Ophelia Blank's Questionnaire

Ophelia Blank lives out of her tailor shop known as "Blank's" within the city of London, England. She set up shop in London due to inheriting the building from her adoptive parents who passed away in an accident when she was 23. Having a passion for fashion, London isn't the worst place to set up shop, even if the location of the shop itself is suboptimal. 

Blank's is located on a small commercial street in the Islington borough of London. The place itself is in a decent plaza with a Convenience store, Tattoo Parlor,  Laundromat, and RMT also on the plot. The shop itself is meager in appearance due to having an old brick exterior complete with cracked mortar. Inside is a staging area with a selection of formal wear, and business casual clothing. It has a royal blue and grey theme to the place, and seems to have been recently renovated. The lighting inside is immaculate, when coupled with the pristine tiles and comfortable staging chairs, it's a wonder the place hasn't been robbed. In the shop's backroom, just passed the tailoring room is Ophelia's living area. There is a comfortable queen sized bed, and small kitchenette amidst a sea of mannequins in what is obviously a storage room. It is relatively tidy outside of one corner with various clothing projects being worked on.

Ophelia's current source of income is divided. She makes money operating "Blank's" tailor shop. However the money coming in is used cover operating costs and her allotted 'Passion Project' budget. She supplements her income by collaborating with other people in the fashion industry on small minor projects, and projects that market themselves as 'against the grain.' Most of her money earned goes toward living costs, and back into her passion for fashion. 

When she finds herself having a bit of leftover money, instead of saving it, she usually spends it on attending protests and visiting conventions. As a tailor she usually ends up making a quick buck adjusting or fixing people's outfits on the fly. Sometimes for free... If she finds the outfit flattering. The protests she attends tend to be political in nature. Not because she leans a certain way, but because only when challenged, do people tend to make changes or show their true colours.

Ophelia has an ambition to remove all corruption from those in government structures. Her reasoning is simple: "How can we as people be good, when our leaders are so obviously impure?" This line of thinking comes from the incident in which her adoptive parents were killed in a bus accident due to faulty breaks that were willfully ignored due to budget constraints. When suing the city for damages, her lawyer was bought out, leading to nothing being gained aside from her rightful inheritance. 

In order to achieve this ambition Ophelia would go to the brink of death, or even beyond if the stakes were high enough. She's not above killing to achieve this goal, but would rather use scare tactics and intimidation, as killing can be detrimental, as well as giving certain individuals a taste of their own medicine.

Ophelia Blank was a bright eyed and optimistic individual before the passing of her adoptive parents. Their deaths rattled her, and impacted her worldview more than any other event leading up to it. After her parents died in a bus accident due to the city administration's negligence, Ophelia sued the city leading to a potentially massive suit that could set her up for life. The case was going well and basically in the bag, when she heard a conversation between a couple gentlemen and her legal representative that lead to her finding out that they were being bribed to make certain evidence inadmissible, and subsequently losing the case. 

After losing the case, she found out that the legal representative was bribed under force of threat, as a scandal as big as the lawsuit would harm the chances of the current representatives keeping their positions of power. This revelation is was removed a lot of her optimism and replaced it with cynicism. What made her eyes which were so bright, slightly colder to behold.

Alejandra Torres: A tattoo artist based out of Islington that grew up with Ophelia. She also happens to be her best friend. She is a kind hearted woman who drags Ophelia to climate activist gatherings, as well as other movements. She is a woman of Spanish descent in her late 20's with long and wavy brown hair, as well as sharp facial features that clash with her relatively soft spoken demeanour.

Riley Watts: A local politician who comes from humble beginnings, Somebody who is truly for the people. He gets his suits from and fitted at "Blank's." He is a Caucasian man in his early forties with brown hair starting to grey at the sides, and calm icy blue eyes. 

Timber: An extremely tall youth from one of the poorer districts in London. He stands around 7ft tall and has a gaunt unremarkable appearance outside of his height. He became friends with Ophelia at a protest speaking out against a startup corporation that stepped a little too hard into politics way too quickly. He got knocked out by one of the more aggressive protestors, Alejandra shouted "Timberrrrrrrrrrrr!" as he fell, and the name stuck. 

The childhood of Ophelia was a rather average one. She was adopted into a middle class family at a young age by a couple looking to adopt. Her adoptive father was a Truck Driver, and her adoptive mother worked in business administration for one of the local credit unions. They were loving toward Ophelia and treated her as if she was theirs, and she was as they had no biological children of their own. 

Ophelia attended a public school in London, England. She attended regularly, hoping to do her parents proud and be able to take care of them in the future. Her grades were average, but her project scores tended to be better on average. This was because people enjoyed working with her. Due to her quick wit and phenomenal artistry, Ophelia was popular among people with an interest in the Fine Arts. Which lead to her having a good group of friends, even though she close to all of the ones who considered her a friend. Eventually she graduated with a solid GPA with the help of her friend and Valedictorian Penelope Fletcher.

She attended University for a while, pursuing a degree in Arts and Education, but ended up dropping out due to having little interest. She followed up by using her skills to become a freelance tailor and fashion designer, where most of her aptitude laid.

Ophelia has never been in love. Familial love was what she grew up with, and seeing her parent's amazing relationship made her consider her potential romantic partners rather critically. There have been moments of fleeting affection, but she has quickly moved on from those flights of fancy. Due to the extremely strict and unrealistic standards she has of herself and others, it seems that she will remain single unless something changes in her life. Her future plans and ambitions are dangerous. Would she even consider a relationship at the current time? Probably not, as it would endanger them, and everyone around them.

I fear the day that I face betrayal once again. Aside from that... Loss of Independence.

When my parents were killed, I was distraught. Back then I was innocent, naïve, and fearless. Obviously the city was at fault for the bus accident, there's no way a public transport vehicle was left in use without maintenance with the amount of tax dollars going into it... This was the truth, until it wasn't. The betrayal of my lawyer who was bought out left me reeling. It shattered my perception of the world and those who live within it, and left a deep trauma in regards to the loyalty and intentions of others. To that bastard lawyer, sitting on a beach somewhere. I will make you pay for what you did. 

The second fear is a bit tricky to explain. Really. Independence has weird connotations, maybe loss of autonomy would be better? It's just a feeling I've had since young. Being told what to do doesn't bother me, being forced to do something without a choice does. Maybe this fear is also why I haven't found that special someone yet. Maybe I never will. Codependence is a dangerous thing that develops when relying on somebody who's your equal. If I found myself in a position like that for a long period of time, I would feel as though I've lost all agency in my life. If I can't choose the path in which I go through life, is it really worth living? The fear is irrational when I think about it, since there's always a choice. Unfortunately the fear is very real, and not going away any time soon.

My most prized possessions... huh. Never thought about it. As a tailor, the creation and alteration of garments is commonplace, and due to my upbringing I don't hold much dear to my heart.

In regards to actually answering the question, my most prized possession are my shop "Blank's" and all the things inside of it. The building itself is mine, and it used to be my parent's. After the failed lawsuit, all that remained of their things was this building, and I hold it close to my heart. It's like they are still here with me when I am within the walls of this establishment. Everything I make inside the store is a tribute to their memory, making them proud, showing them that I am not a quitter.

The old loom I keep around for sentimental reasons is probably the most valuable thing in the store, at least to me. It was a birthday gift from my parents after they discovered my passion for weaving and altering clothes. It doesn't see much use, as its practicality is lost in what I actually do in the day to day operations, but it's the pure happiness that they supported me through life no matter what I wanted to do.

God bless them. I hope they are in a better place.