✲ 004 ● application

[lastking]

PLAYER INFO

PLAYER NAME » hallie
PLAYER JOURNAL » eugenides
AGE » nineteen
EMAIL » a.halcyon.queen@gmail.com
INSTANT MESSAGING » maidoftime@aim
OTHER METHOD OF CONTACT » ottomans
HOW MANY CHARACTERS DO YOU CURRENTLY PLAY? » n/a


CHARACTER INFO

CHARACTER NAME » balder odinson
FANDOM » marvel 616
CANON-POINT » post siege.

HISTORY » when he dies, the world ends.
AU SETTING/PAST GAME HISTORY » n/a

PERSONALITY »

Balder is, essentially, a Disney princess. He is honorable and inherently kind; he cares for others before himself; and when he walks through the woods, birds sing and deer frolic. He even has a special surprise backstory: hidden royal status and a throne he doesn’t want, complete with an emotionally manipulating step-sibling and a tragic love story. So, in another world, Balder might very well be a Disney hero. Unfortunately, he lives in a very different world, and so things don’t turn out quite that well for him.

Balder the Brave, Balder the Bright, Balder the Beautiful. Having more than earned each of these epithets, Balder can easily be explained through them. Bravery is an essential part of his character: he’s a warrior, one of Asgard’s finest, and does not run from battle, even when things seem hopeless. It isn’t in his character to give up, or to let others handle things that he might be able to. One could say that he shoulders too much, at times, but this is borne out of a deep-set need within him to help and protect. This bravery, however, does not mean that he longs for a fight: on the contrary, Balder is a rather peaceful soul. He feels most at home communing with nature or enjoying an adventure, not on the battlefield. He has even forsaken violence for long stretches at a time, particularly when faced directly with the dead. However, he is a warrior because he feels duty bound to be one. This demonstrates another of his qualities: Balder will go against his own wishes for the sake of honor and for those around him. He is almost self-sabotaging in his quest to be the best he can be.

He is Balder the Beautiful not because he is particularly good-looking (though you may consider that bowl cut attractive), but rather because he is an honorable person. He is a light, an example, a beacon that others should emulate. Because Balder is honest, and kind, and honorable in every sense of the world. He cares deeply for his people, he is unfailingly loyal to his friends, and his moral compass never skews. The downside of this is that Balder is easily manipulated. If he can take a metaphorical bullet to protect someone else, he will do it. Whether this means allowing himself to serve the Norn Queen Karnilla, or being forced into any number of bad situations by Loki, Balder would rather inflict pain and difficulty on himself than those around him. Balder always has the best of intentions, but things don’t always work out for him. His love, Nanna, sacrificed herself to free Balder from Karnilla’s machinations, something Balder will never be able to forget. His desires to be a good king to Asgard were blocked at every turn, forcing Balder to make hard decisions, such as exiling Thor and moving the Asgardians to Latveria.

“The Bright” can seem a bit misleading—Balder is not celebrated for having incredibly intelligence. Rather, he is fairly simple-minded. This doesn’t mean that he’s stupid, but rather that he has a very basic set of wants and needs, and can be content with little. He desires Asgard to be well, and for there to be peace. Personally, he thrives in adventure and good company. Beyond that, he is relatively easy to please. He has no real cunning, or ability to scheme—even his prowess in battle is fairly straightforward, relying more on strength and skill than strategy.

Another thing to note about Balder is his connection to Asgard, one of the nine realms and his home. His sense of honor is tied to Asgard, and not any individual person or ruler thereof. He will always put Asgard first, and has never felt comfortable in other realms the way Thor is in Midgard. In fact, Balder is uniquely tied to Asgard, because it is his death that can trigger Ragnarok, or Asgard’s own little apocalypse. So whether he is consciously aware of it or not, his and Asgard’s fates are tied together.

It is also worth mentioning that Asgardians are very much inhuman. There is a certain weight to them, their long lives and senses of honor, their complex paths and unique perspectives, which set them apart from mortal men. Balder is no exception to these rules. He may be a simple man who craves peace, but he is also a prince and a king, a warrior and a savior, and an omen of doom.

ABILITIES/WEAKNESSES »

✲ Asgardian Nature—like all Asgardians, Balder is immortal, having already lived many human lifetimes. He also has superhuman strength, durability, sense, reflexes, and endurance. He is fast-healing, and immune to mortal diseases. Balder has also been protected by enchantments placed by his mother and Frigga, which meant that he could not be fatally wounded by most weapons unless he willed himself vulnerable.

✲ Nature communion—Balder can commune with animals. Yep. They listen to him, even if we don’t get quite to Disney-levels with how much direct speech is going on.

✲ Control of light/heat—Balder is the god of light, and so can control and emit unmeasured levels of light and energy. He does not use these powers very often, but when he does the light is shown to be physically painful to his opponents. He also glows while in battle at these points, which is pretty cool. He has also been shown to use this ability to veil himself from mortal eyes while on Midgard.

✲ Swordsmanship—Balder is an expertly trained warrior, his weapon of choice being a two-handed sword. He has shown proficiency with other weapons, as well, and is a skilled horseman and field commander.

✲ Weaknesses—Balder is particularly vulnerable to weapons made of mistletoe wood. He can die of natural means, such as asphyxiation or starvation. He is only invulnerable while in Asgard proper, and therefore can be killed using most weaponry, now. Also, perhaps Balder’s greatest weakness is his own nature—he would rather harm came to himself than others, and has been manipulated numerous times in the past. His sense of honor can also be a shackle, forcing him into situations he would not have chosen otherwise.

DREAM POWER »

✲ Human Nightlight—Balder, in line with his typical light-powers, will glow in his sleep once this power is awakened.

CHARACTER SAMPLES

NETWORK SAMPLE »

I am not wholly familiar with this method of communication, but it appears to be aiding others amongst us. Know this: I am known as Balder, and it is my wish to return to the realm from which I came. I believe this is a wish shared by others, and I believe we may be of aid to one another. If there is anything that can be done, I would do my utmost to assist with it.

LOG SAMPLE »

It had not taken long for Balder and the others to realize that Asgard, in any form, did not exist in this realm. It was a hard concept to swallow; for, without Asgard, what purpose did any of them have? For Balder it was particularly difficult. Every morning, when he awoke, it was the first thing he thought about. He was a king, now, with responsibilities. And though he had not come here of his own volition, it still seemed as though he had abandoned his duties and lost his place. It was the worst kind of exile, far worse than Asgard itself being on Midgard.

These thoughts weighed heavily on him as he roamed the streets, gaining him the strangest of looks from passersby. Balder was polite, in most cases, but he also had a tendency to be regal and imposing, and do his single lifted hand of greeting and nod of acknowledgment did not gain him greetings in kind. It was enough to make him feel a bit lonely.

Eventually, he ended up in a park. The planned and bound nature was a bit disconcerting, at first; he was used to hundred-year-old trees that were three times as tall as he was, and seemingly endless fields and plains. Balder decided he would have to get used to this, eventually—at least until he found a way home. So he found a bench, and lowered himself into it, and contented himself to look up at the sky.

It did not feel right, even in the beginning. It wasn’t Asgard. There was something different about the clouds, the air, even the colors. In Asgard the sky held every shade of blue—dipping into pale purples and pinks as the sun lowered, every shade vibrant and undeniable. On Midgard, things fell flat. He had noticed it before, when he had gone to the mountains, and before he and Loki had been arrested. Here, the differences between his home and the mortal realm were even more pronounced.

Again, his thoughts ran away with him, so Balder hardly noticed a bluebird skipping through the air. At first, the small thing paused only to perch on the edge of the bench, as far away from Balder as possible. However, after a moment it edged closer, and the closer again. Finally, Balder looked down to notice it, his previously furrowed expression easing into the lines of a smile.

ANYTHING ELSE? » n/a