OP
"Life is not measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
[Tristan Alabaster | 18 | Male]
Appearance
Tristan is an unfortunately short guy of about 5'6" with long black hair, dark brown eyes and skin that is white, but due to the slight ethnicity of his family will never be 'pasty' regardless of how little sun he gets. Most of time, Tristian is known for his relatively stoic face, but that's primarily because he is half-asleep in most social conventions like school. Whenever he is out with or simply around his friends, his smile and demeanor change greatly so that at times he can even be a source of positive social energy. Physically, he is hardly intimidating as well. Although he has a slight muscle tone (due to his friends' insistence on him join their Weight Training class), he really has no intimidating or forceful presence. Tristan is often described as one of the more physically attractive guys of his school, often given remarks such as "if you were a little more tan" or "if you bulked up a little more" in response to who they consider the most attractive of either his school or his friends.
Avatar Ability
The true core of Tristan's abilities is called 'Alpha Mode' and represents Tristan in the sense that not only do his greatest strengths come from bringing people together, but they come from the structure he creates in a group. Every person is capable of an Alpha Mode with varying results, but the overall purpose of activating the mode is to push an individual beyond their nature limits and give them the strength and traits of the group they are networked with. This ability is far more effective as part of a group as the more individuals networked together drastically increase the power given to their Alpha, however, it can work a lone and create what is called an Omega. The Omega Mode works similarly to the Alpha Mode, but contrasts in the sense that an Omega unlocks their full potential and empowers their own abilities instead of gaining the strengths of a pack. The ultimate 'ability' or 'end game' goal of this would be to create a single individual whom is the 'Alpha and Omega' that is given the strengths of the group, pushed to their full potential and has every ability amplified, not just their own.
Secondary abilities granted by the Alpha Mode include empathy, extrasensory abilities, telepathy and high levels of energy manipulation. The entire purpose of this ability is that it makes a group grow significantly stronger by being together, thus abilities like empathy and telepathy help bring group together and allow it to function while extrasensory abilities allow greater perception as to what is happening and energy manipulation itself exists not only for Tristan to control energy but for him to be able to reallocate it to his allies whom might need it from his allies who may not be as useful at the moment. These abilities exist to support the core ability and are all different aspects with no direct representation of his core ability. His Omega mode contrasts these abilities in the sense that the Omega is a representation that although Tristan may make be impressive alone (and even desire to do so), he will never be as impressive as if he were part of something.
Initially, this ability will come off as Tristan being naturally adept with whatever energy the group is trained with. His empathy and telepathy won't play significant roles until later, leaving his early stages to primarily focus on his ability to manipulate energy for all sorts of purposes and use it to aid a team. Relocating energy to different people will only be one aspect of this, but will be one slightly unique to him once he realizes it due to the inefficiency of anyone else whom might try. In early stages, someone with lower control over energy would either allow a majority of it to disperse before it got to its intended target or for it to be partially rejected, thus losing a chunk of it. The 'Alpha' aspect of this ability will also most likely remain dormant until later, but the Omega aspect will unveil itself slightly sooner (as Tristan will most likely overlook the group aspect of his abilities) and grant Tristan an active ability to empower himself.
Secondary abilities granted by the Alpha Mode include empathy, extrasensory abilities, telepathy and high levels of energy manipulation. The entire purpose of this ability is that it makes a group grow significantly stronger by being together, thus abilities like empathy and telepathy help bring group together and allow it to function while extrasensory abilities allow greater perception as to what is happening and energy manipulation itself exists not only for Tristan to control energy but for him to be able to reallocate it to his allies whom might need it from his allies who may not be as useful at the moment. These abilities exist to support the core ability and are all different aspects with no direct representation of his core ability. His Omega mode contrasts these abilities in the sense that the Omega is a representation that although Tristan may make be impressive alone (and even desire to do so), he will never be as impressive as if he were part of something.
Initially, this ability will come off as Tristan being naturally adept with whatever energy the group is trained with. His empathy and telepathy won't play significant roles until later, leaving his early stages to primarily focus on his ability to manipulate energy for all sorts of purposes and use it to aid a team. Relocating energy to different people will only be one aspect of this, but will be one slightly unique to him once he realizes it due to the inefficiency of anyone else whom might try. In early stages, someone with lower control over energy would either allow a majority of it to disperse before it got to its intended target or for it to be partially rejected, thus losing a chunk of it. The 'Alpha' aspect of this ability will also most likely remain dormant until later, but the Omega aspect will unveil itself slightly sooner (as Tristan will most likely overlook the group aspect of his abilities) and grant Tristan an active ability to empower himself.
Personality
The first word that comes to mind when thinking about the extroverted side of Tristan depends on the type of person he sees you as, and there are only three kinds. Four, really, but the fourth is so rare he doesn't count it. Sheep, his friends, his girls and lastly there are a few people in this world he respects highly. The Sheep would call Tristan arrogant, maybe egotistical, but definitely an asshole. Tristan is not above using and manipulating people and at times he might blindside an entire plethora of sheep to get what he wants. Some of the sheep might actually call him a genuinely nice guy, but they would be pretty wrong. His friends? His friends would most likely call him 'fair' (so much to the degree it hurts), or intelligent and probably still an asshole. Even among Tristan's best friends, he has a hugely competitive side and domineering streak. If someone wrongs him. he will design a social scenario to make them feel the exact same way; he will also do that to anyone whom would hurt his friends. His intelligence is generally found in everything he does, for better or worse, and he's an asshole regardless of if your his friend or a sheep, he's just consistent that way.
But girls? Girls are where it gets interesting. They're not sheep. Sheep don't matter too often and if they do they're normally just pieces on a board or cards in a deck. They're not his friends, however, because beyond the carnal or egotistical desires he has for them, he doesn't generally care about them. They are his conquest. His goals. His entertainment. He's not physically the strongest; he's not his tall Indian buddy Terrance that girls swoon for, he's not his rocker-preacher buddy Jayce that gets them because he's such a 'rebel' or 'so in touch with god.' What happens to have is wit and charisma, and downright the ability to just probe into someone's head - specifically the girls of his age - and get then enamored by him until he can claim victory, and he generally does so with nights of sin and pleasure. Not just his pleasure, either.
There are, however, a few people in this world that he respects. A handful. Some that he will not be an asshole to and that his sincerity is infinite for. His grandfathers, a select few teachers, an even more select few girls. Tristan has an innate disdain for violence, first and foremost disliking pain but secondly as seeing it as the loser's way out. Yet, for his grandfathers, he has beat down those he could and orchestrated such for others. He has verbally defended a few teachers nearly to the length of the aforementioned violence. And, for a few select girls that might actually be even more than a friend to him, he would bring down a hammer of his socially-empowered justice so quickly to anyone whom might consider hurting them that they might as well be as untouchable as he was.
Oddly enough, Tristan is also someone with very limited empathy. Despite a seizure disorder, he finds it hard to make excuses for himself or accept those of others. If you can't do it, you can't, doesn't matter why. Two years ago (when he was sixteen), he took light brain damage from a seizure and lost skills such as fine painting, good guitar playing and a nearly-photographic memory. Although he was down about it and put through rounds of medication to treat it, he never let those facts keep him from excelling. Last December, he scored the highest in his school for the college entrance exams, although he was only in the top margin of the national bar, but regardless he boasted it. He boasted it because he refused to let an actual, physical disability keep him down. The only thing that has ever limited Tristan was his respect. To those he adored and protected. To those he didn't make conquest, he couldn't win because he had no idea how to interact in a game that wasn't about winning.
But girls? Girls are where it gets interesting. They're not sheep. Sheep don't matter too often and if they do they're normally just pieces on a board or cards in a deck. They're not his friends, however, because beyond the carnal or egotistical desires he has for them, he doesn't generally care about them. They are his conquest. His goals. His entertainment. He's not physically the strongest; he's not his tall Indian buddy Terrance that girls swoon for, he's not his rocker-preacher buddy Jayce that gets them because he's such a 'rebel' or 'so in touch with god.' What happens to have is wit and charisma, and downright the ability to just probe into someone's head - specifically the girls of his age - and get then enamored by him until he can claim victory, and he generally does so with nights of sin and pleasure. Not just his pleasure, either.
There are, however, a few people in this world that he respects. A handful. Some that he will not be an asshole to and that his sincerity is infinite for. His grandfathers, a select few teachers, an even more select few girls. Tristan has an innate disdain for violence, first and foremost disliking pain but secondly as seeing it as the loser's way out. Yet, for his grandfathers, he has beat down those he could and orchestrated such for others. He has verbally defended a few teachers nearly to the length of the aforementioned violence. And, for a few select girls that might actually be even more than a friend to him, he would bring down a hammer of his socially-empowered justice so quickly to anyone whom might consider hurting them that they might as well be as untouchable as he was.
Oddly enough, Tristan is also someone with very limited empathy. Despite a seizure disorder, he finds it hard to make excuses for himself or accept those of others. If you can't do it, you can't, doesn't matter why. Two years ago (when he was sixteen), he took light brain damage from a seizure and lost skills such as fine painting, good guitar playing and a nearly-photographic memory. Although he was down about it and put through rounds of medication to treat it, he never let those facts keep him from excelling. Last December, he scored the highest in his school for the college entrance exams, although he was only in the top margin of the national bar, but regardless he boasted it. He boasted it because he refused to let an actual, physical disability keep him down. The only thing that has ever limited Tristan was his respect. To those he adored and protected. To those he didn't make conquest, he couldn't win because he had no idea how to interact in a game that wasn't about winning.
Traits
- Tristan has no academic weak spot, but specifically hates grunt work. He is known for skipping over trivial assignments to test knowledge he has memorized. If he has a downside, it would be gym or band. Due to his seizures and asthma, he's limited on what he can do and he has taken damage to his motor cortex.
-Tristan revels in winning. Even if he's just copying someone else to do it better, a menial victory can mean an incredible amount to him. He also likes carnal pleasures.
-Tristan hates getting in trouble for things he didn't do, responsibility, pain, prudes and probably most of all receiving praise for what isn't his.
-Although not as well as he used to, Tristan can play guitar, harmonica, sing, paint, sketch and act.
-Tristan revels in winning. Even if he's just copying someone else to do it better, a menial victory can mean an incredible amount to him. He also likes carnal pleasures.
-Tristan hates getting in trouble for things he didn't do, responsibility, pain, prudes and probably most of all receiving praise for what isn't his.
-Although not as well as he used to, Tristan can play guitar, harmonica, sing, paint, sketch and act.
History
Tristan is the result of an unprotected night between two teens over a snowy winter they spent together. His parents originally dated as the 'crazy but attractive girl' from class that his father took as 'challenge accepted', and eventually were married out of wedlock. Tristan was born a mere five months after their marriage. Two years later came a sister and a vasectomy for his father. Tristan spent a majority of his early years watching his parents fight, whom both had starkly different views and opinions and essentially group up an in unstable home. He, however, would often visit or entirely live with his grandparents during weekends or summers as an escape from his parents.
Time flew and Tristan excelled academically. He also came to the realization early in life that relationships aren't magically meant to be and mommy and daddy aren't soulmates. He was always ahead in his classes, but his mother took him out of most college or future oriented classes or programs because she remembered in high school that they were 'for snobs'. As a matter of fact, his mother's instability often led to them being kicked out of places or frowned upon. That said, Tristan spent his time in the woods with his father when he could, solely to get out of the house, or with extended family, as they all hated his mother and so did he. Admittedly, he never felt like he was in his natural setting with the Heartland hicks that came from his father's side.
Around the age of twelve, Tristan made leaps and bounds in terms of development as well as had a life-altering moment when his mother's father had a life-changing stroke, leaving him on permanent hospice. He ultimately moved out to live with his father's parents after he couldn't tolerate the dissolved household anymore (they didn't live together, but his mother was in a constant state of breakdown, suicidal at times). There, he met more of his cousins, went out, drank, partied, poached, lost his virginity and became the beast that he is now. He developed the skills he had into talents aimed at getting women and making the most of life, all by the time he was thirteen. His grades went down, although his test scores didn't, his focuses in school changed and all-around he simply became a different person. More self-centered and egotistical.
When he turned sixteen, he had his first seizure. A full tonic-clonic seizure resulting in minimal brain damage due to lack of oxygen for a set amount of time. The doctors thought it would cause mental retardation. What it mostly did was hit his motor cortex, making him lose all of the talent he developed in painting and guitar playing and hurt his memory. Nothing permanent, as a matter of fact, as he later relearned them. He just lost his initial experience and had a slightly above average memory now instead of his nearly-photographic one. Still, he earned a name. The kid who seized out. Invited to fewer parties, unable to drive anymore, gaining weight due to his meds. Picking up girls and getting out became difficult for him, and this is when he developed something he never really had before.
Loyalty. At this point, the few people who stuck around for Tristan became a handful of his best friends, including his absolute best friend, and they were whom he spent his time with and partied with for the remainder of his time in high school. He ultimately began living with his other grandparents as his mother's mother was a nurse that could more easily help his seizures and his grandfather always needed help. By his senior year, his test scores were at the highest in the school and he was awarded several scholarships as well as accepted into multiple universities, although most of which he couldn't afford due to being ripped out of very good programs early by his mother. By his senior year, he hadn't had a seizure in 12 months and his life was slowly getting back on track. His last summer in his sleepy little hometown was destined to be an interesting one.
Time flew and Tristan excelled academically. He also came to the realization early in life that relationships aren't magically meant to be and mommy and daddy aren't soulmates. He was always ahead in his classes, but his mother took him out of most college or future oriented classes or programs because she remembered in high school that they were 'for snobs'. As a matter of fact, his mother's instability often led to them being kicked out of places or frowned upon. That said, Tristan spent his time in the woods with his father when he could, solely to get out of the house, or with extended family, as they all hated his mother and so did he. Admittedly, he never felt like he was in his natural setting with the Heartland hicks that came from his father's side.
Around the age of twelve, Tristan made leaps and bounds in terms of development as well as had a life-altering moment when his mother's father had a life-changing stroke, leaving him on permanent hospice. He ultimately moved out to live with his father's parents after he couldn't tolerate the dissolved household anymore (they didn't live together, but his mother was in a constant state of breakdown, suicidal at times). There, he met more of his cousins, went out, drank, partied, poached, lost his virginity and became the beast that he is now. He developed the skills he had into talents aimed at getting women and making the most of life, all by the time he was thirteen. His grades went down, although his test scores didn't, his focuses in school changed and all-around he simply became a different person. More self-centered and egotistical.
When he turned sixteen, he had his first seizure. A full tonic-clonic seizure resulting in minimal brain damage due to lack of oxygen for a set amount of time. The doctors thought it would cause mental retardation. What it mostly did was hit his motor cortex, making him lose all of the talent he developed in painting and guitar playing and hurt his memory. Nothing permanent, as a matter of fact, as he later relearned them. He just lost his initial experience and had a slightly above average memory now instead of his nearly-photographic one. Still, he earned a name. The kid who seized out. Invited to fewer parties, unable to drive anymore, gaining weight due to his meds. Picking up girls and getting out became difficult for him, and this is when he developed something he never really had before.
Loyalty. At this point, the few people who stuck around for Tristan became a handful of his best friends, including his absolute best friend, and they were whom he spent his time with and partied with for the remainder of his time in high school. He ultimately began living with his other grandparents as his mother's mother was a nurse that could more easily help his seizures and his grandfather always needed help. By his senior year, his test scores were at the highest in the school and he was awarded several scholarships as well as accepted into multiple universities, although most of which he couldn't afford due to being ripped out of very good programs early by his mother. By his senior year, he hadn't had a seizure in 12 months and his life was slowly getting back on track. His last summer in his sleepy little hometown was destined to be an interesting one.
Edit: July 09, 2014 - 0647h: Patched for balance, History section completed. Character v. 1.0 awaiting approval or feedback.
[Maria Sable | 18 | Female]
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Appearance
A dark-haired, mature-looking girl whose sleepy eyes wander unfocused through her surroundings. Standing taller than most at 6'1, and with an average build, she sets herself apart from many girls her age, who are supposed to be slender and petite. Her skin is only a shade darker than the average caucasian, which could be a tan or pigment, and blends well with her shoulder-length russet hair and brown eyes. Aside from her height and build, there is very little to set her apart from a crowd, and her aloof posture serves to hide even that. Her long bangs fall over her rather dull eyes, which seem to roam endlessly - seeing everything, but never actually taking anything to heart, even the people that she speaks with.
Maria is no fashionista, often wearing simple dark clothes that one might wear to a workplace, complete with steel-toed boots. She prefers extremely baggy cargo pants and jeans and almost never wears shorts. In the cold, she bundles up with a second shirt (no sweater) and a thick leather coat. In casual situations, or when it's too hot, she prefers bare feet, but is still never seen in anything less than a t-shirt and cargos. Most people mistake her for being older than she really is due to her subdued (and therefore more 'adult') sense of style, and her larger frame, and she absolutely looks out of place in school, where bright colours are the order of the day. On top of this, she hardly wears any makeup - just a bit of eyeliner as an accent. She does not cover up her imperfections with makeup, citing laziness.
Avatar Ability - "Rewrite"
By exchanging fragments of herself, Maria is able to grant herself new abilities. Essentially, by giving herself weaknesses, she gains new strengths as she needs them. This power works both physically and mentally, and as long as she can contextualize and section off the concepts of both what she is losing and what she is gaining, the power will work. The only restriction to this is that if the power she is gaining is non-human (something a human couldn't reasonably do with training, such as elemental abilities) she needs to have seen this power in the past, and reached some kind of 'understanding' about it. (So that she can conceptualize its form.)
Once she has exchanged these 'fragments,' she may choose to keep the exchange permanently, effectively destroying the fragment that she sacrificed, and she will never get it back. If she chooses, however, she may reverse the exchange. Doing this has its own cost, called 'degradation.' When exchanged beyond the first time, both fragments suffer from degradation, and cannot make the full exchange like before. A minimal part of the new fragment will stay with her, and a minimal part of the original fragment will remain lost. In other words, she will retain a small portion of whatever power she acquired, but she will not gain back whatever she sacrificed in full. Like a crumpled up paper, it can never regain its original form.
For a hypothetical example, if she had seen someone manipulate water in the past, she could sacrifice her sight in exchange for the power to manipulate water. This first exchange is without flaw. She will be completely blind, but copy the water manipulation perfectly. If, once she is done, she no longer needs or desires that power, she can reverse the exchange, but at the cost of degradation. Her vision will not return perfectly. It may be a bit blurry, or have larger blind spots or less peripheral, but it will not be as it was. However, she will also retain a small portion of the water manipulation ability. Just something small, like the ability to create small whirlpools or walk on water. Every time she exchanges something for the ability to manipulate water from then on will leave it stronger than it was, and she may eventually be able to form a 'full' power from the shards left behind. However, if she sacrifices her sight again, her vision will only get worse.
Where the degraded shards go, or where lost fragments go, Maria does not know, but she theorizes that they must be someplace, since it would be difficult to retrieve something like, say, memories, if they simply vanished into nowhere when they are exchanged. She also does not know where she pulls her 'borrowed' abilities from, or how exactly they manifest. For the immediate future, it is not a concern.
Personality
Aloof to the point of seeming apathetic, Maria has a difficult time focusing on any one thing at a time, whether it be a conversation topic, a conversational partner, or a task. Rarely finishing what she starts, she is reputed to be lazy and shallow, though that is not entirely true. Her thoughts tend to run away with her at a moments notice, and thus she likes to start new projects, but somehow never follows all the way through. She makes friends easily, but has difficulty keeping them, and sometimes burns her bridges completely by accident.
While she prefers not to be around people at all, she is easily inspired by competition, and will try to one-up her friends in contests that were never established, or ones that she made up on the fly. Despite this need for competition, she has relatively little desire to ever 'win' anything, seeming to just enjoy the sport of it. Because of her competitive streak, she has become sort of a jack-of-all-trades. Learning many different skills very quickly, but at the first sign of an obstacle, she drops that study for another, easier, pursuit, only to rinse and repeat the cycle.
Maria easily latches on to the traits and quirks of others, and will often parrot turns of phrase that she likes, or has heard in the past. Some people find this habit annoying, but Maria herself sees it as a form of character development, absorbing things she likes through osmosis, and shedding habits and customs she no longer needs or desires.
Traits
Academic Strengths: Languages, Linguistics, Philosophy, Digital Media
Likes: Solitude, Jazzy hip hop & Swing music, Curry & rice dishes, Competition, Cold weather
Dislikes: Micromanagement, Slow learners, Loud music, People who disturb others, Spiders
Other talents: Extremely quick learner, Quick wit, Thinks in abstractions
History
Maria is an orphan, her parents having died before her 10th birthday, but aside from this fact, her past history is relatively unremarkable. After the death of her mother from disease, she went to go live with her mother's sister. It was not a significant change, but it was enough of a change of atmosphere at just the wrong age, and something happened to her, in mind or soul, that could not be reversed. An outgoing and overly excited child became a shy and thoughtful outcast who grew into a sullen and unsociable teenager. While not overly attached to the idea of family or friends, she became introverted and obsessed with the idea of finding her true self. One question stuck in her mind throughout everything: "Who am I? What is it that makes me important? Why do I deserve to be here?"
Her school life was, predictably, a business affair at first. Without the need to socialize or fit in, she simply showed up to class, did the assigned work, and went home. After a few years, she stopped even doing the work. She was teased relentlessly, and physically bullied, but the words simply bounced off, and the bruises healed with time. By the time she turned 16, she was larger than all of the people who used to throw her around, and when they could no longer do that, they started simply ignoring her all together. A couple times she tried to reach out to somebody and gather a friend or two, but her history caught up with her every time, and in the end, she was back to square one. Currently she is still stuck in her same routine. Show up to class, listen to the teachers, ace her tests, then go home and get berated by her aunt and uncle about how her grades are terrible and she never studies.
When she receives the message from PhyKnight, Maria is excited, perhaps for the first time in over five years. Something extraordinary. Something that most people couldn't even dream of. Her chance to have a purpose, and perhaps the chance to discover who she really is, and why she is really here. Before the strange message even reaches its conclusion, Maria already knows her answer. This is her chance. Probably her only chance.
[Maria Sable | 18 | Female]
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Appearance
A dark-haired, mature-looking girl whose sleepy eyes wander unfocused through her surroundings. Standing taller than most at 6'1, and with an average build, she sets herself apart from many girls her age, who are supposed to be slender and petite. Her skin is only a shade darker than the average caucasian, which could be a tan or pigment, and blends well with her shoulder-length russet hair and brown eyes. Aside from her height and build, there is very little to set her apart from a crowd, and her aloof posture serves to hide even that. Her long bangs fall over her rather dull eyes, which seem to roam endlessly - seeing everything, but never actually taking anything to heart, even the people that she speaks with.
Maria is no fashionista, often wearing simple dark clothes that one might wear to a workplace, complete with steel-toed boots. She prefers extremely baggy cargo pants and jeans and almost never wears shorts. In the cold, she bundles up with a second shirt (no sweater) and a thick leather coat. In casual situations, or when it's too hot, she prefers bare feet, but is still never seen in anything less than a t-shirt and cargos. Most people mistake her for being older than she really is due to her subdued (and therefore more 'adult') sense of style, and her larger frame, and she absolutely looks out of place in school, where bright colours are the order of the day. On top of this, she hardly wears any makeup - just a bit of eyeliner as an accent. She does not cover up her imperfections with makeup, citing laziness.
Avatar Ability - "Rewrite"
By exchanging fragments of herself, Maria is able to grant herself new abilities. Essentially, by giving herself weaknesses, she gains new strengths as she needs them. This power works both physically and mentally, and as long as she can contextualize and section off the concepts of both what she is losing and what she is gaining, the power will work. The only restriction to this is that if the power she is gaining is non-human (something a human couldn't reasonably do with training, such as elemental abilities) she needs to have seen this power in the past, and reached some kind of 'understanding' about it. (So that she can conceptualize its form.)
Once she has exchanged these 'fragments,' she may choose to keep the exchange permanently, effectively destroying the fragment that she sacrificed, and she will never get it back. If she chooses, however, she may reverse the exchange. Doing this has its own cost, called 'degradation.' When exchanged beyond the first time, both fragments suffer from degradation, and cannot make the full exchange like before. A minimal part of the new fragment will stay with her, and a minimal part of the original fragment will remain lost. In other words, she will retain a small portion of whatever power she acquired, but she will not gain back whatever she sacrificed in full. Like a crumpled up paper, it can never regain its original form.
For a hypothetical example, if she had seen someone manipulate water in the past, she could sacrifice her sight in exchange for the power to manipulate water. This first exchange is without flaw. She will be completely blind, but copy the water manipulation perfectly. If, once she is done, she no longer needs or desires that power, she can reverse the exchange, but at the cost of degradation. Her vision will not return perfectly. It may be a bit blurry, or have larger blind spots or less peripheral, but it will not be as it was. However, she will also retain a small portion of the water manipulation ability. Just something small, like the ability to create small whirlpools or walk on water. Every time she exchanges something for the ability to manipulate water from then on will leave it stronger than it was, and she may eventually be able to form a 'full' power from the shards left behind. However, if she sacrifices her sight again, her vision will only get worse.
Where the degraded shards go, or where lost fragments go, Maria does not know, but she theorizes that they must be someplace, since it would be difficult to retrieve something like, say, memories, if they simply vanished into nowhere when they are exchanged. She also does not know where she pulls her 'borrowed' abilities from, or how exactly they manifest. For the immediate future, it is not a concern.
Personality
Aloof to the point of seeming apathetic, Maria has a difficult time focusing on any one thing at a time, whether it be a conversation topic, a conversational partner, or a task. Rarely finishing what she starts, she is reputed to be lazy and shallow, though that is not entirely true. Her thoughts tend to run away with her at a moments notice, and thus she likes to start new projects, but somehow never follows all the way through. She makes friends easily, but has difficulty keeping them, and sometimes burns her bridges completely by accident.
While she prefers not to be around people at all, she is easily inspired by competition, and will try to one-up her friends in contests that were never established, or ones that she made up on the fly. Despite this need for competition, she has relatively little desire to ever 'win' anything, seeming to just enjoy the sport of it. Because of her competitive streak, she has become sort of a jack-of-all-trades. Learning many different skills very quickly, but at the first sign of an obstacle, she drops that study for another, easier, pursuit, only to rinse and repeat the cycle.
Maria easily latches on to the traits and quirks of others, and will often parrot turns of phrase that she likes, or has heard in the past. Some people find this habit annoying, but Maria herself sees it as a form of character development, absorbing things she likes through osmosis, and shedding habits and customs she no longer needs or desires.
Traits
Academic Strengths: Languages, Linguistics, Philosophy, Digital Media
Likes: Solitude, Jazzy hip hop & Swing music, Curry & rice dishes, Competition, Cold weather
Dislikes: Micromanagement, Slow learners, Loud music, People who disturb others, Spiders
Other talents: Extremely quick learner, Quick wit, Thinks in abstractions
History
Maria is an orphan, her parents having died before her 10th birthday, but aside from this fact, her past history is relatively unremarkable. After the death of her mother from disease, she went to go live with her mother's sister. It was not a significant change, but it was enough of a change of atmosphere at just the wrong age, and something happened to her, in mind or soul, that could not be reversed. An outgoing and overly excited child became a shy and thoughtful outcast who grew into a sullen and unsociable teenager. While not overly attached to the idea of family or friends, she became introverted and obsessed with the idea of finding her true self. One question stuck in her mind throughout everything: "Who am I? What is it that makes me important? Why do I deserve to be here?"
Her school life was, predictably, a business affair at first. Without the need to socialize or fit in, she simply showed up to class, did the assigned work, and went home. After a few years, she stopped even doing the work. She was teased relentlessly, and physically bullied, but the words simply bounced off, and the bruises healed with time. By the time she turned 16, she was larger than all of the people who used to throw her around, and when they could no longer do that, they started simply ignoring her all together. A couple times she tried to reach out to somebody and gather a friend or two, but her history caught up with her every time, and in the end, she was back to square one. Currently she is still stuck in her same routine. Show up to class, listen to the teachers, ace her tests, then go home and get berated by her aunt and uncle about how her grades are terrible and she never studies.
When she receives the message from PhyKnight, Maria is excited, perhaps for the first time in over five years. Something extraordinary. Something that most people couldn't even dream of. Her chance to have a purpose, and perhaps the chance to discover who she really is, and why she is really here. Before the strange message even reaches its conclusion, Maria already knows her answer. This is her chance. Probably her only chance.
Automaton Just a simple Automaton.
Member
Seen
8 yrs ago
[Joshua Joseph Arrowsmith/19/Male]
"why do people treat each other differently?,
we are All made of the same thing."
Avatar Ability - molecular manipulation.
To Josh, his ability is a very complicated one, he can manipulate the very molecules of an object or person'. To start off he will be able to distort molecules, making him or others able to pass through an object,
Weakness: when passed through the object crumbles and is destroyed. On biological targets its a little more complicated, he needs to be touching the target for fixed amount of time. Also,
The effects are different, the biological targets crumble as well but, they turn into a pile of dust instead of falling apart.doing the distortion for too long the object can crumble without being passed through, his ability will stop if the target is out of his line of sight.
Personality
Josh is a loud and open individual, always cracking a joke in the most serious of times, Josh always does his best to make everyone feel good, always talking and making his existence known, Jobs is also very thick-skinned,nothing seems to bother him, and when it does he just hides it. Josh is also a very big believer in second Chances, he is always quick to forgive people for almost anything. This is also his most serious flaw, since he is quick to forgive he gets into a lot of bad situations and gets repeatedly hurt.
Traits
-Science,Music,Civics,English,gym
-Likes: people,science,swimming,insects
Dislikes: Bullies, bad guys,mushrooms,drugs
-Other talents:Talking to people.
History
Josh was born in a backwater town in Onterio,Canada. In Josh's early life he was alone most of the time, his mother depressed and usually sleeping. Josh had to fend for himself, teach himself things like how to ride a bike, and how not to burn food. He was treated more like a teenager when he was seven than when he was seventeen. His teenager years were interesting to say the least, his mother had gotten out of her slump and was getting involved with his life, which was strange for him, being alone foe a long time. This strangeness turned into frustration, and he developed a temper with other people and didn't have much in the way of social skills. This attitude changed when he met his grade ten teacher Mr.Morten, his new teacher taught him things outside the classroom, he pointed out strange social norms for teenagers. This fascinated Josh and after a few months of being taught by Mr.Morton he realised that anger was just a shield for his other emotions, he was embarrassed that he didn't have many social skills and lashed out. So Josh changed himself, he became the guy you talk to about your problems. He became the protector of many. After highschool he was going to go and become a high school guidance counsellor, but that dream came and he couldnt say no, who would?.
Miscellaneous
"why do people treat each other differently?,
we are All made of the same thing."
Avatar Ability - molecular manipulation.
To Josh, his ability is a very complicated one, he can manipulate the very molecules of an object or person'. To start off he will be able to distort molecules, making him or others able to pass through an object,
Weakness: when passed through the object crumbles and is destroyed. On biological targets its a little more complicated, he needs to be touching the target for fixed amount of time. Also,
The effects are different, the biological targets crumble as well but, they turn into a pile of dust instead of falling apart.doing the distortion for too long the object can crumble without being passed through, his ability will stop if the target is out of his line of sight.
Personality
Josh is a loud and open individual, always cracking a joke in the most serious of times, Josh always does his best to make everyone feel good, always talking and making his existence known, Jobs is also very thick-skinned,nothing seems to bother him, and when it does he just hides it. Josh is also a very big believer in second Chances, he is always quick to forgive people for almost anything. This is also his most serious flaw, since he is quick to forgive he gets into a lot of bad situations and gets repeatedly hurt.
Traits
-Science,Music,Civics,English,gym
-Likes: people,science,swimming,insects
Dislikes: Bullies, bad guys,mushrooms,drugs
-Other talents:Talking to people.
History
Josh was born in a backwater town in Onterio,Canada. In Josh's early life he was alone most of the time, his mother depressed and usually sleeping. Josh had to fend for himself, teach himself things like how to ride a bike, and how not to burn food. He was treated more like a teenager when he was seven than when he was seventeen. His teenager years were interesting to say the least, his mother had gotten out of her slump and was getting involved with his life, which was strange for him, being alone foe a long time. This strangeness turned into frustration, and he developed a temper with other people and didn't have much in the way of social skills. This attitude changed when he met his grade ten teacher Mr.Morten, his new teacher taught him things outside the classroom, he pointed out strange social norms for teenagers. This fascinated Josh and after a few months of being taught by Mr.Morton he realised that anger was just a shield for his other emotions, he was embarrassed that he didn't have many social skills and lashed out. So Josh changed himself, he became the guy you talk to about your problems. He became the protector of many. After highschool he was going to go and become a high school guidance counsellor, but that dream came and he couldnt say no, who would?.
Miscellaneous
Finished editing on July 12, 2014. Changes include Avatar Ability and Avatar Name.
[Ben Embree | 22 | Male]
’The stuff dreams are made of’
Appearance
Ben sported an untamed hairstyle that is medium length and looked very healthy. His eyes were mostly green with a hint of hazel on the outer rim of the iris. And he never towered over anyone with a toned 5’8” body, which showed well enough definition. He had long, broad shoulders and very muscular legs which were always covered with cargo pants. His clothing style is fashioned after his favorite movie and documentary explorers, usually a mom-colored khaki shirt and cargo jackets. His favorite being a yellowish-tan khaki shirt under an open forest green cargo jacket with a gray hood, ash-colored cargo pants and black converses (never a huge fan of boots).
Ben completely unaware of any avatar abilities can manipulate light. His beginning stages starts out by allowing Ben to change the color of items by manipulating the property of an item allowing them to absorb or reflect light waves and thus changing the color, intensity and energy of the item to the point of perfectly camouflaging the intended subject and even mask the soul and ley. Also at this stage he can focus light and “carry” light so that he can illuminate what are otherwise dark areas.
After mastering his early stage, Ben the starting stages of allowing Ben to use light as projectiles by increasing the energy of the light, and consequently the heat, into a plasma and is able to shot the heated ball of energy hitting a subject with the intense heat.
After mastery of the past two stages Ben can finally embark in mastering his final stage of his avatar ability. Ben is finally able to mask the light the plasma balls reflect and instead the plasma ball absorbs all light creating a more intense and invisible ball of plasma that is shot out. Ben is also able to create a plasma sword that radiates a bright white light and can cut through most material (think of a light saber from Star Wars) the intensity of the sword however is too great and the reflectance will never be able to conceal.
Personality
Ben is a very energetic and, often stated, passionate guy. His passion can quickly turn into an inspiring rant that leaves most of his listeners in the dust because of his great details and technical aspect. Ben often thinks in terms of technical and has advance knowledge and understanding of technology but also has the gift of think like an artist.
Without the ability to paint or descriptively write, Ben focused his artistic abilities with his technical ones and trained to become a Cinematographer since his mid-years of High School. He is a patron of art and movies is the preferred art form. As a cinematographer, he has felt more in tune with his surrounding and with people resulting in a very open and extroverted individual.
Traits
-Strengths in school
Math, Biology, Physics, Geology, Physical Education and Engineering
-Likes/Dislikes
Likes: Digital Media, Film, Movies, Astrology, Cameras and People
Dislikes: Tomatoes, Bigotry, Accepted Ignorance, Lack of Passion
-Other talents
Camera operator, film loader and processor, cinematography, technology and science literate.
Ben childhood was never privilege and his trails started since his birth being born during a record setting blizzard in the mountains in a facility that didn’t have the proper means to take care of him and various complications followed throughout the first 10 years of his life. His father joined the military which allowed his family to leave their poor beginnings and see more of the world. They were forced to move regularly till his father was dismissed from service and they moved to a big city of Baltimore where his father could find work.
At the age of 13, Ben’s parents filed for divorce and Ben was forced to split his time with them. With his parents dealing with larger than life complications, it was the streets that raised Ben. The stories of the construction worker, the prostitute, the cross dresser who dressed up like Brittney Spears, the beaten down cop and the unhappy office worker. It was these that shaped Ben’s view of other’s life and these stories inspired him to hear them all.
After High School, Ben manage to go to a famous film school on scholarships and excelled in studies of cinematography and camera operations. He started working as a second assistant camera and was able to work his way up early in his college career. After he graduated he went mostly into war-zone videography, going into war-torn areas and recording the stories of soldiers, terrorist, politicians, civilians caught in the crossfire and chaos.
The encounter of the PhyKnight came when Ben was in the Himalayas. He was finishing up a documentary on the Tibetan Buddhist when an old stranger knocked on his door. The stranger invited himself in and surveyed Ben’s living quarters, picking up a random item and then setting it down. There was a long silence and the only sounds were of the snow storm happening outside his cottage.
“Do you know who I am?” the stranger asked. The age threw Ben off at first but with a quick thought of the pictures he had seen in the temples he realized, “Yes, you’re the Dalai Lama reincarnated, Tenzin Gyatso.” The old stranger smiled as he took a seat in a wooden chair, shifting his robes to make him comfortable. Ben ask if Tenzin would want anything and warm water was his only response. After Ben came back with warm water the Dalai Lama took a quick sip and stared meaningfully into his drink, “You’re a special person Mr. Embree, the Buddhist tell me of your skills. They say you have great wonder and are living a dream.” A pause, Ben searching for the words to say but the stranger finds his words before Ben, “You live a dream, Mr. Embree, but what is it that you are searching for? Are you sure you, yourself are alive? A man who records stories but do you have a story of your own, I wonder.”
Ben remained silent, unsure of how to answer. Instead he did what he knew best, he grabbed his camera. For the beautiful view and the high contrast he brought a long an Arri Amira with the Compact Prime Zeiss .2 Lenses. The use of prime lenses is uncommon for documentary work but Ben felt it forced a connection with the subject because he had to anticipate the action, plus a prime gave a better look than a zoom. He asked for an interview and the stranger just smiled, “A storyteller with no story. Mr. Embree, you are about to embark on a wonderful journey that will tell you truths that no one else on this world will ever know...” The stranger looks into the camera, fitted with a 50mm lenses and not recording, “...maybe out there you will finally find what you are looking for.” The Dalai Lama consented to what he said would be the last interview he would give in his lifetime, maybe the last interview a Dalai Lama will ever give and Ben made sure to recover everything.After 2 hours the old stranger had left and the once raging storm settled. Ben packed and went to bed.
The mountains were never quite, the wind always blew. The mountains were never dark, the snow always reflected the light. Ben felt an odd sense of comfort in his cot, under the blankets. He wasn’t out there in the illuminate cold, he was here safe and warm. His racing mind of the interview started to settle into clear pictures and Ben could feel himself drifting to sleep. “A storyteller with no story.” And with that he fell asleep. Hours past and for some reason Ben felt compelled to open his eyes, a rush of cold air filled the room and he could see snow flowing into his once protective cottage.
Startled Ben rose from his cot and looked around. The walls started to fade, in fact everything started to fade from Ben’s vision and stood in front of him was an armored knight, “I am PhyKnight, and I will be your guide....”
Ben woke up in a cold sweat after this dream. Outside was still dark but the sunrise was only an hour away. After trying to make sense of this dream he referred back to his surprise visit of the Dalai Lama, “A storyteller with no story, Mr. Emree, you are about to embark on a wonderful journey that will tell you truths that no one else on this world will ever know... Maybe you will finally find what you are looking for.”
“Maybe I will...”
Miscellaneous
-Theme Song
[Ben Embree | 22 | Male]
’The stuff dreams are made of’
Appearance
Ben sported an untamed hairstyle that is medium length and looked very healthy. His eyes were mostly green with a hint of hazel on the outer rim of the iris. And he never towered over anyone with a toned 5’8” body, which showed well enough definition. He had long, broad shoulders and very muscular legs which were always covered with cargo pants. His clothing style is fashioned after his favorite movie and documentary explorers, usually a mom-colored khaki shirt and cargo jackets. His favorite being a yellowish-tan khaki shirt under an open forest green cargo jacket with a gray hood, ash-colored cargo pants and black converses (never a huge fan of boots).
Ben completely unaware of any avatar abilities can manipulate light. His beginning stages starts out by allowing Ben to change the color of items by manipulating the property of an item allowing them to absorb or reflect light waves and thus changing the color, intensity and energy of the item to the point of perfectly camouflaging the intended subject and even mask the soul and ley. Also at this stage he can focus light and “carry” light so that he can illuminate what are otherwise dark areas.
After mastering his early stage, Ben the starting stages of allowing Ben to use light as projectiles by increasing the energy of the light, and consequently the heat, into a plasma and is able to shot the heated ball of energy hitting a subject with the intense heat.
After mastery of the past two stages Ben can finally embark in mastering his final stage of his avatar ability. Ben is finally able to mask the light the plasma balls reflect and instead the plasma ball absorbs all light creating a more intense and invisible ball of plasma that is shot out. Ben is also able to create a plasma sword that radiates a bright white light and can cut through most material (think of a light saber from Star Wars) the intensity of the sword however is too great and the reflectance will never be able to conceal.
Personality
Ben is a very energetic and, often stated, passionate guy. His passion can quickly turn into an inspiring rant that leaves most of his listeners in the dust because of his great details and technical aspect. Ben often thinks in terms of technical and has advance knowledge and understanding of technology but also has the gift of think like an artist.
Without the ability to paint or descriptively write, Ben focused his artistic abilities with his technical ones and trained to become a Cinematographer since his mid-years of High School. He is a patron of art and movies is the preferred art form. As a cinematographer, he has felt more in tune with his surrounding and with people resulting in a very open and extroverted individual.
Traits
-Strengths in school
Math, Biology, Physics, Geology, Physical Education and Engineering
-Likes/Dislikes
Likes: Digital Media, Film, Movies, Astrology, Cameras and People
Dislikes: Tomatoes, Bigotry, Accepted Ignorance, Lack of Passion
-Other talents
Camera operator, film loader and processor, cinematography, technology and science literate.
Ben childhood was never privilege and his trails started since his birth being born during a record setting blizzard in the mountains in a facility that didn’t have the proper means to take care of him and various complications followed throughout the first 10 years of his life. His father joined the military which allowed his family to leave their poor beginnings and see more of the world. They were forced to move regularly till his father was dismissed from service and they moved to a big city of Baltimore where his father could find work.
At the age of 13, Ben’s parents filed for divorce and Ben was forced to split his time with them. With his parents dealing with larger than life complications, it was the streets that raised Ben. The stories of the construction worker, the prostitute, the cross dresser who dressed up like Brittney Spears, the beaten down cop and the unhappy office worker. It was these that shaped Ben’s view of other’s life and these stories inspired him to hear them all.
After High School, Ben manage to go to a famous film school on scholarships and excelled in studies of cinematography and camera operations. He started working as a second assistant camera and was able to work his way up early in his college career. After he graduated he went mostly into war-zone videography, going into war-torn areas and recording the stories of soldiers, terrorist, politicians, civilians caught in the crossfire and chaos.
The encounter of the PhyKnight came when Ben was in the Himalayas. He was finishing up a documentary on the Tibetan Buddhist when an old stranger knocked on his door. The stranger invited himself in and surveyed Ben’s living quarters, picking up a random item and then setting it down. There was a long silence and the only sounds were of the snow storm happening outside his cottage.
“Do you know who I am?” the stranger asked. The age threw Ben off at first but with a quick thought of the pictures he had seen in the temples he realized, “Yes, you’re the Dalai Lama reincarnated, Tenzin Gyatso.” The old stranger smiled as he took a seat in a wooden chair, shifting his robes to make him comfortable. Ben ask if Tenzin would want anything and warm water was his only response. After Ben came back with warm water the Dalai Lama took a quick sip and stared meaningfully into his drink, “You’re a special person Mr. Embree, the Buddhist tell me of your skills. They say you have great wonder and are living a dream.” A pause, Ben searching for the words to say but the stranger finds his words before Ben, “You live a dream, Mr. Embree, but what is it that you are searching for? Are you sure you, yourself are alive? A man who records stories but do you have a story of your own, I wonder.”
Ben remained silent, unsure of how to answer. Instead he did what he knew best, he grabbed his camera. For the beautiful view and the high contrast he brought a long an Arri Amira with the Compact Prime Zeiss .2 Lenses. The use of prime lenses is uncommon for documentary work but Ben felt it forced a connection with the subject because he had to anticipate the action, plus a prime gave a better look than a zoom. He asked for an interview and the stranger just smiled, “A storyteller with no story. Mr. Embree, you are about to embark on a wonderful journey that will tell you truths that no one else on this world will ever know...” The stranger looks into the camera, fitted with a 50mm lenses and not recording, “...maybe out there you will finally find what you are looking for.” The Dalai Lama consented to what he said would be the last interview he would give in his lifetime, maybe the last interview a Dalai Lama will ever give and Ben made sure to recover everything.After 2 hours the old stranger had left and the once raging storm settled. Ben packed and went to bed.
The mountains were never quite, the wind always blew. The mountains were never dark, the snow always reflected the light. Ben felt an odd sense of comfort in his cot, under the blankets. He wasn’t out there in the illuminate cold, he was here safe and warm. His racing mind of the interview started to settle into clear pictures and Ben could feel himself drifting to sleep. “A storyteller with no story.” And with that he fell asleep. Hours past and for some reason Ben felt compelled to open his eyes, a rush of cold air filled the room and he could see snow flowing into his once protective cottage.
Startled Ben rose from his cot and looked around. The walls started to fade, in fact everything started to fade from Ben’s vision and stood in front of him was an armored knight, “I am PhyKnight, and I will be your guide....”
Ben woke up in a cold sweat after this dream. Outside was still dark but the sunrise was only an hour away. After trying to make sense of this dream he referred back to his surprise visit of the Dalai Lama, “A storyteller with no story, Mr. Emree, you are about to embark on a wonderful journey that will tell you truths that no one else on this world will ever know... Maybe you will finally find what you are looking for.”
“Maybe I will...”
Miscellaneous
-Theme Song
[Damien Reid | 20 | Male]
"One man with courage is a majority"
- Thomas Jefferson
Appearance - Damien is 6'2 and weighs 205lbs, spending considerable energy to maintain the solid build he developed over nine years playing hockey. He has short black hair, preferring to let it lay naturally as opposed to styling it. He has a square face characterized with a thick jaw, a solid, cleft chin, and a slightly crooked nose - courtesy of two injuries, long since healed. He has brown eyes and prominent, somewhat bushy eyebrows. He sticks to jeans and t-shirts most often, dressing up only on rare occasions, which may find him wearing a suit, or a jacket and khakis, depending on the event. Overall, Damien is very relaxed about his appearance, as he's of the opinion that those who judge by looks alone aren't the sort of people he wants to interact with.
Avatar Ability - Ebb and Flow
Damien's abilities revolve around enduring attacks and absorbing their energy in order to convert it into a unique form of ley energy he can store within himself. Then, Damien can either choose to channel the unique ley into powerful counterattacks, or infuse the ley into his body, enhancing his fortitude, strength, and other attributes.
Damien's first ability saps the power of attacks made against himself or against friends and allies. This absorption requires considerable concentration, leaving him vulnerable to flanking and rear attacks. The time required is entirely dependent on the type of energy and the magnitude of the attack. Damien can absorb many different energies so long as he can identify them, but he cannot absorb more than a few types simultaneously. He converts them all into the same resource.
Damien’s second ability channels the accumulated energy into his attacks and enhancements. Damien can discharge any amount of energy he desires - from a small, controlled stream to a devastating full release. Since it is derived from numerous sources, the unique ley effects all things equally - for example, it is as effective against fire as it is water. However, this also means it has no devastating effect against a counterpart, like how water quenches fire.
He may choose to forego channeling and instead continue to absorb energy endlessly, growing the ley reservoir. While at rest, the ley energy bleeds out slowly, and will continue to do so until Damien absorbs more energy.
Personality
As a general rule, Damien doesn’t do things half-way - he is either incredibly passionate and driven to achieve his goals and desires, or he is apathetic and unwilling to waste his time. However, Damien acknowledges that he isn’t infallible, but he has trouble admitting this fact to others, and has been known to argue a point or pursue a goal much longer than is practical.
Because Damien focuses his energy only on those things he finds interesting, he isn’t fond of conventional education, believing it too rigid and focused on averages and equality. He believes that no one should be forced to learn subjects they find unappealing, or act a certain way based on societal conventions, and should instead embrace their goals and desires wholeheartedly, regardless of the opinions of others.
Damien has a strong sense of empathy, and is always willing to donate his time and energy to others - which has led to his exploitation on more than one occasion. Damien is fiercely protective of those in his inner circle and does not hesitate to confront those who would, or have, hurt them or himself. In a confrontation, Damien doesn’t pull punches, verbally or physically, and more often than not he is the instigator rather than the peacemaker, although the most common reason he fights is to defend his friends or get revenge on their behalf.
Traits
- Damien is particularly fond of group projects and other collaborative endeavors. He can hold his own in most subjects, although he isn’t interested in many. His favorite subjects (not necessarily his strongest) are physical education, English, physics, and astronomy.
- Besides his love of hockey, Damien likes rock and alternative music, winter, snowboarding, woodcarving, reading, and rock climbing.
- Damien can play bass guitar and occasionally carves figures and other trinkets.
History
Damien grew up as the only child of his career-military parents, his father a Naval helicopter aviation instructor and his mother a Naval engineer. They never lived in the same state for more than two consecutive years, and he attended three different schools over his five years in high-school, having had to repeat his junior year due to ditching the classes he didn’t like.
Although his parents were unhappy with him for having to repeat a year of school, they always encouraged him to trust his instincts and make his own decisions. They gave him a great deal of freedom to do as he wished, never telling him what to do - perhaps out of a sense of guilt for the constant moving from state to state. Damien spent much of this free time playing or trying out for different hockey clubs in each new state, always eager for the opportunity to test his skills against new teams and players.
Damien discovered hockey when he was ten years old, after attending a classmate’s birthday party at an ice rink. After the party ended and the kids were ushered off the ice, falling down half a dozen times in the process, a youth hockey club skated onto the ice, and Damien was fascinated with their practice. It wasn’t two weeks later that he joined the club, spending each evening after school learning to skate or observing the older members practice their skills. A few months later, Damien’s family moved again, and he immediately sought out the closest club, picking up where he left off, improving his skating skills and dreaming of the day he’d skate out onto the ice to play a game. He continued this trend after every move, meeting new friends and rivals each time.
When he was thirteen, Damien started playing in games and rapidly discovered he still had much to learn. He wasn’t terrible, but he knew he could get much better. He took to bringing his hockey stick with him everywhere, tied to the side of his backpack or stuck in a locker at school. He practiced incessantly, practicing his skills whenever and wherever possible, on or off the ice, at the mall or in the school hallways, much to the chagrin of his parents and the consternation of his teachers.
Eventually, Damien’s persistence and unflagging desire to improve paid off, and during his junior year he was invited to play for an elite club. Just after joining, Damien was goaded by his new teammates to play as an “enforcer” on the ice, answering penalties and dirty tactics with heavy hits and equally dirty play, or when passions ran especially high, dropped gloves and raised fists. They convinced him it was the rite of passage for all new players, when in fact they were hoping to get him thrown off the team by the coaches - they didn’t want any competition for their positions. Damien, hoping to prove he had the mettle to play on that level, did as his teammates told him, launching an occasional illegal hit every few games to provoke other teams into fights. At first, it didn’t seem to be an issue, the coach only yelling at him after particularly fierce brawls, which his teammates convinced him was also part of the hazing. They told him he needed to fight even more, and so he did. After a week in which he drew penalties or fought on the ice every game, the coach excused him from the team, shocking Damien. He tried to explain what his teammates had told him, but they denied his claims and the coach angrily escorted Damien out of the rink and told him not to come back.
He returned to playing in the local club league, angry and humiliated at being so easily deceived, and for readily believing his teammates’ insistent lies that they had all gone through it. He wasn’t invited to play for any other elite leagues, where college scouts would come and watch, hoping to snare talented players, and thus Damien graduated high school without any of the scholarship offers he had once dreamed about receiving to play collegiate hockey.
Now, a year out of high school and in yet another state, Damien splits his time between playing for a club league and coaching youth hockey. He still hopes he’ll get a chance to play at an elite level once more, which he is convinced will prove his efforts weren’t for nothing.
Music
GreenGoat Harmless Flower Person
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
Everyone is inherently evil. Why else do we struggle to do good?
[Vilka Millings | 19 | Female]
Appearance
She stands at about 5'5", with long golden hair trimmed into what they called a hime cut. Living a very sheltered life, her skin is very pale, which, with her choice of makeup and her hair, makes her look almost like one of her porcelain doll, while also being almost as talkative as the dolls.
Avatar Ability
Hers is her living clothes, resembling a nun's garbs with a shorter skirt. Essentially it acts as a sort of a full body bio suit that bolsters her normal attributes beyond normal, and due to its nature, it is capable of acting as armor by hardening in response to physical trauma. However, its also a very hungry thing, and would eat anything foreign to it as long as it deems it edible.
Secondly, it is able to shape itself and harden/soften anywhere according to the owner's wishes, though the shapings are pretty limited and more flowing shapes, other than its usual form as a garb, are beyond it for the moment.
As one could surmise, it is the embodiment of her hate, her facade, her emotions she suppressed, and wore like armor.
Personality
Hate.
She absolutely hates everyone. Those who speaks behind her back, those who think they are holier than her, and especially those who thinks her below them. However, her upbringing led her to suppress those feelings, her loneliness her expressions and her hate her desire for companionship. Though she does like one of her many maids, just one who was loyal, honest, and true.
She values those sort of people and absolutely despises the rest. Being what she was, she tries to avoid being in a group, though she will not actively move to separate herself from them, as that will only bring more attention to herself. Silence is key. If she does not like someone, or feels it was no worth it, she will not speak unless someone speaks first.
Traits
-Strengths in school
Everything academic, but she rather dislikes everything athletic as they require her to actually be sociable with people.
-Likes/Dislikes
She likes honesty, honest people, and those who can actually be themselves without putting on a facade. Being in the company of someone like that was enjoyable for her. She absolutely hates people,especially, but not limited to, people she doesn't know. However, she also does not try to antagonize people without cause, for that would be just proving she was as bad as the people she hated. Contradictory, but a true part of her being. Once one is past those, one would find out she is very interested in books, with a strange taste in music ranging from old 40's songs to Finnish folk metal.
-Other talents
Her talents are mostly of the mind, concentration, focus and the like. However, she does have a talent in fighting, mostly because her nature allows her to think, asses, and act quickly.
History
Everyone hates her.
She knows that. Only her parents ever showed some affection for her. Unfortunately, they weren't there all the time, thus for most of her life she lived alone, though surrounded by servants. Finding no friends among them, she withdrew into herself, with only a nanny to really listen to her.
When she was old enough, they tried to put her in an elementary school, thinking perhaps she would open up more when she made some friends there. She did make a friend, in form of an old crow who insisted on stealing her lunch. She met it in a secluded place behind the school, just under a big tree. She didn't really mind so much as the food in the school wasn't to her taste. Soon after she started calling it James after her grumpy old uncle that sometimes visited. It soon learned its name, flying awkwardly to land on her lap whenever she called out. It was fun to have a pet of her own, something never allowed as her mother dislikes animals in the house. One day however, her usual secluded place had an unwelcome visitor. She hid immediately, not wanting to have to talk to anyone and peered at the figure, wondering who it was. It was the local bully, someone she had taken pains to avoid fearing he would try and bully her. He had caught the old crow, which was rather old by then and not as spry as it used to be, and had started to clip its wings with a scissor. He laughed as the crow hopped about desperately cawwing in pain as it shook the stubs that was once its wings. He laughed harder he cut off its legs, watching it caw weakly as it still tried to escape the pain. Finally, he clipped off its head, and pocketted it. She stayed hidden as the bully finally left, carefully gathered up the wings and legs, and wrapped the body with them in her handkerchief. She wondered what happened to the head as she sat through class, until the teacher on duty at the moment screamed. It was impaled on a pencil, like some sort of demented eraser and left in the teacher's desk. She took the head from where it was thrown in the dustbin afterwards and buried it under the tree with the rest of its body.
People are evil,was her only thought then.
The very next day, she left him a letter, asking him to come to the tree behind the school, saying it was cool how he tortured such a small creature. The very instant he stepped into the clearing, she smashed his throat in with a gardening shear. Knowing she wouldn't stand a chance should he recover, she smashed in his throat again, his voice a mere gurgle as it tried to force through his broken windpipe. As she stood over him, watching him writhe around in the dirt trying to make threats at her, her emotions started to flow over. Fear, anger, sadness...
And hate.
She first stabbed him, repeatedly through his limbs, ignoring his weak pleas and his gurgling for mercy. Remembering how he treated James, Vilka opened the gardening shears, and started to cut off his arm, grunting slightly with exertion as the blades met bone, rewarded moments later with a snap. It sounded like a branch broken in two. The boy was silent by then, so she proceeded with cutting his other arm, and then his legs, and finally his head. With blood all over her, she grabbed the head, and went back to the classroom without anyone noticing.
She left the head on a broomstick, and left it on the teacher's desk since she couldn't stuff it in the drawer.
The act caused a huge hullabaloo, but she was soon released on reasons that the bully must have done something so bad to her that she couldn't think of anything else to do. And considering the boy's reputation, most everyone agreed that must be so. Having a great amount of money and influence also helped.
Vilka was sent to theraphy, where they tried to convince her that it was wrong to act in such a manner. She resisted at first, claiming that the bully had it coming, until she realized they would not let her off theraphy until she did what they wanted.
By now her parents were growing distant, paying attention to her less and less, especially after the incident in the elementary school. She wanted attention, she NEEDED attention and the only person to really give her the time of day was her own nanny. Vilka loved her, but she wanted her parents to love her as well.
For the next few years she tried, studying for the best grades, carefully selecting a club that doesn't require much socializing, She became the most well known student in high school, perfect scores across the board, good marks for physicals, though a very untalkative person.
It still wasn't enough.
All her achievements by then was simply waved away with "Oh, thats good."
Feeling rather hopeless, she set her sights on someone she had been ignoring for quite a while to pursue her studies. Three someones, whom she was sure was behind most of the idiotic pranks happening to her lately. Sometime's her clothes disappear whenever she was in the shower, forcing her to run back to her dorm in nothing but a towel, her desk kept being spray painted with expletives and other colorful insults, and that one time her bag was filled with cockroaches. It didn't take much to dig up evidence that those trio of idiots were behind it, she already had her suspicions, but she had simply lacked evidence.
It was easy enough to get those three idiots alone. They would usually hang out on the roof until dark, then pull out some cigarettes and talk about boys, rings and other sickly things. With the help of chloroform and some patience, she finally managed to capture all of them, and tie them up like the pigs they were, Vilka was mindful of killing them though, another trip to the therapist was the last thing she wanted. When she was done punishing them, she dragged them one by one to the school's main gate, where they would be found the next day, crucified but still alive.
The whole thing caused a huge uproar, though it was quickly covered up with the power of money, influence and a good lawyer. Her parents were absolutely livid over it, smacking her for the first time in her life. Afterwards she was not allowed to go out, being confined to her room. A wide range of emotions washed over her as she spent lonely days in her own room, hate being the most powerful of them. The only one she was sure would understand was her nanny, but she retired a long time ago.
People are evil indeed.
Miscellaneous
Deaf to All but the Song
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