THE PHYSICAL:

Hair: Straight. Naturally dark blonde, but dyed a jet black with red streaks. Thick and wiry. Fairly long on top, cropped more at the bottom and around the ears. Short sideburns; worn combed up on top so the red pieces stick out.

Eyes: Average set. A little bit smaller than average size. Deep brown. Light brown, thick eyebrows.

Nose: Straight nose, a little wide at the bottom.

Mouth: Slightly thinner-than-average lips. Teeth are in good condition and straight.

Skin: Lightly tanned and smooth.

Face: Thin face with round cheeks, light sprinkling of freckles across the nose and cheeks. Left ear is pierced.

Age: By book 5, 25 years old.

Height: A little tall, about 6’1”.

Weight: Just about average.

Body: Has strong arms and a healthy, lean body.

Ethnicity: A quarter Hispanic, looks basically Caucasian. Roots are from Spain, Poland, and Scotland/Ireland.

Distinguishing features: The hair.

Voice: Has an average, pleasant speaking voice and a nice high baritone singing voice. Most don’t hear an accent in his speech; some from the South might say he sounds specifically “Yankee.” There is nothing remarkable about his laugh, but it comes out often.

Gestures: Uses arms and hands a LOT to gesture while speaking—tends toward large sweeps of the hands and pacing when excited. Has a very wide smile. Doesn’t seem comfortable standing still.

Clothing and style: Loves clothes! He likes to make a statement with what he’s wearing. Tends toward layers, in a hippie-esque style. Likes loose jeans and ratty sneakers with the laces tied backwards sometimes. Tends to draw on his clothes, so there are often little ink pictures on the legs of his jeans and on his shoes. Paints the nails of one hand often. Wears a safety pin or a dangling-bead earring in his pierced ear. Likes to alter his clothes by adding patches or strips of braided leather or fringes. Often wears vests, jackets, or long-sleeved shirts under short-sleeved button-down shirts, worn open. Wears some strange jewelry sometimes—often makes his own out of macramé knots and beads.

THE PERSONAL:

General mood: Optimistic and rather easy to excite, but has a propensity for sulk mode.

Talents and abilities: There is a reason Ivy refers to him in fun as “King of Art.” Ruben defines the term “artist.” First and foremost, he is a playwright and director. He is very good at choosing technical people, writing plays, and casting his shows. He can act as well and has done a little of it, but he prefers to write and put it on stage. Other writing includes poetry and short stories, but he has never written a novel. He can draw and paint very well, and can sing not quite as well, and dance not quite as well as that, but all of those talents are things he can do better than average people. He is intensely creative and is also very good at teaching others to bring out their talents, has wonderful interpersonal skills, and is very good at having several balls in the air at once. He is also knowledgeable about gardening, sewing, music, and throwing great parties.

Weaknesses and shortcomings: He is the type of person to be gung-ho about an idea and then abandon it when something new comes along—unfinished projects and changed focus are very common for him. He makes friends feel neglected sometimes when he throws his passion into one of his disciplines to the exclusion of all else. And he has the annoying habit of telling other people he can read their body language as proof that he knows what’s really in someone else’s heart.

Interests: Learning new things, throwing parties, flying with Ivy, art of all kinds, trying new recipes, playing instruments, teaching and playing with children, hanging out with friends. Loves observing, interpreting, and critiquing other people’s art (acting, painting, dancing, anything).

Pet peeves: When he realizes he has a misconception or prejudice and has acted foolishly because of it. Closed-minded people. Poseurs. People throwing hissy fits. Weenie managers. “The conspiracy.” When people judge him as a punk because of his hair. When people assume he is gay. When people assume anything about him.

Phobias: Ruben fears nothing except dying before he can complete everything he wants to see and do.

Eating habits: Really loves tomatoes. Likes salad, fruit salad, soup, french fries, eggs, onions, tofu, chicken, and anything you can put in a pita pocket. And ice cream. Tends to eat when he’s hungry—when he NOTICES he’s hungry—and no other time unless it’s socially. So sometimes he doesn’t eat all day and doesn’t notice because he’s distracted.

Education: Has a four-year college degree in theater. Quit grad school (for directing) after two years because he couldn’t pick a direction and couldn’t afford it anymore.

Language abilities: Fantastic writer. His grammar and style is not perfect, but it’s much better than average. Very good with word plays and language as art rather than just communication. Speaks very well and with good presence. Speaks only English, but knows a little bit of sign language and also invented his own code language.

Occupation: Has been a director, an actor, and a music store clerk, but by Book 5 he is an independently wealthy teacher of art workshops.

Political affiliation: Verrrrry liberal. Registered independent.

Religious beliefs: Ruben is not a very spiritual person and definitely not a religious person. He is not an outright atheist, but if he were to find out for sure there was no God, he’d shrug and say, “Didn’t think so.” If he were to find out there WAS a God, he’d say, “Oh, that’s interesting,” and unless said God demanded something at the time He revealed Himself, Ruben’s life would progress from that realization mostly unchanged. He does have little superstitions and believes in “the Muse,” but that is more philosophy, not religion.

Sexual orientation: He has a low sex drive, but he’s heterosexual.

Marital status: Single and unattached.

Family information: Has a mother, father, and little brother. His parents didn’t approve of his “starving artist” routine, but now they are glad he is doing well. He has not seen them regularly since he went to college.

Friend information: Ruben still considers Ivy his best friend, but a very close second is Jesse. (Ivy does not like Jesse for the most part, though she’s learned to tolerate him.) He tends to form rather surface relationships with his theater and art-related friends, but none of them have seemed to mind. After not seeing them for two years, for instance, Ruben was able to hit up his friends Don and Richard to have him and Ivy as houseguests. Very likeable guy, but if he forms a strong friendship with a person, it’s unusual.

Other information: Ruben is frequently suspected of being gay by people both inside and outside the “artistic” community. Because his clothes have a feminine touch sometimes and because he wears odd jewelry, has a pierced ear and painted nails, and cares a lot about his hair, people just make that assumption, but the truth is at one point he thought he might be gay too just because others thought so. But he has never had romantic feelings about men, so he shrugged and said “oh well.” Ruben was once diagnosed as bipolar. He believes the diagnosis to be incorrect. Often carries a lighter around with him even though he doesn’t smoke.

THE STORY:

Ruben has always been an artsy guy; even when he was a kid, he answered the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” with “an actor” or “a writer.” Against the advice of his parents, he went to college on a scholarship to major in theater with a direction specialization. Even among creative people he is a star, so he quickly became a ringleader and a local legend, creating as his senior project a whole play he wrote and directed.

Ruben wrote and directed several more plays during his graduate school years, most of them in association with the college theater. Because a couple of his earlier plays did not match in practice the mastery he imagined when he wrote them, he decided to create a radical technique of interviewing his tech and costume crews ahead of time to find out what they have a passion for, what they can put on stage and what they can bring to a production. Then he writes a play inspired by their fuel. This is where Ivy came in.

Ruben placed an ad in the college paper for a costume designer and an effects designer for a spring semester play. Ivy had been looking for positions in the arts where she could use her talents to produce something worthwhile, and a volunteer placement agency found the ad for her and sent her to meet Ruben. The result was instant chemistry.

Inspired by Ivy’s abilities, Ruben wrote a fantasy play that was over the top with “effects,” all handled by Ivy of course. She was simultaneously excited, intrigued, pleased, and overwhelmed by the project, and had to learn about discipline and training herself to do some of the gymnastics Ruben required of her. They had their fights, but Ivy developed her own kind of love for Ruben and latched onto him, and it disturbed her that she didn’t also develop a romantic interest since that is “supposed” to happen when a girl likes a guy as much as she likes Ruben.

Ivy had a wonderful (though exhausting) learning experience through effects-designing Ruben’s play, and after the play closed Ruben started to drift, lost his job for mouthing off to a customer, and started seeing a psychiatrist. Ivy became very domestic and supportive of Ruben, trying anything and everything to make his life easier. He came home one day with an idea to start creativity workshops, but with no money they couldn’t do it. Ivy told him she’d do anything for him, and finally Ruben found an offer by the Grant Institute for a million dollars in return for demonstrating the existence of some branch of ESP. Ruben convinced Ivy to apply.

Ruben and Ivy took a bus trip across the country together, moving to California to stay with friends until Ivy went up and claimed the money. She of course brought home a check, and Ruben started his business with it. It was immediately successful. Ivy found herself feeling useless, and started chasing her dream of finding other people like herself, going back to New York to find Max and leaving Ruben on his own. He thrived in his new environment and eventually met Jesse, who is like a version of him except with purple hair. Jesse eventually became the leader of a new chapter for the creativity workshops. Ivy did not approve of Ruben’s relationship with Jesse, frequently teasing them by accusing them of dating. Ivy still considers the house she helped Ruben buy to be “her” home, but doesn’t entirely feel at home there. At the current point, Ruben is still content teaching his workshops and providing a sounding board for Ivy once in a while.

FAVORITE RUBEN QUOTES:

“What, you don’t like to have fun? Come on, tell me about you.” –Book 3, chapter 25

“People think I must be gay because I’m in theater and I wear jewelry, or they think I’m a weirdo freak because my hair is dyed and styled originally . . . I guess I am kind of a weirdo, but whether the stereotype turns out right is irrelevant. It just shouldn’t be an assumption people make.” –Book 3, chapter 25

“I’ve entered my ‘creative zone.’ There’s no turning back at this point. . . . ” –Book 3, chapter 25

“Flying 101 with your instructor, Ivy. God, I feel like such a goofball.” –Book 3, chapter 27

“Sometimes the best actors aren’t the best cast.” –Book 3, chapter 29

“What kind of stuff is amazing to you, Ivy?” –Book 3, chapter 32

“Singers start out with a talent for singing, and to develop it, they take lessons from more experienced teachers. You just happen to have a talent where . . . there isn’t anyone else to offer advice. So you’ve gotta school yourself. To get better, any talent needs honing, and . . . that takes practice.” –Book 3, chapter 33

“Do you want to be human? Or do you want to be happy?” –Book 3, chapter 34

“I’d kill to have had your power as a kid, man. I hated making my bed.” –Book 4, chapter 6

“People have said that just watching my level of energy exhausts them.” –Book 4, chapter 12

“Congratulations, drunk whore. How was your flight?” –Book 4, chapter 13

“You’re a wonderful, special friend but you are not my boss.” –Book 4, chapter 29