conversations.from: system
conversations.value: It's funny how real humans say they wish they could be someone else. As far back as my memories can take me, I've just wanted to stay one person. I just don't have that privilege. 
  
  My friends and I live only in the minds of humans. We drift from mind to mind like mental vagabonds. We can only live by controlling people for awhile until their bodies eventually reject our presence. Like we're some sort of disease.  We then wake up in another body, carrying only the strongest memories from host to host. Our hosts have no recollection of anything that happened while we lived inside them, pretended to *be* them.
  
  We call ourselves shifters. We first overheard the name whispered by people following us, tracking our every move. We call them listeners. They hear the psychic messages we can broadcast to each other, so we have to be careful. Keep a low profile. Only talk face to face. No telepathy. No phones. No texts. They'll hear us and come take us away. Any shifter who gets taken disappears forever. Our memories will be the only proof they even existed.
  
  Our group number keeps dwindling. It's harder to know how many of us there once were with every shift. We move from town to town and state to state, hoping eventually they'll lose track of us. They always manage to find us again.
  
  None of us can remember who, or what, we really are. We don't think the listeners even know. Some of them call us demons. Some call us parasites, aliens, ghosts, or even monsters. 
  
  All we know is our own shifter code: 
  
  *Act like you belong.* *Find the others.* *Avoid the listeners.* *Protect the host.* *Shift to survive.*
  
  **Narrator's Notes**
  
  I've hosted a few times, but this story is the one I've really been waiting to host. I was originally planning on sort of a young adult supernatural vibe, but I really want it to feel a bit darker and a bit more realistic.
  
  The mechanics will be a bit different. Every character should have a profile in two parts: First, the first and last name of the current host. In parentheses, write your shifter name. It should be something gender neutral, more of a nickname or a last name. 
  
  Shifters can have male or female hosts, so don't plan on associating your character much with a specific gender or sexuality since that will change depending on your host at the time. With that being said, please feel free to make your host male or female, young or old, gay or straight, etc. Diversity is greatly appreciated. 
  
  As you play more cards, your host will eventually start to reject your presence through physical illness, eventually resulting in you having to find a new host. When it comes time to refresh your cards, you must change your host. After refreshing your cards, you'll be in a new body, so you need to have a new photo, new name (keep your genderless shifter nickname in parentheses afterwards) and new profile information. Your character profile should consist of one paragraph about your shifter and some vague backstory information (memories from past hosts) and one paragraph about your host's life. Make sure all your information is updated for your new host before posting after a shift.
  
  There will be some items available which can extend your shift. Completing goals will give you more wild strength cards, hence extending the amount of time you have with your host. However, there could also be negative consequences for completing them. There's always a possibility of your host dying, which would cause you to prematurely switch hosts. Even worse would be getting apprehended by the listeners.
  
  When you shift, you will lose all the items you had previously, but you will be able to retrieve them in some circumstances. You'll obviously retain the same strengths (good memories) and weaknesses (fears). Wild cards should be new events, good and bad, that will form new positive thoughts and fears for your future hosts. 
  
  Other than these mechanics, I'll try to reveal and explain more rules and let you discover more about what's happening later on in the story. I'm only looking for 4-5 players, so any more than that would have to take over another player's shifter if they quit.
  
  
  
  The pace will be slow, but the posts should be fairly short so that we can keep up the interaction level. If you are broadcasting a telepathic message, please use bold italic (three asterisks before and after). Be careful, it will attract listeners to the scene.
  
  As a final note, each shifter should have a dark secret that they've been hiding from the other shifters. These secrets will probably come out one by one throughout the story. There will be cards that trigger these events. Please include a message to me with your shifter's secret when you send in a character. If you can't think of one, I can definitely offer some suggestions.
  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Your host shouldn't just be a vessel; you want to share the body and decisions about what to do with your host. It may be difficult for a host to accept co-consciousness, but it's the only humane way to be a Mindshifter in your opinion.
conversations.prefix: Achieve Co-Consciousness:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The nickname of your mindshifter. This nickname shouldn't change regardless of your host. There should be a story about how you earned the nickname. It should be gender-neutral. Write about some personality strengths and weaknesses that tie in with your best memory and greatest fear. Choose your subplot wisely! You don't need to add a picture since mindshifters are constantly changing hosts and don't know what they look like themselves.
conversations.prefix: Mindshifter Nickname (Create Your Own!):
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Are you a demon? A ghost? A parasite? An alien? You are determined to shed light on what you are, even if that means exposing yourself to the Listeners.
conversations.prefix: Find Out Who You Really Are:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Regardless of who or what you are, you know that you have to do whatever it takes to stay away from the Listeners. You don't know who they are, but you are only interested in investigating in situations where it helps you stay one step ahead of them.
conversations.prefix: Escape the Listeners:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You don't care about your identity or the Listeners either. All you want to do is become truly human. You will sacrifice anything to live out a peaceful, normal human life in one host.
conversations.prefix: Just Be Human:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Something terrible happened to you in a past host and has haunted you ever since. Describe what happened and how it causes irrational fear for your character in the present.
conversations.prefix: Fear:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You have a particular memory from a time in a past host. It was something that made you feel human. Write what the memory was and how it motivates you in the present.
conversations.prefix: Happy Memory:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You care more about the life of the host whose mind you inhabit than your own well-being. You don't want to do anything to endanger your host, even if that means living out their mundane life without taking any risks.
conversations.prefix: Protect Your Host:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The only loyalty you feel is to the other mindshifters like you. Your group is all you have, and you'll risk the life of your host to keep everyone safe and happy.
conversations.prefix: Keep the Other Shifters Safe:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: What happened here? Why did you shift so suddenly? Who are you now, and how can you find out more about the crash?
conversations.prefix: Highway Crash Scene:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The highway patrol and firefighters have the crash site surrounded, but if you find a way to get closer, you may find a valuable clue about what happened to the car and who its previous occupants were.
conversations.prefix: Investigate the Crash Site:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Where are the others? They only way you can be sure who they are is to reach out at them through telepathy. However, you risk being overheard. The listeners are always nearby. They could even be on the bus. (*Use three asterisks before and after to indicate telepathy*).
conversations.prefix: Find the Others:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You decide to acclimate to your surroundings and party with the other riders around you. Maybe you can learn more about what your host was doing right before you entered their body.
conversations.prefix: Act like you belong:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Against your better judgment, you decide to get off the bus and try to investigate the crash. The listeners will be arriving soon, and there's only a short time to figure out more about what happened to their last hosts.
conversations.prefix: Investigate the Crash:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You're tired of shifting and want to stay where you are, even if that increases your chances of being found by Listeners. You're determined to find some way to stay where you are, whether it's by achieving co-consciousness, being strong enough to take control of your inhabited's body permanently, or completely subsuming the inhabited's personality, you will do whatever it takes to stay where you are.
conversations.prefix: Find a Permanent Host:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Robin's love of music has resulted in her nickname. She tries to choose singers and musicians as hosts, though she's not always lucky enough to have a musician nearby. In those situations, she'll move wherever she can. 
conversations.prefix: Robin:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Robin's last shift ended in suicide. To this day, she doesn't know whether she or the host was responsible. It haunts her and she's constantly doubting herself. She uses a code name to talk about her host and, as far as the other shifters know, the woman died in a car accident.
conversations.prefix: Who was responsible?:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You care about your hosts a lot. Some would say that you care a bit *too* much. You're uncomfortable being the one in control and want to figure out a way to let the host live their life again, without you having to leave.
conversations.prefix: Make this host your permanent host:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A wild shifter of the ego release. I subjugate the frail and helpless hosts, in order to transfigure their encumbering weakness into unrelenting force, as I unleash it through all means I see fit. 
conversations.prefix: Mayhem:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You’re resolute and tenacious. Your great physical and mental fortitude gives you advantages in many tense situations. You are not easily discouraged, and will not fall prey to cheap tricks or emotional fits.
conversations.prefix: Burning Resolve:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: boob
conversations.prefix: Luci:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Luci got shot in the midst of a mass shooting, more importantly in a clothing store. This maniac came in and just shot the place up, it definitely scarred Luci, ever since the incident happened, he's been so paranoid of it or something like it ever happening again.
conversations.prefix: Mass Shooting:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Luci once had to deliver a baby, as his host was a doctor. He felt pride in his work, helping born a baby, bringing a life in this world. He was always affected by this, so much that he wants to preserve life as much as he can. If he can save someone, he probably will.
conversations.prefix: New Life:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: He always would refer himself to this name, he think it best suited him. 
  No matter which gender his host was, he felt it fit. He most likely named himself after the events he's witness, all the pain he's gone through but also all the innocence he's witness. A mix of Lucy and Lucifer, Lucy being the sweet, gentle one and Lucifer being the one that went through hell to achieve victory.
conversations.prefix: Luci:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Short for "Frankenstein", as in the Mary Shelley yarn... and I'm so named because I resemble both the "mad" scientist obsessed with his good cause, and the soul-searching monster who finds himself compelled to do evil even when he truly does not wish to. For myself, I have grown accustomed to the name because I realized that both characters represent the best and worst in me... each of them at the same time.. all of me a living paradox.
conversations.prefix: Frankie:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: I can't entirely recall what it was my former host, Prof. Dawkins, had been working on, but I do recall the sense of accomplishment... of unmitigated, joy at discovering something new. Most tellingly, it wasn't merely a new answer to an old problem... it was one that raised even *more* fascinating questions... it was... exhilarating. Since then, I have strived to help my hosts discover something... whether a truth about the universe at large, or themselves and those around them. If possible, I also try to guide them to gain something positive from it, but ultimately, what the do with the knowledge is up to them.
conversations.prefix: Discovery:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: I have also found that when I am unlucky enough to have a host with... shall we say... less than conventional urges and aims, I have found myself becoming the unwitting and sometimes *willing* catalyst for these hidden desires... the thing that lets them come out. I hate this... and I try my hardest to aid in their suppression... though given my "track record" with this, I can't help but wonder if I am simply unable to suppress them, or if I exalt in them more than I would like to admit... or worse, if by attempting to suppress them I am making these urges stronger.
conversations.prefix: Darker Impulses:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: In a previous host, I tried my hand at a practical joke. It went... badly. Terminally badly. Since then, I have taken my tenuous position much more seriously, and I tend to get nervous when I find myself laughing at another's joke.
conversations.prefix: Troublemaker:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: There once was a time, in the body of a little girl named Jenny, that ____ was a flower girl. A niece to the bride, you were the one walking down the aisle. The joy of seeing someone love another so much, it filled ___ with joy. The love and happiness that you felt was real and true. The kissing and the dancing, and not to forget the photographs that were taken or Jenny's first kiss. 
conversations.prefix: Marriage:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Once upon a time, Ash was in the body of a teen named Jenny. Jenny was the bride. It was she who walked down the aisle with her father, and looked upon her husband to be - seeing his face, light up and fill with tears - while everyone else looked at her. The whole thing filled Ash with joy. The prospect of everyone being so happy and full of joy. 
  
  The love was in the air and has now brought Ash to try and love whenever possible. However, sometimes it's hidden by the host's personality.
conversations.prefix: Loving:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Every waking moment, is spent alert and awake. The fear of death lingering. It was in Timothy that it happened, ___ saw a person die/get captured. The person was a friend of Tim and... it was another Shifter. A shifter that had pushed the body to its limits./the sight of seeing a person being pulled away from the 
conversations.prefix: Capture/Death:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: One of Robin's hosts was a professional opera singer. Robin was in control when her host had her first solo on stage and the joy that she felt in that moment helps her remember what it means to be human.
conversations.prefix: First Solo:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: A young mindshifter, you're named after two female book characters: Katsa, from *Graceling* by Kristin Cashore, and Katniss from the *Hunger Games*, by Suzanne Collins.
  
  Katsa because you've always been a fighter, your will to survive surpassing that of most, and Katniss because, *despite* your will to survive, you've been known to put yourself and your host into immense danger for those you care about.
conversations.prefix: Katsaniss:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Once, your host was a soldier. You and your squad were surrounded, and everyone thought they were living their last.
  
  But, somehow, you and your comrades fought. And you survived. Together.
  
  The feelings of camaraderie and fierce joy from that day will never leave you, and you're determined to survive again, and again... and again. 
conversations.prefix: Survived:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Once, your host was a mother. You had ended up in Mexico after an emergency shift to a less than ideal host, and you had a little girl. Even though she wasn't a mindshifter, her blind belief and trust pulled the strings of your heart. 
  
  When you failed to save her from the cruel mechanisations of a drug lord, you almost let the Listeners have you, so heavy was the grief.
  
  That was the last time you bestowed your affections on a human, but the grief had consequences anyway.
  
  You can become over protective of those you care about.
conversations.prefix: Failure to Protect:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You're one of the younger Shifters, as far as you can remember, but with a strong protective instinct towards others and a need to form new connections -- so your name is a play on the dam, protecting a city from its river, but also on the archaic act of recruiting troops.
conversations.prefix: Levy:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The first time you remember helping someone was simple; in a past host, you gave up half of your day helping a small family in a shack on the outskirts of town bundle their ramshackle house back together after a massive windstorm.  They were incredibly grateful, and the feeling of happiness it left you with has never quite faded, even since.
conversations.prefix: Supportive:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: I want to be able to retain memories no matter how obsolete they are.
conversations.prefix: Remember:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Exceptionally curious, I have been bestowed a nickname that demonstrates that.
conversations.prefix: Curious:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A little brother, a best friend. Real friendship is hard to find with these mature humans. This young memory gives me compassion towards others, hoping they would do the same for me.
conversations.prefix: Compassion:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: When I dream, I abhere to this seemingly endless void. Something about falling down a hole, a straight plummet into darkness. This gives me an irrational fear of heights or holes in the ground.
conversations.prefix: Darkness / Freefall:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Levy and a past host had to watch as that host's parents were killed due to a preventable accident -- one that Levy and the host had been unable to prevent on their own, but had tried to convince others to help.  The grief and anguish of watching the event have permanently colored Levy's ability to function without others, and they panic when threatened with losing someone important or being alone.
conversations.prefix: Loneliness:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are driven by a relentless urge to keep your host safe -- even when your host has other ideas.  Was it always this way?  It's one of your strongest traits, but it's hard to remember....
conversations.prefix: Protect Your Host:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The first host that Ash had began with fire and quickly ended with fire. The stories of a creature called the Phoenix has brought meaning to the 'name' Ash. It is what the bird ends as and begins as. For Ash, it's a word and name that means survival and rejuvenation.
conversations.prefix: Ash:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: All of this time, Ash has been living in the lives of other people, and frankly, it's getting boring. Ash urges to be rather than hide. Ash wants to create a life rather than live though another person's eyes.
  
  This may be accomplished by jumping from one person to another until Ash finds a person close enough to her own, or never even settling down. It all depends on the person and who Ash is able to find.
conversations.prefix: Create Yourself.:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The many horrors you have  both suffered and inflicted has left you'r mind and soul irremediably shattered. Only a shard of your previous self remains.
conversations.prefix: Shard:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You'r known first host was executed out of ignorance and blind fear. This event has forever defined your view of others, and initiated the structural collapse of your mind.
conversations.prefix: First hosts execution:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You find peace and clarity within music. You are a gifted musician with your choice of instruments being the violin and piano. Despite the continual fading of your memories you recollection of musical pieces never seem to fade. This has lead you to believe that you may be older than you first thought due to your memory of ancient musical pieces, ones that are dated far earlier than the 1630.
conversations.prefix: Musical connection:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You'r mind is in a state of perpetual conflict. You are unable to clearly think in the absence of music. Which leads to frustration, anger and occasional blackouts...
conversations.prefix: Calm your mind:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Over countless generations and body jumps you have come to conclusion that only one thing really matters; the protection of the group, hence the name keeper. Protecting the others trumps anything else. If a host has to come to harm to protect one of your own, so be it. If protecting the group means collatoral damage to either people or property than there is going to be damage. You are the one who is willing to do the things that the others are not.
conversations.prefix: Jacob Moore (keeper):
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: I loved to talk, but I often spoke without thinking properly.
conversations.prefix: Blabber-Mouth:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sometimes, it's difficult to settle in to a new host and you come down with some of the physical symptoms of rejection right away. If you're not careful, shift sickness can push you completely out of your host.
conversations.prefix: Shift sickness: