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(RedShift) application WIP
Dec. 16th, 2014 11:59 amPLAYER INFORMATION
Name: Justine
Over the age of 18? Yes
Your preferred contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
faileneume
Other characters playing at Redshift: None
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Kara Styrdottir
Canon: Original
Canon point: The year 2015, not long after the Masquerade was revealed in her world.
Age: around 900 years old, but she looks to be in her early 20s
Species: Valkyrie
Appearance: kstew in welcome to the rileys, with the addition of a set of wings that are only visible when Kara wants them to be. They're almost twice as wide as she is tall, and look like the wings of a swan (see here)
Background:
Kara comes from a world is exactly like ours, except everything that we think of as mythology or legends are real. They have been as long as humans have been around, though no one's quite sure which came first; the stories or the humans, and those that are old enough to remember aren't inclined to discuss it. Probably the most important thing is that the gods were real; Greek, Sumarian, Roman, Hindu, Norse, anyone with a belief system was based on real gods. Obviously this would result in a lot of conflicting stories; not every origin myth can be true, but that's because they aren't. Humans aren't going to get everything right, they still made shit up to explain the world around them, the way myths generally work, but sometimes they were pulling from fact, or from things they'd seen or heard in the world around them.
The gods, generally, avoided each other, sticking to their little corners of the world, with their own little afterlives, and dealing with their own problems and their own followers. Around this time, Kara Styrdottir was born to a young Norse couple with enough standing that Kara was able to begin training as a shield maiden when she was old enough. By the time she was twenty, Kara was quite an accomplished young warrior, and when a rival clan attacked, she was one of the first to leap to defend her family and friends. The battle was a gruesome one, and although Kara managed to cut down the attacking clan's leader, she was mortally wounded in the process, and died not long after.
This is where things got interesting for her. Not all valkyries are born that way, although some are, others were women who died in battle and who were given the opportunity to do more than simply wait for Ragnorak to come. Kara was taken to Fólkvangr, where Freyja offered her the choice to become a valkyrie, and having much respect for the warrior women as well as being slightly unable of saying no to a god, Kara accepted. For a long time, life (or... undeath) was good. Kara missed her parents, but she befriended her fellow valkyries with ease, and did her duty as she supposed to, leading the slain to Valhalla and ensuring they were ready for the final battle of Ragnorak.
And then monotheism happened, despite their gods not being real (as far as anyone knows). Everyone had underestimated the humans capability to create stories.
The growth of Christianity is what affected Kara's own world the most, because as it spread and various 'pagan' religions were being lost in favour of it, the gods of those religions began to withdraw. Power comes from worship, and with their worshippers dwindling, most of the gods decided to cut their losses and close themselves off with the followers they'd already gathered. The gates of Asgard were closed, the beings there given the choice to leave and be cut off from their people, or to stay and be cut off from the world. Similar choices were being made throughout other religions, both in the East and the West, although some gods remained while their people were untouched by Christianity and Islam.
For Kara, the idea of being locked away from the world for an unknowable amount of time was terrifying; it would be like being trapped, and being locked out seemed easier to cope with. If only in part because she hoped that one day the gods would return. Some days, she regrets her choice, but that's a conversation for another time.
In the wake of the gods leaving, there was a considerable scramble for power and a lot of fighting between various people and creatures from different cultures. Everyone who'd kept relatively to themselves was now forced to survive together in a world that no longer wanted to recognize them for what they are, occasionally even persecuting them for showing their abilities. After a century or so, a new council was formed by a number of older creatures from an assortment of cultures, and it was decreed that anyone supernatural should keep themselves secret from the humans, to ensure that they weren't wiped out. This is when the Masquerade was born and how things were run for an incredibly long time.
Although the balance of power would occasionally shift within the newly dubbed High Council, it was fairly stable, with certain species having more power than others and preferring to keep things how they were to further their own interests. The politics of the supernatural aren't all that important to Kara's life; she works for the Council on occasion, but only as a PI/bounty hunter/parole officer, and she's made a point not to get involved in all the inner workings, for her own sanity. She doesn't care who's in charge, as long as she's getting paid and no one's trying to kill her.
For several centuries, things carried on as they were. Kara drifted from place to place, tracking down stray creatures if they broke any of the Councils rules, occasionally working as a mercenary in various countries when the opportunity arose, or simply wasting decades doing nothing but drinking, when things got a little too hard to handle. She made sure to keep up with the developments of the world, adapting and adjusting where it was necessary, but she remained more of an observer than anything else.
Things changed again, for everyone, in the 21st Century. Throughout history there had been various pushes to break the Masquerade and reveal the supernatural to humans, but it was always decided against, until it started becoming nearly impossible to remain secret. CCTV, cellphone cameras, and the internet, all made it increasingly difficult for the supernatural creatures to keep themselves secret. That isn't to say that no one knew about them; a number of governments worked alongside an assortment of beings, but the general public was kept in the dark for a very long time.
But eventually the High Council, after almost five years of deliberation, and discussion with various world governments, decided to reveal their existence to humanity, thinking it was better to control the information while they still could. It happened in small increments; governments informed more of their workers, those beings who'd created normal lives for themselves told friends or family, a few creatures revealed themselves within the small communities they were in. By the time the media was starting to report on the rumours, the High Council had reached an agreement with the United Nations, and a press conference was held.
People were, understandably, a little shocked. For about two years, there were a lot of protesting and inquiries and, well, witch hunts across the world. The supernatural beings had been prepared for a backlash, and as such retreated to safe places while the storm raged, allowing the High Council and it's new public representative team handle all the problems that arise when humanity finds out that the things that go bump in the night are real. It was stressed that no one meant humanity any harm, that they would be self-policing, but would also follow the laws of the countries they were living in.
It wasn't perfect, people were still unhappy, but things started to settle down and life moved on, as it always does. Without any reason to keep themselves secret, supernatural beings began to draw a little more attention to themselves, in some cases using their abilities to their advantages, often for monetary profit. But the High Council watches them closely, to ensure no one steps over any lines and endangers the shaky peace with humanity, and Kara found herself with a full-time job again. Since the Masquerade was abandoned, she's found herself working almost entirely for the Council, tracking down rogue creatures who've been hurting or killing humans in a way that could attract too much scrutiny, and either bringing them in, or eliminating them as a last resort. It isn't a job she particularly enjoys, but she knows that it's necessary to make sure the entirety of humanity doesn't turn against them, so she makes sure it gets done, for everyone's sake.
Personality:
Kara is, in one word, old. While not necessarily a personality trait, her age does influence a lot of her personality, both in straight up effects, and how she's consciously constructed herself as a way to cope with being effectively immortal. Being somewhere around 900 years old means that Kara has been around for a long time, and she's seen pretty much everything there is to see. While she's neither ~disillusioned~ with the world or desensitized to the world, there's not really a whole lot that surprises her anymore, and she tends to be very pragmatic dealing with situations, especially those involving humans. It influences how she relates to people, how she lives her life, how she thinks about the world. A lot of the time, she likes being immortal; she's glad she's gotten to experience so much change, that she got to live long enough to see punk music invented. There's a part of Kara that really admires humanity, despite the fact she tends to act as though she looks down on them. Watching how humanity has, well, grown, is fascinating to her and she respects it, the same way she respects how much they can pack into tiny little lives. She doesn't want that sort of life, but she can respect it for what it is.
So she definitely isn't pining for death, even if she can be reckless, and she doesn't think of immortality as a curse, but it's something she can't escape, and it's given her maybe too much time to create a persona for herself. Which is to say that a lot of how Kara acts isn't genuine, or at least not entirely genuine, despite the fact she claims to prefer honesty. She will be honest with people, but only if it doesn't require her to admit anything about herself, because that's something she doesn't really like being honest about. She knows she's not a very nice person, but what she won't admit is that she wishes she were kinder, and that there's parts of her that are kind, she just won't let them show because that runs the risk of people thinking she's kind, and that'll lead to all sorts of messes.
This is why her relationships with people are kept purposefully casual, whether they're human or supernatural, and whether they're friendships or sexual relationships. Forming relationships with humans is difficult because their lives are so short compared to hers, and she simply doesn't really trust many of the supernatural people, or like them. She hasn't had a romantic relationship for an incredibly long time, and doesn't really plan to have one in the future. She also doesn't really have friends, there's just people whose names she bothers to remember, or who she'll go for a drink with if they promise to pay, but she doesn't make a habit of forming any sort of emotional connection. Before most of them retreated with the gods, she was close to her fellow valkyries, but it's been a long time since she's seen most of them. It doesn't necessarily bother her, but she does get a bit lonely on occasion, it's just something that she doesn't like to admit to herself. She tells herself she's perfectly happy by herself, which she is most of the time. Sometimes she just wishes she had someone she could call if she wanted to, aside from her pet raven, Vinr. While she does sleep with people (of any gender), she primarily restricts it to one night stands, in which there's no breakfast in the morning or real discussions about anything. The closest thing to a friendship she has is her relationship with a kumiho named Rebecca, who's favourite past time is annoying the hell out of Kara. They do care about each other, but the fact that their relationship is primarily antagonistic is the only thing that keeps Kara from running for the hills, which says a lot about her. Somewhere along the way she decided that relationships were too much of a commitment, that they were a little bit too terrifying, so she runs as soon as things get too serious.
Mostly she decided to create a sort of shell for herself, not because she thinks letting people in is a weakness, and not because she doesn't want to get hurt, but simply because in her opinion, it's easier. She's seen what interpersonal drama and relationship troubles do to people, how much time they waste, and she'd rather live a life pared down to the simple things, rather than trying to make meaningful connections and having to deal with what she considers a mess. It's just not worth it.
That doesn't make Kara cruel, though. She's not interested in forming close relationships, but she isn't actively mean to anyone (unless they've done something to deserve it by her standards), though she can come across as a bit blunt. That's mostly due to the fact that she doesn't really believe in sugar coating things, especially not to protect someone's feelings, so if someone screws up, or if she thinks they need to be told something for their own good, she'll do it, without really considering whether it'll upset them. This can be advantageous in some circumstances, but the majority of the time she just seems like a jerk. In the same vein, Kara isn't really interested in babysitting people or holding their hand (metaphorically). If someone needs to learn how to do something so they don't get themselves killed, she'll make sure they learn it, or if they need to get their act together for some reason or another, she'll kick their ass into gear instead of letting them get away with not learning/doing the thing.
There are exceptions to all that, though, when she's dealing with people who she feels sympathetic towards. This can change depending on the situation, but Kara does have a soft spot for kids, and if the situation arises, she's fiercely protective of women, and of course she will almost always look after soldiers and warriors. She can't actually separate what's part of being a valkyrie, and what's her own feelings when it comes to soldiers/warriors, but regardless of whether they believe in the Norse gods, and regardless of what they might've done while fighting, Kara will do everything in her power to take care of them. While she still won't necessarily coddle anyone, she will be more considerate of people if she feels sympathetic towards them, and will go the extra mile to make sure they're happy, safe, and whole.
That said, for someone who's nearing a millennium, she can be kind of immature. The thing about the supernatural is that their behaviour can become somewhat 'stuck' in the age they were when they gained immortality, or 'stuck' at a time to reflect their nature. For example, a dryad in spring will be very childlike, due to the association of spring with birth, and in the same way, Kara is still somewhat of a young adult. She can be petulant and a bit of a smart ass, especially if she feels like someone is mocking her. Along the same lines, she tends to talk back to people she shouldn't talk back to, like incredibly old and powerful creatures. To Kara, respect is something earned through actions, not because someone was born into it, so she often doesn't show respect where it's expected she should, which can get her into trouble. Her immaturity doesn't extend to her sense of humour; she does have one, somewhere, but it's more inclined towards dry jokes or sarcasm, (she hates puns), but it is one of the most human things about her. The fact that she's easily riled up and responds like a dramatic teenager is the most normal thing about her.
The other main aspect of Kara's personality is the fact she's a warrior. While she doesn't wade into battle like she used to, she's still a fighter, and it's still played a huge part in who she is as a person. It's part of the reason she's withdrawn from people; not because warriors can't have feelings, but because she focused so much of her being on doing her job, on being a valkyrie, on being a warrior, that when that purpose disappeared, she wasn't quite sure how to be anything else. It's the reason that she's never settled down after leaving Valhalla, and the reason that she still works for 'up high' despite not really feeling any loyalty to them. Kara just doesn't know what else to do. She's battle hardened, and that hasn't left a lot of room for anything else, so she copes by filling her long life with other work.
But violence doesn't disappear from someone's life that easily; her temper isn't too short, but she will leap into a fight without really thinking, and she tends to approach situations with the strategy of a fighter. While of an average intelligence, the combination of being incredibly old and being a warrior has left her with a good knack for planning and strategy that she primarily uses to do her job, and isn't so useful in situations like arguing with her landlord because she can't afford rent. Kara is wired for battle, so she's incredibly helpful in a fight or anything that requires similar strategy (she's great in car chases, when they happen), but it isn't so applicable in the real world, and that's left her floundering in a lot of situations. It's contributed to her being a little rough around the edges, because whenever she encounters circumstances she doesn't know how to handle, she covers it with bluster. And occasionally tries to provoke a fight just so she'll be in familiar territory again.
Both her age, the period she was born in, and the fact she's a warrior by nature has had a big impact on Kara's morality. While she has adapted as time passed and cultural standards changed, the fact of the matter is that she was born in a time when morals were a little bit different to what people expect in the twenty first century. Combined with the fact that she's old and effectively immortal, Kara tends to think on the large scale rather than small. She won't kill or hurt someone for no reason, she isn't sadistic, but she will if it's for the 'greater good', and is willing to make sacrifices if necessary. She also tends to take a bit of a 'live and let live' approach to what other people do with their lives; while she can be slightly judgemental, and will call someone an idiot if she thinks they're being one, Kara isn't going to go out of her way to change someone's way of life, even if what they're doing is illegal or dangerous. If she spent her life getting involved in everyone else's shit, she'd never get anything else done.
At the end of the day, Kara is functional, but only because she's carefully created the circumstances in which she operates. She has limited contact with people, fills her time with work to keep herself busy, and has found a few hobbies that distract her the rest of the time (music being the main of these). Her life is one of constant movement, because settling down risks making connections, it risks interacting with the world in a way she can't control, and she doesn't know how to do that.
Abilities/Skills:
Being a Valkyrie comes with a few different things, along with some abilities/effects that just come from being a supernatural creature.
Inventory:
Kara was driving when she got pulled to the Interim, so her car will be sitting out in the desert until she can be bothered to go haul it back with her. The car is a black Range Rover that's pretty beat up but reliable.
The contents of her car is what she'll be bringing with her, because everything she owns lives in there. Kara will have a bag of assorted clothes + shoes (including toiletries and basic supplies), a cheap-ish tablet computer, her phone, and her weapons. The weapons are the important part: one ulfberht sword and it's sheath (the sword was gifted by Odin, it never dulls and can cut through anything), one Barretta Tx4 shotgun, one Glock G23 Gen4, with ammunition for both and shoulder holster for the Glock.
She'll also have a bit of food, a bottle of vodka, a packet of cigarettes, and a very old lighter (it's from WWII) that's enchanted to never run out of fuel.
SAMPLES
Red Shift TDM links:
Top Level
Breq
Mask Or Menace Threads:
plot related network post
an unpleasant conversation with loki
an assortment of action threads
her bff will graham (prose)
Name: Justine
Over the age of 18? Yes
Your preferred contact:
Other characters playing at Redshift: None
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Kara Styrdottir
Canon: Original
Canon point: The year 2015, not long after the Masquerade was revealed in her world.
Age: around 900 years old, but she looks to be in her early 20s
Species: Valkyrie
Appearance: kstew in welcome to the rileys, with the addition of a set of wings that are only visible when Kara wants them to be. They're almost twice as wide as she is tall, and look like the wings of a swan (see here)
Background:
Kara comes from a world is exactly like ours, except everything that we think of as mythology or legends are real. They have been as long as humans have been around, though no one's quite sure which came first; the stories or the humans, and those that are old enough to remember aren't inclined to discuss it. Probably the most important thing is that the gods were real; Greek, Sumarian, Roman, Hindu, Norse, anyone with a belief system was based on real gods. Obviously this would result in a lot of conflicting stories; not every origin myth can be true, but that's because they aren't. Humans aren't going to get everything right, they still made shit up to explain the world around them, the way myths generally work, but sometimes they were pulling from fact, or from things they'd seen or heard in the world around them.
The gods, generally, avoided each other, sticking to their little corners of the world, with their own little afterlives, and dealing with their own problems and their own followers. Around this time, Kara Styrdottir was born to a young Norse couple with enough standing that Kara was able to begin training as a shield maiden when she was old enough. By the time she was twenty, Kara was quite an accomplished young warrior, and when a rival clan attacked, she was one of the first to leap to defend her family and friends. The battle was a gruesome one, and although Kara managed to cut down the attacking clan's leader, she was mortally wounded in the process, and died not long after.
This is where things got interesting for her. Not all valkyries are born that way, although some are, others were women who died in battle and who were given the opportunity to do more than simply wait for Ragnorak to come. Kara was taken to Fólkvangr, where Freyja offered her the choice to become a valkyrie, and having much respect for the warrior women as well as being slightly unable of saying no to a god, Kara accepted. For a long time, life (or... undeath) was good. Kara missed her parents, but she befriended her fellow valkyries with ease, and did her duty as she supposed to, leading the slain to Valhalla and ensuring they were ready for the final battle of Ragnorak.
And then monotheism happened, despite their gods not being real (as far as anyone knows). Everyone had underestimated the humans capability to create stories.
The growth of Christianity is what affected Kara's own world the most, because as it spread and various 'pagan' religions were being lost in favour of it, the gods of those religions began to withdraw. Power comes from worship, and with their worshippers dwindling, most of the gods decided to cut their losses and close themselves off with the followers they'd already gathered. The gates of Asgard were closed, the beings there given the choice to leave and be cut off from their people, or to stay and be cut off from the world. Similar choices were being made throughout other religions, both in the East and the West, although some gods remained while their people were untouched by Christianity and Islam.
For Kara, the idea of being locked away from the world for an unknowable amount of time was terrifying; it would be like being trapped, and being locked out seemed easier to cope with. If only in part because she hoped that one day the gods would return. Some days, she regrets her choice, but that's a conversation for another time.
In the wake of the gods leaving, there was a considerable scramble for power and a lot of fighting between various people and creatures from different cultures. Everyone who'd kept relatively to themselves was now forced to survive together in a world that no longer wanted to recognize them for what they are, occasionally even persecuting them for showing their abilities. After a century or so, a new council was formed by a number of older creatures from an assortment of cultures, and it was decreed that anyone supernatural should keep themselves secret from the humans, to ensure that they weren't wiped out. This is when the Masquerade was born and how things were run for an incredibly long time.
Although the balance of power would occasionally shift within the newly dubbed High Council, it was fairly stable, with certain species having more power than others and preferring to keep things how they were to further their own interests. The politics of the supernatural aren't all that important to Kara's life; she works for the Council on occasion, but only as a PI/bounty hunter/parole officer, and she's made a point not to get involved in all the inner workings, for her own sanity. She doesn't care who's in charge, as long as she's getting paid and no one's trying to kill her.
For several centuries, things carried on as they were. Kara drifted from place to place, tracking down stray creatures if they broke any of the Councils rules, occasionally working as a mercenary in various countries when the opportunity arose, or simply wasting decades doing nothing but drinking, when things got a little too hard to handle. She made sure to keep up with the developments of the world, adapting and adjusting where it was necessary, but she remained more of an observer than anything else.
Things changed again, for everyone, in the 21st Century. Throughout history there had been various pushes to break the Masquerade and reveal the supernatural to humans, but it was always decided against, until it started becoming nearly impossible to remain secret. CCTV, cellphone cameras, and the internet, all made it increasingly difficult for the supernatural creatures to keep themselves secret. That isn't to say that no one knew about them; a number of governments worked alongside an assortment of beings, but the general public was kept in the dark for a very long time.
But eventually the High Council, after almost five years of deliberation, and discussion with various world governments, decided to reveal their existence to humanity, thinking it was better to control the information while they still could. It happened in small increments; governments informed more of their workers, those beings who'd created normal lives for themselves told friends or family, a few creatures revealed themselves within the small communities they were in. By the time the media was starting to report on the rumours, the High Council had reached an agreement with the United Nations, and a press conference was held.
People were, understandably, a little shocked. For about two years, there were a lot of protesting and inquiries and, well, witch hunts across the world. The supernatural beings had been prepared for a backlash, and as such retreated to safe places while the storm raged, allowing the High Council and it's new public representative team handle all the problems that arise when humanity finds out that the things that go bump in the night are real. It was stressed that no one meant humanity any harm, that they would be self-policing, but would also follow the laws of the countries they were living in.
It wasn't perfect, people were still unhappy, but things started to settle down and life moved on, as it always does. Without any reason to keep themselves secret, supernatural beings began to draw a little more attention to themselves, in some cases using their abilities to their advantages, often for monetary profit. But the High Council watches them closely, to ensure no one steps over any lines and endangers the shaky peace with humanity, and Kara found herself with a full-time job again. Since the Masquerade was abandoned, she's found herself working almost entirely for the Council, tracking down rogue creatures who've been hurting or killing humans in a way that could attract too much scrutiny, and either bringing them in, or eliminating them as a last resort. It isn't a job she particularly enjoys, but she knows that it's necessary to make sure the entirety of humanity doesn't turn against them, so she makes sure it gets done, for everyone's sake.
Personality:
Kara is, in one word, old. While not necessarily a personality trait, her age does influence a lot of her personality, both in straight up effects, and how she's consciously constructed herself as a way to cope with being effectively immortal. Being somewhere around 900 years old means that Kara has been around for a long time, and she's seen pretty much everything there is to see. While she's neither ~disillusioned~ with the world or desensitized to the world, there's not really a whole lot that surprises her anymore, and she tends to be very pragmatic dealing with situations, especially those involving humans. It influences how she relates to people, how she lives her life, how she thinks about the world. A lot of the time, she likes being immortal; she's glad she's gotten to experience so much change, that she got to live long enough to see punk music invented. There's a part of Kara that really admires humanity, despite the fact she tends to act as though she looks down on them. Watching how humanity has, well, grown, is fascinating to her and she respects it, the same way she respects how much they can pack into tiny little lives. She doesn't want that sort of life, but she can respect it for what it is.
So she definitely isn't pining for death, even if she can be reckless, and she doesn't think of immortality as a curse, but it's something she can't escape, and it's given her maybe too much time to create a persona for herself. Which is to say that a lot of how Kara acts isn't genuine, or at least not entirely genuine, despite the fact she claims to prefer honesty. She will be honest with people, but only if it doesn't require her to admit anything about herself, because that's something she doesn't really like being honest about. She knows she's not a very nice person, but what she won't admit is that she wishes she were kinder, and that there's parts of her that are kind, she just won't let them show because that runs the risk of people thinking she's kind, and that'll lead to all sorts of messes.
This is why her relationships with people are kept purposefully casual, whether they're human or supernatural, and whether they're friendships or sexual relationships. Forming relationships with humans is difficult because their lives are so short compared to hers, and she simply doesn't really trust many of the supernatural people, or like them. She hasn't had a romantic relationship for an incredibly long time, and doesn't really plan to have one in the future. She also doesn't really have friends, there's just people whose names she bothers to remember, or who she'll go for a drink with if they promise to pay, but she doesn't make a habit of forming any sort of emotional connection. Before most of them retreated with the gods, she was close to her fellow valkyries, but it's been a long time since she's seen most of them. It doesn't necessarily bother her, but she does get a bit lonely on occasion, it's just something that she doesn't like to admit to herself. She tells herself she's perfectly happy by herself, which she is most of the time. Sometimes she just wishes she had someone she could call if she wanted to, aside from her pet raven, Vinr. While she does sleep with people (of any gender), she primarily restricts it to one night stands, in which there's no breakfast in the morning or real discussions about anything. The closest thing to a friendship she has is her relationship with a kumiho named Rebecca, who's favourite past time is annoying the hell out of Kara. They do care about each other, but the fact that their relationship is primarily antagonistic is the only thing that keeps Kara from running for the hills, which says a lot about her. Somewhere along the way she decided that relationships were too much of a commitment, that they were a little bit too terrifying, so she runs as soon as things get too serious.
Mostly she decided to create a sort of shell for herself, not because she thinks letting people in is a weakness, and not because she doesn't want to get hurt, but simply because in her opinion, it's easier. She's seen what interpersonal drama and relationship troubles do to people, how much time they waste, and she'd rather live a life pared down to the simple things, rather than trying to make meaningful connections and having to deal with what she considers a mess. It's just not worth it.
That doesn't make Kara cruel, though. She's not interested in forming close relationships, but she isn't actively mean to anyone (unless they've done something to deserve it by her standards), though she can come across as a bit blunt. That's mostly due to the fact that she doesn't really believe in sugar coating things, especially not to protect someone's feelings, so if someone screws up, or if she thinks they need to be told something for their own good, she'll do it, without really considering whether it'll upset them. This can be advantageous in some circumstances, but the majority of the time she just seems like a jerk. In the same vein, Kara isn't really interested in babysitting people or holding their hand (metaphorically). If someone needs to learn how to do something so they don't get themselves killed, she'll make sure they learn it, or if they need to get their act together for some reason or another, she'll kick their ass into gear instead of letting them get away with not learning/doing the thing.
There are exceptions to all that, though, when she's dealing with people who she feels sympathetic towards. This can change depending on the situation, but Kara does have a soft spot for kids, and if the situation arises, she's fiercely protective of women, and of course she will almost always look after soldiers and warriors. She can't actually separate what's part of being a valkyrie, and what's her own feelings when it comes to soldiers/warriors, but regardless of whether they believe in the Norse gods, and regardless of what they might've done while fighting, Kara will do everything in her power to take care of them. While she still won't necessarily coddle anyone, she will be more considerate of people if she feels sympathetic towards them, and will go the extra mile to make sure they're happy, safe, and whole.
That said, for someone who's nearing a millennium, she can be kind of immature. The thing about the supernatural is that their behaviour can become somewhat 'stuck' in the age they were when they gained immortality, or 'stuck' at a time to reflect their nature. For example, a dryad in spring will be very childlike, due to the association of spring with birth, and in the same way, Kara is still somewhat of a young adult. She can be petulant and a bit of a smart ass, especially if she feels like someone is mocking her. Along the same lines, she tends to talk back to people she shouldn't talk back to, like incredibly old and powerful creatures. To Kara, respect is something earned through actions, not because someone was born into it, so she often doesn't show respect where it's expected she should, which can get her into trouble. Her immaturity doesn't extend to her sense of humour; she does have one, somewhere, but it's more inclined towards dry jokes or sarcasm, (she hates puns), but it is one of the most human things about her. The fact that she's easily riled up and responds like a dramatic teenager is the most normal thing about her.
The other main aspect of Kara's personality is the fact she's a warrior. While she doesn't wade into battle like she used to, she's still a fighter, and it's still played a huge part in who she is as a person. It's part of the reason she's withdrawn from people; not because warriors can't have feelings, but because she focused so much of her being on doing her job, on being a valkyrie, on being a warrior, that when that purpose disappeared, she wasn't quite sure how to be anything else. It's the reason that she's never settled down after leaving Valhalla, and the reason that she still works for 'up high' despite not really feeling any loyalty to them. Kara just doesn't know what else to do. She's battle hardened, and that hasn't left a lot of room for anything else, so she copes by filling her long life with other work.
But violence doesn't disappear from someone's life that easily; her temper isn't too short, but she will leap into a fight without really thinking, and she tends to approach situations with the strategy of a fighter. While of an average intelligence, the combination of being incredibly old and being a warrior has left her with a good knack for planning and strategy that she primarily uses to do her job, and isn't so useful in situations like arguing with her landlord because she can't afford rent. Kara is wired for battle, so she's incredibly helpful in a fight or anything that requires similar strategy (she's great in car chases, when they happen), but it isn't so applicable in the real world, and that's left her floundering in a lot of situations. It's contributed to her being a little rough around the edges, because whenever she encounters circumstances she doesn't know how to handle, she covers it with bluster. And occasionally tries to provoke a fight just so she'll be in familiar territory again.
Both her age, the period she was born in, and the fact she's a warrior by nature has had a big impact on Kara's morality. While she has adapted as time passed and cultural standards changed, the fact of the matter is that she was born in a time when morals were a little bit different to what people expect in the twenty first century. Combined with the fact that she's old and effectively immortal, Kara tends to think on the large scale rather than small. She won't kill or hurt someone for no reason, she isn't sadistic, but she will if it's for the 'greater good', and is willing to make sacrifices if necessary. She also tends to take a bit of a 'live and let live' approach to what other people do with their lives; while she can be slightly judgemental, and will call someone an idiot if she thinks they're being one, Kara isn't going to go out of her way to change someone's way of life, even if what they're doing is illegal or dangerous. If she spent her life getting involved in everyone else's shit, she'd never get anything else done.
At the end of the day, Kara is functional, but only because she's carefully created the circumstances in which she operates. She has limited contact with people, fills her time with work to keep herself busy, and has found a few hobbies that distract her the rest of the time (music being the main of these). Her life is one of constant movement, because settling down risks making connections, it risks interacting with the world in a way she can't control, and she doesn't know how to do that.
Abilities/Skills:
Being a Valkyrie comes with a few different things, along with some abilities/effects that just come from being a supernatural creature.
- Immortality/invulnerability: Kara can die, but it's a hard task to manage. She doesn't age, heals quicker than a human, can take harder hits without it damaging her, is mostly immune to poisons (they make her unwell, but won't kill her, and this goes the same for drugs/alcohol), and can't get sick.
- Enhancements: She's stronger and faster than a human, with reflexes and stamina to match, and she has a natural affinity for weaponry (along with having practiced for centuries). Think along the lines of Captain America rather than Superman, in terms of strength and speed; she's enhanced, but not, you know, crazy powerful.
- Animal affinity: Only for swans, ravens and horses, all animals associated with Valkyries. She doesn't like to talk about it, except to hang out with ravens occasionally. She hates swans.
- Wings: Her wings are about ten feet wide when stretched out fully, which logically shouldn't actually allow flight, even if Kara is on the smaller side. But. Magic. It's also magic that allows them to completely disappear when they're tucked tight against her back.
- Blessings: If someone is going into battle, Kara give them what amounts to a blessing, increasing their abilities a tiny bit, along with giving them a little extra luck. If someone actually believes in the old Norse gods, Kara can straight up choose their fate on the battlefield, although obviously that doesn't happen all that often anymore.
- Senses: There's two aspects to this, the first being a sense of death that Kara has, allowing her to tell if a lot of death has occurred, if it's been violent, etc etc. It's especially strong in a battle field, and she can often get a sense of whether someone has been close to/has died before. The other aspect of this is a general sense of other supernatural creatures; sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't, but she can usually tell if there's something else non-human lurking around.
- Supernatural osmosis: Because I can't think of a better term for it. Basically any supernatural creatures tend have a bit of a rub off effect on the mortals around them, whether it's people or animals. Some effects are specific to a certain creature (someone who spends a long time with a dryad will find themselves with a green thumb), while others are fairly generalized, such as a longer life span. This is why Kara's raven is like 80 years old.
- Combat: With weapons (incl. guns) and hand to hand - some of this comes from her gifted abilities, but a lot of it is just due to the fact she's been training for centuries
- Survival: She can hunt, make her own shelter, create a fire from scratch, and do all those fun things that mean she could essentially live in the wild if she wanted to
- Cars: The only technology she likes, and the only tech she can actually wrap her head around. She can fix almost an engine problem, as long as she has the tools.
Inventory:
Kara was driving when she got pulled to the Interim, so her car will be sitting out in the desert until she can be bothered to go haul it back with her. The car is a black Range Rover that's pretty beat up but reliable.
The contents of her car is what she'll be bringing with her, because everything she owns lives in there. Kara will have a bag of assorted clothes + shoes (including toiletries and basic supplies), a cheap-ish tablet computer, her phone, and her weapons. The weapons are the important part: one ulfberht sword and it's sheath (the sword was gifted by Odin, it never dulls and can cut through anything), one Barretta Tx4 shotgun, one Glock G23 Gen4, with ammunition for both and shoulder holster for the Glock.
She'll also have a bit of food, a bottle of vodka, a packet of cigarettes, and a very old lighter (it's from WWII) that's enchanted to never run out of fuel.
SAMPLES
Red Shift TDM links:
Top Level
Breq
Mask Or Menace Threads:
plot related network post
an unpleasant conversation with loki
an assortment of action threads
her bff will graham (prose)
