Sydney Emerson
Nov 4, 2014 0:13:20 GMT -5
Post by Sydney Emerson on Nov 4, 2014 0:13:20 GMT -5
The BasicsName: Sydney Kendall Emerson
Nicknames: Syd
Age: 15 (January 11, 2002)
Orientation: Heterosexual
Desired Rank/Job: Student
Powers: Empathy - Even Sydney can admit that her ability is a bit ironic at best. She has always struggled with emotions, finding that her attempts to express herself come off harsher than intended or get misinterpreted somehow. Because of this, her gift of empathy is actually a bit of a blessing as it gives her a greater understanding of other's emotions allowing her to better correlate what emotions go with what behaviors. She is able to minimize her sense of those around her, but strong flares of emotion can break through this control. Likewise, her own emotions can weaken her control over her ability, allowing other's emotions to overwhelm her.
However, the downside to her ability is that it can be difficult for her to separate others' emotions from her own which means that, for example, being near someone who is angry, can cause her to lash out in anger herself. Proximity is the biggest factor in this ability. The nearer one is to her, the stronger she can feel their emotions. If the person touches her, those emotions are even further amplified for the duration of the touch.
If she concentrates, she can pinpoint an emotion's source, however, this can be difficult to do, particularly with strangers. On the flip side, the more familiar she is with a person, the easier that she can pick out their emotions. With intense concentration, she can alter another's emotions, but only to a small extent. She cannot push a person to feel something that isn't natural to them. Dramatic changes in emotion (angry to calm or sad to happy) are more draining than subtle changes (angry to annoyed). As such, she seldom uses this aspect of her ability.
Side effects include being overwhelmed, stress, nausea or stomach pain, mood swings, exhaustion and fatigue. Over-using her ability can result in nosebleeds or even fainting.
Play By: Troian BellisarioThe DetailsHair Color: brown
Eye Color: brown
Any Piercings? earlobes
Any Tattoos? none
Any Scars? none
General Appearance: Overall, there is very little about Sydney's appearance that particularly stands out. She has long brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin - all very average traits. She has a cleft in her chin (which she rather dislikes though she generally doesn't admit it) and very prominent cheekbones. Her top lip is a little thin but with a prominent cupid's bow which draws attention to them regardless. There is a natural doe-like innocent quality to her features, though this is often cancelled by the intense concentration which is her general expression.
She has a very thin build and is just slightly taller than average at 5'7" - however, her long limbs tend to exaggerate her height and thinness. She dresses simply, usually in basic shirts in solid colors or occasionally classic prints. Overall, she just tends to wear what is practical and her look leans more towards what might be considered "plain," "preppy," or "professional" by her peers. Ultimately, fashion is just something that has never been important to her.
Personality: Sydney is most easily identified as an overachiever. At a glance, the first thing to be noticed about her is her success in both her academics and her extracurricular activities. She is very driven and determined in all that she does and often times that leaves her spread a little thin. School has never been difficult for her which leaves her to challenge herself in other activities. She always has to do her best, which more often than not means being the best, and she always finds room for improvement.
She is very much an academic person. She loves to read as has for as long as she can remember but her intellect goes far beyond her bookishness. Sydney deeply loves to learn. There is very little that she isn't interested, and even the things she isn't good at, she pushes herself to learn and master as much as she can. She spends a great deal of her time studying not only for school but whatever new skill has caught her interest. She is constantly looking to push herself, never allowing herself to be complacent with her accomplishments.
Being as intelligent as she is, Sydney has always stood out. Having been skipped ahead two grades, she was always younger than her classmates and as such she was often left out. Yet her intellect and her books gave her a solace from the rejection of her classmates, and she somehow emerged with her confidence unscathed. She's never felt insecure about being smart or nerdy, or much of anything really. Her confidence is entirely sincere, though she does have moments of insecurity, particularly when people seek to befriend her. If anything, her intelligence can at times come off as pretentious and her confidence at times as arrogance.
Sydney is very logic based and quite practical in most matters. The one exception to this seems to be in her tendency to expect too much of herself. While she knows she cannot be good at everything, a part of her still needs to try to expand her skills and to overcome any obstacles such as a lack of natural talent. Her analytic mind aids her in doing this, being able to look at a situation and assess how to go about accomplishing whatever her goal may be.
As such, it is little surprise that Sydney struggles with emotions. That is not to say that she doesn't have any - though some have suggested that possibility - but rather that she has difficulty expressing them properly. She is very good at compartmentalizing so that her emotions do not interfere with her efforts at whatever task she is currently attempting. She is a compassionate person - her greatest aim is to leave her mark on the world and somehow make it a better place - but this can go unnoticed. She has severe control issues which leads her to focus on things she can control such as specific tasks rather than more chaotic forces such as emotion. She is very much a planner, preferring to schedule every aspect of her day - even allotting time and limitations to her spontaneity.
She is a very ambitious person, which is little surprise given that her potential and talent has been praised since she was extremely young. As such, she can also be a bit competitive. This comes out more in sports and such, since there are few people who can truly challenge her intellect. Here ambitious nature also means that she is prone to going a bit overboard in her attempts to succeed.
Socially, she is in fact an extrovert by nature. She enjoys interacting with people - she just tends to do so in a very direct manner. Mostly it is her circumstances that have kept her a bit more of a loner on a personal level. However, she is very much a joiner, belonging to several clubs and sports. She is a natural leader and very good at planning and delegating. However, she can also come across as quite bossy since she naturally assumes a leadership role even when she hasn't necessarily been recognized for such a position. That is not to say that she is disrespectful - in fact she is extremely respectful of authority - but rather than her manner of communication is very straightforward and can come across as an order more than a request.
Her stubbornness is also something that must be noted and it is truly both a blessing and a curse. She does not give up on anything, which has been known to be more destructive than productive at times. However, that same persistence is one of her greatest strengths, for she is able to shine in such situations, putting her analytic mind to the test and finding ways to succeed despite whatever challenges she faces.Your VicesLikes: order, studying, documentaries, libraries, reading/books,
Dislikes: chaos, quitters, smoking, rap music,
Strengths: learning, planning,
Weaknesses: being spontaneous, stubbornness, challenges (she can't say no)
Fears: not being in control, failure, thunderstorms
Secret: Despite all her ambition, Sydney still has no idea what she wants to major in once she graduates and feels overwhelmed with all the possibilities of the future.Family TiesFather: Roger Emerson
Mother: Maria Emerson
Siblings: Samantha Emerson
Any Other Important People: NoneHistorySydney was the accident that no one was expecting. Maria and Roger Emerson already had one child - a daughter named Samantha. They hadn't planned on having more than one child, but apparently, fate had a different plan in mind. Maria fell pregnant and soon after Sydney Kendall Emerson was born.
She was always a precocious child which meant that she and her sister fought often. Sydney quickly grew bored of her age appropriate toys and so often tried to play with her elder sister's instead. However, Samantha wasn't one to share so conflict was frequent between the two sisters. As they grew older though, a solution was found - while Samantha played with her toys, Sydney played with Sam's books. Her elder sister wanted to play with the 'fun' toys while Sydney was much more interested in the educational toys.
When Sydney started kindergarten, it was quickly apparent that there was little left to teach her at this level. In fact, most her days were spent either trying to teach those around her or reading her own books which were several grade levels above her peers. She was tested that year and the results were very promising. After finishing kindergarten, instead of progressing to first grade, the school, with her parents' agreement, had Sydney move up to third grade.
Skipping two grades was a blessing and a curse for the girl. School was interesting for her again, but it didn't win her any favors with her peers or her classmates. She was much younger than everyone else, which meant she was generally left out. Occasionally she was teased, but for the most part people just left her alone. That was something that never really bothered Sydney - she was far more interested in learning and her books than she was in playing in the dirt with other kids.
However, it also caused problems at home. Samantha was none too pleased with her sister outshining her and the two girls fought even more often than they already had. Eventually though, they stopped fighting altogether. Meanwhile, their father was gone, travelling for work more often than he was home which made for a tense family situation. Still, Sydney never let that bother her, instead escaping into literature and school work.
When she was 12, things changed though. It was difficult to explain what was happening for her - she was usually such a calm child - but suddenly she woke filled with anger and resentment and sorrow and a dozen other emotions she did not understand. This continued all day, the emotions shifting and growing stronger as she went to school, causing her to lash out at others unexpectedly until she had a breakdown and ran away from the school.
Four days later, a recruiter from the Hammel Institute came to inform her and her family that she was a meta-human, with a special ability - empathy. She could feel what those around her did. Once she was given a way to understand this power, she found she was curious about it, and eager to learn more.
Hammel allowed the young girl a fresh start. Academically, she was still much younger than her classmates, but they didn't know her and she didn't feel immediately isolated. She found herself joining clubs, testing new interests and learning new skills. She had a love of learning, and that wasn't just limited to math and science and literature. She was by no means a natural athlete, but she trained and pushed herself to learn first by joining the track team, and then just this past year the soccer team as well.
As of now, she is academically a senior, though she will likely need to remain longer to completely control her ability completely. She keeps herself plenty occupied though with her sports and clubs as well as her job tutoring her fellow students.Roleplay ExampleSee Alanna Darlington, Zoelle Heroux, and Talia SpencerWhat About You?Name: Faraday
Age: 23
Experience: a long time
How Did You Find Us? you know this
Ready To Play? Ready, steady, go!
