Post by Damien Cook on Jul 25, 2015 10:38:17 GMT -5
Basics
Name: Damien Cook
Nicknames: None, as of yet
Age: 18
Birthday: January 6, 1997
Grade: 12th
Power:
Ice Manipulation
Damien has the ability to create and manipulate already existing ice. Obviously, the latter is not really possible on a tropical island, so, at Ashford, it is more likely he will create his own ice. He turns the water, which usually comes from the air, his own body, or a nearby water source into a solid state. Usually, he will create a beam out of it, though, sometimes it will turn into snow or hail. What it turns into depends on how many particles he has to work with and how much focus he is putting into what he is creating. He usually ends up creating slabs or beams of ice when he is extremely focused on forcing the water particles together. Hail needs a little less focus, but needs more focus than snow. On the off chance that there is some ice, snow, or hail hanging around from someone else’s powers, he can manipulate that as well as long as he is in direct contact with it. For example, if it is a patch of ice on the ground, he needs to keep his foot on it to be able to manipulate it. It should be noted that, because he can generate ice from the water inside his body, his tissues can withstand cold temperatures, but only enough to keep his digits and other body parts from getting frostbite while he is using his attacks.
Of course, Damien’s abilities are limited, as most abilities are. He is at a major disadvantage being on a tropical island, since he would prefer to use ice that already exists to fight with. Creating new ice is not terribly difficult, but it can be time-consuming, depending on how much he wants to make and what exactly he wants to make. This can leave him open and vulnerable to attacks. He can freeze any kind of water, but it should be noted that water with large amounts of solutes or chemicals mixed in, like ocean water for example, will take a little longer to freeze than water that only has trace amounts. Drawing water to use from his own body is usually a last resort and, in excess, can leave him with an electrolyte imbalance, which can cause any number of problems. In order to keep himself properly hydrated, he must drink three more glasses of water than a normal person should drink and, if he freezes water from his own body, he also should drink a sports drink to replenish his electrolytes.
Enhanced Memory
Damien has what many people would call a “photographic memory”. He can look at something for one minute and recall it at any time. More often than not, he prefers to close his eyes when recalling something so he can avoid visual input that might affect the quality or contents of the memory. He tends to go through important memories when he is alone with his own thoughts, that way he can easily recall them when they are needed. A lot of times, a sensation might help him bring up a memory better. For example, if he was in a forest, the smell of a certain type of tree or the sound of a squirrel running through the branches would help him recall the memory better than just trying to look for it in the “filing cabinets” of his brain.
It should be noted that some memories can get confused and that what he saw originally may not be exactly what it really was. He can be wrong, but he tries to be diligent and look at something like a document for one minute or longer, that way he can get an accurate reading of what is actually contained inside said document.
Hypercognition
Damien’s mind processes information beyond the capabilities of the normal human mind. This ability gives his high-tier observation skills and he will notice even the smallest tic or hesitation. Not only can he receive information quickly thanks to the higher speeds in his nervous system, but he can also analyze what he has and formulate a plan of sorts out of it. For example, if he sees that a person has a certain pattern to their attacks, he can put together a plan to counter said pattern in a minute or two. This ability also allows him to learn information at a rapid pace, which is probably why he is so intelligent.
However, having a very active mind does have an effect on him, though. Because he is using so much glucose in his brain, he has to eat a little more than the average person. If he does not, he will suffer from low blood sugar, which can lead to shaking, dizziness, and even unconsciousness. His mind is always processing stimuli and analyzing at a fast pace, and this makes it difficult for him to interact with others. He is usually so caught up in his own thinking that he has trouble being social and can make people who have short tempers angry if he says things a certain way or in a certain tone of voice.
Member Group: Prefect
Canon or not: Nope
Appearance:
Without a doubt, this particular young man could certainly be qualified as the “tall, dark, and handsome” type. He’s slightly taller than average, standing straight up at about 5’ 10”, and though he does not show it, he has a decent amount of muscle mass. He may not look like it, but he weighs around 150 pounds and can certainly pack a punch. His shoulders are on the blockier end of the spectrum and has a medium build. His skin is rather fair, and he does not seem to enjoy going outside too much in excessive heat, so it will most likely stay that way. His eyes are a mix between brown and grey, and, depending on his emotions, they will change between the two colors. If he is tense, irritated, or angry, his eyes will show more grey, but if he is calmer, they will be more of a warm brown color that do not seem to fit with his personality very well. His raven-colored locks have grown out since his brief stint in the military, but he still likes to keep his hair short. His bangs do sweep across his forehead slightly, but they are usually short and pushed out of the way so he can see properly.
Damien would much prefer wearing the standard Ashford uniform, that being a maroon button up shirt, white blazer, and black dress pants along with black dress shoes, over anything else. He prefers not to really think too much about his fashion choices, because he could honestly care less. If, for some reason, he is seen out of uniform, he usually wears button-up shirts and nice pants along with dress shoes and, on occasion, a tie, though he finds them a bit restraining. On the rarest occasions, usually when he is staying in his room all day, he will wear a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over it, and jeans. One thing that will never change, though is the pair of thin, wire-rimmed glasses that are perpetually on the bridge of his nose. They do slip down a lot, so he often has to adjust them slightly, which will cause the light to flash off of them, causing him to appear slightly more intimidating. Or at least, to some people.
Personality
Use at least six positive and negative characteristics and give a one sentence explanation. Also include at least one strength and one weakness.[/b]- Damien does not get distracted very easily. Once he puts his mind to a task, he finishes it out, no matter how long it takes him.
Positive:
* Dedicated- Damien may come off as a bit of a jerk sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). However, no one can say he does not care about what he fights for. He will put everything he has into what he is doing or what he believes, and will not back down.
* Observant- Damien prides himself on being both intelligent and observant. He is usually the first person to notice something is out of place or to determine some kind of pattern from old events or a set of data. It is not necessarily part of his power; he just happens to have a good eye for detail and his hypercognition helps him fill in the rest.
* Intelligent- Damien is, to put it plainly, on a genius level. Sure, he may not have supernatural levels of intelligence, but he is certainly very smart and tends to surpass a lot of people his age. He rather enjoys being the smartest person in the room and, when he’s not, there’s sure to be a competition (even if he knows he’ll lose).
* Strategic- Because Damien’s hypercognition allows him to have multiple processes occurring at once, he is often a good person to include in a strategy meeting. While he cannot see all the possible outcomes, he can deduce the most likely scenario if he is presented with the correct information.
* Realistic- Damien, by his own admission, does not “live in fairyland”. He is firmly rooted in reality and sees things the way they are, not the way he wants them to be. Sure, he would like everything to be neat and orderly, but instead of pretending it is that way, he works to make sure that his visions are achieved.[/ul]
Negative:
* Combative- Despite his main power being of the ice variety, Damien is the farthest thing from the coolest young man on the planet. As a matter of fact, there are times when he becomes outright aggressive and will start throwing punches without a second thought. Even if he is not fighting physically, he still enjoys a good verbal battle every now and again for amusement or to get a point across.
* Stubborn- They usually say that Taurus are the most stubborn of the zodiac signs, but, boy, does this Capricorn give them a run for their money. Damien is adamant about what he believes and he refuses to hear anything otherwise. And if, by some miracle of a greater being, he does try and listen to the other person’s argument, it is usually brushed off with a snort or a simple “you’re mistaken”.
* Short Fuse- Despite being an ice manipulator, Damien is anything but calm and cool. As stated before he can get aggressive, and it is usually because he has lost his patience. He learned to curb some of his outbursts while in basic training, but he still struggles with his temper. The bottom line is that this young man does not need to be exposed to a metaphorical fire too long before he explodes like TNT.
* Impatient- Damien is not the traditional kind of impatient. When people say that, they often think of people who hate waiting for anything. In reality, he is more impatient with other people. He can only tolerate being given so much lip (or sass, whichever you prefer) before his patience wears thin. He does not like repeating himself, and if he has to, his mood starts to go down a slippery slope.
* Influenced by emotions- For the most part, Damien likes to plan things out. He prefers to be logical about his approaches to situations. However, what he tries to put into motion may not always end up how he wanted it to be. This is often because, when he deals with difficult people, he gets frustrated and snaps. His emotions are bound to change quickly, especially when he is in a bad mood to start.[/ul]
Likes:
* Knowledge- Damien is your typical know-it-all. He enjoys learning and perceiving new things, sure, but what he really enjoys is knowing more than others. Of course, he will probably never admit this unless you somehow got him extremely drunk and asked him to be honest.
* Competition- Damien is a firm believer that a little competition is healthy. Whether or not this is true has not been proved yet, but this does not stop him from getting into spars, whether physical or verbal, with someone else. After all, who does not like to win?
* Obedience- One way to make Damien happy is to just do as he says. He believes that people following commands or requests is a simple task. He does not believe he is asking for too much when he asks someone to go back to their room after curfew or get to class on time.
* Order and Cleanliness- Damien is not obsessive compulsive, nor is he a germaphobe. However, that does not mean he does not appreciate harmony and things being clean. He believes that there is a hierarchy to life and that everyone should stick to the order unless otherwise noted. He also prefers places and things, such as rooms and clothes, to be clean. Of course, he cannot control how the other students live, but he can assure anyone that his room is spotless and his clothes are always clean. [/ul]
Dislikes:
* Not being the best- Damien is a perfectionist, plain and simple. He gets major satisfaction from being the best at something or the smartest person in the room. He does not take being second best very well, considering that he will most likely always be last in his parents’ eyes.
* Losing- Damien is a bit of a sore loser. As stated before, he is not very fond of being “showed up”, so losing is almost worse in a way. Usually, he tends to be passive aggressive, acting like he does not care and then, later, lashes out. He does not really pout when he loses though; he just gets irritated but bottles it up.
* Flagrant disrespect- If there is one way to piss Damien off quickly, it is to be blatantly disrespectful. He is well aware that some people can be rude or disrespectful by something they said or did that was not meant to be harmful. Sure, he will still get annoyed, but he really gets angry at those who continue to ignore his requests or the requests of other prefects. Rubbing your disrespect in with a taunting tone will surely cause him to send a patch of ice in your direction.
* Chaos and Grime- Damien does not like disorganization in the slightest. He often tries to fix things that are out of place and reprimands anyone who breaks the rules, even his fellow prefects and himself (internally, of course). He is not fond of things being dirty, and he diligently cleans his room and clothes on a consistent basis.[/ul]
Extra: Damien’s main goal is to make his parent proud of him someday. He thought that joining the military and becoming a high-ranking member would make them proud, but he has already begun to re-think his plans.
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History
Family Members/guardians: Sierra Cook (mother, 55, Alive) Sean Cook (father, 58, Alive), Aaron Cook (eldest brother, 30, Alive), Jason Cook (older brother, 25, Alive), Katrina Cook (older sister, 23)
History:
Sean and Sierra Cook met because of a case of mistaken identity. Sierra was set up with a man by one of her professional friends, but the friend failed to tell her what he looked like. Because of this, she went up to the wrong man at the bar and started talking with him. Eventually, they became friends and started exchanging letters. After some time, Sean finally gathered the nerve to ask Sierra on a date, during which he predicted that they would get married someday. Of course, Sierra laughed at this notion, but eventually, his prediction came true. They were married in 1984, and the next year, they welcomed their first son, Aaron. Jason followed five years later, and, only two years after that, Katrina was born. The couple decided after Katrina that three children was more than plenty to keep them busy. They did not expect what was coming next.
Cue a particularly warm May day when Sean had to rush Sierra to the doctor’s. She was not feeling well, but they were both adamant that she was not pregnant again. They had been consistent for a while, and their last child had been born in 1992. Sure enough, though, the couple found out they were expecting a baby in January of 1997, the next year. They were certainly surprised, but, thankfully, they had saved some larger items of Sierra’s, such as a high-chair and changing table. All they had to do was swap pink for blue, once they found out they were having a boy. The doctors monitored Sierra closely, because she was 37 and her pregnancy was higher risk than her previous ones. Thankfully, Damien Cook was brought into the bitter cold of mid-January, flailing but healthy as could be. The slightly older parents were relieved, and tried to prepare themselves for adding a baby back into the mix. Nothing could have prepared them for what they were going to witness, however.
At first, Damien seemed like a normal, if slightly shy, child. His parents were puzzled by this, considering the fact that he had three older siblings. If anything, he should have been extroverted and wanting to play with everyone at the “school” he attended. At first, his mother had not wanted to place him there, but only having one income was no longer enough. Damien did not seem to mind going to the local recreation center for preschool. Once he got to know the teachers, he would open up and learn an amazing amount of things in a short amount of time. He would even try to help his classmates learn the same things, but, for some reason, he found that they were just not understanding as well as he was. They never made fun of him or left him out, but after a while, he seemed to crawl back into his metaphorical shell. Sure, he still played and learned with the other children, but he kept to himself more. His interactions with his siblings at home, however, had improved slightly. When it was appropriate, his older sister would read some of her old books to him. She could see that there was something special about her brother, and she was the only one who dared to suggest to her parents that her brother was intellectually gifted in a way that was not normal. As she had expected, they told her that she had been reading too many of her older brothers’ sci-fi stories and that such a thing did not exist. However, they did make sure that their youngest son was challenged when he was enrolled in kindergarten.
Damien continued to excel in school, far beyond anyone’s expectations. His parents had never said he had to be as smart as his siblings, or even get the same grades as they did when he was their age. He considered it his personal mission to make his parents as proud of him as they were of Aaron, Jason, and Katrina. They all seemed to be going places in their lives, and he was stuck behind the rest of them due to the age gap. He saw their accomplishments as something he needed to surpass in order to earn his parents’ praise and affection, even though this was really only what he perceived. Sean did find it a bit strange that his youngest son was so smart, but he supposed a photographic memory could help anyone be a genius. Damien was even offered to skip grades, but he declined, citing that his social skill level was not up to par with his intelligence. His parents considered this very wise of a ten-year-old boy and started to really wonder what was so different about their youngest son. While Damien was sleeping one night, Sierra snuck into her son’s room and plucked a few hairs from his brush. She worked at a genetics lab as a receptionist and she offered the sample to one of the researchers there. She asked him to analyze it and see what he could find. The results were left in a locked drawer of her desk the next day and she made sure to hide them from the rest of her family. She was not sure how she was going to explain the strange gene on the map of her youngest son’s chromosomes, so, she hid it for a long time in a safe that only she knew about.
Once Damien started to enter his teenage years, he felt even more overshadowed by his successful older brothers and sister. Aaron was a young doctor, training under one of the best neurologists in the country. Jason had earned his undergraduate degree and was attending Harvard law school. Katrina was only a junior in college, but she was already working for a small company and slowly moving up in the ranks. And what was he doing? He was starting high school. His siblings were making great achievements, and he was not even half way through his freshman year. Because of this, he started exploring career choices and, after some time, decided that it would be best to join the military. After all, they had the structure he desired, he could exercise his great observation and strategy skills that made him a master at chess, and, he could rise through the ranks if he worked hard. He started getting himself into shape and, at age 16, he snuck out of his house in the middle of the night to find a recruiting center. He lied about his age and was enrolled in basic training soon after applying.
For a while, things were pretty normal. He was treated like every new recruit, though some of them noticed he was a little different right away. He was, in their words “wicked smart” and was strategic to his core. There were some physical challenges he struggled with, like lifting people over his head, but, for the most part, he was able to keep up, despite being much thinner than the other young men with whom he trained. For the longest time, he had figured his intelligence was nothing more than what it was. However, he quickly found out that it was more than just his scary accurate memory, vast knowledge, and observational and tactical thinking that made him different from the others. He found out one day during a drill that he could use the water from his body and the air to create ice. He only found this out because a beam of ice came out of his hand when he put it up to block the hit that was aimed for his face. Everyone around him was astounded, including his superiors. They were able to scrape together some research and, after talking to a contact, told Damien that he was going somewhere he could better train his powers. As expected, the young man followed orders and even volunteered to become a prefect upon his arrival. He figured that the group could use some kind of organizational force, even if he was not exactly in a position of power.
Behind the Character
Name: Lily, Lilly, Alexis. Whatever you want. Just don’t call me s***head, okay?
Chatango Name: waterlilly19
RP Experience: Can I just say a long time?
How did you find us?: Obviously, the little woodland elves brought me.
RP Sample:
Frosty, the snowman, was a jolly, happy soul…
The radio’s abrupt static cut the cheery Christmas tune short and made the raven-haired teen look up from the papers that were strewn over the cramped bunk bed he laid on. He glanced at the wooden structure above him, almost as if he were counting the wooden beams that supported the flimsy, dusty mattress hovering over his head. He hated how disgusting the place was, and he made a mental note to himself to find something to dust his fellow soldier’s bunk off with. For that moment, though, he decided to ponder about the song that was going in and out on the radio. How could someone made of snow be so cheerful and happy? He had been called Frosty jokingly by several other soldiers, though he guessed it was due to the strange phenomena of ice coming out of his hands than literally being made of cold snow and being a very blithe person who always seemed to smile. As a matter of fact, he was the complete opposite.
Ruthless. Hardheaded. Tumultuous. Withdrawn. Those words were better descriptions of himself. None of them implied anything warm or sweet. Granted, he did not really consider himself a very affectionate or warm person. He also did not consider himself an absolute jerk, either. He liked to think that he was a good balance between caring and distant. Sure, he had not been picked on like some other kids when he was younger, but that did not mean that he did not see it. He saw the way other people were treated and decided it was best not to get too close. And yet, still, he could not completely drown out his emotions and feelings, so when in doubt, he turned to irritation and anger. They suited him well, considering his usual serious expression and complemented his horrible temper. He huffed and looked back down at the papers spread out around him. He had been looking through some old paperwork for his commanding officer, curious to see if anyone else in the unit had manifested such strange abilities as his. He highly doubted it, but he hoped that maybe, if he found something strange, he would not feel so isolated.
A cold gust of wind blew through the makeshift window and a small smile crossed the young man’s lips as it enveloped him. He had always enjoyed the cold, even when he was a child. He still remembered running through the snow banks on bitter, cold January mornings. His mother had made a terrible fuss at first, but, after a while, she realized that her youngest son wanted nothing more on his birthday than that. He chuckled softly to himself; it was still amazing how he could recall such things, even after ten or eleven years. One thing was for sure, his fellow recruits were right; his memory was almost scary. He wondered idly if his desire to be in the cold, even as a young child, was some kind of precursor to his ice ability, and it most likely was, he had just not been able to put the pieces together. It was fascinating how he was both an “early bloomer” and a “late bloomer” at the same time. His intelligence powers had taken root within when he was merely years old, and yet he had not discovered his ability to create and control ice until he was at the end of adolescence. He continued to ponder the anomaly while he poured over the sheets laying out on his bed, thinking up a strategy to try to beat all of them.
A few moments later, it came to him and he stood up. He gathered all of the papers and put them in alphabetical order, double-checking to make sure they were pristine before walking out of his bunk and giving them back to his commanding officer. He then rattled off his plan to take the imaginary “team” out, and the older gentleman smiled at him like a proud father would his son. He dismissed the raven-haired young man, who strolled back into his bunk with a small grin on his face. He had done a great job, and he was proud of it.
