Fords and de Koonings

The Nikitin Family Tree

2012-03-12T13:07:04Z

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Val's Online Journal

2011-12-03T10:51:15Z

Yesterday was fairly exhausting, but good.

I have a lot of hope for once.

Val's Online Journal [flocked: wizarding friends only, excluding Anastas]

2011-09-21T15:26:03Z

His English is improving, but not as quickly as either of us had hoped. I am still trying to convince him to finish his schooling, at the very least to have a degree, but he was always the more stubborn one.

If he doesn't want to finish at Blue Ridge, perhaps he can finish elsewhere. I don't know if he'll be ready to try again in the spring, considering he had less than a semester left. He'll need to speak more fluently than he is now, though all that Latin seems to have stayed with him.

It would have been so much worse if he'd lost that and couldn't cast anymore. ~~Maybe then he'd realize what he's lost and all that's at stake.~~

For the record, I'm impressed that we've lived together this long and not killed each other yet.

fordable @ 2011-09-21T11:54:00

2011-09-21T15:19:18Z

Name: Abernathy Lillian Ford (AB, Abby)
Residence/Hometown: Lake Luzerne, NY
Age/Birthday: 19. February 21, 1994. It's kind of an inside joke among the family that she and her sister were born on President's day; instead of celebrating their birthday on the actual date they celebrate it on the third Monday in February.
Gender/Sexuality: Straight
PB: Allison Scagliotti
Any notable differences from the pb? 5'6", thin frame. Her hair is cut in a short bob and she occasionally dyes it in streaks and chunks with Manic Panic. She lives for jeans (and as soon as the school day is done she is OUT of the gray pants and tie). Typically she's in a tank top or tee and some sort of flannel shirt over it. She's in love with converse sneakers and writes little poems on the soles (which she's learned how to spell so that they aren't washed or scuffed away). She has an almost ridiculous collection of converse sneakers in every color imaginable. She's very low maintenance. Most days she won't even bother to dry her hair or even run a brush through it. She is often covered in bruises and scrapes because she's a rough and tumble sort of girl. A pictorial guide to Abby's style.

School/Magic Stuff
Wand: 9 inches. Whippy. Chestnut. Dragon heartstring core. When she gets a spell right it's usually magnificent; when she gets a spell wrong it's spectacularly disastrous.
House and Year: Alumni, Hulett House. Now studying undergraduate at Burnham University.
Schedule: Liberal arts.
Strongest subject in school: Formerly Care of Magical Creatures. Presently, Biology.
Weakest subject in school: At Dresden: Latin (and this one is a real struggle for AB; she gets tutoring from anyone who will help her). At BU: The History of Western Civ.
Extracurricular activities: At Dresden: Muggle sports, dueling, intramural sports. At BU: picking on that awful christian girl who preaches at the cafeteria. Laser tag. College radio.
Boggart and Riddikulus: Her boggart has been a zombie since she saw the movie 28 Days Later. Her riddikulus is a double barrel shotgun, which instead of shooting the zombie simply conks him/her on the head and knocks it out.
Amortentia smells like: Coconuts, rain/ozone, french toast with maple syrup.
Patronus: Her patronus is the fox (which she's never found all that fitting, but she's been told it's the most common patronus among her family).
Animagus Form: Abby's animagus is a black bear (Picture. Info).

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family Parents Billy and Violet (formerly Kidd). Violet died when AB was seven. Abby has a very close relationship with her dad as a result. An older brother Timothy and an identical twin sister Bernadine. Bill took to calling the girls AB (even though he can tell them apart). The nickname stuck and people who can't tell the difference between them seem to like that they have a legitimate way to talk to them without knowing exactly which twin it is. Timothy is not magical in any way whatsoever. It is unclear whether or not Bernadine is. Family Tree.
Familiar: None. She hasn't found one particularly suited to her, though she has an affinity toward most animals and is very good with them.
Any other relations we should know about: Abernathy has muggle and squib family all over the Northeast and some wizarding family in the South. Her family up North tend to live out in the middle of nowhere; they're hardy, woodsy sort of people who like their privacy. The wizarding parts of her family tend to migrate South. It's very hit and miss along AB's family tree as to who will end up a wizard and who will be a muggle. Abby has something of a benefactress in her Aunt Veruca Kidd.

She has a tenuous friendship with former archnemesis Adelaide Legaux. Her best friend is Cinnamyn Thompson, but since Cinna can't keep a secret she can't tell her that she's actually been spending all of her time at school with Bernadine.

She briefly dated Hawthorne Nikitin in the fall. She wouldn't recommend dating any of the Nikitin boys to her friends. She started dated Shylock Wilson since arriving in Burnham and things have gotten fairly serious between them.

Personality
Likes: Anything at all to do with the outdoors (especially fishing), flannel (but especially plaid flannel shirts), swimming, wizardry in general (but not the culture that comes with it), all sorts of muggle things that wizards seem to take for granted or frown upon (like electricity), flying, the Yankees, Seattle Grunge music (esp. STP and Pearl Jam), Queens of the Stone Age. All the sex all the time.
Dislikes: Wizards robes, snobs, hypocrites, most students in the Clemons House, logic fails, religion, politicians (she feels redundant saying so since she's already listed hypocrites, but it's absolutely true), people who take themselves too seriously. Abernathy mostly dislikes specific categories of behaviors that people fall into.
Quirks: -Will run out into the middle of thunderstorms to frolic in the rain.
-Doesn't have a single matching pair of socks.
-Talks to animals the same way she talks to people; she has a real gift with animals which is a little ironic considering she likes to hunt and has no familiar.
-Writes weird little poems (usually on her shoes, but she'll copy them into her journal)
-Has a special place in her heart for Brad Pitt and owns many of his movies. She watched The Mexican repeatedly when she had the chicken pox.
Secrets: -Secretly fears that her sister really does have Schizophrenia.
-Also fears that she'll develop it herself if it's true
Strengths: Strong willed (sometimes a weakness if she's strong willed about the wrong thing), honest, hard-working, fearless in the woods, self-reliant.
Weaknesses: Judgmental, she has to see it to believe it, mischievous, would rather solve a fight with fists than with words, extreme grudge holder.

Detailed personality: Abernathy is a bit mischievous and sometimes finds herself getting into trouble as a result. She can fend for herself and is stronger than she looks (she prefers to be called scrappy). She can be "rough and tumble" and doesn't mind the bruises when she falls out of trees or gets into a fight.

She's very open minded in her personal philosophy; she likes to learn new things. She's usually practical in her approach to new (and old) situations. She's disgustingly determined; if her mind gets set on a course of action it's hell or high water that she's following the course. She doesn't like to be proven wrong, but she'll suck it up when she is.

She has a pretty strong personality. Abernathy is who she is and as far as she's concerned you can take it or leave it. She can get a bit judgmental, especially of people who wear their causes on their sleeves (for example she despises people who are into organized religion; she once openly mocked a bunch of students for having ash on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday). She's largely unapologetic about it.

When her opinions don't get in the way she's laid back, low maintenance, and easy going. She is very hard to anger, but she's very good at holding grudges. Once you've crossed her badly enough there is no way you're getting back into her good graces.

She's very independent and self-reliant. She's quite handy with tools and fixing things; she spends a lot of her vacations in the garage behind her house fixing old cars. She's aces at outdoors activities, especially the hobbies she grew up with. She'd rather spend her weekends fishing than stuck on campus (and has unsuccessfully tried to start a hunting/fishing club at school on more than one occassion). Despite her love of solitary, quiet pursuits Abernathy is a very friendly and outgoing person.

Personal History: Abernathy grew up mostly in the woods. Getting to her house is difficult enough in the summer, it's almost impossible in the winter (but Abby kind of likes it that way). Abby learned how to fish and hunt early on; she knows how to prepare caught game for eating and other uses. She's excellent at tracking in the woods. She loves to be outdoors and spent most of her summers in tents along the Hudson River.

She went to the local elementary school because her parents weren't entirely sure she'd grow up to be a witch. No one in the Ford family is ever certain until they get the letter, even if they exhibit some ability early on. Her older brother Timothy never got the letter and so he continued on with his muggle schooling. This education didn't prove entirely useless, though Abernathy was prone to dreaming about what the wizarding world might be like.

At the age of seven AB's mom died. It was sudden, unexpected and a horrible loss. Abby grew a lot closer to her dad and her siblings, even though they were a fairly tight-knit group before. They struggled on for a time, since Violet's contribution to their finances was significant. The Ford's learned to get by on less (and with the help they could get from their relations in the area).

Abernathy and Bernadine spent one summer with their wizarding relations at the age of 9. This trip was against Bill's better judgment and it was solely funded by Aunt Veruca (who insisted that the girls get to know the "other" side of the family). This vacation solidified Abernathy's desire to be a witch. She listened and learned as much as she could, even during the course of all the culture shock (Louisiana was not in any way shape or form like her beloved North Country). Abby's heart became set on wizarding.

It wasn't a huge surprise that Abernathy got the letter (she got two in fact, one from Blue Ridge (since several of her relations are alumni) and one from Dresden). The big surprise was that her identical twin, Bernadine didn't receive a letter. This was a hard blow for Abby, though Bernadine didn't struggle with it as much. Abby was never bothered by preferential differences between her and her sister, but this was a significant difference. This would put them in different strata as far as the family was concerned; Abernathy would be expected to migrate south. Most importantly for Abby, she struggled with the idea of being separated from her twin.

Bill didn't want to encourage or discourage her either way. He had raised his children to be independent thinkers so that even at the age of eleven they could make up their own minds. It took Abernathy a good week of agonizing before she could even speak about it with Bernadine. She hadn't officially made up her mind until the end of the summer; her bags were packed but she was inches away from throwing her dreams out the window. By the time her dorm room was unpacked Abby still wasn't sure if she'd made the right decision, but she started at the Lower School at Blue Ridge with funding and hefty encouragement from Aunt Veruca.

Abernathy found herself to be a rather gifted witch, though she didn't at all fit in with the wizarding culture (or the culture in the South). More often than not she'd spend her free time climbing trees or playing muggle sports; she wanted to fit in but she couldn't give up on all the things she loved.

Shortly after she left her letters from home started to get strained. Her father was struggling to say something and he couldn't write it down. It wasn't until Abernathy returned home after the first trimester that she began to figure out what was wrong. Bernadine had started to act strangely in her sisters absence and every muggle doctor her father had taken her to believed that the girl was suffering the early stages of schizophrenia.

Abernathy was devastated by this news and almost didn't return to school. It took some coaxing, but she returned to school and started researching the disorder in her spare time. Over the spring break it occurred to Abernathy that her sister might have second sight and simply didn't know how to process it because she didn't have any other magical gifts. She pestered every person she could, but being only 11 she wasn't taken very seriously. She'd been fighting to have someone visit with Abernathy, or get her admitted into the school on a limited basis (just to take classes related to divination systems), but she didn't have any success.

Disheartened by her treatment by the adults at school, her continuing struggles to fit in, and her increasing homesickness, Abernathy chose to leave the school at the end of her first year. She wanted to quit altogether, but her father knew that she was gifted and needed to explore this avenue more fully. After some negotiation, Abernathy was allowed to start her second year at Dresden Academy.

It was a much better fit for Abernathy and she was so close to home that she could visit on the weekends. This worked better for both sisters. Bernadine asked her sister not to ask Dresden to admit her; she was happy enough at muggle school and to her it wasn't worth the effort. Abby relented and plunged into her studies.

It didn't take long for her mischievous nature to kick in. While at school AB had a tendency to skip classes when the whim took her. She dressed out of code every Halloween. She got into fights at the slightest provocation from Adelaide Legaux and anyone else on her shit list. She was in detention so often that she claimed to have a desk with her name on it. She was actually pretty good in her classes (when she bothered to go, and excepting Latin of course), which is probably part of the reason she hasn't been expelled yet.

Abby was planning on going to muggle school, but at the same time hatched a fairly brilliant plot to allow her sister Bernadine to study at Dresden in her place. Thusly, Abernathy Ford is "technically" studying divination at Dresden, but the real Abernathy has decided to give liberal arts at Burnham University a shot.

Other Stuff:
Abby's handwriting is: Santos Dumont and can be downloaded at broble.com.

Bio: Elena Nikitin

2011-04-24T11:47:24Z

The Basics
Name: Elena Jeanette Nikitin
Nickname(s): Lena, Meanie Leny
Hometown: NYC
Age and birthday: 24. October 13, 1987.
Career: Lawyer for the American version of Wizengamot
Schooling: Attended Dresden Academy. She was a Clemons. Graduated in 2006. Lena studied wandless magic at school and learned transfiguration outside of the classroom, just like daddy. While attending school she was a part of cooking club to win favor with her mother; turns out she liked it and developed a talent for making her own recipes. She was elected Vice President of student council her junior year and President her senior year. She sang on the choir for the length of her tenure at Dresden as a first soprano. She studied at the Wolf Lake College of Law and graduated in 2009 summa cum laude.
Wand: 10 inches. Sturdy. Walnut. Erkling hair. This replaced her first wand.
9 inches. Springy. Aspen. Phoenix Tail Feather. She broke this wand over the head of a boy who dared to dally with her heart.
Boggart: Melanie Holden back from the dead. Her Ridikkulus is conjuring her father to bitch slap that ho away. She's glad she doesn't encounter Boggarts very often.
Patronus: The Common Raven. Highly intelligent, an excellent problem solver. An opportunist that has been revered in indigenous cultures as a spiritual figure, a god and in modern culture as a bad omen.
Amortentia: Strawberries, sage, bergamot.
Animagus Form: Mexican Bobcat. In this form she's a bit small for a bobcat and could pass as a very large housecat. Since she learned her form outside of class and never told anyone at school she never actually registered her animagus form.
Religious Affiliation: Atheist (but don't tell her mother, for some reason she thinks this would upset her).

Family/Relationships
Parents: Dmitri Nikitin and Chloe Villeneuve
She gets along best with her parents when she's getting her way. Mommy sees one side of her; the super sweet, helpful Elena. Daddy knows the real Lena, the one who will stoop to any low to get what she wants.
Siblings: Luka (a younger brother)
She had a tendency to torture her brother as they were growing up, demanding his allowance and punishing him if he even dared to tattle on her. Being that they're so far apart in age she's not terribly close with Luka.
Extended Family: Uncle Misha and Aunt Gina (who never married) and their son, her cousin, Hawthorne Nikitin.
She thinks Misha and Gina have it figured out and looks to their relationship as a touchstone.
Uncle Alexei and Aunt Jacinta and their sons, her cousins, Nikolai and Xavier Nikitin.
Familiar: Royal python named King Henry the Eighth. She tends to call him Hank or Eight. She's threatened to feed a few of her boyfriends to him. When she's home he's allowed to slither around her apartment, otherwise he has to stay in his rather large terrarium.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Significant Others: She has a tendency to burn through men like her dad burned through women, but Lena is a LOT more discreet about it. As an adult she stated dating Francis (who has no last name to speak of), an upbeat soul reaper. He is the only man who has ever truly intrigued her long enough to keep her attention.

Appearance
PB: Andi Muise
Detailed Description: Lena stands at 5'11", the same height as both of her parents. Her underthings take a good portion of her paycheck each week and she has a separate walk in closet just for sexy clothes. Her work clothes are very upscale, professional, fitted skirts/pants and silky blouses under her wizarding robes. When not at work she's still very fashion forward, but never to the extremes of fashion. As per Nikitin tradition her uncle gave her a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday. It's on her left shoulder, is no more than three inches in length; it's a snake wrapped around a sword, the sword is black and white but the snake has the same coloring as her familiar.

Personality
Likes: lipstick, eyeliner that doesn't run, breezes, the city skyline, getting her own way
Dislikes: romantic comedies, public displays of affection, purse dogs
Quirks: - She's an excellent cook, but she'd much rather order out or have someone else cook for her
- Multilingual. She can speak Russian, French and English fluently. She has a good grasp on Latin.
Secrets: - She'll never tell him, but she resents her dad for landing in jail. And his an affair with another women.
- May have been implicated in the death of a muggle named Melanie Holden.
What’s in your characters purse? Her wallet, which contains ID and money. A condom or three (in one of those nifty plastic cases). Her keys. A pack of spearmint gum. Spare hair clips. A portable brush. A key chain size canister of pepper spray.
Strengths: Gifted with words and a turn of phrase. She's charming and quite convincing.
Weaknesses: Epic temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way, can't be wrong.
One thing he/she can't live without: 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night

Detailed personality: Incredible manipulator. When daddy disagreed with her she would get him in trouble with mommy; which effectively taught him that she was not to be disagreed with. Daddy taught Lena one too many of his tricks and is therefore proud and irritated all at once. To mommy however, Lena is a perfect angel. She's obedient and helpful, all smiles.

She's bossy and doesn't like it when she doesn't get her way.

Elena Nikitin does not like to be crossed. As evidence: she broke her wand over a boy's head during her 4th year at Dresden when he took her to a dance and then proceeded to kiss another girl in front of her.

Lena doesn't have a very good grasp on healthy relationships. Her family has a functioning kind of dysfunction, but she witnessed the heartbreak her father caused her mother. And Uncle Misha is about the closest she has to a decent role model (which is sad, really).

History:
Elena was appropriately spoiled, which exacerbated the fact that she inherited all of the worst qualities from both of her parents.

At home Elena was a two-faced terror. All smiles and sunshine for mommy. Happy girl for daddy when he agreed with her. Holy terror to her brothers, and she was worse when they told on her.

At school she was something of a master manipulator with a brilliant public image. She was discreet in her machinations and quite clever in the group of friends and supporters she cultivated. She wasn't the only Queen Bee at Dresden at the time, but she was most certainly on top of her game while there.

After school she decided to continue her studies at university and was accepted into an accelerated program to study wizarding law. Upon her graduation she took a job offer with the NYC branch of the American Wizengamot. She is presently working as a public defender.

At some point she learned of her father's reputation as a ladies man and that this behavior hadn't stopped. She witnessed him kissing another woman in a public place and set about investigating this woman. Her name was Melanie Holden and she was a muggle (of all things). She stalked Melanie for weeks and used magic to scare the woman, increasing her paranoia until one day Melanie couldn't take it anymore and stepped into traffic. Elena can't admit her guilt in this matter to herself. So far as Elena knows this was the only affair her father had at the time and such behavior has stopped since Melanie's death.

Recently she met Francis, a peculiar man with no last name and no discernible job. After several run ins he asked her on a date, which she could see no real reason to refuse. Several dates later and they decided they had a thing, though what that thing was neither would risk defining.

Bio: Jesus Suarez

2011-03-24T09:15:12Z

Name: Jesus Suarez
Residence/Hometown: Burnham City, NY / La Cinqua, CA
Age/Birthday: 24. May 16, 1987.
Gender/Sexuality: Male / Homosexual
PB: Jay Hernandez
Any notable differences from the pb?

School/Magic Stuff
Magic or not: Muggle
Schools and Year Graduated: La Cinqua High, class of 2005. Took a few courses at Pleasantview Community College, but wasn't much of an academic.
Subjects Studied: High school diploma. Took a few art classes (one was life drawing and one was art history), and a bit of math.
Strongest subject in school: Mathematics.
Weakest subject in school: Gym. What? It's true.
Extracurricular activities: Judging people. Was briefly involved with the drama club, but dropped it because he was too fabulous. Started a fashion club, don't judge girl.

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family Parents: Ramon and Kita Suarez
Any other relations we should know about: He has a cousin Suzanne Suarez, though she's adopted; she's totally cool with him and they hang out a few times a month. He considers Adelaide to be his sister-in-law, even if he and Simone never get married.
Significant Others: Simone Legaux.
Friends: The kids at that fantastic club down on Bleeker St.
Enemies: Any one who wants to starts shit.

Personality
Likes: Glitter. Sparkle. Bon vivant.
Dislikes: A messy house. A pissy boyfriend.
Quirks: - Has to fold his underpants before putting them away. Requires matched socks.
- Occasionally into drag.
Secrets: None that I know of.
Strengths: He can read you like the day you were born.
Weaknesses: And he'll keep reading you until you want to punch him in the face.

Detailed personality: He doesn't quite know when to let something go. He's sassy, fun, fabulous. He loves to throw a party. He's rude at first, but once you get to know him he's a really understanding guy. Most of the sass is just to keep people from getting too close and disappointing him.

Personal History: He's sassy and fierce. The boyfriend of Simone Legaux.

Born in 1987 to Ramon and Kita Suarez in California. He grew up near the coast and learned to surf at an early age. His family wasn't quite as well off as some of the others in the Suarez clan, but he never wanted for love.

When he came out to his parents his mother cried and wept the loss of future grand-babies and a big wedding. She wouldn't talk to him for a few weeks, but gradually came to accept it. Some of the other members of his family were not so accepting, but he figures "fuck 'em if they can't handle how fabulous I am."

He's not a big fan of earthquakes and as soon as he could (which was right after graduating from high school) he moved to the Northeast. He met up with his cousin Suzanne who lives in Burnham city and found an apartment through her. He hasn't quite gotten used to the cold winters, but he prefers them to shaking houses.

He decided to try school for a bit and went to Pleasantview Community College for a few semesters, but it wasn't for him. Since then he's taken a job with the Postal Service which he enjoys and gives him plenty of time for his boyfriend, Simone.

de Kooning Family Tree

2010-10-19T08:51:51Z

Bio: Valentin de Kooning

2010-10-19T08:50:12Z

Name: Valentin de Kooning
Residence/Hometown: Burnham City, NY / Born in Russia
Age/Birthday: 22. August 21, 1989
Gender/Sexuality: Male / Straight
PB: Josh Beech
Any notable differences from the pb? Stands about 5'9 1/2". He's very tattooed. The one on his chest is VJ (it stands for Valentin and Joanna, a girl he never talks about; he could just as easily remove the tatt, but he thinks it's better to always remember that first particularly devastating heartbreak). Lives for band t-shirts and comfortable jeans, but he'll dress up for work if he has to.

School/Magic Stuff
Wand: 11 inches. Maple. Flexible. Phoenix Tail Feather.
House and Year: Putnam Alumni. Class of 2009.
Schedule: Largely studied potions. Exceeded at wandless. He was pretty good at COMC, but never bothered to take it further.
Strongest subject in school: Potions.
Weakest subject in school: Herbology.
Extracurricular activities: Art, Dueling.
Boggart and Riddikulus: His father, just standing there, staring at him. He holds a mirror up to him.
Amortentia smells like: Glenvilet. Rose water. Leather.
Patronus: Sugar glider.
Animagus Form: Red Wolf.

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family Father Kostya (estranged), Mother Candis (deceased), three younger brothers, Anastas, Kazamir, and Yvegeni.

He has accepted custodial guardianship of Anastas.
Familiar: None at present. His previous familiar was accidentally killed
Any other relations we should know about: No.
Significant Others: He had a fling with Bert Blue. Tried to woo Elena Nikitin once, but didn't get very far.
Friends: Oddly enough, he's friends with Stas now that they're grown up and living together.
Enemies: N/A

Personality
Likes: Scotch. A good smoke. A decent chair.
Dislikes: His father (more like abhors, reviles, hates).
Quirks: - English is Val's second language, though he speaks it very well. His accent can be thick on certain words and gets thicker when he's under the influence.
Secrets: None at present.
Strengths: Fun, carefree, gregarious.
Weaknesses: Irresponsible, doesn't have well defined limits.

Detailed personality: Bit of a sexpot. He enjoys cavorting with quirky and peculiar girls. He likes to celebrate, any reason will do. He tends to get a bit extravagant with the drinking and smoking, but it seems to be a weekend problem. He's not the most responsible person in the world, though helping Anastas get back on track as changed that.

He comes off a little weird at times, but he's a very loving man under all of it. Will go out of his way for someone in need. He's a very genuine sort of person. He's a very good guy, but his moral compass is a little wonky.

Personal History: Eldest child of Kostya and Candis de Kooning. Has three younger brothers (Anastas, Kazamir, and Yevgeni). Didn't get along very well with any of them.

The death of his mother affected Val the most. He was uprooted from Russia and had to learn English quickly in order to continue schooling. He knows his father had something to do with it, but he doesn't know what actually happened.

He attended Dresden Academy in NY to get away from his father (in Hesperia, California). He was sorted into Putnam. He was held back after his first year at Dresden went spectacularly awry. It was a combination of culture shock, poor English skills, grieving for his mother, and the adjustment to the peculiar American method of schooling. His second year was a rather impressive comeback, if only because he didn't want to face his father's wrath ever again.

After graduating Val moved to Burnham City and got a file clerk job in the basement of Westerveldt and Parrish. He didn't stay in touch with his brothers much, though on some vacations he traveled with them to Russia.

He has an apartment in the BCA on the 6th floor. It's a two bedroom, he had designed the spare room as something of a magical man cave, but when his brother Anastas had an overdose he redid the room so his brother could stay with him. Kostya wouldn't allow Stas back into his house, so Valentin took him in and received a custodial guardianship over his brother to arrange his return to school.

Their relationship has improved and Val is grateful to have this second shot with his closest brother.

For the most part, Val likes his life as it is now, but he doesn't want to spend the rest of it in the basement of W & P. He's contemplating a career change, or maybe going back to school now that Anastas is mostly settled and no longer a priority concern.

Bio: Veruca Kidd

2010-10-19T08:45:50Z

Name: Veruca Kidd
Residence/Hometown: St. George's Way, NY / NOLA
Age/Birthday: 42. September 16, 1969.
Gender/Sexuality: Female. Heterosexual.
PB: Sarah Jessica Parker
Any notable differences from the pb? Very elegant and stylish.

School/Magic Stuff
Wand: 8 inches. Swishy. Alder. Dual core of Billywig Stinger and Fairy Wings.
House and Year: Attended Blue Ridge. Quirank House. Graduated in 1987.
Schedule: Studied Transfiguration, COMC, and Charms.
Strongest subject in school: Charms.
Weakest subject in school: Potions.
Extracurricular activities: Cheerleading, yearbook, library, choir. She's an exceptionally good singer, but she's very private about it.
Boggart and Riddikulus: It's seeing her sister as a kid, getting yelled at by their dad. She can always conjure Billy to ride in and save the day. If he knew this he'd be about as mortified as she is.
Amortentia smells like: Wood shavings. Chocolate. Linen. Silver Polish.
Patronus: Minx.
Animagus Form: N/A

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family Parents, Darian Kidd, Lillian Kidd (Damascus) (deceased). Sister Violet Ford (deceased).
Familiar: An Ermine named Vonda.
Any other relations we should know about: Nephew and nieces, Timothy, Abernathy, and Bernadine Ford.
Significant Others: Bill Ford, it's complicated.
Friends: Veruca has a circle of ladies who lunch, but not a real genuine friend.
Enemies: N/A

Personality
Likes: Jazz, dancing, teatime, fresh coffee first thing in the morning, a good bottle of red, Fashion Week.
Dislikes: Not getting her own way, idiots who don't know how to drive in rush hour traffic, the Floo (convenient travel, but a pain in the ass).
Quirks: - Doesn't have a trace of a New Orleans accent, but she does have an upper crust southern lilt
Secrets: - Never stopped loving Bill Ford; in fact, he's the only man she's ever loved.
Strengths: Devoted. Gifted. Smart.
Weaknesses: Very good at holding a grudge, often to her detriment.

Detailed personality: She's used to a certain style of living, a bit opulent and perhaps overdone. She couldn't really live the simple life, despite her assertions to the contrary. She's a stylish lady, the sort to get dressed up for a simple trip to the grocery store. She doesn't think about money, having grown up in a relatively rich family and then finding her own success. She'd rather give her money than her time or effort, but she thinks she spent her time and effort earning that money; it's all the same to her.

Personal History: Born in 1969. Violet's older sister and aunt of Timothy, Abernathy, and Bernadine.

Her childhood was mostly happy, but that's because she was a gifted little witch and worthy of the family name. Her sister's was not so much, because Violet was a squib and an utter disappointment to Darian Kidd. The abuse was mostly verbal and Veruca did what she could to shield her sister from it.

She's a graduate of Blue Ridge. She was in Quirank House. Her school career was only notable because of her relationship with Bill and their later falling out over his marriage to her sister. She understood it was his way of saving her, but she never quite forgave him for the heartbreak of it.

Veruca settled in New Orleans after school. She became a rather wealthy business woman, setting up shops in the French Quarter. She surrounded herself with beautiful things and bought a lovely manor house.

She and Bill struck an uneasy truce when Timmy was born; she wanted to be involved with her nephew and nieces. Things changed again when Violet died. Veruca didn't agree with the way Billy was raising his children and Bill felt that she had no say in the matter. When Abernathy started showing signs of being a witch she insisted that the girls come and spend some time with her. She was disappointed that Bernadine didn't seem to have similar gifts. She was supporting Abernathy financially when she was attending Blue Ridge and then Dresden. She wants the best for Abernathy, and seeing as though she's the only witch out of Billy's kids Veruca wants Abby to get the best education she can. She encouraged Abby to go to school in Blue Ridge over Dresden because that was her alma mater.

Hurricane Katrina hit particularly close to home for Veruca. She could rebuild her home and those of her friends, but there was so much suffering and so much mistrust and pain. She donated a large portion of her income that year to helping rebuild her neighborhood and those around her.

She has feelings for her brother-in-law, Billy Ford, but she keeps them hidden, partially out of respect for her deceased sister. Things have taken a complicated turn recently and she's thinking about moving to St. George's Way to be closer to Bill.

Bio: Timothy Ford

2010-10-19T08:36:59Z

Name: Timothy Malone Ford.
Residence/Hometown: Lake Luzerne, NY.
Age/Birthday: 21. January 25, 1991.
Gender/Sexuality: Male. Straight.
PB: Simon Woods
Any notable differences from the pb? He tends to wear an impressive beard in the winter time.

School/Magic Stuff
Schools and Year Graduated: Hadley-Luzerne High School (2009). Paul Smith's College (still attending; set to graduate 2013).
Subjects Studied: NYS Regents Diploma. Environmental Science.
Strongest subject in school: Anything to do with the outdoors. Geology, Earth Science, Biology.
Weakest subject in school: History. Economics.
Extracurricular activities: Trivia Quest. Outside of school he spent most of his time outdoors, sporting and hunting.

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family Father, Bill Ford. Mother, Violet Ford (Kidd) (deceased), younger sisters Abernathy and Bernadine.
Any other relations we should know about: His Aunt Veruca Kidd.
Significant Others: Adelaide Legaux.
Friends: He has a few college friends at PSC.
Enemies: Probably Luka Nikitin.

Personality
Likes: The woods. Snow. Hunting. Fishing. Camping. Microbrews.
Dislikes: High maintenance people.
Quirks: - Can find his way through the woods without a map and compass. He's more at home in the woods than anywhere else.
Secrets: None that I know of.
Strengths: Exceedingly kind. He's physically hardy, being an outdoors man.
Weaknesses: I honestly can't think of any weaknesses (besides the serious one he has where Adelaide is concerned).

Detailed personality: He's extremely kind and warm-hearted. Patient and gentle. He's not afraid of violence however and will engage in it to protect the honor of those he loves. He's the sort of person who could spend his entire day outside, go inside for two minutes and be ready to go back out. He's a very trusting individual, very likable and friendly.

Personal History: Born in 1992, eldest child of Billy and Violet.

The death of his mother was very hard on him and Tim is very protective of his family, though oftentimes it doesn't seem that way. He can be very antagonistic with his little sisters and he considers their right of passage.

When the summer after his eleventh birthday passed without an invitation to a magical school his father realized he was a squib. There was an initial disappointment, but it was almost expected and in the long haul Timmy was perfectly happy about it. He never showed much interest in Abernathy's magical talents, but she had a habit of making it seem like it wasn't such a special thing either.

He attends Paul Smith's College to study environmental science. His goal is to become a NYSDEC officer.

Tim is very much an outdoors-man. He loves camping and spends most of his summers out in the woods behind his house hiking and sleeping out under the stars. In college he discovered a love of kayaking and is quite proficient on the water. He's into a variety of winter sports and often drives into Lake Placid to play around on the winter Olympic facilities there.

He met Adelaide through Abby and they seemed to have an instant connection. He didn't fight the attraction to her and they made out a few times in secret so that Abernathy wouldn't find out (and flip out that her brother was making out with her frenemy). After the girls' birthday party Timmy came clean about his feelings for Addy, but he hasn't told her yet that Addy feels the same and he wants to pursue a relationship with her.

Bio: Billy Ford

2010-10-19T08:33:24Z

Name: William "Billy" Ford
Residence/Hometown:
Age/Birthday: 43. June 3, 1968.
Gender/Sexuality: Male. Heterosexual.
PB: Kenneth Branaugh
Any notable differences from the pb? He tends to wear his scruffy mountain man look with pride. Often unkempt and covered in wood shavings. He doesn't mind it one bit.

School/Magic Stuff
Wand: 13 inches. Sturdy. Oak. Dragon Heartstring. This wand is buried with his wife.
House and Year: Attended Blue Ridge. Graduated in 1986. He was in a house similar to Hulett.
Strongest subject in school: Transfiguration.
Weakest subject in school: COMC.
Extracurricular activities: Bill did a little of this, a little of that. He played quodpot, but it was nothing to write home about.
Boggart and Riddikulus: His grandmother coming after him with a frying pan. He stops this terrifying image by throwing eggs at the pan and his grandma cooks them up.
Amortentia smells like: Honey. Camp fire smoke. Hyacinth.
Patronus: Kingfisher.
Animagus Form: Brown Bear.

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family Wife Violet, deceased. Children Timothy, Abernathy and Bernadine.
Familiar: He doesn't have one anymore; his familiar wandered off when he gave up wizarding.
Any other relations we should know about: He's Pepper Stark's cousin.
Significant Others: Violet Ford, wife, deceased. Veruca Kidd, it's complicated.
Friends: James Walsh.
Enemies: Unknown at present.

Personality
Likes: Sleeping in. Making something with his own two hands.
Dislikes: Wizarding society.
Quirks: - Was always very gifted at telling lies
Secrets: - Worked for the VSA for fourteen years.
- Keeps in contact with the family of James Walsh.
Strengths: Loyal. Protective. Loving.
Weaknesses: Stubborn to an unnatural point. Reckless. Gruff.

Detailed personality: He's strong willed, and sometimes bullheaded. He's extremely loyal and very protective of those he loves.

He's also extremely secretive and quite gifted at telling lies/keeping secrets. He made a career of it.

He had a tendency to be very reckless with his personal safety, often putting himself in danger for the stupidest reasons (and sometimes, rarely, for the exact right ones).

He's a bit gruff, very rough around the edges.

Personal History: Born in 1968 to Malone and Lorraine Ford. He's the eldest of three children.

He went to school at Blue Ridge, though he was offered a place at Dresden. He wanted to go south for the better climate, to be further away from his parents who were kind-hearted meddlers. There he met the three most important people in his life. Veruca and Violet Kidd, and James Walsh.

James became his best friend, the two of them getting into shenanigans that would become legendary among the school's students.

He dated Veruca briefly, but became enchanted with her sister when he went home with her one afternoon. Violet was a squib and fairly well abused by their father. Bill installed himself as her protector and one of the best ways to remove her from the house was to marry her and take her away. He did just that as soon as she graduated from muggle high school and took her to the Northeast, far away from the terrible situation she was in.

Veruca never quite forgave Bill, but over time they developed a peculiar truce. One in which he couldn't admit his feelings for her, or the love that had grown for his wife over the simple act of saving her from Darian Kidd.

He was recruited out of school based on his recklessness and reasonably good grades to be a member of the VSA, a secret division of LAW. When James was recruited as well it seemed like serendipity and they decided it was a great career move for them both. He had to lie about this to everyone of course, and pretended to be a humble wood crafter in the woods, when really he was reporting to work every day in a three piece suit and doing very secret things.

Bill and Violet moved out to the middle of the woods in Lake Luzerne to start their married life together. He used his skill at wood crafting to design, make, and sell pieces (usually furniture) through local retailers (as per his cover). Before long he and Violet had three children, Timothy and the twins Abernathy and Bernadine.

During his children's formative years he claimed to be a squib, but was in fact a very accomplished wizard; it was part of his cover with the VSA and worked so long as he needed it to. His wife, Violet was a squib, but she knew the truth. Still, they expected that none of their children would be born with magical ability, so they raised them to function better in the muggle world. This worked until Abernathy showed a spark of ability; the only child among them who's a witch and she doesn't deal well with the wizarding culture.

His career at the VSA took a wrong turn when a mission went horribly wrong. James had to be obliviated and his memories replaced, being made to think he was a school teacher at Dresden Academy. Bill opted to step down from the agency and took on his career cover for real. He walked away from wizarding at that point, though most people think it had to do with Violet's death which followed shortly after he decided to leave wizarding behind for good.

After Violet's death Billy raised his children on his own. He did what he could for them financially, but it was a struggle. He taught his children that it wasn't about what you had, but what you did with it. He didn't like relying on Veruca's money to get Abernathy through school, but Veruca was the sort who didn't often take no for an answer.

He lied to Timothy and Abernathy about being a wizard for so long that it seemed like a bad idea to reveal the truth; the rest of his family respected his wishes in this matter, even while they didn't understand it. Bernadine only knew because Billy had been teaching her at home to help her control and understand her visions.

Recently his secret came out and now all of his children know that he's a wizard, even though he buried his wand with his wife. He recently reconnected with his old friend James as a result, but he isn't entirely sure what to do with the burden of James secret life.

His relationship with Veruca has grown very complicated and he is grateful that she lives in New Orleans.

Ford Family Tree

2010-10-19T08:27:03Z

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