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 Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 6:57 pm
Name: Alexander Neal Rivera Nicknames: Alex, Xander, Hey You Shut Up Age: 20 Birthday: October 5th Sign: Libra Blood Type: O+ Fav. Food: Barbecue chicken burgers with bacon and Swiss cheese, fresh off the barbecue. Hated Food: Onions on pizza. Can’t see the damn things when they’re on top, can’t find them when the a*****e who throws the pizza together puts them under the cheese. School: Hillworth Graduate. Not attending Sovereign Heights. Hobbies:
Electronic Dissection: Alexander has a nerdy passion for electronics to the point where he always carries a small pocket-sized screwdriver kit. This kit is used quite often to take apart electronics in his spare time, allowing him to puzzle over their contents. To him, they’re puzzles: he managed to take it apart and void the warranty, but now can he put it back together again and make it work just as well as it did before he disassembled it? He won’t know until he tries, and even if he messes up and breaks it at least he’ll have spare parts on hand for the next one.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger: Alexander doesn’t stop wit just taking electronics apart and putting them back together again. Once he is comfortable with a piece of technology, he will experiment in order to try and make it better. From increasing battery life to the brightness of back screens and to improve cell phone reception, he has had his victories. And his failures -- but when those happen, he settles for salvaging what he can from the wreck for next time.
Burglary: This is a hobby Alexander doesn’t share with many people for obvious reasons. While he will admit to working the night shift at a pawn shop “repairing electronics,” he won’t admit that some of his repairs happen off-site at people’s houses disabling security systems, lights, and electronic locks. When it comes to thievery, Alexander has a preference for small easy-to-conceal items. It is only when he is with his crew that they will risk making off with larger television sets, computer towers, and whatever else looks valuable. The organized crime ring he is part of usually steals items, holds onto them for several months, then re-sells them as unclaimed pawn shop items. If they lift anything that is broken, it falls to Alex to repair it or to improve it in some way to make it worth buying. Should a break-in ever take a turn for the worse, it is aborted. A thief is never seen or heard: the only evidence they should ever leave behind is an empty space where an object of value once stood. If it’s something he really wants, he’ll try again anywhere from a couple nights to a few months later.
Video Games: Before he fell into a life of crime, Alexander used to dump 90% of his allowance and spendable money into video games. Now with a risky night job, Alexander doesn’t play as much as he used to. Occasionally he’ll pick a controller up from time to time to forget the world and all he’s been through, but more often then not he’s taken to getting up and off the couch to walk around the neighborhood instead. Besides, Alexander rarely buys video games anymore. Why bother when someone else did that for you? Alex always takes a moment in someone else’s house to browse their collection and see if they have anything worthwhile. Then if he’s on the job he’ll be a brat and hide their memory card while he’s at it.
Gemstone: Opal Virtues:
One Shot Perfection: Nobody has time to make mistakes out on the job, in the field. One mistake can bring an entire operation onto its knees, potentially ruining months of planning. In Alexander’s line of work, everything must go according to plan. He has taken this to heart and strives for first competency, then perfection with repetition. In his eyes, his own free time is the time for practice; being on the clock only allows for one shot, one chance to get it right. Alexander is diligent in practicing, dedicating himself completely to practicing again and again until his fingers bleed, stopping only to bandage them up before continuing to practice. There’s no time for a time out; everything must fall into place correctly. And if it doesn’t? Run. To Alexander, dangerous situations are like a swaying tower of Jenga blocks. If you try to salvage it, you’ll only end up knocking the entire thing over. It’s better to sit back and retreat and let the tower settle itself, or let gravity take its toll.
Patient: Ever had to sit still for a couple hours and watch something that doesn’t move and not fall asleep? Alexander has. While he does fall asleep occasionally, he has been doing his best to stay awake without the use of caffeine or electronic gadgets to distract his mind and work his thumbs. He aspires to be the cat crouched next to the mouse hole, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. He still has a ways to go before he can achieve the level of competency that he aspires to have, however sitting and waiting gives him time to think and consider his options.
Ace Up His Sleeve: In Alexander’s line of work, the surroundings are just as important as the current task at hand. Alexander considers every option carefully and quickly, often selecting the route that yields the highest chance of success. He isn’t one to take risks lightly: the benefits must be worth it. His watchfulness often includes the creation of an escape plan to utilize when the worst comes to worst. This is his proverbial ace up his sleeve: always, always have a back-up plan, even if it happens to be the back-up of a back-up plan.
Flaws:
Selfish: There is one person Alexander values above anything and everything else: himself. Self-preservation is the name of his game. He isn’t too prideful to admit defeat or to back off from a situation that will likely end poorly. If a situation does not directly involve him, he will most likely avoid it at all costs. That is, unless there’s something in it for him...
All in all, though, his first instinct in a sticky situation isn’t to fight. It’s to flee. The last time he fought he wound up in jail. He’d rather not repeat that to the point where he will rather book it than defend himself. If he’s cornered with no where to run, then he will make his stand. Alexander simply prefers flight over fight.
Are You Worth It? Alexander isn’t out to make friends. He’s out to use and create two sorts of people: victims and allies. This is done with the initial assessment, the snap judgment that categorizes whether or not someone is wealthy or poor. If someone’s showing off their wealth, he’ll be sure to cozy up to them in order to learn where they live, what they have, and how best to get it. If someone’s poor, then he’ll have little to no interest in them to the point of looking to drop them as quickly as he can even if it means resorting to being abrasively rude. Or to make up a quick lie.
But not all valuables are tangible. It can be anything from rank to skill to even knowledge to make someone valuable to Alexander. These valuable people, however, are still not valuable enough for Alexander to risk life and limb for. Rather he will hang around and be on friendly terms with people until he gets what he wants, then he will drop them faster than a senshi drops a youma in combat.
Mercenary of Interest Alexander does things in his own way, on his own time, for his own interests. Being asked to do something by someone he dislikes will result in it not being done. Being asked to do an unpleasant task will not be done. Or, if there’s someone else around the task will be shoved onto them. Alex views his time as too precious and too important to deviate from it and do something for someone else.
The only way to guarantee his cooperation is to catch his attention. It can be as simple as offering a valuable or promising a favor in the future. Threats work as well, from bodily harm to out-right threatening his life. One thing’s for sure is that if Alexander isn’t getting something out of it, he’ll definitely not do anything for free or out of friendship.
Even in an extreme situation, let's say someone is hanging off of a ledge. Alexander is nearby and can pull them up. Let's further say that the someone is a complete stranger. Alexander is not above bargaining with them to get something out of the "kind" act, and is more than prepared to let someone hang there or even fall off if there's nothing in it for him.
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:16 pm
The only thing you need to fix here is the Don't Look At Me trait. I'm having a bit of trouble picking up what the flaw part is here. If it's the fact that he doesn't like having attention brought to himself, that's also being covered in You're Not Worth My Time. If it's how he deals with surprises / attention / loud things with nothing more or less than a surly look of indifference, that doesn't seem like much of a flaw -- it's sort of admirable that he doesn't lash out much at things that bother him!
The plotting revenge part doesn't exactly work either, since if it's only going on in his head other characters can't observe and react to it. D: If he often ends up TAKING revenge, though -- e.g. sauntering out and tripping the douche who cut him in line at the movie theater after a few moments' consideration -- that's a different story!
You could also expand on how he tends to "wait out" troublesome situations: if he regards a situation that could use his help in solving as another minor annoyance he has to wait out, that would be a fantastic reason for people to hate him. XD It would also fit with his Selfish trait if you established this kind of a lack of initiative when the matter at hand doesn't directly involve himself.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:10 am
Changes:
Virtue - Ace Up His Sleeve
Flaw - Selfish
Flaw - Are you worth it?
Flaw - You can lead a horse to water...
TY MOUSE <333
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:26 am
Just to add in my two cents, I can think of a couple things I would add in:
On the Burglary: What happens with the inevitable failure? Even with a meticulous study of routines you can never fully predict how things are going to go. Unexpected elements like 'brand new systems just got installed' or 'Oops, the nosy neighbor just came by' are bound to come up. It's that little element of chaos that can make the best laid plans suddenly explode into chaos. ((Strategy only lasts until the battle starts, or however that expression goes.))
What does he do when, in spite of his planning and skill, the universe throws a big honking monkey wrench into his plans and he's staring at the very real risk of being caught? Does he just leave? Does he panic and try and salvage the situation?
I have the same question about his virtue "One Shot Perfection": I know Mouse approved it, however I don't think covering the unexpected 'What happens if suddenly the practice doesn't matter because things have gone wrong' as a real explanation somewhere, not as an unspoken, would benefit and not hurt this trait.
You have a great flaw that would actually be a BEAUTIFUL tie in to the monkey-wrench problem: His Selfish 'Self Preservation first' could be fleshed out a hair more into how he handles the threat risk of being arrested, or worse,find himself potentially facing an furious homeowner with a gun. (Or a hungry new dog, or what have you.)
His other flaws look like they could add a exciting element of chaos themselves, since it sounds like he could have some real problems working in a team structure with other people. This should lead to some interesting character drama, and some character development all around.
That's all I've got, so good luck!
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:59 pm
Thank you for your feedback! : DDD In the face of inevitable failure, Alex's priorities shift from "loot" to "himself." And by "himself" it's "get the hell outta there and book it, pronto." Alexander's been to prison before, and he has no plans to go back. He can always get loot again later. Freedom? Now that's something more precious than a tangible object. He'll come back some other time and take his chances then. Otherwise, Alexander highly prefers Flight over Fight. :3 He's more of a stealthy snatch-and-grab than fight 'til the end sort of guy. After all, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day! Added to:Hobby - Burglary Virtue - One Shot Perfection Flaw - Selfish
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:17 pm
We're almost there! The main thing in need of fixing is to show not just what Alex is thinking about when he comes to these traits, but what these motivations do to impact others around him. The virtues are fine as is, but it would solidify his flaws to put this into consideration!
I'd recommend tweaking Are You Worth It? juuust a bit to emphasize that he's picky / superficial about who he likes to hang around. I'm seeing a general description of his personality here, instead of a straight-up bad trait.
You Can Lead a Horse To Water... also needs more emphasis on why it's a bad thing. Right now it's reading off like he plays by his own rules, but still wins out in the end for it. How does this negatively affect others around him?
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:32 pm
Thank you! *W* I have changed "Are You Worth It?" from being entirely superficial to also include mental/intelligent worth. If someone knows the inside scoop on a juicy target, Alexander is definitely going to want to use become BFFs with them for the info! And the last flaw was changed to 'Mercenary of Interest' to better reflect how his selfishness extends beyond self preservation to inconvenience others. c:
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 10:22 pm
 Muuuch better, thank you!
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