Alice Devereux

[Alice Devereux]

Name: Alice Marguerite Devereux

Gender: Female

Age: Sixteen

Job: Alice is employed at the Moulin Rouge to do pretty much whatever (and whoever) her boss, Harry Zidler, tells her to do.

Habitat:
Alice's accommodations are less than ideal, but serve their purpose. She lives at the Moulin Rouge in quarters made available for other employees of her status. Luckily, she is not at the very bottom of the internal hierarchy, but she's far from ever spending a night in the coveted Elephant. Alice's room is located in the maze of hallways underneath of the Moulin Rouge's dance floor. It's small and modest, lacking any frivolous decor or other such luxuries. The walls are a drab off-white, light brown-ish color and chipping away with wear. The floor is made of mismatched wood covered by a well-worn brown throw rug that never lies completely flat due to the lumps and bumps in the floor below. In one corner there is an old vanity set with a candle that has no doubt been there since the Moulin Rouge opened. Two double beds covered with handmade quilts are aligned opposite one another and take up the majority of the space in the room. That's right, two double beds. Alice does not have the privilege of a private room, but rather shares a room with three other girls. However, given their profession, the four of them rarely spend a night together in the room. Overall, personal space does not exist in Alice's room, but it is relatively cozy in a rustic sort of way.

Of course, Alice does not work in that room. Zidler knows better than to send a relatively well-paying customer to somewhere less than spectacular. Like her room, however, the working bedrooms are also shared. There wouldn't be more than one customer-employee transaction happening in one room, but none of the girls have an assigned working room...except for Satine, that is. The rooms are all different, but generally contain a bed, a sitting area, and a bit of lavish decor.

Physical Description:
Alice has a very youthful appearance, which is indubitably a product of the fact that she is relatively young. At about 5'3", Alice is around average height. She is very thin, almost painfully thin, weighing just under 6 and half stones. Over the past year or so her naturally slender frame that has been exaggerated by a diet almost strictly of bread, absinthe, and cigarettes. Her skin is milky white and, surprisingly, lacking in an abundance of blemishes and imperfections. Alice's hair is chestnut brown in color and naturally curly in texture. She usually wears it completely free or sweeps pieces away from her face with a fancy, embellished hair comb. Her facial features are striking: deep brown doe eyes enclosed with long black lashes, a straight and narrow nose, and full pout that turns down ever so slightly. She is rarely over-dramatic with make-up and usually chooses mildly tame shades to play up her Lolita-esque appeal.

When it comes to clothing, there is a stark difference between what Alice wears during the day and what she wears for her job. During the day, Alice prefers long, simple corseted dresses in black or similarly dark colors like navy or plum. On the other hand, at night she dresses in bold. often mismatched, colors, raised hemlines, plunging necklines, extraordinarily tight corsets, and fishnet hose with ruffled undergarments.

Personality Description:
Alice can be described rather succinctly as a very naive girl. Compared to the others girls Alice works with, she is relatively innocent and inexperienced. After all, she is about as pure at they get at the Moulin Rouge. She still believes that there is good in the world and has an optimistic view on life. She's good-natured, sweet, and generally kind to others, even those she isn't particularly fond of. Unfortunately, her workplace is quickly beginning to corrupt her. She has already picked up vices, smoking and drinking, and it's only a matter of time before her naivety fades to reveal a cynical demon.

For the time being, Alice is a bit shy, especially around strangers. This could be problematic to her job, but she uses it to her advantage by supplementing her lack of words with emotive looks and body language. Alice is a former ballet dancer so she has a great deal of body awareness, which allows her to do this so successfully. Alice lacks a strong sense of independence and looks to others for guidance and support. The Moulin Rouge employees and clientèle satisfy this need. Alice most often works for dominant men who enjoy having a helpless, beautiful young woman at their service. These men usually are also attracted to her delicate, youthful appearance, so it works out well for Alice. Alice learned obedience from years in ballet lessons and is handsomely rewarded for her willingness to do as instructed with her clients, which is good for her and Mr. Harold Zidler.

Even though Alice has only been at the Moulin Rouge a short time, she is fiercely loyal to the people there. It's not that she lacks loyalty to other people she knows, but to Alice, they have become her family and she wouldn't dare jeopardize that connection. She views Zidler as a father-figure, her fellow "dancers" as siblings, and Satine as the big sister that she looks up to with awe. Growing up, Alice never would have envisioned herself at the Moulin Rouge, but now that she is there, she almost feels as though she has found her niche in society and is quite comfortable.

History:
Alice was born in the Burgundy region of France. She was the youngest child of five in the family and the only girl, thus making her the only real financial burden. Her family was not extraordinarily wealthy, but they were moderately well-off because they owned and operated a wine vineyard. The Devereux family had the means to afford a private tutor for the children, so Alice had the privilege of learning to read and write properly at a young age. Alice was of average intelligence and was not overly successful in her academic studies. However, Alice did show quite a talent for ballet even as a small child. Alice's grandmother, who was a widower and thus lived with Alice and her immediate family, was a former member of the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris and gave Alice ballet lessons for many years. Alice's parents did not particularly approve of ballet, but saw it as a harmless pastimes that Alice would eventually grow out of.

Unfortunately for her parents, Alice did not grow out of her love for ballet. She was absolutely in love with the dance and dreamed of one day becoming a member of the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris just like her grandmother. Her father was especially displeased with this and insisted that she would never find a husband if she was focused on chasing after a ballet dream that would never be realized. However, with her grandmother's help, Alice continued refining her technique and had become a very polished ballet dancer by around age 14. In the meantime, Alice's father started bringing by suitors for her, clearly stating his opinion on the issue. Being an obedient daughter, Alice did not push the matter any further and followed her father's wishes.

Shortly after Alice turned 15 years old, her grandmother passed away. It was not totally surprising considering the fact that the woman had been very old, but Alice was upset all the same. In memory of her grandmother, Alice resurrected her ballet dreams and, against her father's warning, left for Paris to audition for the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris. In anger, Alice's father essentially excommunicated her from the family. After a few days of travel, a night on the streets, and with only a nominal amount of money in her possession, Alice auditioned for the ballet. She was confident in her abilities and her grandmother's training, but, as it turned out, Alice simply wasn't good enough to join the ranks of the prestigious ballet company and she was denied a position in the group.

Distraught, nearly penniless, and without a family to go home to, Alice aimlessly wandered the streets of Paris. Only a few days after the major disappointment, Alice was approached by a rather strange looking man who stood significantly shorter than she and introduced himself as Toulouse-Lautrec, an artist. He directed her to the Moulin Rouge where she met Harold Zidler. Based on her looks alone, which Alice could never have been more grateful for, Zidler took her into his care and began grooming her to be one of his famed Diamond Dogs. It did not take long for Alice to move up to that rank. After only two months at the Moulin Rouge, Alice earned the title of Diamond Dog and was functioning well in Paris.

A full six months since Alice's arrival have passed and she still retains her rank in the Moulin Rouge hierarchy. Although not quite as innocent as when she first settled in, Alice is still a bit naive. She is viewed among her Moulin Rouge family as a child who still needs quite a bit of direction and support. As far as she understand, Zidler's opinion is that as long as the clients are happy, and they are, it's not a problem that she may need some extra guidance here and there.

Other:Hmm...I think that's it.

[Lindsay]

Whew, I read the whole thing! What a read it was. A treat. I don't see any issues, and think her history was great. You explained everything very well.

The 'job' part at the top made me giggle. XD Accepted!