♣ i am a sinner, i am a savior, i am a lie

[solitaire]

» PLAYER INFORMATION
Player NAME: hallie
Current AGE: twenty
Player TIME ZONE: pst
Personal JOURNAL: eugenides
IM & SERVICE: ereikilledthee@aim
Player PLURK: ottomans
Current CHARACTERS: crystalia amaquelin | crystalia

» CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME: remy lebeau | gambit
Canon & MEDIUM: marvel 616 | comics
Canon PULL-POINT: astonishing x-men #56 (2012)
Character AGE: ~26 | he was 24 in 2004. that's about as definite as comics aging is going to get.
Character ABILITIES:

Gambit is a mutant, which means his genetic code contains a gene which grants him special abilities. Physically, Gambit was born with unusual eyes: red irises and black sclera. However, the greater and more important aspects of his supernatural abilities are as follows:

Kinetic Energy Manipulation | Gambit is able to control the kinetic and potential energy of the world around him, usually through touch. He can covert potential energy to kinetic energy, effectively "charging" an object so that it will explode. This energy manifests as a bright pink glow around the object. The larger an object is, the longer it takes to charge. Gambit's chosen explosives are usually playing cards.

His control over kinetic energy also has a few other miscellaneous uses. For one, Remy has a psychic "static" around his mind, making him usually immune to mind-readers and telepaths. He can extend this shield over his body to disrupt touch-based abilities. He also is able to control the kinetic energy of his own body, making him more agile than the average human. He can also use kinetic energy to accelerate his ability to heal, but has only been shown using this ability in life-or-death situations. Also apparently kinetic energy has something to do with time travel but that's ridiculous so let's ignore it.

Hypnotic Charm | It's unclear if this is a secondary mutation or another extension of his kinetic powers, but Remy has the ability to charm others through voice and eye contact. This power gives him a subtle influence over people, making his suggestions seem more desirable and disorienting the people around him. The power is effectively useless against strong-minded people or those who know about it, however.

Death | As the Horseman Death, Gambit had the ability to convert inert materials to toxic substances. This included turning breathable air into poisonous gas. He also had the ability to corrupt others, spreading Apocalypse's influence. However, all of these powers are now dormant, and Gambit tries consciously to keep Death contained.

Character HISTORY: gambit @ marvel wiki ;
Character PERSONALITY:

Let’s get the most obvious metaphor out of the way first. Remy Lebeau is a man enamored of playing cards, so where would he fall in the deck? Contrary to popular belief, he’s not the Ace of Spades or the Knave of Hearts. No, Remy is the Joker in the deck. Apart from the rest, perceived as useless, and unaligned to any suit. He’s a wild card, unpredictable and isolated.

The basis of Gambit’s personality is as a romantic, devil-may-care thief. He is theatrical, charming, and exuberant. He lives a life dedicated to cheap thrills, likes doing things just to prove he can get away with them. There is something very affected about the way he behaves, his French interjections and elaborate movements and gestures. Part of this persona is just his genuine enjoyment of life—he likes being grand and spontaneous, likes the rush of adrenaline he gets when he pulls a heist or goes on an adventure. But he also understands how his personality is unsettling to others, and he uses that to his advantage.

Beneath that, however, Gambit is incredibly complicated. He has a strange, skewed morality—he doesn’t exactly fancy himself a hero, and yet he often does courageous and heroic things. However, he never has a problem bending the rules or breaking them outright. He considers himself an outsider, and because of this he thinks he isn’t subject to the same rules as other people. But that also breeds a lot of mistrust around him. He doesn’t open up to people very often, and this creates a wall of self-imposed exile around him that he hides through flirting and thieving.

As a mutant, Remy has been marked as an outsider since birth. However, he isn’t a crusader for his people or even an activist. He uses his powers selfishly, often, and is just as comfortable in groups of humans as he is amongst his own people. He takes pride in what and who he is, and never shies away from the externals of his identity—mutant, X-man, thief. But at the same time he keeps his own alignment separate from the grand decisions of his peers. This created friction between him and Professor Xavier and later between him and Scott Summers. Leaders don’t like a man who can’t be pinned down, who can’t commit to a cause.

However, Gambit isn’t entirely selfish. In fact, he knows very well the cost of his own choices. As a youth he was caught up working for Mr. Sinister, and this led to a mutant massacre. He has never forgiven himself for this, and locks away his self-loathing behind his confidence and charm. Other, similar instances weigh just as heavily on him—his transformation into Death by Apocalypse and his abandonment of the X-men being the most recent of these. Remy loves to make his own choices, to be defiant or tricky or sly. But those choices often have repercussions that he doesn’t anticipate and cannot deal with.

So, then, is Remy ultimately just a selfish person who is occasionally done in by his mistakes? Not exactly. He does have the capacity to make connections, to care about people. He is often caught in the trap of his own obligations, caring for people too much in a way that doesn’t match the rest of his outlook. No one better exemplifies this than Rogue, Remy’s on again, off again love interest. He loves her to the point of selflessness; she makes him want to be a better person. And despite his overt sensuality and natural tendency to flirt, she’s among the only people who have ever really captured his heart.

In recent years, Remy has matured a lot. He’s always acted a bit older than he is, hardened by experience and guilt. But he is still a thrill-seeking, fun-loving man who fancies himself a romantic hero and a gentleman thief. He has an altruistic side, but he’s mostly prudent and self-serving. The few connections he makes, he clings to fiercely, and those people are usually the only ones who can turn his judgment or decisions. He doesn’t apologize for what he is, doesn’t hesitate to act. But he often makes mistakes, and is closed off from the world around him. His outward and inward personas aren’t irreconcilable or fiercely separate, but he does protect his core self. In many ways, Remy is his beloved New Orleans—shadowed, troubled, shady, but bright and cultured and rich in romance and experience, as well.

» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON:

The Queen of Hearts | Instead of doing something sensible, like say choosing his adamantium-lined bo staff as his weapon, Remy pulls a deck of cards out of his pocket and shuffles it. Cutting said deck of standard Bicycles, he pulls out his favorite card. And so, his lucky lady becomes his chosen weapon. He'll end up using this card the way he does any other, charging it with kinetic energy and then using it as a projectile explosive. However, the card will be able to withstand the blast each time, meaning he can reuse it. As he develops his relationship to it, it'll become able to slowly bend the rules a bit more, always hitting the targets he wants it to and creating larger and larger explosions. He'll eventually be able to recall it to his hand mentally.

Character INVENTORY:

⇀ this outfit
⇀ collapsible, adamantium-lined bo staff
⇀ six packs of playing cards

» SAMPLES
First PERSON:

_{( Gambit’s seated at a table somewhere, a generic part of the surroundings that seem familiar enough but are hard to pinpoint. There’s a table in front of him that he has his feet propped up against, and he’s idly shuffling a deck of cards between his hands, over and over. When he glances at the device he flashes it a brash smile. )}

Seems like a lot of you post questions here, no? Get what information you can from each other. Good way ta go about things, and it means dat lot’s available for us newer ones comin’ in.

_{( He pauses, inclines his head. )}

But, where I come from, dey say giving has a price. So, I say we do something a bit different. A wager, of sorts, or a deal. I give you somethin’, you give somethin’ back, and no one goes home unhappy.

Well. ‘Cept there’s no “going home,” is there? C'est vrai, I’ve figured out a bit already. So you’ll have ta work hard ta impress.

_{( Another smile, this time with his lips pursed together. He’s laying the cards out one by one, now. Preparing a game of solitaire, perhaps. )}

So, here’s the challenge: tell me something I don’t know. It’ll be worth your while, promise.

_{( He winks at the screen, half challenging and half inviting. And then he cuts the feed. )}

Third PERSON:

He was usually the one who walked away. It was an uncomfortable thing to admit about himself, but Remy had to admit it was true enough. He’d left Belladonna in Nawlins all those years ago, had left Etienne to die in the cold water when they were boys. And since then, it had been one after another. He was used to it, it was easy. And suddenly, one day, the tables were turned and he was the one being left. Laura, moving on and making her own way. Rogue, growing up and over him, at least for now. He had to admit it was an uncomfortable feeling. And, more than that, it hurt.

“You’re slipping, Lebeau,” he muttered to himself, under his breath. His new apartment was large and spacious, with an extra room and enough living space to house a whole squad of X-men. Not that that would be happening, here—this was his place, away from the responsibilities of teaching and rescuing and having to be a god damn role model all of the time. This was where he’d put up the stolen paintings (until Cecilia made him give them back), and the photographs of pieces of his heart that no one else would get to see.

He was nothing if not a romantic. The apartment over looked the city, giving him a full view of what ranked as his fifth favorite skyline. But the curtains were thick and could block out the world just as easily. He was on the fifteenth floor, away from prying eyes and unwanted guests. He could get down through the window if he wanted to, but not many others could do the same. Unless Ororo stopped by for coffee on the fire escape, though to be honest he wouldn’t mind that so much.

Remy Lebeau liked being alone, unpacking his boxes and waiting for his dinner of pear and gorgonzola salad and fine wine. Luxurious, rich ennui. That was him.

—Damn. He needed to get out and steal something. Break something. Blow something up. And soon.

» ADDITIONAL NOTES