Player Information: Name: hallie Age: 20 Contact:eugenides | ottomans Game Cast: n/a
Character Information: Name:marian carlyle | rogue Canon: marvel 1610 | comics Canon Point:ultimate comics: x-men #25 | april 2013 (after the young mutants have began to establish utopia, and rogue has discovered her love of the newly-grown forests.) Age: sixteen Reference:marian carlyle @ marvel wiki
Setting:
The Marvel Ultimates Universe (given the designation 1610, as opposed to the main Marvel comics universe, which is 616), was supposed to make things easier. It was largely a marketing ploy, retelling key concepts and key characters in a way that didn’t rely on 60 years of backstory and complication. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way that notion of ease and accessibility vanished and what you have is the Marvel universe minus 60 years of history and all moral decency. You have been warned.
So, to get the basics out of the way first, Earth 1610 is much like yours, except there are superheroes. During World War II, the US government experimented with super soldier serums and ended up getting not only Captain America, but also a lot of rejects and several projects that should never see the light of day. Nick Fury is the result of super soldier testing, and he would go on to become the founder and head of the world’s premier peacekeeping organization – SHIELD. SHIELD is important because they have boots on the ground and an eye on the scene during just about everything. They are nosy, they are invasive, and they don’t mind shooting a few children for the greater good.
In the present day (so, this millennium, to keep things to a coherent but unfixed timeline), more superheroes have emerged. Tony Stark decided to get over his daddy issues by building a suit of overpowered armor. Peter Parker got bit by a radioactive spider. Reed Richards and co. got hit by a cosmic storm. Etc, etc, etc, the list goes on. Very quickly, the world was becoming populated by people with powers beyond human capacity. SHIELD formed a group of superheroes called the Ultimates, Peter Parker kept doing his thing as Spider-man, and oh, have we mentioned mutants, yet?
Mutants were originally thought to be the next step in human evolution. Born with an X-gene in their DNA, mutants could have almost any kind of ability—telepathy, teleportation, flight. If you could dream it, there was probably a mutant out there who could do it. As the new race developed, two leaders emerged, each with a vastly different philosophy. Erik Lensherr, or Magneto, wanted to usher in the age of mutantkind by force, and tried to do so along with his Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy. Charles Xavier, who believed in peaceful cohabitation, founded his School for Gifted Youngsters and began assembling young mutants as his students, and also as super-powered activists—the X-men. Lensherr’s and Xavier’s factions were diametrically opposed, and yet much crossover occurred between the two. Brotherhood members became X-men, X-men deserted for the Brotherhood.
And then there’s Weapon X. A joint research project of the US and Canadian governments, Weapon X was another attempt at the creation of super soldiers that went far beyond its original mandate. When one James Howlett was experimented on, the researches of Weapon X were able to genetically alter his genome. They artificially created the mutant race this way. So what was originally seen as the next step in human evolution has become known as a farce—the mutants are man-made, and can be destroyed, switched-off, or erased. Weapon X began to operate under SHIELD in 2000s, using mutants as weapons (as one would guess from their name). During a run-in with the X-men, several of Xavier’s students were captured, but in the resulting battle the X-men were victorious and Weapon X was shut down.
But much has happened since then. A world that was beginning to form a trifecta of power (Ultimates, X-men, Spider-man and other ground-level heroes), was torn apart by various cataclysmic events. Magneto resurfaced and charged against New York with his Ultimatum Wave. He was defeated, but the cost was high. Countless heroes died, and the Xavier School was destroyed entirely. The majority of the X-men were killed; the survivors buried their friends at the site of the school.
But life carried on. Following the death of the Spider-man and the devastation of Ultimatum, the remaining mutants picked up the pieces. Led by Kitty Pryde, the survivors took up residence in the Morlock Tunnels under New York. When the country began to break apart—during the event known as Divided We Fall—Kitty and her group traveled to the Midwest to rescue their fellow mutants. During this time the true nature of mutankind was revealed, and a cure was offered. Sick of facing discrimination and living in fear, the majority of mutants chose to take the cure. The rest—a group of about two dozen, or so—were given a barren plot of land in the Midwest by the new President Steve Rogers. Calling it “Utopia,” the mutants set out to make their new home, and prove the world wrong about them once again.
If you want to follow Rogue’s trajectory through this, she was born a mutant about sixteen years ago. She ran away from home after her mutant powers manifested, and fell in with both the Brotherhood and Weapon X (the latter against her will). After the X-men dismantled Weapon X, Rogue made her home at Xavier’s institute, where she didn’t always quite feel at home. She left the team on multiple occasions, but during Ultimatum coordinated with former Brotherhood members to help take down Magneto and protect the school. Following Ultimatum, she lived on the streets of New York, until she eventually rejoined Kitty, Bobby Drake, and Johnny Storm. She currently lives in Utopia.
Personality:
Rogue’s story has always been personal. While some mutants believe their powers are callings to a great good or evil, Rogue has always seen hers as a very private curse. Denied human contact, her mind constantly fractured and reformed, she lives every day and every moment with the very real reality of what her powers have taken from her. And she often hates them, and herself, because of it. And yet, when offered the chance to get a shot and be rid of them forever, Rogue refused the mutant cure. How do you justify that, given her view of her mutanthood? Well, let me tell you.
Marian Carlyle is a girl who is constantly looking for approval, affection, and love. She grew up in an abusive household, where the particulars of physicality and love became a screwed and twisted thing for her. She finds it hard to find strength in herself, or validation, and so she constantly looks elsewhere for it. The problem is that she correlates being touched—being kissed, being held—with being loved, and because she’s robbed of physical affection, she can’t process that she might be cared for in other ways. It’s a contradiction she’s had to live with since puberty.
As her name suggests, Rogue is a wildcard. Her conflicts over affection aren’t always apparent, and on the surface she often acts contrary just because she can. Her first months at the Xavier Institute were filled with conflict with her fellow students for this reason. She felt like an outcast, and so she acted like one. She fought with people before they had the chance to accept or reject her. She argued about everything because it was a way to act like she had confidence and clarity that she really didn’t. She’s aggressive, abrasive, and unpredictable.
But she’s also confused, vulnerable, and searching for something she hasn’t yet found. She’s switched sides a number of times, and one could be tempted to say she lacks conviction. Storm and Wolverine both accused her of not having enough conviction in the mutant cause, because she was willing to walk away from it to enjoy a life with Gambit. But Rogue would argue that her life, her individual happiness, is central to the mutant cause. She is a mutant, so shouldn’t her happiness be part of mutantkind’s success? Rogue isn’t a fiery leader like Kitty, she isn’t a politician or a pragmatist. She’s a dreamer, and what she ultimately dreams of is happiness and love.
But times have changed her, strengthened her resolve in a lot of ways. During Ultimatum, she was forced to pick a side, and though the rest of the X-men didn’t trust her, she fought for them with everything she had. She used her connections with Weapon X and the Brotherhood to defend her newfound home. And because she wasn’t successful, she now feels it her duty to fight for what’s left of mutantkind. She’s found solidarity with Kitty, with Ororo, with the very young and very vulnerable mutant population.
Rogue has lost a lot in her life, and run away from more. Her modus operandi is to do what makes her happy, to speak her mind no matter what, and to always seek a love that she believes will finally make her feel like she’s standing on solid ground. She lost Gambit, and Cain, and her relationship with Bobby Drake is splintered and complicated. Quentin Quire was the one boy who could touch her, and yet he chose to give that up for the mutant cure. And so Rogue constantly carries the guilt and weight of never finding the affection she’s searching for.
The other side of Rogue’s powers is that she carries the memories of everyone she’s ever touched in her mind. This means her psyche is often a battleground, with different personalities striving for dominance. This has often led Rogue to act confused, uncertain, or contradictory. Recently, however, Quentin helped her tame and cleanse the memories from her mind—she’s her own person again, for as long as it lasts. Now that Quentin is gone, Rogue has had a chance to stand on her own and rediscover who she is as a person. Living on Utopia, she’s retreated into the newly-grown forests, and grown more adventurous, playful, and confident. She seems serene, sure of herself for the first time. And her trials have taught her that she has a responsibility to mutankind, but also a responsibility to herself.
Rogue carries with her a lot of guilt and uncertainty. This manifests in a rough personality, a spunk and fire that can’t be tamed easily. But she’s also always looked for human connections, for friendship and affection she hasn’t been able to find. Her commitment to mutantkind and her new-found family have been strengthened by countless hardships and disasters, but Marian is always primarily driven by her passions. That makes her not an activist or hero, but a strong individual, someone personally impacted by the twists and turns of her cruel world.
Rogue’s no stranger to the fantastic or supernatural. However, arriving in Turtleland is something she is distinctly unprepared for. She’s never moved through universes, and tries not to think too much about what happens to the dead—she’s had too much of that in her life, it’d drive her crazy if she dwelled on it. That being said, she might think she has gone crazy, arriving in Tu Vishan. She’s likely to panic, at first, before getting her grounding. Interacting with other people, and hearing their accounts of the place, will help convince her this is all real, and after that she will likely still be rattled, but better equipped to deal with it. Despite all that, Marian has recently discovered a new love of the natural and spiritual, so the overall environment of Tu Vishan will probably be one she takes to readily, once she gets over being plucked away from Utopia.
Appearance:
Marian Carlyle: sixteen years old, 5'5", and physically fit. She has a slim build, toned without much muscle mass. She has bright green eyes and thick auburn hair with a distinctive white streak through it. Her wardrobe contains a lot of green and she tends to always wear gloves and clothes that keep her skin mostly covered.
Abilities:
Rogue is a mutant, and so her powers are the result of a specific alteration to her genome. In her case, this alteration manifests through her skin—by making direct skin-to-skin contact with another person, Rogue can absorb their memories, thoughts, and physical attributes. In the case of superpowered individuals, this means that Rogue will also develop their powers for a time. The effects of her powers last in relation to how long she makes contact. Rogue’s touch is lethal; if she holds on too long, the other person will die and she can absorb their psyche and powers permanently. In small doses, Rogue can knock out someone through touch, put them in a coma, or render them physically weak. Thoughts and memories she absorbs linger in her psyche. She has yet to attain any real mastery of these powers, and cannot turn them off--every time she touches someone, her powers kick in involuntarily.
Several months ago, Rogue also permanently absorbed the abilities of Cain Marko, the Juggernaut. This has given her incredible strength and durability—she can now lift up to 100 tons. Canon has been inconsistent about her use of these powers, but word of Brian Wood god claims she still has them.
Given her recent connection to the wilderness of Utopia, the Wood Sector seems the best fit for Rogue. She loves trees and nature, and climbing through the forests is her current favorite type of exercise. 2 or 3 floors would be preferable, given her love of free-fall and heights.
In-Character Samples: Third Person:
She took a running leap off the ledge, sprang forward and reached out with one hand. Her fist closed around a branch, and she used as leverage to pull herself up into the strong nest of branches the tree had grown into. She took a moment to catch her breath, leaning against the trunk and wrapping both her bare arms around herself. She stood absolutely still, and listened.
The wind cut through the leaves. Somewhere, a bird sang. Running water was a dozen or so yards away from her. She could hear it all, and yet everything seemed so quiet. There were no voices in her mind, no arguments to be had with herself. Slowly, Marian’s lips curved into a slow smile. She turned around and flung her arms around the tree, holding on like she’d never held anything before.
She had, of course, but not recently. Not really. Even when she fell asleep on Bobby’s shoulder on in the car, or shook hands with Tony Stark, or even gave Kitty a high-five. None of that was real. She wasn’t actually making contact, and it felt empty.
But here things were different. She hadn’t deserted her friends—she was only about a half hour outside their main camp, really—but she felt less alone out here than she did there, surrounded by people. She had always been searching for company, for people, for connections. But here she didn’t need to. For once in her life she didn’t mind being by herself, didn’t hate being in her own head.
Marian tipped her head back and laughed. It was a clear, open sound, and it didn’t seem out of place with the sound of birds or fresh water. Without taking her eyes off the tree trunk, she began taking steps backwards, one by one. She wasn’t afraid of falling, of running out of room. She knew the tree would catch her.
Network:
( It’s a voice post, scratchy at first as Rogue clears her throat. )
Ah, hello. Y’all really know how to make a girl feel welcome, don’t you? The view in this place… it’s fantastic. ( They obviously can’t see the view, but she’s sitting on one of the upper levels in an apartment in the Wood Sector. The view is fantastic. )
Everyone’s been real helpful, so far, but there’s something I need that I couldn’t ask the tour guides about… not without explaining, at least.
( If the video was on, her bright red cheeks would be entirely visible. Which may be the reason it isn’t on, come to think of it. )
I need some other clothes. Anything long, with sleeves… and gloves. I’d get it myself, but. I can’t. I know there’s a market near here, and if you’re willing I’ll give you my size and…
If you could bring it here, where it’s less crowded, it’d be better. I’ll pay you back, help you out with something if you need it. And I’d be real grateful.
eugenides |
ottomans
