ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Thought I'd share a few ideas for Orphans that I've come up with in the past.

Darlita Washington

Born in the worst neighborhood in her town's inner city slums, Darlita's future did not appear bright. Destiny, however, cares little for economic or social woes and upon little Darlita, it smiled.

Darlita was born to fifteen year old Shawndra Washington, the second child to emerge from her loins in two years. The mother was a high school dropout and had only known the childrens' fathers long enough to conceive. They shared their two-room apartment with Shawndra's brother and his girlfriend, the tenement itself literally located at the corner of the city's worst two streets, where drug gangs and the violence that came with them had set up shop. Drive by shootings, stabbings, drug overdoses and every other sort of similar horror laid claim to the newborn child's home.

But things happened. While the rest of the borough's violence only increased, the killings piling up day after day, Darlita's block changed for the better. The shootings still occurred but fewer innocents were killed by stray bullets and fewer drug deaths occurred. As a few more years passed, the violence itself began to rapidly dissipate, as if some unseen power was forcing it away. Some magickal sphere of peace seemed to center on Darlita's building and when the little girl herself came outside to play on the sidewalk or to even go to the nearby playground to use the swingset, the danger that was part and parcel of the area seemed to retreat into the background. No one ever put two and two together. No one ever realized that this nine year old girl was the cause of the change.

Darlita was Awakened prior to her own birth, amazingly enough, due to both the hand of Destiny and the trauma her mother endured at her sister's meaningless death by a random gang shooting. The little girl's mother kept little Darlita indoors for much of her first few years, sitting her in front of the television to help hide cold reality from her. It worked.

The Awakened child never knew what reality was "supposed" to be, so she made it up as she went along, helped by Uncle Walt Disney's movies and morally beneficial characters. Darlita imagined herself a little mermaid, an Arabian princess or whatever. She also knew that peace, love and happiness were real, whereas danger was unwanted and had no place in the world. Had she been an ordinary girl, this view would have been shattered upon her introduction to her real surroundings but Darlita was not ordinary. Instead, upon venturing forth from her apartment, she took her own reality with her and imposed it wherever she went.

Today, the few blocks around little Darlita's home are amazingly free of crime. People are nicer there and the short walk to the playground is a safe one. Even the elementary school has become a model for student cooperation and relative harmony, something that has surprised and simultaneously gladdened its own teachers and administrators. They have no idea what brought about the change but they are proud that it has happened. Darlita is a model student and her own teachers use her as an example of what their school is capable of producing.

Benny Musello

Somewhere out there in the city an old cab still carries its fares to their destinations, wherever they may be. The driver has never turned down a ride and has never failed to get that ride to any place desired. On time. Somewhere out there in the city, Benny Musello still drives his cab.

Benny is a good natured guy in his middle years, balding and showing signs of a man who did not glide through life. Benny does not apologize for his appearance, though some fares have ignored his friendly stabs at conversation probably due to their upper crust arrogance. As hacks go, Benny is the best.

Driving a cab is the only thing Benny cares to do. It is his purpose in life, he says. Going from point A to point B. That's it. And no one can do it as well as he. Even in rush hour traffic, on a holiday weekend, in the snow and with a major accident ahead, Benny can find a way to bypass it all and get to wherever he needs to be without a hitch. It's like magic.

There is nowhere that Benny can't find. None. It's as if he has some sixth sense that will lead him there regardless. Sometimes, Benny has even taken his ride to a place not requested but in those cases the ride seems to realize that it was the right place to be anyway. He's never had any complaints.

Benny is a mage, of course. Though he might be on the sidelines of the haughty Ascension War, it means nothing to him. His only concern is pleasing his customers, bringing home the bread and taking care of his wife and kids. Mess with these things and watch out, though, 'cause strange things happen to those who stiff Benny Musello.

The mob tried to slap some "truth" out of him once. They don't mess with Benny now. At all. Some strange guy playing Dracula once tried to do a job on Benny in the middle of the night. Whatever that dude saw in Benny's rear view mirror, however, seemed to change his mind forever, its terror plain as day. Benny is not a mean guy though, just an honest man looking out for himself and his family.

Richie Wallace

You know his work, though you probably don't know his name. He has a way of sort of... being forgotten. A good thing for Richie, since his photos have been the sole reason for the arrest of a good percentage of the city's most notorious gangsters, cutthroats, cheats, liars and other slime. Richie just seems to be a lucky guy.

Despite his successes, Richie has never been happy. Oh, sure he's friendly and all, but he has never achieved the one thing he set out to do: become a Great Photojournalist. Win the Pulitzer, and all that. Problem is, he is the best photog in the city, hell, maybe in the country. Richie is unmemorable. While his work is plastered daily on the front page, while juries vote unanimously to convict based on the damning pictures captured by Richie's camera and quick eye, Richie himself has never garnered any real notice.

Richie Awakened upon finding the Camera, an old style rig that no right minded photographer would think of using any more. Ever since his discovery at the old tag sale, Richie has literally seen the world through a different set of eyes. He has discovered an uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time and to get the shot of the century — every time! Luckily for him, for whatever reason, he is able to get away from any who might realize what he has stumbled upon. Oddly enough, this is the only time he is glad that he is such a "nobody" in the eyes of others.

There are plenty of people (and others) who would love to get their clenched hands around Richie's neck but, like the flash of the Camera, all that is left of him in their memories is a momentary after image and then he is gone, fading back into the obscurity that he cannot escape.

"Mac" Newman

Business is never better than on the corner near the fresh grocer and the Lotto outlet. Whether it's a keen weather prediction, some tidbits on city hall, the outcome of the big serial killer trial or just some magazines and a stick of gum, Mac's Newsstand is your place.

Having survived his wife by some years now, Mac Newman has found a new lease on life tending his newsstand. Rain or shine, night or day, Mac does not disappoint, greeting his menagerie of diverse customers with a conspiratorial smile and a piece of advice from left field. His quick wit and ability to offer an opinion and prediction about everything from sports to city corruption make him a favorite in town, not to mention the excellent assortment of papers and titles that he carries.

Mac's place has become famous for another reason: he always seems to have a copy of an out of print paper or magazine on hand, no matter how old or obscure the title is. The same goes for gum, cigarettes and cigars. This amazing fact has made his stand a mecca for the city's more interesting folk, a number of whom make stopping by and chatting for a while a daily routine, with key officials, cops, attorneys, reporters and executives always finding that picking up their own paper rather than having it brought to them is not without its rewards.

Though some have surely thought that Mac was somehow involved in deeper plots of some kind due to his knowledge and connections, none have dared move against him for two reasons: he has too many good friends in high places and no one, not even those who don't trust him, want to lose the services he is able to provide.

For Mac's part, he is just happy to give the public what they want. And that's exactly what he gives them!