mericlecure | Profile: Evelyn James

::The Basics::

|| Name: Evelyn Audrey James
|| Game: Eidolon City
|| Age & Sex: 23, Female
|| Career: Drake Hotel concierge
|| Character Type: Dreamer
|| Played By: Zooey Deschanel
|| Scenes: Tag

::Appearance::
     Evelyn is of a medium to tall build, with dark curly hair and the same green eyes as her brother’s. Her face is usually graced with a smile, but more often than not it has been tainted with a jaded or weary edge. She is of a moderately tall height, usually enhanced a good inch or so by the heels she wears with her uniform. She doesn’t own too many outfits, but she keeps the few she owns always clean and wrinkle-free. She is very pretty, but not in a breathtaking way. When animated she can be captivating, but when mellowed out she usually blends into the background.

::Personality::
     Evelyn, called “Evie” only by her family and extremely close childhood friends, wants to rise above the financial circumstances she grew up in. It’s partly because she doesn’t want to depend on anybody, and it’s partly because she wants to help her family; but it’s primarily due to the nagging dissatisfied feeling that has always felt she could amount to something more, that she was meant to be something more. Aware that the actions she takes very often hurts those she cares about, she tries to take advantage of the small opportunities to do good – or “balance her karma”. She is torn between the love of her family and friends and between her overwhelming desire to leave the world she grew up in behind. Over the past year she has distanced herself more and more from her family. In part, it’s to prevent them from witnessing and being affected by whatever slip-ups and morally-bent decisions she may make. But the main motive is that she believes the less people know about her more-than-humble background, the more opportunities she will find.

     Since childhood she has been haunted by horrible nightmares of violence and cruelty, but their increasing realism and severity have resulted in bouts of insomnia, increased restlessness, and increased desperation to escape her surroundings. She’s familiar with the hard realities of the world, but still harbors a naïve hope or belief that if she succeeds, she can make everything better: she could help herself, help her family, and (most importantly) the dreams will stop. She knows such a feeling is foolish and unlikely, but it lingers nonetheless and helps drive every decision she makes.

::History::
     Evelyn grew up with her parents, her three older sisters, and her older brother in a stable home. They weren’t the poorest family. But they were certainly poor enough for Evelyn to grow up with a constant sense of dissatisfaction. It was on behalf of her meager lot as the youngest in a crowded household, as well as for her family’s circumstances in general. It didn’t help that she was plagued with constant nightmares throughout her life. Although frustrated, she was determined that she would rise to better circumstances for herself and then her family.

     For that reason, she focused on school. Where her brother had used the opportunity to hone his skills in petty crime, Evelyn used it to focus on her grades. She excelled both in both academics and in extracurriculars, and by graduation she had been accepted into a prestigious east coast university. But the tuition costs were far too high for her family to afford that or any other school, and so she simply told them that she hadn’t been accepted and had decided to stay in the city. Although she strived to save face, the situation was a huge blow that left her embittered and disillusioned. The very financial circumstances she had spent her life working so hard to overcome had robbed her of her ticket to escape the city.

     Not one to give up, Evelyn came to the determination that if she couldn’t move out of the city, she would move up within it. So she took on an odd assortment of part time jobs until she saved enough money to move out to the opposite end of the city. She would like to reach her goals through most honorable and legitimate means possible, and prays she won’t compromise her morals and values. But her previous experiences from watching her family scrape by and from her university disappointment have taught her that sometimes honest hard work isn’t enough to achieve your dreams.

     So when Evelyn's friend, Rebecca, heard of two clerical openings at the offices of Andros Kowalski (a prominent lawyer), she left her menial part-time jobs behind to join her friend across town. And, initially, everything was grand: occasionally the work got more challenging than simple clerical duties (to Evelyn's joy), it paid fairly well, and the boss was friendly. But things went south pretty quickly: mainly the boss became too friendly. He was a guy who hired girls for their looks, not for their abilities. And he was a guy who didn't take well to 'no' either. Evelyn soon found that her paychecks would come late get 'lost' while her hours got longer and work turned more towards menial and degrading. It turned out to be game Kowalski had pulled before: hire pretty girls from poor backgrounds, parade pricey jewels and 'bonuses' available to those willing to show 'a little more work ethic', and toy psychologically and financially with those that refused.

     Needless to say, it became a difficult work situation. And each day got harder to refuse, especially when paychecks were held hostage and 'help' was never something Evelyn could bring herself to ask for. Especially as she looked unsuccessfully around for any job to get out of it. Desperation and the money led her to take a job as a hostess and server at the Drake Hotel. Unfortunately, there was only one opening, which meant Rebecca still works for the lawyer (and has recently gotten a pay raise and promotion). Although the Drake job itself is certainly one of the more respectable ones available to her in the city (it’s not prostitution, right?), its location brings Evelyn into close proximity with some of the city’s most dangerous crime bosses. She works under the pseudonym of “Amelia” -- for her sake as well as that of her families. And “Amelia” has catered to enough big-wig gatherings to know that the real money is for knowing nothing and keeping quiet than it is for serving the hors d’oeuvres.

::Special Abilities & Skills::
     Book smart and very good with numbers, Evelyn is quick-witted, observant, and pretty clever. But this certainly doesn’t mean she always makes good decisions. With a clear head, she can devise a creative solution to many tricky situations; but when her emotions get the better of her, she’s just as likely to fall into traps as the next person.

::Personal Weaknesses::
Ambition – while her desire may stem from honorable roots such as helping her family, an even deeper need drives her to be aim for the top. It could be a fear of being dependent upon another, a desire for a challenge, a need to prove herself, or a belief that everything will be better if she had control. Whatever the reason, Evelyn’s ambition has led her to make increasingly questionable decisions: such as choosing a hostess job in a mafia-run hotel over a cashier position at the grocer’s close to home. And it’s only a matter of time before her ambition lands her in over her head and she loses something important.

Pride – Evelyn has a lot of pride, although it doesn’t really manifest itself in the form of arrogance or over-confidence. Instead, she refuses to let others see her when she’s down. She doesn’t ask for help, and refuses to admit when there’s a problem, particularly if there’s one that she can’t handle. Evelyn would rather suffer in silence than admit to anyone, especially family and friends, her vulnerability.

Desperation – what probably clouds Evelyn’s judgement the most is her overwhelming sense of desperation. She spent a majority of her life focusing on education as the means to escape her financial upbringing only to have it amount to a bitter disappoint, and her childhood nightmares have only increased in their horror and vividness. Both circumstances have served to increase the magnitude of her desperation. Unable to afford a doctor or psychiatrist, and currently settling on her roommate’s connections for sleeping and valium-like pills, she’s even more willing to jump at almost any lucrative opportunity.

::Personal Strengths::
Focus – she will work hard and patiently to get what she wants. Unlike her well-meaning but not-so-dependable big brother, Evelyn’s word can be relied on to see things through to the very end. If Plan A falls apart, she’ll go through Plans B-Z and then some before giving up. And when she has her sights set on a goal, she’ll withstand almost any setback or sacrifice that needs to be made to reach it. Unfortunately, she must first determine what she really wants for herself before she can decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to get it.

Intelligence – she’s extremely smart, both book-wise and practically. Although she certainly isn’t the Jack-of-All-Trades that her brother is, and lacks juvenile delinquent skills such as lock-picking and pick-pocketing, she is street-smart in her own right. She’s very observant and usually very aware of her surroundings. She has a good head on her shoulders and generally knows when to act and when to sit down and shut up. She’s creative, and with a clear head can usually be counted on to come up with solutions to some of the trickiest problems.

::Family & Connections::
     Her parents are Angela and Christopher James. Her older siblings are Jesse, Dorothy, Ruby, and Virginia. She has two nieces: Jessie (Jesse’s daughter), and Lucy (Dorothy’s daughter).

::Other Information::

Handwriting: Jellyka's Gare de Chambord, Prophecy Script (left hand).

Career History:~~Drake Hotel hostess/server;~~ Concierge at the Drake Hotel
although her family believes she does clerical work in a lawyer’s office

::Awards::