[scorched] karolina app
Out of Character Information
player name: Manda
player livejournal: roxora
playing here: Xion (recidivated)
are you 16 years of age or older?: Y
In Character Information
character name: Karolina Dean
Fandom: Runaways (including crossovers X-Men & Runaways and Civil War: Young Avengers & Runaways)
Timeline: Post-1907 arc (right after volume 2)
character's age: 16
canon powers, skills, pets and equipment: Although she normally looks like a human being, Karolina is actually a type of alien called a Majesdanian. She has the ability to switch between her human and Majesdanian forms at will. In her Majesdanian form, her body becomes... sort of like a really tricked out human glowstick. These two pictures will probably do a lot better job of explaining than my stunning eloquence can.
... Anyway. When in this form, Karolina can manipulate solar energy that her body has taken in. This includes firing solar lasers from her hands, creating force fields, and binding people with rope-like energy. She can also fly! And the solar nature of her people extends to her blood, which blew up a vampire when he tried to drink it. Good times.
One of the only drawbacks of this is that her powers depend on the sun. If she hasn't been exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time, she'll lose her powers until she's in it again. There's also a type of alien metal able to suppress her powers, but the series hasn't disclosed exactly what it is. It's not as bad as kryptonite would be to Superman, but she'll effectively be a normal human in its presence.
As for items and other possessions, she doesn't have anything.
non-canon powers: I think Karolina's good with her current set!
canon history: Karolina Dean had always loved her parents. Despite being a celebrity couple in Hollywood, they were genuinely nice people, and gave their daughter a relatively normal childhood--something no other celebrity child really had. Maybe that's why she had a hard time believing they were really alien invaders who were planning to kill everyone on Earth and remake it into a paradise.
To fully understand this story, we need to flashback to 1985. Three biblical giants called the Gibborim summoned six couples: the Wilders, crime bosses; the Minorus, dark magicians; the Deans, aliens; the Steins, mad scientists; the Yorkes, time travelers; and the Hayeses, mutants. The Gibborim told the couples that they once ruled the world, when it was a peaceful utopia. They wanted to gain control of Earth once more, and needed the couples to help them. The couples would sacrifice an innocent soul to the Gibborim once a year for twenty-five years; in return, the Gibborim would augment their powers and provide them with riches, ensuring their rule over Los Angeles. Despite the fact that only six of them would survive, the couples agreed, and the Pride was formed. Though at first they were all vying for spots in paradise, the Steins became pregnant, and each of the six couples (the Deans, almost grudgingly) decided to conceive a child so each family would be able to continue its legacy.
Fast-forward to 2002, seventeen years later. The members of the Pride met every year for a supposed charity fundraiser--which, in reality, was the day they performed the sacrifice for the Gibborim. All six couples had children: Alex Wilder, Nico Minoru, Karolina Dean, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, and Molly Hayes. They were all clueless of their parents' true identities... until one night, when Alex gave the others the idea to spy on their parents.
Thanks to a secret passage Alex had found, the six of them were able to watch their parents from behind a two-way mirror. This isn't exactly what they were expecting to see. As they continued watching, the Pride brought out a young girl; sensing something was up, Alex told Karolina to take Molly, the youngest, back to the game room they had come from. After the two were gone, the rest stayed behind to see their parents stab that girl in the heart.
Making it back to the game room, Gert took Molly away while Alex and Nico explained to Karolina what had happened. Though at first she was skeptical, she decided to trust her friends and go along with them. At midnight that night, everyone but Molly met up. Making quick stops at their houses for evidence, Gert found out her parents got her Old Lace, a genetically-engineered dinosaur from the future that was telepathically linked to her. This was where the five started finding out their parents planned to tell them about the Pride when they were all of age.
At Karolina's house, Chase managed to find the will Karolina's dad had left behind--mind, she wasn't supposed to find this out until she was eighteen, but. After all the fancy writing, there was a piece of paper with the caduceus symbol in a prohibition sign. Karolina had worn a medical alert bracelet (which, of course, had the caduceus on it) all her life; her parents told her it was because she was allergic to penicillin, but that was just another lie. When she took it off after Alex had suggested, she found out she was an alien. A bright, glowy, rainbow alien. The bracelet had been made of a material that somehow suppressed her true heritage. At first disgusted with the fact that she was a "freak," she grew accustomed to it when she discovered she could fly! But moving on.
After a brief encounter with Nico's and Chase's parents, in which Nico and Chase respectively obtained their staff and futuristic fire-shooting gloves, the five of them took on Gert's and Molly's (and later Karolina's), who had sort of taken Molly hostage. They went back for Molly and successfully rescued her (and found out she's a mutant with super strength along the way)... but since the Pride had complete control over L.A., they were able to manipulate the media to make it seem like the older kids kidnapped Molly. Now fugitives, Chase led them to a hidden cave called the Hostel, which served as their base of operations and hideout.
Attempting to lay low, they stayed in the Hostel, occasionally venturing out to fight crime to make up for the deeds their parents had done. The group tried reaching out to other runaways whose parents were evil, but when this resulted in taking in a vampire who almost killed them all, they weren't so keen on that anymore. They also ran into the superhero Cloak and Dagger, who tried to get them some help from more famous superheroes... but the Pride erased their memories of the kids. Oops.
Soon after, the kids were found by the LAPD--which, like the rest of L.A., took orders from the Pride. Turned out there was a mole inside the group, someone who was loyal to their parents and giving them info on the runaways. Karolina's powers allowed them to stay alive after the Hostel caved in, and they were able to escape thanks to Molly's strength. Right after that, it's revealed that the Hayeses and Deans were conspiring against the other couples. Being non-humans, they planned to kill the rest of the Pride and take the spots in paradise for themselves and their daughters.
The kids then went after the Pride, following them to the chamber in which they would offer the soul of the girl they had killed earlier to the Gibborim themselves. Chase almost died in a battle against a stone golem, but Gert managed to save him with CPR; after that, they started dating. After a battle in which the kids pretty much incapacitated their parents, Alex revealed himself to be the mole--after knocking out his friends and stealing their weapons, of course. However, Molly woke up and destroyed the container in which the soul was being held, ruining the whole ceremony. The Gibborim incinerated Alex in front of everyone, then proceeded to try to kill everyone else; the Pride held them off to let their kids escaped, and died in the process.
Several months later, Karolina organized a reunion for the runaways; after the deaths of the Pride, the six were sent into foster care and orphanages. They all broke out and rescued Old Lace. They made an escape in the Leapfrog, their parents' old transport vehicle, which Chase figured out he could use. They created a new Hostel out of an old Pride hideout at the bottom of the La Brea Tar Pits, and continued life as full-blown crime fighting runaways.
After they'd gotten cozy, a woman appeared in the Hostel. She claimed to be Gert from the future, and came back to tell the runaways that a horrible supervillian named Victorious was going to destroy the future. She told them that he was once known as Victor Mancha, and the kids needed to kill him before he could screw things up... and then died in Chase's arms before she could tell him she loved him. Gert refused to believe the woman was really her, but regardless, the kids started looking for Victor.
... And eventually found him! He turned out to be a cyborg created by the big bad Ultron, who could take over Victor at any time to do his bidding. The kids got help from a former teenage hero support group, who managed to defeat Ultron and save Victor, but not before he killed Victor's mom. With nowhere else to go, Victor became a part of the team.
During a lull in their big-time battles, Karolina spent her time getting closer to Nico... eventually revealing that she was a lesbian. Attempting to kiss Nico, she got rejected, which more or less broke her heart. Not only was she the sole alien of the group, she was also now the only homosexual. To make matters worse, not more than an hour later, another alien showed up and claimed Karolina to be his bride.
In another flashback, it turns out Frank and Leslie Dean were traitors to their own home planet of Majesdane. They were exiled for criminal activities and escaped to Earth. Soon enough, a Skrull invader came to Earth in hopes of destroying it; the Deans stopped him and gave him the coordinates of Majesdane. As part of their deal, they promised that their daughter, Karolina, would marry the Skrull's son, Xavin. They never believed he would survive the ensuing Majesdanian-Skrull war... but he did!
Xavin explained to Karolina that their marriage had the potential to quell the war between the two races. Karolina was at first reluctant--not because she didn't want to stop the peace, but rather because she felt it would be wrong, since she was a lesbian. Luckily enough for her, Skrulls were shapeshifters, and Xavin had no problem shifting into a hot girl. Karolina then agreed and left for her home planet, leaving her medic alert bracelet with Nico as a token of their friendship.
Karolina (and Xavin) returned a few months later, just in time to stop the others from destroying Victor after it was revealed that the new Pride (composed of a past version of Alex's dad Geoffrey and Alex's MMORPG friends) were able to hack into him to gain intel on the runaways. Oh, and they kidnapped Molly. She told her friends that right before she was about to be wed, a fight broke out between the bridesmaids that eventually culminated in an all-out battle, despite all the hard work she and Xavin had done to try to fix the intergalactic relations. Good news for the runaways, though, as Karolina's presence was able to cool the group down long enough for them to focus fighting their real enemies.
The group then went after the new Pride in order to rescue Molly; they successfully did so, but before Chase could do anything to Geoffrey, he put a knife in Gert's stomach. As she lay dying, she was unable to tell Chase she loved him before she went, just like her future self. The new Pride disbanded, and Nico was able to wipe Geoffrey's memories and return him back to his time, but could do nothing to bring Gert back. Life went on for the runaways as they continued to fight crime... minus Chase, who had left the group after Gert's death.
Chase came back just in time for a run-in with the Young Avengers, after Victor was badly damaged in a fight. Xavin, Karolina, and the Avengers Wiccan and Hulkling were captured by a brainwashed Kree sent to capture the Runaways. After a huge fight, the four were rescued and Victor was repaired; the Runaways found comrades in the Young Avengers, and would run into the other group again several times in the future.
Later on, Chase revealed that he was working with Lotus, a girl from the new Pride. He was trying to find a way to bring Gert back to life by making a deal with the Gibborim. They agreed to bring her back to life if he were to sacrifice an innocent soul to him, and he almost succeeded... but in the end, he let the giants die once and for all.
Unfortunately, Xavin forgot to turn the group invisible on their way to Chase, so upon their return, they were greeted by Iron Man and co. They made a quick escape to New York to set up a deal with supervillain Kingpin; using their connection to the Pride, they got him to agree to let them stay in N.Y., as long as they stole some sort of device. Chase figured out it probably belonged to their parents, and jammed it in the Leapfrog in an attempt to escape from the Kingpin.
Aaand they ended up in New York... year 1907. Turned out the Steins and Yorkes had built that thing the kids stole for the Kingpin into the Leapfrog in case of an emergency. Trying to blend in, they ran into the Street Arabs, a group of "Wonders," aka people with powers like them. Victor fell in love with one of them, Lillie, much to Nico's (who had become his girlfriend, more or less) chagrin. As for Karolina, she discovered a young girl named Klara, who was a plant-manipulating Wonder... married to much older and abusive man, despite only being twelve. After the runaways found out Gert's parents were in the time period, they figured, "Oh crap, we need to get out of here." They found out about Gert's death through Chase, and though they tried to go back to the past to save their daughter, Nico stopped them from doing so. She cast a spell that made them keep the knowledge that they and Gert would die soon, but prevented them from doing or saying anything to prevent that, even to each other. Appropriately enough, the incantation was called "The show must go on."
Before they went back to the future, Karolina and Molly insisted that Klara come with them. Where she agrees, Victor offered the same chance to Lillie, who refused. In the future, an elderly Lillie was still alive, forever regretting her decision to stay in the past. Klara's presence marked the first time a person had joined the team without another dying, so hopefully this would mark a good beginning, right?
... Though it actually doesn't turn out all too happy, this is where I'm pulling Karolina from! Good times.
personality: At first, Karolina seems to be your average valley girl, complete with overuse of "like" and whatnot. She serves as a mediator within the group, always providing support whenever any of her team members need it. Despite this, however, she's pretty much the outsider of the group. Whereas all of the others are humans (Molly would be an exception, but), Karolina was the group's only extraterrestrial until Xavin arrived, something that made her feel like an outcast in a group of outcasts. When the group encounters Topher, she tells him that she doesn't want to live anymore, and willingly sacrifices herself to save the others. Though the solar property of her blood kills him and leaves her unharmed, she reveals to the group that she meant everything she said about wanting to die. She gets over her death wish with the death of Alex and the Pride, resolving to become a better person.
After spending time on Majesdane with Xavin, Karolina matures noticeably. She becomes much more confident with herself and who she is, thanks to the responsibility she held in uniting the Majesdanian and Skrull worlds--though it ultimately failed, she tried her best to do the right thing. Upon her return, her presence alone is enough to keep the group together in a rocky time. When Chase loses Gert and Victor loses Lillie, Karolina is there for both of them, helping them to cope in times of hardship; a feeling she's very familiar with.
An extremely touchy issue with Karolina is the matter of her sexuality. From the beginning, there were hints that she had a crush on Nico, which, to Karolina's disappointment, would never be reciprocated. She feels very strongly about being a lesbian, reprimanding Chase whenever he uses "gay" as a pejorative term. She realizes her relationship with Xavin sometimes makes her other friends uncomfortable, but they all eventually accept her... until Klara comes along. But, Klara being from a completely different time period, Karolina puts up with her--in fact, Karolina is the reason Klara ended up traveling back to the future with the others. She forgives Klara for her closemindedness, and gives her a chance to have a better life.
Karolina is fully devoted to her friends and those close to her, doing anything she can to protect them. She's staunch in her devotion to Xavin, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care about her other friends, either. She admits to Xavin (who was, at the time, disguised as Nico) that she loves Nico more than the other girl will ever know, but Xavin is the only person for her. She's also dedicated to her beliefs, not afraid to let people know she strongly supports what she believes in. She's pretty liberal; very early on in the series, it's revealed that she's vegan, and that she was arrested for participating in a peace protest. And although it's hard to get her mad, she can get pretty pissed if her buttons are pressed.
All in all, Karolina is a strong girl, has a heart of gold, will do anything for her friends, and won't hesitate to shoot sun-powered lasers around if she needs to.
if your character is 13 years of age or younger, please post requested information here: n/a
why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? True to the title of the series, Karolina and the others spend most of their time running away. Although they're all considered children (with the exception of Chase, who turned eighteen in volume 1), they're more than capable of taking care of themselves; they've been doing so almost the entirety of the series. They've all experienced seeing the people who raised them turn out to be supervillains, and they all watched them die. They're wanted fugitives, yet they continue to try to make up for their parents misdeeds. Karolina and her friends have seen things that no other kids could even dream of experiencing, and though there are times they run into trouble, they always make it out okay together.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample: [voice]
This is on, right? Just making sure. I may not be technologically challenged, but I'd still appreciate some help with this... if only Victor was around. He'd probably go crazy with all these weird electronics.
If anyone out there is listening, I need a bit of help trying to find some friends of mine. There's Xavin, my, um, girlfriend. She might not look like a girl all the time, though. That's a little hard to explain. And then there's Molly; she's usually wearing a weird hat and has a thing for punching. She'll probably be with Klara, who's really shy. If weird things with plants start happening around someone, that's probably her. Nico wears a lot of goth clothing and make-up, Victor snaps, crackles, and pops from time to time, and Chase has a dinosaur following him around.
I think that covers it. And trust me, everything'll make a lot more sense if you actually find them. If you find anyone like that, tell them Karolina's looking for them. Thank you so much in advance.
Third Person Sample: Karolina was still trying to get used to this strange new city. Its resemblance to 1907 New York was slightly unsettling, but she knew it wasn't the same place--god forbid if it was. At first she thought that Chase had somehow screwed up trying to get them back to the present, but the longer she stayed in Anatole, the more she found out that wasn't the case.
When she first woke up, she could see the sunlight from her bed. That alone should have alerted her to the strangeness of the situation; the motley crew of runaways hadn't had that pleasure for quite some time. She had no complaints with that, though. The sun was integral to her being, after all. She also found a strange device by her head, and one look at the thing told her it wasn't like anything she'd seen before. It was oddly reminiscent of something she would find in the Yorkes' or Steins' inventories.
That's when a pang of guilt hit her. They'd done something horrible to poor Gert's parents; sure, Karolina knew for sure that they were evil, but the torture they had to go through thanks to Nico's spell was almost too brutal. She tried to tell herself that it was justified, but a nagging voice at the back of her head kept telling her otherwise.
She neglected the device at the time, instead opting to take a look around the city she'd been dumped in. It was almost refreshing to be able to walk outside without having to worry about the police trying to arrest her, but that feeling of freedom was quickly shot down as the locals shot disgusted glances her way whenever she walked by. Although she'd become comfortable with who she was, she still couldn't help but feel ashamed when the people looked at her that way. The utterances of "outworlder" and "freak" struck even greater chords with her; that's what she really was, even in her own world, after all. Now, more than ever, she wished for the companionship of her friends. At least they would be able to sympathize with her, even if they couldn't fully understand how hurtful those words were to her.
Eventually, she found herself in the market. She passed by a silly hat stall that she was sure Molly would enjoy; a gothic clothing one that Nico could appreciate; automobiles that Chase and Victor would probably fawn over; a board game shop Xavin would flip out at... the more she walked around, the more she smiled. At the same time, the familiarity of the place just made her sadder.
When she finally decided she had wandered enough around for today, something in the corner of her eye almost glistened in the setting sun. Curiosity getting the better of her, she made her way over to a shop that sold trinkets and such that the Door had brought over, miscellaneous objects that wouldn't be found in Berend's Found Goods.
It was a Beatles record, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Her eyes started watering as she looked at the vinyl. Although a shopkeeper came over to ask if she was all right (though she suspected he was more concerned about her causing a scene in the middle of his shop rather than her feelings), she weakly smiled and assured him she was fine. As he walked away, she mouthed the name of the song from that album she loved so dearly.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
Plans for the Character in this Setting: n/a
Anything else? I hope it's okay for her to keep her Majesdanian form as her true one? Since they're biologically similar to humans and all. If necessary, I could turn her into a normal human with her Majesdanian powers as a sort of powered transformation.
(And, er, please pretend that made sense.)