Paradisa application
NAME: Sophie
JOURNAL: not_unwise
EMAIL: sophie.black@gmail.com
AIM: haissablex12 on aim
WIKI NAME: n/a
CHARACTERS: None!
CHARACTER NAME: Dick Grayson (Richard John Grayson), alias Robin
FANDOM: DC Millerverse
CANON: In July/August 2008, which is 5 months after he was kidnapped, or 3 months after he and Batman saved Catwoman.
WHAT THEY LOST: Dick will forget everything he learned about hand-to-hand combat, which is mostly karate. He's going to lose all the theory and technique of his specific fighting style, leaving him open to learn other styles although he'd be starting over entirely.
In canon, Batman barely had to train him because he already had a black belt in karate years before he was kidnapped. Batman had chosen him because he was bright and strong, and he's very proud of this. By taking away his fighting style, it makes him someone normal that Batman wouldn't have taken interest with, and if Batman ever shows up, he will surely fire him for not being able to fight anymore. This is going to eat Dick inside a lot.
(As a sidenote, I talked with the player of the New Earth Dick and he's probably going to help Dick about that and teach him different techniques and they'll do capoeira together or something. It won't be the same, and it will take forever, but Dick wants to learn how to fight some way and since what he once knew is not an option, he'll have to work it some other way.)
ABOUT THE CHARACTER:
(I summarised Dick's background here if you are curious about this particularly strange canon, but I don't believe it's necessary to read it to get a good grip on who the character is.)
Before starting on Dick's personality, let's explain briefly the setting in which he met Batman. The first time Dick saw Batman, he was only twelve. His parents had been just shot a few minutes earlier so close to him that their brains had splashed on his feet. He had been taken away by the police, still in complete shock, so they'd 'convince' him not to testify against his parents' killer.
When Batman showed up, he did so to save him, to take a kid away from the custody of corrupted justice, of these men posing for truth and right and being the exact opposite of what they should have stood for.
Dick was trying to grasp at something after the murder of his parents, he didn't know what was going on, and Batman was the usual mix up of 'wrong', 'scary' and 'cool' that he's supposed to be.
If Dick hadn't been so unstable the first time he had met Batman, he would have seen him for what he was: an abusive man, nearly as bad as the criminals he fought every night. The setting had a lot to do about how Dick grew around Batman.
That said!
Dick is a kid who talks his mind a bit too much and certainly too rudely. He is prejudiced against a good number of things and his moral views on a few matters are not up to Bat-standards. At all. Especially the ones about killing.
He is somehow afraid of Batman, even though he doesn't realise it himself. The man kidnapped him, showed him no affection or compassion and locked him in a Cave. The butler was the one who thought about feeding him. Batman has always been hard on Dick and Dick knows he's being molded into what Batman wants out of him. The thing is -- Batman is who he's clinging to, currently, in his life, and he wants his approval. He believes him to be acting that way because Dick isn't good enough yet, and that when he will be just what Batman wants, their relationship will be a lot better.
He has a hard time bending to what Batman asks out of him because he's little snot who wants to do things his way when he can, and won't listen to an order if he doesn't think it's justified. He doesn't like people being weak and hides his own emotions to not seem weak to others (this only partly works as Dick isn't be best liar, however. It's his eyes. Damn eyes.) He's also very stubborn.
A lot of this is going to change because of the contact he has with Batman for so long. For months, the only person he will have any contact with is going to be Batman -- although, sometimes, he'll see Alfred, too, as well as other kids at school. Batman is not going to start treating him well and will keep on abusing him mentally and physically. This will lead, ultimately, to Dick becoming unhealthily obsessed with Batman (being in love is a very strong expression in this case, because I don't think unhealthy obsession can be described as love -- however, in the future, Dick will describe it to himself as being in love). By the time he gets fired, he won't be trusting people easily at all and will be a fine example of someone with Stockholm Syndrome.
At the current point, he's only been in Batman's presence for five months, which means the conditioning and going crazy has only just started, and that he's, overall, pretty sane. He simply doesn't realise that Batman is abusive so far.
The biggest problem about Dick's sanity currently is his bloodlust. The day after he turned thirteen, he nearly killed Green Lantern. He later described the event thinking to himself "I almost killed a man tonight. A man who never did me any harm. And I enjoyed every second of it. More than I've ever enjoyed anything. I wanted to kill him." Dick, even at thirteen, has the potential to turn evil. Using cliché statements, I would say he'll need help to 'be saved' from this.
Currently, he has a hard time understanding why killing is always bad, but he doesn't speak up because he does know that Batman would disagree with that point of view forcefully and he wants to please Batman, as well as he thinks that Batman is always right. Therefore, this is a problem within himself that he needs to work on (in his opinion).
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
When Bruce tells him he'll have to start going to school, he shouldn't be surprised, but he is. He's never gone to school full-time, he moved with the circus, had a tutor half the time, and since he was going to be in the circus all his life, he had never thought about college. He knows he learned fast and he's a bright kid. He'd have passed all the exams to get his high school diploma eventually, but that would have been the end of his studies.
Considering he is now the ward of one of the richest men in the world, he'd figured that he would still be tutored at home. It would have fit in better with the rest of their lives.
But part of Batman and being a vigilante is to blend in, to make sure no one suspects you're out during the night punching criminals in the face. It's especially important for Dick to be seen as a normal kid since he's 'the kid who was rescued by Batman'. The association with the vigilante can't get any deeper than that.
"You haven't been to school yet because we could say you were coming out of trauma and that the media was trying to get a hold on you constantly, but this is calming down and people will be expecting you to go to school. I enrolled you at Jean-Eudes."
That's when Dick's head snaps up. Jean-Eudes Middle School? Private, boys only, full of rich kids who never learned anything and never will because they'll take over daddy's company later? Fuck, no.
"Can't I go to public school?"
"Dick."
He knows that this is the sign he has to stop pushing and just accept, but he really, really doesn't want to go to that school. If he's going to go to school at all, why can't he choose? He's not in their world, no matter that Bruce Wayne is his legal guardian now. He's going to be seen as the circus freak, some of them will ask about how it was to meet Batman, and he's more likely to punch someone in the face a few days in than to make any friends.
Dick holds his stare and takes a deep breath, "Please, can we talk about this?"
No answer comes and the silence stretches and Dick is about to drop it and leave when Bruce says, "Fine, sure." He doesn't sounds like it's 'fine' to talk about it at all, but it's permission and Dick smiles, taking it, and argues.
Bruce argues in return, but he doesn't look mad, and when he tells Dick to go get ready for dinner in a clear dismissal, he also adds that he'll think about it.
Dick grins happily and listens.
The next day, when Bruce is out to Wayne Enterprises, Alfred tells him that he'll be starting at Bristol Middle School next week.
Dick smiles and tries to figure out a way to thank Bruce.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
[It starts with Dick talking quickly and mumbling to himself, sounding very much annoyed.] I can't believe I'm talking to paper and it records. What the hell is that supposed to be. Magic doesn't exist, ugh.
[He clears his voice once and speaks more clearly.] Hi. I'm Robin. And I'm going to be Robin forever because the magical journal thought it would be fun to record everything that happened when I arrived and destroy my chances at a secret identity. Very nice, journal, very nice. [Another mumble, a notch sadder.] Batman's gonna think it's my fault.
[A pause and a sigh.] Does anyone know how to modify the nameplate on my bedroom door?
INTENT:
In Paradisa, I want to make Dick grow while being away from his psychotic Batman. I want him to get friends, to really allow himself to go through the grief of his parents' death. On the course of many months of roleplay, I want him to accept himself the way he is, not to rely on someone else's opinion all the time, to possibly realise that his Batman had been abusive. So, mostly, it's about character relationships and character development.
I shall now rant about what draws me to play this particular character. I could start saying I love this version of Dick dearly but he's... MillerDick. He makes you weep and bash your head on walls but I still can't stop loving him.
Millerverse in itself is something terrible, not only because of the horrible lines and of the complete lack of timeline, but because the characters are not what they are supposed to be. Even if it's another universe, the Joker doesn't joke, Batman doesn't act like Batman and Dick... doesn't act like Dick. All this especially in All-Star.
MillerDick is a very interesting character because even in the mess he's in, he's a character you can analyse and try to understand, I can't treat him like being one-dimensional even if, maybe, he is. I like to bring some complexity in all that and still try to treat him like a Dick Grayson. I like to compare him and see how screwed up he is, how his life is pretty much doomed from the start. Alone, as a character, he's not that interesting, I'm not going to defend that. But if you consider he's Robin, that he's part of Batman, of something big and epic, I find him awesome.
I started playing him at twelve, when he was still Robin, but eventually also played him older, when he's on his way to becoming a serial killer to get Batman's attention. At that point in the future, he's obsessed with Batman, obsessed and hurting very badly. He wants to be better, to deserve Batman's love because he needs it. He loves Batman himself and can't go with the fact he was used, he was a test and it didn't work out.
That's Dick in Millerverse. A kid who was kidnapped and manipulated into being Batman's sidekick, gave the man everything even though he was physically and mentally abused, and was fired because he was a test, because Batman wanted a better Robin (that he found in Jason, apparently, and then retired when Jason died out of grief -- but never cared what had happened to his first ward at all.)
This is why I RP him. Because getting in his head is one of the most interesting things ever.
JOURNAL: not_unwise
EMAIL: sophie.black@gmail.com
AIM: haissablex12 on aim
WIKI NAME: n/a
CHARACTERS: None!
CHARACTER NAME: Dick Grayson (Richard John Grayson), alias Robin
FANDOM: DC Millerverse
CANON: In July/August 2008, which is 5 months after he was kidnapped, or 3 months after he and Batman saved Catwoman.
WHAT THEY LOST: Dick will forget everything he learned about hand-to-hand combat, which is mostly karate. He's going to lose all the theory and technique of his specific fighting style, leaving him open to learn other styles although he'd be starting over entirely.
In canon, Batman barely had to train him because he already had a black belt in karate years before he was kidnapped. Batman had chosen him because he was bright and strong, and he's very proud of this. By taking away his fighting style, it makes him someone normal that Batman wouldn't have taken interest with, and if Batman ever shows up, he will surely fire him for not being able to fight anymore. This is going to eat Dick inside a lot.
(As a sidenote, I talked with the player of the New Earth Dick and he's probably going to help Dick about that and teach him different techniques and they'll do capoeira together or something. It won't be the same, and it will take forever, but Dick wants to learn how to fight some way and since what he once knew is not an option, he'll have to work it some other way.)
ABOUT THE CHARACTER:
(I summarised Dick's background here if you are curious about this particularly strange canon, but I don't believe it's necessary to read it to get a good grip on who the character is.)
Before starting on Dick's personality, let's explain briefly the setting in which he met Batman. The first time Dick saw Batman, he was only twelve. His parents had been just shot a few minutes earlier so close to him that their brains had splashed on his feet. He had been taken away by the police, still in complete shock, so they'd 'convince' him not to testify against his parents' killer.
When Batman showed up, he did so to save him, to take a kid away from the custody of corrupted justice, of these men posing for truth and right and being the exact opposite of what they should have stood for.
Dick was trying to grasp at something after the murder of his parents, he didn't know what was going on, and Batman was the usual mix up of 'wrong', 'scary' and 'cool' that he's supposed to be.
If Dick hadn't been so unstable the first time he had met Batman, he would have seen him for what he was: an abusive man, nearly as bad as the criminals he fought every night. The setting had a lot to do about how Dick grew around Batman.
That said!
Dick is a kid who talks his mind a bit too much and certainly too rudely. He is prejudiced against a good number of things and his moral views on a few matters are not up to Bat-standards. At all. Especially the ones about killing.
He is somehow afraid of Batman, even though he doesn't realise it himself. The man kidnapped him, showed him no affection or compassion and locked him in a Cave. The butler was the one who thought about feeding him. Batman has always been hard on Dick and Dick knows he's being molded into what Batman wants out of him. The thing is -- Batman is who he's clinging to, currently, in his life, and he wants his approval. He believes him to be acting that way because Dick isn't good enough yet, and that when he will be just what Batman wants, their relationship will be a lot better.
He has a hard time bending to what Batman asks out of him because he's little snot who wants to do things his way when he can, and won't listen to an order if he doesn't think it's justified. He doesn't like people being weak and hides his own emotions to not seem weak to others (this only partly works as Dick isn't be best liar, however. It's his eyes. Damn eyes.) He's also very stubborn.
A lot of this is going to change because of the contact he has with Batman for so long. For months, the only person he will have any contact with is going to be Batman -- although, sometimes, he'll see Alfred, too, as well as other kids at school. Batman is not going to start treating him well and will keep on abusing him mentally and physically. This will lead, ultimately, to Dick becoming unhealthily obsessed with Batman (being in love is a very strong expression in this case, because I don't think unhealthy obsession can be described as love -- however, in the future, Dick will describe it to himself as being in love). By the time he gets fired, he won't be trusting people easily at all and will be a fine example of someone with Stockholm Syndrome.
At the current point, he's only been in Batman's presence for five months, which means the conditioning and going crazy has only just started, and that he's, overall, pretty sane. He simply doesn't realise that Batman is abusive so far.
The biggest problem about Dick's sanity currently is his bloodlust. The day after he turned thirteen, he nearly killed Green Lantern. He later described the event thinking to himself "I almost killed a man tonight. A man who never did me any harm. And I enjoyed every second of it. More than I've ever enjoyed anything. I wanted to kill him." Dick, even at thirteen, has the potential to turn evil. Using cliché statements, I would say he'll need help to 'be saved' from this.
Currently, he has a hard time understanding why killing is always bad, but he doesn't speak up because he does know that Batman would disagree with that point of view forcefully and he wants to please Batman, as well as he thinks that Batman is always right. Therefore, this is a problem within himself that he needs to work on (in his opinion).
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
When Bruce tells him he'll have to start going to school, he shouldn't be surprised, but he is. He's never gone to school full-time, he moved with the circus, had a tutor half the time, and since he was going to be in the circus all his life, he had never thought about college. He knows he learned fast and he's a bright kid. He'd have passed all the exams to get his high school diploma eventually, but that would have been the end of his studies.
Considering he is now the ward of one of the richest men in the world, he'd figured that he would still be tutored at home. It would have fit in better with the rest of their lives.
But part of Batman and being a vigilante is to blend in, to make sure no one suspects you're out during the night punching criminals in the face. It's especially important for Dick to be seen as a normal kid since he's 'the kid who was rescued by Batman'. The association with the vigilante can't get any deeper than that.
"You haven't been to school yet because we could say you were coming out of trauma and that the media was trying to get a hold on you constantly, but this is calming down and people will be expecting you to go to school. I enrolled you at Jean-Eudes."
That's when Dick's head snaps up. Jean-Eudes Middle School? Private, boys only, full of rich kids who never learned anything and never will because they'll take over daddy's company later? Fuck, no.
"Can't I go to public school?"
"Dick."
He knows that this is the sign he has to stop pushing and just accept, but he really, really doesn't want to go to that school. If he's going to go to school at all, why can't he choose? He's not in their world, no matter that Bruce Wayne is his legal guardian now. He's going to be seen as the circus freak, some of them will ask about how it was to meet Batman, and he's more likely to punch someone in the face a few days in than to make any friends.
Dick holds his stare and takes a deep breath, "Please, can we talk about this?"
No answer comes and the silence stretches and Dick is about to drop it and leave when Bruce says, "Fine, sure." He doesn't sounds like it's 'fine' to talk about it at all, but it's permission and Dick smiles, taking it, and argues.
Bruce argues in return, but he doesn't look mad, and when he tells Dick to go get ready for dinner in a clear dismissal, he also adds that he'll think about it.
Dick grins happily and listens.
The next day, when Bruce is out to Wayne Enterprises, Alfred tells him that he'll be starting at Bristol Middle School next week.
Dick smiles and tries to figure out a way to thank Bruce.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
[It starts with Dick talking quickly and mumbling to himself, sounding very much annoyed.] I can't believe I'm talking to paper and it records. What the hell is that supposed to be. Magic doesn't exist, ugh.
[He clears his voice once and speaks more clearly.] Hi. I'm Robin. And I'm going to be Robin forever because the magical journal thought it would be fun to record everything that happened when I arrived and destroy my chances at a secret identity. Very nice, journal, very nice. [Another mumble, a notch sadder.] Batman's gonna think it's my fault.
[A pause and a sigh.] Does anyone know how to modify the nameplate on my bedroom door?
INTENT:
In Paradisa, I want to make Dick grow while being away from his psychotic Batman. I want him to get friends, to really allow himself to go through the grief of his parents' death. On the course of many months of roleplay, I want him to accept himself the way he is, not to rely on someone else's opinion all the time, to possibly realise that his Batman had been abusive. So, mostly, it's about character relationships and character development.
I shall now rant about what draws me to play this particular character. I could start saying I love this version of Dick dearly but he's... MillerDick. He makes you weep and bash your head on walls but I still can't stop loving him.
Millerverse in itself is something terrible, not only because of the horrible lines and of the complete lack of timeline, but because the characters are not what they are supposed to be. Even if it's another universe, the Joker doesn't joke, Batman doesn't act like Batman and Dick... doesn't act like Dick. All this especially in All-Star.
MillerDick is a very interesting character because even in the mess he's in, he's a character you can analyse and try to understand, I can't treat him like being one-dimensional even if, maybe, he is. I like to bring some complexity in all that and still try to treat him like a Dick Grayson. I like to compare him and see how screwed up he is, how his life is pretty much doomed from the start. Alone, as a character, he's not that interesting, I'm not going to defend that. But if you consider he's Robin, that he's part of Batman, of something big and epic, I find him awesome.
I started playing him at twelve, when he was still Robin, but eventually also played him older, when he's on his way to becoming a serial killer to get Batman's attention. At that point in the future, he's obsessed with Batman, obsessed and hurting very badly. He wants to be better, to deserve Batman's love because he needs it. He loves Batman himself and can't go with the fact he was used, he was a test and it didn't work out.
That's Dick in Millerverse. A kid who was kidnapped and manipulated into being Batman's sidekick, gave the man everything even though he was physically and mentally abused, and was fired because he was a test, because Batman wanted a better Robin (that he found in Jason, apparently, and then retired when Jason died out of grief -- but never cared what had happened to his first ward at all.)
This is why I RP him. Because getting in his head is one of the most interesting things ever.