SAMPLE APPLICATION | Hartsbridge

[pessoal]

OOC:

Name: Sierra
Personal LJ/DW: melocoton 
Contact: Plurk, and my skype is tomatoplz.

IC:


Character Name: Afonso Gabriel Luis Henrique de João Castro Silva

Country represented: Republic of Portugal

Birthday: June 10th

Age: 32
Occupation: Professor of Literature at the University of Hartsbridge 
Residence:  University housing. 

Ten True Facts: 

1.) Afonso is a man who is constantly (or at least thinks he’s constantly) in the grip of his “saudades”, a Portuguese word that in its most basic meaning is “to miss”; however, it’s more than that, and he’ll be the first to tell you so. This has given him quite the romantic view on life, and he’s the type of person that might spend an hour contemplating the condensation on a window without saying a word, fascinated by its inherent meaning in the greater scheme of sorts, or something similar. To call him a daydreamer might be putting it lightly. He also tends to be a hopeless romantic--it's a well known fact around the University when Afonso has a date that goes well, because he tends to grade all of his student's papers very highly. 

2.)Afonso has a perpetual amount of stubble on his chin. It's generally well groomed, same with his hair. He's the type of person that takes good care of his appearance, but not for the reason you might expect. When Afonso was a young boy, his father mistook him, much to his horror, for his younger brother Antonio. Since then, he's kept his hair as long as possible, and when the time came, grew a beard in order to make sure that no one ever confused them again. 

3.) Afonso was raised Catholic by his father, back in Lisbon, and the tradition was carried onwards even after he remarried. Despite this, as he grew, the ideals and the morals--and the time--associated with Catholicism started to bother him, and now, he only goes to church on Easter and Christmas. However, he still wears a cross, and is not above a bit of hypocrisy--the Catholic is more of a family thing than an Afonso one . 


4.) As mentioned above, Afonso comes from a small family full of loud people. Besides his mother and father, he had a little sister who died from an illness at the age of three, and a younger brother. Antonio and Afonso were nearly inseperable for their entire childhood, but drifted apart (far apart) upon Afonso's leaving for college. In fact, the fight was so vicious that it left Afonso at odds with the majority of his family, and he chose to separate from them as far as possible as soon as he went to University, paying his own tuition by working jobs and writing. He dropped the "Carriedo" from his once hyphenated name, and tried to make a new life for himself without his family. However, people have a way of coming back into your life, and by the time Afonso graduated from college, he'd made things right and gotten back on speaking terms with his brother and parents--but he never took back the Carriedo name. 

5.) One thing that really helped to fix that connection was the year off Afonso took. The lifestyle of college had been beyond stressful, and his simple solution was to sign up for a visa, and pick a spot to go off of a map. That spot at random was São Paolo, Brazil, and he took a job writing for the local newspaper, something easy and stress free. While there, Afonso did a lot more studying of the...flora and fauna, so to speak, than anything else, but ended up with a new lease on life and a happily settled sense of wanderlust. Little did the Portuguese man know that he actually left behind a lot more than a string of broken hearts... 

6.) Afonso adores his job, but there's one caveat. (Besides the "lack of appreciation for a good Chaucer") That would be the department next door, particularly, the man who runs it, one Qasim al-Mansur, the head of the Algebra department. Afonso and Qasim have a lot more history than one might know at first glance; When Afonso turned fourteen and brought hom his first F in algebra, his stepmother and father hired a tutor. That tutor was Qasim al-Mansur, who Afonso took an immediate and particular dislike to. It might have been his holier-than-thou attitude or his general presence. Whatever it was, Afonso hated him, and spent most of his time with the tutor attempting to A) escape him, B) pull pranks on him or C) get on his nerves so much that he would force the tutor away. But nothing seemed to work. Ever. In fact, the strange relationship between them—the stern tutor and the unwilling student—was beneficial. When he finally passed  the class, Afonso swore under every oath he could think of that he’d never touch another algebra problem for as long as he lived, and spit on that damn man’s shoes if he ever saw him again. Upon his arrival to HU, he nearly quit after meeting his fellow faculty member, who was now in his sixties and quite frankly, should have retired (in Afonso's opinion), but his empty writer's stomach put up enough of a protest that he grinned and bore it. Now, they fight like a mouse and a cat, and their unmentioned war against each other is the talk of much of the student body.  

7.) One of Afonso's biggest weaknesses is how absolutely obstinate  he can be. It's a bit of a double-edged sword in that it helps with his job--he refuses to give up on his students, even if they're worth the F his hand is aching to give. That being said, he's also stubborn with his own writing, with his day to day life, his beliefs and his values. If Afonso believes he's right? He's right.

8).The bad edge of said sword? Afonso outright refuses to ask for directions. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't coupled with a hereditary curse of being able to get turned around incredibly easily ( anybody ever heard of the ballad of Magellan?). Not only that, but he also has a bit of a sense of curiosity, and he likes to explore. These three things combined are like a deadly storm of bad navigation.   

9.)  Afonso is as loyal as a dog to the few friends he has. Unfortunately, this leads to him allowing people to walk all over him; he has difficulty seeing faults in the people he loves and adores. He can't help it, really--it's rare for Afonso to find people he actually trusts, and when he does, he can't help but think that they're paragons of perfection. Generally they are not, and he's been burned a few times because of it. 

10.) And last but not least, Afonso adores coffee. Being raised in Europe, he lived off of the caffeine all throughout college, and now it's like an addiction he just can't kick. Because of this, he frequents the local coffee bars, always looking for the best cuppa.  

Writing Sample: 

(Background: This is a post from LOLocracy, in which Afonso's mother the Spanish inquisition comes to town.)

 At 9 AM on Saturday morning, Afonso's alarm clock went off, and the Portuguese journalist cracked his eyes open and stared at it for a moment, bleary eyed. His head felt like it'd been encased in cement, and the shrill beeping of the alarm made him want to crawl in a hole in die. What had happened yesterday..? Right, he'd gone to Chueca with Antonio and Emmanuel and-- 
 

 
Rolling out of bed. the journalist made his way towards the shower, squinting against the sunlight filtering through his window and stumbling for towels and decently clean clothes. Maybe a cold shower would clear the dull throbbing at the back of his head. 

 Sitting at the airport in his small car, Afonso drummed on the steering wheel gently and considered how easy it would be to throw himself in front of a departing airplane. He'd just have to act natural. Not terrified and definitely not hungover. Shifting his glasses over his eyes, Afonso nursed his bottle of water and waited for--

That. The car door opened to reveal a diminutive, curvy woman with long hair and wearing round sunglasses. Despite her eight hour plane ride to arrive here, she seemed as normal as ever, energetic, and oh so Spanish. Almost immediately, Adalia Carriedo hugged her stepson across the car, immediately breaking into chatter. "Afonsito, you've grown so tall since the last time I saw you! You look so handsome with that stubble--you need a haircut, though, why haven't you done that?" 

Sighing a little, Afonso patted her back, a little bit of a smile on his face as he unbuckled his seatbelt to help her put her luggage into the back of his compact car. Same old Mamã. And at least the affection came before the terror. 

It wasn't until Afonso returned and started the car that that would start; his mother whapped him over the head and he yelped. "What was that for?!" 

"You're hungover! What were you doing last night?" 

Ladies and gentlemen, the Inquisition has arrived in Liberty.

 

 
IC SURVEY


1.) Introduce yourself in a few sentences!

My name is Afonso Silva. I'm 32 years old. I suppose this is where I'd say my sign, like some sort of dating website, so I'm a Gemini. 

2.) What's your greatest dream in life?

To explore the entire world. 

3.) What is your biggest pet peeve?

Being called Spanish, or by my brother's last name. 

4.) Why did you come to Hartsbridge?

To...settle, so to speak. That, and the university offered me a lovely job that I simply couldn't turn down. 

5.) Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist? Why?

I guess I"m an optimist. I like to think things will work out the way they do in my dreams, but a part of me knows that it generally doesn't.

 

6.) Do you prefer functionality or style, and why?

Functionality. Do I look like the kind of person who prefers style? Honestly. 

7.) What are two of your best qualities? Two of your worst?

Hm. I'm very well-versed, and I'm a good speaker. As for my worst...well, apparently it's been told that I'm bad with directions (utter blasphemy, by the way), and I tend to daydream. 

8.) What was your childhood like? Did you get along well with any siblings you had? What about your parents?

I...got along with my siblings, yes. For a time, anyway. I had one brother, Antonio, and I suppose in my youth I was a bit headstrong--after I graduated, I barely wanted to see them again. We just started speaking again recently, and that's all you get to know about that matter. 

9.) What is your happiest memory?

My happiest memory...when I was 12 years old, my father took me out sailing for the first time and let me steer. I'll never forget it. 

10.) Describe yourself physically.

This really is a dating application, isn't it. That's not funny. Brown hair, green eyes, tall, small beard. Now that I feel ridiculous, I'm done answering questions.