TASK 001. THE TIES WHICH BIND US.
AT A GLANCE. How is your character perceived by those who don't know them? How does your character perceive strangers?
Reclusive, a permanent frown or a neutral yet sharp expression ever present on her face. Marcella keeps to herself for the most part and doesn’t like to say a whole lot. Not because she doesn’t want to necessarily, though that is certainly the case at times, but rather because she lacks the energy to do so. Marcella doesn’t mean to come off so harshly, but it’s become so habitual now that she doesn’t know how not to either. Marcella’s depressed, but she hasn’t fully acknowledged this. She’s already on her guard with people she knows, so around those she doesn’t that applies a hundredfold. Even friends start off as strangers at some point, but for Marcella as she is nowadays she doesn’t bother to try and come off as amicable. She doesn’t know the intention of a stranger, even that of someone familiar is never guaranteed, and so she tends to be more prickly and terse around strangers.
REVEAL YOURSELF. how long does it take your character to open up to someone?
A long time. Marcella is like an iceberg in every sense of the word: as it’s used to describe a floating mass of ice that runs deeper and can be larger beneath the water’s surface than it appears as well as how the word is used now to describe the undead feeling as though she’s already experienced death when her daughter was killed and now she’s nothing more than a walking husk of who she used to be. She may say little, but there’s always a lot going on in her head that goes unspoken. Often a cycle of the same thoughts, but they torment her at full force all the same and have been for years. These are things Marcella isn’t as inclined to talk about: her daughter whom she misses dearly, her late husband whom she harbors nothing but venomous resentment towards, the way the anguish and rage has sunk their fangs into her and have a vice grip on her heart and mind like a bear trap and won’t let go. Most of all, she’s tired and doesn’t know how to say as such without having to explain the rest, so she’ll tell anyone she’s just been busy and leave it at that. It’s more difficult to hide the lack of sleep the more exhausted she becomes, although it’s become easier to manage over the years when it’s only been a day, maybe a little more, to feel the effects of fatigue less. Marcella doesn’t trust easily, she fears what she loves -- whom she loves -- will be ripped away from her at any second, and so she finds it safer to keep her walls up high both so people can’t get in and so what tenderness is left of her can’t get out.
A REFLECTION. what is your character like as a friend? as an enemy? as a lover?
FRIEND. It’s not always easy to tell if Marcella considers someone a friend or not because she treats them almost the same as anyone else, but with a little less abrasiveness and a little more gentle. Or, at the very least, if she finds herself behaving with the usual roughness that she does she’ll try to catch herself and soften her words. That said, while she’ll like this person more than others as she considers them a friend, she still won’t trust them enough to delve too deeply into her personal life. They may hear passing snippets about her daughter though. CLOSE FRIEND. Similar to the above, but with more trust. Such a person is someone Marcella would feel more comfortable thinking aloud in front of and who would be privy to more details of her personal life. She’d trust them to have her back in a fight or argument and she’d do the same for them. Loyalty and trust would be key for this kind of a relationship to last. ENEMY. Stay away from her lest you wish to find yourself being split in two by her axe. LOVER. Loyal, caring, but deeply -- too deeply. She’d tear the world asunder for them. There is no limit to how far she’d go for a partner she really and truly loved and felt the feeling and respect and trust were mutual. It can easily be used against her if so desired because for Marcella, such feelings would become all-consuming. She wouldn’t be clingy or needy, Marcella wouldn’t hover or demand constant attention as she wouldn’t do the same to them in return nor wish for it, but her feelings are intense and someone not willing or ready for that shouldn’t try to dive into any sort of serious relationship with her.
THROUGH CROSS-HAIRS. what does your character look for in potential friends?
A few things in common they could potentially do together, respect, a little bit of trust. The last thing is built over time, but it follows more easily when there’s respect and enjoyment can be found within each other’s company. If they’re someone who won’t judge her need to go out and hunt some undead to blow off steam then she’ll have a more favorable opinion of the person and, if they wished, could join her on her little hunts. They’d be witness to her more reckless and wild fighting style.
DIGGING DEEPER. what is your character's relationship history?
Marcella was married, once, to a man she never loved which ended through her husband’s death when she killed him after her daughter was killed because of his actions. Marcella had never been married prior or has considered marriage again since, but she’s had her share of flings and one night stands prior to Anthony and after. Nothing serious, never anything serious. She fears the attachment and how fickle feelings can be. As for familial relationships, there was her daughter Isabella who was the light of her life -- her pride and joy -- and when Marcella was most true to who she was as a person. She loved her daughter more than anything and despite being a firm parent who refused to spoil Isabella, she was also gentle, patient, supportive, and understanding. Traits that now are much more muted, but can manifest in bonds she creates with younger people who she subconsciously sees as something like a child that could’ve been hers. She had a strained relationship with her parents and was never particularly close to either of them nor with her sister or two half-brothers. Marcella also doesn’t know where any of them are or if they’re alive at all.
A TRUTH. what is your character's view on love?
Sometimes Marcella doubts it even exists, not in the way it’s written in books. Most of the time she believes love is not soft nor tender, but rather something that bites and the hurt from it never goes away. Marcella knows love comes in many forms, but doesn’t think it’s something she will ever really know for herself -- she doesn’t think it possible for someone like herself to experience it let alone deserve it.
