WHO?
The Extrasensory Securement & Protection Agency, aka "The ESP", is an international organization tasked with handling issues involving psychics and psychic powers. While not having the authority to police citizens, the ESP has immediate jurisdiction over anything related to psychistry; civilian arrests of suspected mentalists, disasters caused by errant power usage, the protection of a prominent psychic, etc. The ESP actually operates separate from any government, an independent entity that's allowed to do what they do primarily because it needs to be done. However, this means that the ESP is always in friction with the world's governments, who can and will squash its presence if they ever step out of line. But, as any paramilitary organization will tell you, some lines need to be overstepped.
WHAT?
Entering another person's mind, to 'Dive' or 'Pscope' (the latter term used by the ESP to hide its real nature), is very, very bad. It's kept secret for a reason; psychics are already regarded as untrustworthy just on the off-chance they can read minds. If the general public found out they could do a lot more than read them, there's no telling what might happen. The saving grace is that the ability to Dive isn't something that you can learn or be born with. It requires a psychic to be broken. Most people, even ones with psychic powers, live their lives free of anything that could do that to them. Not all, though...
WHERE?
The ESP's main headquarters is located in the state of New Jersey, USA, not without reason. All those witch trials of the past were actually the result of psychic activity, before anyone was aware such a thing existed. There are also satellite offices scattered across the world to deal with issues in foreign continents. This RP will take mainly take place within the United States, as I'm an American and don't feel confidant in trying to represent other cultures accurately, though there may be times where the story takes characters to other parts of the globe. As a result, don't feel like you have to make solely American characters! Life's a melting pot, and psychics come from all walks of, uh, life.
WHEN?
Our story will take place in a vague 'Modern Day' with a soft sci-fi slant - there are smart phones, drones, and psychic computer uplinks for cross-country telepathy! The in-universe timeframe will span multiple months, perhaps even more than a year. Of course, we can't roleplay every single day, so there will be chunks of time skipped over for the sake of the story, with the focus being primarily on times when something big and bad is happening.
WHY?
At the start of the RP, your characters will be doing... not much of anything. They have all been arrested, all for the same reason: a Dive. Your characters have, at some point, used their gift to change the mind of others, and because of that have been detained by the ESP. As for how, well, that's up to you. Maybe the effects of your Dive were immediate, causing problems due to a mishandling of their mind. The Dive could've taken place in the past, perhaps successfully so, having only just been uncovered through one means or another. Or you could have simply turned yourself in because of it. Whatever the reason, you're all right here, right now, in the same room after some time in detention, unaware of the direction your life will take within the ESP.

- Standard Roleplayer Guild rules apply, of course
- Only one character per player, for the time being at least. I'm also keeping a soft player cap: up to 12 people can join, and if we start with less or we have drop-outs I'll accept later applications, though depending on when you apply you might be in the wings for a while.
- There will not be a strict schedule for posting. You can post as many times as you want or as often as once a week. However, when things start happening for real (action, fights, important events, etc), I expect everyone involved to be prompt and keep the pace of it going. If you fall behind, I will have to take your character's actions into my own hands to keep the ball rolling.
- Relating to that, if you're ever unable to post for a long period of time, for vacation or work or school or anything, please say so! I can write around your absence easier if I know it's happening.
- If you can, please join the Discord that I made for this roleplay! It'll help everyone keep in touch, allow for easier collaboration on posts or ideas, and be the quickest way to reach me. If you're unable to for whatever reason or are generally skeeved out by Discords, that's fine, won't force you into it or anything.
- Less of a "rule" rule, but I'm always, always willing to hear people out. If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or just want to chew me out for being a dick or portraying a part of the RP in a way you don't like, hit me up! Either toss me a PM or blow up my Discord, I'll almost always be able to get to either relatively quick.

This part will go over two important details pertaining the "Dives" within the roleplay: what an Archetype is and means, and how we, both me as the GM and you as a player, will go about Dives.

First, the Archetype; personality is an important facet of life as a psychic. It's unknown whether a person's personality affects what powers they have access to or if naturally attuned powers affect how the brain develops, but regardless, the two are inextricably linked (severe changes in mood can cause surges of power, unstable psyches can cause unstable powers and vice versa, etc). As such, the ability to Dive is dependent on if a psychic has developed an "Archetype", a piece of their psyche that they can splinter out of themselves and into other minds.

To that end, an important part of character creation is determining your character's archetype - based off the 12 Jungian Archetypes (which you can get an overview of here), you should try to center your character's main personality traits around one of these, or pick the best fit for them. This is not me saying you HAVE to make a character who ONLY embodies what these archetypes are, just that the archetype should be related to how they act.

How does one gain an Archetype of their own? Simple: they break. A psychic who suffers extreme mental stress, encounters serious trauma, has a complete change in their worldview, even gets physically broken, will have their psyche fracture and end up with the ability to project their Archetype. It doesn't matter if this 'break' is recent or if you have properly healed from it or if it was actually a positive experience. So long as an event in your past has caused it, you can Dive.

Now, onto Dives themselves, namely, how they will function within the RP. Obviously, if I were to dictate exactly everything, this RP will feel like little more than a connect-the-dots that you follow along. To hopefully avoid too much railroading, I'm putting the possibility of a Dive in the hands of you, the players! There will be times where I have a set end in mind, something for the characters to achieve or get to, but the act of reaching that point will be (near) totally up to you. Want to get into the nightclub by Diving into the Bouncer's mind and making him more open to strangers? Do you think you should take a detour to help your friend get over the issues that keep piling up? Maybe, somewhere down the line, the most obvious brain to Dive into next is... yours!

Of course, if I gave y'all COMPLETE run of the place, then it'd leave me to flounder around trying to pick up the threads. "Uhh, uhmm, okay, so the bouncer's head is full of... spiders? That are on fire!" It'd just be frankly embarrassing, no fun to play, and cause the RP to drag. So to keep me ahead of the game still, Dives will need permission and "permission". Permission from me, the GM, letting me know of your intent beforehand so I can form an idea for you to get into. I'll probably write up a 'Dive Form' later on when we get to that point so to make it a smoother activity. And keep in mind that Dives should be climactic, or at least have decent build-up to it. Jumping into Jerry the Janitor's head just cuz he's a fun dude will sorta deflate any tension surrounding the act, y'know?

Then there's "permission"; your characters will not be acting just on their own, but in tandem with and underneath the ESP. And Dives are tricky, sticky, ooey gooey business, a misstep could make more problems, could worsen problems, could even get the whole operation demolished and agents killed. Characters won't be able to Dive into, say, the Head of the ESP's head right after meeting them. Clearance, consent, maybe just for someone to look the other way so you can do it - something needs to happen IC-ly to justify a Dive.

But even between both those assurances, your characters can still affect the plot. A Dive in the wrong, or right, spot, a complete blunder of a mission, even who you choose to Dive into and why will have consequences, good and bad. Be aware of your actions, if you can. You never know when a Dive could end up breaking your neck on the diving board.

• Name: Full name, nicknames, codename, monikers, whatever y'wanna give 'em, though if you are going for an "only known by their nickname" thing it would help to have the whole of it too.
• Appearance: If you're using a picture, please avoid faceclaims of Real Life people, it really just rubs me the wrong way. Even then, I would like a bit of writing, make the character your own!
• Age: Any age 16 or up is fine. Kids wouldn't really fit the narrative or the vibe, though if the case is compelling enough, I might allow it.
• Personality: How they like, act and think and shit! Try to make your characters interesting, complex, deep. Give them room to grow, even if you have an end in mind, they shouldn't be fully formed before their first post.
• Powers: The stuff they can do with their mind, yo. Remember, a psychic's Powers and Personality are tied together, however that manifests for your character. What you put here is the 'mundane' things that you can do, such as Telekinesis or Telepathy, but their range and strength is up to you. And, of course, every one of your characters can Dive. Try to avoid any huuuge powerful things - Masterful Pyrokinetic, can lift a whole building, etc - for their...
- Psychic Specialty: What your character can really do. We're playing this a little fast and loose; you could say your guy is great at levitating stuff, can remotely view locales and people, or can summon and control fire, but you can be creative with it! You can have your Psychic Specialty be anything, from duplicating yourself to converting yourself into goo to having a very specific but strong telekinesis that only works with cars. It's all up to you.
- Weak Link: Yet for all we're good at, there's things we're bad with, and the same is true for psychics. There's something your character is really bad with, abilities weaker than normal, avenues you're locked out of, or a gap in your existing range. This is also related to your character's personality, ie someone who's very open and extroverted may have horrible mental defense. Again, it's up to you how to interpret it all.
- Archetype: Both the name of the Archetype you've chosen, and how they both look and act like when projected. Because yes, when you're Diving, you're only a fraction of your full self - the most prominent fraction, but still only part of the picture. How this affects personality is dependent on you, though it should logically be closer to the actual archetype you've chosen. For the looks, think of it like this: if this is your character's regular self, then THIS is their Archetype. Your Archetype also has a better grasp of its Powers, both strong and weak, due to being a full-on psychic projection in a mental capacity. Physical barriers do not restrict it!
Skills: Regardless of how hard you can flex your noodle, you're still a person, and people learn stuff. This is for any and all ordinary skills or talents your character can do, or at least what you think is relevant. They can be anything - took up fencing? Got really into psychology? Maybe you eat good!
History:The big one, what everything up there has coalesced into and grown from. While, again, the specifics you include and how detailed you are is up to choice, but there's a few key notes that everyone should have in at least decent detail: the moment they Broke and gained the ability to Dive, the first time(s) they've used their Dive and how it went, and the when, why, and where of their detainment by the ESP. Outside of that, their History can be anything. You can even be an existing member of the ESP if you want.
Misc: I'm sure there's plenty of stuff up there to feed a whole antelope, but in case there's any fun tidbits or important facts you can't fit anywhere else, place 'em here.

Characters will start out fairly weak, with only one thing they're good at and probably plenty they aren't. They won't have to stay that way the entire RP, though! There's plenty of opportunities to get strong, flex your strongest muscle, or even gain entirely new abilities.

This can come about in three different ways:

Experience
The more you do something the better you get at it. That's a fact of life. Whenever we switch Chapters you will be able to give your character's current powers a small boost, to range or effectiveness or control, etc. This way of getting stronger won't show bounds and leaps, but over time you'll be able to cultivate what you can do even better.

Training
Putting actual effort into yourself is the best way to get anywhere in life, so training is important! During larger timeskips in the story, you can have your character train their powers, either solo or with a trainer, letting them really beef up their skillset. When this happens you can give your existing powers substantial boosts or alternate uses that you couldn't before.

Diving
Wait, you can get cool stuff in people's heads? Kinda! Since Psychics and Personalities are pretty intermingled, exploring a can make some odd things happen. While in a Dive, you might stumble across something that causes a part of the Dive-ee's personality to literally rub off on you, granting you entirely new ranges of powers! Don't worry, this won't cause actually changes to your own personality, just affecting what you can do.

Appearance:
- Dark purple and black paisley blazer with black pants and comfortable shoes all leisure suit style. Black T-shirt with a tarot card large in the center of the shirt. The card is the Biddy Tarot 7 of Cups but without any text. Morris is thin, and his clothes seem to hang off of him. He's 6'1" 152 lbs. Hard to believe based on how much he seems to eat. He used to keep a scraggly goatee but recently has switched it up to the thin line of a full beard and moustache. He doesn't usually do much with the hair on the top of his head except to pull his hair back and keep it in a ponytail that extends just past the base of his neck. He's just beginning to show white at the temples and into parts of his beard.

Age:
- 40

Personality:
- Modern day hippee, loving life. Usually pretty happy-go-lucky and what-may-come. Conspiracy theories are his bread and butter, but not the usual ones. The earth isn't flat. There is no deep state. Aliens are real. Those aren't conspiracies. One of the real conspiracies: "how green lights never allow you to go completely through town is how the local municipality is just trying to get you to stay and buy touristy stuff" is what you need to worry about. He is a dreamer, and an avid gambler, winning and losing seemingly an equal amount, but he always stops before he loses the big amount. Morris likes to give good news, and tries to put a positive spin on bad. That's part of the reason he became a professional Fortune Teller by the name of Mister Myster. He's self-conscious about his art skills, he dabbles in water color but only uses those sets that can be found in dollar store water color booklets for kids because "nobody is cruel enough to corrupt kids that way but regular water colors contain mind control substances". All his art is very poor representations of tarot imagery.

Powers:
- "The Dive": getting into the heads of others
- AuraReading: As a fortune teller, he's got a keen eye on seeing how someone usually is or what their current emotion is by taking a peek at their aura
- Precognition: More like an itch, a good or a bad sensation that comes as a result of a decision he is about to make. If it's an outcome that he is looking for then warm fuzzies, otherwise a taste like bitter 90% cacao
- Astral Projection: Popping himself out of his body, but on a short leash, no more than 5 feet.
- Dream Travel & Remote Viewing: Some people say they can see other places in their dreams. Morris can do it for real. When he falls asleep he can go around the world, seeing where you are going can be important, learning to concentrate and see for long periods of time instead of drifting back into the dream was the skill be honed.
-- Psychic Specialty:
- Dream Travel: the real reason I evaded ESP for so long. Morris can move physically into the place that he views in his dreams. As this is his specialty and he is generally been by himself. It is unknown if he could connect with others in the dream state and carry them with him. Morris has to fall asleep normally and visually his body just simply ceases to be in one place and suddenly appears in the other place fully awake but tired.
-- Weak Link: No TK at all, or anything not in the above list

Archetype:
- the Explorer Archetype
- Psyche/Avatar: Thin man with purple and black paisley leisure suit. Thick well trimmed beard with slicked back hair and a ponytail with a dark purple scrunchie. His expression is always like one who has just fallen asleep with eyes closed and a benign smile of a good dream. When he walks it looks like each step pops him forward a little extra space travelling a little extra distance.
- The Break:


Skills:
* Small business license
* basic accounting
* Gambling and games of chance
* Starving Artist - water colors, Candle making
* Urban survival, like dumpster diving, finding the cheapest diner, etc.

History:



Misc:
- Nothing yet.

Jeim-Seu Kang is the son of Jeremy David Kang and Leandra Rochelle Buckley. Jeremy Kang's father was of Korean and Caucasian descent and his mother was of Puerto Rican descent. Leandra Buckley's father was of African descent, and her mother was of Italian/Filipino descent. As such, Jeim-Seu has at least six different bloodlines in his family. His parents did not marry, in fact throughout his younger years they grew to hate one another, eventually separating to his discomfort.

Jeim joined ESP when he was 18 after meeting his boyfriend who is also a member of ESP. They trained together and were practically inseparable. Their love grew into something he'd never experienced and he was happy for a long time until the dive happened. The killer was a psychic and was targetting members of ESP. They couldn't get to Jeim so instead went after his parents. It was a blood bath when he arrived on the scene, and his psyche couldn't handle losing both of his parents at once. He broke, the sheer emotional strain causing dark thoughts to replace beautiful ones. When ESP caught the killer a few years later, Jeim did the very thing that was frowned upon. He went into the holding cell of the killer and dived into the man's mind. He tortured him for hours, messing around in the man's head and punishing him for all the pain he'd experienced. The ESP had attempted to intervene, but Jeim had was a man on a mission.

When it happened, the ESP had no choice but to detain Jeim for breaking the law. To make matters worse, the strain of being a criminal caused a break in his relationship. His boyfriend of nearly ten years couldn't understand why Jeim was pushing him away and tried his best to be there for him even with him being imprisoned by the ESP, but Jeim shut him out like all the others as if he were simply a stranger on the street. Dominique still has hope that Jeim will see the light again and come back to him, but for now he is trying to move on.

Name: Meredith Li

Gender/Pronouns: Female; she/her

Appearance: Meredith is a young woman of fairly average appearance. She isn't noted for being especially beautiful or ugly, but she has been called pretty. Her height clocks in at around 5'6", although a bad habit of slouching makes her appear shorter most of the time. She weighs around 145 pounds and is not particularly curvy or skinny. She appears to be some sort of East Asian, having nearly black eyes with a monolid. Her shoulder-length, thick hair is naturally black, but she regularly dyes it orange-red. She needs glasses but can often be found wearing contacts. When not in any sort of uniform, she wears whatever she finds most comfortable- she's never been one to dress up.

Age: 27

Personality: Meredith's core desire is to be helpful. She dearly believes in the Golden Rule- 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'- and genuinely wants to make the world a better place. She's altruistic, although not naive or short-sighted. However, despite being so selfless, Meredith could not be described as an optimist. She'd say she's a realist, as she refuses to let her wishes to be the best person she could cloud her judgment. In her realist point of view, even the Golden Rule, which she holds true to her heart, doesn't always necessarily hold up. People are assholes. She just would prefer not to be one of those assholes. She prefers truth over lofty expectations, even if that truth is terrible. She's not one to sugarcoat and can even be quite snappy.

Despite her tough exterior, Meredith has a bleeding heart. Her kindness and desire to care for others are easily taken advantage of. She's easily let down by those closest to her, as her investments in relationships are often far greater than theirs. She might move mountains for someone dear to her, but they wouldn't for her. She has issues maintaining meaningful long-term relationships and issues with trust. She's more than willing to help others, but letting someone help her is nearly impossible. She's largely self-reliant and expects that she'll be left on her own.

Powers:
-The ‘Dive’: Physically transporting herself into the minds of others and altering them from within.
-Telekinesis: Can lift objects no more than 25 pounds and no more than 10 feet away no more than 5 feet in the air. Not particularly strong, but comes in hand.
-Flash-step: Can use an extremely weak form of teleportation to teleport no more than 10 feet away every 5 minutes.
--Psychic Specialty:

--Weak Link:

--Archetype:


Skills:
-Healthcare (stitches, CPR, medical knowledge, etc.)
-Vegan cooking
-Comforting others
-Caring for cats
-Soccer
-Keeping secrets

History: Meredith Li had a rough childhood. Her father was never in the picture and her mother was a drug addict, perpetually in and out of jail. She lived with her maternal grandparents, elderly Chinese immigrants, in California for some years until they eventually became too old and infirm to care for a rambunctious preschooler. So began Meredith’s endless cycle through the foster care system. When her mother lost her shit, she would go to a foster home, stay for a while… then, when her mom got her shit back together, she’d go back for a few months. But her mom would inevitably lose her shit again, and so began the cycle yet again. This instability created a girl with trust issues, a girl who always knew that she could never truly be loved. Even the most stable of her homes kept her at arm’s length- mostly due to her psychic abilities, which always caused reservations.

Despite all this, Meredith was actually a good kid. She never got into trouble at school (at least not on purpose) and always had good grades. She didn’t touch drugs or alcohol, didn’t have boyfriends or girlfriends. Still, she was never enough. Even when she tried her best, no one really loved her. So she responded by throwing all her love at them. She helped around the house, kept a lid on her abilities, and cared for everyone she could think of. Friends got handmade gifts. Foster siblings and parents got hugs and endless affection. She was constantly worried about others- not herself. Never herself.

Her Break, however, came when she was scarcely 15. Her foster parents at the time had announced their intent to adopt her and a few of her foster siblings months ago, but sat her down one night and explained that they were going to adopt her siblings… just not her. Meredith shattered. She felt a dizzying panic come on, tears fall, and then she was inside of her foster mother’s head. Confused, she found herself in a home much like the one she lived in, but… strange. Furniture floated about, and the rooms were different. They were made up of her foster mother’s hopes, dreams, past, present, her relationships… endless patterns, fracturing themselves. She found an image of herself inside, and… maybe she tweaked a few things. Moved some things around. It was her instinct, to repair.

When she exited her foster mother’s mind, she had changed. Her foster mother doted on her, loved her, begged her husband to keep Meredith, and they did. Meredith, now with a family all her own, buried what she had done deep inside her- enough to forget about the incident almost completely. If anyone noticed changes, they didn’t remark on it, and she got to be in a happy family. A win-win.

Three years later, Meredith departed for college. She dyed her hair orange, picked up a revolving door of boyfriends and girlfriends, and majored in nursing. Those four years were some of the most fantastic of her life. She loved her major, her school, and her friends. But all good things must come to an end, and she eventually finished the program and got a job as a registered nurse in a hospital in Los Angeles. Her psychic abilities were, for once, a boon- she helped people and loved every second of it. She was a notorious workaholic, never taking a day off, and was excellent at her job. Despite the stress, the long hours, and the little respect, she was passionate about her work.

Her personal life, however, was lacking. Meredith could never keep a boyfriend or girlfriend for long and, while she did have two cats, had few friends. She never had much time to herself, always throwing herself into work or into her various responsibilities. Her most consistent allies were her adopted family. She would occasionally speak to her biological mother, but that would always grow frustrating quickly.

Two years out of college, however, she met the man for her. Even Meredith, previously skeptical of true romantic love, would’ve described what they had as true love. They dated for three years, and Meredith was sure they would marry. Have children. Buy a house. The whole gamut. But eventually her boyfriend began to drift away. He was unhappy, miserable. Meredith, anguished, searched for her any sort of reason why. One day, desperate, she remembered what she had done 12 years ago, and Dived yet again while he slept.

The problem was her. Meredith had finally opened up, and the problem was her. She couldn’t see what she had done wrong- he just didn’t love her anymore. She made him unhappy. Anguished, Meredith decided upon what she thought was the best thing for him- no more her. She erased every trace of her from his mind. When the morning broke, she told him they had had a one-night stand and dismissed him from their home.

She didn’t do it right, though. It had been 12 years since she had attempted a Dive, and although this time she knew what she was doing, she didn’t know it well enough. Scarcely 6 hours later, her ex-boyfriend presented to the ER where she worked with no memory of the past three years. She lied to her coworkers, told them she didn’t know what was going on with him, but it wasn’t convincing enough. He showed clear signs of a psychic break and the only psychic in his life was Meredith.

Soon enough, ESP officers came for a guilt-ridden Meredith in her apartment. It was unexpected. She hadn’t expected to be caught, much less for what she had done to be such a serious crime. They took her into custody quite roughly, where she readily confessed to both Dives and was put into a cell shortly after. She’s now been there for a few weeks, awaiting what’s to come.

Misc:
Has a mild cigarette habit.
Is ethnically Chinese, a third-generation immigrant.
Has two rescue cats named Clementine and Cosmo.
Is a committed vegan.