LogFAQs > #967901868

That divergence was the first real hint of Traci coming into her own, but the second pertained to her connection with Jaime Reyes. With several characters in this campaign, weve seen instances of established comic storylines colliding with PC desires, and Traci/Jaime is certainly one of those. From some brief research, Traci 13 is one of several romantic interesting Jaime has had during his time in DC comics, and she was originally part of his campaign storyline as well, having been one of the characters he was helping to coyote into Mexico before he got Blue Beetled and she got kidnapped by La Dama. As such, there is that natural storyline hook of Traci being Jaimes romaence partnaer. But, Pepper got in the way, and I think THAT really started Traci down her current path.

For reference, Jaime was helping coyote people, and we picked him up in week nine of the campaign, drawing him away from his duties and effectively allowing Traci to get captured. Perhaps if wed gone back right away and dealt with that plot early, we would have returned her to Zonn Zorr and she wouldve been smooching Jaime within a month of meeting him. However, due to the constraints of accommodating ten different people with ten different schedules and ten different sets of priorities, we didnt go back to El Paso until week sixteen, at which point we learned for the first time that Traci had been captured. And ultimately, after taking three or four more trips to the Texas/Mexico border, we finally rescued Traci at week twenty-nine. Thats twenty weeks, or almost half a year of real time between extracting Jaime and extracting Traci back to Zonn Zorr.

During that time, Pepper and Jaime began a slight flirtmance with one another, and despite Peppers inherent prudishness, she still had a big head start on Jaimes canon love interest (well, both of them, since she also got plenty of alone time with him apart from Brenda as well). But as I mentioned above, Traci is very ambitious, and shes all-too-willing to work for what she wants. So having Pepper be this pretty girl that Jaime likes, and she likes him back, provided circumstances for a rivalry. And Traci was very good at working that rivalry in her favor (though Pepper admittedly didnt do herself any favors due to general awkwardness in the field of flirting). It seemed like there was a certain period where Traci had just snatched Jaime away, and anything she did was meant to isolate him and pry him from Peppers clutches.

I played Pepper at this point like she was completely oblivious to Tracis intentions, instead viewing Traci as the sweetheart she purported to be. But once she became aware that Traci was a threat (after Pepper had already fought to overcome her fears of intimacy with the opposite sex and set her sights on Jaime), Pepper prepared the nuclear option. But there was Traci, ready and willing to counter that attempt, and the scheming little witch (not derogatory, since she is scheming, and little, and a witch) pulled a masterstroke of mean girl manipulation that fucked Jaime over TO THIS DAY, and sent Pepper (and me by proxy) spiraling for about a week thereafter.

Traci basically took her ball and went home. Pepper was somehow winning the war for Jaime, so rather than give her any sort of satisfaction (because Traci had it in her mind that Pepper was some sort of queen bee who always got her way), Traci decided to flip the board so no one could wind. In a platonic not-a-date, Pepper and Jaime went to a newly-opened burger joint, and Traci joined them, bringing Misty along as her plus one. And with some general coercion, Traci got Pepper away from Jaime long enough for a brain-addled Misty to start making out with him, under the believe that he was Hal Jordan. This shocked Pepper, but Traci acted up a storm, treating this make-out session like the ultimate betrayal. And that attitude somewhat infected Pepper, leading to general curtness from her, which led to Jaime torpedoing whatever relationship they may have had.

From this point on, Traci had her character. She is a schemer, and she is manipulative as heck. She has goals, either in terms of hooking up with Freddy or Kid Eternity or whoever (mirroring Peppers own romantic efforts, since she also attempting to land with Freddy), or rising in the ranks of Checkmate (much like the Rook state Pepper takes pride in), or just getting on whatever field team she wants. She has had RP conversations since then with Brennus, Saoirse, Lush, and now Pepper, and in every instance, she comes across as playing EXACTLY into the expectations of the person shes talking to.

Saoirse wants to protect Traci and treat her like a little sister, so Traci plays into that role, and uses Saoirses affinity for her own gain (getting onto the field team to Tokyo, to satisfy her tremendous weeb status). She plays nice with Brennus, disarming him with falsified fears of being taken advantage of by a guy (and claiming hes faking being gay to get in good with girls), and that leverages her power over him. With Lush, she seems less successful since Lush is very stubborn, but still, shes convinced Lush to look after Saoirse for her, despite a general level of disdain. And even Pepper has (falsely or otherwise) been drawn into Tracis web, with Traci playing up their similarities and claiming guilt to instill guilt of her own in Pepper.

Traci is a fascinating character because shes so inherently charming, and everything about her persona is designed to play off a general understanding of peoples psychology. This makes sense, when you consider shes Traci Thirteen, daughter of Dr. Terrance Thirteen, who makes a living debunking paranormal activity. Tracis investigative abilities have been honed to seek out bullshit, and that in turn gives her a great deal of insight into other people and what she can use against them to get what she wants.

But at the same time, that familial connection creates some problems, because Traci is a mage, and shes born to a father who outright denies her existence. Now, this could be complete bullshit designed to appeal specifically to Pepper, but Traci has shown ire for her father forcing her to remain closeted as a mage in this regard. Magic isnt real, so either shes wrong or lying, according to him. It certainly would explain her desire to strive for power, since thats the same mindset Pepper has. But again, this could be a lie in its own right; whos to know? Traci is just a big ol question mark, and I think she has a lot of potential to rise on this list once some more of those gaps keep getting filled in.

Hint for #31: A member of the Society.