Post by Benjamin Powell on Feb 22, 2014 23:55:57 GMT -5
[presto]
FOURTEEN
MALE
SLYTHERIN
HALF-BLOOD
HETEROSEXUAL
SHANE COFFEY
BENJAMIN JACOB POWELL
 despite claiming to be one of the most self-reliant people ever, never taking favors or help from anyone in any situation if he can help it, ben powell depends a lot on his twin sister, claire. she is the one person who can elicit real laughter out of him, not the kind of laughter that he engages in when he’s mocking someone, and she is the one person he can always count on to be there for him no matter what. claire’s importance in his life is the first thing that anyone who wants to get to know him should be aware of, but they most likely won't figure it out unless he directly tells them or they observe him and claire in action, because he would never admit it out loud to anyone. that being said, there are only a select few people that he cares enough about to include in his life, the number one being claire, and he believes that claire is aware of just how much she means to him, so he can't really be bothered with many others. it isn't precisely that he believes himself to be better than a lot of his peers (well, he does, sometimes) but more that he's always had a best friend in claire and doesn't think that anyone else could ever compare. however, he has made some friends during his first three years at hogwarts, albeit slowly and reluctantly, as he has the tendency to get irritated with people almost instantly, especially if they can't keep up with how quickly he tends to talk. he expects people to follow along, and if they can't, then that's the first indication that he won't have the patience to deal with them later on. a fair share of classmates have called him ‘unbearably deadpan’ before, and he used to do a double take at this, not realizing that his attitude wasn't one that was exhibited by the majority, but now he's grown rather used to it, simply shrugging and offering the person in question another snarky comment before they typically roll their eyes and walk away. nothing of his past in particular has cultivated his attitude, which is in stark contrast to claire’s, because he had a rather idyllic and stress-free childhood - but sometimes he claims that it is because of claire that he acts the way he does, that there has to be a pessimistic, sarcastic twin to balance out the optimistic, happy-go-lucky one and keep the universe in check. the sorting hat had not doubted which house to place him in even for a moment upon his arrival at hogwarts. he was clever, but didn't particularly love to gain new knowledge (reading had always been something he did not because he personally enjoyed it, but because claire did, and in his younger years he wished to do all the same things and have all the same experiences as her). he was loyal to those he cared about, but by no means a hard-worker (in school before hogwarts, he would always slack off on completing assignments and revising until the last possible moment, even then exerting only half the amount of effort that he could have and should have, and this habit inevitably transferred over to his hogwarts career, something that disappoints his professors because he has potential that goes to waste because of his laziness and procrastination). he was brave, but never one to take unnecessary risks or strive to be the center of attention (he finds this laughable, in fact, as he's always been content with staying in the corner of a room and letting his sister take the spotlight, not being one to draw attention to himself unless it’s for the important purpose of calling out someone’s utter stupidity if they’ve reached a new level that he can’t keep quiet about). so it was slytherin, ultimately, that was chosen for him, and by no means was it a random sorting due to him not fitting into the other three houses - no, he was surely a slytherin right down to the conventional definition, though a lot of the qualities weren’t entirely exhibited until late in his first and second year. extremely cunning and resourceful, with ambition emerging in his third year when he realized that he could probably do a lot better if he pulled up his socks and actually made an effort with his schoolwork (he didn’t really follow through on this upon recognizing it, though, retreating into his old habits quickly, but regardless his newfound aspiration to succeed and become someone - he’s not sure who or how yet - in the world remained). he’s not as anti-social as most slytherins, however, actually wanting to hang out with the few friends he has in order to avoid revising whenever possible. the friends he’s made, for the most part, find his dry demeanor hilarious, which he questions regularly because he doesn’t think he’s as funny as they seem to. ben’s older half-brother, digger, is one of the other people aside from claire that he would drop anything for, as he really does love his brother a lot despite their age difference, though again, he would never openly admit to it. he’s always placed digger on a high pedestal and seen him as a role model of sorts (but he could never see himself holding the job of a professor, as he’d get too bored and fed up with the students to be able to tolerate it). yet recently he’s been trying to break away from this slightly and distance himself from the thought that his brother is perfect - he’s well aware that he isn’t, of course, and that no one is, and he still adores his brother (all that’s noticeably changed is that he’s now a bit more sarcastic towards him), but wants to make an identity for himself outside of solely being professor powell’s sibling. in a typical teenager fashion, some would say, ben finds himself desiring to fit in with everyone else his age so he isn’t negatively singled out, but simultaneously wanting to be unique, to stand out from the crowd somehow. he realizes that this is a very immature and unrealistic notion, but the thing is that he will deny that it is one he holds until his last breath, so no one really knows how he feels - except probably claire, who can almost always tell what he’s thinking when he’s thinking it. ben’s attachment to his sister isn’t simply a result of them being twins - that plays a huge part in it, of course, as they’ve been best friends for as long as he can remember, but a lot of it also has to do with the fact that he never particularly connected with either of his parents. they loved him, and still do, he knows fully well, and he never lacked for anything that he wanted as a child because they were well-off and bradley and helen, when it came down to it, spoiled their children selflessly, but for some reason ben never managed to get too close with either of them. it’s not that he doesn’t care for them, deep down, nor does he resent them for anything, since he truly does appreciate all that they’ve provided for him, but in recent years, especially, he’s never felt any reason to spend time with either of them unless claire is present. his father was an official at the ministry of magic and his mother was a manager of a designer boutique chain in london ever since he was a child, so all five of them seldom spent much time together after digger went off to hogwarts, which ben was fine with because he always had claire at his side for company. another consequence of having a twin sister is that ben gets along very well with female classmates, much to the chagrin of his male friends, but it is something that comes easily to him instead of something that’s practiced because after having a sister the same age as him for fourteen years, he’s grown immune to most of the things that occasionally fluster or confuse other boys his age about the opposite sex. he’s never been kissed, though, and doesn’t make a particular effort to flirt, because a girl has to be really special to catch his attention and actually keep it. he can’t see himself dating anyone in the near future, either, because he doesn’t know how he could possibly function with anyone other than claire as his partner in crime - claire who knows all of his secrets even if he doesn’t want her to (because he can’t hide anything from her for long, apparently), who will be his best friend forever, who is his favorite person to tease, who is the only reason he sighs and puts forth the effort required to answer the weird riddles that allow one entrance into the ravenclaw common room. so all that’s on his radar at the moment is to motivate himself enough to make the most of the rest of his years at hogwarts, as well as question the life decisions of anyone who happens to be insane enough to date claire, because there clearly can’t be any other explanation if that happens. HOPE EIGHTEEN EST |
TABLE BY TRINITY @ ADOXOGRAPHY
