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cruelty_begsPlayer nickname: Orlando
Player LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elspeth_vimes
Way to contact you:
Email: agreylady@gmail.com
AIM: Elspeth Vimes
Other: pluuuurk
Are you at least 15?: Y.
Current Characters: Batou, Alberich, Robert Philip, Karibusa Tanyuu, Pam Landy, Maka Albarn, Ivan Vanko
Character: Christopher Carrion
Fandom: the Abarat series, by Clive Barker
Character Notes:
History:
Christopher Carrion is a prince of the Carrion line, a family which has ruled a substantial portion of the islands of Night for ages past (and when I say islands of Night, I mean it literally, because in the Abarat time is place). He was one son of a large family, but he was favored, and was relatively happy in his early childhood on Pyon (where it is always 3 in the morning). Then his sister, Theridia, choked to death on a fruit in the orchard. In a rage, Carrion's father set fire to the tree, and the fire spread to engulf the entire palace. Christopher was saved from the blaze by his grandmother, Mater Motley, but his mother and many brothers all perished. Since then Carrion and Motley have lived on Gorgossium, the island of Midnight, in the family castle Iniquisit. In spite of Mater Motley's constant, extremely evil influence, Carrion managed to become something of a romantic. Once, he used the word "love" in front of Mater Motley. She sewed his lips together, and he was unable to speak, eat, or drink for a day before she relented. He still has the scars.
At some point, he met the Princess Boa, daugher of King Claus, the islands of Day's counterpart to the Carrions. Carrion fell madly in love with Boa, and exchanged a multitude of letters with her while they lived on their respective islands. Carrion pleaded with Boa to marry him and forge a new peace together, across the islands. Boa, however, remained uncertain, and eventually turned Carrion down completely.
Convinced at last that no one could ever find him anything but an "ugly, scarred, nightmare-ridden grotesque," Carrion became one. When Boa became engaged to another, Finnegan Hob, Carrion paid to have a dragon kill her on her wedding day. The dragon succeeded, though it was then killed itself by Finnegan.
Carrion turned to the dark side completely. He developed a way of extracting nightmares from his brain, which are funneled into a fluid contained by a tall collar he wears. He breathes this fluid, and the nightmares, and is able to take the nightmares out and inflict them on others. He has developed a remarkable, and deserved, reputation for cruelty and evil.
He has become enamored with the idea of bringing about, for a time, absolute midnight- a total lack of any light throughout the Abarat. This would enable the mythic Requiax, creatures of unimaginable evil, to rampage across the world once more. And perhaps, afterwards, when the world as it is has been destroyed, he can create his own world order.
It wouldn't be a pleasant one.
Personality:
Carrion is very, deeply, messed up. He enjoys inflicting pain (mostly of the mental or emotional variety) on others. He knows the way in which people break, and gains amusement from seeing how easily he can do it. He literally lives and breathes his own nightmares, finding in them confirmation of some of his beliefs as well as useful pets with which to hurt others. It's very easy for most people on his world to think of him as what, to most of the world, he is- your typical totally evil villain. But things are, of course, a little more complicated.
Perhaps the three most important things to know about him are these- 1) he hates himself, 2) he hates the world, and 3) he still hopes for something that will maybe prove both himself and the world worthy of something other than hatred, maybe even love.
He knows he's ugly. He knows what he does is cruel. He knows that he's evil, and deserves to be hated. At least a part of him is sure that the reason that his trying to be good failed was because there is something essentially monstrous about him (an impression which Mater Motley no doubt encouraged), and he hates that. At the same time, he's convinced that the world should have given him a better chance, and that the fact it didn't proves there's something essentially monstrous about the world, and it deserves whatever he can give it.
Yet the Carrion of the past isn't entirely dead, as sometimes shows in his philosophical streak. He believes in providence, that everything happens for a reason, that everything serves a purpose. Usually, he believes this purpose is nothing worthwhile, but sometimes he dares to hope that something good can come into his life again. In his more philosophical moods he can be something almost close to kind, doing things like assuring a henchman who he is extremely displeased with that the man is not worthless. It also shows through in his still-abiding appreciation for some things of beauty or determined goodness, whether it's a mechanical bird or a mysterious girl he admires.
But the truth is that Carrion has let himself grow far too twisted, and when something good does come into his life, he isn't able to handle it well. Anything of beauty he finds will end up in a cage. He is obsessive, completely disregarding others in the pursuit of what he wants, even if what he wants is love. He is also prone to violent bouts of temper. When things don't go his way, people tend to get yelled at, slapped around, beaten up, or thrown in a cell for later torment (this is different from when he's bored- that means playing mind games so that people do the above to each other). He is sometimes capable of controlling his temper for the purpose of a larger plan, but it shouldn't be counted on. And should he take something very personally, his anger can be overwhelmingly destructive, as evidenced by the assassination of Boa.
Still, he is extremely intelligent. He is remarkably well-read. He makes sure to conduct experiments and research of all sorts, to be better equipped to carry out his plans. He is skilled at obtaining and managing information- he has spies in quite a few places, and realizes when it's smart to act dumb. He knows that in order to succeed, it can be necessary to make alliances he finds distasteful, and he does so. Carrion is ultimately a big-picture person. Unless he is directly or completely hurt or foiled in pursuit of one of his great obsessions, he can deal with a few idiots or insults.
He maintains something of an artistic bent. He is a great lover of poetry and music. But again, his taste can reveal nihilistic tendencies. His favorite poem, for example, is called "Memories of the World's End." (If someone introduces him to Blake, he will probably love "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" forever.)
At this point, while a part of him still hopes otherwise, pretty much all Carrion is capable of, whether he is driven by hatred or love, is destruction.
Other:
The extent of Carrion's power is not really stated. He is definitely one of the most powerful magicians/wizards/whatever in the Abarat, capable of summoning or creating immense creatures and machines, scrying, and with powers of telekenisis, not to mention the whole being able to force his nightmares upon you part.
Barker has stated "Christopher Carrion wasn't always a villain. Christopher Carrion is a villain because he has been horribly dealt with by his family. I try and trace the villainy in order to say to the reader, 'Look in your own lives to see if there aren't hurtful things that make you behave hurtfully.'" This is relevant in that pretty much any abuse you think Mater Motley might have perpetrated, she probably did.
Carrion usually writes a little more formally than he speaks.
Additional Links:
obligatory wiki link
why Carrion will not be winning any beauty pageants
First Person (entry type):
I was surprised to find a device which seemed to contain messages from the Hereafter, but such things are within the realm of possibility. What is strange are the claims that many of the messages, or even all of them, are from yet more worlds.
Can that be? If that were possible, surely there would be books on the subject. The Abarat and the Hereafter once traded. Wouldn't other worlds do the same? This lack of information makes little sense. But as far as the scientists can tell, this device is functioning correctly. The scientists, at least, I can ensure the honesty of.
I will not be lied to.
I will see what these other worlds claim to offer. There may be angels out there yet. And where there are angels, there must be devils too.
Third Person:
Carrion saw the stitchling watching him from one of the castle's many shadows and glared. "Leave. You aren't needed." The creature shambled away and around a corner, out of sight.
Just how stupid, Carrion wondered bitterly as he walked in the opposite direction, did his grandmother believe he was? Just how oblivious? She had to know he was aware of each of he spies, of which were her favorites, which he could use. She had to know of his own networks, of all those servants and henchmen whose loyalty to him was totally enforced. Yet she persisted in these attempts. As if she could control him, still, as she had when he was a child. As if she could rule. He paused at one of the doors, and listened with satisfaction to the screams that made their way around the bolts. Yes. She may have been able to cobble together some scraps, but he could rule.
A nightmare brushed against his cheek, sending a comforting stab of cold. One of these days, Mater Motley would run through the end of what little family feeling he had, and no stitchling would protect her from the nightmares he choose to grant. Carrion smiled.
But until then, there was more important, if perhaps less satisfying, work to be done.
Player LJ:
elspeth_vimesWay to contact you:
Email: agreylady@gmail.com
AIM: Elspeth Vimes
Other: pluuuurk
Are you at least 15?: Y.
Current Characters: Batou, Alberich, Robert Philip, Karibusa Tanyuu, Pam Landy, Maka Albarn, Ivan Vanko
Character: Christopher Carrion
Fandom: the Abarat series, by Clive Barker
Character Notes:
History:
Christopher Carrion is a prince of the Carrion line, a family which has ruled a substantial portion of the islands of Night for ages past (and when I say islands of Night, I mean it literally, because in the Abarat time is place). He was one son of a large family, but he was favored, and was relatively happy in his early childhood on Pyon (where it is always 3 in the morning). Then his sister, Theridia, choked to death on a fruit in the orchard. In a rage, Carrion's father set fire to the tree, and the fire spread to engulf the entire palace. Christopher was saved from the blaze by his grandmother, Mater Motley, but his mother and many brothers all perished. Since then Carrion and Motley have lived on Gorgossium, the island of Midnight, in the family castle Iniquisit. In spite of Mater Motley's constant, extremely evil influence, Carrion managed to become something of a romantic. Once, he used the word "love" in front of Mater Motley. She sewed his lips together, and he was unable to speak, eat, or drink for a day before she relented. He still has the scars.
At some point, he met the Princess Boa, daugher of King Claus, the islands of Day's counterpart to the Carrions. Carrion fell madly in love with Boa, and exchanged a multitude of letters with her while they lived on their respective islands. Carrion pleaded with Boa to marry him and forge a new peace together, across the islands. Boa, however, remained uncertain, and eventually turned Carrion down completely.
Convinced at last that no one could ever find him anything but an "ugly, scarred, nightmare-ridden grotesque," Carrion became one. When Boa became engaged to another, Finnegan Hob, Carrion paid to have a dragon kill her on her wedding day. The dragon succeeded, though it was then killed itself by Finnegan.
Carrion turned to the dark side completely. He developed a way of extracting nightmares from his brain, which are funneled into a fluid contained by a tall collar he wears. He breathes this fluid, and the nightmares, and is able to take the nightmares out and inflict them on others. He has developed a remarkable, and deserved, reputation for cruelty and evil.
He has become enamored with the idea of bringing about, for a time, absolute midnight- a total lack of any light throughout the Abarat. This would enable the mythic Requiax, creatures of unimaginable evil, to rampage across the world once more. And perhaps, afterwards, when the world as it is has been destroyed, he can create his own world order.
It wouldn't be a pleasant one.
Personality:
Carrion is very, deeply, messed up. He enjoys inflicting pain (mostly of the mental or emotional variety) on others. He knows the way in which people break, and gains amusement from seeing how easily he can do it. He literally lives and breathes his own nightmares, finding in them confirmation of some of his beliefs as well as useful pets with which to hurt others. It's very easy for most people on his world to think of him as what, to most of the world, he is- your typical totally evil villain. But things are, of course, a little more complicated.
Perhaps the three most important things to know about him are these- 1) he hates himself, 2) he hates the world, and 3) he still hopes for something that will maybe prove both himself and the world worthy of something other than hatred, maybe even love.
He knows he's ugly. He knows what he does is cruel. He knows that he's evil, and deserves to be hated. At least a part of him is sure that the reason that his trying to be good failed was because there is something essentially monstrous about him (an impression which Mater Motley no doubt encouraged), and he hates that. At the same time, he's convinced that the world should have given him a better chance, and that the fact it didn't proves there's something essentially monstrous about the world, and it deserves whatever he can give it.
Yet the Carrion of the past isn't entirely dead, as sometimes shows in his philosophical streak. He believes in providence, that everything happens for a reason, that everything serves a purpose. Usually, he believes this purpose is nothing worthwhile, but sometimes he dares to hope that something good can come into his life again. In his more philosophical moods he can be something almost close to kind, doing things like assuring a henchman who he is extremely displeased with that the man is not worthless. It also shows through in his still-abiding appreciation for some things of beauty or determined goodness, whether it's a mechanical bird or a mysterious girl he admires.
But the truth is that Carrion has let himself grow far too twisted, and when something good does come into his life, he isn't able to handle it well. Anything of beauty he finds will end up in a cage. He is obsessive, completely disregarding others in the pursuit of what he wants, even if what he wants is love. He is also prone to violent bouts of temper. When things don't go his way, people tend to get yelled at, slapped around, beaten up, or thrown in a cell for later torment (this is different from when he's bored- that means playing mind games so that people do the above to each other). He is sometimes capable of controlling his temper for the purpose of a larger plan, but it shouldn't be counted on. And should he take something very personally, his anger can be overwhelmingly destructive, as evidenced by the assassination of Boa.
Still, he is extremely intelligent. He is remarkably well-read. He makes sure to conduct experiments and research of all sorts, to be better equipped to carry out his plans. He is skilled at obtaining and managing information- he has spies in quite a few places, and realizes when it's smart to act dumb. He knows that in order to succeed, it can be necessary to make alliances he finds distasteful, and he does so. Carrion is ultimately a big-picture person. Unless he is directly or completely hurt or foiled in pursuit of one of his great obsessions, he can deal with a few idiots or insults.
He maintains something of an artistic bent. He is a great lover of poetry and music. But again, his taste can reveal nihilistic tendencies. His favorite poem, for example, is called "Memories of the World's End." (If someone introduces him to Blake, he will probably love "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" forever.)
At this point, while a part of him still hopes otherwise, pretty much all Carrion is capable of, whether he is driven by hatred or love, is destruction.
Other:
The extent of Carrion's power is not really stated. He is definitely one of the most powerful magicians/wizards/whatever in the Abarat, capable of summoning or creating immense creatures and machines, scrying, and with powers of telekenisis, not to mention the whole being able to force his nightmares upon you part.
Barker has stated "Christopher Carrion wasn't always a villain. Christopher Carrion is a villain because he has been horribly dealt with by his family. I try and trace the villainy in order to say to the reader, 'Look in your own lives to see if there aren't hurtful things that make you behave hurtfully.'" This is relevant in that pretty much any abuse you think Mater Motley might have perpetrated, she probably did.
Carrion usually writes a little more formally than he speaks.
Additional Links:
obligatory wiki link
why Carrion will not be winning any beauty pageants
First Person (entry type):
I was surprised to find a device which seemed to contain messages from the Hereafter, but such things are within the realm of possibility. What is strange are the claims that many of the messages, or even all of them, are from yet more worlds.
Can that be? If that were possible, surely there would be books on the subject. The Abarat and the Hereafter once traded. Wouldn't other worlds do the same? This lack of information makes little sense. But as far as the scientists can tell, this device is functioning correctly. The scientists, at least, I can ensure the honesty of.
I will not be lied to.
I will see what these other worlds claim to offer. There may be angels out there yet. And where there are angels, there must be devils too.
Third Person:
Carrion saw the stitchling watching him from one of the castle's many shadows and glared. "Leave. You aren't needed." The creature shambled away and around a corner, out of sight.
Just how stupid, Carrion wondered bitterly as he walked in the opposite direction, did his grandmother believe he was? Just how oblivious? She had to know he was aware of each of he spies, of which were her favorites, which he could use. She had to know of his own networks, of all those servants and henchmen whose loyalty to him was totally enforced. Yet she persisted in these attempts. As if she could control him, still, as she had when he was a child. As if she could rule. He paused at one of the doors, and listened with satisfaction to the screams that made their way around the bolts. Yes. She may have been able to cobble together some scraps, but he could rule.
A nightmare brushed against his cheek, sending a comforting stab of cold. One of these days, Mater Motley would run through the end of what little family feeling he had, and no stitchling would protect her from the nightmares he choose to grant. Carrion smiled.
But until then, there was more important, if perhaps less satisfying, work to be done.
