Re/Alignment Application: KEVIN LEVIN

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Player Information
*Name/Alias: Tsa
*Your Journal: thepreciousthing (not used)
*Age: 24
*Contact Information: AIM/tsapaper, Plurk/thepreciousthing
*Characters already in the game: White Knight, Kyubey

Character Information
*Character Name: Kevin Ethan Levin
*Character Canon: Ben 10 (Original Series)
*Age: 11
*Race: Half-Human, Half-Osmosian
*Timeline/Pull Point: Just before his first appearance in the series, "Kevin 11"

*History: Many years ago, a special agent working for an intergalactic police force called the Plumbers came to Earth and fell in love. He was an Osmosian, a humanoid alien with the natural ability to absorb and manipulate matter and energy, and on Earth he took the identity of Devin Levin and settled down with his wife. Not long after, a son was born, whom they lovingly named Kevin. Though Kevin looked human, the Osmosian DNA was dominant enough that the child inherited his father's powers.

However, tragedy struck the happy family. While Devin was on a mission in space, he was killed on the field -- leaving behind a widow, and a toddler with no one to teach him how to use his powers.

As the years passed, though, Kevin's mother eventually found love again and married another man, Harvey, hoping that a fatherly figure in her young son's life would be a positive influence. Unfortunately, this backfired horribly. Kevin, who idolized what little he remembered of his father, resented the idea of this man coming in to "replace" him. Tension grew between Kevin and his stepfather, and their relationship was strained even further as Kevin's powers began to manifest. Harvey was aware of Kevin's alien heritage and tried to accept him for who he was, but Kevin was only growing more resentful and destructive with powers he could barely control.

At age eleven, the stress came to a head as Kevin's powers went completely out of control and he demolished his home. Knowing he could never be accepted by his mom and stepdad as long as he was the freak he always was, Kevin ran away from home. He eventually made his way to New York, using his powers, his wits, and good old-fashioned criminal activity to get by. He eventually made a home for himself in an abandoned subway station, but all alone; He'd showed his powers to a select few teenagers, hoping for acceptance, but he was ridiculed and called a freak for it. Still, every now and again, loneliness and curiosity would drive him to take a chance and show someone his powers -- maybe, just maybe, he'd find someone who wouldn't reject him.

*Personality: Kevin is Issues Я Us unbalanced from a number of conflicts throughout his lifetime, but everything stems from the fact that he's different in a way that no one can really understand, not even his mother or her husband. Because of this, Kevin doesn't trust easily, and is quick to interpret any disagreements or misunderstandings as a sign of betrayal or rejection. He feels that he's ultimately alone in the world, and thus looks out for himself first and foremost.

Kevin has trouble emphasizing with others, too caught up in his own issues to stop and think about how his actions affect others. This combined with irrational thinking caused by reckless use of his powers, and the strife he has to go through simply to survive each day, has eroded away Kevin's conscience and he's willing to go to violent extremes to get what he wants.

Despite this, Kevin does long for validation, someone who can interact with him without rejecting him for his powers or, more recently, his personality. He'll show off his skills to a stranger every now and then, hoping that maybe this time it'll be different. However, if and when he does find this acceptance, it'll still be on their head to earn Kevin's trust and loyalty -- if they ever do at all. When the people in your life have all turned against you, when you feel your own mother despises and rejects you, it's difficult to accept love from anyone else, even yourself.

So Kevin lives the life of a criminal, getting by and focusing only on himself and where his next payday's coming from. It seems lately he steals as much for the thrill as for the reward, but he also occupies his time with standard childish activities. Kevin enjoys video games and television, toys, movies, whatever he can pilfer. He also enjoys taking petty revenge on anyone who slighted him, like destroying the hangout of a a group of teenagers who roughed him up for being a "freak".

*Powers/Abilities: Kevin is half-Osmosian, and has all the powers that come with it. Kevin has the ability to absorb almost any kind of energy, matter, and special abilities, but he never learned to properly control this power.

The only power he understands is energy absorption and manipulation. He can touch almost anything and absorb nearly any kind of energy -- electicity, heat, etc., -- and release it when he needs to. Though primarily an attack power, Kevin has even learned to use it as a crude form of technopathy. He can unlock electric doors, bum freebies from vending machines, start up cars, and a number of other simple commands.

If Kevin learns to tap into his power-absorption ability, Kevin would be able to touch someone and copy any special abilities unique to their species... by being able to physically change to accomodate the power if necessary. For instance, temporarily growing wings, extra arms, altering the molecular makeup of his flesh, etc.

EXAMPLE 1
EXAMPLE 2

These changes are generally temporary, but can become permanent if he loses control or absorbs too much.

The safest power Kevin can use is matter absorption. If he learns to tap into it, Kevin can touch anything -- metal, wood, plastic, diamond -- and rearrange the molecular structure of his body to match it. This becomes a quick instant armor for him if he touches the right stuff. When in this state, Kevin can also rearrange his shape a bit -- enough to create weapons like hammers or swords from the metal in his arms.

EXAMPLE (Kevin is 17 in this shot)

*Inventory: The clothes on his back.

*Starting Polarity: Megatronic Because Starscreamic isn't an option.

If AU, how does your character differ from canon?: n/a

Writing Samples
*First Person Sample:

[There's a frantic, furous-looking kid on the network. Is he snarling?]

Yeah, look, I dunno whose bright idea it was to dump me in the desert or whatever this is like yesterday's trash, but look here --

[He raises a hand and it fizzles with blue electricity. The light casts stark shadows over his face.]

That was a big mistake, buddy. 'Cause I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna teach you a little lesson about wastefulness!

*Third Person Sample:

New York had been a city teeming with energy. Currents ran up and down and everywhere through the wires strung all over the city. He'd sensed the grid all his life, even as a child. Back then he hadn't known what it was, only that he wanted to be around things and places, that they made him hungry in a way he couldn't describe. The first time he'd grabbed a live wire and taken that electricity into his body, absorbed it and expelled it, he'd understood. He knew what he was hungry for, and it was all around him.

When Kevin finally ran away, he didn't know where he was going. New York hadn't been his intended destination. It existed only as an idea, some mythical hub of human contact that seemed too unreal to ever really arrive. But when he had, when fate had brought him there, he felt more powerful than he ever had in his life. So many people in such a crowded space meant so much energy being used every moment of every day. Unlike in the quiet suburbs he came from, New York was alive and active day and night, and he could feel it. Power was everywhere, only a touch away. He thought he was unstoppable.

Then, somehow or another, he came to Cybertron.

No more parents or cops or social services trying to tell him what to do. No more scraping around beneath anyone else's feet or through anyone's trash. Everyone here started on the same level, and Kevin wasn't gonna waste this opportunity. Power was everywhere. The people standing in his way weren't chumps to be suckered anymore; Now they were just stepping stones as he made his way in this weird robot world and made it his. It was about time he got what was coming to him.

Kevin drained the power from an energon-powered device -- he didn't even know what it was. He didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the resulting thrill, and the rush of power crackling up his arm.

Oh, yes. This place would do very nicely.

Final Notes: Mods get final say, but I think Kevin could theoretically touch a Cybertronian and absorb energy from direct contact -- but considering the size difference, he'd probably be little more than a mosquito bite to most of them.

Since Kevin doesn't know how to use his powers, they can backfire on him terribly, and have in canon multiple times. Energy absorption, when used improperly, has the potential to drive an Osmosian insane with nearly unpredictable results. They can become erratic, psychotic, power-hungry, have an insatiable hunger for more and more energy... or all of the above. Or none of the above, with some other horrible fate.

Absorption of special abilities can be worse. If Kevin loses control of this power, as he has in canon, the powers he absorbs can overtake him completely and mutate him into a hideous mutant, an amalgamation of those he's leeched from.

If plot ever allows it, I'd like Kevin to eventually tap into this power and start recklessly absorbing powers from other refugees and eventually become a hideous robot alien human mutant guy. |D