Rockstar
Rockstar hails from Los Angeles, California. She's been in the spotlight since her debut as a Ward, always on the front page of some magazine, TV show, or sketchy tabloid site. She has no cape persona, and her public information is full game. Her debut was loud and flashy- an experiment gone wrong due to a tinkertech malfunction. No one was hurt, but the abandoned warehouse she was using as a workshed was shaken down to its foundations and later collapsed. After she joined up with the PRT, she made it her duty to always be in the starlight in some way, shape, or form. Her recent transfer to Devilfish has been under some amount of scrutiny- but the official talking point is to, "Bring life into an otherwise unnoticed Protectorate branch." She sticks by this, regardless of whatever nasty rumors the tabloids drum up.
As Rockstar (which is an incredibly cliche name to release music under) she’s released two full-length albums, a 4 song EP, and a slew of singles and tracks she’s been featured on. Her first album, Damage Control, is a pop-rock look into being a cape and totally PRT pushed. Her second album, NewGame+, is less PRT focused and is a multi-genre rock opera style album that deals with the themes of identity, isolation, being comfortable as yourself- and also has a quirky interlude about really enjoying some salsa late at night. Her first album wasn’t very well received, with many people seeing it as a PRT cash-grab. (True depending on who you asked.) Her second was more successful, with one of the singles from the album hitting the #8 slot in the Billboard Hot 100.
Character Sheet
Appearance
Emmaline is exactly what you'd think of when you imagine a teen (semi) Popstar. She's loud, gaudy, and always doing something that ends her up in the public eye. Standing at 5'4", she makes up for her small stature with how loud she is. Pink hair constantly done up in a flashy little 'do, with her outfits even flashier. When she'd not trying to draw attention to herself, she usually wears a hat and bulky clothing to obfuscate her identity as much as possible. She's exactly what you'd expect from someone who's physical appearance is often the end-all be-all of her popularity.
Equipment and Resources
Tinkertech gear that she takes into the field, in addition to the standard slew of equipment that the PRT outfits the heroes with. Handcuffs, zipties, pepperspray, SWORDFISH-approved communications relay, and the like. Whatever is reasonable to take into the field as a hero does.
Wealth Level: 6
Tinkertech
Skills and Specializations
Rockstar's power gives her an innate understanding of all musical instruments, musical composition and theory, as well as vocal ability. Anything relating to music she just gets! She's only moderately versed in boxing, having taken a few classes just to make sure she didn't always have to rely on her tinkertech. Out of costume, she likes to do some scrapbooking and interior design. A little bit of fashion stuff, too. Pays to always be on the cutting-edge of haute couture.
Mentality
Emmaline is lonely. Incredibly lonely. Sure, she has all the fame and adoration she could ever want- but at the end of the day it's worthless. She's paranoid that people only want her for her fame, for her looks, for her power, and never the stuff inside that makes her who she really is. She's afraid that she's boring and dull, so she often acts out in the public eye just to make herself interesting. All publicity is good publicity, after all. Her shard has only increased the thoughts and ideas that she has, ramping up her paranoia of interpersonal relationships past the point that it was before she'd triggered. She's still a stable individual, but there's always a part of her that yearns for something more. To be truly noticed.
Power
Trigger Type: Natural Single.
Rockstar is a sound-focused tinker with a slight subdiscipline in Master effects. Through the tech she creates, she's able to both manipulate how sound operates, and also manipulate the emotions of those that hear them. She would be classified as a Multithreaded Tinker (Hyperspec X Multi). The more that her different effects line up, the better that her tech operates. While she can still make tech in only one category, it tends to either be shallower, or hyper-focused.
Backstory
Emmaline had never had anyone actually love her. Not really. For years and years and years, she was the bane of existence to everyone around her. A failure. A waste of space. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she worked- it was always the same. She was the byproduct of a ruined marriage, just a tool used by her parents to get back at each other. Despite being an only child, she knew that her parents would've been better off without having kids at all. Emma did everything she could to try and stand out, to make something of herself. It never seemed to work. She was always a failure, always unloved, always alone. Even when she eventually found a small group of friends it never felt like it was anything real. She could've ever tell if she was being used or not, just a pawn in some nefarious gang of her betters. Day after day, week after week, year after year- she did what she could. She learned that she could find solace in music, and started to make her own. Even then, no one was ever really impressed. It was just the futile efforts of a sad, sad girl. No one supported her. Not even her friends. Eventually, she just got used to it. She learned to shut up, keep her chin up, and not rely on anyone for something you can do yourself. It all came to a head one day when her Mom was drunk, screaming, violent. She ran away, got a ride over to her Dad's house in the hope that it would be better there. Bad idea. He ripped the headphones out of her ears and broke them,, throwing them to the ground and stomping them underfoot. It was all just silly little games, her silly little coping mechanism. It all came to a head that day. The loneliness, the betrayal, the isolation- and a problem she was never able to solve no matter what she tried. Trigger.
While in the Wards, Rockstar was more focused on her career as a musician than as a Hero. While she does have experience both patrolling and fighting villains, she was often relegated to console duty due to her perceived importance by PRT higher ups. After a close call that's been covered up, she was transferred to Devilfish in an attempt to cool down.