Training Team: Blizzard

What is it like to be less than normal, not quite human, strange compared to everyone else? Do you keep believing you are human or embrace your difference? And do you hate the people who hated you or find a way to love humanity?

In Team Blizzard, you’ll tell a story of Marked who are freaky, queer, outcast and different, those who know they are not normal and wonder whether they are even human. You’ll decide whether to stand alone with your fellow outcasts or reach out to others.

You’re a mix of juniors and seniors who’ve been living with your Marks for different amounts of time, led by a teacher who seems as normal as they come, but has been on their own journey of rejection.

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19: L. Kouma // Livewire [Reserved]

Age: Senior Student, Origin: Noasha Outreach Laboratory, Berlin, Training Team: Blizzard /

Power: Static Electricity

Inflicted by seemingly incurable and constant pain, Kouma’s Mark was both what paralysed them and unlocked a new life for them. That, and Noasha Outreach Laboratory. Kouma’s Mark generated immense amounts of static electricity that set their nervous system into painful lockdown. However, under Noasha’s careful attention, the excess electricity powered several cybernetic enhancements and replacement limbs that gave them freedom of movement and abilities even other Marked lacked,- though the problem of chronic pain and maintaining the prosthetics remain constant. With Noasha Labs shut down, they’re cut off from any backup for their high-tech body – but, lustful for freedom, Kouma now has no oversight that can tell them just how flesh or how machine they’re allowed to be, and they plan to take advantage of it.

Content warnings: Debilitating disability and significant body replacement/modification

19: L. Kouma // Livewire [Reserved] Read More »

20: D. Tox // Charmer

Age: Senior Student, Origin: Circus of Human Wonders, United States, Training Team: Blizzard /

Power: Repulse

Even as a child, D. Tox was always locked inside their own head. Already their Mark didn’t help, repulsing everyone who looked on them. Cameron Redlaw may have been the first person who looked upon them with any sort of kindness. Cameron taught them how to control the ebb and flow of their ability – which they are still not great at – and who discovered that reptiles reacted in an opposite way to mammals, being attracted rather than repulsed. Tox became the circus’s resident snake charmer, doing daring feats with their ever-growing collection of dangerous (to others) snakes. After Redlaw’s death, Tox traveled with Dedlock in a traveling tent revival, but left when they discovered they were trans. At Mistry, Tox has now settled comfortably in the gender they were always struggling to be, although they still feel more comfortable with the snakes in their dorm room than their fellow students.

Content warning: Transphobia

20: D. Tox // Charmer Read More »

21: T. Joseph [Reserved]

Age: Junior Student, Origin: Wonder Park Vigilantes, Alaska, Training Team: Blizzard /

Power: Wolf Form

T. Joseph is the sibling of M. Joseph and the cousin of W. Joseph. They grew up in Mountain View and Wonder Park, two of the roughest neighbourhoods in Anchorage. School was difficult to begin with due to learning differences, and having a sibling who was a star in the popular firmament didn’t help. While M. was winning spelling bees, T. was surviving relentless bullying by running, hiding and occasionally taking a beating. It was a full-time job, but it all changed when their Mark developed. In the Mark lottery, T. Joseph hit the jackpot. In contrast to their sibling (the were-hamster) and their cousin (wolf-in-nose-only), T. can transform at will into an actual, fearsome wolf. They are a werewolf, and the tables turned overnight. T. relished tormenting their tormentors, perhaps a little too much. They like the pack, the camaraderie, the ability to quietly command a loyal member. They feel more comfortable in wolf form, where no one judges their ability to parse numbers and letters, and wonder whether being human at all is worth the effort.

Content warnings: Bullying, learning differences

21: T. Joseph [Reserved] Read More »

22: J. Cole

Age: Junior Student, Origin: The Body Snatchers, London, Training Team: Blizzard /

Power: Plant Growth

Abandoned when they were very young, Cole found that the city always looked after them in ways it didn’t look after others. Food was never a problem and neither was shelter as they lived deep in the thorny bushes of public parks. As long as Cole could spend time in the sun, grow their plants and chill all day they were happy just getting by. During the winter months Cole would go dormant and hide in cemeteries pretending to be dead, only to come back to life again in spring. Cole saw themselves as part of the cycle of life and death, a creature of the streets, until some criminal elements started using the young vagrant to grow drugs. Where they used to help grow the flowers people left in the cemetery, the criminals started planting narcotics, and with Cole around the plants thrived. Cole watched powerlessly as criminals took and sold the plants they had meant as a gift for this place and the people who visited it peacefully. The criminals wanted Cole to stay awake throughout the winter to keep the drugs growing, and that’s when they knew they needed to leave. Hunted by the criminals, Cole found sanctuary in an Old Chapel, and now maybe true safety in Mistry Academy.

Content warning: Drug use

22: J. Cole Read More »

23: M. Livanou [Reserved]

Age: Junior Student, Origin: The Legacies, Brussels, Training Team: Blizzard /

Power: Healing

You were conceived through in vitro fertilisation and selected by your Greek-born mother as a match for for your elder sister, Lydia, who had leukemia. The process was successful at first but Lydia deteriorated and in her twelfth year, she died. For you, it seemed as if you had failed in your life’s purpose. More worryingly, although you missed your sister your feelings towards others were numbed. You enjoy people’s company but cannot feel a strong emotional bond with others. You worry that you may not be normal; that others may see you as a freak. After her death, Lydia’s peers took you in, treating you as their mascot, but not taking you seriously.

When your Mark kicked in, you gained a new purpose in your power to heal. But sometimes you wonder how it would be to have something just for yourself. You insisted on coming to Mistry Academy, so that you could make a new start and see whether you are worth more than just spare parts for a dead sibling.

Content warnings: Cancer, illness and death of a child

Please note that Livanou in Greek is the feminine style of surname. The masculine surname would be Livanos.

23: M. Livanou [Reserved] Read More »

24: X. Zian [Reserved]

Age: Junior Student, Origin: Marked in Space, Training Team: Blizzard /

Power: Disappearance

You’re literally part alien, strange even to people living with the reality of superpowers. Six of your parental donors are renowned members of the Krixzaran League whose illustrious footsteps you were being brought up to follow in, but the last was a human, Dr Anya Mistry. Her genetic strain has always made you unusual among your peers, but perhaps you wouldn’t begrudge her so much if she’d just been around to explain how you were different when you were growing up. When your Mark appeared, the rest of your parental hept decided to send you to Earth so she could guide you through the development of your powers. You didn’t want to leave the only home you’ve ever known. Now, you’re terrified that you’re going to stand out more than ever when you’re surrounded by humans.

24: X. Zian [Reserved] Read More »

52: O. Watson // Guise

Age: Staff, Origin: The Original Marked Alliance, Training Team: Blizzard /

Subject: Marked Biology
Power: Chameleon

You were always good at hiding. All you had to do was change your skin to blend in with your surroundings. This was good, because your Mark developed early and the kids at school were relentless in their teasing. It was also why the agents never found you when they came for you at your university halls. You were in the first year of your Biochemistry degree when that happened. But you couldn’t hide from Dr. Mistry when she sought you out. She convinced you to go with her only by promising to teach you biochemistry. And she taught you a lot – enough to fill a dozen PhDs. You only ever used your gift when absolutely necessary, and you never much liked the fighting aspect of the Alliance. When McDonald left following the bridge incident, the time seemed right to reassess your prospects. You decided to make your own path too. You have a family now with a non-Marked spouse, and you hold a prestigious research position at a top university. When you got the call recently from Dr. Mistry saying that she needed you in the fight against Beacon, you did not want to join. Only when she said that Dias would be fighting too did you know that you couldn’t refuse – they are like a younger sibling to you and you would do anything to protect them. In the devastating aftermath of that battle, you agreed to step in to teach ‘Marked Biology’ temporarily.

Content warning: Bullying

52: O. Watson // Guise Read More »