Synodiporia App
Sep. 16th, 2017 08:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unapologeticallyaffectedP L A Y E R;
NAME: Terry
AGE: 41
PLAYER JOURNAL: n/a
TIMEZONE: PST
CONTACT: inkblotted23@gmail.com, plurk is inkblotted
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Colonel Tick-Tock, Jesse McCree
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Eliot Waugh
CANON: The Magicians (book)
POINT IN CANON: Shortly after traveling to Fillory for the first time
AGE: 25
APPEARANCE: I will be using the TV PB, Hale Appleman, he looks like this. One notable exception - Eliot has a crooked jaw and crooked teeth, which gives him a somewhat permanent sneer, as one corner of his mouth is always turned up.
CANON HISTORY:
The following history is from the first book of the series, The Magicians, as I am taking Eliot from a canon point in the book. If his full canon history from the next two books is needed, I will amend this section.
Eliot Waugh was born to a family of farmers in Southern Oregon - he grew up with his parents and three brothers who are described as kind-hearted jocks, essentially. His family never really understood him, as he is incredibly intelligent and also had very different interests to them, as well as being homosexual. At one point, he mentions that his father thought he had chewed too much dip before Eliot was conceived, and that was why he came out so differently. Eliot never talks about any abuse, but he was raised to feel that there was something inherently wrong with him. He was bullied from a very young age by his peers for his mannerisms and sexuality, and was beaten up more than once.
There is very little canon on his early career at Brakebills, the college for magicians that he was recruited to during his senior year. He first appears in the books at the start of his 3rd year of a five year degree. Eliot was one of the "Physical Kids", a group of student magicians who have specialties revolving around raw physical magic. They are an uncommon kind of magician, and as such, their group was very small. Eliot's primary friends were also in this group - Janet and Josh. Later on they are joined by Quentin and Alice - all five remain close through school and afterward. Quentin became Eliot's best friend over time, though Janet reamined his closest physical companion and the person who understood him best. During school, however, it is noted that she has a crush on Eliot which he does not return, probably at least in part because of his homosexuality. It was also an open secret that he carried on affairs with other boys, usually not on a long term basis (it's never explicitly stated, but a few months to a year are implied), but he never talked about this with anyone else.
Eliot did very well at school, though he did not study as much as most of the other students. He ws so naturally gifted that he didn't have to. Upon graduation a cacodemon was implanted into his back (as it is with all the other graduating students, as a kind of one-time-summon for protection), and then he and Janet and Josh all moved to New York City to basically bum after school - as a magician, money was never a problem and they didn't need to work. There was a lot of partying, drinking, drugs, and easy sex. Eliot, who had always had a drinking habit, slipped into full fledged alcoholism at that point, likely related to having very little guidance or purpose. He became depressed and reverted to more adolescent habits. Once Quentin and Alice graduated, they joined the rest in New York, and Eliot embroiled Quentin in their hedonistic lifestyle, becoming much more dependent on him as a friend, though resentful of his own dependency and need for Quentin. At Brakebills, he had always been aloof and seen as a leader, but in New York he became a childish lush. As things fell apart, Quentin cheated on his long time girlfriend, Alice, with Janet, and amidst all this drama, Penny, a former classmate of Quentin's appeared and shared news about travel to other worlds. He had a magic button which he got off a peddler of magical goods, and he had used this to travel to an in-between worlds place, a sort of way station called the Neitherlands. After much discussion, the group decided to use the button to try and find Fillory, a magic realm written about in children's books in their world (Narnia, essentially) that most had assumed was fictional.
This quest brought some of the old Eliot back, and instead of being sarcastic and needy the way he had been for the past 1-2 years, he became energized and excited, and directed preparation for their trip. They all traveled to the Neitherlands, then Fillory, where they heard from some of the natives that various great evils had been ruling the land, but if they could find the crown of the High King, they could become kings and queens of Fillory and make everything right again. Accompanied by native adventurers and guides, they traveled to Ember's Tomb, where the crown was said to be. After a few difficult battles to get in, they entered the tomb to find Ember himself, one of the twin ram deities of Fillory and in the resulting conversation, end up accidentally summoning The Beast, a human who had come to Fillory centuries before and transformed himself into a monster. Several of them were badly injured when trying to fight him, Alice sacrificed herself to save everyone, and killed the Beast.
Because Quentin was one of the badly injured in the battle, he was taken in by the centaurs, who were known for their healing abilities. Eliot went with him, but as the days turned into weeks, and he was told Quentin might not survive - he was unconscious throughout. Eliot was unable to handle watching his friend die. He and the others left, and he became High King of Fillory and had many adventures (this is all off screen and is never described). Later, after Quentin recovered and returns to Earth, Eliot, too, returned to convince Quentin to return as the fourth ruler of Fillory, alongside himself, Janet, and Julia (Quentin's old friend/crush from high school).
CANON PERSONALITY:
The vast majority of Eliot's personality in the books is based on Quentin's observations of him - he is a man who very rarely talks about himself, and aside from some insight into his past after a couple of brief conversations with Quentin, not much is know about Eliot's thought processes. However, his actions speak very clearly for him.
He is described by Quentin as the most staggeringly and unapologetically affected person Quentin has ever met, and this impression forms the backbone of Eliot's personality. He comes from a rural, relatively uneducated West Coast background, but he comes across like an East Coast socialite, utterly polished and urbane, witty and scathing. Since it wouldn't come naturally, he must have built this persona up over time, possibly as a means of protecting himself. His brothers felt sorry for him, and his father believed he turned out the way he did because he (Eliot's father) chewed too much dip and it affected his sperm. While his family was not abusive to him, they spent most of his childhood invalidating who he was and reinforcing his difference, the fact that they believed there was something wrong with him, even if they did not blame him for it. For some people, this might cause them to be constantly seeking the approval of others, but Eliot instead chose to erect a persona of towering self confidence. And most of the time for him, this works very well.
People generally perceive Eliot as a natural leader, charming, and absolutely comfortable and even pleased in who and what he is. And to an extent, Eliot is these things, especially when he has a purpose or task. But there are two major indications that he hides some deep seated unhappiness.
Firstly, is his alcoholism. In school, Eliot generally drank during and after dinner, and on weekends. Occasionally he gets very drunk, but mostly he seems to just always have alcohol handy when class is not in session or he's not studying. However once he leaves Brakebills, and there is no clear plan for his life, he starts drinking all the time, and getting properly drunk much more often. He clearly uses alcohol to self medicate, and uses a lot more when he is becoming more depressed.
Second is his sexuality. Eliot is homosexual but he very rarely talks about it. It's gossiped about among other students that he has a series of boyfriends, but Eliot himself never talks about this with his friends, never openly dates anyone while at school, and never even appears to have a crush. What little is known about his sexual behavior is from Quentin's point of view, from when he accidentally nearly walks in on Eliot with one of his lovers. The other boy is verbally humiliating him and instructing him to perform sexual favors for him - it is implied in the scene that Eliot is a willing participant, but there's no real affection between the two. Eliot seems to still feel his sexuality is something shameful and even secret while in school. As the books progress, he becomes much more open about this and his trysts, and they seem to be healthier, but he never becomes seriously romantically involved with anyone.
Finally, there is a theoretical connection - at one point in the books, the dean of Brakebills talks about how magic is really powered by unhappiness. He speaks about how magicians tend to feel their pain in a stronger way than others, and this is what truly fuels their power. And it is mentioned multiple times that Eliot is the best natural magician in the group, in his year, and possibly in the school at the time.
While a lot of Eliot's persona is put on, and even flat out fake, he is actually a very true and loyal friend. He cares deeply for his inner circle: Josh, Janet, Quentin, and Alice. He will often tease or make fun of them, or offer scathing commentary, but he never does anything to seriously hurt them, and near the end of the first book he tells Quentin through a letter that he considers Quentin his true family, and that Quentin played a large role in who he becomes as High King of Fillory. He also has deep affection for Janet - they constantly bicker and snipe at each other, but they always have each other's backs later on. Early in their relationship, however, it is observed by others that Janet is probably in love with Eliot, though he does not love her. But he is never cruel to her about this, and as he is very observant, he no doubt notices this himself. Later their relationship, while still platonic, becomes fuller and richer, something like dear siblings.
Eliot is at his best when he has a purpose, something he believes in. He is a natural leader, and once he's given a direction he cares about, he tends to step in and start organizing, getting people to do what he wants. As a younger man, his interests are often more selfish or shallow, but when he becomes High King, he matures a great deal. He works very hard to improve affairs in Fillory and to make life better for the common citizen there. He still keeps up his facade of jaded disinterest, but his actions show he does really care. It is implied he is actually a very good king.
Eliot is at his worst when he doesn't have a direction - at those times he becomes depressed, sullen, and much more prone to bouts of self loathing. He also becomes needy to the point of clinginess, and his more selfish side comes to the forefront. He is absolutely willing to drag the people he cares about down with him when he is depressed, though it may be that he doesn't even recognize that this is what he is doing - he just gets so desperate for approval and affection that he doesn't pay attention to what effects his actions are having on those around him.
POINT OF DEPARTURE: Not applicable.
VETERAN?: No
ABILITIES:
Magical abilities: Eliot is a magician. In his canon, this means he can do almost anything given enough time to read up on it and devise the spell. This includes things like opening doors to other places that are very far away, moving objects by magic, locating objects and path-finding, creating and shaping fire, turning himself or others invisible, flying, altering the weather, creating illusions, creating objects, influencing other's thoughts (including animals), creating magical armor and weapons, magically boosting his own strength and stamina, performing mundane domestic tasks with magic, minor healing magic, creating light, transforming into an animal - the list goes on and on. Because he is a physical magician (his specific discipline is never mentioned in the books), he naturally is better at those kinds of spells, but he is certainly able to do other kinds as well.
Some of these skills should translate fairly well as liminal abilities (the creation and summoning of objects, etc), but I recognize that some of them will probably need to be nerfed. There are some decent canon reasons for why his magic might not work so well, at least in liminal space - magic, in The Magicians, is highly dependent on circumstances. Things like time of day, phase of the moon, geographic location, etc all must be factored in to a spell. Since everything is mutable and changing in liminal space, this might make it much more difficult to cast, especially anything complex. On Jaunts, it probably would function a little better (in the books, there doesn't seem to be much issue with casting in other worlds once the magician gets used to it, which only seems to take a few days), but he would still need to observe how things work. For any place similar to Earth, he would likely be at his strongest. The other big limiting factor is the need for supplies for the more complicated spells. Nothing is needed to, say, create a small flame, but for any sort of summoning or heavy duty magic, like transformation, one generally needs reagents of some sort. These are things that could be gathered during Jaunts, but it could certainly be said that the reagents can't be things that are created from liminal space itself, to limit his power.
Mundane abilities:
Eliot is a good cook. He is also very fashionable, a good organizer when he puts his mind to it, and has an extensive, even encyclopedic knowledge of wines, and a great ability to judge them.
INVENTORY:
Clothing, hiker's backpack with some food in it, a hunting knife, water, reagents for spells, some basic survival gear, a few packs of cigarettes
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Nope!
M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION:
Magician: This is the most obvious choice for Eliot, in my opinion, and not just because of the literal connection of the name. At his best, he fully embodies the Magician - personal power, self confidence, creativity, focus. He has enormous determination, and he is also excellent at manipulating the forces and people around him.
Emperor: Eliot is probably not a traditional Emperor candidate, as he is not traditionally masculine, but he does make an excellent High King and ruler in later life, and while he is not as rigid and traditional as this Arcana implies, it certainly fits some of him.
Chariot: Eliot could fit this Arcana in some aspects - certainly the egocentrism, self confidence, and willpower fit, as does the anxiety. He also likes to win.
VETO:
Sun: Eliot just is not an inherently happy or positive person. He can be happy, but this kind of lightness is not an integral part of who he is. There's too much darkness in him for this to fit.
Fool: Eliot is far from pure-hearted or innocent, nor is he reckless or naive. Almost nothing about the Fool fits him.
S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Here.
PROSE SAMPLE: Here.
NAME: Terry
AGE: 41
PLAYER JOURNAL: n/a
TIMEZONE: PST
CONTACT: inkblotted23@gmail.com, plurk is inkblotted
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Colonel Tick-Tock, Jesse McCree
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Eliot Waugh
CANON: The Magicians (book)
POINT IN CANON: Shortly after traveling to Fillory for the first time
AGE: 25
APPEARANCE: I will be using the TV PB, Hale Appleman, he looks like this. One notable exception - Eliot has a crooked jaw and crooked teeth, which gives him a somewhat permanent sneer, as one corner of his mouth is always turned up.
CANON HISTORY:
The following history is from the first book of the series, The Magicians, as I am taking Eliot from a canon point in the book. If his full canon history from the next two books is needed, I will amend this section.
Eliot Waugh was born to a family of farmers in Southern Oregon - he grew up with his parents and three brothers who are described as kind-hearted jocks, essentially. His family never really understood him, as he is incredibly intelligent and also had very different interests to them, as well as being homosexual. At one point, he mentions that his father thought he had chewed too much dip before Eliot was conceived, and that was why he came out so differently. Eliot never talks about any abuse, but he was raised to feel that there was something inherently wrong with him. He was bullied from a very young age by his peers for his mannerisms and sexuality, and was beaten up more than once.
There is very little canon on his early career at Brakebills, the college for magicians that he was recruited to during his senior year. He first appears in the books at the start of his 3rd year of a five year degree. Eliot was one of the "Physical Kids", a group of student magicians who have specialties revolving around raw physical magic. They are an uncommon kind of magician, and as such, their group was very small. Eliot's primary friends were also in this group - Janet and Josh. Later on they are joined by Quentin and Alice - all five remain close through school and afterward. Quentin became Eliot's best friend over time, though Janet reamined his closest physical companion and the person who understood him best. During school, however, it is noted that she has a crush on Eliot which he does not return, probably at least in part because of his homosexuality. It was also an open secret that he carried on affairs with other boys, usually not on a long term basis (it's never explicitly stated, but a few months to a year are implied), but he never talked about this with anyone else.
Eliot did very well at school, though he did not study as much as most of the other students. He ws so naturally gifted that he didn't have to. Upon graduation a cacodemon was implanted into his back (as it is with all the other graduating students, as a kind of one-time-summon for protection), and then he and Janet and Josh all moved to New York City to basically bum after school - as a magician, money was never a problem and they didn't need to work. There was a lot of partying, drinking, drugs, and easy sex. Eliot, who had always had a drinking habit, slipped into full fledged alcoholism at that point, likely related to having very little guidance or purpose. He became depressed and reverted to more adolescent habits. Once Quentin and Alice graduated, they joined the rest in New York, and Eliot embroiled Quentin in their hedonistic lifestyle, becoming much more dependent on him as a friend, though resentful of his own dependency and need for Quentin. At Brakebills, he had always been aloof and seen as a leader, but in New York he became a childish lush. As things fell apart, Quentin cheated on his long time girlfriend, Alice, with Janet, and amidst all this drama, Penny, a former classmate of Quentin's appeared and shared news about travel to other worlds. He had a magic button which he got off a peddler of magical goods, and he had used this to travel to an in-between worlds place, a sort of way station called the Neitherlands. After much discussion, the group decided to use the button to try and find Fillory, a magic realm written about in children's books in their world (Narnia, essentially) that most had assumed was fictional.
This quest brought some of the old Eliot back, and instead of being sarcastic and needy the way he had been for the past 1-2 years, he became energized and excited, and directed preparation for their trip. They all traveled to the Neitherlands, then Fillory, where they heard from some of the natives that various great evils had been ruling the land, but if they could find the crown of the High King, they could become kings and queens of Fillory and make everything right again. Accompanied by native adventurers and guides, they traveled to Ember's Tomb, where the crown was said to be. After a few difficult battles to get in, they entered the tomb to find Ember himself, one of the twin ram deities of Fillory and in the resulting conversation, end up accidentally summoning The Beast, a human who had come to Fillory centuries before and transformed himself into a monster. Several of them were badly injured when trying to fight him, Alice sacrificed herself to save everyone, and killed the Beast.
Because Quentin was one of the badly injured in the battle, he was taken in by the centaurs, who were known for their healing abilities. Eliot went with him, but as the days turned into weeks, and he was told Quentin might not survive - he was unconscious throughout. Eliot was unable to handle watching his friend die. He and the others left, and he became High King of Fillory and had many adventures (this is all off screen and is never described). Later, after Quentin recovered and returns to Earth, Eliot, too, returned to convince Quentin to return as the fourth ruler of Fillory, alongside himself, Janet, and Julia (Quentin's old friend/crush from high school).
CANON PERSONALITY:
The vast majority of Eliot's personality in the books is based on Quentin's observations of him - he is a man who very rarely talks about himself, and aside from some insight into his past after a couple of brief conversations with Quentin, not much is know about Eliot's thought processes. However, his actions speak very clearly for him.
He is described by Quentin as the most staggeringly and unapologetically affected person Quentin has ever met, and this impression forms the backbone of Eliot's personality. He comes from a rural, relatively uneducated West Coast background, but he comes across like an East Coast socialite, utterly polished and urbane, witty and scathing. Since it wouldn't come naturally, he must have built this persona up over time, possibly as a means of protecting himself. His brothers felt sorry for him, and his father believed he turned out the way he did because he (Eliot's father) chewed too much dip and it affected his sperm. While his family was not abusive to him, they spent most of his childhood invalidating who he was and reinforcing his difference, the fact that they believed there was something wrong with him, even if they did not blame him for it. For some people, this might cause them to be constantly seeking the approval of others, but Eliot instead chose to erect a persona of towering self confidence. And most of the time for him, this works very well.
People generally perceive Eliot as a natural leader, charming, and absolutely comfortable and even pleased in who and what he is. And to an extent, Eliot is these things, especially when he has a purpose or task. But there are two major indications that he hides some deep seated unhappiness.
Firstly, is his alcoholism. In school, Eliot generally drank during and after dinner, and on weekends. Occasionally he gets very drunk, but mostly he seems to just always have alcohol handy when class is not in session or he's not studying. However once he leaves Brakebills, and there is no clear plan for his life, he starts drinking all the time, and getting properly drunk much more often. He clearly uses alcohol to self medicate, and uses a lot more when he is becoming more depressed.
Second is his sexuality. Eliot is homosexual but he very rarely talks about it. It's gossiped about among other students that he has a series of boyfriends, but Eliot himself never talks about this with his friends, never openly dates anyone while at school, and never even appears to have a crush. What little is known about his sexual behavior is from Quentin's point of view, from when he accidentally nearly walks in on Eliot with one of his lovers. The other boy is verbally humiliating him and instructing him to perform sexual favors for him - it is implied in the scene that Eliot is a willing participant, but there's no real affection between the two. Eliot seems to still feel his sexuality is something shameful and even secret while in school. As the books progress, he becomes much more open about this and his trysts, and they seem to be healthier, but he never becomes seriously romantically involved with anyone.
Finally, there is a theoretical connection - at one point in the books, the dean of Brakebills talks about how magic is really powered by unhappiness. He speaks about how magicians tend to feel their pain in a stronger way than others, and this is what truly fuels their power. And it is mentioned multiple times that Eliot is the best natural magician in the group, in his year, and possibly in the school at the time.
While a lot of Eliot's persona is put on, and even flat out fake, he is actually a very true and loyal friend. He cares deeply for his inner circle: Josh, Janet, Quentin, and Alice. He will often tease or make fun of them, or offer scathing commentary, but he never does anything to seriously hurt them, and near the end of the first book he tells Quentin through a letter that he considers Quentin his true family, and that Quentin played a large role in who he becomes as High King of Fillory. He also has deep affection for Janet - they constantly bicker and snipe at each other, but they always have each other's backs later on. Early in their relationship, however, it is observed by others that Janet is probably in love with Eliot, though he does not love her. But he is never cruel to her about this, and as he is very observant, he no doubt notices this himself. Later their relationship, while still platonic, becomes fuller and richer, something like dear siblings.
Eliot is at his best when he has a purpose, something he believes in. He is a natural leader, and once he's given a direction he cares about, he tends to step in and start organizing, getting people to do what he wants. As a younger man, his interests are often more selfish or shallow, but when he becomes High King, he matures a great deal. He works very hard to improve affairs in Fillory and to make life better for the common citizen there. He still keeps up his facade of jaded disinterest, but his actions show he does really care. It is implied he is actually a very good king.
Eliot is at his worst when he doesn't have a direction - at those times he becomes depressed, sullen, and much more prone to bouts of self loathing. He also becomes needy to the point of clinginess, and his more selfish side comes to the forefront. He is absolutely willing to drag the people he cares about down with him when he is depressed, though it may be that he doesn't even recognize that this is what he is doing - he just gets so desperate for approval and affection that he doesn't pay attention to what effects his actions are having on those around him.
POINT OF DEPARTURE: Not applicable.
VETERAN?: No
ABILITIES:
Magical abilities: Eliot is a magician. In his canon, this means he can do almost anything given enough time to read up on it and devise the spell. This includes things like opening doors to other places that are very far away, moving objects by magic, locating objects and path-finding, creating and shaping fire, turning himself or others invisible, flying, altering the weather, creating illusions, creating objects, influencing other's thoughts (including animals), creating magical armor and weapons, magically boosting his own strength and stamina, performing mundane domestic tasks with magic, minor healing magic, creating light, transforming into an animal - the list goes on and on. Because he is a physical magician (his specific discipline is never mentioned in the books), he naturally is better at those kinds of spells, but he is certainly able to do other kinds as well.
Some of these skills should translate fairly well as liminal abilities (the creation and summoning of objects, etc), but I recognize that some of them will probably need to be nerfed. There are some decent canon reasons for why his magic might not work so well, at least in liminal space - magic, in The Magicians, is highly dependent on circumstances. Things like time of day, phase of the moon, geographic location, etc all must be factored in to a spell. Since everything is mutable and changing in liminal space, this might make it much more difficult to cast, especially anything complex. On Jaunts, it probably would function a little better (in the books, there doesn't seem to be much issue with casting in other worlds once the magician gets used to it, which only seems to take a few days), but he would still need to observe how things work. For any place similar to Earth, he would likely be at his strongest. The other big limiting factor is the need for supplies for the more complicated spells. Nothing is needed to, say, create a small flame, but for any sort of summoning or heavy duty magic, like transformation, one generally needs reagents of some sort. These are things that could be gathered during Jaunts, but it could certainly be said that the reagents can't be things that are created from liminal space itself, to limit his power.
Mundane abilities:
Eliot is a good cook. He is also very fashionable, a good organizer when he puts his mind to it, and has an extensive, even encyclopedic knowledge of wines, and a great ability to judge them.
INVENTORY:
Clothing, hiker's backpack with some food in it, a hunting knife, water, reagents for spells, some basic survival gear, a few packs of cigarettes
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Nope!
M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION:
Magician: This is the most obvious choice for Eliot, in my opinion, and not just because of the literal connection of the name. At his best, he fully embodies the Magician - personal power, self confidence, creativity, focus. He has enormous determination, and he is also excellent at manipulating the forces and people around him.
Emperor: Eliot is probably not a traditional Emperor candidate, as he is not traditionally masculine, but he does make an excellent High King and ruler in later life, and while he is not as rigid and traditional as this Arcana implies, it certainly fits some of him.
Chariot: Eliot could fit this Arcana in some aspects - certainly the egocentrism, self confidence, and willpower fit, as does the anxiety. He also likes to win.
VETO:
Sun: Eliot just is not an inherently happy or positive person. He can be happy, but this kind of lightness is not an integral part of who he is. There's too much darkness in him for this to fit.
Fool: Eliot is far from pure-hearted or innocent, nor is he reckless or naive. Almost nothing about the Fool fits him.
S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Here.
PROSE SAMPLE: Here.
