Superhero AU Aria! Except she's a villain >:]
Her powers were discovered when she was 17, after accidentally putting her regular civilian boss to sleep. She was then inducted into the guild and power bonded to Brandon, an amplifier, and certified to be a hero. But, Brandon continually restricted her powers when she needed them, and started demanding things from her in return for her powers to be usable. So she killed him.
She was sent to prison, but found weak points in the psyche of several guards, slowly manipulating them over time until she created an opening to escape. Unfortunately, during her time in prison, she was also heavily experimented on, causing her to need a recovery period where she laid low for a while, building up strength and plans.
Eventually, she reemerged, openly identifying herself as a prison escapee, and referring to herself as just her name, Aria. She didn't give herself a villain nickname at first, and was unofficially dubbed "Mesmerize" for the daze she put people in when she either entered their dreams or distracted them in the waking world (daydreams).
Over time, she became more dangerous, infiltrating the dreams of people she hadn't even encountered in any sort of combat. Some superheroes started to deviate from the guild's ideals, a few even quitting entirely and escaping to work with villains.
After a while of these sorts of incidents occurring, the guild slowly realized they were all connected to strange dreams (occurring just beforehand). A few who remained steadfast after her dreams realized the tell; you can read in the dreams she makes. Signs appear in the background of your dream, ones with arrows or above roads that lead you deeper into the dreamscape and into deeper sleep, the wording intended to turn you against the government and the superhero's guild, often bouncing off your existing doubts about the system. People were rarely ever trapped asleep, just allowed to wake up with these new ideas in their heads.
Beyond that, the government and hero's guild have identified that she also creates "subliminal stimuli" in dreams, sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold or limit for conscious perception. As in, once she gets in your dreams, she will do more than put those obvious signs in place. This is actually her most common method; how many people do you think would fall for just doubt-seeding phrases? Once you've been "infested" with her subliminal dreams, you are no longer trustworthy to be put on missions until you can be fully psychologically evaluated and tested for your loyalty to the hero's guild again.
That is, if the guild finds out you've been infiltrated. Some supers have started not reporting it, wanting to avoid the long, often frustrating or painful processes to be reintegrated.
Once the subliminal and luring methods were realized, she was dubbed "The Dream Siren". This nickname idea was amplified by the uptick in missing superheroes when she strengthened her efforts after being connected to the deviations.
She's also kidnapped several sidekicks and a few superheroes, initially using some for leverage before deciding to keep them for herself. Few have returned to the guild after being captured. She seems to favour children and it's rumoured that some consider her a parental figure, even though the guild is pushing hard the idea that she's abusing anyone she's captured.
She has Tori, plans to / has kidnapped Emerson initially for leverage, and is trying to get at Lou via his dreams and pulling at his doubts about being able to do good with the guild. She's also likely already kidnapped Parker, who used to be a surprisingly strong sidekick with a bit of a mean streak & a vendetta against some of the higher-ups in the guild.
Aria also has Ainsley, Emily, maybe Percy, works with Canis (another villain, obsessed with knowledge and academia), and babysits Ryan. Millie used to be a hero and joined her side after being kidnapped by her. Salvia is the villain who initially sheltered Aria when she escaped prison. Fizz is her pet cat she found wandering around as a stray.
As for some of my other OCs:
Cassidy and Val work with the superhero guild, Cassidy as a medic and Val as either a hero or another useful support role. Ophi is a villain. Cordelia is a sidekick that prides herself on her capabilities and Cedric is a new hero who is already starting to feel a bit indifferent about all this hero business. Axel is a vigilante without powers, Alari can turn into a cat and likely hides in Allan's area, Flora is a medic for the guild, Falcon is a hero with shielding powers. Amelia has no powers after losing access to them in an accident (she needs her voice for them), Cassie is a regular baker (probably), and Situla is a therapist for villains in the villain areas (not attempting to get them on the guild's side again).
AU lore is from @original-bookshelf
@moonvalley94 @localpigeon22 @not-5-rats @puffin-smoke @ryn-halo26 (apologies for the tags)
