Application for whisperingrock

[violent_bambi]

PLAYER
Name: Lex
Personal Journal: fighting_spirit
E-mail: evil_wild_lex AT yahoo DOT com
Messenger: AIM - Katana Maid (rarely used)
Plurk: FightingSpirit
Previous Characters: N/A

CHARACTER
Name: Emilou Apacci (refuses to go by anything but Apacci)
Canon: Bleach
Age: 15
Specialty: Levitation
Position: Jr. Counselor

Personality:

Apacci isn't the most pleasant person to be around. She has an irascible, choleric temperament, is rude, and foul-mouthed. Apacci is even potty-mouthed and belligerent with her fellow Fraccion, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun, though with them it's not genuine dislike/hate so much as it's like three constantly bickering sisters. Apacci is easily provoked, regardless of who insults her. She dishes out insults much better than she takes them herself. Apacci is also impulsive. She lacks the attention span and cool detachment necessary to come up with elaborate tactical strategies. She isn't a very cautious person either - even knowing that the ash surrounding her, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun was Vice Captain Matsumoto's zanpakuto, she impetuously swatted at it while Mila Rose and Sung-Sun held still and eyed the ash cautiously, and sustained minor wounds to her arm as a result. Apacci isn’t the sort of person to really think things through. She can observe and adapt well enough, but she does have the tendency to charge into situations without much thought guiding her actions.

For all of her faults, there are two strengths to Apacci's personality that stand out above all others; namely her loyalty and her bravery. Apacci is completely devoted to the third Espada she serves under, Tia Harribel. She doesn't question her orders, and no matter how loud and argumentative Apacci is being with others, she shuts up immediately whenever Harribel speaks. Should anyone be the slightest bit disrespectful toward Harribel, Apacci will get deeply offended, with her possible reactions ranging from a nasty glare in the person's direction (if it's a person who is on the same side and outranks her), shouting obscenities, to outright attacking. She will fight so that Harribel does not have to trouble herself by entering the fray herself, and because of feeling that most other opponents aren't worthy of fighting Harribel anyhow. Apacci has tremendous respect for the third Espada, and feels a strong sense of gratitude toward her. In a desolate world where survival of the fittest was one of the few laws, Harribel refused to grow stronger from the sacrifices of others. Instead, Harribel formed a team with Apacci, Sung-Sun and Mila Rose. Not only did she help them stay safe, she gave them a place to belong. Apacci has never forgotten that Harribel protected her when the normal thing would have been to devour her.

On the surface, it seems that Apacci doesn’t get along with Mila Rose and Sung-Sun at all. They argue constantly and dish out insults all around. However, Apacci never makes good on her threats to beat her fellow Fraccion up. None of them do. Apacci will never admit it out loud, but she is actually quite close to Mila Rose and Sung-Sun. She doesn’t want them seriously harmed or killed. She knows how to read their movements and attacks well enough that the three of them make for a highly effective tag-team. Once they get past their immature bickering and get serious, that is.

Although some of her behaviour is just being foolhardy, Apacci is also genuinely brave. Back when she and her teammates were still Hollows and they were attacked by an opponent that even Harribel was struggling with, it was Apacci who convinced Mila Rose and Sung-Sun that they should go back and help Harribel - in spite of the fact that it could very well mean their deaths. Even after seeing the shinigami Captain Commander Yamamoto slice their monstrous pet Ayon in half, Apacci, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun attack him (with only one arm each) to fight for Harribel and avenge their pet. Apacci doesn't back down and she doesn't cower in fear. She may flinch and assume a defensive stance when afraid, but she won't run from danger. She also doesn't find picking on someone weaker than her enjoyable, and would prefer to fight a strong opponent in an even battle. She considers weak opponents a waste of time and fighting them is boring and distasteful. Given the choice between an easy battle and a challenging one, Apacci would pick the challenging one even if it means a greater risk of being harmed.

She will never be a master strategist and her idea of 'chess strategy' would probably be to knock all the pieces off the board and stomp away, but this isn't to say that Apacci is stupid. She can and does learn from her mistakes, and through her past fighting experience, she's reasonably adept at anticipating her opponent's next move and choosing an effective method of attack, counter attack or defense. She also generally knows better than to mouth off to her superiors. She might glare and mutter under her breath if she doesn’t personally respect the superior very much, but she knows it’s stupid to tell them to screw off (no matter how much she might like to in some cases). Apacci will also do things she finds distasteful if she receives a direct order to do so. She might (and probably will) complain and do so begrudgingly. She’ll still do what she was ordered to do, though. The only exception to this would be if someone gave her an order that conflicted with Harribel’s orders. Apacci respects Harribel above all and would never turn against her, even if it meant being killed.

Apacci is a forthright and direct person. She is honest about her opinions and feelings. She frequently blurts out exactly what’s on her mind and lacks a brain to mouth filter. Apacci has all the tact and social graces of a sledgehammer. The only real exception to this is when it involves someone higher ranked than her. In that case, her opinion will probably not be a secret, but she usually won’t bluntly state it. She does have a sense of self-preservation. She’s not one for manipulation or toying with people. Apacci has no interest in playing games like that.

AU History:

Emilou Apacci was born to a reporter and a photographer, and their frequent family vacations in Emilou's childhood often involved traveling all over the world - sometimes for work and sometimes for pleasure. Her parents encouraged her boldness and her willingness to explore because it mirrored their own sense of adventure. The downside to these frequent family vacations and changing addresses constantly was that little Emilou never got to form strong bonds with other children. She was very close with her parents and admired them with the adoration that only a small child can have. They spent a lot of time teaching her a variety of things, and she picked up several languages at a semi-fluent level during their travels.

One day, Emilou's parents' sense of adventure got the better of them while they were on a trip in Mexico. Although their original assignment was to review local resorts, amenities and tour options available, they stumbled across evidence of a crime ring with connections to politicians in both Mexico and the United States. Rather than leave well enough alone, they began probing and eventually attracted the attention of unsavoury people who decided that Mr. and Mrs. Apacci knew too much. Emilou was seven years old at the time and had gone to a children's activity group at the family friendly resort they were staying in when the family's room was broken into. When Emilou returned to the room, the room was a disaster. Furniture was broken, things were strewn all over the floor, and there was a bit of blood from the struggle that had ensued. She never saw her parents again.

Tracking down any family members who were able and willing to take care of Emilou proved impossible for the authorities. Her grandparents were deceased, one of her uncles was in jail, another uncle was financially struggling thanks to his wife recently giving birth to quintuplets, an aunt had severe mobility issues and was incapable of taking care of a child, and an aunt who had never approved of her parents' marriage refused to take in Emilou out of spite. No one would take the child in, and Emilou proved to be a very difficult child to place and keep in foster care. She had anger management problems and lashed out. When she was eight, she ran away all together.

Surviving on the streets was difficult, but being multilingual and very well traveled for a young girl helped little Emilou survive. Sheer stubborn determination and nerve helped, too, as did her poorly controlled but present psychic abilities. It was enough to give her some sense of who was harmless vs. who was likely to hurt her if she gave them the chance. She was skinny and dirty but still alive after a year and a half. One day her luck ran out and she was backed into a corner by a serial killer who targeted young runaways. To make matters worse, he was also psychic, and he was better at using his powers than she was. Emilou was saved in the nick of time by a Psychonaut named Tia Harribel, who had been tracking the killer. Not only did Harribel save her, she also adopted her and brought her home, where she had two other foster daughters.

Emilou admired Harribel to the point of hero-worship. She stopped using her first name and began calling herself Apacci because Harribel didn't call herself Tia. She was also inspired to work on her psychic abilities, and now that she was in a place where she was safe and wanted, she made amazing progress with her Levitation. Eventually, Harribel enrolled her in Whispering Rock camp, deciding that some formal training with experts would be the best. At the camp, Apacci responded very well to Milla Vodello's relaxed yet maternal personality. Though Apacci was easily provoked by her peers and prone to getting into fights, she was never one for picking a fight with someone she thought of as being weaker than her. In fact, she was more likely to get into fights with the camp bullies and anyone she perceived as being stronger than her, and the small girl threw everything she had into those fights. She also worked hard at the psychic skills she was actually supposed to be focusing on, and she did what she was told when a counselor told her to do something.

No one was more surprised than Apacci when she became a Jr. Counselor. In the end, it was because of her loyalty, bravery, and willingness to work hard to please the people she looked up to. Responsibility helped her learn a little restraint, though she never did manage to cure herself completely of her bad temper.


Brain World:
Apacci's brain world is somewhat bleak and looks like an endless desert where it's always night. At the middle of the desert is a large castle that it takes some effort to get into. Within the castle, there are a number of rooms, and even another desert within the castle. Inside this area, however, it's bright and sunny, and there's a house within that desert - an idealized version of the home she lives in with her foster mother and two foster sisters. Her darker memories are buried in the sand "outside", locked up in chained up and dirty luggage (her emotional baggage). Inside the castle's sunlit desert, Apacci's buried memories are happier and contained within vaults that look like treasure chests. People appear as animals - Apacci appears as a cross between a deer and a unicorn. Censors appear as hostile amorphous creatures that shout at and attack intruders.


Badges: Levitation, Marksmanship, Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, Mediumship, Basic Braining, Invisibility, Psi-Shield

SAMPLES
Sample 1: Test drive
Sample 2:

Apacci genuinely tried to be a good Jr. Counselor. She did her best to control her hot temper, and to remind herself to try to set a good example for the younger kids. It didn't always work out - especially when it came to her foul mouth and her tendency to blurt out whatever came to mind - but she tried. If there was one thing she was diligent about, it was making sure the younger campers weren't doing things that could seriously harm themselves and others.

Scanning around, mismatched eyes spotted two kids sneaking around the corner. One peered around as if checking if the coast was clear, and while it could be a harmless game of tag, Apacci wasn't going to let it go without investigating. She went around the long way so they wouldn't see her coming.

As she approached, she could hear them talking.

"This is the symbol for exploding and this is the one for flammable," the elder of the two children explained to the other. "I dare you to use your pyrokinesis on it to see if the paint splatters all over this cabin."

"Are you sure I won't get in trouble?"

"Naah, who's going to find out? C'mon, it'll be awesome!"

"All right! I'll do it!"

"Like hell you will!" With a sharp tug of her telekinesis, Apacci pulled the can away. The kids looked around, trying to decide whether they should run away. She decided not to give them that opportunity and darted in to seize both of their arms. "What kind of stupid shit was that?! You didn't think you'd get hurt? 'Cause you would and it'd be messy."

"Hahaha, yeah, on the cabin," the elder child said cheekily. Apacci gave his arm a sharp tug - not quite enough to hurt him, but enough to be uncomfortable.

"More like your face. Think melted cheese. I'm not explaining to your parents that you fucked yourself up by making a can explode!"

She tugged both kids along. If they had enough time on their hands to think of stunts like this, they could be put to work doing some unpleasant but fairly harmless chore. It was just a matter of where. She hadn't thought that far ahead yet.