OOC- Taxon app
Your name/crazy internet handle/whatever: Orlando
Personal journal: elspeth_vimes
Email: agreylady@gmail.com
Characters played (if applicable): Not applicable
Character name: Adam. But he's better known just as “Beast.”
Genre (TV/books/etc): Movie
Fandom: Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Canon point:
Shortly following the “Something There” segment of the film.
Programmed Possession:
The suite of rooms in the West Wing where he's mostly lived for years, and which happen to contain things like the rose and that portrait of his human self that he largely shredded. (The entire enormous Disney castle would be a bit much.)
Abilities/Weaknesses:
...He's an eight foot tall mixture of wolf, lion, and boar. He's very strong, fast, and almost surprisingly nimble. His roars can be deafening. His claws and teeth can be lethal. However, he's not likely to fight a person unless extremely provoked. He's much more of a danger to furniture. Also, he has a terribly low pain tolerance.
Psychology/Personality:
Adam is, at heart, kind. The problem is getting there.
Years of spoiled prince have a way of sticking. His self-control is often rather limited, leading to him being demanding and contributing to his vicious temper. He often commands people without giving it second thought, and expects those commands to be acquiesced to in a timely fashion. He is impatient. When he does not get his way, he is prone to yelling, growling, and possibly breaking things. In fact, he tends to overreact in general, often allowing anger or depression to get in the way of his intelligence. He is unlikely to listen to anyone who has not demonstrated themselves worthy of his trust, and even from such rare people he does not always take advice well. He argues and cuts people off. However, it is possible for him to take advice, if he recognizes he has made an error or if it's on a matter which he knows little about.
He is, in fact, well-educated, as expected of a prince. He is capable of being quite well-spoken, and is at least aware of proper manners. He actually enjoys learning and discovering new things, though he is out of practice due to his form (it's hard to turn a page with claws). While very unused to the concept, he is capable of being exceedingly generous, and is finding that he likes being helpful, it's a rewarding experience. He can go to surprising lengths to please someone that he actually likes. He also does sometimes accept responsibility for those under his command or care, best demonstrated by the time he fought off the wolves for Belle.
Two of Adam's greatest motivators are his feelings of guilt and self-loathing. He has come to believe that he truly does deserve the form he's been given, and that he may even be a lost cause. The fact that the servants were punished along with him has further increased his sense of guilt. He hates his form, and hates that he deserved it. This has led to an intense desire not to have his physical appearance scrutinized, as it further reminds him of everything he hates. When he believes he is being “looked at,” he becomes extremely angry, and may for example want to throw the person doing the looking into a dungeon (as happened with Maurice). He has, in many ways, very low self-esteem (“She'll never see me as anything but a monster.”). But he is still a proud prince as well, which is another reason he reacts with anger to being treated as “a monster,” it's an insult made all the worse by being true. He is lonely. He wants to be liked, and to have greater interaction with people, but usually makes it impossible for anyone, believing that it's impossible for anyone to really like him in the first place.
The form has had a definite effect on him, as well. Over years without any human company, he grew used to behavior walking around on all fours (which is somewhat more comfortable to him than just using his hind legs), growling as a means of saying things like “shut up,” and to eating very messily. Belle has had a reforming effect on him in this area, but he is still likely to slip here and there.
It's also definitely worth noting that he doesn't use his name. As part of that whole being emotional and taking things way to far thing he does, he's reached the conclusion that since he deserves his form, he doesn't deserve a number of things that went with being human, such as a name. He expects people to call him “the Beast,” and will even introduce himself as such. In fact, it's been a few years since he even really thought about his name, he's grown accustomed to being either “the Beast” or, to the servants, “Master.”
History:
The movie provides very little concrete background for Adam. He was the spoiled, vain prince of a very fine castle. At some unspecified point (likely when he was around 14), an ugly old beggar woman begged to be allowed to stay the night in Adam's castle, offering a rose in exchange. When he turned her away, the woman revealed herself to be an enchantress. She transformed Adam into a beast, the staff into furniture, and made the castle and surrounding area much more unpleasant for visitors, all as a rather extreme way of teaching Adam not to judge by appearances. The only way for the curse to be lifted would be for him to love another and earn her love in return before his twenty-first birthday. Rather isolated in his castle, this seemed less and less possible and he became more bitter and depressed as time went on.
There is plenty of room for speculation, though. Parents are never mentioned or encountered, Adam's only “family” seems to be his servants. It's likely that his parents died when he was very young, leaving him to be raised by the servants. This could have caused him to grow up self-centered and spoiled, as people whose job depends on you are not as likely to teach you some of life's more difficult lessons. During the time when Adam was human, the castle would often have received visitors (an assumption further supported by the crowd at the end of the movie). The visitors likely continued for a short while after the transformation, and their horrified reactions would have contributed to Adam's later hostility and self-esteem issues (“So, you've come to stare at the beast, have you?”).
In any case, things changed for Adam when he imprisoned an inventor named Maurice for trespassing. His daughter Belle came and offered to take her father's place and stay in the castle, and Adam's world began to open up again. Belle's influence caused Adam to begin to reform some of his behavior. And, of course, he fell in love with her.
First Person Sample:
I don't want to talk to people. I don't like talking to people! They don't like talking to me either! It's pointless.
Belle is...different. She's not- She's nice. I don't mind her. She...talks to me about books, and things. She doesn't- she doesn't ask questions. Even if she doesn't always listen to what she's told, and breaks the rules. She's still nice. She's...good to be around.
But most people- [growls] I don't care what they do. They can stay away.
It'll make everyone happier.
Third Person Sample:
He wasn't much good at handling small objects. It was too difficult to hold them properly, to manipulate them at all. And to avoid breaking or warping them out of shape. He'd avoided things like spoons and glasses for years. Somewhere, there was a small collection of twisted cutlery attesting to the reason. It was true that those mistakes dated back to his earliest days as a beast, when he had even less control, but it hadn't occurred to him to try again. Silverware was only laid out as a formality, not expected to be used.
But now he had to actually be formal. And to handle other objects that he hadn't thought worth the effort for a long time, like books. He wanted to impress Belle. To do things for her.
This required practice. Which was more difficult than it sounded, really. Which fingers did you use to hold a soup spoon, anyway? Was it different with dessert spoons? He had learned this once, but he'd forgotten.
There was a lot that he'd forgotten. Or that he'd never learned. Maybe he never would learn.
It was somehow rewarding, though, when he finally got it right, not spilling anything or dropping the spoon. It meant that he was actually capable of things humans did every day. It was proof that he could do more with those paws than tear things apart.
It meant that he could be “polite company” for Belle.
There was less of a mess for the staff, too. Another thing he hadn't really thought of before. He was coming to believe that he needed to think things through more. Not just to control his temper, but to be careful. People actually appreciated it when you did that.
Now if only he could stop slurping. He'd seen the way Mrs. Potts winced.
Personal journal: elspeth_vimes
Email: agreylady@gmail.com
Characters played (if applicable): Not applicable
Character name: Adam. But he's better known just as “Beast.”
Genre (TV/books/etc): Movie
Fandom: Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Canon point:
Shortly following the “Something There” segment of the film.
Programmed Possession:
The suite of rooms in the West Wing where he's mostly lived for years, and which happen to contain things like the rose and that portrait of his human self that he largely shredded. (The entire enormous Disney castle would be a bit much.)
Abilities/Weaknesses:
...He's an eight foot tall mixture of wolf, lion, and boar. He's very strong, fast, and almost surprisingly nimble. His roars can be deafening. His claws and teeth can be lethal. However, he's not likely to fight a person unless extremely provoked. He's much more of a danger to furniture. Also, he has a terribly low pain tolerance.
Psychology/Personality:
Adam is, at heart, kind. The problem is getting there.
Years of spoiled prince have a way of sticking. His self-control is often rather limited, leading to him being demanding and contributing to his vicious temper. He often commands people without giving it second thought, and expects those commands to be acquiesced to in a timely fashion. He is impatient. When he does not get his way, he is prone to yelling, growling, and possibly breaking things. In fact, he tends to overreact in general, often allowing anger or depression to get in the way of his intelligence. He is unlikely to listen to anyone who has not demonstrated themselves worthy of his trust, and even from such rare people he does not always take advice well. He argues and cuts people off. However, it is possible for him to take advice, if he recognizes he has made an error or if it's on a matter which he knows little about.
He is, in fact, well-educated, as expected of a prince. He is capable of being quite well-spoken, and is at least aware of proper manners. He actually enjoys learning and discovering new things, though he is out of practice due to his form (it's hard to turn a page with claws). While very unused to the concept, he is capable of being exceedingly generous, and is finding that he likes being helpful, it's a rewarding experience. He can go to surprising lengths to please someone that he actually likes. He also does sometimes accept responsibility for those under his command or care, best demonstrated by the time he fought off the wolves for Belle.
Two of Adam's greatest motivators are his feelings of guilt and self-loathing. He has come to believe that he truly does deserve the form he's been given, and that he may even be a lost cause. The fact that the servants were punished along with him has further increased his sense of guilt. He hates his form, and hates that he deserved it. This has led to an intense desire not to have his physical appearance scrutinized, as it further reminds him of everything he hates. When he believes he is being “looked at,” he becomes extremely angry, and may for example want to throw the person doing the looking into a dungeon (as happened with Maurice). He has, in many ways, very low self-esteem (“She'll never see me as anything but a monster.”). But he is still a proud prince as well, which is another reason he reacts with anger to being treated as “a monster,” it's an insult made all the worse by being true. He is lonely. He wants to be liked, and to have greater interaction with people, but usually makes it impossible for anyone, believing that it's impossible for anyone to really like him in the first place.
The form has had a definite effect on him, as well. Over years without any human company, he grew used to behavior walking around on all fours (which is somewhat more comfortable to him than just using his hind legs), growling as a means of saying things like “shut up,” and to eating very messily. Belle has had a reforming effect on him in this area, but he is still likely to slip here and there.
It's also definitely worth noting that he doesn't use his name. As part of that whole being emotional and taking things way to far thing he does, he's reached the conclusion that since he deserves his form, he doesn't deserve a number of things that went with being human, such as a name. He expects people to call him “the Beast,” and will even introduce himself as such. In fact, it's been a few years since he even really thought about his name, he's grown accustomed to being either “the Beast” or, to the servants, “Master.”
History:
The movie provides very little concrete background for Adam. He was the spoiled, vain prince of a very fine castle. At some unspecified point (likely when he was around 14), an ugly old beggar woman begged to be allowed to stay the night in Adam's castle, offering a rose in exchange. When he turned her away, the woman revealed herself to be an enchantress. She transformed Adam into a beast, the staff into furniture, and made the castle and surrounding area much more unpleasant for visitors, all as a rather extreme way of teaching Adam not to judge by appearances. The only way for the curse to be lifted would be for him to love another and earn her love in return before his twenty-first birthday. Rather isolated in his castle, this seemed less and less possible and he became more bitter and depressed as time went on.
There is plenty of room for speculation, though. Parents are never mentioned or encountered, Adam's only “family” seems to be his servants. It's likely that his parents died when he was very young, leaving him to be raised by the servants. This could have caused him to grow up self-centered and spoiled, as people whose job depends on you are not as likely to teach you some of life's more difficult lessons. During the time when Adam was human, the castle would often have received visitors (an assumption further supported by the crowd at the end of the movie). The visitors likely continued for a short while after the transformation, and their horrified reactions would have contributed to Adam's later hostility and self-esteem issues (“So, you've come to stare at the beast, have you?”).
In any case, things changed for Adam when he imprisoned an inventor named Maurice for trespassing. His daughter Belle came and offered to take her father's place and stay in the castle, and Adam's world began to open up again. Belle's influence caused Adam to begin to reform some of his behavior. And, of course, he fell in love with her.
First Person Sample:
I don't want to talk to people. I don't like talking to people! They don't like talking to me either! It's pointless.
Belle is...different. She's not- She's nice. I don't mind her. She...talks to me about books, and things. She doesn't- she doesn't ask questions. Even if she doesn't always listen to what she's told, and breaks the rules. She's still nice. She's...good to be around.
But most people- [growls] I don't care what they do. They can stay away.
It'll make everyone happier.
Third Person Sample:
He wasn't much good at handling small objects. It was too difficult to hold them properly, to manipulate them at all. And to avoid breaking or warping them out of shape. He'd avoided things like spoons and glasses for years. Somewhere, there was a small collection of twisted cutlery attesting to the reason. It was true that those mistakes dated back to his earliest days as a beast, when he had even less control, but it hadn't occurred to him to try again. Silverware was only laid out as a formality, not expected to be used.
But now he had to actually be formal. And to handle other objects that he hadn't thought worth the effort for a long time, like books. He wanted to impress Belle. To do things for her.
This required practice. Which was more difficult than it sounded, really. Which fingers did you use to hold a soup spoon, anyway? Was it different with dessert spoons? He had learned this once, but he'd forgotten.
There was a lot that he'd forgotten. Or that he'd never learned. Maybe he never would learn.
It was somehow rewarding, though, when he finally got it right, not spilling anything or dropping the spoon. It meant that he was actually capable of things humans did every day. It was proof that he could do more with those paws than tear things apart.
It meant that he could be “polite company” for Belle.
There was less of a mess for the staff, too. Another thing he hadn't really thought of before. He was coming to believe that he needed to think things through more. Not just to control his temper, but to be careful. People actually appreciated it when you did that.
Now if only he could stop slurping. He'd seen the way Mrs. Potts winced.