~ Daphne Bernadotte ~
Daphne is a woman that works aboard the Flourish, a very large Sandsteamer that travels to most corners of Gunsmoke. The now-estranged child of a higher family, Daphne now fully devotes herself to the engineering work that it has come to adore- though it has a terrible tendency to overdevote itself to her work to the point of physical harm...
Daphne was initially born as Elliot Bernadotte- the only son of the Bernadotte Family. Her family was of Upper Class on Gunsmoke, which was reflected in her upbringing: Daphne was expected to maintain the rather morally-grey business her father ran and was to be their Bachelor. Daphne always wanted to leave- once her family started trying to pair her off with other families' rather miserable daughters, she began dreaming of leaving behind the stifling, controlling environment her father established. The issue is that she didn't quite know how...
Eventually, Daphne was paired off with one individual in particular: Sylvia Walters. The two of them established on the first date that they weren't interested in one another- which actually helped their relationship. They both realized they had a lot in common actually, leading to a friendship. They continued going on dates simply to hang out and express their dissatisfaction with their families and lives, leading on their parents and convincing them that this is a relationship that could work. While together, Daphne learned of Sylvia's home abuse and lack of autonomy, and Daphne in turn spoke of her father's controlling nature, both bonding over that. During this period as well, Daphne began to very tentatively express that she liked how Sylvia- and women in general- was able to wear pretty things: jewelry and that sort of thing. Sylvia, not caring for it, gifted Daphne her own. Daphne keeps and hides it.
The two of them grew extremely close, before an idea sparked between them: what if they actually did get married? Not that they loved each other that way- but if they got married, Daphne could move far away with Sylvia in tow, and then they would be out of this place. They could get divorced after that, no problem, but just the act of marrying would give Daphne the ability and confidence to get away, and that would finally give Sylvia back the autonomy over her own life she lacked to do the same. It was a win-win.
There was a hiccup in the plan, though: as they grew, Daphne grew more and more discontent with seeing the way Sylvia was so casually abused by her father. At a dinner between the two families, Daphne unintentionally spoke up when Sylvia's father told Sylvia she couldn't eat anymore (trying to maintain his daughter's figure). Daphne had a habit of doing this, and this was finally the last straw: the families cancelled the marriage plans, and these two were to be separated.
And... they were. They were unable to see one another anymore. This incident, however, was the Daphne's own last straw: its confidence and argumentative tendencies had been growing during its time with Sylvia, and they came to a head when she confronted her father, yelling that she didn't want to carry on the family, that she didn't want to stay and live with this. She was tired of being thrown miserable daughters expected to become miserable wives, tired of having her every action be controlled, tired of all of it. With that, its father kicked it out, leaving Daphne fully alone.
Daphne admittedly did not understand the outside world very well. After being thrown out and estranged, Daphne struggled on her own, but was determined to not return home: she walked for miles, all the way until the next town, where she collasped from exhaustion and near heat-stroke.
At this new town, Daphne comes-to in a house she doesn't recognize- a brother, actually. The woman that found her, Helen, explains that Daphne had experienced heatstroke and that she had taken her in, expressing some kindness. After thanking Helen profusely, Daphne opens up about why she is there, what happened with her parents, and is generally pretty distraught: Helen, however, is sympathetic and offers to let her remain in the brothel. Not for free, of course: she'll be expected to help patch stuff up around the place, but at least she'll have a place to stay. Daphne- still Elliot at the time- agrees
Daphne is shown by Helen how to repair things like loose cupboards and general handyman stuff- things that Daphne never learned how to do. It grows rather close with a lot of the brothel workers actually, most of all Helen, and finds itself enjoying its time there. Daphne gets to see the kind of work some people have to do to survive- and she gains an absolute awe and reverance for women, especially these ones. They're in control of themselves, confident and strong despite their life circumstances, so resolute... She adores them. It even starts referring to them as sisters after they started calling her "little brother".
Eventually after plenty of time, a Sandsteamer pulls into town. Daphne develops and interest, and when the workers come into the brothel, she learns that they need new guards and engineers. Daphne can't do either, she has some handyman skill and has found that she really enjoyed the sort of thing the brothel had been letting her do. Maybe it would work...? She asks Helen about it, who tells her its okay to leave. Daphne thanks all of them profusely for all the help, then scurries off to the Sandsteamer, where she begs for a job- and they're desperate enough to give her one.
Daphne spends the next few years aboard the Sandsteamer, learning the ways of engineering and mechanics. Its a fast learner and, despite the hardship that comes with learning this, living on a sandsteamer, and any aches, pains, and injuries that come with it, Daphne comes to absolutely love this line of work. It is while Daphne is on the sandsteamer that she starts to... experiment, a bit, with her identity. It comes to realize that it misses being referred to as a girl. So, with that realization and her deep appreciation for women, Daphne grows out her hair and starts wearing the jewelry that Sylvia gave her- the one thing she kept from home- and starts using feminine pronoun. The egg cracks- She realizes she enjoys being a woman far more than she ever did being 'Elliot'- she even begins to use the name she went by before: Daphne. The Sandsteamer was deeply healing: here, Daphne learned about who she wanted to be, learned life skills, and even began developing her argumentitive side, learning how to stand up for herself and no longer tolerating not having a voice or control over herself. Sure, she gets easily irritated now and has issues with that, but its far better than not having a voice at all- and Daphne is 100% happier than she ever was before. Hell, she even becomes their top engineer at some point, her head full of every inch of that machinery.
She never does quite meet Sylvia again. It hears a few years later about a house fire and how Sylvia was in jail now- but it wasn't anywhere nearby. It won't be until years later that the two meet again, but by then, 'Sylvia' is quite the different person.
As of now, Daphne lives off of the sandsteamer, having been accidentally kidnapped by a man named Gil and brought to a mansion owned by Orion. She's a bit highstrung about it, especially since it isn't allowed to leave at first due to mafia reasons- but since then, she has gotten close with the members of the house, including a shapeshifter she found and invited in named Faust. The three, Daphne, Orion, and Faust, are all in a kind-of-its-complicated relationship now and live generally pretty happily with one another, despite Daphne and Orion's horrible working-habits.