Cirque de la Vie Contest Entry: Nanna

Cirque de la Vie Character Design Contest
has a contest going on, which is to create a character (doll or performer)  for her upcoming visual novel! 
At first I thought of drawing a doll, so I did it.. based off of a marionette, but then it hit me. Marionettes are puppets, not dolls... //shot
This is my first time joining a contest, so I really hope I can get 1st place! If not, at least I have a new character to work with in the future? XD

This is where the character stuff starts:
"This whip is only for show, don't worry darling~"
Role: Animal tamer (Lion specifically)

Personality: Nanna is a headstrong woman, who loves, loves, LOVES animals! If she sees an animal (Preferably a furry one mind you), she will immediately stop what she's doing, and play with it. She's extremely cautious, because dealing with animals is a job with little room for error. She's most happy when around her pet lions. As for people, she tends to go quiet around those she's not familiar with, this does not include dolls!

Backstory:
Nanna was only 11 years old when her father taught her about lion training. However, his idea of training was twisted, and cruel. "You must whip the beast in order to tame the beast." He would tell Nanna. "It's only an animal, it has no feelings." For three years, Nanna was exposed to her father's twisted ideals, and abuse towards his lions. He would starve them to make them more furious than normal, and just fed enough to live a little bit longer. He would beat them with a whip until the floor was covered in blood. He would lock them in tiny cages, only big enough to fit in, and Nanna was forced to help him. On the fourth year, Nanna decided that she would no longer support her dad's ideals. However, this caused him to become violent towards her. She was treated like one of the lions, thrown in a cage and fed only what was necessary for survival. During this time, Nanna grew scared of people. She was now one of the "main attractions" of her father's circus...The human beast. People would always laugh with delight as her father mistreated her during one of his shows. She never got to see herself in the mirror after the incident, so her complexion was probably..monster-like too.

Then, during one show, a mysterious person came to her cage. "Would you like to flee from your current life, and go somewhere magical?"
He looked at her, smiling.
The man looked like the Ringmaster of some sort of circus. Fear struck.
"Don't worry;" the man said, "I'm nothing like your father, if you join me, I can assure you that your life will change for the better, just like magic." 
Nanna looked back, and hesitated. Then she glanced around the cage, and saw several lions laying there, exhausted and beaten.
She choked "I-If you bring these lions with me, I'll go, b-but only because anything would be better than this" 
"Smart choice, now come with us, to the Cirque de la Vie!" 

Now:
Nanna works as an animal tamer, with her lions, Soleil, Luna, Monde, and Étoile. She tries to be friendly with all the dolls, even the rude and stubborn ones, but still struggles with talking with the humans in the circus. Nanna is known to be extremely good with any animals, and they seem to behave (even the most rowdy ones) near her. Sometimes the Ringmaster brings in new, exotic creatures in for her to train for shows, and she has never once failed befriending a creature. However, Lucian told her that one day, she'll encounter her father again, and before that time, she must be ready to face him, or be taken back to the hell hole she was raised in. She occasionally asks Presharion for tips on self-defense and escaping techniques, and after a few visits, Nanna has grown fond of the Blanc Ripper.    

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That was long