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OOC INFORMATION

Player Name: lena
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact: pm this account or derkins @ plurk
Other Characters in Game: none

IC INFORMATION

Character Name: Iris Black
Canon: Countdown to Countdown
Canon Point: end of chapter seven, just before Iris visits Ven
Age: 18
Background: wiki for Iris and a brief write-up about his canon world:

In the year 2044, “Demifloras” — humans that have developed inhuman abilities, are targeted and harvested for their pricey body parts. Iris Black, a Demiflora that possesses the ability to bring his drawings to life, is sheltered in a correctional facility that houses Demifloras. Outcasted for his inability to suppress his powers, he yearns to find a place that accepts him for who he is. His chance comes one night when a daring outsider sneaks into the lab.

Arrival Scenario: Kingdom of Thorne

Suitability: Why would Iris engage in the game's overall plot? To put it simply: he just can't help himself. There are a number of reasons that would have Iris engaging with the setting of Abraxas in general: after so long spent confined to his Tower, made to feel othered and discarded, the opportunity to make something of a new (proper) home for himself in a place that doesn't even have to try very hard to make him feel welcomed in comparison is one he will gladly take. At his current canon point, he has more or less come to terms with letting go of the few connections he has managed to make, in order to give himself up to an ominous unknown just to keep those connections safe. Winding up here is a bittersweet chance for him to start over, a "second chance" he won't let go to waste.

While he may not feel too invested in the war and its politics, it does not take much for Iris to come to care for others around him. So if and when it ever comes time to helping others. He will, of course, feel an affinity for the territory he arrives in, but his loyalties are always to people first. So depending on who he winds up falling in line with within Thorne, he may wind up getting far more involved than he would have chosen for himself. But once he's decided to dedicate himself to someone, that's really all it takes. So even if Iris were more inclined to stay out of things, he is often far too curious, too empathetic, too restless not to get up into someone else's business.

Powers: As a note, the full extent of Iris' powers are still being explored in the on-going canon. Because of this, I do not plan on exploring any permutations of Iris' powers that have not already been displayed by his chosen canon point, chapter 7. If this changes, I would submit it along with a canon update for approval.

The following are what has been displayed so far, along with some limitations both within the canon and from myself:

PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF ILLUSTRATIONS
As an Iris demiflora, Iris has the ability to turn illustrations to life. This power is not limited to only the illustrations he personally creates, but anything that might have been drawn by someone else as well. These manifestations can range from everyday objects like roses and water, to unique objects like any of Iris' inventions, to anything physical like cuts on a human body. Iris is able to "dissolve" the manifestation, so long as he has physical contact with it.

LIMITATIONS —
• Iris must possess an understanding of the object in the illustration (the more conceptual an object, the more detail he needs)
• The illustration needs to be whole and completed
• As of yet no canon example of manifesting living beings (*though semi-sentient beings have been shown to be manifested in canon, this will not be available for Iris in game)
• Needs to be in proximity to some part of iris to exist (for game specifics, let's say a range of 20-40 feet?)

By his canon point, he was also shown to be able to transmute someone's eye into a flower. Because it has only happened once, under great duress, and there are no current explanations given in canon, this will not be a power available to Iris within the game.

PERSONALITY QUESTIONS

Describe an important event in your character's life and how it impacted them.

CW: descriptions of physical and emotional abuse, humiliation

The evening his mother, the Madame, invited him up on stage in front of the entire Tower changed the course of Iris' life as he knew it. There, she had exposed him for lying to her and harboring a dangerous criminal who had broken into the Tower some nights prior. To teach him a lesson, she ordered him to strip down to his underwear in front of everybody, and proceeded to "draw" cuts all over his body (ultimately leading to the scars he has now).

Not only did this moment ultimately lead to Iris finally escaping the Tower to run away for good, eventually exposing himself to the dangers and uncertainties all Demiflora face beyond its walls, but it also drastically altered his perspective of his life thus far. Up until that moment, Iris never really considered or confronted the seriousness of his situation. His mother had punished him for misbehaving before, but never to this extent. The other people in the Tower would always dismiss or ignore him, but he never thought they would care so little as to watch and allow him to be tortured without any protest at all.

That moment forced Iris to realize the reality of his situation: that his mother was a liar and a tyrant, that the people he once considered community thought nothing of him, that he was well and truly alone.

Does your character have a moral code, or other set of standards they try to live by?

One thing Iris seems pretty set on never doing is harming anyone else. Whether it be physically or emotionally, whether they've wronged him before, Iris feels very adamant against violence and harm of any kind. The one time he did end up hurting someone else had been an accident and a result of being dangerously pursued himself, but even then it upset him greatly. And no matter how many times he's been hurt himself, he never seeks retaliation or revels in the opportunity to even the score. In fact, Iris would rather suffer the consequences himself than turn around and set them on anyone else.

What quality or qualities do they admire most?

Iris admires self-sufficiency. Life outside of the Tower has taught him that even though he'd spent the last few years of his life virtually on his own, it was nothing compared to life truly on his own. Even ostracized in the Tower, he was still taken care of with ready meals, a comfortable place to stay in, and resources at his disposal. Outside, he watches in awe as other Demiflora like Lillium and even Begonia make their way in a world that wants their kind dissected and killed. Confronted with the fact he'd been so sheltered all his life, he wishes to learn how to take care of not only himself, but others too.

Do they have a part of themselves they dislike?

Not really. Despite his bouts of self-pity, Iris isn't one for self-loathing. That being self, he can be critical enough that he recognizes that a majority of his troubles stem from his own stubbornness and selfishness. However not even that level of self-awareness has ever made him apologetic for who he is. It's only very recently, and moreso as he begins to experience life outside of the Tower, that he's really begun to recognize the consequences of his selfish actions.

What is their sign, and why?

The hanged man. Iris is an outcast among outcasts, looked down upon by his fellow demiflora in a world where the rest of society already discriminates and ostrasizes their kind. He is "othered" by the demiflora he grows up with because of his continued desire to use and hone his powers; and once more "othered" by the demiflora he meets outside simply because his particular kind of powerset is considered dangerous. Despite this, Iris never scorns his powers, but instead throws himself whole-heartedly into the very thing that makes him so different and feared — not because he wishes to be feared, but because he cannot help but answer the pull of his powers, finding a sense of fulfillment in them he can't find anywhere else in his isolated and lonely life.

SAMPLES

Samples: (all from the recent TDM) toplevel + tag-out #1