Cassandra "scoffs with compassion" Igarashi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
queenofseers) wrote2018-01-31 05:16 pm
queenofseers) wrote2018-01-31 05:16 pm
Entry tags:
application (mask or menace)
〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Macey
AGE: 20
JOURNAL:thaumiel
IM / EMAIL: [email protected]
PLURK: keterclass
RETURNING: Nope!
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Cassandra Igarashi / Urdr
CHARACTER AGE: ~23
SERIES: The Wicked + The Divine
CHRONOLOGY: end of Issue #32
CLASS: Hero, probably, although she has strong opinions on how these distinctions are ridiculous and yadda yadda.
HOUSING: No preference!
BACKGROUND: Wiki entry
PERSONALITY:
Unlike most of the gods that surround her, Cassandra's personality didn't change much upon becoming the god Urdr. Both before and after godhood she's argumentative and questioning- having been a journalist at the start of the series, she's always attempting to figure out why the people around her are doing the things they're doing. But she isn't an objective journalist; Cassandra is also extremely judgmental, and becomes angry easily, especially considering the stress of her situation as a god. She's known to call out the other members of the Pantheon for their hard-partying and tendencies toward violence, only to grow even more upset when her words fall on deaf ears.
Ironically, though, Cassandra isn't prone to anger out simply out of pessimism (although she can be very pessimistic). As another character points out to her at one point, she's actually an idealist, and her frequent judgement of others revolves around that fact. Cassandra doesn't expect the best of everyone, but she wants it, and often can't understand why others aren't trying to achieve better things as avidly as she is.
That ties into one of her largest problems: despite her background in academia giving her a desire to understand things, Cassandra has an incredibly hard time understanding other people. Unless what someone is thinking or feeling is spelled out to her, she usually doesn't know why people are acting the way they are- and when most of the people around her are traumatized and acting out, this tends to cause problems. Things that are easy to see for others, such as someone having a crush on her, are completely lost on Cassandra. She can't even pick up that a close friend is pursuing drugs and sex as outlets due to the deaths of her family until it's stated outright. While she's frequently correct when she points out the flaws and mistakes of the other gods, she's unable to cause any real change because she can rarely figure out why they do the things they do.
On the other hand, her overbearing judgement is something Cassandra extends to herself, especially now that becoming a god has given her only two more years to live. Cassandra wants to prove herself not only to others but to herself, and this creates situations where she can become obsessive about achieving certain goals. At one point she aimlessly studied a single object for half a year to the point of forgetting when a major holiday occurred, believing that figuring out the truth behind the object would be a monumental achievement that would give her acknowledgement and prove that her goals aren't foolish. But even that leads nowhere- because she can be so short-sighted and has trouble adopting other's ideas, she refuses to realize she's hit a dead end.
As her all-consuming studying would imply, Cassandra is also very interested in understanding things. It's what made her a good academic, and then a good journalist, before godhood. She believes that she'll feel fulfilled if she manages to uncover the truth about something, but she tends to come into situations with assumptions that she has trouble shedding. Initially a skeptic about the gods, she still claims it's "bullshit" when she becomes a god herself, refusing to drop her suspicion about the gods' true nature. In many ways, she wants to be proven right just as much as she wants to know the truth- and then if she turns out to be correct she'd like others to notice her success, but she rarely gets that.
All together, Cassandra's personality has trapped her in a vicious cycle; she has a deep desire to achieve something that'll prove her worth, but her frequent refusal to look away from her own beliefs impedes her progress, and her lack of empathy can drive away people who could help her. At the time she's taken from in canon, she's only just beginning to realize these things and trying to improve, but that's a difficult prospect, especially when she's surrounded by chaos and death all the time.
POWER:
1. God Powers (Canon)
Members of the Pantheon all have their own power set, but have a few things in common. The first is their ability to spread their message through what is often referred to as "songs" (or, as Cass puts it once, "good tunes") but is really more of a speaking-in-tongues rush that often physically and emotionally overwhelms. It's part of their divinity, and performances tend to show off some of the god's inner self/personal feelings. Cassandra is a lot more direct than most gods- the one time we see her perform, there are words displayed rather than something more abstract, mostly transmitting various nihilistic ideas and themes (she was not in a good place at the time). Whether or not this affects other characters probably depends on how willing they are to hear it and how successfully they relate to the themes. Cass herself has only been able to hear two of the twelve gods in canon, and even that took some time, so it's no guarantee her powers will effect everyone, either. This also will alter the extent to which people react; some gods seem frequently induce extreme reactions in their performances like fainting or crying, but people seem to react to the Norns as if they've just heard a rad performance at a concert and not too far beyond that. All that stated, Cass rarely (maybe only once) uses this power in canon and she probably won't often in-game either.
All members of the Pantheon also seem to be able to put up a better fight than most mortals, meaning better strength, endurance, etc, and the ability to strike down other gods with their abilities (and mortals, of course). That said, Cass also rarely participates in the rest of the cast's beat-'em-ups and is likely on the weaker end of this- able to strike down the average human being if needed, but maybe not anyone with significant supernatural abilities.
Second, Cass has a few powers specific to being a Norn. The most notable is divining. The full parameters of this aren't exact in canon, but overall she has the ability to uncover hidden things as long as there's a trail to follow and she's not interrupted by something else that would impede her access, both magical (ie. she couldn't see into another dimension that existed in her canon) or practical (ie. someone purposefully steering her away from the things she should have been focusing on). This has included everything from finding someone's location, to discovering someone's secret internet accounts and figuring out their passwords. This isn't guaranteed- in particular, Cass has a habit of becoming focused on one idea to the point of driving all others out, so it's possible she could miss something that would otherwise be obvious if she didn't broaden her options.
Cass can also fly! This is exactly what it sounds like; the only disadvantage is she's not very fast, especially compared to some other members of the Pantheon, some of whom can teleport with the sun or travel through underground dimensions and the like.
A note on these powers: there's three Norns, and Cass usually has the other two with her, using the powers alongside her. It's not known whether having them absent will effect the level of her power at all, especially since in some ways she appears to be the "main" Norn. I think she'll still be able to do everything listed, but she might not be as powerful as she would be, and divining may take longer than it would have.
2. Stasis (Porter Power)
Freezing objects in time. This would be extremely limited, however: no freezing living things, objects that are frozen can't be moved, and the freezing only works for up to (roughly) five minutes. Also has to be done on purpose.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: Test Drive meme.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
FINAL NOTES: N/A
NAME: Macey
AGE: 20
JOURNAL:
thaumiel IM / EMAIL: [email protected]
PLURK: keterclass
RETURNING: Nope!
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Cassandra Igarashi / Urdr
CHARACTER AGE: ~23
SERIES: The Wicked + The Divine
CHRONOLOGY: end of Issue #32
CLASS: Hero, probably, although she has strong opinions on how these distinctions are ridiculous and yadda yadda.
HOUSING: No preference!
BACKGROUND: Wiki entry
PERSONALITY:
Unlike most of the gods that surround her, Cassandra's personality didn't change much upon becoming the god Urdr. Both before and after godhood she's argumentative and questioning- having been a journalist at the start of the series, she's always attempting to figure out why the people around her are doing the things they're doing. But she isn't an objective journalist; Cassandra is also extremely judgmental, and becomes angry easily, especially considering the stress of her situation as a god. She's known to call out the other members of the Pantheon for their hard-partying and tendencies toward violence, only to grow even more upset when her words fall on deaf ears.
Ironically, though, Cassandra isn't prone to anger out simply out of pessimism (although she can be very pessimistic). As another character points out to her at one point, she's actually an idealist, and her frequent judgement of others revolves around that fact. Cassandra doesn't expect the best of everyone, but she wants it, and often can't understand why others aren't trying to achieve better things as avidly as she is.
That ties into one of her largest problems: despite her background in academia giving her a desire to understand things, Cassandra has an incredibly hard time understanding other people. Unless what someone is thinking or feeling is spelled out to her, she usually doesn't know why people are acting the way they are- and when most of the people around her are traumatized and acting out, this tends to cause problems. Things that are easy to see for others, such as someone having a crush on her, are completely lost on Cassandra. She can't even pick up that a close friend is pursuing drugs and sex as outlets due to the deaths of her family until it's stated outright. While she's frequently correct when she points out the flaws and mistakes of the other gods, she's unable to cause any real change because she can rarely figure out why they do the things they do.
On the other hand, her overbearing judgement is something Cassandra extends to herself, especially now that becoming a god has given her only two more years to live. Cassandra wants to prove herself not only to others but to herself, and this creates situations where she can become obsessive about achieving certain goals. At one point she aimlessly studied a single object for half a year to the point of forgetting when a major holiday occurred, believing that figuring out the truth behind the object would be a monumental achievement that would give her acknowledgement and prove that her goals aren't foolish. But even that leads nowhere- because she can be so short-sighted and has trouble adopting other's ideas, she refuses to realize she's hit a dead end.
As her all-consuming studying would imply, Cassandra is also very interested in understanding things. It's what made her a good academic, and then a good journalist, before godhood. She believes that she'll feel fulfilled if she manages to uncover the truth about something, but she tends to come into situations with assumptions that she has trouble shedding. Initially a skeptic about the gods, she still claims it's "bullshit" when she becomes a god herself, refusing to drop her suspicion about the gods' true nature. In many ways, she wants to be proven right just as much as she wants to know the truth- and then if she turns out to be correct she'd like others to notice her success, but she rarely gets that.
All together, Cassandra's personality has trapped her in a vicious cycle; she has a deep desire to achieve something that'll prove her worth, but her frequent refusal to look away from her own beliefs impedes her progress, and her lack of empathy can drive away people who could help her. At the time she's taken from in canon, she's only just beginning to realize these things and trying to improve, but that's a difficult prospect, especially when she's surrounded by chaos and death all the time.
POWER:
1. God Powers (Canon)
Members of the Pantheon all have their own power set, but have a few things in common. The first is their ability to spread their message through what is often referred to as "songs" (or, as Cass puts it once, "good tunes") but is really more of a speaking-in-tongues rush that often physically and emotionally overwhelms. It's part of their divinity, and performances tend to show off some of the god's inner self/personal feelings. Cassandra is a lot more direct than most gods- the one time we see her perform, there are words displayed rather than something more abstract, mostly transmitting various nihilistic ideas and themes (she was not in a good place at the time). Whether or not this affects other characters probably depends on how willing they are to hear it and how successfully they relate to the themes. Cass herself has only been able to hear two of the twelve gods in canon, and even that took some time, so it's no guarantee her powers will effect everyone, either. This also will alter the extent to which people react; some gods seem frequently induce extreme reactions in their performances like fainting or crying, but people seem to react to the Norns as if they've just heard a rad performance at a concert and not too far beyond that. All that stated, Cass rarely (maybe only once) uses this power in canon and she probably won't often in-game either.
All members of the Pantheon also seem to be able to put up a better fight than most mortals, meaning better strength, endurance, etc, and the ability to strike down other gods with their abilities (and mortals, of course). That said, Cass also rarely participates in the rest of the cast's beat-'em-ups and is likely on the weaker end of this- able to strike down the average human being if needed, but maybe not anyone with significant supernatural abilities.
Second, Cass has a few powers specific to being a Norn. The most notable is divining. The full parameters of this aren't exact in canon, but overall she has the ability to uncover hidden things as long as there's a trail to follow and she's not interrupted by something else that would impede her access, both magical (ie. she couldn't see into another dimension that existed in her canon) or practical (ie. someone purposefully steering her away from the things she should have been focusing on). This has included everything from finding someone's location, to discovering someone's secret internet accounts and figuring out their passwords. This isn't guaranteed- in particular, Cass has a habit of becoming focused on one idea to the point of driving all others out, so it's possible she could miss something that would otherwise be obvious if she didn't broaden her options.
Cass can also fly! This is exactly what it sounds like; the only disadvantage is she's not very fast, especially compared to some other members of the Pantheon, some of whom can teleport with the sun or travel through underground dimensions and the like.
A note on these powers: there's three Norns, and Cass usually has the other two with her, using the powers alongside her. It's not known whether having them absent will effect the level of her power at all, especially since in some ways she appears to be the "main" Norn. I think she'll still be able to do everything listed, but she might not be as powerful as she would be, and divining may take longer than it would have.
2. Stasis (Porter Power)
Freezing objects in time. This would be extremely limited, however: no freezing living things, objects that are frozen can't be moved, and the freezing only works for up to (roughly) five minutes. Also has to be done on purpose.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: Test Drive meme.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
[ Considering how responsible she claims to be, you'd expect Cassandra to be asleep in her room at one in the morning...but no. There's work to be done, and she gets restless if there's work to be done, so she's sitting on her bed wide awake. That's been the story of the last half-year of her life, studying Woden's blasted machine, and the god's death sentence, whether their status as gods was legitimate...it was daunting and complicated and she couldn't relax until it was finished. Which means that she's not going to be able to relax here, because now all that's taken away from her.
But here there's work to be done, too. Maybe even more than before. At least back home the world was, you know, her own, and there was plenty of academic writing and histories to pour over to give her some idea of where to start. In this place? There's none of that, and not only that, but everything's somehow more complicated than an old woman inexplicably being able to grant a group of teenagers magic abilities every ninety years or so. There's something here that can...reach over dimensions. Grant people powers. Mess with time itself. And she thought things were awful before.
She's been pouring over the pamphlet again, knowing it's a completely useless endeavor. It's not like she can divine anything useful from it- it's clearly corporate, overly edited junk. Knowing it's not going to really help doesn't make it any better. There's so much in it that upsets her- these people think they can just put micro-machines in their bodies and tell them everything's fine? They think they can just ask for people's help fighting a goddamn war after abducting them? And not only that, there's all these mysteries to figure out, and just when she thought she'd solved something and then she hadn't and... ]
..Fucking shit. [ And there goes the pamphlet flung across the room. She's not paying attention when she throws it, though, and it hits a small table lamp and knocks it right onto the floor with a thump.
She doesn't want to be bothered when she's like this. Maybe she needs to be, though? ]
FINAL NOTES: N/A