[Name]: Brit
[Personal LJ]: sisyphean
[E-Mail]: magetastic@hotmail.com
[Characters]: Just Rinoa.

[Character Name]: Rinoa Heartilly
[Series Title]: Final Fantasy VIII
[Point in Canon you're Taking your Character From]: Shortly after Seifer attacks the president of Galbadia and the entire group finds it necessary to leave Timber. At this point canonically, Rinoa hasn't forged strong bonds with the other cast members, and believes Seifer to have been executed.

[Brief Description of their Personality]: Rinoa is alive. Outspoken, optimistic, determined, stubborn as hell and equipped with a heart that has enough room to hold compassion for almost anyone, she often gets herself and others into trouble with her headstrong nature. When she puts her energy into something she really goes all the way into it, and no one can tell her no if she honestly believes she's doing the right thing. And Rinoa does try to do the right thing - at least, most of the time.

She's very much a normal seventeen year-old girl and acts that way, which is to say that it doesn't take much to rile her up if you know which buttons to push. Though she tends toward a cheerful outlook on life, she also demands to be occupied, adopting enormous causes that will allow her a constructive way to funnel all of her energy, passion, and most of all, her need to do something to change the injustices she sees in the world around her. She can easily get caught up in the current of something much larger than herself, and in situations such as these, she expects not only 110% of herself, but also of everyone around her who has made a commitment, whether it be to her, the cause, or simply a paycheck. She won't hesitate to speak her mind and encourages others to do so as well, going so far as to demand that she be given uncensored opinions when she asks for them.

Loyalty is a strong thing to her, and she's willing to put herself in just as much danger as the next person if it's for something she cares about, though she doesn't always understand just what she's getting herself into. Nevertheless, no one could ever accuse Rinoa of lacking grand visions, or the energy to see them through to whatever end they might have. She doesn't have to be a leader, though her boisterous personality and somewhat egocentric attitude lend themselves to her at least shoving her way into the thick of almost everything. She's content to let someone else call the shots as long as things get done properly; if it seems like things are going to go terribly wrong, however, she'll be the first person to raise her voice and set the wheels of change in motion.

Rinoa has been known to throw the occasional tantrum, though more often she will attempt to charm whatever it is she wants out of a stubborn party. Despite the impression she might give, underneath her bubbly exterior dwells a novice tactician's mind, though most of her knowledge she has gleaned from years of living with her father. She has a naive confidence in herself and her own judgment, and one of these days, it just might get her killed, if someone doesn't off her for being downright perky first.

[Brief Description of their History]:Rinoa was born into riches to General Fury Caraway of the Galbadian army and Julia Heartilly, a singer and pianist. She was five years old when her mother was killed in an automobile accident, and so she remembers very little of her aside from her voice. Raised by her father as well as an assortment of housekeeping staff, Rinoa grew into a boisterous, sociable girl, though her father's position in the military gave him limited time to spend with his daughter. As a result, she learned to be independent from a young age, and as she grew up she became headstrong and often butted heads with her father. Both strong-minded individuals, they often disagreed and loudly (mostly on Rinoa's part) about many things, both large and small.

Strong-minded might just be another way to describe stubborn and proud, and the wedge between them only widened as she approached womanhood. Rinoa became involved in an anti-government organization known as the Timber Owls, the group intent on liberating Timber from Galbadia's oppressive influence. The stance she took was directly opposite of everything her father believed in, perhaps partly in rebellion of him, but it can't be denied that Rinoa truly believed in the cause that she aligned herself with. A pivotal moment in her relationship with her father was when she adopted her mother's maiden name as her own last name rather than keep his.

When she was sixteen, Rinoa had a summer fling with a SeeD cadet who was everything her father would have disapproved of. Again, this could be partly why she chose to pursue a relationship with Seifer Almasy, but as the summer progressed, she came to care for him very much. She spoke constantly of the Timber Owls and their plans, gaining confidence in herself and the movement as she shared it with the smart, talented, and just-a-little-bit-dangerous cadet. Though her father never became aware of the relationship, Rinoa realized that a relationship with Seifer would be no kind of relationship at all - he would have to devote all of his time to his training, and she would be throwing herself headlong into the Timber Owls' cause. They broke up at the end of the summer but parted on good terms; even a year later, Seifer was someone she knew she could count on and trust, and she didn't hesitate to enlist him for aid.

Though she'd petitioned Balamb Garden many times for assistance from SeeD, it wasn't until Seifer helped her get a meeting with the headmaster himself that she was able to hire three members of SeeD to help the resistance. Though their mission ended in a failure, between the fake president and the forced escape from Timber, Rinoa still strongly believes in her cause and is willing to do whatever it takes to see justice brought to Timber.

[Roleplay Samples]:



I'm really confused, really lost, and really mad about it! The last thing I remember, I was on my way to Galbadia Garden with Squall and Selphie and Zell, and then suddenly I'm in this hotel, and my head really hurts, and I have no idea where everyone has gone! Hey, hey, I hired them to do a job, and what's the big deal with letting me get knocked out and hauled off to some strange hotel?! It makes me really mad. I have important things I need to be doing, especially after that mess in Timber.

Seriously, I asked someone and they were like, "Oh, you can't leave." Oh, really? That doesn't work for me! I'm going to find a way out of this place and back to the real world, where Zone and Watts are waiting, because I have very - important - things -

Oh, oh, oh no. That's right, we had to leave Timber because Seifer.. attacked the president, and.. Things are way too up in the air right now for me to be stuck here spinning my wheels. All right, calm down. Step one, form a mission plan!

That's top secret stuff, so I'm done here! Stop reading!



There was something really disturbing about being in a weird hotel in a place she'd never even heard of by herself. Frankly, Rinoa didn't trust her own shadow, and even though she seemed to be alone in her hotel room, there was no way of really knowing if she was being watched. She was a member of a resistance movement, after all, and even though most of the people in Timber could claim the same thing, very few were active. She happened to be very active. She happened to have just attempted to kidnap the president of Galbadia, and she was sure that wasn't going to keep her below the radar.

Well, okay, Seifer was probably in deeper hot water than she was. But she didn't want to think about that. She really didn't want to think about what might be happening to him because he was helping fight for their cause, so she covered her eyes with both hands, took a deep breath, and banished those thoughts.

She was an independent woman, wasn't she? She had to get ahold of herself! Dropping her hands to her sides, balling them into fists, she surveyed the room quickly, ignoring the lavish furnishing and the tasteful decor. There weren't any obvious camera lenses, but in the end, the wouldn't be obvious, would they? If she'd been kidnapped by an enemy and ushered into a strange holding cell so that they could see her in action, and trying to communicate with her comrades --

That was it! They probably wanted to use her to get to Zone, Watts, and everyone else. Well, she wasn't going to have any of that. Marching across the room, she peered out the window with a narrow look, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, it wasn't a good idea to stand by windows. That made you a target too easily. Stepping back, she glanced around the room, eyed the bed, and threw herself on it.

They might've been able to get her separated from her team, and maybe they could even spy on her in a really nice hotel room without her noticing, but they couldn't monitor her thoughts! Drawing her knees up to her chest, she bit her lip and frowned, wishing that the headache she'd arrived with would go away and give her a break so that she could think. There had to be a way out of this place, no matter what anyone said, and she was going to find it. The sooner the better.

No way was she just going to sit back and wait to be rescued. Rinoa Heartilly was going to hatch a daring escape plan and be reunited with everyone before they even realized she was missing.