Charlotte Winterburn // The Hunter // fairlytales
Basics.
Name: Charlotte Agnes Winterburn, known as Charlie when she's not at work
Age/Birthdate: 32 / November 14th
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Occupation: A very prominent psychoanalyst in Manhattan. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology from UC Berkeley, a Ph.D in psychology from Harvard, as well as her medical degree from Harvard thanks to their M.D. - Ph.D. programme. She has her own practice, unaffiliated with any medical centers. Charlotte Winterburn M.D, Ph.D Psychiatry is the official psychiatric offices catering to tales.
Email: c.winterburn@winterburnpsychiatry.com
Tale Info.
Fairytale: The Hunter from Aesop's Fables
Ability, if any: None, though she has retained the focus and tenacity.
Status: She is fairly guarded with the status of her tale. Even those who know the tale group she's from are rarely told precisely what fable she represents.
The Hunter vs Charlotte: In many of the fables in which the Hunter appears, he is simply a bystander who finds himself benefiting from the folly of others. Like the Hunter in The Hart and the Hunter, Charlie often finds herself benefiting from the foolishness of others. She is able to pick out the qualities in others that are useful to her needs, even if they do not realise it themselves. It is The Horse, Hunter, and Stag that Charlie takes most of her qualities from. It is said there that if you allow men to use you for you own purpose, they will use you for theirs, and this is where Charlie's sense of trickery comes in. She has no problem doing a favour for someone, but generally tends to come out on the better end of the deal. Also, from The Hunter and the Woodsman, Charlie embodies that crafty is not always brave. And, in terms of human interaction, she still carries a natural aversion to the Lion, though she's also drawn to his presence. The fact that the Hunter eventually has a lion skin, however, doesn't bode well for the Lion.
Personality.
By all accounts, Charlotte Winterburn is the picture of cool confidence. Having known her role as a tale for nearly two decades, she's comfortable with those aspects of her personality and embraces this. Charlotte, at work, presents a persona of quiet power. She has the sort of gaze that just seems to see through her patients, making them feel like she'd know if they were lying. Her office is her domain and, if you're there, you play by her rules. She can be an intimidating force to reckon with and, in this atmosphere, it's easy to see the intellectual side of Charlotte. Her love of books is on display, not just psychology related, but a wide range of topics, and this is where you can really see Charlotte in her natural element. She's in control, directing, and making the world around her make sense.
Really, that's the epitome of Charlotte. She likes to be the one in control. A perfectionist? Yes. A control freak? Definitely. A bit obsessive-compulsive? For sure. She knows this about herself and can recognize when she's slipping too far into her on neuroses, however Charlotte has always had a strong personality and it's something that isn't changing. Everything in her life needs to be in order for her to feel comfortable functioning, so she makes it that way. Then again, it's this that makes her a good psychologist. She doesn't want just her life in order, but the lives of those around her. In addition, she has a quiet passion, a drive to care for others that leads her to want to help those who, as she sees it, can't help themselves. She's compassionate and shock-proof and has a deep understanding of the failings of man. All-in-all, psychology is the perfect fit for her.
When it comes to life outside of the office, Charlie is more laid back, though still intense. You're more likely to find her smiling in this atmosphere, not to mention be met with her dry wit and biting sarcasm. She's got a surprisingly low brow sense of humor and enjoys a good dirty joke. In fact, there's something about her that reminds you just a bit of a prepubescent boy in spirit. It's with the guys that she can indulge this side and, since some of her best friends are men, she's very fond of the beer and bar nuts side of things. In terms of male friends, she tends to relate better to those who are less threatening. Being a natural predator, she's more comfortable having the strongest personality in the group. When someone challenges her authority, it makes for animosity.
But it's with the girls that she can really let loose. Girls nights are about the only time you're likely to see her indulge in just a bit too much to drink, dance all night long, and generally let her hair down. She has a close group of girls to whom she confides and is, in return, the confidant of. These are the people she sees for brunch, socialises with, and generally considers the support structure in her life.
In general, Charlie is a very blunt person. At work, she has to temper things, especially having so many patients with self-esteem issues. But outside of work, Charlie is known for telling it like it is. She doesn't hide behind pretences, nor does she ever fake anything. Needless to say, that hasn't always been something that's worked in her favour, but she feels better being true to herself.
Charlie presents the image of a sophisticated, refined woman of style and grace. She's generally well-coiffed, well-dressed, and well-presented, preferring classic styling to trendier pieces. Her general look fits well into the upper echelons of society. Coming herself from a well-bred family, she knows the rules of society and etiquette, however she can choose to thwart them quite easily.
Though she's comfortable in high society, Charlie really loves wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and taking in a Giants game. She loves sports, especially having played rugby in her undergrad years, and has a healthy appreciation for athletes. Sports has always helped her channel her natural competitiveness and need to win, as well as provide a healthy outlet for aggression.
Overall, she's a deeply anchored, strongly focused person. The word people would use most often to describe her would be 'grounded'. Upon initial meeting, she's a very serious person but, once you've earned both her trust and respect, she's more open. However, Charlie has a strange way of bluntly answering a question, but never volunteering more information than that which was asked, leaving a sense of mystery. She has a complex personality that leaves people guessing.
In terms of the negatives, Charlie is jealous and possessive once she considers something or someone hers. It's an aspect of herself that she doesn't like so at times, she turns cold rather than acknowledge her feelings. She can be moody, insulting, and secretive and, if pushed, destructive and dangerous. As a natural predator, if you make an enemy of her, it's for life and one of the quickest ways to do that is by betrayal. Once she has grudgingly given you her trust, which you've had to earn, she expects you to maintain it and, should you break it, that is something that can never be regained.
Bringing out Charlie's inner predator isn't advisable. It's a side of herself that she tries to keep as docile as possible but, when provoked, she can be vicious. Not only that, any concept of fighting fair goes out the window. A smart woman, trickery comes easily to her. Not only that, she has a steadfastness, an intensity of mind, that lets her focus single-mindedly on her prey. While crafty, she's rarely outright brave, preferring to use wits over brawn. She isn't stupid and doesn't place herself in a position that could be dangerous. However, she does make sure her mission is accomplished. It's only when whatever means of attack has been completed that Charlie can once again find inner peace.
At her best: deep self-knowledge, inquisitive, passionately caring, tenacious, dynamic, emotional, concerned, compassionate, keenly perceptive, purposeful, compelling, intense, resourceful, determined, deep, complex, and shock-proof
At her worst: self-destructive, ruthless, overbearing, suspicious, jealous, possessive, dangerous, quick-tempered, obstinate, moody, sadistic, insulting, secretive, intolerant, cunning, and vindictive
Physical.
Height: 5'6
Weight: 125 lbs
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Blue grey
Distinguishing Marks: She's mostly known for an extremely sharp stare, her shock of red hair, and a sardonic smile. She has a smattering of freckles on her shoulders from a childhood spent outdoors, but that's rarely seen except by those she knows intimately.
Style of Dress: Ranges from career oriented workwear of designer origins during the week to jeans and t-shirts on the weekends, especially if there's a ball game involved. When out with the girls, she has a love for stilettos and short dresses, as her legs are fabulous.
History.
Stanton and Ellary Winterburn lived a quiet, content life in the Connecticut countryside. Stanton, a well-respected doctor and Ellary, a celebrated author, lived a quiet life and it wasn't until they were getting on in years that they decided something was missing. Having excelled at their chosen professions, built a comfortable life outside of Fairfield, and basically set a solid foundation, they found themselves wanting a child. However, as both were already well into their late 40's, a child through natural childbirth wasn't possible. Instead, they opted for the road of adoption.
Their daughter, Charlotte, entered their life just three days before Stanton's fiftieth birthday. She was a precocious child and they never particularly babied her. There was no baby talk in their house and, from her earliest moments, she was read books far above her education level. Where most children were raised on Saturday morning cartoons and Dr. Seuss, she was raised on operas, theatre, and the classics. By the time Charlotte reached kindergarten, she was not only reading on her own, but reading Roald Dahl's earlier works. English and Social Sciences were always her strongest subjects, but excelling at school always came easily to Charlotte in most subjects. However, having spent the first five years of her life being treated as an adult, it took Charlotte some time to adjust not only to the other children, but to being treated as a child. Her parents' method of child rearing was very progressive for their times and the rigid structure of school was new. It wasn't long, however, before Charlotte realised that this suited her natural need for order.
Throughout her school years, Charlotte excelled both academically and socially. She attended Westminster School, a boarding school, and found that being immersed in those her age actually helped her to better fit in. Her coursework was rigorous, often requiring Saturday classes, as well as a set minimum requirement for extracurriculars. Once again, this helped Charlotte to better organize her life. She found safety and a sense of belonging in these formalities. Life at a boarding school suited Charlotte well, allowing her to focus on her studies but giving her a defined role in her friendships. She was a popular girl, though not particularly outgoing. Charlotte was known for her intellect and managing to maintain a sense of mystery, not an easy feat when surrounded by the same people day in and day out.
However, the main reason for the mysterious aspect of her personality was something that came about the summer before she entered high school. She'd always felt like she was a little different. There was an odd sort of focus to her nature that went beyond tenacity in the normal sense. And she had flashes that she couldn't really understand. When she found out she was a tale, Charlotte wasn't sure how to take it and it took her much of her high school career to come to terms with it. As a result, she developed the sort of personality that is very compartmentalized. She can be friends with people without letting them know anything about her.
By the time she went away for university, Charlotte was ready for a change. And, for a solidly East Coast girl who grew up summering at the Cape, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard, nothing could signal a change more than the sunny skies of California. The next four years of life were spent at UC Berkeley and, overall, were some of Charlotte's favorites. She learned how to let her hair down and let loose a little more and really came into herself. It was here that she developed her love of psychology and decided what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
It was in her first year at UC Berkeley that Charlotte met and briefly dated Isaac Griffin. Though it was obvious early on that romance would never be in the cards for the two of them, they became great friends. Their break-up was on good terms and it was actually through Isaac that she later met and dated Adam Raines. He was, at that point in time, the longest and most infuriating relationship in her dating history. Both appealing and infuriating, they somehow managed to make it through nearly all of their last year of school together. Though he was a year older, Charlotte had put forth the same effort at university that she had in high school, taking summer courses and extra courses during the term when she could manage. Thus, they graduated at the same time.
Just before her graduation, her father died. This was the first loss in Charlotte's life and, for the first time in her life, she found herself feeling mentally unbalanced. Her relationship with Adam changed, becoming far more difficult, and she withdrew. One morning, she simply wasn't there when he woke up and she never came back. There were no goodbyes, no explanations. Charlotte simply left her key and vanished.
It was to Boston that she ran. After graduating from Berkeley with honours and having research experience in the field of behavioural neuroscience, gaining admittance to Harvard's medical programme wasn't too difficult. She was admitted into the joint degree programme at HMS, going for the M.D.-Ph.D. track. All in all, she spent six very hectic years in Boston with school three quarters of the year and residencies, internships, or research in the summers.
But Boston wasn't all work. It wasn't long after she moved there that Isaac appeared, coming for grad school as well. At first, he reminded her of Adam who, in turn, reminded her of the loss of her father. But Charlotte soon got over that and their friendship was stronger than ever. He was her sanity, the person who pulled her out of the books and made her take in a ball game and have a few beers. She, in turn, introduced him to one of her best friends, Bridget, whom he proposed to. Their marriage couldn't have made Charlotte happier, but their divorce put her squarely in the center. For once, she was happy he'd left after grad school and gone back to the west coast.
In addition to Isaac's marriage, Charlotte very nearly had one of her own. She became reacquainted with Jake Moreau her second year at Harvard. He was a fellow grad student, though he was pursuing his law degree at Columbia. Thanks to the introduction from mutual friends, Charlotte found herself getting to know Jake far better than she had when they were young. He was every bit as tenacious as Charlotte and soon the Hunter found herself caught in his net. It wasn't to last, however. She was always the sort of woman who liked her freedom and neither was happy with the distance between them, but neither was willing to give. It was her last year of school when they decided that things couldn't go on and, mutually, that it as better to just end things. However, life is full of ironies and, after graduation, she headed off to the very city she was unwilling to move to for him. However, their time had passed and they settled into a close, comfortable friendship.
Of course, trouble always follows you. At 27 and with her Ph.D in psychology and medical degree in hand, she headed to New York to pursue her future. That is, she headed to New York to pursue three years of residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital so she could pursue her future after that. Would school never end? It was only upon arriving in New York that all of her problems seem to have compounded. She found herself face to face with not only Adam, whom she had thought she'd never see again, but with both Isaac and Bridget. How everything from one coast could follow her to another, she couldn't figure out. The solution was easy enough though. She avoided Adam whenever possible, something that Isaac soon learned, and managed to maintain her friendship with both Isaac and Bridget under the strict rules that one not ask her about the other. With three years of residency, it didn't leave her with too much free time for social obligations anyway.
After her residency, she stayed on another year at the hospital before figuring out that private practice was much more to her liking. So she rented a nice space and set herself up as an independent psychoanalyst. She's taken on a few partners and has a thriving practice now, which affords her far more free time than she's had since high school. Of course, that leads to the quandary of what to do with that free time. As such, she's developed a tight-knit group of successful women of the same socio-economic level. Instead of ladies who lunch, they're the power players of New York City and that's just the way she likes it.
All in all, Charlotte lives a good life. She's managed to thrive financially, had a top notch education, and set herself on a career path that she finds both rewarding and fulfilling. Her romantic life leaves something to be desired but, as she sees it, she's still young, desirable, and very eligible and she'll have no trouble with that when the time comes. Being a tale has only helped her forge some of the powerful connections she now holds. Life is good and she sees no reason to change.
OOC.
Name: Mary
OOC Journal: kissableme
Icons and Credit: All icons/graphics are made by me.
Disclaimer: This character was created solely for this game and all content is mine. Don't steal my creativity, people. If you use any of these icons, please credit my OOC journal. Graphics are NOT up for grabs. I don't own Miranda Otto, but I wish I did.