interndana

The Player
Name/nickname: Allison/Alix
Age: 29
Pronouns: she/her/hers or they/their/theirs
Contact: avalonauggie on AIM
Experience: I haven't done group RP since about 2004 and Gaia Online, wow what a trip in the way-back machine; a ton of one-on-one RP and collaborative fiction work with my partner Ellis, who has threatened and cajoled me into joining after I've admired this RP from afar for AGES.
Currently played characters: none, I'm a wee babby!

The Character
DW account: interndana
Name: Dana Cardinal
Alias: Intern Dana (or her double), Former Intern Dana,
Age/Birthdate: let's say 23
Species: Human
Canon: Welcome to Night Vale
Canon point: Episode 30, Dana
Played By: Jasika Nicole

Icon:


Abilities:

Dana's special skills include a remarkably good ability to stay alive, which is more than can be said for most Night Vale Community Radio interns. She used to be pretty proficient with firearms, but it's been a long time since middle school, so her skills are a little rusty. Also: she can brew a fantastic pot of coffee.

Since getting displaced in space and/or time she's been able to keep her phone working despite being nowhere near a power outlet or cell tower. Through the Rift, this translates into a fortuitous ability to communicate electronically (she can get a signal in the subway!) and power her phone/other small devices by being in contact with them. This isn't a very pronounced ability since she's unaware of it, but if she learned about or developed her powers she could come in handy in a blackout, like one of those hand-cranked emergency radio dealies.

Appearance:

Dana is a criminally adorable young black woman with natural hair (3c if you're familiar with the curly hair typing chart), and her bearing is like that of some baby woodland creature: she gets very intensely focused on observing her environs (and can and will describe things in flowery detail) but scampers into action when action is called for, like making more coffee or fighting someone to the death or traversing the infinite void.

She has been wearing the same t-shirt/radio station hoodie/jeans/boots combo for we just don't know how long now so she's gonna be real excited to finally be in a place with showers! Under normal circumstances she probably likes to dress mostly casual with a bit of Night Valian oddity, but maybe not to the level of furry pants. She has an iPhone that has gotten her through some tough times in the Dog Park, a small leather satchel containing a notebook and letter stickers (as per the town ban on writing implements) for reports to the station, and not much else. The hustle and bustle of the big apple might blow her mind at first but she is going to shop the hell out of the place, if she can afford it.

Personality:

Dana is inquisitive, and has a powerful drive to investigate the unknown. This, obviously, can get her into quite a bit of trouble (and how!), but that same drive does generally ensure that whatever trouble she's in, she can get out of. She is the most intrepid baby deer of a person.

She is willing to sacrifice her own security and emotional comfort to achieve her goals, but she is acutely aware of what she's lost and is not without regret, and this sometimes manifests in a profound melancholy that can make her seem, let's say, older or wiser than her years. Alongside this, she has a hopeful and open attitude of wonder about the world, so Dana can be seen as embodying a dichotomy of childlike and older-just-shy-of-grizzled traits.

History:

Dana's seen some things. She grew up living with her mother, brother and grandfather (deceased as of some years ago), and that is all we know about her family, really. She misses her mother and brother quite a bit. She worked as an intern at Night Vale Community Radio through the broadcast journalism program at the local community college. (Player note: I see Dana as a young adult with a relatively mundane background. The canon is not clear on where the interns come from or how old they are generally: we know radio host Cecil's career at the radio station appears to have been foreordained and began in his teenage years, but Cecil's circumstances are probably special, and it seems implausible that all the station interns would have gotten the job in the same way. I choose to believe that some people are born interns, some achieve internship, and others have internship thrust upon them.)

The Night Vale public school system, with help from a vague yet menacing government agency, trains the children of the town in paramilitary skills, and Dana's childhood was no exception. These skills (and a general awareness of just how high the mortality rate is for radio station interns) are likely what saved her life during a reality-warping sandstorm several months before her entry into the Rift. Murderous doubles of every person in Night Vale appeared, and resulted in town-wide fights to the death. Dana killed her double with a stapler in the ensuing chaos, and afterwards it is never quite clear whether the Dana who survived was the original or the double. Dana herself is unsure about this, and the trauma of the event has made her more introspective and a little sad, wondering about the nature of memory and existence and causing her to doubt her place in the world, a little bit.

After this, she investigated the mysterious and forbidden Dog Park, and became trapped inside for months (the Dog Park is, of course, bigger on the inside). She eventually discovered an old oak door standing unsupported and, being a good investigatory journalist, went through it. The door (which has been mentioned before in the canon, or maybe that was a different door and multiple old oak doors exist? We just don't know) took Dana to a very odd and sinister house without windows but full of framed photographs, and also had the effect of displacing her in space and/or time. She could no longer operate on the material plane, but eventually she managed to exit the house, irrevocably changed, and entered the Rift.

Writing Sample:

This thread in the Jurassic Park dream party

Anything else?