Josef Phillip Muller

[Josef Muller]

The Basics

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Name: Josef Phillip Muller
Nicknames: Joe. But mostly "hey you"
Age: 40 39
Orientation: Homosexual
Desired Rank/Job: Local, looking to rent out a place for a self-defense workshop.
Powers:
Assumed Muscle Memory:
Josef can watch any physical action being performed and mimic it perfectly, even if he only sees it once. If it’s a small thing, such as one dance move or one way of throwing a punch, he can learn it with limited side effects. However, if it is a longer period of observation for a more intensive skill, such as a kata or a full dance routine, he suffers severe fatigue after, and loses something that he has actually trained himself to learn. He still knows how to do it, but he has to relearn all the movements again. He also must keep himself in god physical shape to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself when he mimics the skill.

Another problem is if the person he has observed doesn’t have the technique right. If that’s the case, he can’t simply observe someone doing it correctly and have that solve the problem. Instead, he has to retrain himself to do it the right way, which usually takes more time and effort than simply learning it correctly the first time. He tends to not use his power unless he absolutely has to for this reason: it’s far easy to “pick up” all the wrong habits.
Play By: Jason Behr

The Details

Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Hazel
Any Piercings? None
Any Tattoos? None
Any Scars? Some acne scarring from when he was a teen, and a couple small marks here from mistakes with weaponry (usually not his mistakes, though).
General Appearance: You couldn’t really call Josef intimidating. He’s about medium height, about 5’10”. He’s pretty content with that. He never really felt that he needed to be tall. He’s well-built, though, well-proportioned, and muscular. He has to be in order to use his power without hurting himself. Not overly so, though. He thinks that’s just gross. He works out enough to keep himself healthy and whole, and that’s it. Now, as he’s getting older, he’s grateful for that sort of caution, because everything’s just getting a bit more stiff…

He keeps himself very well groomed. His black hair is cropped short and is always neatly trimmed. No, he doesn’t go so far as to resort to creams. He doesn’t view it as silly, but he has other things to worry, and that isn’t high on his priorities. The main thing that he has to do, however, is keep himself well-shaven. He’s naturally hairy, so usually shaves at least once a day so he doesn’t start to look like a bear. The personal grooming also extends to his clothes, but for the most part, he just keeps them neat and makes sure he looks good. Jeans and t-shirt are his preferred poison, although he’ll occasionally go with a button-down shirt and slacks if he has to be formal. The only thing you’ll never catch him wearing his a polo shirt. He hates them.

His most noticeable features are probably his eyes and the fact that it’s usually hard to read his expression. He’s not really tan, and in his pale skin, his eyes look very large and usually just a little intense, especially as he tends to focus on things with a certain single-mindedness. And as for his expression…well, it’s clear he used to be friendlier. The smile lines around his mouth and the wrinkles around his eyes would indicate that. However, lately his lips are just pressed together in a thin line, or turn up only slightly if he’s amused. The rest of the time, however, it’s hard to tell what’s going on in that head of his.
Personality: The first thing people tend to notice about Josef is that he doesn’t seem to actively dislike anyone. He doesn’t mind hanging out with anyone in particular, and seems to see the good traits of most. Or, if he sees the bad, he doesn’t seem inclined to share it with anyone. He’s very blunt as well. Honest, yes, but mostly just forthright with his opinions and the problems he has with things and people. He doesn’t get tiptoeing around issues. And although he knows some people find it offensive, he figures they’ll get over it.

Pride and vanity fall under his faults. He likes looking nice and takes a great deal of care to make sure he does. He’s often too proud to ask for help even when he knows he needs it, and often has troubles both admitting when he’s wrong and saying that he can’t do anything. He also has quite a lot of confidence in his own abilities, some merited, some not. That said, he doesn’t have a high opinion of his personality. Quips about his pride and need to check the mirror five times before he leaves can be heard more frequently than boasts. He also doesn’t have a great deal of faith in his own intelligence. He figures he’s just about average, and is fine with that.

Focus is one of his gifts. Focus and a certain amount of bull-headed determination and stubbornness. If Josef wants to learn something, then by God, he IS going to learn it. He’ll work for hours, push himself to the brink, to accomplish some little task that probably wouldn’t matter to someone else. He’s also patient with anyone who shows at least some of the same drive that pushes him to be what he is. If you don’t, though, he really can’t be bothered.

He’s not a leader. He doesn’t get the point of pushing himself forward to give instructions. Vain, yes, and proud as well, but he figures someone else probably knows what they’re doing more than he does, so why make people follow him? He takes orders well, with a minimum amount of questioning, and just figures out how to make them work. However, if they’re really that bad (or just strange to him) he will twist them until they make more sense to him, or at least work better.

Once he was louder, more intense, rasher, and freer with his jokes and laughter. After his divorce, he seems to have mellowed. Now he can be seen frowning just as often as smiling, and he definitely has learned to think before he acts. He also doesn’t trust as easily. Although he’s a very protective person, and will watch out for just about anyone who comes under his wing, he doesn’t let anyone do the same for himself. However, he’s also loyal to a fault. Self-preservation when it comes to watching out for others doesn’t tend to occur to him.

Your Vices

Likes:
Physical activity (any kind)
Honesty
Movies (except chick flicks. He finds them dull).
Relaxing
Popcorn
Traveling
Friendly people (or at least people who don't find him irritating)
Slapstick comedies (yes, the really bad ones)
Looking nice
Having a sense of humor
Cooking
Dislikes:
Horseback riding
Dishonesty
Disloyalty
Mindless chatter
Video games
People who say "I can't."
Facebook (just no)
Talking about his ex
Betrayal
Raunchy conversations in public (he gets embarrassed)
Strengths:
Physical activities
Watching and learning skills
Patience
Ability to get along with most people
Not much bothers him: doesn't have much of a temper.
Weaknesses:
Admitting personal problems.
Asking for help.
Vanity and pride
Revealing how he feels about anything
Some distrust of his own abilities.
Music. He's tone deaf.
Fears: Going through life and having nothing to show for it and no one to care.
Secret: Suffers through bouts of depression.

Family Ties

Father: Jakob Muller, 65, architect
Mother: Emma Muller, secretary, 67
Siblings: Helene Muller, diplomatic assistant, 30.
Any Other Important People:None, but once he gets settled, he wants a dog.

History

Josef was born to a normal family. Well, fairly so. His father was from Germany, who moved to America in an attempt to find a job and a better way of life. And, as it happened, he did. He got his degree and started as an architect, and while working, met Emma, who was a secretary for one of the construction companies who hired him. Their affair wasn’t passionate or stunning or shocking. After two years of dating, they got married. And after they got married, they had Josef. It was as simple as that.

In fact, most of Josef’s life could be described as that. Simple. He wasn’t really a bad child. Enthusiastic, certainly. He liked running around all over the place. When he was four, he persuaded his parents to put him in karate after seeing the Karate Kid for the first time. Most of the time, his mother complained that he wore her out, because he had too much energy. He was a pretty social child, so had quite a few friends. When he was ten, his parents had a second child, and named her Helene. After that, Josef had to learn to manage on his own, because Helene required quite a lot of attention. And because his mother had always wanted a girl, and found Josef exhausting, she spoiled the little girl rotten.

By the time Josef was fourteen, he’d shot up far past his mother’s height, and had managed to make it to brown belt in karate. His power manifested while testing for his black belt. He was learning a technique from his teacher when he realized, to his surprise, that it hadn’t taken any effort. At first, he was pleased. Clearly, he was getting better. However, when the teacher was demonstrating the final kata, which was over ten minutes long, the teenager ended up passing out in the middle of his mimicry.

His mother, he joked later, overreacted, because the boy woke up in the hospital with nothing worse than a headache. However, it was enough to bring a recruiter from Hammel to his side. She explained the basics of what had occurred, the problems, and what the solution was. Josef didn’t believe her at first, until he returned home and tried to practice a kata he’d learned three years before, only to realize that he couldn’t do it.

He took going to Hammel fairly well. He wasn’t thrilled to be leaving his parents, but being fourteen and rebellious helped in that. Besides, there he found a lot of people like him. He learned to control his power better, got middling grades, and went on to college to get a degree in Kinesiology. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but when he graduated, he decided to return to Hammel to become a recruiter.

When he was thirty, a business man by the name of William Goldsman came to Pilot Ridge. Josef had never been exactly shy when it came to being interested in men, and so approached him in a coffee shop and asked him out. Both of them were usually travelling. William had sales to make, and Josef had students to find. Eventually, they managed to schedule their trips so they were semi-together. William got a better job that let him do work on the road. They moved in together, and at Josef’s convincing, got married.

Josef’s family advised against this. It wasn’t that they weren’t suited, he said. They were. But that kind of commitment didn’t seem to fit the couple. William was flighty at best. He enjoyed flirting, joking, drinking, partying, while Josef was looking for a more settled down relationship. It wasn’t three years before William, who had finally decided to stay in one place, became upset at Josef’s travelling for his position. He wanted his husband at home, he said. They got into their first of many arguments about it. Josef liked his job. He enjoyed helping the students, and he didn’t like that William was making him chose between them and him. But William eventually wheedled him into it, and persuaded him to move away from Hammel and into a larger city. Josef got a job as a personal trainer there. Things did get better for a time. William was spending more time with him, and was even talking about adopting. And Josef was always one to be happy with what he had. However, it didn’t quite work out. William spent more time at the office. Josef wasn’t happy with his “career.” And when, at seven years of a not-really-happy marriage, William was caught with his secretary and his pants down, Josef clenched his teeth and gave up. His lawyer advised him to sue William for half his money. The man had had quite a lifestyle, and his parents had left him with money. Josef had agreed, mostly mechanically. He knew the whole thing wasn’t his fault. He’d done what he could. Nonetheless, he had loved William, had wasted energy and seven years of his life trying to make it work, and it still hurt. After the trial, Josef took his money and left, deciding to return to Hammel. He’s still not sure if he wants to return to recruiting, but he’s decided to take William’s money and invest it in a self-defense workshop. At least that way, it’ll be put to good use.

Roleplay Example

...*points to Kateri* However, if you want one of Josef himself...

The time from when Erich left felt like an eternity. Josef had eventually managed to get used to the mind-numbing pain, at least enough to actually allow thought to enter his mind, and once he was sure that no other visitors were bound to arrive and question him, or worse, he began thinking of various ways to get out of this bind. Had he actually informed anyone of where he was going (a habit he would now implement for the rest of his days if he managed to get out of this wretched mess), he would have been assured of a rescue. But because of his own reclusive habits and tendencies not to inform anyone of where he was going to, he doubted he would be so fortunate now. So it was up to him. And he was anxious not to remain in Helene’s hands for any longer than he needed to. Helene was many things: strict, petulant, and kind to children. But mercy wasn’t in her heart, especially when it came to him. And Josef was no coward, but he could list several things that he would much rather do, including face down that damned desert shape shifter yet again, than stay in her company. So carefully and slowly, he began twisting the ropes and his wrists, attempting to wriggle free. It didn’t work. The knot was good, and Erich knew Josef too well to think he wouldn’t try anything, so the more he struggled, the more they tightened. It didn’t take long for him to wear out. His arm protested the disturbance, and he soon gave up, head down once again as he tried to muster some sort of strength, anything, to get himself free. This wasn’t where he wanted to be. He didn’t have time for this sort of disturbance. They needed to get somewhere, and for him to be trussed up like this, like a lamb waiting for slaughter… he would have growled in frustration had he not felt more like weeping.

And then the door opened, and Josef lifted his head to stare blankly at… a woman? No. Isaiah. He looked good as a woman: amusingly so, in fact. If anything in this situation was funny at all. In his current condition, it took a moment for the reality of the situation to sink in.

He was being rescued. Isaiah was saving him.

What a gods-cursed stupid thing to do.

But he didn’t have time to say that, or anything. Because before he could even blink, Isaiah was standing behind his chair, cutting his bonds, and then had pushed him to his feet and was stripping down out of the women’s clothes.

Like that was going to work. Josef could see several problems immediately. One: while Isaiah’s thin frame and small stature would work fine in this particular attire, Josef was at least a head taller than the Israelite. He hadn’t shaved and was naturally hairy, and held himself stiffly as he’d been tied to the chair. That and the fact that his right arm was broken, which would definitely hinder his movements. It was ridiculous! No one would ever fall for it. But by then, Isaiah had muttered something about Ammar—whom Josef didn’t have any acquaintance with at all—and was dressing him up in the clothes before being ushered into another room. He didn’t say any of the thoughts that were going through his head. For one, they weren’t all focused, and tended to be a little… distracted. And, for another, not all of them were flattering. Most of them were along the lines of “you perfect fool.” But he did manage to get out, in spite of his conflicting emotions at the Israelite’s appearance, a quiet but heartfelt “thank you” before he found himself standing next to the man who must have been Ammar. He was quite tall. Josef wasn’t used to inclining his head so far back to look at anyone else. He himself was a bit taller than average height, but he couldn’t help but wonder why all of Isaiah’s helpers seemed to be so tall.

Then again, did it matter? What was important was that he wanted a sword so badly that it was nearly an itch. Now that he was free and the pain had subsided to a dull throb, his thoughts were coming back, and the weariness was fading to fury. Damn that woman. Damn her. Was it impossible for her to leave him alone? But this wasn’t the time to focus on revenge, no matter how badly he craved it. That would be spoiling all of Isaiah’s work, and he wasn’t willing to do that.

“Do you think this will work?” he asked Ammar quietly in the other room, glancing down at his frame, which was hardly inconspicuous in the too-small and slightly too tight clothes. If only he had a cloak… Or a sword. Or even his whittling dagger. Anything would have been better than this, even if he was hardly stronger than a kitten right then. “And how exactly does he—”

He stopped, hearing familiar footsteps on the landing outside the door. Two familiar sets, in fact. It seemed Erich had returned, and was fetching the lady from the room. He could tell by the slow, stately steps. His teeth ground together, but he held himself still and slumped instead against the wall, waiting and listening.

“Do you think he’s ready?” the woman inquired. The heavier footsteps paused, then continued. Erich felt guilty. Josef would have been happy about that, but that sort of emotion came a little late now. And while he was happy—alright, disgustingly grateful—to have been freed, and slightly anxious to see the two pay for their multitude of sins, he would admit to having more pressing concerns.

Isaiah. How was he going to get out? Erich didn’t know him…perhaps he could just pass himself off as a servant. But if Josef was gone…

“I hope so, m’lady,” the old guardsman responded as he stopped in front of the door. “I hope so.” And he leaned forward to push it open.

What About You?

Name: Sara
Age: 18
Experience: 7 years
How Did You Find Us? An ad, I think. I forget.
Ready To Play?...I have up pessimism for Lent, so as long as they let me.=D

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[Mads ♥]

Accepted!

That was lovely. Well written! Go do your claims, then join in the game!