Self-Inserts and OCs

[Corvo]

Curious: how does she carry all that gear? I am accustomed to packing and transporting  stuff for real-world wilderness work. That would be way more than I could carry, and I am quite strong for my size. Immune pack mule? Wheelbarrow? Travois? Mucking great backpack? I’m not usually part of this thread, but I was idly glancing through it and noticed this post. And of course if you had any of these options, you could likely carry even more useful stuff, like dried food, a water filter, a tent, spare clothes, blankets, a winter-weight sleeping bag.....even a companion cat.

For the moment, I was thinking of a sled - a sled isn't very fast but it's very quiet. And assuming a winter-only move (to avoid Trolls, Giants, and Beasts) it wouldn't be too much trouble.

for the other things you mentioned: dry food and water filter are indeed very useful, as well as the tent, spare clothes, blankets and sleeping bag. Do you think I should add them to the list?

As for the cat, well, let's just say that my OC, having grown up in almost total solitude, is not aware of the precious qualities of felines.

However, I thank you for the information - this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.

[Maglor]

About a piture here. Who needs winter gear in Italia? Or does she operate in mountains?

[Corvo]

About a piture here. Who needs winter gear in Italia? Or does she operate in mountains?

She operates mainly in the mountains but also in the winter period, which is the time when Trolls, Beasts and Giants are less active.

[Róisín]

A sled is a great idea, especially if you can get one of those broad-based ones that slide over both snow and mud, or even a dirt road. In Gippsland we used to call those mudsleds or mudboats, and use them for jobs like hauling potatoes from the field to the house. Gippsland is a part of Australia that has an ecology similar in some ways to that of Finland, though generally a bit warmer, and the area is famous for the depth and variety of its mud, to the point where there are songs about it.

And may I also suggest a tarpaulin? Especially useful for making a shelter if you don’t have a tent, or to make an insulating floor for your tent if you do have one. Also to protect you and your gear from weather and prevent random bits falling off the sled if you use it as a sled cover, and if you lose your sled a tarp makes a useful base for a travois to haul what gear you have left.

And having been in both Switzerland and the Italian mountains, yes, there is snow, to the point that in some areas there are ski resorts and even glaciers like the one that forms the boundary between Italy and Switzerland. I think climate change may be doing a number on that one, but post-apoc I would expect the climate to start cooling again. Not all of Italy is warm in all seasons.

[Corvo]

More than anything, I'm disappointed that I can't make a fanart of my OC. I mean, I'd love to, but I'm completely bad at drawing or coloring.

[Corvo]

A sled is a great idea, especially if you can get one of those broad-based ones that slide over both snow and mud, or even a dirt road. In Gippsland we used to call those mudsleds or mudboats, and use them for jobs like hauling potatoes from the field to the house. Gippsland is a part of Australia that has an ecology similar in some ways to that of Finland, though generally a bit warmer, and the area is famous for the depth and variety of its mud, to the point where there are songs about it.

And may I also suggest a tarpaulin? Especially useful for making a shelter if you don’t have a tent, or to make an insulating floor for your tent if you do have one. Also to protect you and your gear from weather and prevent random bits falling off the sled if you use it as a sled cover, and if you lose your sled a tarp makes a useful base for a travois to haul what gear you have left.

And having been in both Switzerland and the Italian mountains, yes, there is snow, to the point that in some areas there are ski resorts and even glaciers like the one that forms the boundary between Italy and Switzerland. I think climate change may be doing a number on that one, but post-apoc I would expect the climate to start cooling again. Not all of Italy is warm in all seasons.

A tarpaulin might be a good idea. I'll add to the list.

Do you have any other suggestions?

[Róisín]

Yeah, cooking gear. If her gear is relatively high tech, a Trangia set is perfect (and very light, one used to be part of my mountain climbing kit), if lowtech, at least a pot, a frying pan and a billy or similar thing to heat water. And some means of making fire - preferably several. I generally have matches or a lighter, a spark striker and a magnifying glass, but there are lots of alternatives. And some sort of lantern or torch. I used to have a hurricane lamp, nowadays mostly have battery lamps.

[Corvo]

Yeah, cooking gear. If her gear is relatively high tech, a Trangia set is perfect (and very light, one used to be part of my mountain climbing kit), if lowtech, at least a pot, a frying pan and a billy or similar thing to heat water. And some means of making fire - preferably several. I generally have matches or a lighter, a spark striker and a magnifying glass, but there are lots of alternatives. And some sort of lantern or torch. I used to have a hurricane lamp, nowadays mostly have battery lamps.

I thought I had included a cooking kit when I mentioned the tools for skinning and butchering animals.

However, thank you so much for pointing that out.

[Jitter]

Snow shoes and skis. She’s going to need gear to move in the snow, remember there are no roads and probably not very many paths either with mammal populations being low. Lots of rope. I think it would be important to fashion some sort of avalanche survival mechanism which would allow her to use the sled as a “float” during one as well as help her find it afterwards. Definitely a shovel, a small one to carry on her person and a bit bigger one for building snow shelters.

All of this assumes she’s had access to snow survival literature inside the bomb shelter, just to help her through the first forays into the mountain winter. Those she wouldn’t need to take with her, but would have needed to have before she set out,

The same applies to her religion as well. As she’s been alone since age of five, she probably will have learned much of her faith in books. Or, if she’s going by what she remembers from her parents (??) before they died, her religious practices may be rather... interesting Although the guardian angel may guide her in that respect too.

Is the present (the time when she’s 23 years old) for her around year 30? You say “after a few years” the shelter succumbed to infighting.

Interesting character! I’m looking forward to what she will get up to! Is she aware that there are other survivors in the mountains, or just hope for it? Is she aware of the Nordics? No?

[Jitter]

Coming to think of it, I’m not sure whether even all of the Nordics were aware of each other by Y30. We don’t have much history.

[Corvo]

Snow shoes and skis. She’s going to need gear to move in the snow, remember there are no roads and probably not very many paths either with mammal populations being low. Lots of rope. I think it would be important to fashion some sort of avalanche survival mechanism which would allow her to use the sled as a “float” during one as well as help her find it afterwards. Definitely a shovel, a small one to carry on her person and a bit bigger one for building snow shelters.

Thank you so much I will add them to the list.

All of this assumes she’s had access to snow survival literature inside the bomb shelter, just to help her through the first forays into the mountain winter. Those she wouldn’t need to take with her, but would have needed to have before she set out,

The way I figured it, they brought a lot of survival books into the bunker before the Rash forced them underground. But many of those books, for a personal reason, remained in the bunker after she had learned.

The same applies to her religion as well. As she’s been alone since age of five, she probably will have learned much of her faith in books. Or, if she’s going by what she remembers from her parents (??) before they died, her religious practices may be rather... interesting Although the guardian angel may guide her in that respect too.

What would you suggest in this regard? What kinds of religious practices might she use?

Is the present (the time when she’s 23 years old) for her around year 30? You say “after a few years” the shelter succumbed to infighting.

Well, actually, come to think of it, the violent civil war inside the bunker may have occurred a few generations later. And for reasons that might seem unbelievable (or absurd) to us.

Interesting character! I’m looking forward to what she will get up to! Is she aware that there are other survivors in the mountains, or just hope for it? Is she aware of the Nordics? No?

No, the way I imagined it, she believes she is the last survivor in the world. Meeting other living people and discovering that human society is still alive will be a source of great awe and wonder for her.

[Jitter]

Yeah, the bunker having lots of useful literature makes perfect sense, and her leaving the books behind does too. After all, having spent almost 20 years just reading them, she's bound to know them by heart.

A couple of generations, putting her to around "our" Y90 would work if the shelter either had gi-nor-mous food stores, or (this probably makes more sense) had a small protected area, let's say electric fence with solar panels, inside which they could grow food, and they kept the preserved foods for safe keeping. The fight could have erupted around whether to open the by now nearly sacred stores or keep preserving them. Being able to harvest some fresh foods from this area (even after the fence fell into disrepair when there were no adults to do maintenance) would also make sense as she was a small child and would need vitamins and nutrients to grow into a strong young adult. Canned foods can stay more or less edible for decades, but the vitamin contents won't. Furthermore it seems more plausible that the people would have survived if they had some land area to get fresh air and sun too.

As for the religion, I don't really want to suggest anything as I'm not Catholic nor do I know the practices very well, and I might end up saying something offensive. If you like the idea, just think about something, anything really, that a child could misunderstand and after mulling it over and over and over again would come to their own conclusions.

But, especially with the assumption that spiritual presences are real in this world and she may actually have a real and present guardian angel, I also think it would be believable for her to have had access to religious books and with the help from those and supported by the angel (even if she can't really detect its presence) she could have gotten it right. If she was left to her own devices with only a Bible and memories of a five year old child, she could come up with anything whatsoever.

[Corvo]

Yeah, the bunker having lots of useful literature makes perfect sense, and her leaving the books behind does too. After all, having spent almost 20 years just reading them, she's bound to know them by heart.

Indeed. She only brought the Bible with her (without imagining that this might be the last one) because it gives her psychological comfort.

A couple of generations, putting her to around "our" Y90 would work if the shelter either had gi-nor-mous food stores, or (this probably makes more sense) had a small protected area, let's say electric fence with solar panels, inside which they could grow food, and they kept the preserved foods for safe keeping. The fight could have erupted around whether to open the by now nearly sacred stores or keep preserving them. Being able to harvest some fresh foods from this area (even after the fence fell into disrepair when there were no adults to do maintenance) would also make sense as she was a small child and would need vitamins and nutrients to grow into a strong young adult. Canned foods can stay more or less edible for decades, but the vitamin contents won't. Furthermore it seems more plausible that the people would have survived if they had some land area to get fresh air and sun too.

We could imagine a lighted area of the bunker (like defended by a camouflage window or something similar) that would allow crops to be grown within the bunker itself. It would be logical and realistic: I've often seen this happen in other bunkers in other literary and non-literary works. It would also be interesting because, if Asia was able to continue cultivation for several years on her own, this would enrich her cultural background of experience in alternative cultivation.

Also: what if she brought with her seeds from the plants she grew?

As for the religion, I don't really want to suggest anything as I'm not Catholic nor do I know the practices very well, and I might end up saying something offensive. If you like the idea, just think about something, anything really, that a child could misunderstand and after mulling it over and over and over again would come to their own conclusions.

In this regard I had some ideas, for example distortions of historical events and facts or even mixing legends and true events. For example, we could imagine a pseudo-Christian-like religious vision but very esoteric, almost like an animist religion.

But, especially with the assumption that spiritual presences are real in this world and she may actually have a real and present guardian angel, I also think it would be believable for her to have had access to religious books and with the help from those and supported by the angel (even if she can't really detect its presence) she could have gotten it right. If she was left to her own devices with only a Bible and memories of a five year old child, she could come up with anything whatsoever.

It could even reach teachings and learnings much more evolved than the "original" Christian theology. An idea of mine is that this could, in the future, be the basis for the creation of Christian Wizards...

[Jitter]

Definitely something like that on the religion front! I'm a Finn myself so I try to learn what I can about ancient Finnish faith (unfortunately it's largely lost), but I love others' imagining of other religions

[Corvo]

Definitely something like that on the religion front! I'm a Finn myself so I try to learn what I can about ancient Finnish faith (unfortunately it's largely lost), but I love others' imagining of other religions

I am Italian and Catholic. If you want, we can collaborate to think together about a possible Christian derivation in the world of SSSS...