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OOC
Name/Alias: Kush Age: 23 years old Pronouns: They/Them Timezone: GMT+2
IC
Face Claim: Lee Soohyuk Full Name: Raphael Joon Choi Gender & Pronouns: Non-Binary & He/They Age: 31 years old House: House Valerian Tier and Role: Significant, Sentinel Gift: Pyrokinesis Occupation: Security Guard at the House HQ
3 Positive Traits: HONEST, OBSERVANT, RESOURCEFUL 3 Negative Traits: SARCASTIC, RESERVED, IMPULSIVE
Biography: fire tw, injuries tw, weapons tw
Born and raised in America, Raphael was always sort of disconnected from his Korean heritage - he considered it a leash, put on him by his parents to keep him under control, so he fought in all kind of ways to get rid of it. He was definitely a troublemaking child - and a naive one at that, believing that this kind of a behavior would shift his parents’ focus to him instead of his oldest sister, who they considered the prodigy of the family. It never worked out in the end and he remained in her shadow until the day he finally moved out from home.
He was very young when his powers manifested for the first time and this event left him terrified of them for years; he set the tree house in their garden on fire by accident, and while his sister was lucky enough to get out of it with only a broken leg from jumping off the tree, Raphael had way less luck. He spent long weeks in the hospital getting his burns treated and he still has some scars on his back and sides that remind him of that one afternoon.
Maybe that fear of his made it way harder for him to learn control over his powers - he had to work through not only the technical difficulties but his fear of fire too, and while he is majorly over it now, it still happens sometimes that he freezes when seeing a big enough fire that could remind him of that one afternoon during his childhood.
He’s a very careful user of his powers, often resorting to other tools like guns or knives, if it came to defending himself and/or others. He’s pretty proficient with those but refuses to elaborate on where he picked up that knowledge - conspiracy theories say that it had something to do with those few years when he disappeared from home right after graduation, and he doesn’t confirm nor deny those claims.
As for his disappearance, it happened a few days after his high school graduation - he just gathered his stuff and got on a bus to god-knows-where, just to come back years later with a college degree as if he never disappeared. When asked about it, he immediately becomes grim, rarely lashing out at the asker to mind their own business. The truth is that he was married and very much in love during that time, but his wife left him for someone else which broke him and took away a great portion of his belief in love.
He’s very careful when in comes down to relationships and tends to keep people at a certain distance - it doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t trust them, it’s more about not wanting to be involved in fear of being left alone in the end. That frequently makes him look unfriendly and unempathetic, while he has no intentions of looking like that - he’s just set on protecting himself from another disappointment that would come with a close relationship.
He came to Asphodel almost six years ago, with the plan to stay for a while and then move on, but the moving on never happened - he decided to try his luck at a more organised lifestyle under House Valerian, and while he still has some minor issues with adapting to that lifestyle, he’s trying his best to not mess up the chance he got here.
OOC
Name/Alias: Nico Age: 27 years old Pronouns: They/Them Timezone: GMT+1
IC
Face Claim: Sean Teale Full Name: Prospero ‘Prop’ Olvino Cisneras Gender & Pronouns: Non-binary & They/Them Age: 28 years old House: Valerian Tier and Role: Significant Gift: Electrokinesis Occupation: Staff at Hestia’s House
3 Positive Traits: CAREFREE, DUTIFUL, PROFOUND 3 Negative Traits: INCONSISTENT, MISGUIDED, TACTLESS
Biography: death tw, drug use tw, abandonment tw
Prospero grew up knowing one thing for certain, believing one single yet fast truth: their brother was the best human being in the world. He was strong, he had the whole town behind him, and wherever he went, people looked up to him. Isaias was ten years older, incredibly handsome, and not the perfect person that his younger sibling thought he was. He earned all the money for the family, kept the little farm going. They lived in a small town in Venezuela near the border with Colombia, and enroute for drug cartels. Isaias was often away, using his gift to create whirlwinds to throw the police off. He hadn’t been working for the cartel out of his own free will, and he had dreamt of an escape for many years.
As far as the family knew, Isaias had left for the United States hoping to further hone his Gift. Prospero had to grow up quickly to support the family, but they too were gifted. Albeit theirs wasn’t as easily described, they could talk with electrical devices and jolt them awake using electric currents. They would fix small devices all over town, and teach themselves some mechanics to keep up with the growing demand. It wasn’t long until the cartel took an interest in the youngest sibling as well, but their parents were less blind to the circumstances this time around, and the cartel took a chance on the situation.
It was said to have been an accident. But Prospero knew better. They sold the farm, much to the discontent of the cartel, and soon became a puppet in their play. Twelve year old at the time, Prospero quickly began to believe they were doing the right thing. Or at least that they had no other choice.
Isaias returned years later, and unaware of their sibling’s shifted loyalties, came to face off against his old enemies. Using his gift to destroy a whole field of future crops, intend on destroying much more. Prospero was warned, and told that if they did not take care of it themselves, the cartel would, and they would be less quick to kill him. Thus they drove out there, hiding a gun in their back pocket, fighting through the whirlwind to get to their brother, knowing what they should be doing was a mercy. They tried to reason with Isaias, gun pointed at him. Isaias, adrenaline coursing through his body, didn’t recognise his sibling at first, or at all, and defended himself. A car that had been picked up by the whirlwind was hauled at Prospero and hit them in the side.
They woke up two weeks later, laying in the back of a car, the road disappearing underneath their back, and something covering their eyes. They heard their brother’s voice telling them not to remove it. So they didn’t. A few days later they arrived in Asphodel, the town where Isaias had laid low for the last decade. There Prospero hid away in their brother’s apartment for weeks on end, only leaving a few times to go to the doctors, only to understand nothing of what their brother discussed. They spend their days trying to learn English from the television, trying to read the braille books that Isaias had provided for them, and wondering if they would ever see again.
One day, almost a year after they had settled down in Asphodel, Prospero woke up in an empty apartment. It took them two days before they knew he wasn’t coming back. They spend a full day trying to walk to the hospital on their own, eventually being helped by someone in their search. The doctor, who knew some basic Spanish, deciphered the situation, and contacted someone who was a part of the Valerian House, given Prospero’s unique Gift.
About two months later, Prospero was finally allowed to remove the bandages that had become part of their life as much as the constant confusion to their new situation. While they were still partially blind, the fact that they could still see about eighty percent with one eye filled their heart with gladness. They began learning English and Braille at the same time, supported by the House their brother had once been a part of. Started working at Hestia’s House, and tried to get their life in order. As far as they could, as much as possible.
Sometimes they would wake up in the middle of the night, thinking their brother had returned, then remembering he had left them without saying a word. They would cry about what had happened to them, and hate that they had nothing. Their constant fear of being disliked resulted in doing the dumbest shit to make sure everyone liked them. Their fear of having things fall apart again made them irresponsible and inconsistent. But mostly there was a constant knowledge at the back of their mind that everyone they had ever loved had walked away from them, and that they were bound to be abandoned again.
OOC
Name/Alias: Nico Age: 27 years old Pronouns: They/Them Timezone: GMT+1
IC
Face Claim: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett Full Name: Ulysses Goode Gender & Pronouns: Demi-guy & They/Them or He/Him Age: 30 years old House: N/A Tier and Role: Null Gift: N/A Occupation: Resident Surgeon at Sacred Heart Hospital
3 Positive Traits: LOYAL, CHARMING, OBSERVANT 3 Negative Traits: ARROGANT, RELUCTANT, QUICK TO JUDGE
Biography: discrimination tw, racism tw, homophobia tw, lupus tw, kidney failure tw
There was one sentence young Ulysses had heard their parents say to them from the moment of their birth:
“You are going to be great one day!”
And they believed it. They even invented their own reaction the more they heard it, with a chuckle and a look of love they would reply to their parents: “The greatest.”
It was what they believed all through childhood. Or at least a hope they held onto. It didn’t matter what others thought of them, how they were viewed by those in their class, in a predominantly white neighbourhood, in a predominantly white school. A basket case who kept to the walls, hid away during lunches. They had to work twice as hard as everyone else to make it just as far. So they did their best to get significant marks, to be studious, to be helpful, and even if they were disappointed in themselves for not making it, it was always enough for their parents. The slurs that followed them home would not get to them as soon as they looked upon their parents again.
They might try to hurt them at school, hoping for a reaction from the kid who always had a smile on their face, but they were met with disappointment.
Even if discrimination turned violent, even when they found out that someone had shared their personal emails in which they admitted to identifying as non-binary, Ulysses still got home alright. Because hard work would pay off.
And their parents would keep them hopeful: You are going to be great one day! The greatest!
But they stopped believing it when they got to High School. People got older, people got nastier, found different ways to try and break their patience. And they managed to do it, from time to time Ulysses would lash out.
The world was flawed. That was their general consensus. They still wanted to be a doctor though. It was a wish that had grown in them at some point. Their parents weren’t rich, they owned a hardware store in the city center, worked seven days a week. They could help other people and help their parents. When they had first suggested the idea, their parents had been ecstatic. Perhaps that was the sole thing that kept them sane. Their goal.
And their goal made sense. People were meant to fight and suffer and try to get back up. Or they would not get back up at all. And that was the way of the world. But the more this ate at them, the more they started to realise that they could fight that too.
They could, no they would, fight those slurs and comments with a smile. They would kill with kindness. If that was to be their only weapon against a flawed world and its flawed people, then so be it. They would soon have another weapon, given time, they would prove they could help others fight the flawed world.
So they fought to keep their grades up, because they would be great.
Ulysses soon took up five extra classes to keep their grades up, got three part-time jobs to pay for med-school, often working together with either their dad or their mom - who were trying to earn some extra cash as well, and relief some of the stress from their shoulders - and yet despite it, they felt happiness in the small moments. Every single dollar matters, but so did every minute they got to fight for it.
They would reach their goal.
The grades finally came in, and their acceptance letter fell through the mailbox at the same time as their money goal was almost reached. Their mom and dad had rushed to grab the letter with their greedy hands, having promised to read it so Ulysses didn’t have to, and deliver them the news. Soon as their parents had read the good news, they had bolted up the stairs, ready to tell them about it.
Instead of being able to share the news and eat the pie that was in the fridge, they found their child on the floor of their bedroom, unresponsive.
Acute kidney failure. A transplant was needed.
They were lucky, their parents drove them to the ER, offered all the information they could think of, and eventually the right call was made. Ulysses remembered nothing from between passing out on the floor and waking up three days later after a surgery.
Their parents were there, hugging them, saying they were alright. A doctor and a surgeon followed, the surgeon looked just like them, he smiled and explained to Ulysses and their parents what had happened. The acute kidney failure was a result of Lupus, an auto-imune disease which could often start showing first symptoms after a period of stress. It wasn’t odd for someone as young as them to get it, but it was still a serious illness: regular check-ups, medication, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a healthy way of living.
While Ulysses felt their heart sink at the thought of that, at the idea of their own life being so fragile, they listened with great attention as the surgeon explained the process of the kidney transplant.
The surgeon left after telling them that there were a lot of people who had Lupus, and those who had the healthiest outlook on life, lived the longest. “You will be alright, kid,” he had said, a hand on their shoulder. He should know, he was a surgeon, the greatest.
While most of the money they had earned over the years went into medical bills, Ulysses still went to Med school. It was harder, a job on the side to pay off their bills, a small room that barely fitted a bed, their medication and regular check-ups, and traveling back home every weekend to help their parents. They knew the pay-off would be greater than the price, it had to be.
They studied hard, their parents would say harder than before, but they had already been going as hard as they could to keep up. Only now it seemed different. Surrounded by so many people who all wanted to help people, to save lives or help save them, they felt like they belonged. Like minded souls.
They didn’t have to be the greatest, they all were.
They met Tessa at meds school, whether instant friendship was the expected result, it didn’t matter, because they grew close in a way that they had never experienced before.
Their friendship was crazy, a wild ride of shared secrets and inside jokes. A mutual enjoyment of life’s mysteries and a love for people. Ulysses was the charming one, the outgoing one, Tessa always ended up being dragged along. But it was pure and good.
They both cared about people, they both knew they wanted to be surgeons. Those summer nights discussing the fragility of life and the consequences of their actions, those summer nights hoping for the best outcome, and sharing the faith they had in each other.
But it didn’t last. Tessa’s relationship didn’t, and despite their friendship, she wished to go home. They had wanted to keep her there, but they would never force her to do something against her will. So she left.
Without her there, Ulysses once again had to face their troubles alone, depending on their parents. They finished med-school with flying colours however, despite falling asleep a lot or having to miss important classes due to check-ups. They had vowed to go through life with a smile, to keep the wolves at bay, and while they too had their moments of darkness, saving lives is what they wanted to do.
First hospital where they did their residency realised very early on that Ulysses had talent. It wasn’t just hard work anymore, but their general interest and dedication made it possible for them to get the attention of their peers.
It also helped that by that time Ulysses no longer needed to hold their part-time job. Medical bills could be paid, and even their parents could slow down. They were getting old, so whenever they did have some money left, it went to taking some more weight off of their parent’s backs.
Soon enough the praise became so much that it all went to their head. They had worked for this, endless studying and not giving up had made it so they were finally recognised for the skill they had.
Ulysses became a star. They became the greatest.
When a spot opened up in Asphodel, and the payment was said to be even higher than in Baylor, Texas, they knew taking it would be another opportunity to help their parents even further. Also the change of venue got them excited, so they took the offer and moved.
To their greatest surprise, a new opportunity wasn’t all they found there.
