Ryan Michaels - Son of Ares

PJO RP Character Form

Name: Ryan Michaels
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Height: 5'8"
Body Type: Average, not too lean but not very muscular or fat either
Skin Color: White, with a light and but noticeable tan
God Parent: Ares
Mortal Parent: Susan Michaels, who's family has had a longtime involvement in the U.S. Military, from the Revolutionary War all the way up to the Global War on Terror. Susan works for a company that is contracted to design specialty vehicles for the U.S. Military.
Country of Origin: United States of America
Pets: None
Talents: Can "heel-and-toe" a standard transmission with ease.
Skills: Lock picking, able to (with a bow+arrow) hit a target 125-150 meters out
Weapon: Carbon fiber compound bow with celestial bronze tipped arrows
Personality: Ryan has for most of his life been a good kid, or at least he is half the time. Those who knew him before CHB would tell you that, despite a tendency to be confrontational, he showed a large amount of loyalty to those he considered friends. This loyalty was noticeable in a few cases where he, with violence, defended a few of those friends. If tasked with something, it is reported, by several former employers, that he would show a large amount of effort to complete said task. However, the existence of a police record indicates that he, somehow, saw the need to break the law to get by.
Flaws: Confrontational, has trouble following authority that he doesn't see fitting to be an authority, can quickly turn violent if confronted.
Abilities: None beyond those common of Greek demigods
Powers: None
Summer or Year-Round: Summer
New to Camp: Yes
Life Before CHB:
Ryan grew up in a suburb about an hour out of Detroit, Michigan. Although he never knew his father, he didn't dwell on the fact that he left. Ryan instead turned his attention to schoolwork, along with some organized sports on the side. By the time he was reported "missing" by neighbors, he had a 3.75 GPA in his high school most likely due to this.
By the time he left middle school, Ryan had ceased playing organized sports and turned his attention to finding a job. This resulted in him landing a job at a grocery store at age 15. He would keep this job for the next two years. In the spring in which he turned 17, Ryan quit the grocery job and found a position as a parts-truck driver for a local auto parts store.
At home, Ryan had a healthy relationship with his mother Susan, despite a stint in middle school where the two didn't get along. His hobbies included recreational gaming, darts, autocross (he held an SCCA license since he was 16), and game hunting. It is known that he went up north with a group of hunters during the fall of his 16th year, bagging a 4-point Buck with a bow & arrow on that trip (he didn't own a rifle and nobody was sure he had the license to use one).

How Ryan Got To CHB:
In the early summer of his 17th year, Ryan was approached by high school friend and former co-worker from his grocery store days, Darren Walker. Upon entering in a conversation with Ryan, Darren suggested a trip out east to New York. This was received by Ryan with mixed feelings, who despite wanting to get out of the Wolverine State for a bit, was also within his first months at an auto parts store and didn't want to damage his reputation with his managers.
Darren's response to Ryan's idea of the "unneeded and stupid" journey was that of an odd mix of anger, desperation, and a small bit of fear. 30 minutes and some less-than-civil words spoken by both parties later, the two friends got into Ryan's beater Ford Bronco and headed for the Empire State (after some light packing, of course).
In less than two hours (and thanks to a bit of "heel-and-toe" action mixed with speeds mildly exceeding the posted limits on the highway) the two had made their way into Toledo, Ohio where they decided to stop for the night. It was there that Darren began to let Ryan know about how they were heading to a summer camp on Long Island, but not much beyond that (although it was enough for Ryan to question Darren's sanity).
Back on the road the next day, Darren began to get into the details about this mystery camp (it's name: Camp Half-Blood, CHB's purpose, so on). The odd, surreal description caused Ryan to stop by an outdoors store in Youngstown, Ohio to pick up a weapon. An hour later Ryan pulled out of the parking lot with a new Carbon Fiber bow, some (non-CB) arrows, and a Swiss Army knife in case Darren tried anything crazy. After staying on the road and nearly pulling an all-nighter through Pennsylvania, they checked into a Williamsport motel and rested up for the final leg of the drive.
Due to checking in so late, the two took off around 12:30pm UTC -4 (EDST). Ryan took as little time as possible getting through the remainder of PA and through New Jersey, entering New York State by 4pm. While stuck in NYC rush-hour traffic, Darren revealed to Ryan that he was a satyr, causing Ryan to, say the least, freak out.
From that point on, the drive was and awkward one, as there was no sounds besides the engine, the radio, and breathing. By 8:30pm, they were several miles out from CHB (according to Darren, who spoke up for the first time since he revealed what he was), when all of sudden, the Bronco gave out it's last cloud of exhaust; the engine had blown. The two stepped out of the car with both showing their emotions on the outside: Darren's of fear and Ryan's of anger and annoyance at Darren for having him drive the beater all the way to Long Island. The two then got into an argument, with Darren opting for the two to ditch the car while Ryan, not wanting to leave the Bronco behind, was planing to use a road flare from the trunk to signal down any passing drivers. And despite Darren helplessly begging Ryan to not "draw any unneeded attention to us", Ryan opened the trunk, grabbed a flare, and lit it. This caused the usually timid Darren to "lose it", yelling at Ryan for his stupidity and that they've revealed themselves to those that would "like very much so to have them killed". And as if on cue, the two were ambushed by monsters, causing Darren to order Ryan to "grab only what you need and RUN YOU FOOL". Ryan grabbed his bag of clothes and the bow, as well as throwing the knife at the attackers, sprinting away from the car while following the frantic satyr up the road.
Around 100 or so feet from the entrance to CHB, the two's sustained health was soiled when Darren took an eventually fatal blow to the head. Ryan, not willing to leave his friend, despite wanting to gouge his eyes out with a spork him at the moment, behind to die, slung him across his back, and began the slow 100 foot crawl to the entrance. As he passed Thalia's tree and entered Camp Half-Blood, a team of campers arrived to deal with the monsters while Ryan was ushered into the Big House for a medical examination on him and Darren. It was in there that Darren let out his final breath, and as that happened, Ryan was officially claimed by his father, Ares. And it was there Ryan's new life began...

RP Example:
Date: 10/15/2014
Time: 15:23 UTC -5
Location: Somewhere in Alger County, Upper Peninsula, Michigan

Ryan and adult hunter Chris are hunting White Tailed Deer. Both are slowly moving through the thick autumn foliage. Ryan is currently holding a camouflage-colored compound bow, borrowed from another member of their party (see "At home..." in the "Life Before" section). The bow has a quiver attached to it. Ryan is wearing a fully camouflaged outfit (search "hunting camo" for an idea of this). Chris, on the other hand, is manning a pair a binoculars and wearing a similar outfit as Ryan's, although he has an orange vest and knit cap on. Chris has a hunting rifle slung across his back.
As the two make their way through the forest, Chris signals them to halt. Chris raises the binoculars and peers into them. "There, straight ahead. Looks to be about 2 feet, antlers are damn near close to being spikehorn." He lowers the binoculars and turns to Ryan. "You want to go for it?"
Ryan has a small, singular laugh; "Or head back down with nothing to my name? You bet we're going for it." "Ok then," replied Chris, looking back out at the deer, "if you really want to." Ryan takes an arrow and fixes it in position. "Firing!" Letting go, the arrow races through the air, piercing the deer. Startled, the deer runs off. Anxious to secure the kill, Ryan begins to get another arrow set. Chris quickly stops him. "It'll bleed out Ryan, just give it time." "But what if-" "Who's been hunting longer kid, me or you?" With a sigh, Ryan replies "Fine, we'll wait. But how are we going to find it once it's dead?" Pulling from his knowledge on hunting, Chris replied, and not with the satisfaction of putting the impulsive teen in his place, "We'll follow the trail of blood. And besides, it's not like there are many deer out there with arrows stuck in them."
Ryan looks out towards where the deer was and begins to notice the small crimson trail left by his target. "So," turning his head to Chris, "when do we start searching?" Chris gets out of semi-crouch he was in and stands straight up, and delivers the order that he knew Ryan was waiting for. "We start now kid. Now get up and get moving."

Any notes about your characters: Wears a black G-Shock/Casio watch around 99% of the time, owns a MP3 player

Nice, and decently written, but it really doesn't tell us anything about how he got to camp or found out he was a demigod.

Also, I can't really count turning violent if confronted as a flaw, because literally anyone has a point where they will turn violent if confronted. Now,easily or quickky turning violent would be a flaw.

I've completed the form & expanded upon several points that were left vague or without much info.

Good, but one question: If he had a cellphone for AAA, how had he never used it before and gotten monsters after him?

That...is an interesting question. Maybe it was because he never thought much about his dad or wondered who he was and why he left. Maybe it was because his knowladge on Greece was limited to "yogurt" and "bad economy". Maybe it was that his secnt was masked by other the smells in the area.

But really, it comes down to the fact that he had the phone for about a month before that and, per his mother's request, only communicated by text. But since you have to CALL AAA for roadside assistance, it was really the first time he had used the phone for something other than texting, internet, or music. But in there lies a new question: if the Bronco was Found On Roadside Dead (Ford joke) after only about 2.75 days of driving, how did it manage to not break down A) before the trip or B) earlier in the trip?

The answer to A) is that it actually did break down around town. A lot. Part of the reason Ryan applied to the parts store was so he could get a discount on spare and repair parts for the Bronco. There are 2 answers for B, the first one is I needed him to be attacked, so fate intervened and I had the engine belt break, oil run low, intercooler not do it's job, and a manifold get cracked. I know, I'm a jerk.
However, the sensible in-context answer to B is that the car was running on oil the was in need of changing and thransmission wasn't really accustomed to a vigorous "heel-and-toe" regime, and both problems combined to essentially kill the engine and leave the car as a big, rusty paperweight.

I do not view focusing well in a combat situation as being a power, at most it is an ability, but being the child of a god and ADHD it is an ability that almost every demigod has. Aside from the natural focusing powers of adrenaline(though sometimes that backfires)

As for having it and week and using it for texting before that... Text and data usage has the same effect.

I'll just remove that who "focus" thing then.

As for the data...yeah, I've got nothing. Time to revise!

Might I recommend that he bought a cheap disposable flip phone for the cross country drive?

You see, I was thinking about him going the prepaid phone route, but given that the whole drive was hastily organized, I felt that wouldn't work and opted to go with road flares instead.

Anyway, the changes are no specialty abilities beyond that of normal Greek demigods, MP3 player instead of phone, and road flares causing problems instead of data.