Mixtape Ghost N
Zombiedude101
Atrophy
Estylwen
Blizz
AtomicEmperor
NoriWasHere
Silly
Snowdrops
BlazingBark
“My eyes have been opened to a whole new world I didn’t even know about, of course I want to explore it.”
 _______________________________________________ Oscar Joshua Price Vanburen _______________________________________________ He/Him | 24 | British & African-American | 6’1" | 189lb _______________________________________________ Capricious _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "I’ve always been smart." ___________________________________ Sciences ⫻ Oscar is quite academically inclined, and in particular is good at Sciences and Mathematics. He has a degree in Biochemistry and is currently doing a PHD in Pharmacology. He generally has a heavy interest in most fields of science and will look into a lot of it in his free time. Trivia ⫻ Both from his varying interests and hobbies, and his nerdy years in highschool, Oscar knows all sorts of odd Trivia and facts. Incredibly useful when it comes to winning a family quiz night but not so much in general life. Extra-Normal Knowledge ⫻ Since discovering he was an Adept, Oscar has become somewhat obsessed with the Extra-Normal. He has learned a decent amount both from talking to his mother, getting family knowledge handed down to him, and his own research. He knows in theory how to seal Apparitions but he lacks any real life experience. | Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "What can I say, I got pretty good genetics." Just a bit taller than average, Oscar stands with confidence. He has a laid back and friendly air to him which is often punctuated by a smile that makes him seem welcoming. Even when he isn’t smiling it is clear by his generally relaxed posture that he’s fairly approachable. He’s a handsome man with wide shoulders and a somewhat muscular build. He isn’t a fitness nut but he does enough exercise to keep himself in good shape and have some nice muscle definition. Overall Oscar would say he takes more after his mother than he does his father, he certainly claims his good looks came from her. His medium brown skin comes from a mix of both. He has a sharp, well defined jawline and cheekbones along with a fairly wide nose and thick lips. His eyes are a dark, almost black brown that often makes him look more intense than he is - but just as often sparkle with a cheerful light. He has dark, afro textured hair that he keeps short at the sides and slightly longer at the top. He takes good care of himself and his appearance because while he’s not vain he thinks it's important to look good. In general, Oscar is found in a style that would best be described as smart casual. He tends to favour simple button up shirts or sweatshirts along with dark, often ripped jeans and long jackets. He tends to dress in blues, browns, blacks and shades of grey. However this does vary a lot as he owns a wide variety of clothing and will occasionally wear something bright and colourful, if he’s feeling it. |
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"Y’know, I’m not really feeling up to that right now."
MAIN GOAL ⫻ Oscar’s main goal at the moment is to become good enough to take over his mother’s pharmaceutical business, and continue its success. Below that he wants to further pursue his own interests, particularly in science outside of Pharmacology. Since he discovered the Extra-Normal he has wanted to learn more about it and get as much knowledge as he can.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Oscar believes in the importance of relationships and connections, and what makes a person is who he is close to and who he knows. In general he thinks you should treat others as you wish to be treated and not expect to get something from someone unless you give them something in return. To him, family is very important as in his opinion it is one of the strongest relationships that can be formed. As a result in his mind, family is a priority - especially those family members who give you the most. In regards to individuals he is strongly for pursuing what you are interested in and not giving time to mind numbing tasks you don’t care about. He also believes in always striving to improve yourself and in never stopping learning.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Oscar is bisexual, with a preference for men, but it’s not something he’s told his family.
FEARS ⫻ One of Oscar’s greatest fears is boredom, to end up stuck in a life of drudgery forced to perform tasks he couldn’t care less about. He fears that he will never find the one thing he wants to do in life and will always be jumping between different interests. He is also scared of snakes.
REPUTATION ⫻ Oscar has an overall positive reputation in Araminta, though it is directly tied to his parents. He’s one of the many Vanburen children, and the heir to his mother’s long standing business. He’s well received due to his intelligence and friendliness.
As someone who is relatively easy to get on with, Oscar has a good reputation within the Vanburen family. He gets along with most of his siblings - and those he doesn’t he merely shares a neutral relationship with. He’s always been very friendly and this extended to getting along with all the siblings he could. He’s also known as the smart one of the family, if also unreliable. He was always happy to help his siblings, both younger and older, with work they couldn’t do, but just as likely to brush them off if he had no interest in what they were talking about.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻ Oscar didn’t always see eye to eye with his father, but he respected him. They were friendly enough, as much as you can be when Oscar was constantly shifting between two houses and James had far too many kids to pay attention to. The main contention in their relationship was a more recent one. James didn’t agree with Oscar’s plans for the future, thinking that he was submitting to his mother’s wishes rather than doing what he himself wanted. On the other side, Oscar was close to his mother and disliked how easily James swapped between women. He thought in many ways James was hypocritical - he would foist his own business on the oldest yet criticised Oscar for planning to take over his mother’s? Even though Oscar is closer to his mother, he still had a good relationship with his father… He just regrets how he left it before James died.
FLAWS ⫻ With Oscar’s intense, borderline obsessive, passion for his most recent interest comes a lot of self destruction. He will pour everything of himself into this at the expense of all other aspects of his life, including even eating. It will often be all he can think about and, much to the chagrin of others, the one thing he wants to talk about. Even when he isn’t intensively into something there is almost always something he is interested in more than other things. On the other hand, Oscar is too relaxed in many ways. He doesn’t really care if someone wants to talk shit about him, everyone’s welcome to their own opinions. His laidback attitude contrasts with his intense interests and he can be quite lazy, not willing to put the work into anything he isn’t passionate about. If it’s not something he’s interested in he won’t bother. This includes relationships - he is incredibly friendly in person but won’t make the effort to actually meet with people, or keep in contact when he’s not physically with someone. While he puts a lot of importance on his relationships he can be fairly insensitive at times, struggling to understand difficulties that others have gone through and not putting in the effort to understand someone else. He is a man of extremes: obsessive when it comes to things he’s interested in but incredibly lazy with things he’s not. Often he will switch between the two in the blink of an eye, making him a rather unpredictable person to be around - one who is easily bored and switched off from a conversation.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Oscar believes in the importance of relationships and connections, and what makes a person is who he is close to and who he knows. In general he thinks you should treat others as you wish to be treated and not expect to get something from someone unless you give them something in return. To him, family is very important as in his opinion it is one of the strongest relationships that can be formed. As a result in his mind, family is a priority - especially those family members who give you the most. In regards to individuals he is strongly for pursuing what you are interested in and not giving time to mind numbing tasks you don’t care about. He also believes in always striving to improve yourself and in never stopping learning.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Oscar is bisexual, with a preference for men, but it’s not something he’s told his family.
FEARS ⫻ One of Oscar’s greatest fears is boredom, to end up stuck in a life of drudgery forced to perform tasks he couldn’t care less about. He fears that he will never find the one thing he wants to do in life and will always be jumping between different interests. He is also scared of snakes.
REPUTATION ⫻ Oscar has an overall positive reputation in Araminta, though it is directly tied to his parents. He’s one of the many Vanburen children, and the heir to his mother’s long standing business. He’s well received due to his intelligence and friendliness.
As someone who is relatively easy to get on with, Oscar has a good reputation within the Vanburen family. He gets along with most of his siblings - and those he doesn’t he merely shares a neutral relationship with. He’s always been very friendly and this extended to getting along with all the siblings he could. He’s also known as the smart one of the family, if also unreliable. He was always happy to help his siblings, both younger and older, with work they couldn’t do, but just as likely to brush them off if he had no interest in what they were talking about.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻ Oscar didn’t always see eye to eye with his father, but he respected him. They were friendly enough, as much as you can be when Oscar was constantly shifting between two houses and James had far too many kids to pay attention to. The main contention in their relationship was a more recent one. James didn’t agree with Oscar’s plans for the future, thinking that he was submitting to his mother’s wishes rather than doing what he himself wanted. On the other side, Oscar was close to his mother and disliked how easily James swapped between women. He thought in many ways James was hypocritical - he would foist his own business on the oldest yet criticised Oscar for planning to take over his mother’s? Even though Oscar is closer to his mother, he still had a good relationship with his father… He just regrets how he left it before James died.
FLAWS ⫻ With Oscar’s intense, borderline obsessive, passion for his most recent interest comes a lot of self destruction. He will pour everything of himself into this at the expense of all other aspects of his life, including even eating. It will often be all he can think about and, much to the chagrin of others, the one thing he wants to talk about. Even when he isn’t intensively into something there is almost always something he is interested in more than other things. On the other hand, Oscar is too relaxed in many ways. He doesn’t really care if someone wants to talk shit about him, everyone’s welcome to their own opinions. His laidback attitude contrasts with his intense interests and he can be quite lazy, not willing to put the work into anything he isn’t passionate about. If it’s not something he’s interested in he won’t bother. This includes relationships - he is incredibly friendly in person but won’t make the effort to actually meet with people, or keep in contact when he’s not physically with someone. While he puts a lot of importance on his relationships he can be fairly insensitive at times, struggling to understand difficulties that others have gone through and not putting in the effort to understand someone else. He is a man of extremes: obsessive when it comes to things he’s interested in but incredibly lazy with things he’s not. Often he will switch between the two in the blink of an eye, making him a rather unpredictable person to be around - one who is easily bored and switched off from a conversation.
Backstory
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"I’m following a path set out by my family, but I’m unsure if I want to keep going."
Oscar was the result of a short lived relationship between James Vanburen and Eloise Price, owner of a small pharmaceutical business that she founded herself. They got together in between his marriages (probably) and didn’t even last the full length of Eloise’s pregnancy. Things ended between them amicably but with one main contention - where Oscar would live and grow up (as his mother refused to consider moving to the Vanburen Estate) along with whose name he would take. Eventually they had to compromise and as a result Oscar was mostly raised in his mother’s home, but spent just under half his time in the Vanburen Estate and took the Vanburen name.
Of course, this wasn’t much of an issue for the young boy since he could easily travel between both in Araminta. In many ways it worked out well due to his mother working full time - he could spend time with his siblings when he wasn’t at school but his mother was at work. This meant that he was never lacking company as a child, growing up to be an incredibly sociable boy.
As expected of a Vanburen, and with a mother who was setting him up to take over her business, Oscar was sent to some of the best schools in Araminta. Here he flourished, both academically and socially. He was intelligent with particular strengths in the sciences. Along with this he made a good group of friends - you couldn’t call him popular, as he was a bit nerdy and got along best with people with as much passion for science as he had. But he was friendly enough, so he mostly managed to avoid ostracisation.
He flew through school without any troubles, until he reached the point that he had to decide what to do when he finished. He realised he didn’t know because there was a lot he was passionate about but he also wanted a degree so he could help his mother when he was finished. While he considered a lot of physics based degrees along the lines of his interests, in the end he decided on getting a degree in Biochemistry (which his mother encouraged). This was the first time he properly left Araminta, moving to College in a completely different location. It was strange for him but enjoyable to be outside the influence of his family (as much as he enjoyed time with them). He spent the four years making more friends and working hard (maybe less than he should have), and managed to graduate with a good degree. Once again he was left uncertain of what to do: his mother was pushing him to do a Pharmacology PHD while he wasn’t certain if he could dedicate around six more years to school when there were other things he had much more interest in. After some uncertainty he went for it: since he got paid for tutoring and he did still find it interesting. It was that, or doing a different postgraduate degree anyway.
He was one year into his PHD when he was home for Christmas Eve, spending the night with the Vanburen family (to avoid his mother’s nagging). What was meant to be a normal discussion looking for advice from his father turned into a large argument between the two, and Oscar stormed out of the house in a fit of rage early on in the evening. It was on his walk back to his mother’s that he was hit by a vision in which his maternal grandmother, who he’d never met, appeared. She explained to him that he was an adept just like she was, along with every member of her family. Once the vision was over suddenly his eyes were opened to a world entirely outside of the normal one he was used to. He hurried back to his mother’s and questioned her on it, getting an even more in depth description of the Extra-Normal world along with what it was like to be an adept.
The next morning he woke up regretting what had happened the night before, the harsh words he’d said to his father. But he arrived at the Vanburen Estate to find that the unthinkable had happened: his father was dead. This was a shock to him, like it was to many. He took days to recover enough from the grief combined with regret to even leave his room - finally managing it to attend the burial along with the rest of the Vanburens.
After this he went back to College, barely scraping by the rest of his second year. Instead of concentrating on his PHD all he could think about was the Extra-Normal. He threw himself into learning about it and ended up taking a year out (much to his mother’s annoyance), returning to Araminta and moving back in with his mother. To make up for it he’s been spending half his time working for her while the rest he spends learning to use his spells and learning more about the Extra-Normal. While he has mostly been in Araminta, Oscar felt the effects of the curse when he tried to visit a college friend: as he travelled out his hands slowly began to turn to stone. He headed right back to Araminta as this happened and quickly realised he went back to normal when he got there… and that it was happening to his siblings too.
Whatever it was, it was Extra-Normal in nature, which means that Oscar is dead set on figuring out the cause.
Of course, this wasn’t much of an issue for the young boy since he could easily travel between both in Araminta. In many ways it worked out well due to his mother working full time - he could spend time with his siblings when he wasn’t at school but his mother was at work. This meant that he was never lacking company as a child, growing up to be an incredibly sociable boy.
As expected of a Vanburen, and with a mother who was setting him up to take over her business, Oscar was sent to some of the best schools in Araminta. Here he flourished, both academically and socially. He was intelligent with particular strengths in the sciences. Along with this he made a good group of friends - you couldn’t call him popular, as he was a bit nerdy and got along best with people with as much passion for science as he had. But he was friendly enough, so he mostly managed to avoid ostracisation.
He flew through school without any troubles, until he reached the point that he had to decide what to do when he finished. He realised he didn’t know because there was a lot he was passionate about but he also wanted a degree so he could help his mother when he was finished. While he considered a lot of physics based degrees along the lines of his interests, in the end he decided on getting a degree in Biochemistry (which his mother encouraged). This was the first time he properly left Araminta, moving to College in a completely different location. It was strange for him but enjoyable to be outside the influence of his family (as much as he enjoyed time with them). He spent the four years making more friends and working hard (maybe less than he should have), and managed to graduate with a good degree. Once again he was left uncertain of what to do: his mother was pushing him to do a Pharmacology PHD while he wasn’t certain if he could dedicate around six more years to school when there were other things he had much more interest in. After some uncertainty he went for it: since he got paid for tutoring and he did still find it interesting. It was that, or doing a different postgraduate degree anyway.
He was one year into his PHD when he was home for Christmas Eve, spending the night with the Vanburen family (to avoid his mother’s nagging). What was meant to be a normal discussion looking for advice from his father turned into a large argument between the two, and Oscar stormed out of the house in a fit of rage early on in the evening. It was on his walk back to his mother’s that he was hit by a vision in which his maternal grandmother, who he’d never met, appeared. She explained to him that he was an adept just like she was, along with every member of her family. Once the vision was over suddenly his eyes were opened to a world entirely outside of the normal one he was used to. He hurried back to his mother’s and questioned her on it, getting an even more in depth description of the Extra-Normal world along with what it was like to be an adept.
The next morning he woke up regretting what had happened the night before, the harsh words he’d said to his father. But he arrived at the Vanburen Estate to find that the unthinkable had happened: his father was dead. This was a shock to him, like it was to many. He took days to recover enough from the grief combined with regret to even leave his room - finally managing it to attend the burial along with the rest of the Vanburens.
After this he went back to College, barely scraping by the rest of his second year. Instead of concentrating on his PHD all he could think about was the Extra-Normal. He threw himself into learning about it and ended up taking a year out (much to his mother’s annoyance), returning to Araminta and moving back in with his mother. To make up for it he’s been spending half his time working for her while the rest he spends learning to use his spells and learning more about the Extra-Normal. While he has mostly been in Araminta, Oscar felt the effects of the curse when he tried to visit a college friend: as he travelled out his hands slowly began to turn to stone. He headed right back to Araminta as this happened and quickly realised he went back to normal when he got there… and that it was happening to his siblings too.
Whatever it was, it was Extra-Normal in nature, which means that Oscar is dead set on figuring out the cause.
Abstraction
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"I’ve studied my own magic enough to be confident in out… Now I want to study everyone else’s."
TYPE ⫻ Adept
ABSTRACTION ⫻ Red Lux. Channeler: A fancy calligraphy pen his mother gave him when he graduated from his first degree, with his name engraved on it.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Oscar’s spells tend to fall under two categories, those that reflect him when he is at his most passionate, with incredibly high energy and those that reflect him when he is more relaxed.
LIMITS ⫻
WEAKNESSES ⫻
ABSTRACTION ⫻ Red Lux. Channeler: A fancy calligraphy pen his mother gave him when he graduated from his first degree, with his name engraved on it.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Oscar’s spells tend to fall under two categories, those that reflect him when he is at his most passionate, with incredibly high energy and those that reflect him when he is more relaxed.
Water Creation: Oscar can essentially “create” water by pulling it out of something it is contained within. Whether this is a plant, water soaked up in the walls or even moisture in the air. This requires there to be something that contains water in his nearby vicinity.
Water & Liquid Manipulation: After Oscar learned to “create” water, he learned how to manipulate it. He can control pre-existing water to a variety of cool effects. It can be weaponised to cut through things, hit people, absolutely soak people for a prank or to keep the rain off him along with much more. He’s not limited to just water, however, but rather has taught himself to manipulate all sorts of liquids: which is incredibly useful for him when doing chemistry experiments. But he has stronger control over water itself, and can only move other liquids.
Electrify: Oscar essentially “electrifies” his hands, so that electricity is coursing through them. These can be used on a person to cause a severe electric shock, to short circuit electronics or to singe flammable objects. It's quite damaging if weaponised by touching people but he rarely uses it for this purpose (yet).
Electrical Charge: Oscar uses this spell to become some kind of electricity generator, allowing him to charge electrical devices by touching them to act as a conduit to flow energy into them. He can also use the electrical energy to heat things up. He can vary the strength of this especially in regards to heating something up, from the level needed to warm something to burning hot.
Earth Wall: Taught to him by his mother, Oscar can create a protective wall directly in front of him from the ground beneath him (assuming it’s not made of some non-earth/rock material). This comes to a few inches above his height and has a width just larger than he is: essentially covering him from the front. He barely uses this spell since it’s not particularly compatible with his personality, unless absolutely necessary.
Water & Liquid Manipulation: After Oscar learned to “create” water, he learned how to manipulate it. He can control pre-existing water to a variety of cool effects. It can be weaponised to cut through things, hit people, absolutely soak people for a prank or to keep the rain off him along with much more. He’s not limited to just water, however, but rather has taught himself to manipulate all sorts of liquids: which is incredibly useful for him when doing chemistry experiments. But he has stronger control over water itself, and can only move other liquids.
Electrify: Oscar essentially “electrifies” his hands, so that electricity is coursing through them. These can be used on a person to cause a severe electric shock, to short circuit electronics or to singe flammable objects. It's quite damaging if weaponised by touching people but he rarely uses it for this purpose (yet).
Electrical Charge: Oscar uses this spell to become some kind of electricity generator, allowing him to charge electrical devices by touching them to act as a conduit to flow energy into them. He can also use the electrical energy to heat things up. He can vary the strength of this especially in regards to heating something up, from the level needed to warm something to burning hot.
Earth Wall: Taught to him by his mother, Oscar can create a protective wall directly in front of him from the ground beneath him (assuming it’s not made of some non-earth/rock material). This comes to a few inches above his height and has a width just larger than he is: essentially covering him from the front. He barely uses this spell since it’s not particularly compatible with his personality, unless absolutely necessary.
LIMITS ⫻
Water Creation: Oscar's water creation ability has a range of five meters and given that there isn't really a whole lot of moisture in most environments (You can get a handful of water out the air).
Water & Liquid Manipulation: The Manipulation ability has a range of twelve meters and is linked to his stamina. Using it tires him out and he can roughly keep it going for about five or ten minutes consistently.
Electrification & Electrical Charge: Oscar can only keep the electrification going for a short amount of time, about a minute, and needs to rest for five before he can do it again.
Earth Wall: Because it's not exactly in tune with his personality it's very difficult to keep going. Oscar will have to dedicate all of his energy, focus, and more, towards keeping it standing. He also can't go any more than three feet away from it.
Water & Liquid Manipulation: The Manipulation ability has a range of twelve meters and is linked to his stamina. Using it tires him out and he can roughly keep it going for about five or ten minutes consistently.
Electrification & Electrical Charge: Oscar can only keep the electrification going for a short amount of time, about a minute, and needs to rest for five before he can do it again.
Earth Wall: Because it's not exactly in tune with his personality it's very difficult to keep going. Oscar will have to dedicate all of his energy, focus, and more, towards keeping it standing. He also can't go any more than three feet away from it.
WEAKNESSES ⫻
Water Creation/Water & Liquid Manipulation: The usage of these two spells drains Oscar of his internal water and leaves him dry, dehydrated, and more. It also renders him weak against electrical attacks... which is why he should never use his electric powers with his water one.
Electrification/Electrical Charge: Using these abilities are bright, loud, and thus make it difficult to see and hear. In addition, he's not immune to electricity and any water touching him will cause him to electrocute himself.
Earth Wall: The wall isn't the most solid thing and while it can take individual blows, it won't be able to stop huge, area of effect attacks. In addition, Oscar basically has to be glued to it in order for it to be effective.
Electrification/Electrical Charge: Using these abilities are bright, loud, and thus make it difficult to see and hear. In addition, he's not immune to electricity and any water touching him will cause him to electrocute himself.
Earth Wall: The wall isn't the most solid thing and while it can take individual blows, it won't be able to stop huge, area of effect attacks. In addition, Oscar basically has to be glued to it in order for it to be effective.
Other
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"The more I learn about dad, the more interested I get."
Oscar has illegible handwriting. If someone else needs to read what he's writing he'll try his harder to make it readable, but otherwise it looks like a horrendous scrawl.
“Oh fuck off, will you.”
 More _______________________________________________ Patricia Malaya Vanburen _______________________________________________ She/Her | 21 | British, Filipino, Saudia Arabian | 5'5" | 115lb _______________________________________________ Resentment _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Imagine being good at something you weren’t ashamed of." ___________________________________ Computer Programming ⫻ The kind of thing that Trisha used to scorn, she discovered her talents for the field when she went to college. She had to take it as a course and found out she had a natural talent in it (which was a first). However she found it embarrassing considering the stereotypes and how nerdy she’d always called it to her friends, so it’s something she’s been learning in secret. She’s gotten quite good over the last three years through various online courses and late night coding sessions. Bilingual ⫻ Trisha is technically bilingual, since she was taught Filipino in her formative years and it stuck. She’s quite rusty because she only ever uses it on the rare occasions that she visits her mother. She also speaks basic conversational Arabic. | Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "The one good thing my mother gave me is her looks." Considering her mixed heritage (particularly her father's side), Trisha always says that she’s surprised that she turned out so pretty. Of course her proclamation about her looks comes from her own self confidence along with many compliments from guys (and girls) she’s been together with. Her natural expression is one of annoyance or grumpiness and this is something that rarely changes around her family. However when she is away from them, around friends or people she doesn’t know, she adopts a much more friendly if flirtatious persona. Without makeup Trisha has a soft face, albeit with a clear jawline. However she is always found with makeup on to help define this and bring a bit more shape to her rather small face. Her hair is long and naturally wavy, a dark brown almost black in colour. Her skin is a tanned gold and freckles dash across her wide, button nose and cheeks when she gets the sun. Her wide lips are often left with just a bit of lip gloss on them. Her eyes, clearly showing her Asian side, are probably one of her most unique features: seemingly changing colours with the light. They are actually hazel in colour, with a warm brown towards the centre and green at the edges. However under a lot of lighting they just look medium brown, if not darker brown. Trisha has three piercings in both ears: two lobe piercings and one helix. Now, while Trisha is lucky to have a slim if average height stature that she can keep up very easily, she didn’t luck out in other departments (in her opinion). She’s flat to the point where in anything but form fitting clothes she doesn’t have any curves. But that’s something that can be fixed with a push up bra when she wants to. She’s a bit more curvy behind and at her hips, with a slim waist. She has long, slender legs that half make up for it. Trisha tends to wear a wide variety of clothing depending on the group she's with. She tries to be fashionable with friends, especially at parties where she'll wear nicer and more revealing clothing. On the other hand when around her family she couldn't care less and will choose comfort over anything else. |
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"What have other people ever done for me?"
MAIN GOAL ⫻ Surprising considering how she generally acts, but Trisha ultimately wants to find someone to get married to and settle down to start her own family. She wants to have kids and treat them right, giving them what she’d deem a better life than her own. She want's the "perfect family" she never had. Along with this, she secretly wants to change her degree and instead pursue computing since she discovered she was talented at this… which would require her getting over her shame at that fact.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Trisha first and foremost believes that you have to look after yourself, and that no one else will bother. Ironically she thinks that everyone has their purpose and it’s perfectly fine to discard them after you’ve used them. You should use whatever skills you have, whatever they are, to benefit yourself and your life. Along with all these you shouldn’t show others how what they say affects you, but instead remember it and make them regret it.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Pansexual, Trisha has been with many people with no care for gender. Though she often questions how much she actually likes men beyond the attention and easy compliments they give her. If she didn't need the validation that came so easily from straight men she'd probably much prefer women.
FEARS ⫻ Deep down Trisha fears that she’ll always be stuck in this state, never settling down both for her degree (and future career) and romantic partners. What if she ends up like her mother, putting everything into a relationship that ends up failing? She fears being alone even when she is the one that causes her isolation the most. Above all she fears living the rest of her life in the shadows of others and not finding anything, or anyone, that is truly her own. Trisha also has an intense fear of heights.
REPUTATION ⫻ Within Araminta Trisha doesn't have a great, or widely known, reputation. As one of the Vanburen kids she was always in the shadows - never making any big noise, negative or positive. Those who went to school with her (or know of her school results) would think of her as one of the less impressive Vanburen. Within the family, her reputation is negative. Trisha has always been incredibly standoffish at best and mean at worst, especially to certain people. What didn't help was her bad relationship with James himself which soured her reputation with many of her siblings.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻ Trisha is one of the few Vanburens that views James negatively. At a young age her opinions were twisted by her mother, who’s relationship was ruined by his affair, and this continued into a bitterness towards him as she grew up. Still, she is upset that she never had a chance to fix their relationship even though there was only a slim chance of that ever happening.
FLAWS ⫻ Trisha is quick to anger and blame, with her rage coming in a cold and scathing manner. Unlike others she doesn’t blow up but instead resorts to incredibly harsh, biting words. When something goes wrong she is one of the first to point fingers as she’s grown up being taught that someone is to blame for what happened in her life (namely her father’s affair). Trisha is very bitter and holds a lot of resentment towards certain family members, and is one to hold grudges. Aside from this she tends to close herself off when it comes to sharing anything but the surface level of herself - even to those she would call her closest friends. She’s very quick to jump between relationships, quickly jumping between people to seek validation she doesn't get anywhere else. Fickle is an apt word to describe her. As much as she outwardly projects confidence and a don’t give a fuck attitude, she has crippling self confidence issues in relation to other people which have lead to her heavily relying on her looks to get her through situations.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Trisha first and foremost believes that you have to look after yourself, and that no one else will bother. Ironically she thinks that everyone has their purpose and it’s perfectly fine to discard them after you’ve used them. You should use whatever skills you have, whatever they are, to benefit yourself and your life. Along with all these you shouldn’t show others how what they say affects you, but instead remember it and make them regret it.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Pansexual, Trisha has been with many people with no care for gender. Though she often questions how much she actually likes men beyond the attention and easy compliments they give her. If she didn't need the validation that came so easily from straight men she'd probably much prefer women.
FEARS ⫻ Deep down Trisha fears that she’ll always be stuck in this state, never settling down both for her degree (and future career) and romantic partners. What if she ends up like her mother, putting everything into a relationship that ends up failing? She fears being alone even when she is the one that causes her isolation the most. Above all she fears living the rest of her life in the shadows of others and not finding anything, or anyone, that is truly her own. Trisha also has an intense fear of heights.
REPUTATION ⫻ Within Araminta Trisha doesn't have a great, or widely known, reputation. As one of the Vanburen kids she was always in the shadows - never making any big noise, negative or positive. Those who went to school with her (or know of her school results) would think of her as one of the less impressive Vanburen. Within the family, her reputation is negative. Trisha has always been incredibly standoffish at best and mean at worst, especially to certain people. What didn't help was her bad relationship with James himself which soured her reputation with many of her siblings.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻ Trisha is one of the few Vanburens that views James negatively. At a young age her opinions were twisted by her mother, who’s relationship was ruined by his affair, and this continued into a bitterness towards him as she grew up. Still, she is upset that she never had a chance to fix their relationship even though there was only a slim chance of that ever happening.
FLAWS ⫻ Trisha is quick to anger and blame, with her rage coming in a cold and scathing manner. Unlike others she doesn’t blow up but instead resorts to incredibly harsh, biting words. When something goes wrong she is one of the first to point fingers as she’s grown up being taught that someone is to blame for what happened in her life (namely her father’s affair). Trisha is very bitter and holds a lot of resentment towards certain family members, and is one to hold grudges. Aside from this she tends to close herself off when it comes to sharing anything but the surface level of herself - even to those she would call her closest friends. She’s very quick to jump between relationships, quickly jumping between people to seek validation she doesn't get anywhere else. Fickle is an apt word to describe her. As much as she outwardly projects confidence and a don’t give a fuck attitude, she has crippling self confidence issues in relation to other people which have lead to her heavily relying on her looks to get her through situations.
Backstory
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"Fuck everyone that made me who I am today."
Trisha was born to James Vanburen and his wife at the time, Maria Mendoza. The two had met while James was on one of his trips outside of Araminta and “fell in love”. Or, more accurately Maria one sidedly fell head over heels for James. So much so that she put her career as a Professor at MIT (in Mechanical Engineering) on hold to marry him and move to Araminta. Shortly afterwards, she was pregnant with Trisha and happily gave birth. Sadly this happiness was short-lived as it was only a year later that James had an affair with another woman (that she found out about, he undoubtedly had more as well), resulting in her pregnancy. The events that followed ruined any love Maria had for him and completely destroyed their marriage.
This ended with Maria leaving Araminta, and her daughter there in the Vanburen Estate. She went back to the job she’d had previously. Trisha spent most of her early years in Araminta. She would visit her mother for around a month a year during various holidays, which involved minimal time spent together around her research. Even in these short times Maria was sure to tell Trisha who was at fault for the situation: her father and his wife afterwards. As a young and impressionable girl it wasn’t hard to influence her and instill a bitterness towards those that stopped her from having a mother that was around. Even with the short time spent together, Trisha was incredibly attached to her mother. There was always a hope that once she got older she would be able to move out of Araminta and into her Mother’s in Massachusetts. On the other hand as soon as she could think for herself she did her best to avoid her father, which wasn’t exactly difficult.
There was one thing that Maria wished for when it came to Trisha: that she would excel in school just as she had. So Trisha started learning young from her, and kept this up when she started school. Most of her time was spent locked in her room trying to learn and completely ignoring the family she lived with.
Trisha wasn’t good at school.
No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t wrap her head around the most basic concepts. She was near the bottom of the class for learning to read and write, the only thing she was slightly above average for was mathematics. None of it was good enough to satisfy Maria - who even at a distance kept a constant check on how she was doing. It was obvious by the time she reached highschool that she wasn’t academically gifted. It didn’t matter that she went above and beyond when it came to effort. She had a whole folder of “tried the hardest” awards but no good grades to go along with them.
With her daughter not improving, Maria gave up. The already short visits Trisha got to her mother got shorter and their relationship quickly grew tenuous. Suddenly she was blamed for everything that went wrong. Because the least she could’ve done was be smart enough to make up for what had happened rather than being a failure just like her parent's relationship.
This left Trisha going into her teenage years already full of anger. She was ridiculed by her mother, basically shoved aside by a father she’d always disliked for her better siblings. She felt angry towards everything and would often lash out with sharp, cold words towards her siblings and parents that got her in trouble more than once. Still, she didn’t give up and continued to try even when it didn’t yield results. There was only one thing that kept her going: the small number of friends she’d made at school.
It was when she turned 16 that she realised she did have something. She had her good looks, something that may not help with her family but drew in friends and those interested in her for other reasons. She quickly began to use this for some form, any form, of validation. It wasn’t extreme throughout highschool, just making loads of friends (especially boys) and dating a few of them. It never went anywhere. Somehow she managed to get into a below average college to do mathematics.
Trisha was glad to finally escape Araminta and the Vanburens. While she didn’t excel academically at college, she did when it came to friendships. Along with this she delved deep into the world of romance… or more accurately, the physical side of it with no feelings on her part. She found it was easy to feel good about yourself when you had people complimenting your looks. She didn't bother trying her best anymore. Instead she spent all her time socialising and partying, indulging in drinking, drugs and one night stands.
Christmas Eve of her second year came, and Trisha reluctantly went home because she wasn’t allowed to stay in her dorms. To her it was a horrible time spent with people she wanted to avoid the most. But that didn’t mean she wanted to wake up the next morning to find out that James was dead. She was conflicted with how to feel, grieving in her own way and suddenly realising there was no chance to fix their relationship now that he was gone. She didn’t stay long in Araminta, returning to college immediately after the funeral.
During the next year she pretended it didn’t happen. She didn’t know about the world of the Extra Normal until just a few months ago, while she was in the computing department of her school she found an old looking laptop hidden in a closet when poking around. She was shocked when it talked to her and introduced itself and after talking, it explained that it was an Apparition sealed inside the laptop and that it could lend her its powers through that. Not quite believing this Trisha took the laptop and spent all her spare time, outside of socialising, learning how to use it.
Then almost a year after James’ death she was forced to go back to Araminta, because she suddenly started to turn to stone.
This ended with Maria leaving Araminta, and her daughter there in the Vanburen Estate. She went back to the job she’d had previously. Trisha spent most of her early years in Araminta. She would visit her mother for around a month a year during various holidays, which involved minimal time spent together around her research. Even in these short times Maria was sure to tell Trisha who was at fault for the situation: her father and his wife afterwards. As a young and impressionable girl it wasn’t hard to influence her and instill a bitterness towards those that stopped her from having a mother that was around. Even with the short time spent together, Trisha was incredibly attached to her mother. There was always a hope that once she got older she would be able to move out of Araminta and into her Mother’s in Massachusetts. On the other hand as soon as she could think for herself she did her best to avoid her father, which wasn’t exactly difficult.
There was one thing that Maria wished for when it came to Trisha: that she would excel in school just as she had. So Trisha started learning young from her, and kept this up when she started school. Most of her time was spent locked in her room trying to learn and completely ignoring the family she lived with.
Trisha wasn’t good at school.
No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t wrap her head around the most basic concepts. She was near the bottom of the class for learning to read and write, the only thing she was slightly above average for was mathematics. None of it was good enough to satisfy Maria - who even at a distance kept a constant check on how she was doing. It was obvious by the time she reached highschool that she wasn’t academically gifted. It didn’t matter that she went above and beyond when it came to effort. She had a whole folder of “tried the hardest” awards but no good grades to go along with them.
With her daughter not improving, Maria gave up. The already short visits Trisha got to her mother got shorter and their relationship quickly grew tenuous. Suddenly she was blamed for everything that went wrong. Because the least she could’ve done was be smart enough to make up for what had happened rather than being a failure just like her parent's relationship.
This left Trisha going into her teenage years already full of anger. She was ridiculed by her mother, basically shoved aside by a father she’d always disliked for her better siblings. She felt angry towards everything and would often lash out with sharp, cold words towards her siblings and parents that got her in trouble more than once. Still, she didn’t give up and continued to try even when it didn’t yield results. There was only one thing that kept her going: the small number of friends she’d made at school.
It was when she turned 16 that she realised she did have something. She had her good looks, something that may not help with her family but drew in friends and those interested in her for other reasons. She quickly began to use this for some form, any form, of validation. It wasn’t extreme throughout highschool, just making loads of friends (especially boys) and dating a few of them. It never went anywhere. Somehow she managed to get into a below average college to do mathematics.
Trisha was glad to finally escape Araminta and the Vanburens. While she didn’t excel academically at college, she did when it came to friendships. Along with this she delved deep into the world of romance… or more accurately, the physical side of it with no feelings on her part. She found it was easy to feel good about yourself when you had people complimenting your looks. She didn't bother trying her best anymore. Instead she spent all her time socialising and partying, indulging in drinking, drugs and one night stands.
Christmas Eve of her second year came, and Trisha reluctantly went home because she wasn’t allowed to stay in her dorms. To her it was a horrible time spent with people she wanted to avoid the most. But that didn’t mean she wanted to wake up the next morning to find out that James was dead. She was conflicted with how to feel, grieving in her own way and suddenly realising there was no chance to fix their relationship now that he was gone. She didn’t stay long in Araminta, returning to college immediately after the funeral.
During the next year she pretended it didn’t happen. She didn’t know about the world of the Extra Normal until just a few months ago, while she was in the computing department of her school she found an old looking laptop hidden in a closet when poking around. She was shocked when it talked to her and introduced itself and after talking, it explained that it was an Apparition sealed inside the laptop and that it could lend her its powers through that. Not quite believing this Trisha took the laptop and spent all her spare time, outside of socialising, learning how to use it.
Then almost a year after James’ death she was forced to go back to Araminta, because she suddenly started to turn to stone.
Abstraction
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"Finally, something I can do well."
TYPE ⫻ Aberration (Agent)
ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Trojan, an Apparition that allows Trisha to create multiple "workers", minions to do small tasks for her.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ With the creation of the computer, computer code and viruses came the Trojan, an apparition that is the embodiment of that which makes technology run (and destroys it). He’s lent part of his power to Trisha in exchange for a price. This gives her the ability to perform a specific ability through the use of computer code. The basis of this is that Trisha must first write the code for the specific thing she wants to do, in the laptop that the Trojan is sealed in, and “run” it to have the effect come into place. While she can write a basic code framework in advance, saving it to be pulled up later, all the specifics need to be filled in at the time she wants to use the abstraction. Under time pressure this could be difficult without causing errors in the program. The Trojan has given her access to one program.
Master / Worker ⫻ Based on a pattern used in Parallel Programming, Trisha can create up to 5 “workers”. These are little creatures that are essentially two blobs on top of each other, with dinky arms and large eyes (kinda like this). Through the code that Trisha wrote when creating them, they can perform basic tasks for her. This could be collecting something, sneaking in somewhere, listening to a conversation, cleaning, seeing far away for her ect. They can communicate with very basic words to her and more complicated information they get is shown through the computer terminal, which she would have to figure out. Each worked can do something different assuming she codes it correctly and are all controlled through the 'master', her computer. They will follow what is written out in the code, nothing more and nothing less.
AURA SENSING ⫻ Trisha can sense the auras of people using a device connected to the internet within around 50 metres of where she is, assuming that she also has a device connected to the internet.
LIMITS ⫻ Trisha can create up to five Workers and they can travel around a hundred meters away from her. They are limited in what they can do by what code Trisha writes for them, and in order for Trisha to give them a different command, she'll have to change the code.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ The Workers are frail and not suited for combat, even a Blind can easily handle them. Other than that, due to the low power nature of the ability, it doesn't have a whole lot of drawbacks or weaknesses.
ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Trojan, an Apparition that allows Trisha to create multiple "workers", minions to do small tasks for her.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ With the creation of the computer, computer code and viruses came the Trojan, an apparition that is the embodiment of that which makes technology run (and destroys it). He’s lent part of his power to Trisha in exchange for a price. This gives her the ability to perform a specific ability through the use of computer code. The basis of this is that Trisha must first write the code for the specific thing she wants to do, in the laptop that the Trojan is sealed in, and “run” it to have the effect come into place. While she can write a basic code framework in advance, saving it to be pulled up later, all the specifics need to be filled in at the time she wants to use the abstraction. Under time pressure this could be difficult without causing errors in the program. The Trojan has given her access to one program.
Master / Worker ⫻ Based on a pattern used in Parallel Programming, Trisha can create up to 5 “workers”. These are little creatures that are essentially two blobs on top of each other, with dinky arms and large eyes (kinda like this). Through the code that Trisha wrote when creating them, they can perform basic tasks for her. This could be collecting something, sneaking in somewhere, listening to a conversation, cleaning, seeing far away for her ect. They can communicate with very basic words to her and more complicated information they get is shown through the computer terminal, which she would have to figure out. Each worked can do something different assuming she codes it correctly and are all controlled through the 'master', her computer. They will follow what is written out in the code, nothing more and nothing less.
AURA SENSING ⫻ Trisha can sense the auras of people using a device connected to the internet within around 50 metres of where she is, assuming that she also has a device connected to the internet.
LIMITS ⫻ Trisha can create up to five Workers and they can travel around a hundred meters away from her. They are limited in what they can do by what code Trisha writes for them, and in order for Trisha to give them a different command, she'll have to change the code.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ The Workers are frail and not suited for combat, even a Blind can easily handle them. Other than that, due to the low power nature of the ability, it doesn't have a whole lot of drawbacks or weaknesses.
Other
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"I never wanted to come back here."
“I’m moving forward so one day I can leave the shadow following me behind.”
 _______________________________________________ Tuyen Thị Đoàn _______________________________________________ She/her | 19 | South Korean & Vietnamese | 5’2” | 114lb _______________________________________________ Uncertainty _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "I’ve got some experience in this stuff, even if I never wanted it." ___________________________________ Supernatural Experience ⫻ While she’s definitely no expert, Tuyen was among the group that helped beat the Glutton - and through it she gained a good amount of experience about the supernatural. Certainly puts her above most normal people. Writing ⫻ Tuyen is good at writing, both fictional and non-fictional (like essays). Her main strength does come in fictional writing and novels. Imagination ⫻ Tuyen’s imagination is quite something – you could say it was overactive. She gets ideas pretty easily, especially for stories. If it’s for something non-fictional, however, don’t expect something sensible. This is a double edged sword due to her abstraction’s tendency to show her things that don’t exist. Languages ⫻ Due to her parents, Tuyen is fluent in Korean and Vietnamese. She speaks Korean better than Vietnamese but makes sure to keep them both up, though they’re secondary to English. | Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "I don’t hate looking in the mirror as much as I used to.” Tuyen is on the shorter side in general, even if she’s rather average for women in her family. She has a fairly stocky build, but has very little weight on her after the period of time spent fighting the glutton - though there is some lean muscle from trying to keep up a certain amount of fitness. The combination of the aftereffects and the shadow that still haunts her has led to more difficulty in eating, and sleeping. This is visible in a darkness beneath her eyes and thinness she didn’t have before. However she holds herself with more confidence than she once did, often found with a smile to offset any exhaustion (even if it’s not always genuine). She has begun to wear a small amount of makeup on occasion, both to hide the tiredness and to enhance the looks she believes in slightly more. Tuyen’s hair is a black, with brown tones in warmer lights. She’s let it continue to grow out (getting it cut is expensive) so that it falls long past her shoulders. Since she often finds the length annoying she normally ties it back to keep it out of the way. Thankfully it’s naturally straight and doesn’t require much upkeep so when she leaves it loose. It frames a round face with a relatively soft nose and undefined lips. Her eyes are a dark brown, almost black, and fairly large. This makes her appear younger than she is, if also cute and somewhat nervous looking. Her skin is a medium golden-brown, inherited from her Vietnamese father – as many of her features are. She has very little of her mother in her aside from her hair. Tuyen doesn’t have a particular style of clothing anymore, per say, beyond nice clothes that she feels suits her. While she still likes to wear skirts with plain tops, she has much more variety and is often found in more practical clothing or dresses when she’s feeling especially nice. The one thing she will never wear is anything clothing with low cut necklines, just in case another awakened sees the sigil on her chest. She tends to prefer shades of purple, blue and pink but she isn’t very fussy when it comes to colours. Tuyen has two sigils. One is located on her chest right above her right breast. It's a featureless silhouette-like figure of herself that's all black, but it's in a poised stance with a hand in the air, ready to stab. Instead of the knife being in the sigil's hand, it's in the silhouette's chest. She always keeps this one covered up. The second is a black and white lotus flower on her wrist. |
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"Right back to being just as happy as I was before. And by that, I mean hiding all my insecurities and pretending to be okay."
MAIN GOAL ⫻ To live for herself. Tuyen wants to rediscover herself and to see the world outside of the small town she spent all her life in. She’s no longer going to live in the shadow of others. Her short term goal is to help the Vanburen family get rid of their curse along with Justin. Maybe along the way she’ll be able to improve her self confidence and figure out what she wants to do with her life.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Tuyen believes in helping others - especially with all the supernatural shit that she’s been through. She strongly believes that she, as someone who’s got experience in it, has to be there to try and help with other problems that might come up. She still believes in putting on a brave face and smile, even if it’s just an illusion, because you shouldn’t worry other people over personal matters. Who would she even talk to anyway? She believes that being positive around others is important and will almost always put others’ feelings, and happiness, above her own.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Tuyen is gay, though this is something she’s only recently accepted about herself. She spent a long time in denial, telling herself her lack of attraction to men was because she wasn’t good enough. She’s finally admitted to herself that she’s gay, but she’s not open about it. She doesn’t have time for romance right now anyway.
FEARS ⫻ Tuyen still fears failure, but in a different way to before. She’s free from the judgement of her family and instead fears that she will never get anywhere in life. She still feels just as worthless if she always did before. What if she is never truly able to be herself, or never discovers what she wants to do with her life? There’s always a fear in the back of her mind that she’ll never escape her insecurities, and the shadow that haunts her along with them. She wants it gone but fears it never will be. After the fight with the glutton she fears what might be next, what other supernatural threats there are out there especially as more people begin to obtain abstractions.
REPUTATION ⫻ None, Tuyen’s a newcomer to Araminta.
FLAWS ⫻ As much as she’s improved a bit, Tuyen’s lack of self confidence is still one of her biggest flaws. She’s no longer the girl to take all criticism without questioning it and she doesn’t hate herself as much as she did before. However she is still plagued with self doubts and her insecurities. She may have come to accept some things she previously couldn’t, such as her sexuality, there are still many things about herself she dislikes. This is not helped by the presence of her Shadow - which may not torment her in such a dramatic fashion anymore, but is still always bringing up deep feelings of dread in an effort to stop her from ever truly accepting herself. Still, she’s taking steps forward in accepting herself even with the massive setback that it is. Along with this she is very private about her problems, unlikely to tell anyone when she has a hard time. She likes to put on a brave face until she can’t anymore. There are times when she should prioritise herself or let it out, but she always refuses to do so. She also has some trust issues after everything that happened - there are very few people she’d trust (most fellow survivors of the glutton group), and even fewer that she’d talk to about her problems. This is added to by her not always trusting that something is real, having gotten too used to seeing illusions created by the shadow in her everyday life.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Tuyen believes in helping others - especially with all the supernatural shit that she’s been through. She strongly believes that she, as someone who’s got experience in it, has to be there to try and help with other problems that might come up. She still believes in putting on a brave face and smile, even if it’s just an illusion, because you shouldn’t worry other people over personal matters. Who would she even talk to anyway? She believes that being positive around others is important and will almost always put others’ feelings, and happiness, above her own.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Tuyen is gay, though this is something she’s only recently accepted about herself. She spent a long time in denial, telling herself her lack of attraction to men was because she wasn’t good enough. She’s finally admitted to herself that she’s gay, but she’s not open about it. She doesn’t have time for romance right now anyway.
FEARS ⫻ Tuyen still fears failure, but in a different way to before. She’s free from the judgement of her family and instead fears that she will never get anywhere in life. She still feels just as worthless if she always did before. What if she is never truly able to be herself, or never discovers what she wants to do with her life? There’s always a fear in the back of her mind that she’ll never escape her insecurities, and the shadow that haunts her along with them. She wants it gone but fears it never will be. After the fight with the glutton she fears what might be next, what other supernatural threats there are out there especially as more people begin to obtain abstractions.
REPUTATION ⫻ None, Tuyen’s a newcomer to Araminta.
FLAWS ⫻ As much as she’s improved a bit, Tuyen’s lack of self confidence is still one of her biggest flaws. She’s no longer the girl to take all criticism without questioning it and she doesn’t hate herself as much as she did before. However she is still plagued with self doubts and her insecurities. She may have come to accept some things she previously couldn’t, such as her sexuality, there are still many things about herself she dislikes. This is not helped by the presence of her Shadow - which may not torment her in such a dramatic fashion anymore, but is still always bringing up deep feelings of dread in an effort to stop her from ever truly accepting herself. Still, she’s taking steps forward in accepting herself even with the massive setback that it is. Along with this she is very private about her problems, unlikely to tell anyone when she has a hard time. She likes to put on a brave face until she can’t anymore. There are times when she should prioritise herself or let it out, but she always refuses to do so. She also has some trust issues after everything that happened - there are very few people she’d trust (most fellow survivors of the glutton group), and even fewer that she’d talk to about her problems. This is added to by her not always trusting that something is real, having gotten too used to seeing illusions created by the shadow in her everyday life.
Backstory
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"I won’t let my family control me anymore."
Tuyen was an accident. Her mother was a farmer hill native, with parents who moved over from South Korea to set up a business. Her father, on the other hand, was a postgraduate student who had moved over from Vietnam to study. The two hit it off and hooked up after a little too much to drink, resulting in Tuyen. It was safe to say her mother’s parents weren’t too happy about the child out of wedlock.
Things didn’t get much better after her birth – her mother had always been poorly and the pregnancy took its toll on her, meaning she passed away when Tuyen was only a few months old. Her father did everything to try and raise her himself – including submitting to the whims of her mother’s family. Tuyen doesn’t have many memories of this time, but what she has are happy ones.
Tuyen was only four when her father disappeared without a trace. His name was added to the list of people in Farmer Hill who had just gone missing and everyone went on without saying anything. Tuyen was taken in by her mother’s brother and his wife, since they had a son just a bit older than her.
After this her life wasn’t anything spectacular. She got on very well with her cousin, Min-Jun, even as they became very different as the years proceeded. She was always in his shadow – she couldn’t live up to her aunt and uncle’s expectations. She couldn’t be as smart as Min or as perfect as Min. She pretended she didn’t care, especially to him, but deep down it slowly chipped away at her self confidence. It didn’t help that they disapproved of what she was good at.
Still, Tuyen pursued her dreams and managed to get a place to study English Literature and Creative Writing at the college. Here she’s managed to get out of her cousin’s shadow just a little bit, easily making friends in different circles from him.
After murders that happened during a camping trip Tuyen was haunted by her shadow and constant hallucinations. Still, she joined a group of fellow students in investigating – discovering that this was some kind abstraction she had. During the fight with Scott her shadow manifested physically – allowing her to help finish him for good. But like all the others she wasn’t prepared for what was to follow and barely made it out alive.
Things continued to go more and more downhill as they tried their best to defeat the Glutton. Eventually through working together, though not without losses, they managed to defeat it. Through ascending Tuyen got to speak with her father again and gained some semblance of confidence in herself, accepting parts of who she was. After it was defeated Tuyen made the decision to strike off on her own, refusing to move with her Aunt and Uncle. She ended up offering to help Justin with his next “adventure”, and surprisingly he accepted, so she set off with him to Araminta.
Things didn’t get much better after her birth – her mother had always been poorly and the pregnancy took its toll on her, meaning she passed away when Tuyen was only a few months old. Her father did everything to try and raise her himself – including submitting to the whims of her mother’s family. Tuyen doesn’t have many memories of this time, but what she has are happy ones.
Tuyen was only four when her father disappeared without a trace. His name was added to the list of people in Farmer Hill who had just gone missing and everyone went on without saying anything. Tuyen was taken in by her mother’s brother and his wife, since they had a son just a bit older than her.
After this her life wasn’t anything spectacular. She got on very well with her cousin, Min-Jun, even as they became very different as the years proceeded. She was always in his shadow – she couldn’t live up to her aunt and uncle’s expectations. She couldn’t be as smart as Min or as perfect as Min. She pretended she didn’t care, especially to him, but deep down it slowly chipped away at her self confidence. It didn’t help that they disapproved of what she was good at.
Still, Tuyen pursued her dreams and managed to get a place to study English Literature and Creative Writing at the college. Here she’s managed to get out of her cousin’s shadow just a little bit, easily making friends in different circles from him.
After murders that happened during a camping trip Tuyen was haunted by her shadow and constant hallucinations. Still, she joined a group of fellow students in investigating – discovering that this was some kind abstraction she had. During the fight with Scott her shadow manifested physically – allowing her to help finish him for good. But like all the others she wasn’t prepared for what was to follow and barely made it out alive.
Things continued to go more and more downhill as they tried their best to defeat the Glutton. Eventually through working together, though not without losses, they managed to defeat it. Through ascending Tuyen got to speak with her father again and gained some semblance of confidence in herself, accepting parts of who she was. After it was defeated Tuyen made the decision to strike off on her own, refusing to move with her Aunt and Uncle. She ended up offering to help Justin with his next “adventure”, and surprisingly he accepted, so she set off with him to Araminta.
Abstraction
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"Your shadow doesn’t have its own free will? Well, that must be nice..."
TYPE ⫻ Awakened
ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Shadow, the ability to create a shadow-like entity spawned from negative thoughts and emotions that otherwise tortures her.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Linked directly to her negativity, and other such dark thoughts, Tuyen has her own doppelganger that takes the shape of a shadow. This Shadow is a sentient being that near constantly taunts her, and tortures her with the deep down feelings of dread and insecurity that she has inside of herself. It has two states; inactive and active. In its inactive state, nobody but Tuyen is able to see it (Not even the Awakened can see it without certain abilities), and it actively protects her from psychic intrusion by filling the intruder's mind with screams. It can cloud Tuyen's vision by creating illusions, and fooling her into believing things that are not there, or hiding things. With enough focus, Tuyen is able to ward off the Shadow for a period of time, and get some peace - but it'll always return.
While active on the other hand... it manifests in the physical world. It's default appearance is of a black, inky, version of herself, but one of the basest abilities of the shadow is the ability to manipulate its own shape with the only limit being that it cannot get larger than twelve feet. It can either keep its form as a shadow of Tuyen, or it can become some horrific monster, whatever is spawned from her imagination. The Shadow is capable of interacting with reality, from reaching over and grabbing objects, to attacking. It's fairly strong, too - it's strong enough to throw a fully grown man around like it's nothing, and flip over a car with sheer brute strength. The Shadow will either manifest on it's own, or if Tuyen is able to plead with it. Normally, the being is only interested with tormenting Tuyen, and will do as it pleases, but if she is able to convince it, maybe it'll assist her. It has some semblance of self preservation and will protect her if necessary.
LIMITS ⫻ Tuyen's shadow, first and foremost, cannot move away from her. It's effectively clung to her body, and is as mobile as she is. This also means that she's effectively it's weak spot. Again, as stated in the description it can get up to ten feet tall, strong enough to pose a threat, and is able to near-limitlessly change its shape. Tuyen cannot control the Shadow - unless she learns to get over her insecurities, and her fear of failure. Otherwise, it'll do as it pleases.
At the moment, Tuyen’s control over the Shadow wildly varies due to steps taken to accept herself. On good days where she feels confident about herself she can dispel and ignore its tormenting, allowing her to control it mostly. On average days she can sometimes control it or convince it to help and on the bad days, well, it won’t listen at all - and instead the tormenting is worse. It is more focused on its tormenting now due to Tuyen’s work to get over her insecurities. Along with this it now will often allow Tuyen to think that she can control it due to her self improvements… only to take the control away.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ As stated before, the shadow is her own worst enemy, and only wishes to torture Tuyen. It's as much of a detriment (possibly even more) as a strength, and will do anything in its power to keep her from knowing her worth. Tuyen will have to conquer her inner-doubts in order to defeat it, and control it. The two of them are linked together, and both receive the same damage. If the Shadow gets injured, the same wound will appear on Tuyen (Wherever the location of it's anatomical equivalent is). It's possible for the Shadow to receive damage that'll kill Tuyen, or be disabled. Also, the Shadow merely manifesting is a drain on Tuyen, and will cause her to feel more and more exhausted the longer it's out. Until she can't take it anymore, and the Shadow will go inactive.
ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Shadow, the ability to create a shadow-like entity spawned from negative thoughts and emotions that otherwise tortures her.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Linked directly to her negativity, and other such dark thoughts, Tuyen has her own doppelganger that takes the shape of a shadow. This Shadow is a sentient being that near constantly taunts her, and tortures her with the deep down feelings of dread and insecurity that she has inside of herself. It has two states; inactive and active. In its inactive state, nobody but Tuyen is able to see it (Not even the Awakened can see it without certain abilities), and it actively protects her from psychic intrusion by filling the intruder's mind with screams. It can cloud Tuyen's vision by creating illusions, and fooling her into believing things that are not there, or hiding things. With enough focus, Tuyen is able to ward off the Shadow for a period of time, and get some peace - but it'll always return.
While active on the other hand... it manifests in the physical world. It's default appearance is of a black, inky, version of herself, but one of the basest abilities of the shadow is the ability to manipulate its own shape with the only limit being that it cannot get larger than twelve feet. It can either keep its form as a shadow of Tuyen, or it can become some horrific monster, whatever is spawned from her imagination. The Shadow is capable of interacting with reality, from reaching over and grabbing objects, to attacking. It's fairly strong, too - it's strong enough to throw a fully grown man around like it's nothing, and flip over a car with sheer brute strength. The Shadow will either manifest on it's own, or if Tuyen is able to plead with it. Normally, the being is only interested with tormenting Tuyen, and will do as it pleases, but if she is able to convince it, maybe it'll assist her. It has some semblance of self preservation and will protect her if necessary.
LIMITS ⫻ Tuyen's shadow, first and foremost, cannot move away from her. It's effectively clung to her body, and is as mobile as she is. This also means that she's effectively it's weak spot. Again, as stated in the description it can get up to ten feet tall, strong enough to pose a threat, and is able to near-limitlessly change its shape. Tuyen cannot control the Shadow - unless she learns to get over her insecurities, and her fear of failure. Otherwise, it'll do as it pleases.
At the moment, Tuyen’s control over the Shadow wildly varies due to steps taken to accept herself. On good days where she feels confident about herself she can dispel and ignore its tormenting, allowing her to control it mostly. On average days she can sometimes control it or convince it to help and on the bad days, well, it won’t listen at all - and instead the tormenting is worse. It is more focused on its tormenting now due to Tuyen’s work to get over her insecurities. Along with this it now will often allow Tuyen to think that she can control it due to her self improvements… only to take the control away.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ As stated before, the shadow is her own worst enemy, and only wishes to torture Tuyen. It's as much of a detriment (possibly even more) as a strength, and will do anything in its power to keep her from knowing her worth. Tuyen will have to conquer her inner-doubts in order to defeat it, and control it. The two of them are linked together, and both receive the same damage. If the Shadow gets injured, the same wound will appear on Tuyen (Wherever the location of it's anatomical equivalent is). It's possible for the Shadow to receive damage that'll kill Tuyen, or be disabled. Also, the Shadow merely manifesting is a drain on Tuyen, and will cause her to feel more and more exhausted the longer it's out. Until she can't take it anymore, and the Shadow will go inactive.
TYPE ⫻ Awakened
ABSTRACTION ⫻ Self-Healing, an abstraction that Tuyen got from Madeleine (born from her thoughts of coming back to life) - this repairs all her wounds and “resets” her to a certain point.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ An abstraction that reflected Madeline’s thoughts that she came back to life, which Tuyen has learned to use through her own thoughts that she escaped what she assumed was an inevitable death at the hands of the Glutton. It gives her the ability to heal at an accelerated rate and heals any injuries she gets, even as small as a paper cut, by engulfing them in a blue light until it is healed. The amount of time taken depends on how severe the wound is. Since it is not Tuyen’s abstraction, and she still doesn’t entirely understand it (refusing to look at the girl’s memories where possible), this subconscious healing takes longer than it did for Madeleine. A stab wound would take around twenty minutes to heal, while a broken leg would take hours. Very small wounds don’t take long to regenerate, up to at most a few minutes. Unless a wound will kill Tuyen she will probably be able to heal from it. The abstraction also heals attacks to the mind or emotions, but this is rarely a problem due to Tuyen’s own abstraction protecting her from mental attacks.
LIMITS ⫻ Obstruction is the biggest limit to her self-healing. If there was an object in the way, then Tuyen can’t heal it until the object is removed. Speed is also the other limit; there wasn’t a limit to how much Madeline could heal at a time, but only how quickly she could do it. This is extra limiting for Tuyen, since she heals at a slower rate. In addition, Tuyen can still be knocked out, suffocated, etc.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ Fire is a big weakness, as it also disrupted her healing ability. When in the presence of fire, her healing slows down - and if it's an injury caused by fire, she actively can’t heal it any faster than any other wound. The process of healing is also a painful one, that makes her feel twice the amount of pain as she heals.
ABSTRACTION ⫻ Self-Healing, an abstraction that Tuyen got from Madeleine (born from her thoughts of coming back to life) - this repairs all her wounds and “resets” her to a certain point.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ An abstraction that reflected Madeline’s thoughts that she came back to life, which Tuyen has learned to use through her own thoughts that she escaped what she assumed was an inevitable death at the hands of the Glutton. It gives her the ability to heal at an accelerated rate and heals any injuries she gets, even as small as a paper cut, by engulfing them in a blue light until it is healed. The amount of time taken depends on how severe the wound is. Since it is not Tuyen’s abstraction, and she still doesn’t entirely understand it (refusing to look at the girl’s memories where possible), this subconscious healing takes longer than it did for Madeleine. A stab wound would take around twenty minutes to heal, while a broken leg would take hours. Very small wounds don’t take long to regenerate, up to at most a few minutes. Unless a wound will kill Tuyen she will probably be able to heal from it. The abstraction also heals attacks to the mind or emotions, but this is rarely a problem due to Tuyen’s own abstraction protecting her from mental attacks.
LIMITS ⫻ Obstruction is the biggest limit to her self-healing. If there was an object in the way, then Tuyen can’t heal it until the object is removed. Speed is also the other limit; there wasn’t a limit to how much Madeline could heal at a time, but only how quickly she could do it. This is extra limiting for Tuyen, since she heals at a slower rate. In addition, Tuyen can still be knocked out, suffocated, etc.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ Fire is a big weakness, as it also disrupted her healing ability. When in the presence of fire, her healing slows down - and if it's an injury caused by fire, she actively can’t heal it any faster than any other wound. The process of healing is also a painful one, that makes her feel twice the amount of pain as she heals.
Other
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"I sure hope whatever we find isn’t as bad as the Glutton."
Sabrina.Vanburen | |
 "I’m sorry she had to see dad like that the day he died…" _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Oscar has always been friendly with Sabrina, at least when he’s around to actually talk to her. Their strange family relationship never bothered him and he easily accepted her transition where others didn’t. She’s still the same person who came to him for school help when they were younger, and who he’s never had a problem talking to. Oscar’s always felt comfortable talking to Sabrina on the rare occasions he wants to rant about his life - perhaps because she’s also from both sides of his family, perhaps because she’s the only sibling (now) who’ll really lend a listening ear. While somewhere deep down he can understand her caution when it comes to magic, he’s too deep in his own interest to properly consider it. |
Ezra.Vanburen | |
 "Will I end up as cynical as him if I do everything my mum wants me to?" _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Oscar respects Ezra. They share similarities in both being saddled with the responsibility of following their parent’s plans while sacrificing their own. He was around when Oscar was growing up, and Oscar always saw him as a role model - encouraged to do so by his mother. Even though this came from childhood naivety he’s never quite lost that respect. Now that he’s older he can understand Ezra’s resentment towards James, even if he doesn’t hold it for his own situation - perhaps because there aren’t a myriad of younger siblings to watch out for too? Ezra is one of the few people Oscar might actually listen to when it comes to decision making outside of his mother and if he had a problem he probably would go to him, but that doesn’t mean he’d actually change his plans based on any advice given. His intelligence is his own to do with it as he will. |
Georgie.Vanburen | |
 "I think she’s really grown since she went away. Maybe I should have done the same." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Because of their similarities when it comes to being passionate about their interests, Oscar quite likes Georgie. It’s a shame they’re into such different fields and have no common ground for conversation. Unlike most of the others Oscar isn’t bothered by Georgie’s newfound detachment since she went to England. Something like a bit of coldness isn’t going to bother him and he’s never been one to hold onto relationships anyway. He’s too swept up in his current obsession to pay attention to her current attitude towards him. But he is proud of his little sister with such strong goals she wants to move towards. |
Shane.Vanburen | |
 "How he is now doesn’t change anything between us." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Oscar was close to Shane growing up, always supporting each other with their very different strengths. They drifted apart when they both went their different ways - Oscar wasn’t exactly the best at keeping in contact with anyone while in college. He doesn’t know what happened to Shane since, and he doesn’t intend to pry. Instead he acts like nothing has changed and is just as friendly with Shane as he was before. If Shane wants to talk Oscar will be there, and if he’s brushed off he’ll just move on and continue with his day. |
Trisha.Vanburen | |
 "The only time I can turn off my brain is when she starts talking." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Oscar has always known that Trisha dislikes him for his natural intelligence, but he can’t bring himself to care. Why is it something he should concern himself with? He’s always been civil with her, and doesn’t understand her issue at all. No matter what shit Trisha shoots his way he just laughs it off. There’s more interesting things for him to do than give her any thought. |
Arabelle.Matthews | |
 "Well, this place did need a good clean…" _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Though close in age, Oscar barely interacted with Arabelle even when growing up. He wasn’t in the mansion enough to play with her when they were younger and she was always distant from them as she got older. Unlike his other siblings he grew up with a very much in the picture mother and was barely raised by Arabelle’s, so he doesn’t really have any fond memories there. He’s friendly whenever he talks to her. |
Tansy.Vanburen | |
 “If you just pretend to not hear half of what she says, she’s easy to get along with.” _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Oscar doesn’t really understand Tansy. He can understand why she places so much importance in the Vanburen name, yet in the same breath will suggest his mother is forcing him on a path he doesn’t want just for family. But doesn’t she want to do the same thing? Oscar is too smart to not see through it, which leaves him conflicted. However he’s too easy going to hold onto any grudges, letting Tansy’s slipups slide by and going along with her fake friendliness. Really she’s not the bad in Oscar’s mind, a few snide comments and constant messages that Oscar ignores aside. It helps that she supports his constant jumping between obsessions, however reluctantly. |
Blu.Moonblood | |
 “Perhaps he’ll regret letting me drag him into my family’s mess.” _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | When they first met, Oscar had no idea Blu had any connection with his father beyond being part of one of his various charity pet projects. Though looking back on it, his father’s insistence on him tutoring Blu when he had plenty of more interesting things to do should’ve given it away. Oscar likes Blu. He’s easy to be around and was easy to teach, and finding out after James’ death that Blu was a ward of his didn’t change much. He already has too many siblings to keep track of, what’s another one? At least this one isn’t looking to fight all the rest. |
Sabrina.Vanburen | |
"What a saint, always so friendly with everyone." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Trisha doesn’t have much to do with Sabrina. She dislikes her because of the support she got from James, and her closeness with their other siblings. It's obvious that Sabrina doesn’t like her and stays away from her, which Trisha is fine with. Sabrina tries much too hard to be good, Trisha thinks, and she doesn’t like that one bit. All she can say is that Sabrina will deserve it when she ultimately gets betrayed by one of the family she trusts so much. |
Ezra.Vanburen | |
"He should just drop the act and say the shit we all know he thinks." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Ezra was there when she was growing up, and that’s about the only positive thing Trisha can say about her oldest brother. It’s a step above her parents. He isn’t as bad as some of her siblings but she thinks he’s a coward. He would never speak bad of their father even with the clear animosity between them, and he still won’t! He’s almost forty, but is still cowering in front of their father and doing everything set out for him. Pathetic. |
Oscar.Vanburen | |
 "A fucking genius or whatever, handed everything on a golden platter cause he won the genetic lottery." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Trisha has a deep, irrational hatred of Oscar. It’s because he has what she could never have: natural intelligence and academic brilliance. Unlike her other siblings Trisha never went to Oscar for help with school work, instead stewing in jealousy as she worked her ass off to come close to his level. Of course she never did. She not only had to compete with her mother’s expectations but also an older brother who was brilliant at everything he did. So Trisha hates him, filled with jealousy and blame towards him as if she’d have his mind if he hadn’t been born. |
Georgie.Vanburen | |
"Hah, she thinks she’s everything, when she’s just an emotionless bitch no one likes anymore." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | If Trisha had to point out a sibling she resents the most, it would be Georgie. Being only a year apart they could have been good friends - if only they weren’t so different, and Trisha didn’t hate Georgie for probably being a result of the relationship that ruined her parent’s relationship. Growing up Trisha was downright horrible to Georgie and now she’s much quieter about her hatred, with silent glares and occasional mean words. Georgie’s new attitude only makes their relationship worse because if there’s one thing Trisha hates, it's being looked down on. If she sees an opportunity to hurt Georgie, she’ll take it. |
Shane.Vanburen | |
"He came back seeming real fucked up, but at least he keeps to himself now." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Trisha is neutral towards Shane, which is saying a lot when it comes to family members. He was in New York by the time her life went to shit and thus managed to avoid most of the resentment Trisha has towards her other siblings (outside of his annoying protectiveness when she was younger). They both avoid their family members as much as possible, and Trisha likes having at least one sibling she doesn’t have to worry will try to talk to her. Keeping out of each other’s way is a good way to keep their few interactions civil. |
Arabelle Matthews | |
"I don’t know why she’d want to come back to work here." _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | Trisha has never paid attention to Arabelle. Before Trisha was always locked up studying and now she’s avoiding every living being in the mansion. Arabelle clearly doesn’t want to get close to any of the Vanburen’s anyway, so they rarely cross paths. This suits Trisha just fine. |
Tansy.Vanburen | |
“Her life's so pitiful she spends all her time messing with mine. Fucking creepy, she better not show up to my college again.” _______________________________________________ ................................................................... | From a young age Trisha disliked Tansy, even if she was arguably the person who tried to be there the most for Trisha around that time. But Trisha already had a mother she wanted approval and attention from, she didn’t need a second rate stand in who thought she could control everyone in the family. But unlike the others, Trisha’s harshness didn’t push Tansy away. Instead it only made her more annoying. Trisha never feels more sick than when being showered in compliments by Tansy, or when her sister turns up at her dorm room door unannounced. There she can’t even resist whatever torture Tansy wants to put her through because she actually cared about her reputation in college. She even managed to get in with Trisha’s friends... Deep down she knows everything Tansy does is to get a reaction out of her, but she’s too angry at it to not rise to the bait. |
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