Post by EMMA MARIE OLSON on Aug 6, 2013 8:07:46 GMT -8
| [atrb=style,width: 420px; background-color: efefef; background-image: url(http://24.media.tumblr.com/0478144b9f16c95a37367d1aca56b45c/tumblr_mkfax8tDxp1s97ldco1_500.png); padding: 5px, bTable] EMMA M. OLSON 21 | HETEROSEXUAL | LIBRARY ASSISTANT | VISITOR | SAOIRSE RONAN PERSONALITY SHY | IDEALIST | EMPATHETIC | MUTE | DEPENDENT | PERCEPTIVE As I’ll expand on later in this section, Emma was diagnosed with selective mutism when she was twelve years old. Beforehand, her teachers had dismissed her mousy behavior as shyness, which wasn’t completely a misstep in their defense. Around strangers, Emma will refuse to say more than short, one-worded answers, if anything. Typically she hauls her foster brother, Adam, around as a translator of sorts. As far as her behavior is concerned, Emma isn’t one to make grand gestures. The less attention she accumulates the better. Emma is known to slip into rooms and out of rooms without making any effort to announce her presence. If someone is in her way, she’d much rather find another route to her destination than bother the roadblock into moving out of her way. It goes without saying speaking on the telephone, ordering at restaurants, and interacting with services of any kind severely upsets her. In these cases, she’ll typically look to Adam to get the job done. Really, it’s a shame she her embarrassment prevents her from sharing her ideas. Seeing a masked figure shoot her father and rape her mother had dashed optimism from her life for months of her life. A budding interest in survival stories, self-help books, and her foster parent’s encouragement didn’t cure her selective mutism, but she was able to overcome the pessimistic attitude she developed against the world. When Henry left, she was able to convince herself that their time together wasn’t over. Sure, she was heatbroken, but she hopes to see the create two separate piles of good and bad. Emma had miraculously decided to take the tragedy of her biological parent’s death and utilize her pain to make other crisis seem less traumatic. Sleeping in and missing the bus doesn’t mean she’ll be late for work. Sleeping in and missing the bus means she’ll be extra well-rested to perform as a library’s assistant when she eventually clocks in. Henry leaving wasn’t goodbye. Henry leaving was an opportunity to make the heart grow stronger. See where I’m going with this? On a scale of stubbing a toe to watching one’s parents perish, Emma has a pretty broad spectrum of pain. Empathy was another adaptation she acquired upon being “treated” for selective mutism. She may not raise her own voice very often, but Emma has become an expert on human emotion. A life condemned to silence teaches a person a lot about personal body language and facial expressions. Somehow, Emma has evolved to be able to feel a person’s emotions without experiencing the pain firsthand. It’s quite extraordinary, really. If Emma spots someone that’s distressed, she may pull on Adam’s sleeve to grab the victim’s attention. Then and only then will she offer them whatever help she can give them, whether she has cookies to offer or a warm-hearted hug. In Emma’s opinion, no one deserved to feel like their world is crumbling beneath their feet because she’s been there, and the mixture of confusion, fear, and anger wasn’t healthy for a person to experience. Because of her disorder, she is set at a disadvantage. Entering the public sphere without Adam by her side is virtually useless since she’s too chicken to speak up. Over the years, she had become devoted to her family member’s voices. Essentially, they are her voices. Strangers rarely hear her unless they give her an easy to answer question that may be responded to using yes, no, maybe, sure, or okay. It seems the only skill she possesses these days is her power of perception. Guaranteed, Emma notices everything. If you’re unsure what the waiter’s name is, then ask Emma. She probably snapped a mental picture of the woman’s nametag when she was taking orders for drinks. If you want to know how many people were wearing hats in the classroom she exited, she could probably dig through her memory to give you an answer. Nothing ever slides passed Emma’s eyes, and if they do, well, I bet she's sleeping. HISTORY WITNESSING HER PARENT'S MURDER | HENRY'S DISAPPEARANCE | LEAVING FOSTER CARE Once upon a time, lively and adventurous were commonly used by Emma’s neighbors to describe her. Some said she had her mother’s laugh, others swore she mimicked the mannerisms of her father. She was truly the livelihood of Liam and Eleanor Olson. Emma possessed the curiosity of a cat, the stubbornness of a bull, and the mouth of a parrot. Making friends around the neighborhood hadn’t been difficult. In fact, Liam and Eleanor insisted Emma bring cookies to any newcomer, which always went over well considering she had adorable, full, chipmunk-worthy cheeks. In many ways, she was the essence of a princess. Unfortunately, she didn’t receive a happy ending. At the ever so young age of ten, she became an orphan. After Emma’s parents were brutally murdered while they were staying at their vacation home on the coast, she lost the will to dress-up as Disney princesses and host magical tea parties. Her parent’s murderer had forcibly entered their home, killed her parents, and robbed her soul that night. Traumatized, a once happy-go-lucky, sunshiny girl imploded, leaving behind the shell of a beautiful disaster. When her foster parents brought her home, they described her as mousy, unresponsive, and miserable. With time, her condition improved, but coaxing answers more elaborate than “yes” or “no” proved to be an impossible struggle. Eventually, she opened her heart to her foster parents and siblings, but the process was certainly prolonged. Adam was the first one she began showing improvement towards. She relied on him to relay her messages to the rest of the household. He told their parents when she was hungry, if she was under the weather, and asked any questions she might’ve needed answered. Henry had arrived at the foster home within months of Emma’s adoption, so she habitually avoided him out of pure, irrational fear. Watching Adam and Henry interact, Emma gradually accepted her other brother into her life, too. Together, the foster siblings were quite the trio. Emma’s speech hardly improved with time. Her teachers passed off her policy against verbalization as shyness because the quality of her work had not been affected. Rather than playing with the children in the school yard, she would grab a book to read or find Adam and Henry to pester. She was twelve years old when the doctors finally diagnosed her with Selective Mutism, but by that time, she had already shown symptoms for two years. Treatment was administered immediately. The foster parents encouraged Emma to join peer groups to interact with the more outgoing members of her class, but in the end, the forced socialization only sent Emma deeper into her shell. Her speech had improved enormously inside the confines of the household. However, Henry and Jake were consistently needed to verbalize her thoughts outside the home. When she was fourteen years old, Henry began brainstorming an escape route of sorts. He planned to scorch a nearby home in order to fake their deaths, but the plans could’ve potentially had detrimental effects against their foster family. Additionally, Emma’s anxiety about the outside world drove her back into the comfort of her foster parent’s arms. Losing Henry had been tough on her. They were supposedly “siblings” according to their caretaker’s relations together, but Emma had developed more complex affections for Henry over the years. Seeing him leave broke her heart. Nevertheless, she swore she’d find Henry again one day. For the time being, she leaned against Adam for the strength to overcome Henry’s disappearance. Those times were probably the most confusing. On select days, Emma almost fooled herself to believe she possessed the same love for Adam. These assumptions were later proven wrong when they began disagreeing about Henry’s loyalty to them. Adam believed he was gone forever, whereas Emma couldn’t afford to cut him out of her life indefinitely. Thanks to their connection, Emma managed to convince Adam to travel around searching for Henry with her. Without Adam, the journey wouldn’t have been possible. To this day, she continued to suffer from mutism. Speaking with strangers terrifies her, so she’ll whisper her thoughts into Adam’s ear for him to verbalize. They’ve been searching for Henry for three years, and though Adam’s faith has been dangerously wavering, Emma is convinced they’re closer to finding Henry than they had ever been before. Now it’s only a matter of time before Henry shows his face and enters their life again to revive the nostalgic times of their youth. BEHIND THE MASK CHAR | 00 | PACIFIC | TAKE A GUESS | PLS REFER TO MY SHIPPING PAGE <3 |
