I've got no strings to hold me down

PLAYER
» Journal: meerkats
» Birthdate/Age: 09/1990
» Characters Played: Renly Baratheon
CHARACTER FACTS
» Name: August Wayne Booth (formerly known as Pinocchio)
» Canon: Once Upon a Time
» Reference: http://onceuponatime.wikia.com/wiki/August_Booth
» Canon Point: Pre-Season 1 Finale, circa The Stranger
» Gender: Male
» Age: 35

CHARACTER INTERPRETATION
» Appearance: Once upon a time, Pinocchio was a wooden boy. Not long after that, he was a small ginger child. As he grew up, his hair darkened and his freckles all but disappeared into his skin. As an adult he's tall, dark haired, bearded, with piercing blue eyes remaining from his childhood. He has good posture, a habit and musculature left over from his wooden days. Before arriving in Atia, his leg would have been in the process of turning back to work (a magical attribute that Atia would no doubt remedy).
» Suitability: N/A
» Orientation: Heterosexual by canon, given that he flirts with Ruby and shows interest in Emma.
» Personality:





"He's a writer; a typewriter wrapped in an enigma wrapped in stubble."

The simplest way to explain August is to begin with Pinocchio. Pinocchio is traditionally described as an irresponsible child with a good heart and good intentions. August's entire personality stems from his beginnings as Pinocchio. He is burdened with a great responsibility, taking care of Emma. The problem is, of course, that he is and always has been irresponsible. Instead of protecting her, he abandoned her as a baby for his own comfort, something that haunts him to this day. His willpower is not strong enough to ward off temptation, and he responds to temptation to be free and to have a good time the way addicts do to drugs. He gives in easily, experiences the fun or wonderful feeling he wanted, whether it be through adventure, sex, or abandon. Only once the fleeting feeling has passed does he realize that he's been irresponsible and remember what he's been avoiding or running away from. He then reacts with guilt, trying to redeem himself in some way. As he says himself, he’s not very good at saying no. It is a cycle, and he soon falls into temptation once again. This is something we see in the flashback in Tennessee, when he’s trying to redeem himself once again before falling back off the wagon. He is weak willed, but not a bad person.

He is also a coward, never approaching a difficult situation directly unless necessary. He came back to check on Emma (at least once to our canon knowledge, but as he claims to be her guardian angel he implies that he's done it before), going through his cycle, but didn't confront her or make himself known to her until his leg began to turn back into wood, when she finally began to fulfill her destiny without his help. It serves as a painful reminder that he failed and is in need of redemption, and manages to motivate him to get over his cowardice in her knowing how he's failed her (which of course he avoids for as long a he can, keeping his identity a secret until he realizes that he can't convince her about her destiny any other way but to reveal himself). In his cowardice is also his tendency towards lying, something he has had since his wooden days. He finds it much easier to lie and avoid confrontation than to be straight-forward and bear the brunt of his own guilt. It is for this reason that he avoids telling her who he really is for so long, and why he goes out of his way to change Henry's book; If Henry tells her, he doesn't have to.

While he is weak willed, he is also no longer a child. Having made this same mistake over and over again, he's trying desperately now to redeem himself. He wants to be a better person, to be trustworthy, and not be a disappointment. The problem is, of course, that until now he has been nothing but a disappointment. He abandoned Emma, didn't help her survive, couldn't bring himself to confront her, and didn't have the willpower to do what he was expected to do. He couldn't run away from his mistakes anymore, though, once his leg began to change back. His mistakes haunt him, causing him to strive to be the best he can be all too late in his life. He has this innate need to help, as if helping and being the good and responsible son he was supposed to be will absolve him of his sins.

"I've got no strings to hold me down, to make me fret, to make me frown."

August is a free spirit, reveling in the idea of being free. He never stays in one place long, in step with his need to run away from his mistakes and problems. He claims to have traveled the world with his typewriter in tow. He would rather be lost and overwhelmed by freedom and adventure than face the reality of a situation. His escapist nature also had him writing, both as a sense of therapy for himself as well as an escape. He writes to exercise his creativity, while sometimes writing to remember. It is the stories he puts together, the words that he weaves, that keeps him remembering the magic that exists both in this world and his in his own home. It is the magic that we have in our world, out in the beautiful world, that keeps him traveling with earnest, and reminds him of who he really is; the magic that he’s meant to bring back. It is this learned adventurous spirit, combined with his ability to ignore his problems and his naturally creative spirit that allows him to be a calm, collected person.

Well, most of the time. Sometimes, as with most of his interaction with Emma through season one, he is playing the part of the calm, collected person (like the puppet he is), because he needs to be her guardian angel. He needs to be calm to prove that he’s not crazy, because he wasn’t there for her before. He needs to prove to her that magic exists, something he would not have had to do had he stayed with her. Admitting who he is would be admitting his own failure to her face, and otherwise spouting a belief in magic would be simply, well, unbelievable. That is, unless he approached it calmly. That was his philosophy on it, at least, until he was pushed to the brink of desperation. That, though, hasn't happened yet, by his arrival on Atia.


SAMPLES

» First Person Sample Choice: Prompt #1

[It's not long after waking up that August logs into the network for the first time. He found his clothes easily enough, buttoned up his shirt most of the way and slipped on pants before exploring, finding out what he needed to know, and now he gives a small hello of a smile at the screen, running a hand through his mussed hair.]

I'm no stranger to the idea of multiple worlds, but this isn't exactly the one I was hoping to return to. I got the pitch from the natives, so I've really only got two questions.

One, does anyone know any day to get back to where we came from, and Two, is anyone named Emma Swan here? Or anyone from Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest at all.

» Third Person Sample Choice: Prompt #2

He wakes from sleep with the feeling of hands on him. The feeling lingers, the memory slowly slipping away as fast as she ever did. Her blond hair hanging over his face, his cock buried in her, her eyes piercing him with that combination of blame and forgiveness that takes his breathe away. He can't breathe from the heat, and then he simply can't breathe. He sits up in bed, sweating. His hand jumps up to the collar around his neck, and he can feel it begin to cut off his circulation.

"Dammit."

He thought he'd done a good job taking care of his damn thing, done a good job of letting loose and fooling around with the excuse that he was saving his on life. It's tight, too tight, and does nothing but remind him of his own mortality. It's like his leg changing back, but quicker, with less time to think and stumble. The devil on his shoulder to the angel that was the broken curse, motivating him to be worse.

If his blood were not pounding below his waist he would feel it beating in his throat, gasping to get through.

He tries tugging at it, if only for a moment, as if he can communicate with the wood to let him go, but he knows it's hopeless. It isn't long before he releases a breathe, or at least what he can manage of one, grabbing for a shirt to slip on.

It could be worse, of course. He could have to do something he hates to fix it, and sex was never that. He'll feel guilty though, he knows it all too well now; he always feel guilty when he strays.

That's the problem with this place though, he thinks. There's nothing to do but stray, no path left to find. He tugs on his jeans and adjusts himself through his pants with a sigh of a groan before heading out the door. His target destination? A bar. Alcohol goes best with escapism, after all, and who is he to turn down true escapist experience?