Xavier Institute App

[littlewhitelies]

PLAYER INFORMATION

PLAYER: Kaysper
ARE YOU AT LEAST 16 YEARS OLD?: Yes!
IF UNDER 18 YEARS OLD, PLEASE STATE YOUR AGE: Not since 2003.
CONTACT: kaysper on plurk, bluebraidedwondr on AIM, or you can PM me on this journal!
CHARACTERS PLAYED: n/a

CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: M'gann M'orzz aka Megan Morse
CANON: Young Justice
CANON REFERENCE: A handy wiki link! (Note that as this is a Season 1 M'gann, the Early Life to 2011 history is the most relevant.)
AGE: 16 (In the original canon she's chronologically 48 while biologically 16 because Martian life spans are weird. This is a non-issue in this AU as she's a straight up mutant teenager.)
GENDER: Female
YEAR IN SCHOOL/FACULTY POSITION: Year 11, just starting

APPEARANCE: M'gann's preferred shape is a five foot six inches green (or occasionally Caucasian) skinned girl with long, shoulder length red hair and freckles. Note the word 'preferred.' This isn't her natural shape, and is an ideal she projects with telepathy. Her default form is a chalk-white skinned, red eyed digitigrade creature with a gaunt face, topped off with claws and sharp teeth. (As a note, it has some differences from her original form in the series, being scaled down in size and with a marginally more expressive face. Her original design also manifests in her psyche, but that's further detailed below.)

Preferred form (alt costume) | Natural Form | Self Perceived Form

PERSONALITY:

M'gann is a young mutant girl who desperately seeks acceptance and some vague idea of a normal life. She is equal parts cheerful, excitable, and personable, offset by a surprising amount of uncertainty and deep rooted issues regarding her image and self-worth. M'gann struggles to reconcile who she is and who she wants to be, and does it all while wearing a cheerful smile and doing her best not to read anyone's mind.

Her outward personality is a nice and friendly one, in that sweet, cheerful, girl-next-door sort of way. She smiles easily and has an eternally chirpy voice, complete with a “Hello, Megan!” catch phrase that she uses frequently.

This cheeriness is tinged with a surprising amount of uncertainty and lack of confidence, which acts as a clue that her surface personality isn’t all there is to her. A lot of her more ditzy traits (and her catch phrase) have been adopted from TV to help make a new identity for herself, and give her distance from some uncomfortable secrets and history. Her green skin, for instance, is a way she can express being a mutant on her terms. It also helps put up another barrier between M'gann and the aspects of her background and self she doesn't like.

M’gann carries a lot of fear and shame about her natural form; she's afraid of how people would react to that facet of her, and so tries to hide it away and obscure it with a sweet, sitcom perfect girl front. Repression doesn't always work well though, and in this continuity she sees herself in an extremely poor light; her inhuman traits are exaggerated in M'gann's mind, and she sees herself as something grotesque and barely human. (ie, her original white Martian form which now acts as a symbol for everything she hides away in her psyche.)

M'gann is something of a paradox in her attempts to fit in. She just isn't familiar with a normal life, or how to act differently than what she is. For M'gann, telepathy and telekinesis are as natural as talking, walking, and using her hands. It still confuses her that other people don't use telepathy as the primary way to communicate, and that gives her the feeling of being an outsider. This also feeds into the weird dichotomy between how she acts and what she sees as normal; M'gann is the sort of mutant who dances to the latest pop hit on the radio one second, and levitates through the air in interpretative dance in the next before using telekinesis to bake a cake.

For M'gann, 'normal' is something she learned from TV, and very limited contact with the outside world. As such, she has a slightly incomplete and very unbalanced view on what regular life is like. In TV, people almost always smile, hang out with their best friends most of the time, and fill the rest of the day with school work or trips to the mall. Laughing is something that comes easy, catch phrases abound, and problems get solved in 22 minutes. Emulating what she sees on TV is important to M'gann, as it helps her figure out how to cope and interact with the real world and acts as a bright spot.

Now that she finally has the opportunity to be a normal-ish girl with classes, homework, potential friends and shopping trips, she treasures it. She also doesn't want to do anything to mess the opportunity up. M'gann is eager to please, whether that's showing that she's an outstanding cook or has the makings for a hero. (Just like her uncle J'onn!) But this also means it's easy to get her to go along with things, even if they're not the best idea. Tell her to read someone's mind and it's okay because they're bad guys/have information, and she'll do so. The art of standing up for herself is something M'gann has yet to learn or master.

She isn't sure of herself; if she can be accepted, if she's good enough to be a friend or have a lot of the normal girl perks she's fantasized about. Approval means a lot to her, perhaps more than is healthy or smart. That approval can be over her cooking, her skills or powers, or even her appearance... although the last one has a side effect of picking at a major insecurity of hers, based on how she really looks.

Acceptance and being valued are the most critical things for her, even more than a 'just like on TV' life. It's telling in the show that her first words after regaining her memories in Bialya in the episode Bereft are "I'm on a team! I have friends!" On the flip side, rejection is a crushing fear for M'gann, with her biggest terrors being the loss of her friends and new home.

She will go to extreme lengths to keep that from happening… which can result in some poor decision making, such as lying to people about her appearance and her background. That said, M’gann doesn't lie because she wants to or enjoys it, but because admitting the truth presents a terrifying, break-her-heart-into-millions-of-unfixable-pieces risk.

Still, at her core M’gann is an optimist; she wants to believe that most people are good, and that things will turn out alright. To spur both of those things forward, she’s frequently the peacemaker for whatever group she’s in. She tries to deflect problems or steer conversation away from confrontation when she can, or does her best to mediate and sooth if that isn’t possible. She is also eager to make people feel better and part of the group… which sadly can lead to getting involved when she shouldn’t, and not always understanding the concept of “alone time.”

In her ideal world, everyone gets along, and any problems that arise are easily solved in or under half an hour. While a part of her understands things aren’t that simple, it’s still something she fantasizes about. Several events (compromising her cover in Belle Reve to save a hostage, saving Superboy in Bialya instead of Kaldur, and breaking away from a fight to keep Wally from drowning) have also shown that M’gann will always, always prioritize helping people first; compassion before reason or strategy, basically.

She's a kid that has a lot of care and warmth in her, but also carries a lot of old hurts and a damaged view of herself. The two extremes she sees of what normal SHOULD be and what she IS are exaggerated and self eroding at best. Hopefully M'gann will survive school and super heroics, and figure out along the way that she's more than either facet.

POWERS/ABILITIES:

M'gann is a physically changed, psychic mutant whose powers manifest as psychic projection via telepathy and telekinesis.

She just manages to fall under the category of humanoid, largely thanks to standing on two feet and having two arms. Past that, things get a little less like a cheerleader and more like something from a science fiction film. Her skin is bleached to bone white, while her eyes are blood red. Her hands and feet both end in clawed digits, with two toes on her feet and two fingers and a thumb on her hands. Her face is gaunt and almost skeletal, with sharp teeth, a bony crest, and what can best be described as an exposed brain sack at the back of her head. Running from her sides to her upper arms is a thin vestigial wing membrane, that aids in levitation.

Given that her physical form can evoke responses anywhere from "looks weird" to "OH SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY KILL IT WITH FIRE" M'gann has picked up a trick involving her powers.

Using a very low key form of telepathic broadcasting (ie, doesn't involve reading anyone's mind and is purely an outward projection that she doesn't get any return feedback from) M'gann can project an image of a normal girl over her form. It's been refined enough that she can see it herself, and fool her own senses; a common test for her to make sure the projection is working is to flex her fingers and press them against her palms.

She can also consciously cast her thoughts out for telepathic, mind to mind communication. The result is like having a conversation with thoughts and conveying strong emotions. (It's also a surface level conversation, where any deeper thoughts or emotions going on would be like a flicker of body language. Potentially noticeable, but difficult to decipher.) Word of Greg says her range is a mile, but for game purposes this will be scaled down. Her telepathy is only reliable if she can see and/or hear the person she's communicating with. In addition, it's good for her to have a rapport with the person, such as knowing their name, having a conversation, and generally an idea of their identity; it helps strengthen the signal between them, particularly if she loses sight or the situation gets loud. Anything outside of that sight and sound range is like a bad, static-y and garbled radio signal. Reading someone's mind is impossible to do without tipping them off to her presence, and it's easy to keep her out. (Such as mentally reciting football scores in Spanish.)

If she knows someone and has permission from them, she can attempt to reach out and connect their psyches in order to share and view memories. With further training she could also attempt to dive into joined minds to repair emotional or mind control damage, with (and ONLY with) the help of the other person/people involved. At the moment she doesn't have the right amount of experience and knowledge to pull this off, however. The hypothetical ability also carries a lot of risks with it; taking on mental damage from manifestations of painful memories is a very real threat. She also needs to be in close contact and physically touching a person in order to use the ability.

A permissions post for her telepathy is also available here.

The other manifestation of her power is projecting her thoughts and will out to manipulate objects, as basic telekinesis. The size range goes from a small object like an egg up to a person sized object. That mid-sized table for instance? It would make a pretty decent projectile for hurling about in general directions like 'up/down,' 'forwards/backwards' and 'left/right.' She might eventually be able to work her way up to her full season 1 glory of tossing boulders around, but that is firmly outside of her range right now.

Her control over smaller objects is more fine, allowing her to press buttons or levitate/manipulate various cooking ingredients... though it's not advised to be in the same room as her when messy things like tomatoes and eggs are flying through the air. She can also levitate herself for flight, and potentially another person provided they're similar in size and weight to her. (It cuts down a lot on her maneuverability though, and those tight turns she can do alone just aren't possible while carrying someone else.)

ALL of these abilities are affected by a phobia she has of fire. Being in close proximity to a flame or extreme heat cuts into her concentration. The closer she is or the more she can feel high temperatures, the harder it is to keep her focus on levitating/telepathic speaking/etc.

As an example, a high temperature alone or a fire she can see (but not feel) can make her flight turn real wobbly. If a blast of fire gets too close to her while she's flying, that ability is going to short out and send her plummeting. Contact with fire, other than hurting a lot as fire is wont to do, also produces a temporary blackout. Likewise telepathic communication is going to break down and become unintelligible depending on the degree.

Her reaction is equal parts panic and deep rooted trauma. It is not something that can easily be healed, if ever. The only thing she can manage against fire is her projection (albeit with a lot of flickering around the edges) and it's very possible that her fear of isolation and rejection is even worse than her fear of fire.

Also Oreos (or the nearest Marvel equivalent) act as mutant catnip for her when eaten. Why is a mystery that may never be solved by science.

AU HISTORY:

M'gann M'orzz was born as Megan Morse in the (completely fictional) town of Mars, Arizona. The town itself was midsized and to the northwest of Page, with lots of ranch-style houses and a design sensibility influenced by either cowboys or a very parched and disoriented Frank Lloyd Wright. Cramming it between wilderness areas also made for an isolated town with a conservative beat. Overall an odd location suiting an unusual girl and an equally strange family.

Her mother, Eliza Jones was normal by most purposes, save for two factors. One was that her brother, John Jones (aka J'onn J'onzz, The Martian Manhunter) manifested an X-gene while she didn't, and the second was that she ended up falling in love with another mutant by the name of Matthew Morse.

Matthew's mutation was a low level form of telepathy, along with paler than usual skin; enough to be noticeable, but with the potential to pass as normal with some careful covering up. The two ended up marrying and moving to Arizona, as that was where Eliza's work as a BLM employee took her. Matthew also had a chance to study the local petroglyphs, being a historian. They might have hesitated with moving to a more conservative town, but the pay and opportunities were good and they needed it to sustain a growing family. Plus, it was easy enough to settle into a house on the outskirts of Mars for a relatively private life, closer to the wilderness than to the main parts of town.

Megan was the youngest of five children (two other sisters and two brothers) and aside from an older brother is the only one who ended up being a mutant. She was marked at a young age with white skin, red eyes, and oddly formed hands. As she grew she only picked up more physical changes; by age seven she'd gained the entire package of odd physical tweaks, and spent the rest of her time growing into them.

Public school ended up not being an option for her. Neither, for that matter, was common day-to-day social interaction outside of her family. Going outside was still an option, but mostly being in the wilderness instead of the town center. (And even then there were a few run-ins with hikers that didn't end on a positive note.)

The town was aware on her family on some level, but Megan stayed out of sight and out of mind for the most part. She went out a time or two with her family late at night and with a lot of covering; a face handkerchief, hoodies with long sleeves that obscured her hands, etc. That didn't prevent odd looks, however; just the ugliest confrontations, and even then there was often still a threat hanging in the air. It was a lucky thing her father could pick out those and excuse the family from a location before they boiled up to something worse.

As it turns out, being a weird looking kid in a suspicion-prone town wasn't super great for her development. Megan was given constant reminders through the outside world (and being isolated from it) that she was NOT considered normal, likable, or anything other than strange and undesirable.

There were some bright spots in her childhood though. One of them was thanks to her father's abilities; being a telepath, psychic conversation was very commonplace in her household and was a good way for her to learn how to open up and communicate. Still, there were hiccups in the link at times, with words becoming patchy or skipping syllables; one that came up frequently was her name getting distorted to "M'gann." The modified name ended up sticking.

Another thing that kept her afloat was television and old recorded videos of programs, which became her preferred window to the outside world. One program in particular caught her interest, called "Hello, Megan!" She became more than a little obsessed with it, seeing it as the ideal, normal life. And that maybe if she watched the show and studied it hard enough, she could have a chance at something like it.

Five years ago at age eleven, her powers kicked in. She quickly figured out that she could project her thoughts and will outward... but not necessarily the finesse involved in that. The major signal she was a telepath and telekinetic was when M'gann managed to briefly look like her favorite TV character, Megan Wheeler in the restroom of a diner. The resulting psychic euphoria from that ended up bending every single spoon in the restaurant.

That moment was dampened by the fact that her abilities had ALSO chosen to manifest at the same time a major anti-mutant scare was in motion. Mixing powers with a nervous and volatile population didn't lead to good results. Tempers flared, and along with a riot a fire in the diner broke out.

M'gann and her family were lucky to get out alive, and survive with very few physical scars. (The psychological ones would be a lot more deep.) After that, learning from her father how to keep a lid on her powers, at least to the best of his ability, was a normal fixture in her life. She spent the rest of her time, until sixteen years old, doing just that. Along the way she picked up how to better project an ideal image of herself, and found herself studying television that much more closely.

Thanks to that and discussion within the family, she learned more about her uncle John Jones. She'd seen news reports on her uncle in the past, as a hero who kept his mutation under wraps. Now, she watched them with the same fervor as her sitcoms.

Five months ago in July, all that time spent watching her uncle and thinking of a life outside of her home spurred M'gann into acting... by running away from home after a visit from her uncle. She ended up stowing away in the back of his car. M'gann also had some added luck that J'onn was a) okay with her initiative, b) contacted her parents and received some tentative permission, and c) was in contact with other supers known as the Justice League and was thus aware that a team of young heroes around her age was getting put together.

M'gann joined that team of other young mutants and supposedly human heroes as an auxiliary member for about four months. (The events are left vague so other potential cast mates can pick and choose episode events and CR.) For the most part, it was a good time for M'gann; she was learning how to make friends, express who she wanted to be, and fight crime!

However after a bad incident involving her mind overriding a telepathic training simulation, it was decided that she needed more training to control her abilities. She spent time with her uncle, learning more in the way of meditation, but it became clear that J'onn didn't have the resources to be a full time Justice League member AND mentor to her. That was when the idea to refer her to the Xavier institute came up. (The League had some knowledge of the school, and may have even worked with the X-men in the past!)

For her part, M'gann was almost a little TOO excited at the prospect of going to a real school, just like what she'd seen on TV. So she packed her bags, and got ready to head out.

SAMPLES

NETWORK SAMPLE:

[When the video opens up to a dorm room, one part of it looks like ground zero for a glitter bomb. Someone has taken the liberty to throw a purple star blanket over the bed, put a few more shiny looking stars on the walls, along with some posters saturated with pink color schemes and small animals. To round out the newly installed decorations, there's even a string of seasonal colored lights along a window.

With all that set up, a face nervously pops into view with a faint grin. From the half-worried look she gives the video camera, M'gann doesn't seem sure if it's recording her or... that OTHER her. After a moment, she ends up hitting the 'text' button.]

Hello, other students and faculty? I finished moving into my new room, and installing the decorations; both the permanent ones and the holiday ones! If you want to stop by sometime and take a look, feel free! They look even better in person!

BTW (that's how you use those letters, right?) something might be weird with the video. Sorry if anything odd showed up; I'll check with Mister Xavier about it whenever I can!

LOG SAMPLE:

She didn't have as much to pack as she thought.

Part of it may have been that she STILL didn't have much in the way of clothes. Not when she already had one black supersuit like her uncle's, which fit well enough. Everything else was either simple, loose fitting and cheap non-descript cloth, or whatever she could imagine and project outward. And that last wasn't something she could fit into a duffle bag.

So that left M'gann drumming her fingers on the bed and looking over her pack. On the one hand, it was nice to be able to travel light; on the other, she had a tight knot in her chest that said she SHOULD have more. Didn't normal girls usually have lots of boxes full of shoes and clothes and CDs?

She at least had a few of those. One of the best things about having a normal form to walk around in was getting her own music. Her fingers went from nervous drumming to tapping a rhythm as she looked over the small stack of music she DID have. Plenty of pop, a little rock and roll... but no Mojoworld yet, which still left her with hunched up shoulders. The radio didn't play those songs nearly enough for her liking and-

Her phone buzzed. (Something that she still was getting used to. Having her own, real pink clamshell phone was something that never failed to give her an excited shiver.) A quick jingle to the tune of 'He-llo Megan!' that said she had a new text from her uncle.

Her eyes scanned over it; an announcement for when they'd be leaving for the Institute and...

...That a certain CD was well supplied there as a gift, and that J'onn thought it would be nice for her to know. With the way she was floating above the ground and grinning at the phone, 'nice' was an understatement. The last of her CDs got psychically lifted and tucked into the bag as she hummed one of the songs to herself.

This move and new school were sounding better and better by the second.