Perfect Pitch
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| The Masked Songbird | |
| Perfect Pitch | |
| Player: @TheDart | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Francesa Lane |
| Known Aliases: | Frankie |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 24 |
| Height: | 5'5" |
| Weight: | 120 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Actress and Singer |
| Place of Birth: | Manhattan, NY |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Morgan (Father), Alexandra (Mother) |
| Known Powers | |
| Manipulation of sound waves, including 'riding' them to achieve flight. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Frankie has been acting and singing professionally since she was a child. Courtesy of her acting training, she's an excellent liar, and is very skilled at adopting accents and speech patterns not her own. She also has a very good ear for accents. She knows a great deal about camera equipment and how to best hide a small microphone without compromising its effectiveness. After moving to Paragon in Nov. 2007, she's taking self-defense courses. | |
| Equipment | |
| ' | |
| Frankie and Perfect Pitch have different voices. | |
While not created specifically for the group, TheDart jumped at the chance to have Perfect Pitch become a member of the Barnstormers. The story-driven pulp group's effect on a spandex-clad hero was something she had to see.
Affiliations
Supergroup: Barnstormers
History
Francesca Lane was born in Manhattan, New York on April 15th, 1983. Her parents, Morgan and Alexandra Lane, were both actors. Broadway fast became a second home to little Francesca, and the cast and crews of her parents' plays became an extended family. She was very much loved, and while she rarely wanted for anything, her parents took great care to ensure their daughter was not spoiled. She attended private schools and, once she was six, began taking voice lessons from a private tutor - a young woman her mother knew named Lana Yeoh.
Frankie, as Lana called her, was destined for a career on the stage. She was born with a gift treasured in the music business: perfect pitch. By the time she was nine, Frankie Lane began appearing in various plays and television commercials, and a star was born.
Charismatic and friendly, Frankie was never short on friends as she grew up, and very rarely deigned to spend any time alone. She much preferred to be with other people. When her mutant gift surfaced during her teens, this didn't change - though the amount of time she spent with her voice tutor did increase. Luck was on Frankie's side, as Lana was not only a very accepting young woman, but one who shared her ability to manipulate sound. Their lessons expanded in range, and understanding Frankie's insecurities, Lana agreed to keep her abilities their little secret. So long as she didn't literally bring down the house (or lull her audiences to sleep!), there was no reason for it to come up.
As she grew up, the variety of roles Frankie accepted grew as well, and she was on the fast track to becoming a well-respected young actress. After high school, she was accepted into Pace University's acting program, which she threw herself into with great enthusiasm. Everything was going great.
Then, on May 23rd, 2002, the Rikti invaded. Paragon City was not the only place left in ruins - cities all over the world were devastated in the war, New York among them. Fortunately, Paragon City was also not the only place with heroes, and it was through the intervention of several costumed vigilantes that the Lanes survived. Much to Frankie's relief, so had Lana, though she would later discover that numerous students she shared courses with were not so fortunate. The heroes simply could not be everywhere at once.
The world recovered, and so did Frankie. She graduated from Pace in 2005 - a little behind schedule, but alien invasions will do that to a school's schedule - and focused on her career, returning both to the stage and the screen. She made it to Broadway and had a string of well-received guest appearances on several high-rated television programs over the following two years, making her quite the happy camper. When she won the role of the Downtown Dame in Men in Steel, she was ecstatic... but telling the story of one of New York's greatest heroes night after night had an unexpected effect on the young thespian.
She had powers. She could help people. Why wasn't she helping people?
When Men in Steel went on the road in 2007, Frankie made sure she was in the traveling cast. After a two-week stay in Paragon City, she left the play and stayed behind to strike out on her own and try to find some meaningful direction in her life. Paragon's entertainment district was healthy - it could support her easily enough.
Even if it couldn't... she'd always have Perfect Pitch.
Trivia
- TheDart's first female character that hasn't driven her completely freaking insane in one way or another.
- Inspirations include Black Canary, Siryn, and TheDart's perverse love of showtunes. (Also of girls with masculine names.)
- The last TV guest spot Frankie did before moving to Paragon City was on the series "Man or Manticore?". She looks forward to meeting the actual Manticore and finding out if the man playing him on the show was doing a good job, or a laughable one. She kind of expects the latter.
- Frankie and Perfect Pitch have different speaking voices.
