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[junipercrane]

GENERAL

NAME: Juniper Crane
NICKNAMES: June, Junie, June-Bug, just about any combo therin, but she prefers Junie.
AGE/DOB: 16, just turned on February 13th
BLOOD STATUS: Half-blood
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Female, she/her
SEXUALITY: Bisexual
HOMETOWN: Upper East Side, New York

CONCEPT: Fashion queen bringing sharp mind and penchant for mystery to the backwoods.

PHYSICAL

APPEARANCE: Junie is a UES girl through and through, and she favors just about any new fashion trend. She prefers muggle clothing by far, to her uniform, and will change as soon as it’s permissible. Seriously, Junie loves fashion. No one in her cabin is quite sure how she does it, but they swear she never wears the same outfit twice.

However, when she is in uniform, it is immaculate. She takes her duty as a Prefect seriously and that includes how she looks. She has zero qualms about walking up to any student and adjusting their uniform (personal boundaries, what?) and will swat their hands if they try and stop her. Her hair varies between left down and loose, and upswept braids and chignons. Her clothing takes up the vast majority of her storage, and she may sometimes try and steal closet space from her roomies.

HEIGHT: 5’ 3”. She is smol.

PB: Brenda Song

PERSONALITY

LIKES: Socializing, writing, traveling, books, puzzles, Sherlock Holmes, tea, Agatha Christie, classic movies, running, history, murder mysteries, ghosts, cheerleading, all fashion, makeup, Quidditch, and just about any scented candle.

DISLIKES: Hiking, yoga, basically any physical activity except running, cooking, scary movies, fantasy, the cold, people who don’t know how to make good tea, poorly written plot twists, broken promises.

PERSONALITY:

Junie Crane is the sort of person who offers their hand first in any interaction. She wouldn’t know the word ‘shy’ if it jumped up and bit her. As far as she is concerned, things need to get done and they won’t get done if everyone is dilly-dallying around. She applies this outlook equally to school and social situations; she is just as likely to have a detailed plan for a date as she is about her final exams. It makes her somewhat exhausting to spend time with, unless her enthusiasm can be matched. It helps if she’s had an outlet to expend herself on first. One of the best times to catch her in a more mellow mood is after a big exam, or while she’s working on something distracting, like a puzzle.

Unfortunately, this has a few drawbacks that Junie hasn’t really addressed yet. She tends to talk first and think later, which makes her come across as overly blunt and even mean-girl-sounding. It also means she struggles with letting someone else be ‘right’, or talking before she has a chance to cut in edgewise. She sees it as energetic discourse; pretty much everyone else would like to just have a chance to participate. She can be dismissive of other people’s opinions and talks down to them. It has not endeared her to many; the one saving grace is that she genuinely likes most people and will gloss over any rough spots with an idealism that minimizes problems. She is never bitter and doesn’t dwell on the past at all. She’s a fun friend, just a tiring one.

At her core, Junie also struggles with the dual issues of being split between two cultures and two homes. Her mother is a Chinese-American auror with MACUSA, a career-minded woman with the same excellent analytical skills she passed on to her only daughter. She taught Junie a lot of her independence and her positive outlook. However, Junie has trouble fitting in with the Chinese side of her family sometimes, some of whom judge her for her mixed parentage (and somewhat for her father being a squib). On the other side, Junie’s father is a very laid-back Englishman, who introduced her to Sherlock Holmes and other murder mysteries, great English literature, and who is always cautioning her to slow down and relax. Junie loves spending time with her father, but hates that her resemblance to him is so low that people don’t recognize them many times as father and daughter. Overall, caught between her separated parents, Junie often feels like she is truly part of neither side. Inexplicably, she will descend into fits of mild depression, losing some of her energetic ways and behaving listlessly as she withdraws from friends.

This isn’t to say that Junie doesn’t love her family. She is intensely proud of both of her parents, who juggle careers while sharing care of their three children and try and make everything smooth and stress-free. She teases her kid brothers just like any other sister, but she’s protective as the day is long. She is the same way with friends; she’s not the motherly type but she is the ‘I’ll fight your enemies for you” type. She will never hesitate to jump into a fight, and unfortunately, that can sometimes mean she does it when she doesn’t have a real good grasp of the issue. She’s damaged friendships before when she acts too rashly, even though her intentions are good. It’s difficult for her to remain neutral when she feels she could be accomplishing more.

Overall, Junie is driven and focused, and sometimes can come across as too intensely energized, without considering how that might sweep others along with her plans when they aren’t ready. She just wants to see people succeed! If she needs to carry them to the finish line herself, then that’s what she will do. And pro-tip? Don’t tell her any secrets. She doesn’t see the value in keeping them. Living forthrightly should eliminate that need, right? Also, sometimes she just forgets that it's a secret. Sorry!

tl;dr:
+super friendly
+outgoing and energetic
+highly intelligent
+problem solver
+positive outlook
=very flirty
=very smart mouth
-judgemental
-lack of boundaries
-gossipy
-unsympathetic

SKILLS

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English and Mandarin, and very bad French.

PATRONUS: Junie cannot cast a Patronus.

SKILLS:

-Duelling: As Junie herself likes to say, she’s wizard at it. Just like her mother, and in her mind, her idol, Sherlock. It’s all in the focus, but also, Junie just refuses to accept that she can’t, so she does. She is better at defense, mostly because she cannot be dissuaded or easily overcome. She is more hesitant on offense, and that’s what she is concentrating on this year. She would like a mentor but so far has not jelled with anyone. However, her skills in this area are beyond what a normal sophomore should be exhibiting.

-Puzzles: This started out as a way for Junie to focus, since she can otherwise be very flighty and dart from one subject to another. Over time, she’s gotten very good at puzzles of all types: jigsaw (she prefers 3D or crystal puzzles now), mindteasers, cryptics, logic grids, Sudoku, and more. She is not as good with mechanical puzzles, since those often rely on a more spatial set of skills.

-Piano: Junie is really good at it, having had to take lessons since she was able to sit up. She can find it boooooring unless someone is there playing with her. And don't ask her to sing. Please.

-Running: While Junie does not usually care for the outdoors, she loves running. It’s a habit of her mother’s; they both would get up early for a run before dawn, to ‘clear the head’ as her mother is fond of saying. Anything short of running is too slow. She has great endurance and coordination built from years of this routine. Her father ensures that she has adequate downloads of Zombie Run and other running apps on the otherwise neglected phone (really a glorified music player).

Writing: Really, as much as she loves mysteries, it would make sense if Junie was a great storyteller. Sadly, she is not. However, give her an assignment to explain the intersection of magic and the rise of the anti-establishment movement, or how seventeenth century England was really a hidden Renaissance of order magic, or some other seemingly dry but convoluted subject, and Junie will hand in a paper that blows your mind. She can delve into the intricacies of almost anything, provided she finds a good angle. To her, this is another puzzle, and she knows how to deliver. In fact, it was her treatise on the late discovery of the colors of a fwooper making it a poor historical choice to represent the runic four that cemented her place at Gooseberry. Everyone loves a good intellectual thesis.

HISTORY

FAMILY MEMBERS:

-Jing-Mei Hwang: Junie’s mother is an Obliviator for MACUSA, and takes her job very seriously. She raised her children in New York City and exposed them to both No-Maj and wizarding culture, but always made it extremely clear that the two should not interact if at all possible. She strives not to be prejudiced against No-Maj peoples but she has a coolness about them that she finds necessary to maintain in order to do her job effectively. She does not allow her children access to No-Maj technology, like phones and computers, but is forced to turn a blind eye when they are with their father. A fiercely independent woman, she fell in love with Timothy’s practical nature and ease, but over time, they could not reconcile her workaholic ways and his more dreamy approach. It was an amicable parting, and she stays in close contact with him.

-Timothy Crane, (squib): Junie's father. Born into the wizarding world but never able to fully access it, Timothy had a very pragmatic approach about life. He adored his mother, who encouraged him to spend more time with Muggles, and arranged for him to attend the best English schools she could find. He distanced himself from his father’s bitterness and embraced that he was an average boy who happened to know about some fantastical things. In fact, despite the treatment he suffered from the wizards and witches he knew, Timothy was rarely bothered and instead used his small connections to the wizarding world to create a travel agency catering to Muggles who wanted to see the most unusual sites. Timothy knows the fine line of what can be seen by Muggles but borders on the wizardly, and he points out to anyone dour that at least he can use a phone and doesn’t have to breathe in soot to make a call.

-Aster and Rowan Crane: Junie’s twin brothers exemplify all that is charming...and troublesome. At seven years old, they have already becomes thick as thieves with their babysitter, have worn through six pairs of charmed walkie talkies (that they use exclusively to plan all their shenanigans), and twisted all of their grandparents around their little fingers. They’ve developed a lunch racket, selling hot pizza out of their second grade classroom for spending money. They convinced their first grade teacher for six straight months that there was only one of them, so that they got every other day off of school. Junie is convinced that if they put their minds to it, they would easily take over the civilized world in the span of weeks.

Bethany Harcourt-Crane (half blood, deceased): Junie’s maternal grandmother was frail for as long as Junie knew her, and she passed away when Junie was six.

Hannibal Crane (pureblood): Junie’s paternal grandfather, he struggled with shame and anger at his only son proving to be a squib, and early on, he blamed his wife for the perceived failing. In time, he regretted his actions and words during those years. Although he and his son have never been close since (as Timothy in turn blamed his mother’s early death on his father), Hannibal tries to make up for this by spoiling his grandchildren at every turn.

Kuen Hwang (half blood): Junie’s maternal grandfather is a quiet gentleman, still living in New York near his daughter. He dotes on his grandchildren but he doesn’t involve himself in their upbringing, leaving that to his wife and daughter.

Kyolin Hwang (half blood): As loud as her husband is quiet, Kyolin is abrasive, demanding, and a true perfectionist. She makes no secret of the fact that her daughter marrying a squib was pretty much the end of the world, but she will work with the clay that she has, to her mind. She speaks exclusively Mandarin to Junie and her brothers, and every visit home involves a lengthy interrogation about school, coupled with demonstrations of what Junie has learned.

HISTORY:

Juniper Crane was born in New York City to her very dissimilar parents. Her childhood was normal if only because her parents shielded her from most of the difficulties around her and the family drama; her grandparents all hated one another, her mother’s parents hated her father and her father’s father hated pretty much himself, and….so it went. Her father took her frequently to England to show her where he’d come from, and introduced her to his love of literature and travel. Her mother tended to work long hours and was a homebody, but Junie didn’t mind, considering the sheer variety of activity that was the city. The distraction of her brother’s births eight years later, when her parents were trying to make a second go of their marriage, thoroughly blinded her to any other problems.

She attended Covenstead from kindergarten onward, showing magical prowess from any early age (much to the extreme relief of everyone in her family, although her father just shrugged). The first few years, Junie struggled to make friends, as she did not understand personal space and often got into trouble by being ‘overly familiar’ as her teacher would say, which Junie just thought was friendliness. She often came home crying to her mother, and never seemed to have a good friend consistently. It took until about fourth grade for her to settle into relationships with other girls her age, although she was never the most popular. Still, her outgoing nature meant she could at least bond over some of the things she found interesting, like fashion.

Even as a kid, Junie excelled at putting together outfits, jewelry, makeup, and the like. She would choose her mother's outfits, the more outraegous the better (which Jing-Mei would tone down on her way in). This served as an outlet for her when she felt lonely, or ostracized from school. She haunted thrift stores in her neighborhood and used her own money to purchase a half-dozen fashion magazine subscriptions. Still, she fretted about not having any close friends she could share that with.

Junie eventually made friends with a boy named Daisan, a self-professed geek who got how absorbed she could get with Sherlock Holmes, ghosts, and anything remotely supernatural. He wasn't interested in fashion at all, but she didn't mind. They were best friends all the way through eighth grade, going on ‘adventures’ that involved tracking down ghosts, making up elaborate stories about their neighbors and their surely dastardly deeds, and otherwise pretending to be sleuths. Around this time, Junie’s parents split, and her father moved permanently back to England. Without his calming presence around, Junie found it very difficult sometimes to endure her mother’s family all the time, and the suffocating expectations they put upon her. She threw herself into schooling, mostly so they would ease up on her, although it never seemed to work.

Still, her mother was intensely proud of her efforts, even as she worried that Junie would become a workaholic like she herself was. Moreso, Junie’s mother worried that being in New York meant Junie would soon be too distracted by No-Maj offerings, and she had searched for some time for an appropriately removed school. In the end, she chose Gooseberry for the remote campus, unreachable by most tech, and arranged for Junie to be transferred there.

Junie was distraught at having to leave Daisan, and at first, she hated Gooseberry on principle. Her first year, she was petulant and sad, but she immediately gelled with the Azurcrests in a way she’d never expected. Since Covenstead didn’t have Houses, she was unused to the camaraderie that came with being grouped that way, plus being able to live twenty-four seven with her classmates. Likewise out from under the constant perusal of her grandparents, Junie discovered that she’d been carrying a lot of stress that she had never recognized. Gooseberry turned out to be the freedom she really needed, and by the time her first year was over, she never wanted to go back to New York. To be fair, she still missed Daisan, but they got by through frequent letters and meetups.

SCHOOL

YEAR: Sophomore (Grade 10)
HOUSE: Azurcrest
SORTING: Junie was frankly thisclose to being part of Coppertale, with Ebonhide a runner up. After a short exchange where the bear pointed out that her analytical mind would have a good home with Ebonhide, the trout and bear both settled down as general spectators to watch the bluejay and fox go at it. One on hand, her confidence seemed a perfect fit for the Coppertale home, and no one could ever say she didn’t know how to aim for a goal and go after it. But one thing kept pulling her attention back to the blue jay: above all, Junie has a zest for life that the other emblems just couldn’t match. Even though her determination and intellect felt like a match for another, she always chose joy first. It still took almost five minutes; just as Professor Hightower was about to enter the cave, the newest Azurcrest stepped out.
WAND: Although Junie wanted red oak, her wand is a 11” chestnut wand with a Wampus cat hair core.
FAMILIAR: Her rat, Tu Fei.

CLASSES:

Core:
Charms
History of Magic
Potions
DADA
Herbology

Electives:
Aesthetic Magic
Wizard Literature

ADVANCED STUDY: This year, Junie is not doing an Advanced Study
SENIOR PROJECT: Thankfully far in the future for her.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Junie is a powerhouse in her classes. She studies like mad, knowing there just isn’t a shortcut to knowledge. Far and away, her best class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, but growing up as the daughter of an Obliviator cemented that one. She enjoys Wizard Literature as well, and asks the most questions out of any student (causing Professor Acuña to sometimes even to sigh before calling on her again).

Her weakest class is Herbology, because she lacks patience, but she tries. And tries. And then tries too hard and ruins her projects and has to start over.

EXTRACURRICULARS:

Cheer Squad!!!
Gaming
Dueling and Fencing

OOC

NAME: Mel
EMAIL: setsunaluna@gmail.com
CDJ: melantha
OTHER PREFERRED CONTACT: N/A
TIME ZONE: EST