FULL NAME: Echo Ellerby
NICKNAMES: Oh, yes.
AGE/DOB: 17 / May 23, 2002. Gemini.
YEAR: Senior
BLOOD STATUS: Halfblood
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Female, She/Her
SEXUALITY: Heterosexual™
A bit of a flirt but mostly a tease. Would rather be adored than have to invest feelings in someone.
HOMETOWN: Elflock Falls, WV
APPEARANCE: Thrift Store Chic. Dresses like a hipster but doesn't have a consistent style. Absolutely not open to criticism, thanks.
Fluidly shifts between gremlin and glam. She's DIVERSE and MULTIFACETED.
On normal school days she doesn't wear a lot of makeup, if at all, but she has an extensive skincare routine that she MUST do EVERY morning and night EVEN IF IT'S A CAMPING TRIP. Master of the no-makeup makeup look and can do a killer winged eyeliner, but, like... why bother when she's obviously a NATURAL BEAUTY?
Doesn't shave anymore. When she's smashed at parties, she'll offer to let friends pet her leg hair if they want.
HEIGHT: 6'1 and often in heels
BUILD: Noodle-esque
PB: Diana Silvers
INSPO: Pinterest &
Playlist
What would others say is their most prominent personality trait — what's the first thing people notice about them?Big, bold, bright!! Echo lives for the spotlight, loves to entertain, and likes to spice things up with a bit of dramatic flair. She's gregarious and outwardly friendly, though not overly familiar and seems to keep most people at arm's length. Good luck trying to wrangle her into a Feelings Jam; she's a slippery one. She'd rather be the drunk girl in the bathroom at the club helping to fix the edges of a stranger's lipstick while encouraging them to dump their shitty boyfriend.
How would this character describe themself? What do they think are their best and worst qualities?FUN. Beautiful!! Talented!! Hard working!! She's bossy, loves to meddle, has A LOT of opinions, and can't help but be DRAMATIQ, but everyone knows that.
She'd describe herself as nice, although she's guarded with her heart. She shines bright but her genuine warmth rarely reaches outside of her inner circle. While there are plenty of people she considers friends, close confidants are few and far between. It's tough for her to let herself be vulnerable around others and she'd rather they see what she wants them to see than open herself to probing.
Past her walls, her fire burns red hot. She's sensitive and defensive and nothing is ever her fault, even if deep down she knows that it is. She cares too much and gets invested too easily-- particularly when it comes to close female friendships-- then ices people out and back beyond the wall when it suits her. Echo takes no pleasure in it but she's always looking out for number one because nobody else will.
What drives them to action? Doing good? Getting rich? Receiving praise?Spite and carving a path of her own.
Deep down, she wants to do good. There's a reason she's entertained the idea of joining magical defense and has put serious effort into following the pre-Auror track. She wouldn't suffer through Transfiguration and O&L just for funsies. But she has a hard time seeing herself as good, so it's not something she would admit to being a driving force.
How sensitive are they?Way more sensitive than she lets on. She pretends to be above it, but she cares a lot about what people think of her. It's hard for her to not feel personally attacked by criticism and she can't handle it well at all. Instead of getting sad about it, she tends to react with anger and then bottle it up real, real tight and dwell on it until it explodes. Sometimes over something minor the person's done, or at an entirely unrelated person.
Gossiping behind their back helps to keep that tension in check, but sometimes it makes it worse if the person she's gossiping with is an enabler.
How does this character handle tense social situations like arguments/fights?Echo tries to avoid conflict whenever she can and would rather ignore that there's a problem than deal with it directly. But sometimes her temper gets the best of her before she can put a cap on it to bottle it up.
The second things aren't going her way, she tries to cut and run in an attempt to save face and come out unscathed. Further pursuit turns her into a cornered animal and when there's no flight, she can only fight. And she's
vicious when she does. Nothing's off the table and she'll deal low blows to try to get them to back off if she thinks it'll secure her victory. Because she
needs to win and she
needs to have the last word even if that only escalates the situation further.
FUN FACTS: Calls all her parental figures by their first names. Her mom hates it but doesn't reward her with a reaction anymore.
Keeps posing for stupid pictures like this in the liquor store to see if Liquor Store Zed notices. She doesn't usually follow through on the purchase, mostly because she doesn't want to get caught breaking the law but also because her dad's a frequent customer.
Collects horse and pegasus figurines and is overly protective of them.
LANGUAGES: English & learning Sylvan (focus on Appalachian Mushkin). The Moody Muscheron are an untapped pizza market and she's gonna prove it to ol' Bruno.
HOBBIES: acting, singing, singing even when it's not the appropriate time or place, sea shanties, being VERY dramatic, horseback riding, photography on vintage muggle film, thrifting, pretending to be anne bonny
SKILLS:
Triple Threat: She acts! She sings! She dances! -- Well, she tap dances and does some killer clogging but they're very impressive foot-stompings.
Pirate Instruments: Plays the accordian/concertina, mandolin, fiddle, and penny whistle. Gotta play them sea shanties! She's best at accordian/concertina and fiddle.
Horseback Riding: Echo's been riding horses since she was little, both grounded and the winged kind. It's a hobby she and her mother share that doesn't feel innately competitive. Some weekends, they like to fly their horses around the area surrounding Elflock Falls. It almost feels nice... like... healthy mother-daughter bonding???
Makin' Pizza: Pineapple is a valid pizza topping, you guys are just snobs. She can make a bitchin' pizza and bread sticks to boot. Her culinary skills only extend as far as what Cap's got on the menu, though. Ask her to whip up something fancy and she'll laugh in your face.
Drinking: Converting into her gremlin state before your very eyes, she'll shotgun a beer and then crush the can in her fist if it'll incite cheers and liven up the party. She's big and has a high enough tolerance that it takes more than a few shitty beers to knock her off her feet.
Sleight of Hand: She's been practicing sleight of hand not just for muggle magic tricks (though those are super cool) but also for when she's an undercover spy and needs to slyly slip a poison in a target's drink. Consent is important unless you're DOIN' EVIL so she only practices by slipping coins and other small objects into friends' pockets to see if they'll notice.
FAMILY:Ted Ellerby. 45. Dad. Detective for Elflock PD but there's not a lot to detect except the wonderful flavors and sensory experiences found at the Gastrodome. Fills in at Pizza Pi(e)rates when the kids are away for break or when there's a particularly busy weekend. Being Extra runs in the family and he gets very into character.
Former Wildgulch.
Caitlin Ellerby nee Corr. 46. Mom. Total
Stage Mom, complete narcissist. Overbearing yet withholding in her affection if her demands aren't met. Echo's relationship with her mother is Complicated™. On one hand, she desperately seeks her love and hard-won approval but on the other hand... she loves to get under her skin to see how much it takes to set her off. Their relationship is antagonistic with a few lighthearted moments that always make Echo doubt just how awful she is.
She was once a model and a singer, but gave up on her aspirations in the hope that she could turn a bad situation around and have a perfect little family. She now enjoys some local celebrity as a Weather Witch and also offers singing lessons out of their home.
Her marriage with Ted has been tumultuous at best and Echo wishes they'd just divorce already, but Caitlin's clinging tight to conservative tradition.
Former Thorntrail.
Declan Ellerby Baby brother. Thorntrail Sophomore.
--
Bruno Ellerby Grunkle - Calls him Bruno or, affectionately, Captain. Supportive of him macking on local old folks. Thar be booty ripe fer tha plunderin'!
Claire Corr Aunt. Caitlin's older sister. Very famous Wizarding Wireless radioplay star and WizViz actress. The sibling rivalry is strong so of course Echo loves her.
BACKGROUND:Ted and Caitlin went to Peckenpaugh together and reconnected by bumping uglies when Caitlin came back to town for the ten year reunion. Probably should've been more careful if she didn't want to get knocked up by the pizza pirate dude who had a crush on her since tenth grade, but it seemed fun and sexy at the time. But Caitlin was from a conservative Catholic family and she did plenty of sneaking around but ho-lee-shit, a whole-ass baby growing in her would be hard to hide.
So she did what the good Lord probably wanted her to do and entered a very one-sided marriage with the man who was probably the father, and definitely the only prospective one who had a full time job and financial stability. If she didn't love him now, she was sure she would grow to love him. Plus, he was like… six foot five and had a jaw that could crack walnuts.
And they were happy for a while. Enough to have a second child on purpose this time. Caitlin had given up on her dreams of the spotlight, but shifted that focus and intensity on crafting the perfect little family in a picturesque small town. Echo was the spitting image of her mother and was the Chosen child to serve an extension of herself, to achieve greatness in her stead.
Most of Echo's childhood was spent being chauffeured to performing arts classes, dance classes, singing classes, modeling gigs, and radio spot auditions. And when she was home, she was running lines or practicing her walk and smile for pageants. For a long time, she had no hobbies of her own. Even horseback riding was her mother's hobby, although Echo clung to it as respite from competition.
(cw for body shaming)Ted and Caitlin fought. A lot. And it was usually about Echo. How Caitlin was pushing her too hard, how Ted wasn't pushing her hard enough, how an eight year old didn't
need a nutritionist, how an eight year old wouldn't
need a nutritionist if SOMEBODY would stop feeding her pizza for every meal and stick to the diet plan. She was too tall, too thin, not thin enough, and her teeth could stand to be a bit smaller. But she was just a
child!
Echo had been complaisant until then but something finally snapped at the Junior Miss Witch pageant. At the start of what was supposed to be her dance routine, she tore her flipper out of her mouth and chucked it into the audience before tearing her costume down the center like She-Hulk. Because
nah, fuck that shit.
Finally taking a stand for herself, finally saying
no was empowering. And she would never ever, ever let others make her decisions for her again. Echo ditched the modeling, the pageantry, those hokey little church productions, and most importantly, her nutritionist. Caitlin wasn't willing to risk another public embarrassment like that again but, more importantly, she began to ease off and Ted finally put his foot down on Echo's behalf. (She would only resent him a
little for how long it took for him to actually do something.)
Given a voice, Echo flourished. What had started as her mother's hobbies were reclaimed and reformed as her own, although she could never fully purge Caitlin's essence from it. When she sang, it was sea shanties, showtunes, operrAAAAAAA, and when she acted it was big, loud, bright, THEATRICAL. Her fingers, long and slender, would never be used for the harp or piano but for the accordion. And, ohh, and when she grew, she grew and grew and grew and wore shoes to make herself taller. Echo had a voice and it was deafening.
For high school, she considered going halfway across the country to Vercoer Academie and starting anew but when it came down to it, she wasn't ready to leave Elflock behind just yet. Her horse lived there!! The dorms gave her distance from her parents, at least, with the freedom to come and go when she pleased. Summery Wildgulch claimed her and it's been pretty fuckin' good since then and that's all there is to say about that. The end!!!
WAND: 16", Spruce, Phoenix Feather, Swishy.
FAMILIAR: None at school, but she has a dog at home (
Peg Leg) and yes, you may come over to pet him. She also has a stupidly huge
Abraxan mare named The Revenge stabled on the outskirts of Elflock and no, you may not pet her.
CAREER GOALS: She wants to be a sexy actress who moonlights as a spy and collects intel on bigshots at fancy galas but she knows she'll probably just end up inheriting the Pizza Pi(e)rate empi(e)-arr and herding unmotivated teenagers for the rest of her life.
Of course, the most important part of being a spy is to not let people know you're a spy. Nobody's heard this part of her career plans and that her classes align with the recommended ones for an Auror career path is merely a coincidence!
PART-TIME JOB: Pizza Pi(e)rates. Even when it's not her shift, she sometimes comes in just to play sea shanties for her CAPTIVE AUDIENCE-- ie customers that are just trying to eat their pizza. She's also a stickler for making sure employees stay in character. If Bruno doesn't catch you, she will.
Anne Bonny is her pi(e)rate persona, though it's a strictly Tits-In look.
CLASSES:Charms (H) - Memorization, practiced movements, and
feeling. Echo's spellwork is beautiful and fluid with a little
oomph to make it stand out.
Transfiguration - It's required to be an Auror but… God, it's
hard. Echo actually tries in this class, but can't seem to get her head around the equations. Once she does, though, she produces fantastic spellwork. She spends a lot of time in Ms. Min's office hours seeking extra help and has cried from frustration at least twice now.
Potions - Echo's an edgy teen who wants to brew odorless, tasteless poisons. Everything else is just sort of whatever unless it makes cool effects and dazzling explosions.
DADA (H) - She loves to duel, she loves true crime stories, and she loves Queen Guinevere. Echo pays close attention in class and engages with the discussion. Even if you aren't interested in magical law enforcement, it's important information to know!! It's a scary world out there, isn't it?
Music (H) - Echo came to Peckenpaugh already knowing how to sight read and play music so it's an easy honors course for her. It's extra work but it'd be stupid
not to take it.
Wizard Literature - She loves to read fiction, but isn't much of a writer. Non-fiction essays are the
worst and she likes to add embellishments and speculations to try to make them more interesting.
Non-Human Languages (H) (Sylvan; Appalachian Mushkin) - Thankfully she speaks half of Appalachian Mushkin already and growing up in Elflock means she's been exposed to it enough that she's familiar with the sound and flow of it. Nailing the inflections of Mushkin and memorizing their different meanings is hard, but she keeps practicing her language skills on any Mushkin foolish enough to be lured out from their stump by a tempting offering of pizza.
Occlumency & Legilimency - Echo is very good at
acting like her mind is calm and clear but it turns out that this is very, very hard to actually accomplish. She's been meditating and doing some Treetops Yoga to try to help with that. And it sort of helps. Until she has to sit very still and there's nothing to think about except everything she's trying
not to think about and is now focused on because she's specifically trying not to think about it.
EXTRA-CURRICULARS:AV Club, Duelling + Wandwork, Muggle Magic Club, Creative Writing, Performing Arts
(President), Marching Band (Accordion)/Concert Band (
Toad)
SORTING?: Echo's sorting was quick and easy. She was already familiar with the Peckenpaugh houses and had a strong feeling she would be sorted into Wildgulch like her parents, and she was right.
NAME: Ali
TIMEZONE: EST (Unavailable Fridays)
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