Brainbent Character Bios: ALL IN ONE PLACE!

[now that all the (main) cast have been introduced, we’ve put them into a single post for easier reference. some details have been edited to reflect the current storyline and to expand on the earlier biographies.]

KARKAT VANTAS (RESIDENT)

AGE: 18

Institutionalized 1 week prior to story beginning after a public meltdown led to him beating up a wall at his school in front of everybody. Anger issues, panic attacks, depression. Insomniac. Got in a fight with Gamzee Makara his first day but has calmed down. Refused to leave his room the first week but John Egbert managed to drag him out.

Indian-American. Short. Hair standing on end from being pulled more or less constantly. Needs his iPod to survive. Wears large pair of noise-canceling headphones to project an attitude of DO NOT TALK TO ME DO NOT LOOK AT ME GO AWAYness, which doesn’t work. No tact whatsoever.

Tries to act tough but he’s mostly harmless.

“YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY TO ME, SHITPIRATE?”

SOLLUX CAPTOR (RESIDENT)

AGE: 20

A frequent visitor to St. Lobaf due to treatment-resistant rapid-cycling type 1 bipolar illness. Most recently admitted by his fathers as a transfer from the county hospital following his latest overdose. Forgot to change out of the hospital gown before he left and ended up wearing it (and not much else) for several days at St. Lobaf. Tall. Painfully skinny. Bitter because he should be at MIT but instead he’s wandering around a mental hospital raving about the apocalypse and talking to himself. Flips his bifurcated lid and any nearby tables when people bring up the mysterious Aradia in conversation.

Still waiting patiently for his glasses and body jewelry privileges to be restored.

Reclusive or obnoxiously social depending on mood.

Current holder of the Fucking Ugly Stuffed Bee.

“ii am 2o not iin the mood for thii2.”

JOHN EGBERT (RESIDENT)

AGE: 18

Admitted six weeks prior to start of Brainbent. Signed own admission slip accompanied by father. Tells anyone who asks that he is here because his “prankster’s gambit is at an all-time low”. The general consensus among other residents is that he thinks he’s a character in a video game. Plays jokes on staff and other residents and has a contagious giggle.

Was the first resident to persuade Karkat to leave his room via cruel and unusual application of CELINE DION.

“hahaha, yeah. that was pretty funny.”

EQUIUS ZAHHAK (STAFF)

AGE: 35

Live-in supervisor for the male dormitory of St. Lobaf. Breaks up altercations and gives STRONG assistance as needed. Has been voted ‘silkiest hair of the entire staff’ every year since he joined the faculty. Trained nurse with 5 years paramedic experience before that. Police academy drop-out.

A little bit on the off-putting side in terms of personality. Virtually no sense of humor, and a strictly by-the-book enforcer of clinic procedure.

The mere thought of his powerful and slightly damp embrace is often enough to calm the most volatile temper tantrum.

“D —> To whomever is hiding small containers of chicken nuggets in the bathroom vent: you will stop.”

TAVROS NITRAM (INTERN)

AGE 22

St. Lobaf’s newest staff addition. Doing an internship between semesters. Majoring in child and adolescent psychology with a goal of becoming a crisis counselor. Active in local PFLAG and survivor communities for the past 4 years.

Paraplegic following a T12 spinal cord injury. Unironic believer in fairies and the power of positive thinking. Lifelong Minnesotan. Loves to cook. Forbidden to attempt to rap on campus grounds due to risk of mass resident mutiny. Excellent with younger people, even if they think he’s a bit of a dork.

The originator of the Fucking Ugly Stuffed Bee (Which he attempted to name Beeatrice, but was promptly overruled and no one remembers it).

“dO YOU MAYBE WANT, UH, TO TALK ABOUT IT?”

DR. TEREZI PYROPE (CHIEF OF STAFF)

AGE: 34

The youngest head of faculty in the history of St. Lobaf. Staff psychiatrist with part-time therapy duty.

Old high school D&D club empress for life and 1999 FLARP championship survivor. College nickname: Tiny Asian Doogie Howser. Current nickname: Doctor Tongue.

Legally blind following childhood accident. Synaesthetic (smells and tastes colors, shapes and certain sounds). May or may not have once licked a resident. Thinks the rumors are pretty much hilarious. Favorite color: candy red.

Wanted to be staff art therapist on top of regular duties but was quickly replaced when housekeeping bills became prohibitive.

Presently embroiled in a friendly rivalry with young ingenue of the psychology world and aspiring therapist Rose Lalonde.

“H3H3H3H3, YOU C4NNOT 3SC4P3 TH3 TH3R4P3UT1C CL4W OF 4 TRU3 S33R OF M1ND.”

KANAYA MARYAM (RESIDENT)

AGE: 21

Admitted herself 6 weeks prior to Brainbent for intensive therapy for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Garden aficionado who runs a farmer’s market stall every summer. Hobbies include buying and ‘remixing’ vintage clothing, original fashion design, and performing podfics of trashy supernatural romance fiction. Works part-time as a hairdresser.

Bugs, fusses and meddles from time to time, but gives excellent advice.

“Oh No Is It Supposed To Be Smoking Sollux I Am Not Good With Computers”

JADE HARLEY (RESIDENT)

AGE: 17

Came to St. Lobaf as a last step of reintegrating into society. Lived with her elderly paranoid survivalist grandfather in his mountain cabin since early childhood. Was never exposed to other people in groups larger than the occasional hunting party.

Grandpa went to town alone until his health failed. After his death, Jade lived alone with her dog Becquerel, eating the rations from the bomb shelter. Jade eventually became lonely enough to follow Grandpa’s map down the mountain for the first time in her life, and walked into a police station asking to speak to “the authorities”.

Was very surprised to learn that the world isn’t actually on the verge of nuclear war after all. Has decided to stay in the 21st century because it’s really really amazing!!!!!!!

“im not a feral child, asshole. jeez! :P”

GAMZEE MAKARA (RESIDENT)

AGE: 19

One of the longer-term residents. Has been at St. Lobaf for just over a year, dealing with major perception and depersonalization issues. Perpetual lost boy with long history of drifting around the country. Most recently joined Juggalo subculture, looking for meaning and family. Wants to be a pastry chef and wear one of those fuckin epic bitchtits hats and decorate cakes for little kids with like flowers and smileys and shit. Everyone’s best friend :o)

“NaH mAn, It’S oKaY tO lOoK. eVeRy MoThErFuCkEr GoTs sCaRs.”

VRISKA SERKET (RESIDENT)

AGE: 17

Pictured here in the costume she wore to her last Halloween party. And to her Junior Prom. And sometimes in public whenever she’s bored and the rest of her clothes are in the laundry. You know, whenever.

Came to St. Lobaf two months ago, has been causing trouble ever since.

Hellraiser. Drama queen. Pain in the ass. Pushes people’s buttons whenever possible. Self-identifies as a slut. Self-identifies as a crazy bitch. History of behavior indicative of borderline personality disorder. Possible sociopath. Oppositional-defiant. Histrionic to the max. Will gleefully invoke her various (and conflicting) diagnoses as needed when she gets caught misbehaving, which is often. Secretly thinks psychology is a load of horseshit.

Lost left arm and left eye in a motorcycle accident last year. Shows off her skin grafts and road rash scars to anyone who stands still long enough. Laughs like a hyena anytime she gets a rise out of someone. Feels empty when no one’s watching.

“What!? It’s not my fault you’re a pussy!”

FEFERI PEIXES (DORM SUPERVISOR, FEMALE WARD)

AGE: 31

Worked at St. Lobaf for the past 3 years as support staff. Has recently taken over role of dorm supervisor after Ms. Paint’s semi-retirement and art therapy room takeover.

Saltwater aquarium enthusiast and respected breeder of butterfly koi in her off-time. Keeps small freshwater aquarium in staff room. Designed and dug the St. Lobaf duck pond. Got permission to install said duck pond the morning after it was completed.

Has been described as a cheerful little drill sergeant. Once encouraged Tavros Nitram to create a designated comfort object “like a cute little stuffed dolp)(in or somet)(ing like t)(at!” to offer lonely residents. This innocent suggestion later led to the creation of a certain plush eldritch abomination that has haunted the dorms ever since. Do not piss her off.

Occasionally sneaks really shitty fish puns into conversation. The condition is contagious (see also: Eridan Ampora). Seriously, do not piss her off.

”)(——-EY!!!! You make it sound like I have anchor management issues!” 38O

DAVE STRIDER (RESIDENT)

AGE: 15

The youngest person at St. Lobaf, which means he’s clearly some kind of coolkid prodigy.

Removed from his brother’s custody last year at the age of 13 after a number of visits by Child Protective Services and following his brother’s incarceration on unrelated charges. Moved from foster home to institutionalized care eight months ago due to his behavioral issues. History of self-injury. Had the worst birthday ever in December when the courts agreed to extend his stay in the foster system another six months.

He has been at St. Lobaf for five months at the start of the story, and remains largely uncooperative with treatment. Actively participates in Dr. Pyrope’s daily “blind lessons” to help cope with his low vision and lack of depth perception because tripping over shit all the time is uncool as fuck. Had only recently begun speaking or interacting with others after months of being “on strike” when Bro lost his appeal for custody. Has stopped talking again.

Has excellent hair.

“…”

NEPETA LEIJON (RESIDENT)

AGE: 18

Measuring in at all of four foot ten, Nepeta is nevertheless a STRONG kitty! :33

Came to St. Lobaf the same week as Jade Harley. High-functioning autistic with sensory processing issues. Currently on leave from college after the stress of her freshman year led to a total meltdown. Loves the comfort room’s light box, the texture of fur, and watching cartoons. Wants to be a vet and work with horses and cats. Hero-worships Dave Strider. Completely in love with Equius Zahhak’s beautiful girl-hair and muscles.

Rose has inspired her to practice her interpersonal relation skills by observing the interactions of other residents. This has, somehow, spawned the creation of Nepeta’s Famous Shipping Wall. Kanaya X Doctor Pyrope?

She ships it.

“:33 < i would be lion if i said i didn’t! h33 h33 h33!!!”

ROSE LALONDE (RESIDENT)

AGE: 18

Upon initial observation, Ms. Lalonde appears indistinguishable from any other individual comprising the vast majority of her peers, albeit a bit on the grimdark side. Closer investigation by a careful observer, however, is quite likely to reveal hitherto unexplored glimpses at a personality not entirely unlike the multifaceted surface of a specimen of museum-quality bism—

oh screw.

Smart as a whip, high-achieving, a slightly smug bookworm with an introverted personality, Rose Lalonde comes from a perfect household, wanting for nothing. Her mother is perfect. Her home is perfect. Everything in her life is perfect, actually, except for Rose herself. She hides her insecurity behind a wall of sarcasm and acerbic wit, but her knowledge of psychology and excellent insight recently convinced her to ask for help, with or without the approval of her family.

Rose is determined to remain at St. Lobaf doing intensive therapy until she is ready to confront her outside life (and her family) without relapsing into her illness.

Current project: analyzing and neutralizing her urge to compete with her mother, especially the part with the excessive drinking and rampant self-image issues.

“I see you’ve neglected to include any mention of my penchant for knitting in your biography. What a shame.”

ERIDAN AMPORA (RESIDENT)

AGE: 17

Admitted in May after a certain notebook full of disturbing fictional stories and elaborate plans for a graduation day school massacre made it into the hands of the school administration. Voluntarily entered treatment at St. Lobaf in exchange for the terroristic threat charges being dropped.

The shyest resident. Spends most of his time writing his stories and brooding.

“if you say you nevver thought about it youre a fuckin liar”

PENELOPE MESSENGER (STAFF)

AGE: 33

Head nurse. Rules the front desk with an iron fist, doles out evening meds and brings the mail to the residents every afteroon.

Collects stamps and postcards from around the world and chairs the St. Lobaf Penpal Society (membership at last count: 3). Only staff member to ever be proved capable of taking Feferi in a fight. Still has a bit of her German accent.

Also there’s something going on between her and Dr. WV, hmmmm! They met at a Firefly convention.

“Oh, look! Another of those pink glittery postcards from Dave’s brother.”

DR. WILLIAM VALENTINE (STAFF)

AGE: 43

Child and adolescent developmental psychologist working under Dr. Pyrope. Specializes in anxiety disorders and trauma counseling. Fought in Desert Storm in 1991, where he developed a special interest in the treatment of PTSD. Has decided to run for mayor of Northfield once his term on the school board is up.

His office is a giant toy box. All ages of client will be offered at least one doll during their session. At least half will accept without ever quite knowing why.

Can’t dress his way out of a wet paper bag. Tries anyway, to varying effect.

“PM is the bee’s pajamas!”

ARADIA MEGIDO

Sollux’s platonic better half. Archaeology nut. Anthropology fan. Music box, fossil and memento mori collector. Persian-American adopted daughter of the saxophone player for the Midnight Crew.

The Droog/Megido household is also the Northfield Serenity Funeral Home. Sollux is scared shitless of the place, and has always been totally creeped out by AA’s casual and occasionally downright chipper attitude towards her family business.

He is convinced the place is haunted as fuck.

“Oh, come on. They’re just dead people, they can’t hurt you. You might as well get used to it—after all, we’re all going to die someday! 0u0”

More Info

TextTextTextText….

1. Where does your character live?
Alex lives in a 2 up, 2 down old terrace in Huddersfield. He lives there with his long-term partner Kerry and their pet Cat that they rescued. They came to live there as Kerry was offered a job locally 5 years ago so they relocated from the Lake District. The industrial town of Huddersfield is pulling down Alex, it depresses him a little compared to the scenic nature of where he grew up, but he does not blame the town itself but the country in general. To Alex, it’s not where he is that is important.

2. Where is your character from?
Alex’s life began out in the sticks, in a rural area in the Lakes District. There, life mainly consists of large family’s rather then many friends, but it also made him feel al little naive when he moved away from there, he is nice to everyone but has learnt not everyone is nice back, not everyone had the same kind of upbringing.

3. How old is your character?
Alex is 26 but quite independent and acts more maturely then other 26 years old. Part of this is down to the fact he has been a in a long term relationship since he was 17 and so is quite settled down. He has also been working since this age so is quite grounded and knows how life works.

4. What is your character called?
Alex. Alex is from a middle class family from a quite nice part of the country. His parents wanted a name that would serve him sell formally as much as it would casually, Alex, or Alexander, was a classic but not overly used name when he was born, they had also picked a name of gender ambiguity as they didn’t want to know the sex of the baby before birth, so had mostly been looking at both sex’s name, or ones that could be used as both.

5. What does your character look like?
Alex is a pretty average size guy. He’s quite lean, but not skinny, he looks lanky but is neither very tall nor very skinny. He’s about 5 foot 7/5 foot 8, at about 13 or 14 stone. He has developed a bit of muscle from manual labor based work, and occasionally goes swimming so he doesn’t have a belly. Other then that he east quite well, not for vanity or health particular, he just isn’t a fan of greasy foods and prefers fresh produce, especially from growing up with his own chickens for eggs etc. This is the reason for his physical attributes. He has a full head of dark hair, almost black, that he keeps on the short side as when it’s longer it gets a bit wavy.


6. What kind of childhood did he or she have?
His childhood up until the age of 9 was by most standards pretty traditional and happy. There was himself, his sister, his mum and his dad. They had everything they wanted, his parents would struggle to keep everything perfect but this wasn’t something Alex ever saw as a child. At the age of 9 his dad suddenly passed away from a heart condition. While this created a huge emptiness in Alex’s life, for the next few years him, his sister and mother tried to get on with life as normally as possible. Alex lost a lot of the imagination and curiosity had at a younger age. Alex became quite close to his uncle (mum’s brother) as a male role model, though his uncle was never the most emotionally connected with him, he did look out for the family and especially for Alex after Alex’s mum, the uncles sister, had expressed concerns over the lack of a father on his life. Alex had always kept to himself but losing his father probably prolonged this into his teens. At the age of 14 Alex’s mother had a new partner, which Alex never really accepted. She moved him and his sister out the house they had grew up in and into a smaller house outside of the area they had previously lived in. This was due to the constant reminder of the father and also due to having less money. Shortly after that his mum’s new partner moved in. Alex finished school and went to college to do his A-Levels, during which his sister, a few years older then him, moved up to Scotland to start a new life with her boyfriend (now husband). During college Alex met his girlfriend who he still with and chose not to continue education. After college Alex and Kerry, his girlfriend, moved to Huddersfield, after that, his mum and her partner moved out of the country and Alex lost contact with her. She couldn’t cope with how much Alex, now a man, reminded her of her late husband, something she never explicitly explained to Alex. Now Alex still occasionally talks to his sister but his family mostly lies in Kerry’s family.

7. What does your character do for a living?
Alex has worked many jobs since being 15. He always felt after losing his father that he had to be a grafter and a worker to bring home money, like he remembers his father did. He prefers being outdoors to indoors and hated the idea of a desk job or one where he had to wear a suit and tie. He preferred to work with his hands and felt like he’d prefer honest labored work, hence his decision to stop education after his A-Levels (and in part, to start a proper life with his girlfriend. Also the idea of student life was not for him at all) During school and college Alex did some part time work collecting glasses in a local pub, mucking out stables near to his old family home and even once a paper round. Once leaving college Alex thought he had his dream job when he got a gardening job for his Uncles friend. Unfortunately after his first paid job he found it hard to find another and took a job driving a forklift truck in a yard. Whilst working there, after only a month or so, Kerry got offered her job in Huddersfield so he quite his job (easily, as he didn’t like it) Fortunately, Alex’s uncle had a friend who worked as a tiler in Huddersfield and managed to get a job interview for Alex to train with their company. Alex thought it would a short-term job but actually enjoyed the job. He got a NVQ through his company and settled into life in Huddersfield. This was until the company he had worked for, for the past 5 years, made him redundant due to lack of work coming in for the business. It came on quite suddenly and Alex couldn’t quite understand how he had so suddenly lost his livelihood. A year later, Alex has still not managed to find another job and has become restless of the lack of work. He is an extremely hard worker and wants to be doing something. He’d rather be working for free then not at all as it’s in his nature to do a hard days graft. Unfortunately, through the recession, Alex is having no luck.

8. How does your character deal with conflict and change?
Alex is quite passive when I comes to conflict. He has never given anyone a reason to course conflict or fights in any way but when confronted with it he has a lot of common sense and rarely gets angry. He would rather resolve a situation sensibly then let something get out of hand.

9. Who else is in your character’s life?
The main person in Alex’s life is his long-term girlfriend Kerry. They met in first year of college and have bee together ever since. Kerry isn’t as quite as Alex but they have very similar personalities. They have both always wanted to settle down and start a family from a young age, and are both quite sensible and mature people. When in college, Alex lost his virginity in a one night stand that he originally thought meant more, the girl found out and mocked him, the rumor was spread round the college and whilst Alex tried to not let it all bother him, it did knock his confidence. Kerry found it sweet that he wasn’t like most other guys at the college and got to know him better in Math class when he helped her out with some work. Alex also has a friend called Dan that he met through Kerry’s work friend. Dan is Kerry’s friend partner but him and Dan have a lot in common. They both enjoy watching motorsport racing and aren’t the most exertive of guys. They also hang out a lot as a foursome, the two couples. Dan left school at 16 and is a plumber, but doesn’t really understand why Alex didn’t want to become more as he was better at education then he was.

10. What is your character’s goal or motivation in this story or scene?
Alex has lost his job. Through losing his job his world has kind of fallen apart around him. He feels like it’s on pause and knows he should be doing something more worthy with his time. He’s aware of the world around him and what’s going on in the economy but can fin no consolidation in it. He has worked his whole life only to be thrown out of the system because there is no money to employ people. Going stare crazy from being unemployed, Alex has started to read a lot and got into urban myths and conspiracy theories. This reading has led him to a lot of ghost stories and he’s found one that’s set in Huddersfield, Alex finds it really interesting and, being convinced that there must be more to life then what has been handed to him, goes on a hunt for something extraordinary. Kerry, still working full time, is unaware of Alex’s new hobby and he feels almost too embarrassed to tell her at first. As Alex loves to be outdoors, he was, originally, just finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning, a reason to get changed and leave the house that wouldn’t cost him any of his girlfriend’s hard earned money. He needed a purpose, after being at home for so long he was feeling useless. For a bit of excitement in his life he took his camera to the old run down hospital that he read about on the Internet. When there he starts to convince himself that there is something paranormal around him, he can feel it, he can sense it. He takes some photo’s and leaves, as leaving he realizes that the old headquarters for the tiling business he had worked for, would probably end up looking as run down as this hold hospital one day, as no one seemed to be able to afford to buy the property, it had been empty all this time. He wonders if there’s a correlation in old, uninhabited spaces being a playground for ghosts, so decides to go check it out..

He starts to check out locations he used to go as a kid and a lot of them are closed down or just not there anymore, it brings Alex an intense sense of loss and absence, sending shivers down his spine, Alex mistakes (?) the feeling, for the sense of a ghostly presence. Alex starts to feel like an explorer again like he once did as a child before the weight of the world got him down, his curiosity has returned and for the first time in a long time he feels he has a purpose to his days, he feels like he needs to capture the life he can feel around him in these locations. After a few goes he in convinced himself he has caught the dead on camera and that he needs to show the rest of the world. In the absence of knowledge, Alex has created a paranormal belief in ghosts. He has convinced himself, like the photographer William Mumler once did, that he has the ability to capture the dead. A seemingly harmless exploration has turned his life around and given it meaning, it has started to an swear all of his previous questions and brought order to chaos in his life.