100 Questions (work in progress!)

[marinabeauvais]

Part 1: The Basics

1. What is your full name?

   Marina: "of the sea" in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian, Georgian, and Ancient Roman. In other words, seemingly every language except French. Her parents liked it better than Marine.
   
   Bernadette: "bold as a bear" in French and English.
   
   Beauvais: "beautiful view" in French.



2. Where and when were you born?

   March 23, 1868 in Perpignan, France.



3. Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)

   Her father was Émile (rival) Beauvais, a very prosperous vinyard owner that owned many tracts of good wine land in Perpignan and elsewhere in Roussillon, chatty and cheerful, while her birth mother was Adelais (noble sort) Beauvais, née Blanc (white), a socialite, skeptical and gentle; both were half-Catalan, half-French. When Adelais died, Émile got married a year later to a full-blooded Catalan woman--Eulàlia (well-spoken) Beauvais i Perpiñá, daughter of a hacienda owner, empathic and quiet.



4. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?

   One sister, older by six years:
   
   Lynnette: "little lion" in French.
   
   Adelais: "noble sort" in French.

   Beauvais: "beautiful view" in French.
   
   The best sister in the entire world...until she wasn't.


5. Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.

   A small cottage at the very outskirts of the Observatory, where the hill meets the marsh--officially 12 Hightower Observatory, unofficially Grotte Cottage, due to the vast, mildly complex system of caverns that crisscross with each other under the unassuming building. Due to age, as well as the fact that London literally fell on top of the city that dug it out (probably the Fourth, of course), most of them are caved in...but the other rooms are put to good use, holding her research, private collection of relics, diaries and journals, secondary testing area, escape path, and so on. She's an extremely paranoid individual, so it was a delight to get something like that...though she is aware that Danni Flint, her maid-of-all-work, knowing about it is a liability to the hilt, despite the definite trust between the two after living together for nearly two years. In fact, if it wasn't for that, Marina would have probably found a way to get Danni killed. The first floor is much less intriguing than what lies below--just a parlour, a kitchen, a foyer, and two bedrooms. The largest room functions as her shop, where she conducts appraisals, valuing, and (sometimes) selling and buying items.
   
   Speaking of Danni (God is my Judge) Flint, she is Marina's companion in the solitude of Grotte Cottage. A former costermonger, she has lived all her life in a Fallen London, and has a rather strange accent. Tricksy, crude, friendly, and more dangerous than she seems. Is Marina's connection to the less...savory people of Fallen London, and cultivates her connections to them regularly--it's a great excuse to come home roaring drunk, after all.



6. What is your occupation?

   Marina is, in order of how steady the employment is and how much cash it gives her, an archaeologist, funded by the gracious Summerset College, an appraiser of items, especially antiques and the like, and an occasional composer for the harp, by appointment to the Shuttered Palace. By extention, she is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the aformentioned college, and has been published as contributing heavily to several papers on the Fourth City, especially around the Forgotten Quarter, as well as collaborating with fellow musicians on orchestral arrangements and adaptations, such as her more recent (and most successful, despite being shut down after only two performances) effort, The Yellow Queen.



7. Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

   Marina is a tall woman, standing at around six feet and 63 kilograms--just enough weight to technically be considered healthy. That isn't really seen, though--she's a skinny thing, with barely any bosom or...err, curves down there, without much of a defined waist, either; at least she's well-proportioned, and has a few muscles. Her face continues the trend of her body shape, however: it is long and thin, with a sharp, almost hooked, nose, as well as a pointed chin. All in all, not exactly the description of an attractive woman, because in all honesty Marina is not, at least when she is not smiling.
   
   She has two features, though, that are quite beautiful; against the backdrop of the rest of her, they look even more stunning. The first is her head of hair, golden blond, straight, and very thick; unbound, it reaches the midback in a waterfall of wealth, but for practicality's sake she always keeps it in a single braid, a bun, or a general updo. The second feature are her eyes, large, almost too large for her thin face, framed with short, thick lashes, and very, very blue--ocean blue, to be exact, two gems set in her tanned face. They are quite expressive as well, though Marina exhibits as fine a control over what they reveal as she does with the rest of the movements of her body.
   
   Though Marina identifies as a Frenchwoman through and through, and technically she is, she does not forget her Catalan heritage, and embraces it wholeheartedly, from the usage of the language to the holiday traditions. Don't talk to her about seceding from France, though. Her taste in dress, however, could rival any Victorian spinster: her dress style is incredibly conservative, with high collars, wrist-length sleeves or copious usage of gloves, and long hemlines, usually in shades of blue and cream, though the occasional gold, silver, and green may come up.



8. To which social class do you belong?

   She used to be part of the grande bourgoisie, but now is just middle class, not upper.



9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

   None at all.



10. Are you right- or left-handed?

    Right-handed.



11. What does your voice sound like?

    High, slightly nasally, and slightly clipped in English; a Perpignan French accent (kind of like this) is faint but obvious when listening attentively. Her laughter sounds like broken chimes.



12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

    Shall we say, no?, as for.



13. What do you have in your pockets?

    A handkerchief, a purse filled with small change, and a pair of semiotic spectacles.



14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

    Never uses contractions. Peppers her speech with French every once in a while. Likes to write labels and most of her accounts in Catalan. Paranoid to the hilt.

Part 2: Growing Up

1. How would you describe your childhood in general?

   Very happy and peaceful, until she reached the age of sixteen. Then it started to get...weird.



2. What is your earliest memory?

   A large wooden tub filled with ripe grapes, perfuming the heavy summer air with its scent. Why she remembers this one tub out of the several hundreds there is a mystery, especially to her.



3. How much schooling have you had?

   She had the governess expected for young women of her rank, but also had the chance for an internship with several expedition teams, as well as informal education looking around pawnshops (loathe as she is to admit that), museums, already-excavated ruins, and the like.
   
   In terms of languages, English was taught to her by aformentioned governess, along with proper French; Catalan, meanwhile, was picked up mainly from her stepmother from age eight onwards. Latin was learned later in life, when she started her internship.



4. Did you enjoy school?

   The governess was boring; the rest of her education is a fond memory she'll cherish.



5. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

   The internship and formal education, most defninitely. Marina is an alternative, hands-on learner, rather than a traditional one.



6. While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.

   She looked up to her mother and stepmother for their propriety, but she idolized her sister for being the opposite--intelligent, crafty, a jokester, kind, and always, always, knowing what to do.



7. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

   She loved them all; her stepmother was as good to her as Adelais had been, so no complaints there. Her father was busy, but always took the time to explain and be there when it truly mattered. As for her older sister, see above.



8. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

   A flutist (until she discoved the harp), or a archaeologist.



9. As a child, what were your favorite activities?

   Pranking people with her sister, practicing the harp, listening to her father and sister play music and dancing to it, listening to Eulàlia read the Catalan translation of the Bible, digging up stuff and studying them, visiting museums and Roman ruins, and simply sitting down and watching the world go slowly by until she fell asleep in the hot noonday sun.



10. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

    Unlike her public face now, and even her face during late adolesence, Marina was openly kind, easily concerned, and relatively confident; though she was pretty awkward and kind of clumsy, she was eager for new experiences, especially if Lynnette would be beside her. And, most striking, Marina would express her emotions openly--when she was sad, she'd cry; when she was mad, she'd shout; when she was bored, she'd say so right to the person's face.



11. As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?

    Not really. It was her sister who was the people person.



12. When and with whom was your first kiss?

    She was sixteen, newly come to socialize in Paris, and the first ball she attended (a New Years party) someone kissed her under the mistletoe. It didn't really do anything, though, but...yeah.



13. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

    Maidenhead still intact, sirs and madams.

Part 3: Past Influences

1. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

   Either taking that internship when she was 18, or deciding to turn to her 'friends' for help, instead of trying to reply on herself.



2. Who has had the most influence on you?

   Her sister.



3. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

   Any time she discovers something new about the Fourth City is cause for joy.



4. What is your greatest regret?

   Not saving her sister.



5. What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

   See above.



6. Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

   No comment.



7. When was the time you were the most frightened?

   See past numbers.



8. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?

   Snapping a harp string during a recital at a party in Paris.



9. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

   That she agreed to go to Paris while her sister didn't, because of what happened.



10. What is your best memory?

    How beautiful and warm the sun was in that blue sky, when she started to decend.



11. What is your worst memory?

    The opium. The absinthe. The smell of sweat and sex.
    
    The flames.

Part 4: Beliefs And Opinions

1. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

   She used to be an optimist; now she's a pessimist, but in her heart she always wishes for things to go well.



2. What is your greatest fear?

   That she could never return to the Surface.



3. What are your religious views?

   Devoutly Roman Catholic.



4. What are your political views?

   Something she wouldn't want to mess with. Men have a hard time navigating its twists and turns.



5. What are your views on sex?

   Marriage, please.



6. Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

   She couldn't and she wouldn't.



7. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

   Murder or blasphemy.



8. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

   Soul mates is too pagan a concept for her. True love...perhaps, but that does not mean it will last.



9. What do you believe makes a successful life?

   Tranquility, stable income, discipline, and a healthy amount of introspective spirituality--or perhaps spiritual introspection, if you're one who doesn't believe in a God.



10. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

    She is not, and in almost everything.



11. Do you have any biases or prejudices?

    Yes: slightly classist, slightly sexist, pretty entrenched against 'overt' sexuality and atheists, and so on.



12. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it?

    Die. Kill. Oh, and have sex outside of marriage.



13. Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)?

    The promise of sunlight and sky. In the end, her sister. Slowly, Eskil and Sapho.

Part 6: Likes And Dislikes

1. What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

   Jigsaw puzzles, oddly enough--she's really, really good at them, and is actually working on one right now. Analyzing relics--who says that it has to be work, after all? Wine-tasting and tea-drinking are always nice. Dancing is her favourite physical activity. She liked to swim a little, before, but the Underzee is a very uninviting place to do so. And, of course, playing the harp is always fun.



2. What is your most treasured possession?

   Her necklace of blue jasper and gold, the first trinket her sister bought for her when she went to Paris at the age of sixteen. The next would probably be the harp Eskil gave her.



3. What is your favorite color?

   ...does one really have to ask? Blue, of course, especially the colours of the sky and ocean.



4. What is your favorite food?

   Mar i muntanya, which is chicken, shrimp, and langoustines cooked together and covered in sauce seasoned with picada--as it was her father's favourite dish, they ate it all the time, and Marina certainly never complained. Hake, especially the breaded kind (also seasoned with picada) that is eaten with one's fingers, is a comfort food. She also likes most of the traditional French breads as long as they are not sweetened, usually with a hint of butter to go along with it. Alas, this being the Neath, she can rarely eat the latter two and has never partaken of the former in her three years there.
   
   As for drinks, her favourite drinks are wine and tea. For the former drink, she likes red wine the best, white and sparkling (of which she prefers Blanquette de Limoux, though Champagne is well and good) trailing behind that; for tea, her favourite kind is verbena (which, being a tisane, or an herbal infusion, isn't exactly tea), with her second, as a distinct contrast, being black tea, which she drinks unsweetened and with no milk.



5. What, if anything, do you like to read?

   She doesn't like reading at all, doing it only when she needs to for research.



6. What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

   Good entertainment, in her eyes, is something of good taste and respectable subject matter that can still, in what some consider to be 'constraints' to the artist's creativity, make you feel and teach you something new, whether about the world, about others, about God, or even about oneself.



7. Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

   She drinks wine every once in a while, but is strict about not having too much--luckily, she has a very high alcohol tolerance. As for the others...never.



8. How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

   Sitting in a parlour, either hers or someone else's, sipping a beverage and talking. During the school year, she usually attends Summerset's magnificent feasts.



9. What makes you laugh?



10. What, if anything, shocks or offends you?



11. What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?



12. How do you deal with stress?



13. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?



14. What are your pet peeves?