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[WillowLuman]

Well, I want to see what people are thinking of before I interfere with their ideas. But I'll put one up tomorrow, I suppose.

[Gamerlord]

About to eat dinner, but after that I'll take a shot at a character.

[WillowLuman]

Alright, I'll just go ahead and do one I suppose. Give me a bit.

[WillowLuman]

Very well, here's an example character. Though this is more of an NPC. Probably could use some more specifics.

Spirit
Name: Grey
Description: Grey appears as a streak of silvery light, often moving but occasionally sitting pensively still as a cloud of glowing, flame-like mist. Grey is observant, pensive, and curious, preferring to watch and listen, but enjoys searching for answers together with Hanley, who thinks of many questions.
Abilities: Grey has become quite adept in the study of physical substance, able to glean the composition and properties of many things simply by seeping through them. Grey has also acquired extensive knowledge of living things, being especially skilled at helping heal them, and non-verbal communication.
Human
Name: Dr. Hanley Argent
Description: A man of around average height and build, with lank, combed hair and a round face, in his early 60's but it's somewhat hard to tell. He looks like someone out of a sun-bleached, faded photograph, lacking almost all color in his features, as a result of his decades-long partnership with Grey. Dr. Argent is a very inquisitive person, deeply fascinated by the world and always looking for new ways to turn his spiritual connection towards study. A very solitary kind, he has formed only very few close connections in his life, and has lived in seclusion for much of it, scraping together resources to pursue his studies.
Abilities: Hanley Argent is a gifted software engineer (and a somewhat skilled regular engineer), well versed in many scientific disciplines, though not to any degree of expertise. A very quiet man, Hanley is good at conducting dealings quietly and without drawing much attention to himself, despite his appearance.
Backstory:
Grey and Hanley Argent first met while both were relatively quite young, Hanley not many years an adult and Grey not many years fully-formed. In each other, they saw potential to pursue the mysteries of the world, to find more than what they knew. Hanley became fascinated with the supernatural, but continued his university studies until he became Dr. Argent, not wanting to draw undue attention or risk exposing Grey, who was nervous about such things. Ever since, they've pursued and supplied their studies independently and low-key, never seeking publication, though occasionally coming into contact with others in-the-know.

When hosting, they are able to manipulate, rather than merely analyze matter. Like in most hostings, Grey's presence strengthens Hanley's body, providing increased strength and resilience, and they buttress each others' mental strength as well. They are surrounded by an aura of silvery light, which can extend outwards in tendrils to move or otherwise mess with matter.

[GiglameshDespair]

Something like...

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

Spirit: Glint of Morning Frost
Description: a sphere of snowflakes, constantly rotating like a white-out in a snowglobe. Despite a perfect ability to float, Glint seems to prefer rolling along surfaces, the direction of rotation rolling with it.
Abilities: Glint's powers seem focused on temperature - namely, reducing them. The colder it is, the easier it is for it to work. Condensing moisture out of the air to create ice is a favoured trick of Glint's.

Human: Mars Briggs
Description: Miss Mars is a butcher (and also hates her name). Each day, in a refrigerated warehouse, she chops up meat. She likes her job, but prefers her true calling - being a hobbyist blacksmith, she hammers out suits of armour, shields and weapons, mainly for her friends who engage in Battle of the Nations reenactments.

27, tall and broad, she is handsome rather than pretty - distinctly unfeminine in her actions and appearance. Her eyes are blue, and her hair a dirty blonde. She discovered the spirit in her meat freezer, enjoying the cold.

Abilities: Choppity-chop: Mars has the skill to chop things up and the strength to do so. She's fit and healthy, with prodigious upper body strength.  She has skill with working steel, for what worth that is in this modern world.

[kj1225]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spirit
Name: Kathil (Kate to Deon)
Description: Unlike some others of her kind Kathil is quite amused by the silly beliefs of humans on what spirits look like. So, for totally ironic reasons she takes on a similar form to what one would expect from a demon. With furry black skin, the mark of baphomet covering most of her back, and a pentagram on her forehead in addition to a pair of goat like horns Kathil stands at an amazing height of five foot nothing. This effect is lessened by her choosing to float at head height. Her form is fairly girly with smallish breasts an a toned body. She also doesn't wear clothes due to her Barbie Doll anatomy. Despite her favoring a demonic appearance she's not evil or anything. She also devours any bit of human culture she can. Deon has had to sit through the entirety of Rocky Horror Picture Show ten times so Kathil could memorize every line and think of a suitable call back to it. Kate just kind of... fades from time to time.
Abilities: Despite knowing that it's rather stereotypical of demonic figures Kate can inflict pain on others. This is done by her saying a few words that sound suspiciously like Pig Latin and her drawing in the air. The end result is her making a grim symbol that shoots out to strike her target and... make pain.
Human
Name:  Deon Myles Barlow
Description:  This aloof guy has wide black eyes that are like two pieces of obsidian. His thick, wavy, brown hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a lion's mane. He is tall and has a broad-shouldered build. His skin is dark. He has high cheekbones and full lips. He normally dresses up like a detective in a Noir film. With is somewhat fitting as he is a detective.
Abilities: As a detective Deon is not a bad shot with most civilian grade weapons. Not great either though. His real skill is in fighting in melee. Whether with his fists or with a knife, Deon is just really good. He can take a hit well enough but he's only slightly above average in terms of strength. He's good at parkour and free running. And of course, he's got okay people skills and is very observant, which is needed in his field.
Backstory:
Deon was utterly bored of life. Just because he's a detective doesn't mean he gets to go off and do exciting stuff all the time. 'Man', he thought to himself, 'I wish I had something to do. I mean, even vigilantism would be more fun the sitting and doing paper work with a side of investigation. Don't you think? Well, that's where the story gets a little weird for him. His current stake of paper caught fire in a shape that was clearly a pentagram (it didn't actually burn anything he would later find) Well, he backs up and knocks into Kathil. Well, after a minor freak out and confirmation that, no, Kate isn't here for his soul (she's not even sure they exist to anyways) they get down to talking, Kathil tells him about how she likes human stuff and why she appears as she is, Deon explains that he's really bored with life yada yada yada... and then can't has an idea! why don't he and she team up and, like, fight crime or something. Deon briefly wonders if that was a coincidence but agrees to the deal. And that's how the ended up working together.

When the combine to conquer they make use of their strong points allowing them to pull knowledge from people's heads in a deadly and extremely painful process.

[WillowLuman]

Note: the backstory is rather important. How did they come to trust one another? There's sort of a motive with Kathil and Deon (though Kathil seems a bit ostentatious for a being whose kind is widely unknown), but Glint and Mars it's just "found em in a freezer."

Also, don't forget the things they can do together! Combined abilities can be spectacular, and should be more than the sum of their individual abilities.

[Harry Baldman]

Spoiler: Characters! (click to show/hide)

SPIRIT, 1 (one)

Name: Hannah T. Jarrett
Description: Hannah appears as a youngish woman about six feet in height with striking, if not particularly beautiful looks, dressed in black knee-length skirt, high heels and a white, rather flattering blouse (occasionally complemented with a black waistcoat), her blond hair tied back in a bun. Her hazel eyes have a kind, warm look to them, and their already large size is further amplified by her understated, seemingly frameless glasses. Her body is well-toned from frequent comprehensive exercise, and she is the very picture of youth and good health in most respects. Her thin lips are usually curled in a faint, gentle smile. Her voice is melodic, her speech lilting. Her silhouette undulates slightly, and her bodily proportions vary in a certain amplitude in what may be an imitation of breathing.
Abilities: Hannah has a supernatural way with words - or, rather, a way with meanings, in that her speech is not actually words at all, merely readable as such, and molded to whatever minds that can hear it. As to who exactly can hear her, well, the answer is, surprisingly, quite a few people, as Hannah can communicate with other people exceptionally well through electronic equipment - phone calls, radios, even in text form within a computer. This usually requires her to be phased into a relevant item, of course (such as needing to be phased into one phone to call another one).

HUMAN, 1 (one)

Name: Hannah T. Cunningham
Description: Hannah is a youngish woman about six feet in height with striking, if not particularly beautiful looks, wearing a homemade (possibly from a set of drapes) loose flowery dress and flip-flops, her blond hair kept in a short pixie cut. Her hazel eyes have a distant look to them, and their already large size is further amplified by her old-fashioned horn-rimmed glasses. She seems fairly wiry, and her arms have a few notable scars on them. Her voice is a tad low, and starting to get a little on the raspy side from what is obviously a chain-smoking habit. She tends toward a morose expression - the emotion always seems to find her, given time and lack of adventure.
Abilities: Hannah is really quite good at making clothes to the point of it being her personal pride. She's considerably stronger than the average person, and seems to have had quite a bit of practice defending herself with her own bare hands and with a variety of interesting implements. She is fastidious in her habits and she moves with considerable resolve and unwavering confidence. She has resourceful tendencies, and hates leaving her hands idle.

EXPOSITORY TEXT, 1 (one)

Hannah T. Jarrett's story isn't really all that remarkable. Cheerleader in high school. Straight As. Seven years later, sitting in a chair, cradling herself and crying as an ambulance shows up to tell her what she already knows - the guy on the floor with his skull cracked open, his brain seeping out slowly, yeah, he's dead. She didn't quite mean for it to get that far, she told herself. She did want to break him, hurt him, maybe kick his teeth in or pour drain cleaner down his throat - he was drunk, he couldn't put up any real resistance, and she lost control, got confused. It happens, you know. It all wound up really murky, and they couldn't tell if she was crazy or not - she said she wasn't, her lawyer said she was, and the, how did they put it, psychiatric professional seemed to agree. Three to six years in prison averted, infinite years at the funny farm on no less than twenty different medications commence. It was on the third, she believes, that she starts to think she might be crazy, and she agrees.

She is Hannah T. Jarrett, never Cunningham. She could have been. She tells her the words she needs to say, walks into her body and gives her eyes the right light, her voice the right quality at exactly the right time. She calls the woman in charge on the right morning and tells her the words she needs to hear. She gives Hannah T. Cunningham the signal that she's clear. She takes a while to get off the medication. At first she needs a little direction, but her better self knows all about that - where to go, where to get a job, who to speak to... she doesn't quite know how to wake up yet, but it will come with experience, advancement, planning.

[WillowLuman]

Not sure about spirits that appear human, as it somewhat undercuts their strangeness and implies they might blend into human society, which they really shouldn't (at least, not without a lot of help). Besides, there'd be some giveaway insubstantial look about them (translucency, blurriness, or glowing, etc.)

[kj1225]

Added some combined thingys

[Harry Baldman]

Not sure about spirits that appear human, as it somewhat undercuts their strangeness and implies they might blend into human society, which they really shouldn't (at least, not without a lot of help). Besides, there'd be some giveaway insubstantial look about them (translucency, blurriness, or glowing, etc.)

I assumed that the spirit being visibly insubstantial in some minor way went without saying. A slight undulation of the silhouette, mildly inconstant bodily proportions - not quite things you'd notice from a distance, but increasingly apparent the closer you go. So Hannah the spirit may pass inspection from a distance if she reveals herself, but not from up close, except by certain individuals, Hannah the human included.

Besides, this particular spirit has potentially spent many years imitating and emulating a certain human being. And blending into human society is part of her goal.

[WillowLuman]

But why does she want to blend into human society (It's not an impossible goal, but what's the reason, especially given the usual state of affairs)? And does she have a partnership with Cunningham? The accidental murder scene seems to imply so, but it's impossible to do the hosting thing without the other party finding out about it. And despite years of practice, it probably shouldn't be possible to appear convincingly human (or even substantial) for any length of time.

Added some combined thingys

Thematically, they seem somewhat all over the place. I mean, yeah, I get the fire being hellfire, but there should probably be something fire-related presence in one of the individuals. And the lethal mindreading... I dunno, mental stuff like that seems like it would more involve the spirit attacking people than as a combined thing.

[Harry Baldman]

But why does she want to blend into human society (It's not an impossible goal, but what's the reason, especially given the usual state of affairs)? And does she have a partnership with Cunningham? The accidental murder scene seems to imply so, but it's impossible to do the hosting thing without the other party finding out about it. And despite years of practice, it probably shouldn't be possible to appear convincingly human (or even substantial) for any length of time.

She's roleplaying with all due seriousness you could expect from a spirit. But what she's roleplaying as happens to be a person who already exists, or rather an ideal version of a person who exists. She is convinced that she herself is Hannah T. Jarrett, the one that could have been and the one that should be. She established her partnership with the human Hannah during the asylum years, when she was highly vulnerable and suggestible, and the human Hannah is not necessarily well aware of how spirits work at all, but quite enough to know the basics of hosting as explained by the spirit Hannah. And to clarify further, no, she wasn't hosting a spirit when she killed Mike Cunningham. That was just her impulsively deciding (it was a very difficult time for her, you see) to smash his head into a counter corner.

And if a spirit can appear convincingly demonic without much practice, why not convincingly human with years of practice? Although if you like, I can keep piling on little tells in the character description - the skin's a little too smooth, unblemished, the movements are gliding rather than pushing, the hair is a single piece of appropriately colored ridged spirit-flesh, the muscles aren't modeled quite correctly (she's gone for the approach of smoothing out the contours of the human version's body, which works better in some places than in others) and so forth, though I don't see how it's particularly relevant to anything. The point is, she doesn't quite hold up to close inspection, but from a distance looks perfectly all right - furthermore, she doesn't quite use her appearance to actually blend in, usually just to appear for the human Hannah. The blending in is actually her end goal - a switch between her and the human Hannah, a reversal of spirit and human roles. Her task is thus manifold - firstly, to get the human Hannah's life as close to the ideal vision as possible. Secondly, to research the nature of spirits and humans to facilitate her goal. And also certain other objectives, of course.

[WillowLuman]

I don't doubt that with with enough care and practice, a spirit could give themself the perfect image of a human, with no abnormal features, but there would be a tell that it is just an image. As for disguising as a demon, it's not as if demons are objectively existing things to be copied: it would be a supernatural being trying to look like a supernatural being. Though perhaps KJ should provide some kind of insubstantiality detail. But the main thing is, how did she become so obsessed with Hannah in the first place?

The thing about hosting is, it's not something with a general knowledge base on its workings. Its exceptionally rare, something most spirits wouldn't even consider, and so everyone who does it mostly has to figure it out for themselves (especially as the interactions between the unique natures of the individuals involved are rather unpredictable). It's also not really something someone could do with out realizing, or be made to forget that they're doing it. In the material world, there are billions of humans, but only thousands (or maybe millions) of spirits, and only dozens of host-pairs.

As for the spirit Hannah's end goal, it may well be impossible to attain, but even without the more details required I can see how she wouldn't let that dissuade her from trying.

[Harry Baldman]

But there are tells that it's just an image. Undulating outline, changing proportions, maybe slight translucence. It's not really important is what I'm saying, as the spirit Hannah doesn't appear to other people or even spirits for fear of being identified as a spirit herself and breaking the illusion in a social setting.

As for why the obsession, that's similarly unimportant. It's an arbitrary decision by an alien thing seeking identity. Perhaps it was the striking look of the human Hannah, maybe her special state of mind, or any number of factors including proximity and alignment of the stars. The story of Hannah the human is exceptional because the spirit chose her, the spirit did not choose her because her story was exceptional. The spirit could have chosen any of a number of people in similar circumstances. Another character concept I had in the same vein, though a little more comical, was one Jerry Lou Williams, a man followed by a spirit Jerry Lou Williams, both insisting they're the real one to each other. This is an equally possible scenario, and the underlying reason for one possibility dominating over the other is narrative causality, in that I think one makes a better story than the other.