tsukune

Stories of Meeting Famous Peoplea

I've met quite a fair bit of local celebrities on various odd assignments I took up to earn some pocket money over the school hols...

But no point naming them here since they are only locally known, and pretty much nameless souls outside of my region. /shrugs

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

When people don't read and ask questions that have already been answered by the OOC.

@Mr Allen J

Even better:

They just don't read anything. At all.

I mean, the point about RPing isn't just to write your little fantasies with like-minded people. It's about reading first to understand what you're supposed to work on then writing the things relevant to the RP.

Not to dump your own sick ideas into other people's face and expect everyone to accept your shit when it doesn't even fit the game world.

Autistic trolls much?

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

@Keksalot This is only my two-cents, in response to J's first point:

First off, besides area and time limitation, what about body limitation, such as a cap of how much heat he can absorb before he literally burns himself to ash? He's still a flesh and blood human being, not a humanoid inferno (for example, those with fire/lava/magma physiology). Also, absorbing heat doesn't make him immune to cold - in fact, it's quite the opposite: he has to keep absorbing heat to keep himself warm - which is to avoid cold, so as J has said it's logical for him to be weak against Metahumans with water- or ice-type abilities who are capable of cooling him down and make him lose those "stolen" heat. In a way, he's somewhat similar to pyrokinetics that he's more resistant to heat but weak against cold, not immune - like, there's no way he won't get burned by a pyrokinetic spamming him with a barrage of lava-hot fireballs (he can't possibly absorb the heat that fast enough).

Sure, the whole absolute zero thing sounds cool and all, but for him to be able to perform such a feat is a suicide move - overexertion/overuse of ability will lead to ashing, which is death to any Metahumans regardless of their power. Yes, I saw the "theoretically" word, but heat is constantly generated in nature as long as the particles are vibrating and interacting with one another. In science, so far absolute zero can only be achieved under controlled environment, so realistically it's extremely difficult to do that in an open place like our daily surroundings where heat energy can travel around freely.

I'm not sure what scale you're using for the temperature figures, but if it's -90°F (-68°C) and able to absorb so much heat to reach that low in only a couple of minutes is kinda stretching the limit. I mean, imagine going from a normal room temperature of, say, 77°F (25°C) to -90°F in a matter of 2 minutes... Can you imagine how much heat energy your character has just absorbed into his human body?

Ok, maybe you can argue that he uses these absorbed energy to augment his body, but again, he is a human, not a freaking god. Meaning, if you want him to be able to absorb heat that fast enough, then vice versa it's logical for him to lose that heat energy at a fast rate also in order to maintain his body temperature from overheating. Also, tissues can harden but they are still living cells not kelvar, so his enhancement doesn't make him bulletproof, just that a pistol shot won't be as painful as a snipe shot, for example.

Personally I feel that it's redundant (illogical) to have a "pocket dimension" to store the heat he has absorbed because you mentioned that his power is always active, always absorbing heat from around him but just that when he's passive it's at a slower rate than when he's actively taking in the heat. If you seriously want the pocket dimension idea, then you'll have to ditch the "always active" point. Either, or. You can't have both just because you need a backup plan in case he can't absorb heat that well in places with lower temperature (you even stated in your sheet that he has to always move to warmer places to maintain his power). See the irony there?

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Yay!

Just reserving the CS spots first while I update my character sheets on mobile. I'm out for the entire weekend yeah. DX

P.S. The "Jump-In" status is the license to welcome autistic trolls, yo.

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Naoki Lee Yagami

Basic Information

Name:

Naoki Lee Yagami
(夜神・李・直希, Yagami-Lee Naoki)

Other Names:

• Lǐ Zhìxī --- in Mandarin
• Meng You (梦游, lit. "Dream Walker") --- callsign in Polaris

Gender:

Male

Age:

16

Height:

5' 5"

Weight:

131 lbs

Home District:

From out of town.

Appearance

Hair Color:

Natural Brown

Eye Color:

Dark Brown

Ethnicity:

Japanese & Chinese

Physical Description:

Naoki is pretty much like a younger version of his Japanese father: short and skinny build, pale complexion, and androgynous facial feature - diamond-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes, small nose, and thin lips. The only physical trait he has inherited from his mother is the natural wavy hair, though with how he usually keeps his hair fairly short it looks more like the hair is sticking out at odd angles, which gives it an unruly appearance. He is near-sighted but only slightly, so he can go with or without his glasses (which is oval with thin, black wire frame). As a member of Polaris, he has a black dragon tattoo (the color of Yin) that can be found on the back of his left shoulder.

Attire:

Naoki likes to wear clothes following the theme of "monochrome" - the different shades of gray, including white and black. He is most often seen in long sleeve shirts, dark jeans and sneakers (and no, he isn't into goth... at all). He often makes sure he keeps his tattoo out of anyone's nosy sight, for it's something that he feels shameful about.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

First of all, Naoki is a shy and quiet person; he is quite introverted, maybe even bordering autistic. Throughout his whole life he is constantly sheltered under the watchful eyes of his protective parents, which very much restricted his opportunity to interact with people, not even the cult kids of his age. Also, living in fear under the regime of the ruthless Polaris has made him paranoid about the people in the cult (sans his own parents, obviously). His parents has taught him not to trust people too readily, to always guard himself against people who are out to use his power for their greedy personal gain. Due to his upbringing and the kind of environment he has grown up in, he may come off as somewhat calculative and scrupulous, but he feels that it is the only way he can protect himself from those who may do him harm. As such, he despises liars and hypocrites: if you break his trust, you aren't going to get it back, ever.

Another thing about Naoki is that he has a lot of patience - he is a hard worker (and quite a perfectionist), and he doesn't mind spending days or even months to practice on the same thing repeatedly in order to achieve mastery of what he has been doing. At times his attention can be so focused on his work that he completely ignores his surroundings, and anyone who tries to disrupt his concentration will be surprised to get a very unfriendly snap from the normally mild-mannered boy. Other than his desire to polish and refine his techniques, he does have a creative flair, so he is skilled in adding his own style into his calligraphic art as much as simply copying the strokes exactly how they are shown.

Beneath the loner mask, Naoki is a conflicted person. While he is reluctant to reach out to others, he can't help feeling intrigued by the little things they do, such as their body language, the changes in their facial expressions, their tone, even some quirks that they may not be aware of. No, this doesn't make him damn good at reading people - he just watches them to entertain himself, and understands enough to make the appropriate reaction, that's all. Also, though he is pretty independent and isn't fond of seeking help from others, deep down he does want someone to rely on; he does know that there are many things in life that he cannot accomplish all alone. He is paranoid about making friends, yet he wants to have a friend of sorts whom he can bond with and trust in.

Going beyond his awkward and aloof personality, Naoki is pretty intelligent and quick-witted. He isn't afraid to use any resources available at hand or within reach to solve a problem - from as simple as a mere puzzle game, to even life-threatening situations. He has a strong survival instinct, and he'll never consider the option of suicide to escape from his current circumstances (he can be easily mistaken as a sore loser at times). Morally I'd say Naoki is Lawful Neutral - while he believes in the importance of rules and regulations so as to ensure the some form of order and fairness, he isn't a heroic type who is willing to go out of his way to help someone in need, especially not at the expense of his own safety/life.

Hobbies/Interests:

• People-Watching --- As mentioned previously, Naoki enjoys studying about people's behavior, to satisfy his curiosity about human nature.

• Sleeping/Napping/Daydreaming --- Given the nature of his power (which I'll go into details about it later), Naoki likes to sleep a lot. Sometimes to just chill out in his own dream world, while other times just, well, sleep. He can easily zone out or doze off no matter the environment he's in.

• Writing --- He absolutely loves writing, be it in terms of the literature i.e. story creation, or in terms of the art form i.e. penmanship and calligraphy, and so far he's better in the latter. He has also picked up graffiti-styled lettering.

• Board & Puzzle Games --- There is limited sources of entertainment in the cult base, so other than observing people he also plays some board or puzzle games to pass time. Sometimes just by himself, sometimes against his father (whom he always loses to).

• Divination Arts --- Possibly due to an effect from his ability, he is very curious about the various fortune-telling methods, such as card reading, arithmancy and astrology, to name a few.

Skills/Talents:

• Languages --- Naoki is fluent in Mandarin, Japanese, and the Chinese dialect Min. His English is only at intermediate level - that is, he can get by with standard everyday conversations, but he will have a hard time trying to understand classy English vocabs and slang words. He also has an accent when he speaks English, where some words sound like they are pronounced using Mandarin or Japanese intonation.

• Art: Calligraphy & Penmanship --- He is capable of writing in many different styles, whether cursive or not. In fact, he can even copy off most font types available in computers (MS Word, Photoshop, etc), including graffiti-styled letters. On a secondary level he can also forge signatures and handwriting of others with ease, but that's not something he feels proud of.

• Keen Observation --- Less about understanding people but more about the ability to replicate what he exactly sees into his artwork; it also makes him seem like a quick learner... sometimes.

Goals/Motivations:

• Freedom --- Naoki wants his family to be freed from Polaris' rule, to leave the underground hell, and live a happy life without fearing for their lives on the surface world.

• Social Life --- He also wishes to be able to connect with others and make some friends who will accept him into their circle, despite his... peculiar past.

History:

Before we get to Naoki's oh-so-angsty backstory, I'll need to explain his parents' backstory first.

Lee You-Hwee was the next in line to succeed the Lee family in Taiwan, a clan which originated from Suilan and it's known to produce "dream-seers" - the ability to predict the future through dreams - for generations; more importantly, the clan served as the vessel for the position of Yin in a secretive cult called Polaris. You-Hwee had seen enough of the evil deeds the clan did for the cult; she despised her family's superiority towards those who have no superpowers, and was horrified at how they abused their foretelling ability to blackmail people into working for Polaris.

Once she had reached adulthood, she was chosen to be to Japan to recruit more Japanese Metahumans into the cult, to further the organization's expansion beyond China to the other parts of Asia (their goal was to the whole world). The young You-Hwee received quite a cultural shock at that time, for she had been living a rather hermit-like life throughout her younger days (basically, whatever she knew about the world was the propaganda Polaris had been feeding the children living in the cult's base, but she knew enough basic social norms to avoid attracting too much unwanted attention to herself). She met a man by the name of Reiji Yagami by chance, when she saved him from a near-death accident at the train station with her foresight.

To cut the long retarded romance story short, they eventually fell in love with each other and got married... and this was where their true nightmare began.

You-Hwee chose to take on her husband's surname and changed her name to Yui Yagami, much to the horror of her family. Her clan attempted to interfere with their newlywed relationship, but they couldn't get past Reiji's strong and complex psychic shield inside his mind to blackmail him. Knowing that they were up against an extremely powerful cerebral-type Metahuman, they used Yui as a bargaining chip to get Reiji not only to join Polaris, but also to force the couple to return back to China. Upon returning to the cult's base, Yui was made the Spirit of Yin.

A year later, Yui gave birth to a son, and they named him Naoki. Naoki was born with his power - the couple could feel their mind being pulled towards the young child whenever he was asleep, and they knew Polaris would make him to become Yui's successor once he was of age. They lied to the cult that their son had no powers whatsoever, while they secretly helped to train Naoki to better control his ability in order to continue keeping his power hidden from Polaris.

Under the protection of his paranoid parents, Naoki grew up away from the other cult children, and was forbidden to have contact with anyone within Polaris. This caused him to became a recluse and equally fearful of the people around him like his parents, though he also felt curious about the things around him - so much so that he couldn't help questioning the propaganda nonsense the cult had been teaching its members, and he yearned to explore the "surface world" that he had heard so much about from his parents.

Of course his parents were well aware that this twisted life was too cruel for their bright, growing child. Reiji and Yui were beginning to feel desperate - even if the chance of them breaking out of this goddamned place was almost zero, they would still do whatever it takes to free their son from the Hell that he didn't belong. The chance they had been waiting for finally came... but sadly, it was a trap set up by Yui's mother, Hwee-Suan, to stop them from freeing Naoki from Polaris.

Hwee-Suan imprisoned Naoki's parents and forced Naoki to replace his own mother as the new Spirit of Yin; she also used his parents' fate as a leash to keep Naoki from defying the cult's orders. Naoki has been chained up in the Yin chamber since then, but he refuses to give up to despair, trying to find a way to escape with his family, no matter the cost...

Relationships

Family:

[+]

Reiji Yagami - Father

Reiji was supposedly to be married into Yui's family, but Yui chose to do the reverse instead, which caused her clan to hate him, accusing him for Yui's rebellion. Reiji is an extremely powerful telepath who is capable of forcibly bending the will of others and taking over the control of their mind, but he had never wanted to go that far - in fact, deep down he hated his ability for denying the basic privacy that people should have. He chose to create psychic blocks within his mind to lock his power away, at the same time also to defend himself from external cerebral intrusions. Naoki is much closer to him than Yui, but he loves them both equally.

Yui Yagami/Lee You-Hwee - Mother

Yui came from a long line of "dream seers", and her clan had been part of Polaris for generations. She met Reiji when she was sent to Japan to recruit the Japanese Metahumans into the cult; eventually their relationship blossomed and she knew that he was the one for her. As she was the strongest seer in Polaris at that time, no one could contest her position as the legitimate leader of Yin. She was later replaced by her own son upon her betrayal to the cult.

Lee Hwee-Suan - Grandmother

Hwee-Suan is Yui's mother, and the previous Spirit of Yin. Although her dream premonition ability has slipped greatly due to her old age, she still retains enough to foresee important warning signs that have helped to keep her alive all these while. She is extremely loyal to the clan and the cult, so much so that she is willing to shed her own family's blood to preserve the Lee name and the cult's honor.

Dynamics:

[+]

{Name}

| {Good/Mixed/Bad} | {Relationship Status} | "..." |

{Description here.}

Abilities

Power Class:

Cerebral

Power:

"Dream Scape" - Dream Telepathy & Premonition
Naoki's ability is rather unique, evolved from combining both of his parents' powers. His dream universe, which he calls "Scape", is an abstract world completely submerged in water, with nothing but white-outlined ground grids in its base appearance. He can alter or add on things into Scape freely (for example, a mind ‌labyrinth or maze‌), limited only by his own imagination and creativity.

• Mode: Telepathy --- He can do this by mentally linking up with the minds of those he wishes to communicate with and "invite" them into Scape; just imagine a chat room but inside your head, within a dream.
• Mode: Premonition --- He can predict the future by "activating" the grid the person is standing/sitting on, causing it to flash blue; this allows him to dive into the person's dream and experience the most likely outcome presented to him momentarily before he returns back to Scape.
• Cerebral Power Resistance --- With some help from his father, he has created psychic blocks around his Scape world to defend it against possible intrusion from other cerebral Metahumans; think of it as a mental firewall of sorts. Those who are inside Scape will also enjoy this protection. He also has a second layer of mental shield that protects his whole brain in general, giving him some form of resistance against average-level cerebral powers who may try to take control over him through psychic means.

Limits:

• While range is of insignificant issue to Naoki (if you seriously want a figure of sorts then the radius is roughly about a mile), he can only invite up to a maximum of four people into Scape. The duration for each meeting is capped at two hours, and he can only do this twice a day (so in total, up to four hours per day).
• He's nowhere as powerful as his father to perform domination-level feat like mind-control (or in his case, dream-control), only enough to temporarily "intrude" the dreams of others in order for him to establish a mental link with them before starting a Scape session.
• Five days is the furthest time span he can foresee. He also can't control the visions he wishes to see, and there are times they are too vague for him to understand. Well, he's nowhere as skilled as his own mother (the method his mother used to predict the future is actually quite different from his - just to take note).
• Adding to the point above, experiencing the visions can be pretty agonizing to him (such as getting bad migraines), so he can only perform Premonition once every three days to give himself some time to recover. (If possible, he doesn't want to do this, at all.)
• As he's still young and inexperienced, a powerful cerebral-type Metahuman may be able to easily overwhelm him and mentally attack his mind. Vice versa, people with strong resistance against mental-type powers may not be able to establish the dream link with him well.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Naoki has to go into a trance-like state naturally in order for his power to manifest. Knocking him out by force - such as using strong sedatives - won't allow him to activate his ability (I mean, he'd be completely unconscious to even dream, duh).
• Once he allows the people he linked up with into Scape, he is vulnerable to mental attacks from within his dream world... especially if one of them has a cerebral-type ability like telepathy or empathetic manipulation.
• He has to invite the person into Scape first in order to perform Premonition on that particular individual. See the point above for the disadvantage of allowing Trojans into his dream world.
• If he's forcibly woken up while Scape is in session, anyone linked up with him will be immediately kicked out of his dream world. Not only that, but everyone - including himself - will experience a terrible headache from the feedback.

Others:

• Theme Song

---

Polaris | Beidou Qixing

Polaris

Also known by its Chinese name Běidǒu Qīxīng (北斗七星) or Hokuto Shichisei in Japan, Polaris is a secretive organization based in Asia, dating as far back as the Chinese Civil War period. Originated from Suilan, its influence has spread beyond China, with followers from all over Asia. The cult is headed by seven leaders, called Spirits: at the very top, Yin and Yang, followed by Wu Xing, or the Five Elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth). While records about this shadowy group are scarce, there are numerous rumors about them, such as some of the top Chinese government officials may be descendants of the cult, suspected of performing 'rituals' or 'dark magic' (inhuman experiments) to create a powerful Metahuman army of their own, even having absolute control over the Asian underworld.

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Haruka Takashiro

Basic Information

Name:

Haruka Takashiro
(高城　遥, Takashiro Haruka)

Other Names:

• Haru --- nickname, general
• Assortment of horrible names --- Shizuka only
• MobiusZero --- online moniker

Gender:

Male

Age:

23

Height:

5' 8"

Weight:

148 lbs

Home District:

Little Seapond

Appearance

Hair Color:

Black

Eye Color:

Dark Brown

Ethnicity:

Japanese

Physical Description:

Just like his younger twin, Haruka also has a small and slim stature common among native Japanese; while he doesn't have the athletic build his sporty agent brother possesses, the Academy's physical training has given him a much healthier hue and beefed him up a little, though he still can't get any tan even if he's under the sun a lot. His jet-black hair is naturally ruffled and unkempt, no matter how much he tries to straighten that mop of mess on his head. He wears a pair of half-rimmed spectacles over his dark brown eyes that often seem glassy and lost, giving him a permanent bored look. He has the same heart-shaped, androgynous face and thin lips like Shizuka, but he does not have any birthmarks.

Attire:

Smart-casual - unlike his laid-back twin, Haruka does put in effort to make himself look presentable (depending on the occasion, of course), but he is ignorant to latest trending fashion as much as Shizuka. He's mostly seen wearing combinations of dress shirts, jeans, and covered shoes. At the farm, he simply goes with plain long-sleeved shirts, long pants, waterproof boots, and a hat or cap to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

Haruka is pretty much the stereotypical personification of terms like 'geek', 'nerd', 'bookworm', et cetera - and yes he is indeed one. Not just the glasses and his passion for reading (though they are part of the whole package) - he is almost like a walking encyclopedia, his vast knowledge is an accumulation of the books from all the time he spent in bookshops and libraries; also from articles and entries he gathered through the cyberspace. While he isn't as apt as Shizuka in using them practically, that isn't to say he only knows to recite them word for word like scholars in ancient times; he does know how to apply them in daily life, though in small ways.

Correction: he was once a geek, a nerd - or any other terms you can think of for this kind of character trait.

Increasing interactions after joining Academy 61 has given him the opportunity to break the ice; he also has to reach out to even more people while helping out with his aunt's farm (to everyone's surprise, since he seems more like the type who prefers to stay indoors). Eventually he has become much more comfortable facing and talking with strangers and making friends (better than Shizuka), though he still retains his rather polite/formal speech style. He does continue to value quiet times and his peaceful private space to take breaks from the social hubbub.

He has also learned to be more reserved about putting his trust in people he barely knew, but he still tries to see the good in them as much as he can. He also has similar hopeful view of the world as Meifeng - but for him it's less about heroism and more about Confucianism - as opposed to his brother's realistic (at times even pessimistic) outlook. Morally Haruka is somewhere between Lawful and Neutral Good - although he tries to adhere to rules and regulations as much as possible, he is still flexible enough to go beyond those restrictions and try other methods to better help the people in need.

He may have a normally mellow personality, but that doesn't mean he can't put up a fight if he has to. Trained directly under the Zhao Lihua, a matriarch among the elemental-manipulating instructors in the Academy, he fully understands that his power is as versatile as the element itself - air and wind - and he spares no effort to truly master his ability. He did, and went on to graduate from the Academy as one of the top students of his cohort. As much as he can he prefers to avoid needless violence, but if he has to resort to force he is capable of standing his own ground without any help from his overprotective brother.

Hobbies/Interests:

• Reading & Writing --- Haruka prides himself as an armchair traveler as opposed to Shizuka's passion for backpacking. Unable to make long-lasting friendship with peers of his age due to the family being on constant move, he seeks refuge by losing himself in the worlds of books and cyberspace. While his brother is out sweating himself in sports, the older twin would lurk in local libraries and bookstores, burying himself among the piles of musty old volumes; or he would hang out in internet cafes, lost himself in the sea of information in the virtual world. He also writes some stuff from time to time, be it poems or short stories.

• Music --- Besides reading, he likes listening to music, specifically acoustic covers and instrumental pieces. He has also picked up various instruments to learn how to play the songs on his own.

• High Places --- Mostly due to an effect from his ability, he enjoys simply standing or sitting on the rooftops or trees, letting the open breeze to blow into him.

• Video Gaming --- Usually just between him and Shizuka. The twins would try to find time and have a few hours of game time together - so far, Haruka is better with rhythm games and strategic turn-based types, while his younger twin is unstoppable in real-time action RPGs and FPS.

Skills/Talents:

• Languages --- Like his twin, Haruka is also fluent in Japanese, English and Chinese. In fact, he learns new languages faster than Shizuka.

• Gardening --- Largely due to him helping Akemi and Daphne out at the backyard-turned-farm.

• Innate Perfect Pitch --- He's born with this talent; coupled with his sharp hearing, he's able to play songs based on what he hears alone without the need of a music score.

Goals/Motivations:

• Family --- Haruka's reason is very different from his twin's; rather than about their current family in America, he's more concerned about their blood family - with Yuu and Asami. He doesn't want to give up on their original family like Shizuka, choosing to rebuild it from scratch.

• Social Life --- In the previous Verthaven chapter, it's unfortunate that I ended up degrading him to just being a support character to develop Shizuka. But I want to change that - now that he has a power, and with the nightmare of the Devil Disaster still deeply etched into his mind, he's finally able to do something to make a difference and help others in need, to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself again... but of course, he'll soon learn that Metahumans are no gods, just like what Holly (and Shizuka) have said.

History:

• Pre-Verthaven: Two Peas in a Pod
  
  I suggest that you should read Shizuka's sheet first as it contains more details (which I'm not gonna repeat myself here again).

• Verthaven: Partly Cloudy
  
  Verthaven seemed to be a promising place for the twins to finally settle down - Akemi was much nicer than their own mother, and they managed to make some "friends" around their age. Everything was smooth - he was starting to enjoy his new life in America - but that happiness didn't last long. Barely a month passed before the Devil's sludge army rose above the ground and razed the city, then his family was forced to run for their lives. He felt even more useless when he didn't have any powers like his twin, a hindrance to everyone else - until he met Jennifer Caspin, the first person he thought he could truly be friends with.
  
  He could see all the warning signs, he could tell that something wrong - something terrible - had happened to the girl, but he was afraid to probe her further, afraid of the answer. He was upset when Shizuka suspected her for being the mole selling them out to the Changelings - he knew that all his brother had done was merely to protect him, but he couldn't help feeling guilty that his own life was saved on her forsaken life. It was even more ironic that his superpower only manifested after her death.
  
  However, his brother was right: the only thing he could do to "repay" for being alive was to live on and keep moving forward, together with the memories he had made with those who had passed away in the terrible incident.

• Baybridge: Endless Waltzstorm
  
  After the twins and their new family settled down in Baybridge, Haruka was enrolled into Academy 61 to learn how to better control his power while his brother began his two-year basic military training with the newly formed RAVEN. The older twin worked really hard - he had been doing very well in the Academy and eventually graduated with flying colors, while Shizuka went on to do further training in his area of expertise. After which, Haruka decided to take up part-time degree course so that he could still help Akemi with the farm. Everything seemed so peaceful right now, but with his new power, he could feel it as much as Shizuka's "gut feeling" - that something else is stirring in the background... Something bad.
  
  He was living a peaceful life with Akemi, though he was disappointed that the reunion with his twin was cut short due to Shizuka's eventual involvement with the Stronghold Community patrol shift. While his brother was later caught up in one after another Metahuman-related incidents that prevented them from having a proper get-together, Haruka soon found himself walking deeper and deeper into the Overload trap; he then became the final victim and razed Oakdell Harbor with his freak tornado-hurricane before the sniper who shot him with a charging serum was apprehended. Not without a near-death reunion with an old ghost he had never expected to meet...
  
  Just when he thought he could finally have a nice catch-up with Shizuka, the twins found themselves in the middle of another Metahuman disaster caused by Eco-Natura. While trying to escape from the growing forest, he met Jennifer again, but they didn't have the time to settle their score with each other when they had to part ways, with Shizuka prioritizing on getting the uncombatable individuals under his protection to safety, and left the ice golem to her and Megan. Their brief, passing encounters went on when Jennifer loaded the injured Lihua up the car, and then Haruka had to fly his former mentor across to the Headquarters to seek medical help when the connecting bridge was bombed.
  
  To add on to his growing list of woes, the news of the missing Asami struck the twins. Shizuka quickly left for Asia to sort out both about the Founding Family and their mother's whereabouts on top of dealing with the increasing restlessness of the Asian countries in respond to the Baybridge incidents. As for Haruka, he wondered if he should find a way to get in contact with the few new friends he had made in the city to take a break from all the madness around him...
  
  Of course, things would never go the way he had wished for.

Relationships

Family:

[+]

Shizuka Takashiro - Twin Brother

See Shizuka's section in Dynamics.

Akemi Shinoda - Aunt

The twins' aunt through their mother's side, who makes them feel more like a mum than their actual mother. Haruka gets along very well with Akemi - not just helping out with her farm, he also help with any repair work needed around the house.

Daphne "Holly" Hope - Sister Figure

Holly is like an older sister that Haruka never had until now - occasionally he would tease Shizuka that she is a potential girlfriend material to the younger twin, but Shizuka merely waved that off and bluntly stated that he has never looked at Holly in that way.

Yuuichi Takashiro - Father

Haruka does love his father, but he has also wished he can spend more time with him, and rebuild their relationship from scratch. Right now he can only be kept updated about Dad through Shizuka, something he hopes to change soon.

Asami Takashiro (nee Shinoda) - Mother

Haruka's relationship with their mother isn't as strained as his brother's; however, he is also uncertain about how he should feel towards Asami's outright objection at them. He feels that their mother must have a reason for acting this way towards the twins, and he really wants to get to the bottom of it - for any chance to save their broken family.

Dynamics:

[+]

Shizuka Takashiro

| Inseparable | Brother | "I love him as much as I hate his crude sense of humor." |

The younger twin brother; again, not many people can guess the seniority between them unless they explicitly say so. Haruka has stopped having weird unrequited feelings for Shizuka (which is basically worshiping him), and it's now no different from a normal sibling love. They are still very close though, and he simply ignores the strange looks people give them at their affectionate exchanges.

Zhao Lihua

| Good | Instructor & Mentor | "She has changed a lot since I last saw her - she isn't like the bitter woman back in Verthaven. She seems so much happier now, and we are even on good terms with one another." |

Haruka was surprised to see Lihua in the Academy, and even more so when he was assigned to train under her. She still had the same strict and no-nonsense attitude, but he knew that she was giving her all to help them to have better control over their powers. They still continue to keep in touch after he has graduated from the Academy.

Zhao Meifeng

| Neutral | Lihua's Daughter | "We don't really see each other much anymore - she is busy with her RAVEN work, and for me with school and Akemi's farm - but I guess we are still friends? I don't know." |

Haruka still think of Meifeng as a friend of sorts, but they barely have much chance to meet each other since Meifeng is usually out of town. He feels that they are something like distant friends, slightly above the level of mere acquaintances.

Cindy Gabrielle Keagan

| Neutral, leaning on Good | Friend? | "Same as Meifeng - I do see her as a friend, but I don't know about her." |

Haruka would see Cindy around a bit more, but again they were busy with their own respective life that they don't really sit down and have long conversations with each other; when they do, well, he's usually the listener while Cindy talks.

Reed Taylor

| Respected | Quentin's Brother | "I haven't seen him at all since the Devil incident... I heard from Shizu that his brother gave him Luis' power. That is all I know about him." |

Haruka barely interacted with him at all - whether during the Verthaven disaster or after they're all relocated to Baybridge - but he can feel that Reed is a pretty nice cop.

Quentin Taylor

| Neutral | Reed's Brother | "Same as Mr. Reed - didn't see him ever since Verthaven, so I don't really have much impressions about him." |

Similar to Reed's case, but Haruka's opinion about Quentin is a little mixed - from what he's heard from Shizuka, he feels that Quentin is a bit too fixated on violent vengeance for comfort.

Rori Aherne

| Good | Kestrel Girl | "I have never expected to meet the kestrel in such a way - who would have imagined that it's actually a teenage girl?" |

Haruka met Rori - in their bird form as a kestrel - by accident, largely due to his power attracting them to him and causing them to lost their way. He met them again in the Academy library, and this time they were in their human form. Haruka enjoyed how cheery Rori and Wendy were during their little conversation. During the timeskip, to take his mind off the bad memories of the Overload incident (and Jennifer), Haruka has been hanging out more with Rori. He really enjoys their company and they have been bonding over writing and music instead of drawing (which he's no good with).

Wendy Lucker

| Curious | Junior | "She is probably the first multi-elemental manipulator I have ever encountered. It's also great that she loves books as much as I do." |

Haruka first met Wendy at the market when the berserk snowstorm incident happened; they met again in the Academy library by chance. He admires how easily open Wendy was towards him when they barely knew each other.

Jennifer Caspin

| Conflicted | Friend? | "I am glad see her back with us, alive and well - I guess, but I can't help feeling concerned about her... changes." |

While Haruka and Jennifer didn't really bond with each other back at Verthaven - most of the time were spent on keeping themselves alive in the hell that was going around them to even have a proper chat - he felt that she was the first person he could call a friend. Her death hit him as hard as her other close friends, and catalyzed by his anger towards his indifferent twin had awakened his Metahuman power in the form of air manipulation. Their reunion didn't start well with Jennifer being close to killing him when his hurricane went berserk, and even though he told himself that he had forgiven her, he could tell that Jennifer was still hiding things from them, from her friends. He wants to confront her to prevent repeating the same mistake like he did in Verthaven, but he's afraid that she may not want to confide her problems to a stranger like him.

Abilities

Power Class:

Elemental - Mode: Air

Powers:

Air Manipulation
Just like any elemental benders, Haruka is able to telekinetically control any gaseous matter (including water vapor), moving the air around him to his will - from as gentle as a light breeze, to as destructive as a tornado. Though using hand gestures allow him to move the air with better precision and control, he is capable of manipulating through sheer concentration alone (of course, it'd just be crude, basic moves). The versatility of his power is only restricted by his own imagination and creativity, hence the list below is not exhaustible, just the more common tricks he employs:

• Flying --- Probably one of the basics he has to master in his power package - I mean, how can an air bender not know how to fly? He can do this in two ways: either by "riding" on the wind (basically moving in the direction of the air current, similar to how birds fly minus the wing-flapping), or creating a small tornado beneath his feet to carry himself into the air. Currently he can only carry a maximum of two people to fly along with him.
• Wind Blade --- By packing the gas molecules closer together into very condensed air before swiping his hand outwards quickly, he can throw out an invisible arc with enough force to slice most generic furniture cleanly into half.
• Air Fist --- He can also encase the closely-packed air around his knuckles to form an invisible orb, where it acts as a protection around his fist while dealing more damage compared to an ordinary punch.
• Cyclone Shield --- He can generate a high-speed whirlwind around himself that can act as a spinning shield to knock out most things coming towards him (or at least get swept into the air funnel).
• Static Charge --- If the air around him is moving at a high enough velocity, he's able to cause them to induce static charge on top of its spinning destructive force.
• Weather-Seer --- No, he is nowhere powerful enough to actually manipulate the weather, but he's able forecast of the weather by feeling the change in air current around him. He can also make use of the same concept to find possible exits when he's trapped underground.

Limits:

• Range isn't a major issue to Haruka - after the mall incident, it has gone up to about fifty-over feet from his position if you really want a number of sorts - but his power is definitely much more limited when he's indoors or underground: there's only so much air he can control in these places (which means flying in these areas is impossible).
• Adding to the point about flying, obviously he can't fly up so high like airplanes - the most at the height of a nine-story building, and that's already pushing his limit. Even lower if he's carrying someone along with him.
• The larger and heavier the object, the harder for him to keep afloat in the air. Well, duh.
• Of course, as mentioned previously he's nowhere strong enough to move the clouds with his power, and therefore cannot control the weather.
• While he's able to multitask a couple of tricks (e.g. flying and using wind blades at the same time), but that tires him out very fast than using just one at each time.
• The cyclone shield doesn't completely protect him from all attacks - it is possible for stray bullets to pierce through the whirlwind and still hit him.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Haruka's power doesn't make him immune to air-related disadvantages such as breathing problems, suffocation, gas poisoning, etc. Also, his ability doesn't contribute any changes to his human physiology (e.g. no hollow bones like birds to reduce his body mass to fly).
• His ability is not entirely dependent on telekinesis alone - it's also linked to/balanced by his emotions; hence, if he loses control over his feelings, his power may go berserk.
• Although he has an edge when it comes to execution speed, air is still the weakest among all other elemental-type abilities based on raw power. Using Air Fist as an example, same or similar trick in other elements obviously have a lot more destructive force than air.
• He can induce static charge but it's ultimately not part of his control, hence he can still be subjected to getting a bad shock as much as anyone else is who is near his charged tornado. If he forgets to disperse the charged air around him, he can be extremely prone to attract lightning strikes towards himself.

Others:

• Just like his brother, Haruka is also permanent resident of US but still holds Japanese citizenship. He enjoys diplomatic immunity due to their parents' job, but so far the twins have not used this privilege for any purpose.
• He shares the FZ-09 with Shizuka - and he's also in charge of maintaining it - but he only drives it when he needs to go out of Roseview area. Otherwise he sticks to his hardy bicycle, the Jamis Commuter 3.
• Although he's usually nice and soft-spoken... he'd blast you out of the window with a gust if you ever touch his portable consoles. The PS Vita and 3DS are his life.
• Theme Song

Baybridge™: Era of the Old/New Gods™ [COMPLETED]

Shizuka Takashiro

Basic Information

Name:

Shizuka Takashiro
(高城　静, Takashiro Shizuka)

Other Names:

• Shizu --- nickname
• Phantom --- callsign
• Gāochéng Jìng --- in Mandarin

Gender:

Dude, of course.

Age:

23

Height:

5' 9"

Weight:

152 lbs

Home District:

• Greencrest Heights --- with Holly
• Little Seapond --- with Haruka and Akemi

Appearance

Hair Color:

Premature Gray

Eye Color:

Dark Brown

Ethnicity:

100% Japanese

Physical Description:

Shizuka has a small stature and slim build common among native Japanese; even the harsh military training he received after joining RAVEN didn't really help to put on much muscle and weight - he certainly is a lot sturdier now compared to his teenage self, but hey, don't expect a pure-blood Asian to ever beef up like all those Hollywood male stars. Originally fair-skinned (for Asian standard; still seen as "yellow" to all you Caucasian people) that later took on a slight tan from outdoor sports during his childhood days, and the tan becomes even more pronounced after he becomes a RAVEN agent. He has let the pompadour crewcut to grow out a bit more, now resembling a windswept pixie haircut, though he still keeps the fringes out of his dark eyes; the color has faded so much that his hair has pretty much turned all-white, and even the roots are more of gray than black (he still refuses to dye his hair to black). His heart-shaped face doesn't seem to appear to have aged much at all, still retaining the androgynous look. The "birthmark" that differentiates him from his twin is the small mole on the right side of his face, just below the lower half of his thin lips.

Attire:

For Shizuka, he has only one golden rule when it comes to clothing: comfort over fashion. Partly due to his sporty nature, while the other was due to his ignorance for fashion bull - as far as he's concerned, as long as he isn't naked, who cares? Anything goes... but that does not include trying to force him into cosplaying.

On the job, instead of being heavily armored and equipped with bulky guns and retarded helmets like most agents, he wears a simple black stealth suit with minimal armory, such as army knives and small pistols/revolvers. When needed to, he may pack a sniper rifle on his back. After all, he is supposed to stay in the shadows (and out of everyone's way) and he's rarely on the front line; also, all the extra armors are just dead weight to him.

Personality

Innate & Outward Personality:

Shizuka is the complete opposite of his namesake: he's sarcastic, he's rude, and he's brutally blunt to a fault. Those parts of him have mellowed out over the years ever since he reconciled with Cindy - well, he has matured, and being nice (even if it's just an act) can help to further his private agenda... which will be elaborated later. Otherwise, he's actually a pretty chill and laid-back guy; he's also wise beyond his age (not a surprise, honestly) - general, non-relationship issues, that is.

However, no matter how hard he tries, he still has a long way to go to overcome his innate awkwardness, to express himself in a better way; his eccentricity makes it even worse, for his thoughts are rarely on the same wavelength as others. It's difficult for most people to be able to keep up with his unpredictable pace, sometimes giving rise to misunderstandings that can range from amusing to hostile. While problematic when he has to listen to orders, his unorthodox ways have helped to save the lives of people (and later earning mouthfuls from his superiors).

While his social skills are still in a mess, during missions all those clumsy bullshits are immediately thrown out of the window - this is where the physical and mental discipline hardwired into him would surface. Whether it's his sharp senses or flexible adaptability... even his "gut feeling" - he has an extremely high survival instinct, and he'd use anything and everything in his possession to turn the situation in his favor. He may even go as far as condemning his emotions with cold logic, but thankfully he never wants to be the upfront leader in a group, preferring to leave this "troublesome job" for those loud, extroverted show-offs charismatic type. However, while he doesn't despise those in power, he doesn't like the idea of being an obedient dog to authority either - he puts his own personal interests above all else. As long as his personal interests aren't compromised, he may be willing to go along with any shitty plans the leader comes up with... if you can convince his lazy ass to budge, that is. I'd say Shizuka's alignment is Chaotic Neutral: he has a very realistic (at times negative) view of the people and world around him; for example, he doesn't believe in heroism and chivalry, even questioning that those ideals are simply excuses to kill people the majority perceive as evil without any proper trial, an irony to the idea of justice and law, but he also feels that some people just deserve to die - and they should continue to stay dead.

Relationship wise, Shizuka is (un)surprisingly a very family person - well, the biggest reason why he agreed to join RAVEN was to make use of his post to tap into some of the organization's resources to protect his family, especially his twin brother, Haruka, his closest next of kin (the opportunity to get his hands on those delicious guns is secondary). As for romance... On one hand, he has no whatsoever interest to pursue a romantic relationship at this moment; on the other hand, he's getting somewhat annoyed at how Akemi and Daphne (even Haruka) are teasing him that it's about time he starts finding a girlfriend. He isn't a sexual guy, and it takes a hell lot more than outrageous outward appearance, cringe-worthy flirting acts and lame pickup lines to tickle his sensual side - it's either you click with his erratic mind, or you just don't no matter how hard you try. His circle of "friends" is very small - although he has opened up himself a little more than before, he still doesn't trust people easily. However, he has no qualms about making loads of acquaintances - some through normal, proper connections, while others with (a bit of) blackmailing.

Hobbies/Interests:

• Sports --- He was a very sporty person back in his childhood days, so much so that he could never sit still for more than a few minutes without going into a fidgety state. From generic ball games to the more extreme kind like snowboarding, he had tried them all before. He's a lot less hyperactive now (patience is a virtue to be a good sniper!), and his job has kept him very busy, but he does hit the gyms sometimes, or some solo sports such as squash, or simply shooting some hoops.

• Travel --- Due to the nature of his parents' work, his family often has to travel around, moving from one place to another depending on where they are relocated to. Shizuka's limitless sense of curiosity and his physical restlessness give rise to his desire to go on a backpacking trip around the world on his own. He also begins to take great interest to broaden his knowledge on languages and cultures of other countries, which he finds useful to prepare for his backpacking dream. After joining RAVEN, he's given many opportunities to travel around US and the world (though mostly Asian countries) - and on official business, not vacation, unfortunately.

• Firearms --- Shizuka picked up this when he played some FPS games with Haruka for the first time when they were... still kids (let's not go into the details about game rating for children, yeah). He would find books or online articles on this topic and read about them, but whatever he had learned were only textbook knowledge. He had yearned for a chance to get hands-on experience with guns and rifles (and to a smaller extent, explosives) - which were later presented to him in two stages: first, by moving and settling down in America (where you can't live without a pistol in your pocket), and later by joining RAVEN.

• Biology --- After the "evolution" of his power during the Devil Disaster in Verthaven, he starts to take greater interest in understanding the human body, which is extremely useful to help him better utilize his new-found ability (and of course, an added bonus to some of his other skill sets).

Skills/Talents:

• Languages --- Shizuka's family had spent a lot of time traveling - plus his quickness to pick up new languages - so besides his native tongue he is also fluent in English (well, it is the language most commonly used across the world, duh) and Chinese (easier for him to master due to many similarities with Japanese). Because of this, he has also become the main liaison officer between RAVEN and the Metahuman agencies in Asia (China, Japan, the Philippines, etc.) for any joint assignments with the East. Due to his frequent trips to the Asian countries, he has been picking up dialects such as Min and Cantonese.

• Combat: Close Quarters --- Besides judo (which he has now earned his third black belt), the military training he received in RAVEN has added a wide variety of CQC moves to his arsenal, including the use of daggers and batons. Unlike most agents who rely on brute strength and direct frontal assaults, he overcomes his lack of strength with agility, such as using feints and tricks before delivering lightning-fast surprise attacks.

• Stealth & Reconnaissance --- Given his small build, his quick reflexes, and also the nature of his power (we'll get to that later), he's pretty much the top in this area in RAVEN... probably second only to Daphne.

• Sharpshooting: Sniper --- While his has interest in general firearms, he has taken a greater liking for rifles, in particular long-range sniper models (with assault types being a close second). He seems to be trying to maximize his usefulness - especially in relation to his power, range is an issue - but is that really the only reason behind this? ...By the way, he's actually a pretty good sniper. Maybe not the best (yet) but his shots have been improving at an alarming rate.

Goals/Motivations:

• Family --- As mentioned previously, Shizuka's main goal of joining RAVEN is to acquire the necessary skills and resources to protect his new family, especially his twin brother, whom he fears his enemies would be likely to go after to get their revenge. (The Mannequin is at the top of his hit list.)

• Self-Discovery --- Other than his awkward personality, the unhealthy mental and emotional growth caused by the lack of love and care from Asami also contributed to Shizuka's rather pessimistic view of the people and world around him, causing him to have little to no empathy for others. In this sequel, I plan to delve deeper beneath the seemingly normal cover of his family and show that you don't need sex, blood and drugs to showcase a twisted form of family, especially if it's psychological rather than the physical dark side. At the same time, how his new life at Baybridge is giving him that love and care he has always yearned for and helping him to learn how to feel for others better.

History:

• Pre-Verthaven: Two Peas in a Pod

  Kamakura is one of the well-known spiritual spots in Japan: a small, humble city in the south of the Kanagawa Prefecture. Like most Japanese couples, Yuuichi Takashiro and his then pregnant wife Asami went to the shrines there to pray for their unborn child. Their prayer was answered - and it was more than what they had asked for.
  
  Asami gave birth to two peas in a pod - twin boys.
  
  This was where Haruka and Shizuka's story begin.
  
  Their parents, being diplomatic agents, had to constantly move from one place to another: when the twins turned three their parents' job relocated them to Shanghai; when they were six the family was posted to Singapore; when they were eight to France... Even their tenth birthday was forgone as they had to fly to Australia. They were not nomads per se, but to the twins, they never had a place they could actually call home. The boys were mostly left on their own, for their parents were so busy with their work that they could barely spent much time with their children - this was especially more so for the career-driven Asami. Initially they hired nannies and maids to look after the kids, but Shizuka would often drive them away with his pranks - he didn't like how they always fussed over him for every trivial matter, forcing him to wear the exact same clothes as Haruka, and how they kept comparing him pointlessly with his obedient brother. They might look the same, but they were still different! They might be still young, but stop suffocating them with their old-fashioned ideologies! Why couldn't these stupid adults understand?
  
  The parents then decided to send them to international schools, where they picked up an interest in multilingualism; with how the family was always moving about, they couldn't stay long enough to make any lasting memories and friends (a lot of their schoolmates also come and go just like them). For Shizuka, he was content with joining them as temporary playmates in ball games as long as he got to keep his body active, but Haruka hid himself away with books and computers, afraid to talk to anyone except his brother or when necessary.
  
  After a while, Shizuka begged his father to let him take up martial arts - and Yuu let him try judo. The physical and mental demand for competitive judo was more than most of the sports he had played so far, which motivated him to spend more time and effort into climbing up the belt levels, eventually earning his first black belt.
  
  Later on, Yuu suggested to enroll them into local institutions. The paperwork was a little more tedious compared to international schools, but the fees were much lower. More importantly, the change of academic environment gave the twins - though just a bit - a sense of settling down, which helped to make the recluse Haruka to take the first step out of his comfort zone, to face and talk to people directly.
  
  Of course, in whichever type of school they went to, Haruka could never escape the fate of being a magnet for bullies - he looked weak, nerdy... the very things that made him a perfect human punch bag for these delinquents. It was down to his younger brother to save his ass with his judo tricks - this did help to strengthen their brotherly bond, but Shizuka wasn't aware that his twin was taking his protectiveness beyond the realm of mere sibling love.
  
  Well, because Shizuka had a more pressing matter to deal with.
  
  His powers began to manifest after he turned thirteen: sometimes his fingers would pass through whatever he was holding; he also found out that when he put his hands through electronic devices he would cause them to short-circuit. At first, the ability was more of a nuisance to him: he had little to no control over how he could turn the power on or off, resulting in awkward situations such as things falling out of his grip unexpectedly, or part of his arm disappearing through the wall. An incident where his hand didn't go through his phone completely and was temporarily merged with the device sent him into a very painful frenzy - this caused an accelerated development of his ability, in which he could now extend intangibility to his whole body. Only Haruka knew of his power, and they swore to each other to keep this a secret between themselves. As he had never undergone any formal training on how he could control his ability properly, he was prone to unforeseen hiccups or accidental use of his power at times.
  
  As the boys became older, Yuu felt that he couldn't keep bringing them along on their business trips, depriving them the need of a proper school education and social interaction with kids of their age. He finally convinced Asami to place them under the care of their aunt - Asami's younger sister - Akemi Shinoda, who lived in the Chinatown area of Verthaven, a sunny city in the west coast of America.

• Verthaven: the Storm of Rain and Ravens

  Little did the boys know that they only had a month of peaceful - almost boring - enjoyment before they were thrown straight into an apocalyptic disaster that completely changed their life. Shizuka had been getting the bad signs through his "gut feeling", but no one believed him, thinking that he was being a callous smartass... Of course, it didn't help that his less-than-friendly personality made people all the more unwilling to listen to him.
  
  Then suddenly, people were getting killed left and right, including those whom they could become friends with if they had met under better circumstances; worse, the then-powerless Haruka was so close to dying not once but numerous times, even coming face to face with the Changeling Unit. After so much bloodshed and death encounters, It was truly a miracle that all of them managed to stay alive till the end - but this pure luck wouldn't be on their side forever, especially not after what Shizuka had done to help the NEST agents and the Verthaven teens to take down their foes, on top of saving their asses at times.
  
  This wasn't the end of everything yet...

• Baybridge: the Night is Still Young

  The Devil Disaster had prompted the reshuffling of NEST - which was now known as DOVE and RAVEN. Together with the other two surviving teens Zhao Meifeng and Cindy Keagan, Shizuka was also scouted to join the new RAVEN by the then newly elected Chairman, Maximilian Cornell. He accepted the offer, making him the youngest recruit ever enrolled (and people started to call him an elite, though mostly out of spite); he began the Spartan-like military training once he and his new family settled down after being relocated to Baybridge. His training still continued on even after the two years of basics (that all RAVEN newcomers must go through), in particular to further develop his skills in recon on top of sharpshooting. Sometimes he would be sent along with Meifeng to the other states and assist her with fighting with both old and new foes: the Hands of Science, the Pure, the Allegiance... to name a few.
  
  The events in Verthaven didn't affect him as much as it did to the other survivors since he's there only for a month and all (thankfully he didn't have any PTSD after going through a series of tests), but he knew he couldn't relax one bit and get his family into a similar kind of danger again. Call him paranoid, but who wouldn't after been through all that shit? While his job was keeping him real busy - including many business trips especially to Asian countries - he still made sure he set aside some time to be with his family, even helping out with the farm. (He and Daphne share an apartment which is much closer to their workplace, but he still liked to stay together with the whole family as much as he could.) Whenever he's back in Japan, he would try to at least meet up with his father, if Yuu happened to be back in their home country (once they even met in Malaysia by pure chance). He could care less about Asami, though.
  
  Most of the ice around his aloof personality has melted off as he began to work hard to improve his social life, especially his relationships with the people whom he fought alongside with in Verthaven; though he's still as brutally honest as ever, he has learned to hold his sharp tongue back much better than before (no, he still had a dry sense of humor, just keeping them to himself). He had received praises for doing a great job connecting RAVEN with the Metahuman law enforcement groups in Asia - so much so that the Chinese and Japanese counterparts would only speak to him and no one else from RAVEN - but his laid-back attitude made his superiors reluctant to give him much promotions (besides, he didn't want more work than he already had which would eat into his precious family time).
  
  He was hoping for a decent break after coming back from another business trip to China (where he had to entertain spoiled princesses on top of their doting old men), but before he could catch up with his twin he had to attend some charity event that ended with a case of dumb robbers. Soon, more retarded incidents started to pop up everywhere in Baybridge: an Allegiance riot where he was forced to snipe a young girl to prevent her powers from falling into the wrong hands, then a flesh-eating Metahuman on the loose... and the overloading cases that almost caused his brother to die under the blade of an old ghost.
  
  His second attempt to have a good bonding time with his twin was shattered again with Eco-Natura turning the entire Prince Ed-Field into a bloody rainforest. They managed to get out unscathed while saving a few familiar faces along the way... but not without a few surprises here and there, including the unexpected meeting with Jennifer Caspin, and a brief encounter with Lihua's foe, Song Jiang.
  
  The real bomb was dropped onto the twins with Akemi's voice message - a phone call from their father about their missing mother. Then another from Cindy about the dangerous Founding Family brought Shizuka to the Land of the Dragon once more.
  
  Now, it's time for the dragon to wake up from its deep slumber...

Relationships

Family:

[+]

Haruka Takashiro - Twin Brother

See Haruka's section in Dynamics.

Akemi Shinoda - Aunt

The aunt of the twins through their mother, where she's younger than Asami. To the boys, Akemi feels more like a mum than their own biological mother. Akemi is somewhat stricter with Shizuka - partly because of his difficult personality, and partly because she feels concerned about the various kinds of things he has to go through in his job as an agent fighting - at times even killing - rogue Metahumans.

Daphne "Holly" Hope - Sister Figure

Holly becomes a sister figure to the twins when Akemi took her in as her goddaughter. She often shares some of her wisdom to the boys - especially Shizuka - which earns their utmost respect for her. In RAVEN, she also acts as a mentor to him even when they aren't in the same department (more importantly, that their powers give them similar edge in stealth and intelligence gathering). Some agents (even Haruka) have teased about him staying together with her with no signs of ever getting hooked up with each other, and he just brushes them off nonchalantly.

Yuuichi Takashiro - Father

The twins' father; Yuu is a diplomatic agent representing Japan, and this job often causes his family to get relocated on a frequent basis, moving from one country to another all the time. He tries to squeeze out more time to spend with his children, but his wife Asami would always frown upon his desire to take days off work. Now, he tries to keep up to date about his sons through Shizuka, if they manage to cross each other's path during their frequent trips around the world.

Asami Takashiro (nee Shinoda) - Mother

Although Asami is the (biological) mother of Haruka and Shizuka, she has never done anything for the twins - she was never there for them, never did what a mother should do to play her part in bringing up her children: to give them the care and love they needed, forsaking their psychological and emotional well-being for her own selfish goals, abandoning them so that she can climb further up the career ladder. Haruka has once commented about the eerie similar traits that Shizuka shared with their mother... only to receive blunt denial from the younger brother.

Dynamics:

[+]

Haruka Takashiro

| Inseparable | Brother | "It's both my pride - and regret - to see how much he has grown over the years." |

Haruka is Shizuka's older twin, but very few people are able guess that correctly - not just because of Shizuka's white hair, but also how they always treat each other as equals, blurring the lines of seniority even between themselves. Even though Shizuka is no longer that overprotective of him compared to their childhood days, he still won't hesitate to put the well-being of his twin before anyone else'. They do argue and trash-talk each other from time to time.

Zhao Meifeng

| Mixed | Fellow RAVEN | "Usually she's all brawn and no brain, but when she actually uses her head... you can't help but automatically listen to her unexpected wisdom." |

Shizuka and Meifeng have come a long way from Verthaven - from having such low opinions of each other that they never saw the need to talk to each other in the eye, and now they are comrades working together in the same organization. While they are on friendlier terms now compared to seven years ago, they still argue at times (he has a problem with Meifeng's impulsive way of handling things, sometimes even questioning her intellect level).

Cindy Gabrielle Keagan

| Good | DOVE, Friend | "She's already bitchy enough as she is - tenfold when she drowns herself in booze. That aside, she's still one of the coolest girl I know." |

Compared to Meifeng's case, their initial relationship was much rockier, even close to outright hating each other. They have since reconciled and restarted their friendship bond anew, now on much better terms; though there are occasional hiccups here and there, they are usually settled as quickly as possible. Between the two girls, he feels much closer to Cindy than Meifeng, and sees Cindy as an older sister of sorts.

Zhao Lihua

| Mixed, leaning on Neutral | Haruka's Mentor | "She certainly has changed, but I can still feel that nonsensical pride in her." |

Their opinions for each other have been at all-time low ever since their first meeting in Verthaven; after coming to Baybridge, they barely have the chance to bump into each other (it's a good thing to him that she has resigned from NEST - he seriously didn't want to be her subordinate-turned-sacrificial lamb). For Shizuka, beneath all the hate he does have a shadow of respect for her professionalism as a former agent; otherwise he simply sees her as an "obnoxiously vain woman with a swollen ego". Haruka has also been saying nothing but good things about her ever since he went to the Academy - at first he thought that she might have brainwashed his brother, but he was slowly starting to see a few interesting sides of that woman (he had the feeling it's because of Lijuan's presence, though).

Quentin Taylor

| Respected | RAVEN, Senior | "Gotta admit that the old man is a genius with firearms - so good that I'd never want to be on the receiving end." |

Shizuka can easily relate to him with how the both of them are willing to do anything and everything to protect their own brother. Although he finds that Quentin is somewhat similar to Meifeng with their... unhealthy hatred for villains in general, at least Quentin seems to have more self-control than the girl.

Reed Taylor

| Respected | DOVE, Senior | "Less intense than his older bro', and also a pretty good gunner." |

On the field, Reed becomes Shizuka's "voice of reason" of sorts, which is usually Haruka's role in the past before he joined RAVEN. Sometimes he wishes that Haruka can be half as good as Reed... and stop that annoying "goody two-shoes" bullshit.

Max Diaz

| Neutral | Junior RAVEN, Partner-in-Crime (when it comes to ditching paperwork) | "She reminds me a lot of my old self - grumpy, awkward, but actually a nice girl." |

Their bond all begins with their shared hatred for endless paperwork, but even so they have been getting along nicely, even if it's mostly on a professional level. Well, they barely have much chance to chat idly, and the only time they can see each other is... if they get deployed in the same mission/operation.

Jennifer Caspin

| Mixed | Haruka's "Friend" | "It's not like I want to hate her... but her very existence is gonna cost Haru's life one day." |

Shizuka first met her in Verthaven at the worst possible time, which contributed to their mixed relationship (he had to be callous; besides, she almost caused his precious twin to die on her account numerous times). Their reunion started off with the wrong foot when she tried to kill Haruka, though he's mature enough to just observe her for the time being before he comes to a... conclusion about her comeback.

Abilities

Power Class:

Super-System - Biological

Power:

Intangibility - "Phasing"
Shizuka can phase through solid matter and objects by passing his atoms through the spaces between the particles of the object which he is moving through. As such, he and the object that he's going through may temporarily merge without interacting; each is unharmed when he has finished passing through the object. (This is somewhat similar to the process of quantum tunneling.)

• Non-Corporeal Physiology --- While in phased state, he is practically untouchable. With a bit more concentration he can make his body light enough to be able to walk on air.
• Cerebral Power Resistance --- His thoughts becomes highly erratic when he's in ghost mode, which makes it difficult to establish telepathic connection with his mind. He is also able to disrupt telekinetic links to the objects or the people he expands his power to (see next point).
• Limited Power Extension --- He can extend his ability to the clothes he's wearing and any object in his possession at the moment. He's now also able to expand his power to a maximum of four people at each time. In order for this to work, he has to maintain direct physical contact with the person or thing he's phasing along with.
• Internal Analysis --- Any person or object he extend his ability to allows him to be "linked" to them, giving him insight to their internal structure.

Limits:

• Shizuka is unable to breathe while he's passing through the object (e.g. walking through walls), so he can phase continuously only for as long as he can hold his breath. As such, his power is highly dependent on his stamina - in order to keep his fitness level at its peak, besides exercising regularly he has sworn to stay away from cigarettes and alcohol.
• The denser the material is, the harder and slower for him to pass through. Forcing himself to phase through objects of very high density can cause him undesirable pain, at times also injuring himself. Also, he's unable to phase continuously through denser objects for a prolonged period of time without putting a lot of physical and mental stress onto himself.
• Although he gains cerebral power resistance when in phased state, it doesn't completely erase his presence and he can still be detected by very powerful clairvoyants.
• The accuracy of Internal Analysis is heavily dependent on his prior knowledge of the object or person he's feeling - the less he know about them or the more complicated they are, the lower the accuracy.

Weaknesses/Drawbacks:

• Shizuka's "natural" state is solid - that is, he has to concentrate in order to switch to ghost mode. Shock-inducing weapons such as taser or stun guns are effective to disrupt his concentration and snap him out of phased state.
• His power only allows him to pass through atom-matters (solid, liquid and gas), hence he isn't immune to energy-based attacks such as lightning - he can't phase through electromagnetic waves and electrical currents. For example, trying to pass through systems still running on electricity will cause them to malfunction.
• Solidifying while in an object (applies to both partially, such as his limbs, and his whole body) or switching off his ability before he has passed through the object completely may inflict serious injury (and a hell lot of pain, mind you) - in worst case scenario, even death. This is because the atoms of his body are immediately merged into the object he's trying to phase through... which is similar to how someone stabs you right into your vital organs, but on an atomic level.
• Lead and Bismuth. Although he can phase through almost any solid matter, this two of the densest stable elements on Earth are pretty much a bane on his body. It's uncertain whether he would be able to phase through them at all, but he has zero intention to test that out, ever. As far as he's concerned, trying to pass through those two (nasty) elements is equivalent to a normal human trying to walk through a solid wall.

Others:

• Unlike most of the other player characters in this roleplay, Shizuka is not a citizen of US - he only holds American permanent residency (required in order for him to work for RAVEN), and he still has Japanese citizenship. Also, as his parents are diplomats, he and Haruka are both able to enjoy diplomatic immunity, but they have no wish to use that privilege unless absolutely necessary.
• Although he sometimes appears to be predominantly left-handed, he's actually ambidextrous.
• He has tried out various sniper rifles, but he uses CheyTac M-325 Intervention the most. For pistols, he uses a Beretta 92FS.
• He owns a blue Yamaha FZ-09, which he shares the bike with Haruka, who helps to keep it in top shape when not in use. Otherwise, he simply uses a RAVEN vehicle.
• His most prized possession is the survival knife he took from NEST (now RAVEN) for the last stand against the Devil of Verthaven - and later the Changelings. Originally he had a pair, but he used up one by merging the blade into Luis' brain in order to save Quentin from a suicidal death. He has never used it since then, but he still brings it along on trips as a protection charm.
• Quotes

  • "I know this better than anyone - that it's impossible to save every single person in this world. Saving one life means another has to be sacrificed to fill in the dead role." ---to himself and Daphne.
  • "Doesn't matter what powers we can have; if you can't control that power and let it controls you, you'll end up just like the Devil - drowned in her own uncontrollable power, and dragging all of us down with her." ---to Meifeng.
  • "We can always buy a new house no matter how many times it gets destroyed, but family is irreplaceable. As long as the two of you are safe and sound, that's all that mattered to me." ---to Haruka and Akemi.
• Theme Song

B!tchfest: a healthy release for our non-roleplay annoyances.

<Snipped quote by Frettzo>

@Dinh AaronMk

That's not really weird - in fact it's delicious to go with porridge.

...Ok, maybe it looks weird to you Western peeps. That's like one of the most commonly seen dishes in Asia, not just China y'know. *shrugs*

<Snipped quote by Jotunn Draugr>

China seems like the perfect place to try new things, though. Traditional things. Maybe check if there's any festival or event happening while you're staying there? Also make sure to try the really weird traditional food!

@Frettzo

If you really want to try weird food, Beijing and Guangdong are places you can consider. Like, anyone wants fried scorpion for appetizer and fresh (read: raw) monkey brain for main course? Heh.

Post Your Pikcha

Eh. I just spent a quarter of an hour stalking y'all, so here's a flattering selfie.

Chico

@Chicogal

I. Absolutely. Love. Your. Eyes.

Cara's Originally Titled OoC Hangout Thread ♥ (Still)

*le me drowning in the coffee of despair because the paper today was so horrid that I wondered if the teacher who set the questions was actually an English idiot*