deerington app

[guestlectures]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Alana Bloom
Canon: Hannibal
Canon Point: Season 2 final episode.

In-Game Tattoo Placement: beginning in the center of her chest over her heart, two antlers run across her chest and down both arms all the way to the fingertips. There is also a tattoo of a heart on her chest where the antlers begin. The antlers are covered in greenery and flowers.
Current Health/Status: Physically fine.
Age: 30s (no canon age)
Species: regular human

Content Warnings: cannibalism, emotional manipulation, dark

History: here, season 2 episode 3.

Personality: Alana Bloom is an intelligent and highly trained psychologist. Now in her mid-30s she's worked in the field of criminal psychology for at least ten years, in a range of different situations which include lecturing and profiling for the FBI. She's a driven woman who has strong convictions and does not shy away from the confrontation those convictions bring.

Alana has a strong moral code, which involves helping others. Whatever situation she's in, Alana is aware of those who are in danger of being exploited or harmed, and her focus, after keeping herself safe, seems always to be on helping them. That's why she avoids Will Graham at first, because she believes he does not need to be psychoanalysed more, and then later refrains from having an affair with him, because she believes he could be a danger to himself and that he should focus on getting well.

She is always as direct as she can be in a situation. If the truth won't make a situation worse, then she is all for clearly stating what is going on and avoiding beating around the bush as much as possible. She does try to be sensitive about this, but carefully wording something takes effort for her, when she would rather be frank. This directness, combined with her desire to help others, surfaces whe working with the FBI. Alana constantly speaks up for what she thinks is best for the people in a situation rather than for the FBI itself. This puts her into conflict with high ranking FBI agents, but this seems to only encourage her to stand up for what she thinks is best even more.
The tact Alana has is learned, a skill she has developed over the years. Her gut instinct is always to be direct, even in the fact of conflict, but she's learned to manage it.

Presenting herself well is something else Alana does. She takes care to always appear competent and in control. This is deliberate, both because (as a woman) she wants to be taken seriously, and because she's aware that appearances are important. She also uses her appearance as something of a challenge, because she knows that many people will underestimate a woman in her position who takes care of her appearance, and Alana will definitely use that in her favour.

Alana's moral code does not line up perfectly with the legal code. In her work she has signed a lot of documents about codes of conduct, most of which she generally agrees with and adheres to. Despite this, she believes that there are times when rules need to be evaluated in context. Rather than a willy-nilly disregard for rules, she prefers that rule-breaking be undertaken in with measured and serious consideration. Despite this, Alana's temper flares when she sees others breaking the rules, especially those she does not respect. Within her field there are many people and things that make her angry, because other professionals forget about the obligation (she believes) they have to others and work with criminals only so they can write a new paper or get a scoop.

If asked, she would claim not to believe in black-and-white morality, claiming there are too many shades of grey in the world. Despite this, Alana adheres strictly to her own fundamental values: speaking the truth, courage, and protecting the vulnerable from the darkness in the world. Because of this, Alana would tend to justify what she does as being right. She thinks of herself as someone who has worked hard to get where she is, who has made herself strong and generally above reproach (though she wouldn't frame it quite like that) SO THAT she can stand against people in power like Jack or Hannibal when they need to be stood up to.

This strength, potential for anger, and self-justification isn't something people expect when they meet Alana Bloom for the first time. She may even downplay some aspects with strangers, however she is as open as she can be with her friends.

Which is often difficult for her; Alana is not comfortable with vulnerability. Strength and competence are how she lives her life, and while she is healthy enough to be comfortable sharing herself with friends, and appropriately with patients, in an intimate setting she has trouble being present and intimate, expressing or even being aware of her needs. She likes being independent and does not want to be indebted to anyone.

Her sense of self-righteousness is another problem Alana has. When Alana has thought through an issue and comes to a conclusion, she becomes stubborn and hard to move because she believes so strongly in her convictions and motivations. Anger is another issue, though one she seems to have done a lot of work on. Being direct and having strong convictions mean that when Alana feels something is wrong, she feels it and wants to express it. Having done some work on this, Alana is able to keep her cool more than she used to, but there is often a sense of frustration she has to keep a lid on, especially when dealing with professionals like Chilton.

A final flaw, one of which she is less aware, is her pride. Alana knows that she is very talented at what she does, and that she has worked hard to get where she is. The way she sticks to her ethical guns while others in her field do not also is a point of honour for her. While this does not come out as full-blown arrogance, it reinforces all her other weaknesses and makes her think, deep down, that she is better than a lot of other people. It makes her often more confident in her decisions than she should be. One of the reasons for this pride is her mentor, Hannibal Lecter. She respects him a great deal and actually has taken on many of his characteristics. For example, she tries always to be emotionally removed from situations to get a better view of them, as she believes she has seen Hannibal do.

Given her canon point (right before being shoved out a window by Abigail Hobbs), Hannibal is going to feature heavily in her fears. Without much time to process, Alana is arriving in Deerington having discovered that her mentor is a serial killer and a cannibal, who is trying to kill the head of the FBI, tried to kill her, used the affair they had to cover up murders he was committing, and did god knows what to Will Graham. She's going to have trust issues, self-identity issues, as well as find it hard to trust her own judgement for quite a while.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: n/a
Inventory:
+ two sets of professional clothes
+ one dog, Applesauce
+ a flower crown
+ a handgun

Writing Samples:
Yes, but why are you made of grass?
Sometimes you feel like you just don't belong

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Anne
Player Age: 18+
Player Contact: sprakles

Other Characters In Game: Steve Harrington
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Alana Bloom: Anne
Permissions for Character: here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: yes
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: situational horror, characters not being aware they are in a dangerous situation, not being able to trust their senses or what they believe
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: nope
Additional Information: :'D