[OOC] ~ Cystra City - The Art of Sound ~

[Jeep Wrangler]

<Snipped quote by LetMeDoStuff>

Oh quite which is why I included that she's Manx

@RumikoOhara

I know, but just a clarification for those who would read it. Do love it though. I'll accept it, move it into the tab.

[Jeep Wrangler]

@Poi@Polaris NorthYou two are also accepted. Just so I don't forget.

[Kuro]

@PoiVehicles are the baddest boys in this establishment. If you get kicked out of the Daywing District you get run over.

Just making my character now. Hold tight.

@LetMeDoStuff

I wonder how painful it would be to get hit/ran over by a car twice. Would Hikari only feel 1/2 the pain because she can only use half her body?

I'm terrible at jokes.

[RumikoOhara]

I love this as an Idea of a Cover song Abby could do

They're Selling Jesus Again

You kill me with your smelly fingers
Your smelly fingers from the sex you had on Christmas Day
And now you say you're feeling guilty
You're feeling guilty 'cause your god was shining on your face
You go to church and light a candle
And then you're blinded by the light from the golden pews
The devil's snapping at your toes now
Because the angels can't be bothered to give to you
They're selling Jesus again
They're selling Jesus again
They want your soul and your money your blood and your votes
They're selling Jesus again
Selling love to you, selling love
You're buying this you're buying that now
You're wishing all the money in the world belonged to you
You're crucified upon you're own cross now
You're givin' money to the white men in the white limo
That kind of god is always man-made
They made him up then wrote a book to keep you on your knees
They get their theories from the same place
Then build a church if there's some money left
From lying on the beach
They're selling Jesus again
They're selling Jesus again
They want your soul and your money your blood and your votes
They're selling Jesus again
Selling love to you, selling love
They're selling Jesus again
They're selling Jesus again
They want your soul and your money your blood and your votes
They're selling Jesus again
Selling love to you, selling love

[Jeep Wrangler]

Thom McNicholas

---

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name
Thomas William McNicholas

Gender
Male

Age
21 - 11 Months

Nationality
Scottish - Glasgow

Date of Birth
August 15th

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Appearance
Thom McNicholas is of a slender and tall stature, having the physique of only plausible for not looking anorexic or unheathly. His skin is quite fair, save for his hands that are slightly blistered upon the fingers with minor calluses. Though his complexion isn't too pale nor too worrying in its appearance, he usually covers up the skinniness with long-sleeved clothing with personal reasoning behind it. His hair stands as a oak-brown tone, mixing well with his parakeet-eyes. Thom's hair usually doesn't get styled and remains in its natural ruffle like he intends, but on certain occasions the differentiation within his scalp's coat varies. Thom's main and defining feature, however, is his right leg. Or...what's now become his right leg. Though lightweight and not too disruptive of his ability to maintain an upright stance, it sometimes is noticeable that despite the cover-up he makes of this additional 'limb' due to the slight limp he remains to have.

Height
6' 4"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Personality
With sometimes unsuccessful attempts, Thom aims to be the jovial man of the group, trying to keep the high spirit in order to keep himself happy at the same time. Whilst this conflicting motion of both trying to maintain his own positive mindset and presenting it in a way that others enjoy does provide many issues in the long run, Thom nevertheless perseveres onwards as he wishes to. Despite this, Thom tries to be as sociable as he can manage, which usually isn't a lot. His moderate anxiety sometimes provokes awkwardness in many situations, including performing and creating work alongside his friends or on his own. His main confidence, however, lies in his musical talent and broad knowledge in the theory of it all. It's no doubt that he's very empathetic towards others, but that can come at a price for his own self-happiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Music Industry Role
Bassist of 'Endurance' and Composer

Career Details
Whilst he limits himself career-wise to the bassist of his band 'Endurance' and a composer, the musical broadness of his performing skills is quite large. Initially being a cellist, he can also play the likes of piano, viola and the bass guitar, both electronically and acoustically. His cello beginnings, being a now 14 year period, inspired him to expand his musical knowledge, leading towards his composition pathway and now current status in the band. Currently within 'Endurance', he performs on the Status Graphite as a more prominent bass, alongside the Gretsch G2220 Junior Jet II for songs without the lead guitarist. Composition wise, he remains quite avid of large orchestral mixes with modern synth work, though that varies depending on the project the composition is for. Two songs from 'Endurance' currently utilise small composition work from Thom.

Relative Experience

Relative Experience
- Tutored in Cello by Oscar Edelweiss, a local string performer for the BBC's Symphony Orchestra. Eventually taught Double Bass, before he had to retire due to his ageing. Began learning at the age of 7 during Year 3 of his local primary school.

- Eventually self-taught piano from the age of 11 and began to branch out to several other instruments. Viola came next, then eventually he'd lead onto teaching himself the bass guitar at the age of 17 during sixth form.

- Formed the band alternative-rock band 'Hysteria' at the age of 18 with fellow Sixth Form students Julie Rosenberg, Gareth Lister, Amelia McGregor and Louis Henderson. After performing in small pubs, the attraction to the band came from a typical A&R Scout who happened to live locally. Upon signing to a moderate record label, their name changed to 'Endurance' for copyright reasons. The band utilised synthesizers alongside traditional alt-rock instruments, taking in all different kinds of genres along their career to expand their influence and experience.

- Joined his first independent film project with a small company in making a modern war-drama also at around this time. Composed the majority of the score and received an independent composition accommodation during a film festival.

- Continued to learn composition work and studio production upon joining University, but after leaving remained only in his band and with independent projects that were previously put on hiatus for the time being.

- At Thom's age of 19, 'Endurance' released their first EP titled 'Ethics' which was met at some national success, especially in the alt-rock genre in the western world. Whilst its fan-base didn't grow too wide from the EP, their first album in the December of that year expanded its popularity and allowing them to perform in several festivals. Their first album, 'Likelihood', highlighted several motifs of meaning in a heavy yet melodic genre. Didn't use many effects, but concerts introduce the use of musical effects and pedals that dramatically make them more popular. Scored a spot in the UK Top 40 at the place of 37, gaining their first major recognition, with the track 'Nameless'.

- After Thom just turning age of 20, 'Endurance' released an album named 'Expansion'. As the title suggested, this album was a complete experimentation with genre, using almost a different genre per song. Popular songs such as 'Ashes' featured funk-rock aspects, 'Song for the Worst' utilised a slower touch and 'Petrify' used upbeat synth-heavy work became live-sensations during concerts, as well as the heavier songs such as 'Decimate and Create' which focused on being grand for live performances. Certain songs are yet to be performed at their concerts, as they felt they needed to be a headlining act to be able to perform them.

- After much delay, nearly 2 years after the last album was released, 'Distorted Symphony' was released, a week prior to their invitation to the Daywing District. The album was mostly written by Thom during his recent experiences in life, and used more melancholic approaches to most of the songs, however still using their standard genres going back to their EP to keep it entertaining. Despite the different tones, it was given a handful of successful reviews the day before they left for Cystra City. The highlight song of the same name as the album stands at 29th on the UK Chart.

Endurance

Julie Rosenberg
Frontman of the band, she serves as the singer and occasional guitarist. She also generally utilises synth instruments to expand the ability of sound effects throughout newer songs, and after recent events has become

Gareth Lister
The guitarist of the band, he utilises melodic tones and quick solo making in order to excel their songs' climaxes. He also stands as the lead acoustic guitarist during songs that require more than one.

Thom McNicholas
Bassist, backup synth player and orchestration composer for the band, Thom uses a lot of fuzz and distortion throughout their albums and is known for some catchy bass lines. He occasionally adds as a backup-singer for several songs on their list, but is yet to release a song where he sings alone, which is in the making.

Amelia McGregor
Drummer and lead percussionist for slower songs, Amelia has a recognisable style of unpredictability with her patterns and stylish playing. However, she is tone-deaf and refuses to sing. Ever.

Louis Henderson
The only non-Scottish person, Louis is a french synthesizer player that specialises in the electronic side of their songs. He also acts as backup guitarist and percussionist, as well as throwing in brass or woodwind instruments randomly into a few live performances.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Biography
Thom was brought up as the youngest of the two sons his parents brought into the world as a middle-class family in Glasgow. He was lucky enough to be acquainted to the city life, as it allowed him to develop an early interest in listening to music, much to his brother's annoyance. From an early age, it was quite clear that Thom wasn't going to be a sporty child like his elder brother. He had different motifs, but also wasn't fit enough to take part in most exercises. Most of these were blamed upon growing pains, as he would apparently experience for a large portion of his youth. There was no suspicion on the actual condition of young Thom's medical health until the age of 6, where after a routine checkup at his general practitioner he was administered to the local paediatric physiotherapist for checkups on his hand-eye coordination. Eventually, the diagnosis of dyspraxia was made, and became the first official milestone in his degrading health.

From there onward, the struggle through educational life became more apparent, as weaknesses in his arms and wrists led to a strange inability to write properly, using both of his hands at the same time to perform basic words until he couldn't write anymore. This usually lasted for 5 to 15 minutes before breaks were needed. More administrations to the physiotherapist would later start to question his actual health state from here onward. But around the same time, at the age of 7, Thom's primary school gave the options for musical lessons to be available, which immediately caught the interest of the boy. He had already done way too much listening to music during his early youth, and after the recent medical practices and lack of sport he'd do, Thom's parents thought the idea of playing an instrument would benefit him. And so it did. He began as a cellist under Oscar Edelweiss, a new teacher and previous cellist for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, that led to him excelling quickly in the instrument he chose. As the years went on, there was a stigma in his medical visits, meaning he could excel in playing instruments.

When secondary school began, Thom began to experience the change in maturity that everyone else felt, making him distance himself from other people and building a sense of anxiety that would stick with him for the rest of his life. However, at the same time of gaining this loneliness, he also found refuge in the music facilities, where he came across the unattended keyboards lying around. From here, Thom began to teach himself piano, as well as from curriculum music lessons, which then expanded onward from instruments he found lying around the school's music centre. The years stacked up and alongside that so did his musical knowledge. The viola added onto his collection soon after, as well as the double-bass. Eventually, by the time he finished his GCSEs and switched schools for Sixth Form, he added a modernised instrument onto the list. The Bass Guitar.

However, as he started to play, something that would finally realise the medical conditions he had, which had worsened over the last few years of secondary school, with something quite severe in order to do so. He discovered that after an incident of sporadic muscle breakdown, causing to a week-long paralysation, he had been blessed with wide-spread chronic pain since birth, explaining that the pains he suffered were not growing pains at all but the result of a failing body. The paralysation was warned to not be a one-off situation, rightfully so, as he eventually went into Sixth Form.

Sixth form was a decent time for Thom, allowing him to actually make a good group of friends who would later on go towards becoming 'Hysteria'. This alternative rock band that had set up didn't do much besides play at local theatres and building up their own recognition they had hoped to build as a foundation to turning semi-professional. This actually attracted the attention of a local A&R Scout for a rock label located within centralised England, who he reported to via their Scotland branch. The chance for their transition into semi-professionalism came towards them as they finished Sixth Form and transitioned to business, whilst all going to similarly related Universities and diploma-level apprenticeships. This delayed any releases of content until Thom was 19, a year after joining University.

During his time in University, Thom had finally begun to develop the skills of composition and music production within a London University in the Eastern Sections of the City. The use of orchestrating large groups to match scenes from given media provided by the other courses gave him the chance to fall in love with drafting notations into grand theme songs and scores for these colossal scenes. This began a new wish for Thom, as he thought of the idea of utilising it within the band. However, until they were going to release something they could all agree on, they wouldn't be able to fund that sort of plan.

Thom turned 19 and they eventually released their first EP in order to put their name into the world of music. Whilst this wasn't a big step for them, it allowed them to gain a form of recognition under the new alias of 'Endurance'. Shortly after the release of the EP, their first album also was introduced into the world. 'Likelihood' was a commercial success, at least for them, in the national region for Rock. It felt different, and began to attract the attention of the localised city of London. This would provide them with spots to play at smaller yet populated festivals and as a support act for a major rock band later that year. A year later, the release of 'Expansion' would also make its way into the world, eventually placing their first place into the Top 40 Charts of the UK and boosting their fame quite frantically. The album sold quite a lot, but fell short of a million copies within England at least. It was the first album that had a song that sold internationally to other Western countries. Also, with the help of Louis, the French also found its way into the world of Endurance. However, on the prime of their first major line of festival performances and the aim towards their first solo concert, something occurred...

As warned before, the paralysis happened once more, as Thom found himself unable to move for yet another week. This time, his right leg would be in immense pain throughout the entire experience. This week-long duration of being paralysed went on to unknowingly causing another chain reaction in his right leg, where the next few months saw him within a wheelchair and unable to move it. As the days went onwards, into the late-Spring Holiday of that year, he ended up getting an infection within that leg, resulting in the need to amputate it before it developed any further around his body. This chain of medical catastrophe had cancelled every known progression the band had at the moment, stopping them from performing. The band were okay with their pausing, though the fan-base not so much as Thom wished to keep the details scarce and undisclosed. He had to cancel his commitment to University as well, though they remained open for keeping his place if he were going to return someday.

This delay went on for almost two years, where during that time he randomly started to appear more in group performances as a way of self-rehabilitation. The aim was to fix his mental health that had decayed along with his weakening body. Endurance, half-jokingly, said they were going to make Thom famous before he'd have to step down or die, which warmed his heart and made him determined to continue. Not a lot of information about his amputation was made public, and he attempted to cover it up as much as he could through the building anxiety and detachment from the rest of the musical world during his rehabilitation (Save for the second film he composed music for during his absence). Thom eventually went on to finishing the third album, released nearly two years since the last one. It took a batch of genres and mixed them with previous album's ones, as written mostly by Thom himself. They had hints and highlights towards his life living under the medical deterioration, though most of it is too subtle to make out.

'Distorted Symphony' as a song and album actually went on to be their most successful album yet, allowing them to gain the 29th Spot on the UK charts, beating their previous entry onto it. This position had left the now recovering band in a place of reappearance, as many loyal fans within the UK had suspected they had broken up after Thom's disappearance. Endurance's achievement, within the week of releasing the album, eventually led to a letter of invitation...From Cystra City itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Family
Howard McNicholas - Father [Alive]
Mary McNicholas - Mother [Alive]
Ewan McNicholas - Elder Brother [Alive]

Relationships

Relationships
N/A for now. Will be updated later on in the RP.

Character Theme

Finally, done did it. I'll get the City locations updated eventually. I need to get things sorted elsewhere.

[RumikoOhara]

I always loved Muse, I went through a heavy Muse / Blue October phase were I could have driven anyone unlucky enough to be in the cab of the truck as I delivered horses to the events

[Jeep Wrangler]

I always loved Muse, I went through a heavy Muse / Blue October phase were I could have driven anyone unlucky enough to be in the cab of the truck as I delivered horses to the events

@RumikoOhara

Muse are indeed my favourite Band. Seen them live. Met the bassist. This band is totally inspired by them to a large degree, as well as some Royal Blood and CHVRCHES mixed in there.

[RumikoOhara]

Oh now I want Abby to do her own cover of this one



I've always loved the use of bass

I suppose these should be added to the list of probable covers

Texas Hippie Coalition -Turn It Up

Tool -The Pot

[Jeep Wrangler]

Oh now I want Abby to do her own cover of this one



I've always loved the use of bass

I suppose these should be added to the list of probable covers

Texas Hippie Coalition -Turn It Up

Tool -The Pot

@RumikoOhara

I think tool's uniqueness is slightly out of Thom's range of ability. Anywho, who are we still waiting for?

[RumikoOhara]

@LetMeDoStuff
Not sure who?

Tidbits of Abby

Abby is the type of girl who lives music in a large way. She’s always scouring the sources for every new sound and genre. Listening to music in languages she has no idea what they are talking about but moving to the beat as she surrenders to the raw emotions every good song contains no matter where or when it is from.

Abby lives bathed in sound almost 24/7 her lovers finding her bed impossible to actually rest in enjoying falling asleep with her sound system thumping at near ear damaging levels. She sings at her whim to whatever is playing matching the other singer note for note trying to understand the emotion that formed the rhythm, the lyrics, and whether they were written together or fitted to each other one being done before the other.

In shortly after her appearance at Isle of Wight she gave an interview while making “The Mouse That Roared” said when called an up and coming musical artist.

”I am not a Musical Artist, I’m a Worshiper of Music; if Music were a person I would gladly be its slave; I already am”

Some say it's the music she’s confessing her love to in her song “Bend me to your Will” (track 4 TMTR)

She's never still on stage and she can shift personality instantly going from seductress, to angry Diva, and wherever else her passion takes her. Her moves have no choreography and no two performances the same her moods reflected in small ways in her performance.

She throws herself around so violently many have feared she’ll someday fling herself off stage and into the crowd.

A dry or uninspired crowd doesn’t cause her doubt and only makes her shift performance to fit the desires of the fans. Aware that many of her fans are attracted to her because of her Lollie look she doesn’t shy away from it or pander to it instead using her voice to enlarge her presence.

Trained to work in an Opera company which means acting while singing she is trained in using body language to accentuate her performance. When performing live she is a slave driver as far as her stage bands are concerned demanding that the fans have trouble distinguishing live from studio performance at every show.

When she sings even for fun she’s dedicated to the sound of the performance over all else.

She is never late for rehearsal, she is always supportive of her band when in studio only causing friction if she feels her boundaries are not respected.

She’s never moody in the studio, she never does drugs, drinks or exposes herself to negative situations; if she is part of anger or a bystander she cuts it off by leaving and retreating into her headphones till she feels calmer or the anger has moved on, if it remains she asks Pax and calm discussion.

Because of her Opera training she is also able to speak if not fluently then make herself understood in Italian, German, French, Russian, and English as well as Welsh.

She’s horrible with finance but always ering to the conservative side, you’ll never catch Abby dropping 10 grand for a jacket, maybe Charity but never for an article of clothing.

She loves Bootsales and Second Hand clothing stores and strangely collects odd Coffee cups but hates paying full price or buying them new.

“The Discovery is part of the Memory” -Abby as concerns her collection-

Sorry but like Abby I have boundless energy reserves and got bored

[Jeep Wrangler]

@LetMeDoStuff
Not sure who?

Tidbits of Abby

Abby is the type of girl who lives music in a large way. She’s always scouring the sources for every new sound and genre. Listening to music in languages she has no idea what they are talking about but moving to the beat as she surrenders to the raw emotions every good song contains no matter where or when it is from.

Abby lives bathed in sound almost 24/7 her lovers finding her bed impossible to actually rest in enjoying falling asleep with her sound system thumping at near ear damaging levels. She sings at her whim to whatever is playing matching the other singer note for note trying to understand the emotion that formed the rhythm, the lyrics, and whether they were written together or fitted to each other one being done before the other.

In shortly after her appearance at Isle of Wight she gave an interview while making “The Mouse That Roared” said when called an up and coming musical artist.

”I am not a Musical Artist, I’m a Worshiper of Music; if Music were a person I would gladly be its slave; I already am”

Some say it's the music she’s confessing her love to in her song “Bend me to your Will” (track 4 TMTR)

She's never still on stage and she can shift personality instantly going from seductress, to angry Diva, and wherever else her passion takes her. Her moves have no choreography and no two performances the same her moods reflected in small ways in her performance.

She throws herself around so violently many have feared she’ll someday fling herself off stage and into the crowd.

A dry or uninspired crowd doesn’t cause her doubt and only makes her shift performance to fit the desires of the fans. Aware that many of her fans are attracted to her because of her Lollie look she doesn’t shy away from it or pander to it instead using her voice to enlarge her presence.

Trained to work in an Opera company which means acting while singing she is trained in using body language to accentuate her performance. When performing live she is a slave driver as far as her stage bands are concerned demanding that the fans have trouble distinguishing live from studio performance at every show.

When she sings even for fun she’s dedicated to the sound of the performance over all else.

She is never late for rehearsal, she is always supportive of her band when in studio only causing friction if she feels her boundaries are not respected.

She’s never moody in the studio, she never does drugs, drinks or exposes herself to negative situations; if she is part of anger or a bystander she cuts it off by leaving and retreating into her headphones till she feels calmer or the anger has moved on, if it remains she asks Pax and calm discussion.

Because of her Opera training she is also able to speak if not fluently then make herself understood in Italian, German, French, Russian, and English as well as Welsh.

She’s horrible with finance but always ering to the conservative side, you’ll never catch Abby dropping 10 grand for a jacket, maybe Charity but never for an article of clothing.

She loves Bootsales and Second Hand clothing stores and strangely collects odd Coffee cups but hates paying full price or buying them new.

“The Discovery is part of the Memory” -Abby as concerns her collection-

Sorry but like Abby I have boundless energy reserves and got bored

@RumikoOhara

If it's about the character, then I say you should add it to the CS format. It'll help just label a few more thing about her.

[Polaris North]

@LetMeDoStuff

We're waiting for at least four players if I'm counting the interests in the interest check right. But y'know, Poi has already went ahead to mention them so I think it'll be fine.

Oh, can I add some stuff to the history and/or relationships? I might think of something while I'm bored in school so it may contribute to his character.

[Jeep Wrangler]

@LetMeDoStuff

We're waiting for at least four players if I'm counting the interests in the interest check right. But y'know, Poi has already went ahead to mention them so I think it'll be fine.

Oh, can I add some stuff to the history and/or relationships? I might think of something while I'm bored in school so it may contribute to his character.

@Polaris North

Go ahead. I'll review it when it's done.

[RumikoOhara]

@LetMeDoStuff

I left Tidbits in the hider but posted it in Abby's Character Sheet

[RumikoOhara]

If this is how the studios work Abby will be bouncing off the walls, it's too quiet....somebody scream

[Jeep Wrangler]

If this is how the studios work Abby will be bouncing off the walls, it's too quiet....somebody scream

@RumikoOhara

I'll likely put the intro post out this weekend.

[RumikoOhara]

@LetMeDoStuff

I was just bitchin ta bitch lol

The entire Guild was soooooooo slow

[Jeep Wrangler]

@LetMeDoStuff

I was just bitchin ta bitch lol

The entire Guild was soooooooo slow

@RumikoOhara

Depends on peak times of activity. I'm in Scotland, so my time zone is likely different hence different times being online.

[RumikoOhara]

@LetMeDoStuff

I'll make time for you; it's winter here in the mountains a time when work is short and the nights getting longer giving me almost nothing to do

[Jeep Wrangler]

@RumikoOhara Well I appreciate the commitment, but be prepared for two weeks of uncertain and unbalanced activity with my rehabilitation programme coming next week.