[ india amarteidio, she/her, cis woman ] โ was thatย DINAH NIGHTINGALE? theย TWENTY THREEย year old is aย LADY, how exciting to see them this season! rumors have it they areย WITTYย andย AMBITIOUS, but iโve heard they areย CYNICALย andย REACTIVEย as well โ maybe thatโs why theyโve been called theย SPITFIRE. I have even heard thatย SHE WAS BORN AS THE RESULT OF AN AFFAIR BETWEEN HER MOTHER AND THEIR SERVANTย โonly time will tell.
name: dinah ( samirah - her ghanian name ) nightingale title: lady nightingale age: twenty-three birthday: march 29 sign: aries sexuality: bisexual languages known: english , french & german
BACKGROUND
dinah's mother , afryea nightingale , was born in ghana , where she came from a moderately wealthy family who grew rich off being merchants. they were world travelers who traveled & traded for a living. her mother , who was never far behind her father on his adventures , grew to love exploring new communities.
when she was 17 , she met dinah's father in france , laurence nightingale. he too was visiting the country , as he was from england. he came from extremely new money , a formerly low-class family who had earned their wealth unconventionally through a series of lucky streaks of gambling.
the two fell for each other headfirst and on impulse , days before she was meant to leave he proposed and asked her to return to england with him. however , the major secret between them was that already gotten pregnant during her time in france , therefore the wedding was extremely rushed as to avoid scandal.
they ended up having six kids , of which dinah is the youngest. things were good until her mother grew bitter with her life. she had always dreamed of adventure and hadn't had much intention to marry , but had acted impulsively out of love. her husband had very traditional views of marriage and didn't allow her to join his travels like he promised. this eventually led to her resentment of her own kids , feeling like her role as a wife and mother got in the way of her happiness.
dinah's birth served as the essential death of her parent's love. by the time she was born , her father had had countless affairs and put his gambling tendencies over his family. her mother had fallen for one of her male servants , and the two secretly had an affair , leading to the birth of dinah. while there were whispers amongst the staff about dinah's legitimacy , it's always been met with hostility by her mother.
dinah's always had her own suspicions , though she's never been told the truth. but she sees how differently her parents treat her , and how those closest to them seem to narrow their eyes just a little more at her. but most of all , she can't shake the sadness in the eyes of the servant who curiously looks so similar to her.
outside of her parent's , though , dinah's been grateful to afford a relatively free life. she inherited the adenterous spirit of her mom , and even though she hasn't traveled much , she grew a love for reading and language learning as they allowed her to mentally go someplace else.
she hadn't expected her parent's pressure to debut in society , by being the youngest of many other siblings. however , her father made a harsh comment to her , stating " she couldn't live off his money forever " , it made her feel horrible , but rumors have said it's because her family's entering fiancnail ruin due to her father's gambling addiction. so , she's taking this year more seriously as a real chance for her to be less reliant on her own family's wealth.
PERSONALITY
outspoken , opinionated , and unafraid to take up space , just like her mother. it's something that's always been celebrated within her family , though the same can't be said for those outside it. as the youngest , she is a bit spoiled , so hasn't ever really been told no ? therefore , she doesn't have much of a filter , and it's been a recurring challenge she's had to deal with ever since entering society.
spoiled , but not snobby. she's the youngest and therefore is often being doted on , but both her parents come from relatively new money and who's families were both hard workers. she doesn't scare away from spending , but less bc she has to and more bc she believes it's a privilege her family has earned ! but she's not yet in a place to feel her family is fully comfortable in nobility , so doesn't quite feel as ingrained in that part of society as others may.
a little artist ! she loves all things creative , and spends a lot of her free time painting or wandering around art galleries. but her favorite medium is just doodling in her free time. it's not odd to catch her hiding away from others in the grass , drawing people faraway as she people watches !! if it's someone she knows sometimes she'll slip the drawing under their door without saying it's her , totally not a way to creep people out dinah !!
a huge learner. not the athletic type , would much rather spend her time inside with her nose in a new book. she mostly enjoys foreign language or exciting adventure books. secret lover of romance books , but she's sure to keep those books buried underneath her pillowcase.
on that note , she's a bit cynical about love. it's not that she doesn't believe in it , but every example of it in her life has taught her it's bound to fail. she's a natural hopeless romantic who use to fantasize about love , but time has made her grow cold to the idea. she feels love exists , but isn't enough.
so as she looks for her future partner , she is seeing marriage as more contractual and less magical. more than anything , she wants someone who grants her freedom , who allows her to explore her passions and learn more as she always has. but there's a sliver of hope somewhere inside her that hopes that love can be found somewhere in the equation , though her expectations are low.
her mom always has those faraway eyes and smiles so much when she speaks of finding love , but it confuses dinah bc it's not what she's seen ? her siblings saw her parents in love but ever since she's been around , there hasn't been much of it for her to understand her mom's fixation on it ?
despite her pessimism , she does adore being in society now. with her friends , she's a known gossip , and she loves finally feeling in the mix of all that happens around the most vibrant time of the year. even if love isn't in the cards for her , she's had plenty of fun getting to flirt with pretty girls and guys of the ton !
and while i say she's flirty , she's a very "blink and you'll miss it" flirt. she's not into cliches , she sees right through it so it makes things boring for her. she likes being kept on her toes , and therefore enjoys those who challenge her the most ! the very typical swooning style will make her roll her eyes HAHA
also incredibly competitive , which definitely contributes to her fun during the social season ! she's not there to find love but she is there to win , so even if it's not her type of game she'll play it to beat everyone else !! will literally turn walking to the bathroom to the race to the top if she has to LMAO
i would say she's extroverted , but easily exhausted from pleasantries and polite society. she could spend the entire night out w no problem , but if that night involves having to lie and shmooze uppity adults , she's gonna find away to sneak out when no one's looking !!
WANTED CONNECTION
pleeeease give her friends to spill the tea with (metaphorically LMAO ) !! someone who she can run over to during parties and be like do you see what i'm seeing ?? she's such a gossip and it's only natural she'd attract friends who are like her !
maybe a long-term crush ? someone she took a liking to before she got to her no-love-for-me phase , but could never really shake her crush off ?? bonus points if they were childhood friends for all the teasing and embarrassing stories that could ensue !
on that note , platonic childhood friends ! could also be working class , i could totally see her sneaking off to play w the kids of the town ! the nightingales are fair to their staff , as i said they're not very snobby , so i could definitely also see them allowing their children to play w dinah and the rest of their kids !
siblings ?? this is a more formal wc but an older sibling who feels bitter towards her mother's differing treatment of her vs them would be v interesting ! i could see this being either a really cute positive or a really messy negative connection , i'd love either !
enemies ?? she's so competitive though this could've originated from the most stupid , petty reasons ever. but whatever the cause she can't stand the sight of them and she's not afraid to say it !
a more recent love interest she's found after entering society ? this would be much newer and probably more push-pull , since she's actively rejecting being vulnerable to love atm. it could be fun slow burn though so i'd definitely be interested !
someone who either likes art or helps her w her doodles ! she's not a formal artist by any means , but it'd be great to have someone she could paint with or who'd pose for her to draw !
chaos buddies !! she's been trying to be on her best behavior as per her family's wishes , but i'd love to see someone who knows exactly what to say to get the chaos in her to return ! downing her family's wine collection , giggling about other members of the ton , sneaking out to go on late night adventures , all of it !!
this is by no means an exhaustive list though , just a way to get the ideas flowing ! pls know i love braintorming as well and if none of this works i'd love to just talk about our muses together and see what fits !
