Luminous Beings

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Cordelia Lynn Holmes

Lynn was the sort who had "been there, done that". She wasn't really fazed by a lot anymore-or, so she'd thought. In the course of twenty four hours or so, the Academy had thrown at her a silverware-munching lizardman, a one-eyed girl dressed entirely in white leather (who she was sharing a room with, no less), and some sort of strange, raw-fish eating boy with a tail. Alex glowing, she could comprehend, but three hours of sleep? The hell? She said it in such a way that it was normal-no, like that was a lot for her? And the moon being bright? Lynn may not have been blessed with things like "formal education", "stable childhood", or "basic civility", but she was sharp. So this chick was recharged by the moon, and apparently could function really well on three hours of sleep. Like a werewolf or something, minus the wolf part. She just got all charged up from the moon. Lynn could roll with that. It took a bit of contextualizing, but she swallowed it pretty easy after that. After the lizard guy, she wouldn't have been surprised if some kid's power was being able to shit antimatter or something.

"Yeah," Lynn said knowingly, "Moon's like, crazy bright here." Who the hell pays attention to the moon? Well, actually, I'm starting to think moonlight is to Nightlight what Molly is to the rest of us, so I can't blame her. "Roommate's good, I guess. She doesn't fuck with me. I don't fuck with her. I'm with that one-eyed Irish chick with the Michael Jackson get-up." Lynn paused, figuring with her luck, Gabby would be standing right behind her. She glanced around, but the two were still alone. Huh. That was a nice change of pace. Lynn skipped right over the question about how she slept, because as a general rule, Lynn didn't sleep very well at all, but that wasn't something she really felt like delving into. She had a suspicion that if she brushed right past it and kept talking, Mary Poppins would miss it. Not to knock her-Alex was the only person that was on Lynn's list of "Doesn't Annoy Me". "If they make us do math, I say we just skip. And, suits?" Lynn folded her arms across her chest, chewing on her lip with a vacant expression that would suggest she was either thinking hard or tripping balls. "...I suppose I could roll with...suits," Lynn finally said. "Anything that isn't some academic, classroom bullshit, I'm down for. You heard anything more about the arena? As a general rule, I don't fight when I don't have to-" because when I fight, I don't half-ass it, like I imagine this fat cats do "but..." Lynn shrugged. "I figure eventually I'll wind up handing someone's ass to them." She returned her eyes to Alex, sizing the girl up and down. "You're not much of a fighter, are you?" Lynn said this not with condescension, but rather genuine curiosity. She didn't get that vibe from Alex-you could see it, in people. Hardness. Coldness. She'd seen a glimpse of it in Morticia, a tinge of it in a few others....it was nothing like clairvoyance. It was just watching the way someone walked, someone moved, carried themselves. It was watching who was boasting and shouting in a conversation and who sat quietly, not needing to make a scene. Same way Lynn could, most of the time, pick out what model cell phone someone had in their pocket from twenty paces, she could spot who was hard and who wasn't. Lynn mostly hung with hard types, back home, the sorts who had either seen some very serious shit go down or had tiptoed that irreversible line of morality themselves. Alex, she felt, hadn't, which was...refreshing? Lynn felt a vague sense of responsibility for the girl. There was Crocodile Dundee who ate steel and probably shit out bullets, Morticia, who regardless of strength, certainly seemed to enjoy taking potshots at the new, weak-looking kids, and...well, herself, come to think of it. Academy had a bunch of dangerous types running about, and Lynn had a very quiet feeling that there would be a few child-sized graves carved out in the jungle before they all got back on that boat to go home. She didn't intend on going in one (although, admittedly, Lynn never really planned on a long life-she had accepted her life expectancy was two, maybe two and a half decades), but she figured Alex didn't deserve it either.

Of course, if half these dumb fuckers kicked the bucket, Lynn would twerk on their graves, but eh.

Lynn wasn't exactly well-versed in dealing with the soft types-it'd been a great many years since she'd been at the orphanage, which was probably the last relatively normal social environment she was in. She was used to a more terse form of relationships, but this would be...nuanced. "Listen, we have to do any shit today, and I legitimately don't know what that entails, which annoys me," Lynn turned and spat off the side of the ledge down into the brush below. "I wouldn't be opposed to, uh, watching each other's backs or whatever. There are some assholes in this place, I'd rather the one normal person here not get dicked over by them, you know?"

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Okay, Stitches, I have some problems with your sheet.

To begin with, it seems like she can pretty easily shut people down. Stomp the floor once, the entire surface is quickly covered in corruption, and anyone who can't fly is now infected with it. Lethargy, slow reaction time, and dizziness are pretty damning in a combat situation, so I feel like your character only needs to get a couple of hits in and any given character is shut down. Even the healers. It fades off after thirty minutes, but causes severe mental deterioration over several weeks. So does she have to actively be next to someone, continually flowing corruption into them without sleep for several days in order to see this effect? If so, without being rude, is there a point to having the negative long-term effects?

I'll be honest. I don't really understand how your power works or what the applications of it are. If it's just making people sick, I'm sorta lost as to why it's an extra-dimensional thing. It's essentially this toxic substance that she's capable of restraining as I best I understand. She can't control its movement, but can control whether it effects people and remove it forcibly. It also says she does not have to expend energy to resist corruption, but is slowly being corrupted without any of the symptoms. How can our characters become corrupted if it dissipates after thirty minutes? I'm not trying to be obtuse but I'm lost as to how this power works, and what applications it could have. Being able to levitate on the corruption's a cool idea, but if she can't control how the corruption spreads then she's kinda limited in where she can go, isn't she?

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Cordelia Lynn Holmes

"Over here, Mary Poppins," Lynn drawled, seeing Alex wander relatively close to the entrance of the cafeteria. Lynn was seated off to the side of the steps, comfortably propped against a pillar (there'd be space for the Nightlight to sit across from her if she so chose, which Lynn was kinda hoping she would-she hadn't even meant "Mary Poppins" all that derogatorily). Her shadow splashed against the stone behind her, mirroring her every moment as a shadow should. But occasionally, once every few minutes, it would twitch, or Lynn's shadow would glance to one side, check its surroundings. All the while, Lynn steadily continued eating (she'd hardly made a dent in the gargantuan quantity of food her plate was somehow able to hold), not bothering too much with manners and whatnot since she was, ya know, eating alone. Not that Lynn had a qualm with eating alone-she was used to it, and most of the kids in there seemed like dumbasses. She figured the whole day would be spent with these meatsacks, having to go math or science or reading that Lynn was hopelessly incapable of performing, so she might as well avoid them while she could. Whilst lessons were going on? Lynn's strategy was to lay low and avoid drawing attention to herself. She'd rather keep the whole "I'm about two steps above illiterate" thing to herself for as long as possible. If anyone felt like giving her shit for it, well, Lynn would beat their face in until they were dyslexic. Who can't read now, bitch!

"Sleep well?" Lynn asked casually, a genuine note of interest and ease in her voice. She felt...not happy, but relaxed. In a little while she'd be back to being pissed, but the weather was okay outside, there was warm food to eat, and someone who didn't make Lynn consider suicide just by talking approaching her. So the morning was...okay? "Also, you have any idea what we're doing today? I'm hoping it's more..." Lynn swallowed a huge mouthful of omelette-some dentists and orthodontists would perhaps question if her jaw had unhinged to accomplish this feat-"superhero-ey stuff. Obstacle courses or sparring or whatever. Not...school-school." Lynn's voice trailed off, and she looked out over the jungle. Lynn rolled up her sleeves (they were prone to falling back down on her thin arms), runnning a hand through her unkempt hair and pulling it back into a ponytail. To say Lynn didn't care about her hair would be an understatement. She propped her beat-up sneakers on the ledge and laid her empty plate down on the ground next to her, perhaps planning on taking it back into the cafeteria later, but more probably planning on leaving it there for someone else to pick it up. Or maybe that lizard fucker would just eat it. Who really cared?

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Anyone who wants to interact with Lynn, feel free.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

I'll just address everyone at once. For one that wording for Jazzy's concern was my fault actually. It's really just him using overwhelming force to the point that in begins to damage the body and then things begin to break and what not under the force, not pressure my bad on that one. And actually it does state that these things do take a lot out of him for whoever said it should, if not I accidentally put the wrong draft in, but I'm pretty sure it does. As for moving himself around that wouldn't take much out of him it would just take concentration and skill.

You are correct, there is a mention of his being exhausted, but you said "if he goes over-board", which is somewhat ambiguous. However, that is my bad. As for moving himself, "himself" is still a 145 pound meatbag. Moving around 145 pounds of anything is not easy, much less when you have to do it with air. To move around as quickly as you're stating, you would need both an extreme amount of finely controlled force to essentially telekinetically throw yourself to one side and simultaneously slow yourself down to stop at the exact right time. It would take much more than concentration or skill. Now, if you wanted to make an aspect of your character's power be that he had a very low weight, and his biology was altered to sustain this, I would be more willing to roll with it, because that would bring with it lots of weaknesses. However, being able to move himself around that rapidly, with that much precision, means he can do the exact same to basically anyone else in the RP, and there's not really a way to defend against that.

And as for potential for abuse, you're right I don't see it because I planned on using it for the finesse part mostly so I didn't even notice, and to stress the issue since I feel like no one seemed to read the whole thing or I put the wrong version up, yes it does take a lot out of him, and the fact that it could easily kill him from too much use makes it extremely high risk to the point that using it is too dangerous and why hes saves it for a burst to kill people which puts him in minor risk but to get them to that point without using too much energy is extremely difficult.

Please don't say we didn't read it when there's no mention of his power being able to "easily kill him". You mentioned that it could tire him out if he went overboard, that using powerful attacks took away his wind vision, and that using fluctuations in pressure could disorient him. You stated that using air pressure could potentially kill him, but not the power overall. If I misunderstood that, my apologies.

And, not trying to be rude, I'm having trouble understanding your last sentence. If I'm understanding it correctly, then there's still an issue, because he can still kill people relatively easily. Allow me to compare and contrast. If we're talking with the sole intention of killing someone, Lynn's power could kill you fairly quickly provided you were right next to her. If you were right next to Henry, he could similarly kill you fairly easily. Your character can kill from considerable distances, and the ease with which he can do so greatly outweighs the stamina costs, however steep they are. He can prevent someone from being able to breathe, which would take minimal energy compared to shoving their body off a cliff. If he's capable of moving himself around so easily, he could easily pick up a penny and send it flying at a few hundred miles per hour into someone's skull. So on and so forth. Your character is absurdly powerful, to be blunt about it. If you're intending for him to be more finesse-based like you said, then you really need to go back through and elaborate on that to explain how he's able to do what he is, and that the specific limitations are. Your power is extremely open-ended and able to used for a great multitude of tasks, with very little in the way of drawbacks (he suffers from extreme usage of his powers; he can still do considerable damage while putting out minimal effort).

For starters, here's a list of what your character could do whilst avoiding the drawbacks of the power.
-Manipulate air to muffle all noise, either silencing a weapon or rendering someone entirely deaf. There is no way to counter this.
-Manipulate air to suffocate someone by stopping the flow of air into their lungs, or making it so they can only breathe in carbon dioxide and sending oxygen away from them. There is no way to counter this.
-He can sense anything that is touching the air around him, which effectively gives him omniscience within a few hundred yards provided he's outdoors. There is no way to sneak up on your character, even indoors.
-Your character can fly and float.
-Your character can manipulate the air to track anyone's scent with ease, or make his own scent untraceable by dispersing it.
-Your character can nullify any aerosol-based chemical attacks, such as tear gas, sarin gas, etc.
-Your character, presumably, has no difficulty holding their breath for long periods of time, and as such could likely survive for long amounts of time underwater.
-Your character is likely able to streamline their breathing and adjust the air so they're breathing in pure oxygen, thus making him tire out far more slowly.
-Your character could easily manipulate the wind to guide a bullet far more accurately than any human could. Your character probably wouldn't even need the rifle.
-An extension of being able to fly, your character is unable to die from falling while conscious. Your character is able to extinguish any fire-based attacks directed towards him as well.

I don't mean to be antagonistic or rude, but your character, to be frank, is far and away the most powerful character in this RP. Unless you establish some really clear limitations on what he can and cannot do, then I'm not going to be comfortable with his being in this RP. Even without expending tons of energy to make hurricane level gusts of wind, he can still obliterate most characters with ease. Unless you are going to drastically scale his down his powers, he's going to need some damned-near crippling weaknesses to make him balanced in my book.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

I will second Maxx. If he's going to be manipulating air, he should need to expend a ridiculous amount of energy to be able to accomplish the things you mentioned in your sheet. Creating a gust strong enough to knock someone down or even to move his own body around would take a lot of energy. Crushing someone to death is, like Maxx said, something you can in no way defend against (well, if you want to nitpick, Lynn could defend against it, but her power lets her defend against most things, so it's not really relevant) and sucking the air out of someone's body is pretty powerful too, especially given that it's basically a one-hit kill against an unconscious person.

He also has no real weaknesses aside from blindness, which he circumvents. He can still cause damage whilst motionless, even if it's more minor-having to move to cause damage isn't really a weakness in my book given that the majority of our characters have to do the same. Too much pressure disorienting him is also kind of an unfair weakness as, at that point, he's probably snapped someone's neck with air pressure, so him being a little dizzy isn't really that big a tradeoff.

If you're going with air manipulation, I think you either need to scale down what he's capable of or severely increase the drawbacks. It'd be interesting to see you play this as more of a finesse based character rather than someone using raw force: while superpowers don't follow the laws of physics super closely, he would have to expend an insane amount of energy to crush someone with air pressure or send a gust of wind large enough and strong enough to cause internal damage. I'm against the air pressure entirely, but the insane gusts of wind I could see if it was his ace-in-the-hole; his absolute apex. His manipulation of air is a really versatile power (tracking/scents, allows him to deflect any form of toxic gas sent his way, supreme accuracy with firearms if he's good enough, holding his breath presumably indefinitely, etc) and having him be a combat juggernaut as well is too much in my book. If his combative applications were nerfed (he can fire off a hurricane-level gust of wind, but it would take up everything he had), I'd be okay with it, but honestly he's just too strong. Your character could excel in nearly every field (stealth, combat, etc), even over characters who are specialized in those fields. He could easily neutralize Nikki (as no bug is strong enough to endure even a relatively mild surge of wind), for example. If you were looking for a more thematic weakness, maybe there's some problem with his lungs as a result of his power and he has to lug around an oxygen tank wherever he goes to function. That wouldn't balance him out entirely but it would be a step in the right direction.

Honestly, I know you probably didn't intend for it, but I just see too much potential for abuse with this power.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Cordelia Lynn Holmes

Cordelia woke up the same way she always did.

It was unlikely, that Gabe-in her groggy, would-murder-someone's-family-for-five-more-minutes state of consciousness, would notice, but Lynn's shadow reached down from the wall beside her and rested a hand on the girls shoulder. Lynn had caught herself, not whipping out her switchblade in front of her roommate-although, her hand under her pillow, her face cold and full of fury-it probably looked sketchy enough.

A moment or two passed and Cordelia remembered where she was-the Academy. Not the place her dreams often took her to. She took a few deep breaths, wiping the sweat off her brow and collecting herself. In a tanktop and shorts, far more of Lynn's flesh was exposed than normal. All of Lynn's left shoulder and forearm were consumed with the intricate rendering of the Angel of Death, and the right a pair of twin phoenixes, their tails stopping just short of her elbow. The black ink was a stark contrast to her pale skin, and without her usual get-up of baggy clothing, it became evident just how small Lynn was. You could've fit three or four of her onto the mattress-on which she slept above the covers and sheets, curled up in the fetal position. Lynn's face as she slept wasn't one of discomfort, but rather surprise-like it wasn't used to resting on a pillow for the night.

And in the dead of night, when she began to thrash and scream, her shadow would silently reach down and cup its hand over her mouth, catch her from rolling off the bed, and place her gently back upon the bed, without the roommate or Lynn herself ever the wiser.

"Yeah. Yeah, shower sounds good." Lynn jumped up out of bed and immediately dropped down, grunting out thirty or so push-ups. This was less to maintain her physique and more to burn off the panicked energy that seemed to accompany Lynn upon first waking up. She'd been alerted to sirens many times before, but they were more of the wailing, accompanied-by-blue-lights variety. Lynn staggered up and jogged into their bathroom, showering off and taking her sweet damned time. God this feels amazing.

Gabe, which Lynn had always assumed was a dude's name, but whatever, was still doing her thing when she got out, so Lynn grabbed her bag and retreated back into the bathroom to change. There were...scars...that she prefer not be made known to the world quite yet. Lynn slipped on her other set of clothes, and made a note to herself to get new stuff by tomorrow. Tanktop, if you wanted to be generous. Wifebeater, if you wanted to be accurate. She slipped on a Chicago Bulls hoodie next and pulled on jeans, fastening them to herself only with the assistance of a belt. Lynn double-checked her backpack, getting everything secured in there, and vaguely realized she had no actual school supplies. Huh. Shit.

Well, whatever. This place had a store, she had fast hands. Problem solved.

Lynn found the cafeteria overall too crowded for her liking. Lynn, of course, was at ease in big crowds-it meant plenty of distractions, which meant plenty of easy marks, pickpocket-wise. She eyed a few people who had their phones practically begging to be palmed, but Lynn figured there was no point in stealing something she couldn't sell-there wasn't a black market on the island, she figured.

Lynn smiled wide, a delicious idea coming to her. For once, her day was starting off right!

The girl moved to the serving area, standing in line with a quiet scowl on her face, and piled her plate full of everything. Omelette. Pancakes. Some fruit she probably wouldn't eat because fruit is for little bitches. There's a reason they call people "fruity". Bacon. Sausage. More Bacon. Everything was drowned in syrup and a handful of napkins clumsily ripped from their holder. Whistling to herself, Lynn moved back out the cafeteria and to the steps outside the building, sitting outside to enjoy nature while she ate or some shit like that.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Cordelia Lynn Holmes

Lynn never really imagined she'd find herself actually listening to some preppy white girl's rant about video game, but Alex's sheer enthusiasm made it really hard not to pay attention to what she was saying. The kid (Lynn said, as if she had decades of age on Alex) wasn't annoying. In fact, while she wasn't in touch with her emotions enough to realize it, Lynn was somewhat bummed the two of them weren't sharing a room. Alex seemed like she'd be alright, and given her baggy, kinda chill style, she didn't figure she'd have to deal with any passive-aggressive bullshit over how Lynn dressed or anything. And, given Alex's little beauty mark across her face, she figured Alex wouldn't be too inquisitive about Lynn's copious tattoos and scars-and, if she was, she could at least relate.

Although, to be fair, Eyepatches Michaela Jackson was probably a little understanding when it came to scars. "I'll catch up with you later," Lynn said, letting Alex go and do her thing. For once, she legitimately meant it. While Lynn was no expert on metas, she figured Alex's glowingness was probably indicative of a lot of power. She remembered vaguely seeing a few episodes of Dragon Ball Z (her surrogate brothers piled around one, shitty TV, screaming drunken profanities, sometimes watching the English version, sometimes trying to figure out what the fuck was going on in the Chinese or Korean or whatever version. Made for good times), and all those motherfuckers lit up like the Vegas Strip when they get pissed at somebody. Of course, her little lightshow may impede Lynn's own gift, but there was like, some symbolism or some shit to that. Light and dark fighting together? Lynn mused on her missed opportunities as a literary critic.

Well, while Lynn was never one for diplomacy-Lynn felt diplomacy was pretty much useless, and a more force-based form of negotiating ("Do X or I fuckin' cut your dick off") was far more effective. However, Lynn, in general, was able to swallow her disdain for assholes when it was beneficial to her: and she figured if she had to spend the next year in a room with Patches, she might as well try and avoid hostility for as long as possible. This not to say that Lynn wouldn't throw down with Gabe if Gabe tried anything-hell, she'd make Gabe's demon little brother watch as she beat his older sister into retardation, but there was no point in going looking for that. If Gabe was willing to play nice-well, Lynn didn't do "nice", so well, but she could manage "civil".

So, when Gabe came over, visibly irritated at the prospect (we're pissed about this and, from the looks of you, we've both been in a few rough scrapes before. This might work after all.) of talking, Lynn fought down a needlessly snarky response, brushed some of the hair out of her face, and nodded. "Yeah, guess so." Lynn said, trying at a smile. Oh God. That was a horrible idea. Lynn didn't smile. She scowled. Why had she altered the natural order? "Well, I don't know dick about this place. You know where our room is? We can get settled in...or whatever..."

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Also, friendly reminder, I am the one who knocks a co-GM as well.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Cordelia Lynn Holmes

Mmm, Alex had a little fire in her. Not, granted, as much as Lynn, who was pretty much entirely comprised of "fire", but still an amount she wouldn't have guessed at first. Yeah, Lynn thought she and Alex were going to get along okay. She felt a sort of strange responsibility for her. While judging from her features, Alex looked to be about her age, her energy and youth made her seem younger. Brought back memories of that orphanage, may-it-burn-in-hell. Much as she hated the place itself, the kids within it were alright. She'd tried to check in on them occasionally, but...

Well, there's a time in your life when you realize you're better off to your friends if you're not in their lives anymore, and it got made pretty clearly when the eight and nine year olds asked why Delly had that tattoo under her eye.

Alex was cursing, wooh. Immediately upon leaving the building (and promptly forgetting about Morticia), Lynn pulled out a cigarette and lit up, holding it in her teeth as she tucked the lighter and pack of cigarettes back within her jacket, away from potential bag-checkers. Any of the Academy's staff tried to pat her down, she'd be calling the ACLU about five minutes later. This place might've had people who were like walking nukes in terms of power, but no matter how strong you were, the bureaucracy of America could fuck you up with impunity. The former state ward was pretty well-versed with that law of the urban jungle. The warm air was new to Lynn, who was used to good weather in Chicago, but this was...something else. Air felt different. Lynn couldn't put her finger on it.

"Let it out, baby doll," Lynn murmured around the cigarette as Alex cursed out Vespera. It was cynical, but the more rage Alex had against the others, the more on Lynn's side she was by default. Lynn liked the girl, genuinely, but it nevertheless worked to her advantage. The comfortable weight of her switchblade and brass knuckle (she had only the one, which she held in her off-hand whilst she wielded the blade in the other) against her skin was reassuring. She'd taped anything really illegal to her person, carefully layering on her clothes to avoid undue suspicion. More suspicion. It wasn't really undue.

"Admin building it is. I have a sinking feeling I will be visiting there a lot more throughout the year. Or at least wherever the hell that detention facility is." As they approached the admin facility, Lynn dropped her cigarette on the ground and crushed it with her sneaker, brushing it off the path casually. Littering was almost as cool as smoking."Yeah, us as roomies would work alright. Might, ah, prove..." Lynn was trying to think of a way to explain how that would make Alex something legal experts call "an accomplice" in such a way that wouldn't scare her off. She realized there really wasn't one. Man, talking to functioning members of society was harder than Lynn remembered. "Never mind, that'd be tight. Lynn grabbed the paper from the receptionist, accepting it with a grunt, and eyed her own paper while Alex read her roommate's name. "Ass Lynn? Well, at least half the name's pretty. Maybe they just call her that 'cause she's got curves, who knows." Lynn talked for a couple seconds to cover the fact she wasn't the world's best reader, and it took her a minute to locate her roommate's name. "Gabriella Valos. Valos. Valos sound kinda Mexican to you?"

Cordelia closed her eyes, cursing. "Damnit. I'm with that chick wearing the white leather suit. Unless there's another Hispanic chick here, in which case, hey, more evidence I'm racist." Lynn folded up the paper with surprising gingerness and tucked it into the side pocket of her bag, figuring there was probably some relatively useful information in there. She'd read through the whole thing later, alone, when she could sound everything out without being mocked. "Eh, well, as long as you're not paired up with that Goth bitch you should be alright. You know where the dorms are?"