Portes App
Jan. 6th, 2013 02:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
routinemercyPlayer's Name: Ans
Contact info: kindaxscary on plurk, kindaxscary at gmail
DW: ans99
Character: Hal Yorke
Canon: Being Human
Version: UK
Canon Point: post-series 4
Age: 500-ish years give or take
Gender: Male
History:
http://beinghuman.wikia.com/wiki/Hal_Yorke
Personality:
Most of the time, Hal appears to be a stuffy, obsessive-compulsive prat who is averse to interacting with others, women in particular. It's important to note that this is only one side of his personality, and more importantly, the side he clings to because the other one terrifies him.
Hal describes his own personality as cyclic, confessing to Leo that since becoming a vampire he has undergone periods of extreme sadism and periods of relative kindness. The Hal Yorke of the last half-century has resolved to remain kind as long as possible, though he always fears the return of his darker side (what the other vampires call 'Lord Harry') and sees it as inevitable.
What keeps Hal kind? He's had to renounce blood entirely, because in the Being Human series drinking blood is treated more as an addiction than a requirement for vampires. Any return to blood will result in Hal craving it and running the risk of reverting to his vampiric personality. So to keep his mind off blood, he and Leo devised a series of rituals and routines to keep Hal busy-- and therefore, in his own words, sane. One of the most important rituals for him is to set up a box of dominoes, but then take it down piece by piece instead of knocking the chain down. Not only does it occupy his time, but it teaches him to control his desire.
Whether it's because of the training with Leo, or something that's just always been present in his personality, Hal seems to have expanded his rituals into a nigh-obsessive-compulsive requirement for order and stability of all kinds, including cleanliness, routine, and creature comforts such as 'central heading, carpets and Radio 4'. He schedules his activities hour to hour and can't abide by disorganization, even going so far as to order eggs by size and turn all the matchsticks in a box to face the same way.
Hal has been a vampire for at least 500 years, which not only makes him an Old One but also an irrepressible dork. Spending the last 55 or so years with Leo and Pearl in a barber shop hasn't really gotten him much more up-to-date with the ways of the world. Hal prefers more refined activities and entertainment, such as listening to Bach, taking dates to museums, and playing the lute. One noted exception is his love for Motown, probably due to Leo's influence. In general Hal is happily clueless when it comes to modern politics and technology.
You can imagine Hal's quirks don't make him a lot of friends. Don't worry; he prefers it that way. Staying away from people is another method he employs to make sure he stays on the straight and narrow. If he doesn't get close to humans he can't attack them. When he does interact with people he tends to be socially awkward and almost timid, as if he's trying to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible. This is especially true for women, because Hal hasn't had the best history with them. As a child he was raised by prostitutes and never knew who his parents were. When he became a vampire he tended to take a misogynistic approach to women, seducing them and then killing them. Now that he makes a habit of avoiding temptation, they pose a serious threat to him. When he's first introduced, it's clear Hal hasn't had a date in a very long time.
As 'Lord Harry' he was a formidable force. Most vampires were afraid of him, even the Old Ones. He wasn't just vicious but actively sadistic, interested in breaking the spirit of others and forcing them to be as cruel and broken as he was. For example, after turning his lawyer Cutler, he 'mentored' him by forcing him to drink his own wife's blood and then revealing her dead body to him directly afterward. The potential for him to revert to his old ways is there even after Leo's help; at one point we see an alternate future where Hal became “quite literally, their poster boy” for the vampire coup and apparently has become just as terrifying as ever.
Leo makes the mistake of telling Hal all vampires are inherently afraid of death. But Hal chose to be a vampire because his entire life he'd been alone and driftless, and he felt he should strive for a greater destiny rather than simply die. His human life made him bitter enough to reason that he deserved more, even at the expense of others. Aside from his nasty turns as Lord Harry, Hal's language is often haughty and he considers himself more intelligent and refined than others around him. Part of this is holdover from being an Old One, a high-ranking vampire, but part of this also stems from inherent insecurity and a need to prove himself.
Hal is not afraid of dying so much as abandonment. It is important to remember that based on the prequel, Hal approached Leo. He spent time with the werewolf and seemed to find his opinion important. This is because Hal was hoping someone could find worth in him, as well as the ability to be saved. He would not be able to give himself a fresh start on his own; he needed the confidence and love of another to gain the courage and resolve. We see this pattern begin again when Hal acquires new flatmates: he openly considers Tom as his new Leo, and we can see how devastated he is at the thought Annie might lose confidence in him in “A Spectre Calls”. It is hinted that the alternate future where Hal becomes Lord Harry again occurred in a timeline where Hal never met Annie and Tom, thus lacking the support and influence of his new friends.
Fears:
Losing control of himself, chaos and disorder, dirt, inconvenience, abandonment
Weaknesses:
Much like an alcoholic, you could say Hal's addicted to blood. He doesn't like being around it because it tempts him to revert to the monster he was. Even hearing someone's heartbeat is enough to unnerve him. Drinking blood causes him to lose himself, and apparently Kia-Ora has similar effects.
He's also dreadful at social interactions, mainly because he'd rather keep himself away from people to protect them and himself, but also because he's a bit of a prat. Pretty women were his main predilection when he was bloodthirsty so he's especially scared of prolonged interaction with them.
He's obsessive compulsive, brought on by his need for control over his environment and himself, and his time with Leo has instilled in him all sorts of little rituals including the extreme need for order and cleanliness. A dirty room will undo him unless he's able to tidy it up. He'll get stuck doing minute tasks until they're done perfectly. All the labels on the catsup bottles have to be facing the same way. And so on.
A stake to the heart will kill him, though because he's an Old One crosses, sunlight and the like don't affect him as they might younger vampires. Werewolf blood is like acid to a vampire, being extremely toxic and leaving burns wherever it touches skin.
Though it hasn't really been tested in canon, I'm going with he's not old enough to be able to walk into homes or private rooms uninvited. The only vampires we've seen do this in the show are either at least 1,000 years old or face severe physical damage. However, because of the nature of the House I will only have this apply to rooms that are claimed by players (with the mods' permission of course). That way if someone's bunking in the Library Hal won't necessarily be barred.
Mundane Strengths/Abilities:
Hal's hobbies include embroidery, origami, and playing the piano and the lute. He's also got 500-ish years of life experience and the corresponding historical knowledge.
Sensitivity/Magical Ability:
Vampires from Hal's canon can see, speak to, and even be physically affected and touched by ghosts. In addition, they have extraordinary hearing and smell, able to actually hear the pulse of blood inside human veins and sniff out werewolves in human form. Vampires aren't required to eat or drink anything, including blood; it is more of an addictive substance to them that it is possible, but painful, to abstain from. Vampires cannot be photographed, captured on film, or seen in mirrors. They are able to heal quickly and completely from anything short of extreme injury or a staking. They have superhuman strength and endurance.
Supply List:
Box of dominoes
Game Transfers: N/A
Sample RP post:
Hal arrives on his knees.
It's almost funny, in a way. Not so much a continuation of his punishment as an elevation to an entirely new level. At home, he was-- to excuse the pun-- safe as houses. Being confined to a chair, kept away from the outside world, while inside a war raged on. But he was safe. He could even sleep in a seated position for a little while after he adjusted. It wasn't comfortable, but nothing about this was meant to be comfortable.
He doesn't feel the shift, exactly, when he's brought to the house. It's more that he recognizes a change has occurred. The air is still, colder. The room, darker. And he's no longer bound, now that's the important thing. Hal looks down at his hands, half-expecting to find blood on them already. Of course they're clean, shaking. What those hands are capable of frightens him more than anything, more than being suddenly whisked away to an unfamiliar place. Living with a ghost has given him experience with that, at least. Who else could have brought him here?
“Alex?” His throat is raw, all that bloody screaming he must have done at her during one of his weaker moments. What comes out is barely a whisper. “Tom?” They couldn't have abandoned him, not now.
Somehow he gets to his feet, one hand dipping into his pocket of its own accord, turning the domino inside over and over between his fingers. He'll just survey the room, then, and try to ignore the gnawing realization he's probably on his own here. Hal can't help but approve of the décor; it's just the sort of thing he remembers enjoying nearly a century ago. He'd bring women to nearly every other room in the house, to bed them and drain them dry, but the study... the study was all his.
His fingers tighten painfully around the domino, and he decides maybe it's best to take his mind off the past. Hopefully whoever else is here will appreciate a bit of tidying up.
Contact info: kindaxscary on plurk, kindaxscary at gmail
DW: ans99
Character: Hal Yorke
Canon: Being Human
Version: UK
Canon Point: post-series 4
Age: 500-ish years give or take
Gender: Male
History:
http://beinghuman.wikia.com/wiki/Hal_Yorke
Personality:
Most of the time, Hal appears to be a stuffy, obsessive-compulsive prat who is averse to interacting with others, women in particular. It's important to note that this is only one side of his personality, and more importantly, the side he clings to because the other one terrifies him.
Hal describes his own personality as cyclic, confessing to Leo that since becoming a vampire he has undergone periods of extreme sadism and periods of relative kindness. The Hal Yorke of the last half-century has resolved to remain kind as long as possible, though he always fears the return of his darker side (what the other vampires call 'Lord Harry') and sees it as inevitable.
What keeps Hal kind? He's had to renounce blood entirely, because in the Being Human series drinking blood is treated more as an addiction than a requirement for vampires. Any return to blood will result in Hal craving it and running the risk of reverting to his vampiric personality. So to keep his mind off blood, he and Leo devised a series of rituals and routines to keep Hal busy-- and therefore, in his own words, sane. One of the most important rituals for him is to set up a box of dominoes, but then take it down piece by piece instead of knocking the chain down. Not only does it occupy his time, but it teaches him to control his desire.
Whether it's because of the training with Leo, or something that's just always been present in his personality, Hal seems to have expanded his rituals into a nigh-obsessive-compulsive requirement for order and stability of all kinds, including cleanliness, routine, and creature comforts such as 'central heading, carpets and Radio 4'. He schedules his activities hour to hour and can't abide by disorganization, even going so far as to order eggs by size and turn all the matchsticks in a box to face the same way.
Hal has been a vampire for at least 500 years, which not only makes him an Old One but also an irrepressible dork. Spending the last 55 or so years with Leo and Pearl in a barber shop hasn't really gotten him much more up-to-date with the ways of the world. Hal prefers more refined activities and entertainment, such as listening to Bach, taking dates to museums, and playing the lute. One noted exception is his love for Motown, probably due to Leo's influence. In general Hal is happily clueless when it comes to modern politics and technology.
You can imagine Hal's quirks don't make him a lot of friends. Don't worry; he prefers it that way. Staying away from people is another method he employs to make sure he stays on the straight and narrow. If he doesn't get close to humans he can't attack them. When he does interact with people he tends to be socially awkward and almost timid, as if he's trying to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible. This is especially true for women, because Hal hasn't had the best history with them. As a child he was raised by prostitutes and never knew who his parents were. When he became a vampire he tended to take a misogynistic approach to women, seducing them and then killing them. Now that he makes a habit of avoiding temptation, they pose a serious threat to him. When he's first introduced, it's clear Hal hasn't had a date in a very long time.
As 'Lord Harry' he was a formidable force. Most vampires were afraid of him, even the Old Ones. He wasn't just vicious but actively sadistic, interested in breaking the spirit of others and forcing them to be as cruel and broken as he was. For example, after turning his lawyer Cutler, he 'mentored' him by forcing him to drink his own wife's blood and then revealing her dead body to him directly afterward. The potential for him to revert to his old ways is there even after Leo's help; at one point we see an alternate future where Hal became “quite literally, their poster boy” for the vampire coup and apparently has become just as terrifying as ever.
Leo makes the mistake of telling Hal all vampires are inherently afraid of death. But Hal chose to be a vampire because his entire life he'd been alone and driftless, and he felt he should strive for a greater destiny rather than simply die. His human life made him bitter enough to reason that he deserved more, even at the expense of others. Aside from his nasty turns as Lord Harry, Hal's language is often haughty and he considers himself more intelligent and refined than others around him. Part of this is holdover from being an Old One, a high-ranking vampire, but part of this also stems from inherent insecurity and a need to prove himself.
Hal is not afraid of dying so much as abandonment. It is important to remember that based on the prequel, Hal approached Leo. He spent time with the werewolf and seemed to find his opinion important. This is because Hal was hoping someone could find worth in him, as well as the ability to be saved. He would not be able to give himself a fresh start on his own; he needed the confidence and love of another to gain the courage and resolve. We see this pattern begin again when Hal acquires new flatmates: he openly considers Tom as his new Leo, and we can see how devastated he is at the thought Annie might lose confidence in him in “A Spectre Calls”. It is hinted that the alternate future where Hal becomes Lord Harry again occurred in a timeline where Hal never met Annie and Tom, thus lacking the support and influence of his new friends.
Fears:
Losing control of himself, chaos and disorder, dirt, inconvenience, abandonment
Weaknesses:
Much like an alcoholic, you could say Hal's addicted to blood. He doesn't like being around it because it tempts him to revert to the monster he was. Even hearing someone's heartbeat is enough to unnerve him. Drinking blood causes him to lose himself, and apparently Kia-Ora has similar effects.
He's also dreadful at social interactions, mainly because he'd rather keep himself away from people to protect them and himself, but also because he's a bit of a prat. Pretty women were his main predilection when he was bloodthirsty so he's especially scared of prolonged interaction with them.
He's obsessive compulsive, brought on by his need for control over his environment and himself, and his time with Leo has instilled in him all sorts of little rituals including the extreme need for order and cleanliness. A dirty room will undo him unless he's able to tidy it up. He'll get stuck doing minute tasks until they're done perfectly. All the labels on the catsup bottles have to be facing the same way. And so on.
A stake to the heart will kill him, though because he's an Old One crosses, sunlight and the like don't affect him as they might younger vampires. Werewolf blood is like acid to a vampire, being extremely toxic and leaving burns wherever it touches skin.
Though it hasn't really been tested in canon, I'm going with he's not old enough to be able to walk into homes or private rooms uninvited. The only vampires we've seen do this in the show are either at least 1,000 years old or face severe physical damage. However, because of the nature of the House I will only have this apply to rooms that are claimed by players (with the mods' permission of course). That way if someone's bunking in the Library Hal won't necessarily be barred.
Mundane Strengths/Abilities:
Hal's hobbies include embroidery, origami, and playing the piano and the lute. He's also got 500-ish years of life experience and the corresponding historical knowledge.
Sensitivity/Magical Ability:
Vampires from Hal's canon can see, speak to, and even be physically affected and touched by ghosts. In addition, they have extraordinary hearing and smell, able to actually hear the pulse of blood inside human veins and sniff out werewolves in human form. Vampires aren't required to eat or drink anything, including blood; it is more of an addictive substance to them that it is possible, but painful, to abstain from. Vampires cannot be photographed, captured on film, or seen in mirrors. They are able to heal quickly and completely from anything short of extreme injury or a staking. They have superhuman strength and endurance.
Supply List:
Box of dominoes
Game Transfers: N/A
Sample RP post:
Hal arrives on his knees.
It's almost funny, in a way. Not so much a continuation of his punishment as an elevation to an entirely new level. At home, he was-- to excuse the pun-- safe as houses. Being confined to a chair, kept away from the outside world, while inside a war raged on. But he was safe. He could even sleep in a seated position for a little while after he adjusted. It wasn't comfortable, but nothing about this was meant to be comfortable.
He doesn't feel the shift, exactly, when he's brought to the house. It's more that he recognizes a change has occurred. The air is still, colder. The room, darker. And he's no longer bound, now that's the important thing. Hal looks down at his hands, half-expecting to find blood on them already. Of course they're clean, shaking. What those hands are capable of frightens him more than anything, more than being suddenly whisked away to an unfamiliar place. Living with a ghost has given him experience with that, at least. Who else could have brought him here?
“Alex?” His throat is raw, all that bloody screaming he must have done at her during one of his weaker moments. What comes out is barely a whisper. “Tom?” They couldn't have abandoned him, not now.
Somehow he gets to his feet, one hand dipping into his pocket of its own accord, turning the domino inside over and over between his fingers. He'll just survey the room, then, and try to ignore the gnawing realization he's probably on his own here. Hal can't help but approve of the décor; it's just the sort of thing he remembers enjoying nearly a century ago. He'd bring women to nearly every other room in the house, to bed them and drain them dry, but the study... the study was all his.
His fingers tighten painfully around the domino, and he decides maybe it's best to take his mind off the past. Hopefully whoever else is here will appreciate a bit of tidying up.
