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Billy Kaplan ([personal profile] selfhelpspells) wrote2012-07-19 12:33 am
Entry tags:

a_facility application

OOC Information:
Name: Plaid
Age: 20
AIM: versk spirit
MSN: icedragon5050@yahoo.com (crashes a lot :\)
Y!M: n/a
E-MAIL: versionsky@gmail.com
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IC Information:
Name: William "Billy" Kaplan (alias: Wiccan)
Fandom: Marvel Comics: Young Avengers
Timeline: Issue 4 from Children's Crusade, after Dr. Doom has knocked him unconscious
Age: 16
Appearance:
At the ripe age of 16, Billy stands at 5' 8" and weighs 155lbs (70kg) with a thin yet lithe frame. He has brown eyes and short, mildy-curled black hair, with bangs that flow in the wind frame his forehead and somehow manage not to get in his eyes all the time, the part normally off to the left. He bears a striking resemblance to Thomas Shepard save for the whole white hair thing. His face is rectangular and youthful, kind of baby-faced, albeit with something of a semi-serious, semi-sarcastic charm about him and lips that have a pursed or tight look to them.

Regular attire would include what is normally found in a teenage boy's closet: hoodies, shirts, jeans, and necklaces and shades now and then. That is, when he's among civilians. As a Young Avenger, Billy's costume is much different. A form-fitting, short-sleeved black bodysuit that accentuates his hips and ass quite nicely, fingerless gloves, gauntlets, a metal headband over the forehead, and a red cape-like piece of cloth with multiple rips and holes along the edges. This is his Wiccan attire and it certainly does give off the right magical, mystical vibe. Especially when he's off flying around.


Abilities:
Being the semi-son-by-reincarnation of the Scarlet Witch and therefore a mage and a mutant, Billy has quite a few powers at his disposal, including a certain level of magical aptitude. He can fly, cast spells, change attire, and even alter space to an extent. That is, when he can concentrate. While levitation, electrokinesis, shields, force-fields and such come naturally, in order to perform more complex casts, Billy must use a sort of "self-help" chant, where he repeats the words "Iwantto..." to make whatever he wants to happen, happen. The ability comes with certain weaknesses. For example, he has to truly want it and has to hear himself chanting. Even without these factors, it's still a matter of chance whether his words work or not, though usually they do. For a complete list of what he can do and explanations, see here.


Personality:
Billy, on the surface, could be considered the normal model of a teenage boy. He's got a good heart, good morals, and a nice balance of serious and snark to him, either of which could tip at the drop of a hat. Even in tough and heavy situations he maintains a certain humor, and doesn't automatically switch to the negative aspect of things, making a quip or two or humored retort in the face of enemies no matter how bad. He's a big nerd and a big fanboy of Norse mythology and the Avengers, having been a fan of them since he was a kid (the Scarlet Witch being his favorite Avenger). Basically, Billy is your typical nice Jewish boy. Except with superpowers and the troubles and highs that come with them.

When his powers emerged, it was a time when he grew fed up with constant bullying. Not bullying directed at him (though that did happen), but at another. He defended the kid and as a result, his powers emerged and almost killed a fellow student. It struck him then just how different he was and what kind of power he held. Thanks to Iron Lad he was able to pull through and learn more about himself and his abilities. Despite what he is capable of, Billy doesn't overuse or exploit his powers. He doesn't use them for selfish gains (well, not all the time. But nothing exactly bad for anyone) and doesn't pull any stunts with anyone save for the bad guys. He has the ability to easily kill any enemy, but always keeps to the Avenger's code of never killing. The one time he did slip into wanting to kill someone, he felt immediate regret for it, proclaiming, hoping, that hadn't been him who wished it. And considering the guy his words were direct to had tried to dissect his boyfriend right before his eyes, it's pretty amazing.

That aside, he tends to take for granted all the good in his life. The kindness of his parents, for one, and his ever expanding family tree for another. As he grew so did his family. First just him and his parents, then two younger brothers, then Teddy, Tommy, and finally, upon discovering and confirming his relation to the Scarlet Witch, all the members of Wanda's own ancestry. However, it's thanks to this large family that Billy feels accepted and, perhaps, even safe. And it's through this family connection that we see just how determined Billy can be.

When the Super-Skrull first revealed to Billy the link between his magic and the Scarlet Witch's, it instilled in Billy a determination to find the witch and have his questions, about himself and his history, answered. Even with all evidence against him, and his and Tommy's search turning up zilch, he was still set on finding Wanda and proving once and for all there was a connection. He's a determined little bugger. Unfortunately, this determination can also be seen as downright stubbornness. A stubbornness that gets him into complicated situations, as it did several times, much to Teddy's exasperation. Sneaking in to Doctor Doom's castle alone isn't exactly the best idea. There's a reason Teddy (even himself) often calls him the "idiot boyfriend."

Not to say Billy simply charges in to everything. He isn't dumb and while quick on his feet, does rely on at least some thought process before taking drastic actions. Though not always with the desired result.

He isn't the appointed team leader and doesn't sport the kind of authority and "take action" that one would need (although Teddy is sure to follow him anywhere and everywhere regardless). If he does lead anything, it's usually alone or with a very few. He doesn't enjoy getting people involved in his troubles, to the point that, at one instance, he kept quiet for months about his problems while constantly brooding by the window. Like a teenager, when things get bad, and even the slimmest chance exists that it's somehow his fault, he'll feel responsible. He blamed himself for the events of Children's Crusade, and even before then, probably had similar moments. It's this kind of solidarity that is, on one hand, kind of chivalrous and on the other, kind of stupid. Risking himself over a few is, logically, a good choice. But to leave everyone he cares about to go try something dangerous--that, not so much.


History:
Put into a single, concise sentence, Billy is the son of the Scarlet Witch she "thought was dead, but whose soul migrated into the body of a gay, Jewish Avengers fanboy who grew up on the upper west side." That is the, more or less, gist of who exactly William Kaplan is, in the words of Billy himself. To go a little more in detail, Billy is a member of the Young Avengers, a mage, and the oldest son of Reform Jews Jeff and Rebecca Kaplan. Biologically. Spiritually, it gets a tad more complicated. But we'll get to that later.

As stated, Billy was born and raised in New York. He grew up on stories of the Norse gods and of the Avengers, creating a true fanboy as he entered his teenage years. Because of this, as well as his sexuality, he was the target of much bullying in school. After a fateful meeting with the Scarlet Witch, Billy finally took a stand against one bully in particular, John Kesler. The incident, however, didn't go quite as planned. While the conflict caused Billy's power of electrokinesis to manifest, it came at the price of almost killing his fellow classmate. Some time after, after the Scarlet Witch was no more, the Avengers had disbanded, and Billy learned more about his abilities, the boy was approached by Iron Lad (future Kang the Conquerer) and joined the team of Young Avengers as a sort of Thor Jr. known as Asgardian. The alias was later changed, of course. After Kate Bishop (Kawkingbird/Hawkeye) and Cassie Bishop (Stature) joined the team, the superhero title was switched to Wiccan and has stuck since.

With the team fully assembled, but Iron Lad out of the picture thanks to time travel shenanigans and necessities, and Captain America and Iron Man's warnings to disband still ringing in their ears, of course the Young Avengers went against the wiser words of their mentors and continued to save the city from mayhem. One such bit of mayhem came in the form of Teddy's reveal as not a mutant, but a half-Skrull, half-Kree alien Prince instead. The incident left Teddy without a mother, led to a battle on earth between Skrull and Kree, introduced two new members to the Young Avengers, Thomas Shepard (a speedster who uncannily resembled Billy, except with white hair) and the Vision (a revamped version of the previous Vision with Iron Lad's memories and personality installed) to the Young Avengers team, and brought about a whole new bucket of angst and questions for everyone to fret over.

A while later the whole civil war situation arose, where mutants and super-humans were, by law, required to register and be kept under tabs by the government. Naturally, there was resistance to the act as well as acceptance. These two sides clashed in a "civil war," during which the Young Avengers were arrested. Thankfully Captain America and Falcon, on the side of the resistance, helped them escape S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Meanwhile, another group of super-powered teens were trying their best to avoid the conflict. They were known as "the Runaways," kids who had run from home upon discovering their parents were super-villains. Interestingly enough, Billy once wanted to join this group. That was, before he learned of the Young Avengers.

The Young Avengers learned of the Runaways' whereabouts thanks to a news report they happened to see during one of their sessions of "monitor duty," issued by the Cap. There was some hesitancy coughElicough, but after seeing these kids around their own age get attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. and clearly in need of at least some help, the team went to seek them out. All, once again, against Captain America's orders.

The meeting wasn't the most cheerful. A skirmish or two broke out, misunderstandings ensued, but eventually the two teams chilled out. Quite literally so, thanks to Nico. The somewhat calm didn't last long, though. While they were doing their team-building thing, the Warden, all the way at the Cube, a prison for super-humans deemed insane, was readying his own attack dog. Noh-Varr came to (unwillingly) attack the group of teens and managed to capture Wiccan, Karolina, Hulkling, and the half-dead Xavin, taking them with him back to The Cube.

Imprisoned and deafened to his own voice thanks to the Warden, Wiccan and Karolina were made first-hand witnesses to the Warden's vivisection of Hulkling. "Iwanthimtostop" and "Iwanthimtosleep" continued to fall from Billy's lips but to no avail. Soon, brought to tears and the breaking point, "I want you to die!" also escaped him. Xavin's amazing Skrull healing abilities kicked in at that moment, and seemingly rising from the dead, the Skrull saved Karolina from her bonds and the four were free. Thankfully Teddy was able to stop Xavin from ultimately pounding the Warden into non-existence. Killing was the last thing any Avenger or Young Avenger wanted to do, and even Billy, despite the circumstances, felt great remorse for that momentary lapse in judgment.

While these four were locked up with the Warden, the rest of the Young Avengers and Runaways were busy with their rescue. They all convened in the control room, fighting tooth and nail against the brainwashed Noh-Varr. Eventually the team managed to defeat and free him, thus allowing Noh-Varr to take control of The Cube.

Some time after this, or maybe even before, Billy began having odd nightmares. They started simple, happy, with him as a child during his birthday party. His mother's there, or supposed mother, also known as the Scarlet Witch. By this point, due to his powers, how much him and Tommy looked alike, and Tommy's speeding abilities, Billy had come to the conclusion that they had to be related to the Scarlet Witch (the idea thanks to the Super-Skrull). Somehow. The dreams end with Mephisto showing up, and Billy wakes downright terrified.

With the help of his boyfriend's trusty shape-shifting abilities, Billy left on a brotherly journey with Tommy for an afternoon search for the Scarlet Witch. Speed's, well, speed made the search a quick one with no results. That was, until they tried for New Jersey and ended up meeting Pandemonium. Thankfully after realizing Wiccan's magic was the same as the Scarlet Witch's, the small fight ceased and the three sat down for a nice chat.

Now here's where things get a bit complicated. Turns out Tommy and Billy are the reincarnations of the Scarlet Witch's children, who were born as a result of her magically snaring two lost souls. Unfortunately, Mephisto claimed these two souls and as a result of trying to reabsorb them destroyed himself, the twins, and Wanda's memories of her children. The resulting psychological damage and grief led to the Scarlet Witch losing control and killing several avengers and making mutants an endangered species. Most of this the two had already figured out, though, thanks to the Vision and the Super-Skrull and their own digging. Thus ended Tommy and Billy's big, somewhat-pointless adventure, still with no clue to the Scarlet Witch's whereabouts and still with Tommy very hesitant to believe any of it.

Time passed and another crises rose up on the horizon. A Skrull invasion. Thanks to many of the Earth's heroes being occupied with fighting each other thanks to the still ongoing Civil War. That meant it was the Young Avengers and Runaways who had to save Earth. This group of Skrulls were a part of a religion which believed Earth belonged to them. Of course, anything to do with Skrulls meant Teddy, being the prophesized savior of the Skrull empire, would be involved, whether he liked it or not. And he didn't. And neither did Billy. Once again, his boyfriend was the target of attack, the Skrulls behind the scenes determined to rid the universe of him to keep their followers in line, as his reveal would foil all their plans. Thanks to Xavin, Teddy managed to escape execution.

Once again, the team was drawn into more fun times when, after some meetings with Cthon and the events of Seige, the Young Avengers went to help those at Asgard, which had fallen, decimated. After this came the wonderful times of trying to find the Scarlet Witch again. This time, however, there was actual success.

It started with a downright explosion of Wiccan's powers, which put a whole slew of terrorists to sleep. Concerned his powers would go out of control, the Avengers decided to put Wiccan under observation. Wiccan eventually agreed and thankfully Teddy was allowed to stay with him. The house arrest didn't last long, as that same night the rest of the Young Avengers came to steal them away. Magneto suddenly showed up then to help them all in their search for his daughter. Quicksilver appeared as well, after Billy had transported him, the Young Avengers, and Magneto to Transia. They all had a similar goal: finding Wanda. After Quicksilver tried kidnapping Wiccan and was kinda-stopped by Speed and a Wandadoombot, the group of misfits and Quicksilver convened. They determined Wanda's presence in Transia was either a hoax created with Doombots or that Doom really did have her. What to do next? Well, they decided to settle for the night.

Except Billy. Who magic'd his way out to try and spy on Doom's castle by himself. Not just once, but twice. The first resulted in him being dragged and guilt-ed back to their small hideout. The second resulted in him making it into Doom's castle only to be found by Doombots. With some quick thinking he transformed into the Scarlet Witch and had the bots take "her" to "her room." There, Billy met the real Scarlet Witch. By being all but drop-kicked to the floor by his own mother. Though he tried, it turned out she had no powers nor any recollection of her life prior to disappearing. Oh! And she was also engaged to Dr. Doom and was set to wed him the following day.

This is the moment where Billy is being taken from. Him and Dr. Doom had something of a little spat upon Doom discovering him with Wanda. Doom blasted the boy with a red magic, thus robbing him of consciousness. Thus, when he wakes, it'll be downright confusing, as Alpha Omega is neither a castle nor anything like Transia.


Roleplay Sample - Log:
This had to be some twisted joke. Maybe even some convoluted plot. When Billy rose, or tried to rise, he found his head pounding and a black mist covering his sight. That's what happens when you're knocked unconscious by a blast of raw power. And that power produced by someone like Dr. Doom, it was a miracle he was still alive.

After the initial round of momentary amnesia, of wondering what happened, what caused his consciousness to fall in the first place, all the memories came rushing back. Red light, the Scarlet Witch, Doom--none of them, he realized and his vision and mind cleared, here. Wherever "here" was. Instead, white. All white. No hint of a castle, no single stone, nothing old or ancient or resembling anything remotely close to a mountain hideout. In fact, it resembled more a hospital room than anything.

That was the first thing Billy noticed. The second, a moment or two later, was the chilly air and freedom of regions better left unmentioned.

As soon as this hit him, he reacted. It came as an almost natural response for his clothing, wherever it sat in the universe, to magic its way back to his body. Even if "everywhere" was only a few quick steps away. Not that he realized this. His mind was too filled with the running thoughts of "where am I, what happened, and oh God I'm naked!" Regardless, he was happy, relieved, to have himself covered back in his Wiccan attire. Or, any attire really. Well, maybe not any.

Once he had calmed over the initial shock, swung his legs over the side of the uncomfortable table he had the misfortune of waking upon, and steadied himself, there came a third and final form of concern. Wherever he was, he was there alone. If it was a medical bay as the room resembled, then where were the people that should have been monitoring him. Be it Doombots or the team or--Teddy, there should have been someone. But instead there was only this dull sound. A sound like a giant machine slowly moving. Soft, off in the background, but still noticeable if he tried.

Billy's expression hardened. He did the first thing that came to mind. Putting his hands together, lowering his eyes and head, he began chanting. "IwanttoknowwhereIamIwanttoknowwhereiamIwanttoknow..." over and over floated through the empty room. As his voice rose, so did a light glow. From his hands came a blue light, surrounding the joined appendages like a visible aura. It died after a minute and with it, the chanting.

His lips pursed in a faint pout, Billy turned his head to what had to be the door with a quizzical look. "Alpha Omega, huh? Not anyplace I've ever heard of."


Roleplay Sample - Journal:
[ it is clear from the get-go just how impromptu this video is. the image of a black-haired youth fills the screen, a curios look on his face as he inspects the device. ]

Good it's on.

[ he decides, and stretches his arms out so the screen can get a better, more detailed view of him. the view expands and reveals more of him, including his get-up resembling something straight out of a halloween costume shop. he runs a hand through his hair and cocks his head. ]

It should be recording...is it? Blinking red light usually means recording. So.

[ he cleared his throat, a fisted hand to his mouth as he did ]

Whoever this is recording to, I'm kind of--lost. If I'm right, this place is called Alpha Omega. I'm not even close to sure where that could be or what that even means. Last thing I remember is getting blasted by Doom and then--this. [ he sighed, a hand to his forehead and halfway through his bangs ] Man this really didn't go as planned.

If anyone sees this, I could use an explanation. And...Tee, if you caught any of that [ he faltered ] looks like your idiot boyfriend found trouble again.

[ end ]



This game includes horrible mental and physical torture of your character. After reading the rules/faq for clarification, how do you expect your character to handle this and continue to function?
There are many things superheroes (and Young Avengers) must be prepared for. Hardship and tough situations being a few of them. In order to confront this latest ordeal, Billy will first start by testing his powers. See if he can't just poof everyone back to Earth (or at least off the station). Once the subject of torture comes up, he won't be too pleased. He's had first-hand experience when it comes to torture, having been an eye-witness to the attempted dissection of his boyfriend. It's likely he's still quite shaken by that less than lovely experience. So having a constant reminder of it and fresh experiences isn't going to be fun. But, he'll pull through. And try everything he can to help others through it too.


Questions? Comments? Crazed and creative statements? Those go here.
I'm sorry it's so long.

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