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Note: Due to the fact that I only have vague concepts in mind and would like to leave almost everything I can to the artist, I'm just going to put the story name and personality as best I can.

Story: The Bartimaeus Trilogy: Ptolemy's Gate
Personality:

Thoughts on the Forest:
Thoughts of Book Children:
Thoughts on City People:
Posture:
Expression:

History:
Hobbies:
Birthday: September 29th
Favorite Things:
Hated Things:

Story: The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Ptolemy's Gate
Favorite type of Ending:
Favorite Illustration:
Dreams:



((NOTE TO THE ARTIST: All of the below are purely suggestions to start with if you have no idea what to do. Otherwise, the resulting book child doesn't have to be anything like this. Please feel free to go wild and do as you wish, but what I filled out here was only for anyone who doesn't really know this book series or the main characters in them.))

THE BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY - PTOLEMY'S GATE
Age (Appearance Wise): Maybe mature-looking due to the nature of his book content? It includes quite a few uncommonly used words not found in layman's speech such as "...subterranean standards of repartee...", "...scintillating in its wit...", and "...Cormocodran [was] taciturn and brutish...". These come from the mouth of a five-thousand-year old djinn who takes the shape of a young human boy. He and two other main characters of the book all range from the age of 12 to 15, however, so I have no idea what age a book child embodying the spirit of this book would be.
Hair (color and style): ???
Eye color: ???
Skin tone and features: ???
Outfit: Semi custom elements: London government official or noble of the (17th?) century? Wears magical items like amulets, maybe gold earrings? Egyptian + London influences? Story is about an Egyptian djinn who likes to take the form of a young boy (12 or 13) and his London government magician master (about the same age, but acts more arrogant than his years and is an intellectual book-smart prodigy who can memorize things).

Note: Due to the fact that I only have vague concepts in mind and would like to leave almost everything I can to the artist, I'm just going to put the story name and personality as best I can.

Story: The Bartimaeus Trilogy: Ptolemy's Gate
Personality:
Sly Trickster ~ Loves loopholes and subterfuge and thus will often twist the words of those who presume to have authority over said child. Loves to stir up trouble even if the consequences mean punishment for them. Sometimes their tricks or pranks often end up causing him or her more trouble than their intended victims, however. Sometimes the pranks backfire and sometimes this child just isn't satisfied with how it succeeded. Most commonly, though, even they appear to succeed, they cause trouble for both the pranker and the prankee. Most often, both the book child and their victim suffer, either because the victim was someone the book child shouldn't have messed with or because the book child gets in more trouble for setting up the prank than the trouble the victim got into for falling for it, etc.

Proud to a Fault/Stubborn/Arrogant/Vain ~ Does not seem to know when to shut his or her mouth. Almost seems to be a glutton for punishment and will rarely be made to admit when he or she is wrong. Will suffer physical injury even when unnecessary or a misunderstanding could be cleared up with proper communication. Very unwilling to swallow pride or sacrifice any bit of dignity. Does not like compromises.

Defiant/Rebellious/Spiteful/Vengeful ~ This child takes orders from no one and they let everyone know it. If they're given orders, rather than speaking out against them, they're likely to ruin the intentions of the orders in the worst possible way they can conceive and allow the offender to discover the results themselves. Beware upsetting this child, because he or she will carry a grudge for a very long time and will not stop until they have repaid their offender ten fold; no matter how long it takes.

Curious/Nosy/Meddlesome ~ Pokes his or her nose into places where it doesn't necessarily belong. He or she likes to get into other peoples' business when they're bored or have nothing else to do. Sometimes he or she just does it for fun. It seems that despite the risks, and maybe even because of them, this child enjoys investigating abnormalities, mysteries, and coincidences because this child doesn't believe there as such things as coincidences or accidents.

Amoral ~ He or she does not have a conscience. This book child likes to think of themselves as selfish and only looking out for #1, but due to their inability to tell the difference from right and wrong, they will sometimes end up doing kind things for others without meaning to. However, they can just as easily do cruel things on a whim, so it's best not to get on his or her bad side.

(Developmental note: Though s/he starts out amoral, I was hoping that while being among city people and perhaps other book children, s/he will learn to grow a moral consciousness of his or her own without even realizing it or wanting to admit it. Two of the main characters in the book that they embody - one a human boy magician and one a djinn - each play at not having a conscience due to their reputations among their fellow beings. However, in the end, they eventually fight together and for each other despite their differences and at risk to themselves, making it evident that they do, indeed, have consciences. This development was something I had hoped to exhibit in some way in the book child; the growth out of someone selfish into someone selfless.)

Patient ~ Surprisingly enough, this child knows how to wait to get what he or she wants. As long as he or she knows what the result will be in the end, this child does not mind being patient in order to get desired results. Unfortunately, this is part of the reason that said child is such a dangerous person to have bear a grudge against you. He or she will wait as long as they need to to get you back for it, due to his or her spiteful nature. However, just as they bear grudges in their long-term memory, kindnesses and good deeds done to them are just as memorable. What goes around comes around - it just takes time.

Thoughts on the Forest: A curious place what he or she wishes s/he might have stayed in just a little bit longer...if only they hadn't been found by a forest guard and 'herded' toward the Library City. Oh well; it didn't look so interesting anyway. Best ignore and forget it if s/he wants to keep curiosity from making him or her get into trouble trying to find out more about it...
Thoughts of Book Children: Immortal beings like him/herself. How curious. Do the ones who look like children act their apparent age? What about the ones who look like adults? Why does that one appear to have a poofy dress, and why does that one have things in its hair? There are so many stories to be told here, and this book child wants to know each and every one of them. They want to learn as much about themselves as they do about the other book children and their origins in the Paper Forest.
Thoughts on City People: Intriguing and full of mystery! They have stories to tell too, but stories that are different from book childrens'. Their government idea is a bit absurd, and why do they fret and worry about such little things when they only live for so long? They should have fun while they can, like other book children. This 'Fade' sickness seems troubling to them, though...and maybe a bit too friendly for his/her tastes.
Posture: ??? Casual? Sneaky? Proud? I'm not sure. (leaving this up to the artist)
Expression: ??? (No idea. Also leaving this to the artist. XD)

History: ??? (Unknown. This child will start out in the Paper Forest with know known history other than the knowledge of their book content.)
Hobbies: Spying on others, teasing and taunting, drawing, collecting 'treasures' (often just colorful or shiny junk), making up games (that s/he usually has the advantage in) and practicing plays on words (such as "Heads I win, tails you lose".)
Birthday: September 29th
Favorite Things: Being feared, simple meals like bread and cheese, little adventures marked by small discoveries, (hearing about, if not seeing or obtaining) shiny objects and extravagent riches such as golden apples, amethest leaves, fountains of wine, and masquerade balls of silk gowns, feathers, furs, pearls, gems, jewels, and other treasures.
Hated Things: Being liked (at least he/she pretends to hate it), being thought of as 'good' or 'soft' or 'sentimental', being thought of as 'predictable', predictablity in itself, being bored, chores, being bossed around, restrictions, limits, punishments, and consequences.

Story: The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Ptolemy's Gate
Favorite type of Ending: Where the villain wins. Rare, but possible. This book child also like an intriguing struggle leading up to said villain winning, because an easy win is just no fun for anyone. (Death Note? 1984? Megamind...? XD)
Favorite Illustration: This mischevious gargoyle here.
Dreams: To keep all the City People from fading or dying, even naturally, ever. (Not that he/she would ever tell anyone. He/she wouldn't want them to think he/she actually cares about said people. Also, please note that this is a future development that will happen over time and is not something that will immediately come to this book child when s/he first meets the City People or first finds out that they can die. This book child won't see this dream as something of affection more than a simple concept of, "if we book children don't have to die, why do the city people?". At least not at first. Of course, just because they don't see it that way or start out thinking about it that way doesn't mean they won't ultimately have that dream out of love for the city people in the end. While this character holds grudges long term, they also hold good deeds and kindnesses done to them long term too. They might put on the act of helping out soley for the satisfaction of having found the cause behind the Fade, but I think this character is capable of developing beyond just that aspect and may come to have some hidden desires that are more noble or 'nice' than s/he would like anyone else to know about.)



((NOTE TO THE ARTIST: All of the below are purely suggestions to start with if you have no idea what to do. Otherwise, the resulting book child doesn't have to be anything like this. Please feel free to go wild and do as you wish, but what I filled out here was only for anyone who doesn't really know this book series or the main characters in them.))

THE BARTIMAEUS TRILOGY - PTOLEMY'S GATE - Male?
Age (Appearance Wise): Maybe mature-looking due to the nature of his book content? It includes quite a few uncommonly used words not found in layman's speech such as "...subterranean standards of repartee...", "...scintillating in its wit...", and "...Cormocodran [was] taciturn and brutish...". These come from the mouth of a main character, Bartimaeus, who is a five-thousand-year old djinn who takes the shape of a young human boy. He and the other two main characters of the book all range from the age of 12 to 15, however, so I have no idea what age a book child embodying the spirit of this book would be.
Hair (color and style): Um...Egyptian, and black-haired?
Eye color: Slitted pupils? Gold eyes?
Skin tone and features: Tan, egyptian skin tone? Straight posture, prideful? Snarky? Sly? Arogant? Not sure about body type.
Outfit: Semi custom elements: London government official or noble of the (17th?) century? Wears magical items like amulets, maybe gold earrings? Egyptian + London influences? Story is about an Egyptian djinn who likes to take the form of a young boy (12 or 13) and his London government magician master (about the same age, but acts more arrogant than his years and is an intellectual book-smart prodigy who can memorize things).

I have to preface what follows by saying this is my first time giving any sort of comprehensive critique, so if something doesn't help you, or you feel you've explained well enough to suit your purposes, please ignore me. I'm just raising the questions that flitted across my mind when I gave this a read, and some of them may be helpful, while others may very well be pointless nitpicking.

Okay, so, I think you have quite the personality here, male or female, though I noticed I associated the listed characteristics with a male figure pretty quickly. This could possibly be because you seemed to be leaning toward it yourself. Since I'm not familiar with the Trilogy s/he comes from, I found myself reminded of the kind of malevolent spirits that pull pranks and generally make life pretty darn unbearable for anyone who's managed to offend them. My first thought was boggart, though I may have been influenced by adolescent readings of Susan Cooper's version more than what they actually represent. In other words, I really like him/her, and can imagine the gritty ways in which s/he might be played to their potential.

A couple of things stuck out to me, but the biggest was the favorite ending section. After reading personality traits like "spiteful," and finding that "being feared" was among his/her favorite things, it seems sort of jarring for him/her to enjoy a conclusion that changes the status of the antagonist. Generally, a change in that realm brings the antagonist down to a more accommodating and likeable level. While I understand that s/he only pretends to dismiss being liked or disliked, there are few aspects in the rest of the written personality that indicate s/he would want to potentially be reformed. Is it less the idea of restructuring his/her attitude and more the concept of making friends in spite of it?

The stated dream is also a bit of a surprise, since s/he rarely seems to put much stock into the problems of other people. What prompted this sudden urge to prevent the fate of the City People, when all of his/her other aims tend to involve living it up at the expense of others? Does s/he feel a responsibility because of what s/he is? Or is there a deeper, more compelling reason? Could it have to do with his/her determination to investigate the world around them? Or, put another way, is s/he less motivated by the idea of helping out than the satisfaction of having found the cause behind the Fade? Additionally, s/he doesn't want the City People to die of natural causes, either, which offers a whole other barrage of questions. It's a very young, idealistic wish to hope that no one will ever die. I think maybe that deserves to be expanded upon, even if it's better displayed in play rather than in the profile itself.

On that same line of thought, the amoral trait is tricky. If s/he is so focused on his/herself, why would s/he care about the City Folk? Unless selfish reasons are somehow lurking below the surface, it's difficult to reconcile the idea of him/her being devoid of a conscience while wanting to save the lives of those s/he's potentially never met, and may in fact never meet. That element of caring on a City-wide scale sort of dampens the idea the s/he is completely egocentric. It also couldn't quite be excused as an accidental result, like some of his/her other acts of kindness might. It would be one thing if s/he wanted to preserve his/her own life, but something else enters into the equation when s/he wants to save others.

One last, small thing: when you say that his/her pranks result in more self-inflicted trouble than what is extended to the intended victims, do you mean that they sometimes backfire? Or simply that s/he spends so much time setting them up that they are ultimately less fulfilling, even when met with success? Both?

I think that covers everything I saw that made me do a double take or otherwise scratch my head. Hope that wasn't too meandering or useless, since I do tend to ramble if I'm given enough leeway. Regardless, I wish you luck in obtaining your Book Child!

Not a problem! I'm glad to hear it was at least somewhat helpful to you. And I get the Ouran comparison a lot, actually, but thank you.

Honestly, I think the trickster aspect had a lot to do with pointing me toward a masculine character, if only because all of the tricksters I'm familiar with – both in the mythological and in the literary sense – are typically male. That's not to say you couldn't make a feminine character, and it might actually be interesting to see how you incorporate the sex of the Child into the personality you've already shaped. You wouldn't think it would make a huge difference, but sometimes the reactions of those around that character may vary accordingly, which in turn may alter his/her response as well. Also, my biggest hint as to your preference was the "male?" note that you have further down, so it wasn't so much your writing as what I came to the table with and that one little sticking point.

Aw, alright! I do like the idea of the ending, so please don't misunderstand. It just didn't quite fuse together seamlessly with the rest of the profile. If you redo it or compensate in other areas for it, I look forward to seeing what it becomes.

That's totally fine, if that's a goal you want to work toward or incorporate in later. It was just odd when placed against the rest of his/her abrasive ways. But if you've already got a timeline and a bunch of justification behind it, that's great. Putting in some admirable traits doesn't necessarily detract from the façade s/he's constructed.

The inquisitive component and that unwillingness to accept coincidences will work well in his/her favor for that dream scenario, at least from my perspective. Perhaps it could start as that and work its way up to a more benign agenda? You sound like you have it all hashed out, though, so I'll leave you to it. As for my expansion comment, I mainly meant that his/her unwillingness to deal with death in even its most natural form isn't a typical phenomenon among Book Children (at least, not from what I can see), and might stand to be explored a touch more. Obviously, no one is a huge fan of death coming and snatching people up, but usually it's those who have had personal experience with it that come to resent it that much. Was there a trigger for this particular Book Child, or is it really just something s/he decided one day out of the blue? I looked to the history first to see if there was an explanation, but you seem to be doing a fresh start in that area as well.

Got it. And that does make sense, no worries. It's hard to keep a character in a static phase, and we as writers shouldn't want to. I was just curious to see if the traits that weren't quite synched had a purpose behind them, since my first reading of them left me a bit muddled on the matter. I sort of expected from other places in your profile that the air of indifference to the plights of others was something partially constructed instead of truly felt. I imagine it'll be a long, twisty road before s/he can acknowledge that him/herself, and it'll likely be a lot of fun to play with.

Ha, okay. Even the most elaborate plans have their hang ups, and this Child will know that well. If I ever land a character, your boy/gal is more than welcome to spring a few unwieldy traps on him/her, just for the entertainment value. I'm envisioning a lot of smoke and yelling. I would make the obvious blast pun here, but I think we both saw it coming a ways off.

You're really welcome, and I'm happy it wasn't all just drivel that you had to stare at like one of those optical illusion books – cross-eyed and all – to make any sense of what I was saying. Again, good luck with the whole custom thing, and if you have any other questions about my questions, feel free to ask here or even PM me~ I don't bite.

Ah, pardon me, but I did read that post and I am not trying to make a cosplay. This book child does not share the exact same personality as the main character. May I ask why you think it does?

Ah, yes; I agree they're typically male. But there do tend to pop up female tricksters every now and then. XD Take Tinker Bell, for example. Doesn't she count? She played a prank that nearly killed someone - not because she was evil, but out of jealousy. I don't think it can properly be said that she has a conscience. Hehe, as for my 'male?' note lower down, that was mostly because the two main characters of the book are male. However, I am trying very hard not to make this book child like either of them (though they're both very different) nor do I want him/her to be like the third main character, who is female.

This is why I've been trying to leave up most of the stuff to the artist. sweatdrop I would have left the personality to the artist too, if I could, because I really don't want to end up making a copy of a previous character on accident. So far, all I can do is take common traits from each of the main characters and try to combine them into one being.

Oh, no, I understand completely about the ending and I agree! XD It's changed already. Thanks again for pointing that out. It was late and I just wanted to get it done; thus I wasn't thinking straight and I often end up contradicting myself.

*nodnod* Thank you very much, Just reading that bit that we can only change 10% of our characters once they've been approved got me worried, so I thought I might as well put a long-term goal or something they might come to have. ^_^; And I couldn't think of any current, short-term goals either, truth be told.

I really almost have no idea how I'm going to work this out, so thank you for all the tips. XD At least I know someone can see some potential here. As far as the death thing, if Book Children are immortal, wouldn't it be natural for them to question death once they were made aware of its existence? Someone who can live forever wouldn't be fond of the idea of everyone else they know dying around them, would they?

True, though, they probably wouldn't have much personal experience, so there isn't much to connect with that. Maybe s/he knows about it from the text of his/her book, though, because there's a lot of death in there; both meaningless and not-so-meaningless. And yes, I fail with history. I just thought someone who had more experience with death would be more accepting of it rather than wonder why it has to occur. Sure, they might wonder why a loved one was taken from them, but for an immortal book child, they have no emotional ties to cloud their curiosity. At least not at first, unless they grow particularly attached to dying City People. This is probably something that will come with development, like you said, and better displayed through play rather than the profile.

Yeah, thanks for double-checking that. Sometimes I don't even realize that traits aren't synched in the first place, but I guess that's what others' crits are for. XD Thank you for being so through about this. I know a lot of people who wouldn't care. Also, may I ask - do you have a book child or city person of your own? I didn't see a quest for you, so I wondered if you already owned one.

Oh, I look forward to it! Thank you for your offer. XD Your poor future character...Well, who knows. Maybe they might end up being unlikely friends. Petty conflict makes for some fun starts of relationships, whether as friends, enemies, frienemies, or something else. Yay for puns~!

Not at all! Hahaha, though your metaphor is very amusing. And I will be sure to do so. <3 I thank you again for everything!

I'm afraid what you're asking is rather...outside of my control? You're asking me to write a profile for you in this case which runs counter to you creating a profile in the first place. Think of it in these steps:

1- What are the constant themes of the this book, setting, plot, and characterwise.
2- In characters, what do all the characters have in common?
3- How would you condense the book's various aspects into one being?

Separate the main character from the book and look at the book as a whole. I cannot write a profile for you. I can give you the tools, but I can't just hand you a direct rewrite of what you already have.

Would it be possible, at least, to tell me specific parts that you'd like me to change?