Multiple Settings Buttercup's character-based search.

[Buttercup.]

HELLO!

So I'm kind of sort of back from a hiatus caused by a lot of changes in my life kicking my psychological arse. And I know a lot of people out there focus on characters more than plots so I decided to try something new (for me, anyway) and share some of the characters I've made whose RPs never went anywhere, hoping to find a new home for them. But if you have any ideas on what to do with them, I'm all ears! (actually I'm a standard issue human including all the things that aren't ears but you get what I mean)

I like to think characters are one of my main strengths - I like to make them believable both in terms of motivation and how they act and they're often pretty broken and socially challenged because honestly, that's just so much more fun. I suppose you could call most of them "chaotic neutral", but not in the relatively widespread "LULZ SO RANDOM" sense, they always get some overarching motivation that explains their often questionable methods.

Alright, some basics first of all:

ME:

• I'm officially 30 now, prefer ages >20
• romance definitely preferred (enemies to lovers if at all possible), F×F is where I feel comfiest
• favourite genres/settings/etc: fantasy, futuristic, action, angsty AND comedic elements
• I need some semblance of a plot to stay interested, so no 100% slice of life or romance stuff please
• pretty good English I dare say, IC reply lengths between 200 and 1200 words most of the time but I'm ready to go higher if the pacing allows doing that without filler
• fair warning: my posting frequency is likely to fluctuate hard, like anywhere between several a day to one every two weeks, and it's not necessarily indicative of how interested I am, I just get periods of time when sitting down to write a coherent response feels impossible these days

LOOKING FOR:

• I'll reiterate here just to be safe: I prefer people at least remotely close to my own age (i.e. over 20ish), but might make exceptions
• someone "literate" I guess, but that word has 10 different meanings when you ask 10 people. Just have decent grammar and structure and we should be fine!
• someone who will contribute to plotting and optionally even chat outside of that
• tell me your favourite brand of euro cylinder locks to prove you actually read everything!!! (actually don't, that shit's just silly and insulting and it's usually obvious enough if someone skipped important points)
• closely related to the previous point: communicate. I generally tend to wing a lot of things and just see where my mind takes me so I might do things without planning them out (but nothing in the godmodding territory of course). That said, I'm perfectly open to discussing stuff beforehand if you prefer, I just tend not to do that automatically unless it's a really major decision
• someone only semi-active, or reasonably patient. I still feel a little too overwhelmed with life to post super frequently right now

Alright, that's probably enough of those things. I'll post the individual character concepts as replies here to keep it somewhat tidy. If you happen to be interested in any of them, please send me a PM with your ideas!

Also if you have any ideas of your own that sound at least slightly compatible with my interests and preferences, don't be shy and hit me up, what's the worst that could happen?

 

[Buttercup.]

Fiadh (fantasy, early modern-ish era - somewhat adaptable)
Member of a reclusive community whose existence is closely tied to nature (basically what elves are like in a lot of canons). Her people have been opposing mainstream society (sometimes violently), which is in the process of industrialisation. Let's just say her folk aren't very popular.

Not the most original concept by a long shot, but it could probably be sculpted into something fun.

Spoiler: details

Physical:

• around 20 I guess
• 5'10", 135 lbs, pretty thin by human standards, very light skin
• hazel eyes
• light brown hair, maybe with a hint of olive
• human-like enough, but clearly identifiable as one of her people

Personality:

• extremely loyal to her people
• BFFs with a pine marten
• very distrustful of other races/cultures, especially the dominant one
• knows next to nothing about the world at large, including its culture, etiquette, everything

Background:
Fiadh grew up in the woods, in one of the many communities of her people scattered across the land. There's been fairly little contact between the individual tribes, but their agenda has always been the same: live off the land and protect the fragile balance of the ecosystem. Back in the day this used to be a relatively simple task, but as the city people started industrialising and ravaging more and more land for resources, they now face a far more powerful foe than they were prepared for.

Still, they refuse to let that stop them. They sabotage the industrial expansion by any means at their disposal, including occasional guerrila warfare. Things escalate quickly - one night her village gets hit by a surprise attack and only she makes it out, owing to her vigilant pet marten.

Now she's on the run, hoping to warn the other tribes and prevent the same tragedy happening again. It might be too late.

Some possible developments / twists:

• EXPOSURE THERAPY: forced to live in the city, either mellows out or hates every second of it
• BETRAYAL: a tribe she tries to warn turns out to have betrayed their cause ("betray" as in "treachery", not "indication". Seriously, screw English)
• ANGER: her self-righteousness / vengeance gradually turns her into a merciless psycho
• ADHD: gets sidetracked by some weird adventure that eventually results in helping her cause
• DEPRESSION: completely breaks down, loses all sense of purpose, maybe turns to drinking. Something big should break her out of this stupour.

 

[Buttercup.]

Sophia Grace Banks (modern/futuristic, realistic - very negotiable)
A sheltered heir to an unfathomable amount of capital, disconnected from what normal life is about and feeling empty and bored as a result.

Originally designed for an angsty modern slice of life thing, but that's probably not really what I want to do with the character. (Plain slice of life tends not to hold my interest very long.) A lot of the details regarding her backstory (and appearance) could be changed to suit a different setting.

Spoiler: details

Physical:

• late teens
• 5’7”, 130 lbs, average build, caucasian
• greyish teal eyes
• hair naturally blonde but always dyed some outrageous colour
• numerous tattoos and piercings

Personality:

• perpetually bored
• thrillseeker, carpe diem mentality bordering on self-destructiveness
• often comes across as arrogant and/or indifferent
• sometimes overly aware of her lack of purpose

Background:
Born into one of the wealthiest families in the state, Sophia has never had to worry about any mundane issues. Her parents are extremely busy and have always substituted actual care and attention with a generous allowance - she can afford whatever she wants, but lacking any sense of direction in her life she’s not sure what exactly it is she does want. So she goes between impulse shopping and discarding things instantly, picking up and dropping hobbies all the time, anything to get at least a fleeting sense of relief from her ennui.

Her parents tried to rope her into acting like a proper nouveau riche pseudo-aristocrat but Sophia hates that world - it’s all just a pretentious circle jerk, she wants to do more engaging things with her life. This line of thinking leads to her trying various extreme sports, experimenting with her appearance and hanging out with people no parent would approve of. One might say the absolute financial security makes her feel invincible so perhaps these pursuits are a way of testing that and proving to herself that she is in fact just a human being. She may or may not be doing drugs.

Some possible developments / twists:

• basically any situations where she's in actual danger and has to fend for herself
• joins a street gang / other questionable group for a thrill
• gets kidnapped (she does seem like the ideal person to do that with, doesn't she?)
• becomes a socialist, starts hating her parents and hatches some sort of plan to royally screw them

 

[Buttercup.]

Antheya "Silver" Barthorpe (medieval / early modern, probably fantasy?)
Daughter of an infamous pirate captain, raised by the crew, seen some shit. Mums got executed when Silver was in her mid teens, she became a captain herself but initially stuck to legal ventures to stay on the safe side. That didn't last very long.

Made for an epic fantasy adventure plot and that's probably where she'd shine the most.

Spoiler: details

Physical:

• early 30s
• 5'6", 125 lbs, on the athletic side, white-ish but fairly tanned
• greyish eyes with a subtle hint of blue
• silver hair
• some scars & shit from life at sea

Personality:

• experienced and largely desensitised to danger and horrible things
• very pragmatic and blunt, don't waste her time
• not great with people but can respect skill and determination

Background:
Born somewhat unexpectedly to the infamous pirate captain Lana Barthorpe, Antheya spent most of her life offshore as Lana's crew continued their questionable activities with little regard for the captain's daughter's safety. Where most children learned how to read, write and count, she learned the ins and outs of keeping a ship afloat. Where other kids proceeded to learn everyday skills and pursue career training, she learned how to fight one-on-one with or without a weapon. Where others stopped to think about just what they wanted to do with their lives, her path was already set in stone.

Of course, Lana had "better things to do" than look after a child most of the time, and Antheya's father had never been known. Rumours had it her birth had been the result of Lana's affair with a foreigner from a distant land or even a merman, depending on who one asked. Most of these rumours agreed Lana had killed the father immediately after... the process which results in having a child was finished. Antheya had effectively been raised by the entire crew, from the friendly chefs and joke-spurting deck hands to the fierce (if not psychopathic) fighters. Each of these had affected her personality in some small way, and it made sense to stick to seafaring with her unique skillset even after her mother was arrested and the crew disbanded.

Over the 30-odd years she'd spent in this world, Antheya had sailed on more ships than she could count, starting out as a lowly deck hand (bragging about her lineage probably would've given her a head start, but it didn't seem like a particularly great idea shortly after the fearsome Lana Barthorpe had been executed) and gradually working her way up the ladder. By the age of 25 she was a renowned captain, and, unlike her mother, she mostly stuck to legal ventures at the time. Not because of something as complex as morals, she simply didn't want to end up like her mother. Besides, moving goods and passengers legally seemed to be paying the bills just fine...

Until the relationship between her employers and their trade partners soured.

Under these new circumstances she was forced to be less picky about the types of jobs she accepted - while she never ventured as deep into illegal territory as Lana had, smuggling or moving questionable passengers from point A to point B had become her bread and butter by age 29. It paid well, didn't feel like it was causing too much actual harm to anyone, and eventually she saved up enough money to take it easy for a while.

Now she spent most of her evenings in a bar down at the docks, picking up titbits from other sailors and sharing her own tall tales when she was drunk enough. They weren't actually tall tales, mind you - most of the stories she told followed the actual events fairly closely - but her audience thought of them as such.

Some possible developments / twists:

• someone talks her into going on a grand adventure, something she feels she's too old and grounded in reality to go for by now
• tries to fit in with normal society and keeps discovering how out of touch she is with life on dry land
• someone from her past tries to get revenge, she's forced to look to weird places for help

 

[Buttercup.]

Nope.