September 23, 2042

Squidgirl.

Squidgirl

Here is my entry into the art contest.

My previous life was trivial, though it should still be noted, I was once a stunning woman. It's almost embarrassing how my transportation and mutation happened. Right now I want it noted that I had the most beautiful hair in town. It was as golden as fresh wheat fields, shining in the sun. I was hired for multiple jobs simply on my hair. Sure they were only simple films, Ghost girl from Mars, Santa Sees Red, Harietta of Harlot, but I was proud of my work! I was living the high life with expensive dinners, parties until 2 am, fancy clothes and diamonds.

I remember the day it happened quite vividly. I had been drinking too much that night and came home with a most unpleasant feeling in my stomach. My instant thought was to get some toast. The process was basic, grab bread, stick it in the toaster, lay head on counter and let the world spin while I wait for it to finish. So when the machine finishes and my toast didn't pop up, the natural response was to fetch it out. Using fingers burned, as I had learned from previous experience, so I grabbed the nearest thing I could find. This happened to be a highly conductive piece of metal called a fork. As I fished around in the toaster for my late night meal, I must have hit a live wire. I don't remember much really, only the quick zap, an upset stomach, and then poof! I was quite stunned to find myself still in my kitchen, lacking walls and planted in the center of a giant hole.

Seriously, it was a hole. One gaping hole that I was smack in the center of still wearing my 300 dollar shoes and a very chilly sequined gown made of very sheer silk. Adding to the excitement of the day, I felt the squirming masses on my back. I swatted desperately, screaming as I tried to get them off. It took a good minute before I even realized that not only did my hair turn to tentacles, but my hands were now those squirmy things as well.

Without going into too much history the best I can figure is that my lunch caused my problems. I had consumed a ridiculous amount of Calamari that evening, and it likely took that zappyness from the fork and toaster, and mixed it with my DNA and poof, I am now a living squidgirl. It hasn't been a bad life since then, I've learned new tricks taking as much as I remember from movies to kill what I needed to survive. My diet has suffered a bit, and I do miss the luxuries of my previous life, but I have to say it's exciting. Now if I could only get back home, I'd probably have the lead in so many films! I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't want the only squidgirl ever as their own personal actress! If they don't hire me, I'll just have to rip their heads off.

Here’s my submission of art, titled: Squid Girl at the Office
A subtitle might be: 8 arms + 1 keyboard= inefficient.

All right then, I’ve finally got an entry for this contest – and another may follow, in a different category. This one probably falls most closely into “Something else entirely but still about Squidgirl.” Readers may note that the characters Brutish Rabbit and Ratsca are based on those featured on the Gamma World box.

Without further ado, allow me to present excerpts from Shakespeare’s first great play: Squidgirl Caesar

-JTV

Squidgirl
Squidlike mutant
A young woman who spends most of her time at Bitter & Herb’s. Nobody knows much about her, and she rarely involves herself with others. She is particularly reticent about her history, and even if asked directly, will not willing talk about herself, and will redirect any questions about her background. Some people say Bitter & Herb know more, but the bartender doesn’t say anything.
Al Amarjan woman, mutant, 175 cm, 67 kg, mottled purple skin, tentacles in place of arms and hair.
Languages: English, Al Amarjan patois
Attack: 4 die plus bonus, x2 damage (knife) or x3 damage (light pistol)
Defense: 4 die plus bonus
Hit Points: 28 (unnatural resilience)
Traits
Fighting, 4 die: Squidgirl has devised a way of fighting that takes advantage of her tentacles, and has had many opportunities to practice it on the Edge. (Carries herself confidently)
Tentacles, fringe trait: Dextrous entacles cover Squidgirl’s head and replace her arms. (Bonus die on tasks relating to phyiscal dexterity, including fighting) (Covered in tentacles)
Distinct appearance, flaw: Squidgirl, being bright purple and covered in tentacles, is always noticable where ever she may be. (Penalty die when trying to be stealthy or inconspicuous) (Purple skin)

Gah, stupid computer; it’s for Over the Edge.

I’d‘ve sworn I’d put a note to that effect at the beginning. Whoops.

SquidGirl, Stay-At-Home Mom image link
Medium Natural Animate

Level 11 Brute
XP 500
Initiative +15 Senses Perception +13
HP 90; Bloodied 45
AC 20; Fortitude 23, Reflex 21, Will 20
Speed 7

Tentacles (standard, at-will)
+15 vs AC; 2d6+3 damage, and the target is grabbed (until escape).

Punish: Chores (standard, at-will)
Targets a creature grabbed by SquidGirl; +13 vs Fortitude; 3d6 + 3 damage, and the target is dominated (save ends). Does dishes, cleans room etc.

Beam Staff (standard, recharge ) Lightning Close blast 5; does not target creatures dominated by Squidgirl; +13 vs Will; 2d8+3 lightning damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).

Alignment Evil Languages Deep Speech, Common, Old Lady
Skills Intimidate +16, Diplomacy +16, Heal +12, Acrobatics +15
Str 13 (+6) Dex 20 (+10) Wis 14 (+7)
Con 17 (+8) Int 17 (+8) Cha 23 (+11)

edit: formatting

My entry is a little irregular, and as such, I can't post an exact link to it here. But if you search for "Jane Gameson" on Facebook and see the Gamma World cover you should be able to find it (for whatever reason, Facebook decided that "Squidgirl" didn't constitute the name of a real person). Make sure to scroll all the way down on the wall, to check out the interests, and to scope out the photos. By way of warning, some of the content is mildly adult-oriented, but I don't think any of it is explicit enough to qualify for entry into the Book of Vile Darkness.

Entry #2: "Something Else Entirely, But Still About SquidGirl"

For your reading pleasure, a limerick:

SquidGirl, upon turning thirty,
Still found herself acting quite flirty,
As she aged she still had "it"
But readers who lack wit
Would hope that this poem'd be dirty!

Mwahahahaha.

So sayeth Omnus.

Final Entry for me, I promise: Journal Entry

Squidgirl

Entry #3: SquidGirl's Background

SquidGirl's real name is unpronounceable to human mouths and unable to be adequately written in Galactic Standard, but the sound is close to a seagull being chomped upon by an orca rising from the water if you were directly underneath in the water. It's actually a little too quaint, but her mother picked it for sentimental reasons. Her parents were a fringe artist (painting pictures of things in various states of decay as a statement on the state of society) and a driven, successful businesswoman. She strove to excel past her podlings and worked to get into the DryWorlder Beyond program. Interplanetary travel fascinated her, and she could leave her squabbling siblings behind her! With a fanatical devotion to self-improvement and education, she received a degree and advanced into the program.

The IntraGalactic Uplift Program sponsored by several of the senior species in the galactic collective ensured that when the planet dubbed Aquellious-5 made contact, it would not go unanswered. SquidGirl was one of the pioneers from her world that first met otherworlders. It led to amazing discovery after discovery, a few social blunders (most other species prefer to eat DEAD food, fascinating!), and the formation of a group of interspecies ambassadors (officially, in reality they help fight the kind of chaos that special tensions and prejudice can foster). The group picked names for each other, and gave SquidGirl her name. Of course, she had some say in what the other's names would be, so the human OverbearingApe (formerly Major Rex Riley), the Andromedan strong-being LoudHairy (strange people, those Andromedans, worshiping road signs seen while viewing old Earth broadcasts) and the quadrupedal Zippy McRunsFast joined her in becoming the Galactic Quartet! Using her peoples' energy weapons and obsessed with eliminating vermin, SquidGirl has found a niche, and new friends.

EDIT: Corrected a few spelling errors. Silly ol’ Duskreign and his stupid, stupid brain…

Here is my entry in the Backstory contest

The above link is formatted to match my character sheet design for my Stats contest entry, both of which include my Art contest entry.

For the sake of making this easier to read, I will copy/paste the text from my Backstory below:

Twenty-two years ago, a scout from the city of Lost Orleans was diving for salvage in the treacherous waters that were once known as the Gulf of Mexico, but were now simply called the Deadwaters. The name was a misnomer, as the Deadwaters teemed with aquatic life. However, none who braved the fatal salt-rich waves of the Deadwaters lived to reap the rewards of such a foolhardy expedition. However, desperate times are effective motivators for such suicidal pursuits. In the case of this particular scout, the rewards were far greater than even the greatest of risks…

While examining the remains of an ancient shipwreck, the scout discovered a school of squid that seemed to be gesturing for him to follow, as if driven by some bizarre external intellect. Finding his curiosity impossible to deny, the scout dove into the remains of an ancient sunken oil rig, where a glowing Colossal Squid reached out to him, its massive tentacles bearing the bundled form of a tiny infant, wrapped in the worn remains of an ancient Texan flag. Psychically, the squid informed the scout of how the infant came to be among the squid of the Deadwaters. A mutant, the infant was discarded into the gulf by her ignorant mother, abandoned and forgotten, but still adaptive in her mutations. Upon exposure to the psychic squid, she took on several cephalopod-like traits, including the ability to breathe in salt water.

The scout returned from his treasure hunting expedition with the greatest treasure of all, a daughter of his own in this all-too-lonely world. Naming her Sarah, after his long departed sister, the scout raised Sarah to follow in his
footsteps as a freelance scout, guiding travelers across the savage territories along the coast of the Deadwaters, from Atlanta to New Dallas, which was where the scout would eventually retire, handing the family business over to his “daughter”, Sarah.

Known as “Squidgirl” by friend and foe alike, Sarah gained a reputation as a girl who gets the job done. She is renowned for her battlefield tenacity and willingness to take on even the most dangerous jobs, so long as the pay is
right. However, Sarah has a potent moral compass and a sentimental heart, which often are at odds with this harsh world she lives in. As a result, she has made as many deadly enemies as she has solid friends during her career.

One of these enemies, a cyborg and corrupt marshal named Lucian Reigns, set an ambush for her father, capturing him and holding him hostage to force “Squidgirl” into performing a morally reprehensible job. We see “Squidgirl” on the cover of the new Gamma World RPG Box Set, battling her way to the entrance of Reigns’s stronghold, hoping to rescue her captive father…

My final entry: Under the Journal category (I wanted to be thorough)

Journal Entry 118, Galveston, June 8th, 2410, 8:18 PM,

My latest clients are a pair of scientists who want to go to the ruins of Cape Canaveral in old Florida. Of course, it’s all underwater, now, and I’m pretty uniquely equipped for the task. They balked at my fee, but it was bluster. As soon as I stood up from the table, they were scrambling around, stalling me, making excuses. They did the same thing they all do… they made bulls#!t promises about deposits now and big payoffs after arriving. This time, though, I was bluffing as well. I have always wanted to check out the Neverglades and dive into the briny Caribbean Deeps. Besides, the younger scientist is kinda cute. I might let him work off a little of his fee along the way, if he’s lucky.

This job isn’t going to be easy. First of all, I’m in Galveston, and we have to travel about 1,000 miles overland before we even get to the ‘Glades. There are only two clear roads heading in that direction, and one is patrolled by The Marshal. So, that one’s out. The other is infested with Ghouls, which honestly is better than dealing with Marshal Reigns, but the clients are afraid. For scientists, they sure are superstitious. They think if they go into Ghoul territory, they’ll wind up ghouls themselves. Fools. Ghouls don’t make people into ghouls. They make them into supper! And still, I’d rather take my chances with them than with Reigns. That maniac thinks he’s a damn judge, jury, and executioner. In truth, only the last one has ever held true.

The clients haven’t heard about The Marshal’s less-savory habits. Of course not. Folks around here thing the man is a damn hero, a reminder of how great the world was before everything went to hell, before the war, during the time of the Ancients. They romanticize him, and he laps it up like a greedy little puppy. He wears a badge, calls himself a lawman in a land without laws, and set himself up quite the fantasy world, full of stupid, weak-willed fools willing to believe in his hype. He was powerful and dangerous, but there wasn’t a lick of nobility in that man. He didn’t give a flying f#@& about the people. All he cared about was getting away with inflicting as much pain as he possibly could. And if I took him out, I would go down in whatever’s left of history as a villain. A damn evil murderer. He kills more people before breakfast than I have ever had the displeasure of, but he’s a hero, and I’m the scum?

If that’s what the world was like before the war, then I say, let the Ancients have it. This world is terrible, a wasteland where suffering and death are a part of our everyday lives, but I would rather look out at this wasteland, see it for what it is, and know where I stand. From the sounds of things, the Ancients lived in a damn fantasy, just like The Marshal, thinking they were so much better off than they were, yet not really grasping how easy they had it compared to how it would eventually be.

How the hell did I get so far off topic? I blame this swill the bartender brought me. I had to start writing this page three times over already because the acid they serve in this dump makes my eyes cross and my tentacles quiver. But hey, it’s not like I’m about to run out of ink, right? And at least they’ll serve me, here. Most places don’t serve muties.

Anyway, long day of planning ahead of me tomorrow. And the more I drink, the worse I’ll be in the morning.

Hell, maybe that ain’t a bad thing after all…

Well, that’s my last entry. Today’s the last day, everyone! Good luck! :D

LOL, really?

OH NOES! What if I inspire you to create the winning entry?!

J-Vol, you da man! :D I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!

My favorite part of the song was obviously the ending, where she essentially breaks down, and you realize that she probably didn’t mean for what she was saying to be a song at all. In a way, it almost qualifies as a Journal entry :P

I’m working on finding an Instrumental version of the Gilligan’s island theme, but so far, no dice. If I find it, I’ll throw something together for you. I won’t post it until after 9 Eastern, so it won’t be an entry in the contest. It will just be a gift from me to you. :)

Awesome lyrics, btw!

That sounds great!! Thanks. :) I was also blown away by the obviously huge effort that people put into their submissions. I had a lot of fun checking them out over the days. My only regret is that I have the Squidgirl song stuck in my head! j.k.

I'm all for that. Being as an Ascendent member anyway and being the only GM in my group I pose this question. If someone is not a GM and cannot use the asecendency membership, can it be transferred to another person? Also, I would hope that more people than just the people who submitted the entries are the ones voting. :)

So we’re going to put up the voting link now. If you left an entry in here, send an email to Micah@ObsidianPortal.com with the subject “I WON A FREE MONTH OF ASCENDANT MEMBERSHIP FROM SQUIDGIRL!”. Don’t forget to include your Obsidian Portal username in the body!

Hey, if anyone is going to be bribed with pie it’s me.

Nevermind, my concerns were addressed. Thanks.

Hey all,

I owe the good folks in this thread an apology. I’m sorry for screwing up the prize distribution. In the original blog post I said that our 5 winners would come from each category. And then I totally forgot that part of the contest when we came up with the plan for the community to vote for the top 6. I’m sorry. I don’t want the folks who all put in a tremendous effort to think that we ignored them or their entries. They are wonderful, and I see it as a personal failure that we don’t have one of each listed among the final 5.

It was a mistake on my part that came from being both over-eager and absent minded, and it won’t happen again. I will see to it that we live by the letter of our rules for future contests, and I hope that that I haven’t put anyone off of future participation.

Let me also restate that everyone who has entered the contest has won at least 1 free month of Ascendant Membership, so no one goes away without something to show for their efforts.

Thanks for your understanding,

Dan

We have a winner! Congrats to Duskreign for your Grand Prize winning entry of The SquidGirl! We’ll break down the voting in a future blog post. If you were a finalist, be sure to send a PM to Micah with the subject I WAS A SQUIDGIRL FINALIST AND I WON 3 MONTHS OF ASCENDANT MEMBERSHIP! And to include the user name of the account you want to get the membership.

Thanks and congrats all!

Well done Dusk!

Lol, better that than to hear me sing that stupid song again. :P