Weirder Stuff Project #7: Core Values

[GDP_ST]

I've been sitting on this Project for a while, and I think it's time.

Here is a link to a page with an exercise for determining the Values of a given character - what drives them, what motivates them day-to-day.  These are to give characters dimension, depth, and personality.

The primary part of the Project is as follows:  pick TEN Values that define your character.  Bear in mind that just because you don't pick a value doesn't mean your character doesn't care about it, it just means it's not central to their Being.  Your character can have friends without having friendship on the Values list.  Also, feel free to change or add a Value if you don't see one that quite fits.

Then pick FIVE of those ten Values you just selected which you would consider 'core'.  These are the foundational, before-all-else priorities of the character.

Starting with the core ones (bold them for convenience), list each Value and how they apply to your character, with a short explanation and/or example either taken from the history of WS or, if nothing presents itself, make an example situation up.  Don't be shy to include a 'flipside' aspect to the Value as well.

Like this: 

• Loyalty - Jase puts loyalty ahead of most other social considerations, partly due to his Teulu instinct to form a Pride.  He is ferociously loyal to his Pride, and to a lesser degree those he perceives as allies to it.  However, the flipside is that he is disgusted by the disloyal, and will seldom forgive or trust someone who exhibits such a trait, like Sophia turning on Sean when she found out he was different.  He also doesn't tend to care about anyone outside of the Pride or it's immediate relatives, and will take any hostile actions against his friends personally.

Use this as an exercise to explore what makes your character tick, to really think about WHO they are when the rubber hits the road.  Don't forget to explore how their Values can impact them or those around them adversely as well.  Feel free to discuss this in WS OOC in the Discord, to bounce ideas off others and see what sparks result.  There's no 'wrong' Values, but if you can't adequately explain or give an example of a Value in action for your character, you may want to find a different one.

Note:

People can change.  We know this.  Regular Values can shift over time, or with changing circumstance.  Core values, however, will seldom if ever change except through life-altering events or traumas.  The PCs in WS are teens, but even so their Core Values should be reasonably well-established, with perhaps a little room for growth or change.

This Project will run until the 29th of March.  XP award scale will be 3-6, with 3 for doing the bare minimum and 6 for showing real thought and character exploration.

[Autumn Keane]

Note: Some of these examples describe a problematic or contentious aspect of the value in question; this is intentional. No one value is solely positive or negative. These are ideas or pursuits that Autumn values, after all, and while they do help define her character for good or ill, there’s always a certain measure of nuance and variation in their application that helps create internal and external conflict. 

Core Character Values

Achievement: There are few things more satisfying to Autumn than succeeding in some endeavor as a result of her own efforts, and the greater the difficulty she faces, the greater the sense of accomplishment. This isn’t strictly a function of winning, or even of competition itself, but rather of persevering through hardship or overcoming some trial in her quest to improve. It’s more important to her that she work for something and earn it through sheer dogged determination, trial and error, practice, or the exertion of will and energy than through any other means. It doesn’t require external validation of success (though such acknowledgements aren’t proscribed), and people who pursue public acclaim over personal satisfaction are obviously missing the point. While there’s no reason not to celebrate a hard-won victory, the party or fame or shiny thing to put on the mantel isn’t enough reason for Autumn on its own. Trophies, like the one from her first successful hunt, or the progressively complex embroidery and macramé projects she’s done, hang on her wall as tangible reminders- milestones by which to gauge her progress and urge her onward. They’re not the ultimate goal.

• Example: Sometimes, it’s the little things: learning to climb by scrabbling up limestone outcroppings and boulders, then progressing to scaling rough cliff faces, and then perhaps one day, Everest itself. Life is full of mountains, both real and metaphorical, and working out how to deal with them is one of her primary drives. Autumn’s reward for reaching the summit is the view, the ache in her muscles, and the knowledge that she accomplished what she’d set out to do. 
• Primary Synergy: Autonomy, manifests via the desire to learn how to do something for herself rather than ask that it be done for her. 

 

Autonomy: Lessons about self-reliance and self-determination came early and often for Autumn, a commonality shared with many who have grown up in places like Shelly. “Responsible risk-taking” was encouraged from a very young age, and though initially it was simply intended to build confidence in children, in Autumn it also fostered a strong independent streak and a desire for agency in making her own decisions. This dovetailed with observations of her grandfather’s stoic-mindedness, such that she believes others should also enjoy those same freedoms, and with the same level of accountability. While not predisposed to automatically resent or reject authority (at least what she’d consider reasonable authority), she also doesn’t feel compelled to submit without question. It’s also made her more comfortable with being on her own, somewhat protective of the spaces she defines as “hers,” and resentful of intrusion, coercion, or being expected to do things solely to please others. Obviously, this can have a (potentially serious) knock-on effect in her interactions with other people, particularly in the depth and nature of the relationships themselves and her reluctance to rely on the judgement or capabilities of others over her own. 

• Example: Autumn wants to finish the tree house her grandfather was building with her before the weather becomes too cold and uncooperative to work on it. The project would be completed much faster with help, but it hasn’t occurred to her to ask because while it’s important to her, it’s not specifically important (or relevant) to anyone else. Why should it be? They have their own interests and pursuits, after all, just as she does.
• Primary Synergy: Challenge, manifests via the drive to refine her skills on her own and seek out new ways of testing herself.

 

Challenge: Autumn thrives on being pushed to improve, to constantly better herself in some way even if she’s the one doing the pushing. Although not especially ambitious (a fact which frustrates and infuriates her parents), an integral part of Autumn’s character is the need to keep moving forward through adversity, to chase the next bend in the road and see what’s there. Part of this is due to a certain natural curiosity (“Can I do this?”) and part, of course, is simple pride (often a response to, “I don’t think you can do this.”) Once the bar has been set, and she’s implicitly or explicitly accepted a challenge, she’ll devote herself fully to reaching it. Naturally, this can lead to a lot of personal frustration at repeated failures or unforeseen complications, or can alternately result in her being manipulated into doing something. She rather uncharitably views people who don’t share a similar outlook as boring, lazy, or complacent.

• Example: Jason sparked Autumn’s interest in improving her weakest grades with an indirect challenge, subtly suggesting she might not be capable of winning a prize she hadn’t even cared about previously, but which suddenly became more appealing when framed as entertainment/gratification. “It’ll help your college transcript” is a lame reason because it doesn’t coincide with her interests; saying “I’ll have to ride in the passenger seat and look pretty while you drive” makes it more of a game than a chore, because it’s not specifically about the car, but about Jason being obliged to do something silly. 
• Primary Synergy: Achievement, manifests via the satisfaction gained through self-improvement and completing especially difficult tasks.  

 

Family: More than simply Autumn’s relationship with her parents, or even her kinship with extended relatives like the Crockers and those few friends who might be brought in by association, the idea of family for her is also one of shared history, legacy, and deep roots. “Family” is one of the few constants in her life, a fixed point by which she navigates the world in a metaphorical and literal sense. From family she’s learned not only practical skills, but also about life and herself, how to treat others, how she should expect to be treated. She treasures things given by or inherited from her predecessors, from recipes to camp sites and threadbare quilts, and feels a sense of responsibility to their former owners that such heirlooms are cared for, and -when possible- that others are made aware of their significance. Knowing where you’ve come from is, for Autumn, a key part of a person’s identity. As such, she takes a dim view of those who are dismissive of the provenance and emotional importance of these objects (even within their own families), or of their own heritage and what it can teach. 

• Example: Hearing others flippantly refer to the bracelets she discovered in her grandfather’s office as “decoder rings,” “gadgets,” and the like would be a point of contention for her- especially after the visit to the reservation, the training day, and the subsequent explanation of their origins to the group. It was (and is) important to her that such things be understood.
• Primary Synergy: Integrity, manifests via respect for lessons and ideals demonstrated and/or passed down to her by her parents and grandparents.

 

Integrity: Most people have trouble keeping secrets, telling lies, cheating or taking advantage of others, and intentionally behaving dishonestly or in ways that are inconsistent with their personal philosophy. For Autumn, this is as much a part of her character and upbringing as it is an aspect of normal human psychology. That’s not to say that she’s incapable of doing these things, but rather that it makes her extremely (and almost invariably visibly) uncomfortable, making her one of the worst possible choices for anything involving deliberate deception because she’s almost guaranteed to fail hilariously/catastrophically. Integrity encompasses more than simple earnestness; it’s less a personality trait and more an ideal she consciously tries (not always successfully) to uphold. People who are obviously inauthentic or lack integrity in her eyes are kept at arms’ length, and usually treated with the bare minimum level of common courtesy, which might earn her a lecture or two about manners; she learned a lot from her grandfather, not all of it appropriate for a teenage girl.

• Example: If Marissa had told Autumn about Enterich, the money, and the threats to her parents, and then sworn her to secrecy, Autumn would be in an awful position in which this particular value would prick at her conscience no matter how she proceeded. If she told the group, she’d be violating Marissa’s trust and conceivably risking the Jauntsens’ safety; if she didn’t, she’d be withholding vital information in a move that could potentially put them all at risk, or hinder their fight against the Dark. Ugh!
• Primary Synergy:  Family, manifests via cultivation of strong personal identity rooted in tradition.

 

Standard Character Values

Adventure: Activities like creeping around in places she shouldn’t be (#TeamPluck) and venturing into places no one’s ever been are enormously appealing to Autumn, especially if there’s an element of risk involved. Generally, there should be a purpose to the trip, something of benefit to be gained (information, for example), but in some cases that benefit could simply be the experience itself rather than something tangible. Trekking across the steppes of Mongolia for a month? Sure, sounds like fun! Diving into a long-forgotten cenote in the Yucatán to look for Mayan relics? Heck yeah! Riding down the side of an erupting volcano monastery on an alien world on the back of a six-legged lizard-goat to escape the clutches of a cabal of interdimensional space wizards? ...Obviously. 

 

Change & Variety: It’s no secret that Autumn gets bored, that she quickly becomes restless and frustrated if stuck in one place or mired in one activity for too long. All that energy needs to be directed somewhere (see: Achievement, Challenge), and she’s usually happiest when she can try something new, explore new possibilities and discover things she’d never seen or considered. It’s important that she find new ways to engage and be engaged with life, to indulge her inherent curiosity about the world and pursue interesting ideas and activities whenever possible. 

 

Help others: One of the ideals impressed on Autumn not only by her family but through experience with groups like the Girl Scouts is the concept of service, of being helpful and directly useful to others. Living in such a way that you don’t actively harm or diminish others’ quality of life is important, but acting in ways that actually benefit them is much more rewarding, and intrinsically more valuable. It should be noted that actually helping is the goal, rather than simply repeating encouraging but ultimately empty platitudes or offering pointless charity. 

 

Knowledge: Autumn’s pursuit of knowledge isn’t an abstract one. Far from the cerebral sort, it’s her curiosity and need to understand things- people, ideas, and so on- that helps establish her relationship with and position in the world. Trivia is pointless information, random bits of data that don’t have any practical bearing on her life; she would rather take an active role in exploring, discovering, and inquiring about something that interests her than simply read a book or internet article on the subject. The knowledge she’s after is experiential rather than academic, relevant and applicable rather than obscure and arcane, and when she asks questions, it’s because she genuinely wants to know the answer (even if she’s not necessarily prepared for it). 

 

Leisure: “All work and no play…” is no way to live. Even with the threat of imminent death hanging over her head, Autumn will find or make time to go for a walk in the woods, enjoy a cup of really good coffee, play with her four-footed family, or work on whatever project has sparked her interest. Time, after all, is the one commodity that no one ever feels they have enough of, and she’d rather not look back on her life with a long list of regrets about things she didn’t do. 

Pleasure: If you can’t enjoy yourself, what’s the point? Whether it’s the thrill of kissing someone who excites her, the simple luxury of napping in a hammock on a summer afternoon, the sensual joy of eating or drinking (or smoking) something delicious, or the satisfaction of finally finishing a gruelling backwoods hike, Autumn isn’t immune to the allure of indulgence or delight. It could be argued, in fact, that one of the motivators for her behaviors (or human behavior in general) is the appreciation of some form of pleasure as a reward; that she doesn’t actively chase gratification for its own sake, as an end in and of itself, is the defining difference between pleasure as something she values generally, and a value intrinsic to her.

[Bannon]

Core Values:

 

Aesthetic - 

Bannon appreciates beauty.  The colours of a sunrise, the hues and scent of an orchid, the sparkle of moonlight on water and the music of birdsong all engage and interest him, as do the curves of a healthy female body, the pure dance of mathematics, acts of genuine kindness and bravery, and the lyrical composition of well-written and evocative poetry and prose.  But it is not all sunshine and orchids, because with Jason beauty is truth, and truth is beauty.

A snake preparing to strike is beautiful.  A wildfire raging and consuming all before it is beautiful.  A tiger stalking prey is beautiful.  Tropical storms are beautiful.  Life or death struggle is beautiful.  Because all of these things are as True as sunrises and Brahms.  Jason, lacking the conventional drive of morality as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘good’ and ‘bad’, has instead formulated a ‘morality of aesthetics’.  The beautiful and the True has more worth to him than social accepted norms or signalled virtue.

Conversely the perversion of natural beauty, inelegant and small-minded thinking, cruelty towards those not one’s enemies - for its own sake, without some higher rational purpose behind it - all disgust him to varying degrees.

• Example:  The Dark twists and perverts natural life, as well as the minds of those it touches.  Even if Jason did not feel the wrongness of it intuitively as a Psion, he would still regard the Dark and it’s works as disgusting, a threat to the concept of beauty.  If the Dark ever triumphs in its mindless quest to consume All That Is, there will be no more beauty to be found:  all that is True in the cosmos will become twisted.

 

Autonomy -

Autonomy is, for Jason Bannon, a base state of existence.  He is his own star, and sees by his own light.  He needs no-one’s approval or, most of the time, assistance when it comes to living his life or achieving his goals.  He has no innate respect for those older than him: whether a parent or teacher, sheriff or Project Director, perceived authority means nothing to him compared to demonstrated common sense, merit or ability.  When he does let someone else influence his course, it is a rare honour indeed - most likely because that person applied logic and reasoned with him rather than simply expecting compliance.

After years of flying below the radar, the advent of his powers and physical maturity, as well as the dominance instinct of his race, are reinforcing this sense of autonomy.  Attempts to browbeat or bully him will be met with cool disdain and, if the confrontation escalates to the laying on of hands, sudden and painful reminders of why that is a bad idea.  Non inultus premor - “I cannot be touched unavenged.” - is Jason’s new motto.

• Example:  Jason is taken aback by how his friends seem so dependent on their own families or society at large, to the point of allowing their parents to take away their agency or belittle them.  Whilst he loves and respects his father, he does not consider himself subject to him in any fashion, and would not tolerate any parental interference with his life.  Whereas a normal teen might complain about the unfairness of a grounding but comply, Jason would simply ignore the punishment.   

 

Friendship (The Pride)-

Closely related to, but distinct from his valuing of Loyalty, the wellbeing of those he chooses to call friend is of high importance to Jase.  This includes their mental and emotional wellbeing as well as their physical, as he has learned that humans are not perhaps as emotionally stoic and resilient as his own species, but if forced to choose he will put the physical health and autonomy of action of his Pride over other considerations.  This can lead to chilling results at times, as Jason is perfectly capable of committing almost any act to ensure that his Pride is safe - or to avenge them if they are harmed.  This can also extend to driving away (or potentially even removing) individuals who weaken or damage the efforts of his Pride.

He will also nudge or push members of his Pride to improve themselves, whether through goading Autumn with the prospect of driving the Charger whilst he rides in the passenger seat, helping Devin with algebra, or chiding Sean for his lack of physical activity.

This umbrella of concern and protection extends to a lesser degree to family and friends of his Pride (the Clan), and is intensified still further with those to whom he is closest: his father, Hank, Sean and Autumn, for instance.

• Example:  Jason will act to save Sean from serious physical harm, whether at the hands of bullies or from a creature of the Dark, but would not lift a finger to help his friend lift his bike into the flatbed of Lily’s truck in Episode 1.  He strikes a balance between looking out for someone and fighting battles he judges they are capable of fighting themselves, but will always watch his friends backs.

 

Loyalty -

Jase puts loyalty ahead of most other social considerations, partly due to his Teulu instinct to form a Pride.  Though he doesn’t understand that instinct consciously yet, he is ferociously loyal to his Pride, and to a lesser degree those he perceives as allies to it.  They can call on his aid should they need it, and he will trust them to have his back until such time as they demonstrate otherwise.

However, the flipside is that he is disgusted by the disloyal, and will seldom forgive or trust someone who exhibits such a trait, like Sophia turning on Sean when she found out he was different.  He decides who is his Pride and who is not by a simple criterion: if you’re not his friend, he’s not yours.  He also doesn't tend to care about, trust or feel any obligation to treat fairly anyone outside the Pride or their immediate relatives, and will take any hostile actions against his friends personally.  

He is a strong believer in reciprocity - those who deal fairly by him are dealt with fairly in turn.  Show him openness. kindness and courtesy, he will repay it, show him hostility and he will remember, do him injury and he will retaliate.

• Example:  Cody, Chet and Todd were menacing Cora.  Liam Day attacked Lona with the intention of sexually assaulting her.  For Jason, both girls were technically part of his ‘Pride’ and so these actions were unacceptable, and met with vicious retaliation that shocked and worried even his friends.  On the other hand, Sean and his family early on accepted Jason despite his oddness, and have been nothing but kind to him.  As a result, he regards them with almost the same level of affection and loyalty he possesses for his father.

Wisdom -

Learning for the satisfaction of learning.  Jason values experiences and knowledge deeply, and for him there is little in the realm of knowledge that is useless or irrelevant.  Whether it is languages or physics, poetry or chemistry, botany or mechanical engineering, Jason’s mind is a dragon’s hoard to which he adds constantly, greedy for more, never satisfied to sit on his laurels and always seeking the next bit of learning to absorb.  He respects those who seek to learn, to grow their own understanding regardless of topic, and will even readily lend his aid to such endeavours.

The flipside of this is that Jason disapproves of ignorance.  Those who refuse to learn, those who allow emotional concerns to override facts, evidence and logic to the point of ignoring them completely, even those of a scholarly bent who don’t seek to expand or evolve their understanding tend to attract his disdain.  The universe is there to be understood, in all it’s beauty and daunting size.

• Example: Jason is the quintessential polymath.  There is little in the field of intellectual endeavour he cannot turn his mind to, aided by a mind that parses, stores and retrieves data with a speed that rivals a computer.  He can learn a language in a week, recite poetry in Russian or French or Italian, perform advanced calculus on the fly, code to a high standard, create exquisite perfumes or repair a car engine.  He never stops learning, his mind is always busy with something - several somethings, usually.  He doesn’t just absorb facts: he analyses, breaks down, reassembles and comprehends them from all angles.

 

Other Values

 

Achievement

Bannon treasures his personal achievements.  Whether it is learning a language, mastering a tricky chemical formula, training in combat skills with Hank or learning to ‘people’ well, reaching his goals provides the young man with a deep sense of personal satisfaction - which will persist even as he begins looking for a new mountain to climb.  The journey (Wisdom) is more important than the goal (Achievement), but the goal is still a major reason Jase does what he does.

Challenge

There is a reason Jason enjoys physical activity, hiking, swimming, running and training his body and reflexes.  For him, such things come no more easily than they do for anyone else.  Likewise with practicing his cognitive empathy skills - it is a point of pride for Jason that he can now rudimentarily understand the emotionally-driven thought processes of his friends, given his incredible disadvantage in the area.  More intellectual challenges, though easier for him, still attract his attention.

Jason enjoys challenges, partly out of a sense of dominance and pride that refuses to allow him to quit, partly for the thrill of achievement when he beats the challenge.  Whilst he’s not a fool about it, it is a struggle for him to turn down an honest challenge to his abilities.

Pleasure

Good food, fine coffee, comfortable clothing.  The feel of heated kisses on his lips, the scent of warm earth and blooming flowers.  Jason values life’s pleasures as well as it’s experiences - often seeing little difference between the two.  Even the pleasure of achieving some difficult goal is a motivator for him.  Whilst he won’t abandon more important tasks to chase pleasure, in a quiet moment he is not above sneaking away with Autumn to make out in a closet, or sitting quietly with a fragrant smoke and a cup of good coffee.

Power (Dominance)

Almost more of a primal drive than a value, Jason does not take well to being subject to others, and indeed tends to instinctively see himself as superior to most.  While he will agree to work and cooperate with individuals and groups, he never considers himself to be the underling in such arrangements.  Attempts to force or impress that role upon him will trigger unfortunate results.  He is aware enough of this facet of his personality that he works to keep it leashed, but it can still leak out now and then.

As he reaches full maturity now, this instinct will become more pronounced and noticeable.  Within the framework of his Pride he is more than happy to allow give and take, putting the cohesion and good of the whole over his dominance drive.  When dealing with those outside his circle, however, when there is a conflict, whether of words and ideas or of physical violence, he has few compunctions in finding out which party is the superior.  

Time Freedom

Jase considers it important to have time - for his private studies, for his projects, for his friends, and for his girlfriend.  As such, he is unlikely to get involved with many extracurricular activities unless they serve as spending time in one of the aforementioned ways.  He vaguely resents the mandatory attendance of lessons from which he gains nothing, and in prior years considered the school social scene as unworthy of his time or energy.  This year is proving to be a little different - dating will do that to a guy - but having the flexibility and freedom to pursue his own interests is still important to Jase.

[Cassandra Allen]

 

Core Values

• Knowledge: More than anything, the drive that animates Cassandra is the drive to know. This is less about scientific pursuits, though those are of interest as well...it's much more about knowing what is happening here and now, and why. She wants to know about people, what they're doing, what effect it's having. What is being hidden, and who from. It is fueled by a bottomless curiosity, and a childhood in which she was surrounded by secrets that she could only intuit the existence of, without understanding what to ask or how to find out.
  • Pro: This motivates Cassandra, and she is at her best when motivated. She can be clever, resourceful and courageous in the pursuit of information, and she is genuinely earnest in her desire to share what she learns.
  • Con: While Cassie isn't blind to the fact that making things public can have negative consequences, she is prone to downplaying those risks. Similarly, though she tries to respect privacy and act ethically, there are times the drive to know and learn overrides other concerns.

• Integrity: Secrets sit poorly with Cassie. While she acknowledges that there can be legitimate reasons not to share private information with the public, she tends to draw a thick line between 'private' info...information of a personal nature about a specific individual...and other kinds of information. Knowledge means nothing if it's hoarded. She sees a strong connection between a variety of social ills and the lack of good, accurate and relevant information...be it willful or otherwise. Cassie also believes that most basic human right start with the right to know things, even if it's just what one's rights are. It all starts with that.
  • Pro: She understands on a gut level how conflicts of interest, motivated reasoning and confirmation bias can taint conclusions and make it worse than useless. While recognizing she has her own biases and opinions, Cassandra wants to at least start from an impartial place, and then build off of that...and to do so in a transparent way that doesn't substitute her opinions for facts.
  • Con: For all her good intentions, Cassandra doesn't really know how the sausage is made, so to speak... The tension between having a truth to be told and needing a sufficiently loud voice to tell it is still lost on her. She has a lot of hard lessons to learn, and holding onto her values won't be nearly as easy as she thinks.

• Excitement: What she does NOT want is to sit behind a computer, Googling things. Or to be in a lab, endlessly iterating experimental trials. The truth is out there! There in the world! You find it schmoozing with lowlifes and high society, or riffling through files in locked cabinets, or stealing photographs of restricted areas. Cassie doesn't want to read about things other people discover; she wants to be the one doing the discovering!
  • Pro: This does mean she is less prone to succumb to intellectual laziness, substituting the work and thoughts of others for her own work and thoughts. It encourages fostering a wide base of skills and competence that will serve in a range of situations.
  • Con: It is based on the simplistic, naive understanding of the world that only a teenager can have. Not just an implicit assumption that this kind of high-risk activity won't lead to problems, but that self-reliance won't close doors to her, or force her to make hard choices between leads to follow up on, since she can only be one place at a time.

• Pleasure: ...and she wants to have fun doing it! Cassie has come to understand the value of work, and realizes that sometimes it's going to grind or hurt...but she still wants it to be entertaining on the balance. Even if that means working some side activities in along the way. A party here, a bit of bar hopping there, Cassandra will always find SOME way to enjoy what she's doing. The last thing she wants to be is some joyless husk, going through the motions because the only alternative is to dry up and die.
  • Pro: Without even meaning to, Cassandra already is pursuing a functional work/life balance. This could mean she avoids burning out, or neglecting her own mental and emotional well-being in pursuit of her goals.
  • Con: There's no other value more likely to put her in conflict with her other values...this was in fact something she overcame in herself to gain the motivation and drive to take action in the first place. Indulging this value will always run the danger of enticing her to be complacent, or sacrifice other goals.

• Family happiness: On a purely personal level, Cassandra wants her family back. When her dad was taken both she and her mother were devastated, and still haven't recovered. Rather than pull them together, it broke them apart...and the pain of that is a constant ache that she's had to learn to live with, but can't be rid of. This is the personal tragedy that underlies so much of what she has become now, and resolving it is something she would willingly sacrifice a great deal to accomplish.
  • Pro: With the victory over the Dark over, this is now her immediate goal and passion. This challenge will be where she learns to truly spread her wings and discover her own potential. Moving forward from there, her devotion to her family is the result of, and creates, a strong support network that she will be needing throughout her career.
  • Con: More than anything in her life, this runs the risk of becoming an obsession. It is intensely emotional and confirms some of her worst impulses of conspiracy-mindedness and paranoia. She will follow this no matter how deep, or how dirty, the rabbit hole gets...and what she discovers could influence her beliefs and actions for her whole life.

Other Values

• Achievement: Cassandra wants to have an impact. What this means she's still pretty nebulous on, but she wants it to be big. Something that affects the whole country, or maybe even the whole world! The kind of thing you read about in school, back when things were still being discovered. That doesn't mean she won't 'waste time' on smaller stories, but she'll always be chasing that elusive bombshell that will change how people see the world forever.

• Recognition: And she wants people to know it was her that found it. That's ego; she knows it is...but can you ever really separate truth from the teller? If she's the one that breaks the story, then she's part of the story right? It's not even about fame, or money or any of that...she just wants to know that people know that she's the one that did it, and what that means.

• Help others: The truth can heal, it can set people free. That's what Cassandra hopes to harness. Not just 'gossiping' or using salacious bits of true stories as weapons or to bring people down. If she must hurt with her words, let it be for the sake of justice...and let it help more than it hurts. And there's power in sharing knowing...people who's tragic story is told might find help in unexpected quarters, or a family might find closure for a loss they never understood.

• Help society:  More than just helping individuals or communities, Cassandra believes that sharing some kinds of information has the potential to transform nations or even the world. Say, when the research showing links between smoking and lung cancer went public. Documenting the moon landings. 'The Jungle' from Sinclair, or the Watergate tapes. Stories that turned the world upside down, and made everyone re-examine what they believed, for the better.

• Friendship: But the real truth is the friends she made along the way... No, but really, Cassie is social creature. She knows that she'll be making enemies, but she really wants to make friends. People she knows she can rely on, people who can give her a social bedrock to stand on. Friends she can count on to tell her the truth about herself, that she might otherwise be blind to. Friends who can tell her when she's got it wrong, and give her support to get it right. She knows she can't do it alone, and would never want to try to.

[Cade]

Core Values

Achievement- Cade sets goals for himself, and actively pursues them, working to achieve them.  He recognizes them as mile-markers on the journey of life.   Simply reaching one goal isn't the end, but just one more accomplishment on his journey.  He knows what he wants to do, who he wants to be, and moves forward towards this.

• Conflict- Cade values his friends highly. To the point he'd forgo the pursuit of a personal goal to help them in a time of need.  While openly he'd not claim to regret it, a part of him would.  Sometimes Cade gets too focused on his goals, and his relationships with others suffer.

Challenge- If things are always easy, then one cannot grow.   Despite being largely physically superior to most people his age, Cade still trains himself. Well aware that that there's always someone better, he seeks to rise to that challenge, to give his all.  Competing against the strong may not always lead to victory, but it leads to growth, if only by identifying areas where he's weak.

• Conflict- Cade doesn't think everything should be difficult.   It's good to rise to a challenge, but at times even he just wants to be able to do something effortlessly.  He gets quite annoyed when he fails to do something that he feels he should be able to do with ease.  I expect taking up football will bring in some conflict here, as it's different than the other sports he plays.

Friendship-Outside his family, Cade's friends are the most important people in his life.   The Fellowship in particular are all very special to him, and he would help any of them however he could if asked.   Seeing some of them move away, he understands, but hopes they can maintain the bonds they have.  He values the time they share, and the memories they've made together.

• Conflict-  Sometimes friends do things that can be a burden.   The Bag of Horrors is still in Cade's closet.  He can't bring himself to get rid of it since it was a gift, the last one, he got from Lona.  

Integrity-  Cade is loyal.  Not just to his friends and family but to his word as well. The fact he's not a gifted liar is perhaps part of this, but Cade believes he should stand by what he does, by what he actually says, and by those who stand by him.   This doesn't prevent him  from airing issues, or grievances, but even after doing so, Cade isn't likely to go back on what he's said.

• Conflict- His relationship with Marissa is a test of his Integrity, not just because she's asking him to help her deceive a friend, but also because he's hiding his own feelings in this. He is trying to be a good friend to Jason, and to Marissa, who are  rocky terms, as far as he knows. His harsh judgement of Ian when he thought he was having an affair was a reflection of how angry it made him that his father would violate his Mother's trust like that.  This also tends to reflect in Cade being rather stubborn regarding what he believes.
   

Recognition-  It's good to know what you do is appreciated.    Cade wants to make people proud, not just of him, but of his town, and state.   While he has been the recipient of some appreciation, at the core of the matter lies a desire to make his parents proud.   Despite a rocky relationship with his father, he values Ian taking Pride in what he's done quite highly.   Mr. Bancroft's opinion of him also matters highly.  

• Conflict-  While naturally a team player, Cade has a competitive side.   He likes to win, to be seen as a winner.   He wants to be acknowledged in his own right, to achieve things on his own, not just as part of a team.  He can be selfish in this regard, driving himself to excel to his limits, and not caring so much how it makes others look by comparison.

Other Values

Leisure- With so much going on, it's hard to find time to do just enjoy the things Cade likes to do.   This is however something he's reluctant to forgo.   Life can't just be about striving for the next goal, for approval.   Life is meant to be enjoyed, and while he enjoys the sports he pursues, Cade doesn't want to lose the fun times he spends with the fellowship.   While they don't share his love of nature, he still routinely offers to take any who wish to go along.    Fishing is Cade's true leisure activity of choice, the one that relaxes him the most.o 

• Conflict-  While Cade loves playing sports, It eats a huge amount of his time to participate in them all, leaving him little time for a true social life.   He isn't as available to do things with the Fellowship, and combined with his work for Mr. Bancroft, his days are all busy, and full for the most part.   He's already coming to realize he may have to give something up, to maintain the others.
   

Health-  Cade is almost religious about staying physically fit.   He routinely works out and engages in physical activity to strengthen and maintain himself.   He takes time to do things to renew his focus.

• Conflict- Cade is a voracious eater.  He has a large appetite, and isn't all that concerned about what he eats.   He loves a wide variety of junkfood, though after eating alot, he often feels the need to burn it off.   The most recent events are testing his mind.   Not in terms of intelligence, but mental health.  He doesn't really understand how he can see what he has, do what he has, and just remain calm.  The fact he shot Cody fully with the intent to kill him isn't lost on him, and will bother him for awhile. 

Inner Harmony- Cade knows who he is, and who he strives to be.   They aren't the same person, yet, but each day sees him step closer to the man he wants to be.  He isn't seeking to change to because he feels forced, but more because he sees it as a natural thing.

• Conflict- Being forced to do something against his character, like outright lying to his friends or family, those go against who he is, and who he wants to be.   It bothers him, and makes him irritable adding stress and doubt about his choices.

Help Others- Cade is definitely cut from boy scout cloth.  He believes it to be right  and a duty to help others when they ask, within reason.   It makes him happy to be able to help someone.

• Conflict- Sometimes you have to tell someone no.  There are things Cade feels he just can't help with.  while the guilt for saying no is lessened when he knows he can't do what's asked when he's asked, he feels a greater guilt over agreeing to help, and failing at it.
   

Cooperation - Cade loves working with others.   Striving alone is called for against some things, but there are some things that call for more.   The thrill of succeeding alongside others is greater for Cade than a personal triumph, as many smaller triumphs for many people are better than a singular one.

• Conflict-  Being part of a team is great, but Cade doesn't just want to be dead weight.   In most of his other pursuits he doesn't feel that he is, but with the way things are going with the Fellowship, he fights feelings of inadequacy and even jealousy over the the abilities of the others, versus his own.  They can do things that he thinks are so special, while his own seem somewhat mundane, and even lacking by comparison.  He worries that as more time passes, they'll grow stronger, far beyond anything he has any hope of keeping up with.  
   

[Jaunt]

Adventure: “I don’t know, you know?  I can’t live like Sean.  I can’t spend my life in imaginary worlds when I have this one, right here to explore with like, unlimited experience credits or whatever they’re always trying to collect.  South Island, New Zealand.  Paris.  Bora-freaking-Bora!  You ever seen that place?  Holy crap!  To me there has always been something alluring about the forbidden and exotic.  I’m a ‘why’ guy.  When I see a closed door, I always ask myself ‘what’s on the other side’?  Don’t even get me started on if it’s locked.  That simple example sums up a constant internal drive I have to just be in the middle of things where all the interesting stuff is happening.  From climbing a mountain – okay, I don’t actually have to climb anymore, but you get it – to celebrating holidays around the world to even trying to sneak into Site B, bruh if it keeps me moving, I’m down.  Life is too short to pass up the chance to get out here and see everything, do everything and be a part of every little or big thing you can, right?”

• Assessment: Jaunstsen, D. (heretofore referred to as Subject JAUNT), possesses an intrinsic desire to, as he put it, ‘be in motion and stay that way’.  With his unique powers (teleportation, see reference b.) Subject JAUNT appears to entertain a constant desire to be on or in the middle of some manner of ‘adventure’ where he seeks to keep his attention span engaged.  It is possible he has minor Attention Deficit Disorder.  Recommend: full medical and psychological screening.  In the meantime, engage him with anything that will hold his interests, such as travel, or ‘secret’ assignments and he should be manageable.

Autonomy: “Dude, like… I like people, I do, but there’s just something about being alone.  (I) Felt alone my whole life, so I guess I just don’t think about needing other people.  Woke up, did what I had to do, watched our parents go do their things and leave us in the hands of a nanny, which was cool, I guess.  We had this one (nanny), Debra, who was so hot.  She got fired for getting freaky in the hot tub after hours.  There was so much yelling, but I got to see her naked though, so that was cool.  But, yeah, (Subject TEASE) and I have been doing things for ourselves for so long, that we just feel like it’s our default setting.  We’re just doing our thing waiting for the people in this chapter to fade away.  It’s what people do: they show up for a while, make you happy, talk about forever… but there’s no such thing.  Y’gotta be ready to take care of yourself, y’know?”

• Assessment: Obvious obsession with women (see notes, too many references to list) aside, Subject JAUNT exhibits signs of a deep desire for autonomy yet can’t do so without including the importance of his twin sister, Marissa (refer to, Subject TEASE [Analyst Comment: Who came up with these objective names?]).  Despite bracing for the end of attachments Subject JAUNT obviously ears for and craves attachment, consistently placing himself in a position for emotional vulnerability, even though he has no faith in the permanency of such relationships.  His sister, Subject TEASE, is the key to securing Subject JAUNT's order and discipline.  Recommendation: Interview with Subject TEASE.

Excitement: “I’ve always been addicted to that high that comes with streaking down the road on my motorcycle.  You are aware that when I’m not traveling to other dimensions and battling demons, I’m curb stomping para-military security forces, right?   See, you’ve never used my powers; you’ve never felt your mind in connection with everything around you and then?  You do the impossible.  Dodging bullets, streaking through intervening space so fast that we don’t even have a number that high, so we call it ‘instantaneous’.  The beat of the heart, the anxiety and tension of the moment… and the adrenaline?  Oh, god, girl, you don’t even know and I’m sorry that you never will.  I can totally see why Taggart’s dudes love what they do, are addicted, and often go to therapy for it.  As soon as we go hot, I go from six to midnight.  Plus, have you ever had sex after almost getting eaten by an otherworldly demonic vagina worm?  It’s… primo, I’m telling you.  I’m pretty sure I need this in my life, I’ve found my niche.  Y’know?”

• Assessment: So much to unpack here.  From a strictly 30,000-foot view, Subject JAUNT is an adrenaline junkie and displays borderline traits common to those who’ve found themselves in numerous violent skirmishes and can dissociate themselves from the value of their own life or the lives of others (Analyst Comment: Possible PTSD).  This further backs up the assessment that Subject JAUNT requires a full psychological screening.

Inner Harmony: “I’m a dick.  I’ve always been angry at the world, my parents, everyone around me, I guess.  I’m not really sure the reason why, I guess it’s because I’ve felt it’s not fair that other people have gotten to live their lives normally while I’ve been a prisoner in my own upbringing.  Practices, auditions, acting gigs, more practice.  There was no time for me or [Subject TEASE] to ever just be ourselves, you know?  We got bullied really hard at home and that just made me angrier I suppose.  When we moved, we thought we’d get back at everyone and be the predators instead of the prey, but that never really sat well with me either.  Still, I went along with it until I just couldn’t anymore.  Ever since, something has just felt out of balance, I guess?  I don’t wanna be ‘that guy’ anymore, but I’m still so pissed.  Hmm?  That’s just it… I don’t know.  A friend once told me: ‘[Subject JAUNT] if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.’  I feel like that’s my everyday now, I’ve no clue where I’m going, so… I suppose it doesn’t matter as long as I’m here, right?  Walk any road long enough and it has to lead somewhere, that me: always walking and hoping to see that souvenir shop that’ll make the whole journey worth it.  That thing that’ll balance me.”

• Assessment: Subject JAUNT only seemed to appear lucid and focused during this portion of the session where he reflected on the sort of person he felt he was now, compared to the destination of the person he’s trying to become.  Unsurprising, like most teenagers around his age, he’s found himself in a conflict of self as he searches for an identity.  This is common as the brain develops and we stop acting from our emotion center and begin relying more on our logic centers, which fully develop in most adults somewhere in their early to mid-twenties.  This was also the only portion of the session where Subject JAUNT did not directly attempt to seduce [SESSION LEAD].

Pleasure: “I mean… work hard, play hard right?  The workouts, the movie nights, the traveling all over the world… it what makes all the madness in life worth it in the end, right?  You can't do this everyday and not expect to, at some point, take some time for yourself and unwind?  Hiking, food, snowboarding, chilling with the Fellowship… man, that’s what life is about.  We’re not here for a long time so we might as well have a good time, right?  Bali, Tahiti… you ever been?  No?  Shame, they’re are gorgeous.  Hey, uh… what’re you doing this weekend?  Why is always my age you ladies bring up first?  I don’t see a ring on your finger.  I mean, those places don’t have the same laws, we do here, and I wouldn’t tell if you didn’t.  But, hey, it’s cool, I get it.  If you change your mind, let me know.  You, me, this weekend, could be awesome.”

• Assessment: Subject JAUNT possessed more neurosis than can be detailed within the scope of this project and his forms of decompression and relaxation seem mostly involving spending time with his friends and try to sleep with any woman he finds attractive.  It is the opinion of this Analyst that Devin could not function without this down time and a lack of decompression in high stress, high tempo operations would result in his insubordination or violation of good order and discipline in order to seek it out.  While that’s not necessarily a destructive behavior, it does leave him open for possible poor decisions or manipulation form internal or external operatives.

Follow-up Secondary Core Values associated with Subject JAUNT: Challenge, Cooperation, Friendship, Health, Leisure, Recognition, Time Freedom, Wisdom

---===[Tear Line]===---

To: Garret Q.

From: Katie F.

Subject: Subject JAUNT

Garret,

You’ll find the Subject JAUNT session material is attached.  The guy means well, but like most his age he’s a mess of emotions and he’s overwhelmed by the world at large.  He has a ton of issues, but I think his intrinsic measure of personal pride and desire to defend ‘us’ and the world at large don’t make him any major security risk.  That said I recommend a full psychological evaluation.  We did three polygraphs, and he passed the first, failed the second and the third using all the same questions.  The kid knows how to lie, the machine didn’t even register so much clammy hand when he said his name was Seventy-two.  He’s either sociopathic, pathological, or honestly believes his name is Seventy-two.

-Kait F.
Discloser Liaison, DIA (Intern)

P.S. Thank you again for approving my leave on such notice.  Something came out of nowhere and I need to handle it.  Should only take the weekend, see you Monday!

[Catherine 'Kat' Barras]

Most of this exercise felt a tad hard, and I struggled to see these values as something else than an intricate mess impossible to decrypt. It felt like I was back in Junior Year for the French exams of my bachelor's degree. Anyway, here's my take.

Core Values

Here's what I referred to. Those first three 'A's are core to Kat, and I feel like they work very well together. Which makes it harder to me to explain them without doing a sort of back and forth between them.

Achievement, Aesthetic and Autonomy

For convenience's sake, we'll call them Ach, Aes and Aut. That last one does sound Latin. Those three also work well with a fourth, not as important value, and it took me a good minute to decide if I wanted that fourth one in bold or not. I decided not to, else this whole exercise would've become impossible to write for me, and impossible for you to understand.

• Ach: Despite her mostly obvious condition, her ADHD, and despite her not necessarily being a hard worker, Kat's sense of Ach is very important to her. She does not appreciate half-assed work at all. Be it hers, it would make her feel bad about herself. Be it someone else's, it would make her twitch. One could call it perfectionism, with its upsides and downsides. She's actually grateful for the training session that happened at Bannon's farm. It gave her the means to appreciate her capacities as a psion, would she be to simply try! This also influences her perception of Aes and Aut. More on that after I make it look like I tried to organize this... thing.

 

• Aes: Kat is bound to seek and marvel at Nature's beauty, this is perhaps the central concept around which I imagined the character to begin with. This, is what I somehow try to get to with her ADHD, even if I'm doing so subtly - which is another way of saying I'm not really good at it. The Ride sidefiction with Courtney contains what qualifies as my attempt to show this. Looking back, I feel like it was clumsy -eh, spoiler thingie was right after all- but I don't necessarily regret it. Gotta start somewhere. When the human brain receives an overload of information it struggles to decrypt, to understand, it'll take a shortcut and say "Oh well, I understand it this way, deal with it". That's the beauty of recreational drugs. I'm not saying you should do drugs. I'm saying that, for Kat, there's a definite upside to them, even if she struggles to, or won't, put it into words. It gives her another way to see the world around her. A fantastic way to her.

 

• Aut: Kat likes to do things her way. It feels more Authentic (see what I did there?). That's all I have to say on that value, really, because most of its applications revolve around Ach and Aes. And, to be honest with myself, all the other values too. Maybe I can develop a tiny bit here. When Kat entered her teens and started not so much growing up as other teens would, she was sort of left alone. Everyone was changing around her, and she might have felt excluded from this huge thing in life. Apart from a couple friends, Alice and Erwann, Kat spent her teens mostly alone, her father only visiting a couple times a year, and learned to do things by herself rather than relying too much on others.

What is Art? The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. That's something I found on Google. While it somewhat rings with my own definition, I like to go deeper. Nowadays, a large portion of thinking individuals called humans consider Art as something with a value, that value being currency. Call it dollars, euros, rubles, whatever. When Art is so much more than a pile of expensive pigments, or rocks, or shit thrown onto a canvas. Art is all about an individual giving shape to their vision, appreciation of what they see as beautiful. It does not necessarily need to be shared to others to still be Art. In my book, making Art is an art itself, one does not simply throw shit onto a canvas and call it Art. Else I'd be stomping over Art all day on Paris' sidewalks. Art requires effort, reflexion, sometimes even, pain and suffering. It requires one to ask themselves questions, because that is how we humans put things in perspective, how we assess the value of something, a value foreign to any form of currency. That value is how much a thing matters to us, and it is hardly quantified in any way. It can be the work of one, or several individuals. Music is a good example. Mozart was but one man. Muse is a band composed of three men. Both Mozart and Muse were/are artists. Both put some time and effort into their music.

Why this long ass paragraph? Simply because I see Kat as an artist. I want her to be.

I wanted you to understand my own way of seeing Art. And how much work there is to me behind a three letters word.

Ach and Aut are important values in life when you want to get things done. The former gives you the tools, the latter gives you the drive. This applies to Kat. It is the reason why she's not shutting herself in completely. As long as she relies on the tools and the drive she's got, whatever she wants to do, she will do it, or at least try to. And Aes benefits from it a lot.

Although as for all things, there is a catch. Kat is a fast learner and has a very good memory. Which is why she sees no point in reading the same book twice. Doing so would achieve nothing to her. On the short-term, she might be right. But knowledge left alone for too long tends to be forgotten if not called upon regularly, that is the way the human brains work. Kat has yet to experience the displeasure of this truth first-hand. But one day she will. And she will be left with no other choice than to ask for help/open that book she decided not to read again, ever.

 

 

Integrity

I see Kat as a sincere, honest person, blunt even, sometimes. "Filters" does not appear in her dictionnary. "Tact" does, but using this thing won't get her into Valhalla. If someone asks her opinion about something, she'll flatly reply what she thinks of this something. It doesn't mean she won't care about how what she said will affect the person who asked her, but she would rather tell them than lie to them. I sort of failed to really illustrate that well in Ep. VI, when comes the time to explain Tessa what happened during Labor Day, but I think this line sums it up decently: "But it wasn't so much lying as telling a half-truth, was it?"

You can laugh about anything, just not with anyone. I feel like it works the same way with being sincere. Sometimes the truth hurts. But lies can do so much more damage. This is Kat's way of seeing the big picture: "Better to hurt you with the truth than to make the truth hurt you more once you understand I lied."

 

Pleasure

Of course, everybody likes to enjoy themselves. Even masochistic people. Because they get some fun out of something that hurts. Kat especially, likes to have fun, and if she has to do something unpleasant, she will try and find a way of having some fun with it. However in some cases, there is nothing you can do about the unpleasantness. Labor Day was a terrible day for her. First, because there's "Labor" in it. Second, because a lot of unfun things happened. But when she thought about what needed to be done, it did need to be done, because otherwise a lot more of unfun things would have happened. That day, she was a hero to her own desire to make her own life enjoyable.

You might think I seriously thought about this stuff, but if I did there would've been no fun in it. No thought process behind it, I'm just rolling with it. Enjoyment is not something we should think about. We should experience it. Feel it. Enjoyment is about living a moment to its fullest. Once again, I feel like The Ride sidefiction with Courtney makes a good example. What is it about? Two girls having some fun, and they do it damn well. And there really is nothing more to enjoyment.

 

Other Values

 

Leisure

At the moment, the main part of Kat's life revolves around school, and as I've explained earlier in this post -I hope I did well enough- Kat does not like to drag on the process of learning. And school does just that. For good reasons of course, ensuring you definitely have learned something for good and will be able to use it later in your life being one. But Kat would really like to use time she sees as wasted to do something else. Something fun. Like watching those squirrels fool around in the foliage just outside of the classroom. Playing some music. Video games. Painting. Asking Courtney what she's doing with the panties she's not wearing at the moment.

She's like most kids around her age. School is a drag. Why'd they have to put her in Junior anyway? She should be in Senior Year. This is even worse.

 

Time freedom

A value that goes hand in hand with Leisure. Kat is mostly dissatisfied with the lack of control she has on her life right now. The time she spends in school spreads out on a huge part of her day, and she doesn't get to do as much of what she likes to do as she wants to. She doesn't really know what she wants to do with her life after school, but one thing she knows for sure is that it needs to give her that ability to control the time she spends during each day, doing things. To stop wasting time. I haven't got much else to say on that.

 

Friendship

Friends are important. Being by yourself isn't fun sometimes. Friends can be a reliable source of fun, and it goes both ways. Friends make life a lot more enjoyable, and Kat sees that. I already feel like I've said enough, but I have to develop or this will feel incomplete two days later when I read it again. Having friends is about more than just having fun. Being friends with someone is making the choice to share a part of your life, however small it may be, with them. And that part contains an equal measure of good and bad things, fun and unfun, joyful and sad, simple and complicated. Friends make our great moments in life greater, and they help lessen the burden of the worse ones. Alice was that friend to Kat, and Kat was that friend to Alice, though I haven't really had, or created, any occasion to show that.

And again, it goes both ways. I might make it sound like everyone is selfish, but keeping a good relationship with friends ensures they won't let you down. And that is why not letting your friends down is so important. Human beings thrive in society, and sometimes, alone, we're not able to do much in our lives. That is why our friends are here for us, and why we're here for them. Because otherwise life sucks, for everyone.

 

Creativity

A value I struggled with at first. Should I put it with the core ones? Should I not? Here it is. If Kat cannot really figure out how to deal with her ADHD, she can at least capitalize on one of its upsides: brainstorming is easier. Or not. Kat being an artist meant, to me, that this value had to make it into this post. Of course, artists can struggle to come up with ideas, but it does not necessarily mean they don't value the ability to come up with ideas, and there lies the difference. Innovation does not need to come from oneself, you can always ask a friend for some help if you're really having a hard time with something. If you really value creativity, you appreciate it in everyone, not just yourself. Do you now understand what I meant by 'intricate mess impossible to decrypt'? Here goes Friendship.

 

Knowledge

Kat is naturally curious, and -thank you Vivi!- curiosity is an expression of a desire for knowledge. I completely forgot where, but I did mention Kat owning anatomy books for example, not in any way because she pursues a medical career, only because it piqued her interest, to know how the human body works. Also helps with drawing/painting human beings, to be fair. Another example would be when she asked Sean some help to build her gaming PC. You can be certain she memorized everything that was explained to her, will cross-reference it, and expand her knowledge of computers based on that. Because she peered into something new to her and wants to know MOAR about it.

This is also where her ADHD kicks in. Distractions are not so harmless when they make you want to expand your knowledge on everything. We only have one life to do things with and Kat struggles not to get lost in the middle of all these interesting things she would need several lives to learn all at once. Distractions also make it harder to focus on that one book you're reading, that has a lot of interesting stuff in it, but at the same time she should really watch that bird building a nest in the tree before it flies away.

[Sean Cassidy]

Core Values

• Achievement: When Sean really sets out to make something, he wants it to have an impact, whether personal, or on a grander scale. From something as simple as the satisfaction of putting together a well working drone or helping his dad on improving the Barn, to seeing his players engrossed and having fun during a gaming session, to having a video game being well received, both in acclaim and with sales. Creativity is the process, Achievement is one of the measures of how successful the process is. Failure is something to learn from, to push towards future success.

 

• Autonomy: Sean has his pride. The middle child often left to his own devices, and an outsider at school - at least initially - Sean learned to rely on himself. If he really needs help, he'll ask for it, but can't help be affronted or irritated when others just assume he needs help with something he can do himself, even if its something he might struggle with, such as when Lilly went to put his bike in the back of her pick-up. He prefers having control on anything he's working on, so that he doesn't have to worry about others making a mistake that he has to fix. This lends itself to taking effort to delegate even if doing so would be for the betterment of all. Psionic powers make a massive difference, but his video games could be even better if he'd been willing to seek out more help.

 

• Creativity: Sean takes great comfort and enjoyment in building things, creating things. Programming a video game, writing a role-playing game campaign, making art and music for his games, building a drone or sweet gaming PC, putting together a spectacular Halloween costume, baking a new pastry, and more, he immerses himself in turning his ideas into reality, most for his own interests and amusement, partially as a means of escapism from his personal issues and problems. And if other have fun, that is a very awesome bonus. However, Sean can get lost focusing on his creative pursuits to the detriment of more pressing concerns, such as group training for an encounter with an entity of primeval darkness, or still working on a D&D campaign when half his players are gone and psionic powers are a real thing.

 

• Knowledge: Sean loves taking things apart and putting them back together, and trying to figure out how stuff works, tangible and intangible alike, like new software or helping Jase in figuring out the fundamentals of nascent neotic science. It's a companion value to creativity when making something new with his own take and/or personal stamp on it. That curiosity can also lead him to searching into places he doesn't precisely have leave to do so, causing him to see things he probably didn't want to see in the first place or to get otherwise distracted.

 

• Loyalty: Bullied and mocked by many, Sean doesn't make friends easily, but family and the friends he does have he holds dearly, willing to go to bat for them, and help them however he can. However, taken to an extreme, this can result in him overlooking the questionable actions of those he holds close or not holding them as accountable as much as he should. He also tends to nurse the hurt from those he feels have betrayed him or done him wrong, especially if they haven't done anything to make any sort of amends in his mind.

Other Values

• Inner Harmony: Intersexed, and even an outlier in that small demographic, bullied, mocked, and teased for it, Sean has had a very difficult time how he perceives himself and how others perceive him. It's a turbulent river, and it might a life-long struggle, but he wants to find the balance, the acceptance of who and what he is, even if he doesn't know what that quite is, yet. Developing psionic powers has added new ripples to that river.

 

• Integrity: He might fudge things here or there, try to paint things in a better light at times or keep things to himself if he thinks its for the best, but Sean thinks of himself as relatively honest and truthful. Holds himself to a high standard in his professional pursuits, whether building a website, a computer, or a video game, he doesn't stint on effort, materials, or design, and gives a full service, not trying to squeeze out every dime, and he expects the same in turn. He hopes he'd have the wherewithal to resist accepting a ludicrous buyout from a company he holds in low regard, say if one of his games turns out to be a breakout hit, but doesn't honestly know. He can say he'd turn it down flat, but there could be an awful lot of zeroes... The guilt and shame he felt when he buckled to bullies and either did their homework or fudged their grades was real and stabbed deep. How he looks and how others treat him about it and how he reacts or is resigned to it also tangles his certitude and integrity.

 

• Help Society: Sean would like to see some of his achievements and goals make larger impact than just the satisfaction he gets from them, particularly in areas of great interest to him. He loves video games and tech, but in many cases, innovation is being stifled and greed growing rampant. It might be modest in the grand scheme of things, but if he could help improve the video game industry, it would be one of his proudest moments. And as he designs and makes more things of significance - if he does - and the dangers and threats the Fellowship encounter, the scope on how he might help society at large will develop.

• Leisure: Components of Economic Security and Time Management are rolled into this. It's not that Sean wants to earn all the money and have all the control, but enough to keep him in comfort, make sure his parents have an easy retirement, and have the time to pursue his hobbies and interests, which in turn he hopes he can make his livelihood. Having fun doing what he enjoys and getting paid for it, one feeding into the other.

• Recognition: Achievement is a personal measure of success, Recognition is a measure of success from others, and he values that, but really, Sean wants to be able to point at something and be known for that instead of only being known as the boy that looks like a girl with big tits.

[Marissa Jauntsen]

Caring: “I’ve watched so many television shows and read so many books where the hero and heroine live happily ever after and since I was a little girl, I remember thinking ‘why can’t that be me’ but the reason why those shows do so well, and those books sell so many copies is because they’re selling fantasies.  I wish I had someone to share myself with.  To tell them every secret, to give them every bit of me from my body to my heart and show them the real me, like the real, real, me, but I know I never will.  I find a guy who stimulates me mentally and then I see him naked and I’m positive he could stimulate me everywhere else too, but all love is to him is a chemical reaction in the brain.  It’s ‘just a thing’ to him, easily explained and therefore easily categorized and controlled, filed away as something the body needs, like sunlight or orgasms.  I get a hot guy who can stimulate the hell out of me, but all he cares about is sports, fishing, and doesn’t want to spend time with me unless his sister is with us.  I love big, too big, I think because I feel like I’m the only one that ‘gets’ what love is, so I just make people want me and get what I need.  Who cares right?  It’s just a chemical reaction in the brain.”

• Assessment: Jauntsen, M (heretofore referred to as Subject TEASE) possess a preternatural attractiveness, pheromone production and neuro-hypnotic vocal stimulation (Analyst Comment: People can fall in love with the sound of her voice.)  The psychological effects of knowing everyone desires her seems to have left her with an inability to create legitimate emotional connections, possibly due to her not feeling that no one is capable of legitimately loving her due to her abilities having no sort of ‘off’ switch.

Pleasure: “Is this a serious question?  Jesus, my parents aren’t going to hear this, are they?  No?  Oh, well then.  My brother [Subject JAUNT] and I have a strict ‘work hard, play hard’ policy.  I mean, we’ve earned it right?  Seriously, think about it, we’re all addicts.  Everything we do is linked to some center in our brain that pumps us full of chemicals.  Food?  We have a chemical for that.  Fatigue?  Chemical for that.  Sex?  Several chemicals for that.  After all the things we’ve done for the gaggle of ingrates on this planet some guy is going tell me ‘you can save the world, but don’t drink a shot or sleep with that hot guy until you’re twenty-one or eighteen’?  Screw that.  I deserve to get lit when I’m not dealing with the four corners of crazy, I’ve started calling ‘my every day’.  I need that escape after the shit I’ve seen, lady.  Hell, you would be lining up the designer drugs, booze and hot guys for us if you’d seen what we dealt with, and we dealt with it for you.  You’re welcome.  So, yeah, I’m going to smoke and drink and fuck until the nightmares go away.  I think I deserve that much.”

• Assessment: Obvious PTSD arising from the nightmarish ‘creatures’ the group calling themselves the [FELLOWSHIP] claims to have witnessed.  Subject TEASE employs escapist practices as an obvious excuse to allow her to delve into deviant behavior with no guilty repercussions due to her feeling ‘entitled’ to it.  Subject TEASE possesses numerous insecurities possibly stemming from how almost everyone she is contact with for too long ends up desiring her or falling in love [Analyst Comment: Do we have an estimated time of how long that takes?  I’m in a small, enclosed space with her.].  She doesn’t know true emotion from manipulated emotion, seeing emotional attachments as lies perpetrated by her abilities.  Recommend: Psychological evaluation and full tox screening.

Power: “Pfft, easy.  Do you think anyone actually gives a shit about you?  You think your bosses do?  You’re a number to them, a replaceable asset and the moment they can get you cheaper, younger and prettier… trust me, sister, you’re out of here.  Why?  Because they have the power to do whatever they want and no one will call them on it because they own the news, the media, you.  Me?  I want that kind of authority and control over the world around me so people who haven’t worked as hard as me, or done the time I have, or seen the nightmares I’ve walked through can just walk in and take from me what they didn’t do shit to earn.  I know monsters are real, and I also know that I’m one of few people in the world capable of stopping them, so if you want me to keep doing it, you need to learn who’s in charge.  I can wait through all the screams and wade through all the bodies while you make up your minds.”

• Assessment: I honestly can’t tell if she is serious or not.  Certainly, though she wants absolute autonomy over her life and possibly feels the only way to achieve that is plant her flag on the hill and dare the world to try and claim it.  This ties in heavily with her opinions on money (below) and how it relates to power.

Recognition: “I wasted my childhood practicing and training and dieting and all for what?  Not even so much as a ‘good job sweetie’ or ‘you and your brother did great’.  I’m done with those days, like, so fucking over it.  I’m so done with being the good daughter and tag-along friend.  I was the good person once and then I realized that in most films, comics, television, it’s the villain who is always more relatable.  Everyone talks about Darth Vader, but Luke is reduced to sucking teets on a barren rock.  Thanos was only brought down when thousands of Earth’s strongest stood against him.  One guy and they needed an army… after they totally made the Hulk a bitch.  See what I’m getting at?  They say that girls like me only date the guys who treat them like crap and all the nice guys are out there finishing last… well, yeah, loser.  The world isn’t a good place anymore, and this princess didn’t get saved, so Evil Queen it is.”

• Assessment: Her associates have informed me that she capable of being compassionate and kind yet none of that was visible during this session.  She holds such scorn for the world like it, collectively, had wronged her in some way.  More sessions would be necessary to determine the source of this trauma and deal with it but as it stands, in line with the Project’s directives, she’s exactly what they’re looking for.

Wealth: “I’ve read a lot.  So many books about that fantasy about the poor hero or heroine who rises from nothing, goes on adventures and finds true love and riches in some faraway kingdom.  I, mean, whatever, I guess.  Nothing lasts forever, especially happiness.  I’m not happy, I rarely, if ever, am.  They say money can’t buy happiness, yet, it can buy all the things that make me happy, if only for a while.  Endorphins from that meal, they don’t last.  The designer drugs wear off, the liquor filters through leaving a hangover.  Relationships come and go.  People enter your life and soon exit after a few years.  Nothing is forever, like happiness.  So, what’s the big deal, then?  Money is power in this world and if you have it that’s all that matters.  Celebrities make murder disappear and the rulers of the world spend and spend while claiming there isn’t enough for the people that really need it.  All the examples for me to follow are right there in the world: money equals power, power equals recognition fuels our desires for pleasure and happiness and in the end that’s truly what caring is all about: ourselves.  In the end we’re nothing more than a few chemical reactions in the brain.  No magic, nothing to discover that holds any wonderment or beauty… just a moment of our brains saying ‘yup, that was a thing’.  Look at me and listen to what I’m telling you…”

• Assessment: Subject TEASE displays all the qualifying traits of an exceptional sixteen-year-old girl who is well on her way to a bright and successful future.  While possessed of a few traits that certainly could be addressed, it is the opinion of this analyst that we continue to support and direct the continued growth of her abilities, opening all possible avenues for her to learn, grow and develop.

[GDP_ST]

Okay, XP awards for the Project are below, along with commentary.  Remember, the range is from 3 to 6.

Autumn: 6 XP - Cogent explanations of what motivates the character, good examples of each Core Value in play, and the 'synergy' addition was a nice touch.  Nicely done!

Bannon: 6 XP - In-depth explanation of each Core Value as it relates to the character, along with 'dark' flipsides to most of them, plus examples.  I'd give you more XP, but my hands are tied, dude.

Cassandra 6 XP - The bulleted 'pros and cons' show that the exercise was understood, and the examination of each Value was coherent, showing us what drives Cass. Good job.

Cade 4 XP - I liked the obvious thought you put into this, and the explanations were coherent, and the 'Conflict' bullets was a nice layout decision.  My issue comes from some of the listed conflicts not being recognisable as deriving from the Value they accompany.  'Cade likes a challenge, but likes things to be easy now and then' is an example of this - it doesn't hang together and causes the reader to scratch their head a little.  Now, if you'd chosen to put which Values conflict with other Values ("Cade's valuing of Leisure conflicts with his Valuing of Achievement" as an example) as well as how each Value causes problems by itself, I'd have no issue awarding 5 or even 6 XP.  Nevertheless, good effort, and I feel you understood the core premise.  Well done.

Jaunt 5 XP - Liked the interview theme, and there was a good insight into Jaunt's makeup there.  It wasn't as easy to parse as the others so far - largely because when I'm reading Jaunt's 'voice' I can never be certain if he's telling the truth or not, just like the interviewer.  There's a massive instinct for me to just take it with a pinch of salt.  How much is him blowing smoke, and how much is genuine?  But the interviewer's notes helped there, so eventually I shrugged and decided to take it all at face value.  I'm dropping a point because the non-Core Values weren't really explored at all.  You listed them, but didn't examine them (even briefly) from the POV of the character.  Despite that, a good read.  Nicely done.

Kat 6 XP - Very good.  I enjoyed the insights, sometimes rambling, into the character.  It was like Kat was giving us a tour around Kat's head as a third party.  Good job.

Sean 5 XP - This was a tricky one.  I liked your explanations of each item on the list, and you plainly thought about Sean's Values.  I think I'd have liked to see a bit more exploration in-depth with the Core Values, perhaps with examples given of them coming into play.  It just seemed a bit rushed and brief.  Still, very nearly a 6, so well done.

Marissa 5 XP - Similar format to Jaunt's, which makes sense and was a good read.  I had the same initial problem as with Jaunt - my reader's instinct that if Marissa's lips are moving she can't be trusted - but again, I just set that aside and took everything as if she was telling the truth.  You lost a point when it came to the non-Core Values, though.  No list or exploration of them.  The Project did call for each of the ten Values to be included, however briefly.  As with Jaunt, despite all that it was good.