i have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine

PLAYER INFO
Name: Nina
Contact: @supersoldier.plurk
Are you over 18?: Y

CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Damon Salvatore
Canon: The Vampire Diaries
Canon Point: Pre-3x01 "The Birthday"

Appearance:

Age: 25 (physically) / 171 (chronologically)

Setting:

The Vampire Diaries is a TV show set in a fictional town in Virginia called Mystic Falls, which is home to a myriad of supernatural creatures. The majority of the world doesn't know about the supernatural, though there is a secret council in Mystic Falls that does and which works to eradicate the vampires in the town.

The first supernaturals we're introduced to are vampires. They are strong, fast, and have heightened senses, though they are vulnerable to an herb called vervain, sunlight (unless in possession of a lapis lazuli ring spelled by a witch), and wood. Vampires have access to the power of compulsion, where they stare into someone's eyes and can tell them to do, say, remember, or forget anything, though vervain nullifies the effect. In order to turn into a vampire, one must ingest vampire blood, die, and then drink human blood within 24 hours or die for the final time.

Witches are next, and though they have the vulnerabilities of normal humans, they more than make up for that with their magical power. The strongest witch has been able to bring people back to life—though at the expense of her own. Another notable power is their ability to induce aneurysms in the supernaturals who heal rapidly, rendering them insensate with pain.

After witches come werewolves, who turn into super strong, super fast wolves on the full moon, and are only slightly less able than vampires normally. Their turn is excruciatingly painful, and they are vulnerable to wolfsbane. Though they're nearly as powerful as vampires, they don't have as much of the invulnerability—they can be killed in any manner in which a normal human could be killed. In order to trigger the werewolf gene, a person with the gene has to kill a human, whether by accident or design.

Mystic Falls is also home to doppelgangers, shadow selves of the witch Silas and his true love Amara, who became the world's first immortals. In order for nature to find a balance, it created duplicates of the two which would be born at intervals throughout history and die as normal humans did. Doppelgangers are mostly normal humans, but their blood is magically powerful, thus making them useful for witches' spells.

There are also hybrids, which are exactly as they sound—werewolf-vampire hybrids. They are created when a werewolf ingests Klaus Mikaelson's blood and is killed, then wakes up and drinks Elena Gilbert's blood. Like werewolves, they can turn into wolves, but their turn is voluntary. Like vampires, they require blood to live. They have the weaknesses of both werewolves and vampires—wolfsbane and vervain are both excruciatingly painful for them—but are stronger and faster than both.

In addition to these supernaturals, all supernatural creatures go to what is called the Other Side when they die, a sort of limbo state in between the land of the living and the peace that humans get to achieve.

History: Damon Salvatore on the TVD wikia.
Personality:

Damon Salvatore is The Bad Brother™. Ask anyone who knows him and they'll tell you: that man is trouble. Who you really want to talk to is his brother, Stefan. Stefan is The Good Brother™, and so nice besides! For over a century and a half—for their entire lives, really—that has been the way the world sees Damon, and eventually even how he came to see himself. He embraced his role as The Bad Brother™, and has even become uncomfortable with the idea of being anything else. Stefan has his role, and Damon has his, and never the twain shall meet.

As with most things, the truth is a great deal more complicated than that implies.

While it's true that Damon is much more given to violence, murder, and mind control than his younger brother, it is also true that he can be one of the most selfless people on The Vampire Diaries. There is, in fact, something of a disparity between the way he is described and the way he acts—which is not to say that he's never selfish (he is, often), but more that, for the way most people (including Damon himself) talk about him, you'd never know he's capable of selflessness at all. As the world would tell it, Damon is defined by the worst parts of himself—the moments when his volatile, impulsive nature get the better of him and he acts without thought given to how anyone else will be affected. Killing Ric purely out of annoyance, killing Jeremy out of heartbreak, promising his brother an eternity of misery because Katherine turned them both rather than just Damon—these are the kinds of actions that are intrinsic to Damon Salvatore as a person. That is the core of who he is. At least, that's what you'd believe if you didn't pay attention. It's true that Damon can be incredibly selfish, but it is just as true that he can be immensely selfless. Though Damon doesn't draw attention to his more selfless actions, he commits them nevertheless—things like giving Elena the necklace that represented her connection to Stefan, despite being in love with her himself, and lobbying Elena on Stefan's behalf multiple times when staying silent could have positively impacted his own relationship with her. Even when by rights he should be the person who ens up looking good in a given situation—he won the coin toss in season three to determine which brother would have to kill Abby Bennett, but killed her anyway—he selflessly chooses to let his brother look good instead. This is partly due to Damon's belief in the roles he and Stefan have been shoved into their entire lives, but it's a product of one of the core tenets of his personality.

One of the quotes that truly exemplifies Damon's personality is something he said himself: "When people see good, they expect good. I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations." Damon is perfectly capable of good, selfless acts, much as he acts otherwise. He saves lives, he protects his friends, and he loves with just as full a heart as his brother does, but the difference between them is that Damon hates the idea of being beholden to anyone's image of him, good or bad. There's a freedom in being the bad brother—bad people can do good things and get far less scrutiny for it than a good person who does bad things—and Damon enjoys being bad (at least, that's what he'll tell you). For so long in his life, he felt weak, so the power that comes with being feared is intoxicating to him. Similarly, he spent half his life miserable and restrained, so now that he's abandoned morality he likes being a hedonist. He doesn't particularly care for anyone trying to stifle these traits he's come to see as intrinsic to himself—so much so, even, that when Ric tries in season three, believing Damon is getting too close to Elena and trying to put a stop to it, Damon snaps his neck. Damon wants the freedom to follow whatever his bliss happens to be at any given moment, whether that's murdering people or easing the pain of a friend about to die. Much as he tries to convince everyone that he enjoys his life this way, however—and even though he has convinced himself of it—the truth is much, much sadder.

Being a vampire was never Damon's choice. He wanted to be a vampire only so that he could be with Katherine forever, and when that opportunity was taken from him, he elected not to complete the transition and die instead. It was Stefan's interference when he was near death that sealed his fate, and though by now it would seem that Damon has embraced the vampire lifestyle, the truth is he has never enjoyed it. Endured it would be a better term, probably—for the first fifty years after his transition he fed only as much as was necessary to keep him alive, dispassionately and with no real joy taken from the kill. For the near century after that he killed more and with more enjoyment, particularly after he shut off his humanity, but the truth never changed: he has always missed being human. He admits as much to a woman he's trying to decide whether to kill, deep in the throes of an existential crisis—he is a vampire, and he's embraced what that means, but just because that's true doesn't mean he has also escaped the guilt that comes with having to kill people to survive. "I'm not human, and I miss it. I miss it more than anything in the world!" For all that Damon prefers not to dwell on things he can't change, or let himself be paralyzed by the guilt he feels over any of the numerous terrible actions he's taken, he still feels it, and many of his actions are an attempt to run from that guilt more than they are anything else.

Though at the time he said it he was trying to manipulate Elena and cast doubt on her relationship with Stefan, Damon's assertion that he's a fatalist is not entirely inaccurate—though even more accurate would be to say that he's a pessimist. After all the torture, abandonment, and rejection Damon's lived through, belief in a benevolent future where everything turns out okay and life's not shit is just not something he finds himself capable of. Everything ends, and it rarely ends well. Yet even as that is true, he fights for that better future. He fights to protect his friends, even certain that it won't amount to anything in the long run. Despite everything he will tell himself and anyone who'll listen about how hope's a bitch, he never quite gives up fighting. Damon Salvatore does not go gentle, and no matter how useless he thinks the fight is, he still fights—for Elena, trying to save her from Klaus' sacrifice; for Stefan, searching for him throughout the entire East Coast; for Mystic Falls and everyone in it, trying to keep the tomb vampires and the Originals and the Travellers from running rampant. Hope is a bitch, and Damon doesn't hope things will turn out okay, but no matter what he tells himself about not caring what happens, he always end up fighting.

Though Damon tries to project an image of confidence, the truth is he's wildly insecure. From a young age, he suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his own father—a father who, like so many throughout his long life, preferred his brother to him—and he's never really felt like he belongs or is even wanted anywhere. When he was human, these traits were what made him susceptible to Katherine's manipulations—more than anything, he wanted to believe that someone he loved finally loved him as much as he did them, and he was willing to do anything to hold onto that—and as a vampire, they're what make him so volatile. Whenever Damon feels insecure or vulnerable, he lashes out, preferring to hurt rather than be hurt. Later in canon, Elena even draws attention to this, saying "That's what you do, Damon! You sabotage things! Think about it, every time there's a bump in the road, you... lash out!" She's not wrong, much as Damon would like to be mad at her for saying it—whether it's killing people Elena cares about to prove to himself that he doesn't care or sleeping with women who have tried to kill her for the same reason, Damon's impulsive nature combined with his insecurity leads him to ill-considered, destructive (whether it be of himself or others) action more often than not.

If there's one trait that defines Damon above all others, it's his impulsivity. As a rule, he acts before he thinks, regularly getting himself into situations that he could have prevented if he'd just stopped for one second to think before acting. A great many of these actions, such as snapping Jeremy's neck after both Elena and Katherine rejected him, are done when he's in a state of stress, or when he's trying to protect people, like when he attacked Kol when he got too close to Elena later in canon—or both, like when he fed Elena his blood so that she wouldn't die in Klaus' ritual. When he actually does bother to slow down and think things through, he can be an effective strategist — if it weren't for Stefan's sabotage in season three, Damon would have killed Klaus—but for the most part, Damon ends up shooting first and asking questions later. For a long time, he didn't even bother to try curtailing his impulsive nature. He didn't have to; as a vampire, he could compel himself out of the consequences of his actions easily, and kill anyone that wouldn't work on. The lesson of self-control is one he's learning slowly—he went from killing an innocent stranger in the street during an existential crisis to merely biting Andie Starr and throwing her out of his room during another; a small victory, but more than he could have boasted before—but as he's realizing that he actually cares about the people around him and wants his relationships with them to be real, he can't rely on things like compulsion or murder to get his way anymore. Still, even as he realizes the mistakes he's making and tries to fix them—in the case of feeding Elena his blood, by rescuing Tyler and Caroline from Klaus so he couldn't perform his ritual—the lesson of forethought is never one he truly learns.

Possibly the biggest motivator in Damon's life is love, particularly romantic love. He'll do anything for the people he loves, a fact Elena brought up in season one and which has never stopped being true. When he loved Katherine, he did whatever he had to to try to get her out of the tomb, and now that he loves Elena he'll do whatever he has to to protect her. More than putting his life on the line to protect those he loves, however, Damon changes himself to suit the women that he loves as well. When he was in love with Katherine, he was a much darker person, happier with himself as a violent, evil vampire, unconcerned with the humans around him, much like Katherine was. Now that he loves Elena, she's shown him how important it is to care, and even as the prospect terrifies him, he has begun to change for her. In fits and starts, he's trying to Do The Right Thing—whether that's protecting Mystic Falls and its inhabitants, refraining from feeding on live humans rather than blood bags, or only killing the people who threaten the town. Damon doesn't believe he really has a chance with Elena, devoted as she is to Stefan even now that he's given himself over to Klaus, but he wants to be someone worthy of her friendship if not her love, and for that to be true he has to be good. It's a difficult line for Damon to walk, particularly given his impulsive nature and his unwillingness to put anyone else's safety ahead of Elena's, and Damon has failed and will fail even more at it in the future. He'll always choose Elena over anyone else she loves—he'd let Bonnie die to save Elena, and would even live with Elena's hatred for the rest of eternity as a vampire if that was what it took to keep her alive—and despite wanting to be the better man for Elena, that will never be as important to him as her life is. There is only one person who is even a fraction as important to Damon as Elena is.

The relationship between the Salvatore brothers was not always as contentious as it is now. In the 1800s, Damon and Stefan were the best of friends, and though Stefan's status as the preferred brother left Damon with mental scars he's still navigating 145 years in the future, Damon never blamed Stefan himself for that. He protected Stefan from the wrath of their abusive father at the expense of his own well-being and killed for him even before they were vampires, but after their initial transition things got a lot more messy. Damon had expected Katherine would only turn him, and her having given Stefan her blood in secret was a blow on its own, but Stefan forcing him to complete his transition even after he had refused was even worse. Stefan's inability to let go of his brother doomed Damon to 145 of loneliness and pain, and while Damon loves Stefan, the fact that everyone prefers him to Damon has been a source of insecurity and angst for Damon's entire life. Their father, Katherine, Lexi, Elena, all of Elena's friends — no one has ever really chosen Damon, and it's happened for so long that Damon has just accepted that he is intrinsically worth less than Stefan. Despite all this, Damon cares about his brother, and even given the opportunity cannot let Stefan die. Their relationship, contentious and acrimonious as it is, is one of the bedrocks of the series. The Salvatore brothers love each other, in all their messed up glory.

Canon Abilities/Skills:

ABILITIES

IMMORTALITY Vampires stop aging once they're turned and are immune to diseases. They also possess a healing factor which heals them from all but fatal injuries.
ENHANCED ABILITIES Vampires are far stronger and faster than humans and have heightened senses. These abilities become even stronger with time, and vampires who feed on human blood are stronger than those who feed on animal blood.
COMPULSION Vampires can control human minds and even alter or erase their memories by looking into their eyes and commanding them. As a subset of this ability, vampires can also manipulate the dreams of anyone weaker than them, even other vampires. Additionally, Damon is the only vampire ever shown to compel someone without speaking to them.
DAYLIGHT RING If they possess a lapis lazuli ring that is spelled by a witch, a vampire is not harmed by sunlight.
EMOTIONAL CONTROL Vampires can turn on and off their emotions and humanity like a switch.
HEALING BLOOD Vampire blood can heal people from grave injuries, but if they die while the blood is in their system they will begin transitioning into a vampire themselves.

WEAKNESSES

SUNLIGHT Without a lapis lazuli ring, vampires are injured by the sunlight, and can even catch fire if they're in the sun for a prolonged period of time or are weakened from lack of blood.
HEART A stake to the heart will kill a vampire, as will any other form of taking their heart out of their chest.
WEREWOLF BITE A werewolf bite poisons and kills a vampire unless they ingest Klaus Mikaelson's blood. As Klaus doesn't really care for most other vampires, this is more often than not a death sentence.
VERVAIN Vervain harms vampires and, if drank or worn, prevents them from being able to compel a person.
FIRE Fire will kill a vampire.
BEHEADING Cutting off a vampire's head will kill it.
MAGIC Witches are capable of incapacitating vampires by concentrating and giving them the supernatural equivalent of an aneurysm.
FORBIDDANCE Vampires have to be invited into any residence that is owned by a living person—apartments and such are murkier ground and may or may not be entered.
VAMPIRE BLOODLINES If the Original Vampire who is the source of a vampire bloodline dies, their whole line dies with them. As Klaus is the source of Damon's bloodline, if he were to die, Damon would too.
HUNTER'S CURSE If a vampire kills one of the Five, a group of vampire hunters, they are cursed with hallucinations until they kill themselves or overcome the psychosis. Though it is possible to overcome it, it is very difficult, and most vampires don't.

ON STATION 72
Symbiote Specialization: Randomize him, please!
Symbiote Ability: N/A
Inventory: The clothes on his back, including his daylight ring, as well Elena Gilbert's vervain necklace.

SAMPLES
Samples:

Damon doesn't like Katherine, and explains Rafaello a thing
Damon accidentally shares one of the worst memories of his life

Rescue Write-up:

( he won't get to see elena turn eighteen.

it's stupid that that's all that's running through damon's mind right now, but that's the one thought he's got—elena's birthday is days away, and he finally has the perfect gift for her, and she'll never get it.

the tree he's hiding behind explodes into splinters, and he doesn't have time to think anymore, about elena or anything else. he blurs forward, pushing himself as hard as he can—he's never had to sustain this speed for long, can he even make it? whatever it was that's singled him out, he can't kill it. not with stakes, not with any of ric's various weapons. he can't hide from it, either, no matter how much of a head start he's got or how quiet he makes himself. maybe if he makes it into town—maybe—

someone appears in his path, and damon veers sharply to the right to avoid them. the sudden change in trajectory sends him tumbling to his feet, and elena's necklace spills out of his pocket and onto the ground. no time to think about that just yet—damon gets back to his feet, fangs out and scleras blooded. before he can say anything, though, the person in front of him holds out their hand to stop him. )

You will not make it into the city before you are caught, Damon Salvatore. You will die here.

( the sound of trees cracking resounds in the not-so-far-off distance. the thing—alien, monster, whatever—chasing him is catching up. )

I can get you to safety.

Go fuck yourself, ( damon growls instead, eyes darting from the person in front of him to the sounds of trees breaking. he doesn't have time for this, he has to run—maybe he can't save himself but he can lead the thing away from mystic falls—

the person in front of him shakes their head. )

If you come with me, your town will be safe. Elena, Alaric, all of your friends—the Enemy only wants you, Damon. Come with me, and it will leave your loved ones in peace.

( he'd have to be stupid to believe this.

that doesn't change the fact that it's the only chance he's got.

damon hesitates for a moment, fangs retracted and scleras white again, torn—and then a tree crashes down twenty feet away and he can see the monster behind it. it doesn't have eyes but he knows it's looking straight at him, and there's no more time. there's nothing else he can do.

he grabs elena's necklace off the ground and blurs to the side of his mysterious benefactor. )

Where are we going?