THE PHOTOSYNTHESISTERS

VENUS DION

Venus is, in short words, insane. In long words, she is impulsive, childish, short tempered, incredibly energetic, aggressively upbeat and optimistic, and has an insatiable hunger for meat. She loves pets, but is not allowed to have one. She cares deeply for the people closest to her and does not hesitate to show it. She is largely unflappable in the face of direct confrontation, but will quickly break down into tears when faced with difficult emotional dillemmas, when the people she cares about are fighting with eachother, or in cases of serious loss or betrayal. While she may appear to bounce back quickly from these situations and become immediately upbeat again, this is often a guise to put off dealing with the negative emotions. Venus loves painting, playing video games, and spending time simply being around the people she cares about. She can close her eyes and fall asleep on any surface without trying. You would expect her to snore really loudly, but she’s actually a very peaceful sleeper.

Venus is the second strongest of the Photosynthesisters in terms of raw physical strength. She is strong enough to smash through brick walls, pick up cars and throw them roughly the length of a city block, and lift one end of a loaded traincar over her head. She is not strong enough to punch through a bank vault door, beat Spiderman in an arm wrestle, or break a Nokia. In her unfolded form, Venus uses her claws, teeth and jaws to cut and tear apart her opponents. Her claws and teeth are sharp enough to easily slice through steel, and only the strongest creatures of myth and legend can force apart her jaws.

HEATHER IFURURO

Fearless, determined, and effortlessly confident in every decision, Heather is the natural-born leader of the Photosynthesisters. When the team is at an impasse, her say goes. When the way forward is uncertain, she is the one to lead the way. This also means that she can be stubborn to a fault, and her unchecked practically can sometimes lead her to try and “fix” people’s problems, which is not always the best solution. That said, she is not without empathy, and can be incredibly kind-hearted and caring once she realizes the moment calls for it. She is highly capable at time management, and divides her day between studying for school, practicing fencing, cultivating a highly successful social media presence, gathering intelligence and resources for the Photosynthesisters, and helping keep the rest of them organized and on point. She spends what little down time she allows herself reading history books, sketching, listening to many genres of music, and browsing social media. She also highly values her romantic relationships, but chooses to keep this aspect of her life closed off from the rest of the team.

Though just below Venus in her measure of raw physical strength, Heather is far and above the most capable fighter of the five. She has a high degree of martial prowess, battlefield awareness and strategic intelligence. Though an incredibly intimidating opponent by her physical aspects alone, her skill and talent allow her to take on foes much stronger than herself. Her monster form allows her to rapidly sprout numerous thorny vines that are extremely versatile; she can use them as spears and whips, use them to bind enemies, or weave them into walls and shields. Along with her monster body’s natural armor, this makes her highly effective both offensively and defensively.

SIRISHA NUCIFERA

The family that raised Sirisha are the descendants of a legendary Chinese pirate queen, who passed down a massive fortune that has only grown more obscene over the generations. Sirisha grew up always the richest person in the room, and with an attitude to match. She is snide, sharp-tongued, unapologetic and ruthless. If she wants something, she gets it; if there are obstacles, she removes them. She is also wickedly intelligent, with a natural affinity to any field of study she sets her mind to. While her moments of relaxation are mostly spent on social media or out partying, she spends most of her time studying and researching, particularly anatomy, microbiology, chemical engineering, and anything related to medicine and healing. She also harbors a deep love and desire to protect the people closest to her, and she would rather die than let any of them see even a hint of it.

Sirisha often develops strong feelings of jealousy over personality traits she admires in others. This manifests particularly towards Heather's affinity for leadership and teambuilding. This compounds with Sirisha’s instinct to solve problems own her own, and the two of them are constantly fighting over leadership decisions.

Though possessed of super-strength compared to an average human, Sirisha is physically the weakest of the Photosynthesisters. She can use the spider-like legs of her monster form as spears, but is otherwise fragile and lacking in offensive capability. She has a magical ability to accelerate cell regeneration in living beings. This, combined with her encyclopedic knowledge of medicine, makes her an incredibly effective healer. Ever envious of her comrades, however, she has a burning desire to fight alongside them, and deep sense of guilt not being able to, which manifests as irritability and an innate instinct to push others away.

AMBER LONICERA

Amber appears to spend most of her time daydreaming, with limited awareness of what’s going on around her in a given moment. She gets easily distracted by nothing in particular in the middle of conversations, and in general just goes through life with a vacant smile as if she doesn’t have a care in the world. In stark contrast to this, she has a perfect memory, and can recall at will anything she has ever seen, read, heard, smelled, etc. This makes her the researcher and loremaster of the group; with a mysterious ability to source ancient and obscure books that should be impossible to find, whenever the Photosynthesisters encounter a being they’re not familiar with, Amber is the one to figure out what it is and how it works. Her disconnected attitude, unblinking stare, and penchant to make piercingly insightful remarks about people out of the blue, lead most people who meet her to find her a bit creepy. She spends most of her time relaxing, and enjoys watching anime, writing fan fiction, reading and writing cheap romance novels, going for walks and just laying out in the sun.

Only slightly stronger than Sirisha, Amber’s gift is in manipulation of the mind. She can emit a saccharin fragrance that makes anyone who inhales it woozy and easily suggestible. With this, she can easily control large crowds of unsuspecting individuals. The eight tendrils that sprout from the neck of her monster form give her more control. When Amber touches a living being with one of the tendrils, she gains total access and control of that creature's mind for as long as she maintains contact. The tendrils can also be used as whips and binds, though not nearly as strong as Heather’s vines.

RAJA PATMA

Six foot four, covered in spikes and frightening tattoos, Raja is quiet and introverted. She enjoys spending time alone, reading comic books, playing games, and practicing and listening to music. At the same time, she has a deep love for the people closest to her and would do absolutely anything for them. She enjoys spending time with the people she cares about but will likely stay mostly quiet, not out of nervousness but just her natural inclination.

Raja got her love of music from her father. As she grew up and got more into goth/punk fashion and aesthetic, she got more and more into metal, and when she picked up a bass and started playing she fell in love with it. The power and energy of the music let her feel a connection to the confidence and agency she felt like she was missing in herself, plus it allowed her to express herself artistically. She's also just really good at it, and doing what you're good at always feels good