Player Name: James Personal Journal:thegogglesdonothing E-mail: wudaistarwind@gmail.com AIM/MSN: Jamadadayo Timezone: EST Current Characters in Route: NA
Character Name: Norman Babcock Series: ParaNorman Timeline: Post-Movie Canon Resource Links:Here!
Personality: Norman likes being under the radar. He doesn't like sticking out and being noticed. That usually means negative attention on him. His entire modus operandi is to make it through with as little confrontation or social interaction as possible. The unfortunate truth of that is, in his town, blending in is impossible. It's sort of an inescapable reality to a kid born with the gift of speaking to the dead. Ghosts, zombies, you name it. Norman is the ambassador between the physical and spiritual plane. The bad news is that it doesn't make you all that popular in school. Or at home. Or anywhere, really. Alienated by most of his town? Yep. Treated as a troubled child by his family? Check. Fiercely bullied at school? You bet.
However, in spite of that, Norman never treats himself like a victim. He doesn't cry about the way things are. Sure, he laments that he never asked to be born with his gifts but does he try to deny them? Hell no. He knows that he isn't normal and he has no intentions of trying to pretend otherwise. Even if all he wants is to duck his head and get through it the best he can, he doesn't try to change himself to suit others. Unfortunately this attitude has led Norman to becoming a loner. Until recently, he saw no real need to make friends, feeling that once they get to know him, they'd just think he was a freak anyway. As such he's come to be very comfortable on his own, and prefers to just rely on himself.
Of course its a little different when he talks to ghosts. Where Norman shuts himself off to the living, to the dead he's perfectly cheerful and friendly. He goes so far as to help his town ghosts with any little task they might ask of him. He knows this doesn't make his case better for the living, but the bottom line is that he doesn't care. Time and again, Norman's learned to value the company of the dead over the living.
Despite what seems like hostility and distrust, he does cares about other people and he has a strong moral sense of right and wrong. Even people he doesn't even like all that much, he'd never purposely harm, and even go so far to help in a dire situation. Given the opportunity to really show his stuff, Norman can also be very brave and determined, willing to risk his life for what has to be done. His sense of duty is also very strong and once he sets out to do something, he takes it very seriously. Really underneath that anti-social facade he puts up, Norman is just a lonely kid who's had to put up with a lot of pain simply for just being who he is. It speaks a lot, too for the sort of emotional strength that he has for someone so young.
The good news is, that after the events of the film, not only has Norman decided to open up, but the entirety of his town has realized that he wasn't faking for attention all this time. Not to mention he basically saved their asses from a fiery doom via witch curse. While this means he's still pretty introverted, he's less distrusting and hostile to others and willing to talk and even make friends. During his confrontation with Aggie, Norman had to make peace with the part of him that bottled up all his anger and bitterness, realizing that if he held onto it like she had, then he'd eventually lose himself to his hate. By doing so, he'd become nothing better than the one's who've hurt him in the past. It's a hell of a revelation to have at eleven-years-old.
Of course Norman opening up and being friendly should never be mistaken for Norman being a push over. He's stubborn and blunt, and he will tell you when you've done something stupid. He has a sarcastic streak, and can be full of sass when he wants to be- which is often. He'll listen to authority, but when its other people- specifically teenagers or just jerks, he will tell you what for while probably making jabs at your intelligence. ("Oh god, they're gonna eat our brains!!" "I think you'll be fine.") Barring all of that, Norman is a sweet kid who has spent far too long being isolated and lonely.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Norman has a few paranormal abilities. First and foremost he's a medium. He can see ghosts, which is a trait horrendously rare in his world, and he can communicate with the dead. This isn't limited to just ghosts, as he's able to use the ability to speak with zombies, who otherwise can't properly communicate in spoken English. Linked to this ability, he seems to have a form of retrocognition in which he is privy to events that have happened in the past. This is usually brought about by some impending emergency and is usually ghost related. In the movie it started happening to him because the eve of a three-hundred-year-old curse was upon his town.
For the not so weird stuff, Norman greatest gift is his emotional strength and fortitude. This is a kid who can take a whole lot of social abuse and vitriol, and keep his head held up strong. He doesn't fall into self-pity, he doesn't cry. When something doesn't go his way, he sucks it up and keeps moving. His stubbornness, sense of duty, and outright tenacity usually ensures that no matter the situation, Norman will pull through it.
However, at the same time, Norman has a lot of trouble opening up and socializing with anyone who isn't dead. He's spent a lot of time being alienated from everyone around him that, while he is open to making friends, he's still nervous and even distrustful of most people. He also has quite a sarcastic mouth, and does not back down from calling someone out.
That said, he's also only eleven. He's mature and responsible far beyond his years, but he's still just a kid. He has breaking points, they're just harder to hit than most.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Breeder
Starter: Duskull
Password: Scrambled Eggs
Samples First Person Sample:
Wow um, so does anyone else think its kind of weird that this place says its okay for a bunch of kids to run around the wilderness?
I guess I'm not complaining, but it just doesn't really seem all that safe. Most places back home had laws about that kind of thing.
Its probably a good thing my mom isn't here, she'd probably have an ulcer.
[There's a pause. Norman is fidgeting a bit. He's not really huge on talking to people, but somehow talking through the pokegear was a little easier.]
Anyway, so um. What are we supposed to do for food here? I'm ...not really that great at camping, or cooking. I'm like, eleven-years-old.
Third Person Sample: So, everything about this shot up red flags in Norman's head. For one thing, he could swear that music was familiar. Like, maybe he'd played a video game with it? It did sort of sound like your every day generic handheld video game music, so maybe that shouldn't have surprised him. What struck him as odd was that he was hearing it at all. Background music wasn't supposed to exist in real life. Right? No one else seemed to be kicking up a fuss over it. Was he just hearing things? He really hoped not.
Second, there was this whole deal of going off on his own to have an adventure completely unsupervised, and at the mercy of this ...strange creature that was with him when he woke up. (Okay, even he had to admit the thing was pretty awesome looking. Like a little ghost monster?? How cool was that?) While Norman normally didn't have a problem running around unsupervised, it was the stranger danger vibes he was getting from all this. (Waking up in some house he'd never seen before with some lady shoving him out the door, didn't help matters at all.)
Third, and this had taken him longer to realize, but he couldn't find any ghosts. None. Absolutely none. The town, the pathways, the forest, all devoid of spiritual life. That was what gave him the chills. What kind of place was this? How could there be no dead? It didn't matter if you had a spick and span, gated suburb, or a cemetery, you always had dead.
He honestly wished he could have blamed this on being one of his spooky visions of the past. However, after three hours of wandering around and nothing horrible jumping out at him, it seemed pretty clear he was standing in the real world- whatever that meant right now. So he was lost, confused, and alone.
"Take the path to the next town," chimed in a ...cheery but quiet voice. It sort of echoed and reminded him of speaking with the dead- only, when Norman looked around all he saw was his pokemon. Okay...
"...Hello?"
"You're supposed to take Route 29 to the next town, everyone knows that."
Norman blinked at the Duskull, which looked back at him plainly as if speaking wasn't all that strange. Norman opened his mouth to speak, and then clamped it shut again, puzzled. Then, it clicked.
Norman Babcock | ParaNorman | Reserved
Name: James
Personal Journal:
E-mail: wudaistarwind@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: Jamadadayo
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: NA
Character
Name: Norman Babcock
Series: ParaNorman
Timeline: Post-Movie
Canon Resource Links: Here!
Personality: Norman likes being under the radar. He doesn't like sticking out and being noticed. That usually means negative attention on him. His entire modus operandi is to make it through with as little confrontation or social interaction as possible. The unfortunate truth of that is, in his town, blending in is impossible. It's sort of an inescapable reality to a kid born with the gift of speaking to the dead. Ghosts, zombies, you name it. Norman is the ambassador between the physical and spiritual plane. The bad news is that it doesn't make you all that popular in school. Or at home. Or anywhere, really. Alienated by most of his town? Yep. Treated as a troubled child by his family? Check. Fiercely bullied at school? You bet.
However, in spite of that, Norman never treats himself like a victim. He doesn't cry about the way things are. Sure, he laments that he never asked to be born with his gifts but does he try to deny them? Hell no. He knows that he isn't normal and he has no intentions of trying to pretend otherwise. Even if all he wants is to duck his head and get through it the best he can, he doesn't try to change himself to suit others. Unfortunately this attitude has led Norman to becoming a loner. Until recently, he saw no real need to make friends, feeling that once they get to know him, they'd just think he was a freak anyway. As such he's come to be very comfortable on his own, and prefers to just rely on himself.
Of course its a little different when he talks to ghosts. Where Norman shuts himself off to the living, to the dead he's perfectly cheerful and friendly. He goes so far as to help his town ghosts with any little task they might ask of him. He knows this doesn't make his case better for the living, but the bottom line is that he doesn't care. Time and again, Norman's learned to value the company of the dead over the living.
Despite what seems like hostility and distrust, he does cares about other people and he has a strong moral sense of right and wrong. Even people he doesn't even like all that much, he'd never purposely harm, and even go so far to help in a dire situation. Given the opportunity to really show his stuff, Norman can also be very brave and determined, willing to risk his life for what has to be done. His sense of duty is also very strong and once he sets out to do something, he takes it very seriously. Really underneath that anti-social facade he puts up, Norman is just a lonely kid who's had to put up with a lot of pain simply for just being who he is. It speaks a lot, too for the sort of emotional strength that he has for someone so young.
The good news is, that after the events of the film, not only has Norman decided to open up, but the entirety of his town has realized that he wasn't faking for attention all this time. Not to mention he basically saved their asses from a fiery doom via witch curse. While this means he's still pretty introverted, he's less distrusting and hostile to others and willing to talk and even make friends. During his confrontation with Aggie, Norman had to make peace with the part of him that bottled up all his anger and bitterness, realizing that if he held onto it like she had, then he'd eventually lose himself to his hate. By doing so, he'd become nothing better than the one's who've hurt him in the past. It's a hell of a revelation to have at eleven-years-old.
Of course Norman opening up and being friendly should never be mistaken for Norman being a push over. He's stubborn and blunt, and he will tell you when you've done something stupid. He has a sarcastic streak, and can be full of sass when he wants to be- which is often. He'll listen to authority, but when its other people- specifically teenagers or just jerks, he will tell you what for while probably making jabs at your intelligence. ("Oh god, they're gonna eat our brains!!" "I think you'll be fine.") Barring all of that, Norman is a sweet kid who has spent far too long being isolated and lonely.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Norman has a few paranormal abilities. First and foremost he's a medium. He can see ghosts, which is a trait horrendously rare in his world, and he can communicate with the dead. This isn't limited to just ghosts, as he's able to use the ability to speak with zombies, who otherwise can't properly communicate in spoken English. Linked to this ability, he seems to have a form of retrocognition in which he is privy to events that have happened in the past. This is usually brought about by some impending emergency and is usually ghost related. In the movie it started happening to him because the eve of a three-hundred-year-old curse was upon his town.
For the not so weird stuff, Norman greatest gift is his emotional strength and fortitude. This is a kid who can take a whole lot of social abuse and vitriol, and keep his head held up strong. He doesn't fall into self-pity, he doesn't cry. When something doesn't go his way, he sucks it up and keeps moving. His stubbornness, sense of duty, and outright tenacity usually ensures that no matter the situation, Norman will pull through it.
However, at the same time, Norman has a lot of trouble opening up and socializing with anyone who isn't dead. He's spent a lot of time being alienated from everyone around him that, while he is open to making friends, he's still nervous and even distrustful of most people. He also has quite a sarcastic mouth, and does not back down from calling someone out.
That said, he's also only eleven. He's mature and responsible far beyond his years, but he's still just a kid. He has breaking points, they're just harder to hit than most.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Breeder
Starter: Duskull
Password: Scrambled Eggs
Samples
First Person Sample:
Wow um, so does anyone else think its kind of weird that this place says its okay for a bunch of kids to run around the wilderness?
I guess I'm not complaining, but it just doesn't really seem all that safe. Most places back home had laws about that kind of thing.
Its probably a good thing my mom isn't here, she'd probably have an ulcer.
[There's a pause. Norman is fidgeting a bit. He's not really huge on talking to people, but somehow talking through the pokegear was a little easier.]
Anyway, so um. What are we supposed to do for food here? I'm ...not really that great at camping, or cooking. I'm like, eleven-years-old.
Third Person Sample: So, everything about this shot up red flags in Norman's head. For one thing, he could swear that music was familiar. Like, maybe he'd played a video game with it? It did sort of sound like your every day generic handheld video game music, so maybe that shouldn't have surprised him. What struck him as odd was that he was hearing it at all. Background music wasn't supposed to exist in real life. Right? No one else seemed to be kicking up a fuss over it. Was he just hearing things? He really hoped not.
Second, there was this whole deal of going off on his own to have an adventure completely unsupervised, and at the mercy of this ...strange creature that was with him when he woke up. (Okay, even he had to admit the thing was pretty awesome looking. Like a little ghost monster?? How cool was that?) While Norman normally didn't have a problem running around unsupervised, it was the stranger danger vibes he was getting from all this. (Waking up in some house he'd never seen before with some lady shoving him out the door, didn't help matters at all.)
Third, and this had taken him longer to realize, but he couldn't find any ghosts. None. Absolutely none. The town, the pathways, the forest, all devoid of spiritual life. That was what gave him the chills. What kind of place was this? How could there be no dead? It didn't matter if you had a spick and span, gated suburb, or a cemetery, you always had dead.
He honestly wished he could have blamed this on being one of his spooky visions of the past. However, after three hours of wandering around and nothing horrible jumping out at him, it seemed pretty clear he was standing in the real world- whatever that meant right now. So he was lost, confused, and alone.
"Take the path to the next town," chimed in a ...cheery but quiet voice. It sort of echoed and reminded him of speaking with the dead- only, when Norman looked around all he saw was his pokemon. Okay...
"...Hello?"
"You're supposed to take Route 29 to the next town, everyone knows that."
Norman blinked at the Duskull, which looked back at him plainly as if speaking wasn't all that strange. Norman opened his mouth to speak, and then clamped it shut again, puzzled. Then, it clicked.
Oh. So, maybe he wasn't entirely alone.