[hider=Bex Crosby][color=lightgray][h2][color=b70df2]▲[/color] Dark Mamba[/h2]
[center][h3][color=b70df2]Bexley Sarah Crosby[/color][/h3][sup]Nicknames: Bex, Snake, Walking History [/sup]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/3PlDKD6.png[/img][/center]
[center][color=b70df2][h3][i]"In the end, we did all the damage that you could want, but the emptiness will go on and on." "And you could be my enemy and you could be my judge if you could start remembering all the time that you used up..."[/i][/h3][/color] [color=gray][b][i]– Matt Berninger & Lauren Mayberry, [i]My Enemy[/i][/i][/b][/color]

[color=b70df2]╟[/color] April 29 (22) [color=b70df2]||[/color] English/Welsh Caucasian [color=b70df2]||[/color] Female (she/her) [color=b70df2]||[/color] An/Com Feminist [color=b70df2]||[/color] Lesbian [color=b70df2]||[/color] Single, but not without benefits [color=b70df2]╢[/color][/center]

[indent][color=b70df2][sub][b][h3]⋙: Ａ Ｃ Ａ Ｄ Ｅ Ｍ Ｉ Ｃ Ｓ[/h3][/b][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]

[color=gray][u]A P P L I C A T I O N  P R O C E S S[/u][/color]
[indent][b]|| Written Test ||[/b] [color=b70df2]"I did well enough, I think. Good enough to be here, not that it would have mattered. I don’t really get the drive to go all out, yeah? I don’t need that shit botherin' me."[/color] - Bexley proved more than capable on her written exams, but that wasn’t the true worry when it came to her status.

[b]|| Practical Test ||[/b] [color=b70df2]"I’m not goin’ to be one of these supers who is just all about their powers and knows everythin’ they do down cold. I just figured out this was even possible a couple years ago. I have no idea what the fuck I can do. I’m still learnin’. But I’ve learned enough to fuckin’ get ya if you drop your guard.”[/color] - Given her status as a candidate wasn’t acquired until later in her life, Bexley did well considering the circumstances. Her raw knowledge of what she can handle was enough to get her through the test and if she applied herself, she could become a very effective operative for whatever organisation secures her talents.  

[b]|| Written Essay Topic ||[/b] Cracks in the System

[color=b70df2]"If they couldn’t find me until I did what I did, what other supers are out there? This whole system is fucked."[/color] - While the colorful language did little to further her case, Bexley’s unique situation was well-explained in her essay.

[b]|| Video Supplement ||[/b] The video is recorded on Bex’s Samsung S20 with the young woman lazed out on a couch, eyeshadow haphazardly applied as she stares dead-eyed at the phone camera, a Garbage-branded cropped t-shirt the only clothing visible.

[color=b70df2]"I’m not even sure I want to fuckin’ do this. Crystal Peak is a fuckin’ world away from what I know, I’m goin’ to stand out like a fuckin’ sore thumb, a bunch of kids who already know the shit they do, what they’re gonna be, ‘n me? I got not a damn fuckin’ clue about that shit. I know if I wasn’t crazy, I wouldn’t be in this mess. But, if y’all are gonna protect me, and keep me fam safe from all the fuckin’ fascist nutjobs out there, then I guess I don’t got much choice. If you lot can help me figure this shit out, figure out what the hell I got to do to make… whatever the hell I am… viable for somethin’ other than winnin’ bar bets ‘n petty larceny, then I guess I’ll play along for a while."[/color][/indent]

[indent][b]|| Overall Summary ||[/b]
Under ordinary circumstances, a case like Ms. Crosby wouldn’t warrant consideration from Crystal Peak. Not with her… abrasive personality. However, there are circumstances regarding her powers and how she came into them that behooves the academy to take her in and give her not only guidance but protection from those who would seek to take advantage of her situation as well as that of her family. Surely even with her sardonic and self-destructive tendencies, Ms. Crosby will find enough reasons at Crystal Peak to seek a full degree and eventually hero certification. At the very least, some important pieces of the super puzzle may finally be filled in. [/indent]

[color=gray][u]S C H O O L[/u][/color]
[indent]Crystal Peak Academy[/indent]

[color=gray][u]Y E A R[/u][/color]
[indent]Senior[/indent]

[color=gray][u]C L A S S I F I C A T I O N[/u][/color]
[indent]Personal Physical, with hints of Elemental[/indent]

[color=gray][u]O C C U P A T I O N[/u][/color]
[indent]Part-time bartender at The Foggy Glass / Full-time guitarist/backing vocals for East of Eden[/indent]

[color=gray][u]L I V I N G  A R R A N G E M E N T[/u][/color]
[indent]Cypress Apartments in a two-bedroom with her bandmate[/indent]

[color=gray][u]I N T E R N S H I P S[/u][/color]
[indent]Last summer, Bex interned at Marray-Finlay Tech, a research facility and animal sanctuary with its headquarters in Marietta, Georgia. It was tough being away from the band for the whole summer, but the Crowne family was insistent she take the opportunity. Not only to learn about the various work the company had been doing procuring natural neurotoxins from their collection of reptiles and amphibians but to also learn about the medical techniques being developed there in hopes that she could begin to use her powers to help people instead of just inflicting pain. She was not very interested in that path. But working with poisonous animals is pretty fun. She did make the Crownes fly her back for East of Eden gigs though.[/indent]

[color=b70df2][sub][b][h3]⋙: Ｒ Ｅ Ｐ Ｕ Ｔ Ａ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ[/h3][/b][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]
[indent]There are two schools of thought when it comes to Bex Crosby’s importance in the super community. To the majority, she is a rock star destined to burn out quickly. A poisonous element in the Crystal Peak system with her sardonic life views, her lack of respect for a good portion of authority figures, particularly the Wardens, and her makeup stylings that clearly should only be used for superhero disguises. To the minority who know exactly why Bex was accepted into Crystal Peak, she is an anomaly, an impossible opportunity to pass up. She is a walking artefact that could contain the key to discovering how supers got their powers, whether powers can be induced in the general population, how enhanced they can be, how they can be improved. She is to be protected at all costs… even if she herself is the person who least wants her to be protected. [/indent]

[color=b70df2][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ｐ Ｏ Ｗ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ[/b]  [sup][b]＆  Ｆ Ｉ Ｇ Ｈ Ｔ Ｉ Ｎ Ｇ  Ｓ Ｔ Ｙ Ｌ Ｅ[/b][/sup][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]

[color=gray][u]A B I L I T I E S[/u][/color]
[indent][list][*]To a varying extent, Bex can create, control and repel toxic foreign elements that come in contact with her body, including all sorts of acids, poisons, and chemicals that would normally be fatal to human beings. She can ingest them and store them for use at a later time, usually when she decides to spit them at targets or enemies. She could deliver it via touch, but where’s the fun in that?

[*]Since coming to the academy, Bex has been working on expanding her abilities beyond simple chemicals. The Crystal Peak faculty have been insistent that with her powers awakened, she should be able to control more foreign substances inside a human body, potentially removing cancers, tumors, and other diseases with the ease that she conjures the various toxins and pulls them into her body.

The ability to just force poison into bodies directly instead of spitting it in faces is just a bonus.[/list][/indent]

[color=gray][u]L I M I T A T I O N S[/u][/color]
[indent][list][*]Once whatever chemical leaves Bex's body, she has no control over it, which means that collateral damage is always a possibility if she is relied upon as a main offensive threat. She also can’t generate anything herself. She has to ingest the element and store it to be able to use it in battle. 

[*]Also, her resistance to poisons means technically she can't get drunk, which depresses her greatly given her closest friend at Crystal Peak is able to do that at will.

[*]Plus she’s not bulletproof. If the poison is frozen into a bullet and fired at her, it will kill her. But metal works a lot easier.[/list][/indent]

[color=gray][u]C O M B A T[/u][/color]
[indent]Bexley has never been a fighter. She didn’t inherit her father’s physique or her mother’s athleticism, at least not in obvious ways. Maybe it’s buried under years of neglect, but she hasn’t bothered to find it. She is never going to be a straightforward brawler. She prefers to work in the shadows, waiting for the moment to strike with whatever poison or concoction she has in holding. It makes Bex and Eve a potent combo with Eve luring people in and Bex finishing them off. 

However, Crystal Peak demands some proficiency in combat, so Bex has been working on pressure point strikes. They don’t require much force, just a quick hand, and Bex has those from years of playing guitar. It seems to be coming along. [/indent]

[color=b70df2][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ａ Ｐ Ｐ Ｅ Ａ Ｒ Ａ Ｎ Ｃ Ｅ[/b] [sup][b]＆  Ｐ Ｅ Ｒ Ｓ Ｏ Ｎ Ａ Ｌ Ｉ Ｔ Ｙ[/b][/sup][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]

[color=gray][u]D A I L Y  L O  O K S  &  S T Y L E [/u][/color]
[list][*][b]Hair:[/b] Naturally black, but dyed other colours at her whim | Wavy | Shoulder-length, occasionally tied up in a loose ponytail for certain shows.
[*][b]Eyes:[/b] Brown
[*][b]Height:[/b] 5'6"
[*][b]Body Type:[/b] Lightweight, little muscle tone if any.
[*][b]Clothing Style:[/b] Leans heavily into the punk rock stylings of 80’s Britain, with some modern twists to suit her needs. She lives for music, and it shows in her attire with her leather + denim jackets and crop tops, her array of necklaces and chokers, all accented with spiked boots and black fingerless leather gloves.
[*][b]Makeup Wise:[/b] Very heavy. She favours dark eyeshadow around her eyes, pale foundation, a collection of thick lipsticks and will wear it at all times. Got to maintain the rock star image even as poison drips from her lips.
[*][b]Scars, Tattoos and/or Piercings:[/b] Bex has two piercings in each of her lobes as well as her left nostril, usually favouring rings of various sizes in the holes. She has an East of Eden tattoo on her ribcage that has the dates of their first gig at the Glass, and room for other more prominent dates. She also paid to have her tongue split last May, allowing her to lean into her Mamba mentality, as well as freak out some norms. All it cost her was some blood. Easy trade.[/list]

[color=gray][u]S U P E  L O O K S  &  S T Y L E [/u][/color]
[indent]Bexley hasn’t given much thought to her superhero look. She usually works in darkness, striking from the shadows, hence her look is very similar to her on-stage look… and her off-stage look. She sticks with the dark leather jackets and tops and darker jeans or leggings. She’s not built for movement, she’s built for a quick strike so what does it matter what she looks like? [color=b70df2]”Not like I’m all that remarkable, anyway. People see some 'goth' chick and they just ignore me. It works.”[/color][/indent]
	
[color=gray][u]P E R S O N A L I T Y  T R A I T S [/u][/color]
[indent]Again, this is a tale of two women. On the surface, Bexley has a healthy disdain for humanity. The stiff upper lip she brought over from Britain is usually scowling, much like the warning colours on venomous creatures of nature, as a warning to others to stay away. She is cold, uncaring and willing to spit trash on anyone, which makes her a perfect running mate for Eve Harding. The cynical women are quick to dish that philosophy out to whoever doesn’t ask. However, while Eve has the charisma and allure to balance her nihilistic views out, Bex doesn’t have that mask. She is pure poison...until you get to know her.

Once you break past the hardened exterior, Bex proves herself to be a loyal, capable friend. She will be caustic with the truth, but the veneer of contempt is lifted and it’s shown to come from a caring place. She will even be insightful at times. She isn’t lovey-dovey or anything. The lone attempt at showing feelings for someone led her to this place, and she’s not keen on repeating it unless she’s damn sure. However, she will be a considerate, thoughtful, downright human. Except with Zak. Too much sunshine makes her snap. [/indent]

[color=gray][u]F E A R S[/u][/color]
[indent]It’s definitely not death at this point, but the loneliness that led Bexley to discover her powers in the first place forever lingers. She puts up a tough rock star front but if she were ever forced to go solo against her wishes, she would soon be back in the same crippling doldrums that drove her to look death in the eyes and welcome it's embrace. And now she knows that she’ll have to resort to different methods. At least she has a ride or die band to roll with in New York, so those thoughts are at bay.[/indent]

[color=b70df2][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ｆ Ａ Ｍ Ｉ Ｌ Ｙ[/b]  [sup][b]＆  Ｒ Ｅ Ｌ Ａ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ Ｓ Ｈ Ｉ Ｐ Ｓ[/b][/sup][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]
 
[color=gray][u]L O V E D  O N E S [/u][/color]
[b]D I R E C T  F A M I L Y[/b]
[indent]Parents:[list]
[*] Biological Mother: Kerry Crosby (née Neville): A hospital administrator and part-time singer originally from Leeds, England who moved to Bristol in her 20s following a failed stint in a Spice Girls-inspired vocal act and married Ian Crosby. It is thought she has dormant powers similar to that of her daughter, but baseline tests have not revealed anything conclusive. FC: [url=https://celebmafia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/melanie-chisholm-arriving-at-bbc-studios-in-london-10-26-2018-4.jpg]Melanie Chisholm[/url] 
[*] Biological Father: Ian Crosby: A roofing contractor and part-time guitarist in a Blur cover band called “Band 2” in Bristol, England. He has no known powers, although if asked, he will tell you he “can definitely lift that tree stump ‘n huck it over that Nissan Cherry.” FC: [url=https://www.oregonlive.com/resizer/2l1Kj_-GFSQeQum20U0WJ9uTBCM=/1280x0/smart/advancelocal-adapter-image-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/image.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width2048/img/ent_impact_home/photo/russell-howardjpgjpg-48dad67978bad028.jpg]Russell Howard[/url]
[/list]
The Neville side of Bex’s family contains her grandmother Linda (FC: [url=https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/sundaypost/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2019/04/JOANNA_LUMLEYS_JAPAN_EP2_05-e1555076443870.jpg]Joanna Lumley[/url]), three aunts and numerous cousins that are rumoured to be under surveillance by the British and EU governments for potential signs of emergent powers.[/indent]

[b]R E L A T I O N S H I P S[/b]
[indent]East of Eden:
[indent]Alyssa Cashmore - Manager, Potential FWB in Training? If she can get past her obsession with Eve?
Evelyn “Eve” Harding - Co-leader of the band, Lead Vocals, Best Friend
Zac Lee - Drummer, Tolerated Ray of Sunshine
Krista Müller - Strings, Smol babe must protecc
Shepard Frasier - Guitars, student of the riffs, Confirmed Bi-lure
James Tyler - Guitars, student of the riffs, Is all right[/indent][/indent]

[color=b70df2][sub][h3][b]⋙: Ｈ Ｉ Ｓ Ｔ Ｏ Ｒ Ｙ[/b][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]

[color=gray][u]Y O U R  L I F E  S O  F A R[/u][/color]
[hider=CW - suicide, death, rape][indent]Bexley Sarah Crosby was not born for greatness or history, or notoriety, or even mediocrity. She was never supposed to have all this attention on her. Attention doesn’t agree with her. Even with a mother who has a brief taste of fame in the early 00's as a member of Xenon Light and a father that still gets to taste the spotlight with his cover band, Bexley was never inclined to take after them in that way. Still, her father convinced her guitar lessons were cooler than piano lessons and her mom was always singing in the house so she was infused with musical talent from a young age. For the first decade or so, things were relatively normal for the young girl from Bristol. The first sign that she wasn’t going to be the next Theresa May came when she was 13. She was watching The X Factor with her parents and realised that she was attracted to Abi Alton for more than just her ability to play “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” for an audience. There was no chance of her acting on her blossoming desires then though. Britain was starting to open up to the LGBTQ community, but it still wasn’t welcoming, and would have brought some unwanted attention. So Bexley didn’t say anything.

In fact, it was two years before she said something. A girl in her Year 9 class, Emily Porter, looked like she was giving a vibe Bex's way. They collaborated in a couple class projects and even hung out a couple times outside of school. It went well. So Bexley took a risk and asked her to be her girlfriend. Emily was flattered, but straight. Bexley played it off like it was nothing, but Emily remembered and discussed it with a couple of her friends… who were less discreet and spread it like wildfire around the school. Bexley already had a reputation with her dark matter of dress, but adding confirmed lesbian to that dossier got her a lot of negative attention. Especially from football player Mason Davies, who decided he could fix Bexley’s issue. By force. He got her under a stairwell and broke new ground against her wishes. As Mason left, Bexley was horrified by what happened. Yet again, her solution was to not tell anyone. But it didn’t work nearly as well as her other secret. It ate her up inside. So a couple weeks after it happened, Bexley waited until her parents went out for one of Ian’s gigs, locked the bathroom door, grabbed the half-filled five-litre jug of Sechelle Bleach and poured it down her hatch. And that would be the story of Bex Crosby, dead at 15, unable to carry the weight of her own truths and the crimes committed because of them. She was content to wait for the release of death… but it never came.

Bexley waited in that bathroom for 30 minutes, then she had a snack, then she watched some TV. Not even a gurgle. When her parents came home, Bex finally came clean about something she did and showed them the empty bottle. They took her to a hospital but she was perfectly fine. The bleach wasn’t even present in her stomach contents after she was forced to vomit up the packet of salt and vinegar crisps she ate. It took a blood test to reveal that the chemical was now floating in her body, and unable to do anything to it. She was discharged from the NHS since nothing was actually wrong with her. She went back to school the next day, and yet again Mason Davies cornered her, intent on round 2. She responded by spitting in his eyes… and then watching him collapse to the ground in the stairwell, clutching his head in pain. Bex let him writhe there for 20 minutes, then finally decided to walk to a nearby pharmacy, use their phone and tip them to the student in the hallway. It turned out Mason got hit with a heavily concentrated dose of liquified chlorine gas and his corneas were burned away, leaving him blind and with his football career in tatters. When asked how it happened, Mason couldn’t tell them why he was in the stairway, so he pulled a Bex and bottled up. But the black-haired girl knew. Some research on bleach when it didn’t actually kill her told her that bleach plus the vinegar from the crisps made her spit deliver the toxic payload on her rapist. She told her parents, and it was time for far more rigorous tests. 

Over the next few months, Bex’s life was no longer school. It was various pokes and prods from… not even NHS doctors, special doctors she didn’t recognize. She ingested various corrosive liquids in a win-win situation. If she died, she died. If she didn’t, more stuff she could spit at sexual predators. Her parents were tested with miniscule amounts. Her father had a bad reaction to the diluted bleach but her mother… Nothing. Kerry was just as confused as Bexley was. She couldn’t handle nearly as much as her daughter and wasn’t going to chug bleach to find out but the conclusion was that Bex’s attempt to end her life activated some dormant genes in the Neville family line that enabled her to not only survive the toxic cocktail, but allow her to use the non-natural components of the chemical mixtures for defence. The genes were believed to be related to that of the first known hybrid human, Epiphania Lascaris, which meant the Nevilles could be direct descendants. It was a remarkable development… one that could prove the theories of Frederick Webb correct after all these years. It was dangerous. To those who believed superpowers could not be acquired or awakened in normal people, Bexley Crosby was now a major problem.

Unsure what could happen to Bex if someone more evil than a wannabe Ryan Giggs got a hold of her, the Crosbys decided they need to move somewhere that Bex could be protected, and since they weren’t exactly trusting of British authority figures after reading about what happened to Webb, they made a plea to the Crownes of Crystal Peak Academy to admit her for a proper education in the Gifted lifestyle. Bex was not warm to the idea and lazed on her application a little but the potential to have a descendant of the original Gifted on campus? The fact that she actually completed the tests was all she really needed. Bex was heading to America.

Miss Crosby wasn’t thrilled to learn Crystal Peak was farther outside New York City than she wanted and was prepared to spend a lot of time with her Yamaha Pacifica, setting up shop around campus… if she wasn’t spotted by another frosh named Eve Harding while picking out some “London Calling” by one of the cafe kiosks. The two hit it off very quickly, enjoying similar coffee tastes, musical stylings and negative views on life. Eve told Bex about her desire for a new band and they decided quickly to form a new group: East of Eden (A reference to the John Steinbeck novel as well as Ms. Harding’s nickname and Bex’s hometown being way farther east than New York). The group has steadily grown since the two of them started it, and it's done more than that for the Brit. It's given Bex more purpose than she had felt in years and served as a necessary release… especially since she found out her powers meant she couldn’t get drunk as alcohol technically poisons the system and her system rejects all poisons. But she knows it brings Eve joy so she tolerates it when her lead vocalist partakes.

It’s taken a while for Bex to embrace what happened to her, but she is finally in a better spot with things, which she grudgingly accepts is because she came to America. Her main goal now is to see the band succeed. If she can do something with these powers she’s gained, all for the better but she’d much rather be able to play her guitar, enjoy not hiding her sexuality, and tell everyone who finds her to be a monster exactly what they can do with their opinions.[/indent][/hider]

[color=b70df2][sub][h3][b]⋙:Ａ Ｎ Ｙ Ｔ Ｈ Ｉ Ｎ Ｇ  Ｅ Ｌ Ｓ Ｅ[/b][/h3][/sub]____________________________________________________________________[/color]
[indent][list]
[*] FC: Heather Baron-Gracie
[*] Dialogue Colour: [color=b70df2]b70df2[/color]
[*] Her current guitar is a Yamaha Pacifica, but she would love to find an instrument that better suits her mood. She can only put so many vinyls on the Yamaha to mask the light blue finish.
[*] Her favorite food since she's come to New York is fugu. She loves ordering it and eating the whole thing, just to watch the chefs squirm.
[*] She designed the band's logo, using two mirrored capital Es with the o in negative space and tree branches on the left E. It's the only non-musical artistic thing she's done, and if you ask her to do another one, you will leave with holes burned in whatever clothing you're wearing.[/list][/indent]
[/indent][/color]
[/hider]