Plank Sinatra

The Zephyr Extinct

I've gotten so lost in my Solarpunk inspo crawls that I'm only halfway done with this sheet aaaa. I'll have the completed version up tomorrow!

The Zephyr Extinct

Cool, a lot of the tech level questions I had got answered above. I'll get to work as soon as I can. Nothing like a global pandemic to give you the time to write.

The Zephyr Extinct [Full]

If you're moving forward with this, I'd like to be a part of it. I'm a sucker for this kind of setting and world design.

Cancelled - until next time family. Thank you for understanding.

GEARHEAD ALEKS

18 • M • PANSEXUAL

(FC: Francisco Lachowski; Dialogue: a0410d)
♫ I'm out late at 4 AM
He says, "How's the weather, baby? How have you been?"
You're gonna get sick, you don't know when
I never doubt it at 4 AM ♫

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► reputation

Aleks fills an understated but constant role in the lives and activities of his friends. He arrived in Beverly Hills by way of his second home, London, in his freshman year. While it was far from unusual to see the child of a Russian oligarch floating around California, Aleks nonetheless made a splash when he arrived, a young, aloof foreigner who looked and dressed like the ghost of James Dean, with all the intense focus and ambition that some of his more easy-going peers lacked. America had quite the culture shock in store for him, even compared to London instead of Russia, but he quickly made himself indispensable to the upper crust of the school thanks to his reliable personality and variety of talents. Along the way, the culture of the Los Angeles elite and all its variety of pleasures took their toll on the boy, leaving him with a taste for more and more exhilarating recreational options throughout the city. If his friends bumped into him at a race or a particularly raucous party, they would never get a reason on how he had found it - although he remained perfectly happy to stick to them for the rest of the night, as if he had been waiting and hoping for one of them to show up.

It helps to have a friend who is used to hopping through time zones; it’s rumored that Aleks never actually sleeps for very long, or at least sleeps with one eye on his phone. If someone sends him a text asking for help in the middle of the night, they will receive not a response over iMessage but in the lithe, fully-formed Russian boy himself. He’s given rides (or, maybe more accurately, getaways) to drunk or belligerent friends at all hours of the night, even on days where school might only be a few painfully short hours away. Drunken car crash? Aleks is there with a AAA card to swear he was in the vehicle with you. Need an alibi for your whereabouts and don’t know who would back your story? Text Aleks with your story and he will fill it in with a novelist’s detail. Need to get away from the police?

...

Everyone does have their hobbies.

"International man of mystery" reputation aside, Aleks seems perfectly willing to let some of the more flamboyant and needy personalities in his life take center stage. Instead, he reliably fills a niche in the lives of all around him without ever demanding too much in return. Maybe he is just a generous soul who doesn’t like to bother his friends; maybe he has just found the extra hours of the day to solve his own problems in addition to those around him; maybe he’s just not interested, or maybe newer and daring methods of problem solving are most of what keeps him interested. The Russian is a puzzle, one that some of his friends may find as irresistible to solve as he finds their issues.

► noteworthy appearance traits

Amazing hair; occasional mysterious facial scrapes or wounds; black, thorny circular tattoo on the back of his right hand; twin diamond stud piercings; usually wearing a leather jacket or a number of shack hoodies.

► Favorite item

The means of production, motherfuckers An out-of-season YSL leather jacket, worn and ruined by visible burn marks and charring. It has quite the infamous story behind it - in his freshman year, AJ Tyler had been throwing a house party to end all house parties (usually a triannual occasion) and found himself lit aflame while toying around with a bottle of Bombay near a tiki torch. Luckily for him, he was near a pool - and luckier still, the only one who hadn't broken out their phone to film it first was local exchange student Aleks Belikov. Aleks, of course, could have pushed AJ into the pool to put out the fire, but in true battle-hardened Russian fashion, Aleks pulled off his leather jacket and beat him mercilessly with it, smothering AJ's burning sweater at the cost of a burst lip from the zipper. Aleks tried to present it to AJ as a token of their new friendship, but AJ threw it back at him and proceeded to curse him out - which Aleks, smiling, took as AJ returning his friendship right back.

They've been inseparable since.

► current dilemma

Aleks' impatience has finally begun to manifest in peculiar ways. After four years in America and many of his friends seeming content to chart their current course, the Russian boy has started to wonder whether or not they grasp that the good times might really be coming to an end. It seems easier for them to say so out loud and use it as an excuse to keep partying than it does for them to truly accept. Their lack of focus has started to make Aleks wonder whether or not the United States is really the best fit for whatever he wants to be in life, and it seems - at last - that the question of what he truly wants for himself is creeping into his mind.

► warning

Though he rarely brings them up, people often feel comfortable bringing their relationships to Aleks' door, or asking him for advice on them. As this is another opportunity for him to earnestly help out the people he's closest to, he never shies away from any details and never breaks a confidence. However, Aleks is uncomfortable, borderline anxious, at the prospect of discussing whatever his own romantic prospects are like at any given time. They certainly exist - as random presences at more than one double or triple date can attest to - but they never last, and trying to push for juicy details beyond his usual, brusque explanation that ”It didn’t work out.” leads to snappy replies and cold, sullen stares. Lately, his friends' inabilities to learn from their mistakes seem to finally be grating on Aleks' nerves.

Like the theater boy. Aleks had never liked that smirking twink.

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► quirks

• One thing Aleks is enamored with is American movies, especially their depictions of Russians. He will regale people with impersonations of movie Russians on command; he does a better Ivan Drago than Ivan Drago, and his John Wick crime boss impersonation (”…with a pencil. A fucking pencil!”) is getting better all the time.
• Aleks hates being photographed. His Instagram is full of locales he’s been to, foods he’s tried, and people he’s with, but when he is included in group pictures or pairs of selfies, he will try and blend into the background or hide his face behind a prop as effectively as he can. His best disguise ever is managing to hide his entire face behind a hibachi grill fire in a group selfie earlier this year.
• He still does not sleep.

► hobbies

• Driving. Aleks prefers track-ready vehicles.
• Learning new movies [quotes]
• Following fashion
• Dance
• Self-defense and physical training
• DJing (?)

► dreams

Aleks doesn’t talk much about his dreams, but he has taken a shine to the idea of DJing over the last year, and he may choose to pursue it professionally after school. Other than that, his future is up in the air - he hedges on whether or not he will even remain in America after the end of the road trip, maybe because it's something he's uncharacteristically uncertain about.

► fears

If one of his friends needed anything to do with bears, Aleks would mourn for them dearly. Even AJ, Val, or Chloe would just have to catch those paws.

► likes/dislikes

✔ Going to museums. History - good stuff!
✔ Skincare technology fascinates him. Sun lotion has been so helpful since he came to America.
✔ Surprising friends with hidden talents.
✔ Wakeboarding. Do not judge.
✖ Bears, which are Satan's beagles
✖ Going to zoos. Fuck the big animals.
✖ Mathematics. Fuck the big numbers.
✖ Much of America feels like big, empty space to him. Fuck.

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► occupation

Recently met the requirements to become an Uber driver in California. Possibly a getaway driver???

► family

• Osip Belikov, father. Originally an industrial magnate in the 1990s, much of his wealth remained intact after the 2008 financial crisis, and in the decade since he's made increasing Western investments, first in European fashion. His son's curiosity about moving to America prompted a look at the tech sector there, which has proven good for the family net worth.
• Juliana Belikova, mother, half-Brazilian. Former swimsuit model. She drives even faster than Aleks. Not that he would ever admit it.

► brief history

Aleks was born in Russia, but didn't spend most of his life there. He grew up in London around the fashion circuit, an interest that will probably prove to be lifelong. For a time he dreamed of being a model like his mother, but the lifestyle proved to be too intensive for someone with such varied interests, and he gave up after a series of childhood modeling gigs. He also realized that his options in the United Kingdom were fairly limited, especially with growing tensions between his home nation and the nation where he spent so much of his life. That, plus a cultural fascination with the American dream (and American high school experience) caused him to relocate at the age of fourteen. He tried New York first, but he didn't agree with the culture.

California was sunnier, something which wreaked havoc on his skin for a time, but he also found it more inviting, the rich kids were nicer...and there were more chances for him to learn to drive. It was that fixation, the feeling of owning a car and pushing it to its limit, that first caused him to fall in with the Gearheads and become their go-to problem solver and secret keeper. In four years, this role has never chafed him or caused any sort of discomfort; he actually seemed to relish the idea of being needed so much to do such a variety of things for friends.

The only times he ever seemed to grow upset or implacable were the rare occasions when his own private life - usually messy breakups, usually hard to contain - made their way onto the group's radar. Once they did, he would take drastic measures to shy away from taking up the center of attention that AJ, or someone in his stead, preferred to bask in. He seemed less irritated about the things going wrong in his life than he did anyone paying attention to them.

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► extra information

Steakhouses, pizza delivery, sandwich delivery...Uber Eats! So, so cool. America is very cool.
Tennis Court (Flume Remix) by Lorde

Contacts

AJ

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . AJ is a curious boy. I'll never forget how cute he looked that first night I saw him, dancing around his pool deck with both shirt sleeves on fire, screaming 'oh fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuck' louder and louder. Could I have just shoved him into the pool? Probably. But an alcohol fire won't even burn your clothes if it's put out fast enough, and getting them wet would have only made him angrier. So I chose to smother the fire instead. I think he was grateful for it. Well, he tried to punch me once or twice, but he was so drunk that they whiffed to the sides of my head. This is a good metaphor for our friendship. The boy lacks all sense but makes up for it with courage; I think we are alike in that way. I would do anything for him, and he for me; the Lord knows I've bailed the three of us (Chris being along for the ride of course) out of enough trouble on boy's nights to seal us as brothers forever. The end of the year - and his fucking terrible relationship - has been weighing on him for a while, and it's made him snappier than usual, but that's nothing I can't handle. He knows that. He knows I love him, too.

Aleks

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲	. . Um...privyet.

Ava

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Ava is the final member of Chloé's trinity, and the member I'm least close to. We hang out from time to time, but unlike with Reyna, usually Chloé has to be with us for us to be together at any given place. The fact that she harasses me for being sober too much - of all things - kind of proves that there's a lot Chloé hasn't told her about me that Reyna has heard. Maybe she thinks it would spark some kind of jealousy in Ava, but I personally don't think she's the type to get antsy about a hookup. We talk about women occasionally, but mostly our friendship is kept to the gym. She's fun to roll around the mats with, and she can hold a punching bag better than most.

Chloe

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . I don't remember how we met. Don't tell her that. It may have been through a ride home at some party I wasn't drunk for, it may have been some late night study session that only half the group showed up for, she may have even sat beside me one day in class. She would remember the details, but all I know is that she appeared, fully formed, constantly riding me and plucking an earbud to hear what I was listening to. That's a pretty intimate gesture for me by itself, but she seemed interested in enough of what I listened to that eventually, conversation arose on its own. Soon we were close. Spend the night and possibly even stay for breakfast close. The only terrible thing about her is this fucking OnlyFans. Every now and then one of us invites the other over, and I'm supposed to walk into the middle of her shoot for people. They know my name. It makes me uncomfortable. I mean, I don't even get co-star billing or...however that works. I might as well make people subscribe for me. I mean, I could gyrate. If I wanted to.

Chris

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Chris. Good guy. He will do his damnedest to explain what's happening in all the superhero movies we binge three or four times a year - so, so helpful. I tried to show him Russian science fiction once, but Stalker is almost a three hour movie, and by the end of the first hour he was bored. So instead we decided to get drunk and sneak into the movie Cats. It was a horrifying night, but one that bonded us closer than I think we would have ever been otherwise. My nights are usually spent on the road, and as with all things, cars tend to wear down when you put them through too much use, so I know I can always count on Chris in order to open his doors for me and help me figure out what the hell is going on with my ride. Chloé once said that Chris is is the Aleks of automobiles, and he's so great with cars that I figure it must have been a compliment.

Emilia

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Emilia is a sweet person to her core. She's had a bad roll of the dice lately with the breakup with Brandon, but thankfully I'm tactful enough to cheer her up in ways that don't intersect with any of his hobbies, possessions, or past experiences. The one time I tried to bring up the likelihood that he may get eaten by a bear one day was all the lesson I needed. We originally met while she was helping me keep my grades up in American History a couple years ago - I wasn't a slow learner, but having to absorb all the names and facts about a country that wasn't mine was taking a little while to click. Thankfully it's something she excels at, so we hit the books together a lot after class, she was open to all my dumb questions and requests for her to repeat names and dates, and I came out with an A- in the class. Since then, she's earned my loyalty. If she ever asked me to do anything about Brandon, I would, but I know she won't. She doesn't have it in her. That's part of why I'm fond of her.

Ivy

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡ ♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 |🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Ivy's attitude is refreshing. She's fiery, outspoken, and has a competitive streak a mile wide. Given the general sense of complacency most of the others have settled into with their current situations, I really can't be grateful enough to have someone else around who doesn't lack a sense of drive. No pun intended. Most of us have probably raced once or twice, usually on some drunken bet from one of the others, but Ivy and I are the only two who take it at all seriously - which kind of describes most things, but this is a rare passion that the two of us actually share. She doesn't beat me too often, but it clearly gets something deep out of her system no matter who wins and loses. We never talk about it, either. It's all left on the road. I can appreciate that.

Josephine

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Josie is another person I've spent a lot more time with recently. I wasn't there firsthand for the year her family split, but I got an earful about it when she called for an Uber at a party one night. It took me twenty five minutes to even get a chance to ask where she wanted me to drive her. I could have taken her to the Bay Area with all the stories she had to go and things she needed to get off her chest, but in the end, all she wanted to do was shop. So we did - for most of the night, up until the point where I could finally get her smiling again. To keep her spirits up, I even got some green highlights. It ended up becoming a tradition for us - find some diner the others hadn't heard about, sample their burgers, and then she would tell me what colors best suited my vibe for the month. One time I tried taking her to the club, but...we'll call it a misfire and leave it at that. Only lowkey outings for us after that.

Katie

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Let's get this out of the way: I never liked Jamie. He was always smirking at people, like the amount of devotion that he and AJ force fed each other made him more vital to the group than the rest of us. He was a gossip columnist, too, the perfect insufferable little position for an insufferable little tool. He liked to insinuate that my dislike for him - often communicated through a quiet stare, like that made him special when i quietly stare at everyone - came from some place of deep-seated jealousy. Like I was picturing whatever he and AJ were doing together on a given night and crying myself to sleep over it. Set aside the fact that I only cry sometimes, I sleep even less, and I don't need to worry about my competency in bed next to either of them. Once a boy has puked in your lap for the dozenth time, especially at 2:30 AM, whatever equipment you have in your lap stops getting excited for him. It's my universal rule, and it's never led me wrong. But good luck explaining that to a gossipy twink like Jamie Callaghan. My dislike for Jamie never extended to Katie, though. His sister seemed like she was fun to be around, even though it wasn't often we actually did things with just the two of us. She even wanted a less bombastic touch when she was trying to get with Carter a couple years ago, so instead of turning to AJ, she went to me. It seemed to work out for her alright. But since the breakup, any bridges between she and AJ have long been burnt. I assume my particular bridge probably got burnt as well, but Katie and I never talked about it. She probably assumed I was automatically on AJ's side, just like I assumed she would automatically be on Jamie's. Who knew that the two of them would explode the way they did. Whooo knew.

Leon

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Stereotypes make for poor metrics and huge obstacles when it comes to getting to know someone, and I've always tried to do away with them in my head. The world most of my friends live in is still foreign to me, and it's taken time to adapt to each of them while keeping my head clear of any biases. Still, it's hard not to look at someone like Leon, and, well...all he is to you is muscles. Mmmuscles. He is mmmmmmuscles. Still, he seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders, and there are clearly layers to him that I'm not privy to. We haven't made much of an effort to get to know each other, but he seems cool. Hopefully the open road reveals more about him. ...Which sounds a little hypocritical coming from me...

Nate

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 | 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Oh, Nate. He's a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, and endless heaps of empathy for his friends, but it seems like he's always getting tangled up in everyone else's drama. This day he's confessing feelings for someone, this day he's entangled in a love triangle between another two friends...I don't envy him his life. We don't have much in common, but nobody said you had to have much in common to just have a beer and vent with someone. That can be a pillar all its own, and if I can be that, I'm satisfied.

Reyna

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 |🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Reyna is something else. She reminds me of Chloé in a lot of ways - which makes sense, considering they're among each other's best friends. Her food kicks ass. One time she cornered me with her best attempt at Russian cuisine, which I had to gently explain was like trying to figure out the best way we would split an entree of fucking roadkill. Her Mexican food is amazing, though, beyond almost anything I'd tasted in America to that point, and I'm always willing to be a taste test dummy for anything else she has up her sleeve. I think Chloé must talk to her about me, or at least tell her where I am from time to time, because one time I was on my way to a prior engagement around midnight, maybe 1 am, when I got a text from her asking if I was out and around town. Of course I was - and of course she wanted to go hunting for something arcane, like a guitar pic or a rare spice for a midnight snack or something. I don't even remember. What I remember was the look on her face when she realized I'd been on my way to a race along Figueroa Street - and the look on her face when we jetted past the Staples Center as the clear winners by a car length. Like she was seeing me for the first time, and not some picture of me hiding my face behind a Dunkin Donuts sign. I liked that look. We ended up getting whatever it was she was shopping for afterwards Anyway, I'd like to get to know her more. She's hot and we have friends in common.

Sami

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡ ♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 |🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲	. . I don't really know what there is to say about him. We don't say anything to each other at all - I think I've counted twenty words over the course of the time I've known him. But our minds run along similar patterns, so we can generally pick up on each other's moods and thoughts with just a glance. He seems like a steady presence. He'll be good to have along.

Val

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ....... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 | ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 | ♡♡♡♡♡ 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 |🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲 🗲

. . Val is alright, for a little pipsqueak with too many chips on her shoulder. It seems like you can't do something one on one with anybody without her having some problem with it, but for a person like me that's not really my concern. It would bother me more if she wasn't so clearly in AJ's corner through thick and thin. It's hard for me to fault someone for being a little brash about being a loyal friend; if I did, the first person I'd have to start hating would be AJ. Anyway, we don't do much together without AJ being in the middle of it. But he's a glue that binds us, and as long as I know we'd both do whatever he needed, we're cool.

Cancelled - until next time family. Thank you for understanding.

GEARHEAD ALEKS

18 • M • PANSEXUAL

(FC: Francisco Lachowski; Dialogue: a0410d)
♫ I'm out late at 4 AM
He says, "How's the weather, baby? How have you been?"
You're gonna get sick, you don't know when
I never doubt it at 4 AM ♫

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► reputation

Aleks fills an understated but constant role in the lives and activities of his friends. He arrived in Beverly Hills by way of his second home, London, in his freshman year. While it was far from unusual to see the child of a Russian oligarch floating around California, Aleks nonetheless made a splash when he arrived, a young, aloof foreigner who looked and dressed like the ghost of James Dean, with all the intense focus and ambition that some of his more easy-going peers lacked. America had quite the culture shock in store for him, even compared to London instead of Russia, but he quickly made himself indispensable to the upper crust of the school thanks to his reliable personality and variety of talents. Along the way, the culture of the Los Angeles elite and all its variety of pleasures took their toll on the boy, leaving him with a taste for more and more exhilarating recreational options throughout the city. If his friends bumped into him at a race or a particularly raucous party, they would never get a reason on how he had found it - although he remained perfectly happy to stick to them for the rest of the night, as if he had been waiting and hoping for one of them to show up.

It helps to have a friend who is used to hopping through time zones; it’s rumored that Aleks never actually sleeps for very long, or at least sleeps with one eye on his phone. If someone sends him a text asking for help in the middle of the night, they will receive not a response over iMessage but in the lithe, fully-formed Russian boy himself. He’s given rides (or, maybe more accurately, getaways) to drunk or belligerent friends at all hours of the night, even on days where school might only be a few painfully short hours away. Drunken car crash? Aleks is there with a AAA card to swear he was in the vehicle with you. Need an alibi for your whereabouts and don’t know who would back your story? Text Aleks with your story and he will fill it in with a novelist’s detail. Need to get away from the police?

...

Everyone does have their hobbies.

"International man of mystery" reputation aside, Aleks seems perfectly willing to let some of the more flamboyant and needy personalities in his life take center stage. Instead, he reliably fills a niche in the lives of all around him without ever demanding too much in return. Maybe he is just a generous soul who doesn’t like to bother his friends; maybe he has just found the extra hours of the day to solve his own problems in addition to those around him; maybe he’s just not interested, or maybe newer and daring methods of problem solving are most of what keeps him interested. The Russian is a puzzle, one that some of his friends may find as irresistible to solve as he finds their issues.

► noteworthy appearance traits

Amazing hair; occasional mysterious facial scrapes or wounds; black, thorny circular tattoo on the back of his right hand; twin diamond stud piercings; usually wearing a leather jacket or a number of shack hoodies.

► Favorite item

The means of production, motherfuckers An out-of-season YSL leather jacket, worn and ruined by visible burn marks and charring. It has quite the infamous story behind it - in his freshman year, AJ Tyler had been throwing a house party to end all house parties (usually a triannual occasion) and found himself lit aflame while toying around with a bottle of Bombay near a tiki torch. Luckily for him, he was near a pool - and luckier still, the only one who hadn't broken out their phone to film it first was local exchange student Aleks Belikov. Aleks, of course, could have pushed AJ into the pool to put out the fire, but in true battle-hardened Russian fashion, Aleks pulled off his leather jacket and beat him mercilessly with it, smothering AJ's burning sweater at the cost of a burst lip from the zipper. Aleks tried to present it to AJ as a token of their new friendship, but AJ threw it back at him and proceeded to curse him out - which Aleks, smiling, took as AJ returning his friendship right back.

They've been inseparable since.

► current dilemma

Aleks' impatience has finally begun to manifest in peculiar ways. After four years in America and many of his friends seeming content to chart their current course, the Russian boy has started to wonder whether or not they grasp that the good times might really be coming to an end. It seems easier for them to say so out loud and use it as an excuse to keep partying than it does for them to truly accept. Their lack of focus has started to make Aleks wonder whether or not the United States is really the best fit for whatever he wants to be in life, and it seems - at last - that the question of what he truly wants for himself is creeping into his mind.

► warning

Though he rarely brings them up, people often feel comfortable bringing their relationships to Aleks' door, or asking him for advice on them. As this is another opportunity for him to earnestly help out the people he's closest to, he never shies away from any details and never breaks a confidence. However, Aleks is uncomfortable, borderline anxious, at the prospect of discussing whatever his own romantic prospects are like at any given time. They certainly exist - as random presences at more than one double or triple date can attest to - but they never last, and trying to push for juicy details beyond his usual, brusque explanation that ”It didn’t work out.” leads to snappy replies and cold, sullen stares. Lately, his friends' inabilities to learn from their mistakes seem to finally be grating on Aleks' nerves.

Like the theater boy. Aleks had never liked that smirking twink.

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► quirks

• One thing Aleks is enamored with is American movies, especially their depictions of Russians. He will regale people with impersonations of movie Russians on command; he does a better Ivan Drago than Ivan Drago, and his John Wick crime boss impersonation (”…with a pencil. A fucking pencil!”) is getting better all the time.
• Aleks hates being photographed. His Instagram is full of locales he’s been to, foods he’s tried, and people he’s with, but when he is included in group pictures or pairs of selfies, he will try and blend into the background or hide his face behind a prop as effectively as he can. His best disguise ever is managing to hide his entire face behind a hibachi grill fire in a group selfie earlier this year.
• He still does not sleep.

► hobbies

• Driving. Aleks prefers track-ready vehicles.
• Learning new movies [quotes]
• Following fashion
• Dance
• Self-defense and physical training
• DJing (?)

► dreams

Aleks doesn’t talk much about his dreams, but he has taken a shine to the idea of DJing over the last year, and he may choose to pursue it professionally after school. Other than that, his future is up in the air - he hedges on whether or not he will even remain in America after the end of the road trip, maybe because it's something he's uncharacteristically uncertain about.

► fears

If one of his friends needed anything to do with bears, Aleks would mourn for them dearly. Even AJ, Val, or Chloe would just have to catch those paws.

► likes/dislikes

✔ Going to museums. History - good stuff!
✔ Skincare technology fascinates him. Sun lotion has been so helpful since he came to America.
✔ Surprising friends with hidden talents.
✔ Wakeboarding. Do not judge.
✖ Bears, which are Satan's beagles
✖ Going to zoos. Fuck the big animals.
✖ Mathematics. Fuck the big numbers.
✖ Much of America feels like big, empty space to him. Fuck.

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► occupation

Recently met the requirements to become an Uber driver in California. Possibly a getaway driver???

► family

• Osip Belikov, father. Originally an industrial magnate in the 1990s, much of his wealth remained intact after the 2008 financial crisis, and in the decade since he's made increasing Western investments, first in European fashion. His son's curiosity about moving to America prompted a look at the tech sector there, which has proven good for the family net worth.
• Juliana Belikova, mother, half-Brazilian. Former swimsuit model. She drives even faster than Aleks. Not that he would ever admit it.

► brief history

Aleks was born in Russia, but didn't spend most of his life there. He grew up in London around the fashion circuit, an interest that will probably prove to be lifelong. For a time he dreamed of being a model like his mother, but the lifestyle proved to be too intensive for someone with such varied interests, and he gave up after a series of childhood modeling gigs. He also realized that his options in the United Kingdom were fairly limited, especially with growing tensions between his home nation and the nation where he spent so much of his life. That, plus a cultural fascination with the American dream (and American high school experience) caused him to relocate at the age of fourteen. He tried New York first, but he didn't agree with the culture.

California was sunnier, something which wreaked havoc on his skin for a time, but he also found it more inviting, the rich kids were nicer...and there were more chances for him to learn to drive. It was that fixation, the feeling of owning a car and pushing it to its limit, that first caused him to fall in with the Gearheads and become their go-to problem solver and secret keeper. In four years, this role has never chafed him or caused any sort of discomfort; he actually seemed to relish the idea of being needed so much to do such a variety of things for friends.

The only times he ever seemed to grow upset or implacable were the rare occasions when his own private life - usually messy breakups, usually hard to contain - made their way onto the group's radar. Once they did, he would take drastic measures to shy away from taking up the center of attention that AJ, or someone in his stead, preferred to bask in. He seemed less irritated about the things going wrong in his life than he did anyone paying attention to them.

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► extra information

Steakhouses, pizza delivery, sandwich delivery...Uber Eats! So, so cool. America is very cool.
Tennis Court (Flume Remix) by Lorde

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

last night i was busy and only had time for a little russian meme, as a treat, but unequivocally: aleks is back

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

welllllll...

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

I'm down for the rest of my life omfg I miss you all

Fate/Advent of Reckoning

I wish this had come a week or two later, I would have more time for it. :(

I'm in the heart of exam season right now, so I wish everyone here the best.

Fate/Advent of Reckoning

I might be interested in this, I have Caster or Lancer ideas I've been meaning to try.