HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

DIET: Small items consumed sporadically (apples, candy, coffee, muffins, etc) and alcohol.

EXERCISE: Does not explicitly work out - but does get a workout playing with kids at the Academy.

SLEEP: Passes out at random times for small periods. Can't sleep through the night without Joakim.

HYGIENE: Meticulously keeps himself clean and presentable. It's probably the only upkeep he really does.

ADDICTION: Alcoholic

HISTORY OF PHYSICAL ILLNESS

Several broken bones, sprains, and exhaustion-related illnesses.

SCARS: Several cuts scattered all over his back. He's shy about them and so usually keeps a shirt on.

ALLERGY: Mild hay fever.

INTOLERANCE: None.

STRENGTHS

Charismatic. Gets along easy with others and can usually talk his way out of most situations.

Clever. Used to thinking on his feet and devising a plan on the fly.

WEAKNESSES

Passive. Often goes along with things regardless of his feelings because "oh, this is happening now, i guess"

Easily intimidated. It doesn't take much to get him to not do something if you threaten or just imply retribution.

FLAWS

Resigned. While there are usually ways he recognizes he can escape a situation, he'll often not take them because he's already resigned himself to his fate.

Martyr syndrome. Will often throw himself under the bus, believing it to be the best solution in every situation. Does not value himself.

HABITS

Rubbing the back of his neck when uncomfortable

Grins when uncomfortable/scared.

Hurts himself in invisible ways when depressed/upset (drinking caustics, not sleeping, finding someone to beat him up, etc)

PET PEEVES

Waking up in the morning (oh god this shit again)

Getting something dirty immediately after cleaning/changing (why bother UGH)

WISHES

To help those he loves live their best life

To be forgotten and die

PREJUDICE

Wary of religious types

Tends to assume the worst of bigger men

SECRETS

You think code snoopers will get confidential info that easily? never.

PHILOSOPHY

You have to believe in something, right? If everyone is inherently cruel - born wicked and seeking only to cause harm - then how could you go on? Isn't that such a lonely way to think? No matter how many times the world is viciously cruel, I'll hold onto the belief in something better. I could never doom you to a world that would never love you back.

ETHICS

If you can do something, you should do something. It's the least you can do. Lying is good if used correctly. Everything catches up with you eventually.

HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Depression (diagnosed at 17), PTSD (undiagnosed)

TRIGGERS: Sexual aggression, suicide imagery, children treating him in any way shape or form similar to how he treated his mom (e.g. cooking him a meal (oh god im exactly like her)), women of similar disposition of his mother

PHOBIAS: Abandonment, suffocation

DEFENSE MECHANISM: Rationalization

THREAT-BASED MINDSET: Freeze

BIRTHPLACE: Aifeng Capital, lived there for about two years before moving. Has no memories of the province.

ENVIRONMENT: Currently lives in a rundown capital city in the poor province of Yun, with high crime rates, poor housing, and a large hybrid population with few hybrid rights. It's a big culture shock for him, having grown up in a small suburban town in Baijin, where there are barely any hybrids to begin with. He does enjoy the anonimity the city allows him - most people here don't know him, and he can be whoever he claims to currently be.

OVERALL HISTORY

CHILDHOOD: In his memories, he tends to glorify the years before he was 10, a happy family with no problems. It isn't true, of course - there was many a night he'd wake up and hear his parents loudly arguing in the other room, or catch his mother looking at him a touch too hard, or feel awkward about how forcibly his father showed him off. But the cracks were just small little cracks over what felt like a normal, happy family - once a week, they'd go down to the neighbourhood park, and his father would draw while his mom played with him. It all went downhill after his father left - abruptly one night, without a word - his mother locked behind her bedroom door, and would not open for anything. Duncan did his best to take care of himself, his mother, and go to school, but eventually, the teachers noticed, CPS was called, and Duncan was hauled off to a foster home.
While the foster home wasn't bad by any means - a warm and sunny lesbian couple who did their absolute best to help the little boy, Duncan was miserable - wracked with anxiety about his mother and shaken by the sudden departure of his father. He refused to open up and jumped to leave the second his mother came back for him, freshly discharged from the hospital, and having used her knowledge of the law to get her son back as soon as possible. When they arrived home, however, his mom forced him to gather up anything ever owned or gifted by his father and burned it in the backyard, making him swear to her that he would never embarass her like his father did. No more art, no more games - you have to be the best possible child, to make up for existing at all.

ADOLESCENCE: Duncan was always worn thin - barely sleeping, always working, carrying around a facade of being a nice if not a bit shy boy, always happy to help, maybe in need of a bit of protection. Most people liked him, inoffensive as he was, taking advantage of his seemingly natural academic prowess (they didn't see his all-night study sessions!) to finish their homework. His sweet demeanor allowed him to get involved in shenanigans and nefarious deeds with some of the more unpleasant children in the class, seen as being "dragged in" rather than willingly participating. He made for the ultimate fallguy - Duncan would never do this on his own, who set him up?
He had his life down to a science - that is, until a new boy joined the school - a strange, moody teenager who clearly had baggage he felt comfortable sharing with everyone around him. For some reason - this immediately pissed off Duncan. Who was this kid - who didn't have the common decency to fake it - acting like he was the only person on earth going through something? If he wanted to act miserable, Duncan decided he would give him a real reason to be miserable. Utilizing his position within the school and his knowledge of social circles, he quickly villainized the new boy - constantly sabotaging him and making him miserable. There was something else underneath Duncan's malice, something he tried to ignore, as he focused on hating the newcomer.
They got too close. It became too obvious the hatred was only covering for something else. The boy - Joakim - finally confessed near the end of their last year of highschool. Duncan, horrified that anyone could ever love him, rejected him, running the other way. He ruined it. Whatever fucked up thing they had - he ruined it.

ADULTHOOD: After ripping up his university acceptance letters, his mother kicked him out. Shocked - he wasn't sure what to do. All he had was a car and whatever was in his pockets at the moment. He never thought he'd make it this far - the life path he was supposed to follow he had thrown away, and in its place was nothing but a desire to just be dead. All he could think to do was to follow Joakim around. Living out of his car, buying a gym membership to have access to showers and storage, he started eating less and sleeping less, applying for whatever job Joakim currently had and working hard to get into positions above him, just to piss him off. He began drinking more heavily, waking up in stranger's bedrooms, or finding himself in even worse situations. Nothing mattered - he was just waiting for death to come take him, and doing whatever he could to inspire it.
When Joakim moved to Yun, Duncan didn't even hesitate - he found the job he applied for, and applied as well. He agreed - it would be nice to get out of Baijin, escape everyone who knew him, and move somewhere with a higher crime rate. What was the job? Dealing with kids? Sure, whatever.

BEST MEMORY: The lights of the carnival seemed to stretch on forever from the ground, but at the top of the ferris wheel - it was like he could see everything. He still couldn't read any of the signs, in this strange country with a different language, but they were still beautiful.
"You should see the stars in the countryside," his mother mused, leaning back in the seat. "On a clear night like this, you can see the entire Milky Way."
"Like the galaxy?"
His mother nodded, and he looked up at the sky. It was beautiful - it was hard to imagine it could ever be more beautiful than this... What does a galaxy look like from the ground?

WORST MEMORY: Maybe it was that night at the party - or that bathroom stall - maybe the night he got kicked out from home - or the day his dad left - so many things haunt him, it's hard to choose one.

SHORT-TERM GOALS: His ID is about to expire, and all his information and forms are back at his mother's house, he wasn't expecting to make it long enough for this to become a problem, but, uh, how is he going to renew this???
After asking Joakim to wait for him, he's now faced with the task of... actually following through with beginning the process of fixing himself. It seems exhausting - at 21, he's never cared about himself so far, where does he even begin?? But he has to, right, he already promised Joakim - no, that's the wrong way to look at it, he promised himself too, didn't he...

LONG-TERM GOALS: There has to be... something he can do, to help the kids he accidentally roped into this place. He's still not sure if this was the right decision or not - Mathilde and Joakim have assured him multiple times, but...

INTERNAL CONFLICT: Struggling with self-care and self-love, trying to take care of himself after a lifetime of sacrificing himself for others.

EXTERNAL CONFLICT: Trying to keep the children under his care safe, trying to help them with their problems.

CURRENT CONCERN: What isn't concerning him right now?

VERBAL

ACCENT: English accent (Bristol)

VERBAL TIC: "Ugh" "God" "Jesus Christ" "Errrr..."

CATCHPHRASE: Don't worry about it!

SPOKEN LANGUAGE: English (Native), Mandarin (Second)

ARTICULATION: Doesn't use slang contractions (gonna, wanna, etc) while speaking Mandarin due to unfamiliarity with the language. Speaks a lot more colloquially when in English, and much faster. Generally talks very casually and friendly, tends to use nicknames, usually focuses the conversation on his conversational partner. Doesn't share more information than he has to, usually shapes his information to come off like a well-to-do ditz.

BREATHING PATTERN: Carefully managed to be as normal as possible

NONVERBAL

BODY MOVEMENT: Doesn't move a great deal - some minor hand guestures to match his speech, will occasionally shift his position.

EXPRESSION: Always smiling. Rarely frowns.

EMOTIONAL STATE: Usually friendly and laid-back, doesn't get upset very easily, brushes things off.

BODY POSTURE: Casual, but fairly upright.

WALKING STYLE: Gay walker (fast), slows down considerably if walking with someone.

SITTING STYLE: Casual, likes to lean back against the chair, but will sit upright and proper in certain situations.

SLEEPING STYLE: Flat on his back, unmoving. Unless he's sleeping with someone, in which case he snuggles up all night long.

ABILITIES

Good at improv - can think on his feet and adapt quickly

Good at sussing out intentions - can usually tell what someone's after.

TALENTS

Talented liar. Can come up with lies quickly and deliver them confidently. Also good at spotting liars - takes one to know one.

Good artist. Has a natural eye for shape and form, despite having not drawn in about ten years.

SKILLS

Excellent chef. Despite almost never eating, he's amazing at preparing food and has a perfect palette.

De-escalating situations - he's gotten used to talking his way out of things.

TRIVIA

Really good at memorizing people's names

Has forgotten most things he tirelessly studied at school, but he still manages to hold a wealth of random knowledge that is almost never useful except for maybe as a conversation piece.

Tends to drive a little recklessly if no one is in the car with him. Is he tempting fate, or is he just impatient? Who knows!

HOBBIES

Drinking

Games on his phone (all shitty)

People-watching

REFSHEET

DESIGN NOTES

His hair is fluffy/layered and reaches to his chin. His hair is not actually lighter than his skin - if you wind up with that, you're colourpicking wrong.

Underweight - you can count his ribs.

His body language is usually casual, but always has good posture.

Perpetual grinner. Context does not matter.

MOODBOARD

PLAYLIST

Drake - Madiba Riddim

Purity Ring - Begin Again

Sufjan Stevens - I Want To Be Well

Alt-J - Breezeblocks

Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away

ATTITUDE

TOWARDS STRANGER: Very wary of strangers, but always polite and friendly. Might not help them if they seem particularly troublesome.

TOWARDS ACQUAINTANCE: Wary of acquaintances, but always polite and friendly. Makes casual conversation and always willing to help them out.

TOWARDS FRIENDS: Around trusted friends he drops the act and becomes a lot more deadpan and sarcastic. Helps out more insistently and constantly quips.

TOWARDS FAMILY: Well, he only has the one...

TOWARDS LOVERS: Extremely weary of men he sleeps with - has very little trust for them. Usually pretends to be a stupid airhead, agreeing to everything and always keeping an eye out for an easy escape, just in case. Focuses the conversations on them and tries to reveal as little as possible about himself.

TOWARDS RIVAL: Engages in sabotage to ensure he stays on top.

TOWARDS ENEMY: Tries to destroy their life, falls in love with them, follows them around like a lost dog-