Post by KittsMitts on Nov 10, 2023 7:35:47 GMT
General Information
Full Name:
Veronica "Vee" Floegel
Codename or Alias:
Polychrome, Vera Floe, "Vida"
Anonymity
Up-and-coming Hero reputation, really a ‘friendly neighborhood’ type at most right now, and a still secret identity to boot. Even more secret ‘side projects,’ which she hasn’t let overlap with her in-costume reputation
Gender:
She/They
Race:
Human (mostly. as far as she knows.)
Age:
25
Place Of Birth:
Portland, Oregon
Occupation/Status:
Freelance Artist & Musician, works days at a community outreach office to pay the bills, but they’re flexible as long as she gets her work done on time. Also a vigilante, activist, radicalist, and superhero on the side.
Alignment:
Hero. Even if some don’t agree with all of her methods, her aim has always been the greater good.
Factions:
Action Comics
Canon Or Original?:
Original
Powers/Abilities:
Light Creation & Control - While she typically draws light from her surroundings, even in the darkest night there is light to be found, she is generally weaker with less available light. She can set up a system with reflection and refraction to amplify the amount of light she has to work with. For example, she is at an advantage in a city or place with a lot of light pollution and reflective surfaces, and at a disadvantage in more natural surroundings where her only source would be moon or starlight. In a limited sense she can even remove light by absorbing it into her body. However, this is an unstable use of her power, and while it can give her boosted abilities and a Stealth advantage, the timing is unpredictable. Best saved for Limited Use, or when other avenues of escape weigh riskier.
Hard Light Creation & Control - Comparable to a Green Lantern in application, she can make anything she can think of. She is a baby lantern in this sense, as she sticks to mostly simple geometrical shapes, martial weapons, or extending/enhancing her own body for extra protection and power. Her powers tend to light up in an iridescent pink, catching hues of yellow and blue, so this is the least subtle use and tends to draw attention, wanted or unwanted.
Empathy - Sense and Light Manipulation (Crowd Control) - Suggestion and emotional projection to help people reach an understanding or communicate and at times achieve a certain mood. it can also be negative but it's stronger when it's positive, and it's usually a passive ability. Passion that doesn't lead to blind anger but righteousness and focus
Natural Resistance to Radiation - Because she quite literally absorbed a Rock from Space into her Body and Bloodstream, Vee has developed a natural resistance to different kinds of Radiation as her body’s physiology has changed to be able to process it safely.
A few yet unknown and unavailable to her until she finds more shards of her Gem
Ex. More precise light manipulation, more powerful and intricate hard light constructs, control of the color spectrum, tangible light illusions, access to controlling light types she cannot normally see (plus the ability to sense them acutely), and more ease using easy to difficult power applications over a wider range.
Regular Person Skills & Abilities - Significantly Practiced, Trained, or Above Average
Professional Musician, Natural Leader, Stealth, Mechanical & Engineering Knowledge, Physics Knowledge, Artistry, Political Knowledge, Research, Dance, MMA, Boxing, Escrima, Krav Maga (technically only trained for self-defense), Street Knowledge (Street Smarts™ and an extensive knowledge of her city), A million personal contacts in every aspect of her life besides Actual Hero-ing, Power of the People (‘I know a guy who can help,’ and experience rallying a crowd)
Weapons/Items:
The Gem:
Vee's Gem is only a Shard of a Whole
Hard Light Constructs
Common Uses: Enhanced Punches (knuckles or Bigby’s Hand style), Enhanced Armor (full body or quick shielding for projectiles), Straight & Curved Planes, Discs for throwing, shielding, air walking, and propelling, Cylinders from Escrima Sticks to Bo Staffs to columns, Stairs & Ladders
A two-sided metal Compact Mirror. Many mundane items she carries have reflective surfaces or finishes to potentially aid her light.
Self-Defense Kit
Includes: Pepper spray, Polymer knuckles
On Keychain: Car Escape Tool (Spring-loaded stainless steel spike: Easily breaks side windows to escape a vehicle or rescue others from dangerous situations. Concealed seat-belt cutter: Quickly and easily cuts through seat belts in case of entrapment or emergency), Key-shaped concealed multi-purpose Knife (also a lockpick & boxcutter), Personal Safety Alarm (emits a VERY loud sound and has a bright LED flashlight), Multi-Tool Card (Can opener, Knife edge, Screwdriver, Ruler, Bottle opener, Butterfly screw wrench, 2 position wrench, Saw blade, Direction auxiliary indication, 4 position wrench)
Sabotage Kit
You remember the cartoon some alt-right youtubers made trying to make Antifa Freddy and generally make leftists look intimidating, and it was incredibly laughable? That, except she seriously does that shit Vietnam Protesters style. Straight up guerilla warfare and sabotage.
Appearance
Image:
Physical Appearance:
Stark white hair, Deep brown eyes, Thin body with lean layer of muscle and reasonable room for organs, more soft than hard, 5'5". Heart face, simple & warm smile, strong jaw, soft brow and eyes, straight nose. Long proportions for median height, built mostly straight up and down with a slight flare of curves, strong back, arms, and strongest in her legs. A long time running.
Clothing and Armor:
Everyday Wardrobe (
Average (typically "work-appropriate") alternative. Lots of jeans, leggings, fashion-forward pants, some skirts & shorts, tanks and shirts of bands or cool wordless designs, leather and jean jackets, cool shoes, few accessories (a bandana here, a bracelet, necklace, and earrings here, baseball caps & beanies there), some nice dresses and suits for special occasions, hoodies & sweats or silk pajama sets for lounging around at home (depending on the season). She likes customization, patches, painting directly on clothes, pops of color on an otherwise neutral look. Thrifts & Donates a lot, rotating her wardrobe.
Activism and Vigilantism (Secret Life)
All black and tactical - meant to remain unseen. A hodgepodge of thick-material pants, plenty of pockets and some loops or belts for storage, carabiner, face mask, baseball cap, steel-toed boots, long sleeves, leather gloves, and a couple silver wigs.
Hero Work (Polychrome's Public Look)
Light, Bold, and Reflective - meant to grab attention.
Personality
Sexual Orientation:
Pansexual, open to polyamory or monogamy, has been in many different kinds of situationships/relationships, both long and short-lived. More Casual at the moment, but not necessarily opposed to serious - she's focused on work, and otherwise going where that takes her.
General Personality:
Self-Righteous. Self-imposed Burdens. Responsible. Relentless. Forgiving. Hopeful. Gentle. Accepting of people's pasts if they are making a good way forward. Unforgiving and unrelenting if they are not. Saved to Savior. Fiercely Protective. Loyal. Jaded. Cynical. Critical. Idealistic. Kind. Mistrustful. Sensing. Giving. Loving. Intense. Compassionate & Empathetic.
Face/Voice: Phoebe Bridgers
Vera Floe's Discography includes select songs from: Stand Atlantic, Jetty Bones, Phoebe Bridgers, Hayley Williams, Charli Adams, Samia and others
Anything Else
Insert Playlist of Vera Floe songs
Character's History
Siblings:
Brandon Floegel - Deceased
Mother:
Birth - Camila Escarra
Adoptive - Alondra Floegel, née Escarra (blood-relation: Aunt)
Father:
Birth - "Ray" Ladrón
Adoptive - Jon Floegel (married relation: Uncle)
Other Family:
Tia Gina "Gigi" Escarra, Tia Olivia (married)
Their kids: Celestina, Ignacio, Ephraim, Marisol, Hector
Tio Manny Floegel, Auntie Reina (married)
Their kids: Billie, Armand
Uncle Carl (bachelor, living best life with three dogs)
In-Laws in spirit: Evelyn Knight (fiancée to Brandon Floegel)
Temperance Knight / Herja (Evelyn's sister)
History:
Veronica Camila Escarra-Ladrón’s life did not start easy. While that was the name on her birth certificate, the second half of her last name was not often around. And when he was, it wasn’t pretty. He wasn’t the type to bother to talk to children except with cruelty or ridicule. He was barely the type to speak to his long-time serious girlfriend and the mother of his children. Instead, he would be gone for weeks and months. Veronica still doesn’t really remember his face. If her mother didn’t make enough money or finesse someone of equal or greater scumbag standing for their bills and food that month, he took off on a ‘job.’ Her dad drove for a living, and that’s all she really remembered. Whether it was trucks or racing or smuggling, or just whatever someone ‘needed done,’ she’d made some leaps with the kind of person she knew him to be. He paid even less attention to her than Brandon, some old-school machismo giving him more disdain for his daughter than his son. She was useless to him, a burdensome mouth to feed. She wouldn’t even pass on his name.
Her one saving grace in her home life was her protector, the only person who cared about her well-being – her older brother, Brandon. They were both carted across the entire northwest, spending long stretches in motels from Northern California to Washington. They learned to take care of themselves and each other, and even their mom when she needed it. It was far from an easy upbringing. But it wouldn’t last.
When Vee was 6 and Brandon was 9, they were finally tracked down by CPS. Their extended family, it turns out, had been trying to find them for years. The two kids didn’t know what to do with the fact that people cared they existed. It took a while, Vee had recently turned 8 and Brandon was already 11 when the courts finally caught up with her mother skipping too many dates and found them home alone, as they often were. They secured the two and took them to their new home in Portland, Oregon, being fostered by their Aunt and Uncle. Brandon, ever the positive bright light, always making the best of every situation with a smile on his face, adjusted quickly. Veronica did not.
A kid who’d only known instability moves to a new place and doesn’t expect stability. When it comes, it feels like it will snap at any moment. So she resists it. She even tests it. Nothing happens, and she’s confused. Every time she’s scolded or acts out, she thinks it will be the end. And then it isn’t. She grows. And the scariest she ever sees them get is when she tries to run away at 13. That’s when it finally clicks - she’s somewhere she belongs, and people give a shit if she’s not there. After that, even if she doesn’t tend to come home on time, she at least always comes home.
They get adopted. She and Brandon remove their middle names, and change their last names to Floegel, cutting out any official reminder of their birth parents. Her Mama calls her Mi Vida, which turns into Vee. They call her brother Brandy, and a Caballero.
Vee, as she asks her family to start calling her all the time, always loved learning new things. A residual effect of having nothing to do in a lonely room but read and watch the news, she had a surprisingly great intuitive sense of the world. One of those things she found she was very good at was music. She had a natural inclination towards art and expression, especially after feeling it stifled for so long. She’d started playing piano and guitar when she moved in, started writing and singing when she felt more settled, and that passion grew in middle and high school. Brandon played bass and drums, and they started making music together. They started learning other instruments too - their mama Alondra had been a singer and model when she was younger, and their papa Jon always loved music when it came from her voice the most. These days, they were a little older, and she had become a home nurse while he was a mechanic. They worked tirelessly to give their kids opportunities, and they’d never had luck having children themselves. Jon collected video games and cameras, finding joy in the art of how things worked, and inspiring that love in both of his children just like Alondra inspired their love of music, good food, and caring for people. They were traditionally Mexican Catholic, but they weren’t as strict as some. They made sure their kids were raised right, to be kind, responsible, and respectful. And mostly to have common sense.
That sense made for a new passion in Vee’s life - she found causes, activism, and protesting. She started early, and made waves in her hometown. There was injustice all around her, in a period of great unrest at that time, and she found a sense of euphoria in the knowledge she could do something about it. Even one dissenting voice gives light to a problem, and could lead to a solution. But change is slow, especially in youth. She tried not to grow frustrated and keep working with the system, being educated that local politicians and policies were where real change happened first.
The kids grew up, Brandon went to training to become a firefighter, and met Vee’s senior English teacher by chance - Evelyn Knight. She was a student teacher, in her last few semesters, and they fell fast. Vee would have been slightly mortified if Ev hadn’t been one of the kindest, funniest, awkward people she’d met. She suited Brandon’s bright light, and when they were together they were always the brightest in the room. Vee graduated (with honors, to her parents’ pride) and eventually felt less awkward about her brother dating her old teacher, getting used to seeing Evelyn as more of a friend than a teacher figure, though still seeing her as a bit of a mentor at times. Eventually this grew to truly seeing her as an older sister, long before Brandon proposed.
Vee went to a local college to study music, and as often happens, met someone. She’d been exploring sexuality and relationships, but this connection was so strong she put that on hold to start a serious relationship at 19. His name was Paul, and he was kind at first. Then she started being kept from his friends. Then her friends. Then her family. Then everyone. Then the pandemic happened, and she lived with a sociopath. He filled her head with thoughts that she shouldn’t need anyone else because that’s what serious romantic relationships were. She was with him for two years before microaggressions turned into actual aggression. She battled with herself for six months before she managed to leave. She’d been making progress in school, but when they wouldn’t enforce a restraining order on campus, she felt she had no choice but to drop out.
She lived with her parents again, had started working freelance as a graphic designer and audio engineer, when she came to the conclusion she had to leave. Her family was supportive of her move to Seattle, and she got started on building a new life for herself. A friend from college got her into a steady job at a small-time community service facility, mostly operating outreach programs and shelters in the area. She met people. She made friends, and connections, and found her life brighten again. She threw herself into activism and started getting into more and more radical spaces. At times dangerously radical. Brandon and Evelyn had moved further North to be closer to Evelyn’s mother, he was getting promoted at his fire station, and they were having a lovely time planning their wedding when he died on the job. Never one to leave a kid behind, he got them out but died of inhalation after getting trapped inside.
Not even a year after this event shattered her life in grief, Evelyn’s house was hit by a meteor. Her mother died, and Evelyn miraculously survived to become imbued with the power of a Star. Evelyn visited in her Star Form to tell her what happened, finding Vee in a messy apartment she shared with other bohemian artist types. Feeling lost and confused, and still mired in grief, Vee drove and drove without stopping and went to the meteor site long after people had been cleared out, discarded beers growing in number in her passenger side. She went through the caution tape, and stumbled around the edge of the crater trying to find a way down. Put lightly, Vee was looking for a reckless way out of this life. And she almost found it when she took a wrong step and rolled down into the center. On the way, her head hit a jutted out rock and she blacked out with her wrists catching the ground at the base of the crater. When she came to, she woke looking through what looked like a pane of warped glass, moving and shimmering above her. It cleared from her vision, and she felt there was wet, sticky blood on her temple from a wound that seemed to have closed in the time it took her to wake up, and a strange Crystal embedded in her wrist.
Thinking of falling off a bike and picking rocks out of a skinned knee, but turned up to a 2.5 inch rock right along major veins and arteries, she tried to get it out only to puke on the ground beneath her. Okay, so that wasn’t going to work. Confused and concussed, she couldn’t find any major injuries from her fall, so she climbed her way out and went home a lot more sober. She cleaned herself off, put on long-sleeves to hide her new permanent accessory, unable to stop feeling the thing jutting out of her skin, and went back to her life.
She found it, oddly… easier than before. People listened to her more easily, her rise in the local music scene was going well, and she was a senior contracted designer at that little outreach program that had grown beautifully over the last couple years. She was active and known in her community, and she found her nighttime activist activities were going swimmingly and growing in intensity, too. The world was a scary place, and for someone who always chose too many causes, it felt like there was never enough time. Fortunately or unfortunately, she was about to find another one.
One night, on the way home after a long night, she was walking with nothing but her guitar case when she was approached by a mugger. She didn’t have time to get to her self-defense tools, and he pulled a gun on her immediately. Exhausted, ever rebellious, and feeling a little unhinged, she didn’t comply right away. The guy got frustrated as she tried to figure out a way to get to her pepper spray, and when her hands moved to take off her purse, he shot. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands up in front of her on reflex, only… To hear and feel nothing from the shot. She looked up, expecting to see he missed and expecting him to try again - only to be faced with that same warped glass shimmer she’d seen just two months ago. Now it was suspended in the air in front of her, but it was solid and had a strong pink hue. And there, right in front of her face, suspended in the light, was the bullet that should have been in her skull.
Holding her breath, she and the shooter looked in disbelief at what was happening. She reached to touch the panel, and the bullet shot back out to ricochet around the alley. She stumbled back to land on her ass, the guy bolted with panicked sounds quickly fading into the distance. She sat there, stunned, and eventually lifted her hand with a thought… to make it go away. And it worked.
So she started experimenting.
Ever the one to figure out any problem she was faced with, Vee was a fast learner. It helped that everything about it felt so… intuitive. Like it had always been a part of her. She started to figure out how to use it, researched superheroes and people with similar abilities, what they’d done with it. She took inspiration, and practiced. Seattle had a very active hero presence with Supergirl, but she was always so… above it all. Someone needed to help the problems Vee faced every day, helping her community in front of and behind the scenes. No one knew the real face of the city or had been fighting it like she had, no hero that she knew of. So she would be that hero.
Polychrome has been an up-and-coming hero face in the Seattle area for around 8 months, and has already started to make waves. Her flashy powers and strong politics have made her steadfast allies and enemies among the common people. And where Polychrome can’t go, where heroes can’t be seen fighting, well… That’s what Vee was for.
