Application for Empatheias

[estelle_bright]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Asmaria
Contact: asmaria
Age: 33
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Estelle Bright
Age: 16
Canon: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Canon Point: The end of the game, after Joshua flees from her and his past, and when she had confessed her feelings.

Background: Estelle's history written by my former castmate for my previous game.

To ammend this history, the rest of the plot leading up to my canon point for Estelle:

Estelle finds Joshua playing his harmonica on the roof of the castle. When she catches up to him, he reflects on maybe giving it up, then admits he is finally ready to tell her about his past. Estelle agrees to listen to him no matter what he has to say. Joshua tells her a story of a boy with a broken heart, who was saved by a magician in exchange for compensation. But the magician shaped him into a murderer that killed for 2 years, before he failed at assassinating Estelle's father, who saved him instead. He tells her the life he led with her for 5 years was like a dream, but that it can't last forever and that he is only tainted with a broken heart. Estelle tells him that is basically stupid and to stop that, because she loves him. Joshua is genuine touched by this but when he kisses her, he puts a seditive in her mouth and says that he must leave her to destroy the magician that turned him into what he was. Estelle begs him not to go, but Joshua says goodbye and Estelle passes out in the grass of the rooftop garden.

Personality:

Estelle is very strong willed and adventurous. Since she was raised mostly by her father for more than half of her life, she has learned to be independent and take on responsibilities that might have fallen to her mother before. She is far from what you might call girly, however, always being quite a tomboy since she was little. Some of her favorite things to do are exploring, picking up strange bugs, fishing, collecting sneakers, and getting dirty enough that her father stopped bringing her jewelry and dresses. That isn't to say that she has anything against it. It's just rather cumbersome to climb trees in a long skirt. She can also cook, though haphazardly and with mixed results, although her omlettes are said to be good. It doesn't bother her in the slightest to be helpful. In fact, she enjoys bringing a smile to other people's faces. She gets excited about little things and big things alike, and likes sharing her enthusiasm with others.

Her father has had a great influence on Estelle, too. Though she remains oblivious of his history for most of the first game, his work as a bracer has instilled many morals in her, and a sense of what is right. She wants to be as brave as her mother was when she died shielding her in the clock tower, too. Estelle dreams of becoming a bracer like her father, even though she is quick to complain about how much it takes him away from home. That is because family and friendship is very important to her. Even though she was iffy about it at first, she wouldn't accept not having Joshua in the family, and has gone as far as to adopt Tita as a sibling down the line as well when she learned the girl lived with her grandfather and was lonely. She is pretty sharp at picking up the nuances in people's behavior, and because of this she is very empathetic. Though sometimes her temper can get the better of her, given the time to think about it she is pretty good at seeing where someone is coming from. She tries to take things into account so that she can see where someone is coming from, and does her best to be understanding of other people's feelings.

Estelle is also lazy. It comes down to what she is able to focus on, usually what she finds interesting or important. Sleeping through Sunday School is quite normal for her, and a lot of the things that she had to learn about for being a Bracer may have taken a while to sink in, but it's mostly the act of repetition that bores her. She remembers things pretty well when put into practice, and that is when they tend to stick, so she does much better with trial by fire than actual study. She can be kind of a ditz when things come up that she might should have paid attention to but just didn't catch, when if she would just try and put her mind to it, she would catch on. Because she is so optimistic, she is easily tricked, as well, and just won't catch onto the things that other people might.

Estelle is actually pretty smart despite that. Not in the technical sense, as she has trouble understanding even the most basic of orbal inventions, but she is clever and attentive in her job and of her friends. As a Bracer, she and Joshua take notes on all of their quests and jobs, and a lot of times she has been shown to catch clues that other people missed, or that Joshua thought she wouldn't have noticed. She just doesn't always speak up on them, showing that despite her impulsiveness, when she tries, she can understand when or not something needs to be said. This also ties into her understanding of others. Estelle knows that Joshua has a past that he is not entirely comfortable speaking about or even remembering, and she has expressed many times that she intends to keep her promise to let him bring it up on his own terms. She has a lot of patience, though it can still be tried.

When Estelle gets mad, she tends to do her best to try and reign it in, but sometimes she snaps. She's thrown someone through the door of a bar before realizing she went a little over the top, and she has no problems picking a fight with bullies. But she doesn't just want to stand up to them, she'll tell them why what they're doing is wrong and what a much better solution would be. She's optimistic and opinionated, preferring to opt for the 'Well that's stupid, you should have just done this instead and everything will be fine!' route, instead of expecting the worst out of people and situations. For her, there is no point in dwelling in gloom and doom and letting that get in the way of getting things done. Whether for herself or for others, when a bad situation looms, she looks for the simplest way of resolving it in everyone's favor.

It's because she cares so much for others that she takes on a lot of worry for them, and tends to do her best at cheering them up or rooting out the source of the problem so she can fix it. Sometimes this is even bad because she can be nosy about what is going on, whether or not it's proper for her to stick her nose into things. Half of it is genuine caring, but a lot of the times, she just hates being left out of the loop. When her father kept things from her, every time that she found out about something, she would have a mini little fit. When she overhears things, she has to ask what's going on. She can also have a tendency to tease others about things that she learns, though generally this is playfully and with friends.

Estelle can get sad, though. She tries not to let it show in the instance it happens, but makes sure to give herself time to figure out why it is she is feeling the way that she is when she has the time to do it. Estelle is very practical about her feelings. Sad, mad, happy, scared... They are real emotions she wants to acknowledge and then grow from that. She is actually quite likely to talk it out with someone she feels close with, so long as she feels comfortable doing so. It is quite frustrating to her that she sees almost the opposite happening with Joshua, when he bottles his feelings up.

There is only one emotion that has taken her a while to get a handle on, and that is the embarrassment and slowly dawning realization that she has feelings for Joshua. Estelle let herself stew in denial for quite some time over it, showing that she can easily become flustered if she feels put on the spot and her thoughts exposed. Despite this, the more that she realized that she cared for him, the more that she came to terms with it, and even decided to tell him when their battle to save the Queen is over. It's partially because Joshua himself resolves to tell her about his past that she feels she will be able to tell him so honestly. Regardless of the outcome, Estelle is able to find conviction in her decisions once she makes up her mind about them.

And that brings us to how stubborn she can be. It would be easier to move a mountain sometimes than it is to get Estelle to change her mind. She's very reasonable about average every day things, but if she wants to tag along with someone to a dangerous place to be sure that they're okay, the only way to keep her from going is to stay home as well. It's all well-intentioned, but her hard-headedness can get her into trouble as well. She has the potential to take on things that might be over her ability to do, but in her mind she just has to do her best and that will be enough. When Joshua tells her at the end of the game about his past and the sins he has committed, she absolutely refuses to let him shut her out of his life, even if he thinks it's for her own safety. When faced with a moment that the things she says may make or break the situation, she pushes aside her hesitation and says exactly what's on her mind. This is why she was able to admit to him in the end that she loves him.


Abilities:

Skilled with a bo-staff - Thanks to training from her father, Cassius, Estelle is very good with the bo-staff. She was taught from an early age how to wield it, and is capable of not only a powerful swing, but using it to both defend against attacks, disable her enemies, and propel herself in battle. Her grip is strong, and the force of her swing is enough to throw Olivier through a door when he was misbehaving, much to Joshua's disapproval.

Gifted with Orbal skills - Estelle is pretty good with her Orbal arts, able to use all of the elements of Septium crystals (quartz) in her orbment to cast various spells. She is quicker to pull them off than many. In the game, most characters must wait a round for their casting to go into effect and hit the enemy, but, excluding the large spells, hers generally go off almost immediately. Her specialty is offensive skills.

Orbal magic - Depending what kind of quartz are locked into the orbment, different magic is available, but it must be set by an Orbment technician or someone skilled with Orbal equipment. Estelle's orbment is the most balanced, giving her a versatility in all of the elements, but only one or two at a time based on what she has equipped.

For example: With Fire, Estelle can throw bolts of fire or even a spiral of flame, but with earth, she can drop rocks, move earth, shield her, or have a chance of petrifying the enemy (which wears off, and would be at the other player's discretion and likely less effective against skilled opponents). Water can also give ice attacks, or even grant the ability to heal to some degree, while wind can blow in gusts, or cut. Time quartz is an element in this game, and its effects are in general things like enhancing speed and casting time, but it takes a slot in the orbment that could have gone to making the attack more powerful. Space quartz can increase the distance of the magic, also taking a slot in the orbment that could have made the other element more powerful. Mirage quartz will increase her dexterity and agility.

Basically, Estelle's orbment lets her customize what kind of ability she wants to have before she goes into battle, but once she picks what kind of magical arsenal she wants to have, that's it, it's set. It takes someone skilled in orbal technology to set the crystals, which she is not capable of, so changing it in battle is impossible. She will also need to make friends or at least acquaintances with someone who can figure out the technology in order to change her arrangement for different configurations. What she arrives with (Fire) is going to be set in stone, until she can find a person capable of that, but coming from the end of the game, she at least carries various other septium crystals with her.

More info can be found here: http://legendofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Orbment
http://legendofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Quartz
http://youtu.be/fSZ4JJqRUsQ?t=13m7s

Speed - She's not as fast as Joshua, but probably due to all the time she spends playing outdoors, Estelle is fast at running and in battle. In the OVA, she wakes up late and high-tails it to the airship JUST before it takes off. In the games, she gets slightly faster turns than most of the party, save for Joshua.


Other:

Estelle comes from a spoilerific point in her game, so I will have a permissions post for anyone who wants to opt out of being spoiled.

⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
First Person Sample:

(Image sample, possible first crystalnet post once she settles in.)

[Since mechanics, or any kind of technology of the sort aren't exactly her forte, Estelle has had some difficulty figuring out what her amulet is for until somebody thankfully tells her. It looks pretty cool, but she already has an obrment, and she's never been much of a jewelry girl. But somehow she makes a connection to the masses, once a little instruction has been given to her on how to use the thing.]

Ummmm.... So. Hey!

...Am I using this thing right?

[She peers down at the amulet in her hands for a moment, which is transmitted despite her only wanting to use her voice just yet. Well it doesn't really matter, but what exactly is it that other people are seeing when she does this, she wonders?]

They said you just have to concentrate, right? Hopefully somebody can hear me! Let's just pretend I didn't almost throw this thing out by accident, you know, when they could at least put some instructions on it or something if they're gonna drop one on each of us for this field trip.

[Collecting her emotions? Estelle's voice sounds annoyed at more than just that, but she seems also to realize that she's getting off track, and rubs at the back of her head absently with her free hand. After a moment, she speaks up again.]

Well, my point here is that I'm not really the type to just... sit around and let a problem fix itself. I gotta do something, even if it's simple! So first on the list is if there's anything significant you can teach me, would you mind spilling the beans? But failing that, does anyone want to hang out? I'll take on some work if you have it, or if you just need the company, hit me up! It beats going a little stir crazy over here when I don't know anyone yet.


Third Person Sample:

Estelle tried to shake off the nerves she felt as she stepped out of Schera's room. They weren't as bad as they had been a moment ago. If she really thought about it, she felt more assured of herself than she had in a long time. Given all that had happened, maybe she was being a little rough on herself over that. But it was hard not to worry about what was on Joshua's mind. More than whatever was going through her own head, something was going on in his. He had promised to tell her everything, and he seemed like he was remembering, whatever it was in his past. She would never pry about those things, but his harmonica began to play just as she returned to their room, almost like he was thinking about them too.

She followed after the sound until her steps led her to the terrace on the roof. That was when he stopped. Hardly anyone could sneak up on Joshua, though. She stepped up to him as he turned around to face her, and Estelle smiled. The Wherabouts of Light was always what he played when there was something on his mind. She recalled the name of the song to him, and her eyes widened back at Joshua when he admitted that he was finally ready to talk. Hearing him ponder almost giving up the harmonica when he had just said that it was all he had left of his past made something tighten in her chest. But she nodded back to him and heard him out. That was what she had promised, after all.

What he said to her... It sounded like some kind of joke. He said that everything after it until now was something like some kind of dream. She wasn't great at the really deep kind of things that took a lot of thought. This was where she was supposed to react with guts, or instinct, or something like that, right? But Joshua had been through so much, and... it was so difficult to find the right kind of words to answer that. But she had always seen him shine, no matter what he had been through. She had always seen who he really was! The words just came out of her mouth before she could stop them when she felt him push the harmonica into her hands. For every bit of sadness he was confessing, Estelle pushed back with stubbornness of her own. What was he even saying about some kind of broken heart? That wasn't who he had to be anymore! And for a moment there, she saw it. The kind of hope he should have had. Or at least maybe it was surprise.

It was easier to see in hindsight.

Maybe that was why he kissed her. Maybe that was... Did he feel the same flutter in his chest when he caught her off guard like that? She tasted something bitter. It was... No. No, he wasn't just using it to push her away...! But Estelle's vision swayed as she heard him say it was a sedative. She listed to the ground as her heart suddenly clenched and she made a protest for him to stay. If he wanted to fight that magician that had tainted his hands with blood, that didn't mean leaving her alone like this! But the more that she tried to say so, the heavier her eyelids became. All that she got out was one word.

"No..."

It wasn't... fair... Even as he said that he loved her from the start... That idiot... Get up! She had to...!

"Joshu...a..."

The world for Estelle only went black as she heard him say goodbye.

Questions: Nope!