C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L
E I L I D H V A S S ♦ F E M A L E ♦ 23 ♦ P I T T E N W E E M, F I F E, S C O T L A N D
C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:
I had a brother. He was younger than me, but only by twenty minutes or so. Sometime after that, our parents would learn that I was born blind, and he was born deaf. It was difficult for them for many years to take care of two children with very different needs, but they managed. They raised us both with love, and by the time that we were five or so, Ewan and I were managing too.
You see, we'd found that we had a special connection. If I just thought hard enough, I could help him to hear, and if he thought hard enough, he could help me to see.
It was like some kind of miracle. They say that Pittenweem is a magical place, and maybe there was something that came from within the earth... Or an incantation was whispered over the sea to bring this gift to two lonely children, so that they could find each other. Whatever it was, it allowed us to thrive. We could talk to each other without saying a word - with just a look and a thought we could express everything. It's not like we only had each other, our childhoods were beautiful and we were surrounded by friends, family, and our community. I know what you were thinking, that we were some quiet, isolated, weird children. We weren't. We were... normal. We were popular, we were fun.
We were normal until we weren't.
It was a normal day, it had just been raining harder during the morning. We were headed to the Lake District for our annual holiday. We'd crossed over the border and I can't even remember what happened, only that the car slid and collided and everything went dark. When I regained consciousness, I opened my eyes and all that was in front of me was darkness. Not like the darkness I'd known and become familiar with, comforted by. Like a dark night in winter, or hiding your face in your palms to be surprised with a gift.
No, this was just impenetrable darkness, and the panic of it began to suffocate me. I reached out to my side to reach for Ewan and found his hand. I squeezed, expecting him to let me know he was okay. He didn't move, and I couldn't hear him. I couldn't hear him outside and I couldn't hear him inside either. It was like he'd been cut away completely.
The last thing I saw were the green sprawling hills of the border, and fields of heather in bloom under the ascending sun of crisp autumn.
I lost my parents and my brother that day. I was left completely alone at 15. Whatever darkness was before me and surrounding me, was nothing like the darkness that was swirling inside. It was an all-consuming loneliness, digesting me piece by piece. I lived like this until that loneliness hardened into rage. There was nothing but silence for a long time.
But there was one day where something was different, like something had burned up in me again. I would leave my home only to hear the thoughts of everyone around me - all in my head, all at once. Not only that, but I'd feel them too - happiness, misery, embarrassment. All at once. Everything at once. I'd been so empty for so long that to feel so much all at once created a spark...
I realised that without Ewan, whatever magic was in me had nowhere to go, and nothing was keeping me safe and shielded. I was like a raw nerve being plucked at, poked, and prodded. Exposed to everything, I wondered if it would help. If only I could take what I needed to heal, and not the bad things. Just the good. When I had spent enough time in misery, I began to seek out happiness. I would look for people who felt it in such abundance that I could soak it up from them, take it from them and feed myself on the joy of strangers.
This power I had with emotions brought me to study the mind. I threw myself into education, researching, and being researched on. There was only so much that science could teach me about myself in the end. During that time, piece by piece - the nerve that had once been so sore and exposed, was healing - slowly. But it wasn't enough. I needed to find joy of my own again, and once I stopped listening to the emotions around me, and instead to the emotions within me... I found more magic. I started to see again, only differently now. When I just listened to the world around me, it began to paint a picture of what was there beyond the darkness. My mind, reacting to my surroundings. My favourite is watching music.
When I'm at my most peaceful inside, it's like Ewan is still with me.
Eventually my journey for answers about my mind brought me to Julian, and Julian brought me to the Renegades.
Mind reader, mind talker. Eilidh is a telepath. Following the sudden death of her twin, Ewan, the manifestation of her powers changed dramatically when their shared bond was severed. She can mentally communicate to those around her, and can hear thoughts when she is not actively blocking them out.
How are you feeling? When she has created enough of a bond with someone, Eilidh can tap into a persons emotions and share their feelings. She has had varied success in actually altering someone else's mood.
Visual Sound. Born blind, Eilidh's telepathic abilities have allowed her to give vision to the sounds that she hears in front of her. With this, she can see shapes and forms around her to an extent when they are struck, or when there is sound in a room. It makes listening to music especially magical.
Learned Knowledge. Eilidh spent two years studying and researching Psychology at the University of Edinburgh until she dropped out. She maintains her study of the subject as a hobby. It's one of the few things she can do alone to learn more about her psychic empathy. Learning, and deep diving into the human mind and how it works has given her a solid understanding of people and their motivations.
C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:
Eilidh has been through so much tragedy, and found it within herself to persevere anyway until she found the other side of it. She is motivated by creating genuine connections, and finding a family once more.
There's a mystery that she wants to solve - how she received her powers, and more than that she wants to learn how to better use them. She has seen glimpses of great power with her tele-empathy, but she has no control over it and very little understanding. What was once thought of to be a magical twin thing became so much more, and with it there is an opportunity to help others too.
She struggles with her powers to a large extent - having little knowledge of telepathy has left a huge skill gap within her, dealing with emotional trauma over the years has also hampered her progression with her skills.
When thinking up Eilidh, I've rested on some typical Stormy character beats - warm character with a hidden deep well of perpetual sadness. I've been itching to write a character closer to home for a long time too, and the thought of having a character from some teeny-weeny poetically beautiful fishing town in Scotland getting dumped into a group of really fast paced, gung-ho superheroes tickles my pickle.
I don't consider her a superhero. Yet. She's a lost girl with a few tricks up her sleeve. Her powers have to be learned, but more importantly, earned. I want to see her find a place in the world with an understanding of what she can do. I want her to learn creativity and just how special she truly is. That she doesn't need to over-extend herself to make others happy in order to fill in the spaces in her life left by the death of her closest family, and in particular her brother.
I can see her becoming a great support for the team, learning how to use her powers to bring them together and bring them some unity.
C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:
She has large, gentle eyes, and while she has something of a diminutive appearance, she is not to be trifled with or underestimated as she is something of a successful trickster who is more than happy to use her powers for chaotic (but harmless) purposes.
She is kind-hearted to a fault, and her power of empathy makes her a good shoulder to cry on. She is able to very quickly learn about someone, and prefers to get along with people rather than be confrontational. Eilidh will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of making those around her happy. Eilidh is naturally quite charismatic, with a curiosity about everyone and everything. There is a slight clumsy and easy way about her that sets others at ease, and she is the kind of individual who carries you away with her, and makes you feel as if you are the only one who matters to her. It is a byproduct of her ability to tune into a persons emotions and mind.
Although Eilidh wears a smile on her face, and carries herself in a gentle manner, behind it all she still grieves for the life that was taken from her. She remains a stalwart caretaker to those around her, giving herself almost selflessly to the needs of others, she fills her cup by being a listening ear with a wise and uplifting word to others when they need it, even if they don’t know it. Her emotional intelligence is as tuned as one would expect from a natural empath, and she is incredibly patient. Her level of emotional intelligence has afforded her an almost fearless level of grit.
R E L A T I O N S H I P S:
Conor - The first magician I've ever met. Maybe I was too upfront when I asked for his help but he seems to be interested. I sense that he has a lot of weight on his shoulders. I know he's jealous that I can drink a beer. Maybe if he keeps up with the research, I'll dilute some down into a shandy for him. Really though, I'd like to help him too.
Cece - Cece just fascinates me, really. I wish I could have a teaspoon of her confidence. The two of us couldn't have come from more different upbringings if we tried, but somehow we make our friendship work. I have a genuine connection with her. She's true through and through, what she feels she says and what she says she feels. I always feel good when I'm around her.
Could I actually steal her confidence? Maybe. She's human sunshine.
She did call me Eye-lid though.
Gabriela - Every now and then when I'm around Gabi, I can feel the echoes of something painful in her. It's familiar to my own and maybe that's why. I don't let on that I have, I'd like to befriend her more first. I'd like her to open up on her own terms. I do notice a tension around Cece, and I'd rather not shut her out either. You know, I consider Gabi to be a true superhero. She could bring down a serious threat if she needed to. Her skills are amazing. I love the rain, it reminds me of home.
Roy - Roy, Roy, Roy. He's an artist! Oh I wish I could see something that he painted, I wish I could see any of his creations - he has so many colours to his aura. Being around him is a joy, but I don't think he realises that. I wish I could show him how he looks from my eyes. I want him to be more confident in who he is. He's special.
Hayden - When it comes to Hayden, I'm not sure what to do with them. Try as I might to feed them, they still don't stop eating. It's fascinating, truly! Such an unending hunger - and for more than just food. I feel the desperation for achievement in them and all I can do is help however I can to make them feel wanted on this team, and in this world. They can't say my name. I don't have the heart to correct them.
Hana - I haven't gotten to know her too much, but I hear her from time to time when she's singing. Her voice is lime green and looks like lightning most of the time, but then sometimes it's softer, like winding curls of teal on a seafoam backdrop. Whatever it is, I like it a lot. Little does she know... I like to dance to it.
Vincent - He makes me laugh. I don't think he makes many of the others laugh. He's not too easy to track down though, but I'm getting used to knowing where his usual haunts are. The outside doesn't quite match the inside, and I hope he sticks around, I can't ever tell if he's going to just up and leave in the night one of these days, hopefully not. Still, he likes a good cup of tea.
Kevin - I know that Kevin is a fun person, and he's also my age. We're the resident old farts and we're not even old. Being honest, his powers frighten me a lot. Fire is so volatile and destructive. I know it's terrible to say... I shouldn't judge, but perhaps I've given him more space than I would have someone else. Perhaps we can strike up something soon, he could really help me to get in better shape, and to learn to defend myself.
Sick Ducker,
Captain Uni,
Ezekiel,
DocTachyon,
Antlers,
Eddie Brock,
Pirouette,
BrutalBx,
Supermaxx,
Natty
