A Closer Look
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"Sometimes there's not a better way. Sometimes there's only the hard way."
― Mary E. Pearson, The Fox Inheritance
BENJAMIN
Masculine | son of the right hand | English
MUSGRAVE
Unisex | beast | Irish -
B A S I C S
◖BIRTH NAME◗
Benjamin Musgrave.
◖NICKNAME◗
Everyone calls him Ben, he hates being called Benjamin. That's what his parents call him. He introduces himself as Ben, so at this point it's more than just a nickname.
◖ALIAS◗
None.
◖BIRTH DATE◗
15th January.
◖AGE◗
28 years old.
◖OCCUPATION◗
He's a steel worker, working both in construction and maintenance for the city of Gotham, but he works on smaller projects on the side, mainly for his own enjoyment though his mother tries to encourage him into selling some of it.
◖RESIDENCE◗
He has a small apartment in Gotham.
◖ALIGNMENT◗
His family.
◖BIRTHPLACE◗
Gotham.
◖NATIONALITY◗
Irish-American.
◖RACE◗
Metahuman.
◖ABILITIES◗
Invulnerability and psychic shield.
◖HEIGHT◗
1,91 m.
◖BODY TYPE◗
Broad-shouldered, muscular, defined.
◖EYES◗
A piercingly blue colour.
◖HAIR◗
Reddish brown and curly, varying in length, sometimes it's short, sometimes it's slightly longer, along his chin-ish.
◖COMPLEXION◗
White.
◖TATTOOS◗
None, he's never been a great fan of them, he's not even sure he would be able to get one either way.
◖SCARS◗
None, which is incredibly strange within his field.
◖HANDEDNESS◗
Right-handed.
◖ZODIAC SIGN◗
Capricorn.
◖SEXUALITY◗
Straight.
◖RELATIONSHIP STATUS◗
Single, something his mother would very much like to change as soon as possible.
◖LIKES◗
Working, physical training, using his skills, being creative, solitude, staying awake (even when he knows that he has to get up early), but also getting up early, walking around the city in the early hours, working with his hands, creating, seeing one's work come alive, details, metal work, drawing and sketching, strong liquor and coffee, a nice home-cooked meal, his mom's cooking, cigars.
◖DISLIKES◗
Working together, at least when he has to work with people he deems too slow or less skilled than him, diplomacy (since it's mainly kissing the upper class people's asses, which he has no time for), guns and weapons in general, judgemental people (though he himself can be such towards the rich), politics, cigarettes (definitely not the same as cigars).
◖FACECLAIM◗
Sam Heughan.
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B A C K G R O U N D
"Logic will get you from point A to point B.
Imagination and hard work will take you everywhere else."
― Albert Einstein
THE WORKER
Blood, sweat, and hard work are all that matters
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Benjamin "Ben" Musgrave was born in Gotham to Daniel and Sarah Musgrave as their first-born child. His father was a mechanic in the army and his mother a seamstress with an incredible talent for embroidery, but as their son was born, she chose to stay at home, making Daniel the sole provider for the small family. His work didn't earn them much, but it was enough to live. A few years after Ben, his sister, Charlotte, mainly called by her nickname Lottie, was born. While the funds were lacking, the family made due with what they had. Ben remembers little of this and just as little about his father, as he had to leave for the war when he was still only a small child not even aware of the state of the world that he and his sister had been born in to. Those few, fond memories of his father were all he got ― he never got to see the end of the war and Sarah was left alone with two small children.
With his father's income gone, the family struggled. His mother had to start working again, taking primarily commissions from richer families to produce and mend garments. Ben had to grow up almost immediately to be able to take care of his younger sister, especially when their mother no longer could keep the work at home. Commissions were simply not enough to feed two small children, so she had to get a real salary, working at a clothing factory, leaving early and coming home to dinner, where she would be too tired to do anything. Ben just had to step in, cutting his childhood incredibly short. He made sure that Lottie got breakfast, he made sure they both made it to school and home again, helped Lottie with her homework, cooked, cleaned. All of his life became centred around work and as soon as he was old enough to get paid to work, that was what he did. It was not ideal, but it had to be done. School became less important and as long as Lottie made it to school, he could go to the construction field where he wanted to become an apprentice as soon as he could to earn more money to the family.
Ben ensured his apprenticeship at the age of 14, working all day and if he was not at work, he was at home taking care of his sister and the small apartment. When Lottie got old enough, she started doing more such as cleaning and cooking and Ben no longer had to pick her up from school. This also meant that he got a bit more time on his own that wasn't during the night. Normally, he would stay up until late spending his time on what he enjoyed the most besides work: Drawing. His creativity was a safe space within all the physical labour and he enjoyed staying up, watching the city from his window, and sketching it all down. He only needed a few hours of sleep anyway. Routine came easy to him, just like his work, a true natural with a promising future: He would not be drawing the buildings, but he would help construct them and ensure that they would stand and that was enough for him. With the added skill of metal work, he began taking his home with him, morphing his creative skills with matter and he began experimenting. It started small but slowly built into small jewellery pieces that he would gift his mother and sister. The metal were mostly scrap metal from the site that he would sneak with him home in his pockets, enough to work with, but not enough to be of any significance to his employer. In the end, he was already at a young age one of the best, so he worried little about job security.
One night when he was 17, he came home to a dark apartment. While his mother worked late, Lottie would always be the first one home and he would walk in to the smell of dinner, finding Lottie either at the stove or sitting at the small dinner table fixing her homework whilst the dinner was cooking. Immediately, he knew something was wrong. If she had other plans, there was no way she wasn't telling him. They had always been incredibly close, they were more than just siblings truly. This was the first time he experienced real panic as he rushed back out the door to search for him. It didn't take long: He would run her route to her school and not far from it, he found her. It was like he sensed her, otherwise he would have run right past her body, as it had slid down the side towards the river. Even if he knew it was too late as he straddled her close, feeling how her skin was like ice against his, he picked her up and rushed to the hospital. She was pronounced dead as he arrived, only 14 years old, beaten severely to death following a rape. Ben remembers little from the hospital itself, it's all a blur after they told him really, but he has been told that he completely lost his temper as multiple male staff had to hold him down until he settled down into a state of quiet denial. At some point, his mother arrived after they had contacted her work and the next thing he remembers is waking up back home to his mother slowly caressing his hair.
Ben never stopped blaming herself for his sister's death. He should have been there with her, ensured that he was safe. They never found out who did it, but he had a very clear idea that it had had to be some of those private school rich kids who always stayed close to the bridge nearby to sneak a cigarette or two. He knew that the police would never even consider speaking to the boys because of their parents, which filled him with a lot of anger during the following years. At one point, he started going out and drinking at nights, which almost always ended in a fight ― and he always walked away without a scratch. This was when he realised that he had a gift, something that his mother had told him and Lottie stories about. He had never realised that he had never been hurt, never felt pain like everyone else, even as he had fallen down or cut himself at work, and he realised that he could use this to his advantage to avenge his sister.
He did do exactly what he had set out to do. There was no need for an alibi, because when the police showed up merely hours later, he didn't have a scratch on him. Whatever they had described, it was not something you could leave without as much as a bruise or a bloody hand. This was all he needed, even if he knew it was wrong, but if the police had no intention of upholding the law and punishing those responsible, he had to take matters into his own hands. His mother, though, had a hard time forgiving him for what he did, even if he did it for them. As he still struggled with the guilt, he had to almost physically fight the urge not to go out and drink, to get back on track again, at least for his mother's sake as he could feel how he was spiralling out of control. Revenge only soothed his inner pain, it was still very much there, the only pain he had ever felt and probably would ever feel.
Ben emerged himself in his work, spending every possible hour working and he has never really stopped this. This is the best way to cope in his mind and the rest of his time he spends working on his own personal projects. His relationship with his mother is slightly strained ― they love each other very much and Ben still sends her money, stops by to have dinner, and help out whenever he can, which is not always as often as he would like, but she still has a hard time looking him in the eye and he sees Lottie in her whenever he looks at her. She is the only family he has, though, and he would never give up on her. His life is still just routine, early up, work, home late, staying up, a few hours of sleep, repeat, and he's content with it. Life is not exciting, but he never thought it would be, but as long as he's alive, he has no right to complain. -
C O R E T R A I T S
“He would have his plans take effect with the speed of fire.”
― Zhuangzi, The Book of Chuang Tzu
○ H A R D W O R K I N G
adj. | hard·work·ing | ˈhärd-ˈwər-kiŋ
Constantly, regularly, or habitually engaged in earnest and energetic work. Being hardworking is a fundamental part of Ben. He doesn't do anything halfway through, he works thoroughly and until the deadline is met. He has a strong moral code when it comes to work and making agreements, he always wants to fulfil his part, preferably to the best possible outcome. Work is to him all that matters, really, this is where he proves his worth, so he emerges himself into it as much as possible. To him, perfection comes with hard work and dedication and since perfection is what he strives for, he does whatever it takes, pushing himself to the limit.○ S T E R N
adj. | stern | ˈstərn
Having a definite hardness or severity of nature or manner. Others would easily describe Ben as a stern man with a stern face, but it is really nothing more than his face most of the time. He just has that kind of aura around him that might make people think that he's this incredibly tough guy who no one can really get close to, but it's simply not true. He can definitely be a bit set in his ways, his attitude can be stern at times, especially towards certain types of people, and the way he speaks might too be a bit stern... Well, it might be more than just a stern face, but it's just the way he was taught that he should be as a man, showing little emotion, even when he cares deeply.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔○ V I G O R O U S
adj. | vig·or·ous | ˈvi-g(ə-)rəs
Possessing vigour: Full of physical or mental strength or active force. Ben is a man of action rather than of words. His body is his absolute strength and that is what he relies on in most situations, also outside of his work sphere. While he is definitely not one to underestimate when it comes to his intellect, he can often come off as someone who reacts quickly and maybe slightly rash. He might not even say a word before executing a plan, more of a brooder and thinker than a communicator, preferring to work alone, something that is definitely not ideal in his line of work. Because of this, he prefers taking orders and simply doing what he is told, if this means that he has to do as little as possible to ensure the work of other people. He knows that he can do well on his own either way.○ S T E A D Y
adj. | steady | ˈste-dē
Firm in one's allegiance to someone or something. Ben is loyal to those important around him, standing firm on what and whom he believes in. This can border on stubborn, as he has a hard time letting go of opinions ― if he disagrees with you or even dislikes you, it takes a lot of work to get on his good side or change his opinion. If he has your back, he definitely has it, though, no doubt. While he might come off as stern and distancing, he can be incredibly considerate and thoughtful, detail oriented, the type who picks up even the slightest of things that you yourself might even not realise. -
A B I L I T I E S
M E T A H U M A N
“We are at our most powerful the moment we no longer need to be powerful.”
― Eric Micha'el Leventhal
In a sense, Ben is a shield ― his body casts off any kind of damage, physical and mental alike. His body is simply impenetrable and attacks of any kind won't be able to harm him. He might feel it, whether he falls or someone tries to penetrate his mind, but that's about it. This makes him a dangerous metahuman as there will be no way to harm or kill him, though his abilities are defensive and preventive, not offensive.
| Invulnerability |
Ben is invulnerable ― nothing can and will ever hurt him physically. It's to the extend that he cannot even be wounded or cut, he will never be able to form a scar as if his very skin is impenetrable. He has never seen his own blood and probably never will, his body won't allow it. While he might still get in an accident or be subjected to pain in some way or the other, he can barely feel it. Pain is merely an uncomfortable feeling to him. There are degrees to this uncomfortable feeling, certain situations will make him feel more uncomfortable than others, so he might be able to get to a point where he feels something near pain, but it might have to be absolute excruciating. He's not immortal as he ages like anyone else, even if he cannot get hurt or fall ill, time still affects him as seemingly the only thing. He can still be pushed around, he can still fall, it just won't do much and his own physical strength ensures that very people can get to push him around to begin with. He has a tendency to forget that this is not normal, which has brought him in situations where people would question him intensely, but he has always been able to get out of it again with excuses and such.
| Physic Shield |
Just like his physical shield, Ben has a physic shield that envelops him fully at all times. He is highly resistant to any type of mental intrusion such as mind reading, empathic powers, hypnosis, deception, mind control, and the likes. If mind readers would try and listen to him, they would only here a static sound or nothing at all. To cover it thoroughly, his mind cannot be controlled, damaged, read, influenced, emulated, altered, detected, or communicated with, but he has never tested just how resistant he actually is and whether he is immune or not, but he simply assumes that he is not fully immune and that an incredibly strong and skilled physic user might be able to penetrate the otherwise strong shield.
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S I G N A T U R E
