#charlotte zerilli

[oxfordeliterp]

Charlotte Zerilli’s faceclaim has now been changed to Shay Mitchell.

[charzerilli-blog]

charlotte zerilli ━ closet  

002. spring ball

[oxfordeliterp]

CHARLOTTE ZERILLI | |  the brain

❝ I sit before flowers hoping       they will train me in the art of opening up  I stand on mountain tops believing that avalanches will teach me to let go.❞

      The softest forbidden fruit that her family tried to keep shielded and hidden because she would bruise so easily and be devoured from first bite, Charlotte doesn’t mind the care and understands the risk her father is putting her every walk down the streets of her city to, because she would be delusional to think a well-respected Mafia man’s daughter could sprint freely around without having a target drawn in red ink on her forehead. In fact, the young woman is anything but stupid, with a mind bright enough to put to shame all the stars and a voluntary air of superiority that nobody in the world could ever get to the top of. She thinks better than everybody else, her curls are better than everybody else’s and she has the advantage of versatility, turning her skin chameleon and making her fickle little head never stay in place and always evolve in such contradictory ways that even she cannot understand what she wants after all. She would now love, after a lifetime of shame, to wear the crown her family name is offering her, and at the same time, she wants to shine with her own light and bring a more civilized reputation to her surname. 

                          BIOGRAPHY  | TAG  | PROMPTS

[oxfordeliterp]

Hey there! Would Jon Kortajarena be a possible faceclaim choice for Charles Zerilli?

[edited]

As much as I hate to turn down faceclaim options, I believe that Jon is Basque (which I thought would classify him as POC, but according to a Basque website, Basque people are not POC, like I originally thought, and he is definitely not suitable to be playing Shay Mitchell’s twin brother anyway), not Filipino. 

That being said, I am not sure he would be an option even if we did racebend both twins. Thank you to @beautiful-basque-country for the correction, and I certainly do hope I have not offended anybody.

In the meantime, if you would like more alternative Filipino faceclaim suggestions, I am here, at your service.

[oxfordeliterp]

CONGRATULATIONS, AREEJ!

You have been accepted to play the role of CHARLOTTE ZERILLI with the faceclaim of VANESSA HUDGENS. Please create your account and send it to the main in the next 24 hours. When I say that picking the player of Charlotte took me thirty whole minutes after I have read all three applications (impossibly beautiful, all three, and impossible to compare, for they were three different Charlottes that I wanted to see shifted into three different characters, all played in the roleplay group’s context), it’s not a hyperbole. I read about Charlotte being the heiress, the wasp and the strategic, and I honestly couldn’t possibly tell which I liked most, reason why I have literally written this acceptance message for two of the three versions and was ready to post it. I have changed the application under the cut three times and it haunts me how difficult of a choice you have made this for me. I am going to encourage everybody who has applied and didn’t get the role they wanted to reapply, because I would genuinely want you all, but you two (you know who you are) I feel like the roleplay group would be incomplete without. You all had the misfortune of falling in love with the same character. If the Gods love me and if you do end up reapplying, I’m going to be the happiest person alive. It’s unfair; you are all mob princesses to me, right now.

Now to focus on you, Areej. Sorry for the intro, thank you for the wonderful application. I cannot stress how much love I have for every detail you have put into this. It is obvious to me that you are a skilled writer with a capacity and understanding for the human nature that cannot go unnoticed. The para sample was so flawlessly executed that it stuck in my mind. Every little detail you have included made me eager to see your Charlotte on the dashboard. I want to meet her and see where she goes wrong. The amount of research you put into the application has not gone unnoticed. What can I say? And right then, she finally understood what godfather meant.

Name and pronouns: Areej (alternatively Queen, your fave, empress, so on and so forth) & she/her

Age: 17

Time-zone: GMT

Activity level: Right at this very moment, while procrastination is at an all time high, a lot. If I don’t get off by mid-June please kick my ass.

Triggers:  removed for privacy

IN CHARACTER INFORMATION

Desired character: Charlotte Zerilli

I love her a lot. (ok duh I love her a lot or I wouldn’t be applying for her. look @ me stating the obvious.) But on a more serious and hopefully less obvious note, what I’m always drawn towards is characters’ relationships, and Charlotte’s, I feel, have the potential to be very interesting because she’s almost always superior. Not in a mean way. It’s just how it is. Charlotte Zerilli is everything, has everything, and no matter how approachable and friendly she paints herself as, lingering around her is an air of superiority she can’t seem to wash off. This is what creates chasms. Between her and whoever she’s talking to, there’s a distance. And it’s kinda sad because she longs to have close, personal relationships, but feels like she can’t because nobody understands her, and she thinks nobody can. It’ll be fun. i love making beautiful, complex characters suffer bye

Gender and pronouns of the character: Cis female (she/her)

Changes: As much as I love Shay Mitchell, I wanna request an fc change to Vanessa Hudgens! I just have more muse for her. idk idk

Traits:

CURIOUS  ━ As a child, bright and starry eyed, there was a lot about the world around her that Charlotte didn’t quite understand. It wasn’t necessarily because anyone was hiding anything from her (for there weren’t many secrets in the Zerilli household. There was no shame, no need). Rather, there was so much for her to learn and so little time. She wished to know everyone and everything intimately. Twenty years on and not much has changed, although she’s become more subtle in her questions and artful in her use of information.

SECRETIVE ━ Charlotte has this curious ability of making it seem like she over-shares, is honest and straightforward, but there are worlds and worlds she hides. Mainly, what she perceives to be her weaknesses. The most obvious is prooobably the Mafia thing. While she’s become more accepting of it (or, more specifically, the softer aspects of it - i’ll explain later), it’s still not something she talks openly about. Still, it subconsciously shapes her. Behind her mercy, her kindness, is a vain attempt to balance out her family’s crimes. She overcompensates for wrongs she didn’t commit. Not only this, but she doesn’t really talk about her feelings, either, internalising emotion and stress to the point of it being physically detrimental. She’s also big on denial. Always running.

COMPASSIONATE ━ It is perhaps this that came as the biggest surprise to her father and mother although, to be fair, they should’ve expected it. Instead of being given half the love, the Zerilli twins received double from their parents. There was not a moment Charlotte was allowed to feel alone. Her heart surges with the same affection for everyone, not just reserved for family like her father’s is.

VERSATILE ━ Multifaceted and adaptable, Charlotte can go from sleep-deprived academic, slaving away in one of Oxford’s many libraries to out-of-your-league party girl to loyal, advice-giving friend whenever it’s required of her. (Not that her heart truly fits into the moulds she creates for herself, but that’s another story.) The girl prides herself in being able to talk to anyone about pretty much any trivial topic. It is, she believes, an ode to having so many different people around to engage in idle chatter with her growing up, united by nothing but their ties to the Mafia. Her variety of talents, too, (piano, violin, dancing, tennis, painting – it goes on) showcase how her ability knows no limits.

FICKLE ━ An extension of above: because she’s everything, she’s nothing, really. Charlotte’s ephemeral and changeable. Always evolving. Indecisive. Not only about what to eat or what to wear, but about herself and her beliefs, too. For example, she no longer resents her bloodline, which was one of the strong moral stances she took as a teenager. Her perception is constantly changing. And because she’s so perceptive and intelligent, Charlotte can appreciate arguments and situations from different angles – being stubborn in a view means the exclusion of another, so she remains, like air, unsure, always hovering in between poles, restless.

SUPERIOR ━ She’s been running and running from it but, like everything, one chilling fact has caught up to her and there’s no denying it, at least not to herself: Charlotte Zerilli is lonely. How? In a room crowded with awestruck admirers, how is it possible that she feels so isolated? That’s exactly it – everyone’s just an awestruck admirer. Nobody’s really on her level (except Miles !!!! love it).

DEMANDING ━ Of herself. Of others. Her standards are about as high as the walls around her

Extras:

For the course, I was thinking something partly humanitarian – in a vain attempt to, perhaps, ask the God she desperately believed in for forgiveness (saving lives to redeem all those lost at the hands of her family) – with strong scientific elements because she’s lowkey a nerd. aka Medicine. I can go into a lot of unnecessary, extra depth about this decision if you want me to but that was the condensed version

MUSINGS: (faves are bolded) one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven when will i stop twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen probably never sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen and finally twenty

PARA SAMPLE

did i accidentally write a short novella? yes. i’d apologise but i’m not sorry for making you read this

He’d been asking for years (and years and years) and, for a reason Charlotte couldn’t explain more tangibly than it felt right, on this mild Tuesday afternoon, she’d finally agreed. She’d go with him. “Yes. I’m ready,” she’d said, standing in his excessively large office that morning, voice betraying only a slight hesitation. He hadn’t picked up on it. Nobody ever really did. Rather, the light – was that pride? – Charlotte saw swimming to the surface of her father’s eyes served to remind her why she’d ever come back in the first place.

So she smiled, ducked her head and walked with him. As they weaved through the streets of Detroit, she was vaguely aware that this wasn’t a typical Don errand – not that she really knew what that was, granted, having spent the majority of her life actively not knowing. Of course, she’d heard whispers. How could she not have? She’d heard stories about how members of La Cosa Nostra beat people up, stole from them, killed them. Under her father’s orders. But Charlotte had never dared to bring it up with him. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle the confession. (Because, who was she kidding, it would’ve been a confession.)

If this was the case, what was she doing here and now? Staring into the eyes of the beast? God knows, she thought, kicking a can that was littering her path, adding to the little mound of rubbish piling up on the side of the road. But she sort of knew, too; it’d been, perhaps, a moment of weakness on her part. For resistance was so tiring. Running was tiring. She craved nothing more than her mother’s arms, her father’s kiss. So Charlotte did something that just a few years ago, she believed was synonymous with weakness, and maybe it was: she surrendered.

“This is it, Tesoro,” her father said at length. She glanced up to find they’d stopped in front of a house – or, she supposed, it was more of a shack. Charlotte watched as he brought his knuckles to the door, about to knock, the gold of his rings forming a stark contrast with the red, peeling paint.

Everything inside her screamed run, run, run. This wouldn’t end up well. No doubt. She was on the brink of witnessing her very first Mafia crime, about to stare into the heart of the Partnership’s – her family’s – sins. Guilt eyed her, licking its lips. It’d swallow her whole.

“N – no. Stop. Please. I can’t do this.” She felt sick. She had to get out of here.

He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment before his gaze flitted to the Capo who’d been trailing behind them. When he turned back to his daughter, his head tilted to the side, as if he understood her concern, and he smiled. In that second he was no longer the Godfather, but just her father. “Come on, Charlotte. Don’t you trust me?” But he changed back again. He always changed back again. Before she could answer (and the answer, as much as she hated it, in this moment, it would’ve probably been no), he’d already knocked at the door.

This was it.

The boy who answered couldn’t have been more than nineteen. Upon realising who it was, his eyes darkened, she guessed in fear, as she’d seen so many others’ do in his presence. They knew what he was capable of. If they even made one wrong move, they’d be, quite literally, dead. She wished it was over already.

“Boss,” he spluttered, bringing her father’s hand to his lips and kissing it.

The older Zerilli nodded in greeting. “This is my daughter, Charlotte.” As the boy moved to kiss her hand, too, her resolve faltered. Surely people didn’t introduce their kids to people they were about to murder. Then again, she didn’t know enough about Mafia customs to recognise that this wasn’t a murder mission at all, that he had people for that, and that this was a compassionate one.

“Will you come in? I can make – what d’you want? Tea? Coffee? I have Scotch.”

Her attention piqued; so she was wrong. Huh. Interesting. If not to beat this kid up, why were they here, then? Her eyes wandered inside, past the boy in the doorway, trying to pick up clues as her dad answered, “Not today. I just came to deliver this.” He handed him a thick envelope. Cash. It had to be. “How is she?”

“A lot better, Boss. Thank you so much for this. It really –”

He held up a hand to silence him. “Of course. It is our duty to help our family, at any cost.”

As they continued this conversation, it occurred to Charlotte, tuned out of the world and into her own mind for a moment, that she’d got it so very wrong. Maybe this wasn’t all bad. An odd sense of honour filled her at the scene; the same father who steadfastly looked out for her and her brother was using his position to look out for this (what she presumed was a) picciotto, too, and if there was one, there may be many more. They were – in his eyes – family. The Detroit Partnership. All the racketeering and the beating were somehow justified, at least a little bit, in her mind by this one act of compassion. How could she have been so judgmental before? It was her father’s blood that coursed through her veins, that made her strive to protect those who could not protect themselves. People like the ‘she’ he’d referred to. And who was she? Probably a sick relative. Mother, sister. It didn’t matter, really – all she knew was that it was someone who needed help. Help that the capofamiglia provided.

And right then, she finally understood what godfather meant.

[oxfordeliterp]

❝ I sit before flowers hoping        they will train me in the art of opening up   I stand on mountain tops believing that avalanches will teach me to let go.❞

Charlotte Zerilli | twenty-four (III) | The Quarrel Club | Shay Mitchell | taken

non-graphic nonconsensual sexual intercourse attempt trigger warning Charlotte was born a mobster princess and she grew up to hate every thorn on her pretty little crown. It isn't that she doesn't love her family — because her father would deny her nothing and smothers her, if anything, with affection and attention, her mother dedicated her life raising her and Charles, braiding her long hair and teaching her all the appropriate dances a young girl should know and her twin wouldn't step back from doing anything if she asked, or even if she didn't voice the words, but thought them intensely. She loves her family and wishes them the best, but, during her high-school phase, she felt like nothing about it represented her. She has always been such a zephyr-like breeze, a fresh taste of air that couldn't seem to find room in her heart for the agitation of her father's affairs and just wanted a normal home to go back to after long classes of school, not the sequel of the Godfather waiting for her in a ridiculously large house. She simply felt too sophisticated and bright to be surrounded by such a primitive world, always trying to squeeze the best out of life and end up a vital part of the civilized community. Just when her parents, understanding but heavy-hearted, figured out the translation behind her distancing, howsoever, Charlotte came to the delayed conclusion that she couldn't just separate herself from the people she cared about, no matter how strong her distaste for their occupations was. She had been wrong to assume that she could just detach and hide her maiden name behind a random, chalk written one she would have gained through meaningless marriage. She had been a fool to imagine that she could outrun her origins, when they were glued to her, in every atom of her being, swimming in her blood and building her up, exactly the way she was. It would always catch up to her, and even if it didn't, how could she leave her brother behind when he has been the only real friend she had, at the end of the day, and when he was more like her than anybody else, no matter how intelligent they were and he was less? As she approached adulthood, she changed her values, still dreaming big and seeing greatness looking into her future With such a fickle mind and trembling personality — never too sure of herself and in a constant process of change for the better — Charlotte doesn't look like a shining mind to most, but the half of her brilliance is how she never stops moving or looking for answers to already solved questions. After a lifetime of hissing her way out of the family business, the young woman now wants to know as much as possible, as if she could become both the first female president and the first gangstress, wanting to know everything and collect as much and as diverse information as possible, even about something she used to want to never be affiliated with. Truth be told, her affinity for the Mafia lies in her DNA, as she had twenty years to analyze her father's every move and bring a question mark next to his every decision as a child, just so he would explain his logic for her to assimilate, but there are times when she finds her potential too deep-colored for her to waste it on illegal matters that would endanger her, if anything. Not to mention that she doesn't want to steal what she thinks is her brother's only calling, when she has so many other options. People watch her with awe glimmering in their eyes — how she gets out of class holding her textbooks and tablet close to her chest, how she seems restless when facing an assignment, how, later the same days, she can be found, glitter eyeshadow and long eyelashes on, at every party she is expected to attend, never backing from a challenge. Yet, the truth is that Charlotte has half as much fun as she seems to be having, mainly pretending to be drinking and pouring her spritz down the drain when nobody is looking, because she doesn't really have the resistance she is claiming to have and can never compete with her brother and Aria, just letting them think that she is. The one exception to the rule she remembers too well, tipsiness aside, just because it has been marked by somebody else. Five shots past her alcohol tolerance and having smoked all night, she didn't even feel the hand on her waist guiding her towards an empty bedroom and she wouldn't have realized it until the morning after if it weren't for a lucky intervention that saved her. She tries to sweep it under the rug and just ignore it now, but it is only a matter of time until that haunting memory catches up with her as well, because it did leave a mental bruise on the girl who would have lost her virginity in an error.

Lauren Hastings Charlotte can easily see past Lauren’s desperate attempts to look perfect in any situation and is disgusted by how obsessed with the others’ opinion on her she is. Most of times, Lauren chooses to avoid her and pretend to have missed her caustic comments about her and her life style. In spite of that, she is growing resentful and frustrated about how she got caught and gave the other girl the opportunity to call her fake, no matter how true it is. She plans on having a serious talk with her very soon. Howsoever, Charlie-girl seems uninterested to hear anything the blonde would have to say to her and is trying to get everybody to see what’s beneath the make-up. After all, if anybody at all on campus is a dream come true, it would be her, not Lauren-whatsoever. Miles Kenilsworth As probably the true geniuses of each of their club, some sort of partnership had to be built imminently, and although they don’t get along on every aspect, when both are in the room, they create some sort of bubble of exclusivity that you’d need to take an IQ test and match their results to be welcome in. Yet, differences aside, they need each other’s brains and conversations that nobody else would be able to stand over brunch. Charlotte is happy to, for once, be mentally challenged — no matter how much she loves everybody in her group of friends — and feels like, without Miles, her brain would rot. On the other side of it, the man is just as grateful, and no matter how competitive and inamicable their interactions get, he still considers Charlie his only friend in a strange, distanced, unfeeling way. Charles Zerilli No matter how many girls pass through Charles' heart, Charlotte is the only constant in his life and their connection is so strong that he doesn't need http://68.media.tumblr.com/0b470fc2e3084403faafb15707a41e76/tumblr_oogdvkbFqE1uqzjvao1_250.gifto tell her that — as if she can read his thoughts to make sure of it. She is his only weakness and he is her most solid strength, and, looking at them, all the twin stereotypes come true. Although, personality speaking, they are nothing alike, the Charlies are in perfect harmony. Although Charlotte isn't certain of too many things in her life, she is certain of her brother and everything he means to her — and needless is it to say that the feeling is mutual. When it comes to potential, he sees hers like through a transparent glass and believes in nothing, not even God, more than he believes in her ability to untie links with their family name and start fresh a walk down the path to success. It saddens him to see Charlotte heading such a different direction, but there is nothing he wants more than her happiness. Cordelia McQueen Cordelia saved Charlotte that night she got carried away and found herself in a position she didn’t want but couldn’t escape, given the state she was in. She stepped in and detached the random man’s mouth from her throat, separating the two, and ever since has she been the support she needed and, for once, couldn’t find in her brother, although the two rarely discuss it openly, at the victim’s request. It makes her guts tremble and her eyes become liquid that she could be so weak and soft and that she needed help getting out of that situation, so she would rather not remember at all. Both are private people who wouldn’t wash their dirty laundry in public and for that, Cordelia understood perfectly why she has to keep her lips pursed and not whisper a word about that night, if that is what Charlotte wants. She knows how wrong it is and has even tried to convince her to change her approach, but the girl seems convinced that the secret she isn’t even responsible for has to remain between the two of them and the man who wronged her, until the right moment.

[oxfordeliterp]

(+1) application for Charlotte Zerilli

see app count

[oxfordeliterp]

The following accounts have 24 hours to become active or contact the main to avoid the roles being reopened. In case you need a hiatus, please message us to request it.

MILES KENILSWORTH ( @worthmiles )

CHARLOTTE ZERILLI ( @charzerilli )

[oxfordeliterp]

WELCOME TO OXFORD TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS!

JAMIE HEATHER

SOPHIA CLARE

LANA CHAMBERS

CHARLOTTE ZERILLI

MILES KENILSWORTH

NICHOLAS MERCER

[oxfordeliterp]

(+1) application for Arabella Windsor

(+1) application for Charlotte Zerilli

(+1) application for the co-admin position

[oxfordeliterp]

(+1) application for Charlotte Zerilli

see app count

[charzerilli-blog]

charlotte zerilli ━ tasks

003. character traits

━ character strengths

adaptable | adventurous | affectionate | ambitious | artistic | athletic | assertive | beautiful | brave | charming | clever | compassionate | confident | considerate | cooperative | courteous | creative | curious | decisive | dependable | determined | diplomatic | easy-going | enthusiastic | fair | fashionable | forgiving | friendly | fun-loving | funny | generous | gentle | hard-working | heroic | honest | hopeful | humble |  imaginative | incorruptible | intelligent | intuitive | inventive | jocular | leader | lively | loving | loyal | merciful | musical | observant | open-minded | optimistic | organized | outgoing | passionate | patient | playful | polite | popular | practical | resourceful | self-assured | selfless | sensible | sincere | strong | studious | thoughtful | tough | versatile | warm-hearted | well-intentioned | wise | witty

━ character flaws

absent-minded | abusive | addict | aggressive | aimless | alcoholic | anxious | arrogant | audacious | bad liar | bigmouth | bigot | blindly obedient | blunt | callous | childish | chronic heroism | clingy | clumsy | cocky | competitive | corrupt | cowardly | cruel | cynical | delinquent | delusional | dependent | depressed | deranged | disloyal | ditzy | egotistical | envious | erratic | fickle | finicky | flaky | frail | fraudulent | guilt complex | gloomy | gluttonous | gossiper | gruff | gullible | hedonistic | humorless | hypochondriac | hypocritical | idealist | idiotic | ignorant | immature | impatient | incompetent | indecisive | insecure | insensitive | lazy | lewd | liar | lustful | manipulative | masochistic | meddlesome | melodramatic | money-loving | moody | naive | nervous | nosy | ornery |  overprotective | overly sensitive | paranoid | passive-aggressive | perfectionist | pessmist | petty | power-hungry | proud | pushover | reckless | reclusive | remorseless | rigorous | sadistic | sarcastic | senile | selfish | self-martyr | shallow | sociopathic | sore loser | spineless | spiteful | spoiled | stubborn | tactless | temperamental | timid | tone-deaf | traitorous | unathletic | ungracious | unlucky | unsophisticated | untrustworthy | vain | withdrawn | workaholic

[charzerilli-blog]

charlotte zerilli ━ tasks

001. character development survey 

━ GENERAL

Full Name: Charlotte Gianna Isabella Zerilli Nickname(s): Charlie(-Girl), Char Title: The Brain Age: 24 Birthday: 25th December (Capricorn) Nationality: American Gender: Female Preferred Pronoun(s): She/Her Romantic Orientation: Biromantic, but leaning towards graysexuality in the spectrum Religion: Roman Catholic Occupation: Student Major: Medicine Face Claim: Vanessa Hudgens

━ RELATIONSHIPS

Birth Order: The youngest of twins Parents: Giovanni Zerilli, Jasmine Zerilli Siblings: Charles Zerilli Significant Other(s): N/A Children: N/A

━  PHYSICAL TRAITS

Eye Color(s): Dark brown Hair Color(s): Black Height: 5′4″ Weight: 110 lbs Body Build: Average Notable Physical Traits: Long, curly hair / Big eyes that are almost always alight with curiosity

━  PHOBIAS AND DISEASES

Phobia(s): Not to the point where it’d actually be considered a phobia, but mild claustrophobia (read: doesn’t like confinement) Mental Disease(s): Anxiety, the main symptom she experiences being insomnia

━  PERSONALITY

Usual Mood/Expression:

Moral Alignment: Neutral Jung: INTJ / the Scientist Enneagram: Type 3 / the Achiever Four Temperaments: Melancholic Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw Top Five Tropes: Spirited Young Lady / I Am Not My Father / Broken Ace / So Beautiful, It’s A Curse / Angst? What Angst? 

━  STATS

Compassion: 8/10 Empathy: 7/10 Creativity: 5/10 Mental Flexibility: 10/10 Passion/Motivation: 8/10 Education: 10/10

Stamina: 8/10 Physical Strength: 4/10 Battle Skill: 6/10 Initiative: 7/10 Restraint: 2/10 Agility: 8/10 Strategy: 10/10 Teamwork: 7/10

Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence: 8/10 Visual-Spatial Intelligence: 9/10 Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: 9/10 Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: 10/10 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: 6/10 Interpersonal Intelligence: 8/10 Existential Intelligence: 10/10 Naturalistic Intelligence: 10/10

[charzerilli-blog]

charlotte zerilli ━ tasks

002. moodboard

[charzerilli-blog]

charlotte zerilli ━ closet  

001. biannual dinner

[oxfordeliterp]

❝ Darling, here the gods died, here the horsemen tremble,        here we bathe in gasoline   come, join us in our garden of dead bodies, we’re having fire for lunch.❞

Charles Zerilli | twenty-four (III) | The Riot Club | Bob Morley | open

Charles Zerilli walked into life with company, and for that, he never learned how to be alone, never tasted the poison of solitude, never had to worry about watching his back. How could he, when he had been lectured, from his toddler days, that family was everything and when his mother has been by his side, holding both his and Charlotte's hands in hers, with every step he took? All of his kindergarten drawings told the same story: the perfect family portrait covered sunshine — and only a long time later did he get to see the rest of the picture. To his surprise, the secret his parents have been keeping from both him and Charlotte hadn't been that they loved each other any less, or that the two children have been picked up, six years ago, from the orphanage. To his surprise, the secret he had to wait until he knew how to tie his own shoes in order to be told had nothing to do with their state of happiness and harmony, but was just the explanation of the strange looking men surrounding papa. Apparently, one day he woke up being the heir of a Detroit Mafia sotto capo and he had that term and its spelling memorized and everybody bowing before him long before he understood what it meant. Charlie grew up with the outsole of his shoes glued to that world, deeply rooted and with a brain that filtered good moves and strategies from bad ever from the very start. Because he, unlike his younger twin sister, had an open heart to learn and listen and because the blood reddening his veins belonged to his father. Ever since the moment Charlie met the family consigliere — the first handshake he would remember — they knew he would dress in white suits and take the place of his father one day. Wrong. Although blessed with potential and a mind for the kind of business his family name was involved in, Charles prefers a good joke to a gun fight and has never been anything but peace. Although the Mafia world never ceased to fascinate him, as his childhood playground, even after having been given guns to play with at his request and almost shooting Charlotte, and after watching half of his teenage years passing by his father in the office, the man doesn't need signs to tell him that he isn't suited for the job, despite pretending to be in front of his family. They don't need more disappoint from him and he will be, one day, because no Zerilli firstborn skips the throne built on bullets, but having been spoiled and never taken out of his comfort zone — because the entire world is Charlie's comfort zone and nothing in the world makes him feel uncomfortable — made him slower. As much as he wants to take on the family legacy, he knows he is too lighthearted, too sweet and careless to tie a tie around his neck and look for deeper meanings in his partners' words, suspecting what is to suspect and keeping forgiveness for only the worthy. Simply put, he would get shot trying to buy some fruit. He doesn't have time for hate, for negative energy and for trouble — the only thing worth his while being the entertainment behind a pint of cold beer and something buzzing to pop with it. His life style doesn't bother him, howsoever, and the fact that it interferes with his studies leaves him indifferent, as he never wanted to go to university to begin with — it was papa's wish for his children to go as far in life as possible, but Charlie, the boy, tripped over the threshold of their home and didn't care to have a respectable career, unlike Charlotte, who would have got into Oxford even without her father's connections and pressure putting. They aren't bad people: Charles can kneel before anybody, grab their hands and press his thumbs into their knuckles with belief enough to create holes, and swear to God that they are kind and good people anybody would be lucky to encounter with — but nobody brings up the rumors whispered in the dark about the situation back home of the twins and nobody risks to find out how warm their hearts truly are. No matter what would garantee, the only thing certain in his promises is that his own heart is in the right place, not the others' too. Being decent, howsoever, isn't painting a red target on his forehead, coloring him all stupid from head to toe, because his gentleness and friendly behavior aren't his weakness rather than what is keeping him objective and genuine. He treats all life like a constant invitation to party after party, knowing no definitions for words like consequences and trying his best to enjoy every gulp of alcohol and every drag of his joint. Yet, the epitome of a fraternity boy is lucky enough to have left out the cruel boy spark from his eyes — as he isn't using his 'best party planner on campus' title dulling the alcohol tolerance of pretty girls and trying to hunt them down after they've had a little more than they can carry. On the contrary, growing up with a sister to look out for turned him responsible at least in that aspect, even though he doesn't actively realize it and believes that bringing a girl a glass of water after shots of tequila and whispering in her ear advice about fixing her skirt and taking care are the least he could do. Yet, the gentleman can do plenty of wrong during summer breaks, when he returns home in the United States and joins his father on his business errands, trying to pick up gangster mannerism and become the perfect substitute for his father.

Marc Arkwright Marc never liked Charlie-boy — never because of anything in particular, but always for some hidden reason that kept stepping on his toes and causing the older male to get annoyed at Charlie’s slightest gesture. Something just seems off to him about him, even though there is no concrete fact or explanation, but that didn’t stop him from jumping to conclusions based on thin air. The fact that Marc cares too little about him to actually pay attention to anything past his anger only makes it worse, because he doesn’t know the person he claims he is hating. The fact that the other man takes it all as a joke and laughs derisively at his frowns intensifies the tension. When Elizabeth started hanging out with Charlie’s closest friends, him included, the reason Marc was desperately looking for to have the right to hate Charlie found him. To this day, he believes that Charlie was trying to steal his girlfriend away from him, if not, has succeeded to, and holds deep grudge, leaving the Zerilli heir confused. And no one at all is better at holding grudges than Marc Arkwright. Aria Bellefonte They both find it hilarious — their best inside joke, really — that Charlie fell in love with Aria, so they often laugh at it, as it is a very casual topic of discussion for the both of them. He's not affected and she's not bothered; as easy as that. They can't afford to treat it any other way, seeing as Aria and the twins are a compact group, knowing everything about each other, including their deepest secrets, hidden fears and, most of times, predicting each others' reactions, and neither wants the dynamic to change or to have Charlotte be caught in the middle of any kind of silly drama. Charlie isn't bitter about it, liking their relationship the way it is and not minding Aria's coldness, but, on the contrary, understanding it, given the circumstances. Frankly, if he had a choice, he would just stop loving her, because it tangles everything together, but the best he can do for now is dismiss his feelings and laugh them off until they become a joke. Charlotte Zerilli No matter how many girls pass through Charles' heart, Charlotte is the only constant in his life and their connection is so strong that he doesn't need to tell her that — as if she can read his thoughts to make sure of it. She is his only weakness and he is her most solid strength, and, looking at them, all the twin stereotypes come true. Although, personality speaking, they are nothing alike, the Charlies are in perfect harmony. Although Charlotte isn't certain of too many things in her life, she is certain of her brother and everything he means to her — and needless is it to say that the feeling is mutual. When it comes to potential, he sees hers like through a transparent glass and believes in nothing, not even God, more than he believes in her ability to untie links with their family name and start fresh a walk down the path to success. It saddens him to see Charlotte heading such a different direction, but there is nothing he wants more than her happiness. Cordelia McQueen On a regular basis, this girl shows no emotion and is known for a passive, lost in space stare that nobody can reach under and cut off, even in conversations, but Charlie caught her in a delicate moment, during one of the infamous weekly parties and she poured her heart out and all of her sadness, almost enough to drown him. Ever since, he obliged, despite her insistence to just forget it, and became her confidant and friend, no matter how much she fought the idea at first. After all, they have nothing in common, but the man can make friends out of thin air and find a connection in everybody, even the ice queen of the campus. Nobody knows about their friendship, but it ironically and weirdly enough is one of the only things keeping Cordelia floating.