@ liminal stasis
— between full of life and on the cusp of death
— moving forward but stuck in place
AT A GLANCE
Full Name: Joris Jurgen
Pronouns: He/Him
Species: Dragon-touched human
Birthday: Equivalent to December 31
Height: 2'09"/83.8cm
Age: 810Retired ambassador turned multiverse wanderer.Canon-divergent timeskip AU of Dofus/Wakfu's Joris Jurgen. Nothing beyond Wakfu Season 4 applies to this timeline, and ~200 years have passed relative to it. Some lore details have been assumed or altered to match the overall narrative goal.Exploring themes of unnatural longevity, all the unprocessed baggage that comes with it, and learning to overcome it. To no longer run from grief before even being given a reason to grieve, to trust in the present, to have lost everything but allow oneself to form connections again.Knowledge of the series isn't really necessary to interact with him, though some of his posts, and backstory section here, are likely to reference aspects of the world he comes from.
THE STORY
HISTORY
Born on the equivalent of a leap day in the year 390 to some of the most powerful Huppermages at the time. Circumstances saw to it that his infant body became the temporary host of a Black Dragon's soul, permanently altering his appearance and growth. In short order, he was left in the care of Kerubim, a retired Ecaflip demigod adventurer.For ten years they were as happy as circumstances allowed, content to live in a Shushu-possessed house named Luis. From it, Kerubim dealt in trinkets and artifacts, often imparting stories related to each item to his adoptive son and their basically-family housemaid.The return of Joris's mother, previously assumed to have been dead, resulted in a series of unspeakable events including but not limited to witnessing the deaths of roughly a thousand people, in addition to the loss of those he was closest with and newly-met family. Though some of these losses were temporary in the end, it left him with a complicated relationship with death.Not helping these matters was the fact that his adoptive father, Kerubim, and adoptive uncle, Atcham, demigods both, had been almost immediately reincarnated and left in his care to be raised from kittens. While this initially created a bizarre and confusing dynamic, over the course of their next few reincarnations spanning a few hundred years each, the uncomfortable dynamic would gradually erode, leaving the cats seeing him only as their father, rather than some small part still their adopted son/nephew.Recognized for his wisdom from a long life of experience and tendency to insert his business into world events anyway, Joris was eventually granted the title of ambassador to one of the world's largest kingdoms, Bonta, which he served for centuries. Even on his own terms, he would frequently offer his assistance on less official matters.
DIVERGENT HISTORY
In the year 995, the events of Wakfu Season 4 draw to a close.Years pass, and along with them the death after death after death of old heroes and acquaintances tragically and yet mercifully lucky enough not to be immortals. He attends the first lost's funeral, and wishes he hadn't. It's a brutal reminder of his own first permanent losses. He leaves early.Too much has changed. He hasn't been keeping up as much anymore. He attends the Sadida Queen's funeral; the last in line of those he knew personally. The crowning of the new heir is nothing to celebrate. He doesn't know them, and they don't know him. He leaves early.By 1077, the World of Twelve is the most peaceful he has ever known it. He stays just long enough to know this is it, and finally puts in his notice of retirement. The world has no need for the one who has time and time again been outclassed by its more respected heroes.Some 30 years later, having reached the near-end of their nine lives, the cats pass for the last time. Kerubim has no lives left. Atcham has one. Atcham will not be reincarnated alone.Desperate to not let Kerubim go, God Ecaflip extends the offer of one more bonus life for his favorite son. Joris declines; let them rest, let them avoid the fate he has suffered over and over again. He, too, is tired. The god acquiesces and wipes Atcham's final life light off his temple statue.The house is so quiet now. Luis notices, too.In 1197, Joris claimed to be ready. He knew it was coming; experience taught him well. He swept, kept things in relative order, pulled a few trinkets out in advance, all in preparation.And then one day Luis never woke up.He cannot rifle through what to him feels like a corpse. Whatever remains in this skeleton of a house is left behind. Joris leaves, and does not return to this Bontarian street again.
PRESENT
The year is 1200. The Bazaar is three years abandoned, a large majority of its items gone; either stolen before they could be sorted by who he paid to handle cleanup and redistribution on his behalf, or simply sold after.On the move ever since, occasionally he follows leads relating to some of these more powerful items rumored to be misused. Others he tracks down for the sole purpose of reclaiming, having failed to secure these sentimental things prior to fleeing the "corpse" of his last remaining family member.Only recently granted the ability to travel the multiverse, the rest of his story has barely begun, and several arcs are already planned.
CHARACTER DETAILS
PERSONALITY
A hard-to-read mixture of sincere and unapproachably distant, by design. Joris has carefully crafted his public image to be that of a knowledgeable and respectable individual, in direct opposition of those who would view him as a child or monster due to his appearance and background. He often subconsciously assumes the posture of folding his arms behind his back to make his silhouette less childish and better convey his maturity.Though not coldly blunt, he approaches delicate matters with a realistic firmness, often drawing from past experiences both firsthand and observed. Never one to show his heart much, any extended advice that does come from personal experience is usually presented in such a way it isn’t obviously traceable to him.Slow to warm up to others due to the losses he’s suffered in his long life, nearly everyone is held at emotional arm’s length for as long as he can manage it. To avoid the pain of loss, he avoids making genuine connections altogether, attempting to keep new acquaintances as only that or business associates. Usually, he succeeds. On rare occasions, he makes exceptions, though on the off-chance they aren’t intentional, he will fight with himself for months about the consequences it will inevitably have. This sometimes leads to ghosting the other person in the hopes his fondness for them dims, or that they cut ties with him instead. One less funeral to attend, one less grave to mourn.At his core, affected by a difficult history experienced both first and secondhand, the hardships of unnatural longevity, and dehumanizing treatment he’s suffered over the years, he views himself as a nosy, self-driven, deceptive beast. Rather than deny it, he simply accepts it, while denying the acceptance is rooted in a faulty sense of self worth.His confirmation bias of himself and ego are at constant odds with each other: most (but not all) kindness he chooses to extend is for his own benefit in some way and he knows this, though it cannot be denied he has a strong sense of justice. Though he struggles to care about others’ troubled histories or petty plights, years of diplomatic experience has equipped him well to navigate social interactions with empathy. Though he has a distinct lack of concern for what becomes of someone after matters with them are through, he is often first among those willing to lend a hand when an active threat presents itself.To himself, he is both the worst and most competent person in any given room. Ultimately, what others only ever see of him is his seemingly benign if somewhat elusive nature, and he intends to keep it that way.
TRIVIA
A. Joris carries with him a minor Shushu-possessed pocket compass, named Rutîn. The Shushu is kept in a custom leather satchel on a chain worn as a necklace beneath Joris's hood clasps/shirt, and is therefore usually out of sight. After spending upwards of three years together, Rutîn has since grown to respect him, and is for the most part docile. The two are on friendly terms, enough that Joris commonly refers to him as "Ru".The Shushu is largely responsible for why Joris travels so much, as early on, visiting sights that interested Rutîn was the easiest way to keep him placated (which Joris happily used as an excuse to keep himself distracted from his recent losses). In him, Joris sees something of a mini-Luis, which in no small part contributes to how the two have established such a rapport.B. Joris’s posts are auto-translated from French by his device. Said device was a gift, is inherently a product of the multiverse, and is solar-powered. By all accounts, it's just a multiverse-attuned cellphone. Due to his size, it includes a popsocket for him to better be able to hold it.C. He owns a tech bracelet that allows him to open dimension gates to other worlds. It has strict limitations, such as requiring a photo still containing locational metadata, in order to actually be capable of bringing him there (i.e., he is unable to simply download any picture off the internet and use it to port there. The ability stays balanced by working only with photos he himself takes, or which have not been passed through a third-party like a website). It connects to an app that allows him to compile these photos and locations, which grants him permanent access to them. This, too, was a gift.D. The antennae protruding from his hood aren't oddly-placed drawstrings, they are literal antennae-like tufts in this canon. Though mobile, he has long since trained himself to keep them as still as possible in order to avoid giving others more reasons to dehumanize and infantilize him than they already do. The antennae still move a bit to complement his expressions when he’s caught off guard, especially emotional/exhausted, or at ease with trusted company in private.E. Due to having raised Kerubim and Atcham several times from kittenhood, he has a soft spot for small children and cats both, and is skilled at handling either. In addition, largely in reference to Atcham’s chronic poor health in his younger stages, Joris has a tendency to treat those with similar afflictions a bit more gently by force of habit. This is not intentional.
SKILLS & WEAKNESSES
A. Incredibly fast and observant. Not much escapes his notice, and he can make snap decisions as quickly as he’s able to execute solutions. This lends to his ability to lead others effectively, seeing him often and naturally fall into the role when under chaotic high-stress situations. Despite this, his reaction time tends to slow dramatically after performing hits or combos due to the exertion it takes to literally punch up to his opponents, leaving him vulnerable to being countered or taken by surprise for a few seconds.B. Though he has an otherwise seemingly endless amount of running stamina, he’s a glass cannon, and can be easily disarmed or captured due to his size. Once overtaken like this, it can be difficult for him to regain momentum. Put him in any traditional restraints, however, and he’d likely be able to break out of them with relative ease.C. Capable of throwing what little weight of his around with impressive force by utilizing momentum from his log hammer. Some hits are backed with a small amount of magic energy (Wakfu) to make them twice as potent. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much magic at his disposal due to the corrosive (Stasis) effects of the dragon once fused to his soul, so this has to be done sparingly, and missing these powered-up hits can be the difference between a win or catastrophic defeat.D. In acknowledgement of his limited capacity for magic, he is only able to employ simple and low-demand spells, such as weak barriers or putting others to sleep. With the help of a new (dare he admit) friend, he is slowly adding more low-level spells to his arsenal, though most of these are for adventure utility rather than battle.
ACCOUNT DETAILS
This account primarily operates as though the character himself is running it as one would on regular social media. As such, I may be somewhat reluctant to engage with other formats unprompted out of respect, but rest assured if I'm following you, it means I'm interested in your character/appreciate you as an author and am open to interaction.All posts are IC unless designated otherwise by // in front of the message. [Brackets] indicate actions if our characters are in-person, or are used to describe media such as videos, and are not meant to be readable by the other character, only interpreted as described. (Parentheses) are still IC.Likes are IC unless it's on an OOC post, in which case that's just me thumbs-upping at you from afar. I may eventually unlike the post once some time has passed to keep things consistent.In general, I try to keep public OOC interactions to an absolute minimum, and prefer to follow accounts that operate similarly.DMs are assumed to be OOC and are open for plot brainstorming/questions/etc., but I'm happy to also manage IC interactions through them too if you ever prefer something to be more private.This account follows a single continuity, and only a select few of the series' main cast are extant on his timeline. Even if from the same franchise, your muse will not be treated as if they're from his timeline, and Joris will perceive them as such: a stranger, but not obliviously unfamiliar.Writer is 31. Though not NSFW, I'd prefer to keep this account 18+ due to the inherently more mature nature of its themes.Joris's opinions are not a reflection of my own. IC is strictly IC, and so on.I am not interested in pro/antiship drama. Please do not involve me in it.I am also not interested in interactions with writers who are unwilling to comprehend that Joris is an entire adult with adult values, qualities, and experiences. If you or your character are confused at first, that’s one thing and to be expected, but insisting it beyond that is inappropriate. Half his entire character hinges on this exact problem, and I implore you to consider how you may treat a person with dwarfism, even if what affects Joris is not a 1:1 equivalent.
GALLERY
Thanks for visiting!
