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 Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:48 am
Intro::
Um...hello! I'm not sure if this is how I apply, but here goes. If this is in the wrong place or I forgot to do something, please let me know! Thanks!
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:58 am
Birth Name:: Lin Ai Ning (林愛宁) // meaning: love & repose
Chosen (Americanized) Name:: Annie Lin
Stage Name::
World:: Type A China / America (if I understand correctly)
Age:: 18
Gender:: Female
Height:: 5' 5''
Weight:: 54 kg // 119 lbs
Eyes:: Jade set in almond shaped eyes
Hair:: Raven black, perfectly straight, falls down to her waist; she often wears it straight against her shoulders when not performing, though she also has a habit of tying it back in a low ponytail to keep it out of her face when she's working on something; when performing she wears it in a tight bun, very often tucked underneath the head of the unitard
Ethnicity:: Chinese (from the mainland)
Language:: speaks Mandarin Chinese and English; her English is a little stinted and she doesn't always recognize slang
Physical Appearance:: despite being average weight for her height, Annie looks impossibly thin and frail, her muscles taut against her bones and her figure sleek. Outside of her acts, when wearing casual clothes, she looks delicate and petite, as if she could break with a single touch. Although fitted, her casual clothes emphasize her girlishness and make her look younger than her age of 18. In her performance clothes, however (perfectly fitted unitards; further detailed later on), her muscles are very obvious and every inch of her ripples with them. Her lines are perfect and the crowd is often awed by her figure; every piece of her is constantly in use, not an extra crease or fold of skin anywhere to be found -- except on her face. This is not to say that her face is round by any means, but she has yet to lose her girlish dimples, one in the middle of her left cheek and another below the right curve of her smile. When acting her makeup often covers her age, making her seem to transcend time and utterly ageless, but her eyes are innocent despite her history (further detailed later on) and her smile is yet genuine and warm. Her main startling characteristic are her eyes, a jade green that ranges from the cool of a fresh, clean pond to the dark of pine needles disturbed by the wind. Her eyes are a remnant of her father's lineage; it is said that the surname that she carries (Lin // 林) originated from the color of her ancestor's eyes -- a color much like the forest that their last name represents.
Personality:: like many before her, Annie has grown to fulfill her name (or as some others believe, the name was chosen to describe her perfectly): Lin Ai Ning (林愛宁)
(Lin // 林 // forest): She is sturdy and strong like the trees described by her surname: angry words move through her like a rumbling storm, felt by every inch of her, but her ability to withstand its blows are uncanny for her fragile appearance.
(Ai // 愛 // love): She carries in her an unfathomable ability to love unconditionally, growing attached to individuals quickly and undeniably, it also causes her to be incredibly emotionally vulnerable. Because of it, she has been unable to escape from her past (further detailed later on), and instead dwells in it and is continually reminded of it, seeing in everyone her parents and other loved ones. She chooses to live in their memory instead of allowing them to leave her. She has an inexplicable fear of being abandoned or being alone. Either due to her name or due to her nature, she finds herself unable to lose this quality and despite all of the lessons life has given her, she is always given to loving too strongly and too quickly. Like any forest, she is unable to escape from her roots.
(Ning // 宁 // repose): True to the last part of her name, however, she never shows her concerns on the surface. She has a habit of telling many people small parts of her history, avoiding entrusting her entire self in any one individual. People have a very incomplete understanding of her and her past, sometimes confusing different parts of her history in conversation with others -- this often gives people the sense that she has been lying or making up parts of her life.
Lin Ai Ning (林愛宁): Her overall outlook in life is rather optimistic, though she is prone to bouts of devastating pessimism and despair. This occurs when someone she trusted betrays her, she is unable to meet her impossibly high self-set standards, or at night if she happens to be alone. In daylight, however, she is always smiling and talkative, daring and friendly -- her silence and averted eyes are a sign of her inner troubles. she has a habit of obsessing -- this pertains to both people she meets and the activities she commits herself to. One of her greatest fears is finding a challenge she is unable to meet...and her pride being too stubborn to allow her to back down.
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:00 am
History:: (as this is extensive and changes a great deal through her life -- including places -- I've chosen to break this into segments according to her name, age, and place/situation)
Ai Ning, Childhood, a small rural town in Mainland China
Ai Ning grew up in a small wooden house with her two parents and a brother older than her by 5 years. Her father was a rather unsuccessful fisherman and her mother a barely known seamstress. The family lived in destitution and poverty, her brother often going into the neighboring large city to pickpocket and steal. Although her parents disapproved of his behavior and attempted to reprimand or reform him, their words fell on deaf ears as the entire family recognized their meager existence. Ai Ning's brother, Zhi Tai (骘台 // determined typhoon), noticed her impressive keenness for balancing and her extraordinary flexibility, particularly in her back. Within the year Zhi Tai was able to scrounge enough money for a bike and some props and began biking her into the city.
Ai Ning, Childhood, the city
Ai Ning spent her first year in the city watching. Zhi Tai would take her corner to corner, instructing her to study each of the street performers, the way they balanced, the way they awed, and most of all, their stage presence. He lectured her on dreaming of the impossible, of fearlessness, and of pride. He filled her mind with hopes of becoming a star, or the brightness of her future, and he bribed her with foods that she had never imagined. Her first attempts were pathetic and painful, her brother often boxing her ears after she fell from the back of a chair or couldn't complete a trick as they had seen performed by someone else on the street. Her parents saw her rarely and when they did, their eyes watched her sadly, her malnourished figure bruised and often beaten. By the age of 9, however, her brother was convinced that she was good enough to perform.
Ai Ning, Childhood - early Adolescence, performing
She started shyly, the innocence of her years shining through. The first crowds she drew were out of pity for her emaciated body, but as word of her daringness and fearlessness spread, she developed a strong group of watchers, eventually becoming one of the better known street actresses. Each of her performances were completely original, often put together at the last second or performed as her brother announced them. The two brought in cash like her family had never dreamed of. She soon had several different costumes, the same props as those used by the professionals, and had become a tourist trap.
Ai Ning, Adolescence, Zhi Tai
By the time she was 14, her beauty was astounding. Her jade eyes were flashy and attracted great amounts of attention. Zhi Tai had somehow managed a position as a salesboy in the city and was quickly rising in the business -- his use for his sister was quickly diminishing and his personal future was quickly deviating from hers. Zhi Tai approached Ai Ning one day after her performance, a middle-aged American following closely behind. He sold her for no more than 10,000 USD.
Annie, Adolescence, America
The man who had bought her referred to himself as her stepfather, Stepfather Chris. He had a pretty little wife, an 18 year-old son, and a beautiful mansion. The beginnings of Annie's life there were exquisite -- although she initially begrudged Chris for robbing her of her parents, she came to realize that he was an incredibly kind man. He knew of her talents and wanted her to be properly trained and taken care of. He helped her look nationwide for contortionist schools, allowing her to choose wherever she wanted to go. Annie ended up finding one close to their home in California, a school that immediately took her up for training in ballet, cane-balancing, and modern contortion. She commuted daily and Chris found an at-home teacher for her. Her English flourished and her beauty became more apparent day by day.
Annie, Adolescence, John
Her beauty did not go unnoticed. John, Chris' son, had grown into a fierce young man of 21, his mother's spoiling setting him up for never knowing his limits or recognizing how unreasonable his demands are. Annie was practicing in her personally built studio one night, Chris and his wife out celebrating their anniversary, when John stalked in, watching her first in silence, but then with every growing desirous hunger. Her long legs flowed across the floor as she practiced a routine, her tights and leotard slick with sweat, her hair tossed and unkempt. She only noticed him before he grabbed her, an innocent smile over her shoulder before he had pinned her against the wall. She struggled against his grabbing hands, his lips hot and his breath reeking of alcohol, before she was finally able to break loose and ran for the door. Lucky for her his intoxication kept him behind her as her ballet slippers pounded against the pavement, tears streaming from her eyes.
Annie, 18, present
With no where to go, Annie can often be found lingering in ballet academics, gymnastic courses, or contortionist schools. What little money she had from her previous life has been spent and her present existence is meager if existent. She depends on charity and recognition of her glaring talent. She has continually been searching for a place to call home -- and that's when she found the circus.
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:02 am
ONE (Carnie): At this point in her life, Annie is willing to take any job that offers her solace from being alone. She often cries herself to sleep and would enjoy any warm bed -- in trade for anything. At this point she is professionally trained in cane-balancing, ballet, and contortion. She could give pointers or clean routines. In addition, because of her physical fitness, she is relatively strong and could do a relatively good job moving things, although much of her strength is attuned to lifting her body and her ability to lift much more has not yet been tested. She is quick to learn and somewhat of a perfectionist. Dirty jobs don't phase her and she welcomes any sort of entertainment and/or company.
TWO (Castmember): Annie begins on the floor, on low canes, or with random props (such as chairs), as her training on the canes is not complete and still falls from them occasionally. At this point she still focuses on her street tricks -- balancing spinning plates on sticks, contorting with burning candles, jugging diabolos; she can balance very well on precariously stacked chairs and other assortments of props, and has amazing control over her body, but has yet developed enough strength to hold an entire performance on her canes.
Costume: a simple unitard covering her from head to toe; her face paint is always the most impressive as the glitter and contrasting colors outline her eyes and emphasize her lips. The unitard is designed to make her seem bodiless, as if she moves entirely as one unit.
Examples: x | x | x | x
THREE (Headliner): At this point Annie has complete control of every piece of her body and has amazing muscle and strength to work with -- but at the cost of her soul and control of her emotions and thoughts. She begins to take drugs to calm her nerves and clear her mind before every show to lower the chances of her now frequent flashes of rage and despair. The drugs give her eyes a glazed and glassy look, another piece of utter enchantment for the audience. When she is not under the pressure of performance what is left of her soul is able to battle with the emotions, able to manage them long enough to get a good rehearsal in. This constant fighting causes her stunts to become more and more dangerous, as she often channels her fear and adrenaline rushes into the process. Not only is she able to do strength tricks on the canes, but she also flips between them relentlessly, some say almost carelessly. The spectacle in her show is now the absolute defiance of gravity -- and death. The audience is thrown into a constant limbo between awe and fear for her life; any falter in her tricks now would lead to certain death. With her soul being torn apart and her emotions eating her alive, Annie's not sure she cares...it's almost a relief to feel something other than doubt in herself, her family, and her love.
Costume: her unitard is flashier now, itself carrying glitter; her face paint is similar, but it has darker shades that are more of similar tones blending into each other. The costume is meant to emphasize each of her motions and facial expressions, bringing to life the intricacies of her muscles and movements.
Examples: x | x
OTHER: Annie has always been interested in finding a partner or partners to base her stunts and do some group balancing tricks with. She has held a deep interest to learn silks, aerobatics, and/or trapeze.
Examples: x | x
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:06 am
Closing post...er, I guess that's it! Please comment and critique! Thanks!
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:28 am
Hi biggrin I like her! She seems like a very determined young lady, but, I believe that her act could use some work. I'm going to give you the same advice that was given to me: The circus does things to it's performers and there is always a price. What does it do to her? How does she grow and change? I'd like to see her growth as a person, as well as her growth as a performer. What changes?
Also! Question: Why does she stay with something that was encouraged by the bother who sold her? Her acrobatics was their connection, has she ever regretted continuing? Was there ever a moment when she thought she wanted to just quit?
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:18 am
Reha The circus does things to it's performers and there is always a price. What does it do to her? How does she grow and change? I'd like to see her growth as a person, as well as her growth as a performer. What changes? Reha Also! Question: Why does she stay with something that was encouraged by the bother who sold her? Her acrobatics was their connection, has she ever regretted continuing? Was there ever a moment when she thought she wanted to just quit?
Thanks so much!! heart
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