{ Countdown } - OOC

[Iliad]

I'll make a soulmate if it means Ken joins.

[PastelPeach]

I guess I'll get started on his form then.

[FearlessFlight]

Pastel I love all of those ideas!!
I like the last one where they meet at the hospital and continue to grow closer after that. It sounds like Kendrick is going to wake up (meaning he isn brain dead but has been in a persistent vegetative state) so Marth will need to create a character that perhaps becomes friends with Aidreena and Cedrick but it isn't until all four of them are in the hospital room that like you said, Aidreena freaks out to Cedrick who would have to have become a very close friend to generate a response from her timer. I think Kendrick should wake up and then they should realize their timers had in fact hit zero.
We are going to need to have our characters hang out a bunch before this event though.

[PastelPeach]

Name: Kendrick Andrew Esten
Username: PastelPeach
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Appearance: Being identical twins, Kendrick looks nearly exactly like his brother Cedrick. He is barely 5'7" in a half, with the same dimples to his smile. He has the same blue-green eyes, and the same color of dark brown hair. Ken is not quite as physically toned as Cedrick though, but it's not really that noticeable. His hair does reach a little further down his neck than Cedrick's though, but other than that there's not much of a difference between the two, other than clothing choices that is. Ken tends to wearing darker clothes than his twin, and can usually always be found sporting a hoodie or jacket.


History: Kendrick is the youngest of twins by mere minutes. Of course, those minutes make all the difference in the world whenever he and Cedrick would get into arguments. Such fights were rare though, as Ken and his brother got along rather well most of the time. They were best friends, and despite having conflicting interests, insisted on doing everything together. Life was fairly happy for them. Then Kendrick began realizing in his attraction toward males. He hid it at first, feeling both confused and fearful of it. It was the first secret he had ever kept from Cedrick. When Ken was 11, he confided in a close friend his belief that he might be gay and his fears in how Cedrick would react. Kendrick was horrified when that friend immediately denounced their friendship and spread his secret to the whole school. His peers quickly began a childhood of assault. He knew there was no longer any chance of hiding the truth from his brother, but was surprised to discover that instead of rejecting him, Cedrick was protecting him and supportive of him. It was a relief, but even one silver lining wasn't enough to keep Kendrick from drowning. Ken struggled with his abuse, which only worsened when his parents learned the truth. Many times, the two would try to get emancipated, run away, or reveal their parents' abuse, and each attempt ended in failure. Even though Cedrick was always trying to keep him safe and would get abused alongside him, Ken turned to alternative means of coping. He would indulge in drinking and drugs, would succumb to harming himself, and would even try to commit suicide. Each time, Cedrick would rescue him from himself, but it still took years before Kendrick's sense of self worth would truly raise. The twins took the very first chance they could to leave their home, even if it meant living in a homeless shelter. They got jobs and would even pretend to be each other for shifts just to raise money. Eventually, they earned enough for a cheap old car, and enough to rent an apartment in whatever town they decided on. Life finally seemed to be turning around, but then the accident happened. Their car wasn't exactly the safest ride even under the best circumstances, but that night was especially dangerous with the harsh winds and rain obscuring the windows. While turning along the mountainside, the car was swept over the edge and tumbled down into the trees. When they were rushed to the nearest hospital, Kendrick's doctors declared him as brain dead and told Cedrick he should consider having his brother's organs donated. Kendrick was conscious the entire time, although unable to scream his horror. Cedrick has continued to stubbornly believe in and support his brother, although Ken fears what will happen if he doesn't manage to "wake up" soon.

Personality: Kendrick is much more shy compared to his brother, although he's a lot better at reading people and situations. He's certainly better spoken than his brother and has a bit of a silver tongue. He has a tendency of worrying over every little thing though, so he prefers to think things through as thoroughly as possible before making his move. He has a habit of relying on sarcasm and insults when he feels nervous or uncomfortable (or when he wants to make a point), which at times can make him seem rather rude. Funnily enough, he reverts back to sarcasm and insults once he has grown comfortable around someone, but he means it with all the love in the world. He's quiet and not really open about himself, having built up a large barrier wall over the years. He's the less excitable and more cautious of the Esten twins. He's got a hard exterior, but underneath it is a boy still struggling with pain and guilt. He wants to make it up to Cedrick for all the pain he's put his brother through, and wants desperately to be the one to support and protect him from now on instead. Between the two of them, they're like a smoothly working machine, but apart the two seem to be far more faulty in their interactions.
Orientation: Homosexual
Soulmate: Asa Mikhael Verdin
Other: Kendrick currently resides in a hospital bed, fully aware of his surroundings but unable to respond or move. He can't even control the blinking of his own eyelids, and instead lays in an unresponsive state with his eyes staring straight ahead. Everyday, someone will apply eyedrops to his eyes, fix his bed, manage his food and medicine intake, and even clean him.




Here's Kendrick's form. It feels weird using the exact same picture, I tried to find a different one of the same guy but couldn't. Marth, since it'll likely affect your character as well as mine and Fearless', would you like to put in a vote on how their meeting should happen?

[Iliad]

Accepted!
Honestly, anything is fine for me, but I like the last one on your list, Peach, and the one that Fearless suggested.

[Iliad]

Name: Asa Mikhael Verdin
Username: Marth
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Appearance: Asa isn't bad looking by any means. However, it's not really conventional, as his face is exceedingly effeminate; it's slender in shape, well-formed, and observant. The angles formed by his brows and eyes make it look sharp, though the soft curve of the profile of his nose adds a bit of contrast. His lashes are long, straight, and a dark cedar-brown. His pale shoulders are dusted with light freckles, though there are none on his face. Instead, there is a small, dark mole under his left eye. His eyes are a dull blue, more like slate than anything truly cerulean.
His hair, a bit unruly, is the same dark cedar as his lashes and brows, shot through with the occasional hint of auburn. His fringe is usually pushed impatiently to the side, and though typically he keeps his hair short, recently it's grown out to the point where he can tuck his bangs behind his ears. Possibly the reason his hair is so messy is that his long fingers are constantly running through it and messing it up, as it's capable of lying flat when he leaves it alone or when it settles after he stops his nervous tic.
He stands at 5'6", a bit short, and the rest of his body is a bit sharp-looking, too. Abrupt angles in his shoulders, a defined collarbone; though this is not caused by trying and rather by neglect. His figure is slim though his hips are a little wider than most, causing his body shape to look a little more balanced than the broad shoulders and small hips of many males. His limbs are long and so are his fingers, dexterous and quick-moving. He usually wears casual clothing, anything he can throw on, though he always wears long sleeves - a cardigan, a jacket, anything like that.
History: Since he could remember, Asa had been, for lack of a better word, an absolute piece of shit. His ridiculous intellect led to him questioning teachers, parents, principles, all sorts of authority figures, and he didn't care about getting on their bad sides as he did so. A fearsome combination, and one that led to his parents, his teachers, everyone who wasn't his age basically despising him.
Of course, because he was immediately on the bad side of every teacher in his immediate vicinity, he gained a lot of friends. Those friends really couldn't be called that, as they were more interested in Asa's ridiculous ability to insult everyone he interacted with, but they got along. (Unfortunately they ended up being the bad crowd" that everyone's mother warned them not to associate with, but at the time it was impossible to know.) He kept with these people for much of school. As he went up grades, he became more and more observant, and then when he heard a rumor about an upperclassman of his coming out - or rather being outed - as gay, he never associated directly with him but rather spread the rumor further. He and that aforementioned group of friends took it upon themselves to really get it out there, and his friends went as far as to join in on the direct bullying. Preferring to stay in the shadows, and perhaps a bit afraid of what would happen if the school found him out, Asa stayed behind them and hid the undesirable parts of himself so no one would be able to figure him out.
After high school, he attended a prestigious college in the area - of course it was easy with his intellect, but he had to keep his past haunts out of the application. Perhaps the incident that led to him fully realizing the depths of his depravity was when he heard a whispered conversation one day in the campus dining hall. "You know the guy who was the year above us in high school? Kendrick Estern? The guy got hit by a car and now he's a vegetable, imagine that."
"Oh? What a tragedy."
Personality: Asa would definitely describe himself as "a bad person". He's extremely intelligent, and accompanying the intellect is condescension and snobbery. He often acts very high and mighty, dangling knowledge above people's heads like a person would deprive an aggressive pet of treats. Most of the words that come out of his mouth are accompanied by a sharp-toothed smirk, or a snarky comment tossed out intended to hurt the recipient. To say that he regards the rest of the human race as inferior to himself would be an understatement, but there's a caveat to it.
Rude and mean as he may be (and not to excuse that) Asa is possibly filled to the brim with self-loathing. He completely acknowledges how terrible his personality is - and that he has literally no redeemable qualities - and yet he can't get rid of it. It's what he's grown up with and he just can't shake it off, and when he tries he gets so uncomfortable that he just falls back on old habits again. His personality is less of that and more of a shroud, really, to hide a core that he doesn't even know exists. He's got dozens of facades and he can pick any which one he wants at a particular time.
Mostly due to his tendency to push others away and ridicule them for no good reason other than his nature, he's constantly guilty and anxious, though he doesn't really mind it as he's grown accustomed. Still not going to stop it. He's a bit paranoid, but mostly just constantly on edge in general rather than believing something specifically bad is going to happen. This edginess leads to good reflexes but also makes him act like he hasn't slept in days at all times. Secretly quite insecure, Asa refuses to acknowledge that he is, and has unfortunately taken up quite a bad pastime as a means of distracting himself from the ongoing emotional turmoil. It's definitely not healthy, but it works - though his mental health has slowly been deteriorating and he's not sure exactly how long it's going to last.
Orientation: Pansexual
Soulmate: Kendrick Andrew Esten
Other: He uses his first and middle names interchangeably, but the moment someone tries to shorten his middle name to Mika is the moment that he'll conveniently leave the room and stop responding. He has suicidal tendencies, and self harms, so if that triggers any of you, please let me know. I'll rework it.

...
/makes nice character
/makes slightly jerk character but still ok
...
/makes this guy

Sorry, Pastel. It looks like they could both use a little recovery. Maybe they can help each other along when Asa stops being, essentially, a brat.

[PastelPeach]

Honestly? I love it. It kind of seems like he and Ken might not get along so well at first considering their history, but that just makes it all the more interesting. I'll wake Kendrick up whenever you want me to so just say when and it's done. If you'd prefer though, we could get some interaction in between Cedrick and Asa first? Any plan you want is fine by me really.

[Iliad]

Honestly? I love it. It kind of seems like he and Ken might not get along so well at first considering their history, but that just makes it all the more interesting. I'll wake Kendrick up whenever you want me to so just say when and it's done. If you'd prefer though, we could get some interaction in between Cedrick and Asa first? Any plan you want is fine by me really.

Yeah, I'm all for Asa and Cedrick getting to talk! I was planning on landing him in the hospital for something anyway, so it might be a good opportunity for stuff to happen. Though I have actually no clue how I'm going to get him in the hospital in the first place. (I do have an idea for how they can meet - I don't know if the staff switches rooms of comatose patients but if they do, Asa could have been the one moved to Kendrick's room, etc.)

[PastelPeach]

I don't know if they switch their rooms either, but I rather like that plan so I say we should do it.

[Iliad]

All right!
... Though I'm still stuck as to how he should get there. Are there any spare ideas in your head?