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Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:38 pm I think/hope this is complete... ( Note: his siblings are NOT at the academy, but may make a few visits every now and then, if the story needs a jump start ;) )
Name: Vladimir Liang Alias: Lyric (pending a better idea) Age: 17 Occupation: Student at Xavier’s academy Alliance: Russo-Chinese Mafia; X-Men – in that order Items: Very old Italian violin; electric violin; acoustic guitar; electric guitar; Beretta 9mm semi-auto pistol, with silencer; large bottle of 150 proof vodka Physical Description: Vladimir is not especially tall, but has a slender, athletic build. Thanks to his parents’ “aristocratic” background he has a plentiful supply of expensive, stylish clothes and always sports a very attractive hairstyle. Despite what people might expect from his personality, he always dresses sharply, and always dresses himself. Because his father is Chinese, Vladimir looks very oriental. However, he gets his strong, athletic build from the Russian side of his family. Vladimir also gets his eyes from his Russian mother. They are a crisp blue, which seem to glow with vitality. Though his hair is naturally a dark brown (a happy medium between his parent’s hair colors), he almost always has it highlighted blond. His fingers, however, are what he likes best about himself. They are long and slender, almost to the point of being called “girly” – a trait which evolved mostly from his violin and piano playing. Vladimir has a tendency to speak with a bit of a Russian accent, though if he tries he can hide it fairly well. Personality: Vladimir is an exceptional liar. As any good child of important mafia leaders, Vladimir is also an amazing actor. Thus it is that he has developed an almost Jekyll and Hyde-style split personality. When in his own environment in Russia or China, Vladimir has power, and he knows it. Though he doesn’t flaunt it by spending money rashly or making fun of police, he always has an air of authority about him. If someone does him wrong, he doesn’t hesitate to pull out a pistol and shoot them (or, have a bodyguard shoot them for him). However, in America he has become quite the opposite. This is, he claims, the “real” him. The reason behind this is that he is under no pressure to uphold the mafia honor or any such nonsense – after all, nobody knows of his mafia allegiance in America. The “real” him is polite, kind and caring, and eager to lend a hand. Though he seems to have no desire to be in a relationship, despite the wishes of many at school, he feels that those who “like” him are only dazzled by his style and the side effects of his gift. However, the truth is that he yearns for the recognition and love that his parents scarcely gave him. Vladimir is also exceptionally talented with languages and the arts. He is fluent in many languages, including Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and English. Also, he can get by in Italian, German, French, and Korean. In fact, after his sister began to display a similar affinity for languages, the two put their heads together one summer and created their own language, Farinn, which they enjoy speaking together. However, though he shines in the languages and arts, he is rusty, dull, and ready to be thrown out in math and the sciences. Though he does manage to pass most of these classes, he is glad to pull even a D+. The highest grade he can remember in a math course is a C+, and that was in seventh grade math. History: Like any good mafia history, Vladimir’s is not a pretty one. His parents’ marriage was arranged in order to bring the Russian and Chinese mafias closer together and to ensure future partnerships. Though they were not the leaders of their respective mafias, they were quite high up in the chain of command, and were very powerful and very rich. Their marriage brought three children – Vladimir’s older brother, Viktor, Vladimir himself, and his younger sister, Isabella. From an early age, Vladimir was infatuated with the violin, and learned from the best instructors around. He learned quickly, and was somewhat of a child prodigy. Though he won many local and regional competitions, his parents didn’t let him go on further as they suspected he might end up on national tour, and didn’t wish to draw any more attention to themselves than was necessary. Frustrated, but not put out, Vladimir poured the energies that would have gone to touring into teaching himself the piano. He also picked this up quickly, and recently began studying Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. He also began to teach himself or take lessons for various other instruments, including the guitar and his voice. Besides this, he showed his natural skill with languages quite early. He learned Russian and Chinese as his first languages from his parents, and then picked up Japanese from frequent dealings with the Yakuza. He later learned English in school, and learned his other languages mostly through self study, television, and books. Aside from his education in the arts, he was also given a “practical” education which future mafia brass such as himself would need. His father taught him Chinese Kung Fu and Tai Chi, while his mother taught him to fire guns accurately and how to act well enough to fool experts and computer lie detectors. Though his history thus far seemed almost fairytale like, it was, of course, not destined to last. His mother was a mutant with mild telepathic powers, and it was inevitable that at least one of her children would also be a mutant. In fact, it was from her that he learned to shield his mind from probing, so that he could hide the truth from any other psychics or lie detectors. These powers manifested themselves one day that he will never forget, and which changed the course of his life forever. He was practicing violin alone, when his brother happened to walk by. Without even thinking about it, Vladimir’s sonic powers gripped Viktor and threw him into a coma, from which he has only recently awoken. Needless to say, his parents were furious. Viktor, being the oldest son, was to take over his parents’ positions to solidify link between the two mafias. Though they were certain he would recover sooner or later – he had the best medical treatment available – they would have to cover up the true cause of the coma. If anyone found out that his own brother had caused it, the still-shaky unity would shatter. The decision was made. Vladimir was to live in America and attend American schools, and not draw attention to himself. He would also attend Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Children, which his mother heard about from her mutant connections. They made it clear that he must master his gifts, or he would be useless to them. He was sent via Concorde to New York City with a $11,000 per month-limit credit card, an address, a suitcase of clothes and possessions, his violins, and a pistol (mailed to a post-office box for him to retrieve upon arrival). The young man wasted no time, immediately purchasing a train ticket and setting off for the academy. It was during this ride that he made the decision that he would be a different person in America. After all, his parents had asked him to “blend in” and not be noticed. Perhaps another reason for this decision was to hide his emotional pain. Though he resented the favoritism shown to his brother, Vladimir always respected and looked up to Viktor. On top of the unbelievable pain he felt for causing such harm to his dear older brother, his parents had dropped the weight of the entire family’s shame upon him, and he knew failure like never before. It was also about this time that Vladimir started to drink in earnest. Though he had tasted vodka many times in the parties he and his mafia friends and bodyguards attended and even developed quite a tolerance, he had never endeavored to drink it by his self. He was no alcoholic – he restricted his drinking to one day a week and otherwise forgot about it entirely – but he quickly found that he could drink like a very experienced one. In one of his few fond memories of America, he was able to swindle a bar owner into paying him protection money, in the form of ten percent of the profits and any drinks he wanted, by challenging him to a drinking contest. He emerged from this contest having just entered the early stages of drunkenness, while the bar owner was passed out on the floor. At any rate, though he showed no signs of it to his friends and acquaintances, Vladimir held and still holds a deep sorrow and regret for what he did. He knows that it wasn’t entirely his fault, but that event and the aftermath simply tipped the scale, on top of all the other minor oppression from his parents – starting with the suppression of his violin talent. To this day, he sleeps very little at night. Instead, he plays his violin on the roof of the Academy until dawn. If he ever does get to sleep, it is on that roof, next to his beloved instrument – and, on Fridays, next to an empty plastic bottle which once held vodka. Other Misc. Info: Vladimir and his younger sister are extremely close, since neither of them are to take as much control as their older brother. Though they always try to get close to Viktor, he has a tendency to keep people at a distance. While he enjoys their company, and the three generally have a good time and work well together, Viktor has never gotten as close to the others as Vladimir and Isabella have become. Vladimir and his sister are both excellent thieves, and one of their favorite pastimes in Russia or China was to walk the streets and randomly pickpocket particularly rich-looking people. Vladimir is the great grandson of Nikolai "God of Death" Vostrikov Powers: Vladimir’s primary power is the ability to manipulate sound waves, and transfer mental energy through them. He most commonly uses this ability to hypnotize people using either some musical instrument he has handy, like his violin, or his own voice. Also, if he wanted to, he could change the way things sound. For example, he could be speaking nonsense words, but simultaneously manipulate it so that anyone around would hear him singing from an opera. He is also able to create a sort of sonic blast, which can have force ranging from temporary disorientation, to temporary deafness, to a physical blow (but not all at the same time, as they are aimed differently). This ability’s effectiveness is relative to how close he is to the sound he’s manipulating – the closer the sound’s source, the more effective the results. Thus, he always prefers to make the sound himself. Not any sound, however – he always uses music, as he feels it is more effective than random sound. However, he could easily, in the future, use the sound from a gunshot to make the victim be more ready to pass out or give up information. Possible future expansions of this ability include: – Manipulating sound waves and to vibrate the pins of a lock into position (aka: lockpicking) – Drawing sound waves closer to him quicker to hear things from great distances – Manipulating the air waves to create dense pockets of air allowing him to float and/or fly – Directing and amplifying sound into the ground to create small earthquakes. Vladimir also has minor psychic abilities, helped to the surface by his mother. He sometimes uses this for minor telekinetic acts. However, he mostly uses this in conjunction with his primary ability. He uses this ability to create a psychic link between his own body and his instrument (usually the electric violin) and uses his body as a giant resonating chamber to amplify the sound and literally project through himself. Since his sonic manipulation ability works best if the sound source is close to him, this allows for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. The Siblings – Just going to have a quick description of each, no histories Name: Viktor Liang Age: 22 Occupation: Russo-Chinese Mafia Commander Alliance: Russo-Chinese Mafia Items: Custom-made cell phone with wireless earpiece. Physical Description: Viktor looks strikingly like his younger brother, so much so that they have sometimes been mistaken for twins. They both dress impeccably, and tend to wear their hair similarly. Viktor, however, is quite partial to trench-coats and leather gloves, however, while Vladimir tends to avoid those. Viktor is also several inches taller than his younger brother, a fact which he savors. Personality: Viktor’s personality, unlike his physical appearance, is much different from his brother’s. He seems to never anger, and is startlingly calm at absolutely all times. He also acts very kind and forgiving, and is often seen helping the elderly to cross the streets, and other such things. Make no mistake, however – under that calm exterior is a powerful man who would not hesitate to eliminate his opponents. Powers: Though his powers manifested later in life than Vladimir’s did, Viktor has very potent powers which he can already manipulate quite well. He has control over air and air pressure, allowing him to create a “bullet” out of compressed air, which he can launch at high speeds into a person’s body, then expand, causing severe internal damage. He is also known to create a pressure difference between victim’s nose and mouth and their lungs, causing them to either leak out air and suffocate, or take in too much air and explode. On a lighter note, Viktor has learned to create a pocket of air about his mouth, nose, and eyes while he swims to stay under for much longer periods of time, and can manipulate the air about him to effectively give him the ability to fly (or deflect bullets). Name: Isabella (Mei Lin) Liang Age: 12 Occupation: Cute little girl Alliance: Vladimir, Russo-Chinese Mafia (in that order) Items: Nothing in particular Physical Description: Like her two brothers, Isabella’s appearance is primarily Chinese. Her eyes, however, are a crisp blue like her mother’s. Her hair is black and straight. She is slightly short for her age, but doesn’t mind – she always wears a smile. Personality: Isabella is a very upbeat, happy child. Her parents brag that she never threw a fit nor needed to be spanked (though they did this for both children before her). She is usually shy, but has become very attached to her brother Vladimir. He is probably almost the only person in the world to whom she will talk to freely. Otherwise, she is a sweet, respectful child who seems to care for everyone. Other Misc. Info: If Vladimir doesn’t call her Mei, he usually calls her “Izzy” or “Iz” Isabella is undoubtedly her father’s favorite, because she was the only one of the three to whom he gave a Chinese name. None of them have questioned this. Powers: Though her powers have not yet fully manifested, she claims to sometimes be able to see “glowing” objects, especially when they are hidden from view – especially guns inside visiting mafia member’s jackets. Eventually, she will develop the ability to read residual feelings from an object or location. For example, by being near or touching a crime scene, she might be able to “see” what happened in her mind. More practically, she might also be able to recall which numbers were punched on a keypad for access to, say, a vault. |
spy_4_hire Joined: 14 Feb 2004 Posts: 568 | Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:57 pm cool beans!! ^^ "Izzy" sounds so cute!!!!!!!
Russo-Chinese mafia?!?! XDDD |
| Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:04 pm Thanks, that's what I was aiming for ;)
Hey, I just had an idea and decided to go with it! (PS: Added another "misc info" to Vladimir) |
Melia Stahlflugel Joined: 4 Aug 2005 Posts: 613 | Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:15 pm Woah, they're all so cool! Russo-Chinese for the win!
Insomniacs (with multiple personalities!) bothered by their past for yet another win! Aurelia: *high fives Vlad* |
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