Daae, Lara

[Lara Daae]

Lara Daae
Memory Manipulation

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General »

Nickname: none, though "her boys" sometimes jokingly call her mom.
Gender: Female
Age: 33
Student/Professor: Professor
Subject: Drawing & Painting I, Graphic Design, Introduction to Photography, Projection
Birth-date: November 9th, 1979
Birthplace: Beaufort, South Carolina
Sexuality: Straight
Face Claim: Marion Cotillard

Appearance »

Eye color: gray
Hair color: dark brown
Height: 5"6
Build: slender
Scars: Several on her wrists from a time she chooses not to dwell on.
Tattoos: none
Piercings: none

Personality »

Likes:

• Playing games
  
• Meeting and getting to know new people
  
• Cooking
  
• Forgetting anything bad that has happened
  
• Art (of any kind)
  
• Nicknames
  
• Being a confidant
  
• Feeling important
  
• Being called 'mom'
  
• Swimming
  

Dislikes:

• Unnecessary cruelty
  
• The moment after just waking up (when she remembers everything)
  
• Her boys getting into trouble
  
• Being sidelined
  
• The cold
  
• When people are irrational
  

Fears:

• Not having family
  
• Forgetting herself and loved ones entirely
  
• Big machinery
  
• Silence
  

Brief Summary:

Lara Daae is a mother. Of course, not in the typical sense. With a quick smile and a kind word always on the tip of her tongue, she has an attitude that sets people at ease. Although, with her fondness for hugs, she has tendency to overwhelm those with a more timid personality. Still, she is completely herself, laughing and playing games whenever anyone is willing to spend time with her. She will never allow herself to become callous. Her goal in life is to always be there for those who might need her, for those who she has chosen to take under her wing. Regardless of her gentle nature though, she is a loudmouth who is eager to share her ever ready opinion. Confidence makes it impossible for her to back down, even when others might suggest she give up. It isn't a matter of arrogance or pride, but rather a determination that her choice would be for the good of those she cares about.

However, she is not ill-mannered or likely to get into a fight, even when someone disagrees with her. Instead, she weighs her options carefully - the only time she isn't squirming when silence manages to capture her. With a level-head, she's able to discern the risks of any given scenario, even if her heart tells her to throw caution to the wind. While her mothering instincts often battle with the more rational side of her mind, the rational option often wins. It pains her to see those she loves get hurt, but she understands the risks of her job, not to say that she won't put her own life on the line for her boys… She draws the line at endangering the lives of others, though she puts little thought into her own safety.

As a thirty-three year-old masquerading as a licensed professor, it is assumed she is both a talented and merciless liar. The truth of the matter is that she often grows ill at the thought of deception and in order to survive in the line of work she has found herself, uses her power to modify her own memories. She has built a protective bubble around herself, a perfect little world where things are alright. She ignores the red flags and instead proceeds to suppress the rational mind that would have prevented the lying and suffering. So this mask she wears is her true self, tweaked and modified until she can stand to look at herself in the mirror. It doesn't matter what she has to do to herself though, she can't leave family behind. Of course, full suppression is not an option, and so at some level, she is always aware of the scheme she is a part of, but it helps that she has made herself believe that she is truly a professor at Silas Academy, even if she knows that she has another job to do….

Power Description »

Memory manipulation is like art, it requires finesse and a steady, well-practiced hand. Lara considers herself a student of her ability, and as such treats it with the highest respect. The power is gradual, and allows her to look through another person's memories, adding and removing small details until she has shaped it to what she wants. However, she does not have the ability to completely remove and add in an entirely new memory, limiting what she is capable of to what the person has experienced. To place the memory of meeting someone a person has never truly met, she edits a former first meeting with a different entity, human or otherwise. The range of her power also places her in unfortunate situations. If she has changed a memory, and needs that memory to remain changed, then she has to be within a thirty mile radius of that person. To further complicate matters, if she is around too many people whose memories she has changed, then the power will overwhelm her and render her unconscious, simultaneously returning all memories to their original state. This means that Lara is limited to only two sustained memory modifications, and one is always her. This leaves her with the ability to only affect one other person in a more permanent fashion, though she has the capability to temporarily shift memory files in order to confuse someone, letting her escape if the need arises. Unfortunately, when her mental ability is being consumed with the use of her power, she is entirely susceptible to the suggestion of others. She has no defense against this anomaly, and Schneider is truly the only one who knows how to manipulate it.

History »

Lara Price was never a child, never a daughter with a perfect life. Instead, from as early as she can remember, as she chooses to remember, she was a mother. There was no role model of motherly affection, as her mother had long since abandoned the family, but her father was always there, with a ready smile and a pat on her head. She had one younger brother, and it was easy to see that he needed some kind of a mother in his life. Their father worked at a shipping yard, coming in late and waking up early, doing everything he could to give them the life he thought they deserved. The family grew up in a nice neighborhood, with friends and as many nice things as they wanted. Still, it was the nights that were the worst. Their dad was always gone, working for the life they took advantage of, and her brother would stay up late into the night, crying and depressed because he felt like he didn't have a family. So, little Lara would step in, cooking up elaborate meals for her brother, making him laugh and smile as she invented wacky games that they could enjoy together. He would go to bed exhausted, with a smile on his face as she put away the results of their game nights. And she would stay up, back straight and eyes unblinking as her father stumbled into the house, tugging off his work boots and wearing the stench of raw fish.

With a tight smile too old for her face, she would take his coat and clean up the mess he made, reheating a plate of food for him to enjoy. Then she would sit across from him and watch him eat, wondering all the while. Why didn't he just get a better job? Why didn't they just move to a less expensive house? She was never a shy child, and the questions would eventually tumble out of her mouth as she broke the unbearable silence. He would sigh, a sad and faraway look in his eyes, and tell her that what he was giving her was more important than time… It was status, prestige, a name, something to set her apart from the others in this god forsaken place. Yes, it seemed he thought that money was worth more than memories.

What's in a memory? The question plagued her, walking with her as she made her way through the lonely halls of the high school she attended. She was the socialite, the one girl in the senior class that everyone actually liked. She didn't judge, didn't hate, and never got into fights. Instead, she responded to everyone with the same openness that endeared her to them, that made them fall in love with her smile and her honesty. It was her brother's freshman year, and despite everything she had done for him when he was younger… He wasn't a little boy anymore, and their precious game nights that she had always devoted her time to… They weren't around any longer, and whenever she would ask him to play a game, he would sneer and tell her to grow up. It was time to grow up and forget all the good times. Growing up felt an awful lot like dying.

The nights grew lonelier, even when she went to the parties being held by her classmates. She would grab a beer, and throw it back with a cheerful laugh, dancing and playing all the stupid and irresponsible party games. They were games though, and they were fun. Then she would wake up and not remember anything. But then, memories were always so painful, so what did it matter if she forgot a few?

It was nearing the end of her senior year when she got invited to go to Las Vegas with friends, gamble the night away. She agreed, and was whisked off into the world of chaos and confusion, a world that revolved around debauchery and deception. The lying made her ill, whenever she would smile and say that it was okay, she was old enough to be there. They all bought it though, and sometime during the night, the sickness in her stomach faded and she… Well, she was old enough to be there, right? She was twenty-one after all. Wasn't she? The memories began to grow hazy with every drink and with every ticking second of the clock. She threw herself into the card games, and realized quickly that she had a knack for making a good gamble, call it luck or call it intuition, all Lara knew was that she was winning… She walked away with a tidy sum of money, enough to consider a new life.

There were people that came up to her, claiming to know her, claiming to be her classmates from high school. But she wasn't about to graduate from high school, she was twenty-one and already out. She smiled and pushed past them with a carefree laugh, all the while calling them crazy. They didn't know her and she certainly didn't know them. She boarded a Greyhound Bus and took it to its farthest stop. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, but it didn't matter, she could go anywhere she wanted. Somewhere in the middle of Virginia, three years later, it came rushing back. After waking up from another all night party, memories flooded into her mind. Flashes of two faces, two faces that looked so similar, so familiar… Charlie and her dad… She'd abandoned them, just like her mother had. Why hadn't she remembered?

She caught a plane back home, walking back into her old neighborhood as a wave of nausea flooded through her. Something inside of her was rejecting the nostalgia… This wasn't a place full of good memories, it was a place where hope died. Then she could feel the veil begin to lift, and she could remember the suppressed details… All of them. Her mother hadn't left them, her father had filed a restraining order and had refused to let her near them because of her gambling addiction, that had often led to desperate attempts to sell Lara. Why? Why would she sell her daughter? Lara sat down heavily on the pavement, hands cradling her head as she finally knew… Because she was different, because what she could do was worth something to very scary people. Glancing down, she lifted up the sleeve of her shirt, staring at the scars on her pale skin. Needles… Drugs… All of it to make her submissive so that she could be bought and traded like an animal.

All of it, all the horrible memories her power had shielded her from, were right there in front of her. She quivered and shook as she finally broke down on the sidewalk, tears falling from her eyes. Then there was a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up, staring into the eyes of her brother. He didn't say anything, and she shivered at the icy silence. "Charlie?"

He shook his head and walked away. There was nothing she could do, nothing to right a wrong committed three years ago. It was in the past, it was just a painful memory. She had never thought she was a coward, but at that moment, she gave in to her power, let it wash over her, let it take away the pain. She let herself become someone different, using some of the money to change her last name to Daae. Somehow, she was someone different, and for the next five years she let herself get a job, make friends, and become the person she might have once been. Finding she had a love of art allowed her to cope with everything else. She could express herself, without anyone finding out about the pain, about the past. She took a job at a community arts program, teaching students for the joy of watching them learn.

It was when she turned twenty-eight that things really began to change. She met an unusual man who called himself Schneider. He made her uncomfortable, but she was used to the oddities who wandered into her class. So she smiled and welcomed him, as any other person who came to talk to her. There was something about him that set her on edge, and when he admitted to knowing she has abilities, she was already beginning to reach out to his memory files, to confuse him so that she could escape and disappear. Then he spoke, and it was calming, he was telling her to join him. Make the world a safer place for mutants, Lara, you can be needed… wanted. Super humans are suffering because they were born into the wrong homes, but with your power you can make a difference, you can find them a new home that will care for them. You can care for them.

Lara came out of her daze and found herself nodding, agreeing with the strange man that sat across from her. She had always wanted to make a difference, and she longed to fill the aching void that had once been the place in her heart that she held in reserve for her family. He led her out of the community college building, and introduced her to the rest of his team of helpers. They were rough around the edges and often volatile, but there was something in their icy glare that reminded her of Charlie. She didn't want to remember Charlie, but that was a memory she couldn't throw away. So she smiled, and just like that they filled that emptiness, even if it took longer for them to accept her.

She was thirty when it happened. The boys were playing a round of poker as she hummed in the kitchen, cooking them dinner, even though she knew Erik was more interested in the homemade nachos. The gambling made her nervous, but she shut out the memories with ease and pasted a smile on her lips as she laughed and joined in on the fun. Then she had to excuse herself back to the kitchen, but she was out of several different ingredients to complete the nacho cheese, so she wandered around the large area, looking for a storage space. She glanced out the window. There was a child outside, standing next to Schneider, a child that she had helped rescue. But he wasn't happy. He was crying and whimpering as her boss handed him over to a strange man with a bitter frown. Money exchanged hands and her breath caught, the bowl slipping from her hands and clattering to the ground. She did nothing, only watched as the child was driven away, the child that she had thought she was saving.

Her protests fell on deaf ears as she begged Schneider to explain. Surely there was a reason, surely there was something that made sense, to take away the guilt that weighed so heavily on her mind. That poor child. He sneered at her, reminding her of all the boys, girls, men and women who she had helped relocate with her ability. Ones that were sold to make Schneider a profit… She reached her power out against him, but again he spoke, suggesting she calm down. Her mind rebelled, but her body obeyed and she slumped against the wall of the building. He knew something about her ability that she didn't…

It didn't matter though, if she left now then she was doomed to guilt of knowledge. She thought about wiping the memories of all those darling faces, but that would be an injustice. She couldn't forget them, they were her mistakes, they were her conscience. If she left then Schneider would hunt her down, would turn her in for all the crimes of kidnapping that could be pinned on her by the proof he kept. She was trapped then, left to this world of pain and suffering.

They were still there though, her boys. Watching and waiting to see what she would do. Stiffly, she made her way inside and finished making dinner. She couldn't abandon them, not like she had done to the family she used to have. To ease her pain, she erased small portions of her memory, just enough to make her life bearable…

When she was given the opportunity, three years later, to enter into Silas Academy as a professor, to teach art again, she jumped at the chance. Of course, she knew Schneider's plan and she knew, knew that she would obey him. It wasn't a selfish fear that made her cower to him, but a fear for the others. She was as defiant in word as ever, but in action she bowed to his whim. It was the small moments of pain that she removed from her mind, to keep up her happy smile and cheerful way with all the students and other professors, but more importantly, her family… Erik and Luk.

OOC »

OOC Name: Timestone
Contact(s): pm me! Please?
How did you find us? You shall never know 0.0

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