Charles Darling

Summary: clever, dignified, scrupulous, observant, callous, stoic

Some might say that Charles is too quiet for his own good, but that's simply not the case. He's quiet because he's always, always thinking. He's curious by nature, but he was taught to only speak when spoken to, so he keeps his thoughts and wonderings to himself. He's always questioning everything, evaluating everything, trying to figure out every thing and every person that he comes across. There comes a time, however, when Charles gets fed up with calculating consequences and he just does something without thinking it through. Because of this, he might seem reckless at times, but really he's just impatient -- especially since he doesn't like putting his own life at risk. He's adamant on preserving his own life over anything else. Some may think it's basic human instinct: to survive -- and that is part of it. But somewhere under that thick skin of his, Charles has a simple reason that he feels is much more important, and, for a change, it doesn't involve him or his desires.

Mannerisms: sneezes after a fright, fiddles index finger over thumb when thinking, holds breath when in pain (physical and emotional)

Likes: bad jokes, thunderstorms, reading, traveling, camping, music (anything with decent drums, but rock music for modern settings), foggy mornings

Dislikes: wet socks, flowers indoors, excessive heat, gambling, doctors (not to be mistaken with fear, he simply doesn't trust them), children (or so he says), sitting still, coffee, cauliflower

Fears/Avoids: swimming (due to his muscle mass, he sinks quite easily), snakes, scorpions, bridges, boats, large bodies of water, and being forgotten

Weaknesses: when a significant other/close friend is threatened (don't do it -- you're poking the teddy bear!!), his feet/ankles tend to catch on things when he's not paying attention, bodies of water, when someone brings up his past mistakes (usually best paired with weakness no.1), authoritive figures (i,e,. his Uncle Harry), he can't handle caffeine very well - it always gives him a headache, climbing.

Aspiration: fame; to never be overlooked again (he abandoned his "childish dream" a long time ago, can your character weasel it out of him?).

Notes: The term "weaknesses" refers to the fact that these are some of his character flaws. Should any of these things occur, then he may seem to act "out of character". Take this for example though: It's out of character for Superman to be weak, but Kryptonite drains all of his strength. That's just what a weakness is. Make sense?

This is merely the state of which Charles is in when the RP begins. I'm a sucker for character development, so it is very likely that he can change throughout the RP -- sometimes even to the point of changing alignments. It all depends on the strength of our characters and the events they undergo.

His "Charisma meter" (bottom of page) mainly represents his appearance and strength of character rather than charm. He's anything but charming. He can certainly try, if a woman manages to snag his interest, but it almost always fails. Like I said, he's not very good with words.

Charles has a little knowledge of how to play a violin, from music lessons when he was very small, but they had to be eliminated after his father's business went downhill. If he should come across a violin then his curiosity would compel him to see if he still possessed the skill, but only if he believed he were alone.

He's somewhat of a "Name Nerd", something that rubbed off of him from his father. He was tutored in Latin by his father, so he's fairly educated on the meanings of names.

He is ridiculously superstitious. Magic gives him the creeps and he is not having a fun time if spirits or ghosts are involved - even if it's just a rumor. If something messed up happened in the past at a certain location, he's on edge for the entire time he's there.

His decision making skills consist of "I need to consider this carefully, taking into account every consequence and possible outcome" and "okay f*** it let's do this." There is no in between.

It's ridiculously difficult to earn his trust, but once it's done he's as loyal as a lion.

DAD FRIEND

He can sing really well, but good luck getting him to sing -- ever. Once described as sounding like clouds heavy with rain..

Charles used to be a smoker -- was actually encouraged to start by his uncle -- but he broke the habit years ago when he left home. Nevertheless, whenever he gets severely stressed or anxious, he may seek out a cigarette -- or ten.

He always gets back up. Metaphorically and physically, if he's knocked down he'll always get back up, but if he just so happens not to... something really is wrong.

He can't sleep very well when he's anxious about something. His worried thoughts and theories keep him from finding peace, so he'll often be found sitting up someplace where he can feel the breeze on his face.

If you ever get close enough, he smells of honey, cinnamon, and leather.

When it comes to the people he cares about, he tends to be a tad controlling. It's a subconscious act, one that he won't realize unless pointed out to him or he has time to think it over. It's just the way he was raised. His uncle was absurdly controlling in his form of familial love, and this trait was (unfortunately) passed down to Charlie. He's fairly good at suppressing the major urges, but, should the situation involve danger, he's quick to try pushing his judgement on the person of interest. It could be anything from physically holding someone back to telling them what they can and cannot do. This sense of authority is driven by the need to protect, though it may be difficult for others to see.

Animals hate him. He doesn't know the reason for this, but every animal hates him -- save for the remarkably rare circumstance that an animal actually does like him, which he will forever be confused about but won't complain.