"Why does this concept seem so...familiar?" Name Laurence 'Lau' Newman
Gender Male
Age 18 24th of September
Sexuality Heterosexual
Nationality English - Midhurst, West Sussex
Appearance Compared to his younger self, Laurence's most notable trait had dimmed and darkened throughout the years. Once a brightly golden shade of blonde, his hair had toned into a dirty glisten, where hints of brown stripped that once brilliant fair glow. Having let it grown out, the back of his neck is occasionally hidden by the long sheet of hair, to which he rarely does anything other than leaving it in its natural state. Still retaining their bright texture, however, is the baby blue glisten of his irises. Usually, Laurence keeps a clean shave from what little facial hair he can grow in his age. Either way, he prefers his chin to feel smoother than a prepubescent sandpapered rug. For his physique, Laurence doesn't stand very wide to accommodate his height, and instead moves around with quite a meek broadness. Despite this, he does seem to retain some basic muscle composure across his limbs, at least showing a bit of competence for representing activity.
When in Evergreen Grammar School, Laurence keeps a rather minimalist approach to his attire, only including a small and silky scarf around his neck when he's outside of class. On top of that, Laurence does wear reading glasses when he remembers, and has been known to forget where they are periodically. Outside of school, he tends to wear a mixture of simple longer-sleeved button shirts (not formal ones at least) or anything that just suits the weather.
A mixture of drabs and protection, Laurence's metaverse disguise matches the analytical mystery behind his mask to that of his Arcana, equally concealing his face and outward identity just as well as the inward knowledge behind. The clothing itself is lightweight and rather thin, in turn helping with manoeuvrability and style, as one might say. Seeing as he's an English student to heart, ask him what the details of outfit represent and he'd probably go on for hours.
Height 6'2"
Personality Sometimes, there's a strangeness to how Laurence acts. He always seems rather complacent with mystery and the unknown, reading about things when asked or simply out of the fun of it. An explorer of information, his parents once begrudgingly said, looking around for explanations or interpretations is what he finds to be the most fun. Where his confidence strides most is in that perception of subjective interpretation, having a knack for seeing things in multiple ways before even considering what he believes himself. Outside of that, however, Laurence can come across as quiet, centred and uninviting to those who on-look from afar. Either with a book in his hands or watching something drift by, people would be surprised to actually find him to be chatty and friendly down to the core. He tends to get all giddy and excited over the ideas of friendship, romance and all the generally positive things, but does try to understand when a serious composition is required.
Generally, Laurence isn't a very outgoing individual. It could take a bit of persuasion, but usually accompaniment to different locations allows for Laurence to comfort his mind and ease into the situation kindly. He isn't entirely boring, so to speak, and will find a drive to try new things if the knowledge is there, but inherently he keeps rather secluded to his actions. On a surface-level, Laurence does tend to like a lot of basic foods, as long as it isn't spicy, and generally will get involved with a group of friends if food is provided. As far as he's concerned, it isn't quirky...people get hungry all the time.
Education Evergreen Grammar School A-Level English Literature A-Level Philosophy BTEC Business Studies
Biography Sussex was always a bit of a dark corner of the nation for Laurence. Born, raised and almost controlled there completely. Under the expectations of becoming a musical prodigy, to follow in the footsteps of generations' worth of highly accountable musical names in the orchestral scene, Laurence was only seen as a disappointment to the legacy of many. English wasn't seen as a creative industry, not one of any use. How could a Newman family, one who were tolerated and well-received as ambassadors for conductors, performers, composers and arrangers, accept something so outlandishly different? Analysis was not good for his mind, they would tell him, and that creativity was the only way forward. The barrages of words kept him awake as a child, unforgiving his temperance and state of purity. No day went by without the music-pathway talk being replayed once again. He despised it, all of it, but spread the lie enough and the man would believe it. Soon, he thought that it was only right to adhere to his parents' wishes and to follow on in their footsteps, picking up the violin and starting a roadtrip of disaster.
To begin with, Laurence was never passionate enough about it to practice. When he got home, it was either reading books or heading out with local friends from down the road; never did he immediately practice because he wanted to. He wanted to make his parents happy, that was mostly the drive behind it. But time and time again, his music teachers would never praise him for his efforts nor allowed him to continue under the high expectations of his family. The day the letter of cancellation came through, terrible punishments came his way.
Laurence still tried his best, however, to find a passion that would suit them. No matter how hard he tried, he always gravitated back towards English Literature. Whenever he got close, he was scolded obviously. When his grades came back good as a child, he was demonised for it. All the way through secondary education, he kept on receiving the flak his parents and other family members wished to grant. There was no profitability in being an English student. They wanted talented musicians, one who could continue the rich legacy of their fathers and mothers. Each passing day became a conflict between appeasing his parents demands and finding what he truly wanted, showering Laurence into a state of confusion, despair and emptiness.
For a while, he roamed around without really understanding what he wanted in life. There was a great deal of pressure consistently being forced upon his shoulders whenever he was caught without an instrument in his hands. The build up of anxiety crept upon him right through his GCSEs, until he eventually came out with an offer from a school far away. In the City of London, capital of the nation he was brought up in, had a newer school accepting students for Sixth Form and higher education: Evergreen Grammar School. To most parents, this acceptance was daunting and outstanding. People who flocked over there were generally regarded to come out as successful students, heading into prestigious universities to follow their dreams, but the conflict to get into it was just as bad even after being given an offer.
More than anything in the world, Laurence wanted to go there. He wanted to study different things to develop his writing, perhaps to dabble into poetry and short story writing as well whilst going about it. However, his parents were further down the rabbit hole of frustration, trying to sway his opinion last minute. Desperate to regain a legacy to continue, they showered him in anger, or love, at random intervals and tried to get him to pick up the bow and strings once more. Finally, Laurence became too angered by his own emptiness and tried to stand up for himself. Instead, he received neglect. They begrudgingly accepted his offer to the Grammar School and paid all the expenses for two years worth of accommodation. And without as much of a goodbye, Laurence was in a taxi and sent away to start an independent life, as if he were no longer a part of the family itself.
When at the school, Laurence felt comfortable studying what he wanted. However, there was never a sense of a future there. Planted deep within his head were the chains of his father and mother, still pulling him slowly back to Sussex in an attempt to get what they wanted. Every night, Laurence felt like phoning them, apologising for using his will and coming home to pick up that instrument again. All the beatings, the swearing and the violence made him truly believe that he was wrong for wanting to do something. And for Laurence, his purpose became nothing more than a puppet for those with recognition in the world. Even to that day, part of him tells him that he has no future unless he goes back to his parents, one way or another.
Affiliations Sarah Newman - Mother Frank Newman - Father
Okinawan/Japan (Fun Fact: Many of Okinawa do not consider themselves Japanese.)
Appearance
The strange hatted youth is a young man of Asian descent, specifically from one of the southern islands belonging to Japan that make up Okinawa. He is a fairly-swift fellow, athletically built for running, jumping, and climbing instead of strength or heavy stamina. Hakuro is an odd sort of a person who, for his own country, actually seems pretty normal. He's a black-haired young man, nothing more stand-out-ish about him physically EXCEPT for two very important points. First, he has gray eyes. He's not blind or color-blind. He was just born with a strange lack or low level of eye pigmentation, thus gray in color. To some, it's a little off-putting, but only if you're looking at 'im. The way he is around people, you might not even notice.
The other thing about him is how he dresses. No, not the everyday casuals. His normal clothing could be a normal pair of pants and shirt (Black, blue, white, red, green, gray, and a host of other regular colors and nothing gaudy like pink, orange, or yellow) or somethng with highlights in it (like black or some other dark color with a lighter color highlighting it), but never any outright weird pattern, only sometimes an article with a logo, and nothing too outlandish. No, what you have to understand is that Hakuro often-adopts the use of a fedora and trenchcoat similar to that of the classic Japanese investigator. These articles are his own style, and perhaps his own lifestyle.
More on that later.
His Evergreen uniform... He wouldn't really be up for altering it. He'd be more inclined to wear the hat and coat OVER it, because it's as much who he is as the way he acts. The extra attire sort of became part of him. Some people even have strange theories, but no proof exists!
Hakuro's attire as a Phantom Thief is akin to the style of Lamont Cranston, AKA The Shadow! It's a stark contrast to his lighter hat and coat in the real world without casting aside who he is. Besides, in his heart of hearts, is he not to be following in the footsteps of the classic Mystery Man? He investigates, he sneaks around, he's fleet of foot, and he's just a bit lucky.
Height
5'9"
Personality
Hakuro is...not a normal guy.
He is a young man whom many would consider lucky: He was basically set for life, and yet he wanted more. How and why will be explained later, but he is - at heart - a seeker, a sneaker, and a traveler. Too many years of being in one place left him wanting to get out, so he asked for both the permission and the support to start seeing the world, to get out there and just absorb everything he could. THAT was the kind of guy Hakuro was. He was looking to break out of boredom and have an adventure. To that end, Hakuro is inquisitive and investigative, joking and witty, and very active in his life. When he was young, he took upon the role of the Hatto Ken Ko-to, or Hat-And-Coat, to allow an overactive imagination to soar to great heights and run wild on his island. He's adopted this, made it part of who he is.
The role of the Hatto-san is to be someone looking to understand and see the world, to explore it and influence the people found all over in a positive way. You could call it a hobby or a game or just weird. He doesn't care. Hakuro believes in the ideal that everything you do can be decided on a coinflip, especially if you have a hard time deciding what to do. He embraces this. So, unless it's vitally important, out comes the coin, for better or for worse. Why? Because it's fun and you never know what's going to happen. This kind of thing makes him unreadable, unpredictable, and perhaps unstoppable in his own funny little way. This makes him an offbeat sort of person, but he prefers to be that way. It was his choice, one made freely to escape a drab alternative.
Hakuro is generally outgoing and engaging with other people, not afraid to ask questions, be they hard or even embarrassing. He treats others with respect, if they're deserving of such, and will act against those who are NOT worthy of that from him. It makes him someone who acts very extreme, in a way, one supposes. He generally wants the best for people, though, so he can be a helper, at times.
When in the Metaverse, or indeed during ANY serious moment, the jokes come off. Maybe not the gloves or the hat or the coat, but certainly he adopts a more focused temperment, all in order to accomplish whatever was important to the situation at hand. He's a very driven sort of person, this way, and might let out more of the cynic or the deadpan snarker, rather than the lively funny guy. It's just a matter of knowing when to laugh and when to hush up and get down to work. And no, just because he can do a pretty evil laugh doesn't mean that he's unhinged and turning into a maniac or villain. It's just really good acting. One thing of importance: Because Hakuro is the kind of person to influence alot of people, he tends to make a fair few contacts. Because of this, he tends to prefer being able to organize them, since they're at his fingertips. It's not so much a call to leadership, so much as 'I have this, so I may as well use it'. Once again, this is basically trying to be useful in a situation that needs all the help it can get.
Persona
- FORTUNE - Flying Spaghetti Monster
You might be asking yourself 'Why the Flying Spaghetti Monster?'. Ah, who are we kidding? You wanna know. This strange creature was brought into existence by a world which felt it needed a severe refuge in something very out there and silly when faced with something silly that seemed to be taken too seriously. To wit, the FSM and all Pastafarians alike are the antithesis to Scientology. They play this funny little game straight-faced and taking none of it seriously while the opposition means business, but that they are all ridiculous. Hakuro is not a Pastafarian, but he and the FSM share a very important commonality: They are anachronistic beings, and they KNOW it. Hell, they OWN that shit! These two have their own following. Not a serious following, but a following nonetheless, and that holds power.
(The FSM may or may not do battle with the Big Bang Burger Empire on a regular basis, as well.)
Skill
Light/Bless/Expel (Essentially all part of the same skill area.)
A-Level English Language A-Level Philosophy BTEC Physical Education (or PE)
Biography
Hakuro was born on an island of the region/prefecture of Okinawa, lived there, and - if he hadn't done anything about it - would die there without ever having seen or experienced another part of the world with his own eyes. You see, he had been born into a successful sort of life, one that he needed only wait patiently to grow into, and then his life would effectively play out with rarely a hardship. Why? Because his family owned a very nice little resort with everything you could want on an island vacation to get away from it all. His life would be one of peace, contentment, and plenty. However...a young boy sometimes craves more. Actually, it happens alot of the times. Because he could not LEAVE and he was destined to live out his days there, it seemed, this led not only to some foreboding feelings, growing up, but also a great deal of BOREDOM. Imagine having to try and amuse yourself when you couldn't rely on much to divert you.
This is where the Hatto-san comes in.
You see, Hakuro was just a nice young boy, nothing special, but when you badly need to step out of everyday life, you'll resort to alot of things. He ended up adopting a new monniker, the Hatto Ken Ko-to (Hat-And-Coat), a stranger who will go anywhere and do all kinds of different activities and projects to divert from the norm. Need some challenges? Want to explore a place that should contain nothing, but that...what if it contained killer crabs? Want to live completely at the random flip of a coin? That's your man. And that's how the fedora-and-trenchcoat-wearing person came to be. It wasn't an alternate personality. It was an enhancement, a desire to be and live the life of a more interesting person. Because when things got dull and drab...it led to events strangely dark and ominous in conception. Such a feeling, one day, led him to the very definite idea that he needed to get out.
That moment had struck him so profoundly, and yet...he didn't even know how much so. One day, Hakuro was walking along the beach...when a thought hit him, one that would begin to haunt him every time he came back to the water: 'The ocean may one day swallow me and this entire island up, leaving nothing behind'. When he got this feeling, things were...wrong. The water seemed as though it wasn't teeming with life, but would really reach out, as though alive itself. The color ran out of the world, and there was an ever-present feeling of being watched, stalked, and even hungered for. That was when he knew he had to leave, to escape...
So, when he was considered old enough to be able to look after himself away from home, age fifteen, his parents decided to indulge him and allowed him legal and monetary resources to travel and see the world...and boy did he! All across Japan, for starters. He met quite a few people, here and there, though none perhaps influenced him as much as the family, Fuyunaito. What an assortment of people! An accountant who loved to dance, a spiritualist who voiced anime, and a pair of siblings (brother and sister) who were skilled in martial arts from a young age! The meeting was actually strange. Hakuro first met a Shiro Kunekawa, a friend of their family, who had been taking Anri Fuyunaito out to a park...because she was traumatized to regressive silence after Shiro's father had actually set fire to the Fuyunaito household and...Anri pushed him into the flames as punishment. Shiro was effectively adopted INTO the family and spent his life working to be a private investigator to stop things like this from ever happening again.
The girl was completely withdrawn into herself, locked in trauma. Not her parents nor her big brother, Max, could snap her out of it, or Shiro... It was later suspected that part of it was due to being unable to face her family or Shiro again, so a strict moral code effectively broke her. Hakuro took up the challenge to try and break her out. He deliberately started behaving very oddly, leaping around and impersonating DBZ characters. No...DBZ Abridged characters, and telling jokes, and laughing off when he fell and got hurt. It took DAYS...but eventually...Anri laughed, and then she cried, and then she spent the next few moments apologizing for her actions, because Rikdo Kunekawa had claimed that he'd burned her whole family to death and that she had nothing left. Hakuro made friends for life, that day, and was invited to stay with the Fuyunaitos a while, learning a little about the skills each one - and Shiro - honed in their lives. Max was trying to open a dojo. Anri was...actually more skilled than HE was, and wanted to join the police! Saiga had taught them BOTH! Hito wasn't a fighter, but...he had a gun license, which was difficult to get in Japan.
He left them, more fulfilled there than even in the times leading up to that moment. This was where he started recording his adventures and putting them online...and eventually gained a modest internet following. The Hatto-san would touch the hearts and minds of the world, one day at a time! He did this for a while, and then he took his travels internation, making his way East...to the West! That is...to the US! Now, it should be noted that in all of these travels, Hakuro's travels were properly financed because he was taking all the responsibilities that followed in its wake. He had to feed, clothe, and continue to educate himself, for instance. He was to take care of these things, or he would be in alot of trouble. The first two were easy, of course. You see something, you buy something. School, though... Aye, that's the kicker. He had to work out a combination of transferring and corrospondance in a way that those involved would find somehow acceptable. For instance, in Japan, he moved around alot, but he was able to return to where he was taking classes. A bit harder in some places, though, and so sometimes it was 'Take it where you can get it'.
That was how he ended up in Los Angeles and met Sherry. Now, there's a reason for why this person also stood out, and more-so than potentially dozens to hundreds of people: Sherry Ultia was something of a kindred spirit. Some people stand out more than others, and for some of the most unexpected reasons. She was a shorter girl, not going to develop any great height, silver-haired, wild-eyed and wild in action, and she was a fricking ninja. Not literally, but by god, the way she could move... It was all due to a skill that Hakuro picked up VERY WELL on, mostly because she wouldn't let him leave this town without him learning: Parkour. It's an intense urban landscape acrobatics practice, the training of which tends to leave the recipient accuring many injuries. Hakuro spent a long time bruised, cut, and hurt for this...but eventually Sherry let him go, accepting him as a successful pupil. He uhh...wasn't sticking around for her crazy wire act. Gotta know your limits, right? Yeah.
Still, this was an exceptional milestone, enhancing his physical abilities in a way the Fuyunaitos hadn't managed, though they certainly sharpened his mind and made him extremely moral about the needs of others. The Hatto-san started to symbolize a traveling idealist, or a mysterious helpful stranger. It also led him across the US, and eventually migrating all the way to the next viable stop: England! The heart of the United Kingdom... Here, at a completely different kind of culture, even from the melting pot of American civilization, Hakuro decided he needed some time. He'd spent a fair amount in the states. Now, he'd be taking some time to complete a good portion of his education here in London, at Evergreen Academy.
The Hatkuro Conspiracy continues...
Affiliations
Toshiro Kuroda (Father) Ari Kuroda (Mother) Hito Fuyunaito (Friend/Accountant/Dancer) Saiga Munashii-Fuyunaito (Friend/Spiritualist) Max and Anri Fuyunaito (Friends/Martial-Artists) Shiro Kunekawa (Friend/Fellow-Investigator) Sherry Ultia (Friend/Parkour-Master) Hatto-Fans (Internet Followers)
(A full profile HAS been written, but details are unavailable until the character is revealed in the RP.)
RAVEN
Gender
Female
Age
CAW!
Sexuality
CAW!
Nationality
CAW!
Appearance
Raven appears as...well...a raven, a reasonably-sized black bird similar to a crow. She has glaring red eyes that are alive with intelligence, so you know that this is no ordinary bird. It is not known by what means she actually speaks, because the beak doesn't move along with the dialogue. And naturally, she just sounds like a bird to everyone who doesn't go Metaverse-hopping. One thing of importance, though: Raven is not as fragile as any other bird. She will not break as easily, though her strength is limited.
Personality
Despite her situation, Raven is generally upbeat and optimistic about things. Maybe it's a cautious optimism, but when it comes to believing in something like the people around her, she has that certain unbreakable will. She is determined, despite all of her setbacks, to see things through. Many times, this could put her right in the line of fire, but it isn't something that can be so easily helped. It's in Raven's nature, regardless of how the bird might think, to be there for others and help them achieve their goals, and in turn have others around for when she is in need, as well. She knows that she will manage her own issues, somehow.
Her knowledge of the Metaverse and its mechanics is extensive, and she has a driving force to put things to rights here.
United Kingdom, though he was raised in France for a bit / Half-French, Half-German
Appearance::
Alexander is a lean, mean, somewhat muscle and irritable machine that stands broadly up at a height of 187 cm, and weighs about 75.75 kg. This guy is usually seen with dull, despondent, very dark brown eyes that could be comparable to dead coals. There is seldom a smile on his face as it's either dominated by either a frown or scowl, followed by furrowed brows. While it is difficult to see, Alex does have a bit of a tan with nearly indistinguishable tan lines at his waistline. Along with that, he has short, jet black hair that is somewhat messy.
His casual attire consists of a black jacket with a fur trimming around the collar. It's customized with a red bandana wrapped around the upper arm, though to Alex, he says it's just there to hide the tear on it. Along with that, other than his usually dreary colors of black shoes and pants, the guy sports a white shirt and very sparingly wears a red tie. Sometimes he switches between the tie and jacket, wear both, or neither at all.
The most important thing to note about his thief's outfit is the mask. The coloration seems to have a mixture of two colors: parts of the mask are jet black, whilst the other portions are a dark, velveteen blue. While it is smooth, the texture is reminiscent of a birds plumage, specifically a ravens. Further more, there are nearly unnoticeable "eyebrows" above the masks eye sockets; three circular shapes that go in a blue, green, blue pattern and are evocative of sapphires and emeralds. However, the most outstanding part about this is the large, "ruby" that appears to be embedded into his forehead. The shape of the mask is fairly simple, as the bottom portion is circular, save for a small, ebony beak protruding where his nose would be at.
The first thing to note of when examining his costume is the fact that, like his usual duds, there is a fur trimming, save its thicker and more exaggerated than before. Further more, the suit he dons seems to be a caricature of the black jacket his father made for him, giving it the appearance of a trench coat and a kings robes. A light amount of white fur trimming lines the edges of the coat as well, looking just as well worn as the suit itself. There are a few holes here an there, though what lies beyond gives off the illusion that he has gems, gold chains, and other miscellaneous items on his body. Beyond that, he sports jet black pants and shoes that mesh between work boots and dress shoes.
Personality::
As far as they come, Alexander doesn't come off as the sociable type - and no, he isn't shy in the slightest. If anything, this French-German boy is innately calm and stoic, coming off as somewhat standoffish to a fault. What further exemplifies these personality traits is how much of a stick in the mud he comes off as, usually condemning those he deems as lazy, indolent slackers as a bunch of incompetent people with no drive, sometimes even attempting to push them to act.
This overly serious, often pissed off temperament has resulted in him not being a popular guy to hang around, and further more, being referred to as a workaholic, a stunning mirror image of his mother in that aspect. There is a certain irony to being referred to her in this way, as he seeks to define himself through hard work, not because he was pushed or born with some form of talent, but because it was his own choice. Because of this, he also considers his favorite types of people to interact with to be "defiant" or at least those he sees as willing to push back against either his own provocations or others.
Alexander is also extremely frustrated when people interact with him in a particular way, namely when they try to flatter and suck up to the boy. He doesn't find it to be gratifying in the slightest; basically, it would be akin to lighting a stick of dynamite with an extremely short fuse. Aside from that, he is also unusually blunt when it comes to his talks, mostly unafraid to speak his own mind on the topic at hand. This, coupled with his prior traits, isn't exactly giving him any points when it comes to making friends.
Outside this callous behavior, there is a good side in him. Somewhere. The way he tries to come off as friendly can either come off as forced due to trying to imitate other people and how they act friendly or can be a backhanded complement due to the delivery of the comment. Looking past that, however, he does have an affinity for attempting to encourage other people, namely when they pursue a subject out of their own volition. He'll try to properly put such a comment into words, but it can be difficult to pull off for him without coming off as rude or flat out condescending.
Background
Biography::
Alexander was born of love and compassion, or so he was told during his younger years. A more faithful description of the events was that he was born from a drunken stupor between his rising star of a fashionista father and a much older woman who was a stern prosecutor that decided to take a vacation for a week or two in France before heading home. Conceived, his own mother departed back to London, unaware that she was carrying her future child.
Eventually, Alexander was born to Hilda Furst; raised as a single child with an equally single parents, things fluctuated between rough and steady for the first few years. Despite this, his childhood was relatively mild, to say the least; he was a much livelier, friendlier lad back then who would rather spend time with other children, playing games, heading out on "exciting adventures," etc. For the most part, his own mother would try to spend as much time with him as much as she could, sometimes hiring a babysitter. Though, with each passing days, that time began to shorten to the point where he began recalling his sitters face as opposed to his own moms.
If anything, it constantly put more and more pressure on the lady and much to her chagrin, Alex began constantly pestering her about his own father, what he was like, where he was, when would he come home, etc. She mainly went on to brushing it off or giving a vague answer, but Alexander became more insistent, impatient if you will, and possibly more worried. To top it all off, he noticed that his own mom began making more frequent phone calls; along with that, her moods seem to be erratic in a sense, ranging from frighteningly annoyed to being a serious yet mellow mother.
Despite her moody demeanor, something did seem to transpire in the midst of it all, as when the boy nervously questioned his mother once again about his father, she gave a much more straight answer - that he would be coming home next month. If anything, the young man was ecstatic and began imagining what the man was like, even jabbering excitedly to his peers, teachers, and so on.
The talks were less frequent, with his mom attempting to spend more time with the boy. Only really went out to get measured for some clothes or head to see some movies. Nothing truly special, though that changed the day his dad finally arrived. Despite promising to come a month in advanced, he was fashionably late by about one week, which did nothing less than to piss his own mom off.
While that brought up its own issues, when his father arrived that very week, Alex expected someone dapper, older, possibly wiser than his mom. What he received was a slender, healthy young man with clothes as loud as his hair; the man looked more like he was attending a university as opposed to Alex's initial thoughts. His expectations were thoroughly subverted and the boy felt a bit awkward around the much more livelier, cheerful man, even commenting that Thibault was not what he expected for a father.
Even though Alex's father was a bit pained by the comment, he did shake it off and presented them both with a present, stating that this was the reason for him being so late - he was creating clothes for the two of them. While the designs were avant-garde, there was a curious design to each of them which allowed the duo to enjoy his style. He stated that these were based on earlier designs that he didn't want to waste and that he was overjoyed at their reactions.
Outside of this, Thibault stated to the two that he could only really be away from the job for about a week and would head back at the end of it. He acted primarily as the stay at home dad during this time, usually looking after Alex or trying to spend time with Hilda during this time. While it did seem like Alex was going to have some difficulty bonding with his father, the man had an almost magical way of going about this, as if it were tailor made to Alex.
This wasn't just with the boy, but with the neighbors as well, as with his magnetic personality, he seemed to quickly attract a couple of friends, as well as win Alex over in a matter of days. Of course, he did struggle a bit with the stern Hilda, who, at best, received a slight chuckle with a smirk. Though, despite the visit, there was a few issues they ran into, with one or two minor arguments that wouldn't amount to anything.
Beyond that, this was the first of many infrequent visits that transpired for the next three years. It was a functioning pattern - visit Hilda and Alex, surprise the two with gifts or stories from France, spend time doing different events with the two in the UK.
Life seemed a little more pleasant when Thibault was around, even getting to the point where they began to learn things about the man, like how he was super into punk, hip hop, and rap, how his favorite movies tended to be either horror or thrillers; most were crap, aside from the Shining to say the least.
However, during the midst of those three years, something did change to say the least. During one of his visits, Thibault appeared composed and less outgoing at the time. It was a bit peculiar, but he went about suggesting much more humble things that didn't involve being in public. He still indulged them with gifts and stories, but he was strangely subdued during this time. Alex wouldn't discover the reason why until his third visit when he was flocked by a whole bunch of people the young child didn't recognize.
That's when it was discovered that Thibault Couture was a rising star of a fashionista who had been gaining traction in the last couple of years and had been recently catapulted to fame. This new event shook up the dynamic of Alex's life, more so on the fact that certain people just reacted differently to the boy in general. More kids thought this fame was cool, and Alex found his sphere of influence had grown; further more, his own mom was met with the same approach by some other adults, save she didn't fall into the same trap as Alex. If anything, this just seemed to sour her mood, more so than usual.
Despite this, Thibault's livelier attitude never returned, at least while Alex and his mom were living in the UK. However, during one of his visits when Alex was seven, Thibault posed a question to the two of them during a quiet dinner. It was a proposal that they all came to France to live together as a family, instead of having these one week visits. Alex's mom was more that skeptical at the time, but she did agree to it after noticing how excited and happy Alex appeared by the prospect of it.
Of course, despite his excitement, it really didn't occur to Alex at the time that he would be sacrificing the life he knew for a much more foreign one. Months later, all the friends he made, new and old, would all go up in a puff of smoke as he soon came to learn. It was painful for the boy, having to leave his whole life behind for this new one, acting eerily solemn on the flight there.
Outside of that, they made preparations months in advanced for this move, finding a firm around the area that Hilda could work at, putting in funds to purchase a nice house in the suburbs, teaching Alex how to speak French, etc. Multiple preparations were made, yet none would help with what lied it wait.
To start things off, life felt perpetually awkward to the boy. Sure, he made plenty of friends during his time attending school, but there was always a particular nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Maybe it was because he was still hung up on the move, maybe it was because he felt that there was something off about the interactions he had with his peers. Even more so, some of the adults were choosing to chat with the young boy; they were overly friendly to the boy, which was nice, but it did freak him out a bit.
After some time, his friendship with these people reached its logical conclusion. A young girl, couldn't look to be a little more than a year older than Alex, requested if she and her mom could meet his father. Alex stated he would be more than willing to ask his parents if they could come over for dinner, till she became more pushy and stated that he wanted to meet the man at work.
While he was visibly confused at first, Alex did try to resist the influence, but was eventually pressured into going through with it, under the pretenses that they wanted to meet his family. He did know the studio his father worked in and was thankfully able to enter under the merit that Alex was his own son. And upon entering in, that's when everything came falling down.
To make a long story short, they disregarded the boy like he was a bad pimple once Thibault was in their sights, they had to be escorted out, Alex's father had to explain some of the situation softly while asking him not to do it again, Hilda picked him up, scolded the boy and didn't bother sugar coating the details, telling him straight up that he was being used, among a multitude of other things.
At the time, Alex couldn't accept the harsh truth; however, after the fourth time he attempted bringing someone in and was promptly met with the same song and dance, with the same tune played, with an increasing severity of scolding from his own mother. Alex truly wanted to believe that these people were his friends, that they just wanted to meet his dad and nothing else. However, reality had finally caught up and slapped the boy in the face - the reality that he was nothing more than a stepping stone for these people so that they could get close to Thibault to see if the man could design specialized clothes for them.
At first, Alex cried; it hurt to know that these people were doing nothing more than taking advantage of the lad. The next thing that came was reflection, as he thought back on each prior event. While he did realize that most of his friends were only his friends because of his fame (and preyed on Alex as a means to an end), he might of overthought it a bit. He began to wonder if the children he once befriended in the UK were even true friends with the kid, even before his fathers rise to fame.
Those people, his peers, his "friends," he began to push away. Adults that once interacted with the young boy were promptly ignored, either attempting to get through with honeyed words and minced niceties before dropping pretenses before giving up and never chatting with the boy again. Slowly, but surely, his group of friends began to evaporate; some did attempt to try and reconcile or chat, but no, Alex continued to harshly push them away, looking for no nuance in their words, the way they acted, and so on. At the end of this all, he was left alone, merely known as Thibault's Son at this point; that was what he amounted to at that point.
Beyond that instance, home life was OK at first, though it did show signs of degradation over time. Sure, they did still go out from time to time, either just the two of them or with their son, even attempting to act like a couple by sharing a bed. However, the two had their issues with each other, namely through the way they interacted with one another. Hilda was serious, straight-laced, sometimes too literal for her own good, while Thibault was lax, a bit carefree, and a colorful guy who really didn't take things too seriously.
First came the miscommunications between the two of them, which did nothing but put a hamper on how they discussed certain topics, came to mortgages, their interactions with other people, as well as their sons, etc. Either Hilda was pissed off at something Thibault said or Thibault was thoroughly turned off by Hildas statements. There were a full small skirmishes, with huffs of annoyance, slowly burning over time till they were overtly critical.
It wasn't before long before Hilda and Thibault barely interacted, outside of a few instances of getting together as a family for dinner. Most of the time when they chose to spend time with a family member, they always opted for their son, with Thibault playing basketball with him or Hilda eventually taking Alex out to shoot clay pigeons with her.
This whole relationship was sterile, empty and devoid of anything meaningful, and Alex was keenly aware of it all. Despite what he knew was coming up, the boy wanted this to work out, even with the arguments and unhealthy conflicts that plaguing the household. Eventually enough was enough, and after five years the two had a talk about this all before letting their son in on their separation. Alex didn't deny it and came to terms with it much swiftly than imagined, making this whole transition a lot smoother.
They had their plans set, with them both agreeing that Alex would have a more stable life with his mom, making plans and preparations for finding a house in London, how they would go about moving, ensuring Hilda would have a stable job back in the UK, etc. Once it was all set in stone, this disastrous arrangement finally came to an end. Yet, these final moments were bittersweet for the young man; after all, this was the closest he saw them resolve an issue within the last three years.
Well, besides one little issue - education. For all intents and purposes, this was something they came to butt heads on as they looked around London, as well as made suggestions to one another. Hilda was looking to push him into a school that would prepare him for attending one of the universities and graduating as a lawyer, same as his own mother. However Thibault didn't have anything definitive down, but deferred to wanting to ask Alex, deciding that his sons own decision mattered the most.
This squabble continued until Alexander tossed his hat into the ring and came up with his own idea and suggested Evergreen Grammar School as the place to finish up his education. While his father wasn't against the decision, his mother on the other hand was vehemently opposed to it. However, with a lot of insisting, as well as explanations, such as the high success rate this school posed for one, she was able to be swayed, primarily due to the fact that this could be used as a stepping stone for getting into a university.
Even though Alex made the choice to go to said university, she dictated the choices for which classes would primarily be the focal point, either nodding off with approval or replying with a virulent rejection. Psychology and biology were easy ones to get her to agree with, with a positive reception to the former, as well as being neutral on the latter. But the third one left her just fuming and she did try to steer the boy away from it to no avail - music.
She was less than amused at the decision, more so when Thibault's response was to send him some funds to purchase his own instrument in the process. As much as she wanted to redirect the finances elsewhere, she was exasperated at this point and chose to accept that this was his choice.
Despite this all, his attitude was largely different when attending Evergreen, proving his own proficiency with the courses and always constantly excelling, outside of music, but he did decently enough to get into the A-levels on the latter. While he was well off with knowledge, his own interactions were just as stifled as they were in France. He was infamous for his lack of tact, with many finding him insufferable to hang around; most attempted to avert interacting with him completely, but found this impossible when he chose to interact with them himself.
That being said, there were no real nasty rumors spread about him, though there were a few who attributed his success and or the way he was either due to his fame on his dads side or how his mom is such a hardworking hard ass which agitated him to no end. But beyond that, he remained vigilant in deferring to his own path, with his studies running smoothly, well, for the most part.
As long as nothing supernatural happens, this should be easy.
Education / Evergreen Grammar School::
A-Level Psychology: Understanding the human mind is a pretty fun subject; it's fairly interesting learning about the hows and whys of people, plus it could help with other issues.
A-Level Biology: Ditto; I just find learning about the human body and how it all functions to be interesting. Plus, this is probably one of the few ways I'll get any sorta' freedom with her around.
A-Level Music: I could be a lot better at this subject, but I mainly chose it to spite my mom.
Affiliations::
Hilda Furst: My mom; basically, she comes off as a bit domineering. Can be a bit of a control freak as well, to a point where most of the clothes I have are picked out either by her or created by dad. Furthermore, she's pushing me to to pursue the same profession as her. It's no better than other people expecting me to grow up like my dad. Regardless, she's deadly serious when it comes to her job and just about everything as well. Blows off some steam by going out and shooting clay pigeons; spent some time with her doing that as of late.
Thibault Couture: Bit of an eccentric man, but a good father overall. Tried to spend most of his time he had in France when not off designing new clothes or sizing up people to get fitted. I absolutely loathe most of his fans, especially the ones who approach me. Should probably stop flirting with people for fun though, you're coming off as a womanizer. Depressing that my Mom brushes him off from time to time with his provocations. A bit more laid-back than my own mom to say the least; also made this jacket for me. He has almost a magical way of connecting with other people; I'm kind of jealous.
Ava has fairly pale skin despite being outside all the time, perhaps due to her rigorous use of sunscreen. Her aqua blue eyes always shine brilliantly, only outplayed by her ivory silk hair, which is kept fairly short and is adorned by a ducktail. Her build is somewhat fit as she loves to spend her day performing various sports, though eating plenty of sugar makes sure she has enough meat on her bones, and her attire depends entirely one her whim, though her love for contrasting colors and bright imagery always shines through. Almost everyday, a torn tie can be found wrapped around her neck, as she is quite fond of it.
Parrot wears a white and light green outfit resembling a Parrot like bird in certain aspects, her white mask has a beak and the outfit is adorned with feathers. Small wings are also attached to her arms from which she can fire throwing daggers. What better to represent the freedom of expression and honesty, than the one bird who can both fly through the skies, and still talk to humans freely.
Personality
Ava Is her name, and joy is her game; this happy-go-lucky gal likes to throw herself into every scenario she deems “fun”, and more often than not, it annoys the living crap out of her target. Nonetheless, she always finds a way to mingle herself into anyone's company as the word 'introvert' just isn't in her dictionary. This doesn’t mean that it happens every time though, as her positive attitude is somewhat contagious, resulting in everyone around her smiling as much as her; but only if she was invited beforehand~
The reason she can be so optimistic and outgoing is somewhat of a touchy topic, as Ava always finds a way to avoid giving an honest answer to it, but it’s obvious that she’s consciously trying to act that way, and it can sometimes give the impression that she is insincere and manipulative. Of course she denies it, but the resulting fallout has certainly hurt her relationships.
Nevertheless, she doesn't let live get her down, and always keeps moving forward with a smile, giving all the energy she can muster to the outside world. It is her belief that negative emotions are a waste; something to be rid of, and she tries her hardest every day to lock them out. Similarly, whenever she sees someone else experiencing them, she can't help but try to cheer them up, despite often being told to bugger off. But to lock out negative feelings doesn't mean that they don't exist, and her biggest weakness might be her disability to let it show for once.
Moving onto her hobbies; Ava's interests, as you might imagine, all over the place, though most of them can be enjoyed in the sunlight. She loves participating in sports, partying and dancing, but despite having a preference for the outragous, the subtle things don't escape her. She often goes picnicking, and invites people to play chess or a card game, and she frequently meditates to keep her mentality up. She can also cook one hell of a pancake.
Biography
From birth, Ava had lived an ordinary life with two loving parents and a loyal dog named Kid. She would go to school, come home with friends, fill her belly during diner and doze off while her parents told her bedtime stories. It was completely normal with nothing special or weird about it; and it was fine that way. Ava's parents were always cheery and loved to interact with each other, often spending entire days without stopping to smile, it was only natural that the little Ava took after her parents.
As she grew older, Ava's enthusiasm only grew with her, and by the time she had finished her first year of primary school, her smiles had already reached many people, making her quite popular. Even through rough times, her smile never faded. Getting injured, moving to England, saying goodbye to all your friends; Ava could always do it with a grin. But once she'd settled into her new home, those days began to change.
Very suddenly, her family met rough times as her father had become ill; the reason for moving was to get better treatment after all. Apparently the illness was related to a problem in the brain, but they couldn't pinpoint it. Ava was of course very supportive of him, and she was absolutely convinced that they would all come out on top, until they didn't. On a sudden day, Kid the dog just stopped breathing, died from old age, and the resulting shock presumably gave Ava's father a seizure that put him into a coma that he hasn't woken up from to this day. But though tears were rolling down her cheek, Ava was not crying, she couldn't. It was the first time something that shocking and sad happened to her, and though she definitely felt the emotions, it was very uncomfortable to show them, as she was so used to being happy. Even when burying the dog, Ava put on a brave face and smiled for her mother.
Ever since then, Ava has become a bit different. She still believed that the world was bright and wonderful, and no amount of sadness could change that; but in reality that mindset was chipping at her day by day as the real world was just not what she perceived it to be. She spent many afternoons by her dad's hospital-bed, convinced that he'd wake up and smile at her again. But with every visit, that hopeful smile became harder and harder to maintain. On top of that, with the father incapacitated, their income was cut off, so Ava and her mother had to work their asses off to not only get by, but also pay for the father's treatment as that required special attention that wasn't covered by the standard healthcare insurance. It was very taxing to balance school with work, so Ava often struggled to keep up, But through her dedication and love for her family, she somehow managed to survive.
Over the years, she grew accustomed to this way of life, and at some point she starting enjoying it too. Her grades were not bad and she was in top condition, but there was always a gnawing feeling inside her that had been there for so long, and she could never get rid of it. It was the hope to go back to the way things used to be; to be a complete family again. Perhaps by a stroke of fortune, Ava heard of advancements in the medical field, And within a few days she made up her mind; she was going to enroll in St Paul.
Her intention was to get a prestigious job that could afford the new treatment; and besides, going to a new place with new people and possibilities kinda filled her heart with excitement and anticipation. She was going to learn medical studies there, to find out how the body worked in the hopes of better helping her father, and perhaps finally wake him up.
Affiliations
Carla Monroe (mother) Josh Monroe (father) Kid Monroe (dog-deceased)
In the tale of Cú Chulainn, Scandinavian Princess Derbforgaill who fell in love with Cú Chulainn transformed herself and her maidens into swans to travel and be near him. Not realising who it was, Cú Chulainn threw a stone at one of the swans, causing the bird to fall to the ground. The bird transformed back into human form and it was Derbforgaill.
In her ultimate form, Eala changes into a Magnificent Swan with golden armor and multiple wings
Skill
Air
Equipment
Parrot dual-wields piolets(Ice picks) in battle and loves to stick the pointy end into squishy things. Her ranged weapons are throwing daggers shaped liked feathers. As for the rest of her gear, she is completely unreliable as she always brings whatever she wants, which is almost never consistent.
Character theme
Battle theme
PC's
Merja Aaltonen - Ava's lunch buddy Holly introduced Merja on a whim, and the 3 have spent many a break together. Though Merja seems a bit quiet, Ava always feels comfortable around Merja. Ava also knows her from the biology class.
Alexander Furst - Ava sometimes joins Evergreens biology class to help and study along with them. Although Ava doesn't want to interact with the boy due to his demeaning demeanor, she still occasionally musters the confidence to see what he's up to.
Joey Grayson - Another member of the biology class, Ava never dislikes chatting with Joey. He seems like an upstanding guy, and Ava would love to play a game of tennis with him someday.
NPC's
Holly Strouse - Ava once decided to have lunch with Holly, and ever since then, they share the same bench every week.
Nationality Born in London, with his mother being American
Appearance As expected of an athlete, Joey has well built muscular features. With a height of 5'9, he isn't exactly the tallest of his peers but they know better than to underestimate him. The most prominent thing about him would be his braided pony tail that reaches down to his rear. Another most obvious trait is the canine-like fang on the right side of his teeth. He usually exudes a confident yet relaxed demeanor. With his expression typically showing a brash smile or daring smirk.
When it comes to clothing, he would prefer a more old style of fashion. However, after some time after Evergreen, his female peers threw out his, what they call "oldman clothes", and gave him a makeover. Forcing him to fill his closet with trendy fashion that was more suited to a 'badboy' type.
Yellow Visor
Outfit
Height 5'9
Personality Joey is someone that aims to see the brighter things around him with a positive, yet easy-going attitude. He finds entertainment in talking with others and learning more about them. As such, he's a very good at conversations along with being playful and seemingly wild at times. All this seems to strengthen his popularity, which he doesn't allow to get to his head, as he's someone that greatly appreciates his bonds with others. This leads to his great appreciation for life in general and believes that everyone has something they should be grateful for.
It's through this being his reason is why when Joey sets his mind to something, he gives it his all so he won't have any regrets. This can sometimes lead him to get ahead of himself and be too reckless in pushing himself. Not to mention he does have a tendency to lose his cool when under pressure. These things happen more often then he'd like to admit. A way he tries overcomes that is with the Tennis ball he always has on his person. Just by feeling it and remembering where he came from is able to allow him to calm down.
This brings us of course to his love for Tennis. Surprisingly, he's rather quiet when he's actually playing, no matter how intense it gets. This is the level of deep focus he has during the game. He takes excitement out of the physical exhaustion and soreness it brings. Along with the comforting numbness he has mentally when keeping his thoughts on the ball. It's a sort of high for him.
In the end, several of his traits can extend from his conversations and time spent at the Senior Community he very often visits. When it comes to them, he always has some story to tell. His love and fondness for them has garnered him immense respect for the elderly. In fact he oddly thinks old people are cuter than babies. That tends to be a deal breaker. Still, he has a tendency to complain about how badly the elderly are treated in general.
Though he has learned a great of many traits from the old people he hangs around, he also learned some weird things as well, like knowing how to knit clothes from the old ladies and becoming a bit of a pervert from the old men. He's also grown an immunity to awful smells somehow.
Education BTEC Physical Education A-Level History A-Level Biology
Biography As a child, Joey was extremely hyperactive. The young scout could be seen flying towards the road one minute and climbing a tree the next. It was no wonder that his parents would grow incredibly frustrated with him and get sever headaches. It wasn't that he was a bad child or anything of the sort, rather that his mind and body would always be racing to something different to satisfy his bubbling energy. So his parents came up with a solution, having him spend time with his grandparents, or more specifically, at a retirement community.
His grandparents resided within a retirement community where they could most part take care of themselves. As you may expect, just because this environment was more slow-paced doesn't mean it was easy to tame this wild dog. Yet, there was something that caught his attention. A ball. A tennis ball, that is. You see, Joey's grandparents and quite a number of the citizens within the community were Tennis players back in their younger years. It was through this that a connection was formed.
The more they showed the world of Tennis to him, the more he was fascinated. The more he was fascinated, the more he could actually slow down and focus. This brought upon his great appreciation for Tennis. Of course, there was no way they could play with him at their age. So he would be taken to public Tennis courts where he could play with other children his age.
While a part of the fun were the games themselves, the other part of it was getting to see the elderly folks enjoy themselves as they watched him. This was the sort of warm life Joey had as he not only learned of Tennis but also the many life lessons that his senior friends had to offer. It wasn't just his grandparents, everyone in that community was family to him. It wasn't just them helping him either, the boy would always find ways to help them out as much as possible. Whether it was grocery shopping for them, reminding them of things or cooking for them.
Yet he never felt satisfied in trying to properly pay them back. He had figured that a way to honor them was to bring back a grand-prize championship trophy for their sake. However, no matter how good he was, Joey had never been able to win the big one. Disgruntled, he continued on thus path until it was time to choose what school he'd be attending. Surely he'd go to a school that was renowned for winning championships?
Though, he didn't. Instead, he chose Evergreen Grammer School. Not because of what they had to offer but it was simply because it was the school closest to the Senior Community he so often visited. With that, Joey was now on their Tennis Team and it didn't take long for him to become one of their star players. That, along with his personality, quickly allowed him to become one of the more popular students in the school.
The only problem was.... Joey still couldn't manage to get past his current limit and obtain a trophy. This only continued to irritate him. You see, it wasn't that Joey was simply impatient and wanted to win. Rather, he was worried and growing desperate. As he was still young, the boy had all the time in the world to make his dreams come true, but that couldn't be said about his elderly friends.
He hated to think about it, but there was a thought in the back of Joey's head that wondered if one day, one of them may pass away. The more time that passed, the looming thought of death grew and so did his desperation. Unsure of what he should do, Joey marches on...
Affiliations RoseCrest Senior Village(Family) Alex Grayson (Father) Sarah Grayson (Mother) Bill Grayson (Grandfather) Mary Grayson (Grandmother)
Theme "Clip the wings of a butterfly and its life is rendered forfeit. Clip the notability of man’s existence and that man will slip under the world radar. Without notability, humans roam the lands like ghosts, unable to connect with those around them, utter rejects of the land built by them."
Appearance The most distinctive feature would be the scar that haunts the frailty of his skin, situated on the farther left side of his forehead. He height is around 5'10 and he weight roughly 140 pounds. Once, long ago, there use to be a child who would wear bright clothing and smile vigorously at everything. Perhaps such innocence has diminished as a result of age, but the lens of his auburn eyes allow a scope into the youthful tenderness of his younger self. Hair of silver adorning the intensity of the hue of the iris, stern complexion and hair slicked back and unafraid to expose the flaw which possesses his skin. Usually dressed comfortably outside his school attire, comprising of jeans and t-shirt.
Metaverse Disguise:
Personality The expressions that Romaní wears forms of subtle grace that lavished his features in tender warmth . Soft, yet stern in the shaping of his lids, which gently encompasses the patience he exudes naturally. Riddled in the very mysteries of which he is so earnestly invested in, he is a curious youth, undoubtedly kind of heart with a fancy to the silent. Quirky, quick witted and silver tongued when in comfort and control. Resolute in his speech and stance, unwittingly understanding of others perhaps, even foolishly so. Lives under a motto which veils the credence of: “Judgement is passed through actions he understand, not through decisions he has no knowledge of.”
Benevolence however, is not what one would call synonymous with this youth. Kindness is learned, but true benevolence radiates from the prospects of the soul. It is a quality one must feed in order to have it lavish one’s essence. Such would illuminate the path to righteousness, but that belong in hands of the saints. Romaní has desires, hopes and dreams as well, but like most, he also has flaws and moments of weakness. He hates the center stage, preferring to be lost in crowd rather than to be the center of attention. Attentive, clear and collected on most situations.
But within, there’s an inner fury that fans the flame of rebellion, chained and locked within the very foundation of his soul. Such can be displayed when brought to the edge of his patience, a silent anger that darkens the look on his eye.
What comes to you when that world peers into consciousness? Perhaps you think something along the lines of: “That which I can see, or something of immediate distinctiveness. Perhaps you might even go as far and simple as to say that this is something which can just as easily be perceived.
…
Clip the wings of a butterfly and its life is rendered forfeit. Clip the notability of man’s existence and that man will slip under the world radar. Without notability, humans roam the lands like ghosts, unable to connect with those around them, utter rejects of the land built by them. Reality is warped and to a much lesser extent, it’s highly fragile. Through and throughout the creation of this world’s norms, such frailty is placed upon a foundation of silk and sand. Toppled by the constant shifts of the wind, but similarly mealable, shifting and different. Counting each piece of sand would be impossible, you would always find another and another. Such are the prospects of human possibility, of human grandeur. Such is the power of those who are… Notable.
Such radiance could exude from a variety of people in the beautiful planet of ours, Romaní being one of these, he’s lived according to his own volition, through the tribulations life has accommodated upon him. In this world, you make do with what's presented to you, even if that is only darkness. There was once a time where, unbeknownst to Romaní, himself, his family underwent tribulation in their lives. With resources running scarce and a marriage running on it last legs... His parents did whatever possible to set differences aside for the sake of gifting the child a prosperous future. So, much of life's luxuries were limited. They three shared a room under a lofty home, where the windows would clank at night because they were missing a few screws. The cold permeated the atmosphere and sometimes, they were hungry for longer times than others. Clothes were limited and he remembered wearing the same white t-shirt for a couple a years after he was already a bit too big for it.
Notability is important. If you're at the bottom of the barrel, you're most likely to rot before they get to you. You hard work and labor would be for naught if someone doesn't notice it. Passion fuels the fire of your journey, but gratification keeps it alive. His father worked hard, his mother worked harder. Perhaps in pursuit of a wayward dream or passion, a mistake happened and from such a lifetime of pain occurred. It was an uphill battle. But they did it, however they did it, those two managed to make Romaní youth one where happiness and love was present. But age makes one notice things, figure things out. Things weren't always bright, and much less were things always happy. When sometimes there wasn't enough to pay the house, the would sacrifice some of their money to gift the child a toy for his birthday. Where food was scarce, they would take the bread of their own plates to handed out to the boy. Nobody sees this, nobody cared. Their efforts weren't rewarded and all because perhaps he was born.
Eventually, things did brighten up. His father got a better job, his mother too. They began to make something for themselves and for the boy. He soon began to garner interests in a couple of luxuries outside from going to the park and riding his bike. His studies took most of Romaní time, wanting to become the best iteration that he can be, to repay those who worked tirelessly to give him a life worth living. Notability is important, and being under the radar all his life made it so that a bit of patience brewed on his system.
This world is fragile, situated in a ceiling of glass. Founded on lands of sand, the titling of the simplest motion could cave it and everything about it could fall. Humanity is one thing, however. Strong- Through ever cave in, through every ounce of hardship and turmoil that they are faced, we all as a unit come together to lift each other up, or similarly, we garner or strength to defeat that which plagues us. Strength is what he perhaps wishes to accomplish. But-- what would that translate to?
Relationships Joey Grayson: Romaní is troubled by how nice he seems, but similarly he admires his character towards life. Genuine kindness is a rarity and Joey is someone who demonstrates that on a silver platter. Maybe it's hard to call someone a friend, because Joey thinks the world is his friend. But Joey is someone Romaní trust enough to allow himself to be somewhat open about things with him. He was one of the few people who looked him in the eyes the entire time, and not at his scar.
Alistair’s physical form is fairly average; he’s perhaps a touch shorter than medium height, is neither scrawny nor bulky and has a face somewhere between broad and angular. His hair is jet black and his eyes are a dull green. He’s normally at least somewhat well-kept – he washes his face enough to avoid outbreaks of acne but does get the occasional spot; has his hair cut every four or five months or so; and shaves once every two days.
In regards to clothing, Alistair’s wardrobe isn’t extensive or especially varied, since he isn’t exactly fashion-conscious and lets his parents and grandparents buy most of his clothing for him. His school uniform is worn according to Evergreen’s policy; when dressed casually he prefers mostly plain and fairly dark clothes, favouring mostly forest greens, maroons and deep blues, though he’s also a fan of burnt orange. Where he does wear more colour is on his t-shirts – which most people don’t know because he also favours heavier clothing, to the point that he’s been known to wear jumpers during heatwaves. Given that he enjoys walking, he possesses very rugged and practical footwear and sees little need to use anything else beyond his school shoes.
Personality
Once extroverted and constantly cheerful, Alistair is now a considerably more muted and deeply introspective young man, questioning everything about the world around him to try and make some sense out of the growing chaos and contradiction. For now, that contradiction has rendered him more than a little mechanical, simply going through the motions of daily life. He rarely attempts to make friends anymore; that said, should one take the effort to crack his shell and get to know him, they would find someone who is still very personable, kind and warm – even fun-loving! What was previously his main drive, the determination to push society to be open and more welcoming, has been stifled; his primary goal now lies in finding the answers to the questions which are stifling it.
Background
Alistair’s life did not begin favourably. His biological parents died in a car crash when he was about three. Both were only children and, by a stroke of misfortune, all of his biological grandparents had died already; with no family to care for him, Alistair was thus put up for adoption. This, in most cases, would not have set him up well for the future.
Enter Henry Parton and Steven Daniels, a young, kind couple who had entered into a civil partnership two years previously, as soon as the law allowed, and were now looking to adopt. Their application came through and, after warming quickly to Alistair and he only slightly less quickly to them, the two became his new parents and their mid-sized apartment in Manchester his new home.
This would be precursor to the best part of Alistair’s existence thus far. Proving bright, he was placed into private education funded by Steven’s job as a civil rights lawyer, something which he enjoyed thoroughly. At the same time, Henry’s work running a youth club in Manchester’s heart, where he kept watch over Alistair each day after school, kept the young boy from becoming snobbish – in fact, he became something of a little brother figure to several of the teenagers who frequented it. Through them, Alistair learned about many of society’s social ills, an education that was redoubled by his participation with his parents in Manchester’s Pride events and them simply telling him about their experiences when they were younger and society was less tolerant. Indeed, Alistair only knew two of his parents’ parents; Steven’s were heavily religious and had ostracised him upon his coming out. Nonetheless, that was the past and this was now; now the two of them were happy together and now they had a son who was quickly developing the fire to confront obstacles to his own and others’ happiness head-on.
Indeed, things could seemingly only get better. Henry and Steven married in 2013 as soon as same-sex couples gained the legal right to do so and Alistair took the surname ‘Parton’ at his own insistence, binding their family yet more closely. At around the same time, Steven secured a high-profile job at a law office in London and, with Henry assuring him that one of his fellow youth workers was actively eager to take on a leadership role, the two moved southwards. Fortuitously, this was just before Alistair was due to start secondary school; while he did shed some tears over leaving his friends at his old school and at the youth club, the transition was more inevitable and thus somewhat less painful. Performing very well in his SATs, he more than passed the threshold for entrance to Evergreen.
And then things got complicated.
Alistair never quite learned to love London – the place was unfamiliar, yes, but Alistair also found it more claustrophobic than Manchester; there were noticeably more people and buildings packed into any given space. It all felt rather hostile and, unfortunately, that set a tone. Alistair never quite secured a friendship group at Evergreen in the same way that he had at his last school. Nor did he find himself with much social activity outside of school hours; not one to fall into gang activity, he instead started exercising his independence in walking through London’s many parks (one of the few things he preferred about the city). Richmond Park quickly became one of his favourite places to be and he’d often spend hours traversing its pathways.
That gave him time to contemplate, and he needed it, for his beliefs were also under assault. In 2016, when Alistair had just turned 13, the United Kingdom held a referendum on membership of the European Union. He and his parents, like most others, expected a Remain victory. They were wrong. For Alistair, this was a shock. Brexit, and especially the surge in racist abuse afterwards, presented a profound challenge to his previous belief that humanity was moving towards a more open future and would continue that way if only there were people to strive for it. He came to question whether fighting for a cause at all could in fact do more harm than good; after all, in Brexit’s case, the backlash against the values that he treasured had actually become more powerful than the case for those values. This wasn’t helped by his increasing predisposition towards philosophy, especially existentialism, and his hardening certainty that there could be no such thing as an objective right or wrong – meaning that all of the beliefs that he considered abhorrent were, in fact, as justifiable as his own. They could still be fought against, of course, but then he was reluctant to do that now.
This brings us to the Alistair of today. Having passed his GCSEs with a mixture of ‘A*’s, ‘A’s and ‘B’s, he’s set to enter Evergreen’s Sixth Form for the coming two years and, caught between his desire to provoke positive change and his fear that attempting to do so has an equal chance to bring about the inverse, he has chosen subjects that he hopes will give him some answers. He’s still really not okay with just sitting back as he has been, though; he wants the chance to act, to dedicate himself to the justice and harmony that, deep down, he’s still hopeful that society can one day embody.
Perhaps he’ll have that chance.
Education
Student at Evergreen Grammar School entering the Lower Sixth, studying:
A-Level Philosophy A-Level Sociology A-Level English Literature
Affiliations
Henry Parton – adoptive father Steven Parton – adoptive father Janice Parton – adoptive grandmother Terence Parton – adoptive grandfather
Relationships
A Strange Boy in a Hat – Alistair saw A Strange Boy in a Hat once this year when he witnessed him climbing a tree in the Evergreen quad before the school day began. Despite his ultimate inaction, he perceived such behaviour as erratic and dangerous at the time and felt somewhat compelled to either quickly resolve or at least comprehend the situation.
Mikhail Chekhov – Alistair’s first meeting with Mikhail consisted of him being knocked down, almost punched in the face and then asked to buy rhubarb pie, an encounter that didn’t serve to dispel any of the few rumours that he thinks he may have previously overheard about him. His first instincts were of fear, confusion and capitulation, which still define whatever connection he may have formed with the Russian expat, though they perhaps haven’t bedded in quite yet.
Alistair’s Metaverse outfit takes the form of a knight’s suit of armour, the steel thermally coloured a slate blue-grey but otherwise undecorated; the helm’s visor is his mask. Over the top of the armour he wears a tabard whose field is divided into eleven ordinaries (sections – four on the back, five on the front including an escutcheon and one on each shoulder piece); each ordinary contains a coat of arms representing one of his teammates. Curiously, the escutcheon in the centre of the tabard’s front remains completely blank, with no colouration beyond the off-white of the fabric itself.
Equipment
As a close combat weapon, Alistair carries a montante; a practice weapon made of nylon in reality, it cuts just as well as its historical steel counterparts in the Metaverse. Almost as long as he is tall, Alistair whirls this surprisingly defensive two-handed sword in great slashing arcs to keep multiple Shadows at bay and allow his teammates to work and fight unimpeded.
Alistair doesn’t carry any true ranged weapons; instead, he keeps a bag of caltrops on hand which he scatters immediately before a fight and collects afterwards. These small tetrahedral spikes always land with a point up, significantly limiting the mobility of Shadows which move across the ground. This can be used to simply slow them down or to concentrate them into chokepoints - where Alistair will almost certainly be.
‘Horatius alone remained where he had first taken his stand, and directed Herminius and Larcius to tell the consuls, as from him, to cut away the bridge in all haste at the end next the city... the rest, he said, would be his concern. Having given these instructions to the two men, he stood upon the bridge itself, and when the enemy advanced upon him, he struck some of them with his sword and beat down others with his shield, repulsing all who attempted to rush upon the bridge. For the pursuers, looking upon him as a madman who was courting death, dared no longer come to grips with him... Finally, when he was overwhelmed with missiles and had a great number of wounds in many parts of his body... he heard those behind him shouting out that the greater part of the bridge was broken down. Thereupon he leaped with his arms into the river and swimming across the stream with great difficulty (for the current, being divided by the piles, ran swift and formed large eddies), he emerged upon the shore without having lost any of his arms in swimming.
Horatius, who had shown so great valour upon that occasion, occupied as enviable a position as any Roman who ever lived, but he was rendered useless by his lameness for further services to the state; and because of this misfortune he obtained neither the consulship nor any military command either.’
Background and Symbolism
Publius Horatius Cocles (the last part, meaning ‘one-eyed’, coming from the fact that he had previously lost an eye in battle) was a junior officer in the legendary earliest days of the Roman Republic. After the Romans lost a battle against an army of Etruscans seeking to restore their former king and their own forces fled into the city, Horatius fought first alongside two more senior officers and then alone to hold the Pons Sublicus, the wooden and at the time only bridge across the River Tiber, as it was torn down behind him. Though battered by enemy missiles and wounded in many places, including being run through entirely with a javelin above the hip, he stood steadfast against the entire Etruscan host until the bridge began to collapse; at that point he jumped into the Tiber itself, trusting himself to the god of the river. At this point tradition diverges. According to Polybius Horatius died in the waters, swept away under a hail of spears; according to Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he reached the bank despite the weight of his wargear but was crippled by his injuries. Whatever happened, Rome survived.
Appearance
As Alistair’s Persona, Horatius takes the form of a man with bronze skin, wearing sandles, a bronze breastplate, greaves and a broad-brimmed, crestless helmet over a deep red woollen tunic; all are battle-worn, marked with innumerable scratches and dents. Highly prominent are two holes that run straight through his body, one above the hip and one through his eye-socket; the latter of these is the only properly visible part of his face, as the helmet casts an unnaturally dark shadow over it. He wields a bronze Italic sword, stained with blood, in his right hand. Most notable, however, is the shield that he wields in his left: of the Republican style (a heavily bowed rectangular shape that bends backwards less than its later evolutions) but absolutely massive, easily as tall as Horatius himself and proportionately wide. Its face is similarly bloodstained, stuck with dozens of broken and half-broken javelins and, like Horatius’ armour and skin, covered in scratches and gashes, as is its rim. The one exception is the entirely untarnished central bronze boss and its plate, formed in the shape of an outward-facing, halting palm, which gleams defiantly against oncoming foes.
Symbolism
Horatius represents Alistair’s ability to dedicate himself to his allies and friends after realising that he need not understand every facet of the causes for which they fight to do so. Horatius also reflects the potential pitfalls of that approach, however, both in his semi-historical origins and his appearance: broken and known only for his martyrdom, leaving nothing of himself to the world.
Skills
☄ Wields Earth Skills ☄ ⛉ Resists Physical and Gun Skills ⛉ ⛶ Weak to Aqua Skills ⛶
"Repetition can make you hate something you love."
Name Phillip Leonhart
Gender Male
Age 19 March 14th.
Sexuality Heterosexual
Nationality Born and raised in London, though one of his grandparents is German, but has so long integrated to British society that his German ancestry has been somewhat barely noticeable
Appearance Changing to St Pauls college has allowed a lot of freedom to pursue his normal style of clothings. He normally sports a pair of suit and tie, usually dark-colored, but occasionally he can show off his white suits whenever he feels partygoing and thrills (good luck getting him to that). In colder times, an additional thick overcoat is employed. You'd likely find him like this all the time, though at home he wears more comfortably, and sometimes you can find him wearing less formal short-sleeved collared shirts when going out on short excursions. People, including close relatives, have been quick to point out how unnecessary it is with the choice of clothes, and inconvenient especially in hotter times of the year, but he doesn't really care. It's simply one man's opinion.
His metaverse appearance downed his formality slightly, but the impression of his age rise spectacularly. In his metaverse self, the suit and tie has been changed to a more Victorian styled attire. Surprisingly enough, it was strangely convenient for him to perform difficult or high speed stunts without much inconveniences. His formal shoes has also been changed to black boots to easily move around quickly.
Height 175cm, 5'7
Personality Why is silence condemned as sadness? That's what Phillip really finds annoying, and basically a sum up of his characteristics in general. Silence is the blissful heaven for Phillip. A time for rest, for personal reflections, for concentrations. He knew it from the time of his prime as an Olympiad participant, and has been like that since. He enjoys sitting by the corner of the room, with a book or a computer besides him, with perhaps a cup of tea to accompany his aloneness. It is not that Phillip is socially awkward by any means, in fact upon interaction you can find it all too clearly how socially capable he is: able to talk without any hesitations or scaredness, sometimes even impressing the other party by how well-mannered this man is. He is capable of holding a meaningful conversation with the opposition, just that he doesn't actively approach anyone, except in a special circumstance, and often don't enjoy small and meaningless conversations. This demeanor too could cause quite some people to depict him as snobbish and arrogant, given his social status and achievements.
In terms of social interaction, Phillip views people rather scientifically. He knows and accepts that there are elements that can mix together really well with another, whilst some may completely reject and ignore the others. And so with humans. That's why he doesn't mind being left alone or ignored. He is just as easy to become friends with depending on which elements they are. For morality, coming from a family of rationale champions, Phillip prefers to view things in a more practical and rational way than emotional, which sometimes might bring him the air of coldness. He doesn't, or at least tries to, react to things emotionally, but in the heat of the moments or during occasions where rationality are not given the space and time to shine, Phillip would adhere mostly to basic sense of morality and kindness.
In the metaverse, this does not change much, if not at all. Strangely, Phillip is just as silent in tense situations as his normal peaceful self, only raising his voice occasionally. Taunting and insults are not in his dictionary, and do not work on him. Even when many thers would scream and shout, either in fear, excitement or maniacally, that neutral lips still plastered on his face. Even as he destroy enemies to pieces, his only responses would be a raise of his eyebrows or a shrug of his shoulders. Persona Archimedes
Biography Phillip's life has been a pretty extraordinary ride in the early stage. Born in a family of engineers and professors, it was rather expected of the young Phillip to inherit the family's knowledge. What they did not expect is how fast it is that he did it. Phillip exhibited an unusually advanced mathematical ability when he was only in primary school, capable of performing early high school level maths at the age of 10. In middle school, the introduction of physics into his curriculum had led to yet another astonishing discovery that his understanding and perception of physics are also at an abnormally high level, just like his math skills. He was among some of the rare individuals to score a whopping 740 on the math section when he was only 13 years of age. 2 years later, the young boy astonishes everyone's already awed impression with him snatching home the silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad. He was once considered one of the smartest kids of his time.
His family was proud, his friends were awed, his teachers were glad to be the educator of the mind of this caliber. All was fine and dandy for everyone.
Everyone except him...
Except for the fact that Phillip didn't enjoy what he's doing. Once felt like the normal school math/physics curriculum could not benefit this bright kid any longer, schools began to recommend him to study at a much higher level. He took courses in university (on a part-time basis) whilst still pursuing high school education at Evergreen. Ones that are perhaps a step too far and too soon. The life of university were a little too foreign for the child prodigy to enjoy or adapt. And the high achievements of Phillip in his early days had led to an unfortunate perception of his intellect: Overestimation.
They didn't understand that even geniuses has their limits, even though he was trying hard to break them.
Courses were rigorous, competitions were high, and expectations from parents, friends and societies to ace exams, pass with flying colors and seizing scholarships began to weigh Phillip down like a chain. And for what reasons? Was it because they wanted to look good in front of everyone with a child who is incredibly smart? Or was it because they wanted Phillip to become a great person, have a great job and do great things? What great jobs and things? They didn't even tell him what was it. It was just blank promises and blind encouragements to get him to work harder with his academics? In fact, as a result he didn't even know what things he wanted to do. He was too busy trying to please the expectations that he didn't know what he should be doing, or what his true role to play in society but being a good role model student. That couldn't possibly last forever.
And eventually he grew distasteful of it. He thought that it was nowhere being his passion, that it lied somewhere else not the ones he was gifted to. Hate would be a rather strong word but it somewhat resembled his feelings towards academia at the time.
Phillip gradually strayed from mathematics and physics, preferring to indulge in other less scientific fields, like philosophy, art, music, everything to interest and keep his mind off the equations and theorems that he had swum in them till his limbs grew weary. He learnt to play the violin while still in Evergreen. And when the time comes, the once smartest kid of the time again astonished everyone, but this time for the totally wrong reasons. Starting with his parents with one single proposal:
"I want to go to St Paul College."
Like...why? St Paul is prestigious and all, but why? His expertise, his prodigious knowledge, his vast intellect could have landed him a spot in Harvard, Stanford or at the least Oxford for convenience sake. Why such a relatively normal school? Why such a path of least resistance? A lot of convincing was done, and despite seemingly broken through to Phillip's mind, he still couldn't choose to go to any of the universities he was offered and recommended, to even the point of irrationality. No one got it. No one could understand why he'd choose that path. Not even himself.
Eventually, as Phillip was considered a grown adult, and being from a family of high prestigious standings, they couldn't force their child. They allowed Phillip to attend St Paul as an engineering student, under his parent's influence, though Phillip usually indulged in something else, as he tried to find the true passion of his mind, and therefore the purpose of his existence. But what he didn't realize was that the thing he was looking for was right before him.
Affiliations Steven Leonhart (Father) Maria Leonhart (Mother)
The most noticeable thing about Elizabeth is her height, or rather her lack of it. Standing at an impressively diminutive four feet and eight inches it's quite easy to overlook her, not helped by her tendency to sit in the back of any given room. When not in her school uniform the young lady opts to wear elegant blouses and skirts or a comfy sweater and slacks, brightening up the usually dark ensemble with chokers of red or blue. Her face is delicately proportioned and tends to express only dreamy nonchalance at any given situation.
Her most distinctive feature is covered by her clothes, a surgical scar from when her ribs were broken by a kick from a young horse on her mother's ranch. A long line tracing over the right side of her body, it serves as a painful reminder to never let her guard down in any situation.
A regal cavalry officer's uniform with this Hat and this Mask.
Height 4'8"
Personality At first glance Elizabeth seems like a gentle woman, kind and thoughtful even if she was quiet and maybe even a bit slow. When people speak to her it takes a moment for her eyes to focus on them, the young lady shaking her head like a dog trying to scare off flies. Often times a near whispered "Come again?" are the first words to come out of her mouth, her New England accent shining through. While her conversational partner repeats themselves they might find her humming quietly to herself or fiddling with her choker, nodding her head in time to unheard music while reaching down to pet her dogs Basker and Buck. She's often written off as airheaded and harmless, a pretty face with nothing behind it.
Nothing could be farther from reality. Her relatives on her father's side are all old money Yankees whose family had made it's forturne selling gunpowder to both sides of the American Civil War and crushing coal miner's strikes during the Gilded Age. Her maternal grandfather was a Texas oil and cattle baron who had crushed all his local competitors using underhanded business practices and benefited from "mysterious" arson attacks on rival wells and ranches. Besides receiving education from world renowned private tutors from the age of three she picked up from her family a shrewd mind for business and cold analysis of situations. One habit she has is making lists of weaknesses and past trauma she gleans from conversations and making plans on how utilize them to force favors out of the person.
And she hates it. Both sides of her family had ingrained her with a brutal mindset focused on extracting money out of every possible situation and leveraging all relationships for insider information and wiggling into backroom deals, had tried to make her into the next Washington lobbyist or boardroom cutthroat, and she's not about to play their game. Elizabeth is caring person, an animal lover who will turn out her pockets for every last bit of change in them to give to the less fortunate. She also carries a firm sense of right and wrong and a fierce belief in free will, a direct contrast to the amoral family that had tried to force her into the life of a ruthless capitalist.
Persona
A massive canine glowing orange and blue of the Justice arcana, Fenrir is capable of tearing apart enemies with teeth and claws or utilizing attacks of blinding nuclear energy.
Education Sociology (St. Paul's College) BTEC Business Studies(Evergreen) A-Level Music (Evergreen) A-Level Religious Studies (Evergreen) Elizabeth also speaks fluent Spanish and Chinese and is a talented pianist, besides her ability to ride horses and shoot. Biography Elizabeth Astor was born three weeks early to Johnathan Astor and Katherine Simmons in the upscale resort of Martha's Vineyard during the parent's vacation, being delivered by a private doctor in a hotel room that was bigger than most people's houses. It was a sign of what was to come, the young girl being whisked off to the family mansion in New Bedford to be tended to by an army of nurses and nannies. The moment she wet herself her diaper was changed, she could hardly let out a single cry before some attentive nursemaid scooped her up and quieted her down. The closet full of diapers and baby clothes was big enough to have served as her playpen if she didn't have a room stocked with toys and stuffed animal hung with paintings of cherubs and woodland creatures. She had more than any baby needed or wanted but lacked a functional family.
Johnathan Astor and Katherine Clark were a marriage of a convenience through and through, a shrewd attempt by both families to try and gain an upper hand on their competitors and to secure an heir to both empires. It was a completely loveless relationship. The couple had separate bedrooms and had various affairs in them that the other knew about and didn't care. There was no animosity, in fact they were on friendly terms. They were both business oriented sharks who devoted themselves to their private ventures and worked together to mold their daughter into the next Rockefeller. To that end they surrounded her with the best tutors money could buy, teaching English, Chinese, mathematics, the classics, art history, any and every subject that they could.
When Elizabeth turned ten her mother moved back out to her grandfather's estate in Nevada, the young Astor splitting her time between the cold of New England and the heat of the Mojave. On the ranch she learned to shoot guns, ride horses, and train dogs as well as continued her training in the art of the deal. But the most important lesson she picked up was to never let her guard down. When little Astor was twelve she earned herself a kick to the ribs from a horse she was grooming after having failed to notice its agitation. It was a glancing blow, but even a light tap from a full grown horse is cause for alarm. Elizabeth managed to escape the situation with three broken ribs, a punctured lung, a scar from the emergency surgery, and an important lesson: watch your surroundings and pay attention to how people react.
While she was recovering she spent a lot of time with a cousin named Jacob who would show up with books and board games, the two playing Monopoly while he would tell her stories of robbers who would break into people's dreams to find the location of their treasure. Elizabeth didn't recognize that she was being groomed, prepared to be introduced to the family's real line of work when she was older. Both the Astors and Clarks were families that could enter the Metaverse and used their skills to ensure that things went their way. Elizabeth was simply the next in a long line of young men and women inducted into the business when they reached the age of twenty.
But she left the country before that could happen. She had grown to hate the way both sides of her family tree seemed to focus on money over anything else. She didn't want to make profit for profit's sake, to be drawn into the soulless world of business. She wanted to be a musician, an writer, a painter, anything that involved life and joy. She was allowed the chance to break free at seventeen when her grandfather passed away, leaving her with an inheritance of millions dollars as well as a small ranch of her own in New Mexico. The opportunity had presented itself and she seized it, going through the process of getting herself legally emancipated so she could get the inheritance transferred to a personal account.
As soon as the money was in her bank account she took off for London, selected at random. The ranch ran itself and she never needed to work a day in her life, she was living out a scenario most teens could only dream of. Now what to do with this freedom? Affiliations Katherine Simmons (Mother) Jonathan Astor (Father) Jacob Simmons (Cousin) Buck Astor (Doberman) Basker Astor (Ovcharka) Relationships To be filled out as the RP progresses
Character Theme Not necessary, but can be used if wished.
Appearance Mikhail is a thin and slender young man with an athletic build who is nevertheless experiencing a growth spurt. His smooth face is almost constantly in a scowl, his shoulder-length blond hair clean, even glossy. He prefers to wear hoodies and other concealing clothing but will switch to the default Evergreen Academy school uniform if needed.
In the Metaverse, Mikhail's costume reflects his mental fragility, with the white glint of said costume not being ice, but glass. The contrast between white and black is also a symbol of death, with both colors being a symbol of mourning in Eastern and Western Cultures.
Height 5'4
Personality Mikhail Chekhov is a bitter boy stuck in a self-destructive spiral. Though maintaining enough presence of mind to distance himself from those he might hurt, Mikhail is set on his revenge against his father's killer and the Russian Government, the ones who employed said killer. To accomplish this, he is focused on his studies, seeing in them not just the way to gain the money and power needed to hunt down the murderer who had ruined his life, but also the skills needed to directly gain his revenge. For just as his father died from poison, so will the killer die by it. And if he needs others' help to get it, he'll make them give it to him.
But inside him is a part that is repulsed at what he has become, a part of him that wants to reach out and make friends, friends who would save him from his inevitable fall. He does not want to die alone, he does not want to die at all. But the need for revenge still burns brightly.
Persona
A Persona of the Tower Arcana, Set is a god of deserts, storms, and chaos.
Biography Mikhail's first memory was the cold as his family's plane landed in London, his' father's defection from Russia earning them first-class treatment in London. Life after that was happy, as his father doted on him in his spare time, and he grew up surrounded by his mother and a circle of friends. This happiness lasted for most of his life, but the brightest light was his father's kindness.
His father was a good man, too humane for spy work, especially in Russia. Able to forgive anything, able to see all sides of a discussion, able to strike bargains that satisfied everyone in his professional and personal life, Mikhail was proud of him. And that led to tragedy.
When Mikhail was 14, his father came home sick. Then the sickness turned out to be an unknown, almost untracable poison that slowly wrecked the man's body, causing him to lose weight until he was a shell of his former self, merely skin and bones. When death came, it was a mercy for him,but not for Mikhail, who was inconsolable, shutting himself in his room for hours at a time. And when he did come out... His face was deathly, as though something in his soul had been scooped out.
He went back to school for a few days, then as he noticed that his feelings towards his friends were becoming more hostile, transferred to Evergreen Academy before he can lash out at them. In Evergreen Academy, he swiftly earned a reputation for being anti-social and potentilaly psychotic, ready to snap at others at a moment's notice. But, he was good at his studies, he was good at Chemistry and Biology, especially when it came to the study of toxins and poisons and proper mixtures of them.
Unknown to them, he was studying the poison that had killed his father, looking for a way to duplicate its effects. But with no ethical way to acquire test subjects (lab rats were a thing, but even those needed special permisison from the faculty), it was clear that Mikhail had limits to his research.
Then he found an old-style computer disc in his attic, among his father's personal effects. Assuming it was music, Mikhail put the disk in his computer... Only to find a wealth of information on Russian activities, including their assassins and poisoners. Though he was unable to understand it all, he knew enough to find leads as to the composition of the poison that killed his father, its potential antidotes, and how to make a poison stronger still. And finally, he found a list of names, both code and real ones. Did one of those lead to his father's killer? If so, this meant that he had a hit list...
Affiliations Vasily Chekhov (Father). Mina Anastasia Chekhov (Mother)
Tyler's exercises when he was young probably didn't show as much as one may think, he wasn't exactly a bulky type even back when he was in his prime.
The fair-going-pale complexion on his otherwise Caucasian skin suggests a near mundane level of sunlight contacting the skin, though in the UK, it's hardly ever not cloudy so this could also be relatively normal coloring compared to the rest of the population.
His hair was originally brown, then was dyed to white as a child, before being darkened purposely to a light grey; a failed attempt of turning it back to brown by using coffee. But regardless of his color of hair was, his eyes remained a radiant blue.
Back when he was younger at the prime of his exercising days, he wore a lot of darker clothing, the kind of stuff that was just barely tolerant for school dress codes, no real rhyme or reason to any combination, going with whatever could grab at the time. Usually though, it was along the lines of a dark grey pair of jeans, with a darkened t-shirt, under a black over-shirt/coat. When he got really upset at people he would have a fake knife pocketed in the over-shirt or coat, brandishing it to deal them with threats or beat them with the hilt. He also wore short boots made for outdoor traveling, the hard material being useful for if he needed to kick someone.
Nowadays however, his choice of attire changed as much as he did. Both in and out of school, he prefers to wear rather bright clothing, like using a Sky-blue over-shirt over a white dress shirt to use as part of his school uniform, a yellow tie to contrast while still being bright itself to complete the top, and a light-grey pair of jeans, all of which seem adequately cleaned and pressed, albeit clearly by an amateur if the wrinkles here and there on shirt's arms and the pants are any sign. Common dress shoes of a brown leather and a normal brown shoestrings to tie them together, relatively tidy and almost brand new.
The Casual wear depends on weather of the moment, but the general theming is bright colors as well. Currently, his casual clothing of choice is a red cotton button-down short-sleeved shirt with a logo on the back depicting two hands coming together - one being white with a black dot at the back of the palm, and the other being vice-versa, forming an odd version of the Tao symbol - green cargo shorts, and some white tennis shoes.
Inside the warped realm of his mind lies another him, would look exactly like him if not for the glowing yellow eyes and the unnaturally darkened complexions of his skin. His attire greatly exaggerates the inner militarism in Tyler, typical aspect of Shadows, looking like a General of a particularly controversial German army. The Shadow wears an olive green undershirt with a black tie, a small pin of an olive tree placed at the center of the tie, a heavily decorated brown overcoat containing various medals, all of them ironically seemingly symbols of peace, and a matching long brown coat with the badge of a white feather on the Lapel. To complete the General look, he wears a green military authority cap with a skull and crossbones in the center.
The first thing of note would be the full-face mask on his face, a red traditional Chinese mask with the symbol of Tao on the forehead, symbolizing the balance of ying and yang; less a symbol of actual peace and more one of inner peace.
As if to fit into that as well, the Image of Rebellion is the garbs of a monk, more specifically that of a warrior monk beneath a brown silk robe, symbolizing a merger of his inner warrior with that of the peaceful and pacifistic side of him. For obvious reasons: It's eventually decided that his code-name is "Monk".
After coming to terms with his inner turmoils, he decided to change up his appearance for the duration of his time as a Phantom Thief. While still keeping to a pair of blue jeans, his boots from his younger days returned, as does his darken T-shirt, only now the overcoat is essentially a cargo coat colored in the traditional green camouflage, a set pair of Blank Dog-tags to complete his more pro-military look.
Height 5'7"
Weight 140 lbs
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Personality There was a time when Tyler was just a normal kid: Bubbly, optimistic to the point of naivety, innocent. He saw his twin siblings as under his care as much as they under the care of his parents, and he often fastened himself to thoughts of being a superhero in guarding them. He idolized both his Father and his Uncle for their veteran status in the British Military, having a desire to grow up and be just like them. This was combined with a sense of unquestioning trust in his Uncle, which led to what changed him utterly.
After his training under his uncle, brutal as it was, he came out of it with his family meaning the world to him, and everyone else an enemy who merely are waiting to attack. Ruthless and rather hot-headed, the feelings of sympathy for the 'enemy' was beaten out of him, and any word of his twins being bullied was met with rather brutal bullying to the one responsible, wasn't hesitant to get his fists bloody or brandish knives in order to do that, eventually it grew beyond just bullying his kid siblings and went to attacking people who he felt was being jerks to others in the school he was at as well.
Although it would be wrong to say he was like that, all the time. While he no longer had much of a good relationship with his father due to the whole going-behind-his-back thing, the rest of his family he was always particularly compassionate for. He tried his best (however little that is in his given state of mind) to go through school, and whenever his siblings need help with something, he's the first one to step up to help out...even if he's not good at particular subjects they need help on. The same goes with his mother, often giving her a hand without much question, and of course he felt he owed his Uncle as his proverbial mentor, so whatever he wanted him to go out and do for him, even if it was considered 'questionable', he'd do in a heartbeat. Of course, they had a tendency to irritate him one way or another, but he never really acted upon that frustration, letting the angst be kept inside until he could let it out on something - like exercising - or someone, to ventilate. Sometimes, he even went after friends who were doing anything that was particularly bad, which looked to others like he was asserting dominance as an Alpha Male in a group of delinquents like him.
While he had an utter love for meat and general protein, something encouraged by his Uncle to help with his exercise among other healthy things to keep the body in shape, a certain friend he met during his delinquent days essentially gave him something of a sweet tooth for the less healthy but more flavorful things in life. In addition, other than his exercising, he showed him how to skate and inspired him to give art a chance....He was and still is not particularly good with either of these.
After the incident, however, it was as if his mindset, all that he was before just...shattered like broken glass. He was locked in his room for days nearly put into a state of absolute despondence, the event playing over and over again in his head, without stop. He had to put himself into focusing on something, anything else, just to let to drown out the damned thoughts from his head.
Which leads to how he is nowadays, a complete turn around from how he was back then. He was calm and silent for the most part from the first day he came back into school to the present day, never really interacting with other people, and apologizing to the people he did mess with back then. The same Tyler Blackmore who was beating down other people for their bullying of others, was now the bullied one, practically allowing others to mess with him, to fight with him. ...Actually, fight isn't a word for it, cause no matter how much they beaten him to the ground, he never fought back. He would grown in pain after the fact, let it run its course, then walk away with a black eye and some blood dripping down as if nothing ever happened. Fortunately, all the exercise he was forced into gave him a bit more endurance compared to others.
The brute that cursed like a sailor and acted rude to everyone but his family was now a creature of politeness and kindness. Quick to be the selfless one and throw on a smile to everyone he met. The man who dyed his hair white as a way to stand out, darkened his hair to better fit back in. The same delinquent who was all about the dark ragged attire that barely met the dress code was now dressed neat and tidy in bright colors. Whenever about it, he simply states that he "was told he looked good in lighter stuff" and never quite clarifies the why. His school life changed for the better as well, as he put more focus into his studies than he ever did, going beyond his former best which allowed access to Evergreen eventually. He decided on Psychology, philosophy, as two of his courses for "personal reasons" as he puts it, and the only reason he also has PE was at his father's insistence, since Tyler was also now barely ever exercising anymore.
Speaking of which, in terms of his family life, his relationship with his mother was relatively the same, but now the relationship between his father and his uncle is almost completely reversed. Now he has good relations with his father, while his Uncle is the one he has a lukewarm and rather unstable relationship with. He'd never go as far as cussing him out in anger, something very unusual for him compared to back then, but he'd barely give his uncle any small talk, and tries to leave the area as much as he can. While his father and him are now getting along well enough for people to forget that his Dad almost disowned him for his past personality.
Most noteworthy, however, was that this person who used violence like it was a part of his religion became an extremely pacifistic man. He is always trying to stop fighting peacefully, even if it means getting socked in the face himself, always keeping himself from any kind of violence, steering clear as if he's outright afraid of it. Any threats to his own life he would just ignore, any threats to his family he'd report to authorities. Someone who once considered an Alpha dog was now labeled a coward.
However, not everything was all sunshine and rainbows, despite his every attempt at it looking like that. Whatever caused the boy to change caused his very mindset to become heavily distorted, to a point where, indeed, he has a palace of his own. Within that Palace as its ruler lies his inner self, all of the inner aggression and hot-headedness he had in the past, amplified and exaggerated, and it has indeed effected his mental health. Mentioning his Brother or his sister to him was a trigger of sorts something that his former friends have done at first and almost led to a spontaneous relapse into violence before Tyler stops himself from going too far. Even without that, sometimes - not all times but sometimes - whenever he's around people, strangers especially, his mind's eye has flashed him with visions of them attacking him, or him attacking them, in more lethal ways than he's used to. He of course went to doctors about this, but nothing they could advise seemed to get the hallucinations out of his head, and he didn't want to make his parents worry themselves to death by taking extreme measures of fixing it, so instead he hides that part of himself, until he can one day find a way to make it stop.
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you needn't fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
That Actual Persona Seems to a rather massive humanoid mass of fire energy, surrounded by what appears to be clay armor, protruding outward like spikes or stalagmites coming from them and a helmet that appears to also protrude from atop like a crown, his feet completely covered in clay stuck to a platform also made of clay, and a giant golden ring with a fiery design, a symbol of the sun, floating behind him. However, Tyler himself is completely covered in a clay cocoon just below the platform, that can produce a spire above Sun Tzu's platform that extends it upward like a tower. Inside the Clay Cocoon at the bottom is a dimensional space of his own, (Akin to Necronomicon's dimensional space in Persona 5.) where he sees through Sun Tzu's eyes and is able to move all but Sun Tzu's feet with his own body.
Symbolism As the supposed and legendary author of the Art of War, Sun Tzu was believed to be a master general and tactician, employing tactics that go beyond the typical nature of battlefield combat, and employing the many detailed assets of an army, believing supreme excellence is "breaking the enemy resistance without fighting". Tyler was a proverbial soldier in a modern war of thugs, and knows the inner workings of street warfare, but preferring to never actually step into a battlefield and witness the horrors of violence again if he could help it, preferring instead to find ways of assisting his friends and allies from outside the battlefield using the expertise he's learned from his experience in the war.
"Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence. Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
Skill Analysis and Navigation Contrary to its looks, Sun Tzu is a Navigator and Analysis Persona, he himself serving as a humanoid antenna for Tyler himself. When extended at a high enough vantage point, The Cocoon works like a giant monitor encircling Tyler, through which he can see multiple happenings around him at once, and able to zoom in on multiple battles at once, and analyzing multiple enemies at a time within range. Moreover, he able to use his position to mark his monitor, and communicate with everyone, relaying strategies without much problem. Later on, he will be able to use the ring around his back to assist his allies indirectly, via buffs and shields. In addition, he has no weaknesses of any kind. However, The drawback is, again contrary to how he looks, his persona is by no means offensive or capable of completely defending itself. It cannot fight, and has no strengths of its own.
Physically Fit above Standards and Analytical Intellect Less to do with his Persona, and more to do with his own personal skills. His training and exercises when he was young were enough to make him more than capable of fighting with his body. While it has become past its prime after the incident, his PE classes has helped to still keep him in shape. Additionally, he has an eye for detail and heightened sense of perception, something he learned as a by-product of trying to get the bad thoughts out of his head during the worst days of his life; anything he could focus on instead, he did. This has given him an analytical and even an amateurish deductive mindset, albeit one limited to the normal restrictions of eyesight.
Equipment Nothing; After what he's been through, he'd rather not pick up a weapon ever again. As the Navigator in the side-lines, he feels he has no need to do so, anyways. If, by some unexpected circumstance he hypothetically is attacked by someone, however, he has learned Mixed Martial Arts when he was young as a part of his "training", and should he ever break his own oath for some ungodly reason, he knows quite well how to wield a knife and multiple guns, albeit through simulated training with models and his Uncle's methods of simulating the actual effects. His uncle also taught him how to be improvising in the way he uses these weapons.
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Biography Tyler Blackmore was the firstborn child of Samuel Blackmore, a Veteran of the British military who was honorably discharged from service, and Patricia Blackmore, a Nurse at a Hospital in the Camden Borough of London. The first few years of his life was relatively normal without much going on.
This changed at the age of five, when his mother gave birth to twins, Nate and Kate Blackmore, whom his father drilled into him to be the respectable big brother to watch over them. This sort of responsibility was something that excited the little boy; before then he was always reading comic books about superheroes, and saw himself with the potential to become one himself, watching over two little siblings as their hero. He wanted to be the best big brother he possibly could be for them, and striven to be that.
At first, the babies that were born and being taken care of were something of a natural annoyance, they cried constantly, they kept the attention of the parents on them, and that's not even getting into the kind of trouble they got into at around two years old when they started going into his room and wrecking his stuff. However, he pushed himself through it, his father's order ringing in his ear. Eventually, they got passed the worst part, and were raised well enough by both of their parents. A combination of Samuel's military discipline and Patricia's caring nature as a nurse did wonders for the three of them in that respect. Kate grew into a kindly and mature little girl, while Nate, while somewhat bratty and a smart-ass, was a fun and social kid to be around. It wasn't exactly what one would consider a perfect family by a long shot, but they were a happy one, and Tyler couldn't ask for much more than that.
One day however, when Tyler was about eleven, he got himself bullied in school, something that continued on and off again throughout the school year, not just him either, it seems this particular bully was striking at anyone who couldn't fight back at the time. It was around that point that a thought crossed his mind that the same thing could very well happen to the twins as well, and they probably aren't capable of protecting themselves.
That's when another thought crossed his mind, if he could make himself to get stronger for them, he would be able to take down anyone who could mess with them. Who better to ask for this than his military father? Family friends of the couple often told stories about their father's career, pointing out all these amazing things that he and his brother was said to have done in the past in the name of queen and country. He admired the heroes of his comic book, and in his eyes, his father was just as much one.
However, his father refused Tyler's request, practically outright. When asked why, he simply said that he did not want Tyler to follow in his footsteps, that he wanted him to find his own purpose in life away from the life Samuel had to live, and that he should let Nate and Kate fight their own battles in regards of the bullying. Violence was never going to be the answer to this dilemma, nor should it ever be.
Needless to say, they got into a fight about it, which resulted in his father yelling at him, ordering him to stop thinking about this whole bullying thing, ending the conversation then and there. Needless to say, Tyler was very upset at this. The very father he looked up to claiming not to ever be like him? It didn't make any sense in his mind. However, he did have one other angle he could try.
Later on after school, he didn't go home, but instead walked somewhere else in the city of Cambridge, the House of Samuel's older brother, and the trio's estranged Uncle, Hugo Blackmore. Hugo and Samuel were not just blood brothers, but brothers in arms as well, both of them joined the military, and while the family friends were a bit more hesitant talking about Hugo for some reason, they did claim he did things just as important as Samuel's accomplishments...the details of which they never explained like they did with Samuel. Plus, Hugo was always very sweet and energetic to the kids when the family get-togethers happen. Sure he and Samuel hardly spoken a word to each other in all his years of living, but that could mean anything.
Knowing full well he was going behind his father's back, he turned to the other discharged veteran of war, and made the same request he asked Samuel. At first, Hugo was starting to make the same kind of claims that Samuel did, that violence probably isn't the best answer, that Samuel likely doesn't want him to be a soldier or at least go through soldier training for something like bullies, etc. But the conversation ended differently, Hugo simply asked if Tyler was absolutely sure he wanted to go down this path. The boy nodded in acceptance, and Hugo stated his one condition on the matter: Nate and Kate need to take part in this training as well. While he admires Tyler's resolve to protect them, they probably should be able to fight their own battles as well, and pointed out that it's always nice to have some comrades by their side when the going gets tough. Tyler was hesitant, but Hugo's words convinced him that maybe it was the right thing to do.
Thus the training began, almost immediately. Tyler took his brother and sister after school to Hugo's house almost every day, explaining to the parents that he was taking them to a friends house after school to help study up for the year; not necessarily a lie, seeing as he's going to a family member's house and they are technically studying up.
However, Tyler's training under Hugo was a bit more...Aggressive than he first thought. The man had a bunch of model guns and plastic weaponry in his basement for the purpose of keeping his own training alive while avoiding the whole "guns-are-illegal" problem that they'd normally have. They weren't as heavy, and they couldn't actually fire save for some air-soft pellets, so Tyler had to make due with Hugo "simulating" the real deal. Whenever he fired a model pistol, Hugo would give a light punch to his shoulder to "simulate" the recoil, the more Tyler didn't hold the gun right, the harder the punch to his shoulder. He even placed small weights on the weapons to simulate the actual weights of the real deal.
As it turned out, Hugo did indeed have exceptional talent and accomplishments during his stay in the military like Samuel. However, unlike Samuel, it turned out Hugo was a bit of an extremist in his methods. When time came for war, he didn't hesitate slaughtering anyone he felt was an enemy whether they were actual terrorists or civilians. Samuel personally hauled him in to be court marshaled after a mission gone wrong that he used him over, but was given an honorable discharge regardless due to some "favors" he had with the government. It seems the two brothers weren't on speaking terms since, but he kept up appearance as a matter of principle.
Thus in his aggressive teachings, Hugo essentially hammered into Tyler's head that everyone who wasn't with him was against him, and that people who are with him, he shouldn't be afraid to use to his advantage when the going gets tough. He was less strict to Nate and Kate, but the only reason for that was their age and their somewhat disinterested prospects in the manner of war. But all of them were put through physical exercises, while Tyler in particular was also put through utility and weapon exercises, using plastic weapons and model guns.
Combine this with Tyler just about hitting the puberty age, and by the time Hugo was done with him, Tyler was an angsty kid with a hot temper and an overprotective nature about his siblings. Samuel found out later on that the three was with Hugo for all those days and immediately called Tyler out on it as soon as he could. Tyler, who was sporting a White hair-do and some dark clothes - the former being at Hugo's assistance, something about blending in with the fog, he didn't completely understood it but felt it's probably a good reason somehow - was immediately met with angry yelling, followed by Samuel trying to explain to him what Hugo did in the past in his frustration. But this time he wasn't having it, fully convinced his Uncle, his mentor, was meaning well, started fighting with his father verbally. Needless to say, it was a stalemate, with Tyler heading to his room and prepping what Hugo gave him, a plastic knife, for 'practical' use should it come to it. Samuel was tempted to kick the boy out for his betrayal, but was convinced not to by Patricia, claiming he'll "eventually learn".
Things became more and more awkward around the house, but even with that parental issues in mind, Tyler still tried to be a good big brother to his twin siblings. Within that good intention, paved the way to the beginning of his dark path to delinquency.
At first, He only did what he was set out to do: Anyone who so much as looked at Nate and Kate funny, regardless of age or gender, was dragged away and given a good punch before walking by, though the pressure of that punch certainly varied. But as time went by, he slowly started spreading out his violence elsewhere. Anyone who decided to bully him, was getting beaten aggressively, anybody who decided to bully others, beaten, anybody who stole from someone, beaten. Eventually he even started to grow a posse of other delinquents in town, and if they ever did something bad to someone else, beaten. He was seen and renown as an alpha male delinquent who had the right reasons, but went about it all the wrong way. As time went by, he continued his training with his Uncle Hugo, still dragging the other two to at least do physical exercises, until Samuel put a stop to that completely.
Even so, Tyler wasn't try to be a delinquent simply out of a want for chaos or rule-breaking. He was a vigilante, or at least saw himself as such, a hero. and so felt he still had to have some sort of a good reputation kept as Nate and Kate's role models. Hence, even though he wasn't a particularly excellent student, he was still trying his best in school regardless, and fortunately for him. Anyone who was dumb enough to mock him for that: Found after school and beaten.
It was around this time that he met another Londoner, British Russian "Mikhail Checkov", a year his junior who always seemed on the precipice of being bullied, be it by the kids at school or by his own little group of delinquents. Needless to say, they were also beaten down by Tyler. Seeing how Mikhail seemed too nice and passive for his own good, Tyler took it upon himself to tell him to stand up for himself. While Mikhail was never a part of Tyler's posse, they steadily became friends, with Tyler treating him essentially like he would his own siblings, much to his Uncle dismay, who lectured him and reminded him of the status of everyone before the Blackmore family, not that it stopped him from playing hero regardless.
It was like this for a while, a good year or two in fact. ...Then at 14, something happened that changed his life yet again, this time with an even worse impact.
He doesn't actually remember the details of that day, every time he tries to remember it, it only ends with a searing pain in his head. The doctors considered it as a mental defensive system put in place, the mind essentially blocking out the main driving force of the trauma.
All he remembers is this: On March 20th, 3 years from present day, Tyler received a tip from Uncle Hugo about his twin siblings. According to him, They've been constantly meeting with someone in the back of an alleyway near their school, evidently extorting them for their own personal gain. Why they didn't talk about this with Tyler he had no idea, he only guessed it could be some kind of blackmail thing, that even if they did tell him. They'd probably be lying for their own sake. Looking back, it didn't make much sense that they'd do that, knowing he'd beat up anyone foolish enough to do such a thing, but he notice them always asking their father for some pounds, figuring it was just some extra lunch money, but even so, it was strange, and whenever asked about it Nate always said that it was nothing to worry about.
As he made it to the back alley in question, sure enough there the guy was, with Nate and Kate evidently conversing with him. He was definitely a grown adult, talking with kids in a back alleyway, and he did look rather...suspicious. To top it off, there Nate was, giving the man some pounds. Concluding that that settled his suspicions of what was going on, he made his presence known to his siblings and the man they were conversing with. He remembered that the man apparently brandished a knife when Tyler got near him and so Tyler in turn brandished his own knife, (albeit plastic) right back.
The rest was a complete blank, a space of time that just wasn't there anymore, the closest thing he could remember is screams and Nate saying that is remembered as inaudible. The last thing he remembers is he himself in a hospital bed, His parents at his side. According to them, all of the people involved were injured, him included, and were sent to the hospital. When asked about Nate and Kate, the two looked at each other, and then back at him. It seems Nate and Kate were caught in the crossfire of their little knife fight. They were cut pretty badly, and so they're currently in intensive care and not allowed visitors.
This was the straw that broke him, he vowed to protect Nate and Kate and now they're in bad condition even though he was there to stop it. After all this time of being a brute tough guy, the waterworks came out and did so in like a flood, his parents hugging him as he did.
After that, for a while, he became despondent in his room, his mind trying to play that scene over, and over, and over again.He just couldn't bear the possibility that he may have been involved in their current position, even with a plastic knife in hand. His eyes just darted around the room, looking for something, anything to drown the thoughts in his head.
To snap him out of it, Samuel gave him a pep-talk followed by showing a letter to him from Nate and Kate, basically saying that they recently got out of the ICU and into a normal hospital room, but still can't leave the hospital yet, also thanking him for helping them with that person. The writing was a bit off from how she usually writes, but considering how bad their injuries were, that wasn't much of a surprise.
After that, there was a slow but steady recovery from his despondent state. He began to realize that his Father was right all along, that violence wasn't the answer. If he didn't keep reacting with violence like he did, Nate and Kate would still be there with them. As such, there was a process just as slow, if not more so, to completely change himself. He became focused on being pacifistic, being able to end brawls without fighting, and focused more on his studies than anything else. He stopped wearing the dark clothes he wore in the past and started wearing bright colors instead, remembering how Kate commented how she thought he'd look better in them a long while ago. It was such a success, that he managed to get into Evergreen, keeping a calm, gentle smile on his face.
But deep down, even after moving into Evergreen's dorms, the incident took a heavy toll on his mind and heart, completely distorting both as a result. Even after giving up on being a soldier, a hero, he still hears Hugo's words echoing in his head, and every time he sees someone walking by or sitting next to him, his mind drifted to thoughts of violence, violence against himself, and violence towards them. If anyone so much as mentions Nate or Kate, or even if he has a brother or a sister, the violent tendencies start to re-surge, and it takes effort to push them back down again. He knows he can't keep being like this, but it's proven impossible to do it alone, and a Psychiatrist didn't seem to help much either.
Cut to the present day, it is now his second year at Evergreen. One way or another, he's resolved himself to try and fix these feelings and urges in his heart.
And he will, if it's the last thing he does.
Education A-Level Psychology- This was less for the sake of interest and more a call to help after the Incident. Tyler recognize that there was something wrong with him due to his distorted mindset, and his figured that by teaching himself Psychology, maybe he could save his parents some trouble and money by avoiding the constant therapist visits. Fortunately, once he gains his Persona, this knowledge would prove most useful in the Metaverse as a navigator persona-user, as the Palaces of the Metaverse are, after all, manifestations of distorted minds.
A-Level Philosophy- Ever since the Incident, Tyler has striven to make better changes to his lifestyle, to be as peaceful and against his former outbursts of violence as possible. He garnered an interest in Philosophy in order to learn of the many outlooks on life that he could take inspiration from to make his own even better. As Palaces are the manifestation of a person's mind, having knowledge on some philosophies may assist in solving whatever puzzles and riddles the thieves find within them.
BTEC Physical Education- Not necessarily by choice, but by his father's insistence. Tyler stopped doing his exercises after the Incident and it got his father worried. Even if he did not approve of Tyler's training, he acknowledge that it caused him to gain a healthy lifestyle...physical, rather than mental, and he just stopped doing that afterwards. As such, when he was accepted into Evergreen school, his father made him take PE so that he could get his body back together.
Affiliations Nathaniel "Nate" Blackmore & Kathryn "Kate" Blackmore- Tyler's younger brother and younger sister respectively. They were also trained by their uncle at Hugo's insistence in order to help defend themselves from bullies and potentially find a place in the UK military just as he and their father did. During the dark delinquent days, they were everything to him, they were the reason he struggled through the harsh training, and they were the thing he strove to protect. When the incident happened, which greatly involved them, it was enough to make Tyler make a complete 180 on his life.
Samuel and Patricia Blackmore- Tyler's, Nate's, and Kate's parents. One being a former veteran of British military like his brother, the other being a nurse at a hospital in London. Patricia didn't object to letting his father teach him how to defend himself in such a cruel world, Samuel refused to give his children that training, insisting they do anything but being a soldier. Although they were not just brothers by blood, but brothers in arms as well, Samuel seems to have a particularly hostile relationship towards his brother, Hugo, and wanted to keep his children as far away from him as possible. But then Tyler had to go behind his back and get trained by Hugo anyways, and look what became of him: A Delinquent attacking anyone who so much as look at Nate and Kate funny, just the kind of thing he feared would happen, as he knew all too well the philosophy of his older brother. The only reason he didn't outright disown Tyler for everything was at his wife's insistence. When the incident happened, The two parents disowned Hugo instead and looked after Tyler, his heart utterly wrecked from it all. They were devastated by what happened to Nate and Kate, but did not hold it against Tyler, especially when he explained what he saw as happened to them. His father, in particular became more attentive of his son's life, wanting him to stay out of the violence like he has, but also wanting to keep him healthy as he was before, which led him to forcing Tyler to take PE.
Hugo Blackmore- Tyler's, Nate's, and Kate's, Uncle and "Commanding Officer". Samuel Blackmore's elder brother, and a former war-veteran. Due to his father's refusal to train him, he turned to Uncle Hugo to train him behind his back. He feels that his brother, their father, was being a coward for not wanting to teach them the ways of combat if only for self-defense, and so when Tyler wanted to do so anyways, he couldn't have been happier to teach him, with the condition that his twin siblings join in as well. He was a harsh, brutal teacher to Tyler, but he was grateful for all he's done for him. Although Tyler had idolized him, and still claims to admire him for what he was and what he's done for him, his relationship with him is no longer as simple as that due to the incident.
At the beginning, Tyler has no relationships with other students of his class or his school for that matter, and prefers it that way.
That said, He does have one actual relationship with someone, and has opinions about his fellow classmates.
Mikhail Chekov
The only student of the two schools he has any semblance of a relationship with, and even that has soured somewhat compared to how it was before. They were once childhood friends, someone Tyler met during his violent delinquent days, and who he saved from bullies more than once. He remember Mikhail to be as innocent as they came, taught him the social and happier things in his life such as a taste for foods other than meat, or hobbies other than exercising, and the fact that he was younger than him made him akin to a third little brother he felt a need to protect. Despite his uncle reminding him that he's not a part of his family, that he's merely an enemy that he needed to protect himself from, he still hung out and watched his back.
But as luck would have it, After the incident involving the Twins, it turned out Mikhail had an incident of his own a year later, as his father was poisoned and died. As a result, both Tyler and Mikhail had such a drastic change from who they used to be, that now it was practically a complete reversal. But unlike before where Tyler was aggressive to protect someone dearly or to be a vigilante, the cold bitter Russian turned that way via a tragic vendetta, and so likely has little patience for Tyler's newfound cowardice, helping him out with his own bullies, while scolding him about not fighting for himself.
Laurence Newman
A fellow student in his Philosophy class, about a year, or technically a half-year older than him. While he never interacted with Laurence, he was the type that stuck out in his eyes, due to being so concentrated on whatever book of the day he was reading. Certainly not the textbook he should be reading, always some kind of fiction novel by the looks of the cover and size. Yet contrary to the trope of a bookworm like him, he did seem to interact with others well enough, although very true to it, he wasn't really into actually doing anything. There was always something...sad about his willingness to have friends, but unwillingness to participate into things with them, but he can't quite put his finger on why that is, and he didn't have the heart to go to him directly.
Still, he is rather...envious of Newman. Or rather, he is envious of Newman's sense of escapism. It was far easier for Laurence to pick up a book and just forget about the world around him than it was for Tyler himself. He always felt the need to concentrate on things in the present, always concentrate on the reality around him, and that training which hardwired his focus was now a curse of never being able to escape, for the recesses of his mind is the one place he can never go...
Hakuro Kuroda
The Okinawan new kid who happens to be in both his Philosophy class and his PE class. He can't say he knows much about him other than the fact that he's a figurative wild card of sorts. In the amount of time that he's been to this school and country, he seemed to almost always be in some kind of situation of his own making that would utterly baffle the other kids, Tyler himself often giving a silent chuckle whenever he does. He was interesting one, and a part of this school year's charm has always been walking outside the school, wondering what kind of bizarre situation he'd find himself in next. He was like a one-man variety show, and it's because of that sense of attention that Tyler preferred to watch from the distance, if only for a moment. He'd much prefer to pend his days out of a crowd, than being a part of one, or gathering one himself.
It should be noted, that Tyler has also taken a genuine notice to Hat's (As he simply calls him) parkour capabilities. As someone who originally exercised himself, seeing Hat do the many acrobatic stunts he does, such as climbing trees or hopping fences in a rush, reminds him of the good old days when he used to have his body primed before... no, he unfortunately can't watch him perform these feats for very long. Too many memories, too many reminders... he's a different man now. He can't think about it. In any case, he thinks of Hat as a kind and sincere fellow, and he's happy that he's a part of this student body.
Alexander Furst
Honestly? Scares the living shit out of him. Whenever he sees Alexander anywhere nearby, he feels this overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety, and this overwhelming need to take a detour to get to his destination so as to keep himself out of his way. He has tried to interact with Alex before in the past, since they are in the same Psychology class. But unknowing of Alex's past history with brown-nosers using him to get to his father, he often tried praising him for jobs well done, and unwittingly irritated as a result. As he recalled, Alexander seemed particularly upset with him at least once, if not for the praising than for the extreme pacifistic nature of him and his unwillingness to fight back. Ever since he has basically avoided Alexander like a small animal weary of predators and larger animals.
That's not to say he's a bad person. Tyler's well aware that Alex is often with Merja, along with Ava and Joey, and is genuinely helpful to them in his own way. While he has never seen it himself, he's steadfast confident that Alex might be the same way to anyone else, albeit secretly so. But then there's the other reason he avoids Alex: his aggression hiding his inner benevolence is an all-too-familiar reminder of himself back in the day. Every time he looks into Alex's eyes, he sees his younger self staring back at his soul, and it reminds him of his mistake all the more. And so he runs from him, runs so that he doesn't have to be scolded, runs so he doesn't have to be reminded...
Merja Aaltonen
The sweet innocent Finnish girl of his Psychology class. While he can't say he has any feelings for her in an intimate sense, it wouldn't be hard to think he might. She's about the closest thing this city has to a saint, although her decision-making capabilities could use plenty of work. She's always been a nice girl, and evidence suggests she always will be. This benign nature to her has given her quite a number of friends, with even Alexander being a part of her study group for Biology, and while she seems uncomfortable being around him, Tyler could argue from observation that she and the others do bring out the good in him. ...Which is partly why he's somewhat worried someone may take advantage of it to their own ends like -sigh- like Mik. It's noted that, by being in the same Psychology class, with he himself taking a particular interest, he does notice how Mer always seemed to be struggling with the class. He always wanted to break out of his bubble to help her out with how things are, however their Teacher, Mr. Roscoe, advised him to leave the helping to him, and as he is the teacher, Tyler saw little reason, ...or authority, not to comply.
It should be noted that Tyler has seen her fencing a small number of times during the sessions after school. At first, it was because he just couldn't believe someone like her could Fence to a point where she'd be able to come to this school with only a scholarship to do so, and so curiosity took hold. However, he eventually became a momentary visitor of the sessions, always observing and analyzing the techniques and legwork of fencing in general, with Merja's skill particularly interesting him. Eventually however, he left those as well. The fencing it got him thinking about the past, about how to implement these qualities with a knife in.....he knew he had to stop, and so he did.
Ava Jean Monroe
As a student from St. Paul College next door, Ava is someone he hasn't ever really interacted with during his days of school. Whenever he does see her however, it becomes so hard to believe that she's actually a college student, since she fits right in with fellow students of Evergreen like a glove. She has such a lively energy to her, that it feels almost overwhelming and exhausting to be around her even for a short time. She's always around Merj, Joey, and Alexander, and like the former two, he feels just being there is enough to give life to Alex's positive sides, as oppose to the gruff personality he always seems to have.
Whether or not it's common knowledge of what's happened with her father is unclear. Assuming Tyler somehow is aware of it, he'd be incredibly sympathetic since his own siblings...he knows what it's like.
Joey Grayson
A fellow classmate of Physical Education who just happens to have a birthdays ten days after his own. He's what Tyler would call an energetic slacker: Plenty of energy, but not much places he wants to release it into, also felt like a bit of a jokester albeit with an odd complex for the elderly to the point where he himself psychologically considers himself among them. If such a psychological complex exists, the name of it escapes Tyler, but that's what he believes Joey has. Still he sees his energy as the sunlight that brightens up every day of PE. Whenever Joey enters the gym, it's never a dull day, at least in Tyler's eye. Even when he's with his friends, as well as with his Biology Study Group with Alexander the Terrifying, he somehow seems to be a part of lightening Alex up alongside the others, not that Alex would ever admit it.
He also very much recognizes Joey's athletic capabilities when it comes to tennis, watching Joey play a tennis game is a reason for Tyler to get into watching the sport in general, the leg speed he has when strafing from side to side to catch the ball is something he often puts his focus on whenever he can. He can't watch it for too long or the thoughts of... But when he does, he is always impressed by it.
Romani Bogart
A fellow classmate in both his Philosophy and Physical Education classes, Needless to say, he's one of the faces Tyler sees most of all during his school days. Yet, he can't say that he knows or interacts with him as a daily basis; he's an acquaintance at best, but besides Mikhail and his...unfortunate change of personality, Romani is the one most likely to be comfortable being around compared to others. There's an air of good will about him, similar in mind to Merja and yet different to her. While Merja seems like the type to do nice things because it's just who she is, Romani's kindness...it seems more like a necessity than a natural part of his personality, if that makes any sense. It feels like he...wants something in return, but can't quite put his finger on what.
But that doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Tyler of course heard the rumors about Romani all too well, all about how he got that scar on his forehead and what it means about him. He's heard it, and immediately sees them as bullshit. He's never believed anything about it, partly because he's seen Romani for himself and knows better than to let other people's rumors be seen as truth over his own eyes and ears. But also because...because those rumors more remind him of himself, remind him of the vigilante bully he used to be, and sees that Romani is nothing like that. Perhaps that's why he's a little more comfortable being around Romani than others, because Romani is one of the only few who isn't an existing reminder of who he was before.
Alistair Parton
The 16 year old underclassman, who's in the lower-sixth version of Philosophy. From what his teacher told him, the boy is a dedicated student, who could potentially wind up being the next Socrates. He never really interacted with the underclassman, due to how much of a divide the age groups seem to be, but he always wanted to talk with him, hear what this dedicated student has to say philosophically about society, and what he wants to do to mold it to just the right shape. Perhaps he can use it to...to become better himself.
Philip Leonhart
Yet another St. Paul Student like Ava, but Philip gave Tyler the exact opposite vibe that she did. While Ava had this energy that was overwhelming, Philip's overwhelming trait was the aura he had as a genius. There was something about him that always screamed to Tyler that he was better than everyone else, and that he had the skill in his head to prove it so. Not once could he look at Philip and question his superiority to him. For that reason alone, one might understand that he never interacted with the genius, who may as well be the closest these duo-schools have to a celebrity. Even so, there was something about him was respectable, something about the way he speaks and the way he acts around others that felt worthy of respecting, and so he would treat Philip with respect.
Even so, it was a sense of respect that also demanded Tyler to try and be better. He can't ever call himself a genius like Philip could, but he did study up on the man, if only to satiate his curiosity, and analyzed his works to a tee. He doesn't quite understand anything in Engineering and mathematics like Philip could with ease, but by studying him, he felt like he's learning more about how his mind operates. Stalking? Nah, that would imply an obsession with him specifically. Tyler simply has one to analyze what he can...anything...anything to distract...even something like this.
