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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)
This looks so good!!
(July 16, 2017 - 9:13 pm)
Name: Adriano George
Pronouns: He/him
Age: 18
Ethnicity/Nationality: Hispanic
Role: civilian
Personality: Adriano seems very cold and unfeeling to others. He acts as if he has no emotion and doesn't let anyone see how he really feels. He's actually really sensitive. He's determined to accomplish his goals and very persistent. He's very pessimistic and doesn't expect people to be kind to him, so he's surprised when they are. He doesn't let himself get close to anyone, so no one knows how he really is (maybe in this story he could meet someone that he shows his real self to?).
Fatal Flaw: He doesn't let himself get close to anyone
Appearance: He has soft, wavy brown hair that's a little longer than an average boy's haircut, and light brown skin. His eyes are brown, but change from dark to light depending on the light. He has a larger than normal nose, a small mouth, and long eyelashes.
Hobbies: swimming, reading
Occupation: He just does random jobs
Backstory: Adriano was born in Spain. His mother died a few months later and his father sent him to be in foster care in America, where he was separated from his older brother. At first, he was a very happy child, but he hated foster care and it hardened him. He ran away from it and lived in the streets, doing random jobs to make money. He's still there at the beginning of the story.
(July 17, 2017 - 7:45 am)
(July 24, 2017 - 9:13 am)
Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long wait and the short part. I've been very busy with summer homework and such. The next installment should be coming quite soon, as I have more ideas for that one.
I’d like to clarify something that may have been unclear— This story does not take place in Florence. That location is important, but the main plot occurs in America, specifically New York, since I know nothing about Italy besides miscellaneous info about ancient Rome. XD If you made your characters to have them live in Florence, I’m just editing them a little so it fits my setting. Hope that’s okay. ^^
Also, would you prefer short, more frequent updates or long, rarer ones? Let me know. :)
——
January 18th
Yuki Hotoyama took a sip of her green tea and sighed at the nervous and bespectacled face of her secretary, who was peeking around the doorframe. “What is it now, Noah?”
Seeming to take this as an invitation, Noah slipped inside her office, carrying a brown cardboard box with a stack of letters balanced on top.The warm yellow light emitting from Yuki’s desk lamp— the only luminescence in the room— glinted off his glasses, shielding his ash-brown eyes from view.
“You’ve got mail,” he said, nodding at the pile in his arms. “Where should I put it down? Also, why is it so dark in here? How can you see?”
Noah was a college student who had eagerly volunteered for Yuki’s offer of a paid “internship”, which really meant tea runs, delivering mail, and the occasional tag along to crime scenes. He had a knack for noticing the right things and Yuki thought that he would make a very decent detective if he could keep his mouth shut for more than six minutes.
“Set it on the coffee table, will you?” Yuki pointed at it and Noah obliged. “The low lighting eliminates distraction by making it harder for me to see anything other than my current task.”
She had made that up. It was just that she hadn’t gotten around to replacing the ceiling bulb, but Noah didn’t need to know that.
“Yeah, sure,” Noah said, turning to exit. He was mostly out the door before he whipped around like he had remembered something. “Oh, right— There’s someone who wants to see you. It’s about the Florence thing. I said you’d just love to talk with her. Bye!”
He skipped out. Yuki blinked at the spot where he had been a millisecond prior, groaned, and rubbed her temple. Conversations with Noah were more draining than prosthetic physical therapy.
She had only a few moments to recollect herself before someone else stepped in, done so more easily than they ordinarily would have considering that Noah had left the door open. She was a girl, somewhat younger than Yuki, with long, white-blonde hair and blue eyes the color of a saturated summer sky, accompanied by a shaggy-haired boy who clung onto her hand as if it was a lifeline. The pair made their way over to Yuki and stood silently for an awkward moment.
“Hello,” Yuki said finally, sticking out her hand. “Yuki Hotoyama, detective.”
The girl took it, and shook. She had a surprisingly strong grip. “I’m Anna Hicks. This is my brother, John. I had to bring him along, sorry— I didn’t have time to get a sitter. Would you please say hi to Miss Hotoyama, John?”
John shook his head. Anna gave him a sharp look, then turned her attention back to Yuki. “I’m here about the Uffizi theft.”
“Ah, yes, the big news,” Yuki said dryly. “Please take a seat.” She gestured at the beaten-down leather couch some distance away from her desk, placed just a little bit too far away so that those sitting on it couldn’t quite see her face properly, instead getting an unclear view of a shadowed mask. It was rather intimidating.
Anna sat gracefully, folding her hands in her lap, followed by John, who did the same, only far less elegantly; his only actions seemed to be clumsy parrotings of his sister’s.
“Well,” Anna began hesitantly, “I read about the robbery in the news like everyone else, I suppose, but I didn’t think much of it. I mean, it’s serious and everything but Florence is all the way across the world. It’s not something I actively felt would affect me. Does that make sense?”
“I understand completely,” Yuki nodded. “Go on.”
“Right. So then, today, when we were having dinner, I got a package in the mail. It was addressed specifically to me and everything. And— Well, it’s probably better to just show you.”
She reached into her purse and held up her tightly clenched fist, slowly unfurling her fingers until there, perched right in the center of her palm and glimmering in beautiful iridescence, was a leather bracelet with a gold clasp in the shape of a dragon.
(July 26, 2017 - 8:36 am)
Name: ian wilds
Pronouns: he, i, we, you, him, etc,
Age: 11
Ethnicity/Nationality: USA
Role (hero/villain/civilian): hero
Personality: tbr (AKA idk :p)
Fatal Flaw: will ALWAYS attack people who say that dogs are better than cats
Appearance (be detailed): gray eyes, dark mohagony skin, jet black hair with streaks of dark brown,
Hobbies: pokemon, dungeons and dragons.
Occupation (if applicable): i'm eleven
Backstory: regular kid found a Trinket lying on the street
If your character is a hero or a villain, also fill out this additional sheet segment. Civilians, you’re done!
Alias: Steel
Costume (realistically, your character has put it together themself): does not need one, his Trinket turns him into a magical black and red iron man with a red laser sword mounted on his right arm and a red force field shield on the other
Power: see above
Trinket (choose one of the six): iron gauntlet
(July 27, 2017 - 10:01 am)
Sorry, spots are closed and I am no longer accepting characters for this story. :( There are plenty of other awesome solo writes for you to check out!
(July 28, 2017 - 10:28 am)
SUMMER HOMEWORK? What has this world come to? *Faints dramatically*
Great writing! I'd prefer it if you posted more often with shorter parts, partly because I'm impatient and partly because I love this story. :)
(LilyCat says icty- iced tea?)
(July 27, 2017 - 1:07 pm)
I love it!! Yuki was portrayed really well. Keep writing, Abi! ^^
(July 27, 2017 - 4:39 pm)
First off, super sorry for this being really, really late! Also, Abi, your first part was amazing!
Name: Adsila Blackstone
Pronouns: They/them
Age:16
Ethnicity/Nationality: Native American (Cherokee)
Role (hero/villain/civilian): Civilian
Personality: Adsila is rather skittish, untrusting, shy in big crowds— definitely an introvert. Has few friends; only one close one, hates loud noises, prefers animal company to human company, avoids social gatherings and talking to people like the plague
Fatal Flaw: Refuses to try new things
Appearance: Cinnamon colored complexion, rosy cheeks, thick straight, ebony hair that falls to her shoulder in a straightline across the back of their neck— their grandmother used to braid it, and they haven't attempted or asked anyone to since she died, 5' 7", athletic build, lower body strength, but little to no upper body strength, hazel eyes, long lashes, freckles. Tons of freckles, mostly from staying out in the sun without sunscreen. . .
Hobbies: Horseback riding, drawing, sleeping
Occupation (if applicable): Sometimes helps out at her stables
(July 28, 2017 - 11:12 am)
(August 2, 2017 - 8:50 am)
I'm working on it, very sorry. :( My laptop isn't working and I am currently using a slow desktop with malfunctioning parental controls that won't allow me to access half the pages on this website.
(August 3, 2017 - 10:44 am)
(August 8, 2017 - 8:03 am)
(August 16, 2017 - 7:11 pm)
(August 27, 2017 - 3:05 pm)