[hider=Alicia Nilsson][center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/181116/83626d99ad02eb041db23850760e2604.png[/img]

[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e577b1b7-ce61-4b2d-94d4-476a5897db1a.jpg[/img]

[color=gray][color=baa7c7][i]Alicia Nilsson | 26 | Female | Swedish | Heterosexual[/i][/color]
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[color=gray][color=baa7c7][b]Personality[/b][/color]
Alicia is an overall upbeat individual. She loves to be around people, especially family, and loves to fill in whichever niche needs filling in a group. Mom friend? Sure! Party animal? If you need one, she's got you. Typically, though, she falls into the category of the glass-half-full type of girl who won't let you get yourself down, just as likely to sit and talk with you over a cup of something warm as she is to pull you out onto the dance floor so you'll lighten up a little. In a family gathering, she's usually the one trying to make her relatives smile and catching up as she stirs a pot of hot cocoa made the [i]right[/i] way. 

[color=baa7c7][b]History[/b][/color]
Alicia was born in Stockholm, Sweden, every bit an upper-class urban child. Her parents divorced shortly after she was born, and she was left with her mother, a narcissistic woman with high expectations and a talent for pushing whichever buttons were necessary to get the result she wanted. Alicia grew up in the sort of home that looked like something out of a magazine, with the caveat that it was cold and eerily clean and you weren't supposed to speak too loudly. Her mother was harshly critical of everything, from the cut of her clothes to the packaging on her coffee, and nothing, not even Alicia, was safe from her cold, analyzing gaze.

Growing up, Alicia was expected to behave more or less like a small adult. Errors were met with swift and severe corrections, and nowhere was this more evident than in her study of the violin. Alicia's mother had been a violin player in her day, but had never been able to rise to the higher echelons of her craft; in an effort to experience that success again, she started Alicia on the violin as soon as she could hold one, and made sure her daughter would have the skill and opportunity she had been lacking. Alicia did become a skilled violinist over the years, but not from passion. Her mother made her practice until her fingers bled and sucked all the joy out of the violin; no, her drive was to earn some modicum of approval from her mother. She was becoming a recognized talent in her field, finally earning some pride from her mother, until it all came crashing down around her. 

When she was thirteen, Alicia came down with meningitis. It was touch and go for a while, but she did pull through; unfortunately, not exactly in one piece. As a result of the infection, Alicia lost almost all of her hearing in both ears, and she was declared legally deaf. Her mother, thinking her dreams of having a renowned violinist for a daughter had been dashed, never got over it. She visited Alicia less and less as she recovered, and when the day came that Alicia was to be released from the hospital, her mother didn't come for her. The hospital tried to contact her, but they found all of her phone numbers disconnected; when they called her place of work, they were told she'd never worked there. 

The hospital contacted child services, and a very distraught Alicia was placed in a foster home for disabled children. Fortunately the home was actually pleasant; the children were taken care of and treated well, and given education that would cater to their individual disabilities. Still, Alicia floated through like a ghost, just barely learning sign language but falling behind in her other studies. She developed severe separation anxiety and showed a great fear of being left alone; so much so they had to move her into a shared room with another girl just so she could sleep. 

Unbeknownst to her, a kind couple had shown interest in adopting from the home, and she was fifteen when everything was settled and arrangements were made for her to join a new family. By and large it was a miracle, a disabled teenager with such anxieties being adopted, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith took every challenge in stride and enthusiastically pursued a more comfortable life for their new daughter.

It did take time, but Alicia warmed up to her new parents quite quickly, thriving under their love and support. They got her therapy and education, and before long she had caught up with her age group in the field of general education; by some miracle and a lot of hard work, she graduated high school right on time. 

Her separation anxiety and fear of abandonment did improve, but never quite went away; she was still never comfortable being home alone or going places on her own. Luckily the Smiths were a large family (an environment in which Alicia thrived) with many siblings and hardly ever an empty house, but when the time came for her to go away to university, she struggled. In an effort to make the transition more tolerable, she was put on a list for a service animal and was paired with a young Dalmatian trained as a hearing-ear dog. She named him Schnitzel and he quickly became a constant companion. With his help, she was able to do her undergrad and even continue on to law school.

Nowadays, she works as a tax lawyer in a large firm, making good enough money that she can afford to take the two weeks' vacation every Christmas necessary for the family reunion. She'd never miss it for the world. 

[color=baa7c7][b]Thoughts on the Family[/b][/color]
Alicia adores her adopted parents and siblings and every new addition to the family that arrives. She's immensely grateful to her parents for all they've done for her and would do anything for them. Likewise, she loves her siblings and wants them to love her as well, and always put in an effort to get to know them on an intimate level and makes it clear that they can always come to her with their problems. She delights in the large family and makes every effort to attend any and all gatherings, as well as meeting up with her many siblings on her own if she can. 

[color=baa7c7][b]Thoughts on Christmas[/b][/color]
Christmas is Alicia's favourite time of year, the two-week cottage stay in particular. She especially loves the lights, seeing her siblings and their children, giving gifts and being in the buzz and bustle of a crowded cabin. It is bittersweet at times, however, as she dearly misses hearing Christmas music. 

[color=baa7c7][b]Other[/b][/color]
Alicia speaks mainly in American Sign Language; she [i]can[/i] speak verbally, but her words come out muffled and odd and she doesn't like to do it often. She does, however, love to laugh. She can read lips to some extent, but it's a huge pain and she prefers sign language.

Alicia speaks and reads fluent Swedish and understands fluent English; she can speak some English verbally, but it's especially warped. She's also, of course, fluent in ASL.

If one wants Alicia's attention, she usually prefers them to come into her range of vision and flag her down that way, but in a crowd she doesn't mind a gentle tap on the shoulder. She doesn't like to be startled, though, so the people who know her have taken to stepping heavily as they approach so she can feel their footsteps, or even texting her before approaching so she's not caught off-guard. 

Alicia can play piano, which she particularly enjoys because she can feel the vibrations when she really clangs away at it. She hasn't even looked at a violin since her illness. 
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