vermillion

— BASICS

Full Name: Mira Ionova Nickname(s): Mir Age: 27 Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Religion: Lapsed Catholic Birth Place: A village with a name she can’t remember  Languages: English, Russian, Basque, Catalan Alignment: Chaotic Good

— PHYSICAL

Face claim: Emily Browning Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Brown Height: 5′ Distinguishing Features/Marks: freckles; a snake tattoo on the back of her arm, covered up with flowers; a scar on her knee, ankle; scar on her neck

— PERSONALITY

Habits: flexing her ankle and foot when thinking; absentmindedly drawing swirls on napkins; staring off into space; going home, making a simple dinner, and soaking in a bath; stretching before bed & in the morning Likes: dance, long baths, film, sketching, insects, costume design, the unusual & odd, making complicated drinks, baroque art, when her students perfect a step, strong coffee & tea Dislikes: artificial sweets, rain, strong scents, sleeping, brain fog, the cold, loud noises, cruelty Strengths:  marksmanship, fist-fighting Weaknesses: chronic pain, reckless Traits: thoughtful, sociable, determined, loyal, melancholy, closed-off, wary, dysfunctional, caring

— BACKGROUND [TW DEATH, TW MURDER, TW VOMITING, TW CHILD ABUSE]

Mira barely remembers who she was before she became the daughter of Claudia Ionova. In Spain, she had another name, another life but that might have just been a dream.

She was seven when her mother died. Claudia adopted her, called her Mira. What Mira wanted was a family, and what she got was a pair of ribboned shoes and a gun. Her new mother doted on her when she did well, but was cruel when she slipped on the floor, and when she couldn’t shoot straight, her hand shaking. To be Ionova was to be perfect, and to not be perfect was to be dead.

The first time she killed someone, Mira threw up on the floor and scratched the skin from her hands. “It gets easier,” Claudia said, but it didn’t. To be Ionova means to be an assassin means to live your life in the service of the Zmeya. Mira never had a choice.

When she was fifteen, she entered the New York Academy of Ballet. It was her chance to leave the world she’d never been meant for, to make some friends who didn’t know how to kill a moving target. But she still felt isolated, alone. At nineteen she suffered a fall, sustaining injuries to her left leg and ankle - she didn’t really get back up after that. After physical therapy, she was back to what most people thought of as normal, but her leg protested whenever she lifted it into a passé, and in ciseaux, she wasn’t half as graceful.

Two years later, Claudia was assassinated. She was the one to find her mother. A friend helped her escape the ensuing chaos that erupted in Zmeya ranks when she was targeted, shuffling her to different states, before dropping her in New Mexico. She adapted, taking different jobs bartending and serving, before going back to school for her bachelors in Theater Arts.

She’d finally settled down when he returned five years later and told her, “You made me a promise.” and that gun was still in the back of her closet, locked in a safe with a combination she didn’t know. His gambling caused problems with the wrong crowd. It was $50,000 on the line, and the head of one of this gang’s most important members, but somehow it didn’t feel like it was worth the risk of her life. But she owed a debt.

A year after entering a relationship with her target, she was caught when finally she finally found out where the money was held and was taken captive, where she met Konstantin Vasile. He managed to get out. She didn’t.

She refused to sell out her friend, and they decided that they wouldn’t kill her. Not if she killed Konstantin. Her life for his - it should be an easy trade, they told her. After all, he’d left her behind.

Now she’s in Chicago, under someone else’s thumb. And she wants out.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS

Friends. Any kind of friends, really, from people Mira interacts on a daily basis with to casual acquaintances. She’s able to carry a conversation, but isn’t necessarily a chatterbox. It would be hard to get close to her on an emotional level, but she needs people to keep her company when drinking, visiting art museums, the zoo, and seeing movies.

Students. People she teaches in more intermediate classes, and any parents with children who she teaches. She can seem harsh sometimes, but only because of how important precision is in dance, and otherwise she maintains a good relationship with those she instructs.

Enemies. These will likely be people she’s known in the past, but I’m open to anything here. There’s a strong possibility of her not liking certain people, or at least not trusting them, and we love a little friction, don’t we?

Love interests. I have no concrete ideas for this area, but it’d be fun to have, whether they’re as fucked up as she is, or someone who’s functional (and whose life she can fuck up.)