Application for empatheias

[shelterednomore]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Lex
Contact: PM this journal or Plurk - FightingSpirit
Age: Over 21
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Lorna “Polaris” Dane
Age: Lorna’s exact age is never provided in canon, but she appears to be about 16-17.
Canon: Wolverine and the X-men (animated series)
Canon Point: End of series

Background:


Lorna was raised on Genosha, and she had no memories of living anywhere else. Since she possessed the same powers as her father, she was groomed to be his heiress. She was raised on a large island nation that had once been used to enslave mutants, only to be liberated by Magneto. The United Nations granted him the land and recognized Genosha as a nation with a monarchy - the house of Magnus. Lorna was raised in the metal palace, and kept far more sheltered than her older half-siblings, Wanda (the Scarlet Witch) and Pietro (Quicksilver). She was privately tutored, sometimes by Magneto himself. As time went on, the family dynamic became one wherein Wanda was their father’s second in command on Genosha, Pietro was the one who handled the dirty work with a mutant terrorist group known as The Brotherhood, and Lorna was kept away from anything their father didn’t want her to know about. Wanda cooperated with this, wanting to protect her little sister. Embittered at being sent away from Genosha to lead the Brotherhood rather than living in the luxury that Genosha had to offer like his sisters were, Pietro was far more willing to tell Lorna about things and make it clear that information was being kept from her with snide remarks such as “Yes, it is best that she leave, otherwise your little heiress might find out what’s going on in the real world” when Magneto told Lorna that he’d like a word alone with Pietro.

When Remy “Gambit” LeBeau arrived on Genosha, introduced himself to Magneto and revealed that Senator Kelly had hired Gambit to steal Magneto’s helmet, but stated that he only wanted sanctuary on Genosha, Lorna developed a crush on the Cajun thief almost immediately. Contrarily, Gambit recognized her as an easily manipulated mark that he could use to achieve his goals. She was young and naive, and he exploited that. When she was trying to reach a red rose in the palace’s flower gardens, he tossed one of his cards to slice the stem. After she looked around to see who made that happen and noticed him perched in his room’s window, he bowed and Lorna shyly smiled before hurriedly walking behind the rosebush out of his line of sight with a giggle. Upon spotting her in her room setting the yellow roses in a vase while she kept the red rose in her hair, Gambit asked her to meet him in the gardens at twilight, telling her that life requires bold steps and that she should take one.

When Lorna did show up, Gambit asked her to show him the most romantic view of the island. However, he had no romantic interest in a teenage girl. Instead, his intentions were far more sinister and mercenary. He’d been hired to damage Genosha, and used Lorna’s informative tour to learn key locations, including water distribution channels, the electromagnetic generators that supplied Genosha’s electricity, and the communications tower. The moment she did try to make a romantic move on him, Gambit was quick to say that they should get back before they were missed, although that didn’t stop Lorna from moving in for a quick kiss. That was precisely the time that Lorna’s overprotective older sister Wanda showed up and took Gambit into custody. Lorna angrily confronted Wanda about this later, correctly guessing that he was in Genosha’s secret underground cells, and revealing that she knew a lot more than Wanda realized when Wanda was surprised Lorna even knew about the cells. When Wanda tried to warn her that Gambit was bad news, Lorna threw back that Wanda had no place to criticize, considering that Wanda was in love with an X-man.

Lorna was quick to go to the underground cells to break Gambit out, asking him to take her with him when he left Genosha because it was the only way they could be together. Ever the opportunist, Gambit told her to open the doors and he was hers, and encouraged her to run off and pack her things. In that time, he set up explosives to damage the water distribution channels, electromagnetic generators, and communications tower. When Lorna showed up, he encouraged her to think her decision through more, and left Genosha without her, revealing as his boat sped away that he’d stolen her father’s helmet. Lorna was heartbroken, crying at first before using her electromagnetic powers to not only take Magneto’s helmet back from Gambit, but also to slam the helmet right through Gambit’s speedboat in the process. Tearfully, she apologized to her father and cried as he hugged her. When she asked if he was going to go after Gambit, her father informed her that it was Senator Kelly who would answer for this.

Days later, Lorna’s father retrieved her from the gardens and told her that he wanted to stay in her room until he came for her, no matter what. Magneto wouldn’t give her any details, claiming it was on a need to know basis, but did tell her that Genosha would be expanding its borders soon. Sentinels attacked not long after that, which Magneto stopped and reprogrammed to attack humans instead of mutants. At some point in between the attack on Genosha and Magneto’s return, Wanda told Lorna the truth of what their father had done. He’d instigated war between mutants and humans. At their father’s behest, their brother Pietro led the mutant terrorist group known as the Brotherhood to stoke people’s fear of mutants, and later kidnapped Senator Kelly, only to have him replaced by a shapeshifter so that he would order an attack on Genosha, thus justifying the mutant population retaliating against humans. When Wanda said that Genosha was no longer their father’s kingdom, Lorna sided with her sister, turning her back on their father and brother for their ruthless actions. All of Magneto’s lessons to Lorna about doing what was best for mutantkind even if it meant making difficult choices sunk in, after all. Just not in the way he’d expected.


Personality:

Lorna’s upbringing has simultaneously made her rather naive yet also aware of the horrors of the world on a global scale. She was raised by a man who survived the horrors of the Holocaust. She has seen mutants arrive on Genosha’s shores with nothing other than the clothes on their backs, seeking sanctuary. She has grown up with the knowledge that the world outside of Genosha is not a kind place for mutants to live in. She has been by her father’s side when he’s made speeches to the people of Genosha. She knows that some countries have mutant registration that results in mutants being detained indefinitely with no legal recourse. She has been raised to see Genosha as a little piece of paradise for people that the world otherwise wants nothing to do with, and knows that the peace they enjoy was something that was fought for. She has grown up understanding the importance of acting in the collective good, even when it’s difficult.

At the same time, Lorna has been kept sheltered. She has grown up around her father, older sister and brother, and her father’s loyal followers. She has never been in a romantic relationship, has never had friends her own age, has never travelled outside of her home country, has never been seriously hurt, and in general hasn’t had a lot of life experience. Her understanding of suffering is mostly secondhand, so while she feels a great deal of compassion for those who have suffered, she has a limited understanding of what it actually feels like on a personal level. Her father has gone out of his way to try to keep her comfortable and from being distressed, and her sister is similarly protective, acting more like Lorna’s mother than her sister at times.

Lorna has been kept sheltered to a stifling degree. Her father and sister go out of their way to keep things from her, to the point that telling things she’s not supposed to know is a punishable offense. One of her father’s followers, Pyro, is actually temporarily imprisoned for telling Lorna that her sister has gone missing. She’s not even supposed to leave the palace without an escort. Although she is being groomed to be Magneto’s heiress, he only wanted her to see the dream he was trying to accomplish and none of the dirty work behind the scenes. Lorna’s older brother is the only one who doesn’t want to shelter her, and that’s partially out of bitter jealousy.

Despite all attempts to keep her in the dark, Lorna’s curiousity and sense of adventure mean that she knows a good deal more than she was ever intended to. She’s thoroughly explored Genosha when left unattended, to the point that she was able to discover the secret underground cells Magneto kept and know how to slip past the guards there unnoticed. She is well aware that people are deliberately keeping things from her, and wants to know as much as she can. Although she doesn’t always voice it, it’s quite frustrating to her to have been sheltered and treated like she’s delicate. It’s why Gambit’s statement that a cage is a cage even if it looks like a palace really resonates with her. Lorna wants to experience the world for herself without anyone shielding her or telling her what she should think, and knows she’ll probably never be given the chance. As a result of her sheltered upbringing, Lorna is a little shy and awkward when she first meets a new person because she has such limited experience, but her craving for novelty overrides her self-doubt.

Lorna is a romantic, which is not a great trait to have in combination with her impulsivity and naivety. She can make rash choices, and be easily manipulated. She’s intelligent enough to figure out far more than her family gives her credit for, but lacks the wisdom and life experience to make good decisions. She also has a temper, shown when she yells at her sister, and especially when her reaction to Gambit’s betrayal is to wreck his boat with her powers. Lorna appreciates beauty, and admires it especially in nature. She keeps a large garden, and her favourite place to visit in Genosha is the waterfalls near the water distribution channel, finding the waterfalls both powerful and peaceful to be around.


Abilities:

Electromagnetism. This includes magnetic force fields, magnetic pulse, magnetic field flight, manipulation of all metal including organic iron, manipulation of energy types that fall within the electromagnetic spectrum, and a sensory connection to the electromagnetic fields around her (for example, in a room full of machines, she would be aware of which one used the most electrical power). Being a teenage girl still growing into her powers, Lorna is not currently anywhere near her father’s level of power, but twenty years in the future, she is shown as having similar potential to him.

Lorna’s other abilities include multilingualism, gardening, and some grasp of engineering/programming/mechanics.

Alignment:

Peromei. Lorna has grown up aware of how terrible things can be, but has also been raised to dream of better things. She’s gotten so fed up with her circumstances to want to run away from everything she’s ever known, and later showed enough strength to stay on her badly damaged homeland to help her people rebuild and give them hope.

Other: N/A


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Remember that we ask for samples that show 1) core character portrayal and 2) some use of emotions, such as environmental effect. You can also use the same sample source for both, just make sure to directly link or quote the emotion portion. We highly encourage using the Test Drive, and you can use prompts from the Test Drives, Intro Logs, and the Task board if you need them. Refer to the main application page for links and more suggestions.

General Sample: three prompts and a thread

Emotion Sample: Hope is minty-fresh


Questions: N/A