Post by Georgina Fleet on Feb 14, 2022 18:42:47 GMT
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| ~ • ~ | Character Basics | ~ • ~ |
:Name: Georgina Abigail Fleet.
:Nick Name: George ( by her family ─ this has led to some confusion at times as her father’s name is also George ) or Gina.
:Rank: Middle Class.
:Age: 26 in 1813.| ~ • ~ | Appearance | ~ • ~ |
:Physical Appearance:
Georgina has inherited her father’s coppery locks, much to the delight of her mother, who had once seen the distinct color as a means to differentiate her daughter from a crowd of other pleasantly mannered women. Her hair falls in gentle waves and reaches the middle of her back, though she usually has it done up and away from her face in a rather severe style befitting her role as governess and ladies’ companion. The style does make her seem older than her years at times, but she doesn't mind it terribly as it fosters respect among her younger charges who are, at times, not much younger than herself. Her eyes are her mother’s ─ a warm hazel that had once been sparkling in mischief but now typically looks exhausted, framed by dark circles that she tries to conceal with leftover powder. Georgina is overall pale and dusted with a smattering of freckles on the tops of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose that betrays the history of her youthful eagerness to frolic in the sun. She maintains a rather curved built, big-boned due to her father’s genes but in a manner that speaks of a sturdiness in her limbs rather than plumpness. She prefers flattering colors that compliment her hair, such as browns, blues and greens, though her dresses are relatively unadorned and are meant to be worn repeatedly. Her clothing is tailored but there are signs that the fabric ( and her money ) has been stretched thin to accommodate her desire to appear put together in public.
:Height: 5’4”.
:Portrayed by: Charlotte Spencer.| ~ • ~ | Personality | ~ • ~ |
:Personality:
She was raised in a respectable middle class family, destined for greater things than the life she had been born into but a stroke of bad fortune ( and her father’s inability to resist a challenge ) saw those hopes dashed into the sidewalk as the Fleet family was turned out from their home in the city and left to find accommodations and careers amongst the labourers. While some of her siblings had been too young to remember, Georgina had been on the cusp of womanhood at fourteen, just beginning to fill in her dresses and grow into the height that she now boasted, and pride had been a comforting cloak that had been ripped from her with the fall of her family. She was never shy about hard work, even when there was still money to their name, but that had been a choice she had made, to seem more responsible until she grew tired of play-acting as an adult and left the actual work to the maids. But there was no one to pick up after her, so she had to continue the pretense until she learned to like the monotonous chores that kept their small(er) home running while her parents worked to put food in their mouths and provide her with an education. She is irritatingly sensible because of this exposure to the highs and lows of life, having witnessed her parents in various states of distress and having comforted them as well. While she is gentler with those that she teaches and accompanies, she is known for having little to no patience with frivolity as a whole. She means well in her intentions to bring awareness to the rose-tinted view that some of her ladies had been raised with, but there is also an element of bitter jealousy there at their higher, comfier status in life. Because of this envy, she does not feel guilty for too long if she happens to advance to a better household, more than willing to depart from her students if the pay is good enough ─ she does feel bad about leaving them behind but she must look out for herself and her own family first, and knows that all people, even herself, can be replaced in time.
She has high expectations for her students and her siblings, and genuinely wants them to do better for themselves. While she seems rather pessimistic in her view of life, often the voice of reason that brings the atmosphere down, she still holds hope in her heart ─ Georgina just knows to expect disappointment, if only to save herself the heartache. There has been plenty of that in her life, so she would prefer to avoid journeying down new and unfamiliar paths in life, both literally and figuratively. Some might call that cowardice, but she is comfortable where she is, if not a bit desperate for extra money on any given day, and she could be doing much worse, so she counts her blessings, bites her tongue and goes on with life with a no-nonsense attitude, silencing the little girl that still dreamed of romance and days in the sun.
:Skills: expert linguistic ( she knows three languages, not counting English ─ French, Spanish and Austrian German ), expert peacekeeper ( a necessity considering her hot-tempered family and the snobbishness of the young girls she has taught ), proficient at managing the accounts ( a wasted talent given her family’s lack of accounts ), experienced with general household management ( such as sewing, cooking, cleaning ),
.:Weaknesses: bitter, pessimist, self-serving, envious, pushover ( as seen by her continuous support of her family and her willingness to pay off any debts incurred by her father ), defiant ( a mellowed trait but one that still rears it’s ugly head at times ).| ~ • ~ | History | ~ • ~ |
:Birthplace: London, England.
:Family: George Fleet ( father, alive ). Elizabeth Fleet ( mother, deceased ). Ambrose Fleet ( older brother, alive ). Arthur Fleet ( younger brother, alive ). Grace Fleet ( younger sister, alive ).
:Occupation: Miss Georgina Fleet, governess.
:History:
A hearty babe with the most shocking tuff of copper hair, Georgina Abigail Fleet was born on a particularly nippy November evening, with winds that howled as loudly as she had upon arriving into the world, if the gossiping midwife was to be believed. A welcome addition to the Fleet household, she was to be but another piece in the grand plan that stirred within the ambitious mind of George Fleet, a budding businessman and owner of Fleet Newspress, and thus she was raised accordingly. Bellies had to be tied so that she might receive a fine education and finer companionship, instructed in etiquette and ushered into pianoforte lessons that just so happened to be attended by the daughters of the heaviest pockets in London. While her mornings were spent in the company of articulate young girls with silk ribbons and pristine-white socks, her evenings were filled with heavy labor ( or as heavy as her father would permit for his precious daughter ), straining her eyes under the flickering lamplight as she read through the news reports in review for errors and then formed the types on presses, fingers stained with warm ink.
As the Fleet Newspress gained more interest for their bold, unfiltered take on the economic state of England, leading to larger orders of the paper and more presses, her hours as little assistant to her father grew shorter and shorter until she was left in the company of the women in the house. The print houses were deemed inappropriate for a young lady of her caliber and her hands were now not allowed to feel the weight of labor for fear she might develop calluses. Plans had been made to send her into a preparatory school for girls, where she was expected to be molded into a proper lady worthy of a reputable match to someone within her class or higher, as her father desperately hoped, but those plans were soon forgotten as an unexpected debt began to pile up on their doorstep. Unbeknown to the rest of the family, George Fleet had angered the wrong man with his scrutiny in the newspapers and, refusing to back down from the threat, had now earned himself the ire of those that had once been his friends. Support for the Fleet Newspress had waned, leaving them with more papers than they could sell and more workers to pay ─ slowly but surely, their printing houses decreased in numbers until all that was left was their home in the city.
Even that was taken from them and though they were not thrown out into the streets, the manner in which her father hastened them to the countryside spoke of debts still unpaid. Gone were her pretty skirts and delicate combs, all sold to make a fortune that afforded them a small roof over their heads to keep the rain out. Georgina had not taken it well, just on the edge of womanhood and having been promised so much more, but she had seen how exhausted her mother was and how hopeless her father seemed, so she had taken her siblings out every day, distracting them while their parents worked. She bought books that were old, worn pages slipping from the binding, and used that to teach her siblings until the family fortune could be remade just slightly, affording her a better education under a country tutor that did not mind the addition of her two younger siblings listening in.
Languages were a thing to be cultivated, learned in the heart of London and put into practice in the fields where she conversed with the workers from various backgrounds until she was as fluent and as sweaty as they were after hours in the sun. What she could bring back home, she did ─ be it tales she had heard from the fieldworkers or an extra loaf of bread she had received from the baker’s boy just for smiling at him. When her mother passed when she was just sixteen, she took on the additional, unthanked and unpaid role of mother to her own siblings, making sure they were fed and clean, as well as keeping their humble home as pristine as possible so that her father could come back to something welcoming after a difficult day. Georgina made a way, her family used to jest, so it was not surprising that she had been sent back to London in search of a proper job at the age of nineteen, answering an advertisement for a governess to a little boy. Granted, the family was not as accomplished as her father had been in the prime of his success, but that just meant that they were glad for her assistance and did not fuss at her lack of credentials. From there, she moved from family to family with the best recommendations, aiming just a bit higher every time until she came under the employment of nobility. Petty nobility, but nobility nonetheless. The money she sends home now pays for the preparation of her youngest sister, whose shoulders now bear the hope of the entire family and Georgina tries very hard not to let the insult of being cast aside for her younger, more pliable sister affect her too much. She is much too old now, much too hardened by the world to marry well and remain a quiet, dutiful wife, so she grits her teeth and smiles at her young charges, telling herself that she is content with the lot that life has dealt to her all while ignoring the hole inside her chest that begs to be appreciated.| ~ • ~ | Member Info | ~ • ~ |
:Name or Online Alias: Annie.
:Your Pronouns: She or They.
:Are you 18+: Yes.
:How Did You Find Us: An ad posted on CTTW.
