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Name: Gwendolen Lane Sterling

Nickname: Gwen will do, thanks.

Age: 18

Birthday: February 6th

Sign: Aquarius

Gemstone: Amethyst (February)

Blood Type: A-

Fav. Food: Salted Caramels, prefect combo of salty and sweet. Muffins, any flavour. It's the acceptable way to have cake for breakfast.


Hated Food: Beets. She hates the way they stain everything.

School: DCU- Visual Arts.
Hobbies:

Enjoying the Night Life: Gwen is very active at night. She's quite used to going out and staying out late (2 a.m.). Her school schedule is designed to allow to sleep in late (never any classes before 11am), so that she doesn't feel bad about staying out late. Constantly looking over local advertisements for events, Gwen is always keeping an eye out for fun things to do at night or on the weekend. County Fair, some band is playing, a food festival? Hellz yeah! Gwen will be there. She by far prefers to go see a new band than go to a club; it's better to find and love new music then sweating the night away dancing. A lot of spare cash goes towards cover charges and picking up tickets for concerts. If there happens to be nothing much going on, Gwen is happy to just go for a walk maybe get a drink or a coffee and turn in early (12am). She's usually home early enough that she can still get 6-8 hours of sleep.

Sculpture: Since Gwen was a child, she was pushed into trying her hand at the arts (sports is totally for boys). She has little talent for music and dance, but she worked well with her hands. Rather than painting, Gwen found she liked getting her hands a little dirty and working with clay. Every year since she was 8, Gwen took summer courses in pottery and sculpture. Over time, she's developed a lot of skill with creating delicate and fine details. In particular she likes making miniature objects, like little figurines and tea cups. Sculpture is her focus of study at DCU. Her father was adamant that Gwen go to university, but he never specified what she could take. As she had little interesting in anything else, Gwen went into Visual Arts. Through that program she's gotten used to other art forms and mediums (she's begun to experiment in glass blowing); however clay sculpture will always be her favorite.

The visual arts department is also, in general,fairly chummy and Gwen is often asked by friends to sit for them, or be used as a dummy for sewing projects. She isn't really interested in pursuing modelling as anything more that fun, but is happy to help someone out if they need a model for a photo shoot or sketching practice. Pose her, dress her, she'll happily be a human doll for the sake of art. She only expects the same courtesy if she needs someone to make a cast of.

Card Games: Card games are one of Gwen's favorite type of games. A deck of cards is often found in purse; never know when you might need something to entertain yourself or others. Wasting time between class or between a show? Gwen will play a round of solitaire. A particular favorite of hers is Cribbage, which she learned from her grandmother, but Gwen is always game for a gambling game (despite having a terrible poker face). Everyone knows a card game, and Gwen relies on games as ice breakers if she's having a hard time connecting with new people.

This is my ship: Gwen loves to see happy couples, even if they're only made up ones in her head. She'll happily push two of her friends together, thinking that they would make the perfect couple. She likes to think of herself as a mini matchmaker, often trying to find people a suitable partner or scheming to set up friends on blind dates. The results of her couplings have had mix results. Gwen hasn't exactly narrowed matchmaking down to a science, she's certainly not e-harmony, and her matches tend to be based on either superficial characteristic (they'd have beautiful babies) or observation of closer friend's own dating habits. It can blow up in her face, and quite often she has had phone calls from friends begging her to never set them up again. Still, Gwen is a bit of a romantic and doesn't give up so easily. Gwen loves to learn about couples anyways, buffing up on famous historical couples and their relationships as well as the latest celebrity or fictional couples. (Her favorite kind of books are 'chick lit' not really trashy romance novels, but more along the lines of romantic period dramas and cheeky comedies.)



Virtues:

Diplomatic: Harmony is something that Gwen strives for in her life and her social connections. Rarely does she set out with the desire to hurt anyone. Maintaining her own good image is important to Gwen, thus she makes an effort to stay on friendly terms with most people. If she has a problem with someone, she goes about remedying it by tactfully stating her point of view and acknowledging others until they come to an accord. If someone is unwilling to bend, Gwen will compromise a fair amount until whatever issue is smoothed over. Even when dealing with unpleasant people, Gwen will do it when a smile on her face in order to avoid unnecessary confrontation.

She does have her limits however, and that is usually with those who are unwilling to given in whatsoever or those who are constantly and unnecessarily rude (why would anyone want to hang around someone that's always awful? Gwen will pass the time as best she can and then never again). Everyone needs to make compromises, and Gwen if often willing to given up a lot of her own needs/wants in order to make other people happy. But she won't give up everything. She needs to be met at least 1/8 of the way, otherwise there's no point in trying to be friendly if the other person can't reciprocate at all.

Open/Expressive: If anyone wears their heart on their sleeve, it is definitely Gwen. She's expressive, and easily communicates her feelings. She makes zero effort to hide how she feels or what she thinks, whether that is happiness or anger. See her bouncing up and down and squealing like a little girl? Yeah, Gwen is excited. Her poker face is just terrible, if she has bad cards, you can tell; if she's smiling and her eyes go wide, yeah you should fold. Gwen is terrible with bluffing, and her emotions are often very straightforward. Anyone can read her like an open book, and even if you don't want to know how's she's feeling and doing, you'll probably hear about anyways. The positive aspect to this is that Gwen usually easy to relate to, and often quick to express her empathy and relate back.

Comfortable in her own skin- Gwen is exceptionally comfortable with herself and who she is. Some might call it being confident, but Gwen thinks of it more as being accepting of herself. Gwen takes pride in herself, both physically and mentally. Physically speaking, she's comfortable with her own body, even if she's a bit hippier than a fashion model, and unashamed of flaunting her natural given looks. She will wear whatever she pleases, and no one can convince her not to. This also extends to her being comfortable and at ease in situations that others might find embarrassing. Nudity doesn't make her blush, and physical violence or gore gets little reaction from her. Take her to an R rated movie and she'll barely blink (but Wall-E will have her in tears). What's a little blood, everyone has it. What's a little skin, everyone has the same parts more or less. Being so at ease with her own body, Gwen often volunteers and gets asked to model for friends in the Visual Arts department. She doesn't mind being the center of attention, or being posed and dressed (or undressed) like a doll.

Mentally speaking, she's self- confident. Gwen doesn't need to be told she's awesome to know she's awesome. If someone were to list all her bad qualities, Gwen would likely shrug it off and think that person simple doesn't know well enough.

Idealistic- Gwen's head is full of romantic notions of how the world is. Life is grand in Gwen world. Her world full is perpetually tinted with rose, and she chooses to view things in an optimistic light rather than accept how they might really be. Someone isn't ugly, they have character. Her world view is not really based on solid facts, but rather a lofty ideal of how things are suppose to be. Everyone is essentially good, Destiny City is a nice place to live. Okay, so some of that might be denial, but to Gwen it is better to focus on what could be, and try to achieve that, then to dwell on short comings. The kind of things Gwen does notice and will try to 'fix' are usually superficial or just skim the surface of a larger problem. If she sees an unkempt garden, she might try to pretty it up; though she would not really think to go back to said garden and maintain it over time. If she saw a homeless man on the street, her heart would go out to him and she would happily give him money or buy him a happy meal, but she wouldn't really bother to do that much about the homeless issue at large. Gwen works on small details, not the big picture.



Flaws:

Bleeding heart/ naive- Gwen is excessively soft-hearted. She's warm and gushy on the outside and warm and gushy on the inside. No efforts are made to hide that. Generally speaking, she's kind and generous. However, her sympathetic nature can be easily taken advantage of. Gwen is a big ol' softie when comes to sob stories. Just about anyone can take advantage of her, they just have a tell her just how hard things have been for them. Sadly, Gwen is easily swayed and largely gullible. Though not really a huge flaw, it is a weakness. She's easily manipulated, and is quite trusting. When it comes to friends, Gwen is quick to come to their aid and be a shoulder to cry on; she would rarely second guess that there was an ulterior motive.Anyone who knows her well enough will know that Gwen can be a door mat. Look at her with big puppy eyes and she has a hard time saying no.
With strangers, Gwen is less readily accepting of sob stories, though she's still quite trusting. She'll follow her gut instincts with strangers, if they seem genuine enough, Gwen is happy to help to a degree. Whereas with people closer to her, Gwen almost always accepts whatever they say/need. It's good for other people, and bad for Gwen (and the people who say she needs to learn to say no and do things for herself instead of others).

Radio Gwen (Gossipy)- Gwen is a sociable girl, she likes to talk and listen, often lending her ear to hear anyone's trouble. However, Gwen has little concept of confidentiality. She's a terrible person to trust with a secret. Try as she might, Gwen is a blabbermouth. The fastest way to spread gossip would be through Gwen's word of mouth. She just cannot contain herself when she knows something. At times, she divulges information because it's simply interesting, to pick up conversation, or (sometimes) because she thinks it's being helpful. A typical conversation with her is often riddled with tidbits about other people, including stuff she learned about celebrities off of TMZ or tabloid magazines.

Lacking Ambition- No one has ever pressed upon Gwen the value of hard work or a dollar. So far in her life, everything has come quite easily. As a result, Gwen has little desire for that to change. She doesn't have big dreams about becoming a lawyer, business woman, or even a pop star. Gwen has no clue what she wants to be, or really do with her life in general. Coasting along without really having to work too hard is what she's used to. She's perfectly content treating every day as they come, without making any real goal for herself. All she wants to do is continue living an easy life. She finds challenges and hard tasks quite daunting, and often ends up looking for an easy way out. With large projects, Gwen usually is excited to start them, but as a task/project proves to be more difficult then she initially thought Gwen is likely to do one of two things. Change projects for something easier, if possible, or get help. If she can get other people to shoulder some of her burden, she's usually able to make it through.

As a result of being unambitious, Gwen is not a particularly hard worker, she can be down right lazy even. In school, she does enough to get by, but isn't the type to put all her effort into getting amazing grades, or be extremely active in clubs. Socially, she's not striving towards her own goals, and instead sitting on the sidelines agreeing to do or go with the plans of others. For group projects, she's a 'yes man' easily convinced to do what someone else wants because she has no agenda of her own to push. Gwen is a follower, not a leader. She's easily pushed around, and shepherded into following others instructions. And when following those instructions becomes difficult, she looks to others to help solve the issues rather than standing up to face them alone.

Meddling- There is nothing Gwen likes better than helping others. She just wants to see you happy. She's happy, so why shouldn't everyone else be as well? The trouble is Gwen is a brown noser, she'll poke into everyone else's business and attempt to 'fix' whatever is wrong, whether they want her help or not. She's constantly trying to set friends up with other friends, asking them about their personal lives and giving 'helpful' advice on how to solve their problems. Personal space and privacy, well they just don't exist. Really, you'll be thankful after she's read your diary and told your secret crush how you two would be the perfect couple.



PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Face: Heart shaped. Fair skin tone, demure nose, and plump lips. (Think Scarlett Johansson)
Eyes: Blue-Violet, robins egg blue, mint green, or storm cloud purple? (CC surprise me!)
Hair: "Powdered Wig White/Silver" or a 'day glow white' (can have a tint of pink, purple or blue) OR a midnight blue, pulled back into a low side(ish) ponytail, with a small braid that runs over her forehead and merges into the ponytail. some bangs? Ponytail can be above or below shoulders, nothing too long. Straight or slight wave? Up to artist! Examples: x x x (something like this last one but with a braid from the middle reference. braid could just be on the left and starting from the center/bangs and moving back into ponytail))
Body: 5'7 hourglass figure and curvy! A little bit like Marilyn Monroe.
Clothes: Feminine and 'pretty' clothes, usually in softer shades and pastels. ( polyvore clothes examples)

Considering trading out meddling trait for hypocritical, shallow or unrealistic; idealistic for something else?

Trying not to be too excessively trope-y but fitting well with Venus's themes.

-Is bleeding heart flaw not flaw-ish enough? ;---;

(not 100% sure her personality is meshing well, but I think that's the general direction I want to go with her)

Hi hi! I crit as I read, so some things might be a little out of place as you go through, since I comment as I read. If something is mentioned later in the profile that relates back to something in the beginning, I won't catch it until the end, but I will do my best to crit everything as it comes to me. C:

HOBBIES:

I like her hobbies overall! They give a nice, rounded image of her being an enthusiastic, personable girl, and I think they speak well for her. It's not really a big thing, but I did have a little pause when I compared her first hobby to the rest. You say that she is mostly a night person, which is totally fine, but then all the rest of her hobbies seem to be geared more toward the daytime! She does have classes that are later in the day, but if she's staying up all night, it would make sense to have her napping away her afternoons/evenings when she didn't have homework and then getting up to prowl. Of course, if she doesn't stay up all night it's not much of a concern, but it's something to think about.

She could easily play cards while she's waiting for a show to start, for example, or try to hook up her friends when she goes out to listen to outdoor bands, so I definitely see how her hobbies could mesh with her night-life. I just feel like there's a lot smushed into her hobbies section for someone who is most active at night, but there isn't all that much emphasis on what she does at night. Definitely not a big thing, it was just something I thought about. If she's so active at night, maybe that her night life hobby and break it into a couple of hobbies in and of itself -- that gives overall a bigger picture of her being a night person. She could still do things like sculpt and model, of course, but maybe cut back a couple hobbies from being her main ones if you do decide to break it up? Modeling is reading to me as more of a "whenever someone asks" sort of thing, so maybe snip that out and just thread it somewhere else in her profile, maybe to highlight a virtue or something?

Definitely just a suggestion! I think her hobbies are looking awesome, so really, whether you want to focus on her more as a night person and cut out a hobby or two, or keep them as is, I think she's looking solid so far!

VIRTUES:

I love diplomatic as a virtue because you note in the description that she makes an effort to stay on good terms with people, and that her diplomacy is a practiced skill rather than inborn. It's realistic for the trait, which I like a lot. I imagine that even she could get pushed a little too far, though, so maybe in the last line where you note that she will be diplomatic even with unpleasant people, it might be good to slip in something about exactly where her limit is, just to give a broader picture of the trait and show that it is diplomacy and a willingness to compromise. That's definitely what's coming across in the description, I just personally feel that a note saying how she would handle things when she was pushed too far would round out the virtue well.

Open as a trait I am a little iffy on, just because... it honestly sounds like it might hinder her more than it helps! I'm not sure if you want to tweak it a little bit to make it a more positive thing for her, or switch it up and make it into a flaw, honestly. If she's so open that she gives things away, can't keep secrets (possible? does she have trouble keeping secrets? It seems like that might go with this pretty well!) or jsut generally runs her mouth a lot, this might work to your advantage as a decent flaw. If you do want to keep it as a virtue, I would maybe skew it so that you discuss how her being open and easy with her emotions helps her empathize with people and relate to them, maybe?

Comfortable in her own skin is impressive as a virtue! I wish I had it. |B Earlier, when I suggested maybe bumping a hobby around and into your profile elsewhere, this would be a good place to thread the modeling in! You could use her modeling to illustrate the fact that she's very comfortable with herself, and it also does a good job highlighting her amiable personality.

Idealistic is treading a little bit closer to the line between virtue and flaw than I'd normally recommend for a virtue, as you highlight the fact that she's small details and isn't really all that responsible with her idealism, but considering this is your fourth virtue I think you are safe with it! It ties in well with her confidence, I think; she's very confident in herself and her body and her personality, and she also chooses to view the world in an optimistic light/help try to improve it when she can. I think it ties in well with the rest of her personality, which is why I think it's a good addition even if it's toeing the line a little.

FLAWS:

Bleeding Heart/Naive is a good flaw, but just be careful you don't take it to excess! It's important to have strong flaws and weaknesses, but it's also really important not to accidentally cariacature your own character. The majority of people aren't so gullible that they'd put themselves in mortal danger because someone fed them a sob story; she could be very gullible and easily taken in, but be careful that you don't phrase the flaw so that it sounds like anyone could feed her a couple of lines and have her doing their bidding. You will end up writing yourself into a corner and having a character that's yo-yo'd around by every other character that she meets, potentially, and that won't be very fun to write or interact with! My suggestion here would be to definitely keep it, because it's fitting with her personality and it's a good weakness for her, but tame it a little so that it's realistic without being overboard. A good way to do this is to indicate that she's more likely to take her friends' word without thinking twice about it, for example -- friends can easily take advantage of her and she gives them the benefit of the doubt when she's reflecting on it later, perhaps. As for strangers, maybe not every sob story reels her in, but she is a more sympathetic, caring character, so she is more easily manipulated and is more gullible than the average character, just not to the point where she'd be taken in by just about anything.

I love gossipy as a flaw. I think it's very true to her character, and also a great sticking point to create friction in RP and relationships, so it's excellent. I'm glad it showed up here!

Lacking ambition looks great to me! Does she take it to the extent of abanding a project if no easy way out presents itself? This will be very important when it comes to knight duties later on, so it's a good idea to mention whether or not she gives up on big projects if they seem to be too much, or if she goes around trying to find other people to take the load off her shoulders, etc. How does she handle those big projects that just won't go away and seem to have no quick fix?

Meddling is also excellent, and I have nothing to say on that except that I love it and can see all sorts of fun RP possibilities arising due to it. xD

KNIGHT:

I'm not very good with critting powered portions, as they're the ones I have the most trouble with myself! Here are some thoughts, but I'd definitely take them with a grain of salt because I may not actually have any idea what I'm talking about. I struggled a lot with Lazarus' attacks, to be honest. xD

60 seconds might be too long a duration for the first attack unless you limit it somehow. Most battles are pretty fast paced, so someone being distracted for an entire minute of the battle is a long time to not have their wits about them. If the distraction fails when she lands a hit on them, then that's a good limiting factor and I think would make this work -- so theoretically, if her opponent is not struck by an attack after her magic is cast, they are distracted for sixty seconds and it wears off -- but otherwise, I think it would give her a little bit too much of the upper hand at this stage.

I'd add a limiting factor like being attacked or something similar to the knight one as well, or again, it's taking a character's wits out of play a little long for an attack. When you think about it, especially at Knight/Eternal/General stage, there's a lot of power flying around -- an entire minute of being distracted or infatuated by something and not having all your facilities being put toward battle is really, really dangerous. People could get killed!

I'd suggest either cutting down time limits or putting in a few more limiting factors just to make the attacks more well rounded/friendly for interaction in battle.

OVERALL:

I really like her as a character, and didn't really have much to comment on! She's coming across as well put together, just maybe with a little bit of tweaking on outlining her virtues as mainly virtues, and setting boundaries insider her traits so that she's seen as a realistic, whole person who has limits/cognizance of situations/capacities to adapt to circumstances. At the moment, she's a little bit exaggerated and larger-than-life, but if some things are shuffled a bit and tempered, I think she'll be really well rounded and fun to play with and off. I like her! C:

Fixed Bleeding Heart, and Open/Expressive. Folded modelling hobby into virtues (comfortable) as well as sculpture. Expanded on night life somewhat. So... fixed I think! heart

I think for now I'll leave idealist, and think about it for a while.

I love Vesper's niche in the knighthood! It's useful and not a shield of some sort. YAY! I can easily see Vesper solo or in a group.

Her profile reads well at this point. I don't see anything that jumps out at me as being conflicting.

o 3o All fixed Spy my dear.

The only thing I think needs tweaking is her Lacking Ambition trait: right now it's fairly isolated and internalized. If you can explain how this can reflect on other characters, then you're solid!