APPLICATION » a t a r a x i o n

[coarse]

BASS at ATARAXION

warning: mentions of rape and cannibalism. PLAYER INFORMATION Your Name: Noodles OOC Journal: cupnoodles Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: 20+ Email + IM: shootthamoon at gmail dot com Characters Played at Ataraxion: Miles | scamp and Edyne | meal CHARACTER INFORMATION Name: Joshua King, aka Bass. Canon: Collaborative original verse called Monsters!. Original or Alternate Universe: An AU of an OC. Clarification somewhere down there. Canon Point: The 'Six Years Later' timeline. Number: 066 Setting: In the quiet of the night, the sky tore open and from the holes in the skies monsters began to descend upon Earth. Hungry creatures they were -- feeding upon humans, devouring their flesh, their souls. At first people didn't understand what was going on. Was it God's final wrath? Were they beings from another planet? But then they realized that the monsters under their beds, the monsters in the closet, in the basement, under the stairs, in the dark, the creatures children so wisely told adults about, were very real. Nobody had listened to the children before: leave the lights on, they would say, or the boogieman will catch you. No one believed them until it was too late. People were afraid of sitting in front of a computer in the dark; they dreaded any sound that would make them look over their shoulder, afraid a drool-dripping monster could be waiting there. People were afraid of closing their eyes in the shower shower because they could be there when they opened them again, waiting behind the shower curtain. Some would say the only way to defeat the monsters was to stop believing in them -- but how could you when what you were afraid of was so very real? The only solution was war. Soldiers marched against something nobody quite understood or knew how to get rid of. Then civilians picked up their rifles, their lanterns, their courage, their baseball bats, their crowbars their courage, marching alongside the soldiers in hopes that maybe, just maybe, monsters could be defeated by their union. But that was a foolish thought. Monsters were quite happy to see so many people together, in fact -- so much flesh, so much blood; so much skin to enjoy, mutilate and devour. The Devil in its sulfur throne rejoiced. As Earth slowly turned into a wasteland, humans began to lose hope. Governments collapsed and countries became nothing more than empty landscapes. Despair filled the hearts of humans as monsters continued to be vomited upon Earth. Years later, one very silly man decided to turn to the Devil, begging it to give him the strength to fight the monsters. The Devil said yes, of course it would give humans the power necessary to defeat the monsters that wore their skin -- in exchange, however, his soul would become Hell's property forever, condemned to be a slave of the sulfur for eternity. Soon those that were foolish enough and those who had no hope left began to make a Contract with the Devil in exchange for their souls. There was no turning back from that horrible faith, but the power granted upon them -- the power to protect their families and their loved ones -- was sometimes too much of a temptation to turn away from. As monsters began to die, big momma Calathea from above, the Mother Monster that had vomited her children upon Earth, began to get fed up with the Devil's antics. She didn't like what she saw and her wrath took the lives of the sulfur slaves, making sure their souls would not reach the Sulfur King. She bore sons strong enough to take down entire countries and her daughters grew barren so that no hybrid would come from their womb. Those that escaped her anger kept their mouth tightly shut so that they would live. The Devil did not enjoy Calathea's response. As if to punish her from depriving Hell from the souls that rightfully belonged to it, he sent his own children after hers, anger exploding into venomous bees, spitting acid and bile from its mouth. The monsters grew more powerful each passing day and began to see Earth as a comfortable playground for them, terrorizing humans, killing sulfur slaves and hating the Devil's children. The children from humans and monsters, those that escaped Calathea's killing spree, began to align with either monsters or humans, though most kept themselves in neutral ground to avoid the war. Humans continued to battle against monsters; devils and sulfur slaves began to build cities to be guarded by them, keeping human life inside safely away from monsters. Some humans were not happy with these arrangements. Their revolution began as a hush-hush, but the word spread throughout the world. Rebellion then formed underground, exclusive to humans as any other kind could pose a threat to their secrecy (sulfur slaves to the Devil and hybrids to the Mother Monster) -- although some branches would ally themselves with hybrids. With the revolution came more difficulties and humans turned to faith and to a prophet, Sebastien. Speaking through charades that fed the hopes of those that needed it, he told stories of humans taking the Earth back -- or so the true believers say. Six years after Mother Monster descended upon Earth, she and the Devil vanish. This remains a well kept secret, however -- and neither humans nor hybrids nor sulfur slaves are to find out about it. Only the Devil's children know of the Sulfur King's absence; only the monsters know of Calathea's disappearance. They don't know where they went, why or how they left or if they'll ever come back. | originally written by pizzaboy History: Bass's history begins with the story of his father, a monster called Emeris dwelling in the United States before the invasion took place. Like many of Calathea's children, Emeris would devour and destroy and rape to create more hybrids and spread mother monster's influence like a disease; unlike most of his kin, however, Emeris had the ability to erase and re-shape memories, and for years he took advantage of this power to violate women and eliminate any reminiscence of the fact. One of them was Layla King, taken by him six years before the monsters took over. Layla was oblivious to this trauma for years to come; with the amnesia that had been induced to her she simply assumed that the baby she was now pregnant with belonged to her husband, who raised the boy they'd come to call Joshua as his own. Years later, however, Layla would come to realize that the child was not normal. Eric and Layla King had managed to survive the invasion for years, taking shelter in a city that would come to be guarded by sulfur slaves, men and women that had sold their soul to the Devil in exchange for power to slay monsters, in the country now simply referred to as 'No Man's Land'. Joshua's father became one of them. Joshua was ten years old when he started experiencing strange and overwhelming symptoms that affected both his mental and physical health. At the time his father has become increasingly absent with his involvement in his duties to the Devil, so Layla was left to take care of him by herself. The boy would complain about headaches and then shut himself in his room to 'keep the voices out'. His parents' presence also seemed to affect him, and not even the several trips to the available doctors could help the boy - there were relatively limited resources, after all. It was only with something as simple as meditation that Joshua managed to get some control, and eventually his complaints waned off. While he claimed that his afflictions had gone, he had simply gained enough control to understand he had in fact the ability to hear thoughts. For that he secretly developed this ability, taking careful advantage of it at every chance he could, fully aware that it was far from normal. He started going out more at this point. In his adolescence he got involved in some street groups composed by trouble-starting youths and their older leaders, little more than boys and girls who liked to break the rules to pretend they had control. Many of them aspired to become sulfur slaves and gave each other monikers. Joshua picked up the same ambition and called himself Bass. It seemed that Bass was on a certain path to sell his soul as soon as he gained enough independence. Unfortunately his mother's shrouded past had to catch up with her son sometime, and the sickness that hit him then affected him a lot harder than before. Meditation did little to help - while he didn't complain about headaches again, he seemed to react adversely to heat and crowded places. Bass was becoming increasingly exhausted and impetuous, isolating himself in his room once again. One night he left his parents' house without his mother's notice. When he returned he found her waiting for him, and she found blood all over his mouth, chest and hands, none of which was his. Bass seemed delirious when he broke down and confessed that he'd killed someone and spoke of biting and ripping chunks of meat off until he had completely disfigured his victim. Layla was much too shocked to believe his son, so she simply made the arrangements to cover up the crime and put him in bed. There were no doubts the following day that Bass's physical ailments had vanished, and the two kept the previous night a secret. Neither Bass nor his mother could let it go, however, and suddenly the darkness that Emeris had placed in her memories had begun to lift. Months later, Bass returned to the same cycle of sickness. By this time Layla had rid herself of the denial about her son's true nature and sent him away before he committed another terrible mistake. If he were found, and if they realized that he was a monster hybrid, the young man would surely be slain by the sulfurs. Layla would most likely not survive, either. After an emotional goodbye and rushed preparations, Bass left the city and his life behind. It was anything but an easy transition, having to learn how to deal with being completely on his own, with barely any resources in addition to the monster's hunger that still haunted his body and mind. Once again it was only quenched when he killed, this time attacking a group of travelers on a pilgrimage in the prophet Sebastien's name. Bass learned and grew with time, eventually overcoming the trauma to simply accept and develop what was nothing more than survival instinct, up until the day the skies turned red. Little had changed for the monster Emeris during this time. Emergency was declared when Mother Monster Calathea disappeared, however, so he took it upon himself to find the hybrids he'd spawned to bring them back to strengthen the numbers of a now weakened race. So far he'd managed to gather a considerable amount and tortured or killed off those who had tried to refuse him. Bass was next. This episode was most likely the most traumatic of his life. Bass was 27, still getting accustomed to his nature as a hybrid, taking both big and small steps in reconnecting with other people in his brief passages through unsuspecting groups of civilization. Surviving the encounter with his biological father was a miracle, to say the least - Bass refused to accept him or his intentions, and naturally the monster saw it was only fit to beat his offspring to a pulp and drag him along to his purpose or his death. By luck or by fate, both were ambushed by a group of sulfur slaves led by a man called Levi and Bass managed to escape. Months later he met another of Emeris' hybrid children also on the run, a drugged up precog called Bonnie Carmichael who had had visions of him and gone looking for his help. There was some skepticism at first, but Bass accepted. A subtle but strong bond developed between them after a prolonged period in each other's company, visiting cities, fighting off dangers and strengthening their hold on their powers. For the first time in his life Bass was responsible for keeping someone alive, for the first time since he'd left his past behind he allowed himself to become emotionally involved. Bonnie's power was unstable and made her needy, Bass's unconditional loyalty made him protective and careful. They have been helping each other mutually since, using whatever they can to their advantage and to keep Emeris away. Personality: Bass is strangely neutral about most things exterior to him. While he was set on becoming a sulfur slave in his youth, he now wants nothing to do with the Devil or Calathea's sides and isn't particularly inclined to work against them, either. In a world where religion plays an important part for surviving humans, Bass finds it irrelevant and a delusion. It is his connection to Bonnie as a half-sibling that brought up a protective side to him he had not known before, and the history with his biological father and what he did to his mother - and tried to do to him and Bonnie - that finally gave him a palpable enemy. That aside, Bass is primarily an individualist who won't necessarily refuse interaction with other people, be it to provide some help or to pretend for a while that he can be treated like a normal human being, with all the positive and negative possibilities that entails. There is no question that he places himself as the number one priority (except when it comes to his sibling and/or when his moral compass won't let him get away with it) - it's a less of a hassle to only worry about himself and remain disconnected from those who will very likely turn into his next meal. He trusts his instincts above all else and is not known for hesitating. If and when placed in a situation requiring his cooperation with several parties, Bass would rather follow order than become a leader. Whether he'd speak up against said leader's logic (provided he has true reasons to disagree with it) depends on the level of discretion he wants to maintain. Unlike most of his hybrid kin, Bass is neither haunted by the guilt of taking a human life nor affiliated to those who take on the obligation of eradicating what little dominion they have left. Devouring another person is neither torturous or pleasurable, just a necessity that provides him with temporary relief. Needless to say he's a survivor at heart who does whatever is necessary to keep going and stay alive, including the abuse of his power, even if just to make his mother's sacrifice worth something. Bass has a generally neutral attitude, either easy-going or unapproachable, depending on the situation. People often think of him as indifferent and detached, which in part is true, namely due to his preparation to remain emotionally uninvolved lest he get himself into a bigger mess than he can handle. None of this factors necessarily make Bass wise, just a little more careful. He is more of a fighter than a thinker and definitely more street smart than book smart. He will neither openly antagonize anyone without exceptional provocation, the same way he won't befriend someone without strong reasons to support that decision. He heavily differentiates a friend from an acquaintance, and the former are very, very hard to come by. While Bass is used to being on his own, there have been occasions in which he met and got involved with other people, though these were short-lived encounters. He doesn't particularly care about how other people view him, which can be either seen as confidence or full-out arrogance, but Bass is still draw to physical presence and does manage to establish a superficial, and purely physical connection with a number of people. Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: MONSTER HYBRID All monster hybrids have enhanced strength and reflexes. This does not mean Bass can punch through a wall or disappear in a blink of an eye, but those who do not have any supernatural abilities to match or surpass his own will most likely be overpowered. Bass can break an arm and dodge a punch with more ease than your average (and maybe even exceptional) human, but that's where it ends. While full monsters completely disfigure their human shape to feed, hybrids will only go as far as shifting their mouth's anatomy to facilitate the process. Another physical manifestation of their nature as a hybrid will be their eyes, which can fully change to black when they're in an altered state of mind, closer to their inhuman half. Hybrids can go without feeding on another human for a couple of months on average. While they can try to hold it off by consuming other kinds of flesh, the hunger will eventually catch up with them and affect their psychological and physical health. Bass becomes more temperamental, restless and unfocused, and he will appear to be sick (with sweat, red-rimmed eyes, shortage of breath, the works). It will also affect his coordination which, combined with a shorter temper, will cause frustration and recklessness, particularly about what he says and who he hurts. This is perhaps the only exception to the hybrids' naturally enhanced healing factor, which is in no way fully regenerative, as it would be for a monster. While Bass may recover from any other kind of sickness and heal from a serious wound in a matter of days, he would not be able to regrow a severed limb. TELEPATHY Like full monsters, each hybrid has a unique ability, Bass's being telepathy. It holds some unexplored potential that could be developed in-game. At his canon point, however, Bass can only read a person's active thoughts, select whose thoughts he's hearing and shut them out. He has not yet explored communication through thought and any other invasive capabilities, such as digging through memories, controlling minds, objects or even technology. It is possible that, if the mods will allow it, Bass may come to discover and develop them throughout his stay. As a downside, Bass can tend to lose grasp on his power depending on his physical and mental health and it is entirely possible for him to become overwhelmed by headaches and other consequences that would detriment his ability to function lucidly. As mentioned previously, Bass will absolutely use his ability whenever he deems it necessary. He does maintain a sense of privacy otherwise, and while it is something that would give him a lot of headaches, he now treats it like second-nature to point out who's dangerous and who is getting too close to the truth. (NOTE: There will be permission posts for both the use of his abilities and potential future deaths.) Inventory: hunting knife. Appearance: Jake Gyllenhaal as seen in the movie Source Code. Shaved black hair, thick eyebrows, big blue eyes, long nose and strong jaw. Pale but rough skin and unhealthy lines under his eyes. He stands 1.91 meters (6'3") tall, muscled with broad shoulders. Age: Bass is 32 years old in his current timeline. AU Clarification: Bass... is a total mess of alternate universes! OOCly speaking. He was originally created for another verse called Kings & Queens, in which he serves his 'King' as a 'Knight' in a gangster filled and violence ridden dystopian version of London. In this verse he is the castmate of an OC currently in-game - besiege - and serves an entirely different purpose in a setting that has shaped his life and personality with some changes. This version of Bass maintains the name, appearance and age, but while the one proposed to you in this application is a monster hybrid, his original counterpart is very much human. There is also another version of Bass set in an alternate take of the Monsters! universe, in which Bass is the son of two humans and becomes a sulfur slave without a cause. There exist two more alternates that play with different takes on his telepathic powers: one belonging to 101 Metropolis where he is a very unhappy and untrained telepath teenager; the other being an operative from The Order of American descent who now works for Australia's side. Basically I have a severe AU problem and there is potential for a number of OCs (currently in game or being apped in the future) to recognize his face, even though he is most likely not the Bass (or Joshua) they know! SAMPLES Log Sample: Waking up with bruises was nothing new. That was what he expected when living in a world where everyone, human or otherwise, were trying to get him for a myriad of reasons, hands and teeth and weapons trying to snatch his skin and pull him down so there was one less sharp-toothed hybrid roaming their godforsaken Earth. Bass couldn't blame them; he'd been set on the path to become a sulfur slave and hunt the abomination down until the night he discovered he was one of them. Then all he could do was run or fight back. Being beaten to a pulp was rare and rarely cause for concern, as long as he knew he could survive the fight. If before it had been about just staying alive, now he had something else to lose - his sister. Still a strange word to associate with the girl he kept by his side, needy and constrained by her abilities, almost fully dependent on him and his resolve to keep her safe. Maybe it was a remnant of the affection he'd felt for his mother that had sparked the change in him, but whatever it was, it had made his survival worth something. Being a freak did present itself with some advantages, one of them a body that could heal itself faster than most. And while Bass was a light sleeper, the latent pain was never quite enough to keep him awake anymore. But this would be a different wake. Instead of rain, he was surrounded by fluid; instead of old wood he found metallic walls; instead of dry blood he felt a tube jammed down his throat. No bruises, no cold, no humidity, no noise, no concrete or dirt pressing against his back and leaving marks on his skin. No Bonnie. Comms Sample: [The device clicks on the video recorder to reveal a pale man, tired but fully aware. There's always a sense of restlessness and a weight in his eyes that not even the technology of this ship could rid him of, but his current situation doesn't quite invite a lighthearted mood to begin with. When he speaks the tone is careful and his sentences slow. He's been lost and has tried to use his abilities to make sense of this situation and find out what happened to Bonnie. The latter has offered no results so far.] I need to know what this is. Why we're here. I know that prophet couldn't do this - I know the sulfurs couldn't do this, either. [He doesn't know that for sure, but... there would have been some evidence hidden away in someone's thoughts if that were the case. A deliberate intention to keep his tone calm and collected becomes less subtle as he goes on.] So I need to know what you want, and I need to know what you did to my sister. More importantly, I need to know that she's okay. [A beat. Suddenly he doesn't sound like he's looking to negotiate anymore - not on this particular topic, anyway.] Because if she's not, you're going to be in very, very deep shit. [Having said that, Bass takes on a new expression, brows knitting only slightly, message carrying a much more personal purpose.] Bonnie, if you can see this - just say something. [She should know what he means: Call for me, even if it's just in your thoughts.] I'll find you.

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