Characters *Mostly Final Draft*

[Cobalt Greywalker]

     O.k., looks like going with the Ruri version is my best choice. I'm really not certain about the slow cyberisation anymore though, even though you make it sound pretty interesting (and it might give me the chance to bring in the Lambda Driver much later on), the way you described it makes it sound like the character would be almost constantly sick (and since I was going with it taking a decade or more to complete, that's a long time to be sick) which doesn't seem to make much sense for a biomod that was induced to keep someone from dying. Maybe I should post an outline of the scenario that caused the biomod? I'm also not sure I could do the idea justice

You don't HAVE to take everything from my post. However YOU want to make it work. You could even go the Morticia Addams route ("Guys? I'm getting new eyes. Right now.")

     Yeah you're right, even with all the limitations I put on it, it's to much for that point in the timeline.
     Also, what did you guys think of the Techno Shaman ability and the Ghost Costume quirk?

Foxboy's reply for Ghost costume is good enough. The Techno Shaman ability is too much, as it means you're friends with an awful lot of characters. Some people may not like that.

Edit: Helps if I can spell...

[robkelk]

What they said.

And I think we've spent enough time writing about these characters. Time to take the plunge and write stories that feature these characters! (I may be
projecting, but I find that when I'm avoiding writing, I write about writing instead...)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Shinkaze]

Foxboy

     Really, I didn't know that, do you remember the name of the disorder?

Cobalt Greywalker

     Yeah, going back and reading that post, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was remembering it, I'm actually working on a couple of quirks based on it right now. I haven't watched enough Addam's Family to know what you mean by 'the Morticia Addams route', sorry. Also, do you think that a decade is about right for the time the biomod will take to repair itself, or should I make the time longer or shorter.

robkelk

     I'm currently doing the personality paragraphs so, with any luck, I'll be posting the final versions in a few days, then it's on to working on the first story.

[Foxboy]

That's just it. It's not a disorder. It's NORMAL. People DO act differently in different clothes or when wearing masks. It's kind of like... well. Take someone you know who is 90% of the time a slob or casual. Put them
in formal/business attire. The whole "you clean up nice" effect, yeah? The person is more likely to have proper posture and bearing in the formal
clothes than in their usual "grubbies."

The level you have it described at might qualify as a disorder, or not. A lay "psychologist" speaking with the character without knowing a lot of
their past will try to "normalize" them to match their body. And, if they know enough about biomods, will likely be trying REALLY hard to do so as as
far as they know, no attempt to "change" the results will work.

After all, a "Ruri Hoshino" perma-cosplay can occasionally take other characters for cosplay relatively easily. Like Rei Ayanami, Teletha Testarossa,
etc.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Cobalt Greywalker]

The line I was paraphrasing actually comes from the start of the film Addams Family Values, wherein Mortica (looking completely normal. Well, for her) calmly announces to Gomez that's she's going to have a baby. Right now.

The length of time the biomod takes to regenerate is usually quick (thus making it a pain to get rid of). How to stretch it out is part of the plot line of the character I expect you need to get a rough idea for. You could have the changes start out very small and delicate, and the biomod has to spend most of its time repairing itself before it can progress. This leads to faster, more thorough and possibly traumatising changes as we get to the end. Or you could have the biomod create positive feedback on use, frying both equipment and the user leading to recovery time.
Dropping the time to a shorter length adds more psychological trauma to the character, as they observe the change. How would YOU feel to make up one morning to find you have a new arm that everybody swears wasn't there yesterday?

Then there's the whole gender issue.

Again, this is matter of choice. How do YOU want your character to behave? What character progression do you need to accomplish to go from the start to the end result you want?

Write a short introduction story detailing the history of your characters and how they got to the point they are at. Don't be afraid to change whole chunks if you feel it isn't right to you. Once you've got the concept tied down, new ideas will come. To (very roughly) paraphrase Terry Pratchett:
"Stories are about limitiations. The door NOT opened. The path NOT walked. The cake you DIDN'T stop to have a piece of."

Everything starts somewhere.

[Shinkaze]

Foxboy

     Ah, I understand now. The quirk is probably on the level of a disorder, but I intend for it to be more on the level of 'annoying' rather than being a truly serious psychological problem, as it's mostly mannerisms, quirks, and sometimes a bit of mindset, rather than actual personality. Also, I know very little about psychology, so I'm not sure what you meant by this

A lay "psychologist" speaking with the character without knowing a lot
of
their past will try to "normalize" them to match their body. And, if
they know enough about biomods, will likely be trying REALLY hard to do
so as as
far as they know, no attempt to "change" the results will work.

Particularly what you meant by "normalize" and 'no attempt to "change" the results will work'.

Cobalt Greywalker

     Since I'm going to be basing a couple of quirks off the slow cyberisation aspect it should probably last a while. Alex will be biomodded about a month before SOS.con, so having it last for about a year or so shouldn't be to much of a stretch. As for the progression of the biomod, the immediate changes would be the appearance change and the brain/nervous system alterations, with the first effects of  the slow cyberisation not starting to show up for a couple of weeks and progressing from there. The first story I'm going to be writing after I finish the character write-ups is an origin story, though I'm not sure if it's the kind of origin story you're thinking of, since it will mostly deal with the characters getting into space in the first place.
     Edit: I just finished the quirks I've added to Alex's write-up, how do they look?
 Repair, Repair: Due to a quirk of the method Alex used, his biomod was left incomplete. As mentioned above, Alex's biomod is slowly 'repairing' itself, and will eventually render him a full conversion cyborg. In the meantime, however, Alex suffers from several side effects including, but not limited to, various Intermittent aches and pains, occasional bouts of clumsyness, and, rarely, 'mechanical' sounds emanating from her body.
     Repair, Repair Part 2: Alex must ingest significant amounts of raw handwavium and metals (primarily iron) to fuel the (re)generation of his biomod, he also eats far more than his size suggests.

[Foxboy]

Okay. If Alex APPEARS to be female and is struggling mightily to hold onto his masculinity.... the well-meaning "lay psychologist" ("I read a Doctor Phil book, once!") will make efforts to get Alex to accept being female. These efforts will increase if the "lay psychologist" is aware of how DIFFICULT it is to reverse physical changes due to biomods. ("I read an article in Popular Science! Biomods are permanent!")
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Shinkaze]

Ah, I understand, thanks.