Arthur Penrose

Arthur App for Blood on the Rocks

2012-02-02T06:59:12Z

Personal Info
Name/online handle: sAmmii
Personal LJ: ainecaitlin
Email: aine723@yahoo.ie
AIM/Yahoo/MSN/etc: the_point_man

Character Info:
Character Name: Arthur
Fandom: Inception
Point of entry: at the end of the movie
Type of media: Movie
Character's journal: dreamplanner

Background: Arthur was born in Yonkers, New York, February 14, 1981. His father was a dentist and his mother was an elementary teacher. He has two older sisters. He had a rather uneventful childhood, got really good grades in school, and went to Columbia University upon graduation. In the fall of his junior year, the world watched in horror as terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center. Arthur dropped out of college and went to enlist in the Army, determined to protect his country from further attacks and find and punish the people who had devastated his city. He served with distinction in Afghanistan, rising to the rank of Lt. and leading his platoon on many successful missions. Towards the end of his second tour in Afghanistan, his platoon was ambushed in Kandahar and took heavy losses. Arthur risked his own life getting his men (and women) to safety, taking a bullet in the shoulder and the leg in the process. For his bravery, he was awarded both a silver star and a purple heart.

While in the hospital, he was approached by officers in a very new and top-secret Dream Sharing program. Having seen his test scores and having looked into his psychological profile, he had been selected to assist. He returned home, where he was briefed and trained in the new technology, and began researching and testing for the Army. He taught programs in combat training with the use of dream-sharing technology, as well as researching more...covert and directly military applications. The military's academic liaison, who kept them up to date on the more academic and theoretical discoveries within dream-sharing, was an architecture professor at a University in Paris - the father of Malorie Cobb. It was in this way that he met up with Dominic Cobb, which led to his discovery of the world of "professional" dream sharing.

The military approved of Arthur working with Cobb, even though their jobs were often of questionable legality. The benefits were too great to deny him the contact - Cobb and Mal were geniuses who took great risks and made amazing discoveries. Arthur was involved in the test that trapped Mal and Dom in Limbo - he was one of the lower level dreamers, because of the stability of his mind. He was logical enough to realize that it wasn't his fault, but it's still an uncomfortable and unspoken thing between Arthur and Cobb.

After Mal's death, the military approved Arthur staying on as Cobb's Point Man, continuing to send reports to the military on a regular basis. Arthur was skeptical and initially strongly against taking on the Fischer case, but when Dom insisted, he was not about to abandon his friend, and threw himself into it with as much dedication as any other case.

Personality: Arthur is a very calm, collected and even-tempered introvert. He rarely ever raises his voice or gets flustered, and for the most part prefers to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. While introverted, he is not, however, shy. He is logical, organized, and intelligent. He is also intensely dedicated to his job - he very much "found" himself when the military brought him into dream-sharing. While not "artistic" enough to be an architect, he nonetheless is creative at problem-solving when forced into a situation where he must be (such as when he has to "kick" the team in zero-gravity). He is not impressed with abstract ideas, and prefers detailed explanations and plans to the 'fly by the seat of your pants' approach of others of his team. He is not particularly a risk-taker (at least compared to the rest of his team - his job, obviously, includes some risk). He can appear humorless, although this is more likely simply a desire to take his job seriously than any lack of humor. He does occasionally show a bit of dry humor, for instance in the scene where he kisses Ariadne. He is a loyal and caring friend, although not necessarily the best with emotion. He knows that Dom is having problems with Mal in his subconscious, but figures that his friend knows that he is there and will approach him if he needs to do so.

Physical Description: P.B. is Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Does your character have any special powers/abilities/gifts?: No.

List additional characters you play: Lucifer, Kris Furillo (I'd like to drop Steerpike, since I've lost his voice)

Have you been active in the last 4 weeks with ALL of your characters, if not - why and which characters?: I haven't...but the RP hasn't been really up and running either...;)

Character based writing sample:
There was no such thing as a safe job. Theft made people furious - theft that took place in their minds, even more so. And somehow, the subject had discovered that they were, indeed, dreaming, and had come to the rather easy conclusion that they were in the process of becoming a victim of an extraction. And their subconscious had gone crazy.

And they had to get the hell out of Dodge.

Arthur was out of breath when they reached the warehouse, and blockaded the door. It wouldn't hold for long, but hopefully it would hold for long enough that the time on the PASIV would run out and they'd wake up safe in the workshop and disappear for a while.

He glanced out the window, and happily saw nothing. He made sure Ariadne was out of sight of the windows (she, after all, had no military experience, and returned to the window to keep watch.

The strange thing was, he didn't see or hear anything, except the blazing heat through his chest, and afterwards the shattering of glass in his face. It felt mostly as if he had the breath knocked out of him, and he watched almost in slow motion as his gun clattered harmlessly to the ground.

A moment later, his knees gave way, and he reached up a hand to his chest, pulling his hand away sticky and covered in blood.

Well, shit.

He had died in dreams so many times. That was nothing. But to be injured like this...it was suffering, just as much as one would suffer in the real world from the same injury. He gasped and tried to use pressure to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't happening.

Starting inventory [10 items]: His totem (a red loaded die), his moleskine notebook, a pen, his Glock 17, ammunition, the PASIV, a good supply of Somnacin, a decent supply of clothing, his watch

VIDEO [Sent to Hawke]

2012-01-01T03:36:24Z

We've not met, but I was given your name and told that you were familiar with dream-sharing technologies?

Video [Sent to All]

2011-12-31T23:11:00Z

[Arthur is looking in the video quite seriously, a table full of tools, etc. behind him. He's dressed rather casually for him - a button down white shirt and tie under a brown cardigan, with dark khaki slacks]

This message is intended for all scientists and medical personnel who might have expertise in the use of pharmaceuticals. I am attempting to either locate or synthesize a certain drug necessary for my work.

Please reply if you might be able to help.

[Video] [Visible to all of Adstringdum] [I]

2011-12-27T18:38:45Z

[The video starts to Arthur sitting in a dark, rather indistinguishable room. He's wearing a white shirt with a perfectly tied tie, his hair brushed back but starting to go a little fluffy due to the lack of proper mousse. He hits a few buttons to make sure it's working, then looks into the camera. He's obviously technologically savvy enough to know what's going on]

Hello. I've just recently arrived, and I was wondering if anyone had found something resembling a hard silver suitcase. I seem to have misplaced it.

Dreamscapes (Attn: Ariadne)

2011-12-19T04:01:42Z

Arthur often went to the Starbucks near his house, but rarely did he do so for any other reason than to buy a cup of coffee to take back to his apartment. He didn't work well in a crowded coffee shop; his mind seemed to function better in the quiet of his own home. Today, however, he'd come here to meet Ariadne, and had, as was usual for him, arrived early. Dressed in khaki trousers and a khaki jacket, with a burgundy shirt and striped tie, he was far overdressed for Starbucks, but very comfortable in his clothing.

He sat at a table towards the back, pulling out his small black moleskine notebook and a pen, and began to write notes on the Fischer case - things they'd learned, ideas for later, recording mistakes he had made that would have to be fixed the next time through - his normal personal post-briefing. The small notebook held such details of many of the past jobs he had done, written in his small, but elegant handwriting.

He was concentrating very closely on the notebook, and did not see Ariadne arrive, rather, he simply continued to scribble his notes, happily off in his own little world.

Application for Oregon Trail

2011-12-17T03:46:19Z

PLAYER
NAME/NICKNAME: sAmmii
AGE: 33
PERSONAL LJ: ainecaitlin
TIMEZONE: EST
EXISTING CHARACTERS IN-GAME: N/A
EMAIL ADDRESS: aine723@yahoo.ie
IM SCREENNAME AND SERVICE: the_point_man (AIM)

CHARACTER
NAME: Arthur (no canon last name)
AGE: Around 35. Not exactly known in canon
FANDOM/MEDIUM: Inception/movie
CANON PULL-POINT: About a week after the end of Inception
ABILITIES: Arthur doesn't have any supernatural abilities, but he's a very competent researcher and dream-sharer.
CHARACTER BACKGROUND:
Here's a link to the Inception canon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception#Plot

I've also given a lot of thought to his background prior to the Inception canon, and would like to include it if allowed:

Arthur was born March 14, 1975, in Atlanta. He has two older sisters. He
had a comfortable, middle-class upbringing and graduated in the top ten
percent of his high school class. He studied pre-law at the University
of Georgia, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. The 173 on his LSAT nearly
assured him admission to Northwestern Law School, where he studied tax
law until 9/11 changed his life forever. Planning to return, Arthur
dropped out of law school to join the army. He was not put on the front
line, but was instead given a position in logistics that better fit his
skill set. It was while in Iraq that he met Dominic Cobb, who was to
become his closest friend and future partner.

The two lost touch after the war, and Arthur flitted from job to job, having lost interest
in law after having faced the realities (and excitement) of doing
something real and worthwhile. It was only after a call from Dom several
years later that Arthur discovered the realm of dream-sharing. At first
looking at it as a way to continue with his job in the military (which
had been one of the few satisfying jobs of his life), he soon discovered
that the complete freedom and inspiration of shared-dreaming was unlike
anything he had ever known. It became far more than a job for him - as
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who portrays Arthur in the movie Inception
states: "It’s not just a job for him. I think the technology of dream
sharing is something that has inspired him since he first heard about it
so, ultimately, it’s not the money he’s doing it for. He wouldn’t risk
his life for a good paycheck. He loves it.”

Arthur was involved in the test that trapped Mal and Dom in Limbo - he was one of the lower
level dreamers, because of the stability of his mind. He was logical
enough to realize that it wasn't his fault, but it's still something
uncomfortable between him and Dom.

After everything went down, Arthur stood beside Dom as he fell into the shady world of extraction,
becoming his point man. He could no more leave dream-sharing than Dom -
it was in his soul and something he literally needed to be happy.

Arthur was skeptical and initially strongly against taking on the Fischer
case, but when Dom insisted, he was not about to abandon his friend, and
threw himself into it with as much dedication as any other case.

CHARACTER PERSONALITY:
Arthur is a very calm, collected and even-tempered person. He rarely
ever raises his voice or gets flustered. He is logical, organized, and
intelligent. He is also intensely dedicated to his job - he very much
"found" himself when he met Dom and discovered "professional"
dream-sharing. While not "artistic" enough to be an architect, he
nonetheless is creative at problem-solving when forced into a situation
where he must be (such as when he has to "kick" the team in
zero-gravity).

He is not impressed with abstract ideas, and
prefers detailed explanations and plans to the 'fly by the seat of your
pants' approach of others of his team. He is not particularly a
risk-taker (at least compared to the rest of his team - his job,
obviously, includes some risk).

He can appear humorless, although this is more likely simply a desire to take his job seriously than any
lack of humor. He does occasionally show a bit of dry humor, for
instance in the scene where he kisses Ariadne.

He is a loyal and caring friend, although not necessarily the best with emotion. For
instance, he knows that Dom is having problems with Mal in his
subconscious - he's seen her when she wasn't supposed to be there, and
knows that she killed Ariadne in a dream - but he does not approach Dom
about it, even though they've been friends for a long while. He figures
that his friend knows that he is there and will approach him if he needs
to do so.

Arthur's sexuality is undefined in canon, and I believe that is for a reason. It is not a defining characteristic, and
it is very telling of his personality that he does not bring it to work.
Arthur would prefer to be defined by his work than by his sexuality. He
really enjoys his work as a point man - perhaps not the most romantic
job in extraction, but one he does well, and he takes it very seriously.
He is not the type to have an "on-the-job" romance that could endanger
his working relationships. He prefers to keep his work professional, and
his working relationships platonic.

Eames is correct that he can sometimes come across a bit condescending - but it isn't intentional.
He's been in this a long time, is good at what he does, and knows it.
It's a job that takes confidence and he has the confidence necessary.
It's not egotism, though - and part of his problem with Eames is that
they're very much opposites in personality.

...which brings up Arthur's most important relationships.

Dominic Cobb is his closest friend, and it is obvious from things he says in
canon that he's known him for a long while - since before Mallorie went
crazy after spending all the time in limbo. It's possible that their
friendship is built on the complementary personalities they have - Dom
is definitely the creative and artistic one, while Arthur does the
logistics and keeps Dom's art grounded in reality.

Arthur's relationship with Eames is more complicated. He does not quite
understand Eames' dislike of him, and while he recognizes that he is a
good at what he does, he's not very fond of him on any level. Arthur is
not the type to appreciate a prankster, even one of Eames' more subtle
variety. He sees Eames as not taking the job as seriously as he should,
which is perhaps one of the biggest crimes possible in Arthur's mind.

In summary, Arthur is intelligent, and the level-headed, calm,
down-to-earth one of the team. He does his job well because he loves it,
and it gives him something he can't find anywhere else.

WORLD:
Arthur's world is normal 21st century Earth, for the most part. He's a normal human, and so are the people he interacts with on a daily basis. His occupation, however, is not so normal. Arthur is involved in extraction - stealing thoughts from peoples' minds through dream-sharing. This service is illegal and generally performed only for the very rich and corporations.

OCCUPATION: Teacher, I think. He's good at making things simple.

SAMPLES
THIRD PERSON:

Arthur opened his eyes to darkness and felt himself moving. It wasn't such a strange thing - he'd found himself in stranger situations than this. Dreams, in their very nature, took you into the beginning of the action - one of the tests of whether you were in a dream or not was whether or not you could remember how you got there. And...he couldn't.

Great.

He reached into his pocket to find the red loaded die he kept there at all times. Fondling it in his fingers he found its weight true, proving to him that he was not, in fact, in a dream. Where was he, then?

He sat up, steadying himself against the motion of whatever vehicle he was being carried in. He thought he smelled animals and the sound of heavy hoofbeats. On all fours, he crawled to the front, and opened the canvas flap.

Holy shit.

How on earth had he ended up in a conastoga wagon being pulled by oxen?

He grabbed the die and turned it over and over again. No mistake, this wasn't a dream.

For a moment, he rolled it around in his hand, appearing outwardly calm. Inwardly, he was not as frantic as it would be acceptable to be. He simply wasn't like that - his logical mind refused to give in to panic, even when others around him did. It was one of his greatest strengths, and that mental stability was one of the reasons that Dom used him as the dreamer when they went deeper than one level.

Whatever was going on here, he'd likely faced worse, and it would work out somehow. All he needed was to do a little research and understand what had happened.

FIRST PERSON:

[Via Text]

To whomever gets this message, my name is Arthur and I seem to have found myself in a bit of a situation. If someone would be willing to explain to me exactly what's going on here, I'd be very grateful. I've been in far stranger situations than this, but I usually have ended up there intentionally. I'm not sure if someone is trying to do an extraction or inception on me, or whether this is something far stranger than that. Either way, I would like to talk to someone who can explain what's going on. Thanks in advance.

Voicemail

2011-12-12T06:26:58Z

I'm not here. Leave a message.