Your Nickname: Elle
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: Fauna Blake, Aileen Reid, Abby Reid, Eirene Antonopoulos, Lorelei Hunt
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Secondary

Full Character Name: Sulwen Reid
Character Birthday & Age: January 3 2000, 11 years old.
City & Country of Birth: Bath, England
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Pureblood
House & Year: Slytherin First Year

Wand: Acacia wood, kitsune hair core, 9.5 inches, smooth, gifted from her great aunt Ayame Yukawa, a wandmaker.

Physical Description:
Sulwen is just under five feet and hopes to become tall like her father. She shares her mother's slimness and coloring, having inherited her straight black hair and dark, almond shaped eyes. She's perfected the art of ignoring that which annoys her, and assessing the rest with a jaded gaze, though if challenged, she sometimes allows an icy glare.

Her downward slanting brows somewhat soften her expression, and her mouth is prone to pouts and small, polite smiles. Real smiles are rare, laughter even rarer, lighting up her face in a pleasing way. Unfortunately, if she tries not to laugh, it comes out as a dorky chortle which her mother finds embarrassing and her little sister finds endlessly amusing.

She moves with measured confidence and poise, but on the outer edges of activity, preferring to observe rather than be at the center. Her gestures often appear stiff, mimicking her mother or more sociable sorts.

Most of her clothing has been chosen for her. The frilly, delicate dresses she wears do not reflect her natural tendency toward the serious and streamlined.

Personality Description:
Sulwen attempts to give off a worldly air, and acts disinterested in most new things, especially if other children are fascinated. Due to the influence of her cool and collected parents, she's learned to hide her feelings and isn't sure how to express the positive without opening the floodgates of the negative. Her mother has taught her to be polite, to think of others first (at least outwardly), and to be gracious, but she did not succeed in teaching her charm.

She views the emotional range and spontaneity of others with disdain and jealousy. Her sense of humor is dry and a little morbid.

Though she may appear unflappable, she is beset by concerns about image and her place in the world. She remembers every insult and can hold a grudge for years. Some of her haughtiness is due to feeling awkward and uncertain in social situations. She prefers to pull the strings in the background. Too much attention, be it praise or criticism, makes her uncomfortable.

Sulwen rarely insults anyone to their face, and isn't prone to gossip. However, if truly pressed or especially miserable, she is capable of aiming a scathing retort right to the heart.


History:
Sulwen grew up in the city of Bath, in a house that had been in the Reid family since the 1800s and was passed to her father, Trevor Reid. Her mother, Asami, carved a place for herself in the small pureblood society sequestered there.

Sulwen enjoys blending into the background of the city, its golden-hued architecture stealing the limelight. She knows every canal, meandering stone street, and patch of contained greenery. Her mother often lets her daughters tag along on her errands and visits to friends as long as they are well behaved. As a result, Sulwen is familiar with most of the picturesque villages dotting the Cotswolds up north. She suffers through trips to London, as it means much coddling and fussing from her grandmother Cullodena. Asami and her daughters take frequent holidays to Japan to visit the Yukawas, who are perhaps the only relatives Sulwen views with rose-tinted glasses. She is proficient in spoken Japanese, and practices writing it in journals and letters.

Sulwen's family is a mix of influential purebloods. On her mother's side, renowned wandmakers and seers abound, and on her father's, many Reids are involved in the upper echelons and politics of the Ministry. Sulwen's mother and father met at Hogwarts in the Slytherin house, and married soon after graduating, appreciating each other's traditional attitudes. They both care about their standing in society, and have little time or interest for those on the lower rungs. They are controlled, calculating people, who treat each other more like business partners than spouses, putting on an affectionate show in public and then happily retreating to their own worlds at home. When there is conflict, the house can fall silent for days as they ignore one another in a battle of wills, one that Trevor often wins through sheer stubborn ass-ism. They use similar 'cold shoulder' tactics with their children, which Sulwen has taken to heart and Coira rebels against.

Little Coira has inherited a great flair for the dramatic from her grandmother Cullodena, with the pipes to match. When upset, she flops onto the sofa or other soft surfaces, crying and screeching and bemoaning her young life, only to bound away the next moment, laughing and skipping with muggle children in the road. Their mother often blames Sulwen for the girl's antics, and Sulwen is intensely embarrassed by her younger sister. What Sulwen lacks in charm, Coira makes up for in spades when she feels like it.

The sisters lived a blessed life until a few years ago. In January 2009, not long after Sulwen's 9th birthday, her father was arrested for Runespoor smuggling and black market trade. His trial was long and drawn out, lasting for about half a year until he was convicted and sent to Azkaban. Sulwen had always looked up to her stoic father, intuitively understanding that her mother's life of social engagements was not for her. It was the first time she realized he was not the perfect pureblood hero she imagined him to be. When she got over her disbelief that her father could be involved in crime at all, she began to see that the family was upset he'd gotten caught and that his trial had gone poorly, not that he'd committed crime.

She remains conflicted by this, and reacts very defensively to any criticism of her family. Without her father, her mother is unhappy and overly critical, her little sister acts up more, and they are generally less accepted in pureblood society. The mere mention of Azkaban can send her into a dark mood.

To add to her conflicted feelings, she is horrified by the events that befell her aunts in August of 2011. During a time when Sulwen should have been preparing for school, her life was overshadowed by Reid drama yet again. She's never been close to Abby or Aileen, taking a cue from her parents and viewing them as pureblood anomalies. Now, from the way her mother talks about their misfortune as if it were contagious, Sulwen fears that if some catastrophe were to fall upon her, her family either wouldn't notice or wouldn't be there for her. She will likely overcompensate in classes, determined to learn everything she can to defend herself while pretending not to care.

Classes:

Core Classes Astronomy Charms Defense Against the Dark Arts Herbology History of Magic Potions Transfiguration Flying

Electives No No No No No

How Do You Fit Into Your House?:
Sulwen wishes to be respected in society, and to come out on top. She is willing to ally herself with those she doesn't like in order to accomplish her goals. Mostly she plays fair, wanting to prove that she is not morally corrupt like her father. However, she will resort to trickery and deceit if she feels it necessary.

When thwarted or threatened, she rarely acts in the moment. She waits, and gets her revenge later.


Writing Sample:


Sum up your character in one paragraph:
Her aunt Abby teasingly calls her "sulky Sulwen" and this is apt. She likes to be in control of herself and her emotions and life in general.

When she was younger she dreamed of doing something similar to her father and working in international trade. She hoped to travel and see more of the the world like her aunt Aileen and her more adventurous, wand-making relatives. Since her father's arrest, she is uncertain of her place in the world, and views the future as a chaotic force that can only be directed and predicted by the shrewdest of witches.

Special Ability

Character Name: Sulwen Reid
Age: 11
Character Biography: http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=19509
Do any of your other Characters have Special Abilities?: No
If Yes, then Please provide their name and a link to their bio:
 
Special Ability: Seer

What level is this ability at?: Beginner

At what age did your character gain this ability?: Birth

How did they learn or hone this ability?:
The seer ability runs in the Yukawa family, on Sulwen's mother's side. It hops and skips generations. Sulwen was born with it, but it only started becoming evident since she started school at Hogwarts.  

Describe how the Special Ability influences their life.  What do they use it for?:
Once Sulwen acknowledges and accepts it, she might use it to warn her friends and family of anything terrible in their futures, or to encourage them to pursue a course of action that she sees as favorable. She may or may not admit that her opinion stems from her seer ability, depending on the situation.

Write a description of what happens when your character is exhibiting this Special Ability: It affects her dreams and her perception of her surroundings at times. It affects her sense of self as a private, reserved person. Since the ability has only recently  manifested, Sulwen isn't sure when it's appropriate to reveal to others.