Question

Question of the Week - Each week I will ask a question to be answered to help design the game or flesh out your characters. Each answer you give will be worth XP. Please leave your answer and name under the question.

Describe your fears:

Slate:

• Being a disappointment to his father
• Being returned to the Nut House
• Actually being crazy
• Having a seizure in front of someone important and it seeting off a series of Unfortunate Events (like being back in the nuthouse)
• Needles
• Shrinks

Jacob Rosen:

• Being seen as stupid.
• Large dogs. ( or medium sized dogs with large barks)
• Unattended bags (purses, backpacks etc.)

Question for 5/7/08 - Describe your characters best Birthday.(1xp) Describe your characters worst Birthday.(1xp)

• JJ -
• Cassandra Hart - I would have to say that the answer is definately my 18th birthday, although the jury is still out on weather it's the best or the worst. It is the only birthday I cried at, which means it outranks the first time my dad and stepdad were at a party together for the worst, but it was an amazing unforgettable night that I remember more fondly than other birthdays.

Ever since the second grade Katie Haulin and I had been best friends. People would call us Cassie N Katie as if they were referring to one entitiy. So it was hard knowing that Katie was going to join the army and leave town after graduation. She wanted to become a doctor and knew it was the fastest way to get hands on experience. When we realised she was scheduled to leave the day after my birthday I was devistated.

Our parents decided to make the most of it. They went all out and rented the banquet room at McCormick & Schmick's for a combined birthday and going away party complete with two cakes. All of our friends and family were there. Dinner was amazing, and after dinner the parents all went away and us kids went to the under 21 club down the street and danced the night away.

At about midnight Katie and I left the club and went down to the waterfront. There we just sat and talked. We told eachother how much we'd miss eachother and cried a little. We told eachother how nervous and excited we were about the many changes in our lives and cried some more. We gossiped about folks from school and laughed until Katie realised how long it would be until she saw any of them and cried more. We told eachother stories of our favorate memories together. Mostly we dreamed. Katie and I were always excelent dreamers, able to envision our wants in ways that you feel and taste and know. Sometimes when we would describe things my insides would ache with anticipation for the future. Everything seemed so near and so far away at the same time when we dreamed together.

We lost track of time and watched the sun come up. A few hours later Katie's flight left and she was off to boot camp. I've seen her three times since then, but it isn't the same with us as it was then. Maybe the military structure has made her too rational to fantasise the way we used to. Maybe the realness of being in the medical field was too harsh and didn't measure of to our vision. Maybe I'm the one who forgot how to relax and just be. Maybe we just grew up. Either way that night would be the last time Cassie N Katie were really together.

• Darien Slate - Worst Birthday - My dad was a cop. This meant that when crime happened, he was there. Still, he always made an effort to be available at important events. In 1977, on my 14th birthday, I received a great disappointment. See, he had a really good one planned. My birthday was on a Thursday, and we had a small and private party. There was a cake, some ice cream, and my best friend Andy was invited. My parents were frugal people, and I did not expect any more. On Friday, after school, I was picked up by Andy's father, and told very little. He dropped me off in a field, and wished me a happy birthday.

I was very excited, certain something big was coming. The day was chilly, and overcast, but not wet and I was dressed warmly. I waited many hours, my excitement cooling, and finally, like the rain that finally came, sunk into the earth. I started walking, trying to find my way back to town. I hit the road, and did my best to get home. There was little in the way of traffic, but after several hours, and being soaked through, I was picked up by a policeman who saw me trying to hitchhike. He took me home. He didn't say much to me, but when he asked my name, it was clear he knew my dad.

At home, my mother was shocked to see me. She bundled me upstairs and into bed. I was given chicken soup and a lot of worried attention. My father did not get home until well after midnight. I found out later that a war protest had gone poorly, and had devolved into riot. He had planned to meet me in the field, and teach me to shoot a shotgun. When the riots interrupted that plan, he had a co-worker call Mr. Gold. Mr. Gold had already gone to pick me up, and was out for the evening with his wife. I took ill, and missed a good deal of school.

Best Birthday - I fell apart with my fathers death. My obsession (and visions) led me into an institution. Even when I emerged, I was not a whole man. I swam in a bottle and didn't really care about anything. That changed on my birthday. See, I have friends who are far better than I deserve. Andy and his wife have been my friends my whole life. We were the 'gang' - we played laughed, dated, and they married. On my birthday, I did not want to go out, I did not want friends. Andy did not allow that. Even though his kids had the flu, he got a sitter (my mother, actually) and took me out. He took me - without much consent on my part, I might add - to the camp we attended in the summers as kids. There was a place there we had loved. A tree that had been hit by lightening long ago, split down the middle, but still alive.

He didn't say anything for a long time; he really didn't need to say anything. We had talked about that tree as kids. Life goes on, cowardice, and all that. But, what got me was the memory of my father. He had gone to this camp, too. He had loved this tree. Seeing reminded me I was not the only one who had lost, that I was wounded, like the tree, but I was also letting myself die.

I did not break down and cry, nor did I give up drinking. But, I did give up on dying. I am still alive, and functioning at all because of Andy. I did not care for it much at the time, but in retrospect, it was my best birthday.

• Lester Roswell -
• Jacob Rosen - Best Birthday - With so many great birthdays to choose from, It's hard to choose a favorite. However, at the risk of sounding cliche, I'm going to have to go with my 13th birthday. I was one of those lucky individuals to come from a family with slightly more than moderate means, so my Bar Mitzvah was a large one. I got writers cramp some weeks beforehand, both writing a speech, and invitations, but when the big day arrived, and everyone was there and I got to read from the Torah, for the first time. I actually chanted, and for a wonder, my voice didn't squeak or crack. Afterward, when I was complimented on my speech, and overall conducting of the service, I felt 10 ft tall, well not quite, but I'm not sure how to describe the feeling other than the afterglow of a job well done after a lot of effort. Yeah, that was good.

Worst Birthday - December 7th, 1996. I was in my 2nd and final year in the active Israeli Army. In fact I was weeks away from reserve status. My girlfriend of a year had dumped me, I had a cold, and I was hit by a raid. That's right bullets flying, lots of bullets, dust clogging my already moist nostrils, more noise than I care to remember, and here comes this crazy asshole carrying his grenade, pin already pulled. Luckily the Sergeant was one hell of a shot, our would be destroyer was stopped a good 10 yards short and we were able to take cover. The action didn't take long, but I was left with clay in my nose and some fatigues full of holes. I should have got rid of them, but I kept em. Oh yeah, did I mention that Hanukah was only about a week away at this point? Yeah, that one sucked.

Question for 4/30/08 - What is your characters Birthday?(1xp) What is their astrological Chart? Include a link to the chart for 2xp?

• JJ -
• Cassandra Hart - June 13, 1987 7:12 PM Cassie's Chart
• Darien Slate - January 6, 1963. Darien's Chart
• Lester Roswell - October 13, 1978 Ros' Chart
• Jacob Rosen - December 7, 1976 Jacob's Chart