FULL NAME: Xenia Harmony de Bourgh.
NICKNAMES: Xen or DB are okay.
AGE/DOB: 18 / September 20, 2002 [Virgo].
YEAR: Senior.
BLOOD STATUS: Technically unknown, but a halfblood.
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Female, she/her.
SEXUALITY: Xenia, unfortunately, develops horrific crushes on pretty much anyone who pays her noticeable positive attention. She's half-ready to elope after an earnest compliment. Her level of experience in this arena, however, is low, and she tends to do more anxious questioning than actual exploring. Basically, what I'm saying is WHO KNOWS??
HOMETOWN: Angeltread, a secret upper-class wizarding community located somewhere near Lake Champlain in Vermont. It is mainly comprised of Xenia's paternal family and relatives, who have lived in the area longest, plus whoever they employ and perhaps three or four other older (mostly pureblood) families. The location is close enough to Colchester that folks there have circulated odd rumors for years about the strange, pretentious weirdos who live in the woods and assorted reasons they've come into town (help fixing a muggle car someone forgot about for months to years, late night pancakes whilst wearing "strange costumes," breathlessly asking after outdated technology that no one uses anymore, so on and so forth).
APPEARANCE:A slight, carefully curated girl with shoulder length black hair and an inquisitive aura.
Xenia likes to think she comes across as effortless, but absolutely does not. Her dress style is well-coordinated to give a particular impression, which is that she's very
cute and very
interesting and very much a
bookworm. Grandpa sweaters and turtlenecks. 70s autumn palette. Ringer tees. Of
course, a novel or brick of a nonfiction tome with an interesting cover
always on hand (but is she reading it, or is it an accessory?). Xenia also owns several pairs of saddle shoes in various colors, which she thinks of as a stylistic signature. Mostly they just get dirty really easily and constantly need charming.
Notably, Xenia wears a small golden band on her right index finger. This is a magical device that negates the effect of a curse, which, un-remedied, leaves her functionally mute. The band allows for amplification as well as some simple voice-changing effects.
HEIGHT: 5'3"
BUILD: Small, soft indoor creature.
PB: Kim Dahyun.
INSPO: Pinboard - What would others say is their most prominent personality trait — what's the first thing people notice about them?
Xenia is well-read and logical, the sort of person who always has questions when asked. A put-together, decisive, yet awkward little nerd. Confident in her abilities but shy at heart. A stickler not just for doing the right thing, but doing so as completely as possible (subjective morality aside).
Most especially and obviously to others, she's a know-it-all and an overachiever: always confidently putting her hand up in class, carefully debating minutia for the "sake of clarity," helpfully inserting "fun facts" into daily conversation, wrinkling her brow with concern at stories with too little apparent research, skeptically cocking her head to the side, constantly scribbling self-importantly in her little notepads, etc. She always has her nose in a book, and she's always read whatever you happen to be talking about or eyeing the cover of plus an author biography and some establishing historical texts. (She always wants you to know that, too.) To those who haven't spoken with Xenia much -- and okay, sometimes to those who have -- she may come across as somewhat bossy and nosy, too bold with her too-many-questions even if they are phrased politely and spoken in a pleasant voice.
The truth is, Xenia is pretty smart -- on the book side of things, anyway -- and if you give her a chance, she's actually quite a sweet, attentive and affectionate friend. Most of her more annoying behavior is rooted in genuine inquisitiveness about the world and other people, which is to say her gossiping and prodding are rarely (entirely) mean-spirited, and there is real, whole-hearted and wide-eyed love in the way she obsesses over her pet interests, even if its expression is sometimes overly assertive.
People aren't books, though, and there's no text to describe the things they do and why. Xenia is at a disadvantage here. Though she's quite earnest and serious about friendship -- devoted to her particular circle, who she'd do anything for -- she often flounders through unfamiliar or more nuanced interactions, easily made shy by new people and strong personalities who won't let her steamroll over them with her facade. Occasionally said circle must do a bit of hand-holding and careful Counseling to help Xenia successfully through certain kinds of social interactions, lest she over-analyze or clumsily trod all over them with hopeful enthusiasm (every new friend could be her best friend, and every person who holds her gaze for longer than five seconds could be the love of her life).
To that end, winning Xenia over is as easy as complimenting her or smiling approvingly in her direction after a particularly "clever" remark. Others might easily mistake this for general arrogance; she's prone to preen, rather especially pleased with herself when other people notice how shiny and bright she is. If you keep looking, though, you'll see her blush.
- How would this character describe themself? What do they think are their best and worst qualities?
Xenia considers herself curious, driven, and passionate about truth and accuracy. These things are all correct to an extent. She is the sort of person who would un-ironically refer to herself as an intellectual. What she is is talented with synthesis. Xenia has a mind for facts and can dig them quickly out of the trashiest sources, but what she's best at is stitching them together for a larger picture and using them to tell stories. If asked, she would undoubtedly list this as among her strongest attributes. She's a journalist, you know. Revealing the world for what it is.
Other notable positive qualities of Xenia's (according to her, and with varying basis in reality) include follow through, attention to detail, reliability, and perceptiveness. She's a loyal, generous and empathetic friend with a stylish wardrobe and a very interesting, mature bookshelf -- also things she might not necessarily crow about out loud, but might definitely pat herself on the back about.
The things she would do neither for are probably too numerous to discuss here, unfortunately. What Xenia considers her worst quality among these, however, is her dependance on other people and sensitivity to their opinions. Though she may (unsuccessfully and half-heartedly) pretend otherwise, she cares very sincerely about her image, how she is perceived, and what other people think about the things she says and does, which can be a roadblock to risk-taking or trying new things lest she somehow get it wrong. She hungers for acceptance, and not just that, but for adoration and affirmation -- and wanting these things can result in disastrous behavior under certain circumstances. (Keenness. Self-consciousness. Vulnerability. Word vomit. The horrors never cease.)
Alternatively, it is tiring being a skeptic at times. Xenia wouldn't mind the ability to turn off the constant ????????? once in a while (she'd get a lot better sleep if she didn't need to look into every citation and peer around every corner). It must be really nice and comfortable to just accept things once in a while, don't you think?
- What drives them to action? Doing good? Getting rich? Receiving praise?
Affirmation. Validation. Praise absolutely helps. Success! Gold stars, ribbons, accolades.
Though there is true passion in Xenia's devotion to certain favorite subjects and activities, much of her performance and effort revolves around being recognized for this devotion -- and not just that, but true talent and innate quality. She thirsts to be recognized and known, singled out, approached for her genius and knowledge. A particularly bratty and entitled corner of her psyche believes she truly deserves these things, but thankfully the worst this results in is a bit of whining and jealousy if she doesn't achieve them to the fullest. Fortunately, Xenia works very hard to prevent herself from having to experience failure. She's a perfectionist, a grade-grubber if you will, and shall toil to her last breath to achieve every last miserable, finicky requirement on even the most pointless assignments. (A proven way to comfort herself when she can't be sure if anyone's noticed how exceedingly well she's done.)
The thing she can't guard or grub against, though, lies at the root of everything. Unfortunately, what Xenia desires most in the world is for her parents' Approval -- and even though they very obviously adore her and coo over her various achievements, it's never enough for her to accept. She wants them (or someone!! anyone!! everyone!!) to be really PROUD, and, unwittingly, searches for ways to bridge the perceived gap in other areas of her life.
- Is the glass half empty, half full, or something else?
What kind of glass is it? What's it made of? Can you describe how it looks? Exactly what's been poured into it, actually? In this scenario, can I hold the glass, or is that against the rules? Are there rules? If so, what are they? Are there more questions you haven't asked yet? Was this set up as a test, or did I just come across the glass by chance? If it's a test, what's the test for? What happens if I drink from the glass? What happens if I don't answer the question? It seems obvious that the glass is full because there's liquid and air in it, but that can't be right. Are you sure you've told me everything I need to know to answer this correctly?
Basically, "something else."
- What sense do they most rely on?
Sight, far and away. Regardless of how realistic or likely, there's always a part of Xenia that needs to see something to accept it as fact. 85% of the time "see" means "read in multiple verified sources."
Along with this, she learns and assimilates new knowledge best via reading, writing, and taking in demonstrations. She's also quite visual in the sense that information -- or whatever surrounds her at the current moment -- needs to be organized in particular ways, or she'll grow distracted with the urge to organize herself. Which she doesn't mind doing, actually. Really!! Let her take care of that for you real quick!! You'll see, it's way better.
FUN FACTS:- Keeps a large box containing approximately 24 fully completed journals. These are all essentially diaries/bullet list compendiums from every year of her academic life, Ilvermorny included of course, and they are exhaustive. They are also very cruelly jinxed to keep anyone unapproved from reading.
- Favorite colors are, specifically, sage green and bubblegum pink.
- Favorite author is, specifically, Haruki Murakami.
- Extremely arachnophobic.
- Has charmed her favorite pens and cute stationery to make shrill screaming sounds when taken five feet away from her desk by anyone but her. Good luck trying to steal!!!
LANGUAGES: Fluent in
English and really, really good in
Dutch, but not as good as her mother would prefer. Also knows a little bit of
Korean, but on more of a beginner-hobby level, and not as much as she pretends.
HOBBIES: Reading, writing, writing while reading, bullet diaries, idle gossip, constantly studying, stressing out about clubs, glyph experiments, keeping tabs on major print and online journalism, pretending to believe in astrology, filming and editing videos about her important opinions re: media and fiction, whining on online forums whilst pretending to be much older and more sophisticated than she is, otome games, overly complicating everyday objects and processes with charmswork.
SKILLS:- Writing, reading. Not to brag, but Xenia has traditionally been the kind of kid some teachers like to tap on the shoulder or write notes in margins to about continuing to develop her talent, her great job, etc, etc. And she is (annoyingly enough) actually rather gifted. She's been reading well above her grade level since late elementary school, actually looks forward to writing and editing essays and papers, constantly journals, inhales longform articles, so on and so forth. It's her life force!! And probably her greatest strength academically, not to mention broadest pool of knowledge and experience.
- Video editing & related skills. Xenia's other major hobby is writing and editing semi-anonymous videos about books and other media, which she struggles to post semi-regularly on the wizarding equivalent of Youtube (the school computer lab sucks!!!). She's pretty good at it, and the skill helpfully translates to project presentations, composing debates, etc. She also has a small following online, which is... awkward.
- Charms. Xenia grew up in an isolated, strictly wizarding community and picked up a lot of random magical know-how from the people who babysat her while her parents "focused on their careers." She is especially good at charm theory and household charms -- especially especially good at using them to multi-task -- and talented enough to juggle several at once.
- Voices and Impressions. Due to aforementioned talent in Charms (+ level of comfort with glyphs), Xenia is sometimes able to hack the magical device that negates her muteness. This can result in silly or LOUD voices and occasionally rather startlingly accurate impressions of other people.
FAMILY:- Axelle de Bourgh, mother. Belgian witch from Antwerp. Axelle is the Associate Dean of the Experimental Magics Department at a prominent East Coast university, where she floos into work for literal days at a time.
- Cygnus Blair, father. Cursebreaker. Old money purebloods, the Blair family have been well-established in New England as purveyors of fine potions ingredients since the early 1600s. Cygnus is the first to break away in two or three generations.
- Summer Rose de Bourgh, little sister. Seven years old, smart as hell, extremely spoiled. Also Axelle and Cygnus's biological daughter. It's fine! Xenia never has any odd feelings about this at all.
Axelle and Cygnus met in the field as junior members of a university research team -- she an academic struggling for tenure, he an upstart young Cursebreaker with expertise in hermeticism and ancient curses. Bright and charismatic young brainiacs, both were on the rise as professionals and experts in their respective domains; they had everything, and then they had eachother, and with their love came several groundbreaking co-authored papers, multiple academic awards and accolades, and success beyond either's original hopes. The one prize that eluded them, year after year, was a child -- and so, more than a bit later than hoped, they began the process of adopting. That took a bit longer than expected, too, but Xenia Harmony -- born to an anonymous mother and handed over to a wizarding orphanage in Busan, South Korea, at a month old -- fell into their laps and their lives soon enough. Just like nearly everything else they'd ever wanted, pretty much.
Sunny, sweet and curious from the get-go, Xenia was not immune from her parents' privileged abundance and seemingly preternatural, hereditary ease with life. She grew up wanting for nothing, basically, isolated in a community of supportive, free-spirited and tightly knit family and friends who
also wanted for nothing. Life was easy: tutoring in magical subjects, lingering along the enclosure of her neighbor's small hippogriff herd, playing Aurors with the two or three other resident Angeltread brats, trudging along behind her grandmother in rows of Blair-brand fluxweed and knotgrass. While her parents worked -- often reappearing one at a time, like partnered birds swooping back in on a nestling -- Xenia was cared for by an inclusive community and allowed independent play and learning. The family took occasional "vacations" (see: research trips) to Europe and remote dig sites. Then two things happened that changed it all forever.
First, The Incident. Second, Summer Rose.
The Incident occurred around Xenia's tenth birthday. As part of celebrations, her parents took her to the site of her father's latest project: predicted to be a career-maker, something for the newspapers. An admixture of daddy's girl and precocious nerdling adventurer, Xenia had begged for years to "help" out on a
for real cursebreaking mission. Unfortunately, whilst out of supervision for -- they say -- precisely five minutes, Xenia beelined for danger, handled something she shouldn't have, and was (of course) stricken with an ancient Egyptian curse. Healers were able to relieve some aspects with ease, but the one that stuck -- altering the trajectory of Xenia's life irrevocably -- was muteness.
Cygnus and Axelle made a project of their daughter's new disability, developing together the charmed device that would help restore her voice when worn. While they basked in international attention for the effort -- a
riveting human interest story, to be sure -- Xenia spent the months-long design and testing process growing more and more interested in other methods of communication. Namely, writing. She started her first diary during this time, retreating from her parents' poking and prodding to complain into it via long scribbled diatribes and escapist fantasy rambling. This blossomed into an abiding love for the written word, which she knew she could trust above almost anything else.
Shortly after the charmed ring was fitted and considered "reliable," Axelle discovered she was pregnant. Summer Rose, the surprise biological daughter of Xenia's thrilled and by now somewhat greying parents, was a new horror with no magical cure. Thank God it was soon time to head off to Ilvermorny (yay Pukwudgie), where Xenia could artfully ignore her parents' new blessing -- and struggle for their admittedly distracted approval and attention -- by throwing herself into her schoolwork, reading, and creative writing. (Sure, the baby was
new and
special, but look at these grades and this tight, well-researched storytelling!!!)
While her parents' "favor" of Summer Rose is mostly imagination -- and deep down, Xenia is aware of this fact -- she has still structured much of her academic career around trying to win it back forever. Getting involved in the school newspaper at Ilvermorny, perfect marks for five out of six years, and various other achievements began to pile up. Admission to Peckenpaugh, however, was the greatest of them so far, and thankfully proved a Very Good Decision for Xenia all around.
Accustomed to the ins and outs of boarding school life, she jumped straight in upon arrival and fell into her niche. She's never quite managed to
leave it, instead leaning heavily into the bookish, well-spoken facade her mother and father seem to find endearing when they have the time, but maybe that's better left for after high school. ... If possible.
Xenia's pigeonholed herself quite nicely, spending much of the last four years cultivating the persona of "precocious cultural critic" via the magical equivalent of Youtube, tooth-and-nailing her way to Print Presidency, and -- like a ghoul in a fuzzy sweater -- chewing her way through the school library's fiction catalog. She hasn't allowed much spare time for anything outside of jealously guarded niche pursuits -- and somehow staying within orbit of a roster of equally nerdy friends -- though senior year has inspired some "experimentation" via new clubs. Who knows?? Maybe this time around she'll shock everyone and do something
crazy unexpected (spoiler alert: probably not).
WAND: 8" Larch, Jackalope Antler core. Xenia's wand is by a niche designer and bears a carved pattern of stars and half moons in the handle.
FAMILIAR: A very sweet and smart white rat named
Jellybean. Jellybean loves to do tricks for food. Jellybean also loves hiding in pockets and the occasional shoe, so look out for that.
CAREER GOALS: A writer or journalist, the household name lifetime achievement kind. Maybe gonna be taught in university classes one day, but still cool and always saying interesting and thoughtful things on social media.
Plus, wouldn't you know it, an unexpected style icon.
PART-TIME JOB: N/A.
CLASSES: - Core:
Charms (H). Arguably Xenia's best class. She considered battling it out for the TA spot, but ultimately settled made the very mature decision to pursue Print/Yearbook presidency instead. That doesn't stop her from being an absolute pain in the ass during discussion, though, or a little of a show-off during demonstrations. That said, she does have a knack for theory and is clever with improvisation and stringing charms together to create interesting, helpful effects. She loves to share these with other people, and not just because it makes her look good.
Potions. Xenia was in Honors Potions last year, but had to come back down a level this go around. Though she has no trouble with the aspect of potions that has to do with precise measurement, careful preparation of ingredients, and general research, she tends to have difficulty with timing and memorization that makes some recipes extremely challenging.
Transfigurations (H). This class is fine. Xenia is interested in the history and theoretical application of the subject, and respects it as integral to her education and success. She also doesn't mind the repetitiveness, truth be told, and looks forward to the homework because of it. This is also her mother's pet subject, so look out for particular know-it-all shenanigans in this class.
- Elective:
Wizard Lit (H). Xenia is obsessed with this class, and, frankly, Montgomery Crockett. She constantly reads ahead, over-writes her essays by way too many pages, and generally strives to over-achieve. This is another class she sometimes prickles about not TA-ing in, but sometimes difficult choices have to be made about schedules!! That's not her fault!! To make up for it, she'll just obviously know more than everyone else about whatever's on the syllabus. Just so you can be sure this is her area of expertise. Senior Year is especially exciting because of the focus on contemporary writers, which also happens to be more of Xenia's thing than classics or poetry. She's psyched. She's here for all of it.
HoM. Xenia can admit that this class is... a little dry. But that doesn't mean it isn't important. Actually, everyone should take History of Magic, in her honest opinion. She doesn't regret choosing this as an elective at all. (Truthfully, it does supplement her other classes. Historical knowledge is one of her favorite kinds of knowledge to flaunt. It doesn't hurt that so much reading is required, which Xenia never minds).
Hermeticism. Extremely challenging. Xenia works really hard in this class and occasionally has to ask for extra help, though her improvisational talent in Charms and strength with regards to logic and theory often pull her through. She also has the good luck of having parents who are leading researchers in certain kinds of magical experimentation. She grew up around a lot of this stuff, complex and difficult as it is, so came to Peckenpaugh with some very basic knowledge, summer tutoring, and a wealth of outside resources at her hands. Even with that, though, Xenia applies herself quite vigorously in order to get the marks she does.
- Advanced:
Symbology (H). A major interest. Xenia desired to take this course from the day she arrived at this school, thanks to a lifelong interest in writing, how words work and fit together, and the magic inherent in them (also, uh, the fact that the ring which enables her to communicate with speech hinges on glyph spellwork, making it a bit of a knack of hers as well). That said, it's a lot harder than she expected even if the general organization of the class and work is to her liking. Mr. Stirling is also incredibly intimidating (but please know that she'd shoot herself into the sun if she thought it would impress him). Her know-it-all tendencies tone themselves down quite considerably in this particular classroom -- it's so serious in there!! -- though she often provides some interesting insight coming from her particular background and ability, and can't resist chiding others if they don't seem to take these studies seriously enough.
- Special:
Current Events. Truthfully, when Xenia's particularly pressed for time, this is a class that might fall slightly to the wayside -- but only because she keeps up with this stuff anyway. It's an occupational necessity! That said, to Xenia this subject is generally very fun, and she usually contributes with just slightly too much enthusiasm. She's always on the lookout for a topic for her final presentation, and constantly speaking up as President of Print Club, in case you forgot how legit she is.
EXTRA-CURRICULARS: - President: Print/Yearbook.
- Member: Cr/Book Club, AV Club, Debate, Film Club.
SORTING?: Xenia's sorting didn't take long at all. Thorntrail was an obvious fit due to her work ethic and spirit of perfection, and the questions asked of her in the Fall Room were rooted enough in the material world that she didn't have room to spiral too far with them, which was a good and comforting sign (the Winter Room was a
nightmare in that way). Comforting, too, was how the autumnal surroundings reminded her of pleasant memories at home in Angeltread, smack in the middle of so much Vermont forest. To Xenia, there was a sense similar to standing outside in her beloved community, admiring nature and feeling the chill of nightfall -- but with the cozy understanding that, anytime she liked, she could go inside and warm up with tea and a book again.
NAME: k
EMAIL: lifesizeghosts@gmail.com
CDJ: ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spicecake♥
OTHER CONTACT: n/a
TIMEZONE: PST
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Date: 2019-07-07 04:23 pm (UTC)POSITION: Print/Yearbook President
WHY THIS SPOT?: Xenia fixated on someday achieving this title her first year at Peckenpaugh, and has been involved in the club since the first possible day, constantly shadowing, idolizing and softly hating whoever currently held the title. Though she's made herself busy with other clubs, classes and activities, Print is her truest love and, after historically caring a little too much about it, it was only natural to gun EXTREMELY for the presidency once it vacated for this year. Despite some know-it-all tendencies (which she ALSO knows about, you don't have to tell her!!!) she tries very hard to be fair and open to ideas from her
staffpeers. Unfortunately for the rest of Print Club, does have some chops to bolster her ambition.IDEAS?: Still under construction, but definitely two things: I want to make a dropbox in Xenia's journal for "hot tips" (mostly re: gossip, weird sightings around the school, etc) and create some representation of the paper bi-monthly?? Realistically I could see this being more of an ooc update, like hey here's what students might have seen this time around, but WHO knows what I'll be able to pull off depending on other players/characters. I'm also very into AT LEAST the idea of an advice column? Xenia may or may not try to play the anonymous responder who absolutely knows what they're talking about. ♥ c: Generally, she's also going to be extremely annoying about the paper AND the yearbook in journals, I can tell.