Mundane fantastic slice of life

[shagranoz]

Are nonhuman students a thing, like a planar exchange program?

[Expendable]

Tobias Malkinson WIP

Name
Tobias, "Toby", Malkinson
Age
22

Appearance

image that inspired me

Yuumei Art

Personality
Tobias is an introspective individual, to a fault. He spends most of his time locked up in his own head trying to think about two or four things at once, and when he is focused on a single task he will spend far too much time overthinking all but the simplest of tasks. He is clever and smart, but it comes with the burden of self-doubt and double-think to try and produce the best outcome possible. He is a people pleaser, and a Nice Guy, in that he derives his own sense of self worth from the validation of others. He is genuinely a kind person, but he forces it sometimes in moments where he truly should establish some kind of boundary for himself. Giving to a dangerous degree when it comes to his time and energy. Additionally, he is under immense pressure to perform and is very self critical of his own perceived failures and shortcomings.

But despite these worming doubts and flaws, he is a sociable and extroverted individual who, without the social relationships he will eventually burn himself out to maintain, would go insane locked up in his dorm room trying to write.

Background
The once wide-spread and diverse Malkinson clan has dwindled and withered over the last two centuries. A family name that once spread two continents did not survive the triple catastrophe of three major wars. The first schism of the Malkinson clan was a three-way split during the United States Civil War; the 'True' Malkinsons kept the name in the North, whereas their southron counterparts adopted a new name in the Kinsingtons and the European branch distanced itself from their warring kin and broke contact in full. After the family's disastrous separation in the civil war, the Malkinsons further faced decimation through the two successive world wars where it is presumed that the European branch was eradicated in its entirety during the Holocaust.

A singular adult remained in the continental united states at the end of the second world war who claimed the name Malkinson in true lineage. A woman of remarkable stubbornness and world-sense by the name of Lorelei, who despite the setback of losing father, two uncles, and husband in the succession of wars did not balk at the task of raising her two children alone.

The daughter showed talent as a Witch, which Lorelei encouraged and supported heartily. Tobias' Aunt Naomi's education was informal at first, apprenticed to a small-town witch in Maryland. She soon eclipsed his teachings and was enrolled into Sanctuary Hills University due to Lorelei's preference for its historic prestige and purpose. Naomi Malkinson graduated summa cum laude for her class, a Doctorate of Medicine under her belt and a minor in the Magical Arts. Her Thesis paper was titled On the theory of repairing internal scar tissue resulting from the inhalation of superheated smoke through the use of modern medicine alongside Grimmwalden's Spectro-Occulosis to pinpoint critical areas of treatment.

The son, however, took a different path. His upbringing was harder, the loss of father and uncles taking an immense toll on the young boy. The young Amos Malkinson grew bitter, angry, and battled against his mother's guiding hand at every turn. The successes of his sister and her perceived status as 'favorite' filled him with envy, and the unresolved grief he carried hardened into the pure stuff of hatred. Amos ran away from home as a teenaged boy, and Lorelei considered him disowned. The specifics of what happened to Amos are a mystery, but after nearly a decade of absence he returned in the early 1970's a different man. He was somber, quiet, introspective to a fault, a coward who flinched at every provocation, and who seemed to fear liquor with a fervor that bred gossip.

He did not return alone. Tobias Malkinson, aged four at the time, as well as his infant sister Aviva were introduced to the matronly figure of Lorelei Malkinson. Thusly, they were immediately loved and brought into the fold. Raised more by his grandmother than his own father, who was relegated to the job of Groundskeeper on the Malkinson Estate and rarely took active role in either of his children's lives, Tobias was brought up by a firm hand that had become whimsical with age rather than cruel. Lorelei doted upon the infant Aviva with rekindled motherly care, and guided Tobias firmly down a different course than his father.

The library of the Malkinson estate became Tobias' true home, and Lorelei spent much time with him discussing and carefully curating his interest in literature. By the time of his formal highschool education, Tobias excelled beyond his peers and earned recognition and scholarship for his displayed knack for the Classical Studies. Holding his aunt Naomi to be a role model, he turned his attention towards Sanctuary Hills to follow in her footsteps. However, two things happened in the years leading up to this decision that irrevocably altered Tobias' path in life.

The first is that his sister had an accident in her freshman year Introductions to Magical Theory class. Her burns were severe. Naomi Malkinson flew back to oversee Aviva's treatment and surgery herself. Aviva will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, the cause of the issue appearing to be neurological rather than physiological, and her body still carries heavy burn scarring despite multiple magical treatments.

The second is that his father started drinking again. The accident caused Amos to stay out later and later, and soon Tobias discovered the figure of his father slumped over unconscious on the garden paths of the Malkinson Manor. When he roused the man, Amos began speaking in a weeping voice with bloodshot eyes to Toby. His slurred, whispered, speech revealed to Tobias the long-buried truth about what had happened to the mother he never knew.

Tobias promised not to pursue an advanced education in magic, and promised not to tell Aviva what had been revealed.

And so it was that when Tobias Malkinson arrived for his first year's enrollment at Sanctuary Hills, he began the path of Liberal Arts, majoring in Philosophy and Classical Literature whilst pursuing a minor in Creative Writing. Such an educational path is a slow moving one, intense in its workload, but Tobias has maintained it well. More importantly, he has fallen utterly in love with the Appalachian mountains and the cozy, small-time, feeling of the Sanctuary Hills area. When not frantically scrambling about the campus, frantically writing and sleeping in Dormitory One, or frantically trying to maintain his social life, Tobias can be found either volunteering at the Mary Parker Memorial Library or working part time in Sanctuary Hills at Phil's Coffeehouse.

Magic Specialty
N/A

Relationships

Aviva Malkinson, aged 17-going-on-18 - Tobias religiously maintains a relationship with his younger sister. They choose to write letters to one another rather than using any other means of communication out of a mutual fascination with the written word. He replies to her letters immediately, and awaits her next ones with immense eagerness and excitement.

Philomena Hios - Tobias works part time for her, helping out around the coffeehouse for pocket money— And, more importantly, vital and necessary constant access to potent caffeinated concoctions. Toby is certain that without Phil and her coffeehouse, he would have died in his first year at the university.

Magical Faculty of SHU - Following in the footsteps of his prodigious aunt in enrollment at the university, but electing not to pursue a magical study has him under pressure from some of the faculty of the school who think he would excel under such programs and believe they have his best interests at heart.

I just need to write up the Appearance section, but the short end is 'he's kinda short but well kempt and fashionable'. I also need to start organizing some of this music I listen to and checking dates to see if they fit a playlist. I'm getting there :P

I'm posting what I've got now so that A) Gisk can stab me if I did something wrong or disliked and B) We can begin working on relationships between the characters. When I have a little more time I'll go back and reread what everyone else was talking about and what's been posted so far to give my own ideas.

@Fading Memory

For a music list of the top 100 songs for each year, try https://www.musicoutfitters.com/top-100-songs.htm#1990
https://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=generalperson is a site I use to generate descriptions.

[Gisk]

Are nonhuman students a thing, like a planar exchange program?

@shagranoz

There can be non-human characters, although there isn't any such thing as planar travel. What magical creatures there are in this world are considered a natural part of it, just like magic itself.

[Gisk]

Fading, I will read your CS eventually, but it's quite late and I wanted to leave you all with a short bit about my character, just kind of the cliff notes, so you can include them in a relationship sheet(someone asked for this, and I figure everyone may as well hear the answer).

Character is named Georgia Keen, her father owns the major auto garage in town. She's tall, buff but also a little chubby, and dirty blonde. She works as a mechanic with her father, and actually attended SHU for a short time a few years ago, doing an automotive tech program that was offered. So if you were in school previously, it's possible you'd have crossed paths. Her family is well known by locals, and she sometimes drives the tow truck for her father's shop.

She's awkward and self conscious, particularly regarding her size. Despite a lack of self confidence, she's very smart, and quite technically minded. Though she's not the most outspoken, she's very helpful, and often eager to please. As big as she is, she's a bit of a pushover.

[shagranoz]

Name: Rose Blossomdew

Age: 22

Appearance:


Personality: A fun-loving and slightly mischievous fairy, Rose has a great sense of humor and enjoys playing pranks. However, she also loves magic and goes out of her way to help any students, as well as devouring every tome she comes across. Her goal is to get a Ph.D. and teach at the school.

Backstory: The Blossomdews are a very old family, even among the fairies. Her father owns large farms spread across multiple continents, and her mother is a high-powered corporate lawyer. Rose herself has shown to have a good head for mathematics from an early age, but has chosen to get into magical studies.

Magics:

Nature Magic- Rose can talk to plants and animals, and make plants grow spontaneously.

Potions- Rose has a knack for brewing potions, both premade recipes and designing her own.

Herbology- Rose has an encyclopedic knowledge of magical plants.

Other: Rose has a tiny apartment in the Herbology storerooms- and being that she's only three inches tall, small is putting it mildly.

As a fairy, Rose is allergic to metal.

[Gisk]

Looks good to me! I enjoy that there's a tiny fairy out there somewhere presiding over brutal corporate takeovers.

[Gisk]

@Fading Memory, character is good!

Here's the playlist, if anyone is interested. I've tried to make sure to add all the characters' theme songs, but if I've missed anyone, let me know(theme songs are not at all requires, I just thought it was fun to mess around with music from the era).

Expendable: I couldn't find Room 101 on Spotify(actually, I found about a hundred songs by the name, but none by Eurythmics).
Tubular Bells I left out deliberately, it's just too long lol, sorry.

[Expendable]

@Fading Memory, character is good!

Here's the playlist, if anyone is interested. I've tried to make sure to add all the characters' theme songs, but if I've missed anyone, let me know(theme songs are not at all requires, I just thought it was fun to mess around with music from the era).

Expendable: I couldn't find Room 101 on Spotify(actually, I found about a hundred songs by the name, but none by Eurythmics).
Tubular Bells I left out deliberately, it's just too long lol, sorry.

@Gisk

It's on YouTube. Sorry about the long songs. She picked up a couple of CD's, the Eurythmics 1984 album was in a sale bin, Tubular Bells was on the Pure Moods CD.

[Fading Memory]

So far Ive been jabbed by one person, I’ll get to the rest of you to see if I think young Toby has bashed his head against any of you before. Just want to reread everything a third time before I start rambling ideas.

[Gisk]

<Snipped quote by Gisk>

It's on YouTube. Sorry about the long songs. She picked up a couple of CD's, the Eurythmics 1984 album was in a sale bin, Tubular Bells was on the Pure Moods CD.

@Expendable

Oh, I mean I can totally find the song in general, I mean on spotify where I was making the playlist. And that's okay, it's not a problem, I'm just letting you know why those weren't added.

I have completed(until I add more to it) my own CS, below. I expect to launch the roleplay proper tomorrow(slight possibility it will be today, but I can't guarantee that).

Georgia Keen

Name: Georgia Patricia Keen V
Age: 25
Appearance: Taller than her father at 5’11”, Georgia is also broad shouldered. She has thick arms, with a soft layer of fat over them, and the same goes for her belly, bottom and thighs. She looks to be on the chubby side, but the muscle underneath is built on an active lifestyle, and physically arduous job.
She has a round face, with soft features. She’s fair skinned, but with a slight ruddiness to her complexion, and has gray-blue eyes. Her hair is dirty blond, and is most commonly cut to a single length bob that falls around her neck.
She wears a lot of denim, her favorite being bib overalls, usually worn with a T-shirt. If it’s warm and she's feeling adventurous, she might wear some denim shorts(or even Daisy Dukes!) but she often ends up feeling self conscious about her legs. If it’s cooler, she likes flannel too.
At work, her attire is a set of mechanic’s coveralls in a deep indigo, with reflective patches on shoulders, around the middle, and around the cuffs of the legs.

Image Ref

Personality: She's awkward and self conscious, particularly regarding her size. Despite a lack of self confidence, she's very smart, and quite technically minded. Georgia speaks with the local Appalachian accent, which makes her feel low-brow around out-of-state students she encounters around town.
Even though she's not the most outspoken(or perhaps because of that), she's very helpful, and often eager to please. Her size regularly tricks strangers into being intimidated by her, but most people find out pretty quickly that she’s a huge pushover.
Georgia has basically no interest in cars or engines, in and of themselves. That’s not to say she doesn’t enjoy her job; she likes the mechanical nature of the work, and driving the wrecker often lets her help people out of tight spots. She just might not have picked it, if she’d been given a choice.
She has a subscription to Popular Mechanics, and likes reading the scientific and technical details around the machines that she works with. She has a passing interest in magic that’s been hampered by her father’s staunch disapproval.

Background: George Patrick Keen I was an Irish immigrant who moved to Sanctuary Hills in the early Twentieth Century. He was actually paid a hefty sum by the Town Council to come and open a mechanic’s shop, simply because nobody else would, and increasing reliance on motor vehicles made such a shop a necessity. Sanctuary Hills wasn’t George’s first pick, nor was he theirs, but neither could find any other options that suited their purposes, so they were stuck with each other.

Over time, both the prejudice against the Irish and the stigma against magic waned, and by today, the Keen family is considered a cornerstone of the community. And likewise, Sanctuary Hills is now very much their home.

The current owner of George’s Garage is George Patrick Keen IV, and he failed to produce any sons to pass the name to. As a result, his youngest daughter got the closest his wife would let her get to being a “junior.” Despite the fact that her name isn’t completely the same as her father’s, Georgia Patricia Keen has the little “V” on her birth certificate that lists her as the Fifth.

Georgia was a shy child who didn’t make friends easily, and seemed habitually more interested in her Lego bricks than in dolls or clothes(or, later on, boys). She was widely praised in school for being well behaved, and for completing assignments without fuss, and when her daddy asked for help working on a car, she was the only one of her sisters who couldn’t seem to say no. George pushed her to learn his trade; she certainly picked it up easily enough, and never put up any fight over the subject. The only argument on the subject that they ever had was on whether to attend school for it. None of the George Patrick Keens before had done so, and her daddy thought it was insulting to his own skills that she wanted teachers other than himself.

For only the second time since birth, Yvonne Keen stepped in on her daughter’s behalf and told her husband “No,” and Georgia got to go to school, if only long enough to complete the trade program for an automotive technician. She’s out of school and back to working at George’s Garage, and for the past couple years she’s even been driving the tow truck for the shop.

Magic Specialty: None to speak of, though she knows a simple spell for light, and a potion that can restore rusty metal. The potion has patchy results(largely owing to Georgia not knowing how to alter it for specific materials), and she doesn’t bother with it often. This little bit of magic were the first things she picked up. She tried to learn more than this, but when her father found out, they had one of their rare fights, and in the end she promised she wouldn’t play with it anymore. She’ll still cast her light spell anytime she’s alone(sometimes just because it’s neat), and if she resorts to the rust potion, she has to make sure her father’s out of the shop for a few hours.

Other: Besides her father’s tow truck, she drives a yellow 1983 Subaru Brat.

[kalanggam]

Hey y'all, I just thought I would leave y'all with Val's relationship sheet. Let me know via PM if any ideas pop in your head or if you'd like to go a different way with things, but otherwise, this is what I'm rolling with:

Relationships

Samantha "Sam" Igorina Semenova: Val knows Sam as the daughter of Professor Semenov and he's definitely bought furniture from J. W. Stewards' when he moved out of the dorms, so Val has run into her more than a few times. They're not well acquainted beyond that and the occasional chitchat, but he thinks her aesthetic is cool, despite her intense aura.

Tobias Malkinson: Tobias and Val are coworkers at Phil's Coffeehouse, with Val coming to work there about a year after Tobias had started. Val appreciates Tobias' friendliness and work ethic, but he does feel Tobias leans uncomfortably too much into the people-pleasing. He tries not to smoke when Tobias is around and occasionally probes Tobias about his writing. Val doesn't know that much about Tobias' family apart from the fact that Tobias has a sister, and he doesn't ask out of respect.

Aoife Fitzgerald: Aoife was the TA for an elective course at Sanctuary Hills University in which Valeriano was a student. He doubts he stood out much as there were certainly more brilliant students in the class, although he always made sure to ask good questions occasionally and visit during office hours.

Rose Blossomdew: Val doesn't know Rose on a personal level, although he knows of her - she does come from one of the most widely known fairy bloodlines, after all. He is expectedly apprehensive about her family's business dealings, but he wouldn't hold that apprehension against her.

Georgia Patricia Keen V: Georgia is Val's preferred mechanic. Since he drives a beat-up, navy-blue 1979 Dodge D/W and there are some repairs better left for a professional, they naturally see each other regularly. He might lend a hand if Georgia asks for one, but otherwise Val will play Georgia a few songs, originals or covers, while she works her magic. He'll sometimes bring her a free coffee, or he'll use his employee discount when she stops by the coffeeshop. As such, they're well-acquainted friends, who occasionally hang out.

[naomimyselfandi]

Hey, I'm currently getting over the flu. I'll fill out a relationship chart soon, but in the mean time, I'd just like to touch in on this:

Aoife Fitzgerald: Aoife was the TA for an elective course at Sanctuary Hills University in which Valeriano was a student. He doubts he stood out much as there were certainly more brilliant students in the class, although he always made sure to ask good questions occasionally and visit during office hours.

@kalanggam

Would Val have taken an elective in the math department? If so, great; if not, we might want to rejigger this. Fwiw, Aoife definitely has creative side, and she definitely hangs out at the coffee shop; I was going to suggest that they could know each other there.

[kalanggam]

Hey, I'm currently getting over the flu. I'll fill out a relationship chart soon, but in the mean time, I'd just like to touch in on this:

<Snipped quote by kalanggam>

Would Val have taken an elective in the math department? If so, great; if not, we might want to rejigger this. Fwiw, Aoife definitely has creative side, and she definitely hangs out at the coffee shop; I was going to suggest that they could know each other there.

@naomimyselfandi

Oof, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon!

Yeah, I figured he would have; in addition to a linguistics minor, he also had concentrations in math and computer science, hence the connection.

Related to that, I suppose this is as good a time as any to note that I welcome anyone using Val's employment at the coffeehouse as an "in" for their relationships section.

[naomimyselfandi]

Yeah, I figured he would have; in addition to a linguistics minor, he also had concentrations in math and computer science, hence the connection.

@kalanggam

Ah, cool! In that case, how about discrete math? It's the branch of mathematics that deals with graphs, sets, and logical statements, and it's very applicable to computer science.

[kalanggam]

<Snipped quote by kalanggam>

Ah, cool! In that case, how about discrete math? It's the branch of mathematics that deals with graphs, sets, and logical statements, and it's very applicable to computer science.

@naomimyselfandi

Having taken discrete, I think that's a great idea! Also definitely the kind of math elective I've seen grad students teach.

[naomimyselfandi]

Ah, cool! I'm a software engineer myself (look, they say to write what you know), so this'll be fun to play out :)

[Fading Memory]

[Everyone] - Everyone would generally be aware that, for Toby Malkinson, 'money' is no issue. The wealth of the Malkinson Estate is significant, but he is a frugal and does not flaunt it at all aside from his personal fashion. The fact he makes the effort and expends the time and energy to maintain his volunteer work and part time job are because of the rigorous requirements of his grandmother's upbringing, as well as his own personal interest.

@Expendable Samantha "Sam" Igorina Semenova - Sam was probably the second person he met when arriving at Sanctuary Hills. He would have needed furniture. However, I do not believe they would have interacted intimately or frequently unless they crossed paths in the town itself while he was working at the coffeeshop or awaiting repairs on his car. A possible angle would be his fascination with her magic; if she was willing to talk about, experiment, or otherwise just show it off he would have gladly observed and spent time with her on that subject.

@naomimyselfandi Aoife Fitzgerald - Toby, being a liberal arts student, likely has had little professional reason to seek out or engage Aoife. Her reputation on campus is known to him, of course, and any interactions they have had would have been either in passing or in relation to their mutual creative writing interests. If they have any further relationship at all, it likely hinges on this aspect; Upon hearing about her (official) published works, he would have voraciously hunted them down and questioned her on her methodology and literary style, as well as ventured to ask for help in things like developing his pitch and cover letter. Perhaps, somewhere in the rabbit-hole of Message Boards and BBS fanfiction zones, they've interacted without even being aware that it's the other? If so, then she may even know of the fantastical occult writings of the Mystical_Malkontent.

@shagranoz Rose Blossomdew - Toby has likely run into Rose while volunteering at the library. She would find that his voracious appetite for all literature extends into her own area of interests— but that he, strangely, refuses to practice the magic himself or admit that he has a fascination with magic at all. He would, conversely, absolutely encourage and try to get her talking about her own interests on the subject, and any discussions he engaged with her on this front would have been fronted as 'for the sake of my writing'. At first blush, I don't have anything more in mind than 'they've met in passing, and he chats with her at the library'.

@Gisk Georgia Patricia Keen V - Toby met Georgia when he first came to Sanctuary Hills. The 1946 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith that Grandmother Lorelei had given him as a highschool graduation gift had broken down— over fourty years sitting in a garage with no maintenance will do that to a luxury car. Thankfully Toby arrived in town safe and well, and the two met after he had to have the vehicle towed. He seems keenly aware that her soul isn't truly in her work; he has made it his goal to always try to pick her mind for her own cleverness whenever he's got a philosophical conundrum or wants an outside opinion on practical things. This means that he writes her letters (like the anachronistic madman he is) or pops in to say hello frequently even without car issues.

(just adding this one for funsies, to round out my NPC interactions) Lea Arnaud, Magical Arts major (Specializing in practical evocative arts) - Toby's ex-girlfriend and he maintain a cool distance. From Toby's side, he desperately hopes his wild and frantic desire to avoid her at all costs isn't as obvious as he feels it is. He met the young Magician-To-Be in a philosophy lecture, and they hit it off initially. However, over time, his inability to establish boundaries permitted her to take advantage of him and the relationship developed a deep toxicity until the prodigal witch broke it off with him after an argument about magic finally pushed them both over the edge. It's been a year, but Toby is still awkward around her, and honestly isn't over her yet. The only positive from the relationship was that whilst burning the candle at both ends to try and keep the demanding woman satisfied, his muse was hyperactive and the misery of the relationship stirred his writing to the most progress it had ever experienced. Objectively, they were bad for each other- but don't tell them that, they both need some growing up.

[Expendable]

@Fading Memory - Just a thought. If he's that wealthy, why is he visiting a second-hand student furniture store instead of going to one of the better furniture places? Is he slumming? Or is he looking for accent pieces to sit on a $2000 zebra-skin drum table with glass top?

[Fading Memory]

Grandma isn’t just letting him have the money, and he’s attending out of her preferences and having attained scholarships as well. It’s all a deliberate design to develop the ‘nice guy’ mental state. Weak father figure, raised by a singular ‘mother’ entity, relied on by others for emotional support, having to earn everything in transactions, and then a (subtle) sense of abandonment instilled by being drip fed the money and thrown to the wolves (so to speak) by living alone.

It’s a complex mental state that I pretty much just followed the textbook recipe to develop with his background and circumstances. Having enough money to do whatever he wants but feeling like it might all go away if he makes a mistake is a huge stressor. So, to answer you directly, in a way he is ‘slumming’ it because, and he doesn’t realize this overtly, he’s worried that he’ll end up cut off if he displeases the family matriarch.

In short, he has money but not ‘fuck you’ money and though he could live beyond his current means comfortably he has a fear that it will all go away without anything he can do about it.

[Fading Memory]

There, barring altering the relationships I’ll call the dweeb done. Character sheet updated, appearance finalized.