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 Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:02 pm
Ah, what the heck, I'll give this a shot.
Now then, let's see...
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:08 pm
Introducing...
Name: Virgil Penland
Nicknames: None that anyone will call him to his face.
Title: The Rubber Man
Age: 34
Gender: Male
World: A (1930's England)
Talent: Contortionist
Other Talents: He has a History degree from Cambridge and won’t let anyone forget it.
Likes: Reading, quiet places, the sound of his own voice, expensive things, acting superior, disturbing people, having his dignity.
Dislikes: Uneducated people, anyone he perceives to be low class, getting dirty, knowing he actually has no dignity left.
Height: 6’8”
Build: Thin and wiry with long limbs that are hard to tailor for.
Race/Nationality: Caucasian/English
Hair: Black, neatly trimmed
Eyes: Brown (wears wire rimmed glasses)
Skin Tone: Pale
Appearance: Virgil is a very tall, thin man. At 6'8" he not only towers over most people, but looks as though he was involved in a terrible accident with a taffy puller. Rather than carry himself with the apologetic stoop adopted by many of the exceptionally tall, Virgil carries himself erect. His height makes it that much easier to turn his nose up at people… to hold himself above everyone, you might even say. Virgil is not what many people would consider handsome, his facial features are too harsh and arrogant for that. He wears wire rimmed glasses that are always slipping down his hawkish nose. He’s not exactly blind without his glasses, but things are considerably fuzzier. His black hair and brown eyes are sign of the Italian blood somewhere in his family tree, though the only thing one can blame his pale skin on are countless days spent inside reading. Virgil goes to great lengths to try and appear respectable no matter what he does. He is rarely seen out of a suit and tie, but if you’re very lucky you might find him sans suit jacket or, if he’s feeling particularly daring, with his sleeves rolled up.
Performance Attire: It's rather embarrassing that performing requires something formfitting, but if that's what it takes... Virgil won't stoop to something resembling a woman's bathing suits, instead he would opt more for something along the lines of a full leotard. Black, perhaps with a vine pattern. He'd have to remove his classes for the performance, but it's not as though he has to see clearly to pull his legs over his shoulders, is it?
Personality: Virgil doesn’t see himself as a jerk, he sees himself as a man who has suffered a great deal more than he ever deserved. Now if only everyone else could recognize that. He’s even more bitter than he’s been forced to make use of his rather unusual talent to make a living. He’s an educated man! He shouldn’t have to lower himself to putting his foot behind his head for the amusement of others! But he does, because if he doesn’t swallow his pride he’ll starve. He tries to compensate for what he’s been reduced to by maintaining an air of superiority and launching into completely uncalled for lectures on anything he’s even remotely knowledgeable about. Despite all his airs, Virgil is easily cowed. All someone has to do is tell him to shut up and go do something and he’ll slink off to comply. He’ll mutter as he does such, but he rarely is able to muster the resolve to put up a fight. There are times when Virgil’s otherwise prickly demeanor backfires on him, and he’s left feeling lonely and isolated… when that happens he makes half-hearted attempts to make friends, but it’s hard to keep himself from being condescending, even with people he likes.
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:32 pm
History
As the son of the head of a successful publishing company, Virgil was born into a privileged life. They were considered New Money amongst the London elite, yes, but the important thing was they had money- and lots of it. Unfortunately, Virgil was born second. His elder brother Richard was the one who stood to inherit everything. Virgil was never left wanting anything… except for all that his brother was promised. He got everything he wanted, he was provided with the finest clothes, the best education, and yet he still saw that as scraps compared to all the attention Richard had as successor to his father’s publishing throne.
Virgil first discovered his uncanny flexibility when he was still a small boy, first by impressing his school friends by squeezing through the iron fence at school. He was always a thin and gangly boy, he was just making the most of it. They thought it was brilliant, so naturally Virgil thought it would be an excellent way to draw his parent’s attention off Richard. The first time he demonstrated how far he could bend his leg his mother fainted and his father was infuriated. That sort of thing was not only unnatural, it was grossly improper. They took him to doctors to try and see what was wrong with him, but they were of conflicting opinions. Some said he was baffled, others said he might have a condition known as Marfan syndrome. That last diagnosis was right, given his height and eloganted limbs, but after so many conflicting his opinions his father wasn't willing to accept any of them.
All Father could do, then, was forbid Virgil from ever demonstrating his talent in public. The things people would say! It would disgrace the family. Richard was keen to hold this over Virgil for the rest of the years at home together. Virgil, meanwhile, could only shift his attention towards his studies. He had accepted that Richard would always be the favorite, that when Father finally shuffled off the mortal coil he would get everything. All he could do, then was try and make something for himself… and he certainly wasn’t going to go about that by playing up his role as a freak. Even so, Virgil couldn’t completely forsake his odd talent. When he was in private he read while resting his head on his backside- it was comfortable, in any case. It was easy enough to listen for the sound of approaching footsteps to know when to uncurl, and luckily enough he was never caught at it.
It came as no surprise when Virgil was accepted into Cambridge. The family had the money and he had the skill, and once he was away from his family he fell back to twisting himself into bizarre shapes for the amusement of schoolmates. The only difference from his days doing it as a boy was there was often quite a lot of drinking as a prelude to the demonstrations. With his education complete, Virgil was ready to set out into the world and make a name for himself… But he really should have chosen a more profitable field than history to go into. The best he could hope for was teaching, which his father simply would not allow. The family still had an image to maintain, of course. Once again Virgil caved under the pressure, and so the next few years of his life was spent living off the allowance he was giving. He made a few idle attempts at writing a book, but he was never able to hold interest in any one culture or time period for very long. When his father died and Richard got everything as promised, his older brother graciously gave him the company’s New York office to manage… It was, of course, just to get Virgil under his thumb, as with Father gone he had no one else to turn to for money. New York was not without its charms, but Virgil still longed for home. He never got the chance to show how terrible he could be at running a business, as the stock market crash wiped the Penland Publishing Company out along with many others.
The shockwaves were felt across the pond, and his brother hung himself in the attic rather than face trying to rebuild the company from the start. It was a terrible tragedy, but with the family ruined Virgil no longer had any obligation to keep from embarrassing them. He remained in America, he got a job teaching college history… and he hated it. The students were idiotic brats who couldn’t so much as memorize a single date and gun point, and even if the Depression wasn’t on Virgil’s earnings as a professor were too meager to provided a life anywhere near as comfortable as he was used to. Worse than that, no one appreciated him as a teacher. It wasn’t fair, the one thing he was good at, and it did nothing for him…
But there was one other thing. He had his flexibility, but Virgil couldn’t quite lower himself to using his silly little talent for amusing anyone but his friends down at the pub. Getting sacked for poor treatment of students was all the motivation he needed to step out and use the only other talent he had. That was it. He had no money left, all his nice clothes were quickly growing threadbare, it was extremely doubtful he’d find employment at anything better than a grammar school, a notion even more unpleasant than the only other alternative he could think of… The circus. How embarrassing.
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:50 pm
A Real Class Act...
Stage One: Given the choice of hauling things around and dealing with the public... Virgil finds both distasteful, but he'll go with the latter. He can put on a civil, personable air if he has to. He just has to think of himself as being in the middle of a party where everyone is a boor. Smile, nod, act like he cares, and hand out fliers. If he has to be a barker, then damnest he'll be the classiest one around, but he's not going anywhere near anything resembling manual labor... Unless someone browbeats him into it, granted. He knows his options are severely limited, so the last thing he wants is to screw things up.
While Virgil tends to sit around in positions that look like they should be very uncomfortable, he typically only shows off if he's had a few drinks... Or if a pretty lady asks nicely... Or if someone presses him enough. Alright so he says he doesn't give free freak shows, but it's really very easy to talk him into it.
Stage Two: Ah, performing... The lights, the noise, the writhing around and pulling himself into impossible positions for the amusement for others. Virgil undoubtedly will wonder why he ever considered allowing himself to stoop to this, but he might as well make use of his talents. Once they're chanting his name and his ego is sufficiently inflated, it'll all be worth it... He might even be able to forget he's technically a freak, an educated freak, but a freak nonetheless.
Stage Three: Stardom! And oh how it will go to his head. It's going to take a bit of work, as while Virgil has the flexibility he'll need to develop the strength necessary to do truly amazing and outlandish feats. Once he's there, however, he'll go to any lengths to protect his status, he might have even developed enough of a backbone (or ego) to keep from being pushed around by others. Granted, to keep the spotlight he'll have to keep pushing the envelope, but his whole act is about being flexible, isn't it? The more he practices, the more outlandish shapes he can twist himself into. If he goes too far... Well, they'll still remember him, won't they?
Stage Four: One can only dream...
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:49 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:52 pm
I think that about does it to start with. I'll continue tweaking as the mood strikes though.
I'm also open for critique.
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:22 pm
Hey! I know you! mrgreen
It looks like a great idea to me...it's cool that you have a character that uses a 'disease' to his advantage. Sounds good. *thumbs up* Not to mention he'd be fun to roleplay with. heart
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:59 pm
Looks good!
There are a lot of contortionists in the works, but you're the first one to find a medicinal reason, really. He looks like he'd be a fun character to RP as/with, too! We need a distinguished gentleman.
There are a lot of negative sides of Marfan Syndrome, as well, which you should take into account.
1) You seem to have taken into account the high rate of myopia by making him need glasses.
2) Heart failure, usually involving aortic aneurysms, are the most prevalent cause of early death of the disorder. Heavy exertion/extreme stress can lead to aggravation of the problem.
3) Spinal problems, including scolliosis and dural ecstasia, which can cause headaches and such.
Maybe he's just gotten extremely lucky, but it's annoying when a character has a disease and none of the symptoms. (For example, an epileptic who never has seizures, a social butterfly the player claims to be autistic, etc.)
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:37 pm
The associated heart condition is something I've thought about, but I'm not sure what the best way to work that in would be... other than, say, colllapsing in the middle of an act, which is tempting.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:45 am
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:45 pm
Holy hell, it's been a while, hasn't it?
Time to perform thread necromancy, then.
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