[ooc] character application and permissions
Name/Nickname: Kaze
LJ Username: murasaki_kaze
Email: souster[at]gmail
Character: Jack Skellington
Fandom: Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas
Time Period: After discovering Christmas Town, Jack decides to steal borrow some things to show the ghouls and goblins back home. Unfortunately, the door he goes through doesn't lead to Halloween, but Sieben.
Brief Synopsis: Jack is the King of Halloween, or the Pumpkin King, because he is one of the main orchestrators of that holiday event. He was born (if you can call it that, we never get a full background in the movie) in Halloween Town - a place where every day is spent preparing for the Real World’s holiday. Jack is an extension of the holiday itself, an anthropomorphized version of the feelings and spirit of Halloween. Halloween Town is populated with every kind of monster and ghoul imaginable, but unlike traditional views of these creatures, they aren’t mean - they’re just doing their job. They don’t know any other life than scaring people and find that to be the greatest joy. Their entire lives revolve around making plans and executing said plans for Halloween to scare and trick the most people in the most inventive ways possible.
That’s where Jack comes in. While the Mayor of Halloween Town comes up with the basic ideas, he doesn’t do a thing unless Jack approves or modifies them. Many of the actual events that come to fruition on the actual day of Halloween are of Jack’s making. He’s idolized in the Holiday World as the King of Frights and easily comes up with new and better ways of scaring humans every year. Yet that is exactly why he’s grown so tired of it.
Over the years and decades of doing the same thing, ennui sets in and Jack finds that he no longer gets the same satisfaction as he used to out of scaring humans. He makes new friends like Sally the ragdoll and has his faithful companion, Zero the ghost-dog always at his side, but something seems missing from his life. He loses his interest in his work and, while on the outside it seems he’s still his old self, he starts feeling isolated. He is a creature of change, not habit, and once Halloween becomes habit, the feeling of stagnation is almost stifling. Still, he plays the part of the Pumpkin King and is adored by the masses, receiving praise and fame from the inhabitants of Halloween Town and earning Sally’s secret adoration.
After one particular Halloween, Jack sneaks off to the graveyard to have a bit of alone time and finally says what he’s feeling out loud, thinking no one has heard him. Sally had actually been in the graveyard earlier and overhears his sad tale, but says nothing because she lacks the confidence to tell him how she feels and that she understands. Jack leaves the graveyard and takes a walk with his dog, Zero, into the woods where he stays all night, wandering as he ponders his role in Halloween Town and whether he should give it up or not. He knows he can’t, but that doesn’t stop him from imagining how great it would be to not be the Pumpkin King.
That is when he stumbles upon the meeting place of all the Holiday Worlds, doors in tree trunks that lead to all the different holidays. Intrigued by this new place hidden away in the woods he thought he had known, he investigates it further. That is when he stumbles upon the Christmas Town door. Enchanted by the colors and the overall feeling of the door, he opens it and is disappointed to find that nothing is there but an empty tree. Looking to Zero, he shrugs and suddenly gets sucked into the tree and to a whole other world. When he opens his eyes, he finds a world of color and warmth that he never could have dreamed existed and instantly falls in love with the idea of Christmas - a holiday based on cheer rather than fear. This is the point where I would take Jack from his world.
Animal Features (specifics): Wings of a bat
Sample Log Post: What a deliriously dreadful day it was! For the first time since arriving in Sieben, Jack was treated to the most glorious sight he'd had the pleasure of laying his eyes on. While the green sky was usually sunny with the occasional puff of cloud here or there, today - oh, today! - it was filled with dark purple clouds and storming like the Owls themselves were raging against the inhabitants.
Oh, he could hardly contain his glee! It was perfect for a Halloween event! He couldn't have dreamed up better weather himself! Not that it was Halloween yet, but he had to be alert, didn't he? Even if Christmas was so much better of a holiday, the others were still counting on him to be their Pumpkin Jack. Tiring as the roll was. Not that it mattered now, though! Jack was in Sieben, a world of color and light and life and horribly fantastic weather like this! He could ignore the whole Halloween thing for a little bit longer.
Pushing the flap to his teepee open as he burst onto the scene, Jack cackled and spread his arms wide as he shouted, "Dreadful tidings, my fellow Siebenites! It's time for a show!"
Sample Journal Post: I don't recall there ever being a Holiday like this mentioned, but then I hadn't known of Christmas Town either! What a splendid place this is! So colorful! So lively! It warms this old skeleton to the bone, it does! Ah~ but what are these? Wings? Of a bat? How dreadful.
Hahaha! It fits me perfectly! People of this strange new Holiday, tell me this: Who is in charge so I may thank him (or her!) for bringing old Skeleton Jack to such a wonderous place?
Full name: Jack Skellington
Name they go by: Jack
Nicknames: Pumpkin King, King of Halloween
Actual Age: Unknown
Physical Age: Dead :| But he acts like he's in his late 20s
Birthday: October 31st? No idea
Height: 6 foot 6
Weight: Thiiiiin
Medical Info: Technically, Jack is a skeleton and always has been. However, for a skeleton, he's in very good shape and does take care of himself. He's able to move freely thanks to not having muscles or ligatures or anything silly like that, and he can remove bits and pieces of himself and still talk and put himself back together.
Animal features: Bat wings
Tattoo: Left ankle (on the bone)
Eyes: Black holes?
Hair: None
Physical traits: Tall, thin, usually wearing a pin-striped suit that he'll have to reconstruct - he's a skeleton with a round head and abnormally long arms and legs. He can move in any direction and tends to be very spiderlike.
Alignment: Chaotic good
Sexuality: Straight, but pretty stupid about it. He's more focused on his job and his hobbies than he is on love and things.
What's Okay To Mention Around Him/Her: Pretty much anything. He's good at denying the truth and substituting his own reality, so even if you tell him, he might not believe you.
Abilities: Intermediate fighting skills, Shakespearean recitations, singing like God's gift to music, taking himself apart, Halloween, scaring people
Notes for the Psychics: Jack's been around as long as Halloween has been - meaning back to when it was a pagan holiday. He's ANCIENT and it'll feel like that. Trying to read him would be relatively easy, but it would also be easy to get lost inside his head.
Can I shapeshift/bodyswap/spit at/step on/etc?: Go for it.
Hugging/Kissing/Other non-violent physical contact: Sure, but he wouldn't get it.
Maim/Murder/Death: Maim away, but he can't really...die.
Cooking: SCIENCE. Well, he probably can, but he doesn't really do it. He doesn't eat all that much and when he does, it's bone fish and other things.
Anything else of note? If you have any questions, just ask away~