OOC
GAME: City Siege
DESCRIPTION: Final Fantasy and Resident Evil zombie-verse.
DATE: April 2007
PB: Ryan Reynolds
IC
NAME Blaine "Blank" Talbot
ORIGINAL GAME Final Fantasy IX.
AGE Twenty-five.
HOMETOWN Dollet.
AFFILIATION Civilian.
OCCUPATION Actor with the Tantalus Theatre Troupe, thief, and conman.
PERSONALITY First off, don't call this man "Blaine". He resents being called by his real name, and has instead been going by Blank ever since his childhood. For one, it's a name he chose himself, and therefore eliminates any memories of his parents calling him it. He's wanted a blank slate for as long as he can remember.
That said, Blank is astoundingly good at distracting himself from the nasty parts of life. He's an easy comic, a relaxed flirt, a natural charmer and actor. Living a life dedicated to betraying people's trust and stealing their money will do that to you. His personality is light and noncommittal. He's gotten used to spending only a few weeks in a city, and then packing up in the dead of night and moving on before the enraged policemen catch them. He's gotten used to not getting attached. The Tantalus kids are the only people he's really dedicated to — cut Blank away from his Tantalus family, and he'll be at a loss for the first time in years.
He is, however, an improviser. He aims to make the best of life. Trapped in a "zombie"-ridden city, he doesn't sit around pissing, moaning, and whining about it. Instead, Blank's method is to crack jokes (often morbid or bad ones) to relieve the tension. He's not comfortable with this virus thing at all, and he's definitely not pleased with the fact that the rich folk are locked up all nice and pretty. He'd blow his way into their compound if he could. He's always been of poor background, so nothing enrages the man more than the privileged echelon of society holing themselves up in safety while the rest of the world crumbles around them.
HISTORY Blank's life is humble in origin; he started off as a street rat in the city of Dollet, living off what money he could steal, pickpocket, and charm his way into getting. Amongst the children of their ragtag group, he swiftly gained a reputation for his precocious charm. Th e little redhead soon grew up into a gangly teenager, and he took up residence with — or rather, was unofficially adopted by — the Tantalus Theatre Troupe. The day a fifteen-year-old Blank tried to pick Baku's pocket was the first day in years that he'd gotten caught — and not only that, but he was beaten ferociously for his trouble.
After the punishment, however, Baku's irritation melted away into beaming pride. The troupe was in need of more people with Blank's talents. And so it was that after that day, the boy grew up on the stage, flaunting his natural charm and transforming it into the easy confidence of an actor. Baku let his foundlings sleep in the theatre at night, and he helped provide for them using funds from their thieving, scams, and cons; more often than not, this included pickpocketing their audience while the performance held their rapt attention.
Tantalus was also Blank's ticket out of Dollet, and to see the rest of the world. Their first day performing in Timber, he got in a scuffle with another member of Tantalus, Marcus, in order to draw the attention of a certain Ruby. In those first few minutes, Blank did not think he could hate another boy more.
Fast forward several weeks, and the two had become nigh-inseparable. Blank found a best friend in the form of Marcus, and they even fell into the habit of calling each other "bro". Blank, frankly, thinks of him as the brother he never had, and would gladly lay his life on the line for him. He's on good terms with Zidane, too, but not to the same extent.
So. Fast forward again. Ten years after he first joined Tantalus, the troupe has now hit the first real snag in their career: They went to Deling. And their timing sucked. The shit has hit the fan, and the city was quarantined off soon after they'd just settled in and gotten ready to do some shows.
Blank has started applying whatever theatrical swordskills he knows to real life, and altering the techniques accordingly. (You don't want to hurt your fellow actors. Fucking crazed and bloodthirsty citypeople? Yeah, you wanna hurt them.) He's adept with a sword, definitely a good hand with a knife, and fast and speedy thanks to honing his reflexes on the streets and on the stage.
