(no subject)
Name: Lydia Catherine Jansen
Age/Birthdate: 17/ October 23, 1990
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Occupation: Student at Curtis High School and assists her father at Jansen's Funeral Home. She's generally the front woman, taking care of arrangements on the weekends, but she's occasionally done make-up and hair after she gets home from school.
Fairytale: Princess from The Frog Prince
Ability, if any: It's not really an ability, but generally if she drops something, she loses it until someone offers to find it for her, or she asks them to find it.
Status: She doesn't keep it hidden, but it's not something she goes out of her way to tell people, either. Oh sure, she'll be the first to say "HAHAHA! I'M A PRINCESS!" but she's not a princess from one of the BIG stories. No. And most people think that she KISSED THE FROG! It's humiliating, really. But, she'll stay a princess nevertheless.
History: Lydia was born on Staten Island, and has lived there her entire life. She's never been outside of the state, since there is always business to take care of. Lydia was the spooky girl at the end of the street that no one seemed to want to be around, but there's just some sort of charisma that she now radiates that brings people to her. The fear probably had to do with the fact that she works, lives, and breathes her family business at the Funeral Home, but the part of her that keeps people flocking to her must be from the Tale.
Born early in the morning, in late October, Lydia was a perfect baby. She rarely cried, she spoke early, and people figured she was going to be a genius with how quickly she developed. She was reading before she was two, and managed to speak in complete sentences shortly thereafter. So, it came as quite a shock when after her mother was killed in a freak drowning accident, Lydia plainly stated that her mother was dead and that she wasn't in heaven, she was in a box in the ground. People didn't understand how a girl that wasn't even three could comprehend that.
Lydia was never one to believe in Santa, or the Tooth Fairy, no, her Father didn't coddle her that way. Lydia was just made to understand how life worked. People lived, and then they died, and it was when people died that they were able to make their money. Growing up in that environment was certainly odd for most people, but for Lydia and her father, it was just another day. They had each other, and that was all that mattered. Even if she was constantly losing things.
She was doted on like one could expect, and really she never wanted for anything. She had one or two friends growing up, but mostly she stuck to herself, the general child population not wanting to come over to her house for a party, as it was quite possible their grandmother could be lying dead in the next room. Her elementary school and middle school years were pretty much hell because of it.
However, once she became a Freshman in high school was when things began to change. She had grown into her body and was no longer the messy little girl at the end of the road that smelled like embalming fluid. No, she was all of a sudden quite the sight, and was respected by the shallow kids at school because of it. She thought it was funny that all she had to do was be pretty to get people to like her, but she didn't argue. Of course, there were these memories of a pond, and losing something extremely valuable in it that played more and more in the back of her mind, always reminding her that she'd have the poise to carry out anything as long as she could keep her head about her.
Not that Lydia believed in past lives, but she couldn't stop wondering if it were real or not. The memories were more vivid than some of her real memories. She tried to put it all aside, and concentrate on her high school career, or more aptly, she concentrated on becoming one of the more popular girls in school. She became the stereotype that most movies could measure teenage worth by; Lydia was a cheerleader, in the Theatre Arts club, School Vice-President, and part of the Honor Society. Along with that, she would still help out at home, and for some reason, people had changed their mind and thought that it was awesome that she had her own funeral home (but she figured it had more to do with the fact that the business brought in enough money that her first car was a Mercedes M-Class.)
Still, she never invited people over to stay at her house. She had more respect than that for the family business, and she helped out at home as much as she could between trips to other schools for football games, performances (she was the lead or nothing), and making plans on how to make the school better for the years to come. Her life was busy, but she still managed to always have a line of guys just waiting to date her, which she used to her every advantage, getting all sorts of things for her. It was nice to have for once. That little girl from years ago was no longer there, even though the morbid side of her would come out once in a while, the people at school just thought she was brilliant for it.
It was nearly a year ago when Professer Anser came and explained what was happening to her. Though, she did think he was one of her friend's dads trying to hit on her. And it took her a while to come to terms with being told that she was a Princess from a story, but after a few months, during the summer between her Junior and Senior year when she got to go and visit the Pentamerone, she finally believed it. Still, she had more important things to worry about... Graduation, Homecoming, PROM~ She really was just too busy to deal much with the Compendium she was given, and it certainly didn't help that she kept losing it.
Currently she is on the Prom committee, playing Audrey in their production of Little Shop of Horrors, and studying for her final exams. Many of her activities have come to a close this close to the end of her final year in school. Of course, there's always the issue of Prom Queen to worry about, and then her admission to NYU, but for right now, she just needs to make sure her hair is perfect. Who wants to be seen with someone that is a mess?
Personality: Lydia is just plain odd. She has been around dead people all of her life, and so has quite a morbid sense of humor, and looks at life just a bit skewed. Death is business, and due to that, she tends to be reserved in her ways. She's not what a person would call sheltered, as she's had her friends at school, but she only recently got friends due to what her father does for a living. It doesn't help that they live in the funeral home, and most kids don't want to be around because of that. She tends to be quite blunt in her ways, as she doesn't quite understand the etiquette of the normal world.
It's not that she doesn't know how to laugh, and have a good time, and be that sweet girl that most people imagine her to be. She can do that with no problem. She just winds up letting her fascination with death and the beyond slip, and it gets a bit scary. Her father is just as morbid as she is, and he has been the key factor in her life. He babies her, and wants nothing but the best for her, but the main issue is that he doesn't see what's wrong with death either. Of course, he wants her to go out and date and live her life, but Lydia is just as happy being right at home. Dead people are much easier to speak to, since they don't judge. However, due to her sudden rise in popularity, quiet nights at home are something that she rarely gets the luxury of anymore, and when she does, she's normally assisting with a viewing.
Upon learning that she was a Tale, and not just any Tale, THE Princess from The Frog Prince, that part of her started to shine through more. She became more flirtatious, more of a social butterfly, but there is nothing that will tear her away from the part of her that clings to the solace that death holds. She's young and impressionable, and puts out that princess facade since that is what most people want her to be. The truth of the matter is that she would rather be where she was five years ago, alone with her father, since she knew that her father really loved her for who she was and not what society wanted of her. Not that she can ever let that be known by anyone.
Romantically, Lydia is horribly shallow and only will date men that are tremendously good looking. Her friends tell her that personality plays into it, and that she needs a man that will treat her right. But, she gets treated right by everyone else when she's seen as a beautiful and desirable woman. That can only be achieved when she is with someone equally as aesthetically perfect as she is. It is hard for her to look beyond the surface, and the person that would do that she would stay with forever. Even if she won't admit that to herself, since that would just be weak of her and admitting that society is wrong.
All around, Lydia is pleasant to be around when she likes you. When she doesn't, she'll do whatever it takes to close you off from her life and her circle of friends. Her tale life has made her more apt at keeping promises. She'll try not to, but she really can't keep herself from doing it. Which is why she will rarely promise anything anymore.
Played-By: Lucy Hale - http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/lucy-hale-bee-movie-los-angeles-premiere-arrivals-i90AK0.jpg
the obligatory bit
Lydia is much more in love with the idea of being the reincarnation of a Princess, than actually living up to her Tale at this point. All of what she has learned from over her many reincarnations is there in the back of her mind, but she tries to ignore it to concentrate more on being a pretty princess. That's what society wants from her, after all. She actually acts much more like the Princess now, since she tries to lock away any sort of deep emotions, so she can fit in with the rest of her friends. She's shallow, and giggly, with just that touch of morbidity to solidify that she is her own person still.