Lelaina Rivalen Ballamour

[Lelaina Bellamour]

LELAINA RIVALEN BELLAMOUR

....the mask

Your Name: Rin
Where did you find us?: A PM on PBS.
How long have you been roleplaying?: 7+ years.
Password: It is still bamf?

...basic character information

Birth Name: Lelaina Rivalen Bellamour
Nickname: Lela, Laina, Leena, Lain, Sunshine, Shorty
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
Birth date: August 5th
Program: Bachelor of Arts
Major: Martial Arts.
Major Explanation: To be frank, Lelaina wants nothing to do with the major she's in; she is a soccer player first and foremost -- but after being forced to transfer to SA and to "give up her dreams" she made a pact with herself. She will take her major, and do her best in it, if it'll mean getting her closer to her dreams -- so she studies, and she works out, enjoying the physicality of it all, if not the path that opens up before her because of it. As for her shifted form, it too, has little interest in combating, as it's life is made of dark currents, darker mysteries and never-ending hunger.
Animal Identity: Leopard Seal.

...personality

Likes:(at least 10)

• SOCCER;; I just can't get enough!
  
• FOOD;; I'm always hungry...no matter what I eat, I could always eat more
  
• SUNSHINE;; Doesn't it have a great smell? A great feeling?
  
• HEAT;; It makes you sweat!
  
• SWEATING;; It means you're doing it right!
  
• DIRT;; This is actually really weird. I won't admit it.
  
• EXERTION;; That is what freedom is -- working until you drop.
  
• LAUGHTER;; Don't you like laughing too?
  
• FRIENDS;; Best things in the world! I love you guys!
  
• SWIMMING;; Well, duh.
  
• OCEAN;; It's new, exciting, and I just fucking love it!
  
• SINGING;; Hahaha I'm so bad at it!
  
• TRUST;; Come on, open up to me, will ya? We'll have fun, promise!
  

Dislikes: (at least 10)

• STIFF CLOTHES;; I'll stick to my baggy jeans, thanks.
  
• LADY LIKE;; Don't make me do it!
  
• UNDER-ESTIMATING;; How do you know I'm not as good as you?
  
• ISOLATION;; Come on guys, I won't bite!
  
• SEALS;; I hate my shifted form.
  
• MARTIAL ARTS;; I can't believe I was forced to choose something this stupid.
  
• SCHOOL;; All I need to know I learn on the soccer field!
  
• LONERS;; Get out of that corner, come on, let's have some fun!
  
• HARD CANDY;; If you choke, I might laugh.
  
• HEAVY METAL;; What is that nonsense?
  
• PERFUME;; Are you trying to kill me?!
  

Fears: (At least 3)

• BREAKING HER LEGS;; If I break my leg, I'll be behind schedule!
  
• DYING;; At least, before getting what I want.
  
• NOT ENOUGH FOOD;; You want me to go hungry?
  

Strengths: (At least 3)

• FEARLESS;; There's nothing I'm afraid of trying to get what I want.
  
• PERSEVERANCE;; I'll keep trying no matter how many times I fail.
  
• AMBITION;; I'm going to make it big, just you watch me!
  
• OPEN-HEARTED;; Don't worry, I'll trust you first.
  
• COMPOSED;; Hahaha, that's funny!
  
• ENDURANCE;; I'll get through it if it'll get me where I need to be.
  
• CONFIDENCE;; There is no "what if". It'll happen. I'll make it happen.
  

Weaknesses: (At least 3)

• SEALS;; We fight all the time.
  
• TRUSTING;; People try to manipulate me a lot.
  
• NAIVE;; Wait... what did you mean!?
  
• OPTIMISTIC;; I've been bullied before because of it.
  
• OUTGOING;; My friends aren't always the safest people...
  

Overall: [400 words minimum]
It's amazing, truly, the deceit that goes on every single day of our lives -- the little lies that support the life we had chosen to walk. You see a person, see the way they act and expectations are created; a mask comes down and blinds you to anything else that might be true. You see the lies, you create the very lies you later regret, you later hate. It is human nature to hate and love, to clash and fight -- to see something beautiful and to want to either hold it tight or to crush it. So terrible this human race, this good and bad come together in such a complex light. Lelaina, yes, this vibrant, laughing girl is no different -- no one ever is.

There is no sense of originality unless you make it, unless you take the world in between your fingers and create yourself, protect yourself. She is no different, no, not at all. She is laughter, she is soccer, she is food -- she is everything simple in the world, a wild flower sprouting in the school gardens. No effeminate beauty this, but a tomboy in love with three things in life: soccer first and foremost, food, gods so much that it is amazing that she still maintains her form, and friends. These are the things she lives by, this implicit trust she offers to anyone, yes, yes, anyone without judging. She is the epitome of naivety, of kindness, of generosity -- she is abrasive with her teasing, but she is only opening you up, she is only trying to d raw you out of your shell because she wants to have fun. Lelaina sees the world in bright colors and sunlight, and she wants the world to see her in the same way. So she lives this dual life of cunning actress and naive open-hearted girl.

She is manipulated, but is the manipulator; with a smile, with simple honesty, and trust, she knows she will win you over. Hurt her, abuse her, bully her, she will only smile without anger, will still follow you even knowing that you are taking her to be betrayed. She will still smile and wave at you the next day. Clever, wicked girl. Do not mistake her obliviousness for what it is: friends manipulate her, try to force her to do their bidding and she follows with a smile on her face, but Lelaina knows, oh, she knows more deeply than you'd ever credit. She knows your heart, knows how you work, and she'll still walk forward, still wait for that goodness in you to show itself.

Perhaps she trusts too much in the good in human kind. Perhaps it doesn't matter to her what happens, what injuries she can get; to Lelaina, to Lela, this girl in love with life, full of ambition and confidence, there is nothing in the world she will not endure to get what she wants. So perhaps she is the most wicked of them all, perhaps she is the most evil, the most cruel -- luring in those with those bright sparkling eyes, with her laughter, with her easy smile, giving trust where trust should never be given. She is the Venus fly trap, slowly sinking it's fangs into your flesh until the game is taken too far and you realize it's too late to back out. It's too late to leave her because you realized she is something good, something great in your life.

Selfish, and uncaring for others, she wants friends to be her own, and her own only -- protecting anyone she cares for, anything she cares for. It does not mean this smiling, happy face is a lie. No, no, not so simple. Not so simple at all -- these truly are her joys in life. Soccer is her life, chasing after that stupid ball for hours is what she lives for; sweating, breathing hard, losing herself to the adrenaline, to the happiness of playing with comrades ... she is a social creature and is completely addicted to the game.

Unlike others, however, she hates her shifted form -- for it speaks truth where truth should be hidden. The very nature of the predator she can take the form of, represents that hungering ambition, that ease with which she manipulates while being manipulated. It is the effigy of her wickedness, and her impossible hunger... in the seal, she sees the worst of herself and she hates it, constantly fighting against what it means, constantly hiding that self from others. They do not need to know that the laughing, daring Lelaina has a dark side, a sarcastic, judgmental, all-aware side. They don't need to know she is fully aware of what they are doing, that she is intelligent, that she knows when someone is lying to her. No, no, these would ruin her image, and so she hides it, hating it, resenting the problems it has caused. Resenting it all the more when she was forced to transfer to Shifter Academy.

...appearance

x x

Celebrity Play By: Shannyn Sossamon
Appearance: [400 words minimum]
Nothing really surprising here, considering her love of soccer, but this little girl isn't really the princess type. For sure, she's the daddy's girl of all father's dreams, standing at 5'7 and weighing roughly 135, but all of it tomboy muscle. Oh yes, striking features or not, she is not the girl to be prettied up in little ribbons and frilly dresses, or the woman to wear skirts that barely cover her crotch. Give her a set of baggy jeans and a comfortable tank top and she'll be grinning for the rest of the day. Give her sneakers instead of shoes, jackets instead of sweaters -- give her anything that doesn't constrict or temper all of that boyish energy and she'll be your best friend for life. Needless to say the only boys that ever look at her are the ones on the soccer field.

With tan skin from running around under the sun all day, short cropped black hair that she often spikes up and wide-set dark eyes, it's almost hard to tell from a distance that she really is female. It doesn't bother her, but gives her a sense of freedom that a lot of other girls probably don't feel; they are too worried about makeup running, about sweating in front of the boys they like -- but this girl gets sweaty, gets dirty, smelling of grass and BO and it's the perfect world for her. Bruises often color her skin, but it's okay -- it's just another disguise.

Without it, everyone would realize how striking her high cheekbones are against the curved almond shape of her eyes. They would notice how deep the lower lip of her mouth pouts, how delicate her chin, neck and shoulders. It wouldn't be possible to hide the narrow turn of her back, or the arch of her back; her hips would be noticeably slender and curved -- and she would become something womanly under their eyes. They would realize how cute she looks with that short mayhem hair, or how erotic the line of her neck can be when bent at the right angle.

It would make others wonder how she looked in tighter jeans, in tighter shirts -- would make them wonder what she looked like when she didn't have cuts and bruises all over her skin, how she looked when she wasn't pigging out on food; they would wonder why they never noticed how delicate the line of her brow and cheekbones are in comparison to their own. Or why they never noticed how her breasts push against the line of her shirts, small perhaps, but still very much there. It is why she is comfortable wearing clothes that does not show off her femininity, that obscure their eyes to her possible fragility -- otherwise they would not play with her, would not beat her up, and treat her like one of their own.

The leopard seal is large and muscular, with a dark grey back and light grey on its stomach; its throat is whitish with the black spots that give the seal its common name. Ten feet long, and weighing in at 900 pounds, she is nothing to be trifled with -- especially with her frightening agility in the water. Although it is a true seal and swims with its hind limbs, it has powerful and highly developed forelimbs similar to sea lions, giving it a similar maneuverability, a classic example of convergent evolution. Despite her maneuverability, she is not a deep diver, but a shallow water hunter -- her ability to hold her breath is still phenomenal. With an unusually loose jaw that can open more than 160 degrees she can bite larger prey; like most carnivores, her front teeth are sharp, but her molars lock together in a way that allows them to sieve krill from the water. Voraciously hungry, with a temper, it is nothing to be goaded, especially when water is near.
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...history

Parents: {Adala Bellamour || mother || 40} {Dederick Bellamour || father || 48}
Siblings:{Alric || brother || 14} {Lutz || brother || 18 months }
[400 words minimum]
She didn't really know, you know? Didn't realize every time she smiled at someone, every time she ignored the fact that they were two-faced and mean, that she was doing the same thing. That she was deceiving them all with her laughter, with her idiocy. It was natural for her, social and easily lonely, to want to have others around her, always seeking that next new friend, that next new adventure -- she had dreams, so many of them it was almost impossible to keep them straight. Lelaina wanted everything in the world, and she was convinced she could do it if she knew the right people, if she just tried hard enough -- so when ignoring the betrayals became part of her calculations, she didn't really know what to do with herself. She was having fun, so was it any real harm? Were they even real friends? Did it matter? She rationalized it all and kept on being friends with the same people, still playing soccer with the boys.

Lelaina had a perfect life -- well, in her opinion anyway. She had a mother who yelled at her for coming home late all bruised, had a hysterical mother, given to bouts of worry and possessiveness; but she gave Lelaina enough money for all the food she wanted to eat. She worried about Lelaina's health, spoiled that tomboy rotten even when she got into fights with her brother. She had a father who utterly adored her -- a daddy's girl for sure, coaching her, teaching her the love of the game. They spent hours just drilling in the back yard, running around. Even her brother, three years younger than her, teased her, tried to provoke her, fought with her. It was the way the world was supposed to work. Too many friends to keep count, even if they weren't real friends, even if most of them were superficial acquaintances that just wanted to get closer to the boys soccer team; she may not have had the best grades, but what were grades when she was going to be a professional ball player?

Did it matter that she wasn't moral when she was having so much fun simply being herself? Playing ball, loving the late nights at the shore -- Oceanside, CA was the best place for her to live. On the cusp of adulthood, she thought things couldn't get any better, that she would finish her eighth grade and go into high school -- she would enter the place where her dreams would start. That was, until the night came when the impossible happened, when instead of feet kicking away in the dark ocean water there were flippers, where skin should be moonlit and soft, instead she was wrenched to the side and sinking, sinking, shifting, moving --- her body contorting as her screams became nothing but bubbles. The leopard seal with it's mouthful of fangs, with it's dark, feral eyes flicked it's tail and swam deeper than she had ever before known. She fell into this water, this voracious hunger and fed and fed on the wild life, bleeding away the night in dreams of fish and crustaceans, cracking their shells against the might of her jaws. Night became morning, but it was no morning that Lelaina had ever thought to see; naked, on the beach, she had found a towel and had run home, confusion and tears in her eyes.

How did she get away with it? How did her friends, who thought she had drowned, simply smile and laugh when they next saw her? Did they not make the impossible leap? Who cared, who cared? For weeks the poor girl was on pins and needles, trying to hide this constant change -- before she leashed it, hating it, trying to destroy it. For years, she hid it, going into high school, hiding this dark secret from friends, from family and continued on with her life of drunken ecstasy. Late nights on the beach, drinking late into the morning -- playing ball no matter what hour of the day, oh yes, she followed her heart, but she knew, deep down there was something wrong with her. When her mother said she was pregnant, Lelaina was relieved; it meant that their eyes wouldn't be on her anymore, that they would focus on something else -- but she got careless. Her mother, worried for Lela, went out to the beach to see what she did all night, and saw the most astonishing thing -- this shifting of creature to girl, and more horrifying, to the girl she had known all her life. Her darling baby girl, her little Lela. It was in her mother's genes, y'know? Her father had shifted and had kept it hidden from society, but she knew, had known, that eventually it would resurface -- that it had touched her daughter frightened and saddened her, for she knew the girl had so many dreams, and to end it like this was terrible.

Without preamble, they sent Lela to Shifter Academy in her eleventh year, forcing her to choose a major she didn't want to be in, forcing her to go to a school she didn't want to go to; she survived the first year, and was going into her senior year of high school, but she still hadn't given up her dream. No, not yet, not ever. All she had to do was get used to hiding her other self, that darker, manipulative self.

...connecting human to animal

[One Paragraph Minimum (Can be point form)]
Why a leopard seal? Why this strange sea-creature from the southern pole? They are solitary creatures, living alone unless it is time for mating -- living a quiet life of voracious hunger and insatiable curiosity, the leopard seal is bold, powerful and inquisitive, often playing around with prey it does not intend to eat; it is a cruel species, often indulging in games with food before devouring them. So how does this nasty, cold-hearted race have anything in common with the bright-eyed energetic tomboy? It represents the darker, calculative half of Lelaina. It is the part of her that knows when she is being manipulated, the predator that watches and waits, as opposed to the open-hearted girl she pretends to play. It is why she hates the leopard seal so much, for revealing so much about her truest nature than her words have ever done.

...literacy

RP Sample[/i]

Oh she knew, this heartache inside of her; she knew the words she should never speak -- she knew that to keep those around her, she had to be strong, be independent... but Rin was hardly any of these things. Without pack, without friends, family to surround her, support her she was a loose canon, wildly shooting at whoever looked at her the wrong way -- she was without bounds, without regrets, constantly shifting into the maddened creature she most feared. But that creature had fallen into silence, leaving nothing but a giant gaping hole in the middle of her existence -- she could not cope with that enduring silence, that untouchable fire that lingered in the crevices of her grief. It was as if Mura's harsh words had forced the Wolf to disobey all laws and to dissipate into nothingness. Would she ever shift again? Would she ever be able to lift her muzzle and how to the indifferent sky?

There was something here, a ghastly memory that was moving and living inside of her, a worm, a worn old tapeworm slipping and sliding through her veins, around her spine. Luke was entirely too nice to someone who did not deserve it, supporting her in the way she needed most, accepting her in the way she craved; her eyes slipped to the side to meet his, smiling ever so slightly at what he tried to give her: this gift, this trust. How could she accept it as she was? How could she take this kindness, this friendship of comfort and safety? Rin was cold, to the bone, but still it burned her where he touched his lips the top of her head -- a heaviness she had never felt before.

For the briefest moment the smokey edges of her dormant fire seemed to stir to life, the Wolf with it's blazing eyes seemed to be glimpsed; in that quick-moving heartbeat, it manifested and disappeared, a whiff of the familiar giving Rin strength, giving her back her control, her edge, her harshness. She could be strong -- if the Wolf was still here, if Luke was here; she could stand, and know herself, as long as there was somewhere here who looked at her and didn't see lies, didn't see fear: only truth. Yes, see her for what she was: untamed and uncouth, but still very much herself, still very much in love with the possibilities of the future.

Wind howled, long and loud and Rin shivered, lifting her hands up to cover her ears, looking like a little girl for all her thoughts on strength and endurance. Her senses keen, her heart ice-cold, she was too aware of the violence crashing around outside.Are you cold? -- yes, so cold, but she did not say it, could not speak past the howling that echoed in her ears. "Do you --" the wind raised it's own violent muzzle, it's fangs cutting into the door as it slammed open.

Again, time froze, moving at a pace as quiet as a snails, as molasses pouring over your skin, all sticky and unbearable. Luke was quick to rise up, to move through the wind and the rain -- Rin rose, leaving blanket behind, leaving the safe little corner behind ... the rain, the wind, it was too loud for her, too impossible for her to ignore. It roared and crashed, thunder slipping beneath her skin and rumbling against the cage of her chest. Did he hear this too? Did Luke know what this madness felt inside of his head? She reached forward as the water gushed forward, lapping at her shoes -- her eyes widened, hand dropped as she crouches, as her fingers dip into the thin layer of water.

She looks over her shoulder, watching as the water runs out of momentum and stalls a few yards away from their little corner. Still it was enough to warn her, to strangle her -- he said he wouldn't let her drown, but ... but would she be able to calm? Would she be able to see past the gushing water? Hear his voice beyond the crash of memory of current as it pulled at her? It seemed idiotic that this hall would flood -- but with one burst of the door, water had come in a gushing torrent; it didn't matter to Rin it was only a half inch high -- water was water and it accumulated and destroyed. Biting her tongue she jolted into action, already moving toward Luke before he called to her, her eyes harsh where they locked on the door he had opened. Strength -- she could not be babied. She could not simply submit to this... better fighting, yes, better to fight than too ---

Rin's eyes slip around the room and nod toward the end, "Grab the desk, it should hold it." she moves forward, squeezing into the narrow space between desk and wall, ruthlessly pushing the objects off of the surface. They were simply objects -- so merciless her disregard for materialism. Her room will flood and she will not miss anything held in her drawers, anything beneath her bed. Everything she needed, wanted, was in her head, in her memories -- in the people around her. Wind screamed in her ears, reverberating and echoing beyond the glass -- her eyes whipped around to the window, "Before the window br---" but it was a futile hope as she heard the dull roaring, the thin whistling: lawn chairs had been lifted by the 155 mph winds, the forceful gale lifting up such flimsy plastic and hurdling them toward the building wall. Trees cracked and swayed, branches ripped free from the trunk as they dropped and were flung.

There was an eerie creek of old wood as the roots snapped, as the trunk began to fall; the wind laughed in her ears as she pushed the desk out from it's nestled corner, cursing the idiot who had thought to put the desk in such a stupid place ------------------the window shatters under the blow of rain, wind and debris; memory rises and flexes: a hand around the back of her neck holding her under the water, keeping her from breath, from life. "Luke?"she asks, her eyes clouded by the force of rain, by the prick of glass as it slipped over her skin, no harm really done, none at all, but she didn't want to ask him, afraid of the answer. He was okay -- he had to be. Right, right?

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