Ikar Kestrel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
saltyaxitude) wrote2015-01-22 03:39 pm
saltyaxitude) wrote2015-01-22 03:39 pm
IC questionaire (old)
1.) Describe your character’s relationship with their mother or their father, or both. Was it good? Bad? Were they spoiled rotten, ignored? Do they still get along now, or no?
Ikar for the most part has a good relationship with his parents. Out of both his parents though he is far more attached to his mother. That isn't to say he dislikes his father, it was simply a matter of his mother being around more since his dad was often out at sea. He respects his father for what he does though and it was through him Ikar found a passion for fishing.
His family wasn't very well off money wise however, so Ikar wasn't spoiled by any monetary bought means. He enjoyed going down to the pier with his mother to meet his father as he returned, and to marvel at all the fish he had brought back. Afterwards he'd help his mother cook up the feast for the night. It was a simple life, but Ikar enjoyed it none the less. While money was sometimes an issue there was always enough food on the table because of his father or himself.
Currently Ikar's relationship with his parents is minimal at best, he still loves them but he disagrees with what they'd like him to do with his life. They'd like nothing more than for him to come home and settle down with a nice girl. He avoids going home just for this reason and to avoid any talks about if he's found a nice lady friend yet. He makes sure to send a good portion of whatever money he makes back home though, and has been doing so since he was around 14 when he first went to Limsa.
2.) What are your characters most prominent physical features?
I'd say Ikar's most prominent physical features would be his short stature and his boyish looks. He is often mistaken for being younger than he is. While its not always a bad thing to be seen as young, it has led Ikar to some problems looking for work with leves when they doubt his experience and think him to be fledgling adventurer.
3.) Name one scar your character has, and tell us where it came from. If they don’t have any, is there a reason?
Ikar has a scar across the bridge of his nose. The scar itself is not very long, and it doesn't look like it was done by a blade. He actually got the scar when he was around 15 or so, whilst poking around a small gathering of crabs. They were non aggressive so he figured he'd be fine, but he spooked a younger one by putting his face too close to it and he got his nose pinched something fierce. If asked about where he got the scar he will bullshit and say he got it in some sort of fight instead of saying Snips got his nose when he was younger.
He has various other scars over his body, some light nicks from blades, others are gashes from some manner of beast. If the scar came from a blade its safe to say he got that whilst sparring training to be a marauder or perhaps during hired work he had did where there wasn't an adequate healer as well. If the scar was from a beast then you can say with 99% certainty he got the scar from doing fieldwork for his journal and only healing himself with questionable potions.
4.) How vain is your character? Do they find themselves attractive?
Overall Ikar isn't very vain. He is very proud of his hair however and strives to keep it how he likes it to look. He typically doesn't leave his room in the morning before doing his hair for sure. In terms of thinking highly of himself or his abilities, he knows he's capable but he doesn't think he's anything astounding.
He does find himself attractive. While he wouldn't date a clone of himself because wow no homo, he thinks girls would find his appearance attractive.
5.) What’s your character’s ranking on the Kinsey Scale?
Virtual test wise he ranked a 0, but I'd put him at a 1 for certain incidents in his life.
6.) Describe your character’s happiest memory.
Some of his happiest memories would be when he was a kid on those days when his dad would come home from being out at sea. I don't have a specific night, but just the times helping his parents bring home his father's catches and then all of them preparing dinner together.
Otherwise perhaps when he first arrived at Limsa, completely stunned at just how big the city-state was and how many people there were in it. It was a flood of new exciting things he hadn't seen before coming from his small hick town.
7.) Is there one event or happening your character would like to erase from their past? Why?
Getting drunk at one of Zanou'a's parties for the Free Company and subsequently having sex with Zanou'a. The actual memory of the event is pretty hazy for him thankfully, but he is painfully aware of what he said during thanks to Zanou'a reminding him. As for why, why wouldn't he want to erase such a terrible mistake that happened.
1. He fucked a dude.
2. Said dude knows Ikar gets boners thinking about Garuda.
8.) Day of Favorites! What’s your character’s favorite ice cream flavor? Color? Song? Flower?
Vanilla? Perhaps Butter Pecan or Sea salt. He's not big on sweets. His favorite colors is a tie between rust red, mud green or olive green. His favorite song is probably some sailor/fisherman song he heard as a kid. La Noscean Lilybell for the flower? Idk.
9.) Who does your character trust?
Khamu'wo is the first to come to mind. Ikar doesn't trust him with real personal stuff, but he is that way with everyone for the most part. Still Khamu'wo has done Ikar some real favors even if some of them were in part because the blue haired cat doesn't like their leader. It works out because Khamu'wo is vaguely like a safety shield to keep Zanou'a away, and thats good enough for Ikar.
Other than that he does trust other members of the Free Company. It's nothing deep, but he trusts if he went out on a mission with them they wouldn't die because the other members of the party are capable.
10.) Can you define a turning point in your character’s life? Multiples are acceptable.
1. The first turning point in Ikar's life would be when he left home at 14 to become a marauder. He was too young then to do any real combat stuff besides training around the guild, but he felt like he could really go out and live his life away from his little home town.
2. The Calamity would be the next turning point, as it was what pushed him to travel beyond Vvlbrand. He was curious about the effects of the Calamity on the other city-states and more importantly the wildlife.
3. R'iordan saving his life after he was captured by Amalj'aa. R'iordan was the one who first suggested joining a Free Company to Ikar. If he hadn't just foolishly been captured by the beastmen and thought himself dead, Ikar probably wouldn't have taken the Seeker up on his offer. It opened his eyes more to ~working with others~!
4. AND FINALLY, the last turning point so far would be fucking Zanou'a. His life went to shit after that.
11.) Is there an animal you equate with your character?
I like to joke about monkeys with Ikar because I tend to draw him with bigger ears. If we're talking about symbolism and the like though, perhaps a bull? Ikar is pretty bull-headed.
12.) How does your character feel about magitek? Or even the garleans in general.
He prefers the term ~*~forgekin~*~ tyvm. In all seriousness though magitek is like a foreign language to him. He understands very little of it and he's feels it's unnatural. He doesn't hate it though, he just thinks it should be left to the experts.
As for the Garleans as people he can respect what their culture did considering they don't have any talents for magic. He doesn't know how to use magic himself besides like teleporting so he finds the fact that they've come so far very impressive. However when it comes to their need for conquest and from what he's heard very military society he's disgusted. He feels there is no freedom and then the fact they impose that very same belief on the places they've subjugate is terrible.
13.) What does your character’s bed look like when he/she wakes up? Are the covers off on one side of the bed, are they all curled around a pillow, sprawled everywhere? In what position might they sleep?
Most the time when he wakes up, he only has half the blankets on him as he kicked most of them off in his sleep from being too hot. When he sleeps he mainly sleeps on his back, but he sometimes does hug a pillow to his chest while he sleeps.
14.) How does your character react to temperature changes such as extreme heat and cold?
Being from the island of Vvlbrand, Ikar is used to generally warmer temperatures. He can get overheated if it gets too hot of course, but he can manage through it by simply wearing less clothes. He absolutely doesn't do well in the cold however and avoids going to areas such as Coerthas if he can help it. If he has to go for some reason or another he makes sure to bundle up and does everything he can to hopefully make the trip shorter.
15.) Is your character an early morning bird or a night owl (by their own race's perspective)?
Ikar is an early morning bird, a habit he formed as a kid. It also helps when most of the community is also up at wee hours in the morning starting farm work or heading down to the pier for the day. You couldn't afford to sleep in if literally everyone else was up, you'd be seen as lazy or unhelpful.
Generally Ikar is up around 4-5am and he goes to sleep 8-9pm.
16.) Are there any blood relatives that your character is particularly close with, besides the immediate ones? Cousins, Uncles, Grandfathers, Aunts, et cetera. Are there any others that your character practically considers a blood relative?
I'm sure he has a few aunts and uncles close by, either in his hometown or in another small La Noscean town. He wouldn't be particularly close to them though as his family isn't one for big get togethers with the whole clan or anything. Maybe for a few holidays they get together. As for grandparents they've either already died or don't live close enough. Either way he doesn't know much about them besides stories from his parents.
17.) What’s your character’s desk/workspace look like? Are they neat or messy?
He is very messy with his work. His desk is always covered in different sorts of things, papers, books, maps, scrolls, etc. Could be completely separate things in terms of topics and when he's looking for a certain thing he always has to go sifting through the stuff on his desk to find it.
Even in his research journal (which he thankfully always keeps on him not to lose it) is messy in how it's written. Monsters are kept around their same family and genus thanks to his notes using the same formula as the Raimdelle Codex, but his notes and drawings are haphazardly added to the journal. It's a pretty messy read if anyone were to see it. Good information, but all over the place.
18.) Is your character a good cook? What’s their favorite recipe, whether they’re good or not? (Microwave mac-and-cheese applies.)
Ikar is somewhat of a good cook! He learned a lot from his mother when he was younger, and as he's aged he's picked up some tips from both the Fishing guild and generally speaking to people who work at the Culinarian guild.
He mainly knows how to cook fish; he could probably make some good scrambled eggs as well.
19.) What’s your character’s preferred means of travel?
Teleporting, riding a chocobo, or riding airships. Walking is also an option. Really he doesn't have a preferred, he uses whatever is needed for the moment. Gotta be somewhere fast? Better teleport! Leisure trip? Why not ride an airship! That's fun.
20.) Does your character have any irrational fears?
He has an irrational fear of seedkin, particularly ochus. His fear has since extended to the whole family of monsters (yes even mandragoras) in varying degrees of fear. He was almost killed by an ochu on a fishing trip with his father when he was younger, which was the start of his fear.
21.) How does your character feel about other races, beastmen, or even the other city-states?
Hyur: Ikar has a bias towards his own race, who is surprised? Not me. In terms of midlanders he personally hasn't met like many out right scum bags (possibly since Ikar isn't very social) and so he generally assumes the best about any midlanders he meets.
He is so not about the highlanders though, while he's not outright rude to any that he meets, he finds most fit the stereotype of being huge brutes with low intelligence. Also while he's too chicken shit to actually say it himself, he finds the racial insults ("Your mother was a Sea Wolf!") to be pretty fitting for them.
Miqo'te: He absolutely doesn't understand a thing about these strange little cats. They're exotic, their women are strange and don't get him started on odd cat rituals. He liked them better as the occasional conversation partner around Limsa compared to daily living with them in cat frat house. That's really only because he's getting more questions about them that he didn't even know he had.
Also he is vaguely aware that there is a difference between keepers and seekers, but he personally has never bothered asking what it is. His current impression of all cats is they have huge families and fuck a lot. He has a page or two in his journal dedicated to all he's learned in cat frat house, it is full of misinformation and assumptions based on Free Company members.
Elezen: Snooty assholes!! Ikar hasn't had many good impressions of Elezens and even a few good encounters have been offset by Ikar perceiving some sort of tone or attitude they may or may not have actually been giving off. He's generally more prickly around Elezen because he feels they're being assholes and he's partially intimidated by their height.
Like the Miqo'te, Ikar is only vague aware of the differences between Wildwood and Duskwight Elezen. He knows the Duskwight Elezen are discriminated against, but he's not sure the specifics of why. Either way he has trouble telling the two apart.
Roegadyn: Very boisterous and hard working men and women, his opinion on Roegadyn is pretty good honestly. He's grown up around them for most his life and he knows they're good people. Giant sometimes very intense looking people, but good. He has met some questionable ones in the marauders guild, but considering the type of people most marauders are... he doesn't hold it against them.
He knows the difference between the two sub races here! If he has a hard time pronouncing and writing their name, they are a sea wolf. If he has no time at all with their name, they are a hellsguard. Also the red and blue skin tones matching sea and hell help. His opinion on Roegadyn doesn't change regardless though.
Lalafell: He's impressed with Lalafell as a race, for being such small people they certainly have a way with making a name for themselves. Ul'dah is a testament to that. He does believe their success has lead a lot of their race to be too greedy though. Other than stereotypes that they're good with money, Ikar is pretty neutral to them.
He applies the stereotype with money to both Dunesfolk and Plainsfolk, but thats about it. He does notice there seems to be a lot more Dunesfolk around, and sometimes wonder if Plainsfolk make a more tantalizing treat to monsters because of it. Maybe the soulless eyes of the Dunesfolk is their way to scare predators off??
Limsa: Ikar is very fond of Limsa. It's practically his home away from home, as it certainly has been for a good chunk of life. There is a freedom to Limsa that he feels the other city-states are missing. Maybe its something to do with the pirates?? The way Merlwyb runs things? He's not sure the exacts, but he is very comfortable when he's in the city. If he's not busy for the Free Company, or out in the wilderness with his research, you can probably find him in Limsa.
Ul'dah: The city really lives up to its name as the jewel of the desert, a fact Ikar is honestly impressed with. He feels that if you're ever in the market for something special, Ul'dah would be the place to start your search. There are many greedy Lalafells, you never know what they might have stowed away in their warehouses. The city is not without it's flaws however, everyone always seems to be so focused on making money that they don't tend to those who really need help. He feels bad for the people left out by Ul'dah society and blames it on the greedy, but he hasn't made any efforts to help the people as well so.
Gridania: Gridania isn't bad, but there's nothing really special about it for Ikar. The people are pretty distant to outsiders, and Ikar really doesn't understand much of their rituals with the elementals either. He doesn't think it's too wise of a set up to be following these invisible elementals orders if only a few can even hear them, but who is he to criticize how Gridania has been run for such a long time already. It works for them, so it doesn't really matter to him.
Beastmen: Ikar is definitely interested in the beastmen, though he primarily knows about Qiqirn and Goblins. He spent a good deal of his free time when he was younger hanging around and learning about their cultures since luckily Limsa is pretty lax on the friendlier beastmen being allowed in the city. It doesn't come up as much anymore, but when he was younger he could easily slip into the verbal ticks (shinies, clink-clink, odd goblin words) when conversing with them. He knows a little about the Mamool Ja as well, but for the most part he's was always a bit too intimidated to strike up conversations with them.
As for the more hostile of the beastmen races, while Ikar would love to get to know about their cultures as well he doesn't feel it is a safe time to delve into that with how the city-states are at odds with most of them. Through Goblin and Qiqirn traders he has managed to meet and have dealings with the other beastmen on friendlier terms, but the meetings were never long and it was always all business for the most part. He believes behind most of the religious fanaticism with the beastmen's primal worship that they could get along with the other races. He doesn't share this opinion with many though.
Random last tidbit to throw in here: Ikar does actively study the Amalj'aa language as it is something you can study in Ul'dah and not really be seen as something too odd. He's been studying for about 4 years now. He wouldn't be able to speak the language well enough to save his life as he has had zero practice speaking it, but he can read written Amalj'aa pretty well.
22.) If your character could time travel, where would they go?
In the past, he'd warn himself not to drink so much around Zanou'a.
23.) Is your character superstitious?
Ikar doesn't think himself superstitious, but growing up in a small town he has unknowingly picked up on his fair share of old wives tales. Silly ones like covering mirrors during thunderstorms he wouldn't believe in, but he has a lot of fishing ones he will live by. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning." or "Fish bite least with wind from the east." True or superstitions, he's not sure. They're passed on as knowledge so he takes it as such.
24.) What might your character’s ideal romantic partner be?
He has not settled on an ideal romantic partner at this time, though he is certainly attracted by looks. He's not too picky with looks either, though he prefers dark colored hair? He likes women who are more assertive, but in being assertive they don't lose any femininity. Other than that, Ikar hasn't been with anyone to really discover what his true ideal romantic partner will be. At the moment he is too shallow and sexually frustrated to really pound out any specifics.
I know if he found someone who had similar interests to him, and also came from a sort of similar background where they could relate to each other he'd really fall for them despite if they weren't like IDEAL LOOKS. I don't think he realizes it, but he's been wanting to share his passion with someone for a long time as he hasn't had an outlet for it at all, not even in his childhood. He's just scared to share since it wasn't taken nicely by the small folk. (ie: don't mess w/ monsters, its not safe. No you can't have them as pets, leave it to marauders, adventurers, etc to get rid of them.)
25.) Describe your character’s hands. Are they small, long, calloused, smooth, stubby?
His hands are probably pretty average for length, his fingers not too stubby nor too spindly. I imagine his hands are pretty rough and calloused from lots of physical labor.
26.) Second day of favorites! Favorite comfort food, favorite vice, favorite outfit, favorite hot drink, favorite time of year, and favorite holiday.
Salt cod puffs, Salmon Meuniere? FISH and bread the end. Favorite vice? How about thinking of hot monster women while he jerks it??? His favorite outfit is that tank top and shorts get up he has. Warm apple cider for the drink, Spring-Summer, and his favorite holiday probably is some sort of autumn harvest festival. I'm not sure if Eorzea even has those, but I imagine there is probably some sort of ritual to Nophica to celebrate the good harvest.
27.) Pick two songs that describe your character at two different points of their life, and explain why you chose them.
UH... I will have to come back to this, in the meantime listen to the songs I play while I fish on Ikar?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeaynS_80ME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICxYi3O_SHc
28.) If your character’s life was a genre, what would it be?
Comedy. (Z says it would be a harem anime)
29.) How does your character smell? Do they wear perfume or cologne?
Generally I'd say he smells faintly of the ocean. A sort of briney salty smell I imagine Limsa Lominsa's wind smells like. Some days he may smell more fishy, say if he was down at the fisherman's guild most the day or out fishing himself. He does not smell good after a whole day of fishing for sure. Snips his crab luckily doesn't have a fishy smell to him (unless he's about to molt) so that doesn't add to Ikar's smell. Ikar isn't one to wear cologne.
30.) How does your character feel about magic?
Magic is such an everyday thing to him he really doesn't even think about it anymore. He can't cast any magic himself; both because he doesn't know how, doesn't think he can learn and I don't think he has any aptitude for it. Still it's practically an every day norm for eorzea to have magic. Maybe he's working with an Arcanist today, perhaps a Conjurer. He doesn't know the difference! It's all healing magic to him and it's great! Some people throw fireballs, sweet it kills things faster just please don't burn him in the process! Etc etc.
31.) How did the calamity affect their life?
It scared the bejesus out of him! No wait I mean, while he was getting comfy just staying around Limsa he didn't have much want to go further than that before. He hadn't even thought anything like the calamity even possible, at least not in his life time so it certainly did shake him up. There was so much more he wanted to do with his life that he almost was not able to do, and it was was the push he needed to go out in the world and really start on his research instead of keeping it a hobby.
There was actually a lot more he had to do before he could just say oh man that was almost the end of everything we knew, see ya Limsa! But he did leave when the opportunity came up.
32.) And finally: Write a letter to your character, from yourself.
Dear Ikar,
Face the facts, you are a super nerd. Also you're not a kid from a dumb little town anymore. You're a weirdo working in a house full of other weirdos. I promise most will only judge you a little for your hobbies, but otherwise I don't think they'll care you want to amass an army of critters to fight with you.
Ikar for the most part has a good relationship with his parents. Out of both his parents though he is far more attached to his mother. That isn't to say he dislikes his father, it was simply a matter of his mother being around more since his dad was often out at sea. He respects his father for what he does though and it was through him Ikar found a passion for fishing.
His family wasn't very well off money wise however, so Ikar wasn't spoiled by any monetary bought means. He enjoyed going down to the pier with his mother to meet his father as he returned, and to marvel at all the fish he had brought back. Afterwards he'd help his mother cook up the feast for the night. It was a simple life, but Ikar enjoyed it none the less. While money was sometimes an issue there was always enough food on the table because of his father or himself.
Currently Ikar's relationship with his parents is minimal at best, he still loves them but he disagrees with what they'd like him to do with his life. They'd like nothing more than for him to come home and settle down with a nice girl. He avoids going home just for this reason and to avoid any talks about if he's found a nice lady friend yet. He makes sure to send a good portion of whatever money he makes back home though, and has been doing so since he was around 14 when he first went to Limsa.
2.) What are your characters most prominent physical features?
I'd say Ikar's most prominent physical features would be his short stature and his boyish looks. He is often mistaken for being younger than he is. While its not always a bad thing to be seen as young, it has led Ikar to some problems looking for work with leves when they doubt his experience and think him to be fledgling adventurer.
3.) Name one scar your character has, and tell us where it came from. If they don’t have any, is there a reason?
Ikar has a scar across the bridge of his nose. The scar itself is not very long, and it doesn't look like it was done by a blade. He actually got the scar when he was around 15 or so, whilst poking around a small gathering of crabs. They were non aggressive so he figured he'd be fine, but he spooked a younger one by putting his face too close to it and he got his nose pinched something fierce. If asked about where he got the scar he will bullshit and say he got it in some sort of fight instead of saying Snips got his nose when he was younger.
He has various other scars over his body, some light nicks from blades, others are gashes from some manner of beast. If the scar came from a blade its safe to say he got that whilst sparring training to be a marauder or perhaps during hired work he had did where there wasn't an adequate healer as well. If the scar was from a beast then you can say with 99% certainty he got the scar from doing fieldwork for his journal and only healing himself with questionable potions.
4.) How vain is your character? Do they find themselves attractive?
Overall Ikar isn't very vain. He is very proud of his hair however and strives to keep it how he likes it to look. He typically doesn't leave his room in the morning before doing his hair for sure. In terms of thinking highly of himself or his abilities, he knows he's capable but he doesn't think he's anything astounding.
He does find himself attractive. While he wouldn't date a clone of himself because wow no homo, he thinks girls would find his appearance attractive.
5.) What’s your character’s ranking on the Kinsey Scale?
Virtual test wise he ranked a 0, but I'd put him at a 1 for certain incidents in his life.
6.) Describe your character’s happiest memory.
Some of his happiest memories would be when he was a kid on those days when his dad would come home from being out at sea. I don't have a specific night, but just the times helping his parents bring home his father's catches and then all of them preparing dinner together.
Otherwise perhaps when he first arrived at Limsa, completely stunned at just how big the city-state was and how many people there were in it. It was a flood of new exciting things he hadn't seen before coming from his small hick town.
7.) Is there one event or happening your character would like to erase from their past? Why?
Getting drunk at one of Zanou'a's parties for the Free Company and subsequently having sex with Zanou'a. The actual memory of the event is pretty hazy for him thankfully, but he is painfully aware of what he said during thanks to Zanou'a reminding him. As for why, why wouldn't he want to erase such a terrible mistake that happened.
1. He fucked a dude.
2. Said dude knows Ikar gets boners thinking about Garuda.
8.) Day of Favorites! What’s your character’s favorite ice cream flavor? Color? Song? Flower?
Vanilla? Perhaps Butter Pecan or Sea salt. He's not big on sweets. His favorite colors is a tie between rust red, mud green or olive green. His favorite song is probably some sailor/fisherman song he heard as a kid. La Noscean Lilybell for the flower? Idk.
9.) Who does your character trust?
Khamu'wo is the first to come to mind. Ikar doesn't trust him with real personal stuff, but he is that way with everyone for the most part. Still Khamu'wo has done Ikar some real favors even if some of them were in part because the blue haired cat doesn't like their leader. It works out because Khamu'wo is vaguely like a safety shield to keep Zanou'a away, and thats good enough for Ikar.
Other than that he does trust other members of the Free Company. It's nothing deep, but he trusts if he went out on a mission with them they wouldn't die because the other members of the party are capable.
10.) Can you define a turning point in your character’s life? Multiples are acceptable.
1. The first turning point in Ikar's life would be when he left home at 14 to become a marauder. He was too young then to do any real combat stuff besides training around the guild, but he felt like he could really go out and live his life away from his little home town.
2. The Calamity would be the next turning point, as it was what pushed him to travel beyond Vvlbrand. He was curious about the effects of the Calamity on the other city-states and more importantly the wildlife.
3. R'iordan saving his life after he was captured by Amalj'aa. R'iordan was the one who first suggested joining a Free Company to Ikar. If he hadn't just foolishly been captured by the beastmen and thought himself dead, Ikar probably wouldn't have taken the Seeker up on his offer. It opened his eyes more to ~working with others~!
4. AND FINALLY, the last turning point so far would be fucking Zanou'a. His life went to shit after that.
11.) Is there an animal you equate with your character?
I like to joke about monkeys with Ikar because I tend to draw him with bigger ears. If we're talking about symbolism and the like though, perhaps a bull? Ikar is pretty bull-headed.
12.) How does your character feel about magitek? Or even the garleans in general.
He prefers the term ~*~forgekin~*~ tyvm. In all seriousness though magitek is like a foreign language to him. He understands very little of it and he's feels it's unnatural. He doesn't hate it though, he just thinks it should be left to the experts.
As for the Garleans as people he can respect what their culture did considering they don't have any talents for magic. He doesn't know how to use magic himself besides like teleporting so he finds the fact that they've come so far very impressive. However when it comes to their need for conquest and from what he's heard very military society he's disgusted. He feels there is no freedom and then the fact they impose that very same belief on the places they've subjugate is terrible.
13.) What does your character’s bed look like when he/she wakes up? Are the covers off on one side of the bed, are they all curled around a pillow, sprawled everywhere? In what position might they sleep?
Most the time when he wakes up, he only has half the blankets on him as he kicked most of them off in his sleep from being too hot. When he sleeps he mainly sleeps on his back, but he sometimes does hug a pillow to his chest while he sleeps.
14.) How does your character react to temperature changes such as extreme heat and cold?
Being from the island of Vvlbrand, Ikar is used to generally warmer temperatures. He can get overheated if it gets too hot of course, but he can manage through it by simply wearing less clothes. He absolutely doesn't do well in the cold however and avoids going to areas such as Coerthas if he can help it. If he has to go for some reason or another he makes sure to bundle up and does everything he can to hopefully make the trip shorter.
15.) Is your character an early morning bird or a night owl (by their own race's perspective)?
Ikar is an early morning bird, a habit he formed as a kid. It also helps when most of the community is also up at wee hours in the morning starting farm work or heading down to the pier for the day. You couldn't afford to sleep in if literally everyone else was up, you'd be seen as lazy or unhelpful.
Generally Ikar is up around 4-5am and he goes to sleep 8-9pm.
16.) Are there any blood relatives that your character is particularly close with, besides the immediate ones? Cousins, Uncles, Grandfathers, Aunts, et cetera. Are there any others that your character practically considers a blood relative?
I'm sure he has a few aunts and uncles close by, either in his hometown or in another small La Noscean town. He wouldn't be particularly close to them though as his family isn't one for big get togethers with the whole clan or anything. Maybe for a few holidays they get together. As for grandparents they've either already died or don't live close enough. Either way he doesn't know much about them besides stories from his parents.
17.) What’s your character’s desk/workspace look like? Are they neat or messy?
He is very messy with his work. His desk is always covered in different sorts of things, papers, books, maps, scrolls, etc. Could be completely separate things in terms of topics and when he's looking for a certain thing he always has to go sifting through the stuff on his desk to find it.
Even in his research journal (which he thankfully always keeps on him not to lose it) is messy in how it's written. Monsters are kept around their same family and genus thanks to his notes using the same formula as the Raimdelle Codex, but his notes and drawings are haphazardly added to the journal. It's a pretty messy read if anyone were to see it. Good information, but all over the place.
18.) Is your character a good cook? What’s their favorite recipe, whether they’re good or not? (Microwave mac-and-cheese applies.)
Ikar is somewhat of a good cook! He learned a lot from his mother when he was younger, and as he's aged he's picked up some tips from both the Fishing guild and generally speaking to people who work at the Culinarian guild.
He mainly knows how to cook fish; he could probably make some good scrambled eggs as well.
19.) What’s your character’s preferred means of travel?
Teleporting, riding a chocobo, or riding airships. Walking is also an option. Really he doesn't have a preferred, he uses whatever is needed for the moment. Gotta be somewhere fast? Better teleport! Leisure trip? Why not ride an airship! That's fun.
20.) Does your character have any irrational fears?
He has an irrational fear of seedkin, particularly ochus. His fear has since extended to the whole family of monsters (yes even mandragoras) in varying degrees of fear. He was almost killed by an ochu on a fishing trip with his father when he was younger, which was the start of his fear.
21.) How does your character feel about other races, beastmen, or even the other city-states?
Hyur: Ikar has a bias towards his own race, who is surprised? Not me. In terms of midlanders he personally hasn't met like many out right scum bags (possibly since Ikar isn't very social) and so he generally assumes the best about any midlanders he meets.
He is so not about the highlanders though, while he's not outright rude to any that he meets, he finds most fit the stereotype of being huge brutes with low intelligence. Also while he's too chicken shit to actually say it himself, he finds the racial insults ("Your mother was a Sea Wolf!") to be pretty fitting for them.
Miqo'te: He absolutely doesn't understand a thing about these strange little cats. They're exotic, their women are strange and don't get him started on odd cat rituals. He liked them better as the occasional conversation partner around Limsa compared to daily living with them in cat frat house. That's really only because he's getting more questions about them that he didn't even know he had.
Also he is vaguely aware that there is a difference between keepers and seekers, but he personally has never bothered asking what it is. His current impression of all cats is they have huge families and fuck a lot. He has a page or two in his journal dedicated to all he's learned in cat frat house, it is full of misinformation and assumptions based on Free Company members.
Elezen: Snooty assholes!! Ikar hasn't had many good impressions of Elezens and even a few good encounters have been offset by Ikar perceiving some sort of tone or attitude they may or may not have actually been giving off. He's generally more prickly around Elezen because he feels they're being assholes and he's partially intimidated by their height.
Like the Miqo'te, Ikar is only vague aware of the differences between Wildwood and Duskwight Elezen. He knows the Duskwight Elezen are discriminated against, but he's not sure the specifics of why. Either way he has trouble telling the two apart.
Roegadyn: Very boisterous and hard working men and women, his opinion on Roegadyn is pretty good honestly. He's grown up around them for most his life and he knows they're good people. Giant sometimes very intense looking people, but good. He has met some questionable ones in the marauders guild, but considering the type of people most marauders are... he doesn't hold it against them.
He knows the difference between the two sub races here! If he has a hard time pronouncing and writing their name, they are a sea wolf. If he has no time at all with their name, they are a hellsguard. Also the red and blue skin tones matching sea and hell help. His opinion on Roegadyn doesn't change regardless though.
Lalafell: He's impressed with Lalafell as a race, for being such small people they certainly have a way with making a name for themselves. Ul'dah is a testament to that. He does believe their success has lead a lot of their race to be too greedy though. Other than stereotypes that they're good with money, Ikar is pretty neutral to them.
He applies the stereotype with money to both Dunesfolk and Plainsfolk, but thats about it. He does notice there seems to be a lot more Dunesfolk around, and sometimes wonder if Plainsfolk make a more tantalizing treat to monsters because of it. Maybe the soulless eyes of the Dunesfolk is their way to scare predators off??
Limsa: Ikar is very fond of Limsa. It's practically his home away from home, as it certainly has been for a good chunk of life. There is a freedom to Limsa that he feels the other city-states are missing. Maybe its something to do with the pirates?? The way Merlwyb runs things? He's not sure the exacts, but he is very comfortable when he's in the city. If he's not busy for the Free Company, or out in the wilderness with his research, you can probably find him in Limsa.
Ul'dah: The city really lives up to its name as the jewel of the desert, a fact Ikar is honestly impressed with. He feels that if you're ever in the market for something special, Ul'dah would be the place to start your search. There are many greedy Lalafells, you never know what they might have stowed away in their warehouses. The city is not without it's flaws however, everyone always seems to be so focused on making money that they don't tend to those who really need help. He feels bad for the people left out by Ul'dah society and blames it on the greedy, but he hasn't made any efforts to help the people as well so.
Gridania: Gridania isn't bad, but there's nothing really special about it for Ikar. The people are pretty distant to outsiders, and Ikar really doesn't understand much of their rituals with the elementals either. He doesn't think it's too wise of a set up to be following these invisible elementals orders if only a few can even hear them, but who is he to criticize how Gridania has been run for such a long time already. It works for them, so it doesn't really matter to him.
Beastmen: Ikar is definitely interested in the beastmen, though he primarily knows about Qiqirn and Goblins. He spent a good deal of his free time when he was younger hanging around and learning about their cultures since luckily Limsa is pretty lax on the friendlier beastmen being allowed in the city. It doesn't come up as much anymore, but when he was younger he could easily slip into the verbal ticks (shinies, clink-clink, odd goblin words) when conversing with them. He knows a little about the Mamool Ja as well, but for the most part he's was always a bit too intimidated to strike up conversations with them.
As for the more hostile of the beastmen races, while Ikar would love to get to know about their cultures as well he doesn't feel it is a safe time to delve into that with how the city-states are at odds with most of them. Through Goblin and Qiqirn traders he has managed to meet and have dealings with the other beastmen on friendlier terms, but the meetings were never long and it was always all business for the most part. He believes behind most of the religious fanaticism with the beastmen's primal worship that they could get along with the other races. He doesn't share this opinion with many though.
Random last tidbit to throw in here: Ikar does actively study the Amalj'aa language as it is something you can study in Ul'dah and not really be seen as something too odd. He's been studying for about 4 years now. He wouldn't be able to speak the language well enough to save his life as he has had zero practice speaking it, but he can read written Amalj'aa pretty well.
22.) If your character could time travel, where would they go?
In the past, he'd warn himself not to drink so much around Zanou'a.
23.) Is your character superstitious?
Ikar doesn't think himself superstitious, but growing up in a small town he has unknowingly picked up on his fair share of old wives tales. Silly ones like covering mirrors during thunderstorms he wouldn't believe in, but he has a lot of fishing ones he will live by. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning." or "Fish bite least with wind from the east." True or superstitions, he's not sure. They're passed on as knowledge so he takes it as such.
24.) What might your character’s ideal romantic partner be?
He has not settled on an ideal romantic partner at this time, though he is certainly attracted by looks. He's not too picky with looks either, though he prefers dark colored hair? He likes women who are more assertive, but in being assertive they don't lose any femininity. Other than that, Ikar hasn't been with anyone to really discover what his true ideal romantic partner will be. At the moment he is too shallow and sexually frustrated to really pound out any specifics.
I know if he found someone who had similar interests to him, and also came from a sort of similar background where they could relate to each other he'd really fall for them despite if they weren't like IDEAL LOOKS. I don't think he realizes it, but he's been wanting to share his passion with someone for a long time as he hasn't had an outlet for it at all, not even in his childhood. He's just scared to share since it wasn't taken nicely by the small folk. (ie: don't mess w/ monsters, its not safe. No you can't have them as pets, leave it to marauders, adventurers, etc to get rid of them.)
25.) Describe your character’s hands. Are they small, long, calloused, smooth, stubby?
His hands are probably pretty average for length, his fingers not too stubby nor too spindly. I imagine his hands are pretty rough and calloused from lots of physical labor.
26.) Second day of favorites! Favorite comfort food, favorite vice, favorite outfit, favorite hot drink, favorite time of year, and favorite holiday.
Salt cod puffs, Salmon Meuniere? FISH and bread the end. Favorite vice? How about thinking of hot monster women while he jerks it??? His favorite outfit is that tank top and shorts get up he has. Warm apple cider for the drink, Spring-Summer, and his favorite holiday probably is some sort of autumn harvest festival. I'm not sure if Eorzea even has those, but I imagine there is probably some sort of ritual to Nophica to celebrate the good harvest.
27.) Pick two songs that describe your character at two different points of their life, and explain why you chose them.
UH... I will have to come back to this, in the meantime listen to the songs I play while I fish on Ikar?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeaynS_80ME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICxYi3O_SHc
28.) If your character’s life was a genre, what would it be?
Comedy. (Z says it would be a harem anime)
29.) How does your character smell? Do they wear perfume or cologne?
Generally I'd say he smells faintly of the ocean. A sort of briney salty smell I imagine Limsa Lominsa's wind smells like. Some days he may smell more fishy, say if he was down at the fisherman's guild most the day or out fishing himself. He does not smell good after a whole day of fishing for sure. Snips his crab luckily doesn't have a fishy smell to him (unless he's about to molt) so that doesn't add to Ikar's smell. Ikar isn't one to wear cologne.
30.) How does your character feel about magic?
Magic is such an everyday thing to him he really doesn't even think about it anymore. He can't cast any magic himself; both because he doesn't know how, doesn't think he can learn and I don't think he has any aptitude for it. Still it's practically an every day norm for eorzea to have magic. Maybe he's working with an Arcanist today, perhaps a Conjurer. He doesn't know the difference! It's all healing magic to him and it's great! Some people throw fireballs, sweet it kills things faster just please don't burn him in the process! Etc etc.
31.) How did the calamity affect their life?
It scared the bejesus out of him! No wait I mean, while he was getting comfy just staying around Limsa he didn't have much want to go further than that before. He hadn't even thought anything like the calamity even possible, at least not in his life time so it certainly did shake him up. There was so much more he wanted to do with his life that he almost was not able to do, and it was was the push he needed to go out in the world and really start on his research instead of keeping it a hobby.
There was actually a lot more he had to do before he could just say oh man that was almost the end of everything we knew, see ya Limsa! But he did leave when the opportunity came up.
32.) And finally: Write a letter to your character, from yourself.
Dear Ikar,
Face the facts, you are a super nerd. Also you're not a kid from a dumb little town anymore. You're a weirdo working in a house full of other weirdos. I promise most will only judge you a little for your hobbies, but otherwise I don't think they'll care you want to amass an army of critters to fight with you.