Full Name: Valeri Stark
Listens To: Val
Pen Name: Gonzales Freedman
Age: 28
Race: Gaian (Human)
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2"
Build: Average/Healthy
Skin Tone: Slightly Pale
Eyes: Pale Green
Hair: Purple (Dyed), Ginger (Natural)
Birthday: August 30th, 1980 (Virgo; Monkey)
Outlook: Optimist with light pessimist sprinklings
Marital Status: Dating Other Olivia Price-Sinclair
Occupation: Writer/Self-Employed Graphic Artist
Dominant Hand: Right
Handwriting: Neat, Precise
Text Color: #CC7722 [Looks like this.]
Image Song:
Family:
Distinguishing Features:
Four-to-Five Word Personality:
Kind, Generous, Responsible, Reliable, Cautious
Personality:
While he isn't exactly a social butterfly he isn't unfriendly either. He is friendly to others and even considered kind amongst those he meets and talks to. Though he treats others with kindness and respect he doesn't trust easily and tends to keep most at an arms length. Most people see him with a smile and despite his trust issues he is rather optimistic. He loves children and has an easier time with trusting them than he does adults. Val enjoys his privacy and tends to prefer to be alone and very rarely goes out in search of company of any kind. When he befriends people he is a very loyal and generous individual. Val will often speak out against ill treatment of others and if he is offended people will probably hear of it straight from him. He is blunt and straight forward and this could possibly be his flaw as well as a merit.
Fears: Losing Other, Miranda getting hurt, Losing family
Issues: Mild Social Anxiety [Aided with therapy and medication, however.]
Aspirations: Write another book
Short-term Goals: Get through the week
Long-term Goals: Marry Other, Have a happy family
Hobbies: Reading, Gaming, Volunteering at Rehabilitation Center
Talents: Playing Piano, Singing, Writing
Odd Tidbits:
Favorites:
Hates:
History:
Valeri was born in Gaia to Gaian parents whose parents had also been born to Gaians and so on and so forth. Valeri’s birth was not unusual or remarkable in any way. He was carried to term and was born without complication. The most excited thing that happened to Valeri during his formative younger ages was that his parents had divorced. His father had decided to ‘free’ his wife from the obligations of their marriage. The father had gotten custody of him and Stacia, Valeri’s older sister, and the mother had gotten visitations and the like. Both parents parted on fairly good terms.
It wasn’t until late elementary school that he had decided to pick up the pen and paper and began to aspire toward a career in writing. Valeri had always had a fairly vivid imagination and a way with words but it wasn’t until he was about to move on to high school that he had begun to have any sort of passion for writing in any way, shape, or form.
In high school Valeri had always had an odd sort of luck that got him into odd situations and discoveries that would likely be better left unsaid due to the very scandalous nature of it. While the lad was young he wasn’t necessarily stupid and had used much of these discoveries to his advantage via blackmail. Blackmail had lent him a nice comfy cushion to ride upon throughout his average high school career where afterwards he went to a community college taking small classes in graphic arts and design while he continued writing merely as a hobby.
During the last leg of his college career Val found himself facing a pretty steep loan that he needed to repay and instead of getting a dead-end job and working himself to death for the next few years he wrote a book under the pen name ‘Gonzales Freedman’. The pen name was acquired via the help of a dartboard and a list of names. Val wrote a book simply entitled Guilty: How I Survived Gino High.
The single book had, amazingly, been enough to give him the money he needed to pay off college loan debt and live pretty well for a good long while, but little did he know that this one little book had set off a series of circumstances that would change his life, though not for the better.
He had known that the book would lead to a mass firing of a lot of the staff and thus Val had opted to publish to publish his book under the pen name he had created, but it was not enough to save him from complete anonymity. Many of the people had connected the dots and realized who was at the root of their woes and they promptly took it out on him mostly via death threats but nothing serious ever really came of the threats until one fateful day.
It had been a tough week for Valeri when the incident occurred that had crippled his leg and it had been a tough year for Mr. Klotz who had up until a year ago been teaching Algebra I up until the book came out and let his unsavory habits be known to the upper management of the school. Mr. Klotz not only lost his job but he also lost his wife, because she divorced him, and the respect and trust of many of his colleagues. The now defunct Algebra teacher had figured out who Gonzales Freedman is and then proceeded to plan the downfall of the one behind the pen name. Alas the best laid plans of mice and men often go to the wayside for after days of building up alcohol based anger Mr. Klotz couldn’t endure the embarrassment and rage any longer.
While Mr. Klotz drunkenly observed Valeri coming down the steps of the courthouse from yet another lawsuit and had been about to cross the street and the next thing Val knew there was a crazed man shouting obscenities from within a car that was speeding directly for him! No matter what Valeri did he could not dodge the car as it careened at him and eventually hit him causing him great harm before the car had a crash stop into the building next to the courthouse. Mr. Koltz ended up dying from the impact of going through his windshield as he had not been wearing a seatbelt while Valeri was severely injured and nearly died due to his wounds.
It was instantly diagnosed within the ER that Val’s right leg would most definitely never be the same again...
His family and friends will often say there is a major difference between the Val that they once knew and the Val that now lives in his modest two bedroom apartment off of the income he now garners mostly from his career as a Web and Graphic Design. The old Val was a shallow, conniving, sadistic fellow that cared for nothing but Val and his own well being (it came from being the youngest and the only boy of the small family unit). The incident is thought of, by many, as the best thing that could have ever happened to Valeri for it had opened up something in him (despite the mental and physical challenges he now faces) and it had made him a better warmer person.
Listens To: Val
Pen Name: Gonzales Freedman
Age: 28
Race: Gaian (Human)
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2"
Build: Average/Healthy
Skin Tone: Slightly Pale
Eyes: Pale Green
Hair: Purple (Dyed), Ginger (Natural)
Birthday: August 30th, 1980 (Virgo; Monkey)
Outlook: Optimist with light pessimist sprinklings
Marital Status: Dating Other Olivia Price-Sinclair
Occupation: Writer/Self-Employed Graphic Artist
Dominant Hand: Right
Handwriting: Neat, Precise
Text Color: #CC7722 [Looks like this.]
Image Song:
- Scissor Sisters - Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Blue October - Blue Skies
Tim Minchin - Taboo
Family:
- Ophelia Stark (Mother; Living) - Eccentric, Free spirited, cheerful. Ophelia is one of those oddly 'hip' women that always wear colorful clothing and rarely frowns. She is in her early fifties but behaves like she is in her twenties. She loves to travel and is constantly abroad. She had divorced from Viktor when Stacia and Val were young and hasn't remarried but she has entertained a lover or two and still does.
Viktor Stark (Father; Living) - Hard working, stubborn, serious, and a bit of a pessimist. It isn't certain how or why Ophelia and he had met or even gotten married in the first place as they are so opposite of each other. He still carries a torch for Ophelia but he often hides the fact and prefers to see her happy rather than selfishly keep her locked away. Viktor is a loving parent and wishes nothing but good for his son and daughter. Viktor is currently unmarried and as of yet hasn't even dated since the divorce many years ago.
Stacia Conrad (Older Sister; Living) - She is often described as the 'watered down' version of her mother. Stacia has always been the protective big sister over her little brother and will likely tease him relentlessly the day he ever dates anyone or forms an actual family. Stacia is currently happily married and has two children of her own. Stacia is sometimes referred to as the quintessential mother and wife.
Distinguishing Features:
- Walks with a Limp: His right leg is crippled and pretty much beyond further repair at this point. He walks with a rather heavy limp when not assisted in some manner by a cane. He has to attend physical therapy and take a regimen of theraputic pain medication at least once a day.
Freckles: He has freckles dotting across the bridge of his nose and a little upon his cheeks.
Four-to-Five Word Personality:
Kind, Generous, Responsible, Reliable, Cautious
Personality:
While he isn't exactly a social butterfly he isn't unfriendly either. He is friendly to others and even considered kind amongst those he meets and talks to. Though he treats others with kindness and respect he doesn't trust easily and tends to keep most at an arms length. Most people see him with a smile and despite his trust issues he is rather optimistic. He loves children and has an easier time with trusting them than he does adults. Val enjoys his privacy and tends to prefer to be alone and very rarely goes out in search of company of any kind. When he befriends people he is a very loyal and generous individual. Val will often speak out against ill treatment of others and if he is offended people will probably hear of it straight from him. He is blunt and straight forward and this could possibly be his flaw as well as a merit.
Fears: Losing Other, Miranda getting hurt, Losing family
Issues: Mild Social Anxiety [Aided with therapy and medication, however.]
Aspirations: Write another book
Short-term Goals: Get through the week
Long-term Goals: Marry Other, Have a happy family
Hobbies: Reading, Gaming, Volunteering at Rehabilitation Center
Talents: Playing Piano, Singing, Writing
Odd Tidbits:
- First Name Pronunciation: If he can't get away with just going by Val he tries to make his name sound more masculine by pronouncing it thus: Vuh-LAIR-ee.
Moderate Social Anxiety: It is kind of hard to get Val to go out in public, especially after the incident which crippled his right leg. He takes anti-depressants for it and also attends a session with a therapist once or twice a week.
Piano Talent: Viktor was trying to give his son a more 'rounded' sort of life and thus made Valeri take piano lessons. Val didn't mind much and even had a natural talent for it which delighted his instructor at the time. He doesn't really have a piano of his own and thus the talent is pretty much hidden unless he has access to a piano with which to 'perform'. It's pretty much one of those weird and unusual things someone finds out about him when the time comes.
Pen Name: Gonzales Freedman: Valeri essentially took a dartboard, a list of names, and a set of darts. That is how the name was born. It amused him thus he kept it and then used that name to publish the book that would lead to a rather painful moment in his life. Not everyone realizes that Gonzales Freedman is him until he either tells them or they went to school with him and put two-and-two together for themselves. Since it wasn't in a 'good' part of his life he prefers to forget the name existed at all, though not all the forgetting in the world could change what had happened.
Favorites:
- Books: Song of Ice & Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
Music: Tim Minchin, Ben Folds Five, Mat Kearney, Other's Violin Playing, 80's songs, Oldies Rock & Roll
Movie: Corpse Bride or V for Vendetta
TV Show: Venture Brothers or Two and a Half Men
Game: Final Fantasy Series or Star Ocean Second Story
Animal: Cats, Dogs, Rodents (Rats mostly)
Drink: Doctor Pepper or Green Tea
Food: Spaghetti or Sweet Potato Roll (Sushi)
Hates:
- Books: Romance novels
Music: Tuneless screaming
Movie: Eragon
TV Show: The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
Game: Most shooter games (Not fond of gun-based violence)
Animal: Spiders
Drink: Most Gatorade
Food: Cooked broccoli
History:
Valeri was born in Gaia to Gaian parents whose parents had also been born to Gaians and so on and so forth. Valeri’s birth was not unusual or remarkable in any way. He was carried to term and was born without complication. The most excited thing that happened to Valeri during his formative younger ages was that his parents had divorced. His father had decided to ‘free’ his wife from the obligations of their marriage. The father had gotten custody of him and Stacia, Valeri’s older sister, and the mother had gotten visitations and the like. Both parents parted on fairly good terms.
It wasn’t until late elementary school that he had decided to pick up the pen and paper and began to aspire toward a career in writing. Valeri had always had a fairly vivid imagination and a way with words but it wasn’t until he was about to move on to high school that he had begun to have any sort of passion for writing in any way, shape, or form.
In high school Valeri had always had an odd sort of luck that got him into odd situations and discoveries that would likely be better left unsaid due to the very scandalous nature of it. While the lad was young he wasn’t necessarily stupid and had used much of these discoveries to his advantage via blackmail. Blackmail had lent him a nice comfy cushion to ride upon throughout his average high school career where afterwards he went to a community college taking small classes in graphic arts and design while he continued writing merely as a hobby.
During the last leg of his college career Val found himself facing a pretty steep loan that he needed to repay and instead of getting a dead-end job and working himself to death for the next few years he wrote a book under the pen name ‘Gonzales Freedman’. The pen name was acquired via the help of a dartboard and a list of names. Val wrote a book simply entitled Guilty: How I Survived Gino High.
The single book had, amazingly, been enough to give him the money he needed to pay off college loan debt and live pretty well for a good long while, but little did he know that this one little book had set off a series of circumstances that would change his life, though not for the better.
He had known that the book would lead to a mass firing of a lot of the staff and thus Val had opted to publish to publish his book under the pen name he had created, but it was not enough to save him from complete anonymity. Many of the people had connected the dots and realized who was at the root of their woes and they promptly took it out on him mostly via death threats but nothing serious ever really came of the threats until one fateful day.
It had been a tough week for Valeri when the incident occurred that had crippled his leg and it had been a tough year for Mr. Klotz who had up until a year ago been teaching Algebra I up until the book came out and let his unsavory habits be known to the upper management of the school. Mr. Klotz not only lost his job but he also lost his wife, because she divorced him, and the respect and trust of many of his colleagues. The now defunct Algebra teacher had figured out who Gonzales Freedman is and then proceeded to plan the downfall of the one behind the pen name. Alas the best laid plans of mice and men often go to the wayside for after days of building up alcohol based anger Mr. Klotz couldn’t endure the embarrassment and rage any longer.
While Mr. Klotz drunkenly observed Valeri coming down the steps of the courthouse from yet another lawsuit and had been about to cross the street and the next thing Val knew there was a crazed man shouting obscenities from within a car that was speeding directly for him! No matter what Valeri did he could not dodge the car as it careened at him and eventually hit him causing him great harm before the car had a crash stop into the building next to the courthouse. Mr. Koltz ended up dying from the impact of going through his windshield as he had not been wearing a seatbelt while Valeri was severely injured and nearly died due to his wounds.
It was instantly diagnosed within the ER that Val’s right leg would most definitely never be the same again...
His family and friends will often say there is a major difference between the Val that they once knew and the Val that now lives in his modest two bedroom apartment off of the income he now garners mostly from his career as a Web and Graphic Design. The old Val was a shallow, conniving, sadistic fellow that cared for nothing but Val and his own well being (it came from being the youngest and the only boy of the small family unit). The incident is thought of, by many, as the best thing that could have ever happened to Valeri for it had opened up something in him (despite the mental and physical challenges he now faces) and it had made him a better warmer person.
