CNC Application
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Murder
AGE: Old enough
JOURNAL: amurderofcrows
IM: AlmostAMurder @ IM
E-MAIL: storytelling.crow@gmail.com
RETURNING: yes, 3
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Roxanne Ritchi
FANDOM: Megamind; Movie
CHRONOLOGY: Just before the end of the film, post battle with Titan.
CLASS: Hero
SUPERHERO NAME: N/A
ALTER EGO: Roxanne Ritchi, wannabe reporter
BACKGROUND:
** A small note: We are given next to no background information beyond the following;
she's been a 'personal friend' (love interest or possible beard) to Metro Man for several years, has been kidnapped enough that at one time she had a 'frequent kidnapper card' and has become so inured to Megamind's antics that she is no longer impressed with any of his death traps and that she's a journalist.
We don't get any family, education, or past relationship info so almost all of the background here up until her career begins will be 100% headcanon to fill in the gaps.
With that said, on to the background. **
Roxanne Ritchi was born to Glenn and Rosemary Ritchi in 1977; she was the only child the couple planned ot have, as Glenn was a defense lawyer with a small practice and Rosemary was a psychologist with a thriving practice. Her birth was planned, celebrated, and her parents doted on their only child.
Her youth was fairly uneventful; she grew up in Metro City, and so quickly learned the names of Metro Man and Megamind, the city's super-hero/villain duo that caused the populace both grief and joy. They didn't really impact her life at first; she didn't go to school with them, she didn't have any contact with them, but from the age of 10 on or so, they were a background presence in her life with the 'color' they brought to Metro City. This occasionally involved Forget-Me-Bombs, swarms of brainbots, Mind control rays, and other colorful items of super villainy. It was all fairly minor in her youth, as both Megamind and Metro Man were of a like age with her, and while their rivalry started young, it stayed fairly tame through her youth.
She went way to a college when she was eighteen, coming home during the summers; it was over these summers that she met and began to interact with Metro Man -- during a chance encounter with Metro Man and Megamind, she began to be set between the noble hero of Metro City and it's bumbling villain who played by a bizarre set of rules that made sure, really, nobody came to any genuine harm.
She spend six years getting her four year degree, but only because she kept hopping majors; Marine Biology, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering -- because the money could be good, especially in Metro City -- but ultimately, she didn't focus on them. Then she swapped focus; Communications, English, Culinary Arts, English again, and finally settled on Journalism.
Her college career was nothing spectacular-- there were young men she dated, mistakes that were made, and hard lessons learned. She had her experimental phase, her stupid drinking and the occasional reefer phase, and the apparently obligatory pregnancy scare that ended with a very ugly break up that made her a little more careful about her relationships and who she had them with.
Her parents put their foot down in her fourth year of college; they were concerned for her future. Thankfully, she took their advice to heart and turned herself around and graduated with good marks and letters of recommendations from her teachers. Apparently enough had gone wrong with her party-girl college career that it was time to get real, Roxanne did.
During this time, her father was leaving his law practice to write crime novels full time as he could no longer deal with being a public defender in Metro City -- thanks to Megamind and Metro Man, there were few people to work through the system like there were in other cities-- but there was a brisk trade in those who claimed need for therapy in dealing with the superpowered antics of Megamind and Metro Man.
She moved back to the city full time once she had her degree, and began an internship at one of the local news stations. Her 'relationship' with Metro Man 'blossomed' during this time, and it helped her career immensely; it helped propel her to an anchor spot for the local station over the next few years... but it also made her the #1 target for kidnapping and enduring whatever Megamind's latest scheme was -- which was honestly more annoying then threatening. He didn't seem to really want to hurt anybody, and that made her a bit cocky in dealing with him, but he did cause an immense amount of property damage and cost the city time and money in dealing with him.
Metro Man became a very good friend over this time, and Roxanne began to see him socially-- many assumed they were in a long standing romantic relationship and that sort of killed Roxanne's romantic life (except for the persistent affections of Hal, her assistant), even though it wasn't true. Metro Man was content to play at it and Roxanne, perfectly alright with being single while her career was taking off, was content to let him. She wondered if he wasn't gay and this was some sort of elaborate superhero beard, but decided to just run with it. Uncertain about everything that had happened to her after some bad choices with men, she shelved that part of her life and worked hard on becoming the best reporter Channel 8 had. Metro Man was safe, she was safe, it was all very nice. Also, again: Wonders for her career.
(We finally enter solidly canon territory at this point in the application.)
After plateauing in her career -- but unable to leave Metro City due to her connections to it's hero, Roxanne was left covering things with Metro Man as the face of the city; again, she was kidnapped, again, the bait was laid for Metro Man, and again... the trap was sprung. Only this time it seemed to work. It seemed like the concentrated power of the sun destroyed Metro Man at Megamind's behest, and the big-headed blue man took over Metro City.
Little did she know that it was all a sham, as much as her relationship with Metro Man had been. Lost, however, without her good friend and only real confident, she found herself wanting to pick up where she could.
This is when she met Bernard. He was, as far as she knew, the local Megamind expert at the Metro Man museum. They discussed what it would take to challenge Megamind and little did she know, she planted the seeds for a new hero to rise that night. Using her 'nosy reporter' skills and some common investigation, she found MegaMind's lair (it wasn't hard, really, he wasn't very good at hiding it). She called Bernard and found him swift to arrive on the scene.
A ruckus happened between Megamind and the two of them, and they escaped with swift use of cunning and a strange looking gun that she found there, as well as dynamite that Megamind had lying around. Over the coming months, she tried to put together what she'd seen of Megamind's plans within his lair, while using Bernard as a font of Megamind information... slowly falling for him as they worked together. He was funny, warm, and drank up the friendship and affection she gave him. Maybe, after all this time, after Metro Man, she began to wonder... was it time to try again with a nice guy who didn't want to screw her over?
To make matters stranger -- things were changing in Metro City. The streets were being cleaned up, the banks were reopened, things were being returned. Bernard said maybe Megamind wasn't so bad after all, but Roxanne didn't really take that to heart. She'd been kidnapped enough to know he was a cad. An incompetent cad, but a cad. They continued to work together, and see each other socially, as the months passed.
Things were very nearly derailed as her assistant Hal came to her-- somehow imbued with power from an unknown source; putting together the images that she'd seen in Megamind's lair, she realized what Hal -- now calling himself TITAN (or TIGHTEN because he can't spell, okay) assaulted her and tried to win her love with showboating and theatrics. It failed, and he fled in heartbreak and rage. She finally made it to her date with Bernard-- a very fancy dinner, and told him what she had found out: Megamind's plan was to make himself a hero to replace Metro Man, so he could go back to being defeated in the great fight in good and evil!
Bernard said they'd talk business later, and instead, turned the subject to their relationship; if he were ugly, weird, not himself-- would she still enjoy time with him? She assured him that she would, and to seal the deal and take the next step, she leaned across the table to kiss him. He returned her gesture without question, but she put her hand over his, and her fingers brushed his watch...
...and deactivated Megamind's illusion. Bernard did not exist as she knew him; it had been Megamind all those months.
The break up was humiliating for both of them; it was the ultimate evil to her, until she realized he had honestly nothing to gain -- it wasn't an evil plot. Bernard's feelings -- everything she'd seen in him -- was real. It was Megamind's feelings that she'd been reciprocating and his affection for her was genuine.
She spurned it anyway. She was hurt, angry, and deceived and not a soul in the world would blame her for leaving him there in the rain, trying not to look back...
She went home and had a good cry, and got up and sat about her house in her casual clothes, trying to ignore all the information she had... until Megamind was on her doorstep, begging to be let in. Titan had announced his desire to be a villain and then thrashed him when Megamind's deceptions in his life had been revealed. His plans were all ruined. Now he came to Roxanne to beg her help because, frankly, she was smarter then he was.
She also knew Metro Man better than anyone, and was able to take him to the man's secret lair; hidden under a school house he had once moved to a hiding place. They didn't konw what was beneath it, but found it soon enough. Metro Man's home, filled with all his memorabilia.
Also, Metro Man himself.
They were shocked to find that he'd faked his death, desiring the right to be normal and make choices for himself.H e was going to be MUSICIAN MAN now, and pursue a rock career (he was awful). As Megamind reasoned with him, in her rage, Roxane threw everything within reach at him and howled at him for abandoning his city. But he was done. He refused to answer the heroic call anymore. He told them to leave and was done. They went up and parted ways; Megamind said he was going 'home' to prison, and left Roxanne to decide what to do.
She decided to try and talk Hal down. This was the worst thing she could have done. He was too far gone and had no interest in anything but hurting her -- he hung her out to dry and called out Megamind. Thankfully, Megamind answered in a pyrotechnical display of hard rock heroics that would have made Guns n' Roses proud to have their anthem played for such an epic display of awesome as Megamind distracted Hal, saved the girl, got the snot kicked out of him (And his poor Minion) and yet, managed to pull off taking back the powers accidentally given to Hal and become the new hero of Metro City.
It's in the aftermath of this chaos that Roxanne finds herself being drawn into the crowd to celebrate the end of Hal's brief reign of terror, that Roxanne gets swept away into the City.
PERSONALITY:
If you're looking for a passive damsel in distress, you best look elsewhere. Roxanne Ritchi, when we first meet her, is intelligent, emotional, and so very tired of being at the center of of someone else's world. The conflict between Metro Man and Megamind has defined her and by the time we meet her, she's pretty tired of it and completely unafraid to express it; she knows that she wouldn't be in any real danger. She runs her mouth fearlessly despite having alligators, flamethrowers and machine guns pointed at her -- she knows the game... and is genre savvy enough in Megamind's world to play it as an equal.
Roxanne's forthright, honest, and maybe a little commitment shy due to being a superhero's beard for a few years now. This isn't to say she wasn't emotionally invested in her relationship with Metro Man -- she takes his betrayal very personally and with no small amount of outrage, throwing everything she can manage to pick up at him for abandoning her and the city both. It'd probably be harder to forgive Metro Man for lying to her and the world (and leaving it to rot to pursue his 'dream') then she is over Megamind playing at being Bernard.
She takes charge without second thoughts, and is not afraid to pick up a strange gun and take the fight to the villain if she thinks it's necessary, as well as thinking on her feet; she's quick witted and smart, and not afraid to take wild leaps of faith to do what needs to be done, find the right answer to the mystery, or otherwise take action. She takes on Megamind in his own lair with no fear for herself (though she doesn't want people hurt for her sake; she tells 'Bernard' to run and save himself) in pursuit of the right thing, but is also not stupid - she knows when to cut and run when dealing Megamind, the Brain Bots and who knows what else in there.
By the time she comes to the City, she's lost her best friend, found love in the 'normalest' guy ever, confronted her partner about how there will never be anything between them, whether or not he got powers, found out she was dating the bad guy and the last few months of her life was a total lie, and dumped him, and then decided that the only way they might resolve things was to talk down her ex-partner (and failed). She's emotionally raw at this betrayal from three friends (Hal, Megamind and Metro Man) and maybe a little confused about Megamind and her feelings for him/Bernard.
In general, she feels most people are good at heart; even in her lousy assistant and Megamind, she can see where they could be decent people. It enables her to be a generally positive person, hoping for the best. She doesn't tend to dwell on bad times, and is quick to latch on to plans for the future, and work toward a better tomorrow. Sometimes she needs a push -- everybody does now and again -- but she's quick to rebound from hardship and pick herself up with a pluck and verve that Pollyana would be proud of.
In short: Roxanne's sassy and feisty, striving for independence in a world that limited hers, and maybe a little bit afraid of vulnerability-- but not afraid to confront that fear if she has to. Hopeful and always looking toward the next day and the next opportunity, she's a determined go-getter that looks forward to the next challenge. She's very much a woman in a superheroes' world where there are no super-women; she's the closest they get, and she rises to the challenge admirably. She wants to be taken seriously, and earns that right. Sure, she has to be rescued, but only because she was the only one who would try and face the villain down in the first place.
POWER:
Nosy Reporter Tricks -- Empathic Clues
Roxanne has been given empathy to help find the good -- and bad -- in others; these powers help her read intent, emotional state (or history, where objects are concerned), and so forth from any unblocked or available mind or object. While empathy with people does not require physical contact, objects do (since they are not 'active' and merely impressions left by people). Multiple people feeling strong emotions can be overwhelming, while objects are usually easier to work with as they are second hand emotional responses.
This power picks up feelings and images, but no words or context or actual thought; she has to ferret that information out with her own investigative skills. People are fairly self-explanatory - emotional images/feeling transmission depends on what the person is feeling at the time.
Objects, however, simply have 'history' instead of active emoting -- if it has some deep meaning to someone it will be stronger. She can glean a little of it's recent emotional 'story'. A murder weapon would carry emotional impressions of pain and violence, flavored with the sort of intent-- a crime of heated passion, a cold assassination, and so forth. However, is a very long time has passed (more then a month or two) unless the item was a focus for repeated use / great emotional significance, the history of it will 'fade' in time, so she couldn't go back and do anything with historical objects that have sat, untouched, for hundreds of years, and so forth.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[Few people post to the network looking this composed; however, Roxanne Ritchi has spent the last ten years on teevee-- either as a reporter, part of the story, or both. Her make up is just right, her expression is composed, and her smile is picture perfect.]
[There are flaws, however; her hair is mussed, her clothes are casual -- a tank top and jeans -- and there are smudges of dirt that she hasn't quite gotten off her forehead in her quick prep to prepare for the Network. Still, she wears her combat fatigue with a grace most couldn't manage. If you were from Metro City, you'd understand why.]
Hello, I'm Roxanne Ritchi, originally of Metro City. I'm not going to surprise anybody by saying I'm new, and this is my first time to The City; at least, I don't remember being here before... Lots of interesting reading here, let me tell you. I don't think it gets this weird back home, any that's saying something!
[She taps one pamphlets in her hand in the way that reporters do to stress the documentation that she can't actually SHOW you.]
I'm only really used to having two colorful characters to deal with back home... and trust me, they were a handful. I'm really not interested in refilling my Frequent Kidnapping Card anytime soon.
So, City -- what should be the first thing on my agenda?
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
It wasn't Metro City-- heck, it wasn't anywhere as far as she was concerned--but the place was starting to look a lot like home, right down the window occasionally rattling when somebody flew or swung by. But that wasn't important -- what was important was that the move was now over. Roxanne Ritchi was now out of the MAC and she was ecstatic to be out of that tiny one room with no view.
There was new furniture, there was some new kitchen appliances, her closet looked a little less threadbare... and she was puttering around in her pink fuzzy slippers, humming to herself as she relaxed in the aftermath of the move. It was so unlike the posh apartment she'd been able to afford on her salary at channel 8, but it was hers and that was what she considered important. She was getting on her feet, and that was what she had to do if she was going to make it here. Mom and Dad weren't here to fall back on, Metro Man -- well, just thinking about him still made her feel angry and betrayed -- and ... well, Megamind? That was like the definition of the Facebook status: "It's complicated."
So, maybe the place was a little more like home then she was certain she liked. Heroes, villains, and her love life were still entangled. Not to mention, there was a Brain Bot nestled the couch cushions, making little bzzr bzzr noises, as if it were feigning sleep. At least, she thought it was feigning sleep. You couldn't sure. It was, after all, a brain in a bubble. Where it came from? Did it really sleep? What did it do in it's spare time? Best not to ask.
Going into the kitchen, she grabbed a pint of Ben n' Jerry's (Red Velvet Cake, limited run, so tasty) and came back to the couch. She cleared her throat and watched the brain buzz to life, floating up and clacking it's jaws noisily. "Scoot over, Elo."
The bot settled at one end of the couch, and she curled at the other, digging in to her celebratory treat. Between bites, she spoke to the bot; it was better, after all, then talking to the statue of a hero who had faked his death and perhaps a little less crazy. Besides, Elo at least chirped at her and 'talked' back. Sort of. She was pretty sure Megamind could understand them, even if she couldn't.
"So we're all moved in," she began and the bot made a noise of -- recognition? Who knew. "Finally got some new clothes. Gonna have a little house warming with Sally later, maybe go out... The new job's working out great, and I haven't been kidnapped once. And it's been months."
The bot twirled once and make another noise, high pitched and whiny, before it settled down again, making another noise, this one longer and more plaintive. She nudged it gingerly with her fuzzy-slippered foot, always wary; she'd seen those things latch on to-- pretty much everything, from wrenches to Megamind's hand; but Elo seemed fairly tame with her.
"What's wrong? Miss your Daddy?" She'd never understood how he treated those trap-jawed things like puppies, but with Elo following her about like one, to the point that he'd broken with his master's pack, she had to admit, they kind of acted like it. (Again: Don't think about the brains. Just best not to.)
He was whining again. Enough was enough; she reached for her phone.
MOVE DONE. ELO MISSES DADDY. WANNA COME BY? -- RR
He was going to come over sometime, anyway. It was inevitable, right? Now was as good a time as anyway. Maybe they could -- do something... semi-normal. She missed Bernard, and Megamind-- was not Bernard, that was for certain, but-- there were elements of Bernard that were certainly in Megamind... she'd thought he was the most normal thing in her life, once.
She'd barely put down the phone when it buzzed back. C U THERE LOL :) -- MM.
Looked like he still was, too.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
Jill is aware that Roxanne is coming to rock Megamind's world, aww yeah.