counted_stars app TAKE 2

[breakmychest]

Player Information:
Name or Handle: Shana
LJ: museofspeed
Email: shananagin@gmail
AIM/plurk: aboutblood/shanajeanh
Any current characters here?: Anya
Would you like a protocol droid?: No, but could I have the Ebon Hawk?

Character Information:
Character Name: Spike
Age: 150ish
Canon: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series

Appearance: Spike is 5'10" with blue eyes and bleached blond hair. He has a scar over his left eyebrow and very sharp cheekbones. His body is muscular and lean, and his skin is very pale as he can't really tan without dying. He wears a lot of black and leather. He often wears rings, bracelets, or necklaces as well, usually in silver.

Personality: To sire someone, a vampire first drains the victim's blood, then feeds him some of her own blood. It's not a very difficult process. You kill them, they rise again. Then they become an entirely different being, with, in theory, at least, very few ties to their former self. Sure, they retain all their human memories, but love, affection, all those human feelings? They're gone.

Spike doesn't quite fit the pattern. From the start, he was different. Like many vampires, he killed his mother, but it was because he thought turning her into a vampire was a good way to save her life. He retained his human devotion and love. After staking his mother, he goes on to love Drusilla passionately. Though he's not the only vampire to ever have a monogamous relationship or some sort of love for another vampire, he is much more human about his devotion. He even later falls for the Slayer, and he is capable of loving people such as Dawn and Joyce in a platonic way before he gets his soul. Though he's got plenty of lust, he can love people without it.

He also really enjoys eating food. Most vampires can't taste things other than blood, but Spike can. He eats cookies, hot chocolate, blossoming onions, and spicy buffalo wings to name a few examples, plus he often adds spices or wheetabix to his blood to make it more interesting or textured. He's very creative with his food.

His thoughts about Drusilla will always be tinged with love and regret. She was the first woman he loved, and Spike doesn't stop loving people. She was his everything, and everything he did he did for her. She's why he became the mass-murdering vampire he was for a century. He caused destruction and murder because he knew it would make her happy. But she didn't love him the same way. It was a game for her, and although she enjoyed having someone care for her that much, she didn't hesitate to go back to Angelus the second it's an option. It takes Spike a long time to realize that their love isn't as eternal as he'd hoped, and even longer to really move on.

Angelus had Drusilla long before Spike had even died, and it's something Spike can never forget. The two of them didn't always fight, in fact, they used to get along really well. Spike idolized Angelus and learned everything the older vampire was willing to teach. In a way, those feelings never went away. Even when they both are on the side of good, Spike can't help but think of Angel and how he would handle things. He'd never admit looking up to him, of course, and he certainly also resents him a lot, but there is hidden respect.

It's very deeply hidden. Before he goes good, he resents Angelus for stealing Drusilla from him, and he resents Angel for betraying their little family, and evil in general. Angelus is an evil bastard who enjoys causing people pain, including Spike, and even if most of their friends see Angelus and Angel as two different people, Spike knows Angel too well and doesn’t let Angel off the hook for what he did when he was soulless. He knows exactly who Angel is and what he's done, and that as a soulless vampire, he was worse than Spike.

He also tends to end up in Angel's shadow no matter what he does. He's only the second worst vampire in recorded history; Angelus is worse. And he's the second vampire with a soul, the one who isn't in any of the prophecies. He may be a champion, but he's still not Angel. He's still the second vampire Buffy fell for and the one no one takes seriously. He resents Angel a lot for that. He wanted his soul, and he worked for it. Angel's was a curse, and something he never would have willingly done. Spike wasn't even that bad (for a vampire) until Angel taught him how to be really evil. As far as Spike's concerned, he deserves the big reward far more than Angel does. He's a better man than Angel is, and no one else can see it.

This leads to lots of bickering. When these two badass vampires who have lived for 150ish and 270ish years respectively are put in a room together, they both act like they are 12. They bicker and fight over everything from women to who's saved the world more often to who would win in a fight between cavemen and astronauts. They are complete idiots around each other and fantastic at pushing each other's buttons. They've just known each other son long that it's easy.

One of their many ongoing fights, of course, involves Buffy Summers, another woman they both have loved. Buffy and Spike started out as enemies. Spike wanted to kill her. It wasn't until Angelus came back and tried to steal Drusilla that Spike made his first tentative steps to Buffy's side. Of course, he was doing it because he didn't want to lose Drusilla, but he admitted that he actually was pretty attached to the world and didn't want it to end. The truce only lasted as long as it took for him to leave town, but Buffy wasn't through messing up his unlife yet. Drusilla could sense that Spike was no longer completely hers. The game was over, the Slayer had infected him. She left him. Spike blamed Buffy and returned, but not to kill her. He instead drank a lot, tried to get Willow to do a spell for him, and eventually just left the city without a fight. Though it's unlikely he could have taken Buffy and Angel on alone, he could have at least made an effort, but Drusilla was right. Though Spike didn't have any idea yet, he already was far more interested in Buffy than he should be. Sure, he could call it loathing and consider his obsession something other than it was, but the seeds were planted. He couldn't help but think of her.

It only grew worse once the chip forced him to work with her instead of against her. Add in Faith being very suggestive in Buffy's body and one magical and brief engagement, and it wasn't long until Spike was head over heels in love with his nemesis.

Loving Buffy was confusing and difficult for Spike. His previous romantic entanglements were Drusilla, who was about as far from an ordinary girl as you could get, and Harmony, who was pretty easy. He didn't know how to love Buffy. He didn't want to love Buffy. But Spike doesn't act on brains, he acts on instinct, and every bit of his being was calling out for Buffy. He just didn't know how to win her. She does nothing but hate him even when they work together at first, and finding out his feelings for her just disgusts her. It isn’t until he proves he'd rather die than betray Dawn that she starts taking him a little more seriously.

Her death completely devastates Spike. When he loves, he loves completely, with all his heart. The only thing that keeps him going is that he promised to protect Dawn. He continues to protect Sunnydale and fight vampires, but every night he thinks only of Buffy and how he could have saved her if he'd acted differently. Losing her is nearly more than he can handle, but when she comes back, things start to work in his favor. Buffy's friends pulled her out of heaven, and Spike is the only one in whom she feels she can confide. Eventually, she gives in to temptation and they start an incredibly unhealthy affair. She's using Spike, taking advantage of his love to lose herself, and he'll take anything she'll give. The only time she treats him with anything like respect is when she calls off the relationship, acknowledging that his feelings matter and it isn't fair of her to use him like that, even if he isn't complaining.

But he's had a taste of her now, and calling it off isn't that easy. Spike is, at this point, a soulless monster, and loving Buffy enough isn't enough to redeem him. Though Buffy and many others have told him, he doesn't believe it himself until he nearly rapes Buffy. Until she kicked him across the room, he didn't even realize he was doing anything wrong, and that he almost went that far horrifies him enough to take the initiative to actually change. The chip acted like a leash that kept him from killing fully. He quests to get a soul so he can actually be worthy of Buffy.

Spike's soul is a big turning point in his life. Before he got it, he was an evil creature trying to be good. Afterwards, the path was clearer, but everything hurt so much it made him insane. He learned to deal with it a lot faster than Angel did, and that's mostly because of Buffy's support. Without her he would have stayed in the basement of the high school living off gizka blood. Buffy sees Spike change and helps him through it. She starts to lean on him as much as he leans on her. They are incredibly close by the end, and she even tells him she loves him, though he doesn't believe her.

Spike didn't think much about good and evil before he met Buffy. He knew in a vague way that he was evil, but he didn't think much about his victims. He knew he hurt people, of course, but he didn't go deeper into it than that. It was all fun. He enjoyed the thrill of killing and fighting and eating people and didn't think about their families or the future lives he cut short. After he got his chip, he drank only pig's blood for a very long time. When he had the opportunity to drink human's blood thanks to Drusilla's help, he hesitated before he did it. Even without a soul, he had an idea of right and wrong. He does give in to the wrong side, but he struggles with the decision. He hasn't redeemed himself yet, but he has the capability.

Though Drusilla and Buffy are the only two women Spike has ever loved, he has on occasion slept with other women. And Angel, once, but they were drunk and don't discuss it. After Drusilla dumps Spike, he takes up with Harmony, who is stupid and annoying and very easy. Spike doesn't really have one night stands, though. Even though he never loves Harmony, he does date her, though he doesn't care about her at all and even attempts to stake her at one point. He sleeps with Anya once too, when she was trying to get over Xander and he was trying to forget Buffy. It's pretty disastrous. His only other romantic relationship is with Maria, a human with spider legs that popped out when she was scared, angry, or aroused, that he dated in Hell. She took it a lot more seriously than he did. For him it was more that she helped him escape Maria's boss Non and lead Non's demon lady underlings after Non fell. He didn't really have any qualms about using sex to turn the girl to his side, even if he didn't love her.

Spike also cultivates important non-romantic relationships with Dawn, to whom he is a sort of older brother/father figure. She thinks he's cool and hangs out with him because it bothers Buffy at first, and Spike protects her because he knows it would break Buffy's heart if anything ever happened to Dawn. He has a lot of affection for her too, calling her nicknames such as "Nibblet" or "Little Bit."

His other important non-romantic relationships are with Fred Burkle and Illyria. Fred is the first person that is kind to him from the start. They meet when he rematerializes a ghost in Angel's office, and she is the only one who doesn't question whether or not he should be brought back. She works hard to help him, and it's something he appreciates a lot.

Illyria is the reason Fred died. Spike doesn’t exactly blame Illyria for killing Fred since he knows she had about as much control over what happened as a bullet does. Nonetheless, every time he looks at her he sees Fred. He and Illyria do get along very well, as he can relate to her confusion about humanity and feelings, and to not being as powerful or feared as she once was. The two of them often spar and bond in Hell. Under different circumstances, Spike could have fallen in love with her, as she is exactly his type. He likes girls who can beat him up. But he can never forget that if it weren't for her, Fred would still be there, so they never really develop a romance.

Spike has been obsessed with Slayers since he first heard about them. They represent the ultimate challenge for a vampire. Spike has killed two. The first one was mostly luck. If things had gone slightly differently, she would have killed him, and she did leave him with a scar. When he fought the second he was better at fighting, but he still went in not knowing if he'd win. Fighting is always a thrill for Spike, and no one's more fun than a Slayer. Plus, the blood tastes better than normal blood. Buffy was meant to be his third Slayer, but it really didn't work out the way he'd planned.

He tells Buffy at one point that every Slayer has a death wish. It might be true, but really, it's Spike who acts like he doesn't care whether he lives or dies. He consistently throws himself at more powerful opponents and keeps getting up for more punishment when staying down could spare him pain. When Glory tortures him for information about Dawn, not only does he not tell her, he openly mocks her. It doesn't matter how outmatched he is, Spike tackles every battle with sarcastic quips and unbridled enthusiasm. He isn't afraid of anything physical, as he can heal from pretty much anything. He doesn't care if he wins or loses the fight, it's the thrill of battle he craves. When he gets older, he gets more careful and better at purposefully not dying, but he still wouldn't hesitate to give his life to save the right people, and he still follows Angel into an impossible to win strike against Wolfram and Hart. His own life means very little to him.

As a human, William was an outsider. Spike is an outsider too, but mostly by choice. He doesn't follow rules or orders unless they're set by someone he actually respects, and even then, he only does it if he feels like it. He's a vampire, and that means he doesn't need to worry about what anyone thinks of him. He curses and drinks, fights and loves, and always looks to have a good time. In his first episode, he takes over the main Sunnydale vampire nest and tells the other vampires that under him, "we're gonna have a little less ritual, and a little more fun around here." He enjoys what he does, and even with a soul, he broods a lot less than Angel does.

He's always sarcastic and witty. He doesn't hesitate to speak his mind or insult people. He often refers to people by nicknames either to show affection or mock. He's very good at reading people and seeing what's going on, even when they can't tell themselves. This power completely vanishes when relating to himself, of course. He can makes plans, but he rarely has the patience to follow through with them. He acts on instinct rather than logic. In Touched, he says, "I follow my blood, which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain, so I make a lot of mistakes." Spike does what feels right, and if he's wrong, he gets up and tries again.

Spike is a study in contradictions. He's a fighter and a lover, he swears and uses eloquent metaphors, he's sometimes pragmatic and often romantic, and he always burns with passion. He's loud and brash and doesn't do anything part-way. He believes in true love and happy endings, even if in his darker days, he doesn't think they'll happen. No matter how hard he tries to hide it, the poet inside him never completely died.

Background: History! I am taking him from shortly after Smile Time in Angel Season 5. At this point he's already decided not to go back to Buffy, and he's working a lot with Angel's team. I'm picking this point because it is likely to cause awkwardness with any Buffys since it was a pretty bad decision on his part, and because I like how he developed when on his own, and, of course, if we ever get an Angel, it provides prime fuel for mocking. I'm taking him from the end of the Season 8 comics. He's been living in a spaceship manned by bugs. Yeeep, his life is cool. Also, I'd like him to remember the time he was here before, if that's all right! In which case, the big bits to add are that he was a Sith before very loudly quitting and deciding he didn't like any of the sides and he'd just go on doing the hero thing instead of getting involved in wars. I'm picking the new canon point because I've been really enjoying the comics and the new status quo they've got going on, and come on, BUG SPACESHIP.

Special Abilities or Weapons: As a vampire, he's got enhanced strength and speed. He's immortal and unaging, though a stake through the heart, decapitation, fire, or sunlight can kill him. His senses are better than human, especially his sense of smell. He's really good at fighting in various martial art styles. He's written poetry, but not very well. He can come up with good plans, but he rarely has the patience to carry them out. He's good at adapting. He can withstand a lot of pain. He's pretty good at using technology. He's good at various criminal abilities such as pick-pocketing, picking locks, and hotwiring cars.

Sect: Sith! I do plan for him to eventually switch, though. Civilian! But with lightsabers, force sensitivity, and some Sith training.
Job: Dark Jedi Hutt porn star.

Samples:
First Person:

All right, what's the bloody idea here? [Spike sounds annoyed. He was in the middle of a particularly good Dancing with the Stars episode right before he showed up here. He was fairly sure Harmony was finally going to be voted out, too! But now, it looked like he'd never know. Because he's back in the familiar ugly jumpsuit that he apparently gets because he doesn't generally wear underwear.]

I thought that being sent home meant I got to stay home. I didn't think I'd be bounced back and forth between here and my dimension like a sodding rubber ball. Does that Revan wanker have any idea what he's doing with this? Cause it's seeming less and less like some vast overarching plan and more like random chaos!

[He growls a little, but when he speaks again, he sounds a bit calmer.]

All right. Fine. Anyone have my things from last time? Specifically, the coat and the lightsaber? I don't want to go through the trouble of making one again.

And Leia and Jaina, you two still around? Or any of the other people from before? How've you all been?

Third Person: The log that would never end. Spike and Jaina drinking.
Anything Else: ...I just can't resist you guys. And I'm glad I never got rid of the lightsaber icon!