app for houseofcards_rp | October Viljoen | 2♠
Player name: Ty
Characters played: Caleb James (6♣), Eden Harper (7♦), Mano'ela Higa (9♥/J♥, apped this round)
Character Name: October Elise Viljoen (FULL-yoon)
Age: 16
Suit/Rank: 2♠
History: The Viljoen family is one that can trace its lineage back for generations. Centuries, some say, all the way back to the earliest days of the Deck's very existence. They were there at the beginning, and they will be there til the end of the worlds. At least, April Viljoen has always said that. October has never been sure of what to believe. It's true they're related in a variety of ways to most of the Spades' more notable families, at least. But that was never enough for April, convinced her daughter would be the one to bring the name back to prominence, through marriage if not more. From the day she was born, she was groomed for a life she wanted nothing to do with. Even her name was given according to her mother's rules, the family tradition being to name the eldest daughter of the line after the mother's birth month. October Elise Viljoen, daughter of April Seelie Viljoen, daughter of February Hazel Viljoen, and so on and so forth ad nauseam.
Born the 21st of June to April and Jared Viljoen, October was a gorgeous baby. Born with her mother's blonde hair and her father's nearly-black eyes, she grew into a striking child. At age three, she began ballet and gymnastics classes; at five, piano lessons. April always made sure her hair was perfectly styled, her dresses the height of children's fashion. The grooming to become a perfect little socialite had begun early. Of course, she had to be educated as well; only the best tutors would do for the Viljoen heir. Lessons in history, in math, in science and languages. By the time she reached age ten, she was playing Bach, dancing en pointe, turning back handsprings in her sleep, and passably fluent in French, Italian, and German. She was intelligent and loved the learning, loved pushing her limits physically.
At age ten, her lessons in socialization started with her introduction to public school. After all, where else was she going to meet other Deck children and learn how to play the complex power games she had to become adept at in order to succeed in life? The first lesson she learned, unfortunately, was of the cruelty of children. A group of older boys cornered her, teasing her for her dress and her name. 'Octopus,' they called her, not horribly clever but enough for the shy child to be on the verge of tears. Until a bright, colorful blur intervened, chastising the boys and daring them to say anything more. And when the teasing shifted focus to the other girl, it seemed only natural for October to jump to her defense. It was a good way to start a friendship. Karisa was the first one to call October Tobi, and the two were nearly inseparable for the next three years. Those three years introduced Tobi to classical literature, to English classes, to writing poetry and the glories of speaking one's mind. She would be a writer when she grew up, she decided. Learn to write poems that told the truth so perfectly that everyone would have to stop and listen.
Of course, when April was told this, she laughed. Tobi could have her fun however she wanted, but she was going to follow in her mother's footsteps and take a job in the Spade Communications Office. After all, how much money could a poet hope to make? Let alone the marriage prospects possible with such an occupation. No, she would do what her mother wanted as had been planned for years, and no matter how much she argued the point, that was just how it was going to be. So began the Great War the years of teenage rebellion. Determined to never again be anything her mother wanted her to be, Tobi stopped going to ballet classes, stopped doing gymnastics, and threw out her piano sheet music. Her mother was unfazed. So she stopped wearing pastels and fashionable clothes, instead resorting to all-black and outdated looks that she was sure would make her mother cringe. No dice. It was right around this point that Kari made the mistake of asking if it would be so bad growing up to be like her mom, be so horrible to work in the Spades. She was only trying to help, really, but she was discarded too. No use having a friend who isn't on your side entirely, after all, Tobi thought. Finally, all that blonde hair was covered in black. The only response she got was "Brunettes are very in this season, darling. Knew you still had my fashion sense." It seemed like no matter what she'd do, she would be stuck in the life her mother wanted for her forever.
It was at fourteen that she met the Joker.
Crying one day under a tree out in one of the more secluded parts of the green, a handkerchief suddenly thrust itself down from the branches over her head. She was too startled to do anything but take it. He asked her the reason for her tears, and for no reason she could give, she told him. And it was then he gave her the answer she needed, starting an unlikely friendship that two years later is still going strong: "a thing can only be what it is, and what it isn't, it won't be." Every so often, she'd find herself back out by that tree, or running into Cynric while around Town or wandering through the Castle, and every time he had something new to show her. A new song to learn, a new trick to teach. She learned how to pick a pocket, how to play a crowd, how to talk to trees and ask them nicely if they don't mind being climbed. She learned how to look at the world as a Joker and as a poet, both strikingly similar, but most of all she learned to believe that she could take her own path.
April is still treating this all like a phase, determined for Tobi to follow in her footsteps. It's still maddening, but she's determined to show her otherwise. Somehow. In the meantime, she's refusing to challenge up, thinking her mother would take it as a sign that she's giving in. She's still prickly and closed off and hasn't had much luck opening up to anyone, but she's started talking to Kari again. She'd only been trying to help, after all, and they're still in a lot of the same classes together. And she's still spending as much time as she can with Cynric, the brother she never had.
Personality: On the outside, October is more or less a consummate Spade: cool, prickly, distrusting of everyone and everything, always with an ulterior motive and always looking for one. But so are most intelligent teenagers, honestly. The prickliness and the walls she hides behind are habit, keeping a softer inner core from being hurt by the world. She's just shy, really, afraid to show anyone how she truly feels about anything. Her mother never listens, and her father is always away on business, and the few friends she's let past that outer barrier in the past have always betrayed her or wanted something she couldn't give them.
The only person she's really let in is Cynric, and he gets the full experience of Tobi: a girl constantly wondering at the world around her, always seeing past the obvious, with a knack for phrasing and a deep love for learning. Her affection for words knows no bounds, quotes from Brontë and Dickinson and Plath peppering her conversations; quotes are a safe harbor, and she enjoys sharing her favorites with people who can appreciate them. Course, those people are few and far between, and most have to earn her trust first. She is still a teenage girl, after all, and the stereotypical goth kid also rears its head from time to time; melodramatic, combative, contrary and sulking.
Though she 'gave up' gymnastics and ballet years ago, she still practices in secret. She's got a love for pushing her limits, after all, and thinks being a contortionist would both be fun and embarrass the hell out of her mother. It's the same reason she loves horses so much. Admittedly, she loves them on their own merits now, and enjoys riding immensely, but it started mostly as a way to get away from April, who is absolutely terrified of them and won't come within a hundred yards of the stables if she can at all help it. The piano she couldn't ever quite manage to give up entirely, music being just another kind of poetry; she plays things very different from Bach, now, but loves the instrument nonetheless and is considering trying to find something like a harpsichord or dulcimer to learn as a surprise for her favorite Joker.
All in all, Tobi is your typical atypical teenager, a bundle of contradictions. Eventually, maybe, she'll settle into being what she is, once she realizes she's already got that freedom. She just has to stop being scared to take it.
Appearance: October is a girl in black and white. Fairly pale with dyed black hair, she prefers dressing in antiquated styles and darker colors. Blacks, burgundys, and navys are her usual, with the occasional white or silver. Even for a teenage girl, she's fairly thin and consumptive looking, though that could be the colors she wears as much as it is her actual build, a thin, long-legged 5'3". The dark eye makeup doesn't help, but it does accent the incredibly dark brown of her eyes. She's got one hole in each earlobe, but no other piercings or any tattoos to speak of, and doesn't plan on getting either. Not even to spite her mom. October has a tendency to hide behind her hair, and slouches just a little. When she's not thinking about it, she's fairly graceful and agile, thanks to years of forced gymnastics and ballet, but develops a sudden case of all-elbows-and-left-feet when under scrutiny. When sitting, she curls up in a chair instead of sitting normally, and fidgets with her hair when thinking. There's a notebook and pen more or less perpetually in her hands, when there isn't another book already occupying them. Her speaking voice is generally even, a little combative most of the time, and her singing voice is a surprisingly strong mezzo. The only one who ever gets it out of her, though, is her favorite Joker.
Character PB: Alexa Vega
Writing sample: SWS thread here
Why this Suit? Her family is an older Spade family fallen into obscurity. She's from a long lineage of proud and powerful Spades, or so her mother has impressed upon her brain repeatedly. But the matter of birth aside, she seems to fit right in with the Spades. A Spade is only an upside-down Heart, after all, and while she's prickly and suspicious on the outside, inside she's got a chewy marshmallow center a softer, more idealistic core.
How did you hear about us? Here already. You can't get rid of me. I'm like a plague.
Characters played: Caleb James (6♣), Eden Harper (7♦), Mano'ela Higa (9♥/J♥, apped this round)
Character Name: October Elise Viljoen (FULL-yoon)
Age: 16
Suit/Rank: 2♠
History: The Viljoen family is one that can trace its lineage back for generations. Centuries, some say, all the way back to the earliest days of the Deck's very existence. They were there at the beginning, and they will be there til the end of the worlds. At least, April Viljoen has always said that. October has never been sure of what to believe. It's true they're related in a variety of ways to most of the Spades' more notable families, at least. But that was never enough for April, convinced her daughter would be the one to bring the name back to prominence, through marriage if not more. From the day she was born, she was groomed for a life she wanted nothing to do with. Even her name was given according to her mother's rules, the family tradition being to name the eldest daughter of the line after the mother's birth month. October Elise Viljoen, daughter of April Seelie Viljoen, daughter of February Hazel Viljoen, and so on and so forth ad nauseam.
Born the 21st of June to April and Jared Viljoen, October was a gorgeous baby. Born with her mother's blonde hair and her father's nearly-black eyes, she grew into a striking child. At age three, she began ballet and gymnastics classes; at five, piano lessons. April always made sure her hair was perfectly styled, her dresses the height of children's fashion. The grooming to become a perfect little socialite had begun early. Of course, she had to be educated as well; only the best tutors would do for the Viljoen heir. Lessons in history, in math, in science and languages. By the time she reached age ten, she was playing Bach, dancing en pointe, turning back handsprings in her sleep, and passably fluent in French, Italian, and German. She was intelligent and loved the learning, loved pushing her limits physically.
At age ten, her lessons in socialization started with her introduction to public school. After all, where else was she going to meet other Deck children and learn how to play the complex power games she had to become adept at in order to succeed in life? The first lesson she learned, unfortunately, was of the cruelty of children. A group of older boys cornered her, teasing her for her dress and her name. 'Octopus,' they called her, not horribly clever but enough for the shy child to be on the verge of tears. Until a bright, colorful blur intervened, chastising the boys and daring them to say anything more. And when the teasing shifted focus to the other girl, it seemed only natural for October to jump to her defense. It was a good way to start a friendship. Karisa was the first one to call October Tobi, and the two were nearly inseparable for the next three years. Those three years introduced Tobi to classical literature, to English classes, to writing poetry and the glories of speaking one's mind. She would be a writer when she grew up, she decided. Learn to write poems that told the truth so perfectly that everyone would have to stop and listen.
Of course, when April was told this, she laughed. Tobi could have her fun however she wanted, but she was going to follow in her mother's footsteps and take a job in the Spade Communications Office. After all, how much money could a poet hope to make? Let alone the marriage prospects possible with such an occupation. No, she would do what her mother wanted as had been planned for years, and no matter how much she argued the point, that was just how it was going to be. So began the Great War the years of teenage rebellion. Determined to never again be anything her mother wanted her to be, Tobi stopped going to ballet classes, stopped doing gymnastics, and threw out her piano sheet music. Her mother was unfazed. So she stopped wearing pastels and fashionable clothes, instead resorting to all-black and outdated looks that she was sure would make her mother cringe. No dice. It was right around this point that Kari made the mistake of asking if it would be so bad growing up to be like her mom, be so horrible to work in the Spades. She was only trying to help, really, but she was discarded too. No use having a friend who isn't on your side entirely, after all, Tobi thought. Finally, all that blonde hair was covered in black. The only response she got was "Brunettes are very in this season, darling. Knew you still had my fashion sense." It seemed like no matter what she'd do, she would be stuck in the life her mother wanted for her forever.
It was at fourteen that she met the Joker.
Crying one day under a tree out in one of the more secluded parts of the green, a handkerchief suddenly thrust itself down from the branches over her head. She was too startled to do anything but take it. He asked her the reason for her tears, and for no reason she could give, she told him. And it was then he gave her the answer she needed, starting an unlikely friendship that two years later is still going strong: "a thing can only be what it is, and what it isn't, it won't be." Every so often, she'd find herself back out by that tree, or running into Cynric while around Town or wandering through the Castle, and every time he had something new to show her. A new song to learn, a new trick to teach. She learned how to pick a pocket, how to play a crowd, how to talk to trees and ask them nicely if they don't mind being climbed. She learned how to look at the world as a Joker and as a poet, both strikingly similar, but most of all she learned to believe that she could take her own path.
April is still treating this all like a phase, determined for Tobi to follow in her footsteps. It's still maddening, but she's determined to show her otherwise. Somehow. In the meantime, she's refusing to challenge up, thinking her mother would take it as a sign that she's giving in. She's still prickly and closed off and hasn't had much luck opening up to anyone, but she's started talking to Kari again. She'd only been trying to help, after all, and they're still in a lot of the same classes together. And she's still spending as much time as she can with Cynric, the brother she never had.
Personality: On the outside, October is more or less a consummate Spade: cool, prickly, distrusting of everyone and everything, always with an ulterior motive and always looking for one. But so are most intelligent teenagers, honestly. The prickliness and the walls she hides behind are habit, keeping a softer inner core from being hurt by the world. She's just shy, really, afraid to show anyone how she truly feels about anything. Her mother never listens, and her father is always away on business, and the few friends she's let past that outer barrier in the past have always betrayed her or wanted something she couldn't give them.
The only person she's really let in is Cynric, and he gets the full experience of Tobi: a girl constantly wondering at the world around her, always seeing past the obvious, with a knack for phrasing and a deep love for learning. Her affection for words knows no bounds, quotes from Brontë and Dickinson and Plath peppering her conversations; quotes are a safe harbor, and she enjoys sharing her favorites with people who can appreciate them. Course, those people are few and far between, and most have to earn her trust first. She is still a teenage girl, after all, and the stereotypical goth kid also rears its head from time to time; melodramatic, combative, contrary and sulking.
Though she 'gave up' gymnastics and ballet years ago, she still practices in secret. She's got a love for pushing her limits, after all, and thinks being a contortionist would both be fun and embarrass the hell out of her mother. It's the same reason she loves horses so much. Admittedly, she loves them on their own merits now, and enjoys riding immensely, but it started mostly as a way to get away from April, who is absolutely terrified of them and won't come within a hundred yards of the stables if she can at all help it. The piano she couldn't ever quite manage to give up entirely, music being just another kind of poetry; she plays things very different from Bach, now, but loves the instrument nonetheless and is considering trying to find something like a harpsichord or dulcimer to learn as a surprise for her favorite Joker.
All in all, Tobi is your typical atypical teenager, a bundle of contradictions. Eventually, maybe, she'll settle into being what she is, once she realizes she's already got that freedom. She just has to stop being scared to take it.
Appearance: October is a girl in black and white. Fairly pale with dyed black hair, she prefers dressing in antiquated styles and darker colors. Blacks, burgundys, and navys are her usual, with the occasional white or silver. Even for a teenage girl, she's fairly thin and consumptive looking, though that could be the colors she wears as much as it is her actual build, a thin, long-legged 5'3". The dark eye makeup doesn't help, but it does accent the incredibly dark brown of her eyes. She's got one hole in each earlobe, but no other piercings or any tattoos to speak of, and doesn't plan on getting either. Not even to spite her mom. October has a tendency to hide behind her hair, and slouches just a little. When she's not thinking about it, she's fairly graceful and agile, thanks to years of forced gymnastics and ballet, but develops a sudden case of all-elbows-and-left-feet when under scrutiny. When sitting, she curls up in a chair instead of sitting normally, and fidgets with her hair when thinking. There's a notebook and pen more or less perpetually in her hands, when there isn't another book already occupying them. Her speaking voice is generally even, a little combative most of the time, and her singing voice is a surprisingly strong mezzo. The only one who ever gets it out of her, though, is her favorite Joker.
Character PB: Alexa Vega
Writing sample: SWS thread here
Why this Suit? Her family is an older Spade family fallen into obscurity. She's from a long lineage of proud and powerful Spades, or so her mother has impressed upon her brain repeatedly. But the matter of birth aside, she seems to fit right in with the Spades. A Spade is only an upside-down Heart, after all, and while she's prickly and suspicious on the outside, inside she's got a chewy marshmallow center a softer, more idealistic core.
How did you hear about us? Here already. You can't get rid of me. I'm like a plague.