☽ SUPERNOVA, 40
“From the ashes, a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring…” — J.R.R. Tolkien
Real Name: Assana Sylvain (tends to go by “As”)
Agency: 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸
FC: Natalie Portman
Unicorn Name: MK II [+]
Place of Birth: Eleutheria, capital city of Sky World’s main moon, Candour
Appearance: A little bit earth pixie and little bit tired mom. Petite stature (5′2″), dark eyes, dark hair, iconic beauty mark on her right cheek, and radiant skin (except maybe those dark circles under her eyes), it’s amazing she hasn’t aged much since her heyday. At least As thinks so - 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 “politely” disagrees. Assana was given an ultimatum to either undergo micro cosmetic surgeries or wear a holo-collar to project a slightly less tired version of herself onto her own face in order to maintain her popularity and compete visually with the younger racers. Caught, as she always seems to find herself, between a rock and a hard place, she choose the holo-collar. When racing, the image projected onto her face is her own face from the end of her career (which coincidentally is messing with her head a bit).
Wardrobe: Honestly, before her comeback she wore whatever was most comfortable. Her public image under 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 is quite polished, graceful, and somewhat demure but fashionable (almost like a Sky World Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly). Her makeup tends to be on the “natural” side of things, but she gets a gold treatment sometimes on her hair and skin to highlight her “divinity” as Supernova. Her gowns flow and sometimes seem to float around her constantly (thanks to pinpointed anti-gravity tech). Occasionally you’ll see her wearing a golden circlet on her head. Her hair, which has been cut pixie short for many years now, is almost exclusively covered by a wig these days.
Having lived on a private estate on the moon of Elysis (picture a Lake Como-esque area) where she kept robot horses and played with her children most of the time, she tends to prefer natural materials and things she can move easily in. She prefers darker colours, finding they suit her better, but as an icon of Sky World, she is forced into pastels and florals. Being older now, she finds the racing costumes a little irksome and tiring.
There’s also the holo-collar she has to wear now in public and holo-visor during races. It appears as a laurel wreath style necklace that wraps around her neck but just slightly parted in the front (the ends of the “wreath” contain the projection cameras to flow the image upward from her neck ... something As finds a little insulting as she’s fairly certain there’s no wrinkles on her anywhere).
Places most likely to be found: Her apartment. It’s lonely, but she’d rather be there than pretending to be enjoying herself at photo ops and the Unicorn City clubs for promotions. She can also be found at the 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 training arena, in the unicorn stables, posing in yet another photo shoot, and, lately, doing promotional talks with the “mature set” as a new 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 tactic to gain more interest from females aged 35-100+ as they’ve seen a significant loss in interest from that particular group. (basically talking to mothers about why racing is ~amazing! As hates this.)
People mostly likely to be with: Typically her teammates, Flower and Sunbeam. Otherwise, holograms of her children (if she’s on a call which she will take anywhere, no matter what), 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 higher ups who like to trot her out for show and for meetings (investors just love~ meeting the Supernova), Glimmer (her agency assigned PA), and Atraxys (personal manager, also 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 appointed). Otherwise, surrounded by other racers and various support staff
Strongest character trait: begrudging determination
Public Image: As has been directed to maintain a similar public image to what she presented when she first started, but somewhat matured since it’s public knowledge that she is a mother of three. As the original circuit celeb, she’s a goddess of pure light - regal, caring, quiet grace, virtuous, clever (well-timed) yet tasteful quips, disciplined, influential, and a leader. Originally, she had been promoted as being something similar to Sunbeam’s image, but leaning into an athletic and youthful goddess-type (like a combination of Nike, Athena, and Artemis). She is now meant to add a motherly air to her persona (but without having it feel “old”), something she is struggling with. Her public image is a facade she finds easy to put on since it is somewhat close to her actual personality, but it also helps to hide the fact that As feels like she’s falling apart at the seams.
Racing Strengths: As a racing veteran, Assana has had the privilege of working with MK II for 24 years and the two of them are more in sync than any racer could hope to be. Her background in show-jumping and dressage has been to her benefit a hundred times over, and flows well with MK’s abilities. Stamina, steadfastness, and style have taken Assana far in the arena with clean lines and show techniques. They adapt well to situations and have fairly good advantage with foresight to compensate MK’s inability to make tight maneuvers.
Absolute trust and teamwork between racer and horse has been a must, which creates a strong bond such as that shared between Assana and MK. The unicorn is a tad on the surely side these days, and tends to try to bite at other handlers, Assana being the only one MK will let within an inch of her stable. As sometimes wonders if she an MK are intuitively linked as she finds her mood often reflected in her beloved horse.
Racing Weaknesses: Speed, mostly. Assana falls back in the routine of show-jumping when she’s racing. MK is not a fast unicorn, but he makes up for it in other areas. Agility when it comes to difficult turns and trickier tracks.
Assana and MK tend to not take risks, which has both worked for and against them in the past. Adapting a bolder style might become in their interest for the comeback if they want to keep up.
Personality:
as Supernova - serene, calm, regal, takes a loss with grace, elegant, eloquent and intelligent, distant, steadfast, resilient, honourable, smiles easily
as Assana - guarded, eager to please, thrives under pressure, caring, loving to those she is closest with, warm once you get to know her, a bit scattered off-track, still somewhat inclined toward perfection, a little sad, on the quiet side, eloquent of speech, sometimes distant, feels more at ease with the horses than people, almost a less heightened version of Supernova, determined, true to her word, somewhat mechanically inclined, likes a good laugh, passive aggressive, stays away from drama-mongers
Biography: Once upon a time, a little girl was born unto one of the most prominent and elusive families of Eleutheria, the Sylvain clan. A beautiful child with a blinding smile, she fit into the family’s picture of perfection, but as with most facades, this one was rotten underneath. Hardly adhering to the key values of most Sky Worlders, [redacted] and [redacted] Sylvain pushed their flawless image upon their young daughter, forcing her through trials of training in various arts and sports, seeking the right one for her to excel in, often locking her up in her gilded room when she failed to meet the lowest standards. It wasn’t until show jumping was foisted upon her, that Assana Sylvain found her calling.
Despite the heavy pressures of being perfect and demands for golden laurels from her parents, Assana truly felt at ease and in her element in the arena. She endured mental and emotional manipulation on a daily basis, but felt free when riding, her parents’ sibilant threats melting away into the crowds. That freedom made her want to win and winning was the one thing she could do of her own free will … and gave some respite for days after. She soon became well known for her jumping and technique, attracting the attention of a recruiter for the newly established Sky World racing agency, 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 . By sixteen, she was far away from the influence of her parents and quickly became the golden child of the circuit as Supernova. Her iconic appearance as a youthful goddess of victory took her far, beloved darling of galaxy. She was happy, for the most part, but not so blinded by her own celebrity to how both 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 and her parents were profiting and exploiting her. But that celebrity did come with perks – an apartment of her own, getting free things by endorsing products and places, a meager allowance (whatever wasn’t being siphoned off by 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 and her parents), and a support team that did seem to care, which was a strange experience for her. And then there was MK II. A dream of a robotic horse – they became so in sync and their motions fluid, critics praised them to all the moons and back, fans went wild just seeing their images plastered on billboards, products, and in their homes.
Regardless of the suffocating nature of her existence, of the things no one could control was Assana’s heart. It had been closed off and guarded for so long, suspicious of any kind gesture for fear of what would be expected as compensation (such were the transactional nature of all of her personal relationships to date), that the galaxy’s sweetheart never expected to trust someone enough to fall in love with them, to let them know the real her, until she met Draca. They tried to hide their relationship from 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 until the paparazzi got wind of it, which led to RISE capitalizing on it, boosting Supernova’s image as not only a victrix, but a romantic as well. When they became engaged, their wedding was The Event of the Year – highly publicized, featured everywhere, and was all anyone talked about even for months after. Assana and Draca decided on an intimate ceremony away from prying eyes before the big Event, an agreement that allowed them privacy for a special moment, something the cameras and 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 couldn’t take away. The publicized wedding itself was massive – over a thousand guests in attendance, cameras and candles floating all over, decorations to the heavens, and their gowns – oh the gowns! – Supernova never looked more like a goddess to the public, now joined in union with her own heavenly partner.
Assana went on racing for a few more years after that, during which time her private life became increasingly busy as the public craved more. Strangers followed with a hunger the adoption of an 11 year old girl from the mines of a Lava World labour camp, how the family interacted during racing season, the birth of their other two daughters, and the purchase of the glorious estate on a lake in Elysis, and soon after. Supernova and Draca were the power couple on top, but Assana still felt suffocated. Her parents continued to drown her in criticism, demanding to be given privilege to their grandchildren’s upbringing and more funds for their own ventures until Assana snapped. Buckling under the pressure, she took up drinking as an outlet and made a bargain with 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 to have her parents put into cryogenic rest “for their health” in exchange for an even larger share in Supernova’s profits, as well as an extended contract.
This did not sit well with Draca, who had spent a vast part of their relationship every race season worrying over Assana as she saw the races to be far too dangerous (particularly the increasingly close encounters Supernova seemed to be having with golems), as well as the expectations placed on Assana as Supernova, her public image, and the façade created around their private life as counter-intuitive to the core beliefs and values of Sky World. Assana shrugged most of it off, but it began to cause a rift between the two of them, each fight pushing them further apart. Draca begged Assana to retire before she killed herself on the circuit and to enjoy spending time with the kids as they grew up. Assana agreed, but signed on for spot cameos and promotions with 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 as part of their agreement for her retirement. Draca wasn’t particularly happy about this, but Supernova’s job was more infrequent than before, allowing Assana to nearly slip off the radar beyond a passing interest. Her retirement lasted for 10 years, during which time things became more heated between Assana and Draca until they ended things with a trial separation. The breaking point came following an incident wherein their youngest child was permitted by Assana to take one of the robotic horses kept at their estate out, during which time it was found that Assana had been drinking. The child, frightened after pushing a button by accident causing the horse to speed up, was thrown from horseback and sustained several non-serious injuries. Assana was declared negligent by her ex-wife, the final blow coming through the divorce proceedings when Assana was denied custody rights.
Alone and feeling defeated, Assana turned to the only other life she knew – racing. 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 was only too happy to take her back. She cleaned up her act, moved into the agency provided apartment (very luxurious, very large, very … lonely), and turned her focus on getting back into the game. She shies away from drinking, hates making club appearances (though thankfully much, much fewer than in her youth), and talking to her kids through hologram once a day to make it seem like she’s there. Overwhelmed by the changes to the industry since her heyday, Assana is determined to forge ahead and to make things right again in her world. Even though she sometimes feels like she’s falling apart at the seams, she will never let them see her fall – as her parents once cruelly told her, weakness is failure and failure is no option for anyone worth their existence.
Relationships:
Snow - As might be a little distracted on a regular basis, but she hasn’t not noticed Marivana’s indifference toward her ... which has frankly been a relief. She knows of Marivana’s past on the circuit (at least the official story, anyway) and did compete with her once before retiring, but Marivana was fairly forgettable then - something she certainly isn’t now. She’s good, and As appreciates that. She’s curious about the other racer and would almost like to get closer (friends only, lbh) since she’s never starstruck, but the ice queen act is hitting a little too close to home as it reminds her of her ex.
Sky -
Ice -
Sunbeam - 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 teammate.
Flower - 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 teammate. As is almost uncomfortably aware of how closely Flower watches her, and how embarrassed Flower seems to become every time they’re in the same space. (Is it because the poor kid puked in front of her that one time?) Ultimately, As does find her a little endearing and should probably try to be a good teammate and give her pointers. If anything, her innate mothering may come out and she might try to take the younger racer under her wing.
Flame -
Nyx -
Widowmaker -
Playlist:
high school sweethearts - melanie martinez
violence - grimes and i_o
show and tell - melanie martinez
waves crashing on distant shores of time - clint mansell
mothercreep - fka twigs
kill this love - blackpink
are you hurting the one you love? - florence + the machine
moon river - audrey hepburn / frank ocean vers.
cellophane - fka twigs
star treatment - arctic monkeys
recess - melanie martinez
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/sempero/rua-supernova/
Headcanons: (tba)
Family:
Draca {ex-wife, 42}
Jaina {adopted daughter, 18}
Xanthippe {daughter, 12}
Indigo {son, 7}
[redacted] and [redacted] Sylvain {parents, resting in cryostasis}
