(no subject)

May 30, 2009 22:46

[nick / name]: Lys
[personal LJ name]: bringmepie
[other characters currently played]:

mohinder suresh || heroes || orderonto
alex woolsly || heroes || feltlikeafreak
dean winchester || supernatural || shutupsammy
julio richter || x-factor || alittlecredit
robin goodfellow || the cal leandros series || winewomenand
morgan grimes || chuck || ifyourenasty

[e-mail]: lysandra.sylier@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: shinjiteeth @ y!m

[series]: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
[character]: Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
[character history / background]:

Oz, a high school student one year older than the majority of the 'Scooby Gang,' is a guitarist for the alternative rock garage band group Dingoes Ate My Baby. He first appears having taken Notice of Willow, who he refers to as 'that girl,' as in 'who IS that girl?.' Approaching her because of her Eskimo costume from a dance at Sunnydale teen hangout The Bronze, they eventually meet in person and slowly fall into a relationship which is very like dating, except without a whole lot of real dating, or, according to Willow...much of anything else. On one of the few dates that they have, Oz and Willow run into Buffy, who 'dusts' a vampire right in front of them, to which Oz replies, "Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn to dust?" To Oz, this explains a lot. It will also set the tone for the rest of his interaction with Willow and her friends, Buffy and Xander.

Shortly thereafter, Oz is bitten on his finger by his cousin Jordy and becomes a werewolf, although it's some time before he actually realizes this is the case-- it's confirmed by calling his Aunt Maureen, who informs Oz that Jordy is, in fact, a werewolf. On his third night, hunter Gib Cain attempts to take Oz's life, but he's saved by Buffy and the others. From then on, with much consternation from Willow, everyone agrees to lock Oz in a cage in Giles' library on the three nights a month he is a werewolf, where he is watched over in shifts (although the watchers are not always as responsible as Oz is about his condition.)

Oz spends a good deal of his free time with Willow and her friends after this point, although he still spends the bulk of his constructive time dealing with Dingoes Ate My Baby. Because of all of this time spent focusing on his band and Buffy's slaying business, Oz doesn't graduate that year as a senior and because he didn't attend any of his necessary summer school classes. He seems to not mind spending another year in school, although there are times when his outer calm dissolves enough to allow us to see that he is sometimes bothered by his own overly laid-back attitudes. This Super Senior year, his relationship with Willow both strengthens and goes through a number of trials. Cordelia and Oz catch their respective significant others, Xander and Willow, kissing, at which point Oz and Willow break up for a short time. They get back together after long because Oz misses her, and can't see a reason to continue to be separated.

After a time, worried that they may die in the battle with Mayor Wilkins, Willow and Oz have sex, Willow losing her virginity (although Oz had been in many relationships and one-night stands beforehand.)

[character abilities]:

Oz is a werewolf, which means that three days a month (the night of the full moon and the two bookend days) he turns into a violent, bestial half-wolf creature with little to no sense of self-recognition. Future canon tells that Oz is capable of learning to control when he transforms as well, being able to do it at will, but Oz will be taken from before that point. It's hinted also that Oz has heightened senses even when in human form, especially that of smell. He's able to smell Willow from long distances away even though, reportedly, she doesn't wear any perfume.

Additionally, Oz is an extremely intelligent young man, especially with computer technology, and he is a very talented musician, specializing in electric guitar (although he reports that the way he plays is 'not difficult,' which says a lot of his opinion of himself and of Dingoes Ate My Baby.)

[character personality]:

"I test well."

You know That Guy in class or on campus? The one that manages to, against all odds, get through life without being entirely 'with it' ninety percent of the time? Imagine that guy as a werewolf. That's Oz. He's chill, almost to the point of seeming drugged in his laid-back, tranquilized behavior and ironic self-aware speaking patterns. He is verbally laconic and emotionally taciturn. When confronted with the frightening, bizarre, life-threatening or impossible, he reacts with a sort of situational detachment, such that his reactions are understated, accepting, and at times fatalistic. This is his approach to life in general, both subconsciously and purposefully.

This isn't to say that Oz doesn't feel things deeply, or that he's unaffected by what goes on around him. The phrase 'still waters run deep' does an exemplary job of describing the way in which Oz lives a life of full emotion and vivid, active, philosophical internal monologue. It's simply that with Oz, these aren't things that necessarily need to be shown to other people, something which has frustrated Willow and others on multiple occasions.

A dull expression tends to hide a sparkling intelligence with no real purpose. Oz is smart, incredibly so, but he lacks drive, planning, and ambition, and has difficulty being able to do things he doesn't want to. His clear sole ambition in life is his music, which he doesn't take seriously but does pour more than a small portion of himself into. He clearly believes he could be a better musician than he is, and while he doesn't believe his band is beneath him, doesn't see it as a challenge to his creativity and talent in any way.

Of course, beneath the calm, easy-going exterior, is a passion, and a darkness. Not necessarily the monsterous rawness owing to his unfortunate werewolf nature which rarely, but occasionally, rears its head, but the purely human feelings of want and need that all of us experience at some points in time, such as jealousy, resentment, and anger. Oz simply covers these better than some others, despite his furry disadvantage. Truly a wolf in sheep's clothing, but then again, who isn't?

"Our lives are not like other people's."

[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Graduation Day Part I.

[journal post]:

[ audio post ]

I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with this.

[third person / log sample]:

Sometimes, life is best understood through metaphor. Sometimes it isn't, of course, because a metaphor is only useful if it is accurate. Which not all, and probably most, metaphors are. Occasionally a metaphor is both useful and accurate, and in that case it can be used most effectively. In this case, having sex with Willow was like cheese and water crackers. Because it was like, when you thought of cheese, you always wondered what to put it on. And when you thought of crackers, they always needed a topping. So cheese could be with other things-- you could have a grilled cheese sandwich. And crackers could be with a laundry list of other toppings that work well together with them-- like peanut butter, or Xander.

So you know, for a while crackers went better with peanut butter, but that doesn't mean that tomorrow or even right now crackers can't still be good with cheese if cheese still goes well with crackers. The addition of peanut butter to the cheese and crackers equation, in the long run, does not change the nature of crackers or either cracker condiment. Everybody's still the same. Reshuffle. Repeat. Try again.

So you do. And it works. But cheese has one thing different about it that peanut butter doesn't have. Peanut butter is peanut butter, but cheese gets better when it waits sometimes. Like with a round of Brie. Let it sit in the fridge for just a few more days until it chills with its microbes to just the right point, then serve it up and make it one with the crackers again. And then you can let it get warm, and it's at its very best with the crackers once it's all warm and at the peak of its flavor.

That's him and Will. Cheese and crackers. And him and Will having sex is like cheese and crackers after a break from cheese and crackers, eaten at just the perfect time and at just the perfect temperature.

It's a decent metaphor for understanding himself and his choices.

"Hey, are any of the rest of you guys starving right now? Because I could go for some enchiladas."
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