Welcome to Gaia! ::

NAME : Wasa (Just the one name. See Occupation)
GENDER : Female
AGE : Late 20's
OCCUPATION : Eccentric Artist
RACE : Human
LIKES : Finding pretty things in odd places, conversations that go nowhere, and creating functional pieces of art.
DISLIKES : Spicy food, the last sip of coffee, and those little strings of glue that trail off a hot-glue gun.
LOOKS : Rather plain with wavy hair of an average color and eyes of a forgettable hue. Overcompensates for her lack of remarkable features with elaborate dress and accessorizing. Usually wears a mask over the upper part of her face and layers of skirts, shirts, and shawls.

PERSONALITY : A little hard to follow, sometimes literally. Her mind is forever wandering from one tangent to the next, though she has learned that it is proper to focus when dealing with others. Kind and open, her house has been home to many guests over the years. It helps that she does not always remember how long people have been staying or their reason for being there in the first place. So long as she can continue her projects with minimal interference, she is quite content.

HISTORY : Wasa was once an explorer type, investigating some of the less defined areas of the Gaia-map with her long time friend Aki. When a wealthy relative passed on and left her a sizable estate, she settled down with a mind to become a successful artist. Her lack of business sense has made it hard for her to maintain such a large home and she has needed to be bailed out on more than one occasion. Currently, she manages to get by on the occasional commission and by ignoring the blackberry brambles that are taking over the east wing.

NAME : Raspberry “Raz” Piper.
GENDER : Female.
AGE : 34.
OCCUPATION : A clerk in a music store located in Barton Town, and is one of the guitar tutors at the establishment.
RACE : Human - Chinese/European.
LIKES :

Music, singing, dancing, eye candy (both genders), dark chocolate, heartbeats, being active, sunny weather, and hanging out with people in general.
DISLIKES :

Being looked down on, silverfish, rotten flowers, being nagged at, being immobile for long periods of time, seagulls (RATS WITH WINGS), fruit punch (DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID), rainy autumn days, and Jalapeno peppers.

LOOKS :

By the look of her hot pink hair, and the horribly sly grin on her face, you wouldn’t think Raz is anywhere near innocent. Standing at 5’9, Raz spots a muscular build from the regular routine of going boxing. Her skin isn’t fair, a little tanned and occasional scars from past conflicts run across her arms. Thankfully, those days have long past, and all the more recent injuries are kitchen related. Her usual outfits consist of a variety of form hugging clothes, and heels. There’s always a jacket on her be it thin or thick depending on the temperature.

PERSONALITY :

One look at Raz, and immediately you can see she’s a blaze. Confident, loud, and flirty, Raz stands tall and proud of what she is and isn’t afraid to shout it. The feeling of intimidation she radiates at first glance is only a reflexive posture from her past, and means no harm. She’s actually really relaxed and a lovely person to be around, charming in her rough around the edge ways, and a lover of good company. She’s a good and loyal friend to have, protective of those close to her. It’s rare for her to be hesitant but when uncertain, Raz has been known to be moody and turn tunnel vision. She is firm in her beliefs, but if the argument is sound she will change her opinion. She has learned to talk over arguments and issues, instead of resorting to aggressive behavior. Yet, there are still occasions where her fiery temper gets the best of her as she's not about to take any s**t from anyone, especially if they're being an a**. Raz might not seem it, but she does have patience – mainly with children and adolescents. She’s less explosive, and has a more playful demeanor. If they need her, she is there to help with emotional issues and always willing to listen. Most of her customers find her friendly, and barely a handful had complained of her rolling her eyes at their redundant questions, but her service record has been good.

HISTORY :

Born to Cyril and Aude Piper, Raz was given the name “Raspberry” because of Aude’s fondness of them during pregnancy. Sadly, Aude passed away when Raz was 3 in a traffic accident which forced Cyril to be a single parent. He tried his best, yet Cyril never saw the problems Raz had to face at school. She was being bullied for being a tomboy, called names and eventually forced into peer isolation. Raz concluded that she must fight back (literally), which became an issue as she had started getting suspended for fighting on multiple occasions. She was nearly kicked out of school when her father finally asked where he went wrong. Raz never realized she was putting stress on her father as the man had never broken down in front of her, and seeing him like this scared her. She never wanted to hurt him, so she stopped. The aggression didn’t leave, but the two found her a new method to release it – Music. Her first guitar was given to her by Cyril, and he taught her how to play. From there, her love of music grew. Now she's working in a music store, living comfortably on her own in a two-bedroom apartment, and her relationship with her father remains as close as ever. Recently, she has been a little irritated as her father been asking about her love life, and whether he'll have grandchildren in the near future.

NAME : Jaydi Blaze
GENDER : Male
AGE : 23
OCCUPATION : freelance computer technician, ameture bartender
RACE : human
LIKES : Drunks that are smooth, fruity and sweet, and guys who are as well. Enjoys comedy, action movies, and is currently getting into anime.
DISLIKES : NEEDLES. KNIVES. anything sharp, pointy, or cut-y. Sterotypical dumb meat-heads.
LOOKS : His hair is a red mowhawk that is grown out into a red/black mess, self styled and tied up. He has a lean swimmer's body despite being unable to swim, gained by his habit of dancing in place while bored. Has the bridge of his nose pierced, three snakebites on his lower lip, and each ear has an earring in it. One of his eyes is gold, and one is green. He has a keyhole tattoo over his heart, and a plush butt.

PERSONALITY : He's complex, and damaged. Bipolar, he has numerous failed relationships in his past, the latest which has left him with serious trust issues, and him trying to drown his past in alcohol and one night stands. While he often appears happy, very eccentric, and flirtacious, inside he aches, and hopes to use to social atmosphere of partending to help him forget his past, or meet someone who will fill that void inside him.

HISTORY : As a child he was put under the care of his father after a bad split, and quickly became the outlet for the older man's short fuse and meaty fists. After fourteen years of this abuse, his father found out that his son was not heterosexual, but in fact liked both males and females, and in response threw him out of the house, with nothing more than a pair of jeans, a sleeping bag, a broken jaw full of shattered teeth, a broken nose, and ten dollars that his father knew nothing about. he made his way across thr country to the west coast, to his home town. After a few odd jobs he started doing freelance computer work to built up funds, getting his jaw and neck fixed. In his free time he experiments with alcohol, creating new tastes and trying to mix to learn bartending.

NAME : Gregory Scott
GENDER : Male
AGE : 32
OCCUPATION : Owner of a small hardware shop in Durem called, ‘Scott’s Hardware’ and part-time handyman.
RACE : Human – Scottish heritage
LIKES : Sports, money, steaks, sitting down in front of the television with a good beer.
DISLIKES : Formal clothing, constant nagging and repetitiveness, socks with holes in them

LOOKS : Greg is a broad and brawny man, standing at just under 6 feet tall with a pleasant disposition. He has short coppery-red hair, with a scruffy beard to match and bright green eyes. He’s quite hairy, with a generous amount of chest hair, among other places. He has a light caramel tan as well as hands that are heavily calloused, a result from his line of work. His usual attire consists of a t-shirt or wife-beater, worn down jeans, and work boots.

PERSONALITY : A jovial man with a loud booming voice, Greg goes out of his way to help anyone he can. He’s easily taken advantage of in this aspect, as some won’t hesitate to work him ragged. The loss of his baseball scholarship has now smoothed itself out to a dull ringing regret in the back of his mind. As a result he’s a tireless worker, because he doesn’t want to go through another failure. He’s also greedy, as most of his goals are based on how much money he can earn in a short period of time. He keeps his problems to himself, because he doesn’t want to seem helpless. It takes a lot to get him angry, and will leave the premises before the situation escalates any further because he hates being angry. Greg doesn’t like to be angry because it tends to rub off on everyone involved. The heavy tension in the room afterwards is not something he’s comfortable with. He’s a polite fellow, especially to women. He’s a one-girl kind of guy, though he doesn’t have any plans to get married soon, much to the annoyance of his on-and-off again girlfriend of 5 years.

HISTORY : Greg was born and raised in Aekea, with an older brother and two younger sisters. Greg and his siblings grew up participating in many extracurricular activities. Out of his siblings, Greg had a penchant for baseball. He was offered sports scholarships to many universities and instantly took up one of the offers. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t realize that in order to maintain the scholarship, he had to have a certain GPA as well. It was his science and literature classes that he did miserably in, failing both. Even though he was a great addition to the team, he was eventually kicked out of school in the middle of his second year. Greg was very frustrated and his parents angry, because he ruined his one big chance. With the urging of his parents, he set out to look for jobs since baseball was no longer an option. He eventually found a decent job at a hardware store, working for an older man who taught Greg everything about maintaining and repairing houses. He liked the job because it taught him to be self-sufficient. When Greg was twenty-five the man passed away and Greg bought the store. It was a good decision because Greg had a stable job and could support himself. Thanks to his teacher he is also a handyman, usually servicing senior citizens with their repair problems. He eventually bought a small apartment and found a girlfriend. They’re on-and-off because of his refusal to settle down.

NAME : Nara Shidon
GENDER : Male
AGE : 39
OCCUPATION : Psychologist
RACE : Human
LIKES : Curry, comfy chairs, tea, scarves, rainy days, swimming, the ocean (or lakes, rivers, pools, springs, anything you can swim in), high places, old forests, photography, early mornings, cold autumn days with the crunchy red leaves, post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels, classical music, driving in the countryside.
DISLIKES : Keeping his own records, "modern" art, being in small spaces, deserts, dry climates, extra reticent patients, insomnia, flashing lights, willful ignorance.
LOOKS : Nara is 5' 8", sturdy in build, and not really too fit. He likes to dress in comfortable, business casual clothes, with a little bit of hipster thrown in there. His voice is soft and deep, a comfort to listen to, and he speaks calmly, soothingly. Here are some pictures of him.

PERSONALITY : Nara is a big believer in balancing work and play. He is diligent with his work and takes his down time seriously. He is philosophical, thoughtful, a problem solver, and almost infuriatingly patient. Sometimes he is so patient that he doesn't move as fast as he should. He is slow to anger, unless forced to be around someone with a fiery or ignorant attitude, and then he might snap if he feels that his relaxation time is being wasted or threatened. He tackles problems with efficiency and rationality, though an element of a romantic nature can sometimes work its way in.

HISTORY : With a rich family, Nara had all the advantages a child could have, but growing up was hardly pleasant and rather difficult. He was attacked by his crazy uncle when he was six, gaining the nasty scars on his face. He hardly remembers the event, but in school he was often teased and bullied for his mangled face. It's best not to ask where the rest of his scars came from, though some are burn scars from a house fire. In college, he threw himself into his work, and he graduated days ahead of a burnout. After that, he took some time to reflect and find some peace in his heart. He traveled and worked on hobbies until he felt ready to pursue his practice. He's had a decent amount of success, and though he comes highly recommended, he takes only whichever cases he wants, regardless of payment situations.

NAME : Justin Rohit Lindsey
GENDER : male
AGE : 24
OCCUPATION : tech support supervisor for Inspection Cube Development (ICD), an electronics company
RACE : Indian human
LIKES : snakes, video games, science fiction novels, curry
DISLIKES :has moderate agoraphobia (as such, dislikes very open spaces and crowds), bugs, lemon-flavored things
LOOKS : Justin is a very median in his looks and his life. He is neither ugly, but nor is he terribly handsome. Although, he used to keeo himself fit, he's grown a little chubby from his sedentary job, but it doesn't bother him, and just highlights his deep dimples. With wavy black hair, and freckles sprinkled across his nose and shoulders, he is pretty normal-looking; his most striking feature is his pale blue eyes, rimmed lavishly with blue-black eyelashes. Despite his hands' large size, they are deft and well-suited to tinkering. At 5'11", he stands comfortably average.

PERSONALITY :
Justin can be high-strung; little things can set off negative, isolationist thoughts. In the last few years, he's worked hard and learned to mostly control and contain this, but it can still burst out if he's not careful. As a distraction mechanism, Justin started tinkering with electronics and found that focusing on minute details helps him be at ease. With both natural talent and hard work, he's become known as a tech wizard in his apartment block; the residents often bring him their broken electronics. When unable to tinker, his hands are prone to fidgeting, twisting rings, tearing up napkins.

Growing up in a family of five, Justin understands the art of compromise. Or rather, he learned early on how to give up things to make others happy. While he used to hate this part of himself, it has instilled in him an acute sense of another's feelings. He's less of a doormat now, but he still instinctively tries to compromise with others. This is actually quite useful in his job, so he's stopped fighting it.

While usually laid- back, Justin has a fierce sense of competition, initially born of his need to feel like his is enough of a person to belong. This usually shows up in his video games or in friendly races. His drive to be good at something is what has pushed him so far along in his job at ICD and is what finally prompted him to leave his family. Despite that, his current job seems to be a dead-end career-wise, and he actively seeks something new to challenge him.

HISTORY :
Four years ago, Justin left behind his family in Barton and moved to Gambino. While he sometimes feels odd watching their lives from afar, only getting updates via email on his father's increasing forgetfulness, his brother's second college degree, his sister's forays into editing and his mother's romantic life, he prefers it that way. His family is overbearing and overly emotional. There's a reason he moved so far away.

Once in Gambino, he moved in with three other guys and quickly got a job. His skill in technology landed him in the unexciting job as a tech support agent for ICD, which produces video games. It was boring but stable, and now Justin is a manager of his small branch. The eight agents working under him run a tight ship, job-wise, but are very prone to goofing off on slow days. Along with his promotion, he received an office with faulty wiring, a sumptuous beanbag chair and a cat that refuses to leave. Dexter is a nice enough cat, so no one really minds.

Now, Justin lives alone in a rented row-house; his roommates having all moved onwards and out. He and his pet snake, Monty, live a rather solitary life, the most interaction outside work being Justin's long nighttime walks when he feels restless. One day, he hopes to overcome his general anxiety and find some friend and maybe a girlfriend. Maybe he just needs a push.

NAME : Oliver Kipling
GENDER : Male
AGE : 30
OCCUPATION : College Professor - English Literature, History of Literature and Poetry and Prose.
RACE : Human/European, Caucasian
LIKES :

- Nature, namely trees, autumn days and furry animals.
- Coffee, tea and hot water with lemon.
- Pancakes, waffles and other comforting breakfast foods.
- Photography, especially of leaves, rainy days and animals.
- Reading the latest mystery or memoir by a favorite celebrity or author.
- Going for long, aimless walks just out of whim.
- Seeing his students succeed and honestly try their best.

DISLIKES :

- Cities, especially area with high traffic and industrial smoke.
- His smoking addiction. He's tried multiple times to quit but keeps falling back into a relapse when the withdrawal symptoms start to interfere with his work. One day he hopes to be smoke free.
- Drinks he deems as "Party Alcohol" (Champagne, most canned beers, and dessert flavored wines)
- The destruction of nature of any kind. (Knocking trees down, having to euthanize an animal at a shelter, forest fires...etc)
- Pop culture, especially The Jersey Shore, Toddlers and Tiaras and Nikki Minaj.
- Parents of students that complain about how he failed their child for "no reason" when the student did poorly, or did nothing at all, and got a failed mark because of it.
- Hot, humid days.

LOOKS :

Work Out for a walk Casual/Smoking

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Natural bleached cream blonde, curly, upper neck with slight bang. His eyes are medium teal and his skin is pale ivory. He stands about 5'10" and weighs just about 150Lbs. He is lean and largely healthy despite his smoking habit. He has a little more muscle than average due to his love of hiking and going for walks.

Fashion:

- Comfortable, cotton fabrics.
- Something that makes him look "studious" but not "fancy and stuck up"
- Sweaters, sweater-vests, long sleeved shirts.
- Jeans, plain slacks.
- Color wise: Browns, golds, tans, creams, amber, teal, dark blue, powder blue, turquoise, rusty, dark or ruby reds.

PERSONALITY :

Oliver has always been the calm, peaceful individual with a warm, friendly smile. He'll greet you like a friend and treat you like brother, especially if he's known you for a while. A genuine soul occupies his body and a humble mind controls his movements. He'll help you off your feet and give you the time to heal. You can almost always expect a cup of tea and cookies served with a good dose of TLC with Oliver around.

Although he can be peaceful and warm most of the time, you'd best not step on his toes or push his buttons. If he feels he is being used by you, he'll confront you about it. If you have to break a promise, you'd better be prepared with a clear, honest reason why. Otherwise, Oliver will assume that you never meant to keep your word and that you weren't as trustworthy as he thought. He'll give you chances to redeem yourself, but he won't be patient with you forever.

Oliver is quiet and reserved without company. His home may be filled with art and warm colors, but being alone seems to take the cheer out of him. He'll read a good book, write a new poem, or even watch the rain fall from outside his window if he's bored enough. He admits to being lonely, but denies any need for a romantic partner. All he needs, he says, is cup of tea and good friend to spend the day with.

HISTORY :

Oliver was born in Barton in a house close to a dense forest. His mother and father both worked as teachers in the local school system and instilled a love of learning in their children early on in their lives. He was the third born of four children and had a fairly uneventful childhood. The usual sibling rivalries and parent to child arguments happened, but for the most part, Oliver's early life was a smooth ride.

Once Oliver had moved out of the house to pursue his dream of becoming an English professor, his life started to take a different turn. He had been accepted to an expensive "frat-boy" college where his room mates would begin to pressure him into smoking, drinking and skipping classes. Within one year, Oliver was addicted to cigarettes, constantly hung over, and was booted out of the college for his failing grades.

After failing university, Oliver went to community college and cleaned up his act. His love of teaching was rekindled and his motivations set back to full gear. He graduated with his PhD and went on to teach at the very community college he had graduated from. Since then, Oliver has become all that he could ever want. He's a well liked and respected college professor, he lives close to nature trails and sanctuaries, and most importantly, he feels that sense of accomplishment he had always strived for. Now, only if he could find someone or something to make him feel less lonely...