Shaun Mars

[Remember a few months ago when Shaun ended up with a bunch of eggs?

Well now there's five more than there was last time.

And rather than mildly confused, Shaun looks pretty deadpan about it this time around.]

I've got some eggs again, if anybody wants one. There's three Poochyenas, a Houndour, four Lillipups, a...Charmander, I think, and then I think there's three Munnas and two Spoinks.

Oh, but I'm saving one of the Munnas for my friend because I promised him one. So there's two left.

[Private to Tobias]

Hey Tobias, I got a Munna egg for you, if you still want one.

((OOC: This is an IC post for the OOC egg post from a few days ago. There's still a few eggs left if anybody still wants one.))

[It's been almost a year since the last time Shaun actually put a video out over the network. But he looks completely bewildered by something that he's holding.]

Did you know that, uh... Pokemon don't need a Breeder to be able to have eggs? This isn't gonna happen every night, is it? I mean, if they're in love it seems mean to tell them not to have babies, or to keep them away from each other.

I didn't know they like liked each other like that.

[Gonna swing the camera around to show what he means... There's three piles of eggs on the floor of his room, four of them half-buried in the shaggy fur of a Stoutland, one perched between the paws of a Houndoom, and three being guarded by a Mightyena who looks exceedingly pleased with herself. The last one is a dark forest green, and that's the one Shaun is holding.]

So, uh, does anybody want an egg?

((this is the IC post for this egg post, and there's still a couple of Poochyena eggs left unclaimed!))

[Shaun looks pale and trembling, and his eyes are wide and scared. He looks - and sounds, when he finally speaks - like he's been crying. All he can manage are four short words, before his voice cracks and it's all he can do not to break down.]

Norman won't wake up.

[It's not Shaun that the camera catches first, but his newest pokemon - a little Pichu peering curiously into the camera.]

Move, Calvin--

[He only sounds slightly exasperated, to his credit, as he picks it up under its arms and pulls it in close.]

Uh, I need some advice.

Calvin doesn't know how to control the electricity in his cheeks yet, and he keeps zapping me and my other Pokemon. Richie and Blaze can handle it, but Susie's a water type and I'm worried he's going to hurt her real bad. It seems mean to keep him in his ball, though, just because he's too little to control his electricity... What should I do?

Player
Name: Ri
Personal Journal: resplendentri
E-mail: cheetah1090@yahoo.com
AIM/MSN: AIM: JoyBringer5002
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: none

Character
Name: Shaun Mars
Series: Heavy Rain
Timeline: Post-game
Canon Resource Links: His wiki page

Personality:
Two years ago, Shaun was your normal, happy-go-lucky 8-year-old boy. He and his older brother Jason lived with their parents, Ethan and Grace, in a house implied to have been designed by Ethan himself. In a video taken two years ago, Ethan asks his boys what they want to be when they grow up, and Shaun replies that he wants to make video games.

But then, his brother Jason died and his dad was put into a six-month coma. When the game catches up to him, two years after his brother’s death, he’s sullen and withdrawn. He repeatedly tells Ethan that he wishes things could go back to the way they were before Jason died. He seems to feel some bitterness toward his father, although this is mostly after he’s gotten in trouble at school for being late (it’s implied this isn’t the first time that it’s happened). It’s also clear, however, that Shaun loves and admires Ethan very much, as evidenced by how much fun he has in “The Park” when Ethan decides to start playing with him. Despite that, he is haunted by his brother’s death, as well as by his parents’ inability to recover from it.

( Cut for spoilers through the end of Heavy Rain )

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Buizel (“Susie”)
Password: Scrambled Eggs

Samples
First Person Sample:
[The screen flickers on to show a boy who looks like he’s a little bit in a fog. Behind him, a Buizel bounces around happily through the snowdrifts, nearly disappearing only to poke her head up every now and then, her whiskers and fur caked with snow.]

Hello? Is anyone out there? There was this lady who called herself my mom, and she gave me a backpack full of food and clothes and stuff, and I sorta...just wanted to know if that had happened to anyone else. And also, if the food was...safe to eat. It’s like rice, and I think there’s fish and vegetables and stuff too, or something.

[His stomach grumbles.]

Susie keeps trying to find me berries to eat, but the guidebook says not to eat them. Is that true? Or will I be okay?

Third Person Sample:
The bed that he woke up in wasn’t his own. The room wasn’t his, nothing about it was familiar to him. For a brief moment, he thought that he was back in his dad’s house, but as he woke up fully he realized that wasn’t possible. So, as he woke up fully, Shaun started to panic. Where was he? What was going on? Had he been kidnapped again? He got out of bed and set his bare feet on the floor carefully, unplugging the table lamp and picking it up off of the table. He wasn’t going to be a victim this time. He resolutely refused to think that it was because his dad wasn’t there to save him again.

He went down the stairs because it was the only exit from the room – a quick glance out the window told him it was too high to jump and make a run for it. When he got downstairs, he could smell food cooking – the kitchen, as he peered into it, was full of steam. But there was no sign of his captor anywhere.

“Oh, there you are, honey! I was getting worried you were going to sleep the day away!” Shaun screamed and dropped the lamp, the ceramic shattering on the floor. “Oh! Did I surprise you? Get back, I can pick it up.” Shaun just stood there staring as she leaned down and gently scooped up all of the little slivers and fragments one by one and carried them over to the trashcan with her apron. She dusted her hands off and went to get the broom.

“Who are you?” Shaun asked, a little ashamed of his earlier response because she seemed like a nice lady. She reminded him a little of his mom, but instead of being a comfort that only made his heart ache.

“I’m your mom, sweetie! Are you feeling okay?” the woman asked, propping the broom back up and walking back over with concern etched on her features. She reached out to put a hand against his forehead, and he retreated the only way he could go: back up the stairs a step or two, out of range. His eyes were wide with fear, and he shook his head.

“No you’re not. Where’s my real mom?”

“Don’t be silly. Today’s a very big day! It’s the day you start your Pokemon journey! I’m so proud of you – my little Shaun, a trainer.” Shaun opened his mouth to protest again, but drew up short when he realized what she had said.

“Pokemon?”

“Yes, dear. I’m surprised you forgot! It is your birthday, after all.” She went over to the counter and picked up a little backpack. “I got your trainer kit for you already! Professor Elm picked your starter for you, since you were still asleep. I hope you like it! Your first Pokemon is the most important.”

Shaun’s mind was reeling. Pokemon? Pokemon? As in the video game that he used to play with Jason? He remembered he always got stuck with Blue, because Jason always picked Red and Jason was older. They had a game link cable and everything, and it didn’t take them long to realize that it was much more fun battling each other than actually trying to beat the game.

He hadn’t played it in over two years. He took the backpack with shaking hands when it was offered, and rooted around inside (it took him a couple of tries to find the right pocket) before his hand closed around a small ball. It was about the size of a walnut, but as he pulled it out the red and white coloring was unmistakable.

She may have been lying about being his mom, but she was serious about the Pokemon. He pressed the button with his thumb, and dropped the ball in surprise when it grew three sizes in his hand. It glowed white as it hit the ground, and a beam of energy materialized into what looked like an orange otter, with a yellow rubber ring around its neck. It stared at him curiously, and he couldn’t help but stare back.

“Bui!” it cooed excitedly, a smile spreading across its muzzle. “Bui-zel!” And then before Shaun could react, it lunged forward and wrapped its paws around his knees, hugging him tightly. Hesitantly, he reached down and put a hand on its head. The fur was sleek and shiny, with a persistent cowlick on the back of its head that wouldn’t stay down no matter how much Shaun ran his hand over it. This had to be a dream. It had to. Any minute, Shaun was going to wake up in his own bed, in his own room, in his own house, and his real mom would be there to hug him and tell him he was safe. Any minute now.

Any minute.

"Hi, I'm Shaun Mars. I'm not here right now, but if you leave me a message, I'll call you back later, okay?"