Laomi Nass/Saliri

Laomi

A strong heart and a powerful soul, carrying the weight of many lives

Originally born as a simple mortal many years before present time, Laomi was given immortality by Xerneas after developing a close romantic relationship with them and making the choice to spend the rest of eternity with them. She was then left alone in the world after an unexpected battle went down and her partner retreated into a state of stasis. Centuries have passed since that day, but she has chosen to stay around, hiding her secret behind an outgoing exterior.

Laomi is a phenomenon amongst my characters. I expected myself to have some trouble establishing her or making her seem interesting, but what I ended up with instead was an intriguing and fun experience that everyone else seemed to fall in love with instantly. Along with Aruza, she has the feature of being the first RESA-created character.

 Story

Born 1,300 years ago, Laomi had a pretty normal childhood for that time; her family was an active member of her village community, she had both parents surviving and a couple older siblings, they lived a normal life and everything was okay. Then around age seven, Laomi began to notice how she felt different from the boys she knew; she had more fun and felt more at home whenever she was participating in the activities her sister did compared to her brother; she just felt like something was odd about her. Though it became apparent to her as she aged that she preferred things labelled feminine, it didn't fully click until she was ten that she herself felt much more like a girl than a boy. But when she decided to ask her family about it, they told her she had been spending too much time with her sister and that she just hadn't found the right hobbies. Laomi hesitantly believed them for a while, but her feelings didn't change. As she began her teenage years, she continued to insist to her family that she truly felt like a girl, and they became increasingly harsh in telling her no, and eventually they all suspected that something was wrong with her. In the following years, they would force her into doing various things to try and make her accept that she was a boy- it started out with making her spend more time with the village boys and trying to set her up with another girl, but progressed into aggressively trying to convince her otherwise with occasional hitting and locking her inside the house for periods of time. At age eighteen, she could no longer take it and using what little money she had, she left her family and her village permanently and moved to another one, creating a new name and a new identity for herself, determined to live as the woman she was.

 She then took up a job as a florist at her new home, as that was the only job she was able to get, her species and typing being beneficial to her getting the job. It wasn't much money, but she desperately needed as much as she could go. However, she ended up liking the job a lot and formed an emotional attachment to it despite the hard work. Though she still struggled to stay afloat financially, her situation slowly improved. She also sought to make new friends, friends that could serve as allies to help her stay alive. 

 After a couple years of living there, her life had become somewhat more stable overall, though she retained the self-hatred and anxiety she had built up from her childhood. One day, while on her weekly visit to her village's marketplace to stock up on supplies, she spotted an odd-looking person in the crowd that stuck out like a sore thumb, unusually tall with an intriguingly unique appearance. Being the social person she was, and her curiosity stimulated, she approached them with intent to start a conversation. Though they were standoffish at first, she invited them to look at the crafts area with her, and through the next couple hours that passed, they had warmed up somewhat and she felt she had made a new friend, as well as having acquired their name- Aruza. They agreed to meet up at the same place again next week to talk and explore together again; after a couple more weekly meetings, this turned into Laomi showing xem (now that she had learned enough about xem to know what xe preferred) her house, and Aruza visiting it on a regular basis. As their kindling friendship grew closer, and with it Laomi's trust in xem, Laomi would begin to develop romantic feelings for Aruza, and when xe asked her out a couple months after they met, she gladly accepted, happy that the feeling was mutual. As they spent more and more time together as a couple, their bond grew deeper, and Laomi's overall emotional health became more stable as she learned through Aruza how to gradually grow her self esteem until she finally felt she loved herself. Some months after their relationship had become romantic, Laomi finally learned the truth about her partner and xyr legendary status, but accepted it despite the implications, as she wanted Aruza in her life no matter what xe was. But her commitment to their relationship was put to the test a few years later, when xe asked her if she truly wanted to spend the rest of her life with xem, and adding on to that question if she would be willing to spend the rest of eternity as well, as Aruza could use xyr powers to make her immortal, telling her that xe was willing to make this one exception to xyr rule of not using it on mortals, because she was the one person who truly deserved it. 

 Laomi thought this offer over for a few months and what could come of it. She would outlive all her friends, but didn't feel there was anyone she couldn't handle losing. She would stop aging and never grow old, but remaining in her prime was far from an unappealing option. And she didn't want to leave Aruza sad and alone if she died mortally.

 Ultimately, she decided to accept this offer and go through with it, telling Aruza she would love to live with xem for the years to come. Now officially together like a married couple would be, they saved up money and moved to present-day Magnolian area, buying a house for themselves to live out their long days together. As the years passed, feeling the effects of no longer aging got to Laomi and resulted in somewhat of an existential crisis, but with a combination of Aruza's help and her own willpower, she got used to it. Around three hundred years passed, and Laomi continued to stay together with Aruza, overall happy with her decision, though having everyone else she bonded with dying eventually was still difficult to deal with. But things became a lot more difficult when the world was plunged into chaos, not once, but twice within a period of 200 years, first by Jirachi brainwashing most of the population, and then again by the entire continent being plunged into war. Both times, Laomi and Aruza retreated into a wooded area of present-day Fairy Vale, safely isolated from the rest of the world and truly having to rely on only each other. One day during their time there as the world war was raging on, Aruza told Laomi xe was off to check up on xyr counterpart legendary, and used to Aruza periodically leaving to do these sorts of things, Laomi said bye to xem and tended to the house while waiting for xyr return. After a week passed without xem coming back, Laomi got worried that something bad had happened. Two weeks without anything prompted her to set out to where xe said xe would go, to figure out what had happened to xem. 

 After a few days of searching, she found the tree xe had reverted into, and realizing what had happened, promptly broke down and cried.

 She was all of a sudden left alone, and on her own.

 When the war finally ended, she moved away from their hideout, and without anyone to share a house with anymore, moved to the most peaceful area she could find while the rest of the world recovered from the scars of the war. She adapted to once again doing everything herself, but it soon became apparent to her that she couldn't stay in any place too long anymore, for if people got suspicious of her never aging, she was much less secure about being able to deal with the dangers that might arise on her own. And with a thousand years to blow until her former partner came back, she decided to take advantage of both her time and her moving around to try out new career paths and new hobbies, and learn everything she could, though she would find herself always periodically coming back to her humble roots of being a florist.

 In present-day, she's currently living as a florist in the heavily-industrialized Coulomb City, winding down from a previously demanding career to relax in a typical kind of life for her to inhabit. 

 There have been many ups and downs in her long life, and sometimes there have even been times that she's sunk deep into the depths and nearly considered ending it all, but with her strength of character and perservering nature, she's always able to pull herself out of these rainclouds into a bright and sunny day. 

Personality

"Everyone has a different perspective on what's right and wrong, but what matters is ifyouthink you did the right thing. "

Laomi presents herself as outgoing and friendly, typically one to smile and be sociable, as she is one to enjoy conversation. She's the kind of person many find easy to talk to, and often follows herself up with affiliative, if not sometimes weird but generally cute humor, and also likes to tease certain types of people. Laomi has a clear air of confidence to her and confidence in herself, something she's had to teach herself and then learn to retain. She's generally empathetic, and has no problem giving advice from her large pool of experiences or helping someone out with a favor, but is also very put herself first, as she has a strong survival instinct that can sometimes lead to undertones of anxiety.

"I research a lot of things in my spare time. Learning is useful, you know?"

She conducts herself and her lifestyle in a very organized and orderly way, preferring to keep everything in order and in the way easiest to keep track of. She's interested in a variety of things, but her hobbies and interests tend to come and go. She tends to be a fan of artistic and crafty things, but if it's something within her ability and boundaries, she'll be willing to learn about anything. She's open to new experiences as long as they aren't overly-risky or dangerous; with all the time she has, she's learned to enjoy those opportunities. She also has an affinity with nature.

"I've met many people, but only a few ever knew the truth."

Despite her approachable demeanor, Laomi is reserved in a way that's not obvious. She'll tell you some things about her, but she won't tell you everything or allow you to get too close to her. She's very selective about what details she gives, as she keeps up a barrier to protect herself and her secrets; though she views it as necessary, it also ends up hurting her in some ways. Laomi's typically emotionally controlled and composed, though in her mind she often reacts more loudly and emotionally than on the outside, often swearing or complaining as she forces a smile, and typically writes her feelings out when she doesn't keep them contained. She's an internal thinker, and when a situation drains her of her social energy, she will turn to the more introvert side of her ambivertedness, becoming more quiet and brief in her words. Below her surface of control and barriers, Laomi carries a lot of internal pain that she's learned to bear the weight of and live with. She's a very strong person, but even for her, sometimes it's almost too much to bear and can cause periods of suicidal thoughts. Yet she has successfully survived each and every one of them.

"Well, it keeps the place clean of their blood."

Laomi can also come off as weird or odd in some situations or moments, and sometimes she can get carried away or go too far within the moment, to the instant regret of the moment afterwards. At other times, she may unintentionally come off as arrogant or vain; it's not the sort of thing she's trying to do, but something that leaks through from feeling a little too prideful about how much she's able to know and do.

"The weight of your problems can be hard to carry."

No matter what she goes through, her mind and heart remain strong in the end, and it's this perseverance and determination that has kept her alive throughout the centuries. 

"I'm okay. It's been a long road of ups and downs, but I'm okay. Nothing can break me yet. Many things have changed and so have I, but I'm still the Laomi you know."

Creator's Comments

Laomi has the award of character everyone wants to date the most, as voted by RESA [and so far two people have declared her their girlfriend], and in general she just has the award of being the most amazing with the least effort, outdoing everybody else in areas where I would usually be struggling and insecure. I expected her to struggle as being seen as anything more than Aruza's girlfriend, but no, she took off like a rocket.

 What an unexpected gem this character is. She's very fun to roleplay and write, she has an interesting concept and an interesting character with plenty of potential for depth, and everything about her is enjoyable. Simply put, she is going a lot of places. 

 Trivia Facts:
 -Her favorite overall flavor is strawberry. Blue raspberry is often a close second, though.
 -Her favorite flower is a blue rose.
 -She cannot get the hang of origami.
 -According to herself, she would be a dove if she were a bird.
 -Her favorite animal is a panda. She adores them very much.
 -Her name came to me while lying in bed as "what if her name was like naomi but with an L"
 -She has only been arrested twice.  

Links

List of Reverie Sanctuary Roleplays

Blog Tag

Deviantart Application