InsaneJournal

TOBIN WILKES

He told me himself, he's a gentle soul

- Devendra Banhart

Contact Information

NAME: Sasha
INSTANT MESSENGER: Sasha.bms
Sasha.bms@gmail.com:
TIMEZONE: PST


OOC INFO

Basics

FULL NAME: Tobin Wilkes
NICKNAMES: Tobi
DOB (AGE): December 9th 1958, 19
BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood
CURRENT OCCUPATION (IF ANY): Apothecary Assistant

Family/Relationships

PARENTS: Father Augusto Selwyn – Augusto is a senior Auror working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, though until very recently he was a junior Auror. He never quite had the skills or the connections to raise through the ranks, and the shame of a pureblood wizard working under mudbloods and blood traitors was enough to make him sick. Two years ago, however, Augusto was promoted and placed on the Wizangamot. While nothing can be proved there have been whispers that a certain influential “someone” outside of the Ministry had a hand in his sudden rise to success.

Mother Beatrice Selwyn– Beatrice is the perfect pureblood wife and mother. Manipulative, detached, brilliant, and sadistic, she is the perfect person to train the younger generation in the tradition of bigotry and the Dark Arts. She is brilliant with a wand, and knows more hexes and curses than anyone Tobin has ever met.

On the outside Beatrice is the perfect model of charm and grace. Lithe, porcelain skinned, and refined, she personifies the well bred hostess. She has never had any time for her youngest son, dismissing him at a very young age due to his illness. In fact the only time Tobin has any interaction with his mother is at society events when they have to pretend to be one big happy family.

SIBLINGS:
Brother
Corin Selwyn– Tobi worships Corin. From the day he was born his main goal has been to walk in his brother's footsteps and earn his respect. He doesn’t actually like most of the things Corin does, but he’s worked out a system of overlooking his brothers actions and simply worshiping his intentions instead.

SEXUALITY: Homosexual but very, very closeted
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None

Education

HOUSE/YEAR: Slytherin, 1977

Personality

BOGGART: a black, empty void
PATRONUS: A lamb

LIKES: Painting, his brother, rain, quiet, reading, stars, treacle
DISLIKES: Loud surprises, being watched, being alone, false promises, tomatos.

STRENGTHS:
Creative:
Tobin has the soul of an artist. His happiest moments are spent hidden away with a canvas and a brush, immortalizing the things he sees in his mind with oil and water. He spends hours standing on the crenellations of the castle, lost in the muse and answering only to inspiration. If things in his life had been different he would pursue his art in the open, thoughts never drifting to blood status or curses or anything but the paint. Unfortunately life rarely takes the path we want it too.
Empathetic - Tobin is a good listner, and is able to see things from many points of view
Innocent: Despite everything he's seen and what he knows he must do, Tobi remains an innocent soul.
Gentle: Tobin is gentle by nature and inherently kind.
Witty: Tobi is secretly very funny, even if his wit is dry and often hidden.
Optimistic Tobi tries to always look at the glass half full, even when that's very hard.
WEAKNESSES:
Naive - Tobi knows and understands little of the world.
Willfully Blind - If he doesn't like something he'll pretend not to see it
Gullible - Tobin is easily manipulated
Physically Weak: Tobin has been sick his whole life, and relies on magic to do a lot for him. He was always too afraid to push himself physically. His left leg is twisted and weak, and he walks with a cane. His immune system is non-existent and he is often ill, as well as suffering from random muscle weakness and difficulty breathing. This leaves him incapable of doing a lot of basic things, like fly a broom.
Fragile: Tobin is easily upset and takes things very personally.
Passive : Tobin allows life to simply happen to him, and accepted long ago that he has no control over his fate. He stopped trying.
History

CHILDHOOD: Tobin was a small, sickly child. He was born three months early and for the first few weeks of his life no one expected him to survive. He somehow pulled through, but he’s had difficulty with breathing and his immune system ever since. It seemed like every bug that went by hit Tobin extremely hard, and he spent a lot of his time locked in his room getting over one malady after another. It was during one such illness when Tobin was four that he discovered his love of painting. His current Nanny felt for the poor boy, spending days alone in his room without either of his parents so much as checking in on him. She brought him a small painting set and some water colors to keep him occupied, and the rest, as they say, is history. He has been addicted ever since. When he was five he nearly died, and while he pulled through he was left with a crippled and useless left leg.

Because he spent so much of his childhood being quarantined he never really developed a relationship with his parents. Besides his Nannies the only person he really interacted with as a child was Corin. He lived for the moments with Corin would look his way, and as he got older he began to study the Dark Arts so that he could impress him. He was never very skilled with magic, but he put all his energy into mastering the dark spells, often stealing his nannies wand’s to practice when he was supposed to be napping.

On the occasions when his parents were forced to take him along to social functions and pretend they were a happy family Tobin had no choice but to interact with the other Pureblood children his age. Lucius Malfoy frankly terrified him, and Sirius Black was far too wild for his quiet tastes. Regulus was more to his liking, but he never could get the courage to go talk to the younger boy. The Carrow twins were far too focused on each other to ever take notice of the shy boy hiding in the corner, and the others just thought he was weird.

When Corin went off to Hogwarts it was like the end and the beginning of the world to Tobin. He suddenly found himself completely alone, having been deemed too old for Nannies two years before. He still studied dark magic, but without the constant need to impress his brother hanging over his head Tobin was free to pursue things he enjoyed more. It was during the two years between his brother leaving and Tobin going to school himself that he began to truly discover the joys of art. He’d painted before this, but only in his small amount of free time and never very seriously. Now he delved into the canvas with abandon, experimenting with style and color and form. He read every book he could get his hands on and soon began incorporating different techniques he’d picked up from the masters. One of his tutors, a kind young man who only lasted two weeks, noticed Tobins love of art, and the two sent owls to one another almost constantly, comparing their favorite pieces. Tobin often sent him his completed work, and his tutor in turn encouraged him to take risks and experiment with his art. It was a glorious period of freedom and happiness for him.

HOGWARTS: Hogwarts was not the magical haven for Tobin that is was for many children. At home he was able to simply fade into the background, unnoticed and invisible. He could go days without speaking to a single soul. At Hogwarts he was forced to interact, with his classmates, with his roommates, with his teachers. Everywhere he turned there were people, and he found himself more than once huddled on the floor of the bathroom trying not to have a panic attack. The Slytherins had frightened him as distant faces at parties, but to actually have to live with them? Needless to say Tobin spent the first few months of school sleeping in the common room.

He also had to contend with the reputation of his older brother. Tobin was instantly under suspicion by almost all of his Professors. The first time Professor Slughorn had asked him to stay behind Tobin had literally hyperventilated and passed out at the poor man's feet. The only exception to this rule was Professor Flitwick, and he often spent free periods sitting quietly in the tiny Professor's office, sketching while Flitwick graded papers. Of course they soon realized that Tobin was nothing like his brother, but by then the damage had been done. Tobin couldn’t speak a word in any of their classes, and because of this his marks suffered tremendously. There were some Professors who honestly wondered if the boy could speak at all, and there was a bet on in the staff lounge to see who would make Tobin cry in class first. McGonnagal won, much to her dismay, and afterwards she treated him with kid gloves whenever they were in a room together.

Gradually he began to adjust, and while he didn’t actually make friends he was at least able to be in the same room as other students without fear of passing out. And eventually the novelty of him wore off, and he was able to find a kind of silent equilibrium. Most people treated him like he didn’t exist, and he was more than fine with that. He wouldn’t care if no one ever acknowledged him again, if it wasn’t for Corin. Tobin delved once more into the world of the Dark Arts so that his brother would be proud of him.

So the years drifted past, Tobin somehow managed to keep his head above water, and even learned to speak to people without eating his own tongue. He found a secluded spot on the castle crenellations and set up his easel there permanently. He still spent as much time as he could painting, and it was the only time he ever truly felt like himself.

Then came the whispers, the talk of a Dark Lord, and the way his parents smiled behind their hands proved to him that Corin was somehow involved. This was it, his one chance to make his brother proud of him. But the idea of it terrified Tobin more than anything in the world. He truly didn't know what to do...

POST-HOGWARTS:
After Tobin graduated he moved back into his ancestral home, at his parents insistence. They didn't trust him in the world alone. He started working in the family apothecary under Corin, which was like a dream come true. Tobin was trusted with the potions, but he could at least clean, and spending so much time with his brother was amazing. Now he just needed to prove himself good enough to help Corin with his real work.