Application ✠ HIC

[knightingael]

Player Information::
Player Name: Sig
Age: 27
Timezone: EST
Personal Journal: caffeinate
Contact Information: Email: handcuff.habit@gmail.com, Plurk: timegame, AIM: astronavigatrix.


Character Information::

Name: Iona Argall
Age: 16
Gender:Female
Symbol: The Maltese Cross
Font Color: #CC8899

Pesterchum Handle: ardentGallantry
Strife Specibus: lanceKind, eventually shieldKind
Fetch Modus: Twister- A combination memory/movement modus. Each item is assigned a series of moves and they must be completed in order to access the item. Upon selection, the item’s combination appears, and the more ‘expensive’/important an item, the more complex the series of moves.

Game Alias: Io
Guardian: Mum --> Nan

History: Iona was the daughter of a single and while loving, very busy mother. The sort of mother a child doesn’t want to bother with something as trivial as being made fun of more than just the once- successful, poised, and always, always busy. While she never wanted for anything, she still wanted nothing more than quality time with her mother, although she almost always felt bad for wanting to ask for more when her mother already said yes to so much. Besides, it wasn’t like she wasn’t affectionate on the rare occasions she was home for more than long enough to rest, change and eat- her mother, when around, was doting and adoring, and Iona loved her dearly. But Iona was also a sensitive and shy child, and became withdrawn and predisposed to keeping quiet and not making trouble for her grandmother if her mother wasn’t around. She only became even more so after an accident left her and her Grandmother her mother’s home just outside of Dublin- though they didn’t stay. Her grandmother’s home had been England before she’d moved in to help with Iona, and that was where she took her after all the affairs were settled.

In an attempt to get her to open up, Iona’s grandmother enrolled her in a public school as opposed to the private tutoring she’d had all her life. However, between having a terrible stutter coupled with her accent making her very difficult to understand and the fact that she was something of a small, scrawny child, Iona was a perfect target for bullies. The teasing she suffered- not only at the hands of fellow students, but also sometimes adults and authority figures (some who labeled her ‘dumb’ for her difficulty speaking)- helped to make her into the sort of person she currently is. That is to say, the type of person that doesn’t take kindly to others being picked on- especially for things she can’t help.

The tail end of middle school saw Iona shooting up like a weed, and while no longer an easy target for most bullies, there was, as always, the teasing for her stutter to fall back on- and of course, being the kind of gentle soul she was, Iona never fought back or teased others like she could have. However it also saw her discovering myths and stories she’d only known in passing as a child- tales of the Fianna, the Knights of the Round Table- tales of chivalry and right and while sometimes not making the best of decisions, there were often the best of intentions. But it’s the code of conduct- of honor- that strikes her the most, and she decides to adopt it as her own in order to become the kind of person she wants to be. While still shy and not entirely outspoken, Iona does take to trying to slowly better herself into a person more befitting being ‘knightly’- which included participating in things that she felt would make her ‘stronger’. While her grandmother didn’t entirely think she was going about it the right way, she nonetheless supported her decision, and was more often than not there to lend advice or simply be a shoulder whenever Iona came across an obstacle she and her determination could not immediately surmount.

The beginning of high school saw her joining every sport she could fit a practice in for, though in the end it was track and field that got the most attention from her- most especially the pole vault and the long jump, although the javelin and shot-put are also on her list, as well as the 100 meter race and hurdles. Her growth from previous years didn’t seem to slow as she proceeded into her sophomore and junior years, and at seventeen she was one of the tallest girls in her school. Even so, she mastered not making herself too obvious outside of sporting events, hunching herself to appear shorter and generally escape notice from schoolmates she thought might still be the type to tease her.

HIC, in her case, was a welcome distraction picked up during the off-season for track and field- a place where her speech wasn’t limited by an accent or a stutter. A place where she could communicate as thoroughly and loquaciously as she felt the need to- and with as outgoing a demeanor as she could never seem to muster offline. The game became her bastion even before and after meets, though she’d never let on to Guildmates or fellow players that she was anything but Io- the chipper, overly-enthusiastic Knight of Heart.

After all, they’d be so disappointed if they knew what a liar she was, right?

Personality: At her core, Iona is a very kind, very gentle soul with a penchant for trying to stick up for the little guy now that she’s not the little guy herself anymore. While she wants to be chivalric and strong, however, she sometimes has a bit of difficulty. Years upon years of avoiding confrontation and being belittled and berated when she does speak up have left her somewhat wary of sticking up for people in her day to day life. That’s not to say she doesn’t try of course, just that she’s not always entirely successful. It’s much easier for her online, where she feels like she can do so with more confidence in what she’s trying to convey than she does out with real people.

Her tendency to want to protect people is rather chivalric and sincere in her opinion, though to most it probably comes across as meddling and unnecessary- at least, when she manages to build up the courage for it. In-game, she does her best to respect when people say they don’t need her help, but sometimes she can’t help interfering regardless, and in the end it sometimes turns out more embarrassing for all involved than not. In real life though, she’s somewhat hesitant to speak up, but always makes herself do so- because letting wrongs be done is just as bad as doing wrong herself. Every now and then though, her enthusiasm for helpfulness and generosity works in her favor- in game with players she helps that later join the guild and help raise its status, and in real life it’s generally with adults, who find her both capable and trustworthy, both of which are true in their own ways.

A bright girl, Iona’s best asset is her ability to learn while doing and think on her feet, something she oftentimes comes to need with how she tends to flit from sport to sport in order to try everything. Despite her seeming indecisiveness however, she knows what she likes- but she always tells herself that it’s better to try everything even if you’re not the best than to only do the one thing you’re good at. It carries over into her hobbies and clothing as well- she rarely sticks to a particular hobby or fashion style for long, although with regards to the latter; most of her choices would be best termed as ‘sporty’, even when she’s trying to be girlish.

Family- and more recently friends- are of the utmost importance to her. She won’t hesitate to inconvenience herself if she has even the faintest inkling that her doing so will make something easier on her Nan or her friends. Being also rather new to what she considers real friendship (even though it’s online) and not just passing acquaintanceship, she’s not entirely sure on where to draw the line in ‘friendly’ requests or banter. Even if she would rather not do something someone asks her to do or is somewhat distressed or offended by something someone says, she’s more likely to brush it off if she considers the other person a friend. And chances are, if it’s someone in her guild or in her in-game contact list, then she considers them a friend. It’s highly likely that a Guildmate has, more often than not, had to tell someone on her behalf that something is not okay- because Iona would rather be uncomfortable forever than have someone she considers a friend ‘upset’ at her for sticking up for herself. Granted, she’s not entirely spineless, and will not hesitate to tell someone what to do with themselves if she really needs to- but the chances of her not doing so rise with someone’s inclusion in her guild.

There are only two times Iona doesn’t stutter when speaking- the first is when speaking Irish, which her mother was insistent she learn because of their heritage. She finds a lot easier to speak when no one can understand what she’s saying. The second is when she’s to the point of anger that she doesn’t bother much with words, and the ones she does bother with are short and to the point. This doesn’t happen often, and rarely in her own defense. But hurt or insult one of her friends, her family or her guild and Iona’s protectiveness of the people she cares about will make sure it either doesn’t happen again, or that it doesn’t happen in a way that she’s likely to find out about. In the case of her anger in particular, she’s not often moved to violence when she’s angry- it takes a special kind of insufferableness to push her to that- but she is tall and intimidating and can use her words well enough, even when not using too many of them, to get her point across and get it across well.

That said, even when angry Iona has the unfortunate flaw of not particularly enjoying being rude or cruel to people- she earnestly dislikes it so much that if she thinks she’s being too hard on someone she will actually stop and apologize. While it sometimes works in her favor, more often than not it leads to people taking advantage of her kind nature by having her ‘make things up’ to them however they see fit. Something she usually only realizes when it’s just-shy of too late.

Appearance:



Iona is five feet and eleven inches of awkward, awkward redhead. Despite that, however, she's actually quite lovely when she actually lets someone look at her face for more than a few seconds at a time. She tends to wear her hair in a long braid when not in competition, and in a braided twist/bun when she is. She loves the color pink and usually at least one item of clothing is in that color- though more often than not it's multiple items. She wears glasses- though she trades them out for sports glasses on the field and- on a rare occasion- for contact lenses.

Preferred Classes: Knight, Page, Rogue
Preferred Aspects: Heart, Space, Life
Preferred Denizen: Eros (if Heart), Hygeia (if Space), Lilith (if Life)


Pester Sample: Here, here and here

Prose Sample: "Y’ di-d-din’t need t’—!"

"I d-d-didn’t need ‘t’ what? Let the dumb chav know what a horror show she looked like? Come off it, I was doing her a favor and you-!"

"An’ I w-what?"

"Should keep from making the same mistake. After all, I doubt you have it in you to stick up for the same thing a whole two times. Poor little wannabe- you might explode…"

Blinking out of her reverie to a veritable avalanche of messages on her display, she heaved a sigh, fingers flexing before she gave herself a moment to push Chelsea Parker’s words out of the forefront of her mind and refocus on the game. Granted, it wasn’t as if she had been entirely wrong- but while Iona had long since given up on bothering with repeat-offenders, but even she couldn’t sit back and let someone be pushed to cry- and on their birthday, no less. Honestly, that girl and her friends had to be some kind of monsters, doing that to another person on such a special day—!

—No, no- she was getting mired again- she needed to focus.

A quick trip to her gaming playlist, an apologetic series of ‘oh, yes I’m here!’ and ‘my fault, honest, I’ll make it up to you!’ later and she relaxed into her usual pace, settled comfortably in her desk chair with her fingers tap-tap-tapping away. Still, a message or two in the corner of her screen persisted- ‘are you sure you’re okay?’ and ‘nothing’s wrong, is it?’- but she waved them off with the ease she could only manage with a keyboard, a barrage of reassurances and ‘explanations’ all in sugar-spun pink text. They didn’t need to know about her problems- her shortcomings. Not when they likely had problems of their own to deal with. No, she’d handle her brief forays into dreamy (nightmarish, actually) musings of her inadequacies well enough on her own. She always had before, after all, and there was no reason to change that now.

Io: Alright then!
Io: Shall we get started for the evening? |