"No, contrary to popular belief, I don't taste like a vanilla-flavored jellybean."
Username:
Tacita
Name:
Vanilla Bean (known as Vanilla to most)
Accessories:
- A single small turquoise loop earring worn on his left ear. (He received it at a young age from his mother. It was once hers. He always wears it, except when he's in the bath or swimming.)
- A silver tail bracelet with elaborate red markings etched into it. It can also be worn as a tail ring. (His father gave it to him before he and Vanilla's mother left Van and his brother. Like his earring, it is very dear to him.)
- A simple gray bandana worn around his neck. (Vanilla was given this by his owner's niece shortly after he came to live with the girl. As she said when she gave it to him, "doggies need scarves.")
- A sliver feather charm hanging from the end of a thin silver chain worn around his neck that's usually hidden under his scarf. (Vanilla's owner gave it to him when Van was younger and his horns had just started growing in. She said it was to represent the adult bean he was starting to become, tough and mature like the fierce eagle. His owner also said the feather charm represented how he could reach any height he could and achieve any goal if he wanted to. It was the first time she told Vanilla how truly proud she was of him. He rarely takes this off unless in a situation where it might get lost, such as running or swimming.)
(All of Vanilla's accessories are very dear to him and hold a lot of significance to him. He is rarely seen without any of them on and would be crushed if he lost any one of his accessories.)
Short Story OR Art:
(Please note that the following short story takes place in the past when Vanilla was a teenager. He's a lot older (22 if you want to be exact) and happier now. c:)
"Failure." "Freak." "Loser." Vanilla was used to being called such names, among the many others that had been so graciously given to him by a handful of members of his own jam. It was a bright and sunny day when three of the troublemakers approached Vanilla for his daily dose of bullying.
"Hey, freak," one of them shouted despite being only about a foot away from where Van lay in the grass, "What're you doing out here?"
His two sidekicks snickered. "Yeah, yeah! What're you doin' out here?"
Vanilla found the two's side statements almost comical. They sounded like two high-pitched echos. "I'm reading," he replied, keeping his eyes glued to the pages of what humans called a "book" in his paws.
"Reading?" the leader of the trio of idiots said, giving a snort. "That's human stuff! I bet you can't even tell what that book says." Vanilla glanced over for a moment to see the jellybean dragon sneer arrogantly, as if the fool had figured out the most humiliating and well-kept secret in the world.
Vanilla resisted the urge to roll his eyes and moved his gaze back to the book. Unfortunately for him, the bully bean was right. He didn't even know how to begin to read, despite wishing to be able to with all of his heart. He stared day in and day out at any books he managed to find scattered around the forest where his jam lived that tourists or hikers had accidentally dropped and forgotten in the foliage of the forest floor, wishing that he could understand what the odd symbols on the strange pieces of thin bark that the humans referred to as "pages" meant. He tried with all his heart to figure out what the symbols said, what stories and secrets they held within their odd twisting formations, but with no luck. He couldn't read a lick of it.
The bully certainly couldn't learn that though. "I can read," Vanilla replied in a flat voice. "Better than you can, at least."
The bully paused, as if in shock. "...What was that, freak?" He stepped forwards until he was inches from Vanilla's face. "Are you calling me stupid?"
His two associates stepped back a bit, letting out long "ooo"s under their breath.
Van looked up from his book and into the bully's eyes. "Maybe," he muttered. He returned to staring at his book just as he added with an air of disgust, "Or at least you're as dumb as your breath is smelly."
Van could feel the fury permeating from the bully's body as his one of his subordinates inhaled sharply and the other whispered, "Ouch."
A crack of lightning jumped out of the eerie clouds lurking over the forest nearby and lit up the sky before a deep rumble of thunder followed it, as if setting the mood for the tension that was building between Vanilla and the bully.
"You wanna start something, freak?!" the bully roared. "Huh? You think you're so tough because our elders are soft on you all the time. They think you need pitying because you don't have any parents now and only have your failure of an older brother. Pitying! Well, I think you're just another freak and failure just like the rest of your family, with your obsession with reading and freaky eyes. You should be kicked out with that bad luck-bringing brother of yours."
Van stiffened at the insults but refused to be pushed over the edge by such a petty bully. "Come up with all of that on your own? Wow, your vocabulary really is limited. Sure you should be insulting me about being unable to read?"
The silence that followed Vanilla's retort filled the bean up with glee. He had shut the bully up, for once. He moved his book closer to his face to hide the smile that crept to his lips.
Then the bully pulled out the one insulting remark that he never should have. "Well at least my parents weren't pets."
Van snapped. He threw down his book into the grass and leapt to his feet, whipping around to face the bully with rage in his voice. "You take that back."
The bully moved into a crouching position, ready to fight. "Make me."
The two beans were seconds away from a fight to the finish when one of their fellow jam members suddenly dashed up to them and a strange smell tickled their noses.
It's smoke, Vanilla thought, terror creeping into his heart.
The newcomer skidded to a halt next to them. "Fire," she gasped. "In the forest. You four have to get out of here. Now!"
Vanilla ignored her command and tore off in the direction of where his jam ate and slept. He could hear the bully and the bean that had warned them calling after him, their voices getting fainter and fainter as he sprinted away from them into the depths of the woods.
"Freak! Freak, wait! Don't be an idiot!"
Thunder cracked over Van's head.
"Vanilla, come back! It's too dangerous!"
He didn't stop. He couldn't stop, not while his jam was in danger.
Not while his family, bullies and all, was in danger.
Not ever.
That was the day his life was changed forever.
That was the day he met the humans.
EXTRA NOTE: Just to clarify, the part of the forest where his jam lived burned down thanks to the fire, with Vanilla getting caught right in it after helping get the members of his jam out of the forest and away from the wildfire. He was very close to death when he was found by a group of humans fighting the fire and getting the animal residents of the forest out of the forest and harm's way. The human that found Vanilla later adopted the teenage bean as her pet after she had no luck finding his jam due to the fact that they had assumed Vanilla was dead and left the now ruined forest. Because of the traumatic experience of the forest fire, Van also become horribly afraid if thunderstorms.
Vanilla's new owner raised him more like a drill sergeant would than a mother, since she was a strict businesswoman in the first place. However, she does love him dearly even if she shows it in strange ways. She taught the overjoyed jellybean dragon how to read, among with some basic math and other typical school topics. He grew up to be a serious yet caring bean under his owner's tutelage. He took his owner's care for nature and furthered her efforts to save the wilderness from the growing cities by informing humans about the large amount of wild jellybean dragons out in the world. Vanilla was a very successful mediator between businessmen who wanted to build on feral lands and the jellybean dragons that inhabited them. Van had his own successful business and was very happy with life.
That is, until his owner sent him away to the suburbs of a distant land to become her niece's pet, to "familiarize her with the responsibilities of having a pet and give Vanilla a vacation." Now, much to Van’s despair, other workers under his owner have taken over his mediating business while he's stuck with a 7-year-old in the suburbs. The serious jellybean dragon is now "forced to get along with and 'become the best of friends', as the immature blond child would say, with the other beans and pets of the neighborhood", much to his despair.
Don't worry though; he'll have to shed the serious act eventually. ;D He's just a big, caring softy underneath all that fluff.
Extra
Nicknames:
Vanilla (usually known as this rather than his full name, Vanilla Bean), Van, Vani, Stripes, Doggy, "stuck-up", "freak", various other insults
Size:
A few inches bigger than a great dane.
Personality (in three adjectives or less):
Sarcastic
It isn't uncommon for Van to make sarcastic comments. When he's angry, his sarcasm level only increases. His sense of humor is also very dry, only adding to his sarcasm at times. He never means to hurt the feelings of others that don't deserve it with any of his sarcastic comments and will immediately apologize to the if he realizes what he did.
Caring
Despite having a rather rough exterior, Vanilla is actually a very caring bean. He greatly enjoys helping others and can never turn down someone in need. He cares immensely for his friends and family, even if he doesn't always show it. He's almost always up for snuggles with those close to his heart; all they have to do is ask.
Serious
One of the most obvious of Vanilla's personality traits is his seriousness. He has a very emotionless expression plastered on his face most of the time since he takes life very seriously and finds no time for emotion. However, this face is only a mask. He may take most things seriously, but when Vanilla's truly happy he lets the sweetest of smiles slip out from under his stern exterior.
(Seriously, he takes serious situations seriously seriously. He's seriously super serious.
Seriously.)
Theme:
Owl City – Paper Tigers
Yes Please:
Coffee (with plenty of milk), chocolate (hot cocoa or the candied variety), saltwater taffy, honey, his owner, the sounds of nature, soothing jazz music, the wilderness, naps (especially ones in the sun), parks, and his owner's niece plus the rest of her neighborhood (secretly).
No Way:
Smog, smoke, any out-of-control fire, children that pull on his fur and have sticky fingers, burrs, brambles, thorns, anything that gets stuck in his fur, when others are in danger and he can't help them, greedy people, cruel people, limes, and thunderstorms.
Worst Fear:
Thunderstorms. Vanilla's absolutely terrified of them. Every time lightning starts flashing in the sky and thunder begins to clap, the jellybean dragon turns into a spooked cat and cowers in the closest corner, covering his eyes with his paws and shaking. Only soothing words and a few gentle strokes of his fur will calm him down to a reasonable level of skittishness until the storm passes.
Vanilla-Flavored Quotes:
Vanilla Bean wrote:"I keep telling you, kid. I'm not a dog, I'm a jellybean dragon. ...Alright, fine. You can call me a 'doggy' if you want. Just stop with the waterworks. I'm not mad at you. Promise."
Vanilla Bean wrote:"You got us into this mess and you, not me, are going to get us out of it."
Vanilla Bean wrote:"'A successful businessman must have a caring heart', right?"
Vanilla Bean wrote:"Find the flashlights and contact the authorities. We're going to have ourselves a search party."
