(This is a power up quest, so Nathan and his profile have already been approved. ^^)Name:
Nathan Darrow
Nickname:
Nate, Narrow
Age:
17
Birthday:
June 5
Sign:
Gemini
Gemstone:
Pearl
Blood Type:
AB
Fav. Food:
Microwaveable meals
Hated Food:
Chocolate
School: –
He left school early in his high school years. If he goes back, he’ll apply for a GED or some kind of completion course at a community college somewhere, but the chances of him going to college are low.
Hobbies:
Slacking Off:
One of Nate’s favorite things to do is any-and-everything that’s not what he’s supposed to be doing. He isn’t the most diligent of young men, with no apparent work ethic and no motivation to correct that issue. He wastes his time at all times, never engaged in anything particularly taxing or creative. He can often be found playing video games, or reading books, drawing or causing trouble. Very much his father’s son in that regard, though it has much more to do with where and how he was raised then genes, he very often fills his nights with deviant activity. But just because he has no goals doesn’t mean he’s not at least cultured about it. He reads a lot, writes a lot, plays music just as much as he plays video games, and hangs out at the park or the gym more often than he is locked away in his room. He’s a well rounded slack off, doing anything that isn’t important and doesn’t feel like a chore.
Music:
Singing. Humming. Playing. Dancing (badly): Nate likes it all. He is not, however, an ‘aficionado’ on the subject. He does not pride himself on his ability, or know any extensive history on the subject. He can’t read music, and has no idea who the ‘big names’ are. He won’t talk to anyone about technical things, because he doesn’t know about them. All he knows is that he likes music, likes the way it makes him feel and helps him escape. He likes playing his guitar and piano, by ear unless someone can eventually teach him more. He never had any money for lessons or even books to teach himself. He’s not good, per se, but he’s passionate and dedicated as much as he knows how to be. To practice, however, to study and learn would make it a chore or an obligation, and he is just not good with those.
Paintball:
Is hella fun. Nathan adores paintball because it lets him be violent, allowed him to shoot people, is a great vent for frustration and his harbored sense of betrayal by both of his parents, and thus also a great way to forget how lonely and dejected he feels whenever he spends too long alone, or doing the same thing. Those moments between instant satisfactions. Paintball is his escape, where even music fails. And maybe getting hit, those small bursts of pain that protective gear fails to prevent, adds a different kind of help. He isn’t great at it, but he’s not bad either, and he owns a lot of gear. How he managed to accumulate these possessions is any one’s guess, not coming from any place with money, but they’re his and the few things he really owns. He cherishes them more than anything else. He doesn’t maintain a schedule for when he hits the paintball course, since that would seem too much like a structure or requirement, but he goes whenever it feels like it’s time.
Virtues:
Fealty:
Thought he might not be very good at making friends, the concept of loyalty is key with Nate. Unlike his father and mother, at least as far as Nathan has known growing up, he believes that being loyal to some one is the most important thing a person can do with their life. Finding something, someone, to dedicate ones self to is the pinnacle of accomplishment, and the one thing he actually really wants to do, but the only problem is he has not yet found that person or thing. It’s private, so no one can ridicule him for this depth of heart, because once he finds that person or thing he knows he would be able to pledge himself to it without risk of failure or embarrassment. It’s an ideal, this perfect fantasy with no shape or name, that one day will give his life some kind of meaning. The truest part of his character can only really be explored when he finds that ‘one true thing’. Or person. Or whatever.
Propitious:
Inheriting more from his father than he knows, Nathan has an innate sense of benevolence. If he sees someone in need of a favor, something small that might make their day or give them a bit of a boost, he’ll do it. With a stoic face, probably, but the gesture means the same. He likes people better if they’re having fun or in a good mood, and if he has to do something to help get them there, he will. It’s easier to focus on others, on helping them with their problems and maybe even letting himself get invested in their failures and try to fix their problems, than it is to put himself at risk of being in the same place. Meaning, he would much rather help someone who is already down than take a risk and put himself there. He will help the person being ridiculed or pitied before allowing himself to be that person. So his own life is simple, uninspired and not destined for anything by his own design, but he might help others go for more than that.
Analytical:
Though his hoodlum attitude and actions don’t seem to reflect it, Nathan is a rather observant and thoughtful kid. He is smarter than his limited efforts in the education system let on, but he keeps it to himself. Good at reading people, he is a bit of a people watcher and likes to take stock of those around him. In this way he can be more aware of someone’s feelings and situation than the typical thug kid. It is important to him to have this awareness because he is not malicious, and doesn’t do things to be cruel. He cares about people, and considers most of his actions before he makes them. Like any kid, he can get wrapped up in the moment and fail to make a good decision, but for the most part he considers the pros and cons of any situation, and responds fittingly. He might be good at psychology or philosophy, if he ever bothered to go back to school, and applies loose interpretations of these theories in his day to day life, as he meets people or starts something.
Flaws:
Capricious:
Not flighty in a way that makes him want to go ride bikes in the middle of a video game session, but he does not keep to one thing for long. He can play a video game for a few hours, then want to go outside and vandalize something, or go find some friends to hang out with. Or make new ones that he won’t keep for very long. He’s an instant satisfaction kind of guy, and likes to have fun in the moment, and changes his tactics when the previous activity isn’t as engaging any more. His affections for people are also liable to shifts, depending entirely on what that person had done or said that day. It’s easy to piss him off, but it’s also easy to win him back. He doesn’t know how to make lasting friendships, so everything is shallow and fleeting, from one person to the next.
Unreliable:
Nathan is not the kind of person who likes to feel the weight of obligation. In a large or a small sense: anything that becomes more than ‘doing it for fun’ or ‘because I want to’ he doesn’t want to do. He has never done very well in school, but not because he isn’t smart. He just coasts through on his intelligence and the bare minimum of work, often making deals with his teachers. There’s an art to getting through school, to playing the parts he needs to play, taking advantage of his disadvantaged upbringing to shuffle his way through without having to apply himself or push any of his limits. This apathetic attitude applies to work and pretty much everything else. He does things because he wants to, and for no other reason. If the slightest hint of having to do something slips in, he stops. This includes when he’s helping someone: if they start expecting things from him he will either get upset about it, like they’re taking advantage of his kind gesture, or panic under the pressure of responsibility.
Disenthralled:
His risk taking is not the typical kind. He will do dangerous things, he will try new things, he will be adventurous and think out of the box: but it always has to be on his own terms. Anything that someone expects him to do he will immediately take a dislike to, or outright refuse to do it. Not because he’s of the ‘you can’t tell me what to do’ mentality, though he uses that as a shield. In reality, he fears failure and, worse yet, making a fool of himself. He hates people laughing at him for not being good enough, already well aware that he falls short in comparison to just about everything else. His hard attitude toward life, school and work, then, is just a compensation tool to keep him from having to try to succeed. If he makes everyone believe he doesn’t want to do anything, no one expects anything of him. And those, at least, are expectations he knows he can fulfill. In this way, he is free of the bonds that are such expectations.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes:
Random color, whatever his mother’s might have been. They’re older than they should be, and seem darker because of it.
Hair:
Messy. Not really his biggest concern, he probably spikes it up with gel and goes on with his day. Short. Light brown with a shock of white in the front. Buzzed on the sides.
Face:
A squarish face, like his dad, with soft features.
Clothes:
He’s a bit of a punk, so his fashion reflects his drop-out, no-good attitude. Probably something easy to pull on and liable to get him stared at in public places like he’s obviously a thief. Which he might be. Spikes and belts. He wears a bowler cap, if that’s cool, far back on his head.
