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| User: | bodyofthebrain (586736) |
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| Name: | A. A. Kavanagh | ||||||||||
| Bio: | Name: Arwen Althea Kavanagh Age: 27 D.O.B. June 24, 1982 Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan Physical Description: Fit and toned, Arwen stands at 5'8", and is of a fair complexion. A blue-eyed brunette, her long hair falls in waves to her lower back, and is typically left down and free. She has a scar on her left upper lip, which was always one of the best ways to tell her apart from her twin sister, Ava. She tends to favor comfortably clothing, not paying attention to fashion at all. As a young adult she went through her phase of constantly looking like someone who just left a Renaissance Festival, and to this day, she has a secret love of corsets. But shhh, don't tell. Personality: Arwen is a quiet, soft-spoken woman, and much of her life has been mistakenly labeled as shy. While she is reserved, she is in no way timid; she has no issue with making her thoughts and feelings known, but she is a woman to choose her words and arguments very carefully. Words are her life, and she considers it a terrible thing to misuse them. When Arwen speaks on a matter, it is with absolute conviction, and usually, absolute honesty. Arwen has no patience for liars, and as such, has made it a policy to avoid telling lies of her own, for any reason whatsoever. While she would not be one to tell even a little white lie, she is at least highly tactful and diplomatic. Arwen is sweet and kind-hearted, and if she ever says a bad word of someone, it's usually safe to say they have earned it. She is a strong believer in second chances, and trying to find the good in people. As a writer, she understands that – like her own characters – most people are not simply black and white, so to speak. There are grey areas and intricate complexities, and faith in a person should not be thrown away lightly. In school, she was the type to stand up for classmates when others would not, and her family knew that if she did not grow up to be a writer, she was bound to be a lawyer. She enjoyed debate, even picking the sides others would not touch, just to try and find the good in them. In situations of high stress, Arwen is your girl. She stays cool and calm, and if she is upset, she often keeps her own thoughts and feelings buried beneath the surface to be released later in private. And even on the best of days, there are often times when Arwen hides when she is upset, which is perhaps a learned behavior after spending so much time in solitude. Passenger or Staff: Passenger Traveling With: Two older sisters, Emilia (30) and Brontë (32) Contest Entry: Involuntary; Brontë won the tickets, and never knew who entered her Career/Job: Author of fantasy novels, under the name A. A. Kavanagh History: Neil and Emily Kavanagh were, by many standards, the gold standard of an American family. Both came from good families with pristine backgrounds, and both were fueled by the desire for love, peace, and family. Neil was an Evangelical Christian pastor, with one of the largest Christian churches in their suburban section of Grand Rapids. Emily was a college professor of English Literature – which explained their daughters names. They would have four daughters, Brontë Rose being the eldest, Emilia Scout coming second, and last but not least, the twins: Arwen Althea and Avalon Alison. After the birth of the twins, the Kavanagh couple had to give up on having a son, as Emily basically refused to stop pushing the ole' twin beds together (no, seriously). In school, Arwen was teased for her unusual name, but she had a thick enough skin where it didn't really bother her as much as it could have. She was very close with her sisters, and despite the general belief that a pastor's kids are usually the worst of the bunch, Arwen was always reserved and well-behaved. The polar opposite of her twin, really. Ava (as she was always known), was the one running around and chasing boys on the playground as a child, and getting into more and more trouble with each passing year. Ava was loud, and refused to ever be ignored. Arwen was often trotting along after her, doing her best to try and keep her out of major trouble. The operative word being, of course, try. As a child, Arwen was always making up and writing stories. She seemed to have limitless creativity, and her closet was filled with notebooks full of stories from a very young age. When she was seventeen years old, she won a writing competition and had a series of short stories published in a collection of high school-age writers. After graduating, she went to the University of Michigan to study literature, much like her mother. Ava was accepted to the same school, though she was constantly switching majors. By the time Arwen obtained her degree, she already had a book deal for the first book in a fantasy series she'd been writing all of her adult life (and quite a few of her teenage years, as well). Arwen lived on her advance, as well as a government grant for published writers. Her series, The Books of Sacred Light, were a surprising success, and she gained a small level of notoriety for being known for starting the first book at such a young age. At 23, a director/producer team showed interest in adapting the series for television, and Arwen made the trip to New Zeeland to personally meet with them and discuss the possibilities. While things eventually fell through, Arwen fell in love with the country; eventually she bought a house there, just outside of Queenstown. The decision to make the move was not an easy one, but she found the area inspiring. Arwen had never really experienced any sort of solitude or independence, and while she loved her family dearly, some part of her did yearn for the experience. She had six lovely months, before her life fell apart. Ava had taken up with an equally wild personality – a man named Callum. The relationship was never a good one, and Arwen made her disapproval known at every turn. Callum was out of control, and Arwen always felt he was a horrible influence on her twin. The stories she heard were increasingly alarming, and Arwen was starting to wonder if it wasn't time for a visit back home when she got the call that changed her world forever. Ava was dead. Ava and Callum had been out partying together, and after getting quite drunk, began arguing heatedly. Eventually, Callum forcibly dragged Ava out of the bar, and the two were still shouting at each other as they got in his car and drove away. The car never made it home. Callum went through a red light and lost control of the vehicle, leading to a massive pile-up. Callum lived. Ava did not. When Arwen got the call that Ava was in critical condition and not expected to make it, she hopped the first flight back to the states. By the time she landed, Ava had passed. Arwen was destroyed by the death of her twin. She felt a very physical loss, and despite her remaining family, she felt alone in her sorrow. She also felt an extreme sense of guilt. She was utterly convinced that if she had never left, she could have prevented it all, and her sister would still be alive. She stayed in Michigan long enough to bury her sister and see Callum tried and sentenced. Unfortunately, the trial almost destroyed her all over again. In the state of Michigan, vehicular manslaughter was enough to get someone sentenced to ten years in prison. Unfortunately, the couple were across state lines in Indiana when it happened. Callum was sentenced to only a year in prison. Arwen fell apart in the court room, and the next day, was on the next flight next to New Zeeland. For months, she barely left her house, and rarely spoke to anyone. She lived in a self-imposed exile from the rest of the world, unable to even begin coping with her grief and guilt. There is no telling how long she could have stayed that way, if the world hadn't been turned upside down again. One day, her phone simply started ringing off the hook. After a while Arwen unplugged it, but a nagging feeling finally got the best of her and she took the call. It was her sister, Brontë, and she had shocking news. Their father had caught their mother in an affair – with another woman. Her assistant and best friend of years, no less. Arwen was barely able to believe what she was hearing, but once again, she hopped a flight back to the states to make sense of things. In a bizarre way, the scandal was a blessing in disguise. And it was a scandal. Her father was the pastor of one of the largest Evangelical Christian churches in the area, and somehow the story ended up in local news. Neil Kavanagh was shamed and humiliated, and it even caused a large number of people to leave his church. Emily was all around crushed and in a state of deep depression. And best of all – neither of them believed in divorce. The fact that Neil refused to speak to Emily for some time, unless he was quoting scripture at her... well, that didn't help anything. Emilia, who had always been the 'daddy's girl' of the family, felt a great deal of anger at their mother for betraying their father, and Brontë and Arwen were left feeling like the only sane, rational ones left in the family. What the scandal did do, surprisingly, was give Arwen her strength back. Her family needed her to be strong, and suddenly, that was all it took. She pushed aside her own emotions in order to be a pillar of strength for both of her parents, and her sisters. Seeing her parents (and to some degree, Emilia) suffer so badly took Arwen away from her guilt and grief. What was important was being there for them, and getting her family through it all. It was not easy. It was a long time before Neil could be convinced to attend counseling with his wife (who had been staying at her eldest daughter's house, along with Arwen), and after marriage counseling finally began, Emily managed to admit that she had always had feelings for women, that she had tried to repress. She and her assistant had had several 'moments of weakness', going as far back as Arwen's childhood, but the death of Ava had been too much, and she had been driven to seek out comfort in the arms of someone she truly had fallen in love with, years ago. While she loved Neil, and always had, she had married him simply because marrying good boys and having children was what someone of her background was supposed to do. The two eventually did divorce, though there was a long period of time when Neil was bound and determined to 'fix' his wife. It made for awkward family life, from there on out. They managed to reach a point where they could be a family, on birthdays and holidays, and even occasional Sunday dinners. Sometimes things went well, sometimes things were just uncomfortable and awkward. There was never really any telling how the next day would be. But it did bring the daughters back together. From there on out, the three sisters managed to take time in their schedules to always take at least one yearly vacation together. Special Skills/Abilities: Arwen is a person of many (sometimes odd) skills. She likes to write what she knows, which often leads to picking up odd crafts (jewelry making, sewing, metalworking), and various outdoor skills. She's also a trained swords-woman, knife fighter, and knife throwing. Oh, and she plays the flute. Thorough Arwen is Thorough. Personal Weaknesses: Guilt. Though she did deal with the loss of her sister (albeit, in an unconventional way), it's still there, every day. She still thinks of her sister constantly, and still believes that if she had not left her, she could have saved her. She dreams of her constantly (no few of which are nightmares), and misses her terribly. Loss. At the end of the day, the death of Ava changed Arwen greatly. She was never, and will never, be the same. She can't help but feel like a large part of herself died with Ava. While she would never admit to it, she knows that she probably should have started seeing a therapist about the matter years ago, but when it comes down to it, she doesn't believe the 'problem' is fixable. The problem is that her sister is dead, end of story. Repressed. Arwen's parents were wonderful, loving parents, but they were a very reserved couple who tried to shelter their daughters in many ways. They weren't allowed to watch movies above a PG rating until their teenage years (and in that case, never R-rated movies, though the girls snook them anyway), weren't allowed to date until they were sixteen, etc. As Arwen had always been the most reserved of the Kavanagh girls, she never actually dated a lot. She doesn't have a lot of romantic experience, and finds herself unsure in them. Beneath the surface. Partially a learned behavior, and in a small way just how she's always been, Arwen tends to hide the emotions and thoughts that would imply weakness on her part. She likes people to feel like they can depend on her, and has always been the sort of person to put her own feelings aside for someone else's sake. Personal Strengths: Strength of character. Loyal, honest, and kind... Arwen is a good person, and simply the kind of person you want in your corner. Family: Both parents are alive and well in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her older sisters are Brontë Rose, 32, and Emilia Scout, 30. Her twin sister, Ava (short for Avalon), died three years ago. PB: Bridget Regan | ||||||||||
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| Account type: | Free Patient | ||||||||||
