Voice Mail (for hearts_andminds)

You have reached Joan Girardi. I can't take your call right now, so leave your message after the beep and I'll get back to you. Thanks.

Stolen from miami_nvrcloses

Here are a series of questions for your pup to answer about my pup. Answer them from your pup's perspective.

This is open to all pups from hearts_andminds, grand_cntrl_stt and the_blank_slate


My name:

Where did we meet?:

Take a stab at my middle name:

How long have you known me?:

( More Questions! )

OOC: Started a new writing community specificly geared toward the pups.

questionthepups

Using the prompts found on THIS WEBSITE, questionthepups is a no pressure community for writer and role players to react and respond to questions designed to stimulate character growth, development, and understanding.

Any and all pups and muns are welcome. Multiples of pups are allowed.

Imagination and creativity should know no limits.

Come one, come all and explore.

questionthepups

the_blank_slate Application

Your character's personality: Joan Girardi is a typical teenager. She
is somewhat self centered, but also very aware of the people around
her. SHe's been raised to be a good friend, to be loyal and
supportive. When God appears to her and gives her assignemts, she
questions him, but in the end always does as he suggests. She tends to
try to please people, to help people when she can. At the same time,
she tries not to conform, and tries to maintain her individuality as
much as possible. She's a complex person, and sometiems doesn't even
understand herself. She is sensitive to people in need, especially her
two brothers. Kevin is paralysed, Luke is often over looked by their
parents because he's *not* handicapped.
Joan is kind and considerate, and usually able to balance that with
ehr own needs. She gets attatched to people and to things very easily,
and mourns the loss of something she cares about.

Why do you want to play this character?: For one, I want a female
character. All the games I play, I play male characters. So, I'm
looking to take on a female *g*. Also, Joan is a fascinating character
whose canon was cut short, and left a lot of dangling participles at
the end. I'd like to explore some of those loose ends by developing
the character a bit more.
Joan had a direct communication with God. As described below in the
background, the people around Joan thought her seeing God was an
elaborate hallucination, and for a time Joan believed that (or perhaps
wanted to believe that) as well. On the island, I would like her to
continue to see and hear God, only it *would* actually be a
hallucination. That would be an interesting angle to explore, I think.
Especially as the islanders realise there is something very off about
this girl.
I would like to see how Joan reacts in an isolated enviornment, how
she struggles with her sanity without the comfort of home. Surrounded
by people she doesn't know, it would be interesting to see how she
grows and develops.

Tell us about your character's background: Joan was a typical
teenaged girl until one morning, while getting ready for school, she
noticed a man in the back yard, seemingly watching her. She freaked
out, ran downstairs, and discovered there was no one there...And later
that day, Joan encountered a man who claimed to be God. She soon began
to accept this for true, as God knew things only God would know, and
stated that He appeared to her in a form she could relate to. In his
true form, no human cou.ld comprehend seeing him. Through out the next
several months, Joan had many encounters with God, and though there
were recurring forms, He appeared as the school cafeteria lady, a goth
guy in make up and spiked hair, a dog walker, a utility worker, a hot
guy, a little girl on the play ground...And many other faces. As the
people around her started to realise something off about Joan, her
parents became increasingly worried, and soon put Joan in a mental
health program for the summer. Joan began to think perhaps it had all
been a dream, after all, a series of hallucinations brought on by lyme
disease. But then, God appeared to her again, and she fell back in to
old patterns, while continuing to struggle with the day to day life of
a teenaged girl.
Joan is also the middle child in her family. It is said more than once
in canon that she was supposed to be the normal one. Her older brother
Kevin was paralysed in a car accident, and his prognosis is less than
a 2% chance he will ever walk again. Her younger brother Luke is a
hopeless dork, a self described geek. He's extremely smart, and
somewhat socailly inept.

Your character's initial personal inventory:
Wearing:
White check hospital gown
white lace underwear
IV pole with 3/4 bag saline drip (IV needle and tubing)


Your character's entrance post:
I'm not sure what is happening.

I got really sick the last day of school. I passed out when Pryce and
I were doing the three legged race...He had yellow eyes that glowed,
it was freaky. And when I woke up, I was in hospital.

Lyme Disease, they said. I've probably had it a long time. It may have
caused me to hallucinate.

So now...now...I just don't know what to think. What if...what if
seeing God all this time was a hallucination? What if He was never
real?

My mind can't grasp it. I keep going over it, over and over, and I
can't make any sense of...of anything.

If He was never real...if I hallucinated all of it...

There were several versions of God in my hospital room when I woke up.
Goth God, the one from the chess game, the old woman from the book
store, the kid from the playground, even the news-anchor God. They
were all there, and they walked away when I told them to.

No one else saw them. And then they were gone. And I...I was alone.
I've never felt so alone. So completely and utterly alone. It was like
when Kevin was hurt, sitting at the hospital with Mom and Dad and
Luke, waiting and we didn't know...

I told Adam, I confided in him...I wanted him to believe me. I needed
him to tell me I wasn't crazy. He only said...he said he believed I
believed what I was telling him. Which means he didn't believe me.

And I really don't know how to deal with that.

I need to take a walk. The nurse says I shouldn't get out of bed, but
I have to. I need to walk. Walking helps clear my head sometimes.

I'm pulling the IV pole with me, and I can feel the hospital gown
hitting the back of my knees. want to go home. I want to sleep in my
own bed. I want to see Kevin. Kevin doesn't like to come to the
hospital. Bad memories, he says, and I can't blame him.

But I need him. He's my big bother and...

The hallway looks...really weird. They've decorated it like a beach. I
know it's summertime, but that's just...crazy. Or maybe I really have
lost my mind. There's sand, on the floor. The sun...How did they get
the sun inside?

Oh God. I really am crazy...

I've never had high self esteem. Even when I was a kid. Even before Kevin's accident. Even before we knew how weird Luke was. Luke was always weird, but not in a bad way. More like a geeky kind of way. And then after Kevin got hurt, I was the only normal one. My parents counted on me to be normal. Except I didn't feel normal.

I was getting dressed for school one morning, and I happened to look out the window. An old man was in the yard, looking up at my window. But when I went downstairs, no one was there. Really strange things started happening after that. I kept running in to people who knew me, knew everything about me, and everything about the world.

I didn't tell anybody for a long time. I knew nobody would believe me. And, besides, I was supposed to be the 'normal' one. Normal people don't see God everywhere they go. In the book store, in the mall, in the cherry picker at the side of the road, in the cafeteria at school. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, occasionally a child.

He told me he appeared to me in a way I could recognise because his true form was beyond my comprehension. I asked him why me, why Kevin, why did Rocky have to die? He'd never give me a straight answer, only more cryptic stuff I had to figure out on my own. I used to think, what's the point of talking to God if God won't tell you anything useful?

When I told Adam, he didn't believe me. I think he said he believed I believed what I said. Which meant he didn't believe it. But why should he? Why would anyone believe it? I was just a kid, living with my parents and two brothers, going to high school. I wasn't anybody special. I wasn't somebody noteworthy that God would talk to.

//Fanon continuation of response\\

I haven't seen God for a long time. A year, at least. Maybe more. Not since I moved to the Temple with Bliss. Sometimes I wonder if He's forgotten about me. I moved on. I ate the golden apple. I married a god. I started my own family. Maybe He thinks I don't need Him anymore. Maybe I don't. But maybe I do. Maybe something's missing now. I don't think about it all the time. Only late at night, when it's quiet. When Bliss and Serenity are sleeping. When I'm laying there beside my husband, watching him sleep. Only sometimes when I hold my daughter in my arms, when she's sleeping and everything is quiet. I look at her and she's so perfect.

Only sometimes.

Current Mood: nostalgic

Topic: What is the best present you have ever given someone else?

She's sleeping in my arms.

Her name is Serenity, and she's just two months old.

She wasn't planned, but that only makes her more special, because she came to us when we weren't looking. She came to us and became she knew we would see her as the most wonderful, beautiful thing in all the world.

I can still remember how I felt when I realised I was pregnant with her. I was shaking, beause, yeah. Hello. I wasn't expecting...I mean, I knew I loved Bliss and I kind of thought I wanted to have babies with him. I wasn't sure how that would work, him being a God, and well...okay, I could see and talk to the God of my world, but that was hardly the same. I really didn't even know if I coul have children with him because...because I'm a mere mortal, and he's a God.

Carrying the baby in my belly, that was something I can't even put in to words. It was...amazing. Even when I felt so sick I couldn't get out of bed without feeling weak and nauseous, I knew I was right where I needed to be. Loving her, nurturing her, bringing her to life.

When she was born, wings and all, and I saw Bliss hold her for the first time...

Okay. I've gone about this all wrong. I think I answered "What is the best gift you've ever been given" rather than "What is the best present you have ever given someone else?" Either way, the answer is my baby, my daughter. Serenity.

Current Mood: happy

My favorite time of day is early morning. The sky, when the sun first starts to show through is just beautiful. The colors, soft hues of red and orange and pink and blue... There's nothing quite like it. In the garden especially, where everything is in shadow, but slowly takes on the light until it starts to glow.

I'd never really taken the time to notice the sky before. As a kid, I used to lay on my back in the yard and try to count the stars with my brothers, and Luke used to always point out the constellations to me and Kevin, but it never really meant anything to me. It was just stars and sky, and it was just there.

Being a mother has changed everything. The sky is so much more than just the sky now. It's a whole new world waiting for my little girl to discover its beauty.

It was happening so fast, her brain could barely keep up. Between he pushing, three pressure,a dn the pain, she was having a hard time keeping her focus at all. But she didn't want to miss anything. She wanted to be aware and alert when her daughter came in to the world.

She felt a sudden shift in pressure, a sudden swoosh of everything inside her. She gripped Bliss' hands all the harder as the pain travelled up her spine. She grunted and groaned, instinct telling her to push...ANd then relief as the burden within her was pushed out.

The room was deathly ilent for a moment as Aille worked furiously...and then there was a tiny cry that pierced the silence and Joan fell back on the pillows with tears suddenly streaking her face.

Tears of relief, tears of joy. She smiled at Bliss. "We did it..." she murmured, lacking any real strength.

Blue is supposed to be the color for boys.

When babies are born, little boys are wrapped in blue blankets, little girls are wrapped in pink blankets. I guess it's so people know right away if a baby is a boy or a girl.

I like blue.

I'm having a girl, and I put blue in her nursery because I like blue. Blue is calming. It's just smooth. Like the ocean, the sky, Bliss' eyes, the blanket I had when I was younger. When I think about the color blue, I feel peaceful inside.

It’s interesting how colors can evoke feelings like that. Like, universally red is angry, yellow is hopeful. I don’t even like the color yellow, so what does that say about me? I guess pastel yellow is okay, but solid yellow? No way. Yellow on the side of green? Not a chance.

I hope my baby has blue eyes like her daddy.

She was in bed with a magazine, catching up on the latest fashions and whatnot back home, when something inside shifted and she felt a weird not-exactly-painful sensation. The baby was moving, but it was more than that. Different.

And then another strange sensation, more painful. Like muscles clenching. Contractions? Ow.

She gasped, mostly from the shock than anything else.

"Bliss1 Bliss!" She yelped. "Bliss, honey! Come here!"

The baby is due next week.

I'm ready.

Being pregnant is wonderful. It's amazing. It'sreally quite amazing t think right now I'm in posession of two hearts. And soon I'm going to meet my baby face to face, hold her and love her and watch her grow.

I should have been more active with the journal. I wish I'd documented all the little things about the pregnancy. The first time I felt her move, how it made me feel. I'll try to do better once she's born, because she deserves to have all that documented.

I'm not afraid to say I'm a bit nervous. Obviously I've never had a baby before, but I guess I kind of know what to expect.

Bliss went to see my parents, to ask them to be here. I hope they come. I hate that we've grown a part. I want them to be here, to see thier first grand child. I want her to know them too.

Pride is an interesting thing. It's hard to define, really, because it's not tangible. You can't hold it in your hands and say "Ths is pride. I am proud" and yet it is very real. Very powerful.

I was proud of my brother Kevin when he learned to drive with hand controls.

I was proud of my brother Luke when he sacrificed his own feelings for Kevin.

I was proud of my dad when he stood up to his boss.

I was proud of my mom when she went back to teaching.

i was proud of Judith when she stood up to the grounds people who wanted to destroy our garden at the school.

I was proud of Smith when he sacrificed hs life to help Bliss.

These are just a few examples. And I realise I haven't listed any time I've been proud of myself. I'm not sure I've ever really felt proud of myself.

I could name any one of the people I helped back home, when God was giving me assignments. I was certainly proud of that. But, I only did what I was told. That wasn't really me. I never would have done those things on my own.

I think the moment I felt most proud was when I said 'I do' to my husband. That's when I knew I'd made it. I was somebody. I mattered. And not just because Go used me to help other people. I mattered to a wonderful, beautiful man.

5 Question Meme

1. Leave me a comment saying, 'Interview me'.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


( From Aille, my beautiful sister in law )
( From Bliss, my amazing husband )

5 Question Meme

1. Leave me a comment saying, 'Interview me'.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

If I could trade places with anyone...There's one person I'd want to be for a day. My husband. Bliss. I mean, come on. He's a god. And not just any old god. He's the god of Happiness and Joy.

Not only that, but he can FLY. He an flash himself from one place to another in mere moments. Who wouldn't love that? I'd be able to pop in and visit my parents anytime, and be home by dinner. That would be great.

But...seriously. The real reason? If I could get inside his head for a day, even just an hour, I'd know just what it is he sees in me. I don' question that he loves me. I know he does - it's kinda hard to miss. The way he looks at me, the way he smiles, the way he fusses over me.

It's mutual. I love him so much I can't stand it sometimes. He's made my life complete, filled voids I didn't even know I had. Before I met him, I didn't even like myself very much. Throug his eyes, I know I am worth something.

So yeah. If I could change places with someone, anyone, for a day, I'd have to pick Bliss. And then he'd be able to see himself through my eyes too.

W0ULD Y0U...
[ ] go out with me?
[ ] give me your number?
[ ] kiss me?
[ ] let me kiss you?
[ ] watch a movie with me?
[ ] take me out to dinner?
[ ] drive me somewhere?
[ ] take a shower with me?
[ ] be my bf/gf?
[ ] have a fling with me?
[ ] buy me a drink?
[ ] take me home for the night?
[ ] Would you let me sleep in your bed?
[ ] Sing car karaoke w/ me?
[ ] sit in the doctors office with me because I didn't want to go alone?
[ ] re-post this for me to answer your questions?
[ ] give me a piggyback ride?
[ ] Come pick me up at 3 am because my car ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere?



D0 Y0U...
[ ] think I'm cute?
[ ] want to kiss me?
[ ] want to cuddle wit me?
[ ] want to hook up with me?


ARE WE...
[ ] acquaintances?
[ ] friends?
[ ] in a relationship?
[ ] gonna have kids?


AM i...
[ ] smart?
[ ] cute?
[ ] funny?
[ ] cool?


HAVE Y0U EVER...
[ ] thought about me?
[ ] thought there might be an "us"?
[ ] thought about hookin up with me?
[ ] found yourself wanting a kiss from me?
[ ] wished I was there?


ARE Y0U...
[ ] done with this survey?
[ ] happy you know me?
[ ] mad at me?
[ ] thinking about me?
[ ] going to repost this so that I will return the favor?

Joan was waiting for Arica and the kids at the airport, extremely excited to have them visit the temple. Bliss had stayed home, but sent one of the servants to accompany Joan. "This is them!" Joan practically shouted when the plane landed. She paced a little while waiting for them to get off the plane, and kept looking at her watch as if that would make a difference.

Finally she saw them walking toward her. "Hey," She called out and waved her arm wildly. She knew she probably looked stupid, but she didn't care.

What in your life are you most dissatisfied with?

I really can't think of anything. I know, that's hard to believe. But I'm genuinely happy right now. Happier than I've ever been in all my life.

I mean, if I had to say something, I'd say I'm not happy my brother can't walk. God chose me, He chose to appear to me, to send me on these missions or assignments or whatever He wants to call it. Yet He won't answer any of my God-type questions, He won't tell me why my brother had to be paralysed, He won't tell me why Kevin can't walk, He won't tell me if Kevin will ever walk.

But for me, my life, I'm happy. I'm married to the most wonderful husband in all the world. I mean come on. He's a god too, the god of Happiness and Joy. What could be better than that? But you know what? That doesn't really matter to me. I mean it matters, but that's not why I love him. When I wake up in the morning and he's sleeping beside me, I don't wake up and think, 'Oh look, it's the god of happiness and joy'. He's so much more than that.

Bliss is just amazing. He's incredible. He would do anything for anybody. Especially me. I on't have to lift a finger, if I don't want to. It's sweet, how he wants to take care of me. Mostly I let him, because I know it's his personality. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the attention.

So, I'm really not unhappy about anything. I m living a life most girls only dream about. I live in a temple with a god. I'm pregnant. And that...being pregnant is a whole new ball game. It's the most incredible thing I think I've ever known. I feel like I'm in possession of two hearts, which I guess I kind of am. And one day soon the baby is going to be born and she's going to be beautiful and perfect and I lov eher so much already.

So, you see, with a great husband and a precious baby on the way, I don't really have much to be dissatisfied about.

I have to apologise for neglecting Joanie. I've been sick and stressed out. All my RP babies have suffered. But Joan is still around. She's been very quiet lately, obviously.

Hopefully I'll find the motivation to get her current on topics this weekend.

Joan wasn't sleeping so well because of the baby and the changesbeing pregnant had brought to her body. She didn't mind so much, really because she knew the cause, and she could hardly blame thie child. She anticipated the birth as the most wonderful thing she'd ever known.

And besides, she was tired of laying around in bed all the time. It waas a little before dawn one morning when Joan slipped out of the bed as gracefully as she could, trying not to disturb Bliss. She headed out to the garden, delighting in the pre-dawn beauty that greeted her there. She sat by the pond and just watched the morning come to life around her.