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Player Information
Name: Katie/Derptart
Timezone: Amurric’n Central
Personal Journal: derptart
Players Contact/AIM/MSN/YAHOO: AIM: tooladytorest, plurk: rosenritter
Email Address: derp tart @ gmail . com (remove the spaces)
Former/Other Characters in the RP: Im Yong Soo, Miles Edgeworth
How did you hear about us?: derp
Character Information
Name: Graham Specter
Canon Origin/Series: Baccano! Specifically, the anime. Tragically, my Japanese reading skills aren’t sharp enough to tackle the novels yet.
School Year: Entering 7th
Gender: Cis-male
Age: 17.
Out of school living location: Lambeth borough, London, England
Blood status: ~IT’S COMPLICATED~. But seriously, technically halfblood? He’s the product of a Muggle father and a Squib mother.
Personality:
So Graham is crazy. Take-no-prisoners, balls-to-the-wall unhinged. He is probably one of the most overwhelming characters in the series, and anybody with a passing knowledge of Baccano’s enormous cast of loons will realize how serious a claim this is.
How is Graham crazy? Oh, let me count the ways!
1) He never, ever shuts up. As a result, he’s prone to long, rambling monologues which often include the following: out-of-place and confounding pseudo-philosophical tirades which he often contradicts within a few sentences, intense repetition of words and phrases, and even occasional bizarre noises and outbursts. He’s an unfiltered stream of consciousness in a blue jumpsuit.
2) His emotions are wild and unpredictable. He can go from (relative) calm to passionate screaming at the drop of a hat. When in the middle of an emotional swing, he will usually also react physically: sometimes banging his head against the nearest available object (typically his wrench), sometimes pounding said wrench into the ground so hard that it annihilates the concrete floor. Yeah.
3) He is OBSESSIVE AS HELL, with a special fixation on the act of destruction. He practically fetishizes the idea of violently and quickly taking things apart (apart apart apartapartapartapaaaaart!). He has become an expert at dismantling cars as a result. He can take a car apart while it is somehow in midair in a matter of seconds. He will also gladly attempt to take people apart, especially if they’ve wronged Ladd Russo, his much-beloved boss.
So, yes. Graham Specter is completely out of his gourd. That said, he’s not a complete monster. He deeply respects people who can hold their own in a fight with him and will somewhat grudgingly back down if he realizes he is outmatched. He also instantly takes a liking to one of the series’ biggest woobies, Jacuzzi Splot, after being awed by how willing Jacuzzi is to act as a sacrifice for his associates. In other words, once you’ve earned his respect, his loyalty is powerful and completely unshakable. He’s kind of like a deranged, yappy Jack Russel Terrier in this way, albeit one whose bite matches his bark.
He also somehow manages to maintain J-rock hair in early 1930’s New York. So he’s got that going for him too.
Canon Background: In 1929, Graham was employed as a mechanic at the Van Dyke Auto Plant. How he managed to land that or any job while being a dangerous, unnaturally strong nut is anybody’s guess, but shenanigans were probably involved. Speaking of shenanigans, the auto plant ran afoul of the Russo crime family, which sent its top assassin, Ladd Russo, to ‘deal with it’. This roughly translates to “kill everybody who gets within a mile radius” in Laddese. While Ladd engaged in slaughtering and interrogation, he damaged a car in the garage.
Enter Graham Specter, having caught one of Ladd’s shotgun bullets with his freaking wrench and with a monologue gushing forth like a mighty river. Graham was not upset that some psycho was murdering his coworkers. Oh, no. Graham was upset that somebody damaged the car he wanted to take apart. He fell into a rage, first banging his head against the unfairly tainted vehicle before pounding his enormous mechanic’s wrench into the cement floor so forcefully that he made a crater. While yammering on about love, injustice, and attack philosophy the whole time.
A surprisingly closely-matched fight ensued. When Ladd narrowly won out, Graham accepted his defeat and likely death. This is pretty much the easiest way for Ladd Russo to lose interest in killing somebody, and in this fortunate case it only left an appreciation for the crazy, narcissistic moxie Graham showed by challenging him. Clearly Ladd was the only person in the world who deserved to kill a guy like Graham… but that didn’t mean he couldn’t take the young mechanic under his wing for a good long while first. Truly, it was a match made in... somewhere. Somewhere violent and screamy.
By 1932, Graham had become the leader of a gang of young thugs. His underlings were mostly there to act as an incredibly tolerant, obedient audience for his diatribes and antics and rarely occasionally provide (requested!) news or insight. And above even that, he got to be part of Boss Ladd’s family and take so many things apart. He’d even just come to New York City with the intention of really wrecking things up and getting his name out there! It was a pretty great life, all things considered!
Then he heard a sad, sad story.
Ladd was involved with some of the various fiascos aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, leaving him injured, captured by the feds, and the recipient of a one-way ticket to Alcatraz. Graham was hopelessly worked up over this, but found a potential outlet for his rage when one of his underlings informed him that another gang with rumored connections to the Genoard family had just entered the city and was staying on Millionaire Row. Graham was not terribly impressed with a suggestion that they take over the gang’s turf and cozy up to the Genoards; there simply wasn’t enough room for chaos and breaking things there. But his interest was piqued when he discovered the gang leader’s identity: Jacuzzi Splot, wanted dead or alive by the Russo family. Graham hatched a plan: kidnap Eve Genoard and use her to lure out Jacuzzi, who would bring ransom money but could also be used as collateral with the Russo family. If they succeeded, they’d get money. If they were caught, it would be fine because they’d be going out as a tribute to Ladd. And BOY, he’d be able to break things! It was a perfect plan, an ideal mixture of happiness and sadness. Graham gets to be happy and his victims get to be so, so sad.
But he kidnapped the wrong girl. Chane Lafloret, a highly capable fighter who was also the intensely loyal daughter of Huey Lafloret, was staying with Jacuzzi and his crew following the events aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, and Graham mistook her for Eve Genoard. Chane, a mute, was incapable of saying who she truly was, but Graham might not have listened even if she could have. Even though he didn’t have Eve Genoard, Jacuzzi’s insistence on putting his neck on the line for everyone he considers a friend ensured that Graham’s plan was still rolling along admirably.
Then Chane pulled a knife on him during one of his weird philosophical speeches. This not only revealed that she wasn’t Eve Genoard, but it also really got Graham’s blood pumping in excitement again. Man, what a great plan. During their fight, Jacuzzi entered and, instead of having any ransom money, said that he’d use the bounty on his own head to pay for Chane’s release. Graham was immediately impressed by Jacuzzi’s willingness to act as a sacrifice and instantly took a powerful liking to him. Torn between agreeing to Jacuzzi’s request and continuing his highly enjoyable fight with Chane, Graham didn’t get a chance to make a final decision before the rest of Jacuzzi’s friends literally burst in to help their leader out.
... and they had an unfamiliar voice in their group. Claire Stanfield aka Vino aka the Rail Tracer was with them. Claire had met Chane aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, proposed marriage to her, and came to see if she was still interested. Graham was NOT AT ALL PLEASED to have the attention of the room no longer on him and finally succeeded in interrupting the weirdly romantic moment. HELLOOO, there was a fight going on here! Jeez.
So Claire informs Graham that if he wants to fight with Chane and Jacuzzi’s gang, he’s going to have to go through him. ... what? Someone with enough arrogance to rival Graham himself and, by extension of that, Boss Ladd? Oh hell no. HELL. NO. Now Graham HAD to knock this guy down a peg to keep him away from Ladd’s level! Then Claire revealed that he was responsible for Ladd’s injury and subsequent capture, earning him an even more heartfelt and immediate hate-date with Graham’s wrench. You know it’s serious when Graham doesn’t even run at the mouth while trying to land his attacks.
Unfortunately, Claire’s incredible acrobatic ability and speed proved a superior match for Graham’s own strength and quickness. After a short battle wherein all of Graham’s attacks were completely (and cockily) evaded by Claire, Graham admitted defeat. HOWEVER! This is only because he decided that the only proper thing is for Ladd himself to wreck vengeance upon Claire.
Graham informed Jacuzzi that he really liked him and allowed him access to his warehouse any time. And with that, Graham and his gang strolled off into the night to do God knows what.
”So, is he a good guy or a bad guy?” - Jacuzzi Splot on Graham Specter. Good question, woobie.
Background (AU!Canon; HP): Graham was born to a Muggle mechanic father and a Squib mother. When Graham’s mother failed to manifest magic, she was essentially rendered persona non grata by her family, the Russos, an influential but criminal and ruthless pureblood clan. Graham was raised with no knowledge of magic or details about his mother’s side of the family, which she kept secret from her husband and young son.
Graham was always a strange kid. Pretty much from the moment he could toddle and babble, he was dramatic, aggressive, and talkative. From a very early age, he felt happiest in his father’s auto garage, where he could take cars apart and hit things with wrenches to his little heart’s content. In primary school, bullies and thugs-in-training tended to get sucked into his orbit and follow him. Usually not out of any particular respect or admiration for Graham, but mostly because he was incredibly unpredictable, never said no to a fight, and was generally a sight to behold. It can be a pretty good idea to keep on the good side of people like that. As a result, as a child, Graham never had much in the way of close friends… but at least he had a pretty impressive audience, whom he could mess around with if the mood were to strike. This suited Graham just fine.
Around age ten, Graham’s general weirdness began to show signs of a magical nature. His strength and speed, especially when he was emotionally worked up (which was most of the time), was abnormally high for an average person, let alone a child. One day, Graham somehow managed to excitedly take a scooter apart while it was in midair, though fortunately his mother was the only one to see this. She wrote a letter to her family to inform them of the situation, privately hoping that the fact that she gave birth to a magical child might put her back in their good graces, though she doubted that they’d bother reading anything written by a Squib.
They did.
They didn’t write back, but they did take action. They sent Ladd Russo, the then-19-year-old son of Graham’s uncle, to “investigate” the issue, believing that the Squib was lying in desperation. Why Ladd? Well, even in a family as ruthless as the Russos, most of them have some qualms against murdering women and children. Not so with Ladd. So that helps.
Ladd struck the auto garage with the intention of killing everyone there. After all, Muggles never expect to be killed by magic, and that is one of the most satisfying things Ladd can possibly imagine. Unfortunately for Ladd’s bloodlust, the only people present at the time were Graham and his father. Ladd chose to put on a bit of a show and magically blew up a car that was in the shop. Mr. Specter fainted immediately, which was beyond disappointing. But Graham put on a good show, at least! Not only did the little devil illustrate that he really was developing magic, but he managed to dodge all of Ladd’s curses and even land a pretty strong blow against Ladd’s side with a wrench. Ladd still won, but the fight left him with an impression: he liked this kid.
After a series of negotiations that was entirely on the up-and-up and certainly didn’t involve a wand aimed at the heads of a Squib and Muggle, Graham was turned over to stay with the Russo family. Graham was more than fine with being technically kidnapped, what with having met his amazing cousin Ladd (whom he soon began addressing as an older brother) and having been informed that he’d be attending a school for wizards.
And sure enough, he got a Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday, not too long after he was (grudgingly) accepted into the Russo family under Ladd’s (enthusiastic) wing.
He’s entering his seventh year now, and frankly it’s pretty amazing that he hasn’t been expelled yet for being… well. A bit of a psychopath. His strength and speed make him an absolutely phenomenal Beater when he plays Quidditch (on an official team or just for funsies), but he’s just a little too enthusiastic about the whole clobbering thing sometimes. And by sometimes I mean always. He also really enjoys Divination, mostly because it allows him to ramble on in ways that don’t necessarily need to make sense. And Defense Against the Dark Arts is kind of a silly class, what with him belonging to a family that uses such tactics on a daily basis. Why would he need to defend against himself against his wonderful big bro? That’s other peoples’ job.
How would your character fit in to each House? [Please fill this out for each House, and explain why. We don't want see just "OH THEY'D NEVER BE IN THIS HOUSE!" We'd like you to explain why. This does not guarantee any House placement, it is more for moderators to consider.]
Gryffindor: Graham is very brave in the “what I am about to do defies all rationality” sense of the term, although he personally and respectfully refers to the trait as his “arrogance”. He is also overwhelmingly passionate and enthusiastic over… well, just about anything. He’ll justify it. The boy is definitely hot-blooded check it and see, he got a fever of 103.
Hufflepuff: Graham has shown an intense loyalty toward those he respects, like Ladd. He’s also rather fond of hard physical work and will give it his all. That said… yeah, I don’t think Graham is even remotely even-tempered enough to make a good ‘puff. :/
Ravenclaw: Well, he sure does love to go on long, pseudo-philosophical/sociological tirades about things! However, it can be a little hard to tell if the things he says are reasoned philosophy or just random words that happened to tumble out of his mouth. Especially since he’s constantly contradicting himself revising his theses.
Slytherin: Sorry to play into the “damn, what’s wrong with Slytherins?” thing, but… well, Graham has an interesting way of relating with people. Oh, he adores the people who make a strong impression on him. Don’t get me wrong there. But he sometimes has the tendency to treat pretty much everyone else, even those who follow him (perhaps especially those who follow him), as human toys for his own gratification. Then there are those pesky “belonging to a family of blood-purists and Death Eaters” and “idolizing a chaotic murderer of both Muggles and Wizards” things…
Sample Journal Entry: Ah, summertime! It’s come once again, my friends. Every summer, it’s easy to sit in the peak of the day - the big, bright sun beating down on you while the heat-sucking cobblestones of good old London town pump it right back into you starting with the soles of your feet and up up up up! through your legs and torso and arms and neck, right up into your head and even through your hair! - and think, “This day is endless! I am witness to an eternal summer! I always was, am now, and forever shall be here in this very spot! Time is a false construct! My frantically beating heart pumps summer itself through my veins!”
Just thinking about it has gotten me all worked up! What shall I do, what could I do to ever burn up even 1/100th of the pure summer energy flowing through me right now!? It’s impossible!! Pose that question to the philosophers, and the earth will grind to a halt!
Ah, no, I got it.
See, there’s no such thing as eternity. All of our days are numbered. Time, our most precious resource! And I shall spend it in a way that pays tribute to the fact that every second is as valuable as a gem. I, Graham Specter, have decided that I am going to enchant at least one car to fly this summer. It may be a little hard, since the proud Russo family generally doesn’t approve of Muggle devices. And granted, this also means there’ll be some cars that I won’t be able to take [inkblots] apart [yet more blots]… but it will be worth the sacrifice!
And if any one of you is thinking about tattling to the ministry about this, I’d say we should have a little chat. I can be very persuasive.
Sample Interaction Post in Third Person: A Hogwarts common room is supposed to be a place of respite. Students, tired from a long day of school, can quietly relax, study, and chat with friends as they unwind. It’s a place for socialization, meditation, and recuperation.
Oh, and this kind of crap:
“AAH!”
Clunk.
“RAGHH!”
Clunk.
“AARRG-“ Clunk. “-GHRNAAGH-“ Clunk. “GRAARGHH!!!” Clunk.
This beautiful symphony has been echoing through the common room continuously for exactly one hour, seventeen minutes, and forty-two seconds. It is the sound of Graham Specter attempting to destroy a jar that has been enchanted with an Unbreakable Charm. An audience gathered shortly after Graham started this endeavor, and though a few have drifted off, a core group remains. These aren’t even the same people who had placed bets on how long Graham would keep this up.
With one last indecipherable shout and attack on the jar, Graham stops. He glares at the jar, panting. As he attempts to catch his breath, the watchers hold their own in anticipation.
Suddenly, Graham turns to his audience, pointing at them. “YOU!”
A nervous tremor flickers through the group.
“YOU’RE ALL MY WITNESSES!” Graham exclaims. He giggles wildly, grabs the jar, and holds it aloft, high above his head. “If I can’t break something, then it really is unbreakable! I, the unstoppable object, have finally met the immovable force!! They’re gonna have to invent a new grade above O because of how great this charm turned out! In honor of being something even I can’t break, it deserves a name that reflects its own greatness!”
With that, he scurries off, returning almost immediately with a Muggle permanent marker. He writes “LADD JR.” on the jar and gazes at it contemplatively. He then draws a smiley face on the side of the jar opposite of the name.
Pleased with his work, he saunters out of the common room, whistling, and leaves the jar and his confused spectators behind.
Name: Katie/Derptart
Timezone: Amurric’n Central
Personal Journal: derptart
Players Contact/AIM/MSN/YAHOO: AIM: tooladytorest, plurk: rosenritter
Email Address: derp tart @ gmail . com (remove the spaces)
Former/Other Characters in the RP: Im Yong Soo, Miles Edgeworth
How did you hear about us?: derp
Character Information
Name: Graham Specter
Canon Origin/Series: Baccano! Specifically, the anime. Tragically, my Japanese reading skills aren’t sharp enough to tackle the novels yet.
School Year: Entering 7th
Gender: Cis-male
Age: 17.
Out of school living location: Lambeth borough, London, England
Blood status: ~IT’S COMPLICATED~. But seriously, technically halfblood? He’s the product of a Muggle father and a Squib mother.
Personality:
So Graham is crazy. Take-no-prisoners, balls-to-the-wall unhinged. He is probably one of the most overwhelming characters in the series, and anybody with a passing knowledge of Baccano’s enormous cast of loons will realize how serious a claim this is.
How is Graham crazy? Oh, let me count the ways!
1) He never, ever shuts up. As a result, he’s prone to long, rambling monologues which often include the following: out-of-place and confounding pseudo-philosophical tirades which he often contradicts within a few sentences, intense repetition of words and phrases, and even occasional bizarre noises and outbursts. He’s an unfiltered stream of consciousness in a blue jumpsuit.
2) His emotions are wild and unpredictable. He can go from (relative) calm to passionate screaming at the drop of a hat. When in the middle of an emotional swing, he will usually also react physically: sometimes banging his head against the nearest available object (typically his wrench), sometimes pounding said wrench into the ground so hard that it annihilates the concrete floor. Yeah.
3) He is OBSESSIVE AS HELL, with a special fixation on the act of destruction. He practically fetishizes the idea of violently and quickly taking things apart (apart apart apartapartapartapaaaaart!). He has become an expert at dismantling cars as a result. He can take a car apart while it is somehow in midair in a matter of seconds. He will also gladly attempt to take people apart, especially if they’ve wronged Ladd Russo, his much-beloved boss.
So, yes. Graham Specter is completely out of his gourd. That said, he’s not a complete monster. He deeply respects people who can hold their own in a fight with him and will somewhat grudgingly back down if he realizes he is outmatched. He also instantly takes a liking to one of the series’ biggest woobies, Jacuzzi Splot, after being awed by how willing Jacuzzi is to act as a sacrifice for his associates. In other words, once you’ve earned his respect, his loyalty is powerful and completely unshakable. He’s kind of like a deranged, yappy Jack Russel Terrier in this way, albeit one whose bite matches his bark.
He also somehow manages to maintain J-rock hair in early 1930’s New York. So he’s got that going for him too.
Canon Background: In 1929, Graham was employed as a mechanic at the Van Dyke Auto Plant. How he managed to land that or any job while being a dangerous, unnaturally strong nut is anybody’s guess, but shenanigans were probably involved. Speaking of shenanigans, the auto plant ran afoul of the Russo crime family, which sent its top assassin, Ladd Russo, to ‘deal with it’. This roughly translates to “kill everybody who gets within a mile radius” in Laddese. While Ladd engaged in slaughtering and interrogation, he damaged a car in the garage.
Enter Graham Specter, having caught one of Ladd’s shotgun bullets with his freaking wrench and with a monologue gushing forth like a mighty river. Graham was not upset that some psycho was murdering his coworkers. Oh, no. Graham was upset that somebody damaged the car he wanted to take apart. He fell into a rage, first banging his head against the unfairly tainted vehicle before pounding his enormous mechanic’s wrench into the cement floor so forcefully that he made a crater. While yammering on about love, injustice, and attack philosophy the whole time.
A surprisingly closely-matched fight ensued. When Ladd narrowly won out, Graham accepted his defeat and likely death. This is pretty much the easiest way for Ladd Russo to lose interest in killing somebody, and in this fortunate case it only left an appreciation for the crazy, narcissistic moxie Graham showed by challenging him. Clearly Ladd was the only person in the world who deserved to kill a guy like Graham… but that didn’t mean he couldn’t take the young mechanic under his wing for a good long while first. Truly, it was a match made in... somewhere. Somewhere violent and screamy.
By 1932, Graham had become the leader of a gang of young thugs. His underlings were mostly there to act as an incredibly tolerant, obedient audience for his diatribes and antics and rarely occasionally provide (requested!) news or insight. And above even that, he got to be part of Boss Ladd’s family and take so many things apart. He’d even just come to New York City with the intention of really wrecking things up and getting his name out there! It was a pretty great life, all things considered!
Then he heard a sad, sad story.
Ladd was involved with some of the various fiascos aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, leaving him injured, captured by the feds, and the recipient of a one-way ticket to Alcatraz. Graham was hopelessly worked up over this, but found a potential outlet for his rage when one of his underlings informed him that another gang with rumored connections to the Genoard family had just entered the city and was staying on Millionaire Row. Graham was not terribly impressed with a suggestion that they take over the gang’s turf and cozy up to the Genoards; there simply wasn’t enough room for chaos and breaking things there. But his interest was piqued when he discovered the gang leader’s identity: Jacuzzi Splot, wanted dead or alive by the Russo family. Graham hatched a plan: kidnap Eve Genoard and use her to lure out Jacuzzi, who would bring ransom money but could also be used as collateral with the Russo family. If they succeeded, they’d get money. If they were caught, it would be fine because they’d be going out as a tribute to Ladd. And BOY, he’d be able to break things! It was a perfect plan, an ideal mixture of happiness and sadness. Graham gets to be happy and his victims get to be so, so sad.
But he kidnapped the wrong girl. Chane Lafloret, a highly capable fighter who was also the intensely loyal daughter of Huey Lafloret, was staying with Jacuzzi and his crew following the events aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, and Graham mistook her for Eve Genoard. Chane, a mute, was incapable of saying who she truly was, but Graham might not have listened even if she could have. Even though he didn’t have Eve Genoard, Jacuzzi’s insistence on putting his neck on the line for everyone he considers a friend ensured that Graham’s plan was still rolling along admirably.
Then Chane pulled a knife on him during one of his weird philosophical speeches. This not only revealed that she wasn’t Eve Genoard, but it also really got Graham’s blood pumping in excitement again. Man, what a great plan. During their fight, Jacuzzi entered and, instead of having any ransom money, said that he’d use the bounty on his own head to pay for Chane’s release. Graham was immediately impressed by Jacuzzi’s willingness to act as a sacrifice and instantly took a powerful liking to him. Torn between agreeing to Jacuzzi’s request and continuing his highly enjoyable fight with Chane, Graham didn’t get a chance to make a final decision before the rest of Jacuzzi’s friends literally burst in to help their leader out.
... and they had an unfamiliar voice in their group. Claire Stanfield aka Vino aka the Rail Tracer was with them. Claire had met Chane aboard the Flying Pussyfoot, proposed marriage to her, and came to see if she was still interested. Graham was NOT AT ALL PLEASED to have the attention of the room no longer on him and finally succeeded in interrupting the weirdly romantic moment. HELLOOO, there was a fight going on here! Jeez.
So Claire informs Graham that if he wants to fight with Chane and Jacuzzi’s gang, he’s going to have to go through him. ... what? Someone with enough arrogance to rival Graham himself and, by extension of that, Boss Ladd? Oh hell no. HELL. NO. Now Graham HAD to knock this guy down a peg to keep him away from Ladd’s level! Then Claire revealed that he was responsible for Ladd’s injury and subsequent capture, earning him an even more heartfelt and immediate hate-date with Graham’s wrench. You know it’s serious when Graham doesn’t even run at the mouth while trying to land his attacks.
Unfortunately, Claire’s incredible acrobatic ability and speed proved a superior match for Graham’s own strength and quickness. After a short battle wherein all of Graham’s attacks were completely (and cockily) evaded by Claire, Graham admitted defeat. HOWEVER! This is only because he decided that the only proper thing is for Ladd himself to wreck vengeance upon Claire.
Graham informed Jacuzzi that he really liked him and allowed him access to his warehouse any time. And with that, Graham and his gang strolled off into the night to do God knows what.
”So, is he a good guy or a bad guy?” - Jacuzzi Splot on Graham Specter. Good question, woobie.
Background (AU!Canon; HP): Graham was born to a Muggle mechanic father and a Squib mother. When Graham’s mother failed to manifest magic, she was essentially rendered persona non grata by her family, the Russos, an influential but criminal and ruthless pureblood clan. Graham was raised with no knowledge of magic or details about his mother’s side of the family, which she kept secret from her husband and young son.
Graham was always a strange kid. Pretty much from the moment he could toddle and babble, he was dramatic, aggressive, and talkative. From a very early age, he felt happiest in his father’s auto garage, where he could take cars apart and hit things with wrenches to his little heart’s content. In primary school, bullies and thugs-in-training tended to get sucked into his orbit and follow him. Usually not out of any particular respect or admiration for Graham, but mostly because he was incredibly unpredictable, never said no to a fight, and was generally a sight to behold. It can be a pretty good idea to keep on the good side of people like that. As a result, as a child, Graham never had much in the way of close friends… but at least he had a pretty impressive audience, whom he could mess around with if the mood were to strike. This suited Graham just fine.
Around age ten, Graham’s general weirdness began to show signs of a magical nature. His strength and speed, especially when he was emotionally worked up (which was most of the time), was abnormally high for an average person, let alone a child. One day, Graham somehow managed to excitedly take a scooter apart while it was in midair, though fortunately his mother was the only one to see this. She wrote a letter to her family to inform them of the situation, privately hoping that the fact that she gave birth to a magical child might put her back in their good graces, though she doubted that they’d bother reading anything written by a Squib.
They did.
They didn’t write back, but they did take action. They sent Ladd Russo, the then-19-year-old son of Graham’s uncle, to “investigate” the issue, believing that the Squib was lying in desperation. Why Ladd? Well, even in a family as ruthless as the Russos, most of them have some qualms against murdering women and children. Not so with Ladd. So that helps.
Ladd struck the auto garage with the intention of killing everyone there. After all, Muggles never expect to be killed by magic, and that is one of the most satisfying things Ladd can possibly imagine. Unfortunately for Ladd’s bloodlust, the only people present at the time were Graham and his father. Ladd chose to put on a bit of a show and magically blew up a car that was in the shop. Mr. Specter fainted immediately, which was beyond disappointing. But Graham put on a good show, at least! Not only did the little devil illustrate that he really was developing magic, but he managed to dodge all of Ladd’s curses and even land a pretty strong blow against Ladd’s side with a wrench. Ladd still won, but the fight left him with an impression: he liked this kid.
After a series of negotiations that was entirely on the up-and-up and certainly didn’t involve a wand aimed at the heads of a Squib and Muggle, Graham was turned over to stay with the Russo family. Graham was more than fine with being technically kidnapped, what with having met his amazing cousin Ladd (whom he soon began addressing as an older brother) and having been informed that he’d be attending a school for wizards.
And sure enough, he got a Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday, not too long after he was (grudgingly) accepted into the Russo family under Ladd’s (enthusiastic) wing.
He’s entering his seventh year now, and frankly it’s pretty amazing that he hasn’t been expelled yet for being… well. A bit of a psychopath. His strength and speed make him an absolutely phenomenal Beater when he plays Quidditch (on an official team or just for funsies), but he’s just a little too enthusiastic about the whole clobbering thing sometimes. And by sometimes I mean always. He also really enjoys Divination, mostly because it allows him to ramble on in ways that don’t necessarily need to make sense. And Defense Against the Dark Arts is kind of a silly class, what with him belonging to a family that uses such tactics on a daily basis. Why would he need to defend against himself against his wonderful big bro? That’s other peoples’ job.
How would your character fit in to each House? [Please fill this out for each House, and explain why. We don't want see just "OH THEY'D NEVER BE IN THIS HOUSE!" We'd like you to explain why. This does not guarantee any House placement, it is more for moderators to consider.]
Gryffindor: Graham is very brave in the “what I am about to do defies all rationality” sense of the term, although he personally and respectfully refers to the trait as his “arrogance”. He is also overwhelmingly passionate and enthusiastic over… well, just about anything. He’ll justify it. The boy is definitely hot-blooded check it and see, he got a fever of 103.
Hufflepuff: Graham has shown an intense loyalty toward those he respects, like Ladd. He’s also rather fond of hard physical work and will give it his all. That said… yeah, I don’t think Graham is even remotely even-tempered enough to make a good ‘puff. :/
Ravenclaw: Well, he sure does love to go on long, pseudo-philosophical/sociological tirades about things! However, it can be a little hard to tell if the things he says are reasoned philosophy or just random words that happened to tumble out of his mouth. Especially since he’s constantly contradicting himself revising his theses.
Slytherin: Sorry to play into the “damn, what’s wrong with Slytherins?” thing, but… well, Graham has an interesting way of relating with people. Oh, he adores the people who make a strong impression on him. Don’t get me wrong there. But he sometimes has the tendency to treat pretty much everyone else, even those who follow him (perhaps especially those who follow him), as human toys for his own gratification. Then there are those pesky “belonging to a family of blood-purists and Death Eaters” and “idolizing a chaotic murderer of both Muggles and Wizards” things…
Sample Journal Entry: Ah, summertime! It’s come once again, my friends. Every summer, it’s easy to sit in the peak of the day - the big, bright sun beating down on you while the heat-sucking cobblestones of good old London town pump it right back into you starting with the soles of your feet and up up up up! through your legs and torso and arms and neck, right up into your head and even through your hair! - and think, “This day is endless! I am witness to an eternal summer! I always was, am now, and forever shall be here in this very spot! Time is a false construct! My frantically beating heart pumps summer itself through my veins!”
Just thinking about it has gotten me all worked up! What shall I do, what could I do to ever burn up even 1/100th of the pure summer energy flowing through me right now!? It’s impossible!! Pose that question to the philosophers, and the earth will grind to a halt!
Ah, no, I got it.
See, there’s no such thing as eternity. All of our days are numbered. Time, our most precious resource! And I shall spend it in a way that pays tribute to the fact that every second is as valuable as a gem. I, Graham Specter, have decided that I am going to enchant at least one car to fly this summer. It may be a little hard, since the proud Russo family generally doesn’t approve of Muggle devices. And granted, this also means there’ll be some cars that I won’t be able to take [inkblots] apart [yet more blots]… but it will be worth the sacrifice!
And if any one of you is thinking about tattling to the ministry about this, I’d say we should have a little chat. I can be very persuasive.
Sample Interaction Post in Third Person: A Hogwarts common room is supposed to be a place of respite. Students, tired from a long day of school, can quietly relax, study, and chat with friends as they unwind. It’s a place for socialization, meditation, and recuperation.
Oh, and this kind of crap:
“AAH!”
Clunk.
“RAGHH!”
Clunk.
“AARRG-“ Clunk. “-GHRNAAGH-“ Clunk. “GRAARGHH!!!” Clunk.
This beautiful symphony has been echoing through the common room continuously for exactly one hour, seventeen minutes, and forty-two seconds. It is the sound of Graham Specter attempting to destroy a jar that has been enchanted with an Unbreakable Charm. An audience gathered shortly after Graham started this endeavor, and though a few have drifted off, a core group remains. These aren’t even the same people who had placed bets on how long Graham would keep this up.
With one last indecipherable shout and attack on the jar, Graham stops. He glares at the jar, panting. As he attempts to catch his breath, the watchers hold their own in anticipation.
Suddenly, Graham turns to his audience, pointing at them. “YOU!”
A nervous tremor flickers through the group.
“YOU’RE ALL MY WITNESSES!” Graham exclaims. He giggles wildly, grabs the jar, and holds it aloft, high above his head. “If I can’t break something, then it really is unbreakable! I, the unstoppable object, have finally met the immovable force!! They’re gonna have to invent a new grade above O because of how great this charm turned out! In honor of being something even I can’t break, it deserves a name that reflects its own greatness!”
With that, he scurries off, returning almost immediately with a Muggle permanent marker. He writes “LADD JR.” on the jar and gazes at it contemplatively. He then draws a smiley face on the side of the jar opposite of the name.
Pleased with his work, he saunters out of the common room, whistling, and leaves the jar and his confused spectators behind.