Welcome to Gaia! ::

Name: Matthew Gowan

Nickname: Matt, Ace

Age: 15 16 17 18 19

Birthday: Nov. 13th ( 1998 )

Sign: Scorpio

Gemstone: Topaz

Blood Type: AB

Fav. Food: Spicy anything, especially curry

Hated Food: Caramel. Too sweet and sticks to his teeth.

School: Meadowview High School



Hobbies:

Loitering - Matt spends most of his time with his small gang of friends just hanging out and doing nothing. This can happen a variety of places and often leads to mischievous or delinquent behavior, like knocking over vending machines or throwing rocks at cars. While not purposefully malicious, a group of bored young boys can feed off each others energy till trouble finally breaks free. In the midst of his teenage years, his friends are the center of his life.

Informal Parkour or Free running - While not followed or practiced as formally as professionals do it, Matthew has taken an interest in getting over, around and into things after being inspired by some youtube videos of the sport. While his interest might bloom later into something more cohesive, as it stands he simply enjoys testing himself against obstacles. Its a nice opportunity for mischief and something active to do when he and his friends get bored of standing around... they go climb something or run around until they find a new place to stand around. The harder it is to reach a hang out spot, the more its worth it, ala rooftops or underpasses, or the support beams of bridges.

Sci-fi/Fantasy/Westerns/Fiction - When not with his friends, Matt sinks himself into fictional worlds to escape reality. He has a large collection of movies, video games, and even books that span a range of themes. The further divorced from reality it is, the happier he is. Unhappy with his life and troubled by the drama and hormones of being a teen, he takes every opportunity he has to mentally escape. Though he rarely admits it to other people, he feels a strong affinity for anti-heros, for those with a dark past and difficult present, who still manage to save the world and get little praise for it.



Virtues:

Passionate -- Matt feels strongly about just about everything and as a result, puts his all into the things he feels are worth doing. When he loves something, he does so completely, the same with things he hates. He may mask his emotions outwardly, but he is driven by them and often uses them to influence his decisions. People who gain his loyalty can expect to have someone who isn't afraid to stand tall by their side and do their all to help them.

Insightful -- While often appearing outwardly petulant and bored, inside, Matthew sees everything that is going on around him and often catches details others miss. He's the type to notice that a door is open a couple inches further than it should be or that someone who appears fine is actually showing distress through their body language. Its hard to fool him with a lie or slight of hand distraction, and often he can piece together a bigger picture from smaller pieces of information.

Determined -- He doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'. When he sets his mind to something, he will follow it through to the end, no matter how hard the going might get or the odds against him. He will do whatever it takes to reach his goals and is not afraid of hard work... as long as that work is worthwhile.



Flaws:

Rigid -- Matt's world is often seen in black and white. Things are his or not his. Good or bad. Worthwhile, or useless. Its hard for him to think in degrees and he can often make snap decisions based on too little information, driven by his passionate nature. You are either one way or the other, you can't be both or in between. It can be hard for him to understand or accept things that are truly in that gray area.

Overly-sensitive -- The death of Matt's mother and the insecurity he feels over his lack of control over his life have led him to being overly sensitive about himself, his family and any slight to them. He will often read into things far too much. Its his intuitive nature taken to the extreme, where assumptions are made based on his own view point and emotional state, rather than whatever the reality may be.

Hot Tempered/Vengeful -- Matt does not take slights easily, or frustrations. Wrongs against him are often met with fists and explosions of temper, even for very minor or accidental things. He can easily ruin a good thing in his life by reading too much into it, making assumptions about it, and letting his temper get the better of him, ruining his report with the person(s) involved. He has, on occasion, broken some innocent bit of furniture or electronics that just happened to cause him enough frustration that he couldn't help himself.



Height: 5'8"

Eyes: Rich, bright green eyes. Courtesy of his Irish heritage.

Hair: Naturally a lighter brown than his sister's, he dies it black with bright streaks of color here and there, depending on his mood. (the color is variable since it depends on what temp die he's used and where) He tends to cut it short on top and leaves the bottom to grow out as long as it wants to, pulling it back in a low ponytail or braid.

Face: Oval sort of face, like his sister's.

Clothes: He likes clothes that are punky in nature, or that generally show a 'I don't care what you think of me' attitude. Rips, mismatched, spikes, chains, whatever! He tends to like color, so an over abundance of black is not required. Usually, he's got sneakers of some sort on for traction when he's climbing around and running.

Family:

Father - Art Gowan; Irish, owns a flower shop, single father. Met Farah after an business trip to India, when he was younger and working for a large computer company as a programer. Grieved by her death when their son was barely two, he struggled to fill both parental roles. Cheerful, up-beat, supportive, but a little socially awkward. Never remarried or dated. Age 47.

He has medium brown hair and green eyes, his form slightly pudgy from a sedentary life. He wears a pair of round, black spectacles and his hands are usually dirty during business hours. Most times, he wears a light blue button up shirt and brown slacks with dark brown loafers, a cream apron over it all with the logo of his shop on the front. Matthew takes after him alot, though he has the same dark complexion as his sister.

Mother (deceased) - Farah Gowan; Fell in love with Art when he was visiting her homeland, eventually moved to his country and married, giving birth to two children. She died of cancer at 29, when Matthew was two. Before she became a mother, she was a popular model.

She bares a heavy resemblance to Orah, but her features are sharper and more heavily Arabic, her hair darker and curlier. They have the same eyes.

Older sister - Orah Gowan; Matthew's mothering older sister. She sort of took over raising Matthew when their mother died and their father lost touch with reality. While he honestly hates the way she's constantly trying to take care of him, its more about the way she sacrifices herself to do it, at least as he grows older and sees more of what it does to her. He'd far rather take care of himself and have her live her own life. He's very protective of her and loves her fiercely, even if he acts like he doesn't. She's been acting strangely over the last year and it makes him suspicious... especially when he notices bruises and cuts she tries to hide and then lies about how she got them. Age 18.

Misc - Matthew has more family, but his father and sister are the only ones in his life right now. His paternal grandparents died slightly before his mother did. His mother's family still lives in the country she came from, but they disapproved of Art and refused to have contact with their estranged daughter. Matthew has never met them.

Kitten - His sister has a young cat named Lola. He likes to pretend that he doesn't like her, but when no one's looking, he does enjoy petting and playing with her.

Friends:

Matthew has a group of about four boys from school who he considers his close friends. They tend to run in a little gang and loiter around places like the mall or park. While Matt tends to be the leader of the group, most of their bad behavior is from them egging him and each other on to do things they wouldn't do if they were alone. He considers them the most important thing in his young teen life and is usually hanging out with them when he's not hiding in his room at home.



Background:

Matt barely knew his mother when she died, so he's grown up knowing only his father and sister. He feels little control in his life, so he's started acting out in school and outside of it, getting into fights against stronger boys. He feels like the world is set against him, and without a strong father figure to turn to, he's struggling to deal with it on his own.

His lower-middle class life has also frustrated him, and on occasion he had taken to petty theft, mostly when being egged on by his little gang of friends. He acts out more with them, each of them fueling the others to greater mischief. When he isn't out with them, he hides in his room to play video games and watch movies. On a rare occasion, he can be pressed into working down stairs at his father's flower shop, but is usually sullen the whole time he's there.

One heart set, two names = knows both their identities

TBA!

Sailor Dactyl (Ida's moon)