Arthur Lester (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lestercraft) wrote2023-12-02 06:17 pm
lestercraft) wrote2023-12-02 06:17 pm
Entry tags:
Silent Springs App
OOC
Player Name: Maniette
Pronouns: She/they idc
Player Age: 30
Player Timezone: AEST (GMT+10)
Anything you MUST have warnings for? All clear
Other Characters in Game: NA
Plurk (if you have one):![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
Maniette
Other Contacts: NA
Invite source: Here!
IC
Character Full Name, Western Order: Arthur Lester
— Diminutive, if applicable: Artie
Character Chronological Age: 34
Character Visible Age, if different: Mistakable for older, he's been stressed as all fuck since he was 8.
Character Gender: Cis Male
Canon: Malevolent (Podcast)
Canonpoint: Episode 12
ONE paragraph synopsis of character and canon premise: Arkham detective Arthur Lester opens a book that was mailed to his office, which binds an eldritch being that (eventually) calls itself John to his soul and takes possession of his sight. Together they try to solve the mystery of how they came together, how to separate them, what John is,and or die trying. A currently ongoing Lovecraftian horror podcast set in 1934.
Character Personality:
Stubborn: When Arthur sets himself on a course of action, he will see it through, come hell or high water. While he can be reasoned with, and is more than happy to negotiate if he knows he requires more information, when he's decided on a path he will commit to it no matter what happens - including to his own detriment. While this is a boon to some extent, in that it was what let him continue living after the losses of his wife and daughter - and even prevented him from being killed by the King in Yellow, since he was so determined to never forget the harm he caused his daughter - it's also a problem in that even he can't really defy his own stubbornness.
Empathetic: Arthur is a deeply compassionate person, and uses this to great effect over the course of his career. While he knows he has a history of being self-absorbed, he's also the kind of person who will treat baby babbles like a dialogue, who gives children his utmost attention and respect, who can relate on a deep and personal level to loss and make it a sincere dialogue. While he is a deeply private person, and won't share his own pain willingly or easily, he will use this pain with reckless abandon to connect with others and help them through their own. And he'll use this pain to try and offer compassion to others - he refuses to kill a wraith, instead making a bargain to release it, because it only existed because it was mourning the loss of her own baby when it stole a living one, and he will always try to engage with dialogue with someone that wants to kill him, rather than escalate to violence.
Investigative: Arthur is endlessly curious, and always wants to know what's going on around him. He views everything as a puzzle that it has to be possible to solve, and he's actually quite good at finding the logic and reason behind seemingly disparate pieces of a puzzle. He's remarkably intelligent with a classical education, extremely analytical and able to make reasonable leaps to logical conclusions with limited information, and is willing to allow new information into his equations and completely change his mind on a theory with that in mind. As a private investigator he's also familiar with the more unsavoury side of humanity: he and his partner were primarily hired to recover missing persons, and Arthur's been shown to be able to anticipate other people's intelligence, and use it against them.
Inspired: Before Arthur was a private investigator, he was a pianist of prodigious capability. Music and poetry have always been his way of coping with the world, to express himself and his emotions and ground himself in the moment, and he's always eager to share poetry with people to help them as well; with empathy, with coping, with expressing themselves and finding ways to describe things through it. He's also a deeply philosophical person, and while he actively and aggressively eschews Catholicism, seeing it and its followers as something more akin to a sanctioned cult, he's not shown to have any major aversion to other religions, and even then still uses some of its teachings in his philosophies, where he can find a place to fit them that he doesn't utterly loathe (like as an example of how not to do religion).
Contrarian: In the face of being told what to do, Arthur is relentless in pursuing the exact opposite path to take. He is resistant to authority of all kinds, to the point that even being actively manipulated by an Elder God who is trying to get him to do something means said god is constantly required to rework their plan because Arthur's not having a bar of playing along. This happens with multiple gods. If he's forced to play along with something he doesn't want to do, he certainly won't directly undermine it, but he'll be furious and look for the first chance to escape it as soon as possible.
Scared: Arthur is newly blind, only functionally being so for a week, and is currently without a dedicated seeing-eye eldritch abomination; therefore, he is hyperreactive to everything around him, because he is genuinely afraid of what might be out there that he can't fucking see. He has no way to know what anyone looks like, what their expressions or body language might be for him to use to telegraph intent and reply accordingly, and no idea what people's intentions are when they touch him, or whether they're hiding any weapons or plan to harm him. As he's also spent the last month and change being hounded by the King in Yellow, he can be extremely skittish about being who exhibit obvious signs of eldritch madness, such as obsessive devotion and unpredictable violence.
Character History: Arthur's life has been a series of incredibly traumatising losses from a young age. His parents killed themselves; he was raised in a Catholic orphanage during WW1; he accidentally got a woman pregnant, was forced into a shotgun marriage with her, and she died during childbirth; his daughter died due to his own negligence; and when he was finally picked up from a bar and dusted off, by the man who would go on to be his best friend, Arthur was tricked into opening a book containing a piece of an Elder God, who possessed him and used his body to kill his partner.
So, that's a lot.
When he came to after being possessed, he discovered he could no longer see, as the Entity had taken his vision in totality; and with that daunting start, the two proceeded to try and investigate the mystery of how they came to be connected. This involved a lot of being attacked by people who were being driven insane by eldritch forces and horrible monsters from other dimensions, getting shot at and beaten up, falling off cliffs and into a coma, exploring new and horrible locations to follow the clues they were able to decipher, culminating in their discovery of an otherworldly underground city where they were more or less tricked into helping complete a ritual to reunite the Entity with his other half: the King In Yellow.
At which point, after nearly being killed by the King, Arthur wakes up in-game.
Physical Details:
- Blind; thanks to his eldritch connection, he has no current ability to see any mental pictures, which canonically grants him immunity from supernatural imagery and visual hallucinations. Physically, however, his eyes are in perfect health.
- Barely pushing 5'9, distinctly skinny and showing signs of malnourishment due to a recent one-month coma.
- Brown eyes, flecked with an unnatural shade ofyellow gold.
- English accent, slightly mangled by living in America but distinct regardless. Tends to speak formally when calm or angry, but swears at the drop of a hat.
- Obsessively well-dressed, and tends towards suits and nice cologne as a matter of habit. Typically does his best to smell clean and look put together. His hair is too long for pomade to be successful, so he just keeps it neatly swept back (I'm happy for this to be grounds for him to be assigned Wife status).
- Scar count: two bullet wounds in guts, one in heart, all with exit wounds; large knife scar across abdomen; small chunk missing in left bicep, overlapped by a burn mark; circle of deep lamprey-like scars on his stomach; many miscellaneous other minor scars from mundane means.
Does this character use any disability aids? What are they and what is their purpose? In canon he doesn't have any disability devices (instead he is given verbal descriptions of the world by the entity living in his eyes) and so won't know how to use them; however for his sake I'd like for there to be a white cane available in his house, just in case.
Is the character bringing a pet? Describe them. Nope!
Inventory upon arrival:
1. Lighter; a 1920s silver Dunhill lighter with "This too shall pass" engraved on it.Canonically has the ability to appear when Arthur needs it, but this is not a property he is actively aware of.
2. Mask; a pallid mask, possibly ceramic, with eye holes and limited other facial features.Canonically this allows the wearer to see supernatural items or information that is invisible or non-existent in the material realm).
3. Bestiary; a velum book, possibly dating from the 9th or 10th century, filled with smatterings of information on any number of creatures and gods from Lovecraftian lore, though not necessarily in totality. (Feasibly this could include literally anything canon to the Call Of Cthulhu game mythos.) The cover has six eldritch symbols carved onto it, three on the front and back; at least one of them is confirmed to represent Shub Niggurath.
Suitability
What elements of the game are you most interested in engaging with? I adore 60s Stepford settings and the impact that has on characters, and I'm excited to throw in a character who not only predates it, but is a bitch about complying with societal norms and will fight it at every step.
How will your character integrate into the setting? How do you see them dealing with life in Sweetwater? What are your plans for them in this game? Reluctantly. Arthur is a character who actively bucks against society's expectations for him, and being put into a scenario where he is forced to conform for survival is going to make him twice as mad, and it will be a major catalyst for him choosing to engage with the setting in ways explicitly seeking to undermine it (and undoubtedly getting severely punished).
Why did you choose this character specifically for this game?As a Lovecraftian horror protagonist, he's already got some familiarity with insanity and madness-corrupted people, as well as people trying to murder him, and will be able to compartmentalise the darker portions of this game well in order to function.
As well, as a blind protagonist, he brings an extremely interesting perspective to RP and interacting with other characters, and how he engages with people is radically different to any other character I play and is endlessly fascinating to put into Situations, especially since he's never going to be stopped from sticking his nose into danger even like this.
What are your favorite elements of horror? I adore assimilation horror and the brainwashing/mind fuckery aspects of knowing things are wrong and being unable to pin down why, whether the reason is supernatural or psychological, especially in a text medium.
Do you understand that Silent Spring's purpose is horror, not domesticity/found family, and that the following themes (nuclear panic, the Red Scare, conformism, sexism and restrictive gender roles, heteronormativity/gender binarism, surveillance, gaslighting, brainwashing/propaganda, disinformation, pollution/contamination, poisoning, loss of control, smoking, alcohol culture, and uncanny valley) cannot be opted out of? YEP
Do you agree to accept the potential IC consequences (social shunning/ostracism, potential exclusion from neighborhood social events, up to brainwashing, sleep deprivation torture, and nonconsensual haloperidol injection) in full for your character's actions in game? I am in fact looking forward to them.
Housing Preferences
What is your usual tagging speed? Tagging patterns? I tag sporadically but intensely, usually in the afternoon to late evening EST, and can be a rapid-fire boomeranger, if that's intimidating for people.
What activity level is ideal to you in a partner? While I tag quickly myself and do enjoy people who can meet my pace, I understand that the low AC is appealing for slower taggers and am happy to be housed with them.
What is your timezone? How important is it that the other players in the household be in a similar timezone? AEST (GMT+10), and I'm therefore fully used to other timezones.
Would you like a household with a child, without, or do you have no preference? please give Arthur a child
Are you okay with being placed with a character/character(s) that would impact your character's reputation? Absolutely fine, and Arthur will probably be an instigator of this.
Player Name: Maniette
Pronouns: She/they idc
Player Age: 30
Player Timezone: AEST (GMT+10)
Anything you MUST have warnings for? All clear
Other Characters in Game: NA
Plurk (if you have one):
Other Contacts: NA
Invite source: Here!
IC
Character Full Name, Western Order: Arthur Lester
— Diminutive, if applicable: Artie
Character Chronological Age: 34
Character Visible Age, if different: Mistakable for older, he's been stressed as all fuck since he was 8.
Character Gender: Cis Male
Canon: Malevolent (Podcast)
Canonpoint: Episode 12
ONE paragraph synopsis of character and canon premise: Arkham detective Arthur Lester opens a book that was mailed to his office, which binds an eldritch being that (eventually) calls itself John to his soul and takes possession of his sight. Together they try to solve the mystery of how they came together, how to separate them, what John is,
Character Personality:
Stubborn: When Arthur sets himself on a course of action, he will see it through, come hell or high water. While he can be reasoned with, and is more than happy to negotiate if he knows he requires more information, when he's decided on a path he will commit to it no matter what happens - including to his own detriment. While this is a boon to some extent, in that it was what let him continue living after the losses of his wife and daughter - and even prevented him from being killed by the King in Yellow, since he was so determined to never forget the harm he caused his daughter - it's also a problem in that even he can't really defy his own stubbornness.
Empathetic: Arthur is a deeply compassionate person, and uses this to great effect over the course of his career. While he knows he has a history of being self-absorbed, he's also the kind of person who will treat baby babbles like a dialogue, who gives children his utmost attention and respect, who can relate on a deep and personal level to loss and make it a sincere dialogue. While he is a deeply private person, and won't share his own pain willingly or easily, he will use this pain with reckless abandon to connect with others and help them through their own. And he'll use this pain to try and offer compassion to others - he refuses to kill a wraith, instead making a bargain to release it, because it only existed because it was mourning the loss of her own baby when it stole a living one, and he will always try to engage with dialogue with someone that wants to kill him, rather than escalate to violence.
Investigative: Arthur is endlessly curious, and always wants to know what's going on around him. He views everything as a puzzle that it has to be possible to solve, and he's actually quite good at finding the logic and reason behind seemingly disparate pieces of a puzzle. He's remarkably intelligent with a classical education, extremely analytical and able to make reasonable leaps to logical conclusions with limited information, and is willing to allow new information into his equations and completely change his mind on a theory with that in mind. As a private investigator he's also familiar with the more unsavoury side of humanity: he and his partner were primarily hired to recover missing persons, and Arthur's been shown to be able to anticipate other people's intelligence, and use it against them.
Inspired: Before Arthur was a private investigator, he was a pianist of prodigious capability. Music and poetry have always been his way of coping with the world, to express himself and his emotions and ground himself in the moment, and he's always eager to share poetry with people to help them as well; with empathy, with coping, with expressing themselves and finding ways to describe things through it. He's also a deeply philosophical person, and while he actively and aggressively eschews Catholicism, seeing it and its followers as something more akin to a sanctioned cult, he's not shown to have any major aversion to other religions, and even then still uses some of its teachings in his philosophies, where he can find a place to fit them that he doesn't utterly loathe (like as an example of how not to do religion).
Contrarian: In the face of being told what to do, Arthur is relentless in pursuing the exact opposite path to take. He is resistant to authority of all kinds, to the point that even being actively manipulated by an Elder God who is trying to get him to do something means said god is constantly required to rework their plan because Arthur's not having a bar of playing along. This happens with multiple gods. If he's forced to play along with something he doesn't want to do, he certainly won't directly undermine it, but he'll be furious and look for the first chance to escape it as soon as possible.
Scared: Arthur is newly blind, only functionally being so for a week, and is currently without a dedicated seeing-eye eldritch abomination; therefore, he is hyperreactive to everything around him, because he is genuinely afraid of what might be out there that he can't fucking see. He has no way to know what anyone looks like, what their expressions or body language might be for him to use to telegraph intent and reply accordingly, and no idea what people's intentions are when they touch him, or whether they're hiding any weapons or plan to harm him. As he's also spent the last month and change being hounded by the King in Yellow, he can be extremely skittish about being who exhibit obvious signs of eldritch madness, such as obsessive devotion and unpredictable violence.
Character History: Arthur's life has been a series of incredibly traumatising losses from a young age. His parents killed themselves; he was raised in a Catholic orphanage during WW1; he accidentally got a woman pregnant, was forced into a shotgun marriage with her, and she died during childbirth; his daughter died due to his own negligence; and when he was finally picked up from a bar and dusted off, by the man who would go on to be his best friend, Arthur was tricked into opening a book containing a piece of an Elder God, who possessed him and used his body to kill his partner.
So, that's a lot.
When he came to after being possessed, he discovered he could no longer see, as the Entity had taken his vision in totality; and with that daunting start, the two proceeded to try and investigate the mystery of how they came to be connected. This involved a lot of being attacked by people who were being driven insane by eldritch forces and horrible monsters from other dimensions, getting shot at and beaten up, falling off cliffs and into a coma, exploring new and horrible locations to follow the clues they were able to decipher, culminating in their discovery of an otherworldly underground city where they were more or less tricked into helping complete a ritual to reunite the Entity with his other half: the King In Yellow.
At which point, after nearly being killed by the King, Arthur wakes up in-game.
Physical Details:
- Blind; thanks to his eldritch connection, he has no current ability to see any mental pictures, which canonically grants him immunity from supernatural imagery and visual hallucinations. Physically, however, his eyes are in perfect health.
- Barely pushing 5'9, distinctly skinny and showing signs of malnourishment due to a recent one-month coma.
- Brown eyes, flecked with an unnatural shade of
- English accent, slightly mangled by living in America but distinct regardless. Tends to speak formally when calm or angry, but swears at the drop of a hat.
- Obsessively well-dressed, and tends towards suits and nice cologne as a matter of habit. Typically does his best to smell clean and look put together. His hair is too long for pomade to be successful, so he just keeps it neatly swept back (I'm happy for this to be grounds for him to be assigned Wife status).
- Scar count: two bullet wounds in guts, one in heart, all with exit wounds; large knife scar across abdomen; small chunk missing in left bicep, overlapped by a burn mark; circle of deep lamprey-like scars on his stomach; many miscellaneous other minor scars from mundane means.
Does this character use any disability aids? What are they and what is their purpose? In canon he doesn't have any disability devices (instead he is given verbal descriptions of the world by the entity living in his eyes) and so won't know how to use them; however for his sake I'd like for there to be a white cane available in his house, just in case.
Is the character bringing a pet? Describe them. Nope!
Inventory upon arrival:
1. Lighter; a 1920s silver Dunhill lighter with "This too shall pass" engraved on it.
2. Mask; a pallid mask, possibly ceramic, with eye holes and limited other facial features.
3. Bestiary; a velum book, possibly dating from the 9th or 10th century, filled with smatterings of information on any number of creatures and gods from Lovecraftian lore, though not necessarily in totality. (Feasibly this could include literally anything canon to the Call Of Cthulhu game mythos.) The cover has six eldritch symbols carved onto it, three on the front and back; at least one of them is confirmed to represent Shub Niggurath.
Suitability
What elements of the game are you most interested in engaging with? I adore 60s Stepford settings and the impact that has on characters, and I'm excited to throw in a character who not only predates it, but is a bitch about complying with societal norms and will fight it at every step.
How will your character integrate into the setting? How do you see them dealing with life in Sweetwater? What are your plans for them in this game? Reluctantly. Arthur is a character who actively bucks against society's expectations for him, and being put into a scenario where he is forced to conform for survival is going to make him twice as mad, and it will be a major catalyst for him choosing to engage with the setting in ways explicitly seeking to undermine it (and undoubtedly getting severely punished).
Why did you choose this character specifically for this game?As a Lovecraftian horror protagonist, he's already got some familiarity with insanity and madness-corrupted people, as well as people trying to murder him, and will be able to compartmentalise the darker portions of this game well in order to function.
As well, as a blind protagonist, he brings an extremely interesting perspective to RP and interacting with other characters, and how he engages with people is radically different to any other character I play and is endlessly fascinating to put into Situations, especially since he's never going to be stopped from sticking his nose into danger even like this.
What are your favorite elements of horror? I adore assimilation horror and the brainwashing/mind fuckery aspects of knowing things are wrong and being unable to pin down why, whether the reason is supernatural or psychological, especially in a text medium.
Do you understand that Silent Spring's purpose is horror, not domesticity/found family, and that the following themes (nuclear panic, the Red Scare, conformism, sexism and restrictive gender roles, heteronormativity/gender binarism, surveillance, gaslighting, brainwashing/propaganda, disinformation, pollution/contamination, poisoning, loss of control, smoking, alcohol culture, and uncanny valley) cannot be opted out of? YEP
Do you agree to accept the potential IC consequences (social shunning/ostracism, potential exclusion from neighborhood social events, up to brainwashing, sleep deprivation torture, and nonconsensual haloperidol injection) in full for your character's actions in game? I am in fact looking forward to them.
Housing Preferences
What is your usual tagging speed? Tagging patterns? I tag sporadically but intensely, usually in the afternoon to late evening EST, and can be a rapid-fire boomeranger, if that's intimidating for people.
What activity level is ideal to you in a partner? While I tag quickly myself and do enjoy people who can meet my pace, I understand that the low AC is appealing for slower taggers and am happy to be housed with them.
What is your timezone? How important is it that the other players in the household be in a similar timezone? AEST (GMT+10), and I'm therefore fully used to other timezones.
Would you like a household with a child, without, or do you have no preference? please give Arthur a child
Are you okay with being placed with a character/character(s) that would impact your character's reputation? Absolutely fine, and Arthur will probably be an instigator of this.