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Aug. 20th, 2020 03:05 pmAPPLICATION
Player Name/Handle: Marie
Plurk Handle:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
seemarierun (If you have one. Note: If you have privacy concerns, you may opt out of this)
Player Status: Current Player
Other characters: Robbie Baldwin
Invited by: N/A
Character Name: Julio Richter (Rictor)
Fandom: Marvel Comics
Character Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fuckcable
OU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? Original universe
Canon point: Excalibur #12 (current)
PB: N/A
SETTING BACKGROUND
His home universe, Marvel 616, is meant to be much like the world that we know, and it is nearly always set in the present day. However, there are numerous additions to it. The primary one is that super-humans, superheroes, and super-villains exist. Others are less noticeable, such as the fictional country Krakoa or the American government's spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and its Canadian counterpart Department K, both of which tend to be the government's way of working with or against super-humans.
It’s also a universe familiar with intergalactic travel, the multiverse, and 6 year olds who can hide a planet in a pocket dimension. Magic exists, near immortal beings exist, and the X-gene exists, causing what the universe calms mutants. This gene usually expresses itself around puberty and the nature of the ability it grants often seems to directly correlate to whatever trauma the individual was experiencing at the time.
Mutants have been hated and feared since they became a known quantity. Lately, it’s because they’re developing into a bizarre death/resurrection cult on a magic living island and withholding life-saving treatments from the rest of the world until reparations are made.
HISTORY
For all types:
Born into a family of gun-smugglers, he sees Cable’s evil clone Stryfe murder his father, triggering Ric’s mutation to manifest and causing him to level his neighborhood.
He’s kidnapped by an anti-mutant group and tortured in an attempt to force him to destroy San Francisco. He’s saved by the original X-Factor, who add him to their growing group of ragtag wards.
He creates a teen team with other X-Factor Kids, which eventually folds into the New Mutants. Of the kids on the team, 3 die (1 temporarily) and another turns into a half-demon.
He’s captured on when mutant paradise nation Genosha gets enslaved, eventually freed. Shot down by Rahne for the first time.
He briefly joins Weapon PRIME to hunt for Cable, who he thinks is father’s killer, but he finds out about the clone thing and returns to his former New Mutants teammates who have now formed X-Force under Cable. X-Force is basically the rebellious teenager of the X-teams: they don’t sneak, they use deadly force - they’re basically every definition of wilding.
Shatterstar joins the team, who quickly becomes Ric’s best friend and possible secret boyfriend. They road trip to Mexico and take down Ric’s family business, because avoiding them entirely would be too easy. Ric drops off the face of the earth for awhile.
Eventually, he returns to the X-scene and joins X-Corporation, Paris edition, but it’s short-lived as the office is bombed on M-Day.
Also on M-Day, Ric is depowered with much of mutant kind. He winds up in New York, trying to convince himself to jump off a building. Multiple old friends/teammates show up to talk him out of it. One throws him off the ledge, but the others catch him.
He joins those friends at X-Factor Investigations because he just doesn’t leave. He snipes at everyone, saves people, and has a dysfunctional fling with Rahne. He also starts using guns because he can’t handle being defenseless without his mutant powers.
A brainwashed Shatterstar attacks several X-Factor members. When he snaps out of it, Ric and he resume their relationship. It’s a bit rocky, because Shatterstar wants to learn to embrace humanity, or at least sex in all forms, and Ric can’t handle being in an open relationship.
Rahne returns and tells Ric she’s pregnant with his child. It’s revealed to not be his kid, but he offers to help her anyway he can. He helps protect her from demons during childbirth. Rahne’s child is the subject of a prophecy (whoever kills Tier will become the new lord of hell).
Rictor volunteers to be a guinea pig and let the Scarlet Witch try to give him his powers back. It works, to his great joy and relief.
Rahne’s rapidly aging son is being hunted by demons wanting to rule in Hell and others who want to stop a demon from killing Tier by killing them himself. Ric nearly kills one teammate, Darwin, to prevent it. X-Factor is eventually drug into hell, and the fight isn’t going well. Strong Guy, previously resurrected without a soul, kills Tier to put an end to it. Mephisto scatters X-Force to the winds.
Ric and Shatterstar land in Mojoverse, years in the past. Ric is forced to fight in the gladiator matches for months until he finds Shatterstar, and they escape with Mojoverse rebels. A Mojoverse scientist experiments with Shatterstar’s DNA, cloning the future X-Man Longshot from him.
Ric and Star escape again by jumping forward in time, where they find Dazzler giving birth to Longshot’s child... Shatterstar. After assisting with the delivery, Ric and Star wipe Dazzler’s memory of them and kidnap the baby to preserve the timeline. Nobody talks about how Shatterstar is his own grandfather.
They make their way back to the here-and-now, and their relationship resumes its on again/off again cycle. Ric tries to ask out Bobby Drake, because why not compound your problems.
Ric starts a club called the Shakedown and pretends to be done with the X stuff, except for the mutant underground railroad station he’s running out of the basement and giving Shatterstar backup at the drop of a hat.
Around the time the Krakoa nation is formed, his powers and life start going haywire. He can’t step onto the ground without causing a quake, sleeps in a shipping crate full of dirt, resumes drinking heavily as his depression comes back with a vengeance.
He’s sought out by Apocalypse who helps him get his powers under control, presumably, and he winds up on the new Excalibur team, which is just dysfunctional enough that no one asks him too many questions about his new powers or this whole Druid thing he’s getting into.
PERSONALITY
To begin with, Julio doesn't want to be here, really. Not "here" as in on the Rig, here as in "stuck in the mess of mutant issues that he can never quite get away from". But it's all he's known since he was about 13, and he honestly can’t envision another life for himself. This hero stuff, if he is one, is partly to try and make sure no kids have to live through what he did and partly because sometimes they actually get to do that. He can take the successes and coast on the good vibes for awhile.
He can be an angry person. As a youth, Rictor witnessed the murder of his father and was overcome with grief, and the wounds are there to this day. Through DNA alone, he's been treated like dirt by millions of people over his status as a mutant. It's doubly painful, because his power is one of the only things that he is proud of and believes himself to be good at. He's seen too many of his friends die for someone who's only in his mid-twenties. Ric, himself, has been kidnapped multiple times, tortured with a proddy electrical machine, forced to fight in gladiatorial combat, temporarily enslaved, etc. So yeah, he's bitter. He'd like to get the long end of the stick once in awhile (and then whack a few people over the head with it).
Unsurprisingly, Ric is not equipped to handle personal, emotional stress. When he was younger, getting overly emotional or worked up tended to set off his powers (sometimes literally bringing the house down around him).
When he was temporarily de-powered, Ric wound up on a window ledge again threatening to commit suicide, because he values himself by his ability. Without it, he felt like nothing. He's admitted that his bad days are spent in morosely wallowing in self-pity and that the good days are the ones when he's just too busy to do so. He's not above self-medicating with alcohol or sex when it gets to be too much. Getting help seems out of the question because he's too proud to admit that he may not be able to handle something on his own.
Ric has an established problem with authority figures. It's not entirely without reason: he’s been disappointed by most of the ones he’s had, and one even tortured him. Julio is usually one of the first in line to question an order, particularly when it comes from an outsider. They have to earn Ric's trust, and he goes out of his way to make it hard to do just by being himself.
Even ordinary conversations with him can get combative, especially if he goes into it feeling judged. Rictor is always on the defensive. Sometimes, it's quips, but, more often than not, it takes the form of stronger tones and debate. If it degenerates into a fight and he's taking a few too many stings, he's outta there. He also doesn't want your pity. With close friends, he'll let his guard down sometimes, so long as they just operate on assumptions and don't expect him to actually identify his feelings. That never goes well, because he hates being vulnerable.
There's an unrecognized hypocritical streak in him as well. He's got an aversion to conforming to gay sterotypes, but Ric is ignorant of how he adheres to the one about the Latin male and his precious machismo. His honesty can work in brutal ways. He'll rail on someone for their mistakes, faults, and screw-ups and expect them to take it, but, if someone does the same to him, he blows them off. Fiercely against guns through his teenage years, he begins using handguns while he is depowered, in an effort to not be weak.
He's good at excusing his own bad behavior. He tried to explain away his suicide attempt to Rahne while he was still on the ledge threatening to jump. Ric lies to himself, as well. It's more of a lying by omission than attempting to delude himself: if he can pretend that something didn't happen or didn't affect him, then it didn't. Picking minor fights tends to help with this; it lets off some of the steam that builds up as a result of ignoring problems.
When it comes to his friends, he's fine with them being vulnerable and will act as a support system, if allowed. He'll listen and offer well-meaning but terrible advice that they’re probably better off without because Ric makes Really Bad Life Decisions, but the friend in question has to be bleeding emotions all over the place for him to see it. He's not trying to ignore them; he's just a self-centered asshole in his day-to-day life. But when the big stuff happens, he's right there to help. Just whack him on the face with it to get his attention.
Moodiness and anger issues aside, Rictor isn't a bad person. He may roll his eyes and bitch, but he'll never walk away from someone that needs help, even if it's a random domestic disturbance that doesn't concern him at all. He often misses the mark on his reactions to people, but, when he cools off, he can regret his lashing out. Sometimes, he can even manage to say that he's sorry. If he knows something is a sore spot for someone, he'll do the fighting for them without hesitation. Once he considers someone a friend, he's on their side even when they're possessed and attacking him, like Shatterstar was, or causing international incidents. It's part of his charm.
Another reason why people put up with him is that he's a sparkling conversationalist. Ok, not quite, but if you're in the market for someone to shoot the shit with over a beer with, he can be fun. Underneath the mountains of manpain, he's an average guy who compensates with cocky swagger and a snarky sense of humor. He likes to go clubbing and drive too fast. He’s a good time.
CANON POWERS
Seismic Energy Manipulation:
Rictor's oldest ability allows him create and manipulate seismic waves and energy. This can manifest in various ways. He's mostly seen channeling the vibrational waves through his hands and directing them at a target, which can cause the target to shatter, crumble, or explode. Due to the violent nature of the effect, he usually directs it at surfaces and objects around someone rather than directly at them.
In his younger days, he would sometimes lose control of his power and shake uncontrollably, causing the energy to spread out in all directions and with a strong force. In fact, he doesn't need to direct them at anything through the air - the energy can be transferred by touch, causing objects in his hands in the same way that they would through an indirect attack.
Should he lose control or opt for a unfocused attack, Ric basically creates a localized earthquake. He accidentally did a high magnitude earthquake resulting in a radius of several city blocks brought to the ground as a tween. Nowadays, he causes pictures to fall off the walls if he gets upset. Due to this, he is extremely hesitant to use his powers near a fault line and will refuse to use them at all near a major one.
As luck would have it, his mutation also grants him a connection to the earth itself. He can feel the movements of the tectonic plates, sense fault lines, and wax poetic about how he can feel the rain on the dirt and the life in each ant.
Recently, his powers have been expanded, through working with Apocalypse and possibly through absorbing the magical energy in ancient glowing green rocks (neither of which he fully understands because why be smart). These can be seen as offshoots of his previous power, but are probably best listed separately.
Geokinesis:
Rictor has always had an ability to move rocks, but it was done crudely using his seismic powers to force them to break off, split, etc. Having Ric make a path in the rock used to be like opening a gate with a bulldozer. Now, he’s suddenly able to sculpt chutes in an underground cavern two feet away from Gambit without so much as a pebble going astray and make small rocks float around him.
He can’t do intricate carvings or anything; it’s generally just a more delicate approach.
He can also control magma and lava now and is apparently immune to the heat of it.
Chlorokinesis:
Think a very low level Poison Ivy. Similar to how he talks about feeling the ants in the earth or sensing certain vibrations, he can now feel roots and encourage them to grow (but it doesn’t always seem to work). He can also cause a few nearby vines to entangle people. It’s minor - he isn’t going to lead a legion of sentient plants in an uprising.
When he channels the power through his hands, there is something of a glowy effect. It's now green, where it used to be purple or blue depending on the artist. Since the whole “I’m a druid whee” thing started, his eyes glow as well.
POWER SELECTION
Canon Superpowers
For canon powers:
Seismic energy manipulation
Geokinesis
Chlorokinesis
I would prefer to keep them vague as described, without any specific seismic limit as I’m not a geologist or physicist and would have a difficult time ascertaining what is possible and what isn’t keeping his seismic wave generation to a certain magnitude. He can split rocks and explode demons; if anyone knows where that is on the Richter scale, I’m agreeable to whatever number.
As far as a range of the power, it seems to be very localized. I would say the seismic waves have a max range of 1000 metres, based on the flattening several blocks incident, but that was a result of a scared child being literally tortured.
I try to keep powers use judicious, and his is not an “indoor” power, so to speak; it would not be fully utilized except in a narrow range of circumstances.
I am willing to drop entirely the magma/lava control (which I won't use anyway), the chlorokinesis and the refined geokinesis if necessary (in that order). Please let me know if the connection to the earth will transfer, as the knowledge of where the techtonic plates and their energy levels are heavily informs his use of his seismic ability. If he's 'blind', he'll hold himself to an extreme level of caution.
ABILITIES
Rictor is very good with computers, to the point of being able to hack SHIELD databases.
He’s fluent in English, Spanish, and Cadre Alliance.
He’s physically fit and knows how to throw a punch/move in a fight. He has average aim with a gun.
SETTING/SUITABILITY
➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death?
Oh, he’s going to absolutely hate it and will end up being shocked at some point. He will rein it in and not get shocked to death, though.
➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term?
This question is always hard for me, because I apply for characters based on an idea that it will be fun and not for some over-arcing plan to make everyone care about them and then kill them.
I want to have a second character who fills a somewhat different reaction space. “Somewhat” because hi I’m Marie and I like loud superheroes.
➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly?
He found out Jubilee’s kid turns into a dragon and pretty much rolled with it. He’s fought literal demons in Hell. He’ll be fine.
➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group?
He is used to working with others, including those that he barely tolerates. He’s also currently working with freaking Apocalypse, so it’s not like he has solid standards as the guy murder-sacrificed the kid sister of one of his oldest friends in front of a stadium full of people. But he mind-whammied Ric out of his funk and helped him get his powers back, so Ric is currently Team Poccy.
➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise?
He will definitely join the rebellion. I have no specific plans but assume that he will fall in with the sharper adults. He will not be betraying the PCs under any currently foreseeable circumstances and will be hostile to anyone that does.
If someone apps Cameron Hodge or Mojo, he is betraying that PC if it means he has to frame them himself. Just so we’re clear.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
[ Julio isn't fighting when they hook him up to the polygraph machine. In fact, he's barely sitting. The strap around his chest helps with that, but he knows that's not why it's there. It's for readings or some bullshit.
"Mr. Richter - "
He hates this lady already, but the guy who half drug him into the room is also the guy who shocked him three times during the orientation... and he's still here with his little remote control. The last burst made his hands clench so hard that he still can't straighten his cramped fingers.
"You're almost done your onboarding progress. We just have one little ol' interview to go and then you're free to join the other New Hires on the Rig!"
How is she this perky? Does participating in shock treatment make you perky? Please no.
"All you need to do is answer three questions honestly, would you do that for me?"
Ric's head falls further forward. He was trying to glare at her, instead his eyes find a drain on the floor that he tries not to think about. She takes it as a nod.
"Fantastic! I wish everyone was this cooperative!"
He manages to pick his head up and notices that his askance look is matched by Mr. Remote Control's. Heh, so she really is that much of an idiot, and they all know it.
"Now, Mr. Richter, when was a time that you had to work as part of a team?"
His eyes narrow and try to refocus on her, but it's slow. He stares vaguely at her clipboard instead. ]
Today. Yesterday. Almost every day for the past, what, 10 years? 12? Yeah, I know how to be a part of a team. If you want a demo, maybe later we can play the Floor is Lava.
[ With lava.
She's frowning over the polygraph's readout. "I'm going to put that as truthful. You need to be mindful that specifics help Jorgmund! I do understand that, when you do something all the time, the task can feel a bit rote. I will definitely be recommending to Mr. Planker that we put the Floor is Lava on our team building schedule for you!"]
Great. Thanks.
[ He might not be enthusiastic, but he's somewhat... grateful for the understanding. He's been agitated, bored, and tormented since he got here, and the positivity is twee, but effective. She reminds him of better people, despite the stupidity.
"Second question! You're on your way to your best friend's wedding and your boss calls and says a client needs something, what do you do?" ]
I'm kinda my own boss right now.
"This is a roleplay question, Mr. Richter. If you were working for someone else, what would you do?"
[ He thinks about it. His best friend is... yeah, it's Shatterstar. In the hypothetical of this question, Ric knows what he would do. ]
I'd tell him to take a hike, because if anyone's going to ruin that wedding day, it's gonna be me.
[ There's a pause as the reading scrolls out, and she really should be able to process the results faster, if this is her job.
"We-ell, you're being truthful, but I don't think that's a very good attitude to take with your employer if you want to stay employed. And you want to stay employed, don't you Mr. Richter?"
The simpering way that she prompts it makes him nod along with her. He's seen enough to know that he doesn't want to see how employees are terminated. The drain looms large in his mind. ]
I would've been sure to ask for leave on time and get it approved.
[ "Yes, protocols and loyalty are so important! I'm glad we're all on the same page. Moving onto the final question, what's your biggest personal flaw?"
Oh, fuck you.
[ It's an auto-response, and it slips out under his breath. He knows he's stepped in it with this one, and her smile goes to ice. She gives the chart a cursory glance, and when she speaks, the warmth and charm is gone. She does, after all, work for Jorgmund.
"Five seconds on the lowest level, Todd."
The shock isn't as strong as the last one he received, but his nerves are raw. His whole body tries to curls against the chair and the machine, but he can't twist much. When the electricity cuts off, he's out of breath.
She kneels down in front of him, and the kindergarten teacher is back. "Now, Mr. Richter, I think what you mean to say is that your biggest personal flaw is your attitude. I can tell from the way you've been answering my questions, but Jorgmund is all about cleaning up our world. I know you were being truthful, but this corporation is not only about the truth - the truth doesn't build a pipeline! So I need you to show me you can clean up your mouth and say it for me: my biggest flaw is my attitude."
He shakes his head; his jaw is still clamped shut from the shock, so he couldn't tell her off if he wanted to.
"Todd - " ]
No...
[ It's hard to force the words out through grinding teeth, but he manages to spit it out. ]
Bigges'... flaw's m'attitude.
[ "There we are!" She gives him the sunniest smile. He could kick her teeth in now, if he was sure they'd know he was dead in Krakoa. But he wants to live, so he doesn't. "I knew you'd be able to fit in here!"
Christ, he's a dead man walking. ]
Prose Sample
https://goneawaymemes.dreamwidth.org/933.html?thread=420005
ADDITIONAL INFO
I'd like him to keep his ridiculous hooded cape uniform and blue face paint, or at least to have the opportunity to earn it back.
FINAL QUESTIONS
➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund?
He just got done falling in a portal that wasn’t working right and talking to Apocalypse when he was brought here. He will assume that it’s due to Apocalypse, Jamie Braddock, Morgan Le Fey, or someone else involved with the current conflict between Krakoa and Otherworld. Or Mojo. It could always be Mojo.
Jorgmund is definitely INVOLVED, but he’s going to have a hard time believing that it’s not in conjunction with someone else.
➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason?
He doesn’t think any of the options are gods or forces of fate. He thinks they’re stupidly powerful dicks. Whichever one it is needs to be contained.
Player Name/Handle: Marie
Plurk Handle:
Player Status: Current Player
Other characters: Robbie Baldwin
Invited by: N/A
Character Name: Julio Richter (Rictor)
Fandom: Marvel Comics
Character Journal:
fuckcableOU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? Original universe
Canon point: Excalibur #12 (current)
PB: N/A
SETTING BACKGROUND
His home universe, Marvel 616, is meant to be much like the world that we know, and it is nearly always set in the present day. However, there are numerous additions to it. The primary one is that super-humans, superheroes, and super-villains exist. Others are less noticeable, such as the fictional country Krakoa or the American government's spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and its Canadian counterpart Department K, both of which tend to be the government's way of working with or against super-humans.
It’s also a universe familiar with intergalactic travel, the multiverse, and 6 year olds who can hide a planet in a pocket dimension. Magic exists, near immortal beings exist, and the X-gene exists, causing what the universe calms mutants. This gene usually expresses itself around puberty and the nature of the ability it grants often seems to directly correlate to whatever trauma the individual was experiencing at the time.
Mutants have been hated and feared since they became a known quantity. Lately, it’s because they’re developing into a bizarre death/resurrection cult on a magic living island and withholding life-saving treatments from the rest of the world until reparations are made.
HISTORY
For all types:
Born into a family of gun-smugglers, he sees Cable’s evil clone Stryfe murder his father, triggering Ric’s mutation to manifest and causing him to level his neighborhood.
He’s kidnapped by an anti-mutant group and tortured in an attempt to force him to destroy San Francisco. He’s saved by the original X-Factor, who add him to their growing group of ragtag wards.
He creates a teen team with other X-Factor Kids, which eventually folds into the New Mutants. Of the kids on the team, 3 die (1 temporarily) and another turns into a half-demon.
He’s captured on when mutant paradise nation Genosha gets enslaved, eventually freed. Shot down by Rahne for the first time.
He briefly joins Weapon PRIME to hunt for Cable, who he thinks is father’s killer, but he finds out about the clone thing and returns to his former New Mutants teammates who have now formed X-Force under Cable. X-Force is basically the rebellious teenager of the X-teams: they don’t sneak, they use deadly force - they’re basically every definition of wilding.
Shatterstar joins the team, who quickly becomes Ric’s best friend and possible secret boyfriend. They road trip to Mexico and take down Ric’s family business, because avoiding them entirely would be too easy. Ric drops off the face of the earth for awhile.
Eventually, he returns to the X-scene and joins X-Corporation, Paris edition, but it’s short-lived as the office is bombed on M-Day.
Also on M-Day, Ric is depowered with much of mutant kind. He winds up in New York, trying to convince himself to jump off a building. Multiple old friends/teammates show up to talk him out of it. One throws him off the ledge, but the others catch him.
He joins those friends at X-Factor Investigations because he just doesn’t leave. He snipes at everyone, saves people, and has a dysfunctional fling with Rahne. He also starts using guns because he can’t handle being defenseless without his mutant powers.
A brainwashed Shatterstar attacks several X-Factor members. When he snaps out of it, Ric and he resume their relationship. It’s a bit rocky, because Shatterstar wants to learn to embrace humanity, or at least sex in all forms, and Ric can’t handle being in an open relationship.
Rahne returns and tells Ric she’s pregnant with his child. It’s revealed to not be his kid, but he offers to help her anyway he can. He helps protect her from demons during childbirth. Rahne’s child is the subject of a prophecy (whoever kills Tier will become the new lord of hell).
Rictor volunteers to be a guinea pig and let the Scarlet Witch try to give him his powers back. It works, to his great joy and relief.
Rahne’s rapidly aging son is being hunted by demons wanting to rule in Hell and others who want to stop a demon from killing Tier by killing them himself. Ric nearly kills one teammate, Darwin, to prevent it. X-Factor is eventually drug into hell, and the fight isn’t going well. Strong Guy, previously resurrected without a soul, kills Tier to put an end to it. Mephisto scatters X-Force to the winds.
Ric and Shatterstar land in Mojoverse, years in the past. Ric is forced to fight in the gladiator matches for months until he finds Shatterstar, and they escape with Mojoverse rebels. A Mojoverse scientist experiments with Shatterstar’s DNA, cloning the future X-Man Longshot from him.
Ric and Star escape again by jumping forward in time, where they find Dazzler giving birth to Longshot’s child... Shatterstar. After assisting with the delivery, Ric and Star wipe Dazzler’s memory of them and kidnap the baby to preserve the timeline. Nobody talks about how Shatterstar is his own grandfather.
They make their way back to the here-and-now, and their relationship resumes its on again/off again cycle. Ric tries to ask out Bobby Drake, because why not compound your problems.
Ric starts a club called the Shakedown and pretends to be done with the X stuff, except for the mutant underground railroad station he’s running out of the basement and giving Shatterstar backup at the drop of a hat.
Around the time the Krakoa nation is formed, his powers and life start going haywire. He can’t step onto the ground without causing a quake, sleeps in a shipping crate full of dirt, resumes drinking heavily as his depression comes back with a vengeance.
He’s sought out by Apocalypse who helps him get his powers under control, presumably, and he winds up on the new Excalibur team, which is just dysfunctional enough that no one asks him too many questions about his new powers or this whole Druid thing he’s getting into.
PERSONALITY
To begin with, Julio doesn't want to be here, really. Not "here" as in on the Rig, here as in "stuck in the mess of mutant issues that he can never quite get away from". But it's all he's known since he was about 13, and he honestly can’t envision another life for himself. This hero stuff, if he is one, is partly to try and make sure no kids have to live through what he did and partly because sometimes they actually get to do that. He can take the successes and coast on the good vibes for awhile.
He can be an angry person. As a youth, Rictor witnessed the murder of his father and was overcome with grief, and the wounds are there to this day. Through DNA alone, he's been treated like dirt by millions of people over his status as a mutant. It's doubly painful, because his power is one of the only things that he is proud of and believes himself to be good at. He's seen too many of his friends die for someone who's only in his mid-twenties. Ric, himself, has been kidnapped multiple times, tortured with a proddy electrical machine, forced to fight in gladiatorial combat, temporarily enslaved, etc. So yeah, he's bitter. He'd like to get the long end of the stick once in awhile (and then whack a few people over the head with it).
Unsurprisingly, Ric is not equipped to handle personal, emotional stress. When he was younger, getting overly emotional or worked up tended to set off his powers (sometimes literally bringing the house down around him).
When he was temporarily de-powered, Ric wound up on a window ledge again threatening to commit suicide, because he values himself by his ability. Without it, he felt like nothing. He's admitted that his bad days are spent in morosely wallowing in self-pity and that the good days are the ones when he's just too busy to do so. He's not above self-medicating with alcohol or sex when it gets to be too much. Getting help seems out of the question because he's too proud to admit that he may not be able to handle something on his own.
Ric has an established problem with authority figures. It's not entirely without reason: he’s been disappointed by most of the ones he’s had, and one even tortured him. Julio is usually one of the first in line to question an order, particularly when it comes from an outsider. They have to earn Ric's trust, and he goes out of his way to make it hard to do just by being himself.
Even ordinary conversations with him can get combative, especially if he goes into it feeling judged. Rictor is always on the defensive. Sometimes, it's quips, but, more often than not, it takes the form of stronger tones and debate. If it degenerates into a fight and he's taking a few too many stings, he's outta there. He also doesn't want your pity. With close friends, he'll let his guard down sometimes, so long as they just operate on assumptions and don't expect him to actually identify his feelings. That never goes well, because he hates being vulnerable.
There's an unrecognized hypocritical streak in him as well. He's got an aversion to conforming to gay sterotypes, but Ric is ignorant of how he adheres to the one about the Latin male and his precious machismo. His honesty can work in brutal ways. He'll rail on someone for their mistakes, faults, and screw-ups and expect them to take it, but, if someone does the same to him, he blows them off. Fiercely against guns through his teenage years, he begins using handguns while he is depowered, in an effort to not be weak.
He's good at excusing his own bad behavior. He tried to explain away his suicide attempt to Rahne while he was still on the ledge threatening to jump. Ric lies to himself, as well. It's more of a lying by omission than attempting to delude himself: if he can pretend that something didn't happen or didn't affect him, then it didn't. Picking minor fights tends to help with this; it lets off some of the steam that builds up as a result of ignoring problems.
When it comes to his friends, he's fine with them being vulnerable and will act as a support system, if allowed. He'll listen and offer well-meaning but terrible advice that they’re probably better off without because Ric makes Really Bad Life Decisions, but the friend in question has to be bleeding emotions all over the place for him to see it. He's not trying to ignore them; he's just a self-centered asshole in his day-to-day life. But when the big stuff happens, he's right there to help. Just whack him on the face with it to get his attention.
Moodiness and anger issues aside, Rictor isn't a bad person. He may roll his eyes and bitch, but he'll never walk away from someone that needs help, even if it's a random domestic disturbance that doesn't concern him at all. He often misses the mark on his reactions to people, but, when he cools off, he can regret his lashing out. Sometimes, he can even manage to say that he's sorry. If he knows something is a sore spot for someone, he'll do the fighting for them without hesitation. Once he considers someone a friend, he's on their side even when they're possessed and attacking him, like Shatterstar was, or causing international incidents. It's part of his charm.
Another reason why people put up with him is that he's a sparkling conversationalist. Ok, not quite, but if you're in the market for someone to shoot the shit with over a beer with, he can be fun. Underneath the mountains of manpain, he's an average guy who compensates with cocky swagger and a snarky sense of humor. He likes to go clubbing and drive too fast. He’s a good time.
CANON POWERS
Seismic Energy Manipulation:
Rictor's oldest ability allows him create and manipulate seismic waves and energy. This can manifest in various ways. He's mostly seen channeling the vibrational waves through his hands and directing them at a target, which can cause the target to shatter, crumble, or explode. Due to the violent nature of the effect, he usually directs it at surfaces and objects around someone rather than directly at them.
In his younger days, he would sometimes lose control of his power and shake uncontrollably, causing the energy to spread out in all directions and with a strong force. In fact, he doesn't need to direct them at anything through the air - the energy can be transferred by touch, causing objects in his hands in the same way that they would through an indirect attack.
Should he lose control or opt for a unfocused attack, Ric basically creates a localized earthquake. He accidentally did a high magnitude earthquake resulting in a radius of several city blocks brought to the ground as a tween. Nowadays, he causes pictures to fall off the walls if he gets upset. Due to this, he is extremely hesitant to use his powers near a fault line and will refuse to use them at all near a major one.
As luck would have it, his mutation also grants him a connection to the earth itself. He can feel the movements of the tectonic plates, sense fault lines, and wax poetic about how he can feel the rain on the dirt and the life in each ant.
Recently, his powers have been expanded, through working with Apocalypse and possibly through absorbing the magical energy in ancient glowing green rocks (neither of which he fully understands because why be smart). These can be seen as offshoots of his previous power, but are probably best listed separately.
Geokinesis:
Rictor has always had an ability to move rocks, but it was done crudely using his seismic powers to force them to break off, split, etc. Having Ric make a path in the rock used to be like opening a gate with a bulldozer. Now, he’s suddenly able to sculpt chutes in an underground cavern two feet away from Gambit without so much as a pebble going astray and make small rocks float around him.
He can’t do intricate carvings or anything; it’s generally just a more delicate approach.
He can also control magma and lava now and is apparently immune to the heat of it.
Chlorokinesis:
Think a very low level Poison Ivy. Similar to how he talks about feeling the ants in the earth or sensing certain vibrations, he can now feel roots and encourage them to grow (but it doesn’t always seem to work). He can also cause a few nearby vines to entangle people. It’s minor - he isn’t going to lead a legion of sentient plants in an uprising.
When he channels the power through his hands, there is something of a glowy effect. It's now green, where it used to be purple or blue depending on the artist. Since the whole “I’m a druid whee” thing started, his eyes glow as well.
POWER SELECTION
Canon Superpowers
For canon powers:
Seismic energy manipulation
Geokinesis
Chlorokinesis
I would prefer to keep them vague as described, without any specific seismic limit as I’m not a geologist or physicist and would have a difficult time ascertaining what is possible and what isn’t keeping his seismic wave generation to a certain magnitude. He can split rocks and explode demons; if anyone knows where that is on the Richter scale, I’m agreeable to whatever number.
As far as a range of the power, it seems to be very localized. I would say the seismic waves have a max range of 1000 metres, based on the flattening several blocks incident, but that was a result of a scared child being literally tortured.
I try to keep powers use judicious, and his is not an “indoor” power, so to speak; it would not be fully utilized except in a narrow range of circumstances.
I am willing to drop entirely the magma/lava control (which I won't use anyway), the chlorokinesis and the refined geokinesis if necessary (in that order). Please let me know if the connection to the earth will transfer, as the knowledge of where the techtonic plates and their energy levels are heavily informs his use of his seismic ability. If he's 'blind', he'll hold himself to an extreme level of caution.
ABILITIES
Rictor is very good with computers, to the point of being able to hack SHIELD databases.
He’s fluent in English, Spanish, and Cadre Alliance.
He’s physically fit and knows how to throw a punch/move in a fight. He has average aim with a gun.
SETTING/SUITABILITY
➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death?
Oh, he’s going to absolutely hate it and will end up being shocked at some point. He will rein it in and not get shocked to death, though.
➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term?
This question is always hard for me, because I apply for characters based on an idea that it will be fun and not for some over-arcing plan to make everyone care about them and then kill them.
I want to have a second character who fills a somewhat different reaction space. “Somewhat” because hi I’m Marie and I like loud superheroes.
➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly?
He found out Jubilee’s kid turns into a dragon and pretty much rolled with it. He’s fought literal demons in Hell. He’ll be fine.
➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group?
He is used to working with others, including those that he barely tolerates. He’s also currently working with freaking Apocalypse, so it’s not like he has solid standards as the guy murder-sacrificed the kid sister of one of his oldest friends in front of a stadium full of people. But he mind-whammied Ric out of his funk and helped him get his powers back, so Ric is currently Team Poccy.
➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise?
He will definitely join the rebellion. I have no specific plans but assume that he will fall in with the sharper adults. He will not be betraying the PCs under any currently foreseeable circumstances and will be hostile to anyone that does.
If someone apps Cameron Hodge or Mojo, he is betraying that PC if it means he has to frame them himself. Just so we’re clear.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
[ Julio isn't fighting when they hook him up to the polygraph machine. In fact, he's barely sitting. The strap around his chest helps with that, but he knows that's not why it's there. It's for readings or some bullshit.
"Mr. Richter - "
He hates this lady already, but the guy who half drug him into the room is also the guy who shocked him three times during the orientation... and he's still here with his little remote control. The last burst made his hands clench so hard that he still can't straighten his cramped fingers.
"You're almost done your onboarding progress. We just have one little ol' interview to go and then you're free to join the other New Hires on the Rig!"
How is she this perky? Does participating in shock treatment make you perky? Please no.
"All you need to do is answer three questions honestly, would you do that for me?"
Ric's head falls further forward. He was trying to glare at her, instead his eyes find a drain on the floor that he tries not to think about. She takes it as a nod.
"Fantastic! I wish everyone was this cooperative!"
He manages to pick his head up and notices that his askance look is matched by Mr. Remote Control's. Heh, so she really is that much of an idiot, and they all know it.
"Now, Mr. Richter, when was a time that you had to work as part of a team?"
His eyes narrow and try to refocus on her, but it's slow. He stares vaguely at her clipboard instead. ]
Today. Yesterday. Almost every day for the past, what, 10 years? 12? Yeah, I know how to be a part of a team. If you want a demo, maybe later we can play the Floor is Lava.
[ With lava.
She's frowning over the polygraph's readout. "I'm going to put that as truthful. You need to be mindful that specifics help Jorgmund! I do understand that, when you do something all the time, the task can feel a bit rote. I will definitely be recommending to Mr. Planker that we put the Floor is Lava on our team building schedule for you!"]
Great. Thanks.
[ He might not be enthusiastic, but he's somewhat... grateful for the understanding. He's been agitated, bored, and tormented since he got here, and the positivity is twee, but effective. She reminds him of better people, despite the stupidity.
"Second question! You're on your way to your best friend's wedding and your boss calls and says a client needs something, what do you do?" ]
I'm kinda my own boss right now.
"This is a roleplay question, Mr. Richter. If you were working for someone else, what would you do?"
[ He thinks about it. His best friend is... yeah, it's Shatterstar. In the hypothetical of this question, Ric knows what he would do. ]
I'd tell him to take a hike, because if anyone's going to ruin that wedding day, it's gonna be me.
[ There's a pause as the reading scrolls out, and she really should be able to process the results faster, if this is her job.
"We-ell, you're being truthful, but I don't think that's a very good attitude to take with your employer if you want to stay employed. And you want to stay employed, don't you Mr. Richter?"
The simpering way that she prompts it makes him nod along with her. He's seen enough to know that he doesn't want to see how employees are terminated. The drain looms large in his mind. ]
I would've been sure to ask for leave on time and get it approved.
[ "Yes, protocols and loyalty are so important! I'm glad we're all on the same page. Moving onto the final question, what's your biggest personal flaw?"
Oh, fuck you.
[ It's an auto-response, and it slips out under his breath. He knows he's stepped in it with this one, and her smile goes to ice. She gives the chart a cursory glance, and when she speaks, the warmth and charm is gone. She does, after all, work for Jorgmund.
"Five seconds on the lowest level, Todd."
The shock isn't as strong as the last one he received, but his nerves are raw. His whole body tries to curls against the chair and the machine, but he can't twist much. When the electricity cuts off, he's out of breath.
She kneels down in front of him, and the kindergarten teacher is back. "Now, Mr. Richter, I think what you mean to say is that your biggest personal flaw is your attitude. I can tell from the way you've been answering my questions, but Jorgmund is all about cleaning up our world. I know you were being truthful, but this corporation is not only about the truth - the truth doesn't build a pipeline! So I need you to show me you can clean up your mouth and say it for me: my biggest flaw is my attitude."
He shakes his head; his jaw is still clamped shut from the shock, so he couldn't tell her off if he wanted to.
"Todd - " ]
No...
[ It's hard to force the words out through grinding teeth, but he manages to spit it out. ]
Bigges'... flaw's m'attitude.
[ "There we are!" She gives him the sunniest smile. He could kick her teeth in now, if he was sure they'd know he was dead in Krakoa. But he wants to live, so he doesn't. "I knew you'd be able to fit in here!"
Christ, he's a dead man walking. ]
Prose Sample
https://goneawaymemes.dreamwidth.org/933.html?thread=420005
ADDITIONAL INFO
I'd like him to keep his ridiculous hooded cape uniform and blue face paint, or at least to have the opportunity to earn it back.
FINAL QUESTIONS
➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund?
He just got done falling in a portal that wasn’t working right and talking to Apocalypse when he was brought here. He will assume that it’s due to Apocalypse, Jamie Braddock, Morgan Le Fey, or someone else involved with the current conflict between Krakoa and Otherworld. Or Mojo. It could always be Mojo.
Jorgmund is definitely INVOLVED, but he’s going to have a hard time believing that it’s not in conjunction with someone else.
➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason?
He doesn’t think any of the options are gods or forces of fate. He thinks they’re stupidly powerful dicks. Whichever one it is needs to be contained.
