application for multiversal
Out of Character Information
Name: Sam
Username: rides_thebeast
Are you over the age of eighteen? yup
Current characters in Baedal: n/a
In Character Information
Basics
Character Name: Candy Francesca Quackenbush
Username: abaratian_soul
Fandom: Abarat novels
Played By: Ksenia Solo
Icon: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/111380345/34343730
Canon Character Section
Physical Description:
Candy Quackenbush was originally a 16 year old young woman, but for the sake of the game she was aged forward to 18 years old, which doesn’t do too much for her appearance. She’s stands at a height of about 5’3”, no more unless she wears heels (though that’s a rarity if ever). She’s fairly normal for a teenager in build, maybe just a bit smaller. She has straight, black hair and full lips like her mother. She dresses in slightly more tattered clothing, not having a lot of money to buy nicer things and she normally wears them until worn out, though since Abarat she has developed a taste for brighter more outlandish colors in clothing. The most notable thing about her appearance is her mismatched eyes. She has one dark brown eye and one vibrant blue eye. At first it was thought to be because of heterochromia, but it’s now known that it’s the reflection of the second soul she houses.
Sexuality:
Sex has been one of those things that has been far from Candy’s mind for as long as she can remember. Even when she was young she didn’t get crushes often. And when she got older she didn’t get them at all anymore. It’s unsure of why this is, since it could be many factors. Some factors including she hates her town and the people in it, she’s feeding from Boa’s emotions which makes her love Finnegan only on a subconscious level, or that she’s uninterested in dating at all.
In the Abarat, though, Candy is shown to have only one love interest. A man named Finnegan Hob who is Boa’s ex-fiance. Showing that at least Boa is heterosexual, and has subconsciously effected Candy on that level.
However, Candy has repressed a lot of various emotions throughout her entire life that when faced with a sexual experience she really wouldn’t know how to handle it entirely. She wouldn’t reject it, but she might not face it with the same level-headed maturity she’s gained recently. Any sexual encounter would be seen as fun and enjoyable and new entirely to her, but have a certain level of detachment with her real emotions, a defense mechanism of hers to keep her from loving and getting hurt. She’d like to be monogamous as well, but never having been faced with these sort of situations she might not know exactly how to handle them or keep those beliefs. At least not at first. It would definitely take awhile for her to find her stride and confidence in a relationship with that level of attachment.
History:
I wrote a history section for her here because the wiki’s are very short on information for the plot, though information about the world is shown fairly decently here.
As for canonpoint, I’m taking her at the end of that summary, so from the end of book 2. At this point in canon a lot of things are resolved for her. She feels like she’s found where she belongs in Abarat, she knows about the second soul inside of her, and she’s dealt with her emotions regarding her family (for the most part). There’s also a lot of things left untouched left to explore (ie. How she feels about this second soul, the magic in her she doesn’t know how to use, what her role in Abarat is), and I feel like eliminating Abarat allows for more focus on the psychological side of things and will push her to areas she doesn’t like to touch on her own.
I’ve also aged her forward just by two years. She’s 17 when the first book takes place, and 18 by the end of it and arriving in Baedal. The age difference doesn’t play any effect on the events, other than ‘why didn’t Candy get her license and leave Chickentown’, which I’m explaining as her father wouldn’t let her get it.
Powers:
Candy is a magic user. She uses words to bend reality to fit her needs. Sadly she didn’t learn much magic in canon before the end so she only really knows two spells, one to make a Glyph (a flying machine) out of thin air and one that can shake and destroy anything around her and is very disastrous.
These aren’t her only abilities, though, especially with latent powers she can use but doesn’t know how to. She’s been shown to give life to beings that were sealed away in a totem pole just with a touch. She could then grab the light and use it to both protect herself and attack her enemy. She has no idea how to trigger these powers, though, and sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own. Especially with her, as Princess Boa was known to have outstanding magical powers of her own. So Candy will struggle with magic spells she doesn’t already know.
Boa has a more complete grasp on her abilities, having grown up with them in the Abarat. It’s unknown what the extent of her powers are, though. She has a lot of them, and shown from Candy’s latent abilities they’re fairly high level magics. But she seems to know some things most wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, know in the Abarat. Like Candy’s ability to shake and destroy structures around her with a word. It’s a Word of Power as Malingo tells Candy, which it’s unsure as to why the Princess of Light would need such a word in her repertoire. So Boa has a lot to her she plays close to the belt.
Talents/Abilities:: Nothing important here. Candy never really attempted to excel at anything talent-wise in Chickentown, and Boa was a Princess who was known for just being bright and kind. Neither have tried to hone anything specific otherwise. Candy does have some natural intuition that helps her survive on her own, but that’s about it.
Personality:
A lot of who Candy is has a lot to do with who she was. Candy grew up in a small town, with a bad school life, and a pretty miserable home life. These daily interactions for 16 years straight shaped her the person she was. And though Abarat changed a lot of that, not all of it is easy to shake.
To start with, there’s a very present side to Candy, and a side of her that is rarely if ever seen. She’s a bright personality on the surface and beneath the surface. She holds an optimism and smile that’s almost too catching to ignore, but qualities that tend to be muted in the dull town. She’s a very curious person as well. Her mother has described it as a ‘morbid curiosity she got from her grandmother’, but it’s not just a curiosity for the strange and unusual but for all things that have nothing to do with the dull life that is Chickentown, Minnesota.
Chickentown created a lot of problems for Candy, though, that she could never shake. She was always a bit of an oddball with her interest in the weird and her disinterest in chickens. This made her a target for mockery and humiliation at school, even by a few teachers here and there. Her own home life was so repressed by the presence of her jobless, alcoholic father as well. These environments created a lot of mixed feelings in Candy that suppressed her brightness to a point that she became withdrawn from school life and only really connected with her mother, unable to admit to a lot of her feelings, both good and bad ones.
There was also a lot of pent up anger, resentment, and sorrow that Candy never learned to properly address. The resentment stemmed from being stuck in a town that was going nowhere and having a father that smacked her around and a mother who never changed anything. The sorrow was something she never really knew about herself until Abarat as well. It came from having a father that she both hated and secretly wanted to love her all at once. She never even admitted the latter, so when she dreams of Boa’s father and how kind and loving he was to Candy (who was Boa in the dream) she starts crying. And she barely realizes it’s because it’s how she wished her father would treat her, that he would just love her.
Candy’s inability to even acknowledge this sorrow led to her being unable to process a lot of sad feelings she’s faced with. She faces a lot of sad moments with anger and brashness. She gets fierce and can even get mean. When Candy’s angry she’s not afraid to fight back against what’s angering her/making her sad. Literally too. She fights back against a lot of Carrion’s pursuers/stalkers that chase her down in he books.
After spending months in the Abarat, though, Candy ad to face a lot of things about herself. It was a slow process that changed her that she wasn’t even aware of. She always had a healthy curiosity for the unknown, and the Abarat only fed that and let her truly shine. After living in a place where she feels accepted and truly at home, like she’s where she was meant to be all her life, Candy really begins to open up into a grown woman.
Candy faces a lot of things. She faces her fears of losing people, her fears of the monsters of the Abarat, her own sorrows, her own pain, her own true self. All of these things she learns to overcome and accept, though, because she can also be the bright young woman she is. She can be happy and cheerful and at peace. She can help the people she cares for because she has the abilities to in the Abarat. She can face her own demons. She can do so much.
The Abarat ages Candy a lot. It forces her to grow up and stop running from things. It teaches her to be okay with who she because she does have somewhere she belongs to and people who accept her. She’s not entirely done with all her problems. Her sorrow and true emotions are still a little hard for her to accept and admit to. But she’s learned to start to, and to be okay in her own skin.
Then there’s Boa.
Boa is the unseen side of Candy that she didn’t know existed until recently. At first it seemed interesting, like she was the ever present being in her life, almost like a sister even. With the way they thought and interacted it was like two separate people sharing a body. Then reality set in and Candy realized the truth of hosting the soul from birth.
Things began to nag at Candy slowly about reality. What were her thoughts and what were the manipulations of Boa. Had she never left Chickentown because she really was dedicated to her mother and brothers? Or had Boa planted those feelings in her? Finnegan didn’t really share any significance for Candy, but she found herself almost infatuated with the stranger at Boa’s manipulations.
Candy realized that Boa wasn’t the girl everyone portrayed her to be. Boa was someone else entirely that she feared and hated. How many things in Candy’s life had been Boa’s influence? What else could Boa make her do?
Boa herself isn’t afraid to manipulate Candy, either. She’s manipulated people often in her life, in ways they never know. She was seen as a bright and beautiful Princess, a light to the Abarat that was mourned deeply after her death. Though Candy wonders if that’s the real Boa or if this being who disregards other’s feelings is the real her. Boa is good at hiding her true face and making things work to her advantage. Especially with Candy. She doesn’t want to lose her host, so she’ll do anything to keep her. And with Boa, anything could be just as bad as it could be good.
Object: None
Reason for playing:
I've been playing Candy for nearly a year straight now, though I've been in love with the books for the past nine years. She's always been one of my favorite characters ever to read. She's not a damsel in distress, but she's not a fighter type or anything either. She's just a survivor who survives however she needs to in any setting.
Due to the fact that the novels leave us here for the next 8 years (with the next book finally coming out next month) there's a lot of room for player creativity and growth. I want to take Candy as she is, a girl conflicted with two souls in side of her, and develop on that and explore how that works in a horror-like setting like this that forces her into places she wouldn't go otherwise. I think her magical potential and ability to handle the strange makes her perfect for here.
I also like the potential to bring Boa out more here and make her a more prominent character. She is heading that way in the books, but due to the amount of time in between books it’s never fully explained where she’s going and how. I want to take the opportunity to explore the character myself and develop her and Candy’s relationship, and I think a place like Baedal lends to more opportunities for this to occur.
Gods: Shada - the magical potential Candy has, and the magical capabilities Boa already possesses would probably catch her eye. Plus, Boa's been hinted at as being a 'not so good' princess who's likely been toying with the affections of men for her own gain (this is all speculation on Barker's little information he's given cause he's good at secrets)
4. Original Character Section (disregard if applying for a fandom character)
Writing Samples
Players may choose to write three of the four writing samples. Additionally, for two of the three samples applicants may substitute links to previously written roleplaying threads of no less than eight substantial replies. We reserve the right to ask for an additional sample if more information is required.
First-Person Network Post:
[ text ]
I think I deserve frequent inter-dimensional travel miles if I’m going to keep getting dragged from world to world. At this rate I bet I could rack up enough miles to see the edge of the universe next year or something. If that exists. Otherwise I just cracked a bad joke and I apologize for that.
In all seriousness, though, I think I’d rather go back to the last world I was in. No offense or anything, but I just got used to the last one I was in and I rather liked it. Bright colors, strange fauna, flora, and architecture. Things to that effect. This place doesn’t seem bad or anything, just hard for me to adjust to after that.
Oh well.
I guess this begs the question. Does anyone ever go home or is this move a little permanent? I’m not complaining, except maybe a little. I’d just like to know if I should give up all hope of seeing the Abarat again and embrace Baedal, or if I should keep hoping I’ll randomly get to go home to the Abarat.
In the meantime: My name’s Candy. Nice to meet all of you.
First-Person Journal Post:
I think I've had a pretty strange afternoon.
I spent the morning at the library doing the research for the paper I mentioned last time I accidentally posted. It went exactly the way I expected. "Otherwise undistinguished". That's literally what the books say about this town. Our main export is chickens and we are 'otherwise undistinguished'.
All that aside, I went to mom for anything. I was getting desperate because I just can't take this town anymore. She sent me on what I thought was going to be a wild goose chase (seriously, Mom? Norma Lipnik?), but this is the part where I have to admit she was actually right.
Norma Lipnik is this woman that works at the Comfort Tree Hotel. When I knew her she was old and ridiculous with bright red lipstick and--- Anyway. She clearly got her act together and now manages the place. I dropped the name 'Henry Murkitt' that mom gave to me and she took me to Room Nineteen, the only room Murkitt ever stayed in.
Legend goes this town was named Murkitt until 1947 (that's news to me) when they changed it to Chickentown. Henry Murkitt's grandfather, Wallace Murkitt, had been the founder of the town (hence 'Murkitt'). Wallace Murkitt was travelling and his horse 'up and died in the middle of the night' and Wallace built this town (yeah that sounds about right for Chickentown).
In December of 1947, though, the town was renamed. Henry's wife, Diamanda, had left him and he lost his little claim to fame with Murkitt. He checked into the hotel, Room Nineteen, and never checked out again.
That place was kind of creepy to be inside. There were faint blotches on the wall that someone had clearly tried to paint over. Norma said that no matter how hard they tried they couldn't hide them. Then she gave me this. She said it was the only thing Murkitt had on him when he checked in. Something about waiting for his ship (what is that about? this is minnesota).
On the one hand this is pretty ludicrous, but as the truth it apparently is? It's probably the only thing of interest to come out of Chickentown.
.... Who dreams of ships in this town? Of all things...
Third-Person Arrival Post: A post describing your character's arrival in Baedal. At least two paragraphs.
Third-Person Action Post:
Hell House, Bete Noire
June 22
Most of Candy's time within the city had been pretty uneventful and lucky for her. Falling into the job at Hellsing and finally getting a place to live outside of the Hostel had all been luck for her. She even had Nemapsychus now. He wasn't the most well-behaved dragon, in fact he could be kind of mean at times, but he was her dragon and she still felt a connection to him. Not to mention the anger Boa felt at the sudden pet Candy had gotten had been enough to silence her for awhile so Candy could focus on her studies.
Bete Noire wasn't the Abarat, but so far it hadn't been that bad to her in all honesty. Even the recent run-in with Owen (that she was trying to pretend didn't happen) hadn't been that bad. For her, at least. That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back for Boa, though. Since that event Boa'd been incessantly talking, lecturing, and yelling at Candy from inside her mind day in and day out. Pushing Candy to her limits of what she could take from the spirit.
In an attempt to get some peace and quiet and a little relaxation, Candy gathered up a towel and headed to the bathroom outside her room to start a bath. She turned on the water in the bath and waited patiently for it to fill the tub as she put her towel up.
It was as she passed the mirror in the bathroom that she paused. She could have sworn she had seen something in the reflection that didn't belong there. Sure enough, looking into the mirror now, she was seeing something that didn't belong there. Something like a movie almost. Of what looked like was her life.
Except this was some... altered version of her life. Candy could see the points of her life where she remembered being distinctly, but this time she wasn't there. It was just her mother and father and two brothers. Looking happier than she'd ever seen them. Literally. Her father had always been filled with so much anger and hatred in him, yet here he was with her family smiling and laughing with them. Even kissing Melissa and playing with the boys.
"What the hell?" Candy murmured as more scenes unfolded before her.
Each scene played out the same way, though. Bill and Melissa holding each other, the boys flourishing in school with plenty of friends, even the Abarat was better. Diamanda and Squibbler were alive, Izarith's happy little family undisturbed by Candy's presence, tarry cats running and playing freely on Ninnyhammer.
It was a world without her. And it was a happy world. Even her family was better off. Tears welled up in Candy's eyes as she tried to take deep breaths and block out the images she was seeing.
It's not true. Boa whispered in her mind.
"Shut up," Candy growled between gritted teeth.
You're father wasn't your fault. Diamanda--
"Was my fault."
Abarat needs you, Candy. This isn't true.
"I said shut up!" Candy screamed, reaching her limits with the voice in her head. She turned the water off to the bath and went back to her room, slamming the door as hard as she could to escape the window's scenes.
Misc
Other: For her second sample post I reused a post from Bete Noire during an event where Mirrors reflected home worlds being happier with the person gone. I chose it for the level of emotions Candy shows and the interaction between herself and Boa. If it’s not adult enough I have an adult sample here. And though I’ve used some samples from other games (just to show her thoughts and voice properly), I’m not bringing in anything from these games.
Name: Sam
Username: rides_thebeast
Are you over the age of eighteen? yup
Current characters in Baedal: n/a
In Character Information
Basics
Character Name: Candy Francesca Quackenbush
Username: abaratian_soul
Fandom: Abarat novels
Played By: Ksenia Solo
Icon: http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/111380345/34343730
Canon Character Section
Physical Description:
Candy Quackenbush was originally a 16 year old young woman, but for the sake of the game she was aged forward to 18 years old, which doesn’t do too much for her appearance. She’s stands at a height of about 5’3”, no more unless she wears heels (though that’s a rarity if ever). She’s fairly normal for a teenager in build, maybe just a bit smaller. She has straight, black hair and full lips like her mother. She dresses in slightly more tattered clothing, not having a lot of money to buy nicer things and she normally wears them until worn out, though since Abarat she has developed a taste for brighter more outlandish colors in clothing. The most notable thing about her appearance is her mismatched eyes. She has one dark brown eye and one vibrant blue eye. At first it was thought to be because of heterochromia, but it’s now known that it’s the reflection of the second soul she houses.
Sexuality:
Sex has been one of those things that has been far from Candy’s mind for as long as she can remember. Even when she was young she didn’t get crushes often. And when she got older she didn’t get them at all anymore. It’s unsure of why this is, since it could be many factors. Some factors including she hates her town and the people in it, she’s feeding from Boa’s emotions which makes her love Finnegan only on a subconscious level, or that she’s uninterested in dating at all.
In the Abarat, though, Candy is shown to have only one love interest. A man named Finnegan Hob who is Boa’s ex-fiance. Showing that at least Boa is heterosexual, and has subconsciously effected Candy on that level.
However, Candy has repressed a lot of various emotions throughout her entire life that when faced with a sexual experience she really wouldn’t know how to handle it entirely. She wouldn’t reject it, but she might not face it with the same level-headed maturity she’s gained recently. Any sexual encounter would be seen as fun and enjoyable and new entirely to her, but have a certain level of detachment with her real emotions, a defense mechanism of hers to keep her from loving and getting hurt. She’d like to be monogamous as well, but never having been faced with these sort of situations she might not know exactly how to handle them or keep those beliefs. At least not at first. It would definitely take awhile for her to find her stride and confidence in a relationship with that level of attachment.
History:
I wrote a history section for her here because the wiki’s are very short on information for the plot, though information about the world is shown fairly decently here.
As for canonpoint, I’m taking her at the end of that summary, so from the end of book 2. At this point in canon a lot of things are resolved for her. She feels like she’s found where she belongs in Abarat, she knows about the second soul inside of her, and she’s dealt with her emotions regarding her family (for the most part). There’s also a lot of things left untouched left to explore (ie. How she feels about this second soul, the magic in her she doesn’t know how to use, what her role in Abarat is), and I feel like eliminating Abarat allows for more focus on the psychological side of things and will push her to areas she doesn’t like to touch on her own.
I’ve also aged her forward just by two years. She’s 17 when the first book takes place, and 18 by the end of it and arriving in Baedal. The age difference doesn’t play any effect on the events, other than ‘why didn’t Candy get her license and leave Chickentown’, which I’m explaining as her father wouldn’t let her get it.
Powers:
Candy is a magic user. She uses words to bend reality to fit her needs. Sadly she didn’t learn much magic in canon before the end so she only really knows two spells, one to make a Glyph (a flying machine) out of thin air and one that can shake and destroy anything around her and is very disastrous.
These aren’t her only abilities, though, especially with latent powers she can use but doesn’t know how to. She’s been shown to give life to beings that were sealed away in a totem pole just with a touch. She could then grab the light and use it to both protect herself and attack her enemy. She has no idea how to trigger these powers, though, and sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own. Especially with her, as Princess Boa was known to have outstanding magical powers of her own. So Candy will struggle with magic spells she doesn’t already know.
Boa has a more complete grasp on her abilities, having grown up with them in the Abarat. It’s unknown what the extent of her powers are, though. She has a lot of them, and shown from Candy’s latent abilities they’re fairly high level magics. But she seems to know some things most wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, know in the Abarat. Like Candy’s ability to shake and destroy structures around her with a word. It’s a Word of Power as Malingo tells Candy, which it’s unsure as to why the Princess of Light would need such a word in her repertoire. So Boa has a lot to her she plays close to the belt.
Talents/Abilities:: Nothing important here. Candy never really attempted to excel at anything talent-wise in Chickentown, and Boa was a Princess who was known for just being bright and kind. Neither have tried to hone anything specific otherwise. Candy does have some natural intuition that helps her survive on her own, but that’s about it.
Personality:
A lot of who Candy is has a lot to do with who she was. Candy grew up in a small town, with a bad school life, and a pretty miserable home life. These daily interactions for 16 years straight shaped her the person she was. And though Abarat changed a lot of that, not all of it is easy to shake.
To start with, there’s a very present side to Candy, and a side of her that is rarely if ever seen. She’s a bright personality on the surface and beneath the surface. She holds an optimism and smile that’s almost too catching to ignore, but qualities that tend to be muted in the dull town. She’s a very curious person as well. Her mother has described it as a ‘morbid curiosity she got from her grandmother’, but it’s not just a curiosity for the strange and unusual but for all things that have nothing to do with the dull life that is Chickentown, Minnesota.
Chickentown created a lot of problems for Candy, though, that she could never shake. She was always a bit of an oddball with her interest in the weird and her disinterest in chickens. This made her a target for mockery and humiliation at school, even by a few teachers here and there. Her own home life was so repressed by the presence of her jobless, alcoholic father as well. These environments created a lot of mixed feelings in Candy that suppressed her brightness to a point that she became withdrawn from school life and only really connected with her mother, unable to admit to a lot of her feelings, both good and bad ones.
There was also a lot of pent up anger, resentment, and sorrow that Candy never learned to properly address. The resentment stemmed from being stuck in a town that was going nowhere and having a father that smacked her around and a mother who never changed anything. The sorrow was something she never really knew about herself until Abarat as well. It came from having a father that she both hated and secretly wanted to love her all at once. She never even admitted the latter, so when she dreams of Boa’s father and how kind and loving he was to Candy (who was Boa in the dream) she starts crying. And she barely realizes it’s because it’s how she wished her father would treat her, that he would just love her.
Candy’s inability to even acknowledge this sorrow led to her being unable to process a lot of sad feelings she’s faced with. She faces a lot of sad moments with anger and brashness. She gets fierce and can even get mean. When Candy’s angry she’s not afraid to fight back against what’s angering her/making her sad. Literally too. She fights back against a lot of Carrion’s pursuers/stalkers that chase her down in he books.
After spending months in the Abarat, though, Candy ad to face a lot of things about herself. It was a slow process that changed her that she wasn’t even aware of. She always had a healthy curiosity for the unknown, and the Abarat only fed that and let her truly shine. After living in a place where she feels accepted and truly at home, like she’s where she was meant to be all her life, Candy really begins to open up into a grown woman.
Candy faces a lot of things. She faces her fears of losing people, her fears of the monsters of the Abarat, her own sorrows, her own pain, her own true self. All of these things she learns to overcome and accept, though, because she can also be the bright young woman she is. She can be happy and cheerful and at peace. She can help the people she cares for because she has the abilities to in the Abarat. She can face her own demons. She can do so much.
The Abarat ages Candy a lot. It forces her to grow up and stop running from things. It teaches her to be okay with who she because she does have somewhere she belongs to and people who accept her. She’s not entirely done with all her problems. Her sorrow and true emotions are still a little hard for her to accept and admit to. But she’s learned to start to, and to be okay in her own skin.
Then there’s Boa.
Boa is the unseen side of Candy that she didn’t know existed until recently. At first it seemed interesting, like she was the ever present being in her life, almost like a sister even. With the way they thought and interacted it was like two separate people sharing a body. Then reality set in and Candy realized the truth of hosting the soul from birth.
Things began to nag at Candy slowly about reality. What were her thoughts and what were the manipulations of Boa. Had she never left Chickentown because she really was dedicated to her mother and brothers? Or had Boa planted those feelings in her? Finnegan didn’t really share any significance for Candy, but she found herself almost infatuated with the stranger at Boa’s manipulations.
Candy realized that Boa wasn’t the girl everyone portrayed her to be. Boa was someone else entirely that she feared and hated. How many things in Candy’s life had been Boa’s influence? What else could Boa make her do?
Boa herself isn’t afraid to manipulate Candy, either. She’s manipulated people often in her life, in ways they never know. She was seen as a bright and beautiful Princess, a light to the Abarat that was mourned deeply after her death. Though Candy wonders if that’s the real Boa or if this being who disregards other’s feelings is the real her. Boa is good at hiding her true face and making things work to her advantage. Especially with Candy. She doesn’t want to lose her host, so she’ll do anything to keep her. And with Boa, anything could be just as bad as it could be good.
Object: None
Reason for playing:
I've been playing Candy for nearly a year straight now, though I've been in love with the books for the past nine years. She's always been one of my favorite characters ever to read. She's not a damsel in distress, but she's not a fighter type or anything either. She's just a survivor who survives however she needs to in any setting.
Due to the fact that the novels leave us here for the next 8 years (with the next book finally coming out next month) there's a lot of room for player creativity and growth. I want to take Candy as she is, a girl conflicted with two souls in side of her, and develop on that and explore how that works in a horror-like setting like this that forces her into places she wouldn't go otherwise. I think her magical potential and ability to handle the strange makes her perfect for here.
I also like the potential to bring Boa out more here and make her a more prominent character. She is heading that way in the books, but due to the amount of time in between books it’s never fully explained where she’s going and how. I want to take the opportunity to explore the character myself and develop her and Candy’s relationship, and I think a place like Baedal lends to more opportunities for this to occur.
Gods: Shada - the magical potential Candy has, and the magical capabilities Boa already possesses would probably catch her eye. Plus, Boa's been hinted at as being a 'not so good' princess who's likely been toying with the affections of men for her own gain (this is all speculation on Barker's little information he's given cause he's good at secrets)
4. Original Character Section (disregard if applying for a fandom character)
Writing Samples
Players may choose to write three of the four writing samples. Additionally, for two of the three samples applicants may substitute links to previously written roleplaying threads of no less than eight substantial replies. We reserve the right to ask for an additional sample if more information is required.
First-Person Network Post:
[ text ]
I think I deserve frequent inter-dimensional travel miles if I’m going to keep getting dragged from world to world. At this rate I bet I could rack up enough miles to see the edge of the universe next year or something. If that exists. Otherwise I just cracked a bad joke and I apologize for that.
In all seriousness, though, I think I’d rather go back to the last world I was in. No offense or anything, but I just got used to the last one I was in and I rather liked it. Bright colors, strange fauna, flora, and architecture. Things to that effect. This place doesn’t seem bad or anything, just hard for me to adjust to after that.
Oh well.
I guess this begs the question. Does anyone ever go home or is this move a little permanent? I’m not complaining, except maybe a little. I’d just like to know if I should give up all hope of seeing the Abarat again and embrace Baedal, or if I should keep hoping I’ll randomly get to go home to the Abarat.
In the meantime: My name’s Candy. Nice to meet all of you.
First-Person Journal Post:
I think I've had a pretty strange afternoon.
I spent the morning at the library doing the research for the paper I mentioned last time I accidentally posted. It went exactly the way I expected. "Otherwise undistinguished". That's literally what the books say about this town. Our main export is chickens and we are 'otherwise undistinguished'.
All that aside, I went to mom for anything. I was getting desperate because I just can't take this town anymore. She sent me on what I thought was going to be a wild goose chase (seriously, Mom? Norma Lipnik?), but this is the part where I have to admit she was actually right.
Norma Lipnik is this woman that works at the Comfort Tree Hotel. When I knew her she was old and ridiculous with bright red lipstick and--- Anyway. She clearly got her act together and now manages the place. I dropped the name 'Henry Murkitt' that mom gave to me and she took me to Room Nineteen, the only room Murkitt ever stayed in.
Legend goes this town was named Murkitt until 1947 (that's news to me) when they changed it to Chickentown. Henry Murkitt's grandfather, Wallace Murkitt, had been the founder of the town (hence 'Murkitt'). Wallace Murkitt was travelling and his horse 'up and died in the middle of the night' and Wallace built this town (yeah that sounds about right for Chickentown).
In December of 1947, though, the town was renamed. Henry's wife, Diamanda, had left him and he lost his little claim to fame with Murkitt. He checked into the hotel, Room Nineteen, and never checked out again.
That place was kind of creepy to be inside. There were faint blotches on the wall that someone had clearly tried to paint over. Norma said that no matter how hard they tried they couldn't hide them. Then she gave me this. She said it was the only thing Murkitt had on him when he checked in. Something about waiting for his ship (what is that about? this is minnesota).
On the one hand this is pretty ludicrous, but as the truth it apparently is? It's probably the only thing of interest to come out of Chickentown.
.... Who dreams of ships in this town? Of all things...
Third-Person Arrival Post: A post describing your character's arrival in Baedal. At least two paragraphs.
Third-Person Action Post:
Hell House, Bete Noire
June 22
Most of Candy's time within the city had been pretty uneventful and lucky for her. Falling into the job at Hellsing and finally getting a place to live outside of the Hostel had all been luck for her. She even had Nemapsychus now. He wasn't the most well-behaved dragon, in fact he could be kind of mean at times, but he was her dragon and she still felt a connection to him. Not to mention the anger Boa felt at the sudden pet Candy had gotten had been enough to silence her for awhile so Candy could focus on her studies.
Bete Noire wasn't the Abarat, but so far it hadn't been that bad to her in all honesty. Even the recent run-in with Owen (that she was trying to pretend didn't happen) hadn't been that bad. For her, at least. That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back for Boa, though. Since that event Boa'd been incessantly talking, lecturing, and yelling at Candy from inside her mind day in and day out. Pushing Candy to her limits of what she could take from the spirit.
In an attempt to get some peace and quiet and a little relaxation, Candy gathered up a towel and headed to the bathroom outside her room to start a bath. She turned on the water in the bath and waited patiently for it to fill the tub as she put her towel up.
It was as she passed the mirror in the bathroom that she paused. She could have sworn she had seen something in the reflection that didn't belong there. Sure enough, looking into the mirror now, she was seeing something that didn't belong there. Something like a movie almost. Of what looked like was her life.
Except this was some... altered version of her life. Candy could see the points of her life where she remembered being distinctly, but this time she wasn't there. It was just her mother and father and two brothers. Looking happier than she'd ever seen them. Literally. Her father had always been filled with so much anger and hatred in him, yet here he was with her family smiling and laughing with them. Even kissing Melissa and playing with the boys.
"What the hell?" Candy murmured as more scenes unfolded before her.
Each scene played out the same way, though. Bill and Melissa holding each other, the boys flourishing in school with plenty of friends, even the Abarat was better. Diamanda and Squibbler were alive, Izarith's happy little family undisturbed by Candy's presence, tarry cats running and playing freely on Ninnyhammer.
It was a world without her. And it was a happy world. Even her family was better off. Tears welled up in Candy's eyes as she tried to take deep breaths and block out the images she was seeing.
It's not true. Boa whispered in her mind.
"Shut up," Candy growled between gritted teeth.
You're father wasn't your fault. Diamanda--
"Was my fault."
Abarat needs you, Candy. This isn't true.
"I said shut up!" Candy screamed, reaching her limits with the voice in her head. She turned the water off to the bath and went back to her room, slamming the door as hard as she could to escape the window's scenes.
Misc
Other: For her second sample post I reused a post from Bete Noire during an event where Mirrors reflected home worlds being happier with the person gone. I chose it for the level of emotions Candy shows and the interaction between herself and Boa. If it’s not adult enough I have an adult sample here. And though I’ve used some samples from other games (just to show her thoughts and voice properly), I’m not bringing in anything from these games.