Brian
Basics
Name: Brian Thomas Snow: Brian, "noble"; Thomas, "twin"; Snow, as in "pure as the driven". He went by Fishberry on the Ren Faire circuit; his flatmate still calls him that sometimes, and it's also his account name on GKMMORPG.
Age/Birthdate/Zodiac: 19/3 August/Leo Sun, Virgo Moon, Aquarius Rising
Occupation/School/Usual Hang Outs:
Brian lives with a former Rennie and family friend in an artists collective, The Brownstone Studios, an old warehouse complex converted into live/work lofts just a bit off the main drag in Downtown. As for Brian's occupation, he's still trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life; he's half-thinking about college, half-thinking about music, but mostly really has no clue. For now, he's living off the proceeds of the sale of his auntie and uncle's house in Big Sur.
Other places one can find him:
¤ Downtown in general
¤ any of a number of coffee shops all over town ¤ the Pier District, sometimes ¤ any of a number of parks/green places during the day (this includes the UC:SC campus), noodling on his guitar under a tree or napping (usually with a cat in attendance) ¤ anyplace that's open all night
Skills, Hobbies:
Mundane: playing guitar (he's currently trying to work out the songs he hears in the new non-bad dreams he's been having, using only harmonics because it sounds wrong otherwise); working a crowd; addicted to GKMMORPG; subsisting on coffee and about 3-4 hours of sleep a day (NOT night, he never sleeps at night if he can help it)
Super: making glass marbles and figurines; walking through windows; cat-magnet XD
Super: making glass marbles and figurines; walking through windows; cat-magnet XD
Likes:
¤ Ren Faire (he no longer participates, but he still misses the camaraderie)
¤ crowds
¤ performing¤ playing his guitar (has a wine-red Ovation, wants to get a 12-string eventually; uses a glass pick he made, which, while it chews up strings, sounds really pretty, especially when playing harmonics <3) ¤ GKMMORPG (plays a female Rogue/Bard of the Energy tribe) ¤ summer
¤ marbles (fun to fidget with, and handy as ammunition ^_^) ¤ reading his horoscope (Rob Brezsny knows What's What) ¤ coffee ¤ cats, luckily ¤ big windows (one entire wall of his room is windows)
Dislikes:
¤ sleeping
¤ the Bad Things he sees in his nightmares¤ small enclosed areas (leaves the door open to the bathroom) ¤ the dark ¤ being alone
¤ being alone in the dark (exponentially worse than just the two combined -- throw him in a small, dark enclosed area by himself and you'd have a Trifecta of Terror that would completely break him) ¤ not knowing what the hell is going on with him ¤ fog (hides Bad Things What Eat Parents)
¤ motor vehicles (has to force himself to not panic in a car or a bus, usually by opening a window, one way or another; typically gets around town by bicycle or on foot)
¤ pirates (rolls his eyes at all the bad pirates at Faire after that damn movie...)
Timeline:
¤ 1989: born in Sunset City
¤ 1994: SOMETHING HORRID happens to parents; he is found days later in a closet in the house; goes to live with his auntie and uncle, who are Rennies (they play in the Faerie Court), in Big Sur; starts having vivid nightmares about Bad Things What Eat Parents
¤ 1995: is taken to his first Ren Faire ¤ 1995-2006: spends his summers on the Faire circuit up and down the Pacific Coast
¤ 2003: is given a guitar for his birthday, decides to play a "wandering minstrel" at Faire, becomes a full member of the Faerie Court cast
¤ 2006: graduates high school
¤ 2007: SOMETHING HORRID happens to auntie and uncle; awakens and takes out the Bad Thing that ate them, freaks out; continues to live in his auntie and uncle's house in Big Sur; follows the Faire on his own, drops off the circuit at the end of the season as his heart's no longer in it; the nightmares increase and worsen, starts taking cat-naps during the day so he doesn't fall asleep at night; gives himself GKMMORPG for Christmas and becomes hooked
--This Year (2008):
¤ late August: starts having really weird (but not bad) dreams on top of the nightmares, also starts being followed around by cats for some reason
¤ mid September: decides to help Aelfwine with his dealer's table at Pacificon...
Big Deals
Appearance:
¤ Hair: Brian's hair is naturally a medium-light ginger red, fine and flat. Ever since his auntie and uncle died and his powers switched on, it has been shot through with streaks of pink varying from pale, nearly white baby-pink to a soft fuchsia; with the natural ginger, it looks like someone dumped a carton of melted rainbow sherbet (the kind without the lime) on his head. He wears it very long, center-parted and loose to about the middle of his back, though sometimes he braids bits of it into tiny plaits which he calls "faerie locks," claiming they help keep the Bad Things away.
¤ Face/skin: If there was ever anyone who looked like a natural pick for the Faerie Court at Faire, it's Brian. His features, while masculine, are quite fey, with good cheekbones, a straight nose that's turned up just ever so slightly at the tip, somewhat pouty mouth, and dimpled chin. He has a small but warm smile; it's rare to see him outright grin, but when he does it's dazzling and utterly genuine. His eyes are a clear blue-green, almond-shaped but heavy-lidded and slightly puffy, with ginger-red, very lightly arched eyebrows and dark ginger lashes. Very fair-skinned, in true redhead fashion he tends to burn rather than tan and usually slathers on the sunscreen if he's going to be outside during the day. All in all he's a pretty boy, even if he looks like he doesn't get enough sleep (which he doesn't).
¤ Build: Pushing 6' in height, Brian is fine-boned and almost painfully skinny, with large long-fingered "guitar player" hands and not an ounce of fat on him. Not a klutz, but no physical adept, he moves with the kind of nervous, coiled-spring energy of a deer about to bolt into the underbrush. Brian is surprisingly healthy and resilient for appearing so fragile; he might fill out a bit with training (and Aelfwine has been trying to teach him stage-swordplay for demos), but with his long, ropy musculature and relatively narrow build he'll never be a beefcake kinda guy.
¤ Face/skin: If there was ever anyone who looked like a natural pick for the Faerie Court at Faire, it's Brian. His features, while masculine, are quite fey, with good cheekbones, a straight nose that's turned up just ever so slightly at the tip, somewhat pouty mouth, and dimpled chin. He has a small but warm smile; it's rare to see him outright grin, but when he does it's dazzling and utterly genuine. His eyes are a clear blue-green, almond-shaped but heavy-lidded and slightly puffy, with ginger-red, very lightly arched eyebrows and dark ginger lashes. Very fair-skinned, in true redhead fashion he tends to burn rather than tan and usually slathers on the sunscreen if he's going to be outside during the day. All in all he's a pretty boy, even if he looks like he doesn't get enough sleep (which he doesn't).
¤ Build: Pushing 6' in height, Brian is fine-boned and almost painfully skinny, with large long-fingered "guitar player" hands and not an ounce of fat on him. Not a klutz, but no physical adept, he moves with the kind of nervous, coiled-spring energy of a deer about to bolt into the underbrush. Brian is surprisingly healthy and resilient for appearing so fragile; he might fill out a bit with training (and Aelfwine has been trying to teach him stage-swordplay for demos), but with his long, ropy musculature and relatively narrow build he'll never be a beefcake kinda guy.
¤ Clothes: Brian dresses like he walked into a hippie thrift shop and threw himself randomly through the racks and stacks. He wears a tatterdemalion multi-layer mishmash of clothing, mixing things like a girls' velvet blazer, a plaid flannel shirt, and wifebeater with torn, patched and re-patched jeans, a paisley shawl as a belt-sarong thing, and striped legwarmers over a pair of old cowboy boots (to give an example). And he often (read: usually) tops it all off with a black top hat. He still has the garb (and the fake ear tips) from his Faire days, and sometimes busts bits of that kit out to throw into the mix, his favourite being a wine-red doublet worn as a jacket. The boy is fond of jewelry and loads himself with lots of big, chunky rings and bracelets/wrist cuffs, mostly in gold.
¤ Etc: Brian's voice is in the tenor range, and usually a bit on the raspy side due to his constant state of sleep deprivation. He often comes across as a soft, throaty alto, especially when he's using the vchat on GKMMORPG, so it's quite likely no-one suspects Fishberry is actually a guy. XD
Personality:
¤ Virtues: self-sufficient, reliable, trustworthy, charismatic when he's not deliberately hiding it, instinctive, surprisingly not an emotard, surprisingly not a panic puppy under stress (he waits to flip out later, once the dust has settled)
¤ Neutrals: fey, strange, a sweetheart, musician, good people skills, soft-spoken when not in-character, natural ham performer, somewhat directionless
¤ Vices: emotionally distant (or tries to be), sullen and bitey if pushed, skittish, superstitious, insomniac, nocturnal, claustrophobic, plagued by nightmares, has trouble concentrating -- in other words, a neurotic mess
¤ Neutrals: fey, strange, a sweetheart, musician, good people skills, soft-spoken when not in-character, natural ham performer, somewhat directionless
¤ Vices: emotionally distant (or tries to be), sullen and bitey if pushed, skittish, superstitious, insomniac, nocturnal, claustrophobic, plagued by nightmares, has trouble concentrating -- in other words, a neurotic mess
Blurb:
Brian is, at his core, a sweet young guy, although a bit strange. If he seems somewhat distant or haunted at times, it's with good reason: losing his parents at four to Bad Things, watching his auntie and uncle get butchered, discovering he suddenly has weird powers with glass, and now being followed everywhere by cats, have all led him to believe he's some kind of mutant freak or cursed or something. Brian literally grew up at Faire, so he's had lifelong issues with being "normal" anyway (as in, he's never really fit in with what's accepted as "normal"); still, with all the changes he's been through in the past year, he's finding it increasingly weird operating in the Mundane World.
Despite all the weirdness and death in his life, Brian comes across as remarkably non-emo. He actually manages quite well with day-to-day existence, even if he still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, and is meticulously responsible. He reacts instinctively in tight situations, exhibiting an inner courage and fierceness not readily apparent from his outward behaviour. And he doesn't panic or fall apart until after the fact -- one of the few things that have kept him alive and mostly sane. Somewhat quiet and reserved by nature, Brian has a Presence about him when he lets his guard down (mostly when he's not actively thinking about what he's doing). A talented guitar player, he learned how to "work" people from Faire and loves performing for a crowd, shelving his typical soft-spoken demeanor to let his inner ham shine. In character or in game, he's at his most comfortable and therefore most himself, a friendly, disarming individual with a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor who readily interacts with total strangers and teams up with anyone who's "looking for group" to go on a quest. (It wouldn't be much of a stretch to guess that most of the Hunters who play GKMMORPG have encountered, or even gamed with Fishberry at least once.)
Despite all the weirdness and death in his life, Brian comes across as remarkably non-emo. He actually manages quite well with day-to-day existence, even if he still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, and is meticulously responsible. He reacts instinctively in tight situations, exhibiting an inner courage and fierceness not readily apparent from his outward behaviour. And he doesn't panic or fall apart until after the fact -- one of the few things that have kept him alive and mostly sane. Somewhat quiet and reserved by nature, Brian has a Presence about him when he lets his guard down (mostly when he's not actively thinking about what he's doing). A talented guitar player, he learned how to "work" people from Faire and loves performing for a crowd, shelving his typical soft-spoken demeanor to let his inner ham shine. In character or in game, he's at his most comfortable and therefore most himself, a friendly, disarming individual with a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor who readily interacts with total strangers and teams up with anyone who's "looking for group" to go on a quest. (It wouldn't be much of a stretch to guess that most of the Hunters who play GKMMORPG have encountered, or even gamed with Fishberry at least once.)
Out of character, it's another story entirely. Brian dreads becoming emotionally attached to anyone in Real Life because in his mind SOMETHING HORRID always happens to them. So he tries to keep people, especially potential friends, at arms-length -- rarely successfully, because in truth he's desperately lonely and would really love to have a mob of RL friends to run around with. This is one of the reasons he plays GKMMORPG: you can't kill virtual friends, at least not for real. He will likely be both delighted and terrified when he finally meets some of the faces behind the avatars he's befriended in-game, convincing himself they are all gonna die on him now. The poor kid is a walking bundle of neuroses: he's deeply superstitious (he follows Free Will Astrology's horoscopes religiously, believes the dreamcatchers around his bed really work, truly thinks he's cursed, etc.), high-strung and prone to skittishness, intensely claustrophobic, nocturnal yet paradoxically afraid of the dark, and a raging insomniac. Brian has had horrible nightmares for as long as he can remember; he can't sleep for more than an hour or two at a time before they wake him up, rarely getting more than three or four hours of sleep total a night. Or rather, day -- he catches short naps during daylight hours and keeps himself busy in well-lit, high-traffic places after dark or wired on coffee and playing GKMMORPG all night with every light in his room blazing (and both of Aelfwine's cats keeping him company) to avoid the nightmares.
As one can imagine, the stress from all of these issues, especially the extreme sleep deprivation, has had a serious impact on Brian's mental state. The whole glass thing freaks him out a bit, even though it is fun, but it's the dreams he's been having on top of the nightmares since mid-August 08 that are the most puzzling. At first he thought they were game-related, but there are some pretty major differences -- for one thing, they feel real, and the music he hears in them haunts him to the point of near-obsession over trying to reproduce it. He can't focus his mind on what's going on long enough to try to make sense of any of it, though, which frustrates him to no end and brings out a sullen petulance that can turn bitey if he's pushed or overtaxed mentally. It's very hard for him to concentrate in general, nevermind think about his direction and purpose in life, and all this new weirdness certainly doesn't help. One thing he is dead certain about: the glass thing and the cats following him and the nightmares and the new dreams all mean something...
The Other Side
Elemental Control: Energy/Earth Blend: Glass
While naturally-occurring, Glass is not a "natural" Element -- it's a combination of Energy and Earth, in this case sand (Earth) melted and chemically altered by extreme heat (Energy). This is transparent (HAHAHA) to Brian, who works with already-existing glass and glass scrap, like broken bottles, glassware, or windows. He shapes the glass as if it were semi-molten into whatever form he wants; since he is actually manipulating the glass on a molecular level as opposed to heating it to work it, anything he makes is usable almost immediately, as there is no need for it to anneal or cool. He's never lacking for his element either, as he almost always has a pocket full of marbles he's shaped, and if nothing else, glass is pretty much everywhere. He can't make his own glass from sand -- he can only work with the combined Earth and Energy.
While naturally-occurring, Glass is not a "natural" Element -- it's a combination of Energy and Earth, in this case sand (Earth) melted and chemically altered by extreme heat (Energy). This is transparent (HAHAHA) to Brian, who works with already-existing glass and glass scrap, like broken bottles, glassware, or windows. He shapes the glass as if it were semi-molten into whatever form he wants; since he is actually manipulating the glass on a molecular level as opposed to heating it to work it, anything he makes is usable almost immediately, as there is no need for it to anneal or cool. He's never lacking for his element either, as he almost always has a pocket full of marbles he's shaped, and if nothing else, glass is pretty much everywhere. He can't make his own glass from sand -- he can only work with the combined Earth and Energy.
Abilities:
Glass Shards: Brian takes a gob of glass, usually a marble, in his fist and flings it backhand at his target; as he throws it, the gob expands and shatters into dozens of jagged, razor-sharp shards of translucent black glass, varying from splinter-sized to three or four inches long. He can throw as many of these as he has ammo for -- and he's almost never lacking for ammo. This is an instinctive attack for him; at this point, if he actually thinks about what he's doing he screws it up.
Etc.: Brian can also manipulate sheet glass, and can actually reach through a window without breaking it. The glass bends and clings to him like ectoplasm, though it leaves no icky residue and heals itself once he's done with it. If the window's big enough, like a plate-glass window or sliding glass door, he can walk right through it. No need to worry about locking yourself out of your car or house with Brian around! It's a good thing he's not criminally-minded (or easily talked into mischief)...
Mostly, though, he makes marbles to carry around as glass-shard ammo and as something to fidget with; he just takes a small piece of scrap glass and rolls it around in his fingers until it's a ball. His "fidgeting" generally consists of making little critters and things as if he were playing with Play-Doh. He'll gladly make little glass pretty-things for you if you ask him. <3 As his abilities develop and he gains more control over them, he'll start shaping glass into actual weapons, like knives or swords or whatever anyone wants. (LOL glass unicorn horn XD) As noted above, he can manipulate glass on a molecular level and can form an edge that is sharper than a scalpel.
¤ Daemon Tracking: Brian only knows that there are Bad Things out there and they killed his family and he doesn't like them at all. They appear in his nightmares (though not in the dreams he's been having lately, oddly enough), and he does sometimes get hinky vibes, but he figures he's just having flashbacks or something.
¤ Finding Hunters: Not so gud akshully -- he will twig to the Guardians first, though, as they'll register as Very Different to him. (AHAHAH it'd be hilarious if Jane twigged to him before he twigged to any of them, since tigers are cats XD)
¤ Wards and Seals: Brian can lay a ward by paving a ring around the daemon or the place he wants to keep daemons out of in black glass tiles. The first (and so far only) time he did this was out of pure panic back in Big Sur -- he reflexively threw a ward around the house after a particularly bad, very lucid nightmare. Again, this is instinctive; he'll do it without thinking in a dire situation, and with seemingly no effort or need to draw energy from other Hunters, which might strike some as a bit odd. As with the shards, if he thinks about what he's doing, he chokes. He will get better, and he'll sort seals out in due time as well.
Type of Hunter:
¤ Finding Hunters: Not so gud akshully -- he will twig to the Guardians first, though, as they'll register as Very Different to him. (AHAHAH it'd be hilarious if Jane twigged to him before he twigged to any of them, since tigers are cats XD)
¤ Wards and Seals: Brian can lay a ward by paving a ring around the daemon or the place he wants to keep daemons out of in black glass tiles. The first (and so far only) time he did this was out of pure panic back in Big Sur -- he reflexively threw a ward around the house after a particularly bad, very lucid nightmare. Again, this is instinctive; he'll do it without thinking in a dire situation, and with seemingly no effort or need to draw energy from other Hunters, which might strike some as a bit odd. As with the shards, if he thinks about what he's doing, he chokes. He will get better, and he'll sort seals out in due time as well.
Type of Hunter:
Everyone (including him) most likely thinks he's Yet Another Mage. In truth, he's a Purifier.
Relic: none
Band: TBD