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Nadine M. Vallentin

"I think that... if everyone just forgot that I existed... that would be fine."

0 · 608 views · located in Artificial Island Ariens

a character in “Under One Roof”, as played by Feyblue

Description

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"I'm sorry... Just pay no mind to me. I don't want to speak..."
}


Dɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ✦ #0E00A8 || Tʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ✧ #5C8AE6
Vocal Theme || Mairieux | Rachie ||
Leitmotif || Hope | Dai ||


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✦ Full Name ✦
  • Nadine Marise Vallentin
  • Origin and Meaning: "Nadine," pronounced "na-deen," means "Hope." Marise, pronounced like "Marie's," with a hard z sound, is a diminutive of Mary, meaning "Beloved." Vallentin, contrary to what you might expect, actually means "Healthy" or "Strong" - the latter usually in an intellectual sense, like a "strong argument," rather than a physical one.
✦ Nickname ✦
  • Val
  • Origin and Meaning: It's kind of hard to make a nice-sounding nickname out of "Nadine," so she usually prefers to either go by her full first name, or by this shortening of her surname. Upper class individuals in Agria tend to use their surnames in formal conversations, so this preference isn't all that unusual. It's largely irrelevant, anyway, as she doesn't have any friends to begin with.
✦ Gender ✦
  • Female
✦ Age ✦
  • 16

    ✦ Role ✦
    • Girl 1: The Voiceless
    ✦ Sexual Orientation ✦
    • Heterosexual
    ✦ Face Claim ✦
    • Sajou Ayaka, Fate/Prototype
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...Huh? You want to know more about me? ...Why?
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✦ Height ✦
  • 5 Feet, 4 and 1/3 Inches.
✦ Weight ✦
  • 122 Pounds.
✦ Eye Color ✦
  • Bright Blue
✦ Hair Color ✦
  • Dark Chocolate Brown
✦ Physical Description ✦
  • An average girl of average height. Agrian women, especially those of the pedigreed bloodlines, tend to be a head shorter than most of their peers, and Nadine is no exception. Most people she interacts with on a regular basis tend to be at least half a head taller than her.

    Her build might certainly be called naturally athletic, as it's prominently disposed towards her limbs - with most of what height she has being made up by her long legs. However, if this is the case, Nadine could certainly be accused of squandering her body's endowments, as, aside from her legs, she lacks any sort of muscle almost completely. What muscle she does have is mostly the result of frequent long walks and the occasional jog or run in order to keep from getting overweight, and even then, she hasn't been entirely successful in reclaiming her figure, as she's just a tad on the pudgy side. Although her rather conservative choices in clothing usually prevent people from noticing the traces of fat still clinging to her hips, she's very sensitive about her weight, and makes some rather extreme - and oftentimes unhealthy - dieting choices in order to maintain her inactive lifestyle while still reaching a certain level of approximation to the Agrian ideals of beauty. For similar reasons, her skin is very pale, with a faint pinkish-white hue that suggests even to those who don't know her well that Nadine doesn't go outside very often. While a valued trait in Agria, it might strike those not from that particular island as unusual. Combined with its soft, roughly uniform texture, almost like porcelain, this coloration gives her a strangely doll-like appearance, especially when combined with her overall body proportions. With thin arms, dainty hands, narrow shoulders, broad hips, and long, limber legs, she certainly looks similar enough to some sort of antique doll.

    When I spoke earlier of Nadine's natural endowments, however, I wasn't actually speaking in the sense you might expect. When it comes to her curves... well, they're there, but they aren't exactly all that notable. Her build is just as average in regards to physical proportions as it is to her height - save, again, perhaps in the sole exception of her legs. Regardless of what one likes, however, the fact of the matter is that Nadine isn't exactly beautiful in either the traditional nor the modern sense. She's neither a buxon vixen nor a refined wall flower. Her face, just like the rest of her, is quite simply ordinary. Her jawline is somewhat narrow, but defined, its slight angularity contrasting somewhat with her full cheeks and slightly high cheekbones, which give her countenance a somewhat dull, childlike aspect. Her nose is small and rounded, and her similarly petite ears tend to slip beneath the curtains of her hair and out of sight. However, her eyes are rather deeply set, with faint dark circles always visible underneath them - a natural result of her poor sleeping habits and the imprints left on her face by her spectacles, no doubt - while her brow is rather high. As a result, the uppermost and lowermost portions of her face have a rather rigidly defined, slightly angular form, while her rounded cheeks balance out this aspect, making her countenance a sort of patchwork compromise between the firm features of a mature woman and a childish "babyface."

    Her lips are somewhat thin, but have a distinctly pink hue of their own, which she seldom bothers to enhance or otherwise tamper with, as she doesn't often bother with makeup, given how little she concerns herself with social functions in general. Her teeth are in decent enough condition, and for the most part, they retain their original white hue. Her wide-set cheeks also have faint dimples in them, if one cares to look, but these are seldom visible save when she smiles, which isn't as often as you might think. Overall, her face has its charm points, but there are also several less-than-ideal aspects of her countenance, of which she's all too aware. For example, she's deeply ashamed of what she calls her "shut-in eyes" - or, more accurately, the dark blotches beneath them - and of the lingering baby fat in her cheeks, feeling it makes her look overly childish and clashes with the rest of her face. She doesn't really complain about her appearance, or fuss over it too much, but at times, it's pretty clear that she feels a bit overshadowed by others when it comes to matters of beauty.

    Still, even somebody like her has a few things that they're proud of, and in her case, these particular crowning glories are her eyes and hair. The former she holds in esteem because of their rare color - bright, icy blue, like a clear summer sky. Coupled with her somewhat pale complexion and rather dark hair above them, their color really stands out in her face, making them seem to almost glow. They tend to be quite expressive as well, as the height of her cheekbones and the prominence of her cheeks causes them to narrow or widen quite notably as her expression changes, which, coupled with her for the most part pristine teeth and natural dimples, gives her quite the smile - were she ever to indulge in one. In short, her eyes may not be "deep and bright as twin pools reflecting the light of a full moon," or something similarly flamboyant, like the heroine in a romance novel might have, but they certainly grab one's attention right from the moment you look at her face. It's all the more unfortunate, then, that they're usually obscured by a pair of simple black-rimmed spectacles, meant to compensate for her farsightedness. Her hair, however, usually remains uninhibited. While brown may not be a terribly unique or striking color for hair, in her case, it just sort of works. Its color is rich and vibrant, and compliments her fair skin and bright eyes by tempering her natural colors with a darker aspect. However fetching it may be, however, it can be a bit hard for her to control. It tends to be very straight near the base of each strand, but as each grows longer, it starts curling out and away, which eventually prompted Nadine to simply limit its length to that of her own neck, as well as keeping it trimmed just above her eyes to keep it out of her face while she reads. Nevertheless, her hair's somewhat quirky nature does give it a rather curious appearance, as it appears so dark it's almost black close to her head, but as the individual curtains begin to curl, diffuse, and scatter, with each hair going its own way, they don't absorb nearly as much light, and so seem to grow brighter they further they go from her head, giving her "natural highlights" of a sort. As a whole, her hair is very soft, but as each strand curls outward, its texture ceases being something a romance author might describe as "smooth as silk" or the like, and becomes more... fluffy, I suppose, would be the best word to describe it.

    As mentioned earlier, her usual manner of dress is fairly conservative, yet casual - mostly blouses or pullover shirts coupled with skirts or shorts or the like, with the occasional addition of something like a cardigan sweater if the weather happens to be cold. As a student of the Twin Stars Academy, she's usually seen clad in the women's Machinist uniform when on campus, consisting of a button-up white blouse with a bright red ribbon fastening the collar, over which she wears a navy blue sweater with matching red trim, and a short gray skirt with white accents. A universal constant of her wardrobe, however, are several roughly identical pairs of opaque black tights that she usually wears with everything that might bare her legs, be it shorts or a skirt. Due to her very conservative upbringing, Nadine would be kind of embarrassed to even let so much as her legs go uncovered in public, as a woman baring any skin below the collarbone - with the exception of hands - is viewed as scandalous on her native island. She favors fairly simple footwear - usually featureless sneakers or sandals - and also tends to go without any major accessories. Although she has a few small pieces of jewelry and one or two more formal outfits she brought with her, she very seldom uses them, as her various social phobias tend to dissuade her from attending any sort of social functions. Like her other outfits, these formal garments are also usually very conservative due to Agrian social and sexual mores.

    Her rather meager wardrobe isn't necessarily because she doesn't care about her appearance, however. As mentioned above, she's keenly aware of how she looks, and, more often than not, rather ashamed of it. However, it's also not only because she's afraid of socializing. If anything, the main reason is actually because she spends so much of her money on books, she has little pocket cash left to pay for any new clothes or other such things.
✦ Distinguishing Features ✦
  • Bright Blue Eyes: Although they crop up frequently in fiction, blue eyes are actually one of the rarest eye colors natural to Humans. What's more, blue eyes are recognized on her home island of Agria as a sign of innate nobility, being one of the hallmarks of "Fair" heritage. Due to this fact, women with blue eyes are prized very highly in her homeland. As such, they're one of the few features than Nadine truly prides herself on. However, even this part of her isn't safe for her regrets. After her history of being overshadowed by others, maybe she doesn't feel as though someone like her deserves such a trait of "nobility."
  • Fluffy!: As mentioned above, what her hair lacks in length, it makes up for in fluff, seeming to frame her face in a little brown cloud. It kind of just makes you want to pat her on the head - although how well she'd take this is always in question.
  • Glasses: She's seldom seen without them, due to her farsightedness making it somewhat difficult for her eyes to focus on objects directly in front of her without wearing them. Given how much she loves reading, it's no surprise that she only really takes them off when she's sleeping or bathing. As such, they've become something of a distinctive feature of her countenance, perhaps even to the same extent as her eyes and face shape.
✦ Oddities ✦
  • Pale: Nadine is several shades paler than almost anyone she hangs out with on a regular basis, making her stand out as a bit odd to most people who see her. This, and the dark circles beneath her eyes are something of a dead giveaway of her shut-in lifestyle, and tend to earn her a bit of mockery and derision outside of her homeland.
  • Adjusting Her Glasses: The way she chooses to adjust her spectacles should they slip down her face tends to say a lot about her emotional state. If she actually reaches up and takes hold of the frames of each lens, she's probably pretty calm, and is likely in a good mood. If she adjusts them by giving a firm push on their bridge with her index finger, however, she's probably concentrating very intently, and is likely angry, or upset. In this sense, her glasses are almost like an extension of her expression.
  • Expressive, Yet Silent: Due to how difficult it is for her to vocalize, she tends to express herself through other ways. The most obvious would be by messaging people using her P.T. so that she doesn't need to raise her voice, but that isn't the only way one can figure out what she's thinking. More often than not, her emotions are painted very plainly on her face, while her expressions and gesticulations have a certain exaggerated, theatrical element to them that makes it kind of easy to see right through her. If she's worrying about something, her eyes will shift from left to right and back again, as though looking for a physical solution to a mental problem. If she's scared or uncomfortable, she tends to fidget a bit to distract herself. If she's sad, she'll avoid the eyes of others, sulking in a way that makes it painfully obvious to see that she's moping. And, if she's happy, her rare smiles tend to be so bright and obvious that you can't help but notice. In this sense, it's possible to get a good idea of what she's thinking about, even though she almost never speaks.
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I don't really have much to say, least of all about myself. If you've got nothing good... better to say nothing at all, right?
}

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✦ Personality ✦
  • Nadine is nothing if not a mass of apparent contradictions. She is quiet and gloomy, yet generous and kind. She's witty and creative, and yet seldom able to put any of her thoughts into words or ideas into actions. She's weak and cowardly, running away from everything that intimidates her. And yet, when it comes to the things that matter most to her, she'll be the first one to take a stand. She's emotional, empathizing easily with the plain demonstrations of feeling in her books. And yet, when it comes to real people, she can never tell what they're feeling or thinking, and has no idea what steps she should take to bridge the disconnect between herself and others. She's honest even when she doesn't want to be, her feelings painted plainly upon her face for all to see. On the other hand, first she has to be made to feel something. Distanced as she is from others, she spends most of her days rather disinterested with the real world and all things and people in it, feeling she has no useful input to provide even if it were solicited.

    Nadine's most notable trait is fairly obvious to anyone who's had to deal with her in any regard more significant than, say, passing her in a hallway. Namely, she seems, at first glance, to be incapable of speaking, as when directly addressed, she only responds via either vague signs, gestures, and expressions, or by writing messages to others using her P.T. Thus, while most who actually meet her assume she's somehow physically mute, they soon find that her vocal cords are fine - as she's capable of vocalizing, a realization that usually takes place when someone or something surprises her and she lets out a squeak of fright. She still has a tongue, also, so those who deal with her for a long enough period of time to realize these things oftentimes wonder, then, why it is that she doesn't speak. While she is mute, this condition is more psychological than physical, as she has an intense anxiety about actually trying to talk to others that makes even attempting to speak a veritable nightmare for her. If given no other choice, she'll break out in a shivering, cold sweat, her breath catching in her throat as though physically refusing her will that it be turned into words. She feels dizzy and nauseous, and soon falls into such a state of panic that she feels as though she'll vomit. It's worst when she's in an area with multiple people, as their attention makes her feel even more anxious. Between her choking, nausea, elevated heart rate, and overwhelming anxiety, trying to speak when people's attention is on her can actually be physically painful for her, driving her to avoid raising her voice whenever possible. To those who aren't familiar with her circumstances, however, she can under certain circumstances appear to simply be petulant, many people making the mistake of assuming that her silence is some childish and stubborn refusal to acknowledge other people, akin to sticking her fingers in her ears and saying "La La La, I can't hear you."

    Her second most notable trait is likely part of this particular problem. While Nadine doesn't care much for the world around her, she absolutely adores the thousand fictitious worlds that exist within her books. If there's even the slightest chance to read, she'll be found with her face buried in some novel or another, her eyes almost immediately ceasing their unfocused, blank wanderings and focusing with the utmost intensity upon the story before her. While reading, it's almost as if she forgets entirely about reality in favor of the world contained within her books. And, in this state, she's almost as easy to read as the books themselves. Her eyes will go wide with shock whenever there's a surprising plot twist, or she'll start to grin and giggle to herself if somebody says something funny. You could probably discern the general themes of an entire novel without ever turning a page yourself just by watching Nadine read it. She almost looks like she's actually reacting directly to a world only she can see... which is kind of a problem, really, since it means that once she starts reading a book, one has to practically pull her away from the page in order to get her attention, as she ignores everything around her in favor of concentrating entirely on the story. Some might call this sort of infatuation "cute." Others, on the other hand, might call it "annoying."

    Aside from these more obvious manifestations of her personality and preferences, however, Nadine can be very, very difficult to get a read on as a person due to her conscious inability to speak. Without her attitude to use as a frame of reference, one must base all judgements concerning her upon the ways she reacts to things. As such, some aspects of her nature are entirely obvious, while others are much harder to discern. What one can easily tell after a few encounters with her is that she seems to have a certain double standard about how she reacts to comments on herself. If one praises her, she might flush with embarrassment and shake her head to try to deny it, but she's almost always smiling, seeming overjoyed to have earned someone's approval, almost like a puppy who's just been told she's a good dog and will get a biscuit. On the other hand, though, if one criticizes her, she'll simply nod and look away. The first is infinitely more obvious, but the second is definitely more notable. When praised, she'll seem very happy for a short period of time. However, when criticized, Nadine's demeanor will undergo an infinitely more permanent shift, as she'll seem much more subdued and wary around the one who scolded her, as though she's deliberately trying to make herself inconspicuous to avoid further criticism. Lacking much in the way of self-esteem, she thus tends to judge herself by how other people react to her. If she does one thing right, then that's a sign she's on the right track. However, if somebody says she did something wrong, then she can never allow herself to forget that mistake, desperately trying to avoid repeating it. A compliment will make her day. An insult will cast a shadow over her entire world, one that may potentially linger for the rest of her life.

    Even leaving her social awkwardness and lack of self-esteem aside, Nadine is... kind of a dork. Okay, that's an understatement. She's an IMMENSE dork. She tends to take everything very seriously, with a very strong sense of responsibility, judging things rather strictly based on right and wrong and always trying to do the right thing, so as not to regret her choices later. This extends even to things most people would find insignificant due to the strict nature of her conscience. She's the kind of person who feels obligated to do every bonus assignment the teacher gives out, because if he asked at all, that means that he wanted it done. She's the kind of person who realizes that the cashiers gave her fifty cents more in change than they were supposed to, and so returns to the store thirty minutes later to give it back. What's more, she doesn't deal well with conflict - in part because she's too anxious to defend herself vocally, and in part simply because she has almost no backbone when it comes to standing up to others. If somebody asks her for a favor, she'll probably do whatever they request just to avoid an argument. Put simply, she doesn't know how to refuse someone.

    Her seriousness, coupled with her relative social inexperience, can make her seem a bit thick at times, as she doesn't always pick up on what is a joke and what isn't. This especially rings true with people poking fun at her, as she's very easily embarrassed, and doesn't always realize that playful quips and jabs aren't meant as actual criticisms of her. She's also terrible at reading the mood, and so tends to take vague emotional cues rather poorly. If someone were depressed and avoiding others, she'd probably assume that they were mad at her in particular, and try to apologize - despite the fact that she herself is depressed and avoids all other people intentionally, and so thus has every reason to understand what they're doing and why. This is partially because she just has very little experience interacting with others, and partially because she tends to fill in the blanks when it comes to what other people are thinking based solely on her own feelings. Since she dislikes herself, that's the first thing she'll assume others feel. On the flip side, if she were trying to cheer somebody up or make amends to someone, she'd probably give them book recommendations, since that's the only surefire way she really knows how to improve her own mood.

    She's not stupid, however. Possessed of a keen, somewhat analytical intellect, as well as a very good memory, Nadine is a fairly good student, since she finds it easy to remember most details she needs without even having to write them down. However, she doesn't feel that this makes her particularly smart, either - it just means that she's good at memorizing and recreating the products of other people's intelligence. When it comes to practical experience and wisdom, she's... kind of clueless. She doesn't know how things work, or how to fix them if they break, despite her professed interest in becoming a Machinist. She's also rather bad at math and the sciences in their more advanced forms, because while she can easily remember, say, her times tables, the plethora of formulae inherent to systems like trigonometry and calculus are too complicated even for her to remember. And, given how much she tends to rely on her memory, she tends to panic when she finds that she can't actually remember something she needs to know. As such, she ends up losing focus, which only makes it harder for her to remember other things. Because of this, she does very well as an aspiring Machinist when it comes to theoretical subjects, but rather poorly when it comes to more practical learning.

    Because of her innate sense of responsibility and tendency to overthink things, she's also more than a little hyper-critical of her own flaws, which is partially to blame for her lack of self-esteem. Something of a perfectionist, she tends to categorize and arrange what she perceives as her own shortcomings into an unforgettable litany leveled against herself, and changes reality to fit her perception of herself rather than changing her perceptions of herself in accordance with reality, as mentioned above. And, every time she's criticized, she just adds another accusation to her list, slowly weighing herself down with personal flaws she's too focused on hiding or circumventing to even consider that they might not even exist, or be as severe as she feels they are.

    In her own mind, she's "stupid and selfish," due largely to the fact that she finds it difficult to grasp the feelings of others around her. Thus, because she can't understand others, she's stupid, and since she acts according to her own reasoning alone and thus tends to offend or hurt other people without realizing, she's selfish. She also characterizes herself as a coward, due to her somewhat neurotic tendencies. In particular, she's somewhat jumpy, and easily surprised by sudden movement or unexpected loud noises, as well as being easily intimidated by other people. Since she doesn't have the courage to stand up for herself, and gets scared easily by things like ghost stories, paranoid suspicion that something's moving in the dark, or jumpscares, she is, by her own logic, a "coward." However, despite these rather grave accusations, what Nadine thinks of as her greatest flaw might seem somewhat innocuous by comparison. In her eyes, her most dreadful fault is that she is, quite simply, "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.

    And so it is that a girl whose very name means "Hope" ironically has almost none.
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Don't... don't laugh at me...!
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✦ Likes ✦
  • Fiction: While her love of books is long since common knowledge, this love actually extends to almost any suitable dramatic medium. Films, theater, and perhaps even games of any sort... if there's a story for her to lose herself in, she'll see it through to the end with no complaints.
  • Music: She spends a great deal of time listening to all manner of music, having quite the extensive playlist on her P.T. It's one of many things she uses as a getaway of sorts to temporarily escape from reality, helping her calm down when she's stressed.
  • Singing: You wouldn't guess it from her timid nature, but she's actually a tremendously good singer. However, just like speaking, she's too self-conscious to sing in front of other people. Even when she does attempt music, it's only through wordless "la"s, and only when she thinks nobody's listening. She tends to get a bit... "hammy" without realizing it, though, so it's sometimes possible for other people to overhear without her knowing.
✦ Dislikes ✦
  • Men: Not so much a "dislike" as a "lack of understanding." She's never really had any male friends, and due to her social anxiety, poor self-image, and the stricture of Agrian sexual mores, finds it rather difficult to interact with members of the opposite sex, being rather intimidated by them at the best of times, and downright terrified at the worst.
  • The Dark: She tends to get a bit paranoid at times, and thus tends to be a bit jumpy when it's dark out. She particularly hates this side of herself, and thus tends to have a distaste for darkness in general because of it.
  • Sour Foods: She doesn't really mind the taste terribly much, but they're so hard to eat! She'd just rather not bother. That way, she doesn't have to worry about her eyes starting to water and everybody laughing at her for crying. ...Not that that ever happened, or anything.
✦ Motto ✦
  • "So many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were interested in them." - Sylvia Plath
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I wish people were more like the characters in books. They say how they feel plainly. Even I can understand them. But people... I can never tell what they're thinking about...
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✦ History ✦
  • The first child born to a rich Agrian family, Nadine was pampered from a young age by her parents, kept sheltered to keep her safe. Her parents were staunch traditionalists, hailing from a very "pure" bloodline that descended directly from the old aristocrats, distinguished by their bright blue eyes. Although they themselves lacked this particular trait, Nadine herself inherited it, which her parents viewed as an auspicious sign of her potential. Sadly, as she grew, these initial expectations seemed to have been baseless. Having been kept isolated from everyone her own age save for her younger brother Remell for roughly the first nine years of her life, she had no idea what to expect when she finally was sent along with several other children her own age to study under a respected Agrian scholar. Plagued by a perpetual stutter, not to mention her blooming anxiety, she found her attempts to socialize rather viciously rebuffed. At best, the other children couldn't understand her due to her stammering, and kept asking her to repeat herself. At worst, they mocked and derided her for it. Her teachers and parents tried to correct this impediment by having her practice, but all the attention that was paid to her inability to communicate properly felt to her like mockery. Little by little, she began to give up on making her voice heard, to the point that she so hated to try forming words that the very thought of it made her nauseous. Shunned due to the fact it was impossible to communicate with her, she found the distance growing between herself and other people.

    It thus didn't help that her father was, at the same pressuring her to study mathematics and mechanical theory, hoping that she would honor the family by taking up what was now known as Xera's most sophisticated profession: that of a machinist and inventor. However, between her anxiety and lack of comprehension for the material, she found it very difficult. Her brown-eyed little brother Remell, on the other hand, was much more apt than she herself was, picking up with ease the things that she had most struggled with. By the time he was 10, he had already caught the eye of their instructor, while she herself was strongly recommended to pursue a career in the arts. Having taken a liking to books, she meekly obliged. Theater, singing, and the like were all out of the question due to her inability to speak, but perhaps painting, or literature? She tried the former, but swiftly abandoned it out of frustration due to her inability to transpose the images in her brain onto the canvas. Writing yielded more promising results, but she couldn't help but compare her own works to those of more skilled professionals. When placed in the shadow of her favorites, her own feeble attempts at storytelling just couldn't match up.

    Her parents were never harsh or abusive towards her. If anything, however, that only deepened her shame, as they quite clearly coddled and pitied her for her lack of talent, while at the same time praising and rewarding her brother. This was, perhaps, the last straw. For all her youth, she was told that she'd inherited her parents' latent ability, as signified by her blue eyes. And yet, she was so easily outclassed by someone who ostensibly was less gifted than herself, despite her best efforts. She felt as though she'd disappointed everyone, and slowly started to give up on the world around her. She did what was required to avoid conflict, but then immediately retreated back into her comfort zone, hiding away from the world and burying her own troubles with the joy she felt in reading. Her parents grew concerned as she stopped talking entirely, seeming to shut everything around her out. They pleaded her to speak, and when that didn't work, they tried to command her. To high-class socialites who lived for the spotlight, it seemed inconceivable that someone who was perfectly capable of expressing herself wouldn't be willing to do so. Eventually, they came to the false conclusion that she must have been deliberately trying to ignore them, and that her silence was an act of rebellion, not only against them, but against her responsibilities in general. Embarrassed by what they saw as a childish tantrum gone much too far, they began to shelter her once again, trying to hide the shame of having a daughter who wouldn't say a word. Little by little, Nadine began to feel the walls of her home closing in on her as her parents tried to force her to break her silence.

    Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore. Having saved up her allowance over the years through her rather frugal living and her parents' initial generosity, she offered to pay for her own living expenses if they would in turn buy her way into a real school somewhere, anywhere, away from home. Wanting to at the very least earn her the credit she'd need to attract potential suitors - as a bride of once-noble blood, well versed in the arts, might be used to secure valuable familial connections - and hoping that the experience might help her "grow up" and abandon her childish anger, they agreed, paying for her enrollment into Twin Stars Academy, while she herself rented the upper room in a small, run down tenement hall. Far from what her parents expected, however, she took advantage of being out of contact to make one last try for fulfillment. She selected to study as a Machinist instead of an Artisan, even though she knew it wasn't a field she was talented in, in the hopes of meeting the minimum graduation requirements to allow her to move into an academy for pilots. As the standards she had to meet to just take up piloting were more lax than the requirements to become a Machinist, she felt as though she might actually have a chance. Regardless, she couldn't afford to pass up this opportunity. Succeeding would mean getting a chance finally live out her own dreams, flying the sky, going where nobody had ever been before, and, most importantly, leaving all of her present cares far behind her, in a distant land.

    Of course, that's all far in the future for now. For now, the silent girl has more immediate concerns, like keeping up in her courses, living on her own... and dealing with others like her who have moved in just downstairs. Will she find the words to meet them, or will her story go unspoken?
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Why? Why do you care...?
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So begins...

Nadine M. Vallentin's Story

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Character Portrait: Nadine M. Vallentin
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The wind swept over the small island, a cool breeze carrying with it the last vestiges of a thin fog from the storms raging miles out at sea. This mist washed slowly over the waking city on the first Strahta of Ariens, half-masking the glowing morning sun from view even as it finished cresting the horizon and began its slow ascent heavenward. It was a morning like any other, with plenty of small sailing ships either arriving from or departing towards the neighboring islands of the Xeran archipelago, while airships came and went from the island's prominent landing strip, bringing newcomers from or carrying old citizens unto the farthest reaches of the known world.

Indeed. This was the norm for Ariens, located as it was at the very center of a bustling nexus of trade. People came and went as frequently as the tide, creating an ever-changing climate and culture that served to bring the diverse islands of the Outlands and Xera just a little bit closer to one another. And, in this respect too, it was a morning like any other. After all, today marked the day that the island's famed universities and academies would once more be opening their doors to their many applicants, drawing a crowd of young travelers from the world over. They came by boat and by airship, flooding the docks and the ports with new life as another year's worth of students arrived to take their chances, make their choices, and face whatever consequences might await them.

...Put that way, it almost sounds romantic. So mused one particular dark-haired individual, seated as she was by the window at the very back of the monorail that served as the island's primary public transit system. Pushing her spectacles back up her nose, she continued to stare at the small shapes passing back and forth on the roads beneath the elevated tracks, wondering who they were, what they were doing, and where they were headed. Peoplewatching was, after all, one of Nadine's favorite hobbies. So long as she didn't have to interact with them directly, people were interesting, rather than scary. Each life was like a story, and without knowing where it began or ended, she could fill in the blanks as she liked. She'd see someone reading a book by the window of a coffee shop who'd look up and strike up a conversation with someone else - a lover running late for a covert meeting, maybe? And there was a group of three kids, playing in a park. Maybe the two who looked so similar there were brothers? Ooh, and the girl was their childhood friend, who they secretly both liked, but couldn't bring themselves to confess to! But it would turn out that she actually liked one of them in return, except he'd grow up to become an airship pilot, and would vanish on a flight far away from home, leaving the remaining brother to both console her while also struggling to deal with his lingering feelings! Drama! Romance! It had everything!

...Of course, the reality of the situation obviously wouldn't be anywhere near that contrived. They'd probably hang out for a few years, then one of their families would move and they'd never see nor hear from each other again. Then, by the time they grew up, they'd have forgotten all about one another. She sighed, her mind turning back to its gloomy thoughts, unbidden. She'd been wrestling with this sort of anxiety and general malaise since she'd awoken late the previous night and set out by boat, leaving her home island of Agria far behind her. Nadine supposed that it was normal to be nervous, given her situation. For the first time in her life, she was living by herself, in an unfamiliar place, with responsibilities and obligations she'd have no choice but to meet head on, lest her dreams and plans all come to ruin. Such fears were, indeed, normal. Commonplace. That still didn't mean she had to tolerate thinking about them.

She longed for a distraction, wanting nothing more than to open the bag stowed on the rack above her head and pull out the first of the many books it contained that happened to fall into her grasp, and then read it cover to cover. Of course, this wasn't an exaggeration. If she started reading now, she'd probably finish some time in late evening with no clue where she was, having forgotten to get off at her stop due to her preoccupation. She sighed once more, trying to distract herself with her earlier games. Now that she thought about it, she wondered how she looked to everyone around her? If somebody happened to catch a glimpse of her on this fateful day, what sort of story would they see her living? An isolated girl, displaced from her homeland, struggling towards a seemingly impossible dream... Would her tale be a drama, telling of how she adjusted to her surroundings and came to grow to a better understanding of both her world and her place in it? Or maybe it could be a tragedy, detailing her struggles as she slowly, silently, crumbled under the strain of her new life... It might be a sadistic comedy where the audience would laugh at her failures, and she'd be kept in a constant limbo of almost achieving her goals only at the last second. Or maybe it would be a heartwarming fairy tale, a story of friendship and love, as some prince would come along and melt her heart of ice, and then all her problems would just miraculously solve themselves, and she would live happily ever after?

As if. She sighed again, jarred from her reverie as the monorail came to a slow stop, its doors opening and allowing the young traveler out onto the station platform. Gathering what few bags she'd carried with her herself - as most of her belongings had already been shipped to Ariens by her parents, and would be waiting in her new room for her - she turned to go, swiping her ticket and leaving a few small coins to pay for her ride as she emerged onto the surprisingly empty street. This was the northernmost part of Ariens, she supposed, where the population was much less dense. Skirting the edge of a silent neighborhood, Nadine glanced back and forth between the houses on her right, and the mist sweeping slowly up from the sea and over the sandy vista spread beneath the railing on her left. The sun shimmered brilliantly, seeming to dance between the swirling tufts of fog that darted and whirled over the water's surface. Silhouetted by the dawn, Nadine made her way down the road, unfolding her P.T. as she did so and consulting a map. It appeared that her destination was just a few blocks away, so she wouldn't have to carry her bags far. Given how heavy the books she'd brought with her as reading on the cruise over to Ariens were, however, this was little consolation. She gave a quiet groan, stopping as she folded her P.T. back up and slipped it back into her bag to rub her shoulder in a vain attempt to soothe it.

Her load wouldn't lighten itself, no matter how much she willed it, however, which meant there was naught to do but keep walking. A few minutes perseverance later, she found her journey at an end on the doorstep of a slightly run-down house on the boundary between the beachfront neighborhood and a large, thickly forested park of sorts that she could only assume was part of the campus of Twin Stars. Withdrawing a small key from her breast pocket, she slipped it into the lock, which opened with a faint click. Turning the knob of the door, she opened her new home, and entered. Glancing around, she breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't seem as though anyone else was around. At the very least, none of them were awake, if they were, since she didn't hear any movement inside. That made things easier. Unable to talk as she was, it probably would have been awkward to be greeted by one of her new housemates right off the bat. Without any such danger, moving in would be a lot less stressful.

Taking an immediate right, she headed upstairs towards the room she'd been assigned by request - an isolated study converted to a bedroom, separate from the hall in which the other dorms were placed. This way, she wouldn't bother anyone, and no one would bother her. Everything would be fine.

Opening the door, she found herself face to face with a room overflowing with boxes, from within which she could see peeking out the familiar covers of her favorite books.

It would take a little unpacking...

...But this is fine.

Nadine smiled to herself, and set to work.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Aquina Rosenberg Character Portrait: Nikolai Utkin Character Portrait: Nadine M. Vallentin Character Portrait: Rook Foster Character Portrait: Shane Collins
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Dɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ✦ #0E00A8 || Tʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ✧ #5C8AE6


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It had been a few hours, but Nadine had finally managed it. Looking around her, she couldn't help but feel a little bit triumphant. Granted, she'd vastly underestimated the amount of shelving space she'd need to store all of her many books, and had nearly caused one of the rather flimsy portable shelving units to tumble over onto her head when she'd been setting up, but still, at least she'd managed to find places for them all. Of course, part of finding places for them all had also entailed taking up so much space that there wasn't any room to lay out the portable quilted mattress she'd been planning on using as a floor bed... And space had only become a problem because she'd specifically requested the smallest dorm in the house... But she could always use her reading chair as a makeshift bed, anyhow! Right, it was best to think positive. After all, she had liked to nap in that chair back when she'd had it at home. It was comfortable enough to serve the purpose of a bed, too! And besides, this way, she had plenty of space to organize and store all of her favorite books! ...Speaking of which, had she ordered them properly? She'd sorted them first by topic, then by alphabet, when she'd been packing them to ship to the house in the first place. However, she couldn't be entirely certain that she might have unpacked in the wrong order... And now that she'd thought of it, she couldn't shake the possibility that she had. She spent the next twenty or so minutes painstakingly looking through every shelf, trying to ensure nothing was out of place. As it turned out, nothing was - she'd just been being paranoid. While this should have comforted her, it just made her feel stupid for wasting her time on such a baseless fear. ...Unless there WAS something out of place, and she'd just missed it?

...She dismissed this possibility as quickly as she could, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her brain that told her to check everything over again. Trying to distract herself with something - anything, really - she then noticed something she hadn't really been paying attention to before. Namely, there were people talking downstairs. Had some of the other tenants arrived? It would appear so, at any rate. Considering that they'd probably be too busy moving in to be concerned with her, she supposed that this would be her best chance to see who they were without actually drawing their attention to herself. Reasoning thus, and unable to contain her curiosity - people watching was one of her favorite hobbies, after all - she decided she'd sneak a peek as unobtrusively as possible. So, opening the door of her room as quietly as possible, she slipped around the edge of the upper balcony, peering down from almost directly overhead to see a group of four people standing in the entryway. One by one, they moved over the threshhold, and into her view.

The first was a tall youth, with dark hair and a swarthy complexion. He didn't look Xeran, so perhaps he was from abroad? Curious, indeed. Sheltered as Nadine had been growing up in Agria, she had never actually met an Outlander. She wondered what kind of society he had lived in, and what interesting and strange customs they must have had. However, just as quickly, the next person behind him caught her eye. The second to enter was a girl with vibrant red hair, like the color of a cherry. Nadine quite frankly had no idea where she might have been from, as to her knowledge, that sort of color wasn't considered ordinary anywhere. Maybe she was some kind of ghost or apparition? She smiled at the ridiculous notion, already coming up with her own little "story" of each of the ones who entered.

The third to enter was much easier to place, by his voice alone. Smooth and low, the unique emphasis he placed on his words made it obvious that he was Fanish. He seemed quite at home already, introducing himself and striking up casual conversation in an instant. Given his blonde hair - one of the few things Nadine could make out, peering over the railing from above and behind them - and the distinctive green eyes which she could only assume he had, maybe he was one kind of ladykiller? Smooth, sauve, and confident - yes, that was the character she'd give to him, perfect for the leading man of some great adventure drama! And finally... And finally...

The last to enter, compared to the others, seemed impossible to place or identify. He was of average height, with his face concealed from view by his long, dark hair. He introduced himself in a simple and collected, yet friendly manner that made it difficult to guess what sort of person he was. For a few moments, Nadine tried to come up with a "story" for him, but couldn't really think of anything. There was just too little to go on.

She might have lingered longer, but, returning her attention to the Fanish boy, she noticed him turning towards the stairs. Wondering if he'd seen her while she was busy examining the last to enter, she decided that it would be best not to risk it, and slipped back into her room, shutting the door swiftly behind her with a quiet "click" as the lock slid into place. Breathing a sigh, she tossed herself down into her basket chair, the new centerpiece of her room, lying on her side at the bottom of a nest of pillows and blankets. Exhausted from both her trip and from unpacking after her arrival, she decided that it would be best to just rest for now. The Academy wouldn't be starting in earnest for another few days - unless one counted a few events to welcome new students, which she'd probably just skip anyway so as to avoid having to socialize. That meant she'd have plenty of time to grow accustomed to her new home, and, most importantly of all, observe the routines of the house's other tenants so that she could use things like the laundry room, the shower, and the kitchen without bothering the others. Once she could confidently settle into self-sufficiency, then she could focus her full attention on attaining her goals.

This wasn't going to be easy. But, at the very least, she hoped it would be livable.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Aquina Rosenberg Character Portrait: Nikolai Utkin Character Portrait: Nadine M. Vallentin Character Portrait: Rook Foster Character Portrait: Shane Collins Character Portrait: Aza N. Merritt
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"Bringing up the topic of possible house problems seems to have paid off..." Aquina smiled to herself, listening to Aza go on enumerating the common problems they may encounter. May encounter. Of course, it was entirely possible that the house had undergone a fix. It is the start of a new term after all, and these places need to attract blood. She also found Aza's mention of the previous tenants interesting though whether it was meant as a jest or something to be taken seriously, Aquina had no way to confirm save for asking him directly.

"Wouldn't mind the cats actually. Could do without any further eye irritation though." Aquina was in the middle of listening in on the conversation when Aza suddenly ask for her name. Or to be more specific, he asked whether she was Shane or Aquina. Before she could reply though, Shane spoke up.

Apart from clarifying who was Shane and who was Aquina, Shane had some light jabs at Aza, the old timer. Most were directed towards his appearance and his status as an old-timer. It was probably all meant as friendly jests and light humor. "Rarely do I get to meet two people who can go along with my stories...This is building up to be an interesting term and the day hasn't even ended yet." Aquina thought, smiling.

Shane joked about running their own laboratory and company, with Aza being their runner and her being a Godmother of sorts. "Hmmm... I don't know. Haven't really been in loop with business management for awhile. I'm just more into sightseeing now." She glanced at Aza for a split second before turning back to Shane. "Although if anybody's got any stuff they want to peddle, I may be able to lend a hand. It's what I do after all." She offered, intentionally letting slip her chosen profession in the process.

"Aza, do you know what is inside the room on the second floor near the stairs? There is a locked door and probably none of us have a key."

Ah yes, the locked room. It was the reason why they were talking about ghosts and syndicates in the first place. It was Nikolai who brought up the mention of a sixth tenant, which of course, is the most probable reason. All jokes aside, Aquina echoes the question directed at Aza, imploring with all seriousness this time. "From what I read in the brochure, the rooms Mayfield rents out to tenants are all on the first floor. And you normally don't lock up any utility rooms the day before you expect your boarders to arrive. The house was open before any of us could even arrive. Aza, is it possible that one of the spaces upstairs was renovated into an additional room, expecting the number of occupants to increase?" Before she could be graced with a reply though, Aquina headed towards the foot of the stairs.

"Why don't we try a good o'l fashioned knock on the door? Let's see how this mystery tenant is like?"