application @ empatheias

[magepresence]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Aiden
Contact: owlcoholic, PM, or aiden#4848 @ discord.
Age: 33
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Magilou Mayvin
Age: Unknown; appears in her twenties but she is more than likely 50+ years old, if not more.
Canon: Tales of Berseria
Canon Point: Post-canon, after the events of the game.

Background:Wikiwiki!

Personality:
Magilou is a great big bundle of color and noise, an enigma neatly packaged in a bright smile and fantastically exuberant persona, but looks, as ever, can be deceiving.

Upon first meeting Magilou, it would be easy to be overcome by her sheer presence - she's small but mouthy, her mannerisms and speech as ostentatious and flamboyant as her clothing. Born Magillanica Lou, and gifted from birth with a sensitivity to magic and spirits, Magillanica's parents were unnerved by her abilities and abandoned her to the streets at an incredibly young age; from there, she was plucked up by a traveling circus troupe, which shaped much of her outward disposition, as well as her.. distinct fashion sense.

Where others might have found family in such a group, Magillanica found only pain and loneliness. She was abused and mistreated by her fellow performers, forced onto the stage and into the freak show against her will, where she eventually became acquainted with the small Malak (a spirit creature) named Bienfu, who was her only companion in a harsh world. When she later found herself as the sole survivor of a carriage crash that killed the entire troupe, Magillanica was plucked from the wreckage by a man named Melchior Mayvin, an abbey exorcist, who took her under his wing and raised her as his foster daughter, ultimately grooming her to inherit his position as legate. Strong and hardworking, at last finding a sense of belonging, she excelled greatly and climbed the ranks to legate with ease. In the end, when she was unable to complete the final exam Melchior put to her, he disowned her completely, only the most recent in a long line of people who sought only to use, break, and discard her. Though she had loved him as family, he harbored no such feelings, and used her only as a tool. The nature of his test, and her subsequent abandonment yet again, cracked her soul beyond repair and plunged her into catatonia.

Having her heart and spirit broken far too many times, Magillanica cast off her name and her ties with the abbey, remaking herself into the image of Magilou the Witch, seizing control of her own life, but in the same fell swoop, leaving behind any hope of love or warmth in her life. Magilou closed off her heart completely and thoroughly, to the point where she fell into a deep, numbing depression, unable to feel anything at all - no pain or joy, no hatred or annoyance or fondness, her heart a deep void of cold emptiness. It was easy enough for her to construct her new persona with flourish and flair, for if people found her annoying or abrasive, what did she care? Besides, in many ways, despite how badly she was hurt, Magilou is desperate to feel again, to feel anything at all, painful or otherwise. By portraying herself as loud and boisterous she attracts attention and can easily push herself into conversations and surround herself with people, which a part of her finds comfort in, though she's borderline sociopathic in how easily she can interact with others without feeling empathy or connection with them at all.

Outwardly, Magilou is the life of the party. She's cheerful and buoyant, quick to liven up a gloomy atmosphere. Things bounce off of her easily, and though she plays at mock injury when she's teased, most things roll off her like water off a duck's back. She's an entertainer, passionate and expressive, with a love of grandeur and overblown dramatics, a role she's taken on with such enthusiasm and tenacity that it has more than likely blurred the lines between who she truly is, and who she pretends to be. In her desperation to break free from her emotional coma, it is all too easy to slip into the skin of the personality she has created. Comical as she is, much of Magilou's humor is dark and cynical, mirroring the emptiness she feels within and the apathy that she can hardly bring herself to even attempt to overcome. She's quick to tease and torment her fellows in ways that cut to the quick, and she does not hold back her opinions about the state of the world and its peoples, often braiding her poisonous views and thoughts in seamlessly with her sharp quips and jabs. This underhanded pattern of thought bleeds into her behavior as well, she is not above trickery and deception, and she in no way paints herself a hero, more than willing to stand by and observe heinous crimes, or actively participate should it suit her needs.

These antisocial tendencies are not necessarily natural for her. Magilou was not born this way, but rather shaped and molded by her life experiences, and many long years of abuse and neglect, and so we see over time that she slowly begins to open. Though even she herself does not notice it right away, her actions and responses often go beyond simple curiosity to genuine caring, and while she is quick to cover it up and shrug it off, we see glimmers of a heart struggling to be kind beneath too many layers of scar tissue. She is jaded and harsh, but by her own words, people can fight against pain, but they can't fight against happiness. No matter how many times she has been knocked down and cast off, still the human spirit endures, and she allows herself to feel something like real joy and love again, albeit in drips and drabs. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Ultimately, Magilou is more or less a tangled mess, social and curious, but struggling to process and convey emotion properly, sly and cunning, but also strong and possessing a great endurance in the face of adversity. She is wildly free, over the top and self-made, cruel and jaded, though steadfastly loyal now that she has at last found her place. No force in this world can subdue her now, she is confident and forward, and will stop at nothing to meet her goals, whatever they might be.

Abilities: Magilou is primarily a magic user, though she has several melee abilities as well, that she performs with her Guardian Doll. A full list of all of her artes can be found here! She also has several random, quirky abilities, like juggling, conjuring doves and sparkles and flowers from normal, and speaking with animals. General magic stuff.

Alignment: Daimonia. Grief plays a very real, very powerful role in Magilou's past, and how she developed as a person. The abandonment by her parents at an early age immediately began to shape her, and it was her grief over the rejection of her foster father that ultimately broke her heart and spirit both, and defined nearly all of her actions thereafter. Contrarily, Magilou is easily the most bright, joyous member of the pack, quick to laugh and tease and fill up a room with noise. Granted, much of it is a simple charade, but fake joy is joy nonetheless, and as her character grew, much of that farcical warmth and happiness became honest and true. Fake it 'til you make it, right?

Other: Magilou will be bringing along her sidekick/familiar, Bienfu.


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

So, whack-a-mole, is it?

[ far be it for magilou to ever pass up the chance to display needless violence without shame! eager for a way to pass the time, she'd been unable to pass up this posted task - those meddlesome moles have it coming, really, attacking hard-grown vegetables they had no part in nurturing. not that she needs the excuse. magilou would happily whack some moles for free without needing to be rewarded.

but, you know, the reward is also nice, and she'll totally be accepting it.

a low groan emits from the guardian doll hovering over her palm as it grows in length and breadth with a comical stretching noise; just how she's manipulating the paper doll is anyone's guess, but soon enough it's hefty enough to make for an excellent whacking device. magilou's mouth curves into a sinister smile as she raises the doll in both hands. ]

This is your final call to surrender and flee, bothersome vermin! The reckoning comes!

[ honestly, they have no real time to surrender or flee, for magilou is barely finished her war cry when the paper doll is slamming down at rapid speeds, smacking mole hole after mole hole, kicking up a great cloud of dust. her wild cackles fill the air, tangled with the pained screeches of many monster moles, and she does not stop until the ground is littered with small, unconscious bodies. catching her breath, she leans her weight onto one arm crooked over the doll's head, using her free hand to swipe sweat from her brow, to survey her work. she feels..

well. the ground hums beneath her feet, and all at once there is a hole before her where the moles had once been. not a hole of dirt, but a hole of.. nothing, of emptiness and void just hanging there soundlessly, accompanied by a faint resonance in the crystal she carries. is this one of those emotion things, happening again? this isn't the first time she's run into this, but it's still so.. jarring, albeit strange. in a fun way. but magilou doesn't seem to be having fun, given the way she groans and rolls her eyes. ]

Oh come on. My joy was totally genuine! What's that supposed to mean?

[ apathy is a stronger beast than even she has given it credit for.. ]