● weaknesses: Emotional dishonesty: Tommy loudly proclaims “I don’t have feelings,” which is a) untrue and 2) unhealthy - even Magneto, his grandfather and one of the most notorious mutant villains, cautions him against it, warning “you’ll end up like me.” Refusal to acknowledge his feelings means Tommy experiences significant roadblocks in developing deep, meaningful relationships of all kinds - he’s friendly enough, but it’s on a superficial level. Even with his twin Billy, who is probably his strongest personal bond, Tommy is somewhat emotionally distant.
Arrogance: Tommy almost constantly runs his mouth, and a lot of that’s spent on talking himself up, such as claiming he’s faster and better-looking than his uncle Pietro, or that out of his entire team of superpowered friends, he’s the only one necessary to take on another group of adversaries. Some of this is bravado - Tommy downplays his insecurities about being good enough and never admits to these feelings aloud - but some of it is honest. Tommy knows he’s skilled and capable, but he doesn’t acknowledge that he isn’t indestructible, which can lead to trouble. Everyone has limits.
Lack of foresight: Tommy’s all go all the time, which means he doesn’t take the time to plan ahead before he acts, and he doesn’t consider consequential effects of his actions. Most of the time, he’s quick enough to land on his feet, but he has run into trouble in the past as a result of this no-planning policy - trouble of the “getting poofed by a cosmic horror-monster to an unknown dimension for months” kind. Tommy raced into action without taking any strategy into consideration, and while he ended up OK and with apparently no memory of where he was during that time, that episode could have ended a lot worse for him.
Why did you choose this specific character for 6I, and how do you picture them fitting into the game? I wanted to do something that Marvel didn’t – explore the trauma Tommy endured at the hands of the government during his time in “juvie” aka double secret secure lockup where he was depowered and experimented on with the goal of turning him into a living weapon. We’re not told exactly what those experiments entailed, but Tommy’s destructive rage against the doctors and wardens after the Young Avengers freed him is a good indication that it was extremely unpleasant. Tommy claims he doesn’t have feelings, which means he doesn’t have to acknowledge what was done to him – he can simply brush it off and race onward to the next thing that catches his interest. Being imprisoned in another place where he’s stripped of his super-speed powers will be a triggering reminder of that time, and my overall goal is to make Tommy acknowledge and work through his issues in a setting where he literally cannot outrun his problems, as is his default coping mechanism.
TL;DR – I want to make the speedy boi slow the heck down and do some serious soul-searching.
How do you imagine your character will survive in 6I, and in what ways will they contribute to the settlement, if any? Tommy is pretty resourceful, but he doesn’t really have any non-urban survival skills to speak of, and he’s mostly gotten by with the help of his mutant super-speed, so he’ll likely end up relying on others for help a lot of the time. But that’s a good thing! Because Tommy has a tendency to act as a lone wolf most of the time – even when functioning as part of his team, the Young Avengers, he’s usually half a mile ahead of everyone else, because he moves so much faster. Learning to function with better, more cohesive teamwork will be good for him! He’s not averse to hard work, so he’ll gladly pitch in wherever he’s needed, doing whatever he can – though he may need to be taught some job skills first. He’ll bring a willingness to learn and help to the table, at least.
How will your character react to...
Being separated, possibly permanently, from loved ones and their previous life, including loss of powers, if applicable? Tommy is highly adaptable to weird situations, so he’s able to roll with the punches that come his way, for the most part. Never going home and permanently losing contact with his friends and twin brother Billy would make him sad, but he’d never admit to it, because that would mean admitting he has feelings. He’s generally amicable and will easily make new friends, though. Losing his powers will be the hardest pill to swallow, because it’s so intrinsically a part of who he is and how he functions; Tommy will be panicked and angry, but he’ll eventually adjust.
Their environment being manipulated, possibly in strange or extraordinary ways, and possibly in ways which restrain them? Restraints will make Tommy very angry. Strange environmental manipulations will be new, Tommy hasn’t really dealt with something like that before, but his instinct will be to help others remain calm and try to find a way to fix what’s wrong.
Being physically and/or mentally manipulated, such as having hallucinations or suddenly possessing special abilities they did not have before? He will be extremely angry about being manipulated in any physical or mental aspect – he’s been through a round already at the hands of the government’s experiments in lockup, and he’s not keen to repeat that experience. There’s also a historical issue in Tommy’s canon where the Scarlet Witch accidentally altered reality for a while to make mutants dominant over non-powered humans (opposite to how it was in the normal reality), and when she put reality back the way it was supposed to be, she also stripped nearly the entire mutant population of their powers and caused numerous deaths in the process. While Tommy doesn’t seem to have been personally affected by this, Scarlet Witch is his soul-mother (because #comics) and the issue is a sticky one that hits to close to home for him. As for gaining new abilities – Tommy will likely still be salty about not having his super-speed, but depending on what the ability is, he’ll either find it cool or a huge nuisance.
PERSONALITY.
Emotional dishonesty: Tommy loudly proclaims “I don’t have feelings,” which is a) untrue and 2) unhealthy - even Magneto, his grandfather and one of the most notorious mutant villains, cautions him against it, warning “you’ll end up like me.” Refusal to acknowledge his feelings means Tommy experiences significant roadblocks in developing deep, meaningful relationships of all kinds - he’s friendly enough, but it’s on a superficial level. Even with his twin Billy, who is probably his strongest personal bond, Tommy is somewhat emotionally distant.
Arrogance: Tommy almost constantly runs his mouth, and a lot of that’s spent on talking himself up, such as claiming he’s faster and better-looking than his uncle Pietro, or that out of his entire team of superpowered friends, he’s the only one necessary to take on another group of adversaries. Some of this is bravado - Tommy downplays his insecurities about being good enough and never admits to these feelings aloud - but some of it is honest. Tommy knows he’s skilled and capable, but he doesn’t acknowledge that he isn’t indestructible, which can lead to trouble. Everyone has limits.
Lack of foresight: Tommy’s all go all the time, which means he doesn’t take the time to plan ahead before he acts, and he doesn’t consider consequential effects of his actions. Most of the time, he’s quick enough to land on his feet, but he has run into trouble in the past as a result of this no-planning policy - trouble of the “getting poofed by a cosmic horror-monster to an unknown dimension for months” kind. Tommy raced into action without taking any strategy into consideration, and while he ended up OK and with apparently no memory of where he was during that time, that episode could have ended a lot worse for him.
Why did you choose this specific character for 6I, and how do you picture them fitting into the game? I wanted to do something that Marvel didn’t – explore the trauma Tommy endured at the hands of the government during his time in “juvie” aka double secret secure lockup where he was depowered and experimented on with the goal of turning him into a living weapon. We’re not told exactly what those experiments entailed, but Tommy’s destructive rage against the doctors and wardens after the Young Avengers freed him is a good indication that it was extremely unpleasant. Tommy claims he doesn’t have feelings, which means he doesn’t have to acknowledge what was done to him – he can simply brush it off and race onward to the next thing that catches his interest. Being imprisoned in another place where he’s stripped of his super-speed powers will be a triggering reminder of that time, and my overall goal is to make Tommy acknowledge and work through his issues in a setting where he literally cannot outrun his problems, as is his default coping mechanism.
TL;DR – I want to make the speedy boi slow the heck down and do some serious soul-searching.
How do you imagine your character will survive in 6I, and in what ways will they contribute to the settlement, if any? Tommy is pretty resourceful, but he doesn’t really have any non-urban survival skills to speak of, and he’s mostly gotten by with the help of his mutant super-speed, so he’ll likely end up relying on others for help a lot of the time. But that’s a good thing! Because Tommy has a tendency to act as a lone wolf most of the time – even when functioning as part of his team, the Young Avengers, he’s usually half a mile ahead of everyone else, because he moves so much faster. Learning to function with better, more cohesive teamwork will be good for him! He’s not averse to hard work, so he’ll gladly pitch in wherever he’s needed, doing whatever he can – though he may need to be taught some job skills first. He’ll bring a willingness to learn and help to the table, at least.
How will your character react to...