Boomtown

[plain_jane]

Player's Name: Kristi
Are you over 16? Yes
Characters Played Here: Severus Snape, David Bell

Character: Jane Feynman

World Description:

Jane is a World of Darkness character, specifically from the Mage: The Ascension canon. She's of the Verbena tradition.

History:

Jane Feynman was born in Boston to Anne Kempe and Jim Feynman. Her childhood was something of a mess from the get-go: her mother died in a flash flood in an elevator when Jane was Quite Young, leaving behind Jane, Jim, and Harry.

Harry, of course, was a little off after that, and though Jane wasn't terribly good at picking up the pieces, she did the best she could as a caretaker. That isn't to say she had to grow up quickly - she still had her childhood, and grew up unresentful of her lot in life - but she did learn early on how to be responsible and helpful. She learned how to deal with her "special" brother.

Some of the load was lightened when their father remarried, though Harry was well able to care for himself by then. It was nice, though, for Jane to be an adolescent and nothing else for a while, even if her sense of "normalcy" was tempered by her abilities as a mage.

There was no particular emphasis placed on those abilities; they simply were for her. They didn't make her special or unique. They made her talented in a particular area, where others might be talented at sports or singing. She took comfort in having magic, but didn't rely on it for her self-worth.

She grew up plain, skinny and tall with a huge mouth and mousy hair - but a good sense of humor that (she felt) distracted from her lack of physical appeal. She didn't suffer socially, and though throughout high school she wouldn't have considered herself popular, she was known well enough to have friends from all the social spectrums. She was, basically, "that girl": the one who didn't have a clique, wasn't in any clubs or sports, but who knew everyone and was always there to help with your math homework.

Thanks to decent intelligence and the responsibility she'd mustered while playing caretaker, she did well enough in school to earn a scholarship to a state university. It was there, while working towards a General Studies degree, that she met Him. The One.

Well. She thought he was the One. He made her feel a little fluttery, and the sex was above par most of the time. Everyone said they made such a wonderful couple, and Jane - plain Jane, responsible Jane, with her lack of any real ambition - decided that must be true. He was a nice, sensible, safe choice, and when he made a nice, sensible proposal (over dinner, of course, on one knee, just like a nice, sensible man should), she accepted.

Jane would have made the biggest mistake of her life if it hadn't been for the rehearsal dinner, when her Maid of Honor stood up and declared that she couldn't watch Him marry Jane after all those nights of sensuous passion. Jane sat there, feeling a little less than plain in her nice, sensible blue dress, staring at the bubbles rising in her champagne glass while chaos ensued around her: family shouting, friends arguing, Him trying desperately to deny it. She finally drew her napkin from her lap, carefully folded it and placed it on the table beside her plate, took off her engagement ring and set that atop the napkin, and stood.

Never let it be said that she couldn't command the attention of an entire room: you could have heard a pin drop.

She could have done something dreadful to Him. She could have employed her magic to make him Very Sorry - but she didn't. Smoothing her dress, she glanced around, then smiled a thin, funny sort of smile - oh, well - and walked out of the room.

She didn't cry. She did, however, take the offer that came a few days later, and ran away to New Dodge.

Personality:

Jane is an old soul, but she'll admit she's the kind that burned out long before she was born. She's a little boring. Even her brother thinks so. There's nothing particularly interesting about her save for her magic: she's not ambitious, she's not conventionally pretty, she doesn't act out or swear or pick fights. Honestly, she coasts. She likes when things are uncomplicated and simple.

Though she doesn't like things to get problematic, she's a good person, and she won't run away from problems ninety-nine percent of the time. Jane is a caretaker, a responsible and motivated person who will Get Things Done, so long as those Things are mundane. She gets along well with most people, likely because she's not terribly judgmental. She's more understanding than most, particularly about the quirks and flaws of others. Harry was influential in crafting that aspect of her personality.

She has a good sense of humor, she's straightforward, and she's honest; it's a little necessary to have the former in particular when making up for a lack of physical appeal. Unfortunately, it doesn't come out much when she's unhappy, and at this point in her life, she's not exactly tickled: her fiancee just ran off with her best friend. In the absence of that humorous side, she's very serious and introspective for her age. Why shouldn't she be? She has a lot of soul-searching to do.

While Harry is a crucible of energy and chaos, Jane is calm and tempered. Gardening and reading are both quiet pursuits, and she counts these among her hobbies. Because she's a Verbena, she has a particular affinity for the earth, and being in the midst of plants puts her at ease.

Almost counterintuitively, however, she's a smoker. It's bad for the earth, it's bad for her lungs, but when she's stressed or upset, she reaches for a cigarette. She quit while dating and didn't have much problem doing so cold turkey, but upon learning that her fiancee had been unfaithful, she picked it back up again.

Jane doesn't much believe in love - or rather, she has lost faith in it for herself. It's not easy going through life looking "interesting" but not "beautiful", being average instead of extraordinary, and finding that the person she chose would rather have someone else. At the moment, she feels rejected and a little lost, and it has made her somewhat jaded about romance.

She's definitely a pacifist; she doesn't like fighting. It makes her uncomfortable to be confronted by aggression, and she really isn't much for combat. She would consider herself useless in a dangerous situation, but not as useless as the person who panics in the background. She could probably fire a gun if someone put it in her hands, but who in their right mind would do that?

Like most Verbena, she believes in the sanctity of life, in the power of astrology, and uses potions, blood, and semen in her magic. She believes that anyone has the potential to be Awakened. If she were part of a Faction, she would be a Lifeweaver, described by the White Wolf Wiki as, "Hermits and wanderers largely independent of the other factions and one another. They focus on living in the moment and reinventing themselves in order to better understand life and the world."

However, unlike other Verbena, she isn't as free-spirited or open. In part, her dullness is self-inflicted: she tries actively not to partake of that lifestyle, to not think or color outside the box. It has an impact on her craft: it's flawed because she doesn't give herself wholly to being what she is.

Why do you think your character would work in this setting?

Jane accepted Eli's offer because she wanted to get away from Boston for a while. She'll work in this setting because she has family here (Harry), she's friendly and sociable, and she has an applicable skill that can be turned into a job in New Dodge.

What will your character do for work?

She'll work in Agriculture, probably in the greenhouses if there's room.

Inventory:

Books
Clothes
A purse and all its contents (compact, gum, wallet, tampons, etc.)
A laptop computer
Tools of the trade for her magic (cauldron, athame, staves, broomsticks, crystals, etc.)

Samples:

Third-Person Sample:

Jane was sitting on the stoop of the Science yurt, knees drawn up and her coat wrapped around them insofar as it could reach. It wasn't cold in the domes, but she felt chilled to the bone - the sort of cold that wasn't borne of a cross encounter with the elements.

There was one cigarette left, and she stared rather forlornly at the empty pack before crumpling it and stashing it in her pocket. She shouldn't be smoking, anyway; she had given it up soon after starting two years ago, when He had come into her life - but she supposed it was fitting that she should pick it up again as He made His exit. It was with a little spite that she held the cigarette between pursed lips and, after a few false goes before it sparked, she brought her lighter to the end.

Where was Harry? She'd been waiting here for twenty minutes. A puff of smoke came on the heels of a derisive laugh and she drew the cigarette away from her mouth with one hand as the other occupied itself with secreting the lighter away. Where's Harry? Why, off being Harry. He probably got himself wrapped up in some conundrum or another and forgot. That was how it always worked, wasn't it?

Just now, she couldn't work up the energy to be angry - not that she ever really was angry with Harry. He was different, and he needed people to be just a little more accommodating. Jane had learned early on that there was no point in getting angry; Harry didn't respond to anger, and there was no point of closure or consolation that came out of it. Might as well be angry with a summer storm. No, it was best to just...let him be him. She would give him twenty minutes more, then go off and look for him.



First-Person Sample:

[She's out of cigarettes, so at least she isn't smoking when she starts recording. There's a little bit of a smile in place, but she's obviously forcing it. She doesn't want to be smiling right now. She doesn't really want to be doing anything, but the world keeps turning whether she likes it or not.

She has a sweet, quiet sort of voice - the kind that comes from someone who doesn't feel much like forcing others to hear them. Still, there's a note of wryness occasionally; somewhere in there, she has a good sense of humor. It's just buried pretty damned deep today.]

I'm Jane Feynman. I guess most of you know my brother, Harry? Tall, glasses, talks in bullet points?

[Wider smile comes and goes and her mouth tugs downward at one corner. She looks at her hands thoughtfully.]

That guy. I'm going to be staying with him for a while in - uh.

[She gestures broadly to the room behind her: the Science Yurt. The mess. The horror.]

The Ritz, here. Whoever had my room last was immaculate, so there is that.

[A beat passes, and her mouth puckers and pulls to one side. Debating...]

So, I saw Harry's been doing the Love Board thing? You all should probably - well. Just accept it. The board, not the pairings. He's going to do it whether or not you complain.

[Shrug.]

Anyway, I'll be working in the greenhouses. That's where you can find me if you need anything.

[Help with Harry, specifically.]