Personality: Howl prefers his reputation to be quite blackened and suspect. It gives him the ability to avoid major responsibilities, and balances the parts of him he finds (sometimes rightly so) irresistibly impressive. He absolutely is a charming man and certainly is good at impressing women and men alike, but he has such a fear of commitment that he “slithers” out of any long-term responsibilities that approach him. As a result, he had broken the hearts of many a young lady, and he continues to be absolutely terrible to pin down for any difficult requested task.
It is a very deliberate method to Howl’s madness. He knows that he is incredibly soft-hearted and weak to sympathetic causes, meaning that he will not charge his clients nearly enough when they ask for his help. He is, after all, very literally soft-hearted. But when the king calls on him for too many tasks, Howl tries very hard to have his reputation scorned and blackened, in order to make clients wary to trust him with serious and dangerous requests. He sneaks his way out of heavy responsibilities this way many a time, though he can hardly escape all of them and is often subject to repercussions. However, with Sophie to balance him out, he is less able to get away with his hair-brained schemes no matter how decent his reasoning is.
And his reasoning is in fact quite sound. Howl is an extremely intelligent man, with a lot of magic power and knowledge. With his thorough understanding of how to work with spells and how to be extraordinarily careful with wording, he is able to do spells quickly and in a very slapdash way. He has the raw talent to be swift in working a spell and has none of the repercussions that most other witches and wizards would have. He is careful, and redundant. And those two things make him extremely powerful.
All of his skill and prowess certainly don’t do anything to help deal with his swollen ego. His vanity is so prominent of a trait that even when Howl is forced into other forms and experiences, that is the trait that shines through most brilliantly. Though Howl is not ignorant to the world around him, as Calcifer put forth (“Too wrapped up in himself to see beyond his own nose”), he is certainly a selfish sort. He is all too focused on his appearance most of the time, spending upwards of two to three hours in the bathroom to improve his appearance. So much so is his obsession with his looks that Michael doubted he held any true affection for anyone unless Howl actually forsook his appearance to see someone. So great is his vanity that he will spend far too much money on clothes instead of food, even giving clothes to those he will be seen with in order to look as good as possible.
Howl is a cowardly sort, or so he’s convinced himself. He is actually quite brave under dire circumstances, he knows, and so he set up many such situations in order to motivate himself. For example, he left the way to Wales open for the Witch of the Waste to attempt something in because he knew quite certainly that he would attack her in a fit of rage if she started something there. He set up many such roundabout weak points in order to get himself motivated to do what he knew he needed to get done. By promising himself that he won’t do something and acting in great lengths to avoid it, he often gets himself in precisely the right situation to address the problem he has been avoiding. It’s a very bizarre reverse psychology that Howl takes, and it is as hair-pullingly frustrating to those around him as it is perfectly sensible to him.
In spite of all of his cleverness and intelligence, Howl is still completely spoiled. His tantrums are so incredible that could rival the ferocity of a child’s, often wasting magic to amplify his sulking with deafening sounds and green slime. And just as swiftly as he is to throw a fit, he is just as quick to turn absolutely chipper when he’s getting his way. Where most people don’t challenge him, he takes every chance to bicker with Sophie, who is absolutely not afraid of him and likes to pick fights with him. And he enjoys that about their relationship, as well, which is remarkable for someone that otherwise doesn’t even like to commit to anger or displeasure and would rather slither away from even the slightest amount of unpleasantness.
Howl’s relationship with Sophie is absolutely the most important part of his life. He is a very thoughtful, considerate and rather loving fellow to everyone, but Sophie in all of her bizarre rebellion against him has helped him more than anyone else ever has. While he shrugs off most of her sneers about his cruelty towards the girls he tries to woo, he expresses his hurt in her more serious accusations by acting defensive. It takes so much more work and so much more genuine feeling to get her approval, as she is so curmudgeonly towards him. Their relationship is a bizarre balancing act between their desire to get in each others’ business and mess with them and their desire to help one another in a most genuine sort of way. They’re said to almost perpetually be bickering with one another. And they’re said to prefer it that way.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Try to cover the good points of what they can do, their life skills (not necessarily powers, but things they're just good at). Go into their biggest fears and what they just can’t do. +Very intelligent +Good memory +Extremely skilled and interpretive with magic (which extends to most other things) +Ultimately has a good heart and good intentions +Can be quite brave (when he convinces himself to be) -He has to contort himself with severe mental gymnastics in order to get himself willing to do anything dangerous. -Unbelievably vain and childish, prone to tantrums -Does occasionally overthink things -Many times can't account for a certain unpredictable person not falling in line with any of his plans (that person being Sophie). -Howl has many fears; mostly the fear of consequences or, more severely, a fear of commitment. -Howl is soft-hearted to a fault: he helps people and asks for far too little money in return for all the effort he puts into their problems.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: The Litwick line has several elements and themes that match quite nicely with many different aspects of Howl. Ghost type has a close tie to the occult, and Howl is a wizard. Fire type is a good symbol for Calcifer, the fire demon that Howl once had a tie to and had fed his heart to. Litwick is finicky to raise, but Chandelure is quite a hard hitter. Its strength lies in its Special Attack - the fair equivalent of "magic". If Litwick is not an acceptable option, Howl's starter will be Abra. Password: Ginger Snaps
Samples First Person Sample: [Howl starts this entry with a debonaire smile. It's almost impossible to tell that he had, just an entry ago, thrown a tantrum and demanded answers from the network.]
This is such a curious little place. I admit, I'm growing quite fond of its quirks. I understand a bit better how everything works, and it's remarkably simple.
It is still quite a headache that it's so simple, however. At least, in concept. These would be extremely complex spells, in their own right, but they need not be spoken with words or have spell components. It seems to come quite naturally to them.
Perhaps I will go along with this peculiar game. There may be something to learn, from these little "pocket monsters".
Third Person Sample: “Here you go, Calcifer.”
Cutting the bread carefully with a knife, Howl offered a piece to the purple-glowing wax creature that sat eagerly in wait. It was a shame that it didn’t like to eat egg shells like its namesake; that would have made the breakfast a bit easier to deal with. Egg shells would mulch in the wild, right? Surely there was some animal that would find use for it. Howl then cut a slice of cheese for himself, and then for the Pokémon, taking a bite of the bread and cheese as he sat back and thought about where to go next.
He had recently won the first gym battle, only struggling initially until he caught on to the ideal tactics and methods of Pokémon battle. The Litwick munched happily on the treat it was being spoiled with, very pleased with just how much Howl liked to give it. It blinked at him in surprise when Howl spoke up again, “I wonder how much further we should go.”
Sophie hadn’t come to this strange world. She likely hadn’t opened the wrong door accidentally and wandered in, as Howl theorized he did. But knowing Sophie, it was only a matter of time before she arrived to complicate the situation. Howl smiled, attempting to be annoyed, and laughed as he failed to do so. “If she does arrive, that’ll make discovering a way out all the more complicated!”
Truth be told, Howl was beginning to miss the lot of them. The real Calcifer, Michael, and Sophie. He didn’t wish to find any of them here. But the more he pondered, the more he came to the same conclusion: the more inconvenient it would be for Sophie to be here, the more likely it was for her to arrive. Howl didn’t even finish the bread and cheese he cut for himself before he passed his share to the Litwick he nicknamed Calcifer and shoved his belongings back into the bag he received.
“I suppose that means we ought to hurry and get a Pokémon that can teleport or fly us, doesn’t it, Calcifer?”
no subject
It is a very deliberate method to Howl’s madness. He knows that he is incredibly soft-hearted and weak to sympathetic causes, meaning that he will not charge his clients nearly enough when they ask for his help. He is, after all, very literally soft-hearted. But when the king calls on him for too many tasks, Howl tries very hard to have his reputation scorned and blackened, in order to make clients wary to trust him with serious and dangerous requests. He sneaks his way out of heavy responsibilities this way many a time, though he can hardly escape all of them and is often subject to repercussions. However, with Sophie to balance him out, he is less able to get away with his hair-brained schemes no matter how decent his reasoning is.
And his reasoning is in fact quite sound. Howl is an extremely intelligent man, with a lot of magic power and knowledge. With his thorough understanding of how to work with spells and how to be extraordinarily careful with wording, he is able to do spells quickly and in a very slapdash way. He has the raw talent to be swift in working a spell and has none of the repercussions that most other witches and wizards would have. He is careful, and redundant. And those two things make him extremely powerful.
All of his skill and prowess certainly don’t do anything to help deal with his swollen ego. His vanity is so prominent of a trait that even when Howl is forced into other forms and experiences, that is the trait that shines through most brilliantly. Though Howl is not ignorant to the world around him, as Calcifer put forth (“Too wrapped up in himself to see beyond his own nose”), he is certainly a selfish sort. He is all too focused on his appearance most of the time, spending upwards of two to three hours in the bathroom to improve his appearance. So much so is his obsession with his looks that Michael doubted he held any true affection for anyone unless Howl actually forsook his appearance to see someone. So great is his vanity that he will spend far too much money on clothes instead of food, even giving clothes to those he will be seen with in order to look as good as possible.
Howl is a cowardly sort, or so he’s convinced himself. He is actually quite brave under dire circumstances, he knows, and so he set up many such situations in order to motivate himself. For example, he left the way to Wales open for the Witch of the Waste to attempt something in because he knew quite certainly that he would attack her in a fit of rage if she started something there. He set up many such roundabout weak points in order to get himself motivated to do what he knew he needed to get done. By promising himself that he won’t do something and acting in great lengths to avoid it, he often gets himself in precisely the right situation to address the problem he has been avoiding. It’s a very bizarre reverse psychology that Howl takes, and it is as hair-pullingly frustrating to those around him as it is perfectly sensible to him.
In spite of all of his cleverness and intelligence, Howl is still completely spoiled. His tantrums are so incredible that could rival the ferocity of a child’s, often wasting magic to amplify his sulking with deafening sounds and green slime. And just as swiftly as he is to throw a fit, he is just as quick to turn absolutely chipper when he’s getting his way. Where most people don’t challenge him, he takes every chance to bicker with Sophie, who is absolutely not afraid of him and likes to pick fights with him. And he enjoys that about their relationship, as well, which is remarkable for someone that otherwise doesn’t even like to commit to anger or displeasure and would rather slither away from even the slightest amount of unpleasantness.
Howl’s relationship with Sophie is absolutely the most important part of his life. He is a very thoughtful, considerate and rather loving fellow to everyone, but Sophie in all of her bizarre rebellion against him has helped him more than anyone else ever has. While he shrugs off most of her sneers about his cruelty towards the girls he tries to woo, he expresses his hurt in her more serious accusations by acting defensive. It takes so much more work and so much more genuine feeling to get her approval, as she is so curmudgeonly towards him. Their relationship is a bizarre balancing act between their desire to get in each others’ business and mess with them and their desire to help one another in a most genuine sort of way. They’re said to almost perpetually be bickering with one another. And they’re said to prefer it that way.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Try to cover the good points of what they can do, their life skills (not necessarily powers, but things they're just good at). Go into their biggest fears and what they just can’t do.
+Very intelligent
+Good memory
+Extremely skilled and interpretive with magic (which extends to most other things)
+Ultimately has a good heart and good intentions
+Can be quite brave (when he convinces himself to be)
-He has to contort himself with severe mental gymnastics in order to get himself willing to do anything dangerous.
-Unbelievably vain and childish, prone to tantrums
-Does occasionally overthink things
-Many times can't account for a certain unpredictable person not falling in line with any of his plans (that person being Sophie).
-Howl has many fears; mostly the fear of consequences or, more severely, a fear of commitment.
-Howl is soft-hearted to a fault: he helps people and asks for far too little money in return for all the effort he puts into their problems.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: The Litwick line has several elements and themes that match quite nicely with many different aspects of Howl. Ghost type has a close tie to the occult, and Howl is a wizard. Fire type is a good symbol for Calcifer, the fire demon that Howl once had a tie to and had fed his heart to. Litwick is finicky to raise, but Chandelure is quite a hard hitter. Its strength lies in its Special Attack - the fair equivalent of "magic". If Litwick is not an acceptable option, Howl's starter will be Abra.
Password: Ginger Snaps
Samples
First Person Sample:
[Howl starts this entry with a debonaire smile. It's almost impossible to tell that he had, just an entry ago, thrown a tantrum and demanded answers from the network.]
This is such a curious little place. I admit, I'm growing quite fond of its quirks. I understand a bit better how everything works, and it's remarkably simple.
It is still quite a headache that it's so simple, however. At least, in concept. These would be extremely complex spells, in their own right, but they need not be spoken with words or have spell components. It seems to come quite naturally to them.
Perhaps I will go along with this peculiar game. There may be something to learn, from these little "pocket monsters".
Third Person Sample:
“Here you go, Calcifer.”
Cutting the bread carefully with a knife, Howl offered a piece to the purple-glowing wax creature that sat eagerly in wait. It was a shame that it didn’t like to eat egg shells like its namesake; that would have made the breakfast a bit easier to deal with. Egg shells would mulch in the wild, right? Surely there was some animal that would find use for it. Howl then cut a slice of cheese for himself, and then for the Pokémon, taking a bite of the bread and cheese as he sat back and thought about where to go next.
He had recently won the first gym battle, only struggling initially until he caught on to the ideal tactics and methods of Pokémon battle. The Litwick munched happily on the treat it was being spoiled with, very pleased with just how much Howl liked to give it. It blinked at him in surprise when Howl spoke up again, “I wonder how much further we should go.”
Sophie hadn’t come to this strange world. She likely hadn’t opened the wrong door accidentally and wandered in, as Howl theorized he did. But knowing Sophie, it was only a matter of time before she arrived to complicate the situation. Howl smiled, attempting to be annoyed, and laughed as he failed to do so. “If she does arrive, that’ll make discovering a way out all the more complicated!”
Truth be told, Howl was beginning to miss the lot of them. The real Calcifer, Michael, and Sophie. He didn’t wish to find any of them here. But the more he pondered, the more he came to the same conclusion: the more inconvenient it would be for Sophie to be here, the more likely it was for her to arrive. Howl didn’t even finish the bread and cheese he cut for himself before he passed his share to the Litwick he nicknamed Calcifer and shoved his belongings back into the bag he received.
“I suppose that means we ought to hurry and get a Pokémon that can teleport or fly us, doesn’t it, Calcifer?”