Blake Louise Ashley

Called "Ms. Ashley" by Henrietta. Also is called "Blakey-Lou" by her dad.

Protagonist, Maid

Female

18

Caucasian.

Chestnut brown.

Long and curly, worn in a bun or braid.

6'5"

Extremely tall and lanky, flattish chest. Small hips.

Light and rosy.

Can reach high shelves, can organize things for long periods of time, best at not arguing with people, good with children. Surprisingly athletic despite not looking it.

Has a habit of bending over when walking through a door, even if she doesn't need to. Keeps her arms close to her side usually. Constantly pulls at her sleeves and socks that don't fit. Originally she started doing this because they kept rolling up/sliding down, but now it's just kind of turned into a habit. Brushes crumbs off and plays with her skirt. Head droops when sad or tired, fiddles with hands when nervous. Smiles a lot, to the point where it's rare to see her frown. When she does cry though, she hides her face in her hands as if she doesn't want people to see her, or like she's ashamed. When mad and/or frustrated, she finds something unsorted and angrily organizes it while muttering and swearing under her breath. She rarely swears besides when she's mad, and if she does it's always said very quietly or else Henrietta will give her the "young ladies don't use that kind of language" talk. Occasionally, however, something will slip out full volume and she'll clasp her hand over her mouth and pray no one heard her.

Her father, she'd do anything for him or to make him proud. The ever-lasting search for a husband. Unorganized anything. Because she was spoiled and overly dote upon as a child, she wants to prove that she can be successful and make something of herself without her family's help. The need to keep her job.

Tries to think positively/happily no matter what, and though that doesn't seem like a flaw at first, it often leads to a lot of built up negative feelings that usually all come out in one big fit. Her fits usually include yelling, crying, swearing, and throwing, using magic and not.
Always attempts to see the best in people, but because of it can sometimes be a little naive. Not exactly clumsy, but does tend to be accident prone if not just plain unlucky, especially when is comes to cutting her hand open in the exact same spot (which happens more than you'd think). Can be a bit scatterbrained and impulsive, not to mention stubborn at times. Doesn't have the highest self confidence, mostly because of her height. Allergic to dust (makes her nose itch and she sneezes all over the place), which unfortunately gets in the way of her housework. Has mild OCD, that occasionally makes it hard for her to focus.

Besides her maid and magic duties, Blake reads (for enjoyment and to expand her magical encyclopedia), goes for walks, writes letters to her Father, or just organizes whatever she can find. She also enjoys socializing with the other working girls.

Blake is incredibly cheerful, enthusiastic, and optimistic to a fault. When she was little, her father use to say, "When you fall down, don't sit there and cry, get up and smile! Because why waste your life on the ground when you could be walking forward." This stuck with her, so no matter what she always keeps her chin up, and does her best to smile through hardships. However, because of this all her negative emotions build up, and eventually she cracks and lets them all flow out in a fit of anger.
Due to being somewhat spoiled as a child, Blake gets immensely excited when a new challenge comes her way. She won't stop until she's overcome the challenge, even if it's obvious she needs a break from it. This hardworking nature of hers combines with her sanguine attitude to make her a truly pleasant person to be around.
Blake also has mild OCD, which usually takes form by her urges to organize anything that's not, usually by color, type, or size. If she sees something out of place, she has to fix it or it'll bother her all day.
One of the stranger things about Blake is her unluckiness. Though people call her clumsy, she's not really that clumsy at all. Actually, she's quite agile. But say she's standing still, she won't trip over nothing, but instead someone will run by randomly and push her down in a hurry, or she'll be walking through the halls only for Lucky to randomly run by and trip her. Little incidents like that happen to her all the time. The only clumsiness she has is how she somehow manages to cut open her hand in the exact same spot whenever she holds a sharp object.

Probably the most notable thing about Blake is her height, at 6'5" she towers slightly above almost everybody. This, however, is the main reason why she is still single, and the main thing she's self conscious about. She does her best to make herself feel better about being spouse-less, by telling herself "I don't need to rush into marriage!" and "There's nothing wrong with me, just their fragile masculinity!" However, at heart Blake is still just a hopeless romantic and longs for the day she meets her 6'6" prince.

A golden necklace that belonged to her mother.

Cats, especially Lucky the house cat.

Muffins.

Aqua.

A Housemaid working for Arabella Frost, also secretly training as a mage.

A feminist, though not as strongly opinionated as Christie. Believes equality should definitely be established. Thinks the stereotype that women should be shorter than their husbands needs to be the first thing to go.

Christianity.

Average elementary through high-school education.

Blake was born to her parents Sullivan and Rosa Ashley as their only child. When Blake was eight her mother passed away from sickness, and though she missed her dearly, she did grow up with a motherly figure in form of Harriet Blythe, her Nanny and long-term friend of her father's.
Because of Sullivan's well paying job, his daughter was lucky enough to stay in school all the way through high school, whereas poorer families usually pull children out of school around age 16 to find work. Blake was extremely grateful for this opportunity, and did her best to not disappoint her father.
Around age 14, Blake's attention focused on the subject almost all the other girls had focused on too-- courtship. At this age, young men and ladies are officially allowed to court, though marriage is prohibited until 18. And our dear Blake at the time had eyes for a certain boy in her class. At last, she finally gathered up the courage to confess her feelings, but he turned her down. This was heartbreak number 1.
A year and a couple months later, she finally got over the first boy and in fact had developed feelings for another-- a quiet yet popular young man. Scared to be let down again, she buried her love deep inside her, but after agonizing over it for a while finally told him how she felt. To her surprise, he actually confessed he had a crush on her a year ago, but learned she liked boy #1 so gave up. Still, since that was so long ago, he asked if he could take two days to process his decision. Blake of course agreed, and went home dazed if not anxious. The first day she was a mess. She tried to think positively, though she couldn't help be a little pessimistic about the whole situation. By tomorrow, however, her mood completely changed and she was almost certain he'd say yes. A couple times she caught him staring at her, and her friend said she saw him blushing in her direction. At last, the third day came, and Blake sat in their meeting spot, practically unable to control herself! She saw him start to walk over, only for the group of popular kids to intervene. Well, that's fine. I can wait a couple minutes. A bit later, he finally escaped his classmates and came over, his face looking quite red. He told her it had just been to long since he felt that way about her, so he just didn't think starting a relationship could work. Blake was crushed, if not confused. This was heartbreak number 2.
When Blake was seventeen, she had become smitten with a red-headed boy. She knew this would be the last chance she had to find a partner before graduation, so she decided she didn't have time to be skittish. She told him how she felt, only for him to respond quite frankly, "Uh, sorry Blake. I just can't be with a girl who's taller than me. " All at once everything seemed to click. After some snooping, her fears had proven correct. Her friend who had a friend who courted the friend of boy #1 said that her friend was told by her beau that boy #1 rejected Blake because he was too embarrassed to have a girlfriend that was taller than him. And Blake's other friend who courted this guy who was friends with this girl who courted one of the popular boys told her that her boyfriend said that his friend found her lover with the group of popular kids teasing boy #2 because they knew he was going to actually accept her feelings, and were making fun of him for being shorter than her. So, in the spur of the moment he rejected her. Blake was angry and offended, but also heartbroken. She knew she was tall, but never really thought it would affect how people felt about her. She then realized that finding a husband would be harder than she thought.
So after graduation, Blake still needed a plan. Women didn't have many choices in the world she lived in, so there were only three paths she could really choose: become a mother, become a mage, or leave town and find a job. Though it's not necessary to leave town for path #3, most girls do as a opportunity to see new places and meet new people. And that's the path Blake decided to take.
She left home a month after graduation, the day after her eighteen birthday. She looked for work in 3 different towns before eventually trying to get a job as a housemaid for Arabella Frost. There she met Henrietta, the grumpy housekeeper and Personal Mage of Ms. Frost. Henrietta gave her a two week test before officially hiring her, to see if she could properly perform who duties. At first, things didn't look to good for Blake. She kept making mistakes and her unluckiness got in the way. However, around the same time Henrietta realized she was losing her magic do to old age, and who should she discover also possessed magic but Blake. She gave Blake a choice, she could keep her job as a maid while also secretly performing Henrietta's own magical duties, or leave. So Blake, needing a job and place to live, decided to choose the first option. Time will tell how long they can keep this little deal a secret.

June 21st

Blake: "Dark" or "Light." Could also mean "Son of Lake."
Louise: "Renowned Warrior," "Fame," "Loud," or "Fighter."
Ashley: "From the Ash Tree Grove"

Story-wise: Her mother quite liked the name Blake, and her father's grandmother's name was Louise.

Author's Note: I chose the Blake because I found it fun how the name contradicted itself, meaning dark and light at the same time, and seeing as she has dark brown eyes and light blond hair it suited her nicely. It was also a popular name in the late Victorian era, and since that's the age her story's based on it worked out perfectly. Louise was another name popular during that time period, and with Blake's "loves a challenge" personality, a name meaning fighter seemed to fit. After deciding her first and middle name, Ashley seemed to just pop into my mind. It flowed really nicely, so that's been her last name since.

No pets, but is friends with the Housecat Lucky.