Maya "Wave" Blackburn

Age
 Playbook

#### Appearance:

***Civilian:*** woman, Asian-American, dark eyes, long dark hair, fashionable clothing

***Superhero:*** ambiguous, concealing costume

Her right eye glows blue when she uses her powers, although it's not usually visible because of her mask, and she will close or hide her eye if she has to use her powers as a civilian

***Body type:*** Slightly-above-average height, trim and toned

***Hair:*** Long, dark, wavy, and Maya enjoys trying different hairstyles

***Wardrobe:*** relevant athletic gear, OR: skirts and dresses, bright colors, low-heel shoes or flats, denim, always has a spare hair tie on her wrist

## Backstory

### Obligations

* ***Schoolwork*** - she is the academic crown jewel of the family, always earning mostly A's and taking difficult classes
* ***Athletic Teams*** - she is a skilled martial artist (and swimmer) and competes regularly in tournaments
* ***Surrogate Parenting*** - since she is the oldest, and their own mother is an absentee and kind of a wreck, she frequently takes care of Neil and, to a lesser extent (because they're closer to her in age), Reid and Sierra, as well as doing chores, paying bills, etc.

Maya has become "The Responsible One" in her family, and acts as a surrogate parent to her siblings--when they need help or support, they go to her, and when her siblings need a parental figure to rebel against, it's usually her. She has even started to take on responsibilities that should belong to her parents, such as balancing the household's budget, shopping for groceries, cooking dinner at night, etc. She didn't want this job, but she got it, and she tries to make the most of it.

Because Maya has to deal with so much crap from her family, she doesn't take any from anyone else, and people in her civilian life tend to admire her for her no-nonsense attitude. She doesn't really have a lot of hobbies outside of martial arts and swimming, but she enjoys doing things with friends, seeing social gatherings as an escape from all the various responsibilities she faces--she never stays too long, of course. But underneath her confident exterior, she is actually quite fearful, stressed, and insecure. She has very low openness, tending to stick to what she's already good at, and needing external reassurance to feel like she's accomplished anything. She has a tense relationship with her parents, and she makes it work by not rocking the boat, but she secretly wishes that there was more she could do to help her siblings without jeopardizing her own good standing.

### Backstory Questions

* ***When did you first put on the mask? Why?***

Maya first found out that she had actual superpowers right around age 14--she always felt she had an affinity for water, but ignored it and never thought to try manipulating it at all until then, because her parents tend to frown on the concept of superpowered people in general (especially her own siblings).

At first, Maya was scared to use her powers (partly because she knew what her parents thought of powers, and partly because she never wanted anyone to see her be bad at anything, even if she was still just learning), so she used the mask to run off and practice in secret. Of course, she might have gotten much better if she had allowed people to see her fail, but she never asked anyone to help her bumble through those early days. As a result, she has taken a long time to learn what little she has.

* ***Why do you keep a secret identity?***

In a word: reputation.

Maya has spent her whole life being the family's golden child, the one that her parents hold up and say "hey, look, we must not be that bad, because look how awesome Maya turned out." As a result of being forced into this role, she developed a limited sense of self, and now relies heavily on grades and wins in order to feel good about herself at all. She also knows the score at home, and she doesn't want to be treated badly for manifesting powers, as she has witnessed with her siblings.

She also knows that she is not that good at using her powers yet, and is still not keen on people seeing her be bad at anything, especially something that all of her other siblings seem to be good at. She finds keeping up her reputation in her private life much easier, because she's already been established and has mostly stuck within the realm of what she's already good at.

* ***Who, outside of the team, knows about your dual identity?***

At this point, Maya has not actively told anyone about her powers. Her brother Reid knows, although it's unclear how, and it's unclear whether Maya's aware that he knows. He chooses not to say anything because he respects her privacy (and, while he doesn't fully get the logic of keeping it a secret from her friends, he knows full well why she keeps it from her family).

* ***Who thinks the worst of your masked identity?***

At the start, Sierra. She wouldn't have if Maya hadn't specifically tried to ruffle her feathers while they were sparring, but Maya did specifically try to anger her, and it worked.

* ***Why do you care about the team?***

She was reluctant to be on the team at all, even with the mask, and was kinda shanghaied into it. Once they did a training mission together, and saw that the team was genuinely nice to her, her reluctance to do superhero things with them diminished. She likes using her powers now because they allow her to fit in with a totally different crowd--one that seems to have a lot fewer preconceived notions of who she is supposed to be--but now she is keeping more and more secrets from her family. As the pressure mounts, however, she is beginning to see the potential of this team to fill the gaps in her life that were created by her dysfunctional family, and hopes that maybe they will become like another, better family.

From a more logistical standpoint, she wasn't expecting anyone to intercede in her dispute with Sierra, and wasn't planning on sticking around after giving Sierra what-for, but now she doesn't want word getting out about her and doesn't feel comfortable managing her reputation from a distance.

## Relationships

Jess knew Maya from her civilian life first (because they are in the same martial arts class)

Maya refused to tell Daniel her secret identity when they asked.

Of the Four Roles of a child in a dysfunctional family, Maya corresponds to The Hero.

## Family

Maya is one of four kids, and they all live in the same house with their two parents.

* Paul Blackburn - father, active superhero during the Bronze Age.
* Izumi Blackburn (nee Fujioka) - mother, active superhero during the Bronze Age
* Siblings:
	+ Reid Blackburn, age 14
	+ Sierra Blackburn, age 13
	+ Neil Blackburn, age 10
* All four grandparents were superheroes who got their start at the end of the Golden Age and remained active throughout the Silver Age.

## Siblings

### Sierra

Sierra has the power of geokinesis, including geokinetic flight and some degree of plant control. (She will learn earth mimicry later, probably by laying on the ground and getting distracted.) Of the Four Roles of a child in a dysfunctional family, she corresponds to The Lost Child. She has dark eyes, short wavy hair, an expressive face, and her wardrobe favors denim shorts, colorful shirts, handmade accessories, and bare feet. She's not as trim as Maya, but is in good shape from living a physically active lifestyle. Her right eye glows green when she uses her powers.

At the start of the story, Maya and Sierra are having a very public "argument" (read: superpowered sparring match) about how Sierra is using (or, in Maya's opinion, getting unnecessarily absorbed in) the local fame that she achieved by saving the historic small-business district from a flood. She has charmed the local public simply by being herself, and her audience finds her incredibly relatable. She has cultivated a small-but-dedicated online following, and is very interactive on the message board created by her fans--she generally prefers online interactions to in-person ones, but can do both.

Sierra is naturally curious about everything, especially her powers. Unlike her siblings, she seems to really love her powers and view them as an integral part of herself, rather than a liability or a play-toy. (This could be because she is the only one of the four who has ever received any sort of positive attention because of the powers.) As a result, her abilities have developed very quickly, and will continue to do so throughout her young life. Her parents disapprove of her powers, and have taken that out on her a few times, but this hasn't deterred her from using them, or from interacting with her fans. In her free time, she uses her powers mostly for gardening, and she likes to read, do crafts, talk to people online, and make things out of clay.

She is currently being scouted by the same talent agent that signed Annerley, but some small part of her mind took the conversation she had with Maya seriously (even though she didn't realize that she was talking to Maya at the time) and is therefore hesitant to do anything that seems like "selling out."

### Reid

Reid has the powers of pyrokinesis, including fire generation, negation, and mimicry; incineration, pyrokinetic flight, and pyroportation. Of the Four Roles of a child in a dysfunctional family, he corresponds to The Scapegoat. Reid is not physically imposing--he's short, slightly pudgy, never stands up straight, and doesn't exercise much. He favors dark, practical clothing--hoodies, T-shirts, long sleeves, newsboy caps, and at least 2 pockets to store his hands in. His hair is short on the sides and scruffy on top. His left eye glows red when using his powers.

By outward appearances, Reid is very lazy--he hardly ever goes to classes, doesn't have much of a social life, and pretty much travels between school, his room, and the local dive he goes to when skipping classes. He has the ability to fall asleep just about anywhere, and in any position, including standing up. (Some people think he has narcolepsy, but his daytime naps are mostly intentional.)

Paul is physically and mentally abusive to Reid, and Reid's efforts to avoid him have varying degrees of success. He used to try harder to improve his life, but now he's pretty much stopped caring and given up, although he'd never admit that out loud. He tends to distance himself from his siblings for fear of dragging them down with him--however, he is very protective of his younger siblings (especially Neil), and that is one of the few things that can motivate him. (He does care about Maya too, but knows she is capable of taking care of herself, so there isn't as much protectiveness there.)

Although he is reluctant to actually use his powers, Reid has the most raw power out of all four of the siblings, and is the only one able to use his powers to teleport (his current range is about 150m). If he wanted to, he could raze entire landscapes, set fire to the atmosphere, etc. but he would never do it unless he was given enough assurance that the damage would be successfully contained. At home, Reid only uses his powers when neither of his parents are around, but he does like to toast marshmallows and heat drinks in his hands, and Sierra can occasionally convince him to help her fire her pottery. When not sleeping, he likes listening to music, playing video games and card games, and he seems to have a talent for cooking, although he rarely puts the effort in.

### Neil

Neil has aerokinetic abilities that, at this point, are just starting to develop. Of the Four Roles of a child in a dysfunctional family, Neil corresponds to The Mascot. Appearance-wise, he is on the shorter, thinner side of "average" for his age, and he has straight, dark hair. He favors light clothing that allows him to move freely--T-shirts, athletic shorts, flip-flops or light sneakers, and no accessories. His right eye glows yellow when using his powers.

Neil is a very playful child who has unwittingly carved out a role for himself as "the life of the party," trying to distract his family from their issues by having fun whenever possible. He is genuinely fun-loving and sociable, but his family tends to think that he is more naive and guileless than he actually is. In reality, he is probably the most empathetic of the four siblings--everyone else is looking out mostly for themselves, but Neil feels for his other siblings, and is already having trouble abiding by what he's seen happen to them. Nevertheless, his family can at least *appear* more pleasant while he's around, and he sometimes feels the pressure to be happy and keep the good times rolling, lest they go back to how they normally are.

Neil thinks that Maya is really uptight and annoying most of the time (but still winds up asking for help or advice from her if he needs it). He wishes that he hung out with Reid more, and doesn't really get why Reid keeps saying that he should avoid him. He and Sierra don't have a lot of common interests, but they appreciate each other's enthusiasm, and tend to get along well, sometimes practicing their powers together outside.

He is something of a trickster, and now that his powers are beginning to develop, he has gotten into the habit of picking an out-of-sight place and using air tricks to mess with people from afar. He has learned not to do this around his parents, for fear of retribution (and because Reid tells him not to), but has his fun whenever he can. He hasn't been able to find too many practical applications for his powers aside from being a human ceiling fan during the hotter months, so he spends his time messing up people's hair, rustling papers off desks, and other lighthearted pranks. He likes cartoons, video games, videos of other people playing video games, and is starting to get into building computers.

## Romance

* ***Do they currently have a crush?***

No, although the possibility for one to develop is there.

* ***Romantic history?***

Nothing of note. Maya has kept her life so busy that she hasn't really had time for romance.

* ***Kinsey Scale: 2***

## Abilities

Maya has the powers of hydrokinesis, including hydrokinetic constructs and water mimicry.

She can only control about 2-3 cubic feet of water (not including herself) before experiencing an inconvenient drop in speed, but she is clever, and has adapted her power to her martial arts training. Since tsunamis are not feasible for combat at her current level, she focuses mostly on her athletic prowess, augmenting it through the creation of ice blades or shields. She is also not good enough or fast enough at water mimicry yet to use it for anything else besides espionage and breaking falls.

At this point in the story, she is ground-bound--no flight, no teleportation. She can use water mimicry to flow through larger bodies of water, but without also controlling the surrounding water, she could only exert the same amount of force as regular swimming (it's mostly for maneuverability).