ooc & character information

[notlostinoz]

Out of Character Information

player name: Cyn
player journal: fairytales
playing here: n/a - first character
where did you find us? a friend recommended the game to me
are you 16 years of age or older?: Yes
ooc contact:: plurk - fables, aim: howblueisthesea; gtalk/email: howblueisthesea [at] gmail[dot]com

In Character Information

character name: Dorothy Gale
Fandom: The Oz series by L. Frank Baum / Books
Timeline: Shortly after the events of The Emerald City of Oz
character's age: Unknown; appears to be roughly 11-12, which is around the time she stopped aging, but her actual age is older (I can’t even guess an age, Baum didn’t care about consistency in age and aging and all of that. If she was 11-12 when first swept into Oz, she’d probably be anywhere from 15-17 in the Emerald City. Older perhaps? Younger? but she does have a very adult-like attitude and can take care of herself).


powers, skills, pets and equipment:
Dorothy has no canonical abilities, but with being in Anatole, a few powers will manifest: the inability to get lost, a talent for finding lost objects, and mild persuasive abilities, especially when trying to befriend people.

There are reasons behind these powers, of course. This is the girl who has spent years getting lost, having mishaps happen to her, and always managed to find her way back home - usually after a series of frightful adventures that often involved battling some form of evil. Even at the darkest of moments, when there seems to be nothing that could help, something happens: a princess shows up at the base of the tower she’s locked in, a wind picks up and points the way, the clouds part and a good fairy appears; the list goes on and on. It’s just impossible for her to be completely lost, the road always manages to take her back to the very place she needs to be in. She might need to be in the mist for a short period of time, or on the outskirts of the city, or deep below ground; Dorothy is okay with that, because she knows if she keeps going, the road will lead her in the right direction.

The ability to find lost objects is somewhat tied to her never getting lost skills, as well as a unique talent she possesses. Dorothy tends to listen, to observe, and she’ll pick up on clues and dropped hints. Sometimes things just pop right out at her. This isn’t always a wonderful skill, because she’ll notice things people, especially adults, want to keep hidden, and while it might not get her in trouble, it has landed her in some scrapes.

Dorothy is a friendly girl and it’s been extremely easy for her to make friends on her various adventures. While the power isn’t extreme, there is a touch of it there, especially if she is genuinely interested in the person and wants to befriend them.

Besides those powers, Dorothy has her faithful dog Toto with her; he’s been on all of her adventures and she wouldn’t feel right if the little dog wasn’t there with her. She also has a picnic basket, complete with a luncheon for one, water, treats for Toto, and a blanket to spread out on the grass so as to not stain her dress.

canon history:
Oh boy, where to start. So there was this girl, who was caught in a terrible cyclone that whisked away her house, over a terrible desert and into the enchanted fairyland of Oz.

That’s really where our story begins. Dorothy, the little girl, ventured out into the land and discovered a beautiful place filled with all sorts of people: some good, some bad, and lots of magic. She gained a pair of silver slippers, defeated a witch, and more importantly, made friends with a number of people - a scarecrow, a tin man, a lion, a good witch, and a wizard foremost among those. Dorothy was finally able to make it home, thanks to the silver slippers (unfortunately lost over the deadly desert), and was reunited with her aunt and uncle.

Now this might have been a dream (which is the way the movie took it), or the hallucinations of a young girl, but this pattern of adventures was to be repeated. Not once, not twice - but four times. Each instance was essentially the same: Dorothy would get whisked away for some reason to the magical fairy lands, meet people and animals good and bad, have a number of adventures, make lifelong friends - a few would end up living in Oz permanently - and return home, happy and whole.

Eventually the need to be whisked away to the magical land of Oz, and the surrounding countries, would disappear. Dorothy’s aunt and uncle were unable to pay their mortgage and lost the farm they lived on. Dorothy wasn’t too concerned; by this point, she was fast, lifelong friends with princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz, and knew that she would have a home in Oz for as long as necessary. It didn’t even take much to convince Ozma to welcome Auntie Em and Uncle Henry into Oz and provide them with a home. The land of Oz celebrated and Dorothy was surrounded by her friends and family.

(According to Baum, this was supposed to be the final book of the Oz series; alas, it was far too popular and he went on to write even more books.)

http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/The_Emerald_City_of_Oz
http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Oz_books

personality: Cheerful, upbeat, take-charge. Dorothy is a hardy person, not really one who has issues in dealing with unexpected upheavals and changes in life. When she was first whisked away to Oz, it was somewhat overwhelming for her - a young girl, in a new land, with only her dog by her side, it makes sense that she’d cry. But Dorothy isn’t one to let fears get to her or cry for too long. She’ll make the best of any situation and always looks for the good.

Raised on a farm, Dorothy isn’t afraid of hard work and takes pride in doing things for herself. While she enjoys the splendor of the Emerald City, was made a princess, and does live in a palace, she much prefers the simple things in life: her friends, her family, partaking in adventures, and having experiences rather than letting the world pass her by.

Dorothy is honest, straightforward, and does tend to have a fairly black and white view of the world. She wants to see the good in everyone but sometimes people are just bad. She understands that good people can sometimes do things that aren’t always good, but they have their heart in the right place, and those actions will never be something extreme, simply misguided. Bad people, though, are simply wicked. (And while they deserve punishment, harsh sentences are not something Dorothy approves of.)

why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Dorothy was a young, simple girl thrown into a world that defied all logic for her. Talking scarecrows, talking animals, tin men, witches, and more. Yet she adjusted, accepting these people and animals for who they were and managed to make friends and survive. While she might not have a love of adventure, they always happened, and she adjusted.

While Anatole is quite different from Oz, the elements are the same: these people wake up in a new environment and have to learn to navigate the world, adjust to the environment, meet people, and move forward. Dorothy is equipped to do that; she has a boundless energy, not the type to let the world get her down, and can adjust to adventures. She looks young, but she’s much more mature in her mindset than the average girl her age, thanks to the previous adventures, and is capable of fending for herself - she’s not adverse to asking for help, if it comes down to it, but she will try to hunt for what she needs, from food to shelter, first.

She’s never had to fight monsters physically, but has dealt with sticky situations and magical boundaries such as the Mist (the deadly desert comes to mind) and adapted quite well to that. Seeing her perhaps come up against monsters will be interesting, and dealing with the supernatural abilities the mist granted her will also help with developing her character.

Writing Samples

Network Post Sample:
[Toto is the one who turns on the device. He barks at it and the screen flickers, causing Dorothy to drop it, startled. She’s lucky it doesn’t fall far and the case protects it from the worst of the impact. Lucky - or perhaps unluckily - it happens to start up the camera.]

What is that, Toto?

[Dorothy’s face appears on the screen, full of confusion, only to disappear again as she picks it up and turns it about. Eventually she holds it properly, staring at the screen.]

Perhaps it is like one of the magical items Ozma or Glinda has. What’s it supposed to do, I wonder? Could be like the magic mirror, and show me places.

Show me Oz!

[A look of disappointment crosses her face when nothing happens and only her face remains on the screen. It's brief and disappears quickly, because she discovers the buttons on the side.]

Maybe these'll help me figure it out.

[A few clicks can be heard over the speaker, but the feed is abruptly cut off and Dorothy's face disappears.]

(Also, here is a d_m post I made with her on LJ.)

Third Person Sample:
There was something scary about being in a new place, however used to adventures Dorothy was. Especially since this place didn’t look anything like Oz or any of the lands surrounding it.

“Except you haven’t been to all of the lands surrounding Oz, Dorothy,” she said aloud, causing the small black and brown dog at her feet to look up at her curiously, adding a little yip in agreement. Dorothy scooped him up, setting him on the windowsill as she looked out over the city from the small room she’d woken up in. It wasn’t the best view, but she could see bits and pieces of the city - and in the distance, the mist.

“‘Sides, this place can’t be any worse than the land of the Gnomes.” The kingdom of the gnomes had been pretty awful; at least she wasn’t underground here, which had something going for it. “And Oz might be somewhere around here.”

There were a few people walking along the street below her window and Dorothy leaned out further to look at them. They looked like normal people, no talking animals or men made of metal, which meant - well, it could mean anything. Dorothy pulled back into the room, turning away from the window, and Toto followed her, hopping down from the windowsill and jumping on the bed.

When she’d first landed in Oz, the Munchkins seemed normal, and it was only later that she’d met other types of people. So just because the first people she’d seen looked normal didn’t mean anything. And even thought it was so different from her home didn’t mean anything - Oz had been different, and she had managed to survive just fine.

This world could be filled with dozens of different types of people. And even more places to explore, adventures to find, and friends to make.

“Well, Toto.” Dorothy glanced down at her dog, shooing him off the bed. “This room isn’t going to help us any. Why don’t we go find someone who can tell us where we are? There’s always someone around who is willing to explain things!”

Anything else? Baum causes SO MANY HEADACHES with his canon inconsistencies. sob.