Post by Joe Dean on Dec 30, 2010 13:25:19 GMT -5
ABOUT YOU
Player Name (or name you wish to be called on the board): Andi
Do you solemnly swear that you are above the age of 13? Yeah
Other Characters you play on this board: Um... It might be easier to list the characters I don't play.
ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER
Character Name: Joseph "Joe" Daniel Dean
Character Age: 52
Appearance:
- Brief Description: Joe is a mature, older man with a full head of light brown hair that is greying a bit at the temples, and brown eyes that sometimes look green in certain lights. His face is lined and weathered, but still quite handsome. He smiles easily, and his eyes seem to twinkle with mischief and merriment. He dresses casually most of the time, and sometimes comes off looking "sloppy," yet somehow it still looks good on him.
- Eye Color: brown
- Hair (color, length, style): light brown/dark blondish
- Skin Tone: white, tan
- Height: 6'
- Body Type: well-built, still muscular
Celebrity Claim (make sure you post in the Celebrity Claim list as well, and make sure your chosen celebrity is available): Scott Bakula
Occupation: Coffee shop owner, retired auror
Strengths:
- Good sense of humor
- Warm and caring
- Generous (he would give you the shirt off his back)
- A good cook
- Good head for business/finances
Weaknesses:
- His children
- Women (he's a big flirt, but he doesn't mean anything by it)
- Sometimes has unrealistic expectations of people
- Occasionally has drinking binges to combat his dark moods
- Doesn't like to talk about himself or his past
Personality: Joe is the kind of guy everyone loves, but no one really knows. On the surface, he's just a friendly, likable guy who's always quick with a joke. He likes to make people laugh and smile, and he's good at putting even shy people at ease. He's generous and caring, and he'll do anything to help a person in need. He's also great with advice; he's trustworthy and honest. He'll keep a secret until his dying day, if that's what you need him to do.
However, there is more to him than this. He does have a darker side. He worked for years as an auror, and this took his toll on him. He saw a lot of things he wishes he could forget, and he lost a lot of things that mattered to him along the way. Specifically, his family. (More on this in the history.) While it seems like he has a lot of friends, at the end of the day he is still alone, and very lonely. He is consumed by regrets, and he sees his work at the coffee shop as a sort of atonement.
He is also prone to fits of depression and alcoholism. Sometimes he closes up the shop for a week, or just leaves it in the hands of his employees and spends a week closed up in his upstairs apartment, drinking. These fits are rare, however.
Family
- Mother: Phyllis, deceased
- Father: Jerry, deceased
- Siblings (if any, list names and ages): none
- Wife: Sandra, deceased
- Son: Paul, 32 (estranged)
- Daughter: Aislinn, 28
History:
He was born in the American state of Oklahoma, to a family of modest but comfortable means. His parents were God-fearing Christians who had never heard of the the magical world. But they believed that their son, their beautiful little boy, was special. In fact, they believed he was a miracle. Phyllis was nearly 40 years old when she became pregnant with Joe, and she had all but given up hope that she would ever have a child of her own. Then Joe came along, and his parents loved him deeply. They gave him lots of attention, took him places, and helped him to learn. He never went to school with the other children; instead, Phyllis homeschooled him. He went on field trips, learned different activities, read all different types of books, and helped on his father's farm.
He never had one of those shocking moments where he displayed his magical powers. It always came out in little ways that no one really thought of as strange. Sometimes he seemed to float an inch or two above the air, but it was seen as a trick of the light. When he fell out of a tree at age 8 and didn't get hurt, they just said it was good luck, or maybe God was looking out for him. It was always something small like that, and no one thought anything of it. So when he got his letter to the Southern Academy of Magic, it came as quite a surprise to everyone. At first, his parents were terrified and were afraid that their son was cursed. They decided to think about whether to let him go. Phyllis prayed and asked the Lord for a sign to tell her what to do. The next day, there was an accident out in the field. Jerry was nearly run over by an out of control tractor when the brakes went out, and that was when Joe, working nearby, caused his father to levitate out of the path of the tractor, saving his life. Phyllis took that as a sign that Joe's magic was intended for good, and he was allowed to go to magic school.
Joe did well at school, and despite his lack of socialization with other children, he found that he got along with them very well. He was popular, and had a lot of friends, especially girls. One of them was Sandra, a pretty pureblood he met on the train to school. She was his best friend, and over the years, they fell in love.
Jerry died when Joe was in his fifth year, and Phyllis sold the farm. She moved to a small apartment not far from the school, and Joe and Sandra visited her often during breaks from classes. Phyllis adored Sandra and vice versa.
Almost immediately after graduation, Joe and Sandra married, and Joe enrolled in the Auror program at the southern branch of the American ministry. The day he finally completed training and passed the auror test, Sandra told him she was pregnant. All seemed well. Phyllis was ill, and told she didn't have long to live, but she survived long enough to see the birth of her grandson. She died six months later.
Joe worked as an auror, and was considered one of the best in his time. He believed very much in his work, but it took a toll on him. He was never home. He barely saw his wife or his children as they were growing up. And, because he had one of the highest arrest records in the Southern branch of the American Ministry of Magic, he also made a lot of enemies. His family was often in danger, but they dealt with it.
When Paul was in his final year at school, there was an attack on the family from an angry witch whose husband, a dark wizard, had died in prison. Joe was responsible for putting him there, and she was bitter. She ambushed the family while Joe was away on an assignment (as he often was). Both children were tortured and Aislinn suffered a severe injury that left her partially deaf. But Sandra never had a chance. The woman killed her instantly with the killing curse.
Joe didn't even find out about what happened until a week later. He was deep undercover and couldn't be contacted, even by owl. After completing his assignment, he arrived home to a note. It was Paul who had to break the news to his father, who was practically a stranger to him.
Devastated, Joe quit his job. He took the kids and left the country. His wife had always loved London, so that's where he went. The kids finished their schooling at Hogwarts, while Joe opened a coffee shop and tried to get to know his children. Paul was bitter and angry, however, and any attempts by Joe to reach out to the boy were unsuccessful. After he graduated, he took off, and Joe hasn't heard from him since. Aislinn, meanwhile, forgave her father and remains close to him. Her disability doesn't prevent her from living a normal life.
Anything else? This character came about from the thread between Faith and Bronwyn. I mentioned a coffee shop run by an American, and I started thinking about it and wondered what it would be called and why this American would be in London running a coffee shop. I wanted to call it something cute, and my first thought was some play on Starbucks, which of course, would not exist yet. But then I thought I'd call it "A Cup of Joe" just because it sounds so very American. And then I thought it should be run by a guy named Joe. And I tried to imagine who would be good to play Joe... and Scott Bakula immediately came to mind. Well, then I knew I had to make him... haha.
I will probably be posting ads for Aislinn and Paul... *evil laugh*
