“
A ꜰɪɴᴇ ʟɪɴᴇ sᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇᴀʀʏ ʀᴇᴄʟᴜsᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴇᴀʀꜰᴜʟ ʜᴇʀᴍɪᴛ. Fɪɴᴇʀ sᴛɪʟʟ ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴇ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ʜᴇʀᴍɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʙɪᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴍɪsᴀɴᴛʜʀᴏᴘᴇ. ”
― Dᴇᴀɴ Kᴏᴏɴᴛᴢ
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|| Cʜʀɪs Sᴛᴇʟʟᴇʀ
|| 35
|| Wʀɪᴛᴇʀ
|| Sʜᴇ/Hᴇʀ
|| Bɪsᴇxᴜᴀʟ
|| 3 Mᴏɴᴛʜs ɪɴ Rᴇᴅᴡᴏᴏᴅ
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▔▔▔▔▔▔▔Jolie Smith, otherwise known under the pen name Chris Steller, is a social enigma. Due to her horrid anxiety disorder and quite severe agoraphobia Jolie rarely has the guts to leave the apartment building, and thus she does not take much care in her appearance. Her dark brown hair rests at about her mid-back and often goes for days without being washed due to Jolie's discomfort in being in the communal bathroom with other people. She prefers it up out of her face when waist deep in deadlines and papers. Even though she is almost afraid of the bathroom, Jolie cannot stand being filthy and often scrubs herself raw when she works herself up to shower so, at the very least, she smells nice.
Despite her general grubbiness from being a recluse, Jolie has rather attractive genes. Her face is long and narrow, almost elegant, topped with a perfectly straight, pointed nose and sharp cheekbones. Dark eyes stand out among thick but straight eyelashes, and due to her workaholic nature, dark circles surround them. A strange gauntness encompasses her due to her forgetfulness, giving her body an almost skeletal look from some angles. Beneath her usual attire of sweats or comfortable jeans or PJs are a few forgotten about tattoos and old, now-healed piercing holes.
ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔|| ɪɴsɪɢʜᴛꜰᴜʟ || ᴇsᴄᴀᴘɪsᴛ || ᴡɪᴛᴛʏ || ᴀᴘᴀᴛʜᴇᴛɪᴄ || ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴɪsᴛ || ɪɴᴛʀᴏᴠᴇʀᴛ ||
There is always work to be done, chores to be finished, and sleep to be had in the life of Jolie Rose Smith. To call her married to her work would be an understatement; Jolie is not married to writing, she is writing. Her popular books on the psychology of the human mind and the habits those with certain mental illnesses take on are like her children, and she takes years even to ensure they are each perfect in their own right. Jolie is a workaholic, a perfectionist, and always strives to become better in her craft than she has been before.
Her strive for perfection is often halted, however, by her intense agoraphobia. Gained after a bad illness in her youth, Jolie has only been outside a handful of times in the past year and a half. She is technically a recluse, most often sticking to her own apartment thanks to the safety she has found there. This horrible illness, coupled with her extreme introverted nature and blunt way of speaking, often leaves Jolie in a friendless rut which she very much wants to break out of. Though she fears the craziness of the world outside her apartment, she also craves it and wants to be better someday, which is why she often has a therapist visit her at least twice a month.
To those she is close with, Jolie is quiet yet clever. She is quite good at reading into people's expressions and has a strange wittiness about her that stems from her love of writing and reading comedy. Jolie loves listening to others but dislikes talking herself, and she much prefers smaller groups as opposed to crowds. She is most comfortable around her therapy dog Da Vinci, who is often by her side when she is not in the apartment. Despite her easily thinking the worst of any given situation, Jolie wishes for a future in which she can stand on her own without the constant nagging of her own inner monologue, and this is one of the main reasons why she has decided to move into a very communal apartment complex.
ʜᴀʙɪᴛs
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔Jolie is a recluse, but she does not have many of the same habits as a recluse. For starters, she is incredibly anal about cleanliness, to that point that she mops and scrubs down her living space every day once she has some free time from her writings. Speaking of, Jolie's work often carries her way into the night. Those outside her bedroom door may be able to hear the frantic typing and hushed mumblings of her insomnia if they are up late enough, and they will most certainly hear her stomping around in the kitchen in the middle of the night if she finds herself caught on a word. Besides that, Jolie has a dog named
Da Vinci whom she loves very much, but may ask for help in walking him during hard mental health days.
ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔Jolie Smith is the eldest of three and the most forgotten about. Born to loving parents in St. Francisville, Lousiana, Jolie grew up surrounded by history and nature. Her family ran a funeral home within the downtown area and was often busy with the affairs of the dead, so Jolie grew up learning about all that made the human body work. This original knowledge eventually spawned a new interest in her: what made the human body tick? This curiosity turned into a journey towards knowledge, but, as most journeys go, a hiccup sort of slowed her momentum.
In her freshman year of high school, Jolie was struck down with the flu. This illness left her bedridden for nearly a full year due to her horrible constitution. This lack of interaction and increased alone time grew from a simple flu into something more, and after healing the first illness she was left with another; anxiety.
This strange anxiety turned into a panic disorder turned into agoraphobia by the time she was a senior in college. She managed to graduate with a bachelors degree in psychology but found her panic disorder scared her away from attending a graduate school. Jolie lived in her parents' house for an extra four years before moving into her own place somewhere off the skirts of New Orleans. She suffered in silence, alone and afraid until her first book on the psychology of repeated habits was published. As it did well, Jolie managed to hire a therapist who was willing to pay her house visits, and she eventually saved up and bought a therapy dog whom she would later name Leonardo Da Vinci Jr.
Her move to Redwood was long and arduous. Fear of sharing a living space nearly pushed her to remain in her small, cluttered, one-bedroom apartment, but help from her therapist and Da Vinci urged her to finally claiming a space within the cute and wonderfully odd apartment complex.
NPCs
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔Julia Smith (24): The middle child of the Smiths and perhaps the most outwardly successful daughter considering her age. She owns her own bakery and shipping business in New Orleans and has been seen on a number of travel food blogs and television shows. She is unmarried and seems happier that way. Julia is sweet, maternal, and extremely proactive in her life. She often sends Jolie sweets and recipes for her to try out.
Johanna "Jo" Smith (18): The youngest child of the Smiths and the only one who still lives at home. She goes to a local high school and is currently in her senior year. Jo is currently trapped in her teen angst phase, but that does not stop her from sending Jolie letters and texts. She is snarky, quiet, and intuitive.
Carol Ann Smith (79): Jolie's mother and biggest fan. She is a retired florist who now aids in helping her husband run the Smith Family Funeral Home. She is incredibly stoic, but loving and fair as a mother, and she has a strange look on the idea of death. She doesn't understand technology very well, but she often sends Jolie and Julia gifts from home.
Anthony Smith (80): Jolie's father and owner of the Smith Family Funeral Home. He is a personable man who cherishes family over everything else in his life. He is hardworking, honest, and a bit of a worrywart when it comes to basic things in his kids' lives. He often writes to Jolie and is always the first to receive her new books.
Beth Gardner (57): Jolie's therapist and former partner in research. Beth is a very reasonable woman who works with those plagued by anxiety disorders and mental phobias. She met Jolie first through work, acting as a research assistant for her first book, and then the two fell into a more formal relationship when Jolie decided to take initiative with her agoraphobia. She often texts, emails, and visits Jolie whenever she has a chance to in order to gauge her condition.
AlteredTundra
