Application for teleios | Laurel Quincey

[hoja]

Player Info

Name: Erin
Age: 28
Contact: darsonia {AIM} | illusen {Plurk} | inillusen@gmail.com {Email}
Characters Already in Teleios: None
Reserve: Right here!

Character Basics:

Character Name: Laurel Quincey
Journal: hoja 
Age: 17
Fandom: The Secret Circle novels
Canon Point: Near the end of the third and last book (The Power), after the Circle defeats Black John.
Debt:

Class A: 2 Years
Class B: 12 Months
Class C: 3 Months

• Ostracising many people throughout her life
• Judgemental of others for not following her dietary lifestyle
• Insults some of her friends (mocks or laughs at)

GRAND TOTAL: 3 Years 3 Months

Canon Character Section:

History: There aren't any good Wiki sources for Laurel specifically, but her history is largely expanded on within her Personality section. Here's a link to the premise of the story.

Laurel was born to David and Melissa B. Quincey. Both of her parents died when she was nearly a year old, and she was raised by her grandmother. When the novels begin, Laurel is 16 years old and has been raised in the same town all of her life. She grew up on the same street, around the same kids, all her life.

Most of the events in her life have surrounded the going ons of that group of kids: her Circle, a coven of young, powerful witches. They end up accidentally releasing a powerful, evil force (a witch named Black John) and they end up fighting him to bring him down.


Personality: 

Laurel was raised by her grandmother in the small, remote town of New Salem, Massachusetts. She has lived her entire life on a further isolated section of town, Crowhaven Road. In fact, all of the other families that have lived on the road have been there for all of Laurel’s life, as well as since the colonization of New Salem centuries ago. All of the families there are descendants of real, genuine witches who sought a safe haven away from Salem, from the witch trials: those original witches built a new home for themselves there.

There are eleven kids on that road, all between sixteen and seventeen during canon. When they were all infants/toddlers, their magical abilities surfaced. Sometime in their adolescence, one of their family Book of Shadows was found and they formed a make-shift coven.

At the start of canon, Laurel is sixteen years old. She leans heavily toward being good natured. Her longtime friends are Diana and Melanie and together the three of them make up a part of the coven that makes choices in their magic for good, always keeping balance and order in mind.

Laurel is quite close with both Melanie and Diana. To the rest of the coven, they’re viewed as being too goody-goody, and they truly do live up to that impression. Diana is the temporary leader of the coven at the beginning of the story, and she is seen as the epitome of good. Laurel is ever loyal to her, and that drives her actions in the coven. Laurel will always vote for Diana, will always side with her, because she knows that Diana's views on magic have always been to use their abilities for good.

Melanie and Laurel are often seen speaking to one another, bantering back and forth about the specifics of a situation: truly, Melanie is often the voice of reason within the coven, and she and Laurel share a close bond. From discussions with a logical voice like Melanie, Laurel often learns a lot and sees various sides of a situation.

Laurel cares deeply about all of the members of the Circle. She'll speak her mind if someone acts out of line, but it's evident by any of her actions toward all members of the Circle that she loves each member. On at least one occasion, she acts like a mother bear, corralling people around to be sure everything is all right. She’s abruptly stops someone if they’re doing or saying something hurtful, such as interjecting words or a foot-to-leg of a Henderson brother who may start to say an off-color statement (without realizing it, as teenage boys tend to do.) All in all, virtually all of Laurel’s actions toward the rest of the coven are compassionate. She cares about doing what’s best for them: from making them herbal teas when they’re sick, tending to potentially broken limbs immediately, to caring for their emotional well-beings too. Truly, Laurel acts very maternal to everyone, and most of the time it seems like she’s not pushed away, so of course she’d continue to do it.

The coven’s twelfth member moved to New Salem at the start of the novels and lo and behold, was discovered to be a witch too. This member, named Cassie Blake, is who the novels primarily focus on and thus they’re written primarily from her perspective. Laurel is the second friend that Cassie makes, and the new girl quickly becomes very important to her. The two began bonding initially with ease, especially given that they’re in the same grade at school. Laurel explained a lot to Cassie when she first arrived, taking her under her wing--Diana also did the same for Cassie, although on a much grander scale. From this, it’s obvious that Laurel shares a lot of the same traits as the girl she respects so much, including the instinct to be nurturing to someone in need.

Laurel also cares about her Granny Quincey. As a result of the Laurel being more of a minor character, her specific family life isn't explored a great deal, but she's seen having only positive, caring views toward her Granny. As her attitude is always to be as kind as she can, it's easy to conclude that she's always been loving, considerate, and obedient to her Granny.

Like all of the other kids on Crowhaven Road, she experienced a great loss as an infant: both of her parents were killed on the same day, along with many other adults, the cause of death having been a hurricane. In canon, the effect of not having her parents around is not outright stated in her dialogue, but it's safe to say that the entirety of the Circle felt like there was a hole in their lives. Furthermore, the coven learns in canon that all of the deaths caused by that hurricane were actually the result of a centuries old witch named Black John. Laurel and the rest of the Circle were born as the result of Black John coming into town, moving onto his old stomping grounds on Crowhaven Road and setting up all of the young adults there together, matching them up to make for the most powerful babies. After those babies were born, their parents eventually realized what Black John was trying to accomplish--create the most powerful coven to ever exist--and they attempted to stop him from taking control of their families. The end result, as mentioned, was that any who tried to stop Black John were killed by the storm he created. Both of Laurel’s parents were in this mix. After the Circle finds out about the real story, it shocks all of them, but actually knowing the truth has a profoundly positive effect on Laurel: her parents died trying to protect her and her friends, and in turn fought for the side of good. The parents she never had the chance to know obviously deeply loved her.

Not all of the parents fought--some hid, out of fear. Those who hid and dealt with the aftershock stopped caring about magic and no longer performed it. This had a large effect on various members of the coven, given that some of their living parents may very well be witches who reject it. No teenager does well when someone they care about rejects what comes naturally. Some of the coven members are bitter about the past, events they had no control over, and that has an impact on the coven’s dynamics as a whole. Also, when their own parents weren’t there for them to ask questions to, the feeling of uncertainty and being lost can easily plague a person. This hasn’t been a huge issue for Laurel herself, but she has been around it and viewed it from others in the Circle.

Living in New Salem all of her life, Laurel's view of the world is fairly narrow. The Circle has always called anyone not on Crowhaven Road, “an Outsider.” Laurel doesn’t think twice about calling them such, about referring to the other kids at school as Outsiders (not to their faces, but to her friends.) It’s how it is: there are witches, and there aren’t. The non-witches, the Outsiders, see the Club as being special, out of their reach. This is how Laurel sees it too, and the idea that that’s an unkind thought at all doesn’t register with her. It's never mentioned if she's travelled much outside of the area, or even outside of Massachusetts. Yet, with the way that she acts, her age, and lack of parents to have taken her on family-trips, it's easy to assume that she isn't very travelled. To Laurel, her coven and their family members, along with the Outsiders, are truly all that she's exposed to on a regular basis. Also in the mix of the Outsiders are witch hunters, which the Circle is targeted by (Cassie being captured as a result.) This helps add to the “us versus them” attitude that is definitely very present within most of the Circle. It’s worth noting, however, that at the end of the novel (past Laurel’s arrival point to Teleios), Diana outright states that the Club needs to have better relations with the Outsiders: it’s without a doubt that Laurel will accept this and agree with it. Why cut down an entire tree when there only a few bad apples?

Laurel attends school regularly and is a good student. Most of her time is spent simply being a teenager, hanging out with her friends and attending the meetings that their coven holds. She’s personable, nice, but she does become visually and vocally concerned in times of stress and dire circumstances. Near the end of the novels, the events surrounding Black John’s return cause uncertainty and fear within the coven, and Laurel falls prey to that. She questions their situations outright when necessary, but is obviously fearful about what’s going to happen to all of them, just like most of the other Circle members too.

One unique aspect of her personality is her affinity for plants. She's very earth conscious, and her magical vein is the power of the earth and the leaves. She gardens and feels a bond with all plants, actually speaking to them and thanking them for their roots and leaves. She nurtures plants as if they have at the very least capacity for pain, apologizing for taking from them, and putting healing crystals near them to help their systems to re-grow more rapidly.

A flaw of Laurel's is her judgemental attitude when it comes to anyone not following her eating habits. It’s in moments like this that the fiery side of personality flares up. She’s a vegetarian and hates processed foods. She takes care of herself well, is health conscious, and she abruptly speaks out when she sees someone eating food she views as unhealthy. Everything under the sun that is green, grows from the earth, and is edible is very likely to end up in something that Laurel makes for food.

Along this grain, Laurel is very concerned with the health of the earth and views taking care of nature and being mindful of the ecosystems as being an important part of the coven’s business. She can get a little wordy about this specific matter too, to the point of her friends putting up with it but not adding input. In all likelihood, she's been saying things about being environmentally friendly for a very long time, and it’s become common for people to simply entertain her thoughts.

Laurel is kind to everyone, but she's not afraid to speak her mind. She knows how to be tactful and won't hurt the feelings of people, unless they deserve it. One example of her thinking that someone deserves it would be her attitude toward Faye: she loves the girl and all, but she views her as having a bad attitude most of the time, not having her priorities straight. Faye has always been open about wanting to use as much of their magic as possible (why limit yourself when you’re an all powerful witch?), but Diana warns to err on the side of caution, and Laurel agrees with that. Other than with Faye, she tends to be nice and considerate when making any remotely negative comments. She specifically lowers her tone when making comments that might hurt feelings or bruise egos.

Laurel is passionate about what she believes in. She can talk endlessly about potions and plants, spells and rituals that are up her alley of magic and remain enjoyable in tone. When she first met Cassie, she quickly started to explain specific pluses and uses of various foliage she had picked from outside. She loves to talk about what she knows, and she’s accurately knowledgeable about it to boot.

Laurel appreciates a system of rules (the Circle tries to use caution with magic, not slipping over to the side of darkness, as much as possible) and is naturally a follower of a respectable, worthy ruler. Upon her arrival to Teleios, she'll be surprised that she has any great debts that any god would want her to pay for, but upon thinking about it for a short length of time, she'll accept it and come to realization that all humans--even witches--have some sorts of crimes to pay for. When she arrives and gets the impression that she's allowed to ask questions and get assistance, that will help her to be more at ease too. With even one member of her coven (and there are three at the moment) being in the city, she’ll be more relaxed as well. With Faye, Deb, and Nick there, the reality of some deeds being viewed as crimes one must pay for will easily be an acceptable reality to her. She isn’t one to throw tantrums just because something happens that she may not like, and really, she’s a fairly level-headed and reasonable girl.

Powers/Abilties: Laurel is part of a coven of twelve witches that are strongest when they are all together, as a full circle. Separately, she harnesses the element of earth. She's strong in potion making, and in knowledge and usage of herbs. 

Appearance: Laurel has long light brown hair and brown eyes. She's slender and described as having an "elfin" face. I will be using Alexandra Chando (The Lying Game) as Laurel's play-by. Here's a photo of her:

CR AU - 

N/A

Samples: 

Actionspam Sample:

ONE:

And those are so detrimental to the environment. [Her voice raises pitch and falters into a huff, hand waving at a table with twenty or more water bottles lined up in rows.] What part of jugs of water and biodegradable paper cups is so hard to understand?

[A few steps around the lawn, where the Club's set up for a get together that evening, she speaks again knowing her voice will carry. She lifts a lid that covers a Pyrex container, nose wrinkling.] Oh god, you can't be serious- [An eye-roll and push of the lid back down, flipping her hair and turning toward the closed back door.] Suzan, that is the most horrendously empty-calorie filled casserole I've ever seen. [She gracefully yet with purpose walks toward the door, pushes it open and steps into the house.] Let me through, because with food like that, I'll need to make triple the good stuff to cancel out the bad. 

TWO:

[Sun hat on, Laurel's kneeling down on the lawn with Cassie beside her.] That's St. John's Wort; maybe you've heard of it? It's one of the more popular medicinal herbs. People in general like to use it for a lot of things, but it's good for protection and purification. [She gently runs a finger over a yellow flower.] A lot of herbs are, you know. One of the reasons I like them so much. It's like they want to side with the powers of good...

[Standing, she took hold of Cassie's elbow and lead the other girl to a patch of assorted weeds.] All of these have different benefits, and they've been growing here forever. That one [a finger points down and almost touches a leafy, hardy plant] is stinging nettle, and don't touch it unless you have gloves on. You can cook it down to be softer in water and it's chock-full of nutrients: so its worth bringing it in and washing it even with it's natural spiky defenses. [A wide grin, eyes playful and bright.]

Prose Sample:

Laurel's eyes had snapped shut when she hit the ground. The air was still buzzing with power, and she desperately hoped they'd defeated Black John, but the mirage of his house had literally just vanished, sending them all tumbling to the ground. She groaned at the sparks of pain on her body from the impact and heard other similar sounds all her. When her brown eyes opened again, she expected to see Melanie or Suzan close beside her, but that wasn't the case. 

She gasped aloud, fists tightening and eyes growing wide in fear as she looked around at all of the unknown people around her. This felt just as bad as if Black John's house had reappeared. The cool Massachusetts air had been replaced with something entirely unfamiliar. The only element that felt normal to her was the hard surface her hands were spread out on as she pushed herself up to stand. She didn't know where she was, and her heart was starting to pound frantically.

Her head began to throb too, from what the Circle had just endured, and now this sudden, bizarre change in atmosphere. Heart beating quickly, she tried to take in each of the words that the person in the front of the room was saying. She heard something about asking questions if she wanted to. Oh, she had questions, all right. A rush of frustration mixed with courage--adrenaline, truly--poured through her veins.

Pushing past the couple of people around her, none of them familiar, she made her way up to the front of the room. When someone slipped in before her to ask a question, her chin drew up defiantly, but she waited her turn. Her arms crossed over her chest, confident at first, but then slipping toward uncertainty. Her gaze settled over the room, and heck if it wasn't the most unfamiliar place she'd ever witnessed.

What had happened? Was this something Black John had managed to do? Where was he, if so; and where was everyone else? Fear was gradually taking over her expression. She was a doe caught in the headlights, different scenarios flooding through her thoughts with each second. Diana’s calm voice wasn’t there to soothe her back to the present, to tell her that everything would be okay. Cassie’s radiant confidence wasn’t filling up the room. From the panic that was reflecting in her eyes, it was a safe bet that she would have given anything to hear even the cool voice of Faye, at that point. Anything to bring her back to the present, to help through this sudden shift in reality.