Nickname: None
Age: 17
Birthday: January 13th
Sign: Capricorn
Gemstone: Garnet
Blood Type: Never been typed
Fav. Food: Rabbit stew
Hated Food: N/A
School: None - Unemployed
Hobbies:
Cats — Were he able, Slate would run an animal shelter due to his depthless love for the feline species. While owning none of his own, he does enjoy the occasional brush with a cat on the street, which he would pet emphatically. Sometimes he even carries a bag of cat treats in his coat pocket solely for instances like these. He does hope to get his own one day, and while he has yet to find a job, he volunteers at a cat shelter to build rapport in anticipation of the day when he acquires a furry friend. He is also more than open to sharing his love for the fur bags with anyone - friend or stranger. Cats simply need to be worshipped.
Research — When a topic interests Slate, he goes after it voraciously. Primarily he resorts to books and word of mouth sources. He could spend hours in a library with a healthy array of books on one particular topic, notebook in hand while he bullets out important facts. The only qualifying factor for a topic to merit research is his interest - or his interest in the person suggesting the subject matter. Thus, he will research for friends or romantic interests and he doesn't care if this constitutes cheating on their part for an assignment and it's none of his business regardless. Most of his research occurs in the evenings after job searching - if he didn't just blow an entire day on cobbling together facts and stories.
Incense — Slate mixes incense oils as part of a tradition that was passed through his family. Most of them are harmless, aromatic scents like sandalwood, patchouli, or lavender. Sometimes he tries to dabble in concocting more potent substances - anything ranging from an attempted foxglove oil for paralytic functions (which he can't seem to get right) to an invented aphrodisiac scent that he might be able to sell to a wider market (which he also can't seem to get right). He will usually craft incense on a night not spent researching (unless he's researching how to create a new oil).
He never makes scents for friends without payment, however. It remains his sole income-worthy hobby.
Violin - Slate learned violin from a young age and played constantly through many years of his life. Frequent trips into Destiny City were made to play on the streets for entertainment value while others shopped the market wares. He soon learned that busking paid off quite nicely, even if not quite as marketable as oils and scents. When on the streets, he will take requests to play songs he knows, or will learn popular music and convert it for play by violin. And when not performing, Slate has a frequent (and sometimes obnoxious) habit of plucking his violin with quick melodies during everyday conversation. Eventually he would not mind acquiring an electric violin with its amp and pedals for more elaborate songs, but he favors the sound of his Ravatin-made traditional violin.
Virtues:
Stable — Slate is of stable emotional disposition, meaning that he is not quick to anger, or sadden, or displease. While not impervious to these feelings, he maintains a certain resilience against them that allows him to maintain more positive moods most of the time. He has a broader affect and presentation than his brother, as he is apt to smile or quirk an eyebrow or smirk, but typically he retains an easygoing emotional range throughout the day. He generally enjoys company even if he doesn't often seek it out, and his emotional cadence reflects his openness to greet others when confronted.
Daring — Slate is commonly bold and confident in his expression of himself, capable of being comfortable in his own skin. This reflects not only in personality but in behavior as well, considering that he enjoys taking risks with great stakes and great returns. Slate earns a measure of respect for his willingness to commit to tasks that most may not, be it the simplicity of approaching a particularly attractive person or trying a physical stunt with the high chance of injury (but awesome points in the advent of success). Even in the face of failure, he takes his losses in stride. Overall, his measure of confidence in himself coupled with his inclination toward the fearsome lend him a very daring, and very respectable, personality facet.
Intuitive — Slate utilizes his intelligence to draw conclusions quite commonly in daily life. Possessing knowledge offers a great many predictions to choose from when faced with different stimuli - moss on the roof of a house indicates a lapse in maintenance or the owner's unwillingness to go to efforts to prolong the life of his roof. A student with roaming eyes likely lacks confidence in their own test answers and instead believes that her classmates have the right idea - though with her obviousness, this must be the first time she's attempted to cheat. Ultimately he believes that everything tells a story if one looks and listens hard enough, and sometimes his predictions can be quite accurate (while conversely, sometimes he can be quite wrong). It can be rather impressive when he's right, too.
Intelligent — Quick to learn and smart to boot, Slate doesn’t have a problem picking up on information efficiently. He possesses an avid hunger for learning and demonstrates it frequently through his voracious research tendencies as well as interest in lectures and academia (though much to his chagrin, he lacks the funds and understanding of the scholarship process to attend). His intelligence is of a helpful sort - he has no qualms over sharing what he knows when asked, and will readily supply previously ascertained facts on a subject without prompt if it means helping another individual that he likes.
Flaws:
Abrasive — Emotional stability does not necessarily lead to understanding of one’s diction as overtly harsh. Slate will not understand that stating that someone is lying hurts feelings, or that calling someone a strung out coke fiend might incite physical violence. He does not see his phrasing as abrasive, or his mannerisms as distant, even though anyone with eyes would think otherwise. He often slights people - friends or coworkers or strangers, it matters little - mostly out of habit or kneejerk reaction and won’t apologize for his behavior. To be frank, Slate is very good at unfriending people at an alarming pace.
Assumptive — While intelligent, Slate utilizes what he knows to predict the unknown. Behaviors such as constant twitchiness or hypervigilance must mean that they’ve been using drugs. Someone attending the cheerleading squad for their highschool wouldn’t possibly date anyone other than a jock. While his assumptions aren’t always based on stereotypes, they are derived from prior experiences, and so Slate often pigeonholes others into predicted outcomes that he’s encountered before. As he does vocalize these, he commonly offends by conjecturing that someone must be homeless by the way they’re dressed or lack a brain due to careless behavior.
Easily Disinterested — If Slate picks up on presented information quickly, he loses interest just as easily. He prefers dangerous and demanding activities, or difficult and cerebral concepts to wrap his mind around, so when confronted with somewhat benign subject matter he will often turn his nose up at it. He will explain his reasoning for abandoning certain activities or assignments, which leads to presumptions that Slate is also conceited. Ergo, he can’t be arsed to play most sports, won’t touch a board game unless it’s chess, and is allergic to the young adult section in the library (William Faulkner never bothered him anyway). In a phrase, Slate comes off as a stuck-up jackass.
Vindictive — Once slighted, twice vindicated. Slate knows no ‘losses’. When insulted or attacked, Slate will escalate the altercation until someone gets seriously injured or one of the ones involved has to back down. He does not always win the battles he fights, but he does give his all to thwart any verbal spars or physical confrontations. This behavior is highly dangerous in that others (including himself) can wind up seriously injured from a quarrel that could’ve been resolved with a more level-headed approach, but since Slate sees the prospect of ‘losing’ so abhorrent and aversive, he opts for this destructive behavior instead.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: Nearly white, limbus is navy.
Hair: Styled like this (but the bangs covering right eye should be tucked behind right ear), in a deep red. Voluminous, yet straight.
Face: He has just enough cheekbones and a nose with a slight curl to it that he looks rather androgynous (he could probably throw some people for a loop if he cross dressed). Tan. Has a tattoo of a black splattery π shape with one downward line longer than the other (location of tattoo is beneath left eye). Various other tattoos to be discussed with the artist.
Clothes: Peacoat in tan with grey shoulderpads. Likes beaded leather necklaces. Wears a lot of rings. Typically wears tight bootcut jeans or navy cargo pants. Shoes are usually converse of
