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character info
Sep. 13th, 2015 06:02 pmCHARACTER AGE: 30.
SPECIES: Witch.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY: Ryan Harris was left at a state orphanage when he was 18 months old, and he doesn’t remember anything else. His last name was retrieved from his file, but he’s never known nor particularly cared to know who his birth parents are. As far as Ryan is concerned, they left him there, and if they don’t want to know him, he doesn’t want to know them. When Ryan was nine, he met Riley, a fellow orphan in the home, and they have been best friends ever since. Ryan has always felt connected to Riley in a way that he can’t explain, though this never manifested in anything but a close friendship until they were older. Since his arrival at the orphanage, Ryan has spent his life in and out of foster homes. He’s never stayed long, being moved on when the couple have a child of their own or decide that foster care isn’t for them, and he tries not to have hard feelings about it. It was easier to manage before Riley got adopted, and the period of jealousy that followed is something Ryan doesn’t like to talk or think about. Instead, he was allowed and even encouraged to visit Riley in his new home with the Waldens as often as possible, and grew up almost as their other surrogate son. They would never be his parents, not the way they were for Riley, but they did always promise to keep an eye on him, and helped pay for his tuition so that he could go to the same private schools as Riley. He loves them like his own family, though he feels incredibly indebted to them, which makes him a little uncomfortable.
Ryan first started to discover he was different as a teenager, when he sometimes felt like he was losing his grip on his own thoughts. He used to have a tendency to blank out, his mind drifting, and while teachers called it laziness and day dreaming, it wasn’t anything he could help. Eventually, he learned how to keep it under wraps and only send it adrift on purpose, where he found he could project his mind into other classrooms and the like by piggy backing off other students’ minds. It has always been stronger when he’s with Riley, and his abilities alter a little when they’re connected. It became an important factor when Riley had his accident two years ago and ended up in a coma. He’d been stricken with fear that his best friend wasn’t going to wake up, and his mind had reached out and latched on before he could really help it. He can’t say he knew exactly what he was doing, but whatever he did helped, because Riley woke up. Since then he’s been able to project himself inside Riley’s head, usually only to project images or short, basic thoughts, though he’s learning how to do more.
After Riley’s accident and his subsequent blackouts, Ryan had his suspicions about Riley’s heritage, so they went digging. Their search for Riley’s parents and magic has brought them to Siren Cove, where they’re told Riley was born.
PERSONALITY:Ryan has had a tumultuous upbringing, and it’s caused him to be slightly cynical, though Riley’s optimism usually balances him out. He’s a bit of a hoarder, a habit leftover from collecting anything he could call his own in the orphanage, and he’s very protective of his possessions, especially his vespa. Riley is the only one he lets on it, and he definitely won’t let him drive it. Despite the way his life started out, Ryan has been raised to be fairly open, and he can be a pretty open book. Riley has always known how to see straight through him, so he’s never really bothered with the pretence with anyone else either. He’ll tell you upfront if you’re being a dick, and he’ll expect you to do the same for him. Family is a touchy subject; he would never begrudge anyone theirs, but as much as he tries to pretend he has no need or want for a family of his own, it’s a hard thing to shove aside. He’s never made a conscious effort to look for his birth parents and he doesn’t want to. He’s bitter about the way he was left behind, and it’s always made him fairly distrusting of his foster families. He’s been shuffled between ‘parents’ for so many years that he both desperately wants the real thing and hates the entire concept. The only people who get a pass are the Waldens, who were the first people to take him in on face value and Riley’s word and therefore earned his lifelong trust.
OPINION OF THE RIVALRY:Ryan has no idea about any of it, and he won’t care when he does learn. His best friend is prone to blackouts and migraines, keeping him from falling off the back of Ryan’s vespa is more his concern.
LIFESTYLE:Ryan grew up with nothing to his name, and he’s proud of the fact that he’s managed to turn that around. He didn’t go to college but he graduated from a prestigious private high school with the help of the Waldens, and he’s been making sure ever since then that he can be self-sufficient. He’s had to rely on a lot of people as he was growing up, and he’s done with that. The florist business that he and Riley own together is their first foray into business, but they’ve already garnered themselves a fairly large customer base. He makes a modest living, enough to support himself and run his vespa, which is all he’s ever needed. He and Riley share a two bedroom flat, where he can be close-by just in case anything happens.
POWERS & ABILITIES: Ryan is a witch with mental projection abilities. He can project his mind forward into others in order to essentially use their eyes and ears, though he can’t yet communicate with anyone but Riley this way. People on the receiving end might feel a little weird, or might know he’s there if they’re a witch themselves, but he can’t do a lot with this yet. With Riley his powers are a little stronger, and he can often project his own vision to Riley, showing him a snapshot of where he is, what he can see, etc. He can also project thoughts, though this is harder and he can’t properly communicate in full.
PLAYED BY: Hal Ozsan
