Nervous Broad (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
santafancier) wrote2013-01-13 04:08 pm
santafancier) wrote2013-01-13 04:08 pm
Entry tags:
[ooc] Application for Route_29
Player
Name: Katar
Personal Journal:robokatar
E-mail: k [dot] kakos05 [at] gmail [dot] com
AIM/MSN: cupfulofstardust
Timezone: Central
Current Characters in Route: John Egbert (Homestuck)
Character
Name: Nervous Broad (NB)
Series: Problem Sleuth (An MS Paint Adventures…adventure)
Timeline: Chapter 22; After the black hole explodes and everyone is expelled in different directions.
Canon Resource Links: Problem Sleuth on the MSPAwiki
Nervous Broad on the MSPAwiki
Since the wiki is not the tidiest, basically just copypastas the two recaps found in PS (therefore going into more detail than is strictly necessary for a general overview), and since Problem Sleuth has kind of a strange and oftentimes confusing plotline I'm going to write a (hopefully) brief and more generalized overview in addition to giving the above link.
Problem Sleuth apparently takes place during the Prohibition Era in an unnamed city. I say apparently because while there are an abundance of mobsters and hardcore sleuths, many modern day actors make an appearance, albeit in bust form. Snoop Dogg even shows up in a Vaudeville version of Soul Plane during the epilogue. Anyway, this pseudo-Prohibition Era story chronicles the adventure of a man and his two rivals/acquaintances as they attempt to escape their offices via an absolutely absurd amount of weird puzzle shit and strange video game-like mechanics. And I mean absurd. The three detectives are pretty much constantly up to their necks in WPS, most of which involves hopping between the real and imaginary realms via magic space-hopping windows or getting drunk and hiding in a fort.
These three detectives are called Problem Sleuth (a hardboiled stud with more Pulchritude and charisma than anyone person should rightly have), Ace Dick (an unimaginative asshole-turned-ally-who-is-still-kind-of-an-asshole with a ridiculous Vim level, making him the strongest man in the universe), and Pickle Inspector (an awkward and gangly fellow with an absolutely preposterous amount of Imagination). Each one of them has a number of alter egos, including dappers, flappers, a crossdresser, a zombie, and a Godhead. And that's not even all of their alter egos. But moving on, about halfway through their adventure to escape their offices,a challenger approaches a fourth character makes his appearance: Mobster Kingpin. With a name like that, it probably goes without saying that this guy is the Big Bad. Turns out, he's been doing some weird puzzle shit too and did anybody mention that he has the Megaton Key, the item necessary to unlock Team Sleuth's office building? No? Well he does.
Predictably, Team Sleuth faces off against this guy (after he uses his imagination to turn into a horrifying three-faced demon) and the resulting final boss fight takes up nearly half of the comic. It's absolutely ridiculous. Many of the characters die, but just as many of them simply walk out Death's door and right back into the action. Death is none too pleased by this. Too many wayward souls slipping through his bony fingers, and isn't that a shame. Since MK is the bad guy, he obviously dies at the end and Problem Sleuth and his three comrades are able to finally escape into the real world. And somewhere along the line, the three also managed to set aside their differences and become friends. Though that was probably pretty obvious too, what with them being referred to as a team so often. In the end, everyone is happy save for MK who is trapped in the afterlife because Death finally invested in some stronger security measures...a contrabass clarinet lodged between the doors of Life (as in the board game) and Death so that neither door can be opened from the inside. Death is arguably the happiest character when all is said and done.
Now who is Nervous Broad and how does she fit into all this, you might ask? NB is one of the previously mentioned flapper alter egos, specifically: Pickle Inspector's. He gained awareness of her by going on a quest of the spirit after helping the Weasel Kingdom obtain Elf eggs from a tall tree. Like our other heroes, she is confined within four walls when we meet her, specifically the four walls of her apartment. She and Hysterical Dame (Problem Sleuth's female alter ego) are neighbors, and both of their apartments are actually located inside of a dollhouse inside Mobster Kingpin's office. Eventually, the two manage to escape and end up facing off against Kingpin himself. They actually manage to defeat him; along with some help from Ace Dick's crossdressing alter ego (his imagination was so bad that he couldn't actually form a proper female alter ego). Unfortunately, MK walks out of Death's door while the psychopomp is distracted, thereby reviving himself. He then descends to demonhood, and the detectives take up the task of fighting him instead, while the girls focus on a very long and convoluted puzzle involving plugging in and powering a fan. Seems kind of pointless, but in the end it actually ends up being Incredibly Relevant.
The puzzle in question involved moving a fan cord through a series of trucks and pipes that are actually dimension-altering portals. Thanks to an item called the Aspect Corset, NB ends up doing most of the heavy lifting and footwork in this puzzle. Literally. By tightening or loosening the strings on the corset, NB was able to alter her aspect to suit her needs. Tightening them allowed her to become short and stout, giving her a boost in physical strength, and loosening it allowed her to become even taller and skinnier than she already was, giving her the ability to reach very high places. While short and stout, she could easily lift the heavy plug that was as large as she was, and by being tall and skinny, she could plug it in to the high outlet. Once plugged in, all they had to do was supply power to the outlet by shrinking themselves down and reaching the power switch in the attic of Madam Murel's (MK's female alter ego and the Madame of the brothel on Whore Island) dollhouse. However, the way upstairs was locked and only the Madame had the key (a skeleton paint brush). This predictably leads to a showdown between the three female alter egos. In the end, HD and NB managed to win, killing MM with a powerful combo attack.
Personality: As previously mentioned, Nevous Broad is Pickle Inspector's female alter ego who happens to be a flapper. As such, it probably goes without saying that there are some core personality traits which NB shares with PI. However, their characters develop in completely different ways over the course of canon, making NB more than just a simple canonical genderswap.
While they are two separate characters, it's pretty much impossible to understand NB without having at least some understanding of her male counterpart. Pickle Inspector is an anxious and socially awkward individual, tall and gangly, with a very powerful imagination and a disconcerting ogle. He is polite to a fault, expecting good manners of everyone he encounters, as well as exceedingly clever and well-versed in puzzles (Sudoku is a favorite of his). In the real world, he is next to useless owing to his nonexistant Vim and unimpressive Pulchritude stats. However, in the Imaginary Realm, he is a god among men, able to create, manipulate, and even travel through time. So it comes as no surprise that when we first encounter Pickle Inspector, it is in the Imaginary Realm. Like the others, he was trapped inside his office, albeit for a much longer time. After a few attempts to get out, however, he gives up and spends most of his time partying in his imaginary office. Basically: the man is a neurotic introvert who spends too much time inside his own head. He is not without his uses, it's just that his uses tend to be more supportive in nature, as opposed to his more hardboiled, in-your-face comrades.
Nervous Broad shares many of these traits. She too is tall and gangly, incredibly weak, and sports a wide-eyed stare. Though instead of doing the disconcerting, it is usually SHE who is disconcerted. For this reason, she actually comes off as less socially awkward than PI, who is constantly giving people disconcerting ogles which can be a bit of a put-off. NB has little trouble befriending people or working as a team. Conversely, her anxiety levels are so high that they're more or less debilitating. Her name itself probably gave this away. Nervous Broad is almost constantly on the verge of a flip out or a nervous breakdown. She is very easy to set off, though luckily she is fairly easy to placate. In the event of a maxed Nerves Gauge, NB merely has to look at her prized collection of Fancy Santas, hold her teddy bear, or enjoy the scenery to calm back down. While nervous Broad also comes off as a polite individual, she does not appear as neurotic about it as PI. She does not chastise others for a lack of manners, nor does she seem to expect others to be polite to her, if her first encounter with MK is anything to go by. (he gave her a shiner and knocked her backwards out a door several thousand feet in the air) NB is also very self-conscious about her appearance, particularly her tall and gangly frame and the state of her makeup/face. It's unknown whether or not this is a trait she shares with PI or one more rooted in gender differences, as PI has never expressed the same concerns. While NB is also shown to be quite clever, especially with puzzles (though her feelings on Sudoku are unknown) she does not share Pickle Inspector's powerful imagination. This is probably due to the fact that she is highly implied to be imaginary herself. She is never seen outside of the Imaginary Realm, even after MK is defeated and they gain the ability to leave their office building. As seen here (warning for face melting, though it's hardly graphic), Imaginary Beings pull a Wicked Witch of the West should they attempt to enter the Real World, so it is perhaps for this reason that NB and HD do not join their counterparts in the end.
When we first meet NB, she is more or less the quintessential damsel in distress. She is trapped in her room, though unlike the other main characters, she makes no real attempt to escape on her own. Even her counterpart at least made an attempt (and managed to shoot his door full of bullet holes) before surrendering to his fate. Instead, she hopes that a "tall brawny fella" (PI) will swing by and not only help her escape, but close her medicine cabinet as well. After finding his business card, she does at least try to call said fella, only to find out that he does not have a phone. This is enough to send her reeling into a case of the vapors so bad that not only makes her nearly pass out, but also levels up her "nervetech" owing to an increase in "worry points." What's a damsel to do without a chivalrous fella to help her out of a tough situation, after all? Clearly all hope is lost and she'll be trapped forever. Except not really. Eventually she does manage to get out, though not due to her own ingenuity. Instead, one of the alternate Ace Dicks lends her a tiny hand in activating the portal in her carousel model.
Fortunately, Nervous Broad does not stay like this for the entire adventure. In fact, she arguably goes through more development than any of the other characters. A great deal of this is likely due to all the she time spends solving puzzles and fighting baddies alongside Hysterical Dame. Once freed from her apartment, NB proves to be just as clever as her alter ego when it comes to solving puzzles, and even more capable in direct combat. Though she may be just as physically weak as PI, she wields her teddy bear/knife and paint stripper/flamethrower quite well and is a rather vicious attacker. Under the right conditions, she'll even attack her own teammates if they're standing too close to her target. PI, on the other hand, favors a key/handgun and a sextant/sniper rifle both of which do not require the user to be close to their target (especially the sniper rifle). On the very rare occasion that his allies suffer collateral damage thanks to him, it's because he's distracted or his finger slips accidentally on the trigger. By the time it's all said and done, NB appears to have gotten over her nerves completely or at least gotten to a point where she can channel them to her advantage. She's still a mild personality, especially when in the company of someone like Hysterical Dame, but she's hardly the defenseless damsel that she was in the beginning. In fact, when NB and PI finally meet up in person after MK is defeated (for more than just a few fleeting moments in the middle of a battle), she's the one who ends up making a pass at him, and he's the one who ends up smitten.
It's possible that there are other, unsaid factors which also had an effect on NB's phenomenal character growth. It is a known fact that the quality of one's imagination affects one's ability to form alter egos. Ace Dick, whose imagination is so low it's a negative number, could not manifest a female counterpart at all. Instead of winding up with an Irritable Jane (or some other silly name) inside the dollhouse, he instead wound up with a second Ace Dick, this one sporting a wig. Pickle Inspector, on the other hand, has the highest naturally-occurring imagination stat of any of the characters. It's highly probable that NB was so quickly and easily able to improve upon herself because of the quality of imagination that spawned her. Especially since she seems to embody some of the qualities which PI lacks and perhaps wishes he had, such as a more easily sociable personality and battle prowess.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ Cleverness; like her counterpart, Pickle Inspector, NB has proven to be quite skilled in weird puzzle shit.
+ Battle Prowess; when under a severe case of the vapors or if PI takes too much damage, NB can actually become quite the little bearcat in battle. (would you want to mess with this?) She's skilled in wielding both a knife/teddy bear and a flamethrower/paint stripper.
+ Personal Charm; though nowhere near on the levels of Problem Sleuth or (presumably) Hysterical Dame, NB appears to have a decent level of Pulchritude given that she and HD were able to command the loyalty of the whores and convince them to fight on their side in the final showdown against Demonhead Mobster Kingpin.
+ Tallness Attribute; this is the sort of ability that you don't think is much of an ability until suddenly you can't reach something on a high shelf or in a tree. Then damn do you wish you were a hero of height.
+/-Dependence on Others; While this starts out as a negative trait, by the end of the story it manages to shift into a more neutral territory. Though NB manages to become more confident over the course of her adventure, she is rarely seen on her own. This is especially true of Hysterical Dame, who takes a protective role over NB once they manage to escape their apartments. The only time that the two are not seen in each other's company after that point is when they're working on the cord puzzle, which kind of required them to be separated for certain parts anyway. Once she manages to get this dependency down to healthier levels, it actually makes her a strong team player.
- Nerves; since she's coming from a later canon point, these aren't at the debilitating state which they are when we first meet NB and she's much better at controlling them/using them to her advantage.
- Physically weak; without her Aspect Corset to make her stouter and therefore stronger, NB has trouble closing even a medicine cabinet door (but can later hold and use a flamethrower. Vim is kind of a funny thing like that.)
- Imaginary Being; though never outright confirmed, there's strong canon evidence which seems to indicate that Nervous Broad is not actually a real person. Being in Route will obviously change this, but it won't be without its side effects. As we see in canon, there is a certain disconnect when the Imaginary shows up in the Real world. Candy weapons, which nobody questioned while using them in the Imaginary world, seem suddenly silly and nonsensical when seen in the real world. To a degree, this will also be true for NB but it will go one step further since she herself is Imaginary. Basically, her mind sort of takes certain knowledge for granted and runs with it without bothering to fill in the holes. Instead, it just kind of covers them up with a shitty tarp and lets NB fall into them. There are things that she THINKS she knows, things that make sense to her, but when forced to examine these "facts", she comes to find that her knowledge isn't quite as correct as she thought. For example: say someone were to ask her how old she is. She wouldn't be able to answer that, not out of some kind of feminine weirdness about age, but rather because she simply doesn't know. She knows that she exists, and that she is an adult, but she doesn't know when she was born. Furthermore, when she really stops and thinks about it, she would come to realize that she doesn't actually have a childhood either. She has no past beyond the events of canon after PI became aware of her. Adjusting will definitely have its challenges.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Breeder
Starter: Magby
Password: Scrambled Eggs
Samples
First Person Sample: [When NB turns on the feed, she looks more than a little exhauseted. And why shouldn't she? It's nearly three thirty in the morning, after all! And judging by her pajamas and the tousled state of her hair, she was in the middle of doing what people typically do at this time......sleeping.]
Sorry to bother at such a late hour but if anybody is still awake, I could use a little advice. Or you could answer in the morning, that's fine too. I might try and catch a few more winks here in a bit myself. Anyway, there's this kid. He's seems like a swell kid and all, doesn't mean any harm, but he's a goshdarn dingle-dangler and it's starting to get a little out of hand!
[She yawns and rubs her eyes, an equally sleepy looking Rattata clambering up to sit on her shoulder.]
'Scuse me. Anyway, he just keeps callin', at all hours, mind you, and beating his gums about how amazing his Ratatta is. Which is a bit silly seeing's how Curly T didn't have much trouble with him. [The little Rattata on her shoulder squeaks and flashes the screen a sleepy look of pride.]
I've tried askin' him to stop but the fella ain't lettin' me get a word in edgewise before he hangs up. Beginning to think givin' him my number was a mistake on my part...but like I said, he seemed like a nice enough kid.
[Sigh.] I guess what I'm askin' is: is there a way to make him stop tinklin'? Or at least make him stop doin' it so much?
Third Person Sample: It had been about three days since Nervous Broad and Hysterical Dame had left New Bark. Supposedly, they should be pretty close to the next city, but they had yet to catch sight of it yet. Either they were traveling slower than most or they’d gotten a little more lost than intended, even with the help of the fancy gee-pee-ess dot on the whatsitgear. Supposedly the dot was them? How screwy! Either way, NB sure hoped that they would reach the town tomorrow. She had already decided that the first thing she was going to do buy a jacket, as it was far too cold outside for her corset and flimsy dress. And if she still had enough clams after that, maybe she'd look into getting a sleeper bag that better fit her frame. The one she was given seemed to be intended for someone of a more average height. Unless she tucked her legs up, a good portion of her torso stuck awkwardly out the top, making it considerably less warm than the rest of her.
And this was exactly the predicament that NB found herself in right now as she lay on her back, staring up at the stars and sliver of moon hanging in the sky. A few feet away, Hysterical Dame lay in her own sleeper bag, presumably fast asleep and lost to DreamLand, though NB couldn't be sure about that. Perhaps her companion was having just as much trouble falling asleep since coming here as she was. But the last thing NB wanted to do was bother her good friend if this wasn't the case, so she remained quiet. After several minutes of allowing her mind to wander, NB turned her head a little to glance at the little flame beast curled up in the grass beside her. The Magby was out cold, singeing small patches of grass with the embers that dribbled from her beak as she slept. With a small smile, NB lifted a hand to scratch the small creature underneath her...hair? Head? Horns? Whatever those head bumps were, anyway. She received a quiet coo in response, and was forced to stifle a giggle. The little gal really was kind of cute, bizarre though she was. Seriously, what kind of crazy animal was she supposed to be, anyway?
After a few more scratches, NB turned her head skyward once more, sighing a little and placing her hands behind her head. She still hadn't given her Magby a name, something that is apparently a Thing You Should Do, according to a few of the people she'd spoken to on the communication box. The task probably shouldn't have been giving her as much trouble as it was. Really, what was so hard about naming a baby fire beast? The answer shouldbe 'very little,' but this wasn't the case for NB. Because the talk of names for her Magby had inevitably brought the conversation around to her own name and, apparently, people here found the name 'Nervous Broad' to be more than a little strange. And once this had been pointed out of her, NB kind of had to admit that she sort of agreed. It really wasn't a name, was it? More like a description. Not really even an accurate one anymore, all things considered. She had come quite a way since waking up in her apartment, after all! Or at least, she liked to think so. But in any case, 'Nervous Broad' was the only 'name' she had. And on top of that, it hadn't really even seemed that strange to her until now. Hysterical Dame and Nervous Broad? Absolutely nothing fluky about those names, no siree!
Except...there was. Unfortunately, things had only gotten weirder from there. Over the past few days, NB had had more free time than she really knew what to do with. And so, her mind had taken to wandering in the down time. And she'd come to find that her name wasn't the only hole up there, so to speak. There were all sorts of things that she had assumed she knew, only to realize that this was not the case upon closer inspection. Worst of all, she had no idea why this was suddenly the case. It felt like she was constantly waking up from a dream, discombobulated and wondering why in the world things suddenly didn't make as much sense as they had when she was asleep. Or at least...she assumed that's what it was like. She wasn't really sure that she'd ever had a dream before being brought to this Johto place. It was highly disconcerting, not to mention frustrating, and NB was at a loss for what to do about it. After all, it wasn't the sort of problem that could be solved by setting it on fire. Not that she had her can of stripper with her, anyway.
Sighing again, NB curled up inside her bag and rolled over on her side, facing her Magby. She'd make heads or tails of all this eventually. And come up with a name for her firebaby, to boot! But for now, she needed to sleep. It would not come easily to her, as the mind is a difficult thing to make sit still once its set on wandering, but after an hour or so, NB finally managed to drift into a light sleep.
Name: Katar
Personal Journal:
robokatarE-mail: k [dot] kakos05 [at] gmail [dot] com
AIM/MSN: cupfulofstardust
Timezone: Central
Current Characters in Route: John Egbert (Homestuck)
Character
Name: Nervous Broad (NB)
Series: Problem Sleuth (An MS Paint Adventures…adventure)
Timeline: Chapter 22; After the black hole explodes and everyone is expelled in different directions.
Canon Resource Links: Problem Sleuth on the MSPAwiki
Nervous Broad on the MSPAwiki
Since the wiki is not the tidiest, basically just copypastas the two recaps found in PS (therefore going into more detail than is strictly necessary for a general overview), and since Problem Sleuth has kind of a strange and oftentimes confusing plotline I'm going to write a (hopefully) brief and more generalized overview in addition to giving the above link.
Problem Sleuth apparently takes place during the Prohibition Era in an unnamed city. I say apparently because while there are an abundance of mobsters and hardcore sleuths, many modern day actors make an appearance, albeit in bust form. Snoop Dogg even shows up in a Vaudeville version of Soul Plane during the epilogue. Anyway, this pseudo-Prohibition Era story chronicles the adventure of a man and his two rivals/acquaintances as they attempt to escape their offices via an absolutely absurd amount of weird puzzle shit and strange video game-like mechanics. And I mean absurd. The three detectives are pretty much constantly up to their necks in WPS, most of which involves hopping between the real and imaginary realms via magic space-hopping windows or getting drunk and hiding in a fort.
These three detectives are called Problem Sleuth (a hardboiled stud with more Pulchritude and charisma than anyone person should rightly have), Ace Dick (an unimaginative asshole-turned-ally-who-is-still-kind-of-an-asshole with a ridiculous Vim level, making him the strongest man in the universe), and Pickle Inspector (an awkward and gangly fellow with an absolutely preposterous amount of Imagination). Each one of them has a number of alter egos, including dappers, flappers, a crossdresser, a zombie, and a Godhead. And that's not even all of their alter egos. But moving on, about halfway through their adventure to escape their offices,
Predictably, Team Sleuth faces off against this guy (after he uses his imagination to turn into a horrifying three-faced demon) and the resulting final boss fight takes up nearly half of the comic. It's absolutely ridiculous. Many of the characters die, but just as many of them simply walk out Death's door and right back into the action. Death is none too pleased by this. Too many wayward souls slipping through his bony fingers, and isn't that a shame. Since MK is the bad guy, he obviously dies at the end and Problem Sleuth and his three comrades are able to finally escape into the real world. And somewhere along the line, the three also managed to set aside their differences and become friends. Though that was probably pretty obvious too, what with them being referred to as a team so often. In the end, everyone is happy save for MK who is trapped in the afterlife because Death finally invested in some stronger security measures...a contrabass clarinet lodged between the doors of Life (as in the board game) and Death so that neither door can be opened from the inside. Death is arguably the happiest character when all is said and done.
Now who is Nervous Broad and how does she fit into all this, you might ask? NB is one of the previously mentioned flapper alter egos, specifically: Pickle Inspector's. He gained awareness of her by going on a quest of the spirit after helping the Weasel Kingdom obtain Elf eggs from a tall tree. Like our other heroes, she is confined within four walls when we meet her, specifically the four walls of her apartment. She and Hysterical Dame (Problem Sleuth's female alter ego) are neighbors, and both of their apartments are actually located inside of a dollhouse inside Mobster Kingpin's office. Eventually, the two manage to escape and end up facing off against Kingpin himself. They actually manage to defeat him; along with some help from Ace Dick's crossdressing alter ego (his imagination was so bad that he couldn't actually form a proper female alter ego). Unfortunately, MK walks out of Death's door while the psychopomp is distracted, thereby reviving himself. He then descends to demonhood, and the detectives take up the task of fighting him instead, while the girls focus on a very long and convoluted puzzle involving plugging in and powering a fan. Seems kind of pointless, but in the end it actually ends up being Incredibly Relevant.
The puzzle in question involved moving a fan cord through a series of trucks and pipes that are actually dimension-altering portals. Thanks to an item called the Aspect Corset, NB ends up doing most of the heavy lifting and footwork in this puzzle. Literally. By tightening or loosening the strings on the corset, NB was able to alter her aspect to suit her needs. Tightening them allowed her to become short and stout, giving her a boost in physical strength, and loosening it allowed her to become even taller and skinnier than she already was, giving her the ability to reach very high places. While short and stout, she could easily lift the heavy plug that was as large as she was, and by being tall and skinny, she could plug it in to the high outlet. Once plugged in, all they had to do was supply power to the outlet by shrinking themselves down and reaching the power switch in the attic of Madam Murel's (MK's female alter ego and the Madame of the brothel on Whore Island) dollhouse. However, the way upstairs was locked and only the Madame had the key (a skeleton paint brush). This predictably leads to a showdown between the three female alter egos. In the end, HD and NB managed to win, killing MM with a powerful combo attack.
Personality: As previously mentioned, Nevous Broad is Pickle Inspector's female alter ego who happens to be a flapper. As such, it probably goes without saying that there are some core personality traits which NB shares with PI. However, their characters develop in completely different ways over the course of canon, making NB more than just a simple canonical genderswap.
While they are two separate characters, it's pretty much impossible to understand NB without having at least some understanding of her male counterpart. Pickle Inspector is an anxious and socially awkward individual, tall and gangly, with a very powerful imagination and a disconcerting ogle. He is polite to a fault, expecting good manners of everyone he encounters, as well as exceedingly clever and well-versed in puzzles (Sudoku is a favorite of his). In the real world, he is next to useless owing to his nonexistant Vim and unimpressive Pulchritude stats. However, in the Imaginary Realm, he is a god among men, able to create, manipulate, and even travel through time. So it comes as no surprise that when we first encounter Pickle Inspector, it is in the Imaginary Realm. Like the others, he was trapped inside his office, albeit for a much longer time. After a few attempts to get out, however, he gives up and spends most of his time partying in his imaginary office. Basically: the man is a neurotic introvert who spends too much time inside his own head. He is not without his uses, it's just that his uses tend to be more supportive in nature, as opposed to his more hardboiled, in-your-face comrades.
Nervous Broad shares many of these traits. She too is tall and gangly, incredibly weak, and sports a wide-eyed stare. Though instead of doing the disconcerting, it is usually SHE who is disconcerted. For this reason, she actually comes off as less socially awkward than PI, who is constantly giving people disconcerting ogles which can be a bit of a put-off. NB has little trouble befriending people or working as a team. Conversely, her anxiety levels are so high that they're more or less debilitating. Her name itself probably gave this away. Nervous Broad is almost constantly on the verge of a flip out or a nervous breakdown. She is very easy to set off, though luckily she is fairly easy to placate. In the event of a maxed Nerves Gauge, NB merely has to look at her prized collection of Fancy Santas, hold her teddy bear, or enjoy the scenery to calm back down. While nervous Broad also comes off as a polite individual, she does not appear as neurotic about it as PI. She does not chastise others for a lack of manners, nor does she seem to expect others to be polite to her, if her first encounter with MK is anything to go by. (he gave her a shiner and knocked her backwards out a door several thousand feet in the air) NB is also very self-conscious about her appearance, particularly her tall and gangly frame and the state of her makeup/face. It's unknown whether or not this is a trait she shares with PI or one more rooted in gender differences, as PI has never expressed the same concerns. While NB is also shown to be quite clever, especially with puzzles (though her feelings on Sudoku are unknown) she does not share Pickle Inspector's powerful imagination. This is probably due to the fact that she is highly implied to be imaginary herself. She is never seen outside of the Imaginary Realm, even after MK is defeated and they gain the ability to leave their office building. As seen here (warning for face melting, though it's hardly graphic), Imaginary Beings pull a Wicked Witch of the West should they attempt to enter the Real World, so it is perhaps for this reason that NB and HD do not join their counterparts in the end.
When we first meet NB, she is more or less the quintessential damsel in distress. She is trapped in her room, though unlike the other main characters, she makes no real attempt to escape on her own. Even her counterpart at least made an attempt (and managed to shoot his door full of bullet holes) before surrendering to his fate. Instead, she hopes that a "tall brawny fella" (PI) will swing by and not only help her escape, but close her medicine cabinet as well. After finding his business card, she does at least try to call said fella, only to find out that he does not have a phone. This is enough to send her reeling into a case of the vapors so bad that not only makes her nearly pass out, but also levels up her "nervetech" owing to an increase in "worry points." What's a damsel to do without a chivalrous fella to help her out of a tough situation, after all? Clearly all hope is lost and she'll be trapped forever. Except not really. Eventually she does manage to get out, though not due to her own ingenuity. Instead, one of the alternate Ace Dicks lends her a tiny hand in activating the portal in her carousel model.
Fortunately, Nervous Broad does not stay like this for the entire adventure. In fact, she arguably goes through more development than any of the other characters. A great deal of this is likely due to all the she time spends solving puzzles and fighting baddies alongside Hysterical Dame. Once freed from her apartment, NB proves to be just as clever as her alter ego when it comes to solving puzzles, and even more capable in direct combat. Though she may be just as physically weak as PI, she wields her teddy bear/knife and paint stripper/flamethrower quite well and is a rather vicious attacker. Under the right conditions, she'll even attack her own teammates if they're standing too close to her target. PI, on the other hand, favors a key/handgun and a sextant/sniper rifle both of which do not require the user to be close to their target (especially the sniper rifle). On the very rare occasion that his allies suffer collateral damage thanks to him, it's because he's distracted or his finger slips accidentally on the trigger. By the time it's all said and done, NB appears to have gotten over her nerves completely or at least gotten to a point where she can channel them to her advantage. She's still a mild personality, especially when in the company of someone like Hysterical Dame, but she's hardly the defenseless damsel that she was in the beginning. In fact, when NB and PI finally meet up in person after MK is defeated (for more than just a few fleeting moments in the middle of a battle), she's the one who ends up making a pass at him, and he's the one who ends up smitten.
It's possible that there are other, unsaid factors which also had an effect on NB's phenomenal character growth. It is a known fact that the quality of one's imagination affects one's ability to form alter egos. Ace Dick, whose imagination is so low it's a negative number, could not manifest a female counterpart at all. Instead of winding up with an Irritable Jane (or some other silly name) inside the dollhouse, he instead wound up with a second Ace Dick, this one sporting a wig. Pickle Inspector, on the other hand, has the highest naturally-occurring imagination stat of any of the characters. It's highly probable that NB was so quickly and easily able to improve upon herself because of the quality of imagination that spawned her. Especially since she seems to embody some of the qualities which PI lacks and perhaps wishes he had, such as a more easily sociable personality and battle prowess.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ Cleverness; like her counterpart, Pickle Inspector, NB has proven to be quite skilled in weird puzzle shit.
+ Battle Prowess; when under a severe case of the vapors or if PI takes too much damage, NB can actually become quite the little bearcat in battle. (would you want to mess with this?) She's skilled in wielding both a knife/teddy bear and a flamethrower/paint stripper.
+ Personal Charm; though nowhere near on the levels of Problem Sleuth or (presumably) Hysterical Dame, NB appears to have a decent level of Pulchritude given that she and HD were able to command the loyalty of the whores and convince them to fight on their side in the final showdown against Demonhead Mobster Kingpin.
+ Tallness Attribute; this is the sort of ability that you don't think is much of an ability until suddenly you can't reach something on a high shelf or in a tree. Then damn do you wish you were a hero of height.
+/-Dependence on Others; While this starts out as a negative trait, by the end of the story it manages to shift into a more neutral territory. Though NB manages to become more confident over the course of her adventure, she is rarely seen on her own. This is especially true of Hysterical Dame, who takes a protective role over NB once they manage to escape their apartments. The only time that the two are not seen in each other's company after that point is when they're working on the cord puzzle, which kind of required them to be separated for certain parts anyway. Once she manages to get this dependency down to healthier levels, it actually makes her a strong team player.
- Nerves; since she's coming from a later canon point, these aren't at the debilitating state which they are when we first meet NB and she's much better at controlling them/using them to her advantage.
- Physically weak; without her Aspect Corset to make her stouter and therefore stronger, NB has trouble closing even a medicine cabinet door (but can later hold and use a flamethrower. Vim is kind of a funny thing like that.)
- Imaginary Being; though never outright confirmed, there's strong canon evidence which seems to indicate that Nervous Broad is not actually a real person. Being in Route will obviously change this, but it won't be without its side effects. As we see in canon, there is a certain disconnect when the Imaginary shows up in the Real world. Candy weapons, which nobody questioned while using them in the Imaginary world, seem suddenly silly and nonsensical when seen in the real world. To a degree, this will also be true for NB but it will go one step further since she herself is Imaginary. Basically, her mind sort of takes certain knowledge for granted and runs with it without bothering to fill in the holes. Instead, it just kind of covers them up with a shitty tarp and lets NB fall into them. There are things that she THINKS she knows, things that make sense to her, but when forced to examine these "facts", she comes to find that her knowledge isn't quite as correct as she thought. For example: say someone were to ask her how old she is. She wouldn't be able to answer that, not out of some kind of feminine weirdness about age, but rather because she simply doesn't know. She knows that she exists, and that she is an adult, but she doesn't know when she was born. Furthermore, when she really stops and thinks about it, she would come to realize that she doesn't actually have a childhood either. She has no past beyond the events of canon after PI became aware of her. Adjusting will definitely have its challenges.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Breeder
Starter: Magby
Password: Scrambled Eggs
Samples
First Person Sample: [When NB turns on the feed, she looks more than a little exhauseted. And why shouldn't she? It's nearly three thirty in the morning, after all! And judging by her pajamas and the tousled state of her hair, she was in the middle of doing what people typically do at this time......sleeping.]
Sorry to bother at such a late hour but if anybody is still awake, I could use a little advice. Or you could answer in the morning, that's fine too. I might try and catch a few more winks here in a bit myself. Anyway, there's this kid. He's seems like a swell kid and all, doesn't mean any harm, but he's a goshdarn dingle-dangler and it's starting to get a little out of hand!
[She yawns and rubs her eyes, an equally sleepy looking Rattata clambering up to sit on her shoulder.]
'Scuse me. Anyway, he just keeps callin', at all hours, mind you, and beating his gums about how amazing his Ratatta is. Which is a bit silly seeing's how Curly T didn't have much trouble with him. [The little Rattata on her shoulder squeaks and flashes the screen a sleepy look of pride.]
I've tried askin' him to stop but the fella ain't lettin' me get a word in edgewise before he hangs up. Beginning to think givin' him my number was a mistake on my part...but like I said, he seemed like a nice enough kid.
[Sigh.] I guess what I'm askin' is: is there a way to make him stop tinklin'? Or at least make him stop doin' it so much?
Third Person Sample: It had been about three days since Nervous Broad and Hysterical Dame had left New Bark. Supposedly, they should be pretty close to the next city, but they had yet to catch sight of it yet. Either they were traveling slower than most or they’d gotten a little more lost than intended, even with the help of the fancy gee-pee-ess dot on the whatsitgear. Supposedly the dot was them? How screwy! Either way, NB sure hoped that they would reach the town tomorrow. She had already decided that the first thing she was going to do buy a jacket, as it was far too cold outside for her corset and flimsy dress. And if she still had enough clams after that, maybe she'd look into getting a sleeper bag that better fit her frame. The one she was given seemed to be intended for someone of a more average height. Unless she tucked her legs up, a good portion of her torso stuck awkwardly out the top, making it considerably less warm than the rest of her.
And this was exactly the predicament that NB found herself in right now as she lay on her back, staring up at the stars and sliver of moon hanging in the sky. A few feet away, Hysterical Dame lay in her own sleeper bag, presumably fast asleep and lost to DreamLand, though NB couldn't be sure about that. Perhaps her companion was having just as much trouble falling asleep since coming here as she was. But the last thing NB wanted to do was bother her good friend if this wasn't the case, so she remained quiet. After several minutes of allowing her mind to wander, NB turned her head a little to glance at the little flame beast curled up in the grass beside her. The Magby was out cold, singeing small patches of grass with the embers that dribbled from her beak as she slept. With a small smile, NB lifted a hand to scratch the small creature underneath her...hair? Head? Horns? Whatever those head bumps were, anyway. She received a quiet coo in response, and was forced to stifle a giggle. The little gal really was kind of cute, bizarre though she was. Seriously, what kind of crazy animal was she supposed to be, anyway?
After a few more scratches, NB turned her head skyward once more, sighing a little and placing her hands behind her head. She still hadn't given her Magby a name, something that is apparently a Thing You Should Do, according to a few of the people she'd spoken to on the communication box. The task probably shouldn't have been giving her as much trouble as it was. Really, what was so hard about naming a baby fire beast? The answer shouldbe 'very little,' but this wasn't the case for NB. Because the talk of names for her Magby had inevitably brought the conversation around to her own name and, apparently, people here found the name 'Nervous Broad' to be more than a little strange. And once this had been pointed out of her, NB kind of had to admit that she sort of agreed. It really wasn't a name, was it? More like a description. Not really even an accurate one anymore, all things considered. She had come quite a way since waking up in her apartment, after all! Or at least, she liked to think so. But in any case, 'Nervous Broad' was the only 'name' she had. And on top of that, it hadn't really even seemed that strange to her until now. Hysterical Dame and Nervous Broad? Absolutely nothing fluky about those names, no siree!
Except...there was. Unfortunately, things had only gotten weirder from there. Over the past few days, NB had had more free time than she really knew what to do with. And so, her mind had taken to wandering in the down time. And she'd come to find that her name wasn't the only hole up there, so to speak. There were all sorts of things that she had assumed she knew, only to realize that this was not the case upon closer inspection. Worst of all, she had no idea why this was suddenly the case. It felt like she was constantly waking up from a dream, discombobulated and wondering why in the world things suddenly didn't make as much sense as they had when she was asleep. Or at least...she assumed that's what it was like. She wasn't really sure that she'd ever had a dream before being brought to this Johto place. It was highly disconcerting, not to mention frustrating, and NB was at a loss for what to do about it. After all, it wasn't the sort of problem that could be solved by setting it on fire. Not that she had her can of stripper with her, anyway.
Sighing again, NB curled up inside her bag and rolled over on her side, facing her Magby. She'd make heads or tails of all this eventually. And come up with a name for her firebaby, to boot! But for now, she needed to sleep. It would not come easily to her, as the mind is a difficult thing to make sit still once its set on wandering, but after an hour or so, NB finally managed to drift into a light sleep.