Demeleier Application
Feb. 5th, 2014 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
awizardiditPlayer Name: Fu
Player DW:alcesverdes
Contact: fujurpreux[@]gmail.com
Character Number: First
Character: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden
Source: The Dresden Files
Appearance: Since I took the icons from the comic version: here's one image.
Harry in his laboratory.
And here's one illustration based on a scene from the books.
History: Here.
Timeline: The end of Small Favor, the 10th book in the series.
Personality:
Harry has been described as a "good man" to his face by at least two persons who objectively are good judges of character, and was named the Samwise Gamgee of the group when his friends casted themselves as characters from the Lord of the Rings. (Harry protested; he wanted to be Gandalf, but the role had been unanimously given to his fairy godmother.) He disagrees with the "good" part, too, since he's taken several actions that lean toward the morally gray part of the scale, and he's worked with less-than-upstanding people. Yet, those were the best solutions he could find under extenuating circumstances.
But he is a good man. He's always trying to do what is right—or what he thinks is right, this is an important distinction—, sometimes in spite of what could be constructed as his best interests or his own well-being. For example, life would be easier for him if he took the offer made by Johnny Marcone, Chicago's crime boss—the crime boss—, to work for him. Then, Harry would have an steady income, a good insurance, and many other benefits. But he will never do it; Marcone may have proved to be a reliable ally, and he may have some honor in him, but he's still a gangster. Harry doesn't want a part in the criminal world because that wouldn't be right. (Besides, his best friend is a cop; she'd disown him forever.)
As for the Sam Gamgee part, Harry is that loyal. To a fault and back. If he's got your back, you're set up for good. Just don't go over to the dark side, betray him or betray anyone he loves. Then he'll be crushed and yet he'll try to stop you. This happened with Justin DuMorne, a wizard who adopted Harry when he was a child. He taught him the basics of magic... and then sent an evil spirit to murder teen Harry, since the boy refused to go with Justin's evil plan to take over the White Council of Wizards. Harry turned the tables and killed Justin in self defense soon afterward.
Harry is extremely stubborn. Once he takes a decision, nothing will stand on his way as he goes through with it. Specially if the stakes are high, and even more if he's emotionally invested in those stakes. His friends and family are strictly off limits.
To the dismay of the mortals around him, and the disconcert of the supernatural beings on the receiving end, Harry is a geek who keeps making pop culture references as often as he can. He doesn't care if no one understands them. He just likes to amuse himself. In the same geek-like venue, whenever he plays Dungeons & Dragon, sHarry gets honestly upset because magic "doesn't work like that". His outbursts have ruined more than one gaming session. (As a side note, his character is a barbarian.)
One of Harry's trademarks is his big mouth. He's one of those characters that the more nervous, anxious or stressed he gets, the more he looses the connection between his brain and his mouth. And he's in life-or-death situations often enough he just keeps making more and more enemies just by talking. He has no problems speaking his mind and being irreverent about it, whether you're a normal human, a fairy, a god, or a mafia boss. Yet, he's paid for insulting the wrong people, and learned that sometimes it's better to play the diplomacy game. Fairies in this series, for example, love word play. They can't lie, but they can twist words and phrases until they've led others to believe a falsehood. That's a skill Harry is learning.
Growing up as an orphan wasn't easy for Harry. Being betrayed and nearly killed by the man he considered a father figure, and having in turn to kill him in self defense instead didn't help matters. Harry longs for a family, a big family, and for the longest time his self-esteem issues made him believe he deserved one. In the course of the books, he made one, though, composed by close friends. He eventually found his long-lost half brother, and later on (after his pull point) his long-lost daughter—he didn't know she existed until she was eight years old. He'd do anything for any of them.
While he can be amiable, a lovable, goofy dork, and sometimes even charismatic, Harry can also be ruthless. If the situation has gone to a place where he has to maim or even kill to survive or to protect someone, he'd do it. The only time when he was unnecessarily cruel, he was under the influence of the shadow of a fallen angel. The situation lasted a couple of books, until he eventually talked her into turning to the side of good and she gave her life for him. The shadow exclusively, not the fallen angel proper.
There's also a darker side of Harry, a double of sorts that claims to be his subconscious. He's only "seen" by Harry himself when he's asleep or unconscious. This darker side, that Harry calls his Alter, is more concerned about his own well-being, and tries to convince Harry to take the more selfish choices. Harry pretty much hates him. Or more like the part of himself that's Alter!Harry.
Finally, Harry is not as self-aware as he claims he is. It took him many years to realize that people firmly planted in the "good guys" camp were scared of him. And with excellent reasons, too. That wake up call made him realize he is scary. However, that happens in the next book after his canon pull point. Still, I thought important to mention it.
Abilities: In this universe, humans with magic abilities have the potential to control the energies that surround them. For example, in Small Favor, a group of fallen angels are able to create a dome that cut a certain area from the rest of the world, thus limiting the amount of magic one could use inside. Their target (not Harry, by the way) did the equivalent of holding her breath with the magic she could retain and had a fair chance against them. Then again, even if she has a human body, The Archive is one of the most powerful characters in the series.
Magical energies interfere with electronic devices in this universe. Anything built after WWII is going to suffer if a wizard is around. The stronger the wizard, the worst the effect. Harry tries his best to keep his aura tucked under control, but it depends on his mental state. If he's calm, it's easier. If not, well... In any case, even when he's not trying he can blow up a computer just by being in the room. Yet, he designed Hexus, a spell meant to break electronics up on purpose. Because sometimes you need that too.
A wizard, a term used regardless of gender, is someone who has been trained to control that potential. Not everyone has enough potential to be worth training in the eyes of the White Council of Wizards (Harry is against this and considers dangerous not to train everyone to use their power responsibly; events later on prove he's in the right), but most people can learn basic spells if they work hard enough.
Harry claims he ranks in the top 40 most powerful wizards in the world in terms of raw power. However, he recognizes "weaker"-but-more-focused magical users could not only be a match for him, but they could also beat him up, since he's pretty much a brute whose approach to problems is to smash things out of his way. Less by design and more because it's the only choice his enemies leave him at the end of the day, though.
Since spells are, to put it in some way, a structured way to control the surrounding energies, to bend them to one's will, to use a word of a sentence in the wizard's native tongue, something that could be use in everyday conversation, could be dangerous. That could trigger the magic at a subconscious level. Thus, some wizards use Coptic, others Sanscrit, and etcetera. Harry uses, among other things, Spanish and Pig Latin. Mostly Pig Latin. (Latin is the common language among the White Council, and Harry learned from a correspondence course. His proficiency ranges from "barely acceptable" to "cringe-worthy".)
Here's a list of the spells he uses in the curse of the series. Harry came out with most of them himself. The ones he uses the most are Fuego (fire)—a personal favorite of him—, Ventus (wind), and Forzare (a blast of energy).
Another important factor regarding the control of magic, are emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger of magic. For example, in order to kill someone with magic, the one casting the spell really has to hate his target. It has to be real, undiluted hate. No buts or ifs. Harry has learned to harness his emotions of fear and anger to help him fuel his spells during combat, which often turns over the tables at the most desperate point of a fight.
One innate power all wizards in this universe share is Soulgazing. After a few seconds of eye contact, the wizard and the other person they're looking at begin to see each other's soul. It can be a very dramatic experience, scary and overwhelming, depending on who the other person is. There is no way to lie, nor to stop it once it began. It can only happen once in a life-time between the same two people, too. Since the books are a first-person account by Harry, we don't actually see how his soul is. It can't be that bad, though. People still talk and cooperate with him after a Soulgaze. Harry is so used to this he doesn't look at people in the eye other than a quick glance, with makes him seem, in words of another character, somewhat autistic.
Names also have power in this universe. If anyone, human, fairy or any other, say their own full names to someone else, they're basically giving the other control over themselves. That's why this character goes only by Harry Dresden, and will never say his full name to anyone. The only exception would be in a dire situation and he's trying to bargain a way out. But it has to be very, very bad.
As far as non-magic abilities go, Harry has strong leadership skills. He organized a group of people with lesser magical powers into an organization called the Paranet, and helped them be more prepared against supernatural predators. Strength in numbers and all that. He also has his own personal army of pixies, who are extremely loyal to him, in part because he pays them regularly with pizza, but mostly because he freed several of them from the White Court of Vampires. They call him the (pi)'Zza Lord, and they work mostly on surveillance—and once they killed a rogue fairy queen.
He's also a good teacher. He has no problems going in lengths and detail about magical theory—he knows a lot of it, and enjoys explaining how everything works at the best of his abilities. He also might enjoy a little to much seeing his student(s) despair because of the endless repetitions needed to develop both discipline and power.
Being a private eye, who even works sometimes as a consultant with the Chicago Police Department regarding supernatural crimes (there's an special division who hires him from time to time; most of the police don't believe on what he can do), he has his fair share of deductive skills. He's methodical and takes in a lot of detail from his surroundings, specially when he's working on a case. Things slip by him on occasion, of course, specially when he's tired, stressed, hurt, or everything at once.
At some point, he realized how important stamina was, so he began a regular exercise schedule with a focus on running. His best friend, Karrin Murphy, taught him aikido, of which, among other martial arts, she is a master. Harry also carries a gun, which he knows how to use by now, because he learned in the bad way those things are actually useful (who's going to expect a wizard to shoot them?).
Finally, he learned to play the guitar as an rehabilitation exercise after he burned his left hand. He's not that good, though.
Inventory:
- The clothes on his back
- A silver pentacle hanging from his neck
- His canvas duster, enchanted with protection spells
- His wizard staff and his blasting rod, both made of wood and carved with special runes
- His dog, Mouse
Prose Sample: Sample 1.
Sample two:
The library seemed like a good place to continue his research. Better than most, anyway. Not that asking around didn't provide good information. Legwork was a fundamental part of being a detective, after all, but getting some background knowledge would help a lot. He needed context if he wanted to make any substantial progress.
Harry didn't appreciate being trapped in a faery world. Specially one where the inhabitants insisted wasn't the Nevernever. That just couldn't be. Faeries lived in the Nevernever. Humans in the mortal world. And Harry could create a gate between both. A crude gate, but a functional one. Whenever he tried in this place, nothing happened. Harry was just getting upset. But he wasn't going to let something so simple to defeat him. He vowed to find a way out of here.
He'd already gone to the mist and tried to cross it. Not the most pleasant experience, but he'd had worse. That was one heck of a spell. However, if it was done, it could be undone. Harry only needed to know how. And maybe even who.
That was why the library was the only logical next step.
Journal Sample: Network sample 1
Sample two:
[Harry stares thoughtfully at the mirror for a moment before speaking.]
You know, anyone would've thought I would be used to anything by now. I'm still not convinced this isn't a section of the Nevernever I haven't explored before.
[Even if he's already tried the spell that would open a door to the mortal world. It didn't work, and he's starting to get frustrated. Although he's still not desperate enough to call by name the Fae he knows. If that's the game they want to play, he'd make them wait.]
If nothing else, I'd like to speak with the manager, please. The accommodations are not of my liking. Actually, staying here is not of my liking, so let's make a deal. I will speak slowly for your benefit: you let me, and everyone else you have here against their will, and I won't trash the place.
How about that?
Player DW:
alcesverdesContact: fujurpreux[@]gmail.com
Character Number: First
Character: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden
Source: The Dresden Files
Appearance: Since I took the icons from the comic version: here's one image.
Harry in his laboratory.
And here's one illustration based on a scene from the books.
History: Here.
Timeline: The end of Small Favor, the 10th book in the series.
Personality:
Harry has been described as a "good man" to his face by at least two persons who objectively are good judges of character, and was named the Samwise Gamgee of the group when his friends casted themselves as characters from the Lord of the Rings. (Harry protested; he wanted to be Gandalf, but the role had been unanimously given to his fairy godmother.) He disagrees with the "good" part, too, since he's taken several actions that lean toward the morally gray part of the scale, and he's worked with less-than-upstanding people. Yet, those were the best solutions he could find under extenuating circumstances.
But he is a good man. He's always trying to do what is right—or what he thinks is right, this is an important distinction—, sometimes in spite of what could be constructed as his best interests or his own well-being. For example, life would be easier for him if he took the offer made by Johnny Marcone, Chicago's crime boss—the crime boss—, to work for him. Then, Harry would have an steady income, a good insurance, and many other benefits. But he will never do it; Marcone may have proved to be a reliable ally, and he may have some honor in him, but he's still a gangster. Harry doesn't want a part in the criminal world because that wouldn't be right. (Besides, his best friend is a cop; she'd disown him forever.)
As for the Sam Gamgee part, Harry is that loyal. To a fault and back. If he's got your back, you're set up for good. Just don't go over to the dark side, betray him or betray anyone he loves. Then he'll be crushed and yet he'll try to stop you. This happened with Justin DuMorne, a wizard who adopted Harry when he was a child. He taught him the basics of magic... and then sent an evil spirit to murder teen Harry, since the boy refused to go with Justin's evil plan to take over the White Council of Wizards. Harry turned the tables and killed Justin in self defense soon afterward.
Harry is extremely stubborn. Once he takes a decision, nothing will stand on his way as he goes through with it. Specially if the stakes are high, and even more if he's emotionally invested in those stakes. His friends and family are strictly off limits.
To the dismay of the mortals around him, and the disconcert of the supernatural beings on the receiving end, Harry is a geek who keeps making pop culture references as often as he can. He doesn't care if no one understands them. He just likes to amuse himself. In the same geek-like venue, whenever he plays Dungeons & Dragon, sHarry gets honestly upset because magic "doesn't work like that". His outbursts have ruined more than one gaming session. (As a side note, his character is a barbarian.)
One of Harry's trademarks is his big mouth. He's one of those characters that the more nervous, anxious or stressed he gets, the more he looses the connection between his brain and his mouth. And he's in life-or-death situations often enough he just keeps making more and more enemies just by talking. He has no problems speaking his mind and being irreverent about it, whether you're a normal human, a fairy, a god, or a mafia boss. Yet, he's paid for insulting the wrong people, and learned that sometimes it's better to play the diplomacy game. Fairies in this series, for example, love word play. They can't lie, but they can twist words and phrases until they've led others to believe a falsehood. That's a skill Harry is learning.
Growing up as an orphan wasn't easy for Harry. Being betrayed and nearly killed by the man he considered a father figure, and having in turn to kill him in self defense instead didn't help matters. Harry longs for a family, a big family, and for the longest time his self-esteem issues made him believe he deserved one. In the course of the books, he made one, though, composed by close friends. He eventually found his long-lost half brother, and later on (after his pull point) his long-lost daughter—he didn't know she existed until she was eight years old. He'd do anything for any of them.
While he can be amiable, a lovable, goofy dork, and sometimes even charismatic, Harry can also be ruthless. If the situation has gone to a place where he has to maim or even kill to survive or to protect someone, he'd do it. The only time when he was unnecessarily cruel, he was under the influence of the shadow of a fallen angel. The situation lasted a couple of books, until he eventually talked her into turning to the side of good and she gave her life for him. The shadow exclusively, not the fallen angel proper.
There's also a darker side of Harry, a double of sorts that claims to be his subconscious. He's only "seen" by Harry himself when he's asleep or unconscious. This darker side, that Harry calls his Alter, is more concerned about his own well-being, and tries to convince Harry to take the more selfish choices. Harry pretty much hates him. Or more like the part of himself that's Alter!Harry.
Finally, Harry is not as self-aware as he claims he is. It took him many years to realize that people firmly planted in the "good guys" camp were scared of him. And with excellent reasons, too. That wake up call made him realize he is scary. However, that happens in the next book after his canon pull point. Still, I thought important to mention it.
Abilities: In this universe, humans with magic abilities have the potential to control the energies that surround them. For example, in Small Favor, a group of fallen angels are able to create a dome that cut a certain area from the rest of the world, thus limiting the amount of magic one could use inside. Their target (not Harry, by the way) did the equivalent of holding her breath with the magic she could retain and had a fair chance against them. Then again, even if she has a human body, The Archive is one of the most powerful characters in the series.
Magical energies interfere with electronic devices in this universe. Anything built after WWII is going to suffer if a wizard is around. The stronger the wizard, the worst the effect. Harry tries his best to keep his aura tucked under control, but it depends on his mental state. If he's calm, it's easier. If not, well... In any case, even when he's not trying he can blow up a computer just by being in the room. Yet, he designed Hexus, a spell meant to break electronics up on purpose. Because sometimes you need that too.
A wizard, a term used regardless of gender, is someone who has been trained to control that potential. Not everyone has enough potential to be worth training in the eyes of the White Council of Wizards (Harry is against this and considers dangerous not to train everyone to use their power responsibly; events later on prove he's in the right), but most people can learn basic spells if they work hard enough.
Harry claims he ranks in the top 40 most powerful wizards in the world in terms of raw power. However, he recognizes "weaker"-but-more-focused magical users could not only be a match for him, but they could also beat him up, since he's pretty much a brute whose approach to problems is to smash things out of his way. Less by design and more because it's the only choice his enemies leave him at the end of the day, though.
Since spells are, to put it in some way, a structured way to control the surrounding energies, to bend them to one's will, to use a word of a sentence in the wizard's native tongue, something that could be use in everyday conversation, could be dangerous. That could trigger the magic at a subconscious level. Thus, some wizards use Coptic, others Sanscrit, and etcetera. Harry uses, among other things, Spanish and Pig Latin. Mostly Pig Latin. (Latin is the common language among the White Council, and Harry learned from a correspondence course. His proficiency ranges from "barely acceptable" to "cringe-worthy".)
Here's a list of the spells he uses in the curse of the series. Harry came out with most of them himself. The ones he uses the most are Fuego (fire)—a personal favorite of him—, Ventus (wind), and Forzare (a blast of energy).
Another important factor regarding the control of magic, are emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger of magic. For example, in order to kill someone with magic, the one casting the spell really has to hate his target. It has to be real, undiluted hate. No buts or ifs. Harry has learned to harness his emotions of fear and anger to help him fuel his spells during combat, which often turns over the tables at the most desperate point of a fight.
One innate power all wizards in this universe share is Soulgazing. After a few seconds of eye contact, the wizard and the other person they're looking at begin to see each other's soul. It can be a very dramatic experience, scary and overwhelming, depending on who the other person is. There is no way to lie, nor to stop it once it began. It can only happen once in a life-time between the same two people, too. Since the books are a first-person account by Harry, we don't actually see how his soul is. It can't be that bad, though. People still talk and cooperate with him after a Soulgaze. Harry is so used to this he doesn't look at people in the eye other than a quick glance, with makes him seem, in words of another character, somewhat autistic.
Names also have power in this universe. If anyone, human, fairy or any other, say their own full names to someone else, they're basically giving the other control over themselves. That's why this character goes only by Harry Dresden, and will never say his full name to anyone. The only exception would be in a dire situation and he's trying to bargain a way out. But it has to be very, very bad.
As far as non-magic abilities go, Harry has strong leadership skills. He organized a group of people with lesser magical powers into an organization called the Paranet, and helped them be more prepared against supernatural predators. Strength in numbers and all that. He also has his own personal army of pixies, who are extremely loyal to him, in part because he pays them regularly with pizza, but mostly because he freed several of them from the White Court of Vampires. They call him the (pi)'Zza Lord, and they work mostly on surveillance—and once they killed a rogue fairy queen.
He's also a good teacher. He has no problems going in lengths and detail about magical theory—he knows a lot of it, and enjoys explaining how everything works at the best of his abilities. He also might enjoy a little to much seeing his student(s) despair because of the endless repetitions needed to develop both discipline and power.
Being a private eye, who even works sometimes as a consultant with the Chicago Police Department regarding supernatural crimes (there's an special division who hires him from time to time; most of the police don't believe on what he can do), he has his fair share of deductive skills. He's methodical and takes in a lot of detail from his surroundings, specially when he's working on a case. Things slip by him on occasion, of course, specially when he's tired, stressed, hurt, or everything at once.
At some point, he realized how important stamina was, so he began a regular exercise schedule with a focus on running. His best friend, Karrin Murphy, taught him aikido, of which, among other martial arts, she is a master. Harry also carries a gun, which he knows how to use by now, because he learned in the bad way those things are actually useful (who's going to expect a wizard to shoot them?).
Finally, he learned to play the guitar as an rehabilitation exercise after he burned his left hand. He's not that good, though.
Inventory:
- The clothes on his back
- A silver pentacle hanging from his neck
- His canvas duster, enchanted with protection spells
- His wizard staff and his blasting rod, both made of wood and carved with special runes
- His dog, Mouse
Prose Sample: Sample 1.
Sample two:
The library seemed like a good place to continue his research. Better than most, anyway. Not that asking around didn't provide good information. Legwork was a fundamental part of being a detective, after all, but getting some background knowledge would help a lot. He needed context if he wanted to make any substantial progress.
Harry didn't appreciate being trapped in a faery world. Specially one where the inhabitants insisted wasn't the Nevernever. That just couldn't be. Faeries lived in the Nevernever. Humans in the mortal world. And Harry could create a gate between both. A crude gate, but a functional one. Whenever he tried in this place, nothing happened. Harry was just getting upset. But he wasn't going to let something so simple to defeat him. He vowed to find a way out of here.
He'd already gone to the mist and tried to cross it. Not the most pleasant experience, but he'd had worse. That was one heck of a spell. However, if it was done, it could be undone. Harry only needed to know how. And maybe even who.
That was why the library was the only logical next step.
Journal Sample: Network sample 1
Sample two:
[Harry stares thoughtfully at the mirror for a moment before speaking.]
You know, anyone would've thought I would be used to anything by now. I'm still not convinced this isn't a section of the Nevernever I haven't explored before.
[Even if he's already tried the spell that would open a door to the mortal world. It didn't work, and he's starting to get frustrated. Although he's still not desperate enough to call by name the Fae he knows. If that's the game they want to play, he'd make them wait.]
If nothing else, I'd like to speak with the manager, please. The accommodations are not of my liking. Actually, staying here is not of my liking, so let's make a deal. I will speak slowly for your benefit: you let me, and everyone else you have here against their will, and I won't trash the place.
How about that?
