The Once-ler (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
yolonceler) wrote2012-05-05 12:50 pm
yolonceler) wrote2012-05-05 12:50 pm
Entry tags:
[ application - holloway's keep ]
Name: Litzi
Age: 18
Journal:haunter
Contact: uber technology @ aim
1. Character's Name: The Once-ler. "The Once-ler" is actually on his birth certificate, "The" included. According to legal documents he has no surname. Most people leave off the "the" when addressing him, but some people call him "The" to piss him off. His family calls him "Oncie". Yes I just expanded on his name what of it.
2. Fandom: The Lorax (2012 Film)
3. Time Frame: After the last truffula tree falls
4. Age: 22
5. Background: The Once-ler grew up in a farmhouse about a mile outside of a middle-class town. His father divorced his mother just after he was born. He, his mother and his two elder brothers moved in with his mother's sister, Griselda, and Griselda's husband, Ubb. His older twin brothers, Brett and Chet, are, in two words, incredibly stupid. Their mother, dreaming of a cushy lifestyle, named her third and final child "the Once-ler", hoping the name would motivate him to be the best (number one!). The Once-ler grew up in an emotionally abusive household, with his mother constantly pushing him to be successful and berating him harshly for his numerous failures. She eventually gave up on him, telling him he would never amount to anything. The Once-ler's entire family has no regard for his feelings and only cares about money.
As a child and teen, the Once-ler was too frail to work the farm, so while Brett and Chet did that, he was left to his own devices. He spent his time learning various skills in an attempt to impress his mother. While he was successful at learning, he failed miserably at getting his mother's attention. At school, he would flit from one social circle to another as he changed interests until everyone got sick of him by the age of 14. He was so wimpy and dorky he was bullied frequently, which stopped abruptly when he reached his maximum height of 6'4" at age 16. He graduated at age 17 in the middle of his class.
Fast-forward. The Once-ler is about 18 years old, and has designed something called a Thneed. To make it, he needs to find the perfect material. The Once-ler leaves home, a leaving-the-nest sort of thing, and ventures off into the world to find something worthy enough to become a Thneed. He travels for two weeks before he finds a forest of truffula trees—the tufts of which can be easily knitted into Thneeds. The Once-ler decides that This Is The Place, builds his little cottage, and starts making Thneeds.
Making Thneeds means cutting down truffula trees, which is bad. The Once-ler cuts down the first tree and summons the legendary Lorax, who speaks for the trees, and tells the Once-ler to leave. The Once-ler insists that cutting down a few trees isn't bad. In retaliation, the Lorax and the other woodland creatures wait until the Once-ler is asleep, then dump his bed in the river. Of course, his bed almost goes over a waterfall. There are shenanigans, and the Once-ler actually dies for a few seconds, but is revived by the Lorax. The Once-ler agrees to not cut down any more trees.
The next day, the Once-ler goes into town to try and sell his Thneed. Nobody buys it. Nobody buys it the second day, or the third, or the fourth, or… you get the idea. Frustrated, the Once-ler tosses the Thneed aside and goes back to the forest. The Thneed lands on a woman's head in a rather stylish hat shape. People finally see the Thneed for how great it is, and everybody wants one. The Once-ler calls his family to the forest to help him harvest the truffula tufts. Harvesting the tufts takes too long, so the Once-ler's mother suggests chopping down the trees. The Once-ler agrees, thus breaking his promise to the Lorax.
How bad could it possibly be?
The Once-ler's business flourishes until multiple factories are built all around the forest. Though in the film this takes places over a few minutes (the catchy musical number linked above!), it actually takes four years. The Once-ler builds more factories and chops down more trees. He is eventually one of the most wealthy and powerful people on the planet. The pollution forces all the animals to leave. The Lorax visits the Once-ler constantly to complain about all the pollution and warns him to stop. Um, no. The Once-ler's little invention became a total sensation, he's on top of the world, and little orange shit is here telling him he's doing more harm than good? Wow, beat it, Lorax. The Once-ler tells the Lorax to fuck off one last time, but as he does, the last truffula tree is cut down.
The moment the last truffula tree falls, the Once-ler realizes what he has done, and he is devastated. The complete destruction of a unique ecosystem is his fault and only his fault. It's then the Once-ler finally accepts responsibility for his actions. The Lorax leaves the Once-ler with a message—a pile of rocks on which is written "UNLESS"—then departs. The Once-ler's business survives for a short while, but once the last Thneed is sold, all the factories close. The Once-ler's family leaves. Suddenly, hundreds of people are unemployed, so they settle in Thneedville. The company goes under.
The Once-ler sells everything he owns, gives all of his money to support Thneedville, and builds a tall house in the middle of where the truffula forest once stood. He lives there for decades, pondering the Lorax's cryptic message and looking out the window every day to see what he did. He eventually gives the last truffula seed to a boy named Ted, because, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Ted plants the seed after a lot of shenanigans, and the resulting tree produces more seeds. By the end of the film, the truffula forest is slowly growing back, and the Once-ler ventures outside every day to water them. The Lorax descends from the sky and forgives the Once-ler.
The Once-ler is whisked away to Holloway's Keep after the last truffula tree falls. Why did I write out that other shit that went beyond that? Because I can. At least I don't have footnotes. I considered it1.
1Here's a footnote anyway.
6. Personality: The Once-ler is equal parts douchebag and nice guy, and I'm going to tell you why. I recommend reading the background section first.
In reality, the Once-ler's behavior before and during his success is very similar—it's just that when he became successful, his more negative, aggressive traits intensified to fit the portrait of young billionaire. He's always been defensive, he's always been charismatic, he's always been socially challenged, he's always been… kind of a dick, really. Now that he's in the public eye and actually feeling pretty good about himself, he's willing to be more bold with his words and actions.
The Once-ler can be very defensive when criticized, especially if he's proud of what he did. It's a hellish mixture of pride and greed that drove him into biggering his company until he could bigger it no more. He is easily provoked and doesn't seem to know when to shut up. The Once-ler is bitingly sarcastic and loves to snark, but he often doesn't realize that his scathing remarks are more insulting than he thinks they are.
Though the Once-ler is charismatic, he has crippling self-esteem issues. It depends almost entirely on the approval of other people, something he has craved since he was young. He values the opinions of others more than he does his own, and they can easily influence his decisions. When caught between two differing opinions he will panic, lash out, and pick a side without considering the repercussions. Even if he knows what he's doing is wrong he will try to rationalize his actions (in the case of cutting down the trees, he tricked himself into believing that what he was doing was okay because it wasn't illegal – though he has done his fair share of illegal things [bribery, fraud, forgery] that he does regret). Despite this, he is not just a figurehead for the company. He exercises his power to make the final decision, which isn't always what the lawyers or PR people want it to be.
In more personal social situations, the Once-ler is… horrifically awkward. He is actually more comfortable talking to strangers, people that he will probably never see again, than he is talking to friends and family. The Once-ler is so frightened of damaging the already fragile relationships he has he tries to avoid friendship altogether, telling himself that he's so busy he doesn't have time for it. The real reason he doesn't have friends is because he feels that if he gets too close to someone, they'll find some sort of fatal flaw and leave him. The friendships he does have he treats like they're made of glass. He has a tendency to shower his friends and family with gifts, because that's what makes people like you, right? Gifts? You should see his mother's jewelry box. When he somehow manages to make friends he is fiercely protective of them and sometimes a little clingy.
In his spare time, the Once-ler likes to write and compose songs. Those songs he sang in the film? Most of them actually happened, backup chorus and everything. He tends to scribble down lyrics beforehand, but he is fully capable of coming up with them as he goes. Singing and playing the guitar are his favorite things to do (after making money, that is). He is a performer by nature, hence his ventures into things like music and magic tricks. Being in the spotlight doesn't bother him in the slightest. He's very energetic and passionate about everything he does and isn't afraid to show it.
When you get to the bare bones of it, the Once-ler isn't a bad guy. He's not a true villain. He is friendly in general (if not a little condescending) and genuinely cares about what people have to say, though he can take things personally when they are definitely not meant to be. He loves to make people happy, hence the Thneed and all the song and dance numbers. The Once-ler is a loyal friend and a good shoulder to cry on (just don't ask him for advice, he's not so good at that).
The previous paragraph is completely negated if you insult the company—but that won't last forever. Even after the tree falls, the Once-ler will grasp at straws to rationalize literally everything he has done, but will eventually regard the company—and himself—with an intense disdain. Of course he's going to hide his suffering behind that annoying mask of arrogance he wears and become startlingly bitter in the process, but so it goes. He plans to keep his "criminal" background, as well as his pain, a secret at the Keep for as long as he can.
In terms of quirks, I couldn't really fit them into the above paragraphs, so here's a big list: the Once-ler can't sit still and is almost constantly moving his hands; he has an interest in engineering (he designed the Thneed factories and many of the harvesting machines); he occasionally gets so overwhelmed by conflicting emotions that he will lock himself in his office for hours on end and chain smoke cigars; his handwriting is very neat and large, signature illegible aside from a gigantic "O"; and sometimes he doesn't sleep for days, preferring to sit at his desk and… chain smoke cigars. He likes cigars. A lot.
7. Previous Game Developments: N/A
8. Appearance: Here he is blaming a small animal for chopping down a tree
9. Abilities: The Once-ler has spent his entire life trying to impress his family, so over time, he has acquired more than a few talents. The Once-ler can sew and knit (his latest venture), sing, play the guitar (electric and acoustic), dance, do magic tricks (mostly dealing with sleight of hand) cook, draw, build (engineering, gears and the like), and write. He also has the incredible ability to play the electric guitar without an amp. The Once-ler is actually pretty good at these things, but he believes he isn't due to his mother's disinterest. He's also really, really tall. Like, 6'4". I consider this an ability. He can also blow smoke rings!
10. Languages: Spoken and written English
11. Items: His kickass suit and everything in his pockets, which is $500 in bills, the last truffula seed, a single marshmallow and a gold pocket watch.
12. Weapons: None
13. Writing sample - Third Person: The chopping machine is ugly.
It's always been ugly. It looked great on paper when the Once-ler drew up the schematic, but once it was built, it was an eyesore. Yes, he designed it. Him. The Once-ler. He designed that hideous thing, with its whirling blades and gas-guzzling engine. Gas is expensive, but the chopping machine pays for itself. It gets fifteen miles to the gallon and cuts down a hundred trees per hour. It drags the trees back to the factory, the trees become Thneeds, and everyone is happy. Over time, the Once-ler learned to tolerate its lackluster appearance—
—but now, as it tows the last truffula tree, the very last one, the chopping machine is the most hideous thing he has ever laid eyes on.
"Wait! Hey, wait!" The Once-ler calls, running top speed after the machine. He may not be very fit, but his legs are long and his strides are wide. The machine roars like the demon it is, and—no. No, the machine isn't the demon. He is. Him. The Once-ler. He shakes his head and pursues the machine. The driver can't hear his pleas. The Once-ler—pleading, prepared to bargain with the behemoth. The most powerful man in the world, reduced to chasing dead dreams and high hopes.
He passes the machine and skids to a halt in its path, nearly tripping over his own feet. He shouts, "Stop! I command you, Once-ler's orders!" and waves his arms, top hat in hand. "Stop! Now!"
The machine grinds to a halt, the driver startled by her boss venturing into the wasteland. Him. The Once-ler. The Once-ler jogs back to the tree and just—shuts down, staring at the very last pink tuft as the sweet scent of butterfly milk ebbs away. He closes his eyes tight, so tight that bursts of color explode in the darkness, then opens them slowly. Nothing has changed. The world is dim, the skies clouded. Stumps dot the countryside, if you could call it that. Oily rivers cut through the landscape. The factories in the distance belch columns of smoke into the atmosphere.
His life is a lie. For four years he has lived this lie, biggering and biggering his company, writing off the repercussions as environmentalist garbage. The stacks of bills in his bank vault looked so nice, and the constant attention and praise made him feel so good about himself, and—
He did this. He destroyed everything. Him. The Once-ler.
"I," he says aloud, but he trails off immediately. Speaking is hard. Thinking is hard. There's too many thoughts whizzing through his head, pressing against his skull, turgor pressure, and he doesn’t know which to grab. He sits down, cross-legged, and sets his hat beside him. The Once-ler reaches out and parts the truffula tufts. Everybody knows that truffula seeds grow very close to the trunk, right in the middle of the tuft. They've all been crushed by the fall, all but one, one that clings to the trunk, pristine. The Once-ler plucks it from its stem and cups it in his hands like it's made of gold.
The Once-ler doesn't know how long he sits there, staring at this truffula seed, the last truffula seed. Minutes. Hours. Days. It's impossible to tell when the world is swathed in eternal darkness. He stands up eventually and bangs on the machine with one fist. The machine fires up and rolls back to the factory, tree in tow, leaving the Once-ler alone in the world he made.
Him.
The Once-ler.
14. Writing Sample - First Person: YEAR ONE, DAY THREE
Hey journal! Once-ler here. It'll always be me. You know. The Once-ler. My mom told me to keep a journal about everything I do to keep track of the business or something. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I sold my 60th Thneed this morning. My 60th Thneed! Since Wednesday! That was 2 days ago! I'm successful! I'm significant! I've been up all night knitting!
YEAR ONE, DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND NINE
The new factory in the mountains opened today. I cut the ribbon myself. I was pretty much blinded by cameras, so I think I'll add sunglasses to my ensemble. Oh, right, I wore my green suit for the first time in public! I was a little anxious, but everyone loved it. It's going to be my signature look.
Also, the Lorax was there, in the front row, judging me as always. What is his deal? It's just the second factory. Does he expect me to ship the mountain trees all the way down to the valley? Does he know how expensive that is? Newsflash, it's expensive. The point of a business is to make money, not spend it. Why won't he leave me alone? Why won't he get the hint that I really don't care? I'm busy. All the time. Constantly. I don’t have time for his garbage.
YEAR TWO, DAY ONE
One year ago today, I sold my first Thneed. Imagine that! A year! So much can happen in a year. The fourth factory is being built next to the river already. It's going to run on hydraulic power. All natural. Maybe that will shut up the save-the-environment organizations. They're making me out to be some sort of horrible monster. It's annoying.
[An addition.]
Hydraulic power isn't happening. Current isn't strong enough, coal is cheaper, something like that. I don't really listen when the engineers talk. Whatever—as long as it works.
YEAR TWO, DAY NINETY-NINE
I got three new guitars—one acoustic, two electric, all custom-made. Betty (my old guitar, did I ever mention her?) was ratty and old, virtually unplayable. I gave her to a museum. Well, sold.
YEAR TWO, DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND TWO
Bought Betty back from the museum before they put her on display. It was weird not seeing her in my office. Not sure why. She's back now, and everything's good. I'm having a glass cabinet made for her.
YEAR TWO, DAY TWO-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE
I can't compose songs anymore. I just can’t. I keep trying, but nothing comes to mind. I used to write songs to motivate me, but I don't need motivation anymore. I am motivation. I'm only bothering to write this because the Lorax stopped by yet again and asked me why I haven't composed anything. Is he spying on me? Wouldn't put it past that talking mustache. I told him I'm too busy for that nonsense. And I am. I'm way too busy.
YEAR THREE, DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR
I'm building a city. No kidding! It'll be called Thneedville, and I'll be the mayor. I've drawn up a concept and everything. The art department is building a scale model. It's going to cost a fortune—but it's just pocket change. I'm so excited, I'm writing really hard in my journal for emphasis! I can't
I lost my train of thought there because the Lorax visited. Again. If I had a dollar for every time he came to lecture me, I could build Thneedville with just that. His warnings are repetitive and annoying, so I pretty much unleashed my wrath. He seriously doesn't get it. I run a business. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and my company is a wolf. I'm going to keep biggering my company, and the mustache is going to have to get over it. I'm a force of nature. I'm the richest man on the planet. The world exists to be utilized. The trees are there for Thneeds. He's acting like the trees are going to go extinct or something else unnecessarily drastic. Extinct? Please. I only take what I need.
Who cares?
YEAR THREE, DAY THREE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE
[This entry has been torn out of the journal, but some letters can be read on the narrow ripped edge by the spine. The words are inked heavily.]
Lo
ca
d
tre
A
dar
me.
YEAR FOUR, DAY SIXTY-ONE
What have I done. I [Here is a large splotch of ink where the Once-ler presses so hard with his fountain pen it breaks. The rest of the page is dotted with teardrops and smudged ink. This is the last entry in the journal.]
15. Tattoo: Left forearm
16. Room Preference: Anywhere!
Age: 18
Journal:
haunterContact: uber technology @ aim
1. Character's Name: The Once-ler. "The Once-ler" is actually on his birth certificate, "The" included. According to legal documents he has no surname. Most people leave off the "the" when addressing him, but some people call him "The" to piss him off. His family calls him "Oncie". Yes I just expanded on his name what of it.
2. Fandom: The Lorax (2012 Film)
3. Time Frame: After the last truffula tree falls
4. Age: 22
5. Background: The Once-ler grew up in a farmhouse about a mile outside of a middle-class town. His father divorced his mother just after he was born. He, his mother and his two elder brothers moved in with his mother's sister, Griselda, and Griselda's husband, Ubb. His older twin brothers, Brett and Chet, are, in two words, incredibly stupid. Their mother, dreaming of a cushy lifestyle, named her third and final child "the Once-ler", hoping the name would motivate him to be the best (number one!). The Once-ler grew up in an emotionally abusive household, with his mother constantly pushing him to be successful and berating him harshly for his numerous failures. She eventually gave up on him, telling him he would never amount to anything. The Once-ler's entire family has no regard for his feelings and only cares about money.
As a child and teen, the Once-ler was too frail to work the farm, so while Brett and Chet did that, he was left to his own devices. He spent his time learning various skills in an attempt to impress his mother. While he was successful at learning, he failed miserably at getting his mother's attention. At school, he would flit from one social circle to another as he changed interests until everyone got sick of him by the age of 14. He was so wimpy and dorky he was bullied frequently, which stopped abruptly when he reached his maximum height of 6'4" at age 16. He graduated at age 17 in the middle of his class.
Fast-forward. The Once-ler is about 18 years old, and has designed something called a Thneed. To make it, he needs to find the perfect material. The Once-ler leaves home, a leaving-the-nest sort of thing, and ventures off into the world to find something worthy enough to become a Thneed. He travels for two weeks before he finds a forest of truffula trees—the tufts of which can be easily knitted into Thneeds. The Once-ler decides that This Is The Place, builds his little cottage, and starts making Thneeds.
Making Thneeds means cutting down truffula trees, which is bad. The Once-ler cuts down the first tree and summons the legendary Lorax, who speaks for the trees, and tells the Once-ler to leave. The Once-ler insists that cutting down a few trees isn't bad. In retaliation, the Lorax and the other woodland creatures wait until the Once-ler is asleep, then dump his bed in the river. Of course, his bed almost goes over a waterfall. There are shenanigans, and the Once-ler actually dies for a few seconds, but is revived by the Lorax. The Once-ler agrees to not cut down any more trees.
The next day, the Once-ler goes into town to try and sell his Thneed. Nobody buys it. Nobody buys it the second day, or the third, or the fourth, or… you get the idea. Frustrated, the Once-ler tosses the Thneed aside and goes back to the forest. The Thneed lands on a woman's head in a rather stylish hat shape. People finally see the Thneed for how great it is, and everybody wants one. The Once-ler calls his family to the forest to help him harvest the truffula tufts. Harvesting the tufts takes too long, so the Once-ler's mother suggests chopping down the trees. The Once-ler agrees, thus breaking his promise to the Lorax.
How bad could it possibly be?
The Once-ler's business flourishes until multiple factories are built all around the forest. Though in the film this takes places over a few minutes (the catchy musical number linked above!), it actually takes four years. The Once-ler builds more factories and chops down more trees. He is eventually one of the most wealthy and powerful people on the planet. The pollution forces all the animals to leave. The Lorax visits the Once-ler constantly to complain about all the pollution and warns him to stop. Um, no. The Once-ler's little invention became a total sensation, he's on top of the world, and little orange shit is here telling him he's doing more harm than good? Wow, beat it, Lorax. The Once-ler tells the Lorax to fuck off one last time, but as he does, the last truffula tree is cut down.
The moment the last truffula tree falls, the Once-ler realizes what he has done, and he is devastated. The complete destruction of a unique ecosystem is his fault and only his fault. It's then the Once-ler finally accepts responsibility for his actions. The Lorax leaves the Once-ler with a message—a pile of rocks on which is written "UNLESS"—then departs. The Once-ler's business survives for a short while, but once the last Thneed is sold, all the factories close. The Once-ler's family leaves. Suddenly, hundreds of people are unemployed, so they settle in Thneedville. The company goes under.
The Once-ler sells everything he owns, gives all of his money to support Thneedville, and builds a tall house in the middle of where the truffula forest once stood. He lives there for decades, pondering the Lorax's cryptic message and looking out the window every day to see what he did. He eventually gives the last truffula seed to a boy named Ted, because, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Ted plants the seed after a lot of shenanigans, and the resulting tree produces more seeds. By the end of the film, the truffula forest is slowly growing back, and the Once-ler ventures outside every day to water them. The Lorax descends from the sky and forgives the Once-ler.
The Once-ler is whisked away to Holloway's Keep after the last truffula tree falls. Why did I write out that other shit that went beyond that? Because I can. At least I don't have footnotes. I considered it1.
1Here's a footnote anyway.
6. Personality: The Once-ler is equal parts douchebag and nice guy, and I'm going to tell you why. I recommend reading the background section first.
In reality, the Once-ler's behavior before and during his success is very similar—it's just that when he became successful, his more negative, aggressive traits intensified to fit the portrait of young billionaire. He's always been defensive, he's always been charismatic, he's always been socially challenged, he's always been… kind of a dick, really. Now that he's in the public eye and actually feeling pretty good about himself, he's willing to be more bold with his words and actions.
The Once-ler can be very defensive when criticized, especially if he's proud of what he did. It's a hellish mixture of pride and greed that drove him into biggering his company until he could bigger it no more. He is easily provoked and doesn't seem to know when to shut up. The Once-ler is bitingly sarcastic and loves to snark, but he often doesn't realize that his scathing remarks are more insulting than he thinks they are.
Though the Once-ler is charismatic, he has crippling self-esteem issues. It depends almost entirely on the approval of other people, something he has craved since he was young. He values the opinions of others more than he does his own, and they can easily influence his decisions. When caught between two differing opinions he will panic, lash out, and pick a side without considering the repercussions. Even if he knows what he's doing is wrong he will try to rationalize his actions (in the case of cutting down the trees, he tricked himself into believing that what he was doing was okay because it wasn't illegal – though he has done his fair share of illegal things [bribery, fraud, forgery] that he does regret). Despite this, he is not just a figurehead for the company. He exercises his power to make the final decision, which isn't always what the lawyers or PR people want it to be.
In more personal social situations, the Once-ler is… horrifically awkward. He is actually more comfortable talking to strangers, people that he will probably never see again, than he is talking to friends and family. The Once-ler is so frightened of damaging the already fragile relationships he has he tries to avoid friendship altogether, telling himself that he's so busy he doesn't have time for it. The real reason he doesn't have friends is because he feels that if he gets too close to someone, they'll find some sort of fatal flaw and leave him. The friendships he does have he treats like they're made of glass. He has a tendency to shower his friends and family with gifts, because that's what makes people like you, right? Gifts? You should see his mother's jewelry box. When he somehow manages to make friends he is fiercely protective of them and sometimes a little clingy.
In his spare time, the Once-ler likes to write and compose songs. Those songs he sang in the film? Most of them actually happened, backup chorus and everything. He tends to scribble down lyrics beforehand, but he is fully capable of coming up with them as he goes. Singing and playing the guitar are his favorite things to do (after making money, that is). He is a performer by nature, hence his ventures into things like music and magic tricks. Being in the spotlight doesn't bother him in the slightest. He's very energetic and passionate about everything he does and isn't afraid to show it.
When you get to the bare bones of it, the Once-ler isn't a bad guy. He's not a true villain. He is friendly in general (if not a little condescending) and genuinely cares about what people have to say, though he can take things personally when they are definitely not meant to be. He loves to make people happy, hence the Thneed and all the song and dance numbers. The Once-ler is a loyal friend and a good shoulder to cry on (just don't ask him for advice, he's not so good at that).
The previous paragraph is completely negated if you insult the company—but that won't last forever. Even after the tree falls, the Once-ler will grasp at straws to rationalize literally everything he has done, but will eventually regard the company—and himself—with an intense disdain. Of course he's going to hide his suffering behind that annoying mask of arrogance he wears and become startlingly bitter in the process, but so it goes. He plans to keep his "criminal" background, as well as his pain, a secret at the Keep for as long as he can.
In terms of quirks, I couldn't really fit them into the above paragraphs, so here's a big list: the Once-ler can't sit still and is almost constantly moving his hands; he has an interest in engineering (he designed the Thneed factories and many of the harvesting machines); he occasionally gets so overwhelmed by conflicting emotions that he will lock himself in his office for hours on end and chain smoke cigars; his handwriting is very neat and large, signature illegible aside from a gigantic "O"; and sometimes he doesn't sleep for days, preferring to sit at his desk and… chain smoke cigars. He likes cigars. A lot.
7. Previous Game Developments: N/A
8. Appearance: Here he is blaming a small animal for chopping down a tree
9. Abilities: The Once-ler has spent his entire life trying to impress his family, so over time, he has acquired more than a few talents. The Once-ler can sew and knit (his latest venture), sing, play the guitar (electric and acoustic), dance, do magic tricks (mostly dealing with sleight of hand) cook, draw, build (engineering, gears and the like), and write. He also has the incredible ability to play the electric guitar without an amp. The Once-ler is actually pretty good at these things, but he believes he isn't due to his mother's disinterest. He's also really, really tall. Like, 6'4". I consider this an ability. He can also blow smoke rings!
10. Languages: Spoken and written English
11. Items: His kickass suit and everything in his pockets, which is $500 in bills, the last truffula seed, a single marshmallow and a gold pocket watch.
12. Weapons: None
13. Writing sample - Third Person: The chopping machine is ugly.
It's always been ugly. It looked great on paper when the Once-ler drew up the schematic, but once it was built, it was an eyesore. Yes, he designed it. Him. The Once-ler. He designed that hideous thing, with its whirling blades and gas-guzzling engine. Gas is expensive, but the chopping machine pays for itself. It gets fifteen miles to the gallon and cuts down a hundred trees per hour. It drags the trees back to the factory, the trees become Thneeds, and everyone is happy. Over time, the Once-ler learned to tolerate its lackluster appearance—
—but now, as it tows the last truffula tree, the very last one, the chopping machine is the most hideous thing he has ever laid eyes on.
"Wait! Hey, wait!" The Once-ler calls, running top speed after the machine. He may not be very fit, but his legs are long and his strides are wide. The machine roars like the demon it is, and—no. No, the machine isn't the demon. He is. Him. The Once-ler. He shakes his head and pursues the machine. The driver can't hear his pleas. The Once-ler—pleading, prepared to bargain with the behemoth. The most powerful man in the world, reduced to chasing dead dreams and high hopes.
He passes the machine and skids to a halt in its path, nearly tripping over his own feet. He shouts, "Stop! I command you, Once-ler's orders!" and waves his arms, top hat in hand. "Stop! Now!"
The machine grinds to a halt, the driver startled by her boss venturing into the wasteland. Him. The Once-ler. The Once-ler jogs back to the tree and just—shuts down, staring at the very last pink tuft as the sweet scent of butterfly milk ebbs away. He closes his eyes tight, so tight that bursts of color explode in the darkness, then opens them slowly. Nothing has changed. The world is dim, the skies clouded. Stumps dot the countryside, if you could call it that. Oily rivers cut through the landscape. The factories in the distance belch columns of smoke into the atmosphere.
His life is a lie. For four years he has lived this lie, biggering and biggering his company, writing off the repercussions as environmentalist garbage. The stacks of bills in his bank vault looked so nice, and the constant attention and praise made him feel so good about himself, and—
He did this. He destroyed everything. Him. The Once-ler.
"I," he says aloud, but he trails off immediately. Speaking is hard. Thinking is hard. There's too many thoughts whizzing through his head, pressing against his skull, turgor pressure, and he doesn’t know which to grab. He sits down, cross-legged, and sets his hat beside him. The Once-ler reaches out and parts the truffula tufts. Everybody knows that truffula seeds grow very close to the trunk, right in the middle of the tuft. They've all been crushed by the fall, all but one, one that clings to the trunk, pristine. The Once-ler plucks it from its stem and cups it in his hands like it's made of gold.
The Once-ler doesn't know how long he sits there, staring at this truffula seed, the last truffula seed. Minutes. Hours. Days. It's impossible to tell when the world is swathed in eternal darkness. He stands up eventually and bangs on the machine with one fist. The machine fires up and rolls back to the factory, tree in tow, leaving the Once-ler alone in the world he made.
Him.
The Once-ler.
14. Writing Sample - First Person: YEAR ONE, DAY THREE
Hey journal! Once-ler here. It'll always be me. You know. The Once-ler. My mom told me to keep a journal about everything I do to keep track of the business or something. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. I sold my 60th Thneed this morning. My 60th Thneed! Since Wednesday! That was 2 days ago! I'm successful! I'm significant! I've been up all night knitting!
YEAR ONE, DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND NINE
The new factory in the mountains opened today. I cut the ribbon myself. I was pretty much blinded by cameras, so I think I'll add sunglasses to my ensemble. Oh, right, I wore my green suit for the first time in public! I was a little anxious, but everyone loved it. It's going to be my signature look.
Also, the Lorax was there, in the front row, judging me as always. What is his deal? It's just the second factory. Does he expect me to ship the mountain trees all the way down to the valley? Does he know how expensive that is? Newsflash, it's expensive. The point of a business is to make money, not spend it. Why won't he leave me alone? Why won't he get the hint that I really don't care? I'm busy. All the time. Constantly. I don’t have time for his garbage.
YEAR TWO, DAY ONE
One year ago today, I sold my first Thneed. Imagine that! A year! So much can happen in a year. The fourth factory is being built next to the river already. It's going to run on hydraulic power. All natural. Maybe that will shut up the save-the-environment organizations. They're making me out to be some sort of horrible monster. It's annoying.
[An addition.]
Hydraulic power isn't happening. Current isn't strong enough, coal is cheaper, something like that. I don't really listen when the engineers talk. Whatever—as long as it works.
YEAR TWO, DAY NINETY-NINE
I got three new guitars—one acoustic, two electric, all custom-made. Betty (my old guitar, did I ever mention her?) was ratty and old, virtually unplayable. I gave her to a museum. Well, sold.
YEAR TWO, DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND TWO
Bought Betty back from the museum before they put her on display. It was weird not seeing her in my office. Not sure why. She's back now, and everything's good. I'm having a glass cabinet made for her.
YEAR TWO, DAY TWO-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE
I can't compose songs anymore. I just can’t. I keep trying, but nothing comes to mind. I used to write songs to motivate me, but I don't need motivation anymore. I am motivation. I'm only bothering to write this because the Lorax stopped by yet again and asked me why I haven't composed anything. Is he spying on me? Wouldn't put it past that talking mustache. I told him I'm too busy for that nonsense. And I am. I'm way too busy.
YEAR THREE, DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR
I'm building a city. No kidding! It'll be called Thneedville, and I'll be the mayor. I've drawn up a concept and everything. The art department is building a scale model. It's going to cost a fortune—but it's just pocket change. I'm so excited, I'm writing really hard in my journal for emphasis! I can't
I lost my train of thought there because the Lorax visited. Again. If I had a dollar for every time he came to lecture me, I could build Thneedville with just that. His warnings are repetitive and annoying, so I pretty much unleashed my wrath. He seriously doesn't get it. I run a business. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and my company is a wolf. I'm going to keep biggering my company, and the mustache is going to have to get over it. I'm a force of nature. I'm the richest man on the planet. The world exists to be utilized. The trees are there for Thneeds. He's acting like the trees are going to go extinct or something else unnecessarily drastic. Extinct? Please. I only take what I need.
Who cares?
YEAR THREE, DAY THREE-HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE
[This entry has been torn out of the journal, but some letters can be read on the narrow ripped edge by the spine. The words are inked heavily.]
Lo
ca
d
tre
A
dar
me.
YEAR FOUR, DAY SIXTY-ONE
What have I done. I [Here is a large splotch of ink where the Once-ler presses so hard with his fountain pen it breaks. The rest of the page is dotted with teardrops and smudged ink. This is the last entry in the journal.]
15. Tattoo: Left forearm
16. Room Preference: Anywhere!