Rachel

Please stop gifting me novelty mugs.
Introduction xxxxxCalculating, self-destructive, and desperate for inner-peace. Description xxxxxA small, mousy woman in her early thirties. Can often be seen in business attire with her black curly hair pulled into a bun and dark eyes covered by the presence of brown, rimless shades. Not exactly distinguished, but most definitely not here to fool around. Reputation xxxxxWhen most people think of Rachel Haimowitz, they think of Levinson, Haimowitz & Co (usually they'll go "who?"), one of Manhattan's crème de la crème law firms. In the past few years, Haimowitz has made a name for herself after defending several questionable companies and working closely with PR representatives to regain public favour. History xxxxxBorn in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, Rachel was always the black sheep. Her parents, the descendants of Ashkenazi Jews who fled persecution in Europe, kept up an old family bodega. They weren't rich by any means, but they both worked hard to support their three children—of which Rachel was the eldest. From a young age, she learned that her role in the family was to guide her siblings and act as a tertiary caretaker; in other words, be a role model for her younger brothers. Yet, even as she tried her best to be a good sibling, she always fell short. xxxxxAs a child, Rachel experienced difficulties in interacting with others. Perplexed by the complex inner-workings of others' feelings and motivations, she could never understand people. The most she could do was try and stop questioning "why" and "what", and instead practice being agreeable—normal. xxxxxHer parents were flooded with work. She had to tend to her brothers and make sure they got ready for school and help them with their homework and warm up the leftovers her mother made for dinner when they weren't there. xxxxxShe excelled in school and many of her teachers learned to utilize her unique strengths, such as the way she hyper-fixated on tasks that engaged and challenged her. Report cards often filed in with comments such as "great learner, but very quiet and reserved" or "wonderful to have in the classroom, withdrawn from others her age". She knew about this. She eavesdropped on her parents' frequent late-night discussions regarding her reclusive nature. She always caught her siblings' friends asking about her or joking about how she never had any of her own friends over. The urge to lash out was strong, but the need to be acceptable was stronger. And so, Rachel kept it together for the majority of her childhood. Always suspicious of others when they got close to her—questioning whether they liked her because she only agreed with them or because she had the answers to an assignment. xxxxxCome puberty and the manifestation of her abilities, Rachel noticed that she became more distracted. Restless as she was, she poured her building frustration into schoolwork and extra-curricular activities. That was until her first run-in with another mutant. xxxxxShe couldn't describe the feeling she felt around Janet. She knew she was different, but it wasn't until they started talking with one another that she realized that they weren't normal. From then on, they became friends. More than friends, actually. Together they felt a little less alone in a world that saw them as abnormalities and novelties—looking at them like how children looked at sea monkies floating around in a tank. xxxxxThey had a falling out of course. Janet didn't want to spend her life pretending she was a normal person living an unremarkable existence. Rachel wanted nothing more than to get on with her life and fulfill the expectations of her parents—be successful and remarkable in a "normal" kind of way. With that, the two went their separate ways. Janet went off the grid after graduation. xxxxxAs for Rachel, she clawed her way through college to keep her GPA up. At one point, she even pegged someone else for plagiarism to get an edge in one of her classes. xxxxxHer numerous scholarships earned throughout the entirety of her high school career demanded her complete and utter dedication. She majored in psychology before attending law school and soon scored herself a career with a firm in Manhattan. A promising lawyer, a savant at finding legal loopholes, and a hard-worker dedicated to her clients, Rachel fit perfectly into the mold of a corporate powerhouse—stepping on others and tearing apart her competition included. She eventually learned how to channel her venom into passion, using her vigor and pent-up anger to win cases with biting oratory. xxxxxNowadays, she's well-off. Most of the cases she handles involve covering up seedy corporate scandals. Powers xxxxxRachel leeches on surrounding psionic energy in a 10m radius (generated both by non-mutants [a negligible amount] and mutants) to create a “mental barrier” for herself. This barrier bars other psionic mutants from leveraging their abilities against her. Because this barrier feeds off psionic energy, the stronger the opponent’s output, the less effective their abilities might be on Rachel’s psyche. If she attempted to leech off non-mutants, they may lose their ability to focus at worst and be a little distracted at best. xxxxxHowever, this comes at a cost. Leeching from others and amassing large amounts of psionic energy is like an information overload. Too much energy leeched at once and she might “blow a fuse”, leaving herself vulnerable; too little and she won’t be able to support a stable barrier. xxxxxThe only way to keep adverse side effects (headaches, mental strain, discombobulation) at bay is to sustain a balance between the input and output of psionic energy. What she receives, she must conserve and ration appropriately. She can do this through several outlets such as mediation, channeling energy into productivity, repetitive self-stimulatory actions, intense focus, and the maintenance or creation of her mental barrier. xxxxxThis mutation is passive, so Rachel is always “soaking in” psionic energy. Try to think of it as an intrinsic restless feeling rather than a quantitative measure of energy—often expressed through the urge to do something, anything, to vent said excess energy. xxxxxAs of now, there aren’t a lot of outlets that vent that energy in large amounts, so while Rachel could put some effort into gathering a lot of psionic energy, it would put her at a disadvantage. In the future (depending on how she develops as a character), she'd be able to harness psionic energy and use it either as a means to influence others' emotions or boost her defensive capabilities to protect others. Either route would have a maximum range of 5m as well as the capacity to protect/influence up to three individuals at once. Skills xxxxxAs an international baccalaureate, Rachel is fluent in English and Spanish. Her background in psychology gives her an edge over others, allowing her to read into interactions and identify weak points despite her lack of empathy. She's a master at multi-tasking and fitting things into her overcrowded schedule. Since her career revolves around laws and loopholes, she's well-versed enough in twisting the truth to worm her way out of the toughest social situations. Since she's encountered a few other psionic mutants in her legal career, she's also prepared to use her abilities to level the playing field. Connections Friends TBM (to-be-made) Foes TBM (to-be-made) And everything in between Steve Rogers — Not a bad guy. Palatable and easy to work with. Lucien Tessier — Unsure how to feel about him. The kind of guy who would spit coffee in your face. Trivia Rachel owns two toy poodles named Kreutzer and Rodolphe. She orders a flat-white with two shots of espresso from Montagues each morning on her way to work. Her partner and founder of the law firm she works at, Gina Levinson, always buys her a novelty mug for the firm's Secret Santa and it drives her insane. Gallery [[Image:|x150px]] [[Image:|x150px]] [[Image:|x150px]]	Rachel Liba Haimowitz (right) Codename None Birthdate 02/16/1987 Birthplace Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY Species Mutant Affiliation None Alignment Lawful "Fuck You" Powers Convincing you that you're the piece of shit. Occupation Corporate Lawyer Registration Status (currently n/a) Faceclaim Illana Glazer RP Hooks RP Hook - Explanation. RP Hook - Explanation. RP Hook - Explanation. RP Hook - Explanation.
Logs
Date Title Cast Mentions (2020-09-14) Corporate Types Dawson, Jax, Rachel, Skye (2020-09-07) For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Leo, Rachel, Tian-shin (2020-08-30) Palatable Lucien, Rachel, Steve