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 Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:45 pm
Howl had always worn his heart on his sleeve--at least figuratively. When he hadn't had one, he had worn a paper one. Again, metaphorically, seeing as Howl had never displayed his emotions, unless he was dramatizing. He was good at that. He could act miserable even in paradise, and knew it. Even with the weight of his heart within his chest, he was still as slippery, still a liar, as he had always been--and he still very much wanted to get back to Ingary to fetch his son. One could not say that having a heart had changed the wizard for the most part. His eyes had more of a light behind them, and they were less like marbles and more like the ocean, deep and murky with the still new grief of losing his wife--whom he had recently discovered not only held part of his heart--but the entirety.
One might have thought that having his heart would have created a great change in him. That he would be brave, and noble, and seek out his missing wife until he found what he sought. Not so. For quite like someone who had had their heart broken by one they loved very much, Howl had very little desire to actually find Sophie. He was bitter. He was angry. He was hurt. Like one who had been lied to by someone they cared very much for, he didn't feel like forgiving her. Not yet. Or any time soon. No, he didn't think he would forgive her until she came begging for his forgiveness and declaring her love for him.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried. He'd tried writing her a letter, he'd waited for a response. He'd tried finding her! He hadn't wanted to believe Adrian when the vampire had written saying she was dead. He hadn't wanted to believe Sophie would fake her own death to avoid him; but he had eventually come to accept it. He had had to. He had a son to fetch from Ingary; and that was more important than worrying about what Sophie was doing with whatever man she felt had more desirable qualities than he. Their son--his son, was more important.
This trail of thought was what led to Howl's vivid dream after his younger brother, Devin, slipped a sleeping pill in the teenager's drink. The younger boy wasn't meaning to be malicious--in fact, the opposite. The wizard hadn't been sleeping well since before Sophie had gone missing. Nightmares had plagued him for weeks, and his younger siblings had worried about him. Devin didn't want to see what the stress Sophie'd put on him would do to the teenage wizard's mind. He'd already seen what it'd done to his hair.
So when the little dark elf was sure the benadril (for that was mostly what the sleeping pill was) had taken effect and put his older brother in a semizombified state where the wizard was staring blankly at the piece of paper he'd been writing on furiously only minutes before, Devin patiently led the older boy to his bed. "Sleep," he instructed. And Howl, perhaps due to the medication, and perhaps due to sheer emotional exhaustion, did so without complaint.
Howl was in Ingary. A place where seven league boots and cloaks of invisibility really existed, where fairytales came true and it was terrible luck to be the eldest of three. Of course, none of these wonders mattered to Howl. He'd seen it all, he'd proven old wives' tales wrong (probably why the old wives never seemed to like him), he'd married a lovely redheaded girl who just happened to be the eldest of three. Marrying him, naturally, made it clear she was no failure.
No, what mattered to Howl, at that moment, was that he was home. He did not care that his hair was a mess (which he often found, in dreams he would have preferred to look good in). He did not care that he was standing in the middle of a busy Market Chipping street with nothing on but a t-shirt and a pair of boxers. He was busy taking the sights of the familar town not so far from Kingsbury. The flower shop would be--ah! In golden lettering was the sign for their flowershop. H. Jenkins, he remembered making that sign. Fresh flowers daily. It looked like it had been out of business for some time--but then it would have been. Neither he or Sophie were there to run it.
Still, there would be a way into his castle from there. He was surprised to find the door locked when he reached it, but perhaps the castle remembered him? He felt a sense of satsifaction when he pushed open the dusty door and walked in. This was home. Home. He immediately looked to the fireplace, but wasn't surprised to find it vacant. Of course. Calcifer was still on Gaia. Sophie too. He didn't expect to see her there--Morgan. He needed to get to Morgan.
The brown haired wizard dashed up the stairs leading to what had once been his and Sophie's room (which by the looks of things had become a terrible mess even when he wasn't charming it that way to upset Sophie when she attempted to clean it. Knowing that it was silly to check Morgan's room, but having the parental need to do so just in case, Howl walked into his son's nursery expecting it to be empty. To his amazement, he found Morgan sitting up in his crib, crying.
The teenage wizard quickly went to the toddler's side, scooping the boy up expertly. "Shh," he muttered. Sophie wasn't here--and Morgan had always been more attached to her. Though Howl had more experience with young children, Sophie knew their son better. She knew how to calm him, while Howl didn't. Of course, he had never really tried to calm their son. Morgan was an easy excuse to get what he wanted--and what Morgan wanted, too. He allowed the small, plump toddler to lay his head against his shoulder, and almost it seemed, by instinct, he gently rocked the boy, humming.
Howl had no musical talent. He had always been an unmusical Welshman, and had never before been truly upset about it. He had other talents to make up for it--but a musical talent certainly would have been useful when soothing a crying toddler. He knew Sophie had sung lullabies; the only ones he knew were in Welsh. Their son had enough trouble speaking Inglish (he had a dreadful lisp, and was horribly loud) that they had agreed on waiting to teach him his father's native language.
"Ad hynny chreuau befrio a ddisgleiria ,
Erioed ddeigryn ,
Baban chan chloddia.
Ai adnabuan 'n beraidd hychydig 'ch,
hwy d darfod i fyny yn caru 'ch hefyd."*
He remembered when Sophie had been pregnant with Morgan. He remembered whispering to her womb, "Cara 'ch. Alla t arhosa at canfod 'ch. D 'n ebrwydd." Oh, how they had both looked forward to Morgan's birth. How they had argued over what Morgan's name would be, for six months before finally agreeing. Howl knew he wouldn't be able to take Morgan to Gaia with him, not this time. This was a dream.
"Cara 'ch, Morgan. Alla t arhosa at canfod 'ch. D 'n ebrwydd."**
For those who don't speak Welsh-
* Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear
Baby of mine
If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too.
**I love you, Morgan. I can't wait to see you. Come soon.
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:03 pm
But the castle stayed roving about the hills, and it was learned that it did not belong to the Witch but to Wizard Howl. Wizard Howl was bad enough. Though he did not seem to want to leave the hills, he was known to amuse himself by collecting young girls and sucking the souls from them. Or some people said he ate their hearts. He was an utterly cold-blooded and heartless wizard and no young girl was safe from him if he caught her on her own.
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:52 pm
“Howl has been very kind to me.” And this was true, Sophie realized. Howl showed his kindness rather strangely, but, considering all Sophie had done to annoy him, he had been very good to her indeed.
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:56 pm
“But they say he eats women alive!” Fanny said, still struggling to get up.
Sophie held down her waving parasol. “He doesn’t really,” she said. “Do listen. He’s not wicked at all!”
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:30 pm
In which Thali dedicates a solo to Lolly in admiration
In Which Howl's Thoughts are Extremely Disjointed and he quotes Poetry
Howl was lost. He wasn't lost in that he didn't know where he was, nor in that he didn't understand a concept. No, the great wizard Howell Jenkins was lost in the fact that he no longer knew what to do with his life. Sophie had been his north star, his compass. She had led him through trials and things he would have never thought of doing without her. She was the reason the world spun, the reason the seasons changed, the reason the sun rose in the morning.
The wizard felt as if his heart would stop beating without her. As if the sun and stars would flicker out. He felt like death, and probably looked it too. The normally well groomed, elaborately dressed wizard's blond hair was fading to reveal mouse brown; he was wearing a plain white t-shirt that looked at least ten days old and in extreme need of a washing and torn blue jeans. Something about Sophie had made him feel alive, had given him a reason to live, a reason to love. Even before she had broken his curse, even before he'd had a heart to love her with.
Howl was lost without Sophie. Without her, he was a tortured soul with tragic flaws. He was vain, he was selfish, he could (still) seem quite heartless. He would have to stay strong, and hope to find the strength to wait for her return.
If she ever did.
Until she did, Howl knew he'd be forcing laughter and faking smiles for his friends. Especially Eve. He was sure she'd be constantly bothering him until he felt better. He was good at acting. He always had been. He had had to be, being heartless. Now he fully understood what was meant when people said a heart was a heavy burden. It would be much more difficult to act as if he was in love with someone else when his heart was still seeking Sophie.
He had found her in the most unlikely of ways, on May Day. She had been wearing a gray dress. He had thought even then that she was lovely, that gray wasn't her color. He'd asked if he could buy her a drink, to calm her nerves, but she'd been terrified. He'd offered to escort her to see her sister, but she'd refused, seeimg even more frightened. Apparently she had been warned not to go out alone--or perhaps she had been afraid of meeting him in the first place. Even after several years of being married, he still didn't know the answer.
The empty rooms of his moving castle felt cold; even though Sophie hadn't been living with him through their second childhood, he still felt alone. He had expected to propose to Sophie with the ring he'd been working to purchase, to have her there with him until Darcy brought Morgan. Even the moving castle seemed to mourn, as if it understood one of its inhabitants was gone. Tall black turrets seemed to slump in grief, the smoke it released an indescribable black. At times when it moved, the castle would leave a trail of thick slime, quite like a snail. It was Howl's way of expressing grief, but he needn't have. Everything about the wizard showed it. His skin was a pasty white, dark circles hung under his eyes. They were red and swollen, and though when asked he'd claim allergies, it didn't take an expert to know he'd been crying.
"Busy old fool," Howl mused aloud. "Unruly Sophie. The sun was half as happy as we were. Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time." He was quoting an old poem quite badly. He remembered once teasing her with it. As an old woman, Sophie had been nosy, bossy, and a busy old cleaning woman who liked nothing more than to make Howl suffer by getting into his spells and switching them around. He had always enjoyed reading poetry. "Ah, what a trifle is a heart, if once into love's hands it come! My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore, but after one such love, can love no more."
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:15 pm
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:57 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:18 pm
Howl had once thought love was only true in fairytales. That girls were attractive, but he would never find one he could keep. He had once felt sorry for a dying star and given away his heart--quite literally, and not in the romantic sense, seeing as Calcifer was male. He had once felt sorry for a powerful but lonely Witch, and had spent long hours with her. Upon realizing she was not the beautiful, kindly woman she had seemed to be, he had fled. He had jilted the only person with power equal to his, and that terrified him.
Even years after the Witch of the Waste’s death, thinking about her caused him to shiver. She had cursed him so that if he had been unable to find a woman true and fair--that was to truly fall in love, despite lacking a certain important organ--by the time he turned ten thousand days old, he would have been forced to do her bidding. He would have become the Witch’s puppet, with her controlling his fire demon, and so, having complete control of the wizard.
He perhaps would have been able to avoid the Witch entirely had it not been for Sophie’s determination to save Lily Angorian. The Witch’s fire demon had posed as a human in Wales, and Howl had attempted to distract it, by courting her and by doing so, learning the information he needed to defeat the Witch. Sophie, however, had taken the bait. She had believed Howl was in love with Lily, and so went in attempt to rescue her.
He had gone to save Sophie, of course. Without his usual facial charms or spending any time in the bathroom. It was then that the wizard had realized his feelings for her. Oh, he had known that he enjoyed teasing her. That he even appreciated her company, when she wasn’t trying to annoy him. (It was something she could do better than anyone else). But love! To think he, Howl, heartbreaker extraordinaire, had fallen for a busy, old, terribly nosy, bossy cleaning lady…
He, of course, had known she was young. Once she had come to his castle, he had courted Lettie Hatter in order to find more out about her. Lettie had informed him that she was her sister, and naturally, that had interested him further. Of course, Lettie had threatened and questioned him. She needn’t have bothered. Howl had no intention of stealing Sophie’s heart--not then. He had hoped she would be able to break his curse, that she would be able to free Calcifer. Even with Lettie’s questioning, he told her very little. He told her that he knew someone named Sophie who looked a little bit like her. Not how he knew her (Lettie, of course, being the hysterical, strong minded young woman she had been, had assumed the worst). Michael’s Lettie, who had actually been Sophie’s youngest sister Martha, had told him the same thing. Michael in turn, had told Howl. Even Calcifer had said Sophie was under a powerful curse when Howl’d asked.
Yes, he had known she was young. He had tried to take the curse off of her multiple times, and had failed. That was something new, the great wizard he was (and that wasn’t just self proclaimed, other people said it as well--of course, that just made him worse) rarely failed. He had soon found that it was Sophie causing it herself, and had decided she liked being in disguise. He had often wondered if she would turn out to be the lovely girl he’d met on May Day--but love. Love! To be willing to risk his life, and worse, to be willing to risk his freedom--was something he’d never thought of doing for anyone. Not once had he even considered it, until that night.
There had been no choice, no time to slither as he was so fond of doing. No time to even think about it. No indeed, the only thing that had crossed his mind at the time was that he had to save that fool, Sophie.
(Doing as advised. Unfinished, but I will continue it when mood strikes me).
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:32 pm
Over 265 words that Describe Howl-
Whimsical Magical Flirty
Flighty Slitherer Vain
Selfish Intelligent Coward
Whiny Caring Messy
Kind Welsh Non-musical
Dishonest Helpful Immature
Passionate Powerful Romantic
Playful Sensitive Cunning
Active Good-With-Kids Sly
Tease Talented Courtly
Heartless Chivalrous Wandering
Handsome Dramatic Maddening
Happily-Ever-After Determined Excitable
Flamboyant Charming Stubborn
Proud Mysterious Fair
Loving Lovable Flawed
Divining Spendthrift Fancy
Graceful Elegant Oblivious
Willing Afraid-of-change Princely
Smug Alluring Charming Polite
Feigning Cordial Extraordinary
Long-Winded Enchanting Troublesome
Sparkling Childish Distracted
Colorful Silly Forgetful
Innocent Cute Dreamer
Sleepless Impatient Quarrelsome
Fascinating Homophobic** Teacher
Surprising Curious Abnormal
Creative Tricky Soft Hearted
Charismatic Compassionate Funny
Devoted Hardworking* Attached
Frivolous Naïve Youthful
Boyish Adoring Captivating
Affectionate Attentive Concerned
Expressive Fond Friendly
Sentimental Warm Zealous
Attention Seeker Cheerful Spirited
Vivacious Dashing Helpful
Absentminded Picky Overdressed
Clever Slippery Unprincipled
Unscrupulous Glib-tongued Purposeful
Roguish Liar Egotistical Sweet
Thoughtful Animated Sliming
Father Husband Uncle Brother
Remarkable "Wicked" Wizard
* When he wants to be. Howl works hard at looking like he's not working hard when he truly is, so this may seem debatable.
** Howl was born in the early 1950s if we use the book's publish date as the setting of the book. He was twenty seven years old in 1983ish, so--and at that time, it wasn't nearly as accepted as it is now. I imagine he would have been raised fearing it, just as other people feared other races. (It's different! It's bad. At the publish time of the book, for the setting, AIDs was just being discovered, and of course, with the theory that was going around for the cause...) I thought it'd make sense.
--All other words were strictly taken from Thali and Tyia's view on Howl's personality in the books and in roleplaying. <3
** Is just speculation and taking history into account for a fictional character's point of view. This is in no way my opinion, and no offense is intended.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 1:02 pm
No man is truly married until he understands every word his wife is not saying - Anon
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 11:17 pm
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:04 pm
"I thought I'd better bring him along where I could
keep an eye on him," he explained to Sophie. "Sorry if I gave you a
fright." Howl seemed more used to holding babies than Sophie was. He rocked Morgan soothingly and stared at him. Morgan stared, rather balefully, back. "My word, he's ugly!" Howl said. "Chip off the old block."
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:54 pm
"Sex? That's disgusting. Criminal! Disturbing! It should be outlawed! I think I'm going to be sick." Howl was supposed to be listening to Miles give him a sexual education class. The oracle was older than he was, though they were physically the same age. Instead of listening, however, every time Miles mentioned sex, Howl would promptly fall into a rant about how disgusting it was. Miles hadn't even gotten to explaining what it was, exactly.
"Howl, it happens all the time," the oracle explained calmly. Maybe that would help his cousin settle down, he didn't know. He was sitting on the arm of the couch, watching with some amusement how animatedly Howl declared his disgust. "All. The. Time."
"Goodness above! Lying happens all the time, and that doesn't make it right," Howl always claimed to have a shining dishonesty, and Miles knew it. He ignored the wizard's defense, shaking his head. He knew Howl had lost his memory concerning most of the events in his lifetime. The oracle firmly believe that the wizard really only "remembered" the things he'd read about himself. It was like a parent telling you about a memory, and you remembering it because of that--if they had never brought it up, you would never have put thought to it. Maybe if he pressed gently, he would remember more?
"Howl, how do you think Morgan came into existance?" Miles asked, leaning against the back of the couch. He was interested in learning the wizard's response. Being an oracle, he could see the future--and some of the past. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't always able to see what was happening in the present, or tell what others were thinking.
"Sophie had him," was Howl's immediate response. "A djinn attacked us while she was still pregnant and pinched my castle. I had to turn her into a cat to save her life, she wouldn't leave. I told her to stay with Megan until I could come get her, but she refused. So she had him as a kitten, you see."
"How'd he get there? Spontanous pregnancies happen here on Gaia, but I'm not sure about your world. How'd he get there, how do you know he's your son?"
Howl was silent. He could think of one thousand and one ways Morgan could have ended up inside of Sophie, but none of them seemed to fit. Ranging from aliens to magical mishaps and everything inbetween. "I don't remember. I know it's important, but...I don't remember."
Miles curled his legs underneath him, and studied his cousin. "Now we get to it. Explaining human reproduction. A single act can cause a great change in people's lives, Howl. Sex is what creates babies and--"
"It's disgusting!" Howl declared. "Why would anyone want to?"
Miles blushed. "Well, erm... Mom says it's quite enjoyable, actually... She and dad--"
Howl covered his ears. "Too much information. I don't want to know what your parents do in bed."
"...On the couch, actually." This was new, being able to make his younger cousin squirm. Howl had lived thirty or more years in an entirely different world, and seemed to remember very little of it. He smirked when Howl promptly got off of the couch and moved to one of the chairs.
"I'm never sitting on your couch again. That should be illegal."
"Howl, you don't even know what it is," Miles tried, patiently. He had to explain, before Howl's wife expected it of him--if she remembered what it was, that was. He hoped she did. He didn't want to explain to a full grown woman how and why reproduction was done. "It's supposed to be a great and wonderful thing, you know--when a man really cares for a woman, and all that."
-To be continued-
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:45 pm
In which Howl tricks people out of their candy.
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