Alexis "AJ" Jake

[twilightshadow]

Given Name: Alexis "AJ" Jake

Codename: Limbo

Age: 15

Detailed Description of Powers: The origin of Alexis' powers are supernatural. She has the ability to project a kind of energy known as ectoplasm, using it usually as a ball of energy she can shoot at people or a force field to protect herself. She also has three forms. Her normal human form, her orb forms, and her spirit form. When in her normal human form, she can't do much with her powers, except her energy projection. In her orb form, she takes on the form of an extoplasm ball. This is mainly used for evasive manuvers and allows her to pas through walls and is typically invisible to the naked eye. In her spirit form, she is able to leave her body for about ten minutes and makes her extremely tired. If time was to run out and she was still stuck in this form, she could lose her body. Her last power is the gift of ghosting. This is used for primarily for fun and pranks. If you see various things floating around the room, your house isn't haunted, it's just AJ.

Originally from: Chicago, Illinois

Known Family: May Anderson (Mother), Nickolaus "Nikko" Jake (Father)

Physical Description: Alexis stands at 5'2 with a thin frame, but not poorly underweight at 110. She has a youthful face with the occasional pimple that , but nothing too distracting. Natural black hair goes down her back and emerald-green eyes show her fun-loving and curious personality. She is very pale. Black markings circle around her eyes, making her eyes even more eerie. She has taken to wearing baggy pants, hoodies, t-shirts, and skater shoes rather for the comfort than the fashion. She is never seen without her silver chain necklace. A broken heart pendant dangles from the necklace.

Personality: Alexis is like any other person, wanting to be liked and have friends and if you give her the oppurtunity to become your friends, she is pretty easy to get along with. Her personality is kind of complex. She is hyper and bubbly one second, then silent and thoughtful the next. She is quick to anger and gets mad over simple things, but is not hard on forgiving people. She tends to make sarcastic jokes and point out the obvious, proving the fact that she is very blunt and outspoken. On a softer side, she is very kind and loyal and tends to get a bit attached and is easily hurt, but tries to stay tough for her own sake.

Other: Alexis has an extreme love for art from finger painting to writing a fifty-thousand word novel. Her favorite pastime is taking pictures and she almost always has her small digital camera by her side.

Bio: Alexis has no dramatic or breathtaking history. Her story starts in Chicago with her father and mother. What did you expect? It takes two to make one. Anyways, she was born to Nickolaus "Nikko" Jake and May Anderson.

Nikko was a struggling musician and May was a part-time waitress at the local pub of Chicago. One night while passing through town, Nikko stopped at the pub fed up with life.

He ordered a couple of drinks and May served them to him. After too much drinking, the bartender suggested that he leave. He stumbled out of the bar cursing madly and continued on into an alleyway. May was just getting off of work when she found him in the alleyway, bleeding and broken.

The next day when he woke up, he found himself in her small one-bedroom apartment. He was startled at first, but they began talking and he explained that he was from New York and that he was a traveling musician. They soon started seeing each other and things led to another.

May was soon presented with the news that she was pregnant with a baby girl. Unlike many unwed fathers, Nikko decided to stick around and see what happened. After nine hell enduring months, the birth of the baby finally came and they named her Alexis Nicole Jake, taking her fathe's last name.

The couple remained unwed and Nikko continued traveling around with his band, stopping in town every few months or so to give the two money and spending time with his daughter and lover.

Alexis grew up in a home where she was taught to appreciate everything she was given and she did just that, but that didn't mean she didn't want more out of life. She had plans for her life: to go to college, get a job and have a family, but these plans were interrupted when she was involved in a terrible car crash that seemingly took her life.

Instead, she found herself in a void, locked in the inner-most conscious of her mind. She was caught in a sort of limbo. It seemed like months passed until she came out of the limbo, waking up in the hospital. When she was awake enough to notice, she took note that she had no pulse and her skin was deathly pale.

In a panic, she unhooked herself from all of the machines and rushed out of the room only to be faced with doctors and nurses. In an attempt to get back into the hospital, she shifted into her orb form and fled the hall, but blacked out before she could reach the end.

She awoke back in her room with her mom sitting by her side. May knew immediately what was wrong with her daughter and explained it to her. At first, Alexis had thought that her mother would be mad, just like the many disowning parents she had heard about when they found out about the transformation that their children had gone through, but she was quite different.

Even though she was slightly unnerved, she reassured her daughter that she still loved her no matter what and would do anything to get her help. They were soon contacted by Professor X and Alexis was moved there to learn to get control of her powers. She still goes back to Chicago every now and then to see her mom and gets visits from her dad, but she is currently living at the mansion, hoping to become an X-men one day.

And in the Interview:

Why did you choose our site?: It looked cool.
What about this character do you like?: Her personality. She's rough around the edges, but seems to genuinely care about people.Have you ever RPed before? Where?: Yes, various websites.

Please write a sample post for the character you want below:

Her emerald-green eyes glowed eerily glowed in the dark until she turned on the light, revealing a pale, empty room. A bed was pressed up against the corner and a dresser draw and a desk seemed to add a little bit more to the homely feeling, but it still seemed bare.

A smirk played at her pale lips. When she was done with it, it would be just like home. With a soft sigh, she let her bag drop to the floor, casting her jacket to the side onto a nearby chair and collasped on the bare mattress that supported her thin frame.

She brushed back a piece of her raven locks and gazed up at the ceiling, imagining a huge Anberlin poster in its place. A knock sounded at her door and she lifted her head to see who it was.

"Come in!" she called, too lazy to actually get up and answer the door. She sat up and smiled as a familar face entered. He had greeted her at the door when she had just first arrived.

"I see your already taking a liking to the place," he commented, looking around. She nodded in reply.

"Yeah, but its gonna take some roughing up a bit to make it feel like home." She didn't mean any damage, just a bit of sprucing up to make it more homey.

He nodded with the same smile on his face and left her to herself. Things would be different from now on, she realized. Everything had been different ever since she had waken up in that hosipital with no pulse, but with the past behind her, she looked forward to her future here at the school.

[Logan]

Just a note that we've seen this and are doing some discussin' behind the scenes. We'll get back to you real soon.

[Hank McCoy]

If you've read the OC stuff then you already know who I am. I guess we're old friends by now.

We've been hard at work on some stuff that we hope will add some new imagination and energy to the site (and its sister) and I can't think of a better way of getting those things than by having new people apply. So we're glad you're here.

I almost said "we're glad you're her", but I don't know what that means. Or who she is. If you see her, tell her we mentioned her.

Anyway, something happened today I can't remember the last time it went this way.... All the other mods checked in and wrote about your application before I even got up. So you have our attention.

But that doesn't mean we're any less particular about our OC rules.

So with both things in mind, I want to start with a couple of questions that I or the others may expand on. First one is: I'm curious if this character is something you've worked on for a while and are trying to see if you can launch her here....or is she something you made up with what you've seen on this site in mind? How do you see her fitting into the X-Men story as a character? What does she bring that we haven't seen before?

Okay that was more than one.

But here's the most important one. Moderate power level or not, it seems like she has some of the same powers as Kitty Pryde. Not only that, she has a few that are a little like Psylocke. And then she can shape-shift like Mystique.

So we'd like to hear about how this is different than the combination of other characters' skills. Also...are her powers mutant genetic ones or are they supernatural?

[twilightshadow]

Ha ha! Thanks! I'm glad to be here too. And yeah, you're Beast! Well, on to the explanation about her. I have been working on this character for about a year maybe. She first appeared in a fanfic of mine and I gave her powers in the sequel. (It was a crossover between Xmen and another cartoon.) But they seemed a little bit farfetched and too much to seem real.

I realize that her powers are similar to that of other characters, but a lot of characters in the Xmen universe share similar powers, but are seperated by a degree of power. I've recently started roleplay with this character and she's still in work and I still don't think she's really at her potential, but she's one of the favorites.

And yeah, her powers are more on a supernatural level and her energy projection (unlike Pyslocke) is made of ectoplasm, not psionic energy. Thanks for getting to her so quickly and if there's anything that you think I should change or wanna ask about, please do.

PS: As for how she would fit into the Xmen, I wouldn't consider an Xmen until one of you do, but she's just a student, but would like to join the Xmen one day.

[Callie]

Beast likes to ask philosophical questions about people's places in the story, that's what he meant by how do you see her fitting in.

I tend to deal with the practical issues of OCs, there's a couple of things about your app that I was a bit concerned about, so I thought I'd raise them.
As you said, I don't think she's really at her full potential - but I definitely see potential there!

In terms of the powers, we are worried that they might be too much, while it is true that many X-men characters have similar powers, we have quite a high bar for our OCs, so we want to be very sure that they're up to standard.
Would you be able to tell us a little more about her powers, how they work, what their limitations are, how they differ from the other characters in the series. We like description, it's our friend ^_^

The other thing Beast brought up that I think you only half addressed is the source of her powers.
What he meant was are they a mutation, powers caused by an active X-gene, or are they supernatural in origin?

And now for my personal, and somewhat superficial concerns.
These are merely observations of my own, and aren't the view of the MODs as a whole, and they're also not the most important things about your app.
First, the description. I'm going to be blunt here, if I were to just read your description, I would go 'Sue.'
It's not necessarily a bad writing style, but be wary of anything that makes people think of Mary Sues, because it will only damage what they think of you before you get a chance to prove any different.
The phrase "Curves in all the right places" is usually a giveaway - for a start skinny people don't tend to have curves, not really, and also, the phrase itself is just... it's hard to explain, but it's usually a phrase that has people going "...eugh, sue." even if you might not be.
Also, you might want to - and again this is just my opinion - avoid overly romanticised descriptions of appearances. Words like "Cascade" to describe hair, and phrases like "soft milky white that reminds you of the moon" are sort of... bad ^^; Think of the moon, it's kinda grey and covered in craters. Not good, ne?
Also, the amount of time you spent talking about what she wears - another sue-ish sort of thing to do, and something that could cause people to phase out and not pay attention to the rest of it.

The description of her personality, I like how you've sort of covered both the good and bad, but there's a few contradictory bits to it, and over all I think it's a little clumsy, and could do with straightening out - I know it's a tricky thing to write, but it might be a good exercise in writing to try and make it smoother.
One example of a part that I thought a little odd was this - "She's one of those people that you either take to immediately, or never give a second thought about." which doesn't really leave room for anybody disliking her, and yet moments later you say she can make life a living hell?
It's just a little hard to follow is all.

There's a couple of tiny things about the bio, such as her just walking out of the hospital, which is a remarkably unlikely thing to get away with, but generally it's not too bad.

So, if you could answer the questions and give me the information I asked for, and if you like maybe have a go at working on the description/personality - but, like I say, that one's personal and you don't have to change it, as long as you aknowledge that you read and at least considered what I had to say, I'd very much appreciate that.

I hope that was helpful, and that you didn't feel too criticised or anything, I'm trying to offer something constructive that you can work with.
And stuff. I think I just fried my brain, I'm going to lie down.

[twilightshadow]

Well, I did a little revamping. I changed her powers to something that seemed to fit her more and something that didn't resemble the other's powers so much. Kinda changed the personality and bio around. Not much, but its a bit better in my opinion. Thanks for the suggestions again!

[Hank McCoy]

So, then to clarify: you said "The origin of Alexis' powers are supernatural. " Does that make her a mutant with control over supernatural powers who discovered them due to the crash or is she a normal human who is somehow transformed and gains mystical ability?

The reason I ask is that depending on the answer different people in the game would react to her much differently.

I like the refinement of her powers much better and the limitations as well. They feel like they make more sense.

[twilightshadow]

She discovered them during the crash while she was knocked out. I hope that clarifies somethings.

[Hank McCoy]

Not really. You missed something big.

Simple question: is she a human or is she a mutant?

It sounds like you're saying she's a normal girl who gets powers from an accident. A mutant would be someone whose powers are something genetic...and they may discover as late as puberty that there's something not normal about themselves.

[twilightshadow]

*hits head on desk* Okay...she's a mutant and her powers activated during the crash. Does that make sense?

[Hank McCoy]

Someone will start a trial scene with you as soon as they can find a moment. We'll see how things go from there.

Good luck.

[Bobby Drake]

OOC: Hello...Bobby Drake here.

I’ll be doing your trial scene with you. Just reply to this as if it were a real scene in the story. I’m making up an event here...maybe it’s her first appearance at the Institute? Aaaaaaaand....ACTION!

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Bobby Drake sat, pale as a ghost, squatted behind a plush and overstuffed chair in one of the many large rooms of Xavier’s Institute. “I knew it. I freakin’ knew it!” He was out of breath and sweating, his eyes large and frightened looking as he tried to catch his breath.

In one hand he clutched a water pistol like it was his lifeline.

The source of his fear was the fact that he swore he saw a ghost. A girl, probably a few years younger than him, he didn’t know. The only thing he knew was that dead things should stay dead.

“Is she still there?” He clenched his eyes shut tight and held his breath as he slowly repositioned himself to get a peek around the corner. For the time it looked like he had outrun her.

This school was really an old house. It was in the Xavier family for years, he was told. There were probably a crapload of ghosts floating about here. Bobby suddenly shook a little as he looked all around.

[i}Crap...do they watch me all the time?[/i]

If so, he had some explaining to do.

[twilightshadow]

A silent maniacal laugh sounded from invisible pale lips. These lips were seen in the form of a white and purple swirling orb that floated lazily around the room. A small tail flowed behind it, leaving a trail where ever it floated.

She had seen people cower in fear, but nothing as humorous as this. A boy, possibly a few years older than her, sat cowering behind an oversized chair with what appeared to be a water pistol.

She secretly scoffed at the water gun. Like it would do him any good, she thought. She could see him, but he couldn't see her....at least she thought so.

Emerald-green eyes narrowed suspiciously on the frightened blond. It was time to make herself known to him and the rest of the residents of the gigantic X mansion.

"You don't look like you know much of anything if you think that pathetic water gun is gonna protect you from me," she whispered as she floated past him, the tail of her orb wrapping gently around his neck.

[Bobby Drake]

There was all kinds of freaky junk in this house. Bobby one time stumbled on a family photo of the Xavier clan. He was surprised to find that most of them had a head full of hair, even on the picture that looked like it had been taken a hundred years before the Ipod.

Maybe the ghost chick was one of Xavier's family. He could talk to her and let her know he was one of the students here. Kind of a boy in the hood. No reason to mess his pants over this...

A rather girly squeal escaped his lips when she reappeared suddenly and spoke to him. Standing to his feet, Bobby held the gun out in front of him. "This is full of holy water!" A lie. But she didn't know that.

"And I ate garlic for lunch!"

He started breathing on whatever was touching him. Garlic breath. Aw man that reeked!

[twilightshadow]

Another laugh escaped her lips, this one louder than the last one as the girly squeal reached her ears. Now it was really hilarious. He was now on his feet and holding the gun towards her.

She cocked a raven eyebrow. Holy water? Did that have any affect on her?

Her nose wrinkled as the smell of garlic wafted past her nose. "Garlic is for vampires, you idiot," she growled as she floated away in an attempt to avoid the horrible smell.

Was this guy really that afraid of her? This guy was either really crazy, or going to be by the time she was through with him.