(no subject)

[goldsteins]

PLAYER

Name: Emilia
Age: 24
Contact: plurk: farkleuvius or pm
Other Characters: N/A
Interests: Tina isn't an easy character to play in heavily slice-of-life (modernish) settings. Finding a game she works in is one thing I'd like to do, but also important to me is some form of over-arching plot. Being able to see characters work forward and towards something is one I heavily enjoy. My personal knowledge of Dragon Age is vague but I want her to get involved in investigative work and learn to deal with shoddy magic.

CHARACTER

Name: Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein
Canon/OC: Harry Potter
Canon Point: post Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Journal: goldsteins
Age: 25

Canon World
The wizarding world of this franchise is one where the magical and non-magical worlds meet. Tina hails from New York City in the 1920s. Historically, her city is the same you could have lived in or read about today. The only difference is that there is an entire hidden society within the city and the rest of the world. All magical creatures within the Harry Potter universe remain hidden from their non-magical counterparts by a variety of means to keep themselves safe. While the two worlds influence each other the non-magical people remain unaware of the wizarding society.

Compared to other places within this universe America during Tina's time has a really special way to deal with things. Due to an incident that nearly wiped out the American wizarding population they live under a set of laws that forbid them from so much as speaking to a non-magical person. Associating with a no-maj, a non-magical person, is incredibly illegal and in some circumstances may result in the death penalty. While it is illegal to fraternize with them it also remains illegal to injure or kill a no-maj.

Noting the above is important for one reason: Gellert Grindelwald. There are two known largescale wizarding wars in this universe and Tina comes from the midsts of the beginning of the first. Grindelwald believed in magical superiority and wanted wizarding kind to come out of hiding and rule over them. His ideas on how to treat no-majs were radical even to Americans who had a more bloodied history with their counterparts than other places.

Magical superiority is a constant theme of the franchise no matter the era. Purebloods, those who can trace their magic back generations, stand at the top of this particular social hierarchy. Those witches and wizards who are born from non-magical families may be seen as better than their family, but would not receive the same rights as those from Halfblood or Pureblood families.



History
A wikia page for Tina can be found here

In many ways not too much is known about Tina’s life, however, what we do know is enough to give us a decent picture of it. She was born the oldest daughter of a young Jewish couple in August 1901. Her younger sister, Queenie, was born shortly after her. The first few years of the girls' lives were spent seemingly happily--Parents tucking them into bed, dancing around the room, dinners, and storytimes. This childhood wasn’t something that would be allowed to last.

Sometime before either girl reached school age their parents would die of Dragon Pox. While it’s possible they went to their grandparents, mentions both by the characters and actresses imply they didn’t have anyone else and more likely ended up in an orphanage (the scenario I prefer, in this case). Tina would in most ways give up her childhood in order to take care of her younger sister. As they grew older Tina would become the provider and caregiver, but her role as an adult was something more of the father while Queenie was the mother.

When she was eleven she has sorted into Thunderbird house at Ilvermorny-- The house for adventurers, though it was a bit odd as to why then. She kept her distance and was always somewhat odd, but she never let it bother her. Instead, she worked for the grades to become an Auror and was in training by the time she graduated. The two girls returned to their old family home and their roles would shift into what they are today.

Tina excelled as an Auror but one thing would always get her into trouble: Her inability to watch someone in trouble. A month after her twenty-fifth birthday she would come across a Second Salemers' meeting where she’d find the leader abusing her son. Tina reacted without any care for herself and attacked the woman magically in public. The result was a huge scandal and the loss of her job.

The events of the movie happened three months later in early December. Tina had continued to watch the Second Salemers' actions and because of this was at the bank when Newt Scamander's niffler escaped. She arrested him and brought him in, but wouldn't be heard because of her past actions. In the night that followed her world would be changed abruptly. When more of Newt's creatures escaped she attempted to bring him in once more, but is used as a scapegoat by the president and gets Newt, herself, and a no-maj arrested instead.

This further results in a sentencing to death by the head of Magical Law, escaping from that death sentence and later finding out the man who issued it wasn't who they thought him to be. Percival Grave was missing and being impersonated by none other than Gellert Grindelwald. It was a team effort between her and Newt that enabled them to capture them, but not without the seeming (to her) demise of Credence, the boy she'd once tried to protect.

Personality


"The trouble with Tina as a character is that she’s kind of brittle, kind of uptight but you have got to love her as well. And that’s not easy." --J.K. Rowling

Porpentina Goldstein is not an easy person to like when you first meet her. While she has a strong sense of morality and is truly a gentle woman at heart it's not something she shows everyone. At first glance Tina is as prickly as her namesake; She is no-nonsense and career driven. Tina's a rule follower through-and-through and she loves those rules-- They protect her people and she strives to uphold them. However, at the same time, her strong sense of morality and occasional gentle nature puts this at a stranglehold. Despite all consequences, even if it's illegal, Tina will jump into the fray to protect someone.

As a rule Tina is a career girl that career is her priority (other than her sister). Tina lost her highly esteemed job for what was essentially reckless behavior to save someone. Despite her demotion she continued performing her perceived duty. She's well aware that any inquiry against her would make her "finished" which, in the times of her country, has a more final meaning: Breaking of the Statute of Secrecy was punishable by death. This is important because you can't understand Tina without understanding her reasons for acting the way she does.

Tina is a capable and formidable woman, but she doesn't always know how best to utilize that capability. This is inability to utilize her capabilities is furthered by an almost crippling self-worth and unnecessary anxiety. Short of her job, Tina stopped looking after herself when she was a child—she's emotionally stunted in a way Queenie is not. According to Waterston Tina doesn't want to waste money buying new clothes for herself, resulting in a cobbled together look from her parents old wardrobe. Tina pressures herself into providing and doing her best, but it results in high stress and a look that she “needs a hug”.

She is not a cold woman and that's easily misconstrued from her prickly nature. Tina very firmly does what she believes needs to be done. Sometimes these things aren't necessarily what is expected of her. She is softhearted, she cares for people, but that does not mean she isn't particular about rules or doing what needs to be done. In most ways Tina is easily described as simple and honest. Despite how prickly she is she acts constantly with her heart and believes. She's willing to put herself out there even if she knows it might end terribly.

The problem is she's a little rough around the edges and not the best with people. Tina still has a lot to learn about the word, both emotionally and when it comes to handling people. Because she and her sister relied only on each other when they were children it's difficult for her to allow people in. She cares, but relationships are still a foreign concept to her. But she's gotten her groove back and she's learning—it's a start.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths
Tina is a witch. Magic in the Harry Potter universe comes in many diverse fields that every witch or wizard is capable of. Although they may be capable not every witch or wizard is necessarily good at them. Because of her profession, Tina happens to have excellent potential as a witch even if she's not yet quite accomplished.

Aurors are the elite of magical law enforcement in this universe. The best way to describe them is police officers meet F.B.I. agents with a splash of soldier life to it. While hit wizards exist they're called in for the actual fighting and not the other work that comes with it, Aurors are known to have to do the investigations on top of the fighting necessary. It's incredibly difficult to become one with the members having to make top grades during school, pass strenuous personality tests, and perform with little error in the training itself. With this training, Tina has a myriad of skills both magical and non-magical.

Potions This is a craft that will not likely be able to be used in game, but is important to note. As an Auror Tina would have had to have top grades in this subject as well as know how to create various ones today. This can scale from potions to change appearance to those that with a single drop can kill an entire room. Without the specific ingredients needed, however, she would be unable to make these potions.

Charms In many ways, this is your basic “day-to-day” spellwork. These spells levitate objects or summon them. They can even be used to make someone laugh or inflate. There’s a vast number of spells that come in all different forms. Like Potions a student must master Charms in school to become an Auror. Some charms (such as the summoning charm) cannot be used on living things. Notably, this field of magic is where Tina is arguably the most skilled. She is known to have multiple books on charmwork and seems to spend time learning new spells.

Transfiguration This subject is the one where you change an object into another. One might be able to change a matchstick into a mouse or simply change their hair color. Transfiguration is unable to change someone into another person or age them, these are both the work of potions. However Aurors need to know it when they go undercover as it’s the quickest and less time-restricted method to change their appearance.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Arguably, this is the subject that Aurors need to excel at most. This is how they’re able to protect themselves and fight against others. This subject also goes hand-in-hand with Dueling which Tina is a more than capable combatant of.

Apparation is teleportation with a few hitches. One: You have to be entirely focused and concentrating on your destination otherwise you could lose a limb (apparation accidents have been known to be fatal). Two: It is limited to perhaps several hundred miles, so while hefty isn’t able to go across the world. When it comes to Darrow Tina will only be able to apparate within city limits. Finally: A person can only apparate to a place they know.

Occlumency is the art of being able to shield your mind from intruders. Tina is not capable of shutting others out but does appear to be studying the art. She would come with the theoretical knowledge of how to organize her mind to prevent people from reading it although she may be incapable. (She has books specifically on how to live with a legilimens, someone who can read minds).

As a note: Each of these abilities has their own limitations. A person cannot create something out of nothing-- It must exist somewhere. So when someone is summoning something it’s being lifted from a store somewhere. If they transfigure something to be larger, if it becomes too large, it may collapse and so-on.

Other skills she would need as an Auror are: (magical) dueling, investigating, disguising, and fitness. While she would have to do well with the other three Tina's strongest skill would be her investigative work. She's quick to catch details and quicker still to make use of what resources she has to solve them.

On the non-magical, career-driven side of things Tina is a person who acts with uncomplicated kindness. She doesn't see a person in need and think about what she could get out of it. She doesn't expect anything in return and would be surprised to be thanked for it. The woman does what she does because it's the right thing to do or something she wanted to do. Personal gain is rarely ever in the picture for her-- Well, unless you're breaking a law and she thinks turning you in will reinstate her.
Weaknesses

Tina isn't a total disaster but she's a disaster all the same.

While magically she is considered to be part of an elite force she is subsequently stunted in all other areas of her life. The Goldstein sisters being orphaned at a young age forced them to learn to rely only on each other. While the happenings are never discussed Rowling calls it "difficult" and relates it to the reason for why Tina is as prickly as she is.

First and foremost, Tina is undoubtedly emotionally stunted. She can easily interrogate someone when it comes to a case, but in an intimate setting, surrounded by cheerful conversation, she's at a loss. Tina's uncomfortable with any amount of attention on herself-- be it good or bad. Especially bad. Compared to her sister, however, she is also used to going unnoticed. Waterston had outright stated that men show little interest in her and she doesn't have much of a social life. Tina doesn't expect people to like her and she doesn't go out of her way to befriend them, either.

Although capable Tina comes with an assortment of insecurity issues. She's not worth much, not good enough, and not wanted enough. Grindelwald knows this so well about her that he tries using it against her by saying "why do you always turn up where you're least wanted". Her insecurity feeds into her anxiety and keeps her high-strung. It's not easy for Tina to simply relax, she's always worried about something. Her insecurity is one that she never expects to make something and doubts her own abilities, but it's combatted often by a determination to do it anyway...

...Which causes its own fair bit of trouble. Tina's always grappling with her own inabilities and possibilities that it can lead to a bit of recklessness. Laws are meant to be kept-- So long as it doesn't interfere with her goals. This is the woman who attacked someone and then continued to keep an eye on them even when monitored. Further still, she arrested a man, got berated for it, and then tried arresting him again. The last of which inevitably got them both sentenced to death. In the latter case it wasn't truly her fault, but it does go to show that Tina's own determination causes her more trouble than she would probably like.

Especially if it comes to helping someone. The reason Tina is such a brave woman isn't that she plays the hero because she wants to be the hero. No, it's because she is unable to stand back and watch others around her be used or abused. Heroic though it may be, Tina does it with very little thought to herself, others, and the circumstances around her. This is the reason she caused such a big scandal: She attacked a woman in front of crowd, a non-magical crowd at that. Were there better ways to handle the situation? Probably, but she didn't wait to consider them. She saw something, felt it wrong, and acted.

It's with this one can say that Tina cares a little too much. She is very brittle. Tina keeps to herself, but it's easy to make her worry and care about the people (and beings) she meets. Although she doesn't want to associate with the no-maj Newt picks up, Tina's seen worrying about him even when Newt carelessly things nothing is wrong. She's protective in nature and that same nature makes her quick to react-- positively or negatively. Despite how hard she seems, Tina cries several times in the movie in varying moments (both traumatic and happy). Her emotions show easily, rather she likes it or not.

Tina is a giver: She gives to everyone around her but herself. Her focus in life has always been caring for her sister with little regard to herself. Waterston has said that Tina often forgets to eat and it's Queenie who has to force her to do so. Tina gets focused in what she's doing and doesn't see beyond it. Hunger, sleepiness, or even her anxiety (a more likely possibility) doesn't seem to matter. This adds to her near constant state of high-strungness, but it also has more physical effects: Her endurance is enough that she's able to hold off for a while but eventually, everything catches up.

Although in most fields of magic Tina would have to perform better than the average wizard, she does have some faults. Her weakest abilities are household spells. Household anything, really. She's not much of a cook and doesn't have her sister's knack with clothcraft. While she provides for the pair of them, she's not the homemaker and she doesn't pretend to be. Tina's strong suit is her job and she has little time for household work. So, of course, it's never been something she's focused on.


Suggested Nerfs
First and foremost are universal nerfs:
Apparation: This will now fall under the same limitations as the Dragon Age ability with an additional cavaet. While splinching was only likely if the person wasn't concentrating in canon Tina will find that it happens occasionally even when she is. It becomes more frequent if she's tired.

Exhaustion: Her ability to use magic is heavily dampened. The spells she remains best at are more advanced charms and defense spells but they're difficult to maintain. The more advanced the spell the more likely she is needed to rest after using it. Even spells she learned at eleven may be impossible if she's done too much throughout the day.

Tina will be unable to use transfiguration magic to its fullest degrees. Instead of changing her hair color it will make it grow instead. Instead of turning a mouse into a needle... it simply stays a mouse or maybe it becomes a really tiny mouse instead. Where transfiguration was difficult to control before it's almost impossible to control now.

Furthering still, household magic will be a different kind of struggle. As the magic, she least practiced it comes unnaturally in Thedas. Most spellwork ends will end in things like food burning, clothes being ruined, and silverware flinging itself into walls than be set. Failure is likely and she'll quickly tire of any of the (explosive) usages of trying to perform such magics.

Spells that have an effect on others will be less impactful. Instead of working at 100% they'll work at 50% or even 25%. No spells that affect other characters' mental states will be used without permission. The unforgivable curses-- curses that control, torture, or kill-- will be impossible if she ever tried them (she wouldn't). And spells that hinder a person (such as turning them into stone or freezing them) will last less than a minute. Any spells that would usually have a permanent effect on another person will wear off within an hour or less (perhaps longer if player approved, but never more than a day).

Arrival Inventory
-Wand; Unknown core and wood. 13 3'4" in length.
-Oval locket, worn with time.
-Edwardian era blouse (white).
-Ankle length skirt (navy boot).
-laced boots (brown).
-step-ins
-book (detective novel).
-a demiguise (if acceptable his limited-sight of the future will be nerfed).


'Human'ization
N/A

Fit
Tina is as adaptable as she is stubborn. She will hate being in Thedas and away from her sister. However, she isn't the type of person to sink her head in the sand and ignore what's going on. She will put herself out there to understand more about her situation. When she learns her magic is faulty she'll try to find ways to combat that, even if they're somewhat uncomfortable and awkward for her (such as using no-maj weaponry).

She comes from a world at the cusp of war and in one of the most dangerous jobs there is. The woman's not afraid to do what she deems necessary, even if she'd rather not. There will be a sense of otherness for her as long as she's in Thedas, even if it's years. She will never accept that she's stuck there and it'll involve some inner conflict. On the flip side, she also won't abandon those she sees in need. She'll grumble and stick to herself, but at the end of the day, she won't sit on the sidelines.

One of the elements roleplays force Tina to deal with is surviving on her own. She's always had her sister there and didn't have a need for anyone else. Being alone will force her to branch out and befriend other people. She'll also find as time goes on she can't escape the politics of Thedas completely-- not when she's a magic user herself. It'll be something that touches to closely to home and she won't sit quietly for.

SAMPLES

Sample one: Post in Darrow
Sample two: TDM thread