[charloft](FRI) Last Will and Testament
Feb. 20th, 2009 04:13 pmTommy Karras
Original Character
[charloft](THURS) what's in a name?...
Feb. 19th, 2009 11:16 amIf I get started on all my names? I’ll be here all day, and that’s just going over my years as Houdini. So for the sake of simplicity, I’ll stick with my current one.
And to be honest, I never really thought that much about my name, ya know? I mean, it works for me and there it is. One ironic thing, though, is that Thomas means ‘twin,’ and I do have one. Not a twin brother, but every avatar has one somewhere in the world. I’ve seen it, and if I don’t have one yet? I will eventually.
Anyway, I was born Thomas Gregory Karras. Dad picked the name Thomas, never asked him why. All’s I know is that Mom wanted me to be Gregory Karras, Jr., and Dad refused. They compromised, so my middle name is Gregory after my pop. Karras is Greek, ‘cause I’m Greeker than a motherfucker. Uh…I think it’s a Greek version of ‘Thatcher’ or ‘Mason’ or something, it’s occupational in origin. “Karro” means “cart”…I think ‘karas’ also means black or dark, so there’s that. Like a nickname, ya know?
As for nicknames and shit, I have a ton. Everyone calls me Tommy, nobody but my mother uses my Christian name. Pop calls me Tom Tom, has since I was three. My buddy Ben calls me TK, lotta my Fraternity bros and sisters call me Master or Houdini. Sassy calls me Tommy or sometimes I’m Person and Boy Friend (she’s very explicit about that space in there, buts he likes to make me crazy with it. Abe, too.). Chan calls me Ehrie sometimes, the Searchlight crew’s been known to call me Hope Boy or Magic Man…that’s mostly Abe’s daughter, though. Zee used to call me Babe or Baby, or 'The Man' when she was talkin' about me to other people.
My username’s kinda stupid, I know, but it makes its point. Magic, the Fraternity…the Kellar twins were amused as fuck by it. Nothing fancy there.
Tommy Karras
Original Character
And to be honest, I never really thought that much about my name, ya know? I mean, it works for me and there it is. One ironic thing, though, is that Thomas means ‘twin,’ and I do have one. Not a twin brother, but every avatar has one somewhere in the world. I’ve seen it, and if I don’t have one yet? I will eventually.
Anyway, I was born Thomas Gregory Karras. Dad picked the name Thomas, never asked him why. All’s I know is that Mom wanted me to be Gregory Karras, Jr., and Dad refused. They compromised, so my middle name is Gregory after my pop. Karras is Greek, ‘cause I’m Greeker than a motherfucker. Uh…I think it’s a Greek version of ‘Thatcher’ or ‘Mason’ or something, it’s occupational in origin. “Karro” means “cart”…I think ‘karas’ also means black or dark, so there’s that. Like a nickname, ya know?
As for nicknames and shit, I have a ton. Everyone calls me Tommy, nobody but my mother uses my Christian name. Pop calls me Tom Tom, has since I was three. My buddy Ben calls me TK, lotta my Fraternity bros and sisters call me Master or Houdini. Sassy calls me Tommy or sometimes I’m Person and Boy Friend (she’s very explicit about that space in there, buts he likes to make me crazy with it. Abe, too.). Chan calls me Ehrie sometimes, the Searchlight crew’s been known to call me Hope Boy or Magic Man…that’s mostly Abe’s daughter, though. Zee used to call me Babe or Baby, or 'The Man' when she was talkin' about me to other people.
My username’s kinda stupid, I know, but it makes its point. Magic, the Fraternity…the Kellar twins were amused as fuck by it. Nothing fancy there.
Tommy Karras
Original Character
[charloft] (THURS) - Alternate Roads
Jan. 30th, 2009 09:42 amTake a few steps back, take a left instead of a right, and walk down the road not traveled in your past.
What if Tommy had abided by his mother's wishes and stayed in Las Vegas to go to college?
- Las Vegas, NV - September 17, 1997 -
( The locker room was so cold…it was never this cold, especially not after practice... )
What if Tommy had abided by his mother's wishes and stayed in Las Vegas to go to college?
- Las Vegas, NV - September 17, 1997 -
NOTE: This soundtrack is a rather liberal blend of all three of Tommy's lifetimes - Epimetheus, Titan God of Hindsight and husband of Pandora, Harry Houdini, and his present incarnation. Enjoy. ;p

( HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: THE TOMMY KARRAS SOUNDTRACK Listing... )
[charloft](SUN) Symbolism
Jan. 18th, 2009 08:26 pmThese are more than just the symbol of my order, the represent, specifically, two very important people in my life and countless others in a general sense.
The first is my father, Gregory Karras...cuffs were our thing. Dad was responsible for my fascination with Houdini, it was our thing. It was how we bonded, and it was something we had that Mom wasn't part of. It was special, almost secret...it was ours.
Houdini himself is the second thing cuffs stand for...in other words, myself and my past. My situation is an unusual one, but the easiest thing I ever came to terms with was my past as Erich Weiss. It's the life of the god I have the most trouble with, even knowing that's who I was...who I am.
My body is mortal, but my soul is Titan. I knew that once, when I was still called Ehrie. I didn't know my origins, but I knew my own power and I embraced it.
In general? These cuffs symbolize my oaths to the Fraternity and to mankind. They bind me to every human being I meet. I wear them willingly and I love the things they represent. I took them as a symbol of my love for my wife, I took them gladly when I was renowned for my ability to escape them solely because I loved the world that much...and I wear them now because my love for the world hasn't changed with death and rebirth.
These cuffs symbolize more than people I was, people I like, or people I love...these cuffs, to me, are a symbol of love itself.
“I went looking for a fight.”
“What the…Jesus, T-Bird…”
Tommy simply shrugged in response to his cousin’s exasperation, wincing as Carbone blotted the laceration on his forehead with an alcohol swab. He welcomed the lingering burn, the acid bite of sterilization beneath the skin…he was looking for pain, for something, anything to hurt him. Anything to help him ease the knot in his gut that he couldn’t let go of.
“I needed something to hurt, Bone. Something safe…something that’d hit back.”
“Getting yer ass kicked ain’t gonna help you grieve for her, man.”
“It might.”
( “Whatever, idiot stick…just bear in mind that *she* was waiting up for ya.” )
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 639
“What the…Jesus, T-Bird…”
Tommy simply shrugged in response to his cousin’s exasperation, wincing as Carbone blotted the laceration on his forehead with an alcohol swab. He welcomed the lingering burn, the acid bite of sterilization beneath the skin…he was looking for pain, for something, anything to hurt him. Anything to help him ease the knot in his gut that he couldn’t let go of.
“I needed something to hurt, Bone. Something safe…something that’d hit back.”
“Getting yer ass kicked ain’t gonna help you grieve for her, man.”
“It might.”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 639
[charloft] (THURS) Destiny
Jan. 5th, 2009 10:00 amNOTE: This ficlet is based on a little AU bunny that bit me this past weekend. In this piece, Tommy is a transient wandering the streets of Los Angeles. He came into his power about a year before canon!Tommy, with full recollection of both his past lives. The memories of his godhood drove him off the edge, so although he's an avatar of hope, he's a little screwed up in the head and living on the street. Dunno if I'll write in this a lot? But it makes for a darker Tommy I might wanna explore. :P
He hears screaming all the time. Only some of it is real, the rest is just worldwide suffering echoing in his head. It’s the voices of the points of light that constantly burn his eyes and plague his dreams.
It’s his destiny to suffer, to burn in beauty and die each day.
The shadows on the streets try to get into his blood when he sleeps at night. The light saves him, and he prays each day that it will leave him alone. It let him go when he lay in a hospital bed and drowned in his own waste, it tried to take him when disease lay waste to the body he worked so hard to make strong and hardy.
It was his destiny to die, to make beauty and bring life, light to the people.
The Darkness stalks him, and he wants to be weak enough to fall. Two men stand behind him, always, sheltering him from the cold when he wants to freeze and propping him up when he wants to kneel. He can’t stop the power, can’t shake the burden of his own life off his shoulders because it was never his to begin with.
It’s his destiny to live on, to watch his children die and keep the mortal flame burning.
God, avatar, man, it’s his destiny to exist, and half-mad with the pain of it, he wishes with all his heart that it wasn’t.
Tommy Karras (AU)
Original Character
He hears screaming all the time. Only some of it is real, the rest is just worldwide suffering echoing in his head. It’s the voices of the points of light that constantly burn his eyes and plague his dreams.
It’s his destiny to suffer, to burn in beauty and die each day.
The shadows on the streets try to get into his blood when he sleeps at night. The light saves him, and he prays each day that it will leave him alone. It let him go when he lay in a hospital bed and drowned in his own waste, it tried to take him when disease lay waste to the body he worked so hard to make strong and hardy.
It was his destiny to die, to make beauty and bring life, light to the people.
The Darkness stalks him, and he wants to be weak enough to fall. Two men stand behind him, always, sheltering him from the cold when he wants to freeze and propping him up when he wants to kneel. He can’t stop the power, can’t shake the burden of his own life off his shoulders because it was never his to begin with.
It’s his destiny to live on, to watch his children die and keep the mortal flame burning.
God, avatar, man, it’s his destiny to exist, and half-mad with the pain of it, he wishes with all his heart that it wasn’t.
Tommy Karras (AU)
Original Character
[charloft](MON) - pieces of me
Dec. 22nd, 2008 09:20 amWhat pieces of you are in your characters?
All of my characters are, to be blunt, versions of me that I run away with until they no longer resemble me in any way, shape, or form...let's be honest: every original character in RP, literature, and otherwise is born as a Mary Sue. It's the good writers that find that creative spark to make them something more.
A rundown on some of my more active/vocal characters...
Tommy Karras: Tommy is my love of magic personified. Literally, I wanted a magician muse because I've been in love with illusion since I was thirteen. Elements of my little obsession have constructed Tommy's persona and his world...I'm a hardcore devotee of Houdini, escapology is fascinating to me, and to me the art of magic has always been about the propagation of hope. Houdini's a big part of that being that he was popular during the Great Depression in particular. He did incredible things and through them, gave people hope that if he could get out of a straightjacket hanging over a New York city street, or beneath the waters of the Mississippi, they could overcome poverty and destitution.
( More characters below the cut... )
All of my characters are, to be blunt, versions of me that I run away with until they no longer resemble me in any way, shape, or form...let's be honest: every original character in RP, literature, and otherwise is born as a Mary Sue. It's the good writers that find that creative spark to make them something more.
A rundown on some of my more active/vocal characters...
Tommy Karras: Tommy is my love of magic personified. Literally, I wanted a magician muse because I've been in love with illusion since I was thirteen. Elements of my little obsession have constructed Tommy's persona and his world...I'm a hardcore devotee of Houdini, escapology is fascinating to me, and to me the art of magic has always been about the propagation of hope. Houdini's a big part of that being that he was popular during the Great Depression in particular. He did incredible things and through them, gave people hope that if he could get out of a straightjacket hanging over a New York city street, or beneath the waters of the Mississippi, they could overcome poverty and destitution.
Well, the prints are finally back...looks as if this book's happening. I'm only posting, by the way, 'cause May demanded it. I can't say no to my little girl...
( The dust jacket... )
In other news? May, stop hyperventilating. I'm not doing the TV show, okay?
In other news? May, stop hyperventilating. I'm not doing the TV show, okay?
[charloft] (WED) My Business Card
Oct. 22nd, 2008 09:19 pmAnd I guess you could say that the card provided me with a unique opportunity, 'cause it's been the company logo since I first interned with this place. I designed it, and they started using it. That's when they decided to hire me on permanently.
If not for that little bit of art, I wouldn't even be here right now.