Mirandae

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

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Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

◼ W E E K 0 0 3: If your character was to get 'Freaky Friday'd in the IC, which other character would you want to end up body swapped with? What is your reasoning?

Hmm. I feel like I don't know all the characters well enough yet, not even my own, to answer this. It's a great question, but I have to answer it a bit later, further down the line. Or maybe I just need to think on it a bit more.

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

Boop. Checking in.

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

The chat here turned a bit quiet. Everyone alright?

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

_{F a t h e r ?}

---

Her eyes fluttered open. The scene before her was divine, yet ruthlessly alien. Shimmers of amethyst and cerulean drizzled from a sky of void. Modest swells of water caressed a smooth surface where her feet remained half sunk. A duo of immense astral bodies clad the canopy above her frame with matching hues of the glowing flakes all around. Esther tried her voice and to her horror, it sung with vibration and waves. In all of her dreams and imaginary spaces, imposed or natural, she was always able to speak as a normal person. It was a telltale sign. If all other visual and auditory evidence contradicted fantasy, Esther could simply try her deepest wish and if it came true, none of what her senses experienced were real.

But surely, there he was. The man stood a rock throw’s distance away from her on the darkened beach. Two years had passed since they last shared a reality together. Esther’s breath halted for a fraction of a second upon laying her eyes on him—her father—a surge of both fear and relief slashing throughout her veins. With an aroma of doubt and hesitation, she approached that long lost patriarch in awe and wonder, a thousand questions galloping through her mind with rumbling confusion and agitation. Yet, something seemed different about him, something seemed off and derailed from the usual. He was calm, collected, harmonious.

“How are you doing this?” Esther asked with a stern voice. She kept a watchful eye on the man, who slowly approached her. He did not appear to have any answer, as he just gazed on the brightly colored planets visible in the sky above them. “I’ll ask again: how are you doing this?” Esther said with a harsher tone. She was obviously not happy with his sudden reappearance in her life, but at the same time glad that he had not vanished forever. “It’s not over yet, pumpkin.” Sebastian finally spoke before the entire setting decayed.

✕ ✕ ✕

_{T u e s d a y M o r n i n g}

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Esther was slow to wake. The morning routines were sparse. She always felt slightly groggy after deep dreams and hallucinations, mirages, illusions—whatever one could call them. The wobbly state of her consciousness and befuddled coordination were imposed by the distorted perception of time in such encounters of the mind. Some of the longer and more complex journeys of the subconscious her father had dragged Esther into seemed to have lasted for weeks or months, even if they physically occurred for no more than a few hours. However, and luckily, the brief encounter just moments ago had not felt as extensive.

Sounds of breakfast escaped from the kitchen downstairs. Esther’s mother, Lieselotte, or Lisa, always made sure that the youngling of the house ate before any manner of adventures. However, the matriarch was in a hurry as usual. She held a rather important position in a far reaching corporation, with one of its local branches in the city. Although, Esther was not quite sure what her mother did there, exactly, other than that it was something business-y. Eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice awaited the young girl as she came striding into the ooze of the kitchen.

“I have to go soon,” Lisa said. She set the table with two plates, cutlery, and a glass. All of it was sparkling clean, of course. “Do you have everything that you need for today? Do you have money? Do you have your charger with you? Is your phone charged?” A thousand mom-questions came rolling out as she unloaded the frying pan and orange juice container, along with some ice cubs from the freezer. Esther calmly waited for her mother to even look at her after asking all the questions. It was as if the woman had forgotten that her daughter cannot speak.

“I have everything. Don’t worry,” Esther signed. Her expressions were a bit sloppy. But, then again, Lisa understood sign language perfectly by now. Usually, Lisa would accompany her daughter to new and old places in order to translate, if needed. However, this time Esther had specifically asked to try things on her own. Naturally, Lisa was a bit worried and nervous about it all, but she also knew that her daughter could express herself in multiple ways. “I will text you if I forgot something,” Esther signed before digging into the serving. Lisa hastily threw everything she could fit into the washing machine and turned it on, gave Esther a kiss on the cheek, and ran out the front door—“See you later tonight! Love you!” She shouted. It was a typical morning.

✕ ✕ ✕

_{T h e L o f t}

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Most of the day was as it usually played out. Esther kept her earplugs in with music playing as much as she could. She listened to what the teacher had to say and avoided having to answer anything. She had kept herself as invisible as she could during breaks and during the morning chaos in the hallways. Esther felt rather sad about that poor girl, Stewart. She spent some time reading about it on her phone. Even if she had never met the parents, Esther could sympathize with their agony—no matter where they were. The thought of doing something for that family occupied her mind the entire day. Esther just did not know what she could do. She figured it was a matter for the police, not her kind. That was one of those issues that bewildered Esther. Was she supposed to uphold some kind of moral duty because of what she was? It was a difficult question for her. Perhaps she would learn the answer in the last class of the day.

Excitement or Fear—Esther was not sure which to feel. Perhaps there was a bit of both as she flowed into that crumbling space. She removed her earplugs as she sat down in one of the seats decorated with a passcard and syllabus. Esther made sure to tuck both items into her bag right away, lest she would forget or lose them the first day. However, she was quickly distracted by the humps of skin poking out of the ripped slivers of her tightly fitting jeans. Esther was not awfully self-conscious about looks, but there was usually a desk that covered her somewhat fleshy thighs. She discretely tried to cover her lap with her clearly oversized sweater—a dark texture with an Oktoberfest graphic on it. Trying to forget about her predicament, Esther had a quick look around at the other students that had already arrived, and those who were still coming in. Some faces were new, others were familiar. Most of them seemed to be seniors.

Esther kept a positive expression and listened to the teacher’s introduction with great focus. He seemed rather determined and firm—she liked that. The question was a bit odd, however. Esther understood why he asked it, but perhaps the way in which he asked could have been better. She thought that if someone was to be cursed, it would be a bit better if one could choose which curse to be afflicted by rather than to have it be random. But, usually, when people thought of ‘icebreakers’, they thought of things like someone’s favorite food, and not what kind of life-long curse they would like to have. Esther thought that it would, indeed, be cool to be able to turn into an animal, as the ginger girl said. The responses from the students began to break out. The next one came from a dark-curly haired female, who pointed out what was probably on everybody’s minds. Esther hesitated at first, but eventually felt the need to express herself to be greater.

She modestly caught their attention with a tiny waving gesture. A peculiar smile remained upon her lips, but never breaking free the radiant pearl resting beneath. Her hands began to sign out of instinct, out of pure reaction, but she interrupted herself right away. She was positive that none of those present knew sign language. However, at least everyone could guess that she was unable to speak in a normal fashion. Esther indicated with a fast gesture of a finger for them to wait just a moment, as she retrieved her notebook from her bag. She quickly wrote down what she wanted to say, and then she held it up so that they could read: “I think it’s like if you are going to be cursed, isn’t it better to be able to choose your curse?” Esther slowly put the notebook on her lap, awaiting a response from whoever that wanted to interject. During that small window, she pointed to herself and extended her arms as if she was flying. She mimed with her lips the words: “I would like to fly”.

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

◼ W E E K 0 0 2: With the IC right around the corner, what are your hopes for the plot? What sort of conflicts are you hoping to face, whether external, internal or otherwise? Do you have any plans for your characters, any particular path you want to grow and develop on?

Esther's father is still out there, somewhere. The conflict will be between the two of them, both internal and external. Her memories are fragmented, distorted, the lines between reality and dream blurred. Esther's father wants to correct that, believing that she has been brainwashed in the aftermath. So, some of my posts will take place in hallucinations and dreams wherein Esther meets her father and tries to reconstruct her memories. However, those narratives will not match with reality or the memories that she has been told by her mother and legal council. This endeavor will also further her still in development abilities, somewhat, in addition to assistance given by the Program. At some point, Esther and her father should meet in the real world — when, where, and how that will happen I don't know. There is a lot to consider here, but these hallucinations and dreams will give bits and pieces of Esther's past.

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

Woo, here we go. Lovely, lovely. I'll take on the weekly discussion soon.

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

God damn, sign language is no joke to learn. I gave up after a few videos. I'll probably have to color-code different kinds of 'speech' that Esther has, at least when it's words. Like, a quote like "this" is sign language; "this" is telepathy; and "this" is written text.

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

On a side note, to those who have been accepted:

Would you prefer that the IC begins on the first day of school, or would you rather be a week or more in to be established?

@Lord Wraith

Any works for me. Do we have to complete the relationship sheets before posting in the IC?

Crestwood Hollow - A Superhuman Roleplay

<Snipped quote by Prisk>

I noticed that too; How drastically different their father relationships are. Benjamin admired his father and Esther was scarred by hers. I'm currently trying to figure out who he would be friends with. Eventhough Ben might have his suspicions of her, I imagine Esther would probably be one of his few friends since she's mute and her innate empathy allows her to understand him better than most. Also, they have the daddy thing going on.

"My dad's a Mad Scientist and mentally tortured me for years."

"My dad's dead."

"Oh cool..."

XD! Honestly though, I do see some kind of interesting dynamic between them. Whatever it may end up being.

Cheers!

@Aeolian

Awesome. I think their friendship could also have a deeper statement to it—Ben being of Jewish heritage and Esther's father and grandfather sympathizing with World War II German ideology, which makes them opposites to say the least. Their friendship would be a rebellion in itself.

The dad thing is a good lead-in for Esther trying out the whole hallucination/dream side of her ability. Maybe Ben would agree to having her practice on him at some point and have him meet his father based on memories? Lots of possibilities for bonding and better understanding.

I'm not sure what concrete plans he has. Probably trying to mobilize people and trying to build a community for Hypes and those who don't believe every Hype's a weapon and should be locked up. He's got plenty of resources and people skills to try and make something happen. He's very new to being 'out' as a Hype, so he'll probably need some time to adjust and mature in his identity before he starts making big moves.

@Hillan

I was thinking that Esther would look up to Marcus, like a 'fan' or something due to who he is, wanting to join his 'club' as she would call it. I'm not sure about the timeline here, but either she would be somewhat into it already or beginning to see it this way. It's tricky to explain, but I think I've seen this kind of dynamic somewhere in a movie or show.