⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Litha
Contact: sister_midnight on Plurk
Age: 38
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Lady Shelly Rainsworth
Age: about 34
Canon: Pandora Hearts
Canon Point: Her death

Background:
In Pandora Hearts, there are four great dukedoms, each one holding guardianship of a gate to the Abyss. Shelly was born into one of them, the daughter of Duchess Sheryl Rainsworth. The House of Rainsworth sets itself apart from the other houses (Barma, Vessalius, and Nightray) by being a matriarchal line. As such, Lady Shelly would have become the head of her household, one day, were it not for the fact that she was born with a frail constitution, which resulted in an early death.

She wasn't the sort to let her frailty rule her, however. It did not stand in the way of her marrying, or becoming a mother. (It is worth noting, however, that her husband is never actually shown or mentioned in canon, nor is her father. It's a popular fandom joke that Rainsworths devour their husbands after mating, like praying mantises.) They are a close-knit and supportive family, and she was a loving mother who was rarely pictured away from her child. Her daughter idolized her to the point that she almost seems to try to become her, after her death, adopting her style of dress, and the way she does her hair. By Sharon's own admission, she also inherited a certain amount of greediness from her--since Shelly would've known she probably didn't have as long to live as a healthy person might, she no doubt had a certain lust for life that her child picked up on, never wanting to miss a moment with her important people.

It also didn't stop her from fearlessly taking in an infamous serial killer (Kevin Regnard, later to be known as Xerxes Break) who fell out of the Abyss, one day, and ended up on her basement floor in a pool of his own blood. Through kindness, compassion and sheer tenacity, she was an indispensable part of his recovery. Even in the earliest days of his stay with them, when another character fails to stop him from self-harm, the only one who can get close to him without being shoved away and screamed at is Lady Shelly. She is even able to earn his trust to the point that he will let her touch his face on his blind side, when the last person to get so close to him had been the Will of the Abyss, when she ripped out his eye. Shelly's influence slowly transforms him from a surly and traumatized killer to a charming and cheerful troll, who loved her deeply. He would go on to be unshakably faithful to her house (and memory) for the rest of his life.

Shelly's own end came roughly five years after his initial arrival. On the night of Oz Vessalius' coming of age ceremony (Basically the very beginning of the manga), she collapsed in exhaustion, causing her mother to cancel her appearance, there, and send her daughter Sharon to deliver her regrets (accompanied by said reformed serial killer). It is shortly after this that she passed away.

Personality:
The Rainsworth party line is that its women must always be cheerful, graceful and beautiful, no matter what she is going through. The motto is recited by Lady Sheryl to her granddaughter Sharon, and as Shelly's mother, she would have raised her with the same wisdom. Underneath that, however, each and every one of them is also a terrifying (if essentially good-hearted) force of nature. Shelly is no exception to this. For all her gentility, she isn't shy about speaking truth when it needs spoken. She is unafraid to ask Kevin point blank whether he wants to die, and suggests that he's selfish to do so. This sort of smiling ruthlessness is another family trait; we can see it also in her mother, whose response to her oldest friend, Duke Barma, threatening Alice, Oz and Break is to embed a harisen in the wall and teasingly suggest that his Contract has impaired his thinking. Though she smiles, the atmosphere around her is enough to turn the man into a stammering, backpedaling mess. (It is worth noting that, canonically, Lady Sheryl is known as the scariest person in Pardora, the organization the four Dukedoms run.) It can be deduced that Shelly is capable of the same sweetly-delivered intimidation: even ten years after her death, Break states plainly that his primary motivation for protecting Sharon is that Shelly would kill him if he didn't. (It is also worth noting, that, despite Sheryl being the official head of the household, it is Shelly who he goes to to beg permission to move forward with his quest to solve the mystery of the Tragedy of Sablier. The woman clearly leaves an impression.)

As a powerful noble house which was deeply into secret government dealings, the Rainsworths are no strangers to intrigue, manipulation and a little light espionage from time to time. However, they are, as a rule, rare in their ability to be involved in such things without being corrupted by them. Which is to say, Lady Shelly can be a touch Machiavellian at times, but she exclusively uses her powers for good. She has a clear mischievous streak, and she loves to tease people, but it is never in a mean way. For example, she delights in flustering Kevin by cooing over his beautiful (remaining) eye. The closest thing Rainsworths have to a cruel bone in their collective bodies is the dominatrix tendencies they hide under all those warm, fuzzy ruffles.

While most of what we learn of Lady Shelly is from the memories of those who knew and loved her, one feels rather safe in saying she's a credit to her bloodline. Her kindness and compassion are the stuff of legend, and given Kevin's demeanor when he first arrived, it's clear her patience is right up there with it. She is a physically demonstrative person. In every memory connected to her, she is reaching out to show affection or offer comfort, clasping someone's hands in hers, caressing a cheek, pressing her forehead against that of a sick person as a warmly whimsical "charm" to help them feel better. She's hard to ruffle, a serene presence who can move into a tense situation and diffuse it. When Kevin/Break freaks out about Reim being too close and lashes out like a wounded animal, Shelly simply slides right in, gently places Reim's dislodged glasses back upon his face, and goes to kneel next to Kevin and talk him down.

Shelly is a fighter, albeit in a subtle way. When she urges Kevin to continue to live, to struggle, to fight through the pain, it seems clear that these are things she has told herself, while dealing with her illness. On her death bed, she expresses her certainty that someday, somewhere, someone will need him. She entreats him to stay alive, and step up when that time comes. In this way she is passing the torch, by asking him essentially to carry on as she would. Simultaneously, by giving him this task, she is ensuring that her faithful knight does not give in to the grief of losing her and do anything foolish, as he had when he lost the Sinclairs (the first family he served). The memory of this final wish of hers, and the conviction with which she delivers it, has such an impact on Break that it keeps him going through the last trials of his life with determination, even as he has one foot in the grave. His final words, as his life drains away, are "Yes, Lady Shelly".


Abilities:
While it wouldn't be a terrible stretch of imagination to suspect Sharon inherited her Contract with the Chain known as Equus from her mother, there is no canon mention of it. So, since it's just as easy to imagine that her frail health prevented her from being able to endure the physical strain of having a Contract, for game purposes, Shelly gets to be rare among Pandora Hearts characters by not having a Chain, and thus not having any magical-type powers at all.
It's a family trait to be able to wield a mean harisen (paper fan), so I'll keep that. Somehow, through the wonderful magic of manga/anime, she can throw one of those things with enough force to be able to embed it in a wall, or swing it hard enough to knock a man across the room. Given that it's Shelly, though, I don't expect she'll do such a thing often. Her real strengths lie in her virtue, her compassion, and her ability to wrap people around her little finger and make them happy to stay that way.

Alignment:
Daimonia. Apart from the primary emotions of grief and joy (Grief for her being a widow, and her own fragile health, and Joy for her choice to live happily and try to ensure that her loved ones do the same) some of the other emotions listed under Daimonia include excitement, humor, mischief and sado-masochism (that dominatrix streak). Overall, that's Shelly all over.

Other:



⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

General Sample:
Here.

Emotion Sample:
Here.

Questions:
None at all.