searching Salem University III - OOC (Open)

[Duality 10,738]

On 6/1/2020 at 10:32 AM, Denim&Venöm said:

(profile still under construction)

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Name: Tachibana Miko

Race: Kitsune 

Birthdate: June 25th, 1905

Backstory: most young adults would take solace and pride in being called a supergenius. But for Miko, it just meant that the gig was up. Tried as she may to hide it and appear normal for her overbearing parents, it was clear that there was more to their daughter than cunning and wit. That she was extraordinarily intelligent. A young adult would've taken pride. But early twenties Miko was the kitsune equivalent to a preteen. She and her race aging at half the rate of humans. And she only wanted to do decently enough to sate her parents pride and be free to do whatever. Too many straight A's. Too many times correcting the teacher. Too many brilliant artpieces and musical performances. Too bored with most puzzles and games. Try as she may, she was beyond average. 

After many a psychologist and professor told them their daughter was gifted, Miko would be forced to bear the brunt of her family's high expectations, and by extension, the world's. Perfection was the base line. 

Ballet. Violin and cello. Latin and every other romance language. Mountains of classical literature. Majority of her time spent in prestigious universities. Miko was less daughter and more pet project, gaining no less than four bachelors degrees in finance, business, law and economics. With such a tight curriculum, it was clear her parents saw use for her in their "family businesses."

But if her family was known for anything else, it was also their tenacity, brutal honesty and stubborn pride. Miko might've played along but she didn't do so easily, always wanting to partake in more commoner activities like acting, drawing, athletics and the martial arts, the last one in particular they demanded be left to her "less gifted" siblings as they practiced the hip and new jiu-jutsu variant from neighboring Brazil. The martial art of the upper class. 

Seeing as she was smarter than her folks, Miko worked on a long term plan of independence. Observe the servants on how they did tasks. Read about travel and customs abroad. Practice cleaning, cooking, sowing and household repairs. And secretly travel and learn Capoeria. The fighting style disguised as dance. With each new skill, Miko's confidence and cockiness grew. Seeing that she was growing into an independent woman, so her parents decided to cut her in on the "business" making her an accountant and errand girl. With this, Miko could gain some power and leverage it as a way out and towards a life free from the world's expectations. In hindsight, she shouldn't have taken the bait. 

The authorities were tipped off and Miko was arrested along with quite a few of the families clients that had been working around the law. Miko wouldn't cave and out her family. They weren't quick to do the same, playing the victim about their daughter not listening to them and getting involved with the wrong crowd, the only saving grace being that this exposed how corrupt their business partners were. Any of the criminals caught would say that the Tachibana's were in on the act, but the authorities saw that as merely them trying to slander a reputable, well paying family's name. 

Miko knew that this was an attempt to humble her by her folks. That their will was to be done. Smarts can't outdo power. The only saving grace for her was that she had some new friends in her family's shafted partners, some new respect for not being a snitch and a lot more time to learn less reputable skills. Con jobs. Forgery. The art of the hustle. Currior for messages and contraband. And of course, the street fighting arts of muay Thai and luta livere, rivals to the upper class disciplines. After a few years, she was given a few options out of her sentence. House arrest and supervision were one. That she rejected. The other was military service. Help the empire take back lost territory in the now waging third great war. She opted for this. Freedom from controlling parents. A chance to earn more public respect. And a way to escape abroad. 

So off she worked in the Pacific theater, aiding the japanese in trying to retake territory lost to the kaiserreich. Going through boot camp, working as on base labor, to mechanic, to engineer, before being recruited for the fighting when disposable bodies were low  and getting field promotions for both her skill and suicidal bravery. All it did for her was land her from one prison to another before she was made POW. At least she was given more decency, with Gen. Rommel treating enemy combatants with similar respect to his own men, helping Miko see that maybe not all authority was unworthy of her respect. 

She would have plenty of time to reflect on this, as when the war ended and Japan was again on the losing side, they disowned the colonial forces as only volunteers. They weren't made to go. And her colony back home made up the same excuse. That while yes, they were all now pardoned, they weren't welcomed back for fighting in a "foreign war." so while stuck in a game of beauracratic hot potato, Miko and her POW posse were given work visas by the KR and settled in German owned Hong Kong. Not the fresh new start Miko wanted, but one she would take. Working odd jobs, putting her smarts to use to stay afloat and making connections and earning favors. Doing as much as a vagabound vet could, before another opportunity presented itself in the form of another great war, with the Soviet Union launching an all out attack on war ravaged Europe. And that opportunity was with the USV joining the war, and offering citizenship to those who enlisted. And thus began Miko's journey as a boderline soldier of fortune. Fighting less for patriotic or ideological purposes, and more for profit and freedom. 

Being retrained in boot camp. Joining the armored calvary corps (aka tanks). Rapidly climbing the chain of command through a combination of skill, bravery and not dying, Miko went from ex con vet to Lt.coloniel, proving her mettle in many a tank battle. 

One in particular came near wars end when her light tank company were the closest to aid resistance fighters and Soviet defectors in defending a castle housing political prisoners from in coming death squads. It was during this fight that she met a kitsune named Witold Raginis, member of an affluent Polish family turned Soviet Conscript. Together they held off soviet forces for nearly three weeks before the allies arrived in the nic of time. It was during this battle that she learned Wit was no ordinary fox, when she witnessed him do the impossible and kill a breaching team with a lightning strike. The first time she met a mage, even though neiter of them knew it. And she wasn't the only one discovering mages. When things were looking desperate, Miko ordered Wit to strike down The castle invaders, even though she was in the line of fire. Honoring her noble sacrifice for the greater good, Wit struck Miko and the band of Russians down. But instead of, yknow, dying, Miko sparked and buzzed and twitched and asked for him to do it again. It was thanks to him that Miko also had an apparent affinity for lightning magic, as she would be regularly used as a walking, electrical bomb a few times. And yet this wasn't the only limit to her power. When the invaders tried to burn the castle and smoke out it's defenders, Miko then learned she was not only immune to flame throwers, but could throw the flames right back at the attackers. Later magical scholars would credit this as one of the first documented uses of magic in contemporary warfare and one of the primary factors in the allied force being triumphant in what should've been an unwinnable battle. 

After serving another 8 years and all the awards, all the medals, the promotion to colonel and all the puff pieces were written, Miko took her promised pension and life time pay outs from the US government and walked. Being very frank on her years of service as little more than being means to an end. That she didn't do it for the Vesperian people or for capitalist democracy. She wanted her place in a new Frontier and a chance for reinvention and a new life. And the chance to drive a tank. Her frankness didn't engraciate her to the more patriotic and only furthered the polarizing opinions on he, especially when she opted out of partaking in the 5th great war only a few years later. 

The connections she forged in Hong Kong proved useful, as her old dance instructor offered her a job at his studio in Seattle. It there that she reconnected with Wit, now a refugee and immigrant looking to make something out of his pre war dream of dance and theatre.

It was also thanks to her instructor and his recommendations she got her paw into the door of martial arts acting and stunt work. That man was Bruce Lee. Making waves as one of the early leading ladies of action films and parlaying her military career into instant credibility, got plenty of opportunities in the Kung fu genre and grind house action flicks of the 70s and 80s. Many saw her talents and said that she was wasting her time on such low brow action fodder when more artistic and serious drama would get her more respect.

It wasn't just acting that suited her fancy. She was passionate about music, appreciating the emotion of blues, the skill of jazz, the energy of rock. So she tried out the solo experience and got a few albums out in the mid to late 70s, doing decently well until she was kicked from the record deal due to creative differences, mostly due to her not being poppy enough and her subject matter being a tad mature. So as the 5th great war was waging, Miko went underground, found like minded musicians and formed her own band to capitalize on the burgeoning speed metal genre, further sticking it to her critics who egged her on and bemoaned her wasted ability, associating with gangs and punks and the youth counter culture, playing in in bars and clubs and basements and bingo halls instead of arenas and stadiums, only selling gold records when she should be going platinum.

They further bemoaned this fact And her choice to continue acting after she had her first kit, Ryuko Raginis -Tachibana. "Be a stay at home mom." they said. "Let your husband bring home the bacon, even if he's an effeminate, dress making pretty boy." They said. 

 

Magic: diagnosed as pyro/electromancer, reevaluated as kinetomancer (energy manipulation and conversion)

 

Is it still under construction or is the current version ready for review?

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

1 hour ago, Duality said:

Is it still under construction or is the current version ready for review?

Still working on it. I added quite a bit last weekend but the forums froze mid-save so I've gotta rewrite the last half. 

You asked for a biography, you're getting a biography. 

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

@Duality 

Took me three weeks, but Miko's biography is done. Read the century spanning tale that is her life story in the second to last comment.

[Loud Opinion 602]

On 5/31/2020 at 6:32 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

she would be regularly used as a walking, electrical bomb a few times.

This in tandem with the following makes me wonder what the standard is for magic power.

On 5/31/2020 at 6:32 PM, Denim&Venöm said:

Research done into the matter determined that Miko had a lower output of magic than the average mage. Meaning she was effectively magically handicapped

@Duality,

She may be working to her weakness but if she wasn't aware that she was a kinetomancer in the military then how did she operate like an electrical bomb?

My character is supposed to have a natural talent for pyromancy, but if this is the standard for a failing student then how strong should my character be in the subject?

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

4 hours ago, Loud Opinion said:

She may be working to her weakness but if she wasn't aware that she was a kinetomancer in the military then how did she operate like an electrical bomb?

 

She didn't know she was magic to begin with. All she knew was that electricity didn't hurt her and that she could store and redirect it when she came into contact with it. 

If you're character is a pyro then they could do things she can't, like conjure and manipulate fire at will, where as she could only absorb it on contact and redirect it. You can conjure a fire ball and throw it at her and she can redirect it, but can't summon one of her own very well. To her knowledge, her powers are reactionary. Yours can work whenever. 

[Loud Opinion 602]

@Denim&Venöm,

I didn't really ask what my character could do. I was asking to what extent. However, it is more clear now how your character operates. Sorry for overestimating.

[Duality 10,738]

On 6/1/2020 at 10:32 AM, Denim&Venöm said:

 

The Biography of Tachibana Miko 

  Hide contents

Name: Tachibana Miko

 

Race: Kitsune 

 

Birthdate: June 25th, 1905

 

Birthplace: Japanese colonies in South America. 

 

Backstory: most young adults would take solace and pride in being called a supergenius. But for Miko, it just meant that the gig was up. Tried as she may to hide it and appear normal for her overbearing parents, it was clear that there was more to their daughter than cunning and wit. That she was extraordinarily intelligent. A young adult would've taken pride. But early twenties Miko was the kitsune equivalent to a preteen. She and her race aging at half the rate of humans. And she only wanted to do decently enough to sate her parents' pride and be free to do whatever. Too many straight A's. Too many times correcting the teacher. Too many brilliant art pieces and musical performances. Too bored with most puzzles and games. Try as she may, she was beyond average. 

 

After many a psychologist and professor told them their daughter was gifted, Miko would be forced to bear the brunt of her family's high expectations, and by extension, the world's. perfection was the baseline. 

 

Ballet. Violin and cello. Latin and every other romance language. Mountains of classical literature. Majority of her time spent in prestigious universities. Miko was less daughter and more pet project, gaining no less than four bachelors degrees in finance, business, law and economics. With such a tight curriculum, it was clear her parents saw use for her in their "family businesses."

 

But if her family was known for anything else, it was also their tenacity, brutal honesty and stubborn pride. Miko might've played along but she didn't do so easily, always wanting to partake in more commoner activities like acting, drawing, athletics and the martial arts, the last one in particular they demanded be left to her "less gifted" siblings as they practiced the hip and new jiu-jitsu variant from neighboring Brazil. The martial art of the upper class. 

 

Seeing as she was smarter than her folks, Miko worked on a long term plan of independence. Observe the servants on how they did tasks. Read about travel and customs abroad. Practice cleaning, cooking, sowing and household repairs. And secretly travel and learn Capoeira. The fighting style disguised as dance. With each new skill, Miko's confidence and cockiness grew. Seeing that she was growing into an independent woman, her parents decided to cut her in on the "business" making her an accountant and errand girl. With this, Miko could gain some power and leverage it as a , she shouldn't have taken the bait. 

 

The authorities were tipped off and Miko was arrested along with quite a few of the families clients that had been working around the law. Miko wouldn't cave and out her family. They weren't quick to do the same, playing the victim about their daughter not listening to them and getting involved with the wrong crowd, the only saving grace being that this exposed how corrupt their business partners were. Any of the criminals caught would say that the Tachibana's were in on the act, but the authorities saw that as merely them trying to slander a reputable, well paying family's name. 

 

Miko knew that this was an attempt to humble her by her folks. That their will was to be done. Smarts can't outdo power. The only saving grace for her was that she had some new friends in her family's shafted partners, some new respect for not being a snitch and a lot more time to learn less reputable skills. Con jobs. Forgery. The art of the hustle. Courier for messages and contraband. And of course, the street fighting arts of muay Thai and luta livre, rivals to the upper class disciplines. After a few years, she was given a few options out of her sentence. House arrest and supervision were one. That she rejected. The other was military service. Help the empire take back lost territory in the now waging third great war. She opted for this. Freed from controlling parents. A chance to earnest more public respect. And a way to escape abroad. 

 

So off she worked in the Pacific theater, aiding the japanese in trying to retake territory lost to the kaiserreich. Going through boot camp, working as on base labor, to mechanic, to engineer, before being recruited for the fighting when disposable bodies were low  and getting field promotions for both her skill and suicidal bravery. All it did for her was land her from one prison to another before she was made POW. 

 

She would have plenty of time to reflect on this, as when the war ended and Japan was again on the losing side, they disowned the colonial forces as only volunteers. They weren't made to go. And her colony back home made up the same excuse. That while yes, they were all now pardoned, they weren't welcomed back for fighting in a "foreign war.'' So while stuck in a game of bureaucratic hot potato, Miko and her POW posse were given work visas by the KR and settled in German owned Hong Kong. Not the fresh new start Miko wanted, but one she would take. Working odd jobs, putting her smarts to use to stay afloat and making connections and earning favors. Doing as much as a vagabond vet could, before another opportunity presented itself in the form of another great war, with the Soviet Union launching an all out attack on war ravaged Europe. And that opportunity was with the USV joining the war, and offering citizenship to those who enlisted. And thus began Miko's journey as a borderline soldier of fortune. Fighting less for patriotic or ideological purposes, and more for profit and freedom. 

 

Being re-trained in boot camp. Joining the armored cavalry corps (aka tanks). Rapidly climbing the chain of command through a combination of skill, bravery and not dying, Miko went from ex con vet to Lt.colonel, proving her mettle in many a tank battle. 

 

One in particular came near the war's end when her light tank company were the closest to aid resistance fighters and Soviet defectors in defending a castle housing political prisoners from in coming death squads. It was during this fight that she met a kitsune named Alexander Przewalski, a member of an affluent Polish family turned Soviet Conscript. Together they held off soviet forces for nearly three weeks before the allies arrived in the nic of time. It was during this battle that she learned Alex was no ordinary fox, when she witnessed him do the impossible and kill a breaching team with a lightning strike. The first time she met a mage, even though neither of them knew it. And she wasn't the only one discovering mages. When things were looking desperate, Miko ordered Alex to strike down The castle invaders, even though she was in the line of fire. Honoring her noble sacrifice for the greater good, Alex struck Miko and the band of Russians down. But instead of, yknow, dying, Miko sparked and buzzed and twitched and asked for him to do it again. It was thanks to him that Miko also had an apparent affinity for lightning magic, as she would be regularly used as a walking, electrical bomb a few times. And yet this wasn't the only limit to her power. When the invaders tried to burn the castle and smoke out it's defenders, Miko then learned she was not only immune to flame throwers, but could throw the flames right back at the attackers. Later magical scholars would credit this as one of the first documented uses of magic in contemporary warfare and one of the primary factors in the allied force being triumphant in what should've been an unwinnable battle. 

 

After serving another 8 years and all the awards, all the medals, the promotion to colonel and all the puff pieces were written, Miko took her promised pension and lifetime payouts from the US government and walked. Being very frank on her years of service as little more than being means to an end. That she didn't do it for the Vesperian people or for capitalist democracy. She wanted her place in a new Frontier and a chance for reinvention and a new life. And the chance to drive a tank. Her frankness didn't ingratiate her to the more patriotic and only furthered the polarizing opinions on her, especially when she opted out of partaking in the 5th great war only a few years later. 

 

The connections she forged in Hong Kong proved useful, as her old dance instructor offered her a job at his studio in Seattle. It is there that she reconnected with Alex, now a refugee and immigrant looking to make something out of his pre war dream of dance, theatre, dress making, costume design and even architecture that wasn't of the state sponsored brutalist kind. Alex was one of the few friends Miko made that stuck with her after her service. He knew what it was like to have the world's expectations on you. He knew what it was like to want your own Destiny. He was one of the few that got her. Didn't care for the genius, the celebrity or the warrior. The fox behind all that was what he found kinship in and Miko finally found someone where the feeling was mutual. They would have a military wedding on Mike's last day of service. 

 

It was also thanks to her instructor and his recommendations she got her paw into the door of martial arts acting and stunt work. That man was Bruce Lee. Making waves as one of the early leading ladies of action films and parlaying her military career into instant credibility, got plenty of opportunities in the Kung fu genre and grind house action flicks of the 70s and 80s. Many saw her talents and said that she was wasting her time on such low brow action fodder when more artistic and serious drama would get her more respect.

 

It wasn't just acting that suited her fancy. She was passionate about music, appreciating the emotion of blues, the skill of jazz, the energy of rock. So she tried out the solo experience and got a few albums out in the mid to late 70s, doing decently well until she was kicked from the record deal due to creative differences, mostly due to her not being poppy enough and her subject matter being a tad mature. To pissthem off more, she went the punk route, generating some buzz in that scene until she started getting flak for her success, so she left due to punk rocks 'conformist nature'. So as the 5th great war was waging, Miko went underground, found like minded musicians and formed her own band to capitalize on the burgeoning speed metal genre, further sticking it to her critics who egged her on and bemoaned her wasted ability, associating with gangs and punks and the youth counter culture, playing in bars and clubs and basements and bingo halls instead of arenas and stadiums, only selling gold records when she should be going platinum.

 

They further bemoaned this fact And her choice to continue acting after she had her first kit, Ryuko Przewalski-Tachibana. "Be a stay at home mom." they said. "Let your husband bring home the bacon, even if he's an effeminate, dress making pretty boy." They said. "Obey your wife duties. Set a good example for your daughter. You've failed to reach your full potential at everything else you've done. So do right by this and be a responsible parent." To which she responded. "Gomenasai, but I can't hear you over the sound of my pyrotechnics,  my wall of Marshall stacks and my newly built tank museum! I'm on top of the world! What are you gonna do about it?"

 

It was about that time that Miko and Alex got an invitation from the Salem Institute of thaumaturgy, set up in the wake of the transdimensional wackiness and weirdos in weird robes doing weird stuff to seal away the weirder stuff and calling it all "magic". Apparently the 'mages' knew about the couple and their powers. They offered them to be part of the first class of Salem's students, setting an example for the rest of the world's enchanted to learn how to use their powers for the betterment of the world. 

 

Alex was all for the idea of learning more about his gifts and wished to help do the same. He would graduate as part of Salem's first class of '92 and further his studies to becoming one of Salem's first magical instructors of the post reveal era. 

 

Miko however, declined the invite, seeing her gifts as nothing special, opting to focus on her film and music careers as well as be a parent to their newborn. She was happy in life. Why walk away from that? Well fate and a bit of her hubris had other plans. 

 

Martial Arts cinema in Asia would tank from recessions and regulation on " violent media ". Interest in that as well as gritty action would tank in favor of disaster movies, romantic comedies and comic book fare. The speed metal subgenre and all of its contemporaries and rivals would all be taken off the air by the disenfranchised post war youth and their more rudimentary,  introspective fair like alt. Rock, post punk and grunge. Even Miko's fall back plan of doing actual sports was shot due to new regulations on the enchanted being barred from competition. In fact, she couldn't hold another job in most of the world due to the enchanted needing proof of certification that they've mastered their powers. From where else? Salem U. 

 

Now Alex would've loved to have had his wife as a classmate/ student. But suspects that whoever leaked his wife's enchanted status worked at Salem and wanted some celebrity credibility to boost the perception of Salem to the outside world. Well it kind of worked. With few avenues, Miko enrolled, deciding to get this magic thing over with so she could resume her life. Neither her nor Salem would realize how hard it would actually be. 

 

Right off the bat, she clashed with Salem's teaching staff. Her free spirited, anti-authroitarian, stubborn and brazen personality clashed with the elitist and borderline aristocratic teaching staff who had an unflinching idea of what magic and it's use were supposed to be. Some wanted her gone, refusing to have someone like her be among their ranks and give the mage community a bad name. Some just didn't care and didn't want her to be their problem. Others saw potential and pushed her hard, only to have Miko push back. Most frustrating to them all was that despite her behavior and personality, she was getting great grades. All her school work and projects being done with ease. Except for one specific facet: magic itself. 

 

New skills come naturally to Miko. Learning has rarely been a challenge. So to have something that she couldn't quite get at first was exciting. "Finally, a worthy challenge!" But excitement turned to mild intrigue.  Intrigue became annoyance. Annoyance became frustration. And frustration became ire. 

 

Miko's magic was far below par compared to her peers. Her spells were reactive to other electro and pyromancers. Her ability to cast them at will was inconsistent. When they were cast, they were either pitifully weak or woefully destructive. Even affinity neutral magic was strenuous for her to cast. And of course she lost 90% of all the magic duels she was in, of which there were many. Research done into the matter determined that Miko had a lower output of magic than the average mage. Meaning she was effectively magically handicapped, and thus unable to pursue a career in a field that made use of magic, nor be certified to get a normal job. She'd be stuck at some dead end field where her weak and unstable magic wouldn't be a threat to others. Instead of granting her freedom, Salem's path of magic was set to constrain her and lock her down into what they thought was best. And try as hard as he might, not even Alex could give her a passing grade. 

 

Miko had one more year left and was becoming increasingly jaded at her prospects. She made it clear that she would drop out of Salem kept hindering her goals in life. She would strike out on her own if need be and find a way around Salem and whatever ruling they had for her. Maybe she can't be a good mage. Maybe she can't follow her dreams anymore. But the least she can do is be a good parent to Ryuko. Do the thing no one else has for her. Give her the freedom to be herself and follow her own dreams. She had her family and she had the will to keep fighting on for the life she wanted. Regardless of what Salem decided, she was gonna be okay. It would not be okay. 

 

In the spring of 2003, just over a week before finals, Miko went out for a smoke. And never came back. It was thought she just dropped out. Until there was no evidence of her ever leaving. Perhaps the stress got to her and she decided to end it all. But no body was found and it didn't fit her stubborn personality to quit like that. Some thought she may have had a vendetta against the school and was planning something before she got stopped. Or someone in the school had a grudge, of which there were many. Regardless of the cause, Miko was gone. Some thought 'good riddance'. Some mourned for what could've been. But no one took it harder than her husband, who had put his faith into the school to help her, and in his eyes, let her down. He would resign soon after to take care of his grieving daughter, vowing never to send her to Salem. 

 

After all the investigations were done, the reporters left and the case went cold, Salem's founder Gabe Lanzel saw that his school had to improve. The world had changed, and the approach to teaching magic had to change with it. What happened to Miko couldn't be allowed to happen again. Restructuring took place. Instructors were let go. Disciplinary lectures were given. A new, more liberating approach to magic and it's place in the world was introduced. Teachers were there to help the young mages of the world grasp their gifts. What they did next was up to them. 

 

Shame that couldn't have been the case for the one student who needed it most. 

 

Magic: diagnosed as pyro/electromancer, reevaluated as kinetomancer (energy manipulation and conversion. Can turn heat, electricity and kinetic force into physical stat boosts like super speed, strength, durability and healing or redirect/ convert energy from one form to another (electricity to raw magic and vice versa, allowing her to potentially fuel high yield spells off of conventional energy, IE using a car battery to fuel a portal spell). 

 

Resistant to fire, electricity and impact damage. Weak to ice and cold, causing a lack of energy to use. Being thrown or hit with a less tangible force like water and wind circumvents her defenses. May lose control of power in consistently hot environments, having too much heat energy to draw from. Fundamental misunderstanding of her own powers due to being misdiagnosed and improperly taught. Fighting style of throws and submissions working in tandem with dodging and deflecting works counterintuitive to her own magic. 

 

Species: Kitsune (meta-fox). 

 

Her magic looks pretty good - solid balancing all round there. However, the rest of her abilities appear quite unbalanced in range and magnitude and most people in her life have done her dirty, which seems primarily to be a way of enhancing the impressiveness of her skills via emphasising how self-made she is and how much adversity she's overcome (as well as how many justified reasons she has to be angry at everyone and sundry).

She's exceptionally skilled at apparently everything save magic, including literature, music, dance, anything involving analytic thinking skills, martial arts, athletics, household skills, street savviness, mechanical engineering, military service, and acting. She reached colonel rank, she has a lifetime pension, she has screeds of medals, she somehow survived all sorts of death missions, she caught the eye of Bruce Lee, she has four degrees, she could have gotten platinum records if she'd chosen to, she starred in all sorts of martial arts movies, she literally made history as being involved in the first use of magic in modern warfare, her groundbreaking use of magic was a major factor in her side winning a seemingly hopeless battle, Lazel changed up the whole school due to her, she apparently built a tank museum - this is a lot of achievements, and they encompass a far greater range and magnitude of skills than possessed by any other character in this RP. Further to this, her family did her dirty, several governments did her dirty, assorted music and movie critics did her dirty, and Salem did her dirty, which pretty much constitutes all pivotal players in her life except Alex, Bruce Lee, and her former dance instructor, which means she can play the martyr in regards to any part of her life whatsoever and be perfectly justified in doing so.

In short, these are Too Many Things compared to all the things that other characters have, and probably either about half of these will need to be cut or most of them will need to be nerfed. In aid of this, it seems to me that it would be best to remove the long-lived trait of kitsune to maintain the action-packed vibe of her life while justifying why she's not overpowered by the time she's spent a century doing action-packed stuff (although this is up to you). If you want to use characters who have seen plenty of history, there's always the time travel subplot now that you could use to add an extra character to the mix (maybe Alex came from the past after taking part in all these history-making battles and they got together a few years before the present day?).

Salem is still not a hill to die on, though, and the mages that constituted the early university would not be "elitist and borderline aristocratic" with "unflinching ideas about magic", since at this point most mages are essentially a suppressed global diaspora discovering a unified and independent identity for the first time in history - you can't have an aristocracy where no society existed, and these mages are an extremely diverse bunch due to being individually embedded in every culture on the planet. In addition, even if Miko wasn't able to properly control her magic in practice, she should have been able to get a certificate that she wasn't a risk to anyone as long as she didn't actively use her magic around others - it's only people like Druantia who are constantly at risk of losing control that wouldn't be able to get such a certificate to go on to a normal job. As long as you can keep your powers to yourself you'd be safe enough to work, essentially, and since her magic is primarily passive it doesn't seem like it would constitute a make-or-break issue.

I can tell how much effort and historical nuance you put into this version of her, and I'm quite sorry for such an extensive critique - if I could approve her I would, but she's just too skilled at everything for it to be fair at the moment. I'd be more than happy to work it through with you piece by piece if you like, though.

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

@Duality I would like to work this out and have a Miko that's acceptable to us both. Some things I probably won't budge on. Some things you won't either. So let's hash it out in a PM then so were not hijacking the OOC. 

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

So I don't know if we ever established what Salem actually looked like, but this gave me an idea. 

 

 

[Duality 10,738]

On 8/29/2020 at 11:42 AM, Denim&Venöm said:

So I don't know if we ever established what Salem actually looked like, but this gave me an idea. 

 

 

That's some incredible architecture right there. I do want to keep Salem's appearance canonically fluid but I can definitely see the Admin block looking something like that. Whereabouts were those photos taken?

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

6 hours ago, Duality said:

That's some incredible architecture right there. I do want to keep Salem's appearance canonically fluid but I can definitely see the Admin block looking something like that. Whereabouts were those photos taken?

It's actually an apartment complex outside of Paris.

 

It's also where they filmed that one scene from Hunger Games: Mocking Jay. 

[Duality 10,738]

@Denim&Venöm @dragon4111 @reader8363 @Buck Testa @Loud Opinion@Lektra Bolt

Hey all - I'm not gone for good, despite the best attempts of this past year. I've been whittling away at Miko's complete and comprehensive backstory with Denim for several months, and getting pounded by the pandemic and the resultant work overload for the rest of the all-too-many months I've been MIA. Very sorry to all who've been waiting on the posts I didn't put up for most of this year, and I sure hope you've been having a better time of things than me.

My relationship with work is currently at the stage where I'll be living in a rural motel for the next few weeks working dawn to dusk on a farm the size of my home district in order to acquire that sweet sweet coin (and also to keep my job), but I'm hoping to finish things up with Denim and get this RP finally rolling IC by early to mid January. I know it's been an age since I booted up the reboot (and with the events of 2020 it feels like way longer than eight months), but are y'all still sufficiently interested in going through with this?

[Loud Opinion 602]

I'm super hype for this! Before the messenger flies it's highest, Physics and Meta-physics will mingle!

[Duality 10,738]

@Denim&Venöm @dragon4111 @reader8363 @Buck Testa @Loud Opinion

Hey all, I've changed the RP status to Searching as I don't think we have quite enough players to start currently. Denim is working on the hopefully-final version of Miko's application and Loud Opinion is all in for the RP's start, but I haven't heard from Buck in 9 months and Reader hasn't come online since early November. I'd like to have 1 or 2 more active players before starting up, if I can manage it, but if I don't get any bites in the next couple weeks it might be worth reconsidering for a reduced number of players.

[reader8363 1,281]

@Duality
I've been busy with life. I'm not really active, but I'm always down for rping, just my hours are going to be random

[dragon4111 914]

@Duality

I'm still standing here.

[Duality 10,738]

6 minutes ago, reader8363 said:

@Duality
I've been busy with life. I'm not really active, but I'm always down for rping, just my hours are going to be random

Oh, hey, that's great news! I hope life's been treating you satisfactorily despite the bustle, and I'm certainly glad to have you still on board. 

[dragon4111 914]

@Duality

And I'm still here for it

[Duality 10,738]

8 minutes ago, dragon4111 said:

@Duality

I'm still standing here.

6 minutes ago, dragon4111 said:

@Duality

And I'm still here for it

Hey, you too? My apologies for counting you out, I thought you and Reader might have been down for the count since only Loud Opinion responded to my 'are y'all still interested' post from November. Looks like we might have enough people active to start after all! Just waiting on @Denim&Venöm's final application (which shouldn't take long) and then we can get started all over again. 

I do want to keep the RP on Searching, though, since while we do have enough people to get the ball rolling it would be nice to get a couple more people on board to flesh things out. Hopefully @Buck Testa makes a triumphant return to round out the crowd, too.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Duality

[dragon4111 914]

@Duality

So we still doing this or no?because I didn't get a link from you or anything

[Denim&Venöm 16,444]

On 2021-04-28 at 11:32 PM, dragon4111 said:

@Duality

So we still doing this or no?because I didn't get a link from you or anything

We're still in the air about that. Duality is looking into freeing up some time to get this rolling. Good to hear you're still on board.