NAME: mir
AGE: 24
PRONOUNS: she/her, he/him
CONTACT: gossamir
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: N/A

CHARACTER NAME: Dorothea Arnault
AGE: 24
CANON: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
CANON POINT: A few months after the end of the Crimson Flower route of the game, when Edelgard has taken the throne and Dorothea has returned to her position within the opera house while also working as a spy for the Imperial throne.

BACKGROUND/HISTORY:

Dorothea was born in less-than-ideal circumstances - the unfortunate byproduct of an affair between an Adrestian noble and one of his ladies-in-waiting. Her father had a crest (a magical blessing passed down by one of ten heroes of old); her mother did not. When Dorothea as a child showed no sign of having a crest, she and her mother were cast out of their home. Her mother soon developed an illness and passed away, leaving Dorothea to live on the streets of Enbarr and fend for herself.

At the tender age of ten, after years of living as a street urchin, Dorothea was recruited by Manuela Casagranda, one of the great divas of the Mittelfrank Opera Company. Manuela, having heard Dorothea sing, was certain that she'd become a star. So from the ages of 10 to 18, Dorothea performed with the company, earning quite the name for herself in the process. She became known as the 'Mystical Songstress', a nod to the way she kept her upbringing a secret. Throughout her time at the company, Dorothea flirted with older, richer men, doing her best to seek out a permanent alliance that would bring her the financial stability that she had lacked for most of her life.

When she turned 18, Dorothea left the company behind, following in her mentor's footsteps. Manuela had left the company to teach at the Officers Academy, an elite school that trained students in the art of warfare. Dorothea devotedly studied for the entrance exam and used connections she had made as an opera singer to secure a place as a student, joining the Black Eagles house. There was an appeal to broadening her horizons - and she knew that many rich, eligible students her age would be attending as well.

A year into Dorothea's time at the Academy, the leader of her house, Edelgard von Hresvelg, became emperor of the Adrestian Empire and declared war on the Church and its allies in the Kingdom of Faerghus. As one of her close friends and classmates, Dorothea was conscripted into the Black Eagle Strike Force, an elite task force aiding Edelgard in her cause. Despite Dorothea's dislike for violence, especially against those who had once been her classmates, she was loyal to Edelgard and fought passionately under her lead.

After five long years, when the war is successfully won, Dorothea returns to performing with the Mittelfrank Opera Company. At her current canon point, she is beginning to help set up an intelligence agency that would use the opera as a front to collect information from around the empire.

PERSONALITY:

Dorothea is a performer at heart. On the surface, she comes off as a charming flirt, always ready to make friends and having the sort of nature that draws people to her. Her charisma is her strongest weapon - or so she believes - and she uses it to keep on everyone's good side (as long as she cares about their opinion, of course).

Beneath the surface lies an extremely strong-willed woman. From the moment Dorothea is introduced, it's clear that she has one goal in mind: marry someone rich and live the rest of her life in comfort. Growing up an orphan, she's had to grow stubborn and unyielding to scrape a life together. In her support conversations, she reveals how she crammed to get into Garreg Mach in the first place despite simultaneously being the prima diva in her opera company. Whatever Dorothea wants, she gets - and she's willing to fight for it. Her stubbornness can come through in other, less flattering ways, though. Dorothea harbors a bias towards people who don't seem aware of where they came from, or who don't acknowledge the advantages in her life. She's quick to pounce if they say anything to that sort of effect, revealing a temper that rarely comes out when she's talking with people of her own social status. It's difficult for her to let go of her pride in these cases - she's exceptionally good at holding a grudge.

Most of the above stems from her deep-seated insecurities - there are many, and they are potent. She's got an abject fear of losing what she has, whether that's her friends or her social standing. She's deeply aware that she's been afforded the opportunities she's gotten so far in life because she's young, pretty, and talented - and two of those three things won't be true forever. Her determination to find a rich husband is born out of an anxiety that once she's old and can no longer perform, no one will want her. Her stubbornness comes from a fear that if she doesn't have a strong personality, no one will remember her or take notice of her. And her pride and biases absolutely come from her belief that she's gotten everything she ever had because of luck - and some day, her luck will change for the worse. She knows she's seen as a good person, but she doesn't truly think she's a good person. It's an important distinction.

Despite all of these anxieties that plague her, Dorothea is genuinely a good person. While she definitely puts on airs and her charming personality is sometimes an act, she is extremely kind and loving towards her friends. She's always prepared to defend the people she loves, and she loves easily. The best use of her strength, in her opinion, is to protect the people in her life who mean something to her. No matter how she acts, her flaws, or what she thinks of herself, it's undeniable that she's got a warm heart.

SUITABILITY:

Dorothea is scrappy and determined. She spent most of her childhood in tumultuous circumstances where she had to fight to get whatever she had, and her last few years have been spent being a general in a huge war. While her life is much more stable than it used to be, she hasn't lost her instincts for survival, and it'll be interesting to see her revert to that in a place where she doesn't have anything to her name.

Additionally, something she struggles with during her life is her distaste for violence while also being extremely skilled at warfare. When physical conflict comes up in Ethyraia, she'll be able to handle it, but not without some mental stress.

ABILITIES/SKILLS:

Magic. Dorothea has a great talent in Reason. She's one of the best mages in her canon, with access to many powerful spells. Her specific proficiency is in thunder-based long-ranged magic - most of her spells hit hard and from far away, since she doesn't have good defense stats to match her offense. The power of her spells directly correlates with how much energy it takes to use them - if she uses a powerful spell, she'll need to rest afterwards before being able to cast magic again.

Healing. Dorothea has an innate ability to heal allies that are physically close to her as they fight.

Melee. Dorothea knows her way around a sword. Her focus when at the academy was in magic, so she's not particularly strong when it comes to using weapons, but her swordsmanship is decent.

INVENTORY: A cosmetics purse with a comb, some makeup, and a mirror.

SAMPLE ONE: This top-level and the thread that follows with Eda shows how Dorothea communicates with someone she's just met.
SAMPLE TWO: This post (and the one thread that follows) shows Dorothea's internal conflict and how she thinks through social situations she's unsure of.
SAMPLE THREE: This thread shows Dorothea handling an external conflict - albeit badly!