Post by Devyn Dell on Mar 20, 2016 1:59:06 GMT -6
Devyn Ethan Dell
FACE CLAIM: Colin Ford
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AGE: 17
GENDER: Male
ORIENTATION: Homosexual
POSITION: Bellefonte Student
POWER: Simply put, adoptive muscle memory is the ability to mimic movement upon observation. Though, that is just the uncomplicated description of it, in reality the actual application of AMM can get much more complicated. The ability works in four steps: perception, analysis, manipulation, and replication.
It all begins with perception, which is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information. For Devyn the only sensory information that applies to his abilities is what is gathered by sight. So, basically it starts with him seeing something. Simple enough concept in theory, but the bare bones of Devyn's ability is that his brain is wired very differently from other peoples. Its geared to gather information in a much more mechanical way, rather than identifying motion by its end product or goal intended (ex. walking, kicking, throwing etc.) it is identified by its components. A lot like how someone musically inclined can pick out particular notes or techniques when listening to musical piece. Devyn's brain picks up on the tiny details that are usually perfected through training and practice, he can target the exact differences between the movements of a novice and a master.
After he sees a movement is when the real bulk of work for his brain begins. Near instantaneously his brain analyzes the components of the observed motion, very similar in fashion to a computer analyzing inputted data, and determines what moves what? Why? How? How fast? As his brain determines these things it begins manipulating the information, altering it to fit Devyn's body, adjusting for things like height and relative strength.
Finally is the simple replication of the movement.
LIMITATIONS:
One of the main drawbacks of Devyn's ability is that he can't magically do things that he is physically incapable of doing, for example he can't copy other abilities or anything that is out of his strength, flexibility, or general ability range.
Due to AMM being a somewhat passive ability every new movement is analyzed and logged and so in an environment with many movements vastly different from what he's experienced before can cause him to undergo a kind of sensory overload. This overload of information can cause painful headaches and intense nausea.
Despite Devyn personally having an above average memory, the movements he mimics are lost within a 24 hour period of when they were observed. Devyn also can't store too many movements even for the allotted 24 hour period. So while he can mimic a related sequence of movements for that set time period, if he adopts another sequence the previous will be overwritten.
He has gained a pretty fair mastery over his ability and is able to keep himself from overwriting observed movements in cases where he happens to observe another (though it can still happen if he isn't careful) but he is mostly focusing on 'turning off' the ability so that he can focus easier.
SIDE-EFFECTS:
The period directly after replicating of movement he experiences fatigue and must rest for ~30-40 minutes before returning to a somewhat normal state, with the necessary period of rest increasing by about twenty minutes for every time he mimics an additional movement or sequence.
Due to his ability he is incredibly observant but this leads to him also being easily distractible from sometimes more important things by the movements around him.
After usage of his ability he has moderate to severe joint and muscle pain that typically subsides after a period of rest but can last an entire day if he has used his ability to replicate more than five movements.
HEIGHT: 5'7"
HAIR COLOR: Light Brown
EYE COLOR: Green
MISC: Devyn is not very tall for most guys his age, he comes in roughly somewhere around 5'7", his parents want to blame it on late blooming, but Devyn is pretty comfortable with not growing any taller than he is. He works out almost everyday so he has a healthy amount of muscle and is stronger than his thinner frame would suggest.
He has a well balanced face shape, with wide cheekbones and a narrow jawline that makes his neck appear thicker than it is. Often it is commented that he looks very much like his mother, sharing the same in between features where they are neither angular nor rounded. His hair is very thick and he gets it cut often so that he doesn't overheat when he is training or working out, but it grows very fast so on occasion he will allow it to grow out until the longest pieces of hair are just past his ear lobes. He is often seen pushing it back out of his face when it gets this long and seems to be in a near permanent mess from him running his hands through it all the time. There is a small gap in his hairline from the scar that runs an inch linear from the right side of his head to his eyebrow.
He dresses rather casually, outfits consisting mostly of layered pieces (typically hoodies and button ups or t shirts) but also often wears "sporty" brands of clothing. He has a particular fondness for hoodies and track pants.
Devyn has a very characteristic walk, the way he holds himself could be attributed to confidence or an overwhelming sureness of himself mixed with a bit of laziness that is uncharacteristic of him. To most he appears to be a sure footed, charismatic kind of guy that allows himself to drift along undisturbed.
PERSONALITY: To teachers and the general population Devyn is an easygoing kind of guy. He seems to get along with many different kinds of people with an enviable ease and seems to go with the flow and not care too much where it leads him.
Though this is not how his truly how he is, but merely mannerisms of his older brother that he has memorized and mimics due to a fear that his own personality will not be enough to get others to like him.
Devyn is a very easily stressed person, through his parents putting pressure on him he has begun to also tear himself down and hold himself to high and almost unreachable standards. When he becomes very stressed his fuse can shorten though he hides this very well from those around him. The only people who have seen glimpses of these characteristics are his roommates who witness just how hard he works himself.
Because he is very hard on himself Devyn thinks that these traits make him a bad person, or rather someone that people wouldn't want to be around. But if allowed to cut loose and be himself he can be very goofy. He has a very childish sense of humor, often making the same jokes now that he made when he was twelve. He can be very silly when excited and has an odd almost obsession with mimicking dances, particularly ones that don't fit him (ie. Beyonce).
Devyn is envious of natural athletes and those with natural physical abilities in general, he feels that his own physical successes don't necessarily count because he feels he did not have to work hard, practice, or show much discipline at all in order to master them. This sometimes tends to take form in a kind of competitiveness rather than any kind of apparent admiration.
With the right kind of friends and influences Devyn could open up and be comfortable with who he is, not tear himself and actually allow himself to be proud of what he has been able to accomplish.
Devyn has a particular fondness for cupcakes, or desserts in general. He knows they do nothing to for keeping him in shape but he can't help but crave them. Due to is own lack of personal abilities he's envious but drawn to those with natural talents, especially the artistic and physical ones.
SECRET(S): While he has figured out that he is gay, he is not out or open about this out of fear of his parents resenting him for it. He is afraid to challenge their idea of him being their perfect/better son.
He is actually terrified of large bodies of water or water deeper than his knees.
FATHER: Trystan Dell (47) Accountant
MOTHER: Mary Dell (43) Nurse
SIBLINGS: Doryn Dell (22) He is currently working as bartender somewhere in Chicago but Devyn and his family are unaware of his location.
WORTHY MENTIONS: His five year old Tabby cat, Creature, or Creech for short
CHILDHOOD:
Devyn was born in mid-September, just as the temperature began to shift to a more fall like feel in Fairfield, Connecticut. His brother was almost five when he was born, and some of his earliest memories involved looking up at Doryn from his crib and seeing the older brother grin at every move or sound he made.
They were close from the start, even as an infant it was obvious who the younger child favored in the family. Even as Devyn grew into a toddler Doryn was patient and kind with him, sitting with his mother as she put him through the same early childhood mental exercises they performed with him.
Trystan and Mary had done all the research after all, they owned books, cut out magazine articles, all the things they could do early in life to make their children successful, enviable people.
As early as their entrance to preschool their parents made it all a competition and when Devyn entered school the two were constantly compared to each other and other children. Friends were frowned upon they were competition, someday they'd be competing against them for entrances to college or for a promotion.
ADOLESCENCE: Doryn grew more rebellious over the years, resenting the way his parents checked on his grades and performance, telling him he could do better even when he had made the top score. He could always do better they said.
Devyn was less rebellious, he bowed to the pressure and was very meek around adults or authority figures. He always did whatever they asked, took it to heart when they criticized and worked hard to try and make his parents proud.
There was an almost five year age gap between the two but it only made them closer, Devyn looked up to his brother who was infinite amounts of cool to him, who always seemed to be laughing or out with friends. Doryn felt bad for his brother, but he also loved him, it frustrated him that the younger wouldn't rebel as he had but felt even more protective over him because he wouldn't.
Doryn just wanted his younger brother to have a chance to be a kid, after all Devyn had no hobbies that weren't turned competitions, nothing he wasn't held to some high standard for. So he brought him along with him when he hung out with his friends, they didn't care too much for they too felt some small amount of pity at knowing how their parents were. It was odd to them to think of an eleven year old so obsessed with doing well, they couldn't remember even attempting to study anything at that age.
His parents weren't happy about how often the older son dragged around Devyn, saying that it cut in to the time he could be working on other things, but Doryn refused to back down about it.
It was on one of these days, just hanging out along the road all their houses were on. Devyn had recently turned thirteen and was starting to grow taller, he was still quite shorter than his brother who had somehow manage to grow taller than their 5'11" father and towered over their mother who was a meager five feet tall. Two of Doryn's friend, Tom and Matt, were moving around on their skateboard and bike respectively, obviously trying to impress the only girl in their group though she'd had her eyes on Doryn for as long as he'd known her.
"Hey Dev!" they'd given him the nickname when he joined the group, "Why don't you try?" Tom was giving him a sour look due to the snicker he'd let out when the older teen fell off the board. When Devyn turned him down, stating he had no clue how to skate Tom demonstrated for him, ending with a flip trick he never intended for him to copy.
But when Devyn stepped onto the board it was almost like watching a recording, everything he did was the exact same as Tom. Doryn and Devyn exchanged confused looks as their friends teased, asking why he lied about not knowing how to skate.
From there it turned into a bit of fun, over the next week they would pull up videos and see if Devyn could copy them, yelling and high fiving every time he managed to. They thought it was amazing, and googled anything that could describe what kind of ability it could possibly be.
They never guessed it could be considered a meta-human ability. It seemed so simple, Devyn didn't realize all the extra things going on in his head, didn't everyone see what he saw? They'd been borrowing the family camera to record Devyn pulling off stunts, and one day it went bad. He'd been playing with something he didn't understand and didn't know his limitations and attempted stunts that required more strength than he had.
He was climbing up a wall, using only a pipe along the side, his arms burned as he moved, when he fell he could hear his brother yell his name. After that things got warm... and fuzzy.
Turns out he'd hit his head pretty hard on the ground when he fell, and needed stitches along the right side of his head, right at the hairline. He remembered hearing his brother try to explain to his parents over their yelling, they wouldn't listen. However the older brother's odd story happened to catch the attention of attentive recruiters.
Within the week his family was approached by recruiters and he was off the Bellefonte. He was anxious as he left, not having his brother there for him in this new place but they kept in touch for his first year.
But then he heard nothing from Doryn for months, and finally his parents told him the Doryn had left the house shortly after he turned eighteen and not even his friends knew where he had gone. At first he grew sad and lonely without his brother, he still worked hard to do well in school and to gain a better understanding of his powers. Whenever he grew nervous in social situations he thought of his brother and how he handled things, and soon he began to use that template all the time. Until he became something he thought of as fake, a cheap imitation of his older brother.
But it allowed him to move through his school years in relative ease, he maintained a kindness to all those around him but even at Bellefonte he felt the pressure to perform well from his parents and didn't do much that would jeopardize his standing. Occasionally he would allow himself to be a teenager and go out and have fun but was often followed by a consuming regret that forced him to work twice as hard to make up for it.
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