Here's to Yesterday

Shiraz Shwartz
Shiraz Shwartz Avatar
ENDOR YESHIVA
2 posts
23 years old
New Member
played by Nichole
"BUT YOU KNOW, ARCHERS NEVER MADE GOOD KINGS"
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Post by Shiraz Shwartz on Jul 4, 2019 15:30:36 GMT -5

Shiraz Shwartz I Kuczynski
by Nichole
23
age
Female
gender
6/29/1996
4/12/5757
birthday
blood status
Halfblood
sexual orientation
Bisexual
epidemic x status
Not Immune
occupation
Lead Chaser for the Spanish National Team and Chaser for the Barcelona Quidditch Club
general appearance
Between genetics and having played quidditch and other various outdoor sports most her life, she hosts a year-round, rich, golden tan. In similar fashion, her hair says sun-bleached golden blonde that she's sported since she could walk. Forcing her indoors long enough for it to darken would be near impossible - you'd have to tie her up and hold her down. Still, her eyebrows and eyelashes are a similar light color so it may also be her natural color. She keeps her hair long - lose it hangs down her back in thick beach wave-like curls that more often than not could probably use a brush run through it. 
 
Greenish eyes - more specifically hazel, despite having a well structure face, are nowhere near her defining trait, rather they tend to be dull and it is quite had to tell their color unless you are quite close.

She stands at a decent five foot seven, tall, but not so much that it seems odd and posses a lithe body shape, well defined in muscle and far more limbs than anything else.

After a drunken adventure in her seventh year, she has a sort of small tattoo of a chai in a hamsa on her ribcage, maybe two or three inches in length. She has since acquired another of the three-goal posts represented by three overlapping circles on the inside of her left hand, on her index finger and since being trapped in the UK has added on an outline of both Isreal and Spain on the other side of her ribs.


former school
KRIATURAS DE ENDOR YESHIVA
former house
Not applicable
achievements
➻ Almost won Maccabiah her first year of school - she is still salty
 Her year won Maccabiah in their eight year
Local Quidditch team for seven years
Accepted into intense quidditch summer programs


university
N/A
university major(s)
N/A
years attended
N/A


skills
LANGUAGEShiraz is quadrilingual and fluently speaks Catalan, Spanish, Hebrew, and English. She learned both Catalan and Spanish at home and these are the languages she falls back upon during high emotions such as fear, anger, and stress. Hebrew was learned as she grew up as well in Hebrew School, though she rarely spoke it at home, she can communicate fluently. Lastly, she started to learn English after she graduated, receiving lessons as a requirement of being drafted to a national team. She has been learning English for over six years and it has been her primary language for over half a year while in the UK. On top of these four, she knows enough to get by in Yiddish and Ladino but her skills have gotten quite rusty with the lack of practice after leaving school. Contrary to her extensive list of languages, Razza actually struggles with learning languages and has no intentions of adding more, however, it has become easier after learning to some degree six.

FLYING/QUIDDITCH  Her utter pride and joy, Shiraz moves more naturally upon a broom that she does on her own two feet and always has. It was like the sky had a calling to her and much to her father's terror, it was impossible to keep on the ground from the time she could conceive how to use a broomstick, toy or real. Due to both her body size and skill, she has made it to the national level of competition and has no intentions of ever quitting. Her obsession with the sport is likely to a level most would consider unhealthy and there is little to nothing she would miss a game for - a death of a close family member or friend would be the extent.

DIGGING HERSELF INTO WAY TO MUCH TROUBLE Not one allowed to go unscripted into press conferences, Razza has a nasty habit of opening her mouth to talk and then thinking - put it simply, she has little to no innate filter to her. Her mouth often moves just as fast as her brain and that often results in her saying something inappropriate, rude, or who knows what else, but something she'd come to regret. While she has improved on forcing herself to stop and think as she has gotten older, she still isn't known for her self control. Thankfully hasn't done anything to publicly scandalizing - yet.

HOOKUPS AND ONE NIGHT STANDS  Ever since breaking it off with Yelli - not only her first and last long term relationship, but her first relationship regardless of length - she become a bit of a flirt with pretty much anyone with a pretty face. Charming, she smiles and hooks up with her flings for a night, maybe even two, but rarely sticks around longer than that. First sign that she might get attached - or that her partner may be getting attached - and whatever they had is put to an end. Somehow, she hasn't gotten her heart broken from this so surely that counts it as a skill.

ABILITY TO MAKE A JOKE OUT OF ANYTHING   Whether it is a sign of her refusing to confront her problems or just a generally cheerful disposition, she tries not to let anything get her too down and somehow finds a way to crack a joke about just about any scenario. If you make a joke about surely it isn't that bad, right? Still, even if it is a coping mechanism, it does get a few laughs and has an uncanny way of diffusing tension in a room or scenario so she keeps it around. It is helpful in interviews and with reporters for making a quick turn around of conversation topic or answering a question without really answering.
weaknesses
CARES TO MUCH ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK It is something she has never been able to grow out of that has haunted her her whole life. The idea of disappointing some - especially someone she cares about, the idea alone makes her feel the swells of panic that makes her just want to run away. She'll alter her behavior from her true self and make decision based off what she believes someone else will want of her. The idea of a ruined reputation would be about the worst fate she could imagine.

TERRIFIED OF COMMITMENT Specifically romantic commitment, though it occasionally leaks into other aspects of her life. She'd be someone who'd rather rent an apartment month by month than buy a house in fear of getting locked down. Because that is what it comes down to, a fear of getting locked in one place having made a decisions she'd regret and be stuck with the consequences. Houses, relationships, the idea of having to get an 'actual job' after becoming to old or physical unable to play quidditch.

ANXIETY Given the chance to sit alone with her thoughts, she dwells on things far to much, pondering the 'what ifs' of every choice she has and could make. As such, she tends to cope by surrounding herself with people just so she doesn't have time to think - and it typically works.

MEMORIZATION School consisted of flash card after flash card. For some reason, her brain just doesn't like to retain information she actually needs for any length of time. Oh she can tell you something really random like the color of the shirt she wore a week ago but when is the train she has to catch that afternoon? Welp, better hope she wrote it down somewhere... and didn't loose whatever she wrote it down on. 

LANGUAGES Maybe it has something to do with her memory, but she has always struggled to pick up languages throughout her life, despite the constant demand that she learn and constantly speak multiple. It just doesn't click in her brain. She gets the concepts just fine, but word recall is the bane of her existence. What is the Yiddish word for a potato? Who freaking knows?

AYELET  A lingering regret in the back of her mind, she still hears her ex-girlfriend/best friend's voice nagging her when she does something stupid and she'll still stop on the street if she sees someone that looks remotely like the girl she grew up with. She often avoids going home so that she doesn't have to face her, even though she laps up details of what Yelli is doing through the other girls from Yeshiva. Frankly, she doesn't know how she stands to the woman. Is she an just an old girlfriend that haunts her because you can't spend nearly ten years with someone and just forget them just like that. Or is it because four years later she still loves her?
positive traitS
CHEERFUL Always a smile, nothing ever seems to be wrong with the girl. Always a quip to reply with and laughter on her lips. It takes very little to amuse her and she makes a practice to find joy in the smallest things. 

DEDICATED  A hard worker, once she deems a task worthy of her attention she won't put it down till she is done. She offers her whole self into anything she loves until she has nothing left and even then she still wants to do more. From Quidditch practices where someone might have to drag her off the field and make her eat and sleep to a relationship that she pours her whole heart into - even if it isn't wise.

STREET SMART  What she lacks in book intelligence, she makes up in her common sense and gut. She does well on her own and typically handles things like traveling and new places well. After seeing a few new countries the practices tends to be relatively similar. 

ADVENTUROUS  A bit of a yes girl, Shiraz never has a problem with trying something new. Impulse urge to go skydiving? Why not? Rock climbing? Sure! Impulse trip to the mall or don't want to cook? Not a problem. There rarely is something she isn't willing to try when it comes down to it.
negative traits
ESCAPIST The blonde doesn't handle pressure or panic well. At all. Rather than face her problems like a 'functioning' adult she has a very bad tenancy to just... run away. Her breath shorten and her pulse rises and the walls close in. Flight or fight dictates she shuts down to protect  herself. The only way she'll confront anything is if she is forced to. 

IMPULSIVE Shiraz doesn't often thing things through before she says them and tends to let the panic overwhelm her when confronted with anything. It's one of the reasons any time she has to do publicity events she writes everything down before hand that she can think of and has to let her teammates handle anything she wasn't prepared for. It is a deal with their manager after she screwed up an event a few years ago. But that doesn't really help in her personal life where she can't have note cards for everything.

CLOSED OFF  Talking about her past is a no go. Pretty much no one who knows her now knows anything about her before they met her, and she quite prefers that that way. Less people to know about her mistakes and go digging into things they have no business knowing. She'd simply rather people draw their own conclusions - it can do less damage than the truth. She doesn't want to drag anyone else down with her, not when she ended up where she is by running away.

DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP  Her whole life style is just what one would call extra. Like she knows no limits. She spends her money as she makes it. Often parties at least every other night. Her talking just turns into nonstop word vomit. It is like she doesn't quite have a grasp on the concept of self-control.
hobbies/interests
  • Quidditch
  • Collects chocolate frog cards religiously
  • Travel
  • She draws, but no one knows that, and frankly she sucks at it
accomplishments
  • Quarter-finals of the 2018 European Cup 
  • World Cup Championship 2018


character history
Margola and Efrayim, upon questioning, would likely agree that raising a child like Shiraz… was not easy. Born midsummer, a few days after the summer solstice, she was high energy and attention demanding even as an infant. To put it lightly, her parents got less full nights sleep than the average. And it wasn’t something she outgrew either. As soon as she was up and able to walk nothing could stop her. As soon as she was old enough to be allowed outside on her own, she took full advantage of it, exploring every nook and cranny of her side of the city. Ever friendly, she made friends with pretty much everyone and everything from the ally cats to the old baker down the street who if she smiled enough, he’d slip her a cookie.


Her first signs of magic came during a fight with her two-year younger brother around her eighth birthday. At this point, no one really remembers what they were fighting about – likelihood has it was some toy or other various minor things. Regardless, their fight got physical, like many sibling fights could and did and they turned to wrestling on the floor. Until they tussled to far and hit the stairs. Upon seeing the landing, she panicked, hovering herself over the floor to soften the blow. Her brother, however, wasn’t that lucky and spent the next few days in bed pumped full of Skele-glo. Between pity for her brother and celebration over her first signs of magic, neither of the two got in trouble – for that round at least.

Now that there had been confirmation of her inheritance of her mother’s magic, plans had to be made for her education. Beauxbatons would have been the obvious choice, but her parents had rather keep her closer to home and therefore it was settled Kriaturas de Endor Yeshiva – a small, woman’s only Jewish school. While they were Jewish, they were not that strict, and the Yeshiva was chosen primarily for its location. At ten, she started at the Yeshiva, her schooling in wandless magic started instantly, though she struggled with the language. With little formal schooling in Jewish customs other than the few major holidays that her family practiced; she was far behind with her Hebrew skills compared to the other girls. That wasn’t the only thing she struggled with. Having always been animated, with the introduction of wandless magic, she could no longer use her hands as she spoke until she gained greater control over her skills. She spent a few embarrassing nights in the infirmity after some mishaps, still, she would rather learn wandless over wanded any day. When she learned of the restrictions some wizards placed upon themselves by bounding themselves to a piece of wood to cast magic, well she was grateful for attending Endor rather than Beauxbatons.

Her ‘coping mechanism’ came in the form of her first chavruta. It was one of the traditions of Endor, to build bonds amongst the year mates and assist them. In all sense of the word – that she’d learned to mean “friendship” or “companionship” – the two were to be study buddies. The word was usually used to reference the rabbis' tendency to approach their religious studies in small groups to stem discussion and debate. While that was included in the word, for her it also included their magic studies. Her first chavruta was a muggleborn (not that tended to matter there, it mattered far more you were Jewish than it did how far back the magic went in your blood) by the name of . The two were well matched, likely more than the average pair. Razza was loud and knowledgeable about the magical world and would push Yelli into speaking up in class. Yelli, though she didn’t have the magical background, came from a far stricter religious family so, in turn, the dark-haired girl helped her with her Ladino and Yiddish and the spell work they did in those languages. It didn’t take the two long to become more than chavruta in the intended sense, and they were soon to a point where they declared each other best friends.

They did a lot together, and when the end of the year Maccahiah came around, the two paired together and came out on top of the first years’ section – Razza viewed it much like she was the brawns while Ayelet was the brains. Overall, the first years managed to win the whole even – or at least until they were disqualified when it was later revealed that two of the girls – Leah Goldburg and Nichole Haroche – had jinxed the gaga pit in their own favor. Boy, was Shiraz pissed. She didn’t talk to the two for almost two months – an impressive feat considering the size of the school, each year averaged around ten girls.

During the next year, she talked her parents and the school into letting her play with a local city-based youth quidditch club. She’d always loved flying as a kid and that had been the one thing, she’d been so disappointed to learn upon her school being chosen that Ender didn’t have a team. Her overall mood and behavior improved with the outlet and her parents started to received far fewer letters home about her ‘adventures’.

Quickly after the end of her third year, her bat mitzvah was hosted, much to her joy. All the girls at school had been talking about theirs all year and it was finally her turn. All the girls from school were to be invited, her family, and a few family friends as well. She secretly looked forwards most to the party afterward. The next summer, the one after her fourth year, started her participation in summer quidditch training as she grew older and started to take the sport more seriously. It sucked not seeing Yelli anymore during the summers, but it didn’t take long for her to form quite a few friendships at camp and the homesickness was long gone. 

It was difficult to adjust, after the summer, into school again. The difficulty of the classes increased as they had moved on from cheder to mativta. One of the defining characteristics of the year was the offering of classes to learn wanded magic. She, like most of the other girls, hadn’t wanted to do it – she didn’t see the point of restricting yourself to a piece of wood. She’d been doing wandless magic for years. All occurrences of accidental magic had no wand. Why should any witch restrict herself to flopping around a stick? Regardless, Ayelet had wanted to do it and had wanted her to do it with her, she complied – reluctantly. She sucked at it instantly (though maybe she would have done better if her wand didn’t pick up on her hating it). And with the addition of Kabbalaic spells and Gematria, Shiraz was hands down ready to quit.

During fifth year, as well, she noticed something off about Ayelet and when she caught the girl taking potions, Razza confronted her, demanding to know what was going on. Yelli told her that she was having issues with her blood sugar and had been found to have an irregular heartbeat. This knowledge prompted Razza into what could only be called ‘momma bear mode’ and constantly watched Yelli, worried something would happen until she was told off.

Seventh year was when things got… complicated. Rather than the magic they’d been working on, seventh year was traditionally one of no magic, in a semblance of the day of rest. Rather they worked on muggle subjects and learning to blend in amongst the muggles. Frankly, Shiraz hated it but that wasn’t what made things complicated. She’d stayed at school over Purim break and one night, she’d decided to sneak out of school and into the city to a club. What better way to celebrate? Well, clearly, she felt the need to follow that philosophy as she snuck back into school drunk and with something new – her first tattoo (a chai in a hamsa on her ribcage) and boy did that sucker hurt even through the alcohol. And clearly drunk-Shiraz was no exception to the lowered inhibitions rule of alcohol and when she found Ayelet to tell her what she’d done… well, she finished out by grabbing the other girl and straight up kissing her.

But she wasn’t drunk enough to forget and boy, you know what hurt worse than that ribcage tattoo? When the girl you kissed avoids you for the next weeks. Honestly, she’d never taken the time before to address her clearly changing feelings towards Yelli. She hadn’t even noticed they changed until she kissed her and found herself wanting more. They’d always been close; how would she notice that shift to more from like to like? But now that she did it and confronted the idea, the idea that Yelli might not reciprocate and even worse, that she’d lose her friend entirely from one drunken- and what she was starting to consider – mistake? She’d regret that moment of impulse her whole life.

But then, nearly a month later, there was Passover and wine and then there was Ayelet pulling her away. And then there was Ayelet kissing her. And she knew Yelli was drunk and the nagging voice in her head told her that when Yelli sobered up she’d regret the whole thing and run away again and then she’d really be gone, she could help herself and was kissing her back. They’d started dating then, keeping it hidden from everyone but themselves. Dating a girl was likely not approved, even if it was a Jewish girl. Shiraz could hide her relief that Ayelet didn’t run away again. Their make-out sessions were like heaven on earth. Not just that but any time they got together alone.

That summer was the worst, being away, but even with Ayelet waiting for her, she still loved quidditch and her training camps, and Razza had no plans of dropping them. She loved the sport. The thrill of the chase. And missing the last summer before graduation when she didn’t have a school team, well that would have been signing any chance she had of going pro goodbye. The recruiters where there and she spoke to several throughout the summer and it seemed like it was going well. Midway through her final semester, she heard from the Barcelona Quidditch Club about a reserve spot for her on the team next year. She’d accepted instantly. It was her dream and she didn’t even have to leave home. Yelli would be so happy, they’d talked about Razza leaving if scouted by a non-local team. But she didn’t tell Ayelet, just waiting for the perfect time. But before she could, she was approached by the Spanish National Team. It was still in the country but would take up far more of her time. Unsure, she told her parents and left it at that, not telling anyone at school and asked for some time to think it over.

They kept dating until graduation. After their final exams, the girls in her year – small in number and exceedingly close after eight years together. She wasn’t best friends with all of them, but she would call all of them her sisters – spent the night talking of their plans from the future to small school gossip. Who would be traveling to Israel and who would be staying in Spain? Who was getting married out of school? Who was doing what? They all left Ender for the last time together, and Razza – even with the sadness of leaving her home for the past ten years – couldn’t have been happier.

It all came crashing down the next day. Ayelet had asked to talk to her and they’d met at a restaurant somewhere between their houses. She’d expected something light like they always kept it. But then Yelli had started talking about taking a romantic week-long vacation and then she pulled out the ring and asked Shiraz to marry her. She could feel the panic creeping in. The same panic she’d felt years ago when Yelli had avoided her for weeks. She loved Yelli, she did, even if she hadn’t said it. The like had turned to love long ago. But the idea of tying herself down. Of commitment. It terrified her. Even thinking about it made her feel like the walls were closing in on her. Not only that but in their two years of dating, they’d never breathed a word of it to anyone but themselves. Shit. What would her parents think? Shit. They’d probably disown her. She didn’t want to lose her family. And all their year mates and friends. They would be outcasts. They were 17 for goodness sake. They just finished Yeshiva.

Walls. Closing in.

In her panic, she blurted out the words she would never forgive herself for, would hear echo in her brain for years – but she’d said in defense, in response to the choking panic, even if her tone gave away nothing.

“It was just a schooltime thing. Just some fun. Don’t tell me you took it seriously?”

She could see the hurt crash down over Yelli – Ayelet now she supposed, she’d lost the right to call her Yelli. It was like she’d flipped a switch in her best friend of ten years and her girlfriend of two. Ayelet lashed out. She had never seen her so mad. She cursed her. Called her names. Insinuated things. As the words whipped at her, she could feel the panic shut down into nothingness and she turned, excused herself and walked away, not quite ready to process what had just happened and that she wouldn’t see her again. She went home and cried and the next day she called the Spanish National Team to accept their offer and left home for practice for both that and BQC within the next week.

Life became nothing but the next practice the next game. She hung out with her teammates, but the effort was little more than a mask, but none of them knew her well enough to tell. They went out to clubs and parties at night and while she kept her drinking to a limit – the last thing she wanted was to drink too much, get kicked off and have to go home – but eventually, she caved. If Ayelet thought she was things like a slut and just played with her to sleep around, she might as well be that. Que the train of one-night stands. She started with guys and eventually added women into the mix, but nothing ever lasted longer than a few days.

In November of 2015, she was promoted from reserve to first string for the BQC team and over time, with branching out more, things became better. There was still a huge part of her that missed and still loved Ayelet and likely always would, but it became easier to go a whole day without thinking of her, and then a full week. The smiles became genuine again and while she wasn’t back to her original self, the emotions weren’t all a mask anymore. Furthermore, in January of 2017, she moved from reserve to full player for the Spanish National Team as well. A year later, she competed with Barcelona in the European Cup, climbing up to the quarterfinals, beating the Karasjok Kites before losing to the Tutshill Tornados. The disappointment there was quickly made up with the hosting of the World Cup come summer. Winning against Chile and Austria put them in the semifinals. Beating Chad put them into the finals and there they won against England, 540 to 390, with Razza scoring 10 goals in the last 30 seconds. They’d won. They’d actually won and she wasn’t sure she could believe their luck.

And then, not their luck. While their Championship tour had been scheduled for September, the United Kingdom had some sort of magic stripping disease plaguing them… prompting them to shut the borders, trapping Shiraz and her team inside and vulnerable to whatever was spreading. Annoyed, she sets up an apartment to rent on a month to month base, wanting somewhere more to stay than a pitch or a hotel.

Still, even trapped, the European Cup goes on, and they get their butts kicked by the Grodzisk Goblins in their first match.


parents
Margola Shwartz nee Kuczynski (half-blood) and Efrayim Shwartz (muggle)
siblings
Shachna Shwartz (younger brother)
children
N/A
partner
N/A
other family
N/A
family history
The Shwartzs were a a fairly well off family who'd been established in Spain for the past three generations. They have no trace of magic in thier blood and to the best of the family's knowledge, no one had known about magic before. Efrayim Shwartz was born from an off shooting branch, his father was the younger brother of the current head of the family. The eldest of three children (a sister and the youngest, a brother) he grew up under the expectations of taking over the family business - a law firm that had been around as long as the family as it followed them to Spain from their prior home country. Content to follow expectations, when old enough, Efrayim when off to university to pursue a law degree. 
 
The Kuczynski family on the other hand, was a long standing halfbood wizard family who'd lived in Jerusalem for as long as any of them can remember. While they they no longer held as strict of religious beliefs and expectations as they once did, their longevity gave they some sway in the relatively small community of Jewish wizarding families. Margola was an only child raised only on the major holidays of the religion and an occasional visit to synagogue to hold up expectations. Upon reaching the age to pursue higher education, she registered for a local magical university to study healing. 

In her third year, Margola partook in a study abroad program which took her to Spain. While due to the fact Efrayim was a regular, they did not attend the same school, the two met through traveling on the same bus often to get to and from school and the two hit it off and ended up dating with in the year and married after two more.


other
While she has a wand from her adventures in Metivta - she didn't really care to learn but Yelli signed up so she did too - and while she does carry it with her (at least it's kept wherever she resides) she never actually uses her wand seeing it as limiting and restrictive, like someone put her magic in a choke hold and cannot perform as well as she can wandless.
face claim
Esti Ginzburg
status of application
complete
have you read the rules?
Yes
how did you hear about us?
Ummm
roleplay sample
n/a
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."
quote
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Post by Admin Morgan on Jul 4, 2019 20:21:35 GMT -5


Pending!


Hey Nichole!
  • Just a couple of things that need to be sorted out before Shiraz can be sorted!
  • Looks like something is going on with her birthday! Has a normal birthday and then 4/12/5757 underneath. I’m not sure what that means!
  • There are no ‘lead’ chasers, so that needs removed from her Occupation!
  • Just to clarify — it sounds like you are saying that she got recruited by BQC and the Spanish team around the same time. National teams do not commonly scout from that level. She would have had to be playing BQC first, and then Spain would recruit her from there!
  • A little further down in the history — scoring ten goals in the last thirty seconds, couple things here. The wording of this confuses me since Quidditch is not a timed sport. There isn’t a counting down clock for her to have scored 10 goals. Secondly, scoring ten goals in 30 seconds I would say is pretty much physically impossible. You could say she scored the final goal before the snitch was caught. Maybe even two in quite succession, but any more than that is really pushing it realism-wise!
  • Next bit — it makes no sense for Spain to beat England in August, and then turn right around and come back there to get trapped by the borders closing. Furthermore, the politics behind a National Team being stuck behind closed borders is something that definitely would have come up by now, definitely would have caused some serious waves, and problems with Spain. Obviously, I’m fine with Shiraz being trapped behind whole borders, for whatever reason she wanted to come to the UK for, but not the whole team.
  • Finally, the last sentence of the history. You mention the European Cup still going on. The European Cup is in December/January and is not currently going on at all.

That’s it!