poppy bloxam
Poppy Beatrice-Bloxam Rivers
Application: Trio Era, Seventh Year, Canonical
Game written for: ![[info]](https://www.scribbld.com/img/community.gif)
quivive
Eras available in: Trio
Status: Complete
Icons by: ![[info]](https://www.scribbld.com/img/userinfo.gif)
ludivine
Journals: papaver @ gj.com
BASICS
Full Name: Poppy Beatrice-Bloxam Rivers
Age/Birthdate: Sixteen, March 23
Year/House: Sixth, Slytherin (Prefect)
Blood Status: Pureblooded, though there are a few literal skeletons in the closet. The Rivers are fabulous at cleaning up messes, and there's a reason Poppy is the go-to girl for getting out those tough stains.
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual. Women are far too emotionally-needy.
Location: Rainham, Kent, England.
Affiliation: Poppy is a Slytherin through-and-through, and can at times feign neutrality; but one rage blackout later, and the entire castle knows she's the Dark Lord's gal.
APPEARANCE
Up until this past summer, anything that had to do with physical appearances left Poppy completely and utterly bored. With what can only be described as a mass of Hermione-esque hair, her big, golden brown curls were hardly what one would consider aesthetically pleasing. Long they may have been, but they lacked the silky quality that might have defined them as luxurious. While her hair's colour was rich - an appealing chocolate brown with natural hints of amber and auburn - it's appeal was lost by the fly-away texture. Having worn it, until lately, as one gigantic, untameable mane, it has always added to Poppy's somewhat intimidating presence. At best, she wore it pulled back in a hap-hazard rat's nest on the top of her head. Post-physical revolution, however, Poppy has learned the arts of hair potions and delightful charms. Her new look consists of sleak, glossy curls which really make all the difference in the world. In keeping with this new look, she has tamed her somewhat unruly brows and has replaced dirt smudges with pink rouge. Shockingly, with everything clipped and glossed, Poppy is rather stunning.
Her facial features can only be described as impish. Pointed lips and brows, and a distinctive mischeivous twinkle in her eye adds to an overall elvish effect. Everything about her face seems small and delicate, finely crafted due to naturally impecable breeding, of course. Poppy's brown eyes ensure she doesn't look too innocent - their deep, dark chocolate colour and unblinking stare is the most obvious physical sign that Poppy is far from sugar and spice and everything nice. Somber and calculating, her eyes along with puckered lips are usually the first give-away that she's crafting some sort of devious plan. In contrast to her small features, Poppy is something of a giant - up until last April, she began wondering if she'd ever stop growing. Her giant stature is coupled with an enviable willowy frame - mostly legs, which had, up until recently, been hidden under non-descript and generally baggy clothing. Certainly Poppy is one of those females who was gifted with looks she didn't really deserve.
Desired PB: Tamsin Egerton.
PERSONALITY
Some people are blessed with a finesse, a sort of subtlety that allows them to smoothly float through life without much conflict. Poppy Beatrice-Bloxam Rivers is not, has never been, and will never be one of those people. Sure she can use her Slytherin cunning when the opportunity presents itself, but for the most part, Poppy prefers the cold, hard facts - The Truth, as she's taken to calling it. Truthiness with a capital T. Her brand of Truth is often cutting, generally accurate, albeit slightly embellished. She's a no-nonsense, anti-bullshitter and can't stand people who ninny about the issue, waxing poetic and gussying up situations to make themselves feel better. If you ask Poppy if such-and-such a dress makes your bottom look large, you had better be prepared for the answer. She doesn't see the sense in telling people what they want to hear when the Truth is so much more delightfully wicked. Poppy can distinguish between the truth and the Truth, however; the latter is a particularly personal brand of nastiness, in which she emphasizes certain points in order to see people crumple. You bum may look a little wide in that white skirt, but Poppy will allow her mouth to fall open and exlaim you look the size of Shamoo after a particularly large feeding of tuna fish. The difference may be subtle, but with a lot of study, one begins to see the distinct divergence.
But, as is always the case with any set of principles, there's an exception to the rule. While Poppy may be delighted at delivering the hard-hitting Truth to unsuspecting victims, she's just as elated at the prospect of delivering something very different when the time calls for it. If the Rivers weren't facing near bankruptcy and if Poppy wasn't destined for a live of Pureblooded breeding, she could easily take up a career as a stage actress; theatrical and prone to trying on different personalities like they're costumes, Poppy has managed to hoodwink a few of her more naive Professors into thinking she's as sugary sweet as a candy cane. The act tends to work on adults - her teachers, as was mentioned, parents of peers, and on occasion her mother and father. But Poppy knows better than to try the cavity routine on those her own age. Living in such close proximity to her peers would make the constant disguise difficult and anyway, she has relatively little to gain from being nice to fellow students. Yes, Poppy is gifted at laying the blarney on thick, so to speak. She seems to naturally lock in on the easiest way to a person's heart, and uses her smarmy brand of charm to win their good graces. She knows just how to butter her Professors up and so she does - quite profusely. Alternately, Poppy can spot a person's weaknesses a mile away. When she goes in for the kill, she takes people down at the knees. Though she uses it for evil as opposed to good, she seems to naturally have a keen sense of people.
But her keen sense of people and clear insight into their personality doesn't procur them very much sympathy. Poppy generally dislikes humanity, especially the parts of it which aren't like her - including, but not limited to, muggleborns, ethnic minorities, people without backbones and animals. This dislike translates, at least in Poppy's case, to a whole lot of not-so-pent-up rage. When she's going to blow, she let's it all out, often manifested in very explosive, physical ways. Yes, Poppy likes enacting physical violence on others; in fact, she just enjoys physical violence, be it in a Quidditch match (to which she will forever only be a spectator), in a boxing ring, or in the street. Despite her magical roots and bias, she's an equal-opportunity fighter and prefers hand-to-hand combat over wands. Wands don't afford Poppy the imminent gratification of fist-on-fast, a sensation she enjoys more than any other. But even with her affinity to the physically explosive, Poppy can't always be blamed for her fists of fury: from an early age, Poppy has experienced rage blackouts when she gets really worked up. She'll be in the midst of screaming and shouting, and then BAM! Everything goes dark - at least for her. For her unfortunate victims, everything doesn't go dark until she knocks their head into a desk. It was for this reason her parents were a little nervous when her magic appeared at six. The two in conjunction could be very near fatal, and it's only with a dash of luck she hasn't killed anyone to date. One thing's certain: Poppy gets her jollies seeping people in pain, be it physical or emotional.
Despite this tough-and-tumble exterior, Poppy has her share of Slytherin Priss in her, too. She may not be opposed to dirt and having messy hair, but she is very opposed to not getting what she wants. Her mother and father, both being of somewhat weaker dispositions when it comes to their daughters, have not done a good job when it comes to saying no. In fact, this past summer was really the first time Poppy can remember them putting their foot down - and she's seriously not impressed. Material collection is something of a hobby for Poppy. She likes to have them simply for the sake of having and showing them off, and she blows through money and objects like a hurricane without thinking twice about it. Clothes, vacations, toys when she was younger, the occasional horse. Sure she might forget about whatever it is she wanted five days after getting it, but why should she care? Her family has tons of money, and who better to spend it on then the baby of the family? Though her mother might get along better with Phyllis, the youngest-card is still a valuable one, and both her parents tend to cater to her needs because of this slight age difference. Even at sixteen, Poppy is not opposed to throwing a full-on temper tantrum in order to get what she feels she deserves. Having mastered the fake-cry at the tender age of two, she still has no qualms in using it. Other antics include breath-holding, making herself vomit and threatening to hurt herself.
But emotions in the theatrical sense are as close as Poppy comes to anything that has to do with feelings. Poppy is, as a rule, disgusted by anything that has to do with emotions - talking about them, seeing them, dealing with them. She finds it pathetic when girls get weepy, feels queasy when someone wants to disect and analyse them, and feels enraged when someone actually exhibits emotions that have to do with her. Feelings are at their worst when vocalized - certainly Poppy admits she must have one or two - and it's probably for this reason that she gravitates more to the male counterpart dorm. If they ever get emotional, a swift punch to the jaw usually keeps them quiet, and Poppy feels comfortable knowing in this way, she can maintain the balance. Her place amongst the boys is also cemented by the fact that she's surprisingly smart and always scheming; but Poppy woul rather watch other people enact a plan than partake in it herself, unless it has to do with hitting people. The boys are a wonderful wealth of man power and opportunity. She likes having so called ranks that, if sold on the right story, can come under her command. Yes, Poppy has an Ego, Ego with a capital E. She sees herself as something of an army general, overseeing a smooth and complex machinery of war.
FACTS AND FICTIONS
Three Things Everyone Knows About Your Character:
1) Poppy's mouth rivals that of a trucker. Or it did, until recently. While always careful to keep her colourful language away from the ears of Professors and Prefects, f-bombs and other such vulgarity tend to litter her language in abundance.
2) There are brown-nosers that everyone envies for being so meticulously organized, and there are brown-nosers that are completely transparant - at least to their peers, Poppy falls in the latter category. She consistantly has her work finished, has managed to convince most of her Professors that she's really considering taking on a profession in their field, and enjoys raising her hand almost as much as Hermione Granger. Only, when called on, Poppy likes to demurely defer - isn't dear Basil Perkins deserving of some praise, too?
3) Poppy is rarely seen without a good majority of the male Slytherin sixth years. They form, if you will, a sort of gang unto themselves, one which does not have to deal with the nagging and whinging of the fairer sex.
Two Things Close Friends Would Know About Your Character:
1) As much as Poppy claims to hate animals, babies, foreigners, and anything else that cannot communicate their needs in a logical fashion, having grown up in the country has given her a decided soft-spot for horses. Having grown up riding, it is the one passtime where her feminine grace surfaces. Not only does she revel in the sport, she has an intense bond with her horse - and, though her friends would not know this part, he is the solitary creature she is willing to talk feelings with.
2) Poppy doesn't care about degrading women. So far as she can tell, men generally have it right. But one single word about her sister, and you can expect her to bring out the fists of fury. Charles was so unfortunate as to make the mistake in fourth year; they say he's never been the same since.
One Deep, Dark Secret:
Poppy, up until this past summer, had fanciful and lofty dreams of becoming the next Bellatrix Black. Being the most recognizable female Death Eater, she's been fascinated with the stunning woman since she was a little girl. Some might even call it a little bit of a crush - Poppy wouldn't go that far. But the day Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban, she walked around Hogwarts with a little bit more bounce in her step. With things the way they are, such dreams are nigh onto impossible. But that doesn't mean she's absolutely over fantasizing.
HISTORY
The surname Rivers holds no insubstantial weight in the Wizarding Community - while they may not be the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, or even the white peacock-owning Malfoys, they've done fairly well for themselves. Though their start may be slightly more humble than the aforementioned families, having cultivated a legacy of snivelling and arse-kissing, the Rivers have amassed no more or less than a disgusting fortune. Their family tree may be more littered with muggle marriages (and, therefore, with more corpses), their fortune may be earned, but it has long since disappeared from anyone's concious. For the last six generations easily, the Rivers have remained a staple in the elite and Pureblooded social circles. Able to indulge in numerous house elves, to retain a stable of no less than twenty horses, to drink pink champagne the way some people drink water, has been what defined the Rivers' as Rivers. Some would call them schemers - others would call them business savvy. The truth, apparently, lies somewhere in the middle.
But things are not all as they seem. When Rudiard Rivers was born in 1956, the family fortune had begun to dwindle. A series of chances and coincidence, not to mention a flurry of choice purchases when the new Mrs. Rivers had moved into the Manor, had put the Rivers' in a position of financial turmoil. With no one to blame but themselves, they did what most humans do and looked quite intently for a scapegoat. Rudiard's childhood spared the family no expense and in time, the Rivers managed to maintain a sort of equilibrium. Mr. Rivers had attended Hogwarts a mere year behind the intriguing Tom Riddle, who had already begun espousing his philosophy on the workings of the world. It seemed the tides were changing in their favour as this new wind caught on. Naturally, the Rivers were delighted by the prospect of a society based entirely on the purity of one's blood.
As Rudiard entered his final year of Hogwarts, few would have argued that their was a change on the horizon. Though the Death Eaters would not begin any real offense for a few years yet, the Death Eaters had already begun to devise a strategy and Rudiard was eager to be inaugurated into the illusive group. Though the Rivers had enjoyed better fortunes as of late, his father firmly and quietly informed Rudiard of the need to marry some with fortune - which is why Pepper Christobel Bloxam, heiress of the Bloxam Family Bakeries, was chosen from among the suitable stalk. The lone Slytherin in a family of Hufflepuffs, her family seemed wary of the match. Pepper, however, found herself quite in her element. With a violent streak, a propensity to giggle, and a penchant for creating the most delightfully poisonous deserts, she pledged her allegiance to Rudiard and the Dark Lord on their second date. The rest, as they say, was history.
The Rivers over-estimated the Dark Lord's potential: one moment, they felt they were on a meteoric rise that would leave them as one of the ruling elites of the Wizarding World, and the next they'd lost nearly everything. In fact, were it not for Pepper's father and his devotion to his only daughter, the fall of Voldemort would have spelled the fall of the Rivers. With a small amount of his own money left and an entire Ministry breathing down his back, Rudiard - whose own father had fallen at the hands of an Auror - was forced to look to his father-in-law for assistance. Though Pepper had relatively little idea of what was going on, Rudiard lived in the fear she'd find out. The pair had chosen to celebrate their rise in fortune with their first child, Phyllis. With a newborn Poppy to add to the mix, he didn't know how he would tell his only wife her name was their sole means of income. But the Rivers' luck he'd inherited from his father panned out and, when Poppy was just four years old, Papa Bloxam mysteriously died after a dinner at the Rivers' Manor and left all his money to his darling Pepper.
From that point on, money was not a question. With what felt like an inexhaustible fund at his fingertips, Rudiard allowed his wife and daughters to have what they wanted, when they wanted. Though he'd lost much during the first war, including to a large degree his good reputation, he built himself back up and made a series of underhanded investments in various, Dark-leaning companies and organizations. He maintained a degree of contact with his Death Eater chums, specifically with lifelong pal Perkins. No one was ever entirely sure what it was Rudiard did; when asked, even Rudiard himself seemed unsure. But Pepper was no lay-about, and she kept a well-run, if expensive home. The girls were given every indulgence: ponies, dresses, dolls, toy broomsticks. They said the word and their father was on it. Poppy in particular held a special sway with Rudiard. Where Phyllis' bright disposition reminded many of her mother, Poppy's sharp tongue and dark, feline-like looks seemed the spitting image of her father. A bit of a hellion from the get-go, Rudiard took the baby of the family as something of a son he wouldn't have. Naturally, Poppy grew under the tutolage and was soon every bit the scheming Rivers her father had hoped she'd be.
It should be noted that this particular attachment to her father was her only real issue with leaving home. Though she got on with her sister well enough, she hated the fact that her mother insisted on babying her. Under that watchful eye, all the things Poppy liked best were strictly forbidden: mud, eating worms, kicking cats. She had neither the patience nor inclination for baking and, though the potion aspect interested her well enough, she preferred running outdoors with Basil Perkins to being stuck shopping in stores all day. The great majority of Poppy's days were spent with this friend, and their fathers felt it certain that nuptials would come in time. Poppy afforded little thought to marriage and the future. Confident that she would be sorted into Slytherin, especially if her more sunshiney sister had managed, Poppy went off to Hogwarts without much hesitation. Her first few years were rather difficult, considering her insistance that she ought to be allowed to sleep in the boys' dorm. But once she was accepted among their ranks, Poppy found Hogwarts the perfect alternate to home. A quick student and a gifted story-teller, she found hoodwinking her Professors a delightful task.
But this summer, everything changed. After a particularly bad argument with her mother and father over a horse she'd been lusting over, Poppy was informed in no uncertain terms that the Rivers' fortune had come to an abrupt stop. Not only had the money been dwindling over the years, a particularly unfortunate investment in an upstart store in Diagon Alley had gone viciously wrong - there was literally next to nothing left. Shocked into the reality that she would never be a Death Eater, Rudiard reminded her of what had happened last time they put all their faith into the Dark Lord. It was now Poppy's duty to do what all Pureblooded women did best: become a lady, hang up any hopes and dreams, and find herself a husband. As it stands, the Rivers have almost nothing. A bit of gold, the Manor, and the possesions they own. But even the slightest alteration in the winds of fate, and even that could be gone. Rudiard is hanging on by a very thin thread - if anymore investments go awry, all could be lost. So Poppy returns, tipped off by her fathers' friends that she will be representing the Rivers' as a Slytherin Prefect. She is Poppy, new-and-improved, a mere illusion of her former self. One thing is certain: if the girls feel the need to talk about their Feelings, it will be a very, very sad day indeed.
