deerington app.

[measuringdicks]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Richie Tozier
Canon: It (movies) + CRAU from maskormenace
Canon Point: After the blood oath in the first movie.

In-Game Tattoo Placement: On the back, between the shoulderblades.
Current Health/Status: Alive.
Age: 14
Species: Human

Content Warnings: Off the top of my head: murder, death, child murder, child death, violence against and from minors, bullying, abuse of all kinds directed towards children (physical, sexual, verbal), domestic abuse, gore, horror, clowns, homophobia (external and internalized), sexual jokes coming from a minor, racism, sexism, fatphobia, cannibalism, and other sensitive or offensive subjects. Blanket Stephen King warning.

History: Here is a wiki link to Richie's page on the Stephen King fandom wiki. He also has a Wikipedia page. The most relevant information to this iteration of Richie comes from the 2017 film version, a summary of which can be found here.

CRAU History and Impact:

Came to Mask Or Menace in September 2019 via the Porter, which pulled in people from all over the multiverse, and met a fellow new teenaged imPort named Caleb, who he developed a rapport with right off the bat.

Was almost immediately dragged into a near-apocalyptic event where the fate of the world hung in the balance. Richie's participation in this event was fairly small, but significant to his development was an encounter where he and Caleb relived Richie's memory of his disastrous attempt to befriend Connor Bowers, and then Pennywise the Dancing Clown's attempt to kill Richie. This would mark the first time Richie came out to someone.

Among his cross-canon relationships, also developed a friendship with Jin Ling, bonding over the differences between their worlds, and with Martin Darkov, whose adoptive mother Andy taught Richie a bit about fighting. Another friend would be Adam Young, who was a couple of years younger than him and had a dog.

Among many other imPorts, was the victim of the Joker's fear toxin in December 2019, which caused him to see some of his worst fears.

Lost Caleb and later Jin Ling when the two ported out.

Met back up with Eddie Kaspbrak, only for Eddie to be dragged to a different universe (a dystopian version of MOM) in January 2020. This caused Richie to very nearly break into the military base where the Porter was being kept, but Eddie's re-arrival put a quick stop to that.

Was attacked by Heartless in February 2019, and he was stubborn enough that instead of simply also turning into a Heartless, he was split in two: a Heartless version and a Nobody who felt nothing and so ended up hurting his friends by pulling a disappearing act. This lasted until the end of February, when Xehanort, who unleashed the Heartless in a bid to swallow the world in darkness, was defeated, and Richie's ability to feel emotions was restored to him.

Has mostly just been lying low and avoiding getting caught up in events since then.

IMPACT: His stay in MOM started him on the path to accepting himself fully, and to branching out of his friend group to befriend other people from different worlds. It also meant that he became somewhat savvy in the ways of superhero tropes, having lived through them, and more cynical in terms of how long he would exist in a universe not his own: quite a few times, people he grew to care about suddenly disappeared from the world, and so Richie quickly had to grow used not only to the idea of possibly losing someone he cared about, but also to the inevitability of being the one lost someday. He also grew a little wary of unexpected events, having been plunged into a narrowly-averted apocalypse complete with monsters for his first month, and is more willing to prepare for them just in case. However, his time in 2019/2020, particularly his friendship with Caleb before Caleb disappeared, allowed him to grow somewhat more comfortable with his own sexuality—while he still won't admit to it himself in public, in private he's a little more willing to indirectly talk about it, as if feeling out how someone else may react, or even to talk about it if the other person already knows. Coming out properly is a different story, as Richie's first coming-out was forced because of an event, but given time and a strong enough relationship he'll start poking his head out of the closet. Because he's been in a different universe for so long, has encountered various monsters, and has befriended people from multiple different worlds, Richie's far more willing to accept accounts of strange events at face value, having learned that what's true in one universe may not necessarily be true for others, and has also, on occasion, taken it upon himself to teach people various aspects of pop culture circa the 1980s, such as arcades, video games, and movies (ie The Godfather, Blues Brothers), in exchange for learning a bit about different worlds.

Personality:

Among his group of friends, known as the Losers' Club, Richie Tozier is nicknamed, very kindly, "Trashmouth". There's a good reason for this, and it makes itself obvious as soon as you spend five minutes alone with him, because Richie's sense of humor is foul as hell and he's a huge loudmouth. He's the four-eyed class clown of the group, and his idea of jokes ranges from somewhat poor in taste ("your mom" jokes aimed at Eddie) to downright offensive (jokingly stuttering around his speech-impaired friend Bill, and in the book he pulls out some politically incorrect impersonations), and they tend to come out of his mouth at such a speed that it's a wonder he can even breathe. The biggest problem Richie has, and the one that outwardly marks him as a Loser (besides his huge glasses and sexuality), is the fact that he generally lacks a filter, and even when he knows better, he tends to mouth off anyway, which has made him a target for bullies much bigger and much more physically imposing than he is. He can't really help it—the source novel for the film makes a point to say that "wisecracks dangerous to his health sometimes emerged, all on their own, from his mouth," and these wisecracks tend to come out around people he really should not say them around, such as adults and the Bowers Gang. His closest, dearest friends aren't immune either: Eddie Kaspbrak gets the brunt of Richie's "your mom" jokes, but he's cracked a joke about Stanley Uris's greatest fear being a hot girl, made fun of Bill Denbrough's stutter, and derisively referred to Beverly as Molly Ringwald, among other things. Sure, Richie's a friendly, extroverted kid, but he cannot turn that filter on for love or money. When told to keep a look out for Beverly's abusive dad and to try and distract him if he does come by, Richie dryly notes that "it is a gift", implying that he's aware of the double-edged sword that it is.

Being a boy of thirteen, Richie carries all the typical impulsivity, energy and stubbornness that any other teenaged boy carries. He also has a lot more trauma than your average teenager, but it hasn't really stomped down on his impulsivity and energy. Indeed, even in the midst of a rash of missing children, Richie tends to hang out with his friends with no real adult supervision, and gets into dangerous situations with his friends even fully knowing just how much of a risk to his life and safety these situations could present. His mouth running off with zingers and off-color jokes is the most obvious manifestation of this impulsive side of him, but he also, in a moment of high emotion, throws Georgie's death at Bill in an attempt to dissuade him from going after Pennywise again, resulting in their falling-out after their first disastrous excursion into the house on Neibolt Street, midway through the movie. When Richie's terrified, at this age, he does not handle it well, as is expected from someone who's really only thirteen years old no matter how brave or stubborn or humorous he can be—he freaks out on seeing the missing poster with his face on it, and after the first excursion into Pennywise's territory flips out at Bill in such a way that it hurts their friendship for some time.

Compared to Bill (in the movies, at least), who's more idealistic and truly believes that he'll be able to find Georgie alive, Richie shows a more cynical, almost weary viewpoint. He's the person who bluntly deflates Ben's lie towards Beverly's question about just falling after Bowers' attack, telling her that Ben fell "right onto Henry Bowers" and claiming that "it's the truth", showing that he's familiar with Bowers and his gang's propensity towards violence and doesn't believe it to be anything to really lie to someone over, because who would care, after all, in Derry. While he doesn't come out and say it to Bill's face, it's clear that he's accepted that Georgie, and the other missing kids of Derry, are dead—when he, Bill, Eddie, and Stan spot Betty Ripsom's grieving mother looking for her daughter in the crowds of kids coming out of the school, Richie makes an off-color joke about Betty's body possibly being found rotting in a ditch. When Bill tells him that Betty's just missing, Richie apologizes and corrects himself to "she's missing," but it's pretty clear he believes she's dead. By extension, it's easy to infer that he thinks Georgie's likely dead too, but to spare his friend's feelings, he mostly doesn't try to disabuse him of the idea that the missing kids could be dead.

Richie cares about people, especially his friends. It's hard to believe, yeah, because he generally puts up a front of being an annoying, dick joke-making loudmouth, but Richie loves his friends so deeply that he's willing to walk into the sewers for them, even knowing fully well the danger of it. While Richie doesn't believe that Bill will be able to find Georgie alive, he still follows him into the sewers and into an abandoned death trap of a house to look for Georgie. He displays a loyalty to them that means that even in the face of an evil clown coming at them, he'll try to keep a friend's eyes on him so his friend at least will die with Richie being the last thing he sees. Richie can be a little asshole, but he generally displays a more empathetic and warmer side towards his friends, for all the shit he likes to sling at them. Certainly Richie questions his friends and disagrees loudly with them when he believes they're wrong, he isn't blind in his loyalty, and happily razzes them at any given opportunity to such a point that in the book, the Losers have a code word to stop him in his tracks for a time being, but he's absolutely willing to throw himself into danger for them. This carries through even when he's pissed at them, as seen with his brief fight with Bill—the second Bill comes to ask him for help, and tells him that Bev's been taken by It, Richie immediately drops everything and follows him right into danger again, knowing the danger that waits for them. Even when he's angry at Bill, he refuses to even consider the idea of leaving him behind, swinging a bat at Pennywise while the clown holds Bill hostage.

While Richie claims that he's terrified of clowns throughout the first movie, in truth, even when faced with a murderous monster taking on the face of a clown, Richie doesn't actually seem especially scared beyond just being scared for his own life and his friends. Both movies show us two of Richie's fears: going missing/dying (the missing poster with his face and the rotting Richie doll in Chapter One), and people finding out about his sexuality (Pennywise taunting an older Richie over not wanting anyone to know his "dirty little secret" in Chapter Two). The two are pretty inextricably linked, because Derry is a shithole rural town in the 80s during the AIDS panic—Richie is quietly terrified that someone is going to look at him, going to know, and he'll end up a target for liking boys. This has led to Richie overcompensating by making jokes about girls and how big his dick is, and more insidiously, it's meant that he actually has some issues with being able to talk about his emotions, at least without making a joke about it. His humor becomes something of a wall between him and the world, because if people see the class clown making jokes about girls, maybe they won't realize he isn't looking at the girls, but at other boys, especially his friend Eddie. People won't be able to see his dirty little secret and judge him for it, if all they can see is a foul-mouthed little shithead teenager, and Richie is not about to let that emotional wall come down for anyone he's not already close friends with.

Still, Richie is surprisingly brave, even if it comes out in bursts and is generally tempered by his cynicism and desire to Not Die. Again: he will do anything for his friends, up to and including swinging a baseball bat at the murderous sewer clown that broke Eddie's arm and is holding Bill hostage. He walks into the sewers right behind Bill even before they know about Pennywise, willing to back him up in looking for Georgie because, well, somebody's got to back him up. In regards to his sexuality, Richie's managed to express his love for Eddie by carving their initials into the kissing bridge, littered with declarations of love over the decades, because for all the shit that Derry slings at Richie, some things just need to be expressed, in one way or another.

To sum up: at this point in time, Richie is a wisecracking shithead kid who's seen some wild shit, lately, and has a bone-deep loyalty to his friends. So much so that in twenty-seven years, he comes back to Derry for the second time to help kill Pennywise for good.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: The following are from Mask or Menace, with warping from Deerington. In canon, Richie's just a human teenager with no real abilities.

Voice Shifting: Richie can manipulate his voice to sound like anyone he wants to. Gender, nationality and age are now no barrier for this kid—if he wants to sound like a seventy-year-old British grandma, he is going to sound like a sweet doddering old British grandma. He can make up a character to fit the voice, or he can do an uncannily good impression of someone else, although the latter option requires that he has heard their voices in some manner before he can sound like them, so for example, if Batman were to use a voice changer around Richie, Richie would only be able to do the modified voice. Yes, I regret giving him this power.

Age Shifting: Richie can turn into an older version of himself, physically, but retains his mental faculties as they currently are. Essentially he's just shapeshifting into his older self in Chapter Two, as played by Bill Hader, but he doesn't gain anything else from it. In fact, should he shift ages, he'll figure out very quickly that he still has to contend with the physical limitations of a middle-aged comedian who does not exercise as much as he maybe should. He also cannot shift into any other age. Sorry Richie, you're either physically 14 or physically 40, there is no middle ground.
WARPING: Every time Richie uses this power, the shift will be agonizingly painful, because his bones are rapidly growing or shrinking in a very small amount of time. For ten minutes afterward, he'll be near-blinded by the pain and unable to move without feeling as though he's broken his bones. And he still can't shift into any other physical age besides 14 or 40.

Good Chucks: Richie can incapacitate someone via jokes. To elaborate, he can cause someone to go into a fit of screaming laughter for a minute, during which time they will be unable to do much more than roll around on the floor crying with laughter, by telling them a joke of some sort. To spare everyone from fits of laughter every time they talk to the kid, this ability is under Richie's control—it will only activate if he intends it to. Although knowing Richie he'll probably do it anyway just to test it out.
WARPING: Runs the risk of harming himself when he uses it. Just how bad will be determined by a roll of a twenty-sided die. Natural one, he is paralyzed with pain for fifteen minutes. 2-5, he suffers a miserable headache that won't go away for the rest of the day, but can still walk around—it'll just be like his glasses are out of date. 5-18, headache lasts ten minutes and is milder. 19-20, he's completely fine.

Weaknesses: He's a fourteen-year-old human. He knows how to punch and he knows how to use a baseball bat, that's it. He has pretty much all the physical limitations of a regular teenaged boy (or a 40-year-old man who really needs to hit the gym more).

Inventory:
- the clothes on his back
- two sets of glasses (the one he's wearing and his backups)
- a duffel bag full of modern-day clothes in two sizes (one sized for a 14-year-old boy, one sized for a 6' man)
- a bike with a GPS
- a baseball bat that's nothing special

Writing Samples: TDM top-level, TDM thread with Charlie from the FNAF novels

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Effy
Player Age: 22
Player Contact: robbstark

Other Characters In Game: none.
In-Game Tag If Accepted: richie tozier: effy
Permissions for Character: here!
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: yes!
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: I really love the idea of not being able to completely trust your own mind and your own perception, and I love the idea of somebody else using your body and suborning your free will for nefarious purposes and then sticking you with the horror and heartache of the aftermath! (Winter Soldier was my favorite Marvel movie and it left an indelible mark on my brain.) I love the aspect of going through hell and coming out the other side with new ways of seeing oneself and other people. Recently I got into Stephen King and it turns out I very much love plucky kids or ragtag misfits going up against ancient evils and managing to claw their way out of hell alive, and then having to deal with the trauma afterwards.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: sexual assault.
Additional Information: none!