Post by Alexis Yearling on Sept 14, 2024 6:01:35 GMT -5
TW/CW: Frequent mention of drug use and drinking throughout application
WELCOME TO LOS EUROSIA,
ALEXIS SAGE YEARLING
"I reached for a shooting star, it burned a hole through my handIt made its way through my heart, had fun in the promised land"
BASICS
NAME: Alexis "Lex" Yearling
AGE: 31 years old
BIRTHDATE: November 24th (Sagittarius)
PRONOUNS: He/Him
SEXUALITY: Private
Hardly anyone's business, is it?
Lex isn't particularly forthcoming with the information. Truthfully, he's "off his vices" and sex is definitely one of those vices. Somewhere in his years of spiraling debauchery, it lost a lot of meaning. Became just another desperate way to feed and feel. He's been with women, he's been with men, he's done a lot, but... all of that feels largely inseparable from things like black-out benders and reeling highs.
And now that he's off everything and clean/sober, he's unsure whether there was ever any actual "feeling" behind any of it. Anything real or sustainable beyond mindless attraction/lust. Furthermore, seeing as he had a looming expiration date on his life, he never really allowed himself to feel much for anyone or be a good enough person to let someone feel much for him. Wouldn't that be selfish? So, romance itself is sort of a new, previously improbable possibility for him. One he hadn't really considered before and doesn't really know how to invite or sustain.
All said, he wouldn't put a label on himself because — hell, he himself just isn't sure what it'd be. His headspace now isn't where it was before and he's approaching things in a completely different way than he used to. The past is the past and what's before him is a clean, undiscovered/untested slate. In any case, both sex and love are things he knows he needs to reacquaint himself with slowly. Re-learn basically, since his previous experiences with them are certainly not what he wants in his life anymore (now that he has an actual life to think about).
Now it's just a matter of figuring out what he does want.
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Labourer & Retail
During the week, Lex works as a general labourer, most often doing the initial "gruntwork" around various construction sites. It's definitely a "go in early, get off late" sort of job and hardly fulfilling, but it's putting some money in the bank (he needs a car, he needs his own place, etc, etc). The job sites vary, sometimes he's sent from location to location, and, on occasion, bad weather and the like can leave his paycheck a little short.
On weekends, he covers his grandmother's old-fashioned "Mom and Pop" hardware store (which his uncle and brother run — a lot better than him — during the weekdays). He isn't actually paid for the hardware store but it's what he does since his grandmother doesn't charge him rent for couch-crashing. While his brother and uncle have an established reputation for being "helpful" with their small amount of (mostly familiar) customers, Lex isn't nearly as reliable.
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lives with his grandmother in East End
MEMBER GROUP: Human (Unaware of Gifted)
THE LOOKS
HEIGHT: 6'3''
WEIGHT: ~180lbs
HAIR COLOR: Brown
EYE COLOR: Blue/Blue-Green
FACE CLAIM: Oliver Jackson-Cohen
OVERALL APPEARANCE:
Standing at 6'3'', Lex is a tall guy. His build falls more in that "middle" area between broad and lithe, though, and many people don't truly comprehend that he's as big as he is until they're actually stood next to him. He's long, but not lanky. Muscular, but only in a healthy and firm way, not in a way that suggests he does much — beyond the physical demands of his current job — to build or maintain it. Somehow, he manages a somewhat slim-looking appearance (despite being a bit wider than most initially assume). He has warm-toned skin and tans quickly/well.
Lex has a long, angular sort of face, with a strong and crooked, slightly-hooked nose that only adds to its illusion of "length". But a masculine jaw and thick, dark brows keep everything balanced. His eyes are a light (but dull) blue, flecked with enough subtle amber to sometimes appear green under generous lighting. His hair is light brown in color and bleaches lighter in the sun quite quickly. He tends to keep it short and neat, styled with just enough product to keep it back and from his face. He's never completely clean-shaven, since his facial hair grows back very quick and always fills in sort of "trashy". He's prone to under-eye bags/shadows and there's a knuckle-length scar pocked just below his left cheekbone.
He dresses fairly casually, not having been out on his own long enough to build up (or really even afford) an extensive wardrobe. Once upon a time, he might have been a fairly expressive and colorful individual, in both gesture and style, but he's certainly slow to get there again (if he does get there). Still, he remains somewhat of an easy read when it comes to his face and body language.
There remain some faint reminders of his past drug use. The subtle scarring and discoloration of faded track marks and relentlessly picked-at skin exist most prominently on his inner arms and legs. But he's not so afraid (or ashamed) of them to forgo short-sleeves or shorts.
INSIDE
LIKES:
It's a little difficult for Lex to recall the things he used to like "before". Old photographs and scattered memories suggest he was once quite sporty and social. Surfed a lot. Played soccer. Enjoyed the outdoors and city-trips with wide-smiling friends. He liked science and math, space, buildings, physics, art, and all those various "smart" things. But a lot of that's hard to recall.
Though the memory of them isn't much better, it's a little easier to recall everything he thought was fun in those years he wasted trying to fill his (what he thought was short) life with cheap, quick thrills. Boozing, drugs, all-night parties, warm bodies, fast cars, lots of money, etc.
Nowadays, it's been a task trying to find something/anything that brings him some sort of enjoyment. He's a bit jaded now, burnt out, and finds it difficult to find fun in much of anything. Especially when he is (currently) staunchly avoiding any amount of drinking (bars seem to be where a lot of adults find fun). But he's trying things; things he knows are "normal" to like. His grandmother made him a list (that she's put on the fridge) full of activities and hobbies for him to attempt. Little suggestions like "early morning hikes to watch the sunrise", "learn a new skill", "go watch a movie by yourself", etc. He'll usually aim to try one of them a week and most of them have lines crossed through them when they just "don't work".
But occasionally, he does annotate some successes to the list, such as "walks with Bruce (.... sometimes)", "the music in the coffee shop down the street", or "good food (prison will do that to ya, right Gran?)".
DISLIKES:
Being honest/open about his past. Sometimes it's difficult to avoid; hard to excuse why he "is where he is" without admitting some things. But being a recovered drug addict, rehabilitated alcoholic, and ex-felon don't usually make for fun conversation. And it's like Lex expects the admittances to really solidify someone's idea/judgement of him. Already, nobody really expects a whole lot out of him (and why should they?). His grandmother treats him with kid-gloves (as if she suspects he'll fling himself headlong into bad habits at the tiniest nudge/temptation). Ultimately, he thinks being open about it will either make him a bit of a lost cause in someone's eyes or... arguably worse... transform him into some "project" or "bird with a broken wing".
Otherwise, any of Lex's additional dislikes are just the basic things no one really likes. Mondays. Long work days. Noisy neighbors when he's trying to sleep. A fly in his coffee. Driving into the sun. There's nothing really special or unique to anything that doesn't sit well with him.
Though, from his years in prison, he has perhaps developed an aversion to strict routine. Doesn't much like forced proximity with tons of strangers. And he may have a strong dislike for silence, small rooms, and sleeping with the door closed (not much of a current problem, since he's couch-crashing his grandmother's living room).
STRENGTHS:
Hopeful — As of right now, it doesn't translate to his mannerisms all that well, but... Lex is (quietly) optimistic about his fresh lease on life. This is evidenced most obviously by the fact he is getting up every day and trying. Trying to put himself out there. Trying to find something with a little meaning. Something to throw himself at and get into. Trying to stay busy in "healthy" ways. He may not be all smiles/laughs, or bouncing down the street singing showtunes — enthusiasm isn't exactly an easy drum right now — but, at the end of the day... he's open.
Resilient — He's like that Tubthumping song.
Embarrassment Proof — Honestly, Lex is a bit unflappable. Even if he is caught making the dumbest mistake, messes something up quite egregiously, or is in a situation where he knows he's horribly misplaced, clueless, and maybe should be cringing, he just... doesn't. Maybe it was his years of careless and reckless wreckage that stripped him of shame... maybe it was prison... but, either way... he's remarkably unfazed in the face of humiliation or awkwardness.
WEAKNESSES:
"Adulting" things — Lex skipped a lot of that "figuring things out" stage that most young adults go through after they leave home and begin testing the waters of making their own lives. When it comes to the mundane, lowkey day-to-day things that most people fill their lives with, he can be a little unpracticed/unwieldy. He's not completely lost in a grocery store or out of his depth in a bank queue or anything. He's not hopeless and he has common sense. But he has spent almost the entirety of his twenties living unrealistically so... can be a bit "Uhhh?" when it comes to some trivial things most thirty-somethings already have down.
Bad Liar — At least face-to-face.
Lack of Enthusiasm — As "hopeful" as Lex is, that optimism is undeniably silent and has a difficult time manifesting in any readable way to others. To most, he probably seems boring and/or jaded, maybe even standoffish and gruff. Deadpan, slow, and mulling. Which, altogether, isn't untrue... he is a bit of a "lost spark"... but still, he'd very much like to make connections with people and be given the benefit of the doubt. But that can be a bit of a tricky ask, when it's simple to assume he's completely disinterested and impossible to stir. Some people take it personally.
OVERALL PERSONALITY:
Having spent the last five years in prison, and the seven or so years before that completely unhinged, Lex is a man currently teetering on the precipice of "new beginning". Right now, his personality could best be described with a long, wondering pause and then an eventual shrug. He's trying to figure it out — "it" being himself and who he wants to be in a life he didn't think he had any real shot at (and so squandered).
At nineteen, before he shot off the deep end, he was charismatic and social. Quietly magnetic with a confidence that never quite overstepped into arrogance/cockiness. He was pleasant for the most part and generally well-liked. Though he was never exactly "popular" or particularly outspoken, he had friends and an intimate, warm way about him that kept them close-knit and fond.
Ideally, this would be a version of himself he'd like to return to. But, at present, it's a little hard to reach for. It's difficult to remember himself that way, to be honest, and maybe that iteration of him is too lofty a goal to aim for.
In the harrowed years that followed nineteen, he did a little damage to himself (and others). He got caught up in chasing shallow highs and the mania of filling his life with as much fast-paced, "zero-fucks-given" fun as he could before it was supposed to end. He lost sight of the things that mattered to him, that should have mattered to him, and by the end of twenty-four, he was wrecked.
Now, at thirty-one, he's kind of out and about "looking for himself" again. Maybe there's a bit — maybe a lot — of that "old Alexis" still in him, but it's currently colored (pretty heavily) over by a lot of deadened/jaded enthusiasm. Truthfully, after flying so high for so long, it's been difficult to find any sort of comparable joy while "grounded". Life's a little hard to find the beat of. And obviously, Lex feels more than a little "left behind" — everyone his age seems to have themselves figured out. They're grown up. His old friends have all moved on, started careers and/or families, and have their routines and lives lined up all pretty and neat.
Meanwhile, he's back at the starting blocks, not quite sure where to put his feet.
But still, Lex isn't wallowing. Prison gave him the time necessary to reflect, lament, and kick himself for his mistakes. To prepare. Now that he's out and responsible for himself again, he's determined to keep moving. To not stay down. Though most of the time he seems the opposite, he is somewhat optimistic about the future. He isn't closed off to the possibility that he has one now. He's just a little slow with it. Which isn't exactly unintentional — he's purposely cautioned himself to not be too quick to get pulled into anything (acknowledging he's the type now that might get swept away and out of control if nudged too strongly).
BACKGROUND
HOMETOWN: Los Eurosia, California
He was born here but he hasn't really "been home" since leaving for college.
FAMILY: (all presumably Human)
Yvonne Yearling - Grandmother / 79 / Retired Florist
Patrick Yearling - Grandfather / Deceased (83) / Truck Driver
Dennis Yearling - Father / Deceased (38) / Truck Driver
Marcie Yearling - Mother / 52 / Unknown
Thomas Yearling - Uncle / 55 / Truck Driver
Miranda "Miri" Yearling - Sister / 30 / Unknown
Everett Yearling - Half-Brother / 24 / Bartender
Danica Yearling - Half-Sister / 21 / Unknown
Peggy Whitmore - Niece (Danica) / 3 / Unknown
PETS:
Bruce — His grandmother's chocolate Labradoodle. The poor thing was terribly bored before Lex came to live with her. He takes him out for exercise and all that. Though they're not exactly bonded (Lex isn't sure Bruce even likes him all that much), both man and dog welcome the excuse to get out of the house.
HISTORY:
I. THE TIMING AND STRUCTURE
pre-nineteen years
Like with most young "barely-twenty" kids, the first baby wasn't planned. Marcie worked at a third-shift diner in some rural truck-stop located on Denny's usual lumber route between Northern and Southern California. The pair flirted throughout the course of a couple months, got a bit carried away one particularly reckless night, and voila. Needless to say, they weren't much to one another at the time. But... the next time Denny rolled through and was presented with two pink lines... they said "what the hell" and hunkered down/committed.
By the time Alexis was born, they were married and living out of Denny's double-wide trailer in Los Eurosia. When sister Miranda followed, hardly a year later, the pair's relationship was already on the rocks. But still, they tried to make it work. And even though they were never exactly content with one another, they were great parents to their two kids and kept the majority of their antagonism behind closed doors. Between only each other. It may have leaked some into their interactions in front of the children but it wouldn't be until they were much older that Alexis and Miranda would be able to think back and identify that.
But... sprinkle in some infidelity on Marcie's part... with her husband's twin brother, no less... and Denny finally called it. After beating Thomas' ass in the living room, while Alexis and Miranda huddled together on the couch, he scattered to the wind — took up a more long-distance trucking job and stopped coming home. Occasionally, he and the kids talked on the phone, and sometimes he blew through for a birthday or for Christmas, but he didn't come around more than that or reach out much of his own accord. Marcie did her best to paint him out as a deadbeat and a "good riddance", but both Alexis and his sister suspected there was a lot she was doing to keep him away. Possibly even phone calls ignored and messages undelivered.
Marcie and Thomas never married, but they did remain together throughout the rest of Lex's childhood. They even had two kids of their own — Everett and Danica. They moved into a bigger house, a little closer to the kids' grandmother, and things were mostly... "okay". Alexis and Thomas never quite got a long. Even though he looked a hell of a lot like his Dad, he wasn't, and Lex loathed his "trying to be". And where Denny and Marcie fought mostly "behind the scenes", Thomas was much louder with their problems (the same problems Marcie had had with Dennis, big surprise) and didn't bother saving any fight for "later". More than a couple of times, when things started looking close to violence, little Lex would toe up to his uncle and get himself laughed at and pushed around.
Still, though things were rarely harmonious, they were mostly fine. Thomas, though a lot of less-savory things, was dutiful and hardworking and provided well enough for the lot of them. Marcie, though high-strung and headstrong, was a good mother if nothing else. Lex got along well with both his sisters and could tolerate being around his brother most of the time. And, as time went on, Thomas and Marcie fought with a lot less vigor. Whether it was a simple loss of passion for it that inspired the simmering down... or if it was Alexis getting too big to simply laugh off when he stood too quickly at some out-of-pocket exchange... who could say.
When Alexis was fifteen and Miranda fourteen, the family received the call that Dennis was killed on the highway. Marcie told them it was an accident on the road but, many years later, their grandmother would share with them (offhandedly) that her son was killed by another man after drinking himself stupid in some seedy bar. Marcie and Thomas stopped fighting after that. And the relationship between Thomas and Alexis, too, became a lot less strained.
Outside of home, Alexis took a lot of solace. In school, he always did well both academically and socially. He was sporty and smart. Mascot for the entire four years of high school. Attended every football, basketball, and volleyball game. And though he wasn't exactly "popular", he was likable enough to do just fine with whoever he happened to fall in with. Got along with the preps just as much as he got along with the losers. Kicked it with geeks as easily as he kicked it with jocks. The token "guy best friend" to every girl on the cheer team. Had just as much fun riding the marching band's bus home from away games as he did the teams'. He never seemed to command any sort of dislike or antagonism from anyone and was versatile and charismatic enough to find (or make) a friend wherever he went.
And outside of school hours, he could always be depended on to be present at the parties. Could be found at any and every beach bonfire or get-together. During the summers, he usually picked up some part-time "student" job and spent the rest of his free time tagging along with whatever pocket of individuals his (equally versatile and likable) sister had attached herself to for the break. Both Miranda and Alexis did as much as they could to stay away from home, it seemed, and they paled around a lot together. When there was nothing else going on, the two of them would be at the beach, surfing until their muscles ached.
Miranda even put in the additional effort and hours to earn enough credit to graduate high school one year early — so she and Alexis could leave for the same out-of-state college together. Which they did.II. ON LOSING AND FAILING
nineteen through thirty-one
Though Miranda hated college and ended up dropping out her first semester and returning home, Alexis flourished in the new environment. Academically, he had no struggles. Socially, he had no struggles. He picked up some student work, joined a number of various clubs, made some reliable friends, and was on a good, prospective track.
Then, one afternoon with a couple of friends during a Spring Break festival, Lex dipped into the tent of a campy fortune teller. Who proceeded to tell him he would die at the age of twenty-four. Of course, he laughed it off as nothing but a bit of cruel fun. But the prediction hounded his nights (and then even his days) for weeks and then months, until it really was all he could think about. He became obsessed and preoccupied with it and it had its effect on his mood, his academics, and his relationships.
The same semester he was given his "death sentence", he dropped out of college and went absolutely feral. Having decided he only had a short number of years left to him, he figured he should pack as much as he could into them. His life became a fast-paced blur, swinging violently between vice-filled debauchery and the occasional span of more palatable sight-seeing. There was some safety in thinking he wouldn't die before turning twenty-four, so he did some absolutely wild and dangerous stuff. Poetically (or perhaps ironically), he more than once almost became a "self-fulfilled" prophecy — overdoses, blackouts, crashing fast cars or drunk-driving, nasty "friends"... the whole bit.
Everything grew increasingly harrowed as time passed and, the closer he got to twenty-five, the more desperate and chaotic he became. Like a prey animal who could feel the breath of its pursuing predator on its heels, jaws ready to snap closed. The night before his twenty-fifth birthday, he was brought into the ER with enough drugs in his system to kill him twice over. It was some miracle the staff were able to stabilize him, let alone that he woke a functional human being. Whether the overdose was accidental or intentional, Lex himself isn't so certain. He hardly remembers much.
But, long story short... Lex made it to twenty-five. And found himself with a bit of a derailed life and a massive mess to begin mending. He got himself clean, filed for bankruptcy, and was sentenced to ten years in prison for various accounts of credit card fraud, identity theft, and other (mostly "harmless", finance-related) felonies. He served five of those years before being released on parole.
Unsure what else to do, he returned home.III. BUT EVERYBODY'S GONE
post-prison and starting new
Despite some initial reaching out on Lex's part, none of his family contacted him at any point during his years in prison. He couldn't blame them for that. He hadn't kept up with them hardly at all since nineteen, despite their concern and reaching out and pleading for him to turn himself around. Eventually, they grew sick of the heartache that was receiving phone calls about him (never from him) and chalked him up as a lost cause. Gave up trying to save him and simply hardened themselves for That™ call that would eventually, inevitably, come.
And truthfully, that had been a bit of the point. His intention with the distance.
Still, in prison, he sent the occasional letter to his mother and sister, mostly out of boredom than expecting some sort of response, and left a rambling voicemail on holidays and birthdays. But he knew that was more than he'd done before and he couldn't make himself feel at-all grudging when nothing was ever answered.
When Lex showed up at his childhood home, it was a stranger that opened the door. More rocked than ever, he ended up then on his grandmother's porch with nothing more than a horribly-apologetic look and a meager bag of clothes.
She took him in. Filled him in on everything he'd missed. Miranda had been briefly married. Danica had had a baby. His mother had separated from his uncle and moved her and Danica and Peggy somewhere (no one knew exactly where). Miranda didn't talk to anyone, no one knew what she was up to or where she was. Granddad had died a couple years ago and his uncle and brother were running the hardware store now. Business was dwindling and dwindling with time but loyal regulars kept them (mostly) afloat. With Pat gone, she'd finally gotten herself a dog, but he was often more trouble than he was worth.
His grandmother was happy to house him, so long as he got a job, stayed good, and took care of those troublesome things that'd gone long-neglected in her husband's absence. Did the grocery shopping and cleaning up, kept quiet during her nightly shows, and tried his best. His uncle/stepfather and half-brother, who checked up on her semi-frequently, were far less enthusiastic about her taking him in (thinking she was doing far too much, didn't need the stress, and what was the point?). But she shut them up in that particular, no-argument way that Moms/Grandmas have.
Now, Lex has found enough routine to be somewhat settled. He has a week job, weekend obligations, and is starting to save up money to get himself a car and his own place. His grandmother has grown very fond of his presence, worries about him, and is always a little too encouraging that he always be out, doing something good for himself. Which, ultimately... he is grateful for. Getting his feet under him is a bit daunting, especially in the place he grew up in — a place with memories from a time "before" and with familiar faces that remember him from that time before (perhaps a little better than he remembers himself).
But he's trying. And, despite everything he currently lacks, Alexis is tentatively hopeful. A little uncertain how to go about it, honestly, but still hopeful. It's been an ongoing and slow process, but he does consider himself healed already. Five years in prison was long enough to come to terms with all he's done and where he went wrong. Now, it's just figuring out what to do with himself in the aftermath.
He's done the climb, the plummet off the precipice, and the picking himself off the ground. Now, on the other side of everything, it's just figuring out how to climb again. Mostly, he's just trying to figure out how to fill his life... how everyone else fills their life at this age (that he'd never thought he'd be)... and how to find something that makes him feel anything comparable to that lofty mountain-peak at his back.
THE PLAYER
NAME: Rinse
AGE: 28
TIMEZONE: CST (US)