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AIM :: karmacharging • email :: adriastra(at)gmail(dot)com • plurk :: tridisaster
→ Character Information.
name » "Jules" :: Julia Louise Grumley
canon » Original
age » 27
pb » Sophia Bush
survey » mostly complete
setting »
Normal world, year 2007 - year of the dolphin, European year of Equal Opportunities for All. Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU, India won the cricket World Cup and The Simpsons Movie was released. All very exciting things! The world itself, though, is normal. No magic, nothing paranormal-- except maybe if you count some of those experimental cocktails her friends try to make.
personality »
At first glance, Jules might just seem to have had a really strong cup of coffee and be in a really, really... really good mood. After running into her a couple of times, though, it becomes apparent that it's just how she is all the time. Chipper, cheery, optimistic - she's almost aggressively happy, and takes 'glass half-full' to a new degree. Almost anything she does. she does with enthusiasm, or at the very least, good humour. It has the combined effect that she can be super fun to be around, or exhausting; uplifting, or just downright annoying. She's always eager to meet people and make friends, and make sure that people feel included and are enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, this means that she can sometimes drag people unwillingly into things because she thinks it will be good for them, or mistake reticence or disinterest for shyness. In some ways, she just like an overenthusiastic puppy - at first she's cute, but after she's chewed your hands and jumped all over you for a while, you sort of just want her to go away. She's not used to being taken terribly seriously, and while she is capable of being serious and acting much more calmly the longer she has known someone, or in the right circumstances, she tries to take the optimistic!!! view of any negative view people might take towards her. After all, she's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, is she? And everyone is entitled to their own opinions! It doesn't mean that she's somehow inferior, for example. c:!
Speaking of positivity, Jules really does try to find the positive in everything - her optimism is almost painful, sometimes, and like a reflexive defense mechanism, from time to time. She falls back on it in every scenario, and sometimes you just need to wonder if she genuinely believes what she's saying, or if it's just part of a desperate attempt to hold herself together and keep smiling. In some ways, it's a means of self-preservation; if you can keep laughing and smiling, then you're happy, you're fine, and nothing can hurt you. Unfortunately, it's not the very effective plan. While she can laugh off a lot of things and treat negativity directed towards her as friendly jokes or teasing, some things do sink in. Not everything just rolls off her back, and when it doesn't, it just kind of gnaws away at her while she pretends everything is fine - even when she is quite deeply hurt by something. It's like she operates in what she hopes is the healthiest way imaginable, but it can backfire into being exactly the opposite.
Sometimes, because of her seemingly constantly upbeat state (albeit with varying degrees) people have come to assume that she is a bit shallow. She can certainly come across that way, although in reality, she does genuinely care about people, and can be very empathetic. The thing is, Jules is pretty sheltered. She's lived a comparatively easy life, with her parents wealth giving her an advantage in many respects. She is able to work because she enjoys it, not because she needs to. She's spoiled, in a lot of ways. Equally important, though, is the fact that Jules knows it - she knows that she is privileged, and it bothers her. She feels guilty about it, about how easy and untroubled her life has been. When she gets upset, she doesn't like to show it or give any inkling, because her problems are tiny compared to other peoples, in her estimation. Sometimes she is right, and sometimes she underestimates just how much a loving family and even your friends can hurt you, though, and she's a bit naïve in her desire to simply sidestep unpleasantness.
In scenarios when she very strongly feels she is in the right and someone else is in the wrong, she can be dogged, dismissive, and more than a patronising, depending just how strongly she feels on the matter. Usually it's the fact that she is trying to still be nice and friendly that can make it all the worse. That said, Jules can be extremely unpleasant, much as she does her utmost to act to the contrary, and sometimes, it simply occurs out of thoughtlessness. Dismissing feeling or opinions, overwhelming people by taking the lead and steamrolling them with her sheer energy and enthusiasm. She isn't malicious, but she can be bitchy when she's annoyed, and because she doesn't generally let herself lose her temper or get upset, she can be very passive aggressive or simply ignore people and problems for a while so that she can try and deal with a situation.
history »
It's often been said - or has at least been said once, by some as-yet unconfirmed source - that nothing can contribute to dullness so thoroughly as a life of privilege. That kind of set up is a bit grim, though, and probably just a shade unfair. Being born to a father who works as an esteemed barrister and member of the Queen's Council, and a mother known for the functions she throws for philanthropic purposes, for example, could suggest something with the potential for at least some excitement. Such was the case for Jules, at any rate.
Her father, Walter, is a barrister in Oxford, where he has worked for the last thirty years. He met his wife, Charlotte, some thirty-five years ago at a charity benefit in London, and after a couple of years, the two were married. Walter received a job offer in Oxford with a university associate of his, the two deciding to open their own firm, and thus he and Charlotte relocated. Fortunately enough for both he and Charlotte, they too came from very well established families, meaning that the pressures of moving, affording a new home and getting into the swing of married life was made rather considerably easier without the financial pressures that other newlyweds need to deal with. It wasn't like life didn't have its own stresses, regardless, but at least money was knocked off the list. Still, earlier in their marriage, Charlotte worked in an art gallery - something she rather jokingly claimed made full use of a degree in Philosophy.
Some three years after they moved, their first child was born; Frederic, and four years after him, Julia-- or as they are rather more used to being called, Freddie and Jules. Jules was always a very outgoing child. In contrast, Freddie is more soft spoken and quietly amused, where Jules just sort of pops up and seems to immediately make a comfort zone for herself and take to things easily. They are quite close, and get along for the most part, although Jules is definitely the more dominant personality. Freddie always was, and probably always will be, one of Jules' favourite people.
Their early lives were, for the most part, uneventful. Oh, there was the instance of Freddie being stung by jellyfish on a family cruise to the Caribbean, of Jules breaking her arm falling off a horse, but really, nothing too severe.
In fact, the most annoying thing in Jules life so far as she was concerned, manifested when she started at St. Hilda's Preparatory Academy for Girls, a private school founded in the Anglican faith. It wasn't wasn't the school itself that was a problem, really, but there was a spectacularly crone-ish History teacher called Mrs. Evans, that rather put her off the subject for life.
Freddie had gone to the brother school, St. Augustine's. They were rather stuffy, in many respects, but not bad schools. Jules' report cards frequently read that she was extremely eager, attentive, willing to learn. They also noted the ease with which she made friends and tried to get other children playing together. (And how often she cried when this didn't work, but at least the effort was there.)
It was at St. Hilda's that Jules would meet two of her best friends, even to this day - India Wilkins and Sarah Moresby (whose twin brother Ben was going to St. Augustine's). The three of them were rather terrible altogether, and would continue to be so right through primary school and into their secondary education.
St Hilda's and St Augustine's were both feeder schools for Hillbury, a private co-educational secondary school. Jules was extremely happy that for her first few years - seven through nine - Freddie was still at the school, and she really enjoyed the chance to bother her brother at school. After he left Hillbury, Freddie proceeded directly to university in London, intending to study medicine.
So far as her friends went, India and Sarah were still very much her core group, although a few more joined their circle, including Sarah's brother, Ben, and a newcomer who hadn't attended Augustine's - Vijay Rangarajan. Between them, there was the bright and bubbly Jules, India's dry sarcasm, the empathetic and artistic Sarah, Ben who was eternally diplomatic and humourous, and the quietly mischievous Vijay. They made for an entertaining group.
Still, there were some problems that became especially apparent in year nine and ten, when there more school trips abroad offered. The school encouraged students to 'taking advantage of the cultural opportunities afforded them by being so close to Europe', but with Jules signing up for every trip and then prodding her friends to do the same, the significance of India being a scholarship student and the wealth of Jules parents became a matter of tension. That Jules was privileged, spoiled, a brat, in India's opinion all came to the fore. The resentment and awkwardness that resulted did rather upset their social group whenever it resurfaced. It wasn't the end of their friendship, but it was definitely a matter of recurring conflict, and the beginning of one of Jules' guilt triggers over having things easy.
Through year ten, Jules and Ben had a sort of comical... on-again off-again romance, that was more just them messing around and attending social things as a couple, but nothing really resembling dating. It was more just friends plus making out, which was possibly for the best. It was fun, but silly, and came to a solid stop when Ben met a girl from another school that he developed an interest in in year eleven.
In lower sixth form, a new student arrived at the school - Daisy Carranza. She had moved down to Oxford from Edinburgh, because of her father's work. She was strangely engaging, and Jules found herself gradually drawn to her more and more. Maybe that in itself wasn't so unusual, Jules being a friendly, outgoing kind of girl, but it was a shock for her when she came to realise that she was actually attracted to Daisy. Attracted! But still attracted to boys? Whaaaa---???
That was basically her thought process for a little while, so, suffice to say she didn't act on it. She went on a few days with different guys, and eventually reconciled herself to the possibility of being attracted to men and women. ( What a notion. ) It took her a little longer to actually broach the topic with her friends, but the first person she told was India - tensions aside, they were still best friends, and snark and deadpan aside, India was very supportive. As was Sarah, for that matter, although there was That Awkward Moment before telling the others. All in all, though, it went well. The fact it was Daisy that had sort of... sparked that realisation went unmentioned.
Happily, they all managed to survive their A-level, Jules achieving the marks she needed to attend university in London, studying journalism and media. Before she went off to university, though, she decided to go traveling. India opted not to go, decided instead to get her teeth right into classes, but Vijay, Sarah, Ben, Daisy and Jules had quite the adventure through Europe for six months. They started in Turkey,travelled through Greece, then sailed to Italy and went up through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Poland and through the Baltic states and Scandinavia. From there they went through the Netherlands and to France. From France, Ben, Sarah and Vijay all opted to return to England via the Eurostar, but Daisy was set to go and visit family in Barcelona. Jules decided to go with her... admittedly more out of interest in Daisy than in Barcelona or Spain in general, although the two of them did travel around the country for an extra month past the others departure. The two of them traveling sort of developed into a brief, but very fun fling - neither of them really held expectations, since Daisy was to return to Spain to study, and Jules was going to be in London, but the two remained close afterwards.
It sort of made it solid in Jules mind that yes, she was attracted to men and to women, and partially prompted her to come out to her parents. While it wasn't ideal - her father was rather bewildered, at first, but made a rather good recovery - it certainly didn't go badly, and Freddie was especially supportive.
After a few months at home, Jules was off to university, and was actually sharing an apartment with her brother, who was still chipping away at his medical degree, with a speciality in tropical disease and parasites. It all went rather smoothly, really; Jules put a lot of effort into keeping in touch with her friends, and while they weren't all close to one another, they tried to meet up every couple of months and during the holidays to see how things were going. Naturally, of course, with Jules being Jules, she made a fair few new friend and dated a few new people, and to be honest, her love life was rather more interesting to think about than her classes. In her first year, she met the rather lovely Lucy Gordon, who was unfortunately not a smoker, and tragically a mathematics major. She was very nice, but found Jules a bit... too much. They only dated for a couple of months before it just wasn't really working. After Lucy, there was Dean Allister; fun, but again, short lived. Fortunately, she did meet a long term love, albeit a platonic one: Greg Thomas, an American that worked a DJ gig at a local club. A bit of a scamp, admittedly, but one that managed to get along with Freddie rather well and helped Jules try to get her brother more out and about. Greg actually became a bit of a feature in their apartment.
Really, who she was or wasn't dating wasn't a big deal, but siblings talk and children and parents talk, and her parents became progressively uneasy with Jules' apparent lack of concern with dating either gender. They never commented directly, but simply took to becoming rather cold if every the topic or something related was raised. The theoretical support was rather easier than applying it in reality.
Her personal dating issues were given rather less priority when, in her third year, Freddie started dating the rather... caustic Poppy Chadwick. Poppy worked for a radio station, and eventually would come to co-host a morning show. She and Jules also got along about as well as... well. They simply didn't, although their dislike was generally expressed via passive aggressive enthusiasm on Jules' part and biting remarks on Poppy's. At first, Jules wasn't too terribly concerned, but after weeks turned into months turned into over a year, she was a little tense - especially given some of Poppy's less than complimentary comments. Freddie was, however, infatuated. Still, Jules was not overly concerned, because she was his sister and clearly, in that scenario, your sister would come before your harpy of a girlfriend, right?
She thought so, at least until she came home and... found a kitten in their flat. A kitten, which did prove rather problematic for one allergic to cats. But, as Poppy pointed out, Freddie had so often commented on how much he enjoyed cats, and how much he'd like one, and how he couldn't possibly return it and... well, why should he when it was his apartment and he wanted to keep it?
Either it was force Freddie to give up the cat or move out, and Jules decided (with a good deal of passive aggressive happiness and NO NO REALLY IT'S LOVELY!!!) to move in with Greg, which was just as well, because he'd been wanting to free himself of jerk Steve for some time. Thus, about nine months before she graduated, Jules moved in with Greg, and a little later Vijay moved to London and joined them.
After she graduated, Jules commenced the hunt for work, scoring a gig writing book reviews for a couple of magazines. Nothing big, but given that she didn't especially need to work and was doing it because she enjoyed it, it was good enough. She also started to date a woman called Rachel Balharry, and became extremely attached to her. Their relationship seemed to be going excellently for a solid eight months or so, until it came about that Rachel was extremely uncomfortable about Jules' bisexuality; comments about a lack of commitment or being attention-seeking came into play, and ultimately ended in Jules being distraught as she retreated to a weekend of drinking dangerous cocktails that Vijay tried to make from a book he received for his birthday. (It was even more salt in the wound considering the timing; the following weekend they had been meant to go up to Oxford for lunch with Charlotte and Walter. ) The scale of the reaction was perhaps indication enough of how upset she was; for the most part, whenever Jules was upset or shocked by something, she tended to laugh it off. Not so this time.
It was in the wake of this sadness and on too many cocktails, that Vijay, Greg and Jules began discussing romantic novels, from the pile that Jules had to review for one of the magazines. Jules declared she would attempt one of her own and... well. She did. With the encouragement and teasing of her roommates, she somehow managed to finish the thing over the course of a few months - a monstrous creation that she couldn't really bring herself to take seriously, no matter how much fun she'd had writing it. The joke went further when she actually went through and submitted it for publishing, and it was accepted.
It paid rather better than the reviews, and was far more entertaining, so gradually... well. Gradually she shifted from writing reviews to working on more romance novels, informing her parents that she was hoping to pursue a course in crime literature, inspired by her father's vocation. Not quite true, although at least with her use of an absurd pen name (Beatrice Bankhurst, because Vijay was an enthusiast for alliteration) the odds were hopefully in her favour for them not realising the monstrosity she had unleashed was actually her own creation. The publishing of her... masterpiece... was a source of entertainment right through their circle, and prompted a reunion party, which arguably made the whole exercise worthwhile.
They decided to try and make a tradition of it, so a year later in 2007, the plan was a week trip to the south of France. It's unfortunate that after the trip, Jules found herself waking up in the Garden instead of at her parent's villa.
abilities »
Ah. Ahaha. Well, nothing superhuman or supernatural; Jules lives in a limited world limited by our own physical reality. She can, however, jog at a decent pace, put away a considerable amount of alcohol and write smutty novels compelling enough to be successful. Jules also possesses the ability to be positive in some of the most absurd circumstances, the majority of the time.
Whether or not any of these things are actually legit skills remains to be seen.
people »
Important people here.