Post by Walter Bell on Nov 16, 2023 16:47:44 GMT -5
WELCOME TO LOS EUROSIA,
Walter "Walt" Benjamin Bell
"It must have been the wind."
BASICS
NAME: Walter Benjamin Bell
AGE: 22
BIRTHDATE: February 14, 2001
PRONOUNS: He/Him
SEXUALITY: Bisexual
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Barista
NEIGHBORHOOD: The Heights
MEMBER GROUP: Gifted
POWERS:
Emotion Manipulation. Walter's gift is a fairly simple one, and one that he likes to use to cheer people up if he thinks they are having a bad day. Walter can temporarily change the emotions of anyone he makes physical contact with, even if it's the slightest graze across the arm. It must be skin-to-skin contact, though, Walter's powers do not work through clothing or any other kind of barrier.
After making physical contact with someone else, to inflict the change in emotions, Walter must speak the new change out loud, whether directly ("Feel happy!") or indirectly ("I hope you get some more peace of mind today."). Walter must remain touching the person the entire time he speaks, or the change will not occur. The emotional change should be close to immediate, and usually go unnoticed by the person affected. Walter's gift influences a person until something else comes up in the target's life to change that emotion, big or small, like winning a free coffee or a family member passing away. Walter cannot use his power on himself.
Sensory Overload. Walter is unaware of this gift because he cannot retain memories of using it. This is a side effect of the power being used in the first place. In times when Walter is in an extremely heightened emotional state, most times a negative emotion (but it could be activated by elatedness as well, it is just not as likely), he will overload the senses of anyone in the same general vicinity as him. This includes the five main senses: hearing, eyesight, touch, smell, and taste, which will be dangerously increased by a thousandfold. These effects include:
1. Hearing sensitivity increases so much as even the slightest whisper is as loud as an explosion. In every case, the eardrums are so severely damaged that they are beyond repair, and the ears bleed for a good long while. Even in a case where there is complete silence, the ringing of silence in one's ear would be so loud it would still cause severe damage.
2. Eyesight is increased so that the pupils dilate as much as possible, letting in an extreme amount of light that is hurtful to the retinas. If the victim closes their eyes as soon as possible, they could at best live the rest of their life as legally blind. That is if they are still alive from the other effects of Walt's sensory overload.
3. The nervous system increases in sensitivity so that the feeling of everything someone touches is overwhelming. Something that was even slightly soft becomes extremely soft, and something that was a little painful becomes extremely painful. As for sensations that were originally extremely painful and extremely soft, well, let's say that the affected person isn't having a fun time.
4. Smell is probably the least dangerous of them all, but still not a fun experience. Like the rest of the senses, it increases a thousandfold, and even the faintest of smells can become extremely potent. While it increases the potency and strength of smells that the victim could already smell, it does not increase the range of how much they can smell.
5. Someone's taste is also increased to the point where even something as simple as an apple would become sickly sweet, a sour candy would damage their taste buds, and something bitter would become so distasteful that it would be wise to spit it out as soon as possible.
However long Walter is in the heightened emotional state is how long victims are affected. Walter has only felt huge emotional outbreaks twice in his life, though, and it is extremely unlikely that this may happen again. Although, who knows? Things happen, and even though Walt is a very patient and chill person, its a matter of time before he breaks.
THE LOOKS
HEIGHT: 5'8"
WEIGHT: 143.5 lbs
HAIR COLOR: Dark Brown
EYE COLOR: Light Green
FACE CLAIM: Alec Benjamin
OVERALL APPEARANCE: Walter has a relaxed sense of style that isn't too flashy, but displays a tone of understated elegance. He tends to opt for long pants, favoring the likes of classic jeans, comfortable sweatpants, or practical cargo pants, steering clear of shorts. For his taste in tops, you'll likely find him in a solid color hoodie or another kind of outerwear, paired with a simple T-shirt in a solid hue or featuring a notable brand name. Most of his clothing is intentionally loose-fitting and baggy, subtly concealing the contours of his build.
Walter has a slender physique that hints at a subtle dedication to fitness, a casual lifter at most. His arms, toned and sinewy, suggest a quiet strength beneath the surface. There's a touch of definition in his abs, not in an over-the-top way, just a peek here and there when the lighting plays nice. Overall, he carries himself with a lean, well-maintained look, more about looking decent than making a bold statement.
He doesn't have any scars or other marks, isn't remarkably hairy, and isn't necessarily overly attractive. Walter is just a dude going through the motions; he thinks of himself this way and looks accordingly.
INSIDE
LIKES:
- Reading
- Playing the guitar & ukulele
- Chocolate
- Coffee (and caffeine in general)
- Listening and performing at open mics
- Just Dance & rhythm games
- Sunsets & beautiful skies
- Photography
- Cats
DISLIKES:
- Loud noises
- Violence
- Crude & Dark humor
- Online shooter games
- Overly obnoxious people & pets
- Overly egotistical people
- Celery
STRENGTHS:
- patient
- a good listener
- good at lying (but not a liar)
- amazing dexterity
- blending in
- empathetic
- multi-skilled & talented
WEAKNESSES:
- clingy
- bottles up negative emotions
- a slight pushover
- difficulty setting firm boundaries
- fears being unliked
- reluctant at seeking emotional help for himself
OVERALL PERSONALITY:
If someone were to explain the entirety of Walter's existence in one or two words, it would be "a friend." Walter is a very chill, laid-back guy, and has personally accepted that he is just a dude going through the motions of life. There isn't anything special about him, and he's okay with that. He's even come to terms with his gift, proclaiming it as a part of his life he just has to live with. Overall, he believes that he is a very grounded guy. Truth is, he very much isn't.
Walter is a very amazing listener, and he shows it. Facial expressions that show understanding, unbroken eye contact, and empathetic eyes that relay kindness. He always tries to offer the best advice he possibly can, taking it as his life's mission to be the comfort and light in other's lives. But with everyone else's problems being carried on his shoulders, he often suffocates out his own problems, because the truth is that he wants to forget his past of grief, and having to confront it would make him crumble. He also very often prefers others over himself in an unhealthy way, giving up his own personal pleasures for someone else's a lot of the time. He very rarely stands up for himself, and when he does, he is very timid about it.
While all of that isn't great, what Walter doesn't regret is all the fun times he's had with everyone in his life. He does have a very energetic side to him, a partier who's more than willing to dance the night away. He's had many fun times, many of them under the influence of alcohol, and he's grateful for them because he likes having bonding time with the people he cares about. A key fact that he pushes away each time is that it's also another attempt to temporarily forget his past.
Walter is also a very artsy person, with many of his hobbies being dabbled in the arts. He plays many stringed instruments, including the Guitar and Ukulele, he is very skilled at drawing realistic portraits, and he finds it easier to connect with people over these things.
Overall, Walter is a poor little bean that needs therapy, but won't acknowledge it. A friendly face offering light in the darkness, only for him to need a little light himself.
BACKGROUND
HOMETOWN: Olympia, Washington
FAMILY:
Eleanor Bell (Deceased) - Mother/Human/44 (at time of death)
James Bell (Deceased) - Father/Human/47 (at time of death)
Tinker Bell (Deceased) - Sister/Unknown/9 (at time of death)
Oliver Bell - Twin Brother/Gifted/22
PETS:
Wasabi - Walt's Blue Russian cat, around 3 years old, and is extremely playful! Maybe a little too playful, as she gets out of hand a lot of the time and scratches her playmate. Because of this energetic and spicy personality, Walt named her Wasabi.
HISTORY:
Walter Bell was born and raised in what would be called the perfect Stock Photo Family. He had loving parents, he was the oldest of three siblings who always had time to play with him, he lived in a big 2-story house, and got everything he asked for Christmas. It was a life he loved, but also a life of ignorance. His parents were very strict about what they would let him watch and take in, setting extreme limits on what he could and couldn't do. He wasn't even allowed to go hang out with his friends after school until his parents interrogated his friend's parents to inspect if they were "appropriate enough for our son."
His first gift began to develop when he was around six years old, quickly noticing that his friends felt more comforted and happy after he hugged them. At first, he dismissed it as nothing, but then he suspected something was different about him when he miraculously somehow made his sister feel enthusiastic after her pet goldfish had just died. Tink had loved that goldfish, and felt absolutely crushed when she saw him floating dead in the tank, and now she suddenly feels great after he told her to feel happier soon while hugging her? Walt knew something was different about him, but was skeptical to tell anybody about it at first. He ended up telling his twin brother, Oliver, in which Walt discovered that his brother also had a gift: he could create and manipulate ice! Both of them thought it was awesome, but decided to not tell anyone else about it, and because of their little kid tendencies, they created the "Powers Detectives Club" and pretended to be superhero spies. As they kept growing up and getting into increasingly more trouble, though, they decided to disband.
Things quickly fell downhill for Walter, though, because when he was 12, his father died in a car crash while coming home from getting groceries. It was devastating for Walter, but he tried his best to not cry. This was the start of when Walter was self-introduced to the concept of bottling up his emotions. But as the weeks went by without his loving father there, it got harder and harder to keep it all in.
After around 3 weeks after the time of his father's death, Walter, his mother, and Tink got in the car to go to his funeral across town. Oliver decided to stay behind: he couldn't handle the grief and couldn't go. Once they arrived, and Walter got a good look at his bloodied and bruised corpse, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He began to weep, but then he blacked out.
Walter did not in fact black out, he burst into tears. He had been bottling up his emotions for multiple weeks and couldn't hold it in anymore, so overwhelmed with grief that in that moment his unknown second ability kicked in, and the entire attendance of the funeral were all on their knees, screaming in pain and bleeding from their ears. Walter cried for a good long ten minutes over his father's corpse, but the attendance (including his family) had already been dead after less than 5 minutes. He didn't even acknowledge the chaos around him, as if he wasn't even aware of it.
Walter opened his eyes and looked up to see everyone around him dead, including his mother and sister, in which once again he wept, lonely and confused. After a while, he became dehydrated and fainted. What he didn't know is that security cameras around the premises had been recording everything, so the Sector quickly stepped in to cover up the incident as a successful mass shooting. He and his brother were then put into foster care, now orphans, and Walter was forcefully prescribed an emotional numbing medication until he didn't need it anymore. He took this medication until he was around 16 years old.
The years passed by, and Walter grew older, still burdened by his family's "unknown" cause of death. He was introduced to alcohol as a freshman in High School, and became dependent on it after only six months of drinking illegally. It began to show in his class that something was up, and he was forced to take a breathalyzer test to reveal that his BAC was well over 0.1%, and he was sentenced to one year of jail. This didn't last very long, though, as Walter's addiction was making him crave alcohol, and he was getting restless without it. This caused another emotional outbreak, in which he once again blacked out and woke up to find his cell mates dead and bleeding from the ears. The Sector once again had to step in, and put him in rehab, which worked effectively, but at this point the Sector was debating whether it was safe to keep letting Walter go free. It was around this time when Walter decided it was time to turn his life around and stop living in the grief-filled, confusing past, and he moved on to other things. What he couldn't do was forgive himself for what had happened those two times, and even though he didn't remember how they died, he somehow felt like it was his fault. Walter did not return to High School, and because of Walter's decision, the Sector decided to give him one more chance.
He began to dabble in the arts, falling in love with music and drawing, and enveloped himself in these activities for a long while after that. He learned the guitar, ukulele, piano, traditional and digital art in less than two years. He was also working during this time, saving as much as possible, and as soon as he turned 18 he moved out and used the little money he had to move to Los Eurosia and buy a small apartment in the Fields. He was determined to leave everything behind and start fresh, which is what he did. He began to make new friends, listening to what they had to say, and let himself shoulder their grief so he wouldn't have to think of his own. He is still living in Los Eurosia today, working at one of the local coffee shops, a warm smile on his face, wanting to hear what you have to say.
THE PLAYER
NAME: Ray
AGE: 17
TIMEZONE: PDT