Matthias Evans - ContrastName: Matthias Evans Nickname: Matt Code Name: Contrast Former Aliases: Divine (see history) Affiliation: X-Man to be Gender: Male DoB: 05 August 2003 Hair: dyed a dark brown, almost black (normally some dirty shade of blond), it's almost chin-length and worn in a rather wild kind of side parting. Eyes: 2, varying from deep green over green-blue to blue-grey depending on the surrounding light etc. Mother: Barbara Evans (homo sapiens | alive) Father: Hans Evans (homo sapiens | alive)
Powers:
as Divine
As one of the very few light elementals, Divine has the ability to manipulate photons in any form. Be it to create illusionary forms, even solid ones, over a distance of dozens of miles, releasing destructive rays of light strong enough to effortlessly break through massive steel, flying and even the manipulation of what sun, moon and the stars radiate - in those regards, barely any limits exist.
For flying he tends to use transparent wings of light and is surrounded by a mild to blinding glow when using his powers, hence, the codename.
Minor powers of his are shadow-walk - the ability to move through shade without being seen, even in dark areas actually smaller than his physical form - and contrasting which enables him to modify others' perception of their environment.
as Contrast
There are only two of his powers he is able to use in this form which is the one he will be in during most of the game (probably that is).
Contrasting: Manipulating other beings' visual perception, Matt can disable the ability to see colors and modify the process needed for distinguishing between light and dark. Thus, the one he concentrates on might either see plain black and white with nothing in between or a diminished gray as if fog was hovering about. If he concentrates strongly, he might even be able to cast this effect one a group of people if they aren't far away from each other and if he doesn't have to do anything more than maybe talking slowly. Distracting him e.g. by forcing him to defend himself will immediately lift the effect. On one person, he could focus while running and talking fast though. The only effect of this power in battle might be to confuse the opponent long enough for others to react since this unfamiliar, strange way of seeing the world may result in a temporary but total blackout. This effect can be increased by constantly changing the contrast and/or allowing flashes of color to pass through the barrier he is building up.
However, sooner or later everyone will get used to it which makes the power ineffective on that person for some time (a few hours).
While using this power, his body tends to radiate a flickering whitish light, a leftover of his former abilities.
Shadow-walk: Contrary to Divine, Contrast only possesses the ability to move through shadowed areas which his physical form fits into. He cannot be seen (no limitations as long as there is no non-photoperceptive ability like body warmth detection etc. involved) as long as no part of his body gets in direct contact with light.
History:
Born into an ordinary German family, Matt was a rather cheerful, although sometimes a little tiring toddler. He loved to sing along with music he knew and he didn't, pretending to read the lyrics from the turned cover. When he was four, his parents got divorced. Although this was something as ordinary as the family itself, it left the memory of his mother's tears in the night at his bed in Matthias' mind, the chronologically second he would never forget in his whole life.
Having to raise him on her own, his mother's attention was mainly directed at her son which didn't even change as she found a new man to spend her life with. The start Matt had with him wasn't the best one and although there were times they were coming along with each other very well, the majority of the time they were having troubles with each other.
As his mother was focusing strongly on Matt's intellectual development, the small child went through a phase in which he felt the urge to explain everything to everyone, even if it was something as simple as a tap, and criticise everything in sight, even presents, which soon gave him the image of being arrogant and spoiled.
Before he went to kindergarten, he went through a time of constant illness which fortunately passed before the time had come to enter this pre-school institute. The impression he left in others, that of being an arrogant only child, did barely change throughout time although it was far away from truth. Thanks to Barbara, he was far more advanced in everything cognitive and entering school, he found reading, writing and everything else pupils need to learn in first grade ridiculously simple. Very often, he could be seen reading a text of the school book's last pages while the rest of the class was still struggling to decipher sentences word for word.
Nevertheless, he had a circle of friends who he would only much later recognize as not having been true to him. For reasons he himself understood the least, those contacts he had built up with difficulty began to break apart as the end of elementary school time approached and as a result, Matt began to retreat into his own world. Most of the day, he was spending in front of the TV set or playing videogames on his own, although occassionally, he invited people to play with him. Again, it took some time until he noticed many he had to talk into coming to him. Maybe it was this effortlessness with which he scored the best grades in school without even having to study, maybe it was his lack of interest in things other boys of his age were excited about. One of those was soccer. Why most of his male friends spent hours on the playground kicking, he could not understand. To him, the game was exceeding boring, still he decided to give it a try when he realized it could be the only way to not end up being totally alone. It was in sixth grade when Matt finally managed to come out of his shell, finding people who he could imagine to go to high school and actually having fun with. They were plotting and planning, where to go, what to do and although most were still reluctant about actually seeing him as a friend, everything seemed fine to him.
At the end of elementary school, his family moved. The city of Berlin they had been living in had grown too loud for Barbara and her partner which was why - as a spure of the moment decision - they left to live in a small village... in the USA.
Matthias was devastated as he saw all his plans shatter. He left his friends and while he hoped it would be different, a part of him knew they would never manage to stay in touch; the same part that had understood long ago that those children were no real friends but just people he knew better than others. Over the years, Matt learned to hate this part, the one that always spoke the truth, the one that either told him straight to the face what was the drill and what was going to happen... or left him tapping in the dark and run against a wall before telling him it had known before. As time passed, this second habit of what he began to call "intuition" as he heard about the meaning of that term began to fade leaving him with a rather sarcastic, cynical approach to a world of which he didn't expect a lot.
High school in a larger town near the place he lived started off rather well. A girl named Anja, daughter to German immigrants like himself, walked up to him right on the first day and seemed to be determined to make friends with him upon hearing they were living in the same village. For about one month, everything was fine until he accidentally insulted a friend of hers. He hadn't meant to but once again, he had spoken faster than thinking about what his words actually sounded like and had thus subtextually called her as dumb as hell.
The year that followed was hell. People he liked turned against him as once again they thought of him in the same negative manner they always did and Matt was left without a single friend in a school often demanding more of him than he had to offer. The difference between sixth and seventh grade was tremendous and for the first time in his life, he had to struggle to keep his good marks. Then again it helped to distract him from the fact that he was lonely. Slowly realizing that he was interested in girls and boys alike wasn't helping either; in fact it made life even more complicated. Again, he concentrated on things he could do along at home and began to develop his creativity starting to draw trying to copy the style of anime and manga and began to like. This, in fact, was what led to a lucky coincidence in course of which got to know two girls in his class better. Slowly, he managed to resocialise and even Anja gave him a second chance. It quickly became clear that she would become his best friend and everything would have been just great if, yes, if there hadn't been a group of school bullies that decided to choose him as an aim of their obnoxiousness two years later. The young man wasn't sure what it was that had caught their attention but since they mainly called him names linked to homosexuality, he guessed it was because of his rather androgynous features.
Within a week's time, everything was turned upside down as their constant teasing and insulting drove Matt as far as being terrified of going to school.
One day, when he and his friends were chatting on the school grounds, they once again walked up to him and as usual, Matthias tried to ignore them the best he could. Suddenly, he could hear a disgusting sound from behind him. They were spitting at his jacket, obviously having the time of their pathetic lives. Silently, Anja encouraged him to just kick backwards and after a moment of hesitation, he remembered his parents' words from when they had discussed the issue. They had told him to better risk to get beaten up than to let those guys do with him what they wanted to.
Anger flared up inside him and as he whirled around to start the first brawl in his life, something happened. It was as if an inner barrier was blasted away and Matt could feel a surge of power flooding his entire body and beyond. Unnoticed by him, his whole form was radiating a blinding light and before his fists could reach the bullies, a destructive beam did. The injuries he had dealt to them kept them away from school for several months.
It was the same day that Matt realized what it meant to be a mutant but nobody had ever told him that with great power, there comes great responsibility. Using this gift he quickly learned to control, amazed by those infinite possibilities, he did not regret having hurt the boys that had harrassed him for so long. Still, his friends would have remained at his side if he hadn't begun to become obsessed with this powers of his. Suddenly, Matthias' set of priorities changed, putting the amount of power on top. As he heard of an organisation named the Hellfire Club, he barely hesitated to leave especially as local anti-mutant groups started to demand a trail for this "reckless threat for humanity". In fact, he hadn't caused harm to anyone else but that was not actually the point.
As he left, the one later called Divine had the feeling his parents were relieved to see him move out. The sudden change and the mutation of his scared them but also caused a certain hatred like in many other humans. Matthias blamed it on their lack of power, on their jealousy and had even less regrets joining the Hellfire group so far away.
It was a nice change to be surrounded by others who were different as well but since most of them were rather power-crazed and elitist themselves, he found himself in a constant struggle for leadership. Like them, he could not accept being inferior to anyone and thus had to prove the contrary. Before the general situation could escalate after a year of being called by the codename of Divine, A.Corp. got interested in the young man and kidnapped him along with some other mutants of extraordinary strength using special devices to temporarily seal their special abilities so they couldn't defend themselves.
Matthias was not held captive long. After a few examinations, he was brought into a room covered with iron and white plastic which made it look like the futuristic operating-room it actually was. The painful procedure that followed he would need time to remember as the drugs that kept his powers asleep also clouded his consciousness. Later, he did not know when, which time of the day or which day at all, Matt found himself on the streets of a city he did not recognize. Memories of what had happened popped up and disappeared again, leaving a terrible headache and the feeling of having lost something important. Occassionally, he turned to see whether he could find it but soon, he discarded the feeling as being simply wrong. Trying to shrug off the past... days(?), the young Hellfire member decided to return home. As he had taught himself, he shortly concentrated his powers to create luminary wings and fly... but nothing happened. It took a while until he realized that what he had left was nothing he would find on the streets. A.Corp. had stolen his powers... and as he returned to the Club by bus - he had actually been in a district of the same town, but one he had never set foot in - they refused to accept him back. Weak and powerless as he was, only able to use the smallest part of his gift, he did not belong to them anymore, so they said...
Doing odd jobs, the one once called Divine tried to make a living, trying to find out about this company that had rid him of his most precious possession, the one thing that had gave his life a meaning. Eventually, he heard of a place named Xavier's Institute and trusting some rumors, he decided to go there and hopefully find a way to return to the state he had been in.
Personality:
Matt's character changed two times to a considerable degree during his still rather short life. After his mutation had openly appeared, Divine's almost infinite energy and mutation-granted strength corrupted him, letting him look down on those he considered to be weaker. He despised them as inferior beings one of which he has become himself.
Once proud bordering arrogance, Matthias is now rather humble, barely daring to talk to strangers who he reckons to be stronger than him and maybe ready to hurt him in body or soul, as he is now again unable to defend himself effectively. He feels useless and insignificant which led to a certain self-hatred that manifests rather rarely.
As Contrast, he doesn't see a point in living on, weak and useless, yet still he keeps on going, hoping to somehow find a way to return to his old form.
Having been - and in a way still being - considerably egocentric, Contrast expects everyone to react and treat him as he used to do and cannot understand why most don't.
As time at Xavier's passes, Matt will eventually see that there are values of higher importance.
When entering the game, one year has passed since A.Corp. got hold of him which helped to at least partly let him return to his old personality which is that of a friendly, a little timid young man who tends to talk a lot when he feels save and welcome but has an air arrogant when feeling insecure.
Matt is rather perceptive, able to judge other people rather well, especially when it comes to their emotions and attitudes which, however, is nothing supernatural. It's part of his intuition which decided to kick back in again as he lost his main powers.
Mainly due to his cynical nature, he doesn't believe in things like real and eternal love. When it comes to sleeping with others, e.g., he has an attitude rather close to that of Max Chadstone, whom he hasn't met as of yet though. Basically, he makes a difference between sex and love which doesn't necessarily have to be connected.
Generally, Contrast has problems opening his heart to others, always doubting they are really interested in him as a person. Nevertheless, he often pretends to be overly cheerful to get in closer contact with others. He looks out for friends and wants to be trusted, but doesn't trust himself which isn't the only contradiction in his character.
Likes:
strong sunlight and full moon
- although it reminds him of what he has lost, it's still comforting
music and drama
- he loves to sing and acting and isn't bad at it. back in high school, he used to perform occassionally and dream of success... before he became Divine, that is
- his taste in music centers around hard rock and melodic metal, although he also likes to listen to various pop artists and miscellaneous pieces of other genres
places where he knows and likes everyone and is liked in return
- ...he hasn't found such a place yet, so that's theory
feeling needed
- he doesn't at the moment but he longs for such a feeling constantly
wicca
- for no particular reason, he became rather interested in witchcraft and its ideology but when his powers awoke, he forgot about it. now, he slowly begins to get back to it
mythology
- in the time of puberty, Matt became interested in European mythology, especially that of ancient Greece but Norse and related
Dislikes:
A.Corp.
- not only did they take away what was his most precious possession but most probably they're even experimenting with it
absolute darkness
- the absence of light rids him of every power he possesses (and always used to do so) for his abilities root in the use of photons, the particles light is "made of"
homophobes
- it's to be doubted that any bi- or homosexual actually likes those
past mistakes
- it is yet to occur to him that he has misbehaved after having discovered his powers
early judging
- although he occassionally does it himself, he can't stand people already having an image of him in their head before he even talked to them
- most of the time, he sticks to the policy of first getting to know someone before calling him a jerk
email: neojikan@aol.com
Sample Post:
*sneaks after Loza and steal her Platinum Member Card* .... look, I don't needa do samples! *shows it for the split of a second and quickly hides it again before anyone can read the name or identify the photo* any comments? no? great! *whistles innocently and waddles off*
"So they intruded our top secret training missions on that secluded island in the middle of nowhere by simply landing there? Wow... now that's really making me feel safe."
look, I don't needa do samples! *shows it for the split of a second and quickly hides it again before anyone can read the name or identify the photo* any comments? no? great! *whistles innocently and waddles off*
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