Blitz

The Neighborhood Watch

Ok - what a weekend, phew! I sent a PM to Portal Sword, who also brought up some interesting ideas (which I will not spoil). I also think we have a good amount of characters for now - so I'm gonna mark the RP as full for the time being. Again, additions down the line can still be possibility! Once Carl gets on the scene, we can start moving forward.

The Neighborhood Watch

Awesome! You made it just on time. I'm gonna send you a PM sometime this weekend (maybe Sunday - see below) with potential feedback and whether to post in the Characters tab.

Y'all, I'm burnt out. I'm hosting a third different friend for the third weekend in a row. Lord. So I'm gonna be slightly out of pocket this weekend too, but I'll FINALLY have some (social) reprieve after this weekend for a litle bit. Thanks for bearing with me!

The Neighborhood Watch

Hey folks!

I think I'll give to maybe the end of the week (Friday) for interested parties to post a CS before we push forward. How's that sound?

Again, I know it's difficult to post when characters are gathered in a group, but that's why we're in casual! I really, truly love the precedent we've set with our posts so far on quality and length, but it's totally okay to be more brief to spur some dialogue and interaction, which really is the meat of RPs. I can set an example of this with a brief post to acknowledge and incorporate Serena into the meeting, but if one of y'all have been thinking about a post, that's fine too! Just wanted to make sure y'all feel reassured about expectations.

EDIT: I also updated/moved the timeline to the second OOC post (which I originally 'reserved' by accident, lol) so it's a bit easier to find.

The Neighborhood Watch

Let me know if I need to change anything ^-^

Serena Reyes-Cooper

Serena Reyes-Cooper

Age: 19
Gender: Female
Occupation: Psychology college student, music tutor/babysitter (part-time)

Appearance: Serena stands 5'3" and has naturally black hair that she colored light brown. She typically wears conservative clothes like long, loose dresses no matter the weather and the occassion, but she does pair them with comfy sneakers any chance she gets. Her only accessory is a necklace with a small white quartz embedded with a gold chain which is given to her by her grandma when she was young.

Personality: Serena is quiet and mostly keeps to herself. People close to her would say she's always been soft-spoken and meek, but she feels the bravest when she performs with even just her guitar and her voice. Even when she's shy, she's not afraid to stand up for what she believes is right. She will always do whatever it takes to protect the people she holds close to her heart, and she's always there to lend a helping hand to those that needed it the most.

Background: Serena was born in the Philippines to Filipino parents, Georgio and Felicity. Her father was an alcoholic and abusive as well, using the hard-earned money of his wife for gambling and buying more wine. Her mom Felicity worked day and night to provide for the family. Even when Georgio was an evil man at heart, Felicity still loved him and she kept living with him, hoping that in time he will go back to becoming the man she once fell in love with at the start.

Still, her love for Serena was stronger. While Georgio was sleeping one night, Felicity put whatever she could in her bag and took young Serena as they fled, riding a bus on the way to the city for a better chance at life.

The city was loud and dirty, but the two women felt happy and at peace. Felicity worked multiple jobs to pay for their cheap, small apartment, and Serena learned to do chores at a young age to help her mom. Their lives would change again when Felicity met Erikson, one of the patrons at a bar she worked at as a waitress.

Felicity learned to be tough and to harden her heart to be a provider for her daughter, but she could sense Erikson was being genuine in showing his feelings for her. On learning Felicity's past, Erikson worked hard to earn her and Serena's trust as he had truly fallen head over heels for Serena's mother. After much consideration, Erikson took them back to America, where he could give them a much more comfortable life.

Many years later and Erikson was now a world-famous pastor, life coach, and bestselling author. He married Felicity who ran an organization that helped victims of abuse. They had a son together named Michael, who's as bright and cheerful as the warm sun. Serena grew up to be a kind and warm young lady as well, where she would perform with other teens at the chapels and event places where her step-dad was invited to be a guest in.

Now, the family is currently residing at Redstone. After all the issues and mysteries surrounding this town had begun spreading even through the internet, the faith group that Paster Erik belonged to thought that he could spread the good Word and help the people living there alleviate any lingering fears and anxiety somehow. As for Serena, this new home of theirs could change her life for better, or for worse.

Connections:
Felicity 'Fel' Reyes-Cooper - mother, easily excitable, very caring and affectionate, serves the best hot chocolate
Erikson 'Erik' Cooper - step-father, highly optimistic, ever patient and understanding, gives the tightest hugs
Michael 'Miky' Reyes-Cooper - younger brother, loves laughing, clingy and always happy to see everyone, can melt icy hearts

Emerging Power: Spiritual Healing
The next day after drinking the coffee at Grace's, Serena discovered she could heal wounds. It started at papercuts and bruises, then she gradually moved on from there. She also discovered she could even heal ailments too, albeit she only had experiences with common cold and flu. Additionally, she can alleviate negative emotions like stress, anxiety, calming them and making them feel better even for just a bit.

The more major the injury, ailment, or negative emotion that she tried to heal, the more tired and weakened she becomes as well. Her healing is also reliant on the emotions she's feeling at that time; her heals are more effective when she feels hope, joy, calmness, and other kinds of positive emotions.

Serena has never tried to heal other people when she feels deep, negative emotions, nor does she want to try and find out what will happen.

Personal Motivations: Erik always says God has a reason for everything that's happening in this world. The disappearance of the Grotto, the whispers in the night, the nervous chill in the air, none of those can be explained by God. Whatever's happening in Redstone is probably divine intervention of some sorts, and Serena wants to know the truth behind it all so she can prove the existence of a higher power. It's so she can also ask them one simple question, where the answer can finally put her own spirit at ease. At least, Serena hopes so.

Additional Notes: She always carries a white rosary in her pocket.

Personal Hex Code: #FA8072 - Salmon

@baraquiel

Thanks for your interest! I'll send you a PM as soon as I can. I'm a bit busy today through the weekend but will try to squeeze it in if I can!

EDIT: Ok - PM sent!
I'm going to be short on free time until ~Sunday afternoon—more social obligations. I'll still be checking in here and there to chat/answer questions, etc.

The Neighborhood Watch

Cian Cahill

After Cian extended his question to the group, he was surprised to see even more people arrive at the study room. Another guy, and a girl. They arrived so suddenly with everyone else that Cian hadn't sensed their approaching bioelectric signals. But now, there were five of them. Five. He’d never imagined this many would show up, and this early.

Cian extended quick be reassuring greetings to the newcomers—they were on time, no one was late, things were just getting started. He glanced around the quickly filling room, noting the expressions—cautious, uncertain—and something else. A reticence. Likely a nervousness. No one seemed eager to be the first to confirm something impossible.

Then came the outburst from the tall one about "keeping it down." Cian tensed. It would have made sense if everyone had been in lively discussion—but this was during a moment of near-total quiet.

Cian felt it then—sharper than before. The thrumming pressure behind his eyes. The ringing in his ears. The ripples at the edge of his vision.

Five of them now. Five new signatures vibrating in this enclosed space, buzzing and tingling and pressing in against the edges of his awareness.

It was making it hard to think.

The realization, the connection cut through the noise. Are we the same? he wondered, almost in awe. His gaze flicked toward the others. Are we all?

Then came the next comment. A little softer, but clearer. Cian recognized it as a small concession, and admission, to his previous question. Another small leap of faith.

Cian said nothing at first. He just looked at the tall young man with a steady, unreadable expression. Not judgment. Not even surprise. Something closer to... understanding. Quiet empathy.

He straightened in his chair and drew a slow breath.

“You’re not crazy.”

He let it hang there and hoped it sounded more confident than he felt.

“That feeling you have. I have it too. That's why I put up the flyers. That's why we're all here.”

Cian stood, walking over to the whiteboard. He grabbed a black dry erase marker, pulled the cap off, and began writing in big—and somewhat sloppy—letters.

GRACE'S GROTTO

Underneath it, he added:

GONE?

He paused and then also wrote:

WHERE IS GRACE?
WHY NO RECORDS?

Cian almost wrote down something else: MKULTRA?. A slightly humorous but ultimately grim acknowledgement about the café itself. And the coffee. And by extension, the changes he had been feeling. And he wanted to write something about the strange occurrences around town, too, the one's that felt so unnatural, even malevolent. But he decided not to, not yet at least. He still was afraid of the possibility that he was still alone in that regard. Sure, they could all agree about Grace's being gone, which was strange enough. But experiences bordering on the supernatrual, the unscientific? He wasn't sure about that yet. As he had said before, he was a scientist, not a conspiracy theorist. He would wait and see if anyone else gave any more hints as the tall one had not long before.

The Neighborhood Watch

When you realize you don't know how to math and have to edit a number like 3 times to get it right.

@Tally Dor

This. The mental friction between subclinical OCD and being horrible at math/lazy.

And yes, we're accepting, as Tally Dor said!

The Neighborhood Watch

I don't think waiting is necessary, especially if you (or anyone else) is feeling the itch to post something. I reckon it'll likely take us a few days to progress through the meeting anyway—dialogue, chances to react, etc. And again, even if one misses the first meeting, there will be opportunities to jump in later. Someone comes in right after the meeting is over? Maybe they run into one of us on the way out of the library. Someone joins in a few months? Maybe they sneeze fire and singe off someone's eyebrows. Excellent conversation starter.

...Anyway, we can be flexible. What I don't want to do is intentionally hold back the creativity of those of y'all wanting to write right now. I think this is fair.

The Neighborhood Watch

That's similar to what I decided to do with Cian sensing activity in the nervous system. Context can be really helpful for interpreting those signals for the intuitive/emotionally intelligent though...

Still, it's obviously hard to resist the temptation to use our privileged knowledge as writes to do something like:

Tally Dor's post prose: ... Morgan felt seething anger, but managed to hide it well. ...
Cian: "I see you're seething with anger, Morgan!"

At any rate, I'm happy to see that everyone who's been accepted has arrived and gotten a chance to put up some prose and express themselves.

To those still interested/working on CS's, I'd say there's still time to make it to this sorta first meeting. But I anticipate there's going to be opportunity to join down the line too.

(Had to double check I wasn't posting this IC again. Sigh...)

The Neighborhood Watch

I was picturing conference style, one big table!

The Neighborhood Watch

Goddamn it, Blitz. Stop posting shit in the wrong place.

Sorry y'all, ignore the IC. Was just letting y'all know I'm back to the status quo. lol