xavier_institute_ooc | (no subject)

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*test drive meme

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THE TEST DRIVE MEME

This is for anyone wanting to test out their characters in the setting before the applications open, see what clicks. Multiples will be allowed for this post, and you can generally assume any threads are a self-contained continuity unless you feel like getting creative.

Just post a thread with your CHARACTER NAME and CANON NAME in the title with a prompt and others will reply. Prompts and threads can be action spam or prose or whatever. These threads can be used on the sample section of your application, as well. Go out and have fun!

We also ask that you please pardon our dust. We're working very hard to get this game up and running and hope to be open by September 1st!

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It's alright. [That aura is still murky, just controlled now... The statue's a memorial, isn't it? Then whoever this is was definitely here five years ago.

Ken's a bit uncomfortable himself, now. This isn't exactly something he can help, and he's not sure he should even if he could.]

I know what happened... She was really strong, wasn't she? It's okay to miss her. [He kind of regrets never getting a chance to meet her, after all he's heard, but five years ago he didn't even know he was a mutant.]

...I didn't even know her that well. Not personally. She was one of our principals.

[A tense, uncertain shrug, while he stares back at the memorial. It feels unfair, unearned really, crying as though Jean's loss hadn't been much more to many at the school. To most of them, even. He'd never even had a class or been on a squad led by her.

And it feels selfish, on top of that, knowing that the grief threatening to swell up is for more than just the woman who'd given her life saving them.]

From what everyone says, she's the only reason anyone who was at the school that day survived.

I know... I wasn't here then but I've seen a lot of it. [Postcognition sucks when it's triggered by violent events. He's been trying to block it out, learning to control it and the aura-reading, but it's more difficult than it seemed.

But that aura says there's more than just grief there.] It's okay to be upset about the rest, too. Anyone would be.

[Reassurance only makes Shindou's gaze edge off to one side, strained and embarrassed. It's one thing to say that. It certainly sounds right. But it's another thing to remember everyone else that lost more that day - Principal Summers, his first team leader, is gone too - and realize that he's been sitting in a protective bubble this whole time.

It doesn't help that he's putting some guy he's never even met in this position, either! So, when he brings himself to look back, Shindou's going to latch onto Ken's first comment, instead..]

Were you here when they were rebuilding the Mansion? You said you saw what happened.

[...That's embarrassment. Did he say the wrong thing? Ken tries not to cringe. He doesn't really understand what happened here, for all he's seen. Maybe he shouldn't try... The different direction of conversation is welcome.]

No, I'm a recent transfer... But I'm a postcog. It's mostly triggered by violent events.

Ah --

[Shindou can't help but wince slightly at that. That sounds like a power that cuts more against the user than anything else, doesn't it? He could remember how disorienting his own mutation had been, before he could control it enough to keep from getting snatches of what others were seeing and hearing.

And that didn't even come close to having a flickering feed of everything awful that'd ever happened around you running in your head.]

I'm sorry. That has to be hard to get used to around here, sometimes.

[It's weird to Ken, to get sympathy for his mutation instead of people looking at him like he's crazy or a liar. At least it's been a couple years. He's learned to control it by necessity. Same with the auras.]

It's not as bad as it sounds. The tour of the school was pretty bad, but once I've seen an event once, it's usually easier to tune it out.

[Hospitals are always awful, the emotional memory is too strong. And then there's going home...]

Can you not shut it off at all, though?

[It's always a dubious question, where the line is between what they simply haven't learned to control and what can't be done due to the nature of their powers. It's frustrating.

But not so much that he'll stop from focusing on this than everything that was weighing on him before.]

Some of the instructors here can help out a lot with psychic defenses, but...that probably works a different way. I don't know.

Not completely, I don't think. Most places I go I'll only see the most recent incidents without trying, but places where the emotional memory is particularly strong or with a long history of violence all I can do is tune it out.

[Walking around New York City, for example. He might see some muggings, accidents, murders, etc...but most of it will be a pretty clear walk. The worst part is there's no definite way to tell if he's seeing the past or present. He just has to guess.]

It probably is different... That sounds more like a telepathic thing. My abilities just fall under 'seeing extra stuff'.

Oh. So, it really is more like a 'sixth sense.'

[He's not sure he likes what that says about what's out there in the world around them, that he and everyone else without Ken's powers just can't pick up on. That's not a comforting thought.

Today seems pretty slim on those all around, actually.]

You should talk to one of the professors who handle power control lessons, still. Everyone's mutations are so different here, it's intimidating at first, but...there's a lot they can help with.

[A small shrug. That's his attempt at uncertain reassurance for today. It sounds painfully weak to his own ears, but it's the best he's got.]

Yeah. I can see auras, too - emotions and stuff - but that's less...jarring.

[Surrounded by people shining different colors? A lot easier to handle than seeing the past. He's never really thought about the implications of his sight for other people, never considered others blind for not seeing what he can.]

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty good at tuning it out, but if there's an off switch it would be nice to find it. [He can tell by Shindou's aura he's still troubled...he's not very good at this comfort thing, is he?]

Pardon my manners, by the way. My name is Ken Amada.

It sounds like it would be overwhelming. [Which is less straight sympathy and more of a compliment. Ken's obviously got some kind of handle on his powers already, and that's pretty impressive.]

Mn. I'm Shindou Takuto. Nice to meet you -- and thanks, too. For earlier.

[He may not be thoroughly at-ease with the world, now, but he's not bawling his eyes out in front of a statue, either. It's an improvement.]

Really.

It used to be, before I realized what I was seeing. [It's easier to deal with it being a mutation rather than just going insane.]

Don't mention it. It must be hard... I wish I could help more. [Seeing all that he does, being acutely aware of how people feel...it's hard not to want to help. Darker emotions, pain and grief and fear, tend to cling to people like dark clouds. Although Ken knows they can't feel it, he always thinks it looks hard to breathe, like that.

He glances down at the soccer ball.] ...Want to kick that around a bit?

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