Post by Nathaniel Kranz on May 18, 2012 8:00:17 GMT -5
✓►PLAYER◄
Username: Registered as natekranz for not-forgetting-my-login-purposes. I go by Teej.
Preferred method of contact: PMs or AIM, username: Chronic Hebetude
How did you find us: Livejournal and a friend.
Codeword: agnomen~
✓►CHARACTER◄
Name: Nathaniel Kranz
Nicknames: Nate, Red, Flipper
Date of birth/age: July 6, 1985 / 26
Gender: Male.
Sexuality: Identifies as bi, would likely identify as pansexual if he even knew the term existed.
Job: Auto technician.
Degrees/Permits: GED; ASE certified for automobiles (A series) and collision repair (B series).
Languages Spoken: Just English. He knows a couple words in Spanish, sort of, but it's on the level of 'hola' and 'gracias' and not much else.
Human or shifter: Shifter.
Appearance:
PB: Christian Kane, except with bright red hair.
Nate's fairly short at around 5 feet, two and a half inches (the half is very important and he'll claim three most of the time), though by no means petite. His frame is on the bigger side and while his arms are definitely well-muscled from his work, he's got a definite paunch 'round the middle that he just can't seem to get rid of- though to be fair, he's rarely inclined to actually try.
His facial features are large, with a wide nose that looks a bit crooked, and those green eyes might be just a smidge too far apart if one's looking closely. A generous dusting of freckles covers his nose and cheeks, and his bright red hair is almost always pulled back from his face in a low, loose ponytail that hangs down to his shoulderblades; it's not a very effective one, if the way he's constantly brushing loose strands of hair back behind his ears is any indication, and often looks like he hasn't brushed it too well before tying it back. Nate has the sort of almost-beard that's the result of hanging between 'shaving too rarely' and 'actively growing one'; it's more a red scruff than an actual beard, and even on the occasion that he does shave the guy's got five o' clock shadow at one.
The same lack of care is evident in often-rumpled clothes, likely whatever looked cleanest at the time- he's entirely too fond of plaid button-downs, khakis, and flip-flops, though if he's been working he's more likely to have a pair of beaten, weathered boots on instead. Occasionally there'll be an oil stain where he's wiped his hands off on his clothes or a smudge of grease on his face, though for the most part he tries to look presentable if he's going out. 'Tries' being the key word, there; no amount of washing has managed to get his nails completely clean.
Personality: In a few words: Nate generally comes off as a pretty chill guy.
He tends to be loud, sure, but it just seems to be his default volume; you really don't want to hear him actually raise his voice. His posture is relaxed- a little too relaxed, really, crossing right over into an outright slouch. He has a love for snark and sarcasm, delivered in that slow drawl of his, and he'll talk your ear off if you give him half a chance. Nate's that guy who'll pull up a chair at your table and make himself at home, try to strike up a conversation, and probably try to talk you out of a cigarette while he's at it.
...As long as no buttons get pushed, anyway, and he has several. Most are small and don't get too much irritation out of him, but Nate's very touchy about his height, his body, and his status as a shifter. The last is the worst of them, and if anyone tries to get him to talk about it in public he gets pretty snippy. Joke about it and he'll be more irritated. Mock it or otherwise comment negatively, and there's the temper. It's for that reason that he tries to avoid discussing it, or at least tries to leave the conversation before it hits that point, but he doesn't always manage and it's resulted in more than one fight.
Fortunately his temper flares rather than smoulders and he doesn't tend to hold grudges- he just doesn't care past any initial altercation unless the other person tries to keep it up or they've really pissed him off. He's content to have it out and leave it at that, because holding onto it is just too much energy anyway, and what's the point of staying angry if you've already either decked them or been decked?
Everything is physical, for him: if he has an issue with someone, he's very likely to throw the first punch. If he likes them, he's very handsy, and friends can expect an arm around their waist (shoulders, if they're short enough for him to manage) or hugs if they're alright with that. Conversely, if a problem isn't something tangible that he can fix, Nate is likely to be at a loss, and emotions are complicated things he prefers not to think about too much- if something gets too complicated he's likely to just get out of the situation, and he's had more than one relationship burn out because talking about problems is just too much effort.
Being a shifter isn't something he's taken very well, overall; he deals with it out of necessity but he'd much rather it hadn't happened (or that he'd at least gotten something cooler. Nate definitely wishes he could be a shark if he absolutely has to be aquatic.) It's mainly for those reasons, combined with the indignity of being a dolphin stuck on land if he accidentally shifts, that he's developed decent control so he can shift back before it becomes a huge problem. Overheating thanks to that lack of skin glands dolphins have is roughly the opposite of fun.
Strengths:
-Mechanically inclined. Computers he's not so good with, but if your car/boat/mower/etc. is having trouble, he probably either knows what's wrong or he'll have it figured out with a little digging. He can take apart most things and generally put them back the way he found them, given time and the right tools. Repairs are one of the few things he can focus on and really get done without forcing himself to do it, as long as there aren't too many demanding his attention.
-He's not in the best shape, but Nate can take a good few hits before he's done and his substance tolerance is high. There's more stamina there than one might assume.
-If something's important enough to him, he's occasionally capable of being pretty stubborn about it. There are very few things that fall into that category, but control is one- mainly out of necessity. Nobody wants to be a dolphin on land.
Weaknesses:
-Pretty lazy, for the most part. He has a bad tendency to just not do anything he doesn't want to, or doesn't care about, or... insert excuse here, really, because he's got a ton of them. Laundry? Yesterday's clothes are still good. Cooking? The takeout place down the street's still open. Shower? But that was yesterday! Nate is capable of putting his mind to something and getting it done, but chances are he won't.
-Nate never learned to swim and has always been a little fearful of pools and deep water; shoving him in is the most reliable way to make him panic and shift involuntarily. Surprise him enough and this doesn't just go for deep water- nobody at that barbecue last year has ever forgotten the sight of a panicked dolphin flailing in the backyard kiddie pool. He blames it on being a little inebriated at the time, but that doesn't make his pride sting any less.
-Temper. He's easy to irritate and quick to anger. It's usually a short flare, but it tends to burn hard and he has a habit of saying and doing things he's going to regret later.
-He's pretty screwed if he ever ends up shifting accidentally and can't shift back, unless somebody happens to grab a hose or something.
-Nate is not among the most learned people and his knowledge is lacking in multiple areas, especially vocabulary; use large words and chances are you'll be asked to rephrase here and there. Ask him what his alma mater is, and there will be confusion. He isn't less intelligent (just less educated) but he can definitely come off that way, and the accent probably doesn't do him any favors there.
History: Nate Kranz grew up in a small rural town in southeastern Oklahoma, where the most exciting things were the occasional tornadoes or bit of interesting gossip and the local department store was considered a place to hang out. His father was a driver for a natural gas company, and his mother worked at the local bank while Nate's aunt babysat. Things were fairly quiet, for the most part; he spent most of his spare time as a kid either watching his uncle work on various broken-down cars he'd acquired and towed home to restore, or trying to get out of whatever chores he was supposed to be doing. It was near-impossible to keep him doing the same thing for long, and as soon as there weren't eyes on him chances were good that he was trying to run off in search of something more interesting to do.
School was a similar struggle- trying to get him to actually do his homework was difficult, papers were often conveniently 'lost', and his grades were never anything too impressive. It wasn't entirely a lack of knowledge so much as a lack of work ethic; he picked up enough of the material in class that he wasn't completely lost, but incomplete grades from all the assignments he never did added up quickly (along with low grades on some tests he just couldn't be bothered to study for) and he ended up repeating the seventh grade after failing one class too many. After that he tried a little harder, skating by on the bare minimum he needed to pass, but by his junior year of high school Nate had a fairly good idea of what he wanted to do, and it definitely wasn't another year and a half of classes.
Once he'd grown old enough his uncle had let him start helping out with those cars he fixed at his shop, and Nate had discovered a keen interest in the way they worked and just what all of that stuff under the hood did. He'd always been curious about how things functioned but science classes just didn't satisfy that in the same way that being able to see something come together in front of him did, or being able to fix a wire and watch the headlights come back to life. He learned quickly, and as his skill grew and he was allowed to work with more complex parts he lost even more interest in school. There was no real point in filing away all that information on things like European history when he knew that he just wanted to work with machines, and once he was old enough he dropped out of school to work with his uncle full-time.
He did get a GED after a year or so, once he decided he wanted to go to a vocational school and get properly certified, and spent the next two years working towards that certification; now that he had more motivation and actually bothered applying himself he did well enough, but it was later that year that he caught Versi.
At first, everything was fine- sure, he rarely came down with those bugs that went around, but exceptions happen, right? It was no big deal, he just had to take off work for a while to recover... and then he found out just what made this one different, mid-shower. Suffice to say that dolphins don't fit into the average bathtub terribly well, slightly overweight dolphins even less so, and a very confused one in a small bathroom ends in water everywhere.
Shifting was a problem he couldn't ignore, and his focus has always been on making sure he stays human as much as possible rather than trying to control his new shape better. The awkwardness of being a dolphin on land was plenty of motivation to learn how to keep his shape stable, though he spent an awful lot of time in the bathroom while working on that just in case (which turned out to be a good plan, despite the inconvenience of no one else in the house being able to bathe for a couple weeks or so while he insisted on having constant access to water. Good thing they had family next door.) A landlocked state, he decided, wasn't exactly the best place for him anymore, and it wasn't long before he'd packed up and moved to Florida.
He's been living in a small apartment there ever since. Nate's taken on a job at a small garage doing what he does best, fixing cars, and for the most part he's managed to avoid accidental shifting in public... save for a couple incidents of getting shoved into pools. He avoids swimming pools like the plague now, and good luck getting him into a backyard that has one.
Things have settled down, for the most part, though being part of such a large population has been a definite adjustment. He can't smell other shifters, and the idea that someone else may well know what he is while he's got no clue about them bothers him a little more than he'd like to admit. The amount of people around doesn't help that too much, but there's no point living in paranoia, right? Carry on as usual, and if anyone decides they need to bring it up, deal with it then.
✓►SHIFTER◄
Species: Bottlenose dolphin
Group: Mammals
Conservation status: A couple particular populations are threatened, but in general they're not endangered.
Appearance:
He's not the sleekest of dolphins.
Abilities: Dolphins have terrible senses of smell thanks to the lack of olfactory nerves and an olfactory brain lobe, and this has carried over to his human shape rather than him getting an enhanced sense. Smells need to be just about overpowering to get noticed now, but at least if something smells awful he's unlikely to be too affected by it- skunks are no longer as worrying, for one.
He can't reproduce the actual sounds dolphins make, but he can mimic them to an extent via whistling-- Nate has no idea what they might mean, he just knows what they're supposed to sound like. It's more or less a party-trick-level thing, and if he tried to use that mimicry to 'talk' to an actual dolphin while in human shape they'd both just end up confused.
Username: Registered as natekranz for not-forgetting-my-login-purposes. I go by Teej.
Preferred method of contact: PMs or AIM, username: Chronic Hebetude
How did you find us: Livejournal and a friend.
Codeword: agnomen~
✓►CHARACTER◄
Name: Nathaniel Kranz
Nicknames: Nate, Red, Flipper
Date of birth/age: July 6, 1985 / 26
Gender: Male.
Sexuality: Identifies as bi, would likely identify as pansexual if he even knew the term existed.
Job: Auto technician.
Degrees/Permits: GED; ASE certified for automobiles (A series) and collision repair (B series).
Languages Spoken: Just English. He knows a couple words in Spanish, sort of, but it's on the level of 'hola' and 'gracias' and not much else.
Human or shifter: Shifter.
Appearance:
PB: Christian Kane, except with bright red hair.
Nate's fairly short at around 5 feet, two and a half inches (the half is very important and he'll claim three most of the time), though by no means petite. His frame is on the bigger side and while his arms are definitely well-muscled from his work, he's got a definite paunch 'round the middle that he just can't seem to get rid of- though to be fair, he's rarely inclined to actually try.
His facial features are large, with a wide nose that looks a bit crooked, and those green eyes might be just a smidge too far apart if one's looking closely. A generous dusting of freckles covers his nose and cheeks, and his bright red hair is almost always pulled back from his face in a low, loose ponytail that hangs down to his shoulderblades; it's not a very effective one, if the way he's constantly brushing loose strands of hair back behind his ears is any indication, and often looks like he hasn't brushed it too well before tying it back. Nate has the sort of almost-beard that's the result of hanging between 'shaving too rarely' and 'actively growing one'; it's more a red scruff than an actual beard, and even on the occasion that he does shave the guy's got five o' clock shadow at one.
The same lack of care is evident in often-rumpled clothes, likely whatever looked cleanest at the time- he's entirely too fond of plaid button-downs, khakis, and flip-flops, though if he's been working he's more likely to have a pair of beaten, weathered boots on instead. Occasionally there'll be an oil stain where he's wiped his hands off on his clothes or a smudge of grease on his face, though for the most part he tries to look presentable if he's going out. 'Tries' being the key word, there; no amount of washing has managed to get his nails completely clean.
Personality: In a few words: Nate generally comes off as a pretty chill guy.
He tends to be loud, sure, but it just seems to be his default volume; you really don't want to hear him actually raise his voice. His posture is relaxed- a little too relaxed, really, crossing right over into an outright slouch. He has a love for snark and sarcasm, delivered in that slow drawl of his, and he'll talk your ear off if you give him half a chance. Nate's that guy who'll pull up a chair at your table and make himself at home, try to strike up a conversation, and probably try to talk you out of a cigarette while he's at it.
...As long as no buttons get pushed, anyway, and he has several. Most are small and don't get too much irritation out of him, but Nate's very touchy about his height, his body, and his status as a shifter. The last is the worst of them, and if anyone tries to get him to talk about it in public he gets pretty snippy. Joke about it and he'll be more irritated. Mock it or otherwise comment negatively, and there's the temper. It's for that reason that he tries to avoid discussing it, or at least tries to leave the conversation before it hits that point, but he doesn't always manage and it's resulted in more than one fight.
Fortunately his temper flares rather than smoulders and he doesn't tend to hold grudges- he just doesn't care past any initial altercation unless the other person tries to keep it up or they've really pissed him off. He's content to have it out and leave it at that, because holding onto it is just too much energy anyway, and what's the point of staying angry if you've already either decked them or been decked?
Everything is physical, for him: if he has an issue with someone, he's very likely to throw the first punch. If he likes them, he's very handsy, and friends can expect an arm around their waist (shoulders, if they're short enough for him to manage) or hugs if they're alright with that. Conversely, if a problem isn't something tangible that he can fix, Nate is likely to be at a loss, and emotions are complicated things he prefers not to think about too much- if something gets too complicated he's likely to just get out of the situation, and he's had more than one relationship burn out because talking about problems is just too much effort.
Being a shifter isn't something he's taken very well, overall; he deals with it out of necessity but he'd much rather it hadn't happened (or that he'd at least gotten something cooler. Nate definitely wishes he could be a shark if he absolutely has to be aquatic.) It's mainly for those reasons, combined with the indignity of being a dolphin stuck on land if he accidentally shifts, that he's developed decent control so he can shift back before it becomes a huge problem. Overheating thanks to that lack of skin glands dolphins have is roughly the opposite of fun.
Strengths:
-Mechanically inclined. Computers he's not so good with, but if your car/boat/mower/etc. is having trouble, he probably either knows what's wrong or he'll have it figured out with a little digging. He can take apart most things and generally put them back the way he found them, given time and the right tools. Repairs are one of the few things he can focus on and really get done without forcing himself to do it, as long as there aren't too many demanding his attention.
-He's not in the best shape, but Nate can take a good few hits before he's done and his substance tolerance is high. There's more stamina there than one might assume.
-If something's important enough to him, he's occasionally capable of being pretty stubborn about it. There are very few things that fall into that category, but control is one- mainly out of necessity. Nobody wants to be a dolphin on land.
Weaknesses:
-Pretty lazy, for the most part. He has a bad tendency to just not do anything he doesn't want to, or doesn't care about, or... insert excuse here, really, because he's got a ton of them. Laundry? Yesterday's clothes are still good. Cooking? The takeout place down the street's still open. Shower? But that was yesterday! Nate is capable of putting his mind to something and getting it done, but chances are he won't.
-Nate never learned to swim and has always been a little fearful of pools and deep water; shoving him in is the most reliable way to make him panic and shift involuntarily. Surprise him enough and this doesn't just go for deep water- nobody at that barbecue last year has ever forgotten the sight of a panicked dolphin flailing in the backyard kiddie pool. He blames it on being a little inebriated at the time, but that doesn't make his pride sting any less.
-Temper. He's easy to irritate and quick to anger. It's usually a short flare, but it tends to burn hard and he has a habit of saying and doing things he's going to regret later.
-He's pretty screwed if he ever ends up shifting accidentally and can't shift back, unless somebody happens to grab a hose or something.
-Nate is not among the most learned people and his knowledge is lacking in multiple areas, especially vocabulary; use large words and chances are you'll be asked to rephrase here and there. Ask him what his alma mater is, and there will be confusion. He isn't less intelligent (just less educated) but he can definitely come off that way, and the accent probably doesn't do him any favors there.
History: Nate Kranz grew up in a small rural town in southeastern Oklahoma, where the most exciting things were the occasional tornadoes or bit of interesting gossip and the local department store was considered a place to hang out. His father was a driver for a natural gas company, and his mother worked at the local bank while Nate's aunt babysat. Things were fairly quiet, for the most part; he spent most of his spare time as a kid either watching his uncle work on various broken-down cars he'd acquired and towed home to restore, or trying to get out of whatever chores he was supposed to be doing. It was near-impossible to keep him doing the same thing for long, and as soon as there weren't eyes on him chances were good that he was trying to run off in search of something more interesting to do.
School was a similar struggle- trying to get him to actually do his homework was difficult, papers were often conveniently 'lost', and his grades were never anything too impressive. It wasn't entirely a lack of knowledge so much as a lack of work ethic; he picked up enough of the material in class that he wasn't completely lost, but incomplete grades from all the assignments he never did added up quickly (along with low grades on some tests he just couldn't be bothered to study for) and he ended up repeating the seventh grade after failing one class too many. After that he tried a little harder, skating by on the bare minimum he needed to pass, but by his junior year of high school Nate had a fairly good idea of what he wanted to do, and it definitely wasn't another year and a half of classes.
Once he'd grown old enough his uncle had let him start helping out with those cars he fixed at his shop, and Nate had discovered a keen interest in the way they worked and just what all of that stuff under the hood did. He'd always been curious about how things functioned but science classes just didn't satisfy that in the same way that being able to see something come together in front of him did, or being able to fix a wire and watch the headlights come back to life. He learned quickly, and as his skill grew and he was allowed to work with more complex parts he lost even more interest in school. There was no real point in filing away all that information on things like European history when he knew that he just wanted to work with machines, and once he was old enough he dropped out of school to work with his uncle full-time.
He did get a GED after a year or so, once he decided he wanted to go to a vocational school and get properly certified, and spent the next two years working towards that certification; now that he had more motivation and actually bothered applying himself he did well enough, but it was later that year that he caught Versi.
At first, everything was fine- sure, he rarely came down with those bugs that went around, but exceptions happen, right? It was no big deal, he just had to take off work for a while to recover... and then he found out just what made this one different, mid-shower. Suffice to say that dolphins don't fit into the average bathtub terribly well, slightly overweight dolphins even less so, and a very confused one in a small bathroom ends in water everywhere.
Shifting was a problem he couldn't ignore, and his focus has always been on making sure he stays human as much as possible rather than trying to control his new shape better. The awkwardness of being a dolphin on land was plenty of motivation to learn how to keep his shape stable, though he spent an awful lot of time in the bathroom while working on that just in case (which turned out to be a good plan, despite the inconvenience of no one else in the house being able to bathe for a couple weeks or so while he insisted on having constant access to water. Good thing they had family next door.) A landlocked state, he decided, wasn't exactly the best place for him anymore, and it wasn't long before he'd packed up and moved to Florida.
He's been living in a small apartment there ever since. Nate's taken on a job at a small garage doing what he does best, fixing cars, and for the most part he's managed to avoid accidental shifting in public... save for a couple incidents of getting shoved into pools. He avoids swimming pools like the plague now, and good luck getting him into a backyard that has one.
Things have settled down, for the most part, though being part of such a large population has been a definite adjustment. He can't smell other shifters, and the idea that someone else may well know what he is while he's got no clue about them bothers him a little more than he'd like to admit. The amount of people around doesn't help that too much, but there's no point living in paranoia, right? Carry on as usual, and if anyone decides they need to bring it up, deal with it then.
✓►SHIFTER◄
Species: Bottlenose dolphin
Group: Mammals
Conservation status: A couple particular populations are threatened, but in general they're not endangered.
Appearance:
He's not the sleekest of dolphins.
Abilities: Dolphins have terrible senses of smell thanks to the lack of olfactory nerves and an olfactory brain lobe, and this has carried over to his human shape rather than him getting an enhanced sense. Smells need to be just about overpowering to get noticed now, but at least if something smells awful he's unlikely to be too affected by it- skunks are no longer as worrying, for one.
He can't reproduce the actual sounds dolphins make, but he can mimic them to an extent via whistling-- Nate has no idea what they might mean, he just knows what they're supposed to sound like. It's more or less a party-trick-level thing, and if he tried to use that mimicry to 'talk' to an actual dolphin while in human shape they'd both just end up confused.
