James Dentin

Creator:
Mr_Chunnin

Aliases/Codenames:
J.D.

Nationality:
Australian

Age:
17

Gender:
Male

Appearance:
James is gorgeous. Standing 193Cm tall with short, naturally tussled dirty blonde hair, clear bright blue eyes, a strong jawline and striking nose. He is quick to smile his crooked smile around company and friends, though some might notice that he rarely laughs. Though his eyes are bright and full of focus a deeper look might reveal a lack of mirth, his insecurities and depression hidden beneath. As well as tall he is quote athletic, his broad shoulders support a well-muscled frame. He is not overly buff but his muscles are shown off easily by fitted shirts. His movements are graceful and calculated, he never missteps and carries himself with a certainty and confidence that belies his inner self-doubt. He seems well groomed though poorly so, no products or gels for his hair, no jewellery or chains.

Clothing:
James never had a large selection of clothes to choose from considering he never had money to buy any. His wardrobe had always consisted of hand-me-downs when he was younger and occasional hand-outs from aunts and uncles at Christmas. As such he doesn’t really have his own ‘style’ but when he has the opportunity to choose he tends to go for blue jeans, black tees and a grey vest. His only concession to jewellery is his grandfather’s old wristwatch which he is never seen without.

Personality:
Outwardly optimistic, James is friendly and likeable in an overly modest, slightly distant kind of way. He is nice to everyone and will always spare a smile, even for the shy kids, in an attempt to acknowledge everyone. Doing so is a way to hide in plain sight. He never shares his true feelings and dodges questions about his past. His family life he never mentions but often takes great interest in the lives of others. Most would believe he is simply a great listener, most girls fall in love with him for this reason; in reality it’s the easiest way to avoid talking about himself. Inwardly he is a pessimist and often struggles with an inability to meet his own expectations. The standards he sets for himself are unfair bordering on impossible. While those unattainable standards force him improve upon himself daily, they have a detrimental effect on his mindset causing doubt and shame at his shortcomings.

Background:
James’ childhood while not the worst, certainly wasn’t the greatest. From pretty early on it was clear that he was never intended to be. His mother in fact often told him straight up that he was an accident and the only reason he was not in foster care was his Grandfather’s influence. James’ mother was often abusive in that way: emotionally cruel and malicious. His father, while not actually aggressive of demeaning in any way did nothing to stop his shrew of a wife from taking out her frustrations on him. In fact his didn’t do much of anything when he was home. Emotionally distant, the man was completely browbeaten and moved about in a sadly depressed manner, when he wasn’t at work James’ father was usually drunk. James remembers often coming home and covering his father with a blanket where he’d passed out drunk on the couch. After reaching a schooling age James finally found an escape from his occluded home life. At school he made friends easily. He adapted his personality to fit with any different group, acted friendly toward everyone, even the people he himself disliked, and was readily accepted. He quickly became more popular as he grew older and his good looks became more apparent. When he was 15 his Grandfather, the only positive role model in his life, passed away. His home life quickly became even more unbearable and he began to succumb to his mothers constant taunts and berating. He started feeling that he would never do enough, never be enough to be acknowledged by his uncaring parent’s. Neither could he ever measure up to the great man his grandfather was. Many would have sunk into depression but despite knowing that didn’t matter to anyone he fought that knowledge, forced himself to be liked, to be popular and strove always to better himself in everyway.

James’ powers developed later that same year. Shut-up in his room it just suddenly happened one evening while daydreaming. He kept it secret from his parents, not that they’d even notice or likely care, and two years later when he received his invitation to the Academy he scrounged up every cent he’d ever been able to hide from his money grubbing folks (two thousand, one hundred and seventeen dollars and 35 cents.)and bought himself a one-way ticket to Funchal in Portugal.

Talents/Skills/Capabilities:
Intelligent, athletic, knowledgeable. James’ talents cover a broad range of things, in fact almost everything he tries he’s good at. At least that’s how it seems. James is very talented at a lot of things but his compulsive drive for self-improvement means whenever he comes across a skill that he isn’t already good at, he will dedicate himself to practice at it until he is the best.

Inventory:
James does not own much. A large backpack with clothes and toiletries, the only thing he has of note is his grandfather’s watch.

Powers:
The Dream Forge: If he can imagine it he can create it. By focusing his imagination and forcing reality to bend to his will he can make things appear; swords, gadgets, guns, flowers, all he needs is some material, any kind of mass will do; a lead pipe, a rock…whatever he creates they appear in shimmering motes of light or a small flash replacing the material he sacrifices. The bigger or more complex the thing he creates, the more material he needs. Theoretically his power should reach infinity but as James’ ability is linked to both the Spiritual and Mental plane he is restricted to only what he can grasp and understand. Due to his pessimistic nature he’s created a mental block, this self-imposed limitation means he can only create things that make sense to him and nothing bigger than what he can grab in his hands, usually only the things he desperately needs and only when he the amount of material he believes he needs to create them.

Weaknesses:
Anything created by James’ dream forge can only exist for a few moments after he is no longer touching it but his true weakness is himself. His too high expectations and pessimistic mindset limit and undermine his powers.

Secrets:
REDACTED

Sample:
There is not a single student in the world who liked exams. Exams were the worst. Anyone who said otherwise was lying. Sitting at his plastic desk in the assembly hall James was 90 minutes in to a 2 hour English exam studying Chemistry. He’d handed up his paper forty-five minutes ago but they were not allowed to leave until the two hours were up. Luckily he’d brought his Chem books just in case so he’d needed something to fill the time but he was starting to get bored with it. He spent the next thirty minutes alternating between staring at the walls and scribbling in the margins of his book. Finally The Bell rang and he was first out the door. He hated being cooped up indoors for so long. “Hey, J.D wait up!” James paused to adjust his backpack on his shoulder and turned to greet the pretty girl with his ever ready smile. “Hi Sandy, what’s up?” Sandy was probably the most popular girl at his school and definitely the prettiest. Looking just over her head he could see not far off the ever present gaggle of her friends with their heads together whispering and giggling in that silly way girls tended to do. He looked back to Sandy who returned his smile with a slight batting of eyelids…oh brother here we go. “um, well since exams are finally over and all, I was hoping now you’d be free to come and see a movie?” More batting of eyelids and now she was even swivelling her toe into the ground. “A movie? Sure, who with? I bet half our year level will be glad of the distraction after all our exams.” With just her he bet. He’d just let her down nicely like all the rest. His usual excuse of having to study no longer applied but he could always play it down if it was a group outing. “Oh. Well I haven’t asked anyone else. I thought-“ “No worries, I’ll help spread the word. If you go ask your friends then I’ll just let the guys know” With a quick grin he waved over her shoulder at the waiting group of girls behind and turned to take his leave when she caught his elbow. “Hey wait! J.D I thought just you and I-“ “I see, you’re trying to ask me out aren’t you?” he barely waited for the nod before going on. “I’m flattered Sandy, Thankyou. You’re really very pretty and I know quite a few of the guys have been swooning over you all year, I’d hate to break all their hearts by keeping you to myself. I really do appreciate the compliment and I’m happy to hang out, as friends if that’s ok?” “Uh..sure, yeah I guess.” She didn’t look too upset which was good but certainly disappointed. He needed to leave while he could. “So I’ll see ya ‘round then.” With a short wave he turned and walked off. It seemed like he’d gotten away without any repercussions. Time to get home.

James had only made it partway home, cutting through an empty paddock when he was confronted by Mike Sanders and his two cronies. Mike had always been a troublemaker and a bully but James had usually managed to smooth over any confrontation and avoid getting into a fight. By Mike’s expression though, today it wouldn’t be an option. “Hey Asswipe I saw you talking to Sandy earlier. Like you were tryin’ to ask her out. I won’t allow it you little twerp!” Mike was big, only a little bigger than James though James wasn’t exactly small. He had his two flunkies with him though, that was the problem. Jake and Travis were morons but they were almost as big as Mike. “Hey Mike, nice to see you as usual. I can truthfully say that thought never even occurred to me alright buddy? Wouldn’t dream of it.” That would hardly be enough to allay him, this would only go one way. James mentally steeled himself for a fight. “Shuttup jackwad, I know your type. She’s spoken for already. I’m gonna hafta teach you some manners aren’t I?” the great ape was cracking his knuckles in an effort to be more intimidating. “Spoken for?” James replied with an insolent tone “It hardly seemed to be the case when she was asking me out. Why don’t you just go home before you get hurt ok? You don’t really want the embarrassment and I can’t be bothered with the effort.” James didn’t move an inch but he tensed up waiting for the inevitable punch, already visualising how he would react. “OH that’s IT you twerp!” Mike came at him, fist pulled back to try and know James’ lights out. With a tight snap of his elbow James delivered a resounding slap across the bullies face. Mike pulled up short, his face stinging and his eyes blinking heavily, trying to process the sharp pain and unsure of how to react. James didn’t give him the chance. He immediately struck three different pressure points in Mike’s arm and shoulder in quick succession using a sharp two finger jab, he struck out with a hard kick to the side of Mike’s knee and followed up with a palm strike straight to his sternum. Mike staggered back, leg wobbling, arm hanging useless and struggling to breath. James was prepared for the other two goons to rush him but they just stood gaping at him. “Holy crap he knows some kind of Karate…l-let’s get out of here Travis!” The two of them turned and ran leaving mike to stumble after, hobbling away from James with shock and fear.

James in fact did not know karate, or any other martial art for that matter. He’d simply come across a martial martial-arts manual in the back of the school library which detailed the pressure points and different way of forming strikes. He doubted it was the sort of thing meant to be in a school so had taken it home and studied it. He figured it was the kind of thing a real man ought to know to protect those around him. It was after all a shitty world they lived in and doubted anyone but him would give a whit if he were to be mugged in some alley. “That was too slow though.” He looked down at his hands which slowly clenched into fists. “I need to train to be faster.”