- █ █ B A S I C S
█ NAME ▬ (主力安 -- Zhǔ Lì Ān) "Julian" St. Jude
█ AGE ▬ 24.
█ NICKNAME ▬ Jewel. Jules. Julie. Julia. Jude. Judy. Juju. Jujubee. Squid. Inky. Any
█ and all will make him cranky.
█ GENDER ▬ Male.
█ RACE ▬ Ink Mage.
█ ORIENTATION ▬ Bisexual.
█ OCCUPATION ▬ "Reformed" convict. Housekeeper. Waiter. Walking Billboard. Exotic
█ Dancer. Tattoo Removal. Forger. Counterfeiter. Activist.
█ PARTNER ▬ No.
█ STATUS ▬ No.
█ █ A P P E A R A N C E
█ HAIR ▬ Variable [Through Ink.] Typically blue/aqua.
█ EYES ▬ Golden brown.
█ BUILD ▬ Slim, roughly 5'8". He'd say, "elegant." Other people would probably
█ say, "effeminate."
█ TATTOOS ▬ Variable [Through Ink].
█ SCARS ▬ Many, some of which look like teeth marks. He keeps them Inked the
█ color of his skin, so they aren't readily noticeable, but the difference in texture persists.
█ BIRTHMARKS ▬ None, though he can mimic them [Through Ink.]
█ █ P E R S O N A L I T Y
█ THEME SONGS
█ ▬ Cardboard Castles
█ ▬ Come With Me Now
█ ▬ Get Up Outta The Dirt
█ ▬ Get Up
█ ▬ Image Of The Invisible
█ ▬ We Are Winning
█ ▬ Never Let It Die
█ ▬ Goldmine
█ ▬ I Am The Best
█ ▬ Striptease
█ ▬ Kill Your Heroes
█ ▬ Kiss My Sass
█ LIKES
█ ▬ Music he can dance to.
█ ▬ Yoga and exercise. [Endorphins]
█ ▬ Making a difference.
█ DISLIKES
█ ▬ Being treated like a victim.
█ ▬ Being treated like a sleaze.
█ ▬ Being treated like a moron.
█ PERSONALITY TRAITS [ BEFORE PRISON ]
█ ▬ Idealistic and compassionate, to a fault.
█ ▬ Patient, to the point of sainthood.
█ ▬ Precise communicator. Persuasive.
█ ▬ Resourceful, thrifty, always on his grind.
█ ▬ Self-conscious. Modest. Easily embarrassed.
█ ▬ Sees the silver lining of every cloud.
█ PERSONALITY TRAITS [ AFTER PRISON ]
█ ▬ Idealistic and compassionate, to a fault.
█ ▬ Chihuahua. Thinks he's a pit bull.
█ ▬ Big, smart, dirty, cheeky mouth.
█ ▬ Resourceful, thrifty, always on his grind.
█ ▬ Unabashed. Will dance in public.
█ ▬ Pretends past traumas never happened.
█ PERSONALITY TRAITS [ WITH ODIN ]
█ ▬ Hesitant, patient, submissive.
█ ▬ Intelligence under a veneer of passivity.
█ ▬ Communicates through Ink more than speech.
█ ▬ Devoted and protective. Guilt-ridden.
█ ▬ Interprets less severity as kindness.
█ ▬ Grateful. Oddly fond, at times.
█ █ H I S T O R Y
█ BACKGROUND
Julian is the seventh son of a legacy family-- meaning that he comes from a
long line of well-to-do mages. However, the combination of his late birth and
his magical affinity (Ink), placed him relatively low on the family's hierarchy
from the moment of his birth. While his older and more magically distinguished
brothers were being groomed to take over family businesses and manage
family property, it was generally accepted that Julian would-- at best-- make
use of his skills behind a desk somewhere, flash-transcribing ancient docu-
ments for preservation.
The result was that during his younger years, Julian usually felt more at home
in the company of the family's slaves than he did with his own parents or sib-
lings. Over time, he came to appreciate their precision in carrying out tasks,
as well as their dedication to hard work, and often spent time shadowing them
as they cleaned the building, made repairs, or prepared food. It wasn't an ap-
propriate diversion for a young gentleman, but it kept Julian out of the way,
and his father generally hoped that it would give the boy some understanding
of delegation. If nothing else, perhaps Julian would learn how to direct and
manage the family slaves in order to maintain efficiency.
Of course, what happened instead was that Julian's friendships with those
bound to his house started to make him question the basis of slavery in gen-
eral, and he eventually came to see it as a terrible injustice. Knowing that he
would never be able to sway the rest of his family to his mindset, he resolved
to at least live in such a way that he was no longer compelling others to func-
tion as his unwilling servants. In short, he moved out of the family-owned suite
of apartments where he'd spent most of his adolescent life and took a room
down in the city, where he quickly learned that he needed a job if he didn't
want to be living on a family stipend.
In the first two years, he was robbed four times, evicted twice, beaten up half
a dozen times before he learned to carry a knife he'd never have the heart to
use, and had at least one narrow miss where someone tried to slip something
into his drink at a club. He took jobs waiting tables, jobs cleaning flats, jobs
removing tattoos, jobs Inking the logos from companies onto his face and
arms to be a walking advertisement. He delivered packages, and newspapers,
and bad Chinese food. He worked a concession stand once, gas stations
twice, and held on to a retail position for a few months before he realized that
paying the rent on a one-room apartment wasn't why he'd moved down here--
it was only a way for him to stay down here.
The next night, he walked into Haven territory, was promptly handed his
own a**, and had to crawl back out again, grateful that he could manage even
that. A few weeks off to heal, and he did it again, and again, and again, until
finally someone had the presence of mind to ask him whether he'd lost his
damn mind, and whether he knew he was playing Russian roulette. Julian's
response must have been good, although he can't remember now what it was,
since he'd had a concussion at the time. The basic gist was that he wanted to
put his gift to use, and he wanted to use it for people that needed it. Former
slaves who'd gone through the painful process of chip removal still couldn't
hold a legitimate job without documentation, even if they completely changed
their appearance. He could offer them a chance at something that could be
the difference between all those little part-time jobs he was working himself,
and the forced life they were living of crime and violence. He could give them
the right to be people, if they were willing to risk it.
It took another year, working under a couple different forgers (traditionally skil-
led, rather than magically) out of a run-down, rat-infested warehouse, for Ju-
lian to prove himself not only trustworthy, but valuable. His ability to counter-
feit identification papers brought him immense goodwill from certain parts of
the rag-tag group in Haven, and he felt fulfilled knowing that his work was put-
ting people in the position where they could get back to an almost normal life--
even if it would take insane amounts of work. Unfortunately, not all the mem-
bers of Haven were just down-on-their-luck slaves willing to struggle back to-
ward citizenship, and Julian soon found himself talked (and threatened) into
helping this other element of the gang counterfeit currency.
If he had been allowed to work at his own pace, controlling the Ink to forge
each bill individually, things would have likely gone well. However, in an effort
to expedite their fake-cash flow, the gang members insisted that he merely
give the ink the right color and consistency, so that it could then be used in
tandem with their own counterfeit printing plates.. which turned out to be im-
perfect. And naturally, when the law came down on them, it was Julian they
all pointed the finger at, shortening their own sentences or foregoing them
completely because they had provided "vital information" about his criminal
practice. Julian, always one to find the silver on the cloud, was fortunate e-
nough that they chose not to mention what else he'd been forging, otherwise
his year-long sentence might have been much, much worse. All the same,
prison was no cake-walk for someone so unaccustomed to protecting himself.
The first five months of his sentence, Julian did everything he could to end up
in solitary confinement, knowing that the more time he spent among the other
inmates, the more likely he was to be raped or killed outright. But the relative
safety for his body came at the cost of his mind, as he soon realized that the
constant silence and deprivation of contact with others was leading him down
a road he didn't want to explore. Self-harm and paranoia were the hands of
his clock most days, and eventually he stopped picking fights with guards en-
tirely, choosing to be relegated back to the main cell block. In the few days he
spent with his then-cellmate before the other man's release, Julian was beat-
en three times for "taking up too much space", but fortunately the other man
"had his woman waiting" on the outside, and didn't have any interest in using
the mage sexually now that his sentence was close to being over.
It was really only four hours or so after his last cellmate was gone that Odin
was brought in, and Julian's first thought was that this guy was probably going
to kill somebody-- probably him. For one, Odin wasn't some old-but-tough type,
like the last cellmate had been. The werewolf looked strong, and spent time
getting stronger. His silence was intimidating in itself, but it didn't take much
for Julian to realize that there was a temper bubbling away under the surface,
and the mage was still covered in the bruises, cuts, and welts that had come
from getting in his last cellmate's way. Getting off on the wrong foot now could
easily end with Julian in a pinewood box.
So instead, he spent a little time every day giving Odin information about how
the prison's inmates behaved, pointing out who were the suppliers and who
was most violent. Even simple silences were better with the werewolf around,
Julian felt, especially after the weeks he'd spent desperately chasing the safe-
ty of solitary confinement. It was ridiculous to feel any small modicum of peace
or safety inside a prison, but the fact was that he received fewer beatings when
he was standing around Odin, and the mage quickly cultivated a deep grati-
tude for the other man, even if he never mentioned it aloud. For one, it wasn't
so much that the werewolf was actively "protecting" him. There was never a
suggestion to other inmates that the two of them were particularly close. There
were a lot of things that the strawberry blonde just didn't want to talk about,
ever, and Julian learned over time just not to mention them.
Their night-time activities were a verboten topic, of course, during daylight
hours. The first time he'd tried to bring it up was followed by the first time Odin
didn't stand up for him, and Julian has never been sure since whether the rape
was something his cellmate allowed to happen-- like a punishment for speak-
ing out of turn-- or a coincidence, or simply something the werewolf didn't care
about one way or the other. Twice more, in the course of Odin's sentence, he
allowed other men to use Julian, and each time the mage felt more and more
certain that regardless of Odin's own gentleness with him after sex, the were-
wolf only viewed him as property. More often than he'd like to admit, Julian
has wondered if his body was being bartered for something, but there was no
way for him to address the issue, no way to ask the question without putting
himself at risk for worse treatment for reprisal. It's something he both wants
to know-- enough to seek Odin out once his own prison term is done -- and
doesn't want to know. After all, as much as it was never brought up when they
were both on the inside, Julian acknowledges that he did feel something for
the strawberry blonde. Even believes, in some strange way, that he owes Odin
something for the times the other man prevented him from being not just used,
but destroyed, by people who would have mixed mutilation into their assault.
Although he knows it might be a bad idea, Julian wants to be able to see Odin
again, if only to seek answers to the questions he never felt safe asking be-
fore. And maybe to say a lot of things that he was never allowed to say when
they shared a concrete cell.
After prison, Julian is far more likely to take jobs that would have made him
self-conscious before, such as exotic dancing. He has rejected the idea that
what happened to him in prison makes him a victim, and refuses to flinch
away from contact, or cover himself constantly as a means of comforting him-
self-- even if those impulses are there beneath the surface. He does not want
to be defined by the things that have happened to him, and the result is that
he doesn't tell new people in his life much about his past, choosing instead to
come across as boisterous, positive, confident, and sometimes salacious. He
tries to think in terms of how things could have been worse, or how bad ex-
periences have changed him for the better, but realistically, he needs closure.
█ ABILITIES
▬ INKWELL
Julian is a bit odd in his physical construction, in that his blood is pretty much
ink. Cut him, and he'll bleed, but it won't necessarily be red, and that leads to
the question of whether it's actually blood at all. As a result, bacteria and viruses
that live in blood just can't take hold in Julian's body. However, substances
that are carried by the bloodstream and otherwise affect organs like the
brain or heart are fair game.
▬ INK [CHAMELEON]
Through extremely adept manipulation, Julian can suffuse his hair or the
surface of his skin with the internal pigment, causing it to change color or
manifest designs of his choosing (such as tattoos, false birthmarks, "makeup",
or even business logos). This gives him an upper hand when it comes to
concealing or changing his appearance. However, he is incapable of altering
anything else at will, so people who are familiar with his build/eyes/facial
features are less likely to be fooled.
▬ INK [WETWORK]
Julian is capable of controlling the movement of wet ink (whether his own or-
ganic ink, or synthetic ink), and can use this ability in several ways. If there is
enough wet ink present (or if he's able to cut himself to free his internal supply)
Julian has been known to project it at others as a way of blinding them while
he escapes ( hence "Squid" ). He is also able to create works of art through ink
painting and calligraphy, though these are typically counterfeits, rather than
pieces of personal expression. In rare cases, he may force his organic Ink
through the skin of others, giving them a "tattoo" which is reactive to his power.
In this way, he can send messages to the recipient, although he cannot receive
a reply in the same fashion. In addition, it is extremely difficult to alter the Ink
at a distance over mile, and the further away the recipient is the more it
will take out of Julian. Not to mention that moving the Ink in the first place is
painful to the recipient, akin to having a lit cigarette dragged across the skin.
▬ INK [BLOTTING]
Julian can remove ink from the skin of others, and sometimes gains employ-
ment doing tattoo removal, since his process is less time consuming than go-
ing under a laser, and leaves no visible scarring. Unfortunately, it's not a med-
ically approved treatment, it's extremely painful, and Julian gets a little bit ill
every time he puts himself through the process-- likely because the ink feeds
into his own organic supply and has to be filtered by his body. It's likely that
Julian could remove ink from paper, as well, but doing so has never been im-
portant enough to justify the headache and fever that result from his using the
ability.
▬ FORGERY
If he's seen an example of what he's supposed to be faking, Julian can prob-
ably manage it. Signatures, government paperwork, currency, bonds, bills,
whatever. He has connections who are almost as capable as he is, whom he
has relied on in the past for counterfeit holostrips, seals, serial codes, and etc,
but his work has primarily been in the area of providing "legal" documentation
for escaped slaves who wish to rejoin civilian life. ..Except for that time he got
duped into providing just the right type of ink for an outfit who had counterfeited
plates for currency. His ink had been a perfect gradient, identical to the bills in
question. Unfortunately, their plates hadn't been quite so good.
▬PATRON SAINT OF LOST CAUSES
Julian has vague connections with Haven, having provided some of its mem-
bers with new identification, allowing them to move through the city with a
small measure of "legitimacy." Although not a slave himself, Julian has a
strong sympathy for the plight of Slaves in Saxon City-- both legal and illegal--
and has been known to do free "artwork" for them (mostly in the area of ident-
ification papers, birth certificates, death certificates, proof of address, proof of
employment.) This has earned him some leeway with Haven, and he is a bit
more safe in their territory than the average pedestrian.
█ EXTRA
This character is being set up in response to a prompt for a former cellmate
for Lyrca's character, Odin. If this character is acceptable to her, his history
will reflect that, even though he won't be used for some time, but if not, he'll
still be for general use (in which case, ignore spoilers in his history, as they
will be removed.)
