Sophie Tillman
Jun 25, 2014 2:24:59 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Tillman on Jun 25, 2014 2:24:59 GMT -5
The BasicsName: Sophia Jane Tillman
Nicknames: Sophie (most often used), Sophs
Age: 27 (September 3rd, 1987)
Orientation: Straight
Desired Rank/Job: Nurse (medical clinic)
Powers: Matter ingestion. Sophie can consume any substance that would be inedible to others without suffering consequences like poisoning or injuries to her digestive tract. This effect applies to substances that the average human body is not able to process – for example, she can achieve a normal buzz from drinking a moderate amount, but would not experience alcohol poisoning when others would be at risk of it. As a side effect, she is nearly constantly hungry and has a high metabolism. Her power also gives her high levels of energy, which frequently results in sleepless nights.
Play By: Hillary Thompson, professional skateboarderThe DetailsHair Color: Light brown
Eye Color: Brown
Any Piercings? Belly button
Any Tattoos? Two sparrows, one on each hip
Any Scars? Dog bite scar on the outside of her right forearm (age 12)
General Appearance: Sophie stands at 5'10", slightly underweight due to the high metabolism caused by her ability. Truth be told, however, she likes it that way – prior to developing her power and her transition, Sophie was somewhat muscular, which she hated. Her current build also emphasizes her collarbones, and when not at work she tends to wear scoop-necked shirts to show them off. She has thin lips and a pointed nose that contrast her slightly softened chin.
Although being a nurse doesn't leave her with much spare time to focus on her appearence, Sophie always makes the effort to look put together on a daily basis. With careful maintenance, her everyday look features thin eyebrows, clear skin, and light makeup. She tends to keep her straight brown hair in a ponytail while working. On her own time, she lets it hang loose, sometimes styled into curls if she's feeling fancy.
When it comes to style, Sophie prefers flowy clothing, like maxi dresses or light, loose tops. She enjoys wearing open-toed shoes, both heels and sandals, to show off her painted toenails. For jewelry, she keeps it simple, with the false diamond in her navel piercing being her main indulgence. On each hip, she bears a tattoo of a sparrow with dark blue feathers and yellow belly, roughly three inches from beak to tail.
Personality: The first thing most people notice about Sophie is her Southern charm – taught growing up that manners were of utmost importance, she's polite even in informal settings. Sophie is a welcoming host and very good at diffusing situations when she notices that someone is embarrassed or anxious. That doesn't mean, that she's easily trusting, however – quite the contrary. She just knows how to put on a show.
In several ways, Sophie tends to see herself as a piece of something much larger than she is. As a Tillman, as a metahuman, as a trans woman, and as a member of the Pilot Ridge community, she derives much of her sense of identity from her family and the various communities that she belongs to. This inspires her to reach out when she sees one of “her people” in need. It's also why after graduating, she stayed in Pilot Ridge as a nurse (to offer a meta presence in the local health services) and a volunteer at the local LGBT center.
It has taken Sophie a lot of time and work to become comfortable with herself. As a result, she's developed a thick skin. That being said, she's not one to tolerate insults or abuse. She doesn't become defensive or fly off the handle. Rather, she prefers to employ a sweet smile and short, scathing takedown – occasionally tossing in a “well bless your heart.” Something that she's become very good at deflecting are rude questions about her transition. Sophie has come to feel that there are always going to be people who view her as their Local Transgender Ambassador (TM) and expect her to speak for the entire trans population; she resents this when it occurs, being an expectation that she never agreed to. But the pressure causes her to walk a careful line, and she tries to keep her private matters private as delicately as possible.
At home and at work, it can be apparent that Sophie likes to do things a certain way and stick with it. Deviating from her routine or her system of organization is one of the easiest ways to set Sophie on edge, even as she manages to swallow her irritation. However, her irritability shows more easily when she's running on little sleep as a result of her power.Your VicesLikes: Cooking and baking, especially for others
Line dancing
Alt rock, pop punk, country, garbage top 40 radio, “infectious dance” music
Cycling
Men with glasses
Fantasy TV shows
Wedge heels
Dark chocolate
Award shows
Martinis
Barbecue
Dislikes: Disorder
Classical music
Nosy people
Excessive or tacky jewelry
Vulgarity
Unsweetened tea
TV shows and movies with lots of violence
Canceling plans last minute
Strengths: Attention to detail
Difficult to anger, at least visibly
Compassionate bedside manner
Perfect fake smile
Can get lots of work done quickly, due to ability's energy side effect
Golfing – although she hasn't played in some time, she still retains some talent from her youth.
Weaknesses:
Inflexible
Persnickety
Slow runner
Children – Sophie will bend over backwards for a crying child
Debilitatingly anxious when threatened
Fears: Violent people, heights, driving at high speeds
Secret: Although people who knew Sophie both as a youth and now realize she's trans, very few people know any details about her transition, and she's not sharing.Family TiesFather: Mason Tillman (53, electrician, non-meta)
Mother: Marilyn Tillman (53, court stenographer, non-meta)
Siblings: Anthony Tillman (32, real estate salesman, non-meta)
Any Other Important People:
Patricia "Patch" Hewitt-Hirsch (best friend)*
Sandy (6-year-old labrador)HistoryWhen Sophie was born just outside of Augusta, Georgia, her parents named her Michael James. By the time she was five, she knew that this was a mistake, but at that age couldn't really articulate why. Living with an older brother who excelled at sports, Sophie grew up trying to meet her father's expectations of becoming a stellar athlete like Anthony. Although she could throw well, her slow speeds meant she frequently got benched in sports like football and soccer.
Her extreme nut allergy - another weakness Anthony didn't have, of course - encouraged teachers and other parents to treat her in a careful manner that clashed with her father's drive. Then at the age of eleven, she discovered golf – and became rather good at it, too. While Sophie didn't ever reach tournament-topping levels of skill, she still managed to land a few plaques in her school's trophy case. None of this helped to dispel the feeling that she wasn't who everyone thought she was.
As confusing as her gender identity was as a child, things really began to come to a head when Sophie entered high school. Being one of the stars of one of the major sports teams of her school, she was rather popular with both the guys who considered her a friend and the girls who tried to draw her attention. Surely it was a life any other boy would want, a fact that made her no less miserable but only more careful to put on a convincing show. Having no knowledge that being transgender was even something existed, when Sophie fell in love with one of her teammates, she simply assumed she was gay. Not that that was any better, in her eyes; she began dating female classmates in an attempt to “fix” herself, all the while desperately hiding her increasing depression from her friends and classmates.
Someone did eventually discover the "truth," though – Erin Maxwell, the girl Sophie had been dating for the first three months of high school. Now, every good Baptist parent likes to think they've convinced their good Baptist children that abstinence until marriage is the only proper way to approach sex. But even worse than premarital sex, Sophie had heard plenty of times, was homosexuality. What if the only way to fix herself was to sleep with a girl, the way boys were supposed to want?
Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.
Lying to the world by day was tiring enough; lying to her girlfriend, even though Sophie didn't hold for her the sort of love she was supposed to, when she still felt so sick and vulnerable after - that was impossible. So when Erin begged to know what was wrong, Sophie explained it as best she knew - that she was gay.
It could have been so much worse; Erin could have ruined her life with that if she'd wanted to. Instead, the girl agreed to keep her secret; they still broke up, Erin being unwilling to play the beard, and everyday Sophie lived with the fear that she would change her mind.
By comparison, Sophie's manifestation that winter seemed downright... boring. Her family was out to dinner like they had been plenty of times before. The only difference this time was the waiter rushing to their table and snatching up her half-eaten meal, sputtering apologies about her own nut-free version being sent to a different table by mistake. One trip to the hospital, one hysterical mother, and zero symptoms later, Sophie was... totally fine. Totally fine, and only one floor away from a Hammel recruiter with a keen tracking sense.
Hammel Institute was a complete departure from Sophie's childhood home. While it wasn't exactly Pride Fest 3000, she was shocked by how many of her peers openly identified as some letter or another of the LGBT spectrum (which had been another shock – the existence of a spectrum, rather than simply “straight and normal” versus “gay and other”). Granted, for a while Sophie preferred to hole up in her dorm room rather than explore campus and get to know her fellow students. But with depression catching up with her and her grades slipping, she eventually agreed to meet with the school psychiatrist. At first, these sessions were meant to address exactly that. During Sophie's junior year, however, she began to open up about her feelings and confusion, and Dr. Neville explained the concept of gender identity as distinct from sexual orienation, and something clicked. When Sophie became a Hammel senior, she began hormone replacement therapy, and everything began to change. Coming out to her family, she expected a trainwreck; sure enough her parents were skeptical, to put it nicely. It was Anthony who surprised her most, offering unconditional support. He still gets it wrong sometimes, bless his heart, but he's trying.
It helped that from sophomore to senior year, Sophie's roommate, a diminutive empath everyone called Patch, had insisted on dragging her to meetings of the school's Gay/Straight Alliance**. While Patch's experience being raised by two mothers, was enough for her to put two and two together and decide that Sophie would benefit from some queer influence.
Sophie graduated from Hammel with distinctly higher grades than when she'd started, and began a four-year nursing program at Greenview Community College. It was during this time that she began volunteering at the LGBT center; as busy as she was, having an ability that provided her with so much extra energy came in handy. After graduating once again, Sophie began work at the Pilot Ridge medical clinic, where she continues to work today.
**This is assuming Hammel had a GSA back in 2003, which I imagine they did.
Roleplay Example
wink wonk
What About You?
Name: Etch
Age: 22
Experience: Exactly ninety seconds
How Did You Find Us? (づ￣ ³￣)づ
Ready To Play? (´∀｀)♡
Okay, but seriously: In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not transgender. My experience with being transgender is limited to what I've read and what I've been told by trans friends and acquaintances, so as a result, there are going to be holes in my understanding. If and when I get something wrong, or if something about this profile is offensive or excessive, please let me know.
