Gooseberry Year 2 WIP

[legatorum]

GENERAL

NAME: Peyton Ryder

NICKNAMES: Her name doesn't really work for shortening and she hasn't built up a reputation for any other sort of nickname - therefore she has always gone by either her first or last name in full.

AGE/DOB: 15/November 23rd 1998

BLOOD STATUS: Half-blood

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Female/cis, she/her

SEXUALITY: Peyton doesn't know yet, and it's not something she has previously explored.

HOMETOWN: Savannah, Georgia

CONCEPT: Quidditch-playing pixie who observes everything from afar with great focus.

PHYSICAL

APPEARANCE: Peyton started out at Gooseberry with good intentions to be neat and pristine, but as she settled in she became more relaxed with how she wears her clothing. She doesn't wear the uniform vest often as she finds it constraining, but will put it on if told to do so by staff. Peyton presents herself reasonably well for a 15 year old in high school, but it's clear that she's more of the outdoorsy type. When the permitted time to be out of uniform presents itself, she's a t-shirt and shorts kind of girl, not really trendy apart from the occasional print or fabric choice. She doesn't even put jeans or hoodies into that kind of rotation until the weather cools.

HEIGHT: 5'1

PB: Amandla Stenberg

PERSONALITY

LIKES: Outdoor activities, the country, her mother's home cooking, Quidditch over Quodpot, being back in Georgia, the life in rural Utah, cats, birds, her fellow Ribbonfins, house rivalries going to the extreme

DISLIKES: Pretentious lifestyles (as she sees them), rudeness, snobs, insular attitudes towards culture and activities, life in the city, dogs, snakes, the supernatural, alcohol, slobbing about

PERSONALITY:

[Based on Ashami's RPG Guide]

Keystone: Achievement
It's difficult to imagine that such an outwardly sweet and pleasant young woman could be driven so intensely by a desire to succeed. However, Peyton's motivation to be good at what she does, and to win, is less formed by what one might call a Slytherin-esque sense of ambition and more through the sheer enjoyment and pleasure gained from what she does. She doesn't want to be on top to squash those underneath - it's more about the skills one gains from overcoming obstacles and the reward from challenges faced. Think of a Ravenclaw's knowledge for its own sake, or a Hufflepuff's value of hard work.

Personal - in another world, Peyton would have made a good cheerleader, and even now, she makes a good one in the metaphorical sense. She is a good natured, peppy and encouraging friend who supports others on the way to achieving their own goals, even helping them lighten the load if it means she and others don't suffer for it. The more people who get to win their personal battles, the better, she thinks.

Academic - Peyton may not be quite so driven in terms of book smarts as some of her peers (especially the Ebonhides, if we're honest), but that doesn't mean that she doesn't like to do well. She needs little push to work at her studies and to knuckle down and get things done - and she knows that privileges can be taken away if she doesn't succeed, making her more determined to do her best in this area.

Quidditch - sport is, by its very nature, a hub of competition and activity, and despite her outwardly reserved nature, Peyton thrives on it. The buzz of a crowd, the camaraderie of a team and seeing a trophy or medal in your hands all combine together to make playing the game the best feeling in the world, as far as she is concerned. It is little wonder that she tried out for the team so quickly.

Disposition: Calm
Calmness is to Peyton as smooth waters are to Ribbonfin - it's one of the first concepts people would think of on the surface when her name is discussed. Her inner drive to succeed is almost entirely masked by the restful, relaxed and reserved manner in which she carries herself on a day to day basis. Never at the centre of drama and a cool head when things do go down, Peyton isn't one of those people whom others find stressful to be around.

Personal - Peyton is a good person to be around in a crisis, and while not the logical thinker, her measured responses to situations mean that she can easily separate anxious doubts from the facts. Her restful demeanour extends to her habits in the dorm, making her a physically soothing person to be around, and she is generally well liked as a result - even if she's too chilled to pop up on most people's 'favourite Ribbonfin' lists. Probably.

Academic - While calmness is not always the opposite of stress, it is for Peyton. Her collected nature leads her to be pretty well organised when it comes to getting to and through classes, and she has fewer 'buzz' emotions that lead her to distraction. If she were a natural academic then she'd be brilliant - as it is, she needs to make sure she puts in a lot of effort, too, to keep her grades where they should be.

Quidditch - As calmness allows focus, it allows for good Quidditch game play. Peyton is not one for too many nerves nor stage fright - perhaps just a few butterflies for the biggest of occasions - and she hopes that this is a good influence on her teammates. In terms of game play, it means she is improving vastly at avoiding bludgers without panic, and at leaving daring game plays to the last minute.

Social Skills: Agreeableness
While not outwardly antagonistic and mostly agreeable, Peyton has certain views which, were they wide knowledge, might not go down too well with certain members of the Gooseberry set. She has absolutely zero respect for the mean crowd, and does not go out of her way to be social with them - and it could be argued that her integrity is somehow lacking in the way that she lies by omission, not stating how or why people in general may annoy her. She's pretty conventional and isn't one for lots of tattoos (at least piercings and dyes can be changed easily), with her inner logic being that a person changes so much through their teens that regretting it by the time you're in your twenties is highly possible. community and so on.

Personal - while she lacks tolerance in terms of outward self expression, part of that comes from a frustration with the amount of privilege people carry unacknowledged, a right many people don't have. Peyton is much more tolerant in other ways, and is supportive of friends from minority backgrounds, the LGBT community and so on.

Academic - Peyton is adaptable, meeting the needs of the situation at hand. While this is obviously positive from a friendship point of view, it means she is less susceptible to setbacks when it comes to disruptions, failures and other difficulties in class. Her resilience makes her more motivated to find a way around the problems, even when she fails.

Quidditch - Peyton has one big weakness in Quidditch - getting too angry at the moral failings of others. It's her number one distraction and the thing that coaches and captains through the years have had to work on with her. Sure, nobody should be delighted when others break a rule or commit foul after foul, but doing so in a game meant for enjoyment and in good spirit just isn't right. And no, she was not exactly a fan of certain players' antics on and off the pitch last year... and it clouds her opinions of them now.

Social Skills: Interactivity
While Peyton can be engaging when she wants to be, she really has to focus and work hard at it. Her natural stance leans towards the evasive when it comes to sharing deep thoughts and feelings, and if actively questioned can become noticeably on edge. She is taciturn in conversation, communicating a lot through saying little. This sometimes comes off on her being hazy on the details, but she knows what she's doing - or she thinks she does, anyway.

Personal - Her reticence to give much away about herself means that Peyton is not the best conversationalist. She communicates in pretty short sentences, doesn't always get enthusiastic in her speech and sometimes comes off as cryptic. She means well, she just isn't always comfortable socially, and thus doesn't go wild at parties.

Academic - Peyton rarely puts her hand up to answer questions - only when no-one else does and damn it the silence needs to be broken - and keeps her answers minimal when teachers call upon her directly. It sometimes seems abrupt, but as Peyton points out, at least she isn't one of those people that rambles on and on while people wish they'd shut up.

Quidditch - A lack of social interactivity with others doesn't have a huge impact on her life in sport - however, it does mean that fluidity with her fellow Chasers is not the most natural of her gifts, and it's another point of focus that she needs to develop this year. The rest of the team aren't exactly all her BFFs, but she has a sense of loyalty to them through their shared experiences and has their back as a result.

Social Skills: Boldness
While willing to 'enter into battle' in the metaphorical sense of sports, Peyton is much more reluctant when facing confrontation off the pitch. She shuts down when asked to justify differences in opinions in a very public forum, and can seem almost timid when someone starts on her - her general calmness goes out the window when it comes to a fight. Peyton is vigilant when it comes to protecting herself and her self interests, and doesn't apologise for that - it's OK for everyone to have their shy moments, after all.

Personal - as much as she hates herself, Peyton just finds it too hard to step in when someone is being picked on. If forced to make a choice to act, she will, but she is more naturally inclined to support someone before or after a conflict rather than during.

Academic - it's possible to take academic risks, and Peyton... doesn't, for the most part. Similarly to engaging in academic debate, she just isn't the dauntless and loquacious type. New concepts can be a little unnerving, and she definitely prefers to keep practising previous skills than jumping straight to the next ones once understood. It prevents her from advancing as fast as some of her peers, but Peyton shrugs and points out that she's not as high flying as them on the academic front anyway.

Quidditch - sport is the one front in which Peyton lets out, or even has a bold side. More than willing to make a daring solo play if she's the only Chaser in range, she is a quick flier with a rapid direction change. Above all, the security of the team gives Peyton the confidence to give everything she's got, and she does so willingly and with enthusiasm.

SKILLS

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English only. She's kind of debating taking Mrs Acuna's Spanish tuition, though.

PATRONUS: Peyton cannot cast a Patronus yet, and at 15, does not expect to be able to for some time. She'd be pleased if she could manage it by graduation, though.

SKILLS: Peyton is no linguist or musician. She can't sing or dance. Nor is she great shakes at other creative subjects - artificing, arts or cooking classes just aren't for her. What she CAN do, and do well, is play Quidditch. Her middle school was one of the few non-prep middle schools in her area to offer the sport, and as a result, when she got to play against other schools, she learned a lot of tricks from a variety of players. It is her playing ability that got her her place at Gooseberry, though she didn't qualify for a full scholarship. It was also made clear to her that playing as a freshman would be out of the question, so Peyton spent the year observing at every Quidditch match and practising where she could.

HISTORY

FAMILY MEMBERS:

Mother: Sarah Ryder, née Smethwick. Librarian at the Georgia Wizarding Library.

Father: George Ryder. Sports journalist, specialising in Quidditch and racing, working for the New York Ghost.

Brother: Casper Ryder. 3rd year Horned Serpent at Ilvermorny.

HISTORY:

Family Background & early childhood

Peyton 'no middle name' Ryder was born to a pair of teenage sweethearts who married young, right in the bustling city of Savannah, Georgia. Sarah and George were one of those couples that got together young and stayed together from school onwards with nary a flicker in their marital bliss, and are still sickeningly sweet on each other to this day. It was a loving and supportive environment, and baby Peyton arrived to much delight and fanfare. She received all the attention one might expect from young and involved first time parents, and her proud papa would take her out to watch matches and sporting events for work even when she was tiny enough to be in a sling.

When Casper arrived two years later, there was some adjustment for the inquisitive toddler, which was understandable. Also, disappointment that he was much too tiny for her to play with yet. Hadn't she been promised a playmate? However, as her brother grew older, they formed a tight bond and could often be found chasing each other around the living room in some manner. Adult visitors soon learned to either keep their wands on their person or to leave them someplace high.

Early Schooling

There was nothing overly noteworthy surrounding Peyton's early years in school. From kindergarten up, she attended a small magical school in a suburb of Savannah, Georgia named Isle of Hope Elementary, where Casper joined her two years later. It was only a nominally magical school, placing the emphasis in its curriculum on skills they would need to mingle in the wider world (Math, English, Geography, US History etc). The main reason Peyton's parents sent her there were for its safe environment in which children from magical families could be themselves without worrying about breaking the International Statute of Secrecy, always a huge burden for small shoulders.

By the time the children reached third grade, when any signs of magic or otherwise would finally have shown themselves or not, the school introduced the basics of magical theory, magical US history and other subjects that would help them at a later date. Children were taught the basics of magical games and sports during PE in a safe environment, and here Peyton's knowledge of Quidditch, having spent time at matches with her father, was able to shine. Peyton loved her elementary school, and while she is not the nostalgic sort, she looks upon her time there fondly, including her classmates and teachers. Upon reflection later in life, she thinks that if she didn't make it in pro Quidditch, or if she did and ended up retiring, she would like to do outreach or training work with kids this age.

Most students from IoHE would later transfer to the larger middle-high school named The Georgia Further School of Magic, located out in the country, linked via Savannah based portkeys and taking students from across the state. Peyton visited with her parents, and it seemed pleasant, but it was a day school. Feeling strongly that the boarding school experience would develop her skills and abilities in surroundings where she could mix more with a wide variety of people, it was to their own alma mater, Ilvermorny, where she would eventually go.

Ilvermorny

Unlike her later years at Gooseberry, starting at Ilvermorny was an overwhelmingly intimidating experience. Being only eleven years old and moving the entire way across the vast country for middle (and potentially high) school wasn't exactly a prospect Peyton welcomed - and she arrived at the school a tiny, shivering little thing with no friends and a real desire to turn tail and go back to Georgia. Only two things kept her from writing to her parents about the misery of the early weeks - trying to make them proud that their firstborn was going to the school where they met, and the kindness of the older students in her house (Pukwudgie) who did their best to take the socially awkward pre-teen under their wing. While she never made a distinct vow to imitate their behaviour as she got older, Peyton watched, learned and observed. She got better, and tried to make the new students at least feel comfortable around her with each passing year.

However, it wasn't as though Peyton didn't enjoy much of what she experienced at Ilvermorny. She was doing reasonably well in classes, the subjects were pretty interesting and she was thrown into the world of magical sports with even more attention than she had experienced before, following her dad around the country on writing trips for the Ghost. Quodpot was the sport she had seen most of, this being the USA, but she'd seen quite a bit of Quidditch in her time and loved the speed and agility required of the best players in the game. It was, therefore, the sport she had loved most since she was tiny.

Even though it wasn't the most dominant sport played at Ilvermorny, Peyton was able to try the sport out for the first time, and she fell even harder. As a child, she'd never really imagined the future and what she might want to do after graduation. As a teenager, Peyton instead harboured dreams of becoming a professional athlete. She worked hard but trained harder, and it was this combination of dedication and talent that made her eventual application to Gooseberry a successful one towards the end of her third year. Sure, she would probably have been happy if she'd remained at Ilvermorny. However, there was little point in denying that a smaller school with more focused attention would help both her grades and the nurturing of her sporting ability. Peyton promised to keep in touch with her old school friends, but Gooseberry was definitely the place she wanted to be.

Freshman Year

The first year of high school can be a tricky one for any student, but Peyton found herself at Gooseberry in one of its most dramatic years to date, even if the drama centred itself around the upperclassmen. Coming all the way from the South on the Freshman bus, she had a long time to contemplate what lay ahead of her - and fortunately, she made one or two friends on that long bus ride to help make sense of it all. By the time of her Sorting, which was a straightforward process in any case, she felt about as confident as she could be about the change. High School seemed exciting, and though she was homesick, rural Utah made a good substitute for the rural parts of her home state which she loved so much. Thus comforted, Peyton threw herself into her schoolwork, and came up with a plan with some of the other freshmen on how to best prepare themselves for a future potentially playing Quidditch. Just because the older kids would have their turn now didn't mean they couldn't give them a run for their money next year!

The side effect of this determination to settle well meant that she didn't have as sharp an awareness as other students of just how crazy the the supernatural powers surrounding the school were. Peyton didn't attend Grotto parties, she stayed in her lane where curfew was concerned and all she really heard was second hand from other Ribbonfins. As a result, it wasn't until the Agent and the Dr from MACUSA showed up that it began to sink in just how strange it all was, and how they may have real reason to worry. Still, though, she trusted the adults. By the time the year ended, that faith was pretty badly shaken, and it took a summer travelling with her family (they went road tripping, no-maj style) to become more relaxed about going back to school. Her views on the matter are parroted ones of her parents. They really want to believe they sent their daughter to a safe place, so they have no choice but to trust the administration. Peyton only hopes that they'll turn out to be correct.

Sophomore Year

As time moves on regardless of whether the students are ready for it, Peyton is 100% ready to be back at school for her second year. Less emotionally involved in the events of last year than other students, she is looking forward to a new school year with a fresh start, ready to try new things and at least attempt to put the trauma felt by the school behind them. She isn't scared of what might be out there in the forest - perhaps naively assuming that after everyone was rescued, it'll all be fine now - but the fact that everyone made it out physically well is enough for her. Peyton's priority for the year is to just get through the academics with what she needs and Quidditch by making a good impression. Plus, now that the administration knows what happened last year, there will be a lot more safeguards on the campus, right? ...right?

SCHOOL

YEAR: Sophomore

HOUSE: Ribbonfin (previously a Pukwudgie at Ilvermorny)

SORTING: Peyton is a reserved and calm individual for the most part, who is happy to stand on the sidelines during any conflicts or controversies, weighing things up sensibly until she can come up with an educated opinion. As such, she is both diplomatic and good natured, and is a helpful person to have around in times of crisis. on a similar note, she is not the type to fake listening to your problems - she knows that even if she cannot solve them for her friends, having a sympathetic ear around can be just as much help. Her sorting did not take long - by the time she had walked up, politely greeted the emblems and stood patiently to find out her fate, both Coppertale and Azurcrest backed away. Ribbonfin and Ebonhide put up a show of discussion, but it was Peyton's less intense and competitive attitude towards academics that made the fish claim her as one of their own.

WAND: Peyton's wand is made by the Violetta Beauvais company, making it of swamp mayhaw wood, with a rougarou hair core.

FAMILIAR: A rescued British shorthair called Thaddeus. She took him in from the street before beginning her freshman year, and he still only answers to her.

CLASSES:
Core: Charms, Herbology, History of Magic, Outdoor Education, Potions
Electives: Astronomy, Magizooology

ADVANCED STUDY: As it is not obligatory, Peyton has elected to not take an Advanced Study class. She has instead chosen to focus on the classes she has already, and use any extra time for Quidditch practice and physical training.

SENIOR PROJECT: Peyton has no idea how to gather her ideas this far ahead. What she does know, however, is that she'd like it to be Quidditch related. It can't be making a broom as she doesn't take Artificing, nor inventing a spell as she doesn't take Hermeticism. She's currently debating if designing a training programme using legal potions to promote fast recovery and healing would be possible.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Peyton is, in her own words, 'doing OK'. She's a pretty solid B student in trickier subjects like Potions or her electives, but she pulls out As when it comes to subjects that suit her physical and outdoorsy nature. Outdoor Education is, hands down, her favourite subject. She loves spending time doing the activities taught by Mr Thorn, and it's a good way to keep up fitness. In terms of more academic pursuits, she enjoys the nurturing nature of Herbology, and learning about what kind of plants work in what kind of environment. It helps that her Head of House is such a gentle-natured teacher.

EXTRACURRICULARS:
Quidditch: Peyton took her chances with Gooseberry Quidditch the very second it became possible to do so. She's small and fast enough to potentially be a good Seeker, but Chasing has always been her favourite. Her spot on the team was finally (in her opinion) won by her using her physicality in combination with her observation skills, able to anticipate the direction of other Chasers and the bludgers themselves. She has a really keen eye, and her study of how others play gives her pretty good instincts with what sort of passes to make.
Other: Equestrian Club and Outdoor Exploration are the two she has stuck to. Peyton did try out Archery and Boating during Freshman year, always loving the outdoors, but she decided to give them up during sophomore year. She didn't want to burn herself out, or worse, injure herself while in the run-up for her Quidditch team bid. She decided to keep OE for her fitness, same with the class, and Equestrian club because she likes the animals and finds riding to be restful. And controlling the horse with your knees isn't a world away from broom riding, right?

OOC

NAME: Heather
EMAIL: heather_stanton@hotmail.com
CDJ: fandomfeministecdj @ tumblr
TIME ZONE: GMT/BST