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BASICS
nameOrion Ashburn
alias
Rye
division
Exploration, Operations
occupation
Explorer, barista for Mew'n'Brew Cat Café
age & dob
23, Feb 6 1993, Aquarius
pronouns
he/him/they
family
Michael Ashburn (father)
Marie Saitou (mother) - divorced
connections
sal roca → best friend, idolevan → good influence
rory → boss & good infuence
CONCEPT
Latchkey kid left adrift in more ways than one.POWERS
gravity manipulation;🌌 Rye can change the gravity of a single object or an entire area. This ends up looking like an ability to make things float and feel very light, or force them to fall to the ground and seem extremely heavy. He can manipulate this ability rapidly so things can shoot upwards or slam down into the ground.
🌌 While weight isn't something that impacts his power, and he could make a truck feel weightless, impacting an area is more difficult. He can control an area of about a 25' radius if he stretches himself, so anything bigger than that becomes rather unstable or outright impossible to manipulate.
🌌 Rye can "fly", but in a very particular way. He manipulates his own gravity to allow himself to jump long distances, and launch himself from one point to the next. (For reference, it looks a lot more like how Spiderman moves rather than Superman.) In theory he can give other people the same mobility, but he's terrible at explaining to them how to use it. For him it comes naturally, but in practice it's very complicated.
🌌 High emotions can cause him to lose control, which can be extremely destructive and dangerous. When this happens he usually blacks out and can't totally remember what he did.
🌌 He currently struggles to move things vertically in space, but... (see below)
orbital field;
🌌 Rye has his own mild gravitational field. This implies that one day he could be able to also manipulate things vertically in space, but it's his weakest ability at the moment.
🌌 For now he can get small items (under 1lb) to slowly rotate around him. The speed and distance they move depends on their weight and density. He often uses this to multitask at work, but if he's not paying attention you might accidentally have a latte bump into you.
🌌 If he's startled or hurt, everything floating around him immediately falls to the ground.
no fall damage;
🌌 If Rye falls from any height, even if unconscious, his powers will kick in as an immediate reflex and protect him at the last minute.
PERSONALITY
+ compassionate, well-meaning, good sense of humor, pragmatic, maternal, unconventional problem solver, intuitive= stilted, flat affect, easily flustered, lonely, inarticulate, sarcastic, poor linguistic skills, confrontational
- bad temper, risk-taker, proud, lashes out, bad communicator, gives up easily, immature, stubborn, proud
APPEARANCE
HISTORY
🌌 Rye was born and raised in Boston, in an area that'd be considered the wrong side of the tracks. His parents married young and weren't ready for a baby, financially or emotionally, but they did their best. The name Orion seemed unique and romantic to the young couple, but it was almost immediately shortened to Rye.🌌 His dad held down two jobs, and his mother was a nurse. Their schedules were hectic, and the older Rye got the more they left him on his own. He grew up quick, learning how to feed himself and get groceries for the family. Some days he would only see his parents in passing as they all went from work to school to sleep and to work again.
🌌 Rye wasn't exactly an easy child. At first his parents dealt with reports that he wasn't playing well with other students, and that his language skills were lacking. They had no choice but to let the school handle it, which soon escalated to high school where it wasn't just "Rye's grades are slipping" but "Rye's skipping school and cheating on tests". Teachers declared him the classic "smart but won't apply himself".
🌌 Being a Liminal didn't help. Rye's growing powers were developing unexpectedly as he accidently used them in unintended ways. If a teacher lectured him, an object might come crashing to the ground. He never hurt anyone, but it was still a suspicion that followed him until graduation.
🌌 Tension in the Asburn household was on the rise. Rye was pushing his luck more and more, eventually finding friends with a group of kids his parents would have labeled "bad influences". He partied, drank underage, and experimented with drugs and his sexuality. He was on the brink of being expelled from school, but for his parents' sake he barely scraped by.
🌌 And then not long after, they told him they were divorcing. Rye reacted badly, lashing out, wondering why he bothered to get through high school if it didn't make any difference. It wasn't a mature response, clearly, but after that the small family unit shattered. Rye couch surfed and struggled to hold down jobs. He was caught a few times for petty theft, weed, and finally a DUI. He was broke and unmotivated, and what friends he had left were tired of him. He spent a lot of time alone, learning how to move himself through the city with his powers. There was a serenity in flinging himself upwards and sitting on forbidden rooftops by himself.
🌌 Around then he had a chance meeting with Sal (a fight, naturally). This ended up blooming into an unlikely rough-and-tumble friendship. Sal was indestructible, and that meant that no matter how destructive Rye was, Sal would be fine. Rye quickly became attached. So when Sal suggested they get into active crime like breaking & entry, Rye was ready. At first, it worked perfectly. They got paid, and it was even kind of fun.
🌌 Then one theft went horribly wrong—Sal was stabbed through the heart by a katana wielded by a freaked out tech bro, and lost consciousness. Rye still can't exactly articulate what happened next, but he remembers the aftermath. In his rage he'd used his powers to practically rip the house apart. IRIS had to come in and sedate him, taking the pair oF would-be thieves into custody. It turned out Sal was alive and well, which was a surreal relief. Sure, Sal could handle being pushed around, but a blade right through his chest? Rye was stunned. Joining the program to reform law-breaking Liminals seemed like the only choice they had... and Sal seemed to like it. Rye was the more reluctant one, but he warmed up with a little care and attention.
🌌 Rye is trying. He has a normal job as a barista at a cat cafe. His customer service leaves a lot to be desired, but he likes the animals and seems to be settling down into the quiet life. He's started calling his mom again once a month or so, and that relationship is on the mend. He's not sure what the future holds, and he's trying not to worry about when the other shoe will drop.
PERMISSIONS
WRITING:
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THREADHOPPING:
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SENSITIVE TOPICS:
SMUT:
CONFLICT:
VIOLENCE:
BADMOUTHING: