"Alright, Gang! We're coming up with an OC Game! Use your creativity! Expand those horizons! Give us new frontiers!"
*Gets back The Immortal Iron Punishfist of Hells Kitchen, 3 light/shadow manipulators and Matter Eater Lad*
I can't wait till the giant ensemble battle, there'll be energy blasts and martial arts and all kinds of going on. Then Pica will just unhinge his jaw and just eat an alien whole.
Danielle Ximena Reyes Carter was born to Elena Reyes, a county clerk, and Michael Carter, a firefighter, in Austin, Texas. Dani, as she would eventually prefer to be called, was the light of her parents’ life. Theirs was not an affluent household, but what they lacked in money, they more than made up for in love. As a family unit, they were inseparable – but the connection between Dani and Michael was particularly special. He was the one who encouraged her love of music, who took her to see the movies her mother didn't like, who let her dye her hair. Though their antics sometimes exasperated Elena, it was all in good fun.
Sadly, the good times would not last. One day, Michael left for work and never came home. While responding to a routine fire, he had been inside the building when the structure unexpectedly failed and collapsed. Reports from coworkers on the scene said that he had doubled back to rescue a trapped civilian. Michael's death devastated the family. Beyond the immediacy of the loss, bills started to pile up, and without her father's meditating presence, the relationship between Dani and Elena became strained.
A little less than six months later, shortly before Dani’s sixteenth birthday, the situation was further complicated by the manifestation of her powers. While attending the Austin City Limits Music Festival, she was among the crowd when a malfunction at one of the main stages sent lighting trusses falling into the crowd. In what she would later describe as an out-of-body experience, Dani stepped forward and created her first light-shield. When another piece broke away and threatened the sound booth, she deflected it with a proton blast. She even flew for the first time, saving a young boy from being crushed. All of this was done in full view of tens of thousands of attendees… and their phones.
Things progressed quickly after that. Within days, Dani and Elena were receiving interview requests, and news vans had taken up residence outside their home. Even more alarming were the legal complaints that followed: the stage contractor alleged that their equipment had suffered additional damage as a result of Dani’s actions, and one of the attendees cited vision impairment from exposure to her beams. That, in turn, led to more calls from legal offices wanting to represent Dani. The two women were swiftly overwhelmed.
That's when PRG first entered into their lives.
Dani and Elena were approached by a woman named Harlow Nash who claimed to represent the Paragon Representation Group, an agency which represented and promoted “superhuman talent.” Though she spoke with the practiced ease of an industry insider, she seemed genuinely sympathetic to the Carter family's plight and put their minds at ease about several of the issues they were facing. The press could be handled, she assured them, and these kinds of torts were common in the wake of a rescue like Dani's. With the expertise and experience of PRG, it was nothing the three of them couldn't handle.
Soon, the Carters were presented with contracts to sign. They each had their reasons to be trepidatious, but after talking it over together, they decided to move forward. PRG could help them navigate their unique position, and the money they were offering would go a long way towards solving the family's financial troubles. More than anything, though, what settled the matter was Dani's insistence that she wanted to keep using her powers; she had enjoyed saving people – the way her father used to save people – and she wanted to do it again. Seeing that there was no way to talk her daughter out of this, Elena agreed that it would be better to do it with a team supporting her.
Dani was fast-tracked, receiving a sleek costume and her very own codename: Aurora. Her life became a whirlwind of interviews, endorsement deals, and patrols. It was a lot of change in a short amount of time, but she was making a difference in the world. And she could fly! Though her powers were very new to her, it felt as though she had unlocked a part of herself that she'd always known had been missing. If the extracurriculars sometimes seemed frivolous and self-serving, it was still worth it to honor Michael's legacy as a hero.
After a time, Dani and Elena made the decision to move to Calder City to be closer to the action. The incidents were more intense, the team-ups were more frequent, and Dani was really coming into her own as a hero. When she turned 18, she began enrolling in correspondence classes at Calder State University. That small taste of normalcy made her crave more. Over the years, Dani had felt a widening chasm between her public persona and the person she felt she really was. The interviews and speaking engagements gnawed at her. Dani didn't mind being a superhero; it was being a celebrity that she couldn't stand. She was growing tired of being others’ light.
At 20, Dani announced her intention to start attending CSU full-time. She wanted to see the campus, to be around people her own age. She let Harlow and PRG know that she would be taking a step back from public life. Aurora was officially going on sabbatical. All that remained now was to see if Dani Carter even remembered who she was without it.
Electromagnetic Absorption: Underlying all of Dani's powers is the unique ability to absorb and store electromagnetic radiation, providing a deep reservoir of energy upon which she can call for various purposes. Her body does this constantly and spontaneously, primarily via sunlight, though she can also draw on the ambient environment for a quick power-up or use this ability defensively to protect against harmful energy.
Absorbing excess or unstable energy can cause Dani to overload, losing control of her powers and/or creating dangerous, uncontrolled discharges.
If deprived of electromagnetic sources long enough (e.g., total darkness or a Faraday cage-like environment), her reservoir will eventually run dry, leaving her powerless.
Photon Manipulation: Dani can channel the energy stored in her body into a high-energy state consisting of photons, which in turn ionizes the surrounding air. This results in a luminous, iridescent effect from which she earns her namesake. She can direct these photons into concussive blasts, focused beams, or explosive bursts at-will.
Electromagnetic Manipulation: Dani has limited control of her electromagnetic field, resulting in the following abilities:
Flight: By organizing the ionized atmosphere that her powers create into specific electromagnetic currents, Dani is able to achieve self-propelled flight. In the same way, she can also use magnetic levitation to hover in place.
Hard-Light Constructs: Her electromagnetic field can arrange individual photons into stable plasma lattices. Due to the concentration required, this is generally limited to simple geometric shapes such as barrier walls, domes, and spheres.
Accelerated Healing: Due to the amount of energy stored in Dani's body, she can recover from injuries and fatigue at an above-average rate.
Dani is naturally guarded. Despite the nature of her powers, she's not someone who relishes being the center of attention. If anything, the past four years have only made her all the more eager to blend into the background. She fears rejection and thus mostly keeps to herself. When walking around campus, she'll keep her earbuds in with the hope that it'll deter anyone from approaching her. Truthfully, she's not sure how to interact with normal people her age.
Dani has a rebellious streak. It was that way even before her father died, and his absence did not improve the situation. After four years in the industry machine, she has developed a hair trigger when it comes to being told what to do. She feels like she spent that time repressing herself, and she's eager to make up for lost time. She's done worrying what the “adults” will think, and she's certainly done asking for permission.
Dani cannot abide liars and people who are fake, and she feels disgusted at herself for ever indulging that behavior. She has resolved to live truthfully and to surround herself with people who do the same. Though she's slow to trust, to those who worm their way past her defenses, there is no truer friend. She also can't help but want to do the right thing and help people, even as she tries to put Dani before Aurora.
M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S
Right now, Dani just wants to be Dani for a while. She'd like to find a network of friends who ideally know nothing about – or, at the very least, don't care about – her second life. She'd like to go to parties, stay up late watching movies, and, yes, maybe get some schoolwork done. More than anything, she just wants to see if she remembers the person she was before her life went insane.
She is certainly under no illusions that her superhero-ing days are over, and she's prepared to step in if the need is dire. But it is her steadfast hope that in a city as large and as well-equipped as Calder City, someone else can watch the skies a while so she can keep her feet on the ground.
The best thing that ever happened to Lucie wasn't getting powers, it was social media.
Lucie didn't come from a life of luxury despite being able to say that she took frequent trips to Paris in her youth; the benefit of living only a couple of hours from the city of lights itself. Her father was the head chef in a small, but renowned, restaurant that vaulted him to minor celebrity status when he, for two seasons, was the judge of a culinary competition program. He resigned from the position upon realizing the show was more about drama than the art of cooking, but walking out of the contract buried him in legal issues. Lucie thought her father was an idiot for walking out on a job like that, an opinion she shared with him and an opinion that led to physical discipline and grounding. Her mother had a simple job as an elementary school teacher.
If either of her parents had abilities, they never brought it up with Lucie. Not even when she got in trouble at school for using her newfound powers to cheat on tests. Of course she knew what the Gray Death was, such a monumental part of history was included in any curriculum, but she had never considered she might be one of the lucky ones.
Once she did discover her powers, she took the opportunity to use the power of technology to her advantage. Her father had managed to become more widely known thanks to a crappy cooking show so it stood to reason that Lucie could become even more well known. Famous, even. She didn't seek luxury or even covet fame, but what was the point in having powers and not using them for one's own benefit? Sure, some weirdos out there found satisfaction in being some kind of inspirational figure, but why should inspiration have to only be on those that did good?
By the time Lucie was twenty, she had moved to Paris and was performing at local festivals while also releasing music and videos on social media. It started simply enough, a girl with a guitar and a voice. But overtime it grew. Backing vocals. Drums. Bass. Keyboard. At first, it was easy to make it seem like her videos were edited well, that she had simply put forth a lot of effort to make her one woman band videos, but the truth was simply staring people in the face: Lucie had powers and she wasn't hiding behind a mask or an alias.
Unless, of course, a stagename counted.
By the age of 25, Lucie had two albums on the charts and had moved to Calder City which was a move meant to broaden opportunities and network. Under the name of Lucie Quatre, she began performing live concerts and gigs, notable for both the costumes and show elements as much as she was the music, every Lucie Quatre show was an experience that she hoped was unforgettable. Lucie did it all. Vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, dancing. And yet, there were four of them. Four of her. A one woman band in four parts.
Now in her thirtieth year and with her songs on the airwaves and her name on the lips of people, Lucie can't imagine a better life. But every star has to fade eventually.
Lucie has the ability of Self-Duplication. She can create perfect, identical copies of herself. Anything on her person other than clothes does not get duplicated along with her though anything in the possession of a duplicate when returning to the main body is kept in Lucie's possession. Her duplicates share feelings and sensations; if one duplicate is injured, all of them feel it. Lucie can only duplicate herself six times at the moment, though she believes that number can go higher if she truly tried; she's never had to use more than five at any given moment thus far. The memory of a duplicate is shared amongst each other and retained by the original. This is how Lucie Giroux, under the stage name of Lucie Quatre, has been able to play every instrument and sing in her shows: she learned to sing and play music with her duplicates learning instruments. Killing a duplicate doesn't kill Lucie, but it does black her out for an unspecific amount of time. Any injury sustained by the duplicates is given to Lucie when returning to the original body. Lucie has gotten to the point where she can give her duplicates different haircolor when she makes them, which she uses to differentiate between herself on stage. Lucy Prime has dark brown hair. Lucie Too (drums) has orange hair. Lucie Trois (guitar) has lavender hair. Lucie For (keyboards) has pink hair.
Lucie is typically seen with three other duplicates when on stage, hence the Quatre part of her stage name. But that leaves two Lucie's unaccounted for whenever she's on stage...
It's certainly easy to write Lucie off as vapid and fame obsessed because, well, she's made it perfectly clear that she is obsessed with celebrity status. She can be rather egotistical but that comes with the territory of fame. Why not embrace the fact that her shows sell tickets and her brand deals make money for companies? It might lead some to think she has no morals or scruples; Lucie would disagree. She has morals. They're just for sale.
Charismatic and magnetic, Lucie commands a room as easily as she does a stage, but when the spotlight stops shining and Lucie is left alone in her penthouse with only a view and herself for company, it makes a woman wonder if talking to herself, literally, is a substitute for something genuine. Does she have friends, or does she have dogs at her table looking for scraps?
One benefit of her powers is that Lucie never feels the need to censor herself. Even in front of a camera if she speaks her mind and lets some vulgarity or sizzling comments slip, she can always just say it was one of her duplicates, not her. Of course, this also suggests that Lucie is quite good at lying.
Lucie is emotionally intelligent, though, and has a passion for the arts. She's not above doing charity appearances and treats them as important as her regular performances. Sure, the argument is that it's all performative, but Lucie has gotten good at tuning out the noise like that. Her opinions are out there, on social media, in her interviews, and she'll stand by each and every one. She finds the idea of using one's power for altruistic reasons to be idiotic and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves. In her mind, everyone with powers is selfish, she just admits it.
M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S
Lucie wants to win awards. It's not enough to sell out concerts, she wants to be someone that shows what a super powered individual can do beyond being, well, a hero or whatever the hell they do. If someone who listens to her music is inspired to not hide their ability, no matter how quaint, then she'll consider that a worthy cause. She wants her name in the books and not simply tabloids. Hell, why not try to cross over into other forms of the spotlight? She bets she could be a hell of an actress. For Lucie, the sky's the limit so long as her name is written in the stars.
The best thing that ever happened to Lucie wasn't getting powers, it was social media.
Lucie didn't come from a life of luxury despite being able to say that she took frequent trips to Paris in her youth; the benefit of living only a couple of hours from the city of lights itself. Her father was the head chef in a small, but renowned, restaurant that vaulted him to minor celebrity status when he, for two seasons, was the judge of a culinary competition program. He resigned from the position upon realizing the show was more about drama than the art of cooking, but walking out of the contract buried him in legal issues. Lucie thought her father was an idiot for walking out on a job like that, an opinion she shared with him and an opinion that led to physical discipline and grounding. Her mother had a simple job as an elementary school teacher.
If either of her parents had abilities, they never brought it up with Lucie. Not even when she got in trouble at school for using her newfound powers to cheat on tests. Of course she knew what the Gray Death was, such a monumental part of history was included in any curriculum, but she had never considered she might be one of the lucky ones.
Once she did discover her powers, she took the opportunity to use the power of technology to her advantage. Her father had managed to become more widely known thanks to a crappy cooking show so it stood to reason that Lucie could become even more well known. Famous, even. She didn't seek luxury or even covet fame, but what was the point in having powers and not using them for one's own benefit? Sure, some weirdos out there found satisfaction in being some kind of inspirational figure, but why should inspiration have to only be on those that did good?
By the time Lucie was twenty, she had moved to Paris and was performing at local festivals while also releasing music and videos on social media. It started simply enough, a girl with a guitar and a voice. But overtime it grew. Backing vocals. Drums. Bass. Keyboard. At first, it was easy to make it seem like her videos were edited well, that she had simply put forth a lot of effort to make her one woman band videos, but the truth was simply staring people in the face: Lucie had powers and she wasn't hiding behind a mask or an alias.
Unless, of course, a stagename counted.
By the age of 25, Lucie had two albums on the charts and had moved to Calder City which was a move meant to broaden opportunities and network. Under the name of Lucie Quatre, she began performing live concerts and gigs, notable for both the costumes and show elements as much as she was the music, every Lucie Quatre show was an experience that she hoped was unforgettable. Lucie did it all. Vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, dancing. And yet, there were four of them. Four of her. A one woman band in four parts.
Now in her thirtieth year and with her songs on the airwaves and her name on the lips of people, Lucie can't imagine a better life. But every star has to fade eventually.
Lucie has the ability of Self-Duplication. She can create perfect, identical copies of herself. Anything on her person other than clothes does not get duplicated along with her though anything in the possession of a duplicate when returning to the main body is kept in Lucie's possession. Her duplicates share feelings and sensations; if one duplicate is injured, all of them feel it. Lucie can only duplicate herself six times at the moment, though she believes that number can go higher if she truly tried; she's never had to use more than five at any given moment thus far. The memory of a duplicate is shared amongst each other and retained by the original. This is how Lucie Giroux, under the stage name of Lucie Quatre, has been able to play every instrument and sing in her shows: she learned to sing and play music with her duplicates learning instruments. Killing a duplicate doesn't kill Lucie, but it does black her out for an unspecific amount of time. Any injury sustained by the duplicates is given to Lucie when returning to the original body. Lucie has gotten to the point where she can give her duplicates different haircolor when she makes them, which she uses to differentiate between herself on stage. Lucy Prime has dark brown hair. Lucie Too (drums) has orange hair. Lucie Three (guitar) has lavender hair. Lucie For (keyboards) has pink hair.
Lucie is typically seen with three other duplicates when on stage, hence the Quatre part of her stage name. But that leaves two Lucie's unaccounted for whenever she's on stage...
It's certainly easy to write Lucie off as vapid and fame obsessed because, well, she's made it perfectly clear that she is obsessed with celebrity status. She can be rather egotistical but that comes with the territory of fame. Why not embrace the fact that her shows sell tickets and her brand deals make money for companies? It might lead some to think she has no morals or scruples; Lucie would disagree. She has morals. They're just for sale.
Charismatic and magnetic, Lucie commands a room as easily as she does a stage, but when the spotlight stops shining and Lucie is left alone in her penthouse with only a view and herself for company, it makes a woman wonder if talking to herself, literally, is a substitute for something genuine. Does she have friends, or does she have dogs at her table looking for scraps?
One benefit of her powers is that Lucie never feels the need to censor herself. Even in front of a camera if she speaks her mind and lets some vulgarity or sizzling comments slip, she can always just say it was one of her duplicates, not her. Of course, this also suggests that Lucie is quite good at lying.
Lucie is emotionally intelligent, though, and has a passion for the arts. She's not above doing charity appearances and treats them as important as her regular performances. Sure, the argument is that it's all performative, but Lucie has gotten good at tuning out the noise like that. Her opinions are out there, on social media, in her interviews, and she'll stand by each and every one. She finds the idea of using one's power for altruistic reasons to be idiotic and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves. In her mind, everyone with powers is selfish, she just admits it.
M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S
Lucie wants to win awards. It's not enough to sell out concerts, she wants to be someone that shows what a super powered individual can do beyond being, well, a hero or whatever the hell they do. If someone who listens to her music is inspired to not hide their ability, no matter how quaint, then she'll consider that a worthy cause. She wants her name in the books and not simply tabloids. Hell, why not try to cross over into other forms of the spotlight? She bets she could be a hell of an actress. For Lucie, the sky's the limit so long as her name is written in the stars.
The best thing that ever happened to Lucie wasn't getting powers, it was social media.
Lucie didn't come from a life of luxury despite being able to say that she took frequent trips to Paris in her youth; the benefit of living only a couple of hours from the city of lights itself. Her father was the head chef in a small, but renowned, restaurant that vaulted him to minor celebrity status when he, for two seasons, was the judge of a culinary competition program. He resigned from the position upon realizing the show was more about drama than the art of cooking, but walking out of the contract buried him in legal issues. Lucie thought her father was an idiot for walking out on a job like that, an opinion she shared with him and an opinion that led to physical discipline and grounding. Her mother had a simple job as an elementary school teacher.
If either of her parents had abilities, they never brought it up with Lucie. Not even when she got in trouble at school for using her newfound powers to cheat on tests. Of course she knew what the Gray Death was, such a monumental part of history was included in any curriculum, but she had never considered she might be one of the lucky ones.
Once she did discover her powers, she took the opportunity to use the power of technology to her advantage. Her father had managed to become more widely known thanks to a crappy cooking show so it stood to reason that Lucie could become even more well known. Famous, even. She didn't seek luxury or even covet fame, but what was the point in having powers and not using them for one's own benefit? Sure, some weirdos out there found satisfaction in being some kind of inspirational figure, but why should inspiration have to only be on those that did good?
By the time Lucie was twenty, she had moved to Paris and was performing at local festivals while also releasing music and videos on social media. It started simply enough, a girl with a guitar and a voice. But overtime it grew. Backing vocals. Drums. Bass. Keyboard. At first, it was easy to make it seem like her videos were edited well, that she had simply put forth a lot of effort to make her one woman band videos, but the truth was simply staring people in the face: Lucie had powers and she wasn't hiding behind a mask or an alias.
Unless, of course, a stagename counted.
By the age of 25, Lucie had two albums on the charts and had moved to Calder City which was a move meant to broaden opportunities and network. Under the name of Lucie Quatre, she began performing live concerts and gigs, notable for both the costumes and show elements as much as she was the music, every Lucie Quatre show was an experience that she hoped was unforgettable. Lucie did it all. Vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, dancing. And yet, there were four of them. Four of her. A one woman band in four parts.
Now in her thirtieth year and with her songs on the airwaves and her name on the lips of people, Lucie can't imagine a better life. But every star has to fade eventually.
Lucie has the ability of Self-Duplication. She can create perfect, identical copies of herself. Anything on her person other than clothes does not get duplicated along with her though anything in the possession of a duplicate when returning to the main body is kept in Lucie's possession. Her duplicates share feelings and sensations; if one duplicate is injured, all of them feel it. Lucie can only duplicate herself six times at the moment, though she believes that number can go higher if she truly tried; she's never had to use more than five at any given moment thus far. The memory of a duplicate is shared amongst each other and retained by the original. This is how Lucie Giroux, under the stage name of Lucie Quatre, has been able to play every instrument and sing in her shows: she learned to sing and play music with her duplicates learning instruments. Killing a duplicate doesn't kill Lucie, but it does black her out for an unspecific amount of time. Any injury sustained by the duplicates is given to Lucie when returning to the original body. Lucie has gotten to the point where she can give her duplicates different haircolor when she makes them, which she uses to differentiate between herself on stage. Lucy Prime has dark brown hair. Lucie Too (drums) has orange hair. Lucie Three (guitar) has lavender hair. Lucie For (keyboards) has pink hair.
Lucie is typically seen with three other duplicates when on stage, hence the Quatre part of her stage name. But that leaves two Lucie's unaccounted for whenever she's on stage...
It's certainly easy to write Lucie off as vapid and fame obsessed because, well, she's made it perfectly clear that she is obsessed with celebrity status. She can be rather egotistical but that comes with the territory of fame. Why not embrace the fact that her shows sell tickets and her brand deals make money for companies? It might lead some to think she has no morals or scruples; Lucie would disagree. She has morals. They're just for sale.
Charismatic and magnetic, Lucie commands a room as easily as she does a stage, but when the spotlight stops shining and Lucie is left alone in her penthouse with only a view and herself for company, it makes a woman wonder if talking to herself, literally, is a substitute for something genuine. Does she have friends, or does she have dogs at her table looking for scraps?
One benefit of her powers is that Lucie never feels the need to censor herself. Even in front of a camera if she speaks her mind and lets some vulgarity or sizzling comments slip, she can always just say it was one of her duplicates, not her. Of course, this also suggests that Lucie is quite good at lying.
Lucie is emotionally intelligent, though, and has a passion for the arts. She's not above doing charity appearances and treats them as important as her regular performances. Sure, the argument is that it's all performative, but Lucie has gotten good at tuning out the noise like that. Her opinions are out there, on social media, in her interviews, and she'll stand by each and every one. She finds the idea of using one's power for altruistic reasons to be idiotic and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves. In her mind, everyone with powers is selfish, she just admits it.
M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S
Lucie wants to win awards. It's not enough to sell out concerts, she wants to be someone that shows what a super powered individual can do beyond being, well, a hero or whatever the hell they do. If someone who listens to her music is inspired to not hide their ability, no matter how quaint, then she'll consider that a worthy cause. She wants her name in the books and not simply tabloids. Hell, why not try to cross over into other forms of the spotlight? She bets she could be a hell of an actress. For Lucie, the sky's the limit so long as her name is written in the stars.
The IC is officially open! Wanted to get things going and not leave folks hanging - gotta strike while the iron is hot after all.
For those who have posted sheets since our last round of acceptances, the GM team is reviewing and will get back to you all ASAP. If you haven't yet applied, you are still welcome, but the deadline for any new sheets is going to be next weekend June 7th.
I'll be updating the IC zeroeth when I can with some key setting information (Calder City locations etc.) as well as the character tab zeroeth.
Reach out to any of the GMs with questions if you have them and see y'all in Calder City!