Headcanometafics for Dresden Files
I don’t even know what is it anymore - headcanons, meta pieces, or micro fics… Only what I know is that’s stuffing for hamsterwoman’s fandom stocking. :)
Thomas is secretly (or just not too loudly) a fan of the old-timey, swashbuckling piracy. I’m not even sure whether to call it headcanon, since it’s pretty much canon, though nowhere stated openly.
Two movie posters decorated the walls [of Thomas’ apartment]: “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Pirates of Penzance”, the one with Kevin Kline as the Pirate King. … A pair of swords, one of them an old U.S. Cavalry saber, the other a more musketeer-looking weapon, were leaned against the wall, where they'd be more or less within reach of anyone in the bed.
First time when Harry sees him aboard the boat. Thomas’ boat at that.
His shoulder-length dark hair was bound back under a red bandanna…
White Night, Jim Butcher
Assuming that “musketeer-looking weapon” means something like a rapier or a small-sword, with a straight, narrow blade, a basket guard and all, it’s very unlike anything Thomas actually uses anywhere in the canon (not counting the costume sword on Bianca’s party). So, would it be that he takes nasty, curved and generally tough blades to action, but privately keeps also a fancier one, just for the look of it? I can’t say I’m not on the same page with him in this matter. :) And it would be very in character anyway.
Also, if Thomas and Bob ever were buddies more, they would go to see every pirate movie together. They could use a regular, non drive-in theater, and Thomas could totally bring Bob in openly. He’d lend him a bandanna, and match the rest of costume for himself, too, the rapier including.
~*~
The other poster, The Wizard of Oz, actually belongs to Justine. It may be that she sees in this something relating to Thomas or them both - longing for heart, courage and reason without realizing they are there already. Or even better, it may hold some clues to her own identity.
~*~
Sarissa was who brought ice-cream to Arctis Tor. Kringle loved it at once. Maeve sneered, but then asked if it can come in the blood flavor. Mab was skeptic of the idea, because mortals are not supposed to enjoy cold things! Secretly she’s rather fond of the stuff, though.
~*~
Harry doesn’t get his fighting lessons for free. Murphy demanded from him to teach her waltz and tango for this (yes, somehow she knows; maybe he just told her once, when they were sharing tales about first jobs). “If you can do it with someone with lumbago, you can do it with someone half your size, and is your mouth twitching, Dresden? No? Good, keep it this way.” He’s forbidden to tell anyone under the threat of death from his own staff. And she will never ever agree to take it anywhere public, so they use her salon, which involves lots of moving the furniture before and after every time.
She actually used the skill only once, in Hawaii. Kincaid was impressed.
~*~
More an observation than a headcanon (as it is something that I see being there rather than something I want or like to be there), but I think Thomas may be actually more religious inclined than Harry, even if in the self-loathing way (as anything he takes serious).
[Elaine about the would-be victims of Skavis in the hotel] “…Everyone's okay up there, Harry.”
Thomas let out a breath of relief. “Thank God.”
Which was odd, coming from him, all things considered. I concurred with the sentiment, though.
White Night, Jim Butcher
...somehow my little brother manages to remain a decent human being. I’ll be damned if I know how. But then, I’ll be damned regardless. My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster.
Backup, Jim Butcher
Could be also noted that he has at least one fragment of the Scripture memorized enough to be able to paraphrase it on the fly, though this I’d ascribe more to his fascination of love as a theme, and anyway he says himself all of Raiths are compelled to learn this piece. Still, it’s rather clear it wasn’t just a half-assedly fulfilled duty for him. Anyway, if he’s ever confirmed a believer, it will come as a surprise to everyone (except Justine, probably, and maybe, but only maybe, Lara), and most of all to Harry, who tends to be cluesproof about people, even those closest to him…
~*~
Speaking of maybe-being-there-maybe-not little things about Thomas, in Grave Peril he makes a comment about Lea’s mount, ”That’s a lovely horse you have. What’s its name?”, which in the context is rather an obvious mockery, and seems nothing more at the time, but later in Blood Rites he says the Foo puppies are ”Cute little furballs”, not to mention in the last scene he’s actually the one paying Mouse-to-be attention and making Harry do the same, as in, hey, it’s a live dog, remember? How about taking some proper care of him friggin’ finally, bro? Later yet, in Dead Beat, there’s also a mention of Thomas being apparently close enough friends with His Majesty Mister to be allowed holding him on lap and pet idly for a time long enough to make a sight suggesting a quiet and pensive evening.
Altogether it’s too little to call it significant, but enough to stop and squint. Especially that it goes against the more popular trope of vampires being at odds with animals in general. Sure, Thomas is the last one to be a farm boy type, and he isn’t really a dog/cat/whatever person (he’d have some pet on his own in such case), and maybe I’m just making things up, but… There’s a but.
~*~
I keep seeing Susan more or less Halle Berry- or Whitney Houston-ish, because this was how I interpreted the description at her introduction. Later I realized she was probably meant looking more Latina, but I was already used to my original impression, and I tend to be stubborn about my “visual” headcanons in books. That’s also why I see Lara with straight hair.
~*~
The first thing Molly does every time she’s left alone in the sub-basement is checking if anything has changed on that one shelf with a stack of romance pulp. She’s secretly somewhere between intrigued and snickering about it, but what stops her from asking is that there’s also a honest-to-God, real-looking skull on the same shelf. That’s weird (even for Harry), morbidly fascinating (even if you’re a tru Goth teen) and a little disturbing (especially if you’re a teen, Goth or not, with ideas about your teacher).
~*~
Lara knows that Justine plays a double game, because come on, she’s Lara. She doesn’t mind, though. She prefers having a leak where she can see it and control the leaking.
Thomas knows that Lara knows, because come on, he knows Lara longer than from yesterday and is a White himself anyway. He’s far from happy about the whole thing, but he can also guess Lara’s view on controlled leaks, and reluctantly agrees that allowing Lara to feel she’s in control is the least dangerous option for Justine.
Justine knows that Lara knows, because now she’s the second after Thomas who knows Lara best, and he confirmed her guess, too. She decided she wants to keep it this way, and when Thomas told Harry they had talked about it, he meant the whole complexity of it. (Gosh, the insane amounts of headcanoning I need to keep doing about these two… By now, they’re owed about half a book worth of screentime pagetime with actual interaction and actual dialogue without any “I can’t tell you, honey” and “Don’t worry about it, honey”. Mr. Butcher, next to all what you do okay, fine or excellent, this thread is a spectacular piece of crappy job.)
Lara probably knows also that Thomas knows she knows, and he may suspect she knows that he knows she knows, and yes, I’m already beginning to get lost too, but Whamps being Whamps can probably pull off at least six levels before breakfast on a daily basis, unless they’re Madeline, who has troubles with one level. Generally the whole construct boils down to “as long as we keep up appearances, all’s okay; oh, and you can always wonder how far ahead of you I am”.
Here’s where it would end for most of Whamps, but between Lara and Thomas there’s an additional underlying layer, where starts what really matters, though Lara wouldn’t be caught dead admitting it out loud. She’s actually a little hurt that Thomas has chosen one of the two technically equally related siblings, and it wasn’t her, though at the same time she’s annoyed at herself for irrationality of her feelings, because she’s cool minded enough to admit she let him down when expected not to, while Harry helped him when not expected to, not to mention she was the one that kicked him out even after that. At the same time she can see that Thomas’ loyalty in the long term is not to be won on the way of rational calculation, and this intrigues her and bothers at the same time. If Lara has any weak point now, after she got rid of her delusions and hopes about their father, it’s her little brother, though still valued less than her own precious white ass on the unofficial White Throne, obviously. And she hates having weak points anyway. Meanwhile, for all his caution about Lara, Thomas still cares for her and hopes she cares too, though they’re both Whamps enough to dance around it and never really admit. The scene with ghouls in the Deeps is actually pretty symbolic - give them a bigger enemy, and they’ll be covering each other’s back in perfect rapport.
Harry doesn’t know anything beyond “Justine plays a double game”, and Thomas doesn’t think it’s necessary to overload the little brother’s head with the all “she knows I know she knows”.
~*~
As the one with a professional restaurant experience, Ramirez has been appointed the cook in the Camp Kaboom. That last for a day, which was the same day he used the monthly stock of chili for. The only who approved and voted against taking him off the post was Yoshimo.
He never admitted he had knocked the bottle into the pot by accident, and that in the family business he mostly waiters.
~*~
Whamps (and probably other vampires too) identify with their nationality the same way humans do for the first century or so, but later they consider themselves just Whamps, as they outlive most of states and nations anyway. Lara used to be Italian this way, and…
She let out a short laugh of disbelief. "You think any of us would take your side over his?"
“Why not,” Thomas said calmly. “Think about it. Father is strong, but he isn't invincible. If he's taken down by my influence, it leaves me in charge, and I'd be a hell of a lot easier to depose than he would. But if I lose, you can blame me for putting the psychic wristlock on you. Instant scapegoat. Life goes on and the only one to pay for it is me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You've been reading Machiavelli again.”
Blood Rites, Jim Butcher
…obviously she not only used to know Machiavelli, but actually inspired him. :) No worries, she was fond of him enough to be careful and not kill him. Also, I’m tempted to decide that Thomas had Lara’s autographed (adorably naïve “For my Muse”) copy which he either got from her once (and she began to regret it only later, hehe), or came across it when playing with the big sister’s accumulated by centuries belongings in childhood (which she allowed and began to regret only later, hehe), but that would have to mean he can read XVI-century Tuscan Italian, which is reaching a bit too far (if technically not impossible, as he’d have a teacher at hand, but I doubt she’d be willing to waste her time for this; and he as well, actually). Though I’m pretty sure he must be much better at least with Etruscan than Madrigal, as he’s used to rely his safety on the information gathered in any way possible.
Also, speaking about Lara careful not to kill - she’s actually not much less obsessed with controlling herself than Thomas, even if for different reasons and obviously never to the point of starving. Unlike him, she may not care much for the kine, but recognizes losing the self-control as weakness. That’s why she apologized to Harry when she got carried away in White Night, as she actually felt ashamed of herself, and why she’s disdainful about Madeline.
~*~
Molly is really pissed about the modern technology becoming unavailable to her, and Harry telling her it’s going to get worse as she’ll get better didn’t exactly boost her motivation. That is, until she realized that if she gets better, she’ll be able to work on doing something about it. Her inspiration came when she learned somewhere about the electric sense of sharks and such. “Look, it’s just veiling one sense more,* sort of, and as long as it doesn’t know I’m there, it won’t break. And it’s not like a comp has a Sight, okay?” Of course, there’s more to the Murphyonic field than just electricity, and anyway it works only as long as she doesn’t get distracted too much, so she still has problems with movies or digitally recorded music, but she can have a short time on the Internet. She never really told Harry, because she practiced her ass off to show him the veil not before fully working and, of course, on the level unavailable to him, but then the thing with Maggie and Harry dying happened, so she used it mostly as the Rag Lady (a vending machine breaking on you before letting out your dinner can really spoil your day, when you live on the street), and now Winter!Molly doesn’t need it anymore.
* Was she Butters, she’d say rather “one wavelength more in a sense already covered”, but her Physics (or whatever is the equivalent in American high school called) grades probably weren’t that great. Too busy with the tempestuous adolescence and all. Actually she used to bitch a lot at the amount of math in the wizarding business at first. She stopped when Harry got fed up and decided to show her a few of minor spells, making her to calculate them first. Though she never forgave him that he chose for this a day when she had a newest cool haircut.
~*~ETA
I've just learned that by Word of Butcher Nicodemus is older than Mab. WHYYYYYYY??? No way, don't want, don't agree. *stubborn sniff* My Mab is Ice Age old AT LEAST, period. And this Nickelhead snotnose can keep his mere two millennia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Thomas is secretly (or just not too loudly) a fan of the old-timey, swashbuckling piracy. I’m not even sure whether to call it headcanon, since it’s pretty much canon, though nowhere stated openly.
Two movie posters decorated the walls [of Thomas’ apartment]: “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Pirates of Penzance”, the one with Kevin Kline as the Pirate King. … A pair of swords, one of them an old U.S. Cavalry saber, the other a more musketeer-looking weapon, were leaned against the wall, where they'd be more or less within reach of anyone in the bed.
First time when Harry sees him aboard the boat. Thomas’ boat at that.
His shoulder-length dark hair was bound back under a red bandanna…
White Night, Jim Butcher
Assuming that “musketeer-looking weapon” means something like a rapier or a small-sword, with a straight, narrow blade, a basket guard and all, it’s very unlike anything Thomas actually uses anywhere in the canon (not counting the costume sword on Bianca’s party). So, would it be that he takes nasty, curved and generally tough blades to action, but privately keeps also a fancier one, just for the look of it? I can’t say I’m not on the same page with him in this matter. :) And it would be very in character anyway.
Also, if Thomas and Bob ever were buddies more, they would go to see every pirate movie together. They could use a regular, non drive-in theater, and Thomas could totally bring Bob in openly. He’d lend him a bandanna, and match the rest of costume for himself, too, the rapier including.
~*~
The other poster, The Wizard of Oz, actually belongs to Justine. It may be that she sees in this something relating to Thomas or them both - longing for heart, courage and reason without realizing they are there already. Or even better, it may hold some clues to her own identity.
~*~
Sarissa was who brought ice-cream to Arctis Tor. Kringle loved it at once. Maeve sneered, but then asked if it can come in the blood flavor. Mab was skeptic of the idea, because mortals are not supposed to enjoy cold things! Secretly she’s rather fond of the stuff, though.
~*~
Harry doesn’t get his fighting lessons for free. Murphy demanded from him to teach her waltz and tango for this (yes, somehow she knows; maybe he just told her once, when they were sharing tales about first jobs). “If you can do it with someone with lumbago, you can do it with someone half your size, and is your mouth twitching, Dresden? No? Good, keep it this way.” He’s forbidden to tell anyone under the threat of death from his own staff. And she will never ever agree to take it anywhere public, so they use her salon, which involves lots of moving the furniture before and after every time.
She actually used the skill only once, in Hawaii. Kincaid was impressed.
~*~
More an observation than a headcanon (as it is something that I see being there rather than something I want or like to be there), but I think Thomas may be actually more religious inclined than Harry, even if in the self-loathing way (as anything he takes serious).
[Elaine about the would-be victims of Skavis in the hotel] “…Everyone's okay up there, Harry.”
Thomas let out a breath of relief. “Thank God.”
Which was odd, coming from him, all things considered. I concurred with the sentiment, though.
White Night, Jim Butcher
...somehow my little brother manages to remain a decent human being. I’ll be damned if I know how. But then, I’ll be damned regardless. My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster.
Backup, Jim Butcher
Could be also noted that he has at least one fragment of the Scripture memorized enough to be able to paraphrase it on the fly, though this I’d ascribe more to his fascination of love as a theme, and anyway he says himself all of Raiths are compelled to learn this piece. Still, it’s rather clear it wasn’t just a half-assedly fulfilled duty for him. Anyway, if he’s ever confirmed a believer, it will come as a surprise to everyone (except Justine, probably, and maybe, but only maybe, Lara), and most of all to Harry, who tends to be cluesproof about people, even those closest to him…
~*~
Speaking of maybe-being-there-maybe-not little things about Thomas, in Grave Peril he makes a comment about Lea’s mount, ”That’s a lovely horse you have. What’s its name?”, which in the context is rather an obvious mockery, and seems nothing more at the time, but later in Blood Rites he says the Foo puppies are ”Cute little furballs”, not to mention in the last scene he’s actually the one paying Mouse-to-be attention and making Harry do the same, as in, hey, it’s a live dog, remember? How about taking some proper care of him friggin’ finally, bro? Later yet, in Dead Beat, there’s also a mention of Thomas being apparently close enough friends with His Majesty Mister to be allowed holding him on lap and pet idly for a time long enough to make a sight suggesting a quiet and pensive evening.
Altogether it’s too little to call it significant, but enough to stop and squint. Especially that it goes against the more popular trope of vampires being at odds with animals in general. Sure, Thomas is the last one to be a farm boy type, and he isn’t really a dog/cat/whatever person (he’d have some pet on his own in such case), and maybe I’m just making things up, but… There’s a but.
~*~
I keep seeing Susan more or less Halle Berry- or Whitney Houston-ish, because this was how I interpreted the description at her introduction. Later I realized she was probably meant looking more Latina, but I was already used to my original impression, and I tend to be stubborn about my “visual” headcanons in books. That’s also why I see Lara with straight hair.
~*~
The first thing Molly does every time she’s left alone in the sub-basement is checking if anything has changed on that one shelf with a stack of romance pulp. She’s secretly somewhere between intrigued and snickering about it, but what stops her from asking is that there’s also a honest-to-God, real-looking skull on the same shelf. That’s weird (even for Harry), morbidly fascinating (even if you’re a tru Goth teen) and a little disturbing (especially if you’re a teen, Goth or not, with ideas about your teacher).
~*~
Lara knows that Justine plays a double game, because come on, she’s Lara. She doesn’t mind, though. She prefers having a leak where she can see it and control the leaking.
Thomas knows that Lara knows, because come on, he knows Lara longer than from yesterday and is a White himself anyway. He’s far from happy about the whole thing, but he can also guess Lara’s view on controlled leaks, and reluctantly agrees that allowing Lara to feel she’s in control is the least dangerous option for Justine.
Justine knows that Lara knows, because now she’s the second after Thomas who knows Lara best, and he confirmed her guess, too. She decided she wants to keep it this way, and when Thomas told Harry they had talked about it, he meant the whole complexity of it. (Gosh, the insane amounts of headcanoning I need to keep doing about these two… By now, they’re owed about half a book worth of screentime pagetime with actual interaction and actual dialogue without any “I can’t tell you, honey” and “Don’t worry about it, honey”. Mr. Butcher, next to all what you do okay, fine or excellent, this thread is a spectacular piece of crappy job.)
Lara probably knows also that Thomas knows she knows, and he may suspect she knows that he knows she knows, and yes, I’m already beginning to get lost too, but Whamps being Whamps can probably pull off at least six levels before breakfast on a daily basis, unless they’re Madeline, who has troubles with one level. Generally the whole construct boils down to “as long as we keep up appearances, all’s okay; oh, and you can always wonder how far ahead of you I am”.
Here’s where it would end for most of Whamps, but between Lara and Thomas there’s an additional underlying layer, where starts what really matters, though Lara wouldn’t be caught dead admitting it out loud. She’s actually a little hurt that Thomas has chosen one of the two technically equally related siblings, and it wasn’t her, though at the same time she’s annoyed at herself for irrationality of her feelings, because she’s cool minded enough to admit she let him down when expected not to, while Harry helped him when not expected to, not to mention she was the one that kicked him out even after that. At the same time she can see that Thomas’ loyalty in the long term is not to be won on the way of rational calculation, and this intrigues her and bothers at the same time. If Lara has any weak point now, after she got rid of her delusions and hopes about their father, it’s her little brother, though still valued less than her own precious white ass on the unofficial White Throne, obviously. And she hates having weak points anyway. Meanwhile, for all his caution about Lara, Thomas still cares for her and hopes she cares too, though they’re both Whamps enough to dance around it and never really admit. The scene with ghouls in the Deeps is actually pretty symbolic - give them a bigger enemy, and they’ll be covering each other’s back in perfect rapport.
Harry doesn’t know anything beyond “Justine plays a double game”, and Thomas doesn’t think it’s necessary to overload the little brother’s head with the all “she knows I know she knows”.
~*~
As the one with a professional restaurant experience, Ramirez has been appointed the cook in the Camp Kaboom. That last for a day, which was the same day he used the monthly stock of chili for. The only who approved and voted against taking him off the post was Yoshimo.
He never admitted he had knocked the bottle into the pot by accident, and that in the family business he mostly waiters.
~*~
Whamps (and probably other vampires too) identify with their nationality the same way humans do for the first century or so, but later they consider themselves just Whamps, as they outlive most of states and nations anyway. Lara used to be Italian this way, and…
She let out a short laugh of disbelief. "You think any of us would take your side over his?"
“Why not,” Thomas said calmly. “Think about it. Father is strong, but he isn't invincible. If he's taken down by my influence, it leaves me in charge, and I'd be a hell of a lot easier to depose than he would. But if I lose, you can blame me for putting the psychic wristlock on you. Instant scapegoat. Life goes on and the only one to pay for it is me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You've been reading Machiavelli again.”
Blood Rites, Jim Butcher
…obviously she not only used to know Machiavelli, but actually inspired him. :) No worries, she was fond of him enough to be careful and not kill him. Also, I’m tempted to decide that Thomas had Lara’s autographed (adorably naïve “For my Muse”) copy which he either got from her once (and she began to regret it only later, hehe), or came across it when playing with the big sister’s accumulated by centuries belongings in childhood (which she allowed and began to regret only later, hehe), but that would have to mean he can read XVI-century Tuscan Italian, which is reaching a bit too far (if technically not impossible, as he’d have a teacher at hand, but I doubt she’d be willing to waste her time for this; and he as well, actually). Though I’m pretty sure he must be much better at least with Etruscan than Madrigal, as he’s used to rely his safety on the information gathered in any way possible.
Also, speaking about Lara careful not to kill - she’s actually not much less obsessed with controlling herself than Thomas, even if for different reasons and obviously never to the point of starving. Unlike him, she may not care much for the kine, but recognizes losing the self-control as weakness. That’s why she apologized to Harry when she got carried away in White Night, as she actually felt ashamed of herself, and why she’s disdainful about Madeline.
~*~
Molly is really pissed about the modern technology becoming unavailable to her, and Harry telling her it’s going to get worse as she’ll get better didn’t exactly boost her motivation. That is, until she realized that if she gets better, she’ll be able to work on doing something about it. Her inspiration came when she learned somewhere about the electric sense of sharks and such. “Look, it’s just veiling one sense more,* sort of, and as long as it doesn’t know I’m there, it won’t break. And it’s not like a comp has a Sight, okay?” Of course, there’s more to the Murphyonic field than just electricity, and anyway it works only as long as she doesn’t get distracted too much, so she still has problems with movies or digitally recorded music, but she can have a short time on the Internet. She never really told Harry, because she practiced her ass off to show him the veil not before fully working and, of course, on the level unavailable to him, but then the thing with Maggie and Harry dying happened, so she used it mostly as the Rag Lady (a vending machine breaking on you before letting out your dinner can really spoil your day, when you live on the street), and now Winter!Molly doesn’t need it anymore.
* Was she Butters, she’d say rather “one wavelength more in a sense already covered”, but her Physics (or whatever is the equivalent in American high school called) grades probably weren’t that great. Too busy with the tempestuous adolescence and all. Actually she used to bitch a lot at the amount of math in the wizarding business at first. She stopped when Harry got fed up and decided to show her a few of minor spells, making her to calculate them first. Though she never forgave him that he chose for this a day when she had a newest cool haircut.
~*~ETA
I've just learned that by Word of Butcher Nicodemus is older than Mab. WHYYYYYYY??? No way, don't want, don't agree. *stubborn sniff* My Mab is Ice Age old AT LEAST, period. And this Nickelhead snotnose can keep his mere two millennia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can comment also in Disqus, here.
It's okay to comment in whatever language fits you best, as long as I get it. Don't mind the entry's language.
Można komentować w języku, który najbardziej ci odpowiada, o ile go zrozumiem. Nie przejmuj się językiem notki.