liam selwyn

[liam]

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{ A B O U T . Y O U }

Name: Najooj
Preferred Pronouns: she, her, etc
Age: 19
E-mail: you has
Twitter: you also has
Years of RPG Experience: too many
Other: teddy

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{ A B O U T . T H E . C H A R A C T E R }

Name: Liam Demeter Selwyn
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Year: 1976 Graduate
Face Claim: Tom Felton

Canon or Original? Canon

Facial Properties: Fact: Liam likes to take very good care of himself. Always has, always will. It's what his mother always taught him; to look your best, always be impressive, first impressions mean everything and, no matter what people might say, first impressions are always triggered when you first see the person, even before they speak. If they're dressed inappropriately, you'll think lowly of them. If they're dressed in bedraggled clothes, they're probably poor. And so on and so forth. While Liam cares very little about people, he does care what they think of him. It's important that they think him superior to them, that they're impressed by what he looks like and who he is. To accomplish this, Liam spends over half an hour in front of the mirror, grooming himself. Normally, he's cleanly shaved, although he finds that if he lets his scruff grow out a little, it's flattering on him, too (but then, he thinks most things are flattering on him). He never lets his hair grow out and keeps it tame - there was a period when he was younger when he'd slick it back, but he grew out of that when he realised it made the shape of his head look strange and his face too pointed. He knows he was blessed with good looks (and often takes advantage of that). His hair is naturally a dirty blonde, although sometimes he likes to dye it to a more even colour, and he likes to describe his eyes as being as blue (and as cold) as the ocean. He doesn't smile very often - smirk would be a more adequate word to describe the titling of his lips when he's amused - but if he does happen to flash his teeth, it's to show off his pearly whites.
Physique: Like I said - Liam likes to take good care of himself, and that goes for his body, too. While he's not one of those body-builders, and he couldn't boast of a very defined stomach, he does exercise semi-regularly (when he has the time) and he's very health-conscious. He'll often turn up his nose to unhealthy or "junk" food. He eats well, of course, but not in excess - actually, he doesn't do much at all in excess. His skin is pale, and he takes care not to spend too much time under the sun, for freckles are ugly and he won't have brown spots marring his otherwise flawless skin. He spends just as much time picking out what to wear in the morning as he does grooming himself. Now that he's graduated and no longer has to wear that hideous uniform, his morning routine takes even longer. As a general rule, he doesn't leave the house before he's convinced that he looks well put-together and there is nothing more he can do to improve his appearance. Does that make him vain? Yes, most certainly. Does he care? No, not at all.

Wand Type: 13", rigid, ebony, dragon heartstring core
Wand Expertise: Hexes
Patronus: wolf
Boggart: his brother, dead

Personality:

Back in Hogwarts, Liam was that boy who sat in the corner of the common room, his head buried in his books, oblivious to the world. Except, it wasn't his extreme passion for learning that had him avoiding the world; or, perhaps I should be more specific: it wasn't just that. Yes, he did think education was important, although perhaps "passion" is too strong of a word; appreciation is probably a better way to describe it. He'd hate to give off the impression that he was capable of being titled a "nerd", because he certainly was not (then again, his vehemence against the idea was, perhaps, because he associated the word with the stereotypical suspender-wearing, incompetent-in-everything-but-education pushovers). Still, you mustn't mistake his tendency to prefer the company of books to people for the love to learn. It was mostly because of his tendency to see himself as superior to everyone; that he couldn't bring himself down to talk to any of his house mates because, in his eyes, most of them just weren't worth his time. And those that were...well, that's when the simple truth of he enjoys reading more than socializing. His superiority complex aside, Liam really is the nerd that he claims not to be. He enjoyed getting high scores in school, a smug smirk making it's way onto his lips every time he received an essay or exam back with a red "O" marked at the top. And, admittedly, the smirk becomes a frown when he receives a less-than-perfect grade - which he deems unacceptable, and he has, on more than one occasion, raised a complaint against the professor. Naturally, he doesn't necessarily have his ways. Hogwarts doesn't function like normal society, and the size of one's Gringott's account, or the purity of your blood, does not have as much of an impact. Or at all, really. But that doesn't stop him from pointing out how unhappy he is about the grade. The only time Liam might actually land a detention is because he "disrespected a professor". But see, Liam has a sort-of motto: you can't just have respect, you have to earn it. He won't simply give you respect because you're an authority figure and you automatically have to respect them. And since Liam believes that very few people deserve it, he ends up disregarding the authority of most of the Hogwarts professors. It's not so much of a problem, though, because he rarely converses with them, so the opportunity for insolence doesn't come up that often.

Liam's disregard for most people stems from the fact that he believes himself so superior to other people. He actually believes he's better than almost everyone else - as a matter of fact, if you ask him, he'll tell you he knows it. As aforementioned - that's the other reason why he prefers to be alone; because he'll only make friends with people who he thinks deserve his time and attention. Since it's a pretty hefty criteria to fill, he ends up looking down his narrow nose at most of the people he meets and making very few friends in the process. He doesn't believe in the idea of fake friendship either. Things are very clear with him that way: he'll befriend you if he thinks you're worth it or that he can gain from your friendship, and you'll know it. Otherwise, he'll hardly give you the time of day if he's not interested in what you have to say. In that sense, he's surprisingly fair - because he treats everyone exactly the same way. It doesn't really matter to him if you're a muggleborn or a pureblood. If you've managed to capture and retain his interest, you stand a chance of being placed on his very short list of acquaintances - with enough persistence, you could even become a friend. If not, then he won't bother. Naturally, for appearance's sake, he won't flaunt a friendship with a muggleborn. Especially during these times and considering his allegiances, because the last thing he wants to be called out for is being a blood traitor and have Voldemort publicly murder him; certainly no friendship is worth that. He has - what he calls - a strong defense mechanism; in other words, he values his own life above anyone else's and thus would rather throw someone else under the bus than risk his own hide.

In that sense, I suppose you could say Liam is clever. Oh, not in the sense of actual intelligence - although there is that, too, because all that reading and studying certainly didn't go to waste - but he's just smart about his actions. Well, most of them anyway. He's logical. He's never reckless, preferring to think things through fully and make sure he has a full grasp on the situation and all the factors within said situation before making a decision. He'll analyze every angle, every possible outcome, before making a move. It's how he ended up becoming a Death Eater - he didn't wake up one day and think oh I think I'll go brand myself with an ugly tattoo and follow a mass murderer because it sounds like tons of fun! Neither did he do it out of fear. He did it because it was obvious Voldemort's side was the winning side. Because therein lay the real power; by Voldemort's side. And anyone who didn't see that was going to end up dead. He's also always been a follower rather than a leader. While he's perfectly capable of taking control of his own life and of his own actions, he'd much rather sit back and let someone else take the lead, so he's more than happy with his allegiance with Voldemort. Naturally, there was also the fact that he refused to fight on the opposite side of his brother. As hard as it might be to get there, Liam is surprisingly loyal to those he views as his closest. At top of that list are his brother and mother. He's protective as hell over them, sometimes bordering on possessive, and would do almost anything to protect them.

One of Liam's...better qualities, I suppose you could say, is his honesty. He rarely ever lies; as a matter of fact, he's pretty bad at it, because he can never quite meet someones eyes while he's doing it. Which is just as well, because he dislikes lying anyway. He's the type of person who'll be bluntly honest with you, no matter what. He doesn't he doesn't sugar-coat, he doesn't do white lies. Merlin forbid she asks him what he thinks about her newest sweater because if he thinks it's terrible, he'll tell her as much, and he'll probably be cruel about it, too. He can be quite cruel with his words and mannerisms, and has a tendency to be tactless even when he doesn't mean it - laughing during completely inappropriate moments, or even just the comments that sometimes flies from his lips before he could stop himself. He also has a very hard time apologizing. Getting Liam to actually apologise is nothing short of a miracle. Oh, he might know that he hurt you - if it's obvious, he'll notice, otherwise he doesn't bother to find out if what he said hurt your feelings because, really, he just doesn't care. At least you'll always know where you stand with him, though. Things are black and white in Liam's world that way, with very few shades of gray.

Because he'd always been preferred over his brother, Liam, naturally, ended up becoming quite spoiled. He grew up knowing that, what he wanted, he got, and that attitude continued into his adult life as well. While it was true that some things took more work to get than others, it does nothing decrease his determination to get it. And he does get it. Eventually. Or so it's been over the past few years but like I said, Liam is logical. He doesn't ask for anything that's too out of reach, he doesn't want things that are beyond his capabilities. His ambitions and goals are realistic, just like he is. But maybe that's just because he's never really wanted anything badly enough.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone that Liam isn't a social butterfly. He's too honest to be particularly smooth or charming, he's too arrogant and superior to be automatically likeable, and, frankly, he just doesn't have any flirting skills. Lysander got the charm and the ability to woo people. Liam, on the other hand, is what one would call socially awkward. Because he's never felt the need to make that many friends, he doesn't...really know how to make them. And if he's interested in a girl, he's more likely to tell her right out than attempt any sort of flirting. The way he lost his virginity was he told a girl, straight out: "Have sex with me." He's never been good at asking for something; rather, it comes out like an order, one he expects people to comply with. He's almost positive she was half drunk when she agreed (and her morals were pretty loose anyway). Since then, he's never really slept with anyone. The reason why he'd wanted to in the first place was because he was sixteen and and felt it was about time to become a real man, so to speak. His virginity was the barrier he needed to break through to become one. Once that was done, he didn't feel the need to do it again. He's never had a proper girlfriend, because he's never met a girl who's worth the trouble associated with a relationship. And that was how he ended up at twenty years old and his one sexual experience being with a half-drunk girl who's name he can't even remember. In his opinion? It's not the most tragic thing that could happen to him.

Likes:
+ Things to be organised; I believe everything has it's place. Muggles have their place. Mudbloods have their place. And so do one's clothes. Namely, a dresser.
+ Reading; Knowledge is the second strongest weapon. One's wand is the first.
+ Getting his way; I'm the spoiled one.
+ His family; Or, perhaps I should specify: I love my brother and my mother. My father can get AKed for all I care, he's kind-of an arsehole.
+ Redheads; My main preference are brunettes, really, but there's just something about redheads that I find incredibly attractive.
+ Solitude; I prefer to be alone.
+ Dark chocolate
+ Ties
+ Apples
+ Storms
Dislikes:
– Optimistic; I'm normally realistic. Sometimes pessimistic. Optimism, though, annoys me greatly.
– Dancing; I'm not good at it, and I don't like things that I'm not good at.
– Excessive drinking, excessive sexual habits, excessive swearing - excessive anything, really. I'm very blessed to have a brother who does all three. Very excessively.
– His father; He's an asshole.
– Relationships; It's not the monogamy of the whole thing, per se. As a matter of fact, that probably would never be a problem. It's more like females' expectations. And the simple fact that I haven't met anyone who's worth it.
– Public displays of affection; That sort of thing also has it's place. Namely, the bedroom.
– Being drunk; I don't like being out of control. Besides, I'm a terrible drunk. I laugh a lot and I have a terrible sense of balance. Plus, I get a wicked hangover in the morning and I'd rather avoid it all by simply abstaining from drinking more than I can handle.
– Parties; I was never a party boy at school, but I mostly dislike the social functions mother and father force us to attend.
– His picture being taken; I was never - ah, what's the word? Photogenic? Yes. That.
– Touching; I'm not a very intimate person. I never have been. It's not just public displays of affection that bother me. I'm not a fan of excessive physical touch. It makes me quite uncomfortable.

History:

Desmond and Saoirse Selwyn never loved each other, but isn't that how it usually goes in pureblood families? Their parents decided they would make a very suitable match indeed, being from some of the biggest pureblood families in Ireland, and that the union would move both families up the social ladder. They had been promised to each other ever since Soairse could walk; neither of them had a choice in the matter, and both knew it would do more harm than good to fight it. Thus, as soon as Saoirse graduated from Hogwarts, they were married. It was an extremely fancy affair, of course, where only the purest of bloods were invited and thousands of galleons were spent to insure the most perfect day. There was a honeymoon, of course, but it lasted hardly a week. They weren't in any rush to spend much alone time together, after all. See, while they didn't necessarily hate each other, Saoirse and Desmond didn't particularly like each other, either. They were too different, clashed on many occasions - Saoirse was sociable, she liked going out and meeting people and having people over. Desmond, on the other hand, was more reclusive. He liked to be alone, he liked the quiet. Even the most simple, materialistic things aggravated Desmond - Saoirse was a blonde, he had always preferred brunettes. Still, they were both attractive people, and there was some chemistry between them, but the only reason they had sex regularly was to impregnate Saoirse. They knew their social responsibilities, after all, and it was important that the Selwyns have a male heir to carry the family name. Although Saoirse wasn't much of a believer in a higher power, she still prayed every night that she conceive a boy -- because all they really needed was one son. Should she give birth to a daughter, however, they would have to continue breeding until she gave him a son. And that wasn't something either of them wanted.

Her wish was granted when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, whom they named Lysander. The relief that filled the household was almost palpable, and it wasn't long before Desmond and Saoirse became distant as they both took on outside lovers; people whom they could actually find themselves falling in love with. There was a problem, however, that they noticed soon after Lysander became to walk. A birth defect. To most people, it wouldn't have been seen as that big of a problem. It was only that one leg was longer than the other, giving him a bit of a limp when he walked. But to Saoirse and Desmond, who were desperate to achieve perfection when their marriage was anything but, it was a disaster. When it became clear that this "disability" was lasting, they began to try for another child. Soon after, Saoirse was pregnant, and nine months later, on a cold winter night, she gave birth to a healthy, bouncing baby boy. Ever since he first opened his gorgeous baby blues and wrapped his tiny hand around her index finger, Saoirse knew, without a doubt, that he would be absolutely perfect. They named him Liam Demeter and claimed he was the most beautiful baby St. Mungo's had ever received. Although neither would ever admit it out loud, or even to themselves, it always seemed as if Saoirse and Desmond loved Liam just a little more. They certainly paid more attention to him, grooming him to be the perfect son while Lysander was let loose, allowed to do whatever he pleased. It made both brothers bitter - Lysander envious of the attention that was lavished upon his little brother, while Liam was jealous of the freedom Lysander had. Despite the feelings they harboured, the brothers grew close. Lysander was always extremely protective of Liam, Liam claimed he would die for him, and they had a fairly healthy sibling relationship.

Ever since he was very little, Liam could simply point at what he wanted, and his parents would find a way to get it, whether it was a toy, a lesson, a pet. They wanted to make him happy, wanted him to have whatever his heart desires. They took extra care with his education and his knowledge. Ever since he was little he took various lessons - learning languages such as French and Italian, learning how to play Quidditch, making him take equestrian lessons, teaching him how to play the guitar. They wanted to have an impressive, well-rounded son, and that was exactly what they got. Liam absorbed everything they wanted him to learn like a sponge. Even at a young age, Liam knew the importance of being knowledgeable, and the treatment his parents gave him only sparked a burning interest in knowing more, causing him to constantly search for more ways to better himself, to challenge his mind, to improve his skills, to simply become a better man, a better wizard. As corny as it sounded, he just wanted to be the best Liam Selwyn he could be. With that manner of thinking, he went off to Hogwarts with his brother, and the hat took at least twenty minutes pondering him, digging through his mind in a fashion that he found entirely too intrusive and disconcerting. Finally, he was placed in Slytherin with his brother, only grateful that he hadn't been placed in Hufflepuff because he knew his brother would torture him for years, having made it clear what he thought of the students in that particular house. His seven years at Hogwarts seemed to crawl by, and the pace seemed to be doubly slowed down when Lysander graduated and began telling him all about life outside of Hogwarts. He told him about joining the Death Eaters, about Voldemort, the wizard who's power and influence was increasing day by day. At first, Liam wasn't too sure about that - about the implications of Lysander joining the ranks of, for lack of a better word, the newest "villain".

By the time Liam graduated, Voldemort's power was undeniable, so much so that a choice had to be made - you were either with him, or against him. It wasn't difficult to choose; a month after graduation, Liam followed in his brother's footsteps, moved into his apartment, and became branded with the Dark Mark. His loyalty was an asset; his intelligence and magical abilities even more so. While he wasn't manipulative like many of the other Death Eaters, neither was he particularly interested in the Dark Arts, he was good at blending into the crowds and being invisible, which made him a pretty good spy. He got a job in Gringotts, with a part time job in the Three Broomsticks because it was close to Hogwarts, which was a particular interest to Voldemort. The former suited him fine - the goblins didn't respect him, and he returned the favour. Somehow, it worked for them. He enjoyed living with his brother. Although he disapproved of most of Lysander's activities - namely, the fact that he brought home a different woman each night (sometimes, not just one) and that he had a certain penchance for alcohol - it was still better than living at home, with the knowledge that their parents were only still together because a divorce would cause a scandal, but that they both had different lovers was perfectly acceptable. While Liam wasn't particularly sure if he believed in love or not, the idea of that type of marriage made his stomach churn unpleasantly. The fact that his parents were so okay with it, and that it would probably be expected of him, too, only made matters worse. Thankfully, he hasn't been promised to anyone since birth, but he knows that it wouldn't be long before his parents began looking for potential mates for him. He's still hoping that Lysander will be the first to be married off, but considering their history, he doubts it.

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{ C O N T R A C T }

I solemnly swear that I, NAJOOJ, have read the rules, understand clearly what my responsibilities are now that I am joining ISS, and will abide by these standards set by the staff.

[Regulus Black]

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