Edward Cross (Student Application)

[Edward Cross]

Name: Edward Cross
Age: 19

Power:
Edward’s power is touch based and strengthens chemical bonds, especially high-energy bonds. It uses a unique electrical current to do so.
His power is passive, so he cannot touch anyone.
A chemical bond is an attraction between atoms or molecules and allows the formation of chemical compounds, which contain two or more atoms. A chemical bond is the attraction caused by the electromagnetic force between opposing charges, either between electrons and nuclei, or as the result of a dipole attraction.
His power has several harmful effects to the human body. The primary effect however is with [Adenosine - PO4 ~ PO3 ~ PO3] which is what your body breaks down to release energy, by breaking the chemical bonds of the phosphorous off the end.
If it conducts current, he can strengthen the bonds in materials. Meaning if he is touching a metallic shield, it gains 50% chemical bond strength, and takes 1.5X the force break it compared to usual.
This means Edward could stop many chemical reactions, because most chemical reactions have to break bonds. One example would be fire, if the fuel source can be affected by his power.
With considerable concentration, he can reverse the effect of his powers to weaken the electromagnetic bonds, but he does not really have control of this yet.
Water is a weakness. As long as he is mostly wet, his power has considerably reduced effects.

Personality: It was at age 14 that his powers onset and he has worn gloves (white) ever since. He has always been an antisocial person, but not because he was incapable of social communication, but rather, avoids it. Edward has a good heart, and kind personality. Edward was raised in a highly religious catholic home. He will be exploring the possibility of religion of mutants, and possibly majoring in theologies. (Fun philosophical stuff if kept in check, in proper mediums only).
Edward keeps few friends; he is more interested in ideas.

Description: The color white, or the lack of color obsesses Cross. He wears many white cloths, and often wears a white robe. He has black hair, and is Caucasian. He could be Canadian, but lived in Florida for most his life. His hair is kept medium/long length for a male, and he has eyes that are tan/light brown. He is often wearing white/silver reflective shades if outside.

Background: Edward is from Florida, where he grew up in a rich beach home neighborhood. His father was a VP of a large bank corporation, and his mother an author of many bestselling books. It was at age 14 that his powers onset, and he has worn gloves ever since. He cannot touch anyone, so he kept away from the other youth ever since he attained is powers. He has hidden his power from anyone but his closest family.

(edited)

[Sara Stanton]

Not-a-mod opinion:

While I won't say mental problems per se are a bad thing for a char I'm inclined to point out that a full-blown second personality might be a bit much, especially for your first character. (Not to mention that he comes with an entirely different power-set) so instead of relying on that as a 'gimmick' I'd say it'd be much more interesting and engaging to built something around the mutant religion idea, which sounds very promising.

Also a negative side-effect to a power that just gets canceled out anyway is redundant, imo and the 'primary' use of his powers seems pretty restrictive. The manipulation of chemical bonds is a great idea and I wouldn't just pidgeon-hole it into that particular use. That's not to say to exclude it, because paralysis or an 'energy drain' is a decent combat application, but the other things it could do might be interesting outside combat scenes with some creativity.

So to summarize: I'd drop the second personality/power-set, expand on the main-power and the mutant religion idea.

[Amanda Weinrich]

I am a mod, and I agree with what Barrin said for the most part. You've got two different powersets going on and while there isn't anything wrong with having a character who can do more than one thing, in this case, I don't think that the second powerset is doing more than adding clutter. One of the conventions of the MU is that people aren't affected by their own power, so that is something that can be handwaved, rather than needing to come up with a elaborate explanation for why his power doesn't affect him.

I like the basic idea of someone who can make things stronger by touching them, one direction you could go would be to develop this a bit more, and pare down some of the other stuff.

Regarding the character's history and mental state. Having a character who has trauma in their background is fine. Playing a character who has mental problems is fine. Playing a character who has so much trauma in their background, and who's mental problems are so great and so many that they are almost unable to function in normal social settings is almost certain to create frustration for you and your fellow players.

I think that the idea of a 'mutant religion' is interesting, and its been hinted, but not precisely stated that there is at least one, and possibly more than one such movement going on in Genosha, so that is certainly something that could be developed.

[Edward Cross]

ok, i'm going to drop the mental stuff then, and other powers. sadly that also gets rid of his codename.

but, i just want to make a note here that in real life, we deal with people that have mental issues. i know 2 bi-polors and a schizophrenic prone person, and in real life, even though they are socially hard to deal with, they do exist. i dont see why the story would be limited from something that actually exists, even if it makes it a bit frustrating. real life is like that.

also, imagine if i, as a real person suffered from dissociative identity disorder... im not saying i do, but im not saying i dont.

hmm... will need a new background and personality.......

[Madison West]

This is not real life. It's a game. And on a meta-level we have to consider the fun of the other players.

As someone that regularly plays characters with mental disorders, I can tell you right now that it's a constant struggle to make them interesting for others to interact with without becoming annoying.

Characters with severe mental problems or emotional trauma often fall into the trap of being black holes of RP. They suck all attention in the room towards themselves. And that is bad because it quickly becomes annoying and frustrating for others to play with your character when they feel every thread devolves into dealing with your character's issues.

Are goal with the application process is to help you develop a character that is both fun for you and a positive addition to the board. We are not the slightest bit concerned with what's "realistic". If we were, we would not be playing a game full of superheroes, magic and mad science.

I'm sorry to come down on you about this point, but it's important for you to understand why we're nixing it and your last post seemed to suggest that you didn't.

[Amanda Weinrich]

I think that you may have misunderstood what I wrote. Allow me to rephrase it-All of us on this board are well aware of the fact that mental illness exists. There are several characters on this board who have various kinds of mental illness, as well as several more who are 'odd'. The problem is not that your proposal includes a mental illness. The problem is that the character is so far off of 'normal' (by the rather loose standards of XU) that Edward will have a great deal of trouble functioning. Having interactions that are always difficult and/or uncomfortable with your character will cause people to not want to play with you, and will make the game less fun for everyone.

[Edward Cross]

application edited.

[Sara Stanton]

Much, much better. I like it.

[Will Stanton]

I like. I like a lot.

[Sara McDohl]

Looks good to me.

[Edward Cross]

Madison West, I have looked at a few other profiles since I made this character, and I have to agree that the mental stuff doesn't seem like a good idea anymore. I have seen a few that actually had similar ideas, and honestly, I would feel completely unoriginal.

Also it seems less jumbled now, I just wish I had a more interesting background...

[The Book of Sins]

Approval 1/2

[Narrator]

Approval 2/2