Name: Dee

Age: 37

Contact: weeyotch @ plurk; weeyotch#8200 @ discord

Character(s) in game: N/A

Permissions: here

Character Name: Jeffrey David Calhoun

Age: 21 22?

Canon: Original

Canon point: 1995, several months after he accidentally summoned a demon that's now tethered to his psyche. Plus roughly a year and a half in this world.

History: To spare you a wall of text, Jeff's pre-game history section is behind the cut!

Personality: For reference, his original traits were Friendly, Curious, Flighty, Anxious/Insecure, and Self Destructive.

• Playful: Sure, Jeff may be a monster now, but he's, like, a friendly one! Sort of. There's still some good-natured sweetness left in him, it's just been twisted (har har). He just feels so light and free now, that he can't help but want to mess around and have fun with others! Jeff's eager to seek the company of others, and he can make friends (at least on a superficial level) pretty easily, but he doesn't really distinguish between 'friend' and 'food' all that well-- and he loves playing with his food. These days, Jeff's kind of like a cat, playful, affectionate, and prone to messing with things (and people) just to see what happens. He can get along with others, and he puts on a very cheery, personable face, buuuut he can also be (lightly!) sadistic and super annoying. (But then, he was already annoying before he died and became an avatar, anyway. Just ask his neighbors at Bonnie's.) Anyway, don't mind him, he's just going to metaphorically try and bat your sanity off a high shelf for fun.
• Secretive: Look, there's a lot that Jeff just Doesn't Talk About. Even putting aside the avatar thing, even before his death and rebirth, he hardly ever communicated his issues or struggles to anyone. Sure, it was obvious something was wrong just by looking at him (especially towards the end), but getting Jeff to actually talk about any of it was pretty much a lost cause. Even his closest friends only ever got, at most, snippets of his story-- that there had been something in him back home, that he'd doubted his sanity, that it was getting harder and harder to distinguish the lines between reality and hallucinations... He never communicated the depths of it, and has been pretty good about keeping certain secrets close to his chest. If anyone sussed out that he'd been hurting people, spent more and more time in the company of delusions, helped cause the blackout back in March, died and returned as an avatar, and so on, it certainly wasn't because Jeff said anything about it. He's got a talent for changing the subject, distracting people, or seemingly opening up without actually saying much of substance. He sacrifices information that he doesn't really care about spilling, and gives juuuust enough to satisfy questions, without actually revealing anything that matters. The end result is: Jeff's great at appearing open, friendly, and emotionally available, while he sits on a nest of secrets.
• Insatiable: As a human, Jeff had a tendency to devote himself wholly and borderline obsessively to the things that really sparked his interest. The downside is he can lose sight of everything else, in his pursuit of whatever interest of the day may be. This drive and curiosity has since grown in his time in this world. After spending so much time in a state of constant-buzzing anxiety and insecurity, where he couldn't even count on his magic or his sense of reality, and was always waiting for those he made connections with (Kugrash, Gil, Meredith, so many neighbors at Bonnie's, Tim) to simply disappear from Gloucester, Jeff's become a bit like a starved, wild animal. He's developed an insatiability for... Pretty much everything. Attention (I mean, he's a musician with dreams of fame, of course he's got a bottomless appetite for attention), love, power, magic, stimulation, food. He's hungry to learn more about the world he's in, and the entity that he's embraced, and what it really means to be an avatar. He relishes the feeling of having unfettered access to his magic, instead of drips and scraps, but it's not enough. He knows there's more, that he could be so much more, and he's desperate to accumulate power, knowledge, attention, and affection, so that he'll never feel like that weak, pitiful, lonely shell of a human he once was.
• Flighty & Distracted: He's always been a major flake, forgetting things (and people) easily. There was once an innocent sort of cruelty to him, where he seemed really engaged and intimate with another person, only to forget them as soon as his attention moved on to other things. That cruelty isn't so innocent anymore, but it is somewhat incidental. Jeff exists in a state where he no longer cares to distinguish dreams, delusions, fantasy, nightmares, any of it, from reality. If anything, Jeff prefers to chase delusions and get swept up in waking dreams, whenever possible, because reality's... heavy and grey and depressing, and he doesn't want to think about it, and now he doesn't have to. Reality's optional. Of course, that attitude can also make it difficult to really focus on others, or to remember what actually happened and what he only dreamed about, and he has to really put an effort into seeming grounded on earth. It's a struggle.
• Appreciative: Okay, so for as selfish as he can be, as annoying as he can be, as monstrous as he can be... there's still a spark of something truly, genuinely good and human in Jeff. He loves people, like, as a whole concept. Sure, he preys on them, but he's convinced himself that it's simply out of necessity, not any true desire to hurt others. Honestly, he thinks humanity, in all it's capable of, is really fucking cool. He admires and appreciates others' intelligence, cleverness, talents, skills, artistry-- honestly, he sees these things as akin to magic. Once he's truly placed his attention on somebody, long enough to really look at them, he'll often find something to value and treasure in them. He doesn't really have a high opinion of himself, but he can see a lot to admire in others. Especially nerds. Jeff thinks nerdy types are really fucking cool. (And, if one were to try and pull him back from his avatar arc, this is a great resource to tap into!)

Suitability: Jeff has no love for the ADI, and certainly no loyalty, but he's proven that he can smile and play along for his own gain and self preservation. (See: handing over Fenix Down, even though he kinda liked that creepy fire clown. Plus, he helped get the Undertones in custody in Wolf Pen!) He will turn on the organization if he feels it's in his best interest, sure, but he's got no interest in actually causing an apocalypse. His main interest is in securing his own safety, and growing in power, and he's happy to help take out any competing avatar who might get in the way of that with their, like, pesky world-ending rituals. And, on an ooc level, I'm interested in seeing if Jeff will continue to fully embrace his villain arc, and eventually become a real problem to permanently eliminate, or if he'll ultimately be pulled back towards humanity and redemption.

Powers/Abilities: First and foremost: Jeff's an avatar of the Spiral, which grants him a few new tricks (ear worms and minor illusions), a desire to stoke and feed on fears lest the Spiral come and feed from him, as well as a big tell that he's going to have to do his best to hide. Basically: reflections and photos give him away; his expressions in them will always be different from reality. Much like a vampire, he's gong to be avoiding mirrors as much as possible. Beyond his twisty status, Jeff is Gifted, which means he has the potential to make magic work through self-directed Ritual. Magic, in this universe, isn't some amazing superpower, nor is it something that's as simple as picking a spell out of a book. Its applications can be versatile, running the pretty typical fantasy gamut (clairvoyance, glamours, telekinesis, vague curses/blessings, etc), with the potential mixing, matching, customization, and so on. The principles of magic are universal, but the actual spellwork is based on the individual.

Spells and Rituals are unique to the caster. Rituals are tied into some aspect of who they are, what they're interested in, or what they're skilled at. As for spells, they have to be crafted/composed and cast by the individual. Think of them like a song that can only be played by one person. They can cast the same spell over and over again, or remix it with something old and something new, or craft a new one. The bigger the effect you wish to have, the more difficult and complex the ritual spellwork must be.

Jeff's Ritual is music: singing, humming, whistling, playing the guitar, etc. Any spell he works has to be built on music, which makes him a bard. As far as magical potential goes, Jeff can be powerful, when he applies himself, and his magic is the epitome of style over substance: flashy, potentially useful, but applied frivolously. What boosts him up and sets him apart from your average Gifted person is his willingness to be amplified by other casters (his bandmates), and further fueled by his crowds' energy.

On his own, Jeff's magic has a very limited range and influence, and his spells tend to be small, personal, and borderline mundane. It should also be noted that his spells only work in person, and only when he's actively casting them. So a studio recording of one of his spells wouldn't have any effect on anybody listening, nor would a live broadcast.

Once he became an avatar of the Spiral, he got a little boost of powers, marked with a handy Spiral emoji.

Typically, his range of magic includes:

• Ear Worms. 🌀 As an avatar of the Spiral, Jeff's music can get stuck in people's heads, and along with it: a single delusional thought that they will obsess over until the spell wears off. For example: "Don't Trust So-and-So," "All Your Friends Hate You," "None Of This Is Real," etc etc. How a character acts on the delusion is up to the player. This spell is opt-in only, and will never be cast on a character without prior OOC communication.
  
  
• Illusions/Hallucinations. 🌀 Jeff can now conjure illusions affecting sight only, not sound/touch/smell/taste. The illusions are not all-encompassing (so nothing that would affect an entire building, or anyone's entire field of vision, and so on) and are mostly just used for purpose of making people doubt their reality and question their own senses. As this is separate from his bardic magic, he doesn't need to sing to create illusions.
  
  
• Telekinesis: He can move objects (or small living creatures) provided 1) they're in his general vicinity (about a 10 foot radius), 2) he knows where they are, and 3) they're not all that heavy (~40 lbs or less). So Jeff could never lift a car with magic, but he could put it in park by manipulating the gearshift. Really, this kind of spell is mostly useful when his hands are full and he doesn't want to make the extra trip to carry something.
  
  (It's also great for pick pocketing and shoplifting)
  
  In theory, he could use this kind of magic to do things like pick locks! But since he's likely unfamiliar with the lock's structure, it would be the magical equivalent of throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks.
  
  
• Empathic Manipulation & Intoxication: One of his go-to party tricks is to sway the moods of his audience. His spells can have an intoxicating effect on the listener, usually a temporary state of euphoria or lowered inhibition. Typically, effects wouldn't last for more than 30 minutes, and would be weaker/more diluted if cast over larger groups. On his own, Jeff could have a moderate effect on a handful of people. When amped up by other magic users (like his bandmates, in the past), he could work a crowd into a frenzy. This spell is opt-in only, and will never be cast on a character without prior OOC communication.
  
  
• Pyrokinesis: Starting fires is Magic 101, and Jeff's no exception-- provided there's something flammable to actually ignite. He can light a candle, or start a campfire (y'know, that's already got kindling and kerosene or whatever), but nine times out of ten, he'd rather just grab a lighter to do the same thing. Jeff can snuff out small flames, but he can't stop an uncontrolled fire.
  
  Beyond lighting/snuffing out fires, Jeff can manipulate them a little with magic, but only in flashy, pointless ways. He can make them dance a little, or take shapes temporarily, but that's about it. Jeff can't change the size or intensity of fires.
  
  
• Lights: Jeff can use magic to light up an area-- sparkling fairy lights, or creepy will-o-the-wisp looking things, or colorful lights, and so on. They're showy, pretty, and temporary. Mostly, this spell comes in handy if Jeff's stuck in the dark and nobody has a flashlight.
  
  
• Locating: Sometimes, Jeff can use magic to find things. Like if he misplaces his keys, the right spell can give him a sense of where they might be. This can work on all sorts of objects, but he has to be familiar with the "essence" or "energy" (or whatever you want to call it) of the object's owner. So Jeff can find his own misplaced objects, but he couldn't find his friend's dad's missing golf club. I mean, unless he spent some time with the guy first. As a teenager, Jeff would use this kind of magic to try to locate and steal test answers from his teachers.
  
  
• Blight: He can kill plants, but it's rude and he tries not to. He also can't do the opposite-- nurture life-- with magic.

Entity Affinity: Jeff is all about the SPIRAL, BABY. Prior to his arrival in game, he spent the months experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, talking to what's essentially a voice in his head, and could no longer trust his own perception. While the demon was in his head, dreams and reality began to melt together, and now that he's fully embraced that, he's become an avatar of the Spiral. RIDE OR DIE. Wait, he already died--

Inventory: Whatever clothes he packed, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and travel amp, an ipod shuffle, a D&D monster manual, mirror shards from a Spiral artifact (his reward for helping Aelwyn take out Fenix Down -- possibly hidden somewhere away from Gloucester for idk future plot purposes -- also happy to say he just totally lost this somewhere along the way).

Oh, and Macaroni, the naked sphynx cat that once belonged to Jack, then Abby. Unless somebody's been taking care of her at Bonnie's all this time, in which case, disregard!

Samples: sample one & sample two (older sample)