Package #1

Gabriel Rex

Finally decided to repaint Gabe again tonight, so his head is out on the porch waiting for it's next spray. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'm thinking it will be Irish themed. Gabe is Irish after all. :)

I have a very passionate love affair with Ireland and all its culture. It's been that way since I was young, though I honestly couldn't tell you what, if anything in particular spurred it on. I've always just been very drawn to Irish culture and music, so much that I've gone on to study Irish history and mythology. I don't wish I was Irish, but I have a great appreciation for the culture.

And I promise this has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day. :) However, since we're already talking about him, I might as well give a mini overview of Gabe.

Gabe is a member of a family that appears in my various stories often, the Rex family. The Rexes got their start in ancient Rome, when a Roman soldier married a Celtic woman. Three sons were born from this union, and they primarily took after their mother in their love of Celtic culture. At that time, the Celts were considered less than the Romans, and so many offspring of these unions found themselves the target of prejudice. This was the case for the three brothers.

One day the youngest of the brothers was killed by a Roman. The other two brothers tried to intervene, but couldn't. The murderer was not remorseful, and in their anger the brothers spoke a curse. They swore they would rule over the Romans some day, but not just the Romans. They would be the kings of kings, hence their future name "Rex."

These brothers grew up to become powerful men, both socially and supernaturally. One brother drew his power from the natural world, while the other delved into dark magic. From then on the Rexes were always ruling men, called the "cousins" of kings. They never ruled directly, but expressed their powers through kings and their countrymen.

Gabe is a descendant of this family, specifically of the side that turned towards nature. He was born in Ireland before the Great Famine, and was taken away by a vampiric uncle when his family could no longer provide. Young Gabe was starving, both physically and emotionally from seeing his family and those he loved die. His uncle saw only once chance to save him, be turned him into a vampire.

Gabe spent the next several decades between Ireland, England, and France. In the last he met and became friends with Michael Chevalier, another powerful vampire in that time. Gabe soon became powerful in his own right, and "ruled" as befitted a Rex.

Gabe's story continues throughout my timeline, to eventually end up in the future land of Neo Victoria/the surface. In the future a deadly virus threatens to destroy the human race, and almost does. The survivors must fight to survive against not only the living dead, but also the natural/unnatural disasters that have befallen the world after humanity is nearly destroyed. Many survivors go underground, forming a new society that is a throw back to the Victorian era. Above ground people fight against zombies and each other to rule what land is left.

Gabe moves between these two worlds, working for Neo Victoria when the mood strikes him, and enjoying time above ground with those left there. He eventually meets up with a distant (time-wise) relative of his who is directly related to those that caused the initial disaster. Along with their companions, the two must try to do what they can to rectify the situation.

And that's Gabe in a nutshell. A very large nutshell. :P

Fun facts about him:

• He was pretty young when he was turned, somewhere around 15 or 16 years-old.
• He is short, mostly due to his inability to continue growing before he was changed. He tends to combat this by wearing big, clunky platforms.
• His name wasn't originally Gabriel, but he took up the moniker in the tradition of most vampires. After being turned, many renamed themselves to increase the distance from their weak, human selves. When Gabe returned to see his family after he was turned, his mother was distraught. She told him he was like Gabriel, the messenger angel. However, he only brought a message of death. So he became Gabriel.
• He sleeps in a large piece of luggage. Not because he has to, but because he's used to it. Having to sleep in coffins is a myth, however it is safer for a young vampire to sleep somewhere enclosed during the day. The luggage was the only thing his uncle had handy, and he continues to use it for the rest of his life.
• Gabe's family followed an amalgamation of old Celtic practices (owing to family history) as well as Irish Catholic traditions. He has somewhat moved beyond this mix, but still has a great affinity for churches and religious symbolism.

More to come!

I removed Gabe's face up tonight for what feels like the millionth time, and I think I may leave it off for a little while. The problem is that I'm really in love with his blank sculpt, so much so that I don't like putting anything on it. I like his natural face shape and smile to show through. As much as I like painting him and seeing each incarnation, I still think that I like him blank the best.

Oddly enough I just saw a post the other day on DoA about someone who'd gotten an Iplehouse and wasn't going to paint him because she loved his face sculpt so much. So maybe I'm not the only one?

An excerpt

I love when I have a character in writing or otherwise who comes through strongly. Bits and pieces of their storyline suddenly appear as if they were there all along. Gabriel is this kind of character to a fault, and this is a piece I wrote maybe a minute or so after I figured out his name. It has to do with when he told his parents he had become a vampire.

"Mama broke every piece of glass in the house that day. Even the decorative plates she had lined up in little rows in her sitting room. Father had to purchase a china set from the merchant down the street just so that they would have something to eat off of that night. Neither he nor mama ever spoke of it again, but that was the last time she called me by my given name. From the breaking of the glass, I was Gabriel."

Productivity without proof.

I'm feeling oddly productive lately, though I don't really have any pictures to show for it. ;) My camera is somewhere safe, so safe in fact that I'm not quite sure where it is. However I will find it soon as I'd love to share some pictures of my new projects.

I made Gabe a necklace last night with some very tiny sterling silver chain and some small gemstones in settings. I can't stand jewelry that is out of scale, but these pieces were perfect.

I also found him a carry case that works for his character and for my future steampunk costumes with him. It's a small wooden suitcase with leather handles and metal hook latches. The sides of the case are covered in old map print, and it's the perfect size to fit him and some padding. I've already started getting pieces together to customize it, but I'll leave the details a mystery for now. It has to do with his character which I'm still working on developing. :)

Sometimes...

...you have to admit you're lost before you can find your way.

I was in the midst of writing a post yesterday about how I was giving up on finding my Arashi a name, when something struck me. Arashi is described as an angel or "tenshi" by Volks specifically. My mind wandered and I thought, could he be Tenshi? Angel? No and no, but how about an angelic name...?

Gabriel.

And in an instant, everything came together. Here was Gabriel, or Gabe for short. My snarky, sarcastic, and not at all brooding vampire boy. The character I'd been both writing about and dancing around for weeks. I actually have quite a bit of dialogue and several scenes written about him, but even that didn't spark the name. Regardless, he now has a name that we both like, and I don't feel so weird. :)