>>ORIGINS - Ben Hanson!

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

(Thank you Gillsing!)

[Gillsing]

GM QUESTIONS FOR BEN:

tab I ended up writing a weird personality for Ben, please feel free to change it, I was just in the zone.

Doesn't seem that weird to me.

But it takes more than cheap anime trinkets for Ben to squee, so I had to change that. Other than that I only included Ben's phone ringing.


tab I thought Ben should live in the 403 apartment building, which will be a significant location eventually, because it fit the description in your bio. As is common in Seattle, and especially for the even slightly anti-social, he'll probably not know his neighbors at all, so it's not much of a big deal, just a heads up. :B

Works perfectly for me. And it's the same here. (While I do know some of my neighbours, I don't talk to them a lot.)


tab Anyhow-- questions! Does Ben have any close friends at work? Any pets?

He has friends at work, but none of them are close. And no pets. He does have a mom and dad in one of the suburban neighbourhoods. Barbara ("Barb") is a retired school teacher, and Jacob ("Jake") is one of those school janitors who earn more money than the teachers. After Ben moved out his mom got herself a pet. A pot-bellied pig named Finster.




tab Spring had sprung, as the tacky sales posters said, and for Ben Hanson that meant one thing-- convention time. Sakuracon was nearly upon him, this weekend in fact! He'd spent a bucket of money on custom made items for his cosplay, and it would surely wow everyone. He had a few coworkers who tried to bum a free room out of him, just because he lived closest to the convention center. No free lunches, bums! So, unfortunately, he didn't have anyone to go with. That didn't matter though, the convention was like a wondrous menagerie of exotic beauties, some probably for the taking! He considered renting a room even though he lived near by, just for, -ahem- convenience, just in case someone was interested. He made a lot of money, and he worked for Microsoft, that had to count for something! Plus, this costume was gonna OWN. Sometimes people got all uppity about making things yourself, but why should he? He wasn't a seamstress, and he had the bucks to get pros to do it for him. Damn it, he was supporting his local economy, what more did they want?!

tab A long day at work, and it was only Wednesday. He couldn't stop wondering if his packages were going to come in time. He'd check the office the second he got home, which wouldn't take him long once he was free. The 403 building was alright, nothing all that fancy but hell if it wasn't convenient. Just the shortest jaunt to work, and next to all the fine things in life. Well, not Uwajimaya or Pink Godzilla, but, eh, can't win 'em all.
tab He couldn't stand the waiting. Ooh, or he could call right now! He looked up the number for the office, and crossed his fingers that Breanne, the sweetie-pie manager was the one who picked up.

tab “Hey.”
Fuck! It was that floopy haired little stoner son of Breanne's. Pretty obvious how he got that job, but he was obviously not qualified for it.
tab “Hi, I'd like to see if I've got a package in?”
tab “Oh... really? Shit man, I was just uh... yeah I could look that up for you... S'alright if I call you back?”
tab “Yeah, but don't you need to know the apartment number?”
tab “I'm cool. *Click”

tab FUUUUUCK! That little brat! He was probably doing a bong hit right in the middle of Breanne's desk. Last time he came in to complain about some noise, little twerp reeked of booze and could hardly keep his eyelids up.
tab Whatever. He'd just check when he got off work.
tab But then, work happened.

tab By the time he noticed the time, the office had been closed for fifteen minutes. ARGH! No way that kid was still gonna be around. Ben cursed this cruel world, and decided to go drown his sorrows in delicious Japanese candy.

tab The traffic downtown this direction was obnoxious, so he decided to save himself a trip all the way to the international district and just make a quick trip to Daiso at Westlake. It was really a charming store, and the prices were beyond compare. (Not that he needed them to be, but he had to appreciate it nonetheless.) Plus, super cute cashiers! He spent nearly an hour pouring over interesting pens and adorable stationery and mysterious toys, all for under three dollars! If he didn't watch himself, he might have to get a bigger apartment for all of this. His cashier looked very tired as she rung up his crammed full basket. Her nails were intricately painted with cute little characters, and he'd nearly started to ask her if she was maybe by chance gonna happen to go to Sakuracon 'cause y'know-- when her phone rang. Oh cute! Was that the theme to--

tab A customer's phone rang, and another and another... Ben's own phone quickly joined the choir with a familiar anime tune. His mother? He shoved his hand into his pocket, but before he managed to answer, the phone fell silent. As did everyone else's. One of the other cashiers poked her head out of the store's entrance to see what was going on. Ben heard the distant sound of cars roaring. What, some kind of parade or something? He glanced at his phone, 7:15. Weird time to start something like that... Ugh and 'no signal', wasn't this company supposed to have the most comprehensive service?

[Gillsing]

                With his sprained ankle Ben couldn't help out with the cleaning of the 403 building, so once he had hobbled over to the 320 condos he stayed there for the two weeks it took to make the 403 livable again. He easily got hold of a pair of crutches so that he could get around inside the new building, and used his limited mobility to visit all the people he wasn't too familiar with. From where he'd gotten the idea he wasn't sure, but somehow he'd decided that it would be a good idea for everyone to get to know everyone else, so that they'd be able to tell who's a stranger and who's a resident, and also have an easier time telling if someone was acting strange.

                When he'd mentioned his reasoning at a council meeting, the others had thought it was such a good idea that they decided to arrange for a mixer where everyone had to get to know each other. Ben made a list for himself to make sure he didn't miss anyone, and eventually managed to memorize everyone's name and face.

                Being on the council also allowed Ben to listen in when Nat tried to explain how magic works, something which they basically forced him to do. They tried their best to not turn it into some kind of government interrogation, but it was hard when they all wanted to know the details. And Nat sure seemed easily spooked by being asked questions by lots of people. What they got out of him was that magic wasn't good or evil, and that it could work for anyone as long as there was enough intent and structure. Both Ashley and Ben had tried some form of exorcism on the possessed people, but although their intents had been earnest, they had completely lacked the necessary structure. On the other side of the spectrum there would be massproduced magic items, which may have the necessary structure, but lack the intent during the making.

                Apparently Nat had found some 'spirit candles' from a nearby religious supply store, and during the night he had determined that they actually held ghosts at bay when they were burning. So his conclusion was that they were hand-made candles made with the right intent, and that's why they worked. They only had a dozen of those candles, but they burned slowly enough that they could last a while longer. Would be nice if they could learn how to make some for themselves, obviously. But the only only one who seemed to have both the intent and the structure for actual magic was Luke, and he wasn't very coherent or cooperative.

                Ben wondered if it was just pure luck that had triggered Luke to get rid of the ghosts, or if the old man had a 'bigger picture' view of things, and simply didn't feel a need to bother with certain mundane concerns. Apparently big magic had creepy costs, and the magic had cost him an eye that night. And for all Ben knew, that's how Luke preferred it: Big sacrifice for a decisive effect, no boring small-time stuff to keep everyone safe all the time. Quite the opposite from Ben's zombie genocide, since that was all about workplace safety.

                Then again, if magic required intent, then Ben could certainly see how an immediate threat might actually be necessary to focus the mind and break through whatever barriers might exist. At least necessary for Luke. Whoever made the spirit candles had probably not been in the middle of a ghost invasion at the time. Though perhaps they had known of the threat before the zompocalypse? Like a supernatural cold war that had always been threatening to turn into a supernatural nuclear war? That could probably have brought on plenty of 'intent'.

                And what of religious prayers? Did they work as magic spells when they had the proper intent and structure? Had the zompcalypse come about as a result of religious people losing the proper intent in their prayers? Or the structure? As an atheist, Ben had heard that Hell wasn't actually mentioned anywhere in the Bible, and that it had instead been invented as a way to scare people into becoming devout Christians. If it was true that a belief in Hell made it easier for demons to possess someone, did that mean that it could've been demons who had tricked people into believing in Hell? Like some kind of psy op? Could religion with the right intent and structure work against the demons?

                Those thoughts and many others slid around in Ben's mind, and he tried to discuss them with anyone who'd be interested. Because it was high time to take the battle to wherever the demons had come from.

                Once the 403 building had been properly cleaned and aired out, Ben hobbled back to his apartment. It felt good to be back home again, and he considered himself lucky that his floor had been spared the worst of the corpses and ectoplasmic goo. And his apartment had been spared almost entirely.

tab When Jackson wasn't moving back in, Ben thought at first that he should find another roommate, just to be safe. But apart from the invasion they'd just repelled, they hadn't really had any problems with ghosts or demons visiting the apartments, so he decided to take a chance and live on his own for a while.

tab Oh, there was that nekomata the others had encountered, but Ben didn't think that seemed like a dangerous enough threat that he'd need a roommate to wake him up. Dark ghosts were the real reason for such caution, since they didn't give second chances. One touch and you're dead, and that wasn't even the end of it.

tab And as an atheist, apparently Ben was unlikely to become possessed by a demon. And even if he was, he'd probably just make a nuisance out of himself until he got noticed by some unfortunate mortals. That is, unless the demon decided to do the smart thing and just kill Ben to cement the possession. But where would the fun be in that? Apparently most of the demons were addicted to cruel entertainment. Maybe it was the only thing they had? And why should they do the smart thing when they could afford to toy with the puny mortals?