eachdraidh | application

[kamalleable]

( PLAYER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME: Sana
AGE: 26
CONTACT: AIM @ the truth is out there | PLURK @ colorstreaks
CURRENT CHARACTERS & LATEST AC: N/A

RESERVATION LINK: Here.

( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

DOES THIS CHARACTER MEET SKELETAL BASICS? Yes.
NAME & AGE: Kamala Khan, 16.
CANON & CANON POINT: Ms. Marvel | Marvel-616, Issue #13.
CANON INFORMATION: Kamala Khan @ Marvel Wiki.

PERSONALITY:

This has to have happened for a reason. I saved one life, Does it stop there or do I go on? Maybe this is what I've been waiting for. Maybe I'm finally part of something... bigger. - Ms. Marvel, Issue #3.

Kamala is a girl who first and foremost deals with an identity crisis that becomes a huge part of her personality and development in Ms. Marvel. Unlike most stereotypical superheroes, where they suffer a tragic accident or some dramatic event that shapes their eventual pursuit of justice, Kamala's focal point is her isolation from the majority. A first generation Pakistani-American, her parents immigrated to New Jersey in hopes of giving their two children the prospect of a better future in a safe and welcoming environment. Kamala however, never quite sees it this way. She’s the product of a culture clash; convinced her old school parents’ traditional way of living doesn’t mesh with the seemingly liberal, freedom loving aspect of American culture. Kamala has to embrace the unity between her conservative, religious parents, and a world that doesn’t seem to accommodate them. Her parents want to protect their children, to encourage them to live in an environment where they can apply Islam to their daily lives, much as they did themselves, but those implications go unnoticed by Kamala, who finds that the Pakistani rituals of life don’t fit in with the way her surroundings develop.

When we first meet her, we're fully aware that Kamala herself is a young teenage girl - more to the point, she's Muslim, a minority religion, and one that's often subject to discrimination and snap judgments about her beliefs. We see immediately that this offsets her from everyone else aside from her closest friends, leading her to believe that she's always been different from everyone else: she's not American, she doesn't conform to majority religious beliefs, her culture can be described as "weird" to anyone unfamiliar with the rhythm of strict desi parents and rules that come with her religious & cultural beliefs. When the Terrigen mists trigger her Inhuman abilities, Kamala once again becomes isolated, this time out of fear that something that is happening and she's turning into a freak of nature. This very resemblance of isolation continues to define her because it shows that she has trouble finding her place in the world once again.

Kamala's religion plays a critical belief in defining her personality, because while we see her from time to time conforming to her family's standards through visiting the local mosque, talking with the Imam (aka head/leader), and even choosing to wear traditional Pakistani clothes for family gatherings and weddings, she still very much takes a rebellious nature of sorts. This is seen through her willing to smell what she calls "delicious infidel meat" because she maintains a Halal diet (similar to Kosher) and wanting to try it despite knowing she can't, as well as socializing with her best friend Bruno, that for all intents and purposes she can't spend too much time around, primarily because Bruno himself is male. Her tendency to rebel in small ways while adhering to her family's guidelines shapes her beginnings as a superheroine. However, rather than succumb to her religion, she's willing to take it in stride, accepting that there is a role for her to play, much like the choices granted to her in Islam and her religious beliefs.

But that's Kamala's relationship with Islam. It doesn't as a whole define her, but her religion plays a critical role in setting up a lot of her background and establishing the fact that Kamala has spent her entire life isolated and at odds with both herself and the world around her, struggling to find a clear way of balancing both.

Outside of this, Kamala has yet to let any of this hold her back from being an excitable teenager curious about the world around her. She plays video games, writes fan fiction (arguably real person fiction given that Captain America and Wolverine are real in her universe), and is your stereotypical nerd wanting to get through life, but without accepting her average status. As mentioned before, this largely stems from her religious, and therefore conservative background from her family, which enables Kamala to become curious about the world around her and test her limits of what is and isn't acceptable per her family. It's seen in her wanting to go out to parties, despite her parents' pleas of boys & alcohol being present, in trying to go save the world when she finally settles into her role as Ms. Marvel, and in her attempt to reconcile the superhero part of her life with her family. Her first attempt at sneaking out to join Bruno and some non-Muslim friends as a party results in the reveal of her Inhuman metamorph abilities. However, when trying to contain the damage and return home to her overprotective parents, she is caught is questioned about her choices.

Abu: I'm very disappointed in you, beta. Very disappointed. You disobeyed me, and worse, you put yourself at risk.
Kamala: You have no idea what I've been through tonight!
Abu: Then tell me, jaanu. Tell me why my precious Kamala has suddenly become a reckless, disobedient girl I barely recognize.
Kamala: (to herself) What do I say? I fell into a coma and woke up as Ms. Marvel and saved Zoe Zimmer's flaky, hair flipping life? He won't understand. He can't understand. He'll FREAK.
Kamala: I'm sorry I disobeyed you Abu. There's just -- there's just a lot of stuff going on in my life right now and I can't talk about it. Not yet. Not until I've figured it out on my own.
Ammi: That's what you have to say? You are "figuring it out"? Have I raised my daughter to hide things from her parents? This is your [Abu's] fault. You're the one that brought us to this country. See how they children have turned out? See? One sneaks out to parties with boys and the other dresses like a penniless mullah.- Ms. Marvel, Issue #1.

Here, Kamala can be seen triggering her desire to constantly handle things on her own. She's seen as self sufficient, even to the point where it irritates superheroes she teams up with such as Wolverine & Spider-Man. While Kamala has been raised to be independent and open with her family, it inadvertently leads to her wanting to take charge of her own life and trying to figure out where she stands. Her parents insist that she should have been raised in a culture where they belong, where they aren't outsiders, which they blame for her odd behavior of defying them after her powers develop. She's reluctant to involve them, knowing how difficult it is to get a word in when things don't go the way they should have when she wants so badly for her non-Muslim friends to accept her despite her 'freak' culture and religion. This is the big trigger in her hallucination during Issue #1 where her Inhuman abilities develop finally, where Kamala sees 'faith' in the form of Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and Captain America around her.

Ms. Marvel: We are faith. We speak all languages of beauty and hardship.
Kamala: Okay then. I am totes hallucinating. I must be ultra drunk.
Iron Man: You are seeing what you need to see. You stand at a crossroads.
Captain America: You thought that if you disobeyed your parents -- your culture, your religion-- your classmates would accept you. What happened instead?
Kamala: They-- they laughed at me. Zoe thought that because I snuck out, it was okay for her to make fun of my family. Like, Kamala's finally seen the light and kicked the dumb inferior brown people and their rules to the curb.- Ms. Marvel, Issue #1.

In this hallucination, Kamala is told she stands at a crossroads, asked about her choice between accepting her religion versus being accepted by her non-Muslim friends. She tries to defend herself to the personified 'faith' by pointing out that she's from Jersey City, rather than Karachi, questioning out loud: "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know what I'm supposed to be." Captain Marvel asks her what she'd rather be, and Kamala straight up says she'd rather be one of them - with their lives together and capable of saving the world. Her wish granted, she's told at the last minute: "It's not going to turn out the way you think."

The truth is, it really doesn't. Despite growing up fully aware of what being a superhero entails, at least from a fangirl perspective, Kamala finds herself constantly struggling with crossroads once again. There are the lighthearted moments, such as realizing a sexual outfit doesn't correlate with comfort (Ms. Marvel's original black and yellow costume), the moments where she realizes her abilities don't come with a training manual, leaving Kamala forced to figure out how to handle this on her own. In staying true to herself, the teenage girl who finds herself full of geek tendencies, Kamala fangirls excitedly over her first team up with a superhero in general - with who else but Wolverine. During her encounter with him, she exclaims that she was first in her fantasy team up bracket, talking about fanfics she wrote about him, as well as quoting doge when watching him go to work. Then of course, there are the serious moments, such as when teaming up with Wolverine, she realizes that there are more choices to make as a heroine; saving lives, letting yourself get injured, and making decisions that where the benefits don't always outweigh the cost.

Captain America: Logan says this one is special.
Medusa: They're all special.
Captain America: Not special enough for a phone call from a guy who's famous for not liking people. She must have made quite an impression. [...] He says she's determined to figure things out on her own. Apparently she's almost as stubborn as he is. -- Ms. Marvel, Issue #7.

Kamala is stubborn to a fault, something that lands her on Wolverine's radar to the point where he mentions her to both Captain America and Medusa. As Captain America says, for a guy who doesn't like people, her impression is one that's stuck by with him, capable of not just being a generic hero. Kamala is stubborn enough to stick to her values, even if they put her at odds with others. Ever since she makes the decision to accept what's happened to her, Kamala ends up making the decision to do what she thinks is right, and to take care of the people around her:

Bruno: No way, it could be dangerous. I'll handle it.
Kamala: I'm the one with superpowers. What am I supposed to do with superpowers besides help my friends?
Bruno: I don't know! Hold press conferences like that Tony Stark guy!
Kamala: You protect me from stuff all the time. You have since we were kids. But now I'm the stronger one, and I'm gonna protect you, and that totally freaks you out.
Bruno: You're right. It totally freaks me out. I just don't want you to get hurt, you know?
Kamala: I know. But I put my foot in this mess - yuo guys were working it out and I charged in to play the hero and made everything more complicated. I feel sort of responsible. -- Ms. Marvel, Issue # 4.

Her stubbornness and desire to accept that she's been given a chance to make a difference leads Kamala to accept herself for what she is, that despite the identity crisis she's firmly entrenched in, she's capable of being the best version of herself. She is told her name means "perfection" in Arabic, that she is a miracle to her parents and has no need or desire to impress anyone else. In the end, Kamala's decision is to accept the results of her crisis and move forward in her own way --

I'm not here to be a watered down version of some other hero. I'm here to be the best version of Kamala. -- Ms. Marvel, Issue #5.

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING: Kamala would ally herself with the Seelie Court. After Kamala settles into accepting her abilities and what she can do, she essentially becomes a peacekeeper of Jersey City, aggressively pointing out that this is her territory and to keep all threats out. While Kamala is more likely to break the rules and take risks, as is her tendency to rebel against the traditional customs of her family and culture, her behavior in accepting her role as Ms. Marvel strongly supports her own personal moral code of protecting the weak and those who need assistance. She goes out of her way to see the best in people and to protect them at all costs. She herself sees courage and truth as important morals to uphold, despite the growing concern that she can't express the truth around her family for lack of acceptance. That doesn't mean she disagrees with the idea of familial love; in fact, Kamala puts it well above everything else, wanting to keep her parents and her older brother safe from everything, feeling that it's her duty with her current abilities to do so. Although the Unseelie Court is about breaking rules to take risks, at the heart of Kamala's motivations is her desire to help everyone around her, not just herself. She's motivated to use her assets to make the world around her a better place, to put an end to all the rule breaking and chaos around her, believing that these decisions are in everyone's best interests. The moral code that drives Kamala is actually the one thing that binds the two conflicting halves of her: the one of her parents and her culture, to keep the peace around them, and the one of her friends and of America, that everyone has a chance of succeeding.

ABILITIES: Kamala is first and foremost a polymorph, with her powers revealed after a Terrigen Bomb activated all Inhumans on Earth. Her abilities as an Inhuman include the following:

Morphogenesis: Kamala can alter any part of her body, including, but not limited to stretching, enlarging or even shrinking herself to any size imaginable.

Appearance: Kamala can alter her appearance at will. She has morphed into a sofa or even Carol Danvers at one point.

INVENTORY:

One (1) extremely fashionable superhero costume made out of flexible biokinetic polymer, which works in conjunction to her abilities.

One (1) set of normal clothes featuring a pair of jeans, a Batman* t-shirt, a full sleeve shirt, and a dupatta (scarf).

One (1) copy of M. Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an.

One (1) composition notebook featuring doodles and excerpts of upcoming fanfic.

One (1) backpack containing her costume and books.

( WRITING ★ SAMPLES )

NETWORK SAMPLE: [ If there's one thing Kamala prides herself on, it's the ability to speak up when given the chance. After she's gotten the full explanation from the faeries that 'kidnapped' her, as in whisked away beyond the borders of Jersey City - albeit with some resistance in her attempt to shapeshift, she's finally settled down for all of a few hours and is now ready to move on. When Kamala comes into view, she's a tiny figure, almost the size of a fairy, squinting widely into the screen of the locket. ]

Okay, so. War. Right. Got it. [ She sounds pretty pleased for herself, even though anyone looking at this would notice she's far too underage for this sort of situation. ] Let's get down to business to defeat... the other guys? Unseelie doesn't rhyme here. [ If you get the reference, great, if you don't, it wouldn't bother her all the same. ]

Anyhow, I'm here to volunteer myself as a sidekick. Or trainee, whatever you guys need. Seriously, anyone hiring? [ Although she sounds quite cheerful, Kamala's face turns into a frown, clearly running on too much adrenaline than she really needs. ] Tiny little sixteen year old girl? Excellent writing skills, straight As in class, totally ready for her sensei to appear? [ Okay, the straight As were a slight lie, but that B+ was completely undeserved. ]

I can just go do this on my own, y'know? [ Cause that always works on people. ]

LOG SAMPLE:

Sometimes Kamala debated the pros and cons of telling her parents that she acquired a new career, one that didn't fall along the lines of stereotypical Desi dreams. They got on her case every once in a while, despite the fact that she was still sixteen years old and in high school with barely any ambitions beyond blending in and feeling at ease with her friends, trying to convince Kamala to go to medical school or study engineering. Make good money, they insisted, so you look attractive to potential suitors. Nevermind that Kamala was still a teenager and had no intentions of becoming a stay at home mom with an expensive degree she'd be paying off for the rest of her life.

She tells her mom she's going out with Nakia, to which only a nod of approval and a comment asking her to be home before sunset is earned, before Kamala sets out, her backpack in tow. She doesn't have any intentions of donning her costume this time around, but things haven't changed in the few months since the Terrigen mist affected her. Kamala's still running around trying to save people, keeping an eye out for the Investor, and spending what precious moments she has with Bruno constantly trying to improve herself. Sitting there on the docks where she had saved Zoe Zimmer that first fateful moment, legs kicking aimlessly over the edge, Kamala stares up at the sky as she waits for Nakia to drop down. Her parents never knew the whole story about her running out at night, how tired she was every other day when she didn't get enough sleep, and while they persisted in wanting to know the whole truth, she simply said that there were things she was dealing with, things that couldn't be explained. Then again, how could they?

Her parents didn't understand what impact the Avengers had on their life around them, how Tony Stark's adventures from war monger to peace keeper had a positive role on the world around them. Whenever he'd appear on the news, they'd shake their heads, wondering why America needed to get involved in the affairs of their people. To which Kamala wanted to shout and scream at them, because our people need it, they need hope and they need to know they deserve better than to be influenced by terrorists and everything wrong with the world. When it wasn't politics, her parents would go on, talking about how no Pakistani man or woman had potential to shine, how it was always the same type of person, and Kamala would stare at them in silence. She could have been that person, the one with potential, the one Wolverine sort of liked and bought her a gyro, the kind of person who could stand up and say that while she still didn't know what needed to be done, she could volunteer her abilities.

But those are wishful thoughts of hers, she acknowledges, clutching the straps of her backpack anxiously. She isn't white, she isn't someone who can blend in with others and stand up in a world that won't judge her. Kamala sticks out like a sore thumb all the same, and even if she revealed herself to her parents, showed them what she was capable of, they'd tell her to keep it to herself, to avoid attracting attention. After all, they immigrated here for a quiet life, and attention was the last thing they needed.