Post by Pepper Potts on Jul 6, 2008 12:28:03 GMT -5
The Character
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Cannon or your own: Canon
Copyright (Marvel/DC/ect): Marvel
Characters civilian name: Virginia Potts
Code names/Aliases: Pepper
Class [Superhero, Vigilante, Mercenary..ect]: Human...affiliated with a superhero...
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Gender: Female
Age: Early 30s
Apparent Age: Early 30s
Hair: Strawberry blonde
Eyes: Blue, changing to green in the light
Height and weight: 5'10", 140 pounds
Appearance:
Pepper is slender and small-boned with graceful shoulders and arms, a thin waist, and strong hips. She has a flat stomach and long legs that neatly support her weight both in heels and in flats. A swimmer, she is well-toned but not the strongest of people, (she kicks more than punches). She has a thin, small nose, a wide mouth with a variety of expressions, and expressive eyes. There is a light splash of freckles on her face. She has a direct, polite gaze and – as Tony Stark is well aware – petite, delicate hands.
Picture [if available]:
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Super Powers: None
Learned Abilities:
Pepper has evolved, so to speak, from her earlier role as an assistant. Knowing that, as an assistant, she can do little, she has taken up martial arts, acrobatics, and defensive and offensive skills. She has learned both how to physically fight as well as usage of knives and guns.
Equipment: Pepper carries a small array of weapons on a tool belt around her waist. She has a tazer, sonic tazer, two knives, pepper spray, a 9-millimeter Glock with refills, (at least two), and two guns that fire the same repulsor blasts that Tony’s iron suit fires.
Pepper wears new clothing of a unique design. It is kind of a suit (not an iron suit, like a bodysuit or unitard) with a high neckline. It is formfitting and is a combination of silk (to the touch), and diamonds. It serves as full-body armour and cannot be penetrated by a knife or bullet, (though bullets can weaken it. Beams, like repulsors, weaken it faster and can break through if fired often enough). It only covers her body though, so her hands and head are still unprotected, (she’s working on something to fix that).
Weaknesses: Pepper is still rather new to this concept of fighting to survive - literally. She isn't used to being put in day to day live or die situations, and still has the problem of panicking when she is.
Despite the power of her suit, Pepper can still be hurt as she is a human. Most of the other weaknesses apply. She's in love with Tony and she can't lie to save her life.
Background:
[blending canon and my own opinion since I can't find anything on her younger life]
Virginia Potts was the product of two fast-paced executives in Los Angeles. Her father worked on stocks in New York and was not around very much. Her mother worked as a magazine editor, (think Miranda Priestley from The Devil Wears Prada except not quite so self-centered and tough). Virginia had, relatively, a quiet childhood, showing no special aptitudes or talents while some of her classmates around her developed mutant powers. She did love to write, and would often pen short stories when she was supposed to be paying attention in class. She also had a habit of categorizing and organizing messes and, as she got older, began to live her life by an hourly schedule. Her mother did her best to break her of that, thinking Virginia was becoming too 'cold'. Virginia acceded to her mother's demands, but didn't quite lose her organizational skills. In high school she was good at math and writing, an odd combination. History fascinated her. In science she was fairly famous for a lab experiment that had fiery results - she was not permitted back into the lab at all for the rest of her sophomore year.
Virginia graduated from college with a double BA in Accounting and Business Administration - she had her father's love of math as well. She went to work as an entry-level secretary for Stark Industries and did her job efficiently and quickly until, one famous day, she discovered a mathematical error in the budget sheet she was reviewing. Braving her very unemployment and ignoring the chain of command (after she was ignored by her supervisor), she marched into Stark's office and demanded he listen to her and review the page. She was absolutely certain there was an error and would not leave until it was reviewed and accepted or rejected by Stark himself. She even went so far as to threaten Stark's guards with pepper spray if they tried to remove her (A/N: that, sadly, was not my idea, I read it in the movie novelization and loved it so much I had to add it).
When Stark discovered she was right, he was impressed with her gall and determination - as well as her horrible ability to lie (because she of course didn't have pepper spray) and her attention to detail. Calling her 'Pepper', he made her his personal assistant. Virginia has attempted to get him to stop calling her 'Pepper' but he seemingly refuses. She has worked for him for a number of years now and they have established a close friendship underneath their professional exteriors. Of course, Pepper's got a little more than friendship under there, but she strives to hide it. She doesn't know if it's reciprocated either.
Now that the virus has attacked, Pepper was separated from her boss and has been living on her own in hiding for some time. She hasn't seen anyone who wasn't a zombie for a while, and so when she sneaks into Stark Towers to replenish her weapon supply she's going to be shocked at what she finds...
Personality: Pepper maintains an outside cool exterior, but inside she is a fireball. She is always ready with a smooth comeback and will fence words willingly with anyone who tries. She is very good at the ‘absorb and deflect’ method that Stark pretty much drilled in to her. She is devilishly smart and efficient, handling most situations with a cool, calm, and professional manner. To the public eye she is intelligent and friendly if not always the most approachable person. She treats everyone with respect – even those she dislikes – and how much she speaks to a person within seconds of meeting them tells how much she likes and/or trusts them.
When it comes to Tony Stark, Pepper is often just a little off-kilter. She handles his appointments and speaks to him well enough, but the moment their conversation turns outside of friendly banter, she begins to lose her words and stutter a little. This comes, of course, from being in love with him, something she tries hard (and often fails) to ignore.
In a sentence: Pepper is a driven, determined, loyal, and smart young woman – who sometimes falls prey to her own emotions.
Other: Nothing?
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Brief Sample Roleplay
Pepper followed Tony silently and watched as he sat down and put his head in his hands. She closed her eyes, letting out a sigh of relief, but didn't take a seat. He would likely need her standing - strong when he needed strength. It was a role she had taken on silently after the war.
She listened to him speak and opened her eyes to see him looking up at her. He mentioned not wanting to fight anymore, and he mentioned her hating him. The first part she could deal with. The second was just ridiculous. The opposite, in fact. She had never been so relieved to see him alive and well. Well - except when he'd come back from the war, perhaps. But still...
"I don't hate you, Tony," she said. "Emma Frost injected you with an antidote. She has the needle. Any blood samples we manage to take from you within the next few hours will prove you had traces of a toxin in your bloodstream. Once it's released that you were under control of something, people will realize you didn't attack anything deliberately. You didn't have control of your own body."
She stopped, thinking. "Not...that that makes you feel any better right now, I'm sure."
Forget this. She sat down next to him. She didn't try to touch him or look him in the eye. She instead looked straight ahead and continued to talk. "You first became Iron Man to rid the world of your weapons. You never went after any other type. You didn't want a body count to be your only legacy. It was your drive and your determination. But you can't stop the world. You can't stop wars. You can't make the world the safest place to live in. But you can do your best to try. And your best, Tony, is pretty good."
Now she looked at him. "'I shouldn't be alive. Unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right.' You said that to me years ago, Tony. And you have been through a lot. I agree you should take a break. But you shouldn't give it up completely. The world still looks to you as a protector, as a role model, as an embodiment of strength. You might rely on a machine to live, but I would challenge your mind over that machine any time. You're strong, Tony. And you have a purpose in life. You've said that yourself."
She couldn't believe she was saying all of this. She stopped talking and withdrew into her own mind for a little bit. Why was she telling him to keep fighting? She feared for him every time he went into battle. She worried endlessly when he didn't come home on time, (much as she refused to allow herself to believe that). There was nothing, she was sure, that she would want than for him to stop being Iron Man and go back to Mr. Anthony Edward Stark, billionaire inventor and technical king.
But he wasn't that man anymore. Or so she thought. If he stopped being Iron Man, he would lose an enormous part of his life. If not his whole life. And Pepper wasn't about to watch the man she cared about so badly sink into depression and give up on the thing that had given him a purpose.
