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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:41 pm
Name: Kellan Ivory DeVille
Nickname: He has none
Age: 18
Birthday: June 9th
Sign: Gemini
Gemstone: Alexandrite
Blood Type: AB-
Fav. Food: Anything rich in flavor but he’s especially fond of traditional Southern Cooking and pecan pie
Hated Food: “American” cuisine like hamburgers and hotdogs. YUCK
School: Azure Valley Academy
Hobbies:
Playing the Piano – Music speaks to Kellan in a way people do not. He’s always been attracted to it and the only instrument they have in the penthouse is the upright piano. He begged for lessons as a child and now plays rather beautifully. He can sing to accompany himself but never will in front of other people, oh my no!
Composition – This includes musical composition but is not limited to it. Kellan likes to write when the mood strikes him about nearly everything including fiction and essays. He’s written some biting diatribes about his rich Southern family as well over the years. Some of these compositions are scattered across the internet and he keeps an anonymous blog that's gathered quite a following. He tries to post in it at least once a day.
Organic Chemistry/Botany – Kellan is fascinated by plants and what they can do to people. He studies them when he can, dabbling in making organic compounds to varying effects. If he ever gets a job he might consider making this his career. Since he lives in a penthouse he grows what he can on the roof of his building but mostly must stick to the gardens at school. He especially likes experimenting by making his own perfume and cologne.
Virtues:
Organized – Kellan is a very clinical and somewhat anally compulsive person. He must know where everything is. Because of this he is a good person for organizing things. He takes amazing notes that he will (sometimes) let people borrow for classes. All of his belongings are organized in tidy places just for them and he is very good about keeping dates and times straight (though to be fair when he does not attend a function for someone he has made the conscious decision not to go. He did not forget - see self centered). He can explain to you point by point how he feels and why he's upset. He doesn't mind telling you if you upset him and though he's not cruel about it (or, not intentionally, but his callousness can come in to play) he is rather matter of fact and clinical about his reasoning. You certainly won't leave the conversation confused about anything he's explaining.
Genuine – Kellan is very genuine. No matter what he says you can be absolutely certain he means it. He is not the type of person to say things in the heat of the moment that he doesn't fully believe. He's also very genuine in his manner. He won't pretend to be anything other than who he is and won't expect anyone else to, either. He especially will be forthright with how he feels about any person, place, or situation even if his opinion may be unpopular.
Loyal – If you manage to prove yourself to him, and this a huge if, Kellan will be loyal to you for the rest of his days. Though it takes some doing once past his wall and his mistrust it will be almost impossible to lose it. Even if the evidence is almost overwhelming against you Kellan will believe in you. That's just the sort of person he is. He'll do whatever he can to help once he knows he can count on you.
Confident - When he is doing something he knows and loves, like playing piano or creating a new fragrance, Kellan is very confident. He knows just what he's doing and how to go about it. He cannot be shaken by anything: hecklers, doubts, or even harsh words. When he is doing something he loves he is the king of his own world. Even if he's not doing something he loves (with the exception of public speaking. That just terrifies him) he will tackle it with an air of confidence. He won't pay attention to naysayers then, either, because they don't know him and they don't care about him so why should he listen to what they think?
Flaws:
Socially Inept – Kellan is painfully shy because he grew up alone. He almost never approaches someone first and if approached he very well might blush or be struck silent. He simply does not know how to start getting to know people. When introduced he can mumble his way through it but no more than that. When pushed into conversation he becomes incomprehensible and will find the quickest way to leave. The only exception to this seems to be when addressing other Negaverse agents, especially of higher rank than him because he *can't* avoid talking to them. This also extends to ANY authority figure in his life including, but only reluctantly, his parents.
Distrustful – Kellan is also naturally mistrustful of people and of their motives. If they’re not around him for his money then he believes they will only be bound to leave him in the end. He does not trust easily or well and fighting to get into that trust will take a lot of energy and time and most people give up.
Self Involved – Not in the conceited sort of way but in a general way. Being mostly by himself he is content to be by himself. Almost everything he does is a solitary activity and he's used to that. He may have promised to meet you at four but if he’s wrapped up in something else he won’t make it. His own life comes first. Besides, you’re not really his friend now are you?
Callous – Bad things happen in life, right? So why should it bother him? Your grandma just died? That sucks but it’s a part of life. Some people live and some people die. Some people are rich and some are poor. That’s just how it is. There’s no reason to cry about it. As you might imagine, this attitude does not work well around other people - especially anyone in the opposite of himself (poor, grieving, or sympathetic people). He is not shy about this attitude, however, and will not listen to anyone trying to scold him or explain that he cannot talk/act/feel that way. He knows that's how the world is. The rest are just naive.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: Very large, very innocent aqua blue eyes.
Hair: Brown, clean cut
Face: Oval shaped with very chiseled aristocratic features.
Clothes: Kellan is a label whore but not really by choice. It's simply all he knows. In fact, what's Walmart, anyway? So long as they look like they're in the classic style and fit him well you can put him in almost anything. Though, he doesn't wear shorts all that often. I'd try the classic sweater over a collared shirt with jeans or slacks.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:19 am
Negaverse Alias: Lieutenant Alexandrite
Challenge: Death is a part of life
Uniform:
Top -- **See Comments Bottoms -- Skirt? Pants? Shorts? Culottes? Gloves -- yes! Black, if you please Belt -- Yes, please, but probably the tying cloth kind like what they used to hang a sword from back in the day Shoes -- Boots, sleek black ones Accessories -- What kind?
**Colorist - go nuts! The only thing to remember is that Kellan is from old French Money and will continue to wear clothes that look expensive and are tailored to his body. He prefers deep, rich colors. Dark brown, maroon, and navy blue are among his favorites...and classic colors all. Preference - navy with embellishments of silver or deep red. Kellan likes things fitted. Think old French military with similar colors and fashion. No hats, pretty please.
Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3 Reference 4 Reference 5
Weapon -- Lieutenant - a stick. No, really, a stick.
Captain - an ornate wooden staff wrapped with soft leather in the middle and carved with vines with an Alexandrite stone (golf ball sized) topping it.
General - a metal staff with all of the same embellishments as before except the stone is now the size of an apple and wire vines are wrapped around the pommel gem to do more damage
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:20 am
Kellan's Family:
Imriel DeVille, Father, 43 - Imriel comes from a long line of French money extending the whole way through France. They have been at Court in the early centuries and still retain an ancestral home in Versailles. They migrated to the new world during the seventeen hundreds and settled the DeVille Plantation in Georgia. It is still family owned. In the modern world Imriel is a well respected attorney specializing in corporate law. He takes most of his cases away from Destiny City and deals with them in his office building downtown.
Helen Seymour-DeVille, Mother, 40 - Related distantly to the one time Queen Jane Seymour, Helen likewise comes from old money, only hers is the English kind. She was born in England but moved to Boston with her parents when she was ten and lived there until she married. Her family went back overseas once George had a stroke. Though she didn't need to work Helen got into interior decorating when she was young and set herself up as one of the best in the city almost the moment they arrived. They live in an immaculate penthouse downtown that's perfectly decorated - his mother's calling card.
Antoinette DeVille, Grandmother, 67 - Retired to the family home in Marseilles when her husband died, leaving the plantation to her son, Imriel. Her husband, Armand, left Kellan his sizable trust fund to mature only once his parents die. He had access to a controlled portion of it a year in how own bank account and it will also pay for his college and living expenses once he graduates. In fact, all the family money will go to Kellan until another heir is born.
Jane Seymour, Grandmother, 59 - Kellan's maternal grandmother lives in Bath, England and is, quite possibly, the only good influence in his life. He's only seen her three times in his entire life but he loves her dearly. She seems to be the only one not affected by the family money's influence and married for love.
George Seymour, Grandfather, 67 - The Seymour's have settled in Bath and London and a portion of them in Boston in the early sixteen hundreds. They had a lumber supplier in Boston that finally sold after the civil war but did great business with the DeVille's. George lives with his wife, Jane, in Bath, now, but a stroke has left him quite debilitated and he must be cared for. This does not allow him or Jane to travel anywhere and George cannot endure company for long periods of time.
Kellan's History:
The DeVille Plantation is nestled in the heart of Dixie, on the coast of the Atlantic on the outskirts of Savannah. It was the home Armand's family built in the late seventeen hundreds when they came over to the new world in search of a way to expand their fortunes. It is where Imriel grew up. His family did a lot of business with Helen's and this family tie has extended over two hundred years. When Imriel took over the plantation in the late eighties he kept in touch with George in Boston.
Helen and Imriel married in the fall of 1990 in a marriage all but arranged in the traditional sense. It made sense financially, two wealthy families united by blood and bond. Though they spanned different states the old money names were well known to one another and, after all, Helen and Imriel were unmarried and near enough to the same age. They met in the middle in Destiny City and settled down. The only thing that kept this from being a truly great marriage was that his parents couldn't stand one another. In fact, Helen was in love with someone else. However, they both had fortunes to lose, though, and chose civil obedience. Kellan was born nearly four years later and both sides considered their obligations to the marriage fulfilled.
No one in Kellan's family shows much affection. In fact, he has never seen his parents show affection to one another in a single instance in his entire life. They spend holidays together in solemn silence for as long as it takes to finish a celebratory meal or open presents. Once that is finished both parents move to separate rooms. They have separate bedrooms, keep separate hours, and have entirely separate lives.
Kellan was raised by a steady succession of nannies through his childhood beginning with Emma and ending with Mildred when he was fourteen years old. None of his nannies lasted longer than a year because his father either bedded them or attempted to and those he didn't try to have relations with with were found unworthy (here meaning, not attractive enough to screw) and were dismissed. As you might imagine, this had quite an impact on Kellan and he learned two very important lessons early in life: you cannot count on anyone but yourself and anyone you love will probably leave you.
Kellan discovered his love of music thanks to Enid, who lasted the longest in the DeVille household at eleven months, 16 days. His mother brought home an upright piano for the family room to compliment the dark wallpaper and Enid was a talented pianist. She used to play for Kellan and taught him how to play. Once Kellan discovered that he was lost to it and developed his only lasting relationship to date - his love of music.
Though Kellan is the quintessential "poor rich boy" he came by his faults and his attitude honestly. His formative years were so unstable with personal relationships that he grew up rather intelligent but there was nothing formed to deal with relationships or other people. So he learned to get by for himself. He learned to soothe himself, play by himself, and depend only upon himself at a very young age. By the time he reached school age the damage had been done and he didn't bother to, nor care to, make friends.
To date Kellan is much the same as he ever was. His hobbies are mostly singular and he doesn't have to work but if he does he may consider starting his own custom line of fragrances due to his love of organic chemistry and botany.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:29 pm
Ok, I'd like to address the rumors/concerns regarding my quest for a Nega: Kellan/Lt. Alexandrite.
Kellan is meant to be a very broken person as a civilian and has a very defined progression and growth pattern that he must follow. He was made for Sleet's character, Alexandre/Benitoite and a lot of his growth will stem from that relationship. Kellan was meant to harden Benitoite and Benitoite in turn was supposed to soften Alexandrite. Since most of you are not privy to my conversations on AIM with Sleet I'm not surprised you didn't know this.
While killing chibis and guardian cats is something he will be VERY passionate about during his career obviously he will not come out of the gate doing it. His first weapon is a stick and while he may get in a stinging slap with it every so often it won't be useful. As I commented to Ivy in his quest Kellan's lieutenant phase will be spent mostly gathering energy and being forced to speak to whosoever is a higher rank than he is/authority figure. He will also probably have a lot of battles with senshi and will get his a** kicked. A stick is not a means of defense. I tend to plan things WELL in advance for my characters and I've spent the better part of the last 4 months planning Kellan and plotting with Sleet.
Why chibis - that seems to be a source of great concern among you. I'd like to say first that there is a precedent in killing chibis. They're soldiers in a war. You can't allow them to be created and alright without making violence against them alright, too. Not to mention the fact that there is constant violence against sixteen year olds. If the youngest senshi can be 14 what's the difference to 12? It sounds to me like wanting your cake and eating it to.
But Kellan recognizes that he's screwed up. He recognizes that he's cold and harsh and a jerk and until Alexandre comes along he will have never felt the need to be anything else. He realizes he is this way because he grew up and was on his own WAY too fast for any child. But his transition to a gentler Kellan/Alexandrite will be SLOW as will their developing relationship. In the meantime he's also ambitious and prone to being cruel. Once he recognizes that there are children in this war he will find them to be in poor taste on the part of the white moon and he will consider it an act of compassion to save them from turning out anything at all like him. In his eyes, regrettably, he can't take them out of this war any way but killing them. But this won't become his raison detre until he's at least in the latter stages of Captain moving on to General.
And, it happens to be something he and Benitoite agree upon and since Beni can't/won't kill children Alexandrite will feel the urge to make up where his partner lacks leaving the cause of this lapse in taste and judgment (the cats that awaken them) to his beloved. But, again, this probably won't happen until they are both much higher in rank so there won't be a lot of people to tell them no. And yes, they will probably get hurt A LOT. But I'm ok with that because how else will he grow and learn? And if he finds more people like them to join their cause, so be it.
As a personal note I would like to invite anyone that has a concern to bring it to me directly and I vow to do the same. While I can be defensive and stubborn usually I calm down and get over it and address the legitimate concerns and questions I get. I love my characters and I'd like to think that so far I've been a positive presence in thread and in shop by being kind to everyone and trying to come up with fun things to do and adding input/donating to other ideas that are worth while. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I may be flawed but I do observe and I do listen and I don't want anyone to ever feel like they can't come to me because something I've done or said bothers them. I'm big enough to deal with my mistakes if people bring them to me. Maybe not right away but hey, I'm only human and I own my flaws.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:30 pm
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:26 pm
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:38 pm
Socially Inept –
Leaving the big crits to heavy hitters that actually know what they're doing, this aspect stood out to me not as something inappropriate (because hey, there are shy people in the world), but as something that is going to be difficult.
Shy characters in a game that is by nature dependent on social give and take is hard enough. People so shy they are silent or actively seek escape means that its going to hard AND incredibly frustrating for the other people in a role-play to keep the scene moving or progressing at all.
All this to say that I'm curious what coping mechanisms you've got planned as a player, not as the character, to make this work in the system?
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:45 pm
Ivynian Socially Inept –Leaving the big crits to heavy hitters that actually know what they're doing, this aspect stood out to me not as something inappropriate (because hey, there are shy people in the world), but as something that is going to be difficult. Shy characters in a game that is by nature dependent on social give and take is hard enough. People so shy they are silent or actively seek escape means that its going to hard AND incredibly frustrating for the other people in a role-play to keep the scene moving or progressing at all. All this to say that I'm curious what coping mechanisms you've got planned as a player, not as the character, to make this work in the system? That's sort of the point. I gave Kellan this HUGE advantage of being rich but his trade off is that he's meant to be broken. He's meant to be a singular and socially debilitated character with that callous heart-of-stone mentality. His only saving grace is being in the Negaverse. While he has the option of ignoring members of the same rank to save his embarrassment he CANNOT ignore a higher ranking member of Chaos. It's a small window in but still a way to cope. Not to mention that once he becomes comfortable with any one member of the Negaverse his social circle will become larger by meeting their trusted group, etc. It will be a ripple effect but it will be possible to get to Kellan. You just might have to be in uniform to do it. Largely he will spend time energy collecting so I expect the bulk of his beginning RP to be battles or on duty. I'm also not sure I stated it specifically but Kellan also gets dragged to social events by his parents OFTEN. This is a good way to bump into him. His favorite past time is spending time in the bathroom collecting energy so civilians can get into the action, too. While in uniform Kellan knows he is masked and will be more open with himself because he is not himself. He is Lt. Alexandrite and no one knows who he really is. Besides, any civilian he meets as a Lieutenant is a fleeting contact, anyway.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:05 pm
I would expand on "Callous" a little more. You have his feelings down, but not much else. How does he respond when people try to tell him things that he doesn't want to hear? How do people react to his reaction?
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:10 pm
Blue Eyed Melloon I would expand on "Callous" a little more. You have his feelings down, but not much else. How does he respond when people try to tell him things that he doesn't want to hear? How do people react to his reaction? Thanks Melons! Edited!
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:36 pm
I like this character. He's pretty balanced and I love the bio. It's vey in depth. Anyway, just a couple things...
Romantic- Doesn't really seem like a virtue to me. The only people who are going to see this are potential romantic interests. Nobody else is really going to care, some guys might even look down on him for this. If you could make it read more like he's sensitive or good at communication about certain things it would be better.
Wicked sense of Humor- Seems slightly out of place. I see where you're going with it, so it's fine. Maybe expand a little on the types of jokes he tells?
Loyal/distrustful- Can you add some examples of exceptions? How can someone get him to trust them? How can his trust be broken?
Socially inept clashes a little with sense of humor. If he's so great with friends, what's so scary about strangers?
Hope this helps!
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:55 pm
stari_maga Romantic- Doesn't really seem like a virtue to me. The only people who are going to see this are potential romantic interests. Nobody else is really going to care, some guys might even look down on him for this. If you could make it read more like he's sensitive or good at communication about certain things it would be better. You're right. Thank you! Quote: Wicked sense of Humor- Seems slightly out of place. I see where you're going with it, so it's fine. Maybe expand a little on the types of jokes he tells? sure! will do! Quote: Loyal/distrustful- Can you add some examples of exceptions? How can someone get him to trust them? How can his trust be broken? Kellan is kind of beautifully broken. He doesn't actually have any friends currently and the reason he distrusts people is that they always leave him so if he stays disappointed from the start no one can get close to him to hurt him. However, that isn't to say that if someone sticks around long enough that he couldn't develop love and trust for them. It just takes work. Kellan will be edited as he grows in RP. And, short of stabbing him, once earned his trust can't be broken. Which is why it takes nearly an act of God to earn it. Make sense? Quote: Socially inept clashes a little with sense of humor. If he's so great with friends, what's so scary about strangers? His bio takes care of this question. Having a good sense of observation and timing doesn't actually affect how you interact with people. Just because he has the sense of humor doesn't mean he often exercises it unless it's to a point.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 5:58 pm
"Effective Comunicator" does not work well with "Socially Inept." Painfully shy people usually have a really hard time communicating their ideas because they're usually afraid of other people's judgement, or something like that. And really..just reading the two there is so much that clashes that I really thin you need to chose one or the other - is he confident in himself and his emotions, or shy and afraid of communicating? You even say inside your 'Callous' flaw that he ISN'T shy about his attitude, etc. And also, since a lot of what you've written about his personality can be summed up as "Arrogant," I'd like to point out that arrogant people usually aren't shy, and are quite proud of themselves.
"Wicked Sense of Humor" Does not read as a virtue to me. If anything, I'd say it is a flaw. My experience dealing with people with a similar form of humor is that me and my friends generally dislike the person because they come off like a MASSIVE douche bag. Whcih would work with the "callous" flaw.
I think "Confident" would be closer to 'arrogant' under closer inspection and fleshing out. It certainly READS more like arrogance to me. And"Self Involved" really kinda adds to that opinion.
So really, reading him he seems to be more like he is LOADED with flaws, because even his virtues seem like flaws. Even 'effective communicator' has it's downside, though is still probably the closes, most fleshed out thing, you have that could count as a virtue. But really, so far I don't see many redeeming qualities to him. ;<
I don't say any of this to be mean, but to help you build your character into something that might one day get stamped and accepted.
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:48 pm
Sad to say, but his O-chem/Botany hobby's not going to fly. He's a 17 year old boy, and this is not a casual hobby, it is a full scientific field. To get to the point where he could be making his own compounds would take quite a bit of focused studying in school. Unless you plan on making this his major, I'd advise against it, lest some of our more science-oriented players implode due to the lack of realism.
If you'd like him to use/modify basic "make your own perfume!" kits, that would be fine, as well as maintain some sort of garden. Perhaps a perfume-making, or gardening hobby, instead?
ONTO PERSONALITY!
I think, rather than "Effective Communicator," you're looking for "Blunt." Being an effective communicator doesn't always mean being able to list how you feel and think bulletpoint by bulletpoint. Communication isn't a verbal slideshow, and encompasses a lot of social skills that Kellan apparently lacks [see his flaws], this is what other people have been trying to say, when they tell you that his virtue and flaw conflict with one another.
I don't understand how "wicked sense of humor" is presented as a VIRTUE. In fact, I really only see how it would annoy his family. You need to remember to frame things in "how it helps" or "how it hinders" your character in their interactions with others.
You'll need to expand on your "Loyal" virtue, and explain how hard it is to gain his trust, and what, exactly people can do to gain it. Right now, it's too vague.
When discussing his "Confident" virtue, I'm curious to know how he reacts to said hecklers, doubters, and critics when he isn't doing something he loves, since that's likely how he'll spend most of his time in the Negaverse [learning new things].
With his flaws, we sort of go through some of the same things. They're all well and good, but you need to show us how those flaws actually shape his interactions with others. He is Distrustful, sure, but how does that make him react to others? How does he treat them that makes them think of him in a negative light? How does it effect him negatively?
Self-involved should probably be Self-centered, and also please elaborate on his thoughtless nature.
His Negaverse side is just fine!
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