tacithom

Name: Thomas (Thom) Harkin

Age: 18

Sex: Male

Appearance:

Of medium height and build, Thom wears his hair in a shaggy style that his mother is constantly telling him is in need of a cut. He doesn't agree, but usually makes noises along the lines of 'I was going to, but forgot'. Occasionally, she marches him down to the barber and stands over him whilst he has a 'decent haircut' – and then he's miserable for weeks until he's grown it back into the style he likes and the battle begins all over again.

Special Abilities:

Plays guitar, piano and harmonica. Makes a mean lasagne. Has been taking self-defence and martial arts classes since he turned sixteen.

Supernatural Affinity (Species/Group): Human/Protector

Supernatural Affinity (Powers):

Power(s): Knows some white magic - and lately he's been actively working at learning more and is definitely improving. Mostly warding spells and defensive spells, no actual offensive spells to date, though he's beginning to look into them.
Level: White magic 2

Personality:

Thom is very easy going, he keeps himself to himself mostly, he attempts to keep a low profile. He’s also aware that he’s a rich kid in school, even if he doesn’t have the trappings that go with that. He’s not interested in being part of the ‘in’ crowd – or any crowd at all. He is the guy who eats lunch alone, reading a book. But he’s also the guy that knows everyone, or is known by everyone and the guy who always knows what’s going on. He keeps an eye on people, makes a point of it. He watches everything, but he rarely takes part.

History:

Thom was born and raised in Marquette, the only son of Ashbelle Harkin – a driven, ambitious woman with seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm. Despite being a single mother, Ashbelle managed to become a senior judge and an influential person in her own right. Ashbelle always had a strong work ethic and an eye towards the greater good and she worked hard to instil these traits into her son. He doesn't really remember his father and his mother has done nothing to aid in that, but then, Thom and Ashbelle don't really talk about personal things.

As he was growing up, his mother was not shy in educating him that giving back to the community was of the utmost importance, even if it meant sacrificing yourself and your personal life and wellbeing. In the early days, however, when he was younger, she made time to tell him that it wasn't that he wasn't important to her, but that it would be wrong if she neglected everything to be with him, not matter how much she would like to. She had a job to do and she needed his help and support to be able to do it. All his life, Ashbelle has treated Thom as an equal and he has responded (most of the time) with more than average maturity for his age. He does occasionally feel that he was neglected by his mother as he was growing up (what teenager doesn't) but when he's not feeling spiteful and vindictive, he knows why it was this way and totally forgives her for everything.

When he was sixteen, his mother sat him down and explained about her family. They were protectors, she told him – an ancient line who were bound to protect others. Specifically one person – a person of their choice. He’d asked her about her protected and that was when he found out about the family curse.

The Harkin line had a curse of silence put upon them. They could not talk about who they were, other than one single conversation from parent to child when they turned sixteen, one conversation to allow the knowledge of what they were to be passed down through the generations. Other than that, they were forbidden to speak of their role. Not to each other, not to the world at large – and certainly not to the person they chose to protect. To do so would mean their death. They could express concern, or friendship towards their protected, but never explain their true motivation.

Thom has grown up a very self-reliant child. A latch-key kid since he was old enough to be allowed out alone, he and his mother are very much ships that pass in the night. They make a point of sitting down together for dinner on a Sunday, where there is an almost ritualistic swapping of the week's news, but other than that communication is generally via messages on the fridge door, which is fine by Thom. He is generally of the opinion that his mother wouldn't approve anyway. So far the distance has meant that he hasn't had to admit that he has no interest in attending an Ivy league school and then going onto law school when he graduates from high school; or that he'd much prefer to become a professional musician – a conversation that he knows he's going to have to have at some point, but currently he's hoping a meteor will hurtle down from outer space and destroy Marquette so he doesn't have to bring it up. He's kinda scared of his mom at times –somehow a determination to be his own person and not what she wants him to be is harder to actually go with when he's in her presence. All his front about who and what he's going to be and do with his life seems to disappear when she actually talks to him. Ashbelle is determined that her son should be something more. She holds herself out as an example that just because someone is bound to protect another, doesn’t mean that they can’t have a life of their own. Thom – thinks that all sounds far too much like hard work.

Weaknesses:

He tends to sell himself short. He knows that in certain circles he’s very definitely known as ‘the son of Ashbelle Harkins’ – a fact he hates. He has a determination not to live in his mother's shadow unfortunately often that means that he makes life hard for himself. He's very wary of taking help from anyone, in case the person offering is only doing so because of who he is. He's always suspicious that people – especially anyone older than he is – are only trying to curry favour with the judge by cutting him some slack, and he won't take that. This makes him self-reliant to the point of paranoia and he often pushes people away because of it. He's an isolated personality, but by design rather than any real wish to be so. He has trouble trusting people who show interest in him for no apparent reason and he's very guarded until he gets to know people. He's the guy who eats lunch alone on the back steps of the school, watching everything else that's going on.

He's not very good at letting other people do for him. He's grown up being used to having to do everything for himself. He finds it very hard to let go and trust other people to be able to do anything, which means that when push comes to shove, he's like as not going to be the guy who's trying to do a thousand and one things himself all at the same time and running himself into the ground. He simply doesn't trust that anything he leaves to others will be done at all, never mind properly.

As much as he holds himself apart from people, he does give a shit and will go out of his way for people who need it. He just can’t not do that. And no, he’s not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. Most of the time, this only relates to Kaysen, but if it happens that she doesn’t need watching and he’s at a loose end? He may go and bug someone else. Of course, have you ever taken a look at Kaysen? If ever a girl needed a protector, she is it.

The family curse: Thom cannot talk about being a protector, or about his protected as such. He can’t explain his motivations, to either Kaysen or anyone else. He cannot even tell his mother who his protected is – he can’t talk to Ashbelle about being a protector either, he can’t ask for help, or advice, though she can teach him some of the spells she knows, as long as she does so in advance and doesn’t try and tailor them to any given situation.

Strengths:

He's incredibly self-reliant. After all, he near enough raised himself and he's used to the fact that at the end of the day, there's nobody there for you but you.

PB: Robert Schwartzman

Other Information:

Family: Ashbelle (NPC)
Protected: Kaysen St James