"Ben Smith"
the basics
full name ♦ Bradley Evan Newhouse (legal name, not remembered)/ Ben Smith (current name)
nicknames ♦ Ben
age ♦ Seventeen
birthday ♦ February 19, 2001
occupation ♦
school ♦ Phalanx House (previously Primrose Academy)
species ♦ Human
ability/power ♦ Telekinesis
how the ability works ♦ Prior to his amnesia, Ben was a particularly gifted telekinetic; he had trained at Primrose Academy for three and a half years and had gained remarkable control over his power. After the incident and rebirth, much of his control has reset, leading to accidents, some more embarrassing or frustrating than others.
His ability functions in both raw power and refined control. At its most basic, telekinesis is the ability to move and manipulate objects with his mind. He can pull objects, or people, closer to him or push them away. He can levitate objects or bind them to prevent them from moving (e.g. a pitcher falling off the counter, he can stop). With concentration, he can achieve more refined movements, such as turning keys in locks, typing hands-free with a pen over a keyboard, button clothing, or, as had been his hobby prior to the amnesia, hands-free needlepoint. This is the refined usage.
The raw power comes in the form of telekinetic reverberations that can encompass the room or blasts of telekinetic energy that force away everything in their path. At Primrose, he had experimented with flight by using his telekinesis on himself but has yet to regain this at Phalanx.
His current distance limitations are a room that he occupies, and he must either be able to see an object to move it, or have seen it and know that it is still there; otherwise, he does not know what to “reach” for. The blasts are the exception, because they are raw pushing and do not depend on reaching to achieve. Thus far, he is limited to lifting objects no heavier than he is, or pulling/pushing items 1.5 times and twice as heavy respectively, just as it is easier to pull and push than lift with muscles. At Primrose he had been more capable, and he has not yet regained the ability to do more than two tasks simultaneously - only one if it requires a great amount of concentration.
Headaches and dizziness are his most common side effects, each occurring when he over-exerts himself or sometimes simply because. Pushing himself too far can also lead to phantom sensations like pulling a muscle in a limb he doesn’t possess. Additionally, using telekinesis works up an appetite, because he is engaged in taxing work, just as if he had done the lifting with his body rather than his mind. A calorie deficit will leave him weak and incapable.
gender ♦ Male (He/him/his)
sexuality ♦ Working it out for himself
the appearance
face claim ♦ Quinn Lord
height and weight ♦ 5’11”& 143 lbs
identifying features ♦ No tattoos or piercings, no major scars or birthmarks.
overall appearance ♦ Because his life and his mind are in complete disarray, Ben compensates by taking particular care with his appearance.
His hair is always combed perfectly, his cheeks smooth from shaving each morning after he wakes up, and he’s particular about deodorant in particular. His eyes are always alight and curious. He carries himself well, milking every centimeter out of his height (in the taller side of average) and his lithe build; his posture innate rather than something he focuses on. He almost always has a bright smile on his lips - the exception when in the throes of a throbbing headache and the desire to retreat to a dark room to sleep it off.
His clothing is a hodgepodge of the brand-name items he was found with after waking and the more bargain-basement outfits the school provided him to supplement. He prefers the ones from before, because invariably they say “BEN” and that makes him feel connected to them, secure that he belongs somewhere, if only inside a pair of jeans or a sweatshirt.
the personality
likes ♦
-Other people
-Trying new foods
-Dancing
-All of the different music there is to listen too
-How nice it is that his name is stitched or printed on nearly everything he owns
-His journal
-Documentaries
-Video games
-Stuffed animals
dislikes ♦
-The amnesia
-Headaches and the rest of his side effects
-People arguing (with him or with each other)
-Intense heat and humidity (unfortunately he’s in New Orleans)
-The taste of soda
-Orange clothing
strengths ♦
-Effervescent and engaging
-Good listener
-Pays close attention in class
-Easygoing
-Helpful
-The raw strength of his power
weaknesses ♦
-The spotty control over his power
-His amnesia
-He has the same recurring dream that he can’t put together and it drives him up the wall
-Difficulty putting together future options without past experience
-Suffers from headaches and other side effects
dreams ♦-To regain his memory
-To graduate someday
fears ♦
-That his family was terrible or that he was terrible and that’s why nobody has claimed him.
-Needles
overall personality ♦ One would think that a boy with no memory would be all gloom and angst - woe is me for my lack of past and family. Ben, by contrast, is upbeat and curious. Truly, it’s remarkable how lifting the burdens of the past and expectations from the shoulders can free the spirit. Like a newborn, everything old is new again, and he delights in meeting new people, trying new food, and learning his lessons in school. Lacking memories prior to his rebirth (as he calls it), he cherishes each connection he forges and writes in a journal his experiences to review them. They bring him comfort, filling the otherwise white void with concrete experiences that he can recall at his leisure. Because of this, he works hard to remember everything he learns about a person, which can come off as intense, but he will not forget your birthday, your favorite color, or a question you ask in class.
He is generous with his time, which he has in abundance, in part to compensate for how he cannot be generous with his possessions, of which he has a dearth. (He would laugh, if only he knew the resources that once had been at his fingertips.) He’s eager to lend a hand around Phalanx House, grateful for the roof over his head and willing to do whatever is needed to keep it that way.
the history
father ♦ Stephen Edward Newhouse., 46, Hedge-fund Manager
mother ♦ Cheryl Claudia “C.C.” Newhouse,45, Product Dissemination/Branding
siblings ♦ Jessica Newhouse (13)
important people ♦ N/A
hometown ♦ Scarsdale, New York
overall history ♦ Ben doesn’t remember his origins, but of course he has them; he didn’t spring fully formed from the sea-foam like Aphrodite.
Bradley Evan Newhouse was the firstborn son to a exceptionally wealthy couple who could trace their lineage back to the Founding on one side and members of the wealthy merchant class on the other. Name an industry or an academic pursuit - at home or abroad, and his family has had their fingers in that pie over the years.
His childhood was a happy one and tempered by expectations, filled with enrichment programs to ensure that he would succeed in the future, expensive vacations, and anything else that money could buy. He hit all of his milestones early, or at the latest, on time, just as his parents expected. By elementary school, there were piano lessons and French lessons and tennis and swimming. His sister was spaced out to ensure that he had a firm foundation and wouldn’t become jealous. The age gap ensured that he didn’t fight with her and didn’t regress to being a baby for attention; they got along well enough but each had their own spheres and expectations led by house staff when their parents weren’t available.
When his parents manifested, they sought out Primrose Academy, which he had attended from the age of 14 until summer break 2018, learning to control his powers, excelling in his academic studies, and preparing for college applications. As the new school year approached, he proposed to his parents that he go down a couple of weeks early, to enjoy the rest of the summer. They paid for a hotel room and he lived on expensive restaurants, shopping, and night clubs, absorbing the culture and the summer before is senior year.
A power mishap turned his life upside down.
A rogue memory manipulator, recently manifested and in hiding, had come to the same club to enjoy the band and the food. He doesn’t know what set her off, but he felt her fear and tried to help her; his efforts to calm her backfired spectacularly. She meant him no harm (he doesn’t know this but it is a fact), but the effect of her powers was harsh, instantaneous, and, in the absence of mental shields to block them out, all-encompassing.
Like a magnet dragged across the surface of a disc, his memories were blanked out completely. The stress caused him to pass out. The club assumed he was drunk and set him outside. Someone, he doesn’t know who, came by and relieved him of his wallet and his phone. He woke with no memories, no name, and few clues as to his identity.
A monogrammed locket still around his neck read, “BEN,” which he took for his name rather than his initials. Inside the club the next morning, he rediscovered what he had left the night before - a knapsack and a few bags of purchases from his day’s shopping trip - but not his phone or his wallet. No IDs, no methods of contacting others, no money.
After a couple of days of living on the streets and failing at it, he encountered a recruiter from Phalanx House by chance, and went with them to the school. He doesn’t know his family or how to reach out to them, and has no idea that anyone is looking for him.
He never arrived for the first day of the term at Primrose.
the role player
alias ♦ Brad
age ♦ Old
pronouns ♦ He/Him/His
code ♦ ADMIN EDIT
other characters ♦ None