Black Canary
Black Canary
Caity Lotz
Name: Dinah Laurel Lance
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Gotham City
Age: 20-Something
Aliases: Canary
Origin: Metahuman/Mutant
Present Location: Gotham City
Occupation: Florist
Team: Birds of Prey
Alignment: Hero
Significant Other(s): {$so}
Powers and Abilities: Sonic Scream
Portrayed by: Caity Lotz

From the outside, Dinah Laurel Lance's life was … normal. Almost boring, in some respects. Her father, Larry Lance, was a respected police officer turned private investigator and her mother, Dinah Drake Lance, was a florist. They were well off, though not exceptionally rich, and she never lacked for anything. She was their only child and was doted on, but not overly so, and was one of the lucky ones that wasn't totally spoiled by her parents.
Her mother owned Sherwood Florist, a small shop located in Gotham. It also housed her father's business and their modest apartment. Much of Dinah Laurel's early childhood was spent in the flower shop, learning about the plants and how to arrange them. If she wasn't doing that, she was spending time with her father, learning bits and pieces of his line of work.
The truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction, and it should come as no surprise to most that her seemingly idyllic home life was far from 'normal'. Her mother was more than just the local florist; she was also the fishnet-wearing street vigilante known as Black Canary. Thievery skills coupled with a martial arts prowess that was nigh unmatched, the Canary was a formidable guardian of Gotham.

The key word being 'was', in that Dinah Drake hadn't touched her fishnets in twenty some-odd years … but the stories of her exploits would be the younger Dinah's bedtime tales. The adventures of Black Canary and so many other heroes would serve as both a point of wonderment and inspiration for the young girl.
It's no wonder, then, that Dinah Laurel wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps. The precocious girl took it upon herself to learn martial arts and boxing, stealth and the thievery skills of her mother. At first, Dinah Drake indulged her daughter and helped her, using the pretense of teaching her self-defense in order to protect herself.
But as she gained in years and her daughter proved to be almost as skilled as herself, she came to realize that Dinah Laurel had an ulterior motive. The younger Dinah wasn't content to just learn enough to defend herself; she wanted to be the next Canary. She wanted to be just like her mother, wanted to make her /proud/ … and found those hopes shattered when her mother stated in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't let it happen, not if she could help it.

"The world's too dangerous now," she said, "It's not as safe as it used to be." In fact, those same reasons were another large part of why Dinah Drake had retired her fishnets long before her daughter's birth; she just wanted to settle down and try to have a 'normal' life.
When Dinah turned thirteen, her metahuman power emerged rather violently and destroyed every pane of glass in the shop. Her sonic-based attack was difficult to control, no matter how she tried, so she focused on her martial skills instead. Ohly after 2010 was she able to refine the control over her voice through rigorous training. Even without control she tried to use it as a bargaining chip against her mother, but to no avail; even with (and, especially /because/ of) such a potent ability at her disposal, her mother once again disapproved of her daughter's desires.
Years passed. Dinah continued training in secret with the same people who trained her mother, with people she'd come to acknowlege as aunts and uncles … even sneaking out at night from time to time in an improvised costume (complete with wig) to try and fight crime. Most of the time, she'd come home empty-handed and exhausted — a whole lot of running around for nothing — and sometimes she'd have the satisfaction of knowing she took a drug-dealer off the street. She took care to make her actions as secretive as possible … but that didn't mean they went entirely unnoticed. Her father was not ignorant but, rather, turned a blind eye to his daughter's nightly excursions and felt that, perhaps, it was just a rebellious phase in her that would fade in time, after her first big injury.

He should have figured that if it didn't stop the mother, it certainly wouldn't stop the daughter. All the same, Dinah Laurel was forced to take a reprieve after her first botched attempt to stop a robbery on her own resulted in a broken arm and several broken ribs. When she turned 18, she went to college and quickly became smitten with a young man named Craig Windrow.
Theirs was a whirlwind affair, from dating to engagement to married in a matter of months … and then divorced less than a year later. She dropped out of college and returned home, much to the relief of her mother, and settled into life as a florist.
She did not, however, stop her training. That was the single constant thing in Dinah's life, something that would intensify after her failed attempt at both marriage and college. It became more and more apparent that she was still not the woman her mother was and that grated on her in a way she never imagined it would.

Her return home coincided with her parents' joint decision to go on a lengthy vacation, the details of which they opted not to divulge. She didn't ask why or where they were going; her mother was stubborn enough not to tell and the younger Dinah stubborn enough to try to do things on her own without her mother there as a safety net. … and, to be fair, there was a greedy spark of joy at her mother's leaving: it would finally give her the chance she needed to step up and try to overcome her mother's shadow. Thus, at the age of 19, did she take up the mantle of the Black Canary.
She continued to push herself in her training. Without her mother around, she could do so with more focus than ever before. Her training reached a peak when she was invited to train under Sensei Otomo in China; she cobbled money together and left the shop in the capable hands of her mother's former assistants.
In China, she trained rigorously for two years and was affectionately nicknamed 'siu jerk jai' — 'little bird' — by her sensei. She was like a daughter to him and one of his most prized pupils, a relationship which was problematic in that her sensei would never push her to her utmost in ability. He'd always pull back, where with other students he would not, so as to avoid truly hurting her. So she, realizing she would never achieve her full potential with him (and to spare him, in some respects) Dinah bid him farewell and returned home.

Several years have since passed without word from her mother … and in the meantime, Dinah Laurel maintains both the shop and the reputation of the Canary, though not without difficulty. Everything still hangs in a tense balance … and where she still, deep down, fears the return of her mother to take her role back.

IC Events

Black Canary's Logs

(2014-08-22) Birds at Breakfast
Birds At Breakfast Summary: Shayera, Dinah, and Helena discuss forming their new team over...


(2014-08-06) Birds Reunite
Birds Reunite Summary: Shayera takes up Dinah's offer and visits her at the florist...


(2014-08-05) A Chat In The Library
A Chat In The Library Summary: Kate comes across Dinah in the Hellfire Library. A nice...


(2014-07-30) Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather Summary: Hawkgirl meets Black Canary. No feathers were lost. Date:...


(2014-07-29) That's Hot
That's Hot Summary: Jack visits Dinah at the Floral shop, something hot...


(2014-07-16) Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather Summary: At least one bird, Dinah, meets one Flag, Jack, they deal with a...


(2014-06-18) Black Queen's Rook Rising
Black Queen's Rook Rising Summary: Dinah Lance takes her place as Zatanna's Rook amongst the...


(2014-06-01) Renaissance Fair Queens and Crying Canaries
Renaissance Fair Queens and Crying Canaries Summary: Mary Jane Watson runs afoul of a drug deal...


(2014-05-05) Canary Cries For Silence
Canary Cries For Silence Summary: Karen Starr's charity event in Gotham's Convention Center is...


(2014-05-01) Flowers Needed For Event
Flowers Needed For Event Summary: Karen Starr stops by Sherwood Florist in hopes of securing...

Gallery

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