Post by Alistair Innova on Mar 19, 2018 10:32:14 GMT -8
Alistair Leonardo Innova
Alistair | 19 (jan 3rd) | male / ace - quoiromantic |
Faraday | Civilian | Undergrad Student |
Appearance
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 110lbs
Skin color: pale AF, lots of freckles. L O T S
Hair Color: ginger red, with a white streak running from the top left (viewer's top right) of his forehead, going backward along his skull.
Hair length/style: Shaggy/has been left to grow out from a shorter haircut; lowest touches the back of his neck, but the front is barely able to be tucked behind the ears. Usually somehow both frizzy and greasy, Al tends to "style" it simply by combing backward.
Clothes: Likes to wear dark brown/black leather, both suede and more smooth/burnished varieties. Sometimes will wear them at the same time, and doesn't care that it's 'ugly' and 'incorrect' and 'bad fashion' -- or tries to anyway, but he wonders if folks take him seriously when he's out the two together without thinking. Also likes dark blues and brassy/bronze metals, and white is an inoffensive enough color that it often finds its way into his wardrobe, too. He prefers tops which button or zip down, rather than those which are pulled over the head-- and slightly prefers looking fancy to 'a lazy slouch,' which he associates tee shirts and sweats with. Also tends to wear multiple layers of tops, like a shirt and vest and coat. Even when it's warm out, he seems reluctant to shed his clothes, even if he seems too hot. He seems finicky about wearing shorts too, between his insistence that he can't stand the feel of the ends of cargo shorts catching in the backside of his knees, and that while utilitarian they are neither comfortable nor aid a professional appearance. As such, he usually wears slacks, almost always black, brown, or dark blue. His shoes, similarly, are typically over-fancy for what he's doing and tend to be dark brown or black leather.
Visual references: here
Personality
Positives (?)
- Good at problem-solving
Alistair has always excelled at school and intellectual endeavors--at least, when he's actually doing it. He finds math and logic problems either simple, or rewarding in how challenging they are to work out. Situational problems are somewhat more difficult, but so long as the variables don't include emotional reactions or other things not goverened by straightforward logic, he tends to manage. On the flip side, he doesn't tend to understand personal and emotional motivations very well at all. He's middling at best at even understanding his own emotional state.
- Generally well read
For his entire life, Alistair has enjoyed reading, and often finds refuge in stealing away from the bright loud outside and curling up with a good book. He typically reads epic fantasy/scifi or classics, often those considered more 'gothic'/dark like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, etc. He can be pretty pretentious about it, though.
- Enjoys teaching others
Alistair dislikes seeing and hearing misinformation in the world-- as such, when someone he interacts with says or implies something that is factually incorrect, he will often try to explain the actual facts of the matter, and why they are that way. It's... not always as delicate as it might be, but he does get genuine pride out of someone understanding the world about them better because of his efforts.
- Enthusiastic about his hobbies
While Alistair is typically asocial, he may be quite outspoken and verbose if asked about something he's interested in-- for example, steampunk genre things; mechanical engineering, especially anything he's managed to make himself and/or has a steampunk aesthetic; archaeology; alchemy, both for the historical/magical side as well as its connections to modern chemistry; etc. Alistair's face lights upw ith interest, and his hands become quite animated as he talks about his subject, happily answering any questions fielded to him. If told something new that doesn't fit with his current view of the subject, he tries to avoid making snap judgement dismissals and instead remember the information for later research to decide whether he will change his view or not. Unfortunately, he tends to be considerably more excited than his audience, and is very poor at reading body language/nonverbal signals that his conversation partner is growing tired of him.
- Genuinely wants to make the world a better place
The world is awful and terrible and Alistair wants to do something about that, dammit. He can't do much at the moment, but he's got family connections and even if he hates his dad, his dad's company has the power to do some real good; Alistair isn't a dummy when it comes to digital tech (even if he prefers steampunk style gadgetry) so he plans on using the company's assets to do what he can. (Exactly what that entails, how he plans to 'make things better,' he hasn't decided yet.)
- Cares deeply for his friends
Even Alistair will admit that he's pretty grouchy, and doesn't make friends easily. But once you have gotten on his good side, he'll... well, he'll still act grouchy and won't be any better at expressing his emotions, but he will intentionally spend time with those people, trust them with his thoughts and hopes and dreams and fears, will try to remember to ask how their day has gone, and unlike he does with strangers will actually care about the answer to that.
- A giant dork
Alistair is... pretty poor at social situations in general. Typically, this is awkward silences and looking anywhere but where he should as he tries to figure out what he's "supposed" to be doing. Sometimes, however, this manifests at poorly time dark jokes or barbed banter or passive-aggressive behavior.
Negatives
- Grouchy
Alistair doesn't really understand or care for small talk. He also just doesn't like dealing with new people, so tends to tell the blunt truth, regardless of how unkind it may be. Also, he's sometimes rude without even intending to be-- the only real way he can manage deception is by having planned various smoke and mirrors misdirections to avoid detection in the first place.
- Poor motivation
Everything is terrible and the world sucks and the glass isn't even half full, it's been knocked over and it's getting everywhere, and perhaps this metaphor has also gotten away from the author. Not only is the world in general terrible, but college especially. Alistair is finding that the complexity of concepts he's learning about have surpassed his ability to understand without doing the assigned reading and half-ass the homework, with maybe another half-baked attempt at studying the night before the test. As such, his grades have been slipping, and the worse his grades are, the more he is stressed by them-- which he deals with by pretending the stressful factor doesn't exist, causing his grades to drop even more. Even things as simple as making food sometimes pose a hurdle for him, such that if he doesn't have anything simple enough to cook, he just... won't eat.
- Poor at showing affection
Alistair finds it strange and awkward to use pet names, he doesn't like being touched for the most part-- even light contact, if unexpected, he registers as ...not quite 'painful', but more intense than simple discomfort. He's not really sure how to socialize effectively either, which is part of the reason he seems constantly grouchy--but that also means that he doesn't really know how to not be grouchy when he's decided he likes this or that person. He's especially poor at dealing with romantic crushes. He feels flustered and thinks about the person often, and attempts to flirt by acting literally no differently at all, or if he's trying really hard, he might try to be around the person slightly more than he would otherwise.
- Poor at communication
Alistair is, oddly, conflict avoidant. His grouchy demeanor would be mutually exclusive with that kind of mindset, or at least you'd think so. But no. While he appreciates that folks tend to leave him alone once they've been offended, he also tends to dwell on every social faux pas he noticed that he committed, and worries that he committed more he didn't, that those people who are nice to him are lying and just want something from him, etc. The more stressed Alistair is, the less likely he'll be able to speak a coherent sentence. He's somewhat better online, but either digitally or in person, he tends to ramble and circle around his point, somehow managing to be redundant while never actually getting to the point itself.
- Poor priority management
Stress does funny things to anyone's brain, and this is especially true for Alistair. He tends to deal with stress by pretending the stressor doesn't exist, even though when he actively thinks about it he's quite aware that as a "strategy," that doesn't even slightly work. But he doesn't tend to think clearly or logically while stressed, and just tries to calm himself down for a bit.
- Poor at making friends
He's a grouchy bastard who tends to tell the blunt truth and doesn't care about how strangers' days are going or about the weather.
- Poor memory
Alistair can remember five million facts about the Oz novels, how they differ from the well known major motion picture as well as many others that capitalize on the pop culture icon that it is, but general knowledge? New names or faces of folks he really should know by now he's been in class with them for three years? That birthdays and anniversaries are coming up, days that are important to people he personally knows rather than cultural events like holidays that have entire communities giving signals that the holiday is approaching? Hell, even what day of the week or month it is?
- Self-loathing
Since childhood, Alistair has been depressed. It's hard to say when it started, but he distinctly remembers a few incidents that were clearly worrying at a pretty young age. He doesn't really know the terms for these, but most (or all) of his life, he's dealt with all the trappings of depression-- general low energy/fatigue, executive dysfunction, poor eating habits, etc. The most obvious signal to himself about depression, though, is the strong self-loathing. Any mistake he makes, he dwells on it, and sometimes when he thinks he's managed to let go of or forget something, he's reminded months or years later and feels... maybe not quite as strongly as he did then, but much more than he ought to be at this distance of time. Alistair also tends to disbelieve compliments paid to him, and wonders at the real motive behind anyone's kind actions towards him.
[CW: SELF HARM AND SUICIDE IDEATION]
Tends to self-harm in ways that won't leave 'evidence' as a quick fix for sudden stress. If not that, then he'll visualize significantly worse harm than he could realistically pull off, while lightly stimulating the area in question, e.g. pressing fingers to his closed eyes while imagining shoving knitting needles through the sockets into his brain. He's also hidden several caches of pills in his room--mostly just over the counter migraine medications, since he can explain that away if necessary and blame the odd location on his forgetfulness. Several of these bottles have stronger pills at the bottom, obtained from various hospital visits for things such as muscle spasms and concussions. These pills are separated from the top by the cotton that comes in the bottle and a few of the legitimate pills left as a smokescreen, and because he might actually need them eventually. Taken together, these stashes would be... unkind to one's liver, at the very least. This hidden cache of pills is almost always at the back of Alistair's mind.
[END SELF HARM CW]
[CW: SELF HARM AND SUICIDE IDEATION]
Tends to self-harm in ways that won't leave 'evidence' as a quick fix for sudden stress. If not that, then he'll visualize significantly worse harm than he could realistically pull off, while lightly stimulating the area in question, e.g. pressing fingers to his closed eyes while imagining shoving knitting needles through the sockets into his brain. He's also hidden several caches of pills in his room--mostly just over the counter migraine medications, since he can explain that away if necessary and blame the odd location on his forgetfulness. Several of these bottles have stronger pills at the bottom, obtained from various hospital visits for things such as muscle spasms and concussions. These pills are separated from the top by the cotton that comes in the bottle and a few of the legitimate pills left as a smokescreen, and because he might actually need them eventually. Taken together, these stashes would be... unkind to one's liver, at the very least. This hidden cache of pills is almost always at the back of Alistair's mind.
[END SELF HARM CW]
- Rarely remembers to take necessary steps to treat chronic migraines
When Alistair has a migraine, his thinking gets very foggy. Bright lights and loud sounds are physically painful, logic slows to a crawl, and all he can really focus on is that he's in pain. Unfortunately, this fogginess prevents him from focusing on taking steps to fix this state of being in pain. Sure he'll do things like close or cover his eyes, and try to be as horizontal as possible, but eating or taking pills is too many steps and too indirectly related to relief it provides for his migraine brain to push him in that direction.
- Extra grouchy when migrainey
While Alistair is always blunt, he grows a distinctly short fuse when dealing with a migraine. He snaps at people asking him about anything, or telling him that something has not gone exactly as expected or hoped, or sometimes if someone just exists near him. His entire perception of the world is filtered through pain, that is made worse by being out and doing things, so it's little wonder-- but understanding why he'd be grouchy and not being upset by the grumpiness are two very different things.
History
Alistair was born in Unova to [Mom Elephant] and [Dad Elephant] Innova, a fighter pilot and a [elephant, Silicon Valley?] business owner and inventor. While Alistair was growing up, his father was largely the home-maker of the parental unit... kind of. Technically [Dad Elephant] was around, but as young Alistair aged out of toddlerdom and could be trusted with a modicum of responsibility, his father left Alistair the responsibility of making sure his sisters didn't kill each other or themselves. "I'm working on something really important, [deadname]," [Dad Elephant] said once when Alistair whined about having to babysit again. "And I love you all but Arceus damn you're irritating, and I need peace and quiet to finish this." And then he'd retreat back into his study with the door locked.
Alistair couldn't even spread the responsibility well-- his mother was gone on TDY for two weeks every several months, and had long work hours while she was home. But no, worse than that, as politics or bureaucracy or whatever changed, every few years [Mom Elephant] was given PCS orders-- Permanent Change of Station. That is to say, after Alistair had barely had time to connect with other children his age and have friendships that could bear the irritation of bringing whiny younger siblings along, the family pulled up its roots and moved, somewhere far away. From Unova .............wip.
Pokémon
Pokedex Name: e.g. Pikachu, Togepi (if they are rare, please place this next to their name)
Nickname: What they go by (leave blank if no nickname)
Gender: Male / Female / Genderless
Ability: (no HA)
Moveset: 4 moves that can be naturally learned up to LV50 (+ 1 EM if GL)
Pokedex Name: Murkrow
Nickname: Absinthe
Gender: M
Ability:
Moveset:
Pokedex Name: Spritzee
Nickname: Julian
Gender:
Ability:
Moveset:
Pokedex Name: (if rare )
Nickname:
Gender:
Ability:
Moveset:
Skills (0/11)
poor boy's as normie as it gets lol
Other Information
- Is a trans guy, has been on testosterone for about five years now.
- Is on the autistic spectrum, though not diagnosed.
- Dealing with entirely untreated depression, anxiety, and ADHD. l o l.
- Has chronic migraines
- The white streak is natural-- Alistair just has poliosis, which consists of the hair discoloration and not much else.
RP Sample
If this is your first character, feel free to use a post from another site! If it's an import from another site, a post about your character from the previous region should be fine.
OOC Information
OOC name: Floramei
Face Claim: N/A
Continuity: Original
Other Characters? Rhiannon Milliner (archived)
Starter Items:
Civilian
5 PokeBalls, 2 Move Techs, 1 Big Nugget (100 muns)
made by Wolf of GS