Folkmore application

[obeir]

★ Character Information ★

Character Name: KD6-3.7, or K.
Character Age: Chronologically less than a year old, physically and cognitively an adult.
Character Species: Replicant. That's the in-universe term for android; they can be used interchangeably.
(ETA: Of particular note is that because the term "replicant" is for all intents and purposes a brand name for Wallace Corporation androids, for K it serves as a reminder that he's a commodity, a manufactured product, a slave. The generic term "android" carries fewer negative connotations in his mind, and as such, K prefers "android" when referring to himself or being referred to. This is intentional and something characters are free to pick up on.
TL;DR: K calls himself an android in Folkmore now, not a replicant.)
Current Health: Alive. Still a bit beat up from his encounter with Sapper. Minor injuries.
Outfit: Full reference here.
His dark green laminated cotton coat with faux shearling collar (that's actually functional), a knitted long-sleeve black jumper with a black shirt underneath, sleeveless undershirt, straight cut dark brown jeans, black boxer-briefs, black tactical boots, a modified shoulder holster (based on Safariland 1090), where he carries his blaster gun. He also carries with him his badge and ID, Joi's emanator, a portable optic scanner used for identifying androids (which I believe is also K's Knowledge Integration Assistant unit), and a pair of black gloves.

Character Canon: Blade Runner.
Link to History: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the novel which was the inspiration for Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. Here's a full timeline, and K's personal history. Note that while aspects of Blade Runner have been featured in the Alien franchise and vice versa (because of Ridley Scott), they mainly constitute easter eggs. The two timelines don't line up perfectly, so they may or may not actually take place within the same universe; either way I'm not going to detail the entire history/timeline of the Alien universe since it has no bearing on K or his history.
Canon Point: After his handler, Lieutenant Joshi, visits him at his apartment. (Note: per his memory regain in December 2022, he now knows the full events of his canon, though he has yet to physically experience them.)
Canon Iteration: Original canon.
Canon Iteration Explanation: N/A. This is original flavour K.

ETA: As of December 2022 per an approved update, K has started to regain some of his memories of Deerington and Deer Country (in particular his friendship with Manabu Yuuki), as well as his Coldblood abilities: he's now able to innately manifest fire, ice, and lightning, in addition to not being affected by extreme heat/cold. For more details, refer to Medical Information in my Folkmore Permissions. As far as characterisation and my planned arc for K are concerned, this memory regain is intended to supplement his development in Folkmore, not overwrite it. So he is still gradually working toward personhood and autonomy, he just now has a stronger foundation from which to start.

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills: Pretty much what you'd expect an android programmed for law enforcement and investigation to be good at. He's proficient in multiple forms of armed and unarmed combat, has keen observational skills, strong deductive reasoning, high intelligence, and perfect recall. He can interface with other technology. He's very self-sufficient by design and has a broad general knowledge courtesy of his programming. Replicant intelligence is said to be equal to that of the scientists who created them — he learns at a greatly accelerated rate (moreover, he enjoys learning) and is shown to understand every spoken/written language he encounters, so was presumably programmed to already know quite a few. Unsurprising, given the broad linguistic landscape of the version of Los Angeles he's from.

Canon Abilities: As a Nexus-9 android optimised for combat and law enforcement, this means many of his physical abilities are essentially at a superhuman level. His strength, reflexes, agility, endurance, resilience, combat expertise, marksmanship, and eyesight are all enhanced. He's also capable of seeing in the dark unassisted.

He heals faster and with fewer complications than a human would. He can withstand considerably more damage than a human (such as being impaled by rebar then beaten almost to death by another Nexus-9 and being on his feet again within days), and any scarring eventually heals completely. He's immune to illness and disease and won't develop infections. He can survive much harsher conditions than the average human, such as the fallout from a dirty bomb and deep space without protective gear, without suffering ill effects. But he can still die from enough direct damage or blood loss. Replicants are biorobotic androids – not human, but not fully robotic either.

He's subject to the laws of robotics as they exist in his canon, meaning he can't intentionally harm humans except in cases where his orders supersede the preservation of human life. But his obedience functions a bit differently from what's stated by the laws — he will only feel fully compelled to obey orders issued by those he recognises as his superior officers/handlers/owners. He isn't able to directly disobey them, though he can get "creative" in how he carries out their orders when needed.

As already noted above, he also now possesses his Coldblood abilities from Deer Country: he's able to innately manifest fire, ice, and lightning, in addition to not being affected by extreme heat/cold.
Role: Familiar.
Role Qualities/Attributes: He's going to manifest/retain various animal features even in humanoid form. These may vary from shift to shift since it's something he won't have full control over, but as he masters his shapeshifting abilities that may change. The features in question will vary, since he doesn't (yet?) have one set animal form. I'm borrowing some inspiration from the dæmons of His Dark Materials, where the dæmons of children are able to take any form until reaching maturity — and K's still very much in the "infancy" of his development. With the character arc I have planned for him and how much he's likely to change and grow throughout it, this feels appropriate for him. (Provided it's okay to interpret the Familiar role this way!)
Role Reasoning: Considering the role that androids serve in the Blade Runner universe, I feel he's well suited for the Familiar role and that it will enable him to achieve his greatest potential compared to the others, because it will afford him more of a choice in what he decides to do with himself. The ability to choose is integral to developing personhood. Per the description, not having clear-cut morals, preferring to keep one's head down, and understanding morals can be nuanced all definitely apply to him. Of course, depending on his character development in the game, I can also see his role changing to reflect that. But starting out, Familiar seems best. I'm also very interested in him forming a bond with a Legend or Myth character (or with a Familiar if he becomes a Legend or Myth himself) and getting to explore the associated mechanics together; it would perfectly tie into his planned character arc.

★ Personality ★

Please choose one of the follow options for your personality section. Please clarify which option you have picked and, if option 2, which questions you are answering:

Option 1. Summarize your character's personality in general and what their full potential would look like to them and what they would be willing to go through to meet that potential and what gaining that potential would mean to them. 400-800 word requirement.

I chose option 1. But I'm interested in answering the second option's questions just for fun, so I'll keep those at the end of the app for my own reference.

Outwardly K appears stoic and unemotive, behaving almost robotically, if you will. He isn't especially reactive in general and is able to maintain a sense of equanimity and single-minded focus even during tense situations, acting decisively. A prime example of this is shown in canon: when his aircraft is in the process of crashing, he doesn't panic or give into fear, but calmly prepares the aircraft and himself for the impact. This demeanour is arguably as much the result of his programming as it is his personality. In his case, they may be one and the same.

The societally accepted treatment of replicants is characterised by violence, degradation, depersonalisation, and enslavement, treatment which even K's human co-workers within the Los Angeles Police Department subject him to. So constant is this abuse that despite having only been alive for a few months, K has already grown inured to it and endures it without complaint, while the stranglehold of his programming strictly inhibits retaliation. He accepts it as simply being what life is for a replicant and knows that trying to buck the status quo can and often does lead to even more severe consequences. Humans despise him for being a replicant, while other replicants ostracise him for being a blade runner — a specialised officer tasked with hunting down rogue replicants — the duty for which he was designed. In this world he's an outcast even amongst outcasts, with his worth being wholly measured by how he can be used and what can be taken from him.

His sole source of companionship is provided by his holographic companion AI, Joi, whom he's shown to be emotionally attached to; she's the only individual he ever expresses his feelings to or confides in. Though they're unable to physically interact, he enjoys many of the trappings of a typical romantic relationship with her, while being aware of the fact she's bound by her programming and isn't capable of having genuine feelings for him. But, then, he isn't sure he's even capable of genuine emotions himself, and as he tells her: she's real to him. That's enough. Joi's appearance and voice are customisable to suit the preferences of her user, but as one of the advertisements for her model reveals, K's Joi remains in her default state, indicating his lack of preferences. It's a small detail, but very telling. K is just as much a product and commodity as she is, likewise limited by the constraints of his programming. But in spite of everything, he approaches Joi as a real person and encourages her to consider her own preferences and desires and motivations rather than existing to be a reflection of his; he attempts to provide her with a type of freedom that he's unlikely to ever have himself.

While his devotion to Joi is by choice, his inherent loyalty and absolute obedience to his superior officer and owner within the LAPD, Lieutenant Joshi, are the result of his programming. He's incapable of lying to her for the same reason. They share a cordially professional relationship and at times she seems almost fond of him, to the point where on at least one occasion she subtly propositions him. Though she'd be fully within her rights simply ordering him to accept her advances, she doesn't, and accepts his answer when he rebuffs her — but with an attitude that suggests she isn't pleased about her property rejecting her. It's noteworthy as being one of the few (possibly only) times K's been allowed anything approaching a choice in his interactions with humans.

His concept of morality and what constitutes "right" and "wrong" is somewhat rudimentary due to his being an android designed for obedience. It just doesn't occur to him to question why he's ordered to do what he does, because he's been designed that way; his own wants and feelings are irrelevant. But he doesn't relish the duty he's forced to carry out, that of hunting down and killing his own kind — though he doesn't actually consider these earlier models his own kind, a distinction that only really exists to enable him to fulfill his duties without incurring cognitive dissonance or mental instability. The act of killing other replicants isn't even referred to by that term, but by the more palatable "retirement", coined by humans. Because they aren't viewed or legally recognised as people, they're merely tools made to serve humanity and meant to be disposed of at their discretion. Displaying any indication that they may be developing free will is a virtually guaranteed death sentence and K himself regularly undergoes mandatory testing to ensure he's operating as intended. This is all such a fundamental doctrine of the world K's from that he doesn't believe he's a person, either, and it influences his limited spiritual beliefs — that only humans are capable of possessing souls ("to be born is to have a soul, I guess"), not replicants.

His greatest insecurity is without a doubt the fact he's an artificially created being with false memory implants that leave him uncertain whether even his emotional responses are real, or if they're just a product of his programming like everything else about him. He's only recently been discovering his own preferences: he helps himself to an alcoholic drink after a rough day at work (despite alcohol having no effect on replicants), appreciates old jazz music, and likes reading, especially to Joi; Pale Fire is his favourite book. He enjoys dancing, poetry, things that seem incongruous with what he was designed to be, to do — and thus potentially dangerous. And yet his ability to even have preferences is significant to him, making him feel a little more like an actual person, even if only within the privacy of his own mind.

Based on the themes of the Blade Runner canon, K's story within it, and what I would be most interested in exploring as his player, K's full potential will be achieving personhood and everything that will entail for him. Free will and autonomy. Learning how to actually be a person. Having connections with other people that are by choice, not based on his programming to serve them. Developing more preferences, discovering the world, learning hobbies, exploring his emotional capacity, just growing as a person. He ultimately sacrifices his life in canon to achieve this, so it's probably safe to say he would endure virtually anything if it helps facilitate this goal.

★ Player Information ★

Player Name: Moz.
Pronouns: They/them.
Are you over 18?: Yes.
Contact(s): velthrir, PM.
Who Invited You?: brainmeat/here.
Current Characters: N/A.
Permissions: Here.
Writing Samples: From the Folkmore TDM, highlighting how I've been playing K's Familiar-based shapeshifting:

• With Kyle Broflovski as the reluctant Big Bad Wolf
  
• With Dirk Strider as a curious unclothed (scandalous!) cat
  
• With Maleficent as a starling still learning how to fly

Though those threads haven't gotten very far yet, so some examples from a previous game. I feel these are good highlights showing K's endless curiosity, ability to kick ass when necessary, and his desire to form and deepen bonds with people by taking care of them:

• Meeting the god of technology, Technical Boy during a game event where characters were assigned assumed identities on board the Titanic; K was a nurse.
  
• Fighting orcs with Martin Blackwood and taking care of him afterward in another game event.

KD6-3.7

Everything down here is just for my own reference.

Option 2. Choose FOUR-FIVE of the following questions to answer and expand upon. You may choose a fifth question if you feel it is integral to your character's personality. Each answer has a 100-300 word requirement.

OPTION 2 QUESTIONS (PICK 4-5) 100-300 WORD LIMIT EACH:

What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them?

What experience challenged your chaaracter's core beliefs? How did they handle this or change from it?

What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?

What is a headcanon (or two) you feel strongly about and that you prefer playing your character with? How is this supported in canon and why do you think it benefits the character's story?

What is your character's moral code? Do they have one? Why or why not?

What are your characters dreams and nightmares? Do you believe they are more likely to obtain one rather than the other?

If you could give your character a Taylor Swift playlist, which songs would be on it and what would they represent about your character?

What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.

Is your character capable of forgiveness or will they hold a grudge until they die? Would anything ever make them change their mind?

If your character could change one thing about their past, what would it be and why? Or why not?

What is your character's safespace? When do they feel the most settled and comfortable? When do they feel confident and relaxed?

What would your character sacrifice to get what they want or to reach their potential? What have they sacrificed already?

What famous folklore, legend, or myth would you associate your character with? Are they literally inspired by Snow White? Do they have similar struggles or energy as Red Riding Hood?

Which Taylor Swift era is your character going through right now and why?

What is a time where your character failed drastically at something and how did it impact them, what did they do about it?