Wand: 11.5 inches, red oak, moon cicada wing

(A moon cicada is a magical insect with similaries to the mundane cicada, only emerging from the ground on blue moons. They are native to the Midwest in North America. Their eyes glow blue, and they're associated with astronomy and lunar-based magic. The core is not particularly rare or powerful.)

Physical Description:
Natalie (who is known to almost everyone as Nemo) is a young American witch living in Covent Garden in London. She is 5’3” and shaggy blonde hair with long fringe. Her face is round and her skin is pale with a pinkish undertone. Her narrow blue eyes and a pert nose give her a fae vibe she likes to emphasize.

She pierced her nose when she was 13 and wears a tiny silver ring. She has a scar on her upper lip from the surgery to repair a cleft palate when she was a baby.

Nemo wears a lot of black, and likes mixing modern fashion with traditional witch motifs like black combat boots paired with a tall pointy hat. At this time in her life, she’s gone Full Nemo, excited to finally have space to be herself.


Personality Description:
Nemo is independent, resourceful, and has a grey morality. She’s comfortable being alone in a crowded room or traveling by herself, but is also easy company in a social gathering. She doesn’t seem capable of being embarrassed, or she hides the unpleasant feeling with a practiced withering blank stare, refusing to be ruffled. She’s used to being underestimated, but knows her slippery agility (both mental and physical) are an asset. If she needs to be, she can be effectively manipulating of adults.

She loves eccentricity, interesting people and stories, nightlife, music, and theatre. She’s a keen observer of people, and has a good memory for names. As a friend, she’s protective and thoughtful often finding time for small gifts or kisses on the cheek.

Nemo dislikes talking about her past, being pidgeon-holed or categorized, and authority and structure, in general. The idea of a ‘real job’ usually induces a pantomime of being sick. She’s still existing in an immature place and her perception of “society” is naive. Any suggestion that her lifestyle might be unsustainable is met with hostility, because it feels like an attack on her sense of self.

Almost nobody in London knows her real name as she only introduces herself as Nemo, a name she learned when her class read Jules Verne. It reminded her of adventure and loved that it means ‘no one’ - very dramatic and mysterious, no? Also Natalie + Morrow? NaMo, Nemo? For a girl of her age, it was the peak of cleverness.

She has a good ear and patience for solitary practice, which has helped her become a very capable self-taught musician. Even before coming to England, she’s a fairly convincing mimic of accents.


History:
Nemo ran away from home in 2010 and arrived in London by October of that year. She found her life leading up to that catastrophe to be intolerable, and her life since to be a more preferable struggle.

Pacific Junction, Iowa has a population barely exceeding 500 if that. Like many Midwest small towns, it was once an important oasis on the railroad but now the main street is deserted. Its only businesses are a sad grocery store, two bars, and a post office. The town had muggle school of its own until the 1960s when it closed. The building remained vacant, and the muggle students were sent to a larger neighboring town. But the small local magical community enchanted the building to act as a part-time magic school for the region, which Natalie attended.
Natalie’s mother, Cassandra Morrow, is a witch who worked cleaning houses and businesses. Her father, a muggle, left them when she was 7. Life was complex, difficult and stressful, and Cassandra and Natalie were constantly at odds. Natalie had a difficult time fitting in, hated school, hated the town, and aspired to find a way she could be herself. She skipped classes more and more often, and stayed out all night in nearby Omaha, and a few times never came home.

Summer of 2010 she found her chance. An older wizard friend in Omaha was travelling to London on business and she went with him against her mother’s wishes. It wasn’t exactly a safe thing to do. Once in London, she ditched him and lived in hostels for a time. She has slept rough in the past, but now has enough connections that she has long term, safer places to stay.

She makes some money busking to both muggle and magical audiences, and has, on occasion made fees playing in bars or in the pit orchestra for small theatres.

Brushes with the law, muggle or magic, are infrequent and are mostly to do with too much noise busking, selling on the street without a permit, graffiti, or loitering.


Describe your job duties and how you go about them:
Nemo makes her living as a musician. It's not a good living, nor is it stable, but she gets by.  She can earn a decent amount busking, gigs in small venues, and playing in small theatrical productions.

Elaborate on your expertise in your field:
Nemo has had the time and patience to learn keyboard and string instruments. She has a natural ear for pitch and musical sense in general. Nemo can be charming and she's, well, cute, which helps her get gigs.  She also knows some magical spells that can make her music sound better, or charm those listening to be a little more liberal with their donations.

Writing Sample:


Sum up your character in one paragraph:
Nemo is an American run-away living on the streets of London. She's independent, clever, and wants little more than to live life on her terms, leaving her past behind. She loves music and the excitement of the city.

Nemo's phone:

Nemo has a Nokia 2605 Mirage, from 2009. It has a small camera and an ancient, slow, mostly useless internet browser. It is, of course, indestructible. She, like many of her generation, is absolutely blazing fast with mutli-tap texting. She uses it almost exclusively for texting, but does take the occasional grainy selfie.


https://nokiamuseum.info/nokia-2605-mirage/

Nemo's Tumblr
https://dont-cry-bone-dry.tumblr.com/

Nemo's Crashes
Nemo moves around from place to place, wherever she can find someplace to stay for awhile. She doesn't spend much time at home anyway, so it's mostly a place to sleep, cook meals, and store her minimal belongings. She'll house-sit, sublet a room when she's flush, live in hostels, squat, or stay with friends and acquaintances. When she first came to London in Oct 2010, she slept rough often or squatted in some really sketchy places.

Various hostels, squats, and sleeping rough. Transitioning to couch-surfing in the summer.
Oct 2010 - Oct 2011

House-sitting a place in Greenwich with two musician friends, early risers
Oct 2011 - Nov 2011

Posh room in Notting Hill. Sublet while its primary occupant visited home in Taiwan. There's a dog.
Nov 2011 - Spring 2012

5P, Dorothea's Apartments for Wayward Witches and Wizards with Dido Tansi
Spring 2012 -