Hello what the fuck is up. Early in V8 I worried I wouldn’t have time to write much, so I almost didn’t even apply a second character. Then I found myself constantly wishing for more to do.
So here’s six concepts. We ball.
Update: For a number of reasons, I've determined Artemis and Grace are almost certainly the two that get cut. Not opposed to adopting them off but don't expect to see me take them to the game proper. Doesn't seem like I'd be letting too many people down in any case though.
I will be updating this over time, putting out the early skeleton version nice and early so I don’t procrastinate later. I reserve the right to cut any of these ideas if they don’t seem to have anywhere to go, and of course at least two won’t make it to V9 proper. Cool? Then let’s go.
Heather Klein
Returns from the recycling bin of V7. She moved to Vegas (not settled on from where, leaning Denver or LA) with her mother in time to start Middle School there, and she fucking hates it. Only with her mother, as said mother split up with Heather’s dad not long prior, partly over the move. Mother works a “real” job and was offered a relocation-promotion combo, father was a perennial starving artist and didn’t want to abandon the scene. The breakup was messy. Heather adores and misses her cool, artsy father. She has little love for her boring, corporate overlord mother. Has travelled far down the online political rabbit hole and now has beliefs so far left they’re exiting pursued by a bear; openly identifies as an “anarchist without adjectives”, will also accept "commie" and variants, as long as it's not "Bolshevik": then she'll fight you. May be a bit older due to having been held back a year over a fight in her past, not sold on this concept though.
Her antipathy towards her new home and generally antisocial attitude over the last few years should mean the average opinion on her is somewhat negative, though as she’s started taking her politics more seriously (and less as an edgy accessory) she’s made an effort to be more pleasant to her peers. Jury’s out on if that’s actually worked, since she’s also become more dogmatic at the same time and is pretty unsparing in her judgement of anyone in sufficiently receptive to her beliefs (queer rights, abolition of the state, veganism, wealth redistribution, literally firing Elon Musk into the Sun with a large cannon…). That said, she's capable of tolerating people and even being on moderately friendly terms if they don't meet her specific standards, just as long as they can put up with her occasionally giving them entirely-sincere shit for it. She's pansexual and open to polyamory, but struggles to find a romantic partner when she thinks of 99% of kids her age as, at best, passively accepting of evil if not active participants.
Appearance: Very tall. Used to be very slender too, in recent memory perhaps, before she started working out and got signficantly broader and bulkier. Not particularly endowed in the chest or the ass, likely the target of some transphobic-adjacent abuse for that throughout her life. Naturally quite pale, caucasian. Blue eyes. Long, white-blonde hair, usually worn in a braided ponytail. Typically dresses in uncomplicated, practical clothes, often gymwear. Has a large star of chaos tattoo on her left shoulder, and a handful of other tattoos elsewhere. Interests:
- Activism. Big time. Probably makes trips to the border when school’s out to help mutual aid orgs drop off supplies for people crossing it. Definitely attends protests, if there’s a leftist political organisation at school she’s either in it or been kicked out for calling Bernie Sanders a counter-revolutionary one too many times.
- Music. The revolution won’t be televised but it’ll probably have a banging soundtrack. Mains drums but has branched out into synths and is kind of competent at singing and guitar. Spends a lot of time at home alone working on her art; especially close friends/romantic partners might be allowed to visit her weird basement-bedroom full of instruments and exercise equipment. Recently a member of Finest in Niflhel on bass guitar, but focuses more effort on her solo work which she self-publishes on Bandcamp and similar under the moniker Calluna Vulgaris.
- Boxing. How else do you learn how to punch Nazis? Heather’s unusually tall, and after deciding that her willowy goth nerd phase was cringe, decided to get swole. So now she’s pretty imposing and knows how to hit people. Honestly mostly does it as a way to keep fit, but it’s also fairly cathartic to hit a punching bag after a stressful day. Definitely attends a local gym and may have friends through it.
- Cooking. She lives with a single mother whose job pays for a pretty comfortable lifestyle but keeps her barely in Heather’s life. Between that and becoming a vegan, Heather really had no option but to learn to cook for herself if she wanted to eat healthily. She’s fairly good at it and takes some pride in her efforts. Very willing to share alongside vegan propaganda. If there’s a club for this at school she’s certainly not in it for perhaps-obvious reasons.
Mercedes “Mercy” Myers-Prescott
I have the pipe-dream of her being related to an influential family in the area through her mother who's something of a black sheep to said family, so I'm plenty willing to change that to match whatever her ostensible cousin(s) would be working with if they end up being fellow handler characters. Currently leaning towards Prescott. Actually settled this! Her mother was a Prescott, eloped to be with a father they didn't approve of.
Anyway Mercy comes from a comfortable enough background not to really struggle in life, and all that really bothers her is the strained relationship with her extended family. Partly as a result of that, she very much wants to make a name for herself on her own merits, and aggressively pursues all manner of projects to build her brand and get the recognition she's so sure she deserves. Unfortunately, she's not a particularly creative or curious person, so most of her efforts are ultimately derivative and fall flat outside of their technical competence. The one thing she's particularly good at is costuming and practical effects makeup: she puts in a lot of work behind the scenes for school productions, and likes to cosplay as a hobby, though she's convinced that (short of becoming the next Ray Harryhausen) this isn't a route to fame and recognition, so she doesn't develop the skills as much as she could. Can't decide if she's actually bi, or willing to play it up for attention, but whilst she certainly leans much more towards boys, girls can be at least a consideration.
Apperance: Big and curly blonde-dyed hair. Fairly average height and build. Mixed race, white-black, but quite dark skinned. Typically seen in jeans and band tees, often her own band's, but has some more fancy options for when the situation calls for them. Has her earlobes pierced, and a handful of sets of earrings she rotates through. Interests:
- Horror media. Once upon a time, someone teased Mercy over her surname being shared with slasher icon Michael Myers. Eventually she decided to watch Halloween and figure out what the fuss was about, and quickly embraced the connection, developing a love of the genre. Whilst otherwise not being much of a gamer, she's also an avid player of Dead by Daylight, naturally primarily playing as Michael Myers. She's also developed a broader interest in film as a whole, but her first love remains the macabre.
- Music. Yeah that's right, two music girls. Sue me. This is where Mercy pins the majority of her hopes for future fame, investing a great deal of time and effort into her band Mercy Myers and the Bleak Brigade, which mostly plays pop-punk covers, the name being a particularly un-creative reference to My Chemical Romance. People my age can now feel old over how this can be considered a form of retro revival. She sings, and plays guitar adequately but not exceptionally.
- Streaming. Her secondary venture is variety streams on YouTube. Lacking a particular creative vision or direction, her offerings end up being a mixture of her own interests: Dead by Daylight gameplay, makeup tutorials, and music performances.
- Theatre. For much the same reasons as her interest in music, Mercy likes to perform. Whilst her true calling is probably in the costume department, she'll jump at the chance to take centre stage, especially if she can sing. She also enjoys going to performances on the Strip from time to time.
Leah-Kim “LK” Mitchell
Literally a meme, LK is the result of a Discord discussion where someone brought up the negative correlation between chokers worn and boys named Michael across SOTF versions. So Leah-Kim exists as a trans girl whose name is as close as one can get to Michael backwards, and she definitely wears a choker. Also cat ears and striped thigh-highs. She probably knows how to code too, for shame. Less well-developed than the prior three, open to integrating new ideas into her concept.
Besides that, she's a big time Gamer, and more than a little bit irony-poisoned. Something I'm hoping to explore with her is a theme that I've gestured towards with Evie in V8; a people-pleaser who's genial and likeable but mirrors other people so much she's not entirely sure who she really is, an exploration triggered in part by her coming out and starting to wonder about other aspects of her identity. Not got a lot in mind with respect to her family background... blandly comfortable, parents accepting enough to not make an issue of her transition, enough money to have an expensive gaming rig. Super duper gay, loves girls so much she became one, would like to kiss every girl.
Appearance: Taller than the average cis girl, but essentially average build for an AMAB kid, not long into her transition so generally lacking curves. Long hair, naturally brown, usually dyed bright colours. Often worn in a ponytail for practicality. Typically seen in jeans or skirts, and nerdy graphic tees. Absolutely owns striped thigh-highs, cat ear headphones, several chokers, all the stereotypical accoutrements. Pretty good at femme makeup. Interests:
- Video games. As already alluded, this is her primary interest. She's the sort of person who would spend every waking moment grinding competitive ladders if she could get away with it, and lacks many other hobbies or future aspirations.
- Streaming. Yeah another overlap, I fear nothing. LK prefers Twitch over YouTube, mostly out of familiarity, and her channel is significantly more focused than Mercy's. She has a regular schedule of games she plays, and gameplay/commentary is the entirety of her brand. She likes to imagine that one day her subscription income will be enough to make a living on, though at present it's mostly just extra spending money.
- Gambling. Not that she can go to a casino legally, but LK has a bit of a fascination with Sin City's iconic industry, and enjoys informal gambling amongst friends, be it on cards, video games, sports results, or anything else.
- Card games. Thanks to electronic options like MtG Arena and Hearthstone, LK has a moderate interest in card games and has started trying out physical trading card games too - perhaps in part because booster packs appeal to her passion for gambling. On occasion she'll play cards in the variety slot in her streaming schedule, more for her own benefit than her viewers'.
looking respectfully Hope Hynes
A bit like LK, Hope isn't super-well defined in my head, and is open to integrating ideas other handlers bring to the table. Her main thing is me challenging myself to write a character with a significant disability and do so in a way that's respectful, realistic, and empathetic: Hope had both arms amputated below the elbow early in life as a result of infant meningococcal septicemia. For most of her childhood she made do with rudimentary prosthetics and other accomodations, until being approached to be part of a trial of new myoelectric bionic prostheses, which she has worn since. Not settled on her family life, but I have the vague notion of her parents owning a questionably-authentic Irish pub somewhere.
The combination of her disability and living in the shadow of an overachieving elder brother defines a lot of her issues: she hates to feel pitied or like she needs extra help without asking for it, and wants to find a way to stand out based on her own accomplishments rather than because of something that happened to her... though she does think her bionic arms are pretty fucking cool, if asked. Probably straight but as a writer who has no idea what anyone finds attractive in a man... I may struggle with this, luckily she's probably not many guys' type anyway.
Appearance: From a long and proud Irish-American line, her skin is pale and her hair is vividly orange, also worn chin-length and wavy. Green-blue eyes, freckles, fairly short and skinny; waifish, if you will. Forearms amputated just below the elbow, but she's usually seen wearing 3D printed bionic prosthetics: rather than looking lifelike, they lean into the cyborg vibe. Interests:
- Comic books. Starting with Marvel films and leading into the classic physical publications, Hope loves superheroes. She aspires to be like the larger-than-life heroes of fiction, in ideals if not in literal impact, and has even attended events by the Heroic Imagination Project to learn skills for stepping up and not letting herself be a bystander.
- Pro wrestling. For similar reasons to her enjoyment of superhero comics, Hope enjoys the theatricality and storylines of pro wrestling, and whilst she can't participate herself, would be very happy to help out behind the scenes with any other kids looking to set up their own matches.
- Transhumanism. I mean, she’s a direct beneficiary of it. But seriously, Hope intends to make her way into the field of medical prosthetics and provide a direct, personal point of view on the subject as someone who uses them. After all, Tony Stark’s greatest achievements weren’t the fights that he won, but the ways he made everyday life better through technology!
- Sports. Baseball is Hope's first love, her family has roots in Boston, and therefore she is a Red Sox fan by birthright. She's a devoted fan of the Sox, the school’s own Rattlers, and even the local Las Vegas Aviators. Definitely does something behind the scenes for the school baseball team; anything they’ll let her, really. You know the kid with the full collection of baseball cards, and the David Ortiz poster in her locker complete with instant recall of his career stats? She’s that kid. Alongside that, despite her struggling to participate in most of them, Hope is more generally a bit of a strategy & stats nerd for any kind of competitive sports, and is a member of the school's soccer team.
the "might be adopted off" and "almost certainly not making it to the island" zone
Artemis Cavallo
Might change her name to a different Weird Hippy Girl name, apparently I’m alone in not thinking that four Artemises (Artemi? Artemes?) would be funny? Frontrunners include Luna, Anodyne, Athena, Diana, and Star.
Anyway! Artemis is a bit weird. This is in large part because for most of her childhood she and her mother were subject to a physically abusive drunkard of a father; most, because it stopped when said drunk dad accidentally fucking shot himself. Let’s rewind. A little over eighteen years ago a charming young man fell for a slightly strange new-age woman, and accidentally got her pregnant. He didn’t believe in abortion, and did believe that the honourable thing to do was to marry her immediately, and didn’t give her a lot of choice in the matter. He was already a drinker, but when he got laid off and his tradwife had to get a job too to help keep the family afloat it became a much larger problem. One day one of his violent episodes went a bit too far, and a young Artemis found herself threatening him with his own gun, demanding he leave her mother be. Intending to sarcastically point out how to operate the safety that she’d left on, he instead shot himself with it. Artemis blamed herself. So here she is. A bit Weird. As far as romance goes... it doesn't, her parents left a bad example and whilst she's not asexual nor aromantic, romantic attachment is something so both actively and instinctively avoids, being unable to picture herself in a happy relationship and feeling her life is perfectly full enough without needing a partner as well.
Appearance: Short, scrawny. No fashion sense. Long brown hair, brown eyes, big glasses. Mixed Italian-Hispanic heritage. Perennially scruffy-looking. Interests:
- Philosophy. Where does Artemis work out? At the library. But for real she's really interested in the Big Questions, because what kind of loving God would put her in a world like this? She's fascinated by belief systems, philosophies, religions, all that kind of stuff. Might be into Discordianism, unsure.
- Literature. But yeah she hangs out at the library a lot, sometimes you gotta read novels for pleasure too. There's not a lot of money in her household anyway so a running theme in her interests will be that they're inexpensive to pursue.
- Birdwatching. Artemis likes birds, sometimes she envies their simple lives and their ability to fly, but mostly she admires the pretty plumage and such. She's particularly fond of corvids, whose intelligence she finds fascinating.
- Tabletop Roleplaying. Starting from ancient rulebooks in thrift stores and moving on to the joys of pirating .pdfs, Artemis enjoys the chance to escape to a fictional world with friends, and tell stories where good things happen to good people. She also enjoys board games in a similar capacity.
- Sleight of Hand. At some point, Artemis picked up stage magic, mostly as something to occupy her hands when her mind is idle. She finds it delightful.
Grace Wills
My newest and most in-flux idea. Grace has, for a yet-to-be-settled reason, determined that she needs to make her mark in history and needs to make it sooner rather than later. She wants to make history as the first woman to start for a "real" NCAA football team in a "real" position. Failing that, she might settle for coaching a men's team, but worries that that would take much too long. Outside of that she's pretty quiet, mostly keeps her head down, studies hard to make sure she can get into a college with a good team, generally quite a decent student though her heart isn't entirely in it. Besides this, very open to input, especially interests outside of the fixation. Also probably straight, if only to beat the fixated on buff, sporty lesbians allegations, but definitely not going after any of the boys on the team, she knows better than to start that kind of drama. Maybe if there's a nice pretty boy out there for a wholesome femboy-tomboy thing? Who's to say.
Appearance: Not quite as tall as Heather, but big for a girl. Naturally fairly broad and had an easy time building muscle. White, with fair skin and coal-black hair worn just above the shoulders. Regularly seen wearing athletic wear, often Cardinals branded, as she was a fan of theirs before the Raiders moved to Vegas. Interests:
- Football. It's essentially her hyperfixation. She plays any position they'll let her, she pores over strategies, practices longer and harder than can be reasonably expected, commissions a fantasy league or two, devours NFL and NCAA stats voraciously. She's obsessed. Outside of football much of her leisure time is simply doing whatever the rest of the team likes and being One Of The Boys.
- Engineering. Especially if the structural variety. Grace’s first love. She visited Hoover Dam as a child and never got over it. Whilst it’s taken a back seat to Making History Through Football, largely at her parents’ and teachers’ insistence Grace continues to take mathematics and the sciences seriously so that she can have a “realistic” career path if the football thing doesn’t work out.
- Baking. A passion that Grace keeps more to herself, concerned that the feminine vibes will affect how the boys on the team see her. But the precision of it is something that appeals to her particular way of thinking, plus you get delicious treats at the end.
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