Post by Alonna Swanson on Oct 17, 2008 21:15:27 GMT -5
Basics
Name: Alonna Swanson
Nicknames: Lonni, Lon
Age: 23
Birthday: June 24
Gender: Female
O/C: Original
Category: Special
Power: Invisibility
The Look:
Since she was a little girl, Alonna knew she was beautiful. She stands at the border of "model height," at 5'7'', but makes up for her "shortness" with a naturally willowy figure, thick, two-toned golden hair, pale green eyes, full lips, and flawless, pale skin. She loves picking out her own clothes (as she hadn't been able to do when modeling) and has an eclectic style that bounces between vintage funky hats and sunglasses, to blouses with wide, flowing sleeves.
Celebrity: Majandra Delfino
Personality: In her day to day life, Alonna appears very confident, independent, and self-assured, but beneath the surface she feels herself constantly waiting for outside validation. She is undyingly stubborn when she makes up her mind about something, and it's more a determination to never admit that she's wrong than true confidence that keeps her from constantly going back on her own decisions. Despite her keen intuition when it comes to the behavior of others, she has a very poor understanding of her own strengths and weaknesses. She sees herself as having overcome the problems from her past, but, in truth, everything from a fear of fire to her instinctual rebellion against being told what to do comes from memories she would rather not dwell on. She has an outgoing and social personality, and a genuinely kind and giving attitude that has led her to start using her powers to help others.
History:
Alonna was born into a rich family - her father a long-time business executive, her mother a former model, well known and respected in the world of high-fashion. Despite his busy life, Alonna's father saw her as his greatest joy, and took time to check in on her and kiss her goodnight, no matter how busy his schedule was or how late he got in. On December 24th of her first year Alonna's father came home from a Christmas party, and, while his wife got ready for bed, he went to relieve the nanny and check on Alonna. When he got to her bedroom he discovered a stranger at her crib-side, watching her in the darkness. Before he could move forward or away, he found himself pinned to the wall by an invisible force, dragged to the ceiling, and set aflame.
The house nearly burned to the ground, and no one was ever quite sure how infant Alonna - asleep in the room where the fire began - had managed to make it out alive. The official consensus was that Cristine, Alonna's mother, must have rushed, in a panic, to the nursery to save her, though she to this day denies doing any such thing.
Her father's company wasn't kind to the family after his death, and it wasn't long before Cristine's lifestyle (and the remodeling of their charred home) began to drain the last of their money reserves. Cristine took jobs where she could find them, but she had no real skills except modeling, and she was a thirty-two year old woman. She could make a little money from catalogs, but certainly not enough to keep the family afloat. Soon, it was decided that Alonna should begin pulling in money as well. Her earliest memories are of being on sets modeling baby clothes or being forced to eat nauseating amounts of pea-mush for various commercials.
Be it thanks to good genes or Cristine's untiring routine of healthy foods and daily workouts, but by the time she was 15, Alonna had moved from commercials to runways, and had even earned a recurring role on a popular daytime TV show. Her mother, now also her agent, insisted that she could be the next "big thing," and the media seemed to agree.
But, despite the fact that she missed school as often as she went, Alonna found herself wondering if she even wanted to devote her life to modeling. She was fascinated by science, history, and more than once was scolded when Cristine found her curled up in a chair with Dickens or Tolkien instead of "doing something useful, like attending a party. Making contacts."
When Alonna turned 17, Cristine withdrew her from school altogether. Alonna, used to her mother calling all the shots, "knowing best," didn't do much more to argue than slam a few doors in protest.
For the next three years, Alonna devoted herself to fashion and life in the spotlight. Then one day, at 20 years old, she was turned away from a shoot because she was just "too old." Those words really made her realize that, in her occupation, her life would essentially end in the next five or six years. And then she would become her mother.
That knowledge snapped her out of her mindset of practiced compliance. She quit modeling, vowing to never again submit to anyone else's plans about what her future should be.
She left LA, moving to a small town to start a new life, and took a job as a waitress in a cheesy, themed restaurant. She had plenty of money, but was determined not to rest on it the way her mother had. She wanted to be able to make her own way in the world, so she took her GED and enrolled in a local college. Memories of the strain and pressure of growing up in the public eye left Alonna determined to help other kids growing up in difficult circumstances, so she began to study psychology.
By 23, after taking extra classes and summer courses, Alonna had just received her bachelor's degree and was debating a Masters, when Cristine came back into the picture. That's when everything changed.
Deciding that her daughter's "temper tantrum" had gone on long enough, Cristine started calling and emailing Alonna, insisting that she was ruining her life, and that she already had a part waiting for her in a new TV series, as long as she forgot all this "school nonsense" and came back to LA immediately. Alonna ignored the calls, unsure that she would be able to stand up to her mother if they got in a direct argument. Finally the calls stopped, and Alonna thought her mother had gotten the hint. Then she showed up at the restaurant while Alonna was on shift. She caught sight of her mother coming in, just as she stepped out of the kitchen with an order. She froze in panic, waiting to be discovered, trying to form an argument that would just make her mother get the picture and go away.
But Cristine, after a thorough look around the room, shook her head and left the restaurant without a word. Alonna looked after her departing mother in confusion - did she really look so unrecognizable after three years? - until her co-worker, stepping out of the kitchen, walked right into her, knocking her over. The coworker apologized, saying that she "just hadn't seen her" standing there.
That night, Alonna came home to find her mother sitting in her living room, along with Alonna's boyfriend, Brendan. Apparently, they had been in contact for weeks, privately trying to decide what was "best" for Alonna. That was how Cristine had known where she worked, where she lived. Brendan had assured Cristine that they would be able to convince Alonna that she had "a chance for greatness," and she was "wasting all her talent with this small town nonsense." After a blowout fight, she threw both of them out of her house, and then sat in front of her door for the rest of the night, wondering if they were right.
Over the next few weeks Alonna, who had never been the type of girl to be ignored, found people seeming to look right through her several times. Brendan once caught sight of her in the middle of a street, and she paused, resigned to having to talk to him, but he took several steps forward and then seemed to lose sight of her entirely. He fixed a confused gaze somewhere over her right shoulder and called out "Lon?" then, after a moment, turned away with a sigh and moved off.
Shaking her head, Alonna thought that he must have been making some childish attempt to avoid her and, turning around, saw something strange in the window of the cafe beside her. Or rather, didn't see something. Several seconds passed, squinting at the window, trying to figure out how she could be seeing the reflection of the tree behind her, but she didn't seem to exist at all. And then, with a dizzying flicker, she reappeared.
She spent the next week in her house, avoiding work and her friends, who all thought that she was just upset about her breakup. After she recovered from her initial shock, she began to think about how useful her "magic power" could be. She would be able to go places that no psychologist or social worker would be allowed, and find out what was really going on in the lives of her patients. Now that she was a "superhero," she would be able to really help the kids she had devoted herself to be looking out for.
Family:
Mother: Cristine Swanson, former model and current agent
Father: Steven Swanson, an executive in a large business, before he was killed in a fire on Alonna's six-month birthday.
Likes/Dislikes:
+ feeling like she's helped
+ her new "superpower"
+ thrift stores
+ small towns where everyone knows everyone
+ Italian seaside villages
+ knowing she can take care of herself
+ a guy who will challenge her, but will still be a knight in shining armour when push comes to shove
+ red (the colour)
+ wildflowers
+ mixing baby doll shirts with biker boots
- being told what to do
- people who have everything handed to them
- daytime TV
- tabloids and reporters
- junk food (never got a taste for it)
- big businesses
- the general human obsession with money and financial success
Strengths:
- able to dedicate herself completely to anything she's set her mind to
- skilled at "reading people" - seeing their motivations and through deception.
- physical attractiveness
- quick learner
- connection (though she hates to use them) to many rich and "connected" people
- her power
- has been kickboxing for years ("A great way to stay in shape" according to Cristine)
Weaknesses:
- a lack of confidence in her own convictions
- her mother
- Terrified of fire
- she still casts a wispy (smoke-like) shadow when invisible
- extended periods of invisibility make her lightheaded and dizzy
- stubbornness
Interests:
- taking walks in the wilderness
- learning (pretty much anything)
- tracking down eclectic clothing stores
- exposing corruption
Sample Post:
Her phone went off with a high, chiming ring, and Alonna jumped, hissing out a sharp breath and tugging it from her pocket, flipping it open and shut again quickly. The phone silenced, and Alonna's gaze shifted slowly back on her target.
He had heard it, even over his shouting. Dropping the trembling boy from his grasp, sending him to the floor, the large, swarthy man turned sharply to fix his eyes directly on her.
Past. Not on. Past.
He couldn't see her. She was safe as long as he couldn't see her. As long as she could keep this power under control...
"Who's there?"
His gaze had moved to the window, now, three feet to Alonna's left, and he lumbered toward it with slow, heavy steps. She felt her breaths getting heavier as he moved closer, and caught it, pressing back against the room's corner. She lowered the handheld camera slowly to her side - she wouldn't be able to use this footage, anyway.
The boy sat up slowly, wiping the tears from his face and frowning in about the room.
"Lonni?"
She winced, shrinking even further against the wall, as the boy's father spun back to face his slowly rising son.
"What's that? You're expecting someone here, brat? You been running your big mouth again?"
The mystery of the ringing cell phone forgotten, he stalked back toward the boy. Alonna gritted her teeth glancing toward the open window and back to the wide-eyed boy. She had just come here to observe, to get evidence on tape to slip to the social workers. She hadn't planned on interfering.
But leaving now wasn't really an option. She had to do something to help the poor kid. Closing her eyes to steady herself - getting too scared would only make her lose control of her ability - she tightened her grip on her camera and stepped slowly forward.
And her foot came down hard upon a discarded beer can, crushing it with an audible crunch...
Name: Alonna Swanson
Nicknames: Lonni, Lon
Age: 23
Birthday: June 24
Gender: Female
O/C: Original
Category: Special
Power: Invisibility
The Look:
Since she was a little girl, Alonna knew she was beautiful. She stands at the border of "model height," at 5'7'', but makes up for her "shortness" with a naturally willowy figure, thick, two-toned golden hair, pale green eyes, full lips, and flawless, pale skin. She loves picking out her own clothes (as she hadn't been able to do when modeling) and has an eclectic style that bounces between vintage funky hats and sunglasses, to blouses with wide, flowing sleeves.
Celebrity: Majandra Delfino
Personality: In her day to day life, Alonna appears very confident, independent, and self-assured, but beneath the surface she feels herself constantly waiting for outside validation. She is undyingly stubborn when she makes up her mind about something, and it's more a determination to never admit that she's wrong than true confidence that keeps her from constantly going back on her own decisions. Despite her keen intuition when it comes to the behavior of others, she has a very poor understanding of her own strengths and weaknesses. She sees herself as having overcome the problems from her past, but, in truth, everything from a fear of fire to her instinctual rebellion against being told what to do comes from memories she would rather not dwell on. She has an outgoing and social personality, and a genuinely kind and giving attitude that has led her to start using her powers to help others.
History:
Alonna was born into a rich family - her father a long-time business executive, her mother a former model, well known and respected in the world of high-fashion. Despite his busy life, Alonna's father saw her as his greatest joy, and took time to check in on her and kiss her goodnight, no matter how busy his schedule was or how late he got in. On December 24th of her first year Alonna's father came home from a Christmas party, and, while his wife got ready for bed, he went to relieve the nanny and check on Alonna. When he got to her bedroom he discovered a stranger at her crib-side, watching her in the darkness. Before he could move forward or away, he found himself pinned to the wall by an invisible force, dragged to the ceiling, and set aflame.
The house nearly burned to the ground, and no one was ever quite sure how infant Alonna - asleep in the room where the fire began - had managed to make it out alive. The official consensus was that Cristine, Alonna's mother, must have rushed, in a panic, to the nursery to save her, though she to this day denies doing any such thing.
Her father's company wasn't kind to the family after his death, and it wasn't long before Cristine's lifestyle (and the remodeling of their charred home) began to drain the last of their money reserves. Cristine took jobs where she could find them, but she had no real skills except modeling, and she was a thirty-two year old woman. She could make a little money from catalogs, but certainly not enough to keep the family afloat. Soon, it was decided that Alonna should begin pulling in money as well. Her earliest memories are of being on sets modeling baby clothes or being forced to eat nauseating amounts of pea-mush for various commercials.
Be it thanks to good genes or Cristine's untiring routine of healthy foods and daily workouts, but by the time she was 15, Alonna had moved from commercials to runways, and had even earned a recurring role on a popular daytime TV show. Her mother, now also her agent, insisted that she could be the next "big thing," and the media seemed to agree.
But, despite the fact that she missed school as often as she went, Alonna found herself wondering if she even wanted to devote her life to modeling. She was fascinated by science, history, and more than once was scolded when Cristine found her curled up in a chair with Dickens or Tolkien instead of "doing something useful, like attending a party. Making contacts."
When Alonna turned 17, Cristine withdrew her from school altogether. Alonna, used to her mother calling all the shots, "knowing best," didn't do much more to argue than slam a few doors in protest.
For the next three years, Alonna devoted herself to fashion and life in the spotlight. Then one day, at 20 years old, she was turned away from a shoot because she was just "too old." Those words really made her realize that, in her occupation, her life would essentially end in the next five or six years. And then she would become her mother.
That knowledge snapped her out of her mindset of practiced compliance. She quit modeling, vowing to never again submit to anyone else's plans about what her future should be.
She left LA, moving to a small town to start a new life, and took a job as a waitress in a cheesy, themed restaurant. She had plenty of money, but was determined not to rest on it the way her mother had. She wanted to be able to make her own way in the world, so she took her GED and enrolled in a local college. Memories of the strain and pressure of growing up in the public eye left Alonna determined to help other kids growing up in difficult circumstances, so she began to study psychology.
By 23, after taking extra classes and summer courses, Alonna had just received her bachelor's degree and was debating a Masters, when Cristine came back into the picture. That's when everything changed.
Deciding that her daughter's "temper tantrum" had gone on long enough, Cristine started calling and emailing Alonna, insisting that she was ruining her life, and that she already had a part waiting for her in a new TV series, as long as she forgot all this "school nonsense" and came back to LA immediately. Alonna ignored the calls, unsure that she would be able to stand up to her mother if they got in a direct argument. Finally the calls stopped, and Alonna thought her mother had gotten the hint. Then she showed up at the restaurant while Alonna was on shift. She caught sight of her mother coming in, just as she stepped out of the kitchen with an order. She froze in panic, waiting to be discovered, trying to form an argument that would just make her mother get the picture and go away.
But Cristine, after a thorough look around the room, shook her head and left the restaurant without a word. Alonna looked after her departing mother in confusion - did she really look so unrecognizable after three years? - until her co-worker, stepping out of the kitchen, walked right into her, knocking her over. The coworker apologized, saying that she "just hadn't seen her" standing there.
That night, Alonna came home to find her mother sitting in her living room, along with Alonna's boyfriend, Brendan. Apparently, they had been in contact for weeks, privately trying to decide what was "best" for Alonna. That was how Cristine had known where she worked, where she lived. Brendan had assured Cristine that they would be able to convince Alonna that she had "a chance for greatness," and she was "wasting all her talent with this small town nonsense." After a blowout fight, she threw both of them out of her house, and then sat in front of her door for the rest of the night, wondering if they were right.
Over the next few weeks Alonna, who had never been the type of girl to be ignored, found people seeming to look right through her several times. Brendan once caught sight of her in the middle of a street, and she paused, resigned to having to talk to him, but he took several steps forward and then seemed to lose sight of her entirely. He fixed a confused gaze somewhere over her right shoulder and called out "Lon?" then, after a moment, turned away with a sigh and moved off.
Shaking her head, Alonna thought that he must have been making some childish attempt to avoid her and, turning around, saw something strange in the window of the cafe beside her. Or rather, didn't see something. Several seconds passed, squinting at the window, trying to figure out how she could be seeing the reflection of the tree behind her, but she didn't seem to exist at all. And then, with a dizzying flicker, she reappeared.
She spent the next week in her house, avoiding work and her friends, who all thought that she was just upset about her breakup. After she recovered from her initial shock, she began to think about how useful her "magic power" could be. She would be able to go places that no psychologist or social worker would be allowed, and find out what was really going on in the lives of her patients. Now that she was a "superhero," she would be able to really help the kids she had devoted herself to be looking out for.
Family:
Mother: Cristine Swanson, former model and current agent
Father: Steven Swanson, an executive in a large business, before he was killed in a fire on Alonna's six-month birthday.
Likes/Dislikes:
+ feeling like she's helped
+ her new "superpower"
+ thrift stores
+ small towns where everyone knows everyone
+ Italian seaside villages
+ knowing she can take care of herself
+ a guy who will challenge her, but will still be a knight in shining armour when push comes to shove
+ red (the colour)
+ wildflowers
+ mixing baby doll shirts with biker boots
- being told what to do
- people who have everything handed to them
- daytime TV
- tabloids and reporters
- junk food (never got a taste for it)
- big businesses
- the general human obsession with money and financial success
Strengths:
- able to dedicate herself completely to anything she's set her mind to
- skilled at "reading people" - seeing their motivations and through deception.
- physical attractiveness
- quick learner
- connection (though she hates to use them) to many rich and "connected" people
- her power
- has been kickboxing for years ("A great way to stay in shape" according to Cristine)
Weaknesses:
- a lack of confidence in her own convictions
- her mother
- Terrified of fire
- she still casts a wispy (smoke-like) shadow when invisible
- extended periods of invisibility make her lightheaded and dizzy
- stubbornness
Interests:
- taking walks in the wilderness
- learning (pretty much anything)
- tracking down eclectic clothing stores
- exposing corruption
Sample Post:
Her phone went off with a high, chiming ring, and Alonna jumped, hissing out a sharp breath and tugging it from her pocket, flipping it open and shut again quickly. The phone silenced, and Alonna's gaze shifted slowly back on her target.
He had heard it, even over his shouting. Dropping the trembling boy from his grasp, sending him to the floor, the large, swarthy man turned sharply to fix his eyes directly on her.
Past. Not on. Past.
He couldn't see her. She was safe as long as he couldn't see her. As long as she could keep this power under control...
"Who's there?"
His gaze had moved to the window, now, three feet to Alonna's left, and he lumbered toward it with slow, heavy steps. She felt her breaths getting heavier as he moved closer, and caught it, pressing back against the room's corner. She lowered the handheld camera slowly to her side - she wouldn't be able to use this footage, anyway.
The boy sat up slowly, wiping the tears from his face and frowning in about the room.
"Lonni?"
She winced, shrinking even further against the wall, as the boy's father spun back to face his slowly rising son.
"What's that? You're expecting someone here, brat? You been running your big mouth again?"
The mystery of the ringing cell phone forgotten, he stalked back toward the boy. Alonna gritted her teeth glancing toward the open window and back to the wide-eyed boy. She had just come here to observe, to get evidence on tape to slip to the social workers. She hadn't planned on interfering.
But leaving now wasn't really an option. She had to do something to help the poor kid. Closing her eyes to steady herself - getting too scared would only make her lose control of her ability - she tightened her grip on her camera and stepped slowly forward.
And her foot came down hard upon a discarded beer can, crushing it with an audible crunch...