Parian

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Parian</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

<label>Status</label><format>

Active

</format>

<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox>

Parian, real name Sabah, was a Rogue operating in Brockton Bay.

Personality

She was not naturally violent but finds herself and her family drawn into the conflicts of Worm. She also feels a great amount of responsibility to those who come to her for help.

She is very socially conscious. She was also planning to keep her true ethnicity concealed to promote dialogue regarding assumptions about capes.<ref>Wildbow comment in Sentinel 9.2</ref>

Appearance

Parian wears a costume reminiscent of a Victorian-style porcelain doll, with golden curls. Underneath the costume, she stands just over five feet tall and is of obvious Middle-Eastern descent, with dark skin, full lips, and large, dark eyes. After joining the Undersiders, she changes her dress and hair to black in order to appear more intimidating.

Abilities and Powers

Parian's power gives her a fine control over lightweight materials. If she attempts to control anything heavier than a half-pound, her telekinesis falls apart. It becomes more unstable when she attempts to move large objects until it expands and dissipates over an area in an attempt to extend control to a number of tiny, lightweight objects.

Parian discovered that she could contain her power and keep it from dissipating. Porous materials worked best for this method as her power soaks into them and allows her to move the fabric rather than just the material. The gaps within the material also allow her to feed power into the 'shell' without it building to critical mass and collapsing.<ref name="I21.y">Imago 21.y (Interlude, Parian)</ref>

Wildbow has mentioned that she has a "true use" to her power that has not yet been revealed.<ref>https://forums.spacebattles.com/goto/post?id=15860656#post-15860656</ref>

History

Background

Sabah immigrated to the United States of America from Basra with her family before they moved to Brockton Bay. There she had been forced to learn English alongside other subject matter by herself as her parents were too busy. After graduating high school, she attended university where she studied the 'grittier' courses such as math and engineering.

Sabah drew attention from a boy in her class that became interested in her. She tried telling him 'no' multiple times, but wound up being labelled as a 'bitch'. The other students wound up hearing and turned on her which lead to her schoolwork starting to suffer as no one wanted to work or study with her. She caved six months afterwards and apologized to the boy, telling him that she had had a bad day. She began dreading going back to class and dealing with him.

Eventually Sabah's father suffered a terminal heart attack. She triggered on what was only one in a long string of nights spent alone, stewing in frustration. It was the push she needed to get away from the boy as it gave her a new goal; success in fashion design.<ref name="I21.y"/>

After triggering, she was described by Taylor as only using her powers for "business or entertainment". She sometimes partnered with stores in downtown Brockton Bay, animating mascots or other large characters for promotional purposes.<ref>http://worm.wikia.com/wiki/Extermination_8.1</ref>

Post-Leviathan

Parian took up defending a territory, Dolltown, after Leviathan attacked the city.

She

Post-Slaughterhouse Nine

After the people she was offering protection to were surgically altered by Bonesaw to look like the members of the Slaughterhouse Nine, she took up Skitter's offer to join the Undersiders in order to afford good doctors to reverse the plastic surgery.

She was later joined by Flechette, who changed her name to Foil and became Parian's lieutenant and lover.

Trivia

• Parian's costume hid her ethnicity because when she still had intentions of unmasking, she wanted to provoke a debate about assumptions made about capes when you couldn't tell their skin tone.
• Parian appeared in earlier drafts of Worm under the name 'Doll'.
• In early drafts Parian would have been the one who was interested in Foil, rather then the reverse. And would have had a decisive role in defeating Behemoth.<ref>Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>

Quotes

• “I’m just… I know what it’s like, to be on a single track, to feel compelled to keep going forward. It isn’t easy, to disappoint the people you care about, but sometimes it comes down to doing that… or doing what they want and being unhappy.” When asked what she knows about Skitter's motivations.

References

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