Application @paradisa

[ol_northy]

PERSONAL
NAME: Nini
PERSONAL JOURNAL: buccellati
EMAIL: sharkinaditch @ gmail . com
AIM: LadyIverin
WIKI NAME: N/A
CURRENT CHARACTERS: N/A


CHARACTER
CHARACTER NAME: Agent North Dakota (and Theta)
SERIES: Red vs Blue
CANON POINT: His death, as shown in the mini-series Recovery One
LOSS: I'd like him to forget how he died. His sister, Agent South Dakota, put him in a position to be killed. Whether this was something he knew about or not, she did it on purpose, and him remembering the entire incident would have unpredictable consequences.

ABOUT THE CHARACTER:
I feel obligated to help.

The twin brother of Agent South Dakota is almost her exact opposite. Compassionate, nurturing, calm, collected, Freelancer Agent North Dakota has many traits one might not expect in a hardened soldier and special operative. Fierce in battle, but easy to smile and make a gentle admonishment, he shows interest in all those around him at a level not necessarily shown by any other Freelancer.

What is a Freelancer, anyway? An elite agent in a program run by Director Leonard Church, who wanted to implant soldiers with fragments of an AI--the Alpha--in order to enhance their abilities and to study the results thereof. They secure top-secret items, perform recovery operations, and go pretty much wherever they're told to. Over the course of the series, they train against each other, learn to use new equipment and resources, and generally kick a lot of ass until shit goes down and tears the program apart.

Among them, North seems to be the kindest, the last one to respond with excessive snark (though don't count him out--he zings everyone a time or two). He also is one of the ones who stays calmest in battle, quick on his feet and a good strategist. Armed with a sniper rifle, he's above and beyond deadly; he's a good tracker, an excellent marksman, and can handle himself like a pro in zero-G. While not quite a bruiser, he's formidable in every way, and god forbid you find yourself on the other end of his gun. Since the Freelancers work as a team, he has to exhibit the ability to work in tandem with others, which he excels at. He works hard to defend and assist his fellow Freelancers, and works like clockwork with South.

Much of what we know about North centers around South. They're twins, raised together, always dressed alike, treated as though they were special all the way through life and in the Freelancer program as well. They were selected for the program to see what would happen if one twin was implanted with an AI while the other was not. That didn't go so well. Hot-tempered South didn't really take to the idea at all.

Presumably older than his sibling, North takes great care to see that she keeps her head screwed on straight whenever it's needed. Though not overbearing, and though he watches her make her own mistakes and throw her own fits, he still attempts to calm her down before she completely flies off the handle. This isn't to say that he's overbearing--South still does her own thing, lives her own way--but if she ever needs anything, he'll be there. Of course, having grown up with South, he knows when to let her be, and when to put her in her place. Although he fights her (with dual sniper rifles) to let Tex pass in her quest to regain the Alpha AI, for example, they still have a moment of reconciliation at the end, reaffirming their commitment to watch each other's backs. But during the series he also calls her out for being out of line in requesting the wounded Carolina's AI, as well as for throwing a fit at the other Freelancers.

Among the rest of the team, it seems that he's especially close to York, who he talks to about their issues with their implanted AIs. They appear to confide in each other to a degree; they also form a sort of comedic trio when ultra-gullible Agent Washington is added to the mix. He thinks highly of Agent Texas as well, vouching for her when she was accused of attacking another Freelancer. Being the nice guy of the team, he seems to get along pretty well with everyone, and doesn't think particularly ill of anyone that he ever shows. Much as he is a literal brother, he's a big brother figure to the rest of the team as well, speaking softly but carrying a big stick gun.

This battle-ready badass with a softer side has plenty of epic missions with blazing guns and back-to-back ass-kicking action before he earns a new honor: the task of caring for and carrying the AI program Theta. Theta is childlike, innocent, representing "trust" as ripped from the origin AI unit Alpha. North was selected to carry this timid AI because of his "nurturing" nature: in other words, not only would he look out for the unit, but he'd wisely utilize it without overworking it. In battle, Theta helps North execute his strategies and enhances the use of his domed shield. Together, they take out a quick-moving array of machine guns in a training exercise, and trap and execute an entire squad of enemies with ease.

While he has many strengths in battle and in personality, his weakness is pretty easy to see when you consider how things ended up. He tends to do the "right" thing, and once he picks Tex's side in the Alpha situation, his fate is pretty much sealed. He cares, perhaps too much, about the well-being of his sister and his AI. The combination of those two things sets him up to be killed by the Meta, another Freelancer agent who was taken over by his AI and who began to hunt down the others for their AI and equipment. South and North are on the run from Meta when North is killed, having been put in a position to be such by South (who then claimed to not know what happened). His kindness may be his weakness. He lets Theta keep him up at night with manic thoughts, as well, and takes him for walks rather than coldly disengaging him.

Armored badass by day, sweet ol' Northy by night, there's not much to dislike about Agent North Dakota. Stay on the right side of his guns and he may even have some hot cocoa with you. But by the end of the series we see not only a man of incredible combat ability and incredible kindness, but a man of conviction, who won't let even his sister stand in the way of someone doing what he sees as right. It's a bolder move than one might expect from such a good soldier, but in the end, hey! It's what makes him who he is.


I think I'm starting to like her... Still scary, though.

Theta is North's AI unit. Each AI unit is a component of the original AI, the Alpha, who they all obsess over. They represent a different characteristic of the Alpha, being fragments of its psyche.

Embodying the Alpha's trust, Theta's a gentle little guy, timid and cautious at first. Under North's care, he becomes more confident. The two work in tandem to operate North's shield enhancements, but Theta is the one in charge of the finer adjustments. Theta learns new skills--such as making holographic fireworks and riding a skateboard--during their time together, growing and changing while his trust with North builds.

Like most of the AIs, Theta has a latent sense of anxiety that keeps North up at night, a restlessness that always seems to lurk in the deepest parts of their bond. North even takes walks to try to calm Theta down, to lull him to a state of peace so that the man can sleep. Although York suggests pulling the unit--shutting Theta down--North remarks that Theta just gets scared when he does that.

He grows to like others, especially favoring Tex once she calms down (after disengaging her own AI). He warms up to the AI Delta quite quickly, as well. Though childlike and almost naive, he still is as formidable as any others in combat.

But seriously? Freaking precious.

Eventually, he is stolen by the Meta, who kills North at the same time.

ABILITIES:
Capable in combat and an excellent tactician, North uses his skills both to attack and defend. Like the other Freelancers, he has a highly sophisticated set of body armor, and a helmet chock full of enhancements. His major enhancement is the ability to produce a domed shield, something he can do only briefly without the assistance of an AI unit. His next most important ability, then, is the use and existence of his AI partner, Theta. Theta enhances and controls the shield, making it more effective, longer-lasting, and capable of precision targeting.

His training as a soldier keeps him alive and sharp in battle. He is proficient with a number of weapons, but seems to prefer sniper rifles, which he can even dual wield. As the rest of the Freelancers are, he's capable with computers and the use of various military implements.

THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE:
It wasn't uncommon for North to be unable to sleep. Theta, even in a strange land, had trouble with things, with thoughts and some shadow of emotion that he mulled over at every hour. That little voice inside his mind kept him from resting more often than he'd like to admit. Still, it hardly bothered him to the degree it might a man of lesser fortitude. He just... dealt with it. Found a way. An understanding.

More of the same, another cup of tea and staring off into the distance, resisting the temptation to laugh inwardly at Theta's little thoughts. Maybe he ought to boot him up tell him a bedtime story. It's not that he felt bad about it, that it really irritated him. It was more that he could feel some days where he wasn't as sharp as others, had that little edge of tiredness that kept him from reaching one hundred and ten percent of his potential.

He let himself think of places and things he'd seen before, chaos and war and all the familiarity of being threatened to within an inch of his life by faceless mooks on a daily basis. Kicking his feet up, tipping his head back, he let a sigh finally loose itself from his lips. A few options presented themselves, mostly self-sacrificing, though some he entertained he'd consider selfish. Still, if you do right by the little voice in your head, you're probably doing well enough by yourself. And it never really got to him. It was just part of carrying Theta around.

"Alright, Theta." The small purple and pink figure blinked to life. "Show me the fireworks again."


FIRST-PERSON JOURNAL SAMPLE:
[Something weird happened in Paradisa! Shocking!]

This is North. You know, I'm more used to recording these, but I thought I'd try writing in this book for a while.

That was one hell of a welcome. So far, I've heard some pretty wild stories about how things go, what they mean, who does what, the whole nine yards. I've got to say, though, that thing with the minor explosion was pretty impressive. Never a dull day here, or at least that's what I'm told.

Now, I was also told that big boom wasn't necessarily normal, so does somebody want to tell they guy who missed everything just a little bit about the incident? I have a sneaking suspicion I know who and what was involved.


INTENT: For starters, I love the character. His gentle nature with the people he's tasked with helping and caring for stood out for me when I first viewed the series. I don't often get to play this character type, and I'd appreciate the opportunity to play him in a game, especially in a place where he can experience things both crazier and calmer than his own home. I'd like to see what will happen as he's exposed to these new things, how he'll handle them and how he may grow and learn as time passes.