Playing by the rules

PLAYER
Name: San
Personal Journal: fanfictionming
Plurk: N/A
Time Zone: GMT+8
Email: mingrps@gmail.com
Messenger: N/A
Previous Characters: N/A
Munhead/Musebox: calvino

CHARACTER
Name: Greg Lestrade
Canon: BBC Sherlock
Age: 15
Demigod/Hunter/Satyr/Nymph: Demigod, son of Nemesis the Greek Goddess of Revenge. (Unclaimed)
Demigod abilities: Other than the basic abilities that all Greek demigods get Greg's got a long memory when it comes to promises, debts and insults, and he's bloody loyal to his friends and family. He's...kind of good at keeping the peace, in that while he can't get people to be friends, he can at least keep them from arguing with each other. But to call him a dealbroker would be pushing it a little.

As he matures further along the path of VENGEANCE he will develop the bloodlust that children of Nemesis tend to exhibit.

Personality:
Greg is someone with a very strong moral code; he firmly believes that one should always try to do the right thing in every situation, and he does not have much respect for those who cut corners, lie and cheat. While he still has a propensity to see things in black and white he is slowly learning that life is all about those little shades of grey that fall neither strictly in the good or the bad.

He's also very lawful, in the sense that he won't break the rules if he can help it. He does believe that rules are there to help, not hinder, and that there needs to be some sort of set code to ensure that people who do wrong don't get away with their crimes. However at the same time he's also willing to bend and break the rules if the situation warrants it. This happens especially when people abuse loopholes to escape punishment or if someone is placed in an unfair situation due to an unfortunate blend of bad circumstances coinciding with strict rules. There isn't always going to be a rule that covers every situation correctly and that's when he has to exercise his own idea of fairness.

His dislike of injustice ties back to his desire to see people treated fairly. He believes that everyone should be treated equally and given a fair chance, and it is by this philosophy that he tries to live his life by. He's well aware that the world is unfair but sometimes people need a second chance at life and so long as they are sincere Greg doesn't see why he can't offer them a helping hand.

Greg's also a loyal friend. He sticks by those who have earned his trust even if it lands him into trouble, but only so long as it's the right thing to do. He's not going to stick by anyone's side if they're out to commit cold-blooded murder even if they're best friends who've been through thick and thin. But if he's aware that his friend is in trouble or has been unjustly accused, Greg is willing to stand his ground with them even at the risk of his own life, no matter how scared he is.

Unfortunately other than his moral calibre Greg is very much an average person, and he is well aware of his own short-comings. But he is willing to swallow his pride and accept help from others because he knows and understands that it's more important to do what's right rather than to protect his ego. He's humble enough to acknowledge that he's lacking in many aspects and that he needs help, but he'll also pull his weight to ensure that he plays his part as well. He may be the best of an average lot but he makes up for it with his tenacity and diligence.

And with all this talk about right and wrong, there's bound to be some level of judging involved. Greg can be quite judgemental about things as a result of the above mentioned black-and-white world view. He can be blunt when professing his views (which he does think are right and correct) and sometimes he does forget that not everyone acts, or thinks, in his specific kind of way. This trait of his definitely strains his relationships with people, and he's aware that he needs to watch his mouth.

He's also aware that he needs to guard his temper. It's taken him a few years to develop some level of patience and tolerance, but he's not a saint and there are times when he lets slip a sharp outburst, especially when the situation is tense and when the stakes are high. Again he's aware that he needs to guard his tongue and mind his temper, as it has gotten him in trouble in the past.

Recent events have also lead him to develop quite a vengeance streak. He's been hurt badly in an emotional sense and had his life turned upside down due to the actions of others. While he is normally willing to let things slide, hurting those close to him will have him hungering for the perpetrators' blood. Vengeance has become a kind of justice that he will not be hesitant to dish out in the right circumstances.

But for all his flaws Greg has quite a talent at getting people of different personalities and temperaments to work together. More accurately, he can get them to co-exist in the same room and work towards the same goal. Trying to convince people to get along is difficult and he hasn't got the patience to try but he'll settle for the next best thing. People who have worked with him have commented on his so-called leadership skills, but Greg doesn't think too much of it. It's just that there was a job that needed to be done, and someone had to kick everyone's asses into gear.

AU History:
There's not much to be said about Greg's life before Half-blood Camp. Overall, he was a pretty average kid who never stood out much in the crowd. He didn't have book smarts because of the dyslexia that kept words swimming off the pages and the ADHD that prevented him from sitting still in class, but he was decent in woodworks and better than average in P.E. What kept him in his teacher's good books were not his grades (which were absolute shit, to his embarrassment) but his strong moral fibre, his desire to always do right with people and his willingness to help others. Bullies would always be there to mock him for his shortcomings but he had friends among his peers who liked and respected him well enough for sticking up for them. While he's thrown his fair share of punches, Greg's been taught how to pick his fights and to know when to draw the line. Save for a few earlier incidents as a younger boy Greg never made any trouble with the school authorities and accorded them respect that they had earned from him.

Family-wise he knew from a young age that his current mother wasn't his birth mother. His father is a down-to-earth kinda bloke without much knack for sensitivities and even less tolerance for bullshit, so he simply told his young son at the tender age of five about the disappearing act his American mother pulled on her then boyfriend and how their brief relationship caused Greg to be. It wasn't magical or romantic; it was real and painful. Till recent events Greg tried his best to never think about her. As far as he was concerned, his step-mother was his real mother and if his birth mother didn't want him, then he wouldn't want her either. It wasn't a fair situation and he still got angry over it, but it was the best he could do. Twin sisters came along at the age of eight to round up his family and though his life could be described as normal, average and boring, Greg was really quite happy with it.

But the truth is that it wasn't always normal. Or average. Or even happy.

Greg was aware of certain...things that happened to follow him. They weren't always physically there but there was always a constant feeling of being watched. The lurkers who hung around the street he lived on always seemed to have their eye on him. His step-mother rationalized it as a bunch of creeps trying to mess with him for fun and that was a good enough explanation for Greg, but if he had been alert enough he'd have noticed the fearful backward glances she gave every time a shadow passed behind them. Or how his house was installed with an impressive number of locks, or that his father always drew the curtains right by night time without fail. He should've suspected something when his father enrolled him into boxing class and always instructed him to never be alone by himself, to always go around in a crowd. Greg hadn't lived in a save part of town so he had just assumed that his parents were looking out for his well-being.

He didn't like the rare arguments they had over him either. He never caught the entire gist of their hushed discussions carried out at night while the kids were supposed to be asleep, but the tones were sharp, angry and scared. Not only from his step-mother who was a constant worrier anyway, but from his tough father who always seemed at his most vulnerable when it came to these arguments. Greg just chalked it up to his medical conditions; his step-mother's love for him was never a question, so the only obvious reason why she'd be upset over him would probably be his grades or something.

However, something happened on his fourteenth birthday that completely wrecked all sense of normalcy in his life. Witnesses called it a freak accident, how a parked car had suddenly flipped and crushed his step-mother underneath. Greg alone saw the giant thing that had tried to kill him. His step-mother only saw the car, but she made sure to push her son out of the way to keep him safe.

The next few months were his worst. His mother had slipped into a coma and the doctors didn't know when she'd wake up. His father tried his best to take care of the household, but by then Greg was old enough to see that behind the tough act his father was just as scared and as upset as he was. Greg couldn't blame his father; he only blamed himself and the one-eyed thing that had tried to take his life. The police couldn't find any clue to the mysterious accident so if he was going to have his justice, he'd have to find it himself. What transpired next was an investigation of his own to determine the identity of the culprit and where to find him. Greg disobeyed the house rules set by his father for the first time in many years and sneaked out late at night to look for the creature that had caused him so much pain. This went on for a few more months and it was during this time that Greg was made aware of exactly how dangerous a position he was in. All kinds of monsters approached him under the cover of the Mist and he had a few close shaves. One attack left him with a cut on his arm that he hid from everyone's view by wearing long sleeves.

But he kept the gun he stole from his father with it's one bullet remaining specifically for the monster who had ruined his life.

Thankfully his nightly escapades were finally discovered by his father before anything else transpired. What followed was his worst fight with his father yet. A lot of angry and harsh words were said with both men unwilling to back down from their side of the argument. The fight abruptly ended though when suddenly, his father slumped to the table looking more defeated than Greg had ever seen him before. It was only then that his father confessed the truth to him about why he could see those monsters and why these strange things were happening in his life, and what he needed to do next.

Greg left London on the next plane to America with instructions on how to get to Camp Half-blood. He didn't go happily or willingly but now that the truth was out about his heritage his father couldn't protect him anymore, and sent him to the only place that could. The thought of leaving unfinished business behind left him unsatisfied but he knew now that the longer he stayed with his family, the more danger they'd be in. But one thing was for sure: if he could survive at this Camp Halfblood Place, then he'd be able to return back and finish the job.

Counsellor: None. Camping at the Hermes Cabin due to unclaimed status.

SAMPLES
Iris Message:
[First time using the Iris Messenger is a lesson in awkward. Greg stares at the rainbow sceptical and pokes at it gingerly.]

...it this thing even on...? Well, no harm in trying, I suppose. Other than looking like a bloody fool, but what do I have to lose?

Hallo, my name's Greg. I just got into this camp here a few days ago, and while I'm sure it's an honoured time old tradition to have a laugh at the expense of the newcomers I'd appreciate it if people lay off my stuff. I don't have much as it is and I'd like my clothes back preferably in one piece.

Also, I'm told that it's normal for most kids to get claimed at 13. What happens if you're not? It doesn't particularly matter to me but I thought I'd just check if there's some kind of rule about these things.

...guess that's all I have to say. Now how the hell do I turn this bloody thing off..?

[With a wave of a hand, Greg successfully dissipates the rainbow.]

Third Person Log:

It's funny that he spent so much of his early life dissing fairy tales as stuff and nonsense, when in reality his entire existence was the stuff of legends itself. And by right he shouldn't be angry with his parents from hiding the truth, because they were just trying to protect him. They were equally afraid of this unknown world that he was part off, and they had no idea what to expect.

If there's anyone he should be angry at, it's should be his...'goddess' of a mother that left him and his parents in the lurch. He still hadn't been claimed yet, and he had a suspicion that somehow he was never going to be claimed. She obviously didn't care enough to protect him when his life was in danger so why expect her to reveal herself to him?

His sword hacked away at the training dummy; he wasn't doing very well in his fighting session, so he'd thought that he'd take today to do some extra training of his own. He hadn't expected that he'd be letting loose some steam here. And he found that it was generally easier for him to swing his sword when he imagined that it would be the head of a cyclops then went flying, particularly one that was hiding somewhere in London.

A cyclops. That was what those one-eyed things were called.

Greg could still remember the entire scene from a year ago, almost as if it had happened yesterday. And he remembered the despair that had hit him with the force of a sledgehammer when he saw his step-mother pinned underneath all the metal. And then he'd look up and stare straight into the one eye of a person, or rather a thing, in a suit. It had an ugly look in its eye that promised that Greg was going to be next if they ever met again.

Without exactly thinking, Greg slashed at the hard wood with all his strength, only to receive a jarring sensation in his arm as the blade got stuck on the wood. Cursing to himself, he rubbed his arm and glared at the dummy, before he stubbornly reached out and grasped the handle.

An eye for an eye makes the world blind. That's what his teacher had told him a lifetime ago, when his biggest source of anxiety was asking a girl out on a date. Now he had monsters after his blood, and they were willing to hurt those close to him to get to him. They weren't human bullies that he could talk down or report on. If he was going to even the score, he's going to need a weapon, and he was going to have to set some of his morals aside.

With a snarl, he wrenched out the sword and ignored the ache that pulsed in his body. Gasping for breath, he took a moment to prepare himself before he began his training session again with renewed fervour.

If an eye for an eye made the world blind, then he'd settle for the cyclops' head.

Got any concerns with how I'm portraying teen!Lestrade? Let me know here. Anon-on and IP logging off.