#anika pruszkowski

[infernoroleplay-blog]

I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They’re beautiful. Everybody’s plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic. -- ANDY WARHOL.

[infernoroleplay-blog]

                                     ANIKA PRUSZKOWSKA

THIRTY. GLAMM MAGAZINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. POLISH.

If there is something she fondly remembers and holds closely to her heart, it's Barbie dolls. The perfection, the beauty, the endless potential. All the shimmery clothes and the plastic. She keeps them on a shelf, carefully, on their respective shiny plastic boxes. Sometimes Anika thinks she's still the same six year old girl attending child pageants and carrying her Barbie doll everywhere she went, grieving the loss of a father she barely met, following her brothers around like a lost puppy.

Not much has changed. Not much at all. Now, she's the editor-in-chief of a glamorous magazine for the elite, but she's still the same girl competing against other beauty pageant queens and playing mirror-mirror on the wall. The mirror never answers it, but Anika knows she's the fairest of them all -- she just wishes her sister was there to see it too. But it all takes us back to late 90's to early 00's, when Anika would find herself playing hide and seek with Rebekah. It always felt like Rebekah was much better than her at hiding (including secrets), which infuriated Anika, who had always wanted to be the best at everything she tried: ballet, ice skating, modeling, existing. Although Anika loved her sister dearly, it was a shame she lived in the shadows of her fair, beautiful, kind and princess-like sister.

She never really held it against her mother. Or her siblings. Who couldn't love Rebekah? Even Anika hated herself for loving her sister a little too much. She only blamed herself for standing in the shadows of Bekah. So when her sister disappeared, she basked in the spotlight, playing the role of the perfect sister better than she thought she would.  She found some solace in the thought of Rebekah's suffering in the hands of Dominik being gone, but even the comfort she had in her newfound glory came with a little guilt. Wasn't she to blame, for not having taken care of her older sister? Wasn't she to blame at all?

In Anika's world of plastic dolls and lipstick, there's nothing worse than being second best. Her mother raised her in beauty pageant contests, in the world of adored queens, Miss Universe contests and men to be conquered. It's no surprise she envied Rebekah a little, who felt no need to prove her own worth through other people's eyes. But Anika... Anika was a different deal. She was greedy and wanted to thrive -- no, more than that. She wanted to live under the glory of being an immortal beauty queen. In the world of LA, she cursed every girl under the sun simply for existing, doing everything in her power to be the best, the most beautiful, the most adored. She crossed every line. Every boundary.

Just to be the best.

It worked -- for awhile. Until she was a little too old to model again and people got sick of her. LA moved fast, faster than she could imagine... and Anika didn't forget it. Nor did she forgive it. Thanks to Dominik's connections, she landed herself a job in one of LA's most famous magazines: GLAMM. Known for its ruthless commentary on celebrities' sense of fashion, the tabloids and the gossip, as well as dictating whoever was in and whoever was out. Anika found power, but it came at a price. Although she was deeply feared by the LA public and no longer adored by the crowds, she now had a say in whoever was or wasn't relevant in the world of Hollywood. Like her very own dictatorship, Anika made LA her ground.

And she was brutal, damn how she was.

If she couldn't be the fairest, or the coolest, or the kindest, then no one would be it. If she couldn't win beauty pageant contests anymore, then no one else could. Holding a grudge against the pretty young things that lined up to replace her in ads and photoshoots alike, her grip tightened on the magazine. Her behavior more tempestuous, cunning and rotten as each edition was published. Her critics thrived, for she was one of the best magazine editors there had ever been -- at only twenty seven. But she was also the most hated by celebrities and socialites alike.

So now poses the question: which is worse, being feared or being hated? With Rebekah's missing, there's a chance at redemption and suddenly the public loves her again... even if she dearly misses her sister, she can't deny the glory and the power that come with it. Every interview, every story, everyone wants a piece of Anika Pruszkowski. For the first time, she's seen as more than the beauty and the rage she harnesses... for the first time, she is seen as the name behind a legendary magazine, a girl whose story is one of tragedy, of loss and grieving. And she is grieving.

As all of the suspicions lay upon the Russians, Anika hopes to bask in her missing sister's glory forever. It feels wrong -- but so right. Who is she to deny the love and adoration that comes with being pitied? Who is she to deny the attention she has been craving for so long? One thing is certain: sometimes she wishes Rebekah would never be found. It's a sin of pride and greed, but it's a wishful thought just the same. Maybe this is her time to shine. Maybe tragedy strikes for good this time around... and maybe, just maybe, this is what her sister would've wanted after all: Anika's happiness.

                                            CONNECTIONS

DOMINIK PRUSZKOWSKI: Her oldest brother. Technically, Aleksander is also her oldest brother, but Dominik had to be the older twin by two seconds. It enrages Anika he has so much power -- and she wants nothing to do with him, although sometimes being his youngest sister comes in handy, they play the part of the perfect family for the media, but inside the privacy of their home she knows Nik is up to something. And she’ll find out whatever is it he has planned out.

ALEKSANDER PRUSZKOWSKI: The glue that keeps the family together. She holds a special fondness for him in her heart, but also a couple grudges for him following the footsteps of Dominik. Why couldn’t he stand by her side for once? Why can’t he choose himself instead of others? It’s time for Alek to be selfish -- and she needs to show him how. If only he could see past Dominik’s mad surface, he’d see that there’s nothing left there for anyone to love or protect... but it still seems that Alek will follow his brother until the depths of Hell. And the mere thought of it scares her.

VALENTINA MACHADO: Frenemyship, it’s what it’s all about. Everybody needs a friend -- it shouldn’t be someone to compete against. But it seems that Valentina’s role has become similar to that of Rebekah’s: comparison. Although Anika loves her dearly, she knows Valentina is a pretty young thing designed to replace her soon. And as the saying goes... keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. 

ISABELLE CHAPMANN: The social column writer surely had a word or two about Anika’s temper -- they were not pretty. She’s hell-bent on destroying the girl who keeps staining her reputation article after article, and now that Isabelle’s found her way into Inferno, Anika will make sure she never messes with her or her siblings ever again. Part of her just wants to blame someone for her grief and her wrath, which shall fall upon Isabelle in the ugliest of ways.

FACECLAIM: SHELLEY HENNIG (NEGOTIABLE)

[infernoroleplay-blog]

                                 ALEKSANDER PRUSZKOWSKI

THIRTY SEVEN. CEO @ PRUSZKOWSKI CORP.

trigger warning: themes of death and murder.

From the womb, Aleksander was the smaller twin -- frail, quiet. His mother worried that he wouldn't be born at all, and his father disregarded him as weak from the moment Aleksander could talk: a little later than Dominik, who would later on become the family favorite. Aleksander never held a grudge against his older twin, simply because anyone who could read the slightest bit about people could foretell that Nik was born to be king. Alek, on the other side, served as his right hand. And for a while he was content with it.

Since his childhood years, back in Warsaw, Poland, he has always been seen as the quieter counterpart to his twin Dominik, whose strong and infamous presence always made itself well-known. Yet the reality is that there is a fiery resilience in Aleksander, who stands in the shadow of Dominik, almost defined by it. Almost, only. He's still his very own fervor, burning and burning -- people are just blind to the glow.

There is a nothingness that permeates him, a beautiful mess of conflicting desires, a numb heart. He's a walking contradiction, one might say.  Whereas Nik knows exactly where his loyalties lie and where he stands, Aleksander has always been the more thoughtful, cautious one. Back in Poland, he was the glue that held his father and mother together, quietly but surely reaffirming their love for one another. When Nik would get into street fights as a teenager, it was Aleksander who calmed him down and tended to his wounds... It was Aleksander who first cried when his father was executed in cold blooded murder, and it was also Aleksander who held his two younger sisters when they, too, missed the patriarch of the family. Without Alek, the family might have been slightly different: without a heart, without unity.

He remembers the first day when they moved into the US. Los Angeles, specifically. The land of the damned and the beautiful, the life of crime his father secretly led... and how it would all come down to Nik taking over. Aleksander's introspective nature was often underestimated, cast in the shadows of his extroverted brother, but Alek captivated people slowly, with his heartfelt ways and his gentle eyes that hid a dark imagination. Much like Nik, he had been born for the life of crime, they just hadn't seen it yet: still waters run deep.

If Nik was the head, Alek was the heart. When Nik took over in an abrupt change of scenario in the Pruszkow mob, Alek was not surprised. He took on the role of his brother's trusted advisor, founding Pruszkowski Corp in 2004 as the first Polish banking corporation to rule the market. He was smart, resilient, and could read people well. Unlike Nik, he wasn't impulsive, but he still had a charcoal heart, and those who stood in his way had their lives completely ended or ruined in some way or another.

Aleksander was conflicted by power, yet he was still drawn to it -- as a Pruszkowski, all of them were. But Aleksander had a particularly hard time accepting himself. He saw his strengths and weaknesses, but he could not help but wish he had been born to be a ruler like his brother. Something didn't feel quite right, from his the way he hid his sexuality from the public, to his intuitive nature that warned him something was deeply wrong... Something didn't fit. And it was inside of him, eating up at his own heart: the fact that the impending doom of death was on its way.

Then Rebekah went missing. And his mother died -- it was a nightmare. Rebekah had always been his favorite, the one he confided in -- and now his secrets were laid out for all the public to see, plastered across magazines and newspapers.. 'Aleksander Pruszkowski is on the verge of falling apart', 'Pruszkowski businessman is on the brink of self-destruction'. Of course, his siblings were all too busy to notice, because Aleksander hid it well, he always did, but he was, in fact, hopeless. Beneath the cool facade of the quiet brother hid a broken, selfish and dark man.

He was the only one who seemingly cared, the only one who stood amidst the chaos, gulping it down like the drinks of whiskey that followed after. Between the corruption and money-laundering scandals of Pruszkowski Corp, Aleksander was dealt the worst hand... Whilst Anika was running her own magazine and Dominik stood in the spotlight, it was Alek who was given the mission to fix whatever had been broken.

And they say that when war comes, you better not be in the middle of it... You better know where your loyalties lie.

He doesn't.

So when he overheard the rumors of the Russians breaking the alliance between them, he wasn't furious like Nik would be. He wasn't even surprised -- he had seen it coming for years, but Nik always disregarded Alek's ability to foretell things.  Aleksander has been receiving anonymous letters threatening to expose all of his secrets -- from his homosexuality to the corruption scandals that happen in his corporation -- if he doesn't help the Russian mafia take over. Now it's a matter of life and death, how it all seems to come together against him.. In his worst days he can't help but think Rebekah was indeed taken by the Russians, whilst in his mild hours he thinks she just took off because dealing with the family business suddenly became too much.

Who knows? Maybe he will take off too, from all of this madness... But his loyalty to his brother weighs down on him far too much for him to betray the Pruszkowski name. He cannot bring himself to do it, but at the same time, there are lonely nights in which he spends wondering what would truly happen if he did backstab -- literally -- his brother. Would it be so bad to be seen as king, after all? Has he not been standing in the shadows and the ashes of those he loves for far too long?

                                            CONNECTIONS

DOMINIK PRUSZKOWSKI: He has always been the loyal dog to Nik’s madness. He has followed him everywhere, anywhere he went. When Nik’s life gets tough, he knows he can count on Aleksander. But what about the other way around? Dominik has never proven to care, always driven by his own ulterior motives, using his brother as his pawn in his very own game of chess. Aleksander might bite the Russian’s bait, if he sees his brother isn’t truly fit for the throne.

ANIKA PRUSZKOWSKA: Anika, alongside Rebekah, were the apple of Aleksander’s eyes. He cherished them the most when they were born, being the first person who took them into arms after his own mother. After the death of their dearly beloved mother, he intends to protect what’s left of his family above all else, although it’ll be hard with the Russian’s upcoming betrayal. They won’t see it coming, but he will... And he intends to keep his family together whatever it takes. 

DMITRI NIKOLAYEV: Dmitri is the head of the Russian operations. Although Aleksander knows his brother is the real Polish king, it’s Alek who speaks for them, making sure the Polish stand their ground. Fluent in Russian from an early age, he has a brilliant mind and he knows Dmitri trusts him, which is why he’s so torn on betraying his brother after all: what truly lies behind Dmitri’s intentions? And why is it so inviting to backstab his own twin?

ISABELLE CHAPMANN: Isabelle’s self-righteous mask might fall if Aleksander manages to catch her true intentions in time. He knows she’s been keeping up with his scandals and corruption rumors, and he also knows she’s the one who makes or breaks celebrities and public figures’ lives. His life is at stake in her hands, for she might just decide that he isn’t worthy enough of her merciful pen. 

FACECLAIM: JAMIE DORNAN (NONNEGOTIABLE)

[infernoroleplay-blog]

                                       DOMINIK PRUSZKOWSKI

THIRTY SEVEN. OWNER OF INFERNO NIGHTCLUB.

Trapped in his suits and hirst for vengeance is Dominik Pruszkowski, older twin to Aleksander Pruszkowski by only a couple of seconds. In his mad world of business and hidden schemes lies a man with a fertile, dark imagination, and a character suited for the mafia: unpredictable, always outgrowing himself, always changing, adapting. If anyone were to guess his favorite animal, he'd say a lion -- for its ferocity, but in truth he's a snake. Wild, voracious, shedding its own skin, always alone.

One is not born mad, one is made mad.

He remembers life back in Warsaw, back in Poland. He was five when his father told him, very carefully, precisely with the same words: never love a thing. Never love a thing, Dominik. And so he didn't. He did his best not to love his mother, to outgrow her caressing, almost depressing love, and he did his best not to love his father, who had so respectfully given Dominik his own eagle as a prize for being the golden boy of the Pruszkowski house. Aleksander, too unbothered and introverted to live in anyone's shadow but Dominik's, wasn't fussed.  Dominik remembers loving one thing: his father's gift, the bird he had handpicked a name for.

And weeks later, after winter had come, it would be the only thing he talked about. It would be the only living thing he'd learn how to respect, to forgive. Because humans were inherently flawed, his papa would say, and humans were not to be trusted -- except for those of your own blood. So when Dominik walked in to a strange conversation between his mother and father about inheriting the family business, he just knew.

He was on the brink of nine years old when he was first introduced to the inner-workings of the Polish gang, when they moved to LA, to the US. Dominik had a broken English, but even through broken words it was no secret to him that his father hid the source of income from his family, as they would often receive strange but expensive gifts -- treasures Dominik holds onto like trophies. He kept every family photograph, every story, the ancient book of the Pruszkow where their history was mapped out.

But treasuring such memories had been a mistake, as he'd learn later on in that bittersweet ending.

Early nineties, LA... The sounds of birds chirping outside remind him of that morning -- he was eighteen. They had come for his papa -- he felt it before he even knew. The sounds of his mother's shaken footsteps and the gunshot sounds rushing his siblings into the basement, where they hid for hours. He was the one to come to his father's aid, a bullet wound to his stomach, the blood spewing from his mouth. His papa whispering madly, never love a thing, Dominik.

So he set his eagle free. Forever. With a harsh reminder that everything he held onto too tight would eventually break beneath his strong grip, as he always had a strong grip: controlling, almost toxic. No woman would ever love him. No man. No living being. No, Dominik wanted to be worshipped -- in blood, sweat and tears. It was the loss of his father and his prized eagle that taught him the very same lesson he had been born to learn: you don't love things that die. You don't love anything that can be taken away from you.

He bid goodbye to his father, took all of the -- large sum -- of the money and moved away from the outskirts of LA with a depressed mother, a twin who would follow him into the depths of hell and two younger sisters who cared for one another more than they cared for that of what was happening around them. He was the leader to a pack of hungry wolves, and he promised he'd find his way back into what was rightfully his: the throne of the Polish mob. Hell-bent on avenging the death of his father, he made new connections in all of that was Nevada and California combined.

As it turns out, his father had tied up all loose ends: should he die, Dominik would take over. That's what he had been born to do. Annd so his rise to power was all too simple. He had been born for power, as he'd learn later on that the allies and the servers of the Polish mob were well and alive. With Dominik's cunning and ruthless nature coming to the surface, he took over with the help of his siblings and the members of the Pruszkowski who had been living in LA, having established Pruszkow gang since the roaring twenties. Between them and the help of the Russians, more specifically, the Nikolayev mob Dominiks iron grip seaes to lighten, but instead tightened.

In his father's will, an unknown Portuguese word: Inferno. He didn't know it then, in the late 90's, but Inferno was the cover to many of the Russian-Polish mob businesses happening around in LA. He didn't do well in group settings, but he was a leader. And a leader was to be followed. So when he demanded they give him the club, they did. And when he took over, at the young age of twenty three, everyone called him a mad man, a sad poet repeating history.... But he was the rightful heir. He was the son of Erik Pruszkowski, and he had a right to everything he touched.

With an arrogance to that of the devil and a rage to that of a fallen angel, he was the leader of the Polish mob's operations at the age of twenty five, when he battled for power, taking it, prying it away from his uncle's hands as the rightful heir to the throne.  He has been ruling LA ever since. A spoiled, selfish, unpredictable man with a thirst for blood and an equal hunger for power. If there is such a thing, he'll steal, he'll kill, and he'll swear on the names of those who adore his every being that he's been born to rule. Born for greatness.

                                             CONNECTIONS

ANIKA PRUSZKOWSKI: Anika has earned her success in LA, he’ll give her that. He’ll give her that much credit. But so far, her choosing not to engage in the family business feels more of a betrayal than anything else. She should have chosen family. He knows she’s grieving the loss of Rebekah, whose disappearance has kept him on his toes, but the showbiz must go on, baby, and it’s time to accept that Rebekah was, indeed, murdered by those bastards of Russians -- it’s what he tells Anika, anyway.

ALEKSANDER PRUSZKOWSKI: Aleksander is his right hand, when things get tough, he knows his younger twin will follow him anywhere, anywhow. It’s how they operate: less words, more action. They don’t need to speak to each other to understand one another, and that is how it has always been... Aleksander has proven himself loyal. But should betrayal come from one of his most trusted men, the mad man won’t hesitate beheading him to make an example out of the ones who dare cross the line.

REBEKAH PRUSZKOWSKI: Rebekah was kind, and beautiful, and a philanthropist. She did keep the Pruszkowski name clean, but that’s as far as he’ll go to speak of her. They were strained, strangers to one another.. and when he drinks, it reminds him of all the bridges he’s burnt to ensure he stays on top. Perhaps Rebekah’s life was at stake not because she was a Pruszkowski -- but because she was his sibling. The thought of it alone is enough to keep him awake at night.

ILYANA STOYANOVA: The liaison between the Polish and Russian mobs couldn’t be more beautiful. Truth is, she is captivating, like a wild bird -- like his very own humanized version of an eagle. And he loves to ensnare those who capture him in his own web of lies and deceit. She may just fall for it. It’ll be fun to have something to toy with and distract in the meantime. He’d be lying if he said he cared, he simply enjoys the entertainment.

FACECLAIM: PAUL WESLEY (NONNEGOTIABLE)