Appeal

[magelet.livejournal.com]

Name: Jen/Lux
Age: 20
House you were sorted into: Gryffindor
Link to original application: Here you go.
Are there any questions you would like to elaborate on?
I could technically elaborate on my entire application all over again, since a lot has changed me in the past year. But, I don’t want people in the appeals committee to not bother reading what I write because it gets too long or sounds redundant, since I know questions will be asked later; instead, I’ll pull out fragments from my application and explain it a little more.

The text in the small, red font is from my application.

If I had to change one thing about the world, it wouldn’t be something big and dramatic like ‘end world hunger’ or ‘end the poverty in the world,’ I would choose to open people’s minds and hearts.

I say this because there are a lot of people I talk to out there that are completely stuck on the stereotype, or they just can’t seem to ever see past anything besides face value. They won’t accept the possibility that there could always be another answer. You know, it amazes me to this day that people still believe in the creation story? I’m Catholic, I’ve been through twelve years worth of religion courses throughout my time in the education system and it’s been said, proven and even written into (okay, I’m not going to get into big religious terms here, since I might just lose people again) official documents that those stories are to teach morals, not to be taken in word for word. And then, I meant people who quote the bible and tell me that the world was created in seven days, no ifs, ands or buts. This is from a university level student at the same age that I am. It kills me, talking to people like this.

I hope I didn’t lose anyone on my example. My point is, people these days, no matter how advanced our technology is getting or how ‘smart’ we think we might be compared to our ancient history, we’re still extremely closed minded people. Racism, Sexism, Discrimination, Homophobia, Hate, all of that, it exists because there are huge groups of people out there who just won’t open up their mind a little to accept something a little new or give the effort to learn something that they have never knew before. If I had to change one thing in the world, it would be to open up people’s minds because I honestly believed that is all it would take to make our world a better place.

What makes a person respectable in my view is if they did something that is worthy of respect. They don’t have to be the nicest person in the world or the most helpful person around; they just need to possess something that normal people usually don’t show.

This answer has changed a bit from last year. Instead of possessing something the normal person wouldn’t show, I’d say I would have respect for someone who would/could do something that I couldn’t do. People who are extremely hard working, people who sacrifice a ton of material pleasures in life to achieve something, or just plain people who stick to their loyalties/beliefs for scores of years have my utmost respect. There’s more of course, but that’s basically it. I’m not extremely hardworking towards any goal, people like Terry Fox who’d still attempt to run across Canada (big country!) even though he has cancer himself and walks on a prosthetic leg is just amazing.

Then, the other bits I’m talking about are already mentioned in my original application.

What do you look for in a friend?

I’m going to re-answer this question since I don’t think I was very clear the first time around. In a friend, I look for someone who can understand me completely and on some level, be someone who I can share talks and advice with without feeling too... exposed? I’m a pretty private person, anyone who knows me can tell you that there’s a ton of stuff about me that they don’t know about, even if we’ve been friends for six or seven years. In real life, most people would probably just see me, label me as a certain stereotype and then shrug, I wouldn’t bother changing their opinions since I see no real need to. It’s not on purpose, just somewhere along the line of growing up, I ended up developing into a person that doesn’t share much information. It’s very hard for me to trust someone, even someone who should technically be a person that I’m very close with, I still don’t completely trust them enough to reveal myself completely to them. I start to feel exposed and I panic when it happens. I hate being at a disadvantage in anything and not having anything to hide behind makes me feel disadvantaged. A friend to me would be someone who could accept all of that and still offer his or her friendship to me

I want to be really happy.

This is from ‘what I want to accomplish the most’ question. I think I need to clarify this one for people to get what I’m talking about when I say happy. I’m not an emo kid, let’s say that first. No offence to anyone who is. But I’m always either ridiculously stressed out, worried or upset about at least one or two things on a daily basis. I’m never completely happy or satisfied, I haven’t had those feelings since like grade two of my elementary schooling. There’s always something about the next day I have to dread or worry about or there’s work that is never finished, tests to stress over or group presentations (which I LOATHE) to prepare for. Half the time when I get home I feel like hiding myself away from everyone just to get some “me” time to breathe and try to relax from all of that, of course, that never works.

To accomplish this little goal of being ‘really happy’ for once would probably require me to finish off everything that needs to be done so that I can finally relax. The sad thing is, I realise that most likely won’t happen until I’m retired and it’s my kids turn to do the stressing while I bask in the money they make. It’d make me really happy if I could get to happy-dom before I’m old and gray or suffering from Alzheimer which I’m sure I’ll get since my memory at age twenty is already the shiet. And you know what? Thinking about when I retire and my kids supporting me back makes me wonder if I’ll even have kids or bother getting married in life, because being alone when you’re old and gray could potentially be pretty depressing.

... I think my problem is I think too much or too depressingly and end up making myself unnecessarily miserable.

But, at this very point in time. I think my 'really happy' might be synonymous with being 'being rich' because a lot of the major stress and worries in my life right now come from financially related issues... it has been for the last ten or so years of my life.

Explain why you feel misplaced in your current House!
I've been a member of HiH for over a year now; I've participated, modded and met a lot of people so I've truly given my house a very long try. I’m not some teenybopper who changed her mind in just a month or anything. While I wasn’t ecstatically happy being stamped as a Gryffindor at first, I could see where the votes were coming from and I just shrugged and thought, “why not?” After awhile, I honestly did end up liking being in Gryffindor, mostly because back then it was awesome back then and the Prefect team was absolute love (nothing against the current team or anything, just those positions have been tossed around too many times in the last few months for a connection to grow). I even sort of developed some of that house pride for a while, however, over the last few months those feelings have pretty much died away. I don't feel that 'click' with Gryffindor anymore and a lot of the original Gryffindors that I had originally connected with have left or they're no longer active anymore. It makes me feel like I'm just clinging to a loose tree branch that will snap at any given moment and I'm not particularly fond of that feeling.


What would you see in the Mirror of Erised? Be exact with your descriptions!
... Honestly, I think this is a stupid question. What I see in the Mirror of Erised right now, would be different from what I would see an hour later. Even Harry Potter didn’t see one continuous thing throughout the book, he first saw his parents, and later on in a different situation he saw where the Philosopher’s stone was. But before all that, it wasn’t until after he looked into the mirror that he discovered what he really wanted to see so there’s no telling what the mirror would show me. While writing this application right now, I haven’t had breakfast or lunch yet and I’m pretty hungry, if I looked into the mirror at this moment I would probably see myself eating a delicious meal and feeling satiated. Does that reveal anything about myself? Because I happen to be eating does that mean I’m a glutton? No, it just means I’m hungry right now so yeah, I don’t think this question is really that useful?

However, figuratively, what I would want to see for myself in the future (but this was already one of the questions in the sorting application?), I would see myself successful in life. I would have my own house, mortgage paid off early, a successful job where I wouldn’t have to work horrible hours or in uncomfortable situations and I would just... relax. Enjoy what’s left of my life in an easy and leisurely pace, perhaps visit the countries I’ve always wanted to go to and tour through amazing/sacred/rural/picturesque areas of the globe that aren’t trampled with tourist attractions. I want to see the world I’m living in.

What makes you unique?
We’re all unique on this globe. I’m unique because I’m me. There’s not another me in the world and every choice I make, every word I use and every breath I take is unique because there’s only one me in this entire world who would think and act this way. ... Am I going to get slapped for answering like this? I mean, we are all unique as we are without having to pull up a zillion reasons to explain why we're unique. We aren't clones or robots.

Comments

[jellybellys.livejournal.com]

You're confusing me, becausly honestly I see myself in you a LOT and I myself am in Gryffindor, but you feel misplaced and I want to know why. So forgive all the questions I'm about to ask you! ;o)

Explain why you feel misplaced in your current House!

Could you elaborate a bit more on this for me please? For instance, why did you feel somewhat disappointed in the first place that you were sorted into Gryffindor? Do you know why your House Pride has died, or is it all tied to recent upheavels among prefects? You also say that a lot of people you developed connections with are no longer participating at HiH. Does this mean that if they were, you would still want to be a Gryff?

Explain (in detail) why you would belong in each House, and also why you would NOT belong in each house.

Who are your favorite characters in canon and why?

Who are your least favorite characters in canon and why?

Please tell me your opinion on the following characters: Hagrid, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Ernie MacMillan, Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecomb, Lucius Malfoy.

[jellybellys.livejournal.com]

Oh, and tell me your feelings on Peter Pettigrew as well, please. Forgot about him!

I'll answer them one by one.

[magelet.livejournal.com]

Explain why you feel misplaced in your current House!

I was never ‘disappointed’ to be sorted into Gryffindor at the beginning, just a little surprised because you can see from the votes on my application, it looks like people just took a look at the first few votes and then just followed suit in slapping on a Gryffindor! vote themselves, their sigtags and then off to sort all the others in time to get Top Sorter points. I know for a fact that a lot of people do just follow suit in votes here and my application was pretty lengthy compared to the rest that week so it felt like a lot of people didn’t even bother to read all of the writing I put into it. If I was disappointed with anything, it would probably have been mostly that.

However, like I said, the prefect at that time tangerinesidhe was honestly the most awesome prefect I’ve ever had and having her head the house made me eventually forget my misgivings and enjoy being a Gryffindor. siriusmatters was the next prefect and in the same way, she was also an awesome leader for the house and between the two of them, I honestly felt encouraged to participate in various activities all over to rake in more points (I call this enthusiasm to participate as “house pride”). I also felt comfortable with my housemates as well.

Stuff happened before the New Year came, a lot of people left, I’m not going to get into that drama scene so I sort of withdrew myself from HiH (except for my charms club and flourish modding). I joined TG during that time and had fun in it for a few months and the game sort of made me forget about HiH, but right now, I look at the common room and just go “huh?” Usually the house all moves in one direction and I’m not feeling like I’m moving with them. I honestly don’t get this whole pirate thing or even how the hell it got linked to Gryffindor. I wouldn’t want to be associated as a dirty, outlawed sailor and while people may say “it’s just for fun!” it’s obviously not that way with all the little pirate jingles I see everywhere. I also don’t feel motivated to participate in any big activity anymore. A lot of the trivia that goes on, the graphics contests or the writing ones, I could easily join in and I used to but... now I just scroll past those entries and then close the window.

Lastly, HiH is an Internet community, an interest-based community meant to give its members a place to have fun. And, I’m not having the fun I originally had anymore in Gryffindor. I can’t put it in any simpler terms then that.

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[jellybellys.livejournal.com]

Sorry if I seem a bit slow...I'm very tired and I'm totally blaming it on that. Heh.

I completely understand what you are saying in regards to people just voting the same as everyone else. I almost always (and actually, one of the apps I voted on an hour or so ago would make a liar out of me if I said *always* because I didn't elaborate on that one) tell people why I'm voting them the way I vote them. I don't like the sheep mentality either, and the other two things that seem to occur a lot at 9 and 3/4: the frequency in which short apps get voted "Hufflepuff" and the frequency in which people vote people into their own houses with only an explanation of "I like you I want to steal you!" when the person clearly belongs in another house. Granted, I've done/said that myself, but only on apps where I either a. Felt torn between Gryffindor and another house and b. When the person was clearly a Gryffindor. And I also usually provided a bit more explanation than "I like you" as well. These are all reasons why I wanted to be a judge in the first place, and I did see when you mentioned it (I didn't read through the comments in your original app at first) that people seemed to give you a surprising lack of explanation for why they thought you were a Gryff. So, er...sorry for the rambling. All that was to say I understand that, and where you're coming from.

The me being slow part comes from this: I'm guessing (based on your response to my 1st question) that it was more *surprise* that you were voted into Gryffindor, and then irritation that you felt people were not giving you the due courtesy of really thinking on where to place you? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! ;o)

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[magelet.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I'm the one whose slow. :'( Is this another question, or just a rhetorical clarification?

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[jellybellys.livejournal.com]

No, I was genuinely asking if I was correct in my assumption that your feelings about Gryffindor stemmed from surprise that people thought you were a Gryff, and then irritation because you felt people weren't giving you due consideration based on the length of your app. ;o)

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[magelet.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to see people just tossing a vote down and then irritated (if you want to use that word) -because- it seemed like a lot of people were going by the sheep mentality. But no, my feelings about Gryffindor didn't "stem" from that.

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[keristars.livejournal.com]

Just a note - the pirate thing has been around since the summer of 2005, before the book came out, when the Gryffs were pranking the Puffs. It was really weird, and I said one of the reasons I didn't want to be a Gryff was because the pirate thing was stupid. ;)

I mean, I was really appalled at the pirate thing, but then I got sorted to Puff and we eventually found ourselves laughing at how we're like secret agents or something, and I realized that's probably how the pirate thing came around. Or maybe it's just because of Jack Sparrow - who knows?

But I wanted to share that.

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[magelet.livejournal.com]

I know, but it had never evolved into a big thing. Just one or two icons that only a handful of people shared. It was just one or two that were sharing the joke and it never covered the entire common room like it does now. Now it's like, the new Gryffindor mascot and symbol and symbol is a pretty big leap forward. At least the Lion/Gryphon was a majestic and bold creature, strong and a leader etc. Pirates? Outlaws. Dirty. Murdered and raped the helpless on the sea. Cheated. Did underhanded things. etc. Sure, they were eventually granted a piece of paper that called them "privateers" and just -some- got that, but in every country, they're depicted as nothing remotely like what Gryffindors are.

And Jack Sparrow? A really cool character but this is the Harry Potter fandom, not Pirates of the Carribean, if that really is why the pirate thing is so popular then uh.. D:

Re: I'll answer them one by one.

[keristars.livejournal.com]

No, it was a big thing. It was HUGE. The entire Puff layout was pirate-themed in red and gold and black, and at least half the Gryffindors who sorted me used pirate-themed language or sigtags or icons. (Er, the Puff layout when the Gryffs pranked them and changed it.)


Also, I think the pirates that are being symbolized are the romantic ones, rather than the historical ones, and there's a difference, but I guess this is just something where you're sick of it, so it doesn't matter one way or the other. :P I know how that is, trust me!

[magelet.livejournal.com]

Explain (in detail) why you would belong in each House, and also why you would NOT belong in each house.

I’m going to answer the question in terms of a quality I hold from each house and what I don’t have.

Traits and characteristics that I hold from each house:

Gryffindor - I have a set of ethics and morals that I mostly believe in. The world cannot function without a set code of conduct and something that defines what is right and wrong for everyone, rules of course, can be debated and appealed to but essentially there is a set norm for what the reasonable person would do. I can also be very passionate about certain topics that are important or very interesting to me.

Hufflepuff - I am loyal. I’m loyal to my real friends, to what I believe in, loyal to causes I believe in and finally, I’m loyal to myself. I wouldn’t ever betray someone who trusted me completely, not without a damn good reason.

Ravenclaw - I like to learn about new things. Learning more about topics that interest me. Sometimes when I get very fascinated with a subject I could spend the whole day researching about it simply for the sake of learning more about it. I remember back before I had a computer (or internet) I would spend hours at the library just looking up about topics that intrigued me (and get mad when I find out certain books are missing or borrowed).

Slytherin - I prefer doing things only when I have a good chance at succeeding. I try not to rush into things but first weigh out each option (with a lot of information backing it up) before putting myself into any situation. I don’t like being directly involved in conflicts, however I do still find myself being a part of it (at the fringes) as a middle person. From there I can nudge people towards this opinion or persuade them against something another.

Traits I do not possess from each house:

Gryffindor - I don’t do the “saving people” bit or have I ever felt the desire to. I don’t mean that line in the classic hero fights evil archtype but in the simple, if I see someone being picked on, do I help them? No. If someone is being bad-mouthed by their friend, do I go and defend them if I overhear? No. I don’t like bringing unnecessary troubles to myself, even if I clearly see the wrong in what others are doing. I think to myself, would they do the same for me if they were in my shoes? Nope. Perhaps a handful of them would and for those few handfuls, I would say or do something for their sake, but, for everyone else? I really wouldn’t care what happens to them.

Hufflepuff - I’m not hardworking, and that’s a canon trait that was written right into the sorting hat song. I like procrastinate and even now, I’m procrastinating from doing my homework to type this in reply to you and it’s pretty obvious that my homework should be prioritised dozens of levels above this but yet, I’m not doing it. I probably won’t even start until an hour before class.

Ravenclaw - I’m prone to making stupid mistakes here and there as I go. At times I decide things on a spur of the moment rather then through careful thought. Like today for example, I spent hours last night reading reviews, recommendations and comparing brand prices on haircolouring products online yet today at the drugstore, I didn’t end up buying the brand or the colour that I had decided on after all the careful research done the night before. ... I’m not going to say whether my hair is a mess now or no, but I definitely deviated from the knowledge and conclusion I made last night.

Slytherin - I’m not “selective” when it comes to different things, nor do I do things that all the other people in my ‘stereotypic group’ should. I don’t choose friends because they’re blonde hair and blue eyed or only talk to people who are punk and spike their hair (not that I’m by definition any of these two groups, they’re examples) and like a certain type of music. I guess I’ll say that I don’t claim to be super ‘elite’ on what I may be or don’t do.

[magelet.livejournal.com]

Now your next two questions, I really don’t understand how asking them can help show what house I could fit under. I know they’re default sorting questions, but explain to me, really explain to me, how they’ll help? I could say that I love character A from so and so movie, who happens to be a drug addict, abusive and a murderer but that doesn’t mean that I am drawn to those qualities, aspire to be like him or have any correlation to him at all. It could simply be because a) I like the actor from his acting history, b) he was good looking compared to the rest of the cast, c) I hated the main character and just wanted any reason to not support him, d) me and my friend cracked up over a bunch of inside jokes over that particular character and all of that just made me like the character too or e) I liked his costume/mask. The list could go on.

Same thing for your final question. I’ve been in the fandom since I was in grade seven (and from my age you can do the math on how long that’s been :P ) and I’ve been in a number of canon RPGs, read essays etc throughout the years and spread comments and jokes between friends based on certain characters throughout my different RPG experiences so my opinions on all of them have really morphed beyond what the books reveal.

[jellybellys.livejournal.com]

I know they’re default sorting questions, but explain to me, really explain to me, how they’ll help?

Well, they'll help because I have no idea where to place you, and I would like an accurate representation of who you are. I meant canon as in the books, not the movies. Based on the characters you like (and WHY you like them) it shows what you enjoy in people, in life, or at the very least what you are entertained by.

As for the last question, you don't need to tell me your original thoughts on them, you can tell me what you think now, with all that outside stuff thrown in. That works fine.

If you really don't want to answer those questions, I'll ask you some different ones.

Is it more important to you to be a good person or to be successful?

Do you admire those who've become successful in life more if they became that way through intelligence, or do you admire them more if they became successful from hard work?

"There is no good and evil, but only power, and those too weak to seek it." (paraphrasing here...) tell me your thoughts on that quote.

Which house do you *want* to be in, or is the answer "any but Gryffindor?"

[magelet.livejournal.com]

I chose "I could say that I love character A from so and so movie" as an example, I didn't outline a particular movie nor did I say it was the HP movies. Please don't immediately take offence in my replies. It's not that I don't want to answer them, I do and I could give you some very long answers to those particular questions, but like I said, I don't really get how that really helps. I know they're default sorting questions and I've been an appeal judge before and seen through communities and their change of questions every few months and I've never seen a correlation between character preference and house. It's obvious I would be entertained by the characters in the book if I would stay in the fandom for so many years. So, if I were to spend time answering those questions for a formal situation like this, I'd like to know how they'll help. I could go on for hours and hours about this character and that character in an informal and friendly setting, but; when I talk to friends about my interest in characters, they won't use that to judge me in any way. Please tell me you understand what I'm trying to say with that, I'd be happy to answer them if you tell me in what way they'll help you judge me, because that is ultimately what you're going to do here.


Is it more important to you to be a good person or to be successful?

Those two questions are pretty keyword intense, no?

- Successful, as I have already mentioned several times in the original application and above in the articles that I wished to elaborate on. That doesn't mean that just because I choose the word successful that I wouldn't choose 'a good person' either. The world is very material in this day and age, what I see and learn of those around me only serves to further prove this. The only good people that get recognised are those who have done an extraordinary amount of good like Mother Theresa, etc. There are people who donate their kidneys to the kid with cancer across the country, they make one ot two headlines on the second and third page and that's it. After you read about it inthe paper you would just go, "oh, what a wonderful thing to do," close the paper and then forget about it the next day. There also doesn't seem to be much in terms of rewards (in life, I'm not talking about medals and all that, just in life, in general) for those who do good as opposed to those that are successful. At least with successful you might get the chance to be your own boss instead of working for someone else, score with a beautiful wife or husband and successfully raise kids who won't turn out to be drug addicts or the next bums on the road.

--
Do you admire those who've become successful in life more if they became that way through intelligence, or do you admire them more if they became successful from hard work?

- Intelligence and hard work are related. Someone who scores high on tests can only do so after putting in a lot of time studying and that is hard work, isn't it? There are ocassions where certain people are just quick at picking things up the first time around but I wouldn't call that "intelligence," they're just people who are quick learners instead. So, there's really no difference in how I would feel towards these two groups.

I'll answer the others when I'm home. I'm normally blunt with my words, and I'm told you've been feeling offence in it. Since this is a judging and not an interrogation, I thought I could ask questions back to clarify what's being asked of me in return. I apologize if it's coming off in the wrong way.

[keristars.livejournal.com]

>.> This might seem odd, but I think what you said just now is a clear response to those questions, and are enough for me to place you somewhere. However, I am interested in what you think about Draco Malfoy. What do you think his motivations are? Where do they come from? What kind of person do you think he is? Is he an evil character, is he ambiguous, redeemable? That kind of thing.


I swear that your answer will help me place you even better, and I don't care if your opinion/thoughts on him have changed over the years. I'd like to know what you think now. Thanks!

[nyreak.livejournal.com]

Sorry, this all was happening when I 1) wasn't actually on the appeals board and then 2) while I was internet-less.

I only have one question for you, and some may see it as me just checking so I can put you where you want to be, but that isn't the case. I'm pretty set on where I think you should be, but I was just wondering, where do you think you should be? And, other than Gryffindor, is there another house you think you shouldn't be in? (elaboration is helpful, but I really don't need more than a sentence or two!)

[magelet.livejournal.com]

It's alright. :) Though, after giving it some thought, and after reading someone's "discussion" about me in the judges community, I've decided that there is no real reason for me to subject myself to rude comments about myself behind my back, especially on the internet. I'm going to withdraw from HiH entirely, because honestly I'm a little tired from all the backtalking I'm hearing from HiH members. I'll remove myself from all the communities now, as well as inform Sas that I won't be leading the Charms club anymore. Thank you.

[globegirl.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've read everything so far and I've got a pretty good idea of where I think you belong, but I'm not 110% certain yet, and I'd like to be that sure before I give my vote.

Keri and Jaime have both asked excellent questions that I'm pretty sure will push me into that 110% range of certainty once you answer them, so I don't think I can come up with anything better to ask. So I'll wait til you've answered them. :)