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[engender]

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Brandon
Personal Journal: episodic
Age: 26
Contact: manipulative
Characters Played: N/A

IN CHARACTER

Name: Derek Hale
Canon: Teen Wolf
Age: Let's make it an even 25
Timeline: 4x12 "Smoke and Mirrors"

Background: @WIKIA

Personality:

Derek Hale has endured more hell in his twenty-five years on Earth than most do in a lifetime. However, against all the odds, he's come out from the other side evolved in more ways than one.

First and foremost, deep down, Derek Hale is a good person. Where in the past he's been seen as a loner, an alleged criminal, and an all around, well, for lack of better terms, ass - he means well. He always has. It's just, he didn't always know how to go about it the right way. He lost his family (the best influence on him) at a young age in a fire. A lot of his life has been trial and error and the same is true now. Unfortunately, in the past, he's been known to not try at all, because things frequently failed. (People died, sometimes by his hand.) And for a long time, he believed that if he got close to a person, they'd die - whether because of him or by proxy, adjacent to him. So, he tried on being a loner for size, being an ass, being gruff. But, again, he means well. When he tries to open up Scott's eyes about Allison (how it's not real love) he's trying to help. His sarcastic and somewhat mean-spirited efforts in the first season come from a place of wanting to help and not wanting Scott to have to make the same sacrifice he did.

While a stranger might think Derek Hale is unfeeling, the exact opposite is true. He's made a lot of mistakes and a majority of them stem from how he feels. Both a sense of loneliness and duty as a werewolf drives him to turn Erica, Boyd, and Isaac - ne-er-do-well's with dark backstories. He wants to help. He cares. But, he doesn't know how and he loses them all. (Isaac, to Paris, at least.) All he saw as a kid was a power struggle between packs, between hunters - he wrongly thought that being an alpha meant having power, having betas. For the entirety of the second season, he tries to bring Scott back around but he went about it all wrong in the first. He understands that. *In 3A, unfortunately, he regresses, helping Scott when asked but mostly leaving him out of it until Scott has no choice but to be brought into it. But, by the end, he comes back around full circle, not caring about the power. But, Scott says 'Because you're not my alpha' and Derek is genuinely hurt. He tried. He tries. He worries. He feels deeply. In the third season, pushing away everyone backfires when he finally opens himself up to the new English teacher. Let's just say, it definitely gives new meaning to sleeping with the enemy.

Fortunately, try, fail, and try again is a mantra Derek has come to embody - with hindsight. Derek Hale is capable of change. Derek doesn't give up, even when the odds are stacked against him. (For gods' sake, he "dies" in 3A, ready for a suicide mission.) He can hold full conversations. He can smile and he can laugh. But, this is also because he sees that the narrative can change and that history doesn't have to repeat itself. For all intents and purposes, Scott McCall is a success story. He is the president of the Scott McCall fan club. And while he steps in at certain times during Liam's transition into werewolfdom, he mostly just counsels Scott, reassuring him that he can do it.

This also ties into how Derek adapts. The fourth season involves a gradual loss of powers but Derek doesn't worry on the outside, or flail around. (He doesn't even look for a cure.) What he does do is take Braedan (a bounty hunter) up on her offer to teach him marksmanship.

When it comes to tough love, Derek is the worst teacher but what he's learned is that the Socratic method works best. He listens, he asks. And when need be, he just - tells them do. (Or, sometimes he lies and says his family had this magic thingamajig and it helps curb a case of the full moon werewolf angries) Because, not only does he believe in other people, but he believes in himself again. A lot of that can be attributed to finally being accepted by Scott. In a lot of ways, despite Scott being the true alpha, he turns to Derek. Derek respects Scott McCall. He loves the guy. Sometimes, he can be a dumb teenager (There's another vault?!) but he knows Scott McCall is good. He is how Derek knows there's good in the world. He even counsels the twins in how to win Scott over. (Partially, because he has.)

Derek is a decisive person. He doesn't waffle between options. He chooses a or b and he goes for it. And he does what needs to be done. When Lydia is suspected to be a kanima (a paralyzing lizard), he doesn't hesitate to round up the troops and take care of her. He steps up when the going gets tough because that's what Hale's do. He has a high pain tolerance. He fights until he has nothing left. He fights the inevitable until he can't fight anymore. (The alpha pack and Boyd.) But, that's who Derek is. He doesn't stand down.

He's knowledgeable. He's smart. He's situationally aware. Scott questions why he doesn't use his gun and Derek very obviously replies: "You're covered in gasoline." Conveniently, when the writers need it, Derek knows about lore, werewolf or not. It's confirmed he was interested in history. He's also bilingual, though that's not a part of himself he shares almost at all. (It's not like there's great opportunity for it, Beacon Hills is the whitest town and, oh yeah, the Calaveras probably used Spanish when they captured him and Peter.) Anyway, that knowledge is up there. He's smart tactically, despite periodically doing the impulsive thing (when he has to, when lives are on the line, when it's his sister on a rampage.)

Derek's humor tends to fall on the dry side. He'll joke (he doesn't use a gun because maybe he's been shot repeatedly). He'll side-eye, he'll make commentary. He judges. He's a little bit of a smug ass. (For example, he knows he's good looking and uses it to his advantage at the police station. Also, he scares kids in Halloween costumes just because.) He has a playful side, but that's usually reserved for paramours.

Even if something you're saying is true, he won't cower and apologize. He knows he signed Allison's mother's death warrant but she died because of an outdated code and he says as much. He'll say the hard thing. Give him the blame, he's the first to do that, but recognize that there are multiple parties involved.

By the fourth season, he's finally begun to take Stiles seriously. Where before, he would make jabs at how defenseless Stiles could even frame he and Argent for murder, he sees now Stiles can actually be an asset. He doesn't keep him out of plans. Stiles is pack. Stiles, Malia (who's his niece), Scott - they're unspoken pack. He also will not hesitate to let you know that he doesn't like you. But, when push comes to shove, he'll also work with you if need be. He can play well with others, now. To a point. He still doesn't trust easily. He lets his guard down - partially because, he's a guy and he still has needs (as much as they were suppressed for years) but he still puts himself out there, inviting Braedan into his bed. (She stays over frequently.)

Sex, for Derek, is tricky. It's good when it's good. But he was taken advantage of at a young age and the last person he had sex with poisoned a lot of people and kidnapped parents. In his life, sex was used as a power play. But, as I said, he takes the leap - because as a person, sometimes, you have to. And at this point, Derek would rather try and be burned - or spurned as it were.

Derek Hale is self-sacrificing. He gives up being an alpha for his sister. He plans to go it alone against the Alpha Pack. He sacrifices Isaac's loyalty when he throws a glass at the young beta, all to keep Isaac safe in the end. He would die for his pack, for his family, and for the people he loves. (It's safe to say, if he could turn back time or exchange his life for Laura's or his mother's or any one of his family members, he would.) In the fourth season finale, he develops a calm about death. He doesn't cry, he doesn't fear it. He sees it as an inevitability. Maybe because of that level of enlightenment, he finishes his full transition into wolf form. Like his mother Talia before him, he can now shapeshift into a black wolf. He says right away after shifting back that he's evolved. And it's then he finally faces his former abuser and stops blaming himself. He's even come to an understanding with Chris Argent.

Because, at his heart, Derek has spent his entire life blaming himself. For Paige, for his family, for Scott (Peter bit him), for Erica, for Boyd, for Jennifer, for Cora. But, in that moment, he lets that go.

He still feels responsible, however. I don't think he'd up and leave Beacon Hills without checking up on Scott or telling the kid that he can call him any time he needs him. (Even if it's late and he and a certain someone are preoccupied, he may sound annoyed but ... he offered.) He's a protector as well, especially when it comes to his sister. The discovery that Cora survived is a huge one for Derek. Again, he's responsible for someone and he doesn't want to fuck it up. Cora's poisoning hits Derek hard and he gives everything up for her. He tries to be there for her and ultimately, he travels with her where she'll be safe.

Speaking of responsibility, he is responsible. Derek finally confirms that the building he's lived in for two seasons (it's better to forget the abandoned subway train) is owned by Derek. His family left him money and he doesn't squander it. He lives frugally. He dresses acceptably. (Henley's, v-necks, skinny jeans. Usually muted or earthy colors) But, he's not extravagant. He lives within his means. (This also shows that the guilt from what happened to his family drove him out into the empty Hale house, the one that burned down.) He didn't deserve more. He didn't want or deserve contact. But, as I stated before, he's come along way.

Make no mistake, there is a lot of darkness in Derek's heart but he's living with it. If he lived his life at a seven (on a pain scale up to ten, Grey's Anatomy reference what what) before, then he lives it at a three now. Of course, there are still sides to Derek that will never go away. He has a temper. If you steal his loft for a rave, he will bust your friends' (let's be honest, they were strangers, Scott) shit up. He's still impatient. He's still perfected his "really, you said that" face. But, he's reconciled all that with who he used to be. He knows now that he was born a predator but he doesn't have to be a killer. (And Scott is a huge part of this. Scott was always against Derek killing, but letting Deucailian go solidified this.) But, it's been proven this past season he'll still kill when necessary (an eye for an eye, we'll make our own dead pool) but he's the one who pulls Scott back from the brink. He knows Scott's not a monster.

He knows he's not a monster.

Derek's still cocky, he's still easy-going to a point. He's learned to let his guard down and actually enjoy life. And he's learned not to feel guilty about it.

Derek Hale has come a long way.

Powers:

Derek Hale is a werewolf,

He has enhanced speed, strength, and agility. His acrobatics resemble a violent parkour.
It's been shown that on all fours, werewolves can run even faster.
His hearing is amplified, able to hear a conversation going on across the room. They're lie detectors, able to hear a jump in heart rhythm.
He can jump ridiculously high, much like Mario.
He has an intense sense of smell, werewolves can smell emotion: fear, etc.
His howl can alert other wolves to where he is.
He can absorb a living, breathing organism's pain (human or animal)
If he tries, he could possibly draw memories out of another werewolf using his claws - or even transport someone into their mind (thanks, Peter)
He can also use the claws of a dead werewolf to commune with them (Talia)
This is more cultural, but clawing a spiral into the side of a building is tantamount to declaring war.

When wolfing out, his nails elongate, becoming sharper.
Extra hair grows around his sideburns
His eyes glow blue.

And, thanks to his evolution, he can now fully shapeshift into a black wolf.

Do you want a power wipe? We discussed an all around nullification!
Suitcase:

+4 pairs of shirts
+1 undershirt
+5 pairs of boxer briefs
+1 pair of sweat pants
+3 pairs of socks
+1 pair of black boots
+1 leather jacket
+1 wallet (complete with ID, useless cash, useless credit cards)
+1 phone (useless)
+1 set of keys (to his car and to his loft)
+1 handgun, sig sauer p2269mm, +1 magazine
+1 small toiletries kit (toothbrush, nail clippers, hair gel, electric razor?)

Surprise? Always.
Other Notables: → Thanks to his girlfriend former US Marshall, he's now adept at fire-arm management and marksmanship.
→ He has the triskelion tattooed on his back, this harkens back to his anchor, alpha, beta, omega, this mantra kept him in control as a child, because he reminds him a wolf can be a beta, an alpha, and an omega

SAMPLES

Network Sample:

[ Let the record show, Derek Hale has never been one for Facebook or Snapchat. He doesn't Tinder. If he needs you, he will call you, or, he'll stop by your house without asking. (He's since learned to ask first. He really only did it for the reactions the first time around, and because he was a wanted man. Why not perpetuate that stereotype.) But, as a matter of fact, Derek has a very specific list of contacts (Satomi, Deaton, Argent), less if you count people he talks to every week (Scott, Braedan), even less if you count every day (Cora, Cora, Cora until she texts. him. back.) He's only ever used Skype with her and a certain bounty hunter. (Spoiler alert: a part of him didn't like it (he's tactile), but a part of him did. The entire idea of this network is pointless. He doesn't need to get to know anybody here. He knows enough people. But, he also knows that to get information, a person has to ask. So, here he is bending over backwards and Stiles, if you're here, you better be recording this because it's not happening again

He appears on screen abruptly, having pushed the video button. Oh. He has to say something, doesn't he? ] Hi. [ It's better to get straight into it, he decides. ] If anybody has seen a Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinsksi [ if Scott's here, he can't be far ] Lydia Martin, [ Where they go, so goes her nation ] Malia T- [ He pauses - noticeably reacting to the syllable he's about to utter. His lips finally form the word... ] Tate. Or Hale. [ He doesn't know what she goes by. ] What's Kira's last name? [ This also said to himself. ] Maybe a kid named Liam, [ That had a little more confidence behind it ] tell them that Derek's looking for them. They know what it's about.

[ In hindsight, this plan of attacked was not planned and sounds a lot more like an attack. So, along comes another pause. ] They're not in trouble. [ Probably not? He looks away, adding in a ] I sound like a concerned parent. [ Finally, he looks back ] Thanks.

[ The idea clearly not a good one, Derek's hand again finds the button to finally end the feed. You can't see it, but he sits, unhappy with his message. ] Or, they probably think I'm in the mob.



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( optional ) Third Person Sample: