I am an Instrument of God

Hearts and Minds voicemail

2007-07-03T14:28:47Z

You have reached the laboratory of Dr. Gaius Baltar. Dr. Baltar is busy at the moment testing endless blood samples or doing something else incredibly tedious that you people have forced him to do. If you leave a message he will get back to you the next time he has a chance to squander some of his invaluable time.

supergeniusvote @ 2007-03-05T16:38:00

2007-03-05T15:38:48Z

Currently accepting rp solicitations?: Yes
Name/Alias: Putrocca (or "Thrud" or "Ada")
Age: 25
Theme(s) for you would be willing to play: I can do most standard fantasy/ sci-fi/ historical/ mythological settings (shows, book series) plus I run anime convention events so I'm extremely well-versed in pretty-much all anime and manga, so name a series and character and odds are 60% I could probably do it. I'm particularly well-versed in seinen titles, old and obscure stuff, and the history of shoujo. My role-play specialties are "manipulative" type characters, whether good or evil, as well as mad scientists and vampires/demons/angels, but I like variety. I have lots of experience being a GM or NPC so I can play a variety of things as the need requires. I would be happy to take on a temporary character for a plotline badly in need of a specific person. My favorite anime characters are Dr. Black Jack, Rock Holmes (Metropolis), Kaworu (Evangelion), Legato Bluesommers (Trigun), K-san (Gravitation), Shigure (Fruits Basket) and Orochimaru (Naruto); favorite anime/manga series include Black Jack, 20th Century Boys, Paranoia Agent, Speed Grapher, Death Note, Hikaru no Go, Utena, Gundam Wing, GTO, Astro Boy, Excel Saga, Monster, Weiss, Ayakashi, Nightwalker, Rose of Versailles, Buddha, Uzumaki, Saiyuki, Mythical Detective Loki, Petshop, Tramps Like Us, Lone Wolf & Cub, Tokyo Babylon, Princess Tutu, Yakkitate! Japan, Hale X Guu, Gankutsuou, Bleach, Ouran... in short, lots. In addition to anime I can do BSG, Dr. Who, Lexx, Farscape, Buffy, Gargoyles, historical (I'm an historian) and most other standard f/sf shows that have been on in the past couple decades.

Preferred setting(s): I'm new to LJ but am willing to adapt to any online forum.
Experience: Playing AD&D since I was 7, LARPing for 10 years, online/text roleplay for 8 years, writing and running games, staffing anime cons and designing special events, freelance journalism work for Tokyopop & ADV.

Preferred method of contact: putrocca@aol.com

Explanation of this journal

2007-03-01T21:37:56Z

For anyone who has come here from "PleasePickMe" this is an old LJ account that I created becuase I was invited to play Gaius Baltar in a BSG RP, but that RP then died, leaving the account as-is. If I start a new roleplay game I will reformat this journal appropriately to the character I am called-upon to play, but you can take the layout here as proof of the fact that I am very thorough when I take on a new RP.

For more information about my roleplay background and what series/characters I would be good to play, please contact me by e-mail: putrocca at aol dot com.

Application Quesitonaire: in character section

2006-07-14T20:27:13Z

(It seems this would be a good icebreaker for the group, so I'm posting the answers to my initial application questionaire here. I thought it was a great questionaire)

Name: Dr. Gaius Baltar.

Occupation or Rank (if any):

Yes, I do have a rank, thank you for asking, my rank is Doctor. These days it seems the only titles that matter to anyone are the military ones, while a doctorate from a leading university, or three leading universities, which represent highest achievements of the civilization we’re all supposed to be trying to preserve, is little more than a ticket to countless tedious jobs, without a 'thank you', let alone respect. My current occupation is as Galactica’s resident Cylon expert, which is supposed to make me a valued and respected advisor at the highest levels of command, but in reality they view as an intruder in their military world, and then complain when I can’t produce miracles on demand. At least they’ve given me my own lab, so I get to spend plenty of time alone.

What makes you unique?:

Well, I am a super-genius, even Adama has to admit that. I’m only one we have left. That makes me a unique resource, like the Galactica mainframe, or the macro-ionic filter in Tillium refinery that we don’t have the resources to replace. Honestly, given how much I contribute, if there is one single object whose loss would put the fleet, no, humanity itself, in the most jeopardy, it’s not any of our military or industrial technology, it’s me. I may be the most powerful and dangerous single object in the universe. If they knew what they were doing, they’d have more security around me than around their nuclear warheads and a team of bodyguards around the clock. But I’m not going to be the one to point it out to them.

What are you afraid of?:

Her. It may sound crazy, but I’m not nearly so afraid of the attacking fleets and raiders and traps saboteurs – they’re all out there, with an entire Battlestar between me. But her, she’s inside, not even in this room, but inside, with access to what I already told you is the most powerful and dangerous resource in the universe – my mind. But as frightening as she is, I’m the one who has the least to fear from her. After all, I can see her, I know her, I can still be in control when I have to be. It’s the others, the ones who don’t even know that she exists, they’re the ones that should really be afraid. They don’t know her, they don’t love her, and they aren’t part of the plan.

What is your biggest regret?:

It wasn’t my fault. The destruction of the colonies was part of a larger plan, and it had to happen as it did, nothing could change it. I couldn’t change it, and I certainly wasn’t responsible for it. But they would never believe that. If they find out I was with her before the attack, they’d assume I was a traitor. They’d hold me responsible for all those billions... They’d probably even be so stupid as to... I don’t want to think about it. It won’t happen. It can’t. She won’t let it, right? It’s not part of the plan.

What pisses you off?:

They don’t give me the respect that I deserve. She’s right about that. They’ve never given me the respect that I deserve.

What keeps you going?:

She does. What else would? Certainly not my ‘friends and colleagues’ on Galactica who do little more than tolerate me as a necessary evil, or humanity which just seems to be degenerating into primitivism as the weeks drag on. I’m an intelligent man. I need intelligent discourse, not military barking, or the degenerating death-moans of a civilization cowering behind the old social conventions, jobs and politics which they can’t admit are meaningless now that humanity’s greatest hope is in surviving long enough to find a mystical home which, even if it exists, is certainly too far away for us to reach it before statistics whittle us down to nothing. She gives me intelligence. She gives me serious discussions, about the future, and about what has happened to me and to everyone. And I have other needs to, emotional and physical as well as intellectual. She satisfies them all.

What or who speaks to your heart?:

Now we all know the organs of the cardiovascular system have nothing to do with communication or emotion. But to answer your question, you’re going to think I have a one-track mind now, but I don’t have any other answer: her. She’s in every part of me, intellect, emotion, curiosity, ambition, paranoia, hope. There aren’t really any corners left she hasn’t touched. If I have a soul, she’s the one. So what if she’s not human; isn’t that what human companionship is supposed to be? Exploration, communication, love, facing the big questions and challenges of life together? If humanity is supposed to be superior to animals because of our ability to connect with others, to love and help one other understand the nature of this universe which our unique intelligence allows us to explore, then she’s the only person here who treats me like a human.

Application Questionaire: O.O.C. section

2006-07-14T20:22:48Z

As an icebreaker, here are the more interesting sectinos of the O.O.C. section of my original Action Stations application form:

Name: Ada
Time Zone: For now, EST. Starting in September, GMT + 1 (Italy)
Age: 25

Describe your previous experience as an RPer:

Lots. Dad taught me to play D&D when I was six. I’ve been gaming and DM-ing (GM-ing) steadily since age 15, mostly D&D, some GURPS, a little Whitewolf, both long continuing campaigns and short one-shots. I’m known for running funny and intellectual games, like Philosophers Cave, in which you have to fight all the great philosophers in history in chronological order, as they wield weapons which personify their philosophies, like Nietzsche’s hammer, or Socrates’ dialectic bazooka. I’ve run gaming at cons, and at several sci-fi clubs. I’ve also three games along the lines of this one (online roleplay conducted in text entries w/o dice etc.) one with vampires, one Shakespeare-based and one more broad fantasy based – I really like that style since it allows for maximum roleplay with minimum concern about game mechanics. I’m also moderator for a new roleplay along the same lines that’s just starting up, based on the Monkey Ninja Pirate Robot system, and set in Victorian London. Lately I’ve done a lot of LARPing, including anime convention LARPing, and a recent multi-year campaigns where everyone were gods (lots of good theology discussion there). In roleplay, my favorite thing is having intelligent characters deal complex intellectual or theological questions (hence I like playing gods, priests or philosophers), and my second favorite is complex political manipulation, and my third is mad scientists. I have a reputation among those I game with frequently of always playing manipulative bastards... it may be true.

Are you up-to-date with the episodes?:

I am completely up-to-date with the episodes now. Once they start airing in the fall again, though, I won’t be able to keep up with the new episodes very well because I’m spending the year in Italy and will have no TV and spotty internet. It’s not impossible that I’ll be able to have people mail me discs of downloaded eps while I’m out there, but in a practical sense we should assume I won’t be able to watch the new season as it airs. Still, since this game is going chronologically, I don't think that will be a problem.

What are you hoping to get out of this game?

I’m friends with Claudia, who is doing #6, and when she told me she was doing a Battlestar Galactica RP my first question was, “Who’s doing Dr. Baltar?” I love Gaius and just wanted to hear fun anecdotes, and I couldn’t believe it when she told me you didn’t have a Gaius yet. He’s my absolute favorite character in the series, as well as one of my favorite types of characters in fiction generally, a mad scientist type actively engaged in issues about the existence, or not, of God(s) as well as in power politics – it’s the perfect combination of my favorite topics. So I would not be applying to do this if it weren’t him I’d be doing, but once she mentioned it I just couldn’t stop thinking about the thought if a BSG LARP out there in desperate need of a Baltar. I want to explore the theology. I want to explore the power politics. I want to have good interplay with Claudia who I know is doing a wonderful #6. I know for now it’s too early, but eventually it would be delightful if she started also writing Caprica 6 and I did the Baltar in her head while she was doing the 6 in mine, nice symmetry. That aside, I’m a graduate student, studying the history of atheism in Europe, particularly Italy. Last year I spent 4 months there doing research and was incredibly lonely without my roleplay groups. I even started doing a really vacuous online vampire RP just to alleviate my boredom. I’m going back again this year for 11 months and want to make sure I have some good online roleplaying lined up to hold me during my long stay, as well as a way to stay in touch with BSG while I can’t see the new episodes.