Name: 
Nickname(s): None. I had a hard enough time narrowing it down to six letters, and you want me to sacrifice more for your convenience? Certainly speaks volumes about the nature of modern society, doesn't it. If you haven't the time to say all of my letters, then maybe I haven't the time to speak with you at all....
Age (Appearance Wise): Twenty-Something
Age (Actual): 50 or so.
Personality:
For better...
Altruistic - Myopia has some money, and makes some with his lamplighting job (and sometimes even with his writing), but he never wants to have too much, lest it interfere with his starving artist image. He is generally willing to give a coin to a homeless urchin, and always tips at restaurants. And he will generally offer his help to strangers, too ... so long as they are willing to put up with his unsolicited advice along the way. He may come off as insincere, since he draws attention to his good deeds so often, but he truly does care for his fellow man.
Outspoken - When things happen to Myopia, or when he has opinions, nothing is ever small - everything is a big trial, a big deal, a big thing, that must be expressed. Some of this is vented in the opinion columns he writes for a few periodicals, but he also shares quite willingly with whomever will listen, be they friends or strangers. He will express his praise for things he enjoys as well as candidly spout off left-handed compliments or outright insults at those he feels are deserving. But if he has a problem with someone, they will know, and he is just as quick to share his compliments. Charismatic and outgoing, but with a tendency to come on a little strong.
Pacifist - He may toss harsh criticism around, but Myopia is not interested in physical altercations with anyone. The lamplighter balances an extremely healthy fear of physical injury with martyr complex such that the latter takes on a decidedly philosophical bent - just look at the life he is living for the completeness of the community! While this is generally an admirable quality, it also gives Myopia great pause in stepping into fights to defend friends. He will stand on the sidelines and pontificate till he is blue in the face without throwing a punch, but will go no farther than that.
... or for worse.
Pushy - Myopia wears his heart on his sleeve, and does not always care if other people want to listen to him or not. He is prone to interpreting proximity as willingness to converse, and will readily engage strangers in conversation. And may go on to criticize their choice of clothing, or offer his thoughts on the latest goings-on. The lamplighter is not socially unaware, but he may not always choose to pay attention to cues that his company may be unwanted; just look at this helpful advice that he is giving out for free!
Capricious - He does keep his fingers on the pulse of society, so to speak, to keep up with the current trends so that he can properly reject them for the uncreative mainstream tripe they are. He may forget friends if he does not see them often, but Myopia also does not carry grudges for long. His memory is just not very long in most respects. If nostalgia becomes fashionably bohemian, well, that's what all those books are for. He may praise a budding poet one week for their refreshing originality, and turn around and tear their work apart for selling out or following trends. On a more personal level, he will fairly reliably make a memorable first impression, whether good or bad, but he does not cling fast to either friends or enemies as such. Those who expect a steadfast companion may be disappointed that Myopia is not the sort to always stand by his friends ... but by the same token, a supposed enemy may be surprised to suddenly find the young man in their corner if even just for one day.
Immature - Though he will preach about thinking outside the box and not just following the masses blindly everywhere, the truth of the matter is that Myopia is afraid to really step outside of convention himself. He writes his periodical columns and other essays, and readers will agree or rebuff him, but he is likely not the only one doing such a thing. Paradoxically, he takes great comfort in having a system and a routine - the position of a temperamental dissident taken just seriously enough to have an audience, but not to the point that he would come under serious suspicion for any sort of revolutionary activity. Myopia's decidedly childish melodramatic streak helps him come up with sensationalist stories that can certainly sell papers, but perhaps eventually a part of him may wish to eventually be taken seriously, should he find a single cause that he really cares about, or a companion whom he would be reluctant to part with.
Thoughts on the Forest: Surprisingly, Myopia is not at all ashamed to hold the same beliefs on this as everyone else. His iconoclast nature tells him that he should seek more answers, but he has yet to defy The Man enough to explore uninvited - traditions of the Forest are there for a reason.
Thoughts of Book Children: So refreshingly different and rare! And that they cannot be emulated makes them all the more fascinating.
Thoughts on City People: All of them have roles to play in life, and Myopia, for the love of his countrymen, has taken it upon himself to fill a contrary role. He is an insufferable bohemian for the good and betterment of the City!
Physical Appearance: Myopia has an exceedingly fancy sleeveless tailcoat, which is the prize of his wardrobe. Examined up close, it is growing a bit threadbare, but fortunately the nature of City People keeps this (or the dirt) from being very obvious. The rest of his garb is fairly plain: a poet shirt with baggy sleeves, a plain necktie, a pinstriped waistcoat, trousers, and shoes with slightly upturned toes. His hair is pulled back into a ponytail, but never really quite neatly-styled; Myopia's white fringe is feathery and usually a bit of a mess. Two antenna poke up through his hair from his forehead, and move about emotively ... even if Myopia is trying to hide how he feels.
History: Myopia was adopted very young by a pair of street performers who agreed to his request as a youngster to force him to be a lawyer. He led a happy childhood, learning the craft of commanding attention and speaking a lot without saying terribly much. His parents created roles to accommodate him, and so Myopia grew used to crowds at a young age; he also took up lamplighting to make a bit of extra money on the side. When his parents felt he was ready for schooling, they entered him into a small law school, and Myopia went, fussing dramatically about how the structured life of a lawyer was not the one he wanted to lead. He was playing the role of someone contrary, someone who was forced into the system and wished to fight against it, which is parents admired greatly - he studied by day, penned outrageous critical literature by night, and kept on lighting the lamps right at the transition from one to the other. And every school year, he would study, and fail his exams, and grumble all the way back to his commission work so that he could scrape together the money for another year of reluctant law school. His income, fueled by the gas lamps of Eyncastor and the sorts of City People who enjoy tabloids and disagreements, gives him enough to come back to the school (the instructors wish to be fair, and cash is cash). He does decently well in his studies except where it counts, and as he has been at this little charade for about ten years now, is almost definitely failing on purpose. A very small part of him is starting to actually enjoy the thought of practicing law, but for the moment, Myopia appears adverse to the idea of growing up enough to actually do that.
Hobbies: Sitting in cafes; complaining; writing; heated debate
Birthday: January 11
Favorite Things: Opinions; small cakes and tea; the flying buttresses of the lower city (fabulously out of style and still there); flowers (pretty but short-lived)
Hated Things: Fads; overly complacent people; changes to his routine
Favorite Story: Shakespeare's tragedies, but not for any reasons you would understand. He likes the sad nobility of the tragic characters, and tends to identify with them.
Font:
Job: Student, lamplighter, free-lance writer, starving artist, and all-around bohemian.
Class: Middle, more or less. But starving.
Fears: The plague; genuine malice and, by extension, murder stories; the very thought of taxidermy or mummification (It probably would not even work on City People, but still, can the dead not just have their rest?)
Lives in: Eyncastor
Links to crit:
for Caveat
