Nicole Jennings

Nicole
Character Information
Full Name:	Nicole Jennings
Gender/Sexuality:	Female/Lesbian
Species:	Human
Place of Origin:	Connecticut, USA
Birth Date:	07/24/1993
Age:	19
Height:	5'3"
Weight:	121 lbs.
Hair Colour:	Chestnut
Eye Colour:	Brown
Romantic Status:	In a relationship
Occupation:	College Student
Birth Arcana:	The Star/Strength
OOC Information
Source:	Original Character (Appearance and picture based off Takeba Yukari)
Player:	User: Nicole

Nicole is a young American woman who arrived recently to Yuriba through unknown means, having woken up in the Starting Hut after going to sleep in her own bed the night before. She is somewhat unnerved by the unfamiliar surroundings and the manner of her transportation, but believes the inhabitants to be friendly.

Appearance

Work in progress! Please check back later. :)

Biography

Backstory

Nicole was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and, barring the occasional family vacation, had lived in the city ever since. Her father is an architecture professor, while her mother is an orthopedist at St. Francis Hospital. Despite many arguments between Nicole and her mother throughout the years, the nineteen-year-old holds a close relationship with her parents. Her brother, four years her elder, currently lives away at college, where he studies biology, yet regularly keeps in contact through e-mails and calls. While not precisely into the high-class realm of spending, her parents' income is high enough to allow for some level of luxury, something Nicole has grown used to and, to some extent, takes for granted at times.

She dated once, during her freshman year in high school, with a boy she had met two years before, in her old middle school. The two of them got together under the constant pressure of their peers, who saw them as the ideal couple. While she enjoyed the emotional closeness initially, she found herself growing uncomfortable as the relationship progressed, particularly with physical contact; she called it off scant few months after it had begun. The break was not a good one, and Nicole has not spoken to the boy ever since. She feels some uncertainty and angst over her apparent lack of attraction towards the opposite gender, and is currently not interested in dating.

Academically, her grades are about average; she excels in arts, literature and languages, and is fairly good at math, having taken up some advanced classes before graduation. She struggled with physics and chemistry, however, and had little to no interest in history lessons, finding them exceedingly boring. Though not overly shy, she's not particularly outspoken, which led her to steer clear of activities such as cheer, student council and large groups in school, preferring to spend time with her friends during her breaks and after classes.

Nicole is having trouble deciding what she wants to do with her life; both her parents have insisted enough on her going to college that anything else wasn't an option, so she sent out applications in hopes of finding a career path that called out to her during her first year. The dilemma has troubled her for months, and she's no closer to solving it now than she was when she was first asked about it. She was surprised to find herself accepted into Tufts, much to her parents' elation. A few days before she was bound to leave for campus, however, her life took a turn for the strange. Nicole went to sleep like any other night, only to find herself awakening on a distant island, the unfamiliar roof of a hut over her head.

Arrival to Yuriba

The young woman woke up on the island deep at night, disoriented and scared, believing herself to be the victim of a kidnapping. Quickly moving away from the Starting Hut, she wandered aimlessly before stumbling to the doors of The Labrys, where she met the shrine maiden Kinuko, a resident of the island. Though surprised by her attire at first, the other girl's kindness and reassurance eased her fears, and the two quickly became friends.

The revelation of the existence of magic was difficult to accept for the American, having had no contact with it throughout her life. The following day, while touring the village, the two of them were joined by Kailia, Kinuko's roommate and friend. She quickly opened up to the Tunyanniichuan-blessed woman, struggling as feelings of attraction for her newest friend blossomed within her; emotions she had bottled up out of fear of her peers' reaction before coming to the island. She moved in with her friends to Kinuko's household that night gratefully, quickly becoming both a fan and an apprentice of Kailia's cuisine. A few days later, during a silent night at the kitchen, Nicole accepted her emotions and confessed her feelings for Kailia, and the two of them became a couple. The young American has spent her days in bliss ever since, never straying far from her love.

Personality

Nicole is, to the outward observer, a centered individual; she has good grades, an acceptance letter for college, and her student expenses are all but paid for. She has a healthy hobby in music, plenty of friends, and never fails to greet a stranger with a polite smile. She is, all in all, a role model.

The girl in question, however, would disagree.

Nicole considers herself a slave to routine, destined to live a life that has been scripted out from the start. She feels no burning passion for any of the majors taught at Tufts, but rationalizes it'd be better to follow along with her parents' wishes; besides, if so many people struggle to be accepted into it and fail, it would be a shame to let such an opportunity go to waste. In truth, she's scared to step out of her comfort zone, and do anything that might upset the stability her life has always had. Most of her friends are acquaintances from high school, people she knows by name, greets, and occasionally shares a bit of talk or gossip with over lunch. She is, in short, a conformist, who would rather stick to her ways rather than risk standing out.

She is prone to bouts of aloofness, particularly when playing the piano, something she has enjoyed since her first lessons in middle school. She does not believe herself to be good enough to build a career around it, but finds it both relaxing and rewarding. Her hobbies also include collecting stuffed animals, of which she has a large set at home, both large and small, decorating her room. Though she finds it embarrassing and would never admit it to her friends, she finds it easier to sleep while holding one. Her passion for fighting games is surprising for those that don't know her well; she's an avid follower of them, and often used to play with her brother before he left for college. Both she and her brother built and customized their own fightsticks together. Nicole loves the theater as well. Though she has never considered acting herself, her eyes find magic in a live performance that a television can never replicate. She enjoys sappy, sentimental stories best. While not athletically inclined, she often joined her parents during their morning jogs, both to spend time with them and keep in shape.

Nicole is terrified of deep bodies of water. Anything deep enough to reach her waist is unnerving, but tolerable; she refuses to consider entering anything deeper than that. As a result, she has never learned how to swim, and rapidly grows uneasy about suggestions on trips to beaches, pools, or boat travel. She also finds it difficult to trust people with objects she has grown attached to; in particular, her stuffed animals are completely off-limits, but she also hesitates to lend items as simple as a book or a CD she has grown fond of. She is also rather self-conscious of others' opinions of her, often judging her own self-worth from her peers' words and actions. While she does not have a particularly bad temper, she does have trouble calming down on those rare occasions when something gets her riled up, and is somewhat mistrustful of strangers, appearing guarded and uneasy around them at first. Despite her natural cautiousness, she can be particularly naïve about other people's intentions and the meanings behind their actions, especially once she begins to trust them.

She feels somewhat uncomfortable about having been plucked from her home, not to mention shaken by the realization that magic does, in fact, exist. However, part of her is elated at the chance to live an adventure, something that, for once, has not been carefully planned and prepared.