James Reaper

James Reaper
Above image drawn Hemorrhedge on Tumblr
Gender	Male
Race	Hyur
Clan	Midlander
Citizenship	Gridanian / Ul'dahn
Age	27
Name Day	23/04
Occupation	Botanist / Accountant of Nal
Free Company	Nal
Sexuality	Uncertain, likely homosexual

The Character (summary):

James Reaper is a short tempered botanist who works out of the guild in Gridania. He lives in the lavender beds in a small apartment with his partner Margret, as well as a more recent addition of a brightly coloured miqo'te. An incredibly private man, he tends to keep mostly to himself and engulfs himself in his work and research with the guild and has many patches of flowers scattered around the shroud he refuses to let other botanists harvest from.

He had seldom or never been seen outside of the house as a child, often only leaving to go run about the foliage or go to school, or to sneak off for lessons in music. Orphaned at 16 summers, he dropped out of school and had quickly taken up botany as a profession as a way to make gil and keep himself off of the streets. However, he still ended up homeless through those years of study and apprenticeship. He was glad to find that his interest in botany and the natural world he had growing up was still very much alive, and had totally engulfed himself in his studies from then to the current day.

While he lived on the streets, many in gridania - having never or rarely seen him before that time - often assumed he was just a new addition to the city state and beggar to quickly look away from and pass by.

Currently, he is a well respected and knowledgeable botanist within the guild after just over a decade of work and study, and has taken to expanding himself further by joining Nal, a company run by a wealthy lalafellen man. He works there as an accountant, and he has decided to continue to work with that company. His main source of income is botany, however the extra income and working on call with Nal has been a welcomed boost to his gil.

He fills every day with some form of work or learning, he doesn't enjoy being idle.

In his early life, he had dreams of becoming a minstrel and poet, however, those had fallen through and he had found his passion for botany and has stuck with it ever since, turning his poetry and music into a hobby instead.

OOC NOTE: Much and more has happened in his life in the past and currently, however, all of the information above is what can be gained through rumour, friends, or those around the botanists guild/gridania who had seen it all happen. Much of James' life is kept private, though the above information is free to use and know(with some digging or asking around, of course! If you need npcs or would like plot to find this info, please let me know!), deeper information must be gained by interacting with the character. There is never a guarantee that characters will get along or get further information.

Family:

He has no immediate family, and he does not talk about them. He also does not know his extended family, however, they are surely out there.

The Basics:

Name: James Reaper

Full Title: James Reaper, Botanist of Greatloam Growery

Age: 27

Home: Gridania

Current Residence: Lavender beds / Goblet

Occupation: Botanist / Company accountant with Nal

Talents/Skills (and how long he has known/practiced them): Botany(11 years), music(violin)(22 years), first aid(non magical)(22 years), training marauder/axe combat(Presently learning formally - less than a year)

Theme songs: Playlist, updated periodically!

Server: Mateus

Alignment: True Neutral

DnD Stats: str: 18 | int: 8 | wis: 12 | dex: 7 | con: 17 | cha: 10

Max strength feats(by dnd rules for ease): carry max: 270lbs, push/drag/lift: 540lbs

Blog: [Personal Tumblr Blog] xxxxx James IC tumblr blog

Art Blog: Adrien-Draws-Stuff -- Tumblr art blog

Appearance and Mannerisms:

Height: 5'6"

Race: Hyur, Midlander

Eye Color: Bottle Green

Hair Color: Black

Hair Style: Feathery and getting long enough to be wavy, two braids on the right, just down his neck in length.

Skin color: White, tanned

Distinguishing features: He is covered in scars, the most prominent is a deep, raw looking scar that circles his neck. Another, a straight, deep surgery scar down the length of his spine, and has triad numbers carved into his chest. He is fairly short, and bulky with both muscle and a layer of fat over said muscle. His build looks half between a midlander and a highlander, however he is a full blooded midlander. He has facial tattoos. He almost always has lipstick marks on his neck or jaw, or collar. He also almost always has bruises, black eyes, or fresh scratches.

How he dresses: James has two sets of clothing: one set is his work clothes, which are uniforms from the botanists guild as well as tattered clothing that he doesn't care about enough to keep from being further torn or ruined from his work. The second set is finery, various suits and dress shirts and polished, lovely shoes. He has recently been buying new clothes and armours, much of it casual and easy to wear and move in. He almost always has flowers in his hair, on his clothes, around his neck or worn in specially made earrings. He just sticks them on his clothes, along with some leaves and vines as he goes, and replaces them almost daily.

Mannerisms: He smokes, stares often, and almost seems to zone out much of the time when alone. He is not very engaging in conversation and can come off as strange. His emotional responses to things can be mildly or wildly inappropriate, or he could be completely catatonic. He doesn't speak much with his hands or with much facial expression, though when riled, scared, or angry, he tends to pace and emote more. He is not a very physically affectionate person, and isn't touchy. He tends to flinch when people he doesn't know well reach for him.

Hobbies: Music, poetry, house making/cooking, gardening.

Speech patterns: He speaks in a disinterested monotone most of the time, almost sounding annoyed with every word. He speaks shortly, usually giving one or two word answers to full questions. Even when interested or excited about things, he finds it hard to put emotion into his speech. He sometimes repeats himself over and over, or repeats other people with what they said or mumbles. He mutters a single word or short sentence a few times sometimes.

Intellectual facts:

Educational Background: Formal education(dropped out early - equivalent of grade 9 education), studied botany extensively(he is an expert in this field), currently training marauder(novice)

Intelligence Level: Average to below average. He excels in music and plant sciences, however in other areas he can struggle.

Fast Facts:

• While James isn't a first botanist, he is a boss to many in the guild and other botanists alike. He never takes on apprentices, but he does cropmaster duties sometimes and oversees those less skilled than he is.
• James keeps his own gathering log, and has been filling it in himself. (I am drawing each page of this log with pictures and written in eorzean script, if you are interested in what his journal looks like, please follow this link!! Gathering Log (chronological order, if you would like recent > past, please remove /chrono from the end of the url!)
• James' chocobo, Fleur, is a big rose pink dummy! He's playful, affectionate, goofy, and very loving. He was once a race chocobo, though James has no idea how good he was at it or how much he won or lost, eventually he was put to stable and James adopted him.
• His house is FULL of flowers and plants that he grew himself, and he's running out of space to put it all.
• He has been working as a botanist for 11 years, give or take a few months.
• He is training to be a marauder in his spare time and on days off.
• He does not have good social graces, and can come off as awkward or rude.
• Very few people he considers friends.
• James used to have the surname Rhymes, given that he had dreams of being a minstrel and poet, however, as his profession changed, most just referred to him as Reaper, as in, forest reaper or as a professional term for a botanist. As in, oh, you mean James Reaper, the botanist, not James Weaver, the cloth maker?

Artwork and commissions:

Artwork by myself below!

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  Sparklers and fancy drinks

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  A comfy boy

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  a picture of James and Kisz'a Vekharu

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  James in a bun suit.

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  You popped your STITCHES >:(

Gifts and commissions of James!:

The following drawn by Hemorrhedge on Tumblr!

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  Why'd you cut 'em off, James??

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  Bun Boi

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  James and Margret

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  "What the fuck?"

Rumours:

• (OOC note: Rumours may or may not be true! Common can be used freely, moderate can be with some asking around, rare needs to be looked into before using IC, if you're unsure, poke me and I can give you an npc they might have heard it from and we can plot! :D IC rumours at the bottom can be true or false as well, and were written by people who have interacted with James. Anyone is free to add their own rumours about him! Those are ALL free to use IC in rp!)

Common Rumours(Easy to overhear):

• Easy to lose his temper, that one. High strung.
• He's never had an apprentice, he should really get one, he knows what he's doing.
• He has a really weird way of showing affection, lots of trash talking... I can't tell if he's serious about it, though.
• He really loves flowers, we can barely convince him to go get lumber!! >:(
• Pink chocobo.....
• I think he's a little slow.
• He almost always has bruises or lipstick marks somewhere on him.
• He fucking mumbles a shit-ton!

Moderate Rumours(Moderately easy to overhear):

• He worked in the Order for a while, paying off debts or something.
• Whole family dead or something.
• He owns an amazing greenhouse, hard to get in to see it, though.
• He talks about this Margret all the time, but I've never seen him with her...

Rare Rumours(Difficult/rare to overhear):

• I hear he can be violent, he makes a lot of threats.
• He must be on drugs, I see him just watching things that aren't there.
• Heard him say bugs in his belly were broadcasting his thoughts? What...?
• He did some really heavy shit to get that much debt to the Order, wonder what.

Tarot Reading

(This is just a fun, ooc tarot reading I did with a friend for the character, and it is very accurate, fun reading, so I'm putting it here!)

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  The spread for the following write up.

Please click the read more below to read the full write up of this reading!

Show text

the knight of cups implies that James was once introverted to the extreme, constantly looking out for himself, moody, and prone to fits of emotion and unable to differentiate from his imagination (hallucinations?) and reality. the major focus being the three of wands and the minor focus being the two of wands in reverse implies that what causes a lot of his history and story is his constant striving to be more powerful and in charge of others, and this is what causes his mental issues that he struggles with.

the tower is the cold fortress we erect around our soft inner cores, and can only be destroyed by a dramatic, significant event, and ultimately humbles the person in particular by laying bare their soul and allowing them to freely be themselves without worry for bondage or chains that they put around themselves. the flowers at the bottom of the card represent that while the change (the fall from the tower) is dramatic and scary and life-changing, it's ultimately for the better. Look what you'll fall on, even if you think you will hit the ground, a soft bed of flowers awaits your fall, and helps set you up for the next step in your journey for a more honest you.

The queen of rings is the epitome of generosity and kindliness. James likely, as a result of allowing himself to simply be himself, will become someone more level-headed and honest. Less prone to fits of emotion, more down to earth and can aid others when they need him. This card represents james becoming more reliable, kind, and willing to do what must be done for the sake of others as well. It also represents being more down-to-earth and looking at this logically, rather than emotionally. (not to say it's cold logic -- it just avoids hysterics and misinterpretation). Overall, it's a very significant transformation. I feel this is represented even better by the fact that the knight of cups is suspended in the air, the tower shows being struck down from the heavens and landing on a bed of flowers, and the queen of rings standing amongst a field of barley.

it's most interesting that by letting go f the two of wands and the three of wands, (a desire for power, leadership, and command over others) that he obtained the support of others as was originally desired. it's probable that many of his issues were self inflicted, and by letting go of that, he paved the way for a more honest and sincere state of being.

the four of cups implies that that desire for power may eventually return -- and he will have to face it. not wanting to lose what he's built and gained, he'll likely retreat inward and observe himself for a while and lose himself in reverie while he tries to sort his emotions out. however, he'll lose a lot of investment in the rest of the world, and ponder if his life, and what he's gained, is really worth giving up what he wanted

that desire for power will have to be addressed someday. not now, but eventually.

and with the five of cups, it's possible that by retreating inward, the world will keep on spinning without him, he will not be suspended in time, and his absence will likely damage the friendships and support system that he's built up to this point. And only by losing something valuable and important to him -- something that he didn't realize how dearly he cared about it -- will he realize how much it meant to him, and he will despair, for it is gone.

PC Rumours (Feel free to add!):

• "I saw him chop off a guy's ear once... Seemed all too happy to do it too. But also he let his chocobo sit on him with no repercussions. All in all a mixed bag I'd say." R'heeza
• "He knocked my kneecaps out once. I haven’t washed my kneecaps since" Eigengrau Mankhad
• "I hear he worked for a blacksmith and botched a commission for a noble, and dishonored the smith as a result." Unknown
• "I'd recommend staying on his good side, he can be a right bastard most days but sometimes he'll surprise you." Ivory Willow
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