(no subject)

PLAYER

Name: Ema
Age: Late 20s
Contact: Yodel loudly into the night sky, I will hear you. Or: arlathvhen
Other Characters: Beleth Ashara, Gareth
Interests: I actually hate this game.

CHARACTER

Name: Goes by "Resa", her true name is Theresa Donagh, but she will never reveal this if she has any choice in the matter.
Canon/OC: OC
Canon Point: Just some day she was living her life.
Journal: summerfae
Age: Somewhere in her late 40s, appears to be in her late teens

Canon World

Resa is from what is ostensibly modern day Earth, with one difference: the presence of the fae. They've been there from the beginning, once well known amongst humans, leading to the mythology that still persists about them today. But as technology has advanced, and humans have separated themselves from nature, the fae have divided into two groups: some withdrew from the human world entirely, others like resa have adapted to live in the cities.

Their presence remains a closely guarded secret, using glamours, charms, and any means necessary to keep themselves from discovery. They keep to the traditions as best they can, but survival necessitates change. Abandoned megastores become their haunts, and their enchanting music now features more guitar solos than harps. Some even try to fully integrate themselves into human society, using their magic to give themselves an edge up.

But one thing no one abandons is their yearly tithe to their court--spring, summer, autumn, winter, all fae are born to a court. Even if they never leave the human world any other time, once a year they make the journey to Elfame--home of the fae--to pledge their loyalty and offer tribute. To do otherwise is to risk becoming courtless, and to be courtless is to belong to nothing, to have no one, and become an outcast from even the fringes of fae society.

History

Resa, like most common fae, was raised in an aloof, communal manner. Her mother gave her the one gift she had to offer, Resa's true name, and passed her off. As a baby, she was raised by whoever was around and willing, imparting whatever wisdom they cared to offer, and was passed off when the mood struck.

Once Resa became old enough to fend for herself, she fell into a group of other summer court children, and the adults pretty much left them to it. They'd come to defend the children against danger, made sure they knew the most important rules--how to stay secret, how to deal with the courts, tithing, the dangers of humans. But for the most part, Resa lived much like a half-feral cat, learning with the other children from trial and error.

The group stuck together well into Resa's teenage years, when one of the few adult fae in her life offered her a job in his own, more official street gang. He taught her valuable lessons, like how to use her magic to extort, bribe, and do bodily harm to get her way. She did a variety of unpleasant things, all while being taught that it was the correct way. If she could do something or use someone, she ought to do it, and they deserved it. Being powerful meant being correct, and getting what she wanted.

In the end, it isn't really surprising that she betrayed him.

When retelling the story, she'll spin it to sound like he had crossed lines, done things even the fae found distasteful, and Resa had put her foot down. She'll make it sound like she was a repentant victim. The truth is far simpler, but less pretty. There was a member of a rival gang, young and pretty. Everything Resa had been taught said that if she wanted them, and could impress them, then it was more important than anything as minor as what best served the gang.

She helped them make a move against her boss' gang, but inevitably, the boss found out, and came for her. Resa escaped--barely--and fled the state. To make sure he wouldn't find her, she reinvented herself. New appearance, new personality, new life. She integrated herself into human society, learning their pop culture, learning how to act like them. It's not the life she expected, but it's a life, and that's what counts, in the end.

Personality

Resa is, most noticeably, an outgoing, cheerful, and friendly young woman, always willing to chat up someone, even if she doesn't know them. She's a chatterbox who can talk for as long as you let her--though if you pay attention, you might notice that Resa has a talent for speaking without actually saying anything. You can have a lengthy conversation with her, without learning anything about her. But substantial conversation or not, Resa is always happy to hang out and get to know someone else.

Not that this is entirely out of the kindness of her heart--it's easiest to use magic to charm someone when you're already friendly, after all. Magical charm is magnified by natural charm, and it's suspicious if you have people fawning over you when you act a bit like an ass.

She'll always be willing to lend someone a hand, but nothing she does is free, and there are always caveats attached to her aid. She might not mention it then, might not mention it for a while, but she always remembers what she owes and is owed, and will come to collect when she feels the time is right. At least she’s not hypocritical about it, because if you do her a favour she’ll remember it — and may come to lend you aid when you least expect it.

Not particularly surprising, considering how she grew up, Resa is completely and totally selfish and self-contained. While she'll put herself in harms way for a debt, that is far more a matter of her own pride than it is any goodwill. Her world revolves around herself, her own wants and needs, and if she can get away with something, she'll do it.

Probably not helping this is that while Resa is friendly and cheerful, she isn't much good at actually emotionally connecting to others. She has people she'd call friends, but there are always reasons that Resa is friends with someone. She has uses for them, and if they are no longer able to be of any use for her, she'll move on. Once again, at least she's not a hypocrite--she fully expects the same treatment out of anyone that she calls a friend, and won't particularly hold such actions against them. It's just how the world works. That's how she was taught, and that's what life has proven to her, time and again.

Maybe, one day, she'll learn how to actually connect with other people in ways more meaningful than what they can do for each other. But that's certainly not happening any time soon.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths:

-Friendly
If you want to successfully charm someone, it's important to be able to do it convincingly. If you act like an ass, no one is going to believe that it's anything but magic that people are so taken by you. Resa is charming and cheerful, making friends easily. Friends that she is happy to use for her own ends.

-Glamour it up
In Resa's world, she was a fae with a startling, inhuman appearance. This obviously doesn't work for trying to function in human society, which is where glamours come into play. Resa can create an illusion to change how she appears, and do it for other people who are within her sight. Since arriving to Thedas, she no longer needs to use a glamour for her appearance, but she still has the ability.

-I know what you feel
Resa's strongest and most practiced magic involves her ability to manipulate emotion. She can sense the emotions of the people around her, and even of areas that have soaked in a lot of strong emotions--things like stadiums, or the Gallows. She can't go into a bedroom and say 'someone was sad in here', but if someone were locked in that bedroom for a long time, or if a lot of people were absolutely despondent, she could pick it up.

She can also impress emotions onto others. This is a little trickier, but usually worth it. She can't make anyone do anything they don't want to, all she can do is try to change how they feel about something. How this affects people is directly tied to how much they act based on their emotions. If someone routinely ignores their emotions, then she's kind of fucked.

I have conveniently already made an opt out for it here.

-Fire
As a part of the summer court, Resa has the ability to manipulate and handle fire. She's pretty much heat and fireproof, and can stick her hand in a fire without an issue. With enough time and experience, she might be able to create and control huge fireballs that can wreck entire groups of people. But that won't be for many years, and as it stands, she can give someone a nasty burn and repress or grow a large fire, but it's at about the ability of an apprentice mage.

-Wings
Okay this is totally optional and I'm fine with it being nerfed, BUT I would like it if Resa, despite being in her human body, could keep her wings. They're large, golden dragonfly wings, and allow her the ability to zip around. I was hoping they could be a temporary summon kind of thing, not something she has permanent, and when she does use it, it'll just be for short distance bursts, like the whole Fade Step and teleportation thing.

Weaknesses:

-Too much empathy
As stated in her strengths, Resa can sense emotions. However, this has a drawback--if the emotions are too strong, usually because they're being felt at once by a large amount of people, she can get overwhelmed and lost in the emotions, unable to pull herself out of it. Worst case scenario, she accidentally starts projecting the emotions that are overwhelming her and creates a horrible feedback loop. Resa usually avoids large crowds because of this.

-Nothing but the truth
All fae are incapable of lying, and Resa is no exception. She can't say anything that she knows to be abjectly false. However, it would be foolish to trust everything she says. She thrives in the gap between lies and truth, often working in ommissions, leading questions, idioms, and suppositions. She can't say 'I didn't do it', but she can say 'It seems rather unlikely I'd do that, doesn't it?'

-True name
Resa's true name holds power, as an extention of her very self. She can sense someone saying it if they're within a roughly a football field's distance, like a tugging in her mind. But you'll be hard pressed to get her to tell you, because more important than the ability to summon them, someone could control and command her with her true name.

-Iron, cold iron
Resa is repelled by pure iron, and actually burned by touching it. Anything like steel isn't pure iron, and thus doesn't have as strong of an effect, but is still unpleasant and likely to deter her. A city fae, born to generations of city fae, she's developed a greater resistance to it than someone who's never stepped foot in the city, but contact still burns her, and she still doesn't like being around it.

-That darn cat
This is probably a weird one, but worth noting. Cats do not like Resa. She doesn't like them. They see through her fae bullshit far better than any human, and are usually willing to let her know how they feel about it. While cats will rarely outright attack her, get the two of them in the same room, and there will be a lot of hissing and hackles raised.

Suggested Nerfs

I thiiiink I already noted in humanization and her abilities nerfs where required. Other than that, I have the opt-out form for her empathy, and when people opt out, I'll just say that her abilities are a bit spotty in Thedas. And there's the whole wings thing that I nerfed to be more like Fade Step.

Arrival Inventory

-Modern earth clothes
-Her cell phone, with no reception and finite battery
-Her purse, except it's full of cooked spaghetti, because dreams are fun
-A large, heavy metal stirring spoon (for the spaghetti, naturally)

'Human'ization

Resa's natural body is incredibly different than normal humans. With golden skin, dragonfly eyes and wings, and other features, she would probably be called a demon as soon as she appeared. However, Resa rarely ever actually looks like this. As a fae who spends most of her time among humans, she usually has a glamour up to appear like a perfectly ordinary human. For humanizing her, I suggest that she just basically gets shoved into a real version of her glamour, so she's functionally human, in something that she's used to.

Fit

Honestly I just thought it'd be fun to have someone who's from a modern day setting, but also has this kind of....place in history for her people, going back to a time when magic was acceptable and while there aren't fairies, there are still elves and dwarves and people who aren't human.

SAMPLES

[tada] [also tada]