ImAMushie

Black Fall: The Ghosts of LA (Superhuman romp in a destroyed Los Angeles!)

---

Mason could hear his heart pound; his chest rose and fell mechanically. Keep the feather in the center, he thought to himself as he controlled his aspirations. A gunshot rang uncomfortably nearby; he flinched and tightened his fists until his nails bit. He shrunk further away from the nearest window when he heard voices outside. They were just a bit too far for Mason to make out what they were saying, but it was safe to assume they were members of the Boyz. He’d seen them before, which was to be expected given how many areas they’ve taken over, but he’d never had to deal with them personally. And now, the chances of such an encounter had never been higher, and he was alone.

It had been about 3 weeks since he was separated from his only friend and ally in L.A., a wide-eyed, good natured young professional named Leo - a former coworker and fellow Deltahuman. The two had stayed past work hours on the day of the Incident, and were the only ones left at the office when the first earthquake had begun. Mason often thought back to that day whenever he had a moment to breathe; when Leo was out on lookout and the only thing he could hear was the faint singing of birds in the distance, he closed his eyes.

Glass had shattered in the adjacent room and its chilling clangs sent Mason into a panic right before he was able to register the floor violently shaking beneath them. His body moved on its own; he grabbed Leo and dove under the nearest desk before a shelf was about to fall on them. He shielded his friend with his body as he held his breath. The shelf struck the table as its contents - books, hardware, and framed photos of his team - spilled out and smashed onto the ground, shortly followed by the computers that sat atop their desks just moments ago, all before his eyes. Leo had been shouting but he couldn’t hear him, his mind was completely overwhelmed as the world around them fell apart. His chest tightened. His vision had begun to blur.

It was only once his friend gave him a hard smack that he was able to regain his senses, and realize that he’d been suffocating him the entire time. Leo glared at him jokingly, and almost let out a laugh, but another intense tremor - worse than the last - erupted and his expression instantly dropped. Mason stared at the floor, examining its design as a distraction as he attempted to stabilize his heart rate and clear his head. He turned to Leo after he had calmed down a bit and upon seeing his fearful eyes, his thoughts finally began to focus. Leo was a year older than him, but he looked and acted like his junior, and often reminded him of his younger siblings.

Right. Whatever happened next, he had to protect him and ensure that they’d both survive. There was never another option.

Thankfully, their office’s building had a strong foundation, so they came out unharmed. The two had stuck together since the Incident. Leo wasn’t nearly as shrewd as Mason, but he was an optimist, and very earnest, which made him the perfect companion for Mason - and his sanity. Leo would often remind Mason about how his actions saved them both on the day of the Incident, in which he’d only be able to respond with a flustered chuckle. He appreciated the sentiments, but was never fully convinced. That moment he completely dissociated weighed in his mind; if something had happened within that frame of time, he wouldn’t have been able to act. Yeah, it was pretty dumb to think this way - harmful even. He knew that much, yet the feeling was still there.

The two had been forced to face many other dangers since then. On the outset, Mason was quick to adapt to the anarchic world but, in truth, he barely held himself together. He knew it. He knew that his ability to cope with his emotions was awful. He knew he could - and should - have gone to his only friend for support, and now he was gone. With only his thoughts left to accompany him for the past few weeks, he felt as if he was about to lose his mind, but of course, he couldn’t.

If he gave up and let himself get killed, it was good as abandoning his closest friend - who could still be out there - and of course, his siblings. They’ve lost enough, and he made a promise that he’d always be there if they needed him, even if he was far away. “Heh, only if I don’t get my dumb ass killed,” he had joked to alleviate the cloying sappiness of it, but now it just sounded like a self-inflicted death flag to him.

An intense barrage of gunfire in the distance sent him back to the present. The increase of activity may have been provoked by the people the Boyz had been attacking, but now was not the time to check - not if he didn’t want to risk getting shot by a stray shell. He listened to his pulse, and allowed it to take over his thoughts as he focused on his breathing; the feather floated gently in the center of his imaginary vision. His sister, Elisa, was the one who taught him that trick; he had promised to walk her down the aisle one day. His mind began to clear and soon, all that remained was “survive for them”.

Thankfully, the Boyz seem to be focused on whoever this area belongs to. He didn’t intend to wander into another gang/group’s territory, but it seemed that he may have to deal with them as well. Just then, the door behind him gently creaked open a sliver. His heart skipped a beat.

test cs + ic posts

me, squinting at the guests viewing this page:
jk have fun xD

test cs + ic posts

---

Mason could hear his heart pound; his chest rose and fell mechanically. Keep the feather in the center, he thought to himself as he controlled his aspirations. A gunshot rang uncomfortably nearby; he flinched and tightened his fists until his nails bit. He shrunk further away from the nearest window when he heard voices outside. They were just a bit too far for Mason to make out what they were saying, but it was safe to assume they were members of the Boyz. He’d seen them before, which was to be expected given how many areas they’ve taken over, but he’d never had to deal with them personally. And now, the chances of such an encounter had never been higher, and he was alone.

It had been about 3 weeks since he was separated from his only friend and ally in L.A., a wide-eyed, good natured young professional named Leo - a former coworker and fellow Deltahuman. The two had stayed past work hours on the day of the Incident, and were the only ones left at the office when the first earthquake had begun. Mason often thought back to that day whenever he had a moment to breathe; when Leo was out on lookout and the only thing he could hear was the faint singing of birds in the distance, he closed his eyes.

Glass had shattered in the adjacent room and its chilling clangs sent Mason into a panic right before he was able to register the floor violently shaking beneath them. His body moved on its own; he grabbed Leo and dove under the nearest desk before a shelf was about to fall on them. He shielded his friend with his body as he held his breath. The shelf struck the table as its contents - books, hardware, and framed photos of his team - spilled out and smashed onto the ground, shortly followed by the computers that sat atop their desks just moments ago, all before his eyes. Leo had been shouting but he couldn’t hear him, his mind was completely overwhelmed as the world around them fell apart. His chest tightened. His vision had begun to blur.

It was only once his friend gave him a hard smack that he was able to regain his senses, and realize that he’d been suffocating him the entire time. Leo glared at him jokingly, and almost let out a laugh, but another intense tremor - worse than the last - erupted and his expression instantly dropped. Mason stared at the floor, examining its design as a distraction as he attempted to stabilize his heart rate and clear his head. He turned to Leo after he had calmed down a bit and upon seeing his fearful eyes, his thoughts finally began to focus. Leo was a year older than him, but he looked and acted like his junior, and often reminded him of his younger siblings.

Right. Whatever happened next, he had to protect him and ensure that they’d both survive. There was never another option.

Thankfully, their office’s building had a strong foundation, so they came out unharmed. The two had stuck together since the Incident. Leo wasn’t nearly as shrewd as Mason, but he was an optimist, and very earnest, which made him the perfect companion for Mason - and his sanity. Leo would often remind Mason about how his actions saved them both on the day of the Incident, in which he’d only be able to respond with a flustered chuckle. He appreciated the sentiments, but was never fully convinced. That moment he completely dissociated weighed in his mind; if something had happened within that frame of time, he wouldn’t have been able to act. Yeah, it was pretty dumb to think this way - harmful even. He knew that much, yet the feeling was still there.

The two had been forced to face many other dangers since then. On the outset, Mason was quick to adapt to the anarchic world but, in truth, he barely held himself together. He knew it. He knew that his ability to cope with his emotions was awful. He knew he could - and should - have gone to his only friend for support, and now he was gone. With only his thoughts left to accompany him for the past few weeks, he felt as if he was about to lose his mind, but of course, he couldn’t.

If he gave up and let himself get killed, it was good as abandoning his closest friend - who could still be out there - and of course, his siblings. They’ve lost enough, and he made a promise that he’d always be there if they needed him, even if he was far away. “Heh, only if I don’t get my dumb ass killed,” he had joked to alleviate the cloying sappiness of it, but now it just sounded like a self-inflicted death flag to him.

An intense barrage of gunfire in the distance sent him back to the present. The increase of activity may have been provoked by the people the Boyz had been attacking, but now was not the time to check - not if he didn’t want to risk getting shot by a stray shell. He listened to his pulse, and allowed it to take over his thoughts as he focused on his breathing; the feather floated gently in the center of his imaginary vision. His sister, Elisa, was the one who taught him that trick; he had promised to walk her down the aisle one day. His mind began to clear and soon, all that remained was “survive for them”.

Thankfully, the Boyz seem to be focused on whoever this area belongs to. He didn’t intend to wander into another gang/group’s territory, but it seemed that he may have to deal with them as well. Just then, the door behind him gently creaked open a sliver. His heart skipped a beat.

Black Fall: The Ghosts of LA (Superhuman romp in a destroyed Los Angeles!)

Mason Rivera

---

⫸ B A S I C I N F O R M A T I O N ⫷

"Eheh."

▼ | BIRTH NAME : |

Mason Rivera

▼ | ALSO KNOWN AS: |

Mace (nickname by co-worker)

▼ | GENDER : |

Male

▼ | AGE : |

24

⫸ A P P E A R A N C E ⫷

"Hrmm...I've been wantin' to get a tat done by this guy, but he lives on the other side of the country."

▼ | P H Y S I C A L S T A T S : |

▸ HEIGHT : | 6’ 2”
▸ WEIGHT : | 188 lbs
▸ ETHNICITY : | Half Filipino, half european mix
▸ HAIR COLOR : | Dark brown (natural, shows in the roots), beach blonde (dyed, slightly faded)
▸ EYE COLOR : | Light brown (natural), wears greyish green contacts

▼ | PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION : |

Mason exhibits an aura of stillness and calm; he walks with his shoulders relaxed, arms hung out of the pockets of his loose, comfy jacket, and a serene, almost sleepy expression worn on his face. He’s fairly tall at 6’ 2”, with a half-decent build (somewhat fit with a bit of a gut because of his desk job), and is covered in piercings and tattoos that he makes no effort to hide. In spite of that, his presence in a room is barely above that of furniture, and he’s happy to keep it that way.

He has naturally tanned skin - owing to his half filipino background. His face is semi-sharp in frame, completed with an unremarkable nose and mouth, eyebrows thick and dense, and a strong jawline lightly peppered with a bit of facial hair. Dark circles permanently sit below slightly thin, upward slanted eyes thanks to a harsh combination of working late nights and insomnia. His hair is styled in an undercut and unkempt textured top with a bit at the front having grown long enough to brush just above his non-prescription black rimmed glasses. Behind his left ear is a scar that runs down his neck from a surgical operation due to a skin defect at birth.

Apart from basic hygiene, he’s not one to care too much about his appearance on a day-to-day basis, though it’s mainly because it’s too much extra work for him to be bothered with rather than a lack of interest. Coloured contacts are the one exception for him. He enjoys sporting a pair of glasses or sunglasses for their look, so he’s willing to put in a bit of effort for that by regularly wearing contacts.

▼ | ATTIRE : |

Mason prioritizes comfort and convenience above all else, but he makes an effort to look decently presentable, if not a bit too casual. His workplace being a tech startup, this isn’t a problem.

His typical outfit consists of a slightly loose t-shirt or sleeveless, a light puffy jacket (air conditioning at work is unreasonably strong), cargo pants, and a pair of sneakers, each of which he has about 2-3 of at home that he cycles between.

⫸ P S Y C H O L O G Y ⫷

"..."

▼ | PERSONALITY TRAITS : |

On the outset, Mason has a bit of a ghostly disposition that he likes to embellish for fun; calm, secretive, and has a tendency to walk in and out of people’s presence without them noticing. In spite of that, he’s quite friendly; his relaxed and patient temperament make him easy to talk to, given that his enigmatic nature doesn’t scare you off. However, while he is amicable, he’s not exactly a smooth talker. He can only speak in an articulate manner when he’s making a conscious effort to do so. When he lets loose a bit , he’s much more emotive and bumbling - almost childlike - and is easily flustered.

His secretive behaviour is rarely intended to be malicious or deceptive however. Apart from the comfort in having his motives under wraps, he’s thoroughly uncomfortable with other people - even those he’s closest to - knowing about his internal problems. In contrast to how he presents himself to others, he is far more prone to negative emotions than he lets on, but chooses to suppress and bottle them up. He’s well aware of his problems but will at most, use them to joke about himself.

Mason has a strange but close affinity for unnecessary complexity; he loves fiction with layers of symbolism, and much of the tattoos on his body reflects that. He sees this affinity as a representation of himself as well, best illustrated in his tendency to overthink his actions in even the simplest of social interactions. Mason is deeply perceptive of other people’s behaviour, but he can’t apply his observations without a plan; forced improvisation will cause him to overwhelm himself with his own thoughts.

On the upside, when he does have to put this to strategic use and has the preparation time to do so, he can be very effective at subtly getting others to do what he wants. Unfortunately, this natural inclination for manipulation bleeds into his behaviour with people he’s close to as well, the guilt of which weighs heavily on him.

▼ | SKILLS : |

Programming: He taught himself programming at the age of 15 as a hobby, continued his education of it through a Computer Science program in college, and currently has had a total of 3 years of professional experience as a developer (please ask to see his resume). He specializes in backend and his favorite programming language is Python.

Housework & Cooking: He’s had to manage the household and take care of his siblings since he was a child so it comes naturally to him.

▼ | BACK STORY : |

Mason was born in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of 6: mother, father, a younger sister, and two younger brothers. Both his parents had 9-5s, so he and his siblings were latchkey kids since they started school. On an average weekday, his parents would leave before their children woke up. Mason would get up before the others to make breakfast and help get his siblings ready to head out. Their neighborhood wasn’t particularly dangerous and their school was only a few blocks away, but as a small child walking to school with no one but several smaller children he was responsible for, he couldn’t help but be scared and anxious. By 7, his parents would be back home with takeout for dinner, though it was sometimes only their mother.

Their mom, who worked as a waitress at a local diner, felt guilty about having to leave her children alone for so many hours of the day, and did her best to spend every hour of her freetime with them. Unfortunately, this gradually takes a toll on her health - not helped by her history of heart problems, but she refused to tell her children in her efforts to not worry them. Their father was cold and emotionally distant from what Mason could remember, but loved his wife. When their mom grew too sick to work, their father started to resent the children, but kept it internal.

Mason slowly learned to read his parents from their faces and body language; he was still a child so his observations weren’t very concrete, but the way they acted made him extremely uneasy. He had his own share of issues (stress and anxiety from school and having to take care of his siblings), but he refused to overburden his mom, he wasn’t close to his father, and he couldn’t relate to his peers at school. Everyone was tired and depressed, but nobody said a word, and that was how they lived for years, until their mom died.

Ever since then, their father would start coming home later, then, for days, and sometimes, weeks at a time. They had to move into a smaller apartment. Mason assumed the role of the guardian in the family, managing the household, helping out his siblings, and working part-time to help pay for living expenses. Fortunately, as they grew older his siblings were empathetic to the responsibility he had and a lot of work was taken off his shoulders. His father was incredibly neglectful, but at the very least, he kept paying the rent until the youngest child turned 18.

Mason had his first serious relationship in his first year as a Computer Science student at community college, but it wasn’t a healthy one. His partner had a worse life at home than he had, which he let be the excuse for her toxic behaviour as he allowed himself to be gaslighted and emotionally abused. Thankfully, he broke up with her after a year with support from his newly made friends in college.

After graduation, he realized that his experiences in his hometown had made the place seem bleak and depressing, so he decided to apply for a full-time job in other states and countries. One of his old bosses was acquainted with the owner of a startup in Los Angeles, who was hiring a backend developer; they got in touch the next day. Pay was suboptimal, but the two got along well, and he was more than willing to accept a low but manageable salary if he liked the people and environment.

Mason never knew of the existence of his Delta power until a few months after his move to LA. The Delta-Point energy in his body slowly built up over time, helped in part by the amount of stress he endured since childhood. One of his co-workers was a Type-Blue Deltahuman with moderate telekinetic abilities. He kept it a secret from those he wasn’t close with so nobody at work knew about it at first. One night, when him and Mason were walking to a bar, a drunk driver was about to run his car into them, but his co-worker stopped it with his Delta power, a feat he was previously far from capable of. He divulged his secret to Mason that night and after a bit of experimenting, realized that Mason’s presence doubled the weight limit his telekinetic ability would’ve allowed otherwise. The panic during the moment the car was about to hit them had activated Mason’s Manifestation Event.

Turns out, their boss witnessed them in action; in fact, he was a Deltahuman too - a Type-Red low-level pyrokinetic. Mason explored and developed his control over his abilities with the two during his years working at the startup. He often wondered how and when he was exposed to Delta-Point energy. Neither of his parents were Deltahumans as far as he knew; it could have been kept a secret from them but he couldn’t identify a reason why they would do that. Perhaps one of his parents weren’t biologically related to them, though he didn’t care enough to clarify that theory*.

*This isn’t relevant to his arc (because he never finds out the truth nor does he care to), but to clarify, his biological father is a Deltahuman and he’s not the same one he grew up with. He was also a Type-Green Deltahuman whose energy was left in the house Mason was born in, allowing him to be further exposed at a young age even when he wasn’t around.

▼ | PERSONAL ARC : |

Mason doesn’t have any external goals for now; his siblings live on the other side of the world, so the most he can do at the moment is try to contact them.

His main arc will be primarily an internal battle, where his facade of unending patience and calm is repeatedly challenged and worn thin over time, and his emotional suppression and passive hero complex grow more and more self-destructive. This could end tragically for him if he doesn’t have the willpower to pick himself back up at his lowest moment, but it’ll depend on how the story goes.

⫸ P O W E R I N F O R M A T I O N ⫷

"Heh."

▼ | POWER CLASSIFICATION : |

Type-Green

▼ | POWER DESCRIPTION : |

Power Buffing
Mason’s power is being able to temporarily loan others some of his Delta-Point energy, in order to boost their own Delta power. What this does to different Deltahumans changes from person to person as it depends on how a boost in energy will affect their abilities.

In order to exert his buff on someone he has to be able to see them. His irises will emit a subtle lime-green light when it’s in effect, only really visible in the dark so it’s generally easy to hide (especially with sunglasses). The glow does grow brighter the stronger the buff is however, and if he is straining himself, veins on his body will bulge through the skin and emit the same light. Once he loses eye contact with the person for 10 seconds, their borrowed energy will return back to him. This makes it much harder to buff multiple Deltahumans with this particular function.

The target of his energy loan isn’t limited to Deltahumans; he is also able to infuse objects with them, but instead of eye contact, he simply has to touch and hold onto the object (he refers to this as charging the object). When an object is charged, it acts as an extension of Mason himself. When held by another Deltahuman, the buff will activate like an external battery. Its strength and duration of buff is fixed depending on how Mason charged it and the amount of energy will only decrease when in contact with a Deltahuman (it runs out much slower if the Deltahuman isn’t using their powers). This ability consumes much more time than regular buffing, but it covers the limitations of eye contact. He keeps this a secret from others until the situation calls for it.

A currently unknown function of his power is the ability to transfer some of his energy to another Deltahuman and give them a permanent boost in power. He’ll discover this ability during the story.

▼ | LIMITS : |

How his power works pertaining to Delta-Point energy is as such:

His energy is divided into 2 parts: energy to loan for the buff (strength energy), and energy used up during the buff (duration energy).

E.g. If he loans 80% of his Delta-Point energy (strength energy) to someone, this will nearly double their abilities. However, the rest of his energy (duration energy) is used to keep this effect going, and with 20% left, he’d only be able to hold the buff for about 30 seconds before he risks ashing. The difference in strength of buff + duration given the amount of input is closer to exponential.

Short, heavy buff: 80:20 => about 2x power, 30 sec duration max
Average buff: 50:50 => about 1.5x power, 10 min duration max
Long, light buff: 20:80 => about 1.125x power, 1 h duration max

If these buffs are used beyond his time limit, he’ll risk ashing, in addition to a few other side effects (see weaknesses below).

This isn’t mathematically calculated because I want there to be a degree of flexibility and quantifying it to such an extent may not be fun. I’ll let the writer decide what each buff means for your character’s powers given the approximation above.

His buff will have no effect on permanent transformations, but the Deltahuman will still gain a boost in the amount of energy they have stored.

▼ | WEAKNESSES : |

Mason needs a moderate level of concentration to be able to buff someone. If he’s aggressively interrupted (e.g. being attacked), he will likely experience a side effect called "leakage" in which his Delta-Point energy will overreact and start slowly seeping out of his body. This will not only reduce the maximum strength and duration of his buffs, but blur his vision, rendering his power much less effective overall. Continued use of his power in this state will also worsen it. This state will gradually lessen and go away within 3-6 hours, depending on how much he worsens it, and his Delta-Point energy will then return to his body.

Leakage can also occur if he overexerts himself, but it’s less likely. Apart from ashing, what’s more likely to happen if he uses over 97% of the energy in his body is that he may not be able to take back all the energy he loaned. A unique characteristic of his Delta-Point energy is the ability to adapt to other Deltahumans while retaining its connection with him. However, this characteristic will weaken exponentially when he has less than 3% of the energy left in his body, causing a small amount of it to be stolen by the Deltahuman being buffed. Naturally, he keeps this a secret.

⫸ O T H E R ⫷

"Ehehe- Guess I'm easier to read than I thought."

Black Fall: The Ghosts of LA (Superhuman romp in a destroyed Los Angeles!)

sorry for taking so long ;o;

Mason Rivera

---

⫸ B A S I C I N F O R M A T I O N ⫷

"Eheh."

▼ | BIRTH NAME : |

Mason Rivera

▼ | ALSO KNOWN AS: |

Mace (nickname by co-worker)

▼ | GENDER : |

Male

▼ | AGE : |

24

⫸ A P P E A R A N C E ⫷

"Hrmm...I've been wantin' to get a tat done by this guy, but he lives on the other side of the country."

▼ | P H Y S I C A L S T A T S : |

▸ HEIGHT : | 6’ 2”
▸ WEIGHT : | 188 lbs
▸ ETHNICITY : | Half Filipino, half european mix
▸ HAIR COLOR : | Dark brown (natural, shows in the roots), beach blonde (dyed, slightly faded)
▸ EYE COLOR : | Light brown (natural), wears greyish green contacts

▼ | PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION : |

Mason exhibits an aura of stillness and calm; he walks with his shoulders relaxed, arms hung out of the pockets of his loose, comfy jacket, and a serene, almost sleepy expression worn on his face. He’s fairly tall at 6’ 2”, with a half-decent build (somewhat fit with a bit of a gut because of his desk job), and is covered in piercings and tattoos that he makes no effort to hide. In spite of that, his presence in a room is barely above that of furniture, and he’s happy to keep it that way.

He has naturally tanned skin - owing to his half filipino background. His face is semi-sharp in frame, completed with an unremarkable nose and mouth, eyebrows thick and dense, and a strong jawline lightly peppered with a bit of facial hair. Dark circles permanently sit below slightly thin, upward slanted eyes thanks to a harsh combination of working late nights and insomnia. His hair is styled in an undercut and unkempt textured top with a bit at the front having grown long enough to brush just above his non-prescription black rimmed glasses. Behind his left ear is a scar that runs down his neck from a surgical operation due to a skin defect at birth.

Apart from basic hygiene, he’s not one to care too much about his appearance on a day-to-day basis, though it’s mainly because it’s too much extra work for him to be bothered with rather than a lack of interest. Coloured contacts are the one exception for him. He enjoys sporting a pair of glasses or sunglasses for their look, so he’s willing to put in a bit of effort for that by regularly wearing contacts.

▼ | ATTIRE : |

Mason prioritizes comfort and convenience above all else, but he makes an effort to look decently presentable, if not a bit too casual. His workplace being a tech startup, this isn’t a problem.

His typical outfit consists of a slightly loose t-shirt or sleeveless, a light puffy jacket (air conditioning at work is unreasonably strong), cargo pants, and a pair of sneakers, each of which he has about 2-3 of at home that he cycles between.

⫸ P S Y C H O L O G Y ⫷

"..."

▼ | PERSONALITY TRAITS : |

On the outset, Mason has a bit of a ghostly disposition that he likes to embellish for fun; calm, secretive, and has a tendency to walk in and out of people’s presence without them noticing. In spite of that, he’s quite friendly; his relaxed and patient temperament make him easy to talk to, given that his enigmatic nature doesn’t scare you off. However, while he is amicable, he’s not exactly a smooth talker. He can only speak in an articulate manner when he’s making a conscious effort to do so. When he lets loose a bit , he’s much more emotive and bumbling - almost childlike - and is easily flustered.

His secretive behaviour is rarely intended to be malicious or deceptive however. Apart from the comfort in having his motives under wraps, he’s thoroughly uncomfortable with other people - even those he’s closest to - knowing about his internal problems. In contrast to how he presents himself to others, he is far more prone to negative emotions than he lets on, but chooses to suppress and bottle them up. He’s well aware of his problems but will at most, use them to joke about himself.

Mason has a strange but close affinity for unnecessary complexity; he loves fiction with layers of symbolism, and much of the tattoos on his body reflects that. He sees this affinity as a representation of himself as well, best illustrated in his tendency to overthink his actions in even the simplest of social interactions. Mason is deeply perceptive of other people’s behaviour, but he can’t apply his observations without a plan; forced improvisation will cause him to overwhelm himself with his own thoughts.

On the upside, when he does have to put this to strategic use and has the preparation time to do so, he can be very effective at subtly getting others to do what he wants. Unfortunately, this natural inclination for manipulation bleeds into his behaviour with people he’s close to as well, the guilt of which weighs heavily on him.

▼ | SKILLS : |

Programming: He taught himself programming at the age of 15 as a hobby, continued his education of it through a Computer Science program in college, and currently has had a total of 3 years of professional experience as a developer (please ask to see his resume). He specializes in backend and his favorite programming language is Python.

Housework & Cooking: He’s had to manage the household and take care of his siblings since he was a child so it comes naturally to him.

▼ | BACK STORY : |

Mason was born in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of 6: mother, father, a younger sister, and two younger brothers. Both his parents had 9-5s, so he and his siblings were latchkey kids since they started school. On an average weekday, his parents would leave before their children woke up. Mason would get up before the others to make breakfast and help get his siblings ready to head out. Their neighborhood wasn’t particularly dangerous and their school was only a few blocks away, but as a small child walking to school with no one but several smaller children he was responsible for, he couldn’t help but be scared and anxious. By 7, his parents would be back home with takeout for dinner, though it was sometimes only their mother.

Their mom, who worked as a waitress at a local diner, felt guilty about having to leave her children alone for so many hours of the day, and did her best to spend every hour of her freetime with them. Unfortunately, this gradually takes a toll on her health - not helped by her history of heart problems, but she refused to tell her children in her efforts to not worry them. Their father was cold and emotionally distant from what Mason could remember, but loved his wife. When their mom grew too sick to work, their father started to resent the children, but kept it internal.

Mason slowly learned to read his parents from their faces and body language; he was still a child so his observations weren’t very concrete, but the way they acted made him extremely uneasy. He had his own share of issues (stress and anxiety from school and having to take care of his siblings), but he refused to overburden his mom, he wasn’t close to his father, and he couldn’t relate to his peers at school. Everyone was tired and depressed, but nobody said a word, and that was how they lived for years, until their mom died.

Ever since then, their father would start coming home later, then, for days, and sometimes, weeks at a time. They had to move into a smaller apartment. Mason assumed the role of the guardian in the family, managing the household, helping out his siblings, and working part-time to help pay for living expenses. Fortunately, as they grew older his siblings were empathetic to the responsibility he had and a lot of work was taken off his shoulders. His father was incredibly neglectful, but at the very least, he kept paying the rent until the youngest child turned 18.

Mason had his first serious relationship in his first year as a Computer Science student at community college, but it wasn’t a healthy one. His partner had a worse life at home than he had, which he let be the excuse for her toxic behaviour as he allowed himself to be gaslighted and emotionally abused. Thankfully, he broke up with her after a year with support from his newly made friends in college.

After graduation, he realized that his experiences in his hometown had made the place seem bleak and depressing, so he decided to apply for a full-time job in other states and countries. One of his old bosses was acquainted with the owner of a startup in Los Angeles, who was hiring a backend developer; they got in touch the next day. Pay was suboptimal, but the two got along well, and he was more than willing to accept a low but manageable salary if he liked the people and environment.

Mason never knew of the existence of his Delta power until a few months after his move to LA. The Delta-Point energy in his body slowly built up over time, helped in part by the amount of stress he endured since childhood. One of his co-workers was a Type-Blue Deltahuman with moderate telekinetic abilities. He kept it a secret from those he wasn’t close with so nobody at work knew about it at first. One night, when him and Mason were walking to a bar, a drunk driver was about to run his car into them, but his co-worker stopped it with his Delta power, a feat he was previously far from capable of. He divulged his secret to Mason that night and after a bit of experimenting, realized that Mason’s presence doubled the weight limit his telekinetic ability would’ve allowed otherwise. The panic during the moment the car was about to hit them had activated Mason’s Manifestation Event.

Turns out, their boss witnessed them in action; in fact, he was a Deltahuman too - a Type-Red low-level pyrokinetic. Mason explored and developed his control over his abilities with the two during his years working at the startup. He often wondered how and when he was exposed to Delta-Point energy. Neither of his parents were Deltahumans as far as he knew; it could have been kept a secret from them but he couldn’t identify a reason why they would do that. Perhaps one of his parents weren’t biologically related to them, though he didn’t care enough to clarify that theory*.

*This isn’t relevant to his arc (because he never finds out the truth nor does he care to), but to clarify, his biological father is a Deltahuman and he’s not the same one he grew up with. He was also a Type-Green Deltahuman whose energy was left in the house Mason was born in, allowing him to be further exposed at a young age even when he wasn’t around.

▼ | PERSONAL ARC : |

Mason doesn’t have any external goals for now; his siblings live on the other side of the world, so the most he can do at the moment is try to contact them.

His main arc will be primarily an internal battle, where his facade of unending patience and calm is repeatedly challenged and worn thin over time, and his emotional suppression and passive hero complex grow more and more self-destructive. This could end tragically for him if he doesn’t have the willpower to pick himself back up at his lowest moment, but it’ll depend on how the story goes.

⫸ P O W E R I N F O R M A T I O N ⫷

"Heh."

▼ | POWER CLASSIFICATION : |

Type-Green

▼ | POWER DESCRIPTION : |

Power Buffing
Mason’s power is being able to temporarily loan others some of his Delta-Point energy, in order to boost their own Delta power. What this does to different Deltahumans changes from person to person as it depends on how a boost in energy will affect their abilities.

In order to exert his buff on someone he has to be able to see them. His irises will emit a subtle lime-green light when it’s in effect, only really visible in the dark so it’s generally easy to hide (especially with sunglasses). The glow does grow brighter the stronger the buff is however, and if he is straining himself, veins on his body will bulge through the skin and emit the same light. Once he loses eye contact with the person for 10 seconds, their borrowed energy will return back to him. This makes it much harder to buff multiple Deltahumans with this particular function.

The target of his energy loan isn’t limited to Deltahumans; he is also able to infuse objects with them, but instead of eye contact, he simply has to touch and hold onto the object (he refers to this as charging the object). When an object is charged, it acts as an extension of Mason himself. When held by another Deltahuman, the buff will activate like an external battery. Its strength and duration of buff is fixed depending on how Mason charged it and the amount of energy will only decrease when in contact with a Deltahuman (it runs out much slower if the Deltahuman isn’t using their powers). This ability consumes much more time than regular buffing, but it covers the limitations of eye contact. He keeps this a secret from others until the situation calls for it.

A currently unknown function of his power is the ability to transfer some of his energy to another Deltahuman and give them a permanent boost in power. He’ll discover this ability during the story.

▼ | LIMITS : |

How his power works pertaining to Delta-Point energy is as such:

His energy is divided into 2 parts: energy to loan for the buff (strength energy), and energy used up during the buff (duration energy).

E.g. If he loans 80% of his Delta-Point energy (strength energy) to someone, this will nearly double their abilities. However, the rest of his energy (duration energy) is used to keep this effect going, and with 20% left, he’d only be able to hold the buff for about 30 seconds before he risks ashing. The difference in strength of buff + duration given the amount of input is closer to exponential.

Short, heavy buff: 80:20 => about 2x power, 30 sec duration max
Average buff: 50:50 => about 1.5x power, 10 min duration max
Long, light buff: 20:80 => about 1.125x power, 1 h duration max

If these buffs are used beyond his time limit, he’ll risk ashing, in addition to a few other side effects (see weaknesses below).

This isn’t mathematically calculated because I want there to be a degree of flexibility and quantifying it to such an extent may not be fun. I’ll let the writer decide what each buff means for your character’s powers given the approximation above.

His buff will have no effect on permanent transformations, but the Deltahuman will still gain a boost in the amount of energy they have stored.

▼ | WEAKNESSES : |

Mason needs a moderate level of concentration to be able to buff someone. If he’s aggressively interrupted (e.g. being attacked), he will likely experience a side effect called "leakage" in which his Delta-Point energy will overreact and start slowly seeping out of his body. This will not only reduce the maximum strength and duration of his buffs, but blur his vision, rendering his power much less effective overall. Continued use of his power in this state will also worsen it. This state will gradually lessen and go away within 3-6 hours, depending on how much he worsens it, and his Delta-Point energy will then return to his body.

Leakage can also occur if he overexerts himself, but it’s less likely. Apart from ashing, what’s more likely to happen if he uses over 97% of the energy in his body is that he may not be able to take back all the energy he loaned. A unique characteristic of his Delta-Point energy is the ability to adapt to other Deltahumans while retaining its connection with him. However, this characteristic will weaken exponentially when he has less than 3% of the energy left in his body, causing a small amount of it to be stolen by the Deltahuman being buffed. Naturally, he keeps this a secret.

⫸ O T H E R ⫷

"Ehehe- Guess I'm easier to read than I thought."

test cs + ic posts

Mason Rivera

---

Source: Me! C:

---

⫸ B A S I C I N F O R M A T I O N ⫷

"Eheh."

▼ | BIRTH NAME : |

Mason Rivera

▼ | ALSO KNOWN AS: |

Mace (nickname by co-worker)

▼ | GENDER : |

Male

▼ | AGE : |

24

⫸ A P P E A R A N C E ⫷

"Hrmm...I've been wantin' to get a tat done by this guy, but he lives on the other side of the country."

▼ | P H Y S I C A L S T A T S : |

▸ HEIGHT : | 6’ 2”
▸ WEIGHT : | 188 lbs
▸ ETHNICITY : | Half Filipino, half european mix
▸ HAIR COLOR : | Dark brown (natural, shows in the roots), beach blonde (dyed, slightly faded)
▸ EYE COLOR : | Light brown (natural), wears greyish green contacts

▼ | PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION : |

Mason exhibits an aura of stillness and calm; he walks with his shoulders relaxed, arms hung out of the pockets of his loose, comfy jacket, and a serene, almost sleepy expression worn on his face. He’s fairly tall at 6’ 2”, with a half-decent build (somewhat fit with a bit of a gut because of his desk job), and is covered in piercings and tattoos that he makes no effort to hide. In spite of that, his presence in a room is barely above that of furniture, and he’s happy to keep it that way.

He has naturally tanned skin - owing to his half filipino background. His face is semi-sharp in frame, completed with an unremarkable nose and mouth, eyebrows thick and dense, and a strong jawline lightly peppered with a bit of facial hair. Dark circles permanently sit below slightly thin, upward slanted eyes thanks to a harsh combination of working late nights and insomnia. His hair is styled in an undercut and unkempt textured top with a bit at the front having grown long enough to brush just above his non-prescription black rimmed glasses. Behind his left ear is a scar that runs down his neck from a surgical operation due to a skin defect at birth.

Apart from basic hygiene, he’s not one to care too much about his appearance on a day-to-day basis, though it’s mainly because it’s too much extra work for him to be bothered with rather than a lack of interest. Coloured contacts are the one exception for him. He enjoys sporting a pair of glasses or sunglasses for their look, so he’s willing to put in a bit of effort for that by regularly wearing contacts.

▼ | ATTIRE : |

Mason prioritizes comfort and convenience above all else, but he makes an effort to look decently presentable, if not a bit too casual. His workplace being a tech startup, this isn’t a problem.

His typical outfit consists of a slightly loose t-shirt or sleeveless, a light puffy jacket (air conditioning at work is unreasonably strong), cargo pants, and a pair of sneakers, each of which he has about 2-3 of at home that he cycles between.

⫸ P S Y C H O L O G Y ⫷

"..."

▼ | PERSONALITY TRAITS : |

On the outset, Mason has a bit of a ghostly disposition that he likes to embellish for fun; calm, secretive, and has a tendency to walk in and out of people’s presence without them noticing. In spite of that, he’s quite friendly; his relaxed and patient temperament make him easy to talk to, given that his enigmatic nature doesn’t scare you off. However, while he is amicable, he’s not exactly a smooth talker. He can only speak in an articulate manner when he’s making a conscious effort to do so. When he lets loose a bit , he’s much more emotive and bumbling - almost childlike - and is easily flustered.

His secretive behaviour is rarely intended to be malicious or deceptive however. Apart from the comfort in having his motives under wraps, he’s thoroughly uncomfortable with other people - even those he’s closest to - knowing about his internal problems. In contrast to how he presents himself to others, he is far more prone to negative emotions than he lets on, but chooses to suppress and bottle them up. He’s well aware of his problems but will at most, use them to joke about himself.

Mason has a strange but close affinity for unnecessary complexity; he loves fiction with layers of symbolism, and much of the tattoos on his body reflects that. He sees this affinity as a representation of himself as well, best illustrated in his tendency to overthink his actions in even the simplest of social interactions. Mason is deeply perceptive of other people’s behaviour, but he can’t apply his observations without a plan; forced improvisation will cause him to overwhelm himself with his own thoughts.

On the upside, when he does have to put this to strategic use and has the preparation time to do so, he can be very effective at subtly getting others to do what he wants. Unfortunately, this natural inclination for manipulation bleeds into his behaviour with people he’s close to as well, the guilt of which weighs heavily on him.

▼ | SKILLS : |

Programming: He taught himself programming at the age of 15 as a hobby, continued his education of it through a Computer Science program in college, and currently has had a total of 3 years of professional experience as a developer (please ask to see his resume). He specializes in backend and his favorite programming language is Python.

Housework & Cooking: He’s had to manage the household and take care of his siblings since he was a child so it comes naturally to him.

▼ | BACK STORY : |

Mason was born in Brooklyn, New York, in a family of 6: mother, father, a younger sister, and two younger brothers. Both his parents had 9-5s, so he and his siblings were latchkey kids since they started school. On an average weekday, his parents would leave before their children woke up. Mason would get up before the others to make breakfast and help get his siblings ready to head out. Their neighborhood wasn’t particularly dangerous and their school was only a few blocks away, but as a small child walking to school with no one but several smaller children he was responsible for, he couldn’t help but be scared and anxious. By 7, his parents would be back home with takeout for dinner, though it was sometimes only their mother.

Their mom, who worked as a waitress at a local diner, felt guilty about having to leave her children alone for so many hours of the day, and did her best to spend every hour of her freetime with them. Unfortunately, this gradually takes a toll on her health - not helped by her history of heart problems, but she refused to tell her children in her efforts to not worry them. Their father was cold and emotionally distant from what Mason could remember, but loved his wife. When their mom grew too sick to work, their father started to resent the children, but kept it internal.

Mason slowly learned to read his parents from their faces and body language; he was still a child so his observations weren’t very concrete, but the way they acted made him extremely uneasy. He had his own share of issues (stress and anxiety from school and having to take care of his siblings), but he refused to overburden his mom, he wasn’t close to his father, and he couldn’t relate to his peers at school. Everyone was tired and depressed, but nobody said a word, and that was how they lived for years, until their mom died.

Ever since then, their father would start coming home later, then, for days, and sometimes, weeks at a time. They had to move into a smaller apartment. Mason assumed the role of the guardian in the family, managing the household, helping out his siblings, and working part-time to help pay for living expenses. Fortunately, as they grew older his siblings were empathetic to the responsibility he had and a lot of work was taken off his shoulders. His father was incredibly neglectful, but at the very least, he kept paying the rent until the youngest child turned 18.

Mason had his first serious relationship in his first year as a Computer Science student at community college, but it wasn’t a healthy one. His partner had a worse life at home than he had, which he let be the excuse for her toxic behaviour as he allowed himself to be gaslighted and emotionally abused. Thankfully, he broke up with her after a year with support from his newly made friends in college.

After graduation, he realized that his experiences in his hometown had made the place seem bleak and depressing, so he decided to apply for a full-time job in other states and countries. One of his old bosses was acquainted with the owner of a startup in Los Angeles, who was hiring a backend developer; they got in touch the next day. Pay was suboptimal, but the two got along well, and he was more than willing to accept a low but manageable salary if he liked the people and environment.

Mason never knew of the existence of his Delta power until a few months after his move to LA. The Delta-Point energy in his body slowly built up over time, helped in part by the amount of stress he endured since childhood. One of his co-workers was a Type-Blue Deltahuman with moderate telekinetic abilities. He kept it a secret from those he wasn’t close with so nobody at work knew about it at first. One night, when him and Mason were walking to a bar, a drunk driver was about to run his car into them, but his co-worker stopped it with his Delta power, a feat he was previously far from capable of. He divulged his secret to Mason that night and after a bit of experimenting, realized that Mason’s presence doubled the weight limit his telekinetic ability would’ve allowed otherwise. The panic during the moment the car was about to hit them had activated Mason’s Manifestation Event.

Turns out, their boss witnessed them in action; in fact, he was a Deltahuman too - a Type-Red low-level pyrokinetic. Mason explored and developed his control over his abilities with the two during his years working at the startup. He often wondered how and when he was exposed to Delta-Point energy. Neither of his parents were Deltahumans as far as he knew; it could have been kept a secret from them but he couldn’t identify a reason why they would do that. Perhaps one of his parents weren’t biologically related to them, though he didn’t care enough to clarify that theory*.

*This isn’t relevant to his arc (because he never finds out the truth nor does he care to), but to clarify, his biological father is a Deltahuman and he’s not the same one he grew up with. He was also a Type-Green Deltahuman whose energy was left in the house Mason was born in, allowing him to be further exposed at a young age even when he wasn’t around.

▼ | PERSONAL ARC : |

Mason doesn’t have any external goals for now; his siblings live on the other side of the world, so the most he can do at the moment is try to contact them.

His main arc will be primarily an internal battle, where his facade of unending patience and calm is repeatedly challenged and worn thin over time, and his emotional suppression and passive hero complex grow more and more self-destructive. This could end tragically for him if he doesn’t have the willpower to pick himself back up at his lowest moment, but it’ll depend on how the story goes.

⫸ P O W E R I N F O R M A T I O N ⫷

"Heh."

▼ | POWER CLASSIFICATION : |

Type-Green

▼ | POWER DESCRIPTION : |

Power Buffing
Mason’s power is being able to temporarily loan others some of his Delta-Point energy, in order to boost their own Delta power. What this does to different Deltahumans changes from person to person as it depends on how a boost in energy will affect their abilities.

In order to exert his buff on someone he has to be able to see them. His irises will emit a subtle lime-green light when it’s in effect, only really visible in the dark so it’s generally easy to hide (especially with sunglasses). The glow does grow brighter the stronger the buff is however, and if he is straining himself, veins on his body will bulge through the skin and emit the same light. Once he loses eye contact with the person for 10 seconds, their borrowed energy will return back to him. This makes it much harder to buff multiple Deltahumans with this particular function.

The target of his energy loan isn’t limited to Deltahumans; he is also able to infuse objects with them, but instead of eye contact, he simply has to touch and hold onto the object (he refers to this as charging the object). When an object is charged, it acts as an extension of Mason himself. When held by another Deltahuman, the buff will activate like an external battery. Its strength and duration of buff is fixed depending on how Mason charged it and the amount of energy will only decrease when in contact with a Deltahuman (it runs out much slower if the Deltahuman isn’t using their powers). This ability consumes much more time than regular buffing, but it covers the limitations of eye contact. He keeps this a secret from others until the situation calls for it.

A currently unknown function of his power is the ability to transfer some of his energy to another Deltahuman and give them a permanent boost in power. He’ll discover this ability during the story.

▼ | LIMITS : |

How his power works pertaining to Delta-Point energy is as such:

His energy is divided into 2 parts: energy to loan for the buff (strength energy), and energy used up during the buff (duration energy).

E.g. If he loans 80% of his Delta-Point energy (strength energy) to someone, this will nearly double their abilities. However, the rest of his energy (duration energy) is used to keep this effect going, and with 20% left, he’d only be able to hold the buff for about 30 seconds before he risks ashing. The difference in strength of buff + duration given the amount of input is closer to exponential.

Short, heavy buff: 80:20 => about 2x power, 30 sec duration max
Average buff: 50:50 => about 1.5x power, 10 min duration max
Long, light buff: 20:80 => about 1.125x power, 1 h duration max

If these buffs are used beyond his time limit, he’ll risk ashing, in addition to a few other side effects (see weaknesses below).

This isn’t mathematically calculated because I want there to be a degree of flexibility and quantifying it to such an extent may not be fun. I’ll let the writer decide what each buff means for your character’s powers given the approximation above.

His buff will have no effect on permanent transformations, but the Deltahuman will still gain a boost in the amount of energy they have stored.

▼ | WEAKNESSES : |

Mason needs a moderate level of concentration to be able to buff someone. If he’s aggressively interrupted (e.g. being attacked), he will likely experience a side effect called "leakage" in which his Delta-Point energy will overreact and start slowly seeping out of his body. This will not only reduce the maximum strength and duration of his buffs, but blur his vision, rendering his power much less effective overall. Continued use of his power in this state will also worsen it. This state will gradually lessen and go away within 3-6 hours, depending on how much he worsens it, and his Delta-Point energy will then return to his body.

Leakage can also occur if he overexerts himself, but it’s less likely. Apart from ashing, what’s more likely to happen if he uses over 97% of the energy in his body is that he may not be able to take back all the energy he loaned. A unique characteristic of his Delta-Point energy is the ability to adapt to other Deltahumans while retaining its connection with him. However, this characteristic will weaken exponentially when he has less than 3% of the energy left in his body, causing a small amount of it to be stolen by the Deltahuman being buffed. Naturally, he keeps this a secret.

⫸ O T H E R ⫷

"Ehehe- Guess I'm easier to read than I thought."

Black Fall: The Ghosts of LA (Superhuman romp in a destroyed Los Angeles!)

Hello! This RP sounds really cool. Is this still open? I'd like to join!

Black Iris Society

N I C O M A N I A C I

---

The day had come. Nico quaked as he tightened his pinch on the invitation’s paper until it bore permanent creases. Finally, a chance to engage with the people of Black Iris had appeared before him; he questioned none of it. Why would he, if he could just let the hype consume him, ignite a flame in his heart as it beat out of control, and pump so much energy throughout his body that he would not be able to sit still? Though that’d be a bit of a problem, as he would probably fall to his death, given that he had been perched on the edge of a tall building’s rooftop. Or maybe he won’t - he was a vampire after all - but he wasn’t about to test that.

He gazed at the moon with fists held up and an exuberant and determined smile; a smile he would not have been able to force down even if he wanted to. Alright, it was time to go.

He somersaulted off onto a neighboring roof a few feet below him; one could say that was excessive but to him, it was the natural action to perform when anyone was as excited as he was. After a couple more downward hops and leaps, he made it swiftly to the ground. Nico normally preferred to be in high up places - it felt safer, and calmer; he’d be far away from everything, and everyone, but he could still see all of it - however, street signs were not made for roof hopper, and he had no clue what the establishment was supposed to look like either. Crowds often made him a bit stressed; he’d actually love to meet new people, though the members of the Society hadn’t been particularly welcoming. It doesn’t matter now. He hadn’t given up yet, not even remotely.

Upon that thought, he quickened his pace.

✦

There it was. Nico paused in front of the old hotel; a jolt of anxiety froze him in place. But, why? It wasn’t as if the building’s worn-down appearance had bothered him.

...Right. Humans would be in there too - he could even sense them. Even though he knew he had his fill of their blood earlier that day so his bloodlust was at its lowest, he didn’t trust himself; he couldn’t trust himself. Nico gritted his teeth, his hands curled into unsteady fists. What if he accidentally...

No, this way of thinking was useless at this point. He took a deep breath and stared up at the moon again with a quivery smile. It’ll work out, he was sure of it, and besides, he’d regret it all the way to his deathbed if he’d left now. And with that, he put on his aviators - it was basically a mask - secured his muzzle over his mouth, and opened the door without any more hesitation.

✦

Holy shit.

Perhaps he should’ve expected as much given the invitation was from The King himself, but even still, he doubted he would’ve been prepared anyway. There were...so many people, all packed into one room, and the plethora of noises, scents, and movements quickly overloaded his senses; he stood in front of the entrance agape. However, before he could process his environment much further - and become one with the furniture - the sound of the door’s creak behind him prompted him to move out of the way.

Sadly, the lost young man knew not where he was supposed to go after that, he just felt he had to keep moving. It hadn’t been too difficult for him to not slam himself into another guest so far, but he knew he shouldn’t prolong this for much longer.

In that moment, a scent grabbed his attention and held it so tightly, he couldn’t breathe.

...Blood.

It wasn’t a small amount either, so it couldn’t have been a shallow cut. No, if someone were to have been injured enough to produce so much blood, there would’ve been more of a disturbance. Where was it coming from? Another room in the building? No, it was definitely still in this very room, though not anywhere near him.

Where is it? Where is it?! Where...is…the...

...blood…

…

…!

Nico snapped back to reality with a harsh gasp. The intense urges that were about to consume him began to fade away bit by bit, and he let his shoulders relax as he took a few desperate breathes, like he had been drowning moments before. Once he was able to calm down enough to collect his thoughts, it dawned on him. This was the first time he was able to fully break out of his bloodlust mode; granted it hadn’t overtaken him yet, but he was still ecstatic about it anyway. Why this time, though...

It was then when he realized, he must’ve bumped into someone in the midst of his hysteria...and that someone was probably the man staring at him at that very moment - a very, very tall man with dark blue hair.

“Oh! Hey! Sorry, I think I just ran into you. My dumb ass wasn’t watching where I was going,” Nico blurted out without a second thought, his tone brisk and cheerful; he nonchalantly held out his hand and grinned, even though the stranger wouldn’t have been able to see it. “I’m Nico, by the way!”

Black Iris Society

Nico

Name

Nico Maniaci

Nickames

N/A

Age

21 when turned, has been a vampire for about a few years

Gender

Male

Sexuality

Bisexual

Relationship Status

Single

Species

Half-Blood Vampire

Appearance Details

Nico is a young man of a below average stature of 170 cm (5’ 7”), offset by his athletic physique - diligently built and maintained in his humans years. His vampiric transformation had altered his once mildly tan complexion into a ghoulish pale, never to feel the gentle warmth of the sun again without the intense pain of clusters of fleshy splotches that would sizzle and burn all over. The mutation had spared his red hair, which had become tattered and frayed from lack of care, though he insisted that he preferred this look. Unusually large eyes bulge from his youthful face - nigh a facial hair in sight nor will there ever be - with irises, vibrant blue and peculiarly small for his eyes, which gave his resting expression an uncanny mix of intensity and childlike wonder. Eeriness aside, he could be considered rather attractive if not a bit young looking for his age, if one could also ignore the signs of dry decay on half of his face.

He often dressed in torn clothes of varying sizes and origins beneath a worn, hooded cape, his exposed skin nested in bandages apart from the face, which is obscured by a muzzle over his mouth - a safety measure for his uncontrollable bloodlust - and a dark visor used to shield his eyes. When out on excursions, he brings with him a light, patchwork backpack he fashioned himself and an oil lamp tied to a long branch. As a member of the lowest class, even after he had been assimilated into the society, these were the only clothing and equipment he could get a hold of on his own; fortunately, he finds them “cool”.

In a safe, relaxed environment, he usually has his headgear removed to greet people with a cheerful grin, even though it would show his deformed pair of fangs - one long and sharp and the other short and cracked. When his bloodlust activates, veins swell on his temple, forehead, and eyes as his irises turn a feverish red, quaking and salivating in hunger as he bares his deformed teeth at his prey.

Personality Traits

Nico is amiable and relaxed by nature, happy to befriend almost any individual he meets, even if they appear particularly hostile or antisocial. However, he can come across as a bit too casual, often leaning towards informal diction on instinct and will liberally address others with nicknames if not told otherwise, though it is not out of disrespect but rather a genuine sense of comradery. This is emphasized by his kind, nonjudgmental character as well as his tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve without much thought.

As a result, he is also fairly easy to manipulate, which is not helped by the fact that he is very simple-minded, and is neither particularly wise nor clever. This is further impaired by his poor general ability to retain information and nonexistent affinity for studying. Fortunately, should he become interested enough in a subject, his learning skills become remarkably efficient. His main asset lies in his empathy, as he is very adept at reading other people’s emotions through their body language and facial expressions, particularly feelings of pain and anger, though he was never able to provide satisfactory reasoning behind his deductions as it’s mostly through intuition.

Nico is generally an open book, but a part of him he refuses to show is his resentment towards the caste system. He will, nevertheless, step in - or at least, will be tempted to - if he witnesses mistreatment in front of him. He’s normally difficult to genuinely anger otherwise, though when pushed to his limit, his bloodlust becomes far easier to activate. Unfortunately, the more bitterness he stores within him, the more prone to rage he is, hence why he is so enthusiastic about making friends, as any support and positive attention he receives is the sole reason why he has been able to stay relatively sane.

His lack of any self control over his lust for blood is a significant source of shame for him due to his inherent sense of altruism and the knowledge that he was once the same species as the ones he preys on and kills regularly. His past efforts to suppress his urges has only made him more unhinged and temperamental as a result until he has sufficiently fed. During his bloodlust mode, he becomes almost completely consumed by an overwhelming need for blood; he describes it as being trapped in his own mind and body, but he can still see and hear everything in a way that is like it was all far away from him.

Skills

+ Passive survival skills: capable of surviving in the wild on his own (likely semantic memory/ knowledge he kept from when he was a human)
+ Empathy: good at reading other people’s emotions though has difficulty explaining his deductions
+ Sociability: naturally amicable and charismatic, puts people at ease
+ *Learning ability: learns very quickly if there is enough interest in the subject
+ *Combat (bloodlust mode): agile and physically strong, extremely persistent and vicious, unbothered by pain or injury
*comes with some caveats listed below in “Weaknesses”

Weaknesses

- Logical deductions: even if he does observe two related facts, he usually can’t connect the dots without guidance
- Sensing intent: is easy to manipulate unless he can detect a clear discrepancy between the words spoken and the person’s emotions
- *Learning ability: general poor ability to retain information
- *Combat (bloodlust mode): unable to apply strategy or complex plans, lack of self-awareness in this state, can be mitigated somewhat through training muscle memory
- All the inherent weaknesses that come with being a half-blood
*comes with some saving graces listed above in “Skills”

History

Nico’s memory of his own past before he was turned is incredibly fuzzy. He vaguely remembers having been raised in a small rural town near mountains but is unable to recall specific events or people he used to know.

He had recently turned 21 before he was transformed into a vampire. Unfortunately, the one responsible for his conversion was too inexperienced to execute it properly which mutated Nico into a half-blood in the process. They abandoned the newly turned vampire to his own devices shortly after, who lost himself in a flurry of bloodlust, feeding on and killing his entire family before vanishing into the forest bordering the town.

Once he had regained consciousness, the trauma upon realizing he murdered his loved ones forced him to block out these memories from his consciousness. What Nico thought it was solely because he was a half-blood, was actually partially the result of localized dissociative amnesia. This has allowed him to preserve his friendly, cheerful personality, a part of him that remained strongly intact after his transformation.

He traveled alone for a few years as he experimented with his new body; with no direction due to being largely amnesiac, he focused primarily on feeding and searching for excitement and companionship. He was lucky to have lived in an area far from supernatural occurrences such that he was able to survive without much difficulty. When he was approached by servants from the Council of Iris, realizing that they don’t trigger his bloodlust, he let them take him in without much resistance. As of now, he has yet to endure enough abuse from the society to let it demoralize him.

Misc.

teh artist is me :D | #f6716a

General Body Language
Nico has an unusually decent posture for someone of the lowest class, though it’s actually because it was another characteristic of his past human self that persisted. In resting position, his shoulders are often relaxed and slanted slightly downward. He may also nonchalantly lean on walls and other tall structures if they’re nearby.

He has a tendency to use lots of wild hand gestures when he speaks without realizing. One of his favorite actions to perform is to curl both his hands into fists and punch one into the air as he exclaims something with enthusiasm. If he has established a friendship with someone, he can be very liberal with physical contact - patting them on the back, putting his arm around their neck, etc. - but will promptly stop and respect their space if told to. The way he interacts with others, along with his overly affectionate way of speaking, can often be misinterpreted as romantic advances - this is only partially unintentional.

Nico is generally far more restrained with his body language when around born vampires, however.

Black Iris Society

IM DONEE

Nico

Name

Nico Maniaci

Nickames

N/A

Age

21 when turned, has been a vampire for about a few years

Gender

Male

Sexuality

Bisexual

Relationship Status

Single

Species

Half-Blood Vampire

Appearance Details

Nico is a young man of a below average stature of 170 cm (5’ 7”), offset by his athletic physique - diligently built and maintained in his humans years. His vampiric transformation had altered his once mildly tan complexion into a ghoulish pale, never to feel the gentle warmth of the sun again without the intense pain of clusters of fleshy splotches that would sizzle and burn all over. The mutation had spared his red hair, which had become tattered and frayed from lack of care, though he insisted that he preferred this look. Unusually large eyes bulge from his youthful face - nigh a facial hair in sight nor will there ever be - with irises, vibrant blue and peculiarly small for his eyes, which gave his resting expression an uncanny mix of intensity and childlike wonder. Eeriness aside, he could be considered rather attractive if not a bit young looking for his age, if one could also ignore the signs of dry decay on half of his face.

He often dressed in torn clothes of varying sizes and origins beneath a worn, hooded cape, his exposed skin nested in bandages apart from the face, which is obscured by a muzzle over his mouth - a safety measure for his uncontrollable bloodlust - and a dark visor used to shield his eyes. When out on excursions, he brings with him a light, patchwork backpack he fashioned himself and an oil lamp tied to a long branch. As a member of the lowest class, even after he had been assimilated into the society, these were the only clothing and equipment he could get a hold of on his own; fortunately, he finds them “cool”.

In a safe, relaxed environment, he usually has his headgear removed to greet people with a cheerful grin, even though it would show his deformed pair of fangs - one long and sharp and the other short and cracked. When his bloodlust activates, veins swell on his temple, forehead, and eyes as his irises turn a feverish red, quaking and salivating in hunger as he bares his deformed teeth at his prey.

Personality Traits

Nico is amiable and relaxed by nature, happy to befriend almost any individual he meets, even if they appear particularly hostile or antisocial. However, he can come across as a bit too casual, often leaning towards informal diction on instinct and will liberally address others with nicknames if not told otherwise, though it is not out of disrespect but rather a genuine sense of comradery. This is emphasized by his kind, nonjudgmental character as well as his tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve without much thought.

As a result, he is also fairly easy to manipulate, which is not helped by the fact that he is very simple-minded, and is neither particularly wise nor clever. This is further impaired by his poor general ability to retain information and nonexistent affinity for studying. Fortunately, should he become interested enough in a subject, his learning skills become remarkably efficient. His main asset lies in his empathy, as he is very adept at reading other people’s emotions through their body language and facial expressions, particularly feelings of pain and anger, though he was never able to provide satisfactory reasoning behind his deductions as it’s mostly through intuition.

Nico is generally an open book, but a part of him he refuses to show is his resentment towards the caste system. He will, nevertheless, step in - or at least, will be tempted to - if he witnesses mistreatment in front of him. He’s normally difficult to genuinely anger otherwise, though when pushed to his limit, his bloodlust becomes far easier to activate. Unfortunately, the more bitterness he stores within him, the more prone to rage he is, hence why he is so enthusiastic about making friends, as any support and positive attention he receives is the sole reason why he has been able to stay relatively sane.

His lack of any self control over his lust for blood is a significant source of shame for him due to his inherent sense of altruism and the knowledge that he was once the same species as the ones he preys on and kills regularly. His past efforts to suppress his urges has only made him more unhinged and temperamental as a result until he has sufficiently fed. During his bloodlust mode, he becomes almost completely consumed by an overwhelming need for blood; he describes it as being trapped in his own mind and body, but he can still see and hear everything in a way that was like it was all far away from him.

Skills

+ Passive survival skills: capable of surviving in the wild on his own (likely semantic memory/ knowledge he kept from when he was a human)
+ Empathy: good at reading other people’s emotions though has difficulty explaining his deductions
+ Sociability: naturally amicable and charismatic, puts people at ease
+ *Learning ability: learns very quickly if there is enough interest in the subject
+ *Combat (bloodlust mode): agile and physically strong, extremely persistent and vicious, unbothered by pain or injury
*comes with some caveats listed below in “Weaknesses”

Weaknesses

- Logical deductions: even if he does observe two related facts, he usually can’t connect the dots without guidance
- Sensing intent: is easy to manipulate unless he can detect a clear discrepancy between the words spoken and the person’s emotions
- *Learning ability: general poor ability to retain information
- *Combat (bloodlust mode): unable to apply strategy or complex plans, lack of self-awareness in this state, can be mitigated somewhat through training muscle memory
- All the inherent weaknesses that come with being a half-blood
*comes with some saving graces listed above in “Skills”

History

Nico’s memory of his own past before he was turned is incredibly fuzzy. He vaguely remembers having been raised in a small rural town near mountains but is unable to recall specific events or people he used to know.

He had recently turned 21 before he was transformed into a vampire. Unfortunately, the one responsible for his conversion was too inexperienced to execute it properly which mutated Nico into a half-blood in the process. They abandoned the newly turned vampire to his own devices shortly after, who lost himself in a flurry of bloodlust, feeding on and killing his entire family before vanishing into the forest bordering the town.

Once he had regained consciousness, the trauma upon realizing he murdered his loved ones forced him to block out these memories from his consciousness. What Nico thought it was solely because he was a half-blood, was actually partially the result of localized dissociative amnesia. This has allowed him to preserve his friendly, cheerful personality, a part of him that remained strongly intact after his transformation.

He traveled alone for a few years as he experimented with his new body; with no direction due to being largely amnesiac, he focused primarily on feeding and searching for excitement and companionship. He was lucky to have lived in an area far from supernatural occurrences such that he was able to survive without much difficulty. When he was approached by servants from the Council of Iris, realizing that they don’t trigger his bloodlust, he let them take him in without much resistance. As of now, he has yet to endure enough abuse from the society to let it demoralize him.

Misc.

teh artist is me :D | #f6716a

General Body Language
Nico has an unusually decent posture for someone of the lowest class, though it’s actually because it was another characteristic of his past human self that persisted. In resting position, his shoulders are often relaxed and slanted slightly downward. He may also nonchalantly lean on walls and other tall structures if they’re nearby.

He has a tendency to use lots of wild hand gestures when he speaks without realizing. One of his favorite actions to perform is to curl both his hands into fists and punch one into the air as he exclaims something with enthusiasm. If he has established a friendship with someone, he can be very liberal with physical contact - patting them on the back, putting his arm around their neck, etc. - but will promptly stop and respect their space if told to. The way he interacts with others, along with his overly affectionate way of speaking, can often be misinterpreted as romantic advances - this is only partially unintentional.

Nico is generally far more restrained with his body language when around born vampires, however.