Eway re-app

[theothermrgray]

Name: Nyanka
DW username: nyanka_jinx
E-Mail: animal_wonder@hotmail.com
IM: Nyanka#7992 on Discord
Plurk: Nyanka

Other Characters: Kokichi Ouma (shslliar)

Character Name: Dorian Gray
Series: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Timeline: Mid chapter 20; Before entering the attic
Canon Resource Link: Wiki Sparknotes
Character History:
Dorian came from a rich, yet troubled family. His mother lost her husband in a duel months after her marriage. She died a year after, and her son was left with her cruel grandfather, one Lord Keslo, for a guardian.

Not that any of that matters, really. Dorian grew up to be a rather handsome fellow, rich from his family's inheritance, poor in wisdom. When he was introduced to a painter by the name of Basil Hallward at a party, he had a sort of sweet, naive charm about him. He became a sort of muse to Basil, the subject of quite a few paintings that depicted Grecian myths and charming scenes. Dorian had no idea of the nature of his new friend's feelings for him, but one particular day in June, in the middle of the late 19th century, he found himself sitting in for a different sort of painting; A portrait of himself, as himself.

That portrait would have been a simple gift if Basil's foppish friend, Lord Henry Wotton, hadn't insisted on talking to Dorian as the finishing touches were painted on. Henry has a nice little discussion with Dorian on the nature of his youthful looks, the chance of living life to the fullest, and the cruel effects of age. Unfortunately, Dorian is very impressionable at this point, and seeing the finished portrait in all its eternally youthful glory right after being told his looks would eventually wither away with age only made him depressed. In his despair, he foolishly wished to remain forever young, while the subject of the painting aged for him, saying he would sell his soul for that.

Little did he know how powerful words can be... He could sense a bond forming with this painting, and an instinct to protect it when Basil nearly cut it up with a palette knife, but the painting simply gets sent to Dorian's estate with the owner oblivious to what he has done.

After that incident, Dorian would hang around Henry more often, taking after his new friend's supposed hedonism and charm. About a month later, Dorian wanders into a dingy playhouse and falls madly in love with a beautiful actress named Sybil Vane. She returns the favor, lovingly calling him Prince Charming. He had almost been saved by her grace, they had almost been married, but...

Her performance as Juliet faltered miserably as her love blossomed. Dorian now realized he was only in love with her acting abilities, and not the woman herself. He cruelly breaks up her and tell her he never wants to see her again.

Dorian returned home to find his portrait suddenly looks like it's sneering a bit. He realizes his horrid actions must have caused a change in the artwork, and resolves to apologize to Sybil in the morning. Tragically, he woke up the next afternoon and finds that not only did the painting get worse, but Henry comes in with the news that Sybil killed herself. Dorian was devastated, but Henry encouraged him to consider the death not as a tragic occurrence, but an artistic display of undying love. At this point,
Dorian knew his lifestyle is about to change, and he reveled in the thought of living in the moment as he ran off to join Henry at the opera.

Of course, Basil is not pleased by this turn of events. He is certain that Henry is a bad influence on Dorian, and insisted for his muse to return to the studio for a sitting. Dorian declined the offer, and flat out refuses to let Basil see his portrait or put it on display at an exhibition. What would polite society think of the impossible changes?

After Basil finally left, Dorian had his portrait moved to the attic, hidden by a satin sheet and locked away so nobody else could see it. From then on, Dorian's life spiraled into narcissism and hedonism, fueled by the words of Henry Wotton and the pages of a certain novel he acquired (Something about a young Parisian who has luxurious adventures and dies miserably). He spent his days trying out new hobbies, ideas, and people, surrounding himself with beautiful things, enthralling the masses with his charming looks that dismiss any horrible rumors about him. All the while, the portrait slowly takes on the exaggerated appearance of age and evil, and Dorian can only watch as it decays. It's a blessing and a curse. He's happy to not be the one who ages, but what if someone breaks in and uses his secret against him...?

Eighteen years later, on the eve of his 38th birthday, Dorian ran into his old friend Basil on the street. Basil's worried about those aforementioned rumors, and demanded to know why his friendships keep ending with the friend's life being ruined. Dorian merely chuckled to himself, and took Basil to his attic to show him his soul- In the portrait, that is. He watched as the painter begged for him to save his soul, his calm, haughty demeanor turning to hatred, then to impulsiveness, and finally to blood splattered on the edge of a blade. Basil was dead.

Dorian managed to create an alibi for himself, blackmail one of his chemist friends to dispose of the body, and attempted to pretend like nothing ever happened. However, his sudden outburst at a dinner party in front of Lord Henry nearly gave his guilt away. He decided to go home early, burn all of Basil's belongings, and sneaked off to an opium den after midnight.

Along the way home, he was accosted by James Vane, Sybil's sailor brother who is under the impression that Dorian was responsible for his sister's death. Dorian pulled a fast one on him and pointed out that he looks way too young to have dated her 18 years ago. James believed him, lets him go, and Dorian assumed he was safe....

About a week later, Dorian invited a number of guests, including Henry, the Duchess of Monmouth and her husband, to teatime in his conservatory. As the conversation went to topics such as happiness and romance, Dorian excused himself from the group to get the duchess some orchids. However, as he paced down the halls, he panicked when he saw the disturbingly familiar face of a vengeful James Vane pressed against one of the windows. Poor Dorian was so frightened he fell into a swoon.

He is fortunate enough to be roused by his guests, but the terror he felt was do great he couldn't leave his house for three days. Poor Dorian was fearing for his life now that he knew James was stalking him again, and indeed his guilty conscience was plaguing him with visions of that man... But this was not like Dorian at all, and to try and fix this he went out to have tea with a duchess and later joined her brother's hunting party in the park. All went well until the duchess' brother aimed his gun at a hare. Dorian couldn't let him shoot this thing, it's too graceful! Too elegant! The duchess' brother simply laughed at Dorian's protests and fired... Only to hit a man who was hiding in the bushes in the process. Um. Yikes?! Dorian hung back as the hunting party went to confirm the man was dead, staring in horror as Lord Henry proceeded to speak with him. Dorian's certain this accident was a bad omen, but Henry disagrees. The two of them continue to talk. Henry attempts to lighten the mood by teasing a romantic scandal, but Dorian's pretty sure he's too narcissistic to love another person. It's sad, really. He openly entertains the idea of sailing away on a yacht to save himself...

The duchess returns, Henry jokingly mentions he'd like to meet a murderer one day, and Dorian is so upset he has to excuse himself. It's the hunting accident, he swears, he's just gonna rest up in his room and try to get this mess out of his head... Soon enough, the head keeper shows up to check on him. Dorian was pretty sure that man who was shot was a servant, but upon learning he was an unknown sailor Dorian demanded to see the body. One horseback ride to the farm later, after finally seeing the dead man's face, Dorian rode home crying tears of joy. He felt much safer now that James Vane was dead.

Yet, that moment of safety was but a fleeting moment. Several weeks after the incident, Dorian visits Lord Henry and declares he shall redeem himself, starting with sparing an innkeeper's daughter from defilement. Lord Henry doesn't really buy it, and ends up offending Dorian by insisting he did more harm in breaking the woman's heart. Dorian mentions Basil's disappearance, turning the conversation to more dreadful subjects, and as the men move to another room for coffee and a tune on the piano Dorian solemnly asks what Henry would think if he had murdered Basil. Henry doesn't see Dorian doing such a horrible thing, since of course crime is for the lower classes. The dreadful conversation drifts from Basil himself and shifts to a rather uncomfortable subject for Dorian: How would a man benefit from having everything he wanted at the cost of his soul? Apparently, Henry heard a street preacher ask that, and at this point Dorian's convinced you can sell your soul to the devil. Not that Henry really cares about virtue or all that, he's just impressed that Dorian's managed to look young for so long and would rather he not ruin his splendid lifestyle with morals. Disappointed in how they grew apart as friends, Dorian asks Henry not to give that poisonous yellow book to anyone else... But Henry retorts that art and literature doesn't really do anything to a person, it's just there to be marveled at.

Dorian heads home after promising to meet Lord Henry at the park the next day, and his mind is reeling with everything that's happened. He can change as a person, yes? He hasn't done anything too bad, has he? Sure, people tend to die around him, but he didn't directly cause any of their deaths and Basil had to be put down. Really, he's well aware of how tarnished his soul must be, and he's terribly fearful of that, but he resolves to put the past behind him and focus on his present redemption and his good deed. There's an impatient hope that pierces his gloomy mood and urges him to rush to his attic and see how his picture had changed.

If things were allowed to run their course, Dorian would be dead a few moments later.

Abilities/Special Powers:
That painting he had hidden in the attic had given him the power of not aging. Years would pass, opium addictions would take hold of him, and yet he would never look any older than a man in his 20's. This doesn't necessarily make him immortal. He can still feel pain and bleed, and he certainly feels the consequences of the opiates, but his healing factor and longevity has never been tested in his source cannon. Therefore, if we assume Dorian could die of natural causes, then his agelessness must be the most useless power in all of Wonderland.

Other than that, he is skilled at playing the piano.

Third-Person Sample:

At last, the nightmarish abyss has corrected itself.

Dorian awoke in his own room, or at least a good replica of it from so long ago, and was immediately relieved to see the furnishings and fixtures all in their proper places. There was the magic wardrobe against the wall, there was the blasted mirror he kept covered at all times, and hopping up onto the bed was his loyal, loving companion...

"Basil!" Dorian's sleepless demeanor turned to a pleasant one as the little rabbit bounded right up to its owner, silently begging to be petted. "Oh, how I missed you!"

He chuckled as he sat up a bit and gave his rabbit some comfort. "It has been far to long since I've had any pleasant company to speak to... Not that rabbits are much for conversation, that is, but they're certainly better than former friends who wouldn't see corruption if it struck them dead."

Yes... Basil the rabbit had proven itself better than any human he can think of. His pet never feared him, or threatened him, or gave him advice that would lead to his downfall. It was a silent, docile creature that merely showed him unconditional love as long as he took good care of it... Poor Basil, how long has the rabbit been lost to the void?

He couldn't begin to consider those dreadful details now, not when he had been truly offered a second chance.

"You know what," he said to Basil as he got up from his bed and moved to the wardrobe, "You shall be my witness. In this strange world of uncertainty, I shall become a better man than I was at home. Society cannot touch me here. That shall be my catalyst for change!"

He felt a warm glow in his heart as he changed into a more presentable outfit and groomed himself. "I think my first good deed in Wonderland shall be assisting the newcomers. Surely, there must be some confused individuals still trapped here now that the chaos has died down."

With that resolve, he bid his pet farewell and opened the door...

... Only to be greeted by a ominous warning scrawled in red paint on a mirror in the hallway.

You won't escape damnation that easily, hypocrite.

Dorian shut the door. All the determination was swept away by a strong sense of dread as he returned to his bed and settled down at the foot of it.

"... On second thought, perhaps I should just post something to the Network."

First-Person Sample:

[Dorian's broadcasting from one of the tea rooms today. He's opted for a more formal outfit suited for a dinner party, a fitting wardrobe concerning the upcoming occasion.]

A warm welcome back to those of you who survived... I must admit, I did not expect to be able to readjust so quickly, but if I had a choice between keeping my memories and leaving them at the door I'd happily go with the former.

Now, I have been made aware of the recent shift in power on the Mirror side. From what I can gather, in spite of the recent disaster her actions seem to have caused, it appears that she merely has everyone's best interests in mind. More than I can say about some of her subjects...

[He trails off as he catches a glimpse of an offscreen mirror. There's a subtle glare, but since there is no response, he'll ignore it and continue with a slight grin.]

But I digress. Christmas has passed, and logic dictates that New Year's Eve is upon us. So tell me, does anyone have resolutions?