OOC INFORMATION Player: Lane Age: 20 Personal Journal:lanekana Contact Info: lanekana @ gmail/Hotmail and plurk Other Characters: Hiyori Nishiyama (littlechick), Mizuki Ashiya (watchesyoujump) and Mary (burnedrose)
IC INFORMATION Characters Name: Norman Babcock Age: 11 Canon: Paranorman Canon Point: Post-movie Species: Human Gender: Male in body and mind. Orientation: I have no freaking idea. I don’t think he really gets what girls are yet honestly. Unsure to say the least.
History:Wiki and Wikia See what I did there? Appearance:Look at this cutie Personality: Norman is just a kid. That’s the first thing you need to know about him. The second thing you should know is that children can be cruel. Even more so when you’re different. With that said, it's no surprise that he was bullied for the longest time. It has nothing about how he looks or even who he is, but what he can see. Norman can see ghosts. He even speaks to them. This wouldn't be such a big deal if everyone else could too. Because the townspeople of Blithe Hollow can't see the spirits, they call him a liar. The entire town has labeled him a freak. So it's no surprise that he's withdrawn and only really talks when spoken too. He only really talks to his dead grandmother until the end of the movie. Because of this, Norman is quiet and tries to fade into the background. If they can't see him, they can't hurt him. Instead of socializing with other kids his age, he sits at home and watches zombie flicks too the point It's pretty much all he does. His room is plastered with zombie posters and he enjoys them. Zombies are his thing. The zombie obsession help keep the townsfolk away even more. This doesn't really change until he starts making friends with Neill. Neil, who is also bullied but for completely different reasons, latches onto Norman and won’t let go even though Norman tries to push him away. When push comes to shove and the town is falling down around them, Neil is there along with his brother and does his best to help. By the end of the movie, Norman is more open with people, but it's going to take him a bit to be at the "normal" level of kids his age. Until then he’s more comfortable around dead people than his own family.
Even though he deals with bullies and doesn't fight back, Norman is by no means weak. He confronts the witch who cursed his town and even though she tries to scare him away he doesn't leave. Due to that failure, she tries to kill him. At that point he could have given up and let her kill him. He doesn’t. Norman clings on to splintery branches and jumps long gaps to try to get closer to her. He wants to reason with her because he knows she's not evil. Norman could have tried to find a way to put her back to sleep or destroy her. Instead he tries to help her move on because in the end she's just a scared little girl who should have never been killed.
One of the best things about Norman is something you might not think of. He's a snarky kid. Can't punch the bully? Might as well insult him past his level of intelligence. Norman is by no means stupid. He knows what allegory means and he's only 11. For a kid trapped in a social bubble there isn't a lot to do.
He may not seem like it but he is truly brave. Without them knowing, he tries to save an entire town up people who hate him. At first he doesn’t want to do it. He’s just a kid. There’s no way a kid could take care of something this big. Norman ends up yelling at zombies and telling them how horrible they are. There’s a reason why they were cursed. They did something unforgivable.
Abilites: He can talk and see ghost. Random zombie movie trivia count? Also snark. He has it. Other: Don’t try to fix his hair. Just don’t. It doesn’t work.
SAMPLES First Person:
[When the feed starts the boy being filmed is obviously nervous. His eyes are shifting from the screen to behind him.]
Umm… Excuse me, but this isn’t my phone. I’m not sure who dropped it so… If you know whose it is could you please tell them to call it? I can try to get it back to them. Maybe? If that’s okay with them… If not I can leave it somewhere. So yeah… Bye.
[And it clicks off.]
Third Person:
He’s been staring at this raccoon for at least ten minutes. It’s dead obviously. Its spine is not just kind of, it is, squished. Yeah it’s kind of gross, but that’s not why he’s staring. Norman had just seen it get hit. He was on the other side of the street when the bright red car took that corner so much faster than was legal and just kept going. There’s no ghost. Now Norman’s never died before but, he’s pretty sure that counts as a traumatizing death. Hit by a car? Doesn’t sound like a fun way to go. Usually ghosts appear right after they die, right? He had gotten a few weird looks already just watching roadkill but… He’s going to be late getting home so he better go. His parents will freak if he doesn’t. “Sorry I couldn’t stop it buddy…” And then he walks away. Hopefully the raccoon is digging through garbage in the sky.
OTHER Housing Request?: Not really? Did you read the rules and FAQ?: Yep! Would you like your application to be unscreened?: Sure.
REVISION REQUEST Your app is looking great so far! However, there are some changes to be made before full acceptance can be given:
While you've covered some main personality points, please expand upon them a little more. The way the personality reads, it seems more like an embellished history section. Try to include a little more personality and how he deals and thinks about things.
It would also be a good idea to go over your application and look for grammatical errors and missing words. In places, some sentences aren't quite clear due to missing words or small grammar slips, though it's not a big deal.
Please expand both your first and third person samples. It seems like you've got a voice down, but with the short length, it makes it hard to truly see that, so providing meatier samples would be better!
Please reply with your changes within three days time. Thank you!
Personality: Norman is just your normal eleven year old boy. Or, he would be if his special talent wasn't seeing ghosts. This ability has caused him to be bullied for most of his life. He had a chance to grow up "normal" once; he lost it. Because of how cruel most of his fellow townsfolk are, Norman has an easier time talking to ghosts than he does talking to his classmates. During school he won’t speak unless spoken too. This is an avoidance manoeuvre, to avoid bullying.
Bearing the label "Town Freak," Norman has lower self confidence than most kids. He sees this fault in blinding colors. His hair stands straight up, one of his ears is a little bigger than the other, and his eyebrows are huge. Talking to what everyone perceived to be thin air was likely the ultimate reason for his alienation. Hearing his mother and father argue about his sanity constantly hasn’t helped either. Norman isn’t really impressed with his bullies anymore. His ability to resist bullying has improved, but hateful words and physical abuse are regular encounters in his everyday life.
Because of the constant threat of bullying, Norman is the type to think before he speaks. Because he can't really be a social being with the living, he'll hold small conversations with the town ghosts and much longer ones with his recently deceased Grandmother.
Norman is by no means unintelligent. He has issues with public speaking, but his ability to make accurate inferences is exceptional. For example, he knows what allegory means and he's only eleven.
As a result of the behaviour he endures, Norman is both empathetic and polite. He says please and thank you. If he needs to interrupt, he'll say "excuse me". For an eleven year old, he has mastered snark. So although he is inherently polite, his internal monologue is by no means angelic. Talking back to his father while not actually being rude or rolling his eyes at his grandma, and using others’ words against them are elemental pieces of his behavior.
Norman will play along with what's going on, although he might not want to get involved. Another thing you might catch him doing is cracking a bad joke. Early in the movie he uses a double entendre, Norman knows it was bad but it's still funny.
Probably due to his social seclusion, Norman has gained an obsession with zombie movies. It's his main interest and a defining trait to his acquaintances. His walls are covered in posters. He brings zombie action figure to school with him. The best two are his slippers which look like they are eating his feet and his toothbrush which is electric so a zombies eye is what’s doing the brushing. He's not that grossed out. Norman has built a wall of real and not real and he prefers the side where screaming women get eaten more for the longest time.
Normally timid and curled in on himself even while walking, Norman can be brave. Before the movie he goes to school and deals with people who hate him. During the movie he doesn't want to take on the duty of keeping the witches curse dormant but when he fails his duty he tries to fix it. He could have ran away and left the people who had treated him badly for years behind. He doesn't. Norman is kind heart-ed. He doesn't try to hurt others. Not just because punching the bully doesn't help but because it's the wrong thing to do and he knows it.
From his canon point Norman is more open currently. After the events in Blithe Hollow Norman now has one good friend and is getting along better with his living family. He's still cautious and thinks before he does things. There's a big difference. He feels like he belongs so he's a lot happier.
First Person:
[When the feed starts the boy being filmed is obviously nervous. His eyes are shifting from the screen to behind him.]
Uhh… Excuse me, but this isn’t my phone. I’m not sure who dropped it so… If you know who it belongs too could you please tell them to call it? I can try to get it back to them. Maybe? If that’s okay with them… If not I can leave it somewhere. So yeah… Bye.
[The feed stops, only to return seconds later. It looks like he forgot to say something.]
Oh right... I’m Norman in case you need to know for some reason.
[He moves to turn off his phone and puts it down. It’s obvious he didn’t do it right because there’s now a view of a ceiling.]
That wasn’t so hard... Right? I mean it could have gone a lot worse. I could have made it seem like I stole it from someone.
[There’s a long pause then a sigh.]
I’ll find out if I get a call back.
[There’s then a quick flash of brown as he drops his head to the desk. The feed ends for good that time after the phone falls.]
Third Person:
Fear. He is taken by fear and he has no idea what to do. If he was calmer Norman knows he would at least have an idea of what to do next. Here are the facts; this is not Blithe Hollow, he doesn't see anyone he knows, he can’t call his mom but most importantly there is a skeleton staring at him. He’s not entirely sure if it’s staring at him really considering it lacks, well... Eyes. But the place where its face is supposed to be is facing him and it’s tilting its head in a questioning pose Courtney makes sometimes when she doesn't understand a zombie movie reference he made. It wouldn't be as scary if the skeleton was saying something. It's completely silent. When ghost talk to him it’s not a big deal. Norman’s grown used to it by now. He had to talk to zombies this past year because of a curse. He can do this. He can totally do this.
“Ummm... Do I have something on my face or...?”
That was a terrible way to start a conversation and he knows it. Even Mitch could have probably said something more eloquent than that and Norman has never seen him quite on the same page as everyone else. Then the skeleton opens it’s mouth and chatters. That’s not words is the first thought to come to mind. That’s the sound of bone hitting and scraping bone mimicking talking.
"I'm sorry but... Umm... Can you repeat that?"
He watches the skeleton straighten and chatter again. Even more harshly this time. It's obvious to tell it's trying to get it's point across but Norman has no idea.
"I still don't understand... Is there anyway you can give me a clue?"
Even though he wants to run home, wherever it might be, he wants to help. The skeleton crosses it's arms and... Did it just huff? Either way it's pointing now, to the sidewalk? There's a paper bag just lying there. How had he missed it before?
"What's over there?"
When he turns back the skeleton brings its hand up to it's mouth and pretends to eat. Or at least that's what Norman's guessing it's doing. Without waiting for more charades he goes over and grabs the bad.
"Here. These are what you wanted. Right...?"
Within a moment the bag is snatched from his grasp and the skeleton... No, Ron. Until Norman has an idea who this is he's going to call him Ron. Ron is going through the motions of eating apples like they're the best things on the planet. Without meaning too he's laughing. He almost screamed earlier because someone wanted to eat.
"You enjoy those man. I'm going to go see if I can contact my Mom."
Ron looks up for second and nods before going back to his feast. Wherever this place is it's for sure just as weird as Blithe Hollow at least.
ACCEPTED Congrats, your application has been accepted! Your character is now living at 1459 in Holly Heights, with a child slot. In order to get the ball rolling, here's what you need to do:
Comment back with the journal you'll be using for your character so that they can be accepted into the communities.
Create an IC Mailbox post on your characters journal that is not friends only. You are also free to treat this as an information holding post with your character's family and address listed if you wish.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Norman Babcock | Paranorman | Not reserved
Player: Lane
Age: 20
Personal Journal:
Contact Info: lanekana @ gmail/Hotmail and plurk
Other Characters: Hiyori Nishiyama (littlechick), Mizuki Ashiya (watchesyoujump) and Mary (burnedrose)
IC INFORMATION
Characters Name: Norman Babcock
Age: 11
Canon: Paranorman
Canon Point: Post-movie
Species: Human
Gender: Male in body and mind.
Orientation: I have no freaking idea. I don’t think he really gets what girls are yet honestly. Unsure to say the least.
History: Wiki and Wikia See what I did there?
Appearance: Look at this cutie
Personality: Norman is just a kid. That’s the first thing you need to know about him. The second thing you should know is that children can be cruel. Even more so when you’re different. With that said, it's no surprise that he was bullied for the longest time. It has nothing about how he looks or even who he is, but what he can see. Norman can see ghosts. He even speaks to them. This wouldn't be such a big deal if everyone else could too. Because the townspeople of Blithe Hollow can't see the spirits, they call him a liar. The entire town has labeled him a freak. So it's no surprise that he's withdrawn and only really talks when spoken too. He only really talks to his dead grandmother until the end of the movie. Because of this, Norman is quiet and tries to fade into the background. If they can't see him, they can't hurt him. Instead of socializing with other kids his age, he sits at home and watches zombie flicks too the point It's pretty much all he does. His room is plastered with zombie posters and he enjoys them. Zombies are his thing. The zombie obsession help keep the townsfolk away even more. This doesn't really change until he starts making friends with Neill. Neil, who is also bullied but for completely different reasons, latches onto Norman and won’t let go even though Norman tries to push him away. When push comes to shove and the town is falling down around them, Neil is there along with his brother and does his best to help. By the end of the movie, Norman is more open with people, but it's going to take him a bit to be at the "normal" level of kids his age. Until then he’s more comfortable around dead people than his own family.
Even though he deals with bullies and doesn't fight back, Norman is by no means weak. He confronts the witch who cursed his town and even though she tries to scare him away he doesn't leave. Due to that failure, she tries to kill him. At that point he could have given up and let her kill him. He doesn’t. Norman clings on to splintery branches and jumps long gaps to try to get closer to her. He wants to reason with her because he knows she's not evil. Norman could have tried to find a way to put her back to sleep or destroy her. Instead he tries to help her move on because in the end she's just a scared little girl who should have never been killed.
One of the best things about Norman is something you might not think of. He's a snarky kid. Can't punch the bully? Might as well insult him past his level of intelligence. Norman is by no means stupid. He knows what allegory means and he's only 11. For a kid trapped in a social bubble there isn't a lot to do.
He may not seem like it but he is truly brave. Without them knowing, he tries to save an entire town up people who hate him. At first he doesn’t want to do it. He’s just a kid. There’s no way a kid could take care of something this big. Norman ends up yelling at zombies and telling them how horrible they are. There’s a reason why they were cursed. They did something unforgivable.
Abilites: He can talk and see ghost. Random zombie movie trivia count? Also snark. He has it.
Other: Don’t try to fix his hair. Just don’t. It doesn’t work.
SAMPLES
First Person:
[When the feed starts the boy being filmed is obviously nervous. His eyes are shifting from the screen to behind him.]
Umm… Excuse me, but this isn’t my phone. I’m not sure who dropped it so… If you know whose it is could you please tell them to call it? I can try to get it back to them. Maybe? If that’s okay with them… If not I can leave it somewhere. So yeah… Bye.
[And it clicks off.]
Third Person:
He’s been staring at this raccoon for at least ten minutes. It’s dead obviously. Its spine is not just kind of, it is, squished. Yeah it’s kind of gross, but that’s not why he’s staring. Norman had just seen it get hit. He was on the other side of the street when the bright red car took that corner so much faster than was legal and just kept going. There’s no ghost. Now Norman’s never died before but, he’s pretty sure that counts as a traumatizing death. Hit by a car? Doesn’t sound like a fun way to go. Usually ghosts appear right after they die, right? He had gotten a few weird looks already just watching roadkill but… He’s going to be late getting home so he better go. His parents will freak if he doesn’t.
“Sorry I couldn’t stop it buddy…”
And then he walks away. Hopefully the raccoon is digging through garbage in the sky.
OTHER
Housing Request?: Not really?
Did you read the rules and FAQ?: Yep!
Would you like your application to be unscreened?: Sure.
Revision Request
Your app is looking great so far! However, there are some changes to be made before full acceptance can be given:
Please reply with your changes within three days time. Thank you!
Revisions
Bearing the label "Town Freak," Norman has lower self confidence than most kids. He sees this fault in blinding colors. His hair stands straight up, one of his ears is a little bigger than the other, and his eyebrows are huge. Talking to what everyone perceived to be thin air was likely the ultimate reason for his alienation. Hearing his mother and father argue about his sanity constantly hasn’t helped either. Norman isn’t really impressed with his bullies anymore. His ability to resist bullying has improved, but hateful words and physical abuse are regular encounters in his everyday life.
Because of the constant threat of bullying, Norman is the type to think before he speaks. Because he can't really be a social being with the living, he'll hold small conversations with the town ghosts and much longer ones with his recently deceased Grandmother.
Norman is by no means unintelligent. He has issues with public speaking, but his ability to make accurate inferences is exceptional. For example, he knows what allegory means and he's only eleven.
As a result of the behaviour he endures, Norman is both empathetic and polite. He says please and thank you. If he needs to interrupt, he'll say "excuse me". For an eleven year old, he has mastered snark. So although he is inherently polite, his internal monologue is by no means angelic. Talking back to his father while not actually being rude or rolling his eyes at his grandma, and using others’ words against them are elemental pieces of his behavior.
Norman will play along with what's going on, although he might not want to get involved. Another thing you might catch him doing is cracking a bad joke. Early in the movie he uses a double entendre, Norman knows it was bad but it's still funny.
Probably due to his social seclusion, Norman has gained an obsession with zombie movies. It's his main interest and a defining trait to his acquaintances. His walls are covered in posters. He brings zombie action figure to school with him. The best two are his slippers which look like they are eating his feet and his toothbrush which is electric so a zombies eye is what’s doing the brushing. He's not that grossed out. Norman has built a wall of real and not real and he prefers the side where screaming women get eaten more for the longest time.
Normally timid and curled in on himself even while walking, Norman can be brave. Before the movie he goes to school and deals with people who hate him. During the movie he doesn't want to take on the duty of keeping the witches curse dormant but when he fails his duty he tries to fix it. He could have ran away and left the people who had treated him badly for years behind. He doesn't. Norman is kind heart-ed. He doesn't try to hurt others. Not just because punching the bully doesn't help but because it's the wrong thing to do and he knows it.
From his canon point Norman is more open currently. After the events in Blithe Hollow Norman now has one good friend and is getting along better with his living family. He's still cautious and thinks before he does things. There's a big difference. He feels like he belongs so he's a lot happier.
First Person:
[When the feed starts the boy being filmed is obviously nervous. His eyes are shifting from the screen to behind him.]
Uhh… Excuse me, but this isn’t my phone. I’m not sure who dropped it so… If you know who it belongs too could you please tell them to call it? I can try to get it back to them. Maybe? If that’s okay with them… If not I can leave it somewhere. So yeah… Bye.
[The feed stops, only to return seconds later. It looks like he forgot to say something.]
Oh right... I’m Norman in case you need to know for some reason.
[He moves to turn off his phone and puts it down. It’s obvious he didn’t do it right because there’s now a view of a ceiling.]
That wasn’t so hard... Right? I mean it could have gone a lot worse. I could have made it seem like I stole it from someone.
[There’s a long pause then a sigh.]
I’ll find out if I get a call back.
[There’s then a quick flash of brown as he drops his head to the desk. The feed ends for good that time after the phone falls.]
Third Person:
Fear. He is taken by fear and he has no idea what to do. If he was calmer Norman knows he would at least have an idea of what to do next. Here are the facts; this is not Blithe Hollow, he doesn't see anyone he knows, he can’t call his mom but most importantly there is a skeleton staring at him. He’s not entirely sure if it’s staring at him really considering it lacks, well... Eyes. But the place where its face is supposed to be is facing him and it’s tilting its head in a questioning pose Courtney makes sometimes when she doesn't understand a zombie movie reference he made. It wouldn't be as scary if the skeleton was saying something. It's completely silent. When ghost talk to him it’s not a big deal. Norman’s grown used to it by now. He had to talk to zombies this past year because of a curse. He can do this. He can totally do this.
“Ummm... Do I have something on my face or...?”
That was a terrible way to start a conversation and he knows it. Even Mitch could have probably said something more eloquent than that and Norman has never seen him quite on the same page as everyone else. Then the skeleton opens it’s mouth and chatters. That’s not words is the first thought to come to mind. That’s the sound of bone hitting and scraping bone mimicking talking.
"I'm sorry but... Umm... Can you repeat that?"
He watches the skeleton straighten and chatter again. Even more harshly this time. It's obvious to tell it's trying to get it's point across but Norman has no idea.
"I still don't understand... Is there anyway you can give me a clue?"
Even though he wants to run home, wherever it might be, he wants to help. The skeleton crosses it's arms and... Did it just huff? Either way it's pointing now, to the sidewalk? There's a paper bag just lying there. How had he missed it before?
"What's over there?"
When he turns back the skeleton brings its hand up to it's mouth and pretends to eat. Or at least that's what Norman's guessing it's doing. Without waiting for more charades he goes over and grabs the bad.
"Here. These are what you wanted. Right...?"
Within a moment the bag is snatched from his grasp and the skeleton... No, Ron. Until Norman has an idea who this is he's going to call him Ron. Ron is going through the motions of eating apples like they're the best things on the planet. Without meaning too he's laughing. He almost screamed earlier because someone wanted to eat.
"You enjoy those man. I'm going to go see if I can contact my Mom."
Ron looks up for second and nods before going back to his feast. Wherever this place is it's for sure just as weird as Blithe Hollow at least.
Accepted
Congrats, your application has been accepted! Your character is now living at 1459 in Holly Heights, with a child slot. In order to get the ball rolling, here's what you need to do:
I hope you enjoy your stay here!
Accepted