Deerington App

[silvertongueheir]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Franciscus Erkens
Played-By/Art Claim: Most icons are by 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 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: 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?