FULL NAME: Tybalt Iago Zettler
NICKNAMES: If you think of something he likes enough, you'll know you're allowed to say it
AGE/DOB: May 14, 2002. 16. Taurus.
YEAR: Junior
BLOOD STATUS: Halfblood
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Male; he/him
SEXUALITY: Prettyyyy for sure gay, nooot entirely owning up to any identity at all quite yet so don't ask, just let him kiss!! Thanks!!!
HOMETOWN: Boston MA
APPEARANCE:Maybe it's just because he's really rather skinny, but everything Tybalt wears looks at least two sizes too big for him. The majority of his clothing are hand-me-downs from his brothers that he's spiced up to make look a little cooler than they really are. And mostly that means tears in the knees, or removing the sleeves from t-shirts. He owns it, though, and does not walk so much as strut, no matter what he's wearing. Tybalt is graceful on his feet as he is on a broom, and his reflexes are excellent. He can often be found bouncing a small ball in his hand or doing tricks with it, because he is very much
that asshole. He's from Boston, and there's the faint hint of an accent there, likely making him sound just as insufferable as he is actually.
HEIGHT: 5'11"
BUILD: Twiggy
PB: Timothee Chalamet
INSPO:Pinny pin pin Tybalt exudes unearned confidence. He's a cocky little piece of work. From the way he smirks to the fact that he sometimes just pretends curfew isn't a thing, he acts like a star, and seems to think the whole world should just fall into place for him. And hey, he'll do it one better than that, and carve a line himself. Because he's not really that confident, he's just decided he wants to fight the world for his own victories. Tybalt's self-serving at heart. He's ambitious, and he'll lie, steal, cheat, or promise his way into a pretty deep hole to get to his goals. That's partly because he thinks his dreams are really ephemeral. The only thing he's been consistently paid attention to and praised for have been Quidditch and Quodpot, which he can only realistically do for the next maybe 30 years at best. He's going to take advantage of every one of those. So he barrels through boundaries he shouldn't, and neglects relationships and classes that he should pay attention to, all with the goal of being better off than where he started. Because he loves his middle-low class family, but they work really hard, and he thinks there's a better, easier life for himself. And that's what he wants.
Which is fairly typical of Tybalt. He wouldn't describe himself as an idealist, but he certainly acts like one, both selfishly and for the world at large. He's still very much an optimist who believes in not only his dream, but probably yours too. He gets excited about big ideas, and is drawn to people who don't accept the mundane. Yes. Let's strive towards impossible goals together. In his own life, that's led him to be rather single-minded, and tunnel-visioned, because he's settled into that fantasy of a poor city kid turning into a big broom star. Having to go to a school where he
had to concentrate on things that weren't just sports has helped him even out a bit.
Tybalt is just charming enough to be insufferable, and not one ounce beyond. He knows he can talk his way out of some things, so he tries for everything. He's the type of person always looking for a shortcut, and sometimes he finds them. His work ethic is questionable when he doesn't inherently care about the work at hand. He likes seeing praise and good attention right away, or at
least at the end of a longer road. He hates the feeling of working toward nothing, and when he feels that way, he pretends to be blase about it, like he hasn't cared the whole time at all. The problem is,he always does in fact care.
Though he jaunts through life like an 80's movie bad-boy jock, he's not even a little bit breezy. It's awfully simple to hurt Tybalt's feelings, and it always has been. He has a quick temper but a short fuse. From the time he was in grade school, he's taken slights against him to heart when they were hardly even meant. He retaliates by becoming cagey, defensive, and he's started more fights than he's needed to in his past. He has the nasty habit of goading someone into attacking him, and then feeling justified for striking back. (Usually verbally. In fact almost always. He can't exactly take many punches.) He bounces back just as easily when he recovers his temper again, and he isn't one to hold grudges. He's also just as sensitive toward slights at other people as he is for his own, and if likes you, he's quick to defend you whether you've asked him to or not.
He has a complicated relationship with the law and authority, and people telling him what to do. In short, he doesn't like any of it. In long, he has to like it at least a little because he knows both natural and legal consequences, and he doesn't really want to face having no friends or being arrested. His mother is a wizard cop, and he'd like to keep talking to her. So he's just very careful. It's awfully fulfilling to go to the exact point when things get to be a problem, and then stop. Then no one can get you in trouble. Some teachers
deeply dislike the way he always hands things in the very moment they're due, and comes in at the exact moment before curfew. If he doesn't like a roommate, he'll "borrow" their things, but always put them back so they can't give him too much grief. If it seems like he's messing with them on purpose,he almost for sure is, but catch him for it, he dares you. Thankfully, this isn't the way he treats most people. He knows enough to know it's annoying, and also he's had to make himself coachable and teachable, not to mention get at least maybe one friend over the years.
Tybalt seems to slip through people's fingers on purpose. He's quicksilver in every sense. Fast talking, fast moving, impossible to catch, and that makes him happy. He likely doesn't have more than a few good friends, but he likes to talk to everyone. Fewer expectations that way. His brother and perhaps some friends can ground him, but he'd rather fly. He craves novelty and newness, and when he feels he's falling into a routine, he changes something in it on purpose, even if it was going just fine before. He's just as elusive in conversations he becomes uncomfortable with. Which isn't just every hard and heavy feelings conversation; he can talk about how he feels just fine. No, it's mostly when someone suggests they're disappointed in him (he can't stand that,) or even talking about someone else who he's deemed is better than him at something he cares about. Tybalt's not exactly competitive, but he is always aware of other people and where they stand in the world, chess pieces on the board. He's deceptively careful of how he moves in relation to other people. A lot of his decisions do look like he's just throwing himself into the wind to see what sticks, but he's usually given a little more thought than that. (Usually.)
FUN FACTS:
STAY TUNED!
LANGUAGES: Just English
HOBBIES: Flying is the main one, and most of his free time is spent practicing for Quidditch or Quodpot, which are two separate skill sets, guys.He also likes chess. A big fan of just sitting and talking with people, over movies or card games or whatever.
SKILLS:
Brooming: To brag for just a minute, Tybalt's pretty darn amazing on a broom. He's the kind of flier who is easy, fluid, like the broom's an extension of his body. He feels and is natural in the air and doesn't seem to realize he's hundreds of feet above the ground and that gravity is anything that applies to him. He flies with an almost elegant simplicity, not really one for showy stunts. He does really love to see how fast he can go, which sometimes comes back to bite him.
Hand-Eye Coordination/Aim: Again, this is mostly a Seeker thing/sports thing, but it's fun in other ways, and he throws up balls of crumpled parchment into the trashcan from the back of like e v e r y class.
Talking: A lot, and to just about everyone, and often it's to get himself out of trouble. Results are mixed. He's a little too impertinent to actually be called charming, and half the time he's talked himself into a bigger hole that he'll have to pretend he doesn't care about later. He does love debate, anyway.
Petty Crime/Rulebreaks: This has and never will be anything huge, but he has always been juuuust a little too good at and interested in unlocking doors that should remain locked, and taking things he wants to use with every intention of putting them back later. (Promise!) His mother is a magic police officer, so she warns him with horrible crime stories every time he's caught doing something sneaky, and maybe the fact that he hasn't actually done a felony means that's working.
Strategy: More specifically in strategy games (he's real good at chess) and broom sports. In life, it's just a little more fly by night. He does like to plan ahead, to support his own confidence even if he has to change it mid-stream, which he's okay at doing.
FAMILY:
Benvolio Zettler: Father, Muggle Outreach Officer, Perpetually overworked
Perdita Longstreet-Zettler: Mother, Magical Law Enforcement Officer (not quite Auror; think more of a beat cop),similarly overworked
Romeo Zettler: Brother, 23 years old. Just graduated Healer school, lives in an apartment that Tybalt haunts constantly.
Mercutio Zettler: Brother, 21 years old. Actor, but all he's getting is commercials. He thinks highly of himself, and in god's name if you ever try to make him do a Shakespeare play.
BACKGROUND:Naming themes are very cute for families, and Perdita and Benvolio married right into one. Benvolio isn't quite a pureblood, but that bloodline would be getting close if people stopped messing with it. Frankly, though, no one's concerned enough to try. Point is, his parents were the type to show appreciation for non-magical interests, like their literature, and they named all their children after Shakespeare characters in an effort to be approachable by muggles. It didn't
quite work, but it was charming enough to Perdita, whose father isn't magical. Both Perdy and Benny were Auror trainees who didn't quite cut the mustard. They met at an Auror Christmas party, so sublimely drunk that all Perdita could do was giggle about the Shakespeare name. He thought he was charming, and to be fair, did in fact get her number.
They became friends before they were romantic, in the end. Auror school is tough, and they decided to drop out less than a year later together, but not because of each other. Being an Auror was too much about the detective work, and less about the people. Benny didn't have the stomach for it, and Perdita's heart lay more directly in their North End neighborhood. So they quit, and became a MOO worker and magical police officer, respectively. It felt better, even if they weren't at all making they money they would've as Aurors. Their wedding was smaller than they would've wanted, but incredibly happy, and full of both their very large extended families.
When their children arrived, they decided to go along with the fun Shakespeare naming thing, and it was perfect, because they had two beautiful boys who could carry on the Montague legacy. Their Christmas cards in those first three years read "Love, the
Zettler Montague Family" as a funny joke. They weren't exactly counting on a third, and when yet another boy child came along, they were at a loss as to what to name him. They'd have to go with the same play, it would be even stranger to have a Romeo, Mercutio, and Alfred, or something. And honestly, there were plenty more dudes in Romeo and Juliet. They chose Tybalt over Paris, so their son wouldn't think he was a city or heiress, and they thought it was a good solution. They didn't really account for the sensitivity of children. In particular, the child they had borne unto this world, who was sensitive from the start.
From the get go, Tybalt took his namesake personally. It was his oldest brother who told him about it first, about how
technically they were supposed to be feuding and ha-ha wasn't it funny? (Tybalt, age 6, did not think it was very funny, and it felt a little like he was pitted against the rest of his family for his entire life. His very weary parents have explained to him that this was not the case. So many times.) Still. He always felt a little bit detached from his brothers. Maybe it was the names. Or maybe it was just him. Tybalt, after all, didn't make friends easily in school, either. He went to a neighborhood day school for baby wizards, where he was always just a little smaller and slighter than all of the other kids. But he was never really picked on as much as he anticipated
being picked on. He was always cautious, snappy, defensive, overreacting vigorously to little slights by both yells and shoves. This, of course, turned into other kids pressing his buttons for fun, because everyone loves an easy fight. Tybalt was happy to provide. His parents (wearier yet,now,) decided that team sports would probably be a good solution. Romeo had tried out for the Ilvermorny team exactly once, decided he hated it, and had a broom hanging out in their back closet. It was gifted to Tybalt, and he joined the Littlest Leprechauns, the Boston branch of QuiddleLeague. (This is Little League Quidditch; someone thought it would sound cute.)
And he loved QuiddleLeague. His mind cleared in the air. He was finally good at something without having to try super hard, which made him want to try even harder. And he made friends, who were just into Quidditch as he was. He seemed to simmer, a little. Some of the kids told him about Quodpot, and Tybalt hardly ever went home between the ages of like 9-13, because he was too busy with his new friends trying to make rogue Quods so they could practice. One of these sports was their road to fame. They knew it. But not before they almost killed each other with a badly rigged homemade quodpot that got them detention in art.
Tybalt was so good at Quidditch that he was encouraged to try out, and was accepted at St. Hyginus's Day School in Boston for high school. He had gone to a neighborhood wizarding elementary school, forgoing Ilvermorny for the prospect of St. Hyginus. Aim high or not at all.The school is centuries old, a prep school well known for its funneling children into the Wizard branches of the Ivies. Or, in some cases, straight into European and American sports teams. Both their Quidditch and Quodpot teams were prestigious, with state of the art trainers and facilities. He wanted that. Tybalt's admission and scholarship were a miracle and a gift. He was thrilled about it for exactly the amount of time it took him to scare himself out of it, so maybe a week. Just because he had a scholarship did not, obviously, grant him admission into the sport automatically. He had to try out, in the August before freshman year. He practiced all summer, felt good, and then panicked on the day before. His broom was still the Romeo hand-me-down, and it felt like it was getting a little old. It veered just a
hair to the left, consistently. There were two days of try-outs. During the first, they learned basic drills and did team skirmishes. The second was an individual audition. The first day went fine, but Tybalt's broom was the oldest and least manicured one there. He was up half the night worrying about his performance. If he couldn't get into the team, would he keep his scholarship?
He really needed to get on the team. So he did what anyone would do and took the broom of another kid who had already tried out from the locker room. It was only for a few minutes. He had every intention of giving it back. Unfortunately, the wicked are punished immediately, and Tybalt, sleep deprived and jumpy, failed to get out of the way of a bludger. The broom was damaged, he was found immediately out. Although his parents grounded him for about eternity, it was hardly the biggest controversy St. Hyginus's had ever had. Apparently, the kid needed a new broom anyway. It was decided that Tybalt would so of still be allowed admission and his scholarship. He just would have to write a letter of apology, and be in a hard month's detention consisting of school community service. Also, he wouldn't be allowed to play in any school sports for a year. That was the part that was unacceptable.
In his second stupid move in about one week, but one that paid off extremely well later, Tybalt scrambled to get into a different high school about two weeks before the school year started. Ilvermorny was technically where he was supposed to go geographically, and they did have a well-funded Quodpot team. But he was afraid the blueblood parents who still sent their children to Ilvermorny would have heard about his stunt, and besides, he needed a little smaller pond to be a fish in. There was space at Peckenpaugh, and ostensibly more openings on their Quidditch teams. He begged his parents, convincing them that he couldn't start a new school in shame. He wanted a fresh chance. And maybe being around new people would be good for him. They agreed, and albeit with barely enough clothes to last him through the first semester because it was such a quick pack job, he went to Peckenpaugh.
Which was different. Tybalt had never been away from home for this long before. He was from a really big city, and this was a charming little town. He came in all ready to be loud, brash, wanting to steal a show that was ticking along just fine without him. All he really had to do was fall in line. Which he has, for the most part. Peckenpaugh has allowed him to really go all-in on his broom sports, which is all he's ever wanted, and he's excited to be a member of two teams. But maybe more importantly, that's not really the only measure of his worth, here. His roommates and friends aren't only interested in the latest tryout. They already know. Sports are almost all he can bond over with his family, but he's had to explore other avenues here, and it's maybe made him a better, more genuine person. By a tiny bit. He's still working on that.
In the meantime, surprise, his parents got bored at home without any of their children there. They were both burned out at work, and had the discussion that it would benefit them to open their relationship. Keep things fresh. And that is exactly what they have been doing. They both date and go to swing parties, and they're really open about it, and the point is, Tybalt's bonded a lot with his older brother Romeo over the last couple summers. For one thing, Romeo has a boyfriend now, which made Tybalt feel a little better about wanting one too. (Like someday. Eventually. Years from now. When he retires.) And they support him. Romeo and his boyfriend (Trevor Dance, muggleborn ex-Thunderbird, not Shakespearean even a little,) actually seem to like hanging out. For the first time, he feels he bonded with a sibling, and he's coming back to school not quite feeling like a Capulet in a sea of Montagues anymore. The increased confidence will probably not do anything good for him. But maybe.
WAND: Chestnut. Phoenix claw, which was weird, and caused the wandmaker to talk all about how dangerous fliers could be and to watch out for this one. It made him want the wand even more, but it was almost for sure a selling point, though also a valid wand core, because it's never made him even a little more dangerous and powerful. It's long, at 12.5 inches.
FAMILIAR: He has a pygmy owl named Julie that is supposed to be utilitarian to send letters home,but he coddles her and just emails when he can. They like to go for flies together.
CAREER GOALS: He assumes he'll play Quidditch or Quodpot until he's injured for good, and he hasn't given it a single thought beyond that.
PART-TIME JOB:He wants one because money's reallyyyy nice, but he doesn't have time.
CLASSES:
Transfigurations(H): No academic subject comes naturally to Tybalt, really. His brain is usually deep in to sports. Or just elsewhere. Which made it double "impressive" sophomore year when he decided he really needed to concentrate and get a good grade in this class so he could specialize in animagus studies and become an animal, maybe. Turns out, he could. He's proud of what he's achieved in Transfigurations, which means that at least for the time being, he'll keep on.
Charms: Since he figured what you could do with your wand directly translated into what he could turn himself into, he's spent a little more time and attention on Charms last year and this year, as well. Hardly an honors student quality, of course, but he's trying harder and will probably scrape a low A this year.
DADA: Just in theory, he thinks it would be a pretty good thing to defend himself against the forces of evil. If he had to. You know. But he's hardly a natural and spends half the class wincing at the descriptions of the effects of any particularly gnarly curses. He works to get a B.
Hermeticism: Taking the smart kid class to prove he's smart and then doing very badly at it is a very Tybalt (tm) move, and he's pulling it. Rescue him. Save him.
Home Mag-Ec: Ah. Relief. He's taking this one because all he knows about his life is that he wants to leave his house upon graduation, and be as self reliant as he feels. He has no idea how to do that properly, and hopes this class has some answers.
Animagus Studies (Black Rat):So he mostly wanted to see if he could even do this. While Tybalt's not the most academically minded student at the school by a long shot, it felt good to work towards something other than a house cup or quod, and he worked really hard to bring his Transfiguration reputation and grade up to snuff last year. He wants to be something worth showing off. I wish there was a better reason.
Aesthetic Magic: An artist the boy is not, but he signed up for something to do with his hands as a routine, and you know what? It's kind of nice to have a class period to just chill out and Create. So far,he's okay at sculptures. He's right on track to have a collection of soaps with people's faces, so that's always fun.
EXTRA-CURRICULARS:
Quidditch (Seeker): His first love, a long marriage that competes only with its sister sport for prime placement in Tybalt's heart. This is his third year on the team; he was the seeker last year as well, and a reserve freshman year. He's been playing since he was about seven, and seeker's always been his role. Which is bad for his ego, because there's nothing quite as fulfilling (or alternately,damning,) as being the one to swoop in and catch (or miss) the 50 point prize. His main strategy is, to be fair, trying to stay out of the fray that he will almost certainly not survive and just catch the snitch as nonchalantly as possible. Results, as always, are mixed.
Quodpot (Sparrow): His second love, his more exciting and young affair that sometimes explodes in his face. He was always extremely curious about Quodpot when he was younger, but resources were limited, so he made do with pickup games and extremely volatile quods. He was pleased to find things just a hair safer here. He makes a good addition to the offensive herd of sparrows, his agility and speed both assets. It's just that he also has to remind himself to not hog the potential glory and share with the other three people who also hold his position after the sole Seeker job. It's a transition, but he gets there. He was part of the JV team last year, and is thrilled to have snagged a varsity spot now.
Debate: Tybalt doesn't exactly love researching issues, so he's not the most informed debater. But he's got a pretty good gift of bullshit, so he certainly sounds like he knows what he's talking about, which is fun in public.
Gaming: Someone play chess with him.
Duelling and Wandwork: Again, he's by no means good at this, but he thinks it's a good thing to practice being quick on his feet and with his wand, and he oftentimes pretends to be a much more capable duellist than he is. Lots of little flairs. Very few actual good curses. Knock him on his butt.
SORTING?: He had the fun experience of not knowing literally anything at all about any of the houses before he faced sorting, so this all very frightening. He took a long time on the sorting path with the questions,because he was scared of answering them incorrectly. He really couldn't afford to not be accepted at this school. He calmed down in the winter room. The strange question felt like a code. When he was in the spring room, it almost made sense that Deeplurk's door was illuminated, with the simple promise, "You'll find your way around everything you need."
It worked out.
NAME:Lyss
EMAIL:facemcfacerson@gmail.com
CDJ: helplyss
OTHER CONTACT: dropbox!
TIMEZONE: CST
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