Broken Mirrors - OOC

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Buio

Dusk Washing Over Heaven
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Posting Speed
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  2. 1-3 posts per day
  3. One post per day
  4. 1-3 posts per week
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
High Fantasy (things dealing with magical worlds, often with multiple races think final fantasy and its many varying incarnations), Dark Fantasy (fantasy dealing generally with darker themes such as monsters and demons), Action, Supernatural

IC
Introduction

A man stands before you as you are gathered into the unfamiliar town square, you are unsure as to where you are or who these people around you all are. The last thing you remember is being dropped off at the 'Brewster Juvenile Institute for Mental Correctness and Rehabilitation'; a fancy name for a juvenile mental asylum, and then being overcome by an incredible drowsy feeling and everything going black. When you next woke up, you were already standing where you were, standing amongst all these strangers. A few quick glances around you lets you know that the other people in the crowd, most of them kids, are as confused as you are, so you turn your attention to the man on the podium in front of you.

The man, an older gentleman looking to be in his late forties and dressed in a lab coat, clears his throat before starting to speak. "Attention, attention please," his voice, dry and curt, commands a sense of cold, professional authority, similar to what one would imagine of a university professor. He scanned the audience with his gray-blue eyes, their sparkle betraying a keen, scientific interest in the individuals before him despite his calm and orderly air.

"I understand that all of you must be very confused," he continued, "but rest assured, you are all in good care. This is the true face of the Brewster Juvenile Institute. This town, for the duration of your treatment, will become your new home."

There was unrest and uneasy murmurs at this revelation. The news, understandably, was not being received very well, but the man in the coat continued his speech regardless. "You children, I'm afraid to say, have all been lied to, misled your entire lives. You have been told that you were broken, handicapped, ill, somehow unfit to live amongst 'normal' people. I am here to tell you that everything you have heard so far is incorrect. All of you possess something unique within you, something special that no one has ever told you about and no one understood, until now. We here at Brewster know more about you than you know about yourselves, and we will help you draw out this special talent, and in the process we will rid you of the ailments that have made your lives so difficult so far, in fact, we've already begun doing so."

He paused after this last sentence, giving time for the words to sink in. Suddenly you realize what kind of situation you were in. In and unfamiliar place, full of unfamiliar people, being addressed by someone you had never met before. This kind of situation should have put you into one of your usual 'episodes', or at the very least driven you to having a panic attack, but there was nothing. You look at your hands in order to confirm this isn't a dream, but you cannot get over how... normal you feel at the moment. It is a feeling that you haven't known in a long time, maybe ever.

Giving a satisfied smile as he sees you and the rest of your group all come to the same collective realization, to one degree or another, the man decides to once again pick up his speech. "You came here broken, rejected from society. when you leave, you won't only be 'fixed' you will stand head and shoulders above all your peers, a shining example of humanity's future. My name is Professor David Benet, I am the General Administrator here at Brewster, and I welcome you all you our fair institute. I welcome you all home."

The man flickers for a moment before the image disappears, and only now you realize that the one standing before you had been a hologram all along. Before the realization can sink in, however, you are overcome with the same drowsy sensation as before, quickly being overcome with another black out.

When you wake up next, you're lying in bed, in yet another unfamiliar room. Sitting up, you realize that you have something that looks like a large white watch attached to your wrist, a blank digital screen replacing the clock face. You tentatively touch the screen and it flickers to life, a message reading "Welcome home" greeting you. So starts your first day in Brewster.


General Overview

So our characters will all be residents within the town of Brewster, the true face of the Brewster Juvenile Institute for Mental Correctness and Rehabilitation. The artificial town is a walled-in community designed to work as a 'gilded cage' for our characters, keeping them all in one place while providing the illusion of comfort and normalcy.

As can be expected of a bunch of kids sent off to what is effectively a mental asylum, all of our characters will have some sort of mental affliction that previously made it incapable for them to function normally in society, however, that isn't the truly remarkable thing about them. All of our characters are in fact psychics, and it is these latent dormant abilities that were the cause of the psychoses that previously plagued us. I say previously because the administrators of Brewster are aware of our abilities, and have provided us all with a drug called Kaleidoscope that allows us to draw out and control our powers, causing our respective mental illnesses (which were caused by the powers and our inability to properly tap into them) to decrease in severity. An example of this would be that if someone was suffering of severe schizophrenia before coming to Brewster, and frequently saw and spoke to people who were not there, they would only occasionally hear voices that they realized were not their own after being administered within the facility town.

However, Brewster is not the godsend that it appears to be at first. The first priority of the administrators is to develop the psychic abilities of the young residents, no mater the cost, and they've employed drastic measures in order to get the data they need, even resulting in the deaths of some of the patients. Our group, the titular Broken Mirrors, will be composed of a few residents of the town who are fed up with the way things are, being treated like lab rats, and are formulating an escape plan.


Brewster

The artificial town of Brewster (often shortened down to 'Brew' by its residents) is a walled-in town with only one road that leads outside the walls, that road itself being walled off and leading directly to the Central District where the Administrators reside. Beyond being walled off from the outside, the town is also further separated into several districts and sub-districts that can only be accessed through certain checkpoints. Certain districts are inaccessible unless one possesses the proper authorization. The districts and roads are purposefully arranged to make it difficult to navigate the town without relying on the automated systems that run nearly every aspect of it. It shoudl be noted that the administrators never directly interacts with the subjects. When they oversee testing and development, they do so through holograms (much like the one Head Administrator Bennett used during the 'orientation' of our characters) and other digital interfaces. This way they do not expose themselves to any danger from any potentially rebellious or violent subjects.

  • Residential District: The largest district of the town, effectively wrapping around all other districts and hugging the external walls, forming what is known as the 'outer ring'. It is divided into several sub-districts based on the ranks of the subjects residing within.
    • South Sector: Sometimes refereed to as the 'slums' in a derogatory, if inaccurate, fashion, this is where all the E and D rankers (by extension referred to as 'slummers') reside. Living accommodations are basic, and the dormitory rooms are usually shared amongst 4 residents. E and D rankers will never be assigned to one same room for obvious reasons. Residents share communal toilets, shower rooms, and eat at cafeterias. This district has the highest amount of surveillance due to the relative instability of its residents.
    • East Sector: The residence of all C rankers. Living accommodations are basic, but dorm members only have to share their space with one other person as opposed to 3. Residents must still use communal showers and bathrooms, but these are somewhat more spacious and accommodating than those found in south sector. The cafeterias in this sector also serve better food than those in south.
    • West Sector: Residence of the B ranked subjects. Living accommodations are comfortable and residents, while usually being grouped 2 per room, can earn the privilege of having a room of heir own if their merit score is high enough. All rooms come equipped with a personal bathroom, though there are still communal facilities in the sector should the residents still require their use. The cafeterias, while having just as good food as the C sector ones, have a more diverse menu, including several new 'specialty' items such as deserts that can be purchased with merit points.
    • North Sector: Residence of the A rankers and smallest sector (due both to the small amount of a-ranked subjects and the fact that it is split in two by the walled road). Living arrangements are very comfortable and each subject has their own room equipped with personal bathrooms and even a personal kitchen should they desire to cook for themselves (Under constant supervision by the administrators that is). Residents of the sector are granted near unlimited access to the recreational district (which is located directly south of them) and, as such, can take advantage of its automated 4 star restaurants rather than need to go to a cafeteria.
  • Training District: Second largest district after the residential one, this is where the residents of Brew go to hone their abilities, as well as participate in ranking examinations. This is also where the medical facilities for residents can be found. The district forms the south-eastern and south-western tiers of the 'middle ring' of the town and is further divided into 3 sub-districts called 'schools'. Subjects are obligated to wear an armband indicating their rank and school colour at all times when not in their dorm rooms.
    • Black School: The middle sector assigned to subjects with a Telekinetic power. Notably larger than the other two and possessing more open space simply for the reason that several telekinetic powers cannot be safely tested and trained within training facilities.
    • White School: The south western sector assigned to subjects training a Telepathic power.
    • Red School: The south eastern sector assigned o subjects gifted with an Espic power.
  • Recreational District: Forming the northern tier of the town's 'middle ring' this is the one locale where the residents of Brew can enjoy themselves freely by engaging in a variety of recreational activities ranging from automated restaurants, to sports centres, to movie theatres, to game arcades, to comic shops and more (though, of course, which movies, games, and other forms of media the residents are exposed to is strictly monitored by the administrators). The activities that a subject is allowed to take part in is determined by both rank and merit score. Someone with too low a merit score may not be allowed to enter the district at all, regardless of rank. Like the northern sector of the residential district, the recreational district is split in two by the walled road, however there are sky walkways that bridge the east and western halves of the district together.
  • Central District: The central district, often simply referd to as 'Central'. This is where the administrators reside. It is entirely off limits to all subjects save for those who reach S rank, or are summoned there personally by the administrators. What goes on within is largely a mystery.
    • The Walled Road: while not exactly a part of the central district itself, it is the most direct route into the central district as it cuts right through the northern part of the town, linking Central directly to the outside. It is walled off from all other districts and heavily monitored to ensure that there are no escape attempts through it.


Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope is the drug provided to the subjects of Brewster by the administrators, and is the primary cause of the emergence of the subjects' latent psychic powers. This also makes it the primary cause for the drastic diminishing of the severity of the psychological illnesses and afflictions that plague the subjects. The drug has several formulas, most of which are labelled according to their potency, the higher potency allowing for easier mastery of one's psychic abilities, coupled with a greater suppression of symptoms of psychological instability. The more potent forms are reserved for subjects with higher ranks and high merit scores

While the first few doses of the drug are generally administered to the subjects while they are sleeping or otherwise rendered unconscious, within their first weeks the subjects are granted rations that hey can take at their leisure. The reason for this being that Kaleidoscope is a double edged weapon. While the drug itself is not inherently addictive, abstaining fro regular consumption does come with severe side-effects.

Without the drug's aide, subjects lose the ability to control their psychic abilities, resulting in them going haywire if they have been developed past their initial stages. Not only that, but the loss of control over abilities results in their psychological afflictions coming back even worse than before they took the drug to begin with, the severity increasing with how strong one's abilities are. This means that the more potent forms of the drug also have much more severe withdrawal symptoms, often resulting in the death of the subject via their own out of control abilities.

Thus the drug is the administrators' primary means through which they control the subjects of Brewster. By controlling the distribution of Kaleidoscope the administrators ensure that the subjects will be compliant, as disobeying them would result in the subjects being deprived of the substance they require in order to function normally. It is not uncommon for grievous offenders to be put in solitary confinement for a few days where they are deprived of all rations of Kaleidoscope.


Ranks

Ranks are the designation by which a subject's proficiency with their abilities are measured. While the maximum power output of a subject's power IS taken into consideration during ranking examinations, the ranks should not be mistaken as a primary indication of a subject's 'power level'. First and foremost what the administrators look for is control. It is entirely possible for a C rank pure telekinetic to be capable of more destructive output than an A rank, but the A ranker will always be far more skilled in the control of their abilities, allowing them to perform intricate feats (such as disassembling a pocket watch without damaging any of the components). It should also be noted that the more control psychic has over their power, the more psychologically stable they tend to be.
  • E Rank: The automatic rank given to everyone who first enters Brewster. Also known colloquially as 'non-rankers', E rankers are subjects who have not yet been trained in the use of their powers and cannot tap into them. It is very rare for someone to remain an E ranker for more than a week after coming to Brew.
  • D Rank: The lowest rank for those who can tap into their psychic powers, D rankers can only manifest the most basic forms of their powers, and often times these are only detectable through machine testing at first (examples woudl include a pure telekinetic being capable of lifting small cube of iron for a short period, or a pure telepath being capable of guessing the general theme of the thoughts of one they are speaking with, without being able to make out any concrete words they are thinking). Being incapable of progressing past this stage is warrant for heavy ridicule by one's peers in Brew.
  • C Rank: At this rank, psychics now have enough control to tap into their powers freely and without requiring intense concentration (though a fair degree of focus is still required). Generally speaking, however, they have difficulty manifesting the higher levels of their power, and still lack fine control over their abilities (a telekinetic may pick up a small ball and move it from one end of a table to another, but he would still have difficulty making it navigate a series of vertical obstacles as he is moving it, for example). Those few C rankers gifted with more power than their peers will pay the price by having even less control over those powers (which will typically result in them having a harder time advancing to B rank), and universally C rankers have difficulty maintaining their powers for extended periods of time. Note: Only the very gifted naturals will move past this rank.
  • B Rank: B rankers are above average level psychics. They can use their powers at will and with proficiency. Their control over the basic aspects of their power is nearly mastered, and they have generally begun using the higher and/or more complex techniques of their abilities. They are usually much more comfortable using their powers for extended periods of time.
  • A Rank: A rankers are advanced psychics and generally perceived as 'top of the class'. They have complete mastery over the basic aspects of their abilities and are proficient with the heightened levels of their abilities. They can use their powers almost indefinitely.
  • S Rank: S rankers are incredibly rare, incredibly powerful psychics who have completely mastered their abilities and, on occasion, even developed completely new abilities. Anyone who is promoted to S rank is immediately removed from the dorms and districts, and is brought into central in order for their development to be directly overseen by the administrators. there they also share many of the same living privileges as the administrators themselves. Using their powers has become second nature to them and, often, feels more natural than relying on their natural capabilities alone.


Merit System

The subjects of Brewster are also given a merit system that dictates the going-ons of their day-to-day activities. The merit system works on two tallies, Merit Score and Merit Points. Merit Points are earned by subjects who follow the rules and instructions of the Administrators faithfully, as well as when they perform well on exams, or when they report acts of misconduct from their peers. Earning merit points also increases your Merit Score by that same amount. The difference is that Merit points are treated more like a currency in Brew, used by the subjects to purchase services or items (usually found in the recreational district) that they otherwise woudl not have automatic access to. A subject's Merit Score, however, work in tandem with the subject's rank in order to determine what the subject DOES have access to indefinitely (for example, a b ranker with a merit score of 30 may use 10 merit points in order to buy himself a pizza, whereas a b ranker with a merit score of 100 would have earned the right to one free pizza per day should he chose to get it, leaving him to spend his points elsewhere). Earning Merit points increases merit score, but spending those points does not decrease the score. The only way to decrease the score is by earning demerits. Demerits are assigned to subjects who break the rules in any way shape or form, from missing curfew, to disobeying instructors, to attempting to escape from brew. Different infractions earn different amounts of demerits, which are then subtracted both from your overall merit score, and from your reaming merit point pool (it is possible to have a negative merit point balance).

[Note: I am not gonna go much further into the details of the merit system because our characters will be attempting to escape brew, and the system would only be very important to flesh out if we were panning to spend an extended period of time in the town]

Powers

Here are the 3 different types under which psychic abilities are classified, as well as popular examples of the sub-specialties and sub-powers in each category.

Telekinetic: Telekinetic powers revolve around the manipulation of the physical world using one's mind, and its sub-specialties are generally given the '-kinesis' suffix. 'Pure' telekinesis is the ability to control any physical object with equal skill, but pure telekinetics are something of a rarity. Often times, individuals will instead have an affinity for which materials they can naturally control, giving birth to telekinesis' diverse sub-specialties. For example, someone with an affinity for controlling electricity is practising fulgurkinesis, (often times incorrectly misnamed electrokinesis), someone with an affinity for controlling liquids is a practitioner of hydrokinesis (so-called because water is nearly always the liquid that is, at least initially, easier for the psychic to manipulate), someone with an affinity for controlling heat (thermal energy) is called a thermokinetic. Theoretically speaking, there are as many types of specializations for telekinetic powers as there are kinds of matter and energy in the physical world (and, technically, even more, as certain specializations can be considered a marriage of two other specializations. a popular example being Cryokinesis, the manipulation of ice and other frozen liquids, as its fundamentals involve both hydrokinetic and thermometric manipulation). However, it should be stated that it is rare for a psychic to have an affinity towards energy (such as the manipulation of photons and electrons in photokinesis and fulgurkinesis respectively) than it is for them to control solid mater. as psychic powers are very closely linked t the mental state of the user, it is incredibly rare for a psychic to have a natural affinity for things they cannot directly observe (such as sub-atomic and quantum particles, for example)
Important Note: fire is neither mater or energy, fire is a reaction hence 'true' pyrokinesis does NOT exist. the closest possible equivalent would be a marriage of thermokinesis and oxygen-specific aerokinesis (the manipulation of air and gaseous matter).

Telepathic: Telepathic powers revolve around the manipulation of, and contact with, the mind and all it perceives. Telepathic powers are much more fluid in nature than telekinetic ones, and thus can be harder to distinguish from one another at first glance until hey have been further developed. They are generally given the -pathy suffix, though at some times are given a -kinesis suffix in order to better portray their abilities. 'Pure' telepathy is the ability to, at first, read the conscious thoughts of one or several subject/s and, later, push their own conscious thoughts in the mind of one or several subject/s, resulting in direct and non-verbal communication between the two. at higher levels a telekinetic can mask their thoughts as he subject's own, granting them some degree of mind control. This bring us to the second most well-known telepathic power. Psychokinesis, or 'mind control' in layman's terms, is the ability of a telepath to introduce sub-conscious suggestions into the psyche of one or several subjects. At first this will be limited to very weak and very general suggestions, but as the powers grow the suggestions become harder to resist and can be tailored to more specific ends. The third most common, if not most well-known, telepathic power is Empathy, sometimes considered a mix of the above two; it is the ability to perceive the emotional state of one or several subject/s through mind alone and, later, to affect and control those emotions at will (note: this is not a 'lesser' version of telepathy as some believe it to be. while a telepath will gather more accurate information of what the subject is thinking, they will have a much harder time telling the difference between imagined memories and factual ones, whereas a trained empath will always be ale to tell when someone is lying or not).

these are the 3 main powers, but there have been other recorded sub-specialties within each, such as Zoopathy (the ability to read the thoughts of animals and communicate with them non-verbally) and Zookinesis (technically Zoopsychokinesis, the ability to control animals by influencing their thoughts and perceptions) and their own various sub-affinities (it's not uncommon for a zoopath to have a specific preference for which type of animal they will communicate with/control).


Espic: Espic powers are named after the term E.S.P., which stands for Extra Sensory Perception. Hence the category covers any power that either revolves around either boosting one of the 5 primary senses to inhuman degrees (a common example is occulespy, the brain's ability to process a higher degree of visual information captured by the eye, allowing the subject to see much farther than normal humans, as well as magnify their vision to see much finer details up close), or revolves around the ability to perceive information beyond what the human senses would usually allow. Telespy and Melloespy, commonly known as 'astral projection' and 'future sight' respectively are popular examples of these Espic powers. Because of the wide range this definition covers, Espic powers are easily the most diverse group of psychic powers, and are the second most numerous after telekinetic abilities. Espic powers are given the -espy suffix and their users are called Espers.



Naturals and Artificials

Some of the subjects in Brew have secretly discovered that there is a method, involving careful measuring of their kaleidoscope intake, that allows them to gradually taper off the drug until they can stop ingesting it altogether, while suffering from none of the withdrawal effects (meaning their psychoses remain controllable, and they retain control of their psychic powers). These subjects have gotten to calling themselves 'Naturals' as they are now natural psychics who can use their powers without the aide of the drug. Psychics who still depend on Kaleidoscope are, of course, referred to as 'Artificials' by these subjects.

While being a natural has definite benefits, the least of which is not a much greater measure of freedom from the administrators' control, it also comes with drawbacks. Regardless of someone's natural skill at controlling their powers, Kaleidoscope acts as a booster to that control, allowing them to reach higher levels of ability, and to train their abilities much faster. as a result, the growth of Naturals is stunted by comparison, and most of them are stuck at C rank, with only the most talented having moved on to B rank. There are no A or S rank Naturals.

Now, Naturals CAN ingest Kaleidoscope on occasion in order to grant them more refined control of their powers for a short duration (or to fool the biweekly blood tests run by the administrators), however, relying on this technique too much will result in the re-emergence of withdrawal symptoms once they are off the drug, making them once more into Artificials and requiring them to gradually purge the drug from their systems again.

[note: there are NO naturals that are not part of our escape group, and the existence of naturals has so far been kept secret from the administrators]


Broken Mirrors

The name of a secretive group of subjects (our characters) who are formulating a decisive escape plan in order to be free of Brewster's gilded cage. Within their ranks they teach the method with which psychics can eventually rid themselves of the dependence on kaleidoscope, creating Natural psychics. The group was founded 2 years ago by one Jason Greeves and has quietly gathered members and made preparations for their soon to be escape. Many of the Broken Mirrors plan to go public and expose Brewster for what it is once they've made it on the outside.

The broken mirrors are supported by an anonymous benefactor going by the name of Shine who seems to have pertinent information on the administrators and the facilities of Brewster and regularly provides Jason with useful information to help the broken mirrors along with their plans.


Character Template


Name: (Self Explanatory)
Age: (Self Explanatory. No one over the age of 20. Remember, this is the Brewster Juvenile Institute for Mental Correctness and Rehabilitation)
Gender: (Self Explanatory)
Rank: (Your character's rank in brew)

Appearance: (a short description and/or picture representing your character's appearance. Use Spoilers for overly large images)

Psychosis: (what was the psychological illness/disorder/condition/affliction that caused your character to be sent to Brewster in the first place. note that the character's psychosis was caused by their inability to control their power, but the power itself is not dependent on what mental affliction they suffered from. two schizophrenics could have completely different powers)
Psychic Power: (what ability your character has developed in Brew. Give us the name and a short description of what the power can do. I encourage creativity here, I won't have the rp be run by a crew all possessing the same 2 or 3 powers. Take advantage of the sub-specializations system mentioned above and don; be afraid to create your own psychic ability that isn't listed above. as long as it fits in the 3 general categories and you can explain how it works to some degree, you'll probably get approved. note, of course, that i will be keeping a sharp eye out for godmode and OP potential, especially with telepathic powers. The best power is not necessarily the strongest one)
Psychic Type: (Natural or Artificial. Remember that while Artificials are usually stronger, they are also limited by their Kaleidoscope dependency. This is an escape RP, so high-level Artificials won't be capable of surviving outside Brew without first stealing supplies of Kaleidoscope during the escape. That being said, we'll probably be encountering some A and B rank resistance during the escape, so having some powerhouses of our own won't hurt. chose carefully)

Personality: (Write a few lines or more describing your character's general personality(or personalities). Try to include their personal values, their views on life, and their intense likes/dislikes in order to make a more fleshed-out character. Remember that the character's struggle with their psychosis should also affect their personality)
History: (Write a few paragraphs describing your character's circumstances before and after coming to Brewster. I must stress this, if your character sheet is a university class, then consider this section your final exam, because it is the primary method through which I will evaluate your skill as a roleplayer and decide whether or not to accept you into the rp. I don't need you to write me an essay, or a full biography of the character but take your time with this section and do it right. If you rush through it and submit something of poor quality, I'll take that as a sign of your skills as a roleplayer and might deny your character sheet because of it)


My Characters

Name: Jason Greeves

Age: 16
Gender: Male
Rank: B
Appearance:
2770085581_5a5bf2b2d1.jpg

(pictured above with the Jack persona dominant)

Psychosis: Dissociative Identity Disorder (commonly knows as multiple personalities)
Psychic Power: Ichokinesis (of the greek word Ichos, meaning sound) or sound manipulation: Jason's ability is a sub-specialty of aerokinesis (air/gas manipulation), Jason has the ability to make the air around him vibrate in order to creates sound waves, and can manipulate soundwaves already present in the air by controling teh particles they move through, amplifying, muting, projecting and redirecting sound as he sees fit. He still cannot, however, change one sound into a completely different one (such as changing the sound of a bell into the sound of a piano key) only affect its pitch, tone, and volume. The complexity of the sounds he can create by himself is also limited. Needless to say, he has no control over sound passing through non-gaseous mediums like water or steel.
Psychic Type: Natural

Personality: Generally speaking Jason is a quiet, awkward, typically compliant young man who doesn't like being noticed. He's generally seen walking with his head down and frequently, if somewhat subconsciously, uses his powers to muffle the noises he makes so he passes by undetected. He has a hard time expressing himself, especially when he is presented with something he dislikes, resulting in him generally doing whatever is asked of him without complaint, even if he doesn't want to. He hasn't made many friends throughout his life and, while he's very bad at showing it tactfully, holds those people who are willing to spend time round him very close to his heart. He also has a distinct, if rarely observed, sense of justice. Even if he is not always ready to stand up and shout foul play (that's more Jack's thing) he knows when he sees something that is not right, and usually tries to do what he can to right what wrongs he sees, if he thinks it's within his capabilities. his low self-esteem, however, often paralyzes him between a desire to help, and the feeling that he couldn't do anything even if he tried.

Enter 'Jack', Jason's alter ego. Jack is, in a few short words, everything Jason wishes he could be. Brash, confident, charismatic, Jack is a typical 'good guy hero' archetype who's 'all about kicking ass and taking names'. A rather obvious avatar for Jason's hero fantasies, Jack is the one who has generally taken charge in recruiting for the Broken Mirrors, as well as organizing their meetings and preparation over the last 2 years. While Jason is technically the leader of the Broken Mirrors, and the one that Shine contacts exclusively, it is without a doubt his Jack persona that is recognized as the driving force behind the group. Jack has something of an older brother's perspective towards Jason. He is frequently frustrated with the latter's indecisiveness and constantly urges him to be more sure of himself.

History: To be revealed in RP.


General Posting Order (not an iron-clad rule)

Buio
Ravenbelle
Tanzinite
Valerium Therme
Kuroh
Lilium
Immortal Sin
 
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Name: Trey Crawford
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Rank: B (varies during the day, see below)

Appearance: Trey is a tall, athletic teen with the build of a basketball player. He has a ginger complexion with white skin, freckles and frizzy auburn hair. A lighthearted person he is rarely to be found without his trademarked grin.

Psychosis: Trey's cerebellum does not function normally, and, although it's afire with neural activity, it can no longer store comprehensive long term memories of events (so called episodic memories). Every night when Trey sleeps he looses all memory of his past, waking up each morning with a blank slate. Although he does retain knowledge and ability, he no longer even knows what he knows.

His affliction began when he was fifteen and even with Kaleidoscope he retains only the strongest emotions into the next day. Love, hate, deep joy and powerful friendship, these remain with him, though without the drug even they vanish.

Psychic Power: Trey's frightening power allows him to completely alter the long term memories of anyone he can lay his eyes on. He can destroy memories and even replace them with whole new ones. Fortunately or unfortunately, his power is limited by the fact that he must relearn it everyday. Although his talent remains, his understanding of it progresses through any given day, climaxing in the evening before his own memories are erased. The changes Trey makes to a mind are permanent for memories can never be recreated once wiped. For this reason, Trey must be ever so careful when practicing, often using rodents rather than human subjects.

A skilled telepath can counter Trey's invasion, but only if they're prepared for it before hand.

Psychic Type: Natural

Personality: Trey is naturally curious which is a good thing because he wakes up to a mystery everyday. Who am I? Where am I? His life is an endless wrestling match with these questions. He never sleeps without his mp3 player sitting at his bed side, tagged with an unmistakable post-it note: LISTEN!! And so every morning he listens, learns who he is, where he is and, to his repeated amazement, what he can do. While under the effects of Kaleidoscope he recognizes the people he is deeply emotionally attached to. He can't recover specifics, but he knows he knows them and that is something, something which Trey will not easily give up.

History: As a youth Trey was an academic prodigy. He awed adults with his boundless, flawless memory. Sweeping the national spelling B and even gracing the kids game show circuits, networks eventually excluded him because his peers could not compete. They called him a freak, a human computer. Long before his psychosis asserted itself, he appeared famously on Jeopardy, the first child of his age ever to do so. Needless to say he won. Needless to say he was not invited back.

When Trey's amnesia began its cycle at age 15, his parents were at a loss. He retained his knowledge, but facts came to him now out of the blue without any memory of where he learned them or that he knew them to begin with. The narrative of his own life was completely and utterly lost, his parents, his kid sister, even his girl friend, rendered strangers before his eyes. His power remained dormant, however, until, when watching a campy movie about sexy female spies, his girlfriend said jokingly that she wished she was a busty super spy. Although, Trey's power could not increase her bra size, it could alter memories the way a painter alters a canvas and it proceeded to do so unconsciously. His girlfriend was committed before his eyes, raving about a conspiracy to kill the President and her secret CIA status. More shockingly she exhibited all the skills and talents of her delusion's focus incapacitating five police officers before being brought down by multiple tasers. A week later, a 'representative' from Brewsters appeared at the door. Convincing his parents to sign over guardianship took all of fifteen minutes for they found it increasingly difficult to love a son who could no longer recognize them.
Although Trey's power has never reached the level that it did during his initial awakening, there is no doubt that the administrators of Brew hope to use his ability in a similar way, uploading any background they want onto a mind, producing a trained assassin in a second or completely altering the values and morals of an elected official. While at Brewsters, Trey has been assigned a 'mentor' though her real purpose is to act as a crutch to Trey's broken memory and keep him from accidentally erasing anyone. One of the facility's few A rank telepaths she is strong enough to constantly monitor Trey without fatigue so that if he activates his ability she can erect a barrier around herself or anyone threatened. This telepath's name is Stacy and one of the only things Trey can remember is that he is madly in love with her. He is not aware, however, that she is one of the institute's most powerful psychics and the only reason she hangs around him constantly is to safeguard others. Ordered by the administrators to indulge the boy's crush, she plays along knowing that Trey's powerful but ultimately limited ability allows him only to alter memories, not read them.
 
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Right, nice to see activity so soon after opening the OOC.

@globg first thing first, please put your font size back down to 3. having it at this current sized give the impression that everything is written in Caps.

So firstly, i want to say that i do like the concept of the character overall, playing someone who loses his memories every time he sleeps makes for a very interesting dynamic. However a few details will have to be tweaked.

Firstly, when i said that only the most talented naturals could be B rank, that was pretty much GM speak for 'Unless your character serves a very clear narrative purpose for the overall plot, he shouldn't be B rank if he's a natural'. So i'll have to ask you to put him back down to C rank.

This is actually more in-line with the in-game setting since at B rank a psychic as powerful, compliant and useful as Trey would be prescribed more powerful versions of Kaleidoscope, which would in turn decrease the severity of his mental affliction.

Now, onto his power. The way you described it, this would easily be an A rank ability, since he has the ability to not only erase memories, but even implant completely new ones that the target can't distinguish from their own. Needless to say i'll have to ask you to tone it down a bit. I'd ask that you limit him to either erasing memories or implanting new ones, not both, also you should put in more detail about the limitations about how and when he can use the abilities, such as only being able to target one person at a time, only being able to do it while looking directly into someone's eyes, only being capable of doing it to one person per day, things like that. As the power is written out right now, there's too much potential for it to be abused since you've only described what it 'can' do not what it 'can't' do. Also, 'latent' means that the ability is there, but it's untapped. None of us, not even an A ranker, have 'awakened' before coming to brew and being given Kaleidoscope, and certainly not awakened with the ability to manifest our powers in their strongest forms.


As for his history. The condition you've given him is actually very similar to a real-world condition whose name I've forgotten because psychologists never make the names of the diseases they treat something normal or easy to rememeber. Seriously, present a doctor with a disease that eats flesh and what does he call it? fucking flesh eating disease, is there a more scientific name? sure, but at least the common name is something a typical guy would remember!

erhm, right, anyways, back on topic. The way that the human brain works with memory is that it works in 3 steps, acquisition, consolidation, recollection. Acquisition (actually forming the memories as the event is taking place) and recollection (remembering the formed memories) both happen when you;re awake. the middle step, consolidation (which is basically your brain taking all the memories you've acquired that day and sorting them into the right 'folders' in your brain so they can be found easily the next day) happens primarily during REM sleep. So there actually are people who have a sleeping disorder that prevents them from properly consolidating memories, causing them to lose most if not all of their memories from the day before. One difference with how you wrote out your psychosis though, the affliction has no effect on already consolidated memories. That means that stuff your guy knew before he developed that affliction would not be affected, he should still by all logical standards retain his memories of who he is, what he was capable of before, who his parents were, etc. The affliction would be less like him being reborn every day, with a completely blank slate, and more like a reverse of groundhog day, with him thinking every day was the same. so, say, for example, that affliction first manifested itself on his 15th birthday, well every morning he would wake up thinking it was his 15th birthday because his last memory would be going to sleep on the eve of his 15th.

The only way general amnesia can occur overnight is in the case of specific trauma to the frontal lobe, generally caused by severe concussion, so the only way that your character could work as he is written is if you had him come down with his affliction (which would be a progressive thing, since psychological disorders don;t occur overnight) and then, after he had already gotten to a stage where he could not remember anything from the previous day, have him suffer a head injury that also wiped out all his old memories.

As for the girl assigned to him by the administrators. Well, remember that this is an escape rp, and if your character is already a natural, that means that by default he has to be part of our group already, since they are the only ones who would have taught him how to gradually taper off kaleidoscope so he didn't need it anymore. I can't very well see how something like that would be a possibility if he A: has his mind wiped every night and B: every day he wakes up he's constantly sticking to the heels of a servant of the administrators. The only way that could make sense is if she herself was the one who inducted him into our group and was working as a double agent for the administrators. either way, i leave it to you if you want to take her out of the picture or not, but one way or another if you plan to have her be such an importnat character to him, I will also need you to write up a character sheet for her before the RP can start.


Now, i want to close by saying that I know i wrote a lot in critiquing your character, but remember that I wouldn't spend this much effort in highlighting a character's flaws if i didn't see a lot of potential in the character overall. I do like Trey, and I'm looking forward to seeing his finished product once you;ve fixed the issues i mentioned above.

@Kanon As a GM i work on a first come first served rule, no reservations unless I'm working with a Co-GM. That being said, I'm not really intending on putting a limit to how many people can join, so don;t worry even if you;re not the first person to put up your character sheet.
 
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Well as you already know, Buio, I'm interested. So I'll get make a character sheet soon enough.
 
awesome, and glad to see you back in the RP bizz, even if only as a favor to your friend *chuckles*
 
Update

I have made some minor changes to the opening post. In addition to putting down my own character, I have added in the 'Broken Mirrors' section, explaining that this is the name of our group of hopeful escapees, as well as providing a few general details on the group.
 
Name: Rue Benette
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Rank: C
Appearance:
images

Rue is pretty short at About 5'1 and slim. Her eyes are normally turquoise but They darken to violet when she's in the middle of a 'vision'. There are only a select few people who see her smile.

Psychosis: Depression

Psychic Power: Melloespy? Aka Precognition
Rue has a specific sort of..mental list in the back of her mind that she can add or remove from whenever. That list consists of the few things that she'd like to 'watch' daily. These things could be people, places or things. On a normal day, it's just the people she really cares for, though on some occasions, she watches the whole Brew facility as an institution, not the people in it.
By watching, Rue means to say she keeps that list for the things she's capable of watching the future of. She cannot, for some reason see her own future though. In the lab, she can concentrate enough on the things they want her to and tell them of the brief flashes she gets of those things. The near future of them that is. Sometimes she gets involuntary visions that come unpredictably and painfully at any given moment. Those usually last much longer, almost two agonizing minutes of the future (most of the time) of one of the things on her list. Those are rare and hardly ever consist of things in the long term future.

Psychic Type: Natural

Personality: Most of the time Rue is honest and sweet, optimistic and soft-spoken, but there are times, though rare, that she snaps. She becomes very blunt and extremely altruistic in high stress situations, especially if someone she cares about is in danger, no matter how minor. Rue is independent and stubborn sometimes and doesn't like taking help from anyone. It is difficult to earn her trust. The struggle to evade the darker part of her mind has a taken a bit of a toll on her, especially when she sleeps, but she hardly ever lets it show.
Is it ever gets too bad when she's alone, she'll read to distract herself. It's also a nice pastime even when she's not upset, so she reads pretty much whenever she has the chance to pick up a book and when she has free time in which she's not reading, she's daydreaming or making comparisons between her few friends and her favorite characters.

History: Rue has been an orphan her whole life. The orphanage she lived in was nearly always overcrowded and she was always kind of an outsider. The kind no one ever wanted to adopt. She could never understand why her parents never wanted her but once the kids around her started teasing her for how weird she was, she kind of figured it out. Rue was...lost. And for awhile she couldn't understand why she was even alive anymore. It was a dark time in her seemingly pointless life and that's where her secret comes in. It's pretty much the sole reason she tends to close off her heart all the time. Rue once got so bad that she tried to bleed herself out once. There weren't many other options that would free her from her existence on earth in the orphanage, so slashed wrists would have to do. If only she hadn't been caught, dripping crimson blood all over the tile and everything. The scars are still pretty obvious, at least on the wrist without the wristband showing all her school color and rank. She isn't exactly sure how the people from Brewster's found her, but they did and of course the orphanage had no problems getting rid of another mouth to feed. Especially a 'mentally ill' one. And that's when her life changed, though right now, she isn't absolutely sure it was for the better. As a prisoner, she's being used for what she can see. And she hates it.
 
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Right, i'm going to need a bit of clarification on her powers. So, if i understand correctly, she usually cannot control when she sees the future unless she puts a great deal of effort into it, but she CAN control what the subject of her visions will be when they do come, right? and every so often she gets visions of things not on her list that are much longer and more powerful (and painful) than her normal visions?

also, the reason i put down my own character's history as 'to be revealed' is because his history contains spoilers for the plot of the rp. I can't allow a player to do the same without proper justification. If you absolutely don;t want the other players to know about your character's history, then i'll need for you to PM it to me, and i will judge your character there. Otherwise, i can't accept you till you put up a history.


lastly, fair warning, if you want to create a seer character, then that character's visions will be heavily limited to what I as the GM allow to be 'seen' (meaning that yes you'll have to discuss with me what visions you want to give her to make sure they don't conflict with plans for the plot). If you're fine with this then we should have no problem, but i worry that this might make the rp boring for you since you won;t have nearly as much freedom in using your power compared to the other players
 
Yes you have her powers right and I don't mind PMing you about them beforehand. You can also pm me about any visions you want her to have throughout the story whenever

And I'll add her history now
 
ok then. I thank you for your compliance and understanding.
 
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alright, I've looked over her history. I didn't see anything wrong with it. Before i accept you though i'd like to reiterate that our characters could not have manifested their powers before being given heir first dose of kaleidoscope 9and hence before coming to brew). I'm just saying this in case you were planing on having her secret revolve around her using her power in the orphanage or something like that. Beyond that the character is fine.

Congratulations Raven, Rue is the first officially accepted character in this rp ^_^.
 
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Done. Plus I added some to her personality. Is it good enough? I swear, I usually write more, but this stupid tablet I'm forced to use this weekend won't let me type fast enough...:\
 
Oh oops that was posted a little too late. Its not about her power so don't worry. Thank you so much for accepting me! :D
I have some questions though. All the characters who join will be part of the broken mirrors right? So how close are they all to each other when we start? Have they started planning yet or are they just hating Brew before deciding to get out?
 
well, the group was founded about 2 years ago by my character Jason, so i assume that the most recent additions to the group will have been there for at least 6 months (which would also be the minimum required time for someone to go through the process of learning to use their powers without relying on kaleidoscope, hence making them a natural). That being said, how well they know each-other will be entirely dependent on how many players join this and how many characters those players decide to make.

if we end up with a party of about 5 or so players, then it will be safe to assume that they all know each other pretty decently, or at least they'll have all met face to face at least once. If they have any more than 8 or 9 members though, it would be suspicious if they all started gathering together regularly to plan (especially since the only place they could gather without raising immediate attention would be the recreational district), so odds are that, prior to the actual escape, Jason would be the only one who knew the exact number of Broken Mirrors, and would be the only one to have met with each of them personally.


also, one small thing that i failed to mention about your bio. If Rue's depression was bad enough to warrant her being sent to brew, then you should mention that she's attempted suicide at least once before, elsewise her condition wouldn't really be severe enough for her to be put in what is basically a mental asylum.
 
Okay makes sense.
I was thinking about putting that in there but I wasn't sure. I'll add it :)
 
well, i can understand your hesitation, suicide is a touchy subject for most, but when you;re in an rp dealing with a bunch of kids who've had to deal with severe mental afflictions in the past, i think it's pretty safe to say that the subject will come up at least once or twice *chuckles*.
 
Yeah of course, haha but you know, iwaku rules are a little unspecific when it comes to group rps sometimes. I dunno. Its added now. I do love me some dark writing every once in awhile lol :)
 
Oh. Another question. Would people of rank C have access to makeup? Cuz she might want to coverup some dark circles under her eyes every so often..
 
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