bio ; enodiamod

[mxpotatohead]

BASICS

name
Vidalia Grace LaRoux

alias
her dad used to call her Tater, does that count?

division
operations (primary), explorer

occupation
maintenance & repairs (specialty in plumbing) / explorer

age & dob
24, 05/05

pronouns
they/them
she/her

family
Cade LaRoux (father), Coriander LaRoux (mother, estranged)
Violetta (sister, 22), Virgil (brother, 18), Vernon (brother, 18)

CONCEPT

detachable handyman trying to find a socket to call home.

POWERS

replaceable parts. vidalia can remove any body part at the joint. just pops it right out of the socket, leaving an empty hole where it once was. as long as that big hole is there they can replace it with another item, with the ability to control it like an extension of herself. this could be a full prosthetic, or it could be a chainsaw or a broom stuck on their elbow.

regenerative parts. the parts vidalia pops off will eventually grow back, but not right away. something like a hand usually takes at least a week to get back to full strength, and in the meantime they can't stick any of their prosthetics in the socket.

PERSONALITY

impatient, impulsive, reckless. vidalia likes to get things done, and ASAP is not nearly fast enough. always on the hunt for the quickest way through any problem, some might call them dangerously efficient. others just call them dangerous. they never take a moment to think through the consequences of their actions, let alone how to minimize them, because the endpoint is what matters here, and they'd like to get to it already.

confident, optimistic. someone once told vidalia they could do anything they put their mind to, and they really took that to heart. they not only believe in their own skills and ability to pick up new ones should they become necessary, they put an irresponsible amount of trust in their gut instinct. vidalia has an unshakeable naïve belief that things will generally be okay in life, that the universe could never steer them wrong, that things will always turn out just fine for them, the main character of life. maybe it's a coping mechanism, maybe it's maybelline.

stubborn, resourceful. vidalia never really learned how to take "no" for an answer. it was more of a suggestion, an invitation to be more creative with their thinking, because the arc of the universe bends inevitably toward giving them everything they want. it can be an annoying trait, but it also means they'll never give up, never surrender, etc, etc, and they're actually pretty good at cobbling together a last minute answer to a problem.

awkward, sensitive. for all of their confidence, vidalia has a hard time relating to other people. social skills are one thing they know they lack, and it's a constant drumbeat in their head whenever they wind up in an unfamiliar social situation. they usually try to mask this feeling with a little more swagger and a lot more volume, but somehow that never quite shields them from feeling bad anyway.

APPEARANCE

🦾 small but solid, standing at 5'3" and built like a brick shithouse.

🦾 relatively strong and lean after years of working with their hands, but it's hard to keep callouses or get swole when they're constantly changing out their arms.

🦾 never learned about things like fashion, makeup, skin or haircare, and so they never put much stock in it. it feels like it already takes too much time to change out of their baggy coveralls and wipe the oil off their face, why would they bother with a face mask?

🦾 almost always has some kind of prosthetic stuck on them, be it a full-fledged robotic leg with built-in rollerblades or a screwdriver finger.

HISTORY

born in rural mississippi, vidalia was the first of four children in a family that could barely afford themselves. they can't really remember if those early days were any good, back when mom was still around and they and violetta could be kids, but they know what it was like after the twins came along. they know mom stopped being someone they depended on and became a responsibility. eventually, she just stopped coming around at all, and vidalia knows they preferred that.

after mom left, the oldest two had to step up and take care of the house. dad worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, and he often brought vidalia along for handyman jobs so he wouldn't have to hire help. it was a dream for young vidalia; they liked learning how to fix things and doing things with their hands, and they loved when dad told them good job.

in junior high, vidalia lost a toe. just popped it right off while climbing fences barefoot, leaving it wrapped in the chickenwire. there was no blood, no pain. just an empty socket where their big toe used to be.
and so, they panicked. the rifts had happened years ago and they knew about liminals, but that didn't mean they wanted to be one. determined to keep this a secret, vidalia abandoned their toe in the fence and ran home. as long as they kept their shoes on and didn't bleed in front of anyone ever, they could keep this a secret. the toe even grew back eventually!!! it would be fine.

and then they found out. because sometimes blood happens to a thirteen-year-old girl, no matter how careful they are. and now they had to go somewhere else for school. to a boarding school in another state, where they knew no one, because they might be a danger or something like that.
dad didn't want them to go. he didn't trust IRIS, he thought it was nobody's business how he was raising his kid, and they were also an important part of what kept his household balanced and running. but in the end, he was just some guy against the government, and vidalia left him with the promise that they'd call or write or whatever.

so they went to boarding school. it wasn't bad learning about their powers, and it was kinda nice meeting people like them more or less. they missed her family deeply, and yet every time they went back home, vidalia couldn't help but feel distant. different. the family they missed was no longer the family back home, because this family didn't need them.

they tried to go back after high school. they got a good job working in the sewer maintenance for the county, a job where their ingenuity was appreciated and they could live close to her family again.
but it wasn't the same. a wall had grown up between them. vidalia had to wonder if they just had to accept they weren't one of them anymore; they were a liminal, and they needed to find their family among liminals.

then enodia station exploded. or whatever happened. but it caught their attention, it intrigued them, because that meant they were probably doing something exciting there. as soon as the re-opening was announced, they knew where they were going.

NOTES

🦾 they rarely have the patience to let a limb grow back to its full strength, so they tend to rip off their useless smaller limbs and toss them aside when they don't need them anymore. sorry, were they supposed to be keeping track of those?

OOC

alex . pacific . aleyse shannon . thisisalex#4162 / dropbox

code

Comments

permissions!

[mxpotatohead]

PERMISSIONS . ooc

CONTACT: unscreened ooc dropbox or email (on the contacts page)! i have discord but also realize i have it set so non-friends can't blindly dm me and i genuinely don't even know how to turn that off.

WRITING: i love it all! i tend to err toward shorter gdocs (like 3 pages is in the sweet spot) because i like it when they feel like an excerpt with a purpose, and i'm also all about doing threads on posts. any tense, though i default to third person present.

BACKTAGGING: go for it!!! i've been known to backtag things from like. years ago. do what makes you happy!!!

THREADHOPPING: love it baby.

PRIVATE FILTERS: go for it man, if i stop paying attention to it i'll just delete or forward the emails as they come in.

SENSITIVE TOPICS: sibling deaths, teen/child deaths are rough ones, so i'll probably dip out of specific situations/discussions if it gets Too Real. if it's handled sensitively and without feeling like grief porn it's usually okay, but i can make that call myself!

SMUT: fade to black 4 me pls. pretty much the only reason i ever write scenes that go past smooching is to embarrass my children.

PERMISSIONS . ic

PHYSICAL CONTACT: go ahead and grab hold, vidalia doesn't care! if you pull too hard you might wind up holding onto a loose hand though.

CONFLICT: i don't know how many fights vidalia will start, but if it happens i'm all about it. my characters are terrible and i love when they experience consequences.

VIOLENCE: same as above. in fact, vidalia will probably love it. mud wrestling anyone?????????

BADMOUTHING: please yes. they're literally throwing hands all over the station, someone's gotta have something to say about it.

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