http://scarabspeak.livejournal.com/ (
scarabspeak.livejournal.com) wrote in
damned_lounge2009-02-08 11:00 pm
In Soviet Landel's, Scarab Scans YOU!
Jaime has an inquisitive alien symbiote in his spine known as the Scarab that wants to know everything about your characters so it can decide how dangerous they are and if it should be killing them soon. But it can’t do that, so it’ll have to settle for you guys doing the following instead.
(Don’t worry, the Scarab may insist that certain people are dangerous and should be gotten rid of, but Jaime has a firm ‘no killing’ policy. It’ll just flail at him and make him talk aloud to himself.)
Superpowers, magical abilities, etc - If your character has anything like this, what do you want Jaime’s Scarab to be able to tell about it from scanning? It can be as much or as little as you like. For the most part this probably won’t come up unless he sees them actively using it, as even if he knows it’s there Jaime will probably only go ‘magic user/metahuman/etc’ and leave it at that. He doesn’t like to pry. But if he sees them using it at night, then the Scarab would be more inclined to fill him in on the exact details of what it knows. Or equally, if it doesn’t know anything, freak out about that.
Non-humans - If your character isn’t human, can the Scarab tell and to what extent? Like does he just get a feeling that the character is ‘off’ somehow, or can he tell that they’re actually a vampire/alien/whatever?
More for non-humans, including those who are human but would mention that they were not originally - If the Scarab can tell what species or whatever they are, how much does it know about them? The Reach really only appeared in the Blue Beetle comics, though it was implied that they had travelled all over and also possessed technology capable of crossing dimensions, so it’s entirely up to you if the Scarab would have heard of your character’s species before or not. The Scarab is also missing a lot of the Reach databases, so while it might have heard of a particular species, it might not know anything beyond the name and what it looks like. It’s completely up to you.
Optional extra question! Okay, so your character is an alien, or whatever, and you’ve decided that the Scarab both knows what it is and knows a bit about it. And on top of that, your character is a rather well known individual in their canon.
THIS QUESTION IS FOR YOU!
In that case, I’d like to ask: Does the Scarab know about your character’s role in their canon, and if so how much? It might affect how dangerous it perceives your character. Using ZEX as an example; he’s an Admiral who played a large part in a well-documented war. This would make the Scarab more leery of him, simply because he has knowledge that can be dangerous.
Specifically, the Scarab would be scanning other characters in its immediate vicinity to work out what abilities they have, how dangerous they are, and what vulnerabilities they have, but it’s entirely up to you what it does, or more importantly doesn’t know. (Seriously, I cannot stress this point enough.)
Finally (if this wasn’t tl;dr already), using Wally as an example to show what I’m aiming for: the Scarab would be able to tell he’s a metahuman and, should Jaime run into him at night using his powers, it would expand that to explain that Wally has superspeed. And, as Jaime’s Earth has a fair few speedsters around, he’d have a fair idea of what Wally’s abilities are, though he wouldn’t know any specific details or vulnerabilities.
Edit to clear up a little confusion: The Scarab is not actually telepathic, it just scans a butt-load of different wavelengths and things (including DNA), so while it might be able to tell a lot about people from that, it won't be able to tell things like what your character is thinking or get inside their heads.
So feel free to ask questions if I’m still managing to be confusing or if you’re not sure about something. I’m really more than happy to work out details with everyone. ^^
Also if it would be possible for the mods to add this to the big list o' stuff for after you're accepted, I would appreciate it. ♥
(Don’t worry, the Scarab may insist that certain people are dangerous and should be gotten rid of, but Jaime has a firm ‘no killing’ policy. It’ll just flail at him and make him talk aloud to himself.)
Superpowers, magical abilities, etc - If your character has anything like this, what do you want Jaime’s Scarab to be able to tell about it from scanning? It can be as much or as little as you like. For the most part this probably won’t come up unless he sees them actively using it, as even if he knows it’s there Jaime will probably only go ‘magic user/metahuman/etc’ and leave it at that. He doesn’t like to pry. But if he sees them using it at night, then the Scarab would be more inclined to fill him in on the exact details of what it knows. Or equally, if it doesn’t know anything, freak out about that.
Non-humans - If your character isn’t human, can the Scarab tell and to what extent? Like does he just get a feeling that the character is ‘off’ somehow, or can he tell that they’re actually a vampire/alien/whatever?
More for non-humans, including those who are human but would mention that they were not originally - If the Scarab can tell what species or whatever they are, how much does it know about them? The Reach really only appeared in the Blue Beetle comics, though it was implied that they had travelled all over and also possessed technology capable of crossing dimensions, so it’s entirely up to you if the Scarab would have heard of your character’s species before or not. The Scarab is also missing a lot of the Reach databases, so while it might have heard of a particular species, it might not know anything beyond the name and what it looks like. It’s completely up to you.
Optional extra question! Okay, so your character is an alien, or whatever, and you’ve decided that the Scarab both knows what it is and knows a bit about it. And on top of that, your character is a rather well known individual in their canon.
THIS QUESTION IS FOR YOU!
In that case, I’d like to ask: Does the Scarab know about your character’s role in their canon, and if so how much? It might affect how dangerous it perceives your character. Using ZEX as an example; he’s an Admiral who played a large part in a well-documented war. This would make the Scarab more leery of him, simply because he has knowledge that can be dangerous.
Specifically, the Scarab would be scanning other characters in its immediate vicinity to work out what abilities they have, how dangerous they are, and what vulnerabilities they have, but it’s entirely up to you what it does, or more importantly doesn’t know. (Seriously, I cannot stress this point enough.)
Finally (if this wasn’t tl;dr already), using Wally as an example to show what I’m aiming for: the Scarab would be able to tell he’s a metahuman and, should Jaime run into him at night using his powers, it would expand that to explain that Wally has superspeed. And, as Jaime’s Earth has a fair few speedsters around, he’d have a fair idea of what Wally’s abilities are, though he wouldn’t know any specific details or vulnerabilities.
Edit to clear up a little confusion: The Scarab is not actually telepathic, it just scans a butt-load of different wavelengths and things (including DNA), so while it might be able to tell a lot about people from that, it won't be able to tell things like what your character is thinking or get inside their heads.
So feel free to ask questions if I’m still managing to be confusing or if you’re not sure about something. I’m really more than happy to work out details with everyone. ^^
Also if it would be possible for the mods to add this to the big list o' stuff for after you're accepted, I would appreciate it. ♥

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