dribbly :)))
OOC Information;
Name; Christy
Personal Journal; carnivalization
Contact; veracitatem @ Plurk, evybay[at]gmail[dot]com
Other Characters; No one! Obviously.
IC Information;
Character Name; Diva
Canon; Blood+
Canon Point; Post-series
Age; 174; Appears to be in her late teens/early 20s.
House; Freyr
Power; Bardic Influence
Personality;
Diva, at a first glance, seems like a fundamentally simple and stereotypical villain. It's really not until the last episode she appears in (or the manga) that her complexity is revealed. While her actions are in no way excusable, with the context of her life, they're not at all surprising, and the writers of Blood+ somehow managed to make the villain of the show much more sympathetic than the protagonist. Well, in my opinion, obviously.
Diva is selfish, childish, and also quite air headed. This is a bit surprising for a person that's going on two centuries old, but quite reasonable when you remember that she was only awake for about sixty of those years, fifty of which were spent in torture and isolation. Unsurprisingly, Diva is not smart by any stretch of the imagination, and what education she does have is dated, since the majority of her education came from early 20th century Russia. While Saya was able to have 50 years of normal life, Diva spent this time locked up, alone in a tower. She spent this time living in filth, poverty, and pain while her sister lived quite comfortably. Her childish nature comes from this lack of mental development, and being forced to ‘grow up’ quite quickly as Diva left the tower. Her selfishness also stems from Amshel, for the most part. After being let out of the tower and being whisked away by her new Chevalier, Diva’s every whim was waited on by him. This continued for the years following right up until her death. Diva is used to getting exactly what she wants and when she wants it. This could mean anything from a cute dress to an actual person.
But to contrast against her sister, after they split ways from the Zoo, both of their lifestyles dramatically changed. Saya was a vagrant with Haji, traveling and looking for Diva so that she could kill her. Diva traveled with Amshel and snowballed massive political power. Powerful people became her Chevalier, consulted Amshel, consulted her, or anything in between. Diva was living the life of the dying class of nobility, but remained in political power through Amshel until her death. So her times spent awake were amongst the highest classes of society, and it reflects in her. She's a very cultured woman in public, especially since she performs opera. Diva has never known anything but the highest luxuries in the world, and is quite happy with that. She's very demure and charming to the public eye, reflecting her position as a cultured heiress.
And as you would expect from an heiress of any kind, Diva is vain. She knows she’s beautiful and alluring, which reflects itself in a very high amount of confidence. Once she has her mind set on something, she's absolutely determined to acheive it, and has no doubts that she can. She may do it in an underhanded way, but that doesn't matter to her. She's extremely selfish and cares little for the well-being of others. Though this view has diminshed somewhat after having her babies to care for and dying, this is still a prominment part of her psyche.
Diva also has an extreme desire for closeness and relationships. This desire stems from her isolation in the tower, and she never grew out of the desire for someone to care for her, even if it's entirely artificial. She's a very physical person, and in a conversation with someone she sort-of-remotely-likes, her body language will convey affection even if that isn't her true emotion. She's a person that honestly desires being loved, but she doesn't know how to express it or even get to that level of emotional intimacy. The exception is Amshel, who she is extremely close to, though whether that's out of genuine love, necessity or even something like Stockholm's is up for debate. That being said, this is why Amshel can be considered the true villain of Blood+--despite her vicious nature, it's really Amshel that's the one in charge.
Ah, but about that viciousness! Diva may be very sympathetic because of how she's used and the question repeatedly posed about how if she hadn't been in the tower, she would probably be a perfectly normal girl, but she's still a raging bitch, don't worry. Diva has a complete lack of a moral compass. Killing people for their tennis shoes or raping and killing a young boy to get pregnant doesn't even phase her. She honestly sees nothing wrong with these things, because in her opinion, humans are lesser beings, and her desires come before anyone else's. It's worth noting that she doesn't hate humans, however. She just hasn't spent much time with them positively. When confronted with these moral issues, Diva is genuinely surprised--and that itself isn't surprising. Despite leaving the tower, Diva was still fairly isolated--Amshel kept anyone that he didn't want her to meet away, so she really never developed any kind of morals in that environment of war and Amshel's underhanded dealings.
But that viciousness will change quickly because of her childish nature. One thing may set her off and be an inch from ripping out someone's heart, but when pacified by kind words, she'll be back to perfectly childish and curious.
Her shallowness is shown with her slight obsession with fashion and beauty, getting more upset by her dress being torn than getting shot in the heart. Diva also harbors jealousy very easily. She is extremely jealous, to the point of obsessive, of her sister. Diva wants to take away everything that Saya loves, all because Diva never got to have any of that. This shows the deeper layer to Diva, because beyond all the awful awful bitch, she’s really just a lost little child looking for someone to love her.
Which is to say, that without her Chevalier telling her what to do, Diva is agreeable enough. She’s friendly, childish, outgoing, and very direct. Diva is very disconnected to humans, since humans have only mistreated her all her life, so she is very reluctant to trust them. However, it doesn't stop her from being curious, or at the very least, polite. Though what we see in canon is mostly her being an awful bitch, in a normal situation, she's nice enough. Without her Chevalier there to influence her and without her babies to fawn over, she'll be pleasant to everyone she meets.
Well, at first, anyways.
Samples;
Network Sample;
[Well, Diva's morning has been interesting. Coming back from the dead into a monochromatic castle was definitely not one of the things that she wanted to experience. Nor was trying to figure out what the hell this bracelet was supposed to do, but she manages. Somehow.]
[Unfortunately, it's at a rather inopportune time. The video is showing a rather odd angle, but it rotates on the wearer's wrist to show one of the locals lying on the ground.]
Oh? It turned on?
[The video shows a young woman's face instead, with a dribble of blood coming from the corner of her mouth.]
That's how this is supposed to work? That's stupid. [She frowns in annoyance, but then looks thoughtful instead] Ah~ Actually, maybe I can ask! The people here, they're disgusting. They don't taste right at all.
[sigh! her life is so difficult, can't you see.] Hey, are there any normal humans here? I need to get something to eat, but these aren't worth anything at all.
[She looks off screen, and there's a dull thud, like she just kicked the person laying on the ground. But with that, she gives the "camera" an absolutely brilliant smile, then it cuts out.]
Log Sample;
Diva dipped her fingers into the blood.
Tracing circles lightly in the blood, she then smeared her pinky across her lower lip.
Glancing up to the mirror, it looked like a bright shade of lipstick.
A droplet flowed down to her chin, and she smiled.
"How beautiful."
"Madame, you'll look as beautiful ever in this gown."
Diva just nodded absently as the two maids prepared the dress and its various things for her. She sat in her underclothes in a chair off to the side, looking out the window distantly. The two maids looked at her, then to each other, exchanging nervous glances. Something terrible had happened to their mistress, but she would never give them as much of a hint why. They were rarely allowed to see her at all, since Mr. Goldsmith always had the mistress busy or she simply didn't want any help.
She really looked like an elegant doll, sitting there. Her face was devoid of expression, but still absolutely perfect in every way, and sitting in this big, lonely dollhouse of a mansion, she was the princess. But they couldn't say a word about that. Jill and Claire liked their jobs too much for that. It worried them to see her like this, less out of concern for her, and more out of concern for their jobs.
However, for now, they had to do as they had been told. They held the expensive, vintage dress in their hands as they delicately brushed the fabric to clean and soften it before it was put on her. It seemed to be made of jewels, like the fabric had been dipped in gold and silver. The long, luxuriant fur coat that went with it was no less impressive, and each of them very carefully prepared the dress.
Jill was the one that spoke first, since she held the dress. "Miss Goldsmith, it's ready. Would you rather go in the bathroom to change?"
They both watched curiously as she seemed to be torn from her distant thoughts, and her bright blue eyes met theirs, as if she was surprised to see them. She stood gracefully, walking closer.
"I would. Thank you," she responded politely, but it still felt just as distant and unfeeling. Jill and Claire once again exchanged nervous glances, and Jill led Diva into the bathroom.
"I think it'll look really beautiful on you, dear. You'll stand out at your dinner party for sure!" Jill said cheerfully, but Diva just moved to the counter, starting to busy herself with makeup.
"Oh, do you think so?"
"I'm sure of it! With as beautiful as you are, you're sure to attract a wonderful boyfriend, or even husband," Jill said. It was, to her, a brave statement, since they were sure that was what was the matter. Their poor mistress was still upset over her uncle dying earlier that week.
"I'm not interested. I don't really like being tied down," Diva said coolly, brushing blush onto her pale cheeks, turning them rosy.
Jill frowned, feeling thwarted, and set the dress over her arm until she finished applying her makeup. Once she turned to face her, Jill was taken aback by her appearance once more. With the colors suddenly applied, it seemed that she was even more of a doll. Her skin was so pale that it was the color of porcelain. She wondered if perhaps she really was ill, but didn't get a chance to speak. Diva had already started to take of the top of her underclothes.
The interesting thing about the dress was that it was both beautiful, and slightly dangerous, in a way. The rigidness of the fabric made some of the edges of the petals that made up the skirt rather sharp. Jill moved the dress to start to put it over her mistress' head, but recoiled, making a small noise. Diva looked with disinterest, but her eyes widened to see Jill holding her finger.
A small cut had been formed, and bubbles of blood swelled about the light cut. She realized in an instant that she hadn't eaten at all since Solomon had died.
Oh, that was far too long.
It didn't run like water. It was thicker than that, and flowed slowly, almost with leisure, until it finally dripped down the drain. White tiles were covered by droplets of red, making it look like a pattern. It seemed natural to have the bright crimson against such soft ivory. There was nothing usual about that.
But laying on the floor, that was unnatural. Corpses were unsightly, and not nearly as pretty as the blood that spilled from them. But she didn't look at the corpse. The puddles of blood that slipped down the slightest slope, they were the interesting part. She didn't make a noise, just kept the slight smile on her face. She kneeled, and felt the warmth of fresh blood against her knees, staining the light blue fabric that she wore. That was just as unsightly.
"J-Jill!" Claire screamed from the doorway, and Diva looked up with a small noise of surprise.
Silence filled the house once more, and Diva glanced in the mirror calmly, watching Claire's blood slide down her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, all down until it dripped on the floor. She thought that they looked like ribbons, but it still wasn't as beautiful as she would have liked.
She stepped over the corpse, taking a towel and brushing the ribbons away and slipping off the rest of her clothes to go change into her gown. There was an oppressive silence as she moved the fabric across her skin, stretching and twisting to get into it without tearing the delicate fabric. It settled comfortably on her shoulders, and Diva smiled contently.
Diva shrugged the heavy coat onto her shoulders, looking into the mirror once more before she stepped out of her room. Diva realized, distantly, that something was missing. She stepped into the bathroom once more, looking indifferently at the two bodies collapsed over each other with expressions of terror upon their faces.
A distant memory came to her, and Diva smiled absently. Picking up the corners of her dress carefully, she dipped just the very tips of her fingers into the pools of blood. She took all the care as a woman might normally, smearing the sanguine lipstick across her lips as she looked at her eerily smiling reflection in the mirror. A droplet flowed down to her chin, and she smiled.
"How beautiful."