Flame and Spice By Me
Characters belong to Sari~
thank yoooou ;A; precious babes ah…
Flame
Name: Nicole “Flame” Rodgers
Occupation: Small Business Owner (Café)
Element: Air
Flame grew up in an abusive home, and has never really recovered fully since then. Her parents were very minor league drug dealers and, while her mother at least tried to care for Flame and her sister Mel as best she could, her father was never a well intended man. He took most of his anger out on Flame’s mother, but she wasn’t completely spared of it. She would often try to take the fall for her little sister to protect her from such a treatment. One day, fearing that her husband would take his abuse too far and end the lives of her children, Flame’s mother killed him. Unfortunately, when the police arrived, they arrested her regardless of the fact that it was a case of self defense - instead arrested for the massive drug possession. Flame and Mel were sent to live with their grandmother.
Her situation wasn’t much better there, as Flame began involving herself with more questionable people. Eventually she befriended Spice and she helped Flame gain confidence, enough to even pursue her own business: a small cafe in the art district of town that offers karaoke and open mic performances.
Flame is, understandably, a very sad person. She fights bouts of depression often and has a large array of fears, borderline phobias. Flame is, however, very passionate about music and absolutely loves to sing. When she is in a good mood, she’s known to be a bit eccentric and absent-minded, taking joy in very simple things.
Affiliations
- Spice (Best friend)
- Mel (Sister)
- Elia (Daughter)
- Ciryl (Daughter)
- … others that I can’t remember right now
Mel was 10 years old.
She knew that she was like many other kids in this part of town. There wasn’t a soul around that wasn’t damaged in one way or another. The abused, the abusers, the victims of circumstance, the victims of their own bad choices; Just about every kind of down-trodden trash lived in the very same apartment complex - that could hardly be considered housing - as she did. And she saw it all. And she comprehended it fairly well. She knew that she wasn’t any kind of special case, nor did she ever pretend that she was.
She was only 10 years old.
Maybe it was easier for her to accept that life was shit because things had gone so sour at such a young age. There were no expectations that she had besides the worst. After all, she was practically a baby when her mom got sent away. Drug charges? Manslaughter? She didn’t have much understanding about the situation involving her mother’s incarceration. She didn’t much care.
But her sister. She cared about her sister.
She had been old enough to understand everything that went on with the family. There was a time in her life where things seemed bright. She had aspirations and dreams - and she loved their mom. They were closer than Mel ever got to be to her, but that’s okay. She didn’t much care. Still, she saw how things had impacted her and day by day it ate away at the older sibling.
Nicole, who recently decided she wanted to be called “Flame” from now on, had been depressed for about as long as Mel had been in the world. There was never a moment that she could recall where she didn’t need to take care of Nicole. Each day was an uphill struggle to keep her happy, to keep her from hurting herself, to just keep her functioning. Mel never really knew what to expect, at least in regards to when and where an episode would hit. Nicole would be smiling and laughing, then an instant later, there would be tears staining her cheeks and she’d wail about ending it all.
And it was confusing for a little girl, but that was all she knew. She was only 10.
Her sister was all she had. Her sister was all she knew.
This sadness was all she knew.
Day in, and day out, Mel supposed it got harder and harder to deal with. Yet when she’d stop to think about it, she kind of doubted that it really did. Things never actually got worse, they just never got better. Every day was a perpetual state of sadness that no one could do anything about. Perhaps it wasn’t too late for them to reach some sort of happiness. They just needed to make it to the light at the end of the tunnel, right?
But it was all they knew. They were just little girls. They were only 10 and 15. Things never got better.
1, 14, 20, 22, 26, 27
1.) Tell a bit about a main protagonist and a main antagonist? If your story doesn’t really have “good guys and bad guys”, tell about two characters with opposing viewpoints!
Though Darkness Waves does have “good guys” and “bad guys”, the story starts out with there being a few different groups with different agendas ending up coming together. So basically, all the different good guys come together and all the bad guys come together. But since some of these groups are more Dojo’s area, I’ll focus on Daric in terms of “main protagonist” and Tira in terms of “main antagonist”.
His main occupation at the beginning is a paranormal (ghosts, demons, alien activity, is what I’m primarily saying when I meant paranormal) investigator, though he does keep tabs on Tira, the city’s most feared gang leader from his prior occupation as a detective. Incidentally, he discovers a cross over in his paranormal investigations as well as his criminal investigations which makes the case that much more personal to him. He knows she’s drawing from “other worldly” sources to make her even more powerful and he worries that she intends for a global take over. Tira absolutely adores the game of cat and mouse (or cat and dog I guess? :B ) that they’re playing and she will definitely leave him clues on purpose to get him closer to her so she can taunt him. She doesn’t see him as much of a threat since he acts on his own, which makes her think of him as more of a toy then anything.
14.) Are there any principal themes or messages in the narrative?
Ehhh not gonna lie that we don’t really have a ~message~, at least not an overall one. Certainly the story will touch on subjects that the characters learn from, but I know I’m not using it as any kind of vessel to preach anything to anybody. (not that a theme or a message always implies that sort of thing, but this just isn’t that kind of story.)
20.) Tell about a significant location in your setting - it can be a city, a country, or even a specific venue, home, etc.?
Oooo I’m gonna talk about the desert Nibtaba on Elmen. It isn’t significant except for in maybe ONE story arch but I really like it, so I’m gonna talk about it.
It’s just one HUGE desert separating Saoirse, Seyjuria and Murser from the bottom half of this continent (the only region there being Colvastia). There is currently no government control over the entire region, so it’s a place where criminals and other vagabonds who don’t have a place where they belong go to live. As you can imagine, it’s VERY dangerous. The towns and cities are few and far between, and who knows what you can run into the days or weeks spent traveling.
22.) Do you have a favorite place in this world? It can, again, be a city, country, specific building, or anything else!
I think my favorite place is Seyjuria, the big city in the forest, that I’ve drawn concept for. It’s the most vivid in my mind, which is no surprise because it was the first special area that I came up with on my own. I just love the tree houses and the old temples and I dunno… I just like it a lot! :D
my second favorite place is the Art District in New Port. That’s where the theater and the art museum and Flame’s cafe are all located, and it’s just a place where a lot of my characters go for entertainment… Damn, can you believe I forgot about Flame’s cafe until just now? >8/ I shoulda said that as a significant place! It’s like… where everyone always hangs out!! GOSH.
26.) Are different backgrounds or cultures explored at all, whether through characters or locations? This can include different fads, fashions or slang specific to an area.
Yes! Definitely not as much as I’d like it to, but hey, it’s just something I can push. But Seyjuria has a very nature oriented culture that will play a large role in Spice and company’s search for answers to their paranormal puzzles. I’ve only scratched the surface with some of the other cultures… all I can tell you besides that is what kind of Earth cultures I’ve kinda based them around, unfortunately.
27.) Does social hierarchy play a huge role, i.e. cliques, clubs, clans, or other specific groupings or separations of people?
Not particularly. I mean, there is the subplot of the regions Raidsparr and Calenguas going to war to imperialize that entire continent, and those two countries have prominent social classes, but that isn’t really important to the PLOT. That’s just how those societies are. If I could talk more about other organizations in the story without spoiling stuff, I could get more into this topic but alas B’( I really wish I could just say certain things but who knows what the fate of Darkness Waves is…. oh well, hopefully EVENTUALLY I’ll be able to discuss these things…. and at least these questions help me think more on certain topics.
WORLD-BUILDING: Is it Wednesday already?
Leave a number (or a few!) in my ask, get an answer!
CHARACTER-SPECIFIC
[please include a character’s name(s) along with question number when applicable!]
1.) Tell a bit about a main protagonist and a main antagonist? If your story doesn’t really have “good guys and bad guys”, tell about two characters with opposing viewpoints!
2.) Does [character] have any siblings?
3.) Tell a bit about [character]’s parents?
4.) What are some of [character]’s hobbies or interests?
5.) Is [character] lucky in love? Can you describe any of their past relationships?
6.) I know you’ve probably answered every favorite food question under the sun, but how about [character]’s favorite DRINK, DESSERT and SNACK?
7.) What are [character]’s pet peeves?
8.) If you had to pick three words to describe [character], you would choose:
9.) Can you list some traits you have in common with your cast? How about things that are completely different?
10.) Is there anything you can talk about from [character]’s childhood or younger years that was significant to their development?
11.) [Character]: Truth or Dare?
12.) Describe the relationship between [character] and [other character]? If it’s very spoiler-y, just tell what you can!
13.) This might seem an odd question, but are there any colors you affiliate with certain characters?
STORY ELEMENTS
14.) Are there any principal themes or messages in the narrative?
15.) How long have you been working on this story?
16.) If you could attribute one or two genres to your story, what would they be?
17.) Do you have a “pitch” worked out for this project? If so, let’s hear it! If not, there is no time like the present to come up with one…
18.) Are there any authors, artists, stories or other elements that have offered inspirations for this story?
ENVIRONMENT / CULTURE
19.) Is there a main place where your story takes place? If so, can you tell a little bit about it?
20.) Tell about a significant location in your setting - it can be a city, a country, or even a specific venue, home, etc.?
21.) Tell a bit about the different types of architecture in your story. Is it based on any existing styles, have you created new types of structures, or a mix?
22.) Do you have a favorite place in this world? It can, again, be a city, country, specific building, or anything else!
23.) How prominent are things like natural disasters? What types can occur?
24.) What are some of the predominant modes of transportation?
25.) Do your characters travel around the world or to a different place at any point in the story?
26.) Are different backgrounds or cultures explored at all, whether through characters or locations? This can include different fads, fashions or slang specific to an area.
27.) Does social hierarchy play a huge role, i.e. cliques, clubs, clans, or other specific groupings or separations of people?
28.) Is clothing or fashion (whether individual or regional) ever used to convey important information about a person or place?
29.) Is the environment a character in-and-of-itself in this story, or is it inconsequential as far as the focus of character relationships goes?
[strike through any of the following categories that do not apply to your story!]
FICTIONAL WORLD SETTINGS
30.) What kind of vegetation can be found in this world that might be considered unusual?
31.) Describe the seasons and weather?
32.) Are there special abilities, magic powers, or warped laws of physics in this world?
33.) What holidays are celebrated here?
34.) Are there any important political standards or practices?
35.) How about religious or spiritual beliefs?
REAL WORLD SETTINGS
36.) Is there a specific time period this story takes place in?
37.) What was it that drew you to a real world setting?
38.) Do you conduct lots of research for this setting, is it some place you are already familiar with, or is a vague enough locale to not require much background?
39.) Do you think it is more or less difficult to obey real world laws within a story?
SEMI-REAL WORLD SETTINGS
40.) What are the main differences between your setting and the real world?
41.) Conversely, what are the main similarities?
42.) If super-powers, magic or other abilities are part of what sets this world apart from real world, can you describe a few?
43.) Is your story an alternate past / alternate future / alternate universe / or something else entirely?
okay it’s actually wednesday now YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE
30 (Yoki)
30. Have you ever considered plastic surgery? If so, what would you change about your body?
*scoff* Well, sure I’ve considered it. My scaly armor crap? It’s ugly as hell. It spreads out my face and makes my shoulders look like they’re world’s apart and if there’s one thing I hate it’s looking wide.
So, I’ve thought about getting them removed and just getting fur plugs over the bald spot but I’ve heard that kind of thing is a bitch to heal. And, eh, I spend so much time trying to moisturize the scales that it seems like kind of a waste to get them removed.
