#*the starspun oracle » about.

[mindgamcs]

*I AM NO CHEAP THIEF / IT'S THE WORLD OR NOTHING AT ALL.

*NAME: Delphine Baudelaire. *TITLE: The Oracle. *AGE: 29. *PINTEREST: here

»» the flourish of hands married to the drama of words; action as distraction so the discretion of your thievery can commence; the shadows on the wall, shapes created only in others' illumination, shifting with the faintest breath; a deck of cards as both shield and spectacle; a tightrope fraying at both ends; delusive creation as an act not just of godhood, but girlhood — something known in the very fibers of your being.

BASICS, HISTORY, SECRETS & WANTED CONNECTIONS UNDER THE CUT !!

*BASICS.

BIRTH NAME: Delphine Baudelaire NICKNAMES: Delphi TITLE: The Oracle AGE: 29 D.O.B.: tbd (i'm feeling gemini or sag energy for this one <3) BIRTHPLACE:  Tomasina, Madagascar LANGUAGES SPOKEN: French (native), Malagasy (native), English ORIENTATION: Bisexual biromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single ?? (possibly has some fwbs, see history below) CHILDREN: none POSITIVE TRAITS: alluring, witty, adaptable NEUTRAL TRAITS: flirtatious, inventive, coy NEGATIVE TRAITS: delusive, dishonest, mercurial INSP: Holly Golightly, Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Anna Karenina, Margaery Tyrell

*TLDR. (APP + SOME EXTRA DETAILS)

We are so glad to see you safe, FORTUNE-TELLER (SPY FOR MADAGASCAR) DELPHINE BAUDELAIRE of FRANCE! It’s dangerous out in the world these days, but I hear that you are ALLURING and COY enough to handle it. Just don’t let your MERCURIAL NATURE bring you down! Stay on your guard, because with your secret being at risk for exposure, you wouldn’t want everyone to find out THAT YOUR LOYALTIES HAVE BEGUN TO SHIFT FROM THE COUNTRY EMPLOYING YOU TO THE COUNTRY ON WHICH YOU SPY. For Delphine, time has been rendered thick with the hauntings of her past. Born in Madagascar to a poor, criminally-inclined family, she learned quickly to steal in order to survive, and to charm as a means of disarm. As punishment for her and her father's treasonous acts at the start of Madagascar's solidification as a standalone nation, she acts as a spy on the French, with her cover being half-socialite, half-court entertainer. Now, with political revolution spilling over the hallowed halls Delphine has grown accustomed to, she contends with the promise and purpose for something greater than herself, the temptation of her nature, and the hauntings of her past.

*HISTORY.

[ trigger warnings for: mentions/descriptions of blood, war, implications of sex work, more tbd ]

I. EMBER IN THE ASH

»» Delphine's childhood was littered not with toys and pretty things, but stoney streets lined with more bloodshed than blossoms, soldiers fighting over territory disputes as the country itself clamored for independence. Her family was not made of fighters but of thieves. She quickly followed suit, roaming the reddened streets to pick the pockets of the fallen for any trinket to pawn, unbothered by the sights or sounds of the dying.

»» Once too young to know the difference between polish and peril, Delphine used the shell casing of a musket as a hard candy. A gnawing pain in the mouth of a two-year old brought her mother's attention to the hollowed-out bullet between the young Delphine's gums. But, before taking it out, her mother first brandished the moment to her father, a chorus of look at your daughter less a call for reprimand and more an affectionate coo — all for putting a killing thing in her young little mouth.

II. BEAUTY & BETRAYAL.

»» It wasn't the metal that poisoned her, but the so-called love she was weaned on, love which taught little of the closeness of kin in exchange for all manner of thievery, conning, and swindling. Beyond just the apple of her father’s eye, she was fruit bowl and orchard to him — a perfect creature whose particular talents were rarely seen, to set upon the masses in a firestorm of charisma and chaos, blinding the world with her unquestionable beauty.

»» However, he bet on the wrong grand scheme, believing that his wife's homeland could never separate from the 'greater' nation of France. The betrayal of secrets slipped from Delphine's mouth to the ears of a war-hungry general of a neighboring tribe — only for both the general and her father to be put to death for treason, once the nation formalized.

III. GAME, SET, MATCH.

»» Delphine, only nineteen, found her fate left in the hands of a country eager to cement its standing. They saw promise in her, but rejected the leniency of a pardon, too fearful of the girl to grow into her father's shadow, and too wary of the ease in treating the chaotic birth of a nation as ladder rungs upon which to ascend. What better use for a girl whose talents lay in dishonesty and charm than to set her on the world at large?

»» A bag, a few memories, and the crumbs of her birthplace were the only things she carried with her on the journey to the nation on which she was tasked to spy, her mother left in the clutches of Madagascar's government as collateral. It was her father's native country, but it bore no similarities to the man she knew — where he was shadowy but strong, France was a weakened country clinging to the notion of its more glorious past.

»» To the French court, Delphine presented herself as both refugee and gift, escaping the fray as the new country solidified itself, with a talent for supposed divination. To the court, she was no great threat: less a girl who knew the nature of their newfound enemy, and more a pretty young thing they could use to entertain the court from time to time — a distraction.

»» Their attention, however, was grasped entirely when she 'predicted' the location and outcome of a battle, one which supposedly gained France a different African ally. The truth of the matter rested in Madagascar's own carefully planned instructions, sewing seeds of certain belief for the French while Madagascar went on to harvest. A long game, to be sure, but one which garnered secret strides while France was none the wiser.

IV. SHIFTING TIDES.

»» Nearly ten years into her employ, Delphine has become a bourgeoning young socialite, a favorite in the court if only for her entertaining charm and talents as a so-called oracle. Privately, a few nobles have taken to indulging her mercurial fancies in exchange for a nights sharing a warm bed and the divined assurances of their success. The woman enjoys the life to be certain, but still finds herself practicing her old thieving ways from time to time, playing with fire less for excitement, but more so as a means of keeping her core warm.

»» It is not for those reasons, however, that her loyalties have begun to shift. Instead, as a means of gathering information on all facets of the French people, Delphine has taken to associating with more of the common folk, finding in them a certain kinship that simply doesn't exist amidst the lacquered halls and gilded glory of the upper-crust. With a political revolution tinting the rosiness of France in shades of democracy, Delphine has found herself utterly captivated by what seems to be a purpose greater than herself — but the temptation of her nature still lingers, and the hauntings of her past may loom too heavily to ever truly escape.

*WANTED CONNECTIONS.

my brain hurts but i'll add these soon i promise <33 hmu in the meantime pls!!!

[mindgamcs]

tags !!