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2023-11-01 12:43User Name/Nick: Chase
User DW: n/a
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whitespire
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Roman Roy
Character Name: Allan (technically Allan Sherwood, but he's just Allan.)
Series: Barbie (2023)
Age: 59 since his creation, looks roughly late 20s/early 30s
From When?: Trying to escape Kendom, Allan did not survive the car crash
Inmate Justification: Allan could easily fit into either an inmate or a warden role, but I feel like arriving as an inmate and graduating to be a warden would suit him a better and give him a full narrative character arc.
While he's ultimately just a decent person with flaws and by no means a murderer, Allan's definitely had a hand in the Kens taking over Barbieland. A minor character, Allan spends the first half of the film clearly living in all of the Kens shadows, and it's quite clear that the Kens don't necessarily care about him and the Barbies are Lukewarm about him at best. He takes painstaking care to try to be one of the Kens and support them no matter what, and this is where the issues start to arise. Constantly in background, mimicking all of the Ken's moves at the weekly big choreographed Barbie party with the hopes that they'll ask him to dance, Allan is so desperate to be accepted by those he admires he'll willfully ignore and choose not to engage with the problems he is incredibly aware are happening and knows for a fact are extremely detrimental to society--and everyone--as a whole.
Allan shows he has clear morals: he knows what the Kens are doing is wrong and simply chooses not to do a single thing about it. He's quite capable of doing so, as we when he eventually joins the Barbies in their rebellion: he has the abilities (he's a remarkable martial fighter and is implied to be the only one in Barbieland with exceptional knowledge of hand-to-hand combat) and the morality, but because he gets to be closer and accepted by the Kens--more specifically the Ken he wants the attention from the most--he completely opts in to the system without hesitation. He stays just for a chance to be noticed or seen despite everyone (including himself) being in a miserable situation. This appears to be a recurring pattern with this specific Allan as well, as he's the only Allan who hasn't left Barbieland to form NSync.
Allan only makes a move to do anything when he's finally sick of how he's being treated--a feeling which is gradually builds every time he has to rub a Kens foot that isn't his specific Ken--and he doesn't seem to even care about the rest. When he does decide to split it's entirely selfish: there's not a single attempt to help any other of the Barbies out or even try to locate Weird Barbie or someone else who is unaffected. Allan opts to run away in a way that's solely beneficial to him, secreting away in the trunk of the car.
While Allan isn't a malicious person by a long shot, he does only appear to slip into action solely when it's convenient for him to do so despite being fully aware and knowing he should help others. His actions are solely in his own self interest. If Gloria and her daughter hadn't driven back to Barbieland with him, Allan would have gladly condemned an entire utopia to a patriarchal uprising by taking the car and never looking back because he couldn't handle one more Matchbox 20 song. He's fully aware of what he's doing, he just plain doesn't care.
Working with a warden would be paramount to the main crux of Allan's issue: he doesn't truly know anything other than life around Barbies and Kens and has zero desire to even try. Finding a sense of community and learning that being an Allan in a world of Barbies doesn't just mean passivity until it inconveniences you is important. Allan needs someone to guide him into being more than just a guy in the background, he needs someone to show him it's not only alright to take charge but that he can do so way earlier. He's comfortable being an Allan, but he needs to be himself and gain a bit of individuality so he can learn that what he does actually impacts others. He matters, and that means the choices he makes--and lack of choices--also matter. Allan needs a warden specifically, too, not just being removed from his environment: his awkward hanger-on attitude will only cause him to hover and never graduate unless he's got a mentor of some sort to gently push him in the right direction.
Arrival: Against his will
Abilities/Powers: While Allan is a doll, he will be a normal human upon arrival with all that entails. The only ability to note is that for some reason he is an incredible physical fighter and has an alarming amount of combat prowess and strength for someone who looks like Michael Cera. The current popular fan theory as to why is that whoever owns him in the real world also owns a bunch of GI Joes and plays with them at the same time.
Inmate Information:
As stated above: Allan, by and large, isn't going to actively cause trouble, rather his inaction and need for the status quo is most likely what's going to get him into hot water. A veritable wet blanket, Allan unfortunately tends to suck the joy out of a room when he's feeling like he doesn't belong, which is quite frequently--time and place is irrelevant.
Allan dislikes change to a large degree. It's the big thing he's going to have to navigate and learn in order to change himself. There's no room for deviation in his mind: if it's always been one thing and another, then it should always remain one thing or another. Barbies and Kens live in harmony, Allan exists in a corner with Midge, and they don't talk about Weird Barbie. He even went so far as to decline joining the other Allans leaving Barbieland to become Nsync because of it! It takes a lot to light a fire under him, and even then it's not because of peril or danger for anyone else, but rather himself--getting him participating in something big will take a large amount of convincing, but is also exactly what he needs.
Allan's a follower in every way, if a pessimistic one. He's capable of doing great things if he'd just stand up for himself other than a quiet interjection once in a while. This is extremely hard for him to do, however, given the Barbie-vd-Ken-vd-Everyone-Else Hierarchy in Barbieland. Allan and Midge, the pregnant barbie, are so low on the ladder that the only person lower than them socially is Weird Barbie, who is completely shunned and left to hermit in her Weird Dreamhouse. Allan craves attention, but doesn't know what to do with it on the rare instances he gets it--and his version of attention is someone saying hi to him. He's the guy you want in your pocket if you need an extra body: he's incredibly easy to manipulate, simply give him a bit of attention and an assignment and he's happy just being noticed, even if he knows it's wrong.
It's important to note that despite his socially awkward demeanor, vaguely neurotic personality, constant social shunning and extremely low self-worth, Allan is remarkably confident. He's got plenty of self-esteem, is quite happy with where he is and his place in the world. This is a blessing and a curse - he can't feel bad about being ostracized if he's confident in who he is, but he can't change if he doesn't think there's something that needs to be changed about him.
Allan's 'crimes' are loose, given the world he's from is a very stylistic, child-like mirror to modern day Earth. However as mentioned in the inmate justification, it's inaction with the full knowledge he can (and should) do something that is his major issue. Allan fully allowed an entire revolution to take place, purposefully didn't connect with the one person that was doing anything about it (Weird Barbie) despite knowing he could and should have helped. His option was instead to find the right moment to run away and leave it all behind--selfish behaviour he felt pushed into doing not because of how awful it was for others, but because of how awful it was getting for him. To put it bluntly, Allan is a coward, fully aware that he is, and doesn't seem to acknowledge or care about it whatsoever.
Path to Redemption:
Allan's quite capable of changing! Like Barbie and Ken in the film, both of who have their moments of self-realization, Allan needs his own. The fact of being a human and not being in Barbieland will certainly shake things up--that combined with the setting of the barge itself will force him to let go of his passivity, especially the floods and once someone convinces him to the ports.
The more he can get away from treating everything like Barbieland, the better: as miserable as he'll be adjusting to being human and no longer being in a place he calls home, it's something he desperately needs. Learning about people from other worlds--specifically other people that may be overlooked in their own canon--will also be a huge help. Allan needs a sense of comaraderie and being part of a group to function even if he is an 'Other,' and being a Bargemate would lend itself to a stable ground zero he can work with, even if it's not one he's going to be happy about at all. Allan's distrust of change and inability to speak up when things do change that he doesn't like until he takes drastic measures will be in full force immediately, of course, but since he can't physically leave or hide somewhere, he's going to have to face the music.
Allan needs a warden that's used to underdogs or people that don't value themselves. That's not to say they have to be nice or kind--although that's a bonus--but someone similar to him or having the similar experience of being on the outside looking in would work best. Allan's never had someone he can relate to since it's always been just him: even when the rest of the Allans left Barbieland to form Nsync (and no one noticed), Allan had absolutely no desire to leave and set off on an adventure or include himself.
The warden Allan is paired with will have to keep an eye on Allan more than they think, so they'll need to be the type to be a little hands on. This could get dicey: Allan is very much a mindless follower, and a small suggestion from his warden or the next person Allan thinks is 'Kenough' might be seen as absolute written word because that's simply how things work in Barbieland. Allan needs a sense of full individuality, not to just follow someone else like he does the Kens, and he just needs someone to nudge him in the right direction without being too overbearing.
In order to fully graduate, Allan needs to realize that not only does he need to stand up for himself and stop idolizing Kens but he needs to meet other people/understand that a lot of folks deal with the exact same problems as him and that he's not alone. He also needs to be more cognizant that can't act all alone because there's only one Allan, and that the correct response to major pressure and important decisions is to not just do nothing and then when that doesn't work only think selfishly and do what's best for him when it comes to problems that affect everyone. Allan needs to stand up for himself a lot more as well. Embracing more of his individuality and simultaneously being actively compassionate to others who may have it 'better' than him are two things that have a bit of dissonance and he's definitely going to need a warden to help pick it apart. Mainly, though, he's gotta work hard on himself and be a good example of all of the Allans of the world.
Ports and floods will be extremely helpful for this, even if he'll dislike them a lot. Having an understanding Warden and mingling with the rest of the barge's population will be beneficial as well. Ultimately, coming to terms with his self worth and his self confidence being two completely different things--he has confidence in spades but his worth is definitely lacking--will be the big, pivotal moment that will push him into accepting he can't just stand by while the world metaphorically burns. He just needs to stop idolizing people and find what he admires in the Kens in himself.
History: Barbie movie plot + Allan the doll
Sample Network Entry: with Nico
Sample RP: With Corvo
Special Notes: None!
User DW: n/a
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:
whitespireOther Characters Currently In-Game: Roman Roy
Character Name: Allan (technically Allan Sherwood, but he's just Allan.)
Series: Barbie (2023)
Age: 59 since his creation, looks roughly late 20s/early 30s
From When?: Trying to escape Kendom, Allan did not survive the car crash
Inmate Justification: Allan could easily fit into either an inmate or a warden role, but I feel like arriving as an inmate and graduating to be a warden would suit him a better and give him a full narrative character arc.
While he's ultimately just a decent person with flaws and by no means a murderer, Allan's definitely had a hand in the Kens taking over Barbieland. A minor character, Allan spends the first half of the film clearly living in all of the Kens shadows, and it's quite clear that the Kens don't necessarily care about him and the Barbies are Lukewarm about him at best. He takes painstaking care to try to be one of the Kens and support them no matter what, and this is where the issues start to arise. Constantly in background, mimicking all of the Ken's moves at the weekly big choreographed Barbie party with the hopes that they'll ask him to dance, Allan is so desperate to be accepted by those he admires he'll willfully ignore and choose not to engage with the problems he is incredibly aware are happening and knows for a fact are extremely detrimental to society--and everyone--as a whole.
Allan shows he has clear morals: he knows what the Kens are doing is wrong and simply chooses not to do a single thing about it. He's quite capable of doing so, as we when he eventually joins the Barbies in their rebellion: he has the abilities (he's a remarkable martial fighter and is implied to be the only one in Barbieland with exceptional knowledge of hand-to-hand combat) and the morality, but because he gets to be closer and accepted by the Kens--more specifically the Ken he wants the attention from the most--he completely opts in to the system without hesitation. He stays just for a chance to be noticed or seen despite everyone (including himself) being in a miserable situation. This appears to be a recurring pattern with this specific Allan as well, as he's the only Allan who hasn't left Barbieland to form NSync.
Allan only makes a move to do anything when he's finally sick of how he's being treated--a feeling which is gradually builds every time he has to rub a Kens foot that isn't his specific Ken--and he doesn't seem to even care about the rest. When he does decide to split it's entirely selfish: there's not a single attempt to help any other of the Barbies out or even try to locate Weird Barbie or someone else who is unaffected. Allan opts to run away in a way that's solely beneficial to him, secreting away in the trunk of the car.
While Allan isn't a malicious person by a long shot, he does only appear to slip into action solely when it's convenient for him to do so despite being fully aware and knowing he should help others. His actions are solely in his own self interest. If Gloria and her daughter hadn't driven back to Barbieland with him, Allan would have gladly condemned an entire utopia to a patriarchal uprising by taking the car and never looking back because he couldn't handle one more Matchbox 20 song. He's fully aware of what he's doing, he just plain doesn't care.
Working with a warden would be paramount to the main crux of Allan's issue: he doesn't truly know anything other than life around Barbies and Kens and has zero desire to even try. Finding a sense of community and learning that being an Allan in a world of Barbies doesn't just mean passivity until it inconveniences you is important. Allan needs someone to guide him into being more than just a guy in the background, he needs someone to show him it's not only alright to take charge but that he can do so way earlier. He's comfortable being an Allan, but he needs to be himself and gain a bit of individuality so he can learn that what he does actually impacts others. He matters, and that means the choices he makes--and lack of choices--also matter. Allan needs a warden specifically, too, not just being removed from his environment: his awkward hanger-on attitude will only cause him to hover and never graduate unless he's got a mentor of some sort to gently push him in the right direction.
Arrival: Against his will
Abilities/Powers: While Allan is a doll, he will be a normal human upon arrival with all that entails. The only ability to note is that for some reason he is an incredible physical fighter and has an alarming amount of combat prowess and strength for someone who looks like Michael Cera. The current popular fan theory as to why is that whoever owns him in the real world also owns a bunch of GI Joes and plays with them at the same time.
Inmate Information:
As stated above: Allan, by and large, isn't going to actively cause trouble, rather his inaction and need for the status quo is most likely what's going to get him into hot water. A veritable wet blanket, Allan unfortunately tends to suck the joy out of a room when he's feeling like he doesn't belong, which is quite frequently--time and place is irrelevant.
Allan dislikes change to a large degree. It's the big thing he's going to have to navigate and learn in order to change himself. There's no room for deviation in his mind: if it's always been one thing and another, then it should always remain one thing or another. Barbies and Kens live in harmony, Allan exists in a corner with Midge, and they don't talk about Weird Barbie. He even went so far as to decline joining the other Allans leaving Barbieland to become Nsync because of it! It takes a lot to light a fire under him, and even then it's not because of peril or danger for anyone else, but rather himself--getting him participating in something big will take a large amount of convincing, but is also exactly what he needs.
Allan's a follower in every way, if a pessimistic one. He's capable of doing great things if he'd just stand up for himself other than a quiet interjection once in a while. This is extremely hard for him to do, however, given the Barbie-vd-Ken-vd-Everyone-Else Hierarchy in Barbieland. Allan and Midge, the pregnant barbie, are so low on the ladder that the only person lower than them socially is Weird Barbie, who is completely shunned and left to hermit in her Weird Dreamhouse. Allan craves attention, but doesn't know what to do with it on the rare instances he gets it--and his version of attention is someone saying hi to him. He's the guy you want in your pocket if you need an extra body: he's incredibly easy to manipulate, simply give him a bit of attention and an assignment and he's happy just being noticed, even if he knows it's wrong.
It's important to note that despite his socially awkward demeanor, vaguely neurotic personality, constant social shunning and extremely low self-worth, Allan is remarkably confident. He's got plenty of self-esteem, is quite happy with where he is and his place in the world. This is a blessing and a curse - he can't feel bad about being ostracized if he's confident in who he is, but he can't change if he doesn't think there's something that needs to be changed about him.
Allan's 'crimes' are loose, given the world he's from is a very stylistic, child-like mirror to modern day Earth. However as mentioned in the inmate justification, it's inaction with the full knowledge he can (and should) do something that is his major issue. Allan fully allowed an entire revolution to take place, purposefully didn't connect with the one person that was doing anything about it (Weird Barbie) despite knowing he could and should have helped. His option was instead to find the right moment to run away and leave it all behind--selfish behaviour he felt pushed into doing not because of how awful it was for others, but because of how awful it was getting for him. To put it bluntly, Allan is a coward, fully aware that he is, and doesn't seem to acknowledge or care about it whatsoever.
Path to Redemption:
Allan's quite capable of changing! Like Barbie and Ken in the film, both of who have their moments of self-realization, Allan needs his own. The fact of being a human and not being in Barbieland will certainly shake things up--that combined with the setting of the barge itself will force him to let go of his passivity, especially the floods and once someone convinces him to the ports.
The more he can get away from treating everything like Barbieland, the better: as miserable as he'll be adjusting to being human and no longer being in a place he calls home, it's something he desperately needs. Learning about people from other worlds--specifically other people that may be overlooked in their own canon--will also be a huge help. Allan needs a sense of comaraderie and being part of a group to function even if he is an 'Other,' and being a Bargemate would lend itself to a stable ground zero he can work with, even if it's not one he's going to be happy about at all. Allan's distrust of change and inability to speak up when things do change that he doesn't like until he takes drastic measures will be in full force immediately, of course, but since he can't physically leave or hide somewhere, he's going to have to face the music.
Allan needs a warden that's used to underdogs or people that don't value themselves. That's not to say they have to be nice or kind--although that's a bonus--but someone similar to him or having the similar experience of being on the outside looking in would work best. Allan's never had someone he can relate to since it's always been just him: even when the rest of the Allans left Barbieland to form Nsync (and no one noticed), Allan had absolutely no desire to leave and set off on an adventure or include himself.
The warden Allan is paired with will have to keep an eye on Allan more than they think, so they'll need to be the type to be a little hands on. This could get dicey: Allan is very much a mindless follower, and a small suggestion from his warden or the next person Allan thinks is 'Kenough' might be seen as absolute written word because that's simply how things work in Barbieland. Allan needs a sense of full individuality, not to just follow someone else like he does the Kens, and he just needs someone to nudge him in the right direction without being too overbearing.
In order to fully graduate, Allan needs to realize that not only does he need to stand up for himself and stop idolizing Kens but he needs to meet other people/understand that a lot of folks deal with the exact same problems as him and that he's not alone. He also needs to be more cognizant that can't act all alone because there's only one Allan, and that the correct response to major pressure and important decisions is to not just do nothing and then when that doesn't work only think selfishly and do what's best for him when it comes to problems that affect everyone. Allan needs to stand up for himself a lot more as well. Embracing more of his individuality and simultaneously being actively compassionate to others who may have it 'better' than him are two things that have a bit of dissonance and he's definitely going to need a warden to help pick it apart. Mainly, though, he's gotta work hard on himself and be a good example of all of the Allans of the world.
Ports and floods will be extremely helpful for this, even if he'll dislike them a lot. Having an understanding Warden and mingling with the rest of the barge's population will be beneficial as well. Ultimately, coming to terms with his self worth and his self confidence being two completely different things--he has confidence in spades but his worth is definitely lacking--will be the big, pivotal moment that will push him into accepting he can't just stand by while the world metaphorically burns. He just needs to stop idolizing people and find what he admires in the Kens in himself.
History: Barbie movie plot + Allan the doll
Sample Network Entry: with Nico
Sample RP: With Corvo
Special Notes: None!