SK: App

[tippedthescales]

Player info

Your Name: Kory
Your E-Mail/AIM/Whatever: m_kat44@yahoo.com (email); kawaiipancake (AIM); korynth (Plurk)
Livejournal: korynth
Your age: (Must be 15 or over) 23

Character info

Series/Fandom: Star Wars (Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones)
Character's Name: Padmé Amidala
Character's Sex: Female
Character's Age: 24
Canon point: Mid-Attack of the Clones (Episode 2), on Tatooine, after Anakin leaves her with the Lars family in order to find his mother.

Abilities: Due to the fact that she was a young Queen whose life would likely always be one fraught with danger, Captain Panaka, the head of the Royal Naboo Security Forces, gave her extensive training in the art of self defense. Thus, she has the ability to defend herself in situations where it is required. On top of that, she is quite skilled in using blaster pistols, particularly this one.

She is also extremely practical and a strategist. During the fight for Theed after her planet was invaded, she set a plan in motion that eventually ended in victory. When she and Anakin are captured on Geonosis and sentenced to death, she was able to pick the locks on her constraints and climb to the top of the stone pillar she was bound to, before even Anakin and Obi-Wan freed themselves. By keeping a level head, even in the face of danger, she overcomes many obstacles.

Padmé's true skill, however, is in her ability as a politician. At a young age it was her compassion and her will that won her the favor of her people, and thus the vote necessary to take on the role of Naboo's queen. After she served her term as queen, she was appointed to the Galactic Senate on behalf of Naboo. Within the Senate she was able to serve her home planet and the people of the galaxy well. She was known to given both persuasive and empathic speeches in the Senate and also continue her work protecting liberty and the various people in the galaxy.

Additionally, she can pilot several types of ships. And to add to her ability to be persuasive using her speech, according to the Star Wars wikia she's learned in seven different languages: Basic, Ithorese, Mon Calamarian, Gran, Gunganese, High Galactic, and Rodese.

Strengths: Padmé is trained in martial arts and capable of using various guns in battle. She remains level-headed in the face of chaos, and she is capable of producing winning strategies in the midst of warfare. Many would say she possesses the gift of gab, and she uses it persuasively in the Senate to protect the things that she cares about the most. She can also pilot some ships.

Weaknesses: Compared to the Jedi, Padmé doesn't have as much strength at her disposal. While she's trained to defend herself, she is, by no means, a champion fighter. She relies on weapons and her ability to think her way out of a mess in order to survive. She has her uses, but they're much better served away from the battlefield.

Background: "I call this aggressive negotiations."
Appearance: Padmé has a wide variety of unique styles. Here are some of my favorites: Lake Gown, Picnic Gown, Night Dress, Light Blue Tatooine outfit, Tatooine Pancho, and a white flight outfit.

Personality: Padmé is, at her core, compassionate. In one of the deleted scenes from Attack of the Clones, she tells Anakin how she traveled to a world that was dying in order to save the race by relocating the children. A lot of her young life was spent doing things such as these--helping others at every opportunity--even when it ended in failure. She believes that every person, no matter their appearance, should be free and allowed to live a happy life. In The Phantom Menace, she's appalled by the fact that there are still slaves in the galaxy, even after the Senate had ruled that there should be none. She makes it her life work to protect these freedoms so that she can alleviate suffering throughout the galaxy.

She is also extremely strong-willed. Not to say that she's completely stubborn, though, as she's always open to reason. But in the Senate, and even as a queen, she also had many occasions where this aided her. As a queen it helped her save her people by giving her the strength to stand up for them, and as a Senator it fueled her to keep doing what she believed was right, no matter the consequences she might face. When it comes to protecting something - her ideals, her people, her loved ones - she will not bend on the matter.

Though she does seem to protect her ideals above all else, compromising only insofar as agreeing to live out a secret marriage with Anakin. Prior to that decision, she had tried to keep him at bay by telling him that their lives, and what they wanted to do with their lives, could never lead to such an end. Even after they were wed, and she was pregnant with is child, she stood opposite of him by opposing the Chancellor (who Anakin had a good relationship with) when he began to overstep his duties and started to act as more of a dictator than the spokesperson for a republic. In all other aspects, though, she stood up for Anakin and believed in him, right up until the end of her life.

Padmé is also known for preferring to do things on her own. During her time as Naboo's queen, and later as a Senator, she kept handmaids with a similar appearance and age to her, who acted as a sort of security for her. The number dramatically decreased when she became a Senator, but she preferred the camaraderie of the girls to having security guards around her, though she typically has her head of security nearby (Captain Panaka and, later, Captain Typho). Though she also had security cameras in her home, she prefers living without them, occasionally going so far as to cover the cameras. Even when her life was in danger, she only accepted the aid of Jedi due to Chancellor Palpatine's insistence. After fleeing to Naboo with Anakin, she still makes the decision as to what will happen while she's on Naboo.

Her desire to do things on her own is likely due to the fact that she does not want others to get hurt in her place, and she does not want others to worry about her. When one of her handmaidens dies at the beginning of Attack of the Clones, due to an attack by a bounty hunter, Padmé is visibly shaken. Later, when she visits her parents on Naboo, she tries to tell her family that she is in no real danger. She is the type who would much rather go it alone if it meant that no one else would be harmed, and those around her seem to know this well. Captain Typho tells Obi-Wan that the Jedi Master should be more worried about Padmé getting into trouble than Anakin doing so, and it is Padmé who chooses to go to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan when he's captured (resulting in her and Anakin falling into enemy hands as well). She simply cannot stand to see those she cares for hurt when she could do something to stop it, even if she fails.

On top of being well-spoken, compassionate, strong-willed, and determined to do things on her own, she's very family-oriented. Even at the age of twenty-four she had yet to move out of her parent's house, stating that official housing "lacked warmth." She has a good relationship with her parents, even though she rarely has the chance to see them, and with her sister as well. She is also quick to agree to go with Anakin to Tatooine in the hope that they can save his mother. She's very grateful for all her family did for her--setting her up to succeed in the political arena, and always being supportive of her. She wished to help Anakin protect that bond with his own mother, though it was too late.

Lastly, Padmé is very patient, a soothing influence on those around her, and extremely rational. As strong-willed as she is, she is perfectly fine with waiting for the opportune moment to see something through. In kind, she is often seen as a soothing influence on those around her, especially Anakin. Whenever he acts out in anger, she's there to comfort him and pull him back together. For a large part of their relationship, she eases the conflict within him, giving him a purpose to keep going--she helps him find a focus within the chaos inside of him. He even tells her, on Naboo, that her presence is soothing on his thoughts. Likewise, when Anakin and Obi-Wan argue, she helps them comes to reconcile as easily as she finds a solution to the war on Naboo when she's queen. She approaches everything rationally - even if it takes her a moment to step back from a situation so she can return to it with a clearer head - and it's said that she wins most arguments by appealing to common sense. She believes common sense to be one thing that people cannot protest, and she's often correct.


Strengths: Padmé is compassionate, strong-willed, and resolute. She's level-headed, rational, and patient. She loves her family, and believes wholeheartedly in liberty, equality, and helping others. She'll stand up to protect what, or who, she believes in, and she would rather protect herself than see others hurt for her. She also prefers to alleviate suffering in any way she can. When she approaches most things, she does so logically and defeats most arguments using common sense. She has the patience of a saint and the beliefs to match. She also acts as a soothing influence on the series' most chaotic and conflicted character. It doesn't hurt that she also loves him unconditionally.

Weaknesses: Despite being compassionate, Padmé can be a bit too stubborn sometimes, and she gets herself into trouble because she likes to do things on her own. Her stances on matters, and her unwillingness to waver, frequently makes her a target for assassination. She takes care of others much more than she takes care of herself, and sometimes she is so focused on doing or protecting something, she can't see the bigger picture. She denies herself the things she desires in favor of giving them to others, and thus she can, at times, have trouble coming to terms with indulging herself in happiness that should, by all rights, be hers (e.g. when she's pregnant with the twins, she spends most of her time worrying about how this will impact her future and Anakin's future, rather than simply being happy that she's about to be a mother). And, as much as she loves Anakin, it makes her extremely vulnerable and begins to slowly tear her apart.

Samples

Action/Journal Sample:
[The sound of the ocean can be heard on the video, and for a moment Padmé appears distracted by something in her other hand. She came to this world just to pick up one of these fruits when she heard the story behind them, even if he was not yet here. The Paopu really was a strange-looking fruit.]

When I was a child, I remember being surrounded by warm sands, the lull of the water, and the sounds of nature. I loved the water and the feeling of being free. Children don't have many worries; they were simpler days.

[She pauses for a moment and glances back at the fruit.] Will those left behind have to suffer what we've suffered to arrive here?

[It's not a question she expects receiving an answer to, but the wounds left on her skin from the Heartless are still healing.]

In any case, I'd like to know if there is an organization in place to fight back against our enemy? Many of us have lost our worlds, and it is vital that we get them back. Poor planning will only lead to disaster and an army will only encourage violence.

At the very least, I'd like to speak to the king and queen of these worlds. I am certain that, if we work together, we'll discover a solution. Then we can all have back what we've lost.

[She casts one more look at the fruit before she turns back to the camera and shuts it off.]

RP Sample:
Watching him ride away was supposed to be the hardest part.

As someone who loved her family, despite rarely being able to see them, she could not begin to imagine the pain Anakin was going through as they learned of what had happened to his mother. For Anakin, Shmi was all he had, and as a Jedi he had been kept from her and told to let go of his attachment for her. While Padmé knew the Code and, to some extent, understood it, she could not imagine how painful it would be to lose your family, especially when you could feel them.

That was why she had agreed to come to Tatooine with him, no matter the dangers such a trip posed. Even if she had decided that she could not endanger their futures by developing a relationship with Anakin--one that could never reach fruition--she could not watch him suffer. It hurt her every time she looked up and saw the rigid outline of his shoulder - pensive and tight - and she could do nothing to ease his pain. If coming here meant he could rest easier... There was not even a question about whether or not it was worth it.

But Tatooine was as hard on her resolve as it was on the skin. In a land of heat and sand, all she could remember was the boy who had bravely taken on a podrace he had little chance to win, and come out victorious. Although he was grown now, it was Anakin who had saved them on Tatooine, and Anakin who had destroyed the droid ship. Not once had he failed her or her people--she would always be grateful for that.

The glass she had been washing clattered into the basin of the sink, startling Padmé back to reality. She apologized to Beru, who had looked over to make certain she was all right, and the meeker woman only shook her head with a smile. The glass hadn't broken, but it served as a reminder that she needed to live this day as she normally would, trusting in Anakin to do what he needed to do. He would come back; he had promised to protect her, and he would not let her down.

That night she had hardly been able to sleep. The rest of the household had gone about their day as they normally would, even with their strange guest present, but she had felt disjointed and lost while he was gone. If there was one feeling she disliked, it was being helpless. Even if she would have gotten in his way or slowed him down, she should have gone with him. Letting him face this alone--somehow she knew she would regret it.

It must have been around morning when she heard movement in the household - shouts, worries - and she first reached for her blaster pistol. Something was amiss. The house that should have been illuminated with the fresh light of the dawn was still dark, and even flame was having trouble penetrating it. When she called out for the others in the house she was regaled with no response. It was as if, suddenly, she was completely alone.

The circumstances gave her pause, and she halted her search through the residence. Had she been so stricken with worry that she was now having nightmares of her own? Things like this didn't just happen; it had to be some kind of dream. If she stopped, soon she would wake up, Anakin would be back, and all would be right again. They could both put their fears to rest by being reunited, and soon they would be back on Naboo, away from the pain, uncertainty, sand, and heat of Tatooine.

Yet as she lowered her blaster pistol to her side, resolved to wait out her dream of darkness, a pair of yellow, glowing eyes appeared. She began to step back in surprise, but nearly fell over something in the process. Looking behind her, she saw a similar pair of eyes, and then, all around her, they began to appear. Whether or not this was truly a dream, she was surrounded by creatures she did not know. But she took a breath to calm her fraying nerves, and she waited.

When the first made its move, she was quick to shoot it. The creature fell to the ground with a hiss, as did the next three who tried the same. As quickly as her heart was beating in her chest, she tried to keep her breathing steady and her mind cleared. She was no Jedi, and this was her first time being alone in a situation such as this. Nightmare or not, no one was there to save her this time. She either had to stay alive until she woke up again or until someone came for her. Anakin would come.

The heavy darkness was lit by the light emitted from her blaster pistol as more and more of the creatures began to jump at her. When one's claws ripped into her shoulder she grit her teeth to keep from crying out, and simply kept firing. As the seconds ticked by she began to slowly come to the realization that this was a battle that she had already lost. Again she could only think that she should have stayed with Anakin. If these creatures were after her and they had harmed everyone else... Again, she was letting people die for her. That thought alone hurt more than anything else.

It was only a matter of time before the creatures of darkness knocked her off of her feet, and she could only roll onto her stomach and hope. Even as she began to lose consciousness, she strained her ears for the sound of a lightsaber. It was a sound that never came, and she soon found herself, face-down, on cold, cobblestone streets.

Watching him ride away was supposed to be the hardest part. But waking up on a new world without him was nearly unbearable.

Have you read the rules & F.A.Q.s? Sorry, one sec, dropped my ice cream... Okay! Yes, I have.