[hider=Nora][CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjEwNi5lMTEwN2MuV205bWFXRWdTM0xEczJ3LjA/future-thor-trial.regular.webp[/img][/CENTER] [i]"I’d rather be at home right now, curled under my warm blanket, and watching my shows than dealing with whatever this is."[/i] [table][row][/row][row][cell] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/2r2GaN3.jpeg[/img] [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] [sub]Zofia ‘Nora’ Król They/They [b]|[/b] 15 [b]|[/b] Polish [b]|[/b] 5’ [b]|[/b] 103 lbs [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Enigmatic [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Skills & Talents[/sub] [i]"What I lack in the academic world I make up for in the real world."[/i] [sup]___________________________________[/sup][/center][hider=] [sub][b][All the drama] ⫻[/b] Zofia has been involved in the theater since they were a kid. While they have earned the leading role once or twice, they are consistently happy playing the supporting role. They are able to do sing, dance, do stage makeup, and help with set construction and design. Auditions are next week for the unnamed play that the school will put on, and Zofia is incredibly excited to try and get a big role for her Sophmore year. [b][Fierce Loyalty] ⫻[/b] Zofia can be exceptionally loyal to those whom they considers ‘theirs’. They are protective, encouraging, and will be a warm presence in their life. There are few who will remember the small details about a person like Zofia does. From their favorite kind of tea, to the types of humor that get them belly laughing, to their favorite scenes in an anime, and their preference for snacks. They will defend their friends form bullies, offer a shoulder to cry on if needed, and just be there in the right way for the moment itself. [b][Subculture Savvy] ⫻[/b] Zofia is an unapologetic anime and manga enthusiast. As such, and despite their lack of academic skill, they wield a near encyclopedic knowledge of the various series they've watched, the tropes found within, and most importantly, the characters they brought to life. Beyond a love of anime and manga, this also reflects a broader comfort with niche interests and lends well to their presence in alternative spaces. Thus, Zofia can navigate conventions, online communities, and other places with ease. [b][Reality-Hardened Perspective] ⫻[/b] Zofia has lived a hard, but fulfilling life thus far. This has fostered a perspective that is both accurate and relatable. They can analyze a situation and figure out the details, and offer a perspective in a way that is approachable to all. Thus, Zofia is often able to be the voice of reason in unreasonable situations. [b][Polish Connection] ⫻[/b] Zofia grew up speaking Polish as her first language. Both her parents immigrated from Poland just before they were born, and as such, her first language is technically Polish. As they learned English early on, they had to act as translators for both of their parents. This is not a usable skill in a forgotten town in the middle of Pennsylvania, but they will often slip into their Polish if they want to cuss at someone or hurl insults without getting in trouble. [/sub] [/hider] [/cell][cell][sub][b] Appearance[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"I swear I eat enough"[/i] [indent]Zofia is someone whose appearance can only be described as simple. They have very pale skin that gives them a washed, porcelain look under the harsher lights of school and home. While a warmer light does tend to make them look more alive, they are not outside enough for others to notice. They have a slender build that features narrow shoulders. As a whole, they look underweight, and in truth, they are. They are not quite at ‘let’s an intervention for her’ level quite yet, but they have started to hear the rumors that they are either anorexic or bulimic. Their hair is a vibrant red color, one that they did themself with the help of their bestfriend. Their parents were most upset when they did this, yet it was too late to force them to stop or change it. Their hair is a shoulder-length shag that they get cut regularly. While the expense is not one they can afford to do often, it is still something that makes them feel more in control. They tend to favor the ‘no makeup’ makeup look, and will focus on their eyes and lips as opposed to doing a full face. Zofia is a fan of anything that is comfortably oversized. They are often spotted in oversized shirts from professional sports teams, which, in truth, are hand-me-downs from their father. Jeans and jean shorts cut from jeans are also a common sight on their frame. For shoes, they have various Converse at various stages of disrepair. Everything that they have bought for themself has been bought at a thrift store, and as suc,h there is no clear fashion identity that they pay their respect to.[/indent] [/cell][/row][/table][sub][b] Psychology[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"Oh. You’re not laughing. That was supposed to be a funny story from when I was young… Therapy? Why?"[/i] [INDENT][b]MAIN GOAL ⫻[/b] Zofia wants out of Cornell. Out of the final descent into the hell that is a rust belt town's decline, out of the perpetual boredom that keeps her inside with their animes, and they want to get away from their role as their parents' keeper. Ever since they were old enough to remember, they have taken care of both parents, and they would like nothing more than to be the priority for once in their own life. [b]PHILOSOPHY ⫻[/b] Freedom is as important as food, water, and shelter. A caged animal grows frail behind bars, and the same is true for humans. When you put people in little boxes and expect them to be the perfect cog in the machine, the human spirit suffers. If you give people the freedom to express themselves, to be themselves, the world as a whole is better for it. Thus, they will always fight for their right to be themselves, for the right of their friends to be weird and free, and for the ability of everyone around them to be wholly themselves. [b]SECRETS ⫻[/b] Zofia comes from a conservative, but loving family, and as such they have thus far kept their lesbian nature and their non-binary identity to themself. Their family is not overtly hateful; if anything, they are overly loving. Yet when they consistently vote for groups that aim to deny your existence without hesitation or concern because they are good for the economy, you begin to wonder where that love ends. Thus, in public and at home, they keep this secret, as they would rather keep their loving family for now than push for her own freedom. They also hide most of their sadness. They are the rock that their friends are allowed to crash on, and they do not want others to do the same for them. They have friends who would be more than willing to be there to help, to allow Zofia to open up, yet they will never be willing to do that out of a fear that they are only as worthy as they are strong mentally. They have flirted with suicidal ideations and have nearly attempted it once before. They had the blades on their wrists, but could not pull through. Still, if someone were to discover their diary, they would see they not only have the desire, but a plan as well. They go by their middle name Nora. Every teacher, friend, and community member knows them as Nora. They keep their first name a secret as they were worried when they were younger that someone would bully them for it. They do like their first name, but this lie has gone on for so long they wonder what benefit they will have to revealing the truth. [b]SEXUALITY ⫻[/b] Zofia is quite the fan of the ladies. [b]FEARS ⫻[/b] Zofia fears that they belong in Cornell and will never escape it. The idea of being trapped in this depressing small town, year after year, fills her with a certain dread that was not matched until the monsters appeared. They watched their father fall deeper into the depressive habits that have defined his fatherhood, and their mother joined him in the rot. Thus, Zofia fears the same stagnation that killed what their parents could have been. The idea of being trapped in Cornell, of never escaping this small town, unsettles their mind. They fear the future where they must remain hidden from the world, and joins the rot. They also fear rejection from the people whose approval they pretend not to need. While they will pretend they don't hear the bullies when they target them, they do. And sometimes they wish they could have been just another girl, one popular enough they did not get an anxiety attack on the walk to school, and not too popular that they got roped into the problem itself. [b]REPUTATION IN CORNELL ⫻[/b] Zofia is known as a fighter. They will fight for what they believe is right, fight for their friends, and fight to ensure that things improve. They are also known as the girl who has had to take care of two destitute parents who do little besides bring in enough money to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. [b]FLAWS ⫻[/b] Zofia is held back by their inability to ask for help. They’d rather shoulder their own burden than risk alienating their friends. Thus, they tend to be a ticking bomb of emotions that threaten to burst at even the slightest issue or problem. They also do not apply themself to their full ability. They tend to keep a lot of their mental strength in reserve in order to deal with whatever mess awaits them at home. [/INDENT] [sub][b] Backstory[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"Sometimes I stay up at night and wonder what the point of me being here is. I guess it all boils down to two idiots making a mistake, and when running from it they made another."[/i] [indent]Some stories start during the present time, while others start near the end before they head back to the start, and Zofia’s story truly starts before their birth. Deep within the city of Warsaw, her father had made a terrible mistake. He was a member of the Czarne Wilki, known internationally as the Black Wolves. This was a local but powerful gang that peddled in drugs, weapons, and lives. In this group, he was an enforcer of some renown and he was steadily climbing the ranks of the crime family. During one of his many jobs, he made the mistake of using too much concussive persuasion on a mark and killed them. This triggered a localized fight between the gangs, and to make peace, his higher-ups were to offer him on a silver platter to the rival group. His father fled, with his newlywed wife in tow, across Europe. Eventually, they obtained a fake passport in France, and used the last of their money to fly all the way across the ocean to America, landing in the city that never sleeps itself, New York City. The two stayed for six months before they discovered that the wife was pregnant, and that the Black Wolves had eyes and ears even in this city. Using the last of their money, they fled further west until they settled in Cornell, Pennsylvania, and bought a house with what little they had left. Shortly thereafter, Zofia was born and this family began to try and make things work. Yet despite their best effort to make the small house a home, there was never enough. They never had enough money to keep both the gas and the electricity on at the same time. Nor could they afford to always feed either themselves or the baby, or buy new clothes for themselves or diapers for Zofia. Her father tried, yet he could not get the images of the high life he lived out of his mind. He could see the champagne in front of him one moment, before the crying baby pulled him out of the memory back into the present horror. Zofia’s mother also suffered. She had friends, family, and a community back home that built her up and expected the world of her. She was a talented singer, dancer, and pianist. She used to play at the many clubs that dotted Warsaw, and she now had no outlet for her wants and desires, nor could she ever hope of being the star that she was born to be. Thus, by the time that Zofia could walk and talk, the two effectively checked out. Sure, she had her needs met as the two adjusted to their new reality, but she could tell even from a young age that she was neglected. As the childhood years dragged on, Zofia developed her English skills and helped her father with his fledgling business. He had forged the certificates needed to do electrical work, and had some skill with the tools of the trade back home, and thus he used Zofia to help translate, communicate with prospective clients, and to haggle on his behalf. Yet when they got home, her father would collapse into a bottle and the couch and numb his mind with alcohol. Eventually, they would start school, where they were introduced to the love of their life: anime. It was a simple day in pre-school when they saw a girl wearing a Sailor Moon shirt. After learning what it was, they were invited over to watch, and when they saw what was on the screen, they became obsessed. They quickly convinced her family to buy a new TV, and move the old one into her room, and they began to watch whatever they could, and theytoo disappeared into the screen like her parents. However, they could not be fully immersed like their parents. They had to clean up after the mess they made. They had to ensure they did not drown in their vomit. They had to ensure that the stained clothes got washed before their parents got up to go to work. They had to cook dinner, otherwise they wouldn’t eat. They had to do everything. And they had to do it every day. From cooking, to cleaning, to the dishes, to the laundry, to reminding her parents to do their taxes, to paying the bills, to pushing her parents to get out of bed in the morning to go to work. Zofia did it all. They had to learn to not only be self-reliant, but also a self-starter on all the chores around the house. While their parents were always thankful and pushed themselves to try to be better, all it would take was one setback at work, or at home, or anywhere for them to fall back down to the bottom and take months to crawl back out. Zofia kept finding relief from this perpetual nightmare through their anime, manga, and the online communities that discussed both. Online, they called themself ‘scarletnorthwind’, based off the character Scarlet El Vandimion, and with that name they were able to escape from the constant chaos that was real life. They discussed their theories, built up a community, and began to branch out and discover more of who they were through these online spaces. This confidence they gained eventually transferred to real life. In their freshman year Zofia was a target of a bully. This bully was an upperclassman who simply reveled in the discomfort he could cause. One day, during lunch, they took the main course from their school lunch. Normally, on any other day, Zofia would let this slide. They would bring their food in from home, which they made themself. Usually it would be a Kanapki, but sometimes it was something more fanc,y like the leftover pierogies from dinner the previous night. This day, however, was Friday. School Pizza Friday. The one day of the week they would spend what little money they had to buy that terrible, yet somehow delicious pizza, that defied all logic. The one day out of the week that Zofia looked forward to the most when it came to lunch time. When the bully took this pizza, and walked over to the bully table, Zofia decided enough was enough. They took their metal tray, walked over behind them, and smashed it over their head. While it was not done as hard as they thought, it was still a decent [i]ding[/i] that filled the lunch hall. They grabbed the pizza on the tray beneath the bully and walked back to their spot with their own dented tray. They were suspended for a week. Their parents were surprisingly proud—some bullshit about always defending yourself from those who wanted to hurt you. The rest of their freshman year went by in a breeze. They would have verbal fights with certain people, make some great friends, and develop a desire to pursue their theater skills while in school. They joined the choir, band, and even started to push themselves academically which is a massive uphil battle. Tonight, however, a friend pushed them to go to a party at the warehouse. Their first party! For some reason, a sense of optimism fell over their mind as they walked through the doors. [/indent] [sub][b] Abstraction[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"A bloody good afair if I ever did see one."[/i] [indent][b]TYPE ⫻[/b] Adept [b]ABSTRACTION ⫻[/b] Green Lux - their channeler is their pendant of Saint Stanislaus, which they wear around their neck. Zofia can open wounds on their body and use the blood to either pierce, cut, and cover a target before the blood itself detonates with concussive and bladed force. [b]PENDANT OF SAINT STANISLAUS ⫻[/b] The Pendant was a gift from her parents when they were young. It was said that it would bring her great luck in life, and when she woke up from the dream that reality was it became their channeler. The way it works is when Zofia needs to use their magic, the Pendant acts as a conduit for their magic through their body. It does this by implanting itself into her skin, burrowing deep until the blood itself makes contact with it's surface. From here, the pendant constantly pushes their lux through their blood which charges it for use in all of their spells. Once they deactivate their spells, the pendant is rejected from their body. [b]HEMATIC LANCE ⫻[/b] Nora channels their magic through her lucky charm, which causes both her wrists to open. They then pulls blood from the wounds and press the blood between their palms. Once the blood is in their palm, they then use their green lux to continuously compress the blood into a continuously more compact size. Eventually, once they have reached the point that they determine, they will push a beam of blood out through the gaps between their fingertips in a singular, fine beam. The blood beam travels fast and hits hard. It can cut through cloth with ease, and can even threaten the body of a target if they put sufficient time into increasing the power of the shot. The power of the eventual shot is determined by how long they hold the compression and how much of their lux they push into it. [b]CRIMSON PETAL BARRAGE ⫻[/b] Instead of pulling their blood into the palms of their hands, Zofia can instead disperse it into the air around them in the form of razor-thin, petal-like blades of blood. These petals will orbit their body for a brief moment and will launch at the target that they aim for. Once fired, each petal will slice through the air and attempt to slice into whatever they hit. Zofi can direct them to curve slightly so it is possible for their projectiles to swarm a target, hitting all over on the attack. Each petal is surprisingly pretty to look at. Each second, they channel this ability a dozen petals are generated. As well, each Petal will have a tendril of blood that connects to their wrists, that sustain the petal before they harden and fire. [b]SANQUINE DETONATION ⫻[/b] All of her ranged attacks, from their Crimson Petal Barrage to the Hematic Lance, are primers for her finishing move. All blood that is shot or seeded onto surfaces, or opponents are charged with their Green Lux and can be triggered remotely. When triggered, the blood violently expands and ruptures outward with rapid intensity and hardened spikes. The explosive expansion can cause concussive damage, and the spikes can rend flesh, destabilize footing, and turn a fight. The key is the amount of blood coating a surface or an individual. The less blood, the less power they have to wield. Yet this spell carries a heavy toll. To use it effectively, they must coat the target in large amounts of their blood, and the more blood they spend to coat it, the more they run the risk of feeling the effects of bloodloss. [b]BLOOD LOSS ⫻[/b] When Zofia expends too much of their own blood, they enter a state known as Blood Loss. In Blood Loss, their body rapidly regenerates their own internal blood supply at the cost of their consciousness. Their wrists will heal, their body will begin to heal other wounds, but they will be unable to move or defend themselves for ten minutes. Afterwards, they will rise like Jesus on the third day. Blood loss does not fully recharge them, and instead, it will replenish just enough to get back up after the fight and will not help much during one. [b]LIMITS ⫻[/b] They are limited by, namely, their own blood supply. As such, if they are not eating full, nutritious meals, they may find that they are firing a gun with half the bullets. As such, they will need to be smart with how and when they use their magic. The force of their magic is on the weaker side for their two ranged spells and stronger with their detonation ability. Thus, they will need to be strategic and use their magic thinking two steps ahead of an enemy. A giant pool of blood primed for detonation is useless if an enemy is not standing in it. Using their brain is not a strength of theirs so they will be challenged to use these abilities to their full extent. Even before they hit the Blood Loss stage Zofia will still suffer from the effects of normal blood loss. They will be easily confused, lose strength, and could even faint without the benefits of Blood Loss. [b]WEAKNESSES ⫻[/b] Zofia’s Abstraction is intricately connected to her own body and blood, making her physically vulnerable in ways that most opponents can exploit. Any damage that reduces her blood immediately weakens her catalogue. Overusing her abilities risks triggering Blood Loss, during which her body regenerates at the expense of her consciousness, leaving her incapacitated for ten minutes and defenseless. Even before reaching this stage, blood depletion causes her to feel dizzy, confused, and weaker. [/INDENT] [sup][b] Other[/b][/sup] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"OH MY GOD THIS IS JUST LIKE THIS ONE ANIME I WATCHED. Instead of us waking up in another magical realm, we stayed here and woke up to a nightmare."[/i] [indent]Anyyyything else?[/INDENT] [/hider]