Willow Foxglove || Elsewhere Adult

[Willow Foxglove]

E L S E W H E R E   A D U L T

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Willow Foxglove
Gender: Female
Age: 28
Blood Status: Halfblood

Education:
Hogwarts 1952, Gryffindor

Residence:
London

Occupation:
Journalist at The Daily Prophet

Do you plan to have a connection to a particular existing place (for example: the Ministry, Shrieking Shack) or to take over an existing shop in need of new management?
No

Requested Magic Levels:
Adult characters have 32 starting levels to distribute across these four categories (less levels can be used if you so desire, but no more than 32). The number of levels on the lowest ability must be at least half of the highest ability.

If you want levels above the usual 32 total, or a significantly uneven distribution of starting levels, please fill out and submit the Exceptional Levels special request form here.

• Charms: 8
• Divination: 6
• Transfiguration: 10
• Summoning: 8

Do you wish to be approved as a group with any other characters? If so, who and for what IC reason?
No

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
Roisin Byrne

Biography: (300 words minimum.)
There are days that I can’t get out of bed because I have a lot of guilt. I haven’t always made the best choices, even though I always tried to do the best that I could with the situations I was put in. I don’t like to put the blame on anyone else, though that would be easiest on my pride.

When I was little, my mom was completely uninterested in me so… by default, I was a daddy’s girl. I loved my dad so much, even when he decided to leave mom for Cara. The worst part was that my mom didn’t even fight for me to stay with her. She never reached out to me to see how I was doing after that, so I try not to think about her. At first that was harder to do, now it’s only when I compare how I feel to how I think she must feel. There can’t be any similarities there, though.

I was attending Hogwarts then, sorted into Gryffindor. I had a group of friends who liked to sneak around the Castle after curfew. It was nice to have that constant that I could count on when things were changing so quickly at home.

Cara was nice. I liked her. But she was pregnant and things changed once the baby arrived. They named him Rowan Bartholomew and… I didn’t like that name, so I called him Robbie and then so did everyone else. I was 14 and I loved him. After how my mom treated me, I made sure that he knew he was loved; I never wanted him to question that. He was my baby.

A couple years later, Alder was born. He was more of a handful, and by then Cara didn’t really pay much attention to me. I was sixteen and while I was at school, I began doing things that I shouldn’t. It didn’t matter; I talked to Robbie every day so I was happy.

I passed my NEWTs and left Hogwarts, setting my sights on journalism. I got an internship at the Daily Prophet which translated into a full-time writing job. I loved it.

But when I was twenty, everything changed.

Holly was born, but not only that - Cara died during childbirth. The boys took it really hard, and while my dad was trying to keep a brave face for them, I knew he was hurting really bad. Suddenly he was alone to care for three kids, and me. But I was older, so I didn’t think I needed much watching after. It didn’t take long to see that he was worried about me because I was more reckless as an adult than I had been as a child.

So I tried to calm down, for his sake. I made sure I was home every night to help with dinner and the kids’ bedtime routines. I still went out all hours of the night, but I was more available. When any of them got sick, I was there to help him.

Until he wasn’t there. My dad died when I was twenty-two, and that was the worst moment of my life. After everything else I had been through, I was, in a sense, completely alone. I had to be home and stay home because the kids couldn’t be alone while I went out. My life changed drastically with the loss of my father.

I did the best that I could. I truly did. But I was only twenty-two and it was stressful. I never got a break. Holly was a toddler and the boys were ten and eight. Robbie was a great little helper, especially if he could tell that I wasn’t in such a good mood and needed a moment to myself.

But it wasn’t enough. SRC was watching us closely and my writing job wasn’t paying enough to feed four mouths. After some time, I saw the light go out of Robbie’s eyes and I knew that I wasn’t doing a good job taking care of them. I could see the way our neighbors would watch us anytime we left the house together, judging that all of us were losing weight rapidly.

And then Holly got sick. When we got to the hospital, SRC stepped in and took them from me. I was so exhausted that it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders; it was no longer my responsibility to make sure the three youngest were fed and healthy.

I stuck around London for a little bit longer, then eventually left. None of the kids were happy at the children’s home, and Robbie was mad at me. So I slowly stopped visiting and calling, then moved to Australia.

I finally felt free on the other side of the world. I missed all of the kids, but I kept telling myself that they were better off. I hadn’t meant to not call for so long, but once a year passed I knew that it was too late. I kept thinking about Robbie and how I’d let him down. And I knew that my father would be disappointed in me, and I knew that Cara would probably hate me.

But I needed that break. I got a job at a small coffee shop, taking time off from writing to just spend time around other people my age and live the life that I’d missed out on. I’d been a caregiver for so long, and I could finally breathe.

I got a cute little apartment in a really old building that I loved, and decorated it however I wanted. Finally I had a place that was just mine. I didn’t have to watch children or worry about being home to take care of any responsibilities.

I had a new solid group of friends and even settled on a boyfriend after a couple of years. His name was Oliver, and I fell for him hard and fast. He loved surfing and camping and just being outside in general. He had sun-kissed blonde hair, dark tan skin, and eyes the shade of blue that would stop you in your tracks. He was everything to me.

And then devastation hit - again. It seemed to be a curse that was following me. This time, Oli was taken from me. He’d been out surfing and drowned when a strong wave caught him. He died doing what he loved, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

Lost without Oliver, and not really knowing what to do with my life after his death, I decided to leave. I couldn’t stay in Australia without seeing him everywhere I looked, so I decided to go home.

I’ve been in London for a few months now but... I haven’t reached out to Robbie yet. I don’t really know what I would say to him because I know that he’s got to be hurt. We were so close and I just left him. Maybe I should have stayed. It would’ve saved me some heartache.

I got a job at the Daily Prophet, making more money than I was the last time I worked there, and I’ve got a nice flat. Maybe I’ll stick around, but if Robbie doesn’t want me around then… I’m not really sure what I’ll do.

Roleplay:
You come across one of these posts on the site. Please select one & reply as your character:

Option One -
Amelia Nixon was many things, but she was never a pushover reporter that people could just usher away with a busy shuffle past. She was dedicated and eager to cut to the very middle of the current political tensions because she was Amelia Nixon and her articles would most certainly become front page material.

“Sir, please! It’s for the Prophet, how do you feel-“

Another one brushed passed her, the shuffling busy masses making their way through Diagon Alley for the lunchtime rush. This had been the best possible time to get people, but none of them were giving her anything to go with.

Only momentarily discouraged, the short red headed lady took a seat on a nearby bench. Her quill resting in her left hand and her notepad ready in the opposite hand. Amelia pouted, tapping the quill against her leg as she scanned the waves of people for somebody - anybody - who looked like they had something to say.

She had been dreaming of her name in bold print, Amelia Nixon: The Source of Today’s Tomorrow. She had been dreaming of the larger office and the secretaries that would fetch her the morning coffee and fetch her anything she needed. The VIP interviews and the most exclusive press passes. But all Amelia had was a page seventeen piece on the rising number of frogs in London.

Hardened by a day of no success, the reporter stood up and started to trod off down the alley. A loose stone on the cobble path caught her heel, sending the distraught girl toppling down to the ground.

“Merlin’s fog watch, my heel is broken! Help!” she yelled as she tried desperately to recover her shoe frantically in the middle of the Diagon Alley moving crowds.

Roleplay Response:
Willow had been back in London for about six months now, and had yet to reach out to Robbie. Admittedly, she was nervous about talking to him after being gone for so long without as much as a phone call or letter. She hadn’t been as close to Alder or Holly so she wasn’t as concerned about them; they would likely follow their older brother’s lead when it came to her.

She’d been worried that her brother might see her name in the newspaper once she began working at the Daily Prophet again, but if he had he hadn’t reached out yet so as far as she could guess, he still didn’t realize she was back.

Willow desperately missed Oliver and Australia, but she couldn’t stay there. Once Oli had died, part of her died with him. She’d been reminded of the grief that her father had experienced in private when Cara died, and she certainly didn’t wish the pain on anyone - even her enemies.

Not that Willow had many enemies that she knew of. She tried to be a friendly person, and because she’d been a caregiver to her three younger siblings, she knew she at least had compassion for others. She was just really worried that Robbie wouldn’t be able to forgive her; she’d been working hard on forgiving herself and she hadn’t even gotten that far yet.

Willow moved through the busy streets of Diagon Alley like she had been there her whole life; the lunch crowd was moving about, going to and from work, and she was headed back to the Daily Prophet. She’d been assigned a story about a potion shop that had just opened up and had a really good idea of how to go about writing the article for tomorrow’s edition.

Willow walked, hardly paying attention to the cobblestones beneath her, as she began to hear yelling. She looked in the direction where she thought the female voice was coming from, but didn’t see the source. It wasn’t until she tripped on something that she came to a stop. She’d been able to catch herself from falling to the group by grabbing onto a man as he walked. By the time he looked in her direction, she had steadied herself and let go.

The brunette moved to the side, incidentally coming upon one of her coworkers crawling on the ground. That’s when Willow realized she had been the source of the yelling, and her eyes trailed in the direction the woman was going and saw what she had tripped on: her shoe.

“Amelia, are you okay?” Willow asked, moving towards the woman who hadn’t noticed her just yet. Turning back towards the shoe, she jumped into the street and grabbed it off the ground, then quickly returned to Ms. Nixon’s side. “Here you go. Are you okay?” she asked.

OTHER
How did you find us? Recommendation by Elisa

[Calypso Ross]

Hi Willow,

Your application looks good, there's just a couple of points I want to clarify before we get you accepted.

In your biography, you mention that Willow is 14 when Robbie is born, but then when she's 22, he and Alder are 10 and 8. If the age difference between them is 14 years, Robbie would be 8 and Alder would (presumably) be 6.

You also mention that the SRC were involved in Robbie and Alder being removed from Willow's care. I assume this means the Social Reconstruction Committee (please correct me if I'm wrong!). This wouldn't really be their remit, as they were a committee built of volunteers with no experience or skills in child welfare. A better option for this would be the Magical Youth Welfare Office, a sub-department of the Department of Magical Social Affairs.

If you can amend the Foxglove siblings' ages to ensure consistency and change mentions of the SRC to the Magical Youth Welfare Office, this will resolve the conflict in your biography.

Once you've made the required changes, please repost your entire revised application below, and we'll be more than happy to take another look. Thanks!

[Roisin Byrne]

E L S E W H E R E   A D U L T

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Willow Foxglove
Gender: Female
Age: 28
Blood Status: Halfblood

Education:
Hogwarts 1952, Gryffindor

Residence:
London

Occupation:
Journalist at The Daily Prophet

Do you plan to have a connection to a particular existing place (for example: the Ministry, Shrieking Shack) or to take over an existing shop in need of new management?
No

Requested Magic Levels:
Adult characters have 32 starting levels to distribute across these four categories (less levels can be used if you so desire, but no more than 32). The number of levels on the lowest ability must be at least half of the highest ability.

If you want levels above the usual 32 total, or a significantly uneven distribution of starting levels, please fill out and submit the Exceptional Levels special request form here.

• Charms: 8
• Divination: 6
• Transfiguration: 10
• Summoning: 8

Do you wish to be approved as a group with any other characters? If so, who and for what IC reason?
No

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
Roisin Byrne

Biography: (300 words minimum.)
There are days that I can’t get out of bed because I have a lot of guilt. I haven’t always made the best choices, even though I always tried to do the best that I could with the situations I was put in. I don’t like to put the blame on anyone else, though that would be easiest on my pride.

When I was little, my mom was completely uninterested in me so… by default, I was a daddy’s girl. I loved my dad so much, even when he decided to leave mom for Cara. The worst part was that my mom didn’t even fight for me to stay with her. She never reached out to me to see how I was doing after that, so I try not to think about her. At first that was harder to do, now it’s only when I compare how I feel to how I think she must feel. There can’t be any similarities there, though.

I was attending Hogwarts then, sorted into Gryffindor. I had a group of friends who liked to sneak around the Castle after curfew. It was nice to have that constant that I could count on when things were changing so quickly at home.

Cara was nice. I liked her. But she was pregnant and things changed once the baby arrived. They named him Rowan Bartholomew and… I didn’t like that name, so I called him Robbie and then so did everyone else. I was twelve and I loved him. After how my mom treated me, I made sure that he knew he was loved; I never wanted him to question that. He was my baby.

A couple years later, Alder was born. He was more of a handful, and by then Cara didn’t really pay much attention to me. I was fourteen and while I was at school, I began doing things that I shouldn’t. It didn’t matter; I talked to Robbie every day so I was happy.

I passed my NEWTs and left Hogwarts, setting my sights on journalism. I got an internship at the Daily Prophet which translated into a full-time writing job. I loved it.

But when I was twenty, everything changed.

Holly was born, but not only that - Cara died during childbirth. The boys took it really hard, and while my dad was trying to keep a brave face for them, I knew he was hurting really bad. Suddenly he was alone to care for three kids, and me. But I was older, so I didn’t think I needed much watching after. It didn’t take long to see that he was worried about me because I was more reckless as an adult than I had been as a child.

So I tried to calm down, for his sake. I made sure I was home every night to help with dinner and the kids’ bedtime routines. I still went out all hours of the night, but I was more available. When any of them got sick, I was there to help him.

Until he wasn’t there. My dad died when I was twenty-two, and that was the worst moment of my life. After everything else I had been through, I was, in a sense, completely alone. I had to be home and stay home because the kids couldn’t be alone while I went out. My life changed drastically with the loss of my father.

I did the best that I could. I truly did. But I was only twenty-two and it was stressful. I never got a break. Holly was a toddler and the boys were ten and eight. Robbie was a great little helper, especially if he could tell that I wasn’t in such a good mood and needed a moment to myself.

But it wasn’t enough; the light had gone out of Robbie’s eyes and all of the kids were skinnier than they should have been. I couldn’t afford to keep everyone fed, though I tried my hardest to not let them go hungry. The neighbors didn’t even hide the dirty looks they’d give me as they watched all of us deteriorate right before their eyes.

And then Holly got sick. When she was diagnosed with pneumonia, I knew that I had to do something for them. None of us were doing well, and I knew that the others would end up sick. So, I did the hardest thing I’d ever done; I surrendered them to the Children’s Home in Hogsmeade.

I stuck around London for a little bit longer, then eventually left. None of the kids were happy at the children’s home, and Robbie was mad at me. So, I slowly stopped visiting and calling, then moved to Australia.

I finally felt free on the other side of the world. I missed all of the kids, but I kept telling myself that they were better off. I hadn’t meant to not call for so long, but once a year passed I knew that it was too late. I kept thinking about Robbie and how I’d let him down. And I knew that my father would be disappointed in me, and I knew that Cara would probably hate me.

But I needed that break. I got a job at a small coffee shop, taking time off from writing to just spend time around other people my age and live the life that I’d missed out on. I’d been a caregiver for so long, and I could finally breathe.

I got a cute little apartment in a really old building that I loved, and decorated it however I wanted. Finally I had a place that was just mine. I didn’t have to watch children or worry about being home to take care of any responsibilities.

I had a new solid group of friends and even settled on a boyfriend after a couple of years. His name was Oliver, and I fell for him hard and fast. He loved surfing and camping and just being outside in general. He had sun-kissed blonde hair, dark tan skin, and eyes the shade of blue that would stop you in your tracks. He was everything to me.

And then devastation hit - again. It seemed to be a curse that was following me. This time, Oli was taken from me. He’d been out surfing and drowned when a strong wave caught him. He died doing what he loved, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

Lost without Oliver, and not really knowing what to do with my life after his death, I decided to leave. I couldn’t stay in Australia without seeing him everywhere I looked, so I decided to go home.

I’ve been in London for a few months now but... I haven’t reached out to Robbie yet. I don’t really know what I would say to him because I know that he’s got to be hurt. We were so close and I just left him. Maybe I should have stayed. It would’ve saved me some heartache.

I got a job at the Daily Prophet, making more money than I was the last time I worked there, and I’ve got a nice flat. Maybe I’ll stick around, but if Robbie doesn’t want me around then… I’m not really sure what I’ll do.

Roleplay:
You come across one of these posts on the site. Please select one & reply as your character:

Option One -
Amelia Nixon was many things, but she was never a pushover reporter that people could just usher away with a busy shuffle past. She was dedicated and eager to cut to the very middle of the current political tensions because she was Amelia Nixon and her articles would most certainly become front page material.

“Sir, please! It’s for the Prophet, how do you feel-“

Another one brushed passed her, the shuffling busy masses making their way through Diagon Alley for the lunchtime rush. This had been the best possible time to get people, but none of them were giving her anything to go with.

Only momentarily discouraged, the short red headed lady took a seat on a nearby bench. Her quill resting in her left hand and her notepad ready in the opposite hand. Amelia pouted, tapping the quill against her leg as she scanned the waves of people for somebody - anybody - who looked like they had something to say.

She had been dreaming of her name in bold print, Amelia Nixon: The Source of Today’s Tomorrow. She had been dreaming of the larger office and the secretaries that would fetch her the morning coffee and fetch her anything she needed. The VIP interviews and the most exclusive press passes. But all Amelia had was a page seventeen piece on the rising number of frogs in London.

Hardened by a day of no success, the reporter stood up and started to trod off down the alley. A loose stone on the cobble path caught her heel, sending the distraught girl toppling down to the ground.

“Merlin’s fog watch, my heel is broken! Help!” she yelled as she tried desperately to recover her shoe frantically in the middle of the Diagon Alley moving crowds.

Roleplay Response:
Willow had been back in London for about six months now, and had yet to reach out to Robbie. Admittedly, she was nervous about talking to him after being gone for so long without as much as a phone call or letter. She hadn’t been as close to Alder or Holly so she wasn’t as concerned about them; they would likely follow their older brother’s lead when it came to her.

She’d been worried that her brother might see her name in the newspaper once she began working at the Daily Prophet again, but if he had he hadn’t reached out yet so as far as she could guess, he still didn’t realize she was back.

Willow desperately missed Oliver and Australia, but she couldn’t stay there. Once Oli had died, part of her died with him. She’d been reminded of the grief that her father had experienced in private when Cara died, and she certainly didn’t wish the pain on anyone - even her enemies.

Not that Willow had many enemies that she knew of. She tried to be a friendly person, and because she’d been a caregiver to her three younger siblings, she knew she at least had compassion for others. She was just really worried that Robbie wouldn’t be able to forgive her; she’d been working hard on forgiving herself and she hadn’t even gotten that far yet.

Willow moved through the busy streets of Diagon Alley like she had been there her whole life; the lunch crowd was moving about, going to and from work, and she was headed back to the Daily Prophet. She’d been assigned a story about a potion shop that had just opened up and had a really good idea of how to go about writing the article for tomorrow’s edition.

Willow walked, hardly paying attention to the cobblestones beneath her, as she began to hear yelling. She looked in the direction where she thought the female voice was coming from, but didn’t see the source. It wasn’t until she tripped on something that she came to a stop. She’d been able to catch herself from falling to the group by grabbing onto a man as he walked. By the time he looked in her direction, she had steadied herself and let go.

The brunette moved to the side, incidentally coming upon one of her coworkers crawling on the ground. That’s when Willow realized she had been the source of the yelling, and her eyes trailed in the direction the woman was going and saw what she had tripped on: her shoe.

“Amelia, are you okay?” Willow asked, moving towards the woman who hadn’t noticed her just yet. Turning back towards the shoe, she jumped into the street and grabbed it off the ground, then quickly returned to Ms. Nixon’s side. “Here you go. Are you okay?” she asked.

OTHER
How did you find us? Recommendation by Elisa

[Calypso Ross]

Accepted!