My application! Wheee
LUMOS SORTING APPLICATION
Name: Cyn (That's not my real name though. My real name is Lindsay, but with all things HP-related, I go by Cyn, which is short for Cynthia Stout. That name comes from Shel Silverstein's poem entitled "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out." Here's where you can read the full text if you're interested: http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/courses/ci407su01/students/north/kristy/Project/K-Poem-Net.html I am also amused that Cyn rhymes with Sin and I use it as short for "Cynical" because a good friend of mine's name is Jade, so we're Cynical and Jaded. Plus, I hate my real name because it's overused and can be spelled entirely too many ways. I mean, in seventh grade, I had fourteen different spellings of my name in my own yearbook when people signed it. They knew me for how many years and still couldn't spell my name? I mean really.)
Age (13 or up; we stick to LJ rules): 19 (I was born on the evening of December 3, 1985. I was two weeks late, so technically, I was due to be a Scorpio--a water sign, but instead I was born a Sagitarius, a fire sign. It's funny that I enjoy being around water so very much. In fact, I have been swimming since I was a few weeks old, have always enjoyed baths, and can't stand to live somewhere land-locked. I currently live a few blocks away from the Puget Sound, and that really makes me happy. I also enjoy thunderstorms and any sort of wet-ness. Except for when it's cold. I really hate being cold and wet. I'm a fire sign though, through and through. I like to burn things--especially when I'm stressed out or bored. I'm going to school for a degree in chemistry--mostly because I enjoyed burning plastic so much in high school. I have a fiery personality, and am often angered easily. But, just like a fire, I can be cooled down quickly. Once I've raged, I get over it. I think that might be enough detail for you. I wanted to make sure that I was detailed enough. I would hate to be squibbed for a short application!)
Location: I currently am living just north of Seattle. That's where my mother lives and where I went to high school. But just like any good 19-year-old (In case you missed it in the previous question, I'm nineteen years old), I am attending university at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. However, I'd hate to not be completely honest, so you must know that I just transfered schools, so I was living in Flint, Michigan last spring. But, my school had this cool co-op program where we went and worked for a company that specialised in our major, so that company was in Moses Lake, Washington. In case you've never heard of Moses Lake, you must know that it is the absolute middle of nowhere, and I was bored out of my mind. I learned quickly that I am definitely a city girl. The up side to living in Moses Lake was that my roommate had a ferret named Tommy. Tommy, traditionally a boy's name I would think, was a girl ferret. I put her on my scanner one day and scanned her to show my friends. Unfortunately, Tommy's owner, my roommate, was a complete bitch and thought I had no brain. So we argued a bit. I didn't really like her. She was a ditz. I also drive back and forth between school and home and work and the like, so I guess I have had temporary residence in the following states this past year: Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virgina, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, Ontario, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming (with two speeding tickets!), Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Arizona (I flew there, naughty me!). That was just this year though, if you would like a full list of the places I've been, here it is: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and the Bahamas. If you were keeping track of the states, you'll notice that the only ones that are missing are Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Alaska. I'm sort of proud of that. Not many people can say that they've been to all but five of the states--especially at my age. I do, however, need to get off of this continent. I really would like to travel. I've seen what North America has to offer, and now I'm bored. Need new, exciting things.)
Where did you hear about this community? (Please tell us which
lj user recommended you for he/she shall be given a point.) I was clicking around and found it on a list. No, honestly, I do not wish to disclose this information. Why should I help someone else get a point? This is all my work. They didn't do anything to make me do this. They didn't help me write the application. They really don't deserve a point. I mean, if they had tried to PERSUADE me to join, that would be one thing. But they didn't. Some people are entirely too point-obsessed. I mean, yes, I'm a point whore, but I only like points that I actually deserve. If I work hard on a project, I would want to get points for it. If I do extra work, I would want points for it, but just for having a friend join? I don't think I agree with that.
How much time are you willing to invest in this community? It's not my first priority because I have other things I do for fun, but I will give whatever extra time I have. School comes first, then quidditch, then other things :) (I am active in other communities, first come first served!) I am taking nineteen credits (Wow! That's my age! Check out my age answer if you forgot that!) this next semester, including both O-chem and P-chem as well as some higher level Physics. I am fully intending on it kicking my ass and having to actually think a little bit to get a good grade in the class (Yes, this is a rarity for me.), so I won't have as much free time this fall as usual. Also, I am a member of HOL (Hogwarts OnLine--watch me shamelessly plug here, which is at http://www.hol.org.uk ) I am a prefect there, am on my house's quidditch team, teach a class (History of Arithmancy), am Head Editor of one of our newspapers, am a writer for my house's newspaper, I am in charge of making sure all of the contests run in my house run properly (I have some minions who run most of the contests, but I organise them), and I help mod both my common room and the HOL Forum. Then, I am a member of hogwarts_elite, where I am working on being active as possible (I was a bit off my game this past term because well... I was lazy. There's no real excuse.) I thrive on being busy and stressed out, and so the more I have to do, the more that gets done. But if you're expecting me to be online on here 24/7, then I'm sorry I cannot meet your expectations.
PART 1 - Canon
1. Have you read all the books?
No, I just randomly decided I liked the name Harry Potter one day. You know, I have no interest in the books at all. Yes, of course I've read all of the books, some of them multiple times. I enjoyed HBP recently and love the whole series. I don't think you can honestly claim to be a Harry Potter fan without having read the books... I think this question is a bit unnecessary and don't understand how it could be used in the sorting process.
2. Give us your personal interpretation of each Hogwarts house (in
terms of atmosphere, mentality, intra-house relationships et cetera -
these are just a few examples).
I think the difference between all of the houses are their motivations. Any house can be loyal, any house can show ambition, any house can have intelligence, and any house can have members who are brave. The key is what their motivations are. For example, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is definitely a Ravenclaw the other day, who was convinced that his second house was Slytherin because he was ambitious. I explained to him that ambitiousness isn't necessarily directly correlated with Slytherin because other houses can have the drive to succeed. The difference lies in WHY they want to succeed. Slytherins want to gain something that has meaning to other people. It's external appreciation. Other houses might be ambitious for internal reasons--they can be pleased with a job well done (Hufflepuff), with praise written on a paper (Gryffindor), or with the knowledge that they have learned something worthwhile (Ravenclaw). So if what you wanted here was a list of adjectives defining the houses, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I think that the houses are much more complex than that and the sorting hat doesn't explain that because do you know how freaking long that song would be? I don't think eleven-year-olds would quite pay attention or understand, so it was dumbed down so they could make generalisations. I think that you can have any sort of relation with other people within your house or outside of your house, regardless of what house you're in, so the intra-house relationships part of this question is void. Also, there are people in all of the houses who want to be comfortable, who want to goof off, and who want to get their work done. There are duffers in each house, and people who work their asses off in each house. There are people who are goal-oriented and people who just want to have fun in each house. If this answers your question, great. If it doesn't, well then I'm sorry.
3. What would be your favourite flavour of Bertie Bott’s Every
Flavour Beans and why (note: as the name implies, all possible flavours
exist)?
Iced caramel machiatto. I am a big fan of coffee, and live up to my residence (Please check my location post if you're curious. I love coffee and live in Seattle, which feeds my addiction.) In fact, just this afternoon I went to Starbucks and got a venti 2% iced caramel machiatto. I am also a fan of chai tea. I am a caffeine addict and admit it. It makes me happy. I also drink more coffee when I'm stressed out because I taught my body that if I had a lot to do, I got coffee as a treat because I would need it to stay awake. This is because I was in a masochistic program of death in high school and constantly had a TON of stuff to do. It was so much fun. I am such a masochist, it's not even funny.
4. If you were on your House’s Quidditch Team, which position would
you preferably play and why?
I am on my house's quidditch team on another community. I am the seeker for my house (I won't tell you which house ;)). I love seeking because it requires me to focus on multiple things. It works well with my ADDness. In real quidditch, you have to be constantly aware of your surroundings to keep watch for the snitch, but you also need to pay attention to the quaffle so you know what the score is so you don't end up catching the snitch, but losing the match, and you need to pay attention to where the bludgers are. The last thing you want to happen is get knocked off your broom and not be able to finish the match. Plus, seeking's where all the action is. I think I'd be bored elsewhere. I hate being bored.
5. (Optional) What HP conspiracy theory do you hold true unless it
is textually proven otherwise? (i.e. Snape is a vampire, Ron is
Dumbledore, etc. -there are loads of these theories. Feel free to contribute
your own)?
I read the books and stick by the books. I will analyse what is actually IN THE BOOKS, but not much else. If JKR wants to surprise us with something, I'd rather it be a surprise. I mean, I guessed who the HBP was, and then was just sort of... empty... when I finally found out the truth. It is really a giant climax-breaker. I like the excitement of finding out new things.
6. (Optional. If you can't answer #5, make sure you answer this
one.) What is your favorite book aside from HP and why?
I think my all time favourite book (based on the mood I'm in right now), is One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. In a little over 150 pages, there is so much meaning, symbolism, and depth of character. It demonstrates hope in a hopeless situation, and is just so real. I enjoy the writing style, and the fact that the book's premise is that it is a documentation of just one random day of many for these men in a Russian prison camp in World War I. So many surreal things happen, but it's not out of the ordinary. This isn't a great day, a horrible day, just a normal one. You get attached to the characters, to their back stories, and the pain they feel, you can feel. It's really touching and I loved it. The final paragraph of that book is one of my favourites ever:
"A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day. There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail. Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days. The three extra days were for leap years."
This prisoner was convicted to ten years in prison. The closing gives a whole new depth to the situation, and made me want to go right back to the beginning to read it again for stuff I've missed. When I finished, there were about forty different essays I just WANTED to write about it. There was a sense of just so much meaning there, waiting to be discovered. The layers inherent to the book were so deep and varied.
7. What would your Room of Requirement look like?
Apart from it looking exactly like Hagrid's Hut... (Look! I followed the directions.) Now here's my real answer:
The premise of the Room of Requirement is that it shows what you NEED when you KNOW you need it WHEN you're in front of it. As I have never been inside Hogwarts (who knew? It's a fictional place!), I could never have the opportunity to use it. That aside, there's also the problem of our needs changing at any given moment. The Room of Requirement is so based on need, that it does not really give you any information about someone's personality, as the Mirror of Erised would. But, since you insist. Right now, what I most need, is a room that is bug free, has some non-drowsy benadryll, and a really comfy chair. I have so many bug bites it's not even funny. Now please, what does that say about me?
8. Describe your wand and tell us why you picked that design.
I'm a girl. I do not have a wand. Didn't you guys take anatomy? *cough* Sorry, now that I'm done with my vulgar comment:
My wand is 13 inches, dragon heartstring core, and made of hazel. This is because Hazel is "Wisdom-related magic and power-related magic. Creativity and dowsing. Users of these wands tend to be very intelligent and creative. Teachers and artists use Hazel a lot." (Professor Fumbleknot's Wands Course)
I am a control freak, enjoy learning, and intend to teach when I grow up. (This is mostly because I can't handle the real world because it's too boring, and the only thing I have found to occupy my time with that doesn't bore me to tears is school. So I'll just stick with that and go to school for all of eternity--I want to be a university professor and do research and the like.)
PART 2 - You
Please go here
and fill out the short Myers-Briggs test.
9. Paste the URL of your results (TOP 5) including its description
here.
Your #1 Match: ESTJ
The Guardian
You're a natural leader and quick, logical decision maker.
Goals are important in your life, and you take many steps to acheive them.
You enjoy interacting with others, mostly through work related activities.
Your high energy level means you are great at getting things done!
You would make a great teacher, judge, or police detective.
Your #2 Match: ESTP
The Doer
You are adventurous and risk taking. You act first, think second.
You love being the center of attention. Chances are you were the class clown.
Competitive, charming, and charasmatic - you have your own code of honor.
You live a flexible life, bouncing between a series of activies that interest you.
You would make a great salesperson, marketing director, or entrepreneur.
Your #3 Match: ESFJ
The Caregiver
You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.
A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.
You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.
You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.
You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.
Your #4 Match: ENTJ
The Executive
You are a natural leader - with confidence and strength that inspires others.
Driven to succeed, you are always looking for ways to gain, power, knowledge, and expertise.
Sometimes you aren't the most considerate person, especially to those who are a bit slow.
You are not easily intimidated - and you have a commanding, awe-inspiring presence.
You would make a great CEO, entrepreneur, or consultant.
Your #5 Match: ESFP
The Performer
You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others.
A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic.
You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally.
You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic.
You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor.
What's Your Personality Type?
10. Who do you admire most and why?
I admire people who are honest, truthful, and not afraid to say what they think. Anybody who does that earns my respect and admiration. I can't narrow this down to one person. Plus, if I named one person, you probably wouldn't know them, so what's the point? I like people who don't hide what they think. If you're afraid of saying what you think, then what's the point of thinking it? People need spines.
11. What would you like to have accomplished at the end of your
life?
I want to be able to look back and not regret anything. I want to have had a good time, enjoyed my life, and achieved all of my goals along the way. As long as I'm proud of myself, what I've become, and what I've been along the way, that's enough for me. I'd also like to be able to look back and think that I've made a contribution to the world. What's the point of living without doing that? That's just mooching off the world. If you're not going to contribute to the "greater good," then you should just go kill yourself instead of eating up resources.
12. Would you sooner commit a crime against your kin or your
countrymen?
Define crime. I'm assuming something that is judged as illegal by law. I would have to say that I would, if it fit with my own personal code of ethics. For example, it is a crime to slap someone who doesn't want to be slapped. But if a relative, friend, or fellow citizen was being dumb and needed to snap out of it, sure I'd slap them. Also, I like to bit my friends. That could be considered a crime as well. So, yes. I would commit a crime against people I know. Now that we've acknowledged that I would indeed commit a crime, which would I do it against first? Well, I'd probably do it against my friends/family first because they matter most to me. I would only commit a crime about something I care about. However, conversely, it's also probably illegal to not do things you're required by the government to do. Like, I think it's illegal to not stand up for the pledge of alligiance or the national anthem in America. I'm sorry, but I don't stand up every time. So, I guess I would do that sooner than smacking a friend about. Like I said at the start, depends on what you define as a crime and what you define as my countrymen. I've also had alcohol underage, does that count as a crime against my countrymen? Because seriously, I'd do that before smacking a friend about as well. Oh, and I speed a lot. That's a crime I guess, so I'd do that before smacking a friend about as well. I also drove halfway across the country with no brake lights or turn signals, that's a crime too. I'd do that before smacking a friend about. I also steal things like a grape at the grocery store or something like that to see how the crop is. I'd definitely do that before smacking a friend about. So, depending on your definition, I guess I would commit a crime against my countrymen first. But I'm using "countrymen" as a symbol for the whole of law in my country.
13. What would your animagus be and why?
Well, considering that it is quite rare to become an animagus--only seven registered animagi in the past century, plus four more that we know about that are unregistered--padfoot, wormtail, prongs, and Rita Skeeter--I probably would not become an animagus. We don't allow people to RP as animagi, so I don't think I would be one either. Also, we are not certain as to how animagus forms are chosen or gained, so I don't know whether this would be the animal that most represents me or an animal of my choice. Based on Sirius Black's statement that he chose to be a large dog to keep Remus under control during the full moon, I would assume that it would be by choice--which really doesn't show much about my character other than what animal I think it would be cool or useful to be. Maybe it should have been asked what form my patronus would take, but we also don't know what affects those, so that would be a fairly dumb question as well. Oh, wait. I just read the next question. It IS about the patronus. I guess I'll explain why it's a dumb question there. For now though, I guess I would CHOOSE to take the form of a gorilla because I've always liked them, they're fairly big, you take them seriously, they're fairly intelligent, and they have thumbs. I really like my thumbs. I think I'd like to keep them.
14. What would your patronus be and why?
As I mentioned in the previous question, I think this is a silly question to ask people because we don't really know how patronus forms are determined. Why is Hermione's patronus an otter? And why is Cho's a swan? Does it have to do with the form of our soul? I don't think Hermione's soul is epitomised by an otter, so that doesn't quite make sense. And honestly, everyone seemed rather surprised by what form their patronus took during the lesson of Dumbledore's Army when everyone was trying to master the Patronus Charm. So I can't honestly say what form my patronus would take because I haven't mastered the Patronus Charm. I'll let you know when I find out though, ok?
15. What career would you consider if you were indeed part of the
wizarding world and why?
I would want to be a teacher at either Hogwarts or another school because school is the only place where I feel fulfilled and not bored. I'd kill myself if I had to do the exact same thing every day. Me being bored is not a good thing.