● N A M E ●Asa Benjamin Harlow
☇ Around Verona, it's easy to spot the Deputy's car and usually, even if small-town ettiquette requires everyone to know everyone, most people refer to Asa as simply Deputy. Even out of uniform, it's not a rare occurrence for individuals to greet or beckon Asa with a loud, "Deputy!" or, "D'puty!". As well, those close to him usually either refer to him as Benji or Harley.
However, Ace is a great way to earn his staunch glare and disapproval. His step-father called him Ace. That's all anyone needs to know.
Twenty-Eight
● G E N D E R ●Male
● O C C U P A T I O N ●Deputy Sheriff
☇ Appointed by the county Sheriff, Asa's jurisdiction technically lies within the entire county. However, most of the work given tends to center in Verona, both the town he lives in and the town the appointed sheriff resides. Verona itself doesn't often ground out a quota of crime to be alarmed about - it's a small town, after all. Most of the issues Asa faces come in the form of civil disputes and the odd drug habit that surrounds a small area of the town. The worst he's had to deal with was a robbery that, unsurprisingly, ended up simply being the homeowner's toddler finding a way into a jewelry box. No charges were made, heh.
Asa merely looks like he could break in half - he's not a literal twig, nor is he really a beanpole. Years of swimming in high school has allowed his body to form sleek muscles built more so for speed than sheer strength. It's obvious there's still that same musculature beneath the baggy clothes he tends to wear - sweaters, sweatshirts, things that keep him cozy - even if it's waned a tad, in the years. The one thing that often fits, like was truly tailored to fit him, is his Deputy uniform. Everything else, the jeans, the shorts, even the shoes tend to either vary on a size or two too big. There's something about having room to breathe that appeals to Asa.
Everything down to the way Asa talks seems concerned with what to do next. Nothing goes without a plan and it's seen in the pace Asa walks, the goals he sets for himself, and the way he speaks - with a purpose, brief, and to the point. He'll talk in a rumbling baritone, but it's never without a crisp diction even if it tends to riddle itself with vocal pauses - he, at least, sounds like he knows whatever he's talking about. Asa's formal, professional, and anything but casual... or, well, he likes to think. Showing weakness is a thing Asa's rather adamant against, but there are plenty of moments where the rigid spine that holds Asa in place relaxes. He finds moments of peace, mostly outside of work, though there's always a spot on edge. Both ears and eyes tune in on more than just one piece of conversation; he's a fox, alert and ready to jolt into a position easiest to defend himself whether physically or emotionally.
● P E R S O N A L I T Y ●Everyone sees Asa in his calmest, a state he doesn't often waver from. Verona finds itself in the smack dab middle-of-nowhere, Washington with absolute shit-all to worry about. Therefore, Asa's disposition keeps steady. No room for an 'action-reaction' type of scenario when the only things to react to fall into a not so subtle rumor mill that churns its way through town. Thus, Asa comes off friendly, albeit aloof; kind, albeit isolated. To most around town, he's simply Deputy.
A brutal cynic, wary of trust in even those he calls close. People only catch a glimpse of Asa, as he tends to stray from catching himself in a vulnerable moment. If anything, Asa's smart enough to know that people see him in a certain light, so regardless of whether they trust him or not, he requires their trust to operate. It's a funny one-way street: he keeps people at a distance, purely to keep from getting burned, yet he expects them to give him their unwavering confidence. He never denied being a hypocrite, that's for certain. His personal barriers aren't infallible, however, and many people often pick up on his own morals if they tend to hang around him quite often. Thus, many of his coworkers, while still having only a surface reading of Asa, tend to realize he's kind of a dick.
Everything, to Asa, comes down to self-reliance. It leaves a man capable of learning various things efficiently, with much room for adaptability. Asa finds he often reaches various methods in which he can do one thing, though goes with the simplest out of necessity - switching to other methods in just a turn of the clock. It's a natural inclination for self-preservation that's made its way into his everyday life. Something dumb like 'Survival of the Fittest.' It almost simply means he's undoubtedly reliable. Responsibilities, to him, are menial tasks.
For a man who boasts being purely self-sufficient, once he's stuck in a rut he's stuck for a long time. Having a philosophy boil down to only relying on the self tends to leave most people in a bind once they hit an obstacle they can't traverse alone. Asa is nothing if not tenacious, however, and will quite literally drag himself the entire distance he needs. Unfortunately, tenacious also means stubborn and refusing help nearly 100% of the time is one of his specialties. Bottling emotions never helps. Never asking for help never helps. Asa does both things, which almost always ends up with a rock bottom, explosive self-destruction.
● R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S ●Ah, yes, the romance. Asa's disposition almost elevates him above petty games of love. Love is child's play; people are too selfish for love; love isn't real. But, like, who is he kidding? Asa craves love and affection, in fact he often daydreams about that perfect guy. Predictably, it's an individual he can trust without a doubt, someone who he can share his vulnerabilities with, cry in front of and rant about the dumbest shit. Share his dreams with, fruitless or not. Of course, the cynic in him has no doubts that this is an impossibility. There's no one in the world that Asa could trust implicitly and both love unconditionally and be loved unconditionally. Which is why he puts up a block for himself and doesn't delve deeper than meaningless friendships. Possibly a few one night stands here and there in a different town or city, but he's sworn off anyone in Verona; rumor mills are vicious.
● O R I G I N S T O R Y ●Most people aren't born cynics; that, itself, is true for Asa. Of course, cynic or not, trust issues had always been one of those things that made Asa typically prickly, even in his youth. In the past, he offered a more amicable personality. People considered him rough around the edges, but, like a cactus, Asa didn't do much harm unless someone actually did want a face full of fist.
That much said, Asa loved his dad like nothing else. If any group of people boasted trustworthiness that had to be family. Unconditional love rang true for people tied by blood. That's what Asa thought. However, his father died his sophomore year of high school. Drunk driver collided headfirst, a large truck into his father's tiny little Prius - anyone could guess what happened to his father, then. Hit Verona headlines, or at least the obituaries; the actual accident happened on the interstate heading toward Seattle. People gave the family their condolences, but eventually moved on. Even if small towns had stubborn memories, most didn't dwell on these things aside from the family. People went through their stages of grief, so did Asa.
Senior year of high school brought with it his mother's boyfriend, which soon turned into his mother's fiance, and finally his mother's husband - and his asshole of a son. He came away from that wedding bitter - at his mother, at her boy toy, at the world. It didn't help that his new step-dad didn't wait until that night to reveal that Asa's bitterness was justified. His new "father" kept most of his outbursts under wraps. He didn't hit his mother and step-brother too much, and in between he made sure to dote on her. Typical of an abusive man, gaslighting his victims. The man learned early not to touch him. Asa didn't mind the pain, as long as he could get even. The only thing stopping Asa from calling the sheriff's department was the man's threats toward his mother's life.
Thus, Asa made sure that the next time he got even with the man, it would be with finality. Which drove Asa to head into the nearest city's police academy and become appointed by the then Sheriff as one of the county's Deputy Sheriffs. A long and arduous deal, he then took up all the evidence he could without his step-father catching him, and got his step-brother to file a report in order for him to turn the evidence in. Locked up his father for a good 10 years after the arrest ended with Asa sporting a bloody nose and the man's own criminal record acting against him.
It should have ended with that. His mother should have been happy to have the man gone, grateful to have her life again. His step-brother should've been able to pick himself back up, afterwards. Things shouldn't have gone the way they did, but they did.
She lashed out at him after everything ended, told him he was a shitty son. Told him his father would have been ashamed of him. Didn't want to see him again. Called him an assortment of names. And his step-brother ended up stealing his mom's car and booking it to Seattle where he eventually OD'd on ecstasy at a rave. Probably even took up vaping of all things. Verona looked at him differently, for awhile, mostly confused at what had occurred. They got over it.
And now a few years later he wakes up to his apartment room covered in a thick, frozen blanket and a throbbing head ache that could have lasted days - if the fever didn't kill him, this massive migraine should have. For awhile, anything he touch froze and when he'd reach for something, a blast of ice would freeze whatever he'd reach for solid. A day or two and his blankets no longer frozen, but just a bunch of fabric on the ground and a whole helluva lot of work he's gotta do around town.
● S U P E R P O W E R ●Ice Manipulation
☇ having the ability to control and create ice from thin air to be used in an assortment of different ways.
Ascendant
● A B I L I T I E S ●Currently, there's only a handful of things that Asa can do in any given situation:
☁ Asa can use ice to freeze things solid, via a large build up of ice on any given thing or person. It takes awhile to form up, however, and isn't an instant 'flash-freeze'.
☁ From his hands, he can generate ice into a cold blast that harms and starts freezing anything in front of it
☁ As well, Asa can also generate ice into slightly larger forms, sending tiny ice shards to cut and pelt anything in front of his hands. They can't grow any larger than an ice cube, however.
☁ Fire, obviously, negates Asa's powers if used in a continuous manner. Asa can snuff out a fire that's stationary and isn't accumulating, but if fire is being blasted at him, the fire will more than likely overpower his own powers even if it's weaker than his own. It's like Pokemon: 2 times more effective!!
☁ Asa, having ice at his command, has a natural immunity to ice, however if he were to bring himself down to an intensely cold state, he'd have to be careful elevating himself back to normal or he'll severely injure himself.
☁ At the moment, Asa's powers are very tied to his emotional state. Should he get angry, he could potentially freeze an entire room without thinking and hurt most people inside it.
Member
Snowdrops
Damo021
