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erythristic) wrote2017-02-06 04:05 pm
erythristic) wrote2017-02-06 04:05 pm
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recolle application
CHARACTER: CANON SECTION
NAME: Grell Sutcliffe
AGE: Unknown, physical appearance of 25-28 years old, in reality is 250+.
CANON: Black Butler
NAME: Grell Sutcliffe
AGE: Unknown, physical appearance of 25-28 years old, in reality is 250+.
CANON: Black Butler
CANON HISTORY: Wiki link - the "History" and "Plot" sections up to the conclusion of the Luxury Liner arc are applicable. [NOTE: Due to conflicting opinions in fandom, Grell's article has been written with gender neutral pronouns. However, she canonly refers to herself as a woman and with feminine pronouns, so for all intents and purposes I refer to her with them as well.]
CANON PERSONALITY:
A first glance of Grell shows a sociable person. She'll easily get people into conversation, has no difficulty voicing her opinions, and loves asking questions. Instead of lashing out at Sebastian when he first discovers her identity as Jack, she's content to make small talk with him as she sheds her disguise, questioning his curious position as a butler. She seems truly interested in what people have to say, especially if it suits whatever "scene" she decides to create at the moment, adding to the drama of it all. Drama in general is a concept she understands well; her clothing, actions, and words calculated to boldly state what's on her mind without giving a second thought to whether it's politically correct. Give her the chance, though, and she'll substitute a literary figure's words for her own, going as far as to quote Shakespeare in the heat of battle when she thought it suited. Fitting with her love of classic literature, Grell tries to be a lady, swearing only in extreme cases, remembering her manners, and the like. She loves traditionally feminine things like clothing, makeup, etc., and places a high value on her own appearance to the point of worrying in fights whether her face will be injured, stating that "a lady's face is her treasure". But it's not just the lighter side of life that fits her aesthetic, the macabre, morbid, and violent hold just as much-if not more-appeal, being more theatrical and more likely to invoke higher amounts of emotion.
Grell is not quite mentally stable, with moods that can change without a moment's notice, and a nigh insatiable penchant for death and blood. With the prostitutes, she saw nothing wrong in brutally slaying them, in fact she loved "making them over" with their blood in murders that seasoned investigators call "abnormal". In the same breath she professes her attraction to Sebastian and her desire to kill him in the bloodiest way possible. Violence isn't the last resort for her, it's the first, with sadomasochistic undertones. She fights for the sake of seeing blood fall, and truthfully she's happiest while murdering; her biggest smiles are the ones revealed in the heat of battle. Death is what she was made for, and she's more than glad to bring it down in whatever way will amuse her.
Though she will deliberately go into dangerous situations or provoke them when none exist if she has a good opportunity to do so, she can restrain the urges enough when issued a caution. It's clear from the Jack murders that her own desires come first, to the point of ignoring the legality of her actions and not giving a damn whose orders she's pushing out of her head. Be that as it may, post-suspension she has toned that down and is supposedly toeing the line with the threat of further punishment hanging over her. Though her quick moves to attempt to kill Druitt show that old habits die hard, Ronald Knox's reminders put her back in place. She's definitely grown more mature since the suspension, going so far as to apologize to Sebastian when she has to take advantage of his injured state in order to work at trying to capture Undertaker. This wouldn't be much on its own, but earlier in the series William T. Spears, another reaper, mentioned that apologizing to a demon was a shame to the reaper race. That Grell would swallow the shame associated with that act shows a clear bit of growth from their former meeting.
Her emotions aside, Grell truly does care about being a reaper, and places soul collection as her highest priority on the job. Her exchanges with Ronald hint at the sanctity of death to their kind, being visibly horrified at the idea of the Bizarre Dolls originating from reapers, that one of their kind would even dare consider such an act. Seeing it perverted is unacceptable and something she will not tolerate in any form, no matter how strong or how attractive the person is that's doing the perversion.
Being a divine entity, she's become exceedingly reckless and has an elevated opinion of her own power and importance. Her confidence in her physical prowess is such that she goads Sebastian, asking if he really thinks a demon could beat her, a god. This overlooks the obvious flaw in the situation-that being that Sebastian cannot die or lose if Ciel does not wish him to, based on aesthetics-and is key to her eventual defeat. However, she's not cocky simply because she's got a big weapon and a crazy smile, she's got the strength, drive, and intelligence to back it up for the most part.
A perfect scenario in her opinion would involve copious amounts of drama, energy, and emotion, and all conclude with a death. She'll do a lot simply because it interests her, but those who get closer to her will find she can attempt empathy if one overlooks her feelings of superiority to humans-both her life experiences and the countless Records of lives she's seen help her relate to-or at least try to relate to-nearly all emotions and offer assistance to the person. Her trust is hard to gain, but if you have it, she will prove herself quite loyal and someone who will fiercely defend as well as fight by your side. Such is clear in the way she breaks from the fight with Undertaker to get Ronald's glasses back for him, thus sacrificing the opening created by the former's attack on her junior.
She isn't a liar, per se, but neither is she an honest person. Grell has declared she is an actress, and that's a fair way to describe how she presents herself. Deception, manipulation, veiling the truth, all come naturally, and she tends to be subtle enough in misleading people so that she can pass it off as not her fault. When she truly wishes to act, like making herself Madame Red's butler, she can envelop herself so completely in the role that she could seem an entirely different being than what she is, perhaps making slight faults but overall carrying it off extremely well.
Even with this confidence and energy she throws into her life, Grell's self esteem can fluctuate between extremely low and moderately high, especially when it comes to her body. She feels that she is the victim of a mistake by God, her entire life spent wishing that she was a physical female while having to act as a male. One of her deepest wishes is to have a child of her own-not by being a father as she technically could do, but to actually bear a child and nurture it as a mother. She understands that it's physically impossible for her, but it doesn't stop her from longing and dreaming that she could, one day, be able to give life instead of just taking it. The other great wish of her life is to have a sex change; she says she wants it the most of anything she could do. Grell calls herself a woman and uses feminine pronouns such as saying shefs an actress, but it still isnft easy to reconcile her feelings on herself and the views she gets from society. Constantly having to shield herself from these repeated emotional blows, she doesn't expect many, if any, people to understand and accept her for what she is. It would have taken her a long time to accept herself, being very influenced by those around that she was some sort of deviant, as well as facing the ever present fear of social ostracization. But as her feelings have stayed, and with the possibility that she might know of historical situations similar to hers, she still has the strength to still call herself Miss Sutcliffe and know it to be true, without feeling she has to justify herself to people who don't want to listen.
[Notes: This interview is the canon source for her stating she desires a sex change, as well as her stating that she uses female speech.]
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
She has the regular set of reaper abilities:
Supernatural physical capacity: Her strength and speed are on par with a demon, and despite her claims about "feeling all stiff", she kept up with the deathmatch with ease.
High endurance: Sebastian Michaelis directly states that a reaper cannot be beaten to death, and even after having her chest cut open with a death scythe, she was able to more or less go about her business as she would. This extends to being able to function for longer periods of time with less sleep/resources than a human would require, though reapers still do need food, sleep, and the rest to be in optimal condition.
Spiritual sensitivity: It allows her to distinguish between humans and nonhumans. Obviously specifics are limited by the races she's had personal exposure to - she might be able to identify a demon, but she can't discern a werewolf other than a vague sense of "not human".
Disguise: With significant effort, she has the ability to change small details in her appearance such as hair color or teeth shape.
Accelerated healing factor: Somehow she was back to fighting form within a matter of months after being beaten so severely it would have killed a human several times over.
Combat experience: She can handle herself in a fight without hesitation, and that only grows over time.
Death scythe: Reapers have the capacity to summon one, used for the collection and judgement of souls. Her scythe in particular is modeled after a chainsaw. The death scythe is claimed to cut through anything except another of its own, and while the validity of that is under question, in canon the scythe has been shown to tear up metal, stone, bodies, the deck of a ship, and has horizontally bisected an entire horse-drawn carriage complete with undead horse in a matter of seconds.
The scythe comes with an additional ability called the Cinematic Record, a power which can only be used by the reapers to judge souls of humanoid entities. If someone is cut with the scythe, their memories will play out like on a film reel. This means that Grell, the person affected, and any other people around with spiritual sensitivity are able to see it. The specific memories witnessed are related to the degree of injury; the worse damage, the farther back it can go. Likewise, if the cut is very shallow and non-life-threatening, then less than a year's worth of memories are all that appear. (The scythe's power of soul collection is something I remove in game environments because it would be impossible to fit in. The Record is a power I work with on a case by case basis, though given the game I'm more than willing to remove it due to how it could break the setting.)
CANON PERSONALITY:
A first glance of Grell shows a sociable person. She'll easily get people into conversation, has no difficulty voicing her opinions, and loves asking questions. Instead of lashing out at Sebastian when he first discovers her identity as Jack, she's content to make small talk with him as she sheds her disguise, questioning his curious position as a butler. She seems truly interested in what people have to say, especially if it suits whatever "scene" she decides to create at the moment, adding to the drama of it all. Drama in general is a concept she understands well; her clothing, actions, and words calculated to boldly state what's on her mind without giving a second thought to whether it's politically correct. Give her the chance, though, and she'll substitute a literary figure's words for her own, going as far as to quote Shakespeare in the heat of battle when she thought it suited. Fitting with her love of classic literature, Grell tries to be a lady, swearing only in extreme cases, remembering her manners, and the like. She loves traditionally feminine things like clothing, makeup, etc., and places a high value on her own appearance to the point of worrying in fights whether her face will be injured, stating that "a lady's face is her treasure". But it's not just the lighter side of life that fits her aesthetic, the macabre, morbid, and violent hold just as much-if not more-appeal, being more theatrical and more likely to invoke higher amounts of emotion.
Grell is not quite mentally stable, with moods that can change without a moment's notice, and a nigh insatiable penchant for death and blood. With the prostitutes, she saw nothing wrong in brutally slaying them, in fact she loved "making them over" with their blood in murders that seasoned investigators call "abnormal". In the same breath she professes her attraction to Sebastian and her desire to kill him in the bloodiest way possible. Violence isn't the last resort for her, it's the first, with sadomasochistic undertones. She fights for the sake of seeing blood fall, and truthfully she's happiest while murdering; her biggest smiles are the ones revealed in the heat of battle. Death is what she was made for, and she's more than glad to bring it down in whatever way will amuse her.
Though she will deliberately go into dangerous situations or provoke them when none exist if she has a good opportunity to do so, she can restrain the urges enough when issued a caution. It's clear from the Jack murders that her own desires come first, to the point of ignoring the legality of her actions and not giving a damn whose orders she's pushing out of her head. Be that as it may, post-suspension she has toned that down and is supposedly toeing the line with the threat of further punishment hanging over her. Though her quick moves to attempt to kill Druitt show that old habits die hard, Ronald Knox's reminders put her back in place. She's definitely grown more mature since the suspension, going so far as to apologize to Sebastian when she has to take advantage of his injured state in order to work at trying to capture Undertaker. This wouldn't be much on its own, but earlier in the series William T. Spears, another reaper, mentioned that apologizing to a demon was a shame to the reaper race. That Grell would swallow the shame associated with that act shows a clear bit of growth from their former meeting.
Her emotions aside, Grell truly does care about being a reaper, and places soul collection as her highest priority on the job. Her exchanges with Ronald hint at the sanctity of death to their kind, being visibly horrified at the idea of the Bizarre Dolls originating from reapers, that one of their kind would even dare consider such an act. Seeing it perverted is unacceptable and something she will not tolerate in any form, no matter how strong or how attractive the person is that's doing the perversion.
Being a divine entity, she's become exceedingly reckless and has an elevated opinion of her own power and importance. Her confidence in her physical prowess is such that she goads Sebastian, asking if he really thinks a demon could beat her, a god. This overlooks the obvious flaw in the situation-that being that Sebastian cannot die or lose if Ciel does not wish him to, based on aesthetics-and is key to her eventual defeat. However, she's not cocky simply because she's got a big weapon and a crazy smile, she's got the strength, drive, and intelligence to back it up for the most part.
A perfect scenario in her opinion would involve copious amounts of drama, energy, and emotion, and all conclude with a death. She'll do a lot simply because it interests her, but those who get closer to her will find she can attempt empathy if one overlooks her feelings of superiority to humans-both her life experiences and the countless Records of lives she's seen help her relate to-or at least try to relate to-nearly all emotions and offer assistance to the person. Her trust is hard to gain, but if you have it, she will prove herself quite loyal and someone who will fiercely defend as well as fight by your side. Such is clear in the way she breaks from the fight with Undertaker to get Ronald's glasses back for him, thus sacrificing the opening created by the former's attack on her junior.
She isn't a liar, per se, but neither is she an honest person. Grell has declared she is an actress, and that's a fair way to describe how she presents herself. Deception, manipulation, veiling the truth, all come naturally, and she tends to be subtle enough in misleading people so that she can pass it off as not her fault. When she truly wishes to act, like making herself Madame Red's butler, she can envelop herself so completely in the role that she could seem an entirely different being than what she is, perhaps making slight faults but overall carrying it off extremely well.
Even with this confidence and energy she throws into her life, Grell's self esteem can fluctuate between extremely low and moderately high, especially when it comes to her body. She feels that she is the victim of a mistake by God, her entire life spent wishing that she was a physical female while having to act as a male. One of her deepest wishes is to have a child of her own-not by being a father as she technically could do, but to actually bear a child and nurture it as a mother. She understands that it's physically impossible for her, but it doesn't stop her from longing and dreaming that she could, one day, be able to give life instead of just taking it. The other great wish of her life is to have a sex change; she says she wants it the most of anything she could do. Grell calls herself a woman and uses feminine pronouns such as saying shefs an actress, but it still isnft easy to reconcile her feelings on herself and the views she gets from society. Constantly having to shield herself from these repeated emotional blows, she doesn't expect many, if any, people to understand and accept her for what she is. It would have taken her a long time to accept herself, being very influenced by those around that she was some sort of deviant, as well as facing the ever present fear of social ostracization. But as her feelings have stayed, and with the possibility that she might know of historical situations similar to hers, she still has the strength to still call herself Miss Sutcliffe and know it to be true, without feeling she has to justify herself to people who don't want to listen.
[Notes: This interview is the canon source for her stating she desires a sex change, as well as her stating that she uses female speech.]
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
She has the regular set of reaper abilities:
Supernatural physical capacity: Her strength and speed are on par with a demon, and despite her claims about "feeling all stiff", she kept up with the deathmatch with ease.
High endurance: Sebastian Michaelis directly states that a reaper cannot be beaten to death, and even after having her chest cut open with a death scythe, she was able to more or less go about her business as she would. This extends to being able to function for longer periods of time with less sleep/resources than a human would require, though reapers still do need food, sleep, and the rest to be in optimal condition.
Spiritual sensitivity: It allows her to distinguish between humans and nonhumans. Obviously specifics are limited by the races she's had personal exposure to - she might be able to identify a demon, but she can't discern a werewolf other than a vague sense of "not human".
Disguise: With significant effort, she has the ability to change small details in her appearance such as hair color or teeth shape.
Accelerated healing factor: Somehow she was back to fighting form within a matter of months after being beaten so severely it would have killed a human several times over.
Combat experience: She can handle herself in a fight without hesitation, and that only grows over time.
Death scythe: Reapers have the capacity to summon one, used for the collection and judgement of souls. Her scythe in particular is modeled after a chainsaw. The death scythe is claimed to cut through anything except another of its own, and while the validity of that is under question, in canon the scythe has been shown to tear up metal, stone, bodies, the deck of a ship, and has horizontally bisected an entire horse-drawn carriage complete with undead horse in a matter of seconds.
The scythe comes with an additional ability called the Cinematic Record, a power which can only be used by the reapers to judge souls of humanoid entities. If someone is cut with the scythe, their memories will play out like on a film reel. This means that Grell, the person affected, and any other people around with spiritual sensitivity are able to see it. The specific memories witnessed are related to the degree of injury; the worse damage, the farther back it can go. Likewise, if the cut is very shallow and non-life-threatening, then less than a year's worth of memories are all that appear. (The scythe's power of soul collection is something I remove in game environments because it would be impossible to fit in. The Record is a power I work with on a case by case basis, though given the game I'm more than willing to remove it due to how it could break the setting.)
CHARACTER: AU SECTION
AU NAME: Grell Sutcliffe
AU AGE: 30
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: Being a human now, her sharp teeth are that of a human. Her eyes are a more natural shade of green, her hair is more of a plausible deep red, and she's had surgery to bring her body more in line with her gender.
AU NAME: Grell Sutcliffe
AU AGE: 30
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: Being a human now, her sharp teeth are that of a human. Her eyes are a more natural shade of green, her hair is more of a plausible deep red, and she's had surgery to bring her body more in line with her gender.
AU HISTORY:
• Born as Jordan Sutcliffe to a pair of older parents who hadn't quite expected a child in their life. From that, they were more distant to her - while she was provided for and everyone ate dinner together, emotionally there was less of a connection than perhaps she would have wanted. A quiet child who obeyed the strict rules she was given, she was allowed to pursue her own interests because of that, and it was unspoken that whatever happened, not too much was expected of her as it might have been her cousins, who were born earlier and thus had more time to advance. Still, she had a bright streak in her, and while her parents were distant, the one gift she'd say they directly gave her was being bilingual - her mother spoke nothing but English, but her father also spoke German. The latter insisted she be able to speak both languages as his child, and so from an early age she was accustomed to learning new things.
• During her childhood, she discovered her own interests in anatomy, how the body functioned, and the concepts of death and the afterlife. If she was flipping through a family friend's copy of Gray's Anatomy, it was understood as childish curiosity as to how everything works, and if she had no fear about dealing with dead things during science class, then it served to bolster her grades. Whatever she chose to study, as long as she stayed reasonable about it and didn't let it get in the way of things like school, family occasions, and the like, it was accepted. While her interest in the idea of the afterlife had a decidedly more religious start - beginning from the Christian Heaven and Hell and continuing on through curiosity about different concepts among religions - it eventually wound its way back into the scientific aspects of death and what caused it. Initially nervous about the route her thoughts were taking, being able to read and get some answers soothed her enough to make peace with herself. So, she had some odd interests, but everything else in her world was passingly fine, and besides, other people must have had these thoughts if there were answers written down somewhere.
• In school itself, she kept her head low to avoid seeming too weird and standing out from the crowd. There were a multitude of reasons why she might have been teased if she didn't, and focusing instead on higher grades and quietly observing others to understand them kept her out of the line of fire. Her acquaintances and friends were an acceptable number, and she stayed close to them instead of trying to become beloved by everyone.
• After graduating from high school, she chose to socially transition, changing her name to Grell and fully presenting herself as the woman she'd known herself to be for years now. While her family had come around to the idea after the discussions when she first came out to them, the compromise was that she'd finish out high school as "Jordan" and then have her transition supported. Somehow, in their eyes, that was simpler, and Grell had accepted the bargain.
• Already having decided to go into medicine, during her first semester in college she learned about the path of a medical examiner, and since it seemed a comfortable way to wrap up some of her more prominent interests, she chose such as her focus, throwing herself wholeheartedly into what was needed. Even as the workload increased over the years and others dropped out of the program, Grell remained steadily determined, deciding that if no one expected too much, then it was perfectly fine if she succeeded instead of failed. During this time in her life, the aspects of her personality that most people associate with her - the boldness, the confidence, all of that - began to be born and worn as her usual facade to cope with the world.
• Becoming fully certified, she worked around her area for a time before she heard of a job opening in Recollé. Impulsively, she applied, though it was far from her home, and eventually was accepted into the position. The decision to move was easy, and for the past two years, Grell's been a resident of Recollé who airly dismisses too many questions about her background and has developed a positive relationship with not just her direct coworkers, but also various members of the police force for the work she does.
• As well as having strong work relationships, Grell's taken care to be a good neighbor to those who live around, and through misadventures, sheer chance, or various other happenings, she's acquired a circle of friends around her. And being fond of kids, there's a number of younger ones who view her something like their honorary (if slightly creepy) aunt figure.
AU PERSONALITY:
Grell in canon and Grell in Recollé may be both bright, loud, deliberately elegant sorts, but one of the biggest splits for Grell in Recollé is that the confidence she wears so well and the outspoken boldness? It's all an act. A facade for the world that masks a girl who is shy, more submissive, and would apologize instead of simply owning her mistakes. Knowing her own flaws as a person, she's decided to live the life of "fake it til you make it" and pretends to own herself as well as other people think she does. Internally, she is sometimes a wreck, terrified of someone discovering just how much she covers up from day to day and possessed of the idea that to be the sort of person that she herself admires, she has to do this. To her, it's the same as putting on clothes - a necessity for her daily life that is emotionally exhausting, but preserves her reputation. So far, she's been able to keep up the mask for everyone, hiding her true thoughts for herself alone and managing to half believe she's the person everyone else sees, even if that means smiling when someone finds out her profession and accepting them getting weirded out.
That's not to say there's not a streak of strength in her - she pushed herself through school on her own determination rather than anyone's insistence, she faces death on a regular basis without shying away, and her chosen name is one she knows the negative connotations of but that she plucked out of German regardless. It simply manifests in different ways, and more often than not she clings to acting when things get difficult, instead of truly believing in her own inner strength. Despite knowing what she's capable of, the fact remains that at times, the belief that she really is that girl that no one expects much of anyway comes back, and only by faking can she shake off that level of self doubt.
Another change is that instead of being a murderous sadomasochist, she's rather more human in that regard, with a natural aversion towards killing, though death remains an area of interest for her. No wish to prolong suffering for the sake of some sort of scene, though she still does enjoy macabre theatrics - provided they're confined to the realm of fiction alone. Her sense of empathy is more true, lacking an underlying superiority that a nonhuman has and more genuine from the memories of everyone she's met. Her attempts at sympathy are born from a truer desire to understand people instead of purely observing them, and her recklessness is restricted to taking risks and chances rather than trying to infuriate demons into fighting her. Additionally, having been able to transition and socially be accepted as the gender that she knows she is, her self esteem is less caught up in whether or not she is the subject of God's mistake, and instead lies in the doubts that her family unintentionally fostered in her.
• Born as Jordan Sutcliffe to a pair of older parents who hadn't quite expected a child in their life. From that, they were more distant to her - while she was provided for and everyone ate dinner together, emotionally there was less of a connection than perhaps she would have wanted. A quiet child who obeyed the strict rules she was given, she was allowed to pursue her own interests because of that, and it was unspoken that whatever happened, not too much was expected of her as it might have been her cousins, who were born earlier and thus had more time to advance. Still, she had a bright streak in her, and while her parents were distant, the one gift she'd say they directly gave her was being bilingual - her mother spoke nothing but English, but her father also spoke German. The latter insisted she be able to speak both languages as his child, and so from an early age she was accustomed to learning new things.
• During her childhood, she discovered her own interests in anatomy, how the body functioned, and the concepts of death and the afterlife. If she was flipping through a family friend's copy of Gray's Anatomy, it was understood as childish curiosity as to how everything works, and if she had no fear about dealing with dead things during science class, then it served to bolster her grades. Whatever she chose to study, as long as she stayed reasonable about it and didn't let it get in the way of things like school, family occasions, and the like, it was accepted. While her interest in the idea of the afterlife had a decidedly more religious start - beginning from the Christian Heaven and Hell and continuing on through curiosity about different concepts among religions - it eventually wound its way back into the scientific aspects of death and what caused it. Initially nervous about the route her thoughts were taking, being able to read and get some answers soothed her enough to make peace with herself. So, she had some odd interests, but everything else in her world was passingly fine, and besides, other people must have had these thoughts if there were answers written down somewhere.
• In school itself, she kept her head low to avoid seeming too weird and standing out from the crowd. There were a multitude of reasons why she might have been teased if she didn't, and focusing instead on higher grades and quietly observing others to understand them kept her out of the line of fire. Her acquaintances and friends were an acceptable number, and she stayed close to them instead of trying to become beloved by everyone.
• After graduating from high school, she chose to socially transition, changing her name to Grell and fully presenting herself as the woman she'd known herself to be for years now. While her family had come around to the idea after the discussions when she first came out to them, the compromise was that she'd finish out high school as "Jordan" and then have her transition supported. Somehow, in their eyes, that was simpler, and Grell had accepted the bargain.
• Already having decided to go into medicine, during her first semester in college she learned about the path of a medical examiner, and since it seemed a comfortable way to wrap up some of her more prominent interests, she chose such as her focus, throwing herself wholeheartedly into what was needed. Even as the workload increased over the years and others dropped out of the program, Grell remained steadily determined, deciding that if no one expected too much, then it was perfectly fine if she succeeded instead of failed. During this time in her life, the aspects of her personality that most people associate with her - the boldness, the confidence, all of that - began to be born and worn as her usual facade to cope with the world.
• Becoming fully certified, she worked around her area for a time before she heard of a job opening in Recollé. Impulsively, she applied, though it was far from her home, and eventually was accepted into the position. The decision to move was easy, and for the past two years, Grell's been a resident of Recollé who airly dismisses too many questions about her background and has developed a positive relationship with not just her direct coworkers, but also various members of the police force for the work she does.
• As well as having strong work relationships, Grell's taken care to be a good neighbor to those who live around, and through misadventures, sheer chance, or various other happenings, she's acquired a circle of friends around her. And being fond of kids, there's a number of younger ones who view her something like their honorary (if slightly creepy) aunt figure.
AU PERSONALITY:
Grell in canon and Grell in Recollé may be both bright, loud, deliberately elegant sorts, but one of the biggest splits for Grell in Recollé is that the confidence she wears so well and the outspoken boldness? It's all an act. A facade for the world that masks a girl who is shy, more submissive, and would apologize instead of simply owning her mistakes. Knowing her own flaws as a person, she's decided to live the life of "fake it til you make it" and pretends to own herself as well as other people think she does. Internally, she is sometimes a wreck, terrified of someone discovering just how much she covers up from day to day and possessed of the idea that to be the sort of person that she herself admires, she has to do this. To her, it's the same as putting on clothes - a necessity for her daily life that is emotionally exhausting, but preserves her reputation. So far, she's been able to keep up the mask for everyone, hiding her true thoughts for herself alone and managing to half believe she's the person everyone else sees, even if that means smiling when someone finds out her profession and accepting them getting weirded out.
That's not to say there's not a streak of strength in her - she pushed herself through school on her own determination rather than anyone's insistence, she faces death on a regular basis without shying away, and her chosen name is one she knows the negative connotations of but that she plucked out of German regardless. It simply manifests in different ways, and more often than not she clings to acting when things get difficult, instead of truly believing in her own inner strength. Despite knowing what she's capable of, the fact remains that at times, the belief that she really is that girl that no one expects much of anyway comes back, and only by faking can she shake off that level of self doubt.
Another change is that instead of being a murderous sadomasochist, she's rather more human in that regard, with a natural aversion towards killing, though death remains an area of interest for her. No wish to prolong suffering for the sake of some sort of scene, though she still does enjoy macabre theatrics - provided they're confined to the realm of fiction alone. Her sense of empathy is more true, lacking an underlying superiority that a nonhuman has and more genuine from the memories of everyone she's met. Her attempts at sympathy are born from a truer desire to understand people instead of purely observing them, and her recklessness is restricted to taking risks and chances rather than trying to infuriate demons into fighting her. Additionally, having been able to transition and socially be accepted as the gender that she knows she is, her self esteem is less caught up in whether or not she is the subject of God's mistake, and instead lies in the doubts that her family unintentionally fostered in her.