Application high_seas

[thewatchdogswife]

[Name]: Tora
[Age]: 29
[Contacts]:
♦ DW: athenalaureate
♦ AIM: torastellar
♦ Plurk: Serilia
[Timezone]: GMT+1
[Other Characters]: Phoenix Ikki (uccellodifuoco)



[Name]: Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford
[Canon]: Kuroshitsuji
[Age]: 14
[Gender]: Female
[Canon Point]: Post Campania and before Easter celebrations (chapter 65 - 66).

[History]: Manga Synopsis only as the anime story differs notably.

[Personality]: Overall Elizabeth is nothing but a bucket of sweetness. She's a blessed child, having a high social status that warrants her anything she may want, two loving parents, an older brother, a fiancé that she loves and, basically, a life without tragedy. However, that only applies to her direct family and home. She's not really a stranger to tragedy, having seen her uncle and his wife, her fiancé's parents, murdered in their own house that was set on fire while her fiancé went missing for a whole month, leaving no trace of even if he was still alive or not, which lead people to believe he had been killed as well to the point that his funeral was held together with his parents'. Even after Ciel returned anyone with eyes could see that the tragedy was farther than him having been lost somewhere. He had lost his smile and one of his eyes, he had lost the inner light he used to have, all crushed by whatever happened while he was missing. Despite what one may think due her bubbly character, Elizabeth isn't a stupid child, she knows Ciel better than what he himself thinks and she's quick to catch up with things being odd with him even if she doesn't really know why. She has also seen Ciel's other aunt murdered, the once bright and lively woman dressed in red suddenly dressed in white with a pale skin. Definitively, Lizzie's not a stranger to tragedy even if they haven't really danced closely together.

As the daughter of a marquis Lizzie has always had everything she wanted within the closest range of her family and home, but she has seen her share of tragedy and pain and she has suffered it as if it was directly related to her due of how much she loves and cares for Ciel. She can be quite empathic and tries her best to give support and comfort when she notices that those are needed. Unfortunately, her understanding ends there many times. She can know when people are suffering, when they are troubled, but upon trying her best to fix things she often uses too much enthusiasm and goes overboard which turn her best intentions into seemingly selfish acts on her part. Also because she can't really know what others think, she can't know the best way to fix things with them so she tries to do it the way she believes they would be fixed for her, if she was in their situation, and thus she ends creating private parties and dances and games, which to others often just seem as her being careless about others' suffering and just wanting to have fun herself.

Though she is a spoiled child and can indeed act like one, whining and demanding in order to get what she wants, she tries to not be selfish and to be proper and polite, but again she often finds herself failing at that task due lack of information. She has lost count of how many times she has asked something to Ciel only to have the question rejected in different ways, as he never wants to tell her anything in order to protect her, but that also causes her to be unable to be anything else but a spoiled and selfish child. An example can be seen when, in one of her attempts to cheer up Ciel, she got angry at him for wearing the ring he always wore instead of the one she got him. No one had ever told her what that ring represented, what it meant or what it was, so for her it was just another decoration, one he had chosen at some point and didn't want to take of in order to use hers even if hers was better. Had she been told from the start or even before that the ring was a heirloom and proof of who the head of the Phantomhive was, she probably wouldn't have reacted the way she did, neither would she have broken it in a tantrum. In fact, she probably would have chosen clothes that would fit the ring, instead of choosing the clothes she wanted and then finding a suitable decoration for them. She is very thoughtful of Ciel, to the point of sacrificing things that she likes in favor of things that will support him, this is why she never wears high heels around Ciel, even if she has several and loves them, since he is always trying to be seen like an adult and she's already taller than him, she doesn't want him to feel bad or anything just because she towers over him.

Lizzie is a social girl, she loves meeting people and learning about other places and hear stories, and she loves to attend to parties and events, mixing in them perfectly and with ease even if she is basically the only child of her age around. As the daughter of a Marquis, Elizabeth receives an excellent education even if she's a girl, probably thanks to her mother's nature. She's quite a liberal girl as well, having been surrounded by examples of outstanding women who had nothing to envy to men, her own mother and Ciel's other aunt, Angelina, being examples of this. Both were strong women with pride and success on their own without living under the shadow of their husbands, while at the same time they did have husbands, which is basically the highest aspiration a woman can have. Not only that, but her mother got even a higher social position than her brother, Ciel's father, thanks to her marriage, which she got after defeating her husband in a fencing match. In fact, Lizzie herself has been heavily influenced by her mother as since little she has been trained in fencing and she's considered a genius with it, perfectly capable of holding her ground and fight bravely and with a strength no one would imagine from a girl like her. Lizzie really doesn't know what it means that a woman can't do something or that she's not equal to a man or that she can't be stronger and capable of protecting her man, she herself vowed to become strong enough to protect Ciel herself once he returned. However, she also understands that women and men are meant to be different and that the rules of society in the adult world are harsh and can't be changed by mere wishing, she knows what a man's pride is and thus she also vowed to remain cute for Ciel, a wife that he could protect until he couldn't do so, moment at which she would be the one to protect him so that he would think of her as cute until the end. Because of that, even if she's what could be considered as liberal for her time, she's still quite settled in an apparently misogynist mindset.

Still, like her mother, Lizzie has a competitive nature and a big pride herself. She understands how serious a competition is, even a friendly one in a game-set, competitions are meant to be taken seriously and to give one's best in them, not to "play nice" and lose. She's the kind of person who would actually frown and be disappointed at anyone who rejects a competition, no matter what kind of competition it is. Lizzie herself, even if she rarely challenges anyone, would never back down from a competition, or from anything she sets her mind into actually. Still, she prefers it when the competition isn't against someone else, preferring to work together with others and have fun, instead she's prone to challenge "invisible things" like unhappiness or worries that steal smiles and happiness from those she cares about. It could be said that her wish to help others and cheer them up is nothing but her competitiveness nature and her will to not give up on being able to see someone's smile or have fun with them.

[Abilities / Strengths & Weaknesses]:

Abilities:

Despite being a Victorian lady, Lizzie's most outstanding ability is her talent with a sword. While other girls were taught nothing but ladylike things, she attended fencing lessons together with many other students, all of them boys of course. She's known as a genius with the sword actually, capable of dual wielding with ease. In combat she's agile and quick, her movements are very precise and calculated, not a single swing or step is wasted and all her strikes aim to defeat her opponent without hesitation even if victory can only be attained by killing. She certainly didn't hesitate to kill again the Bizarre Dolls (monsters similar to zombies) that infested the ship, and she hesitated even less in her attempt to attack Grell, a man who definitively was alive, thus it's not possible to argue that she had no hesitations with the dolls just because they were already dead.

Besides that, Lizzie has gotten a privileged education given her social standing and future as the Phantomhive's wife, she has good house management skills in order to lead the servants in the house with ease and keep the house in optimal conditions. She also knows how to cook even if ideally she will never have to do it (that's what cooks are for!), but even so she must know how to do it in order to be a proper wife. She has obviously received art lessons, poetry and embroidery mainly, and she has good decoration skills even if often she likes to go overboard. She's also good at dancing, and her general etiquette is superb, though she tends to surrender it a bit when she's with Ciel.

Strengths:

Mental: For many Elizabeth is nothing but a stupid, brainless girl whose mind remains blank and clean and is only filled by thoughts of parties and cute things. However, that's just what she wants others to think, in truth everything Lizzie does and says is carefully thought of even if at times it doesn't seem that way due to her lacking the proper information (examples of this are seen basically every time she organizes a party for Ciel). Lizzie makes a conscious and well thought choice to appear cute and almost brainless, because that's the ideal of women during her time and the type of girl that Ciel likes the most according to his own words, even if he may be okay with her "real" self she's convinced that it's better to be cute until the very end. The "real" Lizzie isn't a fool, she may not be an academical genius or the most intelligent person in the place, but she's definitively brighter than it seems. She has a good memory and a decent intuition, as well as a strong and firm set of morals and convictions that she won't betray no matter what. In a way, her apparent weakness is her biggest strength as it's also her own way to cope with what's going on around her, the most worried or troubled she gets, the most brainless and cute she acts. She's also very stubborn, which can be a problem as often as it's a blessing, it certainly becomes a blessing when it keeps her from giving up on something or from letting the horrible things that happen around her steal her smile or ruin her happiness.

Physical: It's easy to think that Lizzie has no physical strengths other than being extremely good at bear hugs capable of squeezing others, she certainly tries to not be in situations where the opposite can be seen, specially by Ciel. In truth, though, Lizzie is very physical adept, she's simply a genius with the sword, being able to beat older fencers even at a young age despite having picked up the sword just recently. Because of her training she has a good source of stamina and resistance, she's agile and quick, capable of jumping to high places and reach outrageous locations (like when she places an Easter egg at the top of a candle in a chandelier). She has a decent amount of strength in her legs and arms, so she can move faster and jump higher, as well as pierce through her opponents easily, she certainly had no problems severing heads with one clean swipe or piercing them with her sword.

Emotional: If there's an expression to describe Lizzie that would be "bucket of sweetness". She's a caring child with tons of love to share and who isn't afraid of showing it. Cheerful and upbeat, she tries her best to keep smiling no matter what. Because in her mind, as long as one smiles, happiness will eventually come and the sadness won't catch up to them. Lizzie adores helping others and aims to be helpful, always trying to cheer Ciel up and make new and happy memories for him in order to chase away the bad things that happened to him. Lizzie is quick to create bonds with people and even if she knows that there are tons of bad people out there, she is someone who likes to keep hope against everything and always think the best of people until proved otherwise.

Weaknesses:

Mental: Elizabeth's biggest weakness in this category is simply ignorance, no matter how bright she may be and how well she can read into a situation, lack of information will often be a problem and hinder the results of her actions. This isn't helped by the fact that Ciel prefers to keep things from her in order to protect her, and it's in fact the reason why she often makes mistakes when trying to cheer him up. She wants to know, specially regarding Ciel, in order to be able to help him and support him, however that thirst of knowledge, as well meant as it can be, is probably one of her biggest flaws and something that makes her capable of being easily manipulated if someone discovers it and is skilled enough to make use of it. Fortunately given Lizzie's overall status as a normal girl and her own display regarding her capacities, no one has yet paid much attention to her directly, convinced that she lacks the brains to be of any use. Her stubbornness becomes a flaw as well when it stops her from listening to what she's being said, usually something to protect her but that she doesn't like, and may lead her to act recklessly or selfishly, wanting to get her way at any cost.

Physical: No matter how strong and well trained she is, Elizabeth Midford is just a human and because of that she's vulnerable to mostly everything. While her worth in a sword fight is undoubtable, it's also undoutable that she wouldn't be able to hold herself against fireweapons or people with special powers. She isn't holder of an deepless bucket of stamina, either, so even if her resistance is higher than what one would expect, eventually she will grow tired and with that her movements will most likely become clumsy and slower.

Emotional: Lizzie always tries to keep smiling, no matter what. But even she has a limit and her smiles end crumbling in the face of several events. The most obvious ones are the times in which someone she knows passes away, even if they weren't directly related to her, her pain is fresh and high, because dead is just a horrible thing and something that should only happen to those who have had a long and satisfying life. The other times, thought, aren't so well-meant. Lizzie is stubborn and selfish, no matter how she tries to not be so, no matter what good intentions she may have, when her plans are blocked in some way it doesn't please her and a tantrum is sure to come. It's true that most of the time her plans are about cheering someone up or make someone happy, but it still doesn't change the fact that she mostly does it for herself, because of a personal competition she has against sadness and unhappiness, wanting to defeat them and chase them away forever no matter what.

[Limited Powers]: All in all Lizzie is a normal human girl, she doesn't have any special or magical powers so I don't think it's needed to limit her.

[Other Important Facts]:

[Samples]:
♦ Thread: Thread
♦ Post:

Day 25. Date still unknown (May 16th A.H.C.).

Greetings to everyone who is reading this! This is Elizabeth Midford, writing during the third day of sailing of our ship, we have been enjoying a nice weather during those days with plenty of wind as well! Our navigator predicts that if everything remains the same we will reach land within the week. I hope that everyone else has been as lucky as we with the weather and their travels!

I have to say, the last island we visited was simply delicious! Be sure to drop by it if you have the chance! There isn't much in the way of treasures and we couldn't find a clue about any shards, but the clothes there are adorable! For a remote island out in the sea, it was quite a surprise to see such a level of civilization, though I think that's actually normal, I sure haven't heard much talk about savage natives at other islands. Sincerely, though, this time it was particularly surprising, not only by their level of civilization but by their general advancement. They had developed types of fabrics I would have never imagined to be possible to make! One of them is made by weaving sea foam and something similar to cotton candy, can you believe it? I certainly couldn't until I saw how it was made myself! It's very comfortable, very thin without being transparent and it's practically weightless! And very cheap as well! I ordered ahalf a dozen of dresses in that and other materials and it didn't cost me as much as a dress would back home! And they were so good following the designs I prepared for them, even if the Victorian style is clearly different from theirs they had no problem sticking to it.

Definitively a must visit for any ladies or gentlemen who want to renew their wardrobe! Just because we have to sail around the world doesn't mean we can be elegant and cute! And a weigthless dress makes work around the ship far easier, I must say. Have any of you visited interesting islands lately? Please, do tell if so! I would love to hear about them, specially if they have cute things!.