Finished! May add more to him later but for now he's done. ^^
Name: Malachi Ferrell ("Mal" is fine.)
Nicknames: Mal, Hustler, Ghost Boy or Ghost, Black Cat/Cat (a code name mostly, see the end of "Personality")
Age: 16 (Almost 17 - if you can call 5 months away "almost")
Gender: Male/masculine
Sexuality: Bisexual, male leaning. (But you don't need to know that...!)
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Grade: Junior (skipped a grade)
Role: Geek/Nerd
Activities: Art, Cross Country (but most of his hobbies lie outside of school hours)
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Appearance
Credits: minimalis on Picrew.me
Immediate impressions of the class hustler are small, dark and prickly. Standing at a humble 5'6 and weighing only around 120 pounds, the year of school he skipped certainly shows in his stature. He gives the impression of a little black cat in a group of big, rowdy dogs whenever he's around the other junior boys - in both look and demeanor. Slinking carefully through the crowd like a black-haired ghost, neat and guarded, starkly removed from the chaos around him. With fair skin bordering on ghostly pale, contrasting sharply with wavy crow-black hair, and vivid hazel eyes behind a pair of circular silver-rimmed glasses, Malachi could easily be considered cute - even attractive - if he weren't so cold, sharp and clinical with all he meets, shattering the "cute" feel and putting him in "mean/annoying" territory. He has a skinny build with hardly any fat on him at all, and all of his muscle is lean and wiry rather than bulky. These features are almost always covered up by loose clothes.
Speaking of clothes, Mal's style is usually low-key and casual, easily described as minimalist grunge/street style. Usually in monochrome shades of black, brown, grey and white, with minimal color. Hoodies and loose cargo pants are typical fare. He actually puts a lot of effort into his seemingly effortless style, though he often doesn't have the means to cultivate it. His alltime favorite piece of clothing is a painted leather jacket that he found at a thrift shop while looking for brand-name stuff to resell, and he couldn't bear to part with it. It's black with white hand-painted designs (nothing terrible, of course) that he spent hours touching up in art class. He hardly ever wears it to school because he's afraid of it being stolen/destroyed, but you can bet if he is wearing it he'll be showing it off. He also has a weakness for metal accessories like earrings, chains and necklaces. He has his ears pierced, but is too scared to get anything else done.
Given his physical disadvantages, he carefully maintains a cool, sarcastic air that makes him somehow seem a lot less vulnerable than he often feels. Somehow bigger than his body, like someone you can't catch off guard, someone who is a lot smarter than the average student, who is already four steps ahead of you and is impossible to trick. Whether this is all true is up for debate among the student body.
Personality:
+ Highly intelligent, observant, self-motivated, very independent, a surprising combo of book-smart and street-savvy, good listener and usually gives good (relatively) objective advice, organized, logical, curious, vigilent and reliable, passionate about his hobbies (can and will info-dump on anyone who shows interest), patient, discerning and can easily see through lies, hard-working, secretly kind-hearted especially towards little kids and animals. Can be very brave and selfless if he has to be. He seems tough but he's a lot less evil than he looks.
= Introverted, detatched, quiet, secretive, mysterious, likes to observe without being observed. Can be cold and blunt in his delivery, but never unnecessarily cruel or manipulative, unless the other party forces his hand. Has an excellent memory and an eye for detail. Surprisingly creative/artsy when he has the time. Low-energy. Avoids drama unless he has no other choice.
- Insecure, never asks for help, selfish/self-centered most of the time, cold and bitter, very anxious and hypervigilent/overly suspicious of others, can come off as condescending and haughty, self-isolating, unemotional, jaded, cynical, anti-authority, sneaky, lies to get out of trouble, unempathetic, difficult to get close to. Constantly hiding his true feelings - though he is fairly honest in business matters, you'll never know the truth about what he really thinks of you personally.
He notably has his own underground business selling all manner of cheat sheets and completing homework for other students either too lazy or too far below the curve to do it themselves. He has been quite successful and made bank off of the richer students, and every time he's been caught he's only gotten better at hiding it from authorities. This is what most students know him for. Most of the teachers now regard him as a tragic case of wasted potential. Tch! Like they know anything at all about him.
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Crush: (cough cough, anyone who is remotely nice to him, cough) TBA
Significant Other: No way.
Kin: His parents and two older siblings - one sister one brother, both a good bit older and moved out of the house now. He hasn't seen either of them in a while... He doesn't talk much about his family and they never come to events, some coldly joke that he doesn't have one at all.
Affiliations: TBA, let's discuss! I imagine some of the popular kids/jocks may benefit from doing business with him. ^^
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Other: If you've followed his activities during and after school, it becomes clear that his parents don't care what happens to him (not in school, certainly not over the summer vacation.) Even when he gets punished in school the news falls on deaf ears. He often stays out late into the night, and even if they wanted to bring him back home at a reasonable hour they'd have no idea where to look for him. Even in this small town, if Mal doesn't want to be found, he won't be.
He acts all "survival of the fittest" but he still feeds the crows and stray cats when he has the money. These are the closest things to pets that he has.
Brief piece of
writing I made for him, doubles as an up-to-date example of my writing. I believe this counts as "literate". c: