Amir Ahmed's page

Just realized that I forgot to mark Potential for my earlier missed Provoke. Adding that now (3/5 -> 4/5)

Condition(s): None

Riding a sand wave with Siphon, Amir glances back at her, who gives him a thumbs up as she steadies herself on his arm. He feels a need to protect her and the rest of the group. In-fact, Amir feels as if it's his responsibilty to due so.

He adds more sand to the wave, raising Siphon and him up and over the amphitheatre walls. Though unaware of Twitch's disco ball idea, the massive wave coming through the open roof has the effect of compounding the already spectacular display.

Spending Team to boost Twitch's 'Time for a Show'.

Amir sets himself and Siphon down on the stage. Ready for a fight.

Will post soon :)

Since Siphon and Amir have grouped up, the two of them can travel together on one of his sand waves :D

INFLUENCE:
Amir is not influenced by Moxie, but he is one of her biggest defenders. Amir is influenced by Siphon and Twitch.

TRUST:
Amir doesn't trust the team. This is only their second battle together, and their hangout time has been limited. He's not sure how serious the others are about saving lives, and will be on constant lookout to pick up any slack or correct any mistakes from them.
- Manifest: Amir isn't afraid that he's going to lose control or anything, and he really doesn't think that Manifest is in any real physical danger here. Instead, what he is afraid of is anything that could potentially affect Manifest's reputation. Amir will pull back if it means letting Manifest have a big hero moment.
- Moxie: Amir believes in the idea that destiny or fate can be changed. He's one of Moxie's biggest defenders, and wants to help her change her future. Amir thinks she's tough and can handle herself in a fight, but he'll be keeping an eye on her to prevent or hold her back from anything that might threaten to put her down the Mad Moxie path.
- Siphon: Amir will outwardly proclaim that he thinks Siphon can hold her own, but inwardly he's worried for her safety; and tends to forget the whole supervillainous past thing. He loves her and will prioritize her well-being.
- Twitch: Amir trusts her to handle herself, as he's been watching her videos for a long time and knows what she can do.

OBJECTIVE:
Amir's objective is really to make sure the Team stays safe. Yes, he wants to fight the bad guys and save the innocent, but the Team, his friends, are first in his mind.

Condition(s): None

"Wait did you steal all of–", starts Amir, before shutting up and muttering, "–nevermind."

He's not sure if he wants to know. Instead, what he does want to know is whether Moxie considers him to be either the salt or pepper shaker, but there's no time for that now. Amir leans over the map and taps the stage.

"How about Siphon and I take the stage? We can draw the brunt of the fighting up there so none of the bystanders in the crowd get hurt. Manifest can block the exits with a magic wall, and Moxie and Twitch can make ramps or stairs with their powers so people can get out." Feeling a surge of confidence, Amir stands tall. "Once the normies are safe, Siphon and I will clear the stage so Manifest can blast it, then we'll all move in and take down any of the Cee Oh Teas (C.O.Ts) that are left."

Amir turns to Manifest. He thinks of the Maker's Mage waning reputation, and how lucky it was that the whole thing with the fire got kind of swept under the rug with the craziness of the last few days. Amir knows though, that nothing in Panurgic gets forgotten, eventually the incident would come up to bite Manifest. It was up to him to help restore Manifest as a local hero.

"I, uh, don't mean to sound like a jerk, but there's less chance that someone will get hurt on accident this way. And once the crowd is clear, you can really let loose."

[Triggering Provoke Someone against Manifest :D Amir wants him to go along with his plan.]
Provoke Someone (+ Superior): 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (2, 1) + 0 = 3
[Aaaand that's a swing and a miss.]

Please Timeskip yes

Condition(s): None

Amir is surprised to hear this about his dad. Maybe he ought to google his name when he got home. Speaking of home and surprises... Siphon asks if she can stay at his apartment. Amir's brain trips over its left foot and falls down his mental stairs.

"I, er, uh–YES! Absolutely! That'd be awesome!" Having hit the bottom of his mental staircase, Amir backs up a bit. "I, um, was planning on opening the place up anyway, if anyone from the, ah, group needed somewhere to stay."

His heart was pounding. This whole situation felt like a dream.

--

Later, at the Pho place (with a big pile of sand parked outside thanks to Amir), Amir sits with the others as they finish their meals. He nurses a Thai Iced Tea.

Condition(s): None

((Gonna answer in order of: Twitch > Siphon > Moxie > Columbia))

Amir tries to make sense of Twitch's 'fill in'. The last time he had seen Kilt and Manifest, they were arguing with him. Amir had, admittedly, touched upon a sore subject with them. They had called Amir to help with some kind of investigation, but after all that, well, Amir decided to split.

"Wow. That's um.. a lot."

He wasn't sure whether he should feel responsible. Maybe he avoided a hospital stay himself by not being with them, and maybe it was more important to sign up for that thing (he never got the name of that neo-abled supporting organization) but the fact remained that people got hurt in his absence. A sense of responsibility, duty, and guilt washed over him. Amir had just been a fan of superheroes, and he thought he knew what being a 'super' meant, but after this morning's hero moment with the rest of the 'Team', and now this, he wasn't so sure.

"A-are they going to be okay?"

While Twitch and Amir talk, Siphon, Moxie, and Columbia join in. Siphon greets him, and Moxie sidles up besides him and Twitch before talking a mile a minute. Columbia helpfully waits for Amir to say hello to his friends before stepping in herself.

"Hi, Siphon," repeats Amir, again shyly, while offering a little wave. He's a little surprised when Siphon turns to yell at thin air, but thankfully Moxie jumps in before he can ask the obvious question. "So she siphoned Manifest's powers..?", he replies, trailing off

Amir thinks hard, trying to remember details about Manifest's relatively unknown powerset. He had contributed to a few fan speculations and theory discussions himself, formed from careful scanning of videos, pictures and articles featuring the 'Maker Mage'. One notable theory claimed that his powers were basically the super equivalent of reaching into a mixed bag and pulling out whatever, only, "the bag has an angry cat in it, like a lot of angry cats". If that was the case, it certainly explained–somewhat–all the damage Manifest seemed to cause.

The Silokinetic is jerked back to reality when Moxie mentions that he owes the group dinner. It seemed hardly fair, but sure, why not. What's the point of having a job if you can't treat people every once in a while? Nothing screamed 'I'm an Adult!' like volunteering to foot the bill. Amir flashes her an amused smirk, his mood improved.

"Ok, first of all, I didn't even know there was a race. I practically turned around and everyone had just disappeared; I had to look up Twitch's stream to figure out what was going on. So I call false start. We're going to need a redo." He grins. "But sure, lets get Pho. I'll buy."

'Tall, Dark, and Patriotic' steps in. Amir awkwardly extends his hand for a handshake, in awe that the real, live Columbia is standing before him. She was famous, to say the least.

"How do you know my dad?", asks Amir, his eyes almost sparkling with hero worship.

Apologies for the stupid long delay with no posts from me D: I've been very sick all this time, making it hard to concentrate or do anything, and with no sign of getting better. No medicine I took over the last couple weeks seemed to help. I had no idea what I had/what was wrong with me until last night.

Turrrrrrnss out that I had head lice (first for me), and it turns out that I just so happen to be extremely allergic to head lice. The good news is that they're gone now and I'm starting to feeling better, but whollyyyyy crap, that was the worst couple weeks I've ever had the displeasure of living through. Never again, never never never again.

I'll get a post up ASAP, likely sometime tomorrow.

Sorry for not posting yet. I've been super sick this past week and I'm still not better

It's good to post as Amir again~ Been too long.

Condition(s): None

<3

Just as Amir is about to respond to Gabby's text, he gets a new message from Twitch. Amir finishes his business with Ms. Alexandra Boucher, thanking her for the opportunity, before moving away and responding.

Twitch: Hey, everyone's at the hospital. Where are you? I need to blow off some steam and everyone else is a bit...heated at the moment.
Amir: I was helping someone, shouldn't be too far from you. And wow, you have no idea, Manifest and Kilt were practically screaming at me earlier :( I'd be happy to meet up.

Mounting his rather large pile of sand, Amir starts off towards the hospital. This time he doesn't take the bike lane. 'Driving' his sand wave like a motorcycle, he darts between traffic. After just a short while, Amir finds that he's closer to the hospital than he thinks.

When Amir arrives, his sand crashes on the sidewalk like a ocean wave on the beach, which he nonchalantly steps out of, as if he had merely hopped onto the pavement. Amir is able to quickly spot Siphon and Twitch, who he approaches with a smile. It was nice to see them, even if they were all together just this morning.

"Hi, Siphon," starts Amir, just a little bit shy. "Hi, Twitch. What's going on?"

I'm still around, just kind of bored I guess. The Team getting together for some superheroics would be nice :)

Amir texts back, "Not yet."

Amir fills out the page handed to him.

I'm still here :DD I'm just totally lost with all the stuff going on.

Condition(s): None

"Makes sense" Amir lets her continue.

Condition(s): None

Amir feels a twinge of worry, as the questions turn more personal and political, but his fears are somewhat assuaged by Ms. Boucher's reassurance that these most recent questions are for statistical purposes only. He spots her mark 'LE Endorsed' on her clipboard, and he wonders what that could mean. Lawful Evil, maybe? Amir decides to ask her directly.

"Um, no, to be honest, I don't really think about stuff like that." He tilts his head. "What does L.E. endorsed mean?"

Gonna go for another Mask Piercing.
Pierce the Mask (+ Mundane): 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 2) + 1 = 4
Well that's no good D: Marking Potential, again. [2/5 -> 3/5]

Condition(s): None

Amir gives Ms. Boucher all the necessary info.

"My email is 'amir@ahmed.com'. I'm a silokinetic," starts Amir, using that fancy word he heard on the news earlier today. "As for team... I, uh, guess I'm not technically in a team."

Condition(s): None

"Well, yes, absolutely! How do I sign up?"

Condition(s): None

Amir scratches his head, thinking this is kind of weird. It's a welcome distraction from his previous thoughts though.

"Uhm, sure! Tell me more," says Amir, listening carefully and watching her intently.

Pierce the Mask (+ Mundane): 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 1 = 6
Miss :( Marking Potential [1/5 -> 2/5]

Does Manifest really have all 5 conditions marked? D: Ouch man

Condition(s): None

Amir almost flies by her, his brain not immediately registering that a stranger on the street called out his name (last name, anyway). He brings his sandstorm to a stop. As he touches down, stepping off the storm, the once whipping sands that surround him fall into a pile on the ground.

"Uh... yes? That's me."

What do I want to happen? :D Well, I was waiting for a post from Kilt, for any reaction to Amir booking it *rubs hands together* But I suppose the plot must move on. I'd like for Amir to be on the same page as the rest of the Team, and get involved.

Amir is currently the least informed of the whole group. He still has no idea why everyone spontaneously went on a race, where they went, or what's going on now. What he does know was told to him by Manifest in-between their squabbling, which wasn't very much. There's someone with electric powers running around who doesn't have the best control of them, and they're maybe a bad guy.

You've hit the nail on the head, Siphon :) I couldn't put it better myself, "blunt interactions based on a relaxed familiarity" is exactly what I was going for. I might not have even chosen Manifest as one of Amir's Influences if I had realized that we were going to start with the Team having got together only a day or so ago. It sucks that my mistake have ended up with Amir being considered obnoxious and creating a caustic relationship between Amir and Kilt and Manifest D: Which is why I'd like some sort of retcon and why I don't want to gloss over this as Elsine suggested.

I wouldn't mind the three of them having teamed up in the past, but that would require acceptance between all three of us and lots of backstory writing. So here's what I'm going to go with...

RETCON: False Connection
Amir doesn't just watch Twitch's streams for the latest superhero happenings, he also keeps an eye on the news and various other media outlets. And although the chat on Twitch's streams is where he's most active, Amir does participate in superhero discussions on other sites, whether they be the comments on an article, blog post, video, or on a forum. Mainly these are Panurgic-based and on Panurgic heroes. After all, in Panurgic, everyone has an opinion on every super, and 'super' news and gossip is constantly flying around, making these sorts of chats and discussions very active.

One particular hero that often gets talked about is the "Local Supermage", Manifest. Some call him a spirit or outsider, others a boy, and there are even those who say that he's actually a cleverly-disguised girl. Whatever Manifest is though, there's loads of criticism and rumors ('facts') surrounding him and his powers. You could easily pull up a book's worth of stuff on this guy.

Which is why Amir, a long time participant in Manifest-related discussions, feels like he's known Manifest for a long time. He's very pro-Manifest and is quick to jump into anti-Manifest flame threads to defend the hero. This is also why, upon meeting Manifest, instead of being starstruck, he thrusts forward the usual criticisms, in an attempt to 'fix' Manifest in a sense and make Panurgic see him as a beloved hero like he deserves. Of course, while Amir sees himself as an old friend of Manifest's, he's obviously only just met the guy. This obviously makes Manifest not so appreciative of Amir's efforts, as to him he's just some nobody jerk who thinks he knows him.

And Manifest isn't the only one. Amir is also a frequent online defender of Twitch, The Kilt, Miss Moxie, Siphon, and many other young heroes. He might never admit this to anyone though, as he does this all under his internet username NeverEndingLove, which he also uses to talk about many personal details (his doom, for instance) that he doesn't want anyone to connect to him (because it'd bring his doom closer). Amir has, however, admitted that he's NeverEndingLove to Twitch, which was kind of an impulse decision. Time will tell whether that will come back to haunt him.

@Siphon The above retcon might suffice as a reason for why Amir is totally head-over-heels for Siphon, but I'm still totally up for them having met in the past. Up to you :)

@Elsine +Superior and -Saviour then, got it. I'll accept the Label change (Superior: -1 > +0 ; Savior: +1 > +0).

Elsine did not confirm a label shift in their last update, so there's unfortunately nothing for me to reject :( In the interim I've decided to have Amir take a powerful blow to show that the words had some effect, just to keep things running smoothly and quick.

Manifest is calling Amir a bad person, which would seem to trigger an Influence label shift because he's telling Amir WHO HE IS. However, Manifest's point seems to be more on the lines of telling Amir that it isn't alright to say these things to someone you've just met, and that Amir's actions are negative, which might also be seen as triggering an Influence label shift because he's telling Amir HOW THE WORLD WORKS. So which labels would be shifted? Not to mention, if Manifest is saying this all to hurt Amir, then Take Advantage of Influence would be triggered instead.

Ah, and yes, apologies. I've messed up again. I am very used to The Team in any Masks game having been together for some time. Still not sure what to do for retconnage. Maybe Amir is insane? Or from the future, like a reverse Miss Moxie? Haha.

Condition(s): None

Folding his arms, Amir resigns himself to merely listening. Doing and saying nothing as Manifest and The Kilt blast him. Their words hurt. They hurt a lot.

Take A Powerful Blow: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 4) = 5
Miss. Marking Potential. 0/5 -> 1/5

He hadn't done anything wrong or anything bad. Those two were jerks, and they said things that Amir felt was very unfair. Screw them. Amir again and again dropped everything to help these guys, even now he had rushed over here.

Shaking his head in disgust, Amir turns and goes the opposite direction from Manifest, away from The Kilt and the scene. He literally storms off, as his pile of sand whips around and speeds him away in an roiling cloud of sand.

Just did some reading through the gameplay and the discussion to figure this out. The 'first fight' corresponds directly to the 'when our team first came together' questions, so you guys are right, we are doing differently and not following the Masks norm of the team having been together for a while. Sorry for missing this D:

So a retcon is definitely in order... Because, like I said, from the beginning I've been operating under the assumption that Amir has known the team for quite a while.

In Masks, the default is that the Team has been together for some time, as in months or a year. Are we doing differently, and I somehow missed it? Have our characters literally just met today? If so I'd say a retcon is in order, because I've been operating under the assumption that Manifest and Amir have known each other for a while.

Condition(s): None

Starting with the call, and assuming that Amir finished it up before meeting his teammates.

"I know, mom," starts Amir. "And I will. I'll see you all sometime soon; I'll let you know when I'm off. Have a good night... Love you too." He hangs up.

The 'prioritizing family' comment came out of nowhere, but she was right. Amir had been a little too focused on work as of late. That, and well, the whole superheroing thing. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to sit down with them and have a bit of family time.

I'll accept the Label change.
Old Labels: Mundane +0, Freak +1
New Labels: Mundane +1, Freak +0

--

Amir is taken aback by Manifest's hostility. The guy was sensitive and emotional. It didn't take much to push his buttons. And this time, Amir wasn't even trying.

"Dude, whoa. Just chill out, man. I was trying to be sarcastic." This was true, Amir hadn't meant anything negative against his friends with what he said earlier. "I'm sorry if it came out the wrong way."

I'll choose to 'air your grievances'.

"But honestly, if you're asking..." Amir crosses his arms. "I don't have anything against Kilt here. And I don't think him, or me, or any of the girls are even capable of doing something like this." He gestures towards the alley. "But you? Man, I believe you; I know you didn't do this; I'm in for whatever kind of investigation you guys are planning. But with your powers and these kind of outburts? I tend to get pretty freakin' worried."

His upper body tenses up, uneasy around an angry, shouty Manifest. Wisps of sand begin to low-key whip around Amir's feet. It all corresponded with Amir's mounting courage. There were things that needed to be said, or at least, things he wanted to say.

"You're going to hurt someone. Bad. No 'ifs', just a matter of 'when'. And since Siphon is living at your place, I'm actually scared for her. Like alot. I mean it." Amir shakes his head. "Like, I don't get it, dude. I wish you'd just go cool off or something. You're all jumpy, you start yelling for no reason, and you get angry at the drop of a hat."

Aaaah, I'm hating this. Wish Manifest and Amir could get along better. Sadly I don't think that's going to happen any time soon D:

@The Kilt: Amir is genuine about his concerns, but most of all he wants Manifest away from Siphon, which is what this is really all about. You're sure Amir likes her.

Should have my post up tomorrow!

Condition(s): None

Saleem is a perfectly fine name~

"Ah, er, actually Mom, today has been a long day. I've called work and they've given me the day off, so I'd like to rest," explains Amir.

Fishing in his pocket, Amir pulls out a bluetooth earpiece, syncing it with the phone before putting it in his ear. Now he could talk on the phone and text at the same time. And then, maybe after all this, he could finally put his phone away for a while. He was starting to feel glued to this thing.

The Kilt: where'd u end up? U anywhere near east park?
The Kilt: u readin me duster-buster? i need u to meet me at the bakery on 23rd. not urgent, but time-sensitive.
Me: Yeah I'll be there.

Amir rolls his eyes. These guys were starting to run him ragged.

--

The Doomed pulls up to the bakery on his sandwave. He's surprised to see Manifest here. And Amir is doubly surprised to see the absolutely destroyed alley. Little bit of an exaggeration, but still.

"Seriously guys?", calls Amir, in slack-jawed horror. "Was trashing one food place not enough for you?"

He allows the sandwave to collapse into a pile outside the alleyway, as he approaches to inspect it. They flipped a dumpster. Scorch marks and trash were all over the place. To their credit though, Manifest was at least repairing the fire escape.

cheese on crackers

Condition(s): None so far

Amir

We were worried, once they mentioned your name. no one said who was injured. Bro, you can't get hurt now. you don't want to be all bruised up in the pictures, or when she first sees you, right? Gabby asks. in the background you can here your mother asking Is that him?. what do you do?

"Maybe not bruised up, but I think a couple cool scars would only make me more attractive," jokes Amir, with a half-hearted laugh. "Ah, but yeah, you're right. I'm sorry for worrying you guys. Can you give the phone to Mom so I can tell her I'm okay?"

Mid-conversation, the phone buzzes as a new text arrives. Amir takes the phone away from his ear to check it really quick. Thankfully it's from The Kilt, and not someone else in his family. There's no time to answer it now, but with any luck things would start slowing down sooner rather than later.

Here's my two cents~

Usually, if you want to grab something from someone, you'd roll Unleash Your Powers, which means you have a chance of failure, things going wrong, and so on. The advantage of Snatch is that you do it without a roll, so you'll always successfully seize the object, even if the person is resisting. It feeds The Nova's core concept of having overwhelming power.

In Masks, Moves/Rolls are only made when the outcome of an action is uncertain. For example... 'What happens after Amir gets blasted by a villain?', would be answered by rolling Take A Powerful Blow; 'What happens when Amir tries to fly by riding on a platform of sand, which he's never tried before?', is answered by Unleash Your Powers; etc. Here's a list of further examples:

As you might already be able to tell from the examples, expanding Snatch to be able to grab living creatures, and not just objects, is problematic. It also steps on the toes of the 'Reality Storm' and 'Overcharge' flares. For example, if Snatch could grab people, would it lean more towards Directly Engage or Unleash Power? Can Manifest decide how violently he wants to "seize" someone? Why would Snatch be used in some cases and not a Basic Move or a different Flare in others?

If someone falls from a building to their certain doom, and Manifest wants to save them... Defend would normally be triggered. He may also use Shielding, to roll Defend with +Freak instead of +Savior. Moat could also be used, if Manifest wanted to continuously stop anyone from falling (the equivalent of putting up a safety net). Why use any of these if a person could just be 'seized' or caught with Snatch?

Condition(s): None so far

Lost internet yesterday. But back online now!

Amir had expected Twitch to be a little more appreciative of him coming to check on her. He looks up at one of the drones. Maybe it had something to do with her crash being caught on camera? Was she afraid that the crash made her look bad?

"Wait–!", shouts Amir, trying in vain to get Twitch's attention before she speeds off. "What race? Where are you going!"

Mounting his sand wave once more, Amir enters the bike lane, doing his best to follow Twitch while observing all the rules of the road. Traffic lights, stop signs, hand signals. The works. With her flying high above the city skyline though, he soon loses her.

Upset at being left behind again, he pulls off onto an empty stretch of sidewalk and sits down on a mound of his sand. Maybe if he opened the stream again, he'd be able to see where Twitch and the other were at, or were headed. But, taking out his phone, Amir blanches as he realizes that he's missed texts from his younger brother and sister. Looks like the 'tide' is starting to come in...

Rana: He did that? Why does he need you if he can level buildings
Me: It was the bad guys too. And like I said, I just happened to be nearby.

He quickly types out a message for Rana, before focusing on Gabby's text. Amir could send her a text in reply, but in this case, maybe it'd be better just to give her a call. Which he does, dialing her number. The Team would have to wait; eveeen though he didn't want to make them wait.

"Hey Gabby, it's me. I'm fine. Sorry for not calling sooner," starts Amir. "I just got home, had to call work, and now I'm having to head out again to meet a friend."

1. Yep! I'm well aware. Veteran of the system. When I don't have any conditions, I like to use that space as a sort of status update. It's more interesting than putting down "None" all the time. When Amir does get a condition, it'll be differentiated from the usual status updates by writing it like this, 'CONDITION(S): Angry'. Or something like that, anyway. I can see how it might be confusing though, so I'll stop~ From now on, it'll just be 'None', until Amir gets a condition.

2. Whenever I join or run a PbP, I create a desktop file for it. In this case, there's an Amir.txt on my desktop that has a template with the labels, etc. so all I have to do is copy and paste it onto the messageboards. It has the added bonus of me never losing my posts, because all of my post writing is done outside the website. So it's no trouble :) Plus, when labels get shifted and conditions and potential get marked, it's nice to look back and see how Amir has changed over time.

So I'm going to make a quick addition to Amir's family. A brother-in-law.

Amir's older sister, Saira, like him (and their parents), had her marriage arranged while she was just a baby. Several years back, she went through with it, marrying a guy in Pakistan who she barely knew. The whole family took a trip to Pakistan to be a part of the wedding, stayed for a week, and then returned to America/Panurgic, leaving Saira with her new husband and the Ahmed's extended family. Everything went perfect, and to the day, Amir has never seen or heard of a happier married couple.

Saira is now a huge supporter of arranged marriages, and honestly thinks the world would be a better place if everyone did it. She's even gone so far as to arrange marriages for all of her kids. This is unusual in the Ahmed Family, where the usual practice is to only arrange the marriage of the firstborn child. However, it's somewhat to be expected, as Amir's parents were the first in the family to stretch this tradition, by arranging the marriages of both their firstborn female and firstborn male.

This isn't great for Amir, as it adds an additional pressure for moving back to Pakistan. Amir's parents want to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren.

Conditions: Concerned

For Manifest to be such a nervous wreck, Siphon had to have rejected him. Either that or Amir managed to really, really pushed his buttons. Either way, it was clear that Manifest wasn't much of a threat after all.

Amir sighs at his underhandedness, somewhat disgusted with himself. He had deliberately said and did things to make Manifest uncomfortable. And all for Siphon. Of course, Amir would be lying if he said that it had nothing to do with getting out of the marriage, which could potentially be called off if he could claim he had a girlfriend that he was 'already courting'.

His phone goes off, just a text. Amir pulls it from his pocket. He had missed quite a bit of Twitch's chat, and there were a few messages for NeverEndingLove, but it'd have to wait. His little brother, Rana, had just asked if he "leveled a building". Amir quickly types out a response.

Rana: You leveled a building?
Me: It wasn't me. I just happened to be nearby. It was the magic guy, Manifest.

Truth be told, it was really a mix of everyone who brought Salvo's down; heroes and villains. It was just easy to let the guy who's 'magic' take the fall for it. And besides, how much damage could his own sand possibly have done? Not to mention that Amir wasn't in a position where he could afford to shoulder any of the blame.

But, feeling a twitch of guilt for what he did earlier, and realizing that wording it in the way that he did throws Manifest completely under the bus, Amir sends another message. Manifest was alright, Amir was cool with him. As long as Siphon and him kept their distance, and were just friends, then he and Amir would be friends as well.

Me: It only happened because of the bad guys there. He didn't have a choice.

Heading back inside as he sends the texts, Amir calls out to The Team, "Sorry about disappearing like that guys. I had to call my coworker and–" He looks around the room, everyone is gone. "–Uh..." He checks the patio, the bathroom, even his own bedroom, but no luck. "... Hello?"

The phone buzzes again, a notification this time. "LIVE NOW: Twitch". Amir logs onto the stream.

"Place your bets! Place your bets!"

People were flooding into the chat. Apparently there was some kind of race going on. Amir recognized the street. They weren't far from his apartment complex.

"Should I join in?"

Amir imagined himself gliding across the road in a chariot of sand. Despite his late start, he'd surprise everyone by taking first place. It'd be awesome. Siphon would be impressed for sure.

But then he sees Twitch fall, and he cringes. "That looks like it hurt." Amir's fantasy of being awesome fades away, replaced by concern. "Someone should check on her."

There was no time to grab his sand gourd. Instead–as he rushes to lock the patio door, then get out through and lock the front door–Amir reaches out and manipulates the sand from one of the open bags in his room. It flies out of the bag, through the air, and gathers under Amir feet, forming a wave of sand that he rides ontop of. Not quite the chariot he had imagined, but still a convenient way to get around.

With the apartment secure, he speeds off to Twitch's side. The sand wave carrying him much faster than his legs ever could. He calls out to her as he gets close.

"Are you okay?"

Going to post soon, catch up with everyone~ Give me a sec.

Conditions: None. Well, to be honest, just a bit jealous.

Amir had done his best to ignore Manifest and Siphon, but he can't help but lift his gaze off his phone and watch them. He couldn't hear them, presumably because the TV was too loud, but that didn't matter, just keeping an eye on them was enough to tell what was going on. Their body language and actions spoke volumes.

Not that Amir was an expert on such things. It was just obvious to him that Manifest had made some kind of move on Siphon. What he couldn't tell though, was her reaction. Did she reject him? Did she like him?

"Hey, Manifest! Are you heading out?"

He calls out after Manifest as he heads towards the door. Amir would play the role of a nicey-nice good host for now. It'd help him learn more about this potential rival of his. Then he could decide whether he was a threat.

"Take one of these for the road," says Amir, slipping his phone into his pocket as he stops by the fridge to fetch Manifest a cold water bottle. "Let me walk you out." He thrusts the bottle into Manifest's hands, before ushering him outside and closing the door behind them.

Alone; out of earshot of the others. Amir's mind races for something he can pounce on.

"So, uh, good work today!", starts Amir. "Shame about the building though. I imagine with powers like yours it's hard to keep things under control. You must worry about causing too much damage... Or accidentally hurting someone."

Marking Doom Track (0/5 -> 1/5) to use Bolstered, and with it, the Adult Move 'Empathize'.
Empathize (+ Mundane): 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (2, 5) + 0 = 7
7-9 is a Hit. @Manifest: Reveal a vulnerability (triggering your Team Move) or mark a Condition.

Oooh, I didn't understand at first when Elsine asked about the Comfort move, but I see now that it was a great catch. If I were GMing I definitely would've overlooked that moment. Here's a an excerpt from the rulebook about the Comfort or Support Someone move:

Comforting or supporting needs to break a certain threshold for the move to be triggered. This isn’t for pats on the back or simple “Good job!” compliments. This is for genuine, open-hearted, even extended emotional support of another person. This is for heart-to-hearts, for meaningful gestures and actions.

I totally agree with Elsine that Siphon creating a soundproof barrier for Manifest and her to have a heart to heart counts as a 'meaningful gesture' and that Comfort or Support Someone should be triggered :) That's one of the interesting things about Masks, us players don't really 'use' the different moves in a traditional sense. Moves are always triggered by events in the fiction.

Picture it this way, Siphon could've just told Manifest to spit it out, or shrug it off and ignore him. Instead what she did was support him by raising a barrier to make him more comfortable.

Also, while I'm at it :P This isn't Provoke Someone, because that move always entails your character being manipulative. For example, if Manifest hadn't indicated that he wanted to talk somewhere private, but was still all "Nah. Nevermind.", and Siphon responded by saying "Oh? Are you scared the others might overhear?" and then raised the barrier, then THAT would've been manipulative and triggered Provoke Someone. The big difference is doing something to make Manifest talk versus doing something to let Manifest talk.

But, um, basically what this all boils down to is, "Hurray! You get to make a roll that could maybe add Team to the pool and give Manifest potential~!" xD

Conditions: None so far

Amir quietly steps out of his bedroom, his cellphone at his ear. He's just finishing up a phone call with Eric.

"... Mhm. Yeah. I'm still pretty sore from the whole thing, it's probably best if I don't come in tonight... Ok. Alright. Thank you for understanding. See you at work tomorrow."

The young "silokinetic"–as the news called him–had gotten tossed around a bit during The Team's earlier fight. He wasn't hurt, but Amir was still tired and sore, and not at all looking forward to going into work tonight. Thankfully, Eric had already saw the fight on the news, and was very understanding about Amir not wanting to come in. Now all he had to do was brace himself for the oncoming tide of calls and texts from family, all asking if he's alright.

With any luck, maybe Amir would be able to relax between then and now.

Sliding into the kitchen, he turns to survey the apartment. The entire team is here. Siphon and Manifest were talking to each other, which he did his best to ignore, feeling a sudden twinge of jealousy. On the other side of the room, 'The Kilt', Moxie, and Twitch huddled around each other and the TV. Speaking of Twitch, it had been a while since Amir had checked on the chat.

Pulling up his phone, Amir logs on. The stream had ended quite some time ago, but maybe there were a couple people still around.

NeverEndingLove has entered the chat.
NeverEndingLove: Hey everyone.

Several people enthusiastically greet 'NeverEndingLove', a regular name on the chat. No one but Twitch herself knew that it was actually Amir.

NeverEndingLove: I guess I missed the stream :( Who's the Amir guy? I've never heard of him.

All the above are living in Panurgic, but there are many more relatives (cousins, etc.) who live back in the middle east. Of course, the Ancestor isn't 'living' in Panurgic, but you get the idea :P If you remember the movie Mulan, he's kind of a cross between Mushu and the ancestor spirits, except a lot bigger and scarier.

Amir's Nemesis is his entire family, so while there are many individuals with different personalities in that group, they're all united in bringing Amir's Doom closer. I imagine they'd be best represented as a single Villain character, with a unique Villain move to symbolize each individual. Example: Mom pesters, Dad attacks, Sisters convince/argue, Brother whines, Ancestor haunts.

Shortly after the start of the game, I'll update Amir's profile with all the new info.

I'm fine with Amir's apartment/sanctuary being The Team's hangout. Lemme redefine the place.

=== Amir's Apartment | The Sand Castle ===
A gift from his parents, Amir lives in a ground floor, single bedroom apartment near the edge of Panurgic City. It's a unique location, in that there's lots and lots of long stretches of empty, clear (and dusty) land. Because of all the free space, the location tends to attract many of Panurgic's new businesses and development projects, so every building around is 'shiny' and brand new, most having been constructed in just the last year. It provides a stark contrast to the center of Panurgic City–where Amir's parents live–and its decades-old structures and retro style.

The apartment itself is a nice, cozy place, where The Team often meets to hang out. Its nickname is 'The Sand Castle', because of Amir's tendency to get sand EVERYWHERE.

:: Living Room & Kitchen [Hangout]
The main living area has a pretty standard layout, with an open kitchen adjoining a living room. There's a fridge, oven, couch, TV, etc. There's also a patio, closet, and a full bathroom. Amir keeps the place pretty immaculately clean, so the place doesn't look very 'lived-in', but it still only takes a couple seconds to find some sand that he missed while he was tidying up.

:: Bedroom [Sanctuary]
Serving as Amir's personal and private space is, obviously, his bedroom, which is just off the living room. [Drawbacks: Location known to many & Easily damaged or tampered with]

- Sandbags [Feature: Power Battery]
In the corner of the room is a number of large sandbags, filled with Pakistani sand that Amir ordered. They were originally intended for some spiritual or religious purpose. When Amir goes out, he fills a small, traditional water gourd with this sand for him to use with his powers.

- Old Books [Feature: Library of Valuable Tomes]
There is a shelf or two with books from Pakistan that date back to Amir's ancient ancestors. They're all in Urdu, which Amir doesn't know how to read or speak. He keeps them around with the hope that they'll help him understand his powers.

- Antiques [Feature: Ancient Relics]
Scattered around the room, either hanging on a wall, on a table, or on a display, are a number of relics that, again, date back to Amir's ancient ancestors. Amir only keeps them around because he hopes that they'll help him understand his powers.

@The Kilt
The only person on The Team that Amir has told is Twitch. He wouldn't of told anyone else because "talking about it openly" brings his Doom closer. Twitch, however, might have gone blabbermouth and told everyone on The Team about it ;)

And The Black Shuck is a cool idea!

@Siphon_
Moxienception

@Elsine
Amir's Fiancée is named Sitara Sherazi. The only time they were both physically in the same room was in Pakistan when they were babies, which was when their marriage was arranged. They've known about each other for a while now, and of their eventual marriage, but its only really been in the last year that its become 'real' to them and they're having to deal with it. In-fact, they've only really talked to and seen each other just recently, through the magic that is Skype. Both families expect them to go through with the marriage, and both think that they're happy about it and have no objections (which may or may not be true in Sitara's case). And likewise, both Amir and Sitara think the other wants to go through with it.

There's nothing wrong with Sitara. She's good-looking and has a pleasant, sweet personality. Amir has no objections with her. His main issue is being in control of his life. He wants to decide for himself where he lives and who he has a relationship with. Amir might come to really like Sitara, but it frustrates him that his parents have arranged the whole thing.

His living situation is another example of his frustration. Amir was living with his parents before, which he was fine with. Then, one day, his parents announce that they've rented him an apartment for him to live in alone. Amir appreciates it, and even likes the place, but since it was his parents' idea and they're in control of it all, he's can't help but be somewhat bitter. Even his job is something that his parents arranged.

Some parents merely tell their kids where to work, live, and who to marry. Amir's parents, in his opinion, take it to a whole new level.

And the young woman who Amir is arranged to marry is an alternate universe fourth Moxie. She's so excited about the upcoming wedding that she's already named herself Married Moxie.

There's also a fifth Moxie, ironically residing in the fifth dimension. Her construct powers are great enough that she can alter the very fabric of reality. We call her Master Moxie.

Unbeknownst to everyone though, a sixth Moxie lurks in the shadows, connivingly puppeteering every ill our Team comes across by use of her unique Clayface-like construct abilities to change her form and create evil construct minions. Her name is Mud Mox.

Oh, and we can't forget the seventh and eighth Moxie. During the late 90s there was a "IN SPACE" craze that swept the nation, prompting the rise of number seven, 'StarMox'! Her villain was her future counterpart, the dreaded eighth Moxie, 'StarBux', who ran an evil megacorporation that sold addicting mindcontrol beverages in an attempt to brainwash the people of the known galaxy. It only lasted for 13 issues though.

I figure Amir would be too tired to pay attention to this sort of timeline stuff anyway.

If anyone has asked me anything, I have definitely missed it in the wave of recent posts, and you should probably ask me again. And put it in bold this time. With arrows pointing at it.

The cut and run option is still open, thanks to Eric. All it'd take is a phone call for Amir to set things in motion, leave everything behind and start over. The only problem is that it'd count as kidnapping on Eric's part, so they're waiting for Amir's 18th birthday to roll around, unless there's some serious issue that warrants leaving sooner. And of course, Amir isn't really sure if he wants to go through with it, maybe he'll manage to convince his family to call the marriage off, or maybe something will come up or he'll decide to actually go through with it. After all, his family isn't abusive or anything, just forceful, Amir does love them. He also cares about honor. Not to mention he wants to stay together with his friends on the Team as well.

----

Relationships, Influence, and 'how the Team came together' are honestly the hardest and most drawn out parts of Masks. So here's to hoping we somehow manage to get through it quickly.

// When our team first came together... We paid a high cost for victory. What was it?
We had to accept someone's help, leaving us in-debt to them, and they're someone we really shouldn't of been dealing with. It was one of those companies that augments people to give them powers, but we don't actually know their name or who they are. See, its been suspected, but never confirmed, that some of these companies will often grab people off the street (people who won't be missed) to experiment on, before using their latest tech on actual, paying customers. And likewise, it's been suspected but never confirmed that when these experiments escape, or when a customer goes crazy or otherwise refuses to pay, these companies will send out their own private anti-super security force to capture the subject and 'cut their losses'. It was one of these security forces that we were forced to ally with.

We don't know what company they work for/represnt, but we do know that they call themselves 'The Collection Agency'. When things were looking dire, they came out of nowhere and helped us, driving off the villains we were facing. We were grateful for the assist at the time, but it didn't take us long to realize that they weren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They wanted our Team to work for them, and when we naturally showed some hesitance, The Collection Agency revealed that they had been watching us for a while, and they knew everything about us, right down to our secret identities. Too tired to fight back against their thinly-veiled threat, we asked them what they wanted us to do, and The Collection Agency merely responded by saying that they'd contact us at a later date.

After that, they packed up and left, without a trace. As if they never really existed and the whole situation was just a bad dream. Even Twitch wasn't able to record them, her electronics and signal being mysteriously disrupted until they were gone. Suddenly we realized why these shadow organizations had always been considered a hokey conspiracy theory. Ever since then, we've all been dreading the day when our phones will ring, a call from an unknown number, and when we answer...

"... It's time to collect."

// Relationships: You told Twitch all about your doom and the danger you’re in.

// Relationships: You’d love to kiss Siphon before your doom comes.
I'm picking Siphon to be Amir's initial crush. Mostly for the drama of it. See, Amir's abilities come from his distant ancestor, whose powers are, well, EVERY power from EVERY playbook; i.e. Doomsign: Infinite Powers. Sand Control is just the one that he has most ready access to, presumably from a self-imposed psychological barrier, as his powers are tied to the middle east, his ancestral home, and he desperately wants to stay in America. Meanwhile, his father, who has the same powers, doesn't have that barrier, so he essentially has ALL the powers ALL the time. Then, enter Siphon, who also doesn't have that psychological limitation. See where I'm going with this?

Siphon might have some idea that Amir likes her, but she's probably never yet had a reason to take his memories or seemingly limited ability to control a specific type of sand. When she does though? It'll be a rush, and when it wears off, it'll be massively tempting to have all that power again. And since she'll have his memories as well, and will know that he likes her... Well, lets just say that it gives her a reason to be manipulative, and to use and abuse Amir. Or, perhaps, a reason to stay away from him, to avoid being corrupted by that temptation.

Of course, either way, Amir will be absolutely crushed if he ever finds out.

// Influence: These people matter for what you need to do. Give Influence to Siphon and Manifest
Siphon, because Amir has a crush on her. She's one of the big reasons why he wants to stay in Panurgic.

Manifest, because his awesome powers will be very useful in helping Amir to escape his doom. He's just not sure how to go about asking for his help.

----

@Miss Moxie
Yes! But instead of a particular someone, Miss Moxie actually managed to save the entire Team. And Amir is all about averting destiny. He'd fight at her side til the bitter end.

@Manifest, The Maker Mage
Amir has a rather grueling job, so he wouldn't be available often enough for me to recommend him for the blowing off steam relationship.