Post by Becca on Jun 18, 2017 1:25:59 GMT
Name: August Reed Adams-Swanson
Nickname: Auggie or Gus, no other nicknames, please.
Age/Year/School: 16-years-old, born August 1st, Sophomore at Salem High
Gender: Male
Sexuality: August identifies as asexual. He has no interest at all in sexual activity and finds it difficult to even connect to other people on an emotion level.
Health issues: Depression has always been something he has struggled with. No specific incident triggered his depression but around the age of 12 he started showing symptoms. Most of his symptoms are pretty mild: he sleeps a lot, has thoughts of worthlessness, withdraws socially, eats a lot, and moves rather lowly. August takes his medication daily which dramatically improves his symptoms. He does not self-harm anymore but down have some scars on his inner thighs and upper arms.
Job: He works part-time at the McDonald’s in the mall’s food court. Most people would find this to be a terrible job but he enjoys it. He will often snag a couple fries here and there and gets to take home free food.
Reputation: August has always been a loner. He is a quiet kid and does better on his own. Just because he withdraws from people a lot does not mean he necessarily dislikes people. His disposition is actually rather sweet. If he is around a lot of people for a long amount of time he needs time in order to recharge his ‘social batteries’. Gus does not really care much about his physical appearance, that being said at his old school he was described as a slob. He would probably fall into the loser category near the bottom of the social ladder but he is completely chill with that.
Friends:
Juniper Swanson: August was pretty much forced to get along with his new step-sister. Juno gets on his nerves easily but he has more patience with her than with most people.
Enemies: The popular crowd – any popular crowd at any school always seems to be the same. He’s suffered at the hands of popular kids for too long for him to give any other popular kids a chance. August has an immediate dislike for anyone on the top rung of the social ladder.
Relationship status: Eternally single
Clubs and Organizations: Juniper made him join the school’s anime club with her. She introduced him to the world of anime and, although he’s not obsessed, it is pretty cool. August is also signed up to join the school’s band. He plays the trumpet.
Height/Body Type: 5’8” so he is not terribly short but also not as tall as most boys at school. No one really knows what his body looks like because he’s always wearing very baggy clothes. He’s not out of shape but definitely has no muscle mass on his body. Gus has terrible eating habits so once his high-speed teenage metabolism slows down he’s pretty much screwed.
Hair color/style: Brown and shaggy. Short hair is simply out of the question for him so he keeps it medium length in a ‘skater boy’ type fashion.
Eye color/makeup: Dark brown eyes. He does not wear makeup and honestly does not even like it when girls wear makeup. August is never without his black-framed glasses, he is legally blind without them and absolutely needs them to see.
Clothing style: August does not leave the house without wearing a beanie. He usually wears the same black one every day but he has a small collection of different colored beanies in his closet. His wardrobe is very mute and consists of neutral colors. All of his clothes are intentionally bought a size too big for him because he would rather hide his body. Even on the hottest of days, he can be seen wearing a hoodie. Basically he uses his clothes as a camouflage to keep himself from being noticed. The simpler the better.
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Playby: Mike Bailey
Likes: Fast food, painting, slow/sad music, anime, skateboarding, smoking, orange soda, having siblings, chess, birds, incense, stuffed animals (though he would admit it to no one), alone time, warm clothes, snow, band class, magic, full moons
Dislikes: Popular kids, moving, bullies, gossip, large crowds, going without his morning coffee, tight clothes, makeup on girls, the media, politics, school, dishonesty, party animals, cleaning, when people joke about his family
Habits: He’s a nail-biter and has been ever since he was young. He also has a habit of biting and picking at the skin around his nails, Sometimes he’ll pick or bite so much his fingers will start to bleed.
Hobbies: August is by no means an artist but he does enjoy painting. Most of his stuff is very abstract or looks like a child could have done it but it’s the act of painting he enjoys. It relaxes him and makes him forget about the shitty world around him. Gus is also an avid skateboarder. Again, he is not the best but it sure beats the hell out of walking everywhere.
+ Calm, creative, curious, deep, earnest, fair, generous, gentle, insightful, mature, relaxed, sweet, understanding, well-rounded
+/- Complex, dry, frugal, quiet, stubborn, unambitious
- Anxious, cautious, critical, fearful, insecure, lazy, messy, timid
Family:
Mother – Estelle Swanson – 50 – Event Planner: August is extremely close with his mother, closer than he is with anyone else in his life. She has always been his protector and offered him her honest advice. If it was not for his mother Gus firmly believes he would be dead by now. He’s a momma’s boy and not afraid to admit it. For most of his life it has been him and his mother against the world.
Step-Mother – Isabella Swanson – 40 – Baker:Honestly, he is a little jealous of his step-mother. For the longest time it had just been him and his mother and Isabella has taken much of his mother’s time from him. For the first few weeks he refused to even acknowledge her but eventually they found some common ground and things are civil between them
Step-Sister – Juniper Swanson – 17: His first impression of Juno is that she was very odd. She had so much energy it gave him a headache just being in the same room with her. Much like her mother, August ignored her as well for weeks. It took his mother bribing him with money to give Juno a chance for him to even talk to her. Somewhere along the way they grew close and, even though she can be a major pain in the ass, he is there for her.
Step-Sister – Ramona Swanson – 8: It was incredibly hard for him to ignore Ramona. She was nothing but sweet since the moment she met August. He is her ‘Gus-Gus’ and she is his ‘Momo’. If anyone makes any smartass comments about her Down Syndrome, Gus gets very worked up.
History:
Estelle Adams was always an independent, headstrong woman. She knew what she wanted and set out to obtain it. Things were no different when it came to children. Her biological clock ticked away and she knew the longer she waited for children, the harder it would be for her to get pregnant or have a healthy pregnancy. Being an open lesbian also made it hard because obviously one could not make a baby that way. So, at the age of 34 Estelle made the decision to raise a child of her own without needing a partner. She picked a sperm donor then nine months later August was born.
Ever since he was a baby August was a quiet kid. He never cried much and slept soundly through the night. Estelle felt she got incredibly lucky to have such a well-tempered baby. As he grew up, things did not change. He was a shy kid, always hiding behind his mother’s leg. It took awhile for him to warm up to others but when he finally would he was the sweetest little kid. His mother raised him to always be on his best behavior and to show kindness to everyone.
Unfortunately his mother’s sexuality made him a pretty big target as he began to grow up. Kids would tease him mercilessly and not only about his mother but about his physical appearance. He found himself as the butt of many jokes but it never really bothered him. August brushed off their comments and continued to live his life. It was not until things started to become physical did he really start to fear going to school every day. The abuse started small with things like spitballs or a kid tripping him in the hallway but it was not long before he was getting trapped in lockers or pushed into walls. He would always make excuses when his mother asked what happened. It would only make her feel as if it had been her fault.
One event in particular still haunts August to this day. He was twelve-years-old and just as dorky and quiet as ever. Margot Paulson, the most popular girl in school, came up to him and told him to meet her in the girl’s locker room. She promised she had a big surprise for him and it would change his life. Of course August immediately panicked because he’d never kissed a girl before and figured that’s what she wanted to do. He counted the minutes until their meeting, growing more and more nervous every minute. When the time finally came, he snuck into the locker room only to find the football team waiting for him. They stripped him, dressed him up like a girl, took pictures, then threw him in the school pool and left with his clothes.
Of course his mother was furious but the principal said there had not been sufficient evidence to reprimand the football team. The photos of him went around and August was absolutely mortified. For the next few weeks he refused to go to school and instead had his homework sent to him. It was then he began to self-harm. He never intended to take his own life but the pain distracted him, if only for a little while. When his mother walked in on him one night with a razor blade in his hands she enrolled him in therapy. He was given medication which dramatically improved his symptoms.
Estelle figured perhaps their Midwest town wasn’t the best place for August to be. The place held too many bad memories. She found a job in a place called Greendale, Florida which is where they relocated to. Things were slightly better for August in their new environment but he continued to keep to himself and try to act as invisible as possible.
After a few years in Greendale, his mother met Isabella and one thing led to another then August found himself with a step-mother and two step-sisters. He did not like them at first, in fact, he hated how much of his mother’s time they took away. August never had to share his mother before and found it incredible hard to let go. What really brought their family together was the attack on them. The people of Greendale were extremely conservative, so much so they vandalized his family’s house. This hatred from the people around them drove them closer together. He felt the need to protect his family at all costs.
It came as a relief to everyone when Estelle and Isabella announced they would be moving to the West Coast to a place much more open-minded. At this new school, August plans to do just as he always does and be as invisible as possible.
