This Just In!

20 Random Facts about Reka Lengyel (Complete Version)

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:33:31 GMT

20 Random Facts about Reka Lengyal

1.She's never even tasted alcohol, baring the occasional medication.
Even though she'd worked at the Recess since she was sixteen, it was more the appeal of meeting new people and a general enjoyment of waitressing that drew her to the job than the appeal of drinking. While she doesn't admonish the activity, she's never felt the draw of a good drink herself. And besides, that stuff smells awful.

2.She came up with most of the design elements for the Recess's 'Gothic' makeover.
When the owner of the bar made an idle comment about changing the bar's look to draw the 'darker and edgier' college kids, she took is a a challenge, and after three weeks of research into various design elements and relatively enduring trends, she had a cost estimate and the rough design preview sketched up for presentation. It won her an internship with a local design firm when he showed it to an old school buddy of his with a few connections, but she isn't sure if she is going to take him up on the offer.

3.She straightens her hair and dyes it black; it's not natural.
She inherited the same curly mop that her mother did, and while she loved the woman with all her heart, being constantly compared to her by family members at every bleeding reunion...so after she turned sixteen, she showed up with jet black locks down hanging just over her shoulders. 'Kamella's Daughter' was quickly replaced with 'That Reka'. It was a start.

4.She has a killer right hook.
Her uncle spent a summer teaching her how to throw a proper punch once he found out where she worked, and while very little of the other self defense he show her stuck, the was something very satisfying about perfecting the snap at the end of the swing, and when she knocked out a cousin in one swing for calling her a bar-wench, her uncle laughed and deemed her a success.

5.She hates her freckles.
She's tried every mask in existence, but the ones that are effective without being layered an inch deep left her looking pale enough to star in 'Queen of the Damned'. And while that might be a draw for her at work, her co-corkers would never let her live it down.

6.She can't roller-skate.
Oh, she's tried to learn, several times, all with varying degrees of tragedy. Rollerblades, ice-skates, and even Moon-shoes are anathema as far as she's concerned.

7.She's godmother to her sister's kids.
Heck, some people joke that they look close enough alike that it's a negligible difference anyways, though Reka is somewhat blind to their resemblance. All that aside, Reka absolutely loves to spoil them rotten with sweets and trips to the pizza play-scape after big tip nights at work.

8.She can speak Hungarian, German and French.
A big part of it came from being a military brat, though she largely began to learn French because of a high school crush. Good luck trying to get her to admit that, though.

9.She wrecked her parent's car when she was eleven, and they never found out.
While they were out of town for a few days, Reka decided to go to McDonald's. After all, she knew all the roads to get there, and driving couldn't be that hard. After totaling the truck in a ditch, she jumped out and ran the two miles back home. Her parents assumed that someone had stolen the car, and the officer in charge, seeing the miserably guilty look on the girl's face, decided not to point out the stack of phone books now scattered across the floorboards.

10.She really isn't a big horror fan.
A part of her distaste comes from the general clientèle at the Recess, but the biggest is that despite the excellent writing and themes, in the end it was all largely fantasy or the very worst of what humanity could be. Apt Pupil gave her nightmares for weeks when she saw it on TCM, and afterwards she swore sole allegiance to science fiction. Best to imagine the highest of human achievement than the lowest of its depravity, by her book.

11.She has several tattoos depicting feline striping across her back.
It's embarrassing really. She's had these horrific scars on her back from the accident that nearly killed her sister, and some other-kin pal she had in high school told her it looked like her inner animal was a tiger because of how they lined up across her back. While she didn't ever talk to said person again after high school, and thought the whole other-kin spiel was bull, no pun intended, the truth of her observation stuck with her, and after one drunken weekend in Vegas with some friends after graduation, she woke up to rather intense pain along her spine and the beginnings of stripes running along her shoulders and back. As the job was already fully paid for (annihilating her winnings for the weekend) she decided to go ahead and finish the deed, though embarrassment keeps her from wearing low backed dresses and two piece swim-suits to this day. They do a great job of hiding the scars though.

12.She's virtually addicted to MMOs.
It's terrible how much of her pay-check goes toward pay-to-play subscriptions, but it's about the best form of stress relief that she's ever found. After six hours of trying to keep drunken quasi-Gothic punks from pinching her ass, thirty minutes flying through the skyscrapers of Paragon City is strangely therapeutic.

13.Cats creep her out.
There's just something about the things, like they know a little too much. She remembers a lot of cats wandering about the property in the days before her parents died, so they have unfortunate associations for her these days.

14.She remembers the night her parents died.
It's fairly fuzzy, but she remembers the shouting voices, the crack of a phone smashing against a wall, and her sister's arms wrapping around her as the garage door rumbled up and tires squealed into the night. She also remembers a man in a suit coming by, and her sister screaming at him, but she doesn't fully understand the significance of the memory. Whenever she's asked Aria about it, she'd look angrier than she's ever seen her, and she takes that as a cue to avoid the subject.

15.She's actually left-handed.
Her mother was very traditional and slightly superstitious, so when her daughter started to show signs of let-handedness, she immediately began a campaign to nip it at the bud. While Reka ended up being proficient enough with her right, it tends to hurt her wrist to do any serious activity with her 'off' hand over any extended period.

16.She's a strong advocate of Occam's Razor.
While not one to jump onboard of every idea and trend that bounces through, she isn't one to over-think much; in her opinion, that causes as much problems as jumping in head first. But she does believe that the simplest answer and solution is generally the best one, and if the guy who claims to be a vampire dramatically displays some massive canines you know haven't been so visible before, seems more concerned with reassuring you that he won't drain her dry on impulse rather than convince you that he isn't lying, and then shows that your sister is the freaking Paladin, then maybe there's more to what he's saying then some sad attempt to impress a potential 'Mistress of the Night'.

17.She's pretty good in a crisis.
It's largely why Aria choose her as Godmother; when shit hit the fan, Reka would wait until after it was over to loose it. Reka doesn't know where this eerie calm comes from, but when faced with something beyond her experience or belief, the panic centers shut down while she take the situation in and considers every option, then executes.

18.The breakdown normally comes after. In rather embarrassing fashion.
In the most recent upheaval, Reka quickly packed enough necessities and small items to keep the kids occupied, taking into account what she'd be able to borrow from Alvero and what she could simply replace. She checked to be sure there was nothing more that she could do, then got the kids in the van and headed down the street, idly considering that Alvero's was honestly the only family in Newcastle who would be able to take up three more people, including an infant, the night before Thanks...giving...
And then the dam broke. Thanksgiving was tomorrow, and while the entire damn country was sitting around tables in celebration of all they had, she was going to be at a near stranger's house, with her sister only Jason knew where, being possessed by a murdering psychopath, and what was she going to tell Mychal when he started asking where she was, oh, and by the way, the ones who told her all this are freaking vampires? Fighting back the onrush of hysteria, she almost didn't see the car she cut off at the four-way by the house, or that they followed her for another three blocks. In fact, it wasn't until she was on Alvero's driveway that she got her equilibrium back, and then it was only because the kids were going to need her.

19.She has no idea how she made those thugs believe she was Paladin.
Almost none of what she did was planned, but when Alvero stopped shouting and she saw the terror growing in his wife's eyes, Reka grabbed the kitchen knife she'd snatched up en route to the upstairs bedroom and ran out the door. She grabbed the hoodie out of an open closet and ran forward, hoping to grab a quick look over the railing before grabbing their attention...only to knock the thing loose and fall on top of all of them. As she recovered the wind that she lost falling from the second floor, she heard one of the mobster shout, 'That's her!' and after several seconds of scrambling to get to her feet, she managed to make it out the door having only tripped twice. Even so, she hadn't managed to run half a block before being tackled from behind, sending the knife flying into the street and her head cracking against the curb. She didn't wake back up until she was tied up in some warehouse, but before it faded to back, her last thought was that if that sorry display had convinced them, then they must be more desperate to end this than anyone could have thought.

20.The reason for her first near frenzy wasn't quite as straightforward as one might think.
Yeah, she wasn't happy about him killing her, but she honestly expected to die anyways; she'd only be hoping to buy Aria enough time to get the kids safe then come for payback. But the idea that Pino had thrown her sister, her parents, and so many others, criminals or not, into such a spiral of death and pain only to coast onto a few dollars infuriated her more than she understood. She saw the few surviving mobsters in the room staring at their former boss with such looks of betrayal and shame, that their rage became all but palpable to her, and she saw herself rushing forward, shoving the skinny guy out of the way, screaming 'Was it worth it?!' over and over as she pulped him head against the warehouse wall. It was only her sister's hand that stayed the part inside her that was roaring for blood, and the gratitude she has for that is more than Aria will likely ever know; while such a thing may have been worth it for Ricardo Pino, but for her, the price of that bloody vengeance would have been more than she could bear.

Reka Lengyel
June 8th, 1984-November 27th, 2005

Up next: 20 Random Facts about Rita B. Gattis

A little GM self-wankery

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:55:45 GMT

A bit of a preview for something I hope to make a series of for a few of the more interesting or amusing NPCs in the Newcastle games I've been running. I'd post the whole thing, but it gets a bit spoilery at the end. (Also, I would like to note that this idea was shamelessly lifted from the ff.net writer Thanfiction)

20 Random Facts about Reka Lengyal

1.She's never even tasted alcohol, baring the occasional medication.
Even though she'd worked at the Recess since she was sixteen, it was more the appeal of meeting new people and a general enjoyment of waitressing that drew her to the job than the appeal of drinking. While she doesn't admonish the activity, she's never felt the draw of a good drink herself. And besides, that stuff smells awful.

2.She came up with most of the design elements for the Recess's 'Gothic' makeover.
When the owner of the bar made an idle comment about changing the bar's look to draw the 'darker and edgier' college kids, she took is a a challenge, and after three weeks of research into various design elements and relatively enduring trends, she had a cost estimate and the rough design preview sketched up for presentation. It won her an internship with a local design firm when he showed it to an old school buddy of his with a few connections, but she isn't sure if she is going to take him up on the offer.

3.She straightens her hair and dyes it black; it's not natural.
She inherited the same curly mop that her mother did, and while she loved the woman with all her heart, being constantly compared to her by family members at every bleeding reunion...so after she turned sixteen, she showed up with jet black locks down hanging just over her shoulders. 'Kamella's Daughter' was quickly replaced with 'That Reka'. It was a start.

4.She has a killer right hook.
Her uncle spent a summer teaching her how to throw a proper punch once he found out where she worked. While very little of the other self defense he showed her stuck, there was something very satisfying about perfecting the snap at the end of the swing, and when she knocked out a cousin in one swing for calling her a bar-wench, her uncle laughed and deemed her a success.

5.She hates her freckles.
She's tried every mask in existence, but the ones that are effective without being layered an inch deep left her looking pale enough to star in 'Queen of the Damned'. And while that might be a draw for her at work, her co-corkers would never let her live it down.

6.She can't roller-skate.
Oh, she's tried to learn, several times, all with varying degrees of tragedy. Rollerblades, ice-skates, and even Moon-shoes are anathema as far as she's concerned.

7.She's godmother to her sister's kids.
Heck, some people joke that they look close enough alike that it's a negligible difference anyways, though Reka is somewhat blind to the resemblance. All that aside, Reka absolutely loves to spoil them rotten with sweets and trips to the pizza play-scape after big tip nights at work.

8.She can speak Hungarian, German and French.
A big part of it came from being a military brat, though she largely began to learn French because of a high school crush. Good luck trying to get her to admit that, though.

9.She wrecked her parent's car when she was eleven, and they never found out.
While they were out of town for a few days, Reka decided to go to McDonald's. After all, she knew all the roads to get there, and driving couldn't be that hard. After totaling the truck in a ditch, she jumped out and ran the two miles back home. Her parents assumed that someone had stolen the car, and the officer in charge, seeing the miserably guilty look on the girl's face, decided not to point out the stack of phone books now scattered across the floorboards.

10.She really isn't a big horror fan.
A part of her distaste comes from the general clientèle at the Recess, but the biggest is that despite the excellent writing and themes, in the end it was all largely fantasy or the very worst of what humanity could be. Apt Pupil gave her nightmares for weeks when she saw it on TCM, and afterwards she swore sole allegiance to science fiction. Best to imagine the highest of human achievement than the lowest of its depravity, by her book.

Add to my RPG Wishlist

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:02:40 GMT

Been working on the Newcastle game, and have found a small stumbling block. Finding decent pictures of people is hard .

When I'm just trying to find a picture for the bartender, or that random waitress that X character has run into...okay, honestly, finding pictures of guys is easy. But finding casual pics of girls under the age of forty who isn't a supermodel is friggin ridiculous. Let alone if you have to specify a nationality. Case in point: 'Hungarian Girls' with safe search on got me either crowded groups shots, glamour pics or beach shots. It took till page seven to find one that was reasonable, and it was still of a model. Trying to do is on the fly for a quick description of a random npc wouldn't be possible, though I admit, my standards may be a bit lofty (i.e. I don't want a city populated solely by supermodels)

Ideally, what I'd like is a database of photos, searchable by categories like age, nationality, occupation, etc. But baring pictures, perhaps a random generator that can come up with at least the base stuff for you to work from. For example, a search for a college aged female bartender would give you the following:

Apparent Age: 19-24
Build/Hair/Face: Tall, Average Build/Dark Hair, Hastily Tied Back/Slim Face, Dark Eyes
Clothing: Wrinkled Black Shirt, Khakis and Slightly Stained Apron with the Establishment's Logo
Mood: Showing signs of exhaustion from a series of long shifts, but make an honest effort to smile as she spots you across the bar and makes her way over to your table.

While I admit the last part is a bit extreme, it would be nice to have even an abbreviated version of this to work off of during a game. Have any of you seen anything along these lines?

'Pun'theon Proposal

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:07:10 GMT

In line with the joke pantheon, the Pantheon of Bureacracy that Charlie and others have made light of on many an occasion, I'd like to put forward the beginings of another in a similar vein. While 'pun'theon is still a very working title, I've come up with two deities for it so far, though I'm hurting on ideas for names. I've got the God of the Porcelain Throne, and the God of the Spit-Take. Any other ideas?

Only Adam will really understand this.

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:31:50 GMT

...but after more frustrating hours than I care to admit, Vault of Darkness is now my bitch.

Wonder if they'll do the sequels too?

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:41:14 GMT

So can we just go ahead and expect a Friday the 13th or other horror 'classic' remake every time there's a thematic date (Friday a 13th, Halloween, etc.)? First guy who tries to remake Freedy vs Jason gets a kick in the junk, I swear it.

I've got studying to do!

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:10:06 GMT

Well, I was idly rolling up a couple vampire chars, and for background purposes, looked up scientest and doctor on wikipedia. Long story short, I found an article on bullshit . Moreso, I discovered that there have been essays, papers and BOOKS written on the subject, it's societal effects, and it's qualities. It appears that I may need to hone my craft.

Or I could just make a joke about science being about four wiki links removed from bullshit.

I need to start taking better notes

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:13:34 GMT

So, just recently, I realized that I have no idea were the name Ormius (one of my game character/NPC staples) originated from. Thus far, I've ruled out Greek and Latin origins (Charlie believes I was thinking about Orpheus, but I know I've seen the name itself from a language generator somewhere) It looks like I've struck a dead end, but so far I've found a Czech transportation company (www.ormius.cz/), what appears to be a dead french dude named Ormius Trudeau on ancestry.com, and possibly a Eragon character. The French connection seems promising, but so far has been a dead end. Any chance one of you guys knows a French major?

Now that was a WoD game.

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:12:12 GMT

Notable Quote of the night.

ST (Adam): Everyone but Cliff roll Initiative. Cliff, you're knocking on the door.

Me: Strength + Presence?

Also, first time with agg in a WoD game. Ever. Gotta love a good mortal game.

So that's why it didn't go through!

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:13:51 GMT

I want to grow up to be Charles Barkley.

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:41:23 GMT

The only way this video could be better is if it was Pedo Bear.

But in all seriousness, making millions doing something you love, then getting played even more millions to talk about it on tv? Yes please! (When Ernie Johnson retires, I want his job.)

Edit: And on other basketball related fronts, Rudy Fernadez of Spain arrived in Portland today. He's this guy:

Anyways, this quote has him on my must watch list:
And then, in a moment that might not make the evening news but that should remain in every Blazers fan's heart, when asked what he thought about playing against Kobe and the rest of team USA, he said through his translator, "The first thought is respect, the second thought is I'm going to kick their ass."

And I'm gonna leave it at that.

When Samuel L Jackson and Anthony Hopkins Combine!

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:22:53 GMT

Apparently you get me.
I mean, damn, Hannibal Lecter and Elijah? Not bad. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go pull one hell of a twist on all of you poor saps.

Yep, the Terrorist Have Truly Won (or) Good Thing I Play Guild Wars

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:38:59 GMT

blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/world-of-warcra.html

I really have to wonder who it is that sits back and considers all of these possible scenarios. The Topical Terrorist Target Bureau of Investigations? But on the off chance this were to become legit, I truly pity the person who would then have to spend hours reading local chat in towns and outposts.

In other news, I finished reading the Gangrel Clan Book: Savage Macabre today. It was awesome all together, but I'll sum it up in four words what made it worth buying for me.

Vampire Zombies. With mechanics.

I'm out like Ozarka at H.E.B. last weekend.

If I become rich and famous...

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:14:48 GMT

...I hope I would do stuff exactly like this. Filmed by Chris Bosh (Starting Forward of the Toronto Raptors), five members of the Team USA B-ball team eating at Wendy's:

Brian Todd: Hero of Hurricane Gustav

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:17:40 GMT

Let us take a moment to give a nod to the courage of Brian Todd, whose bravery and strength to report from the fury of the storm inspires us all. God bless CNN!
www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/todd.brian.html

And that is all

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:28:51 GMT

Spain: 107
USA: 118

More when I can talk clearly again.

Edit: And icing on the cake - Lupe Fiasco's Superstar playing at the stadium after the win. Thank you.

I'd love to see a link to this video actually be rick-rolled.

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:03:04 GMT

Remember, you saw it here first! (minor Dark Knight Spoilers!)

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:31:16 GMT

Glad that that's out of my system...

Went to see it yesterday, and must say, was very impressed. While I'm not quite ready to hop onto the Oscar bandwagon, i do agree that Heath Ledger did an absolutely wicked job as the Joker. Perfectly psychotic, and the 'mad dog' speech was one for the ages.

Too Much to Handle

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:02:57 GMT

Well, I was bored, so I decided to try dotting out a character from the WoD: Chicago book that you guys will likely be encountering. (And no Charlie, it wasn't her, though he is also Legend). I hadn't even finished the Merits when the program had an error and shut itself down.

At program termination, I had spent at least 1500 exp, after creation, and I had used merits to purchase the supernatural resistance during that. I hadnt even started pumping up the powers. And I spent 1500 exp.

While I love the WoD System, they seem to have a severe tendency to make either their NPCs and Antagonists either canon fodder or friggin' godlike compared to most PCs. Sometimes, it works, but did Walker-Breaker really need a twenty die base attack pool?

Back Home Again

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:52:56 GMT

Well, back from Lo. It was rather nice to make a family trip again. But enough of that, I saw something that near blew my mind.

The Wal-Mart has a liquor section.

Maybe I've just missed it at all the ones I've gone to, but there it was, plain and clear under the fluorescent. I'm still trying to decide whether this was a good or bad thing.

As far as other things that were accomplished while I was there, I got a assassin on single player D2 to the second act, and wrote the entire vampire arc to the WoD Chicago game I've been planning. Perhaps it was at the cost of some interaction w/ the folks (half of whom I regrettably didn't know from Adam) But it seems I get strangely productive w/o internet access. Who'd have thunk?

if only...

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:10:05 GMT

I'm sitting at a table in the arts center, listening to three guys loudly discussing the stalking and mugging of some guy who apparently cleaned out the community account, stole some collectibles and ran out. While it's obvious it ain't gonna go down well for them from what they're discussing, i kinda wish i had a badge of some sort to whip out, just to see their faces.

Update: Now their talking SSBM. What's the over/under on me whomping them? Clue: Some guy's saying he'll whomp with Pichu.

This is why I play Guild Wars

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:56:13 GMT

With a guild leader who's desk looks like this, how can I go wrong?

Worst Promotional Video EVER!

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:17:27 GMT

I hate to force another NBA-related video on you all, but this is so horrible that it must be shared. It's for some summer camp in Penn., and Tracy McGrady does a promo for it. It's looks like it was made in IMovie in about twenty minutes, and the actual speaking part by McGrady...2:06, that's all I can say.

kinda sad really

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:14:54 GMT

The semester's almost over, and I just realized I have no idea where the library is here.

Word of the Day: Word of the Day/Line of Ass-Kicking

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:29:16 GMT

First part just to clear something up (I'm looking at you Booker T!) Then we get serious.

Word of the Day: Word of the Day

Definition: A word or phrase that struck me as being humorous and worth sharing.

Example: Word of the Day - Backhanded Omnisult

Background: An idea I've shamelessly copied from the NBA blog Basketbawful, though the premise has been done several times before.

Now on to the real deal...

Word of the Day: Line of Ass-Kicking

Definition: An action sequence in which the focus plows his way through an opposing group, generally on his way to another enemy or in an escape bid.

Example: In Civil War Issue 7, Spiderman does a line of ass-kicking on his way to a spectacular right hook on Mr. Fantastic.

Background: We've all seen innumerable action sequences like this, but it was read Civil War that finally gave me the inspiration to give this a name. As said the the example, good ol' Peter land Mr. F a good one, and goes through four or five other supers to do it. Other examples of this that immediately come to mind are Spike's last hurrah on Cowboy Beebop, Leonidas on the first charge against the Persians, and Lebron James in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.