#PLAPPPERSONIFICATION LIFE CHARACTER APPLICATION
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Character Name: Nick
Character Gender: Male
Species (nation personification, human, alien, etc): Cat
Age: 8
Appearance:About ten inches tall when on all fours and facing straight ahead; almost two feet if standing on hind legs with forelegs extended. Weighs around 16 pounds. Dark brown tabby, markings slightly darker, with snow white whiskers. Has started to acquire grey hairs. Appears to be an adult cat. Head is somewhat larger (about 1.5 by length, around 3.75 by mass and volume) than that of a typical cat of his size.
URL to Character Picture, if any: It exists! I drew it! ...But I can't get it up.
Primary Objective: (What is your character's main goal? This should be the thing that drives their part of the plot.) *Currently, finding a job so that he can start actually paying rent.
-The difficulty of achieving this stems from the facts that Nick is a cat, lacking such useful things as hands or notable strength, and is also rather lazy, and also lacks any formal education. Given the new storyline, there's also the problem that such jobs will need to be temporary or within the building; there's also the possibility of a diploma being a prerequisite.
Overarching primary objectives: finding an actual purpose in life, being accepted. Most other goals tie into these.
Secondary Objectives: (What other goals does your character intend to achieve? These should drive subplots.) *Building meaningful relationships. Difficult because some people may not be comfortable around someone as unusual as Nick - or may be surprised enough to be afraid, and fear on another's part towards him typically scares Nick, who isn't that great socially, off.
*Getting more of an education, currently mainly by reading but possibly at some point also by attending school. If latter is done, acceptance among students could prove difficult, as Nick is more mature in many ways and is, well, not human or even humanoid; some accommodations such as doing assignments orally/with a computer might be needed.
*Finding out his origin, possibly starting with getting his DNA checked out. Beyond learning about his DNA, however, Nick's options in this respect are limited. It is likely that he will always be curious, but he might never find out. Even the DNA sequencing might prove difficult to achieve, as unless someone is willing to do it for free it's not going to be that cheap - and Nick already owes years of rent.
*Gaining a better understanding of his powers. Nick's powers - or more specifically the one allowing communication - can be dangerous, to himself and to others, particularly when not used simply for one-way communication with one person; also, there's only so much one can learn about this from books, and they may not be reliable sources, or may not apply to Nick's abilities, so to improve some practice and experimentation is necessary.
*Gaining recognition as an actual citizen of Bielefeld. Difficult due to prejudice, and the fact that it's not easy to prove that he isn't just a normal cat which someone is possessing to gain an extra vote.
*Experiencing more extraordinary things. Color is extraordinary, magic is extraordinary, flight is extraordinary...if Nick were given a choice between a nap and such an experience, the nap wouldn't even be considered for long.
SKILLS AND TALENTS
(You have 7 points to spend here. Examples are swordsmanship, shooting, puzzle solving, coercion, piloting etc)
Ability 1 and Points Spent: Hiding - 2 points. Nick knows how to find spots where he won't be disturbed or noticed - and due to his small size, these abound.
Ability 2 and Points Spent: Dexterity - 1 point. Because Nick has a head larger than that of the average cat, he needs slightly better balance than even the excellent cat average. This also makes using his mouth and paws to manipulate objects easier.
Ability 3 and Points Spent: Knowledge of the Paranormal: 3 points. Due to research, Nick has a fair amount of theoretical knowledge in the area, although some might not apply.
Ability 4 and Points Spent: Detective Skills: 1 point. Might have some aptitude in this area, but at the moment things need to be pretty obvious for him to catch on.
MUNDANE SKILLS
These do NOT require points. These are the average, daily things your character can do. Examples are "drive a car", "speak a normal Foreign Language", "play a guitar", "write poetry". Some mundane skills come from your bio and are freebie. A soldier knows very basic training (shoot a gun, basic drill). Medic, martial arts or sniper would be a Specialized Skill or Talent.
List Mundane skills here:
Can pick relatively simple locks if he can actually reach them and has a tool, such as his claws, which will work. Can use the Internet and computers. Can navigate busy streets/sidewalks/alleyways, which is an accomplishment in light of his size. Has acquired a general understanding of paper and paint making, although no great skill in either. Can read, type, 'speak,' and crudely scratch English. Can move near-silently. Can open a fridge. Can reassure others. Can turn a key with his tongue, if lock is reachanle and requires minimal force. Etc.
OPTIONAL SUPERNATURAL CHARACTERISTICS
(You have 7 points to spend here on supernatural skills or abilities. Sonic Scream, Levitation, Spell Casting, Shape Shifting etc. Superman MUST have his kryptonite, so Restrictions are what can't they do with their power or what balances it. They can only use it when they genuinely need it? They can't use it for more then five minutes without serious side-effects?)
Ability 1: Can sense things coming a few minutes in advance, but only feels the emotions which the event will cause him to have; strong emotions are more noticeable.
Power Level: 2
Strengths: Can warn of impending danger. Also can alert him if there's something which he won't want to miss by, say, sleeping.
Weaknesses: Cannot necessarily tell whether an emotion is being caused by events in the present or the future, although 'future' is often a safe guess if the emotion does not fit with the current situation. (As an example, Nick recently ate and then showered IC. While he enjoyed his meal, during the final minutes of it he found himself in a bad mood. It's not merely "I will have this emotion about 2 minutes from now." It's "I feel X emotion. I will feel it for a few minutes. If it is actually due to my powers I'll find out why in about 2 minutes." First, the emotions can throw Nick off - affect concentration, result in inappropriate responses, dampen enjoyment of pleasant situations, etc. Second, Nick is really used to feeling strong emotions, as a result of this, fairly frequently sans apparent cause. In fact, he's used enough to it that his brain will occasionally come up with such emotions, indistinguishable by pretty much any means save a really good external mind reader or maybe an MRI until no other causes manifest. These wrong emotions can be strong enough to bury correct ones. ((Added to cover cases of me being completely wrong about what events are. In the extremely improbable case of Nick somehow having a paradox issue on this power - maybe it's really important to find out something in the future (and no one else is available) and a method is developed to temporarily really, really boost said power - this would be a good paradox. Nick can end up perceiving a fair amount of garbage along with information of relevance.))
Restrictions: Only feels the emotions that events will cause. Does not always realize that an emotion's cause does not lie entirely in
With a huge will/motivation, Nick can temporarily block this ability. If he remembers FOB, then he is aware that he at least can block it from conscious access, otherwise he'll probably rediscover it if really needed.
Ability 2:Can communicate through touch-"telepathy" by sending signals through nerves; this power can go both ways under certain conditions, and also extends to control of nerves with sufficient nerve-ending contact. This latter is typically used to numb prey about to be killed, but has been used defensively; to date, Nick has taken such partial control of a sentient with consent. To date, Nick has used what approximates actual mind control once, by convincing an enemy formed by the Carnal Carnival that various manufactured sensory impressions were real.
Power Level: 5, not currently used at/near full potential. Used at 3 in most areas, 4 (ie emotions) or 2 (ie involuntary on part of other party mind reading) in some.
Strengths: Allows communication which is not disruptive and which is difficult to eavesdrop on. Can make trusting people easier. Can allow Nick to pick up on context with sufficient contact. Bypasses language barriers, although not perfectly.
Weaknesses:Can be at least potentially dangerous in cases, such as linking two-way to two people (problematic at first, now low-risk), until Nick is practiced enough. Also, there is a detectable difference between normal nerve signals and ones originating from Nick. The difference is that the frequency of signals to and from the contact point increases significantly - typically by a factor of 5-10 - and, if there aren't enough nerves in the contact point to facilitate normal transfer of whatever data is being sent/received, signal intensity jumps temporarily. The closer Nick is to the person's brain, the less noticeable these things are - for one, the frequency increase will be much smaller. Ability can activate spontaneously with two sets of nerves close to each other for an extended period, even through light clothing or fur. At present Nick does not have much control over what is transmitted: he can choose to transmit certain things but others might also be present.
Restrictions: Physical contact is required, and to render the communication two-way at least 10 s (30 s + if not actively aided by other party) is required.
Ability 3: Is sentient and intelligent (~110 IQ), which is not normal for cats.
Power Level:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Restrictions:
Ability 4: Has a very small amount of actual telepathy. This does two things:
One, per OP request, helps warn Nick, via a funny feeling, if someone is not safe to touch.
Two, smooths things out a little for me, by dealing with things such as clothing, fur, and nerves moving around (ie if Nick is petted.) Specifically it gives me a way to fudge the connection not needing to be reestablished.
Power Level: Less than 1
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Restrictions:Only does the above, nothing more. Not even potentially under conscious control. Again, really weak.
((Please note: I don't mind characters thinking that Nick is using telepathy when that actually isn't the case, but it gets annoying when writers do so and say so.))
MAGICAL OR SPECIAL ITEMS
List:1 collar, with a bell. Identifies when Nick wants to speak aloud and what he wishes to say, and projects a pleasant male voice from said bell. (Origin: gift, from Klaus.)
One statue of Nick made out of sand (gift from Tsanis, an old character)
One scarf from Naomi. It was able to keep the wearer warm; apparently the enchantment lasted a year. Regardless, it keeps Nick's neck warm and key handy; it's kept for that and for its sentimental value.
1 self-cleaning litterbox, courtesy of the Building; might not work if removed from apartment or Building.
1 apartment key, silver-colored with rubber coating on the top. Has a hole, also coated, large enough to accomodate Nick's teeth or tongue.
Two fangs from a juvenile very large spider, with venom sacs (one mostly drained, one not) attached. Venom is definitely not directly lethal, barring allergies, in amounts up to .5 L, but, at least in high doses, can induce quick-onset illness severe enough to preclude the affected party getting help if alone, as well as severe swelling. The venom may be hallucinogenic, but it is equally possible that Nick's fever induced or helped to induce his delirium following the bite. A sample of said venom is promised to Sapphire if she should ever come to collect.
A fairly large amount, quite tangled, of silk from the above spider. Some strands are sticky, some are not. This material is roughly the thickness of twine, and a single strand can typically handle around 8 lbs. force. Currently tucked in a cubby in the wall. Some of said silk is promised to Naomi if she should ever come to collect.
1 snake ornament, 1 adjustable necklace, 1 scratching post
1food bowl marked with his name.
((I find myself wondering if he's a pack rat.))
BACKGROUND
Education or Training: None formal. Has learned largely from books. Most subjects are at an elementary school level... Maybe third, fourth grade. Most language arts are closer to eighth grade, while writing/composition/phrasing thoughts is also rather elementary. (Handwriting, of course, is kindergarten level.)
Character Background/Biography: Frankly, no one knows. He randomly woke up in a dark basement with no memories beyond infancy and a large appetite. Fortunately, his instincts remained functional, and there were some mice in said basement. He eventually left the building in question, and got picked up by the local animal shelter. As cats dislike cages, he eventually figured out how to open the lock. He then wandered around for awhile, occasionally getting picked up by shelters and hence honing his lock - picking skills and, due to interaction, picking up basic English. Once, someone adopted him before he left. He ended up talking to one of the family members (see powers) resulting in them freaking out, being really annoying, and attempting to dissect him. Fortunately, the minor precognition kicked in and he was able to duck when an attempt was made to grab him. He then ran out. He had started to understand written language by this time, and eventually, after watching someone using a computer, he got on and did some research. He confirmed what he had already started to supect: being sentient was abnormal for animals. He also found a site stating that there was a city-state where many highly abnormal things happened and abnormal creatures lived. There was no evidence that the site was accurate, but he decided to try and find said location in the hope of eventual acceptance, and, you know, maybe getting to talk to someone who wouldn't freak out. By stowing away on planes and a few cars, he got pretty close to Bielefeld; he then traveled the remainder of the way on foot. Well, paw. He then spotted someone very odd looking, and followed them to the apartment building.
Very shortly after his arrival in December of 2013, the group headed to the Island; Nick accompanied them in a cat carrier. Eventually he mustered the courage to greet Giovenith, which went quite well, and... Well, scold Willow, which was slightly awkward at first. Quicker than he had dared to dream, he was largely accepted into the group and joined them for the holiday celebrations.
Nick spent most of that winter settling in to his new home and getting to know others, although he did volunteer to help the Conservators against Allspice; it was a nice thought, but he ended up doing very little. Before long his newfound confidence was somewhat shaken by someone (Cinnamon's) negative reaction to meeting him. ((Mon, don't worry about it - Nick just takes some stuff really personally.))
Somewhere between winter and spring, the Carnal Carnival occurred. Nick, attending with MB and Namal (alien character run by New Askarben), enjoyed not only the companionship but also - once he had adjusted to the idea of most anything being possible - the opportunity to experience things far out of his norm, such as an alien landscape, teleportation, and seven colors as opposed to two.
Some more casual interaction followed, somewhat awkwardly and typically not with mundane humans, as Nick subconsciously and consciously began really coming to terms with his past and moving forward. It was also during this time that Nick started looking for a job. Then FOB happened, with Nick helping others to navigate precarious old structures. In addition, he had to avoid use of powers for a day or two, particularly difficult as it meant communication was via meowing, body language, or scratched writing, and could not groom himself (a nervous habit) at all during the trip - all of these and more were far out of his comfort zone. Of moderate importance, this was Nick's first time intentionally initiating a two-way link. Much more importantly, on this trip Nick really and truly identified his dimension's version of the building as home, and was told by Dia that he (along with everyone else who had helped against Allspice) was considered family by the Conservators. That meant a great deal to Nick, and frankly still does. ((I AM NOT SURE IF NICK REMEMBERS FOB, as it was indicated that those who weren't supposed to be there wouldn't and, the second FOB, Nick was parked. As IC he did remember, maybe we could have him have forgotten almost all of it like a month later...while still recalling the really important stuff, ie Building and 7B=home, Conservators accept him as family and vice versa, and possibly that he handled being out of his comfort zone well at some point.))
After FOB, Nick found himself really wanting to learn more about his powers; to that end, he grabbed a small group (quite happy to actually have people he could ask for help and support) and headed for the library to grab some books, with a three-way connection being established en route with results which scared Nick, resulting in that not occurring again for some time; his mind did adapt to handle the situation, as he very much didn't wish to hurt Torii or Lillian and had the aptitude to.
Soon after, Nick was bitten by a very large juvenile spider which had gotten into 7B somehow... Perhaps the door had been ajar. His leg swelled up, making it difficult to obtain help in the short term, which was pretty bad because he was soon quite ill and rather delirious. Whilst recovering/((parked due to IRL issues)), he subsisted on spider meat. (As a result of this experience, spiders and most insects are not foods which Nick will want to eat. Crustaceans vary.)
Following this incident, a call button appeared on the right wall of Nick's room, towards the back, about 4 inches off the ground, marked "Press for Urgent Help" in glowing blue letters. ((If okay, this will signal the person at the front desk that there is an emergency in 7B. If that is not okay and this is, it will send a text to a random person within the building whose phone can receive it.))
Anyway, Nick emerged slightly before the residents left for Thanksgiving on Gliese. Following a highly pleasant stay, the group returned to where it had all begun - the Island. After a few moment of reminiscing, he recalled that presents were given. Nick spent most of the remaining time on the Island deciding on, finding, and making presents. It was an opportunity to give something back to those who had given him so much, and he took it gladly.
Nick, really believing that he'd found a home, returned happily to Bielefeld. Not long after, he had an overall-lovely time at the Carnival, where he confronted some old demons; as a result of an accident, he also got to know Sandy and Amanda better. However, he soon found his illusions shattered as anti-ab sentiment rose. Joining Klaus' group at the meeting, he committed to helping...
And then found himself highly reluctant to leave the safety of 42 Subabsurdus Street. There were people outside who didn't accept him. Who might hurt him because of who he was. He was coaxed out for the rally, which was heartening in spite of some hurtful words on the part of Torii. "NO TO THIRTEEN!"
He did not, however, exactly 'persevere,' not leaving the Building until an election had been called and a Zalgofest had started. That, however, was sonething of an improvement on his original plan of sleeping through the election as he couldn't vote - among other things, he met another Resident, Brit. The Zalgofest left Nick with a bad case of the blues... And the oranges. Steeling himself, the cat took his first voluntary shower, and then yelled into a drain for Klaus...
OTHER GAME MECHANICS
URL to Apartment Picture: (What's the inside of their apartment look like) Still pending. I intend to draw it pretty soon (along with many other things), but have technical problems getting pics up.
Link to RP examples: (this MUST be a
DIRECT LINK to your IC post in an RP, NOT a link to the RP thread itself. If you don't have examples, make your biography good.)
viewtopic.php?p=20602355#p20602355viewtopic.php?p=20105938#p20105938IMPORTANT:One paragraph that sums up your character. This paragraph is what we'll use on your player tab on the first page of the thread. This MUST be brief. Your tab will contain a link to your application so people will have full details: Nick is a sentient, intelligent cat trying to understand himself and to find a place in the world - sometimes awkwardly. Often friendly and somewhat outgoing, he can get rather shy at times (such as when scared.) He has a variant of sorts on precognition, as well as being able to communicate via touch.