Posts
1
Archived Applications / Brinley Grisham
« on: 05/09/2012 at 20:49 »
Application for Salem Institute
→ CHARACTER INFORMATION.
Name: Brinley Abraham Grisham
Birthday: November 13th
Hometown: Machias, Maine
Bloodline:
Pureblood
Magical Strength (pick one):
Charms
Magical Weakness (pick one):
Transfiguration
Year (pick two):
6th or 7th. But preferably 6th.
Biography:
Brinley was raised as the only child in an affluent pureblood household. His parents had met at Hogwarts. His father was a Ravenclaw and his mother was a Hufflepuff, and for years the only shame Brinley felt about his household was the fact that his mother had been from what Brinley considered to be a spineless house.
Brinley was well and truly spoiled as a child. His family came from old money, and his father, who worked as an Unspeakable at the Ministry of Magic, brought in a decent income besides. Brinley had three house-elves waiting on him hand and foot when he was growing up, and although his father was rarely around, his mother, who worked as a freelance reporter, was often around. She tutored him in all of his subjects. Brinley was always a quick study. He understood magical theory well enough, as well as basic wizarding history, but where Brinley really thrived was in potions. When he was talking to his mother about potions, Brinley was in his element. He was fascinated by the properties of herbs and other potions ingredients, and loved to see how the ingredients interacted.
When Brinley was seven years old, Brinley’s father died in an accident at work. Brinley was never given details about his father’s death. A year later, his mother remarried. Brinley was hurt that his mother would try to replace his father, but he was absolutely repulsed when the man that she chose to marry was a half-blood. Up until that point, Brinley had always believed in the supremacy of purebloods, and although he had learned the prejudice from his grandparents, his parents had never done anything to dissuade him from the notion.
His mother’s dirty marriage caused them to be estranged from their extended family, a notion that Brinley resented. More than that, he resented his stepfather, an annoyingly cheerful man with a beer belly who was constantly telling Brinley to “buck up,” whatever that meant. His stepfather even came complete with two annoyingly cheerful daughters: Adelle, who was three years older than Brinley; and Fiona, who was five years younger.
Brinley disliked Adelle, but as she was at school much of the time, he didn’t have much opportunity for his feelings for her to escalate. He detested Fiona, though. She was constantly hanging around, pulling on the hem of his expensive robes with her grubby half-blood hands and whining about something or another. One day, when Brinley was ten, his mother and stepfather were out in the garden, and Brinley was left to babysit the tiny terror. He was trying to read his potion’s journal, but she was crying about something and he couldn’t concentrate. Fed up with her and her annoying prattling on about nonsense, he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and thrust her into the cellar, propping a chair against the handle so that she couldn’t escape.
He hadn’t actually meant for her to get hurt. He certainly hadn’t meant for her to stumble down the staircase and break his ankle. He tried to tell his mother how annoying the girl was being, and how it wasn’t his fault that she as graceful as a bow truckle—it was obviously a product of her dirty blood. By that point, however, his mother had been utterly corrupted by his stepfather. She cried that night, sitting on the side of his bed, as she told him that she had never meant for his prejudices to get to be so extreme, and although she loved him dearly, she needed for him to expand his influences before he became a bigger danger to his family. And so, he would be sent to live with his stepfather’s brother until he had learned to rein in his temper and appreciate those around him.
At that moment, Brinley hated his mother more than he had ever hated his stepfather or stepsisters. He hadn’t meant for Fiona to get hurt; he’d just wanted her to shut up for a while. Why couldn’t his mother see that?
Angry and hurt, Brinley was shipped off to live with his Uncle Weylin. Brinley was surprised to see that his “uncle” was every bit as rich as his family, if not moreso. He wondered where the man had got enough money to live in a manor with house-elves, since it clearly wasn’t old money—he was, after all, a half-blood.
Brinley saw his real family every-other weekend for visits, but at no time was he allowed to be alone with his sisters. He felt like a criminal, and as his anger towards his mother and stepfamily grew, he began, subconsciously, to think of his Uncle Weylin as his real family. It was his uncle who tutored him now, and who talked to him about potions, and, when Brinley got his Hogwarts letter, it was his Uncle Weylin who was excited for him.
In the first couple years of schooling, Brinley was constantly trying to prove himself to the people around him. Although he relaxed around his friends, and was even encouraged to goof around some of the time, Brinley put the majority of his energies into being a mature young man. He was trying to prove his mother wrong about him—to prove that he was a son she should have been proud of—and in doing so, he gave up a lot of his childhood. Brinley worked in the hospital wing at Hogwarts every term that he went to school there. He took an abundance of classes, and began to develop an interest in politics.
Around Christmas of Brinley's fourth year at Hogwarts, Brinley found out that his mother and stepfather were getting a divorce because his mother had an affair. Brinley was ashamed of his mother, but worse than that was the fact that his mother told him that he couldn't live with his Uncle Weylin any more: he'd be going to live with her at the end of the summer. At first, Brinley was resentful. He wanted nothing to do with his mother, whom he felt had abandoned him. However, his politics professor, whom Brinley had bonded with over the years, encouraged him to give his mother a shot.
During the summer between Brinley's fourth year and fifth year at Hogwarts, Brinley apprenticed with Max Yates. He also took a trip with his mother during this time across South America and collected potions ingredients. It was the first time Brinley and his mother had really bonded since he was a kid, and it was good for them. Brinley entered his fifth year still feeling confused about his mother but more strong about himself as a human being.
In his fifth year, Brinley started having nightmares about his biological father. In the nightmares, his father was yelling at his mother and even threatened her and hit her on occasion. The nightmares got to be so bad that Brinley wasn't sleeping at night. He was falling asleep in class and his grades started to fall. Eventually, he talked to his mother about it. She admitted that most of what he was dreaming about had actually happened when he was a kid, and for the first time in his life Brinley started to question how much he idolized his father. Brinley's mother decided that Brinley needed a change of pace—a place where he could start fresh without people have preconceived notions of who he was. She moved to America to work as a foreign correspondent, and she had Brinley transferred to Salem for the second half of his fifth year.
At first, Brinley was resentful of the move. He didn't want to be taken away from his friends, and was worried that he wouldn't be able to make new friends in America. However, he also understood why she did what she did, and for once in his life, he respected her decision and her ability, as his mom, to make that sort of decision. It was a big step for him.
→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Note: This section is optional, and is up to you to complete.
Society Request:
Knight Society
Personality:
Brinley is a very intelligent young man. He has been interested in potions and herbology since he was a young child, and his interest has only grown with time. He grows a lot of his own plants and does a great deal of research. He's leaning towards a career as a healer, although he has not yet decided upon that for sure.
Brinley is an incredibly proud young man. He doesn't like to admit that he's wrong. He has a temper, which he had a hard time controlling when he was younger. Now that he's older, he's gotten better at not reacting to situations. When he's upset he tends to get very quiet and his actions tend to get stilted.
Brinley's traditional attitude on society has changed some in recent years. When he was younger, he believed in pureblood supremacy, but his school years and things that have happened with his family and friends have caused him to revisit those beliefs. He is now supportive of people from all types of backgrounds, although he still tends to believe that people raised in wizardings society—generally purebloods and halfbloods—have better manners.
Brinley is a serious young man. He is quiet and soft-spoken, but firm in his beliefs. He holds himself to incredibly high standards, and holds the people he loves to high standards as well. Brinley can be romantic, but he's also very practical about relationships, and tends to think that if he doesn't think the relationship is going to end in marriage then there's not much point in being in the relationship at all. He wants to marry and have children one day.
The one time in his life that Brinley really lets loose is on the Quidditch pitch. He got into quidditch the summer before his first year at school and continues to enjoy the sport immensely. His favorite position is keeper.
Appearance:
Brinley is a pale boy with black hair and dark eyes. Thin and bony as a child, he is growing to be a fit young man with a strong build. A growth spurt in recent years has left him fairly tall. He has a narrow face and a hard jaw. He had good posture and tries to hold himself as a gentleman.
Brinley wears expensive clothing. He likes wearing wizarding robes, and has several in addition to his regular black Hogwarts robes. Nothing he wears is handed down, and there is very little that he wears that is more than a year old. He tends to buy expensive brands, and much of the clothing he owns has been purchased overseas.
→ SAMPLE ROLEPLAY.
Please reply to the Sample Roleplay below.
It was hot in the library, and stuffy. Brinley's eyes felt heavy. His nose was beginning to run, and he tried to be discreet as he dabbed at it with a handkerchief. He stared at the textbook in front of him and took notes on a bit of parchment in small, neat handwriting. He didn't glance at his partner, but told himself that he trusted that the other boy was doing the same thing. He didn’t, not really, but Brinley had decided when he was stuck in this partner situation that he wasn't going to spend the entire project assuming that his partner wasn't going to do anything. He would do exactly half the work, and hope his partner did exactly half the work, and then if the project didn’t look like it was going to get done in time, Brinley could step in and fix things.
But only if. It was better if he didn't try to do too much at once.
He flipped another page in the textbook and frowned at the name of one of the generals. He was sure that this sort of assignment must be easier for people who had grown up in this country. Although he'd been here a year, everything still looked foreign to Brinley… Confusing.
He looked up in surprise when his partner spoke. At the boy's words, Brinley raised one elegant eyebrow up and stared silently for a moment. He dabbed at his nose again with his handkerchief. Inside, there was a part of Brinley that was seething at the audacity of the question… But then, he reminded himself of the year that Fabian had copied one of his essays in politics. Brinley was nothing like Fabian, but on the other hand, he wasn't the worst person in the world Brinley could be compared to.
"I think not," Brinley finally said, his voice dry.
→ ABOUT YOU.
Previous Characters (if applicable): Teddy Yijunhana Kim
How did you find us?: Um… Who even knows any more?
