Application.
1. Player Information
Name (or internet handle): Terana
Current characters in Bete Noire: n/a
2. Character Information
Name: Bruce Wayne, Batman
Livejournal Username: outofthebelfry
Fandom: DC Comics
Image: Here. May change the icons later on, will let you guys know if so?
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: Late 30s. 6'2", black hair, blue eyes. Has the body of the well-trained fighter he is -- muscular, and hatched and pitted with years worth of scarring. This is a popular image.
History: Here! I'm thinking I'm going to take him from his "death" at the end of Final Crisis.
Personality: There are almost as many interpretations of Batman's character as there have been people who have written him. Most people know at least the basics: That when Bruce Wayne was eight years old, his parents were killed in front of him in a mugging gone wrong. Compelled by this, and the cruel realities the event made him aware of, he became a vigilante, using his skills both physical and mental to do what he can to keep Gotham City and its people safe, and give them hope for a better life. He is terribly driven and strong-willed, and puts his mission before everything else in his life, to the anger of those who wish to be close to him.
So let's move beyond that. Forget about Batman (I'm not playing a "Batman is the real identity" interpretation, though there are merits to that characterisation), what about Bruce Wayne?
Things you must know about Bruce:
In quite a lot of ways, his emotional growth came to a screaming halt at eight years old. His parents' death, of course, had a devastating impact on him and he is, in a lot of ways still that hurt, angry little boy. His conflict resolution skills are nonexistent. He either lashes out in a rage or simply ends the conversation, with an ultimatum or his physical exit. He is outrageously stubborn, and virtually incapable of honest apology.
He is a pathological liar. He lies a hundred times every day. To himself, to his so-called allies ("for their own good"), to all the people who know "Bruce Wayne" and not Batman.
He is alarmingly paranoid. He sees almost every way things could possibly go wrong, and prepares for all of them. It's to his detriment as much as his benefit -- not just that classic story about how his plans to incapacitate the JLA if they ever were mind-controlled fell into the wrong hands, but in a more general, and personal sense. He rarely trusts people, and is quite frank about that. And oftentimes, they return the 'favour.' Even those he lets in, he expects to betray him someday, or leave him, or die.
He partitions his life into roles (in the sense of duties he must perform, and in the sense of acting) -- the role of Bruce Wayne, idiot playboy, the role of Bruce Wayne, actually pretty bright, but eccentric and lazy, the role of Batman, terror of Gotham, the role of Batman who works with the JLA, the role of Bruce Wayne, father and mentor to his 'Bat-Family', the roles he takes for undercover work... Some of these are more honest than others, but none is the whole truth.
He has no idea how to be that open and honest. He has... quite a bit of difficulty with honest socialisation in general, really. It's a matter of lack of trust, and of lack of patience with other people. (See above, about his emotional immaturity.)
He is enormously lonely. All of the issues mentioned above contribute to this.
He is basically a giant ball of repression and duty. It will take a hell of a lot of work to break him, but the results will be spectacular.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: It's not so much that Bruce feels sex is wrong as he simply has no time for it. The mission comes before everything else, and that includes physical gratification and romantic relationships.
(This is what he tells himself. Below this is a strong subconscious fear of loss, a terror that his being close to someone is a virtual death sentence for them -- reinforced time and again by the fates that have befallen members of his family both by birth and choice. His parents, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon...)
He is mostly heterosexual, but feels occasional attraction to men, as well. (Canonically, he's been implied to have been in at least one (abusive) homosexual relationship when he was younger. Link.)
Powers: No superpowers in the sense of eye-beams, or flight. What Bruce does have is inhuman willpower, a terrifically keen mind, and in his home universe, near limitless resources. (This last is not applicable to Bete Noire. He's going to have to start completely from scratch, down to the clothes he wears.)
Reason for playing: Bruce Wayne interests me mostly because of how terribly broken he really is, mentally and emotionally, and how his experiences just keep wearing him down more and more, and how, despite this, he perseveres in doing what he believes is right, no matter what. (Whether it actually is what's right, especially for Gotham... well, that's another can of worms altogether.) I want to put that perseverance up against the darkness of Bete Noire, and see what wins out.
4. Original Character Supplement
World History: What kind of world is your character from? This part can be short, but it must focus on the particular character's context. What was their world like, from their point of view?
Character History: Let us have a summary of the highlights, the turning points of your character's history. What was it that made them who they are?
5. Samples
First-Person: So, um... oh, man. This is kind of -- hmm.
This isn't something I've ever really needed to ask before, but... [a sheepish grin] Does anyone know anywhere that's hiring? Apparently, I need a job. My skills include... paperwork... managing billion dollar technology companies... talking to rich people... um, golf...
[Bruce trails off, with a look of apparent realisation that he has exactly zero seriously marketable skills. It's really a sort of terrifying thing to have dawn on you.]
[He swallows, hard, and continues.]
...salary negotiable. Thanks.
Third-Person: The last thing he remembers is...
...he doesn't remember. Not at first. All he knows is that there's a road, and he should follow it. So he does, pulling his furs tight around him. And as he walks, he tries to put the pieces of his life back together.
His name. His city. His mission... his parents. The rest of his family, the family he's bound to not by blood, but by common drive. Those that still live, and those he's lost.
With every step he takes, who and what he is becomes clearer. But there are still years left to go as the sun begins to sink, the sky reddening, and the city comes into view. Too many years, not enough time, and he doesn't know -- he's never liked magic, a transgression of the rules he lives by as much as crime is -- until he crosses the city limits, and no new memories come. It's too soon, the last years still a jumble of darkness and fire and the smell of wet gravedirt and fresh hides, and the words Zur-en-Arrh through radio static.
A mess, a confusion that needs to be sorted out. But a mess that will keep -- as far as he knows, anyway -- a mess that can be put to the side (not forgotten, just given secondary priority) while he addresses other concerns. This is a populated area, a city. An unfamiliar one, and one he's found himself in without reasonable explanation for the occurrence.
There's a protocol for this. That's followed when he finds himself in situations like this. Clothing, first. Blend in. Then gather information... He goes through the steps in his head, as he disappears into a dark alleyway. There's a comfort in the procedure, in the plan.
He'll find out where he is, and what brought him here. And how to get out.
Third-Person #2: He tries to shut his mind off, distance himself from the reality of the situation, but it isn't working. There are cold, thin fingers moving over his bare torso, mapping the hatchwork of scars that mar his skin, and the cold knowledge of what the discovery of those mean breaks him out of his attempted disassociation. There's no way for Bruce Wayne to explain away marks like these, the evidence of a near-decade of self-abuse for a greater cause. No way for Bruce Wayne to explain it, but...
But the other doesn't seem to find them strange at all, laughing so close to his neck that he can feel warm breath. Bruce can't help shivering, failing, again, to separate himself from his body.
The other moves down, a hot mouth following the cold hands, and he holds his breath to keep from hissing, making noise, giving the other any hint that he's being affected at all. The tip of a tongue traces each long line left by knife or bullet, a kiss is pressed to every puckered acid burn and gunshot wound.
Every scar, from the oldest to the newest, is lavished with the same attention. Every scar from the highest to the lowest, that mouth and those hands moving down, down. He feels his controlled mask fraying, eaten from the inside out, the base reactions -- fight, threaten, anything anything but let this just happen -- scratching closer to the surface. When the long, cold fingers wrap around his cock, he jerks, and chokes back a yell.
Name (or internet handle): Terana
Current characters in Bete Noire: n/a
2. Character Information
Name: Bruce Wayne, Batman
Livejournal Username: outofthebelfry
Fandom: DC Comics
Image: Here. May change the icons later on, will let you guys know if so?
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: Late 30s. 6'2", black hair, blue eyes. Has the body of the well-trained fighter he is -- muscular, and hatched and pitted with years worth of scarring. This is a popular image.
History: Here! I'm thinking I'm going to take him from his "death" at the end of Final Crisis.
Personality: There are almost as many interpretations of Batman's character as there have been people who have written him. Most people know at least the basics: That when Bruce Wayne was eight years old, his parents were killed in front of him in a mugging gone wrong. Compelled by this, and the cruel realities the event made him aware of, he became a vigilante, using his skills both physical and mental to do what he can to keep Gotham City and its people safe, and give them hope for a better life. He is terribly driven and strong-willed, and puts his mission before everything else in his life, to the anger of those who wish to be close to him.
So let's move beyond that. Forget about Batman (I'm not playing a "Batman is the real identity" interpretation, though there are merits to that characterisation), what about Bruce Wayne?
Things you must know about Bruce:
In quite a lot of ways, his emotional growth came to a screaming halt at eight years old. His parents' death, of course, had a devastating impact on him and he is, in a lot of ways still that hurt, angry little boy. His conflict resolution skills are nonexistent. He either lashes out in a rage or simply ends the conversation, with an ultimatum or his physical exit. He is outrageously stubborn, and virtually incapable of honest apology.
He is a pathological liar. He lies a hundred times every day. To himself, to his so-called allies ("for their own good"), to all the people who know "Bruce Wayne" and not Batman.
He is alarmingly paranoid. He sees almost every way things could possibly go wrong, and prepares for all of them. It's to his detriment as much as his benefit -- not just that classic story about how his plans to incapacitate the JLA if they ever were mind-controlled fell into the wrong hands, but in a more general, and personal sense. He rarely trusts people, and is quite frank about that. And oftentimes, they return the 'favour.' Even those he lets in, he expects to betray him someday, or leave him, or die.
He partitions his life into roles (in the sense of duties he must perform, and in the sense of acting) -- the role of Bruce Wayne, idiot playboy, the role of Bruce Wayne, actually pretty bright, but eccentric and lazy, the role of Batman, terror of Gotham, the role of Batman who works with the JLA, the role of Bruce Wayne, father and mentor to his 'Bat-Family', the roles he takes for undercover work... Some of these are more honest than others, but none is the whole truth.
He has no idea how to be that open and honest. He has... quite a bit of difficulty with honest socialisation in general, really. It's a matter of lack of trust, and of lack of patience with other people. (See above, about his emotional immaturity.)
He is enormously lonely. All of the issues mentioned above contribute to this.
He is basically a giant ball of repression and duty. It will take a hell of a lot of work to break him, but the results will be spectacular.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: It's not so much that Bruce feels sex is wrong as he simply has no time for it. The mission comes before everything else, and that includes physical gratification and romantic relationships.
(This is what he tells himself. Below this is a strong subconscious fear of loss, a terror that his being close to someone is a virtual death sentence for them -- reinforced time and again by the fates that have befallen members of his family both by birth and choice. His parents, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon...)
He is mostly heterosexual, but feels occasional attraction to men, as well. (Canonically, he's been implied to have been in at least one (abusive) homosexual relationship when he was younger. Link.)
Powers: No superpowers in the sense of eye-beams, or flight. What Bruce does have is inhuman willpower, a terrifically keen mind, and in his home universe, near limitless resources. (This last is not applicable to Bete Noire. He's going to have to start completely from scratch, down to the clothes he wears.)
Reason for playing: Bruce Wayne interests me mostly because of how terribly broken he really is, mentally and emotionally, and how his experiences just keep wearing him down more and more, and how, despite this, he perseveres in doing what he believes is right, no matter what. (Whether it actually is what's right, especially for Gotham... well, that's another can of worms altogether.) I want to put that perseverance up against the darkness of Bete Noire, and see what wins out.
4. Original Character Supplement
World History: What kind of world is your character from? This part can be short, but it must focus on the particular character's context. What was their world like, from their point of view?
Character History: Let us have a summary of the highlights, the turning points of your character's history. What was it that made them who they are?
5. Samples
First-Person: So, um... oh, man. This is kind of -- hmm.
This isn't something I've ever really needed to ask before, but... [a sheepish grin] Does anyone know anywhere that's hiring? Apparently, I need a job. My skills include... paperwork... managing billion dollar technology companies... talking to rich people... um, golf...
[Bruce trails off, with a look of apparent realisation that he has exactly zero seriously marketable skills. It's really a sort of terrifying thing to have dawn on you.]
[He swallows, hard, and continues.]
...salary negotiable. Thanks.
Third-Person: The last thing he remembers is...
...he doesn't remember. Not at first. All he knows is that there's a road, and he should follow it. So he does, pulling his furs tight around him. And as he walks, he tries to put the pieces of his life back together.
His name. His city. His mission... his parents. The rest of his family, the family he's bound to not by blood, but by common drive. Those that still live, and those he's lost.
With every step he takes, who and what he is becomes clearer. But there are still years left to go as the sun begins to sink, the sky reddening, and the city comes into view. Too many years, not enough time, and he doesn't know -- he's never liked magic, a transgression of the rules he lives by as much as crime is -- until he crosses the city limits, and no new memories come. It's too soon, the last years still a jumble of darkness and fire and the smell of wet gravedirt and fresh hides, and the words Zur-en-Arrh through radio static.
A mess, a confusion that needs to be sorted out. But a mess that will keep -- as far as he knows, anyway -- a mess that can be put to the side (not forgotten, just given secondary priority) while he addresses other concerns. This is a populated area, a city. An unfamiliar one, and one he's found himself in without reasonable explanation for the occurrence.
There's a protocol for this. That's followed when he finds himself in situations like this. Clothing, first. Blend in. Then gather information... He goes through the steps in his head, as he disappears into a dark alleyway. There's a comfort in the procedure, in the plan.
He'll find out where he is, and what brought him here. And how to get out.
Third-Person #2: He tries to shut his mind off, distance himself from the reality of the situation, but it isn't working. There are cold, thin fingers moving over his bare torso, mapping the hatchwork of scars that mar his skin, and the cold knowledge of what the discovery of those mean breaks him out of his attempted disassociation. There's no way for Bruce Wayne to explain away marks like these, the evidence of a near-decade of self-abuse for a greater cause. No way for Bruce Wayne to explain it, but...
But the other doesn't seem to find them strange at all, laughing so close to his neck that he can feel warm breath. Bruce can't help shivering, failing, again, to separate himself from his body.
The other moves down, a hot mouth following the cold hands, and he holds his breath to keep from hissing, making noise, giving the other any hint that he's being affected at all. The tip of a tongue traces each long line left by knife or bullet, a kiss is pressed to every puckered acid burn and gunshot wound.
Every scar, from the oldest to the newest, is lavished with the same attention. Every scar from the highest to the lowest, that mouth and those hands moving down, down. He feels his controlled mask fraying, eaten from the inside out, the base reactions -- fight, threaten, anything anything but let this just happen -- scratching closer to the surface. When the long, cold fingers wrap around his cock, he jerks, and chokes back a yell.