Foraminis [SUDS]

[VeloJello]

Good news! My better judgement about not joining more RPs has been overridden. Could you reserve me slots for a big buff rough and tough werecat and her small fussy aerokinetic surrogate child?

Name: Tam Jojo, AKA the Shadowcat.

Gender: Female.

Age: 36.

Power (If any): Essentially, Tam's a werecat. At will, Tam can shapeshift into a somewhat mutated melanistic jaguar (what most people just refer to as a "black panther” and then call it a day). This transformation is not painful, but it is strenuous and it takes time. Partial shifts such as having feline ears or claws are common and fairly easy; a full shift, on the other hand, takes anywhere from fifteen to thirty seconds (up to a full minute if she's been abusing it). Generally, she can manage about three full shifts to and from her feline form per day; at around four, symptoms from fatigue and muscle pain to full blackouts become common, worsening with further transformations. While in feline mode, she remains in control of her mental faculties, though feline instincts are there to help her navigate the changed body - instincts which can sometimes override the human mind in chaotic or stressful situations. In addition, her power gives her above-human resilience and senses in human form, and when transformed she's larger and much stronger than the average jaguar.

Appearance: Tam is not the sort of person who you easily lose in a crowd. Standing at 6'5", broad-shouldered, with a big body padded by fat and plenty of muscle, she's best summed up as "freaking huge". As a black woman, she has dark skin, which is marked by many scars that criss-cross her body - a wide plethora ranging from big burn marks along her left shoulder and left flank, several gash marks on her belly, and a very prominent scar on the left side of her face from cheekbone to chin. Aside from - or as some people, including Tam, would say "because of" - this scar, Tam has a fairly attractive face, with deep black eyes, full lips, and rounded features aside from a strong jaw. While her hair is naturally black, she keeps it in a "faux hawk" style, leaving a stripe of white-dyed curly, fluffy hair in the middle of her head. She favors thick leather jackets, both for fashion and protection from attacks, though she can also often be sighted in pink or green tanks that show of her muscles. She doesn't like to dress up or wear a lot of jewelry, but she does keep a fake-glass pendant shaped like the Greek delta on pretty much all the time. For Tam, think "huge butch black lady who could probably throw you across the room" and you'll get there. Here's a picture!

Tam's feline form has a few variations from the traditional jaguar. For starters, her jaguar is about 4'5" at the shoulder, tall enough to give a tiger pause, with thick muscle to match. She also has slightly handlike paws, giving her just a little bit of dexterity without completely reducing her mauling power. Her coat is heavily melanistic, with only a few very dark rosettes visible in the midst of the black. Tam's feline form retains all of Tam's scars, resulting in the appearance of a huge, grizzled catbeast. When she shifts, her irises turn silver.

History: A little kindness goes a long way. Tam Jojo learned that as a kid, growing up in Harlem, where community was very important. Her childhood was fairly uneventful; everyone knew everyone in her little corner of town, and she was energetic and charismatic enough that she made a lot of friends. However, when she turned fourteen, she quite literally changed. One night, while she was trying to force herself to focus on her homework, she transformed into a massive black panther. While she retained her human mind, the sudden shapeshifting was horrifying; she went into a terrified frenzy, forcing her parents to lock her in her room until she could transform back. It was only their calming words that enabled her to resume her human form.

Tam bounced back quickly. After a few days, she was already pushing her limits, testing the extent of her abilities. Her parents came down on her sharply for this; they knew the consequences of being identified as a Foram, whereas Tam, who had only ever heard of Foram in textbooks and newspapers, didn't. So when her claws came out during a scrap in middle school, she didn't see it as any worse than just scratching someone with her fingernails, but the authorities disagreed. The short stint she spent in juvenile hall only pushed her to be more rebellious. Why did she have to hide who and what she was?

She never found the answer to that - and honestly, she never went looking. Instead, she began testing the limits even more. A few jail visits for showing off her powers did nothing to tame her attitude, so it was only a matter of time before she ended up in proper trouble again. After a particularly rough incident in which a bar fight, one which Tam didn't start but absolutely tried to finish by threatening the aggressor with her claws, she found herself facing a years-long sentence. A strange, gentle man intervened; he'd hired an excellent lawyer for her, causing the sentence to be pared down to mere months. Tam sought out this "Orville Leland" immediately upon her release. The man was one of the founding members of the Foramic Rights Coalition, a group that did all they could to fight for change for Foram and to support Foram within the system. Having been floored by Orville's generosity, Tam pledged her loyalty to the cause immediately, leading rally after rally and protest after protest.

It couldn't last, however. What had been intended to be a peaceful rally ended with a fight between Foram and counter-protesters. Tam managed to restrain herself from the fighting; as a result, she managed to walk away. Much to her dismay, a lot of her friends didn't. When Aria showed up at her door and told her that Orville had been arrested, the only surprise Tam had was that Orville's weird adopted kid was the one to deliver the news. Aria asked Tam for room and board; Tam remembered Orville's intervention in her life and one-upped the teen, offering to let her stay as long as she needed. She didn't like kids much, but Orville bailed her butt out of the fire once. She could do the same for his kid, doggone it. Her job as a bouncer isn't the classiest or most luxurious in the world, but she gets by. Even if she doesn't one hundred percent know what to do with the "little tyke" she's gotten surprisingly fond of.

Personality: Brash/Suspicious/Protective/Confident/Stubborn/Reliable.
Generally, Tam is a pretty enjoyable person to be around. Despite being a little tactless, she’s usually good for a laugh, and tries not to take herself - or pretty much anything - too seriously. However, if someone pushes her boundaries or gets too touchy-feely, she gets very grouchy very fast. Getting close to people is a bit of a scary prospect for her, as she feels like loss or betrayal are inevitable. But if she makes the self-professed ‘mistake’ of forming a solid friendship, she gets surprisingly clingy and ferociously protective.

Tam’s word is her bond - if she says she’ll get something done, it gets done, end of discussion. This can sometimes work against her, as she is a very stubborn person, and she’s been known to refuse to give up or ask for help even on occasions where doing so would have spared her pain and gotten the job done more quickly and efficiently. She tends to be a bit rash, under the impression that she can handle anything. She’s usually right, but when she’s not, things usually get very ugly very quickly.

Alignment (If any): Technically unaffiliated, but casting longing looks at Demon's Run. Let her LOOSE.

Other: Tam is gonna be really fun to handle on a PXR RP because most incarnations of Tam average about 1 swear every two sentences. Also worth noting: Tam can't make any noises a very big jaguar wouldn't be able to when she's fully shifted. Cats don't talk.



Name: Aria Leland, AKA Squall.

Gender: Female.

Age: 17.

Power (If any): Aria's Foramis exposure has given her a broad range of abilities, allowing her to manipulate wind as well as calling upon its attributes. She can summon wind to throw at opponents; while tiring, this includes wind so compressed that it can deliver cuts. She can also apply changes to air pressure to temporarily disorient opponents, or better redirect sound or light towards her. She can also, for lack of a better term, 'borrow' the speed of the wind, granting her short bursts of super-speed. TL;DR, aerokinetic with a broad spectrum of not-very-strong abilities to choose from.

Appearance: With an unremarkable 5'6" height, fairly flat body, and not overly attractive face (her nose is too pointy, she complains, and her eyes are so big she looks goofy, and her face is too long), Aria is pretty much a textbook gangly teen girl whose body hasn't quiiite gotten the memo that it's time to be a grown-up now. Being a Foram has modified her appearance somewhat - her skin is very pale and her short hair is pure white; between that and her blue eyes, most people mistake her for an albinistic person (which isn't wholly unfounded - the poor kid gets sunburnt ridiculously easily, though she's mercifully escaped most other health problems associated with a near-absence of pigmentation). Aria dresses as nicely as she can; she doesn't have an abundance of fancy clothes, but she makes do and her usual look can be described as "casually fashionable". She keeps a cord necklace hidden under her shirt most of the time; on the end of it is a faux-glass delta pendant, one of the few mementos she's managed to salvage from home. Here's a picture!

History: "Home" is a fluid term for Aria Leland. Her birth mother, despite being "immunized" against Foramis exposure, was a healer, able to treat a plethora of injuries and illnesses with a touch and a bit of effort. This is pretty much all Aria knows about her birth parents besides vague memories and impressions. When she was four years old, her parents were killed in a car wreck, her mother dead before she could even attempt to heal her father's grievous wounds.

From there, Aria's life went from fine to bad to worse. Her wallflower attitude made it difficult for her to find proper parents to adopt her, and years' worth of bouncing from foster home to foster home only continued to impress upon her the importance of silence and not making a fuss. What's more, as a potential Foram, she faced cautious scrutiny from many foster parents, even from other children. She was treated as a ticking time-bomb, which didn't lessen the surprise and pain when Aria's hair changed from brown to white within the course of a week and her complexion transformed to that of a sheet ghost. The ability to control wind and water was a paltry exchange from the redoubled ostracization she faced.

It was at this time, when Aria was eleven years old, when Orville Leland walked into Aria's life. The cheerful, chubby black man couldn't have looked any more different from the recalcitrant, pale, twiggish young woman, but with surprising speed Aria found herself trusting her new father. It helped that they had their powers to bond over - Orville was himself a Foram, able to alter the flow of time. What's more, he was an activist; one of the more prominent members of a group known as the Foramic Rights Coalition. While fighting against the US government's harsh anti-Foram policies often felt like a lost cause, he still did his best to make a difference. This was a huge inspiration to Aria, who had previously been forcibly submerged in the opinion that Foramis were unilaterally bad.

The next five years were the best of Aria's life, but it didn't last. After the FRC's rallies began getting out of hand, with incidents of public power displays and even attacks on police, the government cracked down hard on the group. One particularly nasty incident ended with FRC members and counterprotesters getting violent - and when Orville used his powers to intervene, he was arrested as one of the aggressors. Aria, rather than letting herself be taken back into the foster system, sought out one of Orville's associates. Tam Jojo wouldn't have been Orville's first choice to take care of his daughter in his absence, but Aria wasn't spoiled for choice. While Aria was initially skittish around Tam, she's come to view the woman as something like a cool older sister. She still goes to school, as well as working a bit so that she can pay her keep. The Demon's Run group has attracted her attention. Maybe revolution is the way to make a change.

Personality: Reserved/Kindhearted/Emotional/Nervous/Stubborn/Hard-Working.
For the most part, Aria is a quiet person. She tends to be a wallflower most of the time, and when she does talk to people who she doesn't know well, she's polite but withdrawn, sticking to small talk and revealing little to no details about herself. When she's with people she's more comfortable with, she's not exactly open, but she tends to hide and conceal a lot less, revealing that she is in fact a very emotional young woman driven by strongly-held beliefs, passions, and convictions. In fact, these convictions tend to be set in stone. Once Aria establishes a belief, she almost never turns away from it, and she tends to get defensive if these ideals are challenged. In all of her tasks, she does the best she can; she doesn't have a lot of self-confidence, but one thing she does take pride in is a job well-done.

One major thing that drives Aria is kindness - she truly wants the best for most people, though she doesn't mind taking questionable approaches or tactics in order to accomplish a greater good. In interpersonal relationships, she tries to be nurturing; in the community, she tries to be a good influence. This is sometimes made difficult by her own reticence, as she is made easily nervous by strange people and situations. She's doing her best, y'all.

Alignment (If any): N/A, but she wouldn't hesitate to join the Demon's Run if asked and she may or may not be seriously considering a stint as a vigilante to hone her skills.

Other: If you've ever read Codex Alera, yes, Aria is literally a windcrafter, though her superheroic incarnation was originally designed for a setting about powers based on Pokemon. She started off as a Wingull.

Also, Orville Leland's time powers aren't exactly anything to worry about. He can speed up/slow down time in ranges of space. The more time he's moving, the less space he can affect; he wouldn't be able to age someone to death or anything that drastic.