It's a much greater accomplishment....

Name: Mackenzie Gray
Age: Mid 20s, anywhere from 24-26
Occupation: Intern in some scientific field, probably Chemistry, Biology, or Biochemistry!


Born in Baltimore, Maryland to a fairly ordinary mid-Atlantic family. His father immigrated over to the United States from England to attend one of the colleges and later decided to live there permanently. On his mother's side of the family is a number of people who work at the Port, his mother included.

A straight A student, Mackenzie made strides to enjoy the outdoors but was never good with people. He preferred his solitude on the docks, and never earned much in the way of social grace. His temper is easy to spark but quickly fizzles out and, though he kept few friends, he was amazingly loyal to them all.

His grades earned him a full scholarship, which he used to attend Recolle University for a change in his somewhat monotonous life.

Physically he's fairly healthy. A late bloomer, he's a gawky and lanky sort who can never quite fit into his clothes properly. He enjoyed the outdoors, but he never excelled at any one sport and ultimately preferred watching from the sidelines because his skills were never spectacular. He was more of a bibliophile, and he liked to read while outside overlooking the sea. He suffered no major illnesses, but is somewhat phobic of being in a completely dark area.

For all of his intelligence, he never learned how to cook properly or clean his room properly. His bed is a place to throw books; he sleeps on the sofa.

Probably has an Ex, I would love for him to have family in town. Despite his lack of social skills, he manages to comport himself with a snarky professionalism in his work.

Hey, guys-- Stark here. After a few months of struggling with plotting for him, I think it's time to give Waver a break for now. He's still going to be around in Union, although he might wander off to Sanctuary at some point to kick some Magi butt or do some exploring, so he's not just up and disappearing.

I'll probably bring him back one day when the mood looks right. He needs a chance to grow physically and emotionally, and this break I think will let him have that chance.

In the meanwhile, I'm still here with Pidge Gunderson, and I might be apping in another green kid this month. I love you all too much to go anywhere.

PLAYER INFO

Name: Stark
Contact Information: Plurk @ starkxravingxmad
Time Zone: EST
Characters Played: None Currently


CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Waver Velvet
Character Canon: Fate/Zero

History: Link to his entry on the TYPE MOON Wiki

AU History: Waver's backstory isn't inherently different from his origins in canon-- he is a young man with a brilliant mind who was born of a family with a very weak bloodline in Sanctuary, a city where knowledge and power walk hand in hand. Even when he started displaying traits of having any degree of potential when he entered into adolesence, finding someone to mentor him was almost impossible due to the sheer difference in their backgrounds. No one wanted to believe that a skinny, opinionated brat like him could amount to anything, and they even went as far as to ridiculing his attempts at achieving even the basics to his face. When his parents passed away, he was left with little option but to either accept his lot in life or keep fighting his own quiet little battle for what he believed in. With Gigas locking down even further over Sanctuary, Waver didn't even consider the latter option.

With library access restricted to the public, Waver took advantage of his meager skills to 'borrow' books whenever he felt brave enough to take the risk, all but devouring tomes under the cover of night. It was only a matter of time before he would be caught, but the danger wasn't enough of a deterrant. Information like that is something that should be shared, in his opinion, and he was determined to find a way to make it so.

Canon Personality: A slim young man with a loud mouth, Waver Velvet is the sort of individual who is best described as a brat who is well aware of his genius. He is short tempered, constantly complaining and quick to act when when his buttons are pressed hard enough, but all of the bluff and bravado is a cover for his insecurity and large inferiority complex. Although his brain is more than adept at understanding the theories behind magecraft, he comes from a poor lineage and has the lowest level of magical potential among the practitioners. Because of this, he is often doubting his skills as a magus and as a Master in the 4th Holy Grail War, and has even gone so far as falling into rants that range from disparaging remarks about himself and his own inabilities to wishing that he hadn't been paired with such a powerful Servant in the first place.

However, behind all of his insecurities lies a spine that is as firm as an steel cord suspending a bridge over water. Even though he is more than well aware of how small and how ineffective he is in the grand scheme of the war, he still follows Iskander into the front lines of the battle. Observing everything around him, he is able to see connections where others cannot and, even though his power is weak, he's rational enough and inventive enough with the tools that he has on hand and his knowledge of magical theories that he is the first to track down Caster's lair among the rest of the participants in that iteration of the Grail War.

It is because of his insecurities that he is strong, because those same insecurities also are what allows him to make difficult choices for the sake of others around him. In the final stage of the War, upon Iskander's commentary that only the 'strong' will be participating in the battle from that moment onward, Waver himself decides that it is time for him to bow out of the battlefield. Although he wanted to participate and follow Iskander in the deepest part of his heart, he knew that he would be nothing but a hinderance.

Besides the insecurities that form much of the foundation of his personality, he is also strong because of his sense of loyalty. While it is his insecurities that push him to try to bow out of fights, it is his loyalty to Iskander that keeps him standing tall before Gilgamesh after his Servant fell. It is his rationality that allows him to turn Gilgamesh's logic around to his benefit: while it is true that he had taken Iskander as his King, it is also true that Iskander ordered him to survive. Therefore, even at the cost of his own pride, he had a sworn duty to survive.

It is thus that a skinny, whiny brat with absolutely no combat skill earned the respect of Gilgamesh, the titled King of Heroes, and thus that he was able to grow into the man he was always meant to be.

AU Deviation: The way Waver would be in BNW is more akin to how he would be in the middle to later stages of the 4th Holy Grail War, having already been exposed to the trials of spending a lifetime in a city under Gigas control. While he is still a young man with a chip on his shoulder, he is aware enough of his insecurities and failings to have a better grasp on them than he does in canon-- where he hides everything under a blustering layer of bluff and bravado that crumbles the moment someone gets a peek under that layer. He is a few steps closer to being the determined (yet unskilled) young man who walked away from a confrontation with Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, unscathed-- however, he is also lacking the bolstering influence of Iskander, the King of Conquerors. Instead, he has spent a lifetime in a city that was conquered, and his thirst to know more about what everything is like on the other side of the barricades is as strong as his drive to become a stronger individual. However, although he is a little more worldly than he is in canon, he remains untempered.

Even if it takes him a while to be strong enough to do so on his own, he will eventually take to exploring the wilds because of the effects of how he grew up. While his canon-self becomes something more akin to an academic researcher as an adult, in this reimagining he is liable to take to field research instead.

Canon Abilities: Although Waver is a trained magus in canon, he is far from being considered skilled or powerful. In a world where lineage marks the path to power, a young man who is the first to study magecraft in his family is left in the shadows cast by the old names that had existed since the beginning of the tradition. However, that isn't to say that he doesn't make-do within his limitations. What most mages can accomplish with a few flashy spells, he can accomplish with a little bit of planning, precision, and some basic alchemy.

It should be noted that he never becomes all that powerful even in later canon. However, his talent and intelligence shines because, unlike many others who take their talents for granted, he knows exactly what proper form and execution is supposed to look like. Because of this, he becomes a well liked teacher and researcher in the very school where he was previously ridiculed.

Enlightened Abilities: Psychic-type Child of Knowledge Unbound + Analyst, with a focus on the hypnotic, defensive, and status altering psychic-typed skills.

His initial skills start as something more passive in nature-- like a subtle predisposition for people to listen to his words and believe them, even if they are outright lies, or a tendency to somehow find himself safe and away from danger even if he was previously in the thick of a fight. Once he becomes more aware of these, he'll realize that they are truly a weak Hypnosis ability that allows him to use subliminal suggestion abilities along with the standard of putting opponents to sleep, and a stronger Teleport ability. The suggestion aspect of his Hypnosis skill would be more akin to tricking people into believing any minor deceits he may pull to get what he needs, although the effects aren't permanent and will not work if the target has a sufficiently strong sense of will. Note: This is not mind control, but more similar to the Jedi Mind Trick. He'll also be able to generate a field to suppress damage to himself and his allies, once he becomes aware of everything. Furthermore, his sense of will and determination can at times help him Endure startling amounts of damage for someone so small and unskilled.

Upon his first evolution, his hair will grow longer, he grows a but taller, and he gains a mild telekinetic ability on top of this. He'll be able to use it to disarm and disable opponents, potentially confusing them along the way. He might also learn to use the telekinesis to augment his own physical strength once he gains further control over it, and use it to help bluff opponents into thinking that he is stronger than he actually is. Besides this, he'll also gain the ability to psychically bind opponents from using their known abilities.

In his final form, his hair will grow down past his waist, he will grow even taller, and he'll gain an actually useful skill. Although Levitate is the hallmark of many psychics, he can actually do the opposite and use his telekinetic strength to knock cocky opponents out of the air, similar to the Gravity ability, whether they be fliers or psychics or otherwise. Furthermore, he'll also gain an ability similar to Psycho Cut, although it will have far less uses than the standard version. Being a budding strategist, he is liable to take advantage of his Teleport ability and use it to sneak around the battle field, combining it with the Psycho Cut or whatever else he has at his disposal to discreetly take out opponents.

Spell List:
-Astonish
-Ember
-Water Gun
-Thunder Wave
-Powder Snow
-Confusion

Starter Pokémon: A Tympole called Atlas, and a Foongus called Orpheus

Notes/Special Considerations:

His hypnotic skills are not something that he would use on PCs, but something that he would use on weaker NPCs or characters off screen as a means of getting what he needs, similar to how he did in canon with the older couple he was staying with in Fuyuki, Martha and Glen.

He also may or may not lie about his identity, calling himself 'Waver Mackenzie' instead of his given name.

SAMPLES


First-Person:
Bakerstreet Thread with Hercules + 16 comments


Third-Person:

"Ah-- be careful, Atlas. You're going to get it wet!"

Waver, head bowed under the weight of the overly curious Tympole who had been his main companion in the weeks and months since his parents passed away, tried his hardest glare at the squirming water type who really had no business being as curious about academics as it was. "You don't even know how to read," he added, throwing in a displeased pout for emphasis.

The nonchalant chirp from the little water-type proved his utter lack of efficacy in getting his own pokemon to listen. Grumbling under his breath. Waver ceded victory to the pokemon for just this instance and tried to shift into a better position. All he succeeded in doing was getting his lanky hair in his face.

It was time for another approach.

Brushing everything, from spare pens and papers, pokeballs, and even other academic materials off of his desk with a wide sweep of his arms, Waver gently set Atlas down onto the finished wood and spread the heavy book out before the both of them.

"Don't touch it," he warned, casting a firm look at the curious pokemon with narrowed eyes. "It's really going to be on my head if this gets damaged before we can get it back."

It felt necessary, since the Tympole had started to surreptitiously inch it's way closer as he spoke, even though he knew it would make no difference. Regardless of how quietly he slipped in and out of the library, or how carefully he took care to make sure that everything he borrowed was placed in it's exact spot on the shelf, he knew that one day his own luck would run out. He was going to be in trouble regardless of what he said or did.

Still...it was worth the risk.