#I forget exactly where I was when I drew her hiding behind Phoenix but I think it was somewhere in 1-3?

[sysig]

1-4 is just as much of a trip the third time around

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, MINNIE! You’ve been accepted for the role of PERDITA. Admin Rosey: This was the most difficult decision to make. Forty-five minutes were spent going back and forth between the applications. FORTY FIVE. It canntot be amphasized enough how difficult this was. The voices were captured perfectly in both applications, but what it ultimately came down to were the plots. Both of them were amazing, but there was a certain darkness underlying your plots, Minnie, that couldn’t be said no to. The passion that you have for Poala and the shadows in her life were so very palpable and real in the application. But all of it had the sweetness of Perdita’s voice. We can’t wait to see you on the dash!  Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Minnie

Age | 23

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | I will probably be around a 5. My goal is to write one reply a day, and when that isn’t possible, aim to write at least every other day. I know that DiVerona is pretty damn active, and will adjust as I see fit with the pacing of the plot.

Timezone | EST

Current/Past RP Accounts | Y’all have seen me play so many characters at DV hehe I’ll save you the trouble.

In Character

Character | Paella Paola Damasco.

What drew you to this character? | It’s been interesting to see how I’ve grown as a writer and, I think, as a human being with the characters I am drawn to at DiVerona. I don’t know the name of the thread that strings together all the characters I have written at DiVerona, but the one I feel strongest is a need to finish their story. Paola stands at the precipice of what may be her beginning and end, both — and with arms wide open, she jumps. Jumps into the heart of Verona, jumps straight into mine.

She is a girl who is used to nothing. She is a girl who the world has tried to claim before; it’s called to her at night: fall into me, let me consume you. There are a million corners in Rome all desperate for a girl like Paola: as clever as she is intelligent, beautiful and kind and dangerous in a way they haven’t seen before. Because she survives. Because deceit, betrayal, abandonment and more have looked Paola straight in the eye — and she stared right back.

She is a girl who does not look for kindness or sparkle; she looks only for what is. And for that, for her clear-eyed vision, for all of her light and for all of her shadows still, I love Paola. She is truth-turned-girl, and therein lies her beauty.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

Paola has knocked on Verona’s door with a mission. Gently, in a voice so clear and kind that it aches to deny her, she asks for the truth. And Verona, with its all-seeing eye so used to cruelty and deception, asks right back: But which truth? For it may be death that sparked the flame but it was her own birth that kindled the flame, long ago. She is searching for the answer of her lover’s death but also her own beginning — but it may break her heart. Verona delivered the final blow to the beginnings of two separate futures: a mother and father who want her, who will never leave her behind; a lover who does the same, who is exactly who they appear to be. She moves forward with one question in mind, but there are far more lingering close behind. Who is she? Where does she come from? And, above all, who will she become?

I’d like to explore Paola’s relationship with her past. Verona demands that she face it: the truth of where she and her lover both came from, and what ultimately may destroy them both. She may not find the truth of who her parents are or why they gave her away, but regardless, she’ll have to accept the truth of what happened to the loves she might have had, the peace she might have enjoyed. She is a girl who has already found herself, but parts of her are still lost, forever unknowable. I’d love to explore the kind of insecurity that is birthed from that kind of beginning in Paola.

As a neutral character, Paola has both the opportunity to manipulate and to be manipulated; to look past the madness or to be lost in it. She’s uninterested in their petty game of pointed fingers and misplaced blame; they have all had their own finger in the pot, have all sacrificed their own souls to be a part of the war. None of them are innocent — and isn’t she? Doesn’t she deserve to rise above it? Before she dared to take her first breath, Verona spit her out; punished her before she had the chance to become a worthy villain. Paola thinks she is above the war, but the truth that she has yet to understand is that their war is her war; that their cause is the same as her cause. Who killed my love? Damiano and Paola cry out, hands clutched to their chest, tearing at their clothes as they cry. Who saw my love last, who heard their last words, who will return my love to me?

I’d like for Paola to see that there is part of her in the war, too. Especially with Cyrus egging her on and Lillian being her employer, Paola has a few different threads pulling her into its bloodthirsty center. Though she is indifferent now, even actively against becoming involved in the war, Paola is without a home. Her future in Verona is built on ashes and will crumble to dust as soon as she finds the answer she seeks - and what then? She is a girl who has short-term direction, and Montagues and Capulets alike might find it useful to become her long-term goal. I’m not sure how the war will influence Paola, and I’m not sure how Paola will influence the war. But that’s the fun of exploring in writing, and I think that as Paola becomes invested in the people within the city, the people will consume her right back. I’m excited to see it unfold!

An orphan raised by two cities, Rome is her indifferent father — and Verona is her cruel mother. There is a deep ache in Paola, a loss that can’t be escaped no matter how resilient Paola becomes, no matter how much she survives. With grace, she bears it all, but we all have our breaking points. For darkness has a way of hearing your call before you know it’s listening, and darkness makes a point of watching those in the light in wait of the first misstep. And Paola, make no doubt, will misstep. She will fall, and she may not rise with grace as she usually does; after all, she has brought so many heavy things with her to this city. A longing for answers, grief for the lives she never had, loneliness in a city that does not forget nor forgive. She marches the streets of Verona and calls for the truth, but there is a darker drum that matches the cadence of every step, a subtle call for her dreams returned to her - by force if necessary.

I think that, under the right circumstances, Paola could become an incredibly vengeful creature. Verona has stolen so much from her already; and though she is neutral in the war and thinks that she’s a neutral person overall, Paola definitely has not forgiven the city. It stole her lover, it stole her family, and though Paola has no intention or plan to burn the city to the ground, I can see her becoming so adamantly against the evil Verona breeds. And it could make for a deliciously destructive and destroyed character!

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | It depends on how much Paola has been developed! I would like to see her go through several arcs of development, if you will.

In Depth

Please choose between the interview or the para sample (or both, if you like!)

In-Character Interview: The following questions must be answered in-character, and in para form (quotations, actions written out if applicable, etc). There is no minimum or maximum limit for your response - simply answer as you would if you were playing the character.

What is your favorite place in Verona? |

“To be honest with you, it’s only my first week in Verona,” Paola says with a laugh. But she looks like she belongs here in Phoenix and the Turtle Cafe: hair thrown together in a bun, a turtleneck hiding her slim neck and pretty heart, long fingers cradling the cup emptied of coffee long before the job interview. “But I already have an answer.”

She pauses, almost imperceptibly. Which is better: to offer one’s heart at the altar in hopes of receiving the same, or to hold back and stand outside the veil that separates the holy from the human for security, for caution?

Paola’s fingers tighten around the porcelain in her hands, choosing some gray area in the middle. “I grew up in an orphanage run by the church, which demands a certain unforgiving honesty. I have seen the beauty of God’s grace, and I’ve also seen the cruelty of God’s distance. Despite that, I’ve always loved the church. The cathedral is where I was raised, and so it’s become my home. I’m lucky, in a way; there’s a cathedral in every city, so there is a place for me in every city. Or at least, somewhere to start.”

What does your typical day look like?

“Right now, I am desperately looking for a job. After this interview,” Paola adds with a wink in her smile, “perhaps I’ll have a clearer idea of the days ahead.”

It’s with a laugh and a firm shake of the hand that Paola is offered the job. It’s an easy choice, for both of them. The cafe could use someone like Paola: fresh, beautiful, well-read and easy to speak with. And there is no better place for Paola to learn information than a coffee shop in the center of Capulet territory, where eavesdropping becomes part of the job and the list of regulars include several key players in her game.

One down, Paola thinks as she exits the cafe, another to go.

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

The interview for The Two Gentlemen is noticeably more difficult than Phoenix and the Turtle Cafe. What resources does she have, to dress the part of a sophisticated waitress or an experienced bartender? The most she has is a black dress, “borrowed” from the Roman Catholic Church. Her face is free of makeup and her hair has adopted a strange curl from her bun earlier that day. She doesn’t belong here.

But - and her interviewer is unsure why exactly - she’s doing well. Her smile comes easily and her quick wit is turning the interview away from her skills (or lack thereof) to her potential. Her magic.

Paola sips on her glass of wine and pretends it doesn’t bite at her throat as it goes down; she never was one for alcohol. “Ignoring my gut instinct.” She washes down the regret with another sip of wine, so thick on her tongue and rotten in her belly. She knew that sending her lover to Verona with a kiss would end in ruins, and she did it anyways. Second-guessing the voices screaming at her to deny them, praying that it was only a superstitious paranoia towards the city that first abandoned her, Paola had pressed a kiss to their lips and said goodbye.

“But I can assure you that I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

With the face of her dead lover in mind, the answer comes at once: To love them. To love them wholeheartedly and blindly, with complete faith and devastation.

It is the only thing anyone has ever truly asked of Paola; no one has ever cared enough about the orphan wandering the streets of Rome to ask her for anything besides her dead lover. Everything she has, she has asked of herself. She is one of many hungry mouths and abandoned souls in a crowded city; no one cares to see her unless she asks to be seen. And Paola rarely asks to be seen.

“To venture into the unknown, and come to Verona,” Paola says, thinking, Because Verona wants to ruin me. Because I want to ruin it back.

Her interviewer, mildly bewildered but utterly charmed, stands and extends his hand. “Welcome to The Two Gentlemen, Paola.”

She grins as she mirrors the fluid motion and squeezes his hand once. “Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

It’s a strange question, and it shows on Paola’s expression as confusion breaks through the smile on her lips. “Does the war concern this job?”

“Paola” - and the way Lillian says her name makes Paola’s heart skip, makes her lean forward and listen more carefully - “the war concerns everything and everyone in Verona. It keeps the city alive, so the city returns the favor.”

She grows quiet, searching her heart for an answer that will win her the job. Lillian Wen holds in her hand the connections Paola wants, needs, to unravel the truth and close this wretched, tragic book, the story of a love birthed and murdered and, through her relentless pursuit of its ending, revived.

When Paola does not find the right answer, she gives the second-best option: an honest one. “I don’t have any thoughts on the war. It exists, and though it may be sinful of me to say it, I will let it.”

A smile burns on Lillian’s lips, and Paola feels a small tingle at the tips of her fingers. When Lillian offers her job, Paola feels lucky for the first time since she’s set foot in Verona.

In-Character Para Sample: Again, write as much or as little as you need to get your interpretation across.

Extras: N/A