|PA| October Application

"Darlin', I'm full of bad ideas."

Name: October Jackson
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 18 years old
Birthday: October 31st
Height: 5'7 ft
Year: Second/Sophomore

Aura Colour: Pumpkin
Semblance: Will-O-Wisp
        :: October has the ability to make his own "Will-O-Wisps". Unlike in the folktales, however, they are not spirits, but harmless orbs of light. Most of the time he will make a path (or "highlight" one), and by following it, gains a kind of speed boost. (Think of Sonic when he follows a trail of rings) It is efficient for maneuvering on the ground, and gaining height in the air.
        Although this is what October is most familiar with, his Wisps can do other things, and may be used on other people. (For example, increasing morale). As he is not familiar with these other abilities, however, using them is something of a gamble, and the targeted trait may decrease instead.

        Because this semblance requires a great deal of concentration, October is only capable of using it when stationary. Furthermore, the amount of Wisps he can create is limited. At the moment he is only capable of controlling five, but with training may be able to increase the number. They can only have one purpose at a time.

Weapon: Trickster
        :: Customized and made by his sister as a gift, October's weapon is a battle axe-shotgun combination. When in its melee form the axe stands at five and a half feet tall, and is wielded with a two-handed grip. To transform into its ranged form, the weapon compresses itself into a shorter, semi-automatic shotgun. It can be loaded with regular or dust-infused bullets (for an elemental effect), although October often prefers the former.

Stats:
STR 5 || WIL 3 || END 4
VIT 4 || DEX 2 || AGI 3 || SPE 1

Member of: Team CROM
Cloris Itzal || Rei Hu || October Jackson || Morrel Fucsia

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Since he doesn't seem to be a very complicated person, it's possible that some people think one meeting is all they need to form a proper opinion about October. And really, it's a logical conclusion. When he speaks, he's never without a smile on his face. He's obviously social, and makes an effort to be friendly to just about everyone. His outgoing attitude makes it look like he has nothing to hide. These traits all wrap up nicely into a neat, tidy box. But neat and tidy is not October.

Despite appearances, October is very insecure about himself and his abilities. As a result, he does not like people getting close to him. So if they choose to see this smiling, friendly attitude as his whole self, then fine. That's good. Ideal even. At least that way he can keep a comfortable distance. He can't disappoint people if they don't know much about him, can he? It's a fear that haunts October constantly. And with reason -from a young age it has been sown into his mind that he's incompetent. Flighty. Unreliable. A disappointment. And although at one point these traits made October shy away from social interaction, he now chases after it. Because even if he's a lost cause, he can still be of use to other people. If they're sad, he'll try to make them smile. Wounded in battle? He'll offer protection. To the few who (despite all his barriers) have managed to worm their way into his heart, October would gladly go to the ends of the earth.

This doesn't mean that his being friendly is an act. Not at all! October genuinely likes people: talking to them; sparing with them; just....being around them. And because every single person is so unique from one another, he can't help being, well, nosy. "Secrecy" is a word that has very little meaning to October, and he tends to poke around in places he shouldn't. He can come off as a little intrusive from time-to-time, but if it's clear he's causing discomfort, he'll stop. Going in hand with this, October isn't a very secretive person himself. He doesn't feel like he has anything to hide. This doesn't mean he'll go and share his life story, but if someone takes the time to ask him questions, October will respond openly and honestly.


LIKES & DISLIKES
✔ Horror Stories
✔ Candy/Sweet Things (especially pumpkin pie. That is a sure way to capture his heart.)
✔ Pranks and Tricks
✔ Music and Musical Instruments
✔ Mornings (the earlier the better)
✔ The Outdoors

✘ Sour Foods
✘ Hot Weather
✘ Failure/Disappointment
✘ Compliments (unless it has to do with his fighting abilities. If that's the case, then please, praise him! //smacked)
✘ Coffee
✘ Complicated Puzzles/Riddles

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Born and raised in a small farming community, October's childhood was rather ordinary. For the people living there, only two things really mattered: family and hard work. Therefore, it should be of no surprise just how close October is with the members of his own family. He often worked the farm alongside his parents (Samson and Bridget), and played childish games of adventure and pretend with his sister (June). Without a doubt, October's fondest memories comes from this point in his life, which, sadly, didn't last very long.

Conditions became unfavorable, and as years of this went on, eventually the farmers could no longer support themselves with this way of living. One by one the families began to reluctantly sell their homes, and the Jacksons were no exception. Packing up all of their precious belongings, the family moved into the nearest city and a new life began. It took a lot of adjusting for the country-folk to get used to city living. Ask October, actually, and he'd likely say that they never got used to it.

For a boy who was used to spending days outside, running around without a care in the world, there really wasn't much to do in the city. It didn't take long for what once seemed like a promising adventure to grow boring. Although the family was by no means well-off, Bridget and Samsom wanted the transition to be smooth for their children. And where June still had her love for mechanics, there really wasn't anything here for a child as outdoors-y as October. So they did what they could, and signed him up for music lessons. It really doesn't have much in common with the farming life they left behind, even the parents would readily admit that, but it was something to occupy the time. October even seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, so it couldn't make for a very bad decision now, could it?

At first, October loved it! Learning music was so much fun, and he even had the opportunity to make friends. In his old home there hadn't been many people his age, so this was definitely a change of pace. And it wasn't just that: he actually had quite the talent for music. Although he wasn't the best, some of the other students would often ask him to join in a duet because of how friendly he was. But, he couldn't practice very often. Pianos were expensive, and his family was poor to begin with: he could only practice in the home of his teacher, and the time spent there was minimal. October improved at a rate much slower than the rest of his peers. He may have enjoyed the lessons, but he didn't want to hold his friends back. So one day he told his parents, "I don't want to take piano lessons anymore". Although confused, they didn't try to stop their son. They figured that he probably had his reasons -and so before the day was over he was pulled from the classes. This is when the insults began.

A recital had been in the near future when October dropped the lessons. Regrettably, he had promised another student that he would be their partner for a duet. The problem was, however, that he couldn't hold to that promise anymore. Insulted by his lack of regard, October was called "unreliable", and none of his former friends could really look at him the same way again. Of course this wasn't the end, however. Because now that he wasn't playing piano, October was just as bored as before. His parents decided to sign him up for fencing, but little did they know it would simply be a repeat of what happened before. Eventually he dropped it as well. Bridget and Samson were very open-minded to their sons "flighty" nature (as people were now calling it), and even if they didn't understand the reasons for it, they supported him. So they continued to sign him up for classes. And he continued to drop them. It may have been a good-sized city, but with how often this trend continued, his name was known by most of the people his age. The timing and carelessness of his decisions did not help his social standings at all. It was a little lonely for October, getting the cold shoulder from the same people he used to call friends (and the names were, admittedly, getting to him) but he never lost the support of his family.

One day a group of hunters came into town, trying to stir up peoples' interests in joining their ranks. From the moment they came into town October was caught- his eyes lit up at the sight of these brilliant people. How brave they were! How passionate! To go out and fight the terrifying Grimm, all for the sake of protecting others.... He tried not to let it show, however. The words of his fellows had cut deep. Deep enough that he didn't think he could be trusted. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not fool his sister.

Clever June: she could read her brother easy as an open book. She knew how interested he was in this, and quite frankly, it had been a very long time since her brother had been so interested in anything. Among his many lessons, October had at one point spent a great deal of time learning to fight, so why couldn't he become a hunter? He certainly had the potential. And so, June engineered a gift for her little brother. She made him a battle axe-shotgun (a dangerous twist to the common farming tool), and gave it to him immediately, although it took much convincing to make him accept the present. Despite this October quickly fell in love with the weapon, affectionately calling it "Trickster", keeping his sister in mind.

After the presentation, a huntress had stayed in the city, ready and willing to teach those who wanted to pursue her path, but had no formal training. Again forced by his sister, October began to attend those lessons, and with time, grew extraordinarily adept at using his weapon. His teacher, taking note of his promise, was the one who introduced him to Pharos Academy. The idea of attending unnerved October and he shied away from the question, saying that he'd "think about it", but it didn't stop him from training. Actually, after the fact, he began to train more vigorously as though, unconsciously, his mind had decided this was what he wanted to do.

Even so, when his 17th birthday finally rolled around and he was old enough to enroll, October hesitated. June, however, was having none of this indecisiveness and threatened to send a letter for him. Although reluctant, this was enough to persuade October into doing it himself. After all, what were the chances that he was actually going to get accepted?

Awfully high, apparently. Because by some twist of fate, Pharos Academy actually wanted him at their school. Him! October Jackson! He wasn't sure if this excited or terrified him. Still, no matter how he felt, October had no say in the matter; June was determined to see her brother happy. After long conversations (and attempted bribery), October had no choice but to accept.

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Family:
- Bridget Jackson [49]: Soft-spoken yet hard-working, October's mother is a respected woman who taught him the importance of keeping an open mind.
- Samson Jackson [51]: A lively, comedic individual, his father is a bit of a boisterous character who can be a little overwhelming.
- June Jackson [22]: A very passionate girl when it comes to mechanics, she is October's headstrong (and equally stubborn) older sister. She cares deeply about her family, and is willing to do anything to make them happy. Although June always means well, she can be a little....forceful on occasion.

Miscellaneous:
• A lot of inspiration for October's character comes from Halloween. Like most RWBY characters, however, he also has a fairytale connection, which for him is the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern.
• His semblance actually connects back to this idea, because sometimes Will-O-Wisps are called Jack-O-Lanterns.
• October is very reluctant to consider people friends. Of course he still cares a lot for some people; he's just hesitant about actually using this title. He's afraid of jinxing the relationship. _{It's even worse when someone starts to fall into the "best friend" or "special someone" categories.} So please don't be offended if it takes a while for him to flat-out call you a friend!
• Since he doesn't care much about his image, October has no issue with making an idiot of himself in public. Nor does he care much if other people try making a fool out of him.
• He will, however, get very self-conscious and flustered around someone he likes.
• The yellow bracelet he wears is the same colour as his sister's aura.
• Of all the lessons he took when he was younger, (aside from the obvious combat classes), the piano lessons remain his favourite. He still has a very strong love for music, and admires anyone who can play.
• As alluded to in his backstory, October is actually pretty talented at hand-to-hand combat, having taken a good number of lessons for it. He took basic combat lessons, as well as dabbled in Jujitsu for a while.
• His current fighting style, although improvised (because battle axe), is influenced by this.
• Often calls people "darlin'" or "sweetheart". He loves pet names, and will likely come up with something more person-specific once he gets to know you better.
• "Pumpkin", however, is reserved for super special people.

Relationships:
October's Relationships

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