shaitarn

[shaitarn x megatrash] [18+]

The final note faded; the silence held for a further second, then was broken by thunderous applause. The intense concentration on Niall’s face relaxed into a grin and he raised a hand in acknowledgement. He held it for several seconds before relaxing, letting his hand drop and clapping a hand on Chris’ shoulder as the guitarist took his own bows.

With a final wave the band left the stage – they’d already played two encores; despite the cries from the crowd, they’d finished their performance.

Even in the corridor backstage the noise was deafening. Jack leaned over “Gary can get the tour bus to the gates; he’ll be there in 40 minutes,” he shouted.

Niall nodded. “Just enough time for a quick shower,” he shouted back and Jack gave a nod of agreement.

It wasn’t an impressive dressing room; a small room with chipped off-white paint on the walls, barely big enough for its simple furnishings: one table and a couple of chairs. But it did have a shower, and that was good enough as far as he was concerned.

Niall gave a sigh of relief as he peeled off his sweat-dampened clothes and stepped under the jet of warm water. Maybe one day we’ll be big enough to have the rider from hell, he thought. He gave the crooked grin that had left more than one fangirl smitten. Yeah, no brown m&ms. Still, it wasn’t that long ago that where the band were now seemed like an im-possible dream – having to get changed in the back of a van or in a draughty corridor back-stage. He touched the pendant he always wore around his neck with a light fingertip. Celeste had promised him that he would see all he desired come to pass if he followed her words, and although he’d doubted her at first, it seemed that she had been telling him the truth. Still, he felt the occasionally twinges of uncertainty, of unease.

He turned off the shower and shook his head, scattering droplets of water before grabbing a towel. Forget it, he told himself firmly, you’ll get where you want to go; that’s all that matters, right?

***

There was the tour bus: a long, lean shadow in the gloom, with only the gleam of a streetlight on the polished chrome of the engine grill and mirrors to break the darkness. And a small knot of fans, waiting to beg autographs or photos.

He was happy to oblige – these were the people that came to their concerts, listened to their music – if signing his name or letting them take a selfie with him made their night, then who was he to say no? It was just a few minutes of his time and made the night extra special for them.
There was the normal thrusting of programmes and photos: could he sign it to Abby, to Kimberley – he scribbled down the requests, posed with a small group of girls that wanted their photo taken with him and Chris and finally broke free from them.

Standing at the door of the bus he turned and saw her. He was about to ask if she wanted a photo or something when he was struck by her eyes – there was something fascinating about her eyes, no, in fact there was something fascinating about her face.

He smiled: no staged pose this time, just an automatic reaction to her looks. “Hey; you okay there?” Not the smoothest start to a conversation, but he hoped he’d get some response from her.

[shaitarn x megatrash] [18+]

Name: Niall Ahearne
Age: 24 (25 in a couple of months)

My Hider

Stands a rangy 6 foot, weighing in at around 150 lbs.

Personality: Roguishly charming with a hint of bad boy wickedness about him – he’s the sort of guy woman imagine they can redeem. Strong-willed and stubborn, Niall has an energetic drive and a touch of ruthlessness concealed by his generally good nature.

Beastkin (Kemonomimi) Academy

@Rakurai Ha, I'm sure you have! It was just, lots of pictures of cute nekos and then... "What?! Eughhh, gross!"

The reason I picked that picture was because I didn't want a character who was so cute it wasn't clear what gender they were. And Torao's just checking his flies are done up, that's all :)

Beastkin (Kemonomimi) Academy

@Rakurai You should've seen some of the other images I came across! (shudders)

Beastkin (Kemonomimi) Academy

Still not 100% sure I'm happy with him; I may do some tinkering later on.

My Hider

Name: Torao
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Animal: White tiger
Height: 5’10”
Hair Colour: White (with darker strands threaded through)
Eye Colour: Yellow

Personality:
Loner/stand-offish. Torao isn’t so much anti-social as possessing a strong desire for his own space. He can only stand people around him for a short span of time before he will lose patience with them and let his inner snark out; this will take the form of sarcasm or downright rudeness (he may actually grow to like some of his fellow classmates, particularly the younger or weaker ones (and his sense of duty may lead him to feel he has to defend them), but he’ll never admit it).

Curious. Torao possesses a seemingly insatiable curiosity about humans (although overlaid with a strong streak of hostility) and he will take risks that may seem foolish to gratify his curiosity.

Background
As warriors and leaders of their tribe of beastkin, Torao’s ancestors were a constant thorn in the side of the human regime – every few years some fresh oppression would bring them snarling out of their village, only to eventually be supressed by the Templers, although always at considerable cost. Their family was only permitted to live due to the fact that they kept the tribe united and, when not rebelling, were a powerful work force, a mix of farmers and hunters and loggers, capable of bring down many of the great wilderness trees that the humans needed for their never ending industry – if the family were wiped out, the tribe would disintegrate into a mob that would have to be liquidated and a healthy chunk of the human tax revenue would be lost.

After the last uprising the few remaining family elders counselled patience: simply wait, until the time was more opportune for them to seize their freedom. When the king’s decree reached the village, it seemed like the opportunity they had been waiting for – it was decided that one of the family would be sent to study at the Academy. When they graduate, they can use the knowledge gained to help the beastkin understand the humans and so negotiate better terms with them (or, whisper it soft now, reveal weaknesses they can exploit to end the human oppression and take a bloody revenge).

Enter Torao. As the second son of the leader’s three children, he was the perfect choice – trained as a warrior, he should have an eye for human weaknesses while being able to defend himself where his beloved younger sister (a mere cub of twelve) might struggle, and being the second son was less valuable than his older brother and heir apparent (and hence expendable).

With an age old creed of honour and duty to the tribe behind him, there was no consideration that Torao might refuse – and in any case, he’s curious about the humans he’s only ever seen from a distance at tax collecting time ( he was caught trying to sneak out to explore the nearest human town three years ago – he still burns with embarrassment when he remembers the look on his older brother’s face when he was dragged in front of a meeting of the elders by the guards); are they really the evil oppressors he’s been brought up to believe?

Other: Every warrior in his family wears a red collar around their throat – it’s a symbol of their enslavement by the humans and by tradition it will only be removed when the beastkin are free. If anyone tried to mess with it, or take the piss, he will do his best to beat the crap out of them.

Let's taco 'bout roleplaying!

@Suspicious Taco By Suspicious, do you mean you regard other people with distrust or you have something questionable in your filling? Sorry, just curious.

I'd be interested in doing any of the following with you:

Allies and Enemies
Star Wars maybe (I'd like it to be between episodes VI - VI, and I'd really love to play a lowlife type - a smuggler or criminal of some sort)
Human x vampire
Human x werewolf
Prince/princess x thief (in a fantasy setting)
Servant x master/mistress (would you be interested in playing this in a different setting? Steampunk or some such?)

Beastkin (Kemonomimi) Academy

I know I shouldn't, but a snarky neko has just sprung into being in the back of my mind.

Supernatural London

A secret community of various supernatural creatures living in London is being targeted by a vicious killer or killers. So far three of their number have been killed. As they keep their existence a secret (for fear of being caged, experimented upon or whatever), the authorities can find nothing linking the crimes. The remaining supernaturals have to put their differences aside and work together to find out who is responsible before more of them are killed, or before one of the investigating agencies finds out what they really are.

I was originally thinking of setting this in modern day London, but if anyone's interested in another time period we could try that. I'm not just talking about vampires and weres for the supernaturals either - selkies, kitsune, dryads; there's no reason why you shouldn't play something more unusual - maybe even just plain old magic-using humans. They just have to be able to pass as human most of the time - at least to a casual glance.

Would anyone be interested?

Escape from the Library

Just giving this a nudge to see if anyone else is interested.

Horselords: Tales of the Steppe

Interested! I don't know a great deal about Mongol culture, but I've always loved the fictional depiction of the nomadic tribes, either purely fantasy or fictional accounts of Temujin's early life.