Player Name: DJ Username: whitelighter Current characters: Liam McNally (Owen Bates) [inequal]
Sleeper Character: Sefton Lowell Username: biomagnet Canon: Original (Knickknacks) Canon point: 2054, two years after Sefton graduates Age: 26 Appearance: Standing at 6'1", Sefton might cut an intimidating figure if he didn't spend much of his time trying to counteract that very image. His build is lean and focused, any muscle he has simply making him more lithe instead of bulking him up. Thanks to Italian (Central-Northwestern) heritage, his skin tone is a moderate olive. Along with ingrained tendencies to blend into the crowd and a wardrobe leaning more toward the innocuous, only two things really tend to stand out about him: his insistence on wearing a scarf no matter what else he has on, and his blue hair/violet eyes.
In the game, this hair color comes from a permadye rather than natural coloring, and may eventually fade or be restored to its original raven black. Physical discrepancies include a canonical scar going from the crook of his left elbow halfway up to his shoulder no longer being present, replaced with scattered scars along his back and side, and on the inside of left forearm.
His played-by is the Vocaloid Kaito.
Personality: On the surface, Sefton affects the disposition of someone uninterested in social interaction and keeps a professional distance from everyone he comes in contact with. He insists on using his title or his last name and rarely will give out his first name in order to strengthen the gap between himself and anyone else. He doesn't want anyone to know his name, because their interaction would only ever remain superficial. Most of the time, he can remain civil and perform accordingly to cues; he simply refuses to be lured in by someone's friendliness or kind invitations. If someone tries to push through this icy exterior, he becomes snappish and rude, acting for all the world like he would prefer to be left alone, thank you very much now kindly get out of my face.
At heart, Sefton is a very kind person. His formative years were spent surrounded by love and care, from and for his loved ones. Despite all of the things he has gone through in life, there is a part of him that cares for people far too much to close them out entirely. He relies on the presence of others to keep from going insane with loneliness, although he would never allow himself to be more than an outsider looking in. For Sefton, this sort of fake-closeness is enough to sustain him. There is a lot of contrast between his focus on other people with his determination to stand apart from them: he is the type to offer aid in carrying groceries back home, stop and try to fix a broken bicycle, or even listen to a stranger's problems, but would just as soon disappear before being thanked or insist the deed be forgotten once he finished. While he can easily say 'no' and walk away from someone in need, he is much more likely to agree to help if it is a stranger.
These actions can easily seem contradictory until one looks deeper and realizes that Sefton harbors the mother of all guilt complexes. His power has the ability to bend the will of the people around him simply through touch, and he cannot stand to accidentally expose anyone to this effect. It is easier to remain apart from people and earn their dislike naturally than to approach and force them to deal with his eccentricities and hangups. Simply telling anyone about his power to give them an informed decision is something he can't bring himself to do, out of both guilt and self-loathing. If someone were to reject him for the one thing he has dedicated his life to contain and can do nothing to completely neutralize, it would crush his already meager self-confidence.
Years of building up the importance of others' right to free will and his own agency in destroying it has left Sefton with a crippled sense of self. If he has to be the one to stand apart from others to keep them safe, then so be it. If there were a contest between what he wanted and what someone else wanted in a situation, chances are that Sefton would stand down. This isn't to say he cannot stand up for himself — on the contrary, he can become a spitfire when his own interests are on the line and will defend himself as necessary. He simply cannot abide by trying to enforce his own wants or needs over someone else if their need is greater (which is often, in Sefton's opinion), having unknowingly spent fourteen years of his life doing just that to his parents and friends. Hating someone for acting against him or the ones he cares about has always been out of the question to Sefton: condemning them for doing something that came naturally to them without any influence from him stands against everything he's shaped himself to protect. While he does allow himself to anger, he has far too much practice in internalizing negative emotions that would be much healthier to express outwardly.
Because of how Sefton's power requires physical contact before it activates, he has developed a genuine fear of being touched by strangers. It was not born of any physical trauma, but out of fear of his power's consequences on both others and himself. If he doesn't know it's coming, it gets even worse and more often than not results in Sefton becoming very tetchy and evasive around whoever it was that touched him. He avoids physical touch at all cost, which ties in well to his exaggeratedly aloof nature, yet does his best not to let on to this fear in front of others. As with other exceptions to his behavior, light contact from friends when he knows it's coming does not trigger a reaction beyond an ever-present nervousness. Opposite of this fear, Sefton tries to maintain contact with inanimate objects as a sort of anchor and often finds himself leaning on walls, benches or the like to ground himself.
While this behavior is inherently very destructive, Sefton has come to a compromise with it over the years and found a stable balance. Touching anyone remains completely off-limits, but he allows himself to form some acquaintances and enjoy solitary activities instead. His guilt remains a constant reminder to never let go completely, but no longer tries to outright punish himself for something he cannot stop and instead focuses on keeping it under control. With this semi-peace regarding his power, Sefton has allowed himself to settle in a way that means he maintains a certain calmness when in private or the company of the few people he trusts.
There are exceptions to every rule. In Sefton's case, these exceptions are named Chivy Darrell, Devon Fischer and Adria Fischer. After over a decade of their presence, he has allowed them past his prickly, tetchy barrier and comfortably into a very empty slot in his heart for his loved ones. Chivy has had the largest emotional influence on his life, having taught Sefton that life was still worth living despite the limits he would have to place on himself, and for never giving up on trying to pry his way into friendship. Calling them "best friends" would be an understatement — think of it more as a relationship without the romance. While they rarely fully agree on something, they understand each other in a way no one else does and that kind of support is the most precious thing in Sefton's life. Although they are not always together nor do they keep in constant contact, the fact that they can meet up and pick up right where they left off is nothing to sneeze at. Because of Chivy's influence and his willingness to deal with Sefton's eccentricities (to a certain extent), Sefton began to wear scarves whenever possible as a compromise to his "no touching" rule by giving Chivy something to pull him along by even if the other wasn't wearing his infused gloves. Silly as it sounds, it signifies the huge amounts of trust Sefton has learned to place in his friend.
If Chivy was the emotional support, then Devon is the intellectual. Throughout his teenage years, Devon supported Sefton in continuing his education and made sure to keep him as safe as possible from those who would use Sefton's power for their own gain. Devon was a mentor and a good friend despite the age difference, something either of them truly seemed to care about considering the circumstances of their meeting. While not as close to Sefton's heart as Chivy, Devon certainly has the utmost respect from Sefton for being trustworthy and someone to look up to. Devon's niece, Adria, is more distant than either of them, yet still very close to Sefton: she respects his boundaries but doesn't let it put her off from treating him like a completely normal person. Sefton counts himself as lucky for this, rather than believing the insistence that others might react similarly to his power as "no big deal".
Aside from these individuals, Sefton's trust is extremely hard-won. Despite the irrationality of it, he feels betrayed by those who are affected by his power for falling prey to it, then blames himself for feeling this way and creates an emotional barrier to keep from making things worse. Even if someone is unaffected by him and tries to get in close, Sefton has a difficult time understanding why anyone would want to do that due to inexperience in genuine relationships (he only has three friends, all under some pretty weird circumstances, to be fair). His self-loathing means he finds it difficult to see why others would think him worthy of approaching, even if by now he has realized there must be something more to it than he sees. Stubborn and curious individuals are the ones most likely to get to him, as he has an easier time letting his guard down when he thinks someone has only an intellectual interest or thinks him useful for something anyone else could do in his place. He's similar to a cat in that regard. His trust absolutely does not carry through to any type of government, despite working for the United States'; it's Devon that he really works under and believes in, not anyone affiliated with the start of his regular kidnap, experimentation and abuse thanks to The Man's sticky fingers so many years ago.
Sefton Lowell ; 1/3
Name: DJ
Username:
Current characters: Liam McNally (Owen Bates) [
Sleeper
Character: Sefton Lowell
Username:
Canon: Original (Knickknacks)
Canon point: 2054, two years after Sefton graduates
Age: 26
Appearance: Standing at 6'1", Sefton might cut an intimidating figure if he didn't spend much of his time trying to counteract that very image. His build is lean and focused, any muscle he has simply making him more lithe instead of bulking him up. Thanks to Italian (Central-Northwestern) heritage, his skin tone is a moderate olive. Along with ingrained tendencies to blend into the crowd and a wardrobe leaning more toward the innocuous, only two things really tend to stand out about him: his insistence on wearing a scarf no matter what else he has on, and his blue hair/violet eyes.
In the game, this hair color comes from a permadye rather than natural coloring, and may eventually fade or be restored to its original raven black. Physical discrepancies include a canonical scar going from the crook of his left elbow halfway up to his shoulder no longer being present, replaced with scattered scars along his back and side, and on the inside of left forearm.
His played-by is the Vocaloid Kaito.
Personality: On the surface, Sefton affects the disposition of someone uninterested in social interaction and keeps a professional distance from everyone he comes in contact with. He insists on using his title or his last name and rarely will give out his first name in order to strengthen the gap between himself and anyone else. He doesn't want anyone to know his name, because their interaction would only ever remain superficial. Most of the time, he can remain civil and perform accordingly to cues; he simply refuses to be lured in by someone's friendliness or kind invitations. If someone tries to push through this icy exterior, he becomes snappish and rude, acting for all the world like he would prefer to be left alone, thank you very much now kindly get out of my face.
At heart, Sefton is a very kind person. His formative years were spent surrounded by love and care, from and for his loved ones. Despite all of the things he has gone through in life, there is a part of him that cares for people far too much to close them out entirely. He relies on the presence of others to keep from going insane with loneliness, although he would never allow himself to be more than an outsider looking in. For Sefton, this sort of fake-closeness is enough to sustain him. There is a lot of contrast between his focus on other people with his determination to stand apart from them: he is the type to offer aid in carrying groceries back home, stop and try to fix a broken bicycle, or even listen to a stranger's problems, but would just as soon disappear before being thanked or insist the deed be forgotten once he finished. While he can easily say 'no' and walk away from someone in need, he is much more likely to agree to help if it is a stranger.
These actions can easily seem contradictory until one looks deeper and realizes that Sefton harbors the mother of all guilt complexes. His power has the ability to bend the will of the people around him simply through touch, and he cannot stand to accidentally expose anyone to this effect. It is easier to remain apart from people and earn their dislike naturally than to approach and force them to deal with his eccentricities and hangups. Simply telling anyone about his power to give them an informed decision is something he can't bring himself to do, out of both guilt and self-loathing. If someone were to reject him for the one thing he has dedicated his life to contain and can do nothing to completely neutralize, it would crush his already meager self-confidence.
Years of building up the importance of others' right to free will and his own agency in destroying it has left Sefton with a crippled sense of self. If he has to be the one to stand apart from others to keep them safe, then so be it. If there were a contest between what he wanted and what someone else wanted in a situation, chances are that Sefton would stand down. This isn't to say he cannot stand up for himself — on the contrary, he can become a spitfire when his own interests are on the line and will defend himself as necessary. He simply cannot abide by trying to enforce his own wants or needs over someone else if their need is greater (which is often, in Sefton's opinion), having unknowingly spent fourteen years of his life doing just that to his parents and friends. Hating someone for acting against him or the ones he cares about has always been out of the question to Sefton: condemning them for doing something that came naturally to them without any influence from him stands against everything he's shaped himself to protect. While he does allow himself to anger, he has far too much practice in internalizing negative emotions that would be much healthier to express outwardly.
Because of how Sefton's power requires physical contact before it activates, he has developed a genuine fear of being touched by strangers. It was not born of any physical trauma, but out of fear of his power's consequences on both others and himself. If he doesn't know it's coming, it gets even worse and more often than not results in Sefton becoming very tetchy and evasive around whoever it was that touched him. He avoids physical touch at all cost, which ties in well to his exaggeratedly aloof nature, yet does his best not to let on to this fear in front of others. As with other exceptions to his behavior, light contact from friends when he knows it's coming does not trigger a reaction beyond an ever-present nervousness. Opposite of this fear, Sefton tries to maintain contact with inanimate objects as a sort of anchor and often finds himself leaning on walls, benches or the like to ground himself.
While this behavior is inherently very destructive, Sefton has come to a compromise with it over the years and found a stable balance. Touching anyone remains completely off-limits, but he allows himself to form some acquaintances and enjoy solitary activities instead. His guilt remains a constant reminder to never let go completely, but no longer tries to outright punish himself for something he cannot stop and instead focuses on keeping it under control. With this semi-peace regarding his power, Sefton has allowed himself to settle in a way that means he maintains a certain calmness when in private or the company of the few people he trusts.
There are exceptions to every rule. In Sefton's case, these exceptions are named Chivy Darrell, Devon Fischer and Adria Fischer. After over a decade of their presence, he has allowed them past his prickly, tetchy barrier and comfortably into a very empty slot in his heart for his loved ones. Chivy has had the largest emotional influence on his life, having taught Sefton that life was still worth living despite the limits he would have to place on himself, and for never giving up on trying to pry his way into friendship. Calling them "best friends" would be an understatement — think of it more as a relationship without the romance. While they rarely fully agree on something, they understand each other in a way no one else does and that kind of support is the most precious thing in Sefton's life. Although they are not always together nor do they keep in constant contact, the fact that they can meet up and pick up right where they left off is nothing to sneeze at. Because of Chivy's influence and his willingness to deal with Sefton's eccentricities (to a certain extent), Sefton began to wear scarves whenever possible as a compromise to his "no touching" rule by giving Chivy something to pull him along by even if the other wasn't wearing his infused gloves. Silly as it sounds, it signifies the huge amounts of trust Sefton has learned to place in his friend.
If Chivy was the emotional support, then Devon is the intellectual. Throughout his teenage years, Devon supported Sefton in continuing his education and made sure to keep him as safe as possible from those who would use Sefton's power for their own gain. Devon was a mentor and a good friend despite the age difference, something either of them truly seemed to care about considering the circumstances of their meeting. While not as close to Sefton's heart as Chivy, Devon certainly has the utmost respect from Sefton for being trustworthy and someone to look up to. Devon's niece, Adria, is more distant than either of them, yet still very close to Sefton: she respects his boundaries but doesn't let it put her off from treating him like a completely normal person. Sefton counts himself as lucky for this, rather than believing the insistence that others might react similarly to his power as "no big deal".
Aside from these individuals, Sefton's trust is extremely hard-won. Despite the irrationality of it, he feels betrayed by those who are affected by his power for falling prey to it, then blames himself for feeling this way and creates an emotional barrier to keep from making things worse. Even if someone is unaffected by him and tries to get in close, Sefton has a difficult time understanding why anyone would want to do that due to inexperience in genuine relationships (he only has three friends, all under some pretty weird circumstances, to be fair). His self-loathing means he finds it difficult to see why others would think him worthy of approaching, even if by now he has realized there must be something more to it than he sees. Stubborn and curious individuals are the ones most likely to get to him, as he has an easier time letting his guard down when he thinks someone has only an intellectual interest or thinks him useful for something anyone else could do in his place. He's similar to a cat in that regard. His trust absolutely does not carry through to any type of government, despite working for the United States'; it's Devon that he really works under and believes in, not anyone affiliated with the start of his regular kidnap, experimentation and abuse thanks to The Man's sticky fingers so many years ago.