Dumbass Expository Bullshit

Favorite Food: Gallo Pinto with scrambled eggs

Favorite Flower: Red Poppy

Favorite Drink: Vodka

Birthdate: March 5

Favorite Season: Autumn

Favorite Ice Cream: Mint chocolate chip

Favorite Fruit: Strawberries

Languages: Fluent in Galbradine, Vesuvian, Nopali; Conversational in Venterre; Basic understanding of Nevivon, Prakan

Musical Inclinations: They like to sing, and they’re decent at it. Before the canon game they knew how to play the violin and the concertina.

Age: Late 20s-Early 30s. Younger than Muriel, older than Portia.

Can they cook?: Yes, but they would prefer not to. They can bake well, and have simple recipes memorized.

How do they do with spicy food?: LOVE spicy food. It’s kind of a point of pride. Being half-Nopali, it’s almost a requirement.

Do they like alcohol? What kind of drinks do they like?: Yes. The stronger the better, as long as it doesn’t taste smokey. They don’t care for whiskey or scotch, but sweet mixed drinks are some of their favorites.

How well do they hold their drinks?: Given their mild alcohol dependence during the plague, they have a strong tolerance. If they know they’re going to be drinking later, they’ll go without eating beforehand. It’s faster that way and in no way a sign of disordered behavior.

Sweet tooth? Sour Fiend?: Absolute sweet tooth. They love sweet drinks and sweet treats like pastries and desserts.

Can they swim?: Yes, and it’s one of their favorite ways to be active. They don’t get out much though, so they don’t get to swim often.

Can they sail?: Absolutely not. They’re more of a “passenger” than a “capable crew member”

Can they read?: Oh yes, they love to read. (What do they read? Everything.)

How do they feel about science/the scientific method?: To Vida science goes hand in hand with magic. Sometimes magic is easier for them, but if the process is clearly outlined for them, they can understand both topics well enough.

Name meaning, provenance?: Vida means Life in Spanish. I picked the name because they’re resurrected. Dunn means dark or shadow. At first I picked it because their dad’s name means “white” and I thought White Dark was funny. It just also happened to work out that their family name and life are shrouded from them after their resurrection.

What might their Major Arcana be if not the Fool?: The Hermit or The Devil

What Minor Arcana would they choose to represent themselves in a conventional reading (if not the previous)?: Queen of Cups

Nicknames? Are they ok with them?: Lucio calls them “Veedee” and they hate it. Their Tía Duende called them “her tweeting bird” and Gorda when they lived with her. Vida has… slightly more complicated feelings towards Duende’s nicknames.

Height: 5’7”/170cm

How would you describe their build?: You know how some people are “big boned”? Vida is small boned. Despite being half a foot taller than Portia, their hands and feet are the same size. They’re also chubby, with a narrow waist, full hips, and a generous bust. Hourglass/Christina Hendricks body type.

Do they run cold or warm?: Cold hands and feet with a warm core.

Feelings on caffeine/coffee: Wonderful. A luxury and necessity. 100/10

How do they think/learn? Visual? Auditory? Written?: Vida thinks in words and phrases, but they learn by doing. You can show them how to do something, but they do better with guided, hands-on teaching.

Trinkets

An unfinished knitting project - possibly a scarf or blanket, made with soft purple yarn. There are a few dropped stitches. It smells like lavender.

Three scraps of soft red fabric - one is long enough to be great for a makeshift blindfold, one to tie back hair, and one is about a square foot in size.

Red leather journal - partially filled with etchings, potion recipes, spell incantations, and scattered with diary entries. Some pages have been torn out.

A small collection of crystals - primarily used to eliminate the body of Not Enough Shiny Things toxin. (rose quartz, peacock ore, turquoise, and a grass agate worry stone)

The biggest news: My husband and I were house-hunting for several months, which meant getting my student loans out of default, fixing my credit score, and then the stress of finding houses, falling in love with houses only for the sales to fall through, then finding a livable place in an okay location, working with multiple lenders to find an okay enough mortgage, price negotiations, sorting out our apartment lease to either break it or have two monthly payments, working as much overtime as possible to afford the down payment, and (FINALLY) moving out of our apartment and into our home. This all happened by December.

Then the usual holiday season, which meant working MORE overtime for bills, gifts, and travel to family members. Then on we got into a minor accident miles away from family where our car was undrivable in winter conditions. We got home several days late to a 40-degree home and find out our furnace died. The cats were okay, but definitely stressed about the cold and that we were gone for so long (weekend trip became an almost week-long trip). Did you know that finding emergency HVAC on Christmas is difficult? I was spoiled by apartment life.

After the holidays was kind of a fugue state where I worked, slept, and rarely socialized outside of a small group of friends. March and May were especially rough for personal reasons. I definitely self-isolated myself without realizing it. I don’t even have any art or writing to show for it, since I didn’t make anything.

Got back into therapy, my meds are getting adjusted, and I was diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD. I’m working on getting back in touch with the friends I made through this fandom, but being away for so long built up a huge amount of anxiety about not knowing what’s going on, causing a self-perpetuating cycle.

I’m now at a place where I can get past that for the most part, but the guilt is still there.