† The Mundane
Birth Name: Candra Wynne Duffy. Candra - luminescent, Wynne - fair or blessed, Duffy - surname meaning dark. So, let's translate that to "Luminescent Blessed Dark" and remember that it's Candra, not Candy or any other insipid nickname.
Angelic Identity: Leliel, angel of Night.
Place in the Spheres: Second year student at University of London, attending on the main campus and pursuing a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. To be more specific, Candra lives on the main campus in the usual horrific living situation afforded to every university student, with a roommate who likes her enough to put up with her attitude and odd habits. She is also a copy assistant at the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, where she cleans up drawings for publications and proofreads articles for spelling and grammar when her boss can't be bothered.
Age: 19
Birthdate/Astrology: August 29, placing her sun in Virgo. Moon is in Aquarius. Ascendant is Scorpio. The Virgo sun gives her the attention to detail and a need to strive for perfection under any condition. The Aquarius moon takes much of the emotion out of her actions and fortifies the rational thought and desire for independence. Scorpio rising contributes an intensity and drive to her demeanor and reinforces a sense of loyalty and commitment.
Likes
Games of Logic: Candra is a sucker for those games that require you to count and remember and figure out the odds, all under the guise of enjoyment. Her absolute favorite game is Battleship, played either in board form or computer game form. Poker also holds a special place for her, as Candra remembers probabilities and the mathematical combinations extremely well.
Old School Punk Rock: Please, please, please understand that Candra takes her music very seriously. This isn't like those crazy groupies who buy albums and sit crying at the hotel rooms. Candra's appreciation for punk rock stems from the actual drive or the music and the raging against the establishment that gave punk its voice and passion and the fact that you didn't have to be hot or sexy to be successful, you simply had to have the voice to carry the message. She loves what punk stood for and still stands for, and she refuses to believe that there isn't a place for such music anywhere anymore. Candra sees those who truly understand the groups like the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls, Velvet Underground, and the Ramones as the few who are musically enlightened.
Sunrise: Not because she likes to wake up before it; instead, Candra feels that a night out is best finished by sitting somewhere with a cup of something warm while watching the sun slink into the night sky until the stars wink away in the daylight. After that, it's off to bed.
Other likes include: Small local bands that still 'get' the idea of punk and wail at the pubs around midnight, ferrets, disturbingly bright odd-colored nail polish, eyeliner that matches said disturbingly bright nail polish, buckles (as a decoration for clothing), war movies with ships and submarines, neat handwriting, and the scents of peppermint mixed with lavender.
Dislikes
Emo and 'pop punk' music: For as much as Candra loves her Sex Pistols and nigh-on worships Joey Ramone, she absolutely despises the filth that's risen up to try and carry on the sacred traditions of punk. Those kids that whine on about being forgotten by their parents and not being able to get the girl because they're too afraid to bare their souls and... you know. Them. Candra abhors this sort of music and those people who claim that it's this generation's answer to the legacy of Sid Vicious, and she's extremely passionate about this dislike.
People who accuse her of being anal-retentive: There is nothing wrong with wanting to do the best job possible, especially when it is perfectly within one's abilities. Candra knows her limits and she hasn't met them yet, so back off and let her work on things at her own pace. It will get done, it will be perfect, and all shall bow at her accomplishments. It's not anal-retentive to her; instead, it's having pride in one's work and knowing that every detail lends to the perfection of the overall final product.
Weak-minded people: Followers, indecisive minions, wishy-washy slobs... they all rub Candra the wrong way. People have the capacity to choose and make decisions, and she can't for the life of her understand why people don't seize upon that opportunity. There is such independence lost when you let someone else make decisions for you, and Candra hates to think that people don't seize upon every chance to make their own decisions and stick to their guns. Candra views any sort of addiction as weak, with drug addiction excluding alcohol and cigarettes. Those just fall into the "things people waste their money on" category.
Druggies: This goes along her dislike of weak-minded people, but should be explained a bit more. Candra hates the thought of drugs and the fact that people push them on others to create false dependencies. Drugs are a crutch for people who can't suck it up and face the real world, in her extremely vocal opinion.
Other dislikes include: Sloppiness, not being given a reason for something she's told to do, feathery-fluffy things, and Titanic (both the movie and the ridiculous obsession that some people have)
Is Neutral On
Food: Most people have some sense of food that they like, or a dish they can't stand, or at least some preference when it comes to what to have for breakfast/dinner/what-have-you. Candra doesn't care; food is fuel for all practical purposes, and she doesn't have a favorite food or a hated vegetable. On this note, restaurants don't hold any sort of special meaning or significance for her, and paying an astronomical amount for something that you're just going to eat anyway doesn't seem very logical to her.
Hobbies
Research: No, this isn't the standard sort of "need to work on a project for class, I'll just meander into the stacks and find something" research. Candra is a research whore and makes it a point to find nearly every possible article that relates to whatever requires explaining. Her favorite solitary pastime? Study and research until the wee hours, catch a loud show at the pub, and then wander around until morning to watch the sun come up. She's fond of the internet methods of research, but there's just something extremely satisfying for her in the extraction of a book from the shelves and scribbling notes for a few hours. Not clear on a fact? Ask her... she might not have the information in her head, but within an hour, you can bet that it will be at her fingertips.
Cleaning and Organizing: Neurotic, huh? Oh, to a degree that is almost laughable. Candra takes sincere delight in cleaning her closet, rearranging her underwear drawer, and tidying up her desk. Cleaning is therapeutic, and at the first sign of emotional distress or discomfort, she will clean. And clean. And clean... after she found out about her grandfather's leukemia, the entire flat was spotless for weeks, all the doorknobs disinfected and everything.
Gardening: Flowers are one of the few inherently 'girly things' that Candra makes no attempt to lie about enjoying. She has a preference for geraniums (red, thank you) and she keeps several potted around the room. Fresh cut flowers are an indulgence, since cut flowers are so illogical when compared to the potted variety, but again, so pretty...
CAD Drawing: Nerd? Geek? Geek, probably. Anyways, Candra's detail obsession manifests itself in her extremely odd pastime of drawing things in AutoCad and ProEngineer. This doesn't just include her engineering projects, like the plans for a offshore oil structure or a neat propeller. On a rainy day, she might be inside with music blaring, painstakingly rendering a shoe into 3D. Finishing a model gives her a certain sort of satisfaction, and her drawings are her own personal portfolio.
Other Notes
Aspirations/Dreams: Candra has a long list of goals, both short term and long term. Short term, she'd like her degree, a job, and enough money to get a lovely little flat for herself so that she can purchase a pair of ferrets and name them Sid and Nancy, and put them in spiked collars. The ferret thing has been a dream since she was about six, so... yeah. Long term, she'd like to get her license to be a real honest-to-goodness naval architect who can sign off on drawings, and then either work as a civilian contractor for the Royal Navy or as an architect for British Petroleum.
NPCs
Andrew Kirby: Also known as Granddad, Andy is a charming old fool who spent many years in the service of Her Majesty's Navy, mostly as a cook on one of the larger destroyers. His wife passed on when his only daughter, Candra's mother, was a teenager, and he never remarried. Instead, Andy took up with a friend to do catering as a way to meet people and pass the time. He dotes upon his only grandchild and is the reason that Candra decided to take up naval architecture. Hardly gruff, Andy is a fantastic storyteller and always seems to have a new anecdote from his enlisted years when Candra comes to visit. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, Andy visits St. Sebastien's three times a week for treatments. He's been hospitalized more than a few times, and Candra has usually been the one to sit with him in the wee hours of the morning. Andy's rather good-humored about the whole ordeal, and he's promised Candra that he won't go anywhere until she gets her degree. Endearing, perhaps... but Andy's never been all that much of a realist. He does not possess his granddaughter's realism and often refuses to hear anything more than the 'good' news about his progress.
Annelise Graham: A cheerful and good-natured darling, Annelise is the nearly-perfect roommate in Candra's eyes. Clean, efficient, polite, and extremely intelligent, Annelise is a student in the mechanical engineering program. Petite and bubbly, she gets along with Candra due to a mutual affinity for neatness and organization. The pair have gotten into a few arguments over the fact that Annelise doesn't equate 'perfect' with what's right for every taste and situation. Annelise is the more domestic of the two, usually reminding Candra about mundane things like laundry and keeping food in the pantry. Annelise works part-time in a print shop near campus.
History
So, once upon a time, there was a pretty waitress named Carolyn Kirby who waited tables amidst the punk scene of the 70's and dyed her hair and raged against the establishment as much as she possibly could, until she wound up half-drunk and impossibly high in the arms of a lanky Navy medical officer who just happened to be at the same pub and who just happened to know all of the words to 'I Wanna Be Sedated' without ever having actually been recreationally sedated. The lanky officer, hereafter known as Colin Duffy, brought the darling girl back to her flat and subsequently called to check on her the next morning. And so began a lovely little courtship that resulted in Carolyn becoming squeaky clean and Colin proposing to her outside the same pub two years later. Ten months passed, and they found themselves parents of a little girl that they named Candra, after Colin's recently deceased favorite grandmother.
Colin didn't remain in Candra's life past her first year, as a foggy night and a badly driven delivery truck contributed to his death a few days after his and Carolyn's second anniversary. Carolyn moved in with her father, living off of her widow’s stipend and attending school part-time while she raised Candra. Andrew Kirby filled the role of father figure and grandfather rather nicely, and Candra grew up without ever wanting for love or attention.
She did have her quirks, though. Even as a baby, Candra couldn't abide by being dirty. A wet diaper, a dirty bib, a soiled shirt, they all prompted the same unrelenting and piercing scream until a clean alternative was provided. Carolyn grew frustrated while Andy just laughed, saying that such a trait wasn't completely horrible, as clean children were certainly hard to find these days. Such a tendency wasn't all that bad. Besides, it made toilet training a snap when she was two, and bath time was nearly always pleasant.
Candra bordered on obsessive-compulsive even as a toddler. She could spend hours with her blocks, building towers and then methodically knocking them down before building them up again. Anyone else knocking down the blocks resulted in a screaming tantrum and a refusal to try and rebuild. This pattern showed up in nearly every childhood activity, making Candra rather unpopular among her peers during her first five years of schooling. Not having friends didn't seem to bother her too much, as her Granddad kept her entertained with stories and taught her how to play cards after she'd finished her homework at night. Carolyn lamented her daughter's lack of friends, but tried not to worry too much. Candra managed her studies rather well and got good marks in academics, the only negative comments being that she was a little too serious and had a tendency to be incredibly and vocally obstinate when things didn't make sense to her. "Because I said so," didn't have any effect on her in the way of discipline, and Candra often found herself in the headmaster's office being lectured on the fact that she was not obliged to know the reason behind everything asked of her.
Andy served as surrogate father and Best Friend Ever during the years when Candra couldn't seem to get the other little girls to play with her. Granddad could make delicious chocolate frosting and cut radishes into those pretty flowers and fill the flat with the smell of warm beef stew, all while telling stories about the ships he served on. Candra would sit for hours while her mother was at work or taking classes at the community college and listen to the stories about the ensign who put sugar in everything or the captain who poured glue into his tea instead of milk. Early on, Candra decided that everything fun in life must have happened on ships, and would beg Andy to take her to his get-togethers with his fellow veterans. She first saw a destroyer close up when she was seven, and couldn't stop talking about it. She wanted to know everything about them; how they stayed up, how they sank, why they sank, who wanted to sink a ship, and how to sink them first before they got off the first shot. Luckily, Granddad took her to the library and found other sailors-turned-doting-grandfathers who liked nothing more than to answer some scrawny eight year old's questions about their ship from Back In The Day.
Sometime after her twelfth birthday, Candra discovered her mother's old records and a trunk of her mother's old clothes, posters, and other items from her wild days as a punk enthusiast. Much to the delight of her mother and amusement of her grandfather, she began to listen to Carolyn's 'old' music and try on her clothes. Listening to music progressed to wanting to play, and Andy surprised both of them with drum lessons on her fourteenth birthday. Candra's studies never waned even as she embraced the standard 'punk' attitude and lifestyle, walking a fine line between thumbing her nose at authority and maintaining her model student status. She tended her geraniums on the windowsill, she got excellent grades, and every so often, she talked about some boy that she'd decided to go out with that night. Nosing around in the punk scene gave her a handful of acquaintances, which made both mother and grandfather happy that some social interaction was taking place outside of school. Carolyn never bothered to set a curfew, trusting her daughter to come home on time and use her intelligence to not do the same dumb things that she did during her teenage years.
Of course, even the brilliant get dim from time to time. Candra's logic faltered one night and, in a fit of teenage stupidity, she came home high as a kite far closer to dawn than to midnight. Her mother had waited up and caught her daughter at the door, weary and upset. A long talk ensued, Candra being uncharacteristically silent as she learned about her mom's not-so-great past before she'd met Colin. Candra didn't remember much about that conversation, except that Carolyn told her that drugs stopped 'real' punk rock, and if they could stop punk music, then they could stop intelligence and creativity and any of the dreams that she had inside herself. It was poetic, emotional, and not all that logical, but it did the trick. Candra also managed to research every recreational drug available, and subsequently decided that doing drugs was not only profoundly stupid but grossly illogical.
She passed her A levels with flying colors and opted to not take a year off from school like so many of her acquaintances did. Instead, Candra threw herself headlong into her first year and managed to find a roommate who didn't find her attention to detail and over-organization detrimental. One of those 'cool old guys' that she bugged for information as a child turned out to be a writer for one of the RINA (Royal Institute of Naval Architects) publications, and he managed to get her a cozy job proofing articles at the main office in the afternoons and one weekend a month. A few weeks after beginning classes, Candra was informed that her grandfather had collapsed in the kitchen and was under watch at one of the local hospitals. She skipped classes for the first time in her life and grilled the poor attending nurse for information until Carolyn arrived. With the diagnosis being leukemia, Candra is slightly distracted and extremely worried about her grandfather. She works every piece of her schedule around his doctor's visits, and feels that she is personally responsible for his well-being, which includes being the one who yells at every doctor and nurse who doesn't take care of him immediately. Candra has not been all that kind to the staff at St. Sebastien's, and until Andy gets better, she will probably remain an annoying, demanding, and frantic little punkish escort to her friendly old Granddad.
Personality
Candra is the sort of person who friends and acquaintances immediately describe as difficult. Difficult to get to know, difficult to like, difficult to work with, difficult to love, and difficult to get rid of, Candra is an outspoken and demanding soul who lives by her own rules and standards. She comes across as unyielding and insensitive on her worst days, and loyal and supremely objective on her best days. Intense? Perpetually. Logical? Without fail. Determined? You damned well better believe it.
It should be noted the Candra is not an unkind or malicious person. She truly enjoys doing things for her friends and family, and she's not the sort to ask for compensation. She is a devoted friend and a devoted granddaughter, loyal to the end, even if you’re not as logical as she is. If she loves you, she'll forgive you sooner or later. Holding a grudge might feel good, but there's little logic in it, and logic will always win out in the end. She's generally a happy person, especially when she's got her teeth in a good research project or just working an afternoon at RINA. Happiness is just expressed in her working diligently, and a busy Candra is most definitely a happy Candra.
The girl is a perfectionist, no doubt about it. Fussy and critical, she agonizes over very little detail and will not rest until she's completely satisfied. Candra sets high standards for herself, and subsequently expects everyone around her to live up to those standards. As a project leader for in-class presentations or team projects, Candra is nearly impossible to put up with. She wants status reports, she wants documentation, she wants detail, and she wants everything organized according to her personal style and demands. If you can't manage that, be prepared to be steamrolled. She has no problem pushing you to the side with the simple explanation that you're simply not up to par, thanks, here's something simpler to work on, now don't screw it up. A team member who asks questions and tries to clarify things does earn her respect, and Candra has a remarkable amount of patience when trying to explain her ideas and progression of logic. Just... don't be ignorant. Ignorant people who don't ask questions and then proceed to mess up things will have her in a huff rather quickly.
Logic drives Candra's actions, with emotion serving as the frequent catalyst for the pursuit of reason, Candra need to know why and how things work, and she is not shy about asking questions to gain a better understanding. Do not tell her to do something without answering the 'why' part; otherwise, you will have an obstinate and vocal young woman on your hands. If you want Candra to do something, give her a reason, explain the logic, and give a deadline. You won't be disappointed.
Candra tends to concern herself with the minor details of things, which conveniently keep her from worrying about big things, like other people’s emotions and whether or not there’s food in the cupboard. She can easily lose sight of a goal by focusing on the smaller pieces, leaving her overwhelmed and frustrated. This subsequently leaves her to work even harder to meet the deadlines, and make everything just so. Needless to say, she's easily stressed when things don't work out the way she planned and she will wallow in what she perceives as failure.
Music is extremely important to Candra... not just punk, as some might think, but all types of music. There is logic to music, measure and theory behind the emotion and expression. A person's musical preference defines who they are, and Candra's first question upon meeting someone usually pertains to musical taste. She does have a tendency to discriminate based upon what your CD collection is (she is biased towards those with a healthy assortment of hard rock, punk, and/or any great bands of the 70’s), and a person who can wax philosophic about the roots of music earns her immediate respect.
Independence factors strongly into Candra's personality. She loves who she is and she prides herself on her work ethic and ability to get along intellectually on her own. Asking for help rarely happens, since she likes to putter around and figure out her own best way to get a solution. She's not above asking for directions when she's utterly lost, but she'd rather you sit in the front seat and guide her to the right spot than simply take over and let her drive. Also, for little miss "Explain everything to me and let me assemble the information on my own at my preferred pace," change needs to be gradual for it to stick. Candra hates sudden abrupt changes, as they mess with her schedules and don't give her enough time to assess the situation. A gentle sunrise is far more preferable to simply flipping on the proverbial switch to flood the room.
Candra's work/school ethic is often used as an excuse to avoid people and situations that rub her the wrong way, and she often purposefully plays up her fussy and critical demeanor in order push someone away. To paraphrase... they say Candra has her studies, they say Candra lives for her studies, and Candra is in love with her studies, and Candra hides in her studies. (My apologies to Johnathan Larson, but Roger could have been talking about Candra with that verse.) School is everything to her, and not being successful in that area will most likely break her... but you probably wouldn't see it. She refuses to cry in front of people (save her grandfather) because she feels that it will show her to be soft and not fit with the tough and independent and demanding persona that she's cultivated and embraces. Candra would rather argue and storm off than cry, which usually happens when she is faced with something that logic can't explain away. If asked what's wrong, the most that Candra will offer is a concise and detached summary, and only if she thinks you need to know.
When it comes to friends and family, Candra is possessive and dedicated. They deserve the best of her abilities, and she'll work herself to death to give it to them. In romantic endeavors, Candra is dedicated and must do everything Right™. Without approval from that other person, she often doubts her ability to be a Perfect Girlfriend, and few people have ever met her standards, so... she's sort of lacking in Experience. She's been single for a little more than a year, and she's not really looking for anyone, since Candra's convinced herself that it is highly illogical for someone of her intelligence to need a partner to justify herself... but that doesn't keep her from entertaining the idea every so often.
Finally, it must be said that once Candra makes up her mind, after all research and reason, her mind is made up and no amount of arguing will sway her decision. A mountain of evidence, maybe... but once the decision is made, she is relentless in her pursuit.
Pros: Detailed, logical, loyal, passionate, objective, honest, independent
Cons: obsessive, demanding, blunt, possessive, stubborn
Appearance
Candra isn't stylishly slender, but slightly underweight and gangly, with bony hips and a nearly-flat tummy. Standing at five feet and ten inches, she gives the appearance of being one of those boyish underwear models. Pear-shaped in the body, Candra wears an A/B cup, when she feels she can actually be bothered with a bra. Basically, her metabolism is high, her appetite is generally low, and she's an admitted workaholic with a perfectionist streak... which means that she's too damn thin and needs a snack. Or maybe six. Candra's complexion can be best described as milk with tea, but not enough tea to make her appear less than anemic. Her Northern European ancestry has cursed her with yellow undertones and a tendency to flush easily when anything but content.
Luckily, Candra's hair manages to lend a bit of color and vivacity to her figure. Neither truly red nor truly brown, it resembles the color of pumpkin pie filling and is kept in a mass of bluntly chopped layers that are longest at her chin in front and grow shorter until they barely brush the bottom of her earlobes. Wax and pomade are her morning necessities (after deodorant) and Candra takes great pains to work the sides and back out in an almost-trendy bottlebrush fashion. Eyebrows are a slightly darker shade of pumpkin, thin arcs that frame round eyes of brilliant Frasier fir green. A green that bears a little more blue than your standard pine shade, Candra's eyes are flecked with gold specks that actually dull the color when the light hits them just so. Lashes are paler than her hair, dictating mascara only when absolutely necessary (AKA A Damned Good Reason Like Going Out Someplace Special). High sharp cheekbones and a pointed chin lend a harshness to Candra's face. Her nose is slightly too small for her face and too round for the rest of the angles that make up her appearance. Lips have a perpetual pout to them, her lower lip pierced in the dead center. Other piercings include her ears (thrice in each ear) and her navel. All piercings bear a gold hoop with a small gold bead, and are never changed or swapped out.
Candra is not one to slump, slouch, or skulk around. The closest she comes to such is when she stands still, her weight on her back leg and pelvis tilted forward, the eternal silent challenge to any who would criticize who she is and what she does. She has a brisk walk, head held high and chin tilted up. Candra oozes confidence when she moves, her steps sure and her every motion deliberate. Control freak much? Oh, yeah. Clothing for Candra is torn and layered... not because she can't afford anything else, but because she planned it that way. Torn denim with wild striped tights underneath, layered barely-opaque shirts with netting over them, erratic hemlines, leather with buckles, raunchy vintage t-shirts, it's all in her closet. When she can't dress this way (for example, work) Candra defaults to tasteful black suits and heels. The hair remains the same, regardless of the situation. One does not mess with her hair.
Candra's voice is a low mezzo, able to dip to alto when she feels the need to explain things slowly and using small words so that stupid people can better understand. She enunciates everything, including slang, and the more annoyed she becomes, the more clipped her speech.
Abilities
Spatial intelligence: Candra has an amazing ability to visualize objects and their movement in an area without having to draw or pick up a model, and she's remarkable at finding visual patterns. Howard Gardner, once upon a time, referred to this skill as spatial intelligence, and Candra's got it in spades.
Drums: Okay, okay. Once upon a time, Candra took up lessons to play drums so that she could have her very own punk band. Unfortunately, members couldn't understand her own vision or stay away from the drug scene, and she finally conceded defeat a year before attending uni. She still has the set, packed up somewhere, and she can still wail on them when given the chance. Along with this, she has an ear for rhythms and a rather good sense of hand-eye coordination, and some decent upper arm muscles.
Lemme Double Check That: Candra's research skills are exceptional, and she'd probably have made an excellent detective if the whole ship thing hadn't come up. With her computer, a fast connection, and the all-powerful university library at hand, she'll either back up your claims with a mountain of evidence, or tear you down with that same pile of facts and equations.
† The Angelic
Color: Dark orchid. Hex code 9932CC
Symbol: http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/42/428.html Night. Simple, huh?
Key to the Kingdom
Leliel's Key is a tiny thing of solid metal, gold in color and no more than an inch long. The teeth of the key are E-shaped, with three flares going out from the actual shaft of the key such that if it was stamped flat, there'd be a little Y on the paper. The top of the key bears two small ovals, through which the usual navel ring goes. That's right; she wears her Key as a charm on her belly.
Voile
Leliel's voile is in layers, the majority of them being semi-transparent. This being the case, we shall start inside, work out, and then talk about glittery shiny things like halos and accessories.
Layer One: Leliel sports a strapless bra and matching thong in dark orchid. That's right, kiddies... the rest of her voile shows off her skivvies.
Layer Two: A blush pink (think... oh, think zinfandel, if you could, it's that barely pink shade) long-sleeved shirt of tight mesh covers her arms to the wrists and her chest to the bottom of her sternum. It is scoop-necked and pretty much transparent, showing off her bony little clavicles and everything underneath the fabric. Matching leggings cover her skin from hips to ankles but still manage to display her undies, and the waistband rests on her hips, giving full display of her stomach.
Layer Three: A gauzy orchid long-sleeved shell catches tight at her wrists with dark orchid bands and fastens just beneath the center of her breasts with a hidden eyehook clasp, the lower edge meeting the edge of the pink mesh top underneath. The matching bottom piece is a thin dark orchid belt worn on her hips that holds up a long flowy pair of... pants? Sort of. The 'pants' are a single piece of gauzy orchid fabric that wrap about Leliel's hips and fasten in the front on either side, halfway between her navel and her hipbones such that the sides cross over her pelvic area. The fabric at the bottom is gathered at the outside of either leg and fastened to a thin dark orchid band about each ankle.
Accessories: Shoes are blush pink flats, stiff-soled with a rounded toe. About her head, Leliel wears a wide orchid band with a cutout to allow her symbol to show through. A gauzy orchid piece of fabric serves as a veil, attaching to the band at her temples and hanging an inch below her chin, with the fabric draped such that her eyes and the top of her nose are fully visible. Her Key is worn on her navel ring, and matching gold rings adorn her thumbs and middle fingers of each hand. Cue halo, cue Veil (see below), cue wings, and cue Leliel.
Wings
Leliel's wings are of the standard spread-from-the-shoulderblades type, grey-white with a faint speckled pattern of darker greys and lavenders towards the bottom. They seem to be perpetually coated in a damp spray of dew, which give them the appearance of being all dewy and glistening. She's got a wingspan of two meters, which makes it a little bit difficult to move on the ground but lends itself rather nicely for non-terran mobility.
Weapon
Veil of Solomon: Well, it -used- to be a veil, until some fool tore it in half once upon a time. Now, Leliel wears it tied about her wrists, the ends trailing half a meter down. The Veil allows her to aim and concentrate her one attack... and not much else. She doesn't know what it's called, it's just torn gold fabric on her wrists for now. Biblical stuffness says that Solomon had a veil in the temple to separate the holies from the not-so-holies...so that's where it comes from.
Climbing The Sephiroth
"Crown..." Candra reaches down to her navel and wrenches the Key from the ring to hold it aloft with her right hand, wincing because hey, it sort of tears at the skin every time and it stings ever so slightly.
"Wisdom..." A large outline of her halo hums around her waist and begins to spin counter-clockwise as it moves up her body.
"Understanding..." She releases the Key, which hovers above her head, prompting all color to drain from her body (extremities inward to her navel) and being replaced with a brilliant dusky orchid wash that conceals her features. Both arms come out to her sides, palms facing up.
"Mercy..." By this time, the halo is above her head and shrinks to standard halo diameter. As it assumes the correct size, clothing breaks apart and zooms inward to her Key.
"Strength..." Candra doubles over as if someone has just punched her in the stomach (and conveniently hides her more intimate details from view) as the rest of her clothing disappears and her body glows white.
"Beauty..." Wings sprout from her shoulderblades, initial color dusky orchid.
"Victory..." Orchid coloring in wings fades up as mist surrounds her glowing form as she straightens up rapidly and throws both arms back in a standing sort of swan dive with her toes grazing the ground. The brilliant white rapid fades a la sunset to reveal her form in the first layer of her voile.
"Splendor..." The Key descends and affixes itself to her navel ring, prompting the remaining mist to glow blush rose and become her mesh second layer as well as her shoes.
"Foundation..." Her figure dims again as her wings beat once, throwing grey-orchid dew on her form that immediately becomes her third layer of clothing and veil over her face. At the same time, gold rings materialize on her fingers as the split Veil appears in either hand and wraps itself around her wrists.
"Kingdom!" Leliel lands on her feet, hands palm-down as her Key gives a little pulse, just to finish things up and restore her skin coloring to normal.
Gifts
Dimming: Leliel's presence is not depressing, but sobering, to a degree. All emotion kicks a notch down when she's around. Anger lessens, happiness dims, excitement dulls, and so on. This manifests itself as a sort of greyish wash over those within a five meter radius of her, and remains for a few seconds to a few minutes afterwards, depending upon the emotional stability and empathy level of that person.
Transition: With Leliel at your side, you can transform in and out of your voile in a hurry. Once she's transformed, any angelic beings get their voile transformation times halved. This also means that she’s got an edge on her transformation, and can go from ordinary to angelic in about half the time as most beginning angels.
Shrouded: Leliel moves better at night. It's her element, so she's able to sneak around in the darkness and see a bit better than your average heavenly reincarnation might. She gets her own personal shadow as it were, which shows up as a darker grey envelope about her figure.
Attack(s)
Burning the Midnight Oil
Description: Leliel touches her right middle finger to her forehead, causing her symbol to dim. She pulls back her hand with a graceful counterclockwise flip of her wrist, causing a holy substance the color and consistency of motor oil to follow the path of her hand before being snatched up in her fist. This same motion is repeated with her left hand - with the corresponding graceful clockwise wrist flip - leaving Leliel holding two fistfuls of oozing inky greasy blackness, her elbows at her waist and fists palm up. Squeezing both hands, Leliel calls out, "Midnight Oil..." prompting shards of yellow light to peek from her fists while orchid mist surrounds her hands. She then thrusts her hands forward, crossing her arms at the wrists. Palms open outwards and she screams, "Burn!" prompting the blackness to race out and tag the target.
Effect: Once the tag takes place, the poor recipient of this attack is now dripping with a dark greasy oil-like substance that burns off into a black-orchid mist, complete with countless black flames that lick at the skin and feel like someone slowly pulling duct tape off of the fuzzier parts of one's body. This mist swirls about the target to form a cylinder with a radius of one meter and a height of a half meter taller than the target. This cylinder centers about the target, and cannot be thrown off by flight. Any light that the target generates (magical, angelic, demonic, the burning end of a cig, etc.) is sucked into the black-orchid miasma that now surrounds him or her. This veil reduces visibility to nearly nothing for as long as light is being poured into it from the inside, or until Leliel goes back to civilian form. It can shroud someone on its own without additional light for one minute; after that, if the target does not generate its own light (holy, unholy, or otherwise), then the miasma will fade. Leliel's penance for casting this attack comes in the form of a blinding headache for fifteen seconds, accompanied by the dimming of her own holy light. It can be dodged, and is less effective during a full moon.
Past Lives
Pending approval of the rest of the app.
Writing Sample
Today, it was green tea from that little corner place run by Ernie Harris and his wife. Candra thanked the pair, promised to tell Granddad that Ernie said hello and wished him the best, and then took off a brisk walk to St. Sebastien’s. Her breath plumed ahead of her, the chilly dampness in the air clinging to her skin. The warmth of the hospital was welcome, even if the inside of the building reeked of disinfectant and plastic. Once through the doors, she began to make her way towards the elevator, a tea for each of them while they waited for his appointment.
“Candra?” Andy leaned against the wall, big hands shoved into the pockets of his well-loved gray overcoat. “Love, we’ll have to take those on the way home. They say I’ll have to come back tomorrow, they’re too crowded today.” He pushed himself up, reaching for his cup.
“Too crowded?” She frowned up at him, her eyes narrowing at the news. “But you had a laboratory appointment. I set it for you last week.” A gentle shrug from her grandfather didn’t settle her mood. “If you have an appointment, then it shouldn’t be too crowded for you.”
Andy sipped his tea thoughtfully. “One would think so, but I guess something came up. We can wait until tomorrow-“
“No, we –can’t- wait until tomorrow,” she interrupted, her voice harsh. “You have an appointment, and we make the appointments because you need to be here for treatment.” She pulled at her lip ring with her teeth, her expression simultaneously angry and thoughtful. “Wait here.”
“Candra, this isn’t-“
“Granddad, please. Wait here.” For a moment, her voice softened and she managed a sweet smile at the old man. He finally obliged, allowing her to take the elevator and arrive at the reception desk for the oncology department with a tight smile on her face.
“Do you have an appointment?” The nurse didn’t bother to look up from her computer.
“No.” There was no kindness wasted in Candra’s voice. “The appointment is for Andrew Kirby, ten-thirty this morning. I’d like to know why the appointment is not being honored.”
The middle aged woman looked up and frowned, half-expecting the teenager to add a ‘please’ to her request. Receiving no further courtesies, she scowled up at her. “All of the rooms are full right now, miss. We’ll have to reschedule his appointment.”
“Well, that’s unacceptable.”
The nurse’s eyebrows went up. “Excuse me?”
Candra leaned over the counter, jabbing a finger on the counter for emphasis. “I stood here Monday and scheduled an appointment for my grandfather to be seen and go through the second primary round of bloodwork for the stage he’s at, based upon the supervising doctor’s recommendations. I called yesterday to double-check the appointment, as I was fairly certain that some horrid cow over here would mess things up one way or another.” She pointed to the sign-in sheet on the top of the desk. “We arrived forty-five minutes early for an appointment that requires no doctor’s supervision and therefore does not require a room but merely a slip for the laboratory on the fifth floor, and you have the gall to sit there and tell me that my grandfather can’t be seen because of your group’s piss-poor ability to actually plan a day’s schedule of appointments?”
The nurse, a bulky thing with a slight moustache and a sneer on her face, pushed herself up to lean in towards Candra. “If you’re not a patient, you’re going to have to leave.”
“Make me,” she countered, unfazed. “Unless you hand me a laboratory release form with Andrew Kirby’s file number on it, you’re going to have a hard time of it, and I’m sure you don’t need me calling up the laboratory to tell them that you’re not sending them patients because you’re too lazy to treat a sick old man.” Arms folded across her chest, Candra smiled smugly and waited as the nurse grudgingly scrawled out a form. Without so much as a thank you, she snatched up the page and joined her grandfather downstairs