sirenspull Application...

[gavesugar]

Player Information

Name: Missy
Age: thirty-one by the time this ap shall be seen
AIM SN: firewants2bwater
email: thats.just.a.lollipop.tree@gmail.com
Have you played in an LJ based game before? Nope, this is my first app into a formally organized game.
Currently Played Characters: n/a


Character Information

General
Canon Source: The Evil Dead Trilogy, specifically Army of Darkness
Canon Format: Motion Picture, 1993
Character's Name: Sheila (She's technically "Lady Sheila". The movie doesn't give her a surname or a home castle of origin, sadly).
Character's Age: Twenty-five (She's not given a canonical age, but this was the age of Embeth Davidtz during principle photography).

What form will your character's NV take?

She'll carry what's, in capability, your average Blackberry Touch, decorated with a stained glass Pattern of a blue flower that originates from 13th century England. When opened, it resembles in form if not in size a chapbook, with the screen framed in the same ornate glass pattern that's on the outside. Instead of a keyboard, Sheila will write (once she's grasped modern English) with a stylus that resembles a very small quill pen.

Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: Sheila has a healing factor that's remarkable - she survives a fall of several stories during the course of AOD without even a concussion. She has remarkable arm strength, as displayed when she hits Ash with a rock and disorientates him enough to knock him into a spike-laden, demon-infested pit. She's also a very talented seamstress, able to construct an outfit for Ash from scratch without anything to work with but the sight of him and the remnants of his torn shirt. As a Deadite* she wielded a bo staff with some skill and could ride a horse well, skills she presumably has in her living form.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? Besides her canonical healing factor and deadly aim, Sheila is able to see through the lies of others with starling clarity. Extending and broadening that ability, I'd give her a very mild sort of psychic power that would allow her to divine the truth in other's lies with ease, making her a human lie detector. The power would, of course, be frustratingly intermittent and therefore easily adjusted/handwaved for play purposes, and to the comfort of other muns. If that's too Godmod-ish, I'd just strengthen and refine her healing ability, throwing strength or aim to make them more superhuman.
Weapons: She carries a dagger somewhere on her body, but is only seen using it once in canon - and that's to file her nails. Her other weapon would be the staff and the rock. She's very much a make-do-with-what-you-have sort of fighter and would try to strangle an enemy with her bare hands if she had to.

History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: When Sheila first appears in Army of Darkness, she is a young maiden living in the castle of Lord Arthur who's waiting for her brother to return from war. She learns from Arthur that her brother has died in a skirmish with Duke Henry's men and, incensed, she takes her grief out on Ash, hitting him, spitting on him and calling him a 'black murderer'. Declaring that her brother's death shall be avenged, she grows impatient with Ash's pleas of innocence and throws a rock at him, dizzying him and causing him to fall into a zombie-infested pit. She watches his struggle with undisguised glee, frustrated by his adaptability and eventually at his survival ("Damn him!", she utters at one point). It takes a speech and another show of might to intrigue Sheila and convince her that Ash is exactly what the Wiseman says he is - the promised one, destined to deliver them from the terror of the Deadites.

Determined to right the wrong she's done him, Sheila tries to apologize to Ash (and he tells her, unequivocally, to 'blow'), which only results in her being the main target when a kitchen servant becomes a demon in her presence. Ash saves her life, and in gratefulness, she spends the remainder of the day worshipfully watching him make a prosthetic hand and sewing a tunic and cloak for him to wear. That night, she presents him with the clothing and is once more rebuffed by Ash ("Good," he responds to the sight of the cloak and tunic, "I could use a horse blanket"). Enraged, Sheila slaps him across the face and tries to leave. Ash rushes after her and, instead of slapping her back, asks for a kiss. They fall into bed together (well, technically onto the furs before the blacksmith's fireplace) and, in the overnight hours, form a romantic bond.

She spends the following day worrying for Ash throughout his journey to get the Necronomicon, and on his return is once again rejected (He tells her that the 'sweet words' he spoke to her in private were 'just pillow talk, baby'). "It was more than that!" she cries, and he doesn't dissuade her reaction. Her response is, finally to accuse him of cowardice in both their romance and his protection of the kingdom. Having thus shamed Ash for his lack of action, she ends up being kidnapped by a winged demon, who carries her to Evil Ash - who proceeds to rape her, turning her into an demon and make her his queen.

In her undead form during the battle for the Necronomicon and Castle Kandar, Sheila tries to kill Ash - first by causing him to crash his car, then by stabbing him to death, then finally by trying to knock him off the parapet of the castle. Ash defends himself successfully, flinging her from the top of a tower, seemingly to her death. But she's simply been knocked unconscious, and Ash's defeat of the skeletal army results in her returning to life. She joyfully witnesses the unification of Duke Henry and Lord Arthur's kingdoms, hugging and kissing Ash throughout the celebration. When he leaves to hibernate the ensuing years away, she accompanies him to the foot of the castle's drawbridge. They ultimately share a tender goodbye the following morning, and he leaves her crying on the drawbridge of Castle Kandar.
Point in Canon: I'm pulling her into Siren's Port just after her kidnapping by the winged Deadite, but before Evil Ash possesses her, which should lessen her emotional baggage and leave her absolutely convinced that Ash somehow engineered her rescue. (Poor girl.)
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: n/a.

Character Personality:

Sheila's life before Ash and the Deadite invasion is a complete mystery that the movie never retroactively fills in. We know that she is 'Lady' Sheila and bears her royal title with some grace, though she is by no means an idealized refined rose of the court. Judging from her conversation with Arthur, Kandar isn't her home castle, and she is neither betrothed nor widowed; she is apparently a ward of her brother, which indicates that she has no older siblings and that her father and mother passed on at some previous point. Since Kandar is Arthur's castle, and he and Sheila have a familiar though clearly not familial relationship, ** it's probable that Arthur had been fostering her at Kandar from a young age on orders from her brother. She and her brother have an intense, close bond, and the loss of him transforms her sorrow into rage.

Living away from home and from the royal court with only a small circle of fellow women took a lot of gumption and bravery back then, and these are qualities that Sheila displays in metric tons. In fact, that she has reached her mid-twenties without marrying or being widowed is an extraordinary thing for a woman of her time period. Taking her beauty, social rank and her generally accomplished manner it's nearly unheard of, and it points to the dire status of Kandar and the magnitude of their Deadite problem. It's not lingered over, but Sheila's actually been around Deadites longer than Ash, as they have been a known threat to her people for an undetermined length of time before his arrival. Judging from her demeanor, the constant threat of their intrusion hasn't dampened her spirit, bright attitude or her fearlessness, and the cumulative result of these events have combined to make Sheila a crisp, direct woman with a strong, assertive personality - it's she who calls out demandingly to Arthur to find the fate of her brother, who knows of his comings and goings and tries to harness control of the situation. It's clear from the deference that Arthur pays her that she is the female head of the house, actually running the domestic side of the castle, spinning the wool and supervising the cooking of meals among other tasks. Later, when Ash rescues her from death, and she awakens alive and whole on the grounds of Kandar Castle, the smile she gives Ash is both smug and radiant, as if she knew the dressing-down she gave him would result in her rescue and the emergence of his bravery was never in doubt. This is one controlled woman.

When deprived of her sense of order and control, the other side of Sheila's personality emerges, an impulsive, destructive, and violent part of her. In attacking Ash, she exposes a temperament that's not governed by logical thought or reason; she's mad, he's a man in the range of her touch, and she's going to take her anger out on him. And she's a physically violent person when roused to the heights of emotion; ripping hair from the head of your enemy while baying for his blood isn't the height of political discourse, after all. When pinned down by Evil Ash, she still spits in his face and uses her words as weapons.

To further explore the shifting sand of her bravery, that Sheila eventually cowers at the sight of a winged Deadite and begs Ash for his help is in extreme contrast to her earlier fearlessness with him but in line with her fear of the possessed Deadite kitchen server/witch. She watches Ash kill two Deadites in the pit without fear - has clearly seen them before. That she's only afraid of Deadites when they're about to hurt her points to an underlying selfishness that doesn't otherwise show up in her intellectual makeup.

And yet Sheila is generous with her forgiveness, and very willing to fix any mistakes she's made. In fact, she gives of herself personally if she's offended - by making the insulted party something useful, or by redressing the argument with a sincere apology. She has several close friends within the walls of the castle, judging from the number of women who comfort her after learning of her brother's death. She trusts easily in those who seem to have righteous authority - men like Ash and Arthur, who are forthrightly who they are without subterfuge (this is what angers her most about Ash's cowardice - it's a form of insincerity.).

She's also has something of a heedless romantic streak in her - after all, she falls in love with Ash less than ten hours after she meets him. Whatever he told her during their "pillow talk" convinced her that he loved her enough to put his life on the line for her people and enough to stay with her; She is wounded over the idea of his leaving her behind, and outraged at having both her illusions crushed and seeing beneath his heroic veneer to something less sweet beneath it (It's noteworthy that she doesn't cry over her dead brother, but when Ash leaves her she bursts into tears; to her, it's harder to be conscious of a leavetaking than to be told of it afterwords); she channels her sorrow, once again, into passionate anger and righteousness. The dichotomy between her forthrightness and her romantic nature is frequently put into a push-and-pull conflict- when she has to choose, she will pick honesty over romance.

If I had to encapsulate Sheila's personality in one word, that word would be 'faith', as in AOD, she's defined both by her belief in Ash's heroic core and her belief in justice for her fallen brother. If she befriends you, she will be utterly loyal and devoted to you and your causes. But if you're an enemy she'll do anything she can to rid herself and possibly the world of your presence.

Conditional: Personality development in previous game: n/a
Character Plans: Blooming into an independent woman. First of the agenda would be to learn how to read and write modern English, since even noble ladies of the medieval period only had rudimentary knowledge of the written word. She'll eventually take up some sort of trade that will allow her to create garments and pick up further skills, perhaps eventually open her own design shop (she'd even settle for owning the Siren's Port version of an outlet like the Dress Barn and slipping her own designs on the racks). And, of course, she'll develop stronger self-defense skills, as cowering and waiting to be saved won't get her anywhere in SP. Socially, she'll adapt to her surroundings gradually, will attempt to make friends and ultimately try to develop a strong circle like the one she had at Castle Kandar. She'll be devoted to 'doing what's right', which may or may not be a boon to Siren's Port or get her in over her head.

Appearance/PB:

The incomparable Embeth Davidtz

Writing Samples

First Person Sample

[A soft rustling noise echoes over the network as Sheila turns on her NV. Her exhausted, soot-smudged face temporarily fills the screen as she puts the device down upon her kitchen table and leans against it for strength. The room is thick with smoke and over her shoulder a pile of bowls and a white ceramic baking dish filled with the burned, messy remains of what was once a roasted chicken are visible. So is a pile of neatly-folded and expensive-looking fabric, which rests by her elbow. Her expression is somewhat sheepish as she speaks - how she hates to ask for help with her problems!]

Are there any among thee who are willing to teach me the art of modern cookery? Or direct me to an educated wench who doth assume apprentices? I am willing to pay any who might, though I fear the fee would be small coin.

[She gives her surroundings a half-hearted once over and glowers.]

I did hope that the passage of time would simplify labors of the hearth. What I would give for a pit fire and a spit!

Third Person Sample

It amazed her.

Seven hundred and thirty-one years had an ocean separated her from her place of birth. Yet here, in the center of an industrial town, in the midst of a disquieting universe, she had found a church much like the chapel in her home castle. One that allowed her to worship in the style she was accustomed to.

Sheila corrected herself - nearly the style she was accustomed to. She wasn't expected to spend her entire Sunday on her knees anymore, and a simple confession could eliminate her sins instead of an arduous climb on her knees up a stone staircase with her rosary in hand.

Selecting three golden beeswax candles, she struck a match and lit each wick aflame.

"One for me, dear brother, and one for you."

She couldn't say aloud the name of the man for whom the third taper glowed. It was foolish to pray for someone who lacked faith in her.

But for him, she slipped to her knees, made the sign of the cross and bowed her head. If anyone could help him, she could.

* Deadite is an in-universe term for a person posessed by an ancient Kandarian demon. See this link over at Wikipedia for more info.

** Some fans have speculated that Arthur is Sheila's father, and others her betrothed. The first makes positively no sense (even in the British royal court, you don't address your father as 'Lord (his name)'. The second would be more credible if Arthur didn't sit by deferentially when Sheila gets involved in a very public affair with Ash.