely.

He tells Marianne:

“I bet you’d pretend not to know me if we bumped into each other.”

That’s projection at its rawest.

His fear of invisibility, of being discarded, of not mattering.

But its raw, and its real.

And he realizes it as soon as he says it, rushing to apologize.

Marianne replies, softly but firmly:

“I would pretend not to know you, Connell.”

Just kidding! She didn't play games.

She said:

“I would never pretend not to know you, Connell.”

It’s not just reassurance.

It’s a declaration of who she is.

She’s not his mother.

She’s not his bullies.

She will not abandon him.

This is where Normal People hits hardest: love isn’t about fireworks or grand gestures.

It’s about the quiet ways we promise each other,

I see you.

I won’t erase you.

I won't pretend like everyone else.

Tony Stark – The Man with the Hole in His Chest

Genius. Playboy. Billionaire. Philanthropist.

But beneath the bravado, Iron Man is literally a man with a hole in his chest.

He carries an arc reactor not as a gadget of power, but as a prosthetic heart he made himself.

A glowing light and symbol of survival and fragility.

One scene says it all: Tony asks Pepper Potts to swap out his arc reactor, the one thing keeping him alive.

Her hands tremble as she pulls it out and replaces it.

When it’s done, she’s shaken:

“Don't ever, ever, ever make me do anything like that ever again.”

And Tony—usually quick with a deflection—drops the mask for a split second:

“I don’t have anyone, but you.”

That’s a confession.

It’s Tony saying: Sure, yeah world worships me, but nobody actually sees me.

He lives in a world of sycophants, yes-men, and fake intimacy.

Pepper is the one tether. His only anchor.

She sees the genius and the wound.

What makes Tony compelling isn’t his brilliance, it’s that under the armor is a man terrified of being left alone with that hole in his chest.

The Mirror Back to Us

Tony & Pepper, Odd & Stormy, Connell & Marianne.

Three stories, three mirrors.

Have you ever resonated with any of these characters?

Why or why not?

• Have you ever, like Tony, put on armor so no one sees the hole in your chest?
• Have you, like Odd, pretended not to notice the darkness in order to stay safe?
• Or like Connell, projected your deepest fear onto someone you love, then realized it was your wound, not theirs to carry? Or flip Marianne's stance, have you ever pretended not to know someone? Why?

Because these stories aren’t about heroes or prophets or star-crossed lovers.

They’re about us.

About the ways we navigate fragility in a world that demands masks, silence, or distance.

So—who are you today?

Iron Man with the hole in his chest,

Odd Thomas with the strategic silence,

Connell with the projection,

Marianne with unwavering acknowledgement,

Pepper Pots with shaky trust-worthy hands?