synodiporia_ooc | CHARACTER RECLAIMS

CHARACTER RECLAIMS

From now until endgame, Synodiporia is closed to new applications.

However, players who dropped or idled characters but who do not have a behavioral strike against them may reclaim characters at any time. Dungeons and app windows are no longer necessary. Simply comment below with "I'd like to bring [character (username)] back!" And we'll take it from there.

Players already at 3 characters who wish to bring back a 4th or 5th may do so so long as they're current on AC. Players wishing to bring in characters above 5 may request special mod permission.

If you are uncertain if you qualify to reclaim, please email us at synodiporians@gmail.com and ask!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

ACCEPTED!

After careful review, we've decided not to accept your application this round. While we appreciate the work put into this application, and especially into the revisions we requested; we're still not fully satisfied that the writing displayed illustrates the character's personality the way we'd like. For a more detailed discussion of the subject, you're welcome to email us, and regardless, you're certainly welcome to try again in another application round with this or any other character.

Thank you very much for your time, and for considering this game.

We're sorry about the delay. After careful review and discussion, we've decided not to accept your application this round. While you seem to have an excellent grip on what sounds like a fascinating character, both descriptive writing and the samples themselves had a lack of clarity in their prose which made it difficult to get a solid picture in our heads of who Nilin was and what she'd be like in the game. If you'd like a full summary of our concerns, you're welcome to email us for a discussion, and you're certainly welcome to try again next round with an new app for this or any other character.

Thank you very much for your time, and for considering this game.

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Cocoa
AGE: 26
PLAYER JOURNAL:

momjizukamori
TIMEZONE: EST
CONTACT: momijizukamori on AIM + Gmail
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Toushizou Hijikata
CANON: Peacemaker Kurogane
POINT IN CANON: N/A (AU)
AGE: 34”
APPEARANCE: Hijikata’s appearance is close to canon - however, his left arm has been replaced with a cybernetic replacement, owing to injury, and he has some very light scarring on his upper chest and the left side of his face from the same incident, though you’d have to know it was there to spot it. His hair is also much shorter - he’s only been growing it out for about two years, so loose, it’s midback. His clothing is modern business-wear, if frequently rumpled because he just doesn’t care.
CANON HISTORY: History (written by Andy, used with player and mod permission)
CANON PERSONALITY: The side of Toshizou most people see is that of the ‘oni vice-commander’. Where Kondou and Yamanami are the kind ones among Shinsengumi command, the task falls to Hijikata to be the harsh one, enforcing discipline with an iron fist. He is responsible for drafting the Shinsengumi code to which all members are sworn, where the only punishment is sepukku.

It’s not a particularly forced role for him - Toshi is, by nature, a somewhat gruff individual. He’s blunt about expressing displeasure, and as he holds individuals around him (as well as himself) to very high standards, he’s displeased often. He’s the type that seems to love to have something to complain about. He can also be ruthless in his pursuit of greater goals - as evidenced by the code. He feels such measures are necessary to make the units cohesive, and protect Kyoto and Japan. He often butts heads with Yamanami, who takes a more moderate stance on the matter. Some of this is out of a striving for legitimacy as a samurai as well - unlike many of his companions in the Shinsengumi, Hijikata was born to a farming family, and not a bushi family. Becoming samurai was something he longed for from a young age, and having acquired that rank through his position with the Shinsengumi, he does as much as he can to not tarnish that reputation or that of those around him.

Despite all this, he’s a good person at heart, if rarely a nice person. He truly believes in his path and his goals, that they are the proper, honorable thing to do, and he’s willing to sacrifice himself for his country and ideals. He also does care about others around him, even if he’s not particularly good at showing it. Tetsu takes his assignment as a page as an insult, but Hijikata’s reasoning in the choice was to protect the boy from the full harshness of life as Shinsengumi; a page would not be required to adhere to the Shinsengumi code for instance and would thus not be forced to face the punishments it decrees.

He also shows a gruff sort of protectiveness towards Souji Okita, fussing over him at the first signs of illness and the like. He is also far more likely to give in to Souji’s whims, and while he’ll complain and glare the whole way, he will allow himself to be dragged out for candy-shopping or the like. Some of this is rooted in his tendency to blame himself for things he sees as being his fault, even if the connection is, in reality, only tangential, and he holds onto that self-blame for a long, long time. With Souji, he blames himself for Souji taking up the blade at a young age, and for the trauma Souji has suffered as a result. His resulting overprotectiveness of the Shinsengumi’s most skilled fighter is an attempt to make up for those past wrongs.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: PG + AU - previously a native of the universe of

newbabylon
History:
Toshizou Hijikata was born the youngest son of a lower-middle class family on L4. He had five siblings, the oldest brother of whom more or less raised the rest of the family after their parents died - his mother when he was young, of pulmonary fibrosis from work conditions and pollution on the lower levels, coupled with congenital lung defects, and his father not long after, from natural causes. His older brother took over the family business, but Toshi knew he didn’t have the temperament for business, and decided for a career in the police force - he had a strong desire to make the world around him better, and to help keep his family from walking the edge of poverty.

Despite his background, and relatively young age when he joined the force (which is to say, as soon as they’d take him), Toshizou was intelligent, and had a forceful personality that rapidly got him noticed by higher ups - though not always in helpful ways. He quickly gained a reputation for strategic skill and firm dedication to the ideals of justice. While he was climbing the ranks, one of his elder sisters began showing signs of the same pollution-induced illness that killed their mother, and Toshi sent more and more of his savings to his family to help with her treatment. He also managed to gain his precinct a reputation a one of the less corrupt ones, among the NBPD - while he couldn’t single-handedly take of all the problems in his station, he did what he could.

When he was twenty-four, he received a major boost in rank, despite his relatively young age, and was made head of newly formed counter-terrorism unit. They operated efficiently and effectively for nearly a year - Toshizou’s tactical skills being particularly well suited to small-unit work. Then, disaster struck - they were sent in to a situation involving explosives they believe to be disarmed, but were not. The explosives were triggered, killing two members of the team, and seriously injuring several others, Toshizou included. Given the choice between an attempt at salvaging his left arm, with a good chance of permanent nerve damage, pain, and disfiguration, or a cybernetic replacement, his slightly pain-and-drug delirious answer was ‘cut the damn thing off’.

While on desk duty following the incident, as it was unclear how the team would move forward, he was given an offer by Eden Technologies - train one their own in weapons skills and tactics, and in exchange, his sister’s health problems would be taken care of at no cost, with far better quality than the family could afford. He reluctantly agreed, and took on the job - only to discover the man he was supposed to be training was a child, still, the product of an in-house experiment in bioware and gene manipulation testing.

He found the idea of the experiment distasteful, but followed through with his end of the deal for his sister’s sake. As he worked with the boy, he found a certain amount of fondness for him, despite his odd nature - growing up in the lab was a far different experience than growing up in the world outside, but Hijikata did his best to show him respect as a human, not just as a weapon.

When the scientists in charge of the project realized their specimen was not performing up to expectations, Hijikata was given an order to dispose of him, rather than get corp hands dirty. Angry at the way they’d treated him as an object rather than a person, he took the young man and fled to the lower levels, until the it was clear the corp had given up interest in pursuing the pair - Hijikata wasn’t about to sell the boy out to a rival, after all.

Once things calmed down, he set up shop ostensibly as private detective - though while an ex-cop, he gets sent a lot of the stuff his old precinct can't deal with easily through 'official' channels, leaving him and Souji to play a bit of vigilante justice.

Personality:
Toshi’s personality and point of view on the things surrounding him are very similar to canon, due to the parallels his origins between both worlds. As an officer, he treated his position as lawkeeper with a great deal of respect, far more than many of his coworkers, which lead to a certain amount of metaphorical head-butting. He doesn’t have quite as much guilt associated with Souji, though having taught the boy to fight and kill, he feels a certain respoonsibility for him, and as in canon, the two are very close.

ABILITIES: Hijikata’s main skills are a combination of in-born and a lot of hard training - as an officer, he became proficient in firearms and hand-to-hand combat, and he’s taught himself traditional swordforms - a slightly esoteric hobby, in this day and age, but one he enjoys. He’s also a skilled tactician and leader, and capable of making quick decisions in heated moments. His cyberarm is also stronger than the average human (and stronger than his other arm), though given that the rest of his body is vanilla human, this mostly just results in the ability to be really awesome at crushing things with his mighty metal fist.
INVENTORY: Cyberarm, now-useless smartphone, equally useless New Bablyon ID chip and credits, concealed carry shoulder rig with large calibre handgun and spare clip, pocket multitool, crumpled packages of cigarettes, bad attitude.
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?
The game this version comes from was very short-lived, so there’s no carryover CR aside from things with Souji

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON: Damnit. Souji? [Because he’s hoping to hell they haven’t been split up - that’s a recipe for disaster] Souji, if you can hear this, answer me back. [please please please - there is decidedly a hint of worry creeping into his voice, despite attempts to hide it] And stay where you are - I’ll find you. No point in both of us running around.

And I don’t know what the hell’s going on here, but don’t do anything I wouldn’t.
[...]
Unless you really have to.

[There’s a pause, and when he speaks again, any hint of worry is well-buried under irritated authority] Whoever’s in charge here, I want a sit-rep. Now.

THIRD PERSON: (test drive prompt 5)
Hijikata was no stranger to rioting - while it had never been his assigned unit, everyone got called up at least once when things got bad. Keeping order was one of their main goals, after all. This island was smaller than New Babylon had been, but with restricted access to the upper levels, the effect was much the same. Too many unhappy people in a bad situation, waiting for something to spark them off. He wasn’t sure what that spark was, in this case, but it didn’t matter - from the sounds of it, things were already in full-swing, and they would be looking for anyone who stood out. Along from the general vandalism and property damage, of course.

The hotel was a bad choice - there was only one way to go once inside, and that was ‘up’. And it’d be a primary target for arson. He had some things stored there, but nothing important - that was all on him right now. Most important being his sidearm, though if he could keep weapons out of this, so much the better. That would only escalate things, and without back-up, it wasn’t like he could do more than simply protect himself - and he had enough training that unless they started shooting first, he could probably manage that without a gun.

The best thing to do would be to stay out of their way as much as possible. Go unnoticed. Undercover work wasn’t really one of his strong suits, though he had a lot of practice in ‘not getting shot’ care of living on the lower levels. He shoved his hands in his coat pockets to hide the prosthetic, wishing he had his gloves on them. Hunched shoulders and a gaze directed firmly at the ground were both good ways of warding off attention. He picked up his pace slightly as the noise started to move in his direction, and headed for a side-alley to hopefully let the worst of the mess pass by.

Supplemental: PSL prose log here

Edited (GDocs >|) 2014-04-05 23:07 (UTC)

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Andy
AGE: 32
PLAYER JOURNAL:

shingetsu
TIMEZONE: CST
CONTACT: ladyluck1407@gmail.com
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A
POINT IN CANON: N/A (AU)

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Souji Okita
CANON: Peacemaker Kurogane
POINT IN CANON: PG & AU
AGE: 19

APPEARANCE: Canon Refrence
For the AU, it's more like This fanart image, with modern styled clothing instead of traditional Japanese, and his hair long but braided, instead of loose. He's on the short side for an adult male, only about 5'6", and very slight in appearance. He also has faint scars from various surgeries carried out in his AU backstory.

CANON HISTORY: Wiki link, which is pretty useless. So there is also this app, which has a much better write-up. I'm linking that with both player (Cocoa) and mod permission.

CANON PERSONALITY: Souji's personality is one of extremes. The face he shows the world is a happy one, probably best described as somewhat childish, tending to act much younger than his twenty-one years. He enjoys playing with children, has a sweet tooth, and likes to play practical jokes. He's quite polite, at least so far as language goes, but those he gets to know well should beware, because he also delights in teasing those he considers friends.
As a swordsman, Souji is a genius. His training began at the age of nine, and by eighteen, he had mastered the Tennen Rishin-ryu and began work as an instructor himself. He is easily one of the best swordsmen amongst the ranks of the Shinsengumi, an ability which earned him captaincy of the first squad.

This natural ability is not without its drawbacks, however. For when Souji picks up a sword, the other aspect of his personality emerges. As a fighter, he knows no restraint. He cannot participate in even the most informal of sparring matches without injuring his opponents, and when real weapons are brought into play, someone is likely to end up dead.

Souji is well aware of the dichotomy that exists inside himself. In fact, much of the light-hearted exterior is something of an act he puts on for others, as a way for him to fit in and interact with other people. His playfulness and lightheartedness should not be mistaken for innocence or naievity, for he is neither.

Souji's most obvious weakness is his lack of self-restrain. His fighting ability is superb, but the flip side of the coin is that his ability might be turned against friend as well as foe in a heated situation. This makes it difficult for him to train with others in non-combat settings, as while he is capable of a certain level of restraint, it is still possible for him to injure those he is working with.

Emotionally, Souji is somewhat stunted. His happy exterior is something of an act put on for others, and while it is not a complete ruse, he is not as cheerful or naive as he seems. While his behavior is not completely pathological, there is a difference between the way that most people perceive the world and the way that Souji relates to it. He has a habit of dealing with things in very simplistic terms, ignoring the shades of grey that may exist in a given situation, sometimes offering advice which may not, from an outside perspective, be completely appropriate to the situation (As an example, he frequently encourages the main protagonist of the series, fifteen-year-old Tetsunosuke, to pursue a path which will make him stronger. While this is what Tetsu wants, all of the other adults around him recognize that it's not the best course of action. Souji, meanwhile, continues to help the boy train so that he may eventually get his revenge.) He will readily listen to the problems of others, but when it comes to his own troubles, he prefers to withdraw and keep them private. This means that he does not always receive the help and support that he might need in times of stress. He is far more focused on helping and serving others than he is in taking care of himself.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: PG & AU from

newbabylon

General Background: This version of Souji is being taken from a Cyberpunk AU where humanity has been reduced to living in closed cities, isolated from each other, and from the harsh conditions of what is left of the earth. Life inside these massive cities is highly caste-like, with only the richest individuals able to afford technologically-filled lives of leisure on the upper levels, while those without are forced to live on the lower levels, suffering from poverty, hunger, and deprivation, forced to eke out their own meager existence without the benefits of fresh food or even artificial sunlight.

Life in the cities is ultimately controlled by mega-corporations, which have the ability to keep tabs on all of the citizens via implanted data chips.

AU History: Souji started life as an experiment. Just how specialized a human being could science and technology really build? It was a chance for researchers to test their bioware applications in a completely controlled environment, free of the interference from the uncontrolled variables that came along with modifying adults. Instead, they would bioengineer their own test subject and raise him in controlled conditions meant to optimize the performance of their innovations. Of course, such a project was a long and costly affair, and securing funding required more than simply the promise of improved performance somewhere down the line. As a return on investment, it was agreed that the test subject would be trained with combat capabilities, allowing him to be used in security or outsourced for a variety of tasks at the company's discretion. All of this was, of course, kept top secret.

As a result, Souji's early childhood was a clinical one. While he was treated well, by most standards, he was also subjected to a strict educational program and frequent invasive medical procedures as his numerous bioware augmentations were installed. All of his socialization consisted of interacting with the scientists and doctors assigned to his program, and while they were not unkind, they were no replacement for a real childhood.

By the time he was ten, he'd reached a stage where combat training was considered appropriate. A former cop by the name of Hijikata was brought in to oversee his development in this area, and it was from him that Souji got his first taste of normal human interaction. He became very fond of the man and managed to break free of the introversion that had characterized most of his early life, developing a vibrant, if occasionally troubled, personality. While he learned a great deal of combat skills, he chose to hone his skill with bladed weapons especially, as a way to honor his mentor, who had a special interest in the art.

Unfortunately, as Souji grew older, it became clear that several things had gone wrong with the program. While he was very intelligent, there was a rift in his personality, which could go from cheerful (if somewhat childish) to frighteningly violent with only minor provocation. Worse, something in the original bioengineering done to his DNA had gone wrong, producing not the robust physical specimen they had hoped for, but instead a somewhat delicate young man. While much of this could be corrected with enhancements, they only masked the underlying flaws, and by the time he entered the end stages of his combat training, it became apparent that his body would simply continue to break down until it could no longer be salvaged, and that this point would not be long in coming. At that point, the project was officially declared a failure, funding was cut, and the test subject was ordered to be terminated.

Luckily for him, the man assigned to do the deed was his trainer, who took a poor opinion of their decision to throw away a human life as if it were garbage and got Souji out of the lab, taking him into the lower levels until the worst of the heat had passed, and giving the young man his first taste of a truly free life. Eventually, they set up shop on L4 as a private detective agency, though they often get work through somewhat less legitimate means as well.

Personality: Much like canon, Souji's personality is superficially charming, sometimes down-right silly. This is largely learned behavior--being raised in a lab, devoid of proper socialization, he mimics what he has learned is 'appropriate,' though he also enjoys acting in ways that draw responses from others which he finds personally amusing. For the most part, this is all benign, but a deeper instability lurks beneath the surface owing to the circumstances of his upbringing, which can result in disturbing or violent behavior in dangerous or stressful circumstances. The only person he has formed a 'normal' relationship with is Hijikata, and even that might be termed somewhat codependent.

ABILITIES: Souji has been significantly bioengineered in an attempt to test the limits of bioware technology. The base manipulation to his DNA granted him superior cognitive abilities (including genius-level intellect) , and further neural enhancement also increased the speed of his reflexes. Modifications to his musculature have granted him strength beyond what his natural physique would indicate, though not significantly greater than that of a well trained adult male in good condition. His sense of sight and hearing have also been augmented above that of baseline human, although not to truly superhuman levels.

His years of training have made him at home with a variety of weapons. He has an innate talent with nearly any combat weapon he encounters, though he currently favors the use of bladed weapons owing to the influence of the man who trained him.
INVENTORY; (Useless) New Babylon ID chip, half-eaten bag of gumdrops, a thin, very sharp knife in an ankle sheath.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? This AU is based on the short-lived Cyberpunk Game, New Babylon. More information on the game world is available here. Because of the very short life-span of the game, no significant in-game CR is being used here, save the history he and Hijikata share.

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON:
I think I can understand why they decided what they did. [There's a pause] Although I still don't think we failed, some decision had to be made. And maybe this time we caused more harm than good. I can't really say. But I'm glad I'm still here. I'd prefer to be traveling, really, helping, than staying in one place. [There's a laugh] And maybe that makes me a little strange, but I don't mind.

We'll just have to keep going. It's sad to lose so many familiar faces, but we'll meet new ones. That probably isn't very comforting, but there's still hope to be had, and that's not so bad, is it?

Additional sample: There are several threads in this post, although individually, they fall shy of the 10-comment requirement, so I'm just including it as a supplemental.

THIRD PERSON: Sometimes he marvels at how simple it's become. It shouldn't be; each jaunt takes him further and further from anything he might have recognized as home, stretching the narrow horizons of his birth nearly to the breaking point. And yet, it seems a role he was born for. If there is one thing he has always had a skill for, it is mimicry. He knows when to laugh, he knows when to smile. He knows when it is better to say nothing and observe, to let someone else show him what he needs to know to slip seamlessly into the next role required of him.
It makes things easy. Easier than they should be, perhaps. It certainly makes him useful, which he appreciates. It's good to have a role, to know what you're meant to do, and to know how to do it. And it's not destructive, for the most part. He can keep that part of himself safely tucked away while still helping. But it also ties him back to his old home, to sterile halls and endless tests, and he knows he'll never be able to escape what they made him to be, even if he's found another way to live now. It's a grand adventure he's on now, one he enjoys, for all its pitfalls. It will be over sooner than he'd ever wish, he's certain, but he's content for now, as each jaunt takes him further from his own suffocating past, even if it will never be able to free him from it entirely.

Additional: There's a giant PSL thread here.

ACCEPTED!

P L A Y E R;
NAME: era
AGE: 29
PLAYER JOURNAL:

sleepofreason
TIMEZONE: Pacific
CONTACT:

sleepofreason | aim samsara survives | samsarasurvives @ gmail (dot) com
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: n/a

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow)
CANON: Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
POINT IN CANON: post Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier
AGE: Birth year give in canon thus far is 1984, making her 30 by the close of 2014. If MCU Black Widow's backstory goes in a direction similar to the Marvel comic's version of the character, that year (and her age) will change.
APPEARANCE: scarlett johansson as natasha romanoff
CANON HISTORY: [wiki's subsection on Natasha in the MCU] leaves quite a lot to be desired.

So let's go over each film one by one (with links, still): [Iron Man 2] [The Avengers] [Captain America 2].

What is missing from this list is a personal background/history. We have no confirmation in the MCU of whether or not Natasha was really born in 1984, if she knew the Winter Soldier before he was given to HYDRA, who trained her, or where all that red in her ledger even comes from. She says that she wasn't picky about what she did or for whom, but we also know that Natasha doesn't say anything to anyone without a calculated reason. We also know, by measure of history, that anyone working for the KGB born in 1984 would only be 7 at the oldest by the time the KGB dissolved in 1991.

Which is to say, part of that must be a huge glaring lie. But which part?

Considering that Natasha's "crimes committed for and against this country" and Soviet-made weaponry featuring throughout the film, I am going with the idea that '1984' is a cover year. Since there is not, as yet, a canon history that has been established as fact within the MCU I will be using a rough framework of events (but not pinning anything down to an actual year) that coincides with the comics version of Natasha's past.

This involves training with the KGB (and knowing the man later to become the Winter Soldier as a KGB operative) and Clint Barton's assignment to assassinate her leading to his decision to bring her into SHIELD. I plan on avoiding possible canon contradictions through the fact that Natasha is highly unlikely to discuss her past with anyone, even those closest to her.

CANON PERSONALITY: Speaking of calculated reasons, let's start with a general overview of Natasha's personality and motivations. This can be complicated, considering that she is a very good liar who is much more interested in obtaining information than being honest with anyone else. "The truth isn't all things to all people all of the time."

Natasha has been described as a 'room of mirrors' by others in that she reflects what people want to see in any given situation in order to obtain the information or response that she requires. In the most recent film she states "I find that it's easier to keep your true self buried under several layers of untrue selves, to protect yourself." When Steve (Captain America) points out that this is not a good way to live, her response is that it's a good way not to die. Unlike Steve, she harbors no illusions about the state of national security and what steps the world has taken to get where it is today; her disillusions, when they are shown, are strictly about her own path, the sense of checks and balances she uses to compare her present self against the past version of her from before her time with SHIELD.

Natasha: Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was.
Loki: And what are you now?
Natasha: It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.

Her self-view is very interesting and rather different from most heroes she interacts with. Natasha feels wholly responsible for all of her actions, be they for the Russians she worked for or furthering HYDRA's goals while working under the mantle of SHIELD. She didn't become one of the world's most renown assassins by playing nice in the sandbox. She is painfully aware of every misstep she has made in the past and every death she has caused; she balances the bad of the past against the 'good' of her present, and after the reveal of HYDRA's involvement in SHIELD over the course of history, finds that things are still radically imbalanced. This does not, however, translate to self-loathing or a wish to turn away from the life she's been leading for decades. As far as Natasha is concerned, she has a unique skill-set and a history that does not allow her to simply fade into the background; she has to act in order to make retributions for what she has done.

The person you meet the first time you encounter Natasha will depend heavily on the circumstance. Who she is during combat, who she is in a social group, who she is when she intended to speak with you and who she is when she didn't are completely separate people than the one who talks with you honestly, on your level, and with no one else around. If you see a snag, a hitch, a mistake, then it's very likely a lie created to make the illusion even more 'real'. Real people make mistakes, after all. Natasha, on the other hand, is incredibly calculating and something of a perfectionist - even when she is being honest, which isn't often. Her personality is usually teasing to some degree, delivered soft and with a smile, no matter who or what she is pretending to be at the moment.

Her expressions are subtle and subdued, smiles reserved for outright lying or moments of achievement. She does have a bit of a tell, when lying: her eyes tend to go flat and unresponsive. Otherwise her mannerisms can make her seem withdrawn and aloof, as she doesn't easily connect with other people nor know how to carry herself in a way that does not, on a subconscious level, indicate how dangerous she is. Her work has taught her both how to be patient and how to make the moment work towards her own ends when she doesn't have the time or the inclination for said patience. She is a perfectionist, but Natasha is not perfect - don't hold your breath expecting her to admit it.

Natasha is a realist, not an idealist; she doesn't believe in the inherent goodness of mankind. She believes in very specific people: people such as Fury, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers. It is not even the 'goodness' of these people she is drawn to (except possibly in Steve's case) but the opportunity towards her goals that they provide and have provided. She believes in them because she trusts them, and she trusts them because they each have explicitly saved her in one form or another.

So, to summarize: accomplished assassin and perfunctory liar with trust issues, honesty issues, and a fucked up past seeks recompense for her actions by working for the 'good guys', then finds out the good guys aren't all that good. Will definitely lie to you, will probably tease you, maybe not even in the same breath.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: n/a
ABILITIES: Combat: Natasha is a spy that has been at work for quite some time now. She is skilled in hand-to-hand and an excellent marksman. Preferred weapons are handguns and a garrote. Natasha is here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and she's all out of bubblegum.

Essentially if someone/something isn't intensely super powered, she can likely beat it six ways to Sunday. If it is? She might be able to give them a run for their money.

Technology: Natasha is also an accomplished hacker and all-around technical genius. She can probably reprogram it, can definitely take it apart, and might make it do something completely different from what it was created for. It, in this case, being nearly anything run by a chip or a motherboard that she can get backend access to one way or another.
INVENTORY; Widow's Bite
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? I love you all very much.

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON: [ Natasha in liminal space on the test drive ]
THIRD PERSON: Natasha stands, arms at her sides, listening to this explanation of where she was now. Arcana. The Mystic Journey. Liminal Space. Travelers. Her face remained blank, impassive as the person in front of her told her a story for the comic books. When they finished she smiled, eyes remaining flat and unresponsive, and thanked them for their time. Their effort in explaining things to her.

It was, in her opinion, frankly bullshit.

Sure, it was dressed up in fascinating words and an interesting concept but the crux of the matter was this: she'd been yanked, along with countless others, into someone's idea of a game. Given the basic rules, or some approximation thereof, and let loose in a very interesting, gilded cage.

Bullshit.

This is not, by any means, a new SHIELD or HYDRA pissing contest; of that much she's certain. It's not a comforting thought, not when announcements can be blared directly into her mind, not when her own memory is tampered with on a regular basis as she switches between Investigator and Infiltrator. Then again, Natasha wouldn't know what to do with a comforting thought if it chose to stick around in all honesty. Being in this situation has not changed that. No matter how often it changes her mind, her memories, her appearance.

It's still bullshit when she wakes up from it.

Instead she focuses on what information she can get her hands on, the contrast of Joscelin and Remy's goals at any given time, the limits of Liminal Space, the missing abilities of telepathic mutants. She hordes them, like small gemstones in a dark cave, because this entire fiasco is a puzzle she intends to solve before the game is finished playing out.

Natasha doesn't like being used, being toyed with. She especially doesn't like bullshit.

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Rift
AGE: 27
PLAYER JOURNAL:

siscons
TIMEZONE: PST
CONTACT:

sistercomplex
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Chikage Kazama
CANON: Hakuouki
POINT IN CANON: Post death, Hijikata route
AGE: Unspecified, but likely somewhere in his late 20s/early 30s
APPEARANCE: Image.
CANON HISTORY: Here.
CANON PERSONALITY:

When Kazama is first presented to the player, it is as an enigmatic villain. He appears lazy and apathetic, his swordplay unrefined and sloppy. Yet he possesses such a great deal of power that such things ultimately don't even matter; he is able to defeat the greatest of the Shinsengumi, all accomplished swordsman, with seemingly minimal effort. Time after time he appears before the protagonists as a menace, a strange figure who seems unconcerned with their plight but nevertheless emerges to hinder them. He appears callous and cold, killing without a second thought and insulting whoever dares to challenge him. He defeats Souji Okita with ease during the battle of the Ikeda Inn, and likewise fights Toshizo Hijikata to a draw during another battle.

As time goes on, his story becomes clearer, and more layers are added to his character. He is revealed to be an oni, the head of the Chikage family, the greatest house of the oni of the West. He sees humans as inferior to him, but nonetheless fights for the Satsuma faction due to their past connection. During a major battle in the history of Japan, the Chikage house allied themselves with a losing faction. As a result, they were persecuted and scattered. At that time, the Satsuma aided them in their survival, and so Kazama now lends his strength to their cause. He has a great sense of obligation to these men, enough to fight for them despite his hatred of humans.

Yet despite claiming to care nothing for humans, he has a tendency to act rather humanely at times. During a major battle, the Shinsengumi are ordered to pursue a retreating force of Satsuma soldiers. Kazama intercepts them in order to allow the men to retreat. It is largely a symbolic gesture; as the Satsuma soldiers have already been defeated, they plan to commit ritual suicide in order to maintain their honor. The Shinsengumi hope to capture them in order to execute them dishonorably. Kazama derides the Shinsengumi for this and single handedly stops their advance so that the men will be able to take their own lives. Even as he claims to merely hate humans as inferior beings, he does show some measure of respect for them.

His primary motivation throughout the series, however, is to capture Chizuru Yukimura. Chizuru, the protagonist of the series, is revealed to be the head of another great oni family. This makes her a rare pure blooded female oni, and a perfect mate for Kazama. As the oni have been in decline over the years, Kazama seeks out a mate in order to produce offspring to ensure the future of their kind. Once he discovers what Chizuru is, he doggedly pursues her time and time again, though she has fallen under the protection of the Shinsengumi. How events play out differs depending on the route the player chooses, given the visual novel format of the canon, but Kazama always has a rather eerie obsession with his "wife." He has a tendency to unilaterally decide things for her, such as simply presuming that due to the fact that they are both pure blooded oni she should of course accept his offer of marriage. She usually has a very different view of the matter...

His relationship with Chizuru develops very differently, ranging from him giving up on her completely to dying as a result of his pursuit of her. Nonetheless, it is clear that his top priority is almost always the survival of his clan and the future of the oni. He has a very strong sense of responsibility towards his people and is always quite aware of this stature. In one route, rather begrudgingly, he accepts the marriage proposal of another oni woman since he recognizes that such is what would be best for his people. In some routes he seems to develop true romantic feelings for Chizuru, but it is clear that actual romance comes secondary to duty for him.

Perhaps due to those beliefs, he also comes to have a rather strong respect for the Shinsengumi and its members. This is most apparent in his own route, where you view his reactions to the deaths of the various other characters in canon. It's clear that learning of their deaths does affect him quite a bit, as he believes that such great men deserved a better fate. Viewed from this angle, the player sees a more fatalistic side of Kazama, one that has simply resigned itself to seeing the history of men play out before him as he decides not to take part himself. He would be quite content to simply disappear off the stage of history as long as he secures what he wants, a pure blooded bride to bear his offspring. He has no great aspirations for glory, as he's already quite sure of himself and his own prowess. He has nothing to prove since he already knows that he's the greatest there is (though, of course, this also leads to him frequently underestimating others and in two routes getting killed for it).

POINT OF DEPARTURE: N/A
ABILITIES:

Kazama is an Oni, a mythical Japanese creature that posseses a variety of supernatural powers. As an oni, he possesses much higher physical strength and speed than normal people. The oni are regularly portrayed as able to move quickly enough to be untraceable by the human eye, disappearing from sight simply through the speed of their movement. While high speed movement of that sort is all too common in anime, it's worth nothing that (other than the existence of oni) the setting that they come from is fairly mundane and meant to reflect a more or less realistic world. The oni are the only ones shown to be able to move at such high speeds, and the only ones who possess physical strength beyond what a human would be capable of. In addition to their strength, they are also shown to regenerate extremely quickly - guns are virtually useless against them, because they hear from normal bullet wounds instantaneously.

Furthermore, although oni are normally indistinguishable from normal humans, they possess a "true" form that serves to heighten their abilities further. In their true forms, their hair turns white and they grow horns, making their demonic lineage more apparent. Although in olden times, oni transformations were more elaborate, involving longer horns and different markings appear on the oni's body, over time the blood of the oni has grown weaker and the transformation more subdued. In this form, the strength of an oni becomes even greater, easily surpassing that of even the strongest of humans. Their regeneration rate also becomes much higher, to the extent that anything sort of decapitation or a blow to hurt is incapable of killing an oni.

Beyond the abilities granted to him by his lienage, Kazama is also considered an accomplished swordsman. Although his blood gives him a somewhat unfair advantage over his opponents, he is still considered by many to be among the strongest swordsmen in Hakuouki, if not the most skilled. His swordsmanship relies on his brute strength, though he's nonetheelss able to match and overcome even the most accomplished swordsmen of his age. On the battlefield he is known to be an accomplished soldier, able to sway the outcome of battles through his presence.

INVENTORY; His sword, the Dojigiri Yasutsuna. The sword has been passed down in the Kazama family, and is renowned for its ability to harm other oni. Although it is unclear just how the blade's ability works, Kazama notes that an oni's wounds do not heal when cut by its blade. Its unknown whether the blade possesses any other special abilities, but it is nonetheless considered a sword famed for its monster slaying abilities in Japanese folklore.

Otherwise, he'll have his tobacco pipe with him, as well as a change of clothing - halfway through the story he switches from Eastern clothing to Western clothing, so I'd like him to basically have a set of both loosk.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Not really. Kazama is a world class creeper whose dream is to have 100 babies.

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON:

(( ooc: this is a first person sample originally used for another game - hopefully that's alright, if not i'd be happy to provide something else. ))

[ as the screen turns out, you're treated to a rather bored expression. whatever mysteries this world might contain don't seem to matter much to this blonde haired man as he seems to have nothing but apathy towards his new surroundings. ]

To think humans could create such a device... Wonders never cease.

[ he lets out a sigh at that, fiddling with it a bit more, before turning it upside down. not that he realizes what that does. ]

I seek answers. Where is this? Why have I been brought here? And do not merely repeat the empty words of that letter to me... it contained nothing but meaningless drivel.

If gods truly exist, I have never encountered them before, and I see no reason why that would change now. A demon has no need for deities. If you seek aid, then you've sought the wrong man. The fate of the cosmos means little to me... if this world is to be destroyed, I will enjoy watching it burn. The future is something you create by your own power, not by borrowing the power of others.

THIRD PERSON:

(( ooc: likewise, this sample was also originally for a different game. ))

Chikage Kazama was quite alert as he awoke, though his somewhat disheveled appearance may have implied otherwise. He propped himself up on his elbow, sitting up as he glanced around him. He did not recognize his surroundings, though he saw no cause for alarm. Whatever situation he found himself in, he doubted he was in any real danger. If anything, it merely annoyed him that one might have the audacity to pull such a prank on him.

"What is this...?" he grumbled irritably as he arose to his feet, reaching for his sword. It was still there, at least. Being without the weight of a blade at his side would have made him far more uncomfortable than anything else this place may have thrown at him.

Knowing he still had his sword, then, he at least knew he'd be fine. He let out a loud yawn as he contained to gauge his surroundings, looking for any sign of where he was. Nothing at all. All he could see before him was a pedestal. It seemed all too obvious that he was meant to approach it, enough to make him wonder if this was all just some elaborate trap. But so what if it was? If it turned out to be a trap, at least he would know more about what was happening.

He'd barely taken a few steps when the water rose all around him, encompassing him from all sides. Despite tensing for a moment, he otherwise did not budge an inch. He would give no enemy the satisfaction of knowing they had managed to startle him, even slightly. He merely eyed the water suspiciously, wondering if it was some sort of attack. His own form was reflected back at him, though oddly enough his reflection bore no garments. But more startling was the strange mark upon his breast. He felt a strange tingle as it seemed to burn itself onto his flesh, though the pain was passing.

"Useless..." Kazama growled, before drawing his sword and slashing at the water in one wide arc. The power of the blow was enough to displace some of the water, though the rest seemed content to fall to the ground around him once more, it's task completed. He glanced down at the water, bending to one knee to examine it more closely. Yet as he cupped some of it with one hand, it seemed to be nothing more than mere water once more.

With a sigh he stood back up again, sheathing his sword before turning his attention to that pedestal once more. He'd already gone through some trouble to reach it, so why not finish his journey...

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Aly
AGE: 26
PLAYER JOURNAL:

lastalia
TIMEZONE: EST
CONTACT:

elympios
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Yuri Lowell
CANON: Tales of Vesperia
POINT IN CANON: After reuniting with the party in Dahngrest, Post-Zaude (PS3 version)
AGE: 21
APPEARANCE: image!
CANON HISTORY: Canon wiki; Yuri’s page

CANON PERSONALITY:

Many who meet Yuri Lowell for the first time could easily draw conclusions, based alone on the way he carries himself. He’s often casual, laid-back, and rarely without a smart retort when the situation calls for it… which is often, based on the way Yuri reacts to situation. Even in a tight spot, he manages to joke with ease and make sarcastic remarks to his opponents.

And really, that’s not far off from Yuri’s base personality as it is. He’s had a bit of time to grow up and gain an understanding of how some of the things in the world around him work — politics, class disparity and most importantly, where he stands on these situations. He may not have always had a great understanding about life outside of Zaphias, the intricacies of guild culture, and many other things, but Yuri definitely knows what kind of person he is and how he elects to present himself. Despite looking like a slacker, he’s the sort who cares deeply for the people around him, whether he knows them or not. When people need help, he finds a way to do the best he can for them, and he has a very low tolerance for injustices being done to people. The motivation for leaving Zaphias was to recover the stolen aque blastia from the lower quarter — something they needed to get by. It extends far beyond this, saving kids, saving kids parents from dangerous and corrupt situations brought about by the empire. Even in the most dire of situations, where lives spanning the world have been sacrificed, Yuri is quick to state it simply to his foe: “I don't give a damn what you're doing this for. But you're making a lot of people cry.” It’s all about simple morality to him, no matter how he tries to hide or sugarcoat it at times. He can break it down as simply as knowing that people are suffering, and that’s enough for him.

It’s because of this inability to turn a blind eye to that sort of behavior that Yuri leads the life he does. He, alongside Flynn Scifo, had joined the Imperial Knights in an effort to change the corruption and injustices of the Empire from the inside. But Yuri learned rather quickly that following that set of rules wasn’t going to cut it for him at all. That method forced him to watch and see all of the things up close, and required the patience to move up the ranks that he didn’t have. So he left, while Flynn stayed and did just that. It causes an interesting split in ideals between two friends: ultimately, they want for the same thing, but they disagree on how to go about it. For a while, Yuri did very little to make those changes. He continued his life as a civilian, friendly and amiable (albeit sarcastic) with those around him, but also largely alone. Until he begins to travel with Estelle, there aren’t many people he confides in at all — he had the trust of his dog, Repede, but that’s about as far as it really went.

As a result of that, it makes what development Yuri gets through the game very much so centered on putting his trust on those who rely on him, and not shouldering burdens all his own.

That centers on the fact that Yuri does have a much darker side, one he doesn’t want to share with the people around him. Because of his inability to sit idly by, Yuri is more than willing and capable of taking matters into his own hands; at times, this means doing things that wouldn’t be seen well in the eyes of the law. After learning that two corrupt officials of the empire, Magistrate Ragou and Cumore, a member of the knights, would be let off for their heinous crimes with little more than a slap on the wrist, Yuri led them both to their deaths in the darkness of night. It isn’t something he does without moral struggle; he knew all along that the path he was taking wasn’t legal, and a dangerous path that could not only break trust, but lead him to a dark place of no return. Fully aware of it, he does so anyway, all the while trying to keep it hushed from his traveling companions. Eventually, it does come to light, and he’s reminded and told over and over that he can’t do things alone.

Especially since by that point, he’d become a member of the guild Karol started, Brave Vesperia. One of their policies is to always act in the interest of the guild — something Yuri’s vigilante murders did not fall under. While Yuri does agree to not go it alone, he stands firm in his policy of doing the jobs that need to be done, including the ones nobody wants to do. Whether that means acting as the second in Union leader Don Whitehorse’s honorable suicide, or taking down a friend who poses a severe threat not only to them, but to the world… it’s a burden Yuri is willing to bear. That’s the important thing about Yuri. He does the hard things, the painful things, and the dangerous things so that others don’t have to dirty their hands. He does wrong things to that right things will be brought to light, and he makes efforts that will ultimately shape and change the future of the world and society they live in. It’s a truly thankless job — nearly all of Brave Vesperia’s more heroic actions are completely unacknowledged by the world at large, making Yuri and his friends some of the greatest unsung heroes of Terca Lumireis. And he doesn’t mind that, either. His actions are carried out fully knowing that Flynn and the Knights will get all the glory, while he’s viewed as little more than a common criminal to the many knights he once worked along side.

He cares about the greater good, and about others more than himself. He’s the type to constantly look out for others. He encourages Karol and helps him with leading the guild, he constantly reminds Estelle to choose her own path in life — he’s incredibly supportive of his comrades. He’s not the type to force; even when they learned that something they would have to carry out would cost the lives of Ba’ul’s friends, Yuri was adamant that he would never do so by force, even if it was for the greater good of the world. He can very often see through people’s veneers, even if he doesn’t understand why they’re put up to begin with. He was able to forgive Raven’s betrayal (and consequential sacrificial action to save them) with a condition, he understands that beneath Rita’s prickly exterior, she’s kind and caring for all their compatriots, and he respects Judith’s wishes to keep her status as the blastia-destroying dragon rider a secret until it all comes to light. With Patty, he expresses his concern and willingness to help her in recovering the Maris Stella — and her memories in turn… despite being off-put often enough at her passes at him.. Even with Flynn, he’s good at being the reminder that he has to be everything Yuri isn’t.

When Estelle’s safety is at risk, and Flynn is expected to uphold his duty to the Knights, Yuri states plainly that Brave Vesperia will be the ones to save her. In return, Flynn requests to join Brave Vesperia — prompting a reaction from Yuri that’s telling on it’s own. The Empire and the Union are two separate entities, and Yuri knows that joining a guild means abandoning the Empire for the Union. So he’s blunt with Flynn, telling him that not only can a Knight not join a guild on principle, but that Flynn isn’t suited for such a thing. He’s blunt and quick to remind Flynn of where their ideals differ, though he ultimately lets Flynn travel and take part in the fight with him, stating “If you want to come with us though, I won’t stop you.”

More of a listener than an advice-giver, Yuri is pretty good for being there for his friends, even if he’s not very good for returning the sentiment and sharing his deeper concerns or worries with anyone else. For Yuri, it’s easier to pretend that an attempt to help a stranger was coincidental, or that he doesn’t have much to struggle with aside from the very obvious. For him, a snappy remark, some sarcasm, and maybe a joke or two at the expense of someone else is a lot easier than burdening others with his problems. He shoulders a lot, though he doesn’t always realize just how obvious that can be.

Some of the other things that shine about Yuri are much less deep and dark. He cooks often for the party, and though he lays claim that it’s not something he particularly enjoys doing, it’s clear he excels at it. He picks up recipes a fair deal quicker than many of the others, and the care he puts into preparation goes noticed by those who eat it. But one of the things Yuri enjoys most is fighting. He may wield his sword for justice, but there’s little more that’s obvious than how much he enjoys battles. He finds them fun and invigorating, and likes having any excuse to hone his skills and come up with new artes and techniques to incorporate. Things like the coliseum melee challenges are fun to him — a stark contrast to Estelle, who much prefers nonviolent means whenever possible. In their group, he and Judith are the ones most likely to get wrapped in a discussion about how much fun their last monster battles was, especially when they end up being a challenge.

In that regard, Yuri can be considered something simple. Unlike his friends, who have a wide variety of interests from art and figurines to blastia, research, and… women, Yuri’s just a simple downtown boy with his sword and his dog. His relatively collected nature means that that not much gets under his skin beyond the world’s corruption. He’s not easily angered, or even genuinely annoyed. Equally so, he doesn’t get flustered very much either, though it does happen on some very rare occasions with a certain scantily clad Krityan who wears her figure very proudly.

When push comes to shove, he just wants to make the world a better place. Yuri wants people to be able to live peacefully and happily, even if they don’t have the riches and luxuries of the nobles; he wants those will less to live without suffering and having to catering to whims of the upper class. He wants to eliminate the toxic corruption that plagues their world — the very same one that ends up threatening their existence as a planet. Even as a simple journey to recover a blastia turns into saving the world from the greatest possible catastrophe they could ever see, he never loses sight of those ideals. “Do what’s just.” is the way he believes, and he sticks by that. Even if what’s “just” means taking a life, or doing something else that doesn’t fall under law-abiding. He’s dedicated to the right outcome, though his decisive nature means sometimes he takes the “wrong” path to get there. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and a statement like that almost seems to exist with Yuri Lowell in mind.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: N/A
ABILITIES:

Through the use of the bodhi blastia he wears on his wrist, Yuri’s capable of learning many artes (attacks) and skills that he wouldn’t have been able to without it. First and foremost, he does wield a sword; having formal training as an Imperial Knight has made him very competent in this regard.

He uses a combination of artes that he learned during his time as a knight (with some creative modification to give it a personal twist), as well as new techniques created and modified from the length of time he’s spent fighting since leaving Zaphias on his journey. Most of his artes are straight-forward strike and slash abilities; some a combination of the two as well as punches. Some of Yuri’s artes do have elemental attributes to add to their strength:

Azure Edge, Final Gale, Azure Storm, Lone Wolf Storm, Frigid Blast all have a wind attribute
Destruction Field, Pyre Havoc have a fire attribute
Crushing Eagle has an earth attribute
Frigid Blast has a water attribute
Guardian Field has a light attribute

Artes fall under three categories: Base, Arcane, and Altered (with Altered being just what it sounds like, an altered version of another arte).

In addition to this, there are a few other things Yuri can do. In Over Limit, he can perform Burst Artes, which are stronger and have higher knockdown probabilities. While in Over Limit mode, he’s also capable of performing Savage Wolf Fury, a multi-strike mystic arte, and the most powerful attack in his arsenal. He also has a fairly keen understanding of exploiting openings and weaknesses allowing him to make Fatal Strikes — instant kills on most enemy monsters, or a strong hit on more powerful foes.

In addition of his arte arsenal, he’s also able to learn weapon skills. These are abilities crafted into weapons that are unlocked by capable wielders. His skills allow for a variety of things, including attack and defensive properties, skills to alter artes, and even ways of getting stronger. A full list of Yuri’s artes can be found here, and his skills here.

INVENTORY;

Bodhi Blastia
Sentinel (sword)
Tyrant First (gloves)
Rare Helm (armor)
Mumbane (armor)
Faerie Ring (accessory)
Default clothing
Large Pipe (a stick-on mustache with a non-functional pipe attached)
Limit Quartet
3 apple gels, 3 pineapple gels, 1 life bottle, 1 limit bottle

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? He’s totally wearing that stupid moustache attachment.

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON:

a musebox post, network-style
THIRD PERSON:

On days like this, Yuri couldn’t shake the feeling that he truly was cursed. His life was the definition of Murphy’s Law, and it was getting to be difficult to deny that it had to be coincidental. Today just had to be the day that he stumbled across Gauche and Droite on his way to meet Karol at Union HQ in Dahngrest.

Of course.

It wasn’t enough that the monsters summoned by the Adephagos were getting worse, or that their current job client was kind of pain by sending Brave Vesperia on a wild goose chase for a rare item needed to synthesize a weapon. Now he had to listen to the diatribe of these girls, like he wasn’t already more than aware that he was directly responsible for the death of their boss (and… whatever else he was to them. Yuri wasn’t sure he wanted to figure out all the finer details of what Yeager’s deal was). Usually, this would be an ideal time to draw swords, but with everyone else back at the inn, or wherever they were in the city, he didn’t have much backup. And Yuri wasn’t about to take on two capable fighters in the streets of Dahngrest. That’d be violating all sorts of guild codes and rules, anyway.

So for the moment, he was left to stand and listen to them go on. Casually, he laid a hand on his hip, the other holding to his sword. His expression matched what he felt — one part marginally amused, the other exasperated with how long this was going on for.

“Listen, I get that you’re mad. But this really isn’t the time to be carrying out your revenge plot on me.” Which was undeniably true. “Besides, don’t you want to wait for the whole gang? Probably easier to get us all in one shot.”

He can’t help but instigate, though. They made it a little too easy, and it was all the more satisfying because they knew he was right. There were a lot of reasons for it, but it did boil down to timing, and a chance meeting in a populated area wasn’t ideal for dealing with enemies… Especially when you want them dead. So as the two stood, dumbfounded and letting out annoyed huffs, Yuri brushed past them with the same casual demeanor he’d maintained from the moment he say them in his path.

It was satisfying, but not yet over. That was okay though, as far as he saw it. There would be ample opportunity when other matters weren’t so pressing to have a proper face-off. Saving the world from the catastrophe it faced was a bit more important than petty grudges, after all.

ACCEPTED! An intro log will go up on the 2nd!

Edited 2014-05-01 06:58 (UTC)

ACCEPTED! An intro log will go up on the 2nd!

ACCEPTED! An intro log for new characters will go up on the 2nd!

Edited 2014-05-01 21:16 (UTC)

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Matt
AGE: 29
PLAYER JOURNAL: matt-doyle
TIMEZONE: CST
CONTACT: c.matthew.smit@gmail.com
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Eren, Joscelin, Remy, & Tim.

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Commander Jae Shepard
CANON: Mass Effect
POINT IN CANON: The opening of Mass Effect 3
AGE: 32
APPEARANCE: 6’2”, muscular, with grey eyes and brush-cut auburn hair, and a medium brown Asian skin tone. He has extensive facial scarring and subcutaneous cybernetic implants that give off an orange light.
CANON HISTORY: (as Mass Effect is an RPG and your choices shape the events of the game and even backstory, some of this is necessarily headcanon. Every event mentioned here is a factual part of Mass Effect history, confirmable on the wikis. The details and nature of Shepard’s actions and reactions, however, I have had to fill in.)

Born on the colony world of Mindoir to Hannah and Mark Shepard, both Navy veterans, the oldest of three children, Jae Shepard grew up on the colonial frontier of space, an independent rough and tumble existence, learning more respect for discipline than authority. He grew up exploring the unknown, cataloguing newly discovered flora and fauna, repairing ramshackle colonial machinery, and watching the stars. Even at a young age, he was too much of a cynic to call his childhood idyllic, but it certainly looked that way in light of what came after.

When Jae Shepard was 16, batarian raiders hit Mindoir, killing or enslaving the entire population. Mindoir was beyond the edges of Council space, the colonies there unsanctioned, and help was slow to come. Forced by his parents into a root cellar, Jae evaded detection until the Systems Alliance Navy, the human military, arrived to drive off the raiders. Lieutenant Ernesto Zabaleta, an old service buddy of Hannah Shepard, was on the ship that respnded, and took personal responsibility for helping her son. He helped the sullen, combative boy through a therapy program, made sure he was properly fitted with a new L3 implant when he manifested biotic abilities, and sponsored his early admission to the Navy.

Entering the Marines biotic sentinel training at 17, he entered the Interplanetary Combatives Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to receive his N1 certification - Special Forces. From that point onward, the Marines were Shepard’s life. For six years he put boots on ground on as many foreign worlds as possible, approaching every problem with bullheaded, single-minded determination and assembling an enviable record of commendations. In addition, he pushed through every Special Forces certification available, spending as much time in further training as in the field, achieving N6 status at the age of 22. Shepard’s squadmates were proud to have him on the team - as long as they didn’t have to let him behind the wheel of a vehicle or stand near him on a dance floor, where he was jerky, graceless, and convinced of his own indestructibility.

Shortly after receiving his N6 Certification, First Lieutenant Shepard was a squad leader in a batallion deployed to the colony world of Akuze when it went dark. Akuze was a frontier world, and the chatter suggested batarian slavers were likely responsible, part of the ongoing brushfire conflicts as batarians and humans both continued the same unauthorized expansions in that region of space. While Shepard had held onto his fascination with alien worlds and cultures, to say that he was nursing a grudge against the batarians was a gross understatement. The batallion went in hot… and found no batarians, and no survivors. Mammoth underground worm creatures called thresher maws, frequently seeded on alien worlds, had destroyed everything - but where thresher maws were generally solitary creatures, on this one small patch of Akuze there were dozens of them, in a state resembling a feeding frenzy.

Fifty-one marines touched down on Akuze. One returned to the landing zone. Shepard. Mandatory psychological evaluation found Shepard every bit as combative and resistant as he’d been at seventeen, and four months he was grounded, confined to administrative duties, acting as an adjutant at a veteran’s hospital on Elysium… and wearing his N7 insignia, only awarded after an N6-certified Marine had demonstrated their training in the field.

In 2176, during Shepard’s posting on Elysium, the planet came under attack by batarian forces and assorted pirates of many species, a treacherous surprise attack known as the Skyllian Blitz. Shepard rallied the staff and patients of the Veteran’s Hospital and defended it from batarian assault, convincing the brass that he was once again fit for duty - and spoiling for action to a degree that, at another time, might have earned him censure for insubordination.

On active duty again, Shepard took an active role in the retaliatory attacks the Systems Alliance Navy launched against the batarians, particularly a bloody raid on Torfan in 2178. Faced with a personal offer of surrender from a large but outmaneuvered batarian force, Shepard nearly declined… before remembering Akuze, and considering the toll it would take on human forces. Reluctantly, he conveyed the offer to his superiors, ending the battle with less bloodshed than there might have been.

This exemplary record and dedication eventually brought Shepard to the attention of decorated captain David Anderson, who personally recruited Shepard to be his XO and Marine commander aboard the SR-1 Normandy, pathfinder for a new class of stealth frigate.

Before long, however, politics and greater events intervened. The Systems Alliance, working with the galactic government known as the Council, wanted a larger role, and was pushing for a human to join the SPECTRE service - effectively, the Council’s special police force. After disturbing events reveal the possibility of a rogue Spectre, Shepard is given the job, and command of the Normandy as well, in order to track him down. The resulting manhunt reveals the seeds of an ancient conspiracy and a war between an extinct race and a mythical one, artifical life forms known as Reapers who come out of hibernation every fifty thousand years to wipe the galaxy clean of starfaring civilizations. The first Reaper has already awakened and co-opted a Spectre, and Shepard must stop them from using the Council’s space station, the Citadel, as a beacon for calling in its fleet - Reapers are immense, sapient starships.

Shepard’s maverick actions and crew of elite alien recruits attracted both praise and skepticism, and he was sent to do patrol missions, as the Council was unconvinced that the Reaper was in fact part of any larger group. On one such mission, the Normandy was attacked by a very different alien vessel - attacked and destroyed. Two-thirds of the crew made it off the ship in time, but Commander Shepard wasn’t one of them. He died in orbit of Alchera, his spacesuit punctured in the Normandy’s death throes.

For most people, that would have been the end. But the xenophobic human-supremacist terrorist organization known as Cerberus felt that humanity needed a rallying point, especially given that, in the corridor of space Shepard was patrolling, human colonies have been vanishing. Recruiting as many of the Normandy survivors as possible, Cerberus recovers Shepard’s body, well-preserved as it is, and through a combination of cybernetic operations, organ cloning, and experimental procedures, successfully resuscitates him almost two years after he was pronounced dead.

With a rebuilt Normandy, a dossier full of dangerous mercenaries, and a mission to find out why human colonies have been vanishing, a bitter, confused, traumatized Shepard is put back to work. Reinstated as a Spectre but not as a member of the Systems Alliance Navy, Shepard tracks down the people and information he needs, fighting betrayal on multiple fronts, and ultimately survives a suicide mission to the home of the mysterious species responsible, uncovering yet another connection to the impending Reaper invasion; defying Cerberus’ more sinister intentions, and taking the Normandy on a crusade to prevent galactic genocide, single-handedly if necessary.

Before long Shepard finds where the Reaper invasion will arrive, and discovers, to his horror, that they are already in-transit. The only way to prevent it is to allow an asteroid to collide with and destroy the relay where they will arrive… and the resulting energy discharge to destroy a batarian colony. Other forces intervene, some trying to divert the asteroid, some to make certain it lands, and in the end the best that Shepard can do is warn the colony, hoping that some few batarians will evacuate… and in the wake of that event, permit his own arrest by human military forces, standing trial for the destruction of the colony as a war crime.

CANON PERSONALITY: Shepard is sarcastic and cynical, bent on getting the job done at any cost, shaped as a resilient, never-looks-back survivor by the traumatic experiences of his life. His innate compassion and curiosity have been tempered by hard experience, and while he still experiences thrill and wonder, still wishes for better, he doesn’t allow those feelings to dictate his actions except in rare situations. With no surviving family, Shepard lives for his career, taking on his own crew as a surrogate family of sorts, and certainly as his only close friends. Impatient with bureaucracy and hidebound procedure, Shepard tends to cut straight to the point, to respond to provocation with violence or the threat of violence, and to consider matters of morality and justice separately from legal or ethical considerations. Kindly, one could call him goal-oriented. These tendencies only became more extreme after his death and revival, cut loose from any larger organizational structure to answer to, only paying lip service to his alleged Cerberus loyalties.

Shepard’s the man who gets the job done. The man who survives. But as much as he initially seems a blunt instrument, there’s more to him than that. Shepard is as hungry to learn as to achieve, mastering his biotic abilities, learning everything he can about security intrusion, computer systems, and other experimental mechanical innovations, studying alien races… the universe astonishes him, and Shepard is, despite how closed off he may seem, always open to the next curveball the world will throw him, flexible in his mindset.

That curiosity extends to people as well. Shepard’s command style is almost contradictory - one moment dictatorial, the next conciliatory, and always, always hands-on. Shepard believes he knows best, demands input, expects compliance when he takes control - but he trusts his crew, and he expects that obedience because he expects their trust. From the moment he’s placed in charge of a unit, Shepard is fully versed in the crew’s dossiers, taking all the off-duty time he can to get to know them, get in their heads, to understand their strengths and weaknesses, what motivates them, and how they can all be better, together.

To those people who respond, he’s just as quick to open his mind, forging as much understanding between them as he can… but even to those people, he doesn’t discuss his personal life or his past more than he he has to; just how he thinks, what he wants. Shepard prefers to live in the moment, or better yet in the future, outside his own head and his memories.

Despite his bluntness, impatience, and privacy, Shepard exhibits a constant concern for the psychological well-being of the people around him, helping keep their head in the game, willing to lend an ear if he has to, but preferring to lend a hand. His own wounds and losses have made him compassionate to distress in others, except when frustration over-rides his concern. Shepard cares for his crew, but he doesn’t coddle them. He finds ways to make them live up to his expectations - but he never relaxes those expectations, not for anyone.

ABILITIES: Shepard is a decorated marine. He’s trained in the use of multiple advanced firearms and heavy weapons, as well as close combat fighting. As a Sentinel, he has extensive training in security intrusion, computer sabotage, and basic technical proficiencies, as well as possessing a biotic implant and amplifier which allows him to use ambient dark energy to manipulate local gravity fields - the so-called “mass effect.” This makes him effectively telekinetic, able to lift or throw large weights at a distance, to warp or shred matter with conflicting gravity fields, to create inertial barriers around himself, freeze people in place With the right gear, Shepard is trained in the use of ablative armor. Additionally, he has extensive first aid training, although without 22nd-century medical tools he may be at something of a loss..

INVENTORY; Having been placed under arrest at the time he was dragged into his first Jaunt, Shepard has no gear but his biotic implant and his omni-tool, a powerful wrist computer and communications device with limited ability to project hard-light holograms that can serve as tools of close-quarters weapons. Because he’s been locked up for a while, I’m also going to give him a hard-copy edition of a magazine called Fornax, which he’s going to try not to let anyone else read.

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON: http://thoughtformed.dreamwidth.org/739748.html?thread=34481060#cmt34481060

THIRD PERSON:
http://thoughtformed.dreamwidth.org/73649.html?thread=2830257#cmt2830257

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Chel
AGE: 25
PLAYER JOURNAL: N/A
TIMEZONE: EST
CONTACT:

chirality
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Bruce Banner
CANON: Marvel Cinematic Universe (AU)
POINT IN CANON: Post-Avengers... given changes for the AU.
AGE: 43
APPEARANCE: Edward Norton!
CANON HISTORY: MCU wikia, though 616 and Ultimates are influencing this AU quite a bit.

CANON PERSONALITY: Headcanon for MCU is in green.

Character-wise, Bruce is quiet, guilt-ridden, and uncommunicative. He's incurably paranoid and justifiably so - he hasn't used credit cards or had an ID in years, and he rarely uses his real name. It's easy to understate how deeply he feels responsible for what he does as the Hulk, but in one deleted scene from the movie we see that he tried to kill himself in the Arctic of Alaska, only to be stopped by the Hulk itself. While a small scene, the implication that Bruce is readily willing to commit suicide - even for such an altruistic reason as protecting people as a whole - is undeniably telling. There are largely two levels to him: what he admits and accepts about himself, and what he denies and tries to eradicate. This push and pull between the facets of his personality is psychological; the Hulk is but a representation of it.

In general a decisive, unassuming person, Bruce doesn't flinch from his circumstances. He is withdrawn and broods more than is healthy, but in the end he is very practical and constructive about what he does. When it's more prudent for him to return to civilization instead of retreating to hermitage, he does so. He is, actually, very lonely, and longs for something as simple as being able to make friends without putting them in danger - yet his sense of responsibility is too strong to put aside. He's a person that takes absolutely nothing for granted.

He is a deeply emotional person that nonetheless rules his decisions by logic. Inherently wary after an abusive childhood (comic canon that Edward Norton has stated he used as material for his role), as an adult he maintains poor self-image and a strong reluctance to argue or yell. This is a naturally developed trait and not one he trained himself into after gaining the Hulk. Despite this deep well of negativity, though, his rational mind is constantly overriding his emotions, discarding or ignoring those that are hindering him and examining critically even the ones that aren't. However much he doubts himself, his unceasing capacity for sharp logic keeps everything else in check. Uncomfortable as it may make him, Bruce is willing to do things against his conscience and his feelings if logic dictates that it's the best course of action. This is exemplified in how he completely leaves Betty behind for her own safety, and how later he does endanger her when needs must.

The abuse his father inflicted on him made him a wary person at the outset, and years of living on the run has compounded his innate caution. Bruce has long trained himself into emotional distance from other people, particularly now that it would put them at risk - if not from the government, then from himself. Those people that with calm persistence make it past his internal barriers gain a lifelong, loyal friend. Because it takes Bruce so long to trust and open up to someone, by the time he does he is absolutely certain that they are worth his consideration, and he rarely if ever reverses that decision. The list of people he openly cares about is a short one; in canon, we pretty much only see him display this sort of committed devotion to Betty.

Bruce is drawn to Betty because of a combination of factors. On their own, these are not unique character traits, but together they are compelling to him: ready kindness, an intelligence and wit that can keep up with his, and a kind of independent strength that we see when she stands up to her father time and again. Betty is well able to take care of herself, but cares about Bruce simply because she finds him worth caring about. The unconditional simplicity of this is powerful to him. Someone that relied on him too heavily would make it difficult for him to relax around them, unable to stop thinking about his responsibilities; as strongly responsibility-driven as he is, then, Betty's ability to compel Bruce to stop and think about himself compassionately is crucial. She is one of the few things that unequivocally provokes a sense of calm rest in him - even as the Hulk, something unique to her.

The Hulk itself is a purely visceral expression of emotion, an outletting of everything Bruce denies himself during his conscious, waking life. In some story lines in the comics, the Hulk is written almost as an alternate personality, but ultimately it is simply an expression of repressed anger and hurt. In a very real sense, there is something of it in everyone alive. Bruce states in the movie that he isn't interested in controlling that other force, only in getting rid of it. This is a very childish, if understandable, reaction. Wanting to 'get rid of it' as he does lends it more power, and it's at the end of the movie when he decides to try to control it that he's able to accomplish something more - a glimpse of a reasoning, thinking Hulk. There's hints of this earlier, when it protected Betty and took care of her, but those were abstract and basic concepts. Once Bruce does work in cooperation with it, the Hulk speaks and starts to understand consequences on both a real and emotional level.

His intense reluctance to accept the Hulk is a clear mirror of his reluctance to accept himself. While rationally he understands that this is a product of unproductively low self-esteem, practically that makes little difference: Bruce struggles with his own identity and his unwillingness to acknowledge that inside of him is the capacity to be the same kind of monster that his father was, a perfectly human one. He grew up with his father convinced that he himself was a monster, and had genetically passed it onto his son, so this is a very real fear to him (comics canon again). To Bruce, the sheer possibility is horrifying, no matter how unlikely we may realize it is for him to ever become a selfish, angry, violent person. He obsesses over control, ever striving to maintain a perfect grasp on his every emotion and action. Obviously this is impossible, but his deep, gnawing fear of being a monster in truth - one without the excuse of gamma radiation - drives him to attempt for it constantly.

The true irony here is that, at least in the movie version, Bruce is incredibly selfless and moral. He does have a sense of humor, sardonic and rarely seen, and in average interactions is calm, unjudging, and even kind. He is the kind of person you would trust your baby to after you just met him; there is a compelling levelness about him. When he is not in danger and has room to think for himself, out of the heat of the moment, he is extremely reliable and not unfriendly. Dauntless and constantly thinking of others, Bruce is always, always focused on doing what is morally good - the proverbial right thing that so often eludes the best of us.

POINT OF DEPARTURE: Mild spoilers for Captain America 2: Winter Soldier.

Events proceed as normal in MCU until after the Incredible Hulk, where instead of running off to Canada and learning control alone in the wilderness, Bruce is captured by the Hydra faction of SHIELD. He doesn't know that it's Hydra (and remains unaware at his current canon point), instead believing that he's under official SHIELD jurisdiction. The rest of SHIELD is under the same impression. When he wakes up, he's shown Betty's dead body and lead to believe she had been killed during the fight with the Abomination. With his memories of time spent as the Hulk so murky, he has no reason to disbelieve it, especially with him in shock over seeing her corpse.

Bruce spends the next few years (until the events of Avengers) in SHIELD captivity, not always willingly. He's subjected to long periods of solitary confinement, interrupted with tests of various invasiveness performed on him. Corresponding mental health effects typical for solitary confinement and imprisonment result: mental fatigue, slowness of thinking, mood swings, paranoia, and most especially, auditory and visual hallucinations. For Bruce, these hallucinations primarily take the form of conversations with the Hulk (this is a 616 allusion) and over the course of his imprisonment, his relationship with Hulk changes. They still loathe each other, but become united against a common enemy: SHIELD.

As Bruce loses rationality due to his living conditions, the Hulk gains it. Hulk's previous memories of his time spent as "savage" Hulk are fairly vague and murky, and he grows to attain a distinct personality of his own. He's still not very smart, but he is capable of speech now, if with terrible grammar, and he understands emotions vividly, a capacity Bruce has never had. Needless to say, Bruce is not always complacent during his captivity and Hulk never is, so there's several casualties and incidents -- but since this is Hydra, they always eventually get him back and manage to persuade him he's better off imprisoned for the safety of those around him.

This creates a complex mental struggle in him, of a somewhat different flavor than in canon. In MCU, Bruce is used to the guilt from his unintentional casualties, but it's never Betty. It's completely stripped him of resistance to said guilt, and Hydra uses that to manipulate him to cooperation while he's susceptible to it.

Things go on like this until Avengers occurs, and Fury convinces what he believes to be a subset of SHIELD to release Bruce into the Avengers' custody for the purposes of tracking down Loki. Avengers as a movie goes fairly similarly to canon, with the exception that Bruce's relationships with other characters take on a somewhat different slant. Tony offers to spring him from captivity immediately upon meeting him, and eventually, after saving him during the Chitauri invasion, Bruce agrees. Fury is far from stupid and has a suspicion that more is going on than he's officially been told, and covertly provides Bruce an out with which to escape custody.

Before seeing Bruce on the helicarrier, Tony hadn't been aware that he'd been imprisoned that entire time; offended at his ignorance, he does some serious digging, and uncovers the fact that Betty isn't dead. She's been kept prisoner herself in a different facility, and the results of the experiments done on Bruce have been used to turn her into a Hulk herself (Red She-Hulk, another 616 reference). Devastated, Bruce cedes control to the Hulk, and Hulk and Tony go to rescue her.

It isn't a beautiful heartfelt reunion. Betty as a red Hulk is enraged, having been subjected to conditions as bad as Bruce's (if not worse), and refuses to have anything to do with him. She escapes successfully, but abandons him to make her own way, massive property damage to Hydra's facility left behind. Hulk finally transforms back into Bruce (who has been avoiding being out due to being unable to cope with his emotions) and has a long overdue breakdown. Tony takes him home to recover. This is the canon point at which I'd be taking him.

Personality wise, this Bruce has some significant differences from canon. He's much more biting, justifiably suspicious, and altogether more aggressive. He still is concerned with protecting innocents (particularly from himself), but he no longer believes everyone is innocent, and those that aren't, he shows no mercy for. Bruce is somewhat unhinged at this point, a side effect of the barrier between him and the Hulk growing vague. He has a pile of neuroses spanning from hating locked doors to being easily overwhelmed by sensory stimulation, all typical of victims of solitary confinement.

The other side of the coin, however, is that he's less resistant to forming interpersonal connections once shown he can trust someone. His trust is unspeakably difficult to earn, but he won't spend nearly as much energy as canon Bruce does on trying to distance himself from others. He's incredibly attached to Tony, who in his view has irrevocably proven himself trustworthy by telling him about Betty and helping him rescue her, even if she hates him now. He's just less reserved in general, freer with his intelligence and willing to take risks in ways canon Bruce never is, which leads to greater payoffs and better results.

Basically, he's a mess, but in typical Banner / Hulk tradition, he's oddly more stable and effective when he's a mess.

ABILITIES: First and foremost, he's the Hulk. When his heart rate exceeds a certain point, whether by exertion or strong emotion, he transforms into a massive, green, and nearly unstoppable monster. He can fall from heights of thousands of feet and get up a second later; missiles and large explosions don't make him flinch; and he's extremely protective of Betty (and presumably other people he cares about, in this case including Tony). His weakness in his form as the Hulk is probably his acute hearing, but even zeroing in on that tends not to keep him down for long. The entire conceit of the Hulk is that he is an expression of rage and therefore unbeatable, and that certainly used to be true-- but in this AU that's not quite the case any longer.

In my interpretation, Bruce and the Hulk are one being who has been split much as different personalities of one original splinter off. As they grow to more peacefully coexist with one another, they begin to share feelings. With Bruce's greater acceptance of the Hulk, he has gained more Hulk traits: he's able to feel mild anger without inciting change, he can be somewhat ruthless and egotistical, and so on. The Hulk conversely has gained some of Banner's traits: the ability to be calm and think rationally about something, enabling him to, although not frequently, engage in normal social interaction in a gruff manner and with his characteristic childish grammar.

Bruce and the Hulk are quite cooperative now, which has its drawbacks. They tend to form a consensus on who gets to be out when. The flip side of this is that Hulk is a little too rational to be full of blind rage anymore, and Bruce is too habitually angry to use his genius intellect to its full effect. The line between them has grown very blurred at times; they're melding back together in some respects, as they're far more in equilibrium and cooperation with one another. But they still harbor significant mutual distaste and contempt-- they just had an enemy to unite them.

As an otherwise normal human as Dr. Banner, his strengths lie in his genius level IQ. He's an accomplished nuclear physicist, and is shown to grasp physical mechanics very quickly. Since he went on the run, he's picked up some martial arts and meditation skills; nothing superhuman, but enough to get him past the average angry thug. He also knows passable amounts of Portuguese and Spanish.

INVENTORY; Really not much. In fact, he probably doesn't have anything except his clothes and his glasses in his shirt pocket.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? I don't think so?

S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON: Musebox thread, set in the AU, Tony and Bruce's first meeting. I hope this counts, even though it's in prose? I wouldn't mind writing another sample, it's just difficult to get Bruce to talk for 100 words straight. :)

THIRD PERSON: Bruce woke to a harsh light. There was a cold table beneath him, but he wasn't restrained; his eyes snapped open even as he slowed his breathing by rote. The small, contained room was something out of his nightmares, innocuous on the surface but holding a multitude of horrors behind the suggestion of it.

As he slid to the edge of the table and to his feet-- barefoot, he realized, his pants tattered remnants around his waist, but serviceable enough, and he'd know-- the door opened, admitting a woman. He was vaguely surprised and bitter that it wasn't General Ross. Instead it was an attractive woman, with long dark hair artfully falling in waves, a sensual cant to her lips that was undeniable. Bruce ignored it without effort.

She smiled at him in apparent friendliness, satisfaction at seeing him awake evident. "Dr. Banner. How do you feel?"

He ignored that, too. His voice was even. "I don't know who you are."

"Of course. Dr. Monica Rappaccini, biochemistry. I'm the lead scientist of this facility, and your principal investigator."

"You seem very comfortable to be in a small room with me." There was no doubt that she knew what he was, and Bruce meant every inch of the threat behind that. It was a bluff. He'd never willingly transform and take out who knew how many innocents following orders behind these walls, but perhaps she didn't know that, perhaps she had some trace of fear he could exploit. He had a keen knowledge of how to employ ruthlessness when he needed it, and his facial control was excellent.

"Mm, I am comfortable. I don't think you're a threat to me. We both want the same thing-- or, I'm confident that we will once you hear the news. I'm actually looking forward to working with you. I've never had a subject that could give me such... accurate observations before."

At those words, the cold thrill of dread overtook him like a creeping wave, and Bruce knew he couldn't contain every iota of emotion, no matter how hard he tried. He'd managed to with his father, but Bruce had grown since then, become soft with the world and caring for it. His knuckles tightened on the edge of the steel table, the cold a match for his gullet drenching in ice water.

Reality was finally sinking in. Somehow he knew. Somehow, the inevitable that he'd known would be the end result of his hubris, of him having a single joy, had happened. It would all be taken away.

He was right.

Rappaccini was speaking, leading him out of the room. Bruce succeeded in keeping fairly stoic for the moment, as she murmured apologies. He noticed a sharp glint of anticipation in her eyes, one he recognized as sadism. He had no doubt they did not, in fact, want the same things. He had no doubt she was there to exploit him. Mind calculating quickly, Bruce tried to evaluate his surroundings-- the defenses of the building, how many were culpable and how many were non-coms, how long it would take him to escape-- right up until the exact moment the door opened to the room serving as a morgue, and he looked inside.

He had been more right than he'd known. The heavy weight of Betty Ross's corpse lay on a table much like the one he'd woken up on, unmoving. Some said the dead looked peaceful. Bruce peeled back the white sheet from her face, every muscle and emotion frozen solid to a block of numbing, painful ice. Maybe it was only his imagination, but Betty didn't look peaceful.

She looked betrayed.

He lasted until he was back in his room, the words of Monica Rappaccini a dull buzz in his ears, before the ice shattered and he threw up.

Someone jogs Shepard’s elbow, and for a moment, he’s sure it’s an attack. He pivots, microgestures activating his omni-blade, world gelling in that distant slow-motion blur, and he wonders if this is another damn nightmare, a screaming Prothean prophecy shoved in his skull, Or a flashback to the Collector ship. Or maybe an insane asari matriarch with a head full of bugs has decided to rip open his psyche.

Hey. All in a day’s work, right?

He’s got just enough time to see that the man next to him is wearing a three-piece suit, looking the other direction, just starting to turn in alarm, and he manages to click off the omni-blade. Hell, he even manages not to deck the careless son-of-a-bitch. That’s progress. That’s better than he managed the day KhalishaAlJilaniWesterlundNews cornered him on the citadel when he was two weeks off the slab and still warming up, still dealing with headaches and weird sleep things and skin the consistency of clay, with light seeping under his flesh as he shaved and the aching recital of twenty names, twenty more people he’d survived, more or less, through no fault of his own. The damn reporter had opened fire, so he hit her, before he remembered it was just words, and she was only a damn civilian. He’s not proud of that.

He hit her, but he doesn’t hit this guy. Gives him a smirk, and says, casually, “Watch where you’re stepping.” Then, because his arm is still forward between them, he pretends it was on purpose and shakes the man’s hand. “The name’s Shepard. You got any idea what the Hell is going on here?”

He can keep it together. One victory at a time.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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CHARACTER RECLAIMS

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Re: Revisions

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Toshizou Hijikata | Peacemaker Kurogane (PG/AU)

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Natasha Romanoff (Reserved) :: 1/?

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chikage kazama | hakuouki | reserved

chikage kazama | hakuouki | reserved

Yuri Lowell • Tales of Vesperia • Reserved

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ACCEPTED!

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Bruce Banner | MCU (AU) | Reserved

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Revised Third Person Sample