DUNHAM, Dolores

[Dolores Dunham]

If chasing our dreams is just a distraction
I want to remember when I know that I can't go back

character name: Dolores Dunham
significance: Doloros' meaning is "sorrows". Refers to the Virgin Mary as "Mary of the sorrows". There's no particular reason why her father decided to name her that other than he liked the name. Dunham is their last name, no particular significance to it either. Her father isn't creative enough to come up with a middle name, thus she has none.
age: Nineteen
gender: Female
hair & face: Although perhaps not the fairest-of-them-all by any means, Dolores has quite fresh features. Her face is oval, with a strong jaw line, high cheekbones that she's quite proud of and a relatively rounded chin which has a slight dimple in the middle. Her nose is straight, fairly medium-sized and rounded at the tip. She has a rosebud-shaped mouth, and her pale pink lips are often parted in a smile to reveal a shallow dimple in each cheek and pearly-enough whites that are, admittedly, smaller than your average teeth, not that she ever minded. Overall, her features simply fit to give a pleasing enough (for her) face. The most make-up she would probably ever wear would only be a splash of shiny stuff for her lips and kohl to frame her eyes, but Dolores isn't exactly the type of person to wear make-up all the time, preferring the "natural" look. Framed by thick, dark lashes, her eyes are a dark, chocolate brown that can often appear doe-like and lighter in the sunlight than they really are. They are not exactly her best feature seeing as, in her opinion, brown is probably the most common, and therefore boring, eye colour, even though her sister insists otherwise. Her favourite feature? Her hair, to be honest. She keeps it long so that it often cascades past her shoulders and half-way down her back in thick, soft, black waves, bright sunlight often catching the natural dark brown streaks in it. Usually, she keeps it in its natural state of curliness, but when the mood strikes her she can use one of those hot irons to straighten it, although she rarely bothers. One of her nervous habits is toying with her hair, twisting the dark strands around her fingers and biting at the corner of her bottom lip –not exactly subtle, but Dolores had never been good at keeping her body and facial language from revealing what she feels.

build: At a tiny height of 5'2, Dolores might not appear to be strong, but you would be quite mistaken for thinking that. Years and years of dancing has helped her tone up, tightening her muscles and keeping her toned. She has what they call "dancer legs" - strong thighs and calves which one wouldn't think would look attractive but she's pretty sure her legs look fantastic in high heels. She's often seen in high heels and has long since learned to deal with the aches that came with it. You couldn't, for example, ball room dance in flats now could you? Besides which she liked the extra height it gave her. She didn't see her height as a disadvantage, though. Quite the opposite. Most men liked girls to be shorter than them - although men were really the last thing on her mind, to be completely honest, since she's mainly focused on her dreams at the moment. The idea of needing to be tall to be a good dancer is overrated. She's just as striking on the dance floor as any girl taller than her. It's all about the talent and not about height. If you haven't got it, you haven't got it, no matter if you were short or tall. Although, she'd admit, not being able to reach things on the top shelf of her kitchen cupboards without needing to grab a chair can get pretty annoying. As for Lola's sense of fashion, she mainly prefers to dress casually in shorts and tops. She's comfortable in her own skin, and so doesn't mind showing her natural tan off. Of course, sometimes it's nice to be a girl and dress up in a cute little dress, and she's just as willing to throw on a dress as she is with jeans and a top.
other notable physical characteristics: N/A
face claim: Vanessa Hudgens
god/goddess: In Greek mythology, Terpsichore (pronounced /tərpˈsɪkəri/) (Τερψιχόρη) "delight of dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the dancers' choirs with her music. She is sometimes said to be the mother of the Sirens by Achelous. Her name comes from the Greek words τέρπω ("delight") and χoρός ("dance").
likes:
♥ Black nail polish - she just thinks it's pretty for some reason
♥ Dancing - dur
♥ Having a good time
♥ Bubble baths - funtimes
♥ Reading a good book, usually while having an aforementioned bubble bath
♥ Texting
♥ Sugar - her dirty little secret
♥ Exercise
♥ Pookie, her childhood toy. Shush, she's attached
♥ The color blue
♥ Swimming
♥ Lazing about on a Saturday night - she likes to go out and have fun as much as the next person, but sometimes it's nice to just stay in
♥ Home
♥ Heated discussions
♥ Hugs
♥ Flowers

dislikes:
- Being told what to do
- Rude people
- Being called "Dolly". It's Lola or Dolores.
- Demeaning nicknames
- Feeling uncomfortable
- Big dogs - they scare her
- Obnoxious people
- Losing an argument
- Peanuts
- Being patronised
- Snow
- Traffic
- The fact that she can't dance with a partner
- Her habit of biting her nails
- Stupid questions
- Swearing

hobbies:
♦ Dancing - duh. It IS her dream to be some sort of big star in the movies or Broadway or something along those lines
♦ Reading - when she has free time
♦ Cooking - once again, when she has free time
♦ Playing video games - she doesn't really do it now since she can't afford one at the moment, but back home she adored playing with video games with her guy friends
♦ Exercising - how else can she stay toned?

personality:

concrete jungle where dreams are made of
there's nothin' you can't do

Dolores is obviously a dreamer. She came to New York when she was eighteen with huge dreams - she was going to be a star, a huge dancer, she was going to get into Julliard, she was going to succeed, she was going to show everyone back home that she wasn't just another naive little girl who had dreams that were much too big for her. Of course, reality hit her in the form of her first rejection - she didn't get into Julliard with a scholarship. Hell, actually, she didn't get into Julliard period. Oh sure, her dancing was "impressive" but it wasn't "quite up to par" and "she should practice more and try again next year". Needless to say, it was a huge blow. But Dolores was not easily put off. She decided to see the bright side of things - this would give her a whole year to settle into New York. Besides, she couldn't have imagined that they would take her at once. She doubted very many people got accepted right off the bat. Her dreams of being a dancer weren't shattered - they were just put on hold. And thus she strove for the next year, working random jobs and late hours in an attempt to get by. She lived in a crappy little apartment in Queens - the only thing she can afford. But she didn't let anything get her down. She still worked her butt off practicing at any spare moment, taking dance classes, perfecting her techniques. And it paid off because after a whole year of living in New York and becoming accustomed to the people, Lola went back to the Julliard auditions and got in - with a scholarship and the whole enchilada. Now with her dream well on it's way, Dolores is more hopeful than ever. Some might call her naive and optimistic, but hey she wasn't about to let this huge, concrete jungle called New York scare her. She'd survived one year and scraped by and now she was finally accepted to Julliard and, well, it was obvious that being hopeful had paid off. Because if she hadn't clung onto her dreams the way she had and gone home instead with her tail between her legs to go to "a real college" like her father had said she would, then she would have spent the rest of her life wondering 'what if'. She had to keep believing that sometimes, dreams really do come true.

he taught me how to hold my tongue...not

Opinionated might just be an understatement when it comes to Dolores. She has an opinion about everything, and it isn’t in her nature to keep things to herself, therefore she tends to blurt out what she thinks without even considering her words, leading to the correct assumption of her being opinionated –but not judgemental, though. Sure, she relies heavily on first impressions, but she would never be the type of person who presumes someone is a certain character because of things such as rumours –but then again, that also depends on who she was hearing the rumours from –whether it was a reliable source or not, basically. She's someone who likes to speak her mind, and isn't afraid to say what she's thinking, although she does try –and sometimes fails- to be tactful since she isn't spiteful, she's just very…honest. Lying isn't exactly her forte –not that she ever wants it to be- since, when she does happen to try to lie, she would display one of her nervous habits and one of her friends had once pointed out that her "nostrils flare" when she lies, as if the whole biting-her-lip-and-playing-with-her-hair signs aren't enough. This trait often leads to her having arguments or "heated discussions", as she likes to call them, with her friends - or something with complete strangers - who might disagree with her. She'll do and say anything to back up her opinion, and if she turns out wrong in the end she becomes quite miffed and could sulk for ten minutes straight after that.

yeah we're s t u b b o r n...

Stubborn is Dolores' middle name...figuratively, since she doesn't have one. But if she did have one, it would probably be some sort of synonym to stubborn. Or it should be, anyway. As aformentioned, she likes having heated discussions - and she'll keep arguing with a person until someone turns out right, taking twists and turns and attacking the subject in millions of different directions in hopes of turning out to be the right one. Once her mind is set on an opinion, it's extremely difficult to sway her otherwise. It frustrates other people, especially since she never gives up and even when they're proven to be right, she'll still think that - somehow - she's right. She'd never let go of her rights, either. If she thinks she has a right to know something, she'll continue to badger you about it until she knows. In some ways, it makes her tactless, because she just doesn't know when to drop something and doesn't notice that it's hurting the person in question until it's too late - for example, they've either stormed off or started crying. Of course, those are all extreme cases. If she does happen to notice that she's taking things too far, she'll immediately back off. She doesn't like to consciously hurt people. In fact, quite the opposite. Dolores is a very caring person, almost to a fault. She'll do anything for her friends - the whole I'll-walk-through-broken-glass for them deal and everything. Whenever they're feeling down, she'll stop at nothing to make them feel better - even when her help isn't wanted. She absolutely hates it when her friends are upset. Of course, her approach at comforting people might sometimes be tactless or strange and might end up annoying them more than helping them - but she means well, really she does. Her tendency to blurt things out all the time just makes it difficult for her sometimes. She's always willing to listen to your problems, always ready to be the shoulder to cry on, and she's always willing to give out a hug when it's needed - and even when it's not because, honestly, hugging is just awesome.

...and m e l o d r a m a t i c

Dolores is a drama queen, and she knows it. She has a tendency to blow things completely out of proportion when it's not even necessary. It's a wonder she's lasted in New York so long - she has a tendency to burst into rants about how horrible traffic is, or how a disgusting creepy pinched her butt one day at work, and so on and so forth - and most of those rants were directed at her childhood stuffed animal, Pookie. Which, yes, she still kept after all those years and brought with her to New York. He was her Pookie! He was the one piece of home she could bring with her other than pictures, so of course she'd brought him along. It wasn't unusual for her to burst out into a rant all of a sudden, even if it's to a complete stranger. She's done it more than once while serving customers at the strip club, Beating Hearts Lounge, that she occasionally works in when she needs a couple of extra bucks since 'they could always use extra waitresses' - and she does work as just a waitress, thank you very much. Her dancing is solely reserved for Julliard. She'd never have the courage to actually dance at the strip club. Not to mention her father would flip out if he ever found out that his baby daughter worked in a strip club, let alone was a stripper. So no, she had preferred to go for the waitress job instead. But anyway. Yes, she often ranted to the drunks. They're particularly good people to rant to, namely because most of them are so plastered they don't even listen to her so she doesn't have to worry about them knowing much about her life or them getting annoyed with her because they just weren't paying any attention to her. Unless they were, as aforementioned, pinching her butt. In which case they'd most likely get a slap across the cheek or a drink dumped in their face or in their lap. If there was one thing she couldn't stand about her job, it was the harassment she had to endure. But hey, it paid pretty well and she managed to make ends meet sometimes when the money her father sends her isn't enough, although she's considering getting a more stable job soon. She's just not sure where.

girls just wanna have fun

Dolores might seem like the type of person who'd be all-work-and-no-play thanks to her dancing career, but that's not the case at all. Oh sure she spends a lot of her free time practicing and dancing, but she likes to have at least one day off during the weekend that she claims to be her "night off" where she can just relax - whether it's in a bubble bath with a good book or whether she hits the town with a couple of girl friends just to have some fun. Well hey, she was in New York, and with a fake ID and a pretty smile she can often get alcoholic drinks. And if it doesn't work than non-alcoholic drinks are good too. Namely, though, she likes to go out dancing - just the fun sort of dancing with your friends, where she can forget about money issues or her father still hoping she would give up her dream and come back home and not believing in her, and just let loose with her friends. She's definitely a girl who knows how to have a good time. And if she's too exhausted for a night out she's perfectly content with curling up on her couch and watching old movies with a tub of ice-cream or popcorn. She has a bit of a sweet tooth, admittedly, and she gives into it at least once per week - of course the next day she heads right for the gym to work off the extra calories. There was no way she would let herself go, especially not after she got accepted into the esteemed Julliard after all that hard work.

character’s parents: Terpsichore - mother - ageless - muse of dance
Carlos Dunham - father - 38 - business man - dreams got 'crushed' - single father - protective - tries to support his daughter's dream, but skeptical from his own experience
siblings: N/A
other family members of note: N/A
history:
There was one very important rule with being a muse: you are not allowed to fall in love with the person you are inspiring. It just could not happen, because it would simply mess with the balance with things. And Terpsichore had been doing pretty well with following that rule. Or so she thought, until she met Carlos Dunham. He was a man with huge dreams - he dreamed of being on Broadway, of becoming the best dancer the US has ever seen. Huge, slightly naive dreams. She wasn't supposed to meet him face-to-face, at least, not in any way he was aware of, but he was just so handsome she couldn't help herself. And so she introduced herself as Maria Suarez, telling herself she was only meeting him that one time. But he was incredibly charming and, well, one time became twice, and then three times and then four and soon she was in a relationship, although she did not tell any of her sisters - it had to be a secret, because if someone was to find out that she had fallen in love with a mortal, she would surely be punished and perhaps might be banned from ever seeing him again. But then she found out that she was pregnant. Terpsichore couldn't believe she'd been so stupid. How could she let herself get pregnant? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course, it wasn't an unusual occurrence - although the Goddesses and Gods liked to keep it hush-hush most of the time. Not to mention she was considering staying with Carlos - actually living with him and raising this child. But it was impossible. She had a task - she was the muse of dance. She couldn't just quit that. This wasn't a job, this was her life. She couldn't just ditch that, no matter how charming or real or loving Carlos was. What's worse? He decided to quite dancing as soon as she told him she was pregnant. Dancing wasn't a real career, he told her. He needed to take care of their baby. He was only nineteen, and had graduated from high school, so he went to business school instead of following his dreams. It broke her heart - not only because he did this for her, and for the life growing within her, but now that he was no longer dancing, she could no longer be his muse.

It was a horrible situation overall, and she just couldn't handle it. But she did, for nine months. For nine months she pretended everything was okay, and pretended to be eager about the plans he made for the both of them. She was too much of a coward to tell him that there was no 'them'. That there could be no them. And when the baby was born - a beautiful baby girl whom he named Dolores, she found out later - she left. Like a coward, she left with an apologetic letter and a request that he take good care of their daughter, telling him that she loved him but she just couldn't do the whole family thing. Carlos was heartbroken, of course. He didn't know what to do with himself. He was only nineteen years old and he had no idea how to take care of a baby. How was he supposed to raise a baby girl and go to college at the same time? That was when his parents finally stepped in and accepted him back into their arms now that he had left 'that dratted girl'. Of course, they were disappointed that he had had a child out of wedlock, but he was still their son - their only son. And so while Carlos was away at college, they raised little Dolores as if she were their own, although he visited as much as possible. Even though he was young, and even though his dreams had been taken away, Carlos loved his daughter more than anything in the world. She was absolutely perfect in his eyes, and he was determined to make something of himself so that she would have everything her little heart desired, so that all her dreams could come true as well - within reason, of course. He would hate for her to go through the same bitter disappointment she did. And so he went through college and graduated with a high GPA and got hired almost immediately - the one goal in his mind was to reach a good position so that he could finally move out of his parents' house and live on his own and take care of Lola himself.

Finally, he got that chance when she was seven years old. He thanked his parents for taking such good care of them and then moved out. He managed to buy a nice cozy apartment in Chicago. Dolores' childhood was fairly normal, if you didn't count the fact that she didn't have a mother while everyone else did. But she had a father who loved her and somehow that was enough. Her father didn't spoil her exactly, but she got most of what she wanted - but what she wanted above all was to dance. It seems as if she had the gene because she began demanding ballet lessons when she was just six years old. Of course, her father agreed - he could afford it, so why not? And that was how Lola's dancing career started. She fell in love with it and soon wanted to branch out and try all types of dancing. From ballet to ball room to hip hop - she wanted to try it all, and she excelled in all. Well, almost all. For some reason, she simply could not dance with a partner. Oh, she tried. She tried and tried and tried. And failed and failed and failed. She just couldn't seem to do it. She couldn't seem to be able to move with them, and she continually trodded on their toes - which, considering the shoes she had to wear when dancing things like salsa and ballroom, was quite dangerous. It frustrated her to no end - she couldn't understand why. Even so, she was an amazing dancer. Even her father had to admit it. He could see himself in Lola whenever she got up there. The passion and the ridiculous happiness that shone on her face when she was dancing - it reminded him of himself in his teens. And Lola had big dreams. She continually talked about Julliard - it seemed to be the only thing she could think about growing up. While girls were obsessing over boys, Dolores was obsessing over perfecting the routines she would be performing when she auditioned for Julliard. Ballet was one of her strongest suits, so she was definitely doing that.

If it wasn't for her friends, it would have been all Lola thought about. But thankfully they managed to keep her grounded and ensure she still enjoyed her years as a teenager. She got her fair share of crushes, and even a few boyfriends, although they never lasted very long at all, since she couldn't seem to keep her focus on them long enough. Besides which, she wasn't exactly interested. She didn't need a guy in her life right now - she had her dancing and her dreams. Still, she liked a little fun in her life, and a fling every now and then didn't sound like such a bad idea. Although she refused to lose her virginity to some random guy. She'd never felt strongly enough about someone to just give up her most prized gift like that - call her old fashioned and romantic, but she was saving it for that special someone. Who might never come, admittedly, but who knows? Maybe he was just around the corner and she just hadn't met him yet. Whatever it was, Lola remained a virgin throughout her high school years - she ignored the peer pressure, being too much of an independent person to succumb to that, although she did sometimes envy the relationships her friends had. But then when they got their hearts broken as girls often did in high school, she was thankful for her own clear thinking. She really couldn't afford a broken heart, distracting her from her dreams. Julliard first, guys later, she told herself. Besides, love and relationships were overrated, right? Oh sure the movies made it out to be such a big deal with those chick flicks, and yeah okay so maybe it would be nice to have someone to kiss and snuggle with whenever you wanted to - but it wasn't the most important thing! Nope, it really wasn't. Her dreams were more important. Going to New York and auditioning for Julliard was more important. She knew her father worried about her a little, about her obsession with her dreams. He told her, time and time again, that she shouldn't put so much hope into it, that she might end up being disappointed and that the rejection would be an awful one. He was trying to protect her, she knew, but she couldn't help but feel frustrated. Just because his dreams had failed, didn't mean hers would. Except, of course, she didn't say that. She was tactless sometimes, sure, but she wasn't cruel. She knew it would only pointlessly hurt him, so she kept that opinion to herself.

In spite of his warnings, Carlos kept the promise to himself of doing everything in his power to make his little girl's dream come true. With a heavy and worried heart, he sent her to New York with a good amount of money - he would have loved to buy her an apartment himself, but she refused, telling him that she "was eighteen years old and needed to do things for herself now". Never mind the fact that she was, technically, using his money. He settled for buying her a cheap, used car. Dolores was, admittedly, over the moon. She was finally independent! Out on her own in the the scary city that was New York. Maybe not completely independent of her father, but she might be sometime soon. She found a dingy little apartment in Queens - a tiny thing with one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and tiny living area. It was small and not in the best neighborhood, but she was convinced it would be perfect. Of course, it was anything but - living there proved to be a hell of a lot more difficult than she thought it would be. But she was sure she could manage, and manage she did. Lola was a surprisingly strong girl, although perhaps a little naive, and was able to hold her own. And so the eighteen year old, full of hope, went to the auditions at Julliard and gave it her best shot. A week or so later, she received her rejection letter. Young Dolores was severely disappointed, of course. She was certain she'd done her best. But, apparently, her best wasn't good enough. Not yet, at least. She refused to let it bring her down, though, even as her father tried to coax her to return to Chicago and apply to colleges there. No, she wasn't giving up on her dream that easily! Immediately, she searched for a job and managed to find one as a waitress at a diner. It wasn't the best job, but the salary, along with some of the funds her dad sent her, was put into more dancing lessons. She worked on the partner thing some more - and still failed miserably, but she still persevered. She mostly worked on her solo routine. She had to completely blow them out of the water next time. They would have to accept her then!

A year went by. Dolores made friends, worked and practiced her butt off. Life now had a routine. And then it came time for Julliard's auditions again and Dolores went. A few weeks later, she received a letter. She was in. With a scholarship.

She was well on her way to accomplishing her dream.

password: SPOCK!
username: Joojie
gender: i be a girly
age: 18
other characters you play: Demetri Prince

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[Zeus]

accepted!