[ooc] Application for rakuen

[safebox]

PLAYER INFORMATION

Name: Mori
Journal: paperforest
Contact information: forestofsleep (AIM, Plurk)
Other characters: N/A
Do you need an invite code? nope!

CHARACTER INFORMATION

Name: Marcell Csorba
Age: 12
Subject taught: N/A
Canon: Marcell’s world is one where magic exists, and meta is an actual law of the universe (albeit one most people aren’t entirely aware of). In a world where lifeforce is largely synonymous with magic, unsurprisingly the world is soaked with magical energy, and whatever natural excess that pops up from time to time is dealt with by the world in its own ways, mostly in the form of the existence of fairies created from said energy.

As man discovered magic and civilization progressed however, the excess energy began building up to the point that it sort of leaked into people, causing them to generate an excess of lifeforce themselves. Of course the human body was not made to handle this sort of thing and thus “mutants” were created; people whose bodies changed in some fundamental way to adjust to the excess energy. Initially very rare, over time these mutants became more common, and are now generally tolerated as part of society, if not accepted. The vast majority of these mutants are essentially people with animal traits, also known as beastkin.

And then there is the extremely small minority who, instead of gaining animal traits, gained amazing powers. These powers each follow a certain “theme”, and the only hard and fast rule across them is that they each have their own “ruleset” as to how they function.

With all the relevant world info out of the way, let’s get on with the actual backstory.

Marcell was born in the capital city of Panevis to a single mother. He’d always been very shy and introverted; he had difficulty making friends almost solely because it was easy to forget he was even there. It wasn’t intentional; Marcell just seemed to lack a presence, which wasn’t helped by his timidity. He was the kid who sat at the back of class, and didn’t say nor was spoken to much. Sometimes he played with his classmates, but he wasn’t particularly close to anybody.

His mother, to all appearances a pleasant woman, was actually a Stepford Smiler and frankly kind of unstable. She’d been a little…worrying for a long time, but after Marcell’s father left her, it only got worse. She seemed torn as to how she felt about her son – most of the time she tried to ignore him beyond caring for his basic needs, sometimes she was a little pleased with him, other times she’d unleash her wrath upon him for something he’d done. When she was satisfied with him she occasionally gave him gifts, only to take them away or destroy them in the next moment of anger. Physical violence was rare but an ever present threat; twice she tried to kill him by drowning him in the bathtub and strangling him to death, Marcell surviving only because she changed her mind at the last moment. It was a lot like walking through a minefield.

And Marcell still loved her and tried to please her anyway. He figured that he deserved whatever he got, since he did do things that made her angry, and she was his mom so she must be knowing what she was doing, right? Even after his mother narrowly stopped short of killing him twice, he still put his faith in her in some kind of desperate, misguided belief that if he made her truly happy they could finally be a real normal family, instead of just pretending to be one. He never once told anyone about what she did, never cried for help when she tried to kill him, and never complained when she doled out punishment.

When he was 11, he came back home to find that his mother wasn’t there (which was normal) and all her things were gone (which wasn’t normal). He panicked and went out to look for her, getting himself lost in the process. Once he realized she was gone and he didn’t know where he was, he freaked out even more. Nevermind being lost; he didn’t know who to go to and would have been too afraid to ask for help anyway, and even if he had knew the way back home he was too frightened to go back. It was all irrational and stupid in hindsight, but Marcell had stuck himself out in the streets, in a violent neighbourhood in the slums, because he was too scared to do anything.

This went about as well as you’d expect.

Marcell soon started stealing to survive, but having no real idea what he was supposed to do with himself he quickly fell into dire straits. His first pickpocketing attempt had him noticed soon after and chased down. Backed into a dead-end, he once again starting panicking. Instinctively, without thinking, he put his hands together and formed a box shape with them, and suddenly he found himself in a small barrier. Of course, he had no idea how he was doing this, which only served to freak him out more, and without any other options he simply sat there and hoped that his pursuer would give up and leave.

Except he passed out from exhaustion first. Whoops.

He woke up to find that he had been rescued by his pursuer, who was one half of a pair of delinquents. Once they calmed him down, Marcell was offered a proposal: stick around and help out, and they’d teach him the ropes and try not to let him get killed out there. At that point, he was tired, hungry and desperate, and he accepted since he figured he had little else to lose. And so Marcell began living with Fabian and Kaja in an abandoned warehouse. Within the next few months, they picked up two more kids; Alp, a slave who ran away when his collar malfunctioned, and Lilya, a little girl whose eyes could induce hallucinations.

Initially, it was about using each other. The younger kids depended on the older ones for protection and shelter, the older kids found that the younger ones were useful for distractions, not to mention that two of them had abilities and the other knew how to cast magic. Over time, they grew emotionally dependent on each other because they were all kids who had no where else to go, effectively becoming each other’s “substitute family”. Life was rough and there weren’t too many soft edges to it, but they could deal with it.

There’s not a whole lot of interesting things to talk about during the year or so Marcell’s been with them. They were forced to leave the warehouse when it was reacquired, moving down to the sewers. A few weeks later they discovered that they could travel to a manhole behind a mansion located in the inner districts through the sewers; Fabian had the bright idea of sneaking inside during a party to steal something to be pawned off. Then he got arrested trying that, ahahaha...ha...

When Fabian was released a few months later, he declared that they were going to get out of the city, once the winter was over. They moved up from the sewers to an abandoned house (that they really weren’t supposed to be in, but since when did people care?), and have begun to attempt stockpiling as much preserved food and supplies for their journey as possible.

And then Rakuen happens.
Canon point: End of history section

Personality:

Marcell is an easily frightened, withdrawn kid. He is incredibly jumpy, more so in unfamiliar environments or situations, and has a rather deer-in-the-headlights way of reacting to them, if he doesn’t just back up as much as he can. He prefers to keep his head down and tends to not say much, coming off as distant and quiet when he’s not busy being afraid. Marcell is a natural introvert, which has both grown better and worse through his life experiences, and it’s unlikely he’ll ever grow out of it. He can be a bit difficult to be around sometimes though, as he’s something of a natural depressive; he doesn’t seem to be happy very often.

It’s easy to write him off as just a jittery kid, which...well, it’s not incorrect. His general caution towards most everything has its roots in mild paranoia and a very, very real fear of being harmed. Marcell has lived most of his life where safety was, at most, uncertain; there was the ever present threat of punishment if he stepped out of line or did anything deemed wrong, and the distinct possibility that this time he might not be so lucky and he could die. Having nearly been killed twice and now stuck in a violent neighbourhood where it’s not uncommon for people to simply be gone one day, he finds it easier to assume that anything and everything can hurt him if they wanted to, and they won’t necessarily show any mercy just because he’s young.

In part because of the environment he grew up and lives in, Marcell has a very jaded view of the world for a 12-year old. As evidenced by his belief that people may not act merciful towards him if he crossed them, he doesn’t have much faith in the goodness of people. In the end, people are out to ensure their continued survival, after all. He thinks that kindness and love are things he has to earn and constantly prove himself as being worthy of, because people don’t want to waste their time on someone who cannot benefit them in some way. Since he lives with people who are basically thieves and “outsiders” to normal society, Marcell is wary of authority figures and most adults -- again, he doesn’t think they would be very sympathetic or understanding, his own experiences with adults ranging from neutral to horribly, horribly negative.

Tying in to the earlier mentioned paranoia somewhat, Marcell is observant and perceptive, filing away information deemed important for later use. Considering his age, he’s surprisingly practical and matter-of-fact – don't attract attention, run don't fight, and don't ever, ever reveal the extent of your muscle unless you absolutely must. It’s cowardly, but he knows his limitations and that trouble is the last thing he needs. He doesn't like using his barrier ability if it'll give it away to other people simply because he doesn't want to put all his cards on the table, so to speak.

Marcell might be called mature by some, though “cynical” and “passive” are equally good substitutes. Beneath his tendency to be afraid of almost everything at one point or another, he has an incredible capacity to endure emotional abuse and hold back his feelings -- though arguably this is more because he’s resigned to his lot in life, and it’s probably not the most healthy way of coping with anything. Despite the fact he’s easily terrified, Marcell is also one of those people who you can insult and bully mercilessly and all he’ll do is take it passively. Actually, he’d try to remove himself from the situation first, but if that’s not possible he will just steel himself and hope that eventually he’ll be left alone. He has been put too many times into helpless and/or powerless positions, where fighting back frequently meant worse retribution, so he only really knows how to deal with problems by avoiding them or passively enduring them, but never actually confronting them.

This only holds true until violence gets involved, however. The very second it becomes violent, and especially when the violence is directed at him, Marcell will kick and scream and defend himself, even if it’s only so much so that he can run away at the soonest opportunity. He associates violence with the possibility of death following it, and although he personally believes he will have a very short life, he does not want to die. Self-preservation, he has it, now that he’s no longer living with his mother. He will freak out if it looks like someone is trying to hurt him, and if he cannot escape or effectively fight back somehow Marcell will be reduced to a ball of trauma and fear.

Unsurprisingly considering everything that has been said at this point, Marcell has a feeble sense of self-esteem. He has grown up with the distinct sense that he wasn’t wanted, when he wasn’t being told that he was useless or wrong or both by his mother. Combined with her abandonment and finding himself sitting on the fringes of society, Marcell feels as if he doesn’t deserve nice things. Surely, there must be something wrong with him if he couldn’t win over her love when other kids could so easily earn their parents’. And if he couldn’t make his own mother happy, what makes him think he could make anyone else possibly want him? It’s this kind of thinking that drags him down from moving forward, filled with doubt over his worth as a person. It has gotten better somewhat, since his friends have given him a greater sense of worth than before, but he’s still a long way from forgiving himself over this perceived fault.

Okay, so despite being a downer and kind of a spineless wimp, Marcell does have some upsides to his personality. Once he starts feeling comfortable around someone he relaxes considerably -- he’s more willing to talk and give his opinions, and generally less outwardly frightened. He doesn't really know how to talk to people when he doesn't already know them well, and he’s incredibly easy to fluster and tease since he hasn’t socialized much. He’s an affection-starved child, so he tends to grow attached to those who are consistently nice to him and those who willingly protect him. Uh, that said, he’s also pretty bad when it comes to expressing his own feelings; he’s uncomfortable trying to be kind or nice without feeling he has to cover up for it in some way. An important thing to note is that despite everything, Marcell isn’t particularly angry or hateful -- resigned, yes, frustrated sometimes, yes, but he’s generally too...tired to really muster any anger at the world.

He is kind of a doormat and jumps at every little thing, but at the same time you don’t last long on the street if you don’t grow some spine quickly. He has no qualms about pickpocketing people, which requires getting up close and personal to them to snatch their wallets -- not exactly something you’d expect from someone like him. Marcell does feel a little guilty sometimes, but as long as he can continue justifying his actions he won’t stop, especially when the group’s survival depends on how much each of them can contribute. He also has a very intense sense of group loyalty. There is very little he won’t do for his friends back home – they're a replacement family, and maybe it won’t last but they’re all he really has and that’s what matters, as far as he’s concerned. He places a lot of trust and love in them, as people who protect and care for him despite what he believes is his own worthlessness, and they are the primary reason he tries so hard to prove that they did not misplace their trust.

Ultimately, Marcell is just a deeply traumatized kid who doesn’t realize the true extent of his issues, doesn’t want to admit he’s messed up, and doesn’t have the time or means to deal with them. Underneath all the layers of introversion, jade-tint, fear and unhappiness, he’s still a good kid who wants nothing more than for him and his friends to achieve a Happy Ending, even if he still believes that may be too much to ask for.

Weapon:

Name: Doboz

Form: A square-shaped, battered looking shield. Despite its weathered appearance it has very high Durability and Defense, but extremely low Offense. Due to this, its capabilities only truly shine when paired with another weapon.

Upgrades:

• Forcefield
  
• Prism Barrier
  
• Galdr Sorrow
  
• Defense boost
  
• Helping Hand

Lost memories:

• That he had a extremely powerful barrier ability.
  
• The names of his friends back home.
  
• That he has never seen a blue sky before.
  
• His mother’s murder attempts on him.
  
• How to tie boot laces.
  
• The smell of the smog and ash in the city.
  
• How to make a sandwich
  
• The (ridiculous, mostly true) folkstory of why no one in Panevis can use magic.
  
• How to eat fish and chips
  
• That Fabian got himself arrested for robbery.

Sample:

Old post at Mayfield!