Ｌｕｃｙ Ａｓｔｏｒ
YOUNG GIRL
Name: Lucy Astor
Color: #ffee99, "Early Evening Starlight"
Age: 16.
Nationality: American.
Home/Financial Status: Upper-middle class.
School: Broussard's Institution of Arts.
Personality: Tallulah Bankhead once said that acting is a form of confusion. This quote rings true with Lucy. She's confused about a lot of things. She's not sure about the kind of person she is, or who she even wants to be. She doesn't know if she's really a good performer; she believes she deserves to shine because of the work she puts in. She's confused if she'll ever really have what it takes to make it as a star.
Lucy is strong-willed and stubborn, with ambitions to be a star onstage if it kills her. She is incredibly hard-working when it comes to her desired career path. She believes that she deserves the spotlight more than anybody else...at her school, at least. Lucy wants to be a famous actress on Broadway someday. Despite her lofty ambitions, Lucy can't seem to get her head out of high school. To her, what happens in high school is everything. The fact that she can't manage to get very good roles eats away at her self-esteem, but to cover this, Lucy puts on a bravado and seems to all the world like a supremely confident, although sometimes distant young woman.
But Miss Astor isn't a tragic, depressed figure. Being a performer, she does have a fun side. A Pisces, Lucy is a dreamer and very imaginative. She sees her world through rose-colored glasses, and she truly believes that dreams can come true. She loves to go out and dance, often tagging along to parties with friends. She has woken up many times in random bathtubs, and to her this makes her seem like a flapper or bon vivante. Lucy wants everybody to see her as cool and enviable, so she tries her best to have a good social life. She is well-liked in her school community, and regional theater has let her get to know a lot of people in the area. Many underclassmen are impressed by the fact that Lucy seems to know everybody. Sometimes her theatrical eccentricities make her a bit strange to her fellow students, but this adds to her appeal. She is only distant to those who are not friends with her. In class, Lucy loves to talk and usually begs for the lead roles in each play she reads. She admits it's a bit desperate, but she begged for and received the role of Blanche Dubois...in her English class, and she thinks it's one of the best performances she's ever given.
She craves admiration and attention from others, as many performers do. There was a time, after she had transformed and left her weird ways behind her, where she had all the confidence in the world and felt truly envied. This lasted until Lucy was about 15, when she amped up her theater training, and pretty much came crashing back down to earth. She learned that she truly was not as good as she thought she was, which killed her confidence a bit. Now she still has the status she wanted, but she feels that she has to work to maintain it. She admits that the idea of a social hierarchy is a bit childish, but it's high school, and she wants to make the most of it.
In addition, she never really felt as if "popular" meant the right to belittle other people. Her notion of popular is just the it-girl, like the flappers of the 1920s. All eyes were on them, and everybody wanted to be just like them. They lived their lives and did what they wanted, and that's what Lucy wants aside from theater. She loves the idea of a carefree lifestyle with tons of juicy stories about wild parties, but if she had to decide between partying and performing, she'd choose performing without missing a beat. She likes to drink and have fun, but it's not something she needs to do all the time. It's all about presenting the image. One of the reasons she idolizes Tallulah Bankhead is because she combined both lifestyles so easily. She had a wonderful acting career, and also was a well-known bon vivant.
Lucy generally doesn't have patience for, for lack of a better word, idiots. Stupid comments and childish behavior are sure to earn scorn from her, and if she doesn't like you, she'll let you know. But at the same time, Lucy gives credit where credit is due, and she's not afraid to praise people who she thinks are unappreciated. Lucy has a soft spot for the underdog. Bullying and deliberate cruelty to Lucy are unforgivable. She has never seen partying as an excuse for making all the stupid decisions you want. Lucy has never been caught by a cop because of a stupid deed. When she hears about parties being busted, she scoffs. Being booked might make an interesting story later, she often muses, but a clever girl such as Lucy would handle herself differently. Waking up in a bathtub is one thing, waking up in a jail cell is another. But she's vain and a bit of a hypocrite, so what else could you expect but a bit of self-righteousness? It's fine if she does it, but if the captain of the lacrosse team throws up in the back of his cab home, it's just gross. Speakeasies, though there were raids, were secretive, clever, and they got the job done. One could go and get royally ******** and then hail a cab home without a hitch. Lucy tries to emulate this when she goes out. The music is loud, but not loud enough to invoke suspicion. She's not out to be known as the Ke$ha of her town, rather, she wants to be the girl who belonged in the Roaring Twenties.
Appearance: Lucy has golden eyes, wide and expressive. These eyes are framed by a row of thick black lashes. Lucy's skin is pale, except for her cheeks, which have a rosey hue. She is tall, and her figure is lanky and not very curvy, though her muscles are strong and sinewy from years of dance training. If it weren't for her long, golden hair and Gibson Girl-esque face, Lucy could pass as a boy with ease. Lucy has the air of a flapper, or a showgirl from an era gone by; an androgynous body set off by a feminine face. She is a mix of a few different eras as far as her appearance goes. Her body is lithe and muscular from dancing, so she's thin like a flapper, but her tumbling golden hair and elegant facial features bring to mind the Gibson Girl.
As far as her personal style goes, Lucy mixes a bit of everything, but her primary interests lie in historical fashion. Lucy loves the androgynous look of the Roaring Twenties, and when she doesn't have to be confined in her school uniform, she can often be found in middy blouses and little skirts or jeans. At night, she'll wear big, flowing t-shirts and lots of jewelry, with heavy eye makeup and combat boots. Lucy has a natural eye for fashion, and does not mind that she has no specific style.
History: Lucy has wanted to be an actress since she was very young, seeing a family friend perform onstage was what she needed to decide that she was going to be on Broadway. This friend, who is now an off-Broadway actress, was so at ease on stage. She could make everybody laugh and hang off of her every word...Lucy wanted that. She also loved the glamor of the theatrical world. Running offstage for a quick-change...the makeup, the lights...as soon as the curtain went down, Lucy turned to her mother and asked when she could do what her friend had just done. Lucy began training her voice, taking dance lessons, and working very hard so she could land coveted lead roles in her school's productions, but her hard work never seems to pay off. Lucy spends most of her time with theater people, so her circle of friends is mostly performers.
Lucy works very hard, and puts in an enormous amount of time to get what she wants. It could be nepotism on the side of her directors, favoring other people. Or she could truly just be not as good as she thinks she is. She really is a talented actress; she's a bright girl and can easily understand what her characters are thinking. Maybe this gets lost in translation from her mind to the stage, or maybe the facade of the ice queen makes her less appealing to casting directors.
At school, Lucy interacts mostly with the students involved in theater, but she talks to everybody. Her circle of friends is mostly hardworking, but Lucy is different when it comes to school. When the time comes to study something other than dance or music, Lucy would rather put in her headphones and dance around her room. She likes to pretend that she's a huge star. Lucy excels in English and writing, and is often told she should consider a career in journalism or literature. She takes this more as an insult than a compliment. Are these people trying to imply that she cannot succeed as an actress?
Lucy herself was once one of the bullied, awkward kids who didn't know how to express herself, so when she sees somebody being put down, she'll definitely intervene. Before getting involved in theater, Lucy had no idea how to express herself. She was awkward and somewhat shy. She always had a vision of what "popular" was, and would stand in fear as those popular girls with the shiny hair strutted past. As she got more into theater, Lucy was able to express herself more, but she still cared a lot about what people thought of her. To her, being popular and well-liked was absolutely everything.
Upon arrival at Broussard's, Lucy decided she would remake herself and become one of the popular girls herself. She learned how to carry herself like a queen. She read countless articles and stories about Tallulah Bankhead and Marilyn Monroe. She began to curl her hair and wear makeup so she could be alluring to boys. She learned how to kiss, how to drink and smoke. The girl who used to cry in her mother's arms became the girl who did whatever she wanted. Figuring she needed to be able to face rejection for theater anyway, Lucy toughened herself up. To this day, Mrs. Astor admires her daughter's apparent strength.
Years of practice have given Lucy the ability to mask her sadness whenever she is criticized. Inside, her heart falls slightly, but outside, she can retain her composure like a statue. Nothing hurts her, she must be confident.And she became what she had always wanted to become...except theatrically. Despite the training she put in, she still cannot get the roles she most desires. So even though she has everything else she could possibly want, Lucy still feels unfulfilled.
Family:
Because of her father's absence, the Astor household is largely matriarchal. Mrs. Astor doesn't have to work, because her father brings home the bacon. Usually this means that the man is in charge, but not in the Astor household. Because her mother is always present, she is in charge. Lucy's mother, Eden, encourages her daughter's big dreams, but wants her to think realistically about her future. Lucy senses that her mother feels something is missing, because she frequently comments on her eldest child's resilience in theater. Eden knows what happens when Lucy goes out at night, but she has never really punished her daughter. Mostly because Lucy has never gotten into any real trouble for her actions, at home or in the outside world. She always threatens Lucy to take away certain privileges, but these are empty threats. Lucy typically gets the material things she desires.
Lucy dislikes any talk of her pursuing any profession but acting. So Lucy dislikes her father, a businessman who returns home late each night and can't even attend dinner. He doesn't understand his daughter's wish to be an actress, and because of this Lucy doesn't bother talking to him very much. She often loses her patience with him, and both think that the other dislikes them.
Lucy has one younger brother, named Jeremy. He doesn't do much, and he attends public school. He usually just sits around and plays video games, and avoids his sister. Lucy loathes that he sits around, but since their house is pretty large, the two don't usually interact anyway. Lucy would love it if Jeremy pursued something of value. But since he's probably going to inherit the family business anyway, Jeremy feels as if he doesn't need to do work. Lucy hates this even more, because of the amount of work that it takes to succeed in theater.
PUELLA MAGI
Language: Latin. Lucy is named (by me, not by her parents) for the Latin word "lucidus", which means bright, shining, clear...like a star! :3
Desires: To be a star; to be noticed and admired by everyone. She wants to be able to live off of performing. She wants both success in her career and the glory that it brings.
Emblem: A pinwheel star.
Weapon: A light machine gun. She has a supporting weapon in a long, unusually durable string of beads resembling a string of flapper's beads. With these, she can restrain opponents and swing from place to place like a showgirl on a swing.
Type of Magic: Light-based magic. Blinding light is a specialty. Minus the use of her pistol, Lucy can create large spotlights which serve multiple purposes. With these, she can watch her opponents with ease, or blind them.
Outfit: Lucy is very theatrical. Her costume should include bits of 1920s flapper style, like maybe a headache band or the flapper's classic silhouette, without a defined waist. I like the idea of a collar, like that one or a sailor's collar like on a middy blouse. I think it's important that she look like a fighter, though.
LUCY ASTOR | EARLY EVENING STARLIGHT | PINWHEEL STAR | LIGHT MACHINE GUN
