(no subject)
Your name: Juli
Your personal LJ: hydrium
Who do you currently play at Tabula Rasa?: Angel | todoright, Annabeth Chase | fatalpride
Please list the dates of your participation requirement threads or posts for each pup for the two previous calendar months:
Angel → May [01] [02] [03] | June [01] [02] [03]
Annabeth → May [01] [02] [03] | June [01] [02] [03]
Have you dropped any pups since your last application?: No
What month and year is this application for?: July, 2010
Your character's name: Matt Cruse
Your character's canon: The Airborn Series by Kenneth Oppel ('Skybreaker')
What type of canon is it: Book series
Your character's LJ: bornflying
How should your character's tag look?: Matt Cruse
Is your character living or dead at their time of entry?: Living
Does your character have any pre-existing disabilities of a medical, physical, or psychiatric nature?: Prior to arriving on the island, Matt (along with the rest of his crew) was suffering from a condition known as hypoxia. It is a condition that is brought on by an extended period of time in high altitudes and is characterized by shallow breathing, dry skin and dehydration, dizziness and is eventually fatal. As the condition isn't at all pertinent to his character and is more of a circumstantial by-product, I'm having it healed before his arrival on the island.
Tell us about your character's background: Fittingly enough, Matt Cruse was born in the air. His parents were originally immigrants from Ireland, and he was born halfway over the Atlanticus. His childhood consisted mostly of hearing his father’s stories about working aboard an airship, and dreaming about flying one day himself.
Then his father died, and that dream was suddenly very real. His family needed the money, and Matt considered himself lucky that his father’s ship, the Aurora, had offered him a job as a cabin boy. He was twelve at the time, and the years he served were the best of his life. One night, after spotting a balloon stranded in the air, Matt swung over on a cable across the sky in order to save a dying old man who claimed he saw creatures in the air.
One year later, he met a girl named Kate de Vries on one of his voyages, the granddaughter of the man he had saved. She was determined to prove her grandfather right, and somehow, Matt got tangled into her schemes. After a run-in with notorious pirate Vikram Szipirglas, the ship was forced to land on a desert island, where Matt and Kate quickly found out that her grandfather had been right all along.
The only problem was that their so-called deserted island was actually Szipirglas’ base of operations. After surviving a battle with the pirate and managing to land a 900 foot airship, Matt is eventually hailed a hero and given a sizable reward by the authorities.
A year later, he’s living in Paris as a student at the Airship Academy, the place where he could learn to be more than just a cabin boy. Aboard a training ship one day, Matt spots something in the sky - which turns out to be the legendary Hyperion, believed to be carrying a fortune left behind by a famous inventor. It was declared shipwrecked 40 years ago.
Kate wants to claim their right of salvage, but Matt tells her it’s impossible - the Hyperion is floating at 20,000 feet above sea level. But as much as he hates to admit it, the possibility of a fortune appeals to him. Kate’s a wealthy girl from high society, and their mismatched classes makes their budding romance especially hard. He eventually agrees to go on the expedition.
After a series of disasters, the crew finds themselves marooned aboard the Hyperion, with their tanked oxygen running out and the ship about to capsize. Matt is accidentally left behind and has no choice but to grab a pair of mechanical wings and dive out into the open air.
Your character's personality:
My hero’s love of airships and his longing for a home in the sky, were all expressions of curiosity and optimism and wonder, and that ongoing, restless search for happiness
-Kenneth Oppel
Matt was never meant to be confined, and yet he lives in a world that intends to do just that. Born into a family with very little money, he had neither class or wealth or the connections to procure those things. Yet in all of his life, he only wanted one thing: to take to the skies and stay there for as long as he possibly can. He fears that if he stops moving, unhappiness will catch up to him. It’s his way of running away from his problems, all of which seem so much more real on solid earth.
Not only that, but he hopes that each new destination will show him something about what kind of person he is, or who he’s supposed to be. Matt is at that strange age where one isn’t quite an adult yet, but not a child, either. He feels the weight of responsibility very strongly, but also wants to sort out his own dreams - as ridiculous as they might seem.
Most of his mannerisms are a result of socialization and what it means to be a man in the early 1900s, a period of very defined gender roles. As a result, he’s been brought up to be polite and hardworking but also confident in himself - something that isn’t always easy. He’s sometimes overeager to prove himself, leading to reckless actions and the like, and can sometimes be fiercely independent or even miraculously stubborn.
Yet he has many of the qualities attributed to heroes - courage, for one (although he’ll insist that it’s simply adrenalin). Loyalty is another prominent quality. Despite his big dreams, he’s never one for stepping on people to get what he wants - it’s ugly.
He’s humble enough to delegate praise credit where it’s due, but has enough of a braggart in him to want to impress certain people. It’s a small amount of pride, but it sometimes leads to jealousy when it comes to the things that are important to him, and an anger that is volcanic in nature but hard to provoke. He’s also often reluctant to admit when he’s having difficulties in anything, insisting that he can do it himself - even when that isn’t always true.
Why do you want to play this character?:
Ever since the books first came out I've wanted to play Matt, but couldn't quite find the place to do so. Kenneth Oppel's narration is so gripping but sometimes strangely eloquent, and to make do with third-person logs and commentspam just wouldn't do the character justice. While he's far from being the 'strong, silent' type, he has a lot of private thoughts that are never translated into words because he was brought up in an incredibly proper and uptight society. Tabula Rasa was the first game I'd seen that offered me the opportunity to write in first person.
Not only that, but this is a character who has been running away from his problems for the past five years, something he can no longer do on the island. His mounting frustration will be an interesting aspect to explore, as Matt frequently mentions his inability to sleep on land.
Yet despite not being able to fly on the island, the prospect of 'a blank slate' would appeal greatly to him. The island would be a place where he can be judged on his own merits alone, and not the family he was born into or how much money he has.
Lastly, I enjoy playing teenagers quite a bit, mostly because I can empathize with their lack of direction and their quests to find one. It will undoubtedly be a challenge to get inside the mind of a teenaged boy, but in the end a challenging character is sometimes the most fulfilling.
Your character's initial personal inventory:
₪ one pair of cotton underpants
₪ one suit made of leopard skin, complete with hood
₪ leather boots with rubber grips
₪ one oxygen mask and a small metal tank about half filled
₪ one pair of wings constructed of metal and feathers
Your character's entrance post:
I fell.
The sky was supposed to be my domain, but the winds were too strong and my wings would not carry me. I flapped my arms harder, attempting a climb but ended up in a series of loose and jerky circles. Stalling for time. The closest land was miles away, and my only hope was that the others would see the speck I made against the sky.
It was viciously cold and the chill managed to nip its way even through the fur of my suit. Like some carnivorous beast held at bay, it was only a matter of time before I froze. My heart would slow, then stop, and I would fall.
Into the water.
Seeing it now sent an icy stab of fear into my heart and I flapped harder in response. A feather peeled off the ends of my Icarus wings, and then another and another in quick succession. I was moulting! Desperately I tried to call for the others, but my voice barely made a sound even to my ears.
Drowning would be the worst way to die, entombed under all that water. I did not know how to swim, had never really learned how. As a sky sailor there hadn’t been any reason to, and though I wished otherwise now I knew there was no point. The wings had enough span to them to drag me under.
There was land ahead.
I blinked my eyes furiously, once, twice, three times, thinking that the cold had somehow clouded my vision, but it was still there when I opened them again. The trail of feathers I was leaving behind was growing with each passing moment, so I had to act fast. Luckily, Grunel had inserted a steering mechanism to the wings - tail feathers, to be exact. These I could pilot with my feet.
I swung my legs to the side sharply to change course and veered into a dive, letting gravity take hold of me. Either I would fall into the water and all would be lost, or…
My feet hit sand and my knees buckled beneath me. Lighter than air, that’s our Mister Cruse. The words came back to me suddenly, but they were welcome - as if I’d been joined by old friends. A noise of relief burst from my lips as I leaned back on the sand, a smile on my face. To anyone else I might have looked a right madman, but I was grateful to be alive. Now I only had to hope that Kate and the others would see this place and have the sense to land.
But where was I? The sky suit that had protected me so well against the cold was beginning to feel sweltering. I pushed back the hood to get a better look, and breathed air. Real air, thick air. I took a few greedy gulpfuls before getting to my feet. I felt stronger than I had in a very long time. The sky had sapped the air from our lungs and the energy from our muscles. I should have felt weak as a newborn kitten, but I didn’t. I felt like myself again.
We’d been 20,000 feet above Skyberia, but this island looked like it belonged in the West Indies or around Hawaii. Kate would tell me that airshipmen were far from exploring every inch of the world, but from what I knew of geography, none of this was making sense.
What exactly was going on here?
Other Questions:
1. What isn't considered fictional canon?
Religious texts are not considered fictional canon
2. All new characters must be debuted within how much time?
Two weeks, unless an extension is asked for
3. Why do we ask that you include your birth year on your wiki page?
To determine if adult-themed gameplay is appropriate
Your personal LJ: hydrium
Who do you currently play at Tabula Rasa?: Angel | todoright, Annabeth Chase | fatalpride
Please list the dates of your participation requirement threads or posts for each pup for the two previous calendar months:
Angel → May [01] [02] [03] | June [01] [02] [03]
Annabeth → May [01] [02] [03] | June [01] [02] [03]
Have you dropped any pups since your last application?: No
What month and year is this application for?: July, 2010
Your character's name: Matt Cruse
Your character's canon: The Airborn Series by Kenneth Oppel ('Skybreaker')
What type of canon is it: Book series
Your character's LJ: bornflying
How should your character's tag look?: Matt Cruse
Is your character living or dead at their time of entry?: Living
Does your character have any pre-existing disabilities of a medical, physical, or psychiatric nature?: Prior to arriving on the island, Matt (along with the rest of his crew) was suffering from a condition known as hypoxia. It is a condition that is brought on by an extended period of time in high altitudes and is characterized by shallow breathing, dry skin and dehydration, dizziness and is eventually fatal. As the condition isn't at all pertinent to his character and is more of a circumstantial by-product, I'm having it healed before his arrival on the island.
Tell us about your character's background: Fittingly enough, Matt Cruse was born in the air. His parents were originally immigrants from Ireland, and he was born halfway over the Atlanticus. His childhood consisted mostly of hearing his father’s stories about working aboard an airship, and dreaming about flying one day himself.
Then his father died, and that dream was suddenly very real. His family needed the money, and Matt considered himself lucky that his father’s ship, the Aurora, had offered him a job as a cabin boy. He was twelve at the time, and the years he served were the best of his life. One night, after spotting a balloon stranded in the air, Matt swung over on a cable across the sky in order to save a dying old man who claimed he saw creatures in the air.
One year later, he met a girl named Kate de Vries on one of his voyages, the granddaughter of the man he had saved. She was determined to prove her grandfather right, and somehow, Matt got tangled into her schemes. After a run-in with notorious pirate Vikram Szipirglas, the ship was forced to land on a desert island, where Matt and Kate quickly found out that her grandfather had been right all along.
The only problem was that their so-called deserted island was actually Szipirglas’ base of operations. After surviving a battle with the pirate and managing to land a 900 foot airship, Matt is eventually hailed a hero and given a sizable reward by the authorities.
A year later, he’s living in Paris as a student at the Airship Academy, the place where he could learn to be more than just a cabin boy. Aboard a training ship one day, Matt spots something in the sky - which turns out to be the legendary Hyperion, believed to be carrying a fortune left behind by a famous inventor. It was declared shipwrecked 40 years ago.
Kate wants to claim their right of salvage, but Matt tells her it’s impossible - the Hyperion is floating at 20,000 feet above sea level. But as much as he hates to admit it, the possibility of a fortune appeals to him. Kate’s a wealthy girl from high society, and their mismatched classes makes their budding romance especially hard. He eventually agrees to go on the expedition.
After a series of disasters, the crew finds themselves marooned aboard the Hyperion, with their tanked oxygen running out and the ship about to capsize. Matt is accidentally left behind and has no choice but to grab a pair of mechanical wings and dive out into the open air.
Your character's personality:
My hero’s love of airships and his longing for a home in the sky, were all expressions of curiosity and optimism and wonder, and that ongoing, restless search for happiness
-Kenneth Oppel
Matt was never meant to be confined, and yet he lives in a world that intends to do just that. Born into a family with very little money, he had neither class or wealth or the connections to procure those things. Yet in all of his life, he only wanted one thing: to take to the skies and stay there for as long as he possibly can. He fears that if he stops moving, unhappiness will catch up to him. It’s his way of running away from his problems, all of which seem so much more real on solid earth.
Not only that, but he hopes that each new destination will show him something about what kind of person he is, or who he’s supposed to be. Matt is at that strange age where one isn’t quite an adult yet, but not a child, either. He feels the weight of responsibility very strongly, but also wants to sort out his own dreams - as ridiculous as they might seem.
Most of his mannerisms are a result of socialization and what it means to be a man in the early 1900s, a period of very defined gender roles. As a result, he’s been brought up to be polite and hardworking but also confident in himself - something that isn’t always easy. He’s sometimes overeager to prove himself, leading to reckless actions and the like, and can sometimes be fiercely independent or even miraculously stubborn.
Yet he has many of the qualities attributed to heroes - courage, for one (although he’ll insist that it’s simply adrenalin). Loyalty is another prominent quality. Despite his big dreams, he’s never one for stepping on people to get what he wants - it’s ugly.
He’s humble enough to delegate praise credit where it’s due, but has enough of a braggart in him to want to impress certain people. It’s a small amount of pride, but it sometimes leads to jealousy when it comes to the things that are important to him, and an anger that is volcanic in nature but hard to provoke. He’s also often reluctant to admit when he’s having difficulties in anything, insisting that he can do it himself - even when that isn’t always true.
Why do you want to play this character?:
Ever since the books first came out I've wanted to play Matt, but couldn't quite find the place to do so. Kenneth Oppel's narration is so gripping but sometimes strangely eloquent, and to make do with third-person logs and commentspam just wouldn't do the character justice. While he's far from being the 'strong, silent' type, he has a lot of private thoughts that are never translated into words because he was brought up in an incredibly proper and uptight society. Tabula Rasa was the first game I'd seen that offered me the opportunity to write in first person.
Not only that, but this is a character who has been running away from his problems for the past five years, something he can no longer do on the island. His mounting frustration will be an interesting aspect to explore, as Matt frequently mentions his inability to sleep on land.
Yet despite not being able to fly on the island, the prospect of 'a blank slate' would appeal greatly to him. The island would be a place where he can be judged on his own merits alone, and not the family he was born into or how much money he has.
Lastly, I enjoy playing teenagers quite a bit, mostly because I can empathize with their lack of direction and their quests to find one. It will undoubtedly be a challenge to get inside the mind of a teenaged boy, but in the end a challenging character is sometimes the most fulfilling.
Your character's initial personal inventory:
₪ one pair of cotton underpants
₪ one suit made of leopard skin, complete with hood
₪ leather boots with rubber grips
₪ one oxygen mask and a small metal tank about half filled
₪ one pair of wings constructed of metal and feathers
Your character's entrance post:
I fell.
The sky was supposed to be my domain, but the winds were too strong and my wings would not carry me. I flapped my arms harder, attempting a climb but ended up in a series of loose and jerky circles. Stalling for time. The closest land was miles away, and my only hope was that the others would see the speck I made against the sky.
It was viciously cold and the chill managed to nip its way even through the fur of my suit. Like some carnivorous beast held at bay, it was only a matter of time before I froze. My heart would slow, then stop, and I would fall.
Into the water.
Seeing it now sent an icy stab of fear into my heart and I flapped harder in response. A feather peeled off the ends of my Icarus wings, and then another and another in quick succession. I was moulting! Desperately I tried to call for the others, but my voice barely made a sound even to my ears.
Drowning would be the worst way to die, entombed under all that water. I did not know how to swim, had never really learned how. As a sky sailor there hadn’t been any reason to, and though I wished otherwise now I knew there was no point. The wings had enough span to them to drag me under.
There was land ahead.
I blinked my eyes furiously, once, twice, three times, thinking that the cold had somehow clouded my vision, but it was still there when I opened them again. The trail of feathers I was leaving behind was growing with each passing moment, so I had to act fast. Luckily, Grunel had inserted a steering mechanism to the wings - tail feathers, to be exact. These I could pilot with my feet.
I swung my legs to the side sharply to change course and veered into a dive, letting gravity take hold of me. Either I would fall into the water and all would be lost, or…
My feet hit sand and my knees buckled beneath me. Lighter than air, that’s our Mister Cruse. The words came back to me suddenly, but they were welcome - as if I’d been joined by old friends. A noise of relief burst from my lips as I leaned back on the sand, a smile on my face. To anyone else I might have looked a right madman, but I was grateful to be alive. Now I only had to hope that Kate and the others would see this place and have the sense to land.
But where was I? The sky suit that had protected me so well against the cold was beginning to feel sweltering. I pushed back the hood to get a better look, and breathed air. Real air, thick air. I took a few greedy gulpfuls before getting to my feet. I felt stronger than I had in a very long time. The sky had sapped the air from our lungs and the energy from our muscles. I should have felt weak as a newborn kitten, but I didn’t. I felt like myself again.
We’d been 20,000 feet above Skyberia, but this island looked like it belonged in the West Indies or around Hawaii. Kate would tell me that airshipmen were far from exploring every inch of the world, but from what I knew of geography, none of this was making sense.
What exactly was going on here?
Other Questions:
1. What isn't considered fictional canon?
Religious texts are not considered fictional canon
2. All new characters must be debuted within how much time?
Two weeks, unless an extension is asked for
3. Why do we ask that you include your birth year on your wiki page?
To determine if adult-themed gameplay is appropriate