Application for theposthumans
Character Name: Karolina Dean
Canon source: Runaways
PB: Terese Pagh Teglgaard, accompanied by assorted comic scans
Personality:
In many ways, her rainbow-brite glow is the best representation of her. Karolina is bright and cheerful, absolutely beaming with happiness almost twenty-four/seven. She’s always looking for the bright side, always trying to bring light into everyone’s lives. Karolina is more often than not the one who reaches out to the people around her, trying to offer comfort and warmth. She’s free-spirited, cheerful, and tactile; there aren’t walls with Karolina. She doesn’t try to keep people out; she just invites everyone in.
Karolina personifies the term “Flower child.” She is the most peace-oriented member of the Runaways, always the one to pull back and request that everyone get along, everyone play nice, everyone stop arguing, please. She is quite literally the peacekeeper-the one who tries to keep everyone on a mostly even keel. Of all the Runaways, Karolina is perhaps the least suited for what she’s become; she absolutely can’t stand conflict, and seeing her friends hurt or injured tears her apart. She is the most emphatic of the group, and the most sensitive to her surroundings. This desire to avoid conflict is more often than not interpreted as weakness, even by Karolina’s own mother, who calls her daughter “spineless” for trying to avoid a fight. However, when push comes to shove, Karolina delivers. Incidentally, after her mother finished telling her daughter how weak she was, Karolina punched her out.
To some degree, this sensitivity stems from Karolina’s own belief that she doesn’t quite belong amongst the group. She isn’t human, and while that alone gives her a sense of displacement, it’s intensified by her homosexuality. Karolina feels like an outcast, not through any fault of her teammates, but simply from her own insecurities. That being said, she never expresses any interest in changing those things that make her different-she states that she wouldn’t be herself anymore if she did. She makes the best of things, trying hard to cope and find a way to be at ease, but it’s not until she meets Xavin that she becomes truly comfortable in her own skin.
Xavin is a large part of Karolina’s life, although their relationship is far from uncomplicated. Xavin is very different from Karolina, having been raised in a totally different climate and harboring much less merciful views that have, on occasion, greatly upset Karolina. In addition, Karolina harbors a long-standing crush on her teammate Nico, which causes problems between her and Xavin. Their relationship is far from simple, but Karolina never backs away from it, not once.
If Nico is the brains of this outfit, then Karolina functions as its heart. Nico organizes and strategizes, but Karolina is the one who tries to make them into a family. Her priority is the connections between them, how they operate as a family unit; Karolina is frequently shown in canon as speaking with teammates when they are upset or angry, acting as the big sister or mother figure for them. It’s Karolina who first calls the Runaways back together when Captain America separates them into foster homes, reassembling them into a team. Even when she’s galaxies away preparing for her wedding to Xavin, Karolina’s thoughts are still pulled back to the Runaways, and she still misses and wishes to be with them.
History: Here! for the first part.
This AU diverges from canon with the death of the Scarlet Witch. Upon seeing his mother’s murder, Billy Kaplan lost control entirely, and wiped every adult from the face of the planet. Everyone older than twenty-one vanished from the face of the planet, leaving only teenagers and children in the curse’s wake. And the only ones left to take control of things were kids with powers, kids with intelligence, untested and perhaps not ready, but all that was left.
And in the middle of all of this was Karolina.
Karolina stood by her friends through all of this, through the fighting and the pain and the banishment of the adults, and what kept her going was the hope that Xavin was coming back to her.
Xavin didn’t come back.
It took a long time for Karolina to give up on Xavin coming back to her, and that broke her apart. Between the idea of Xavin being gone for good, and the strain of the environment around her, Karolina was stretched to the very limit. She was trying to play mother to a very large group of people, and it was a more daunting task than she could ever have realized.
How does your AU differ from canon? Conspicuous lack of adults, firstly. Secondly, while Karolina is still cheery and bright, there’s often a sad note to her expressions and tone. She is much more apt to try to create some distance between herself and her friends, although she can never quite stop herself from worrying and caring for them.
Strengths: Karolina is a Majesdanian, which means her body is of alien physiology, and can absorb solar energy, then manifest and manipulate it for her own use. She is shown in canon as being able to use her energy to create force fields and shields, and focus her energy in concentrated blasts of light. She can also fly.
Weaknesses: Karolina hates conflict. She really, really does. When she’s put into high stress situations, it wears on her, and eventually she’ll hit the point where she just shuts down and gives up all together, attempting to take herself out of the game. It’s the equivalent of a child putting its hand over its eyes and saying no one can see me now, and while Karolina’s aware of this, it’s still what she defaults to when things get to be too much for her. Also, because her body runs on solar energy, she’s weaker at night due to the lack of it.
Preferred drop-in point: Manhattan pretty please.
What are some of your plans for this character in their new environment? Reunite with her friends, first and foremost. Karolina will tentatively treat this whole thing as a rest break from home, and be very careful about how comfortable she gets here.
First Person Journal Sample:
[At first, the camera doesn’t pick up on anything but light. Lots and lots of light that eventually flickers and fades, and a girl’s face slowly comes into focus. She’s smiling the fakest, most tentative smile that ever there was as she holds the communicator up to her face.]
Hello?
I’m sorry, but this isn’t where I’m supposed to be. There must be some mistake. I’d like to be sent back, please.
[She sighs, and then tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and that big fake smile gets just a little shaky.]
Asking nicely really never does work, I guess, no matter where I am. Well, since I’m stuck here, my name is Karolina, and I’m going to try this asking nicely business just one more time. Will someone please tell me what’s going on?
Third Person Sample:
Karolina spent a lot of time looking at the stars now.
Oh, she’d gone through the astronomy phase when she was eight. Her parents had bought her a telescope and she’d spent a few weeks glued to the window, looking at the craters on the moon and babbling about the planets. In retrospect, it seems incredibly naïve. After all, she’s seen firsthand what’s out there, and she now she knew there was so much more hidden in the blackness of space than a handful of planets and some stars.
There were whole other galaxies, civilizations thriving millions of light-years away from earth. Places with no concept of humans, places that humans could never even dream of. Places populated by men and women made of light, by little green aliens that weren’t really so little.
And Xavin.
Karolina wouldn’t exactly fess up and say that this was the reason she’d sneak up to the roof as often as she could and look at the sky until she had a crick in her neck, but, really, it was. She looked up at the sky and thought about Xavin and sometimes, if there were a shooting star, she’d make a wish, even if she felt like an idiot for doing it. She was really too old for things like shooting stars and wishes, especially when she knew they weren’t going to come true. After all, she’d been making them for how many years now? In the back of her head, she knew it was time to put away this childish hope away. Xavin wasn’t coming back, and Karolina had to just grow up and accept it.
But no matter how many times she told herself that, she always found herself on the rooftop, looking at the stars.
Canon source: Runaways
PB: Terese Pagh Teglgaard, accompanied by assorted comic scans
Personality:
In many ways, her rainbow-brite glow is the best representation of her. Karolina is bright and cheerful, absolutely beaming with happiness almost twenty-four/seven. She’s always looking for the bright side, always trying to bring light into everyone’s lives. Karolina is more often than not the one who reaches out to the people around her, trying to offer comfort and warmth. She’s free-spirited, cheerful, and tactile; there aren’t walls with Karolina. She doesn’t try to keep people out; she just invites everyone in.
Karolina personifies the term “Flower child.” She is the most peace-oriented member of the Runaways, always the one to pull back and request that everyone get along, everyone play nice, everyone stop arguing, please. She is quite literally the peacekeeper-the one who tries to keep everyone on a mostly even keel. Of all the Runaways, Karolina is perhaps the least suited for what she’s become; she absolutely can’t stand conflict, and seeing her friends hurt or injured tears her apart. She is the most emphatic of the group, and the most sensitive to her surroundings. This desire to avoid conflict is more often than not interpreted as weakness, even by Karolina’s own mother, who calls her daughter “spineless” for trying to avoid a fight. However, when push comes to shove, Karolina delivers. Incidentally, after her mother finished telling her daughter how weak she was, Karolina punched her out.
To some degree, this sensitivity stems from Karolina’s own belief that she doesn’t quite belong amongst the group. She isn’t human, and while that alone gives her a sense of displacement, it’s intensified by her homosexuality. Karolina feels like an outcast, not through any fault of her teammates, but simply from her own insecurities. That being said, she never expresses any interest in changing those things that make her different-she states that she wouldn’t be herself anymore if she did. She makes the best of things, trying hard to cope and find a way to be at ease, but it’s not until she meets Xavin that she becomes truly comfortable in her own skin.
Xavin is a large part of Karolina’s life, although their relationship is far from uncomplicated. Xavin is very different from Karolina, having been raised in a totally different climate and harboring much less merciful views that have, on occasion, greatly upset Karolina. In addition, Karolina harbors a long-standing crush on her teammate Nico, which causes problems between her and Xavin. Their relationship is far from simple, but Karolina never backs away from it, not once.
If Nico is the brains of this outfit, then Karolina functions as its heart. Nico organizes and strategizes, but Karolina is the one who tries to make them into a family. Her priority is the connections between them, how they operate as a family unit; Karolina is frequently shown in canon as speaking with teammates when they are upset or angry, acting as the big sister or mother figure for them. It’s Karolina who first calls the Runaways back together when Captain America separates them into foster homes, reassembling them into a team. Even when she’s galaxies away preparing for her wedding to Xavin, Karolina’s thoughts are still pulled back to the Runaways, and she still misses and wishes to be with them.
History: Here! for the first part.
This AU diverges from canon with the death of the Scarlet Witch. Upon seeing his mother’s murder, Billy Kaplan lost control entirely, and wiped every adult from the face of the planet. Everyone older than twenty-one vanished from the face of the planet, leaving only teenagers and children in the curse’s wake. And the only ones left to take control of things were kids with powers, kids with intelligence, untested and perhaps not ready, but all that was left.
And in the middle of all of this was Karolina.
Karolina stood by her friends through all of this, through the fighting and the pain and the banishment of the adults, and what kept her going was the hope that Xavin was coming back to her.
Xavin didn’t come back.
It took a long time for Karolina to give up on Xavin coming back to her, and that broke her apart. Between the idea of Xavin being gone for good, and the strain of the environment around her, Karolina was stretched to the very limit. She was trying to play mother to a very large group of people, and it was a more daunting task than she could ever have realized.
How does your AU differ from canon? Conspicuous lack of adults, firstly. Secondly, while Karolina is still cheery and bright, there’s often a sad note to her expressions and tone. She is much more apt to try to create some distance between herself and her friends, although she can never quite stop herself from worrying and caring for them.
Strengths: Karolina is a Majesdanian, which means her body is of alien physiology, and can absorb solar energy, then manifest and manipulate it for her own use. She is shown in canon as being able to use her energy to create force fields and shields, and focus her energy in concentrated blasts of light. She can also fly.
Weaknesses: Karolina hates conflict. She really, really does. When she’s put into high stress situations, it wears on her, and eventually she’ll hit the point where she just shuts down and gives up all together, attempting to take herself out of the game. It’s the equivalent of a child putting its hand over its eyes and saying no one can see me now, and while Karolina’s aware of this, it’s still what she defaults to when things get to be too much for her. Also, because her body runs on solar energy, she’s weaker at night due to the lack of it.
Preferred drop-in point: Manhattan pretty please.
What are some of your plans for this character in their new environment? Reunite with her friends, first and foremost. Karolina will tentatively treat this whole thing as a rest break from home, and be very careful about how comfortable she gets here.
First Person Journal Sample:
[At first, the camera doesn’t pick up on anything but light. Lots and lots of light that eventually flickers and fades, and a girl’s face slowly comes into focus. She’s smiling the fakest, most tentative smile that ever there was as she holds the communicator up to her face.]
Hello?
I’m sorry, but this isn’t where I’m supposed to be. There must be some mistake. I’d like to be sent back, please.
[She sighs, and then tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and that big fake smile gets just a little shaky.]
Asking nicely really never does work, I guess, no matter where I am. Well, since I’m stuck here, my name is Karolina, and I’m going to try this asking nicely business just one more time. Will someone please tell me what’s going on?
Third Person Sample:
Karolina spent a lot of time looking at the stars now.
Oh, she’d gone through the astronomy phase when she was eight. Her parents had bought her a telescope and she’d spent a few weeks glued to the window, looking at the craters on the moon and babbling about the planets. In retrospect, it seems incredibly naïve. After all, she’s seen firsthand what’s out there, and she now she knew there was so much more hidden in the blackness of space than a handful of planets and some stars.
There were whole other galaxies, civilizations thriving millions of light-years away from earth. Places with no concept of humans, places that humans could never even dream of. Places populated by men and women made of light, by little green aliens that weren’t really so little.
And Xavin.
Karolina wouldn’t exactly fess up and say that this was the reason she’d sneak up to the roof as often as she could and look at the sky until she had a crick in her neck, but, really, it was. She looked up at the sky and thought about Xavin and sometimes, if there were a shooting star, she’d make a wish, even if she felt like an idiot for doing it. She was really too old for things like shooting stars and wishes, especially when she knew they weren’t going to come true. After all, she’d been making them for how many years now? In the back of her head, she knew it was time to put away this childish hope away. Xavin wasn’t coming back, and Karolina had to just grow up and accept it.
But no matter how many times she told herself that, she always found herself on the rooftop, looking at the stars.