Notes for telepaths

[rose_witch]

Since there are, indeed, telepaths in this game, it would be good to have relevant info all in one place. Do telepaths pick up anything significant from your character? Does your character have a particular telepathic or related ability you want to run by other players? Anything else? This is the place to discuss it.

Comments

[rose_witch]

Let's see...

Axel is a Nobody. I'm not going to get into the details of it right now, but in short, he's going to feel damn weird, to telepaths. Like someone both dead and not dead at the same time, as well as a general sense of *wrong* that has nothing to do with personality and everything to do with metaphysics. He has strong shields, so he's unlikely to leak information. A telepath who wants to get the dirt on him is going to have to dig for it.

Jr. is a powerful telepath himself, but one's who's pretty ethical about his power use. If you're not broadcasting information, he's not going to pry. He also has ridiculous shields. If you try to deliberately poke inside his head, he'll know instantly and you might have mental combat on your hands.

Anthy. Hoooboy, Anthy. She's not a telepath herself. However, nobody and I mean nobody can get through her shields. Most people can't even get far enough to *see* her shields. If you're a god powered telepath, what you'll see is a thorny rose thicket, like something out of Sleeping Beauty. You have no chance of getting through it. If you're not god powered, you'll see *nothing* on a psychic level. It's as though she doesn't exist.

Hokuto - finally, someone without titanium shields! I mean, they're perfectly reasonable - she's had some training - but nowhere near the levels I've been blathering about so far. She doesn't have any specifically telepathic abilities of her own, but on an intuitive level, she can tell whether or not someone is in love. Not who they're in love with; not if it's requited, healthy, or what have you. Just whether they *are*.

Telepaths will notice Something a Bit Odd (tm) about Tidus, though it's unlikely they'll know what it is off the bat. Talk to me if you're going to poke at that. He has no telepathic abilities of his own.

Shinji is a perfectly normal young man. His shields suck balls.

Some things I brainfarted on

[fire_wielder]

Hokuto comes from a long, respected line of Onmyouji (Japanese mediums). What this means, for this topic in particular, is that she can sense and possibly identify the dead and other spirits. Not quite telepathy, but worth mentioning here, especially with a shinigami in game.

More specific, on Axel: among other Nobody foo, if someone gets deep enough into his brain, they'll be able to tell just how much of his expresed emotion he's actually faking. (Read: most of it!) And, startlingly, the bits where he's not. (I'll let you know which those are, if it comes up.)

[anima]

I have two characters who are telepaths in one way or another...

Albedo (not in game yet) is a powerful telepath, of the classic project-into-your-mind variety, with little in the way of ethics. He has the potential to shield himself well, but doesn't always bother. His mind is...a mess of violence and pain and desperation and twisted sexuality, and that was before he got mindfucked by Cthulhu. Not pleasant to be around for his fellow 'paths.

chaos has both empathic and telepathic streaks, and is quite sensitive to Things That Are a Bit Odd. He's an ethical one, though, and doesn't pry, though he may pick up something if you're leaking. To other telepaths, the surface of his mind is going to be very pleasant and soothing, with an almost inhuman serenity; any deeper is not available unless you're in the god-powered range.

Of my non-telepathic folks...

Demyx (not in game yet) is a Nobody; see Axel above. However, his shields are not as strong as Axel's. On the other hand, if Demyx is leaking, it probably just means you get a song stuck in your head. He's fairly pleasant to telepaths aside from the Nobody foo.

Kaworu (not in game yet), kind of like Tidus, falls into the Something a Bit Odd category. His mind seems particularly empty, like he's very young, but what is there is perfectly pleasant.

Koz is a perfectly normal human with average shields. Her mind is full of porn.

Roxas (not in game yet) is yet another Nobody, though there are a few other odd things about him, most of which will not come out without a deep scan. His shields are extremely strong. At the time that he enters game, though, he believes he is an ordinary boy. One might get a vague impression of two or more memories or personalities overlapping within him.

[applesatnight]

Having a Shinigami in game makes things more difficult, just stating that as the player of said Shinigami.

Ryuuk: He's not a telepath or an empath in any sense of the words. However, the layers of protection surrounding his thoughts are the stuff of legend. Psychics and magic users, especially psychics or magic users sensitive to death and death energy will be able to sense his presence, and it is not a pleasant thing. Picture a biting cold wind coming at out in the middle of the night. That is Ryuuk's vibration. Unless the psychic or magician is extremely focused on death energies, he is invisible unless you touch a piece of the Note. For anyone who would care to attempt to read Ryuuk's mind, it would be looking into the proverbial bottomless hole. Telepaths or empaths are welcome to try reading him, but it would lead nowhere fast.

Mikage Souji (not in game yet): Another tough cookie. While not psychic in a traditional sense, he has a hypnotic presence, and years of practice in the arts of manipulation and compulsion. His shields are rather well constructed, but they are not unbreakable. The fact that he is technically deceased adds another layer of protection on top of the walls he has. You can read Mikage if you want to. Issue is, unless you are careful about it, he will probably know, and he will make it rather difficult to get anything that you don't want to see. High level telepaths will find his shields interesting, but not really much of a challenge.

Kasumi Karen (not in game yet): Compared to the other two, her shields are quite mild really. She has basic training and awareness, but nowhere near the levels of Mikage. Technically dead, her mind is just slightly harder to read, but it is still far from unbreakable. Her mind is a combination of flames, holy images, and sex acts.

Scar (not in game yet): Of my characters, perhaps his shields are lowest. Being a dead man has raised the difficulty some, but not substantially. His mind is filled with angry images, memories and his devotion. He is not much of a projector, but he doesn't need to be. Of especial interest is his right arm as it vibrates with absorbed souls. It gives off a vibe of the 'creepy' to anyone trying to sense it, but there are really no cohesive thoughts coming from it. Just a vibe of the 'creepy'

[rose_witch]

Oh, Ryuuk. We've already discussed this in person, but let me put it down for posterity's sake.

Anthy can see Ryuuk, by virtue of being Anthy. He'd also be unable to see either a name or a number over her head at all.

All people on the island seem to have their lifespans frozen, but things get especially complicated with Nobodies. Dead? Not dead? Undead? How *would* Ryuuk register them? Due to that foo, Axel can probably sense Ryuuk, if not see him.

Hokuto comes from a family of Onmyouji. She's used to dealing with the dead (though she doesn't have the same training as Subaru.) She can probably sense Ryuuk, but not see him.

Jr. is both a telepath and a soldier with a shit-ton of death in his past. He should be able to sense Ryuuk.

Neither Shinji nor Tidus would be able to sense him in any way. The question is, what does *Ryuuk* get off of Tidus? His name should appear just fine over his head, but I think he might not have a lifespan, frozen or otherwise.

[applesatnight]

The accursed Shinigami eye problems...

The way I understand Nobodies is they are technically alive, however as they are shadow beings, they are most likely more sensitive to Ryuuk. Ryuuk also sees blurs around Nobodies, meaning they are just slightly out of focus, which he finds disturbing.

I agree about Anthy, but I think that Hokuto as being dead and dealing with death would be able to see Ryuuk's shadow, but not his physical form until there is a page from the note. I think that those who are dead (before arriving in game) are more likely to be aware of the Ryuuk.

Jr. I have no arguments about. Tidus will be like the other 'dead' folk on the island. Meaning Ryuuk will get a name, but no lifespan.

(Responded upthread by accident - sorry!)

[dangerous_dancer]

River - a powerful but volatile psychic with largely untapped abilities. Unless you have particularly strong shields, she'll be able to catch thoughts, images, and emotions from your mind, often without realizing that she's doing so. Any ability to shield her own thoughts - when she can access it at all - is as unpredictable as the rest of her brain, though she does have the potential to develop it further. So telepaths can read her in return, but her mind is an intense, chaotic place, a mixture of faster-than-light thought processes, traumatic and violent memories, and incoherent nonsense. She might or might not know if someone else is in there with her.

Ruka - He didn't think that anybody at Ohtori could literally read his mind, but, well, he wasn't certain that they couldn't, so he has enough rudimentary ability to hide his thoughts so that they don't leak all over the place. Thus, while he's also not immune to telepathy, he's not an open book, and - like River - could probably develop much stronger shields with a bit of training. While intuitive, he has no psychic abilities of his own.

Andrew - Normal human with no mental defenses whatsoever. Have fun.