@Xandrya@HecateProxy@Polaris North@DarkwolfX37@Superman

Howdy folks, I'm about to submit my CS's for my two siblings, but there is a question I have that @AcerRo and myself thought I should extend to the whole group. To provide basis, my two characters are a brother and his younger, adopted sister. The brother is African-American, while the sister is white.

With my characters being set in Harlan, a rural town that probably adheres to many prejudices, there would be some negative prejudices thrown towards an African-American person. As stated in the OOC, our GM would like to strive for a realistic, dark setting. So here is the actual question:

Is anyone, currently in this group, offended by or high against the use of the "Nigger"?

Of course, it would only be used when a legitimate reason is present, and it will not be thrown around willy-nilly. If anyone has a specific problem with that word being used for the purposes of realism in this game, I would really appreciate if you let me know, as I know it can be too much for some people. If you do have an issue, please tell me and I will refrain from using it, but I would like to get everyone's input on this.

Just for giggles [+]

Here are my character sheets:

DeMarcus Aaron Blake [+]

Name: Demarcus Aaron Blake

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Place of Birth:
Born and raised in Harlan

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Relationship Status:
Single

Occupation:
Works in a Saw Mill, about 10 Minutes outside of town

Power:
Physical Enhancement - DeMarucs’ ability, when activated can amplify his physical strength and speed, nearly five times his normal strength (He is very strong, even without his abilities). His enhancement can last anywhere from 30-40 minutes at most.

Cost of powers use:
A single use of his power nearly shuts his entire body down, and the more he channels his additional strength, the worse the effects are. His body basically becomes paralyzed for about an hour, and even after he recovers from the paralysis, his strength is completely gone, and takes nearly 12-Hours to fully restore to normal. Essentially, the harder he pushes his enhanced strength, the longer the paralysis, and the longer he takes to recover. If he were to max out, he would most likely stay paralyzed in a coma-state for nearly a full day, and wouldn’t recover for at least two additional days. His strength is incredible, but it comes at a crippling cost.

Appearance: DeMarcus is a large guy, standing at 6’7 and weighing around 250 pounds. His body is mostly muscular, the result of years of football, basketball, and personal training. He has brown-skin, much to the dislike of many Harlan residents, and brown eyes. His hair is black with a mohawk-undercut hairstyle with blonde fringes.

Skills:
Strength - DeMarcus is a very strong guy, and can bench a full 250 pounds at 20 reps
Stamina - Being very athletic, he can run or work for a long time without stopping
Running - In his years of working out, his long strides and strong muscles make him a very fast runner.

Personality: DeMarcus is a complicated guy. He has a temper, although he is well aware of his problem. He tries his absolute best not to lose his composure, especially around his sister, Parker. Parker is his main weakness, and he could never be angry with her. His entire goal in life is to keep her safe and make sure she accomplishes her best, hoping that one day they can make it out of their crappy hometown to find a better life. Being well aware of his own inhibitions, he intentionally keeps himself calm, so it takes a good bit to genuinely rile him up. The quickest way to blow his fuse is to mess with his little sister.

History:
The son of a diner waitress, DeMarcus grew up to be very poor. His mother, Sonya, was a single parent, but she did her best to give him everything that she could. She sometimes worked several shifts, and worked late into the night. DeMarcus saw his mother’s work ethic as he grew up and learned to be just like her, giving her best in everything she did.

Unfortunately, DeMarcus and his mother were two of a whopping total of 5 African Americans in Harlan. Smack-dab in nowheresville, Sonya and some others suspected several towns members were involved with the KKK. They’d never been done any real harm, but they had been threatened many times. Despite the hate, there were plenty of people who thought well of Sonya and DeMarcus. Thankfully, they weren’t the most-scorned residents of the town.

Above them on the judgment-meter was a local crack-addict by the name of Amber Callies. She lived in a house that wreaked of crack and marijuana and was known for taking commission for showing a gentleman a good time. Sonya Blake was always kind to Amber, always prayed for her, and always tried to do good by her. Amber, however, found herself in the unfortunate situation of becoming pregnant from one of her “customers,” and ended up having a child in her house, aided only by her current boyfriend. Born at 28 weeks, Amber’s baby girl came through a complicated delivery which ultimately took the woman’s life. Despite the early birth and the dangers of taking drugs while pregnant, the baby survived. Amber Callie’s boyfriend left her at the doorstep of the town’s fire station. Because of the baby’s mother, no one wanted to take her in.

Sonya Blake decided that she was going to take that baby and raise it like her own. Demarcus liked having a sister, and did his part to help take care of her, too. Being 8 years older than his new sister, he often watched her while his mom was working. They named the baby girl, “Parker Nazjae,” after Sonya’s mother.

Demarcus’ life continued normally for what could be considered such in Harlan. He was an athlete all throughout highschool, and probably would’ve gone to college to play football in Georgia. Unfortunately, in his senior year of high-school, his mother passed away from a heart attack, leaving DeMarcus and Parker alone in Harlan. Instead of going to college, DeMarcus stayed in Harlan to take care of his sister. He worked odd jobs for a while and landed a steady job at a lumber mill outside of town.

One night when Parker snuck out to a party at Old Man Johnson’s farm, DeMarcus went to get her. That’s when both of them changed, and they found themselves with incredible abilities.

Parker Nazjae Blake [+]

Name: Parker Nazjae Blake

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Place of Birth:
Born and Raised in Harlan

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Relationship Status:
Single (Probably forever, if you ask her)

Occupation:
Diner Waitress

Power:
Parker has the ability to view the world through the eyes of another. By linking her mind to another living thing, she can see everything that they see. For instance, if a bird is flying overhead, she can see a literal bird's-eye-view. She can only hold this for a maximum of five minutes before she blacks out.

Cost of powers use:
Ironically, the projection of her own sight into another renders her temporarily blind, and leaves her senses raw, almost as if she had a concussion. The longer she inhabits other people’s eyes, the longer the blindness and concussion lasts. If she pushes herself too far, the pain will send her into a temporary coma state.

Appearance: Hilariously smaller than her adopted brother, Parker stands at a very intimidating 4’11, and weighs about 100 pounds, soaking wet. She has dark red hair, cut off at her shoulders, and pale skin that surrounds her hazel eyes.

Skills: Photography and Procrastination

Personality: Parker is a very energetic, sparky teenager. With all the symptoms that come with ADHD, Parker can be a bit much for some people. Parker is very smart and has rarely made a bad grade in her high school career. Though she is easily distracted, she is ridiculously determined when she sets her mind on a goal. Parker is a very creative girl, hence her interest in photography, and she shamelessly expresses her mind when she needs to.

History: In a small town like Harlan, nearly everyone knows Parker’s tragic backstory. Her mother, Amber Callies, was the town’s local crack-addict, and was constantly the outlet for people to throw their judgement. When Amber became pregnant with Parker, no one thought the baby would survive. Complications with her drug addiction and other health issues led to a problematic delivery, which happened in the house she was squatting in with her at-the-time boyfriend. The issues led to Amber’s death during the delivery, and Parker barely surviving the birth.

Amber’s boyfriend, Parker’s biological father, left her on the doorstep of the fire station that morning and was never seen again. The firemen at the station immediately took Parker to the hospital fair. When the police found Amber’s body in the abandoned home, they put two and two together and everyone knew who Parker’s mother was. With this information public, no one was willing to take the baby girl into their home. Before they took her to the closet orphanage, a local woman named Sonya Blake decided to adopt her. The town’s low opinion of Amber Callie carried down to her daughter, and Sonya Blake’s skin color did not help. Being 2 of 5 African Americans in the whole town, the public opinion of Parker was not helped. Sonya gave Parker her full name, “Parker Nazjae Blake.”

As Parker got older, some people in town criticized her for her family. The kids in her elementary school made fun of her because she was a white girl with “a name from africa.” The town’s prejudiced residents didn’t do much to disparage Parker, but their talk did constantly echo through their kids. Thankfully, the discrimination came in the form of dirty looks or resentment, as most of the racists in town were too cowardly to act on their hate. Though it happened, Parker was too young to fully comprehend the meaning of what was happening.

When Parker was 11, Sonya became very sick with a horrible infection in her respiratory system and died a few weeks later because she did not receive proper medical treatment. Sonya’s son, DeMarcus was left to take care of Parker by himself. The two siblings grew drastically closer in the first year following their mother’s death. Though they weren’t related by blood, their was no one that either of them cared about more.

Right out of High-School Demarcus went to work at a lumber mill outside of Harlan and made enough money to provide enough for himself and Parker. Parker, meanwhile, tried to grow up without a mother, and her only parental figure being her brother. With her unconventional adolescent life, Parker had to teach herself things that a mother would normally teach her daughter (like how to care for herself, how to behave like a lady, etc.)

In middle, school Parker found that she could channel her emotions into creativity. She became interested in art, but she quickly discovered that she sucked at all kinds of painting and drawing. Her freshman year of high-school, she joined a photography class and instantly fell in love with it. She adored taking pictures and spent a lot of her time doing it. While she got to use the school’s camera at times she wanted one that she could have to herself. She spent the entire summers of 9th and 10th grade to save up enough money to buy a high-quality camera and a couple added pieces of equipment. For a while it helped her find beauty in the world. At times her camera helped her ignore the crap that happened around them.

Parker was a “good kid” and had always followed the rules that DeMarcus had set out for both of their sakes. The first time she ever blatantly broke DeMarcus’ rules, she snuck out to go to a party at Old Man Johnson’s farm. Unfortunately for her DeMarcus wasn’t stupid and he found exactly where she was and went to get her. It was at the farm when they all changed and gained their new abilities. She was with a boy on the edge of the farm, when her vision went black and she saw herself through his eyes, leaving her with a horrible migraine. When DeMarcus showed up and demanded she come home with him, the boy and his friends tried to stand up to him. When one of them shoved him, he accidently sent him flying into the side of a truck, breaking one of his shoulders. None of the other boys even tried to fight him after what they’d seen, and he assumed none of them told anyone out of fear, since he’d not been bothered again.

@AcerRo changed the power, cost and appearance

Lazarus [+]

Name: Lazarus

Gender: Male

Age: Seventeen

Place of Birth: officially unknown, but if you really want to know, Fairbanks, Alaska

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Relationship Status: Single

Occupation: High school student/backyard scientist

Power: He, by some unknown force has been given a domain over entropy, chaos, destruction. The power allows him to degrade anything that comes into contact with him into a lower state, for example, metals will wither away and oxidize, stones will crumble and become sand, and people will turn to ash.

Cost of powers use: life force, can be of any creature, but humans give the highest yield. In order to gain the power of one's life source he needs to kill that particular organism.

appearance [+]

Appearance: 5’8, ~140 lbs, lean but solid, Caucasian, short dirty blonde/brown hair, amber eyes, mark of dragon devouring self on the back of left hand. On top of all this he does not have a southern accent. In terms of attire he usually wears skate shoes, dark blue jeans a hoody and is usually seen wandering the busy streets of downtown Atlanta during the day with his earbuds in.

marking on left hand

Skills: He grew up in the Alaskan wilderness for most of his life, only entering the city to either steal money or to immerse himself in the library’s books. Therefore he has attained many useful survival skills which he plans to use on his new journey. In terms of combat skills he is a skilled unskilled fighter which means that he is a really good street fighter, very agile, and is also skilled at archery. In terms of knowledge, he has a vast quantity of scientific and mathematical knowledge in his brain which he uses to basically get what he wants. If he wants something but can’t acquire

Personality: On the outside he appears apathetic and disinterested, but in reality when pushed to he can be quite passionate and fiery. He is however normally quite cold and when he decides to talk can be quite snarky and critical, but all in all he's a good kid. He fears loss and abandonment more than anything and would do whatever it takes to help his friends and family. He is a pragmatist who tries to live logically and question everything that he is told. This causes some people to see him as rebellious. He doesn't like to lie or manipulate people, but he is the type of person to do so if his or one of his loved one's lives were on the line. Other then that he can be irritated at times and is most easily irritated by pushy people. In terms of how he treats his friends, he is much more at ease around them and enjoys clowning around with them.

History: He didn’t have the luxury of a birth name or parents. He was a homeless street urchin, living with other homeless street urchins in the Alaskan wilderness near the town of Fairbanks. He was first taken in by a teenager who found an abandoned infant on the cold city streets. To prevent him from dying he took him into the village, where he was raised. When he was raised there he was taught survival skills by the other urchins. He at first learned to create things as an artisan, and was good at it too because he would frequently go to the library to read books on various subjects and disciplines. When he got older he was taught to use a bow for hunting and to fight in order to protect the village, though he did still act as a top artisan for the village. He learned all sorts of things, physics, history, literature, chemistry, math technology, even programming though he could only practice on the library computers, he saw it all as being fun and interesting. His life in this village was tough, but there he and his friends built nearly unbreakable bonds with one another.
Bad things were not uncommon though. People going missing wasn’t uncommon, but most would turn up dead, frozen to death, mauled by a bear, or even murdered. When something like this happened, the village would become quiet, and still, grief and regret polluting the air, especially around him, he didn’t want to let down those he cared about, and especially not let them die. Most of the times, unfortunately nothing could’ve done anyways. Sometimes, someone would contract a grave illness and be sent to the hospital. There they would usually be never seen again, but would most likely not have died, just sent to some orphanage somewhere, and in those cases it would be for the better. One day it all came to an end though, it had to have eventually. Nobody knew who did it, but somebody, a passerby horrified by the living conditions, somebody who grew older and decided to leave and live amongst society realizing that it would be better for the children, which it probably would have, told child protective services about the village. Shortly after, they came and made the urchins wards of the state, they were separated and sent to orphanages, the vast majority never saw one another again.
When he first arrived at the orphanage he talked to people occasionally, but nobody there really understood him or his love for knowledge like his friends at the village, so for the most part, he did what he always did. He went to the library and buried himself in books, to numb the not the pain of loss and discomfort like he used to, but to this time numb the pain of loneliness. His intelligence increased, and by the time he was fourteen, he was as smart as a college undergrad in most areas. He focused mostly on science, tech and math, seeing them all as being more interesting then the humanities, though he did have a lot of interest in history as well, it could not match his love for the sciences. He would also frequently roam the streets, getting into the occasional fight and sneaking into lectures at the local college.

By chance one day he met a prestigious and rich scientist and entrepreneur, Dr. Robert Miller, who was attending a lecture regarding the ethics concerning some fields of biotechnology. They sat next to each other during the lecture and afterwards the boy struck up a conversation. Though the conversation was not about anything super crazy or theoretical, the scientist was was impressed that somebody of his age about fourteen at the time would know college level chemistry. The scientist asked the boy about his story and how he got so smart at such a young age. They boy told him everything and though at first Dr. Miller didn't believe it, after doing some of his own research, he realized that what the boy said was true. He and his wife were trying to conceive for many years, but were never able to and since Dr. Miller felt as if he had a connection with the child and after deliberating with his wife, he decided to adopt him. The boy happily obliged and in a few days was on a flight to Georgia.

Leila, his new mother was wonderful and his father, Robert was a thoughtful man, so for the first year life was excellent. It was there where he gained the name Lazarus. It was there where he lived in a large house in Buckhead and attended his first year at a public high school. It was there where he made many friends and was admired for his intellect. These short few months were some of the best times he ever had. Nothing good lasts however. In the middle of his freshman year of high school his mother died in a fatal car crash. Both he and his father were devastated and a change in both of their emotional states were visible. Dr. Miller became more reclusive and detached from the world, he sold his business and decided to retire early. He spent most of his time locked in his room, he had become severely depressed. Lazarus on the other hand coped in a different way. He did not go gentle into that good night. Though he acted out quite often immediately after the accident, once again constantly skipping school most of the time and pursuing his own passions in order to numb the pain. He remembered how he cursed the world when somebody who he cared about was taken from him. He was full of rage and sorrow and decided to get stronger, so he trained, he got into more fights, started trespassing in order to conduct urban exploration and used his knowledge in computers to hack things and screw with people for fun.
Things have calmed down a lot by the time that incident had occurred. His foster father rebounded from his depression and Lazarus stopped being edgy. They formed a strong bond between father and son as well as from scientist to scientist. At this point despite being only seventeen, his father wanted to send Lazarus to college, he was at this point a certifiable genius, minus the delinquent activity and rebellious attitude, but then again nobody’s perfect. Lazarus wasn’t all for it though, he was flattered by the fact that a lot of the top colleges wanted to see him among their ranks, but he wanted to forge his own path rather than have it laid out for him. He even set up a workshop on his father’s estate, where he would tinker all night long, whether it be the engine to a car or rocket, a new synthesized chemical agent or a computer that he would be putting together, it seemed as if he always had something new. At this point he pretty much dropped out of high school though, but it didn’t affect him much, he didn’t think he made any actual friends there, he saw them as acquaintances. When the incident occurred it didn’t actually affect him that much. All the people who turned away from him didn’t really matter to him and all of the colleges that previously wanted him so desperately to join them now turned him away. His father wasn’t a religious person at all, and neither was Lazarus, so they both saw the powers that Lazarus gained as neither a gift nor a curse, just an event which occurred that should be investigated. The fact that Dr. Miller was in league was with Lazarus saw him being treated like one of the unwanted as well. Lazarus did not want to be a burden to his foster father, so he finally decided to run off and start to mold his path to glory, but still stay in touch with his father though, not wanting to abandon he who showed him the light.