Welcome to Gaia! ::

Approved on...




Approved by Andrometer
Notes:
1.) Eww the owlry is a terrible napping location. XD
2.) teehee Montressor cB
3.) I almost want to see the effects of their mother's death a little more, or perhaps have it develop later. Separation anxiety and the like. Maybe Jericho becomes clingy towards friends he develops a strong attachment to, for fear that they'll leave him for someone they like more. (Sort of how a young kid might interpret their mother giving up their life for a baby they don't know, when they really need her the most.)

GENERAL
Name: Jericho Neil Gibbon (may possibly end up going by 'Jeri')
Gender: Male
Birthday: July 20
House: Hufflepuff
Blood Status: Half-blood
Wand: Ebony with unicorn core, 14 1/4 inches, Rigid
Wand Hand: Right

PERSONALITY
General: This boy is quiet and of few words. However, this doesn't necessarily make him introverted. He just prefers to speak and interact with others through his actions so he doesn't 'waste' words. He likes to keep things concise and simple, especially to avoid misunderstandings. Unfortunately, this also makes Jericho bluntly honest - often times to the point of rudeness. However, he does not intentionally mean to be and tends to be oblivious to any feelings he may hurt unless someone voices them to him. He won't know he's being rude or tactless unless he's told so and this makes him somewhat socially awkward.

He's not particularly book-smart, but he does his best at all his subjects whether or not he likes them. This by no means meant that he was a perfect student, however. There isn't any particular class he seems to have a natural talent for (unless Astrology counts, but it's not so much talent as it comes from years of star-gazing with his siblings) so he has to work hard in all of them. Like most other students, Jeri's memory isn't perfect, he's not always on time to class, he forgets assignments or tests, and every now and then he might fall asleep during a teacher's lecture. Once in a while he would miss-read a spell or mess up the ingredients in a potion. Magical though he may be, he's still a human and therefore makes mistakes. Still, he never means to do so intentionally and will often try to make up for his shortcomings.

The boy is of the mindset that while natural talent is nice, those who lack it can still succeed if they make a good enough effort. As long as there is a chance or an opportunity to do well, Jericho will take it. While he knows he isn't particularly brave, intelligent, or ambitious, he is patient enough to take his time and have faith that his commitment and diligence will eventually pay off. He truly believes in the idea that while innate, natural talent can get you pretty far, hard work can get you anywhere.

Jericho won't tattle on anyone he sees doing wrong, but if they so happen to be bullying or harassing someone else, he will step in. He tries to avoid being physical or aggressive if possible, preferring to endure whatever might befall him, but he will use physical force if necessary. He will not, however, engage in unauthorized magic attacks, especially not outside of an official wizard duel. As he is patient and tolerant, he's the type to quietly take a beating until his opposers are satisfied. Though, in the case of an equal, fair fight between houses, students, or otherwise, Jericho will not take sides. He believes all houses are equal with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Though slightly tall for his age, Jeri is fairly muscular, so his body isn't all that slim or lanky. He's pretty dense physically, so he weighs more than most. Not only does he pride himself on being tolerant of others mentally and emotionally, but he derives some satisfaction from the fact that he's pretty durable physically as well and can take a few hits. He might be able to dish out a few of his own as well, but he prefers not to use violence or aggression when it can be avoided - magic-wise or physically. On the other hand, he doesn't really make an effort to work out, so he isn't exactly made of brawn, either. All his strength is simply the result of doing a lot of housework and picking up after his siblings and father over the course of several years.

Jeri has almost no concern at all for his physical appearance. He does do his best to adhere to the school standards of dress and uniform, but that is the extent to which he will trouble himself. His disregard for his looks is easily exemplified in the appearance of his bushy, thick afro of ivory hair. Supposedly, just a few days before he was leaving for Hogwarts one of his younger siblings unintentionally messed it up (due to their wild magic as untrained children). This might have been caused by any anxiety, fear, or anger they might have felt at the news that Jericho was leaving for Hogwarts and that Aunt Jackie was going to take care of them in the meantime.

Their distress hadn't accumulated enough to manifest itself until that evening when their big brother was commanding them to go to bed and they didn't want to sleep. As they were arguing with him (Tatum through gestures, Jade through words), Jeri's naturally curly, ivory-blonde hair suddenly expanded into a full-grown afro. None of the siblings know exactly whether it was Tatum or Jade who caused the sudden, unexpected growth of hair, but both (perhaps out of guilt) quickly went to bed without a fuss after that.

However, Jericho never seemed too bothered by the random act of magic as it was perfectly harmless and used it instead to remind his siblings that they would be joining him at Hogwarts soon enough. Perhaps it serves as a reminder to him of his precious siblings and he secretly likes it that way. Maybe he just hasn't wanted to attempt to do away with it until he's mastered the right spell. Whatever the reason, he has yet to return it to its natural state and doesn't seem in all that much of a hurry to do so.

One reason Jericho may not be concerned about his looks is because he doesn't really care how he is perceived by others. He isn't aware of any reputation he's expected to protect and this Hufflepuff isn't going to waste time trying to correct anyone who comes to the wrong conclusions about him. He figures that if others really wanted to know the truth about him instead of speculating or believing rumors, then they could ask him themselves and get the truth straight from the source. He's got a very metaphorically thick skin, so it's very difficult to insult Jeri. The only reason someone's critical opinions of him might make him change his ways is if it's something he can do to improve himself and become a better person. For the most part, however, he is pretty steadfast in his beliefs and ideals of what is truly important.

Another possible reason that this student doesn't seem to concern himself with superficial appearances - neither his own nor others' - is because he is colorblind to the extent of seeing everything in gray-scale. He has long since given up on trying to distinguish the difference between certain colors of his own clothing, let alone things like a Gryffindor student's colors from a Ravenclaw's. In particular, Jeri cannot tell white from yellow, red from orange, green from blue, or dark purple from black. For this reason he likes having ample light to see things better by and why he may be so opposed to darkness, where everything is all black. This also may attribute to his idea of fairness because not only does he believe all houses are equal, but he literally percieves them as equal while all in gray.

Habits: Because of his colorblindness, Jeri has difficulty distinguishing things like certain ingredients for potions and teams in Quidditch games. While this can make life difficult and occasionally cause his teachers to wonder or worry about his mental capacity, some might actually come to realize the truth in time. While Jericho understood from a young age that something was wrong, he resolved not to let it bother him because he didn't believe there was anything to be done about it and he didn't see it as a major problem. His mother never knew and his father has yet to realize this, but his siblings know and often had fun taking advantage of this fact (like when they switched the socks in his drawer or gave him crayons and asked him to color for them). He isn't likely to tell his teachers about it because, again, he doesn't see it as much of a hindrance. Furthermore, there is no spell that he knows of to cure colorblindness.

This Hufflepuff is a boy of few words and many actions. To comfort someone, he will more likely offer a hug or a shoulder to cry on than attempt to speak and risk making things worse through his lack of tact. If he sees an injustice being done, he would likely step in and act first, ask questions later. Sadly, despite his best efforts to convey himself through his behaviors while being direct and simple, miscommunication tends to be common without much use of speech. For example, though he might attempt to rescue a student being 'attacked' by another, he might fail to realize that the two are flirting in their own way, or maybe practicing for a play. He tries to keep his ears open to listen as well as observe, but if he thinks someone is in danger, he'll act regardless of what he's perceived. He's a fan of quotes like "Speak softly and carry a big stick", "Actions speak louder than words", "Speech is silver, but Silence is golden", and "Talent will get you far, but hard work will get you anywhere".

Jeri tends to stay up late, perhaps as result of tansient insomnia. This type of insomnia lasts for less than a week and be caused by another disorder, by changes in the sleep environment, by the timing of sleep, severe depression, or by stress. Its consequences – sleepiness and impaired psychomotor performance – are similar to those of sleep deprivation. This is often why he ends up falling asleep in class.

He cannot concentrate on working very well during the day with other students around, so when it comes to free time, he normally spends it catching up on his rest through naps to refresh himself. By the time he wakes up, it's often night and he's most active then. He can concentrate better when it's quiet and his late hours working have made Lumos one of his favorite spells to use because of his love of lighting. This habit may have resulted from waiting for his siblings to fall asleep before cleaning up the day's worth of messes they made. It would also explain why he can concentrate better when it's quiet and no one is around to disturb or distract him.

Because he's brutally honest to the point of rudeness, Jericho often ends up accidentally upsetting others and can find it hard to make friends since he isn't used to having any. He can't tell people what they want to hear because he's not used to doing so with his younger siblings, so he's firm about his opinions and stands by them without regret despite the possible consequences. He acts like he doesn't know how to lie, but due to his quiet nature, he won't say anything unless asked, even if someone has cheated on a test or done something else harmless that it isn't his duty to prevent.

Jericho, like other Hufflepuffs, values fairness. He realizes that "fairness is not treating everyone the same, but treating people based on their needs". The only problem is the only people whose needs he's familiar with are his own and his family's, so it might be a while before he realizes what people want to be treated like and why. Until he comes to know someone better and they come to be direct with him about their needs and preferences, he treats all strangers the same.

Hobbies: He likes taking naps and sleeping in his spare time when he isn't studying so that he can concentrate better on doing things at night. Jeri practices spells and does most of his homework at this time. He also enjoys going out and looking at the night sky.

When Jeri is finished with his schoolwork, along with taking it upon himself to cleaning up his common room while everyone else is asleep. House elves sometimes encounter him during these times and silent battles of willpower may commence.

He can often be found in the Owlrey on the top of Hogwarts Castle's West Tower because he writes to his aunt and family every day. Sometimes he ends up napping there while waiting for a reply or simply if he's too tired to go all the way back down to the Hufflepuff Basement common room when he's done.

Likes: honesty, directness, gazing at the night sky, quiet, passionate people who put their all into their work, fairness, dedication, owls (particularly the Barred Eagle Owl, which he is fascinated with), naps
Dislikes: misunderstandings, people who talk too much, those who judge based on superficial looks, those who consider themselves either inferior or superior to others, realizing he's done something that unintentionally hurt someone

FAMILY
Mother: Alice White Gibbon (Half-blood) Diseased; used to attend Beauxbatons
Father: Montressor Gibbon (Half-blood) used to attend Hogwarts, Hufflepuff House
Siblings: Younger brother, Tatum Gibbon [born mute] (9 yrs, Half-blood); Younger sister, Jade Gibbon (7 yrs, Half-blood)
Extended Family: Aunt on mother's side, Jackie White (Half-blood) who also used to attend Beauxbatons with her sister, Alice.
Relationship with Family: (Might be better to read his general history first.)

Because of his mother's early death and his father's general lack of involvement in his life, Jericho is silent and tactless when it comes to interacting with others. He was not taught how to be considerate if people didn't tell him what they wanted directly. This made him terrible at taking hints, reading between the lines, or picking up clues in conversations.

Aunt Jackie is helpful when she comes around, but Jeri thinks of her more as an older sister than a mother due to her wishy-washy attitude, scatter-brained mind, unreliability, and lack of tact. However, the fact that she tries is enough to show him that she loves their family. The fact that she even quit her job in order to take care of his family while he's at Hogwarts means the world to him and he recognizes it as the act of an adult. He greatly respects and is grateful to her because of this, though he hopes to make it up to her when he's finished with school and is in a position to support them all.

Since Jerico was forced to practically raise his siblings, he had to be more of a parent than an older brother to them and thus could not be as close to them as he would have liked. Giving parental commands and making his younger siblings do necessary things they didn't want to do often made them angry with him. He can't say he's actually angry at his father for this role since he took it on himself, but he hasn't really forgiven Montressor for neglectng his children, either. To Jeri, his father is practically as dead to him as his mother.

Still, he learned how to bear that anger and endure, teaching himself to become a tolerant and patient person in order to be a good replacement for their absent-minded father. Thus, even when his siblings whined and pleaded with him or talked back, he knew he had to remain strong and firm, yet gentle and affectionate at the same time. He found it a difficult balance to maintain and he's still working on it.

Jericho's his younger brother, Tatum, was born mute, so Jeri had to learn how to use sign language as well as teach Tatum. He and Tatum also learned how to use a lot of body language to read each other and Jade gradually picked up on it as well. She doesn't know how to sign very well, but due to how close she and Tatum are, she can generally act as his translator by interperting his expressions, behaviors, and actions. Despite being mute, Tatum is very active, enthusiastic, and expressive, acting as the sunshine of the family when everyone else is low or upset. He usually knows just what to do to cheer someone up.

As far as Jade, Jericho is still doing all he can to understand his little sister, but as she is the only girl in their family, he's finding it hard to know how to deal with her. Tatum can usually calm her down when she's emotional or upset, because Jericho seems clueless at times like these and doesn't know what to say when a hug just won't cut it. He's learned through Tatum that Jade blames herself for their mother's death and, through that, their father's absent state of mind and the role of parent being forced onto Jericho. He feels deeply for Jade, but does not know in what way to convey this appropriately because she seems so sensitive. He trusts the cheerful and hyper Tatum to do so for him.

Because of his younger siblings, Jeri can communicate very directly and honestly tell people what he thinks if asked his opinion. Since he's used to being the authority figure of his household, Jeri doesn't usually feel guilty about what he says, be it negative or positive. He never had to have that kind of filter when he was being direct with his family, so hasn't yet figured out how to treat strangers, but he's learning.

The boy's family is his main motivation in life and he doesn't want to let them down. Some of his goals besides being a better protecter and caretaker of his siblings are to find a way to give Tatum a voice and to help his father snap out of his grief. He hopes to educate himself at Hogwarts and become the best wizard he can in order to do so.

HISTORY
General History: Though Jeri's mother and aunt were born and raised in France where they , she met his father on a trip to England and the two settled down to marry and have kids. When Jericho was 4 and Tatum was 2, Alice was giving birth to their third child, but was having complications. The muggle doctors did what they could, but by the time her sister Jackie arrived with other medical witches to help, Alice had lost too much blood. At that point, there was only so much even magic could do.

The muggle medics at the time had offered Alice the decision to spare Alice's life or the baby's, but Alice would have none of it and chose Jade over herself. Her husband, Montressor, had been away on a trip at the time, as the baby wasn't supposed to be due for another few months, but he was contacted by Jackie and appariated as fast as he could. Due to his stress, he lost an arm in his haste, but was much more distraught by the news that his wife had died and that he hadn't been there, nor had a say in her decision.

Since then, Montressor was never the same and hardly practiced magic any more. He seemed to be in a constant daze, forcing Jericho to care for and raise his younger siblings on his own. Their Aunt Jackie helped the family out every now and then when she could, but the woman was pretty scatter-brained and was having a hard time keeping her own life in order. As such, Jackie was no replacement mother being as unreliable as she was. She and Jericho did their best to allow Montressor time to grieve, but the wizard never fully recovered. Then Jericho got his letter from Hogwarts and choices had to be made. Aunt Jackie quit her job in order to take care of Tatum and Jade while Jericho attended school.

Jericho has been very grateful to her for this. Despite Jackie's shortcomings, he knows she does her best and that she's gotten better over the years, which was enough for him be okay with leaving Tatum and Jade in her care. Jackie promised to take good care of them, knowing how loyal and devoted Jericho was and hoping that he would return to be a better 'man of the house'. She already feels sorry that she wasn't much of a mother to the children because she knows that the kids never really grew up with as much of the love and nuturing they deserved. Jericho continues to mail his aunt every day to ask how his family is doing.

MISCELLANEOUS
The Sorting: "Gibbon, Jericho."

Jericho sat on the stool without a word, his expression impassive despite the hall of faces focused on him. He didn't fear attention, but he didn't relish it either. He just needed to be patient so the hat could make its decision. Maybe it would be easier for it if he tried to clear his mind...

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted, announcing this so suddenly and loudly that he nearly fell off his seat. Well, he hadn't expected the decision to be made that fast. Was he really so easy to read?

Yet Jeri's main concern as he headed toward the Hufflepuff table wasn't that he was readable. Stony-faced and impassive, the First Year remembered with some apprehension that Montressor had also been a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts.

The last thing Jericho Gibbon wanted to grow up to be like was his father.

Boggart: The Boggart would probably envelope him in a shroud of pitch-black, total darkness where he would be able to see nothing. It should be noted that Jericho's true fear is that of the unknown, though darkness symbolizes this (just as Harry Potter's fear of Dementors suggested that he feared fear itself). Many people who are afraid of the dark may realize that it is not the dark itself they fear, but what might be hidden from them within it.

Jeri reacts to his fear by freezing in place until it either goes away or he feels slightly less and less afraid until he has the courage to move (and perhaps cast the appropriate charm). His Riddikulus charm would probably be the dispelling of the darkness by the light of a pull-string light bulb in order to illuminate his two younger siblings caught in the act of trying to scare him.

Mirror of Erised: His family together, grown, happy, and able to support themselves successfully. His mother would still be alive, his aunt would have learned how to be a responsible adult, his father would have returned to his old, motivated self, Tatum would have been able to speak, and Jade would have no reason to blame herself.

Art of Jericho

Reserved

Main rping points about him:
- Is colorblind (when did he discover this?)
- Honest and direct (sometimes blatantly so)
- burly/brawny (speak softly and cary a big stick)
- doesn't talk much (think sandman and that president that said 'you lose'. Doesn't generally speak more than 1-3 words in a phrase.)
- does not care about his appearence (sometimes has owl poop on him. curly, poofy hair - naturally curly. Think manky/primeape as well as buneary/lopunny, since that's technically what his family is made up of and they all have wild/curly/poofy ivory hair and tanish skin.)
- loves stars, astrology, moon, divination, staying up late, etc.
- thus takes naps often during the day (in odd places) and is late to class/meals/etc.
- pale complexion and hair make it easily visible if he blushes or has sunburns
- used to being responsible
- believes in fairness and justice
- wants a pet, but is prudent about his family's money and wants a useful one ; thus, an owl named paper moon (black malay barred owl? Also, owls go with night & moon...)
- Used to taking his sister's hand away from her mouth because Jade bites her nails, so he automatically stops others from biting theirs out of habit.

Reserved

14