OOC
GAME: Mythos
DESCRIPTION: Ancient Greco-Roman gods in modern form.
DATE: June 2008
PB: Ryan Reynolds
JOURNAL: discordance
GUIDING LINE: Remember, Julie! ADD and chaos.
CONCEPT: Take Toby's PB and scattered off-kilter personality, take the name and jokerish tendencies of Charlie Graham, amp up the intensity of his dysfunction, make him genuinely unbalanced, add a generous helping of entropic influence from the film Chaos Theory, combine it with the sinister villain-voice of Reynard, and … you've got Chaos.
THOUGHT: Remember one of the narrators of Idoru! Reflect Charlie's thought processes in your actual narrative and prose style — let the train of thought get wildly derailed, interjections and asides, unrelated anecdotes and ideas as the narrative focus slips. ADD, but also capable of periods of intense concentration, singlemindedly devoted to a task. Taps into it fairly easily by playing sudoku, har.
IC
Name: Charles Graham
Any known aliases: None. He's on the right side of the law, after all! (Cough.)
God/Titan/Hero/Muse/Nymph/Fury etc?: Chaos. The nothingness out of which the first objects of existence appeared; the first thing to exist and the womb from which everything emerged.
Age: Thirty-one, b. August 10th, 1976.
Employment: Risk analysis consultant for a life insurance company. A job he landed with insane luck, considering his pittance of a community college degree — more than likely, it took a hefty jolt of his divine ability. He hates his job — hates, hates, hates the ordered numbers and percentages — but he believes it has its perks, as he can manipulate circumstances to off their ruder clients. Yes, really. Oh, and it pays well.
Living space: One-bedroom apartment. Memos everywhere and post-its on almost every object of furniture. Bookcases meticulously organised and alphabetised. Pillows constantly straightened. The only tell-tale differences are the following: his bedroom is sparse, because otherwise Charlie's inherent disorderliness shines through there. But even so, his bed is, without fail, always rumpled and unmade. His office (the only spare room in the place) looks like a whirlwind hit it, and no one is ever allowed in there.
Appearance: Tall, lanky shape of a man; brown hair, brown eyes, shaggy facial hair, glasses, looks a bit like an accountant gotten a bit lazy with his shaving. Dresses proper. Sign of something oddly different? His red converse shoes.
Personality:
- Charlie is a man of inherent contradictions: seething chaos underneath a veneer of respectable orderliness. His entire life has been a struggle with attention deficit disorder and with the unpredictable core of entropy inside him; the man succumbs to impulses and the joy of the moment, and more often than not, always went with his first initial gut instinct and forgot to backtrack. He has a severe problem with impulse control — as in, he might not have any at all. It's only within the past decade that he's managed to rein himself in successfully and curb his more instinctive responses; typically, the verbal and written ones.
- Tardy and impulsive. Was slow through school, and didn't get GED until age 20. Has the AADD (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder) largely under control, at least to the effect that he can keep up with others — some behavioural medication, and shit-tons of self-discipline keep Charlie's mind in line. He's still an impulsive motherfucker, but ironically enough, he keeps terrifyingly ordered lists and memos to maintain his life in strictly regimented order. He likes inflicting that order on others, too; often has a faux-fatherly approach to the other deities, and is fond of giving patronising advice whenever he can. He has a wry and irreverent tone, but definitely does not sound like your average all-American guy. His voice is actually rather stilted, formal, and slightly odd; it's the same inhumanity which shows in Nyx sometimes. The primordial gods — there's just something off about them.
- Regardless, Charlie loves remaking himself in the image of a harmless (albeit neurotic) man with a fondness for meddling. This is a front for what lies beneath, however — he may be all memos and fiercely organised to do lists and patronising advice on the surface, but real story? He loves sowing discord, baby, and he's grown fond of the subtle but dangerous variety. Chaos, mayhem, and bedlam — he was the king of planning wild parties in high school (he made up for academic failboat with abundant social popularity), and would have joined a frat if he'd ever made it into proper university. He's gotten arrested on numerous, numerous, numerous accounts of misdemeanours.
- Chaos will pit anyone against anyone, mercilessly, and enjoys doing so — he's sort of like the anti-matchmaker. He loves sticking two opposing people together to make them clash, and sitting back to watch the sparks fly. He will be completely two-faced in this pet endeavour, he'll gladly turn people against each other behind private locks just to see how the discord develops. This makes Chaos a potential popular guy with deities like Hades, Ares, Eris, and anyone else who's looking for some out-of-the-ordinary fun — but while some others might be sadistic or selfish, Chaos is just in it for the lolz. Even if those lolz might mean Ares ripping someone's head off; it's of no consequence from him, after all, because from nothingness they came, and so to nothingness they return. If he had too much influence, he'd be the type to press the big red button and get world nations at each others throats. Never let that happen.
- Being in a human body has softened him up more than he'd like, however. He had a mother and a father like anyone else. This is Chaos' first — being about as non-human of a myth as you could be, it took it a very, very long time to become more than a primordial driving force in the universe. The Oracles were against something like Chaos taking on human shape; with their eventual dwindling of power, however, they couldn't stop it. He's here, and he's ready to party.
- He possesses a slight sociopathic edge in how he intensely lacks empathy for others. He doesn't actually hurt humans himself — he lets fate and chance decide for him. Life and other people fuck them up so Chaos itself doesn't have to. If Fortuna were incarnated, he's probably had a few flings with her, just for the hell of it.
Modified Ability: Manipulation of chance. Enough to tilt odds in his favour, to have some mean fun with a coin, and to have an edge on gambling and slot machines.
Unchecked Ability: Now it's more than just little games of fortune. Charlie can step into a casino and make the house entirely bankrupt, money suddenly spewing out for every single customer; he can cause a combination of freak circumstances leading to a freak accident toppling the Brooklyn Bridge. A butterfly beats its wings in the United States and causes a tornado in China; well, Graham is that butterfly, and he happens to like tornadoes.
Lifetime history:
- Only child, since Chaos was the first, the one and only, and the loner in his genealogical line. Raised by two extremely well-meaning parents (middle-class, white picket fence and everything) who tried their very best to deal with their intelligent but completely reckless hellion of a son. Elementary school was hell; he hit other children with toy trucks. Middle school was hell; he was diagnosed with ADD, and acted out by setting a school poster on fire, inadvertently alighting the wall too. High school was hell; he was suspended for an epic prank involving a teacher's car and a flagpole. What with his education going to hell, the boy became more and more hardened and socially aggressive.
- Finally, at age twenty, Charlie got his GED and it seemed like he was finally, finally learning some semblance of responsibility. The next few years were devoted to getting a small community college degree. He barely scraped by, with withdrawn classes and squandered credits and late term papers and a long string of hangovers. But finally, blood and tears and lots of his parents' cash later, Charles had a degree — he could finally enter the, er, professional world.
- By this point, Chaos had completed its slow awakening. 'Its' awakening, and not 'his' — as, of course, it was a primordial entity: old, ancient, powerful, and far too much for one poor American schmuck to absorb. He thought it in his best interests to try to conceal this old nature; Charlie crafted an entire personality which seems like he has successfully rebelled against his inner chaotic instincts. Key word being 'seems'. He has not given up the old ways. Not by a long shot.
- Got himself the risk analysis job, rakes in the cash, and is making his first few overtures towards the divine community. Wary of how their great-great-whatever-father might be received, Charlie has tried to keep his identity under as close wraps as possible, though he has managed to latch onto a few other people who share his inherent lack of a moral compass.
Optional
Previous incarnations?: None. This is the first.
Involvement in historical events?:
Trivia:
- Fills in the NY Times' sudoku puzzle every single day. No crosswords, though.
- Keeps a silver dollar coin in his jacket at all times; flips and toys with it when he's agitated. Gets a kick out of making it land on its side, or call heads a dozen times in a row.
- For being a bit of a sociopath, he writes and illustrates amateur children's books in his spare time. They're very Dr Seussian. He keeps them to himself.
- Almost every journal interaction consists of immediate reaction struck out, then his calculated answer?
ADHD notes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_attention-deficit_disorder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention-deficit_hyperactivity_disorder_treatments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD_predominantly_inattentive
DSM-IV criteria for ADHD
I. Either A or B:
A. Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:
- 1. Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
- 2. Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
- 3. Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
- 4. Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).
- 5. Often has trouble organizing activities.
- 6. Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
- 7. Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
- 8. Is often easily distracted.
- 9. Often forgetful in daily activities.
B. Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:
Hyperactivity:
- 1. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
- 2. Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.
- 3. Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).
- 4. Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.
- 5. Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor".
- 6. Often talks excessively.
Impulsiveness:
- 1. Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.
- 2. Often has trouble waiting one's turn.
- 3. Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).
SCHOOL: During the elementary years, an ADHD student will have more difficulties with work completion, productivity, planning, remembering things needed for school, and meeting deadlines. Oppositional and socially aggressive behavior is seen in 40-70% of children at this age. Even ADHD kids with average to above average intelligence show "chronic and severe under achievement". Fully 46% of those with ADHD have been suspended and 11% expelled.[69] 37% of those with ADHD do not get a high school diploma even though many of them will receive special education services.[8] The combined outcomes of the expulsion and dropout rates indicate that almost half of all ADHD students never finish high school.[70] Only 5% of those with ADHD will get a college degree compared to 27% of the general population. (US Census, 2003)
