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[lethechained]

OOC INFO;
Player Name: Kitty
Contact Info: PLURK: nonabridged
Current Character: N/A

IC INFO;
Character Name: Naminé
Canon: Kingdom Hearts
Canon Information: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts
Canon Point: Near the end of KH2, when she returns to Kairi.
Age: 15 (physically), 1 (chronologically)
God Houses:

Sigyn – Compassion is one of the defining aspects of both Naminé’s personality and her life. Her sympathy for Sora during the events of Chain of Memories and for others she met thereafter set the course of the rest of her existence, and she has never ceased to try to help and encourage those around her in spite of the frequent danger to herself. If not for Sora’s kindness and her own sense of caring, things might have turned out very differently. As a person Naminé still has a lot of growing to do; although she’s very mature for age, she’s never had the opportunity to experience most of what life has to offer.
Mimir – Naminé is a cautious girl who chooses her words carefully and has spent nearly the entirety of her life manipulating situations (and people) to the benefit of her aims. Truth and illusion are both familiar to her – though she seems to prefer the former - and she is highly intuitive which gives her the capacity to understand the minds of others quite well even without directly using her powers. Planning has always been an essential part of her life. How else could she have rewritten so many people’s memories?
Frigg – Although Naminé spent the beginning of her existence primarily experiencing very negative treatment from those around her, she grew into someone for whom it comes naturally to look after and nurture others, even to her own detriment. She’s had the misfortune of never knowing any sort of familial affection, much less other kinds, and yet she carries on doing her best to help those she values most regardless of the fact that it’s likely they’ll never realize the gravity of what she’s done for them.

Personality:

At her core, Naminé is a kind-hearted, compassionate and understanding person whose experiences with life have been less than ideal. Quiet and introverted, she observes the people and situations around her with a keen and intuitive mind, usually keeping quiet in favor of allowing more forward parties to do the talking. Despite her tendency toward honesty – to the point of bluntness – she’s been forced to learn how to reshape the memories of others in order to achieve either the aims of those who command her or to achieve her own, and has a strong understanding of the inner workings of other people’s minds. Her intentions nevertheless are good, and she often acts for the benefit of others even to her own detriment, displaying a subtle yet powerful strength of character.

To understand Naminé more fully, one must first look at the circumstances in which her personality develops.

Naminé’s beginning is inauspicious, to say the least. Born a Nobody, she awakens in Castle Oblivion with no memories to call her own. She is at some point thereafter retrieved by Organization XIII and put to use for their own less-than-constructive ends, and it’s there that her troubles truly start. From then on, the foundation of her personality is laid in an atmosphere of constant threat, wherein she is compelled to manipulate others or else face the dire consequences of her insubordination.

It’s really no wonder that by the time we actually see her in Chain of Memories, she’s lapsed into almost complete silence. Despite the considerable maligning and teasing heaped upon her by her captors, for the majority of the game she remains patiently quiet unless forced to respond. What else can she do? To lash out would be to invite only more unpleasantness, and that is the last thing she needs; learning both to hold her tongue and bide her time are essential to her survival. All of this goes along with what might have been an inborn inclination toward introversion, as the false Naminé in Sora’s altered memories also appears to be of a more reserved nature than Kairi or, in fact, any of the other known children on the islands. As for the real Naminé, an upbringing like hers leaves her a shrinking violet with little positive experience amongst other people. Her speech is frequently stilted, her body language contained, and she will occasionally interrupt herself to rethink her words in the middle of a sentence. She is quick to give ground in a discussion if she fears she has overstepped her bounds or upset someone, as evidenced by her conversation with Roxas when she attempts to explain his situation to him in the digital Twilight Town; she all too readily gentles her words when he reacts badly to them. Her early experiences on the whole give her a harsh introduction to cruelty and selfishness as she bears witness to the machinations and subsequent deaths of the majority of the Organization members stationed in Castle Oblivion, and it is perhaps understandable that even after that she would remain withdrawn and cautious of others.

Naturally, such a situation as hers does little to foster her self-esteem. The idea that she is heartless, that she is less than a person, is one that is reinforced repeatedly, not only by the members of the Organization – who use to opportunity to encourage her to do their bidding by suggesting she might thereby better her situation – but later by DiZ as well, who makes no secret of his feelings toward Nobodies and treats her with perpetual coldness. By that point, she’s bought into the idea, herself, and repeats it to Roxas as though it were wrote when she tells him that Nobodies like the two of them are only half a person. He was never meant to exist, she says – and by extension, neither was she. This sort of sentiment is one that she expresses repeatedly even before that, most notably when she says to Sora in the fake Destiny Islands that she doesn’t exist in his heart, anyone else’s, or anywhere, for that matter. Add to that the lingering guilt regarding her manipulation of Sora and her almost complete isolation from the rest of the universe and you have a perfect recipe for self-loathing. At the end of Kingdom Hearts II, she chooses to return to Kairi, either in the hopes of finally becoming whole or because she no longer has any choice.

And then there is Sora. In the beginning of her life, during her time with the Organization, the manipulation of his memories is the goal that has been set for her. For a while, she works toward it, driven by loneliness and, more likely than not, fear. To her credit, she is remarkably successful. The lies slip into place easily, and are convincing enough to do the trick. If nothing else, she is intelligent and observant in sufficient measures to overcome the fact that she is then still very new to the world, and delving into the minds of others to see things through their (retrospective) eyes gives her an ever-growing understanding of both what makes them tick and the other aspects of life that she has never personally experienced. Therein lies the problem, for along with these things comes compassion. Where before there were only the whisperings of her captors that told her to be selfish, to steal what she wanted that she might be more real, now there are other things – for Sora, after all, is by all appearances possessed of a much more active conscience than the members of the Organization. He is demonstrably good, and kind, and helps others, and she in her selfishness is hurting him. That, as her understanding grows, is more than enough to instill in her the guilt that thereafter will never truly leave her, and despite the threat of her captors she begins to display it in small pieces, whether with crumpled expression or quiet words.

Her compassion stays with her. Whether because she is intimately familiar with the inner workings of the minds and feelings and memories of others or because of her own considerable experience with unhappiness, Naminé remains openly sympathetic to the plight of those around her and understanding in the face of wrongs against her. It’s not only Sora that she later seeks to help – Riku, too, she assists without provocation, appearing to him in the guise of Kairi just in time to help during his fight with Zexion. The significance of this is that since Riku would have sufficient reason to react badly to her - given her treatment of his best friend - and the two of them have never met prior to that, her decision to assist him marks the start of an inclination on her part to work for the benefit of those around her regardless of personal gain. In the cases of Roxas and Xion, she goes to speak with them and clarify things in the hopes of easing their suffering – against DiZ’s wishes. In this case, it is to her detriment, as DiZ’s consequent realization that she is beyond his control likely plays a part in his decision to order Riku to dispose of her. Moreover, when one acknowledges the fact that she’s had no end of cause to fear raising the ire of others, it becomes clear that to go to such lengths despite knowing it will infuriate DiZ speaks to the depth of her caring. Greater still than that, perhaps, is her reaction when Roxas suggests the Organization is a bad group; she responds that she doesn’t know if they are, and then proceeds to explain their motivations in about as sympathetic a manner as possible. This indicates that she not only is more than able to comprehend where people are coming from without allowing her (supposedly nonexistent) emotions to get in the way, but also that she is forgiving enough not to immediately dismiss those who have treated her poorly. Gentle and kind, she goes to great pains to make things easier on others, whether by continuing to smile regardless of her own unhappiness at Sora’s behest (a habit she continues to a lesser extent with other people as well) or, again, in the way that she attempts to handle the situations with Roxas and Xion. She never undertakes revenge or actively seeks to hurt anyone, not even the Organization; the one time that she ever lashes out against someone in any sense is when she smashes the heart of the replica Riku in an attempt to protect Sora. Based on her reaction – horror – it’s highly likely that this is either not intentional or more extreme than she had in mind, and it certainly isn’t out of any desire to do him harm.

When at last she meets Sora for the first time and confesses what she has done, that she has changed his memories to shackle his heart for the Organization’s nefarious purposes, he responds with something she clearly did not expect; kindness. It’s just about the only true kindness she’s ever personally experienced at that point, and it seems to galvanize her, as it’s this that moves her to refuse to hurt him any further even in the face of Marluxia’s threats. Not only that, but once Marluxia is out of the way, she offers Sora a choice: he can keep his false memories and continue to remember her, or he can forget her and everything that happened in Castle Oblivion in order to regain his true memories.

He chooses to forget her, and she allows him to.

This in and of itself is profound when one considers the many other, undiscussed options that are available to her. The truth is, there is, at that point, ultimately nothing stopping her from continuing to lie to him. She could just as – if not more – easily proclaim herself to be the cherished childhood friend his false memories have caused him to believe she is, and affect their escape posthaste. She could continue to manipulate him, could have the friend she always wished for and her freedom besides, could finally escape from what has otherwise been an utterly wretched existence essentially scot-free, were she to play her cards right.

Instead, she tells him the truth. She accepts his choice, even though it costs her the one thing she’s always wanted most, and then she spends the next year of her life – an astronomical investment when one considers she hasn’t even been alive that long in the first place – slowly, painstakingly tearing herself out of his memory. At any point, she could change her mind, could cut and run and either abandon him or else rewrite him all over again. Everything she’s ever hoped for is right there at her fingertips each and every day; all she has to do is take it and use her powers to make sure no one is ever the wiser. It wouldn’t be hard. It might even be understandable. She, who has never had a single hope of a normal life, who has never had a moment of happiness or love or freedom, who has never known a mother’s embrace or father’s fond gaze or the laughter of a friend, who has never even seen a real blue sky with her own two eyes, could steal a little of what other people take for granted, and would anyone blame her?

But she doesn’t, because by then she is stronger and wiser for her experiences, because it wouldn’t be right when she has done enough wrong, because it would hurt the worlds that need their hero, and because it would hurt Sora - and that is not something that she can abide. That, more than anything else, exemplifies the kind of person that she is.

A Nobody can only come into existence if the will of the person who has lost their heart to create them is strong. Said Nobody can then only retain its human form if their will is yet stronger than that – and this in and of itself is the first indication of Naminé’s tenacity. Despite having spent every waking moment of the early part of her life being thoroughly mistreated and used, she is not yet broken, and she proves it when she stands up to not only Larxene but Marluxia as well, all against the threats she’s lived in fear of from the beginning of her existence. She displays her strength of will and her character through the way that she strives to do right by Sora and everyone else besides, and though she may seem at first to be too retiring for courage, nothing could be further from the truth. Quietly brave and unbelievably dedicated, she makes for a staunch but unassuming ally.

Despite her frequent attempts to soften things for the benefit of others and careful manner of speech, her unpleasant experiences with lies and subterfuge appear to have left her with an inclination toward honesty that sometimes crosses over into bluntness. Seemingly motivated more by reason and purpose than by the emotions she doesn’t believe she possesses, she has a tendency to at times speak too plainly, though she is generally quick to apologize – for some things are better left unsaid, after all. To add a certain dichotomy, however, even though - based on her desire to tell Roxas the truth about his origin and her avoidance of ever really directly lying - she is on the whole devoted to being open and honest, the fact of the matter is that she also well understands the value of discretion and will hold back information when and where she feels it necessary. (Conveniently not informing Roxas that she is – almost certainly – the one who rewrote his memories to place him in the digital Twilight Town comes to mind, as do the events of Re:Coded.) After all, she has seen many a life lost in the game of manipulation, and it has granted her both a skill for playing that game herself and a significant distaste for doing so.

Going hand in hand with that is her inclination to meddle. It’s little surprise that involving herself in the affairs of others would be within her nature; many times she has no real choice about whether to do so, as she has to help Sora wake up and this requires the sacrifice of both Roxas and Xion, all of which involves a considerable amount of planning and manipulation. Rather than letting things go as they may, however, she actively involves herself in both their situations beyond the bare necessities. She goes on to meddle further in Riku’s life as well, calling him by his real name in front of Kairi in The World That Never Was (despite almost certainly being well aware that he’d intended to keep hiding from his friends), thereby forcing him to deal with the issue. There’s also the matter of the alterations to Jiminy’s journal, leading to the aforementioned events of Re:Coded. She is not above giving people nudges toward what she deems to be the correct path, regardless of whether they’ve been asked for or not.

The fact of the matter is, Naminé’s life for the majority of the time between Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II is devoted entirely to helping people who, as far as she is aware, will probably never know or understand her at all, much less on the same level as she knows and understands them. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t crave it; she wants to be understood, to be cared for, to be valued, just as most people do. (The evidence is in her promises with Sora – that they’ll be friends for real – and Roxas - that they’ll meet again and talk about everything. It’s not only for their benefit, after all.) Still, she has no choice but to withhold herself from interacting with-- anyone, really, aside from Riku and DiZ. This, as one might imagine, is an unpleasant predicament to be in. While this is likely mitigated somewhat by Riku’s presence during this time (and made worse by DiZ’s), it still ties in with the way the rest of her life has gone by that point: that is to say, she is and has always been incredibly lonely, by her own admission. Peace and comfort are foreign to her, given the circumstances of her life, but she’s had them dangled in front of her ceaselessly through the memories of others to whom fate was much kinder. Always so close and yet so far, she purposely refrains from taking the things that she wants in order to preserve the safety and comfort of those around her. Again she displays her indomitable strength as she works for the greater good, refusing to give in to bitterness or spite yet all the while reminding herself of her own theoretical lack of worth.

Ultimately, Naminé is a kind-hearted and considerate girl who’s had a bad start at things and never quite recovered. Lonely and withdrawn, she carries with her a heavy guilt that, alongside her thoughts on her own personal failings and perceived inherent inadequacies, colors her perception of others, the world, and herself. Nevertheless, she actively seeks to make things right with unwavering patience and loyalty, even if the people she’s trying to help may never come to appreciate the true depth of her efforts.


Writing Sample: Test Drive: https://assguardians.dreamwidth.org/54154.html?thread=25890698#cmt25890698