tyche's workshop

T

Tyche

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An ongoing work-in-progress to store all my newfound characters as well as their backstories and personas. Face-claims and concept art will mostly be stored here as well as codes or character sheet layouts I like.

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Hex Codes/Layouts
 
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[work in progress] Sci-Fi fantasy/Universal character that has a more complex, vengeful backstory needing to be hashed out. A dead stare indicates a lack of empathy as well as a dedication to the job and the people around her.



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CZARINA SMIRNOV
[Faceclaim: Julia Almendra]

AGE || 29 | RACE || Humanoid [Cyborg] | OCCUPATION | Bounty Hunter/Smuggler |

PLANET OF ORIGIN || Neo-Earth | CURRENT LOCATION || Klangbar Asteroid Belt |​

APPEARANCE || With a tall and narrow frame, Czarina weighs only a measly 122 lbs. and living within the shadows has given her skin and features a sickly appearance. Her hair remains unruly no matter the occasion and the rest of her ensemble is a mix-match of dark colors, leather and outfits to cover her more robotic features. The makeshift mask adorning the lower half of her face is to hide the missing pieces of her jawline and provides an embedded cochlear implant to aid her broken speech caused by deafness. Czarina has the cool, calculating stare of someone who has seen enough and she carries herself like she knows your deepest, darkest secret. Always hovering around the corner, or lurking in the shadows, Czarina knows too much and yet seeks more from the galaxy.

POSITION || Resistance

BIO || Despite being born with permanent hearing loss, Czarina grew-up in a normal household with her mother and her father who served on the counsel during her childhood. Neo-Earth being a booming technological planet, her father was able to aid her ailment at a young age, however she never focused on her education to fix her speech impediment. Schooling and education simply did not excite her like finding out the information herself. She began to covet the streets of Neo-Earth, a rat paid under the table for the stories and lies she heard within the shadows. Her parents made a decent amount of currency, but Czarina wanted to create her own path thus creating her own business working both for and against most higher-ups residing on Neo-Earth.

That is, until her accident. Caught between a rock, a hard-place, and a high-tech engineered monster, Czarina suffered from a bad business transaction that caused her to lose her right hand, her jaw, and her dignity. A medical chamber held her broken parts and pride for a long-time and after months of rehabilitation she was released back home where her parents kept more of a stricter eye on their daughter. It wasn't until she turned 18 did she return to the streets of Neo-Earth to undo the damage that had been done to her. Years and years of service to the underground gave Czarina a name for herself thus allowing her to expand her business and acquire the tools to get off the planet permanently.

She said goodbye to her parents and flew off into the galaxy to find success. A well-known bounty-hunter and smuggler to those that require such services with an underlying tie to the resistance, Czarina has lived a life in the dark and does not wish to emerge anytime soon.

TRAITS ||
(+) Tolerant | Czarina surrounds herself with most, if not all, personalities, religions, ethnicity, or etc et era, which is why she runs the business she does. Neither dark nor light, the young silver-haired phantom allows all behaviors and opinions even if she does not necessarily agree with them.
Dauntless | She is both fearless and determined in her job and her life. She has no problem going forward with a bounty and all of it's risk as long as she comes out the other side with a bigger and better reception.​
Observant | Quick to notice things and people, Czarina can pick a needle out of a haystack as well as a runner from the Cult. With two of her five senses already lacking, she makes up with her eyes.​
(=) Stoic | She endures pain and hardships without complaint and almost never twitches a feature for something she may dislike. This makes it hard for her to relate to others and create acquaintances, but Czarina has yet to complain.
Practical | When a plan is made, Czarina follows it to it's completion and never falters from the path. She sticks to what she can do versus what she is told and tends to space when new ideas or theories are thrown in the loop. She lives a very straightforward path.​

(-) Deceptive | Czarina has a history of lies that were made to protect others truth. She is very good at leaving a lie in the past and nothing has yet to follow her. She can easily manipulate a situation to her liking with both her words and her presence, which can turn into a conundrum when matched with someone who can easily sense a sleight of hand.
Rudeness | She has a lack of manners and courtesy that make her very standoff-ish to others, which is why she does not have many acquaintances or friends. She doesn't comply with social norms or etiquette of a group or culture and keeps to herself. She enjoys the distant that comes with a negative persona.​
Self-relient | Czarina relies on her own powers and resources rather than those of others. It is how she has always functioned and it has hindered her ability to trust other's intuitions as well as their intentions.​

TOKEN || A red/blue wire, at least a foot in length, that looks like it was ripped from the innards of some sort of machinery. It's frayed and usually kept coiled in silver container she keeps on-hand.

 
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[WIP] BBCode credit to darkflames13 from their playground. I am currently trying to add a hidden scrollbar. Would also like to add a border to the image on the first layout without it also creating a border around the textbox. This will be Czarina's official color layout titled Animal.


#12151c

#a30000

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Czarina Smirnov

Planet of Origin | Neo-Earth
Current Location | Klangbar Asteroid Belt


Biography

Despite being born with permanent hearing loss, Czarina grew-up in a normal household with her mother and her father who served on the counsel during her childhood. Neo-Earth being a booming technological planet, her father was able to aid her ailment at a young age, however she never focused on her education to fix her speech impediment. Schooling and education simply did not excite her like finding out the information herself. She began to covet the streets of Neo-Earth, a rat paid under the table for the stories and lies she heard within the shadows. Her parents made a decent amount of currency, but Czarina wanted to create her own path thus creating her own business working both for and against most higher-ups residing on Neo-Earth.

That is, until her accident. Caught between a rock, a hard-place, and a high-tech engineered monster, Czarina suffered from a bad business transaction that caused her to lose her right hand, her jaw, and her dignity. A medical chamber held her broken parts and pride for a long-time and after months of rehabilitation she was released back home where her parents kept more of a stricter eye on their daughter. It wasn't until she turned 18 did she return to the streets of Neo-Earth to undo the damage that had been done to her. Years and years of service to the underground gave Czarina a name for herself thus allowing her to expand her business and acquire the tools to get off the planet permanently.

She said goodbye to her parents and flew off into the galaxy to find success. A well-known bounty-hunter and smuggler to those that require such services with an underlying tie to the resistance, Czarina has lived a life in the dark and does not wish to emerge anytime soon.


Appearance

With a tall and narrow frame, Czarina weighs only a measly 122 lbs. and living within the shadows has given her skin and features a sickly appearance. Her hair remains unruly no matter the occasion and the rest of her ensemble is a mix-match of dark colors, leather and outfits to cover her more robotic features. The makeshift mask adorning the lower half of her face is to hide the missing pieces of her jawline and provides an embedded cochlear implant to aid her broken speech caused by deafness. Czarina has the cool, calculating stare of someone who has seen enough and she carries herself like she knows your deepest, darkest secret. Always hovering around the corner, or lurking in the shadows, Czarina knows too much and yet seeks more from the galaxy.

 
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[WIP] BBCode credit to darkflames13 from their playground. Would like to add a hidden scrollbar to this layout as well.


✸ I CAN'T (ESCAPE) THIS HELL
BUT I'M STILL CAGED (INSIDE) ✸


Czarina Smirnov

Planet of Origin | Neo-Earth
Current Location | Klangbar Asteroid Belt


Biography

Despite being born with permanent hearing loss, Czarina grew-up in a normal household with her mother and her father who served on the counsel during her childhood. Neo-Earth being a booming technological planet, her father was able to aid her ailment at a young age, however she never focused on her education to fix her speech impediment. Schooling and education simply did not excite her like finding out the information herself. She began to covet the streets of Neo-Earth, a rat paid under the table for the stories and lies she heard within the shadows. Her parents made a decent amount of currency, but Czarina wanted to create her own path thus creating her own business working both for and against most higher-ups residing on Neo-Earth.

That is, until her accident. Caught between a rock, a hard-place, and a high-tech engineered monster, Czarina suffered from a bad business transaction that caused her to lose her right hand, her jaw, and her dignity. A medical chamber held her broken parts and pride for a long-time and after months of rehabilitation she was released back home where her parents kept more of a stricter eye on their daughter. It wasn't until she turned 18 did she return to the streets of Neo-Earth to undo the damage that had been done to her. Years and years of service to the underground gave Czarina a name for herself thus allowing her to expand her business and acquire the tools to get off the planet permanently.

She said goodbye to her parents and flew off into the galaxy to find success. A well-known bounty-hunter and smuggler to those that require such services with an underlying tie to the resistance, Czarina has lived a life in the dark and does not wish to emerge anytime soon.


Appearance

With a tall and narrow frame, Czarina weighs only a measly 122 lbs. and living within the shadows has given her skin and features a sickly appearance. Her hair remains unruly no matter the occasion and the rest of her ensemble is a mix-match of dark colors, leather and outfits to cover her more robotic features. The makeshift mask adorning the lower half of her face is to hide the missing pieces of her jawline and provides an embedded cochlear implant to aid her broken speech caused by deafness. Czarina has the cool, calculating stare of someone who has seen enough and she carries herself like she knows your deepest, darkest secret. Always hovering around the corner, or lurking in the shadows, Czarina knows too much and yet seeks more from the galaxy.

 
[WIP] Bringing over some of my other characters from my older thread in order to complete them. Haldor's official color layout is titled Scandinavian Winter.



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Name: Haldor Bjarke Thurmon
Alias: Björn
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 212lbs.
Brief Description: Haldor is just a mass of muscle, red meat, and protein. With an angular face, jaw covered in blonde scruff, bushy brows, and ice-cold azure eyes, Haldor could somewhat be mistaken as sinister looking, however, in reality, it's the mind that makes the man. He keeps his blonde locks short and dresses mostly in t-shirts, jeans, and a bomber jacket. A pair of black metal dog-tags can be seen beneath his collar.
Sexuality: Heterosexual

Nationality: Danish-Nordic
Place of Birth: Aarhus, Denmark
Hometown: Bergen, Norway
Accent: Norwegian Dialect
Current Location: New Angeles, California
Occupation: Super Soldier (Past) Agent (Current)
Affiliated Groups: Government Arcadia

Brief Backstory: Although Haldor was born in Aarhus, Denmark, his parents decided that it would be better to raise him in Norway with his father's extensive family. There Haldor grew up around many interesting and unruly men, each one teaching him the skill sets that he utilizes today. He would spend days or weeks camping with his uncles while his mother was away at a convention or even when his father was trying to expand his business by traveling the globe looking for investors. He was taught fly-fishing, hunting, marksmanship, and more, all before he was thirteen years old. After years of barely spending time with his parents or knowing them for that matter, it was revealed that his mother was pregnant again, this time with a little girl. Not wanting to teach at the university anymore, Haldor's mother resigned and convinced his father to move them to the United States, Pennsylvania to be exact.

The move away from his one true family made Haldor's behavior change drastically. He became the type of teenager who skipped class, drank, and even delved into over the counter narcotics. He barely spent time with his younger sister and even resented her for initiating their move away from his country. At sixteen he was hooked on opioids meant to relieve the pain associated with his torn shoulder, an incident that occurred during a fight at home. By seventeen he had dropped out of high-school and ran away, taking his drug addiction to the streets. With no money and no hope, Haldor unknowingly went through withdrawals on the streets and came clean. This was around the time when his powers became to manifest. Scared, ashamed, and worried about what would happen if somebody found out about his abilities, Haldor refused to return home and decided to couch surf and take refuge in homeless shelters.

After debating his options for so long, Haldor decided he wanted to join the military like his uncles back home had done, but in the States it was required that you had a high school diploma in order to enlist. It took him over a year of taking online classes at the library to catch up and graduate after his friends, but he accomplished his task and moved onward into the Marine Corps – never thinking about his superhuman abilities, despite hearing about many people with similar powers. Too young to have remembered Ground Zero, and too naïve to seek guidance for his newfound abilities, Haldor pretended like there was nothing abnormal about him. He never spoke to his family about what was occurring and he could hardly remember his little sister's face at this point.

Many years in the Marine Corps beat Haldor's rocky years of adolescence right out of him and in adulthood he had become a strong, vigilante, and intelligent man. The skills he was taught as a child were refined and he became a Scout Sniper with a keen eye. Rarely ever did Haldor tap into his abilities, the thought of ever being caught driving him to keep them hidden from anyone. Yes, there were many incidents that tipped Haldor off to the idea that his powers were becoming unstable, but he continued to pretend like he was a normal soldier. It didn't take him long to promote and by twenty-four years old Haldor was a Gunnery Sergeant in charge of hundreds of soldiers. He served a full deployment in Syria with his platoon and six months later was deployed to Afghanistan where shit really hit the fan.

A routine perimeter check had set off a multitude of IED's that had been strategically placed to destroy their compound's main gate, Haldor being one of the many caught in the initial blast. When the blast had subsided and the fires raged around him, Haldor came to and in an attempt to save his fellow soldiers had revealed the powers that he had kept dormant for so long. With nearly no experience with his abilities, Haldor did more harm than good and burnt fifteen soldiers to an unidentifiable crisp. The adrenaline had finally subsided and left him in a heap surrounded by the lifeless bodies of his friends.

By the time he had awoken from his stupor (almost two weeks later), he had been transported to Arcadia's research facility where he was already registered into the program. For the next five years, Haldor was indeed entirely broken down to where he questioned the events that occurred in the desert, somehow making himself believe that what he had done to his soldiers was the most ideal solution – that they would thank him for putting them out of their misery. It felt like he would never be brought back from the abyss until finally Arcadia had begun to teach him more about his powers and even though it was through mental torture, emotional carnage, and physical endangerment, Haldor was grateful he was beginning to understand. Even after the initial three years of hell at Arcadia, Haldor accepted their offer to join the ranks of their super soldiers and abide by every rule and law that they governed. As a soldier he is whole. His devotion to Arcadia has given him much recognition and Haldor now leads squads of soldiers once more into the most deadly of missions across the States.

Species: Mutant
Ability: Electricity Manipulation
The power to create, shape and manipulate electricity, a form of energy resulting from the movement of charged particles (such as electrons or protons), allowing control over electric fields, all charge carriers (Ions, Electrons, Protons, and Positrons), electronics, and electromagnetic forces. The user has complete control over electric fields, all charge carriers (Ions, Electrons, Protons, and Positrons), electronics, and electromagnetic forces. The user can absorb electricity, while removing it from the source, into his body and use it in various ways, gaining some form of advantage, either by enhancing themselves, gaining the drained power, using it as power source etc. and can sense the presence of electricity and possibly gain detailed understanding about the electricity he his sensing, including the amount/size of electricity he is sensing and whether it is hidden.

Electricity Manipulation has many branches of power, ranging from very weak to very advanced:
Energy Manipulation: User can create, shape and manipulate energy, the capacity to cause change: one of the most basic quantitative properties of a system, such as an object or a field of energy.
They can transform (convert) among a number of forms that may each manifest and be measurable in differing ways.

Storm Manipulation
: User can sense, create, shape and manipulate storms, including strong wind, hail, thunder and/or lightning.
They can summon lightning bolts from the sky or project them from their hands, using them to pierce and/or severely burn their opponents even to the point of death.


Some techniques in regards to electricity manipulation includes:
Electrical Healing: The power to heal themselves or others by using electricity by absorbing the electrons and using them to stimulate molecules, renewing damaged cells.
Electro-Invisibility: The power to become invisible when in/on/touching electricity.
Electrical Combat: The power to utilize electricity manipulation with physical combat, granting them impressive offensive capabilities, while sometimes leaving their defensive abilities somewhat lacking.

The weaknesses in regards to electricity manipulation includes:
Electricity needs a conductor like metal or water to move through, therefore electricity can neither exist in nor move through a vacuum (such as outer space) and may be insulated by non-conductive matter, such as air and rubber.
May have problems using electronics.
May be short-circuited under certain conditions:
Contact with water, a magnet, the opposite polarity, etc.
Absence/lack of electrical resistance between the positive and negative polarities.

May have to find electrical sources of power in order to recharge.

Hobbies: Drinking, Sparring, Reading
Weaponry & Training
Superpower Control (12+ years)
Martial Arts (10+ years)
Semi-Automatic Machine Guns, Heavy Duty Weapons, Rifles, Handguns, Bombs (8+ years)
C-130, Black-hawk licensed flyer (4+ years)
Weapons: M9 Pistol, M16 Automatic Rifle, Hunting Knife
 

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erin o'flan

pure-blood, first year, slytherin
"O, how these serpents plague my mind."

basics

Fullname: Erin Mina-Mauve O'Flannagan
Nicknames: Ren, Mina, O'Flan
House: Slytherin
Wand 23,8 centimeters, chestnut wood and
snallygaster heartstring.
School Year: First
Patronus: Unavailable
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Personality-type: ISTP
Age/Birthday: Eleven, born May 4th, 2006 at 6:44am
Race/Nationality: Caucasian, Irish
Class: High class in both the muggle world and
wizarding world.
Blood-type: Pure-blood

"You could be great,
you know, it's all here in your
head, and Slytherin will help you
on the way to greatness, no doubt
about that."


appearance


Hair: Erin's hair is a dark black color with the texture of fine silk. Now, it hangs loosely mid-back and is either put into a half-bun when she is inventing or left to sway wildly.
Skin: Her complexion is more of a light nude, not necessarily pale, but it's obvious she doesn't play outside often.
Eyes: She has very light brown eyes that turn near black in the dark.
Height: She's quite short for eleven years old, a measly 132 centimeters (4 foot 4 inches).
Weight: Roughly 46 kilograms (101 pounds), however she is not frail in the slightest.
Markings: Her hands are littered with miniscule cuts from when she has an incident with one of her machines and she has to dig into it's mechanical guts to find the issue.
Physical Features: With thick eyebrows and large eyes, Erin sort of looks like a small China doll. She only has a few dark marks littering her jawline and cheek. She walks with her shoulders hunched slightly, but quickly changes posture when sitting with a large group: back straight, knees bent, and elbows off the table.


persona

ISTP Personality-type (The Virtuoso)

Strengths: Optimistic, energetic, creative, practical, spontaneous, logical, knows how to prioritize, great in a crisis, relaxed, ambitious, wise
Weaknesses: Stubborn, insensitive, private, reserved, easily bored, dislikes commitment, risky behavior





HISTORY
Birthplace: Belfast, Ireland
Parents: Ramona O'Flannagan, mother and Desmond O'Flannagan, father
Sibling: Demetrius O'Flannagan

History/Background Story: Erin Mina-Mauve O'Flan was born May 4th, 2006 at 6:44am, roughly 2,7 kilograms and healthy all around in the heart of Belfast, Ireland. She was born four years after her elder brother Demetrius, who currently resides in Ravenclaw as a Fifth Year. Her parents, Ramona and Desmond met during their years at Hogwarts, her mother being a Ravenclaw Graduate and her father a Slytherin Head Boy Graduate. Their relationship blossomed during their Seventh Year and after leaving Hogwarts behind they married and settled into her father's family estate in Ireland.

As far as Erin knows, her parents were a lively couple who showered their son with as much love and affection they could muster. He hung mostly under their mother's wing, having a knack for more analytical or trivial tasks such as writing and reading. Her parents taught Demetrius just as they taught her, shaping him into the incredibly handsome and polite aristocrat he is today at Hogwarts, no doubt the Prefect that gets on your tail-coats when you linger too long in the stairwell. When Erin arrived, Demetrius just beginning his personal family learning, her parents were still very involved with their children. Once their son went off to Hogwarts and Erin had already been introduced to the lifestyle, her parents relationship began to suffer and it took it's toll on the young girl. Her father spent many nights in his workshop and often refused to eat his meals anywhere else. Her mother threw herself more into The Daily Prophet and spent a majority of her time traveling the world looking for worthwhile stories to tell.

Despite the rift forming, they placed Erin into as many extracurricular activities outside of primary and elementary school that they possibly could. Her grades were average, but she excelled in other things such as robotics, woodworking, and even simple mechanics. It wasn't a surprise to find the young one rummaging in junk piles and garbage disposals to find the perfect pieces for the machines she made, perfectly replicated from her father's. These simple skills gave Erin the confidence and arrogance that she carries around to this day, even as a young girl, learning about witches and wizards, she wasn't afraid to think about the possibility that she may never manifest her abilities. She knew that, if worst-case scenario, she never became a witch, she would still be able to make a living doing the muggle things that she loved. Her parents rewarded her knowledge with more knowledge, encouraging her to take up as many skills as her growing mind could muster. On special occasions, her father would allow her in his workshop and let her to use some of his old tools. This was when Erin would sneak peeks at her father's blueprints and replicate his most prized possessions, but on a smaller scale to fit her hands.

When Ramona and Desmond finally divorced, a year before the Hogwarts letter arrived, they reassured their daughter that nothing in the house would change. Things did change, however Erin was convinced it was for the better. Her mother was around much more, vowing that she would teach her daughter more than just what the wizarding world would offer. Living lavishly in an estate had blinded Ramona to her own childhood roots, the ones that grew in Kenmare, Ireland where her and her sisters would run wild through the forest and build swings from ropes and branches. She realized how deprived her daughter was of the outside world. Turning ten was a confusing time for Erin, with a mother who was now smothering her and pushing her to do such vile things (such as horseback-riding or cooking), a father that only ever wrote letters, and an older brother that only ridiculed her bad habits and strange hobbies, she was joyous when her powers became true.

The last time she saw her parents together was at the train station. Her mother was crying and her father was genuinely attempting to comfort her. Being a witch would come with many responsibilities, but Erin was content knowing that she had basically been prepared since birth for this journey. Since arriving to Hogwarts, she was placed on that rickety chair and introduced to the Sorting Hat. She would later learn that those painstakingly long five minutes she spent beneath that enchanted hat had a name. A Hatstall. The Sorting Hat agonized between placing her in Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Erin might have caused it much turmoil when she attempted to just choose Ravenclaw out of desperation; her brother's incredulous stare boring into her from across the room. Though she won't ever admit it, she was relieved to be placed into Slytherin house.


wand

Chestnut: This is a most curious, multi-faceted wood,
which varies greatly in its character
depending on the wand core, and takes a
great deal of colour from the personality that
possesses it. The wand of chestnut is
attracted to witches and wizards who are
skilled tamers of magical beasts, those who
possess great gifts in Herbology, and those
who are natural fliers.
Snallygaster Heartstring: Once believed to be
a type of dragon, this bird—reptile hybrid has
found its way onto the pages of many a Muggle
newspaper. Snallygaster heartstrings can be used
as wand cores and primarily sub-sectioned in the
Dragon criteria.
Dragon: As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce
wands with themost power, and which are capable
of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to
learn more quickly than other types. While they can
change allegiance if won from their original master,
they always bond strongly with the current owner.


pet

Tyto (The Lesser Sooty Owl)

The Lesser Sooty Owl is a strictly nocturnal bird. He hides during the day in dense foliage, between tangles of aerial roots, in all kinds of crevices, or beneath overhanging banks and hunts in clearings and near roads, but also inside the forest. Lesser Sooty Owls hunt mainly small mammals, but also take insects and some birds. They generally hunt from low perches and take prey on the ground.

Tyto is a male Lesser Sooty Owl so he is only a few kilograms. Erin's father took her to Diagon Alley and, despite her love for the dark and broody felines, she saw Tyto at the very top of Eeylops Owl Emporium & Magical Menagerie and his small stature was what caught her eye. Since he is exclusively nocturnal, Erin saves all of the letters she intends to send home over the week and sends him off in the late hours of the night during the weekends. When he's not working the postal service, Tyto can be found perched inside his cage either ruffling his feathers or sleeping during the day. Erin doesn't mind an animal with a different sleeping schedule than her. Despite it all, Tyto is incredibly attached to the young witch and sometimes will perch upon her bedpost to sleep.


house

Slytherin is one of the four houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was founded by Salazar Slytherin. In establishing the house, Salazar instructed the Sorting Hat to pick students who had a few particular characteristics he most valued. Those characteristics include: cunning, resourcefulness, and ambition. Many Slytherin students tend to clique together, often acquiring leaders, which further exemplifies Slytherin's ambitious qualities. Slytherins are known for being cunning and ambitious, although it is also known to have produced many Dark witches and wizards.
"We Slytherins are brave,
yes, but not stupid. For instance,
given the choice, we will always choose
to save our own necks."







THE SORTING HAT CEREMONY
"O'Flan, Erin!"

The collection of First Years not yet sorted parted eerily, allowing the young raven-haired girl to make her way up to the stage without running into any shoulders. Erin willed herself to not be frightened of what the Sorting Hat may tell her; she promised to be strong for both mother and father, no matter where she was placed in Hogwarts. With a deep breath she walked up to the stool, took a seat and assisted with placing the monstrous hat upon her small head. She kept a calm demeanor as she folded her hands politely and waited for the Sorting Hat to animate once more. So many other children had already been sorted without a fuss, it was time for Erin find out who her second family may be.

"Ah, my dear, the Sorting Hat began to spring to life a top her head, swaying slightly to gain better balance on the girl's mound of dark hair, "welcome to Hogwarts. I'm so pleased that the O'Flan's youngest has finally come to join us. A spark burns brightly inside you, one full of courage and arrogance all the same, you could fit into Gryffindor..." A Gryffindor? Erin couldn't see herself donning such bright and broody colors. What a preposterous image! She wanted to make a name for herself, grow up surrounded by a House where nobody questioned why she was there. "I see." The She wouldn't be appreciated there. Erin needed a path that would effectively pave her road towards a solid future. Two minutes had now turned into three. Her eyes scanned the Great Hall, subconsciously Sorting Hat fell silent for quite sometime, the minutes ticking by like molasses. Anxiety gnawed at her throat. A glass of water right would sure do the trick.

The Hat spoke once more, pulling Erin away from her thoughts of scrumptious roast turkey and pumpkin juice. "Loyalty for your family and their traditions; a hunger for friends and fun, traits most associated with Hufflepuff..." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Hufflepuff was a stern no. she was looking for her older brother.

"No, no, no," the Hat made a sort of clicking noise, as if it was scolding even himself for the thought, "another O'Flan to join Ravenclaw perhaps?" Erin felt a ball of disappointment fill her chest. Ravenclaw was a wonderful House, her brother Demetrius had been raving about it since he was sorted four years ago. She could grow-up to be just like her mother. Her mother was wise beyond her years and yet full of so much childhood wit. Could she live a happy life as a Ravenclaw? Her eyes finally fell upon her brother, short black hair falling loosely over his brows... brows that were raised questionably at Erin. He probably thought she was questioning the Hat's choices - that she was scared to be put into a House at all.

Erin clutched her fists firmly, her eyes boring into her brother's thick skull before tearing them away to look up at the Sorting Hat. No! I have to find my own way. "It would be the perfect place for you to gain more knowledge and feed your current inhibitions. However, Slytherin is where your talents would blossom tremendously. I am torn young witch. She couldn't believe it, the Sorting Hat couldn't decide where to place her. She was a witch! She had come all this way knowing that she belonged at this school. "Ravenclaw.... Slytherin..." Three minutes had turned to four and four minutes was slowly creeping to five.

She wanted to push the Hat to make a decision, but what if she chose wrong? What if meddling with the Hat's all-knowing sorting abilities placed her someplace where she would forever be unhappy. "Slytherin.... Ravenclaw?" On the train-ride here she had vowed to become the greatest witch this generation had ever seen. Erin's teeth were set on-edge, however a calm, icy façade was still etched across her features. With shoulder's pushed back and chin held high, she awaited the Sorting Hat's answer. The clock struck five minutes.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Thank you," she whispered. The Great Hall exploded in a fit of applause, the wait was over and Erin was let down from the stool and ushered towards the other students clad in green and silver.