ApplicatioN for ilpromenade
PLAYER
✧ NAME: Fox
✧ LJ USERNAME: foxysquid
✧ CONTACT (EMAIL, AIM, MSN, PLURK, ETC.): AIM: stealsyourcovers; plurk: teacuppity
✧ CURRENT MUSE LIST: none; new player
CHARACTER
✧ NAME: N Harmonia
✧ SERIES: Pokémon (Black & White, gameverse)
✧ HISTORY: wiki link; another link
I'll be taking N from Pokémon White.
✧ TIMELINE: Post-game, shortly after N leaves on his journey.
✧ PERSONALITY:
N has always been a person apart, though not by choice. His life and personality were profoundly affected by the plans of his father, Ghetsis Harmonia, who decided to raise his son in isolation and mislead him to believe that people and Pokémon should be separate, and that Pokémon would be happier if they had their own world in which to live and be free. So N grew up with no greater goal than the wish to liberate all Pokémon. In reality, Ghetsis wanted N to free Pokémon from their trainers so that Ghetsis himself would be the only one controlling Pokémon and would thus have no difficulty taking over and ruling the region of Unova.
Because of N's upbringing, he is socially awkward without realizing that he is so. Rather than being shy, he is intense. He is ignorant of certain aspects of the way the world works and how people relate to each other. There are basic things he doesn't know that others take for granted. Though he is rather intelligent, his emotional maturity is stunted. It can be difficult for him to tell what other people are feeling or to know the "acceptable" way to converse with them. He can be unselfconsciously, almost painfully earnest. He says what he means, and he has a harder time than most picking up on less literal aspects of conversation, such as jokes or sarcasm. He is devoted to what he sees as the truth, to the point of zealotry in the past--although that has begun to change, following recent events in his life.
Though he is a teenager far nearer to the age of twenty than ten, N can be childlike and naïve. He talks like someone who has had little practice speaking to others (which is exactly what he is). His words come too quickly, and his speech is somewhat stilted. He is more comfortable talking to Pokémon, as he understands them far better than he does humans. He considers their wants and needs first. This has the result of making him extremely upset if Pokémon (or, by association, animals) are being harmed. He is stern and humorless where such matters are concerned. He's fiercely loyal to his friends. He loves the natural world and all its creatures and wants to protect them. He can find a moving beauty in the simplest and smallest of details.
N has a great fondness for both solitary pursuits and playing with his Pokémon friends. He loves reading. His father tended to give him books on more "neutral" subjects that wouldn't pollute his mind in ways that could interfere with Team Plasma's cause: for instance, mathematics, which N has a special fondness for. As a child, he enjoyed playing basketball and skateboarding. He's never engaged in either activity in the company of another human, but he would like to, as he's curious and eager to try new things.
Because he comes across as odd and does not easily pick up on social cues, it would come as a surprise to few people to learn that N was raised apart from other humans. His only constant companions as a child were the Pokémon his father Ghetsis introduced him to. They were all Pokémon who had been treated poorly by humans, abused and traumatized, which gave N a warped view of humanity and the way society functions. The humans N interacted with in his childhood were members of Team Plasma. Those he was closest to were Anthea and Concordia, who offered a young N comfort and compassion in the times of his greatest sorrow. When N grew older and was crowned king of Team Plasma, he was all too eager to pursue Team Plasma's goal of splitting the world in two, to create one world for Pokémon and another for humans. He wanted to become a hero for the good of all Pokémon. At the time, N did not realize that Ghetsis was lying about his true aims, and his actions were sincere and kindly meant. He wanted to create a better world. He is, at heart, a kind and compassionate person, although he was misled.
N first began to doubt his beliefs when he left home and began to travel throughout the Unova region. He met a young trainer in Accumula Town who seemed to have an excellent relationship with the Pokémon they traveled with. He felt compelled to find out more about this trainer, and the more he learned about them, the more he grew uncertain about his goal. During his travels, he also met other trainers who had good relationships with their Pokémon, who communicated with them and cared about them. He began to see that there was more to the world than what he'd been taught, to discover the things that Ghetsis had been trying to hide from him. He is observant, and a quick learner.
The trainer he met fascinated him, and N decided that he would call upon that person to become a legendary hero as well, so they could engage in battle, hero-to-hero, and determine whose way of thinking was right. That is N's style of problem solving: straightforward and honest. When N was defeated, he was upset, but he wasn't angry at the trainer who had proved him wrong. It isn't like him to be bitter or vengeful. Instead, his admiration for his erstwhile adversary grew.
Now N has realized that his original dream was the wrong dream, and that what he saw as the truth was too absolute and unforgiving to be a viable philosophy. This came as a crushing blow, especially as he'd been lied to by someone he trusted. He has many doubts that he did not have before. He even has doubts about whether Ghetsis is truly his father. Yet N is an optimist. His old dream may have been destroyed, which pains him, but he is searching for a new dream to follow and eager to learn more about the world and the people in it.
N's beliefs are not at all reflected by the culture of his world as a whole. He scorns the Pokédex and dislikes the use of Poké Balls as permanent housing for Pokémon. He doesn't like to engage in Pokémon battles unless it is for an important reason that makes it necessary. In spite of his change of heart, he is not willing to blindly accept the prevailing views instead of his old ones. What he is willing to do is consider alternative opinions and accept that he might be mistaken about certain things, or that opposing beliefs can exist side by side. He may be innocent, but he is not blindly trusting, having so recently learned that he had been lied to and manipulated for the entirety of his life. Though he now knows that people can be good friends with and partners to Pokémon, the abused Pokémon he knew in his childhood were real enough, and he is wary of the creatures being treated as tools or abused, when he views them as humans' equals. That said, he is not particularly canny or skilled at seeing through deception. If he has no reason to doubt someone, he's likely to take them at their word.
N has a strong will and can be fearless. He was able to break through what amounted to a lifetime's worth of conditioning by taking new data into account, and he then decided to determine the truth for himself. He is, in some ways, an empiricist. He sees the world in terms of formulas and equations, and although he is an idealist, with a starry-eyed side, he can be swayed by logic and provable facts. Once convinced, he is tenacious and impassioned in his beliefs.
Of him, Concordia says, N's heart is pure and innocent. But there is nothing more beautiful and terrifying than innocence. In spite of his recent disillusionment, N has not lost that innocence. He is far more willing to question his beliefs and consider alternatives than before, but he remains the kind of person who might possibly tear the world in two for a cause he saw as undeniably true and just. He hasn't managed to completely throw off that black and white thinking, although he's trying. His motives are sure to be good ones, but the same can't necessarily be said of the results of his actions.
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS:
N's notable special ability is the fact that he is capable of talking to all Pokémon. As Pokémon have different cries, this seems to suggest that he is capable of mental contact and communication with them. He can "hear their voices" when no one else can hear anything at all. As Pokémon are the only animals in his world, I believe this ability would extend to N being able to speak with animals in general, though the sophistication of his discourse with them would of course depend on the level of their intelligence.
N does not store Pokémon, who he considers his friends, permanently in Poké Balls, though he forms very close connections with them. He'll be feeling the loss of Reshiram, with whom he formed an exceptionally close bond. However, he'll be watching Reshiram through his mirror, and he will be bringing some other friends along. His companion Pokémon will be Pidove, Purrloin, Joltik, and his dear childhood friend Zoroark, who happened to be accompanying him.
--N rescued the Joltik from some children who were tormenting it; he then lectured them, their parents and everyone in their town.
--Pidove was lost in a storm, and N promised to help him find his family.
--Purrloin is the Purrloin N originally battled with in the game and then set free. Having grown fond of N, it followed him and finally reunited with him.
N's friends will use their abilities to assist or protect him, if needed. He'll also be looking to make friends with any other Pokémon he encounters.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Daytime.
✧ MASK DESIGN: Green dragon mask (design by merimask on dA)
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: N's childhood room, surrounded by the wood where he played with his Pokémon friends.
SAMPLES
✧ FIRST PERSON:
Meme thread: here
Test run threads (though these are for a genderswapped N, I don't play female N with any noticeable difference, as she was raised outside of human society; I hope that's all right!):
one
two
✧ THIRD PERSON:
The world is spread before him, so vast and varied: forests and fields and mountains and rivers and seas. He feels like he can see it all from so high above.
He glances back over his shoulder. He can see the castle behind him, the gaping hole in the wall. I came from there, he tells himself. The sight is at once so familiar yet so incredible. He grew up there, and his dreams grew with him, yet everything's so different now. Everything has changed utterly.
He's leaving it behind, perhaps forever. Even if he returns to the physical structure itself, it won't be the same. It doesn't stand for the same things it once did. He can see his room in his mind's eye, full of his toys, as well as his memories, happy and sad. Part of him yearns for those times with his friends--but it was a lie, wasn't it? Not the friendships, but the rest of it. He won't ever go back to that place. He doesn't want to. He values the truth too highly.
N turns to face forward again. Team Plasma is left behind him, along with the castle. And Ghetsis--no, he doesn't want to think about him now, not yet, as the thought brings up a knot of confusion and pain. There will be time for that later. There's no one with him now but Reshiram. He's free. He set himself free. He rests a hand on his friend's long, pale neck, feels the heat of the Pokémon's fire. It's a comforting warmth. Reshiram won't leave him, will never lie to him. They're the same, in so many ways. Equals. Partners.
The whole world is so wide! He's never gone so far before. The wind against his face is cold but stimulating. It makes him feel like he's coming awake for the first time. He studies the landscape below and the shapes it forms. He thinks he can spy a pattern in them. And then a second pattern, and a third. Endless patterns, all around him, waiting to be found and admired. So many patterns overlapping that there's no true pattern at all, but a beautiful disorder of nature and humanity. It's a little overwhelming, but N wants to see it all. He won't hold back. He wants to learn everything he can.
"We've got so far to go, friend." He says it with a smile.