we will be traveling for a long time

OUT OF CHARACTER
PLAYER: k2
PRONOUNS: she/her
CONTACT: plurk
THREADJACKING: Sure!
CANONPUNTURE: No thanks.
BACKTAGGING: Always. Let me know if it's been too long, and you'd prefer to wrap.
CONTENT WARNINGS: n/a

IN CHARACTER
CHARACTER: The One Electronic / TOE / Terrin Oculon
CANON: Overside Comics (Between Order of Tales & Rice Boy)
AGE: ~2000

DESCRIPTION:

TOE is a tall, metallic humanoid with jointed limbs and a face that resembles a black-and-white television screen. The images on it shift frequently, and without conscious intent.

( These will never form exact copies of media in a character's world — if I link an image your character would know, it'll just remind them vaguely of it. )

He typically wears traveler's clothing, and a wind-up key on a string around his neck. There's a large ruby mark in the center of his chest.

It's unclear what happens to the things he eats, drinks, or smokes: They protrude partway into the screen, and vanish.


DEMEANOR:

Somewhat aloof. Fond of hand gestures.


ABILITIES:

Can create sparks, or larger bolts of flame.

Skilled swordsman.

Survival experience.

Also he doesn't need to eat or sleep and he's effectively immortal.


OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS:

Speculating upon his capacity for emotion is, occasionally, a sore spot.


INTERACTIONS
MAGIC: Go for it.
MENTAL: Hella. Let me know, and I can give you details.
MIMICRY: Making fun of him? Excellent. Literally becoming his doppelganger? Let's talk first.
INTIMACY: Asexual. Romance unlikely, but I'm open to it with enough development.
VIOLENCE: Here for it.
OTHER: Feel free to chat with me OOC to work stuff out.

OPT-OUT
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Comments screened for privacy.

OOC Info
Player: k2
Contact: plurk, discord @ shambolism#8807
Age Confirmation: 29
Other Characters: n/a

IC Info
Character: The One Electronic ('TOE')
Canon: Overside Comics
Canon Point: In the long nebulous period post-Order of Tales & the short comics, but before Rice Boy.
Age: ~2000 years old

History:

• A Machine Man. 
• Machine Men are exactly that: Metallic humanoids, who were once known as brutal conquerors. They have not been so in some time — the Machines are now largely xenophobes who dwell in an isolated fortress called the Black Teeth.
• One of the oldest people of Overside, and possessed of great individual longevity, stories have it that the Machines were created by God's own first children. 
• All Machines are brothers, and they create new brothers. This seems to be a vaguely magical thing, more like golems than robots. (It's a surreal fantasy comic, don't look too closely)
• TOE began life in the Black Teeth, and was called Terrin Occulon.
• Ran away as a child with two of his younger brothers to see the world.
• His brothers were taken away by a monstrous creature.
• TOE believes that they died. 
• As a young adult, TOE traveled widely. He made two close friends, Calabash and Golgo.
• The three of them encountered a mystical pillar, which spoke to them. It claimed to be an avatar of the three-part God (space, time, and mind). Currently, the aspect of mind was missing, but would return with the fulfillment of a prophecy.
• The pillar offered a deal: Search for the Fulfiller of that prophecy, and receive eternal life.
• They agreed.
• Fine print: If they ever stop searching, they'll die.
• Eventually, Golgo abandoned their mission, keeping himself alive by way of a magical, corrupting drug instead. TOE despised him for this.
• TOE and Cal stayed besties and wandered all over the place, and meddled in a lot of affairs.
• Seriously: The point of the characters is that they're on constant quests and misadventures so they can pop up in comics as the author feels like it, and he intentionally leaves details vague.
• At his current canon point, TOE has encountered a vast wooden computer in the desert, and is watching it die.

CRAU: n/a

About: 

TOE is a bit of a prick.

TOE's story is one concerned with arrogance and agency, and the complicated role that they play in faith. 



Skills and Abilities:


MACHINE PHYSIOLOGY

Machine Men don't need to eat, drink, or sleep; though they may choose to do so.

Machines have the strength of your average person, but being made of metal makes it easier to repel some types of damage (ex: arrows, fire). TOE seems to feel pain, and bleeds a black substance when punctured. Doing enough injury of any kind will incapacitate him.

His screen is his most vulnerable point. Stab him there.


IMMORTAL

So long as TOE continues to search for the Fulfiller of the prophecy, [ God Won't Let Me Die dot JPEG ]

It's unclear whether ordinary Machine Men age. Signs point to 'no', or 'very slowly', but regardless: TOE doesn't.

Though he can be incapacitated, TOE will eventually heal from 'fatal' injuries as well — it just might mean that he spends a century comatose and buried in a sand dune without assistance.


FIRE

TOE can create electric sparks, and shoot larger bursts of flame from his hands.


WEAPONS

TOE is an accomplished swordsman, and has become familiar with a variety of weapons in his long, long life. I promise to not be a jerk about it — anyone whose character has a signature weapon gets the automatic edge (ha) on him. He'll never be as good at nunchucks as Nunchuck Steve, and he doesn't know how to throw Captain America's shield or other canon-specific weapons. He hasn't encountered guns yet, and will never be fond of them.



Why is your character a warden?

The comics' author has discussed TOE's canon arc as that of a religious fundamentalist in recovery. Over the course of his story, TOE begins to question, and to open himself up to mystery. He eventually chooses to put his faith in the very fallibility of belief.

It's a cool arc! But it takes place over several thousand years, partly off-screen, and I think it'd be fun to write him in the middle of it all. TOE is an independent man who feels out of place in an authoritarian society, but that often clashes with his devotion to an all-powerful god figure. Empathy and autonomy aren't rewarded by his people or divinity, and he struggles with their evident importance. That tension transfers well to the Admiralty, I think he'll have interesting internal questions about the nature of rules and morality.

TOE enjoys learning about others, and considers this a piece of his duty. He's lived for a very long time, in a very peculiar setting: No one's trauma or background is likely to throw him for a loop. He'll be perfectly willing to ask direct, uncomfortable questions if need be.

Also he's made of metal, so might be a good match for someone punchy. Direct feedback response of bruising ur hand.



Pick and Choose:


– What kind of inmate would your character warden best? Who would they not be able to warden?

TOE is prone to considering the affairs of individuals petty, and beneath his mission; conversely, the 'little people' are often those he learns and develops the most from.

He's likely to bounce best off someone who's sure enough of their own desires to push back. A degree of selfishness isn't an inherently bad thing in anyone - and in an inmate relationship, it forces TOE to engage at more than a superficial, guardian level.

Cause-motivated inmates will just never have a goal as important to TOE as his own cause, and I'd expect a degree of mutual frustration in that sort of pairing.

He's also unlikely to be a stickler for the small rules. TOE likes adventure, and approves of curiousity. Testing the limits may annoy him, but he respects it more than strict deference to authority. Anyone who needs to be kept in check 24/7 for small infractions could... probably use a different robot.



Windfall:

Find the Fulfiller of the Prophecy.

TOE didn't make his deal <I>just</I> to live forever — he truly believes in the importance of his mission. If the prophecy is fulfilled, supposedly Overside's three-part god will be reunited, and mysterious wrongs will be righted. That's his animating purpose. 



Sample:

TDM