hadriel application

[farsighting]

PLAYER
Player name: Kiss
Contact: rituals or discord#3016
Characters currently in-game: N/A

CHARACTER
Character Name: Elise
Character Age: 17
Canon: ShootAround
Canon Point: The end of Episode 57
History: This isn't a widely known webcomic and the wiki that does exist for it is sparse, so here's a rundown of the important stuff that's happened prior to her canon point:

Elise's personal history isn't fully known. She's from a well-off family, has lived in France (is possibly part French considering her name?) and has always been fiercely protective of her twin brother, Jörgen.

As a sidebar, the "group project" group is a secondary offshoot of the canon's focus, with the attention initially lying on the protagonists of the store, "the basketball team." One such team member is the captain, Hotaru, whom Elise has harbored feelings for but never confessed them.

Elise was a seemingly dutiful student and reasonably well-known in social circles and throughout her school -- which is where she was when the apocalypse came (which isn't explained in canon, zombies just...sort of happened). She and her brother, along with their two group project partners Sun-Mi and Obi, were minding their own business when a zombie approached, though it was quickly killed by Jörgen.

From there, the group travelled through town. All of their stops aren't reported, but Elise and Jörgen did attempt to return home, finding their parents had been infected. Elise killed her parents, seemingly hopeless in their zombified state, while her brother watched.

Having been to parties at basketball team member Ana Sophia's house, the group travelled there and turned the property into a sort of stronghold. All of these events happened over the course of about a week or so.

The basketball team and their coach, the main protagonists of the story, arrive at Ana Sophia's property -- but not without incident. Elise ambushes them, lying when she later claims she didn't know who they were because she couldn't see them without her glasses. The two groups come to a peaceful impasse, but Elise's somewhat strange behavior and veiled threats toward the other group make her suspicious in many of their eyes.

Just prior to her canon point, Elise has made friends with Hotaru, someone she really hadn't connected with outside of becoming Facebook friends. She attempts to kiss her, though Hotaru doesn't reciprocate (the exchange is friendly); Elise denies having feelings for Hotaru, though in later episodes it's revealed this isn't the case.

Personality:

It's hard to imagine that the apocalypse wouldn't change you as a person, especially when you're on the cusp of womanhood. Elise changed -- Elise changed a lot.

Prior to the zombie armageddon, Elise wasn't exactly...normal. It's not outright shown, but there is an implication based on how others speak of her that she was a bit of an oddball. She was studious; pretty while still maintaining the "smart, glasses-wearing nerd" look that comes from studying and reading books two inches from your face, making you far-sighted. She was a mathlete, apparently smart as a whip and came from a family that was well-off. She got invited to parties, lived in France and loved her family and her twin brother. She developed a secret crush on the captain of her school's girl's basketball team. All in all, her life was pretty idyllic, likely only marred by the average troubles of teendom.

Then something happened: the apocalypse arrived. That's when you have to shift all of your skills from superfluous life tasks into a more adaptive setting. Survival is more important than algorithms and calculus. Elise shifted from what appeared to be a studious nerd to an athletic, calculated huntress. Those skills in analytics and intelligence translated well in a setting where thinking first is paramount to staying alive. It's that sort of thinking that may have led to, whether for self-defence or as an act of mercy, Elise killing her parents. With her parents gone, Elise saw her brother as all she had left in the world. She was always protective of him, but now she suddenly had an extra purpose in being his knight in shining armor.

This mental shift greatly affected Elise's sanity and she now lives by a very clear-cut, black-and-white standard: she will die and kill for those she loves in an effort to protect them. Whether she needs to kill humans or zombies, no one will be safe from her wrath if they even threaten harm to her brother.

That aforementioned crush, Hotaru Kotobuki, also factors into this new moral code (or perhaps a lack of one). After the apocalypse, Elise reunited with the object of her affections by quite literally falling out of the sky and on top of her, threatening her life with a crossbow. Later, in order to save Hotaru from a zombie, Elise instead threw herself into the zombie's clutches while saving Hotaru's life. As she saves Hotaru, Elise confesses her love and says "I'm such a fake, right?" This speaks to both a specific instance and an overall aspect of Elise's personality.

Specifically, Elise and Hotaru bond over the course of a few days -- Elise knows that Hotaru has a crush on fellow basketball team member Kayla and listens to her talk about her problems. Despite having her own feelings for Hotaru, Elise doesn't initially confess them. In fact, she outright denies them after propositioning her for a kiss and is rejected. In Elise's mind, she has to protect these two people (Jörgen and Hotaru), which also means emotionally shielding them as much as possible. She saw her brother break down after what she did to their parents, which she accepts as her fault and begged him not to hate her. In this instance, to hurt or complicate things for the ones she loves would be the antithesis of her present goal.

(As an addendum, this doesn't mean Elise can completely help herself. She's very complimentary towards Hotaru, even going so far as to flirt with her and the aforementioned kiss incident. Elise also isn't aware that Hotaru has blossoming feelings for her.)

As a broader personality trait, Elise does exude a sort of mysterious, plastic-y air at first, speaking to how unhinged she is now. When questioned about why she chose Ana Sofia's house as a stronghold, knowing full well whose house it was, Elise denies all knowledge in a cutesy way. She also lied about not knowing who she attacked when she first ran into the basketball team. Elise isn't above a little bit of lying and trickery to keep people in line and to further her goal of protecting those she treasures. Elise wants you to be afraid of her, and she wants you to feel threatened by her wide-eyed, staring presence. If you're afraid of her, you're more likely to back down and fall in line, making you less of a threat to the safety of those she wants to protect.

Simultaneously, this plastic facade is useful in getting someone to let their guard down. Her sort of ditzy persona may not have been effective with the members of the basketball team, who figured out she's more threatening than she may initially let on, but it's certainly present nevertheless.

Still, the violent part of her isn't fake -- there's no wall of insecurity here that hides a cowardly, scared girl. She's an expert at hunting and will kill zombies brutally with no outward remorse or hesitation. While she does have vulnerability, Elise is fully willing to follow through on her actions. When Lakka accidentally hurt her brother, causing a head wound and the loss of a tooth, Elise chased her and was about to beat her before Lakka explained herself in a way that Elise can connect with -- she admitted that she felt like she'd lost control of herself, only becoming more violent. Elise admitted that she may understand her. Had Lakka not done this, it's quite possible something drastic would have occurred; Elise goes so far as to say if Lakka doesn't explain herself, her friends will never find her again.

This is also important to understand -- Elise isn't so far gone into her apocalypse-induced psychosis that she's incapable of reason. There's no yandere slicing and dicing with no communication. Will Elise resort to violence if necessary? Yes. But she didn't just outright murder Lakka. She wanted to know why and backed down when she learned the answer that she could connect with. The biggest takeaway here is that the old, pre-apocalypse Elise is still in there somewhere. It may be burried under trauma right now, but she's not entirely lost.

In summary, the apocalypse has certainly done a number on Elise. Her mental well-being is called into question, and for good reason. She's capable of love and also capable of violence. Her view on committing this violence isn't healthy or moral, and she may come off as a bit of a wild card...but there's an image of the old Elise in there somewhere -- a weird girl who simply wants to live life and fall in love, but that girl is gone. For now.

Inventory: At this canon point, Elise is essentially defenceless -- she's in her pajamas, without her trusty crossbow and will have only her fists to protect her.
Abilities:

Prior to the zombie apocalypse, Elise was something of a brainiac -- at least, she was a bit of a nerd and a mathlete. Elise is super smart and strategic, which continued to serve her well after shit went south. She also is apparently very gifted with a crossbow and has some athleticism considering she's good at climbing trees, stealthily waiting and jumping through the air to land on a target. The athleticism can be explained. The crossbow? Not so much. The apocalypse forces us to learn new skills, okay?

Flaws:

Elise is an intimidating figure -- at least, she became one after the apocalypse. There's an implication that she was somewhat creepy prior to the whole debacle -- she got invited to nice parties, being from a well-to-do party, but she certainly wasn't prime popular material. Now she's imposing, somewhat ominous...but having to kill your parents does that to a girl. Her emotions right now are sort of in hyperdrive. She's defensive of her twin brother, totally willing to kill and be violent if it means protecting him (and also Hotaru). Right now her sense of morality is twisted to a bias that is focused on those she loves most. If you aren't in that category? Watch out.

SAMPLES
Action Log Sample: Ongoing TDM thread; the first comment is ~400 words so hopefully it's acceptable even at a shorter thread length!