Mask or Menace » Application

[theycalledmeacurse]

〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Amy
AGE: 31
PLURK: taintedcrimson
RETURNING: Currently playing Padmé Amidala

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Rogue / Marie D'Ancanto
CHARACTER AGE: 34
SERIES: Marvel (X-Men Cinematic Universe)
CHRONOLOGY: X-Men: Days of Future Past (The Rogue Cut). The end of the movie, just as the timeline is being reset.
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Random housing in any of the cities

BACKGROUND: 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.

PERSONALITY:

When people look at Rogue, they perceive her to be beautiful woman with sad, haunted eyes, who can flirt with the best of them. By turning on that southern belle charm, she convinces the unsuspecting to agree to almost anything, and doesn't seem the least bit sorry for any deception caused by those feminine wiles. This impression isn’t exactly wrong. She knows she has a talent for putting people at ease, but she often does it to help offset any unease caused by her mutation, as People who hear that she can kill them with a touch aren't usually the friendliest. It's also a way for her to pretend, just for a little while, that she's a normal woman and not one who will forever be set apart for the safety of others.

Depending on the situation, Rogue can seem either distant and standoffish or overly friendly and charming. Often the two go hand in hand, her polite nature warring with the way she physically holds herself back from others. And no matter how she acts physically, she always seems to be holding back emotionally, as well as just generally holding back information from others. This might lead others to assuming she's cold and uncaring, or that she doesn't want to form connections with others, which is the farthest thing from the truth. If she holds herself back, it's out of fear of being rejected and hurt again rather than a desire to actually keep herself distant from others. She longs to be close to her chosen family, to feel like she's really accepted by them, but some part of her always feels like the freak among freaks and that colors her interactions with others. She also feels that if she shared her thoughts and feelings as easily as others did, that others would find her to be burdensome. It's not that she assumes the worst of others, she just can't always move past the possibility that history will repeat itself and she’ll again be rejected by those closest to her.

Despite her fears, Rogue is sassy, stubborn, and strong-willed, refusing to be pushed around or bullied by others. When she first meets Logan and stows away on his truck, he doesn't take it very well and leaves her in the middle of road. She asks where she's supposed to go, and upon his response of "I don't know" she asks for the clarification of "You don't know or you don't care?" She also stubbornly points out that she'd just saved his life, not hesitating to talk back even when she'd just seen him nearly shishkabob some men with his metal claws.

It perhaps wasn't the smartest move, but it proves that she can be a little reckless, not fully considering all the repercussions of her actions. She'd just seen the man beat the tar out of someone and then slice a shotgun in half with metal claws, while she was a seventeen-year-old girl with no real ability to defend herself other than a power she was afraid of, yet she still took the risk despite the fact that she had no idea what he would do when he discovered her.

That recklessness only extends to herself; she wouldn’t do anything to overtly put someone else in danger. In fact, she is fiercely protective of people she cares about, as well as those who just need protecting -- she will come to the aid of anyone in need, even if it looks to be a losing battle, because it's the right thing to do. That's why she alerted Logan to the danger in the bar, despite the fact that he'd clearly proven that he could handle himself. She's a passionate person, willing to risk everything for her 'family' and those that need her help.

Keeping her team, students, and friends is a driving force in her life. After being rejected by her parents, the X-Men and the other mutant students became her family. They look after and protect each other, and it becomes her personal mission to make sure the children at the school have a better childhood than she ever did. It was that need to do everything she could to keep her loved ones safe that kept her going through the worst of the war, and that had her willing to sacrifice her life in the mountain temple

She’s the adventurous sort, willing to do things she’s never done before and go places on her own. As a teenager, she planned out a trip to Alaska for after her high school graduation, and it was this plan that she followed when she ran away from home. Hitchhiking alone across the US and Canada, she ends up in some rather unsavory places, but she doesn’t let her fear get to her. This is because she does what has to be done, regardless of her fears or doubts. When the X-Men were trapped inside the Alkali Lake facility and time was running out, Rogue took the initiative to fly the X-jet closer to the facility, despite clearly being terrified while doing so - Storm had to basically pry her hands off the controls. When she was rescued from captivity for the sole purpose of taking Kitty's place in holding Logan's mind in the past, she was not swayed by Kitty's mourning of the recently deceased Bobby and stepped in immediately to absorb Kitty's power and take her place at the table; even Magneto seemed a little surprised by her determination.

Some of that determination comes the guilt she feels deeply for the people she cares about who have been hurt by her powers, and the compassion she has for others who have been harmed simply for being mutants. She frequently has nightmares that have been 'inherited' from others, including Magneto from during his time in Auschwitz and Logan from his experiences at Alkali Lake. If she doesn't make an effort to stabilize herself mentally, these stressors can take a toll on her ability to keep the psyches in her mind at bay, leading to rare periods where the stronger psyches supersede her own.

Guilt is a major motivator in Rogue's life. She feels guilty for hurting others with her mutation, and for not having control of her mutation when there's no good reason for her not to. Apologies are a constant when it comes to her mutation, whether it be when she accidentally touches someone or absorbs too much, or when her mutation is an inconvenience, such as when she makes an attempt at having a romantic relationship. To alleviate that guilt, she makes an effort to always be useful, from helping in the kitchens at the mansion to learning to fly the X-jet and teaching at the school. She tries to atone for the hurt she's caused by balancing it with good deeds, though she's not sure that's even possible after everything that happened during the war.

Running is her first instinct when she feels unwelcome and unwanted. When her mutation manifested and she put a boy into a coma with a kiss, she didn't stick around to wait for her parents to kick her out; at the first sign of them regretting having ever adopted her, she packed a bag and left. After borrowing Logan's power to heal herself at the mansion, she was easily manipulated by Mystique into believing that the faculty and students at the school were afraid of and angry with her, and it took only a few choice words to send her running again. It was only when Logan promised that she wouldn't be alone that she agreed to return to the mansion at all.

Her life has been a lesson in dealing with adversity, her status as a mutant giving her years of experience in being persecuted, feared, and hated simply for being born different from others. While many of her kind dealt with that adversity by becoming hostile and turning to hatred themselves, she has tried to be a better person for it, dedicating herself to helping others and keeping the peace. No matter how terrible her life might become, she keeps moving forward, striving for something better. Now, after everything she’s lost in the war, the one thing she wants most from her new life is to find a Home again. Not just a place to rest her head, but somewhere she feels safe, accepted, and at peace with herself.

POWER:

✦ ROGUE TOUCH (will utilize a permissions post for this)

» ENERGY ABSORPTION - Upon skin-to-skin contact, she may absorb the life force of other sentient beings. This absorption provides a boost to her own energy levels, and results in the other person feeling weakened up to the point of falling unconscious. There is no upper limit for the number of beings she can simultaneously absorb.

» ABILITY BORROWING - Generally for every 1 second she absorbs someone, she is able to use their abilities for 60 seconds. This can be mutations and powers, or enhanced physical or mental abilities.

» MEMORY COPYING - When absorbing someone, she will receive 1-3 memories from that person that will remain in her own mind after the absorption ends.

〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:

[ The woman in the video is in her 30s, her distinctive hair loose around her shoulders, the white stripes making her pale skin quite noticeable. She shifts nervously as the message begins to broadcast, her expression uneasy as she works up the courage to ask the questions she's been wondering for days. Of course, it's silly to hesitate over such things here, but still... After a few moments, she finally speaks, southern drawl thick with nerves even as she forces a friendly smile. ]

If I understand things correctly, then all of us imPorts are given special abilities upon arrival here. But are there any others who had abilities before coming here? Did anyone know about your abilities?

[ A brief pause, and then, with a noticeable waver ]

What did they think of them?

LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: TDM Thread

FINAL NOTES: Rogue will be coming in fresh from a few years of captivity, with general good health but low physical fitness and scars from the experimentation she's suffered. These items will have content warnings provided in threads as appropriate.