Let's Do...FLANG! Care and Feeding of Your Navaan
Fandom's newest doctor (and heaven help anyone injured or ill on her shift) is "Doctor" Navaan from the webcomic Oglaf. For those of you who don't know the comic, please don't click on the link if you're at work. Or school. Or near small children.
That line is taken directly from the homepage of Oglaf, right before you have to click the button that promises that you're 18 to actually view the site. Disclaimers aside, Oglaf is actually a very funny and witty comic that manages to keep up consistent characterization and plot lines woven in between a bunch of stand-alone comics. While sexual acts and visual nudity abound in the comic, there are plenty of SFW comics as well, and other comics that contain no sex or nudity, but have crude language instead. If you are interested in checking out the comic, the archive clearly labels all SFW comics (and will warn for any labeled such but contain swears and the like), but if you want to read the comic, it may just be best to wait until you're somewhere you can browse with impunity.
I'm going to come back to certain issues about playing a character from a primarily-NSFW comic, but for now, let's focus on the character herself.
The latest addition to Fandom's medical staff is a young vampire named Navaan who is posing as a doctor to be able to feed off her patients in a non-harmful way. She relies a lot on leeches and bloodletting when dealing with her patients and is fairly lax about things like 'diagnoses' or 'common sense.' She isn't actively malicious--in fact, she is very protective of her patients, like in the comic above--but she's also not particularly clear on what a doctor does. Doctoring is a fun means to an end and while she's passionate about that calling, she is also prone to diagnosing people with syphilis just because they're being jerks. And threatens to diagnose them with something even worse if they don't back off.
What do you mean, that's not how it works? What do you know, siffy?
Because she is a vampire, she will explode if she comes in contact with the sun. Much like Buffy vampires, she can stay out in the sun, but only if she is fully covered, so often times Navaan can be seen in a long cloak and a plague doctor mask. She refers to herself as a parasite in one comic and while she doesn't go out of her way to admit what she is, she'll admit to being a vampire if asked. Of course, she also has fangs that are clearly visible anytime she opens her mouth, so denying her nature might be a little hard. She used to be part of a vampire cult that lured people out into the woods to drain them of blood and drink it, but she's over that, hence the doctor thing. She can eat regular food and drink as well, but she does need blood to survive. Every so often, she goes into a coma-like state and sleeps for a week. As far as vampires go, she seems to be pretty young, both physically and mentally. The comic doesn't give her an age, but she behaves much like a 21 year old whose goal in life is to be in as many Girls Gone Wild videos as possible and who gets excited to see her names scrawled on a bathroom wall.
Personality-wise, while Navaan CAN be dark and dangerous and kinda murdery, that’s generally not who she is. She is excitable, whimsical, and fairly irresponsible--at one point in the comic, she gets sidetracked by a carnival on her way to stop a god from devouring all of her friends. She’s easily distractable--she’s like ADHD with a side of playful sneaksiness. Not sneakiness, no. Sneaksiness. The difference is important. She’s all excitement and enthusiasm, especially for things like blood. Or sex. Or shinies! Or--ooh! What’s that! She is intelligent, however, figuring out several key plot points and successfully tricking a captive into telling her his secrets, though that intelligence is buried under a lot of puppy-like enthusiasm and gleeful cracked-out insanity.
Because she is a vampire, she does have certain abilities, like impressive agility and strength. She can leap up into rafters and hold herself there, taking flying leaps, somersault through the air, and pull off other gymnastic feats. She is very strong (though perhaps not superhumanly so), and has impressive stamina.
As far as fighting goes, she’s skilled enough at it to fight off a skilled adventurer, though mostly due to her heightened strength and dexterity. She is no professional fighter, however. For one thing, she lacks pretty much all focus and discipline. She probably wouldn’t be the winner of a bar fight, but she’d be able to get out with minimal injuries, after spending a few minutes riding around on someone’s back, punching people who got in their way (NSFW). Primarily, the comic has shown her using knives and a sword, or fighting hand-to-hand, but she can also make and use poisons and possibly magical potions as well.
Also, she has some kind of magical power that lets her leave fang-scratches on people’s most intimate parts and have those same people come back for more. I’m hypothesizing some kind of euphoric-drug in her saliva. BECAUSE SCARS, PEOPLE. SCARS.
Which brings us to the most potentially problematic part of Navaan's personality. She is a character from an NSFW comic and she is very enthusiastic about sex. This is a very important part of her character makeup. She's a cheerfully sexual character and no one can tell her that frequent bouts of sex isn't an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
...That being said, Navaan is not here to attempt to seduce every character in the game. Students are pretty much immediately off-limits, and all behavior in public comms will follow public comm guidelines. Neither Navaan nor I will be going into any thread with the expectation that it will end in sexyfuntiems and no thread will be seen as an excuse or permission to blatantly hit on or attempt to seduce a character. I have no desire to make anyone uncomfortable with my character on either an IC (unless agreed upon beforehand) or an OOC level. If, at any time, a thread starts heading in a direction you're not okay with, let me know. We can stop, I'll delete and edit pings, whatever it takes to keep the thread fun for both of us. I am going to work very hard to make sure this isn't an issue, but feedback is important, too, especially if I have accidentally strayed into discomfort territory.
Basically, she's a character and will be played like any other. More than anything, I wanted to be upfront about her source material and assure everyone that I am mindful of boundaries. Oglaf is a sex comic, but this is not a sex game and I have no intentions of playing her like it were. I intend to make sure the biggest impact her source material has on her is the number of icons that can only be used in private, locked posts.
Teal Deer Version
*Vampire, drinks blood, explodes in sunlight, enhanced strength and agility.
*Not Actually a Doctor (shhh! Don't tell!)
*A little cracked out, but generally a good person.
*Is from an NSFW comic, but threading with her carries no expectations of NSFW activities
I think that's it. Comments or questions?
That line is taken directly from the homepage of Oglaf, right before you have to click the button that promises that you're 18 to actually view the site. Disclaimers aside, Oglaf is actually a very funny and witty comic that manages to keep up consistent characterization and plot lines woven in between a bunch of stand-alone comics. While sexual acts and visual nudity abound in the comic, there are plenty of SFW comics as well, and other comics that contain no sex or nudity, but have crude language instead. If you are interested in checking out the comic, the archive clearly labels all SFW comics (and will warn for any labeled such but contain swears and the like), but if you want to read the comic, it may just be best to wait until you're somewhere you can browse with impunity.
I'm going to come back to certain issues about playing a character from a primarily-NSFW comic, but for now, let's focus on the character herself.
The latest addition to Fandom's medical staff is a young vampire named Navaan who is posing as a doctor to be able to feed off her patients in a non-harmful way. She relies a lot on leeches and bloodletting when dealing with her patients and is fairly lax about things like 'diagnoses' or 'common sense.' She isn't actively malicious--in fact, she is very protective of her patients, like in the comic above--but she's also not particularly clear on what a doctor does. Doctoring is a fun means to an end and while she's passionate about that calling, she is also prone to diagnosing people with syphilis just because they're being jerks. And threatens to diagnose them with something even worse if they don't back off.
What do you mean, that's not how it works? What do you know, siffy?
Because she is a vampire, she will explode if she comes in contact with the sun. Much like Buffy vampires, she can stay out in the sun, but only if she is fully covered, so often times Navaan can be seen in a long cloak and a plague doctor mask. She refers to herself as a parasite in one comic and while she doesn't go out of her way to admit what she is, she'll admit to being a vampire if asked. Of course, she also has fangs that are clearly visible anytime she opens her mouth, so denying her nature might be a little hard. She used to be part of a vampire cult that lured people out into the woods to drain them of blood and drink it, but she's over that, hence the doctor thing. She can eat regular food and drink as well, but she does need blood to survive. Every so often, she goes into a coma-like state and sleeps for a week. As far as vampires go, she seems to be pretty young, both physically and mentally. The comic doesn't give her an age, but she behaves much like a 21 year old whose goal in life is to be in as many Girls Gone Wild videos as possible and who gets excited to see her names scrawled on a bathroom wall.
Personality-wise, while Navaan CAN be dark and dangerous and kinda murdery, that’s generally not who she is. She is excitable, whimsical, and fairly irresponsible--at one point in the comic, she gets sidetracked by a carnival on her way to stop a god from devouring all of her friends. She’s easily distractable--she’s like ADHD with a side of playful sneaksiness. Not sneakiness, no. Sneaksiness. The difference is important. She’s all excitement and enthusiasm, especially for things like blood. Or sex. Or shinies! Or--ooh! What’s that! She is intelligent, however, figuring out several key plot points and successfully tricking a captive into telling her his secrets, though that intelligence is buried under a lot of puppy-like enthusiasm and gleeful cracked-out insanity.
Because she is a vampire, she does have certain abilities, like impressive agility and strength. She can leap up into rafters and hold herself there, taking flying leaps, somersault through the air, and pull off other gymnastic feats. She is very strong (though perhaps not superhumanly so), and has impressive stamina.
As far as fighting goes, she’s skilled enough at it to fight off a skilled adventurer, though mostly due to her heightened strength and dexterity. She is no professional fighter, however. For one thing, she lacks pretty much all focus and discipline. She probably wouldn’t be the winner of a bar fight, but she’d be able to get out with minimal injuries, after spending a few minutes riding around on someone’s back, punching people who got in their way (NSFW). Primarily, the comic has shown her using knives and a sword, or fighting hand-to-hand, but she can also make and use poisons and possibly magical potions as well.
Also, she has some kind of magical power that lets her leave fang-scratches on people’s most intimate parts and have those same people come back for more. I’m hypothesizing some kind of euphoric-drug in her saliva. BECAUSE SCARS, PEOPLE. SCARS.
Which brings us to the most potentially problematic part of Navaan's personality. She is a character from an NSFW comic and she is very enthusiastic about sex. This is a very important part of her character makeup. She's a cheerfully sexual character and no one can tell her that frequent bouts of sex isn't an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
...That being said, Navaan is not here to attempt to seduce every character in the game. Students are pretty much immediately off-limits, and all behavior in public comms will follow public comm guidelines. Neither Navaan nor I will be going into any thread with the expectation that it will end in sexyfuntiems and no thread will be seen as an excuse or permission to blatantly hit on or attempt to seduce a character. I have no desire to make anyone uncomfortable with my character on either an IC (unless agreed upon beforehand) or an OOC level. If, at any time, a thread starts heading in a direction you're not okay with, let me know. We can stop, I'll delete and edit pings, whatever it takes to keep the thread fun for both of us. I am going to work very hard to make sure this isn't an issue, but feedback is important, too, especially if I have accidentally strayed into discomfort territory.
Basically, she's a character and will be played like any other. More than anything, I wanted to be upfront about her source material and assure everyone that I am mindful of boundaries. Oglaf is a sex comic, but this is not a sex game and I have no intentions of playing her like it were. I intend to make sure the biggest impact her source material has on her is the number of icons that can only be used in private, locked posts.
Teal Deer Version
*Vampire, drinks blood, explodes in sunlight, enhanced strength and agility.
*Not Actually a Doctor (shhh! Don't tell!)
*A little cracked out, but generally a good person.
*Is from an NSFW comic, but threading with her carries no expectations of NSFW activities
I think that's it. Comments or questions?