Zvers: Moved to a new thread, please lock

[Metallic Dragon]

No, there isn't. And yes you may^^ That would keep the spam out of the thread

[Nyxeva]

Am I forgetting anything?
Fanclub

[Cion Keiasta]

I was planning to make it but I got too lazy xD

Metta! Do zvers blink?

[Metallic Dragon]

Perfect HTB! I love it! Putting the link up on the front page. From now on, all discussion of Zvers will take place in the fanclub. Forms are to be posted here and questions should be PM'd to me.

[Nimaine]

Username: Nimaine

Zver you want: CC7323

Name: Justin

Reason you want it: It's hard for me to answer this without feeling like I'm begging. Okay, here goes. I've been silently stalking this thread for a while, but no zver has ever caught my eye quite like Justin has. I just had to try for him. His "creature of the night" color scheme was definitely a draw, but more than that I adore his personality. It just sounds so awesome to write for.

What will you do with it if you win?: I see you have a roleplay thread ^^ It's like this: I love to write and to draw. But I can get worn out and my inspiration does hit dry spells, and yes, I do have stuff that needs to be done off-computer. If I am fortunate enough to own Justin, I can at least assure you with a high level of confidence that I'll get out some of my old canine lineart (trackpad makes drawing on the laptop a week-long ordeal, reusing lineart saves time) and recolor and modify it. I'll draw him his own lineart too, of course, but whether it makes it's way from the notebook to the computer and the internet only time shall tell. Eventually he'll end up in one of my stories. I have nothing specific planned at the moment, but did I mention I loved writing his personality? I'd be happy to show them to you too, when they're done or if you're willing to help with the editing process.

Personality:

Justin is a natural actor with a flair for the dramatic. He likes living life to its fullest extent, whether it's a high or a low. Of couse, he spends so much energy expressing his feelings he doesn't have much energy left to actually have those feelings. As a result, he tends not to be very deep. It's not that he's shallow by malicious intention, it's just part of his nature.

He's not very smart, either, though that hasn't stopped him from trying to think of plans and things. However, he knows he's not the brightest, and this bugs him. He isn't that well endowed with brawn, and he believes he deserves a brilliant brain to make up for it. What he does have, mainly because he makes them himself, are opportunities to take other animals and people by surprise. Prey is taken by surprise. Even bullies can be taken by suprise when a whimpering lump becomes a ferocious bundle of flesh-tearing teeth. Justin does not wait for his fate to call for him. He's gone out searching for his destiny plenty of times before, and he's not afraid to make moderations as necessary.

Justin first started consciously being melodramatic when he decided to overreact to a play bite when he was a puppy. Hoping to make the fighting game more real, when he was bitten by a fellow puppy, he set off "howling pains of misery" that attracted the attention of everyone, from his mother to the alpha's mate and, very briefly, even the alpha himself. The realization that he held that much power over everyone, even for a short time, greatly broadened Justin's horizons and future. He worked on his acting, especially fake injuries, until even other predators were fooled. This talent has saved his life before, and Justin is very proud of himself for thinking of it and executing it with such skill.

Life isn't all about drama for Justin, as he does have a sense of fairness and a sense of humor. He doesn't like to admit to possessing these senses, especially when he gets a better response for his humor by deadpanning it. More of a surprised reaction from his audience. It is that power to surpise that he loves. If he as a human, he'd always throw a surprise party for each of his friends, and he'd probably become a sleight-of-hand magician. He's familiar with tricks and jokes, since he's played most of them on other svers, but he loves thinking of new ones. Learning new tricks the hard way is not to Justin's taste, but it's happened before, remember, he's not the brightest.

People have bank accounts and wild animals have fat, but both they're both very similar. Justin has a strong survival instinct, and since he wasn't an alpha, an amir, or a particularly strong fighter or good hunter, he tends to seek fat in his diet the way some people seek money in their lives. As a result, he loves fast food, fried stuff, and most desserts. His stomach is strong and he can eat quite a lot of these treats without getting sick. Now that he's bonded properly with a human, he seems to be getting fatter, despite her best efforts.


Introduction/Story: (for the sake of humor and ease of writing, I have translated Justin's internal monologue into something a human might say/think)

Running, running, I couldn't stop running. A black path that stank of oil and smelt of rocks lay in my way, but I didn't have time to avoid it. I had to get away from that place. Just as I reached the black path, light flooded the darkness, its brightness hurting my eyes. A machine's noise filled my ears, and I thought it was one of them, having caught up with me. But I could tell by the sound that it wasn't close enough to catch me yet. The old run the other way trick was the first thing that leaped to my mind so I tried it. Unfortunately I couldn't stop and turn that quickly and by now was more than a little over the edge of the black path, straight in the way of the machine. As I turned, I realized I had made a fatal mistake. The extra time spent stopping and turning had allowed the machine to catch up with me. It was all over now, and I closed my eyes.

The light disappeared and there was a screech from a dying animal, but I was silent, and after a few seconds, when the machine noise stopped too, I realized I was also unhurt. There was the sound of a peculiar door opening, I did recognize the door sound by now. It was followed by the also-familar footsteps of those tall pink human creatures. I had been shot at before so I knew what to fear, but I also had a plan for a second escape. I flopped to the ground instantly, and began to writhe in pain and howl in despair of my life like some prey with its guts ripped out. The footsteps stopped, and a worried voice said "Oh no!"

I writhed and wriggled in such a way that allowed me to get a better view of my captor. Her "fur patterns" were different than the others, maybe she was from a different pack? I didn't let up on my moaning though, adding some desperate whines for good measure. When I caught her eye, I made sure she saw me roll mine in agony. She made some more anxious sounding remarks, like "Oh you poor thing, I'm so sorry! Oh I'm so sorry, I thought I swerved in time!" If she would just get a little closer, I could pull my miraculous recovery stunt and be out of here before she knew what happened. But then I realized something else. Her machine had not come from the place I was running from. In fact, it had come from the opposite direction. So while she continued to wallow in guilt, I cut the histronics down to "minor flesh wound" level and began to cautiously test my muscles.

I could hear her voice change from shame to surprise to wounded pride as I kept up the pretense of checking for injuries while lying on my side. "Wait, but you were dying! You're okay? I didn't feel any impact when I was driving, I must have just grazed you... There isn't any blood. Unless it's an internal injury, but I barely grazed you... You sneaky thing!" and more such drivel, along with a laugh of relief. What a chatterbox! She must be fun to have around when hunting prey. Well, that's enough of a health check. Time to drag myself to my feet, and spring off like a- Youch! I yelped in real pain. I had stepped on something sharp and all over spiky standing up!

I stood on three paws to inspect my fore-foot. I barely touched the thing with my nose and it poked me again! I whimpered, how was I going to get it out of my foot? I still need to escape! I tried to take it carefully between my small front teeth, but not carefully enough. It got me in the gums! What was this thing? I sniffed it, but not too close this time. Tar, rock, and... vegetable? Was I being attacked by a very small member of a zver-eating plant species?

The human's voice had become coaxing. "C'mere boy, come here..." Yeah, right. How gullible do you think I am? But I couldn't run. I just stood there on three paws and whimpered softly. She came closer, still talking in that same comforting voice. "Good... doggie. Nice doggie. Is something the matter with poor puppy's paw?" You bet there is. And you're not going to take advantage of it. I said as much in a low growl. She paused in her movement, but continued talking to me like I was a child. Eventually the voice got to me. I thought it /was/ my mother talking, in the back of my mind, and my growl morphed into a sort of groan. She came up to me and reached for my wounded paw.

"I feel like Androcles," she said quietly, taking my paw gently in her hands. "It's just a burr, you big baby. Here, hold still, I'll take it out." She did so, but with an "Ouch!" as it pricked her fingers. Ha. 'Just a burr' indeed. She tossed the burr off to the side of the road and rubbed her hand rapidly against her own "fur" to get rid of the sting, and said, "It's okay, it's gone now, you can walk again." I carefully tested her statements, and found them to be true. I waved my tail wildly in escasty, and bounced around like a puppy again. After a few small circles of rejoicing, I returned to the human and pressed my forehead against her leg. She gave her usual bleat of "Oh," but in a surprised tone. I figured the message wasn't quite reaching her. So I leaned my whole body into her, giving a clear message of love and gratitude.

This time it worked. "Aw, you're a good... dog too," she said, as if uncertain of what to call me. But her hands spoke clearly, they stroked my back from head to tail. After a few moments of this lovey-dovey bliss, I gently pulled away, and then bounded back into the forest, as had been my original intention.

&&&some time later&&&

I kept deep in the forest for some time after that incident. Yes, I had met a nice human, but I knew for certain that they weren't all like that. As I traveled farther and farther from the awful place I had been, I realized that trees and woodlands were not as predominant in this area as I had hoped. In fact, it got harder and harder for me to find large tracts of forest where I could hunt decent sized prey. I began to subsist solely on small furry creatures, which, while tasty, are not very filling. The smaller predators of this land feared me, and rightly so, but I envied their ability to make successful commando-style intrusions into human territory for rich human food.

So that's why I found myself staring into a parking lot that day, which was full of the moving-machines I had learned were called "cars." Parking Lot was another word I had picked up from the locals. But enough of my language lessons. There I was, staring longingly at the humans going into a building from which delicious smells came out, and coming out with their own packages of delicious smells. The place was even popular at night, and well-lit, so I had no chance to scavenge, like the rats and the birds. I didn't dare ask the people for anything. Some of them might be nice, like my person of the car, but then they might also be like the people of the labs.

I lifted my head and brought my ears forward. That car looked familar. It had been night when I saw it last, but still... Yes, that was my human getting out! It was now or never, as far as I was concerned, and as my stomach reminded me, never might mean death. Probably mean death. I crept forward, keeping in between cars to avoid being seen. When I got to /the/ car, I sat down happily beside the door to wait.

She was coming back, but she had no package! She had gone into the wrong building! Okay, I can fix this. I went into my greeting ritual, keeping it at a fairly low level so as not to attract attention or frighten her off. It's a small world after all, I said with my eyes and my ears, where have you been hiding? My tail chimed in with a 'it's nice to see you again,' wag. When she saw me she stopped, blinked, and walked up to me quickly.

"They had a public service announcement a few days ago. You must be one of the escaped zvers, right? I thought you were a funny looking dog... wolf... coyote... canine. It was dark that night, just the sliver of moonlight and the stray headbeams. I couldn't really see what you looked like. What are you doing here?" She hadn't changed a bit since I saw her last. Same old talkative self.

I tried to be polite. Yes, well, that's fascinating, I said with a tilt of my head. But seeing as we share a sort of bond and all, you saved my life from angry burrs on the road and I didn't disembowel you, do you think you could getmesomeofthatfoodpleaserightnow? I licked my chops at the end of the request, so it got a little garbled.

"What?" She asked blankly. I licked my chops again: Ireallyneedsomeofthatfooditsmellssogoodwillyougetitformenow? Ugh. You'd think I'd have better control of involuntary movements during these life and death situations. I decided to try sharades instead. I looked pointedly in the direction of the good-smelling building, and inhaled deeply and noisily. She looked in the direction I did and said, "You want some of that food? Fast food isn't very healthy for dogs, zvers, people..." She still wasn't getting it, so I repeated my performance. "Okay, but I'm only getting you one hamburger. Then you've got to eat something healthier." She walked off in the right direction, and I sat down to wait, feeling very pleased with myself.

A different human walked by, and I quickly ducked. That was close. There were people walking everywhere. One of them might see me and I'd have to run before I got my food. Then I had a flash of brilliance. I lay down and crawled under the car. No one could see me here.

"Your tail is sticking out," my human said when she returned. I poked my head out from underneath the car, and she unwrapped the 'hamburger' and dropped it into my waiting jaws. "The lab report says you're dangerous, but I think you're just a big baby. I won't tell them where you are, but you need to find a better place to live if you're begging for fast food. Maybe a big national park, where you can hide." I didn't really hear her, my mouth was full of the most scrumptious flavors found in the universe. Then, just like that, they were gone. I looked at her hopefully. More? I asked.

"You want more fast food," she said, taking something else out of the package, "You've got to get in the car." She opened the door and tossed the food in. I didn't hesitate, but went in one fluid movement to stick my face in more of that food. I felt her rearranging my tail but ignored it, though I did pause briefly when the door slammed, followed by the machine noise and a sudden stomach-sickness. Great. I was in a cage again. I licked any remaining hamburger flavors off my jaws and looked around. Hey, she's in the cage with me. I sniffed at her face, but she pushed me back with an annoyed, "I'm driving, get off me, you big lump." Okay. Sheesh, I can take a hint. I kept my face averted until we stopped moving.

"Hmmm," it sounded as if she was imitating a machine noise, but the tone seemed like that of a warning growl. Pushing past strife aside, I looked in her direction and saw her staring suspiciously at a man outside. And he seemed deserving of suspicion. Something about his location, all alone, and the way he stood, just made me think of a rogue zver. I felt a low growl rise in my own throat. Hearing me, she shook her head and we moved on. "No, I'm sure it's nothing." But we didn't move far enough away before parking, and I heard with familar dread the sound of running footsteps. The man we had noticed earlier was upon us as my human opened her door. "Your keys and purse or your life," he said with a serious, humorless voice. He was also holding a gun, I recognized weapons as seperate from people now, and while my human was afraid I was not. I knew I had the advantage of surprise. While she said, "H-here, take them," in a shaky voice, holding out the aforementioned objects, I wiggled through the car until I reached the open door. Here I gave the killer's scream and jumped over my human as if I had wings. One look at my open jaws and reaching claws and the man's eyes popped wide open. He was still holding his gun and it didn't take much effort for him to raise it and pull the trigger. But my human had also realized this danger, and her reaction was what I was counting on to save my life. She hadn't been afraid to approach me, but would she freeze in fear from this challenge?

But my fear was unfounded when I heard her shout "No!" as she also threw herself forward to push the man down and spoil his aim. He went down in a tumble of human and zver and shot out of our combined grip- it took little effort to escape her, but I gave him a souviner or two to remember me be- and kept on running. My human seemed uninclined to finish the battle, saying "Let's get out of here!" and jumping back in the car. I had to jump over her again to get in. This time, I took a seat in the front, beside her. You know, I said with my eyes and the tilt of my head, this might work out. The two of us together could take on any of the lab pack. She had already started to make the car move, but she caught what I was saying out of the corner of her eye. After a few minutes, she asked, "Do you want to come home with me? My apartment complex allows dogs of all sizes. We'll just tell them you're a great dane, okay, Justin?" I wagged my tail in agreement, making a thumping sound on the car door. "I'm going to call you Justin, after that other great lab escapee, Justin the rat from NIMH. Of couse, Justin was brave and honest, not like you, you big crybaby." Justin... Not a bad name, I decided. I'm going to call you Silence, I told her with an affectionate lick as she proceeded to elaborate the rest of my namesake's story, because you never shut up.

[Metallic Dragon]

Bump

[Metallic Dragon]

Please finish your forms! I'm judging CC8322 today in about 3-5 hours, so please please please finish the forms.

[Metallic Dragon]

Alright, since CS was down for several hours before I went to bed last night, I'll be judging forms for the first two Zvers today after school. Be sure to finish your forms!

[Cion Keiasta]

I think I need to withdraw. I've been very sick lately and is still sick. I reallly wanted the drama king zver. He fits me prefectly although I had the perfect story for him. But now I can never use that story. Unless you make another dramatic zver xD

[KitaraSoftpaw]

*bows* I just read Joy's for for CC8322 and it is good. I realize this. However I would like to ask both Joy's and Metta's permission for an extension. (If not I will live) I wanted to apply for her but this is my last week of class plus the server was down last night when I finally had time for a form.

I will only do this is Joy AND Metta are okay with it.

I would need 1-3 days to complete a form, since I work 8-4 tomorrow but have off Thursday.