powers & permissions

[eyeknow]

POWERS/PERMISSIONS

Jonathan Sims, the Archivist, is the "avatar"/conduit of an unfathomable, omniscient eldritch fear god from beyond reality, known as the Eye (or Beholding, or Ceaseless Watcher.) The Eye is a manifestation of the collective fear of being watched, exposed secrets, and awful knowledge — and it's the force keeping Jon alive.

Basically, he's a walking truth meme / possessed theater kid / If Google Was A Fucked Up Guy / your friendly neighborhood sleep paralysis demon. Permissions below.
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Jon appears outwardly normal, but characters who can sense this sort of thing will be able to tell he's inhuman and awash with some vast, deeply malevolent supernatural shit. Look into him, and you'll find something is watching you back.

POWERS

tl;dr:
⤷ Able to force people to answer questions truthfully
⤷ Able to make people to recount harrowing supernatural experiences; feeds on the fear
⤷ Supernaturally granted random knowledge
⤷ Inhuman healing
⤷ Nightmare walking

COMPULSION. Jon is able to compel people to answer his questions honestly. Some people may feel the words being forced out of them, while others may just find that they've been weirdly candid for some reason. His questions have a clarifying influence; in a positive application, they could help a person "find the words" when discussing something difficult. However, Jon's control is shaky, and he may compel people unintentionally if he's careless with his questions (even "how are you?")

If he puts his mind to it, he may be able to compel people to perform physical actions as well.

In canon, resisting the compulsion is difficult, and if Jon puts enough power behind his words, potentially fatal. In RP, it's whatever you want!

STATEMENT-TAKING. Taken further, Jon can compel others to give a statement — that is, ask (or force) a person to recount in great detail a true, negative paranormal experience they've had, specifically any that were frightening, disturbing, or otherwise unsettling. Statements can be written or spoken.

Jon is able to sense anyone in his vicinity who's had a spooky supernatural experience, and he must regularly "feed" on statements to sustain himself (with the delicious fear they contain.) Basically like a vampire, only instead of blood, he drinks up trauma. He's very much dependent on it, whether he likes it or not.

If someone gives a written statement, they'll find that the words flow easily, the memories brought up to the surface and their writing invariably vivid and coherent, even if they're not much of a writer normally.

If someone gives a live statement, they'll find themselves narrating their story with a preternatural clarity, no matter how awful the memory of it is, unable to stop until they've given a full account. The sensation of being compelled has been described as pleasant and freeing, or absolutely terrifying and re-traumatizing, depending on the individual and whether or not they've chosen to give their statement willingly.

People who have given live statements to Jon may experience some lingering side effects [see: NIGHTMARES.]

(At the extreme end, Jon has been known to rip someone's story directly out of their mind. This isn't recommended for anyone involved.)

KNOWING. Bits of knowledge have a habit of popping into Jon's head without his conscious effort or consent. These may be facts associated with the situation at hand or just useless pieces of trivia. His ability to Know things intentionally is poor and attempts are ill-advised.

HEALING. At full strength (if he's been feeding regularly), Jon's injuries heal inhumanly fast.

NIGHTMARES. Those who've given Jon a live statement may begin to experience recurring nightmares of the story they told, reliving it over and over in a myriad of vivid, horrible permutations. And Jon's in them now.

Within the dream, he does not (cannot) move, nor speak, nor so much as emote as it unfolds; no matter how badly the dreamer suffers, he only ever watches, drinking it all in. He's simultaneously recognizably himself and "all eyes."

PERMISSIONS

In tags, Jon's power use will be indicated with highlighted text. Whether or not your character is affected is up to you. Optional form below, if ya feel like it! Contact me anytime if you wanna work something out. All comments screened.

► <b>Would you prefer Compulsion never work on your character / work on a case-by-case basis?</b> ► <b>Has your character had any spooky supernatural encounter(s) that Jon would be able to sense?</b> <!---Note: he can't sense the content, just that they've had at least one. What constitutes "supernatural" will be left to your discretion, but can involve monsters, ghosts, demons/angels, extradimensional entities, etc. If their entire life is one big terrible supernatural encounter, well... they might just ping him really super hard. In-game stuff will count. Fear should be the overriding emotion; fear they felt, or fear they caused.---> ► <b>Is your character a supernatural spooky thing?</b> <!---are THEY a monster, and if so, what sort?---> ► <b>Would you like to have your character give a statement (written or live, willing or unwilling) at some point?</b> ► <b>Would you like to opt-in to Jon being able to Know random facts about your character?</b> <!---Random facts could include "how their junior year history teacher died" or "what they had for lunch today" or "a horrible secret they'd never want to divulge." What and when is entirely up to you; in tags, you can just indicate a fact you'd like to drop into Jon's head in your bracket text with an * or something!---> ► <b>Any other questions/comments/concerns:</b>