Duck, Duck, O'Mallard

Deleted
Deleted Avatar
0 posts
""
options

Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2018 12:07:16 GMT -5

Flynn "Duck" Cooper O'Mallard
by Quinn
45
age
Male
gender
02/03/1973
birthday
blood status
Halfblood
sexual orientation
Heterosexual
occupation
Owner of Ducks in a Row Bookshop (He also runs inventory + the register + restocking, sometimes...he likes being present in his bookshop)
Owner of Mallard Publication
Book Publisher
Author
general appearance
Duck is a handsome man, though he's usually got his nose in a book or a manuscript, so it's sometimes difficult to tell. Strong features decorate his face: a prominent nose, high cheekbones, and expressive eyebrows. Usually dressed in casual-wear, Duck is a fan of sweaters - particularly ugly jumpers. There's also usually a coffee stain somewhere on his clothing...because he can become rather distracted while he's drinking his coffee at Devil's Advo-Cake. He stands just shy of 6', a mere .5 inches shorter than his father...a fact the man has never let him forget. He always looks like he's lost and doesn't quite know what to say. Duck's a little awkward like that.

He sometimes attends his authors' book signings and will dress himself up. A stylish suit or sports coat. A dapper pair of suspenders. He's a man of many outfits, okay?


former school
Hogwarts
former house
Hufflepuff
achievements
✐ The Advocate: 1st-7th Year (1984-1991)
✐ Art Club: 1st-7th Year (1984-1991)
✐ Choir: 2nd-7th Year (1985-1991) This was not to impress some girl


university
Lufkin University
university major(s)
English + Art
years attended
1991-1995


skills
✐ WRITING: Duck is an author...and a good one at that. None of his characters are socially awkward like him. In fact, they're all suave and debonair. It's like he's another person when he's writing. Like the James Bond of Authors. He's written his fair share of children's books and a few adult novels (but those haven't sold nearly as well). He's hoping to expand his readership and try young adult novels, but we'll see how that goes. He's also done his own illustrations, which are quite good, if you ask him.

✐ FINDING AUTHORS: Duck seems to have a sixth sense about authors. He knows where to look for them - coffee shops, sitting along, struggling over their typewriter or quill and looking lost. It's the same look he's always got. He signs them to Mallard Publication and the rest is history. A large amount of the books sold at Ducks in a Row are published by Mallard.

✐ PUBLICATION: Duck is good at reading through manuscripts, making edits, and suggesting changes. He's one of the best publication authors around and is sought after. He's also got a reputation for being a push over, but we're not going to dwell on that.

✐ MANAGING A BUSINESS: He owns two businesses: Ducks in a Row and Mallard Publication. Duck knows what he's doing when it comes to the back end. He's got a handle on the financials and management. He likes to be involved hands-on with both businesses. And you'll often find him at Ducks in a Row, managing the front end, when he's not in the offices, reading through the most recent manuscripts.

✐ COMPARTMENTALIZING: Duck's able to keep his personal life separated from his professional life. And thank Merlin for that. Because if he had to think about his childhood best friend sleeping with his father all the time, he'd probably lose it. Unfortunately, he's not good at keeping that to himself all the time. Sometimes he gets nervous and starts blabbering on about his family drama.

✐ FOLLOWING HIS NOSE: He knows where to get the best coffee and croissants in town. And I'll give you a hint: It's Devil's Advo-Cake.

✐ ART: Duck's really good with illustration art. Charcoal and colored pencils are his favorite mediums, but he's been known to explore the world of acrylic paints on canvas. His imagination helps in this respect, creating out of this world art that is sought-after. Sometimes, he'll even illustrate for his favorite authors.

✐ WORLD-CREATION: Duck is good at creating his own worlds and establishing fantasy that appeals to the young reader. As the author of a few books on the Wizarding Best Seller's List, Duck has a cult following and a lot of teens and children can be found browsing the shelves of Ducks in a Row.
weaknesses
✐ DRINKING HIS COFFEE AT DEVIL'S ADVO-CAKE: He doesn't have a good grip on his coffee. He usually spills it on the manuscripts that he's reading at the bakery. This has nothing to do with him being distracted by the mysterious Vayda Blackwood...nothing at all.

✐ SOCIALLY AWKWARD: Duck doesn't always say the right thing at the right time. In fact, he rarely does. He's got good intentions, but the words just sort of fall out of his mouth. And before he knows it, he's telling everyone about how his dad married his best friend and his family's just really messed up. And then it gets awkward.

✐ STUBBORN: Duck usually makes up his mind fairly quickly about things. He knows what he wants and he's usually not going to change how he feels about that. Problem is, he usually doesn't know how to go about getting what he wants.

✐ CONFRONTATION: He doesn't like it. Talking to people about his feelings is hard enough. Confronting someone about something that they've done - or haven't done - is even worse. Some of his authors like to take advantage of this...especially since he has a hard time telling them off if their books are late. He's really bad at telling people what he wants, too. But he knows what he wants... so it's really an awful oxymoron.

✐ READING PEOPLE: Duck thinks that he's good at reading people, but he's actually horrible at determining someone's motives like for example, he has no idea that Vayda and her family are a devil-worshiping lady cult. He prides himself on this skill weakness, actually. Which can be really embarrassing. Especially when his authors go belly-up because they were actually dead-beats to start.

✐ HIS FAMILY: Not for the conventional reasons, actually. It's not that Duck has an underlying allegiance to his family...it's not that he would do anything to ensure his safety. It's the fact that he's embarrassed to talk about it. His dad divorced his mum and married his best friend from Hogwarts. And if that hasn't been enough emotional trauma for one life, they had kids...that he has to see every Christmas. It's a mess.
positive traits
ASPIRING BENEVOLENT CHARMING CONSIDERATE CREATIVE DECISIVE (though no good at acting on his decision) FAIR FRIENDLY GOOD-NATURED HUMBLE IDEALISTIC IMAGINATIVE LOYAL MODEST PATIENT ROMANTIC SENTIMENTAL STEADFAST
negative traits
ABSENTMINDED CASUAL (is this really a negative trait? eh?) CLUMSY BIZARRE CHILDISH DISORGANIZED (though he always knows exactly where everything is) EXCITABLE FANATICAL NAIVE NON-CONFRONTATIONAL ODD OVERIMAGINATIVE SILLY SOCIALLY AWKWARD STUBBORN TIMID ZANY
hobbies/interests
DRINKING COFFEE EATING PASTRIES, ESPECIALLY FRENCH ONES READING WRITING FINDING NEW AND INTERESTING AUTHORS MANAGING HIS BOOKSHOP READING MANUSCRIPTS AT DEVIL'S ADVO-CAKE FISHING AVOIDING HIS FAMILY LIKE THE BLACK PLAGUE SIGHT-SEEING IN GODRIC'S HALLOW TRAIN RIDES AMUSEMENT PARKS SINGING (though he's horrible at it) CHARCOAL DRAWINGS ILLUSTRATION ART GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY THROUGH SERVICE PROJECTS (once he turned an entire graffiti mural into the most beautiful scenic painting) WORKING WITH HIS HANDS WOODWORKING @vayda PICKING UP STRANGE BOOKS TO CARRY AT DUCKS IN A ROW FALLING ALL OVER HIS WORDS WHEN TALKING TO SOMEONE HE LIKES HIKING SUNSHINE DAYS
accomplishments
Author of The Storm Son: Death of the Singing Lynx, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List November 2018-Present
Author of Lady, Keeper, and Bane, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List May 2016-June 2016
Author of The Storm Son: Forge of the Lioness, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List January 2013-April 2013
Author of The Storm Son: Herald of Discord, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List January 2011-December 2011
Author of The Storm Son: The Castle of the Gods, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List February 2010-October 2010
Author of The Storm Son: Sirens of Hell, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List October 2009-January 2010
Author of The Storm Son: The Tower Across, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List December 2006-April 2007
Author of Western Replies, A flop, Never appeared on the Wizarding Best Seller's List
Author of The Storm Son, On the Wizarding Best Seller's List January 2003-March 2004


character history
"I'd really rather not get into all of this... Wouldn't you rather talk about my books?"

Duck has apparently declined to write his character history, so I'll be doing it. Here we go:

Flynn Cooper O'Mallard was born into a broken family. Ainslie O'Mallard and Fraser O'Mallard had never been happily married. Things started to break down, even more, when they introduced a son into the mix. Growing up, Duck didn't see a lot of his dad. It was mostly time spent with his mum...picking up some of her little quirks. She was the sort of woman that poured her milk before her cereal and always had a record playing in the background while she typed away on her little, vintage typewriter. She was the person that taught Duck to be a lover of words and the English Language. She was the one who encouraged him to follow his dreams...while his father floundered away with other woman and spent more time at work than he did in his own home. She was the one who first called him Duck - or Duckie to be more precise.

It was surprising that six years later, the couple gave birth to another child. Rory was Duck's best friend from the very beginning. Brave, courageous, and bright, she was nothing short of exemplary. Five years later, when he had to say goodbye to her to board the Hogwarts Express, Duck didn't cry. But Rory and Ainslie did.

He was sorted into Hufflepuff and his first year, he met Cullodena. Or just Dena, as she liked to be called. Tomboyish and fool-hearty, she often foiled Duck's softer traits. While he was happy to play the part of the background Hufflepuff, she wanted to be front and center. Their first year was relatively uneventful, all things considered. Duck joined the Art Club and started writing for The Advocate (sometimes even combining the two and drawing comics for the special editions). Dena wanted to write, too, but her stories always lacked something. Duck would later come to find out that they lacked heart...just like her. But it's not time for that story, yet.

By second year, Duck had settled into things as best he could. One of the bright young Hufflepuff girls, Vayda Blackwood, convinced him to join the Choir. And by convinced, I mean she was pretty, he was young, and he thought maybe singing would make him a more appealing twelve-year-old. Unfortunately, anyone who heard that nails on a chalkboard voice of his was inclined to run the other way.

The rest of his career at Hogwarts was uneventful. Duck spent more time in the kitchens and hanging out with Dena than he did focusing on his studies. He graduated with a few NEWTS under his belt, but they didn't really mean anything to him. Because what he wanted to do didn't have anything to do with being magical, actually.

He enrolled at Lufkin and the next year, his whole world was turned on its head. He'd suspected it, of course, at least...the first part. His parents announced that they were divorcing. After years of a strained relationship, he understood - sympathized even. He couldn't imagine being stuck like that. In a loveless marriage...it was...unthinkable. But the next part surprised him. A few months into his Lufkin career (he was studying English and Art), Dena announced that she was getting married...to his father.

Duck and Rory swore off their father after that. Apparently, the affair had been going on longer than either of them wanted to think about. Dena and their father? To this day, Duck still has nightmares about it.

They didn't go to the wedding. How could they? Duck retreated into his studies, pushing himself harder because he wanted to make a name for himself. One that wasn't associated with O'Mallard...that bastard that had married his best friend from childhood.

After he graduated, Duck had no cash. His mum was dirt poor - an author herself - and Rory was still in school. He ended up throwing everything he had into an old abandoned building in Godric's Hollow. Duck wanted to own a bookshop - he wanted to be an author. He wanted all of these things. But he knew that he'd have to make small steps to get there.

He fixed it up himself, slowly but surely. Inventory was hard to come by - books weren't cheap - but slowly he managed to gather up enough to open. It wasn't much, but it was his. Ducks in a Row, he called it. Not O'Mallard Books like he'd always dreamed. He didn't want to give his father that sort of satisfaction because this was about him.

Rory graduated and went on to work at the bookshop while she was in school - political science at Lufkin while she completed Auror training at the Ministry. On his off hours, Duck poured his heart and soul into a book that he called The Storm Son. About a magical boy with the power to shift the weather on command and his adventures in extra planer societies, The Storm Son (Chase Crackow) would go through hell and back to find his parents.

Hundreds of pages later, it didn't have a beginning...or an end. So Duck put it on hold to focus on the bookshop. It was there that he met a publisher who expressed interest in him. Duck published his first novel in 2003 and it held on the Wizarding Best Seller's List through 2004. An instant hit for young adult readers, The Storm Son took off like lightning.

He kept up the books, but instead of using the independent publisher, Duck decided to publish them himself. Mallard Publishing was born in 2006, and from it flew another six Storm Son novels.

Duck likes his quiet life in Godric's Hollow. It's much the same thing every day: tend to the bookshop, read a few manuscripts, grab a pastry at Vayda's. He's a simple man, avoiding his family (which is difficult to do when he's a renowned author).


parents
Mother: Ainslie Marcail O’Mallard (nee Stewart), 72, halfblood, Author, Hufflepuff Alum
Father: Fraser Leith O’Mallard, 73, halfblood, Owner of the Derby Dingoes + Investment Banker, Slytherin Alum

Step-Mother: Cullodena Finella O’Mallard (nee Anderson), 45, halfblood, Unemployed, Hufflepuff Alum, Flynn's childhood best friend...this is fine
siblings
Younger Sister: Rory Skye O’Mallard, 39, halfblood, Auror, Gryffindor Alum

Half-Sister: Greer Elspeth Begbie (nee O’Mallard), 22, halfblood, Nurse at Galway General Hospital, Slytherin Alum
Half-Brother-in-Law: Ewan Murdock Begbie, 23, halfblood, Paramedic at Galway General Hospital, Slytherin Alum

Half-Brother: Brodie Paden O’Mallard, 20, halfblood, "Owl Post" Employee at Godric’s Hallow Post Office, Hufflepuff Alum
children
No children!
partner
Currently Unattached
other family
No one of any importance, really.
family history
The O’Mallard family has always been central to Scotland. Halfblood wizards and witches decorate their family tree. Fraser Leith O’Mallard was born to a relatively middle class family (though poor gambling decisions on the part of his father often led them to be less than wealthy). Always invested in Quidditch, the family has their fair share of Quidditch players that have played for Division D and E teams over the last century. Growing up, Fraser O’Mallard knew that he would one day be among the greats. Sorted into Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts, he took a position as Chaser for the team his 4th-7th year.

A year younger and in Hufflepuff was quiet and unassuming Ainslie Maracail Stewart. She usually kept to herself, but was a loyal and true friend. Raised by a single mother, Ainslie knew about hardship. She knew about living in moderation and never to excess. Despite her understanding of what it meant to live an unassuming life, she wanted more. Even from an early age, she knew she wanted to write…even if it meant that she would be dirt poor for the rest of her days.

Ainslie and Fraser met at a Quidditch practice while she was working on a book detailing the life of a Seeker. Though they didn’t instantly hit it off, Fraser was persistent and kept after the woman that he would one day call his wife.

After months of pursuit, she finally agreed to a date and the rest is history. They married and had two children as a result, Duck and Rory. They divorced shortly after Ainslie discovered that Fraser was sleeping with Duck’s childhood best friend -- who was also underaged.

Fraser continued to live in Scotland with his new bride, Dena, while Ainslie moved to Godric’s Hollow to be closer to her children.


other
His friends call him Duck.
face claim
Nathan Fillion
status of application
complete
have you read the rules?
NO
how did you hear about us?
NO
roleplay sample

Admin Morgan
Admin Morgan Avatar
staff
8,041 posts
26 years old
Administrator
played by Morgan
"Life ain't all blueberries and paper airplanes, you know what I mean."
options

Post by Admin Morgan on Jan 3, 2019 21:23:47 GMT -5


Accepted