CORNER, MICHAEL. profile.
Character
Name: Michael Seth Corner
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 21 March 1980
House/Year: Ravenclaw, 1991-1998
Blood status: Halfblood. Both his parents come from very mixed bloodlines.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Suggested livejournal username: turnedcorner
PB/Avatar: Matt Dallas ( icons)
Physical characteristics: Michael's not unattractive, and he knows it. To an extent, this bit of vanity serves him well: he has a trim, athletic build, and he spends time to keep himself in good shape, running three mornings a week and playing pick-up games of Quidditch and football when he can. In recent months, he has been willingly conned by his sister into attending yoga classes with her. He's still waiting to experience the benefits of better posture and more flexibility. At six-feet even, he's just above average height, and though he's too often caught slouching, he does carry himself with an easy, confident grace.
His light, blueish-green eyes are his most remarkable feature. He's a little near-sighted: he wears glasses when he needs to see across long distances, particularly if he's flying. This, combined with his dark and sometimes messy hair, has resulted in a snide comment or two about him trying to look like Harry Potter, an accusation that's only encouraged by the fact Michael has happened to have dated the exact same women Harry has. He swears it's all just a coincidence. Really.
He dresses neatly and quite sedately, and he takes fairly good care of his clothing. He's doesn't wear anything that leaves much of an impression, for better or for worse: he could stand to have a more interesting, stylish wardrobe, but he's personally not that concerned. Based on his taste in eyewear--he owns the world's most obnoxiously dorky pair of glasses--his clothing style could be much, much worse. His daily grooming routine runs on the long side, even though the end result is invariably "effortless" casual. He goes a little scruffy sometimes, as he has himself convinced that the facial hair distracts from his youthful looks and makes him look older, and so helps him get more respect at work.
Distant History: Michael is the oldest child of Rupert and Clarissa (née Quigley) Corner. The Corners are known as a long-standing Ministry family: Rupert is a top official in the International Magical Office of Law, Michael's grandmother is a retired Auror, and his grandfather had been a dedicated member of the Wizengamot until his death in 1993. On the Quigley side of Michael's family, their claim to fame is all Quidditch: famous Ballycastle Bats player Finbar Quigley is Clarissa's cousin, and Clarissa herself is Head of Public Relations for the Appleby Arrows.
His parents didn't cross paths at Hogwarts; Rupert was a Ravenclaw, class of 1970, and Clarissa was a Gryffindor, class of 1974. However, a mutual friend set them up on a blind date in 1978, and the two hit it off. They eloped in the summer of 1979, amid the growing conflict of the first war, and Michael was born on the first day of spring the following year. Daughters Samantha and Angela were born in 1982 and 1985, respectively.
Michael's childhood was a busy, happy one. After Samantha was born, the Corners settled down in a middle-class neighborhood in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Rupert and Clarissa were both enthusiastic, dedicated parents who wanted to raise their children to be appreciative of both wizarding and Muggle culture, and so, growing up, Michael had plenty of exposure to both worlds. As a result, he logged numerous visits to Diagon Alley and a couple to the Ministry of Magic, attended plenty of Appleby Arrows Quidditch matches, and learned to fly at an early age, but he also attended a Muggle primary school, played football, and was infamous in his neighborhood for digging in yards in a well-intentioned attempt to find fossils. Though he never found any, he was extremely taken by paleontology and was particularly obsessed with dinosaurs. His favorite childhood tradition was his annual birthday trip to the Natural History Museum in London, to visit Dippy the dinosaur skeleton. He still makes a yearly trek there, dragging along family members and friends who can't come up with a good enough excuse not to.
Michael was thrilled to start Hogwarts. The Sorting Hat took a moment to decide between placing him in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but it recognized that despite Michael's hardworking nature, he valued more highly (and was driven by) his curiosity and desire for knowledge. Unsurprisingly, Michael loved life at Hogwarts: he loved the classes, he loved the social aspects, and he loved the excitement of the Quidditch season. Being friendly and eager to surround himself with other people, Michael quickly made friends with his dormmates, particularly Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, as well as his classmates and housemates. As for Quidditch, he tried out for the team unsuccessfully his first two years, and made it on as a Beater his third year.
While certainly intelligent, Michael's greatest scholastic asset was his willingness to work hard. He made time to study and to practice outside of class, and he loved working in the Ravenclaw common room, where he could always find someone to study (or "study") with him. Potions was his best class: the very methodical, ordered, detail-oriented nature of the subject appealed to him. Follow the instructions, focus on the details, build to a predictable finished product. He was also fairly strong at Charms, and with practice, he earned good marks in DADA and Transfiguration. He had initially thought he'd really like Care of Magical Creatures, because of his childhood interest in dinosaurs and other larger-than-life creatures, but he was disappointed in what the class actually involved. He wasn't so interested in caring for and interacting with creatures as he was interested in using evidence (such as, say, long-dead skeletons) to learn more about them.
Fourth year brought the Triwizard Tournament to Hogwarts. While the first task was exciting, the rest of the Tournament was sort of boring to watch, and more than anything, Michael was a little annoyed by the cancellation of Quidditch. The Yule Ball, however, was an important event. His date was a Ravenclaw fifth-year who, partway through the dance, ditched him for a seventh-year she apparently liked more. The night wasn't a total loss, as he ended up talking to Ginny Weasley. Before the night was over, he was smitten--she was feisty, smart, cute, and into Quidditch, and so who wouldn't be smitten?--and within a few months, the two of them were dating.
When fifth year came around, he at first wasn't too troubled about the claims of Voldemort's return; after all, he had OWLs to focus on, not to mention Quidditch, which were far more immediate concerns. He hadn't expected Umbridge to be so frustrating (and so pathetic of a teacher), and so when Ginny told him about the DA, he jumped on the idea, and did what he normally did--get his friends involved, too. He spent the year a bit stressed, trying to fit in time to be a good student, a good Quidditch player, a good friend, and a good boyfriend. Balancing all this while dealing with the endless tricks Umbridge had up her sleeve? Wasn't easy. He probably should have seen his break-up with Ginny coming: he doesn't think of himself as a bad loser, but he'd like to say that, in his defense, he was very stressed at the time. And Ravenclaw really should have won that last match. Really. On the bright side, he soon found himself comforting and dating Cho Chang, and found it quite easy to be enamored with her.
Sixth year, Michael thought things were returning to normal. He did decide not to return to Quidditch, but it was absolutely in no way because he was a sore loser who couldn't face playing against his ex-girlfriend. Honestly. He swears. It was all because he wanted to have more time for schoolwork and friends. He continued his classes in Potions, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy. He was still dating Cho, whom he adored. His own life wasn't much touched by the outside war, so when Dumbledore died that next spring, Michael found himself reeling from the surprise. Almost immediately, the world seemed to change, but even that difficult summer couldn't prepare him for his final year at Hogwarts.
While Umbridge's control of Hogwarts had been frustrating, the Carrows were far, far worse. Instead of being a sanctuary, Hogwarts had become a living nightmare, and with so many bad things happening before his eyes, Michael couldn't stand idly by. He wasn't one to mouth off to the Carrows--he left that job to other members of the DA and other resistors--but instead focused his efforts on trying to protect and look after younger students. Chalk it up to his protective nature and his older brother instincts. While he certainly was on the receiving end of more punishment than he'd like to remember, he bore it all pretty well until the time he was caught rescuing a first-year boy the Carrows had chained up. Cruciatius detentions were nothing compared to the torture the Carrows inflicted on Michael for that. As Neville said in Deathly Hallows, after the torture Michael went through, the DA had to scale back its overt resistance: while the Carrows might not have wanted to spill the blood of non-Muggleborns, they obviously were capable of it. He'll deny it, but if Michael thinks back to that incident, even years removed, he'll freeze up in fear. He's repressed that memory almost completely. He was one of the DA members hiding from the Carrows in the Room of Requirement, and after making sure his little sisters safely evacuated the castle, Michael stayed to fight in the final battle. He suffered only minor injuries, but by the end of the battle, he was far more preoccupied with seeing if his friends were safe.
Recent History: Michael has made an active effort to move on from the war as much as possible. It's not in his nature to dwell on the past or worry about the future, and he's bought into the shiny new hope of this post-war era. He threw himself into a) appreciating his friends and loved ones all the more, and b) preparing for NEWTs. He did remarkably well, and with his family's Ministry connections and good recommendations from his teachers, he was soon training as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. For his first year, he was nearly buried in the unpleasant, thankless busy work his superiors dumped on him, but he's been able to prove himself, and is now based out of the Brain Room, where he researches memory-related magic. The job pays well, and his research receives additional, private funding from an anonymous benefactor who wants to develop more seamless memory modification spells and alternate methods of memory recovery. He spends his days playing with brains and pensieves working with brains and pensieves in the office, as well as liaising with Obliviators and with Healers on the Spell Damage floor at St. Mungo's. He's aware of the irony wrought by his choice of research: Michael's known for living in the moment, always moving forward from what's over and done with (for better or for worse), and here he is, getting paid to work with memories and the past. It's sort of like his obsession with dinosaurs, in a way.
Soon after landing that job, he moved out of his family home to share a flat with a cousin in Muggle London. He's kept in touch with many friends and acquaintances from his school days, and once buzz began building around Euterpe's Corner, Michael was definitely interested in moving. He had to wait until his prior lease was up, but getting to be in the middle of all the social action (at least all the social action that mattered) made moving to Euterpe's Corner a natural choice for him.
Current employment status: He's an Unspeakable with the Department of Mysteries, hired soon after he received his NEWTs results. He's still one of the juniormost Unspeakables, but with the research path he's set himself on--and with thanks to his consistent luck and his knack for being in the right place at the right time--he's gained a lot more intradepartmental attention and resources than most younger employees. Michael's been very, very lucky to have the unusual opportunities he does. He loooooves his job, and not just the status it brings him, but also the work itself. He's not afraid to play up the mysteriousness of it; if asked what he does as an Unspeakable, he usually says, "Plot world domination" and then laughs faux-maniacally.
Financially speaking, he's quite comfortable. Not only is his salary not bad for someone his age, but he has some family money, new as it is, to rely on. His grandfather had made a few smart business investments over the decades, and upon his death, he bequeathed a surprisingly large amount of money to his children and grandchildren (once they came of age).
Personality: Michael's most prominent trait is his sociableness. He's friendly and extroverted, enthusiastic and affectionate, and he almost always prefers company over being by himself. One might not notice at first, though, that he's actually not very talkative. By no means is he shy or reserved, and he's plenty assertive, but he has a habit of surrounding himself with gregarious people, and he's quite happy to let them take charge of the conversation. He's a really, really good listener, and he genuinely cares about other people. Once he realizes there's a problem (though this might take some time, as he's not particularly emotionally perceptive), he'll do everything he can to help. He's capable of being fun and playful, and he's not afraid to be goofy if the situation calls for it.
His other obvious character trait is his emotional nature. It's what gets him into trouble, time after time: he lets his emotions get the best of him. His feels emotions deeply and doesn't turn away from them, doesn't compartmentalize or protect himself from hurt. He lives in the moment and doesn't let himself get too worked up over either the past or the future, but as a result, his perspective tends to be skewed (i.e., short-sighted). He gets overinvested in the now, in this moment. He knows he's capable of being short-tempered and sulky, but he doesn't think he's that bad. He doesn't realize that other people find him a bit moody, because he tries to present himself as relaxed and under control, even when he's not. He has an ultimately forgiving nature and has to be pushed hard to be judgmental. He's a notorious commitmentphile: when Michael falls, he falls deeply. He has a naïve very sweet romantic streak, and he's nothing if not dedicated. He takes relationships--his and other people's--seriously, but in his typical "live in this moment and only this moment" sort of way. So if you want short-sighted but good-hearted emotional/romantic advice? Go to Michael, as he'll be happy to provide! He can be justly accused of being needy, but when it comes to attention and affection, he gives as good as he gets, at the very least.
Michael tends to not think before he acts, and he can certainly be reckless. He's done courageous things in his time, and he has plenty of self-confidence, but there's a reason he's not a Gryffindor--he acts before the fear hits, and if he would stop to think about things he's doing, he'd likely freeze up. He's not brave: he's just impulsive. This is great sometimes, because he's inclined to act rather than to just let things happen to him or to others, but at the same time, he gets himself in trouble by not thinking through the implications of things he does, or not put himself in other people's shoes and fully empathizing with them.
He has a rather naïve belief in the fairness of life. Michael comes from a privileged background: two loving, supportive parents and a comfortable class status. He believes hard work can get you anywhere, but he doesn't always appreciate all the lucky breaks he's had and how many inherent traits he has working in his favor. He gets quickly and obviously frustrated when his typical weapons--his intelligence, his charm, and his hard work--fail him, because they ought to work. Relatedly, he likes when things proceed in a logical, orderly fashion. He can roll with the punches, but he very much prefers predictability to unpredictability. He's fascinated by methods and processes, and in a stereotypically Ravenclaw way, Michael's super curious and easily consumed by his interests.
Getting on Michael's bad side involves a combination of habits and personality traits, a few of which are habits and traits that he detests but sees a little bit in himself. He has a hard time understanding people who don't put an effort into what they do. Emotional dishonesty bugs him, and he doesn't respect people who run away from problems or messes they've made. Taking responsibility is critically important for him. He doesn't like thinking in terms of taking sides, and he'll resist people who push him into competition or unnecessary conflict--even though he himself has pushed people to that point before. He doesn't understand mindless pranking, but he desperately doesn't want to be seen as uptight or without a sense of humor, so he'll nearly always play along. Rigid judgmentalism gets his back up, but at the same time, he can appreciate the predictability of such a perspective. And people who genuinely (not jokingly) try to make him look stupid will go down in flames, period dot fullstop. He can joke about it, but never let it be said that Michael doesn't have an ego when it comes to his intelligence.
As a flatmate, Michael is courteous but not necessarily considerate. He's responsible when it comes to finances and chores, but he'll monopolize the bathroom (all while claiming in vain that, no, his morning routine is not absurdly long for a heterosexual male, really) and the common area, and he'll forget to think about keeping down the noise if he has people over. He has a generally laissez faire approach to living with others, he doesn't go out of his way to be antagonistic, and he prefers to deal with conflict quickly and quietly, but at the same time, he can't be consistently relied on to think of others before himself.
You
Name: Megan
CDJ: goodpilgrim @ insanejournal
Name: Michael Seth Corner
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 21 March 1980
House/Year: Ravenclaw, 1991-1998
Blood status: Halfblood. Both his parents come from very mixed bloodlines.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Suggested livejournal username: turnedcorner
PB/Avatar: Matt Dallas ( icons)
Physical characteristics: Michael's not unattractive, and he knows it. To an extent, this bit of vanity serves him well: he has a trim, athletic build, and he spends time to keep himself in good shape, running three mornings a week and playing pick-up games of Quidditch and football when he can. In recent months, he has been willingly conned by his sister into attending yoga classes with her. He's still waiting to experience the benefits of better posture and more flexibility. At six-feet even, he's just above average height, and though he's too often caught slouching, he does carry himself with an easy, confident grace.
His light, blueish-green eyes are his most remarkable feature. He's a little near-sighted: he wears glasses when he needs to see across long distances, particularly if he's flying. This, combined with his dark and sometimes messy hair, has resulted in a snide comment or two about him trying to look like Harry Potter, an accusation that's only encouraged by the fact Michael has happened to have dated the exact same women Harry has. He swears it's all just a coincidence. Really.
He dresses neatly and quite sedately, and he takes fairly good care of his clothing. He's doesn't wear anything that leaves much of an impression, for better or for worse: he could stand to have a more interesting, stylish wardrobe, but he's personally not that concerned. Based on his taste in eyewear--he owns the world's most obnoxiously dorky pair of glasses--his clothing style could be much, much worse. His daily grooming routine runs on the long side, even though the end result is invariably "effortless" casual. He goes a little scruffy sometimes, as he has himself convinced that the facial hair distracts from his youthful looks and makes him look older, and so helps him get more respect at work.
Distant History: Michael is the oldest child of Rupert and Clarissa (née Quigley) Corner. The Corners are known as a long-standing Ministry family: Rupert is a top official in the International Magical Office of Law, Michael's grandmother is a retired Auror, and his grandfather had been a dedicated member of the Wizengamot until his death in 1993. On the Quigley side of Michael's family, their claim to fame is all Quidditch: famous Ballycastle Bats player Finbar Quigley is Clarissa's cousin, and Clarissa herself is Head of Public Relations for the Appleby Arrows.
His parents didn't cross paths at Hogwarts; Rupert was a Ravenclaw, class of 1970, and Clarissa was a Gryffindor, class of 1974. However, a mutual friend set them up on a blind date in 1978, and the two hit it off. They eloped in the summer of 1979, amid the growing conflict of the first war, and Michael was born on the first day of spring the following year. Daughters Samantha and Angela were born in 1982 and 1985, respectively.
Michael's childhood was a busy, happy one. After Samantha was born, the Corners settled down in a middle-class neighborhood in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Rupert and Clarissa were both enthusiastic, dedicated parents who wanted to raise their children to be appreciative of both wizarding and Muggle culture, and so, growing up, Michael had plenty of exposure to both worlds. As a result, he logged numerous visits to Diagon Alley and a couple to the Ministry of Magic, attended plenty of Appleby Arrows Quidditch matches, and learned to fly at an early age, but he also attended a Muggle primary school, played football, and was infamous in his neighborhood for digging in yards in a well-intentioned attempt to find fossils. Though he never found any, he was extremely taken by paleontology and was particularly obsessed with dinosaurs. His favorite childhood tradition was his annual birthday trip to the Natural History Museum in London, to visit Dippy the dinosaur skeleton. He still makes a yearly trek there, dragging along family members and friends who can't come up with a good enough excuse not to.
Michael was thrilled to start Hogwarts. The Sorting Hat took a moment to decide between placing him in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but it recognized that despite Michael's hardworking nature, he valued more highly (and was driven by) his curiosity and desire for knowledge. Unsurprisingly, Michael loved life at Hogwarts: he loved the classes, he loved the social aspects, and he loved the excitement of the Quidditch season. Being friendly and eager to surround himself with other people, Michael quickly made friends with his dormmates, particularly Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, as well as his classmates and housemates. As for Quidditch, he tried out for the team unsuccessfully his first two years, and made it on as a Beater his third year.
While certainly intelligent, Michael's greatest scholastic asset was his willingness to work hard. He made time to study and to practice outside of class, and he loved working in the Ravenclaw common room, where he could always find someone to study (or "study") with him. Potions was his best class: the very methodical, ordered, detail-oriented nature of the subject appealed to him. Follow the instructions, focus on the details, build to a predictable finished product. He was also fairly strong at Charms, and with practice, he earned good marks in DADA and Transfiguration. He had initially thought he'd really like Care of Magical Creatures, because of his childhood interest in dinosaurs and other larger-than-life creatures, but he was disappointed in what the class actually involved. He wasn't so interested in caring for and interacting with creatures as he was interested in using evidence (such as, say, long-dead skeletons) to learn more about them.
Fourth year brought the Triwizard Tournament to Hogwarts. While the first task was exciting, the rest of the Tournament was sort of boring to watch, and more than anything, Michael was a little annoyed by the cancellation of Quidditch. The Yule Ball, however, was an important event. His date was a Ravenclaw fifth-year who, partway through the dance, ditched him for a seventh-year she apparently liked more. The night wasn't a total loss, as he ended up talking to Ginny Weasley. Before the night was over, he was smitten--she was feisty, smart, cute, and into Quidditch, and so who wouldn't be smitten?--and within a few months, the two of them were dating.
When fifth year came around, he at first wasn't too troubled about the claims of Voldemort's return; after all, he had OWLs to focus on, not to mention Quidditch, which were far more immediate concerns. He hadn't expected Umbridge to be so frustrating (and so pathetic of a teacher), and so when Ginny told him about the DA, he jumped on the idea, and did what he normally did--get his friends involved, too. He spent the year a bit stressed, trying to fit in time to be a good student, a good Quidditch player, a good friend, and a good boyfriend. Balancing all this while dealing with the endless tricks Umbridge had up her sleeve? Wasn't easy. He probably should have seen his break-up with Ginny coming: he doesn't think of himself as a bad loser, but he'd like to say that, in his defense, he was very stressed at the time. And Ravenclaw really should have won that last match. Really. On the bright side, he soon found himself comforting and dating Cho Chang, and found it quite easy to be enamored with her.
Sixth year, Michael thought things were returning to normal. He did decide not to return to Quidditch, but it was absolutely in no way because he was a sore loser who couldn't face playing against his ex-girlfriend. Honestly. He swears. It was all because he wanted to have more time for schoolwork and friends. He continued his classes in Potions, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy. He was still dating Cho, whom he adored. His own life wasn't much touched by the outside war, so when Dumbledore died that next spring, Michael found himself reeling from the surprise. Almost immediately, the world seemed to change, but even that difficult summer couldn't prepare him for his final year at Hogwarts.
While Umbridge's control of Hogwarts had been frustrating, the Carrows were far, far worse. Instead of being a sanctuary, Hogwarts had become a living nightmare, and with so many bad things happening before his eyes, Michael couldn't stand idly by. He wasn't one to mouth off to the Carrows--he left that job to other members of the DA and other resistors--but instead focused his efforts on trying to protect and look after younger students. Chalk it up to his protective nature and his older brother instincts. While he certainly was on the receiving end of more punishment than he'd like to remember, he bore it all pretty well until the time he was caught rescuing a first-year boy the Carrows had chained up. Cruciatius detentions were nothing compared to the torture the Carrows inflicted on Michael for that. As Neville said in Deathly Hallows, after the torture Michael went through, the DA had to scale back its overt resistance: while the Carrows might not have wanted to spill the blood of non-Muggleborns, they obviously were capable of it. He'll deny it, but if Michael thinks back to that incident, even years removed, he'll freeze up in fear. He's repressed that memory almost completely. He was one of the DA members hiding from the Carrows in the Room of Requirement, and after making sure his little sisters safely evacuated the castle, Michael stayed to fight in the final battle. He suffered only minor injuries, but by the end of the battle, he was far more preoccupied with seeing if his friends were safe.
Recent History: Michael has made an active effort to move on from the war as much as possible. It's not in his nature to dwell on the past or worry about the future, and he's bought into the shiny new hope of this post-war era. He threw himself into a) appreciating his friends and loved ones all the more, and b) preparing for NEWTs. He did remarkably well, and with his family's Ministry connections and good recommendations from his teachers, he was soon training as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. For his first year, he was nearly buried in the unpleasant, thankless busy work his superiors dumped on him, but he's been able to prove himself, and is now based out of the Brain Room, where he researches memory-related magic. The job pays well, and his research receives additional, private funding from an anonymous benefactor who wants to develop more seamless memory modification spells and alternate methods of memory recovery. He spends his days playing with brains and pensieves working with brains and pensieves in the office, as well as liaising with Obliviators and with Healers on the Spell Damage floor at St. Mungo's. He's aware of the irony wrought by his choice of research: Michael's known for living in the moment, always moving forward from what's over and done with (for better or for worse), and here he is, getting paid to work with memories and the past. It's sort of like his obsession with dinosaurs, in a way.
Soon after landing that job, he moved out of his family home to share a flat with a cousin in Muggle London. He's kept in touch with many friends and acquaintances from his school days, and once buzz began building around Euterpe's Corner, Michael was definitely interested in moving. He had to wait until his prior lease was up, but getting to be in the middle of all the social action (at least all the social action that mattered) made moving to Euterpe's Corner a natural choice for him.
Current employment status: He's an Unspeakable with the Department of Mysteries, hired soon after he received his NEWTs results. He's still one of the juniormost Unspeakables, but with the research path he's set himself on--and with thanks to his consistent luck and his knack for being in the right place at the right time--he's gained a lot more intradepartmental attention and resources than most younger employees. Michael's been very, very lucky to have the unusual opportunities he does. He loooooves his job, and not just the status it brings him, but also the work itself. He's not afraid to play up the mysteriousness of it; if asked what he does as an Unspeakable, he usually says, "Plot world domination" and then laughs faux-maniacally.
Financially speaking, he's quite comfortable. Not only is his salary not bad for someone his age, but he has some family money, new as it is, to rely on. His grandfather had made a few smart business investments over the decades, and upon his death, he bequeathed a surprisingly large amount of money to his children and grandchildren (once they came of age).
Personality: Michael's most prominent trait is his sociableness. He's friendly and extroverted, enthusiastic and affectionate, and he almost always prefers company over being by himself. One might not notice at first, though, that he's actually not very talkative. By no means is he shy or reserved, and he's plenty assertive, but he has a habit of surrounding himself with gregarious people, and he's quite happy to let them take charge of the conversation. He's a really, really good listener, and he genuinely cares about other people. Once he realizes there's a problem (though this might take some time, as he's not particularly emotionally perceptive), he'll do everything he can to help. He's capable of being fun and playful, and he's not afraid to be goofy if the situation calls for it.
His other obvious character trait is his emotional nature. It's what gets him into trouble, time after time: he lets his emotions get the best of him. His feels emotions deeply and doesn't turn away from them, doesn't compartmentalize or protect himself from hurt. He lives in the moment and doesn't let himself get too worked up over either the past or the future, but as a result, his perspective tends to be skewed (i.e., short-sighted). He gets overinvested in the now, in this moment. He knows he's capable of being short-tempered and sulky, but he doesn't think he's that bad. He doesn't realize that other people find him a bit moody, because he tries to present himself as relaxed and under control, even when he's not. He has an ultimately forgiving nature and has to be pushed hard to be judgmental. He's a notorious commitmentphile: when Michael falls, he falls deeply. He has a naïve very sweet romantic streak, and he's nothing if not dedicated. He takes relationships--his and other people's--seriously, but in his typical "live in this moment and only this moment" sort of way. So if you want short-sighted but good-hearted emotional/romantic advice? Go to Michael, as he'll be happy to provide! He can be justly accused of being needy, but when it comes to attention and affection, he gives as good as he gets, at the very least.
Michael tends to not think before he acts, and he can certainly be reckless. He's done courageous things in his time, and he has plenty of self-confidence, but there's a reason he's not a Gryffindor--he acts before the fear hits, and if he would stop to think about things he's doing, he'd likely freeze up. He's not brave: he's just impulsive. This is great sometimes, because he's inclined to act rather than to just let things happen to him or to others, but at the same time, he gets himself in trouble by not thinking through the implications of things he does, or not put himself in other people's shoes and fully empathizing with them.
He has a rather naïve belief in the fairness of life. Michael comes from a privileged background: two loving, supportive parents and a comfortable class status. He believes hard work can get you anywhere, but he doesn't always appreciate all the lucky breaks he's had and how many inherent traits he has working in his favor. He gets quickly and obviously frustrated when his typical weapons--his intelligence, his charm, and his hard work--fail him, because they ought to work. Relatedly, he likes when things proceed in a logical, orderly fashion. He can roll with the punches, but he very much prefers predictability to unpredictability. He's fascinated by methods and processes, and in a stereotypically Ravenclaw way, Michael's super curious and easily consumed by his interests.
Getting on Michael's bad side involves a combination of habits and personality traits, a few of which are habits and traits that he detests but sees a little bit in himself. He has a hard time understanding people who don't put an effort into what they do. Emotional dishonesty bugs him, and he doesn't respect people who run away from problems or messes they've made. Taking responsibility is critically important for him. He doesn't like thinking in terms of taking sides, and he'll resist people who push him into competition or unnecessary conflict--even though he himself has pushed people to that point before. He doesn't understand mindless pranking, but he desperately doesn't want to be seen as uptight or without a sense of humor, so he'll nearly always play along. Rigid judgmentalism gets his back up, but at the same time, he can appreciate the predictability of such a perspective. And people who genuinely (not jokingly) try to make him look stupid will go down in flames, period dot fullstop. He can joke about it, but never let it be said that Michael doesn't have an ego when it comes to his intelligence.
As a flatmate, Michael is courteous but not necessarily considerate. He's responsible when it comes to finances and chores, but he'll monopolize the bathroom (all while claiming in vain that, no, his morning routine is not absurdly long for a heterosexual male, really) and the common area, and he'll forget to think about keeping down the noise if he has people over. He has a generally laissez faire approach to living with others, he doesn't go out of his way to be antagonistic, and he prefers to deal with conflict quickly and quietly, but at the same time, he can't be consistently relied on to think of others before himself.
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Name: Megan
CDJ: goodpilgrim @ insanejournal