Gooseberry Year 2

[thecourtier]

GENERAL

NAME: Dominic Louis Tremblay
NICKNAMES: Dom. Very occasionally he gets Nic or Nico, but it's almost always Dom from non family members.
AGE/DOB: 17 / September 23rd 1996
BLOOD STATUS: Half-blood
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Male/cis, he/him or they/them is cool with Dom.
SEXUALITY: He is coming to realise that he is not entirely straight, but isn't sure how to label that yet (or even if he wants to). Dom will eventually settle for pansexual.
HOMETOWN: Saint-Théophile-de-Beauce, Québec, Canada

CONCEPT: SJW, outdoorsy Québecois with a penchant for all things unusual.

PHYSICAL

APPEARANCE: If self confidence makes up a large part of attractiveness, then there is no denying that Dominic carries himself positively. When you grow up with relatively little struggle and supportive parents, there is often no reason for you to not have the self belief that draws others to you. Additionally, Dominic was brought up by impeccable manners by his parents, so the first thing one would notice about him is the way he walks with a quietly confident, self assured swagger through the school halls. He is fortunate, also, that he has a charisma that draws others to him - whether they like him or not. His forthright speech and unapologetic manner colours some people's views.

The Québecois is of fairly tall height and build - standing at 5'11.5 and perfectly able to wear off the rack clothing sizes - but walks taller. It is only when he removes the heavy outer robes that he brought with him from Canada that you realise he is not the hulking heavyset Quidditch brute that seems to typify certain members of his cohort.

Come casual or formal day, Dominic presents himself tidily. His hair - which he takes a disproportionate amount of care of - never fails to be cleanly washed and brushed, though he doesn't mess around with styling it. It just sits straight, as he believes this to be more professional. He doesn't have to struggle with shaving, but to compensate, he has rather good skin and never fails to look clean. He enhances this with a small, subtle dab of cologne each morning.

HEIGHT: Just shy of 6'0. He really wants to get to that growth marker as he ends his spurt.

PB: Lucas Till

PERSONALITY

LIKES: Quidditch, Québec, using his natural accent to troll people, dating, dating Ree specifically, time with (most of) the guys, the outdoors, having an illicit drink or five, fairness, people just getting the hell along/getting the fuck on with it, swearing

DISLIKES: Canadian rules being banned at Gooseberry, lack of traditional Canadian foods in Utah, snobs, bullies, people who are a bit 'wet', people who don't use their time at Gooseberry to every advantage (whatever that advantage may be), people who don't make an effort in school and then complain about grades, house prejudices, whatever the hell was going on in school last year, GHOSTS.

PERSONALITY:

Dom, if he had attended Hogwarts would be something of a Slytherdor, though he has traits that could in theory place him in any of the houses with reasonable accuracy. If you were to consider his dominant traits - those that leap out and smack you about the face within the first minutes of meeting him - it is the houses of red and green that would be the most natural options for him. When he began his Gooseberry career, the cunning and sharp thinking he displays in getting what he wants mean that Slytherin would win out. However, the traumatic events of his Junior Year, wherein he had to display the courage to do what was right and to protect others, rather than keeping the immediate piece, mean he would be more in home in and with Gryffindor than any other. Protecting people, emotionally as well as physically, is what drives him now. Even though he is no longer a prefect, he still has the protective and paternal nature he had with the badge. Indeed, his determination is all the stronger now he is no longer constrained by previous convention.

Dominic is, surprisingly for the reputation of Coppertale, something of a social activist. It comes from having a mother who took delight in defying popular convention for those of her background. It is from his parents that Dom gets the strength to speak out against injustice. Somewhat oddly, though, there are Coppertales with a slight unkind edge to them whom Dom does not lash out at straight away. He knows that different people react and respond to different manners of behaviour, and to the most stubborn, a loud ticking off will only rile them up more and make things worse. For that, much more cunning and subtlety is required.

Whilst he tends to defy convention, privilege and tradition with regards to himself, he does not necessarily object to those who choose to conform. If said people behave with dignity and respect for others in keeping to the old ways, then Dom leaves them well alone. It is those amongst his peers who do so whilst exhibiting cruel and snooty behaviour that risk finding themselves on the end of a tongue lashing, depending on how much he can keep his temper.

Dominic has never been a believer in respecting someone or something through its own existence. People and traditions alike should earn that respect (it is simply because he knows when he can and can't get away with certain styles of argument that he has retained any level of trust and responsibility). He will vocally defend himself or others, and his mind - dominated by logic, for the most part - is more than capable of deconstructing and dismissing a weakly held argument. He also doesn't consider it beneath himself to remember details of arguments and conversations for a long time afterwards, because you simply never know when these details will come in handy.

When it comes to himself, rather than his wider views on politics and the wizarding world in general, Dom is not the obnoxiously brash person you might expect him to be. He uses his innate self confidence and self assurance to steer him down whatever road it takes to be a loyal son, brother and friend. Friendships made with Dom are friendships made for life. Even if time goes by for several years without letters or conversations, he will be just as delighted to see someone as if they'd seen each other yesterday. His social conscience means that he makes others attempt to feel good, and if there is a shy person on his/her own at a school social, he will make a point of going to chat to them. His dislike of people being excluded extends down this far.

On a day to day basis, he is fairly calm, unless severely rattled (at which point, he can and will hold grudges), affable, and comfortable with being in the limelight. The fact that he works hard to dispel negativity means that he is a pleasant person to be around, and he is glad of it. While some will be actively seeking to forget the events of last year at Gooseberry - and Dom certainly can't blame them for that - Dominic cannot and will not forget the emotional and mental after effects that they may have. This in part influences his most recent choice of career, but in truth, his main driving force behind this is to give people the support and final years in education that they deserve.

SKILLS

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Fluent in Quebec French as his mother tongue (though he can fake the accent/use Parisian French vocabulary if he has the mind to), and both Canadian and US English through his upbringing and education.

PATRONUS: Dominic just about managed to cast a Patronus when the event came about last year, crediting his Defence Against the Dark Arts studies for this. His Patronus is a sea eagle.

SKILLS: Outdoorsy by nature, Dominic's strengths lie in physical activities without playing team sports. Before coming to Gooseberry, and therefore listing it on his application, he was developing skills in the area of outdoor endurance and living, namely sailing and horse riding. However, this was merely the supporting information to his main application, which relied on his strong academics.

HISTORY

FAMILY MEMBERS:

Mother: Sérafina Bolduc, 42. Tutor to elementary age magical children.
Father: Jean-Phillipe Tremblay, 44. Owner of La Bougie et La Lune, a chain of fancy inns with one located in each province, serving as entry to magical-only areas of the provincial capital city, much like The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. They all serve as long-distance portkey points, and the Ottawa branch is one of the bus stops to Gooseberry High.
Sister: Marie-Anne Tremblay, 15, Ebonhide Sophomore.

HISTORY:

Family Background

When they found out that they were expecting their firstborn, Sérafina Bolduc and Jean-Phillipe Tremblay were surprised. Not displeased, but certainly surprised. They were unmarried - the displeasure at the situation came from their determinedly conservative families - and not even planning such a commitment due to the upswing of their respective careers. Truth be told, were it not for Dominic, the couple would never even have considered it.

Nonetheless, the couple ignored the gripes of their respective families and concentrated on preparing for the birth of their child before all else. They did briefly discuss marriage, but the effort they devoted into making decisions about the baby simply distracted them - and it wasn't until the infant Dominic was grizzling in his mother's arms that Jean-Phillipe finally proposed, to the intense relief of the Bolducs as well as the elder Tremblays.

In an attempt to salvage something of the family reputations, it was suggested that "to show we have nothing to be ashamed of", the wedding that the new grandparents wanted in the first place should take place anyway, with baby Dominic at home with a babysitter to not cause a distraction by his presence. They did not take into account Jean-Phillipe's logic that the guests would remember full well that the bride and groom had a child at home, nor his fatherly indignance that his son was to be shut away as if in disgrace. Winning out, baby Dominic was present at his parents' wedding, although he does not remember it.

Childhood

Growing up in the very small Québecois town of Saint-Theophile-de-Beauce, the Tremblay children (Dominic's birth was followed by that of his sister two years later) had the pleasant, convivial upbringing of those who wanted for nothing. Whilst they were by no means spoiled and given everything they never went without, and certainly never wanted for love and attention, as some of their peers did. Sérafina deliberately arranged her work so that she could look after the children herself, making a nanny unnecessary. It was a happy home where everyone felt they had a place, meaning that sibling rivalry was barely an issue.

When Dominic's first signs of magic eventually came at the age of six, it was hardly massively shocking to the family that his sibling was involved. Parents and children were walking to a nearby park for exercise when Marie-Anne - now just four years old - ran across the street without warning, into the path of an oncoming car. It was much too late for the vehicle to slow down or stop, yet somehow it did. With the mystified Muggle driving the car apologising endlessly for not seeing the toddler, and Dominic babbling about how he'd "felt all funny" and tried to stop the car "with my head", it occurred to the astonished parents that their eldest had just proven his own magical ability. Sure, it came at the expense of calling out the Obliviators to be on the safe side, but no-one was that upset - though they were relatively relieved that Dominic's sister displayed her own skills in a much less dramatic fashion.

Early Schooling

During the early years of his education, Dominic and his sister - along with other children of magical families in the area - were taught in the family home by Sérafina, who held teaching qualifications. Large swathes of Québec being so rural meant there were fewer educational opportunities for young children and many were effectively homeschooled. However, having the right connections - and given that her husband's businesses offered transportation links to many locations across magical North America - many of Sérafina's students went on to Ilvermorny after they turned 11. Indeed, so did her own children, and when the time came, Dominic made a very quick choice to join Wampus when Thunderbird had also made a bid for him. His early years of schooling were successful, the individualised attention he got at home getting him off to a good start, and he made many friends as a confident and sociable young man.

Dominic ended up being the first of his peers to go to Gooseberry, though others have been selected for the school since. Ilvermorny, of course, had seen students leave for the smaller institution several times over the years, and by the time Dominic began his third year, his head of house had spoken to him about the possibility of transferring. His grades were high enough, she said, and his extra-curricular talents (outdoor activities, languages and making things) should be sufficient to support his application if he chose to make one. Which, being an ambitious sort, he did. Other kids from his time at the more northern school were accepted and Dominic was looking forward to a more rigorous challenge when he eventually arrived in Utah.

Freshman

Unlike some, his sorting was fairly straightforward. The emblems for Ribbonfin and Ebonhide immediately looked at him and went "nope", and while Azurcrest made a half-hearted attempt at convincing him, everyone agreed it was the best choice when he said that his preference was for Coppertale. Dom was a great fit for the bold and raucous house, and as the Ribbonfin element pointed out, someone had to try and keep their bolshier element under control, so it may as well be him. The whole process took less than fifty seconds, and Dom went through his freshman year with a similar note of confidence and determination in the spring of his step.

Sophomore

In Sophomore year, he began to think more in depth about his future. Two years, in which he would be able to take the most advanced classes and vary his options, would not be long in which to make decisions about his career, and some classes would be vital for certain career paths anyway. He spent a lot of time talking to various members of staff, and it thankfully seemed that his skills were in good balance with his wants. Therefore, he was one of the students that did not make his junior year class choices in a complete rush. From the beginning of the sophomore year onward, Dominic had the goal of Auror training and every academic moment led towards it. It was also the reason that several of his choices for clubs were made anew, with physical activity and quick thinking being skills that would be promoted in members. Dom took full advantage of Gooseberry and its setting from the off, and he often takes the opportunity to go for a long run or walk along the many pathways on campus. For example, this year he is aiming to find how many routes towards the main school site are mathematically possible, noting which is the best for what reason. Like anyone else, though, in his lazier moments he will just take the straightest route past the Quidditch pitch.

Junior

Dominic arrived for his third year at Gooseberry in fairly relaxed mood, feeling that he'd done a pretty OK job as prefect and that his main concern would be managing relations between members of the Coppertale Quidditch team. However, he swiftly became pretty disillusioned with lax behaviour of certain people across the school, and the poor treatment of certain prefects by those who actively chose to break rules. Knowing that this would only get worse as they got older, and deciding that he really had other things to do with his time, he decided by late spring that he would hand in his prefect badge. He only hopes that his successor has a greater amount of patience for that side of things.

Junior Year was a pretty active one for Dom in his personal life, more than just dealing with school matters. He'd begun a fling of sorts with Azurcrest sophomore Regan Hobbs early on in the year, surprising some by the fact that their relationship lasted all year (and is still going). Ree was a stabilising influence on his year, and he privately thinks he would have gone nuts on someone without her around to help him relax. They attended all of the dances together, including Prom, but it was not the Prom mystery that would put him to the test the most.

Yes, academia and personal life alike had gone well for Dom that year, and it had been only his extra-curriculars (and those of others, if you count the fortunes of Coppertale Quidditch) to which he had to have given much extra thought. By year's end, though, the supernatural aspect to Gooseberry life had built up to the point of taking more than one student into the woods. He suspects he will never forget the morning he woke up alongside others by the Ornery Oak, to find several of their friends taken as part of the ongoing struggle between Anon and Brother. None of his own people had been taken, thank god, and neither had his sister, but he found himself adventuring alongside his girlfriend and her fellow sophomore, Milo, trying to rescue some of the poor bastards who had been taken into the strange, dreamlike world. While he had one hell of a rush, and distinct pride at managing to hack the box by following the journals and working on rotation, he still isn't sure how they managed to rescue their three targets with those ghosts that they had on their tails. Like Ree, they scare him witless now - and he thanks hell that he doesn't have reason to go into the Aesthetic Magic classroom.

Senior

After leaving Gooseberry last year, finding himself and his sister almost immediately crushed into their parents' arms, Dominic began to wonder if the pair of them would be allowed to return to school. Fortunately, after many heart to hearts (and the beginning of counselling, which has made Dom an even greater advocate for the concept) about the trauma that the school had gone through, Dom's parents felt that they were responsible enough to go back, with this coping strategy in place. It's one more year, he tells himself, and he really ought to see the thing through and leave the place better than he found it, if he can.

Otherwise, Dom's summer has been fairly quiet, not really needing a couple of months of excitement. He has visited a few friends and earned some extra cash in the Quebec City branch of his father's chain of inns, but apart from this, his time has been spent at home. He has been doing a lot of writing and a lot of reading, attempting to gather his thoughts for them to be in the right place for the new school year.

SCHOOL

YEAR: Senior
HOUSE: Coppertale (Ilvermorny Wampus)
SORTING: Dominic is confident and bold, but quietly so. Unlike some of his housemates, he does not shout loud in order to make his voice heard, being assertive in a much quieter way. Where some Coppertales are bullheaded enough to charge into a situation where someone needs to be defended, Dominic is a quick thinker and shows his leadership ability through corralling and organising his more brash peers. He has the steel core of which all Coppertales are made, leading him to stand beside his fellows at all costs.
WAND: A Wolfe-made wand of Virginia Pine with Thunderbird feather core.
FAMILIAR: A Raven named Poe. Dominic finds the name funny, anyway.

CLASSES: Charms, Herbology, Hermeticism, Potions, Transfiguration, Artificing

Dom continued with many of the Gooseberry core subjects in order to give himself a good grounding in magic. As it turned out, he approached his Senior year with these subjects being the ones he needed most. Seems fortunate enough...

ADVANCED STUDY: Occlumency

Dom originally took Occlumency as a natural companion to DADA. While he dropped that class, he kept his advance study for the discipline it teaches, and for having a greater understanding of how the mind works.

SENIOR PROJECT: Dominic completely changed his mind over the summer between Junior and Senior year. After long conversations with friends and his girlfriend, he came to realise that he doesn't want to even be an Auror anymore, so his previous project idea has been abandoned. While he is keeping his new idea for a career path under his hat to all but a select few - he wants to study psychology with a specific focus on traumatic events sustained under magical influence, eventually becoming a counsellor - his topic is more open. He wants to develop a potion or course of potions which calm/s the mind without suppressing or affecting memories through side effects.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: 7 classes (he dropped DADA this year due to a change in career ambitions and to focus on his project), no pass/fail courses and no grade lower than a B in his Gooseberry career...yep, Dominic is one of those students to whom academics comes easily, almost annoyingly so (he's secretly furious he can't take two advanced classes and do animagus training as well). He claims to find all subjects equally difficult (well, he would say easy were it not for his attempts to be diplomatic), but Hermeticism and Transfiguration are probably the topics which most test his considerable brain. Then again, they're a pretty tough challenge for most people, so he doesn't feel too bad. Potions and Artificing are his current favourite subjects due to having a creative element, which is something of an outlet.

EXTRACURRICULARS: Archery, Boating, Duelling/Fencing, Outdoor Exploration, Cheerleading

Dominic tried out for the Cheer Squad last year and swiftly realised he actually liked it an awful lot more than being a prefect. The use of energy was exhilarating, and he's less of a dancer and more the glue that helps the others piece their dramatic performances together. He's strongly built, meaning he's a good part of a pyramid and well able to toss the smaller members when putting together gymnastic set pieces for dramatic effect. It's leadership by committee, rather than leadership as a solo effort, and it works a lot more for him that way.

OOC

NAME: Heather
EMAIL: heather_stanton@hotmail.com
CDJ: fandomfeministecdj @ tumblr
OTHER PREFERRED CONTACT: N/A
TIME ZONE: GMT/BST