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Nov. 15th, 2019 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hobocop
First Impressions
Appearance
Appearance info:- 5'11"
- Medium length dark brown hair, with some grey
- Green-grey eyes
- Looks to be in his mid-50s (actually 44)
- Has a small gap between his front teeth
- Massive "friendly muttonchops" facial hair
- Disproportionately big, beefy arms
- Paunchy
- Hairy af
- Basically, "You're a bear, Harry."
- Reddened eyes, ears and nose
- Dimpled
- Multiple scars peppered about
Fashion
It's not great, lads.
The beginning of Harry's descent into fashion hell came with his chance meeting with his horrific necktie. At a time where he'd pretty much lost all enthusiasm in life, the garish patterns told him, "you might be miserable, but with me, at least you'd have a funny necktie." From there, the RCM gear started disappearing, replaced instead with silk shirts with wide collars, alligator skin shoes and flares.
Since trying to reinvent his self, his fashion has only... worsened, really? Where at least there was a theme before, now Harry mixes and matches based how each individual item makes him feel. The outfit he'll arrive in looks at least mildly deliberate, but let me break it down for you: his hat is literally a trash hat that was absolutely used in a robbery by some other dude — it even has eye holes in it. The coat? It's his old RCM cloak, sure, but he hasn't bothered to mend where the bullets tore through it. The shirt is that same stinky-ass disco shirt from when he first woke up — the other, newer one he wore got covered in his own blood. The boots? Hey guys, this cool communist has chosen to wear the old boots of a fascist soldier, because they're the only footwear he could find on short notice that hide his hairy legs... which were previously peeking out of his three-quarter length sweatpants.
This is a man who will wear a t-shirt with a muscle-bound barbarian on it because it makes him feel tough. He once intimidated a pair of wannabe gang members into giving their leather jackets to him and his partner because he thought it would be cool if they had matching jackets — matching jackets with the words "fuck the world" and "piss faggot" written on them, I should add. He absolutely can not and should not be trusted alone in a thrift store.
Demeanor & Attitude
Harry usually first comes across as a fairly warm, genial... slightly irritating character. He seems to viciously see-saw between being very self-deprecating and incredibly self-aggrandizing. He's inquisitive, happy to go on a million and one tangents, and is very bad at leaving people alone. He's a perpetual smiler, too, only that smile of his is (on closer inspection) a tragedy to behold. Years of putting on a mask mean that he struggles not to fall into the combination of knitted eyebrows and rictus grin he's personally dubbed "the Expression". It makes him look either seedy or pitiful or a horrible combination of both. He's working on it.Oh, and if he starts bringing up odd boxing metaphors, or mentioning Contact Mike, just... let him get it out of his system. He does that sometimes, and will move on eventually.
Scent
Scent notes:- Astra cigarettes (strong tar content)
- Alcohol — beer, vodka and wine
- Cheap soap
- Sweat
- Dried blood
Movement
Harry's got a cool limp these days, and that'll take a while to heal up. Ignoring that, he has a distinct way of moving anyway! A furiously paced, stop-start approach, known colloquially as the "Jamrock Shuffle". It makes him a nightmare to walk behind, especially as he'll break pace to key in on any nearby doors or containers without fail. After all, they might contain clues! Or hats. Another man's trash, etc. etc.He also runs a whole bunch. It can be very frustrating for those around him, but it's probably one of the few reasons his heart hasn't given out yet. It's also helped him build the stamina that allows him to dance really, really hard. Every limb gets utilised!
Zooming in a little, it's worth noting that he's fairly expressive with his body language in general. Whether it's the dizzying array of finger gun displays, bird-flipping or bear hugs, he's not a man to hold back and put on a poker face.
Voice
We never hear Harry's voice in game, but given that the Ancient Reptillian Brain is used for both "The bloated corpse of a drunk" — Harry's dream representation of himself as the hanged man — and his successful karaoke voice, I'm going to lean towards that and say his natural voice is similar to that, but with a bit of limbic in there. Listen to them both here. Or better yet, allow youtube multiplier to give you both LIMBIC AND REPTILIAN KARAOKE AT THE SAME TIME!Absolutely stunning, yeah? For a slightly more straightforward, listenable option, picture Ray Winstone in 44 Inch Chest putting on a teeny tiny hint of a french accent.
Magic & Telepathy
Harry has zero protection from magic, or from having his mind invaded. Like, if someone started speaking to him (ie. a voice he didn't recognise), or if they were not-so-carefully moving about in there, his Volition would probably pick up on it, but he doesn't exactly have any way of stopping it.As for what's actually going on in there, there's... a lot? He's chockablock full of intrusive voices he uses to help guide his actions — it's how he organizes his thoughts, and comes to conclusions about things. Someone reading his mind could absolutely come across their fairly regular contributions. Added to that, folks could probably access his thought cabinet, the side of him that works on ideas he's come across, before internalizing them into how he sees himself and approaches the world. His communist rhetoric sits there, next to the memory of being a street kid, down the shelf from the part of him that still thinks he's a superstar. I'll come up with a comprehensive list at some point with all the various things he's got stored there, but for now, let's just say it's a mess.
The big three things he'll be haunted by (ie. memories always sat in the periphery that I'm kind of okay getting picked up on?) are his loss of Dora, Ruby's suicide, and a big, existential fear of something called "the Pale".
General notes people can get from him if they're more... sensory, I guess, are that he's a big fucking alcoholic who's also addicted to speed, that he's trying to project something harder shelled (while being incredibly spongey), the colours green and orange, and a sense that something is missing. They also might pick up really fucking bad vibes from his necktie.
As for Harry's own "magic", his Inland Empire skill means that he talks to inanimate objects (and dead people) to gain hunches. From the outside, he'll just look like he's squinting at something real hard for several minutes. His other skill, Shivers, will have him stand there getting soaked in shitty weather while trying to garner even more hunches. He's a hunch based power dude.
OOC Permissions
☆ Threadjacking: YES! With reservations! Basically, super serious thread? Maybe ask first. Bullshit network stuff? Jump on in, bud.☆ Backtagging: I'm going to be pretty slow on the whole, so backtagging is my bread and butter. If it's just a small-talk type thing, I might let it drop after a while though. Let me know if something needs continuing!
☆ Fourth-walling: Nooooo, please don't. Mind-reading is one thing, but Disco Elysium is the smallest canon, so I can't think of any real reason it'd pop up for anyone.
☆ Triggers: I'm good with most things honestly. As for Harry (and his canon) there are a fair number to flag up, so please let me know if you need me to avoid mentioning any of these in threads with you:
- Alcoholism — a big one. Any way you cut it, Harry's an alcoholic, and it has affected his life massively. He thinks about drinking a lot. Upon arrival he'll probably initially slip into drinking again, too, just because the one person he's relied on to keep him on the straight and narrow isn't here
- Drug use/abuse — Again, even if he doesn't repeat it, Harry has been a heavy user in the past (Mostly speed). Like with alcohol, Electrochemistry's presence will mean he'll think about drugs a whole bunch, too
- Poverty — A lot of Harry's rhetoric is drawn from his (incredibly poor) roots. He might get very vocal about this
- Suicide/suicidal ideation — Harry has thought about ending it a number of times, (has possibly tried to already on that big night of oblivion) and can in canon. More than that, he also failed to prevent a suspect from committing suicide, and absolutely carries the guilt of that
- War — the history of his world is like... fake world, real history inspired? There's a lot of unpleasant war stuff in it, and his conversations with the mercenaries will have filled his brain with some really awful imagery. Again, this has generally influenced how Harry thinks.
- Abortion — This likely won't ever come up in casual conversation, but Dora terminated her pregnancy, and Harry's still cut up about it
- Racism — Harry isn't a racist piece of shit, but he's encountered some real peaches, and they particularly aim their slurs at his partner. He therefore thinks about it a bunch. I should say, however, all the terms he's familiar with differ from our own.
- Mental illness — Harry can be pretty unstable, especially when he drinks. He worries about his sanity, sometimes. At the very least, he has depressive, self-destructive tendancies.
IC Permissions
☆ Physical Contact: Hugs, back-pats, hi-fives, impromptu partnered dancing? All good with Harry. Assuming he doesn't hate your guts, pretty much every form of friendly contact is fine by him, so go ahead.☆ Relationships: HARRIER NEEDS EM, FOLKS. As long as you're not overwhelmingly an asshole, he'll happily put the energy into befriending you. It's super easy. And if you absolutely are an unrepentant asshole, but you fall into the 0-18 category? He'll still expend a bunch of energy trying to befriend you. There's a junior law official in your soul, and he will find it.
Also negative CR? Totally, totally doable. He's a sensitive soul at heart, and can flip out on people even when sober.
☆ Shipping: lmao, okay so I doubt Harry's going to be in high demand, but hey: First off, awkward one-night-stands and short flings are potentially doable if RUINED OLD MAN is your type? He flirts fairly indiscriminately with people past the mid-to-late twenties bracket, (with varying degrees of smoothness and success) but that's more him being "disco" than anything else. As for folks he actually crushes on, turns out he swings both ways in canon (EVEN IF HE HASN'T TOTALLY PROCESSED THAT YET) with his type sliding from soft and ethereal to angular and cool.
Realistically though? Anything real and deep would... take a fuck load of work. Possibly too much work. Harry's whole state is due to being really hung up on his ex-fiancée, and now he's trying to recover from his previous (shitty) attempts to recover from her, basically.
☆ Violence: DO IT. STRIKE THE DISCO MAN! He can absolutely take it til he absolutely can't. Then, you'll just be striking a sad old man. He might cry. It'll feel really, really uncomfortable. But yeah, you have my permission! Just ask if you want to inflict any injury that's going to last a while/do him in.
☆ Mind-reading: I'm going to include some info in the first impressions area over to the left there, but honestly? If you want to read his mind in thread you're welcome to, just give me a heads up! It'll give me a chance to include all the bullshit that goes on in there that I'm usually too tired to write in every normal tag.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-29 03:14 pm (UTC)Does the prospect of interacting with Harry in general fill you with a mild dread? Is there a specific topic or two you want me to avoid mentioning while threading with you? NO WORRIES. Flag it up here and I'll figure out a work around.
OPT IN
Date: 2019-12-04 07:49 pm (UTC)Character name: THEM.
Electrochemistry: Harry's electrochemistry skill means he's... really really perceptive when it comes to drug stuff. Does your character drink a little too much? Are they a stoner? Or hell, are they a major narc? Let me know if Harry should be picking anything up.
Esprit de Corps: Are you a cop? Are you cop adjacent? Harry's got a specific weird empathy for people with big cop energy that not only gives him a better understanding of their psychology, but a weird semi-psychic link. Say you're breaking some terrible news to a victim's family member — Harry will get a vague sense of that, even if he's nowhere near you. Let me know if this is cool/fits you.
Empathy: Harry crazily over-empathizes with people as a rule, so he's very good at picking up little micro-expressions and guessing at possible meanings behind them. Am I allowed to have him pick up on certain things mentioned in the body of your text? Anything you don't want him knowing? More than that, is there anything general about your character that he might pick up on that isn't blatantly on the surface?
Drama: How good is your character at lying? Do they do it often? Harry's got a very good bullshit detector, but if you're smooth enough the best it'll be able to do is inform him that you're not obviously lying. If you're a real manipulator, he can be totally fooled by you.
Physical Instrument: DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO? No, really - the idiot gym teacher in Harry has extra respect and personal shame when confronted with people who look like they can Sport™ better than him. Your relative buffness or weediness will slightly affect his opinion of you, so how'd you rank?
no subject
Date: 2019-12-06 02:05 pm (UTC)Character name: Hank Anderson
Electrochemistry: Hank drinks too much. He does no other drugs, though. He's mostly into whiskey, but he'll dabble in others. Even with everything going on, he still drinks just because too much is too much.
Esprit de Corps: Hank is indeed a cop and has really big cop energy. Like it shames people in the locker room it's so big. I'm fine with Harry sensing whatever out of him.
On a timely note, he's currently working on a case to try and get rid of a Dualis drug ring. He's also been investigating the city's deep dark secret. Harry is welcome to question him on either of these if he catches related vibes.
Empathy: Luckily Hank is sort of an open book. It's pretty easy to guess what he's feeling because he's an emotional nudist. He doesn't cover anything up, but he will refuse to talk about it on occasion.
Drama: Hank's only means of lying is lying by omission. He tends to be a truthful and just person, just a bitchy one.
Physical Instrument: Hank has a beer gut and some depression weight. He can also pick a dude up and throw him against a wall, and do the work against an android that otherwise would take a team of trained agents. Hank is just a big bear.
Character name: Drifter.
Electrochemistry: No drugs. Eerily no drugs. Nothin'. Clean as a whistle, and even if he's recently drank any hint of it will have been gone within the hour.
Esprit de Corps: Drifter is a greasy weasel man, and not a cop at all. Often he finds a lot of futility in heroism (though he has tried to do the right thing, unfortunately often foiled by his own past urge to the wrong ones). So no copness, alas.
Empathy: Drifter smiles a little too large and too hard sometimes sometimes. He narrows his eyes both because he scrutinizes a lot, and also his vision is mediocre (still he doesn't wear glasses). He can pick up on stuff not on the surface, in short.
Drama: Yes and no. He'll purposefully look bad at lying and be good at big lies. He'll pull a "The Usual Suspects" and play mousey and nervous and fumbling with his lies, hiding behind the guise of a coward when he's planning like a mastermind. So it's fine for Harry to pick up on that stuff. He also lies to himself and gets attached to people, and Harry might pick up hints of irritability at himself to go with that if they keep getting along.
Physical Instrument: Drifter is pretty toned under the crap he wears. It's part of letting people underestimate him. Underneath all his stupid layers is the body of a ridiculous Kung Fu fighter.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-12 12:19 pm (UTC)Your name: Ree
Character name: Tidus
Electrochemistry: No drugs, but Tidus has picked up the bad habit of "go to any bar that doesn't care that he's barely 18, drink and then start a fight" due to recently losing someone close to him and being given that as wonderful advice. And actually going for it because the nights are long (he only does it at night).
It's not too bad of a problem currently and he doesn't drink outside those times (bc his own father was an alcoholic when he was younger so he does have some hang-ups, but not enough to not make bad grieving choices), but yeah. If it was picked up on, Tidus would be ashamed.
Esprit de Corps: No big cop energy here.
Empathy: This is completely fine, and I'll try to be clear about feelings/body language as I can! Tidus isn't really a hard guy to read.
Drama: Tidus sucks at lying that he even once in canon just doesn't say anything instead of trying to lie. He is trying to be better at it or not always be obvious regarding what he's talking about, buuut it's a work in progress.
Physical Instrument: TIDUS SPORTS, BRO. Or did. He's noticeably athletic but also hasn't been training/exercising as much since he came to Dualis, so the guy should really get back to hitting the gym (he should, it'd be better for him than what he's currently doing). He played a swimming sports that used p. much all the limbs and submerged you completely underwater, and he's also a sword user. He's also very quick.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-12 09:22 pm (UTC)And honestly dude, given that the goose hunt apparently goes on for two weeks, there's a good chance Harry'd pick up on Tidus being hungover, so like. let this walking talking alcoholic anonymous poster show you what could happen to you, buddy.
No really though, Harry is doomed to think this kid is the best. Honest sport boy = the return of Harry's awful fatherly instincts.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-12 09:52 pm (UTC)it can definitely come up though! He isn't really proud of it and I'd appreciate the 'good influences' in that I don't plan for it to get any worse than just 'he gets incredibly wound up when it gets too late and doesn't know what else to do, let's feel sorry for ourselves and pick fights and get drunk'
I'd love for them to talk about sports/exercise too, that sounds like it can be really good? Tidus was away from the sports life due to canon, but he does miss it because he's forever a sports head at heart, basically grew up training to be an athlete since he was a kid, and his father was a big star in the same sports too. (idk if you know ffx, but it's a swimming/football sports!)
no subject
Date: 2019-12-13 01:01 am (UTC)And no, unfortunately most of my ffx knowledge came from mala, so it's patchy at best, but you're very welcome to educate me about it via tidus answering all of harry's dumbass questions. ;V
no subject
Date: 2019-12-13 08:20 pm (UTC)I need to thank Mala for sharing as much FFX as they have!