Inspired by Archer Braun's Blog, I've decided to write some diary-style entries here from my character's point of view in Midian City, beginning with before she arrived in Midian. Before I write that, though, I wanted to post my character info sheet for people to get an idea of what "I" am like. So, here it is:
Name: October Hush (aka "Tober")
Race/Species: Feline (Leopard Neko)
Gender: Female
Age: 19 (according to her...she may actually be 18, or even younger)
Marital Status: Single
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Occupation: Former Cruise Ship’s Maid
Education: High School Graduate
Military/Public Service Record (if any): 1 year as a Domestic Relief Worker (like Red Cross or Peace Corps)
Criminal Record (if any): possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to distribute
Social Class (present and childhood): lower class (present) and middle to lower class (childhood)
Likes: Cats, other Nekos, urban environments, giving & receiving care and affection, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, catnip, alcohol, and other drugs
Dislikes: Large dogs, the police, guns, rich people
General Appearance: A bit of a ragamuffin; kind of a cute punk. But she cleans up nicely when necessary.
Characteristic Jewelry or Accesories: a collar on her neck, lots of bracelets or a pair of cuffs
Ambitions/Desires: To live with some kind of assurance of safety, to be close to others, to trust others.
Moral/Immoral Code: Do the right thing whenever possible…failing that, do the lesser evil.
General(Predominate) Emotional State: Laid back, cautiously friendly but somewhat guarded. Warm to others once she gets to know them.
Inner Conflicts: She is a good girl at heart, but she knows she needs to do bad things sometimes in order to survive in this world. She will probably be grieving the loss of her father for some time.
Fears/Phobias: Drowning, Jail
Reaction to Threat: Try to work through the threat calmly, failing that…try to escape the threat.
Reaction to Emergency: Visibly stressed but focused, sometimes breaking down emotionally after the fact.
Habitual Mannerisms: Kicking pieces of trash with her foot, scratching herself behind the ears, grooming herself, and sometimes unintentionally flirting with others.
Habitual Expressions: A faint look of amusement, rolling her eyes, sticking out her tongue, sometimes a look of longing or sadness.
One line that best describes your character: Cute, caring and bright, but also willing to bend her moral code in order to live.
What will people most remember about your character? Sometimes quiet and observant, but insightful and usually friendly to others. She’s also funny and pretty sarcastic.
Catchphrase: "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."
Skills: First Aid & Emergency Medicine, fixing mechanical devices. October is a quick learner and can learn how to do almost anything if she puts her mind to it.
Background:
Ancestry: October does not know anything about her ancestry beyond her father's (Johnathan's) parents. Both of her grandparents on her father's side were leopard-spotted stray nekos. October's mother (May) did not know her parents and was a solid tan-colored neko who was a stray for as long as she could remember. October's parents met as strays and took on menial jobs for humans to make enough money to get off of the streets so they could start a family. Eventually, Johnathan took over the shop he was working in when his boss passed away.
October was born on October 17th (hence the name). Sadly, her mother died while giving birth to October, so she only had her father to raise her. Her father was a very caring man who worked hard at his car and motorcycle repair shop, and saved most of the money he made to pay for October’s education. He sent her to a respectable private high school and she did extremely well, graduating a year early, despite her reputation as a bit of a clown and a prankster.
Unsure of what to study in college, she took a year off to be a domestic relief worker to help out others who were worse off than her. Shortly after coming back home after her year away, her father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Since her father did not have health care, October used her school money to pay for her father’s treatments until it started to run out. Her father’s repair shop had to be closed because he could no longer work, and the lack of any sort of income forced October to make a difficult decision. With the help of some unscrupulous neighborhood connections, she began selling drugs in order to make ends meet.
After months of treatment, her father suddenly died of complications due to his cancer. October spent what money she had on a proper burial for her father. Distraught from the loss of her only parent, she began to be careless in who and how she sold her drugs and was soon caught by the police. Having no prior record, and due to severe overcrowding in the local prisons, she was given a suspended sentence of 2 years, on parole.
As part of her parole, she was given a job with a maid service, working for wealthy people, but then the opportunity to work on the cruise ship came up. Feeling she had nothing to lose, she applied for the job and was accepted (obviously, they did not check her background). She saw this cruise as her way out of what her life had devolved to…she planned on getting off of the ship at a destination that appealed to her and simply disappearing. She knew the police would probably never come after her for jumping her parole and would most likely never find her. It was her chance to start a new life.
It was all going according to plan until the ship ran into something and all hell broke loose…
One month later: Since arriving in Midian, Tober has had little choice but to try to survive on the streets on her own. She would sleep on rooftops or secluded places when it was cold or wet, steal clothing from clotheslines, "find" money, and snatch food from wherever she could or hunt for crabs and small fish with a sharpened stick. She would spend what money she had on alcohol, catnip, or other drugs in order to dull the pain of the hell she found herself in. Being alone most of the time and barely surviving, she began to feel herself become wild like she imagined her ancestors must have been. That is, until a few kind souls in Midian took pity on her and helped her out with some of her needs.
A couple of months after the above: Tober was (and in some ways still is) mentored by Lindsay the Catwalker. Tober's unassuming and seemingly innocent manner allowed her to gather information for Lindsay and the Catwalkers on several potentially dangerous missions. These missions earned Tober's place in the Catwalkers, where she now feels completely at home. Though she will always miss her deceased father, she considers the Catwalkers her new family, and enjoys being social with everyone. She tries to help maintain morale and smooth out interpersonal conflicts between Kittens and/or other Catwalkers, as well as help mentor Kittens when necessary. She hopes one day to be promoted to Stitcher (medic), but she was recently promoted to Beast (one of the Elite ranks of the Catwalkers). She still hates getting into fights, but she will do so when necessary. She put her life on the line during a battle with The Pack, for instance, sustaining serious injury to defend her family.
