Accepted ~ Analiza Snark
About You, the Writer:
We will never ask any member to disclose any personal information.
Your Nickname: SL
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct & Guidelines?: Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Dana
If you have written other characters here, list them all: Ernie Macmillan
Full Character Name: Simon Edward Reid
Character Birthday & Age: February 17th, 1982
Place of Birth: London, England
Creature type:Registered Werewolf
Employed? If yes, where and for how long: Former Auror, current Black Market Trader and petty thief
Where does your character spend the most time?: Knockturn Alley
What is your understanding of your character's special abilities or attributes and weaknesses?: As a werewolf Simon is prone to super-human strength, increased agility, heightened senses, high adrenaline, extreme aggressiveness and is more resistant to pain than before his transformation. The strength has made him better than he was before the incident, and he uses the agility, and senses to further his ambition. With the adrenaline it is a rush, making him almost a junkie loving the cheap thrill of it. If he isn't careful he could find himself seeking more and more radical behavior to feel the high of it. But with every positive aspect there is a darker attribute; he finds himself being more and more irrational and unable to contain the anger he feels when he feels it. This is why he eventually lost his straight job giving way to his new more criminal activities. He also now has an aversion to silver and a certain Lunar phenomena. Several of the trinkets that he buys have silver in them and to handle them he must wear a pair of his father's favorite leather gloves that he stole first out of resentment but now uses for protection.
Is your character a dark creature?: Yes
If yes, please list crimes likely to be committed: Black Market Trading, Petty crimes such as pickpocketing and theft of personal possessions.
Is your character currently under pursuit by the Ministry of Magic? It's a possibility because he no longer goes in for registration checkups.
Physical Description: Bright blue eyes almost looking like marbles or blown glass. He stands shorter than average at 5'10 3/4” and lanky. His limbs are often shadowed in black clothing he usually filched from wash lines or unguarded venues. His hair is dark brown and often unkempt and mashed about. Simon often goes about things clean shaven preferring to sport scruff over smooth skin only when he hasn't had time to maintain himself. Has a deep scar on his left cheek that almost looks like a distorted dimple from an accident where he got cut with a broken bottle in a pub brawl.
Personality Description: Simon was never like the rest of his family. Where they loved the limelight and adored being the main attraction, Simon hid in the shadows kept only by his books and the sharp biting wit he was blessed with to keep him company. Simon has mostly been looked upon his family as the black sheep. The child who wasn't good enough, didn't meet his parents expectations. His older perfect brother and older equally pleasing sister made sure to let him know he didn't fit in their little equation.
Taking the darkness into himself, Simon pushed away his desire to make some sort of relationship out of his family life and became more involved internally. His life became the books he studied and the trouble he could get into, making his family disappointed was a way of life. As a way of disrespecting his parents as he grew up he referred to them by their first name in public. Slowly but surely they started leaving their unworthy child at home.
During his times alone, Simon collected old books and tried to read anything he could get his hands on. It was through the books he read that he developed the knowledge he needed to be on his own. To focus his energy for something other than his pettiness.
However when he lost his job, the world came crashing down. Simon became increasingly bitter and cold. Cut off from his friends and family, Simon struck out on his own with an 'every man for himself' mentality.
In regards to his family, he feels little to no attachment to them. His father is over bearing, his mother flighty and disconnected, his brother is a royal arse, his older sister is stuck up to no end, and his little sister did nothing to him but also has little bearing on who he has become because she was too young to matter when he moved away.
At the moment he has no contact, his father is too disgusted to look at him. Simon from time to time sneaks into his old house to steal items and sell them. Trinkets he knows they love most is generally what he goes for, trying to make a deeper gouge in them than they made into him. Simon has since taken all the things that once belonged to him from the home out, and when he goes back to their home he sees that the room is abandoned used only as storage for useless things.
Simon enjoys gambling, betting, and generally following along the darker things. It's a hobby he uses to keep his mind off things, and isn't completely against being sneak and underhanded to achieve his means. However as sly as he can be, Simon does have an ego that gets in his way jeopardizing his abilities to hold a poker face and sadly he loses almost as often as he wins.
When he is bored, or working, Simon likes to watch people around him looking for the weakest or most interesting person learning their mannerisms and seeing what would make them an convenient mark. Stalking an individual is the most exciting thing for him. His charismatic ways and quick tongue can generally get him out of a tight spot if he is discovered, but it isn't flawless. As he gets more attune to his senses as well as his emotions Simon is becoming better at keeping himself above most suspicion. He has fine skills as a pickpocket and thief, Simon is looking to expand his skill set and become more of a threat to the ministry and upper crust that he once belonged to.
Simon has few friends, and only one or two actually know him. The girl who shares his room has a uniquely rare insight into his life, and he keeps her close for his own personal reason partly because she is useful and partly because she is the first person he didn't feel immediate disgust for.
History:
Vampires and Werewolves should include how they became a vampire or werewolf. House-elves should include any terms of service for a house-hold. Ghosts should include manner of death, place haunted, etc.Third oldest of four. Eldest brother named Trevor, an older sister named Aileen and baby sister Abigail. Simon Edward Reid was always a disappointment. His parents Douglas and Cullodena Reid were wed shortly after they left Hogwarts after being betrothed from being mere children. They started their family, soon after because it was tradition, it was expected. So when their first child was a perfect son, Trevor, they were both pleased neither truly feeling one way or the other for one another they could dote on their son while they lived their mostly separate lives. When social events called upon them to clear their calendars they made quick of the picture perfect pureblood family. Not too long after their son they welcomed a daughter who also met the standards of perfection they believed was all to expected of their status and rank.
They raised these children with a silver spoon in their mouth, showing them all the brilliance that their blood and their wealth could give them. When Cullodena unexpectedly became pregnant again, they expected another child of grace and beauty to come of it, only to find a small runty child sporting a pointed nose and a head of jet black hair they named Simon Edward. If this was the wild, a child who shared an appearance of Simon might very well have been left un-nursed and uncared for, an unwanted child who seemed like he might not make it.
The cold chill of being the unfavored son did not go unnoticed by Simon as he grew up. He spent much of his time with nannies, and tutors not being nurtured like his father's true son Trevor and his mother's lovely daughter Aileen. Trevor became a strapping young man, someone who could be proud of a young man who excelled in sport and social skills. While Aileen was a story of grace and poise, a book upon which great poems of her beauty and talents could be written. All along Simon watched from the background, smaller and slimmer than the other two. His nose in a book when he was supposed to be socializing, a smart remark leaving his lips when he was meant to hold his tongue. While the eldest children made their parents proud and were put into social situations more, Simon stayed behind, at first he was forced to but as he got older he chose to sneaking out and going out into the city wandering when he knew he could.
The only time he felt any true peace was when his two older siblings, who had taken to picking on him without mercy, were at school. Those were the days. Simon wandered their rooms looking through their things, leaving what they treasured in disarray. It was his own little way to take away somethings from them filling his own room with things that were certainly not his. Simon didn't care his own room wasn't filled with plaques and pictures of him at social galas, his friends were never invited to the house because they weren't from the upper crust and therefore not welcome within their sacred walls. How he didn't lose his mind was beyond him, perhaps it was knowing that eventually he would be on his own. That as he read in his books this was only a temporary state and when one was finally living their own life they could truly be free.
You see, Simon was very bright but his intelligence had been blunted by the fact that his parents had already picked their favorites. From out the gate they weren't looking for another child to take up their time. They had all they needed in the two children who came first. He thought of trying to become something they wanted, to strive to be first, to work for their affections but with the thought of it weighing on his young mind Simon realized it wasn't anything he really wanted. The birthright was not his, it was Trevor's. He had no real claim to anything tangible.
The year Simon went to school he made it to the house of his family, Slytherin. It was the first time Simon had ever made his father proud. In fact upon hearing his youngest made it into the family's house instead of what he assumed, Ravenclaw, he sent him a pocket watch that once belonged to his grandfather. Simon played with the watch for hours allowing the ticking to drift him off to sleep or watching how the shiny metal bounced the faint light off of it and scattered off the walls of his classrooms.
Simon was an easy target of his sister and her gaggle of friends who he called the banshees were in their seventh year. So at first he had a hard time making friends in school. He was in their shadow, looked upon as the lesser Reid. The teachers muttered of his brother and sister's achievements making it a little difficult for him to carve out his own niche. Slowly but surely however his sharp wit and tongue proved to be a positive force for him, bringing in friends who were of the same ilk. He spent much of his time walking about with a couple boys from his year, and making a general nuisance of himself. The group ended up in hot water, while landing in detention more frequently than their other house mates. As the hollers came in telling Simon to behave, to shape up and be a Reid he rebelled further causing more embarrassment for his family. His sister was disgusted by her little brother's rebellious streak and avoided contact as best she could.
When she finally left school, Simon felt like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. In fact he found it rather humorous that while his parents finally got rid of him, they found themselves with a little bundle of joy of their own. Well less joy and more a bundle. In the arms of his aging parents had fallen another child, an unexpected and unwelcome one this time a girl. The sheer hilarity of it all left Simon in stitches when he found out that he wasn't the youngest anymore. The rest of his terms in school were more enjoyable aside from the rising tensions of the wizarding world. He floated through the rest of school gaining high marks, not the best mind you but high, in Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. While some boys in his house enjoyed Quidditch, Simon joined Charms Club and worked to perfect his spells and avoid sports with the best of his ability. When the battle of Hogwarts erupted during his sixth year, Simon ran out with the rest of the Slytherin's knowing full well he didn't want to defend the school or the fools he despised in the process. He did however decided around this time that he wanted to work for the ministry as an Auror. He had the skill with his wand and the marks to make it, so using his father's pull in the ministry he became an Auror in training soon after he left Hogwarts.
It was three years after Hogwarts, after his Auror training was complete, that Simon was called out with a small squad to deal with a disturbance at what appeared to be an abandoned building. The full moon was high in the sky, and an ominous fog seemed to fall over them as they approached the structure from all angles. There had been reports of loud crashes and bright flashes emanating from behind the broken down walls. Once inside the team was hit by a flurry of activity several people were taken by movement in certain rooms over others. Simon, still young and full of desire to test himself chased after a dark brown blur that flew down a set of stairs into a dark basement. It was there that the actions were to fast for the naked eye to catch. Backed into a corner Simon was knocked on his arse, his wand flying in the opposite direction. The creature he chased down the broken stair treads chomped hard into his side sinking his canines deep into Simon's now burning flesh. The cries for help called his team to his aid, and the monster scurried out a broken basement window after a misfired spell splashed against a naked wall.
Simon had passed out from the pain his body shuddered and shook from blood loss. The youngest of the troupe was sent to bring him to St. Mungo's in a timely manner in order to save his life from whatever attacked him. The full extent of his injuries wouldn't be known until it was much later. For a couple days, Simon remained passed out in the first floor for Creature induced injuries. It wasn't until the next lunar cycle that Simon fully realized the creature he had become. They had warned him in the hospital of what he would endure but the pain was unimaginable.
His temperament which had usually been even keeled had turned to the worse. From the age of twenty-one on he was a monster, the darkness from the inside now showed itself on the outside. His father and mother were disgusted when he registered as a were-wolf. The ministry shifted him from a high stress job to being nothing more than a glorified parchment pusher in the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. It felt like a slap in the face, his disgruntled mood swings made him impossible to work with and it wasn't too long after his arrival in that department that he was let go all together.
This was the last straw for his parents who cut Simon off all together out of shame. Without a job, or money from his family Simon fell off the reservation for a bit. When he tried to get a straight job he was rejected because of his affliction, the only way to get a good job was to lie, and to lie meant he would eventually be found out and lose the damn job anyway. Dejected Simon turned to something he knew he was good at, taking things that didn't belong to him. It took him a little while to get more skilled in the unpracticed craft, but Simon started to use connections he made in Knockturn alley to his benefit. Skilled in the art of conversation, Simon is good with negotiations for prices but prefers to find the products that are needed rather than haggle. Simon uses his heightened senses to be fully aware of his surroundings. Sometimes his over confidence is his down fall and Simon finds himself running for cover more than he should. Currently he resides in an abandoned building in Knockturn Alley where he sleeps in an hammock while a fellow criminal, Kyrene, shares the space sleeping on a mattress. The two work together to keep each other alive, while scraping by day by day.
Writing Sample:
Show your character in a scene that illustrates the best and
worst aspects of their personality. Include action, dialog and thought.
The dealers had been scattered as of late, tracking them down had become his main priority. It was getting close to the full moon and with the time dwindling before him, Simon knew he had to get his affairs in order. He would be incredibly weak the next few days and Kyrene would have to get him food from the market. She tended to his wounds, and never discussed the things she saw when he dragged himself home often too weak to crawl into his hammock. Simon would lay motionless for what felt like forever, a pair of tattered old slacks the only thing keeping him semi-modest.
Walking Knockturn alley was so casual, so simple. He was like the rest of them now, hiding in the shadows keeping to himself. Up to no good. They kept their voices in hushed tones as they shuffled about. No one really made connections with others. No one dared reach out to a stranger. A stranger could be your undoing, could take away all the things you hold dear.
Simon knew many of those trapped in the limbo of Knockturn Alley. Stuck in between the light and the dark. He could read them pretty well, from easy mark to fiend. Reading them became a perverse hobby. While watching however someone tried to gain his attention. Xavier, a common dealer of goods.
Slipping his gloved hand in his pocket, Simon thumbed a crinkled leather bound object. Following X down a corridor they slipped unnoticed into a hidden room in the back of one of the seedy shops. There they began a trade off, something they did quite often. Pulling out the package, Simon refused to open it himself. Inside was a silver broach that belonged to a very wealthy individual who had out grown her youngest son a long time ago. The other thief's eyes had grown the size of dinner plates while looking over the object. A sly smile crossed his lips as the galleons and sickles were counted out. Another quick sale was all he wanted. After all the family he pilfered from frequently was getting wise to him.
When the two shook on it, Simon slid his money back into the safety of his leather pouch and buried it with in his robes. There was enough for food, and supplies for both Kyrene and himself. If he didn't despise them so much he might very well thank his unknowing benefactor for all of the goods and services she brought him. Too bad he didn't care enough to taunt Mrs. Reid he might very well enjoy watching the frigid bat squirm.
Finding his way back onto the path of other travelers, looking as if he too was minding his own business. Simon had, in fact his business was concluded with enough money to feed his mouth as well as his habits.
Sum up your character in one paragraph: Simon has to pull himself up by his boot straps and knows that there are very few a soul can lean on, so he is his own rock. It gives him a perverted sense of self assurance. His ego can be knocked down, battered upon the rocks as the tides of humanity roll in but he can not be kept down. He continues to bounce back, that what does not kill you makes you stronger.
Simon Reid: Head of Lycan Legislature, Werewolf (DoRCMC)