IVY

Ivy began her life as Amanda, daughter of Meri Lin and Fred. She got a different name when she began her role as the fifth narrator in Negative One, first appearing in Issue #0161.

IF YOU'RE JUST BROWSING CHARACTERS AND YOU HAVEN'T READ UP TO THE POINT WHERE THE IVY COMICS START, DON'T READ ANY MORE OF THIS DOCUMENT UNLESS YOU DON'T MIND SPOILERS.

Ivy began telling her own story when she flew out her bedroom window shortly before her second birthday. She transitioned from a baby comfortably living with her loving parents to being a lost baby living on her own, but unlike most homeless children, she has unprecedented superpowers that make her survival much easier. Her telekinetic powers allow her to fly, letting her cover long distances quickly--which explains how she got so far from her parents' apartment in a short time--and she can protect herself with her power if anyone tries to hurt her.

Ivy got some help from well-meaning caregivers while on her own in the city, most notably Melanie, Theresa, Tonya, Mr. Erick, and Miss Margaret and her daughter Charlotte, who have all approached taking care of her in different ways (with various amounts of success). She slowly became somewhat independent, able to figure out how to feed herself and find shelter (though her hygiene isn't good without an older person taking care of her and reminding her to wash and brush her hair). There are also the dangers associated with being such an oddity, and some guys who run a fruit stand took great pains to interrupt her existence for someone else's benefit. As a child alone in the city, she was naīve but learning who and how to trust.

Adele found her in the city in Issue #0465, and tempted her to come back and live with their group with promises of an adventure on a beach. Ivy connected readily with Adele, and when she met the others (Weaver, Dax, and Alix), she suddenly had many adults to help care for her. She developed an immediate rapport with Weaver because they had both been yearning for a flying partner, and she felt comfortable with Dax, but remained wary of Alix. Alix continued to subject her to hostility, partly because he's not very patient and partly because he is afraid of her. They eventually developed an uneasy rapport but Alix has never felt comfortable with her powers (which is admittedly valid considering she once accidentally broke his arm and bruised him, requiring hospitalization). As Ivy continued to mature and develop both more survival skills and better control over her abilities, she became a vital part of their life on the beach.

Ivy immediately latched onto Tab when this new little girl appeared during an interdimensional event (though she also likes Thursday who appeared at the same time), and took great pleasure in babysitting her and caring for her. When Tab grew up enough to express herself, it became clear that she was jealous of Ivy's abilities, which caused some friction in their relationship. Ivy continued to help her companions and babysit, as well as getting a hodgepodge of education with Adele and Weaver, but she began to yearn for something more as she approached her teen years.

Ivy has now begun to help Adele with her predictions (though she does not have any clairvoyant powers herself) and sometimes ventures out into the human world to do small missions. She is gearing up for a major role in establishing a residence on the beach for her companions.

Ivy was born to Meri Lin and Fred as their daughter Amanda Fisher-Ling. She is technically human, but since she's being raised by nonhumans, she has picked up on identifying as nonhuman as well despite her appearance. She is currently a little bit tall for her age (about five feet two inches) and is very thin and lanky. (Her muscles have not developed normally because her telekinetic energy helps her do everything.) She has pinkish skin that's on the pale side, blond hair with bangs that she wears long, oversized apple-green eyes with her mother's epicanthic folds, and pointed ears. She was born with four fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot. Her teeth are peculiar; they came in late in babyhood but are oversized for childhood teeth, and then she never lost her baby teeth so she still has them as her adult teeth. She has a high voice that occasionally takes on the ghost of a New York accent when she's agitated. Ivy loves to braid her hair into multiple braids (her most common hairstyle), and she likes short-sleeved shirts and jeans, shorts, or skirts. She doesn't tend to like to wear sweaters because she overheats easily, and cold temperatures don't faze her unless they're VERY cold. Ivy is careless about clothing and sometimes prefers not to wear any (even as an older child), and sometimes she'll go about her business shirtless. She never wears shoes and finds them annoying, so being expected to wear them in the outside world is very disruptive to her. She loves jewelry and accessories, especially shiny items and items with bright colors. She usually covers her ears with a bandana when she visits human places, but finds that some people are still a little spooked by her weird hands or her big eyes (so she sometimes puts her hands in her pockets and doesn't directly look at people she has to interact with).

Ivy loves fruit and bread, shiny things, some books, building sandcastles, and flying games. She can sing well and has some natural musicality. Her intelligence is average, but she can be introspective and puts her thoughts into words relatively well. She has some moderate issues with claustrophobia and is weirdly disgusted by teeth and images of teeth falling out, but is not at all afraid of the dark. She bites her nails very short. She is farsighted and therefore cannot read smaller words that are close to her face, but her distance vision is above average. She struggles with staying still for long and can get emotional or angry when challenged, behaving impulsively at times. Her body is unusually flexible, and she doesn't sunburn easily for unknown reasons.

Ivy refers to her telekinetic powers as her "energy," and she is extremely adept with it, able to perform rough manual labor all the way down to tiny tasks that require careful dexterity. (Her actual manual dexterity is truly awful, though she has figured out she's right-handed, and she has nonexistent balance without her energy, to the point that she cannot run or jump without it.) She can fly up to about sixty miles per hour without any issues (though she doesn't mind moving faster than that if she's experimenting with dropping and catching herself). Her energy yields tactile feedback on any objects she uses it on, which allows her to touch things without moving them (if she wants to) in order to gain information, though the drawback is that very hot or very cold objects will negatively affect her. She can lift multiple items and move them in different directions or hold multiple items at the same time, but there's a limit to her attention and coordination. She has not yet found an upper limit for how much she can lift with her energy, but for small items she does have to be able to distinguish the pieces to move them (e.g., she wouldn't be able to move microscopic items). She is able to carry and move water with her energy, but doing the same with air is difficult, and she is only able to affect the air by making an unsustainable, uncontrolled burst with her energy (she has referred to this as "windy pushes" sometimes). Ivy uses her energy unconsciously often to help her with daily tasks, performing many actions without actually even realizing she's using her energy, and sometimes she can affect objects around her while she's sleeping (especially if she's dreaming). Her abilities don't seem to depend on physical strength since they operate normally even if she is sick or tired.

My favorite Ivy pictures (click on the small pictures to see large, good quality scans):