Angela Susan DeVash’s grand entrance into the world could be described in one word; normal. There were no near death experiences, she arrived on time, and had a loving mother (Johanna DeVash nee Forsythe.) and father (General Thomas Lee DeVash of the United States Army) who had been married two years prior to the little girl’s birth. Angela would, however, spend her first three years of life on a small Army base in Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany where she learned the language fluently, before being uprooted and moved to Fort Campbell, Kentucky at the ripe old age of three. There were several years that the toddler was allowed to be a recluse, but once school started and it became obvious that Angela was going to be quite shy, Johannah decided to take the matters into her own hands. There was an attempt at tee ball (which failed miserably when Angela refused to hit the ball and ran from the field when the coach got annoyed), followed by art classes ( a bust, since she refused to color inside the lines), but eventually she found her niche.
It was a tiny dance studio in the center of the city, and while it might not have been the most elite of places to begin her learning, it would soon become a second home to the now five year old. Each Thursday and Saturday she would arrive at exactly four pm and go through the movements, before devoting the last fifteen minutes of class to free style. As she grew, she improved her style and even began taking more advanced classes, practically living at the studio during her elementary and most of her middle school career. Unfortunately, however, Thomas didn’t seem to get the memo that his young daughter was quite happy in the small, southern, city and opted to retire just before Angela began her seventh grade year.
Opting to move to his birthplace of New York City, lead to a bit of a culture shock for Angela, but fortunately enough, after a week of teenage angst to the highest degree, Johannah had her daughter enrolled in dance classes once more. Another bit of luck happened a few months before the end of Angela’s seventh grade year when she scored high enough on standardize testing and aced an audition (at the end of her eighth grade year) for High School of Perfoming Arts, opting to specialize in dance.
Once again, she became almost obsessed with perfecting her technique, spending hours going over the steps and the sequencing that had been taught in class. It wasn’t uncommon to spot her slinking from the dance studio hours after the final school bell had rang. And it showed. Angela’s movements were much more precise than some of the other girls’ in her class and she quickly advanced. It wasn’t until her sophomore year, however, that she began to develop friendships (curse you unavoidable shyness!), and several of the girls’ decided that all work and no play makes Angela a dull girl.
So a new trend was started. Each and every weekend, she was pulled from her house and forced to socialize, which wasn’t nearly as horrible as she would have made one think it was. Her group of friends grew slowly, and despite the small amount of popularity she gained, she still preferred to be alone or in the dance studio. This may or may not have caused her to develop a bit of a reputation as an Ice Queen (ok, ok, so there might have been a few cases of sarcasm gone awry, but that was to be excused, right?), which never quite left her.
The partying became quite worth it during the spring semester of her junior year. It was at a rather large gathering that she ran into, quite literally, the one and only James Somervaille (though, at the time, not quite an actor.). A one night stand occurred and eventually a friendship was struck up. Said friendship turned into a relationship during the final semester of high school and Angela would, quite easily, describe it as the happiest time of her life. The couple clicked and James made her feel confident and comfortable and all kinds of good things. It was, quite simply, love.
Someone seemed to forget to give Angela that memo, and a few months after James turned twenty two, they broke up. The reasoning being that Angela had signed a contract with a small ballet company in France (shortly after graduating from Julliard), and would be spending the next year in a completely different country. James was begged to join her, but he disagreed and thus? Heartbreak! The separation, however, lasted for exactly a year before James stalked appeared at his lady love’s apartment for another night of debauchery, that some how ended in Angela deciding not to renew her contract with the company (France wasn’t as exciting as she had expected, and the director tended to be terribly harsh), the exchanging of ‘I love yous’ and the relationship renewed.
Returning to New York City after the contract ended, she signed on with the New York City Ballet company as a corps de ballet dancer. It was a low rank, but she was perfectly giddy to be dancing and back in familiar territory, plus there was the added bonus of James Somervaille. As the years and locality passed, Angela slowly worked her way through the ranks, finally making it as a Principal Dancer in the Los Angeles Ballet Company.The happiness was quickly shattered, however, as James opted to announce that he had cheated on her and there would soon be a baby on the way.
The following months were tremulous to say the least. On top of the landmine that James planted, Angela’s father suffered a massive heart attack and passed away, exactly two days later. The loss of her father, and the fact that James was with her, soothed the waters a bit, but she still had a terrible time trusting him. Each time he went away to shoot a movie, or had a rehearsal, Angela became a nervous wreck. This changed, however, when the tiny baby came into the world. It was a boy, and he was named Dylan Somervaille, and Angela fell in love once more. She had all ways wanted children and some how she managed not to mind so much that this one wasn’t her own. It didn’t hurt, that she hadn’t had to give birth to him, and you know, James had been given full custody.
Having a baby around made Angela feel some what maternal, and just generally want domestic bliss. Despite typically being very verbal about these things, however, Angela only made a few hints about her wishes (which seemingly went ignored by the male half of the relationship), before mostly giving up and becoming mostly fine with being regulated to ‘permanent girlfriend’, and that’s the way things stayed for nearly three years.
It was a trip to Vegas that changed everything. There was a bit of free time for both James and Angela, and thus a vacation was in order. Flying out to Sin City for all kinds of carousing (gambling, strippers, drinking, and just general fun!) for a few days before returning back to Los Angeles to be mature, responsible adults, changed slightly the night after they arrived. There had been a tour of strip clubs, boozing and the idea to get hitched was sprung by a very buzzed James. Angela (who had had a few drinks herself) agreed quickly and it was off to one of the many, many, drive thru wedding chapels. Elvis Presley presided over the services and unlike many couples who wed on a whim, there was no forty eight hour later annulment to be had.
A few years after the Vegas weekend, Angela found herself pregnant (and soon after, retired from the ballet world) with a baby girl who would come to be known as Hartley Jane Somervaille. The pregnancy was mostly error free, though Angela had to spend the last few months on bed rest, just as a precaution. On May 18, 2003 the tiny girl came screaming into the world. From the start, she was quite simply the apple of her father’s eye and seemed to prefer him to Angela. This fact only became more and more apparent as the child grew, which convinced her mother that she was the worst parent in the history of parents and lead to lots of self doubt. After all, weren’t mothers supposed to have some natural knack for this? It took a few months, but eventually Hartley seemed to warm up more to Angela (..Probably due to a very stern lecture James gave the toddler about hurting mommy’s feelings) and the tensions soothed.
The couple remained in Los Angeles for a few more years, Angela taking on the role of house wife and mother and not minding too much. She had began to regret giving up dancing so easily shortly after Hartley turned one and had began to consider returning to the stage. Fate had a different plan, however, as she slipped and fell down the stairs. She was mostly unscathed, though she suffered a fairly bad fracture to her knee and was to be kept off of it for quite a while. This of course pushed her grand return to the stage back even farther, and finding herself pregnant a few months after Hartley turned two made it almost impossible.
During the fifth month of pregnancy, they made their final move to a mansion at Laurel Canyon. It worked out nicely for Angela who’s only job was to over see things and be mocked by James (lovingly!) for beginning to waddle. The move went along smoothly and they were settled in entirely nearly a week later. A few months later, their second and (so far) last child, Mason came into the world. He was a healthy, happy baby who would grow to charm those around him with his naturally outgoing personality.
Since moving to Laurel Canyon, Angela has remained a stay at home mother, occasionally working the odd job (errand runner, German translator, things like that) to break up the monotiny. She’s still very much in love with James and has never been more happier with life.
----
name: Angela Susan DeVash-Somervaille
journal | aim: ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) asomervaille | angela can dance
pb (held or challenging?): Michelle Pfeiffer, Held.
age: Forty-one.
• What is your character's current situation? What do they want?: Currently living with her husband, James Somervaille (somerv), two small children (Hartley and Mason) and her older step-son (Dylan), in a hillside mansion, Angela Somervaille could quite easily be described as set for life. That doesn't stop her from wishing she hadn't retired so young. Angela would absolutely love to return to the stage once more, but she has almost decided to settle on opening her own dance studio. If this actually comes into play, only time will tell.
• What conflicts are they facing?: Mortality is the major one. While she is far from ancient, it's slowly settling in that she isn't in her teenage years any more and she's getting closer to fifty than she would like. There is also the subconscious fear that while James hasn't cheated on her in years, and she does trust him very much, he will find a younger, more charming piece of arm candy to replace her.
• What are their conscious motivations?: It all goes back to her family, once more. She has become very family oriented and they, quite simply come first.
• What are their subconscious motivations?: More recently, Angela has (though she doesn't exactly realize it) developed the need to be at least respected by most people. She doesn't necessarily mind if they like her, but since she's nearing 'cougar' age, she finds that she needs to be respected. At least a little.
• What factors have significantly influenced them in the past?: Through her youth, and young adulthood, it was her father (a very strict man) and her ballet instructors. Now it is the friendships that she has developed along with her family, and James.
• What factors are significantly influencing them now?:Her family is the basis of all of her decisions, as they are the main thing she clings to.
• How do they see themselves?: In a single word, shy.
• How do others see them?: In two words, ice queen.
• What are some of their hopes and fears?: At the moment, as corny as it seems, Angela just wants to see her children grow up healthy and happy. This also ties into the fear she's recently developed of fearing growing old, and you know, not being able to see her children reach adulthood.
|