[sticky entry] Sticky: Navigation

Dec. 9th, 2018 12:37 am
silvertongueheir: (What kind of ride)
Traded

Keeping
Cheese Basket: An assortment of delicious cheeses, crackers, and sliced meats.
Playing Cards: A deck of completely normal 52 playing cards. Absolutely nothing weird about them.
Hot Pocket: A Limited Edition Jean Valjean Memorial Flavor hot pocket! It's fresh out of the microwave, but it will not burn your mouth because it believes in mercy and forgiveness. Apparently the memorial flavor is pepperoni.
Towel: Fluffy and warm and dries like nobody's business. Always know where it is.
Piragua: A tasty shaved ice treat, sweetened with the flavor of blue raspberry. Perfect for a sweltering summer day.
Red Jacket: A simple red jacket that smells faintly of flowers.
Rubber Ducky: You know the one. It makes bathtime fun! Squeak squeak!
Lotion: A scent-free lotion, moisturizing for both face and body.
Aspirin: A bottle of aspirin.

Trading
Senzu Beans: They say the legendary senzu bean can sustain a person for a full day, and heal all wounds! Too bad this is just a pack of licensed jelly beans.
Faygo: Fizzy delicousness. This bottle comes in cherry flavor!
Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs: With marshmallow bits! Part of this complete breakfast?
The Funplane: The newest popular portable game system. It has a hi-def touchscreen, and can also play music and videos, making for the perfect all-in-one media machine!
A Weed: A small, shareable bag. CHRIS I'M CALLING NINE-ONE-ONE.
Detective Outfit: Stylish black jacket, pants, and v-neck combo. For only the most handsome detectives.
French Flag: A large French flag on a long flagpole. Seems like it'd be fun to wave around.
Sling: To throw rocks.
Dole Whip: Somehow still very frozen and still very edible.
Coffee (Shitty Quality): A plastic tub full of coffee grounds. It smells like battery acid and regret.
I Can’t Believe it’s Not Margarine!: A single stick of unsalted butter. Better refrigerate it.
WILFRED WARFSTACHE: A bright pink, fake mustache.
Ruby Slippers: A pair of shiny ruby shoes. Clicking the heels together makes a very satisfying sound.
Hirshey's Physical Affections: A bag of small, bell-shaped chocolates. The tag sticking out of the wrapper says "Physical Affections".
Bath Bomb: A ball of tightly-compressed powder wrapped in vacuum-sealed plastic. This one turns the water into an opaque swirl of purple, blue, and silver glitter like a galaxy.
Efron Poster: A framed poster of Zac Efron. He's wearing a Wildcats uniform.

Abandoned
Hand Bra: Who the heck left this in here? It almost seems like it belongs in a whole other world.
Odd Telephone: An odd black telephone. If you pick it up, you can hear a chorus of voices on the other end asking for "Bobby" in a variety of different ways. They won't respond to anything you say.
100 Bouncy Balls: They're not even in a container--they simply bounce out and all over the floor. Clean up on aisle seven?
Chicken Suit: That's no man, THAT'S A GIANT CHICKE wait, no, it actually is just a weird suit.
Dry Ice: A lump of vaguely smoking ice in a plastic bag. Just add water and you get some very convincing fog! I wouldn't recommend putting it in your cocktail though unless you like the taste of burning. Handle with gloves.
Sand: It's not even in a jar. It's coarse and rough and you know the rest...
100 Bouncy Balls: They're not even in a container--they simply bounce out and all over the floor. Clean up on aisle seven?
silvertongueheir: (What kind of ride)
Powers
-Medium level plant manipulation

Items
-Twister: Literally just a game of Twister
-Magic Kitty Cloak: While wearing it, Franciscus has cat-like grace and will always land on his feet
-Dream Flower: An everlasting flower that gives Franciscus sweet dreams when he sleeps next to it. Can be overriden by plots
silvertongueheir: (There watch your back)
Player Name: Gray
Contact: [plurk.com profile] graygriffin
Invited by: Myself
Other Characters: Tiera

Character Name: Franciscus Erkens
Canon: Pokemon OC (Cartesio+15 Strangers CRAU)
Canon History: (cw: mention of forced breeding of sapient creatures)

Originally, the heir to the prestigious Erkens family, whose secret talent was the ability to use the Pokemon move Pay Day. His parents were both members of the International Police, and he joined once he came of age. Almost immediately, the group he was part of ended up part of a scandal involving Legendary Pokemon being forced to produce eggs in an attempt to show that they were "just normal Pokemon." The group ended up having to raise some of the eggs, and Franciscus became the guardian of a Shaymin egg. He also ended up dating one of the other members of the group, Shaun Reely the scientist.

CRAU (Cartesio): And then he woke up in a town called Cartesio one day, led by the Sarge and told to get away with murder or fulfill an "assignment" to get out. For the longest time, he resisted the temptation, searching for other ways out, doing his best in the trial, and trying not to cause too much destruction in the Sarge's assignments. But when offered the chance to bring someone with him when he escaped, for the sake of the young magical girl Sakura, he decided to kill. But the simultaneous death of Millium, another young girl he'd been getting close to, rattled him, and eventually he broke down in court when confronting her murderer. He was executed, but found himself on the other side in the land of the dead, where he proceeded to do his best to investigate things there and transmit information to the other side. They found out eventually that all the people in this town were actually clones of their original selves, but despite the pain that came from this revelation, the living managed to face down the Sarge and escape to the real Cartesio.

CRAU (15 Strangers): After about two months in Cartesio, Franciscus found himself waking up in a strange new place again-this time a tiny coffin-like room in a musty medieval castle. With him was Osomatsu Matsuno, the one other person he knew from Cartesio, the one who'd executed him but at the same time a close friend, and even though their memories of each other were scrambled, they nonetheless clung to each other as the one familiar thing. The thought that either of them could die at any point eventually led to Franciscus confessing that he'd developed feelings for Osomatsu, who reciprocated. Unfortunately, in the third week, Franciscus was killed by Eric Lecarde, who impaled him through the heart while mistaking him for Dracula, and Franciscus similarly hallucinated Eric as Azura, his victim from Cartesio. He ended up in the land of the dead, where he remained through the end of that round and two more rounds of death games, before all the dead were finally revived together. He returned to Cartesio with Osomatsu, hoping desperately that they could just be together without anything else coming between them.

Canon Personality: Franciscus acts charming and friendly by nature, but tends to keep a sort of barrier between himself and others. He does genuinely want to get along with people, but more for the sake of convenience and manipulation. While not a bad person at heart, he used to find it hard to actually connect. Being through two murdergames has softened him up a lot, and he's much more willing to express his genuine emotions instead of acting unflappable and cool all the time. He's pretty much stopped flirting with almost anyone, now that he's got a boyfriend and no real need to seduce people for information.

Still, it takes going through a lot together for him to trust people more deeply, and only a few people have earned that level of trust. But once they have, they'll count for a lot, and he'd be willing to do almost anything for them, and deeply fear being hated by them. He's often haunted by the thought of the blood on his hands, especially since he found out he's a clone, and considers the accomplishments of his original to not actually be his own, meaning that the most significant thing he's actually done is murder someone. He does also have some trauma from his various deaths as well as being kidnapped twice.

AU History: In this world, the Erkens family were alchemists, using rituals to transmute dross into valuable elements. But the cost of the transmutation meant they only fell about even, so eventually they did turn to other more unethical magics. During one of their galas, when Franciscus was 18, someone opposed to the ecological destruction the family was committing somehow managed to open a Tear in the middle of the ballroom, destabilizing the place. Most people fled, but Franciscus slipped while shoving someone else out of the exit and found himself falling into the Spirit Realm. He nearly died, but a capricious nature spirit saved his life, telling him to dedicate his life to undoing his family's harm.

Eventually, a year later, he stumbled back out of the Spirit Realm, somehow managing to land close to where his family home was. However, he had changed so much that his parents didn't trust that he was actually their son, and part of his contract price was also that he couldn't touch iron or enter a dwelling without an invitation. Believing that he was a changeling, his parents chased him away, leaving him with only the clothes on his back. He was left to wander across the country, occasionally hitchhiking and making money however he could, until he stumbled into Kaisou recently. For now, he's sleeping in the park until he figures out how to rent an apartment.

AU Personality Differences: JESUS CHRIST he's so much more traumatized. Why did I do this to my boy. He didn't really get to know anyone before he fell into the spirit realm, so by now his contracted spirit is pretty much his only friend. He's still a good person at heart, it's just that he hasn't had much of a chance to show it. Despite everything, he still tries to hold up a cool, confident mask when in public, but it slips much more often.

Element: Earth
Purchased Powers: Medium level plant manipulation (3 points)
Possession: Franciscus is possessed by a nature sprite and cannot touch iron or enter a dwelling without an invitation. (Being asked to fix his family's harms technically isn't the contract price, so much as something the sprite wants separately. They also realize that's kind of hard for him to do, and they are kinda fond of him by now and realize it's partly their fault, so they hardly bring it up anymore.)
silvertongueheir: (I always knew)
Basically a CMO post for Franciscus post-15 Strangers. Both Cartesio and 15S CR are welcome! Also feel free to send him texts with the interuniverse phone.
silvertongueheir: (I always knew)

like dislike neutral

OSOMATSU
Franciscus' best friend-turned-lover, and the only one in Deerington who was in Cartesio with him. Despite the many ups and downs they've been through, and all the awkward circling and not-quite-joke-flirting, they've finally ended up together. Franciscus trusts Osomatsu with a lot, and is glad to be trusted in return. He never wants to betray that trust like he did in Cartesio again. While there's a lot of danger around in Deerington, Franciscus is sure that as long as the two of them are together they'll be able to make it through.
NEWT
Franciscus is quite curious about the magical nature of Newt's world, as well as the various creatures he takes care of. And the wizard seems eager to share, to his enjoyment. While he feels Newt may have slightly more lassitude towards dangerous creatures than seems reasonable, at the same time he does seem to want to protect both the creatures and people. And honestly, he can understand the desire to have all his precious creatures nearby.
SPIDER-MAN
Franciscus hasn't really interacted with Peter outside of his Spider-man identity, so while he appreciates the superhero doing his job he's not as personally familiar with him. Still, he definitely appreciates the assistance offered in various tense situations.
JYUSHIMATSU
If it weren't for them being connected through Osomatsu, Franciscus would probably be far-less charitably inclined towards Jyushimatsu, considering the man has nearly killed him once and actually caused his death another time. As it stands, Franciscus does his best to get along with him, since he's Osomatsu's (original) younger brother. Besides, Jyushi can be gentle with his Pokemon, and his violent tendencies are good to have on his own side in a fight.
SHINICHI
While he doesn't really like that their first meeting involved Shinichi forcing him to bed when sick, he supposes he can appreciate the concern. Migi is also a curious being, although he does hope Shinichi can keep the alien in check, and that Migi won't drive the boy to drink.
CHARA
Franciscus isn't really sure what to think of this kid. They seem to prefer nonhumans over humans, but still lashed out as Hydrangea. He's honestly not sure how to handle them, so he mostly just tries to give them space when possible and let his Pokemon make their own decisions about interacting with them. Meeting their older self has led to even more confusion for him, though part of him is relieved to know they might turn out alright.
MARY
Thanks to their first meeting, where Franciscus accidentally overheard Mary screaming about not being real, he feels a special sense of empathy towards her. He's shared some of the secrets about his nature with her in an attempt to make her feel less alone, and does his best to indulge her in her various likes and give her a chance to be a kid.
VIRA-LORR
One of Franciscus' closer friends in Deerington, she's one of the people who helped him get his bearings, and introduced him to F.E.A.R. She's also shared quite a bit about her own world and history with him, and he appreciates her willingness to do so. Despite knowing nothing about Pokemon before, she seems quite curious about them, and Franciscus is really glad to learn that he inspired her to become caretaker to an Absol. He feels quite bad about making her be the one to witness his paranoia-caused suicide, and really hopes that won't end up happening again.
MAX
He definitely appreciates her helping him out in the underground tunnels, and she's a friendly enough girl, even if they haven't had that many other interactions. The happenings in town have made it hard for them to find time to actually put things together, as well, though he does have her first on his mind for any important information he might find.
AIRY
Another one of his closer friends in Deerington, he's glad to see how affectionate she is towards Gerard. He also appreciates her fighting alongside him in the underground tunnels, and her offer to teach him how to cook. Her disappearance definitely hit him hard. He hopes that wherever she's gone, she's somewhere safe.
X'RHUN
Quite the friendly man, considering he sent Franciscus a Christmas gift not long after their first meeting. He's also the one who helped Franciscus register for F.E.A.R. Franciscus can't help but appreciate that, and he admits he enjoyed watching X'rhun learning to take care of a dog. His disappearance was certainly a shock to Franciscus, and he hopes the man is alright wherever he is now.
NAME
TEXT GOES HERE!
( coding by whambam )
silvertongueheir: (There watch your back)
[Franciscus makes sure Puck is settled well in the garden before heading to bed. For tonight, Hydrangea seems to have decided to stay with the giant moth and make sure he feels safe. Franciscus doesn't mind that much, and he actually has a smile on his face as he slips off to sleep...

...only to wake up with a strangled yell.

He leans forward, breathing hard and looking around desperately. No one's here, it seems...but still, he can't sleep. It's as if there's something lurking around every corner, every door. He ends up summoning a small sphere of flame carefully, slowly walking towards Osomatsu's room and gently knocking at the door.]

Osomatsu? It's me, Franciscus...
silvertongueheir: (I could be more)
[After the meeting, Franciscus finally has some time to himself. But honestly, that's not a great thing, considering how similar the motive is to a previous one. Even when he retreats to his room, sitting curled against the wall, in an attempt to be alone, the apparitions follow.]

Really, you got away with it once! It's not like you're unused to breaking promises, right?

[Niwa laughs, somehow managing to fit across from him in her ridiculous costume. There's blood dripping from a gunshot wound in the chest.]

It's just as precarious a situation as last time, isn't it? I don't see why you wouldn't go for it again.

[Azura is there as well, still bleeding from a slit throat and staring intensely at him, her broken spear in her hands.]

Are you...are you really going to break your promise again? You know I don't want anyone to kill for me...

[Sakura, looking at him with sad eyes. He shakes his head, trying to dispel them.]

You're not real. You can't all be here...
silvertongueheir: (What kind of ride)
[Thursday night, and Franciscus is even more on edge, especially after the argument with Krone. He should be getting ready to sleep, but he just can't. Eventually, with Hydrangea still snuggled against his shoulder, he goes looking for Osomatsu.]
silvertongueheir: (Default)
[The Sunday night after everything went down, Franciscus is in his room, though he's not asleep yet, or even lying down. He's sitting on the edge of his "bed," swinging his legs and sighing, occasionally glancing in the direction of the rooms of all the other people who got involved in this mess.]
silvertongueheir: (There watch your back)
[Franciscus pulls Osomatsu to the side, where people won't overhear.]

Don't-don't you remember? I murdered Azura, and I let Niwa die in my place. You...you killed me for that, in retaliation.
silvertongueheir: (I had in store)
I'll make this fancy later okay
silvertongueheir: (What kind of ride)
⇓in character⇓

PHYSICAL AFFECTION: Mostly only if he's familiar with someone, he's likely to shy away from that with people he doesn't know well

PHYSICAL VIOLENCE: He's not that great a fighter, but he can occasionally win fights through trickery/more underhanded methods. Either way feel free to try and punch him in the face.

ROMANCE/FLIRTING: Feel free to flirt with him, he'll probably happily flirt back as long as you're over 18. Actual romantic relationships will probably take a while to develop, especially since he's both getting over his semi-ex-boyfriend and has his eyes on someone else already.

SEXUAL CONTENT: He's potentially up for a one-night stand, though I'm less confident about playing that stuff out.

PSYCHIC ABILITIES: He doesn't really have any resistance to psychic abilities, but he does have his own charm abilities. Currently, with the power warp, they are flipped around to make people hate him/focus on attacking him instead, though.

MAGIC/POWERS: Franciscus has the ability to make plants grow from anywhere with sufficient soil, which will read as a magical ability. He also has the ability, passed down from his family line, to create gold coins out of nothing, although with the power warp they end up cursed. Last, he has general immunity to inhaled poisons/chemical vapors and smoke.

MEDICAL INFORMATION: Despite being a 3D-printed AI clone, he comes off as 100% human. Other than that, he doesn't really have any medical issues.

OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS OR TRIGGERS: The previous game Franciscus was in involved serious identity/cloning/unreality issues, as well as some minor glitch/body horror elements. These aren't likely to come up in casual dialogue, but might come up in narration occasionally. His backstory before that involves elements of forced breeding of Pokemon, as well as glitch/body horror elements with one of his teammates' bonded Legendary.

He has some trauma about people approaching him when his back is turned, as well as people waving baseball bats around, though he's likely to downplay this around anyone he doesn't know well.

⇓out of character⇓

BACKTAGGING: I'm always up for backtagging into infinity

FOURTH WALLING: I'm cool with people knowing that Pokemon is a fictional anime/manga/game/whatever. Also if your character would know about Umineko I'm fine with them thinking Franciscus looks like Battler.

THREADHOPPING: Ask both me and whoever else is in the thread first, unless it's a setting where threadhopping is more encouraged (e.g. a meeting to share information, yelling about how gay he and Osomatsu are being)

OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS/TRIGGERS: My only major squick is incest, but as long as there's a cw for it I'll be okay. I'm especially squicked by cases with people who don't learn they're related until later, or with adoptive family incest.

ANYTHING ELSE: There's potential for Franciscus to recognize a few characters he also knew in Cartesio. He's not likely to be too outspoken about this, though, since he'll likely consider the Deerington characters the "originals" they're based off of, and he doesn't really want people to learn about the whole AI clone thing. Still, let me know if you don't want him to interact with your character, or not bring up the knowledge even in narration.
silvertongueheir: (Time to fly)

IN CHARACTER


Character Name: Franciscus Erkens
Played-By/Art Claim: Most icons are by [plurk.com profile] rukafais, the two that aren't are art of Battler Ushiromiya (Umineko) by dolce/aokiri on pixiv, and Black Battler (an alternate universe "culprit" version of Battler) by kaoru on pixiv. The bear icon is by [deviantart.com profile] mucka33.

In-Game Tattoo Placement: Inner left arm, shaped like half of a heart
Current Health/Status: In good health
Age: 19 mentally, 2 months physically (+9 months in Deerington)
Species: AI Clone

CW: Discussion of forced breeding, body/glitch horror, clone/identity issues

History: The Erkens line started out as peacekeepers and law enforcement. However, somewhere along the line, one of Francis' ancestors discovered he had the ability to create gold out of nothing. He took a chance and began to invest this gold, keeping his abilities a secret while slowly building up a fortune. Eventually, the Erkens line bought their way into the upper class. With continued wise investments, the Erkens name is now well-known for its wealth, and its occasional ostentateous displays of it.

Franciscus' father was expected to marry another girl from a wealthy family. However, at the same time, the International Police had sent one of their agents undercover to investigate the origins of the Erkens wealth. Said agent attempted to get close to Francis' father, one thing led to another, and they fell in love. It was eventually suggested that Francis' father join the International Police as well, using some of his produced wealth to help fund their operations. After some deliberation, he agreed, finally restarting the old family tradition.

Francis grew up admiring both his parents for their jobs, and really wanted to get into the International Police too. However, his parents constantly told him he had to wait until he was older. This discouragement had the unfortunate side effect of distancing them from him, thanks to their jobs. Francis began to teach himself to create elaborate stories, to trick people and draw more attention to him. He became good enough at it that his deceptions extended to elaborate real-world stunts as well. Eventually, when he was 18 years old, his parents finally gave him permission. While he technically passed the tests, he accomplished at least a few of them through trickery, or invoking his family name on some of the more susceptible testers. As a result, while he isn't actually incompetent, he does lack some abilities that are potentially important for an international policeman.

Despite all this, his very first assignment saw him being dragged into the protection of several Legendary eggs, that were the result of an anti-Pokemon group known as Humanity's Wake capturing and forcefully breeding Legendary Pokemon. Franciscus himself was drawn to an egg with a strangely calming aura. Unfortunately, right after this, the building they were in was attacked and they were forced to split up.

Franciscus ended up joining with Shaun Reely, a scientist; Jimmy Ahlers, a carefree acrobat; and Liam Carter, a young psychic boy who Franciscus had been slightly jealous of. Of course, they would encounter many more obstacles still, both with Humanity's Wake attacking them and other incidents that required the intervention of the international police. Franciscus did his best, trying to act like a leader and giving the best tactical advice he could.

During their journey, Franciscus started becoming oddly closer to Shaun. It started out with him simply offering funding for his experiments, and wanting to keep the scientist on his good side. Shaun was also somewhat less obnoxious about instigating physical contact with Franciscus, making him somewhat more relaxed around the scientist, despite his occasional comments about "studying" his teammates.

Franciscus kept trying to pretend that he was simply being friendly to Shaun to get what he wanted, denying to his Pokemon that he might actually have come to like the scientist. The turning point came simply when they ended up drinking hot chocolate together one night, with Shaun treating a burn Franciscus got from improper preparation technique. That was when Franciscus could no longer deny those feelings even to himself.

After one particularly harrowing battle, Franciscus finally attempted to confess to Shaun. He was blocked by Shaun's overprotective Mightyena, Ogar, at first, but eventually managed to get his message across. Thankfully, Shaun realized that he returned those feelings. Franciscus found himself overjoyed, and even their teammates were happy for them.

Things became even happier when the Legendary eggs finally hatched. Franciscus' was a young Shaymin, fresh out of the egg and ready to fight, while Shaun's turned out to be a Legendary no one had seen before - Missingno. Franciscus became even more determined to protect them, but soon after this he was dragged away to the town of Cartesio.

CRAU History & Impact: Franciscus was immediately determined to find some way to escape Cartesio, but while he was there, he also planned on making sure he gave a good impression the other people stuck there. They met up with the Sergeant running the town, and learned that in two months only people with medals would be allowed to leave. The only ways to get medals would be to kill someone and get away with it at trial, letting a scapegoat be executed in your place, or to perform especially well at one of the tasks the Sergeant set.

While Cartesio was originally quite welcoming to the visitors, things started going downhill after the first week, the second week being when the motives and assignments began. Their first assignment was simply to steal a sign from the movie theater, which seemed innocuous enough, though it did lead to some anger from the townspeople. The motive was to be able to contact loved ones from home, and Nine ended up taking it and murdering Moloch. He confessed, due to caring enough for the other suspects that he didn't want any of them to die in his place. He was executed by Oda.

The third week, the motive was secrets that would be shared with everyone back home if no one killed. The assignment was to sabotage the refinery, which they ended up technically fulfilling by stopping two of the mechanical gears. That Thursday night, Clarisse, who was already extremely down for murder, ended up taking the motive and killing Bakugou. Thanks to a last-minute idea from Franciscus for comparing footprints, she ended up being successfully caught. She was executed by Millium.

The fourth week, the motive was immortality. The assignment was to make the worst impression possible to the town journalist, who came for a personal interview. Despite the group's best efforts, they were unable to provide actual proof of their claims, and received a very unflattering article written about them. Jughead decided to hold a talent show on Thursday night, in hopes of making the townspeople less hostile towards them. It seemed to be working out well, but as midnight passed, he ended up being poisoned by both Frasier and Rose, and then shot by Rose to make sure he died. Thankfully, both the elders ended up giving themselves away at the trial. Rose was executed by Kino, and Frasier by Wayne.

The fifth week, the motive guaranteed that a successful killer would be able to have someone with them when they escaped, whether someone close to them in town or someone they had lost back home. The assignment was to burn down the diner, and Kino ended up going ahead with it despite protests from others. Franciscus ended up deciding to take the motive in order to save Sakura, who he had come to see as a little sister figure, and found Azura in the park on Thursday night. They fought, but he was able to win and kill her, before heading to Kinzie's room to get an alibi that they had spent the night together. Meanwhile, Olympia, who was loyal to her King above all else, chose to lure Millium to the roof and shove her off, out of a twisted sense of friendship. Cian realized the note luring Millium was fake and followed her, but only ended up killed as well. Both of them almost got away with it, but Olympia was discovered when someone smelled fresh paint on her, and Franciscus confessed when it looked like someone was going to attack Olympia and get killed. However, while they were waiting for their executioners in jail, Oda, still furious over Millium's death, decided to kill Olympia himself, and ended up being executed by Dazai in her place. Franciscus was executed by Osomatsu, in what was probably the bloodiest and longest execution in Cartesio.

After the execution, Franciscus found himself in another Cartesio, where all the dead people had gone. He ended up being (temporarily) killed by Nine again, and reuniting with Millium there. Since large changes on the dead side could transfer to the living side, the dead ended up building a giant fort out of Olympia's limbs, the unlimited lives the dead have meaning that they could get many of them. Franciscus also took the time to grow various flowers over the hotel the other visitors were staying at.

Every week, the ghosts and the living side were able to make momentary contact. While Franciscus hadn't been present for that when he was alive, the week after he died he ended up being part of the group to contact the living through zooming in on words in certain old articles using a microfiche reader. They were able to share some of their discoveries then. The week after that, the record store's televisions and music players both acted up, and they were able to see each other on video, and use the music players to transmit information through Morse code.

Meanwhile, on the living side, despite some setbacks, the living managed to slowly come to more of a truce with the townspeople, and on the last week the townspeople rallied to drive them out of Cartesio. Unfortunately, it turned out that the road just led them right back to the town. Eventually, they entered the Sergeant's Lodge to see what was truly going on, and learned that they were all AI clones of real people-something the dead side had discovered earlier that week. The living group confronted the Sergeant, showing him the true purpose of the simulation they were in was to rebuild, not destroy, and managed to gain admin powers and temporarily make him more lucid. Convinced by their arguments, the Sergeant allowed them to give everyone medals, and released all the living and dead from the simulation. They woke up in another version of Cartesio, in the real world this time, and slowly began to figure out what to do from now on.

For the last two months, Franciscus has been staying in Cartesio, working a customer service job. He's slowly been settling into a rhythm there, and has started to get used to the regular town life.

The various important influences on him in Cartesio were:

-Osomatsu Matsuno: It started mainly when they made a promise to talk after every trial. Osomatsu admired Franciscus' intelligence and ability to figure out the various mysteries, and Franciscus appreciated the flattery. He also came to slowly appreciate listening to Osomatsu talk about his much more normal life back home, and the two of them also bonded over their tendency to act relaxed even in more stressful situations. Even after Franciscus was convicted of Azura's murder, Osomatsu still visited him in jail, and promised to look after his Pokemon. Franciscus was deeply grateful for that, and also relieved when he learned that Osomatsu hadn't meant to make his execution as painful and torturous as it ended up being. After they were freed from the simulation, he confessed that Osomatsu had become one of the most important people to him.

-Sakura Kinomoto: Franciscus slowly found himself starting to worry about this girl more and more as the murders and destruction around the town continued. He did his best to offer her comfort when he could, whether by himself or through his Pokemon. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he eventually came to see her as a little sister figure, and wanted desperately to get her out of Cartesio before it crushed her spirit. When she learned that he had killed for her, she was angry enough that she didn't even cry over it, and he found himself surprisingly relieved. Still, she didn't stay angry for long, and they were able to make things up after they left the simulation.

-Millium Orion: This other teen reminded Franciscus a lot of Jimmy Ahlers, one of his teammates. The two of them actually talked a lot about their groups and the various missions they'd been on, including trying to figure out how their team members matched up to each other. Franciscus was much less worried about her being used to violence than some others were, considering she was about the same age as Liam Carter, his telepathic and telekinetic young teammate. Still, when she decided that she was through with that job, he supported her as well, hoping that she would get more of an opportunity to just be a kid. When he found her body, it was the first time in the town that he really expressed strong distress in front of others. Their relationship stayed surprisingly positive even when they reunited in deadland, with Millium being quite understanding of his motive.

-Wayne Uedera: Despite being wary of both rich people and cops, Wayne actually quite liked Franciscus for his friendly demeanor. It probably helped that both of them talked shit about Frasier together after he murdered Jughead. Franciscus was quite grateful to know that he didn't come off as badly as Frasier did. Even after his murder, Wayne was understanding of the motive, even saying that he wished Franciscus had succeeded to bring Sakura out of there.

Personality: Franciscus is not exactly a bad person. He opposes Humanity's Wake on basic principle, believing that humans and Pokemon need each other, and also opposing their torture and mistreatment of Pokemon. However, he used to figure that the best way to succeed is to make connections, but never actually trust anyone. As a result, while he can act friendly and charming, he doesn't really open up to anyone. The only exception used to be his dear Archen-now-Archeops, Gerard, who he coddled and unabashedly expressed affection for. After they hatched, Hydrangea also received a lot more affection from Franciscus, and he's determined not to be separated from them again.

However, as time went on, he slowly came to accept the rest of his team as friends, and became more willing to trust them at least. The same applies to the people he slowly came to trust while in Cartesio. Still, it takes a while and going through serious things together for him to trust someone, and he has a tendency to lie to himself about whether he likes someone or is just using them. But once he considers someone a friend, they tend to become extremely important to him, and he can, on occasion, be driven to do something extreme to protect them. He greatly fears losing them, or having them hate him, and while part of him hates that he has this emotional vulnerability, mostly he accepts it as part of having friends.

Despite all this, Francis can still act a little entitled and arrogant at times. He still likes to brag about his accomplishments. While he used to lie a lot about them, over time he's come to have actual impressive accomplishments. Still, he has a tendency to play up either his involvement in them or the extent of his abilities. Most of the time, he likes to try to keep up a very cool, confident persona, not wanting to seem shaken by anything that happens. He often speaks in a rather formal manner, even with people he likes, though he does occasionally get more casual in more private situations. He no longer tries to invoke his family name in arguments, though, since he's now in a world where they don't exist, and he no longer has access to the full family fortune either.

Franciscus is very flirtatious, and it's not all an act. He does find a lot of people very attractive, and enjoys seducing people to get his way. He doesn't really see anything wrong with that, considering it a perfectly fine way of getting information or convincing people. He toned it down somewhat after getting a boyfriend, only using it when he feels it's necessary to get something the team needs. He's also promised Shaun never to kiss anyone on the lips other than him, and has kept that promise so far. However, the fact that he now knows he's not the original Franciscus means that he was open to a new relationship, and previously in Deerington eventually ended up with Osomatsu, in a much more exclusive relationship. He's pretty much stopped flirting with other people after this, both because there's less of a need to seduce information out of people and because he knows Osomatsu's boundaries are different from Shaun's.

After the events of Cartesio, he's softened a bit on expressing emotion openly. He got pretty emotional during his confession and while in jail, believing he was going to die anyways. Even after being "revived," the floodgates are more open now. He's also been slightly traumatized by the circumstances of his "death," and does freeze up on occasion when he hears people approaching him from behind when he's kneeling, or sometimes when seeing someone swing a baseball bat. He's also somewhat more opposed to killing someone personally and up close now, after having actually done it and realized how traumatizing it was. He was able to hide most of his reaction, until he finally collapsed during his confession. Also, he worries a lot about people finding out that he's a clone, mainly because of how common the "evil clone" trope is and his worries about misunderstandings happening there. He's also made sure not to expose anything about his knowing clones of people to the ones he considers the "originals," not wanting to confuse them or give them existential crises.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:
-Supernatural charm: Franciscus has the ability to make anyone charmed enough to not attack him, although it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic feelings. It could also be stuff like suddenly not wanting to mess up his suit, or his hairdo, or stuff like that. I'd be interested in warping this so that instead it makes them more likely to want to attack him.
-Plant growth: Franciscus can control the growth of plants, making them grow much faster and making specific species he wants sprout. My idea for warping is that this draws energy from any nearby plants, making them wither and die faster.
-Gold creation: The bloodline ability of the Erkens family, Franciscus can use the Pokemon move Pay Day to create coins that he can throw at his enemies, or just use as funding. My idea for warping is that these coins become "cursed" such that anyone who tries to use them to buy things/sell them has various unpleasant things befall them. Also, the created coins gain various eldritch markings/symbols that hint at their cursed nature.
-Clear breathing: Franciscus is immune to the effects of inhaled smoke/poisons. Presumably, this won't apply to any created by events/monsters.

Inventory:
Gerard - Despite technically being a clone, he's still Franciscus' precious Archeops. He sees Franciscus as a father figure, and while he's braver than he was when first hatched, he still prefers snuggling to fighting. He has extremely strong jaws, and the ability to summon rocks to pelt his enemies with.

Hydrangea - A clone of the child of the legendary Shaymin. They're a cheerful, playful creature, who also sees Franciscus as a father figure. They are capable of shifting between their two forms without a Gracidea flower, and have similar plant growth abilities to Franciscus, which I assume will be warped in the same way.

Dissection knife - A copy of a gift from Shaun to the original Franciscus. It's engraved with the structure of copper and tellerium atoms, as well as the initials S.R. + F.E. inside a heart. It also comes with a handy slipcover so he can store it in his pocket without messing up his suit. He keeps it by his side, but hasn't actually taken it out for a while.

White suit - A rather fancy-looking white suit, complete with tie and dress shoes, although there is some wear and tear on it.

Writing Samples: TDM Top-level and newer TDM toplevel


OUT OF CHARACTER


Player Name: Gray
Player Age: 26
Player Contact: [plurk.com profile] graygriffin

Other Characters In Game: None
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Franciscus Erkens: Gray
Permissions for Character: Here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yeah

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Detailed rituals, monsters with specific rules for dealing with them, beings that are helpful but have their own agenda/morality, And I Must Scream-type situations
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: No
Additional Information: Can he regain some of his older event items from when he was in Deerington before?
silvertongueheir: (Til now I've been pretending)
My dearest Shaun,

This town's presence is exhausting, so I have decided it best to write my observations on it as letters to you. As a matter of fact, I feel many of the places here would make for fine date locations. So perhaps there shall be some observations of that nature sprinkled in here.

Love,
Franciscus
silvertongueheir: (Default)
[There's a stack of letters, placed on top of Franciscus' bed. There's also several gold coins in the chest in his room.]

To whomever finds this,

If you are reading this, that means I did not get a chance to hide these letters away. Thus it likely means I am dead. If my teammates arrive at any point, I ask that you give them the letters meant for them. There are also letters for some of you, and naturally you may read them if you desire.

Sincerely,
Franciscus Erkens

PS: Please distribute the coins to the townspeople to fix whatever damages have been caused.
silvertongueheir: (Default)
Franciscus' backstory includes some elements of torture/forced breeding of Pokemon performed by the villains, although he's not likely to talk about it in graphic detail. He might also mention Shaun's experiments and bond with Missingno, which may involve some bits of body/glitch horror. These aren't likely to come up in casual conversation, but let me know if they should be avoided.

Franciscus is very likely to flirt with anyone above the age of 18, especially if he feels he can get something from them, although he will respect a no. Let me know if you don't want him to flirt with your character at all, or talk about kinky stuff with them. Also let me know if you don't want me to tag your characters with him at all.
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