Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2014 19:31:33 GMT -5
Full Name: Alexei Schinder
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Power(s):
His primary ability is to consume nightmares from those around him who sleep. As Alex sleeps, he instead will be the one to bear the nightmare. This affects all who sleep within several hundreds of meters will sleep with less nightmares. Alex's ability is like a magnet to those types of dreams and will contain them within his own mind. It may not completely diffuse nightmares as strong nightmares that are tied to a person's psyche are not easily banished. Alex, however, is forced into said nightmares as if they were his. The side effects of this is his inability to have his own dreams. He either wakes with no dream at all or wakes fully remembering every nightmare he absorbed while he slept. As such, he does not sleep often. His sleep cycle is currently once every four days for less than six hours. The consumption of nightmares seems to recharge his mind and body on its own, but not enough to make him properly function. He won't be able to go without proper healthy conduct for too long. Alexei himself cannot dream his own nightmares or dreams. When he wakes, he will often go through a bit of screaming in fear because of the most vivid nightmare. Alex does not fear the nightmare but he is forced to feel the fear that the subject would have felt.
Alex's secondary ability is to emit fear to those within his psychic range, so long as he is awake. The fear inflicted on each person is different and can range anywhere from primal fears such as arachnophobia to pure paranoia. It can be internal fears of the future and can become hallucinations, but it will always inflict fear. Alex has no voluntary control over the ability and as such does not stay around people often. He can dampen his range to extreme proximity and but while relaxed it extends to about twenty meters. Those with psychic defenses are only protected by their own strength. Alex spends most of his energy forcing his psychic fear to remain within a close proximity, but once he's under duress he will not be able to control it. If he concentrates hard enough he can direct his ability towards a single person but it has been known to cause serious brain and psyche damage.
Appearance: Alex is rather short for his age, only standing at 5'7". His messy dark black hair hangs down, not cut very neatly and not short either. His build is quite lanky, as constant abuse to his psyche has not given Alex much room to think about his health. His skin quite pale, also from the lack of proper treatment. His eyes are the most unusual thing about him: given his current state, his iris color and pupil color changes. While he sleeps and has nightmares, his iris color is a deep violet with a black pupil. While he is awake, his iris color is a normal dark brown but the pupil is white. There are also dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and his overall "air" is a very tired boy who should be sleeping. He generally wears baggier clothing, often seen in baggy cargo pants and a dark jacket and tennis shoes. He likes to make himself look unassuming and not threatening or interesting. The more "normal" he looks, the less people have to interact with him.
Personality: Being an insomniac, Alex's most crucial distinction in personality is his psychasthenia: the inability to resist actions or thoughts. Normally, Alex is a very timid and but is in general good kid. He does not like getting into lots of trouble nor does he like being around lots of people. He can come off as a bit of a claustrophobic but he's no where near in the of constant panic. If he didn't have insomnia, some might simply call him as an introvert and leave it at that.
However, life is rarely fair like that. Because of Alex's lack of sleep and constant nightmares, paranoia and fear have an adverse affect on him. Fear is an emotion he can no longer consciously feel while awake as his sleep is plagued with it. As such over the years, his mental condition has deteriorated to the point where nothing externally fearful, such as common phobias or life-threatening situations, even phase him. At the height of his fearlessness, Alex is known to be foolhardy with his own life.
His paranoia and anxiety give him another set of fears. He hates people. People have dreams and can sleep peacefully at night knowing full well that even if it is a nightmare nothing bad can happen. Alexei envies those who can simply sleep without worry. Life gave him the ability to have nothing but nightmares that don't even belong to him. Nightmares that he is eventually forced to live. He remembers every nightmare vividly and so much of his true fears come from when he has to sleep. He is constantly terrified of knowing what horrors will visit him next. It causes him to often lose track of time and where he is. Conversation with him can be a bit strained because of his broken mannerisms. He can seem a bit fidgety and as such he can be seen around the academy walking aimlessly muttering to himself about not sleeping.
Because of this unstable condition, Alexei can come off as a bit cold to people who would dare consider him a "friend." Friends to Alexei means people he has to be around. People that he makes feel their worst fear just by being around them. Because of his inability to make social contact he often seems cynical when he's not delirious or asleep. But anger not this small wanderer. To bring his ire whether it be through annoyance or pain is to bring fear to oneself. Alex is far from merciful and has not been known to give any who would cross him fair warning.
Picture(optional): If you have a picture of your character, detail in your appearance is preferred but not necessarily needed. Be sure to explain things not seen in a picture (if there is anything).
Weaknesses: Alex's body is his primary weakness. In general, Alex can have numerous health problems that are easily fixed with regular eating and sleeping. He often has not eaten or slept in several days and this takes its toll on his body. Another weakness is his inability to control the fear he emits. It matters not if he surrounded by friends or foes, because of his mental state he cannot control who is affected, save the random bursts of emotion that focuses it on a single person. If Alex could completely control his ability, that person is usually reduced to a screaming, babbling, inane vegetable from the amount of fear that is focused upon him or her. His ability is more or less a test of willpower; if one is able to conquer their own fears then he or she can withstand Alex without much harm. Alex's arguably worst weakness is his inability to interact with people. He will avoid them at all costs to keep his powers from hindering people and as such is not socially adept. He can come off as quite awkward and while in his own trances of paranoia or anxiety, he is just plain creepy.
His biggest flaw however comes from his ambition. He wants the nightmares to stop and no one seems able to help him. Alex will do anything to achieve his goal. A simple promise to make the torture stop outside of wanton killing or suicide and he's on-board.
Strengths: Fear is power, some might say. Having control over others' fears gives Alex a sense of control in his life that anchors him to reality. Knowing that at any given time, Alex can make someone useless as he is makes him feel like he still has some control. Alex's courage is also one of his biggest traits. While battling others' nightmares, Alex has learned one thing: being brave does not mean you can't be scared. The Alex that is in the nightmares has learned to do what he has to to survive even while the horrors try to paralyze him to his core. As such, Alex in reality is also quite brave, but his strained sense have made him barely aware that he is even awake. Now others call him a lunatic for talking to himself half the time and shutting others out completely, but that only cements his good nature. His biggest strength is his will to live. He will not even think about suicide. He loves his life, his sister and wants to grow up to be a good member of society. He will do what it takes to survive, even if it means living with fear forever.
History/Family: Alexei Schnider was born into a rather odd household. His parents died when he was very young, but his big sister was there to keep him alive and well. Alice kept up two jobs as well as taking Alex to and from school, so her life was kept extremely busy. But she never complained or cried about it, and her little brother grew up knowing his sister as the caretaker of his life. Soon after Alex turned twelve, his abilities began to manifest. When he was younger he never could remember any dreams. He merely thought that his dreams were not important enough to remember so he never told his sister anything. It was one less thing for her to worry about and it was not very important.
Until his first nightmares.
He dreamed he was drowning, got lost in the woods, stuck in an avalanche, failed several tests, lost his job, lost his wife, the list went on that night. He screamed as he awoke and saw Alice desperately trying to wake him, worry written all over his face. He cried into his sister's arms, telling her all the bad dreams he had. He felt like he had lived through hundreds if not thousands of bad dreams at once. Alice took him to a psychiatrist the next day, hoping to get to the bottom of her brother's strange dreams. Over the next several weeks, Alex began to have more and more nightmares and sleep started harder and harder to want. Every time Alex slept he dreamed of nightmares. Every time he awoke, he grew a bit more paranoid and unstable. Doctors and psychiatrists tried everything, from therapy to drugs, but Alex no longer went to sleep without nightmares. And as such, Alex no longer slept.
Alice did everything she could to get him help but to no avail. Soon enough however, a man approached her interested in her case. He said he was a doctor who did extensive research on those with supernatural talents. Her brother's ability to absorb nightmares became of particular interest to the man. The man told Alice that he would be able to construct a device to suppress the nightmares. Alice told Alex about it, but Alex was no longer totally aware of his surroundings to make a conscious decision. He just told his sister that "I'm scared, they are coming, don't make sleep, I'm scared." With that, her heart breaking, Alice gave Alex to the doctor and hoped that everything would be fine. Little did Alice realize her mistake.
The "good" doctor took Alex to a facility filled with unconscious patients to experiment on the amount of nightmares Alex felt. Knowing Alex's potential as a lightning rod for nightmares, he could make money eliminating others' nightmares. He then drugged Alex with a dose of sleeping medication and awaited results. The patients REM reading reduced indicating their dreamless sleeps and there seemed to be an immediate positive result. It was not until the doctor could not wake did he realize his error. His sister demanded to see Alex only to find out that he had been into a coma from the drugs. Alice went to several lawyers and the company the doctor hailed from was quickly sued to bankruptcy.
A full year later, Alex awoke. And when he did his other ability did as well.
Alex awoke with a start screaming and shouting, his eyes filled with horror and paranoia. Several doctors and nurses came in to control him and the weak fourteen year old was no match for their hands. That was until the fear began. What seemed like a powerful pulse from his head was a sudden release of all the fear he had experienced for the year. The doctors nurses and patients in the hospital immediately began screaming in terror. Alex huddled in his bed not knowing what was going on. And then he was there.
A man in a white suit. He passed by several people a calm smile on his face. He asked Alex if he would like the nightmares to end. Alex wept tear of pure joy as he exclaimed his hopes. A needle suddenly went into his neck and Alex slowly began to lose consciousness. But as he fell unconscious, words were pressed firmly in his mind.
"I will come for you. When I do, I will make the nightmares stop if you have not already done so. And when you realize what I've done, you will give me your obedience. In exchange, I will let your sister live."
There were no dreams this time. No nightmares. There was just black and then he was awake. He was in different clothes. He had a note in hand as it simply pointed up on the paper. Alex looked up and saw the building. And so he walked towards it. He didn't know why he had no nightmares, or what happened to his sister, or anything else. But for some reason, he knew that the nightmares would come again. And he knew even more that Alex would be doing terrible things in the future. But none of that mattered. So long as the nightmares stopped, nothing else mattered. He quickly went to the academy, not knowing what his future held, but dreading every step of the way.
In Character sample:
"Hey. Kid. Hey. HEY!"
Alex's eyes focused. He had been drifting. It wasn't sleep; his body self-consciously did not lot him sleep while his mind cringed from the actual thought of it. His vision became more substantial and an old man came into focus. "You alright, kid?" Alex felt around and felt the building behind him. He must have been wandering aimlessly last night and fallen asleep here. He must ha-
They came like an ice shocking waterfall. He thought he hadn't been sleeping but he felt much more refreshed. And with the feeling of refreshment came the- "Memories! No. GODS NO! PLEASE!" Alex began shouting slamming his eyes shut and covered his ears. The old man, a pale skinned fellow with a brown sweater put a hand to Alex's shoulder. Alex smacked the hand away and then realized that someone was near him. "Get away! QUICK! HIDE! BEFORE THEY COME! BEFORE I-" It was far too late though. He was suddenly in the woods running. Three large packs of wolves. Even as Alex ran, he knew that he was merely reliving a memory. But he had to keep running. His legs wouldn't move fast enough. His lungs were burning from the exertion.
The old man tilted his head, confused. The lad seemed to stare blankly into space. But that wasn't the odd part, other than the random cry of anguish. It was the boy's eyes. The pupils were a brilliant white. Not glowing, but simply pristine white. "What... What are you?" The answer came with a cold shiver and a sudden cry. The man spun and saw himself leaning over a bed with a pillow. The pillow was over his wife. "...no..." the old man whispered. It had been some time since he had thought about the way he ended the love of his life. He did it out of mercy. But now... now the man who was above his wife was smiling. It had plagued him his whole life... his one fear. His only fear. He had been so happy to kill his wife and that scared him more than any other thing he could think possible. He ran towards the man on the bed.
Alex "awoke" from the memory in a flash. It was always bad when he first woke up. He relived a monstrous nightmare upon waking and it was always a powerful one would nearly drive him to tears. But he had gone so long with them, they no longer made him weep. They were only nightmares. Besides... his true fear sat before him. An old man was on the ground in the middle of the street. Alex stared in stark horror. There were sirens in the distance and many people were begin to crowd around the car and the man on the ground. Alex stood and backed away. It's not my fault, he told himself. I told him to run. I told him to run. I told him to run. And Alex ran all the while screaming it in his head.
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Power(s):
His primary ability is to consume nightmares from those around him who sleep. As Alex sleeps, he instead will be the one to bear the nightmare. This affects all who sleep within several hundreds of meters will sleep with less nightmares. Alex's ability is like a magnet to those types of dreams and will contain them within his own mind. It may not completely diffuse nightmares as strong nightmares that are tied to a person's psyche are not easily banished. Alex, however, is forced into said nightmares as if they were his. The side effects of this is his inability to have his own dreams. He either wakes with no dream at all or wakes fully remembering every nightmare he absorbed while he slept. As such, he does not sleep often. His sleep cycle is currently once every four days for less than six hours. The consumption of nightmares seems to recharge his mind and body on its own, but not enough to make him properly function. He won't be able to go without proper healthy conduct for too long. Alexei himself cannot dream his own nightmares or dreams. When he wakes, he will often go through a bit of screaming in fear because of the most vivid nightmare. Alex does not fear the nightmare but he is forced to feel the fear that the subject would have felt.
Alex's secondary ability is to emit fear to those within his psychic range, so long as he is awake. The fear inflicted on each person is different and can range anywhere from primal fears such as arachnophobia to pure paranoia. It can be internal fears of the future and can become hallucinations, but it will always inflict fear. Alex has no voluntary control over the ability and as such does not stay around people often. He can dampen his range to extreme proximity and but while relaxed it extends to about twenty meters. Those with psychic defenses are only protected by their own strength. Alex spends most of his energy forcing his psychic fear to remain within a close proximity, but once he's under duress he will not be able to control it. If he concentrates hard enough he can direct his ability towards a single person but it has been known to cause serious brain and psyche damage.
Appearance: Alex is rather short for his age, only standing at 5'7". His messy dark black hair hangs down, not cut very neatly and not short either. His build is quite lanky, as constant abuse to his psyche has not given Alex much room to think about his health. His skin quite pale, also from the lack of proper treatment. His eyes are the most unusual thing about him: given his current state, his iris color and pupil color changes. While he sleeps and has nightmares, his iris color is a deep violet with a black pupil. While he is awake, his iris color is a normal dark brown but the pupil is white. There are also dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and his overall "air" is a very tired boy who should be sleeping. He generally wears baggier clothing, often seen in baggy cargo pants and a dark jacket and tennis shoes. He likes to make himself look unassuming and not threatening or interesting. The more "normal" he looks, the less people have to interact with him.
Personality: Being an insomniac, Alex's most crucial distinction in personality is his psychasthenia: the inability to resist actions or thoughts. Normally, Alex is a very timid and but is in general good kid. He does not like getting into lots of trouble nor does he like being around lots of people. He can come off as a bit of a claustrophobic but he's no where near in the of constant panic. If he didn't have insomnia, some might simply call him as an introvert and leave it at that.
However, life is rarely fair like that. Because of Alex's lack of sleep and constant nightmares, paranoia and fear have an adverse affect on him. Fear is an emotion he can no longer consciously feel while awake as his sleep is plagued with it. As such over the years, his mental condition has deteriorated to the point where nothing externally fearful, such as common phobias or life-threatening situations, even phase him. At the height of his fearlessness, Alex is known to be foolhardy with his own life.
His paranoia and anxiety give him another set of fears. He hates people. People have dreams and can sleep peacefully at night knowing full well that even if it is a nightmare nothing bad can happen. Alexei envies those who can simply sleep without worry. Life gave him the ability to have nothing but nightmares that don't even belong to him. Nightmares that he is eventually forced to live. He remembers every nightmare vividly and so much of his true fears come from when he has to sleep. He is constantly terrified of knowing what horrors will visit him next. It causes him to often lose track of time and where he is. Conversation with him can be a bit strained because of his broken mannerisms. He can seem a bit fidgety and as such he can be seen around the academy walking aimlessly muttering to himself about not sleeping.
Because of this unstable condition, Alexei can come off as a bit cold to people who would dare consider him a "friend." Friends to Alexei means people he has to be around. People that he makes feel their worst fear just by being around them. Because of his inability to make social contact he often seems cynical when he's not delirious or asleep. But anger not this small wanderer. To bring his ire whether it be through annoyance or pain is to bring fear to oneself. Alex is far from merciful and has not been known to give any who would cross him fair warning.
Picture(optional): If you have a picture of your character, detail in your appearance is preferred but not necessarily needed. Be sure to explain things not seen in a picture (if there is anything).
Weaknesses: Alex's body is his primary weakness. In general, Alex can have numerous health problems that are easily fixed with regular eating and sleeping. He often has not eaten or slept in several days and this takes its toll on his body. Another weakness is his inability to control the fear he emits. It matters not if he surrounded by friends or foes, because of his mental state he cannot control who is affected, save the random bursts of emotion that focuses it on a single person. If Alex could completely control his ability, that person is usually reduced to a screaming, babbling, inane vegetable from the amount of fear that is focused upon him or her. His ability is more or less a test of willpower; if one is able to conquer their own fears then he or she can withstand Alex without much harm. Alex's arguably worst weakness is his inability to interact with people. He will avoid them at all costs to keep his powers from hindering people and as such is not socially adept. He can come off as quite awkward and while in his own trances of paranoia or anxiety, he is just plain creepy.
His biggest flaw however comes from his ambition. He wants the nightmares to stop and no one seems able to help him. Alex will do anything to achieve his goal. A simple promise to make the torture stop outside of wanton killing or suicide and he's on-board.
Strengths: Fear is power, some might say. Having control over others' fears gives Alex a sense of control in his life that anchors him to reality. Knowing that at any given time, Alex can make someone useless as he is makes him feel like he still has some control. Alex's courage is also one of his biggest traits. While battling others' nightmares, Alex has learned one thing: being brave does not mean you can't be scared. The Alex that is in the nightmares has learned to do what he has to to survive even while the horrors try to paralyze him to his core. As such, Alex in reality is also quite brave, but his strained sense have made him barely aware that he is even awake. Now others call him a lunatic for talking to himself half the time and shutting others out completely, but that only cements his good nature. His biggest strength is his will to live. He will not even think about suicide. He loves his life, his sister and wants to grow up to be a good member of society. He will do what it takes to survive, even if it means living with fear forever.
History/Family: Alexei Schnider was born into a rather odd household. His parents died when he was very young, but his big sister was there to keep him alive and well. Alice kept up two jobs as well as taking Alex to and from school, so her life was kept extremely busy. But she never complained or cried about it, and her little brother grew up knowing his sister as the caretaker of his life. Soon after Alex turned twelve, his abilities began to manifest. When he was younger he never could remember any dreams. He merely thought that his dreams were not important enough to remember so he never told his sister anything. It was one less thing for her to worry about and it was not very important.
Until his first nightmares.
He dreamed he was drowning, got lost in the woods, stuck in an avalanche, failed several tests, lost his job, lost his wife, the list went on that night. He screamed as he awoke and saw Alice desperately trying to wake him, worry written all over his face. He cried into his sister's arms, telling her all the bad dreams he had. He felt like he had lived through hundreds if not thousands of bad dreams at once. Alice took him to a psychiatrist the next day, hoping to get to the bottom of her brother's strange dreams. Over the next several weeks, Alex began to have more and more nightmares and sleep started harder and harder to want. Every time Alex slept he dreamed of nightmares. Every time he awoke, he grew a bit more paranoid and unstable. Doctors and psychiatrists tried everything, from therapy to drugs, but Alex no longer went to sleep without nightmares. And as such, Alex no longer slept.
Alice did everything she could to get him help but to no avail. Soon enough however, a man approached her interested in her case. He said he was a doctor who did extensive research on those with supernatural talents. Her brother's ability to absorb nightmares became of particular interest to the man. The man told Alice that he would be able to construct a device to suppress the nightmares. Alice told Alex about it, but Alex was no longer totally aware of his surroundings to make a conscious decision. He just told his sister that "I'm scared, they are coming, don't make sleep, I'm scared." With that, her heart breaking, Alice gave Alex to the doctor and hoped that everything would be fine. Little did Alice realize her mistake.
The "good" doctor took Alex to a facility filled with unconscious patients to experiment on the amount of nightmares Alex felt. Knowing Alex's potential as a lightning rod for nightmares, he could make money eliminating others' nightmares. He then drugged Alex with a dose of sleeping medication and awaited results. The patients REM reading reduced indicating their dreamless sleeps and there seemed to be an immediate positive result. It was not until the doctor could not wake did he realize his error. His sister demanded to see Alex only to find out that he had been into a coma from the drugs. Alice went to several lawyers and the company the doctor hailed from was quickly sued to bankruptcy.
A full year later, Alex awoke. And when he did his other ability did as well.
Alex awoke with a start screaming and shouting, his eyes filled with horror and paranoia. Several doctors and nurses came in to control him and the weak fourteen year old was no match for their hands. That was until the fear began. What seemed like a powerful pulse from his head was a sudden release of all the fear he had experienced for the year. The doctors nurses and patients in the hospital immediately began screaming in terror. Alex huddled in his bed not knowing what was going on. And then he was there.
A man in a white suit. He passed by several people a calm smile on his face. He asked Alex if he would like the nightmares to end. Alex wept tear of pure joy as he exclaimed his hopes. A needle suddenly went into his neck and Alex slowly began to lose consciousness. But as he fell unconscious, words were pressed firmly in his mind.
"I will come for you. When I do, I will make the nightmares stop if you have not already done so. And when you realize what I've done, you will give me your obedience. In exchange, I will let your sister live."
There were no dreams this time. No nightmares. There was just black and then he was awake. He was in different clothes. He had a note in hand as it simply pointed up on the paper. Alex looked up and saw the building. And so he walked towards it. He didn't know why he had no nightmares, or what happened to his sister, or anything else. But for some reason, he knew that the nightmares would come again. And he knew even more that Alex would be doing terrible things in the future. But none of that mattered. So long as the nightmares stopped, nothing else mattered. He quickly went to the academy, not knowing what his future held, but dreading every step of the way.
In Character sample:
"Hey. Kid. Hey. HEY!"
Alex's eyes focused. He had been drifting. It wasn't sleep; his body self-consciously did not lot him sleep while his mind cringed from the actual thought of it. His vision became more substantial and an old man came into focus. "You alright, kid?" Alex felt around and felt the building behind him. He must have been wandering aimlessly last night and fallen asleep here. He must ha-
They came like an ice shocking waterfall. He thought he hadn't been sleeping but he felt much more refreshed. And with the feeling of refreshment came the- "Memories! No. GODS NO! PLEASE!" Alex began shouting slamming his eyes shut and covered his ears. The old man, a pale skinned fellow with a brown sweater put a hand to Alex's shoulder. Alex smacked the hand away and then realized that someone was near him. "Get away! QUICK! HIDE! BEFORE THEY COME! BEFORE I-" It was far too late though. He was suddenly in the woods running. Three large packs of wolves. Even as Alex ran, he knew that he was merely reliving a memory. But he had to keep running. His legs wouldn't move fast enough. His lungs were burning from the exertion.
The old man tilted his head, confused. The lad seemed to stare blankly into space. But that wasn't the odd part, other than the random cry of anguish. It was the boy's eyes. The pupils were a brilliant white. Not glowing, but simply pristine white. "What... What are you?" The answer came with a cold shiver and a sudden cry. The man spun and saw himself leaning over a bed with a pillow. The pillow was over his wife. "...no..." the old man whispered. It had been some time since he had thought about the way he ended the love of his life. He did it out of mercy. But now... now the man who was above his wife was smiling. It had plagued him his whole life... his one fear. His only fear. He had been so happy to kill his wife and that scared him more than any other thing he could think possible. He ran towards the man on the bed.
Alex "awoke" from the memory in a flash. It was always bad when he first woke up. He relived a monstrous nightmare upon waking and it was always a powerful one would nearly drive him to tears. But he had gone so long with them, they no longer made him weep. They were only nightmares. Besides... his true fear sat before him. An old man was on the ground in the middle of the street. Alex stared in stark horror. There were sirens in the distance and many people were begin to crowd around the car and the man on the ground. Alex stood and backed away. It's not my fault, he told himself. I told him to run. I told him to run. I told him to run. And Alex ran all the while screaming it in his head.
