Unlike most sleep deprived middle schoolers, Casey McCarthy was not a big fan of Saturdays. It wasn't because he loved school or anything (he didn't), but because of his rapidly decaying family, most of all his mother. Like most Saturday mornings, his mother lay passed out on the worn-out couch until late in the morning, dressed in only an old dressing gown and odd fishnet stockings. Her light blonde curls were in a tragic disarray, the acrid odor of cheap alcohol still faintly wafting around the house. She'd be awake and irritable in a short time, so Casey steered clear of the living room. Moreover, he didn't even go downstairs at all. He had no desire to be shrieked at and possibly assaulted by the hungover wreck that was his mother on Saturday morning.
He ran his hand through his tangled blonde locks, pacing around the small space he called his room. It was actually a repurposed closet, but he honestly didn't mind. It was big enough for his bed, one bookshelf (full of books he'd probably never even touched), a floor lamp and a few other oddities. That was all he really needed at this point in his life. It would have been nice to have a window, though. He wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, but it was a pain in the ass to have to fumble around blindly for the light switch every time he wanted to get his homework done or something.
Casey quickly came to the nauseating realization that he had absolutely nothing to do with himself today. It was relatively cold outside, which wasn't ideal for hanging around outside. But the more he thought about it, the more he decided that it was best to get out of his mother's way as soon as possible. If he could just stay out until the afternoon, she'd probably be inebriated on some painkillers and once again safe to be around.
He was already dressed in a red striped t-shirt and blue jeans, but hadn't been particularly motivated to comb his hair or anything else. He also hadn't eaten anything since he woke up about two hours ago, but he didn't want to risk waking his mother and there probably wasn't any food in the house anyway. He'd have to wait until later to see if he could convince his dad to go buy groceries, which probably meant that he wouldn't have anything to eat before dinner. Classic.
But complaints aside, he'd made up his mind to go explore for a while until his mother was too high to be angry with him.
He whistled quietly to himself as he tugged on his blue jacket and dusty red and black sneakers, walking out the back door and retrieving his rusty blue bike from the empty driveway. His parents couldn't afford to own a car, so the only things kept on the small stretch of asphalt were his bike, some assorted tools and a dead squirrel. He climbed onto his bike and rode off down the street, no particular destination in mind. Wherever he wound up, Casey was sure he'd be able to get back. He knew Baybridge like the back of his hand, so to speak.
Though he'd owned the bike since his 9th birthday 3 years ago, Casey had never been in the habit of wearing a helmet. They were more expensive than they were worth, he always thought. Besides, he didn't fall all that much. At least, not hard enough to sustain a serious injury. As he pedaled down the old, cracked street, he noticed that a flock of small black birds had gathered along the power lines, watching him go by in silence. Casey was at a point now where he no longer considered that weird. His ability manifested almost a year ago, maybe even more. He wasn't sure of the exact date, but it wasn't that important. Right now, he just had to decide on where to go. Preferably somewhere good and far away, since he hoped to be gone from his neighborhood for at least four or five hours. Maybe he'd think of something once he was out of the hive of scum and villainy that was Spring Town.
Ciel listened carefully as Meg explained the situation, sighing quietly in relief as it apparently wasn't anything serious. The explanation wasn't very clear and he didn't really know what to make of it, but it didn't sound like an immediate crisis. At least he could put his worries to rest as far as that went. Now he could put all his conscious brain effort towards not falling prey to his advancing sleep deprivation. Fun times, really.
He still held the dog in his arms, not sure how long he'd be expected to stay here. Were they all allowed to leave, or just the people who'd been assigned wall duty? And if they were allowed to leave, what were they expected to do? Ciel supposed that he'd check in with Meg and see if she had anything else for him to do, and if she didn't then he'd go see Miss Sally about the wedding. He still had absolutely no idea what he'd be wearing.
@Oliver I don't tend to see younger characters in RPs so, to be honest? It's kinda refreshing to see - I like what you've done, particularly after the improvements you've made so I agree with Allen on this one. Though, I gotta ask you a question - can he potentially make parrots, ravens songbirds etc to talk if he wanted to?
I suppose since the power can't give birds abilities they don't normally possess, it would all depend on the intelligence of the bird in question. I would say yes to parrots and ravens, no to robins and pigeons, etc.
CJ, mostly. He gets called a lot of things, but only adults call him Casey.
Gender:
Male
Age:
12. He insists that heās 12 and a half, but really he turned 12 last month.
Height:
4ā11ā
Weight:
90lb
Home District:
Spring Town, Hedgemount
Appearance
Hair Color:
Blonde, though not a particularly elegant shade. Neither dark nor light, with some strands appearing more light brown.
Eye Color:
Blue, appearing as grey under certain lighting.
Ethnicity:
White. As for his nationality, he's American.
Physical Appearance:
Casey is rather short for his age, not quite five feet tall. Though most people don't notice his height, as it's hardly the most interesting thing about his looks. He's about average weight, a bit on the skinny side, but for the most part his build is very similar to others his age. He looks pretty proportional and symmetrical, for the most part. Except for his fingers, which seem a bit short, but once again nothing too drastic.
His skin is only slightly tanned, but not exactly pale; a fairly typical shade for his ethnicity. He often has an assortment of bruises, some of which are his own fault, some of which not so much. The only permanent mark is a long burn scar on his right forearm. He pretends not to remember how he acquired the injury, and tries to hide it for the most part.
He has a very expressive face, which reads like an open book. His large blue eyes, light eyebrows (which are constantly doing something weird), button nose and signature dorky grin (accentuated with metal braces) all add up to an overall appearance not unlike an animated cartoon character. His face is framed by unruly layers of blonde hair, a bit longer than most boys wear it.
Overall, his appearance has a certain charm to it, but it's a bit difficult to accurately describe in adjectives.
Attire:
Though his clothes are mostly clean (or as clean as one would expect a 12 year oldās clothes to be), Casey seems to cycle through the same four outfits all year round and occasionally wears the exact same articles multiple days in a row. Not all his clothes fit exactly right, and some of his clothes have clearly been mended a few times, indicating that he never actually throws anything away. His typical attire consists of t-shirts and jeans, and always the same blue jacket and worn out sneakers, usually accessorized with a few bandaids.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Casey makes a strong first impression, but not necessarily a good one. He seems to have absolutely no filter; a mischievous, sarcastic, foul-mouthed preteen with a tendency to seek attention. He lives to have fun, often at the expense of others. His signature Cheshire Cat grin never seems to leave his face, and he'd probably laugh in the face of death itself. He flits from one idea to the next with such dizzying rapidity, it would appear that he has no semblance of a consistent train of thought whatsoever.
He almost never lies, mostly because he seems to not be very good at it. He reads like an open book; it's very easy to figure out what he's thinking. That said, there are a few things that he refuses to talk about. The burn on his arm, where he lives, his parentsā¦ and a few other things. The few lies he does tell are usually to avoid discussing those topics, and they're never really complex. āI don't knowā and āI forgotā seem to be the extent of his repertoire.
Casey has a memory like a steel trap. More specifically, he has an impressive eye for detail. He's often unable to pay attention to simple tasks, but if prompted he could tell you everything you need to make fireworks, probably because he looked it up on a whim two weeks ago. His problems with focus have more to do with boredom than an actual deficit. If he claims to have āforgottenā something, one can reasonably assume that he's got something to hide.
Notably, he cleans up his act a lot around adults, especially adults who know his parents or those with authority (police, etc.) He seems to be very conscious of what people are saying about him, and tries to make sure that some things don't spread around to places they shouldn't, so to speak. But, considering everything he's going through, he's not doing too terribly. He's at least able to see the good in things, and generally gives the impression that heās not a complete lost-cause basketcase.
Hobbies/Interests:
His interests are often short lived, but intense. Heāll become interested in something to the point where it becomes sort of an obsession, and he'll invest so much of himself in it that he'll get stressed out and frustrated and abandon it for his next interest. As such, it's difficult for him to maintain a long term hobby. Besides, he can't really afford to do anything that requires training or expensive equipment. Most of the time he amuses himself exploring the town, riding his bike, climbing trees (and buildings), stalking his neighbors, drawing and watching old science fiction films.
Skills/Talents:
Aside from his almost photographic memory, Casey is fairly active, a good climber and a fast runner. He's a born improviser, usually to come up with a creative solution to most problems. He also has double jointed thumbs, which isn't really a talent, but makes for a cool party trick.
Goals/Motivation
Motivations change, especially when you're 12 years old and not even sure what next year's going to look like, let alone lifetime goals. As for Casey, he aspires to not be left alone and forgotten. He isn't exactly sure what makes a life worthwhile, but he's a bit worried that he's already on the wrong path.
History/Bio:
It started out fairly typically. When college dropout Robert met the beautiful blonde Darlene, they hit it off immediately. Originally they seemed to have a lot in common, and they quickly became inseparable. Just two years later, they were married and expecting a baby. Casey McCarthy was born one rainy morning, and his parents couldn't have been happier. At least, that's how it was at first. Darlene was making enough at her job as a retail manager to buy a little house in Baybridge, just inside of the Spring Town area. Not a great neighborhood, but it would suffice. But a few years down the line, Darlene was realizing that this quiet domestic life just wasn't for her. Sure, she loved the great reputation she had, and the respect she got from everyone around her, but she was growing restless. Providing for her unemployed husband and baby son was a pretty dull life.
When Casey was around four years old, his mother started using a variety of drugs from a variety of different people. Eventually, she found the perfect dealer: someone she could pay inā¦ other ways. Casey didn't catch on to what was happening until years later, but he certainly noticed that he was alone a lot of the time. He quickly got used to the lack of parental guidance, and found ways to entertain himself.
Perhaps it was partially because of the drugs that Darlene was becoming increasingly paranoid about losing her reputation. But either way, things continued to slowly spiral downhill. There was no point in calling the authorities. As a matter of fact, that would make things 150% worse. If his mother got taken out of the picture, the rest of them would have nowhere to go. Besides, things weren't that bad, were they? He wasn't getting seriously hurt on a regular basis, and at school things were pretty normal. His grades were always a mixed bag: some great scores (Science), some failures (English) and mostly a lot of āCās. He never really had any friends, but nobody terrorized him that badly either. Of course there are always some kids who are jerks, but that's just to be expected of middle school. That said, he often finds himself a bit lonely, rarely having anyone to talk to. This might be why he's kind of become a class clown, fighting hard for the attention of his classmates. Let it suffice to say that he's gotten in quite a lot of trouble over the past few grades.
About a year or so ago, he started to notice that birds really liked him. It wasn't just the way that the local pigeons and blackbirds followed him around, or that parrot his neighbor owned kept escaping to hang out in his room. It almost felt like he had some sort of control over them. He never could exactly pinpoint when it all started. Maybe it was when his mother's drug dealer caught him trying to contact the police and slammed his arm down onto a stove burner. Maybe it was when he hit his head so hard in gym class that he had a seizure. Anyway, he wasn't too worried about figuring out how his ability manifested. He had to figure out how to use it to its fullest extent. So that's what he's been up to for the past few months, on top of trying to cope with his rapidly worsening family situation and not fail 7th grade, and countless other responsibilities that society has placed on kids.
Relationships
Family:
Robert McCarthy (father) Only 34 years old, Robert McCarthy is a fresh faced and hopelessly unemployed young guy with a manipulative spouse. Always searching for work, he rarely has time to spend with his child. Besides, he has no say in his life anymore. His wife is threatening him with imminent homelessness if he doesn't keep quiet about her infidelity and substance abuse. His only purpose is to solidify the illusion of a functional family. Casey likes his father, but they're a bit distant. They both have bigger problems to worry about, and don't often have time to bond.
Darlene Rose Alcorn-McCarthy (mother) Darlene is older than her husband at 36 years old, a retail manager with a spotless reputation. From her lovely blonde curls to her simple but neat clothing, she looks like she just walked off of a film set. As the only one in the family with a steady job, everyone relies on Darlene. The fate of her husband and son dangles from her self-manicured fingertips. She knows full well that she's free to do as she pleases, and the others just have to suck it up and deal with it if they want to have a place to live. There is no democracy in the McCarthy household. Her rules are numerous and vigorously enforced. Nobody dares The mere suggestion of divorce would have her husband begging at her feet. As for her son, a few hours in the closet seems to shut him up. She's concerned about her public image, which is so far untarnished. She's one of the wealthier people in the Spring Town area (though her drug budget keeps her from being able to relocate to a nicer neighborhood), and is well regarded by her neighbors and coworkers. For the most part, Casey just tries to stay out of his mother's way as much as possible, never saying a single word about her to anyone.
Jason Edward Tennant (mother's dealer/boyfriend) Sure, Casey is kind of scared of his mother. But more so than her, he has to worry about the tall guy who comes in the back door to sell his mother small nondescript plastic bags of illicit substances. About a year ago, Casey got it into his head that it was a good idea to call the cops. He learned his lesson after getting his arm slammed onto a burning stove top. Jason Tennant isn't a top-notch crime lord, but he has reasons to keep his connections a secret. And he definitely isn't afraid to hurt a kid to keep making money off of the kid's mother.
Dynamics:
Abilities
Power Class:
Cerebral (Domination)
Power:
Casey can manipulate birds. Anything with feathers and a beak seems oddly compelled to obey his whims. Birds are like his friends; they understand and like him and will do basically anything he asks, as long as it's within the realm of their capability. It's a pretty simple ability, but rather handy.
Limits:
His ability only affects up to 20 nearby birds (within about 10 yards or thereabouts.). So he can't just summon all of the birds in the world and unleash the Birdpocalypse.
Ciel was mostly focusing on staying awake at this point, hardly listening at this point as a couple more people pointed out the improbability of his fears. On some level, he was grateful that they were willing to reason with him rather than just being condescending, but he was still fairly certain that they all thought he was silly. But really though, he was having a hard time trying to think of what the hell could be going on that would require this much secrecy. Actually, the thought that the less valuable members were going to be rounded up and cannibalized was one of the more reasonable guesses his tired brain had come up with over the last few minutes.
Peaches had finished her treat and settled down, seeming to thoroughly enjoy the attention she was getting from the others. More than one person had come up to pet her. Ciel tried to stay still so as not to jostle her around too much. He'd only been given this one job so far, and he was determined to be the best dog babysitter ever. Besides, even though Ryan might kill him if he ruined the coat, Beni would most certainly bomb his room and rip him to shreds with his own teeth if something happened to Peaches.
Okay. Here's Completed CS 2.0 About your earlier points...
1: Fixed! 2: Fixed? I revised things and I hope it's better. 3: I agree, and I'm also an uncreative little shit, so I just went with your "this power hurts my braaaain!" idea. 4. Uh... yeah. I dug through things and found like 11 run-ons, but I could only figure out how to fix like 3 of them. Rephrasing things is not my Forte. If it's truly making things and incoherent mess, though, I'd be happy to just keep working on it. 5. I'll wait.
So yeah. I hope this helps things be less frustrating.
(Faceclaim: Ryan Lee, as seen in Super 8)
Basic Information
Name:
Casey Jackson McCarthy
Nickname/Alias/Etc:
CJ, mostly. He gets called a lot of things, but only adults call him Casey.
Gender:
Male
Age:
12. He insists that heās 12 and a half, but really he turned 12 last month.
Height:
4ā11ā
Weight:
90lb
Home District:
Spring Town, Hedgemount
Appearance
Hair Color:
Blonde, though not a particularly elegant shade. Neither dark nor light, with some strands appearing more light brown.
Eye Color:
Blue, appearing as grey under certain lighting.
Ethnicity:
White. As for his nationality, he's American.
Physical Appearance:
Casey is rather short for his age, not quite five feet tall. Though most people don't notice his height, as it's hardly the most interesting thing about his looks. He's about average weight, a bit on the skinny side, but for the most part his build is very similar to others his age. He looks pretty proportional and symmetrical, for the most part. Except for his fingers, which seem a bit short, but once again nothing too drastic.
His skin is only slightly tanned, but not exactly pale; a fairly typical shade for his ethnicity. He often has an assortment of bruises, some of which are his own fault, some of which not so much. The only permanent mark is a long burn scar on his right forearm. He pretends not to remember how he acquired the injury, and tries to hide it for the most part.
He has a very expressive face, which reads like an open book. His large blue eyes, light eyebrows (which are constantly doing something weird), button nose and signature dorky grin (accentuated with metal braces) all add up to an overall appearance not unlike an animated cartoon character. His face is framed by unruly layers of blonde hair, a bit longer than most boys wear it.
Overall, his appearance has a certain charm to it, but it's a bit difficult to accurately describe in adjectives.
Attire:
Though his clothes are mostly clean (or as clean as one would expect a 12 year oldās clothes to be), Casey seems to cycle through the same four outfits all year round and occasionally wears the exact same articles multiple days in a row. Not all his clothes fit exactly right, and some of his clothes have clearly been mended a few times, indicating that he never actually throws anything away. His typical attire consists of t-shirts and jeans, and always the same blue jacket and worn out sneakers, usually accessorized with a few bandaids.
Personality
Innate & Outward Personality:
Casey makes a strong first impression, but not necessarily a good one. He seems to have absolutely no filter; a mischievous, sarcastic, foul-mouthed preteen with a tendency to seek attention. He lives to have fun, often at the expense of others. His signature Cheshire Cat grin never seems to leave his face, and he'd probably laugh in the face of death itself. He flits from one idea to the next with such dizzying rapidity, it would appear that he has no semblance of a consistent train of thought whatsoever.
He almost never lies, mostly because he seems to not be very good at it. He reads like an open book; it's very easy to figure out what he's thinking. That said, there are a few things that he refuses to talk about. The burn on his arm, where he lives, his parentsā¦ and a few other things. The few lies he does tell are usually to avoid discussing those topics, and they're never really complex. āI don't knowā and āI forgotā seem to be the extent of his repertoire.
Casey has a memory like a steel trap. More specifically, he has an impressive eye for detail. He's often unable to pay attention to simple tasks, but if prompted he could tell you everything you need to make fireworks, probably because he looked it up on a whim two weeks ago. His problems with focus have more to do with boredom than an actual deficit. If he claims to have āforgottenā something, one can reasonably assume that he's got something to hide.
Notably, he cleans up his act a lot around adults, especially adults who know his parents or those with authority (police, etc.) He seems to be very conscious of what people are saying about him, and tries to make sure that some things don't spread around to places they shouldn't, so to speak. But, considering everything he's going through, he's not doing too terribly. He's at least able to see the good in things, and generally gives the impression that heās not a complete lost-cause basketcase.
Hobbies/Interests:
His interests are often short lived, but intense. Heāll become interested in something to the point where it becomes sort of an obsession, and he'll invest so much of himself in it that he'll get stressed out and frustrated and abandon it for his next interest. As such, it's difficult for him to maintain a long term hobby. Besides, he can't really afford to do anything that requires training or expensive equipment. Most of the time he amuses himself exploring the town, riding his bike, climbing trees (and buildings), stalking his neighbors, drawing and watching old science fiction films.
Skills/Talents:
Aside from his almost photographic memory, Casey is fairly active, a good climber and a fast runner. He's a born improviser, usually to come up with a creative solution to most problems. He also has double jointed thumbs, which isn't really a talent, but makes for a cool party trick.
Goals/Motivation
Motivations change, especially when you're 12 years old and not even sure what next year's going to look like, let alone lifetime goals. As for Casey, he aspires to not be left alone and forgotten. He isn't exactly sure what makes a life worthwhile, but he's a bit worried that he's already on the wrong path.
History/Bio:
It started out fairly typically. When college dropout Robert met the beautiful blonde Darlene, they hit it off immediately. Originally they seemed to have a lot in common, and they quickly became inseparable. Just two years later, they were married and expecting a baby. Casey McCarthy was born one rainy morning, and his parents couldn't have been happier. At least, that's how it was at first. Darlene was making enough at her job as a retail manager to buy a little house in Baybridge, just inside of the Spring Town area. Not a great neighborhood, but it would suffice. But a few years down the line, Darlene was realizing that this quiet domestic life just wasn't for her. Sure, she loved the great reputation she had, and the respect she got from everyone around her, but she was growing restless. Providing for her unemployed husband and baby son was a pretty dull life.
When Casey was around four years old, his mother started using a variety of drugs from a variety of different people. Eventually, she found the perfect dealer: someone she could pay inā¦ other ways. Casey didn't catch on to what was happening until years later, but he certainly noticed that he was alone a lot of the time. He quickly got used to the lack of parental guidance, and found ways to entertain himself.
Perhaps it was partially because of the drugs that Darlene was becoming increasingly paranoid about losing her reputation. But either way, things continued to slowly spiral downhill. There was no point in calling the authorities. As a matter of fact, that would make things 150% worse. If his mother got taken out of the picture, the rest of them would have nowhere to go. Besides, things weren't that bad, were they? He wasn't getting seriously hurt on a regular basis, and at school things were pretty normal. His grades were always a mixed bag: some great scores (Science), some failures (English) and mostly a lot of āCās. He never really had any friends, but nobody terrorized him that badly either. Of course there are always some kids who are jerks, but that's just to be expected of middle school. That said, he often finds himself a bit lonely, rarely having anyone to talk to. This might be why he's kind of become a class clown, fighting hard for the attention of his classmates. Let it suffice to say that he's gotten in quite a lot of trouble over the past few grades.
About a year or so ago, he started to notice that birds really liked him. It wasn't just the way that the local pigeons and blackbirds followed him around, or that parrot his neighbor owned kept escaping to hang out in his room. It almost felt like he had some sort of control over them. He never could exactly pinpoint when it all started. Maybe it was when his mother's drug dealer caught him trying to contact the police and slammed his arm down onto a stove burner. Maybe it was when he hit his head so hard in gym class that he had a seizure. Anyway, he wasn't too worried about figuring out how his ability manifested. He had to figure out how to use it to its fullest extent. So that's what he's been up to for the past few months, on top of trying to cope with his rapidly worsening family situation and not fail 7th grade, and countless other responsibilities that society has placed on kids.
Relationships
Family:
Robert McCarthy (father) Only 34 years old, Robert McCarthy is a fresh faced and hopelessly unemployed young guy with a manipulative spouse. Always searching for work, he rarely has time to spend with his child. Besides, he has no say in his life anymore. His wife is threatening him with imminent homelessness if he doesn't keep quiet about her infidelity and substance abuse. His only purpose is to solidify the illusion of a functional family. Casey likes his father, but they're a bit distant. They both have bigger problems to worry about, and don't often have time to bond.
Darlene Rose Alcorn-McCarthy (mother) Darlene is older than her husband at 36 years old, a retail manager with a spotless reputation. From her lovely blonde curls to her simple but neat clothing, she looks like she just walked off of a film set. As the only one in the family with a steady job, everyone relies on Darlene. The fate of her husband and son dangles from her self-manicured fingertips. She knows full well that she's free to do as she pleases, and the others just have to suck it up and deal with it if they want to have a place to live. There is no democracy in the McCarthy household. Her rules are numerous and vigorously enforced. Nobody dares The mere suggestion of divorce would have her husband begging at her feet. As for her son, a few hours in the closet seems to shut him up. She's concerned about her public image, which is so far untarnished. She's one of the wealthier people in the Spring Town area (though her drug budget keeps her from being able to relocate to a nicer neighborhood), and is well regarded by her neighbors and coworkers. For the most part, Casey just tries to stay out of his mother's way as much as possible, never saying a single word about her to anyone.
Jason Edward Tennant (mother's dealer/boyfriend) Sure, Casey is kind of scared of his mother. But more so than her, he has to worry about the tall guy who comes in the back door to sell his mother small nondescript plastic bags of illicit substances. About a year ago, Casey got it into his head that it was a good idea to call the cops. He learned his lesson after getting his arm slammed onto a burning stove top. Jason Tennant isn't a top-notch crime lord, but he has reasons to keep his connections a secret. And he definitely isn't afraid to hurt a kid to keep making money off of the kid's mother.
Dynamics:
Abilities
Power Class:
Cerebral (Domination)
Power:
Casey can manipulate birds. Anything with feathers and a beak seems oddly compelled to obey his whims. Birds are like his friends; they understand and like him and will do basically anything he asks, as long as it's within the realm of their capability. It's a pretty simple ability, but rather handy.
Limits:
His ability only affects up to 20 nearby birds (within about 10 yards or thereabouts.). So he can't just summon all of the birds in the world and unleash the Birdpocalypse.
@Oliver Just for posting in the char tab first; I'll kill your parents.
Aw, dude, I knew about that. I thought I was in the OOC, but I had both that and Char up in 2 separate browser tabs and didn't realize that I was on the wrong one. Typical Oliver mistake.
I'll take everything else into account. Hang on for a moment while I revise things.
Member
