Your Nickname: SJ
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
Are you over thirteen? Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Other
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Member BoardIs this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary
Full Character Name: Waverly Delphine Roh-Ballentyne
Character Birthday & Age: 02/01/1993
City & Country of Birth: London
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Halfblood
House & Year: Slytherin 7th Year
Wand: 11 1/2 inch decorated inflexible Ebony and Maple Wood, Dragon Heartstring core
Physical Description: Toffy skinned and standing a lofty 5'10, with legs for days it is fairly easy to pick out Waverly Roh-Ballentyne and her thickly textured mane of hair out of a crowd. A set of vivid green eyes (tinted with a touch of knowing mischief), strong nose, and full lips center in her oval'd eloquently cheekbone'd face (which is frequently framed by a few flyaway curls, untamed by beautification potions and spells).
Encouraged from a young age to be herself and embrace her rather Amazonian height and physical strength Roh isn't one to shy away from killer heels, skirts that make her mother insane, or embracing her "ethnic beauty". She falls somewhere between her mothers on the scale of importance-placed-on-being-pretty. She enjoys fashion and often feels the need to style Zora, while embracing Althea's Earth Mother free flowing love of loose fabric and color.
Personality Description: Being adopted by two women of mixed ethnicity, in 1995 was not, you know, a totally sane move on the parts of Zora Roh and Althea Ballentyne if they were planning on lil Waverly not having a sizable chip on her shoulder when she reached hormonal teendom. There are a plethora of reasons to mock and torment the sixteen year old in the first half of the previous sentence alone! However, with all the bad there always comes a little good too - Althea is the one who taught Waverly that (though she much prefers the name "Roh" to any variation of Waverly).
From her mother Althea (known as Mum) she was gifted a thirst for knowledge, for truth, for understanding. As the nurturing literary type it was Althea that fostered in Roh a reason to ask why, the feeling that questioning the world around you was actually your inherent right as a free thinking individual person. She fostered curiosity, a strong sense of self, and the desire to imagine others as complexly as she would like to be imagined herself. This part of her personality is open, loving, quick witted and enjoys telling jokes just as much as spending hours reading to discover everything she can possibly learn in any given day.
The part of her personality that was fostered by Zora (known as Ma) has firm boundaries and refuses to be walked on in favor of being liked. This part of her personality can be rash, harsh, judgmental, and once you've crossed into the danger zone Roh isn't quick to forgive and she never forgets. This can, at times, make her short sighted and detour her better judgement. She is as stubborn as her Ma ever thought of being and twice as sassy.
In answer to Zora's often absentee parenting skills, since reaching the point in life where most children find their parents insufferable, there has been a drastic shift in the family dynamic. While she is vaguely aware it's not actually true, if you were to ask Waverly what Zora was first - a mother or an Auror, her instinctual answer would be "Her life is the job". There is a real disconnect between the two, and their differing politics and stubborn streak make it hard for either of them to consider a way to reconcile.
History: Born February 1st, 1993 Waverly was put up for adoption immediately after birth. She would spend two years in foster care that she blissfully cannot remember. If you were to ask her now she would tell you that her life didn't really start until the first moment Althea Ballentyne held her in her arms and hummed her a soft lullaby. Formally adopted in the spring of 1995 Waverly spent most of toddlerdom following Althea around the house and waiting for Ma (Zora) to come home. It's never been address publicly but in those first few years Zora usually drew the worst shifts because her family wasn't really perceived as such - probably both because of her life style choice and the fact she is so private about her home life. People just assumed she didn't have one.
As a child Waverly regarded Zora as a sort of mythical hero. Her Ma saved lives and caught bad guys, she was a woman but she was strong, she could do anything a man could do and probably do it better! It was a great source of pride for the girl, though she often felt disconnected from the woman. Zora worked so much that parenting fell back on Althea (probably, also, because being nurturing came so naturally to the round faced dark skinned woman). From the ages of six to ten, when so many of her friends were obsessed with Princesses and liking being chased around by boys, Roh wanted nothing more than to be a badass. She didn't want to be the silly Princess locked in a tower! She wanted to fight knights and evil doers and pretend to duel. She wanted to defend the world! Or, alternately, take it over! She wanted to make Zora proud - so much so in fact that when she was being sorted the (then tiny) eleven year old closed her eyes so tight she curled her toes and begged to be put in Slytherin though she easily shared more of Althea's Ravenclaw tendencies.
As in all things time brought change to the way Waverly viewed her mother. In the last two years or so she has come to see Zora as a mindless cog in a broken machine. Her endless talking about letting the system sort everything out while ignoring the fact that their society marginalizes not only those who are magically different but different in general particularly rubs Roh the wrong way. Waverly often tries to engage her mother in the what-if game, the "what if I had turned out to be a Squib", "what if I get turned into a Werewolf or Vampire", "how would you want me treated if I were one of those people needing to be taken down"? What she fails to see her mother's need to compartmentalize her job; and while she likes to think she images everyone complexly she had failed to do that with her mothers.
Roh has a lot to learn, but she's hungry for the knowledge. Her rebellious questioning nature is going to land her in deep trouble sooner than she might think, but underneath the chip on her shoulder absolutely everything she does is motivated by a desire to interact with her mother, to some how simultaneously make her proud and piss her off. With a year and a half left at Hogwarts before the quick witted terror is unleashed upon Wizarding Society, Merlin bless the war that will rage in the Roh-Ballentyne home!
Classes: Core Classes
Astronomy
Charms
Defense Against the Dark Arts
No
No
Potions
No
No | Electives
No
No
No
No
Muggle Studies
|
How Do You Fit Into Your House?: In the end it came down to two choices: Ravenclaw or Slytherin. As a blend of both her mothers she posessed ambition, cunning, intellect, a thirst for knoweldge and was forever asking "but why?". At the tender age of eleven the road ahead was murky at best and for all the potential Roh had to be a Ravenclaw, it was her will desire to be a Slytherin (just like Zora) that sealed her fate. As she is coming of age and feeling a further dissolution in her relationship with Zora she questions this placement - especially given her more radical ideas about the equality that should be afford Muggleborns, Squibs, and Werewolves.
Writing Sample: See
Dolly St. JamesSum up your character in one paragraph: Roh (as she prefers to be called) is an open, loving, quick witted girl who enjoys telling jokes just as much as spending hours reading to discover everything she can possibly learn in any given day. She also has a sizable chip on her shoulder, a stubborn streak wide as the English channel when she sees fit. She's a good student going through some rebellious growing pains - like every other teenager at Hogwart's castle.
Waverly Delphine Roh-Ballentyne: Slytherin 7th Year