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Heroes/Villains Solo Write!!
———
January 16th
New York Times
by Peyton Davenport
It’s nine o’clock in the morning. My name is Peyton Davenport and today I was kicked out of the Uffizi Gallery.
So instead of writing this article from the comfort and heated warmth of the gold-gilded galleries like I had hoped, I am shivering on a park bench in the coldest month of the year. (This isn’t saying much, considering the famously mild Florentine weather, but the sentiment stands nevertheless, especially since my jacket is still in the Uffizi’s coat check.)
I expect you’ve heard of Florence’s legendary art museum, home of brilliant works by masters such as Botticelli and Raphael. If you’ve haven’t, I can assure you with utmost confidence that you will.
Because they have just been robbed.
Yesterday evening, a few minutes before midnight, nearly the entire city of Florence was awakened to the sound of rudely blaring sirens, myself included. A humble food writer, I was dispatched to Florence in order to review and up-and-coming Vietnamese-Italian fusion restaurant, but in light of recent events, my energies are directed towards more… exciting pursuits. Which is sort of a shame. I was looking forward to sampling fettuccine phó.
The unidentified robber(s?) were not seen by any of the guards on night watch. This is causing some strongly worded questions regarding their capability.
“I’m telling you, there was no sign of anyone,” a harried-looking sentry told me in frustrated Italian. “I ran over as soon as the alarms started going off. They were in a room near the front of the museum, in a case, about yea big—“ She made the shape with her hands, about the size of a breadbox. “— The glass was smashed through and it was empty. I have no idea what happened. I don’t know how the thief got that far without setting anything off.”
When discussed in parallel with other well-known art thefts— like the infamous 1990 burglary from the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston in which thirteen pieces of art, worth in total a whopping $500 million — this one is comparatively meek.
Six items have been taken from the museum, small metal-worked creations which, according to extensive scientific examination, were likely created around the Italian Renaissance, though their precise maker has yet to be discovered. Some schools of thought believe that they were all made independently from one another, while others think their concept is too similar to have been created separately.
This morning, I snuck into the Uffizi, which is currently closed to all, in order to get the most informed scoop. Admittedly, this was probably illegal, but this is journalism. Sacrifices must be made.
A helpful guard informed me that the missing objects are as follows:
- One pocket watch with Veni, Vidi, Vici engraved on the back of the face
- One pair of topaz crescent moon earrings
- One leather bracelet with a dragon-shaped gold clasp
- One locket with a bird painted on the front and attached to a thin chain
- One silver-plated ring designed to look like a laurel wreath
- One shirt button in the shape of a flower painted gold with blue highlights
The guard pulled out his phone and showed me photos. All of them were startlingly well-preserved, showing little to no signs of their age. When I expressed my amazement at this, he simply shrugged.
“Sì, it is odd,” he said in slightly broken English. “So is most art.”
Then I was forcefully ushered out of the museum by some less kind guards. They didn’t even allow me to retrieve my peacoat, which is a shame. It was my favorite one.
At this point, I did a little digging. It turns out that the stolen gadgets were the subject of a well-known oral legend, passed down through generations. As the story goes, they are enchanted objects created with the sort of old magic of which fairy tales are woven. The best English translation of their name that I have been able to come up with is Trinkets.
Here is an excerpt from a battered leather volume I discovered at a rare books library:
“These exquisite objects, when examined closely, seem to give off a sort of vibrant blue aura, are warm to the touch, and easily withstand the tests of time, appearing through centuries in the same untouched, new-looking form.
Those in possession of a Trinket are given extraordinary powers. Without the Trinket, the holder is, in all senses, a normal human. If it is removed, they immediately become powerless, which can be extremely dangerous. Trinkets are not bonded to particular people. They will give abilities to whoever happens to put it on.
All Trinkets grant the possessor a moderate amount of inhuman agility, strength, and some other minor things, but otherwise, each Trinket has different powers. These objects have birthed some of the greatest villains and heroes of all time, and have, unbeknownst to most, shaped the course of history. Of course, the Trinkets themselves do not make a person a hero or a villain, but instead, it is what you choose to do with them.”
I’m Peyton Davenport, and I have no idea what to believe. I think I need a cup of coffee.
———
Thank you for reading all that! I applaud you!! If you didn’t, please do if you plan on joining. It’s long, I know, but I wrote it for a reason. All that information is important to this story. (Except maybe the fettuccine phó. That was pure self-indulgence.) Now that we’ve got that fun prologue done with, here are…
Some Things To Know
1. This is a solo write, not a RP. I will be the only one writing. No diary entries, etc. Apologies. Thanks for understanding!!
2. Please note that I’d rather you not base your character off of yourself. I’ve made many a Mary Sue this way. *sigh* In general, it’s hard to recognize a personality effectively from our own standpoints.
3. Diversity! Please! Since the majority of our CBers identify as female, there are generally a lot of characters that are, too. Let’s get some guys in here, hmm? And of course some LGBTQ+ and PoC charries. Religious diversity is good too.
4. Don’t be vague. It makes it easier for me to write when your charrie sheets are detailed and specific.
5. I’d like to take approximately nine people. There will be, at maximum, three villains and three heroes. The number of civilians is pretty flexible depending on how many people are interested.
6. Remember that villains. Are. Still. People. Cardboard cutouts are no fun.
7. Some original characters, including my lovely gal Peyton, will make appearances, but I’ll try to put the focus on your guys’ creations.
8. If your character is OP, I will let you know that you should make some adjustments. If you don’t, I’ll do it myself. :)
—— And here is the charrie sheet! ——
Name:
Pronouns:
Age:
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Role (hero/villain/civilian):
Age:
Personality:
Fatal Flaw:
Appearance (be detailed):
Hobbies:
Occupation (if applicable):
Backstory:
If your character is a hero or a villain, also fill out this additional sheet segment. Civilians, you’re done!
Alias:
Costume (realistically, your character has put it together themself):
Power:
Trinket (choose one of the six):
submitted by Abigail S., age 12, Nose in a Book
(July 11, 2017 - 5:21 pm)
(July 11, 2017 - 5:21 pm)
Name: Yuki Hotoyama
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Ethnicity/Nationality: Japanese
Role: Civilian
Personality: Usually she prefers to work alone, just because she doesn't like people all that much. If she has to work with someone, she doesn't give them a hard time, but this is just her preference. She's not the best with giving advice or working with human emotion, but she tries to understand and thinks humans themselves are curious. She's very brave and is not afraid to take risks in her line or work, but will not be stupid when planning a course of action. I think that a big weakness of hers is the lack of human empathy, but she's extremely intelligent and observant. She's funny even when she doesn't mean to be, and sarcastic. She's good a hiding her emotions so people won't see they get to her. She doesn't like showing her weaknesses.
Fatal flaw: She has a bionic leg, because her real one had to be amputated when she was 11 due to a tragic car accident.
Appearance: Let's start with her face. She has a smaller mouth that's usually crooked somehow when she's thinking. She has pale skin because the sun doesn't get to her, and she has a smaller nose and bigger ears that still balance out with the rest of her complexion. She has almond eyes that are dark brown, and unlike the rest of her family, her almond eyes are a bit bigger than average, and they almost look rounder, although they still maintain the almond shape. She has freckles that are barely speckles across her nose and cheeks, and you can only really see them when you are looking at her closely. Okay, so to move on. She is a bit slimmer and dainty looking, but she's actually fairly strong. She had to be when she was adapting to her new leg (by the way, her leg is knee down). She has silky and glossy black hair that goes down to the end of her shoulder blade, and towards the bottom/middle half, it's in loose curls. Although people say they envy her hair, she thinks it's annoying. She usually wears...well, she wears what she wants. She likes stylish and aesthetic outfits, and her favourite is when it's cold to wear a white shirt with gold fleckles, a brown cardigan, a cream coloured scarf, grey jeggings, and brown laced boots. And to top it off, she wears a grey beret. However, when she's investigating or when it's really cold, she wears a dark coloured swing coat.
Hobbies: Playing the cello and flute, running, football (soccer), painting, and reading. Oh, and making tea. It soothes her.
Occupation: She is a detective.
Backstory: She grew up in a family of five. Her mother, father, younger brother and older brother. She had a normal life, and regarding religion, she is a Christian, or Catholic. However, when she turned 11, her family was heading to a restaurant when a runaway robber hit their car. Her younger brother and mother died that day, and she had her leg amputated due to the infections from the cuts. She has a prosthetic now, and her older brother has a large scar on his face. Her father still supports them and leads a normal life, but they still get sad once in a while. She trained to become a detective, and in the area she grew up in, women were often discouraged for big roles like that, much less women of different ethnicities. But she worked hard and made it up to a higher department and became a Captain until she finally became a detective. It's not just because of what happened on the night of her 11th birthday, but it's also because she wanted to see good in the world, even if her character and personality may not be enough.
(July 11, 2017 - 6:06 pm)
I meant to put she's 21. I accidentally put 19.
I just changed it for you.
Admin
(July 12, 2017 - 7:02 am)
@Admins, okay, thank you! ^^
(July 12, 2017 - 10:42 am)
Name: Viana Williams
Pronouns: She/her
Ethnicity/Nationality: British
Role: Villain
Age: 24
Personality: She has a split personality. In one of her personalities she's happy, really nice and compassionate and sweet, in the other one she is really cruel and cold. Most of the time she is the happy her. The cold version of her is really analytical and good at judging situations. She is really smart and had a great educatioon. She is normally really creative and loves to paint and draw, and occasionaly write. Is really good at art.
Fatal Flaw: Her mood swings.
Appearance: Long, auburn hair that is loosley curled at the ends and has blonde highlights. Deepset blue eyes that have specks of green and a grey ring aroung the edge. High cheekbones, a small, slightly upturned nose, and thin lips. She has a beautiful smile and perfect teeth. She has elegant fingers accostumed to holding a paintbrush. Petite build, very light on her feet. Wears a set of paint splattered coveralls with a blue or green t-shirt underneath and an old pair of Nikes (did you know she is the Greek goddes of victory. They named their brand after the goddess of victory, proud much?). Her hair is normally kept up in a loose bun to keep it out of the way of her paints.
Hobbies: Painting, chilling with her cats, walking her dog.
Occupation: Painter.
Backstory: She grew up in London and moved to Florence for a few years to take a break from her life in London and have a look at the art there.
Alias: I don't know... I'll come up with it later, same for the one below.
Costume: ...
Power: Bringing small drawings to life.
Trinket: Bird locket
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought of something really cool while I was filling this out. What if one of her personas was a hero and the other was a villain? That's only if it's okay with you though Abi.
(July 11, 2017 - 11:35 pm)
Oooh, I like your character! The idea of her being a villain and a hero is REALLY cool!
I could probably write that a couple ways. One, as something as a neutral player in the sense that she could be on different sides depending on the day/her mood, where everyone knows both her personalities are the same person. Or two, that she has two different aliases/costumes and it is thought that she is two separate people. Which would you prefer?
For her alias, it could be something like The Artist, or Armas (Latin word for "weapon" that art is derived from), or Ace of Spades cause it popped into my head and sounds cool.
The costumes don't need to be super elaborate, and don't need to be based on the traditional ones you see in DC and Marvel and such. Be creative!
(July 12, 2017 - 7:45 am)
I think it would be cooler if she was different people with different alias' and costumes. I like the two suggestions you had for alias' and they fit really well with The Artist for her good form and Armas for her bad form. Her good form's costume can just be what she normally wears and her bad forms one is a black trench coat, dress pants, and a pair of low heels.
(July 12, 2017 - 4:27 pm)
Name: Lily Carson
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 18
Ethnicity/Nationality: Half Italian, half African American.
Role (hero/villain/civilian): Hero
Personality: Tough and empathetic. Hardworking, but not exactly by nature. (see backstory!) She has to work hard. Sarcastic sometimes, and easily annoyed. Somewhat introverted, so she prefers to avoid large crowds. Bitter about the way things have gone for her, but not easily turned to villany. She is smart, but never had a proper education. (She can do simple math, reading and writing.)
Fatal Flaw: PTSD of her mother dying and losing her sister.
Appearance (be detailed): Short dark hair that barely touches her back, intricate honey-colored eyes, chocolate colored , usually scraped knees and calloused hands. When standing straight up, she's about 5'5".
Hobbies: She makes little dolls sometimes, and when she has time, she writes. She is really good at writing.
Occupation (if applicable): None, really. She works a few odd jobs and sells stuff that she makes but that is all.
Backstory: After her father left (she was about five years old), she watched her mother slowly die and her older sister do her best to save her. They had no money for a doctor. After her mother died, she and her sister were alone on the streets, looking for their father- who they never found- and doing their best to earn money. Her sister taught Lily simple math, reading and writing. Unfortuanetely, when Lily was nine, she was separated from her sister and had to earn a living on her own. She never wants that to happen to another kid.
Alias: Nightsky
Costume: (realistically, your character has put it together themself): Cargo pants, a black turtleneck and a pair of hiking boots. Is this okay?
Power: Blending in with shadows, summoning mist.
Trinket (choose one of the six): Pocket watch, but if that's already taken, then the bracelet.
(July 12, 2017 - 9:56 am)
Can I join? I'll post the charrie sheet later tonight or tomorrow.
(July 12, 2017 - 10:41 am)
JOINING!!!!!!!
Yes I'll make a charrie sheet and I haven't even read all of it but I am right now and will post my charrie shortly after. I saw "Abi" and "solo write" and knew I HAD to get a spot in this!!!
(July 12, 2017 - 12:18 pm)
Ahhhhhh my gosh this sounds so cool!
I really want to think about my charrie.
(July 12, 2017 - 12:25 pm)
Name: Oberon Lycanth
Pronouns: He/him
Age: Late teens
Ethnicity/Nationality: Indian
Role (hero/villain/civilian): Antihero? Not quite a hero, not quite a villain. Does jobs for money.
Personality: Snarky, irritable, confident. Angers easily. Does not fly into rages when around other people, but retains a mask of cool and murderous calm.
Fatal Flaw: Rage. It will consume him if he lets it.
Appearance (be detailed): Short black hair, honey-brown skin, yellow wolf-like eyes. No freckles on his whole body. Ethereal beauty/handsomeness.
Hobbies: Parkour-jumping across buildings, reading old books, breaking into abandoned buildings
Occupation (if applicable): Mercenary/hitman for hire.
Backstory: A young man from Brooklyn who ran away from his house after his father died. He lived on the streets for years and became very streetsmart, surviving off his wits and cunning. He still lives on the streets to this day.
If your character is a hero or a villain, also fill out this additional sheet segment. Civilians, you’re done!
Alias: The Wolf King
Costume (realistically, your character has put it together themself): Cloak of black fur (a family heirloom he took), white shirt, black pants. Half-mask carved of black wood in the shape of wolf head.
Power: Wolf-like powers (agile and strong with fangs and claws), can summon wolves made of dark energy.
Trinket (choose one of the six): The topaz crescent earrings.
(July 12, 2017 - 4:11 pm)
(July 14, 2017 - 6:40 am)
Name: Fleur Apollon
Pronouns: They/them
Age: 10
Ethnicity/Nationality: African American
Role (hero/villain/civilian): Hero
Personality: Bubbly, pleasant. Loves to talk. Is overconfident in her powers and abilities. Cries easily. Very emotional. Tried to act older than her age.
Fatal Flaw: Overconfident and overemotional.
Appearance (be detailed): Short black afro, blue eyes, chocolate skin. Always smiling. Wears an orange t-shirt and cutoff jeans when not in costume.
Hobbies: Running, soccer, trying to fight crime, painting
Occupation (if applicable): Being a kid. :)
Backstory: Lives in Queens. Is the daughter of the owner of a small convenience store, so not very well off. Keeps trying to bring home plants to keep in her room.
If your character is a hero or a villain, also fill out this additional sheet segment. Civilians, you’re done!
Alias: Flower Power
Costume (realistically, your character has put it together themself): Blue mask with flowers painted on, blue leggings, a blue shirt with a button on the top left corner. She doesn't have a cape yet.
Power: Making plants grow anywhere, at any size. She can make vines wrap around enemies and such. Is still mastering her abilities.
Trinket (choose one of the six): The flower button.
(July 14, 2017 - 9:07 am)
Name: Anna Hicks
Pronouns: She/Her
Age: 18
Nationality: British
Role: Hero
Personality: Very musical, sweet, smart, but can't go to college. She always thinks of others before herself, epsecially her little brother. She loves playing the piano and won several awards when she was younger. She's always thinking ahead and planning her next move. She plans everything she says before she says it, and always considers the consequenses.
Fatal Flaw: The worry that she'll make a wrong decision and let everyone down. Most of the time it's just a strong fear, but it can get to the point where it's almost crippling.
Appearance: Large, ice blue eyes that seem to take in every detail around her, a small nose, light skin, overall a face that's really pretty when she smiles, which she used to do a lot, but not so much anymore. Long, "pianist" fingers, slight build, white blonde hair that goes down to the small of her back.
Hobbies: Piano, reading, and making dreamcatchers.
Occupation: She has a small shop on a corner where she sells dreamcatchers.
Backstory: She lived in England until she was ten, when her father died, then her mother sent her and her little brother, John, to Florence. John is the only family Anna has left, for her mother mailed them letters twice a month for the first year, until she sent them an envelope of money and stopped sending letters. They haven't heard from her since, and that was eight years ago. Anna used the money to rent an apartment and her shop, once she turned 14, and homeschools John. She hasn't touched a piano since she moved to Italy, because her father taught her to play and they remind her of him.
Alias: Consequence
Costume: A white shirt, gray skirt, and a faux leather jacket that looks realistic. She has an hourglass necklace that goes for exactly 3 minutes and 51 seconds. She also wears a light gray mask that covers half of her face.
Power: She's able to see one step ahead into the future. This is much harder to do when people do unexpected things, and doesn't work in things that depend entirely on luck.
Trinket: Dragon bracelet.
(July 14, 2017 - 11:19 am)
Characters so far:
Yuki Hotoyama - Civilian
Viana Williams - Villain/Hero - Locket
Lily Carson - Hero - Watch
Oberon Lycanth - Antihero - Earrings
Fleur Apollon - Hero - Button
Anna Hicks - Hero - Bracelet
And of course, my original characters that have yet to be introduced. Thank you, everyone, for joining! Your characters are great! :D
However. There is a problem. We have only ONE TRINKET LEFT and no true villains. (I mean, Viana is sometimes a villain, but we're discounting her for our purposes.) Heroes are great, but there is no point if there is no one for them to fight. The next person who joins MUST make a villain. If one of you wouldn't mind tweaking your hero a bit and making them a villain, that would be super helpful too. :)
(July 14, 2017 - 6:23 pm)