After the novels, after the teacups,
after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves
in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.” Mobile Index
Rather than set specific dates, we prefer to review applications when they are received. Generally we will set an acceptance date for one day after receipt of an application (with some variation given admin schedules), but if there is a hold on the character in question we will extend that for two days.
So you can submit whenever you want – we won’t make you wait long!
Hello there! I'm interested in joining as one of your canon characters, but I was also wondering if OCs are going to be allowed at some point, or if that's just not on the cards?
It’s not something that we are completely opposed to, but it isn’t something we’re keen on either. It would be a hard sell for you to pitch (which doesn’t mean you can’t try!). So many of the characters we know of in this era practically are OCs given how little we know about them. They’re little more than seeds from which you can build in just about any direction you like. Look at Diggle, Mulciber, Macnair, and MacDonald – and then we have Finnigan, for that matter!
In our experience, the largest difficulty in adding OCs to games is getting them connected to the rest of the characters – so if you want to add a completely original character who has no canon base to build from, you would need to focus on how they fit among the other characters, what purpose their role serves, and what ties them to everyone else. We would also want you to share your reasoning for making an original character rather than working from a canon base. So if you would like to pitch us an oc, you may – but pitch hard.
(We have also found that sometimes with OCs people have a hard time letting go of what they’ve built even in an AU situation, and this game is definitely distinct from the usual sort of canon-based environments so make sure that you’re ready to adjust your OC to adapt to this setting, if they aren’t someone you’re making up fresh for this game.)
We are available via tumblr IM if you want to have a more direct conversation!
Shipping is an enterprise that starts early and runs with the tides -- and with the weather. After a cold winter, the spring thaw has everyone hustling to keep up with the hectic schedule of trade and commerce. By the time the lunch hour loomed, work on the docks had been ongoing for hours: loading and unloading ships, cleaning decks and docks, arguing taxes and tariffs, and shouting and swearing at all the stevedores.
Perhaps it was the sort of laziness that dockhands were always being accused of; perhaps it was sloppiness in the haste to finish and break for food; perhaps it was frayed line that had gone overlooked in a cursory inspection or a novice hand on the knots. Perhaps it was wixcraft...or just bad luck. Whatever the cause, the result was the same: a line slipped, cargo fell, and wood splintered.
When the crate hit the dock, it burst open in a shower of shattered wood which released not the expected sacks of white rice, but mesh metal cages full of smoldering coals swathed protectively in damp rags. That protective layer of coarse cloth was not enough to stop several of the small cages from bursting open when the crate fell, disgorging their contents: fire salamanders.
The chaos that ensued from this revelation of smuggling might have seemed disproportionate on first glance -- but London had almost burned to the ground before, and the city has had a healthy fear of fire ever since. Overreaction is almost mandatory. Dockhands of both the ship in question -- The Merry Lady Whitman -- and nearby boats are sent at a run to round-up the startled, scattering creatures. Telegraphs are sent to the management of Morel Ltd., the company that owns The Merry Lady Whitman, and hungry newshounds race to the docks to catch the story as it unfolds.
Everyone else is busy trying to catch the salamanders before they inadvertently set any nearby buildings alight.
Pertinent Facts:
salamanders can survive for up to six hours outside their flames
rice is often used as a cover for smuggling goods that must be kept dry
Morel Ltd. is a much larger organization than Tibicena Shipping, but it is not known for shipping many legal wixen goods so they have little chance of passing this off as an honest mistake of misplaced cargo
the neighborhoods around the dockyards are largely dirty, run-down, cheap, and built almost entirely of wood...but also have very poor drainage
it last rained in London two days ago
Your Character:
might be on or near the docks already
might hear about the event over a telegraph announcement
might notice the commotion from elsewhere in the city
might be recruited to help go looking for salamanders
might have business (legal or otherwise) interests involved in the situation
might be informed directly of the event by another character (in-play or not)
If you need help thinking of a way for your character to be involved, please message the main and we will gladly assist!
Being “lost in the middle” is a common hardship of being the second child of three, but forAndromeda it might have been a blessing in disguise; too bad her mother always made sure to pay all of her daughters equal attention, even when they would have preferred some privacy. Being yourself is hard when all eyes are on you…unless there’s a stage involved to obfuscate it all.
Always a performative child (her mother would have said, “melodramatic”), she took all those lessons about “maintaining appearances” to heart – or maybe she was just naturally inclined toward artifice. Regardless, society games came easy which led her to seek a challenge – like seeing how much she could get away with. Sneaking out of the house, slumming it among artists and actors; that was all a game, too…until she fell in love with the life and the people and the footlights.
Mother felt she was getting “too into” the theatre set especially after she actually got up on stagethat one time, but Druella never knew the half of it. All those girls to kiss, all those boys to banter with, and no one giving a pig’s ear for anyone’s family’s lineage or social standing – it was liberating, as liberating as any of her little sister’s parades. Put on a costume, a smear of greasepaint; you could be anyone, behind that mask. But mother never did approve of too much freedom, so along came the ring and the veil and another man’s name to wear like a chain; it had worked on Bella, after all…but Andromeda isn’t as cowed as she pretended when she said those vows.
☕ CHARACTER DETAILS:
Marriage could be worse, she supposes; it’s not something she wanted and neither is he, butWilliam isn’t horrible…and thankfully, he was never in love with her either. It’s just anotherperformance, she tells herself, even if it’s for an audience of one (two?) instead of a dozen or so.
Sneaking out is harder now; there’s no little sister to help and the egresses are all unfamiliar – but sneaking around has proved interesting too; there are more secrets in the Mulciber household than she’s found yet, she can tell, and she wants to know them all.
The maid is a mystery all her own; she’s not the only servant of course but the only one who seems to matter. The question is, how much does she matter to William – and for what? It’s not jealousy making her curious; if he’s in bed with his maid it will keep him out of hers which is all to the good…but there’s something else going on with Mary.
In some ways it’s harder to get to the tawdry end of town than it used to be; in others it’s easier…but she can’t take the ring off, not with that charm mother paid to put on it. Is that why everything seems different when she goes there now?
The worst part of all of it is the part that she can’t tell anyone: the part about Teddy, the part about being in love. Maybe they should have run-off together…but Ted’s career in the theatre was going so well, Andromeda didn’t want to destroy that. Now she’s left wondering: did her choice wreck everything…or just change it?
Sometimes you are trying to figure out something interesting for backstory (or a current plot) and you just can’t figure it out with the two characters. Or you can, but its hard to explain what’s interesting about it. Whatever. This is a headcanon starter which is intended for building block headcanons based on two characters. Some are trope plots others are statements indicative of a moment or experience with the other character.
These can also double as fic prompts.
IF YOU WANT A SURPRISE HERE’S A RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR. THERE ARE 36 OPTIONS.
1. Secret Relationship (Designate Friendship or Romantic)
2. Childhood Friends to Lovers
3. Jock and Nerd
4. I Say I Hate You But I Can’t Leave You to Die
5. You Brew My Coffee (This means Something)
6. We Are Drift Compatible
7. One Of Us Is A Monster (Its Not You)
8. I Kept Your Secret
9. Childhood Friends to Enemies
10. Office Friendship
11. Bully
12. Absence made the Heart Grow Fonder
13. You Quiet Me
14. Puppet (Manipulation Two or One Way Street)
15. Been there Done That (Used to Date/Divorced)
16. They Assigned Us, That Means We Have To Work Together
17. I Google You (Stalking Online or Off)
18. The Parent Trap (Did You Know We’re Related?)
19. Almost Dated
20. Exorcism (You Changed Me: for better or worse)
21. I Told Your Secret
22. Textbook (School or other Rivalry)
23. The Other Man/Woman
24. Study Hall (Study Partners)
25. Amnesia (The First Meeting Meant Something To One Character, The Other Doesn’t Remember)
26. The One Night Stand that Came Back
27. Adopted Siblings
28. Gift: You Gave Me Something
29. You Tried To Kill Me Once
30. Fake Relationship
31. An Exercise in Restraint (You Tease Me)
32. We Tear Each Other Apart
33. Battle Pack (We Fight So Well Together)
34. Fuck Off (Annoy the Fuck out of Each Other Yet Share the Same Friends)
35. To The End Of The Line (I’ll Always Have Your Back)
Welcome to Tea Leaves RP, KAY, please grab a pot and pour a cup for yourself and ANDROMEDA MULCIBER!
We are excited to see your take on Andromeda to the game with both her interpersonal (Mulciber, Ted, Mary!) and external goals (Wixen rights...and how that collides with Narcissa). We’ll be in contact to confirm your FC choice and birthdate/age.
II. CHARACTER STATS:
NAME: Andromeda Isabel Mulciber, née Black. Her sisters are allowed to call her Andie, as is Ted Tonks. Dromeda is used mainly by Ted. Any other nicknames earn her immediate wrath.
WAND: Upon her wedding to William Mulciber, Andie had to leave the wands at her childhood home and as of yet has not had a chance to replace them. She does have a goal of getting to Ollivander’s and getting one sometime but that time hasn’t presented itself yet.
III. DESIRED CHANGES (if none, leave blank):
CHARACTER CHANGES:
FC CHANGES: I’m having a hard time connecting with Rachel Brosnahan, although if you’re really set on her, I’m sure I can make her work. Some alternatives I thought might suit Andromeda are Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Emeraude Toubia, and Crystal Reed.
IV. CHARACTERIZATION DETAILS:
SOCIAL POSITION:
Andie is near the upper echelons of society - the wife to a distinguished man, the daughter of a distinguished family. She’s nearly untouchable, and quite a popular hostess and guest - even if she tends to be a little less enthusiastic when out and about than people might prefer. She likes it well enough though; there’s a power in having a say in fashion and fad, and she likes the money and trinkets that fill her life. If that might be a reason she ended up following through with her marriage … well, Andie doesn’t like to think about such unpleasant things.
EDUCATION:
Andie loved school - she would have liked a public schooling, of course, and the chance to learn a history that was less sanitized than what Druella allowed through the house, but she was happy enough as it was. She applied herself whole-heartedly to everything taught by the tutors and thrived when given free reign to pursue other courses on her own. To this day, she can often be found in the library at her new home - never the public library, of course. Nose in a book, Andie is forever trying to broaden her horizons.
Additionally, she did well in the wixen training. Andie loved the chance to study magic at all, and she proved adept at it. In fact, a lot of her personal studies tended toward that as well. She found the history of magic fascinating and wished there was more formal training for it. Even now, as a married woman, she does her best to practice and study as necessary.
The only negative side to her education is that Andie rarely felt like she had been sufficiently challenged - nothing was quite hard enough. Things came too easily to her, so she kept pushing and pushing in hopes of finding something to keep her occupied.
DAILY GRIND:
As a society wife, having grown up as a society daughter, Andie’s life didn’t change much after marriage. She fills it with the usual - shopping, social functions, hosting tea at her new home, and any evening entertainment that her husband agrees to attend. Her favorite nights are the ones when William chooses to stay home and Andie can make her way out on her own. She most often goes to see Ted those nights, and trusts that Cissa will back up any alibi Andie needs for when her adventures keep her out a little later than normal.
THE TEA:
Chai: Every morning for nearly as long as she can remember, Andromeda has started the morning with a bracing cup of chai tea, taken with a splash of milk and a pinch of sugar. When she’s feeling poorly, she’ll add something to boost her health; when she’s lacking sleep, thanks to late nights in the theater, she’ll add something for alertness.
Notice Me Not: This is one of Andie’s specialties - take a traditional black tea and add the right ingredients, and you have the perfect blend for slipping through crowded streets without notice. She always brewed it before heading out to the theater, under the pretense of needing something to help her sleep at night. It’s not fool-proof, but it does the trick and lasted long enough to see her to the theater district. She has yet to try brewing it at her new home, simply because she doesn’t want to take the risk of drawing undue attention to herself in doing so.
GOALS:
Personal: Andromeda would like to learn what’s going on with her husband and the maid specifically - obviously they’re sleeping together, but she wants to know why and how long it’s been going on and honestly as much as possible about the whole thing.
Global: She would like to be more involved in the wix rights issues. It was never really that important to Andie - she was more interested in the theater and Teddy than wix rights - but Andie is starting to wonder if it might not be helpful to her cause of getting out of Mulciber’s house again.
Both: This goal somewhat pertains to both, but Andie would like to figure out a way out of her marriage (divorce is such an ugly word but she’s willing to embrace it if necessary)
V. CHARACTER INTRODUCTION:
“William, darling, did we plan to go to the theater tonight?” Andromeda stepped through the door - Andromeda, not Andie, because she was dressed in a lovely green frock and delicate heels, fastening the sparkling silver earrings in her earlobes as she sent a questioning look in her husband’s direction. She knew very well that they did not plan to go but that wasn’t really the point of the question. The point of the question was to show him that she was going. At his blank expression, she let out a little sigh and dropped her eyes. “I was so looking forward to the play - it’s a classic and one of my favorites but they have apparently put a new spin on it and I think -”
William shut her off, waving his hand absently as his attention turned back to his work. She’d known he would do it, of course; he so rarely wanted to attend the theater with her, but the exercise wasn’t about his actual attendance. “Are you sure you don’t mind, darling? I do so hate to think of you here alone while I’m out enjoying myself.” But her words were superfluous and fell on deaf ears, as she’d known they would. She wanted to give him a reason not to expect her til later, and even when he did attend the theater with her, she made sure to keep him out as late as possible. “I believe Cissy and I are getting something to eat afterward - I thought the three of us were but I’m sure she’ll be fine if it’s just the two of us. Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Another wave sent Andromeda on her way, stepping daintily through the main doors.
Andromeda continued until she was in the theater district, and then she shed the mask. Andie loved the theater district; it was invigorating and exciting and gave her the rush of excitement that had always been lacking in her life. Her footsteps quickened until she all but ran through the back entrance to the theater, unfastening the earrings as quickly as she had fastened them as she kicked off her shoes in favor of the well-worn flats that she left here. “Teddy?” Her eyes, still adjusting to the dimmer lighting inside, strained to make out the familiar figure and when she did, the final pieces of the mask fell away easily. Her arms wound around Teddy’s neck easily and Andie was home.
VI. MUN BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:
What is your ideal game?
My most preferred HP rp is a post-Hogwarts Marauders rp that either follows canon or is somewhat AU. I love that era and there’s a lot of room to grow. I’m also really fond of HP next gen rps. So in this rp, I honestly love the AU setting because it gives a lot of wiggle room and chance to explore the characters without having the weight of knowing exactly where they have to go in life.
What is your least favorite element of this game?
I feel like a lot of really interesting characters are missing - like the Prewetts, the Malfoys, a lot of the other characters who we see mentioned. But that’s not really a problem either, especially since they can be added. (I’d love to see Bella in the rp, honestly.)
I chose this character because…
I love Andromeda Black. She’s probably my favorite HP character, and this rp has a really unique spin on her. I love the fact that she’s married to Mulciber but in love with Ted, and I really love that Ted is a girl in this rp. I usually don’t get into rps that are so AU - I like semi-canon ones but I saw this rp in the tags a few weeks ago and honestly haven’t gotten it out of my head since then.
Welcome to Tea Leaves RP, EMMY, please grab a pot and pour a cup for yourself and LILY RUTH EVANS!
We are can’t wait to see how Lily develops with how she has achieved most of her goals...and yet, she wants more in some ways! Please send us a link to your tumblr within 24 hours.
II. CHARACTER STATS:
NAME: Lily Ruth Evans
BIRTHDATE/AGE: 22
GENDER IDENTITY & PRONOUNS: Female, she/her
WAND: A simple stick of oak wood, cut ten inches long, polished and worn from years of use. It has no core and no inherent magical properties, save perhaps as a conduit for better brews from being used as a mixing stick for so long. Lily carries it mostly for the aesthetic and because it tickles her patrons to see that she is a real wix, look, she even has a wand!
IV. CHARACTERIZATION DETAILS:
SOCIAL POSITION:
The Evans were decidedly lower class in the broader scheme of the world, but within the bubble of Cokeworth, their tea business edged them into respectable middle class. They rose higher as their teas took off even more thanks to open knowledge of Lily’s wix nature. By the time Lily left for London, the Evans were firmly established in the quite comfortable upper middle class.
Lily herself is harder to place. While being an openly avowed wix taints her socially in the eyes of some, it elevates her in others. Fiscally she’s well off enough, and her acquaintances certainly reach lofty heights. Yet while tea isn’t really trade, and a brewing maven always has a degree of respectability, truly escaping that low background is difficult and she’s more of a social oddity than anything truly placeable.
EDUCATION:
Lily got a basic education from the parish school, and did what she could to further her education on her own. She is an avid reader and her handwriting is neat and even beautiful, both in a clear copperplate and a script (she makes all the labels for the teas in the shoppe). Her maths are strong in the basics, what she needs to manage a business and to properly brew. Anything beyond that is largely self taught. Her magical education was a mixture of trial and error, and learning with Severus from his mother, thoroughly rooted in magical brewing. Any other magic has been self taught from a few illicit books.
DAILY GRIND:
Lily co-owns Tea and Talons; the shoppe is her life. From living above the shoppe, having her workshop in the basement, and handling most of the customer interactions, it consumes most of her time. However, as she’s gotten more settled in London and the shoppe has taken off, she’s been venturing out into greater London more often. She has to put those pretty things she’s been buying to good use, and a silk dress is not appropriate for brewing tea.
THE TEA:
Lily makes so many nuanced, complex brews all the time, one would be forgiven to expect that her regular mix would be some masterpiece of her brewing skills. Instead the brew she’s most likely to be caught downing is a simple black tea barely sweetened by sugar and so rich in caffeine it’s amazing she hasn’t had a heart attack from it, with just a few infusions added for calm to offset the caffeine jitters (caffeine is its own sort of magic, you know). Her personal brew, however, is more nuanced, taking an earthy, smokey base and adding notes of peppermint. Rather than sugar, she sweetens it with honey and, when in private and truly enjoying a cuppa by herself, she’ll have some flower petals floating in the tea. Most often, the petals are from petunias. She puts surprisingly little magic into the blend, tempering it more with nostalgia and thoughts of family and love. A ‘hug in a cup’, she sometimes thinks of it. She’s not likely to casually share it with anyone.
GOALS:
Most of Lily’s big goals have been achieved; open a tea shoppe in London with her best friend and have it be successful. Now her focus is on smaller things: building herself a proper life beyond the bounds of the shoppe walls, enjoying the life her new found respectability and money can afford her, having nice things. She’s worked hard, she deserves to have some fun. And then there’s the other goal; she wants to know more magic. Not just for her teas, but for herself, digging deeper into those mostly-forgotten traditions. Even if that means working with some occasionally shady figures to get her hands on those ancient texts.
V. CHARACTER INTRODUCTION:
It was Halloween, and that meant there were expectations. In general, yes, but especially of an ‘out’ wix. Considering her wix status was at least 50% of the draw to their fledgling shoppe (still, despite the growing acclaim for the brews themselves), that mean Lily had to go all out. As long as she could leverage it to help the shoppe, she’d gladly do it. Even if that meant dressing in an all black dress (a masterpiece from Diggle that still managed to be flirty and light despite the sombre colour), wearing a pointed hat, and leaving the shoppe broomstick by the front door like she was ready to go for a fly at any moment. This on top of the autumn decorations around the shoppe, decked out in browns and oranges and reds over faded greens. Then of course there was her wand, wielded with a grander flourish than normal.
Severus said she was being ridiculous. Lily countered that he had no sense of salesmanship.
Her day started early, well, earlier than normal, going over the packets of brews that had been special ordered for various parties that day. Bubbling and broiling, things that would tickle the throat and the mind while frothing over in a delightfully wicked way. ( One patron had even confided in Lily that she’d found a genuine cauldron that the seller swore had been used for real magic in old times to serve the tea from. Lily made extra sure to get all the stray edges of magic tucked neatly away in that brew. The last thing she needed was some lingering residue from an ancient potion mucking with her tea and getting her in trouble.) Then there was going to the emporium down the alley to pick up the little black kitten she’d rented for the day to add that extra bit of colour to the counter.
By the time she actually opened the shop, she’d been awake for two hours already. Two hours more and she was downing her second cup of PepUp Tea to keep her going as the patrons tried to run her off her feet. At the end of the day, when she finally turned the sign in the door over, seeing the last patron off to whatever party they were headed to, her cheeks ached from all the smiling. Snagging the broom from where it had wound up in the front window (someone had made a show of trying to fly it around the shoppe), she swept up and retreated to the back workshop to join Severus in helping prepare the teas they were low on and try some new blends, enjoying the dry banter between them and the special cuppa he brewed for her.
It was nearly midnight by the time she trudged up to their flat above the shoppe and toppled into bed, saying goodnight to witching day with enthusiasm fueled by knowing they’d done well. Another big holiday like that, and the might actually be solvent.
VI. MUN BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:
What is your ideal game? Games where world building not only happens, but is encouraged by the mod team
What is your least favorite element of this game? Where the conflict of the game is currently feels very lowkey and individualized. Seeing a plot or even a short lived event that introduces a grander scale conflict would be nice.
I chose this character because…
I have been playing Lily for many years now, and this game gives me a chance to put her into a new situation and write a different take on her from so many angles: her relationships, her attitude towards magic, her general state of well being, not being dead at 21.
The Potter family was once well-to-do, James knows – but that was long before his time. These days, he’s just another common stevedore working the docks for petty wages in exchange for his earnest sweat. It isn’t much, but it keeps a roof over his head and food in his belly. As long as he doesn’t think about what life could be instead, he’s all right with just getting by.
He could probably make more money if he was open about his magical talents, but James would rather have friends than funds and magic is a good way to lose those. He’s got a few these days that he can trust with his secrets, but they’re an odd bunch – none of them dockworkers like him, but all of them hiding something of their own. They sound like the start of a joke (“a copper, a stevedore, a university boy, and a toff all walk into a pub…”) but they’re good mates.
They’ve been encouraging him to try and reclaim his place in society, but James has no desire to worm his way back into the upper crust’s social circle. His work carting bags and barrels for Tibicena Line is hard but at least it’s honest, and James tries to stay away from subterfuge. He avoids bad lucktoo, which means sticking to the shores instead of joining the trade moving up and down the rivers (the river has never been lucky for him). Recent events have only underscored why he stays off the water: there’s too much hidden in the depths that you can’t see until you’re already swamped. James prefers a straightforward life, even if it’s a difficult one.
☕ CHARACTER DETAILS:
While poverty is hard, James thinks he’s better off in many other ways: he prefers the down-to-earth company of the working class to the machinations of the upper crust – and certainly he’s glad not to have to wear their ridiculous clothes! He doesn’t know how Sirius stands it; no wonder the man loves slumming it with James.
It doesn’t cost much to see a show and pints are cheap (especially if you can wheedle them out of a copper who wants to make friends with everyone in wixen shipping), so there’s not much a man like James needs with deep pockets, he tells himself.
He should have remembered that and never taken the extra “nighttime shift” his boss offered; wages that good always come with a catch – but he never thought it would be catching mermaids to sell to the snuff-grinders! All he wanted was enough coin to take the spitfirefrom that new tea shoppe out somewhere that would impress her; now he has a live mermaidsleeping in his bathtub and no idea what to do next.
At least Mulciber didn’t cotton-on to the fact that he’d been sold fake fish scales and ash from the boarding house’s kitchen when James couldn’t go through with chopping Kathleen up forparts; if he ever does find out, James knows he’ll be in a world of trouble. Rumor has it that Mulciber is a bad man to cross, worse even than most toffs.
James knows he can turn to his friends in a pinch, but he’s hesitant to involve them in his problems; he also doesn’t like the fact that two of them are on the outs with each other and he doesn’t like feeling as though he’s stuck in the middle choosing sides between them. Can’t they all just get along like they used to?
Welcome to Tea Leaves RP, KARLI, please grab a pot and pour a cup for yourself and JAMES POTTER!
We are thrilled to see your development of James with an eye towards the morally gray and cultural backstory. Your FC change to Bob Morley is also accepted! Please link us to a blog within 24 hours.
II. CHARACTER STATS:
NAME: James Harold Potter
BIRTHDATE/AGE: March 27th | 24 years
GENDER IDENTITY & PRONOUNS: Cis-Male | Him/Him
WAND: James does not own a wand.
III. DESIRED CHANGES (if none, leave blank):
CHARACTER CHANGES: Nothing within the plot or bio! I should mention that I do not follow anything from Pottermore for James’ background. Some of the names in his ancestry might be the same, but that’s about it. This game it’s even more different than my normal set up for him, given the plotline is very AU, but even so – don’t expect any Fleamont’s or Euphemia’s here! I feel like Pottermore set up James’ backstory in JKR’s normal black/white visions of “Gryffindor good, Slytherin bad” and I just don’t buy it. I want more greyness from the Potters’ story. James may be a good guy, but he’s also pureblood and that’ll make a difference. I know this is all from canon, rather than this game where blood status doesn’t matter, but I thought I’d point it out anyway.
FC CHANGES: Can I have a FC change to Bob Morley? He fits my idea of James from my head better than Steven, even though I love Steven as a FC, he’s not a good fit for my James. If Bob doesn’t work, I’d be willing to provide some other ideas. I will, however, be expanding on Filipino tea in my application later on, which fits Bob’s ethnicity. That can be changed if this FC switch is not granted, however.
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS: None.
IV. CHARACTERIZATION DETAILS:
SOCIAL POSITION: It’s interesting coming from the name of Potter. Once upon a time, before James was born, the name held much more weight than it currently does. It went downhill a few generations back, when a crazy grandfather thought it would be wonderful to show his magic to the world. Exposing himself and his entire family as wix may have been a statement of grandeur that he thought they would benefit from, but it backfired as many of these unplanned things do. While even then it was almost delightful to have those magic tricks, surely no one should be so loud about it! Friends began pulling away, business partners began holding their money, and the Potters fell from grace. By the time James’ father was old enough to work, they’d been on the docks for years. Harold Potter had been nearly obsessed with gaining the family name back – which is why he travelled the ocean to find an interesting wife with an exotic background. It’s why he spent many of his nights in the fighting rings. In his formative years, when James was just a child, Harold had gained some notoriety for his skills in the matches, but one can only take a certain amount of hits to the jaw before they slow down, even with the special tea that Aizel brought back with her from the Philippines. He eventually started to lose the fights, which meant he lost friends and money and even respect from wife and child. When a bad bet led to a decrease in funds, it eventually led to Harold’s own demise. Owing a family such as the Mulcibers was never a good idea, even for someone who could talk their way out of things. A promise is a promise – and bad things happen to those who can’t keep their end of the deal. James was fourteen when his father never came home from the docks and what was listed in the papers as a freak accident seemed much more sinister to James and his mother. Maybe that’s why James stays out of the ring as much as he can – but maybe it’s also why he can’t help but watch every now and again. Chalk it up to supporting his friend… he’s really trying to find something special in the fighting. His dad had to have seen it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been important enough to leave his family. Unfortunately for Harold, his fame with his fists died long before he did and now he’s just a distant memory with the occasional remember that time… James doesn’t care much about his status (he claims) and would rather just stay out of the limelight versus trying – and failing – to gain the family name back as his father had done. Yes, the Potters were once a family to look up to. Now, they’re just dockhands with curious skin tones and poor judgement.
EDUCATION: For the everyday sort of stuff, James went to a regular school just like most of his peers. A less modern sort of sixth form, he dropped out when he was sixteen and began work on the dock. He and his mum were struggling at the time – his dad had left a debt and not much money for survival and his mother didn’t have the skillset that British workers deemed appropriate to find high-paying work. She sat at the telegram office, typing up messages and sending them along. With her accent still evident from her home country, it was a job that would hire since it required little verbal communication from the person taking the message. Even with their love for “things exotic,” people in this society feel like everyone should speak perfect English! Since leaving school to help Aizel out, James has continued to work at the dockyard. As for his other training… that was all on his mother. He knows as much as he can about the magical history of England, but his true knowledge lies in Filipino history. The magic in that country is much less dramatic than in this one – more spiritual, less hushed up. While Aizel was smart enough to keep her own wixcraft from the current world, she does not understand the wink wink, nudge nudge of popular British society. She homeschooled James to learn her own form of study, as well as taught him techniques to keep his magic under control. He can do some wandless spells – in her country, wands were very much an item that was treated more as a decoration than useful and magic was taught to be control with one’s hands – but he’s not always good at the focus it takes. He finds he doesn’t need magic much, but is happy that the lights don’t go off whenever he’s angry anymore! He’s well versed in her tea, however. And it’s something he doesn’t share. A family secret – a family recipe. He’s fairly certain people don’t even know he’s a wix, despite it being very well known that he comes from a family of them.
DAILY GRIND: James has been working at the dockyard officially for eight years now. Unofficially, he’s been learning the trade since he was a kid. When he tagged along with his father, he was taught the various fishing knots and how to use the equipment. He was five when he pulled in his first net – and only twelve when that net first contained something other than fish. His father had told him to not tell his mother and James hadn’t – it wasn’t every day his dad shared a secret with him! James didn’t understand it at the time – had only been slightly frightened by the scaly being that had stared at him in fear and resignation as his father had pulled Mr. Black aside – but he now knows he’d caught a mermaid back then. Unlike now, however, that one hadn’t come home to live in his bathtub. James understands where that thick bag of coins had come from when his father had showed a delighted Aizel that night. He’s come to terms with the fact that he’s been a criminal for a while now – but he’s trying to stop! Really, he is. Most of the time, his job is rather boring. He rarely takes the late night shifts unless he’s really in a rut. But sometimes… sometimes, he must admit he does it for the fun of it. Working on the dock is so tedious and mundane. He can do his job on autopilot, he’s been a part of the sea for so long. Every once in a while, he’ll volunteer for the boat shifts or the midnight trades just for the fun of it. Adventure is something he craves – adrenaline is something he needs to release. He’s a bloke who can’t sit still and he wants something other than the work he does. Going out on the boats have brought him nothing but trouble… but sometimes, he likes a bit of trouble. It’s not something he’s serious about, of course! He’s not Mulciber. It’s all just a bit of fun. Even if it means he’s now lying to the most influential man in London and has a weird roommate who may or may not be female.
THE TEA:
Philippine mythology is passed down through stories, song, and word of mouth. They mostly discuss gods and goddess, called diwatas (deities). Many people in modern Philippine society believe that each Deity had a specific sort of magical skill. Not exactly wix in the current sense of the term, but the beginnings of the magical property. It is why being wix is more celebrated in their culture – the Philippine people believe that those presenting with wixcraft have been selected by the deities. They often study in groups, practicing a specific sort of magic based on their skill set. For instance, if one is good with cooking, they may be more prone to study potion-making and tea-brewing. While they do hone in on other basic skills, the Filipino schooling is much different than the British version and people will learn non-magical skills in the morning, with specific magical learning in the afternoon. Those who are non-magical learn a trade during this time, be it medicine or sewing or something else desired. For non-magical folk in the Philippines, it is encouraged to try many things before declaring a trade. For wix, it is believed their skills are based on a passing of magic given to them by their Deity, therefore is it less about choice and more about fate (read: whatever they are good at in early age, they practice and become that thing. Magical people in this culture do not get to choose their career, rather it is chosen for them based on skill and belief).
James’ mother, Aizel, brought back these practices to England with her when she came. When she had exhibited wixcraft as a child, it was discovered she was good at interpretation of the skies and weather. Aizel had spent her life practicing this skill and was believed to be chosen by the Deity Anitong Tawo, the god of wind and rain. Even now, she is superstitious about the weather and believes that “Mother Nature” (a British term, not her own) is telling them a story or giving them a warning. There is something magical in the rain. Something punishing in the storms. Something lucky in the clouds. In her education, she studied alongside those chosen by the Deity Tala, who was the goddess of the stars, as weather and sky have much to do with one another. James learned these skills from his mother, but he was never very good at interpreting the sky and found cloud-watching or star-gazing awfully boring. He would, however, be able to tell you what it means for tomorrow’s weather when Jupiter is at its peak tonight, despite being embarrassed by this knowledge.
When he began to show wixcraft, his mother believed that he was chosen by the Deity Diyan Masalanta, who is the youngest of all deities and the goddess of love, childbirth, peace, and protection. James had made a face at this, his childlike expression full of distaste. The goddess of love? But he’s as a boy! Surely, he should have a fierce god! When he’d given his aggrievances to his mother, she’d promptly scolded him and put him straight, discussing how love is what really drives a person. James still doesn’t really follow what his goddess does, as the magical properties behind love were really too complicated to study – if he were born in the Philippines, they would’ve practiced those things around love, such as poetry and good deeds – but he does feel with his full heart. It’s the force behind his impulsivity, really. The desire to be in the moment. Maybe it’s not love exactly, but he’s fiercely loyal and does try his best, even if it means he falls into more accidents and trouble than he’s worth. He doesn’t like poetry (thank Diyan that he studied here!) but he is a romantic at heart – hadn’t he gotten the fucking mermaid to save up to ask Lily on a date?! – even though he’d never admit it to anyone other than his mother, who’s been saying it since he was a child.
In his private lessons with his mother, Aizel didn’t stick to the basic teachings of just one Deity, however. It was a struggle, given her love for her culture, but she sees the difference in the British country. She knew James would need more – need to find ways to suppress. The problem with being chosen by the Goddess of Love is that he feels so obviously. When he’s angry, there’s a tell. When he’s sad, he shows it on his face. When he’s happy, his smile has been able to stop the clouds from their tears. (So maybe Aizel’s a bit of a romantic, too). At a young age, James struggled to suppress his magic because it showed with his intense feelings. Glasses broke, lights flickered, tea exploded. So she used her knowledge of all the deities (though that knowledge wasn’t as vast as her knowledge of the wind) to teach him to suppress. She’s proud of him being selected, but she understands that others are not.
Which is how he learned the tea. Her mother had been chosen by the Deity Lakambakod, who was the god of crops and healing. James’ grandmother’s studies included discovering magical properties in various herbs. When passed down to Aizel and brought to London, she discovered how important tea was to this society. These herbs were crushed and stirred – but not for potions… for tea. James knows several simple teas to cure aches and pains. Perhaps that is why Sirius comes to him so often with a bloody lip and a black eye. He can’t heal, but he can alleviate. It’s something only a few know and something he’s not willing to share at the moment, despite how much money he could make for his properties. He’s not a good tea brewer, really… only knows about four recipes. But those recipes are nothing like the more close-minded British society has seen before. The herbs used create a more euphoric feeling, which is why it alleviates (think: like drugs in our modern society). It’s likely this was not the intention of Aizel, but the rain told her to experiment and so she listened. James’ true specialty is the Lakas tea, which brings the drinker energy and stamina. Living in the theater district (he’s not at all artsy, but it’s cheap) makes him awake at all hours of the night due to the noise. And waking up early for the docks doesn’t help him any. He drinks Lakas more times a day than probably is healthy and he doesn’t know the side effects… and what’s life without a little risk. He could stop drinking it if he wanted to!
(***Note: these are my ideas based around some research I did on Philippine mythology. I related the myths to magic, so not all of it is technically real Philippine culture, but I thought it would be good to bring James’ ethnicity and background into the mix – with tea!)
GOALS: James’ primary goal has to do with the mermaid in his bathtub. She (it’s what he calls them… doesn’t understand she is not the correct term) has brought some much-needed excitement to his life, but it’s the sort of excitement he’s ready to be rid of. He’s always been impulsive and taking that shift that he knew would make his life more complicated had been a product of that. Well… impulsivity and a slightly obvious crush on a wix redhead who brews delicious tea and has kicked him out of her shoppe more than once. He doesn’t know what to do with the mermaid – definitely isn’t going to chop her up, but doesn’t really want to share his flat with her the rest of his life. He wants to figure out how to get her to safety without being caught by Mulciber. He did sell fake snuff to him, after all. The guy is a toff, but a powerful one and James doesn’t fancy dying anytime soon. (The mun, of course, would love to have James be discovered. I love putting him through shit he thinks he can handle but really actually can’t.) Another driving force in his life is his friends. A goal he has is to get them all back on the same level again. There’s this damn fight between Remus and Sirius. Okay, yeah, he can see Remus’ side and gets why he’s angry – but everyone does stupid shit in their lives. It’s something you just get over. Peter is surely geting up to things that could pull James into even more trouble than he’s ready for. Remus is the subject of romance novels that gets them stopped on the street when James really just wants a pint. And Sirius keeps coming to his flat to get cleaned up from a fight and then James is forced to explain why they can’t go into the bathroom right now. It’s all a mess and maybe he just needs a good date or something, but he really thinks he just needs his friends to stop fucking up.
V. CHARACTER INTRODUCTION:
The dock at night was like an entirely different place to be. James liked to think of the whole area as almost a living entity. It had its own culture surrounding the place, its own breath, its own way of living. Coming into the docks and stepping off of them, there was a whole different weight to his shoulders. But, even so, he was used to it. It was familiar. He doubted he could ever get used to the nighttime shifts, however. His mind racing, his adrenaline pumping. His senses heightened. Every small noise, he turned, inspecting. Was it Mulciber? Was it MacNair? Even Sirius could scare him right about now. The boat was rocking and James, despite living on the water his whole life, hated his sea legs. It wasn’t as though being on the water made him sick or anything. In fact, he was quite good with a hook and lure. It was that the boats meant another job – and the sea had brought him nothing but trouble. The land was safer, easer, less risky. But he’d agreed to this shift for a reason and maybe part of that had less to do with money and more with needing some risk. He felt wasted – complacent in this life going nowhere. The world wouldn’t change and so neither would his life.
But he was kicking himself now for trying to find some purpose in the sea. This was not his purpose. This would just get him killed – or someone else killed. This would have Mulciber keeping an eye on him again. It wasn’t as though this were James’ first time doing the extra work – but each time had brought along something to regret along with the bag of money. There was still some blood on his face from the last time. He hadn’t killed anyone… just hooked some offspring of the infamous Giant Squid and squeezed their juices into a tea that was later served to man who owed Mulciber. But he knows what happens to the enemies of his employers friends (Mulciber wasn’t actually his employer – that was the Prewetts and Blacks – but Mulciber pulled many of the strings anyway, so he might as well have been sometimes). So James had known what he was getting himself into and he’d gone and done it anyway. Stupid of him, really.
“Got that done, Potter?” It was Gideon. James liked him well enough – it was fairly quick-witted and funny. And rarely around, really. Gideon and Fabian liked the hands off approach, but James really though that was more because they wanted to chase skirts and hang out with the theater district folk over liking delegation. He was actually surprised Gideon was here – but, then again, James only took a handful of these sort of jobs and different employers always supervised.
“Yes, sir. Locked in place. You can grind it up whenever. Should be secure.”
Gideon looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then looked down at the black water to scan the surface. James was well known for his quality of knots – when he took his time. He was also, sadly, known for the knots untying and losing their loot if he rushed too much or paid little attention to his work. “Pull ‘em up,” said Gideon. James should’ve known he would be the one doing the heavy lifting here. Gideon was funny enough, but he was a toff at the end of the day.
James pushed up the sleeve that had fallen down again and stepped over the excess rope to the crank for the outrigger and pulled it up. It was hard work – the outrigger had been sweeping the ocean for over an hour now and they could usually fill the thing in that amount of time if they were looking in the right location. James had a feeling it wasn’t fish that Mulciber had requested, however. Ideally, the crank was a two-person job, but Gideon didn’t seem to have any inclination to help – he hadn’t even left the skipper’s desk, the toff, and was watching James struggle on his own from above. It took several minutes longer than it might’ve with proper lighting and manpower, but James managed to pull up the net. It fastened at the top on its own – a recent invention that had decreased drowning accidents by sixty percent – and James locked the crank into place to allow the net to be pulled in. He reached down to grab the lantern and shined it on his load.
There were fish, probably about a hundred of them, but they didn’t keep his attention as they floundered around, hopping on one another, gasping for the sea. Because, trapped around the fish, stuck firmly in the net, was something much more rare. Something he was fairly certain had been the entire point of the trip this far out. She was scaly and a bluish-green. Her hair was matted and a dark sort of red, sticking to her face from the water. Eye pierced his and she glared. She wasn’t frightened, but looked at though she was ready to kill him. She, too, was gasping, but not in the same way as the fish. Her skin was a pale pink, green in parts. He knew from enough stories that it would eventually turn creamy and pure. She could’ve been beautiful – had seen be human. Instead, all James could see underneath the shells sticking to her body was the pure rage that formed her skin. She hated him for catching her – and he hated himself for not accidentally unlocking the crank.
Eyes wide, horrified, he turned to stare at Gideon. But the man only had eyes for the mermaid. And his smile was nearly as frightened at her scowl. James knew what he would have to do next. Those scales were a rich color because they held magic even his mother couldn’t explain. Her limbs were full of a liquid that humans craved. And her bones… well, didn’t legend say that mermaid bones could let you live another two years if consumed properly? Fuck… he should’ve stayed home.
VI. MUN BACKGROUND QUESTIONS:
What is your ideal game?
My ideal game is a way to expand on the characters we know and love in a different way. It’s why I chose to apply here – because I’ve been playing James since I was 12 and this is a whole new setting for him, which is extremely hard to find! I’m hoping to see more of an overarching plot here… perhaps more with the illegal trading. Or event drops that can let us explore the new ideas in the game. Something in the theater district, perhaps! My least favorite game is one where it just turns into shipping that is overly modern. Or one that just turns into shipping in general. While I do like ships (I’m playing James Potter after all and he helped create the Chosen One because of a ship) I don’t want to just explore anything like that (nor am I against not having one completely). I want something where odd connections can happen, interpersonal plots change and move things around. I want to explore how friendships change in this world.
What is your least favorite element of this game?
I think I would like to see something that is a driving force for lots of people. Without a war-based plot where there are “two sides,” it may be hard to see some major conflict. I think there will be plenty of interpersonal conflict, but I would also like to see plot drops that affect the entirety of the game, whether that be large plotlines like the Shipping Co. being outed for their criminal activity or a smaller event such as a festival.
I chose this character because…
To be honest, James is my go-to character. I’ve played many people in the Marauders fandom, but James is always someone I take a look at before moving on. I only play him in games where I feel like I can explore something new, however. Like I said before, James has been my longest-played character. It’s hard to find situations that I haven’t already done with him and this is one of them. I was instantly drawn into him and, while I read all the other bios, no one stuck with me as much as him. One of the things I’m most interested to explore in this game is class. James has always been upper-class – due to riches and blood status and whatever else. This has it completely opposite. I’m so looking forward, if accepted, to play a James where he’s in the lower-class for once. Also… my literal favorite thing to do with James is to have him impulsively make decisions, fuck up, and then have him deal with the consequences. My James is non-fanon and I want him to make mistakes. So when he accidentally acquired a mermaid, I was hooked. It’s very in character for my James to think he can handle something and then definitely not be able to handle it.
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