[OOC] Infopost!
I Just Don't Know How To Quit You
Or: The Return of the Black
... Yes, I think I'm funny.
But here! Have a Lulu (and Cafe Fina!) info-post!
First, a brief history lesson! (For those who a) weren't here at the time, or b) have forgotten!)
Canon
Lulu is from Final Fantasy X, the tenth installment in the long-running, very popular RPG series Final Fantasy. ...Thus the name. Like its predecessors, it has no connection to the games come previously, and instead is a stand-alone adventure, a self-contained story from start to finish. Of course, it spawned the first ever direct sequel game in the series, breaking the tradition of one-game-per-world. (There was, previously, a direct sequel to Final Fantasy V in the form of an OAV anime, but it's little-known and not all that good anyway.)
Without getting into too much detail -- that's what Spotlight on Fandoms is for! -- the game follows a young man named Tidus, thrown out of his world into the world of Spira, where he joins up with the pilgrimage of a young woman named Yuna as she tries to defeat an incredibly destructive force known only as Sin. In the end, they fall in love, bring down Spira's ever-corrupt theocracy, and are separated as Tidus fades away into nothingness.
... Until Final Fantasy X-2, which I fondly refer to as Final Fantasy Dress-Up. But that's never happening for Lulu, so let's just go on pretending it doesn't exist, 'k?
Fandom!
Of course, things didn't get left there: after the events of Final Fantasy X, Rikku, one of Yuna's Guardians, ended up coming to Fandom High get an education! (And in the process rescued Tidus from Limbo, reuniting him with his One True Love.) While at Fandom, Rikku was in regular correspondence both with Yuna, and with her fellow Guardian Lulu -- who, upon hearing about the atrocious sex ed curriculum (at the time, it was taught by GOB Bluth!), decided to come to Fandom herself and take up the task.
After teaching sex ed, various flavours of home economics, and a workshop on Underwater Basket Weaving, Lulu returned to Spira to help Yuna deal with the unstable political situation; Rikku followed after graduation. Together, the three finally lead a successful round of peace talks, and while far from perfect, the situation on Spira is about as stable as it's ever been. Which leaves Lulu free to go on a little vacation.
Which -- when she decides to buy Cafe Fina -- is going to go a little longer than she'd planned.
Lulu!
Lulu is a tall woman, dark-haired, with a penchant for black or dark clothing -- mostly dresses, skirts, and the like. She is... generously endowed, and aware of it; there is some manner of pocket-space linked to her cleavage, as well, so she stores items there. (Yes. This is canon.) She has red irises, which aren't of note in the game at all, but are only seen on one other character (and she only in the sequel). Her character model in canon is dressed in an odd dress, the skirt of which is composed of a series of inter-linked belts, but with her history in Fandom High, she has expanded her wardrobe.
If I had to pick one word to describe Lulu, it would be 'competent'. She exudes this air of, 'I know what I'm doing' crossed with 'Don't mess with me,' a combination of her stature and her innate black magic abilities. She also has the skills to back this up; aside from being a proven battle-mage and former guardian, Lulu is almost entirely unshakeable, only cracking when her entire belief system is proven to be based on a (rather large) lie.
Lulu can be -- and has been -- referred to as something of an 'ice queen', but this isn't entirely accurate. As a Guardian, she has very high standards for herself and for those around her; as a teacher, she has no patience for willful ignorance (or willful stupidity, for that matter), but will take under her wing those students in whom she finds an especial aptitude. These character traits will serve her well in a business-ownership position, especially with student employees; beyond merely offering them a continuing position in her employ (and the attendant monetary compensation), with certain employees she very well may find herself offering mentorship, even friendship.
She is not so far removed from being a teenager herself, after all, and while her experiences on Spira were vastly different, she's confident that some things are much the same, no matter what world one comes from.
At the same time: Lulu doesn't suffer fools gladly, and as such anyone who acts in such a manner in her presence may find themselves the recipient of a lashing with Lulu's razor-edged tongue.
Black Magic! (And Other Abilities)
Lulu is a black mage; this means that her powers tend towards the destructive, attacking magics. She has a very fine control of her abilities, allowing her to scale down (and up, to a limited degree) her spells. She has the basic elemental spells of Spira -- Fire, Water, Thunder, and Blizzard -- and their second- and third-level counterparts; Flare, a highly-destructive, non-elemental single target attack; Ultima, a large-scale, even-more-highly-destructive, non-elemental multi-target attack; Demi, a gravity-based, non-fatal attack; and, thanks to sharing knowledge with Yuna, the white magic spells Holy (single-target attack), Curaga (single-target damage-healing), and Esuna (single-target status-ailment healing, which likely doesn't have much application outside of Final Fantasy-based worlds, except for possible curse-related healing).
Like all the recent Final Fantasy games, Lulu has a 'desperation attack', referred to as Overdrives for purposes of this game; her Overdrive is known as 'Fury', which allows her to cast a higher number of spells, at a weakened strength, without requiring any of her power. This only affects her black magic (so not any of the white magic spells she learned), and is only likely to come up in a battle situation -- she'd have to undergo a fair bit of damage first, or be in a similarly high-stress, high-stakes desperate situation.
Lulu also has a veritable army of dolls; these are her weapon in-game, and are used in her spell-casting. She will always have one with her -- usually Onion Knight, her Celestial Weapon, which allows her to cast many more spells before exhausting her strength, makes it a little easier for her to use her Furies, and is generally just kind of awesome -- but she also has a variety of other dolls, each with a variety of abilities. (Some cause status ailments when used to attack a foe; some affect her magical strength in a variety of other ways.) If she ever doesn't have Onion Knight with her, she will have another doll; the only reason she wouldn't have Onion Knight with her is because she has sent him off to do another task. I've established previously in FH canon that, as her Celestial Weapon, Onion Knight has a degree of autonomy above and beyond her other dolls. (That said, I am certainly considering incorporating the rest of her dolls into the Fina staff in some manner, likely in a way that antagonises the dancing, singing flatware.)
As mentioned briefly in the previous section, Lulu also has access to a stash of items. Through her cleavage. (I DON'T EVEN KNOW. But it's kind of awesome.) I've played previously that it acts as access to a larger 'pocket-space' kinda thing; Lulu has certainly kept objects stashed there that wouldn't actually fit. (Even with her... generous endowments.) As such, she'll have a small collection of items such as potions, hi-potions, and x-potions, ethers and turbo ethers, elixirs, and likely a megalixir or two. Potions cure physical damage, ethers restore magical strength, elixirs do both for one person, and megalixirs do both for a collection of people. (Usually three at a time.)
Cafe Fina!
As you may know, Cafe Fina is the casual-yet-upscale/fine-dining establishment on Fandom Island, staffed not only by students, but by anthropomorphic flatware and tableware, as well -- legacy of the former owner, Lumiere, from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. But wait! These are not the movie versions! Lumiere came from the stage production canon, which -- to avoid having to cast people of very short stature in all of the roles for the enchanted objects -- rendered the curse upon the castle slow-acting, so that all of the servants would gradually turn into the objects, instead. Thus: human-sized! :D (And a fantastic scene where Cogsworth is discovered to have a wind-up key suddenly jutting from his back.) So while, yes, you may be served by a plate, a fork, or a pepper shaker, that plate, fork, or pepper shaker is the same size as you.
Unless you're Cable. Or Sam Winchester. (Or, y'know, Grace Winchester. She's still pretty tiny.)
Fina is currently looking to fill two open shifts, on Thursdays and Fridays; there are also some changes upcoming, so keep an eye on this space (Well. Not this space, because I doubt I'll be updating the info here.) for further announcements on events happening at a Cafe Fina near you!
Or: The Return of the Black
... Yes, I think I'm funny.
But here! Have a Lulu (and Cafe Fina!) info-post!
First, a brief history lesson! (For those who a) weren't here at the time, or b) have forgotten!)
Canon
Lulu is from Final Fantasy X, the tenth installment in the long-running, very popular RPG series Final Fantasy. ...Thus the name. Like its predecessors, it has no connection to the games come previously, and instead is a stand-alone adventure, a self-contained story from start to finish. Of course, it spawned the first ever direct sequel game in the series, breaking the tradition of one-game-per-world. (There was, previously, a direct sequel to Final Fantasy V in the form of an OAV anime, but it's little-known and not all that good anyway.)
Without getting into too much detail -- that's what Spotlight on Fandoms is for! -- the game follows a young man named Tidus, thrown out of his world into the world of Spira, where he joins up with the pilgrimage of a young woman named Yuna as she tries to defeat an incredibly destructive force known only as Sin. In the end, they fall in love, bring down Spira's ever-corrupt theocracy, and are separated as Tidus fades away into nothingness.
... Until Final Fantasy X-2, which I fondly refer to as Final Fantasy Dress-Up. But that's never happening for Lulu, so let's just go on pretending it doesn't exist, 'k?
Fandom!
Of course, things didn't get left there: after the events of Final Fantasy X, Rikku, one of Yuna's Guardians, ended up coming to Fandom High get an education! (And in the process rescued Tidus from Limbo, reuniting him with his One True Love.) While at Fandom, Rikku was in regular correspondence both with Yuna, and with her fellow Guardian Lulu -- who, upon hearing about the atrocious sex ed curriculum (at the time, it was taught by GOB Bluth!), decided to come to Fandom herself and take up the task.
After teaching sex ed, various flavours of home economics, and a workshop on Underwater Basket Weaving, Lulu returned to Spira to help Yuna deal with the unstable political situation; Rikku followed after graduation. Together, the three finally lead a successful round of peace talks, and while far from perfect, the situation on Spira is about as stable as it's ever been. Which leaves Lulu free to go on a little vacation.
Which -- when she decides to buy Cafe Fina -- is going to go a little longer than she'd planned.
Lulu!
Lulu is a tall woman, dark-haired, with a penchant for black or dark clothing -- mostly dresses, skirts, and the like. She is... generously endowed, and aware of it; there is some manner of pocket-space linked to her cleavage, as well, so she stores items there. (Yes. This is canon.) She has red irises, which aren't of note in the game at all, but are only seen on one other character (and she only in the sequel). Her character model in canon is dressed in an odd dress, the skirt of which is composed of a series of inter-linked belts, but with her history in Fandom High, she has expanded her wardrobe.
If I had to pick one word to describe Lulu, it would be 'competent'. She exudes this air of, 'I know what I'm doing' crossed with 'Don't mess with me,' a combination of her stature and her innate black magic abilities. She also has the skills to back this up; aside from being a proven battle-mage and former guardian, Lulu is almost entirely unshakeable, only cracking when her entire belief system is proven to be based on a (rather large) lie.
Lulu can be -- and has been -- referred to as something of an 'ice queen', but this isn't entirely accurate. As a Guardian, she has very high standards for herself and for those around her; as a teacher, she has no patience for willful ignorance (or willful stupidity, for that matter), but will take under her wing those students in whom she finds an especial aptitude. These character traits will serve her well in a business-ownership position, especially with student employees; beyond merely offering them a continuing position in her employ (and the attendant monetary compensation), with certain employees she very well may find herself offering mentorship, even friendship.
She is not so far removed from being a teenager herself, after all, and while her experiences on Spira were vastly different, she's confident that some things are much the same, no matter what world one comes from.
At the same time: Lulu doesn't suffer fools gladly, and as such anyone who acts in such a manner in her presence may find themselves the recipient of a lashing with Lulu's razor-edged tongue.
Black Magic! (And Other Abilities)
Lulu is a black mage; this means that her powers tend towards the destructive, attacking magics. She has a very fine control of her abilities, allowing her to scale down (and up, to a limited degree) her spells. She has the basic elemental spells of Spira -- Fire, Water, Thunder, and Blizzard -- and their second- and third-level counterparts; Flare, a highly-destructive, non-elemental single target attack; Ultima, a large-scale, even-more-highly-destructive, non-elemental multi-target attack; Demi, a gravity-based, non-fatal attack; and, thanks to sharing knowledge with Yuna, the white magic spells Holy (single-target attack), Curaga (single-target damage-healing), and Esuna (single-target status-ailment healing, which likely doesn't have much application outside of Final Fantasy-based worlds, except for possible curse-related healing).
Like all the recent Final Fantasy games, Lulu has a 'desperation attack', referred to as Overdrives for purposes of this game; her Overdrive is known as 'Fury', which allows her to cast a higher number of spells, at a weakened strength, without requiring any of her power. This only affects her black magic (so not any of the white magic spells she learned), and is only likely to come up in a battle situation -- she'd have to undergo a fair bit of damage first, or be in a similarly high-stress, high-stakes desperate situation.
Lulu also has a veritable army of dolls; these are her weapon in-game, and are used in her spell-casting. She will always have one with her -- usually Onion Knight, her Celestial Weapon, which allows her to cast many more spells before exhausting her strength, makes it a little easier for her to use her Furies, and is generally just kind of awesome -- but she also has a variety of other dolls, each with a variety of abilities. (Some cause status ailments when used to attack a foe; some affect her magical strength in a variety of other ways.) If she ever doesn't have Onion Knight with her, she will have another doll; the only reason she wouldn't have Onion Knight with her is because she has sent him off to do another task. I've established previously in FH canon that, as her Celestial Weapon, Onion Knight has a degree of autonomy above and beyond her other dolls. (That said, I am certainly considering incorporating the rest of her dolls into the Fina staff in some manner, likely in a way that antagonises the dancing, singing flatware.)
As mentioned briefly in the previous section, Lulu also has access to a stash of items. Through her cleavage. (I DON'T EVEN KNOW. But it's kind of awesome.) I've played previously that it acts as access to a larger 'pocket-space' kinda thing; Lulu has certainly kept objects stashed there that wouldn't actually fit. (Even with her... generous endowments.) As such, she'll have a small collection of items such as potions, hi-potions, and x-potions, ethers and turbo ethers, elixirs, and likely a megalixir or two. Potions cure physical damage, ethers restore magical strength, elixirs do both for one person, and megalixirs do both for a collection of people. (Usually three at a time.)
Cafe Fina!
As you may know, Cafe Fina is the casual-yet-upscale/fine-dining establishment on Fandom Island, staffed not only by students, but by anthropomorphic flatware and tableware, as well -- legacy of the former owner, Lumiere, from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. But wait! These are not the movie versions! Lumiere came from the stage production canon, which -- to avoid having to cast people of very short stature in all of the roles for the enchanted objects -- rendered the curse upon the castle slow-acting, so that all of the servants would gradually turn into the objects, instead. Thus: human-sized! :D (And a fantastic scene where Cogsworth is discovered to have a wind-up key suddenly jutting from his back.) So while, yes, you may be served by a plate, a fork, or a pepper shaker, that plate, fork, or pepper shaker is the same size as you.
Unless you're Cable. Or Sam Winchester. (Or, y'know, Grace Winchester. She's still pretty tiny.)
Fina is currently looking to fill two open shifts, on Thursdays and Fridays; there are also some changes upcoming, so keep an eye on this space (Well. Not this space, because I doubt I'll be updating the info here.) for further announcements on events happening at a Cafe Fina near you!