Ella Francisca Poulin // Silhouette

[Ella Francisca Poulin]

ELLA FRANCISCA POULIN

You're afraid you might fall out of fashion
And you're feeling cold and small, oh
Any kind of love without passion
That ain't no kind of lovin' at all, well

"If you start singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, I'm going to have to smack you."

THE BASICS;;
NAME: Ella Francisca Poulin
AGE: 18
SEX: Female
CODENAME: Silhouette
ALIASES: "L.A.", El, Elly, "LP", Fran (oh for the love of all that's holy, don't call her Fran)
AFFILIATION: Neutral
STATUS: 'Testing the waters' of Jump, so to speak.
CANON: No
PLAYBY: Kaoru Tanamachi from Amagami



THE GOOD STUFF;;

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Standing at an average height of 5'7" and framed with seemingly delicate bone-structure, Ella is the very picture of a spoiled celebrity child. Her unblemished skin is a light peach color, her hands and fingers appear to be suitably dainty, and her fingernails are perfectly manicured (her toenails are in similar shape as she always goes for a mani- and a pedi-, but they're often not visible because she prefers not to wear open-toed shoes and sandals). Her bushel of black hair, while it seems at first glance to be an unruly mess, can actually be tamed with ease and a bit of time. It doesn't hold any particular shape very well, however, so Ella usually has it tied back in a tight ponytail to keep it in check. Her eyes are a very vibrant green, with a glint in them that one would be hard-pressed to describe in any way other than "mischievous".

Ella doesn't have a specific look that she sticks to, but it would also be hard to argue that she isn't fashionable in at least one sense of the word. You won't see her in anything truly outlandish or weird, or anything at home in an avant-garde music video, but she's almost always clothed in the latest and greatest articles of clothing that one could possibly get their hands on. There is very little in her wardrobe that could be considered "inexpensive". Oddly enough in stark contrast to her public image, Ella wears very little jewelry; some studs or understated hoop earrings occasionally, and sometimes a simple chain necklace that may or may not be tucked underneath her collar.

Her alternate ego Silhouette, on the other hand, is anything but conservative: the main component of her costume is a pair of black tights, coupled with a pair of cute little black boots (fashionable and functional, as she would say) and a dark purple domino mask affixed to her face with spirit gum. Hanging from her sleeves are sewn-on silver star charms, for no other purpose than looks, and the bottoms of her black tights are patterned after a starry night sky. A dark purple half-cape, in the same shade as her domino mask, is affixed squarely to her upper back. The sleeves themselves are a bit more complicated; they're full-length, reaching down just slightly past the first knuckles on her hands. There are small holes at the end of them for her fingers to slip through, and the inside of the sleeves (when her arms are hanging limply at her sides) is finely cut into a 'V'-shape that begins precisely at her elbow.

When consciously using her powers, her irises may change from their usual vibrant green to either a muted shade or a solid black.

PERSONALITY:
Ella's public personality is a tired and worn act that she puts on without evidence to the contrary. Being the child of a marketing guru and an innovator of the make-up industry, her well-rehearsed actions might evoke the image of "new money"; courteous to a 'T', with feigned interest in whatever subjects others assume she should be intrigued with. As a credit to her acting skills, Ella is capable of carrying on a mindless conversation with little difficulty, no matter how much hot air is escaping the mouth of the person she's conversing with. She also employs a polite smile and a disaffected, affirming head nod; most 'important' people usually don't let her get a word in edgewise. When she's out of the public spotlight and among close friends, the facade relaxes considerably, making her soft-spoken and kinder, but otherwise unchanged.

It's as Silhouette that Ella can really be herself, airing out her inhibitions and urges without fear of actually being considered reprehensible. First and foremost, Silhouette is a smooth talker - rarely is she ever left speechless, often firing back a well thought-out response with a challenging look in her eyes. She's also incredibly flirtatious, as well as emotionally manipulative - if she sees a way out of a sticky situation, she's going to take it. Silhouette lives for the thrill she experiences, so she often comes off as have a devil-may-care sort of attitude about the whole thing. A common hobby of hers is to tease those she considers to be authority figures.

POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES:
Ella's power is that of Connective Tissue Manipulation, which allows her complete conscious and unconscious control over the various types of connective tissue present in her body.

• Enhanced Healing - Ella is capable of recovering in mere days from injuries that would have normal people out of commission for weeks. Superficial cuts and scrapes almost literally heal within minutes. If she breaks a bone, she's also capable of - after setting the break, of course - "stitching" the pieces together with fibrous tissue to both accelerate the healing process and prevent further complications. Due to her complete control over connective tissue, Ella also doesn't bruise ever.
  
• Enhanced Flexibility - Considering that ligaments and tendons are made up of connective tissue, Ella is capable of twisting her body in ways that would leave some contortionists with their mouths agape. She's not capable of bending her body into any shape, as she still has a skeleton and there's no way around that - she's not some kind of Mrs. Fantastic.
  
• Enhanced Endurance - First off, this is specifically endurance and not durability. Ella is physically incapable of suffering from whiplash-like injuries, and is capable of surviving falls from uncommon heights as long as she tucks and rolls before hitting solid ground. She's also incapable of developing carpal tunnel or any other RSI (repetitive stress injury), as well as any form of arthritis. She can also run for unnaturally long periods of time, due to the minimal stress communicated to her nearly elastic joints.
  
• Collagen Generation - Simply put, Ella has the ability to spontaneously generate more collagen from her body, and make external extensions by either forming the collagen above the surface of her skin or filtering it through said skin through reverse osmosis. Utilizing this ability, Ella can do various things with her generated collagen; for example, she can create tendrils of collagen or even whips that can remain connected to the palms of her hands. She can create ropes out of collagen, adhesive globules, and even create webs in this manner. She can also either coat her hands in collagen and 'harden' it, adding force to her punches, or 'harden' it around her fingers to make finger-claws sharp enough to cut through most materials.

WEAKNESSES:

• Despite her act, Ella is emotionally distant.
  
• Ella is of average physical strength for someone of her age.
  
• When she's exposed to low temperatures her abilities suffer for it; she find it harder to focus on what she's doing, her superhuman flexibility is limited, and any collagen-based extensions of her body may in fact become brittle.
  
• She's intrigued by people who she deems to be mysterious, and will in fact place an inordinate amount of interest on them even at times when it would be best to just let things be.
  
• Despite initially starting her thieving career out of curiosity, the thrill and excitement garnered from it has become like a drug to her. She almost physically needs to steal to continue being in a healthy state of mind.

GOALS: To continue to improve on her abilities. To have fun. To figure out where she's going in life.

HISTORY:
Ella's family wasn't always rich, and they weren't always in the public eye. Given that her parents almost meteoric rise to success happened before she'd reached her 10th birthday, she doesn't remember much about their family life beforehand; all she can remember is that she saw her parents a lot more, and they were more willing to let her follow her own interests.

While her mother was a well-paid marketing guru, her father was well-versed in the field of cosmetology with a specialization in cosmetics. Continuing a career as a make-up stylist in Hollywood, Ella's father came across his big break when he eventually developed a full line of cosmetic products which were of high quality, inexpensive, organic, and even downright healthy to leave on nearly 24/7. With a little bit of financial assistance he proceeded to start up his own company and brand, and with his wife serving as the head of their marketing division they quickly began to turn a huge profit. The stocks for the company continued to rise at an unusually consistent rate until it leveled off, leaving Ella's family with a company worth millions.

Things changed quickly and drastically for the three of them; important people were now paying attention to them and meeting with her parents, and young Ella was expected to adjust who she was in order to be more polite and 'acceptable' for them. She'd never known a life without comfort, but she did recall having been happier when her parents had spent more time at home - after the launching of the company, she saw much more of her sitter or the nanny than she saw of both her parents cumulatively. It's entirely possible that her 'Silhouette' personality is the result of stunted emotional growth during her childhood.

Ella first realized she was different - genetically, not by virtue of social class - at the age of 13, when her parents allowed a small party with some of her close friends. Never having been unnaturally flexible before, she surprised herself when she completely trounced the others in a game of Twister, contorting herself into spaces and positions that even she couldn't believe. She would also awaken in the mornings and various times at night to find rope-like white fibers extending from the skin of her palms. Initially freaking out she turned to researching her symptoms on the internet, becoming discouraged at the lack of any clear-cut answer before considering the idea that she may be one of those people with superpowers - you know, a meta-human.

She was 15 when she committed her first crime out of pure curiosity; a simple jewelry heist. She'd practiced enough with her abilities to be able to utilize them efficiently, and had staked out the shop like she'd seen the characters in crime dramas do so often, but being completely green in experience she succeeded in tripping the silent alarm in the process of gathering some loot. She'd understandably freaked and bolted back through the rooftop access she'd entered through, finding herself in plain view of the local police force; thankfully she'd been smart and worn a black ski mask, otherwise her potential thieving career would have ended right then and there with one good look. She managed to outrun the police through the network of buildings, but the helicopter (when it arrived) took a lot more doing to evade. She eventually snuck her way back into her room at 6 o'clock in the morning, exhausted and covered in a cold sweat with ragged breathing. Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest; this was the strongest fear she'd ever felt in her life, but despite the inherent danger she'd just managed to avoid, she could help but feel...excited. Thrilled, even. Not only had she managed to break into a store and evade the cops, but - and she was reminded of this every time she looked down at the small sack in her hand - she had also kept her prize. Gone was the trepidation she'd had going into this. Now there was only anticipation - if she could do this now, with an adequate amount of preparation and training, what was her upper limit? What was she truly capable of?

With the formation of the Teen Titans and the resulting craze developed around Jump City and their new protectors, Ella's family decided to purchase a secondary house within the city limits in an attempted show of support for the young teen heroes. It was almost entirely symbolic; her parents were rarely even seen staying in their primary home in L.A., and half the time they weren't even in the same state. Coming to her parents as a mild surprise, Ella elected to move in to the new house in Jump, making all the necessary arrangements to illicit a clean transfer from her old one to Jump High. Clearly wanting to afford their daughter more responsibility and considering the good publicity that would come from the news, her parents accepted the idea and gave her their complete support.

Of course, Ella never told them the real reason she wanted to move: her insatiable curiosity was driving her to find out more about others like her.




THE NITTY-GRITTY;;
SCREENNAME: PTAV
Time spent roleplaying: Around 10 years.
Other Characters: Wally West/Kid Flash; Ildon Anozon/Herald of Fate; Shibyou Ren Aylen/Pazuzu, Hanako Ikezawa/Edge

RP Sample: N/A