App for House of Cards

[thecutdiamond]

Player name: Drea
Characters played: None, previously Rachel Caustello (Q♦) and Calypso Apollonides-Montrose (6♠)

Character Name: Rachel Elaine Fioro Caustello
Age: 39
Suit/Rank: Ten of Diamonds

History: On August 22, 1973, Rachel Elaine Fioro Caustello was born with the blood of many proud and ancient Clubs' families in her veins. And as soon as she was old enough to understand the ins and outs of the Deck's hierarchy, she knew what her destiny was-- she would be the best Ace that the Deck had ever seen.

For the first thirteen years of her life, everything was perfect. Her parents were both incredibly loving, and her mother was close to her brother, whose son Andrew in turn was close to Rachel. The two developed a bond that transcended any known definitions of cousinhood, friendship, or even siblinghood, and when Rachel confided in her cousin of her goal to be an Ace, he confidently supported her and vowed to be her Jack.

Soon, they would gain the full set of Face Cards in the two other members of their merry Quartet-- their ideal Queen, Argine Rainmayr, Rachel's year-younger best friend from school, and their ideal King, Edgar Eichlen, Andrew's best friend from school. The four were practically inseparable, whether it was during training sessions or playing pranks or sneaking out of the Castle to haunt the parks in Town. They saw each other through joys and tragedies great and small.

Until a day came when the tragedy was too much for even the four of them to carry.

Elizabeth Caustello, Rachel's mother, was killed in a Challenge a week after Rachel's thirteenth birthday, stabbed in the back by her Challenger before Rachel's very eyes. It was a traumatizing event that tore apart her family. Her father turned to alcohol, her uncle refused to see her, and both men forbade that she have any interaction with Andrew, the only one of her family who may have been able to comfort her. It left its mark on the young Clubs, and she developed a thirst for some kind of vengeance and an even greater determination to hold the position of Ace. She threw herself into training, seeking the aid of her Uncle, Shea Cleary, who was known to train youths in the Spades.

What Rachel didn't know when asking her uncle for his help was that the man was heartless and abusive, completely disregarding the health and safety of his trainees-- even his son, Pierre, who Rachel took to protecting, often at a high physical price. For the year following her mother's death, Rachel snuck over to the Spades Castle to train with Shea-- at first in order to fulfill her need to become the perfect Ace, and then to continue to protect Pierre. It was a painful, grueling time, and given that it was almost impossible for her not to come back injured, caused a bit of a gap between her and the other members of the Quartet, who were concerned for her welfare but who couldn't do anything about it since she would not inform them of what was going on.

After one beating resulted in a infection that left her unconscious for days and would very likely have killed her had Edgar not found her, the other Three and Edgar's mother took action. Rachel was forbidden from seeing Pierre, interacting with Shea, and going to the Spades Castle entirely. Although she was highly displeased with this course of action, because she was underage Mrs. Eicheln was still able to exert her and the other Three's will.

It helped that shortly after her recovery, Rachel and Edgar finally began a romantic relationship, and continued it with a deepening love and appreciation for each other. Andrew, having come of age, was able to interact with his cousin again, and when he and Argine ended up dating when Rachel was 16, the Quartet was even more properly reforged. On the surface, it seemed all would be well, but Rachel was still unsettled and ambitious, which scared her friends and alienated the other members of the Clubs, and made her eyes begin to wander to other Suits. Then, after a Challenge in knives gone awry made her consider her own mortality, she decided to transfer to the Suit of Diamonds at the age of 18.

The decision overturned her life in more ways than one. Caleb, who had pulled his head away from the drink long enough to be outraged, disowned her. She and Argine had a deeply cutting argument of the kind only best friends can, and they were only barely civil to each other for many years because of it. Her and Edgar's relationship fell apart in a heated argument the night before she transferred Suits, and because Andrew disapproved of but nonetheless supported Rachel's decision, he and Argine's did as well.

The hurt of being rejected by her family and friends was the first step in turning Rachel into the Diamond she would become. Determined to prove herself to the Suit she left behind and the one she had joined, she Challenged two ranks up a mere two months after arriving in the Suit. Little did she know that Walter Givenchy, the man whose Rank she had stolen, was a bitter young man with powerful connections in the Suit, and for his shame over being defeated by an upstart Clubs, Walter and his friends harassed and tormented Rachel for over two years, the torture culminating in Walter's older brother Henry nearly killing Rachel when she Challenged him for Six.

Barraged with taunts even as she took physical therapy to heal from the harrowing escapade, Rachel did not turn her attention outwards in anger towards her persecutors but instead, like her grief over her mother and her hurt over the Clubs' rejection, she turned it inwards, focusing on improving herself extensively. Exactly a year after Henry Givenchy left her for dead after her failed Challenge, she again faced him in a Challenge for Six-- and won.

Along with her new Rank, she'd gained the fondness of her Queen, Ophelia, and a deep-seated hatred of men. As she rose through the Ranks, she Challenged only men, befriended only women, and looked with disdain on anyone who believed the two could peacefully coexist.

Upon the death of the elderly Diamonds Ace Fortinbras in 1999, Rachel finally achieved her goal of becoming Ace, and she did her job well. But she also ended up holding the position for a few brief years, for in 2004, a series of tragedies rocked her life again-- Edgar died, leaving behind Argine as his widow and his 4-year-old daughter, Eileen, and so did Queen Ophelia, Rachel's mentor and idol for a number of years. When asked to take the woman's place by King Lindsey, Rachel did not wish to, but did so for the benefit of the Suit as the late Queen had taught her.

For her entire eight years reign as a Queen, she lived by the principle that all she did, she did for the benefit of the Suit. For the first seven, however, her bias against men was not only affirmed when Lindsey all but abandoned the position as King in favor for world travel (leaving Rachel to essentially rule alone,) but it also blinded her into letting as few men as possible Challenge into Ranks much higher than Six. It wasn't until Andrew's death in the summer of 2011 that she, shaken by grief, began to reconsider her life and her choices-- her policy against men included, and begin to change. It was a process sped along by the sudden death of the returned Lindsey a mere six months later and the absence of few good men in higher Ranks that she could use to take his place. Her choice of Ashley, an Eight, was later undone with her blessing by a Diamond named Silas, who Challenged for and ended up claiming the Rank of King.

Throughout this time, Rachel's Diamond emotional strength began to falter-- she'd faced too many griefs in too quick a succession, and those combined with newer threats to the Deck such as the arrival of the mysterious Arcana and some deadly attacks on the outposts meant that her mental and physical health was beginning to take too much of a strain. On her 39th birthday, after at least a year of unconscious struggling and some more conscious, serious consideration, Rachel decided that it was finally time to step down and try to seek her own happiness. Ultimately, however, she could not deny her devotion to her Suit, and so a few days before her intended resignation date when the Arcana's Magician threatened the safety of her Diamonds and the Deck, Rachel battled him and was, seemingly, completely broken at last.

Left temporarily paralyzed from the waist-down and psychologically scarred, what was meant to be a resignation for herself turned into a resignation of necessity, and Rachel left the Deck to receive the treatment necessary to help improve her condition.

In the months since her departure, Rachel has struggled not only to regain use of her legs but also to heal her mind and her heart. The former, at least, she's begun to have progress with, and although currently still more in the wheelchair than out of it, she's begun to be able to walk with some aid. With the help of physical therapy and additional medical developments, she hopes to be able to fully regain use of her legs. Therapy of the psychological sort has also helped her to begin to learn how to process all the hurts of her past, and she thus has began to have some emotional healing, as well. Both physically and mentally, however, she has a long way to go.

But now that she has returned to the Deck and to the Diamonds-- to her home and family-- all burdens seem a little easier to carry.

Personality: Possibly the worst-kept secret about Rachel is that, even though she's left the Clubs, she's still fully incorporated the idea of Clubs loyalty into her everyday behavior. Her devotion to her family (what little she has left of it) and her friends (what few she has of them) is paralleled only by her utter and complete commitment to her Diamonds. When it comes down to it, she would sacrifice anything and everything for either group-- and, for the Diamonds at least, very nearly has.

Such devotion has simultaneously lead to much joy and much heartache in her life. On the one hand, it has lead her to become very ambitious, as she constantly strives to be at her absolute mental and physical best for the benefit of her Suit-- at first, this was in pursuit of becoming Ace, then being Ace, then Queen, and has now been applied to her desire to work back into full health again. On the other hand, however, it has left her with a deeply rooted melancholy that find its main roots in her concern that she has never been good enough-- not for her father, not for Edgar, and, thanks in part to the taunts of the Givenchy brothers and their posse, not for the Diamonds. Such negative emotions sprouted almost into a full-blown bout with depression following the death of her cousin Andrew and continuing for over a year afterwards, leading to her becoming increasingly more and more unsatisfied with her life and position of Queen, and ultimately to her desiring to retire from the position. Interestingly enough, the unfortunate chain of events that caused her temporary paralyzation and forced departure from the Deck have given way to her slowly beginning to be able to better work through the traumas of her life, and she has begun to develop a slightly more optimistic view on life.

Appearance: Although neither a Queen nor entirely able anymore, there is still a sense of regalness to the way Rachel carries herself. It's been a bit muted in her time off-Deck, but it is still existent. Prior to her injury, she wore full-length dresses that were still functional enough to fight in, but since then she has elected to wear slacks and dressy blouses for ease. She often wears her long, dark auburn hair down or in a low ponytail, and her jewelry is minimal, often limited to a simple necklace of some sort. Simplicity is, in fact, a key element of the way she dresses-- simply, yet elegantly.

While she is still fully capable of using and does indeed use the famous "Diamond mask," Rachel no longer has the constant appearance of stoicism she did while Queen. There is a crack in it that allows for her emotions to shine through a little more clearly, and also allows people to see how wearied she became during her reign-- although her time away has allowed for some improve in that regard.

Character PB: Saffron Burrows

Writing sample: Speaking with her niece.

Why this Suit? Although the fabled Clubs loyalty was ingrained in her since her birth, Rachel was always meant to shine and always intended to. When she was younger she used to tell herself that she would be the best Ace she could be no matter how briefly she held the position, calling to mind the quote "those who shine brightest, shine briefest." While that easily could have been achieved in her birth Suit, Rachel had something of a complete shakeup in mindset when her mother died. She became obsessively ambitious and alarmingly interested in developing skills better seen in the Sharper Suits-- mainly skills involving knives, which alienated her from the other Clubs and forced her eyes to said Sharper Suits. She would have been a rather good match for the Spades, admittedly, but she not only did she not enjoy the seeming ease with which they turned to backstabbing and bloodshed, but the Spades was also the Suit of her former trainer and abuser, her uncle Shea, and his son Pierre, who she still felt bad for abandoning. And so she turned to the Diamonds, whose distant coldness to any personal problems called to mind the way in which she herself dealt with her troubles. She hasn't gone back.

How did you hear about us? I was walking in the woods. No one was around, and my phone was dead. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted it-- House of Cards.