[center]Psychic powers exist. And they're terrifying.

Like with any powerful tool, accidents happen, and malicious people can do much worse. Your brain could be rewritten, the floor could catch fire right where you stood, or you'd suddenly find yourself fifty miles due north! The fact that anything could happen in the blink of an eye, and it was impossible to see coming, meant that the world of psychicstry was a dangerous one.

In an effort to combat the nebulous powder keg that was psy-crime, the [i]Extrasensory Securement & Protection (ESP)[/i] Agency was formed, which picks up the slack the rest of the world's governments leave behind - they might be able to identify and watch over those who have psychic powers, but they can't realistically stop anything bad from happening. The ESP does that and more, from psychic clean-up to extrasensory protection.

People are complicated, though. The most dangerous psychics are the ones that fall through the cracks. The ones that can't overcome the problems in their own head. When an insecure mind gains phenomenal powers, there's no telling what could happen. So there's another, much more secretive facet to the ESP: projecting into a person's psyche and manipulating it from within. These operations are rare, however, as precious few psychics are truly able to do so.

Luckily, you're one of those psychics!

Unluckily, that fact just got you in a heap of trouble with the ESP.

Something big is happening, though, and your detainment might have come at the best possible time, both for them and for you. You new skills will be put to good use, for the greater good of course, and you might just learn how to use 'em right while you're at it.

It doesn't matter who you are, where you came from, or what you can't do. With the ESP, everyone will be...

[img]https://i.imgur.com/0N4l6A9.png[/img]

~ ~ ~
[u]P R E M I S E[/u][/center]
Inspired by [i]Mob Psycho 100[/i], [i]Psychonauts[/i], [i]AI: The Somnium Files[/i] and a [i]smattering[/i] of [i]Persona[/i], [b]Kept In Mind[/b] is a roleplay set in a world where people can possess psychic powers. One such power, a rarity among the psychic populace, is the ability to project themselves into another person's mind, a mental world to explore and manipulate. For obvious reasons, this kind of power is kept under wraps, most of the psychic community not knowing of its existence. Your characters will have this power, and because of it, are under the ESP's thumb - as a detainee for now, but eventually, as an agent.

It won't be all telekinetic sunshine and psychedelic rainbows, though. The shadows you're put up against are moving, schemes arising, problems forming, problems you might not have made but you will have to face. A mind's an awfully fragile thing, too. One wrong move could make things a whole lot worse...

[center][u]I N F O[/u][/center]
This section will have, well, info! About the setting, about rules, and about everything you'd need to know.

[b]Note,[/b] this RP will most likely tackle topics that can be distressing, dreary, or sensitive. I have no way of knowing what, exactly, but its nature lends itself to representations and explorations of mental illness, trauma, and other similar areas. All I can do is assure everyone that I will try my best in keeping the overall tone light and showcasing such things with tact and empathy. Anyone wanting to join should do the same.

[hider=The Five Ws]
[i][u]WHO?[/u][/i]
The Extrasensory Securement & Protection Agency, aka "The ESP", is an international organization tasked with handling issues involving psychics and psychic powers. While not having the authority to police citizens, the ESP has immediate jurisdiction over anything related to psychistry; civilian arrests of suspected mentalists, disasters caused by errant power usage, the protection of a prominent psychic, etc. The ESP actually operates separate from any government, an independent entity that's allowed to do what they do primarily because it needs to be done. However, this means that the ESP is always in friction with the world's governments, who can and will squash its presence if they ever step out of line. But, as any paramilitary organization will tell you, some lines need to be overstepped.
[i][u]WHAT?[/u][/i]
Entering another person's mind, to 'Dive' or 'Pscope' (the latter term used by the ESP to hide its real nature), is very, very bad. It's kept secret for a reason; psychics are already regarded as untrustworthy just on the off-chance they can read minds. If the general public found out they could do a lot more than read them, there's no telling what might happen. The saving grace is that the ability to Dive isn't something that you can learn or be born with. It requires a psychic to be [i]broken[/i]. Most people, even ones with psychic powers, live their lives free of anything that could do that to them. Not all, though...
[i][u]WHERE?[/u][/i]
The ESP's main headquarters is located in the state of New Jersey, USA, not without reason. All those witch trials of the past were actually the result of psychic activity, before anyone was aware such a thing existed. There are also satellite offices scattered across the world to deal with issues in foreign continents. This RP will take mainly take place within the United States, as I'm an American and don't feel confidant in trying to represent other cultures accurately, though there may be times where the story takes characters to other parts of the globe. As a result, don't feel like you have to make solely American characters! Life's a melting pot, and psychics come from all walks of, uh, life.
[i][u]WHEN?[/u][/i]
Our story will take place in a vague 'Modern Day' with a soft sci-fi slant - there are smart phones, drones, and psychic computer uplinks for cross-country telepathy! The in-universe timeframe will span multiple months, perhaps even more than a year. Of course, we can't roleplay every single day, so there will be chunks of time skipped over for the sake of the story, with the focus being primarily on times when something big and bad is happening.
[i][u]WHY?[/u][/i]
At the start of the RP, your characters will be doing... not much of anything. They have all been arrested, all for the same reason: a Dive. Your characters have, at some point, used their gift to change the mind of others, and because of that have been detained by the ESP. As for how, well, that's up to you. Maybe the effects of your Dive were immediate, causing problems due to a mishandling of their mind. The Dive could've taken place in the past, perhaps successfully so, having only just been uncovered through one means or another. Or you could have simply turned yourself in because of it. Whatever the reason, you're all right here, right now, in the same room after some time in detention, unaware of the direction your life will take within the ESP.[/hider]
[hider=The Rules]- Standard Roleplayer Guild rules apply, of course
- Only one character per player, for the time being at least. I'm also keeping a soft player cap: up to 12 people can join, and if we start with less or we have drop-outs I'll accept later applications, though depending on when you apply you might be in the wings for a while.
- There will not be a strict schedule for posting. You can post as many times as you want or as often as once a week. However, when things start happening for real (action, fights, important events, etc), I expect everyone involved to be prompt and keep the pace of it going. If you fall behind, I will have to take your character's actions into my own hands to keep the ball rolling.
- Relating to that, if you're ever unable to post for a long period of time, for vacation or work or school or anything, please say so! I can write around your absence easier if I know it's happening.
- If you can, please join the [url=https://discord.gg/SrMjYuZtEa]Discord[/url] that I made for this roleplay! It'll help everyone keep in touch, allow for easier collaboration on posts or ideas, and be the quickest way to reach me. If you're unable to for whatever reason or are generally skeeved out by Discords, that's fine, won't force you into it or anything.
- Less of a "rule" rule, but I'm always, [i]always[/i] willing to hear people out. If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or just want to chew me out for being a dick or portraying a part of the RP in a way you don't like, hit me up! Either toss me a PM or blow up my Discord, I'll almost always be able to get to either relatively quick.[/hider]
[hider=Dives: The Archetype and YOU]This part will go over two important details pertaining the "Dives" within the roleplay: what an Archetype is and means, and how we, both me as the GM and you as a player, will go about Dives.

First, the Archetype; personality is an important facet of life as a psychic. It's unknown whether a person's personality affects what powers they have access to or if naturally attuned powers affect how the brain develops, but regardless, the two are inextricably linked (severe changes in mood can cause surges of power, unstable psyches can cause unstable powers and vice versa, etc). As such, the ability to Dive is dependent on if a psychic has developed an "Archetype", a piece of their psyche that they can splinter out of themselves and into other minds.

To that end, an important part of character creation is determining your character's archetype - based off the 12 Jungian Archetypes (which you can get an overview of [url=https://conorneill.com/2018/04/21/understanding-personality-the-12-jungian-archetypes/]here[/url]), you should try to center your character's main personality traits around one of these, or pick the best fit for them. This is not me saying you HAVE to make a character who ONLY embodies what these archetypes are, just that the archetype should be related to how they act.

How does one gain an Archetype of their own? Simple: they break. A psychic who suffers extreme mental stress, encounters serious trauma, has a complete change in their worldview, even gets physically broken, will have their psyche fracture and end up with the ability to project their Archetype. It doesn't matter if this 'break' is recent or if you have properly healed from it or if it was actually a positive experience. So long as an event in your past has caused it, you can Dive.

Now, onto Dives themselves, namely, how they will function within the RP. Obviously, if I were to dictate exactly everything, this RP will feel like little more than a connect-the-dots that you follow along. To hopefully avoid too much railroading, I'm putting the possibility of a Dive in the hands of you, the players! There will be times where I have a set end in mind, something for the characters to achieve or get to, but the act of reaching that point will be (near) totally up to you. Want to get into the nightclub by Diving into the Bouncer's mind and making him more open to strangers? Do you think you should take a detour to help your friend get over the issues that keep piling up? Maybe, somewhere down the line, the most obvious brain to Dive into next is... [i]yours![/i]

Of course, if I gave y'all COMPLETE run of the place, then it'd leave me to flounder around trying to pick up the threads. "Uhh, uhmm, okay, so the bouncer's head is full of... spiders? That are on fire!" It'd just be frankly embarrassing, no fun to play, and cause the RP to drag. So to keep me ahead of the game still, Dives will need permission and "permission". Permission from me, the GM, letting me know of your intent beforehand so I can form an idea for you to get into. I'll probably write up a 'Dive Form' later on when we get to that point so to make it a smoother activity. And keep in mind that Dives should be climactic, or at least have decent build-up to it. Jumping into Jerry the Janitor's head just cuz he's a fun dude will sorta deflate any tension surrounding the act, y'know?

Then there's "permission"; your characters will not be acting just on their own, but in tandem with and underneath the ESP. And Dives are tricky, sticky, ooey gooey business, a misstep could make more problems, could worsen problems, could even get the whole operation demolished and agents killed. Characters won't be able to Dive into, say, the Head of the ESP's head right after meeting them. Clearance, consent, maybe just for someone to look the other way so you can do it - something needs to happen IC-ly to justify a Dive.

But even between both those assurances, your characters can still affect the plot. A Dive in the wrong, or right, spot, a complete blunder of a mission, even [i]who[/i] you choose to Dive into and [i]why[/i] will have consequences, good and bad. Be aware of your actions, if you can. You never know when a Dive could end up breaking your neck on the diving board.
[/hider]
[center][u]C H A R A C T E R[/u][/center]
And now, all the bits about Characters. You're free to fill this out however you want, the structure is more a guideline, the 'least' it should be. If you can make it fancier than me, go ahead! You can also work on it wherever you wish, can do it as a WIP in the OOC, PM it to me to keep it all secret hush-hush, or some other third thing that might not exist as an option!

Like I said before, the maximum cap for the RP (for now at any rate) is 12, which might already be too high but I'm willing to take that chance. If there's spots left open after we start for any reason, you can still apply to join, but may have to wait a bit to actually get in.

[hider=Character Sheet]
[b]• Name:[/b] Full name, nicknames, codename, monikers, whatever y'wanna give 'em, though if you are going for an "only known by their nickname" thing it would help to have the whole of it too.
[b]• Appearance:[/b] If you're using a picture, please avoid faceclaims of Real Life people, it really just rubs me the wrong way. Even then, I would like a bit of writing, make the character your own!
[b]• Age:[/b] Any age 16 or up is fine. Kids wouldn't really fit the narrative or the vibe, though if the case is compelling enough, I might allow it.
[b]• Personality:[/b] How they like, act and think and shit! Try to make your characters interesting, complex, deep. Give them room to grow, even if you have an end in mind, they shouldn't be fully formed before their first post.
[b]• Powers:[/b] The stuff they can do with their mind, yo. Remember, a psychic's Powers and Personality are tied together, however that manifests for your character. What you put here is the 'mundane' things that you can do, such as Telekinesis or Telepathy, but their range and strength is up to you. And, of course, every one of your characters can Dive. Try to avoid any huuuge powerful things - Masterful Pyrokinetic, can lift a whole building, etc - for their...
[b]	- Psychic Specialty:[/b] What your character can [i]really[/i] do. We're playing this a little fast and loose; you could say your guy is great at levitating stuff, can remotely view locales and people, or can summon and control fire, but you can be creative with it! You can have your Psychic Specialty be anything, from duplicating yourself to converting yourself into goo to having a very specific but strong telekinesis that only works with cars. It's all up to you.
[b]	- Weak Link:[/b] Yet for all we're good at, there's things we're bad with, and the same is true for psychics. There's something your character is really bad with, abilities weaker than normal, avenues you're locked out of, or a gap in your existing range. This is also related to your character's personality, ie someone who's very open and extroverted may have horrible mental defense. Again, it's up to you how to interpret it all.
[b]	- Archetype:[/b] Both the name of the Archetype you've chosen, and how they both look and act like when projected. Because yes, when you're Diving, you're only a fraction of your full self - the most prominent fraction, but still only part of the picture. How this affects personality is dependent on you, though it should logically be closer to the actual [i]archetype[/i] you've chosen. For the looks, think of it like this: if [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/52/f4/3c/52f43c1e7889f6ee5d432b45b2f9ea1e.jpg]this[/url] is your character's regular self, then [url=https://external-preview.redd.it/IV8D1WDOBnl6bZICvG5YLv3Imnq_VgYQGTAafvjzy1M.jpg?auto=webp&s=90ee4c86fd03cb345fb036518cb9c80883d510bf]THIS[/url] is their Archetype. Your Archetype also has a better grasp of its Powers, both strong and weak, due to being a full-on psychic projection in a mental capacity. Physical barriers do not restrict it!
[b]Skills:[/b] Regardless of how hard you can flex your noodle, you're still a person, and people learn stuff. This is for any and all ordinary skills or talents your character can do, or at least what you think is relevant. They can be anything - took up fencing? Got really into psychology? Maybe you eat good!
[b]History:[/b]The big one, what everything up there has coalesced into and grown from. While, again, the specifics you include and how detailed you are is up to choice, but there's a few key notes that everyone should have in at least decent detail: the moment they Broke and gained the ability to Dive, the first time(s) they've used their Dive and how it went, and the when, why, and where of their detainment by the ESP. Outside of that, their History can be anything. You can even be an existing member of the ESP if you want.
[b]Misc:[/b] I'm sure there's plenty of stuff up there to feed a whole antelope, but in case there's any fun tidbits or important facts you can't fit anywhere else, place 'em here.[/hider]
[hider=Room to Grow]
Characters will start out fairly weak, with only one thing they're good at and probably plenty they aren't. They won't have to stay that way the entire RP, though! There's plenty of opportunities to get strong, flex your strongest muscle, or even gain entirely new abilities.

This can come about in three different ways:

[u]Experience[/u]
The more you do something the better you get at it. That's a fact of life. Whenever we switch Chapters you will be able to give your character's current powers a small boost, to range or effectiveness or control, etc. This way of getting stronger won't show bounds and leaps, but over time you'll be able to cultivate what you can do even better.

[u]Training[/u]
Putting actual effort into yourself is the best way to get anywhere in life, so training is important! During larger timeskips in the story, you can have your character train their powers, either solo or with a trainer, letting them really beef up their skillset. When this happens you can give your existing powers substantial boosts or alternate uses that you couldn't before.

[u]Diving[/u]
Wait, you can get cool stuff in people's heads? Kinda! Since Psychics and Personalities are pretty intermingled, exploring a  can make some odd things happen. While in a Dive, you might stumble across something that causes a part of the Dive-ee's personality to literally rub off on you, granting you entirely new ranges of powers! Don't worry, this won't cause actually changes to your own personality, just affecting what you can do.[/hider]