#ridoc.intro

[ofannihilations]

Character Name: Ridoc Larson  Nickname (s): None Face Claim: Anya Taylor-Joy Age & D.O.B.: 27 / October 10, 1996  Hometown: Chicago, IL and Rockford, Maine  Zodiac: Libra MBTI: ESFP-T (Entertainer)  Moral Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Occupation: Mechanic Place of work: Buster’s Garage Subplot affiliation: Street Racer Positive traits: (5) Bold, Observant, Resourceful, Independent, Playful Negative traits: (5) Selfish, Cynical, Reactive, Suspicious, Jealous Languages: English Love language: Physical touch and words of affirmation

Ridoc's mother was written off by her parents after she fell pregnant with her first child, Theodore. She then dropped out of school to raise him. She worked in a coffee shop by day and as an exotic dancer on the weekends to bring in the much needed extra cashflow. It was during one of these shifts six years after Theodore had been born that Thelma discovered she was pregnant with Ridoc. She knew it was one of her side-clients but as she wasn’t sure who, she kept it to herself. Ridoc’s birth was the wake-up call Thelma needed to start getting serious about her life, and, after begging help from a particularly rich client, she was able to enroll herself in community college to earn her nursing degree. From there she was determined to move out of the city and so they did, to a small quaint town on the coast of Maine. Ridoc was into karate and dance as a young child and as a game between her and her mother she would try to copy and learn one new dance move a week to impress her mother with on Friday nights: the family movie night. Both she and her brother excelled at academics much to the pride of their mother. Ridoc was about to be moved into an accelerated STEM program when tragedy struck. Their mother, tired from working a double-shift at the hospital, flew through a red-light and was t-boned by a semi. Death was instantaneous.

By this point, Ridoc was ten and her brother seventeen, so rather than go into the system, Theodore applied for his emancipation of minor status and won, allowing him to gain custody of Ridoc. They moved back to Chicago so that it would be easier to find work. Unfortunately, between school and taking care of his little sister, Theodore found it difficult to hold down a job and became involved in local gang activity. Ridoc meanwhile became involved in kickboxing, able to easily manipulate her body to do what was required of the intense sport. Everything turned upside down when her brother was arrested two years later the day after Ridoc’s twelfth birthday for felony robbery and abetting murder. Ridoc went into foster care.

Most of the homes were less than ideal. Some with ‘fathers’ who tried to take advantage of those within her care. Others with 'mothers' who restricted access to food and other necessities, viewing the foster child as merely a way to make money.  At age fourteen in yet another foster home, driven by her anger and grief she got herself involved in gang activity. With them, her fighting skills were an asset, something to be celebrated. Her small size and stature made her seem to be an easy target, thus helping her slip by those who incorrectly thought that a drug runner wouldn’t send his stuff out with someone so small, so incapable of self-defense. At fifteen, she was officially initiated into the gang, a diamond tattoo and the gang’s words, “Bandas de Almas” (gang of souls) tattooed in delicate font behind her ear. 

It was there that she gained her love of cars. They competed heavily in street races, using the chaotic atmospheres to push their product. Too young to drive, Ridoc’s job was to sell and help with maintenance on the cars the gang put into the race. Cars, percocets, and partying became her life. At seventeen she was arrested for drug possession and sentenced to four years in juvenile detention on a plea deal that would keep her from going to the big house when she turned twenty-two. While in juvie, she received extensive counseling. Those in charge of mental health ensured that she received proper care for the grief of losing both her mother and effectively her brother as well. She walked through therapy sessions untangling the feelings of shame, low self-worth, and most of all anger. In between time spend laid back on a couch she learned a trade, choosing to specify in auto-mechanics and even becoming an employee in the prison’s garage. By the time her four years were over, she felt like a new person. 

Unfortunately, after she was released the gang of souls found her and made her pay for her betrayal. They did not kill her, but throughout the brutal torture she received she found herself wishing they would have. Now she bears the scars of their actions and all the emotions she had managed to work through in therapy came rolling back to the surface, throwing her back into her old self.

For two years Ridoc was on parole. She spent the time getting as much experience as she could under the hood of a car. Parole forced her to stay away from the part of her life she loved, the street races and its raucous community, but she made do with some of her other habits. Kickboxing to make money, usually in unsanctioned fights, though she was smart enough to lay off getting high during her parole. 

A few months after the end of her parole Ridoc became swept up in a whirlwind romance with a man who she truly believed loved her-- and perhaps he did, but after the pair were married in a drunken state at a casino in Paris, France, things began to fall apart. Less than one month into their new marriage he had cheated on her once more. He had made a habit of it before, but the two had never outright made things official until trying to give their accidental marriage a go. His deliberate cheating, despite his excuse of being high and ‘forgetting’ that he was married, was the final straw for Ridoc, and she fled. It took her over a year to push the divorce through due to his reluctance to let her go, and during that time she found herself hitchhiking across the country, wanting to explore all that life had to offer. She settled in New York for a time. The underground fight scene was lucrative and allowed her the chance to purchase her own car and get back into what she loved. Ridoc easily made a name for herself and would have gone on to win even bigger if it wasn’t for the accident.

Cut off by another racer who had lost control of their car, Ridoc swerved, and crashed into a local grocer. The store and car went up in flames and Ridoc fled. Antioch came upon her radar some months later. A town with a reputation, one Ridoc knew she could fit herself into. A few months have passed and she’s managed to acquire a new car and a job that allows her to work on it. With a new name and new documents thanks to the money she earned from her underground lifestyle, Ridoc is ready to make a name for herself in her new home.