Plus, I spent my formative years as a welterweight midget
geek. So... how's that for knowing the pain of bullies?

Provides a reasoning for my picking up my first blade it
does! ^_^

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

Oh and in case you're wondering, I'm 5'7.5" and about 140lbs.
One of my younger brothers is 5'9" and about 250lbs.

-NeoRaven

There is a total of _one_ person who is shorter than me,
and I pretty much adopted her as my person to guard alllll
the way back when I was in first grade and she was in
kindergarten. Heh. The short defending the short_er_.

^_^;

Aside from everything though, my profession kinda requires
a good grasp on fighting. I'm a curiosity though. A bodyguard
with a bad grasp with pop-guns... but a really fine touch
when it comes to placing a blade. Of course... my max range is
about twenty feet, which is a biiiiit close.

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

...when you said "security specialist," I was thinking you meant computer security, not physical security.

Wow. I'm a bit more impressed, now.

-- Sean --
Rabid Crack Weasel #42
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'." -- Terry Pratchett
Drelau Productions
The Broken Link

Odd that you'd find that so impressive though. Most
people I know find it funny or just insanely idiotic.

I mean, consider, I delibrately chose a profession
where I'm far more likely to be shot than being in
the American military stationed in Iraq right now. And
on top of that, I generally don't carry a gun. Hades,
I don't even _own_ a slug-thrower!

^_^;

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

When you speak of blades as your weapon of choice, what form do you study? Eastern? Western? One-handed? Two-handed? Divuldge! *cackles*

And incidentally, how does one go about signing on to become a security consultant? What do the higher-ups look for? Any special training required, or is it simply "Does not get turned to pulp in a fight" type of thing?

And when the slugs start flying, it makes _me_ feel remarkably stupid
and archaic. But, generally speaking most people argue with someone with
a throwing axe about as much as they argue with someone with a pistol
around here...

>When you speak of blades as your weapon of choice, what form do you
>study? Eastern? Western? One-handed? Two-handed? Divuldge! *cackles*

Heh. What day is it again? ^_^ Seriously though, I'm pretty ecclictic
about my bladework. When I reenacted I was known to carry a six foot
cladiach-mor. Superb balance on that, shame I had to sell it for college
fees though. But as I'm only 5'3", just imagine how that looked. I've
been known to ply a broadsword and a rapier from time to time, but my
personal favorite if I'm playing the sword route is my obsidian and steel
saber.

Other blades that I may have on me at any given moment include several
throwing knives, a tomahawk, and/or a half dozen or so spikes. I'm not
much with the shuriken, but in a pinch...

Style-wise... that's hard to pin down. Most of my blades I'm self-taught
on, so I can't point at a style and say oh yeah! This is what I am. It
don't work that way. Generally speaking, most of my influences are western,
though I've pulled Eastern stunts from time to time. (I claim western
influences because I cheat a _lot_... punches, kicks, dirt in the face,
it's all good. ^_^;)

>And incidentally, how does one go about signing on to become a
>security consultant? What do the higher-ups look for? Any special
>training required, or is it simply "Does not get turned to pulp in a
>fight" type of thing?

Incidently, I kinda fell into it bass-ackwards. In other words, I stumbled
into a nasty fight and managed to haul the gentleman who ended up being my
first boss out without getting too much blood on his suit. He hired me, I
somehow managed to get a license (still kinda wierd on that one...), and
the rest, as they say, is history.

The question _now_ is... am I working for the mob or _what_???

I will always wonder what someone like _him_ was doing in a back alley
in North St Louis... of course... _I_ was in a back alley in North St
Louis, but we shan't go there... ^_^;;

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

. . .

Okay . . .

This deserves an explanation, unless you're sworn to secrecy.

Explanation? For what? *looks innocent (fails miserably)*

Why am I starting to feel like a guinea pig?? O_o;

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

That's what impresses me -- I do everything in my power to avoid getting into fights (and have succeeded since I adopted this policy a good thirteen years ago), but I'm right now waiting for the bureaucracy and process of the State of North Carolina to come through and issue me my concealed carry permit, so I can start carrying at least my Bersa .380 at all times, and my Hi-Power whenever feasible. Hell, if I could bring myself to blow the three to four figures it'd cost me, I'd get concealable Level IIIA body armor on top of that. And there's a possibility I'll get a small .45, too -- there's a couple I've got my eye on. Plus, right now, I always have a 30" dog chain on me (it's my keychain) and a folding knife I could use for self-defense in a pinch, and, most of the time, I carry a SureFire E2 Executive (great flashlight, and will blind anyone whose face I shine it in), and I'll probably start carrying pepper spray, too (just in case it's a situation where the State of North Carolina doesn't allow the legal use of lethal force, such as kicking someone off my property, or a fistfight).

If I worked security, the above (three handguns, body armor, a blade, the chain, the light, the pepper spray) would be a minimum, and I'd probably carry two spare mags for the major caliber handguns, instead of one each, and a second folding knife. I'd also carry a proper combat knife (fixed, long blade) and a baton.

Remember: always cheat, always win.

-- Sean --
Rabid Crack Weasel #42
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'." -- Terry Pratchett
Drelau Productions
The Broken Link

And _that_ would be why people hire people like me. Talk about a _severe_
case of paranoia! By the by, you are _very_ armed for an effectively non-
violent individual.

Personally, I don't wear body armor. Two reasons. One, it's hot, sweaty and
very uncomfortable, thus I severely do _not_ like wearing it. Two, it slows
me down and keeps me from being able to get to my knives fast enough in bad
situations. Yes, it hurts like the hounds of hell using you as a chew toy
when you take a inch of lead, I am _fully_ aware of that. I'll still refuse
the body armor.

By the by, you _are_ aware that you have the full, _legal_ right, as granted
to American citizens in the Bill of Rights, to bear arms. Meaning that you
can walk down Main Street in broad daylight, with a IM Desert Eagle .50
strapped to your hip, and _technically_ _nothing_ can be done to you. You
just can't _hide_ the gun.

>If I worked security, the above (three handguns, body armor, a blade,
>the chain, the light, the pepper spray) would be a minimum, and I'd
>probably carry two spare mags for the major caliber handguns, instead
>of one each, and a second folding knife. I'd also carry a proper
>combat knife (fixed, long blade) and a baton.

You do realize that you'd need a _lot_ of training to carry all that _legally_
as a security officer... don't you? In the state of Missouri, St. Louis Metropoliton area (St. L County and City), it's $70 bucks for an unarmed
security license, $120 for a pepper spray/mace security license, $225 for a
pistol security license and so on and so forth.

>Remember: always cheat, always win.

Cheating doesn't always equal winning you know. Being smart enough to
know when to get the hell _out_ helps a lot too.

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

Okay, assuming that I was insane enough to want to use a Desert Eagle at all, let alone one chambered for .50 AE... well, any gun at all, carried openly... it ain't necessarily so. See, despite the Second Amendment, every state save that of Vermont regulates carry of firearms. Thirty-eight of them issue concealed carry permits (though in a couple of them, such as New Jersey and Hawaii, actually acquiring one is possible only in theory); for the rest of them, concealed carry is illegal, and, beyond that, most of also make open carry illegal. In some states, open carry is legal, at least theoretically; in the state of North Carolina, for instance, there's a "terror of the public" clause that lets them at least make you put the gun away if you don't have a CCW. Even in states that issue CCW, it's not a given that open carry is legal; in the state of Texas, open carry is treated as a failed attempt to carry concealed, and punishable by law, despite having rather accessible CCW permits and fairly easy gun laws in general.

Sure, the Second Amendment is supposed to protect the right to keep and bear arms, but exercising that right isn't a given.

-- Sean --
Rabid Crack Weasel #42
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'." -- Terry Pratchett
Drelau Productions
The Broken Link

I _do_ have carry permits, and carry concealed weaponry permits, for most
states... but it's for my blades, not for a gun. -_-;

I just hope, veeery strongly, that no serial killer ever decides to pick
up thrown blades as his trademark, cause I would be _so_ locked up for the
rest of my life... @_@ The fact that I've never actually _killed_ anyone
completely aside...

The bad thing about licensing. If you _don't_ have the license, you get
in trouble if the copper buttons find your weaponry. If you _do_ have the
license, the copper buttons come after you _first_ if some one dies from
the weaponry you carry. It's an imperfectly screwed world we live in today.
(If it was _perfectly_ screwed, the damn thing would _never_ get out of
bed! ^_^)

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

>There is a total of _one_ person who is shorter than me,
>and I pretty much adopted her as my person to guard alllll
>the way back when I was in first grade and she was in
>kindergarten. Heh. The short defending the short_er_.

>^_^;

Awww. Don't feel bad. Says that you care.

>Aside from everything though, my profession kinda requires
>a good grasp on fighting. I'm a curiosity though. A bodyguard
>with a bad grasp with pop-guns... but a really fine touch
>when it comes to placing a blade. Of course... my max range is
>about twenty feet, which is a biiiiit close.

You bodyguard? 0.0 I didn't know that. Oh well at least your
helping someone! ^-^

>Siobhan L.R. Ward
>The Cybernetic Ninja

Dranger

PS Again welcome to the Forum

"Go to Hell Dalton." Aida (Unreal II)

Hey, Dan. Didn't we already run this scene? O_o;

>Awww. Don't feel bad. Says that you care.

Or that I'm a sap. Take your pick.

>You bodyguard? 0.0 I didn't know that. Oh well at least your
>helping someone! ^-^

...

I do it because I get paid really, _really_ well. Not because I get
to 'help' people. Believe me. If I was _not_ getting paid exceptionally
well, I would most likely switch roles to the assasin and murder the
idiots that hire me to protect their backs.

Stubborn fools. I'm a _bodyguard_, a security specialist. I am _not_
a friggin' _escort_! My job is to keep the client from becoming holy
in a not so polite fashion, not to make him _happy_! >_<

>PS Again welcome to the Forum

Deja vu.

^_-

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.

Because... that's how it's spelt. And, it's a wierd quirk of my family
on the pronuncation. Perhaps because my family is Scot and not Irish...
Stewart Clan on my mother's side, which I am entitled to, though I claim
my father's name generally thanks to a long drawn out arguement with Grandfather Stewart. >_<

But, I've been told it's pronounced Shaun since I was little, so that's
how I run with it.

>Sorry for nitpicking.
>I wish I could put diacritical marks into this...

You and I both. English is waaaaay too annoying for a proper converstation.

^_^

Siobhan L.R. Ward
The Cybernetic Ninja

Tumbling blind through darkness, the light that
shines is mine.