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SOMETHING COOL
Nicholas Ó Broin
NAME
Male SEX/GENDER
Original CANON
Aged 19 CANONPOINT
Male SEX/GENDER
Original CANON
Aged 19 CANONPOINT
HISTORY
cw: drug use, addiction, questionable parenting decisions, brief reference to a past abusive relationshipNicholas Ó Broin is born in a town near Brooks Range in Alaska on March 29, 2003, and for the most part his life is really, really normal. Normal by the standards within his family, at least, which include eight children, largely absent and very hands off parents - and to add to all that, they’re all witches. Running in both sides of the family - natural magic from his mother and spectral from his father- their name is fairly well-known amongst the members of the magical community who care about things like bloodlines, but for the most part the Ó Broin family lives their lives separate from the politics. They'll be present for the social aspects that come with a family as old as theirs – society is unavoidable – but as far as they’re concerned, the only part they want to be involved with is the education. The crowning jewel of a town tucked away and kept off of any map, warded to repel almost all non-magical folk, the hidden gem of the North American magical community is the school held within its borders, Barrett-Crowley Reformery.
For the most part, it’s a very uneventful life that Nick leads. The two older sisters and three older brothers go on to magical colleges and the kids left behind have a little more space within the house. Nicholas's powers begin to manifest early at age eight with a rather sudden bout of spontaneous combustion one evening (that ruins dinner, incase anyone is wondering) and his parents are both very proud of the fact that they have another special little witch within the family. After all they may not be entirely traditionalists, but no one really enjoys the shame of producing a dud in as prestigious families as these ones, and with his magic presenting years before the typical age, they are certain that they have (another) prodigy on their hands. The intention is, of course, for him to follow in his brothers' footsteps, if not at BCR then certainly another institution similar, but even as a child Nicholas has different ideas. He's far more interested in messing around than discipline, and despite his mother and father’s best efforts that changes very little as he grows up. Who wants to sit in class when you can make worms wriggle out of the dirt in the middle of sport and freak your classmates out, right?
His teen years bring a slight amount more focus, but for all the wrong reasons. He doesn't spiral immediately, but after an ill-advised fling with a handsome friend of his older brother's with an affinity for recreational drug use he finds himself curious, and that starts the slippery slope into drug-induced laziness. For a while it actually boosts his powers, if only because he works tirelessly until he can grow perfect weed plants with minimal effort, but he stops improving academically not long after his sixteenth birthday. Quickly the ill-advised relationship that everyone around him proclaims a bad idea turns toxic, but Nicholas is too busy being head over heels to see the red flags until they are (literally) hitting him in the face. Heartbroken, he resolves to be done with dating for life, and promptly drops out of school. He finds himself fascinated by different herbs and spices, how new combinations can affect magic users, and soon becomes something of a savant for magically-inclined highs. It’s an art form, each poultice, potion and joint tailored specifically to the user's class - and at last his special brand of magic comes in handy, because he doesn’t even have to ask what a person is, he just knows. As if a little dossier of information just drops itself onto the table of his mind (what a metaphor) Nicholas can tell instantly if someone is a demonic or heavenly, natural or mechanic. On good days he can even see their specialities, their weaknesses, but that’s only on good ( read: sober ) days.
At a loss, Nicholas’s parents largely give up on trying to motivate him into doing something with his life, and once he's out of school and no longer housed in the dormitories he's living in an apartment of his own - paid for in full by his parents, of course, they might disapprove but they hardly want a child on the streets. The benefits of coming from old money.
His own apartment gives Nicholas the freedom to basically do what he wants, and while he'd been involved with the party scene - curiously large, given the size of the town - before, this gives him the chance to completely let loose. With no job beyond his dealing and no direction, Nicholas embodies the ‘live life in the moment’ attitude. Even after he drops out he is on campus arguably almost as much as while he attended, hanging out near the boundaries to catch up with everyone, and once his interests shift to drugs they become some of his best customers - or worst, really, depending on how it’s looked at. The boys use a lot of his goods, but the cash flow coming back in is minimal. He's a generous dealer. And he forgets to charge.
This year's class of graduates prove to be an exhausting few months for Nicholas. Most of his tight knit group of friends graduate in the same year, and though none of his blood relatives are graduating at that time his stress levels are still through the roof, so much so that he ends up tearing into the woods when he feels the life force of one of his friend's flickering. Connected, charmed tattoos for the whole group had seemed like such a fun idea earlier in the year, a cute little friendship mark for everyone, but on the night of exams it sees Nicholas delving into an unsafe situation with hardly any training. It's a miracle that no one dies — it's a miracle that Nicholas doesn't die. A nasty run-in with a demon and some risky dabbling in blood magic later, he makes it out of the woods with a permanent scar on his left palm but alive despite the odds. A win is a win, and he doesn't spend very much of the next month sober. Partying, he says, and nothing to do with the shadowy threat that lurks his nightmares now.
The following year passes a little quieter than the last. There's only a handful of his friends left in town now, most of them jumping ship on Alaska after the events of graduation, and he toys with the idea of leaving too. There are finishing schools, even options for those like him who irked all responsibility in their teenage years. In the end he stays though, the idea far nicer than any work it requires to actually get there and work for something.
Nicholas is still dealing, less than he used to, still partying just as much as ever, and amongst it all he still finds time to pester every one of the Barrett-Crowley boys that have left. Everyone is spread across the globe at this point, facing their own troubles, and Nicholas is in something of a standstill. They pass through occasionally, comment on how much they love that he hasn’t changed, and he never takes it as an insult. After all, why would he? It’s a good life he leads, a little meaningless but fun at least.
ABILITIES
PERMISSIONS
Yes
TOUCHING
Yes, no gender prefs
KISSING
Yes, no gender prefs
SEX
Yes (with discussion)
POWERS USE
Yes
INJURY
No (unless discussed)
death
Yes
FIGHT SCENES
Yes, bearing in mind he's a mess
SHIPPING
No
FOURTH-WALLING
Yes
BACKTAGGING
Yes on "network", unless noted private
THREADJACKING
TBD
OOC HARD LIMITS