Nora Ashton

[Stockmon]

NORA HELENE ASHTON

GODSPEED THIS LETTER AWAY FROM HERE
i've sealed it with my tears
and stamped it with my fears

•• nicknames: Nora
•• age: 25
•• birth era: Victorian
•• date of birth: October 1st
•• as portrayed by: Michelle Branch

•• your character’s body: Nora knows how to take care of herself. Although she is only five foot seven she is not short for a woman. Nora is slender but not a stick. It is frowned upon for a girl to be overly ambitious, which includes athletics, and for this reason she is more athletic than most women. She walks often and runs at night, which has given her strong legs and other activities have helped her tone the rest of her body, but from looking at her she would appear only in good health, and not actually strong. It is nearly impossible to find any flab on Nora’s body, but despite all this activity she is fairly pale. Not vampirically pale, she has a sort of olive tint to her, but would still stand to contrast most ladies around her.

Nora is not unattractive, as some woman in her position can get away with being. She is nice to look at, with a mostly oval face and fair complexion. She had black hair and brown eyes, although in a heavy amount of direct light her hair can sometimes appear brown instead of black. Since Nora tends to avoid that much light, her hair is usually black. Her brown eyes are like chocolate shavings, pasty brown, and they are highly reflective, though not easily expressive of her own emotions. No one could call them mirrors into her soul, although they have been called the depths of darkness in the past. She does not smile outright very often, and usually has a deceptive or conniving smile on her face. Nora’s hair is naturally wavy and generally highly messy in appearance, since she wears it down and doesn’t trouble herself with public appearances as much as many others.

Nora wears black, and that is the most noticeable thing about her clothing. She wears the natural Victorian styles, long dresses, corsets, and fluff. But unlike most ladies, pastel is not in her closet. She wears crosses and earrings, gothic paraphernalia and never goes out without her black lace fan. Her fan has a bracelet attached so she can slip it on her wrist and swing it around, but in her fan the bridges have knives slid in. Though she doesn’t actually attack anyone, she has used these to intimidate possible suitors, and this is also the reason she does not bring her fan if she is near the Queen, as it is not allowed. Most notably Nora owns a few pairs of her younger brother’s old trousers, and wears those on occasion at night or in private, but rarely. For the most part Nora wears corset dresses, and some things that might be considered skimpy, since she shows her arms, and collar bone, more often than not.

Nora has a few thin silver slivers on the backs of both shoulders. They appear to be claw marks of some sort, though unless you stand directly beside her, in good light, you will not notice them at all. And she does not discuss how she got them, so most know better than to ask.

MY WORK HERE IS THROUGH
i’m on my way to better days
and so are you

•• likes: Nathaniel Mark Ashton, Simon, Harps, Violins, Pianos, Gothic Art, Gargoyles, Raphael, Crosses, Prayer, Black, Water, Drinks, Fine Wine, Roses, Thorns, Being Thanked, Russian, German, French, Italian, English, Literature, Debate, Discussion, Conversation, Children, Opinions, Being Right, and Red.
•• dislikes: Swimming, Being In Water, Funerals, Crying, Scars, Screaming, Yelling, Bias, Prejudice, Being Judged, Racism, Slavery, Gold Diggers, Marriage, Mud, Lighting, Thunder, Vulgarity, Obscenity, Boredom, Snobs, White, Pink, Fluff, Liars, Accusations, Naps, and Public Displays of Affection.
•• general personality: To be a high class lady one would need wealth, influence, looks, and or decorum. Nora gets by with wealth, influence, and looks. Decorum is overrated in her opinion. She can tell you what she thinks without disguising it behind five layers of polite fluff. If she wants you to know something she does not see why she cannot simply tell you outright. If you can’t handle the truth you are not worth her time, so you had best back off. As most women do not involve themselves in the more strenuous sports, Nora is looked down on for her pursuit of them, but she does not let this get to her. She acts, for the most part, as if she cannot hear what people say about her, at least in regard to sports.

It is hard to understand Nora sometimes, because of how different she acts from person to person. In general she is cold and calculated in appearance, but things change when she is around children. Nora has a soft spot for children, or at least the ones that are not well off. Spoiled children annoy her, yet she still gives them more leniency than she does with spoiled adults. She lets children inside her personal space, and smiles more often when they are around. With children Nora is more patient and compassionate than almost ever otherwise.

Nora has the least patience for suitors. Most suitors pursue her because of her wealth, influence, and occasionally even for her looks. But all in all she cannot stand men who think they should chase her because she is in their social standing. Just above that annoyance is where people who pursue her because they was to increase their social standing are held. If there is love, then it is fine, but romantic pursuits without actual affection do not interest Nora. She has never been in love, and thus has always had a certain detachment for any man who feels the need to flirt with her. Her fan is either closed, or she has a knife sticking out to ward off any attention to herself. She has a short temper and is rather cold toward suitors in general, unless she is just toying with them, and then she tends to still be highly sarcastic.

Being the younger brother of Nora Ashton has many perks. Nora has a soft spot for children, and more often than not she views her brother as a child, although he is in his twenties. Nate is carefree and careless at times, and Nora has always had to take care of him. She is strict, yet forgiving toward him. She loves him with her whole heart, and can laugh at his follies, but she lets him know she does not approve. She is harshly honest, yet compassionate. Nora has the most fun when Nate is around, and she lets her guard down for him. The best way to Nora’s heart is through Nathaniel, but Nate knows this. Nate would not let anyone close to him that he thinks would hurt his sister, and in this he looks out for her as she looks out for him. All of this is all the more reason that the two are extremely close.

It is best not to be near Nora when she is sad. There are not a lot of things that can actually make Nora sad, and thus when a blow is struck that actually gets her down, she is extremely vulnerable. These are the times Nate makes sure he is close enough to make sure no one takes advantage of her vulnerability. She doesn’t necessarily trust anyone, but she can be easily turned from being sad to downright depressed. She would never physically harm herself, but she would put herself in situations that would emotionally scar her. It all depends on why she is depressed, if she is blaming herself for something, feeling helpless, or anything else, that effects what it is she will do, and how she will act during her sadness.

Some people assume Nora is superstitious based on her strong dislike for cemeteries and funerals. Some assume she is not because of her strong belief in prayer and wearing crosses. Nora is superstitious, as the final answer to that question. She does not believe in vampires, nor werewolves. She does believe in ghosts, demons, angels, and anything that is covered in the Bible. She prays, which is not to say she is religious, or Christian, Catholic, or otherwise. Nora does not often talk of God, and she does not pray aloud or in public as a general rule. But she does pray alone, which leads people to confusion. Nora does not let herself get wrapped up in curses, hexes, luck or any sort, and silly things like that. Yet she does avoid things that regard ghosts and death, and finds it amusing to appear more superstitious than she actually is, with her black cats, and things of that sort.

Nora has a general fear of dying, or being in a cemetery at night. She is superstitious and fears ghosts. She also fears her brother being killed, killing anyone, getting in trouble, or being hurt at all. She fears getting married herself, or getting divorced. She is afraid of being stabbed, going to hell, the death of anyone she knows, being helpless, love, or losing control at all. She hopes that Nate will settle down, and that people will stop trying to push their views on her. She hopes people will stop gossiping about her family, and that she can fade from public view. She hopes Nathaniel will stop getting into trouble, and that she will be happy without falling in love or getting married. Her hobbies include playing the piano, harp, and violin. She also enjoys listening to music, looking at art, taking walks, running and jogging. She would consider intimidating people a hobby, also scoffing at public displays of affection. Making sure Nate stays out of trouble is a job more than a hobby, but she also enjoys chess, gardening, collecting jewelry, and debating.

•• hometown: London, England
•• job(s): Upper Class
•• general history: Almyra and Jacob were young and completely rich. This meant to society that they should be married, and soon. But that was not why they got married. That was why they met, to be sure, and with Jacob being an only child, and Almyra being the only survivor of three infant deaths in her family, everyone was highly protective of them. But the pair seemed to work, both upper class, polite, attractive, and well liked by everyone, and everyone wanted to see them wed. So when Jacob was twenty two and Almyra was eighteen the two got married, and everyone was happy, though the pair did not get married to make anyone happy. They got married because they got along, and they loved each other.

The two were happily married for six years, until Almyra got pregnant. November first eighteen fifteen changed the Ashton family forever. Nora Helene Ashton was a giggling happy little baby girl with tufts of soft black hair already coming from her head. Two years after that, on the date of August fifteenth eighteen seventeen Nathaniel Mark Ashton was born. That winter Almyra grew ill and stayed in bed until June of the next summer. Everyone in the community loved Almyra, they pitied Jacob, and they paid little to no attention to the toddlers around the home. But after that summer Almyra was up and about, slower, but bright and healthy as ever for the next two years, until she took ill, December of eighteen twenty, and she was in bed until her death January eighth eighteen twenty two.

By this time Nora was seven years old, and Nathaniel was five, reasonably aware of the things around them. Only Jacob paid any mind to his children, as some people seemed to have forgotten they even existed. He set the two up with a childhood friend of Almyra’s, one Patience Smith, a testament to Almyra’s selflessness. Patience was a lower class working girl who Almyra befriended, and Jacob had hired as a gardener for their home only months after they were married. Patience would be the full time nanny for the two children. When Nora was eight years old all of a sudden people took notice of her. They started to question if she would be like her mother, better, worse. Could she live up to the family name? Would she shame them all? Jacob sheltered his princess from all this as best he could, rebuking gossips and getting somewhat fed up with the upper class. He stopped going out for the most part, except for the most regal of summons before Nathaniel turned seven.

While Jacob spent his time at home he taught Nora all about her mother, music, literature, and anything she showed interest in. Jacob also taught Nathaniel language and etiquette, although he learned less being younger. With Jacob’s lack of social activities the already rich family swelled their income even more, and Patience became practically a member of the family. One night, a few days after Nora’s eleventh birthday Jacob was taking a walk through downtown London, for reasons unknown to his children, and he was mugged and killed. Two days later, on November sixth eighteen twenty-six, Nora dressed in black for her father’s funeral, and it seemed that she never came out of mourning. Although Nathaniel came into the public view around the age of fourteen, when he fully established himself as a rake, Nora never left from the age of eight. London had seemed to decide that Nora would never be her mother, and it was only proper to whisper behind her back about her shortcomings in this aspect. Nora did he best to protect the family reputation, keeping Nathaniel from making a fool of himself and tarnishing the family name, and keeping herself from doing anything harmful as well. Both children received exemplary educations from a variety of governesses and were raised by Patience Smith, whom Nathaniel was strongly attached to, but Nora grew distant from based on her stronger attachment to her late mother.

Even at the age of twenty-five, Nora appears in mourning, and Nathaniel is carefree as ever. Nora shuns romantic advances and friendship is kept to a bare minimum, while Nathaniel is friendly toward most people and romance is like oxygen. The two cruise the social scene almost nightly. Nathaniel does this to enjoy himself, and Nora does this to make sure Nathaniel doesn’t enjoy himself a little too much.

Lyrics by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus