I've Got the World on a String

[Stephen Gage]

Meet Stephen Gage. 32, friendly, agreeable, gay, and capable of making your body into his plaything. So it goes.

Stephen (Or Stevie, if you like) is a recruiter at the Hammel Institute with the power of Body Control. Meaning, with a glance and a hand wave, he can gain power over the bodies of other people as if they were puppets. Yes, he's quite aware of how creepy it is, and no, he does not enjoy flaunting it. Devoted to the Institute, which he sees as just about the greatest thing since, and possibly including, sliced bread, Stephen's rather proud of his position as a recruiter.

Friendly to a fault, the man boasts an encompassing sense of humour and can hardly be described as shy. His anger issues are largely a thing of the past, thanks to an iron constitution and impressive reservoir of patience he's built up over the years. But, once those resources are depleted, and the ease of simply controlling people becomes all too attractive, Stephen's smiling face becomes more unnerving than it is heartwarming.

------------Friends------------

Stephen is the sort of man who would rapidly consider just about anybody a friend, their particular interest in the relationship notwithstanding. He makes a conscious effort to be open, approachable, and chipper, and will freely initiate conversation with anyone who seems remotely keen on it.

------------Foes------------

Nobody goes through life without making some enemies, and Stephen is no exception to that rule. Anyone who would act against the Institute is readily considered an enemy, as well as those who would persecute meta-humans. Also, anyone who he might have controlled in the past during one of the times in which his self-control fails may have quite easily taken offense to it. It is rather jarring, after all.

------------Fuckbuddi- er, Romances------------

He's far from prude, shall we say. Though quite open to the whole monogamous relationship, he's not had one in a fair while. His bed, however, has not gone cold. With a slight preference for men with glasses, Stephen is somewhat of a flirt, though usually harmlessly.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean is also frignly to a fault, and has been at Hammel since Stephen was a student. He is a bit lonely and so he tries to have as many friends on the faculty as possible. He's also a good listener.

If Stephen is in need of friends, even ones twenty years older than him, Sean is your man.

Also, Sean is leader of Team Good Guys, who will hopefully soon make their game appearance. From your interest in the C-Box, he has been added to my team roster.

[Darryl Bond]

Darryl; the social butterfly and well...the one that 'get's around.' He's naught been at Hammel as a teacher but for a few months.

That aside, he loves making friends, and generally considers those he's spoken two once or twice his buddies. He usually goes out on a limb to help people (even though the trouble that's gotten him into recently) but he just can't say no to a frowning face. He likes attention and if the conversation isn't about him, he'll assert himself in anyway and try to make it seem like he belongs there anyway.

Though he doesn't wear glasses. (^_^)

[Dr. James Campbell]

I have what can best be described as a herd of characters, but I'm going to start with just these two.

Dr. James Campbell is a 40-year-old gay man who wears glasses and entered Hammel the same time Stephen did.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, he's also Stephen's boss, and married with two kids. His husband is Chase Kilbourne, one of the trainers, and his son is a student at Hammel, Nikolai Curtis. (He's their foster son, though they are going to adopt him in the future.)

As for their relationship, I'd think it's pretty friendly. James is anal-retentive about paperwork and just about everything else, partially because he has severe OCD as a side-effect of his powers. But outside of work, I could see them getting along pretty well. (For anything other than friendship, James would see it as a non-issue, as either Stevie was to young for him, or they were working together.)

However, a few months ago, James was attacked by our resident villian, Gabriel Underwood. Gabe used his form of puppetry to use James' body to steal a list of possible recruits, then made him destroy a glass picture frame with his hands. Obviously, this took a toll on him, and since then he has been very nervous around people with psychic powers. (Including Chase, who has Mind Control) So their relationship for the past few months probably would have been strained and overly-formal, with only some improvement recently.

Also, this attack is one of the triggers that started the "Team Good Guys" ball rolling.

Paulo Ortiz is thirty-four, equal-opportunity when it comes to relationships, and his soul is up for auction to the highest bidder.

Cool, calculating, and charismatic, he is a member of M.S.A.D. and is one of Gabriel Underwood's most trusted friends. He hates Hammel with a passion, partially because he was never given the opportunity to attend, and if he hadn't been found by Gabe, he would either have been killed or experimented on.

As for plots, Paulo is currently living in Pilot Ridge, spying on another M.S.A.D. member and digging up information on Hammel for brownie points. Perhaps they can cross paths?

[Stephen Gage]

All right, let's tackle some of these characters...

Having a friend twenty years older than himself is not terribly surprising for a man such as Stephen. It is quite possible that he would have started some fashion of mentor-mentee relationship with Sean, and as he grew and left the role of student behind, it changed into a mutual friendship. If Sean leads TGG, then, Stephen would certainly be likely to join.

How does that sound?

Darryl and Stephen sound rather alike, in fairness. With both of them quite enjoying making friends, and their loose definition of such, I can see them having established at least some sort of rapport. Stephen, I imagine, comes and goes as a recruiter, but he'd certainly be no stranger around the staff lounge. That's where the tea is. Born and raised in the British Isles, you can be damn sure he likes his tea.

James, your idea sounds quite wonderful to me, and especially so as further motivation for Stephen to side with Team Good Guys. Be it some fashion of repentance for someone else's actions (Gabe's use of puppetry), or simple caring for a friend thus revenge, a friendship with Dr. James would be just cause for Stephen to want to regain his favor and ensure his security.

Paulo Ortiz sounds as if he's capable of cooking up some rather delicious drama. Whether Stephen would know him or know of him remains undecided, though it's quite probable that he wouldn't. If that's the case, given the apparent charming nature of Mr. Ortiz, them crossing paths might lead to some interesting results. Do you have any ideas?

How does that sound, fellas?

[Dr. Sean Neville]

That sound marvelous. Sean likes being a mentor to younger staff and to students, because he benefited from having a mentor himself, and the people at the school often serve as subconscious substitutes for the family he doesn't have.

[Joshua Bernstein]

-tosses Josh in-

As Josh is friends with Sean he insists on meeting all of Sean's friends. Much like Stephen he talks to people whether they are interested or not, although Stephen seems to be more laid-back -- Josh's "conversations" are usually rants.

Josh does happen to strongly feel that Hammel operates unconstitutionally, however, which may not go over very well.

[Sidra Cotton]

Sidra says if he tries any of that shi- with her, she'll gut him and use his entrails for corset lacing. Just sayin'.

Jessica, on the other hand says that he can puppet master her ANY day of the week. No, really. She probably spends a great deal of time looking at him, then away really quick if he notices.

[Stephen Gage]

Josh - Josh sounds like a wonderful buddy for Stephen, even if they might differ on their approach towards Hammel. It would certainly lead to some interesting arguments, and if Josh isn't aware of the special nature of Hammel's students and staff, I have to admit I'd be entertained by Stephen attempting to hold up his own side of the debate while maintaining that secret. Also, Josh has glasses. Major plus.

Sidra - Sounds as peaceful and gentle as a spring breeze. Rest assured that if Stephen ever did use his power in such a manner, he'd probably let her do that to him.

Jessica - Seems as if it'd be wonderful comedic fodder. One-sided crushes rarely are, except when they're the sort that could go on between the two of them. It might be a rather awkward conversation when he eventually tells her that her chances are pretty nil. What with the whole gay thing and all.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Interjecting for Josh despite not playing him - he's very aware of the nature of Hammel's students and staff. He and Sean argue about it.

[Chase Campbell]

... Not on her account, but I do have a recruiter.

Midori Hawkins. Recently, yes, pregnant (thank you Darryl), so her traveling days are numbered. But she's a fairly friendly person, very sweet. She can shift into mammals, anything smaller than around 60lbs is her limit, but obviously, she can't do that anymore.

So if he needs a friend, she's good at that. ^_^

[Joshua Bernstein]

Yes, as Sean says, Josh is aware of the nature of Hammel. It is the compulsory attendance for all meta-humans that bothers him. Still, someone to argue with over it who will still be friend with him is always a plus.

Secondly, Josh has recently made friends with another man with glasses (Cobalt Weaver) and his player and I would find it terribly amusing to have Stephen thread with the pair of them. Cobalt shares Josh's opinions on Hammel, mind, and is also rather shy. We have no idea what reason to give for having them all in a thread together, but we figured we'd put it out there. If you're interested I'll PM you and we can discuss in more detail between us.

[Cobalt Weaver]

-sneaks in-

Hi, I play Cobalt (whom Josh mentioned above). I figured since the offer to play with him was made, I ought to introduce him. >.<; Josh basically covered everything about Cobalt, but to reiterate: he's very opinionated about Hammel, generally shy, but okay with getting into an argument. He has some personal issues, and it shows in his anti-social front, but he really does need friends. Also, you know... man with glasses. hahaha

[Stephen Gage]

I'm all for threading with just about anybody, and this certainly sounds like it has some promise. Shoot me a PM, either of you, and we'll see what we can come up with.

[Dimitri Spade]

I do believe reserving a thread with Stephen when you were still creating him. I think he and Dimitri could be great friends, or even more! Haha!

I can start the thread if you want, but tell me if you have any ideas or problems.