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 Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:41 pm
GARUDAWho is he?Garuda is a member of the Hindu pantheon. Now, I say "member" because "god" would be inaccurate by some definitions. Is he a god by Endgame standards? I would lean towards yes, given that worship of Garuda is performed to remove the effects of poison from the body. It's just, looking upon some other players in the game, he seems a bit out of place, being that he doesn't have a temple to call his own. And then I remember, HEY, THIS IS HINDUISM. Just because he's a mount of Vishnu doesn't make him any less of deity, and anyway, Vishnu himself is but one of many manifestations of the supreme being. Okay, but what does he look like?Another fun thing about Hinduism, besides the Loads and Loads of Characters, is that the visual representation of just about anyone is subject to the whims of the times and location. Sometimes he's a humanoid bird- monster. Other times he's just a winged human. (In both cases he seems to be really blinged-out, however. I dare you to look so stylin' after stealing the nectar of the gods - I DARE YOU.) Well, okay, the major difference between most representations (build-wise - we've yet to get to color!) is that of a face - bird-like or human-like? He has separate wings and a muscular human body, standard, but whether or not he has a beak seems to be contested. Personally, I think beak-faced is a better representation from someone who is supposed to be the ancestor of the race of birds, though I may be biased to the Balinese depictions because TOOTHED BEAK HOW AWESOME IS THAT? Again, color-wise is a bit up in the air. This depiction gives Garuda a nice, vibrant green with blue flight feathers. The Bali wood sculpture linked above is on similar lines, but with ridiculous amounts of detail thrown in (can you tell this is my favorite yet?), while others have his body as white or gold - or gold with a white face - all while having his feathers red. Given his origin story, these warm-colored versions are likely more correct. So, what is his origin?According to the Mahabharata (the reason why I dropped TvTropes in here), Garuda was born to Kashyapa and Vinata. He has a brother, Aruna, whom I only drag into this abridged tale to give you a first look at why Garuda is probably red. Both sons were supposed to be splendid as the noon-day son, but his early hatching left him to be far duller and less splendid. One of Vinata's sisters, Kadru, is also important to the tale. She had wanted many, many offspring, and had so in the form of the Nagas (monstrous serpents), while Vinata wanted but a few children who were very powerful (Garuda and Aruna). Anyway, when Garuda finally burst from his egg, his initial appearance was so bright and so large that the gods themselves thought he was the inferno that engulfs the universe at the end of every age. They begged him for mercy. Garuda complied, reducing in size and energy. One day, Vinata entered a bet with Kadru, which Kadru won through deception and use of her children. Vinata was then to be Kadru's slave. Upon hearing this Garuda asked the Nagas what might be done so that his mother would be freed from their will. The Nagas requested that Garuda bring them amrita, the nectar of the gods. (This is what gives the gods, and others who drink it, immortality.) Garuda agreed, even though the gods had its location heavily fortified. It was ringed with a massive fire, protected by great bladed machines, andfinally guarded with two massive, venomous snakes. The gods, learning of his plan to steal their amrita, met him in battle in full regalia. With his tremendous strength, Garuda was able to defeat them. He them changed size to swallow numerous rivers, with which he put out the great fire. He shrank to a small size so that he could slip through the bladed machine without harm, and finally mangled the two serpents. On the way back to the island of the Nagas, he came across Vishnu. After a talk, Vishnu agreed to give Garuda immortality (without the use of amrita) in exchange for becoming his mount. A similar deal took place with Indra, with Garuda agreeing to give him the opportunity to take back the immortality elixir upon delivering it to the Nagas and fulfilling his original deal. In exchange, Indra promised the serpents as his food. So Garuda delivered the amrita, but before the Nagas could consume it, he told them that they should perform the necessary religious rites first. Heading off to do so, Indra was able to steal the amrita back, and Garuda had fulfilled his promise, freeing his mother. Nice story, but what does any of this have to do with Endgame?He defeated the gods in combat. He DEFEATED the GODS in COMBAT. Sure, he became the allies of the gods after the tale above, but it doesn't mean they want him messing around in their corner again. One beatdown was enough, thank you. But... I don't think anyone went into agreement with him, or told Vishnu to tell him, that he couldn't play their little Game. And, face it, being king of birds when there aren't that many birds around is rather boring. Oh, and remember how I mentioned that the snakes would forever be his food? Well, I kinda really glossed over this part, but from when he was born to when Indra gave him the snakes to eat, Garuda had a powerful hunger. And I really mean a POWERFUL hunger - he eats a whole ELEPHANT on his journey (among many other things!) and he was still hungry. The reason the gods let him eat the snakes was because they were multiplying out of control - he'd finally be able to fill up on something and not, you know, depopulate the earth for it. Well, there's not just fewer birds, there's fewer snakes, too. And Garuda's getting hungry....
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:43 pm
CHILD
Name: Ava Romano
Gender: Female
Age: Nine
Birthday: September 28th
Appearance: While not fat, Ava has inherited some of her mother's stockiness, as well as her pre-disposition for burn-to-a-crisp-in-the-sun pale skin. She's also known to get keratin deposits and otherwise rough skin on her face and back, especially around her nose and mouth, but this is usually masked by medicinal-strength skin softener. The rest of her cannot be said to be so soft! She's average height for a girl her age (which translates to being taller than most of her male friends), and really would not stick out in a crowd. While she doesn't much associate with other girls, she still dresses like them: white and pastel-colored shirts with bold skirts (leaning towards the ankle-length end) make up most of her wardrobe, though she has a tendency to overwear the darkest of them, since light colors show too much grime (and blood). Likewise, she tries to keep her wavy so-brown-it's-almost-black hair rather short. At it's longest, it will reach her shoulders - any longer may warrant snags, snarls, and hair-pulling. Thrown in a set of coffee eyes, footwear so worn and encrusted it's hard to tell if they were hiking boots or high-end sneakers, and a smattering of bruises and scrapes and you have the general idea.
Personality: Ava likes rough-housing, but that's just because she's good at it. Were she good at schoolwork or chores she would like those, but growing up with an older brother is not conducive to such tasks. Fortunately for her peers, her parents instilled in her a good sense of morals, so she does not beat up kids without warning. If they start something first, or are okay with wrestling, that's perfectly fine, but she refuses to pick on smaller kids. Stuff like that just isn't fair. That being said, she also respects her parents wishes (the only reason she and her brother don't fight anymore), or the wishes of other authority figures, as long as they're being reasonable.
Ava usually doesn't get along well with other girls, because a) they don't like to fight (where's the fun in that?), and b) they tend to pick on her for being so unkempt and wrestling with the boys, and that's just not cool. Other than that, she's pretty polite to everyone, if a bit forceful. She's a horrible leader and doesn't do well alone, often hanging around with a gaggle of boys who decide what fun thing to do next. She lacks initiative - unless it's to see who is a better fighter - much to her mother's chagrin.
Family:
Father: Patrice Romano, a middling businessman of Commerce Corridors, he works long hours and his job, albeit nondescript, rather stresses him out. He needs some alone time with a few smokes before he can deal with his family. How he has not yet had a massive coronary from these two factors is a medical miracle; not eating much in the way of anything probably helps, too. Outside of the office, he's a rather cheerful man and tries his best to help them when his scrawny, swarthy, Italian self can muster the energy.
Mother: Felicia Martin Romano. With the appearance and disposition of a fishwife, it's amazing her children came out half as nice as they did. Sure, her crass and forceful side is usually reserved for the dockhands at Harbor South, but it has it's way of sneaking into any and all arguments. Her heart is as big as her bosom and hips (which says something), but she's not the most approachable of women. Her children stay in line more out of fear of her yelling than anything else, and don't really come to her for anything but the simplest of situations for fear of getting an extra earful.
Bother: Richard Romano. A full five years older than Ava, they don't have much in common these days, including their appearance (Richard got the full brunt of swarthy Italian genes, much to sunburnt-Ava's dismay). When they were younger, they would often fight, but once it became apparent that Richard always seemed to be on the losing side, he sought other ways to prove he was her better. But being told she wasn't good enough just made Ava work hard to trump her brother in all his sibling-related endeavors. Upon realizing this, Richard found the best way to prove himself was by not proving himself - not entreating Ava made her go away. He makes a habit of being out of the house as much as possible and sticking to his room to avoid future humiliations.
History: Patrice and Felicia settled themselves at the fringes of the Italian neighborhood of Middling, a place that was not Italian enough to warrant mockery for their lack of language and cultural skills, but Italian enough to enjoy the camaraderie of community.
Blah blah blah this beginning/middle part is boring. So I'm going to leave it out. Really, you can fill in the blanks with what I've shoved elsewhere in this post. I hope.
ANYWAY, Ava. She gets into fights at school and gets yelled at by her mom whenever she messes up someone too bad and/or the kid's a crybaby. Most aren't, though, since she usually only rumbles with friends. But of course, accidents happen, and at one point she broke a kid's nose. The kid himself wasn't too happy about that, but hey, stuff happens. His mom thought otherwise. And that meant Ava's mom learned about it. As if Ava didn't feel bad enough already, her mom had a lengthy conversation/one-sided argument with her that can be summed up as "you can't hang around with those boys anymore." (Felicia had probably been meaning to tell her this for a while, but now she had an excuse to do so.) While her mother implied that she take something from this situation and go and make new friendships, preferably with her own gender, Ava was having none of it. Without friends who would have a row, she was terribly bored and unmotivated to do much of anything. And she really couldn't go and defy her mother by seeing her friends anyway, since getting yelled at was always an unpleasant experience.
So, she moped, wondering if there was something else she could do and be good at.
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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:46 pm
GODLING STATUSAppearance?Well, you saw how much waffling was going on in my description of Garuda himself, right? I'm probably going to disappoint you, dear reader, by saying my idea of appearance is less ambiguous. But Kat! you say, how can you be so assertive about this when you're waffling on the initial character?That can be answered easily by saying I am a horrible person with no sense of priority. MY SECRET IS OUT. Anyway, appearance. I'm going with the Garuda-as-strongman-birdman form of Garuda, so whomever I finally pick on would likely as now have: A) A beak. A toothed beak would be awesome (and less stress-inducing as to trying to figure out how to type the lack of tooth-necessary words), but it really doesn't matter in the long run. Probably eagle-like, since the modern form of Garuda is interpreted as the Brahminy kite. B) Muscles. Garuda is depicted as a strong man, so... yeah. Of course, "strong man" is a bit ambiguous. I'm thinking more along the lines of, like, a martial arts master than body-builder. Body-builders are kinda creepy, sorry.C) Wings. MORE FEATHERS, I'M SORRY. However! If I do go with a younger character, I think it'd be adorable if, rather than full-blown wings from the get-go, they started with those fluffy hatchling wing-stumps. My reasoning beside the fact that they're adorable is that, hey, you've got two sets of superstrong limbs, let's wait to add that third set until a later date, okay? Wait, what kind of powers?Super strength! Garuda is known for being crazy-strong. And, as my reference text for Garuda points out, Garuda actually means " bearer of heavy weight." Symbolically throughout the Mahabharata, he is a violent force, possessing great speed and martial skill. To go on with my Wikipedia description, warriors descending upon their weaker foes are likened to Garuda advancing on a snake. Even Krishna carries an image of Garuda on his banner. Anyway, I think a breakdown of how strong is "super strong" would be as thus: As a Newbie: Regular adult strength, the kind of weight everyone can bear without having to work too hard towards it. Given that this would be compacted into a child, I think this is perfectly fair. Plus, it's not too obvious, but more power than a child ought to have. As a Prophet: On par with a World Strongest Man Competition contestant, with some exertion. And now I can't stop imagining this kid throwing kegs over a pole-vaulting pole, what the hell, self. Again, this in the realm of what a normal human can achieve, just not at such an age and without training. As a Cultist: Something akin to a Charles Atlas Superpower. Honestly, I have no idea what the limits here would be, but they'd be something outrageous if used improperly. The downside to such strength would be that this is on all the time. Poor kid's gonna learn how to be delicate lest everyone get broken bones after a hug. Also, such power needs a source, and, simply put, if the kid doesn't eat enough (read: loads), they have the all-too-real threat of simply passing out. Bird talk! This is where that beak comes in handy. Garuda is sometimes called the King of Birds, with his six sons giving rise to the entire race of birds, so being able to talk to what amount to "kin" is inevitable. In later stage of Godling status, the kid may very well be able to control birds, but as a newbie, child-level listening and speaking skills are probably all that's going to happen. The downside to this is that, even in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, there's bound to be loads of pigeons everywhere. Talking incessantly. And I imagine that this power (as far as the listening side is concerned) is passive as well, adding to an already confused and loud cityscape being that much more annoying. On the plus side, pigeons were once carrier birds, so they could prove to be invaluable sources of information-gathering and letter-sending. Flight! Except not until Prophet or later, if Garuda feels so inclined and if cutesy wingstumps actually happen. (At least stumps will be easier to hide than outright wings.) The downside is that this'll be a learned ability. Practice practice practice! The same goes for speaking in any Bird tongue. Immunity! This is probably the only power that is directly attributed to Garuda's godly following, and that is an immunity to poisons. It may develop enough that the godling will be able to lessen the effects, or even remove, poison from another person, but this is something that would be beyond that of a Newbie. It also would not cover metal, food, or radiation poisoning, just the toxins that are produced by animals. So stay away from the wastes, kiddies! Size change! The coup de grâce of Garuda's powers - the ability to grow or shrink in size. A godling's abilities to do so would probably not match that of Garuda's fame exploits - from swallowing all the water of innumerous rivers down to being able to slink through a machine - but it could still be impressive. Yet again, this is a practiced ability, and has a potential to backfire. And by backfire, I mean getting stuck in a larger or smaller form. It is also a strictly size-related thing, not outright shapeshifting, so, sorry, beakface, you're stuck that way. I've yet to decide if it's magical enough to include whatever is being worn at the time. <.<; Sheen! I doubt it's because Garuda likes being so blinged out (but that might help), but Garuda's first appearance was extremely bright. I imagine his godling could have such a power as well, with intensity and coverage (just a speck or whole-body?) increasing with other powers. I doubt it would ever get so far as to permanently blind someone, but it would provide an excellent distraction. Again, though, this is something that takes practice. Also, clothing would hinder the light. And it might not even be included? This is something I'm on the fence about. Avian Sight! This is not anything included in Garuda's given appearance, but I figure if one is part bird, they might get a bird's best sense? I'm not sure about this one. If the godling does get beakfaced, though, this may cover the fact that they might not be able to smell or taste anymore. A double-edge sword. In SummationPros: Loads of physical power. Exceptional offensive capabilities. With the right practice, would make a good voyeur and spy. Cons: All are self-use only, with the possible exception of immunity. Vulnerable to mental attacks and traps. Few inherent powers - most require practice and time. In all, Garuda's chosen player would be best in a physical battle, with a good hand in culling information. Attempts at facing a foe that battles via trickery or on another plane (e.g. mental) will probably result in failure.
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:20 pm
FOR POSTERITY Did You Get the Memo? Oh, no! Someone didn‘t get the memo!Username: Katherine of Dreamland Godling's Name: Ava Romano Godling's Age: Seventeen Godling's Gender: Female God/Goddess: Garuda |x| |x| Images (from manly to monstrous): |x| |x| |x| |x| |x| |x| |x| (See also: Padmavati’s Lotus)How do you intend to portray the deity, and what is your character's relationship with them like? Garuda assumes the form of a gaudy Indian man with a severe case of hook-nose whenever he visits the City. A golden visage would be far too out of place in most City zones, so Garuda makes up for it with gold jewelry. Heavy amounts of jewelry, from rings, to bracelets, to earrings, to severe neck-bling, all liberally sprinkled with seven different kinds of pearl, adorn him wherever he goes. (At least he wears a hat instead of the traditional gold crown.) The dress underneath, Garuda doesn’t bother much with that, so it’s strikingly casual next to all the lordly adornments. Usually he wears some kind of jacket, not wanting to remove his wings even in the presence of so many mortals. Ava sees Garuda as a friendly neighbor with pearls of wisdom buried under forty pounds of jewelry, as this has been the majority of her experiences with him. He’s rather straightforward with his needs and intentions, but is tight-lipped about who he really is. (He’d rather not let his godling know the parallels between his life and hers.) Unless asked directly, he’s also loathe to give his godling information on much of anything. He’d much rather Ava figure things out on her own than be spoonfed like a child, but he’s a terrible liar and can’t really dodge a well-placed question. He prefers talking to his godling in person than through a mental link. For him, if something is important enough to warrant talking, a face-to-face conversation is far more appropriate. As such, Ava has little experience whenever he does choose to make himself known in her mind. She’ll usually process such thoughts as “that’s something Mr. Vainateya would say” rather than realizing that “Mr. Vainateya” was indeed saying it at the moment. Of course, appearing so often to the City would not be a smart idea on his part, either, so most “visits” with him are just Ava imagining he’s physically there. (To anyone besides her, she just looks like she’s chirping at a pigeon or other bird of little consequence.) Appearance: Ava’s rather boyish, to say the least. She blames it on the very military dress code she has to uphold and her father’s flat-chested family, but that doesn’t stop her from wearing the swampy green standard-issue pants and black boots on her off-hours. She’ll usually keep the coat on as well, as it hides her wings better than her baggy pastel tees, most of which have slits cut in them already anyway. While no one is about to force her to get a buzz cut, Ava tries to keep her dark-brown hair short (shoulder-length at longest) and pulled back out of the way. She’s unusually pale – almost white! - for someone who works outside so often. She also has a lot less sclera than a human normally has. Most of these things are ignored, though, when one realizes she has a beak where a mouth and nose should be. Outside of the Scene and the office, Ava usually keeps it covered with some sort of scarf so as to not draw attention to herself. It doesn’t stick out much further than a nose would, so it’s not a terrible disguise. She recently got her ears pierces as well, and wears a ruby-studded gold earring depicting the front view of an eagle on whichever side suites her fancy for the day. How do their supernatural traits relate to their god? Being the godling of the King of Birds, it’s not too odd that Ava has very bird-like features, such as a beak and avian eyes. Her paleness comes from one of many varying depictions of Garuda as well, as does being rather muscular when Ava rarely works out. Her wings are a nice touch, but are far too small to be anything but ornamental. This is more by Ava’s own choosing, however, than divine intent. Planned powers, and how do they relate to their god? One of Garuda’s most striking attributes is his immense strength. Ava has this as well, though at this point it’s still within reachable human means. Having the ability to put on a good show at the keg-throwing contest of the World’s Strongest Man Competition without ever lifting a weight is still pretty impressive, though. This is coupled with an ability to change in size, a power Garuda used liberally in his quest for the divine nectar. Ava hasn’t used this on her whole body, and so doesn’t know her limits, but is aware that it can be used just on her wings, given by their diminutive stature. When (or if!) she ever decides to get them back to a reasonable size, she may be able to fly, but she’s not prepared to jump off any buildings soon to try that one out. She’d much rather make use of her other bird abilities, such as keen eyesight and talking to birds. In fact, any time she addresses Garuda, she talks to him in Bird. She just doesn’t know she does this, since she thinks she’s speaking English no matter whom or what she addresses. Birds are inclined to follow her orders, being the godling of their Lord and all, but she doesn’t have true control over them; she can only suggest and hope for the best. The only ability she currently has no sense of is that of poison immunity, which, oddly enough, is what Garuda is supposed to help with when one prays to him. It’s what makes him a god! This only applies to animal-related toxins, and is most effective on snake venom. Ava needs no practice to be immune herself, but lessening (or removing, if in small enough amounts) the effects of toxins in others is something she has absolutely no skill in at this moment. Personality Bothered by schoolgirl tittering and backstabbing as a child, Ava makes a point to say exactly what she thinks of something to anyone who wants her opinion. Exactly what she thinks, sometimes at great length, and with no apologies. Of course, this is if one makes the mistake of asking her opinion; most of the time her conversational skills are limited to small-talk. She’s also quite hypocritical. Ava believes that one needs to work hard to be rewarded, but she’s far from ashamed of the fact that her super strength makes her job a breeze and gives her time to loiter. She dislikes when people have an upper hand through unfair means, yet is quite the voyeur. She scorns the rampant drug use of the Scene, yet smokes with relative frequency. Speaking of the Scene, she’s also not a fan of body modification, but thinks her own accoutrements are pretty rad, and is not ashamed of bearing them - if not downright showing them off - whenever her travels take her through the Scene. She refuses to fight people that are weaker and unwilling to do so, yet prides herself in being better at it than most of her coworkers (who know better that to ever throw down with Ava). She tries to be bound to a good set of morals, really! She just… gets full of herself, sometimes. And in ways where she doesn’t realize this, because if she ever did, she’d mope for days. For now, though, Ava tries to be the best she can be. And when her best isn’t good enough, she’ll either ignore it or work on it until she can thoroughly trounce her competitor. Usually the latter. What's your character's history prior to entering the Game? Despite what one may think, the wings and beak were never a permanent fixture for Ava. As a kid, she had a skin condition on her face where the beak now is, but with no deformities on her back, and the face being readily treatable with moisturizing cream, no one really gave it much thought. Her father was a workaholic, low-tier businessman in Commerce Corridors, and her mother bounced around the City, cleaning for anyone that could stand her temper for more than a few minutes. She had a brother who ignored her, and schoolboys friends to wrestle. Really, nothing was weird. One day, though, her father had a stroke. It was only a matter of time that something would happen to him, given the stress and smoking, but it still came as a shock to Ava when they moved from their nice house into a tiny apartment on the other side of Middling. With her father unable to work and her brother unwilling to leave behind his dream of higher education, Ava decided to drop out of school and work for the courier service that owned their apartment, if only to help her mother with the bills. Being childhood friends with on of the workers, and the fact that a business run mostly via nepotism didn’t always sit well people, they gladly hired her. She would go out of her way to deliver whatever was available to get her commission and help her parents. As far as she was concerned, her brother could go choke for not helping out. It was on her routes that she met Mr. Vainateya. He was never on the delivery list (though, oddly enough, a man in a wheelchair with the same name often was), but enjoyed listening to the tales Ava had on the job that so often passed his way. It was after her first visit with the man that Ava got her first godling attributes. Even with hiding it, the courier service found out and… were okay with it. Not at first, of course, figuring Ava had blown her money on a botched gene-mod job in the Scene, but the founder found it oddly fitting for a company that was originally founded to be a pigeon messenger service. She continued to cover up her face (and told no one of the fluffy chicken wings on her back) even at such acceptance, figuring it would be bad for business if others knew they had a mutant running the larger packages. Mr. Vainateya didn’t comment on them, either, and Ava continued to chat with him. Eventually, her father died of complications, and out of pity (or so Ava thought), Mr. Vainateya gave her a single ruby-studded gold earring, depicting an eagle in flight. Not having pierced ears, Ava thought the gift rather pointless, but the timing led her to keep it. Plus, he had mentioned that Ava would be helping him if she kept it, and she couldn’t refuse such an offer from someone who had been as nice as Mr. Vainateya had been to her. Recently, business has been slow. The blacksuit crackdown between zones was strangling delivery routes, and Ava in particular was given less to do. They didn’t want to lose her help, but the men were calling themselves the Mutations Investigation Bureau. It just didn’t seem safe. With so much time on her hands, she decided maybe it was time to get her ears pierced…. Prompt Number: TWO Prompt Response: “Eugh, that bored?” Ava awoke with a start and leapt out of her chair. Who the hell in their right mind would wake her up on break? She blinked. Oh. “ Chauncey,” she replied flatly. The boy was grinning a bit too wide for her tastes, but then, it was rare he had an upper hand on his avian co-worker. ”Bored enough to read Grandfather’s books, I see,” Chauncey smirked, pointing to the book Ava had spilled on to the floor in her haste. ”I don’t know why the Commander leaves all these back here,” Ava started, retrieving the sad little tome. “Okay, no, I know that we’ve got a décor to keep up, and his place is filled top to bottom with these things so he needed to put the extras somewhere, but, really, a detailed retelling of the battle of Agincourt? I don’t even know where that is, or where your grandfather gets these things! It must be a good half-century old, and –“ ”Most’re family heirlooms,” Chauncey interrupted, deftly plucking the book from Ava’s grip and replacing it on the break room’s bookshelf. “Or things we pick up at pawn shops for him,” he added as an afterthought. “And no one ever really bothers – oh hey, when did you get your ears pierced?” ”Chauncey John Martin III, you’re as focused as a gnat, you know that?” Ava quipped. ”Say that to my perfect record,” he retorted. “But really, when did this happen? I’ve never known you to have a thing for jewelry, especially something so gaudy.” Ava slowly righted her chair, checking to see if anyone of the other Martins were in the next room, then motioned for Chauncey to get in close. Intrigued, Chauncey pulled up a seat and leaned in. “You remember the day that, uh, my father died?” she began in a conspiratorial whisper, but stopped at his stare. Yes, he remembered getting in a fist fight with her. Yes, he remembered how upset his parents were at finding out that fighting with Ava has resulted in a broken nose. Again. “Well, I wasn’t thinking so straight,” she began again after a moment. It was the closest she was going to come to apologizing. “And,” she added, “I think I made another stupid move.” ”Okay, well, you know Mr. Vainateya, right? Not the one in the wheelchair that always gives me the death-stare whenever I’m the one to give him his medical supplies or whatever, I’m talking about the guy who always hangs around the restaurant a couple blocks down.” ”He’s the one who gave you the earring?” Chauncey asked, a bit miffed. There was something off-putting about the Indian man, but he could never quite put his finger on it. ”I’m getting to that! Yeah, he did. That day, even. But, he said,” Ava paused to remember the exact words. It wasn’t necessary – they were as clear as the day he said it. “He said, ‘Take this as my boon to you. The times ahead may be difficult, but you have all the gifts of greatness.’ At the time, I though he was talking about my dad and it was just something to cheer me up, right? So I took the stupid earring and it’s been sitting in my room the past two years.” ”Except for the occasional pity-package the Sarge sends me on, I really haven’t had much to do around here. So, hey, why not get my ears pierced? I’ve been hanging out with Mr. Vainateya more, too. Oh, don’t give me that look. All we do is talk! Christ, you’re worse than Mother. But, uh….” Ava paused. “It turns out he wasn’t talking about my dad.” After a minute of awkward silence, Chauncey prompted, “Well?” It wasn’t like Ava to shy away from talking. Yes, definitely something odd about that Indian man. ”…It’s a Game.” Ava finally stated. Continuing, “A weird Game. Goddamn it, I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this!” ”Ava, we’ve been best friends for how long? There’s nothing I haven’t told you about. Nothing.” He meant it. If she couldn’t trust him, well. He tried not to think of it. ”Okay. Okay! s**t, you’re probably going to get screwed up the a** if this gets out. Not that that wouldn’t happen anyway,” she added wryly, prompting a very sheepish smile from the Martin. “Just, augh, it sounds so dumb, but it explains a lot. So don’t laugh. It turns out that this,” she jabbed at her beak, “was the boon he meant. And the Game was what he meant I’d be good at. Don’t ask me how the hell he did it – I have no clue – but it turns out that there’s other people like me. A bunch. And winning just means I’ve got to be the best.” She stopped. Chauncey was taking this well enough but the next piece of information just killed her. Chauncey was about to prod her on again when she screeched, “KIDS! They’re all a bunch of <******** KIDS!” The boy was trying to get Ava to “calm the ******** down!” but there was no helping her. “I’ve got to kick the s**t out of little brats with super powers! And the kicker is that they look my age, but they’re just ******** on the outside like me. Except now they’re all trying to kill me! And I have to try and kill them back! No one cares that deep down inside they’re just children because I’m the only one who isn’t! What the ******** is wrong with these people?” She collapsed on the table, letting out an exasperated trill. With a quick glance to the doorway to make sure no one was eavesdropping (a stupid idea when it was Ava on a tirade), before he hissed at the defeated bird-girl. “Can’t you just get out of it? Because you’re right – that’s really ******** up! You shouldn’t have to do s**t just because Mr. rich-Indian-b*****d tells you to!” ”I can’t,” Ava moped, not moving from the table surface. “Once I took the earring, I’m in. No take-backs.” Now Chauncey was really confused. “Well, then, haven’t you been in for two years?” ”I needed to wear it. Some sort of acceptance s**t. And I didn’t know that before I got my ears done.” ”So take it off!” ”Too late. Once is enough.” ”Ugh, can’t you just, I don’t know, let the others go at each other and take out the last man standing in a few years when he’s grown up?” ”Nope.” ”And why not?” Ava looked up from the table. “Because I have to go introduce myself tonight.” ---BONUS LEVEL!--- July 20th
War Pigeons Work Log
Private RomanoRecipient: Cara Ydell Receive Time: 2130 on the dot Notes: Goddammit Sarge, why did you send me all the way out to Commerce Corridors? Okay, sure, if you want to stuff a few corpses in a box and lug it halfway across the City (or whatever the hell was in that thing - massive!), I’m your gal, but the place was stuffed to the gills with those Suits. Had to make a few illegal moves! A few guys got some blood punched out! Anyway. Delivery successful. Girl with bland clothes signed as Ydell, asked no questions. She seemed friendly enough, but I don’t like the looks of that scar. Not someone to cross, in my opinion. Also, suggest we change salute to hat-tripping for women. Not as awkward. Recipient: Kit Weathersby Receive Time: 2259 – what do you expect when I have to haul a** from the Corridors Notes: As if Suits on the way out wasn’t bad enough, the Scene is an utter madhouse tonight. More than usual! Some genemodders were giving me the Eye. Progress was slow. Ms. Weathersby seemed pleasant enough, though tired. I could see two kids inside. Genemod kids. Who the hell does that at such a young age? Little white boy looked like he was gonna spazz out, the little fish girl wasn’t helping. Delivery successful. Recipient: Alcine Winters Receive Time: 2345 Notes: Genemodder. Wasn’t sure at first, but webbed hands aren’t part of tattoo jobs. Also an artist? Didn’t mind the time, though maybe someone else should deliver next. (Wasn’t too fond of the face.) Delivery successful. Hey, those guys giving me the Eye? Trannies. Drag kings, the lot of them. They thought I was there for “Slut Night” or something. The second time I passed by, they were crawling all over me. Had to forcibly remove some of them. Stop sending me by Les Bois. I think they’ll remember me. Full story later. Recipient: Nyx Lunarum Receive Time: 0013 Notes: Genemodder. Seriously, where do we get these people? She seems like a night owl, though, even with the horn. Was hanging around on the porch when I swung by, just standing there. Weird. Delivery successful. Recipient: Alia Bell Receive Time: n/a Notes: Delivery unsuccessful. I got back to Middling too late. Could’ve sworn there was a tiny man moving in the window, though. Mocking me. Can someone swing by in the morning? Suggestions: Next time, keep it to one Zone. I don’t get paid enough for all this crap in one night.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:45 pm
P.S. Self: Why do you keep making female characters who are hardasses and/or predisposed to violence, and male characters who usually get really ******** up mentally at some point in their life BECAUSE THIS IS A REALLY CREEPY TREND.
SERIOUSLY.
What the hell!
Also, plz to be drawing people, kthnx.
- Kat
[EDIT - Aug. 14th] Okay, okay gonna put this down HERE so I don't forget about this in terms of this character.
Self, this concept is nothing but ideas you're not too keen on, and should stay that way. Don't like burly females? BAM. Military history not your forté? SHE LOVES IT.
Really. Stop the fanicful directions you always take, you're not gonna learn anything that way. This is a multipurpose LEARNING EXPERIENCE. That's why you went with Hinduism in the first place! Sure, you went with Garuda, 'cause hey, you like birds, but how much did you know of him before all this? You have to keep that going.
You're going to create a character out of elements you never use and you're going to like it.
However, keep it in moderation. Trying to learn more about weapons just because your dad has a bunch of slcik Chinese weapons like mantis swords and melon hammers might not fly here. People take time to develop and don't cover all of experiences you want them to!
Much love!
- Self
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