Luceti Application
Mun
Name: Mel
Livejournal Username: bunnyfishmeljel
E-mail: bunnyfishmeljel@sbcglobal.net
AIM/MSN: AIM: Dangergoggles
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: Pilouette Vivienne Bonheur
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Wing Color: Light Pink
Physical Appearance: She's about 5'2", with long blonde hair about waist length, but usually kept in a ponytail, tied up with a ribbon. Her build is thin and nonathletic, but not altogether scrawny. She also has blue eyes and a fair complexion. She usually dresses pretty modestly, with knee length skirts and shirts with collars. Visual Reference
History: Originally from Lille, France, Pilouette was born to Armand Bonheur and his wife, Camille. An exceptionally serious woman, Camille lacked a sense of humor, so when Armand made a joke about naming their infant daughter after his childhood dog, Camille went ahead with it.
Since her parents worked a lot, Pilouette spent much of her formative years with her grandparents in Lille, while Armand and Camille worked, both overseas and in Paris. She would often go weeks at a time without seeing either of her parents and as a result became very attached to her grandparents. During this time, she also was very close to her cousin Giselle, the daughter of Pilouette's aunt, Francette. The two children got along very well, until a particular incident drove them apart, though at present, neither is willing to admit that they've completely forgotten what said incident is.
Not long after Pilouette turned three, Armand was transferred to the US branch of the company he worked for and, along with his wife and child, moved to the US. Having become extremely attached to her grandparents, Pilouette was very anxious about the move, more so than she would have been just moving to another house or city. Fortunately Camille, an American, insisted on her daughter learning English even while living in France, so there was no language barrier in place.
It was at this point that her parent's marital problems began. Camille insisted that their daughter be placed in a boarding school as soon as possible, allowing her to recieve the best education possible and still allowing herself and Armand to work. Armand, however, was completely against this, wishing to keep his daughter at home in order to spend time with her since he had already missed much of her earliest years. As time went on, their marriage gradually fell apart, the issues piling up little by little. Shortly after Pilouette's fourth birthday, the two were divorced. Camille, believing that she would be unable to balance her career with taking care of a child, chose her career, giving her husband sole custody.
Feeling as if she was rejected by her own mother, Pilouette became a very shy child and had a hard time making friends with other children when she started school. It was in kindergarten that she met Peter Hartell, an equally shy boy. Since neither had made much progress in the way of socializing with the other children, the teacher encouraged Pilouette and Peter to play together and the two gradually became close friends. Within a few years, the Hartells became almost like a second family to Pilouette and she would often stay with them when her father was working late. It was during this time that Pilouette developed an interest in baking after watching Mr. and Mrs. Hartell testing out recipes for their cafe. As she became older, this interest in baking became something Pilouette would consider making a career of later in life.
Many years later, just before Pilouette hit middle school, her father was promoted into a position that required him to make regular business trips to Paris. He and his daughter moved to a neighborhood that was a little closer to the local branch of the company he worked for and Pilouette was transferred to The Lillian Rose Academy for Young Ladies, an all girls private school that was closer to their new home. Pilouette was initially a little upset about the move since it would prevent her from seeng the Hartell family, especially her best friend Peter, quite as often and her shyness began to increase. However, it was at this new school that she met Patty Summers who had just moved to town (coincidentally in the same neighborhood as Pilouette) and the two became friends. Patty, a little more outgoing than Pilouette, helped her new friend become more outgoing, eventually leaving much of her shyness behind.
A few years after this, shortly after she turned, fourteen, she convinced her father that she would be alright on her own while he was away on trips, though he initially only allowed it because Patty's parents would offer to check in on her every now and then, though over the next two years these check ins would become less frequent. Though Pilouette wished to prove how mature she was by taking care of the house on her own while her father was away, she simultaneously wanted him to be home more and secretly resented the fact that he seemed to constantly put his work before her.
This was Pilouette's life, until the day she woke up in Luceti.
Personality:
Pilouette is more or less your typical teenage girl. She can be very sweet and cheerful a good deal of the time, but she's also very emotional and childish. Pushing the right buttons can cause her to blow up in anger and go on a tirade or to go into a state of panic and those buttons certainly aren't hard to find; one misunderstood comment is often all it takes, though it seems like she can restrain herself a little easier when it comes to comments from adults. Either way, after she's calmed down she does tend to feel bad about these kneejerk reactions, especially if it was toward someone she's close to.
Adding to this, she's also somewhat self conscious and takes criticism to heart, though she tends to take it more seriously from adults, especially women, than she does from people her own age, though she is not aware of how differently she takes these comments. Pilouette often bonds with girls easier, subconsciously seeking out female role models, and tends to get more defensive over the opinions of guys. Despite her decent baking ability, she has very few, if any, abilities that she considers "real talents" and tends to be pretty amazed when others have things they are exceptionally good at.
This often causes her to compare herself to others and, while it sometimes causes her to see herself as inferior to others, not that she would ever admit as much, it also causes her to do her best at whatever task is at hand to prove her own worth, partially because she has a desire for approval, stemming from what she percieved as being rejected by her mother. However, these feelings of rejection have turned into resentment as Pilouette has grown older and she has convinced herself that she dislikes her mother entirely. If asked about her mother, Pilouette will usually respond that she has no mom and will often do her best not to offer more on the subject unless a determined effort is made.
She is capable of taking care of herself in the domestic sense, but Pilouette is still somewhat childish, though a good deal of this is because she tries to be "more adult," often getting annoyed when people act towards her in any way that she views as being treated like a child. However, she's still in that awkward teenage phase; she's very easily flustered, and when faced with something emotionally difficult, she will don a pair of false glasses to calm down, claiming that wearing them makes her feel more mature. In reality, they're more or less like a child's security blanket. However, before putting on her glasses these situations, depending on the intensity, may cause her to sputter and talk a mile a minute, often blurting out whatever may come to mind.
The fact that she learned much of her English watching tapes of reruns of old American TV shows also causes her speech to be peppered with outdated slang that most kids her age don't use, like "golly" or "jeepers" and she has yet to grow out of this, which can often lead to her seeming even more childish than she already is.
Pilouette is also a bit of a romantic. As a child, she was practically raised on fairy tales and stories about true love and thus, her ideas about romance tend to be heavily idealized. On the surface she thinks she wants a handsome Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet, but really she just wants a guy she can just be herself around, someone she argue with and fuss over. However, as much of a romantic as she is, she really has no idea on how to approach it and gets a little ruffled when the subject is brought up with her. Aside from her friend Peter, Pilouette hasn't had too much socialization with boys since entering middle school, since her father, unable to really keep tabs on her due to his job, is somewhat protective of her and discourages her from dating until she's older.
Strengths:
Physical: Physically, she's pretty average. Her relatively small frame allows her to reach into small spaces and can sometimes even cram herself into somewhat cramped places when needed. She's also a somewhat decent cook, though at present she is limited to things that are simple to make.
Mental: Pilouette isn't exceptionally smart, but she certainly tries hard. If given a task, she'll do her best to do it well, even if it doesn't go as well as she'd like it to at first.
Emotional: When she's not being moody, Pilouette can actually be a very kind girl and will do her best to try and make a friend feel better. Though she's insecure about herself, she does her best to be positive when it comes to the endeavors of others.
Weaknesses:
Physical: Aside from being outright physically weak, she's also a little clumsy. While she can walk and talk at the same time, anything that requires a lot of grace and strength is almost certainly out of her league. In other words, she's almost wholly unathletic. Also, though it can be a positive, her small size is also a weakness as it, combined with her lack of physical strength, allows her to be easily overpowered.
Mental: Pilouette isn't stupid, but she isn't a genius, either. She tends to be a little ditzy and naive and at times can be a bit slow on the uptake, occasionally coming to odd conclusions. Also, she tries so hard to adopt a "mature, adult attitude" that it actually tends to contribute to her own immaturity. She's also easily flustered and tends to panic in difficult situations.
Emotional: She tends to be exceptionally moody, often letting her emotions get the best of her. One comment is all it takes to take her from cheerful to irritated and these mood swings may even make people hesistant to interact with her. She also takes criticism harshly due to her own insecurities, which often causes her to become a little defensive.
Samples (ALL samples must be set in Luceti-verse.)
First Person:
Okay, you guys, you can come out now! This so totally isn't even funny! No, seriously, it's about as funny as the time you put me on the porch. I get it, I'm a heavy sleeper, but if you want me to wake up, then like, just wake me up!
Ugh, geez, what I even wearing? Seriously, this is- Oooh, this is actually kind of cute. Oh, oooh, my clothes! They're right here!
...Oh, no way! They cut holes in the back?! It's my favorite shirt, too!
[She lets out an exasperated sigh.]
Geez, where am I anyway? Is there even a forest anywhere near my house? Ugh, my back hurts...What did those guys do?!
[She's silent for a few moments.]
Omigosh. Omigosh are these wings? Why do I have wings? I have wings!
I have wings.
Oh my gosh, I'M DEAD! WHY AM I DEAD!?
Third Person:
This was definitely not home. Pilouette had awakened, not on the comfy, soft couch in her living room, but in a forest, on the ground, covered in dirt. Not to mention that these were not the clothes she was wearing when she had laid down for a nap. She had been sure that her friends were pranking her again. They had done such things before, but this was ridiculous, even for them. There was quite a bit of difference between putting a sleeping girl on the front porch in her pajamas and redressing that girl and dumping her in the middle of forest. However, Pilouette was sixteen. She was practically an adult and as a mature adult she could surely handle this attempt at cheap juvenile humor.
Then she discovered that she had wings. This could only mean one thing.
She was dead.
That's what happened when people died, right? They died and if they were good people, they became angels or something. Though, Heaven was not as cloudy as people made it out to be. In fact, it appeared to have a distinct lack of clouds. Also, it was covered in dirt and trees. She did not recall ever hearing that Heaven was a forest.
She certainly didn't remember dying. Was dying the kind of thing people remembered? Having no experience in that area, Pilouette had no idea. Regardless of where she was or whether or not she remembered any of it, she was dead and this did not sit well with her.
She still had so much to do! She was too young! She never got to say goodbye! Worst of all, she never did get a boyfriend! She was in too much shock to start grieving for the life she had lost and instead turned to her usual way of dealing with things: panic.
-----
In her early years before moving to the States, she was often with her grandmother, a retired kindergarten teacher. Her grandmother was very kind and, having an educational background, was able to give Pilouette the kind of attention and stimulation that would allow her to develop normally for a child her age. She also spent time with her grandfather, a doctor specializing in athletic injuries, though he generally had a somewhat grouchy disposition. They were very affectionate and doting towards their granddaughter and often acted her as if they were her parents. Since she spent more time with her grandparents than her parents, Pilouette developed a very strong attachment to them.
After moving to the United States, her parents would often leave her with babysitters or day nannies until they arrived home from work. While this was not possible while they lived in France, after the move the office where Pilouette's father, Armand, worked was in the same city as their new home and thus he was often home early enough to make hiring a babysitter or day nanny possible.
Her father works as an investment banker and makes what would be considered a "high income salary." Even without her mother's income, since he has since been promoted from the accountant position he held previously, Pilouette and her father would be considered "upper middle class." They're not really wealthy but they're fairly well off and definitely aren't struggling to pay the bills. While she is aware that not everyone has as much money as her family does, she's never had to do a lot of what many people would consider "real work" and may, at times, come off as a bit sheltered.
She also began to come out of her shell after meeting Peter and, since she would stay with the Hartell family often over the next several years, began seeing Peter's parents as...well, parental figures. Unlike her own parents, they seemed to be around on a consistent basis and they often treated her as if she was a member of their own family, which explains why she was so upset when she had to move after her father was promoted and began to withdraw again.
However, after meeting Patty Summers in middle school, she began to slowly open up once more. Patty, an outgoing and outspoken girl, would push Pilouette to socialize with her classmates and voice her opinions more often. While it did make her more outgoing and sociable, her years of self esteem issues would cause her to develop a defensive attitude and, with her new outspokenness, would at times snap at others when criticized. Having had little socialization with boys after fifth grade, her attitude towards the opinions of guys her age would often be negative, though these negative reactions were usually to put up a front to hide her hurt feelings.
These issues are, in turn, what causes her to take criticism from adults more seriously than she does criticism from those her own age. Since her parents, especially her mother, were not terribly involved in her life (ex: her father not attending school functions because of work, or the obvious lack of contact and thus, praise and affection from her mother), she subconsciously seeks approval from adults and loves being praised or told that she has done something useful, as it gives her a sense of worth that she did not receive from her parents.
Also since I mentioned Pilouette's cousin, Giselle, in her app I thought I would expand on their relationship here and how it applies to who Pilouette is. The two girls seem to make it a point to antagonize one another whenever they are together and have done so from the time they began fighting. Pilouette seems to see her cousin as everything she's not: mature, smart, confident and glamorous. She secretly considers Giselle "better" than herself, which only fuels the feelings of rivalry she has toward her. The criticism she gets from her cousin, riles Pilouette up like nothing else, mostly because it makes her feel even more inferior to someone she already considers "better", so if she can one up Giselle in any way, she'll do what she can to make it happen, as vindictive as that may be. This attitude often applies to other girls that Pilouette may have conflict with, though very rarely is it of the same severity.
----
Expanding on her education, boarding schools that include all 13 years of school exist, though it would seem they are in the minority. I feel I should clarify that, though her mother wanted her to, Pilouette has never actually attended a boarding school. From kindergarten through fifth grade, she attended a public school and from sixth grade on, she attended an all girls private school, though it is not a boarding school. Her grades are pretty average, mostly B's with A's here and there.
-----
As for her abandonment issues, they didn't develop right away. While she was initially more confused than hurt, as time went on she began asking her father questions such as "Where's mommy? Why doesn't she live with us anymore? Why doesn't mommy ever call?" and these questions began to become more frequent as she began to socialize with neighborhood children who questioned why they never saw her mother around and why they only ever saw her with babysitters and the like.
Recieving no satisfying answers from her father, since he couldn't think of a way to say that Camille chose her career over caring for her child and since Camille never showed up for family functions, celebrated holidays with Pilouette and her father, or made much of an effort to contact her, Pilouette slowly began comparing her relationship with her mother to those of the children in her neighborhood. As time went on, she heard stories from other children of their mothers telling them stories or taking them on grocery shipping trips or tucking them in at night, she began to question why she didn't seem to receive the same affection and attention from her own mother that other kids received from theirs. She eventually came to the conclusion that her mother did not consider her important enough to stick around for, damaging her self esteem and causing her to begin shying away from other people.
I did some research to make sure that I was portraying Pilouette's issues in a realistic light, though I admit, I have no experience with it myself. From I was read, it seemed that preschool age children, which is the age group Pilouette was in when her parents divorced, seem likely to interpret the absence of a parent as rejection, since they often don't quite understand why their parents are divorcing or, because preschool age children often have a self centered mindset and have a black and white view of what's wrong or right, think that they are somehow responsible for that parent's abscence, whether it is because they think they did something wrong or that the child thinks the absent parent did not love them.
A few of my resources:
http://singleparents.about.com/od/parenting/a/abandonment.htm
http://www.examiner.com/step-parenting-in-san-antonio/effects-of-divorce-on-preschool-age-children
http://www.parentingafterdivorce.com/articles/highconflict.html