Lacie Baskerville (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gather_ye_rosebuds) wrote2012-01-24 01:17 am
gather_ye_rosebuds) wrote2012-01-24 01:17 am
Lacie -- for modern AU PSL
Lacie's mother died in childbirth--a rare thing, in this day and age, but the family was poor, and had done next to nothing by way of doctors and prenatal care. Upon bringing the baby girl home, her father had shoved the child into her five-year-old brother Oswald's arms, then promptly crawled into a bottle, never to be seen sober again. Lacie likely wouldn't have survived, if it weren't for her brother and a kind, elderly woman who lived next door and frequently checked on the two children, making certain they were both fed, washed and clothed as best she could.
The first few years of Lacie's life were punctuated by a mix of neglect and cruelty from her father--who focused his rage over the death of his wife on the child--and the love and kindness of Oswald and the old woman next door. Then a night came, when she was four years old, when their father drove his car off of a bridge and into a river, on the way home from his latest bender.
The children were passed from foster home to foster home for the following two years, each one seedier than the last, before they were adopted by Levi Baskerville, last scion of one of the oldest, richest, and most powerful families in the country. From nearly the first moment the Baskervilles set foot on U.S. soil (and further back before that, truth be told) they have been known to dabble in politics. However, the rumor goes that the bulk of their power comes from their extensive underworld ties. Levi is a shadow king of sorts, and the brother and sister were the family's only heirs for a few years, until Leo (now 19) was adopted, later.
Perhaps owing to blurry memories of her father's rejection--and certainly to the cruelties and perversities she'd been exposed to, in foster care--Lacie doesn't place a lot of stock in "traditional family values." She cares just as little for the glitz and glamour her life as a Baskerville has made available to her. Early on, she developed a tendency for making trouble for the tutors and nannies hired to see to her care and education, something that surely wasn't helped by the fact that her brother tolerated her flightiness and Levi outright indulged it. She also ran away often, and more than once, the police carted her home before the various people who work for the Baskervilles could find her. (Of course a large number of them are on the family payroll too.)
Though she has a sharp mind and is full of curiosity, she never excelled in school and was expelled from a couple of them, before finally graduating. She prefers to study on her own time and follow her own interests, and never had the patience for the rigid structures and power games and pecking orders inherent in even the private side of the school system. As such, she tends to be smarter than people expect her to be; her intelligence simply isn't officially recognized or quantified.
Far from a soft "princess" of the affluent Baskervilles, Lacie has learned a thing or two about defending herself. On one of her little escapes, she stumbled upon a school that taught Filipino martial arts, and decided to keep going, after she was found. Edged weapons are her specialty, and her knife collection is extensive. She can also pick pockets and locks with equal ease, having picked the skills up from various friends she's made on the wrong side of the tracks.
When she was 17, she and Levi began an illicit relationship, which lasted three years, until a night when they were almost stumbled upon by Oswald. Lacie couldn't give a fuck about what most people think of her... except for her brother. Rather than take the chance of it happening again, she elected that very week to move out on her own.
Rather than accept the assortment of expensive penthouses Levi's agents tried to persuade her to take, she chose to live on the top floor of an old building, in a rundown part of town. She calls it her apartment purely for the amusement of seeing the looks on her friends' faces, when they come home with her the first time. There, she lives with an enormous Tibetan Mastiff named Beastie. Largely a gentle and affectionate dog, he is also her fierce protector.
At 23, now and lover of music, she's gaining some local fame as the singer in a rock band called The Foundlings, in which the melodic beauty of her voice is offset by a dark, fierce sound. She can play the guitar well, and piano and violin a little. Her brother occasionally writes a song for them, though his own musical preferences tend more toward classical. She's also won a little notoriety in the local kink community, as a domme. She's particularly sought-after by those who hope to try out bloodplay and bladeplay. (She also may or may not be the primary backer of a shelter for abused women and children, in her neighborhood, and may or may not have a bit of a reputation for taking people under her wing and helping them get back onto their feet, now and then. She may or may not have picked up a certain blond stalker, because of this, though he never ventures close enough to speak to her, and she tends to just shrug it off, when she catches sight of him peeking at her around corners.)
Despite her adamant position as the black sheep of the family, Lacie is still welcomed at home. Levi frequently sends her gifts, half of which she sends back just to be contrary. Occasionally he sends Oswald to talk her into coming over for dinner with the family, or to some fancy benefit or ball. The only thing she never turns down are tickets to the opera. (And generally, in exchange for these appearances at family functions, she demands that Oswald appear on stage with her, as payment.)
The first few years of Lacie's life were punctuated by a mix of neglect and cruelty from her father--who focused his rage over the death of his wife on the child--and the love and kindness of Oswald and the old woman next door. Then a night came, when she was four years old, when their father drove his car off of a bridge and into a river, on the way home from his latest bender.
The children were passed from foster home to foster home for the following two years, each one seedier than the last, before they were adopted by Levi Baskerville, last scion of one of the oldest, richest, and most powerful families in the country. From nearly the first moment the Baskervilles set foot on U.S. soil (and further back before that, truth be told) they have been known to dabble in politics. However, the rumor goes that the bulk of their power comes from their extensive underworld ties. Levi is a shadow king of sorts, and the brother and sister were the family's only heirs for a few years, until Leo (now 19) was adopted, later.
Perhaps owing to blurry memories of her father's rejection--and certainly to the cruelties and perversities she'd been exposed to, in foster care--Lacie doesn't place a lot of stock in "traditional family values." She cares just as little for the glitz and glamour her life as a Baskerville has made available to her. Early on, she developed a tendency for making trouble for the tutors and nannies hired to see to her care and education, something that surely wasn't helped by the fact that her brother tolerated her flightiness and Levi outright indulged it. She also ran away often, and more than once, the police carted her home before the various people who work for the Baskervilles could find her. (Of course a large number of them are on the family payroll too.)
Though she has a sharp mind and is full of curiosity, she never excelled in school and was expelled from a couple of them, before finally graduating. She prefers to study on her own time and follow her own interests, and never had the patience for the rigid structures and power games and pecking orders inherent in even the private side of the school system. As such, she tends to be smarter than people expect her to be; her intelligence simply isn't officially recognized or quantified.
Far from a soft "princess" of the affluent Baskervilles, Lacie has learned a thing or two about defending herself. On one of her little escapes, she stumbled upon a school that taught Filipino martial arts, and decided to keep going, after she was found. Edged weapons are her specialty, and her knife collection is extensive. She can also pick pockets and locks with equal ease, having picked the skills up from various friends she's made on the wrong side of the tracks.
When she was 17, she and Levi began an illicit relationship, which lasted three years, until a night when they were almost stumbled upon by Oswald. Lacie couldn't give a fuck about what most people think of her... except for her brother. Rather than take the chance of it happening again, she elected that very week to move out on her own.
Rather than accept the assortment of expensive penthouses Levi's agents tried to persuade her to take, she chose to live on the top floor of an old building, in a rundown part of town. She calls it her apartment purely for the amusement of seeing the looks on her friends' faces, when they come home with her the first time. There, she lives with an enormous Tibetan Mastiff named Beastie. Largely a gentle and affectionate dog, he is also her fierce protector.
At 23, now and lover of music, she's gaining some local fame as the singer in a rock band called The Foundlings, in which the melodic beauty of her voice is offset by a dark, fierce sound. She can play the guitar well, and piano and violin a little. Her brother occasionally writes a song for them, though his own musical preferences tend more toward classical. She's also won a little notoriety in the local kink community, as a domme. She's particularly sought-after by those who hope to try out bloodplay and bladeplay. (She also may or may not be the primary backer of a shelter for abused women and children, in her neighborhood, and may or may not have a bit of a reputation for taking people under her wing and helping them get back onto their feet, now and then. She may or may not have picked up a certain blond stalker, because of this, though he never ventures close enough to speak to her, and she tends to just shrug it off, when she catches sight of him peeking at her around corners.)
Despite her adamant position as the black sheep of the family, Lacie is still welcomed at home. Levi frequently sends her gifts, half of which she sends back just to be contrary. Occasionally he sends Oswald to talk her into coming over for dinner with the family, or to some fancy benefit or ball. The only thing she never turns down are tickets to the opera. (And generally, in exchange for these appearances at family functions, she demands that Oswald appear on stage with her, as payment.)