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archivesdiveronarpg · 8 years ago

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Congratulations, ERICA! You’ve been accepted for the role of NICK BOTTOM. Admin Bree: We had two fantastic applications for our Nikolai, but Erica, it was your interview and small details that ultimately tipped the scales. You captured his personality beautifully in his dialogue, as well as his little nuances such as his fidgeting, his complaint about his ass hurting, and his red car and motorcycle. I especially loved, “Cars screeched to a halt to admire his work. People screamed in awe at how fabulous the craftsmanship was. And best of all, he wasn’t dead” - you presented his eccentricity perfectly in three succinct lines. Congrats Erica - we can’t wait to have Nikolai on our dash! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Erica

Age | 24

Preferred Pronouns | she/her

Activity Level | You guys pretty much know my activity. I work Monday-Friday and have weekends off, and my goal is normally to get at least one reply out through the week, even if I can’t always do that, then try to play catch up on the weekend.

Timezone | EST

Permission | Yup!

In Character

Character | NICK BOTTOM, Nikolai Borisov

What drew you to this character? | Beyond Sebastian Stan, the whole arsonist career was a big reason. It’s so different from what anyone else does, and I would be delighted to have the chance to be as creative with it as I’m sure Nikolai is. Another thing is he seems like he’d be so much fun to play, and I absolutely need someone like that to mess around with, to bring something upbeat to the table rather than someone so serious. He seems like quite an explosion on our saddened Verona and I’d love to strike the match.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? | One of the great things that I feel like I got from his bio is that he doesn’t seem to have a master plan he’s trying to achieve, beyond setting the city aflame, basically, and perfecting his craft as best he can. He isn’t trying to take over an empire, nor is he trying to save one, so I feel like a lot of his development, good or bad, will be strictly to mess with him specifically. Some ideas that aren’t set in stone at the moment are:

LOONEY TUNES | You will never be able to convince me that Pavel isn’t the roadrunner to Nikolai’s coyote, meep meeping his ass into the sunset while Nikolai gets burned with his Acme products. I just want to see how his relationship with Pavel progresses, or anyone else who has the rare opportunity to get on his bad side (seeing as I don’t think he really has one normally.) It definitely sounds like it could be a good time and I insist there be lots of these two in particular, but just lots of shenanigans in general, to be honest.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN A WARZONE, RIGHT? | As was demonstrated by the colosseum upset, all three sides could have a use for Nik’s particular talents, even though he doesn’t really have much interest in any of them. But with his streak of falling in with the wrong crowd, it’s hard to tell which way he might be pulled toward, who might sway him or appreciate his work the most. I’d like to see how he fares in this feud that just keeps getting bigger.

DUDE, WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM? | I don’t think Nikolai thinks about his past much, and I don’t think he’d know how to answer anyone if they asked about it. How did he get this way? Was he born from hellfire, spreading across the world like a plague/cure, depending on whom you asked? I want to dive deeper into this son of a blacksmith and lady of the night, and how that affects who he is now.

In Depth

The following THREE questions must be answered in-character, and in para form (quotations, actions written out if applicable, etc). There is no minimum or maximum limit for your response - simply answer as you would were you playing the character.

What is your favorite place in Verona?

Nik’s leg bounced up and down with a jittery energy as he thought. “The streets,” he said, nodding as he considered it more. “Yeah, definitely the streets. Where you feel like you can go anywhere you want? Go as far as you want for as long as you want? You’ve got the wind against your helmet as your motorcycle flies past the people stuck at home. Yeah…good times.” He slapped out a beat on his thighs that was surprisingly not a mess, despite the quickness of his hands and the distant look on his face. It was hard to tell if he was even paying attention anymore until he spoke again. “Is that the only question?”

What does your typical day look like?

Nikolai smiled, his fingers flicking a lighter on and off. The flame was dangerously close to his jacket, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I don’t know. It always changes.” He probably went through three different sitting positions before he answered again, his lighter gone and back in his pocket. It was hard to tell where it went with the way his hands moved everywhere at once. “I get up, I go out…I stay out.” Nikolai opened his mouth, closed it with a thoughtful expression. Then a light bulb seemed to go off and it was open again, words spilling out in a rush. “You know what I like to do? I like to drive. Have you seen my car over there?” he asked, pointing to a bright red sports car. “That thing flies. I go between it and the bike, drive them around and see what there is to get into.” He rubbed the back of his neck, tapping out another beat, this time with his heel. “Now we’ve gotta be done with questions, right?” His brows furrowed at the accusation of being in a hurry to get somewhere. “No, my ass just hurts from sitting so long. Doesn’t yours?”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

It was the first time Nikolai laughed during the interview, and hopefully it was the last. The startling sound came from nowhere, and died just as abruptly, leaving a smile behind as he shook his head. “It’s fucking entertaining is what it is. I mean, you’re telling me these guys are still uptight over something that happened eons ago?” He paused, seemed to think it over. He frowned. “I guess I can see why they’d hold a grudge. Sometimes someone just gets under your skin and…” he stopped, squeezed his hand into a fist like the annoyance was there to feel his grip. Eventually he released his hold on the phantom and waved his hand as if to say never mind. “But that’s besides the point. The point is: I don’t really give a shit.” Nikolai shrugged. “We all know—“ He stopped, laughed that unsettling laugh like he had a secret no one else could know. “We all know they’re gonna turn the city to shit, but it’ll rise. Like a phoenix from the ashes, it’ll rise, and goddamn, it’ll be beautiful.”

In-Character Para Sample:

It’s a bit chilly out. Why don’t we heat things up?

No, no, scratch that.

Wait until his chestnuts roast on an open fire.

What the shit, it’s not even fucking Christmas.

Nikolai groaned, connecting the last wire so that his detonator would actually fucking work this time (last time’s attempt resulted in him almost getting a new haircut.) The faint sound of Buster Poindexter’s Hot, Hot, Hot played through his earbuds, his iPod snug in his pant’s pocket while he meticulously worked on his latest creation. If all went as planned – and it damn well better – the rigging would set the whole ten story building crackling in under a minute.

How, you might ask, Nik thought as he gathered his materials and made sure not to leave any evidence behind. Why, that’s simple. Because I’m a fucking genius, that’s how.

Sucking down his third juice box, he strolled through the building’s basement like it was just another day. Well, mostly, it was just another day. This was his fourth outing in St. Petersburg this month, and a lot more fun than the first three that consisted of burning an empty grocery store, making sure some poor sucker couldn’t drive anywhere, and lighting up a church full of poorly dressed sinners. But this time…he thought he might’ve outdone himself. A ten-story building that belonged to some curmudgeon he could’ve cared less about? It was the perfect testing ground for such experiments, for such masterpieces.

He only went as far as he had to, the bare minimum to keep from getting blasted (the explosion should mostly be internal, if he didn’t account for shattered glass, and go up, not outward, which would hopefully allow for him to be closer.) That was the plan, of course, but this shit always had a way of backfiring.

Ha.

Nik pushed the sunglasses down from the top of his head so that everything was covered in a partial darkness. Just a couple more minutes, and he’d be able to smell the smoke, feel the wave of heat that came barreling toward him. It was quiet except for the sound of cars honking and driving down the street. The flap of birds’ wings as they flew away, sensed a storm coming. The slurp of Nik’s juice box as he sucked up the last of his drink.

5…4…3…2…

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Like a down-on-their-luck musician, it started from the bottom and rose to the top, glass glittering down like rain as the explosives went off, one after the other. Cars screeched to a halt to admire his work. People screamed in awe at how fabulous the craftsmanship was. And best of all, he wasn’t dead.

Taking a deep breath, and one last moment to appreciate his latest success, he nodded and turned to leave.

Nik made his way through hidden alleyways and abandoned streets to get back to his car, parked far from the crime scene after his last close call with the police. It was tough to drive fancy cars and be a fireman. It made it all too easy to find him sometimes.

A fact he remembered quickly when he saw someone standing by his car.

But they weren’t dressed in the normal uniform he was expecting to run from. No, she was dressed in expensive furs to keep the chill away, hair done up all fancy like she was going to a ball. She stood at attention as Nik walked to his car, a bag full of questionable items in his hand. She hardly paid attention, bright green eyes glued to him, nervous as she tugged her coat tighter.

“Borisov?”

“Maybe,” he said, eyeing her since he had the cover of sunglasses to cover his scrutiny. “Who wants to know?”

Who wanted to know? Well, in that moment, with that very transaction, Nikolai Borisov’s first paying client exploded onto the scene.

And that’s how you do that.

Extras: I have a mock blog for him at totallynotajackass, where I’ve put some graphics and reblogged some things. As for further headcanons:

Cars/Motorcycle – I definitely see him with a motorcycle that he likes to drive everywhere, and I absolutely see him as someone who enjoys the thrill of street racing. Nice cars that go really, really fast? That have engines where it sounds like they roar to life and screech against the street? Nikolai is definitely into death defying stunts, and what better way to get his heart pumping than speeding down Verona’s streets at night against some of the fastest drivers out there?

Drums – probably not a surprise, but he was never taught to play anything like the piano, and he sure as hell never bothered learning. But the drums gave him an outlet for his constantly moving hands and feet. Turned out he wasn’t horrible at keeping a rhythm either.

Burns/Scars – also not a surprise but I see him with burns everywhere. A lot on his back where he’s tried to get away from ones that went astray and didn’t get to walk away like a cool action movie star. Who needs tattoos when your body is littered with striking remembrances of your creations?

#accepted #accepted: nick bottom

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