NAME: Paulé
JOURNAL: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
deer_leisureEMAIL: spiffystudios@gmail.com
AIM: OTAShika
WIKI NAME: CP9Paulie
CHARACTERS: Bernkastel, Death the Kid, Evangeline McDowell, Tony Stark
CHARACTER NAME: Perona
FANDOM: One Piece
CANON: After seeing Zoro off on Sabaody
WHAT THEY LOST: Memories of Bearsy ever being anything more than a doll. Bearsy was her number one henchman (more like her personal servant) when she was one of the Four Enigmas of Thriller Bark. Although she abused him verbally
[1] [2] and most likely physically, she still cared for him
[3] [4]. She's rarely, if ever, seen without him during her time on Thriller Bark. He was a zombie created in the shape of a stuffed animal she had, and with this loss, she won't remember him as being anything other than that stuffed animal, small and inanimate.
ABOUT THE CHARACTER: Perona seems like a fairly simple character at first glance, but she has a hidden depth that's harder to see. It's simple to notice that she's self-serving and bratty, but under the surface lies a real heart that she simply hasn't had the chance to reveal.
Not much is truly known about Perona's past. It's shown that she's been a member of the Shichibukai, Gecko Moria's crew for at least ten years, since she was already a member when the doctor Hogback was recruited
[5]. Her feelings towards being a member of this crew are mixed at best. She doesn't seem to care much for her fellow crewmates... at least, she never appears concerned for their safety, even when they've been in fights
[6] or their ship is being destroyed, during which time she only seems to be thinking about herself
[7].
The only exception to this is Gecko Moria, the captain. He was a way to make her dream of ruling an island of cute and obedient zombies into a reality, this much is true. He was also a source of protection: after all, who would be a danger to her when she was sailing with a Shichibukai, who was both strong and not hunted by the Marines? She doesn't seem to think much more of him than that, though, even seeming willing to abandon him when things got rough
[7], the crew was losing, and Oz, a new and powerful zombie of Moria's, was running amuck. But when she met Bartholomew Kuma, a powerful pirate, while fleeing, she wanted to defeat him and give him to Moria as a "going away present."
[8]. And when, later, Mihawk tells her that Moria is dead, she cried for him
[9].
It shows that even Perona, a girl who is supposed to be completely self-obsessed, can and does care for others.
But she is self-obsessed. Even somebody having a cursory conversation with her could tell that much. She's rude, both towards her subordinates and towards others. When speaking to Bearsy, she often tells him to "shut up"
[1] [2], simply because she doesn't consider his voice cute. On Mihawk's island, she simply shows up, makes herself at home... and then demands he treat her as a guest
[9], showing that she has no real concept of tact. She also shows that she cares about getting her way more than, well, other people, tying in with her lack of tact. When Zoro is going to leave, she shamelessly uses her powers to force him into submission, to try and make him stay
[10] [ep421].
She is also shown to be greedy, which ties in with her being self-absorbed. She appoints herself in charge of getting the treasure aboard captured ships
[11]. And even with her life in danger, her first thought it to get all of Moria's treasure before leaving
[12]. Mainly, she just wants to live in comfort, which is why she needs the treasure: money leads to a comfortable life. She's seen complaining about the lack of comforts in her new home on Kuraigana Island. "I told him I would like to travel to an old, musty castle, and spend my time singing horror songs... but I had no idea there would be no servants! And I didn't know there wouldn't be bagel sandwiches and hot chocolate in a comfy bed in the morning!"
[ep421] Being selfish is just a facet of being so self-obsessed.
Her overall bratty attitude, her lack of tact, her selfish nature could all be because of her upbringing- although we don't know of her early childhood, she's spent a good deal of time on Moria's crew, even a good part of that childhood. It's quite possible she hasn't had real contact with normal people, or an idea of a normal life. Gecko Moria, Absolom, Dr. Hogback, and the zombies around the island... they're not parental figures of any sort. And being raised in such an environment, it's obvious how her normal emotional development could be stifled. Whether it can be explained or not, however, those traits are an undeniable part of who she is.
Outwardly, she seems to show little empathy or concern for anybody but herself. After being sent to a strange castle on an unknown island by Bartholomew Kuma, she stumbles upon Zoro when he meets the same fate. He's horribly wounded, and all she says is, "It won't be long before he's dead. Serves him right, the jerk!"
[ep421] It's been mentioned before that she never seems to care about her subordinate, Bearsy, or her fellow crewmembers as well. However, this is just on the surface. After all, she shows concern for Bearsy once Usopp defeated him. She cried for Moria. And as for Zoro, she actually took him back to the castle, bandaged his wounds, and watched over him as he recovered
[ep421]. To put it simply, she's not incapable of kindness.
She also demonstrates an unexpected weak spot toward people who are truly and utterly pathetic. To people like that, she tries to cheer them on. When Usopp fights her and out-depresses her negative hollows (ghosts who create depression,) she feels the need to urge him on in life
[13] [14]. Similarly, when she realizes just
how bad Zoro's sense of direction is, she urges him on as well
[ep456].
It should also be noted that Perona has an almost supreme self-confidence, stemming from her unique power. She ate the "Horo Horo" devil fruit, which gave her the ability to create "hollows," or ghosts. Horo is a Japanese equivalent of Hollow. It's unknown exactly when she would have eaten this fruit, but it's likely this was before she joined Moria's crew, as he wouldn't have recruited a young girl like her without a good reason, such as this ability. It's also unknown how or where she would have gotten a hold of it.
But the specifics of its past, what's important is that Perona does possess the ability, and she tends to think highly of her ability because of it. She casually comments that she'll take care of the "entire Straw Hat crew" by herself
[15] at one point... and when confronted with a Shichibukai, she even believes that she can take him down by herself
[8]. She tends to brag about her powers to others as well; she has a lot of pride in those abilities of hers. When she first meets the Straw Hats in person, she brags about her abilities and how she'll defeat them all
[16]. Even in the middle of a fight, she still brags
[17] [18].
It's also imperative to be aware, however, that she does fear for herself. Her confidence does not border on stupidity, and physically, she's not strong. When Usopp was unaffected by her negative hollows, she ran
[19]. Not only did she run, but she ran away screaming for help... until she could find a place to hide and use her astral projection ability. When Usopp threatens her with a ten ton mallet (actually a balloon shaped like one,) she begs for forgiveness and her life
[20], showing that she knows her limits and that her pride is definitely not worth her life. She also could tell that there was no way for her to defeat Oz, the strongest zombie ever made, and when she thinks he's after her, she chooses to flee the ship and crew altogether
[12].
A lot of Perona's individual quirks and traits can be traced back to one fact: Perona is a very childish person. It was mentioned before that she did not have a normal childhood, which could be the cause for that as well.
She's been shown to whine, even throw a tantrum, when things aren't done her way. Examples of this have already been mentioned: she whines about how unfair her new life is
[ep421], for one. For another, she throws a small fit at Mihawk's attitude towards her when he doesn't console her... and treat her to hot chocolate
[9].
Her childishness isn't limited to whining, bragging, and brattiness, however. Perona also has a playful side that stems from it. In her fight with Usopp, she threatens to stop his heart
[21]... only to reveal she was lying
[22]. She then proceeds to phase through his own body to show off in a very playful and joking manner
[23] [24]... even if Usopp didn't find it very amusing. Even when she's being teasing or playful, she only cares about amusing herself. It's very self-focused. Sometimes it's even cruel... to others. Usopp could certainly attest to that.
Something else that definitely deserves mention: Perona is obsessed with things she thinks are cute. I say "things she
thinks are cute" because she has very odd tastes. To Perona, the ideal is horror-driven. Whether it's gothic Lolita, or simply gothic, that is what Perona will squeal over. She mentions to Kuma, "The dark... the damp... somewhere near an old castle, engulfed in malice... I could spend my days there, singing an accursed song."
[25] That shows off her tastes very well. When wandering Kuraigana Island with Zoro, she sees the place looks like a battlefield and comments, "this battlefield-like atmosphere... I feel like I'm gonna melt~"
[ep456]. Her tastes could hardly be called normal, but she does have an almost typical girlish reaction towards something "cute." It's possible her tastes were influenced by her devil fruit power, which lets her create ghosts, or even Moria's ship, which is filled with zombies and features a prominent horror setting.
She has a collection of stuffed animals as well. In fact, most of the "animal zombies" that served under her on Thriller Bark were modeled after stuffed animals in her collection
[26]. This, naturally, includes Bearsy.
And she has little taste for things deemed "uncute," however. It's the reason she's constantly telling Bearsy to "shut up"- his voice isn't cute
[1] [2]. When she dresses Zoro up as Bearsy, she even refuses to let him speak for the same reason
[ep421].
To summarize Perona's personality, she's like a spoiled child princess. She has to have things her way, she thinks she's the most important thing in the world, she can't even imagine being wrong... but she doesn't truly mean anything bad by it.
In the two years she spent with Zoro and Mihawk on her ideal island, she has changed some. She's developed a relationship of mutual trust with Zoro, and most likely Mihawk, from their time spent together... she even went out of her way not only to guide Zoro to the Straw Hat crew's meeting point, but held off the Marines from chasing him as well
[27]. While the old Perona may have felt badly over a companion, she never so blatantly helped any of them before. She might not vocalize it, but she's learned to value people more.
She's grown as a person.
THIRD-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: It was a gloomy day on Kuraigana Island The sun was up, but it wasn't even visible through the thick fog that enveloped the island this day. It was the sort of day where even a skeptical person might believe the spirits would come out. In short, it was exactly the sort of day one would expect Perona to be outside, basking in the beauty of the scenery.
But she wasn't.
Instead, she was inside, holed up in the room that she had staked out as hers. Thankfully, Mihawk, the castle's rightful owner, hadn't objected.
Why was she inside on such a glorious day? The answer could be seen by the multitudes of fabric strewn about the room; over the bed, over top of her stuffed animals, hanging off the top of the closet door, and most importantly, draped over a mannequin. There was a picture hanging nearby, one that Perona had painstakingly drawn herself, of a dress. It was the dress she was trying to make.
"How is this supposed to work?" she said, exasperated with her progress. She looked over towards Bearsy- the stuffed animal, not the zombie- that was sitting on top of her bed nearby... but naturally, no response was forthcoming. So she continued herself. "They never told me it would be this
hard! I have to cut the fabric just right, and sew it just right, and there aren't even instructions on how to put it all together!" Gone were the days when she could just order a servant or zombie to do it for her; this was hard work that she needed to do herself, and she was fed up with it!
She threw the scissors off to the side, and then threw herself onto the bed. She pounded her fists onto the bed for a short while, while whining, "This isn't fair! This is too hard for one girl!" Of course, she gave up after a minute. After all, it's not like anybody was around to hear her, and it didn't really make her feel any better about it herself.
But what could she do about it? Those idiot swordsmen were too busy training to take her to a decent island to shop or commission clothes. (Normally, she wouldn't consider Mihawk to be an idiot, but when she was exasperated and he was partly at fault, he fell into the same category as Zoro.)
And she didn't have any servants to force into doing it. She wasn't sure why Mihawk, the world's most famous swordsman and a member of the Royal Shichibukai, wouldn't prefer to be waited on hand and foot... but she couldn't force him to hire any servants. He would probably kill the unwanted help, if the apes that inhabited the outer reaches of the island didn't get to them first.
Though... it was true she didn't have any servants, it wasn't true that she didn't have anybody to make help her. With that thought, a small smile crossed her face. She sat up, giggled with a small "Horohorohoro," and then got into a comfortable position on the bed. Keeping her body comfortable was important, after all. It would sit in the same position until her hollow came back. In a moment, she released her inner hollow... her spirit, her soul, her astral projection, whatever you wanted to call it.
Free from her body, she floated through the castle's walls, floors, and ceilings, looking for the only other two to call the place "home." Kitchen, no. Bathroom, no. Main hall.... there they were, coming in from their morning training. She floated down from the ceiling towards the mass of green hair and the other figure with a giant sword.
Zoro and Mihawk both watched her as she floated down, stopping about a foot over the floor in front of them. "There you two are," she said, crossing her arms. "Do you have any idea how long I was searching for you?" Although she made it seem like she had been searching for a while, and she certainly did seem to be blaming them even though they had no reason to be blamed, the truth was she had been searching for less than a few minutes.
It was Mihawk who replied first. "I thought you were making yourself a dress today."
Zoro was next. With a scoff, he added, "And here I thought I'd finally have a day where you wouldn't bother me."
"I am making a dress!" Perona objected. Then, with a dramatic flourish, she pointed towards both Mihawk and Zoro, or rather between them. "But I never said I was going to be making it myself! You're
going to help me!"
Zoro seemed confused for a moment, looking behind him for who Perona was pointing at.
"I WAS POINTING AT YOU!"
Seriously, what kind of idiot was this guy!?
"Not interested," Mihawk said, completely brushing off Perona.
How could he say that to her!? She was his guest, and he wouldn't even cave in to her whims!? It's not like she was asking a whole lot, was it? It was just making a dress for her! Or... helping her make one. She'd even help! "Come on," she whined, "it's a lot of work. I can't do it all by myself!"
After receiving nothing but a funny look from Mihawk in return (and a glare from Zoro: nothing new there) she continued. "It's your fault I have to do this anyway! If you guys could just take a few days off of your stupid training, we could all go to another island and just
buy some decent clothes! So take a little responsibility!"
"That's stupid. You have other clothes, just use those." Zoro, of course, was the one to try and take the wind out of Perona's sails.
Perona's first response was to snap at Zoro, but she held back. Looking down, she gave a small sniffle. It wasn't quite crocodile tears; she just didn't want to have to do everything herself, and it was just so
unfair.
Before it could go any further, Mihawk piped up. "All right."
Perona's face immediately took on a much happier expression, even as Zoro whipped his head around with a "What!?"
"Zoro," the castle's owner continued, "you help her out."
Perona cheered, even as Zoro protested.
Not all stories receive a happy ending, though. Zoro ended up ruining the dress, and Perona had to start all over from scratch. But such is life on Kuraigana Island.
FIRST-PERSON WRITING SAMPLE: [ the journal is opened to a rather exasperated sounding female voice ]Hey! Has anybody seen a stupid green-haired swordsman running around? I can't believe that idiot actually managed to get lost between here and-[ she's cut short, however, as a voice is picked up in the background ]Who the hell put this wall here!?...Tch, that commotion is definitely him.[ without so much as a "Sorry about that, Paradisa!" she's off to go confront this certain idiot... with her journal along to conveniently pick up the ensuing argument ]Oi, there you are! Tch... Getting lost like that. Do you want me to show you around or not?Me!? You're the one who got lost! What kind of moron actually gets lost going across the street from one shop to another!? It's right there!![ if anybody were around to see, they would see Perona gesturing wildly from one shop to the one she had come from... and they are indeed in a straight line across the street ]That's a lot of talk coming from the one who dragged me on this stupid shopping trip...[ and then a frustrated shout ]...Is that your journal? [ there's a small pause as Zoro points to the open journal ] It's open.Stop changing the subject! [ however, as she says that, she slams the journal shut – enjoy wondering what the hell that was all about, Paradisa ]INTENT: Mainly, I think that Perona would really love it in Paradisa. She's
all about gothic settings, castles, ghosts, and the like. It'd almost be paradise to her... if it weren't for all the people who aren't servants. On top of that, I'd like to see her grow out of her shell a little more... though she'll still remain the bratty kid she is, it'd be nice to see her be a little more open. :3c
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