Arlene Baines
Jun 24, 2014 8:30:52 GMT -5
Post by Arlene Baines on Jun 24, 2014 8:30:52 GMT -5
The Basics
Name: Arlene Maribelle Baines
Nicknames: Ari
Age: 27
Orientation: Heterosexual
Desired Rank/Job: Local ~ Antique Shop Owner
Powers: Retrocognition.
Arlene can view the past of an object upon touching it, even to its creation. Due to her training she is able to view up to at least three years of an objects life with no ill effects.
Sideeffects of this power include migraines, temporary short term memory loss and occasionally, losses of self. Loss of self occurs after Arlene has viewed over ten years of an objects history and can typically last upwards of an hour. Usually this means sitting motionless as she pretends to be a vase or painting, but occasionally she’ll hum if the item is powered by electricity. Short term memories affected by her power include the date and time as well as whatever she was doing immediately before touching the item.
Play By: Anne Hathaway
The Details
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Any Piercings? Ears ~ Twice
Any Tattoos? None yet.
Any Scars? Several small, inconsequential ones from various mishaps over the last 27 years.
General Appearance: Arlene stands at the average height of 5’5”. She was blessed with a rather active metabolism and can eat whatever she wishes without seeming to gain excess weight. In spite of this Arlene sticks to a healthy diet and rides a bike around the town to run her errands. She takes good care of her skin and holds herself confidently though she might seem very shy at first. She likes wearing comfortable clothing that’s incredibly feminine and trendy despite its often vintage flair.
Her hair is kept long and doesn’t curl enough to be unruly. She styles it differently every day but especially enjoys wearing it down. While she doesn’t possess any tattoos at the moment, she’s interested in getting one once she decides what she wants and where she wants it. She enjoys wearing makeup though she often keeps it simple in order to appear more professional when she’s working.
Personality: More than anything else, Arlene is a lady. She never swears, rarely raises her voice and refuses to speak ill of people behind their backs. She appreciates beauty in all its forms and has learned throughout the years to never “judge a book by its cover”. She’s often described as mature and patient and seems to have no temper to speak of. To many, this must mean that she is also cold, and aloof from her peers, and must naturally have difficulty making friends. This is a gross understatement; Arlene is a cheerful, friendly person. At her best she’s optimistic, reliable and punctual. No one could ask for a more loyal, trustworthy companion in their lives and she often dispenses good, sound advice when it’s needed the most. She can be a little shy when it comes to initially meeting new people but once she’s spent some time around someone she very easily slips into a more easy-going attitude. She enjoys talking and listening at an equal amount and doesn’t have a bad thing to say about anyone…usually.
However no one is perfect and Arlene is of course quite aware of that. On the flip side of her coin she’s naïve and overly sensitive, especially to the things that others happen to say about her or their behavior towards her. She has high expectations for herself and projects them onto others. While she’s not known to get angry she will be disappointed in someone until such time that they demonstrate that they’ve taken something seriously. She takes an incredible amount of pride in her work and often struggles with those who don’t. She’s been known to lecture at the worst of these times and expects her words to be acted upon. Perhaps the most surprising to those that get to know her, Arlene is highly competitive to the point of dropping any and all “lady-like” persona’s; when she pulls her hair up, it’s about to get real. Of course, the pulling up of the hair isn’t simply reserved for slugging it out during a chess match or putting together puzzles, but also in the doing of household chores.
Arlene has a bit of a “princess complex” due to her privileged upbringing and it kills her a little bit. She tries very hard to prove that she is more than capable of taking care of herself and will always try to do something for herself first rather than depending on others. It does seem though that the only time her endless patience and long-fused temper are nowhere to be found is when she’s tackling a rusty pipe, fussy baking recipe or even trying to hang pictures. Patching drywall was one of the first things she learned to do well, painting was naturally next. She’s not a clumsy person by nature but she’s hit her thumb more than once nailing things together and fallen off a ladder at least once.
Due to her naivety, Arlene is often taken advantage of. She frequently has a hard time differentiating between someone genuinely looking for help and someone lying in wait to take every dollar she might have in her wallet. As a result she’s had to recently make the difficult decision to ignore any and all appeals for generosity unless she knows for a fact that the charity is genuine and where her money is going. Most would assume that due to this, Arlene is a weak person. However, many of her friends would argue most emphatically that she is not. Arlene has a resilient inner fire that lends her the ability to comfort and support her friends through tough times. While it’s true that she often gets caught up in the crowds that’s not to say that she’s the type of person to get easily pushed around. If there’s one thing that Arlene hates more than anything it’s a bully and has been known to get rather testy if she feels she’s being abused and she will speak out.
On top of all of this, Arlene is a bit of a nerd. She always enjoys learning new things and is constantly reading to add to the amount of knowledge in her head. She retains information easily and tests herself by watching Jeopardy reruns. She can be a bit of a know-it-all and always seems to have a piece of trivia ready for any occasion. She also enjoys video, board and card games. When she was younger she sat down and learned to play Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh and Magic the Gathering. She doesn’t play as much anymore but she’s kept all of her cards and would be more than willing to bring them out to play if someone expresses and interest. She’s often irked by those who express surprise in her nerdy side, as if someone “like her” wouldn’t enjoy intellectual pursuits or pleasures.
Your Vices
Likes:
~ History
~ Antiques
~ Trivia
~ Games of any kind
~ Learning new things
~ Playing games
~ Being around friends and family
~ Surpassing her own expectations for herself
~ Makeup
~ Expensive clothing
~ Helping people
~ Simple things and simple pleasures
~ Reading
~ Pleasantly surprising people
Dislikes:
~ Being intimidated or talked down to
~ Vulgar language or behavior
~ Her housework being disparaged
~ Unnecessary arguments
~ Not being able to do something herself
~ People assuming she’s an entitled airhead
~ Getting dirty
~ Failing at an assumedly easy task
~ People who have no pride in their appearance or work.
~ Insects of any kind
Strengths:
~ Smart
~ Generous
~ Friendly
~ Punctual
~ Sympathetic
Weaknesses:
~ Overly sensitive
~ Naive
~ Has high expectations for herself and others
~ Domestic chores
~ Cannot handle insects
Fears:
~ Destroying her cottage trying to paint the bathroom (or something equally simple)
~ Becoming a hoarder as she gets older
~ Being the victim of a tragic accident
~ Having to face a giant spider by herself
Secret: While staying in England, one of Arlene’s favorite things to casually “touch” were the gravestones of famous people in order to see who might have visited them after they had passed away.
Family Ties
Father: Hector Baines – powered: dimensional storage
Mother: Stephanie - unpowered
Older Sister: Matilda Baines-Grey – powered: gravitational manipulation
Any Other Important People:
Uncle: Rupert Baines – unpowered
Aunt: Flora Baines – powered: Animation (plant-specific)
Cousin: Rachel Baines – unpowered
Cousin: Wesley Baines – powered: time manipulation
Brother-in-law: Winston Grey – powered: hydrokinesis
Nephew: Jareth Baines-Grey – will be powered eventually (age 11)
Grandfather: Atticus Baines – powered: retrocognition (nonspecific) – also recently deceased
Cat: Calico female named “Buttons”
Dog: American Cocker spaniel male named “Rotary”
History
Arlene was, for the lack of a better word…a surprise to her parents and nineteen-year old older sister Matilda. Luckily for her perhaps the Baines family was wealthy enough to employ caregivers of the best qualifications as they continued to work and live as they had since Matilda had reached maturity. Not that Hector and his wife Stephanie were neglectful parents; they just had a difficult time adjusting their lives from being relatively finished with child rearing to full-time parenthood again. Matilda, for her part was not thrilled by the prospect of being asked to baby-sit now that she had graduated from Hammel and was more than happy to go off to college in another state. As she grew older Arlene came to realize that her parents had high expectations that she was required to abide by. This never rubbed her the wrong way and she grew up thinking it was quite normal. After all, she could see that her sister was also being put under the same amount of pressure and that therefore it was just something her family did. In addition, due to the family’s wealthy stature the girls were raised with a strict hand and taught that any behavior that was less than exemplary was vulgar.
The Baines family had always been in a position of wealth. They began as prosperous farmers and then through several lucky investments were able to expand their wealth into different areas before making a shift into banking and politics. Currently the Baines family makes most of their money through both long and short-term investments, and savvy business sense. They also have a fantastic reputation in antiquities. Since the family was no longer farming and able to afford the best educations for their offspring, academia quickly became a favorite pastime. Several historians, archeologists and museum curators have come from the Baines family and all had extensive reputations. There were also scientists and mathematicians, but history always seemed to have a special place in the family. Arlene’s parents currently work as appraisers to private collectors, museums and archives all over the world and travel extensively from their medium-sized estate in Connecticut. Her aunt and uncle are both politicians in the state of New York, while her older cousins are living fulfilling lives with careers in science and military history, respectively.
While Arlene’s parents and sister were usually too busy to pay her much extra attention, her paternal grandfather was more than willing to step in and be a caregiver. Well, partial caregiver, he was getting on up in his years and usually requested one of the nannies to stick around in case he needed help. It was obvious from early on that Atticus favored Arlene, something that caused a small rift between her and Matilda who had only ever received small scraps of praise from the older man whenever she particularly excelled at something. Arlene wasn’t necessarily sure how to handle this, since her sister rarely interacted with their grandfather in front of her. She decided not to press the issue and tried not to bring up anything that might offend her sister when she was asked. Naturally Atticus was thrilled when Arlene manifested at the age of twelve and even more excited that she shared the same ability, despite it being limited to only objects. A recruiter arrived at the Baines Connecticut-based mansion the next day in order to explain to Hector and Stephanie about any changes the school had gone through since Matilda had graduated, since they were already well aware of the school itself. The day after the recruiter arrived, found Arlene moving into her dorm room and meeting her roommates. Despite the family financial status the Baines’ believed that their daughter would gain more from life if she lived as normally as possible while she was at school.
While attending Hammel Arlene continued to act in the manner in which she had been raised and didn’t participate in any shenanigans around school. She joined clubs instead and studied almost constantly in order to gain entry into her top college. Training also took priority at this time since control over her powers would also be a deciding factor in her graduation. Due to her priorities and driven personality to succeed at her goals, Arlene only had a few close friends while she was at school. She was able to graduate on time and immediately set off to get a double major in art history and archeology from Stanford, where she had obtained a partial academic scholarship. Since her parents were more than able to afford sending her to college, Arlene packed her things once more and went off to the prestigious school. Sadly this also meant leaving her beloved grandfather behind. Not long after Arlene had transferred to Hammel, Atticus formally retired and left his appraising business to his eldest son and opened an eclectic antiques shop in Pilot Ridge to be closer to his granddaughter. Arlene spent many weekends at her grandfather’s house learning about the items around her and had ultimately come to her college decision after chatting with him.
Just before Arlene graduated from Stanford with her double major she set about applying to various schools with master’s programs centered specifically around antiques. The school she ultimately chose for the experience of travel, and of course to get her hands on the history she could was the University of Central Lancanshire in England. She enrolled in their Antiques master’s program and spent the next two years obtaining this degree while haunting every museum she could conceivably travel too within that time period. She suffered from many migraines over those two years as she delved as deeply into an items history as she could just to watch what had happened to it. After completing her coursework, graduating, and obtaining the various certifications she needed in order to practice her skills, Arlene moved back to Connecticut where her parents had always lived and took up a position in their appraisal firm. Specifically she worked with one or two high-level private collectors, in addition to some local museums and archives where she donated her time and knowledge to assist to those institutions that couldn’t afford to outright hire her parents or anyone else who might have been available. Not that Arlene minded, she got hands-on experience to apply her knowledge and was able to help people at the same time.
Recently due to the death of her 90-year-old grandfather, and the reading of his Will, Arlene has come into possession of his antique shop back in Pilot Ridge which he had kept and ran even after she had graduated. Arlene hadn’t planned on returning to the small town but wanted to honor her grandfather’s wishes. After arriving back at the shop and seeing just what her grandfather had been doing with his time and all the people in the community who stopped by to offer her their condolences, she decided that there were worse places to be at 27 than with a business to run within an established community. So with her mother’s help she’s sorted through her grandfather’s apartment and put it up for sale, while buying a small, two-story cottage in a nice part of town. Eventually, if everything goes well, Arlene is expecting her nephew Jareth to manifest soon and come to study at Hammel like nearly every Baines since their grandfather had first attended in 1935. Arlene adores her nephew and would love for him to come and live with her while he studies at the school, though not because she necessarily wants to spoil him; mostly she’d like a live-in dishwasher and food taster.
So far she’s kept the antiques shop open and has already used her father’s help in alerting nearby collectors that there is an appraiser ready and waiting to assist. Because her grandfather’s estate was so large and Arlene was clearly his favorite she luckily doesn’t have to turn much of a profit in the store itself to make a living. Arlene’s hardworking nature however requires that she make a serious effort and she’s doing everything she can to drum up local business from around the town and from around the local cities and collectors who might need their precious artifacts appraised. She’s also poked around a local pawn shop in order to help verify the authenticity of some of their wares. She’s waiting to hear back from them but feels that if she can get that job in particular she can make at least some sort of weekly/bi-weekly income.
Roleplay Example
Please see Remle Boyd
What About You?
Name: Raechu the magnificent
Age: 27
Experience: 11ish years?
How Did You Find Us? Dry-----ope
Ready To Play? Always
