character info
Player Information
Name: Xander
Age: 18
AIM SN: seafoaming
email: cornerbeauty@gmail.com
Have you played in an LJ based game before? Yes, I've been roleplaying on lj since '06.
Currently Played Characters: n/a
Conditional: Activity Check Link: n/a
Conditional: Official Reserve Link: here
Character Information
General
Canon Source: The Corpse Bride
Canon Format: Movie
Character's Name: Emily (The Corpse Bride)
Character's Age: This is never specified in canon, physically I'd peg her, when she was alive, in her late teens, maybe very early twenties. She can't be too old, and her murderer doesn't seem to be all that old, himself, so it can't have been too long since she's died, either.
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. n/a
What form will your character's NV take? Emily's NV seems to be a standard iPhone, merely modified outwardly to resemble a coffin.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: There are a handful of things that come with being dead -- none of which Emily particularly cares for. In addition to a no longer beating heart, she no longer feels physical pain. She laments in 'Tears to Shed': "If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain, If you cut me with a knife it's still the same." Later in the movie, when Lord Barkiss attempts to stab Victor, Emily intercepts and takes the sword to her chest. It goes right through her, of course. As the living dead, there isn't much that can be done to harm her. After all, she's already falling apart on her own. The only sort of harm that can be done to her is mentally and emotionally, physically she's already lost, so to speak.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? The ability to regenerate. As the undead, Emily's body rots, however, I'd like to eliminate that bit as it'd probably pose a bit of a problem later on. It's bad enough she's a corpse, but a full blown skeleton -- yeah. Whatever bits rot or fall off, she can simply regrow them. Parts like her bones though, simply snap back on as they always had after she died. I also feel this ability will help her live in Siren's Pull a lot easier, there's a far amount of danger in the game, and Emily can get herself into trouble. She's already dead, so. Regenerating simply keeps her from falling apart, essentially.
Weapons: N/A
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: Bonejangles explains Emily's story quite well. He signs, eagerly, of the Corpse Bride, a girl who had been in love. She met a stranger who came into town, fell hard, and they planned to marry. Emily went to meet him, with her mother's dress and family jewels. She waited, waited, and waited, when suddenly someone showed up and "everything went black." Then, in typical ghost story fashion, Emily awoke in the world of the dead and vowed to wait for her true love to "come set her free". It's unknown how long this took.
Enter Victor. Victor Van Dort was engaged to marry Victoria Everglott, but he was nervous. After accidentally setting his soon-to-be-mother-in-law on fire (long story), he ran off in the woods. Victor had been too nervous to say his vows correctly, but in private, he managed well enough, and for dramatic flair, placed the ring upon what he likely assumed to be a twig.
It wasn't.
Out of the ground rose Emily, who whisked him off to the Land of The Dead. Things were obviously rocky, but Emily tried even so, convinced Victor had intended to marry her. Emily was left alone and heartbroken, so she clung to what she could. She even gifted Victor with... his own dog! Just, you know, said dog had died sometime earlier. Victor was adamant on going back up to the Land of The Living, though, and Emily sought out Elder. Elder gave them a potion -- a bit of magic -- and sent them upstairs, saying that when they wished to return, all they had to say was 'hopscotch'.
She was completely trustful in Victor and believed him when he said he wanted to introduce her to his parents, not once did she assume he was going to run off to another woman. When they arrived, Emily sat in the forest and waited for Victor as he asked. Maggot, acting as her conscience, convinced her to go looking for Victor.
Emily found Victor speaking to Victoria, and when she realized what was going on, she spoke the word, "Hopscotch." This sent Victor and herself back into The Land of The Dead. Once there, she confronted him, asserting herself as his wife. Victor insisted that it wouldn't work, though, because Emily was... well, dead.
Emily was naturally distraught. She lamented to Black Widow and Maggot that she wasn't good enough for Victor, that she couldn't compete with Victoria because she was already dad. After all, this was Victor's concern also.
The two eventually met again, and Victor got Emily to warm up to him again. Emily seemed to think Victor would at least try, and things were fine for a bit! Then Elder showed up again.
Elder explained that their marriage wasn't valid, as Victor was still alive. He didn't die for their marriage to be valid. Victor, who overheard the Elder speaking to Emily, agreed to take the poison. It was then that the Land of The Dead ascended to the Land of The Living, in order to carry out the ceremony. During this time, Victoria became reluctantly engaged and ultimately married Lord Barkiss, who claimed to come into town for her marriage to Victor, but was still terribly mysterious. While there -- somethings were discovered. Admist all the confusion and terror, Emily recognized Lord Barkiss, as the man who left her for dead. It was then that everyone figured out he murdered Emily, and had just been after her family's wealth. Once he had it (the family jewels), he killed her moved on. It is hinted he plans to do the same to Victoria. Upon learning that Lord Barkiss is Emily's murderer, the living dead become quite angry, but are unable to do anything, as Lord Barkiss is still part of the Living. He grabs the cup of poison that had been intended for Victor, turns to Emily and asks her one question: "Can a heart break, once it's stopped beating?"
He drinks the liquid, and dies. You can imagine what happens once those from Land of The Dead got their hands on him.
The ceremony was about to proceed as normal. Victor was into his vows, when Emily stopped him. "I was a bride. My dreams were taken from me. But now - now I've stolen them from someone else. I love you, Victor, but you're not mine." Placing Victor and Victoria's hands together, Emily left the church, smiling. True, she hadn't gotten her husband, but -- she was able to move on, now. Bursting in a cluster of butterflies, she seemed to float up towards the sky...
Point in Canon: Post-Movie
Character Personality: It is quite easy to be revolted by Emily -- after all, she is a corpse. She comes from a small European village that is a lot like stuffy old England, back when corsets were tight and bustles made your butt look big. She's far from a bad girl, but she is Victoria's foil and (not really) love rival for a reason. Where Victoria is among the living, the dull, grey and brown world full of rules and devoid of any color, Emily comes from the world of the dead. Fittingly, she opposes Victoria in near everything. Victoria quietly resigns to her fate, whilst Emily pitches a fit and involves herself every time an issue comes up. She is polite, as is expected of a lady, but she is not without a certain bite to her. Death has sucked absolutely none of the life from her. She is whimsical, brave, caring, and terribly lonely.
Emily is first seen emerging from the ground in a rather monstrous way, before sweeping Victor off his feet and into her world. It's bright, cheerful, and there's nothing holding anyone down. They're separated from the world of the living, and as a result, they've lost their worries. Death frees you from illnesses, debts, and other problems. Emily has not experienced these in some time, and that's what makes the emotional pain so much more significant for her. In a way, she's freed from nearly everything, but herself. She's terribly lonely, and clings to the idea of being a bride. It was all she wanted when she died, to marry the person she loved. She loved that man enough to give up everything for him, to trust him completely.
That isn't to say, though, that Emily herself just isn't completely trusting. You see, it's this trusting nature that gets her into trouble. She assumes that, yes, Victor is going to see his parents and bring them back to meet Emily. She doesn't assume the worst. She's rather naive, for someone who was murdered. Its not as grave a mistake, but it was a mistake, even so. It caused her a lot of grief. Not going with Victor allowed him to go see Victoria, which was what prompted him actually saying things wouldn't work out, because she's dead. This is what prompts the 'Tears to Shed' segment of the movie, the realization that Emily, even though she's found a husband, still cannot achieve happiness, because, even though her "heart doesn't beat", it can still break.
She is though, a very clingy person. Victor places the ring on her finger and she is immediately enamored with him, believing him to the one who will save her and finally make her a bride. This isn't untrue, as Victor does grow to sympathize with Emily, but it still is worth nothing she clung to that idea. It was all she had, since she stood, waiting, for what was likely at least months, perhaps even years. Being left by the man you love for dead, I imagine, is incredibly traumatizing. She's a rather sympathetic person, when you think about it.
Emily is, again, naive. She's well-meaning, even if takes her the whole movie to begin showing it. She can be smart enough to understand what she's doing is cruel, she's just desperate to find what she lost. In a way, Emily's a lot like a classic ghost story. There's something she lost and she's desperate to find it, it just so happens that in this case, the ghost is tangible.
Perhaps the one thing that separates Emily from a classic ghost story is that, when in a mood, she's near inconsolable. Again, during 'Tears to Shed', Maggot and Black Widow attempt to cheer Emily up, but as she is so negative, she continually shoots them down. They sing, "If only he could see how special you can be," and Emily retorts that Victoria is alive and that is all that matters. She can't compete, because she's dead, and dead is far less favorable than living. Emily herself seems to be a mostly cheerful, optimistic person. Her happiness revolves around finding a husband, since, once more, she was left yearning for that.
But enough about the negatives. It's true Emily's existence is quite dreary. She's lost a lot and she's experienced a lot of pain and sorrow. She continues to experience a lot of pain and sorrow. However -- she's still got her positives. She is very charming; she plays piano, is out-going, she dances, she's a bit flirtatious... She's charismatic. She's a people person. She has no issue asking for what she wants, and going after it. It could be said she's rather headstrong, or at least stubborn. She refuses to give up in her 'marriage', even when things seem incredibly bleak. It doesn't take much to cheer her up, just a bit of fun. She's ultimately, a very simple girl.
Emily is a very lively girl. Back in the day, she would have been quite unconventional. In the beginning of the movie, Victoria explicitly states that music is viewed as improper for a proper lady. Yet, Emily plays the piano, dances and I wouldn't doubt that she sings, too. She takes the initiative in giving her 'husband' a gift, she introduces herself as his 'wife' -- she's dead, but incredibly alive with personality. She's got a lot of sass to her.
I admit I've mentioned how trusting Emily is, but I also feel I should mention that her trusting nature also belies her loyalty. Emily is loyal enough to Victor that she gives him up, letting him live his life with Victoria, even though she is so desperate for what she missed in life. She understands, by looking at the fact that Victoria is now the one cast aside, no longer the bride -- how much it hurts to have that taken away from you. And she decides, ultimately, not to cause that kind of harm to someone else. Emily knows it's wrong to do that, and chooses not to. She's very well-meaning, even if she can come off as a possessive, jealous prat.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A
Character Plans: Siren's Pull presents two parts to its game; a slice of life part and a part that focuses on war. It's the former I'm interested in. There's a large cast of characters here that would present a wide range of reactions to her. It is obvious she isn't living, after all! That in itself intrigues me, and additionally, I'd like to play out Emily in a modern-setting, adjusting to life despite her, well, issues. Getting a job, a home, so on and so forth. They all seem like things that would be incredibly normal, but I feel like with Emily that'd be vastly difficult but overall fun. And really, what game doesn't want more undead cute monster girls?
Appearance/PB: To say Emily is ghastly in her appearance is not untrue. Her skin is a pale, sickly blue -- she's cold, after all, and her skin clings tightly to her bones. She's rotting, after all, and it's easy to see her. It's already begun on her face: a hole that peeks into her mouth is apparent, the muscle having already faded away. Her face resemble a skull, her eyes are big and nearly pop out of her skull, she has next to no nose. On the other hand, the skin and muscle is completely removed from her left arm and hand. It is nothing but bones. The story is similar for her right leg, below the knee has rotted to the bone, but there is still some flesh above it. She is sickly thin, her hair is strangely, and dirty looking, likely being underground for so long. Additionally, she wears her wedding gown, which had been her mother's, and her wedding veil. The gown is tattered, it has holes in places, and the same goes for her arm covers (which might have one been elbow length gloves). A bit of the right side of her rib cage is viewable through a hole in her gown.
Even with all of this, Emily has a certain... charm to her. She was clearly lovely in life, and it's rather sad to her slowly rotting away. Full lips, high cheekbones, expressive eyes, and an oval face. It makes one wonder what she had been like before "everything went black."
one, two, three.
samples omitted upon acceptance.