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PLAYER INFO

Player Name: Danielle
Player Contact: ddsapphire
Character(s) In-GPSL: Mary (withsadness)

CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Diode Zipsell
Age: 8 (upon death), but was active as one of Beacon's Lighthouse Keepers for an indeterminate amount of time.
Canon: Original


World Description: Diode comes from a futuristic setting where intergalactic travel is a part of standard society, and as such it's commonplace to see intelligent species of all shapes and sizes mingling together. Diode, himself, hails from a gargantuan space station known for being a center of commerce where money is elevated to a level of worship, particularly (unsurprisingly) among the already wealthy and prominent families that live there. Planets range from high-tech to rough-and-tumble, but most documented within the government rosters and maps have at least some form of established society.

HMD: here


History: In the society that Diode was born into, his start in life wasn't particularly uncommon. Given up to a facility as an infant in the hopes that he would live a better life among higher society, Diode was appropriately scanned and tested in order to document his expected potential. Health, good. IQ, well above average. A suitable candidate for high society. The Zipsell family was a long-standing name in the galaxy's political sphere, and they chose him with the expectation that he would live up to its name, continuing their long reign of wealth and prosperity with his exceptional prospective roadmap.

This worked out pretty well for approximately six years. As expected, Diode proved to be a true prodigy, an obsessive and voracious learner, gifted in an astounding number of fields. It was his own precociousness that put him in the political sphere at such a tender age, and he quickly proved himself to be almost intimidatingly adept at diplomacy. The galaxy's youngest ambassador in history before he turned seven, he was ultimately pulled into a world of political conspiracy and underhanded corruption.

This turned out to be too much. Still a boy with a firmly pointed moral compass, Diode took to the streets of planet after planet, blowing the whistle on his colleagues...including his own family. Things devolved rapidly. A hit was put out on him, his name defamed, and Diode was suddenly a wanted fugitive--but his image and personality struck a chord in many people. While he was being hunted for treason, he was being bolstered by a newly founded cult that viewed him as a spearhead for a much needed change in society.

Diode maintains that he's not affiliated with these people, but, of course, he does what he can to keep himself hidden between rousing anti-government speeches that inspire the masses. Or, well, he did. In the culmination of these whirlwind months of discovery and deception, Diode is captured alive and assassinated on route to what would have surely been a trial to disrupt the course of history across all of space.

Waking up in Beacon as the Lighthouse Keeper, he started a new career as one of "the best and brightest" in Solis' years of observing the progress of any given session. The discoveries he made he passed down in notes to his predecessor, and ultimately it was a bold attempt at freeing himself from his isolation that became his downfall. He thought he'd figured out how to keep the lighthouse running without needing to confine himself to it, but tested his theory too quickly and without the help of the other Beaconites of the time, leading to disastrous results.


Death: shot to death by his bodyguard, who double-crossed him in order to make good on the government's bounty.


How does your character generally get along with other people? Diode's relationship with other people is, in a word, complicated. Due to his upbringing and, obviously, a terribly inflated sense of self, he's often torn between being a boy of the people and a boy who believes himself to be above those very same people. To put it all neatly: he likes people, but he's not terribly good with them on a personal level. If you want Diode the Diplomatic Ambassador, he won't disappoint you. If you want Diode the Boy, you're in for a headache.


Skills/Abilities:

- politically savvy
- language and culture expert
- exceedingly bright
- decent with a knife and firearms
- picks up new things frighteningly fast
- great memory
- plays a mean harp


Flaws/Weaknesses:

- is perpetually 8
- has a hugely inflated ego
- stubborn as hell, generally belligerent
- an unapologetic manipulator when it suits him
- bad at taking advice
- impulsively follows his own whims
- caffeine addiction


Personality: Diode, in a nutshell, is an affluent politician and activist in the body of a young child. As one can imagine, this means that he's terribly difficult to deal with. At the same time as he's thoughtful, careful, and inspiring, he's stubborn and brash. He follow his heart just as easily as his head, even if he doesn't like to think that this is true: it's what's put him in Beacon, and what got his lantern smashed. In his impetuous youth, he believes that he can have his cake and eat it too, and anyone who tries to reason against his ideas is simply not open-minded enough.

Intense in multiple ways, once Diode puts his mind to something, whatever it is, he's hard pressed to stop, even for his own mental well-being. A pint-sized workaholic, there's little about him that can be called childish outside of his stature and his tendency to turn deaf ears to the warnings of others. Intimidating and persuasive, Diode isn't oblivious to his cherubic charm. Although he prefers to be taken seriously, if he thinks it will get him his way more easily, he isn't above turning on some round-cheeked sweetness to worm his way into the hearts of others. People are easier to deal with when they aren't constantly questioning him.

And, oh, is he used to being questioned. Driven by an incredible need to constantly prove himself both due to his responsibilities and the upbringing he was assigned to, Diode is always on the defensive. It's very rarely so easy to get people to go along with his plans, even when they're sensible and he knows (he knows) he's in the right. As a result, the boy has a habit of assuming the intentions of others, only trusting them when proven worthy. Unfortunately, due to the manner in which he died, he's been exceptionally distrustful during his time in Beacon. Extended isolation in the lighthouse didn't help, and in fact this unwillingness to share his findings and take the help offered to him by others is a big factor in how he ultimately lost his lantern.

Above all, Diode has a big heart. It's often hard to hear behind the shouting and self-promotion and sass, but what drives his actions. He wants, more than anything, to help people. He's deeply aware that his enviable adoption came at the price of a family lost to poverty. While his induction into the world of politics was the will of his mother and father, the choices he made following were all inspired by a desire to do the right thing. Diode accepted becoming a fugitive, becoming disowned, and suffering through harsh and dangerous conditions in order to create a future free of rampant political and moral injustice.

HMD

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