• Last Seen: 8 yrs ago
  • Joined: 9 yrs ago
  • Posts: 21 (0.01 / day)
  • VMs: 0
  • Username history
    1. Ganelon 9 yrs ago

Status

User has no status, yet

Bio

User has no bio, yet

Most Recent Posts

Name: Dr. Nicholas Jenner

Appearance: Wiry and somewhat gaunt for such a well-off citizen, Dr. Jenner rarely takes as much care of himself as he honestly should. It is not uncommon for him to sport rings under his eyes from many a sleepless night of work, and his thin frame speaks of a habit of skipping meals in favor of other time-consuming pursuits. While not overly burdened by stress, the lack of attention he pays his body has nonetheless caused his age to start showing, and it is obvious at a glance that he is too weak to put up much of a fight should the need arise. He wears simple dress shirts and ties even when off duty, but as this is a rare enough occasion in its own right, few people have ever seen him in any outfit without a long, white, and frequently unbuttoned labcoat draped over his shoulders, which he often neglects to take off even when leaving the workplace.



(He's older than this and doesn't smoke, but believe me, finding a mostly appropriate image of someone in a labcoat was already nigh impossible)

Age: 37

Personality: Dr. Jenner is a sly, opportunistic man with few loyalties to anyone or anything other than himself. Often coming across as manipulative and condescending in his interactions with others, he tends to believe that he is the most intelligent person in the room and is eager to offer his opinions on most subjects even if they are neither requested nor appreciated. As he values efficiency over ethical conduct, these opinions are rarely popular outside of the Regime's most devoted circles, but he makes little effort to hold his tongue even in the company of people who find his ideology disagreeable; to him, hurt feelings are an insignificant price to pay for the sake of progress, and he expects to be judged for the results of his work rather than the methods used to achieve them. Pride is a great weakness of his, and he is easily agitated by anyone who expresses doubt in his abilities or finds his accomplishments less than impressive.

Background: From as early as his youth, Nicholas Jenner was recognized by the academic world as a talented and brilliant mind. After graduating MIT with a doctorate of science and a very promising thesis on the evolutionary processes of Pokemon, he was quickly snatched up by the Regime and put to work in one of its many research divisions, developing seemingly innocuous new technologies as a means of determining just where he belonged in the organization's vast power structure. Far from naive, the young Dr. Jenner understood that he was being tested almost immediately and rose to the challenge by drawing his peers into intense competitions over the recognition of their superiors. He quickly advanced through the ranks in this way, gaining a reputation for his diligence and willingness to exploit others - human and Pokemon alike - to achieve his goals.

The Regime was delighted by Jenner's initiative, and wasted no time in opening its gates to a number of secret projects deemed too disturbing for the public eye. For over a decade and a half, he worked as part of a team responsible for developing new methods of exerting control over Pokemon, streamlining the process of breeding and mass-manufacturing ideal servants, and as the head of one project which earned him a great deal of his present fame within the Regime's inner circles, creating a safe treatment to force evolutionary changes in otherwise immature Pokemon with only minimal risk of them developing complications further down the line. Throughout it all, Dr. Jenner was lauded as a model citizen and a flawless example of the qualities that the Regime sought in its most loyal supporters. He became the head of his own research division, and was given access to staff and resources that would have made his former peers seethe with envy. He had everything he could have possibly wanted from atop the pedestal they had placed him upon.

Time crept on, however, and while Jenner continued to make good use of his resources, his employers within the Regime began to grow complacent. Their brilliant scientist's value had been quantified at last, and believing that his loyalty to their cause was beyond questioning, their attention slowly drifted elsewhere. His work was put to use without its creator being recognized, with news circulating through the Regime's academic culture trending ever more strongly towards young talent and the promising changes that it could bring to their society as a whole. Dr. Jenner began to grow disgruntled as his own accomplishments went ignored, and as his budgets grew stricter and his staff grew smaller, his opinion of the Regime swiftly diminished alongside them.

Things came to a head when the details of his reassignment came down from above. A young man of nearly half his years was sent to assume control of his facilities, and with them, ownership of his staff and all ongoing projects that they were responsible for. Dr. Jenner himself was given the choice of being involved in a number of other projects throughout the country as an assistant director, but opted instead to take a long and much-needed vacation touring the country - in no small part to avoid violently losing his temper in front of his new superiors.

In truth, Jenner's tour throughout America was a cover for him to begin seeking members of the rebellion. Through bribery, anonymous inquiries, and the abuse of his access to Regime databases, he has spent the last four months chasing rumors of rebel activity outside of the attention of his employers and his would-be allies alike. Despite a great many close calls and frustrating setbacks, this search has ultimately brought him to New York city in the hopes of making direct contact with a rebel cell that the Regime has yet to discover, so that his revenge might begin in earnest.

Pokemon Name and Species: Sabi, Seviper

Pokemon Background: Sabi is a rejected member of a breeding program intended to supply Regime VIPs with Pokemon fit to protect them from unexpected attack by rebel forces and other civilian threats. As part of one of the program's later generations, her performance during the initial combat trials fell comfortably within acceptable limits, but she responded unexpectedly poorly to attempts at psychological conditioning and was eventually retired from active training due to the perceived risk of her acting out against her owner or failing to respond to commands during a crucial situation. When she was later discovered to be infertile, she was forced out of the program completely and entered the "open market" of Regime officials who lacked the status to be assigned high-grade, fully obedient Pokemon, but who still had enough pull within the system to lay claim to capable defects for their own personal use. At the time, Dr. Jenner was just such an official.

While Dr. Jenner originally intended to use Sabi as a tool purely for his own protection, he soon became intrigued by her independent tendencies and took her on as a subject of study as well. He would leave her outside of her Pokeball for extended periods of time without instruction purely to observe how she reacted, even going so far as to have her oversee his discussions with fellow researchers throughout the day. Later, he began to experiment with providing positive and negative reinforcement to shape her behavior in more subtle ways than the traumatic conditioning processes she had undergone in the past, and found that they were far more effective on her than even he could have anticipated; given enough agency to make decisions on her own, the seviper began to take an active role in protecting her owner, taking advantage of instincts and a reaction time that far exceeded his own in the process.

Having become undeniably invested in Sabi's development, and knowing there was only one thing left to do, Dr. Jenner took to exploring the limits of her intelligence in his spare time. At present, this remains a personal project that has been kept indefinitely on hold due to the already heavy scrutiny he has attracted from his colleagues for thinking to foster independence in what they consider a dangerous living weapon. Were it not for the proven success of his efforts so far and the lenience afforded by his status, it is likely that Sabi would have been confiscated and executed long ago - but in defiance of the Regime's close-minded prejudice, Jenner still insists upon calling her by name and continues to treat her like a pet, if unaffectionately, in private.
@SnowLeopard
I apologize for not having something to help bring you in. This subplot Natsu's been talking about wasn't something we really discussed in great detail, and with the actual plot moving forwards, there may not be enough time for me to become involved in it anyways (We'll see - I'll have more time to talk this over in about 4 hours). Right now I have to focus on just getting my introduction post up at all, so uh... sorry, and good luck with your own.
@DarthSeverus394
Cue the ominous thunder, ladies and gentlemen, because IT! IS! ALLIIIIIIIVE!

Name: Dr. Nicholas Jenner

Appearance: Wiry and somewhat gaunt for such a well-off citizen, Dr. Jenner rarely takes as much care of himself as he honestly should. It is not uncommon for him to sport rings under his eyes from many a sleepless night of work, and his thin frame speaks of a habit of skipping meals in favor of other time-consuming pursuits. While not overly burdened by stress, the lack of attention he pays his body has nonetheless caused his age to start showing, and it is obvious at a glance that he is too weak to put up much of a fight should the need arise. He wears simple dress shirts and ties even when off duty, but as this is a rare enough occasion in its own right, few people have ever seen him in any outfit without a long, white, and frequently unbuttoned labcoat draped over his shoulders, which he often neglects to take off even when leaving the workplace.



(He's older than this and doesn't smoke, but believe me, finding a mostly appropriate image of someone in a labcoat was already nigh impossible)

Age: 37

Personality: Dr. Jenner is a sly, opportunistic man with few loyalties to anyone or anything other than himself. Often coming across as manipulative and condescending in his interactions with others, he tends to believe that he is the most intelligent person in the room and is eager to offer his opinions on most subjects even if they are neither requested nor appreciated. As he values efficiency over ethical conduct, these opinions are rarely popular outside of the Regime's most devoted circles, but he makes little effort to hold his tongue even in the company of people who find his ideology disagreeable; to him, hurt feelings are an insignificant price to pay for the sake of progress, and he expects to be judged for the results of his work rather than the methods used to achieve them. Pride is a great weakness of his, and he is easily agitated by anyone who expresses doubt in his abilities or finds his accomplishments less than impressive.

Background: From as early as his youth, Nicholas Jenner was recognized by the academic world as a talented and brilliant mind. After graduating MIT with a doctorate of science and a very promising thesis on the evolutionary processes of Pokemon, he was quickly snatched up by the Regime and put to work in one of its many research divisions, developing seemingly innocuous new technologies as a means of determining just where he belonged in the organization's vast power structure. Far from naive, the young Dr. Jenner understood that he was being tested almost immediately and rose to the challenge by drawing his peers into intense competitions over the recognition of their superiors. He quickly advanced through the ranks in this way, gaining a reputation for his diligence and willingness to exploit others - human and Pokemon alike - to achieve his goals.

The Regime was delighted by Jenner's initiative, and wasted no time in opening its gates to a number of secret projects deemed too disturbing for the public eye. For over a decade and a half, he worked as part of a team responsible for developing new methods of exerting control over Pokemon, streamlining the process of breeding and mass-manufacturing ideal servants, and as the head of one project which earned him a great deal of his present fame within the Regime's inner circles, creating a safe treatment to force evolutionary changes in otherwise immature Pokemon with only minimal risk of them developing complications further down the line. Throughout it all, Dr. Jenner was lauded as a model citizen and a flawless example of the qualities that the Regime sought in its most loyal supporters. He became the head of his own research division, and was given access to staff and resources that would have made his former peers seethe with envy. He had everything he could have possibly wanted from atop the pedestal they had placed him upon.

Time crept on, however, and while Jenner continued to make good use of his resources, his employers within the Regime began to grow complacent. Their brilliant scientist's value had been quantified at last, and believing that his loyalty to their cause was beyond questioning, their attention slowly drifted elsewhere. His work was put to use without its creator being recognized, with news circulating through the Regime's academic culture trending ever more strongly towards young talent and the promising changes that it could bring to their society as a whole. Dr. Jenner began to grow disgruntled as his own accomplishments went ignored, and as his budgets grew stricter and his staff grew smaller, his opinion of the Regime swiftly diminished alongside them.

Things came to a head when the details of his reassignment came down from above. A young man of nearly half his years was sent to assume control of his facilities, and with them, ownership of his staff and all ongoing projects that they were responsible for. Dr. Jenner himself was given the choice of being involved in a number of other projects throughout the country as an assistant director, but opted instead to take a long and much-needed vacation touring the country - in no small part to avoid violently losing his temper in front of his new superiors.

In truth, Jenner's tour throughout America was a cover for him to begin seeking members of the rebellion. Through bribery, anonymous inquiries, and the abuse of his access to Regime databases, he has spent the last four months chasing rumors of rebel activity outside of the attention of his employers and his would-be allies alike. Despite a great many close calls and frustrating setbacks, this search has ultimately brought him to New York city in the hopes of making direct contact with a rebel cell that the Regime has yet to discover, so that his revenge might begin in earnest.

Pokemon Name and Species: Sabi, Seviper

Pokemon Background: Sabi is a rejected member of a breeding program intended to supply Regime VIPs with Pokemon fit to protect them from unexpected attack by rebel forces and other civilian threats. As part of one of the program's later generations, her performance during the initial combat trials fell comfortably within acceptable limits, but she responded unexpectedly poorly to attempts at psychological conditioning and was eventually retired from active training due to the perceived risk of her acting out against her owner or failing to respond to commands during a crucial situation. When she was later discovered to be infertile, she was forced out of the program completely and entered the "open market" of Regime officials who lacked the status to be assigned high-grade, fully obedient Pokemon, but who still had enough pull within the system to lay claim to capable defects for their own personal use. At the time, Dr. Jenner was just such an official.

While Dr. Jenner originally intended to use Sabi as a tool purely for his own protection, he soon became intrigued by her independent tendencies and took her on as a subject of study as well. He would leave her outside of her Pokeball for extended periods of time without instruction purely to observe how she reacted, even going so far as to have her oversee his discussions with fellow researchers throughout the day. Later, he began to experiment with providing positive and negative reinforcement to shape her behavior in more subtle ways than the traumatic conditioning processes she had undergone in the past, and found that they were far more effective on her than even he could have anticipated; given enough agency to make decisions on her own, the seviper began to take an active role in protecting her owner, taking advantage of instincts and a reaction time that far exceeded his own in the process.

Having become undeniably invested in Sabi's development, and knowing there was only one thing left to do, Dr. Jenner took to exploring the limits of her intelligence in his spare time. At present, this remains a personal project that has been kept indefinitely on hold due to the already heavy scrutiny he has attracted from his colleagues for thinking to foster independence in what they consider a dangerous living weapon. Were it not for the proven success of his efforts so far and the lenience afforded by his status, it is likely that Sabi would have been confiscated and executed long ago - but in defiance of the Regime's close-minded prejudice, Jenner still insists upon calling her by name and treats her like a pet, if unaffectionately, in private.
I've almost got... well, a CS. It took me like an hour to get an image. I'm not asking for more time, though, just letting you know what's holding me up. I'll skip meeting up with Jethro right now, particularly because it would be pretty contrived to have three different people show up at his place on the same night, past curfew, with no direct association to one another.

I'm confident I can have this and the makings of an introduction ready tomorrow. Since I'll probably be best off not getting involved with the other characters before the first plot point drops, you might be doing me a favor by giving me at least some kind of hint as to where I should start so I can jump right in. Regardless, I can tell you for sure that my character is going to be chasing down these same rumors of a resistance gathering when he shows up to make his debut.
<Snipped quote by LoneSilverWolf>

Your gross overreaction has been duly noted. That being said, you did agree that it is a bit jarring to see it at first, hence I stand by Natsu's evaluation. However, should she care to continue to use it, I'm not stopping her.

Speaking of styles, you folks don't mind if my posting style is more often composed in overtly purple writing, and generally string together a stream of run-ons as I will abuse the hell out of commas, subjecting you all as the colon and semicolon sit unused on my keyboard along with the lonely period button of which shall at most glean some attention once-in-a-while for moments where I decide to terminate my thoughts to which until then only the commas shall suffice and sate my needs in constructing the sentences that extend unto the upper echelons of the bearable limits in sustaining syntax to the point of nearly being mere length optimization for the scaffolding of filler material that shall give my writing the appearance of grandeur despite the lack of anything meaningful to be extracted from the pretentious use, or perhaps rather disuse, or misuse of punctuation proper.


Nope, I don't mind. This is basically me too.
Whether or not I'm cleared to start writing, I took the liberty of jotting some questions down that might be useful to you all. I apologize in advance if this is a bit, ah, overwhelming, but I think these are some fairly important things to consider before jumping straight into a setting like this.

1. To what extent are Pokemon capable of cross-species communication? You mentioned considering the idea of a device that would let humans understand them (if it comes down to a vote, I'd actually rather this not be a thing), but beyond that, how well can they "talk" to each other outside of obvious like species (ie: two kinds of canine)?
2. What's the stance on Ghost Pokemon as a whole? For instance, can they actually become intangible at will and disregard physical barriers? Does the Regime have a means to contain or control them?
3. What are Psychic Pokemon capable of? Can they actually read minds, communicate via telepathy, and so on?
4. Are Dark types actually immune to the influence of Psychic Pokemon? If other Pokemon can be detected psychically, are Dark types vulnerable to the same forms of detection?
5. Is Pokemon battling still a competitive, likely sponsored, sport?
6. How does the resistance communicate with its members? Is there any command structure at all, or is it more of a shared ideal than a true faction?
7. What qualifies a civilian for ownership of a Pokemon? How common a sight are they in the care of regular people? (My assumption here is that only relatively harmless Pokemon could ever be legally owned without special rights granted to VIPs in need of protection, soldiers in the armed forces, etc, but can a Growlithe be an ordinary person's pet with the right permits, for example?)
8. Given that this is a draconian regime, what's your everyday police officer equipped with?
9. On a similar note, has the country's transformation into a dictatorship and the subsequent loss of personal freedom and privacy associated with that had any impact on criminal organizations or particular forms of crime? Just as examples, smuggling (and of what?), drug trafficking, or extortion rackets.
10. Under the assumption that Pokemon exist in place of real-life animals, am I correct in assuming that animal products such as meat, fat, and leather still exist in the setting and are provided by butchering (relatively unintelligent) Pokemon? Furthermore, and disregarding how cruel the Regime's policies may be in this regard, is the fundamental act of butchering animals for these products tolerated in-universe and among the rebels in particular? This one's kind of a big deal for anyone thinking to have a carnivorous Pokemon as a partner.

Sorry again if that's a lot to consider all at once.
Do I have the distinction of having a reserved slot for this, or were you referring to someone else when you said that, Severus? If I'm already tentatively "in", I'll try to put a rush on getting a character sheet and intro post up, although I'm still running through a bunch of very different ideas and there are definitely a few questions I'll have to get answers to before I really start.
Should have done this yesterday, but late's still better than never. This premise has my endorsement - I think there's plenty of potential to work with here.
Hey guys, lurker here. I'm honestly just popping in to make my appreciation for this RP known. You've got a very cool setting, keep a pretty consistent pace, and you're dealing with the little hangups like adults, which is something I wish I could say was common or unremarkable. It's been a very entertaining read so far and, well, I thought you'd all like to know that you have the approval of at least one complete stranger. Keep up the good work!
In response to ogres
It took little more than a week for news of the ogres' embargo to spread. Not just from Shark Gin Retreat, but through the entire confederation. It was the talking point in every alehouse, merchants started hoarding supplies for when the shortages would start coming.

It wasn't long before people started gathering on the docks, demanding for action to be taken. Many of them had been alive during the famines of the past, and they did not want such a thing to happen again. Garcia was quick to consult with his closer allies, and it was agreed he would be representative of them all in addressing the public.

Now, the eslean captain stood before the masses. He knew that if he picked the wrong words now they likely wouldn't hesitate to drag him to the gallows. It was his fraternizing with the chaos dwarves that had caused this whole situation, and the masses knew this.

“People, please calm down. Yes, it is a fact that I maintain good relations with the dwarves, but should my personal contacts be a reason for all of you to starve? No, I say. For do our laws not state we all reserve the freedom to believe whatever we want? Sure, it may conflict with what the pirate code states, but does that same code not also give anyone the right to protest nonviolently?”

Quite a few people in the crowd were not impressed by Garcia's appeal. “You've been sabotaging the code ever since it was written. You're only saying all that because the code happens to benefit you right now.” The voice in the crowd shouted loudly. The impromptu counterargument found support from other members of the crowd.

Garcia was quite tense now. “Yes, of course I disagree with some parts of the code. But does that mean I disagree with the idea of laws in their entirety? You are exaggerating my opposition to the code sir!

The dissident did not take long to present another counterargument. “Sure, you may place the blame on the ogres all you want, but it is because of your antagonizing them that we are in danger of starving again.”

This small detail gave Garcia the weakness he needed. “My friend, do you know when the worst of the famine was? Not when we were free and sovereign, no, back then we could indulge in all the riches of these lands. It was only when teach began spouting his drivel that we began starving. And his solution was to make us all the ogres lapdogs. I have never stood for that, and now perhaps it is time we all do something about it!”

The dissident had shut up after this. However, another voice in the crowd now stood up to speak of its own grievances. An elderly undine of native descent. “This time of plenty you speak of was not for everyone, sir. It was only a time of plenty for those with the strength to take what they wanted from those weaker than themselves. I can name many present here today that would loathe to return to such barbaric times.”

The eslean just laughed at the arguments. “We are pirates are we not? Taking what we consider ours is what we do. And pretending we are better than that is plain hypocritical. If I made the laws here, we wouldn't be bowing our knees to those brutes that don't know a caravel from a galleon. But yes, if you want to see how this place slowly buckles to the influence of the ogres, be my guest. Believe me, from what I've heard paying tribute every now and again will sound favorable compared to how ogres treat their subjects.”

After this exchange, there was some more back-and-forth. But the main argument had been covered. The people were not supportive of Garcia right now. But it would only be a matter of time before the seeds of doubt he had sown right now would take root. It wouldn't be long before he would have the crowd rallying against Teach instead of himself.
© 2007-2024
BBCode Cheatsheet