Katie Bell (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} _bellwether) wrote,@ 2014-02-12 06:30:00 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| PLAYER NAME: Clare the Second™ AGE: On record EMAIL: On record MESSENGER: On record TIMEZONE: MST CDJ: onecrowdedhourCHARACTER JOURNAL: _bellwetherPREFERRED PB: Abbie Cornish REFERENCE: Here already! CHARACTER BASICS NAME: Katherine "Katie" Miranda Bell HOUSE: None HOUSE LOYALTY: Weasley AGE/BIRTHDAY: Born 17 April, 1979 (24 years of age) OCCUPATION: Captain of the Holyhead Harpies, position Right Chaser HOGWARTS HOUSE/YEARS: Gryffindor; 1990-1997 BLOOD STATUS: Halfblood MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried SEXUALITY: Pretty much heterosexual (contrary to the tabloids) FAMILY: Leonard Bell (father; Muggle; banker); Miranda Glorybrook Bell (mother; half-blood; deceased; formerly worked for the Department for the Care of Magical Creatures). APPEARANCE: Katie stands quite tall (5’8”). She is streamlined and muscular, with slightly broad shoulders from her years playing Quidditch. Her blonde hair is sunbleached from all her time on the field, and it always looks windblown and wild no matter what she tries to do to with it. Her eyes are a pale, muddy hazel, greenest in the sunlight; she often wears glasses at home in her flat. She has a face that often looks contemplative; her brows are straight and almost severe, and her mouth turns down a bit at the corners, but her smile is quick as a flash and lights up her whole face. Her speaking voice is very low and soft, but she has an infectious laugh. She doesn’t concern herself much with style; her clothes are faded but comfortable, button-down shirts and broken-in jeans. Even in publicity photos, Katie is vastly uncomfortable being too done-up. Sometimes her mannerisms are slightly awkward, as if she has to think about what her hands and legs are doing when they’re not on a broom. PERSONALITY TOP 5-10 STRENGTHS: Courage: Though it is largely untested, it is the attribute that got Katie sorted into Gryffindor instead of Hufflepuff like her mother before her. Katie will often take a dive after the Quaffle when anyone else would be a fool to try it (and suffers the knocks and bruises to prove it). Integrity: Katie has a very acute sense of right and wrong. She may sometimes shy away from standing up for herself, but standing up for someone else's wounded feelings can make her braver than she might otherwise be (especially if she considers that someone an underdog). Sense of Humor: When she feels at ease, she is warm and amiable, with a swift, sarcastic wit. She is especially inclined to fall into teasing with a friend when she’s not certain what to say; her default mode of comforting people or setting them at ease is to make them laugh. This sense of humor is the only thing that gets her through the frankly goddamned embarrassing rounds of publicity anything. Tender-Hearted: Katie can't bear to see another creature more uncomfortable than herself. This often overrules her shy instincts, especially at social gatherings, and she'll strike up her own awkward version of a conversation. Yes, she often fosters lost kittens and owls as well. Cozy: Though Katie is a jock at heart, she’s a cozy sort of homebody—she’s a tidy housekeeper (in spite of her mad schedule), a collector of objects and knickknacks (all of which have a story), and a good cook (much to her friends' delight). It soothes her to have everything the way she likes it in the flat. Devotion: As an only child who grew up mostly without a mother, she places a high value on her friends and thinks privately of them as family. Love of the Game: The notoriety that’s come with her good game has created some difficulties for Katie. Though she takes pride in her accomplishments, she values her privacy and her small circle of friends. She’s not good at the publicity end of things, and were it not for her love of Quidditch, the public interest might have put her off it a long time ago. She is uncomfortable when the focus is zeroed in on her and tends to deflect it with a joke or a (sometimes blatant) change of subject. TOP 5-10 FLAWS: Self-Protective: Katie's deeper feelings are tender and easily bruised, and if someone laughs when she's confided in them or if someone cuts her to the quick, she will recoil as swiftly as if she has been burned. Reluctant to Trust: Katie is deathly shy, even though she doesn't want to be and makes every attempt not to be. This, however, unfolds into a difficulty for her: she is reluctant to trust people. Katie's trust, once won, is won forever, but it is a process. Martyr Complex: Though Katie would never term herself a martyr, her shy nature and her reluctance to speak on matters of the heart often means that she is left behind. Katie wallows in slights and heartbreaks, even if she might manage to pull a brave face together. Repressed Emotions: If there is something Katie wants and someone else seems to want it more desperately, especially if that person is a dear friend, Katie will repress those emotions and back off it. Beast on the Pitch: Though Katie is an amiable teammate and a good team player, she is a tireless beast on the pitch and will be the last one to give up (which she frankly attributes to Oliver Wood's vicious training during her Hogwarts years). Hot Temper: Though it burns out as quickly as it comes, Katie's temper is a fearsome thing to behold once it flares up. She has a long fuse, but once she is at the end of that fuse… Brute Strength: Katie's a jock, through and through. This of course applies to mainly to her Quidditch career, but it also applies to drunken pub brawls over whose team ought to have won what and by how much. And being on the other end of a rare Katie Bell right hook is always a little more than you'd bargained for. GREATEST DESIRE/MOTIVATION: Peace. The racial tensions that have underscored Katie's life and that have often impeded her progress and self-esteem are things she knows she would fight against with all her might if it meant extinguishing them forever. GREATEST FEAR: That the prejudice in the Wizarding World will expand to encompass her, threatening her career, her well-being, and her possible future happiness (whether that includes marriage, children, or simply a continuing successful career). To the advocates for blood purity, her fate was decided before she was even born, before she had a chance to become anything, and to be judged upon no more than her blood scares her to the bone. ROYAL AMBITION: Katie would never dream of having a royal ambition for herself--what the hell would she do with a crown?--but her dearest wish is that someone from the Weasley family were further up in the line of succession. If it came to blows, she would gladly stand in battle with George and Fred. To see a Potter on the throne would not disappoint her, but her allegiance lies with the Weasleys. HISTORY TOP 5 DEFINING MOMENTS: 1. The death of her mother. When Katie was nine years old, Miranda took a research trip to Papua New Guinea, where she vanished. Though it was impossible to gain conclusive evidence, it was surmised that Miranda had been attacked and consumed by a Lethifold in her sleep. Leonard was left to grieve with Katie and raise her on his own. Although the two were close, Leonard was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with Katie's burgeoning abilities—though he loved Miranda and though he was proud and fascinated by the abilities she and Katie displayed, he had never been a large part of the wizarding world. 2. Beginning school at Hogwarts. Being sorted into Gryffindor startled her, as she had expected to be a Hufflepuff, like her mother; her first two years at the school were landmark ones, as she began her career as a Chaser in her second year (and gained a reputation for being knocked soundly in the head at least once a season). 3. Being recruited for the Holyhead Harpies when she was 19. No one expected it less than Katie. She was placed on as a reserve Chaser. 4. Trying out and bumping up to official Right Chaser a year later when one of her teammates retired. (There are only so many healing spells and so much Skele-Gro a player can take after that many years, it seems.) 5. She helped lead the Harpies to winning the League Cup and the European Cup, which earned her a modest amount of notoriety. Katie’s career truly sparked when she played Chaser for the English National Team at the most recent World Cup in 2002, and then it took off completely when Gwenog Jones retired and appointed her Captain (making Katie the youngest Captain in Harpies history). Within the past year, she has been on the covers of Quidditch Monthly, Seeker Weekly and Which Broomstick, and her growing notoriety has shocked her. Her fans often bring bells to games and ring them from the stands (the League outlawed anything larger than a palm’s width and length due to distraction issues). HAPPIEST MEMORY: Anything involving Quidditch. Anything where she can be on a broom, only using her body to speak instead of fumbling over words with a reporter or that damned woman with the Quick Quotes Quill or even her latest crush. WORST MEMORY: Having to have a funeral for her mother without a body present. Even at nine years old, Katie felt that the whole thing was hollow, and couldn't give up the hope that her mother would turn up someday again. BIGGEST SECRET: Due to several head injuries early in her career, Katie is beginning to lose her sight. She has already learned to overcompensate for problems with depth perception, but the trouble is getting increasingly worse; she often battles crippling headaches after long or intense matches. She also suffers from severe performance anxiety, for which she regularly takes a potion before big matches. WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: Katie has purchased a cozy two-bedroom flat in Holyhead and is DIFFERENCE FROM CANON: Katie's only noticeable divergence from canon is that she was not involved in Dumbledore's Army, nor was she cursed by a wicked deadly necklace and therefore lost no school time because of that and graduated with her class. I gave her a family and a childhood history, and also pumped up her Quidditch abilities because fun! Other than that, canon is canon! WRITING SAMPLES FIRST PERSON: I've signed the papers on the flat. I'm writing that down so I can see it in my own handwriting, plain black and white: I've signed the papers on the flat. There's no getting out of it now. There's no more debating about this flat or the one at the end of Diagon Alley. I am an Adult. Writing it down is not going to do anything for the anxiety. Oh God. I'm going to throw up. And I didn't intend to have a flatmate when I looked at this place. The kitchen's diminutive, if I were to put it politely--though I'm the only one in it, most times, unless someone's here hunting for the firewhiskey or the tea--and the second bedroom isn't much larger, really. I do need a roommate, I'm just not entirely certain how much space I can offer. "Hello, here is a closet and approximately one-half a cupboard, would you like to move in with me for an exorbitant amount of rent in exchange for a convenient location?" God, only one of the Harpies would do it, and they've all got flatshares. I'm the new girl. I've got all my things up; the knickknacks are on the mantel, the pots are hanging on their rack, the first take-away cartons have been chucked in the bin. On the kitchen windowsill, there's a basil plant, and I put my mum's little figurine of the girl at prayer there too. I think it belonged to my grams, once upon a time, something a Muggle boy had given her and that she'd kept for years upon years; it's so old that the glaze has started to crack. There she sits, all sweet and blue and white and serene like she used to be on the kitchen windowsill at home. And now this is home. oh god I'm going to throw up. PLOT IDEAS: Katie is a popular and prominent (if not terribly influential or political) halfblood figure, and any harm that came to her could be a significant political statement. I'd also love to develop relationships and rivalries between Katie and other Quidditch players in the game, although I don't think there are many yet! Other than that, building friendships is the name of the game. Katie just likes people. Having her eventually lose her sight entirely could be an interesting development, just because it would destroy her career, especially if there were some particular reason that the Healers couldn't help her. How willing are you to have this character eventually killed off in the game? (1-10) 6! Katie's a brawler; I don't think she'd go down too easily. |