welian
#BlackLivesMatter
You'll learn to call me a treacherous bitch soon enough.Our lovely and kind GM has approved a revised version of Yasmin’s sheet, which is now in the character thread!
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Futuristic [OOC] Aegis: Error 508
- Thread starter welian
- Start date
Giyari
Magical_Girl.exe
Speaking of. I finished up a second character. I think this is my final draft before it gets looked at by whoever 
Helios
Name: Marcus “Val” Valentine
Gender: Masculine
Age: 47
Power: Sun Warrior
Rank: A rank
Limiter: Level 4
Appearance
Race
American/Mixed Hispanic
Hair
Auburn
Eyes
Light blue
Height
6’3”
Figure
A solidly Olympian looking man. 230lb of muscle
Notes
A single healed bullet wound through his left shoulder.
Personality
Rockstar
Val absolutely drips charisma. If you looked the word up in the dictionary, his portrait would be smiling back at you. Not unexpected for a man with his own line of toys, merch, and who makes regular late-night talk-show appearances around the globe.
Undeterred
Nothing can stop Val from facing down any troubles that find themselves in his sights. If it’s something he can solve, he’ll stop at nothing to make it right. No matter how tough the situation, how complex the circumstances, Marcus will put himself to work.
Principled
Val sticks by his values through any situation, he believes they’re what keeps him him. Working as such a public hero, his morals and values need to be strong so he can set a good example for those that look up to him, and those he inspires.
Flashy
Despite being as “heroic” as he is, Marcus is not everyone’s cup of tea. He’s bombastic, flashy full-on, and can be particularly loud when he’s working. It could be said that he’s doing it for the attention, to keep himself relevant and in the public eye, or to keep the sales of his merch flowing, but Marcus believes it adds to the inspiration he puts out, to light a fire in the hearts of little kids and to show them that heroes can do great things. It's not quite "naming your attacks" bad, but well.. Not many heroes roar words of encouragement at their own enemies with a massive grin on their face while they fight.
Biography
History
The night Marcus' powers kicked in his life would change forever, but he had no memory of it at all. According to eyewitnesses, Marcus stood between a group of troublemakers and a victim of their abuse, a young kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Marcus pushed the thugs back and urged the kid to run, before he took a few hits to the gut before one of the thugs pulled a gun and shot him in the chest. On impact flames had spiralled across Marcus’ skin, burning his clothes completely to as. The thugs left him there for dead, burning a hole into the concrete where he had collapsed..
He was headhunted by Commonwealth from his hospital bed to take up Blue Card training, a program that had started shortly before Marcus was born, his powers made him the perfect candidate for training. The pay was good, he was able to help his father, and he could help stop scenes like that side street happening ever again.
It’s been decades since then, and Marcus is now one of the most visible heroes in the US, a celebrity in his own right with his own line of merchandise, toys, and even a few christmas albums. He regularly makes appearances around the country, in person and on TV, but his drive has never changed, help those who need help, step into danger to save those who need to be saved, inspire others to do the same, and have a damn good time while doing it. Marcus lives and breathes being a hero.
Relationships
Superpowers
Sun Warrior
As Helios, Marcus becomes an "avatar of the Sun" (according to his toy lines). When his power is activated, Marcus’ skin becomes a burning plasma like substance and his body emits enough heat to ignite the surrounding air, which he can use to project jets of flames from his body. He can focus this power to specific parts of his body, which can be as precise as a single fingertip for more delicate tasks, or to give himself more utility such as propelled flight by focusing on his feet and legs. he can project flame up to 200 feet or so from his body, but they decrease in intensity the further they are from his body. Alternatively he can increase their intensity at close range to vaporise incoming attacks before they have a chance to hit him.
Fire Immunity: Marcus is entirely immune to fire and the effects of extreme heat. He’d have to be given the intensity of the flames he can put out. This keeps him alive during combat and allows him to survive in environments that would outright kill most people.
Flame Manipulation: With conscious thought, Marcus can control the intensity and the properties of the flames he produces, and to an extent, these flames can be directed, quelled, and focused into smaller areas or blasts. This stops him setting the entire city ablaze as he fights.
Limitations
Feeding the Flames: Marcus’s flames still require oxygen to burn, and Marcus still needs it to breathe, and as such they can’t be used freely indoors or in enclosed spaces without a danger of suffocation. This keeps him from fighting indoors for any length of time unless he dials his powers back and takes note of his surroundings until he’s in open air again. It also means a solid hit from a decent firefighting foam or being smothered in sand will probably put him out unless he's able to put out enough heat to combat it… Not an easy thing to do while maintaining control and moderation.
Water is Wet: Marcus can resist water attacks for a while, but not for too long. He can survive for a while by vaporising it into steam, but he'd have to divert all his attention to doing so. It's much more economical to just avoid it all together if he can.
Not Mine, Sorry: Marcus has no power over fire that he himself has not produced. This unfortunately means he cannot stop a fiery disaster from occurring, even if he himself would survive.
Flammable… Inflammable?: While Marcus can control his flames, if they were to contact a volatile fuel source it would still set alight. The resulting flames would be under Marcus’ control, but the concentration and effort it would take to focus, quell or redirect them would completely remove him from the fight until they were under control. Marcus therefore has to constantly be aware of his surroundings and focus some of his mind into constantly putting out fire more than a certain distance from himself depending on the situation. Without this conscious thought, he’d burn a city down in no time.
Other Abilities
Skills
Loadout
Juke Box
Race
American/Mixed Hispanic
Hair
Auburn
Eyes
Light blue
Height
6’3”
Figure
A solidly Olympian looking man. 230lb of muscle
Notes
A single healed bullet wound through his left shoulder.
Personality
Rockstar
Val absolutely drips charisma. If you looked the word up in the dictionary, his portrait would be smiling back at you. Not unexpected for a man with his own line of toys, merch, and who makes regular late-night talk-show appearances around the globe.
Undeterred
Nothing can stop Val from facing down any troubles that find themselves in his sights. If it’s something he can solve, he’ll stop at nothing to make it right. No matter how tough the situation, how complex the circumstances, Marcus will put himself to work.
Principled
Val sticks by his values through any situation, he believes they’re what keeps him him. Working as such a public hero, his morals and values need to be strong so he can set a good example for those that look up to him, and those he inspires.
Flashy
Despite being as “heroic” as he is, Marcus is not everyone’s cup of tea. He’s bombastic, flashy full-on, and can be particularly loud when he’s working. It could be said that he’s doing it for the attention, to keep himself relevant and in the public eye, or to keep the sales of his merch flowing, but Marcus believes it adds to the inspiration he puts out, to light a fire in the hearts of little kids and to show them that heroes can do great things. It's not quite "naming your attacks" bad, but well.. Not many heroes roar words of encouragement at their own enemies with a massive grin on their face while they fight.
Biography
History
The night Marcus' powers kicked in his life would change forever, but he had no memory of it at all. According to eyewitnesses, Marcus stood between a group of troublemakers and a victim of their abuse, a young kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Marcus pushed the thugs back and urged the kid to run, before he took a few hits to the gut before one of the thugs pulled a gun and shot him in the chest. On impact flames had spiralled across Marcus’ skin, burning his clothes completely to as. The thugs left him there for dead, burning a hole into the concrete where he had collapsed..
He was headhunted by Commonwealth from his hospital bed to take up Blue Card training, a program that had started shortly before Marcus was born, his powers made him the perfect candidate for training. The pay was good, he was able to help his father, and he could help stop scenes like that side street happening ever again.
It’s been decades since then, and Marcus is now one of the most visible heroes in the US, a celebrity in his own right with his own line of merchandise, toys, and even a few christmas albums. He regularly makes appearances around the country, in person and on TV, but his drive has never changed, help those who need help, step into danger to save those who need to be saved, inspire others to do the same, and have a damn good time while doing it. Marcus lives and breathes being a hero.
Relationships
- Diego Valentine
Marcus’ father. 68, retired, and lives a quiet life down by the coast. He adores his son, even more so after everything Marcus has done for him. A recovering alcoholic, he spends his days playing chess and fishing with the “gangsters” as he calls them, a dozen or so old guys who run the local marina. - Desmond Romero
Fellow Hero. Marcus has worked with him a few times, and thinks he’s a good guy, maybe a bit reserved, but that’s not a bad thing. He does good work in Marcus’ eyes.
Superpowers
Sun Warrior
As Helios, Marcus becomes an "avatar of the Sun" (according to his toy lines). When his power is activated, Marcus’ skin becomes a burning plasma like substance and his body emits enough heat to ignite the surrounding air, which he can use to project jets of flames from his body. He can focus this power to specific parts of his body, which can be as precise as a single fingertip for more delicate tasks, or to give himself more utility such as propelled flight by focusing on his feet and legs. he can project flame up to 200 feet or so from his body, but they decrease in intensity the further they are from his body. Alternatively he can increase their intensity at close range to vaporise incoming attacks before they have a chance to hit him.
Fire Immunity: Marcus is entirely immune to fire and the effects of extreme heat. He’d have to be given the intensity of the flames he can put out. This keeps him alive during combat and allows him to survive in environments that would outright kill most people.
Flame Manipulation: With conscious thought, Marcus can control the intensity and the properties of the flames he produces, and to an extent, these flames can be directed, quelled, and focused into smaller areas or blasts. This stops him setting the entire city ablaze as he fights.
Limitations
Feeding the Flames: Marcus’s flames still require oxygen to burn, and Marcus still needs it to breathe, and as such they can’t be used freely indoors or in enclosed spaces without a danger of suffocation. This keeps him from fighting indoors for any length of time unless he dials his powers back and takes note of his surroundings until he’s in open air again. It also means a solid hit from a decent firefighting foam or being smothered in sand will probably put him out unless he's able to put out enough heat to combat it… Not an easy thing to do while maintaining control and moderation.
Water is Wet: Marcus can resist water attacks for a while, but not for too long. He can survive for a while by vaporising it into steam, but he'd have to divert all his attention to doing so. It's much more economical to just avoid it all together if he can.
Not Mine, Sorry: Marcus has no power over fire that he himself has not produced. This unfortunately means he cannot stop a fiery disaster from occurring, even if he himself would survive.
Flammable… Inflammable?: While Marcus can control his flames, if they were to contact a volatile fuel source it would still set alight. The resulting flames would be under Marcus’ control, but the concentration and effort it would take to focus, quell or redirect them would completely remove him from the fight until they were under control. Marcus therefore has to constantly be aware of his surroundings and focus some of his mind into constantly putting out fire more than a certain distance from himself depending on the situation. Without this conscious thought, he’d burn a city down in no time.
Other Abilities
Skills
- Boxing (modified): It was something his father thought would do him good, and something Marcus tried to keep up through his youth. Since becoming a Supe he’s had more time available to hone his boxing skills through hero training, even managing to work in some leg strikes and throws through tips and training with other supers.
- Public Living: Marcus is frequently invited onto talk-shows, gilled by the host, asked about various parts of his life and his ongoing projects, or appearing on news interviews after a public battle. Through this he has gotten very good at speaking publicly and keeping privacy in the face of public scrutiny.
- Baking: He’s not the best baker, but he does find it relaxing. If you’re around when he’s baking, he’ll always offer you a cookie or cake of some kind.
- Guitar: Marcus is solidly mediocre at it, but he has a lot of fun playing his electric guitar along to his favourite songs.
- Singing: You know… He's not bad. He's definitely not going to win any awards though, those christmas albums were terrible, he struggled to keep a straight face recording them.
Loadout
- Fireproof costume: His hero costume consists of a fireproof ceramic weave that allows his flames to pass over through the fabric without setting alight. It consists of a re enforced body suit that covers his torso, legs, and shoulders, leaving his arms and head bare, a belt with a couple of pouches, and a pair of heavy-duty boots. It's main colours are orange and red, with black and yellow accents running across the chest and shoulders.
- Fireproof blankets: In the pouches on his belt, Marcus keeps a handful of compact fireproof foil blankets. These can be used to keep civilians safe if needed, and protect those he needs to carry out of danger from accidental burns, but it’s not always necessary.
- Communicator: Marcus keeps a modified communicator in one of his pouches. It’s fireproof and comes with a wireless ear piece that fits snugly into his ear canal for use hands free. How convenient!
Juke Box
Last edited:
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
Full Name
Anthony N. Costanzo
Nicknames
Tony
Codename
N/A
Gender
Male
Age
22
Rank
D Rank (unregistered)
Limiter
None
Role
Commonwealth Testing Technician[/Tab]
Heritage
Italian American
Hair
Brown
Eyes
Brown
Height
5' 9”
Figure
165 pounds (fit)
Shrewd
Anthony's powers probably affect his outlook on life. He sees all the angles to a situation almost instantly. While he is not above using this to his own advantage, he also has wisdom enough to not rub people's noses in it or stretch his advantage so far that anyone would notice. Under the radar is where he's lived his life, and where he'd like to stay.
Streetwise
Growing up poor in Baltimore taught him a lot about what is really important. Reputation matters, but favors matter more. He spends a lot of his free time helping people, saving up favors for a rainy day.
Observant
Some people just don't see what is right in front of them. Anthony used to think there was something wrong with people. As he has gotten older, his inability to shut this off has made him start to wonder if he wouldn't rather trade places with the dim. They seem happy enough.
Acerbic
While he has gotten better at keeping a lid on this, except among family, his accelerated mind gives him a quick wit and a sharp tongue. He always seems to know just what to say to really sting. Sometimes, he just can't help himself.
History
Born on Rapture Day, Anthony has heard all through his childhood about what a shitshow commonwealth made of that. His family lost their home in some of the collateral damage from the fighting, and his dad was injured badly enough to need workman's comp ever since. They had to live in section 8 housing for most of his life, and his father's constant grousing eventually led his mom to move out and start a new family in another city. After 2 years of high school and a quadruple major in college, he was ready to be done with school for a while. Commonwealth needed a mail clerk, so he started there and worked his way up to assistant tester 3rd class in just a year.
Relationships
Anthony Costanzo Sr.
His father. They have a strained relationship at best. Anthony supports him, even though he grouses about his 'mini-Tony' even more than he did or does about his ex-wife. Anthony knows at least part of the reason he went to work for commonwealth is to try to be at least ONE competent member of it, just to prove his dad's many long years of ranting against them wrong. Recent events have been… frustrating for Anthony personally.
Lisa Ramsey
Anthony's girlfriend. She's a super shrink. A therapist for supers. It's because of her that he knows about his sublimated reasons for joining up with commonwealth, as well as the QCIC. It is also partly why they are together. He's never been with a woman who could tell him things he hadn't already thought of himself before. Even as quick thinking as he is, everybody has blind spots. Especially about things you are close to. So SHE says anyway. It is nice to have a sounding board. And she's pretty hot too.
Lucinda Rae
QCIC contact. All his missions so far are basically fetch quests.
Joey Beladni
Cousin, fellow member of the QCIC. Joey is a meta charismatic assigned to keep tabs on Aaron Mallory. He has dropped the ball in a major way.
Batel Shapiro
Another Q agent assigned to keep eyes on Mallory, but from a distance, and to an extent Weiss (or rather Ward) as well. She has a covert partner who Anthony knows by face but not name. That he even knows Batel is probably a violation of Q protocol.
Huckleberry Kingston
Coworker at commonwealth testing facility. Real smart guy. Talkative. Useful.
Dr. Petrovich
His boss. Total hard-ass sadist. You'd think sometimes he was aiming to kill these kids through testing. Never quite crossed that line though. At least, not yet. Not that he knows of...
Guy Garbo
His other boss. He is not supposed to know about Guy, but what can you do? He isn't about to let on that he knows, and he is pretty sure Lucinda doesn't know he knows. And anyway, it's not like anybody is going to speed read it out of his brain now are they?
Harry Holden
Good old Agent Harry. Talk about talkative! Holy Crap. Watta dork!
[Lightning Speed Processing
Anthony can read whole books in minutes, solve complicated mathematical problems in seconds—provided he knows the relevant mathematical tools. He is no idiot savant however; he can also read social cues very astutely and come up with the perfect line for any situation off the cuff, whether he's picking up a date, or putting down a co-worker, he is never at a loss for words.
Limitations
World Languages: Anthony is fluent in Mandarin, German, Russian, French, Italian, and Spanish. He has a decent grasp of Japanese, Afrikaans, Dutch, and Portuguese. His native tongue is English.
Molecular Biology: One of his college majors, with a focus on the ramifications of the A6G23 gene, especially testing protocols. (Including how to beat them)
Quantum Physics: Another Major acquired in college, with focus on enigma particles and their interactions with other, better understood fields.
Aikido: 2nd Degree black-belt. Trains every weekday, before and after work. Will be testing for san-dan soon. It is the perfect art for somebody who thinks fast and lacks raw muscle to win by brute force. Subtlety and trickery can win the day against a much stronger opponent, if you can set your ego aside and not fight the fight his way...
Art History: Third Major in college. Picked up on a lark because of a girlfriend. Stayed because it was fascinating.
Philosophy: Fourth Major. In Anthony's opinion, the only thing he ever studied that really was worth learning. Sadly, the least likely skill to ever pay the bills.
Crochet: What? It's something soothing to do with his hands while he thinks. And it saves on presents when you can make your own.
Streetwise: To an extent, Anthony is comfortable in any urban environment, but Baltimore is his home. He knows every street, alleyway, and service tunnel. He knows who to go to when things need doing. And he knows a lot of people who either owe him favors, or view him favorably. Usually both.
Hacking: Not exactly in his wheelhouse, but he knows a few shortcuts and back doors. He also knows a few people who are better at it then he is. Also, with his powers, he can study up for specific targets with surprising speed.
Cryptography: More of a hobby than a professional skill.
Climbing: On Sundays, when the dojo is closed, Anthony goes to a climbing gym.
Lip Reading: He taught himself how to do this during parties at college. Not as much because of the loud music, as because of the earplugs he wore to protect his hearing.
Impatient: He is clever enough to hide it from most normals, but he absolutely hates dealing with people who are unintelligent. He can deal with their processing speeds, but the truly stupid make his eye twitch.
Slight substance abuse problem: Mostly just alcohol, and mostly under control. So far.
Neat Freak: He and Huck have a gentleman's agreement not to share lab space. It's not that it bothers him so much as that it robs him of focus to be in a room where things are out of place.
Pedantic: He tries to suppress this in social situations with limited success, but needs to spend a few hours a day online correcting grammar and factual inaccuracies to vent the bottled up wrongness. He does not do so kindly.
Sexist: Lisa won't stand for this, and as clever and amazing as she is, he has no trouble suppressing it around her. She's notably exceptional though. His default assumptions about women are that they are all flighty, dim witted, baby factories that are out to make his life complicated.
Restless: Sometimes at night it is hard to get his mind to turn off. Some days he has to skip work to make up the sleep. And also to sleep off the bender it took to get his mind to shut down. Lisa is helping with this.
Item: [Hand held Enigma Particle Detector] Useful for tracking and detecting supers
Item: [2028 Toyota/Ford Taurus] It runs. That's the main thing.
Item: [First aid kit] Keeps it in the car.
Item: [Various scientific instruments] Microscopes and such like. Keeps them at work. Occasionally borrows things for side projects.
Anthony N. Costanzo
Nicknames
Tony
Codename
N/A
Gender
Male
Age
22
Rank
D Rank (unregistered)
Limiter
None
Role
Commonwealth Testing Technician[/Tab]
Heritage
Italian American
Hair
Brown
Eyes
Brown
Height
5' 9”
Figure
165 pounds (fit)
Shrewd
Anthony's powers probably affect his outlook on life. He sees all the angles to a situation almost instantly. While he is not above using this to his own advantage, he also has wisdom enough to not rub people's noses in it or stretch his advantage so far that anyone would notice. Under the radar is where he's lived his life, and where he'd like to stay.
Streetwise
Growing up poor in Baltimore taught him a lot about what is really important. Reputation matters, but favors matter more. He spends a lot of his free time helping people, saving up favors for a rainy day.
Observant
Some people just don't see what is right in front of them. Anthony used to think there was something wrong with people. As he has gotten older, his inability to shut this off has made him start to wonder if he wouldn't rather trade places with the dim. They seem happy enough.
Acerbic
While he has gotten better at keeping a lid on this, except among family, his accelerated mind gives him a quick wit and a sharp tongue. He always seems to know just what to say to really sting. Sometimes, he just can't help himself.
History
Born on Rapture Day, Anthony has heard all through his childhood about what a shitshow commonwealth made of that. His family lost their home in some of the collateral damage from the fighting, and his dad was injured badly enough to need workman's comp ever since. They had to live in section 8 housing for most of his life, and his father's constant grousing eventually led his mom to move out and start a new family in another city. After 2 years of high school and a quadruple major in college, he was ready to be done with school for a while. Commonwealth needed a mail clerk, so he started there and worked his way up to assistant tester 3rd class in just a year.
Relationships
Anthony Costanzo Sr.
His father. They have a strained relationship at best. Anthony supports him, even though he grouses about his 'mini-Tony' even more than he did or does about his ex-wife. Anthony knows at least part of the reason he went to work for commonwealth is to try to be at least ONE competent member of it, just to prove his dad's many long years of ranting against them wrong. Recent events have been… frustrating for Anthony personally.
Lisa Ramsey
Anthony's girlfriend. She's a super shrink. A therapist for supers. It's because of her that he knows about his sublimated reasons for joining up with commonwealth, as well as the QCIC. It is also partly why they are together. He's never been with a woman who could tell him things he hadn't already thought of himself before. Even as quick thinking as he is, everybody has blind spots. Especially about things you are close to. So SHE says anyway. It is nice to have a sounding board. And she's pretty hot too.
Lucinda Rae
QCIC contact. All his missions so far are basically fetch quests.
Joey Beladni
Cousin, fellow member of the QCIC. Joey is a meta charismatic assigned to keep tabs on Aaron Mallory. He has dropped the ball in a major way.
Batel Shapiro
Another Q agent assigned to keep eyes on Mallory, but from a distance, and to an extent Weiss (or rather Ward) as well. She has a covert partner who Anthony knows by face but not name. That he even knows Batel is probably a violation of Q protocol.
Huckleberry Kingston
Coworker at commonwealth testing facility. Real smart guy. Talkative. Useful.
Dr. Petrovich
His boss. Total hard-ass sadist. You'd think sometimes he was aiming to kill these kids through testing. Never quite crossed that line though. At least, not yet. Not that he knows of...
Guy Garbo
His other boss. He is not supposed to know about Guy, but what can you do? He isn't about to let on that he knows, and he is pretty sure Lucinda doesn't know he knows. And anyway, it's not like anybody is going to speed read it out of his brain now are they?
Harry Holden
Good old Agent Harry. Talk about talkative! Holy Crap. Watta dork!
[Lightning Speed Processing
Anthony can read whole books in minutes, solve complicated mathematical problems in seconds—provided he knows the relevant mathematical tools. He is no idiot savant however; he can also read social cues very astutely and come up with the perfect line for any situation off the cuff, whether he's picking up a date, or putting down a co-worker, he is never at a loss for words.
- Eidetic Memory: Every book he has ever read, every sight he has ever seen, every dream he has ever had can all be recalled with perfect clarity.
- Psychic Static: His brain works too quickly for telepaths to get a read on him. They still sense his presence and can tell some of the broad brush strokes like emotional state or whether he is awake or dreaming, but the details are unreadable. Trying for more than a few minutes at a time will give him and the telepath both bad headaches.
Limitations
- Thinking is Hard: Anthony has to eat roughly three times the calories of a normal human being to keep his brain fed. He also has to sleep at least 12 hours straight to feel himself in the morning. He also needs a least a couple of quick power naps during the day or he gets cranky. You do not want to talk to him when he is cranky. If he is deprived of proper sleep or caloric intake for more than a day, he has seizures. He calculates from the last incident that as little as 48 hours with no sleep or 72 with no calories would be fatal.
- Focus is Hard: When your mind is always going a mile a minute, it is exceedingly difficult to pick one task and stick to it. As Anthony's brain is not physically different from a normal human, he cannot parallel process any better than the rest of us. If he loses focus and tries to multitask, all his projects suffer. Without nap time, his focus is the first thing to go. Unfamiliar or busy environments can also easily overwhelm him. He gets teased as a freak for how neat he keeps his office, but it is purely an act of self preservation.
- Self Reflection is Hard: While Anthony rarely misses a trick, his powers of observation point outward not inward. He has to set reminders on his phone to eat and to sleep because he doesn't seem to be able to self regulate. He knows people, but not himself. At least once, during a mugging, he was stabbed and didn't notice until somebody else pointed out that he was bleeding.
World Languages: Anthony is fluent in Mandarin, German, Russian, French, Italian, and Spanish. He has a decent grasp of Japanese, Afrikaans, Dutch, and Portuguese. His native tongue is English.
Molecular Biology: One of his college majors, with a focus on the ramifications of the A6G23 gene, especially testing protocols. (Including how to beat them)
Quantum Physics: Another Major acquired in college, with focus on enigma particles and their interactions with other, better understood fields.
Aikido: 2nd Degree black-belt. Trains every weekday, before and after work. Will be testing for san-dan soon. It is the perfect art for somebody who thinks fast and lacks raw muscle to win by brute force. Subtlety and trickery can win the day against a much stronger opponent, if you can set your ego aside and not fight the fight his way...
Art History: Third Major in college. Picked up on a lark because of a girlfriend. Stayed because it was fascinating.
Philosophy: Fourth Major. In Anthony's opinion, the only thing he ever studied that really was worth learning. Sadly, the least likely skill to ever pay the bills.
Crochet: What? It's something soothing to do with his hands while he thinks. And it saves on presents when you can make your own.
Streetwise: To an extent, Anthony is comfortable in any urban environment, but Baltimore is his home. He knows every street, alleyway, and service tunnel. He knows who to go to when things need doing. And he knows a lot of people who either owe him favors, or view him favorably. Usually both.
Hacking: Not exactly in his wheelhouse, but he knows a few shortcuts and back doors. He also knows a few people who are better at it then he is. Also, with his powers, he can study up for specific targets with surprising speed.
Cryptography: More of a hobby than a professional skill.
Climbing: On Sundays, when the dojo is closed, Anthony goes to a climbing gym.
Lip Reading: He taught himself how to do this during parties at college. Not as much because of the loud music, as because of the earplugs he wore to protect his hearing.
Impatient: He is clever enough to hide it from most normals, but he absolutely hates dealing with people who are unintelligent. He can deal with their processing speeds, but the truly stupid make his eye twitch.
Slight substance abuse problem: Mostly just alcohol, and mostly under control. So far.
Neat Freak: He and Huck have a gentleman's agreement not to share lab space. It's not that it bothers him so much as that it robs him of focus to be in a room where things are out of place.
Pedantic: He tries to suppress this in social situations with limited success, but needs to spend a few hours a day online correcting grammar and factual inaccuracies to vent the bottled up wrongness. He does not do so kindly.
Sexist: Lisa won't stand for this, and as clever and amazing as she is, he has no trouble suppressing it around her. She's notably exceptional though. His default assumptions about women are that they are all flighty, dim witted, baby factories that are out to make his life complicated.
Restless: Sometimes at night it is hard to get his mind to turn off. Some days he has to skip work to make up the sleep. And also to sleep off the bender it took to get his mind to shut down. Lisa is helping with this.
Item: [Hand held Enigma Particle Detector] Useful for tracking and detecting supers
Item: [2028 Toyota/Ford Taurus] It runs. That's the main thing.
Item: [First aid kit] Keeps it in the car.
Item: [Various scientific instruments] Microscopes and such like. Keeps them at work. Occasionally borrows things for side projects.
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
Full Name
Katheryn Marie Barrett
Nicknames
Kate, Shrew ← (Use at your own risk)
Codename
Janus
Gender
Female
Age
44 years
Rank
A Rank
Limiter
Inactive, Level 3
Role
Journalist/Vigilante
Heritage
Scandinavian/Scottish descent, but Minnesotan born and bred.
Hair
Blonde
Eyes
Blue
Height
5' 11”
Figure
Go on and ask her. Dare you.
Notes
She has a fighter's demeanor, even in civilian garb, even at twilight without her powers.[/Tab]
Loyal
Kate's friends come first. Period. Truth, Justice, American way, yadda yadda yadda. If any of that stands between Kate and doing right by her friends though...
Fiery
Contrary to popular Twin Cities myth, Kate was NOT named after the titular character of Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew” She can quote parts of it by heart though, as well as feminist critiques of it.
Mercurial
She is pretty sure she wasn't always like this. She only really feels like herself around twilight. In the daytime, the call to the glory of righteous and honorable battle is strong. At night, the urge to dispose of human the offal lurking in dark alleys silently and efficiently is almost overpowering. Caught between these two extremes, it is hard to know who she really is.
Vengeful
Mostly Kate's blistering tongue is just high spirits. Anyone who can stand toe to toe with her in verbal fencing gets her respect. To those who manage to truly piss her off however, woe unto ye! When the fiery banter stops, you may want to see about putting your affairs in order, and soon.
History
Kate got her start in the adventuresome life as a reporter. She got her first regular gig while covering the rapture and blogging about it. She was just 17. It was shortly after this that she met Aaron Mallory and the rest of the Twin City Guardians. She stuck to him and his teammates like glue, and while she was nearly killed on multiple occasions, she always got phenomenal stories for her paper. She was 23 when her luck finally ran out. She was tracking the activity of some kind of cult, led by a man who claimed to be in contact with extra-dimensional entities he called, unironically, edge-lords. When they found her spying on their midnight summoning ritual, they decided she would make a fine sacrifice. Unfortunately for them, stabbing her in the throat was just the stress she needed for her A6G23 gene to finally activate. As she watched her lifeblood spray over the hood of the chief priest and felt consciousness fleeting, something dark rose up from her subconscious mind to take its place. The darkness spread rapidly to the furthest limits of her genetic code, invigorating her cells and rewiring her mind. In the space of her final heartbeat her blood was replaced with something...else. Iron wing would later describe it as some kind of psychic force which defied his best attempts to quantify it. Telepathic heroes have told her that whatever it is inside her puts off low level emotional vibrations as if it is a living entity in its own right. Medical exams have shown her nervous system has extended throughout her circulatory system, more than tripling the nerve tissue in her body, and increasing white matter and gray matter by over thirty percent. She is a curious case. During the day, the psychic forces boiled throughout her combined circulatory/nervous system, sucking up energy from the sun. While the sun was up, she was brimming over with the excess solar energy. The added power makes her skin bullet proof, supercharges her muscles enough to punch holes through tanks, and by channeling the excess solar energy out through her hands and feet, she can fly. It was glorious. Night time was another story. When the sun went down, her strength and toughness faded rapidly along with the ability to fly. As night came on, the true nature of her powers came out. Unrestrained by the influence of the sun, the psychic forces flowed through her body's strange channels like dark quicksilver, enhancing her reflexes and intellect, but also twisting her mind in ways that frightened her. The guardians took her in and trained her. They gave her purpose and helped her master her baser impulses, using both her sets of powers to serve the city. For about two years, she was as happy as she had ever been. Then in 2024, Aaron just... quit. And disappeared off the face of the earth. Soon after that, Iron Wing retired. The rest of the team kept plugging away, but somehow it was never the same after that. By 2031 Kate had pretty much retired from hero work and gone back to full time reporting. Knight Day in Baltimore made news nationally, but also dropped the first tantalizing clues to Kate that Aaron might be back. Her first solid confirmation was when the Francis Scott Key bridge was knocked down. The news reports didn't feature him, but they said enough. Curiosity piqued, she hit Bailey up for funds to go dig for stories about the Knights. Really though, she just wanted to confront Aaron about running out on the Guardians without so much as a 'goodbye' almost 15 years ago. (Not to mention coming back without dropping a line!)
Aaron Mallory
If she could be honest with herself, she has always wanted Aaron to see her as more than a friend. Honesty is not her long suit however, and she would die before admitting her feelings. Aaron, for his part, just doesn't seem to have those kind of feelings.
Samuel and Bella Barrett
Kate's parents. She doesn't see them much anymore as they were forced into a federal relocation program in the late 2020s after a particularly nasty case she worked involving organized crime. Visiting them without blowing their cover identities is a pain in the ass, but she tries to make the effort at least twice a year. Her father is still overprotective to the point of being a little controlling, but nowadays she just finds it amusing. Her mom is the one she really misses. Mom always pushed her to reach past what people thought she could handle; to go beyond what was deemed 'appropriate' and be authentic. Mom gave her the means to make her life extraordinary, and a temper to be reckoned with. She always wanted to have a child of her own to pass that down to, but given the extremity of her gene expression, she is not sure she should. Given her age, she is not sure how much longer she even could.
Eve Knox
Aaron's assistant teacher in CD + Y at 108. She seems highly competent and decent. Maybe she can pump her for inside information about Aaron's new 'church' thing.
Hunter Ward
The personal combat instructor at 108. Something about him sets off alarms in Kate's mind, but she can't quite put her finger on what it is.
Lars Magnusson
Kate first met Lars late in 2024, shortly after Aaron quit the team. She first reached out to him ostensibly as a replacement, but actually had suspicions from the start about his sanity and stability. When she confronted him about a string of murders she suspected his involvement in, he made his escape, humiliating her in the process, and dropping off the radar for over a decade. She has wanted to bring him down ever since, but rarely gets any real opportunities. He is just too slippery.
Harry Triest
Codename, Iron Wing. A C rank hyper intellect, long since retired, and he meant it when he said it. Harry was the Guardian's gadgeteer, and the de facto team leader, partly from his extreme intellect, partly from being old enough to be Aaron and Kate's grandfather. For the younger members, he could have been their great grandfather. He gave her his night vision goggles when he retired to increase her effectiveness as a night time hero. He is a storehouse of useful gadgets, if asked nicely.
Skuld Blanco
Twin Cities police captain, retired. No nonsense lady. Put up with a lot of nonsense from the Minnesota super population because it got results. Not overly fond of Kate. The feeling is mutual.
Bailey Baldwin
Editor in Chief of the Minnesota Star Tribune. When he first read her blog back in 2017, he resolved to hire her. After the Rapture incident, he made a permanent position for her on staff. He is still technically her boss, but these days she pretty much does the work she wants. Mostly editorial opinion pieces rather than the hard hitting exposés of yesteryear Bailey claims to be paying her for.
John Morrow
Codename Impact. A C rank hero specializing in fancy fisticuffs, he is one of the younger members of the team, and one of the few still actively working with Blanco. He is also fabulously wealthy, and uses his fortune to do charitable works alongside his work as a vigilante. These days he does more work running his foundation that he does on the streets.
Orion
A symbiotic hero with a sea-skate like body plan. Orion grants powers to any E rank who allows it to attach to their neck like a cape. Orion has never given any name other than the codename. It claims to be an alien, but tests positve for human genes including the A6G23. Orion says that is a side effect of it's symbiosis with humans, but confided to Kate that this story is bullshit. Orion's childhood was pretty awful, as a non humanoid mutant, and doesn't like to talk about it. It feels like an alien, forever denied true communion with humanity except as a literal hanger on. It is a wonder really, that it didn't end up as a villain. Orion, along with John, is all that is left of the Guardians in 2040.
The Voices
Kate has never told anyone this, but ever since she gained her powers, she hears voices in her head. Mostly they just tease and cajole and provide running commentary. But sometimes they say things that worry her. She has done a lot of reading about the functioning of the human brain, and how it behaves more like a committee than a true individual. Her suspicion is that the extension of white matter and gray matter neurons throughout her circulatory system has allowed some parts of her subconscious mind to develop their own executive function. But it is not her field of expertise, and she doesn't dare to ask anyone about it for fear they will assume she is crazy. Only at twilight do they leave her alone.
Janus, The Two-Faced God
Kate has two distinct power sets. She cannot choose which one to use; it is entirely determined by whether the sun is up or down. And at dawn and dusk, she loses both sets and has to deal with being more or less normal until the transition is complete.
Darkness in the Light: During the day, the sunlight aggravates the dark energies in her veins, bringing them to a low boil just below the surface of her skin. This makes her very strong and tough, and able to fly. When so close to the surface, the darkforce can emerge from her hands as strands of psychic shadow that can entangle and restrain anything living, draining strength and sapping will. In principle, the shadow strands could kill if allowed to maintain contact long enough. Kate strongly suspects they want to kill, but she assiduously restrains them from doing so.
Light in the Darkness: At night she loses her flight, strength and toughness, but moves and thinks more quickly. Additionally, stored solar energy from the day can be released as dazzling lights and lethal bursts of crystalized photons.
Limitations
Twilight: For about one hour around sunset and another around sunrise, Kate is in balance. The darkness from her cellular matrix loses its hold. The sunlight is not strong enough to charge or mutate her powers. For these brief spans, all her powers fade away, though she remains an exceptional specimen of humanity.
Don't Cross The Streams: In her daytime form, she is especially vulnerable to any form of shadow attack, including her own, if it is turned back against her. At night, she is vulnerable to any form of light based attack, including her own.
Low Battery: If she overuses her light attacks at night, they can run out of juice. In the daytime, if she pushes too hard on a heavily overcast day, her powers can fail until she charges for a few minutes. Solar eclipses, while rare, will rob her of her powers entirely until the eclipse is over.
Shadows Aren't Real: You'd be hard pressed to convince those she has bound with shadow strands of this, but they can't be used to tie anything that is not alive or has no mind to speak of. Zombies, trees, rocks and the like cannot be touched by her shadow strands.
Like Cures Like: Her shadow strands can be dissipated by shadows, or even just a darkened room. Her light bursts can be deflected or blocked by light, even just a flashlight.
Flashbacks: Sometimes, certain stimuli will take Kate to a very dark place. It is difficult to predict how she will react, except that it is never good, and always leaves her with a memory gap when it is over. She suspects this has to do with the extra neural tissue creeping through the rest of her body. As if it knows something she does not.
[tab=Skills and Flaws]Investigative Instincts: Years of super sleuthing and undercover journalism has given Kate a very keen eye for details others might miss.
Journalistic Writing: She also has a novel she's been plugging away at for 15 years, but the bills are paid by the reporting. To be honest, even if she could get a publisher, she'd be mortified to see her novel in print. But anyway, she can write pretty well.
Conversational Interrogation: Kate has a knack for getting people to open up to her. She has gotten a number of exclusive interviews with super-villains in prison. On occasion, she has even gotten them in the midst of doing battle.
Closed Off: With the sole exception of her mother, there is nobody Kate opens up to. Freud would say this is the source of all her other neuroses. But what does Freud know?
Inflexible: Kate is very quick to judgement. Once she has the angle on a story, she is not likely to change her mind. When combined with a streak of violence, this has led to some bad outcomes for those she decides are villains. Eventually this may ruin her career as a blue card.
Insubordinate: Harry was always the de facto leader of the guardians. But Harry was special. He understood how to guide people without 'barking orders' at them. Nobody else has ever been able to work with Kate for long without her breaking ranks to go off on her own. Admittedly this has often gotten results, but not too many friends in the Law Enforcement community.
Item: [Night Vision Goggles/I]] Compact, efficacious and very nearly indestructible, these were a gift from Harry
Item: [Flight Suit] Kate can handle velocities near the speed of sound, but most clothing can't. Her suit and special streamlined backpack were designed by Dana Dabbs.
Item: [Stealth Suit] Another gift from Harry, this blends into shadows well and is nearly IR neutral, as well as having active noise cancelation and better than average resistance to small arms fire.
[/tab]
Katheryn Marie Barrett
Nicknames
Kate, Shrew ← (Use at your own risk)
Codename
Janus
Gender
Female
Age
44 years
Rank
A Rank
Limiter
Inactive, Level 3
Role
Journalist/Vigilante
Heritage
Scandinavian/Scottish descent, but Minnesotan born and bred.
Hair
Blonde
Eyes
Blue
Height
5' 11”
Figure
Go on and ask her. Dare you.
Notes
She has a fighter's demeanor, even in civilian garb, even at twilight without her powers.[/Tab]
Loyal
Kate's friends come first. Period. Truth, Justice, American way, yadda yadda yadda. If any of that stands between Kate and doing right by her friends though...
Fiery
Contrary to popular Twin Cities myth, Kate was NOT named after the titular character of Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew” She can quote parts of it by heart though, as well as feminist critiques of it.
Mercurial
She is pretty sure she wasn't always like this. She only really feels like herself around twilight. In the daytime, the call to the glory of righteous and honorable battle is strong. At night, the urge to dispose of human the offal lurking in dark alleys silently and efficiently is almost overpowering. Caught between these two extremes, it is hard to know who she really is.
Vengeful
Mostly Kate's blistering tongue is just high spirits. Anyone who can stand toe to toe with her in verbal fencing gets her respect. To those who manage to truly piss her off however, woe unto ye! When the fiery banter stops, you may want to see about putting your affairs in order, and soon.
History
Kate got her start in the adventuresome life as a reporter. She got her first regular gig while covering the rapture and blogging about it. She was just 17. It was shortly after this that she met Aaron Mallory and the rest of the Twin City Guardians. She stuck to him and his teammates like glue, and while she was nearly killed on multiple occasions, she always got phenomenal stories for her paper. She was 23 when her luck finally ran out. She was tracking the activity of some kind of cult, led by a man who claimed to be in contact with extra-dimensional entities he called, unironically, edge-lords. When they found her spying on their midnight summoning ritual, they decided she would make a fine sacrifice. Unfortunately for them, stabbing her in the throat was just the stress she needed for her A6G23 gene to finally activate. As she watched her lifeblood spray over the hood of the chief priest and felt consciousness fleeting, something dark rose up from her subconscious mind to take its place. The darkness spread rapidly to the furthest limits of her genetic code, invigorating her cells and rewiring her mind. In the space of her final heartbeat her blood was replaced with something...else. Iron wing would later describe it as some kind of psychic force which defied his best attempts to quantify it. Telepathic heroes have told her that whatever it is inside her puts off low level emotional vibrations as if it is a living entity in its own right. Medical exams have shown her nervous system has extended throughout her circulatory system, more than tripling the nerve tissue in her body, and increasing white matter and gray matter by over thirty percent. She is a curious case. During the day, the psychic forces boiled throughout her combined circulatory/nervous system, sucking up energy from the sun. While the sun was up, she was brimming over with the excess solar energy. The added power makes her skin bullet proof, supercharges her muscles enough to punch holes through tanks, and by channeling the excess solar energy out through her hands and feet, she can fly. It was glorious. Night time was another story. When the sun went down, her strength and toughness faded rapidly along with the ability to fly. As night came on, the true nature of her powers came out. Unrestrained by the influence of the sun, the psychic forces flowed through her body's strange channels like dark quicksilver, enhancing her reflexes and intellect, but also twisting her mind in ways that frightened her. The guardians took her in and trained her. They gave her purpose and helped her master her baser impulses, using both her sets of powers to serve the city. For about two years, she was as happy as she had ever been. Then in 2024, Aaron just... quit. And disappeared off the face of the earth. Soon after that, Iron Wing retired. The rest of the team kept plugging away, but somehow it was never the same after that. By 2031 Kate had pretty much retired from hero work and gone back to full time reporting. Knight Day in Baltimore made news nationally, but also dropped the first tantalizing clues to Kate that Aaron might be back. Her first solid confirmation was when the Francis Scott Key bridge was knocked down. The news reports didn't feature him, but they said enough. Curiosity piqued, she hit Bailey up for funds to go dig for stories about the Knights. Really though, she just wanted to confront Aaron about running out on the Guardians without so much as a 'goodbye' almost 15 years ago. (Not to mention coming back without dropping a line!)
Aaron Mallory
If she could be honest with herself, she has always wanted Aaron to see her as more than a friend. Honesty is not her long suit however, and she would die before admitting her feelings. Aaron, for his part, just doesn't seem to have those kind of feelings.
Samuel and Bella Barrett
Kate's parents. She doesn't see them much anymore as they were forced into a federal relocation program in the late 2020s after a particularly nasty case she worked involving organized crime. Visiting them without blowing their cover identities is a pain in the ass, but she tries to make the effort at least twice a year. Her father is still overprotective to the point of being a little controlling, but nowadays she just finds it amusing. Her mom is the one she really misses. Mom always pushed her to reach past what people thought she could handle; to go beyond what was deemed 'appropriate' and be authentic. Mom gave her the means to make her life extraordinary, and a temper to be reckoned with. She always wanted to have a child of her own to pass that down to, but given the extremity of her gene expression, she is not sure she should. Given her age, she is not sure how much longer she even could.
Eve Knox
Aaron's assistant teacher in CD + Y at 108. She seems highly competent and decent. Maybe she can pump her for inside information about Aaron's new 'church' thing.
Hunter Ward
The personal combat instructor at 108. Something about him sets off alarms in Kate's mind, but she can't quite put her finger on what it is.
Lars Magnusson
Kate first met Lars late in 2024, shortly after Aaron quit the team. She first reached out to him ostensibly as a replacement, but actually had suspicions from the start about his sanity and stability. When she confronted him about a string of murders she suspected his involvement in, he made his escape, humiliating her in the process, and dropping off the radar for over a decade. She has wanted to bring him down ever since, but rarely gets any real opportunities. He is just too slippery.
Harry Triest
Codename, Iron Wing. A C rank hyper intellect, long since retired, and he meant it when he said it. Harry was the Guardian's gadgeteer, and the de facto team leader, partly from his extreme intellect, partly from being old enough to be Aaron and Kate's grandfather. For the younger members, he could have been their great grandfather. He gave her his night vision goggles when he retired to increase her effectiveness as a night time hero. He is a storehouse of useful gadgets, if asked nicely.
Skuld Blanco
Twin Cities police captain, retired. No nonsense lady. Put up with a lot of nonsense from the Minnesota super population because it got results. Not overly fond of Kate. The feeling is mutual.
Bailey Baldwin
Editor in Chief of the Minnesota Star Tribune. When he first read her blog back in 2017, he resolved to hire her. After the Rapture incident, he made a permanent position for her on staff. He is still technically her boss, but these days she pretty much does the work she wants. Mostly editorial opinion pieces rather than the hard hitting exposés of yesteryear Bailey claims to be paying her for.
John Morrow
Codename Impact. A C rank hero specializing in fancy fisticuffs, he is one of the younger members of the team, and one of the few still actively working with Blanco. He is also fabulously wealthy, and uses his fortune to do charitable works alongside his work as a vigilante. These days he does more work running his foundation that he does on the streets.
Orion
A symbiotic hero with a sea-skate like body plan. Orion grants powers to any E rank who allows it to attach to their neck like a cape. Orion has never given any name other than the codename. It claims to be an alien, but tests positve for human genes including the A6G23. Orion says that is a side effect of it's symbiosis with humans, but confided to Kate that this story is bullshit. Orion's childhood was pretty awful, as a non humanoid mutant, and doesn't like to talk about it. It feels like an alien, forever denied true communion with humanity except as a literal hanger on. It is a wonder really, that it didn't end up as a villain. Orion, along with John, is all that is left of the Guardians in 2040.
The Voices
Kate has never told anyone this, but ever since she gained her powers, she hears voices in her head. Mostly they just tease and cajole and provide running commentary. But sometimes they say things that worry her. She has done a lot of reading about the functioning of the human brain, and how it behaves more like a committee than a true individual. Her suspicion is that the extension of white matter and gray matter neurons throughout her circulatory system has allowed some parts of her subconscious mind to develop their own executive function. But it is not her field of expertise, and she doesn't dare to ask anyone about it for fear they will assume she is crazy. Only at twilight do they leave her alone.
Janus, The Two-Faced God
Kate has two distinct power sets. She cannot choose which one to use; it is entirely determined by whether the sun is up or down. And at dawn and dusk, she loses both sets and has to deal with being more or less normal until the transition is complete.
Darkness in the Light: During the day, the sunlight aggravates the dark energies in her veins, bringing them to a low boil just below the surface of her skin. This makes her very strong and tough, and able to fly. When so close to the surface, the darkforce can emerge from her hands as strands of psychic shadow that can entangle and restrain anything living, draining strength and sapping will. In principle, the shadow strands could kill if allowed to maintain contact long enough. Kate strongly suspects they want to kill, but she assiduously restrains them from doing so.
Light in the Darkness: At night she loses her flight, strength and toughness, but moves and thinks more quickly. Additionally, stored solar energy from the day can be released as dazzling lights and lethal bursts of crystalized photons.
Limitations
Twilight: For about one hour around sunset and another around sunrise, Kate is in balance. The darkness from her cellular matrix loses its hold. The sunlight is not strong enough to charge or mutate her powers. For these brief spans, all her powers fade away, though she remains an exceptional specimen of humanity.
Don't Cross The Streams: In her daytime form, she is especially vulnerable to any form of shadow attack, including her own, if it is turned back against her. At night, she is vulnerable to any form of light based attack, including her own.
Low Battery: If she overuses her light attacks at night, they can run out of juice. In the daytime, if she pushes too hard on a heavily overcast day, her powers can fail until she charges for a few minutes. Solar eclipses, while rare, will rob her of her powers entirely until the eclipse is over.
Shadows Aren't Real: You'd be hard pressed to convince those she has bound with shadow strands of this, but they can't be used to tie anything that is not alive or has no mind to speak of. Zombies, trees, rocks and the like cannot be touched by her shadow strands.
Like Cures Like: Her shadow strands can be dissipated by shadows, or even just a darkened room. Her light bursts can be deflected or blocked by light, even just a flashlight.
Flashbacks: Sometimes, certain stimuli will take Kate to a very dark place. It is difficult to predict how she will react, except that it is never good, and always leaves her with a memory gap when it is over. She suspects this has to do with the extra neural tissue creeping through the rest of her body. As if it knows something she does not.
[tab=Skills and Flaws]Investigative Instincts: Years of super sleuthing and undercover journalism has given Kate a very keen eye for details others might miss.
Journalistic Writing: She also has a novel she's been plugging away at for 15 years, but the bills are paid by the reporting. To be honest, even if she could get a publisher, she'd be mortified to see her novel in print. But anyway, she can write pretty well.
Conversational Interrogation: Kate has a knack for getting people to open up to her. She has gotten a number of exclusive interviews with super-villains in prison. On occasion, she has even gotten them in the midst of doing battle.
Closed Off: With the sole exception of her mother, there is nobody Kate opens up to. Freud would say this is the source of all her other neuroses. But what does Freud know?
Inflexible: Kate is very quick to judgement. Once she has the angle on a story, she is not likely to change her mind. When combined with a streak of violence, this has led to some bad outcomes for those she decides are villains. Eventually this may ruin her career as a blue card.
Insubordinate: Harry was always the de facto leader of the guardians. But Harry was special. He understood how to guide people without 'barking orders' at them. Nobody else has ever been able to work with Kate for long without her breaking ranks to go off on her own. Admittedly this has often gotten results, but not too many friends in the Law Enforcement community.
Item: [Night Vision Goggles/I]] Compact, efficacious and very nearly indestructible, these were a gift from Harry
Item: [Flight Suit] Kate can handle velocities near the speed of sound, but most clothing can't. Her suit and special streamlined backpack were designed by Dana Dabbs.
Item: [Stealth Suit] Another gift from Harry, this blends into shadows well and is nearly IR neutral, as well as having active noise cancelation and better than average resistance to small arms fire.
[/tab]
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
[/table][/column]
Marinos, Gerald
Personality
Introverted:
His mom says he's just "shy" but honestly he finds that more than a little patronizing. He prefers to think of it as "Keeping his own Counsel." Except that saying that out loud sounds more than a little pretentious, and will typically get you beat up and stuffed in a locker. So he prefers thinking to talking, and the fact that people suck just reinforces his opinions on the merits of communicating your thoughts to others.
Fatalistic:
Of course, leading with "people suck" might lead you to think Gerald is a misanthrope. In this you would not be wrong. Not exactly. The difference is subtle but, he feels, important: he doesn't take it personally. People are how they are. Wishing they would be different is asking for heartache. Keep people at a distance and keep your expectations low and you'll never, ever, be disappointed.
Funny:
Given his other traits, not too many people know this about Gerald; almost all of his most jocose comments remain purely part of his internal monologuing. But every once in a great while, one slips out. Either it is too good to resist sharing, or he feels he has read the room well enough to know it won't result in a locker stuffing. Lately he has been a bit less worried about that given the events of the last few weeks, but on the other hand he's quite a bit less keen to draw attention.
Observant:
The natural companion of introversion, and the indispensable progenitor of both funny and fatalism, this is probably the core of Gerald's personality. His inner monologue never stops, and misses very very little.
Appearance
Gerald's skin never quite looks right no matter how hard he tries, so he has settled on a default simulation of severe acne to avoid anyone looking too closely. He can change that pretty dramatically though if he wants to, and sometimes even when he doesn't want to, as noted in his powers below. He generally prefers shapeless voluminous clothing that covers as much of his skin as possible.
Biography
Gerald is the fifth of seven children in the Marinos family who run a chain of discount furniture stores from Massachusetts to Baltimore. While they are for all practical purposes wealthy, they are in an eternal state of barely balanced financial leverages, and never more than a steep recession away from bankruptcy. Not that he knows anything about that. All he knows is that his parents barely acknowledged his existence before his powers manifested. To be honest, he is pretty sure he preferred that state of affairs. Now that he is the only one in the family with super powers, everyone is kind of freaked out. He thinks his dad might have mafia connections; at the last family meeting he went on a rant about how supers were bad for business, snooping around and what not, and how no loyal member of the Marinos clan would ever work for the Feds... Typical out of touch genZey, his dad. As if having powers automatically makes you a crime fighter. Like what, that comes coded into the genes? Eye. Roll.
So anyway, things are a little tense at home.
At least his mom had the sense to send him off to this camp. Not exactly out of love, per se, but at least it takes a little of the pressure off. Until the homesickness kicked in... which was pretty much as soon as they drove away. It's going to be a long summer. And 'special school' waiting at the end of it! Yay.
Superpower
OctoFlesh
Gerald was a normal kid until three weeks ago. So normal you'd never notice him. The irony of this is not lost on him: Trading social camouflage for actual camouflage? Who writes this garbage?
Now he can change his skin color and texture like an octopus. The lab tech was very helpful in explaining all the details about chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores. As a side effect it has made him more flexible. A lot more flexible. Like to kind of a disgusting degree. He still has bones, more or less; he can still stand up and walk around like a normal person. Unlike a normal person he can now squeeze through a pipe less than six inches wide. Yuck.
So. Benefits: can instinctually change color and texture to blend into any background (He's thinking codename: wallflower. Not.)
Can change shape pretty dramatically, but has to keep the same basic body plan. Think quintuple jointed circus contortionist with freakishly soft bones; he's not plastic man, he doesn't have tentacles and he can't stretch. He's just super super bendy.
He can swim pretty well if he stops trying to do it like a human, but definitely cannot breathe underwater.
Freakishly strong grip, and can use his whole body do do it now
Drawbacks:
Can't do skin properly. Can do impressions well enough you know who he's going for, but can't disguise himself as human. Does a pretty good lion-fish though
Skin dries out easily and smells funny.
Soap hurts a lot, and doesn't help with the smell.
Looks super gross when he swims, even if he tries to do it like a human.
Eyes are sensitive to bright lights
Bones are flexible, which is painful all the time, and while it seems that they can't break, they do bruise, and easily.
'Instinctually" means it can happen spontaneously if startled or stressed out.
[/row]Personality
Introverted:
His mom says he's just "shy" but honestly he finds that more than a little patronizing. He prefers to think of it as "Keeping his own Counsel." Except that saying that out loud sounds more than a little pretentious, and will typically get you beat up and stuffed in a locker. So he prefers thinking to talking, and the fact that people suck just reinforces his opinions on the merits of communicating your thoughts to others.
Fatalistic:
Of course, leading with "people suck" might lead you to think Gerald is a misanthrope. In this you would not be wrong. Not exactly. The difference is subtle but, he feels, important: he doesn't take it personally. People are how they are. Wishing they would be different is asking for heartache. Keep people at a distance and keep your expectations low and you'll never, ever, be disappointed.
Funny:
Given his other traits, not too many people know this about Gerald; almost all of his most jocose comments remain purely part of his internal monologuing. But every once in a great while, one slips out. Either it is too good to resist sharing, or he feels he has read the room well enough to know it won't result in a locker stuffing. Lately he has been a bit less worried about that given the events of the last few weeks, but on the other hand he's quite a bit less keen to draw attention.
Observant:
The natural companion of introversion, and the indispensable progenitor of both funny and fatalism, this is probably the core of Gerald's personality. His inner monologue never stops, and misses very very little.
Appearance
Gerald's skin never quite looks right no matter how hard he tries, so he has settled on a default simulation of severe acne to avoid anyone looking too closely. He can change that pretty dramatically though if he wants to, and sometimes even when he doesn't want to, as noted in his powers below. He generally prefers shapeless voluminous clothing that covers as much of his skin as possible.
Biography
Gerald is the fifth of seven children in the Marinos family who run a chain of discount furniture stores from Massachusetts to Baltimore. While they are for all practical purposes wealthy, they are in an eternal state of barely balanced financial leverages, and never more than a steep recession away from bankruptcy. Not that he knows anything about that. All he knows is that his parents barely acknowledged his existence before his powers manifested. To be honest, he is pretty sure he preferred that state of affairs. Now that he is the only one in the family with super powers, everyone is kind of freaked out. He thinks his dad might have mafia connections; at the last family meeting he went on a rant about how supers were bad for business, snooping around and what not, and how no loyal member of the Marinos clan would ever work for the Feds... Typical out of touch genZey, his dad. As if having powers automatically makes you a crime fighter. Like what, that comes coded into the genes? Eye. Roll.
So anyway, things are a little tense at home.
At least his mom had the sense to send him off to this camp. Not exactly out of love, per se, but at least it takes a little of the pressure off. Until the homesickness kicked in... which was pretty much as soon as they drove away. It's going to be a long summer. And 'special school' waiting at the end of it! Yay.
Superpower
OctoFlesh
Gerald was a normal kid until three weeks ago. So normal you'd never notice him. The irony of this is not lost on him: Trading social camouflage for actual camouflage? Who writes this garbage?
Now he can change his skin color and texture like an octopus. The lab tech was very helpful in explaining all the details about chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores. As a side effect it has made him more flexible. A lot more flexible. Like to kind of a disgusting degree. He still has bones, more or less; he can still stand up and walk around like a normal person. Unlike a normal person he can now squeeze through a pipe less than six inches wide. Yuck.
So. Benefits: can instinctually change color and texture to blend into any background (He's thinking codename: wallflower. Not.)
Can change shape pretty dramatically, but has to keep the same basic body plan. Think quintuple jointed circus contortionist with freakishly soft bones; he's not plastic man, he doesn't have tentacles and he can't stretch. He's just super super bendy.
He can swim pretty well if he stops trying to do it like a human, but definitely cannot breathe underwater.
Freakishly strong grip, and can use his whole body do do it now
Drawbacks:
Can't do skin properly. Can do impressions well enough you know who he's going for, but can't disguise himself as human. Does a pretty good lion-fish though
Skin dries out easily and smells funny.
Soap hurts a lot, and doesn't help with the smell.
Looks super gross when he swims, even if he tries to do it like a human.
Eyes are sensitive to bright lights
Bones are flexible, which is painful all the time, and while it seems that they can't break, they do bruise, and easily.
'Instinctually" means it can happen spontaneously if startled or stressed out.
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
Sorry for no spoiler tabs and out of date formatting. I am drowning in grading papers this weekend and it was all I could do to search up the old CSs and copypasta
Would like to submit all three of the above for the B thread.
welian
If anybody wanted to beat the information into the proper coding I would be super grateful.
I recognize there needs to be a bit of history rewriting, especially for Gerald, who is no longer 13 and going to sleepaway camp for the first time.
Anyway I feel like somebody ought to check up on that guy who got hit by a car, yeah? I volunteer as tribute.
Would like to submit all three of the above for the B thread.
welian
If anybody wanted to beat the information into the proper coding I would be super grateful.
I recognize there needs to be a bit of history rewriting, especially for Gerald, who is no longer 13 and going to sleepaway camp for the first time.
Anyway I feel like somebody ought to check up on that guy who got hit by a car, yeah? I volunteer as tribute.
Damafaud
Kitty
I'd made a comment but I don't onow what to say other than what the fuck
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
About my character flood? Or something else?
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
One of the things I ran across yesterday searching for old CSs:
www.rpnation.com
Fun stroll down memory lane. Set just after episode 4.
Mission: Report Cards [closed, staff only]
Monday February 20th 2040 (Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday) Despite all the crazy events surrounding Facility 108, it’s still a school of sorts, and that means report cards – or in this case, official reports to be sent back to Commonwealth. On a peaceful, student-less Monday afternoon...
www.rpnation.com
Fun stroll down memory lane. Set just after episode 4.
Giyari
Magical_Girl.exe
One of the things I ran across yesterday searching for old CSs:
Mission: Report Cards [closed, staff only]
Monday February 20th 2040 (Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday) Despite all the crazy events surrounding Facility 108, it’s still a school of sorts, and that means report cards – or in this case, official reports to be sent back to Commonwealth. On a peaceful, student-less Monday afternoon...
Fun stroll down memory lane. Set just after episode 4.
Ah yes, reason #37 Swan is now "in retirement", lol
welian
#BlackLivesMatter
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
Ok, but I will have to follow your lead, or do research with Bag, because I am actually an extrovert.
Say... should i even be writing introverts at all?
NiftyNat
ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ
See, I think introverts could also be sociable too, it's just that their social battery runs out rather quickly. As long as introverted characters are given their sweet sweet personal space and some time to recharge, they'll be a okay to be social again.
XD I think that's a great idea. They just communicate through nods they all just telepathically understand. Or the slight raise of eyebrows when it's time to judge someone.
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
*furiously scribbles notes*
welian
#BlackLivesMatter
Go ahead and resume posting in 1A, we had a nice quiet weekend to catch up.
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
!!!
Maybe you did, but i have been grading papers almost non stop since I got up Saturday morning. I got a collab started, but it is a ways from finished…
Gus
Justice RIDES AGAIN!!!
Frixz
ManicMuse
I ax-o-lotl questions.
How many years would we add to an old character's age???
welian
#BlackLivesMatter
Five, or four, or six... But if it needs to be more or less, we can politely look away.How many years would we add to an old character's age???
AtlannianSpy
Alarmed and Strangerous
Damafaud
Kitty
The office one I think?
