Application for raisetheearth

[actingstorm]

OOC Information

Player: Airdra
Contact: Airdra
Age: 31
Current characters: None

IC Information

Name: Martin Stein (at thinkingfire) and Ronnie Raymond (at actingstorm), reincarnated as Martin and Ronnie Stein
Canon: The Flash (2014 TV Series)

Preincarnation Information

Appearance: Here is a picture of Martin, and here is a picture of Ronnie.

History: There's actually a fairly good wiki link here for Martin and here for Ronnie.

But to sum it up, in the universe of The Flash, a particle accelerator was activated by STAR Labs in Central City in an event that sets much of the show into motion. Martin Stein, a noted nuclear physicist, was present at STAR in the hopes of discussing his F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project--a project devoted to matter transmutation--with STAR's Dr. Wells in the hopes of securing more funding. Ronnie Raymond, a structural engineer, was present as part of STAR's staff. When the particle accelerator malfunctioned, Ronnie was busy sacrificing himself to prevent the damage from becoming worse, and Stein was dropping the piece of the project he'd brought with him, the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M matrix. When the smoke of the particle accelerator's malfunction cleared, neither man could be found. Ronnie was presumed dead, and Dr. Stein, who hadn't made a big deal out of telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing, was simply presumed missing. Not long after, the military started confiscating all of Stein's research.

Stein and Ronnie went unheard of for the better part of a year, and rumors of a mysterious Burning Man began to circulate. The explosion fused Ronnie, Stein, and the matrix, resulting in Ronnie's body walking around with Stein's consciousness in semi-control. The end result was that they spent that time living like a schizophrenic homeless man with two disoriented personalities battling for control. This was exacerbated by Stein's belief that they would be a danger to anyone they cared about and thus needed to stay away. (That they incinerated a friend of Stein's when going over there to ask for help means that this belief was not entirely without merit.) They encountered Caitlin, Ronnie's fiancee, and Cisco, another of STAR's scientists, who recognized Ronnie's face and tried to get him to come back with them. Firestorm only claimed that he wasn't Ronnie, said his name was Firestorm, and took off.

Eventually, the Flash and his team put together the pieces of what had happened between Ronnie and Stein the night the particle accelerator went haywire, and they were able to track Firestorm down, stabilizing his mind with the sorts of drugs usually used to treat disassociative identity disorder. This led to Stein being in control of the merge with Ronnie's personality being dormant. At this point, the fusion was starting to break down in the sort of way that would lead to a massive nuclear explosion, so Firestorm decided to isolate himself in a remote location while waiting for the end to come. The Flash arrived with a quantum splicer that allowed them to undo the merge, with both men thinking they'd finally broken free of Firestorm.

This was not to be the case--the two of them were still linked and still being drawn back towards each other, but with the assistance of the quantum splicer, they were able to gain control of the merge. They fused using Ronnie's body, with Ronnie remaining in control. Stein became a passenger, though he could still see and feel anything that was happening to them, as well as communicate with Ronnie. The two of them left Central City for Pittsburgh, for the military was still looking for them in the hopes of using Firestorm as a weapon. Firestorm later came back to Central City in order to assist the Flash, and both Ronnie and Professor Stein admitted they couldn't keep running forever. (It helped that at this point, General Eiling, the chief of the military operation to bring Firestorm in, had been killed.)

Firestorm later helped the Flash to fight the Reverse Flash, and, when the Reverse Flash's efforts to travel back to the future opened up a wormhole, was ready to sacrifice himself in order to shut the wormhole down. Stein survived, but there was no sign of Ronnie in the aftermath.

Personality:
Martin
Martin stein is easily excited by science, especially if it's a field he's got a particular bit of interest in. Time travel in particular is something that fascinates him, and he's written several papers on the subject. His major work, F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M., deals in nuclear physics and matter transmutation--not exactly a traditional field of study. He's also willing to rush things if he gets excited enough by an idea; his enthusiasm with F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. led him to forgo starting out with small tests, instead opting for bigger and better ones.

He treats getting fused to Ronnie for the better part of a year as an eye-opening experience. It's taught him that he needs to put more focus on his relationships with people, rather than with his work. His chief regret is that he didn't spend more time being a better husband to his wife, Clarissa. It's with this in mind that he is initially very reluctant to get into the superheroing business, but as time goes on, he gets more and more into it. It's the sort of crazy application of science and venture into the unknown that makes things exciting. His enthusiasm over everything even leads him to assign a code name to a newly-emerged villain, Atom Smasher. That's usually Cisco's job, and Cisco is generally the most openly enthusiastic person there.

He needs something to stay occupied with. Retirement is the sort of thing he claims he enjoys--rediscovering hobbies! helping his wife out around the house!--but drives his wife crazy with. It's not an ideal situation for either of them. It would seem he's constantly underfoot and a bit of a nuisance (at least as far as Clarissa is concerned) if he doesn't have any work to direct his energy and enthusiasm towards. It would not be out of line to think that he will do things like disassemble household appliances and then try to make them work better if he gets bored enough.

Despite his assertions that he hasn't spent enough time cultivating the relationships in his life, he's still got a great grasp on how to talk to people. Part of this might be due to the fact that he's actually a rabbi--his father made him become one before he'd let Stein go study at MIT. It wouldn't be out of the question for him to learn some sort of people skills while engaged in that sort of training. He's very good at offering advice. When Eddie doesn't know how to deal with the Reverse Flash situation, Stein is quick to point out that Eddie's the most fascinating one there--because Eddie's the wild card of the situation, a factor that couldn't be planned for. He tries to give Eddie hope, though it's also closely entwined with Stein's excitability over the science in the situation, for this is all new theoretical ground. He also offers Barry advice when Barry's wondering over whether or not he should try to go back in time and save his mother from being killed. The ramifications of any actions Barry takes in the past fascinate him. He even manages to give a pretty good speech when he's officiating Ronnie and Caitlin's wedding, right before the team's about to go out and do something crazy.

He is also a pacifist, and he'd really rather not get involved in all the back and forth fighting that superheroes tend to do. More importantly than that, he doesn't want to see his life's work used as a weapon by the government. He protested the Vietnam War--he's not about to sit back and allow his work to be taken and used to hurt people. His convictions are strong enough that they help give him the strength of will needed to resist some pretty heavy duty torture and interrogation.

Once he gets a bit better settled in the swing of things and is less irritated at having his life upended by being merged with some other guy he's never met before, Stein also shows himself to have a playful streak. He's got a quick wit, and he'll often use it to point things out. When Eddie's treating a newspaper from the future as absolute gospel, Stein points out that he has a coffee mug that says 'World's Best Boss,' and that he's pretty sure his teaching assistant would tell Eddie otherwise. When he's about to officiate Ronnie and Caitlin's wedding, he claims it will be "legit, as the kids say," and when Ronnie points out that kids don't really talk like that, he's quick to say, "let's not fight on our wedding day" and then proceeds to "skip all the Hebrew" and get to the point of the ceremony. He doesn't have much patience for tradition, and he'd rather get to the good stuff.

Ronnie
He tends to be fun-loving and spontaneous, and he doesn't take himself too seriously. Case in point, he doesn't like going by his full first name of Ronald, preferring instead to be called by the more familiar, less stuffy-sounding Ronnie. He's said to have an obsession with pizza, and he'd never deny it. He also jokes that he's really just a fancy plumber, which is an understatement regarding the work he's done at STAR. He's very good at his job, and he's confident in his ability to do it. When the group is essentially making a time machine and Ronnie notices a problem with it, he's initially told "this isn't a bookcase from IKEA," but he doesn't even acknowledge the doubt there--he just goes on and points out the flaw he's noticed in the materials they're using for the machine. He doesn't brag, but he doesn't show off serious doubt in his skills. When push comes to shove, he knows he has what it takes, and he will use what skills he has to stand with all of these brilliant physicists.

Narratively speaking, Ronnie is, as he puts it once when he's asked who he is, "the dead fiancee." Much of his role in the narrative is based on his relationship with Caitlin. He and Caitlin balance each other out. She can be cold and reserved, while he's more relaxed. It's obvious he cares very much for her and she for him, even though their relationship seems doomed every step of the way once the particle accelerator malfunctions. They're ready to commit to one another, though initially, Ronnie wants to rekindle their relationship somewhere else, away from all of the metahuman stuff that's going down in Central City. He's very devoted to her, even if they've been forcibly separated for a year.

His initial response to being separated from Stein and seemingly able to have a normal life again is to want to get the hell out of town, to start over somewhere with Caitlin. It's not that he's being disloyal to everyone else, it's that he's ready to get on with his life and doesn't think he can do that if he stays in Central City. It's understandable--he's been through a lot, and that he might initially be more interested in trying to forget any of this ever happened is unsurprising. Stein is also quick to point out that the reason he was so insistent on taking control was that he could feel Ronnie's fear and emotion and thought it would be their undoing. He points out Ronnie's inability to stay away from people for their own protection. The idea of staying away from Caitlin for her own safety is one that he rebels against--even when he wants to leave Central City, he at first wants to bring her with him.

Ronnie seems to have his emotions under pretty good control, despite Stein's early insistence that Ronnie's emotions were anything but. (Then again, extenuating circumstances...) When he and Caitlin are ambushed by the military at a coffee shop, he doesn't panic. He's scared, certainly--he'd have to be crazy or have some brilliant backup plan not to be--but he doesn't let the fear paralyze him. (This could also be seen as a sign of his growth in the year he and Stein were stuck together.) When he's finally reunited with his fiancee, he is clearly very happy about it, but he's not doing anything extreme or particularly unusual.

He's also very self-sacrificing. In his first appearance, it's a flashback during which he's clearly willing to die in order to keep everyone safe. In his last appearance, he's willing to fly into a black hole and his probable demise in order to keep everyone safe. Keeping Caitlin safe is his number one priority. That he can keep everyone else safe is just a bonus. It's this nature that helps him adjust to the superhero life once it becomes clear that he and Stein can't go back to their normal lives just yet. While Stein seems to be driven more by the science and discovery of it all, Ronnie seems to be driven more by a sense of what he can accomplish with this. Flying seems to be his favorite part of being a superhero--he's often whooping in delight as he does it.

Abilities: With the aid of the quantum splicer, Ronnie and Professor Stein are able to fuse into Firestorm at will. They must be in each other's immediate vicinity in order to do this, and it seems likely that both parties must be conscious. If they don't have the quantum splicer, the fusion will be unstable, and they will have trouble both figuring out who's in charge of Ronnie's body and keeping their own personalities straight.

Together as Firestorm, the two of them have several abilities. Chief among these is the ability to produce and control nuclear flame. Usually, the fire manifests around Firestorm's head and hands. Early on, they had difficulty controlling this to the point they had legitimate concerns about hurting people they cared about--fears that were realized when they managed to severely burn a friend of Stein's they'd gone to for help. Firestorm can also use these flames to fly.

Ronnie and Stein also exhibit a psychic bond thanks to their status as Firestorm. When one is injured, the other will feel it, and some injuries will even transfer over. They are also aware of each other's emotional states; when one is in danger, the other will know. We're not shown what happens in scenarios involving extreme joy or other positive emotions; it is likely the bond will carry that over as well. There are also little things that have come through the bond; Stein initially couldn't stand pizza, but Ronnie's love of it rubbed off on him.

Individually, Stein is shown to have a very strong will and tolerance for pain--he's subjected to the sort of torture that was last carried out on a gorilla, and he still won't break. Early on in the fusion, he is also the dominant consciousness in the bond, despite the fact that they're largely using Ronnie's body.

In the comics, Firestorm can manipulate and transmutate matter. This is touched on in a scene that was later edited out of the first season finale. It is possible that these abilities could be properly introduced in a future episode, and I'm mentioning it more to cover my bases if it does come up as a thing in the future than anything else.

Reincarnation Information

Age: Martin's 55, Ronnie is 25.
Species: Both are human.
Appearance: Both of them look largely the same.

Starting Location: Gateway City

History: Martin Stein grew up a very intelligent, science-loving child, one of several children in a large family. He was shy and bookish enough that he might have been bullied in school were it not for his siblings constantly looking out for him. He ended up thriving in school, and he got into the college of his choice on a paid scholarship easily enough. His family couldn't have been prouder. It didn't take much for young Martin to throw himself into studying physics. School was hard work, but he enjoyed this sort of thing.

While he was an undergrad, he met and fell in love with a young woman named Louise who was also in the physics program, and they married shortly before starting their graduate work. The two of them had very different specializations, with Martin favoring theoretical quantum physics and Louise working on matters relating to refrigeration and absolute zero. Part of the success of their relationship was that they didn't do everything together--they could certainly hold an entertaining work-related conversation with their spouse, but outside interests were important, too. Louise ended up graduating and getting a job with a research firm, while Martin earned a doctorate and stayed at the university to do some post-doctoral work. Martin never could seem to remove himself from academia for too long; he liked the constant mental stimulation and mentoring the younger students. Some, like Harrison Weller and Johann Faust, even became his friends.

Despite their busy work schedules, Martin and Louise also had a child, a little boy named Ronnie. While his parents were both quiet scientists, Ronnie was anything but. He was a rambunctious child from the get go, which probably led to a few early spirited discussions about nature versus nurture in the Stein household. Martin's more flexible schedule meant that he ended up taking on more of the child care duties, even if bringing a rambunctious little boy to a physics lab was usually a pretty good recipe for disaster, especially when the boy's father had a tendency to focus on whatever it was he was working on at the time to the point of forgetting to do things like keep an eye on the child.

Things got a little bit easier when Ronnie started school proper. They had sports teams there, after all. Ronnie's grades were never the greatest, much to his parents' eternal consternation, but he usually managed to be one of the star players of whatever team he was on. His parents tried to encourage him in his interests, with one or both of them trying to show up at all of his games. Though he tried a great many sports, football quickly became his favorite. His parents were less than thrilled; Martin had a few strong feelings about football and academics thanks to the way things were budgeted at his university, and Louise was more worried about the possibility of injury.

As Ronnie grew up, his parents continued to try to support him, even if they didn't always understand him. Ronnie, for his part, tended to get into a bit more trouble than the Steins would have liked. He was a rowdy teenager, and there was more than a little drama in the household while he was in high school and getting into trouble. His troublemaking peaked once he got arrested after a party at a friend's house got wildly out of control, much to his father's eternal shame. He insisted that he didn't know how bad the party was going to get, and he also insisted that he hadn't actually had any alcohol. He was still the son of two level-headed scientists--he'd learned a little bit about self control. Unfortunately, his parents were so aghast at the situation, they didn't believe him. Martin didn't go pick him up right away, figuring leaving him in jail overnight might teach a better lesson than parental yelling and threats ever could...even if those were all things that happened once Ronnie was back home. There was a fundamental breach of trust on the part of all parties involved that night. Ronnie couldn't believe his parents didn't believe him, and his parents couldn't believe he'd even gotten himself into that situation in the first place.

That sort of thing made it easier for Ronnie to decide to go away to college rather than enrolling at the one where his father worked. He ended up attending a university in Texas on a full football scholarship (studying sports medicine and physical education instead of science like his parents wanted him to), where he continued to underperform academically. But on the field, he quickly made a name for himself, becoming the school's star quarterback, leading the team to district and national victories his junior year. He was quickly snapped up by the NFL upon graduating, and he ended up playing for Locke City's football team. He was a powerhouse on the field, and off the field, his personal life fueled sports gossip columns. Which supermodel was he dating this week? Who's party had he gone to? He was careful not to overdo it--no drunken passing out or arrests or surprise drug convictions for him--but it was clear part of him still hadn't really matured out of adolescence, at least the way his father saw it. Every time he saw one of these news stories, Martin would console himself with the fact that at least Ronnie hadn't gotten arrested again.

The invasion upended both Martin and Ronnie's lives. The wheels of entertainment turn swiftly, and the NFL quickly reassembled itself from what remained. Ronnie ended up signing with the Gateway City Guardians, and Martin and Louise ended up moving to that city as well. Louise wanted to retire and stay closer to her son while nagging him about settling down and producing grandkids already, and Martin, unwilling to retire just yet, took on a teaching position at a university in Gateway City. They thought their lives would settle into a sort of new normal, but then Ronnie and Martin started getting these Echo things they've heard the Numbered talk about. It's not at all reassuring--especially not the way the Echoes seem to be running parallel to one another.

Personality:
In Stein's case, in canon, he's never been a father. (At least, not in any capacity that was shown or addressed.) With the way he talks after being separated from his first disastrous merge with Ronnie, it sounds as though he's got a lot of regrets regarding his personal life--he focused too much on work, putting it above all else. His chief regret is not being a better husband to his wife. Now? The way his life has played out, family came first. He's got a son he badly wants to relate to and just doesn't know how. He tries, but they're so different, it's harder than he'd like. He's put a bit more effort into his family and friends this time around, and he's got fewer scientific awards as a result. (But there are so many more dad jokes in his life now. So many.) He probably also understands a bit more about football and sports in general than his canon self would have, if only by virtue of trying to let himself into Ronnie's world.

As far as Ronnie is concerned, in canon, he's a structural engineer. He's also the sort of guy who's ready to settle down for a quiet life and a bit of commitment. Here? Not so much. He doesn't think he's very smart, though many of his academic failures can be chalked up to flat out not caring about academic stuff. Sports came easier, his skill at sports impressed more people and got him more places, and that's where his interests lie. He's also tried not to let fame get to his head, but, well, it's gone to his head a little bit. He's nowhere near ready to settle down, is prone to partying a bit harder than he should, and tends to butt heads with his father because while they do care about each other, they don't understand each other.

Starting Echoes:
Ronnie:
- 1st Echo: Ability, Tier 1 plot echo. Elevated body temperature.
- 2nd Echo: Memory, Tier 1 plot echo. Memory of being in an alley surrounded by soldiers with guns pointing at him with a satisfied-looking general approaching.
- 3rd Echo: Memory, Tier 1 plot echo. Vague memory of simply bursting into flame.
- 4th Echo: Ability, Tier 1 plot echo. Partial formation of the bond with Martin; rough awareness of his emotional state and whether or not he's in pain.

Martin:
- 1st Echo: Ability, Tier 1 plot echo. Elevated body temperature.
- 2nd Echo: Memory, Tier 1 plot echo. Memory of being held in some military testing facility with the commanding officer saying "the last time I did this, it was to a gorilla" before getting tortured.
- 3rd Echo: Memory, Tier 1 plot echo. Vague memory of simply bursting into flame.
- 4th Echo: Ability, Tier 1 plot echo. Partial formation of the bond with Ronnie; rough awareness of his emotional state and whether or not he's in pain.

Goals for RtE: What I really want to do is play around with the nature of their bond, both as normal people and as a fused superhero. Having them be father and son this go round as opposed to two strangers adds another wrinkle to the mix--they're going to care about many of the same people and each other more than they did in canon. I'm hoping to get them established independently over a couple of months before actually getting them into an unstable bond for the first time, and I'm not sure how long they'll be stuck together then. The first fusion just has to happen on a Friday so I can make Freaky Friday jokes.

Samples

Third-Person Sample
Despite the friction between them, Martin Stein had always been one to try to support his son. As always, he tried to show up for Ronnie's football games. Today, the Gateway City Guardians were facing off against the Dallas Cowboys, and both teams were looking sharp. Though he had never been particularly fond of football, it was almost reassuring to be back at a game again after everything that had happened with the invasion. So much loss...and then some things managed to carry on just as usual. If an alien invasion couldn't keep the football cycle interrupted for long, then, he reasoned, absolutely nothing would.

Out there on the field, Ronnie was just trying to keep his head in the game. Focus on winning, not on wondering if he could really burst into flame at any moment. He was lucky to be out there at all; he'd spent most of the morning arguing with the team's doctors over his temperature. They'd wanted to keep him off the field for running a fever, but he'd insisted he wasn't. There was something wrong with their equipment. There had to be. You didn't just go walking around with a temperature of over a hundred and three degrees feeling like everything was perfectly fine. But it was hard to shake off the worry he felt when he thought of that and the memory he had of just spontaneously combusting.

Perhaps it was trying to shake off that fear that led him to call out a different sort of play than he usually used. It was gutsy, and it was the sort of thing he'd gained a reputation for pulling off, but still. This early on in the game, there was no need for such heroics. No need to try to keep the opposite team that on their toes. But hey, if he pulled it off, that would be pretty sweet--and a hell of a distraction.

Over the years, Martin had learned a little bit about football. He'd never be an expert at the game, but he kind of understood what he was watching. Sort of. (It took all of his willpower not to bring crosswords to work on in the stands...or at least not to work on them while the kids were actually playing.) He knew enough to know that Ronnie was the quarterback and in charge of getting the ball to the other end of the field. He knew enough to know that Ronnie usually accomplished this through calling a play and passing the ball to some other guy. That the way Ronnie was handling this play, trying to run the ball down the field...he hated that, hated watching his son get chased after by the other team's defense, especially when the defense was so ready to stop him.

Out on the field, Ronnie went down in a dogpile of football players.

In the stands, Martin cried out in pain. It suddenly felt like he was being crushed. There was also a sharp pain in one of his ankles, prompting him to wonder if this was just a really strange sort of heart attack. But no one noticed him over the commotion on the field and the general noise levels of the stadium. No, everyone's attention was out there on the game, where a player was being helped off the field after twisting his ankle in that dogpile. Martin didn't have to look to see the number four on the player's jersey. He didn't have to listen to the announcer to know that Ronnie was the one who had taken that hit. Father's intuition was one thing. But this? This was something else.

First-Person Sample
Alright, so...I've got to know. Is anyone else in this with any family members? Because things are getting weird.

[The camera had been focused on Ronnie, but now it's being pulled over to focus on Stein, who's pulling a thermometer out of his mouth.]

Strange indeed. Ronald and I appear to be getting many of the same memories from the same point of view--is this normal?

[And he's frowning deeply at the thermometer.]

We're also running a bit of a fever, though both of us feel perfectly fine otherwise.

How bad's yours, Dad?

A hundred three point four degrees. You'd think we'd be feeling something from that...

Yeah, well, they won't let me go to practice with a temperature like that. There a doctor in the house who can write me a note or something?

[There's a bit of a shrug.]

Dad says he won't.

[This prompts an irritated sigh from Stein.]

Ronald, I'm a physicist, not a medical practitioner. Though if there were any medical doctors out there who might be able to provide a bit more analysis than my taking a thermometer out of the medicine cabinet, I think we'd both appreciate the assistance.

Additional Information

I'm just giving you a heads-up that the series is still airing and that I may end up drawing from future material for their echoes and things. I do plan on focusing on the Season 1 stuff for the time being, so they shouldn't become walking spoilers. I'm also still toying with formatting options for network tags where they're both talking.