COTILLION

[goosemods]

COTILLION

After two weeks of etiquette and dance lessons, the 2014 National Wizarding Cotillion is finally here! After lunch, participating students gather dress bags and overnight bags and head out to New York City. They'll be staying at the historic Exalted Enchanter Hotel, which today is filled with rich debutantes from schools all over the country. Headmistress Bloom assures her students that they are just as good (if not better) than these kids, and tells them to hurry and get ready. In the lobby, Jefferson Key accidentally ends up deep in conversation with a dragon dung fertilizer tycoon, who is so impressed that they end up offering Jeffy a summer job.

Gooseberry's musicians are admitted early so they can set up and already be playing when presentations begin. The ensemble's musical pièce de résistance is a solo performed by Iliya Krum during dinner, which is so beautifully played that the giant ballroom briefly goes silent as everyone listens. Afterwards, attendants are seen congratulating Mrs. Bloom on the talent of her students. Guess who just won the music program more funding.

HOW THIS WORKS

• Students will leave campus right after lunch, and will arrive at the hotel in time to get dressed for the dance, and there will be a 3 hour window where they can sneak off to see the city if they want to. Presentations start at 4:00 PM, dinner is at 5:00 PM, the dance is at 6:00 PM.


• Dress Code: One person in black, one in white (or pastel). Clothes must be modest, so keep that cleavage covered. Dresses should be floor length, but tea length is acceptable. Suits should have jackets and ties, and a vest ideally but they won't kick you out if you don't.


• For presentations, the pair will enter the ballroom together and link arms, bow or curtsy, and then walk down the length of the dance floor so that all the attendees can see them. Beforehand, couples are lined up outside of the ballroom and each given a notecard upon which they must write their full name, their school, where they come from, and noteworthy accomplishments or goals. This will be read aloud* for both members of a pair when they enter the ballroom. (*Unless it is offensive, trying too hard to be funny, or a flagrant lie. Subtle lies might pass.)
  • Please fill out the following form and post it HERE to find out your character's High Society Approval Rating. If you score a 75% or higher, one of these intimidating patriarchs or matriarchs is going to feel you out for marrying their grandchild one day. You're going places, kid.
    
    Full Name:
    Their Date:
    Location: Where do they hail from?
    Accomplishments: You can cite special positions, academic success, good deeds, charity work or any other awards they've received in or out of school.
    Goals: What high and lofty professional goals does your character have?
    Mannerisms: How does your character hold themselves? Do they float through the room, or slip up their curtsy? Is their hair a little frizzy?
    Connections & Pedigree: Is your character well connected and/or well bred by the standards of high society?
    Anything else?:
    
    <b>Full Name:</b> <b>Their Date:</b> <b>Location:</b> Where do they hail from? <b>Accomplishments:</b> You can cite special positions, academic success, good deeds, charity work or any other awards they've received in or out of school. <b>Goals:</b> What high and lofty professional goals does your character have? <b>Mannerisms:</b> How does your character hold themselves? Do they float through the room, or slip up their curtsy? Is their hair a little frizzy? <b>Connections & Pedigree:</b> Is your character well connected and/or well bred by the standards of high society? <b>Anything else?:</b>


• After that, everyone sits down for dinner, a five-course meal. Dates sit together, and the rubbing elbows begins. Pairs will be mixed with pairs from other schools. There are plenty of rich, judgemental adults to size up your characters from this point on. Afterwards, a constantly stocked refreshments table will be available for anyone who wants more canapés.


• The first dance is a formal waltz with your date, and after that, everything loosens up a bit. Socializing will take up the majority of the evening, and the upper crust students can expect this to be when the matchmaking goes into high gear. Students may slip out early at this point without fear of repercussions.


• Please read HERE for consequences for skipping or misbehaving at Cotillion.


• While parents may attend, any cameos from graduates must only be in logs posted separately to the comm, and siblings shouldn't really be in attendance. Parents have to pay their own way into the event, and will be expected to behave appropriately. Honestly, we would prefer not to have to deal with a "wacky parents scandalize high society" plot, because it would be a burden on the mods to wrangle it, and it steals time and attention away from other storylines.


• Much to Mr. Merrill's chagrin, no one's checking IDs when they hand out glasses of champagne and wine. On the sly, Mr. Calderon-Boot just warns no one to overdo it.


• Students will be staying overnight at the Exalted Enchanter, a wizarding hotel in the vein of The Plaza. Very old, very elegant, and with free WiFi in the rooms and lobby. While you can choose your roommates, it's strictly girls only or boys only. No mixed gender rooms. Cotillion didn't account for Gaysberry very well.

» before the event: You'll have a few hours to get ready. Do you need all that time, or do you want to try sneaking into the city for a bit?

» presentations: Two by two, the wizard debutantes of the 2014 season are presented. Please complete the presentation form and post it here for a High Society Approval Rating.

» the dance: The debutantes will need to complete one highly choreographed group waltz before they're allowed to loosen up. But after that, it's unlimited access to the refreshments table!

» new york city: For any scenes taking place in the city, outside of the cotillion.

» the hotel: For any scenes taking place in the hotel, outside of the cotillion.

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & CONCERNS

Comments

PRESENTATIONS

[goosemods]

Please complete the presentation form and post it here for a High Society Approval Rating.

Sylvester

[threatens]

Full Name: Sylvester O. Stoker
Their Date: Clementine Decourt
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Accomplishments: Two-year Quidditch captain who is totally not on probation. Played with the Gooseberry High Quidditch team which is technically not a lie. Founded a now-annual school-wide Halloween holiday event. Adopted Rescued an abandoned kitten.
Goals: To play on the international American Quidditch team and go into politics like his father future presidential candidate Jonathan Stoker.
Mannerisms: Sy manages himself with the long practice of someone who's grown up navigating this scene and is slightly concerned every note of his behavior will get back to his parents. He bows perfectly. He holds his date's hand as she's coming down the stairs. He smiles a lot. He's pleasant. He lets himself be called "Sylvester" without getting aggro about it. He doesn't swear except when he's only talking to his Gooseberry classmates, then there's a touch of "Get Me Out Of Here Please" in it.
Connections & Pedigree: Sy's father is one of the highest ranking MACUSA officials in California, with his home base in Los Angeles. It is well-known that he's now campaigning for the Presidency. Sy's mother is a well-known philanthropist who's on the board of multiple Californian organizations, mostly having to do with wildlife conservation.
Anything else?: NO ONE ELSE NEEDS TO WRITE THIS MUCH IM SO SORRY

Ruby

[patineuse]

Full Name: Ruby Patience Oberholtzer
Their Date: Natalie Prince
Location: Toronto, Canada
Accomplishments: Silver medalist in pairs skating at the 2012 Canadian Championships. Ranked 5th place in pairs skating at the 2012 ISU Junior World Championships. Later added, reluctantly: Taking a break to focus on her academics. Proud member of her high school cheer team.
Goals: To win a gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Mannerisms: Ruby refused to straighten her hair or put it in an updo, but it is looking fantastic, for the record. She got a junior-size tuxedo and tailored it in Magical Rudiments, and wears it with confidence as she goes through her bowing. Ruby is very pleased to have a tall date, and will use all of her dancer's grace to show Tally off.
Connections & Pedigree: Ruby's pureblood father is the CEO of the Oberholtzer Shoe Company, a Canadian cobbler known for practical but pretty magical shoes. Her mother is the lead shoe designer.
Anything else?: i can't read anything properly im sorry

Kurt(is Gregory Prince) Wolfhart

[puphart]

Kurt's card is written in two hands: one flowing and neat, the other... well... Kurt's.

Full Name: Kurtis Gregory Prince Wolfhart
Their Date: Chloe Shepherd
Location: Three Willows, CT
Accomplishments: Prefect. Senior actor in Drama Club. Cheerleader. Licensed Animagus at the age of 17.

Prefect and house mascot. Senior actor in Drama Club. Rescued and traineding an orphaned niffler. Hand-raised a robin from its egg so it could be released back into the wild. Volunteers with the school's equestrian quarters. Documented magical creatures this past August in Yellowstone National Park with the National Forest Youth Warden program.

Goals: After he graduates in June, Kurt will begin his career in finance and take a position with international firm Prince Investment Holdings, where he will learn under his grandfather, CEO Whitaker V. K. Prince III. He will take control of the company when his grandfather retires.

After he graduates in June, Kurt hopes to secure a magizoology apprenticeship with an animal welfare organization to help him achieve his goal of opening a rescue and rehabilitation centre for abused and abandoned creatures.

Mannerisms: Kurt's cowlicks spring back into being as his goals are being read aloud. Despite this, he carries himself as someone overly familiar with these experiences should. He's polite and pleasant to everyone he meets, doesn't speak out of turn until the end of his evening, and spends most of his time gravitating around his friends or his parents. Or, trying to, until a certain two grandparents get a hold of him. :| Then he looks like his ability to be pleasant is straining him even though he's trying REALLY hard.

Connections & Pedigree: Kurt's father is top brass in MACUSA's Muggle Relations Department (here in NYC!) and his mother is an acclaimed watercolour artist. His maternal family, whose """ancestral seat""" he resides in, is an established cornerstone of New England pureblood/blueblood society. His (maternal) grandfather is CEO of Prince Investment Holdings and his grandmother is a noted for her philanthropy work like loaded old ladies so often are. (idk how much of this is supposed to be said IC so let's imagine it's written much nicer.)

Anything else?: I'm sorry I wrote so much. :(

Grace

[gracesowerberry]

Full Name: Grace Parker Sowerberry
Their Date: Spencer Tae-Min Sweet
Location: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Accomplishments: Prefect. Cheer Squad member. Soloist in the Gooseberry Choir. Award-Winning Storyteller.
Goals: Grace aspires to be an opera singer. She is a coloratura soprano.
Mannerisms: While this very public presentation leaves Grace anxious and speechless, she nevertheless looks very elegant as she enters, curtsies, and smoothly walks the length of the room with Spencer. She even manages not to look at the floor. Her hair and makeup are perfect (thanks Rupert!), her dress is long and flowing and classically pretty, and she looks like she belongs here much more than she actually does. She will be very shy in interacting with people that aren't from Gooseberry at first but she will be polite and may come out of her shell if she encounters people with similar interests. (Isn't the Markgräfliches Opernhaus in Bayreuth amazing? It's such a shame it's closed for renovations!!) She may just do all right.
Connections & Pedigree: Younger sister of Peter Sowerberry, a young but talented and somewhat infamous wandmaker that left his apprenticeship after only two years to start his business. He has a reputation for creating excellent but unconventional wands, but breaking the mold and defying tradition like he has may not actually be impressive to this group. He may be seen as a prodigy or an upstart, especially since he's Muggleborn.
Anything else?: Nope.

Nisha

[godzillabutworse]

Full Name: Nisha Gretchen Lewis
Their Date: Frederico Stoker
Location: Huntington, WV
Accomplishments: A former competitive gymnast. First string Quidditch chaser at Gooseberry High, 1 year. First string Quidditch chaser at Ilvermorny, 2 years. Played with Ilvermorny Quidditch team 2013 - 14. Academic accomplishments include a 4.0 at Ilvermorny. Successfully transfigured a raft. Amateur piercing artist.
Goals: Nisha hopes to become a professional Quidditch player, with plans to publish Dinah Dixon's comic series die before 27 in a large explosion parlay her youth athletics experience into young adult health & fitness advocacy.
Mannerisms: Nisha carries herself with all the grace and poise of someone who's been been formally instructed on how best to please adults from the moment she was born. She nails it all on a technical level, but, there's a distinct undertone of five year retail veteran to it. Her movements are robotic, when she smiles it's not in her eyes and she exudes unhappiness as soon as it's over. On the bright side, her hair and make up are fantastic and her dress is cute as fuck.
Connections & Pedigree: Nisha's mother is Representative Ankita Lewis of West Virginia. Her father, David, is an accomplished Certified Magical Accountant practicing both in WV and NY.
Anything else?: Annie Lewis may not be here, but she has eyes everywhere. Nisha is purposefully trying to keep a low profile, tonight.

Rosemary

[browbeats]

Full Name: Rosemary Astrea Stoker
Their Date: Reid Wainwright
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Accomplishments: Prefect. Co-organizer of an intramural, school-wide sports league. Well-rounded, lifelong athlete. One of the top students in her class. Very involved in tutoring other students and smothering protecting mentoring younger years. Keeps meeting fucking ghosts Involved in outreach programs for Gooseberry's most unique residents.
Goals: To attend [prestigious wizarding law school here], work for [known wizarding civil rights group here], maintaining her mother's legacy of philanthropy before following her father into the political sphere.
Mannerisms: Rosy knows what to do here. Her usual stomping gait is slowed and lightened, her posture is perfect, her curtsy is flawless. She hasn't stumbled in heels since she got her first pair of stilettos, and only Mariela Stoker would be able to find a flaw in that lipstick. That smile of hers is forced as fuck, though, and she unconsciously and unnecessarily smooths her eyebrows about twice a minute. Lavender du Pont is wearing the exact same dress as her, but Rosy has three pearl necklaces whereas Lavender only has one.
Connections & Pedigree: One part Stoker, one part Allende, all parts watch the fuck out.
Anything else?: Rosy refused any help in writing her card, and kept looking over at Lavender du Pont to see if she was still writing. That bitch.

Tobias

[norush]

Full Name: Tobias Harkin Rush
Their Date: Carolina Foster-Hayes
Location: Protection, Kansas
Accomplishments: UHHHH First string Quidditch player. Boy Scout. Regular volunteer with humanitarian organisations like Rotary International and Habitats for Humanity.
Goals: UHHHHHHHHH What sounds fancier than pro sports? Professional athletics.
Mannerisms: Toby is... not bred for high society. It's not that he's generally oafish, so much as he is desperately lacking in the very particular social graces that come with old money and lots of it. He's dressed up nicely and he's combed his hair, but he somehow looks out of place here, even when all he's doing is sitting and smiling politely. That said, he is friendly and helpful and fairly inoffensive. Maybe his sincerity will compensate for the fact that he doesn't know his bread plate is to the left, while his water glass is to the right?
Connections & Pedigree: Extremely muggleborn and extremely unimpressive, regardless. His grandparents own a convenience store. His parents were enlisted Marines.
Anything else?: Guess! Who! Doesn't! Belong! Here!

Jefferson

[racingstripe]

Full Name: Jefferson Isaias Key
Their Date: Estella Morales-Tran
Location: Newark, NJ
Accomplishments: First string Chaser for the house team sophomore and junior years. First string Chaser for the Gooseberry school team 2013-14. 4.0 GPA. TA for Wizard Literature. Generally just really happy to be here.
Goals: To play Quidditch professionally To be a professional Chaser!! .... He hopes to follow his mother into education and become a teacher and coach.
Mannerisms: Look at that smile! That charm! Jeffy isn't near as polished as half these other kids, and that badass racing stripe of his kind of stands out against all this posh stuff, but he's really happy to be here! Hi! He somehow manages to kind of mess up his bow, which is an accomplishment in and of itself, and it's just obvious he's not one of you fancy fuckos, but he dances really well so there's that.
Connections & Pedigree: His dad, Reginald Key, works closely with the Vice President, and that's really about all I've got.
Anything else?: He's going to have a single glass of champagne, watch out world.

Ursula

[cecaelian]

Full Name: Ursula Andress de Luca
Their Date: Ferdinand Ayers
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Accomplishments: President of Gooseberry High's Event Committee. Crowned half of Gooseberry High's Sweetest Couple 2014 not with her date. Cared for an inchworm and three boardwalk shop hermit crabs endangered wildlife encountered during her travels.
Goals: To assume leadership of Witches' Secret as its second-generation owner and continue her mother's legacy of culinary innovation and booming profit margins.
Mannerisms: Ursula has a long history with these events and knows how to work her way through the room, smile firmly plastered in place while everyone judges. Her hair is pinned up in a simple elegant manner and her dress is tasteful. The time away from her cousin Coralee seems to have done her some good and contrary to usual, when the two girls meet, Ursula manages to maintain her composure.
Connections & Pedigree: Ursula's mother is the founder and CEO of Witches' Secret and a muggleborn. Ursula's father is a member of the Los Angeles branch of the pureblood Wong family, famous for producing many esteemed legal professionals. He is not one. The de Lucas are known for being a New Money family and Arthur didn't even bring his name into the marriage.
Anything else?: 👑🐙

Antonia

[heyitsnia]

Full Name: Antonia D. Papadakis
Their Date: Adeline Foster-Hayes
Location: Detroit, MI
Accomplishments: Full Academic/Musical Scholarship to Gooseberry Alternative High School. Head Girl & Prefect. Cheerleader, 3 years. Accomplished musician and soloist.
Goals: Plans to pursue music study both Herbology and Civics, with the eventual goal of practicing as a lawyer specializing in Biomagical Law.
Mannerisms: Though she looks the part at first glance, with ridiculous mermaid hair and a decidedly goddess-y dress, Nia doesn't do much to file down her sharpest edges. Her smile is, as usual, a little wicked. Her laugh too loud. She curtsies with the flourish of someone who's having, just, the time of her life. It all fits neatly within the lines, but you can tell she doesn't belong.
Connections & Pedigree: None lol
Anything else?: Nia pens all this herself and thinks she's highly amusing.

Madison

[cupquake]

Full Name: Madison Olympia Ives
Their Date: Ira Ashworth
Location: Boston, MA.
Accomplishments: Full-ride athletics scholarship to Gooseberry. Ribbonfin Cheer Captain. Black belt in karate. Competitive dance achievements/awards.
Goals: "To enter the healing profession, continuing family tradition and furthering her father's studies."
Mannerisms: "Perfect," robotic, shiny. Madison has a smile for everyone. Her dress is pretty. She's also trying extremely hard.
Connections & Pedigree: Sister of Margot Ives, a recently famous Quodpot player. Madison's father is an accomplished healer and innovator in magical prosthetics. Her mother owns a high end boutique in Boston and is a popular stylist. UMM there's weird family stuff that might be relevant but I don't think she'd mention out loud? She does mention her mother's family in Croatia and the couple of famous herbalists she's related to on that side, as well as some cute comment about beautiful family properties there. Idk.
Anything else?: ♥

Addy!

[addytives]

Full Name: Adeline Rebecca Foster-Hayes
Their Date: Antonia Papadakis; Head Girl
Location: Richmond VA
Accomplishments: Adeline was a temporary prefect last year, a position she dropped in favor of becoming the Potions teacher's assistant. Also, she got bit by a snake yesterday and didn't die, so please pardon her footwear.
Goals: Adeline's already working on growing her start-up Potions invention an distribution business with another former Gooseberry graduate.
Mannerisms: She's adhering to dress code...technically but dramatically. For all her rebellions, Addy knows how to navigate this kind of social circle, and remains light, charming, and vivacious throughout the evening. The most outrageous part of her is the fact that she's wearing fuschia converse tennis shoes instead of any sort of dress shoes. They add a weird, bold flash of color, but Addy's quick to tell the anecdote (wilder every time), of how she got attacked just yesterday. She was sure to emphasize how amazing Ms. Bloom's staff was in responding to the incident. You get the impression she's adhering to tradition juuust seriously enough to have fun in the setting. Her bows to her date are perfectly elegant, and her manners impeccable, despite her slightly wild overall Vibe.
Connections & Pedigree: Her mother is a literature professor and scholar from a well-respected wizarding family. Her father is a Muggle judge. Addy makes sure both these things are announced proudly.
Anything else?: She winks at Warren before proudly clinging to Nia at least one time. Also, this is the best cotillion Ever.

Phineas

[phin]

Full Name: Phineas Edgar Bones
Their Date: Avery Davenport
Location: Birmingham, West Midlands, England.
Accomplishments: Phineas talks about his intensive transfiguration studies back home, name drops some Ministry people he's worked with, and mentions having his name on some rather important studies.
Goals: A well-told, glossy lie about wanting to be a professor at Hogwarts.
Mannerisms: Phin was true to his word and cleaned up incredibly well for Avery's sake. This is the most well-put-together he's looked since Halloween. He's definitely a charmer and appears at ease, as though he goes to things like this all the time (while maintaining just enough quirkiness to stand out). He's also channeling his mother and using Received Pronunciation that sounds way "classier" than his usual accent.
Connections & Pedigree: Phin is a member of the Bones family, who sided with the Order of the Phoenix during the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Insert string of renowned wizards and witches here: Edgar and Amelia Bones, other admirable names, etc. His mother is a jeweler and artiste who has been featured in several magazines.
Anything else?: c:

Ulysses

[ulixes]

Full Name: Ulysses August Quayle
Their Date: Mackenzie Augustina Prince IV look at their matching middle names
Location: Olympus, TN.
Accomplishments: Quiddich captain and first string player. Lost his 4.0, but Maintains an A average. Assorted "leadership" bullshit that sounds good on paper and means absolutely nothing. And he's not even a little bit dead in the woods!
Goals: This is a big fat lie, but for tonight, he'll claim politics. He'll even put it thusly: "Ulysses hopes to follow in the footsteps of his father as an advocate and policy maker, working in service to his local and national community to better the lives of..." Etc, etc.
Mannerisms: If you've ever though Ulysses was likeable, get ready to think again! As with all high society babies, there is a very real, very significant pressure to perform, but despite that Ulysses feels confident and competent here. I mean, his elementary school, Swan Academy, was basically Cotillion Prep. They taught children to waltz. Anyway, the point is — socially speaking, this is his bread and butter, and he gets an almost-perverse pleasure out of leaning in to his role. In view, Cotillion is half showing off and half playing dress up; he thinks it's terribly fun to say things like "In this economy?" and laugh while holding a glass of champagne. He'll only really deviate from Show Pony mode if he gets a wink from Kenzie.
Connections & Pedigree: Not in dispute. The Quayle family founded the city of Olympus way back when; even today, his grandfather is the current mayor, having stepped down from his former position as a MACUSA representative. His father, Ambrose Quayle, is the current Tennessee rep and, like Jonathan Stoker, is clearly gearing up for a Presidential bid. On his mom's side, his maternal grandmother is the former director of the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation. His mother, Susannah Quayle, is the very definition of a society woman. Even his older siblings are already busy making names for themselves.
Anything else?: God. I'm so sorry. If it helps, this is literally his only skill.

Estella

[magitechnically]

Full Name: Estella Lanh Morales-Tran
Their Date: Jefferson Key
Location: Moab, UT
Accomplishments: Had artwork showcased in a public exhibition that her step-mother arranged when she was 13. First string Chaser at Gooseberry High, 1 year. Cheerleader at Gooseberry High, 2 years. Cheerleader for Team Gooseberry, 1 year. TA for Artificing at Gooseberry High.
Goals: To become a "Rare artifact recovery artist" AND a "Hobbyist historical reenactor" AND a "Science person".
Mannerisms: Essie's wearing a tea-length dress and generally looks a little stricken by her surroundings, very aware of herself and readjusting her posture every few minutes. Her fake smiles are way way way too much teeth. Please pay attention to her date instead. He's so much taller than she is. Doesn't his hair look cool???
She's at least got the curtsy and the dancing down, because those were kind of fun to practice???
Connections & Pedigree: Essie's step-mother is an art dealer and member of the very old pureblood Morales family. Her mother is a sculpture artist.
Anything else?: Essie thought listing all three of Lucas' suggestions would sound more impressive.

Antigone

[nightandday]

Full Name: Antigone Daydream Brown
Their Date: Rupert Wick
Location: Ni'ihau, Hawaii
Accomplishments: Maintains a 3.9 GPA. Member of the Gooseberry Choir and the Dueling & Fencing club. Classically trained in martial arts. Volunteers at Lehua's Animal Sanctuary in the summers.
Goals: Ugh. Plans to follow in her grandfather's footsteps and become an Auror. Though she hopes to attend at the base in Nevada, as she wishes to make it through the program on her own merits.
Mannerisms: This is the one thing Antigone excels at. Her posture is perfect and her drawling accent is wiped clean. She listens attentively when spoken to and asks questions that are both polite and intelligent. She smiles widely and genuinely during conversation and expresses open interest in others. Her makeup is clean and minimal, hair pinned up neatly, and dress (neckline modified modestly) never once trips her up.
Connections & Pedigree: Daugter of Antiope Hart, popular wizarding actress. (Young and unwed when Antigone was born. Though the less said about her mother, the better.) Granddaughter of Leroy and Jasmine Brown, head of one of the most rigorous Auror training programs in the country and socialite respectively. (Bitterly divorced several decades prior. Lee recently remarried to a muggleborn man.) Great-granddaughter of Millie St. James, very popular wizarding jazz singer. (Once disowned, very publically broke wizarding convention and married a no-maj, still managed to come out smelling like roses.)
Anything else?: Antigone is a walking caveat.

Rupert

[somethingwick_ed]

Full Name: Rupert Oh-my-god-I-forgot-to-give-him-a-middle-name Wick
Their Date: Antigone Daydream Brown
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Accomplishments: Prefect. Assisted other students to safety from a swollen river. Finalist in a Vancouver wizarding junior ballroom competition, 2012. Numerous roles in local theatre productions.
Goals: Rupert plans on becoming a renowned Shakespearian actor, with hopes of creating a program for underprivileged youth to help teach them about acting and hopefully give them something productive to do after school. (The last part of this is all a lie, but it sounds nice and doesn't sound horribly dishonest, he hopes.)
Mannerisms: Rupert is made for the limelight, so he's graceful to a fault, looking much the child of ballroom dancers. He smiles brightly, speaks politely, and is very much in his element; he will literally talk to anyone, and act like he's having a good time, even if he finds them insufferable. Given his fussiness about clothing, it's unsurprising that he's made a very distinct wardrobe choice. His statement piece is his black velvet jacket that's tailored perfectly and comes with a velvet black bowtie. There's a vest under there too but who cares? Rupert is going to be petting his own arm all night.
Connections & Pedigree: Rupert is the son of a famous pair of (magical) ballroom dancers, and is the grandson of the owner of Bumblesnuff Brooms. These brooms are practically custom built and are very niche, meaning they're expensive and exclusive.
Anything else?: If anyone needs to relax come pet Rupert's arm.

Ferdie

[ferdie]

Full Name: Ferdinand Michael Ayers
Their Date: Ursula de Luca
Location: Chicago IL
Accomplishments: Head Boy and prefect since his sophomore year, up and coming Divination student, newly instated journalist for student life in the school paper
Goals: Ferdinand would like to go to magical college after school and explore natural methods of divination such as aeromancy in an academic setting. Maybe
Mannerisms: Ferdinand is dressed well, and is careful to escort Ursula around the minefield of MACUSA people who he's not supposed to talk to or about. He appears well-dressed, but even more quiet and shy than he actually is.
Connections & Pedigree: He makes sure they just introduce his mother as Mrs. Ayers, currently a novelist, and lets his father be celebrated author Theodore Ayers. He hopes no one makes the Eileen Nielsen connection, but doesn't really feel confident in that.
Anything else?: This is so much scarier than the skeleton mines

Ennis

[sheepish]

Full Name: Ennis Harper
Their Date: Yancey Montgomery
Location: Cindersap, Ontario Canterbury, New Zealand
Accomplishments: Seer Nayan Chettri's teaching assistant in Divination, who proved his skill by accurately predicting the Quidditch teams' rosters and winning 100 dragots. Highly sought after doll faceup artist, serving clients on the world-wide web. Senior member of the Event Committee and a workshop leader for the Crafting Club. Was selected from a list of competing candidates to participate in the Hogwarts exchange program his Sophomore year. Designer of clothing for both Wizards and their Niffler and rats animal companions. He is wearing a suit of his own creation in collaboration with fellow student and designer, Cole Moss.
Goals: (UHHHH... Good fucking question because right now he just plans to live at home for a while and play video games. Ennis quickly thinks of what might impress this group and then googles "Best fashion design school in New York" on his phone before scribbling down the details on his card.)

Ennis has high hopes of studying fashion design at Parsons, which boasts graduates such as Tom Ford, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang and Jason Wu. His family's business has already given him years of experience in working with enchanted textiles, which he will use in his own designs to create unique and truly magical ready-to-wear clothing for both witches and wizards.

Mannerisms: Practiced, but stiff in his movements. It's clear he's inexperienced in this sort of thing and his eyes occasionally dart to the other dances and to Yancey's feet to make sure he's not screwing up the dance. He's incredibly polite, though soft-spoken, and hopes his inexperience comes off as endearing rather than embarrassing. He looks hella good though: he cut his hair, colored it dark, and swooped it to the side and even left a lil bit of stubble so he'll look extra masculine for his role. His skin looks unusually smooth and he took great care to mask all the veins that are usually visible on his face. He's wearing the same suit he wore to Winter Formal, paired with a black tie, but... nobody really needs to know that this "fashion designer" is wearing a repeat.

Connections & Pedigree: Son of the late Simon Harper: Seer, shepherd, experimental potioneer, and Unspeakable, whose tireless research efforts greatly furthered the Australian Department of Mysteries' understanding of the death. His mother is Endellion Briar of Briar Ranch, renowned for their stock of wizard-bred sheep that produce the finest quality of magically imbued wool for use in textiles.

Anything else?: He's praying nobody grills him too hard about all the shameful embellishments on his card.

(Also somebody photoshopped the hell out of that pic of Evan P but he looks so good, it can be written off as magical beauty products.)

Lucas

[bubblewrapped]

Full Name: Logan Cyanide Lucas Otto Kowalski
Their Date: Evangeline Razor Jade Otterwell
Location: Atlanta, GA
Accomplishments: Charms Teaching Assistant. Partial academic scholarship. (After about ten minutes of agonizing while filling out his card, Lucas flips through his journal and reproduces something Bash wrote about him months ago, word for word, unironically): "Preternaturally sharp and dryly hilarious, Lucas Kowalksi is statistically both ten times smarter and sixteen times more sarcastic than the average American. Capable of navigating treacherous conversational segues with admirable deftness and patience, he is a revelation who promises to do great things in all future endeavors. Keep an eye on this one, people. He's going places."
Goals: Auror Teaching Auror After graduating, Lucas intends to apply for the Auror training program in New York. He also hopes to one day teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Mannerisms: Lucas is schooled in southern politeness, and though he's visibly nervous and terribly shy, he smiles when spoken to and minds his manners. There's not a lot of confidence to his movements, but he navigates the introduction well enough, if a bit stiffly, and has to fight back against a laugh when he exchanges glances with Jade when he bows to her. He's starting to feel like he really might be a spy. Just...don't engage him in conversation.
Connections & Pedigree: Dr. Alice Kowalski-Porter, PhD Entomology, Professor of Biological Science at Georgia Tech, Infectious Disease Researcher with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; Dr. Ernest Kowalksi, MD FACP, Infectious Disease Researcher with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Clearly Lucas knows how to intro his family.
Anything else?: He wrote an entire card in character as Logan Cyanide before he got the courage to write his own card.

Spencer

[bitterlysweet]

Full Name: Spencer Tae-Min Sweet
Their Date: Grace Sowerberry
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Accomplishments: Silver medalist in pairs skating at the 2012 Canadian Championships. Ranked 5th place in pairs skating at the 2012 ISU Junior World Championships. Taking a break from competitions after being offered a full ride scholarship at Gooseberry for academic excellence. Proud member of his house's cheer team.
Goals: To win a gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Mannerisms: Spencer's dyed his hair back to black and knows how to move with confidence and grace, but... he's smiling too much and always looks a bit cocky.
Connections & Pedigree: Gotta say, not great! Spencer's grandfather was a translator for the Canadian MoM, but aside from that... Spencer's step-father just got out of jail for robbery with a deadly weapon, his mother didn't want to raise him and gave her grandparents custody, and Spencer himself is probably better remembered for punching out a competitor backstage than anything he's won on the ice.
Anything else?: At least he's having fun.

Veronica

[cheerpowers]

Full Name: Veronica Nicole Powers
Their Date: Oscar Zabinsky
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Accomplishments: Captain of her house Cheer squad, two years running. Gooseberry school cheerleading squad captain. Consistent academic overachiever performer, among the top of her class. Active and senior member of her school's Event Committee. Participant in various local and national charities when not in school. Accomplished dancer. Baking enthusiast.
Goals: To become a professional cheerleader To follow in her father's footsteps and join the MACUSA in a position where she can use her skills to make a difference in the world.
Mannerisms: Vee is the picture of poise and manners and everything ladylike as she glides through the event. She is no stranger to things like this, although this is technically her first Cotillion. (Not the first fancy party, by any stretch) She has a smile for everyone, executes perfect curtsies, and is generally charming and amenable as she holds Oz's arm and proudly shows him off to anyone she might know. Her hair is styled perfectly, not a strand out of place, and she looks positively maidenly in her dress (let's imagine there's a little more white undertone all over, since we like this style best; also the front a little higher for modesty), which is just as impressive from the back as from the front.
Connections & Pedigree: Her father is the treasurer for the MACUSA, so is very well known among that crowd. Her mother is one of the top editors for Witch Weekly, and her name is fairly common with readers and the public alike.
Anything else?: Nope

Yancey

[hotdish]

Full Name: Yancey Aloysius Montgomery
Their Date: Ennis Harper
Location: Turtle River, MN
Accomplishments: Award-winning ceramic artist. Exchange program, Hogwarts, 2013 - 14. Cheerleader at Gooseberry, 2 years. LARP Club President.
Goals: Yancey presently stands to inherit the Montgomery Estate from his father. (no one needs to know that that's probably actually going to his half-sister Bernice.) He hopes to continue his work in handicrafts in a professional capacity.
Mannerisms: Yancey is all charming, easy smiles and glib conversation. He looks put together. He knows exactly what he's doing, even if he can't remember people's names 2 minutes after he's been introduced to them. He leans a bit on his aw shucks and his Minnesotan accent comes through a bit thicker than normal when he thinks it'll make someone like him more.
Connections & Pedigree: Yancey Montgomery is the son of Raleigh Montgomery, Healer, of the Montgomerys of International Falls, MN, and Malloreigh Holloway, an artist. The Montgomerys are an old, middling pureblood family, their relatives are often seen at these sorts of functions.
Anything else?: God I sent so many kids to this den of misery.

Ramon

[sochill]

Full Name: Ramon Alonso Delgado
Their Date: Ariadne Desdemona Flint
Location: Chicago, IL
Accomplishments: First string Quidditch beater for sophomore and junior years. Fluent in four languages, acceptably proficient in two others. Summer internship doing clerical work for MACUSA (aka doing some paperwork for his dad). Straight-A student throughout his time at Gooseberry.
Goals: A translator for MACUSA, with a particular interest in working with other species.
Mannerisms: Ramon's gone for a completely black look with expertly slicked back hair, and as usual looks generally unimpressed. It's a lofty expression, though, as if he thinks he's better than everyone else in the room. He doesn't really, but what are you going to do? Ramon is very polite if a bit aloof, and moves with practice. Cotillion is nothing new to him.
Connections & Pedigree: Ramon's father is the MACUSA representative for the state of Illinois, and his mother is a former model. Their pedigree doesn't go that far back, but his parents (especially his mother) are schmoozers and are actually present.
Anything else?: Avoiding Sofia all night :,) sorry Sofia