PROFILE

[chryseis]

GENERAL

NAME: Cressida Mae Quayle
NICKNAMES: She usually goes by Cricket, but she will answer to Cressida or any shortened variation. Her grandparents sometimes call her Cressie Mae, which she detests.
AGE & DOB: 17 & July 5th, 1996 (Cancer Sun, Libra Moon)
BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood
GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female & she/her
SEXUALITY: Undecided! Primarily interested in men, but wavers on where to draw the line between her romantic v. sexual attraction to women (she's yet to feel both simultaneously). She's getting gayer by the second...
HOMETOWN: Olympus, Picket County, Tennessee.

"To the No-Maj world, the town of Olympus ceased to exist in 1907. It was actually bought out and transformed into a magical settlement. Currently, it's one of the biggest magical cities in the South. Many a visitor has compared it to Nashville due to its prominent magical music scene. The Quayles are one of the five founding members of magical Olympus.

The town is also home to the Swan Academy, a K-12 school that services most of the southeastern United States. While it is considered an upper echelon school, numbers tend to dwindle after the 5th grade due to Ilvermorny transfers. It does not have a house system and there is a small dormitory for students with special housing circumstances. In addition to both education and magical fundamentals, the Swan Academy also requires classes in manners, ballroom dancing, and other social graces to ensure their students are properly ready to enter magical society upon graduation."

CONCEPT: Neurotic Southern belle is tired of pretending to be Little Miss Sunshine.

PHYSICAL

APPEARANCE:

Surprisingly, considering the care and precision that she puts into every other aspect of her life, Cricket doesn't get particularly worked up about her appearance. While she never looks sloppy, it isn't uncommon for her to show up to class with her (very) long, fiery hair plaited in the same messy braid that she slept in. Or to wear the same oversized flannel to the library three days in a row. She lives in the woods, after all. Besides, she is at Gooseberry to work, not attract unwanted attention.

Outside of uniform, she has a fairly preppy and utilitarian sense of style. She can usually be found in riding pants, boots, and fitted sweaters, but they are always of high-quality material and typically from unnecessarily expensive brands. Even when she is dressed down, it's obvious that she comes from old money.

MISC;

• The vast majority of Cricket's clothes are monogrammed 'CMQ' either on the tag or prominently on the chest.
• Cricket is slightly far sighted and wears tortoise shell reading glasses, especially at night.
• Could easily be mistaken for a Barbour catalogue model. Not that she is familiar with No-Maj brands.
• Cricket is left-handed.

HEIGHT & BUILD: 5’4” & Hourglass

PB: Holland Roden

PERSONALITY

LIKES: Her label maker, monograms, brand new highlighters, a well-organized planner, bullet journaling, calligraphy, horses, the Gooseberry stables, trail rides, lawn games, fly fishing, wildflower bouquets, matchmaking, jet black espresso with WAY too much cream and sugar, history (both magical and muggle), romance novels, weddings!, sleepovers, intimate parties, DIY projects, arts and crafts, political discourse, well moderated debates, dedicated research, talking about feminism, positionality, and epistemology. Annnnd those 45 minutes in the morning where she gets to read the newspaper before anyone else gets a chance to leave their grubby fingerprints all over it.

DISLIKES: People who don't say their pleases & thank yous, people who can't mind their tempers (lol), shouting, excessive cursing, crying (which she does a lot), losing her cool, machismo, violence, overconfident men, being underestimated, not understanding references, being told to smile, social conservatives, MESSES, red meat, rainy weather, artificial flavoring, people who talk in class, her own twangy accent.

PERSONALITY:

[UNDER REVISION]

From a very early age, Cricket Quayle recognized the importance of maintaining social graces and works hard at crafting a poised, polished, and polite image for herself. It's very important to Cricket that everyone find her likable, even people she doesn't like, at all. She has a special knack for making people feel important and she never forgets a face (or name, birthday, hometown, a favorite food that you may have only mentioned once in passing, etc). No matter how busy she gets, she always manages to find the time to take on other peoples' problems, whether it's simply sewing on a button or moderating an argument. She is suspiciously easy to talk to and gives off a warm, soothing energy that tends to make people lower their defenses and divulge their secrets. Her apparent eagerness to help out those in need and her near-encyclopedic knowledge of the minute details of other peoples' lives would make it seem that she is everyone's VERY BEST friend. In reality, Cricket has few close friends. While she squirrels away gossip about her classmates, she plays her own cards close to her chest.

What she would hate to have others find out is that underneath that sugary sweet shell, Cricket is not a very nice person. While she does kind things and pays loving compliments, it's often for insincere or selfish reasons. She uses kindnesses as bargaining chips and racks up future favors obsessively. Unlike gentle Ribbonfins, she doesn't help others because she truly cares, rather she steps in because that is what school leaders (and future world leaders!) are meant to do. She works hard to come across as sociable and effervescent, but what she really wants most in life is for everyone to just be quiet and BEHAVE. Quite frankly, pretending to be perfect is beginning to drive her insane.

Only a few people know just how close Cricket is to having a full-blown mental breakdown. Those who do know her well would describe a completely different girl than the sweet natured, calm, collected Southern belle that most of the school has come to love. For one, Cricket is an unreasonably emotional young woman and is prone to fits of hysterical crying. Happy crying, sad crying, mad crying -- doesn't matter why. Only her family, close friends, and (unfortunately) her dormmates know this about her and she would be humiliated if the wider student body found out. And, to make matters worse, while she is an uncontrollably dramatic person herself, she has very little patience for dramatics in others. Two, Cricket is a deeply jealous person. She gives attention and affection freely, but she becomes irrationally possessive of those few people she has deemed close friends and can be quite petty if she feels they are not paying enough attention to her. Lastly, and most shockingly, Cricket can be downright two-faced. If she really doesn't like someone, they will be the last to know it. She'll compliment your outfit, help you with your homework, and ask you about your sick grandma, then turn right around and complain about you to her friends under wards.

+ helpful
+ thoughtful
+ caring
+ loyal
+ hardworking
= emotional
= anxious
= neurotic
- controlling
- petty
- manipulative
- entitled

MISC;

• Handwriting
  
• Random tidbits
• Drink of choice

HISTORY

FAMILY MEMBERS:

Augustine Quayle -- Paternal grandfather. Pureblood. Former Wampus. Former MACUSA representative. The current mayor of Olympus, Tennessee. Married to Opal Quayle née Abbott.

Savannah Braxton née Robinson -- Maternal grandmother. Pureblood. Former Thunderbird. Former director of the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation. Current socialite. Married to Jonathan Braxton.

Ambrose Quayle -- Father. Pureblood. Former Wampus. MACUSA representative from the Great State of Tennessee. Constantly surrounded by chatter of a presidential bid.

Susannah Quayle née Braxton -- Mother. Pureblood. Former Thunderbird. The magical equivalent of Martha Stewart. A pressed and polished woman who throws a mean garden party.

Aloysius Quayle -- Older brother. Former Thunderbird. Former Coppertale (graduated last year). Intern for the Tennessee Magical State Senate. They argue over the dinner table a lot.

Ulysses August Quayle -- Younger brother. Former Wampus. Ebonhide Junior. Her little lamb who she seeks to cherish (and embarrass) above all else.

Regan Hobbs -- Cousin by way of the Quayles. Azurcrest Sophomore.

Robin Youngblood -- Cousin by way of the Robinsons. Coppertale Senior.
[Sean Youngblood (squib), Quentin Youngblood (Coppertale freshman)]

HISTORY:

Cressida ‘Cricket’ Mae is the second child of Ambrose and Susannah Quayle. She was born on a rainy summer afternoon, three weeks early, which put a halt to Susannah’s meticulously planned luncheon. Her birth announcement hit the papers before her tiny head even had a chance to hit the sheets of her crib. The community in Olympus, Tennessee knew about Cricket long before she knew about them. Before she knew about object permanence, for that matter.

Despite her family’s relative celebrity status, Cricket’s childhood passed uneventfully. While her upbringing couldn't be described as normal, she was too young to realize that not everyone had their own stable full of magically pedigreed horses and that most children cleaned their own rooms without the aid of maids. It wasn’t until she entered kindergarten at the Swan Academy that she really began to grasp that her family was different, even in comparison to her other wealthy classmates. Most of her peers lived lux lives, but no one else could boast the same level of legacy as the Quayles and along with that legacy came eminence.

Cricket quickly came to learn that in Olympus, Tennessee all eyes were on the Quayles. Even as a grade schooler, she recognized that her own successes and failures reflected on her family. Tight-knit and competitive, the Quayle children all excelled at the Academy. Cricket had to work hard to keep up with her brothers’ marks, but she compensated for her lack of natural academic ability by shining extra bright in the field of etiquette. She loved her years at Swan Academy, where diligence was all it took to make top marks and manners were cherished. When it was time for her to be sent away to Ilvermorny she was reluctant, but would never fathom disappointing her parents and went without protest.

The move to Ilvermorny was jarring for Cricket, to say the least. It was cold and dark, nobody said their pleases and thank yous, everyone had stupid confusing accents, and (worst of all) nobody seemed to care that she was a Quayle. Her first few weeks at Ilvermorny, her only 'friend' was her elder brother, Aloysius, who she thought brash on his best days and just plain annoying on his worst. She missed her younger brother, Ulysses, and she missed talking to people with real Southern charm. As the weeks passed, she began to make friends with her housemates in Horned Serpent and became reacquainted with some of the children of Society that she had crossed paths with growing up. Slowly, she learned to adjust to life in the mountains of Massachusetts. Ulysses's arrival the next year certainly eased her nerves.

With the help of her more gifted housemates, Cricket continued to perform well academically but found it took considerably more dedication to excel. Once complex magic entered the equation, she struggled even more. It was during her second year at Ilvermorny that Cricket began to consider a career that wouldn't require her to be a particularly powerful witch. Growing up, she was often jokingly told (when she was being manipulative or sly) that she would make a great politician. Since politics were really all she had ever known, she began to develop political aspirations for herself. President Cressida Quayle had a nice ring to it. During her summers, she traveled with her father on MACUSA business and spent as much time in the Tennessee Senate building as was allowed.

After settling into Ilvermorny, Cricket hadn't intended to follow in her older brother's footsteps and switch schools (yet again). It wasn't until several of her closest friends expressed interest in transferring to Gooseberry that Cricket even began to consider the move. She liked the idea of graduating from an exclusive school and the great outdoors appealed to her, but mostly she just didn't want to start another school year friendless and (*gasp*) unpopular. With the help of her parents, Cricket quickly put together an application for Gooseberry stacked full of references. While she isn't the most talented witch, she is exceptionally hardworking and well-liked, which thankfully tipped the scales and she was accepted into Gooseberry as a freshman.

The transition to Gooseberry was much easier than her move to Ilvermorny. Cricket was practiced at making friends and charming new teachers, plus she already had a small nest egg of confidants who transferred along with her. While her academic life became even more rigorous, her social life bloomed at Gooseberry. The small class sizes and tight-knit community at Gooseberry allowed Cricket to bond one on one with nearly all of her classmates. Her southern charms, coupled with some newly sprouted breasts made her quite popular. Her freshman year, she focused a little too much on becoming Miss Congeniality and her grades suffered.

Getting passed up for prefect her sophomore year served as a significant reality check for Cricket. While she thought Magdalen was deserving of the position, she wasn't accustomed to being passed up for anything. After that, she returned her focus to schooling. Through her sophomore and junior years, she was much more likely to be found at the library than at the Grotto. Ulysses's acceptance to Gooseberry helped to solidify her resolve; setting a good example for him was important to her. All her hard work paid off. When Magdalen was made Head Girl, Cricket was asked to fill her place as house prefect.

At the start of her senior year, Cricket is just now beginning to attempt the juggling act between academics, authority, and (most importantly) remaining likable.

SCHOOL

YEAR: Senior
HOUSE: Ebonhide (former Horned Serpent)
SORTING:

Cricket's sorting required an arbitration. Every emblem was able to make a decent case for her, even Azurcrest tried to convince her that it would do her some good to loosen up a little (which earned them nothing more than a withering stare). The fox pointed out that she is a natural born leader (perhaps, a bit bossy) and might learn to love the boisterous side of Coppertale. The trout saw in her an ability to stay calm under pressure and argued that surely someone so diplomatic belonged in Ribbonfin. Cricket was apt to agree with the trout, but Ebonhide insisted that all the other emblems had it all wrong. The emblems argued amongst themselves for some time, but it was the bear and the trout that kept at it until the end. Cricket couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

Eventually, Mr. Hightower had the honor of attempting mediation, but Ebonhide was so stubbornly set on Cricket that the trout conceded just to keep the ceremony moving along. In the end, that obstinate old bear was right. While Ribbonfin seemed the more flattering fit to Cricket, Ebonhide speaks to her true character. Outwardly, she is tactful and collected, but her Ribbonfin qualities end on the surface. Her sweet exterior is the result of her Southern upbringing and, really, she is only so polite because being rude is ugly. More often than not, she is internally screaming when she is forced to interact with baser types.

What the bear could see in her were all of her qualities that she prefers to pretend don't exist: perfectionism bordering on psychosis, overactive tear ducts, a pig-headed faith in her own opinions, a deeply repressed temper, and an uncharitable ill-will toward those she deems silly or lazy. Luckily for Cricket, the bear kept those insights to itself and simply insisted that she possesses the perfect balance between persistence and passion that makes Ebonhide so great. No other house could properly nurture her desires to make the world a better place. The bear simply wouldn’t budge and Cricket was ultimately sorted against her wishes.

Her reluctance to be perceived as a pretentious, stubborn, killjoy was fortunately assuaged by the fact that three of her previous Horned Serpent peers had already been sorted into Ebonhide ahead of her. Cricket's last words were, "Well, if they're Ebonhides, I guess I am one too," which ALMOST made the trout glub out one more attempt to win her back, but by then it was all over. So, she dried her eyes and emerged from the cave an Ebonhide.

WAND: 15" Alder wand with a White River Monster spine core. A Quintana made family heirloom, passed down through the women on her mother's side. It is a much, much too powerful wand for her and they are unhappily matched.
FAMILIAR: A nearly 30 pound orange Maine Coon. He was already full-grown when he decided to adopt Cricket and, hence, was never really bestowed a name. He seems to respond to Kitty, as most cats do. Kitty is primarily an outside cat and is almost never seen with Cricket, leading some younger students to believe that Kitty is actually Cricket in animagus form. She secretly enjoys the rumor and is dodgy about the details when asked.



FAMILY PETS: Four Andalusian horses. Her personal horse is a champagne colored Andalusian named Champagne Fantastic (or just Champ, for short). The Quayles also have two Irish wolf hounds.

CLASSES:
1. Charms
2. Hermeticism
3. History of Magic
4. Transfiguration
5. Potions
6. Defense Against the Dark Arts
7. Artificing
8. Occlumency

SENIOR PROJECT:

A thesis paper (seeking publication) on the causes and aftermath of the First & Second Wizarding Wars. She spent a solid chunk of her summer in Britain attempting to interview surviving members of the Sacred 28 families but was met with steely resistance by most. She is now in the process of reworking her paper to rely less heavily on primary narratives. It's on its ninth draft.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE:

Cricket is a model student. What she lacks in innate intelligence, she more than makes up for in determination. She always sits in the front row, isn't afraid to ask questions, and is scarily organized. Placing an extremely high value on academic performance runs in her family. The Quayles have a reputation at Gooseberry for spending more time in the library than they do their own dorms.

That being said, Cricket is by no means at the top of her class. She has a bookish sort of intelligence that lends itself well to subjects based more solidly on memorization or logic, like Hermeticism and History of Magic, but she is not a naturally gifted witch. Channeling magic does not come easily to her and she struggles in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Occlumency is especially difficult for her, as it requires both a gift for magic and a stoic nature, neither of which Cricket possesses. And the idea of completely emptying ones' head of thoughts? Impossible! Cricket's mind is constantly whirring a mile a minute.

So far, she has been able to scrape by with no less than a B in any of her classes, but it is not without hard work and many, many, many private office hours with Ms. Lilywhite and Ms. Rhee. Cricket is up for the challenge, though. She easily could have soared through her Senior Year with a class list packed full of subjects she enjoys and excels at outside of school (ie. Herbology, Magizoology, Wizard Literature!), but she chose the eight courses that she considered to be the most impressive and academically challenging. If she can just get through this next year without overdosing on caffeine, it will all have been worth it!

BEST CLASS: History of Magic
FAVORITE CLASS: Artificing
WORST CLASS: Occlumency
DREADED CLASS: DADA

EXTRACURRICULARS: Event Committee, Equestrian Club, and Outdoor Exploration

OOC

NAME: Aleena
EMAIL: See Player Contact Page
CDJ: optimistprime
TIME ZONE: AK Standard Time