Dr. Emerson Cassel

[Dr. Emerson Cassel]

The Basics

Name: Emerson Joseph Cassel, PhD.
Nicknames: Emmy, Dr. C
Age: Thirty-Seven
Orientation: Panromantic Asexual
Desired Rank/Job: Side Effects Specialist
Powers: Meta Sensing - he can sense the power of anyone within a mile radius. However, his ability gives him frequent migraines and makes him a bit distractible due to constantly getting alerted of new metahumans. When the metahuman is further away, the less likely he is to be able to identify the specific power, but usually is accurate with the type of power (mental, physical, etc.). The main side effect is migraines - they usually last for an average of 4 to 10 hours.
Play By: Tahmoh Penikett

The Details

Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Any Piercings? None
Any Tattoos? None
Any Scars? A few. One is a scar from where his appendix was taken out (at age 7), another is on his knuckle (a burn scar; from taking a piece of toast out of a toaster at a hotel buffet)
General Appearance:
Emerson stands tall at about 6 feet and 3 inches and is of a rather muscular build - maybe 200 or more pounds. He can come off as intimidating if he's not smiling, which definitely happens quite often. His posture is practically perfect on a normal day; he has an air of confidence about him that is unmistakable. His hair is always short - he hates when it gets past his collar or when it takes more than a minute to brush. Occasionally, glasses rest upon his nose; he only needs them when he's reading or when his eyes are strained. The prescription that he has is rather low compared - his +1.5 lenses are in rimless glasses that often must be pushed up as they're a bit off after being dropped so many times.

He wears casual clothes, usually. To work, he wears a collared shirt, a sweater, and slacks - sometimes, he'll even wear Converse but they're only for rare occasions. Sometimes he'll wear a sports coat or blazer if there is some sort of important conference or big visitor at Hammel or even for a parent (one is hidden in a drawer in his office for emergencies along with a pre-tied tie). However, when he's off work, you can usually find Emerson in a t-shirt, converse, and jeans. When he has some sort of formal dinner, he does dress up and put on a tie or something of that sort - usually, his clothing is spot and wrinkle-free. The colors that he wears are few - he doesn't like to wear bright colors, but pastels can be spotted on him when walking around town. He's not afraid to wear a light shade of pink, as he refuses to assign specific color to gender stuff.
Personality:
Emerson is a rather laid-back fellow who has an exceptionally strong set of morals that he follows above anything. The rules come in second on that list, though if absolutely necessary, he will "forget" a rule in favor of following his moral compass. However, that is an exceptionally rare situation; the rules often align quite well with his set of principles. They also happen to align with the laws of the Untied States and the world, though he does disagree with some laws (he doesn't publicize this - though if school shootings continue to happen with nothing being changed after, he will start to voice his anger). He's incredibly loyal to those that he is close with and works hard to get what he has; he is certainly a workaholic and spends most of his time at Hammel, working as the side effects specialist. He can be quite the perfectionist - paperwork takes at least time and a half to get it all done perfectly. His dissertation was no different; it took him a year to organize everything to write the paper, which then took about two years to complete.

He often can be a bit too controlling and judgmental, as much as he hates the latter trait. Some accurately categorize Dr. Cassel as "rigid" and a "know-it-all". He doesn't really smile all that much and he does enjoy demonstrating his knowledge when he's given the time to. He also has trouble expressing his feelings to people; praise is not something that he offers very much. He often forgets to give recognition to others (and himself) for certain things.

Your Vices

Likes: Order, sparkling apple cider, H.G. Wells, poetry, SciShow on YouTube, and The Who.
Dislikes: Chaos, being sick, sleeping in socks or jeans, the heat, immaturity, and heavy metal music.
Strengths: Sticking to what he thinks is right, working, being loyal, his honesty, and his integrity.
Weaknesses: Opening up to others/communicating his feelings, accepting the opinions of others, is judgmental, always sticks to the book and is afraid to stray from what he knows is right.
Fears: Losing everything that he's worked so hard to accomplish.
Secret: Emerson has no clue how to swim - which embarrasses him to no end.

Family Ties

Father: Dr. James Cassel, professor of history, nonpowered
Mother: Dr. Alice Cassel (nee Fairfax), professor of economics, nonpowered
Siblings: N/A
Any Other Important People:
Chet - german shepard mix
Edgar Alegría - former romantic partner, nonpowered

History

Emerson Joseph Cassel was born on Wednesday, the 18th of May, 1977 in Los Angeles, California. His parents, two PhD candidates, couldn't have been happier with the birth of their son. Although they wanted another child, Emerson would be their last surviving one; their next attempt at having a child ended in a miscarriage. Alice and James were heartbroken, but they couldn't dote on it forever - after all, they had a young boy to raise. After their PhDs were awarded, the small family moved to Iowa, where both Alice and James had been offered jobs at Grinnell, a college.

From an early age, Emerson was more independent than most kids - at least, he liked to think that he was. He rarely asked for help and was adamant on learning important skills, like tying his shoelaces. To the displeasure of his teacher, he spent a good hour tuning her out while practicing the skill; he lost his recess playtime that day, but to him, it was worth it. It was a small consequence that was outweighed by his newfound independence from adult meddling with his shoelaces. This small anecdote is something that he isn't exactly proud of, but it happened - and he knows that he cannot escape his past. His upbringing was without any major blips or anything. His parents were great, his friends were alright, but whenever he tried to learn something new that simply wasn't covered in class yet, he received chastisement from his teachers, causing him to become rather apathetic towards school during his elementary school days and the beginning of his middle school days. Luckily, he wasn't going to be stuck in the "middle of nowhere" (what he thought Iowa was) for much longer.

When Emerson was twelve, the Cassel family drove down to Des Moines for the weekend. There was some conference going on for Alice, and James decided it would be a wise idea to make it into a family vacation - which was sort of wise. When the two guys walked down a street, they nearly bumped into a stranger, who Emerson had a strange feeling about. At first, he ignored what his gut was telling him about the strange woman. About twenty minutes later, he saw the woman yet again; this time, he had a strange feeling that she could fly without wings, like Superman, but he felt as though he should keep it to himself. When the family reunited at dinner, he felt the strange signs yet again. A migraine struck as he thought that he was in the presence of a pyrokinetic and a person who had some sort of physical ability. This never seemed to stop - at least, it stopped later that evening when the metahuman individuals left the area. The next time he felt he was in the presence of a metahuman (before he knew what they were) occurred one week later; a Hammel recruiter showed up on the doorstep of the Cassels and informed them that their son had the gift of sensing other metahumans. Bewildered, Alice and James helped Emerson pack his things to go off to Vermont to attend school at the Hammel Institute.

When he first got to the Institute, he felt weird - the amount of metas was overwhelming. Frequent migraines plagued the young sensor as he tried to grasp his abilities. It was stressful to always have the ability to tell which person had which power nonstop. Sometimes it was hard for him to focus in class, well, most of the time it was hard. He tried to go off-campus to study, sometimes even thinking about catching a bus and go away from Pilot Ridge, but that didn't happen. He stuck to the rules. As his second year at Hammel came to a close, his power no longer distracted him from classes too much, but the migraines still plagued him on a daily basis. Once he was fourteen, he began to fully apply himself in class - especially science.

After graduating from Hammel, Emerson ended up at Johns-Hopkins University to study biology - he ended up majoring in it and minoring in bioethics. He considered applying to Med school heavily, but decided against it, as he didn't quite trust himself with someone else's life. However, he applied to a graduate program at the University of Vermont, where he spent the next several years studying at. After several long years, he obtained his PhD at age 31 in metahuman biology - specifically, the side effects that these special mutations come with. For a few years, he worked at the University, but is currently working at the Hammel Institute as their side effects specialist.

A few years ago, he became romantically involved with a man named Edgar. He was a well-respected man in the Hammel community, but things went south with Mr. Alegría. He held serious grudges against the metahuman community and quickly split things off with Emerson once he found out what his partner was: a "monster". Emerson still harbors a grudge against Edgar, but that's something he doesn't publicize (the entire relationship is something that he buries). Since the stint with Edgar, Emmy has stayed away from dating, which he's not too proud of.

Roleplay Example

I used to play Riley O'Connor, Leo Collins, Noam Goldstein, Alex Grayson, and Philip Thompson - not going to continue with any of them but I'm exempt from this, I think

What About You?

Name: Tatoe
Age: 14 < my age < 18
Experience: 3-4 years
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Ready To Play? 01011001011001010111001100100001

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