- App (SPOILERS)
Your Name/what you go by: Ro (rarothi)
AIM/E-mail/contact info - some way of reaching you: e-mail/gtalk: roorat(at)gmail(dot)com
AIM - r is for argyle
Your character's name (last, first): Rorschach
Series your character's from: Watchmen
Background info on your character:
UP NEXT ON
1985!!
AUs! Masked heroes! The end of the world! More Richard Nixon than you ever cared for! Giant telepathic squid!
So, some kind crazy-ass AU version of the 1980s is where our story takes place. Richard Nixon is still president, and has been for a really long fucking time. Things are pretty much going to hell in a handbasket because there is this threat of imminent nuclear war with the Russians. What is this? They buy lj, they want to blow everyone up. Damn them.
The only reason that the whole situation hasn't exploded (if you'll pardon the pun) is because America has a giant blue nightlight/nuclear warhead deterrent named Dr. Manhattan. Long story short - since lord knows this app will be OVER 9000 comments long if I take time to go into every point of Watchmen in any kind of detail - Dr. Manhattan was formerly a nuclear physicist named Jon who had the Worst Day Ever and got superpowers out of the whole deal. He's the only character in this whoooooole thing that has powers. Bear that in mind.
So anyway, in the midst of all this doom doom doom, somebody throws a guy out of a 30th story window. Enter masked vigilante Rorschach! He'll take the case! Only... not officially because congress has passed a bill called the Keene Act some eight years earlier outlawing vigilantism. Most heroes were content to step down, but Rorschach made his position very clear when he left the dead body of a serial rapist with a note bearing the word "NEVER" taped to it outside of the police station. He knows how to drive a point home, that Rorschach. He's so nutty.
But back to the case at hand - Rorschach does a little snooping only to find out that the guy who just got very intimate with the New York City pavement was the Comedian, a masked vigilante. He was under the employ of the government, making what he did still legal. Rorschach, being the paranoid conspiracy theorist that he is, believes this must be the start of a plot to pick off masked heroes. Oh noes! So, he makes the rounds to all his old comrades to warn them... at least, to the ones who are still alive/sane/in the immediate area.
First stop is the home of Rorschach's old partner in crime-fighting, one Daniel Dreiberg, formerly known as the least threatening superhero ever Nite Owl II. (He carried on the name from his childhood hero, the original Nite Owl. Hence the II.) Some stolen food items and one warning later, he's off to the next person on his list: Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, aka I have more money than Bruce Wayne buy my action figure hey check out my fabulous purple poncho. After him, its on to the military base where Dr. Manhattan and the token female Laurie Juspeczyk (jesus, I'm never typing that again), aka Silk Spectre II (her mother was the first) share quarters. That meeting doesn't go so well since Jon teleports him the hell out of there before---
--he has his say.
Soooo, doom looms closer, lots and lots of flashbacks happen, and, after Laurie leaves him and being put under the impression that he's been giving the people he loves cancer, Jon leaves earth! This, of course, prompts doom to loom even closer. It also prompts Dan and Laurie to finally get back into costume so they can have sex uh, I mean, spring Rorschach from prison. Yes, our intrepid hero fell for a trap laid by whoever the hell is doing all this and got his ass arrested. There's also an attempt on Adrian's life, solidifying Rorschach's Mask Killer theory. So the paranoid conspiracy theorist was right. At least, that's what it seems like.
One jailbreak later, Jon drags Laurie to Mars so she can try and convince him to come back and save the world, while Dan and Rorschach do some good ol' fashioned breaking of peoples' fingers to get info. They go to Adrian's office in hopes of enlisting his help in following a lead, only to find that he's... not there. So what's left to do but snoop around? The security system on his computer is pretty much crap because Dan guesses his password after like two tries and discovers Adrian's BOYS folder that Adrian is behind everything. The Comedian's death, Jon's disappearance, Rorschach's arrest. All of it. But why?
Well, that's what they're going to find out!
Time for a field trip to Antarctica, where Adrian has his summer home. Or evil lair. Or whatever. They confront Adrian, and he explains to them in a really long, round about way, that he plans on tricking the human race into thinking they're under the threat of an attack by creatures from another world. Then, they will unite against this threat, and there will be peace and rainbows and fluffy bunnies for everyone. Well, except for the millions of people who ave to die to make this dream a reality. Adrian also explains that he commissioned the creation of a giant telepathic squid that he will teleport to New York, and, in its death throws, it will kill millions of people and drive even more people crazy. A small price to pay for world peace, right?
Bitch, please.
Dan is skeptical, of course. I mean, could Adrian really do that?
Well, he did. 35 minutes ago.
Jon and Laurie then arrive and after a brief scuffle in which Adrian is a fucking badass, he reveals via the 3542145 televisions in his Fortress of Solitude that people are already making treaties and being all buddy buddy. Rainbows and fluffy bunnies, etc etc. And now comes the real moral dilemma for out heroes: Do they stay quiet, knowing that Adrian killed millions, or do they risk this new world peace by exposing him? An agreement is finally made, and they all decide to remain silent. And they all lived happily ever after.
Bitch, please.
Rorschach's not about to stay quiet. People need to be told. Well, in the interest of keeping Adrian's peace in tact, Jon kills Rorschach. And Ro cried. And it was sad. The end.
Onto Rorschach himself: In short, the man is in issues up to his neck. It wouldn't be outrageous to call him "psychotic".
As revealed when he was arrested, Rorschach's real name is Walter Kovacs. Walter's father left his mother before he was born, and so to support her child, his mom became a prostitute. He was witness to an endless stream of men coming in and out of her bedroom. His mom, for her part, was abusive and angry. She blamed Walter for a lot of the shit she had to do. I mean, if he wasn't around she totally would have gotten a real job or something, right?
After attacking a pair of bullies (nearly blinding one with a lit cigarette and eating the other's face), his home life was looked into by authorities. He was removed from his mother's care and placed in a home for problem children. A few years later, he was informed of his mother's murder at the hands of her pimp. His only response? "Good." Yes, Rorschach has severe mommy issues. And women issues in general.
After leaving the home, he got a job in the garment industry. He didn't like it much since he had to work with women's clothing. Ew, cooties. BUT ANYWAY. This girl ordered a dress made of some fancy fabric that Dr. Manhattan had engineered - white and black fluids between two layers of latex. Always moving, always changing, never mixing. The young woman didn't want the dress, but Walter was fascinated by the fabric and took it home. An article then appeared in the paper a few years after: the girl who had ordered the dress had been raped and murdered outside of her apartment complex. Her neighbors watched, and no one called the cops or did anything to help. Walter knew then that people were monsters. He what he had to do. He fashioned a new "face" out of the dress material and became Rorschach. Well, he became "Walter pretending to be Rorschach". He teamed up with Nite Owl, and together they took down a large chain of gangs. At this point, he did not yet kill, and only beat criminals unconscious for the police to arrest.
It wasn't until he was investigating the kidnapping of a six-year-old girl that he truly became Rorschach. He'd gotten a lead that took him to an abandoned dress maker's shop. The girl was nowhere to be found, but after finding the charred remains of her clothing and a blanket in the shop, he knew she was there somewhere. He knew it. Turns out, the kidnapper had butchered her and fed her to his German Sheppards. Upon discovering this, he took matters into his own hands and butchered the dogs. It was in that moment that Walter Kovacs died and Rorschach was truly born. When the kidnapper arrived home, Rorchach handcuffed him to the stove... furnace thingy, doused him in gasoline, and set the shop on fire.
He stood outside and watched the building burn. No one ever made it out.
Rorschach lives his life without compromise - he sees things in black and white. From a political standpoint, he's a severe right-winger. Despite having no superpowers, and being a short little dude at only 5'6", he has amazing physical prowess. He's extremely fit, but he has severe hygiene problems. As in he has no concept of personal hygiene. What is taking a bath ever. He's also a brilliant tactician, and his powers of improvisation and breaking and entering are unrivaled.
For whatever reason, Rorschach's cut out most pronouns from his speech. He uses them only slightly more in his journal, which he constantly writes in.
I'll be taking him just before his stint in jail, so before the DA-NA-NA PLOT TWIST.
Sample post: (First person point of view, please)
Rorschach's Journal. Date Unknown, Year Unknown. Day on Island: 12
Found a monkey trying to take my hat this afternoon. Was not amused. Was not amused the first three times it happened, either. Will be having monkey for dinner tonight.
I have successfully explored as much of island as possible. Large church raises the question of where it came from. Certainly not built by islanders, if huts are any indication of the average skill at craftsmanship. No small wonder so many of them are still upright. Many people seem to avoid this building. Claim it's "evil". Wouldn't doubt it, at this point.
Was introduced to one Ky Kiske. In the midst of constructing a new church, presumably not an "evil" one. Strange young man. Bears a certain fondness for justice and teacups. While I cannot argue with his sense of justice, teacups have me baffled. Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further.
Was not fond of his friend Naoto, nor did she seem fond of me. Could benefit from a pair of pants, or longer skirt. Seems handy with a sword, so I will not voice this opinion just yet.
Oddities aside, even here, I find myself hip-deep in the same problems plaguing New York. Humanity remains an ugly animal, caged and guarded and covered, no matter what "world" you're from. That is another thi---
Speaking of animals, monkey just stole my hat. This gag is getting old. Time to catch tomorrow's dinner.
A list of things your character might have on them after they got snatched up and put on this island:
Aside from his usual attire:
- journal
- grappling gun
- sugar cubes!
- various assorted garbage in his pockets. he is a packrat.
AIM/E-mail/contact info - some way of reaching you: e-mail/gtalk: roorat(at)gmail(dot)com
AIM - r is for argyle
Your character's name (last, first): Rorschach
Series your character's from: Watchmen
Background info on your character:
UP NEXT ON
1985!!
AUs! Masked heroes! The end of the world! More Richard Nixon than you ever cared for! Giant telepathic squid!
So, some kind crazy-ass AU version of the 1980s is where our story takes place. Richard Nixon is still president, and has been for a really long fucking time. Things are pretty much going to hell in a handbasket because there is this threat of imminent nuclear war with the Russians. What is this? They buy lj, they want to blow everyone up. Damn them.
The only reason that the whole situation hasn't exploded (if you'll pardon the pun) is because America has a giant blue nightlight/nuclear warhead deterrent named Dr. Manhattan. Long story short - since lord knows this app will be OVER 9000 comments long if I take time to go into every point of Watchmen in any kind of detail - Dr. Manhattan was formerly a nuclear physicist named Jon who had the Worst Day Ever and got superpowers out of the whole deal. He's the only character in this whoooooole thing that has powers. Bear that in mind.
So anyway, in the midst of all this doom doom doom, somebody throws a guy out of a 30th story window. Enter masked vigilante Rorschach! He'll take the case! Only... not officially because congress has passed a bill called the Keene Act some eight years earlier outlawing vigilantism. Most heroes were content to step down, but Rorschach made his position very clear when he left the dead body of a serial rapist with a note bearing the word "NEVER" taped to it outside of the police station. He knows how to drive a point home, that Rorschach. He's so nutty.
But back to the case at hand - Rorschach does a little snooping only to find out that the guy who just got very intimate with the New York City pavement was the Comedian, a masked vigilante. He was under the employ of the government, making what he did still legal. Rorschach, being the paranoid conspiracy theorist that he is, believes this must be the start of a plot to pick off masked heroes. Oh noes! So, he makes the rounds to all his old comrades to warn them... at least, to the ones who are still alive/sane/in the immediate area.
First stop is the home of Rorschach's old partner in crime-fighting, one Daniel Dreiberg, formerly known as the least threatening superhero ever Nite Owl II. (He carried on the name from his childhood hero, the original Nite Owl. Hence the II.) Some stolen food items and one warning later, he's off to the next person on his list: Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, aka I have more money than Bruce Wayne buy my action figure hey check out my fabulous purple poncho. After him, its on to the military base where Dr. Manhattan and the token female Laurie Juspeczyk (jesus, I'm never typing that again), aka Silk Spectre II (her mother was the first) share quarters. That meeting doesn't go so well since Jon teleports him the hell out of there before---
--he has his say.
Soooo, doom looms closer, lots and lots of flashbacks happen, and, after Laurie leaves him and being put under the impression that he's been giving the people he loves cancer, Jon leaves earth! This, of course, prompts doom to loom even closer. It also prompts Dan and Laurie to finally get back into costume so they can have sex uh, I mean, spring Rorschach from prison. Yes, our intrepid hero fell for a trap laid by whoever the hell is doing all this and got his ass arrested. There's also an attempt on Adrian's life, solidifying Rorschach's Mask Killer theory. So the paranoid conspiracy theorist was right. At least, that's what it seems like.
One jailbreak later, Jon drags Laurie to Mars so she can try and convince him to come back and save the world, while Dan and Rorschach do some good ol' fashioned breaking of peoples' fingers to get info. They go to Adrian's office in hopes of enlisting his help in following a lead, only to find that he's... not there. So what's left to do but snoop around? The security system on his computer is pretty much crap because Dan guesses his password after like two tries and discovers Adrian's BOYS folder that Adrian is behind everything. The Comedian's death, Jon's disappearance, Rorschach's arrest. All of it. But why?
Well, that's what they're going to find out!
Time for a field trip to Antarctica, where Adrian has his summer home. Or evil lair. Or whatever. They confront Adrian, and he explains to them in a really long, round about way, that he plans on tricking the human race into thinking they're under the threat of an attack by creatures from another world. Then, they will unite against this threat, and there will be peace and rainbows and fluffy bunnies for everyone. Well, except for the millions of people who ave to die to make this dream a reality. Adrian also explains that he commissioned the creation of a giant telepathic squid that he will teleport to New York, and, in its death throws, it will kill millions of people and drive even more people crazy. A small price to pay for world peace, right?
Bitch, please.
Dan is skeptical, of course. I mean, could Adrian really do that?
Well, he did. 35 minutes ago.
Jon and Laurie then arrive and after a brief scuffle in which Adrian is a fucking badass, he reveals via the 3542145 televisions in his Fortress of Solitude that people are already making treaties and being all buddy buddy. Rainbows and fluffy bunnies, etc etc. And now comes the real moral dilemma for out heroes: Do they stay quiet, knowing that Adrian killed millions, or do they risk this new world peace by exposing him? An agreement is finally made, and they all decide to remain silent. And they all lived happily ever after.
Bitch, please.
Rorschach's not about to stay quiet. People need to be told. Well, in the interest of keeping Adrian's peace in tact, Jon kills Rorschach. And Ro cried. And it was sad. The end.
Onto Rorschach himself: In short, the man is in issues up to his neck. It wouldn't be outrageous to call him "psychotic".
As revealed when he was arrested, Rorschach's real name is Walter Kovacs. Walter's father left his mother before he was born, and so to support her child, his mom became a prostitute. He was witness to an endless stream of men coming in and out of her bedroom. His mom, for her part, was abusive and angry. She blamed Walter for a lot of the shit she had to do. I mean, if he wasn't around she totally would have gotten a real job or something, right?
After attacking a pair of bullies (nearly blinding one with a lit cigarette and eating the other's face), his home life was looked into by authorities. He was removed from his mother's care and placed in a home for problem children. A few years later, he was informed of his mother's murder at the hands of her pimp. His only response? "Good." Yes, Rorschach has severe mommy issues. And women issues in general.
After leaving the home, he got a job in the garment industry. He didn't like it much since he had to work with women's clothing. Ew, cooties. BUT ANYWAY. This girl ordered a dress made of some fancy fabric that Dr. Manhattan had engineered - white and black fluids between two layers of latex. Always moving, always changing, never mixing. The young woman didn't want the dress, but Walter was fascinated by the fabric and took it home. An article then appeared in the paper a few years after: the girl who had ordered the dress had been raped and murdered outside of her apartment complex. Her neighbors watched, and no one called the cops or did anything to help. Walter knew then that people were monsters. He what he had to do. He fashioned a new "face" out of the dress material and became Rorschach. Well, he became "Walter pretending to be Rorschach". He teamed up with Nite Owl, and together they took down a large chain of gangs. At this point, he did not yet kill, and only beat criminals unconscious for the police to arrest.
It wasn't until he was investigating the kidnapping of a six-year-old girl that he truly became Rorschach. He'd gotten a lead that took him to an abandoned dress maker's shop. The girl was nowhere to be found, but after finding the charred remains of her clothing and a blanket in the shop, he knew she was there somewhere. He knew it. Turns out, the kidnapper had butchered her and fed her to his German Sheppards. Upon discovering this, he took matters into his own hands and butchered the dogs. It was in that moment that Walter Kovacs died and Rorschach was truly born. When the kidnapper arrived home, Rorchach handcuffed him to the stove... furnace thingy, doused him in gasoline, and set the shop on fire.
He stood outside and watched the building burn. No one ever made it out.
Rorschach lives his life without compromise - he sees things in black and white. From a political standpoint, he's a severe right-winger. Despite having no superpowers, and being a short little dude at only 5'6", he has amazing physical prowess. He's extremely fit, but he has severe hygiene problems. As in he has no concept of personal hygiene. What is taking a bath ever. He's also a brilliant tactician, and his powers of improvisation and breaking and entering are unrivaled.
For whatever reason, Rorschach's cut out most pronouns from his speech. He uses them only slightly more in his journal, which he constantly writes in.
I'll be taking him just before his stint in jail, so before the DA-NA-NA PLOT TWIST.
Sample post: (First person point of view, please)
Rorschach's Journal. Date Unknown, Year Unknown. Day on Island: 12
Found a monkey trying to take my hat this afternoon. Was not amused. Was not amused the first three times it happened, either. Will be having monkey for dinner tonight.
I have successfully explored as much of island as possible. Large church raises the question of where it came from. Certainly not built by islanders, if huts are any indication of the average skill at craftsmanship. No small wonder so many of them are still upright. Many people seem to avoid this building. Claim it's "evil". Wouldn't doubt it, at this point.
Was introduced to one Ky Kiske. In the midst of constructing a new church, presumably not an "evil" one. Strange young man. Bears a certain fondness for justice and teacups. While I cannot argue with his sense of justice, teacups have me baffled. Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further.
Was not fond of his friend Naoto, nor did she seem fond of me. Could benefit from a pair of pants, or longer skirt. Seems handy with a sword, so I will not voice this opinion just yet.
Oddities aside, even here, I find myself hip-deep in the same problems plaguing New York. Humanity remains an ugly animal, caged and guarded and covered, no matter what "world" you're from. That is another thi---
Speaking of animals, monkey just stole my hat. This gag is getting old. Time to catch tomorrow's dinner.
A list of things your character might have on them after they got snatched up and put on this island:
Aside from his usual attire:
- journal
- grappling gun
- sugar cubes!
- various assorted garbage in his pockets. he is a packrat.