Accepted ~ Analiza Snark

About You, the Writer:
Your Nickname: Bri. Yes, I'm back.
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Of course
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Well I was an HM-er, and then an SR-er for a bit, and so I've decided to go and be an AO-er.
If you have written other characters here, list them all: Nope
Full Character Name: Brodie Michelle Skeffington
Character Birthday & Age: April 9, 1993
City & Country of Birth: London, England
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Pureblood
House & Year: Ravenclaw, 5th year
Wand: 14 inch Almond with unicorn tail. Very springy; a bit knobby with a bent shaft.
Physical Description:

Brodie's peaches-and-cream face is framed by firey red hair that tends to have a mind of its own: it can be straight as a pin, have kinky curls, wavy like the ocean, or all of the above. Her thin lips, her almond-shaped brown eyes and button nose work together to give her an un-traditionally beautiful face.

She has freckles all over her body, including her arms, legs, back, chest, and of course face. Fashionable clothes are all that suit her slender, small frame, and the hideous birthmark on her upper-left thigh is well-concealed by cutesy dresses and flowing shirts underneath the most expensive cloaks.

Personality Description:

A typical Aries, Brodie is an dynamic young lady with a knack for wordplay. Her engaging and influential nature help her with manipulation, which is an activity that she quite enjoys. Although she is independent and headstrong, Brodie does have the tendency to rely on her family and her friends to improve her lifetime. Due to her reliance on friends, she is not the top dog as she should be, but more commonly the sidekick. Impressing others is a priority, and Brodie is constantly working to improve her social status.

Of course, being one of the upper-class citizens attending Hogwarts, Brodie is a bit of a snob and expects nothing but the best for herself and from herself. She lives by the belief that because of her financial and social status, that immediately makes her a trend-setter and a leader in general.

Still, Brodie isn't a complete 'rich bitch.' She has an unrivaled passion for her schoolwork and has obsessive study habits. Brodie expects nothing less than a perfect score. However, most things come easily to her, as she is a naturally smart individual who is something of a Charms genius.

And it is quite appropriate that Brodie is talented in Charms, because she can be quite a charming person. Conversations with Brodie are normally very engaging. She is quick-witted and cultured, and has an expansive knowledge on a variety of subjects. Yet, her entertainment value does not always outweigh her selfishness and impatience. Despite enjoying conversation and chatting, when she has a problem afoot, she does not like to take other people's advice, because no suggestion could possibly be good enough for her.

When Brodie decides to do something, she sacrifices herself entirely to accomplishing whatever it is that she wants to accomplish. This usually ends up being a bad thing, because she will stop at almost nothing to get what she wants, no matter what it is. This turns into being easily convinced that doing something bad will do good in her endeavor. She takes too many risks, and these things usually end up getting her into trouble - Brodie rarely gets detention, but she does usually end up in hot water with her reputation. Of course, this aggravates her parents to no end, because keeping a good reputation is the #1 priority in the Skeffington house. This also causes Brodie to doubt and be angry with herself, because she does care quite a lot about her reputation, even if she doesn't want to admit it.

As is expected of a stereotypical redhead, Brodie has a quick temper. Her intolerance for waiting also adds to this, and Brodie -- when triggered -- ends up in explosive fights. She stays angry for days, much to the dismay of her friends. Hell hath no fury like a Brodie scorned. When she does finally get over whatever it was that she was infuriated with, Brodie ends up looking like a fool, because under normal circumstances, it isn't something that she should have gotten angry about. She just has a short fuse.

Brodie does enjoy being spontaneous, but she does require some semblance of structure in her life. Although she is a bit arrogant, Brodie does try to do things for the common good. She helps others every now and again, when it is convenient for her and when she is in a good place emotionally, physically, and mentally. 

In addition to her personality, Brodie has a garlic allergy, enjoys the color red, has grey cat, and is a sucker for boys with dimples. Brodie loves fashion and has a serious shopping addiction, and probably has more clothing than anyone. She can't walk in heels – she resembles a newborn gazelle when she attempts to do so. Her favorite drink is pink lemonade (with a shot of vodka if she ever has the chance) and she's terrified of heights. When she gets out of Hogwarts, she hopes to travel Europe for a year, but knows that her parents will refute that. In addition to being an expert color-coder, Brodie is also a talented singer and loves to sing in the shower.

History:
The Skeffington family is financially elite. This is fact. This also means that there are galas, ballroom events, house elves, and secrets. There was a certain reputation that a family was required to keep, and the Skeffingtons certainly tried their hardest to do so.

Brodie was born as the youngest of four; one brother and two sisters came before her. Her blond sisters Aurora and Madelyn were both Hufflepuff graduates and, to Brodie, complete bimbos; her similarly redheaded brother Liam was also a Ravenclaw. Brodie always identified closely with Liam, and found herself following in his footsteps. He was a focused intellectual with a heart of gold, and he cared deeply about his younger sisters – but Brodie in particular, as was shown by their secret club meetings and conspiring against Aurora and Madelyn.

Liam, the house elves, and the maids in the Skeffington manor taught Brodie how to talk, read, walk, and gave her a basic education. It was Audrey and Greyson Skeffington that gave Brodie a social education. They believed strongly in “tough love,” which more often than not, came across quite clearly as “the cold shoulder.” Emotion and affection were frowned upon in the upper-class family; reputation meant everything. Mr. And Mrs. Skeffington's disciple went something like this: do whatever you want, but as soon as bad gossip begins, you're grounded.

So the ever-obedient Brodie lived by her parents' rules. She did what was asked of her, but still had fun play dates with her older brother when he wasn't at school. He was seven years older than her, but somehow, they got along as if they were the same age. They had always been close in age mentally, even if not literally. Brodie was mature for her age, and very sharp – Liam was smart, but quite childish – he would forever be a kid.

The days when Liam was off at school were the hardest. He only came home for the holidays, and the holidays were scheduled with stuffy high-class parties where Liam and Brodie – and the rest of the Skeffington clan – had to be extremely straight-laced and orderly. They had to be very careful with what they said and did, and that was always rather boring, as one would expect.

Finally, Brodie's admittance to Hogwarts arrived, and Brodie was thrilled. Her brother had already graduated, but he had told her stories about the school's grandeur, and her sisters also yammered on about the cute boys there – but, at the delicate age of 11, Brodie was not very interested in the cootie-coated boys that skirmished the Hogwartsian halls.


The day arrived that Brodie was to be shipped off to Hogwarts. Her bags had, of course, been packed weeks before and Brodie had planned out her outfit upon the receipt of her acceptance letter. She arrived at the magnificent school and was sorted into Ravenclaw after a few moments of contemplation from the Sorting Hat, who considered putting her into Slytherin.

Brodie assimilated well in the Hogwarts atmosphere. Her upper-class roots were screamingly obvious, and were particularly shown in her choice of friends – only the best of the best would suit the incomparable Brodie. Her brother kept close contact, of course, and had a job close by. Much to Brodie's dismay, he couldn't make frequent visits, but did send her care packages and letters very frequently.

She did well in her classes – and did exceptionally well in Charms, which was something that anyone who knew a thing about wands could have predicted. That summer, Brodie spent as much time as she could with Liam – but did reserve time to stay at the mansions and homes of the friends that she'd made at school. 

The next two years followed a similar path, each filled with unique gossip and scandals and joys. Brodie was always completely ecstatic at the school, partly because it was an obvious excuse to get out of boring galas and events that her parents had forced her to go to as a child. The dress robes for such events were terribly itchy, and Brodie was glad for the generous reduction in time spent wearing them.

However, the summer after her third year, Liam seemed completely different. He was distant and shady, and Brodie had heard that his girlfriend – another high-classer who was perfect for him in several ways; she found the rich lifestyle to be completely monotone and useless just as he did, for one thing – had died suddenly. Liam and his girlfriend had been dating for years, and her death really took its toll on Liam. Brodie tried to do what she could to appease him, but she had never been a very helpful person in that sense – soothing and comforting were never her fortes.

She reluctantly went back to school, wishing that there were something that she could do to help her brother. His letters and care packages became more scarce, and that worried Brodie more than annoyed her. That year, Brodie went through a bit of a slump because she was so worried about her brother and his depression. At Christmas break that year, it became painfully obvious that Liam had taken up drinking avidly – a habit that Audrey and Greyson could care less about, but that Brodie was rightfully alarmed by.

How Do You Fit Into Your House?: Brodie's personality is completely that of a Ravenclaw. Not only is she determined and quick-witted, but she is focused. Despite her affinity for spontaneity, Brodie constantly desires some type of structure. She has noble goals and has the tenacity to achieve this.

Writing Sample:
 

There was something about nighttime that made everything beautiful. Objects normally taken for granted glowed in the moon's light; the grass glistened with cold dew. Stars shimmered in the distance, and the moon stared solemnly down at the Earth. It was well into the night, and certainly past curfew, but Brodie took it upon herself to disregard this fact and decided to go out. The night inspired her, normally – she felt engaged by the night, encouraged by the night to do whatever it was that she needed to. To Brodie, there was nothing like going out at night and letting your mind wander.

Someone else seemed to have the same mindset, however, and Brodie was immediately extremely bothered by this. Moments like these were private, secret. When she had snuck out to spend some quality time with the stars, Brodie hadn't expected anyone else to be in attendance.

She tried to ignore the person for a bit – a few seconds, really; however, the longer the intruder remained in Brodie's vision, she was getting increasingly frustrated. Even if the person wasn't in her line of vision, Brodie could sense their presence, and no matter how hard she tried to forget that they were there, she couldn't. The young redhead could hear each breath that they inhaled and each breath that they exhaled, and each breath seemed scores louder than the last.  Brodie contemplated placing a hex on the person, but that hardly seemed like it would be any type of help. So, she had to settle for wishing desperately that they would go away- she kept a sharp eye out for shooting stars that could help her in this endeavor. Eventually, she knew that she'd give up on searching for a shooting star and would lash out. 

So after a few minutes, she decided to take a stand. “What are you doing out here?” she snapped. The person in question looked over at her, clearly shocked by her outburst. “Yes, you. What are you doing here?” The infiltrator shrugged, and then commented on the fact that it was a nice night out.

“Yes, I know it's a nice night out. That's why I'm out here. However, I didn't expect to have company,” Brodie said, blatantly hinting at something. She raised an eyebrow at the stranger, hoping that the obvious clues would assist the person in realizing that they should skedaddle. When they didn't, Brodie became more angry than annoyed. They didn't seem to notice, and didn't seem to be bothered by her glaring.

“Yes, the stars are quite beautiful, aren't they? You can't see them like this just anywhere,” the annoyance commented. Brodie groaned inwardly and blew some of her red hair out of her eyes. There was almost nothing worse than a person who couldn't take a hint. Brodie wanted this area to herself. She wanted the sky and stars all for herself this night, and this person was not letting her have it. Brodie had waited for quite some time to say something, and each moment had dragged onto the next until she finally gave a clue, and they weren't even catching on.

“Listen. Can you scram?” Brodie retorted. “You've already ruined my night. Perhaps you should bring yourself up to the hospital wing; your breathing volume is truly alarming.”

Sum up your character in one paragraph:
Born and raised to be stuck-up and pretentious, silver-tongued Brodie Skeffington has a mind sharp as a whip and a heart that's only lined with gold. Brodie is like ice: she is cold, but in heated situations, she'll melt. Brodie has a short patience and a short temper, and although she doesn't like to admit it, she cares what you think about her. The charmingly witty young woman will steal your heart in a minute, just to see if she can break it.