Post by blaise mackinley stanton on Dec 17, 2013 22:02:39 GMT -5
BLAISE MACKINLEY STANTON
FULL NAME: Blaise.
NICKNAMES: N/A
AGE: nineteen
SEXUALITY: straight.
STATUS: single.
GROUP: student.
GRADE: freshman.
MAJOR: Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
JOB OCCUPATION: Borders General Assistant.
HAIR: Really dark brown, kept short these days, but he has had it long before. It’s naturally poker straight, but he does use irons to style it some days, if he’s dressing up for something. If not, it’s combed out and left natural.
EYES: Brown.
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: He has a few meaningless ones all over his body, but nothing of great significance..
TATTOOS: He has his dad’s badge number tattooed on his left wrist and a tiny cross behind his right ear..
PIERCINGS: None.
PLAY-BY: Blake Harnage!
LIKES: his guitar, reading, phone calls to his mom, the smell of old books, libraries, relaxing music, cinnamon lattes, sleeping in, being tall, hoodies, solitude, driving at night, organisation, fires, clean sheets, hot showers, banana milkshakes, medieval literature, burgers, mugs, face paint, winter, snow, cooking, marathons of his favourite TV shows, movies from the 80s, skinny jeans, casual clothes, open mic nights, festivals of any kind, wristbands, bottled water, scarves, Mickey Mouse, dental floss, costumes, conventions, carousels, fantasy novels, late night diners, mint, small bars, walks through the woods, working on his novel, UFOs, poppies.
DISLIKES: being at the centre of attention, people thinking there’s something “wrong” with him, being so shy, peas, rich snobs, running late, his desk being a mess, formal events, big dogs, herbal tea, over the top action movies with Bruce Willis, athletics, tap water, paranoia, bullies, being teased, girls wearing too much make up, disrespectful neighbours, flu, feeling too hot, restless sleep, guns, being clumsy, heavy metal music, competitiveness, fake people, lavender, gossip, liars, dry eyes, china dolls, heights, earthquakes, poorly written books, burnt food, being allergic to seafood, doctors, cold mornings when he’s cosy in bed, anxiety attacks.
FEARS: his mom/aunt dying, rejection, china dolls.
SECRETS: He had selective mutism for two years and only really comes out of his shell when he’s playing guitar to a bunch of strangers.
PERSONALITY: Blaise is your typical wallflower. He’s shy and spends more time watching people than interacting with them. He remembers thing about them though, so if the time comes when a conversation does happen, he’ll probably already know something about that person, even if it’s just what class they’re taking. He’s bookish and spends most of his time with his nose buried in a book, losing himself to the story. A quiet character, you’ll rarely find Blaise confronting anyone or yelling at someone. He’s sensitive and much too passive about things, making him something of a doormat to people in his life. He’s got a big heart and always wants to help people out in any way he can, hating to see the people in his life hurting or struggling. He’s a kind guy who doesn’t have it in him to be mean to anyone, even if they deserve it. Blaise is incredibly awkward, especially around strangers and girls he likes. He grows clumsy and is prone to dropping anything he’s holding, stuttering and saying silly things or making bad jokes. He’s a good friend though, once you break past that shy shell. He’s not the kind of guy you’ll see in the clubs every weekend, but he does like to socialise in small groups in places where he doesn’t have to shout to be heard. While he lacks confidence in most areas of his life, Blaise is almost a completely different guy when he has his guitar out and is in front of a microphone. He does partake in open mic nights, but never tells anyone when he’s doing them, preferring to play for strangers. It’s almost a rare time to find him without his guitar though, even on campus. It keeps him calm to have it with him and sometimes will sit somewhere and play a few chords just to relax himself and his mind. He’s imaginative, highly creative and probably has some talent to write a decent novel, though it’s a slow process and he doesn’t dedicate too much of his time to that, though he dabbles with lyrics when his emotions are running high. He can have bouts of paranoia where he’s convinced people have been talking about him. This usually happens when he walks into a room and people fall silent or if he feels like people are staring at him. He’s prone to anxiety from time to time, especially if he’s giving a presentation or been singled out in class against his will. He gets embarrassed easily and doesn’t have it in him to speak up against anyone. He’s a sweet guy and if he gets comfortable with a girl then he can be quite the romantic, but it’s not easy to unwrap that side of him and there’s only been one girlfriend in his past and she ended things with him a long time ago. He’s not got a violent bone in his body and is more likely to sit and take a beating than retaliate in any way. He’s close to his mom and aunt too, making him quite the mama’s boy character. Blaise might spend a lot of time on the outside of a group, in his own little bubble, but he’s perceptive and will always try to do what is right, though conflicting emotions and thoughts are often his downfall. He wishes he could be stronger and more confident, but he can’t change who he’s grown up to be!
MOTHER: Artie James Stanton, deceased.
FATHER: Jackie Louisa Stanton, 46.
SIBLINGS: N/A.
OTHERS: Lily Francesca Nichols, 49, maternal aunt.
Alec Gregory Rice, 48, Jackie’s fiancé
PETS: Walter, bearded dragon!
HOMETOWN: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
HISTORY: Blaise was the only child born to Artie and Jackie Meyers. Artie was a Philadelphia detective and Jackie happened to be a witness to a crime. They had met, taken the time to know each other and then married, having Blaise just over a year after they exchanged their vows in front of friends and family.
Blaise was a happy, but quiet little boy. Jackie worked as a librarian, which was perfect because she could take Blaise to work with her rather than worry about finding an affordable nanny to mind the little boy. Blaise used to spend hours looking through the books, even when he couldn’t read them! He’d look at the pictures and make up stories in his head to go along with them. He never really took a lasting interest in sports or little toy cars, but his imagination was a wonderful thing and he would make up little worlds of his own, building a fort to defend or tackle aliens from the space ship that was his bed. When Blaise was seven, his dad presented him with a guitar. Artie believed that since his son was more introverted and preferred to be creative rather than athletic then this would be the perfect thing for him. Plus, Artie had played guitar throughout his youth and wanted to have something to share with his son.
Blaise loved it! He played it as much as he could, often badgering his dad the second he got home from work to listen to something he had gotten right or to teach him something new. At school, he didn’t really talk to many of his classmates, but just kept to two close friends who would indulge in the fantasy worlds he created and run around the yard slaying dragons or evil wizards. He was often bullied by the other kids and this only pushed him further away from everyone else, meaning that he remained more of a wallflower, when everyone expected him to find his footing and bloom. It was only the guitar, books and the hours spent with Artie that filled Blaise with any sort of confidence, though it was hardly the kind that would help him with the school bullies stealing his lunch money and copying his homework. He hated being called upon in class and would often end up red in the face and close to panicking; he did have anxiety attacks once or twice, but they seemed to pass fairly quickly.
He had turned twelve in the fall and was sitting on the stairs with his guitar waiting patiently for Artie to come home from work so that he could show him the song he had mastered earlier that day. It wasn’t unusual for the detective to be late, especially if there had been a break in a case, so it was really just like any other night in the Meyer family household. However, the doorbell rang instead of the key turning in the lock and when Jackie opened the door she was confronted by Artie’s partner, bringing her and Blaise the news every cop family dreaded. Artie had been killed while part of a raid on a dealer’s place. Blaise ran upstairs to his room and locked himself in it, unable to accept that his father was dead.
When his mom finally coaxed him out, he was numb. He didn’t speak to anyone, only ate the bare amount at meal times and not once did his fingers reach out for that guitar again. Jackie’s sister, Lily, came to move in with the grieving family and helped with funeral arrangements and the other daily routines that Jackie just didn’t feel up to just yet. Blaise grew terribly reserved and would only nod or shake his head, refusing to speak at all to anyone. Once the funeral was over, they thought he might open his mouth again, but Blaise seemed trapped in his own mind.
He had nightmares in which he imagined what happened to his dad and became more withdrawn from his classmates and his family. Eventually, Lily talked Jackie into calling a doctor and a therapist examined Blaise, eventually deciding that the boy’s shy nature and moments of anxiety in the classroom had probably left him predisposed to selective mutism when confronted with a trauma, in this case, the loss of his dad. The night terrors brought on by it too seemed to suggest that Blaise might have generalised anxiety disorder too, but that would have to be assessed in more detail once Blaise had moved on from the trauma keeping him mute. It was harder to diagnose him entirely since Blaise didn’t have all the symptoms of selective mutism, but instead seemed to be an elective mute, but the DSM removed the definition of that back in 1994 and so the therapist had to try a number of different treatments to try and get Blaise back to the boy he once was, since there was no certain way of snapping him out of it and helping him overcome his grief.
Eventually, through behavioural therapy and psychotherapy with the doctor and at home, Blaise eventually began to communicate with his therapist, but no one else. It was a slow healing process and Blaise was scared to ask his mom questions about his dad’s death that might upset her. He didn’t feel confident enough to be the “man of the house” and that, combined with the grief had pushed Blaise into such a bad place. Jackie just wanted her son back and it hurt her that he still couldn’t talk to her, even after she reassured him as such.
Blaise was fourteen and it was approaching the anniversary of his dad’s death. By this point he had been diagnosed with acute generalised anxiety disorder and already was on a course of Xanax to try and help him combat his anxiety at school, especially with the transition to high school fast approaching. The therapy did bring him on leaps and bounds though, but the mutism was still something he couldn’t snap out of once he stepped outside the therapist’s office. One day, after the bullying had turned to mentioning his dad, Blaise had gone home and while the house was empty, he had climbed into the attic and retrieved his dad’s old guitar case, pulling the instrument out once he was in his bedroom. He hadn’t played anything since before Artie’s death, but something seemed to propel him to run his fingers over the strings, slip the strap over his head and start playing one of the first songs his dad had taught him. At first he just played the melody, getting the feel for the instrument back again, though it felt like he’d never stopped playing. Then, without even thinking about it, he started to sing. When Jackie came home from work she was greeted by the sound of her son singing and playing the guitar. He didn’t bound down the stairs miraculously cured, but it did pave the way to get him talking again.
Playing the guitar became a way to control the anxiety and he re-found his love for literature again too. Slowly, his selective mutism faded away and while he’d probably have to deal with his GAD for the majority of his life, it became easier to handle too. He had a positive outlet, little tricks to keep himself from having a panic attack during presentations in school and slowly he rebuilt his life. Blaise was still a wallflower and he still got bullied something ridiculous until his final growth spurt in his senior year put him taller than most of his bullies.
He wasn’t a straight A student in school, but he did earn the occasional A if he put the work in at home. The one good thing about being as shy as Blaise was and having a very empty social life was that those hours were there to spare. He worked hard, did the homework on time and sought help when he needed it. He wanted to go to college one day, but it meant he’d have to save up for a year or two first. His family wasn’t rich by any means and he didn’t want his mom to bend over backwards just to put him through school. He graduated with decent enough grades to get him into college. Before that though, he got a job in a clothing store and worked hard and saved up to get himself a nice little bundle of money stashed away.
Jackie had been dating Alec since Blaise was sixteen and had approved his mom’s decision. She didn’t want to do anything that would upset or stress out her son, but he had just smiled, told her that his dad wouldn’t want her to be alone and surprisingly he got on really well with Alec, who never tried to be his dad. When Blaise was eighteen and at work, Alec came into the store to ask if Blaise would mind if he asked Jackie to marry him. It caught the young man off guard, but once he regained his composure, he smiled and told Alec to go for it. It meant that Jackie would have someone once Blaise was off at college and Alec was a good man who made her happy. Jackie accepted the proposal and began to slowly save for the perfect wedding for them both.
Blaise was thinking more and more about college as his nineteenth year ticked by. He wanted to study English Literature in some capacity, but he didn’t know what he’d do with it at the end. He’d never have the confidence to be a teacher, but then he could worry about that once the four years were up. His aunt Lily suggested music too, considering how much time Blaise spent with his dad’s guitar, but Blaise didn’t want to risk stress creeping in to the one thing that could keep his anxiety levels low. He did, however, take a brave step one night and put his name down for open mic night. It was a theory he had read online in an article his old therapist had sent to him about how people with GAD found ways to strengthen their confidence. He suggested that Blaise tell no one, perform a short set at an open mic gig and see how it made him feel. He was surprised when he found out that it was amazing. He was nervous before he went on and had to take a Xanax to stop him from having an anxiety attack, but once that guitar was in his hands, he felt like the rest of the world just disappeared and he just went for it. He barely remembered his performance, but he felt incredible afterwards and “secret” open mic nights became a hobby that crossed over to New York with him.
He didn’t want to move too far away from home in case anything happened to his family or to him, but he also wanted to be far enough away to try and cope with the fears of college alone. New York might only be a two hour drive away, but it felt like a good choice. It meant he could come home on weekends, but he could also take his first shot at being independent. He was accepted into NYU and after updating his old therapist and being reminded that he could return anytime he needed to the office, he went and with the help of his family he found a small apartment and then landed himself a job in Borders, where his staff discount was taken advantage of regularly enough. He was still nervous about college and his GAD still lingers to try and attack him from time to time, but he remembers his therapy, he has the pills if he needs them and he’s on the right track to overcoming everything those bullies used to say would hold him back!
YOUR ALIAS: KIM.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: In the night sky.
SAMPLE:Pssh!
