#oc nikandr shikalov

[thewhumpcaretaker]

would john and nikandr ever fuck 🫢🫣

OH LORD

You know...I can see it under the right circumstances. Maybe John comes to understand Nikandr in a similar way to how he understands the Marquis in churchduel stuff - here's someone who was never taught how to deal with difficult emotions and who needs to be treated with an overabundance of patience (and at times restrained for his own good). And Nikandr would probably eventually melt and break down at the comfort of finally receiving that patience, which he has never gotten from anyone else.

[johnwickcaretaker]

Nikandr Shikalov, wherever you are: I am coming for you.

You come near my friend’s lodge, bringing danger to her doorstep? I don’t know what you want. But I know what you’re asking for. You’re asking to die.

I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see you go. I remember you as ruthless, even all those years ago. Unable to restrain yourself. Didn’t care about anyone - not your fellow students, not The Director, not the family you had lost. You were only ever angry that you weren’t outperforming the other boys at the theater. You ran away, and why? Because you were sick of not being the top dog. When I ran away, I wanted to be free. But you didn’t care about any sort of tenderness, just wanted to be a big shot. You and Iosef…you have a lot in common. For one thing, you’ve both put Georgia Scott in danger. That’s enough for me.

See you soon, Shikalov.

[ooc: This is the new villain for a little arc I’m running right now! He’s a bit of a stalker. He wants to make John suffer because of the fame and success that John found as the Baba Yaga, and the favoritism that The Director gave John when they were growing up.]

[jw-adjudicator]

@sylvan-king, please prepare your hotel for investigation. It has come to our attention that you may have recently housed Nikandr Shikalov, who was excommunicated when he went missing from the Tarkovsky Theater several decades ago. But now he has been sighted…in London, at your Continental, on April 14th. According to guest reports, a man matching his description stayed at the hotel for one night and sought medical services before catching a flight to Louisiana. It is my job to assess whether you were aware of his identity.

I arrive in one hour.

Regards,

The Adjudicator

[the-sambo-devil]

🔥 𝕹𝖎𝖐𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖗 𝕾𝖍𝖎𝖐𝖆𝖑𝖔𝖛 🔥

⋆.˚ ✮ .⭒˚ OOC Post ⋆.˚ ✮ .⭒˚

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[thewhumpcaretaker]

embers for nik perchance?🔥🔥

Thank you for the ask!! Aaaaaa this was so fun🔥

[thewhumpcaretaker]

“philosophical outlook/belief” for nik, messenger, & jens perhaps👀?

Thank yooooou this is so fun to talk about!!!!

Nikandr

Nikandr is an egoist. He believes that independence and competence in accordance with one’s own desires are the markers of a successful life, and that might makes right. Any ideology or external morality is a mere distraction from this self-fulfillment.

The philosopher most similar to him is Max Stirner. He has definitely read Stirner and had a phase of talking too much about him.

Messenger

Messenger is an idealist (in the sense of German idealism) and a romantic (in both the sense of the romanticism movement, and in the sense of being loving/sentimental). It believes that the value of life and any true understanding of self must come from genuine connection with others. The freedom of living beings, and their inherent worth, should be respected above all else. Fate is not sealed for anyone, but is instead a developing process that depends on how people relate to one another.

The philosopher most similar to them is maaaaybe Hegel (but he was anti-romanticism) or Schelling, but it follows the work of Alxi philosophers that humans don’t know about or understand. Alxi philosophers can’t openly talk about these ideas due to the current utilitarian regime, but some hint at them.

Jens

Jens is an extreme sort of pessimist who believes that there is something fundamentally wrong with the universe and with existence. Suffering is at the core of what it is to live, and it would be better if most things and people were destroyed. But he’s not willing to just accept this - he’s very angry about it and wants revenge on whoever is responsible.

The philosopher most similar to him is Philipp Mainländer. He’s not that well known, so I’ll say a little about him - basically he believed that existence is fundamentally bad. The universe is the body of a god who is trying to decay in order to escape existence. Because god is eternal and can’t die, it has to split itself into smaller parts which can.

[thewhumpcaretaker]

Tagging people I know are doing JW oc and rp stuff these days (no pressure to vote tho!) @evrensadwrn @bluelolblue @blairwick @babayagaiscomingforya

[thewhumpcaretaker]

OH RIGHT!! what was Nikandr and Iosef’s relationship like? how did they meet? ^_^

OKAY YESSSS I've been excited to talk about this!!

Wholesome stuff:

They met through Iosef's friends, some of whom knew Nikandr and were selling him weed. They smoked together and talked about life and then ended up hooking up without thinking.

Iosef really panicked that first morning when he woke up in Nikandr's arms. But Nikandr calmed him down and helped him feel like this was nothing to be ashamed of.

They did a lot of things together after that. Gaming together, going shooting, just hanging out on some random rooftop and watching the stars.

Nikandr also taught him a lot of martial arts skills.

This is another instance of why Iosef should've known who John was but he was just that dense about it. Nikandr was always talking in general about the people at the Tarkovsky who wronged him as a kid but Iosef never put together who that was, lmao.

Nikandr in general was a source of guidance and comfort for Iosef. He was there for him when everyone else was ignoring him, and was always really sweet to him. He included Iosef in his plans, trusted him with assignments, and didn't blow up at him if he made a mistake.

And Iosef gave him the same thing - exactly the kind of support he'd been needing. He looked up to Nikandr and listened to his ideas seriously without laughing at him. He genuinely thought Nikandr was cool and talented, and wanted his dreams to become a reality.

Toxic stuff:

Nikandr was one of the many people who was a bad influence on Iosef. He reinforced that it was cool to get into fights, to want to be rich, to want to be the powerful one.

They did bicker a lot. Fighting over nothing - video games, where to eat, stuff like that.

They had a really big age gap, because Nikandr is around the same age as John. Kirill tried to convince him that it was a red flag for someone in their 40s to want to date him, because they were probably immature. In this case, he was right.

Kirill in general really disapproved of the relationship and it made him exhausted to deal with the two of them. Iosef tried to tell Kirill that Nikandr was just a friend and he never admitted to anything more, but Kirill could tell by the way Iosef talked about him.

Viggo never knew. Completely oblivious.

They broke up over something really little and stupid because they triggered each other's trauma. Iosef accidentally said something questioning Nikandr's abilities, and that made Nikandr feel like a failure. So he just stopped answering his texts and ran away like he always does. And of course, Iosef can't stand feeling neglecting by someone who claims to love him.

After like two weeks, they ran into each other in a bar and Iosef dumped him. It was a big, messy fight and would have turned physical if Iosef's friends didn't hold him back. The breakup in general was messy - they blocked each other and vague-posted about each other and were both just a wreck.

After that, Iosef tried to bury his feelings for guys again. It was just a one time thing, a mistake.

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[thewhumpcaretaker]

do you by any chance have more things to share about nikandr?🥺

Always! (Pic is Nikandr's wounded inner child, btw)

Divider Source

Nikandr tried to read Dostoyevsky and a lot of other Russian classics because John likes those and he’s a copycat, but he didn’t really understand them, other than Notes from Underground, which became one of his favorite books.

He smokes weed. Yeah.

He’s a nerd for gun statistics and always knows about the latest models. That was something he and Iosef used to talk about.

They also played COD together.

He loves to look at fire and has done arson at some point!

Also really likes having candles around, especially if they’re cool, shaped candles.

He definitely made one of those old geocities websites about his plans to achieve greatness. Terrible graphics. Edgy gifs. Looking at it was...an experience.

He feels awkward around unhoused people, both because they could be with the Bowery and because he’s self conscious about his own time living without a home. He says he’s not “homeless,” he’s “on the run.”

But secretly, he feels bad for them because he knows what it’s like and if he can, he’ll give them food and even share a cigarette and talk for a while.

One of his more positive dreams is to open a dojo. He would even like to teach orphans, with more care than The Director gave them. But it’s a long way off right now - and he thinks he might die getting revenge before he ever gets to do it…

He’s probably not mature enough to be a parent, but he would really thrive if he got to be an older brother figure for a kid.

[thewhumpcaretaker]

Nikandr

Oh nooooo 😭😭😭 An accurate portrayal. He’s been through so much at this point (and he does whine about it…)

[thewhumpcaretaker]

ur ocs but with this template perhaps⁉️

Most things are simple to Messenger.

Nikandr would definitely say that.

And Jens is a genius but clueless homeschool kid who has no answers about anything, so all of these apply to him.

(I have never seen this before in my life so I hope I'm doing this right. I'm right there in the middle with Jens tbh)

[thewhumpcaretaker]

Wound and Break for Nikandr?

Thanks for the ask!! ✨

Ask Game

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

Nikandr is kind of a coward, but once he’s being injured, his pain tolerance is pretty good. His wounds are mostly emotional. His greatest wound was being rejected by The Director. He watched her dote on John and a few other kids who were star students, while he didn’t get attention no matter how he acted out. He was even flat out told at one point that she doesn’t see all the students as her own children, only those who serve the Ruska Roma well. So that hurt very much. 

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

Nikandr has always wanted to be accepted and seen as special by a real family. So being rejected by a group that he trusted, especially on the basis of his own failings, would cause him to break down. Unfortunately, that has happened to him all his life, so a lot of people have seen him that way. Definitely The Director and some of the people he worked with at the Bowery. When that happens, he gets very vengeful. He doesn’t just try to hurt his direct enemies, he’ll try to take away everyone they love to make them feel as isolated as he does…yeah, he has a lot of personal growth to do. 

[thewhumpcaretaker]

nikandr

😢Leo to Nikandr. He's going to help him grieve for sure.

(Yes I gave up and I'm just naming the new OC Leo.)

[thewhumpcaretaker]

4, 5, & 17 for the writer’s and artist’s ask game perhaps? :3

Thank you for the ask!! ^_^ Game is here.

4 - What kind of music do your OCs listen to?

Messenger and Jens definitely share a love of classical and folk music. Messenger has also heard songs that Jens has never heard, because they’ve lived through many periods of human history. So they remember songs from like…ancient Japan and stuff, that were never recorded.

I think Jens also specifically likes Icelandic folk music, because it’s nostalgic for him.

Oh and Nikandr listens to metal and grunge. (But he secretly also likes country.)

5 - What are some of your OCs biggest fears?

Messenger: being truly evil

Jens: being cut off from all connection to other living beings

Nikandr: being rejected as a failure

17 - What are some tropes and character dynamics found in your wips?

Oooo this is a fun one. Whump in everything of course. But more specifically, Those Who Have Something to Live For feels a bit like a soap opera to me - there’s a coma, there’s jealousy, there’s waiting by someone’s bedside, there’s really bizarre and broken family dynamics and a twist about what happened to Vincent’s mom (which you already know if you read Alderic’s mood board lol). Just drama drama drama!!! And the character dynamics between the love interests are evil4evil, freak4freak of course, with lots of power dynamics going on.

Beneath the Ice has a lot of tropes taken from cosmic horror - unknown and ancient terrors come to light, letters and other documents will be incorporated as remnants/proof of something mysterious that happened, character slowly loses their mind over something they’ve witnessed, etc. And yeah, backrooms are coming!! Much more so than just that glimpse we saw on the plane. As far as character dynamics, this one has a “soul mates,” “we transcend our bodies,” “I’ll find you in any lifetime” kind of vibe.

[thewhumpcaretaker]

Just wondering if you’ve ever done the soldier, poet, king quiz for your ocs 👀

Okay, you're not gonna believe this, but Messenger and Nikandr got the same result!! They are both The Poet. And Jens is The King!

[thewhumpcaretaker]

Desire and nightmare for Nikandr, ask game? :)

More yapping, yay!! 🔥

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

I might sound like a broken record here, but Nikandr really wants found family or just love of any kind. A group of people that he can trust and talk to about anything. And he wants to be a leader in that group, somebody that people look up to. He’d do just about anything for that. He is open about that desire, because he doesn’t see it as his fault that he hasn’t gotten that. He rants in vague posts about the Tarkovsky and the Bowery, about his exes and old friends and how none of them could appreciate him. He’s constantly reaching out to people, trying to build a following. I also think he’s the type to download dating apps, try for a short while, then get frustrated and delete them in a cycle that keeps repeating. So yeah, he’s open about what he wants. What he can’t bring himself to talk about is how his own behavior has played into all those burnt bridges.

nightmare: What does your OC have nightmares about? How do they deal with their nightmares? Do they tell people, or keep it to themself?

Nikandr usually sleeps like a rock - he can fall asleep anywhere. But he does have some nightmares. They’re kind of weird and obscure - imagery of body horror or bizarre events that don’t seem scary on the surface but feel scary at the time. He might tell someone about it as if it’s funny, like, “Haha, what a trippy dream, isn’t that wild?” But secretly he wishes they’d have some insight about it.