Age ~ 17
Appearance ~ Standing at the average height of five feet, four inches, Nadine is a very thinly built girl, with a build slanted towards her lean limbs and a slender body to match, with a fairly average, if appealingly skinny figure. Her skin is rather pale due to her reluctance to go outside, but despite her rather shut-in nature, Nadine is in a fairly good, if average physical shape, although due to the narrow nature of her shoulders and her generally rather fragile appearance, not to mention her reclusive, bookwormish appearance and identity, one wouldn't expect it. With short, tousled black hair, deep blue eyes, a pair of spectacles she wears just about everywhere, and a preference for concealing, bulky clothing, she certainly does fit the image of shut-in.
Nadine's face is probably her most attractive feature. With rosy, rounded cheeks, giving her a somewhat childish yet resolute air, soft, unblemished features, a small nose, ears, and chin, thin but smooth pink lips, and a radiant smile for when she feels the need to show it, all framed by a silky curtain of raven black locks, Nadine does have the sort of countenance that could definitely be called cute, although she doesn't really have many people to show it to, as few care to look, and due to her personality, she doesn't exactly go around drawing attention to herself. Still, an unpicked rose is all the better to claim for one's own, is it not?
Personality ~ Quiet and gloomy, yet generous and kind. This sums up Nadine quite well. Due to her background and experience with other people, she has a rather low opinion of herself, feeling overwhelmed by other people around her and reasoning that she can't ever meet up to anyone else's expectations. Consequently, she generally avoids contact with other people. Although she doesn't exactly have a phobia of other people, her own perceived inferiority makes it hard for her to interact socially with those who don't strike up a conversation with her voluntarily - sometimes not even in this case, as she is always worried about saying something she doesn't mean and other such simple faux pas, which causes her to be a bit nervy when it comes to conversation, further crippling her socially by driving her to the conclusion that it would just be better if she spoke as little as possible.
Her greatest flaw is, in her opinion, the simple fact that she is average. She doesn't have any overwhelming talents, and, while intelligent, is in no way prodigious. At everything she tries, she simply seems fated to remain mediocre, discouraging her again and again and driving her to simply abandon hobbies she otherwise might have enjoyed. While those around her excel, she remains ordinary, a fact which she hates beyond anything else, and yet cannot in any way seem to escape.
Yet it is because of these things rather than despite them that Nadine possesses traits perhaps more important than talent, even if she herself does not see it. She is kind, humble, generous, and loyal, unwilling to abandon anyone who would be willing to accept her somewhat impotent help, always willing to lend an ear to the problems of those she cares about, and never once backing down from a request by her friends. But while she derives honest pleasure from helping others, she does so at the cost of herself, ignoring her own increasingly pressing issues and pursuing self-destructive courses of action just to assist her friends and family. She's a helpful person, but in the end, that is swiftly becoming all that she is: A hopeless servant with no backbone of her own. She finds it almost impossible to say "no" when someone asks nicely, and caves easily to demands from those she holds in regard.
But, perhaps there is more to her than this, despite what it might seem. All of her life, Nadine has taken refuge from the insurmountable expectations of the people around her in her favorite form of entertainment: books. She adores novels, especially those of the fantasy and romance genres, and reads them almost constantly, identifying with the main characters of those novels, sympathizing with them, and, in watching them overcome their own issues, feeling in some way edified in her own struggle against her own inescapable nature. Even though she knows it's selfish, Nadine has always dreamed of one thing.
While most people would look at her and see nothing but a submissive, socially handicapped and incredibly plain girl, there is one desire that might well prove all of those expectations wrong, and foil even the best laid plans of those who would lay claim to the wish she has finally been granted.
You see, above everything else, Nadine Valencia really, really wanted to be a hero.
Bio ~ Born into a slightly rich family to two successful businesspeople, Nadine grew up idolizing the many accomplishments of her relatives. At first, her parents and their many triumphs fascinated her, but as her three older siblings came of age, they, too, towered over her in achievements. One of her brothers became a very famous concert pianist, while another was a natural genius and got a scholarship at a very prestigious college, before going on to become a respected scientist. Her older sister started a profitable business of her own, and soon, Nadine, the youngest child, found herself alone in the big family house. Her parents were frequently out on business trips, and when they weren't they were generally working in their respective offices. The young girl had very few friends save her siblings, and once all of these had gone their various ways, Nadine spent most of her days by herself. It was to entertain herself, at first, that she took up reading as a hobby. But, as she grew older, she found out that the world was a much more difficult place than it had seemed, watching her family accomplish everything they had set their minds to. Her respectable intellect and the high expectations her parents held for her were just enough combined to get her sent into more advanced classes, perhaps, than she could cope with, and she found herself struggling in school, receiving grades which, in comparison to her siblings' achievements, were painfully average. She tried sports, music, martial arts, and countless other things to try to distinguish herself, but in each of these she was met with the same crippling level of mediocrity. She found those around her treating her in a manner that asked "Your family's really famous, right? So what's so special about you?" and when she had nothing with which to answer that question, most dismissed her as a spoiled but useless shut-in. To make matters worse, although they never outright criticized her for her performance - on the contrary, they applauded her efforts despite her lack of success - her parents could not fully conceal the disappointment they felt. The fact that they never brought it to her attention, in fact, only made matters worse, driving Nadine into such a state of despair that she felt as though even the most menial tasks were impossible for her to accomplish. She felt impotent and useless, and so, she did the only thing she could to cope with the loneliness and the shame she felt.
She read. She read every single book she had on hand, then got more and started again. Taking up a paper route as a part time job, mowing lawns and doing whatever else she could to earn money, she spent every last cent of it on books, reading them whenever she got the chance. Any time she spent losing herself in a good book was time she did not regret living through, unlike each and every other moment of her waking life. This immersion allowed her, however briefly, to forget who she was, to retrieve that feeling of idolizing a hero without the shame at her own inadequacy that she otherwise felt. Because unlike the overwhelming people all around her in real life, the heroes in books were just like her: ordinary people who overcame their flaws and did the extraordinary. Nadine wanted to be just like that, too. And so she read, and she dreamed. And even as her hopes of ever amounting to anything in the real world dwindled to almost nothing, her belief in the magic of heroism, in the fantasy of the extraordinary, grew and grew until it seemed to her like the impossible was just within reach.
Were it not for her books and for three friends who had taken her in as one of their own, reasoning that it was better to be alone together than to be alone by oneself, Nadine probably would have abandoned the world altogether, maybe even thrown away her own life in despair for the things she could not accomplish. But as it was, she held onto the confidence that she could somehow become like the heroes she idolized in the books she loved. While her friends dreamed of hitting it off with some sort of Prince Charming, Nadine dreamed of being Cinderella herself. And so she worked her hardest to improve herself, both in character and ability, becoming as good as she could be without abandoning her habitual reading sessions. But no matter what she did, it could never have prepared her for the events that soon occurred.
Using money they had all pooled together, the four finally managed to buy their own respectably sized house in a small, quiet town. However, shortly after doing so, they discovered something that would change them all forever. In the attic was a box, and inside it were four ornately carved rings, along with quite realistic parchment notes on the transmutation of Humans into immortal servants through the process of alchemy, concluding with the directions "Inside here are four rings. Each posses a spirit who will protect you and serve you until death. All you have to do is keep the ring on at all times and you will control the beast inside of the ring. Do not let it fall into the wrong hands," in an almost illegible, faded script. But, although unnerved by this thanks to some of her more recent reading - "Alchemy: the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art; it is impossible to create something out of nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. This is the Law of Equivalent Exchange, the basis of all alchemy. In accordance with this law, there is a taboo among alchemists: human transmutation is strictly forbidden - for what could equal the value of a human soul...?" - her adventurous spirit at last overcame her trepidation, and she followed the others in donning the last remaining ring. Perhaps the others had thought the fish and porcupine were cute, and perhaps they had thought the bat was "cool." But whatever it was, Nadine had been left with the snake ring. She took it gratefully nonetheless, not minding the still-beautiful ring even though it was themed after a venous, crawling beast. Actually, she liked it quite a bit despite this, and ended up forgetting her initial fear at wearing it. But what she never forgot was the feeling of joy and excitement that something interesting had finally happened to her, a feeling that followed her even as she went to sleep. But when she awakened, even she could never have imagined the import of the events that were about to take place...
She had gotten her wish. She was now the "Hero."
Other ~ Nadine loves reading books, but other hobbies of hers include playing the piano and singing. She's fairly good at both thanks to her older brother's teachings, but could never possibly match his skill, making her rather modest about her actual abilities. Another thing she greatly enjoys is playing a good game of chess, although due to not playing much, she isn't exactly very skilled at it. Still, one of the few things she might actually ask her new servant to do is play chess with her.... Or to stay with her when there's a large storm outside, as she's also very jumpy, and bright flashes of light and sudden, loud bursts of noise unnerve and frighten her greatly. Still, despite being a bit of a scaredy-cat in this and many other ways, Nadine is surprisingly courageous when it comes down to it.
Nadine is a mildly experienced practitioner of the martial art Aikido (of which I am a sixth-level practictioner IRL, so I can hopefully write a similarly unskilled user in fictitious form), which relies entirely on counterattacking based on an opponent's movements, thus removing the necessity for physical strength, so she can defend herself in a basic manner if the need arises, but is incapable of effectively attacking anyone, and would still be easily overwhelmed by a more resilient or experienced opponent.
Theme Song ~ Uninstall (Piano) and Uninstall (Vocals).
Posting Example (Note: Using my first part of my first post from the last incarnation of this RP, something which will also be included in my intro, when it happens.) ~ The dark room was piled completely, from top to bottom, with books. Shelves lined the walls, each piled with at least three rows of books on every surface, if not more. It was like someone had taken an entire library and crammed it into the unassuming, ill-furnished guest room which the shut-in girl had ended up choosing for her own - leaving the three main bedrooms in the hands of her friends. And, when the shelves ran out of space, the books seemed to flow seamlessly over, piled into orderly stacks that almost completely concealed the walls of the already dismal room from view. Post-it notes were hung regularly across every open space, each marked with at least half a dozen notations on how the books were organized. As it was, perhaps the only person who could have located a book amidst the chaos made by perfect, simultaneous hextuple order was the room's owner herself.
There was very little open space in the gloomy, dust-filled room. The miniscule area that wasn't taken up by the bookshelves or miscellaneous stacks of literature was instead occupied with assorted furniture. Against the left wall, enclosed on almost all sides by towers of knowledge and paper, sat a small writing desk, wired into which sat an old, well-used computer that served as the ordinary girl's eyes into the outside world, a system which allowed her to see much more, and with more confidence, than her own twin azure orbs, which were ill-suited to much but reading books. But aside from this purpose and the other occasional utility, the computer was left largely untouched, its capacity as an entertainment tool, for the most part, ignored in favor of either the literature stacked all around it, or of the large, ornate wooden box that occupied the rest of the desk, and the antique chess set contained within it. Across from this, in the back right corner, was a small, circular table, with two comfortable-looking, well-cushioned chairs - the one facing the back wall was an armchair, while the one in the very corner facing outward was a basket seat piled with countless cushions, pillows, and blankets, and the degree of tilt in which made it look more like a nest of some sort than a seat - positioned one on either side of it. Behind these things was a cabinet that looked quite out of place, for visible through its glass doors was a full tea set, and atop it were several implements including a wicker box containing tea packets and various other accessories, as well as a small, old-looking microwave. Next to this cabinet, almost concealed behind it, was a dispenser with a jug of water perched atop it, ready to flow at a moment's notice. In the back left corner, meanwhile, was a small, humble-looking black piano with worn yellow keys, chipped and battered by time, but nonetheless serving its purpose to perfection.
Placed around a third of the way along the back wall on the left side was a small dresser, the garments it contained all sorted, folded, and ordered by its somewhat obsessive owner. Then, in the very center of the back wall, placed directly beneath a single window through which the moonlight shone brightly down, and facing outward towards the door, was a bed. Its sheets were plain, made of a soft, fuzzy-looking gray material, and accompanied by matching blankets, as well as similar pillowcases on the two rather puffy pillows that served as the simple, frameless bed's furnishings. But, although the light of the midnight moon shone down upon this bed, it was not in it that the room's owner was to be found. Rather, one would have to look in the dark corner, only barely visible in the half-lit, dusty air, were it not for the small night-light by which she made out the words on the page beneath her gaze. The girl looked tiny compared to all of the blankets and pillows surrounding her where she half sat, half lay, curled up within the basket chair in the corner, clumsily half-clad in an oversized navy blue pajama top which she wore more like a nightgown than anything else, the top few buttons undone, allowing it to sag down slightly past her shoulders, so as to let the cool, nightime air keep her from overheating beneath her covering of blankets, while the long sleeves, which otherwise probably would have covered her arms, were rolled back to her wrists, her small, soft hands poking out from amidst their oversized folds. The garment was long enough to cover her undergarments from view, but didn't extend much further, leaving her long, slender legs exposed to the chill darkness, another means of keeping cool. Her dark hair was splayed out about her like an unkempt halo, while her tired blue eyes were already beginning to droop as they ran across the page before her eyes.
Despite this, Nadine Valencia could not bring herself to take in a single word of the passage beneath her gaze. Her mind was tired, and her thoughts were already beginning to wander away from the passage. Yet always, no matter how much she thought about it... her mind always returned to the same thing: the small, blue-green ring that was now coiled gently around the pointer finger of her left hand, its unfamiliar, cold feeling attracting her thoughts again and again, just as its mysterious nature came to her mind constantly. She had been perusing the same paragraph for the past two hours now, at least, and yet, she couldn't pay attention. The excitement and anxiety within her was much too strong to simply be mastered so easily.
This ring... what exactly was it? Alchemists? Homunculi? Transmutation of living creatures? The alteration of a Human's nature to create a beast that defied all comprehension, all laws of physics and reason? These things spun wildly about through her thoughts, even as her eyes began to flutter slowly closed, and she slowly relaxed her grip on her book, allowing it to fall shut to the floor as she spread loosely out upon her cushions. But, above them all, she wondered about one thing, and one thing only.
A hero... a servant that would protect her... She didn't know whether or not it was possible, or whether or not it was even true and not just some elaborate joke by the others, a ploy to raise her spirits. But... even so, as she slowly lapsed into slumber, she somehow felt... safe. And, as those cerulean orbs shut at last, and her body became still save for the slow rising and falling of her chest in peaceful slumber, Nadine did something somewhat unusual: she hugged her left hand gently against her heart, and fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Normally, for her, sleep was an ordeal just as waking was, for the fears that filled her waking life were made manifest in dreams, and often times she found it impossible to rest, instead finding herself waking and staring blankly at the ceiling, or perhaps out the window of her room and into the bright moon that hung gigantic in the starry skies beyond. But tonight... tonight was different. For, little did she know it, but the servant who would keep her safe was already right by her side, even as she lay slumbering beneath the moonlight, like a sleeping angel in her heavenly nest. And that night, as Nadine slept... she dreamed not of darkness, of fears, and of failures, but of the clashing of steel, of a sword broken upon a radiant shield, and of a knight who stood before her, bathed in the light of a full and luminous moon as he held fast, his arms spread wide to encircle all of the evils in the world and to cast them back into the depths from whence they came.
She dreamed of the servant who would absolutely, without a doubt, always be there to protect her. And, although she did not know it, in some manner, that servant was protecting her, even at that moment, for the ring of the snake adorning her finger was shining ever brightly in the moonlight, as though its reflected radiance would banish all the darkness from its master's sleep. But these matters did not concern the young girl at this moment, for right now, she was at last at peace, in a state of blissful slumber that so often evaded her. Rolling over with a quiet sigh, she smiled, unconsciously hugging the ring that now served as her protective talisman tightly against her chest, warding away the nightmares that otherwise haunted her rest as, for once, she dreamed deeply, without fear nor sorrow, blissfully unaware of what was transpiring even at that very instant while she lay weary in her nest, not daring to even fancy at the extraordinary events that were about to unfold, nor to guess at the plot of the storybook into which she had at long last been cast, the hero...