Reverie » Application

[theycalledmeacurse]

PLAYER
» HANDLE: Amy
» AGE: 30
» CHARACTER(S) IN-GAME: n/a

CHARACTER
» NAME: Rogue / Marie D'Ancanto
» CANON: X-Men: Days of Future Past (The Rogue Cut)
» CANON POINT: The end of the movie, just as the timeline is being reset.
» AGE: 34

» SETTING: Rogue's history, and additional world context:

The world of the X-Men is much like our own, except for one small difference: Mutants exist. Though mutants have existed for thousands of years, the rise of nuclear power accelerated their appearance in the early twentieth century, and by the 2000s they were known and feared by the public.

Mutants are human beings with a genetic mutation that grants them inhuman abilities and/or physical differences. Telepathy, magnetic manipulation, flight, enhanced healing, teleportation, blue skin... The list of possibilities is endless, and there's no telling what 'gift' a mutant might receive. These mutations often manifest at puberty during periods of heightened emotion, such as a first kiss, though there can be children born with physical mutations as well.

As per usual, humans fear that which is different, that which they do not understand. Children are cast out of families, people are persecuted in the streets, and it's often only those who can 'pass' for human who are able to live normal lives. That's why Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters exists -- a boarding school for mutant children who have dangerous gifts they need to learn to control, or who just have nowhere else to go.

Prominent mutant Charles Xavier worked to change the tide of opinion in the public forum while secretly starting a team of X-Men, mutants trained to fight to keep people safe, human and mutant alike, in the hopes that one day the two groups can live together in peace. But while groups like this exist, there are also groups like the Brotherhood of Mutants, formed by those mutants who believe themselves superior to baseline humans and fight for that supremacy.

By the time of Days of Future Past, the world has given up on trying to live together. Baseline humans declared war against mutants, first by putting the most dangerous into prison camps with a Registration Act, and then hunting down everyone else. Those who fought back were destroyed by the Sentinels, giant robots designed for the purpose of taking care of the mutant problem, no matter what stood in their way. To that end, they've decimated the world, cities left in burning rubble and mass graves being utilized daily. The human race is dying because of fear and hatred, but still mutants fight for their right to live and try to put an end to the war.

» SHORT DESCRIPTION: Strong. Stubborn. Compassionate. Broken. Lonely. Unwanted.

» INFLUENTIAL EVENTS:

001 » Going through foster care and adoption as a child.
Rogue was given up by her birth parents and spent years in and out of foster homes before finally being adopted by the D'Ancantos. That constant feeling of rejection and not being wanted is one that still feeds into her insecurities about being accepted by others, even as an adult.

002 » Her mutation manifesting.
What was supposed to be a special moment in a young woman's life turned into a nightmare when her first kiss put the boy into a coma. This first use of her power caused her to fear her own abilities, to be terrified of being physically close to other people, and it took being with the X-Men for her to see any good in her mutation. This event also led to her adoptive parents rejecting her when they learned she was a mutant, worried more about how their image would be tarnished in society than what their daughter was going through — she decided to leave before they could kick her out. The people who were supposed to love her unconditionally saw her as a monster, and she has lasting trust issues that are with her even now almost two decades later.

003 » Meeting Logan, which led to her meeting the X-Men and enrolling at Xavier's School.
Logan was the first fellow mutant she met, the both of them outsiders who had been hurt and misunderstood by the world, and he became the first person she trusted in her new life. More were added to that circle upon enrolling at the school, because upon being surrounded by others like herself, she suddenly didn't feel quite so much like a freak and began to understand that not everyone would always be afraid of her.

004 » Being kidnapped by Magneto, forced to absorb him, and nearly dying from powering his machine.
This was her first real taste of the X-Men's purpose in protecting others and trying to find a way for humans and mutants to coexist. Having Magneto very prominently in her mind has left a lasting impression by shaping her perception of the world and mutant issues — while she refused to acknowledge his presence in her mind during the first months following the event, as she grew older and trained to control the mental aspects of her ability she also began to interact more with the copy of Magneto's psyche. This has taught her that not all villains try to be villainous; many of them are just trying to make the world a better place, it's just that their methods are usually flawed. The world isn't black and white, and you should always look to see the shades of grey.

005 » The Sentinel War and her capture and years of imprisonment.
In order to advance the Sentinel Program, mutants with unique gifts were studied in labs, the extent of their mutations being tested in order to grant those abilities to the Sentinels; in Rogue's case, the scientists were trying to find a way to have the Sentinels steal powers from any mutant they came in contact with. Being experimented on and not rescued by her teammates is not something she'll recover from easily, especially since she was there for three years with no sign of her teammates or any attempt at rescue. It was not until her mutation was needed for a mission that anyone came for her, and it's quite possible that she would have just been left there if Kitty hadn't been injured in the attempt to change the timeline. By absorbing Bobby during their escape, Rogue now knows that he and her other former teammates knew where she was the whole time and never bothered to tell their more powerful mentors, and she will struggle for some time over that feeling of abandonment and sense that she wasn't worth enough to them as an individual to warrant a real rescue. She would have stopped at nothing to save any of them had their situations been reversed, and learning that they did not share the same loyalty is one of the most painful revelations of her life.

» FIT: Rogue is a decent fit for the setting. Her experiences during the Sentinel War forced her to learn survival skills and prioritize what is important over sheer luxuries. She's always had a yen for exploration as well, wanting to visit new places and see new things even as a young girl. Space stations are a new challenge, and the metal atmosphere is sure to bring up some painful memories of her imprisonment in Cerebro, but after that horrifying experience, she can face just about anything with a realistic perspective.

» POWERS:

ABSORPTION Upon skin-to-skin contact, she absorbs the life force, memories, emotions, abilities, personality, and outward physical characteristics of other sentient beings. No upper limit has been determined for the number of beings she can simultaneously imprint. Absorbing psyches more powerful than her own can result in Rogue’s psyche being supplanted for a short time.
ABILITY BORROWING Generally for every 1 second she touches someone, she is able to use their abilities for 60 seconds. This can be mutations and powers, or enhanced physical or mental abilities.
PSYCHE COPYING After the immediate absorption wears off, a copy of the other person's psyche is left in Rogue's mind; these psyches are fully formed, and Rogue is able to communicate with the ones who aren't hostile or overly resistant.

» NOTES: If any of Rogue's abilities need to be nerfed, I'm happy to do so!

» SAMPLES: Log + Network