Shaw

Player Information

Name: Quinn
Age: 33
Contact details: quinn2win
Other characters: Ivy Wakefield

Character Information

Name: Shaw
Canon: Arknights
Canon Point: End of chapter 4
OU/AU/CRAU/OC: OU
Age: 20

World Information: Here.

Personal History:
Shaw had an unremarkable youth in Great Lungmen, a powerful nation with a hostile stance towards those with Oripathy infection. The first time fire entered her life was with the death of a fruit seller she often bought apples from. He died as the result of arson, and the seed of a thought implanted itself in her mind: That one person can cause more damage than one person can prevent. This led to her pursuing a career as a firefighter - someone who works with others to prevent chaos and tragedy before they start. In the name of protecting people from the flames of disaster, Shaw worked hard, and eventually became a firefighter with the Lungmen Fire Department.

Shaw's diligence and professionalism earned the respect of her peers one winter, during a fire incident where a misused space heater ended up setting an entire apartment complex ablaze. Shaw personally made multiple trips into the burning building to rescue trapped tenants, and when all was said and done, she had successfully made sure that there were zero casualties. This get her name into local newspapers, but it also caught the attention of the Lungmen Guard Department, and accordingly of Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, a company that openly researches a cure to Originium infection, but also secretly engage in paramilitary operations to protect those ostracized and attacked due to the persecution faced by the Infected. She ultimate accepted an invitation to work with Rhodes Island on their mobile fortress RIIC as a fire safety specialist, not only working in fire prevention but also adapting her fire fighting techniques for combat.

It wasn't long after Shaw got on board for her new position that she realized the daunting scope of her work. The base was a labyrinth, full of outdated equipment, safety code violations, and pyrokinetic operators with explosive personalities. Her strategy for tackling this challenge was to arrange a series of seminars on fire safety in order to educate the other operators. Unfortunately, due to her short statue and exetremely fast-paced speech, the first seminar ended with almost nobody being able to tell what she was talking about, with some not even aware that a seminar was going on. She didn't let it get her down for long, and despite her initial setback and the constant trolling from RI's two most on-fire troublemakers, Ifrit and Skyfire, Shaw eventually became an irreplaceable operator of Rhodes Island.

Personality:
Shaw is a firefighter, but it's more than just an occupation to her. In her youth, the incident with the fruit seller established fire in her mind not only as a danger, but as a symbol of the ability for one person to cause a catastrophe for many. As she puts it, one person can cause a catastrophe with will alone, but one person can't resolve a catastrophe with will alone. Just reacting to danger isn't enough; people need to be protected in advance, because tragedy won't wait for you to get ready. Thus, she tries to enter every situation with a plan already in place, being ready to put out fires (metaphorical or literal) before they have a chance to spread. That the worst is bound to happen eventually, so you have to prepare for the worst in advance.

Despite her embracing of Murphy's Law, Shaw's worldview is unexpectedly optimistic. While she's always anticipating the worst, she's doing so because she earnestly believes that preparation and diligence will win the day when the cards are on the table. Things can get her down, but she bounces back quickly, acknowledging that moping won't actually help her get things done (as she phrases it - depression is the death of passion). She sees the positive in the negative; her short statue isn't a problem, it just means that she can fit into spaces and accomplish things that bigger people can't. The reason Shaw works so tirelessly at her job is because the basis of her job is protecting happy lives from being turn apart by senseless tragedy, and those people being able to live without trouble is itself something worth fighting for. She works hard because hard work pays off.

In conversation, Shaw comes off as a bit strange. She often struggles to find the right words, but once she's decided on what to say, the words all come out at once. Accordingly, she's characterized by long silences intercut with rapid-fire streams of speech. It takes her a while to start talking, but once she starts, it also can take a while for her to stop. She's fully aware of her tendency to ramble on for too long once she's gotten started, but that doesn't mean that she can control it, just that she can be apologetic about it while it's happening. As a result of this particular combination of issues, Shaw tends to find social situations a bit overwhelming, and tires out quickly. She feels much more grounded when she has a job to do; she's very goal-oriented, so as long as there's a concrete objective she can work towards, she's fine. She doesn't express her emotions well, creating the sense that she doesn't feel many highs or lows, always at the same steady level. In reality, she just doesn't show what she's thinking on her face very much.

Key themes: Teamwork and diligence as the natural enemies of entropy - if order isn't prepared, chaos wins every time, so have a plan and the ability to execute it quickly and consistently.

Main Motivation: Averting disaster and protecting people from unjust tragedy is a reward as delicious as a big, round apple.

Skills:
Shaw possesses no supernatural abilities, but is a skilled firefighter. She's knowledgeable about a wide scope of fire safety practices, has hands-on experience fighting fires, and is in excellent shape. She can use an axe and even her more specialized fire equipment in combat, but her combat experience is much more limited.

Item:
An well-used but reliable fire axe.

Sample:
TDM toplevel
Thread w/ Ifrit

Notes: Shaw's a pretty minor character in canon - I've taken what dialogue and background she has and extrapolated a bit to infer a more comprehensive identity under the surface. All headcanon in this app is based directly on abilities, lore, and quotes available in the game.