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GENERAL

NAME: Zoey Dowling Valentine.
NICKNAMES: Z. Zeevee. Sometimes Valentine.
AGE/DOB: 18. November 21st, 1996. [Scorpio/Sagittarius cusp]
BLOOD STATUS: Halfblood.
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Female. She/her or they/them.
SEXUALITY: Bisexual? Willing? Questioning.
HOMETOWN: Ithaca, New York. The magical community here is very small, and mostly affiliated with Cornell in various ways. Zoey has also spent significant amounts of time in Ireland.
CONCEPT: Odd duck Potions prodigy & wannabe Seer. Not living up to mother's expectations.

PHYSICAL

APPEARANCE: Freckles, hazel eyes, shoulder length brown hair (sometimes highlighted). Average height, boyish build. Not particularly graceful off a broom, but moves with a kind of unassuming confidence.

In class, wears her uniform pretty standardly, chooses pants over a skirt, and often ties her hair back with a ribbon.

Out of class, her sense of style is kind of punky and haphazard-femme. She likes bangles and bracelets, too much eye makeup, thrifty velvet and ruffles a la Prince, 90s sundresses and flannel, ironic shirts. Often stomps around in a pair of Doc Martens. Has been wearing the same too-big canvas coat since she was a freshman.

HEIGHT: 5'3."

PB: Emily Browning.

PERSONALITY

LIKES: potions, divination, flying, weird insects and fishes, music, magical experimentation, reading and research, art, poetry, cute stationery, muggle history, risk-taking, weed, old books, cooking, horror movies and creepypasta.

DISLIKES: confrontation, sticklers-to-anything, unbendable rules or decisions that can't be unmade, crying in front of people, hiking, most cable television, talking on the phone.

PERSONALITY:

Calm, loyal, curious. Somewhat airy and detached. Goes-with-the-flow toward either recklessness or complacency, depending on the situation. A lil bit rebellious. Intelligent. Nice.

Zoey is the sort of person you either like or don't, and also the sort of person who doesn't mind much either way. To the unfamiliar eye, she seems to float through life, happy to take things as they come, more concerned with the aesthetics and wonder of things than more everyday workings. At first (and even second) glances, Z doesn't seem to have a care in the world apart from her studies. She can be considered airy, detached and downright odd, even by people who know her very well.

The truth is still waters run deep, and it's in that way that Zoey is most definitely a Ribbonfin trout. She is constantly learning, constantly asking questions, and constantly in-between answers, but her sharp intellect is housed by a kind of preternatural calm -- the kind that makes a person a little strange or ambivalent sometimes, yes, but that also makes them brave. There's very little Z will not do if it seems like the proper thing for advancement, understanding, or even simply fun, whether that's an untested experimental technique, a reckless dive during a Quidditch game, or sneaking into a club. The reasoning here, of course, is that there's no sense in really worrying until something actually goes wrong -- but even then, Zoey often seems to skip the process of alarm entirely. Simply living is already a radical, dangerous act at times. Philosophically. Perhaps.

And, naturally, Zoey wants to be radical. She's at the age where she clearly knows what's best for herself, has all the right ideas about the world and society, writes the best poetry, is going to be a star, etc.. In a strange way, that special Ribbonfin diplomatic calm easily lends itself to a what Z would call a "Scorpio-Sagittarius taste for rebellion." She feels different than some of her peers, but she's all right with it. She almost-but-doesn't-quite fit the mold back at home, and mom gets frustrated, but whatcha gonna do? This is the way of things, and as long as it feels all right, so be it. Let's trust our guts. Let's do what we wanna do, if we can.

Unfortunately, this attitude -- while often really good fun or a supplement to innovation -- can mean that she'll often do things without a healthy sense of precaution, or later have no idea what she really felt about them, as positive and negative become meaningless when Everything Is Whatever. It often takes quite a bit for Zoey to skew either way, but when she does, she really does. Her temper has a long wick and a slow burn, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist -- it just takes a while to activate. Till then, she's a dormant volcano: while she knows how to express herself, and is often very expressive when she feels strongly, it's true that until that point -- until she can't help it -- the girl tends toward a kind of dreamy and mellow semi-ambivalence. That calm is what gets her through an intense workload, but it also means that sometimes she goes along with things (like her mother's various expectations) because it's just easier, especially when her effort and drive is spent elsewhere. It can also make her difficult to get to know properly. She might not always be as concerned with things others think she ought to be concerned with, for example, and sometimes doesn't realize when she's hurt someone's feelings, in part because not much bothers her herself.

Most commonly, though, Zoey is quite naturally respectful and accommodating of others. This trout doesn't mind other trout as long as they don't block the way down the river, or swim too slow just ahead. As much as she'd like to be an Extreme Individual, everyone's sort of in this universe (or river) together, as a collective: you know, we are all made of stars, that kind of thing. She would rather people be happy and comfortable -- at least as much as possible -- and in group settings can often be counted on to compromise (ie. back off) so that things go smoothly. She likes making things work, and will encourage them to work however she can.

As a friend, too, she cares. No, Zoey might not treat herself especially right when particularly busy or occupied, but she'll always make sure you do. It might not be in a stereotypical motherly hen kind of way -- Z has never lectured anyone outside of a classroom -- but expect tiny gifts, surprise food or coffee, texts full of heart emojis, xtra strength pepper-up when ill, astrological tips. Once you've won Z's trust, she's hard to get rid of; while at times her inner workings can be a bit difficult to sort out, where you stand with her never is.

HISTORY

FAMILY MEMBERS:

✖ MICHAEL VALENTINE, father, muggle. 57. A Classics professor at Cornell University (classical art/archaeology). Michael and Zoey have a mostly positive relationship. He has always been encouraging of her various pursuits, artistic or otherwise, but is definitely a bit of a pusher, and definitely has specific ideas about her future (despite not always understanding or being in touch with the magical world or wizarding culture). Earnest when present, but often a bit out of touch.
✖ LUCY DOWLING-VALENTINE, mother, halfblood. 45. Researcher for MACUSA (international relations). Accepts the odd independent contract here and there, also very into kitchen/edible magics. Hogwarts alumnus (Ravenclaw). Moved to the States in her twenties, met Michael, and never left. Not a fan of Zoey's interest in divination, music, or the arts, and often has a lot to say about it.

✖ CATHAL DOWLING, maternal grandfather, fullblood. 70. Irish, from Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland, where he lives to this day. Magical tailor, Ravenclaw alumnus, widower. Gruff. Zoey's favorite; often sends her letters, obscure ingredients, and various paraphernalia. A Youtube video of him drunkenly singing Elton John went viral a few years ago.

HISTORY:

1996. Zoey is born. Her parents had never planned on having children, but Lucy's unexpected excitement over an accidental pregnancy was more than she'd shown in a long time, and Michael found himself secretly looking forward to the child as well (even despite So Much Stress over going for tenure). Z is a calm, happy little thing who displays magic early on. They say a baby can't bandage a marriage, though, and that's true.

1997-1998. Lucy and Michael attempt a trial separation, and that doesn't work for them either. They get back together.

1998-2000. Zoey attends a magical preschool while both parents focus on their careers, which is presumably going to make Everything Better. It is, in fact, quite effective.

2001-2007. A precocious, impressionable little Zoey floos into a wizarding K-12 for Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. At first she's incredibly shy -- though she had experience with other children, and though the tiny Ithaca wizarding community had been coming in and out of her house for get-togethers and parties nearly all of her life (Lucy is Extremely Social), this was real school and she'd been looking forward to it for at least as long as she'd known there was real school. That, and she had to floo into the big city! Wow. From the beginning, an adventure. It was very exciting to visit her grandfather during holidays and tell him all about it.

Z's years in this environment were positive. She was never an extremely popular child, but she was earnest, eager to please, and a voracious reader. Most teachers ended up liking her quite a lot, which of course didn't help with the whole popularity thing. Still, at the very least, she was permitted to come home in the afternoons and spend time with various neighborhood pals, attend private lessons, etc. At this stage in Zoey's life, both Michael and Lucy were extremely encouraging of practically anything she showed interest in, hoping to foster general creativity and confidence. She took painting and guitar and tennis lessons, special Potions tutoring, ballet for a short time. Some of this stuck.

Potions, in particular, was a favorite subject -- and something she seemed to have natural aptitude for.

2008. That Potions skill, along with various connections of Lucy's, land Z in Hellebore for middle school. She's not excited about it. After all, in Fourth and Fifth grade she'd finally started making real real friends at school, and she was looking forward to staying there with them, continuing to study with her favorite teachers and tutors, etc. It didn't seem fair that mom could just make decisions for her, but she also didn't want to argue -- arguing with mom was the WORST. This is the first time that Z starts feeling a little rebellious, out of place, and her first year at the school is understandably rough because of it. She becomes known for being a bit moody and difficult to get along with, more interested in her art or weird books than getting to know any of the other girls.

Feeling sorry, Lucy buys her a broom. Zoey starts distracting herself with flying, and is soon approached to join junior league Quodpot. It comes easily to her, brings her out of her shell a bit. She finishes the year, not exactly happy or excited, but having made a couple of friends and gotten high marks. It's enough. Also, mom buys her a pretty sick bass guitar.

2009. Seventh Grade! Things are much different this year. After Z returns from summer holidays, people are actually glad to see her. There's several Potions competitions in the area -- even with international participants! -- that mom sincerely believes she'd do well in. And she does. Quodpot continues to be a joy. She even has a first kiss! Well... kind of. At this age, it's a little ambiguous to Zoey whether or not her teammate really counts, especially after said teammate pretends it never happened.

She goes home for the summer this time feeling absolutely content, except for that. She talks to her parents about it a little, and in the end they all "agree" that she's too young for that sort of thing anyway. Zoey immerses herself in some summer schooling at her old K-12, reads a lot of fiction, and also spends a month in Ireland with her grandfather, where she breaks her arm playing Quidditch with some village kids.

2010. Last year at Hellebore. Mom's especially pushy. Z has to do everything exactly right, it seems: high marks, Quodpot, extracurriculars, potions potions potions, tours of various schools, extra tutoring on holidays, extra classes, etc. It's exhilarating and stressful; Zoey's not sure how to do all of it and still have fun, but somehow manages here and there. After Christmas, she spends about a week in the hospital wing with pneumonia, and the school healer tells mom to ease up a little bit. She can't manage it, really, but after Zoey is sent a letter of admission to Gooseberry -- and a scholarship -- she inevitably does.

Z never kisses her teammate again, but she has her first drink out behind the shed on the Quodpot pitch. She also gets busted, but it's close to the end of the year, and that particular professor had a soft spot for girls like Zoey and her two partners in crime: sweet girls, passably athletic, smart, maybe going places. Z remembers this at graduation and gifts her with a giant bouquet of flowers. In return, the professor sets her up with a tiny summer internship (more like getting to hang out and observe very carefully at a local hospital). Her mother stays in D.C. with her during this time, until it's over, when they head off to Ireland yet again before the start of Freshman Year.

2011. Freshman Year at Gooseberry! Zoey does far better as a new student this time, possibly because of the House system -- she's surrounded by people who at least have some similar traits, if not interests. The girls in her dorm are cut from very similar cloth, and a couple are even into arty things! It helps. So does the beauty and diversity of the campus. Ithaca was beautiful, too, but for the past few years Zoey had spent the majority of her time in D.C., and she'd never experienced anything quite like Utah (even if it turned out she wasn't so much a fan of hiking out there in all that beauty).

While she'd always been a good student and teeny bit of an overachiever -- thanks mom -- at Gooseberry she begins to seriously thrive, encouraged by the variety of classes, the promise of being able to choose her own electives, the sheer amount of resources. Also... Quidditch. Grandfather Cathal encourages Z to practice hard and go out for the team, and she receives a new broom for her birthday (the best he can afford, and it's even foreign).

In Potions, Z notices something weird about a recipe in one of her supplemental books. She spends a couple of weeks over the summer trying to understand exactly what it is, measuring and remeasuring, and ends up realizing: it's weird because it's a mistake, and the formula isn't as effective as it's supposed to be. It gets her featured in a trade magazine and interviewed by various media, which she thinks is pretty silly.

This is also the summer Zoey has a first "psychic" experience, piquing her interest in divination. She has a sudden, overwhelming vision of an owl on her way home from a friend's house, and is surprised with her familiar Cayuga that very afternoon, just a few weeks before returning to school again.

2012. Z starts some personal study in divination. She also starts taking Hermeticism, which blows her mind; this, paired with a still-earnest love for Potions steers her toward alchemical research, which turns the earnest into the obsessive. Zoey starts delving more and more into experimental magic and physics in the hopes of better pursuing her own interests.

It's not all super seriousness, though. Zoey's made Chaser for the Ribbonfin team this year. She starts noodling around with the kids she'll later form a band with. She attempts Duelling Club, is stupidly injured, and never comes back. She kisses a boy, finally, which feels different than kissing a girl, but just as nice. During the summer, she attends a special MACUSA-sponsored camp in Seattle -- more of a study-and-do-work camp than a have-fun one, admittedly. She has more experience with a boy here, and starts getting more excited about aesthetic magic after a sketching-with-charms workshop.

2013. Things continue much along the same vein as Sophomore Year, but -- as it goes -- everything seems to get more intense. Study is more intense. Play is more intense. Everything. Somehow people are starting to grow up, and Z realizes that she's been growing up all along. She becomes somewhat more introverted during the autumn, burying herself in study, only really emerging from the library for classes, Quidditch, and practice with the band. (Unless there's a party going on, some kind of distraction. Gotta push in that direction too.)

Somewhere in here is an attempt at a romance with a boy (Ryan, sigh) in Azurcrest. Unsurprisingly, Z's not really in a place for that kind of thing, and it ends awkwardly. At least she's getting good marks? She's also working on prototypes of various experimental potions, already thinking ahead to her Senior Project, but finds herself more and more distracted -- and comforted -- by Divination. She often wastes time doing practice readings for other students when she isn't in band practice or working on something else.

Christmas break sorts her out, thankfully, back on her feet and excited about things again. It also, unfortunately, marks the beginning of a schism between Zoey and her mother. Lucy's not super excited about all this scrying and astrology and tea leaf reading, don't you know. They argue, and in order to smooth things -- and just stop with the back and forth, which she hates -- Z agrees to settle her focus more squarely on Potions again. Despite this, she goes back to school determined to have her cake and eat it too: continue doing well in classes, play bass, fly, keep the Potions dream alive, and also nurture what she believes to be a growing (and useful) talent. Isn't that how adults live their lives? She kind of manages it, but it's hard juggling so many things -- or it'd be harder, if she were more nervous. When Z isn't studying, she's off pushing herself in an extracurricular. Her Ribbonfin calm gets her through, but she starts acting out a little bit here and there. Mom isn't impressed.

Z ends the year ten pounds thinner, a little frazzled, and ready for a vacation. She accepts a short internship in NYC over summer holidays -- not quite a break, but enough of one. New friends get her into some clubs. She parties a bit, and for a short time dates another girl in her program, which feels right but leaves her confused about what she wants. Z ends the position on a rather neutral note, comes home to Ithaca, and gets busted with weed. Mom really isn't impressed, which might be compounded by the fact that she and dad are having some problems again.

And now... Here we go again.

SCHOOL

YEAR: Senior, grade 12.
HOUSE: Ribbonfin.
SORTING: Zoey was an emblem-staller. She'd had the feeling going in that this was going to be the case, and sat patiently while Ebonhide and Ribbonfin debated and discussed. In the end, this was what got her chosen for the latter: the acceptance of that moment for what it was, her calmness, and a natural dislike of arguments (especially when it seemed to her that either House would be just fine).

Admittedly, Ebonhide made a lot of sense for Z: she's a deep thinker, and prone to a kind of intensity that would have fit well there. Things might be a bit different in life now if she'd spoken up in the cave.
WAND: Walnut wood | 8" | wampus fur.
FAMILIAR: A Barn Owl named Cayuga.


CLASSES:

CORE
Hermeticism
Charms
Transfiguration
Potions
Herbology

ELECTIVE
Aesthetic Magic
Artificing
Astronomy

ADVANCED
Divination

SENIOR PROJECT: Technically, Zoey's working on a complicated experimental healing potion (complete with Extremely Long research paper, testing, etc). She likes the work and it makes her mother happy -- it's what she's supposed to be doing, after all -- but it's not holding her interest as much as perhaps it should.

The semi-secret side project (and the much more fun one) involves sketching various people's patronus & animagus forms, then animating them. There's an analysis component as well, mostly involving astrological data. She'd like for it to become an installation one day, or perhaps lead to further research, but doesn't want to make it her official project and rock the boat with mom. At least not right now.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Zoey comes from an academic family and has a lot to live up to, as well as a healthy(?) amount of pressure from her parents to succeed and fit comfortably in a certain mold. Luckily, she's never found that particularly difficult. Z is the kind of student that doesn't have to try especially hard to do well; she gets how things work, has a good memory, and laser focus when summoned. The trouble is that, in most cases, she doesn't push very hard beyond that; unless something is particularly fascinating or new, it's doubtful she'll try to sincerely challenge herself. Once the books are closed, they're closed. When the assignment is done well enough to get the desired mark, it's finished. Steps are memorized, the spell is mastered, and it's time to move on to the things she finds really interesting -- which is where you'll see her actually apply herself. Many people assume that she's staying up so late studying for classes, but it's usually just personal research and practice.

This year, though, Z is taking classes that align much more with those personal interests and passions, and that hopefully will push her and encourage her to use her full capabilities in different/wider contexts.

The biggest problem she has right now is Potions. The scholarship awarded to her with admission was supposedly due to all-around potential, but it's clear that it had a heavy part in getting her into Gooseberry in the first place. Z showed promise and talent from a young age in this subject area -- top marks forever, she's won competitions, she's enhanced recipes by older professionals, etc. Her mother has always pushed her very hard to continue down the path and focus on what she's "meant" to do, "brilliant" at. The problem is, Zoey's just ... not interested anymore. At least, she's not interested in being the best at it right now, as she knows she's already good enough, enough to maybe go into specialized healing, some experimental work. She's just tired and would rather play music or read or have adventures or play a pick-up game or work on her sketching project. Geez, mom.

EXTRACURRICULARS:

QUIDDITCH
Chaser, Ribbonfin
Chaser, Team Gooseberry

THE HOLY ROSICRUCIANS
Bass guitar, backing vocals, weirdness

TAROT, TEA LEAVES, ASTROLOGICAL CHART READING
An act of rebellion against mother, also Fun
Occasional useful insights
Trades for favors, cigarettes, or money

OOC

NAME: Kay
CDJ: n/a
OTHER PREFERRED CONTACT: n/a
TIME ZONE: Pacific