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PLAYER
player name: Ira
pronouns: they/them/their
age: 23
Contact: AIM @ pneumaakatharton,![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
ravenbone
CHARACTER
character name: Jay Zimin
character title: The Gaudy Alchemist
age: 27ish
gender: genderqueer (they/them/their)
species: human with rubbery modifications
strengths: persuasive and dangerous
history:
The Alchemist's Beta Israel parents emigrated to England from Abyssinia shortly before the twins -- the children that would become the Alchemist and the Artificer -- were born. Fleeing family conflict and their own demons, the parents came to the Fifth City and settled in a Jewish neighbourhood in Spite. The twins grew up having never seen the sun.
Their early childhood was not precisely unhappy, but their parents had little time for them and so the twins ended in one of the Urchin gangs. The Alchemist was a frail and sickly child, unlike their boisterous sister and did not speak their first words until age 6. They were always a little withdrawn, a little gloomy, easily spooked and easily put on the defensive. Mostly, their sister protected them.
Growing up in the Fisher-Kings was good for the Artificer, but not the Alchemist. As soon as they could, they ran away and made their own living pickpocketing and hanging out with the Chattering Witch, a girl their own age who was the ward of the Bandaged Occultist, a Tomb-Colonist with a deep interest in the supernatural, the Bazaar, the Correspondence and Seeking the Name. He gave the Alchemist a thorough education, but he was cruel and controlling and began a wholly inappropriate romantic relationship with the Alchemist when they were 18. The Alchemist was not precisely happy under the Occultist's thumb (who could be?) but they felt like they had to be grateful for what they had and also like they had no other resort. They were also deeply in love with the Occultist.
The Alchemist lost an ear and acquired a facial scar during an unfortunate expedition to the Forgotten Quarter, where they acquired an Eyeless Skull and then went missing for five days. They were found with no memory of the previous two weeks, a fresh wound on their face and far less left ear than they had started out with.
At age 15, the Alchemist and the Witch started sneaking out to Veilgarden, where they found the Fifth City's Bohemians and the accompanying queer scene. After a brief but passionate relationship with a boy their age, the Alchemist ended up pregnant. The Occultist had the child clandestinely adopted and from then on, restricted the Alchemist's movements greatly and confined them to the house.
When they were 19, they were reunited with the Artificer once again. After some trouble and false starts, the Artificer managed to convince the Occultist to take her on as an apprentice too and the twins were once again inseparable.
The Alchemist had always been uncomfortable with the gender assigned to him at birth and, as a teen, began to drift away from being a girl towards something more androgynous. Through the Occultist's connections, they were able to procure Rubbery-made hormones and began transitioning medically when they were in their early 20s.
Seeking the Name drove the Occultist quite mad. He moved from studying the general occult things of the Neath (the Colours, the Mountain of Light) to studying true-death and devils and Hell itself. That required the twins to murder quite a few subjects for the Occultist, for his observations and dissections and so on. Eventually, the twins, never at home with the idea, sold him out to the Constables. The Occultist was executed and, once he'd recovered, he went back to the Tomb-Colonies, to Venderbight's Sanatorium. Unfortunately, the Chattering Witch, who had always been a dear friend to the Alchemist, ended up in the Royal Bethlem Hotel.
After being freed from the Occultist's influence, the twins established Tikkun, an apothecary's and mechanic's shop, in Spite, near to where they grew up.
Soon after the Occultist returned to the Tomb-Colonies, the Alchemist got very involved with intrigues down in Flute Street, the domain of the Rubbery Men. There, it's rumoured they were enhanced, though nobody is sure how. Wild rumours do fly about it.
personality:
The Alchemist is the sort of person to go into conniptions upon seeing a mould colony growing on the tower of dishes in the sink and then spend three hours scouring the whole kitchen with bleach.
They're deeply self-loathing and believe they're unworthy. They cover it up with swagger and camp and pretending they don't think they're inherently trash. They're loud, showy, flamboyant and melodramatic, partially because it's just their nature and partially because it shuts up the chorus of self-loathing inside their head and attracts attention. They adore attention and try to draw it to themself. Any kind of attention -- they don't discriminate. The Alchemist is an incurable show-off and highly competitive.
The Alchemist's self-loathing stems from undiagnosed mental illness (which runs in the family) and a hard childhood, first with distant, overworked parents and then in the Urchin gang. The Occultist often used their self-loathing against them, making it clear that they had to "prove" themself, over and over again, "prove" that they were "worthy". The Occultist's love and acceptance were always conditional.
They are, however, also curious, booksmart and very quick on the uptake, though they rarely bother showing off those traits, since they, generally, do not bring attention. They are loyal to people they care about, often to the point of utter stupidity and will follow their chosen leader off a cliff (and indeed, almost did). The Occultist, for all his flaws, encouraged the Alchemist's curiousity and gave them an unstructured and odd but broad and deep education in the occult, mysticism, biology, chemistry and anatomy.
The Alchemist is quite nihilistic. They believe life to be inherently unfair, hard and treacherous and they are an eternal, incurable pessimist. They use a lot of endearments they do not entirely mean (except sometimes, but those times are very rare -- they do not easily make friends; they're too difficult).
They are also very much standoffish and distrustful of people, after their experiences with the Occultist. They are afraid of rejection and afraid of being drawn into the sphere of influence of another dangerous personality. They crave company and love and a family, but they are too afraid to open themself up emotionally and too afraid of being vulnerable to lower their quills and grow close to people, so they choose only to maintain easy, shallow relationships, except for the one with their sister.
Part of the Alchemist's theatrical flamboyance, excessive booze consumption and posturing is caused by their belief that life is a bright flash of light and warmth in endless darkness and they try to shut out their fear of death and eternity. Paradoxically, they are also fascinated with death and dying and the promise of an afterlife, which is why they took up the Occultist's offer to teach them, to better study the ways in which death is strange in Fallen London.
They're quite terrified of becoming a Tomb Colonist. They are also undoubtedly eccentric and have no filter and tend to speak without thinking.
samples:
player name: Ira
pronouns: they/them/their
age: 23
Contact: AIM @ pneumaakatharton,
CHARACTER
character name: Jay Zimin
character title: The Gaudy Alchemist
age: 27ish
gender: genderqueer (they/them/their)
species: human with rubbery modifications
strengths: persuasive and dangerous
history:
The Alchemist's Beta Israel parents emigrated to England from Abyssinia shortly before the twins -- the children that would become the Alchemist and the Artificer -- were born. Fleeing family conflict and their own demons, the parents came to the Fifth City and settled in a Jewish neighbourhood in Spite. The twins grew up having never seen the sun.
Their early childhood was not precisely unhappy, but their parents had little time for them and so the twins ended in one of the Urchin gangs. The Alchemist was a frail and sickly child, unlike their boisterous sister and did not speak their first words until age 6. They were always a little withdrawn, a little gloomy, easily spooked and easily put on the defensive. Mostly, their sister protected them.
Growing up in the Fisher-Kings was good for the Artificer, but not the Alchemist. As soon as they could, they ran away and made their own living pickpocketing and hanging out with the Chattering Witch, a girl their own age who was the ward of the Bandaged Occultist, a Tomb-Colonist with a deep interest in the supernatural, the Bazaar, the Correspondence and Seeking the Name. He gave the Alchemist a thorough education, but he was cruel and controlling and began a wholly inappropriate romantic relationship with the Alchemist when they were 18. The Alchemist was not precisely happy under the Occultist's thumb (who could be?) but they felt like they had to be grateful for what they had and also like they had no other resort. They were also deeply in love with the Occultist.
The Alchemist lost an ear and acquired a facial scar during an unfortunate expedition to the Forgotten Quarter, where they acquired an Eyeless Skull and then went missing for five days. They were found with no memory of the previous two weeks, a fresh wound on their face and far less left ear than they had started out with.
At age 15, the Alchemist and the Witch started sneaking out to Veilgarden, where they found the Fifth City's Bohemians and the accompanying queer scene. After a brief but passionate relationship with a boy their age, the Alchemist ended up pregnant. The Occultist had the child clandestinely adopted and from then on, restricted the Alchemist's movements greatly and confined them to the house.
When they were 19, they were reunited with the Artificer once again. After some trouble and false starts, the Artificer managed to convince the Occultist to take her on as an apprentice too and the twins were once again inseparable.
The Alchemist had always been uncomfortable with the gender assigned to him at birth and, as a teen, began to drift away from being a girl towards something more androgynous. Through the Occultist's connections, they were able to procure Rubbery-made hormones and began transitioning medically when they were in their early 20s.
Seeking the Name drove the Occultist quite mad. He moved from studying the general occult things of the Neath (the Colours, the Mountain of Light) to studying true-death and devils and Hell itself. That required the twins to murder quite a few subjects for the Occultist, for his observations and dissections and so on. Eventually, the twins, never at home with the idea, sold him out to the Constables. The Occultist was executed and, once he'd recovered, he went back to the Tomb-Colonies, to Venderbight's Sanatorium. Unfortunately, the Chattering Witch, who had always been a dear friend to the Alchemist, ended up in the Royal Bethlem Hotel.
After being freed from the Occultist's influence, the twins established Tikkun, an apothecary's and mechanic's shop, in Spite, near to where they grew up.
Soon after the Occultist returned to the Tomb-Colonies, the Alchemist got very involved with intrigues down in Flute Street, the domain of the Rubbery Men. There, it's rumoured they were enhanced, though nobody is sure how. Wild rumours do fly about it.
personality:
The Alchemist is the sort of person to go into conniptions upon seeing a mould colony growing on the tower of dishes in the sink and then spend three hours scouring the whole kitchen with bleach.
They're deeply self-loathing and believe they're unworthy. They cover it up with swagger and camp and pretending they don't think they're inherently trash. They're loud, showy, flamboyant and melodramatic, partially because it's just their nature and partially because it shuts up the chorus of self-loathing inside their head and attracts attention. They adore attention and try to draw it to themself. Any kind of attention -- they don't discriminate. The Alchemist is an incurable show-off and highly competitive.
The Alchemist's self-loathing stems from undiagnosed mental illness (which runs in the family) and a hard childhood, first with distant, overworked parents and then in the Urchin gang. The Occultist often used their self-loathing against them, making it clear that they had to "prove" themself, over and over again, "prove" that they were "worthy". The Occultist's love and acceptance were always conditional.
They are, however, also curious, booksmart and very quick on the uptake, though they rarely bother showing off those traits, since they, generally, do not bring attention. They are loyal to people they care about, often to the point of utter stupidity and will follow their chosen leader off a cliff (and indeed, almost did). The Occultist, for all his flaws, encouraged the Alchemist's curiousity and gave them an unstructured and odd but broad and deep education in the occult, mysticism, biology, chemistry and anatomy.
The Alchemist is quite nihilistic. They believe life to be inherently unfair, hard and treacherous and they are an eternal, incurable pessimist. They use a lot of endearments they do not entirely mean (except sometimes, but those times are very rare -- they do not easily make friends; they're too difficult).
They are also very much standoffish and distrustful of people, after their experiences with the Occultist. They are afraid of rejection and afraid of being drawn into the sphere of influence of another dangerous personality. They crave company and love and a family, but they are too afraid to open themself up emotionally and too afraid of being vulnerable to lower their quills and grow close to people, so they choose only to maintain easy, shallow relationships, except for the one with their sister.
Part of the Alchemist's theatrical flamboyance, excessive booze consumption and posturing is caused by their belief that life is a bright flash of light and warmth in endless darkness and they try to shut out their fear of death and eternity. Paradoxically, they are also fascinated with death and dying and the promise of an afterlife, which is why they took up the Occultist's offer to teach them, to better study the ways in which death is strange in Fallen London.
They're quite terrified of becoming a Tomb Colonist. They are also undoubtedly eccentric and have no filter and tend to speak without thinking.
samples: