New Peaks Academy: Paradigm Shift (OOC/Signup)

[Cfavano]

Name: Princeton Donnahough

I.D. Number: 43219876

Rank: B3

Year: 2

Nationality: Canadian

Age: 16

Sex/Gender: Male

Appearance:

Fighting Style: Second Dan Black Belt Hung Gar

Some Hung Gar techniques
Hung Gar Combat Applications
Hung Gar Style showcase
Hung Gar History

Powers: Heightened cellular density: More of a passive mutation than an actual power, his cells are smaller and more efficient than other parahumans and humans, meaning he has twice and many cells per square inch of his body. This has several drwbacks and benefits. Benefits include increased strength, increased endurance and oxygen absorption, and quicker clotting.

Drawbacks include that he must also consume twice as many calories to provide enough energy for his cells, and he is prone to overheating after along periods of activity and can faint if he doesn't have access to water. Full healing also takes twice s long, though he hardly ever gets sick.

Personality: Princeton could be described as rather dimwitted. He isn't really stupid, at least not overly so, but he's certainly not the brightest knife in the shed. He is also rather nice and selfless, always willing to help others, as, in its own way, helping others helps him. e doesn't really get very mad easily, but he does get angry when people make fun of him or bully someone, the latter more than the former. While he doesn't like fight-fighting, he does enjoy sparring and training, however, he will fight to protect someone or stand up for what he believes in.

Background: A troubled child from birth, Princeton always had trouble focusing on anything for long. He got into trouble a lot, but his mother said it was just because he was spirited. His father worried he had some sort of learning disability, as he repeatedly scored low on intelligence tests, and struggled in school throughout his entire young childhood.

Luckily for him, he lived in a mostly prahuman community, so he didn't face racism, and his mother tried to shield him from what he did encounter. She would always brush off any offensive comments as that they were jealous of her special little boy, or that they were speaking so someone else. Luckily he was spared the sight of his mother punching out people for their comments more than a few times.

His schooling wasn't much better, he acted out in class, scored low on tests, and didn't do his homework often. More than once, his mother had to pick him up from school when he was too disruptive. As it turns one, one time the principal used too harsh a description when explaining to his mother about why he was failing, saying something along the lines 'he's fucked up and is beyond help'. His mother took exception to that and the police had to be called.

From then on, he was home schooled for a few years, but still he lacked focus. One day, when he was nine, he was watching an old martial arts movie with Sammo Hung, the first time he'd ever seen such a movie, and he was taken in by the theatrics of it. He asked his parents if he could join martial arts, and they said yes. This marked a change in him, it allowed him to use up his excess energy, and got him to focus well enough to get decent grades. Seeing how much good it did for him, his parents decided to ship him off to New Peaks, in his sohpmore yer of Highschool, of which up till now he was homeschooled, using a parahuman aid group, the Parahuman Initiative, thinking that the experience would do good for him.

First Rule of Fight School, don't fail Fight School

[.Karma.]

This RP has been features as Roleplay of the Week! Congrats!!

[Cfavano]

huzzah

[Salroka]

Apologies for the delay. Here is my returning character. Reviews incoming.

Spoiler: Vincento Sarconni 

Name: Vincento Sarconni
I.D. Number: 63984623
Rank: B3
Year: Sophomore
Nationality: Italian
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Appearance:



Fighting Style: Hapkido, 2nd Degree Black Belt

Powers: Focused Eidetic Memory*

( * Vincent's memory does not apply to the usual applications of a being with the ability to remember an incredible range of things that they witness, such as one who witnesses a car crash remembering the angle of the impact, speed, etc. Rather, Vincent's memory applies to motions of the human body. As such, he is able to memorize a person's movements and replicate them in only a few attempts. However, replicating a fighting style is much more complex than a couple kicks or strikes, as such he cannot simply copy a foe's combat style.

Thanks to this, he is not only an accomplished fighter... but an incredible dancer as well. He is as much a fan of fighting as he is of ballroom dancing. He can also play a violin or piano with moderate skill, though remembering and imitating the fine movements of a person's fingers is much harder than a kick or punch or spin... so his musical skill is mostly learned from his mother's teachings. )

Additional Information: Vincent speaks both Italian and English fluently

Personality: Vincent is an intelligent kid, but not what most would call a genius by any means. His true gift isn't in the field of education, but of human bodies in motion. His skill in combat martial arts and dancing leads him to be highly confident in himself. He is polite of course, wanting to live up to the expectations of his family. But being away from them, he is also prone to an occasional fit of immaturity.

His pranks and self-indulgence rarely harm anyone, but he tends to forget that what comes around goes around. One day, someone might catch HIM in a prank or inconvenience him with their own selfishness. Still, he's generally a fun person to be around. He likes to sing, dance, play video games, and of course... flirt with girls.

Contrary to his father's profit-centered teachings, Vincento is actually a very generous boy. He does not flaunt his wealth and spend extravagantly like many other teens in his income bracket, rather choosing to save his money and spend wisely so that he is able to help others if and when they need it. This has made him a bit of a pariah among the "elite" at the school, but garnered him a bit of popularity among the "mendicants".

Background: Born to a wealthy family of vintners in Palermo, Vincent grew up having everything he could ever want. What he wanted was to be like the heroes he read about in comics and watched on cartoons. So, at the young age of eight, his parents enrolled him in martial arts classes. Choosing was the hardest part, but when the family went to the various dojos in the area... Vincento saw a man leaping over a bunch of other people and instantly thought of the cartoon heroes he wanted to emulate.

That was the first time he witnessed the athleticism of a Hapkido practitioner. Even at this young age, it quickly became apparent that Vincento had a gift for learning the art. He progressed quickly through the belts in a time that many thought impossible for a child so young. New techniques were a snap to learn, as well. He watched diligently when the sensei showed a new technique to the students a few times... and generally had the move learned to the point of using it in combat by the end of class.

So quickly did he advance through the belts, that he was a 2nd Dan Black Belt at the age of fourteen, a feat that was almost unheard of. His parents knew at that point that their son shouldn't be held back in something he was so skilled at... so much like a child entering a vocational program for something like an engineering trade, Vincent was enrolled in New Peaks Academy for his Freshman year of High-School.

He was elated. He was intimidated. He was scared. He was excited. So many emotions surged through the teen as he sat at the port and awaited his ferry to the island. But this was an incredible opportunity for him. He could learn so much at New Peaks. Not just academically, but also in regard to his martial arts... and his unusual gift to learn new fighting techniques. As such, he finally calmed himself and was ready for what lay in store.

… or so he thought, as he stepped off the boat at New Peaks Academy.

Since arriving and being given a C2-Ranking, he has been a frequent patron of the New Peaks hospital. He has been in many fights, and emerged victorious from a fair number of them. He placed 2nd in the Holiday Tournament, losing in the final bout after his foot was broken by the elbow-block of his opponent but receiving a promotion to B3-Rank for his strong showing at the event. He also took part in the charity auction after the tournament, purchasing an antique copy of The Great Gatsby for a substantial sum.

The Summer Tournament proved to be a difficult time for the Italian boy. He suffered a cracked hip in the fights leading up to the finals, and attempted to soldier on in spite of the injury. That ambition would only cause further damage, as he faced Cyst in his next match. While the two were friends, her pride as a fighter led her to show little restraint in the face of Vincento's determination. this led to her victory by judge intervention and Vincento being whisked away to the hospital. He spent two full weeks in recovery as the injury was treated by New Peaks medical staff, and then two more weeks in physical therapy to ensure he had mended properly. Thankfully, all was well and the young man was cleared to return to in-ring competition five weeks after the injury occurred.

Having chosen to spend the summer on the island, Vince enjoyed a lovely tropical summer. He swam at the beaches, relaxed in the parks, and even picked up a part time job at the "Spiro's Gyros" Greek Restaurant to pass the time. As he had no need for the money he earned, he would usually slip his wages under the doors of random students that he knew were less fortunate. Sure it was only a couple hundred dollars each week, but he knew that the money would be put to a better use in their hands rather than his. Now that classes were picking up again, he knew he had to do better than last year. He would show everyone just how far he had come.

All characters except for Cfavano's have been approved and added to the roster. Cfavano, please finish your character.

[Salroka]

Review time for Cfavano.

We will begin with the backstory. It starts off well enough, but just... skips a crapton of potential development to simply say he decided to do martial arts and then went to New Peaks. How old was he when that happened? How long has he been practicing his art? What does his family do to be able to afford the New Peaks tuition? Did he face any adversity in life due to being a parahuman? Things like that are important, dude.

Next up, the power. An interesting ability, to be sure. That said, it does have a couple issues. I am assuming that while he has twice as many cells, the cells themselves are smaller, right? While I can see that assisting with strength, it wouldnt do much to enhance durability. It WOULD, however... assist with healing. As there would be more cells to divide and replace damaged ones, henwould heal exactly twice as fast. Not a big boon in combat, but certainly a big help when combined with the advanced medicine and healing powers of New Peaks Hospital staff. Not sure why he would overheat, but if you want that as a drawback then that works.

Lastly, how do you pronounce that last name?

[Salroka]

Princeton has been edited and is acceptable. I will add him to the roster when I can get to a computer. Editing threads is difficult on a tablet.

[m139]

Hello, got an NPC for you to add to the roster! Tell me if he needs any edits

Spoiler: NPC Brief: 

Richard Erikson

Richard is a second year student parahuman (elephant) who attained the rank of C2 at the end of the previous school year. His eyes are a normal brown, and his black hair is cut rather cleanly: at the back, it is just above his collared shirt and just touching his slightly larger but still human shaped ears. What sets him apart, however, is his skin tone, which is very white with a tinge of grey. Generally seen around campus in business casual, with a duffel bag containing more flexible fighting clothes, it is just as likely that one would often find him during his off time either watching a student match or studying for one of his classes.

Personality:
Quiet and reserved, Richard is the kind of person to listen twice before speaking- that is, if he even chooses to speak then. He is the kind of person to make many very casual, nod-the-head type acquaintances, and is polite to everyone. The true friends he keeps are few but close. He appears calm to the point of angering people, and, at New Peaks, this has lead to many fights, both official and unofficial. While in no means the best fighter, he managed to maintain a better than average official win ratio (3 wins for every 2 losses) simply by controlling who he chose to agree to fight with. He believes very much that there should be a balance of mind, body, and spirit, and as such, uses his art to accomplish it.

Powers: Due to his heritage, his skin is slightly tougher than a normal human beings. Drawbacks include a more limited ability to sweat, as well as, well, being grey.

Spoiler: full cs 

Name: Richard Erikson
I.D. Number: 8009543261
Rank: C2
Year: 2nd
Nationality: American
Age: 15
Sex/Gender: M
Appearance: His eyes are a normal brown, and his black hair is cut rather cleanly: at the back, it is just above his collared shirt and just touching his slightly larger but still human shaped ears. What sets him apart, however, is his skin tone, which is very white with a tinge of grey. He is generally seen around campus in business casual, with a duffel bag containing more flexible fighting clothes.

Fighting Style: Systema

Powers: Due to his heritage, his skin is slightly tougher than a normal human beings. Drawbacks include a more limited ability to sweat, as well as, well, being grey.

Personality: Quiet and reserved, Richard is the kind of person to listen twice before speaking- that is, if he even chooses to speak then. He is the kind of person to make many very casual, nod-the-head type acquaintances, and is polite to everyone. The true friends he keeps are few but close. He appears calm to the point of angering people. He believes very much that there should be a balance of mind, body, and spirit, and as such, uses his art and other means to accomplish this. It is just as likely that one would often find him during his off time either watching a student match or studying for one of his classes.

Background:
Where and to whom Richard was born does not really matter, after all, he himself did not remember it nor did it really even matter to his life. But as for what he did remember? Perhaps that tells us a little more: as a young child, he was a rambunctious little one, running around the crowded nursery of his early years to grab this or that and then quickly let it go to dart after something else. At the age of four, he was adopted by the wealthy head of Erikson Enterprises, Ronald Erikson, as part of somewhat of a PR stunt after some quote about parahumans was misinterpreted.

But life was not then a bunch of roses for the young Richard. After all, as a self-made millionaire, Ronald was aware that certain things would not come easy in the world, both for his own three children and his adopted son. Well, especially not for his adopted son. As Ronald watched young Richard run from thing to thing with wonder and joy, he shook his head sadly. Innocence is beautiful... but it would someday be crushed.

The day after he turned six, Richard was first told of how unfair the world would be to him as a parahuman. As expected, he tore around the house in the rage that was his. When he had finally calmed down enough to be spoken to again, he was told something else- he could still succeed in this world, but he would just have to work hard: really hard. And, if he did, he might just be able to change it. But first- he would need something to change his attitude- he could not just rage every time someone saw him as less than human- it would only make the situation worse.

Richard began to be taught Systema as a way to manage his emotions, to the point where someone could yell quite a string of derogatory words at him and he would still smile politely at them. Although this was just one of the things he was taught (he also was taught how to use watercolors, and is still semi-decent to this day), he really took to the Systema method, and became really good at it. In fact, by the time he reached high school, Ronald saw that his son Richard had the potential possibly to change the world at this somewhat specialized school.

Richard, although at first a little skeptical about this fight school, agreed to go, if only because a parahuman star might be able to change the views of society, if only a little. Still, he believed that one must show that one must be more than just a fighting machine- he would work just as hard on his regular studies on this new island as he did at his home.

As such, Richard's first year at New Peaks was spent divided between both books and observing fights. Although seen in common places, he was more often than not a shadow than an actual participant of discussions, taking in all that went on around him, and speaking only when needed or necessitated by common courtesy. Because of his rather cool (as in unruffled) personality, Richard got into a lot of fights, both sanctioned and unsanctioned, none of them started by him. Of the unsanctioned ones, it was his goal to end them as quickly as possible. Of the sanctioned ones, he only accepted those he felt he had a chance of winning. This led him to a win ration of 3:2, and a couple more unsanctioned fights. Over the summer, he returned home, and resumed his studies and training, as well as taking on an internship at Erikson Enterprises.


“First Rule of Fight School, don't fail Fight School”

[Iwazuma]

Making her return, the girl who don't wanna talk to ya from Czechoslovakia....
Name: Ilya Dyatchkina
I.D. Number: 04191775
Rank: B-1
Year: Junior
Nationality: Czechoslovakian
Age: 17
Sex/Gender: Female
Theme song: Fourarms-Broughton

Spoiler: A Better Pic than Last Time 

Fighting Style: Boxing-9 years experience

Powers: Four Arms-not a power per se, but a unique 'deformity' she carries. This extra pair of arms function just as well as her normal ones, and can be used seamlessly in combat. She can use two arms to block and two arms to attack constantly, meaning the punches never cease around this girl.

Personality: Ilya has little experience with interacting with others. In fact, it was her choice to join New Peaks in order to come out of her shell more. A sheltered life simply is not for her. Still, she doesn't know much about making friends, and is extremely self-conscious about her extra appendages. She keeps them hidden as much as she can, but can only do it so much. When she has to have them out, she gets extremely nervous and can have a hard time focusing.

In combat, she becomes no-nonsense. Combat has always been her way of relieving frustration and tension, and pulls no punches (no pun intended). She fights fairly but brutally; from opening bell to the final blow, she is all-out, all the time. She doesn't believe in pulling one's punches, even in sparring matches; bruises build character, after all. But after a fight, she is always more than willing to help her partner get better, so long as they will help her as well. And keep in mind...the times she has to improvise, watch out for her legs. She knows people focus on her pythons when she fights...and just in case, she NEVER skips leg day.

Background: Birthed as the last attempt to salvage a marriage between a Czech man and a Slovak woman, Ilya Dyatchkina was a spoiled child from the word go. Her father was determined not to allow her birth defect to impede her ability to succeed in life, nor did he want her to be sad; as such, he showered her with praise and gifts for everything she did. Her mother, a more level-headed, frugal sort, knew the key to her social success was confidence.

Her mother noted Ilya could use her four arms to her advantage in sports, so at the tender age of 8 she sighed Ilya up for a peewee boxing club that took place down at the local gym. Ilya excelled at the sport, finding a natural talent beyond her...natural talent. She was quick to improve; by age 11, most of her opponents weren't much of a challenge. Granted, she DID have a somewhat unfair advantage. Ilya took great pride in her ability, but never showed it; Ilya had frustrations to work out, and boxing was her outlet.

What frustrations, you may ask? At age 6, the marriage could last no longer. Fed up with her husband's spendthrift ways, Olga Dyatchkina divorced her husband, moving back to Slovakia. The courts were a mess, awarding joint custody, trading off every three months. With such an awful ruling, Ilya was forced to be homeschooled, losing what little contact she had with other children her age.

With more frustrations than ever, Ilya put all her heart into her training. By age 13, she had won the Czech/Slovak Junior Boxing tournament and found acclaim in the fighting community, and her future was in question. Was she going to focus entirely on boxing, or try to have a career? And what of her family? She had two private tutors, one in the Czech Republic, one in Slovakia, giving her the same advice: Go for broke, join the professional circuit. But Ilya felt sheltered. She knew very little of social interactions, and wanted to try and make friends that weren't just trying to latch onto her sports success.

With this in mind, she asked her dad to send her to New Peaks. There, she couldn't be coddled by her family or pressured by the media. She would just be another (four-armed) body in the crowd, and she could just be herself. Her father, an oil tycoon, easily paid the high tuition, and Ilya soon found herself on her way, ready to make her own life for herself.

And make it she did...even if she didn't do it the way she wanted. Placing second in the summer tournament filled her with anger at the little bitch who just so happened to knock her out. Ayame. Ilya silently swore revenge for the humiliation of being nothing more than a bad guy in Little Miss Perfect's stellar movie of life to overcome. Her summer had two roles; one half was spent training her ass off, growing ever stronger in her quest to bring all of New Peaks to their knees. The other was spent on the set of a chick flick, the freak girl trying to fit in, which struck a little too close to home.

Her first goal, make friends, had failed. Losing to Ayame didn't help; many of the students had seen her as a raging monster, losing control at a moment's notice. Even the few she had talked to before now tended to avoid her. So be it. If they wouldn't talk to her...she wouldn't try to talk to them. The Parahumans were a bit more understanding, but some of the more radical ones seemed unable to come up with an opinion on her. Was she human? Were her four arms from some freak spider DNA transplant? What happened to her? Not that she cared. With her third year incoming, she would show Ayame what a real champion was made of, and wipe that smug little grin off of her face with a fist-or four.

[Dire Hoef]

I came here as per invitation. Beta, it seems you have an interesting concept and I'll happily expend my energy to participate.

[TheDoctor]

I know I said I wouldn't, but I can't leave my girl Ilya hangin

Spoiler: Ayame Mizuki 

Name: Ayame Mizuki
I.D. Number: 8831369
Rank: B1
Year: Third Year
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 17
Sex/Gender: Female
Appearance:


Ayame stands at approximately 5'6" with a lustful, curvaceous figure. She is often admired for her beauty with shoulder-length velvet black hair that delicately frames her sapphire blue eyes and alluring lips. She frequently wears kimonos like the one pictured above (although a little less suggestively. Just a little.)

Fighting Style: Muay Thai. She is centered around being able to take/block blows and returning them tenfold. Known as "the art of eight limbs," Muay Thai utilizes fists, elbows, knees, shins, feet, and basically anything else that Ayame can use (along with clinches and takedowns). It requires serious physical and mental discipline to retain form during a fight, especially considering her smaller stature.

Powers: Aura redistribution. This enables her to absorb aura that is delivered to her--usually through blows delivered by an enemy/enemies--and then store it and redistribute it into a physical blow. This has no cost to her physical state (with the exception being whatever damage the blow dealt to her does).

This aura redistribution also allows her to consolidate her own aura into a cluster and deliver it in any physical attack she pleases. This, however, does have a cost. She becomes much more tired if she delivers a single high-aura blow using her own aura, or multiple low-aura blows.

Because of this, she eats a bunch of food and sleeps a lot the day/half day before her important fights so that she'll have more energy to deal to opponents.

Personality: Because of her lessons on etiquette and courtly behavior, Ayame knows how to act and dress properly in public. She understands how to keep face in social situations, and yet nothing can entirely suppress her extremely fiery personality (if anything, her repression has made it worse). Ayame's honest personality is narcissistic and self-centered, driven by internal motives which she subtly weaves into her outwardly friendly character. Occasionally, however, her narcissism and ego breaks forth--whether through snide remark or her fists--and it's never pretty.

Background: Ayame was born in a very traditional yet wealthy Japanese family--the Mizukis. She was homeschooled most of her childhood by her parents, who taught her proper etiquette for a Japanese woman at a very early age along with scholarly subjects. Ayame, however, found no love for the lady life. Instead, she found her love in combat.

At the age of seven, Ayame's parents reluctantly placed her in a basic martial arts school where she gained fundamental strength and understanding of fighting. After a few years, her teachers began to understand that she had something special...not just a natural talent for the art of combat, but a hidden ability as well.

Ayame had been introduced to many different forms of martial arts, Japanese and otherwise, but the ones which she thrived in the most were the more aggressive contact ones, like boxing, kickboxing, and, particularly, Muay Thai. After her teachers realized she was different, she was recommended to a particular sensei in the area, Sensei Kume. Although Muay Thai was originally from Thailand, this sensei knew the art to the fullest degree.

Training under Sensei Kume was an entirely different experience than in the martial arts school. He worked her as hard as possible every day she attended his lessons, and she absorbed the material like a sponge. Her hidden ability, aura redistribution, began to flourish under the sensei's teachings, and he helped her include the power into her technique and strategy. He warned her not to depend upon it; power or not, the better fighter will always win.

As her skills and power developed under the sensei, Ayame found herself developing--physically and otherwise--into a woman. Before she knew it, she was sixteen years old and proudly displaying her beauty. She had matured under her parents' guidance into a polite young woman, and her social skills had become quite exceptional.

At the age of sixteen, her sensei sent a recommendation to New Peaks Academy, and, after an acceptance letter and a lengthy talk with her parents, she decided to attend. Although traditional Muay Thai held no form of ranking, Sensei Kume saw her as fit for the challenge. He claimed that the only way for her to continue learning was through personal experience and exploration, and she should return to him when she felt she was ready. With a smile on her face and a couple of tears in her eyes, she said goodbye and boarded the train.

Her first year at New Peaks, or, as the students called it, Fight School, was another period of growth for her. She was placed in classes with other fighters of the same style, but they weren't able to soar like she could. Because of her size, on the smaller side for a Muay Thai fighter, many underestimated her. After evading and trading a few blows, Ayame utilized her ability to take down (and frequently knock out) her opponents. No matter what the masters threw against her, she almost always came out victorious. She became a C1 rank by the end of the year.

She also joined the Janissaries, which parallels with her social image. She represents them highly during social events and while helping freshmen out, so she's well-known amongst other underclassmen. It benefits her social image quite well and portrays the Mizuki name as she was always taught to. Her primary reason, for joining the Janissaries, however, was to wipe the smirks off Imperius Gloria faces...for fun, of course.

Ayame brought an intense yet refined energy to the Summer Tournament. She plowed eagerly through opponent after opponent, her power unmatched until the final match against Ilya Dyatchkina. The four-armed freak proved tricky considering her extra firepower, but Ayame heartily returned the favor with her aura redistribution. Her animalistic nature fractured her social shell as she unleashed dangerous elbows, punches, and knees against the Slavic girl, until the judge finally granted her the match. Amidst the blood in her mouth Ilya's hook, the taste of domination was nothing short of succulent.

Her vacation was a wonderful double-helix of pain and pleasure as Ayame returned to Japan. She trained alongside other Muay Thai fighters at her master's studio, but Sensei Kume was nowhere to be seen. His other students said he "took some time off" while a graduated student managed the studio, which was frustrating for Ayame; she had returned to learn more from him, but he left her there alone. Therefore, she spent part of her time unwinding from the previous school year and the other part training with older students. The more experienced fighters taught her many excellent new tricks to use in fights, which she then calmly digested while relaxing at the beach.

First Rule of Fight School, don't fucking fail Fight School