Starting this off with a Teacher I've completed. More will be made shortly. ^^
Name: Johnathan "Johnny" Falcon
Age: 40
Nationality: American
Appearance:
Misc. Abilities:The Whims of a Trickster- Johnny has always been something of a trickster, tricking and manipulating both friends and enemies alike to be placed exactly where he needs them to be.
Outside of combat, he is an experienced puppet master of sorts. Rather than playing a game of proverbial chess, he finds it much more entertaining to go for a direct approach. Contrary to his appearance, he has intelligence and social know-how, and uses it to manipulate not just people, but events, to his favor. In fact, he uses his appearance and oddball and unpredictable personality to his advantage, baiting the people around him to underestimate him and put themselves at a disadvantage for thinking he's not a threat, not to mention making fools - no pun intended - out of those who would use intellect and logic against him. He also knows, how to win the hearts of the masses to his favor.
Inside of Combat however, He is a master of feints, tricks, and traps, and his unpredictable nature makes him more roundabout and indirect with how he fights others. He prefers to manipulate even his foes into walking to their doom, or provoking them into attacking him directly, only to lure them into a deathtrap. When he must go for direct combat...
Jack of Swords- Johnathan has trained himself in the art of swordplay fairly well. While he is by no means a master of it, preferring to use his mind over his Arm, he is still capable of going toe-to-toe with even experts of the field, often using his Noble Arm as his melee weapon of choice.
He is also not bad at firing a gun, but he's something of an amateur with one.
Noble Arm
Name: The Jester
Appearance:
Rank: B
Type: Support; Illusionary; Area
Abilities:Parlor Trick- The most commonly used ability Johnny has, The Jester can generate a limited-field around himself and the immediate area and use it to generate small-scale illusions wrapped around it. True to the name, though, he mostly uses this for magician tricks and entertainment - Popping his hand or his own head off for comedic purposes for instance - both of himself and others. Often times however, he uses it to generate essentially a holographic projection of himself somewhere else, or to disguise himself as someone else.
However, while the normal eyes of people can't see past these tricks, any Arms designed with vision in mind, likely can.
The Circus of Make-Believe- The Main ability of The Jester is creating an illusion field in the form of a dome or a sphere with a maximum of 50 meters diameter. To the naked eye, this illusion field is invisible and undetectable, you can walk into it and the only thing you'd feel is a touch of sudden light-headedness that would disappear in an instant. Within this field, Johnny can generate whatever illusions he wants people to see. While he could very easily craft his illusions around the vicinity and carefully generate a similar but different construct of the building or landscape, making subtle differences that could end up with someone walking into walls without realizing, he vastly prefers going bombastic to the point of practically showing off, changing the area completely into something like, say, a circus tent. Much more fun for him when his imagination isn't restricted to an orderly reality.
However, despite how realistic his illusions seem, in the end, they're still only illusions. While the naked eye can't see the field or past the illusions, any Arms that are designed with vision in mind, likely can see the illusions for what they are, and can see past his illusions fairly easily. To top things off, The illusions extend only as far as the field he generates. If anyone goes outside Johnny's range, the illusions will essentially vanish from their sight, and everything will return to normal, unless they step back in.
All in your head- The mind is a wonderfully strange thing. It can make Placebo pills work even when they shouldn't, and can make the body react to pain that it thinks its going through, even when nothing of the sort is happening and someone is simply tricking it to think otherwise.
The Jester's more dangerous passive ability gives the Illusions he makes a kick of reality. Anyone who stares upon the "eye" of the Jester, (The pretty shiny red jewel at its hilt that glows when illusions are about to manifest.) has their minds tricked into thinking the illusions forged are real. To be more specific: The light of the Jester's eye messes with the brain's signal interpretations which in turn effects how the nerves in the body reacts to the illusions. Even when they know they're not real, when they think to themselves over and over again that they're not real, much like the Matrix, "The mind makes it real."
Of course, this passive ability is likewise only as scary as you make it be. Really, all this means is that these illusions crafted generally have a solid, physical mass to them, they can be touched, they can be felt, and that's generally how Johnny uses it. But while they can be indeed touched and felt, and can bring the pain, they can't actually kill...more specifically they can't actually stab or pierce bodies. Blunt force trauma's the only kind of physical damage they can give out.
Gravity Adjustment- Less an independent ability and more an effect of one of the more advanced illusional spells. The Jester can manipulate the space within his illusionary field to adjust the gravity of it according to the illusion at hand. Meaning if the illusion called for walking on walls or the ceiling, he can adjust the gravity around them to be able to make them walk on the walls or the ceiling of a place.
However, it is limited specifically to the inside of the field, and so if one moves outside of it, the gravity for the person who steps outside will return instantly to normal. So there's no fear of someone on the ceiling of a building falling into the sky above them. But Gravity in itself is a cruel mistress, so watch where you are in adjacent to the ground if you don't want to get hurt by it.
Personality: If Johnathan had to be summed up in one word, it would have to be "Eccentric".
Johnathan is often seen as an optimistic and energetic fellow both inside and outside of his job. He sometimes speaks in a rather high-pitched tone, likely to purposely be annoy others or make the general impression that he's about as much of a clown as his mask and get-up seems to indicate. He does often use a more normal, gentlemanly tone under more normal circumstances, genuinely using the high-pitched tone and laughter whenever he feels comedic at the time, and often when he does feel in the mood for that, it's hard to snap him out of his ball of comedic energy.
If there's one thing he always show in anything he does, it is just how much he absolutely loves his job, as if it was a dream come true for him. He has a great love and respect for all of his students, and wishes only for them to be entertained and educated as best as possible. He shows himself off as a very theatrical man with a flare for the drama and comedy alike, even sometimes changing his mask to fit whatever mood he's suppose to be in, or whatever colors or patterns fits at the time.
Furthermore, this Academy is a family, and he cares for each of his students as if they are his own children. He never talked down to any of them, never treated anyone with a shred of disrespect, and has never picked any particular favorites. If they did something right, they'll praised for it. If they did something wrong, they'll be disciplined. The Faculty too are people he cares about, but he sees them less as students and more as friends, partners that helps him work.
In the regards of the war between the Pro and Anti-Arm factions across the world, Johnathan maintains a neutral stance on the middle of the proverbial fence. He accepts and welcomes any students who maintain either side, so long as they don't set off their own little war in class and endanger fellow students, and claims to have friends on both sides of the argument.
However, behind all of this happy-go-lucky nature lays a darker side of Johnathan, one he hides behind his smiling mask. The man is far wiser and more perceptive than he lets on. He may act like a total goof and a clown, but he didn't catch the eye of the new director because of dumb luck. There's always a method behind his madness, and there always seems to be a reason for every act he performs, no matter how strange or random or bizarre they may first seem, making him something of a Schemer at heart.
He isn't quick to anger, but when he is mad, he's without mercy or ruth.
All of this said, however, the fact that he always hides his face under a mask, plus how whiplash-inducingly fast he can change his mood - one may assume he could potentially be bi-polar - gives way to the possibility that none of these emotions he has are "real". His intelligence combined with his knack for keeping his cards close make Johnathan quite unpredictable in how he responds to trouble. Kind as he makes himself out to be, no one can say for certain what he's truly thinking, or what his plans truly are. He uses the illusions of his arm to educate the students, while hiding the truth of his darker side from them, undergoing a philosophy that lies and deceit can be a necessary evil for a good cause, when used in the right hands. As such, no one can truly say for sure what his real self is like.
Bio: Not much is truly known about the masked teacher of Trinidad. He popped into the scene from seemingly out of nowhere. What could be dug up about him was nothing particularly special. Born November 19th, 1980 to a relatively normal family as an only child of normal parents. One of the lucky normal humans who managed to generate a Noble Arm without a genetic advantage of having one or both parents be Arm Masters. Not as rare an occasion back then as it is now, but some would still consider such an occasion a blessing... or a curse depending on who you talk to. He was sent to a decent Academy for Arm Masters where he graduated without many honors of note, and sent off to the US Military. He spent 4 years in Service in Europe and Africa before being honorably discharged after an explosion from one of the extremist factions cause severe scarring damage to his face.
He seemed to have known Trinidad's new academy director for some time, and was requested by him to join the academy as a Teacher, which is accepted without much hesitation or resistance.
However, it's not hard to see there may be more to this story than he lets on...
Current Goal: It seems to be to teach the next generation of Arms Masters and making them grow as much as he can. Anything beyond that is a complete unknown, possibly even for himself.
Job: Course Teacher for Crisis Management and Emergency Response (Until someone comes along to give him a break. XD)
Here you go, @LetMeDoStuff . Might be a bit familiar for you. I've trimmed out as much Phantom Thief fat from it as I could, so it should fit this new RP nicely. Enjoy. ^^
Name Tyler Blackmore
Gender Male
Age 19, March 12th
Sexuality Hetero/Straight
Nationality British
Arcana Hermit
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Appearance
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.
After coming to terms with his inner turmoils, he decided to change up his appearance. 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're 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 kids 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 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 the word for it, cause no matter how much they beaten him to the ground, he never fought back. He would groan 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 he's asked 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 Thames' Edge eventually. He decided on Psychology and 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 was 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 his inner self - all of the inner aggression and hot-headedness he had in the past, amplified and exaggerated - has become unstable as if trying to break free, 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 the time, 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 be a rather large humanoid mass of infernal flames, 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 the top 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 at ground level, producing spire connecting it to Sun Tzu's platform, which extends it upward like a tower or an antenna. Inside the Clay Cocoon 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 his proverbial 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 needed to defend himself, 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 appearances 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 and undeserving to someone else, they too were beaten. He was seen and infamously renown as an alpha male delinquent who had the right reasons, but went about it all the wrong ways. 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 trying 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 like this for a while, a good year or two in fact. ...Then at 16, 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 defense system put in place, the mind essentially blocking out the main driving force of 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, but he figured it was just some extra lunch money. Even so, it was strange, and whenever he 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 something, but that something was 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 Tyler. He vowed to protect Nate and Kate and now they're in bad condition. Even though he was there, he couldn't stop it. After all this time of being a brute tough guy, the waterworks came out and did so like a flood, his parents hugging him as he did.
After that, for a while, he became utterly 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, he started 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 Thames' Edge University, keeping a calm, gentle smile on his face.
But deep down, even after moving into Thames' 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 Thames' Edge. 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 Psychology- This was less for the sake of interest and more a call for help after the incident. Tyler recognize that there was something wrong with him due to his distorted mindset, and he 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.
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.
Physical Education- Not necessarily by choice, but by his father's insistance. 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 Thames' Edge University, 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. They were his purpose in life. 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. While 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 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 Tyler 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, 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.
Illiad City Arcanum - Ishtar Division Waiting Area
"Participate in the Competition or I cut off Jacob from the Inheritance"
He heard those words. He wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere near those two when they came into contact, when she forced upon William that Ultimatum, but he heard them regardless. It is amazing how easily one can eavesdrop with the right informant and a good web of intelligence gathering. Fists clenched when he heard those words from the informant who listened in, and there were only two words that sprung to mind, only two words he could think of in response.
"That...BITCH!"
It wasn't the cutting of his inheritance that enraged him - what inheritance? What else was left to inherit when everything they owned burned so long ago, and the only thing left she could give she has more reason to give to William anyways - no, what really pissed off the the boy, what really ruffled the messy black hair on his head, was that she, this monster, used him to manipulate William into doing what she wanted. How DARE she use his name to pull him along like a goddamn marionette!?
She may be his mother physically, and biologically, but on that day where half the entire family was gone in but an instant, Gilgamesha may as well have burned along with them as far as he was concerned. Whatever this tyranical witch was, it was not the same Gilgamesha who loved and cared for them. The iron grip she now has was not the same as the stern but fair hand she had when their father was still alive. That bitch was not his mother!
---
Even now, as he sits in the large waiting room on Ishtar's side of the Arena, it was difficult to calm himself down. Staring at the floor, his white and blue sneakers, his typical blue jeans, with those deep sapphire eyes, he couldn't help but feel this silent rage build up within himself. He thought he escaped these feelings when Nemsi, his foster father, mediated and calmed all the feelings and trauma he felt. But in an instant, the wrath and the sorrow crawled right back into his subconscious. Taking a deep breath, he hummed a little tune to calm him down, a muffled melody of simplicity and, for him, a soothing tone. As if in response, he could feel as if spiders were crawling over him, and in his mind's eye, they consumed him in a cocoon of web, silent and isolated from the world. Course, in reality, none of that was happening, but regardless, the thought was cooling him down, quelling his temper, and allowing him to regain himself.
Moving his left hand to slick back his raven black hair, straightened out his black vest sweater - complete with a cyan tie - and a blue denim jacket, taking a scarf out of the pocket of said jacket and wrapping it around his neck. When he was finally back to form, he took a look around.
---
While it's called a "Waiting Room", you wouldn't be too far off if you confused it for the fancy lobby of a luxury hotel. Clocking in at 1500 square feet It was quite massive in respect to where it is in the arena, filled with soft couches, tables, and large flat-screen televisions on the north, south, east and west side of the room, set naturally to the GFG events, and otherwise set to whatever the contestants within felt like watching. On the tables are healthy snacks to keep the energy of the contestants in tact and some glasses of water to compliment that. To the north side are the locker rooms, to the east side is the path way to the arena, and to the opposite side is the Contestants' entrance into the Arcanum, and by extension the exit out of it. There was even a small closed off area right by the exit with gym equipment for a little last-minute training.
As it turns out, the Arcanum holds about three waiting rooms on the east, west, and south sides of the stadium. The ones to the east and west were similar in size, and similar period, both rooms holding the same 'luxury' accomodations, compared to the waiting room on the south side that was smaller and merely had the basic accomodations one would expect from a waiting room for competitors, like a locker room.
It's no secret to anyone in this city how the two schools were of vital importance both for its magic users and its decendants of the Illuminated Poet; their headmasters may as well have been the de'facto leaders of the city. Thus, it's also no secret how people of the city treats them compared to how they treat a normal individual. If the Descendants of the Poet are essentially the blood nobility, the noble-class of Illiad's Society, then those who enter and are good students of these two particular schools are the "high-class" members just below them in the heirarchy, and if the fact that they managed to reserve an annual olympic event for themselves without legal repercussion didn't make that clear, the clear difference between their waiting room and the waiting room of anyone not affiliated with them did. A rather ironic fact, seeing as how most years you only see a few students of each school participate but lots of non-affiliated participants joining the games.
In regard to the two school waiting rooms comparing to each other, there was very little different between them; making one school's waiting room better or worse than the other would be favoring one school over the other, and by extension, inciting the wrath of the other school for doing so. Thus, the only real contrast between the two waiting rooms were in their decorations, with Marduk's waiting room looking a little more glossier and modern, and Ishtar's waiting room having a darker and gothic approach on decor.
---
As Jacob looked around, contemplating whether or not the two schools deserve this much catering to - this was his first time participating in a Grand Flyte Game and so he's never actually seen a stadium waiting room like this before - his eyes turned towards the Arena entrance and the...interesting group that was gathered around there.
That's right, the Write Competition's the first one in action, which means that must be the musical band that's gonna be playing out there in a few minutes. Most of the band members weren't of much worth to him, looking like a bunch of edgey teenagers that wanted to show off their own angst, but there were three of them that did catch his eye.
The one right in the middle, slapping her cheeks to, he presumes, psych herself up, probably looked like the edgiest one of them all, her long green hair in a giant ponytail, the top of her head having ruby red hair - seems the rest of her hair was dyed green - and mostly covered with what appeared to be a green hood with a hole cut in for the pony tail. The rest of her attire was just asymetrical and hard to look at it if you had some kind of OCD problem, with her left arm and leg having their red-and-black sleeve and sock seemingly torn up completely and the right side only having holes, and not looking right amidst the normal black skirt and blue sweater vest, nor with the pair of fingerless gloves and black leather boots. It did fit rather well with the general motif she gave off with that guitar strapped to her back though, one that outright looked like a bladed axe with strings attached to it. But what really identified her amongst the crowd were those eyes; heterochromia with left eye as red as her hair, and the right eye being outright inhuman with its purple coloring and the slit pupil you'd see commonly on a cat or a lizard.
To the right of her, was another person that stuck out like a sore thumb, but whereas the middle girl's eye was the only thing that seemed inhuman, this one only looked human in shape, and otherwise, you would not be blamed for mistaking her for some kind of demon or monster, what with the large horns, the glowing orange eyes, and that nightly blue skin. Yet her conservative noble-like attire suggests sophistication regardless of this, bar none making her stand out most of all in combination. @Smike
To the left of her was someone who looked like she belonged with this band attire-wise, albeit not to the same extreme. Her hair white as snow, her skin and blue eyes matching that, while her black lipstick matched the attire she wore the long-sleeved blue shirt over a black vest, equipped with spiked bracelets, the torn-up jeans with that spiked belt and another pair of black boots to just complete the set, yet overall seemed much more down-to-earth compared to everyone else. @Nyxira
At least two of them Jacob knew all too well about, as would everyone else in the audience as soon as they pop out. The green haired Rockstar was Helena Nankos while the horned lady was Dahlia Sangrey. Both of them are practically celebrities in the music industry, idols of rock/metal and classical respectively, and fellow students of Ishtar like himself on top of that. Their headmaster selected a musical competition as the game of the Write Category specifically because of these two being on his side. Just one of them has a large chance of winning over the crowd, and they're collaborating with each other, and with other fellow musicians of Ishtar.
The third one he doesn't necessarily know perse, but has caught his eye nonetheless. Vellaxir "Vell" Hebel, a relatively new face in Ishtar compared to the others. He's less fascinated in what she can do in a musical competition, and more focused on her other, more notable feats of skill. Not that he's actually seen them for himself but if there's one thing his guardian taught him, it's to always analyze whatever catches the eye, gather as much info as they can...He couldn't gather much on this one though, and that in itself is what made her a person of interest for him.
A deep breath, a few slaps on the cheek, and a smile. That was all Helena needed to psyche herself up for what's to come in a few minutes. Spinning the belt strapping her partner to her back as a way to spin it to the front, she took her pick and played a few notes to some last minute testing, turning knobs at the end if any of them felt out of tune. Helena was far from a perfectionist, ask any student in Ishtar and they'd call her a slacker who liked to just get things over and done with. Getting a B on a project? That's Awesome! Getting a D- on a test? Close enough! But when it came to music, when it came to rocking it out in the spotlight of a concert hall, she made an exception. Music was the one thing in her life she put effort into, to a point where she trained her magic by using music as her medium. She could not afford to screw up with all the ears listening to her and her companions. As long as she could please a crowd with her musical prowess, that was all she cared about, and the one thing she ever made an effort doing.
An energetic hop in the air, she turned as she jumped to face her companions in the battle of the bands.
"I can't believe we're the opening act of the entire bloody games! This is so EXCITING! ...Ok, let's do this just as we practiced. I got the guitar 1, Dahly got violin, you guys got drums and guitars two and three. That leaves you, New girl! The spotlight's on you taking the vocals tonight. We're counting on you to liven things up for them. Don't worry about the pressure though, Me and Dahly's got your back! Whatever we don't got, I'm sure Marduk's crew can substitute for us!" Helena said, referring to Vell as she calls her the New girl. As soon as she finished, one of the other students raised a hand.
"Umm, wait, what do you mean they'll 'substitute'? I thought the whole point of this was to blow them out the water, what the hell can they add that we don't have?" He said to her, with Helena responding by giving him a raised eyebrow and an unamused frown.
"Some humility, for starters." She said in response. The student fist-pumped in response to that. He must have thought she meant that they were gonna give them a slice of humble pie in defeat. She was going to open her mouth to correct him, but decided not to, waste of time and energy.
"Drummer-boy has a point though. It's fine that you want to have fun with this, but the Headmaster chose this competition expecting you all to win, and to do whatever it takes to win...whatever it takes." Said the blue-eyed boy Jacob Ascot, the traitorous son of Marduk's headmistress, walking towards them with a girl beside him, looking like his personal assistant. @Windstormugly He was relatively new much like Vell, although being at this school for slightly longer. He never really shown an interest in the Headmaster's goals, instead, it seems he has ambitions of his own whatever they may be. She sighed and waved away towards Jacob as if waving a fly from her face.
"Well, you can tell him that that's not our style, little bro." She said in response with a coy smile on her face. Of course they weren't actually brother and sister, but it's partly to mock his short-stature compared to herself, and it seems to always rile him up if only a little. The other band members took a look at her as if she just said something insulting to the Headmaster himself, and not because of her insult to Jacob.
"I thought I told you not to call me that... More importantly, whether or not it's your style to cheat is irrelevant to Headmaster Nergal. His direct orders is to do what has to be done. He chose this cause he believes you can win, we can't-"
"Then he should let us win by our own merit, not because we screw the other side the hardest. If we're doing this thing, we're doing it fair and square, that's what the audience out there wants from us, and we're gonna provide it. Besides, since when did you care about Nergal's direct orders?"
"I don't. My concern is making sure Mo-...making sure Headmistress Gilgamesha doesn't get those pages."
"Uh, huh... Look - and I'm saying this not just to Jake here, but to you guys as well - I get it. This isn't just fun and games like all the other years, something really important to our school - hell, something really important to this whole city - is on the line here. I know our school has to win these games, if only to make sure Marduk doesn't use those to turn this city into Hermannreich Part Deux. But right now, we are musicians, our loyalty should be to the audience who are coming to this looking for a rocking time, because that's what making music is about in the end, that's what concerts like this are for. Try your best out there, of course, show-off your best stuff to put on a good show, amplify our sound, absolutely. But if we win this by sabotage or by ruining the music on their side, then there's no point to that. We have to ease the mind of the audience from this whole mess with our songs, and that's the only thing we should worry about, that they're happy, that they're satisfied with our music, cause that's what playing for an audience is all about. If you guys feel we need to play dirty to keep 'Fuhrer' Ascot from turning this city upside down, I understand, there's plenty of chances to pull that crap in other games, but not here. We don't need to cheat to do what we have to, and we certainly don't need the Headmaster telling us how to do what we do best! Besides, if you ask me, cheating and playing dirty when we got such a Rocking band as we do, if anything, would only serve to DQ us and give them the win faster. If we're doing this, we're doing it right. Are you with me? ...THEN LET'S ROCK THIS JOINT!" Helena explained, giving them a kind smile as she spoke, before reverting to her energy and fist pumping in the air as she finishes. Readying her guitar once more, she looked to the others to see if they're ready for this much as she was.
Jacob could only Sigh.
"Don't say I didn't warn you... Keep watch of them." He said, first in a mutter towards the band, then towards his "shadow". @Windstormugly
Due to personal reasons both RL and otherwise, and with Letter's Permission, I shall be temporarily skipping the CS process.
To be clear, this does NOT mean exempt from doing CSes nor that I'm not going to do them. It's more like I'm asking the GM for a Loan and paying him back with excellent CSes later on. I WILL do, complete, and post my CSes just as everyone else has, it's simply that right now I can't make them in time, and do not wish to stall the IC getting started on my account.
Tyler blinked twice then tilted his head as he heard the boy's first response to what he says, not expecting such a...vague and unexpected answer from the boy. Hadn't thought much about what? About whether or not he's a student from Evergreen? Was it even as an answer to him at all, or could he have just thought aloud whatever he had on his mind at the moment before Tyler came over?
The boy then introduced himself as Alistair Parton. ...Alistair...Parton, Where has he heard that name before? As he looked away from Alistair and into the distance, he starts to remember...
"Alistair...? ...OH! You're that student from Dr. Brower's Lower-sixth Philosophy class? I'm in his upper-sixth Philosophy; he talks about you to us during some of his lectures. I think he's impressed with you; he sometimes even asks us the questions he hears from you. I've always overheard some students talking about you, wondering what kind of person you were to ask the questions you have. ...In a way, you're kind of a myth to us." Tyler said, a friendly smile trying desperately to inject itself with energy as he looked at the boy, though with a contemplative stare that looked beyond.
It may seem like an over-exaggeration, and in one way of perspective, it kind of was. But it was true that Alistair's questions were being asked by a curious teacher, one of those things that's to be expected in a realm like philosophy. True, for most of them, himself included, it was essentially treading old grounds they've already talked about a year before.
To Tyler however, Philosophy is like medical studies in a way: You can never truly finish with it, you can never study all the philosophies in school and expect to know all there is to know. It's ever-changing, ever growing and evolving as civilization and society changes over time, and one has to always study and understand it in any occupation that requires it, and is never really done doing so. In both cases, you are always a student even when you are a master; you never stop learning. The only difference is that Philosophy doesn't just encourage, but outright requires a personal touch to it, and only by going through individual philosophies of others can you define and make your own. As long as there is a different perspective on something, there is always something to talk about and learn. That's what Tyler always liked about it, there's always something to keep his mind occupied, to keep it busy...too focused to focus...
He immediately snapped out of his mini-trance and shook his head to get it back to reality the moment Alistair began to speak, this time about what happened between him and Mik.
As he listened to him, Tyler noticed his weak smile, and the brief pause in his speech, immediately taking notice. The way he interrupted interrupted his own train of thought told Tyler that he wasn't talking about what happened with Mik anymore. Maybe what happened with Mik was the context, but there was a different subtext to what he said, or at least that's what it felt like. What that is, Tyler can't say, not knowing much of anything about Alistair. But it does seem like this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened, and Al may not expect it to be the last.
At "carry on", Tyler nodded with a weak smile of his own.
"...I see. That's good to hear. Though, I'm sorry to say that he probably...did intend on violence towards you, at least at first. When Mik gets angry these days, when he's in a terrible mood, he tends to act out on others. Those he trusts he keeps his fists away from, but strangers like yourself tend to...well...it's unusual for him to hold his punch from one. There was a time where he wouldn't even hurt a fly, let alone another person, but then..." Tyler interrupted himself with a thought that came to mind...He never did see Mik ever since he ran off...rather than continuing with telling a story Mik probably didn't want him to tell a stranger towards - best he does it himself like he always does - maybe someone else saw him by now. It was a long shot but it was worth it to help ease his own worries.
"Oh, that reminds me, ...Have you seen Mik since this morning?" Tyler asked Al.
Black smoke above his head, with cracks of sky; not blue, but red. Beneath his feet: the scorched earth Plagued by the fiery dead.
Atop ruined scrapers of the sky, He could hear the screams as people die. Not of they, but of mullet barrels as legions of bullets pass him by.
Behind him amassed a faceless corps, Their bullet-ridden bodies piling upon the faceless floor Gave way the path to their faceless batallion; A familiar face lurking at their core.
He turned again to his front, An army of faces on the hunt. The Faces battled the faceless, as his own face took the brunt.
He looked down to his feet of clay, His hands of stone burning and decayed, Artillery thunder heard in the distance, and he aims it at the fray.
Then he heard the voice of Nate, Then he heard the cries of Kate, Then he heard screams of his own, And screamed himself with all his hate.
Never again, and again he meets his fate.
Evergreen Accomodations, Tuesday Morning
His whole body made a jolt, as if it was shocked with electricity as his eyes shot open and his shirtless upper body bent upwards, gasping for breath in a cold sweat. It took the dirt-silver haired boy about five seconds before he realized what happened.
It was a dream...
It was that dream...
He took a deep breath and sigh that the worst was over now. ...How long has it been since that dream haunted his nightmares still? After a while one would think they'd be used to it, but Tyler envies the insomniacs; unhealthy as it is. If not for the fact that his body and mind are always in need of slumber, he'd drink cups of coffee every night. The very thought of closing his eyes and then being forced out of mind - or pulled too far inwards, depending on how you look at it - and into a realm beyond your understanding or control is terrifying enough as it is. But when that dream is the same nightmare over and over again, those same sights and sounds that plague his mind ad eternum, it's enough to consider forcing insomnia upon himself anyways, health be damned.
With another deep breath, and wiping the sweat from his face, he took a look at the time.
It was early, too early, the clock didn't even make the alarm yet. Part of him wanted to drop back down and get some more rest, but the last thing he wants is the possibility to go back to that dream again. Deciding it was best to just stay up, he rubbed the sand from his eye and got off his bed - wearing a dark-green pair of shorts - giving himself a good stretch before looking outside his window. His room was a small one-bed suite with, for the most part, no decorations or anything particularly unique to his room, save only an framed picture on the counter beneath a flat-screen TV.
The picture itself was a happy memory of smiling faces when he was a kid, that of a small him wearing a green camo cargo jacket over a white shirt, unbuttoned to show said shirt, having both his brother and sister, both identical twins by the looks of their faces - the boy with short brown hair, a black T-shirt and brown-jeans and giving off an energetic grin to his right and the girl with medium-length, a rose-colored dress and wearing a lighter and softer smile to his left - wrapped by the neck around his arms and giving off a large grin and a wink of his left eye. Behind them were his parents - a lady in her late-thirties with a modest build and fair Caucasian skin, dressed in a nurse's outfit with brown haired wrapped in a bun under a nurse's cap, and eyes of emeralds as radiant as her smile, and a man looking around the same age as the woman with a moderate muscular build, short black hair and blue-eyes, a commando-green beret in his hands as he gives a restrained smile of his own - and his uncle, relatively older than his father by a few years, his face starting to show early signs of age and having a larger build than him with hazel eyes and a large bushy black mustache nearly covering his mouth completely and hiding a less-subdued smile, the same commando-green beret on his head hiding a sleeked head of medium-length black hair. Both his father and his uncle were wearing a decorative green military uniform, both with some medals attached to the lapel - and his uncle having a number more than his father. This was a photo taken from one of his parents anniversaries, not that he remembers which one. It should be noted that the glass case has a crack near the bottom of the frame, likely due to accidentally dropping it while moving into this room.
He'd have a perfect view of the London sunrise, from his room if not for the tall buildings. However, based on the darkened colors of the current sky, it was still VERY early in the morning. With that in mind, he grabbed a bottle of iced coffee - he could have kept it in the lounge fridge, but... people have a habit of taking whatever he puts in there, and besides that, it's far easier to have it near his bed to just wake up, crack open and drink - and drink it he did. He immediately went to take a shower afterwards, needing to prepare for another day of school while washing the cold sweat off him. It was also a good time to wash away the thoughts of his dream, putting his focus entirely on what he was studying last night for his psychology class, and recalling what still needed to be done for his Philosophy class.
By the time he got back out, rays of golden light from the morning sun was shining through the window, as a part of the sun has risen enough to break through the London buildings and give light to his room; must have been in there for quite a while. As he got dressed up in his what he chooses as his uniform, his grey pants, sky-blue T-shirt over a white dress shirt and complete with a yellow tie, a towel still on his silver hair, he walked over to the window to take a good look at the courtyard and academy.
...Only to come across a peculiar sight happening just below him. It seems a lot of students were gathered around a single tree in the courtyard. Why? Well, upon close inspection it seemed there was a kid who climbed atop it and won't get down...Wait, he recognizes him by his signature.
"...Hat?" The boy thought. Yes, it was indeed the new kid Hakoda on top the tree, or "Hat" as Tyler simply calls him, he seems to have a similar Japanese nickname, and is never seen without that hat on his head, therefore "Hat"'s as good a name to call him as any. Still, what was he doing up there? More importantly, ...Why was everyone stopping what they were doing to just stare at the hatted boy? Sure, a boy up on a tree is unorthodox at best, but with a small crowd this particularly interested in a boy on a tree, one would assume a car crashed into it, or that the Hatted one shot a gun in the air or something. Was this really worth the attention it was getting?
Even more bizarre, some of those faces he could see were very familiar ones. There was the bookworm Laurence who was sitting by the very same tree, reading his book as if nothing's happening. There was Merja and her college friend Ava, and as if by clockwork, eventually that scary guy, Alex, showed up and...seemed to be talking, no, more like arguing with Hat, ...and getting more and more frustrated at him by the second. Just when things weren't odd enough, in comes a face Tyler recognized as essentially the "Golden Boy of St. Paul and Evergreen", Philip Leonhart. What in the world was he doing around here? The courtyard connected Evergreen and St. Paul, so at first glance, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. But it looked like Phillip came from the direction of Evergreen, the school he already graduated from. He also noticed students like Alistair who just looked at the situation and decided to walk away... the normal response to something like this.
Needless to say, this sparked Tyler's curiosity, and looking at the time on his alarm, it was just about time to head out to class anyways. So he placed his materials in his bag and walked out of the room. By the time he got outside though, it seems the whole scenario resolved itself and everyone was heading to their classes. At first Tyler was somewhat shocked, his eyebrows raised as he blinked a couple of times, before he gave a smile and a quick chuckle to himself.
"Story of my life..." He thought. Without a word, he walked towards Evergreen, ready to begin his day like any other.
Evergreen Library, Thursday Afternoon
Tuesday and Wednesday were essentially normal, not much happening outside the norm. The rest of Tuesday nothing spectacular happened, and on Wednesday a few bullies decided it was a good day to start messing with him again, most likely because they had nothing better to do. Still, he steeled himself and as usual let them have it on him until being helped up by a certain someone.
Still somewhat bruised from yesterday's scuffle, he decided to use today to study up for Psychology and Philosophy classes, since the mid-terms seemed just around the corner. Not wanting to bother anyone else nor be bothered by anyone else, Tyler walked up to the second floor of the Library - an area not normally used for studying compared to the first floor - to do his work.
Little did he know that despite his effort to go away from distractions, another big distraction was happening just below, as he heard a familiar voice coming from the first floor...a voice and its lack of subtlety he recognized anywhere... It'd be fine, he'd have consider it another normal case of him doing his usual "search-and-retrieve" mission across the campus, if not for the mention of a "Finn Girl".
"Oh no..."
Tyler got up from his chair and walked towards the balcony of the second floor, and looking down at the others. Much to his dismay, it was exactly as he thought: Mikhail Chekov - or "Mik" as Tyler knows him by - was trying to talk Merja into helping him on his mission. Tyler knew all too well what Mik was trying to have people do for him, and also knew what his true intentions were for the antidote and poison he was talking about. This was nothing new; he's been at this ever since the school year started, and never had much luck with it, which was to be expected considering just how much Mik was asking for.
What was particularly embarrassing in this case however... was that Tyler couldn't help but wonder if him heading for Merja was his fault. For just yesterday, Mik was the one who helped essentially swat away the bullies that were harming him, and he, as usual, was asking Tyler afterwards if he had someone in mind who could help him out. It was Tyler who pointed Merja out to him, but that was only to help him find better help among those she knows, since she had an entire study group for A-level Biology, and certainly would know friends in Chemistry. He didn't think Mik would actually have her be the one to help out. He must be getting either really desperate, really impatient, or both. He even went so far as to explain to her his life story and provide "proof" for his efforts.
"Oh no, not the Tabloid again..."
Yes, Mik's story was very far-fetched, like something out of a spy thriller, and Tyler understands that that Tabloid was the only picture proof he had for it, the only thing he had to prove that it's real. But the pulps had an infamous reputation for having ridiculous stories that were unbelievable and just documented for the sake of baiting unsuspecting buyers. Thus, if anything, using it to prove his case makes his story even more far-fetched and unbelievable.
That said, Merja seemed to take it far better than everyone else he tried this with, it even looked like she legitimately believed him. ...It's just a shame how easy it is for Tyler to see that Mik was indeed manipulating her as a means to an end.
Sure enough like Tuesday with the tree-hat incident, the conversation were drawing familiar faces in like moths to a flame, albeit significantly less than last time. This time it was just Laurence - who of course would be in a Library at this time, it only makes sense for a bookworm like him - Romani this time - who came in apparently looking for Laurence - and Al-... Uh oh.
In one corner, there's Mik, someone who these days is known to be relatively aggressive and hostile towards people who don't believe his story in the slightest...which is not a very hard thing to do. In the other corner there's Alex, someone who Tyler knows is hostile just from his attempted conversation with him. Like two tsunamis, these two aggressive waves just came into conflict and has begun to crash into each other, with poor Merja, Laurence, and Romani right in the middle, about to be flooded.
Sure enough, Alex called Mik out like Tyler thought he would, and Mik responded as Tyler thought he would. Laurence seemed to try and make things easier, and Romani, who apparently was looking for Laurence, made the smart decision to stay out of this, giving Merja a cup of coffee as an apology.
Fortunately, both Alexander and Mik were essentially on holy ground, the Library where such things as conflict is not tolerated, and he could hear the voice of someone he didn't recognize, step out from a study room Tyler couldn't see from his angle he was in, and essentially stopped the fight from happening. That's when he heard Mik mention the name of the voice, "Philip Leonhart". The boy genius is here in Evergreen again? Not that he believes that Philip isn't welcomed, but surely there must be a library of some kind in St. Paul that's better than this one. Maybe smaller, but probably with more stuff to his liking he'd imagine.
By the sound of things, as soon as Philip stepped out, he could hear Mik talking to him about how he wanted his help. Tyler made a sigh of relief; it seems Mik stopped putting focus on Merja and instead on someone who might actually be eligible to help him. ...Too bad Philip didn't sound like he was having any of it. He could tell by the tone of the genius' voice that he was getting really irritated at Mik, shooting him down with logic after logic before seemingly walking away. Mik walking away as well in a huff.
"Ambition without knowledge..." Philips words, unbeknownst to Philip himself, hit home with Tyler as well. Albeit in a different, if not outright reverse way. He returned to his chair, thinking about the conversation, thinking about that last line in particular.
If Ambition without knowledge is like a bird without wings, then what's knowledge without ambition? Just the wings of a bird. A bird's wings are often wanted by many, but hold them in your hand and they still won't let you fly, not like they would for birds. Wings are useless without the bird to make them fly. Knowledge is useless without a goal, without ambition, without purpose to give it shape.
...Was that why Philip came here? He's renowned as a genius so he has plenty of knowledge, so could it be that he's looking for ambition of his own? If so, they may not be so different in spite of Leonhart's superior intellect. ...Tyler, too, has knowledge but no reason to use it.
...Not anymore...
Tyler felt pressure in his frontal lobe as he thought about it, his vision distorting; his mind was trying to remember, and it was enough to make him press his face against his hand, clenching it as if in pain. He closed his eyes, the landscape of his dream in his mind's eye, the echoes of the past in his mind's ear...
He shook his head, even slapped himself a few times, and eventually the feelings subsided as he put his focus back into his books, reading profusely from it, studying every page.
Eventually he took a deep breath and sighed, before grabbing his stuff and returning back to his room, ready to call it a day.
School Accomodation hallway, Thursday Afternoon
After the Library debacle, when he felt it was time to leave himself, he took a walk back to the accommodations, weary of anyone trying gunning to attack him yet again. Good news was, no such thing happened this time around, he was able to walk from the Library to the Dorms without any hassle.
Bad news was that none other than Alex, Merja, and the rest of their Biology Study Group was hanging out in the lounge performing their studies. It must be for the Midterms, but this presents a problem either way. Tyler was already made clear that his pacifistic (or cowardly) ways is enough to get on Alexander's bad side. Moreover, Mik irritated him just an hour or so ago in the Library. Who knows what'll happen if he winds up walking anywhere near Alex's line of sight. Sure, his friends might tame him, but he'd rather not have them perform such a struggle over someone like himself.
Thus, not taking any chances, he decided to walk around to the opposite side of the accommodations in order to reach the stair well without getting into contact with the Biology group. Making a quick dash around the building, he walked in, and indeed headed for the stairwell and was heading up. ...Or at least he was going to, but he then overheard the study group in the lounge. Nothing particularly of note, but just... the fact that they were enjoying themselves. Hearing them, with a gentle smile on his face, he quietly put down his bag so as to not let them hear him, and sat down on the step. Well, more like laid on it, lying his back on the wall and a laid his leg on a part on the step he was on, while the other leg was on the floor. Then he simply laid his head gently on the wall, eyes closed and that gentle smile still on his face, cathartic and relaxed as he listened to them. He knew the others have likely gone back into their dorms or aren't coming back for a while, so he hopes he has the luck to not encounter somebody who wants to get up or down the steps and ask him to move, blowing his cover.
Tyler never really liked parties, but he liked being in one. He didn't like taking parts in the festivities, but he loved observing others enjoying it from afar. Perhaps it's the sense that he thinks himself not worthy, or maybe it was just his uncle's teachings that echo in his head. Maybe it was both, causing a sense of perpetual anxiety, but either way, he can't ever truly bring himself to be a part of a group of people that are not a part of the family that he knows. Even so, something about listening to others, about others having a good time even if it's without him, makes him feel good about himself. It felt relaxing; listening to other people laughing and making jokes was akin to listening to music. It lets him...keep to himself while enjoying the joys of social activity, a positive sense of invisibility that creates the best of both worlds. It's something, he feels, would be the mutual feelings of an ever watching guardian angel.
In particular, he was happy that the Library incident from earlier today was all but forgotten by Merj and Alex. Of course, the very thought that the scary man was hanging out comfortably with people and possibly enjoying himself was enough to satisfy him. Even someone like that has people he can be around, friends with energy, humor, and kindness. Even if he himself doesn't seem like he's enjoying their company, maybe, just maybe, they're just what someone like him needs.
Once he felt the Study Group was over, he quietly grabbed his bag, slowly getting up and quietly walking up the steps to his room without raising suspicion that he was ever there.
After what's happened to him yesterday, after the shit that happened in the library, he needed this...
Today felt like quite a busy day for Tyler. He needed to go to his classes, prepare for Midterms, (PE's gonna be a bitch, he just knows it...) and even before that, it seems Vice-Principal - or rather "Acting-Principal" if he heard the news right - Ashcroft wants to go through some kind of mid-term evaluation of particular students. Most likely, it was to check up on them and see if they're still doing what's needed to stay in this school.
It wasn't all that surprising for Tyler; this IS a private school for selected individuals of particularly advanced minds, after all. It made sense that they'd need to evaluate the students every now and then to make sure they were still qualified to be here. That said, it is questionable that he's only evaluating particular students as oppose to the whole school. It'd make sense for someone like himself to be needing evaluation, since he feels he's not doing as good lately as he feels he should be, there's definite aspects of his learning and himself he feels he needs to improve. It'd also make sense for people like Mik or Hat to be evaluated, considering the attention their actions unwittingly made. While he completely understands Mik's desperation, and it's likely Hat only wanted to have a little fun, and probably isn't too used to the way of things here since he's a transfer student, in the end, they have caused a disruption of the student body.
But Laurence was to be evaluated later on? Laurence? He's not exactly a social get-together type, yes. But to Tyler's knowledge, he's an upstanding student and does a remarkable job, if Philosophy class is anything to consider. If Mr. Ashcroft was going to pick select students, why pick him?
Before he could think on it anymore, he spotted yet another event that just happened: Firstly he spotted Ashcroft as he walked past a boy and taking a turn towards another hallway, it seems his own evaluation will have to wait. Just then, however, it seemed Mik bumped into the boy Ashcroft passed by, a junior student by the looks of it. To make matters worse, he was then about to punch the boy in the face. Tyler was about to step in at that point to stop him, but it seemed Mik hesitated and instead got him right back up, Tyler sighing in relief at Mik suddenly coming to his senses. He then noticed Philip once again. He's still here? Plus he seemed to be speaking with Dr. Brower, the Philosophy teacher...that is, until the incident with Alistair and Mik, in which case he once again stepped in.
...He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. First, he was there when Hat was in that tree, then in the Library he was there to tell off Mik, and now here, likely about to tell off Mik once more. All while being a St. Paul student as oppose to Evergreen. He knows that the two schools are connected and even neighbors, but it's still very peculiar how often he's seen the boy genius here as oppose to the college. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with that, but it did honestly spark up curiosity in Tyler's mind for the rather enigmatic genius.
In any case, everything looked like it was about to go through the same thing that happened yesterday all over again... Then, something happened Tyler could never have predicted. Mik looked towards another corridor, seemingly distracted, by something Tyler never noticed.
When Mik's focused on something, it takes a lot to pull him out of that focus. Yet now he looked ...off. It was like Mik saw a ghost or something, and without a single word, he just... ran off all of a sudden, like something over there caught his attention. Worried, Tyler made a run for the path Mik was on.
"Sorryabouthimbeinglikethathaveagreatdayandhiprofessor!" Tyler said quickly to Philip and Alistair, and a quick greeting to Dr. Brower, as he ran off to where ever Mik went.
However, by the time he got to where Mik last was, he was gone.
...Strange...This area was basically the closest thing this school has to a dead-end. It was an open area so he might have went somewhere else, but based on how fast the two were going, he should have at least seen him in the distance.
Hopefully he isn't getting himself into trouble, but unfortunately there's not much he can do right now but hope for the best. Besides, it's Mik, or at least this present-day Mik, he's confident he can get back home safely. With that in mind, he walked back the way he came and headed for the Vice-Principal's office to start his day, hopefully Ashcroft's already back at his office by the time he gets there.
Downtown London, Friday Afternoon
After school, Tyler decided to take a walk into the great city of London for a bit...He just needed to be away from it all for the moment, especially after his own meeting with Ashcroft. He couldn't even focus like he should have when he was in classes because of that.
If one was to take the conversation they had out of context, they would say that it went exceedingly well. Ashcroft praised him for his hard work, as well as his lineage, being the son and nephew of two war heroes and a skilled nurse, and he seemed worried about him, what with the bullying. But something about the way he spoke, the state of his room, how he seems to refer to other students as an infection, or treating them as non-citizens, ...everything about what he said rubbed him the wrong way, and by the look in his eyes, he was serious about all of it. Even the concern for his well-being felt less because Ashcroft cared about him, and more like he's a fancy trophy on a pedestal that he didn't want to see get broken.
Did Laurence have this same feeling when he got in there? Did Mik? No, by how he sounded, he definitely treated Mik horribly in there due to his Russian nature.
Speaking of which, what happened to Mik? He still can't wrap his head around that reaction he suddenly made, and now he still couldn't find him anywhere. Where in the world could he have gone?
As he thought about this, he looked up for a moment. Sure enough as it so happens, there was Alistair, the boy Mik collided with a while ago. Part of Tyler wanted to essentially turn the other way and walk somewhere else, not wanting to actually interact with anyone. ...But no, Mik and him collided together, and worse still, Mik was about ready to punch the boy in the face, ran off without apologizing, and now is nowhere to be seen. ...It was up to him to apologize - ACTUALLY apologize this time unlike what he did this morning - in his stead. After all, the least he could do for Mik was make sure there's no hard feelings. ...While he's at it, he should probably find Philip, and do the same...hard as that may be.
But no, he must first focus on the now! With that, he strengthened his resolve, and walked over to the boy.
"...Umm, Hello there. You're a student from Evergreen, yes? ...My name is Tyler Blackmore, an upper sixth at Evergreen as well. I...umm, I'm sorry for coming up to you out of the blue like this, but that boy who ran into you a while ago was a friend of mine. I wanted to apologize about that incident in his stead. ...I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive him. He... he wasn't always like that." He said to him.
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.
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Alfhedil
King Kindred
Megatron
ScreenAcne
Fetzen
Andre Valias
Snowdrops
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