Post by ZOM on Jan 3, 2014 15:02:47 GMT -5
FLORENCE MODESTE REY
Nicknames: "Flower," sometimes, which tends to irritate him because "that isn't what it means!"
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Pokemorph?: No
Appearance:
Florence comes across as a very pompous individual, and there is nothing he prizes more than his own good looks. He makes considerable daily effort to look well-groomed and stylish at all times, and it shows: his sandy-blonde hair is nearly always straightened and slicked back neatly with nary a hair out of place; his teeth are bleach-white and perfectly aligned; his nails are trimmed, and his cuticles are flawless; and rare blemishes are carefully hidden by concealer, while his thin lips are kept soft with hydrating chapstick. His pale skin is always protected by non-oily sunscreens and lotions so that it can retain its faint, healthy pink glow without developing any sunburns or cracks, and his body is carefully shaved, waxed, and plucked, not to the point of baldness in all cases, but what hair remains is tame and landscaped. Even his scent is manufactured, as he would never be caught without his favorite Kalosian cologne which has a faintly flowery smell.
What results from these obsessive efforts is a beautiful but rather artificial Florence. His facial features would be lovely without all this assistance; he has big green-blue eyes and high cheekbones, angular bone structure and long dark eyelashes. Yet he sees only his big, pointy, birdlike nose and dark eyebrows that would grow thick if he did not pluck them and shape them. He focuses on his gawky body, his too-tall height and his too-spindly limbs, and his ability to retain small amounts of pudge in his middle despite everything. He cringes at his big feet and at parts of him that feel wrong, like they do not belong to him -- parts like his small breasts, always kept hidden and flattened by a binder or sports bra. Every perceived "flaw" screams at him, and he copes by doing everything he can to "fix" and perfect his image. As long as everyone around him believes he is beautiful, he can cope with his imperfections, at least for a little while.
To complete his mask, Florence must of course show off his fashion sense, which is nothing if not sophisticated and expensive. He favors neutral tones, creams and whites and browns and blacks, but the specific articles he chooses to wear vary greatly day to day. Like any rich, spoiled snob, he simply cannot be seen in the same outfit twice unless he absolutely has to. His parents help out by sending him Kalosian fashion by mail, and Florence will donate or throw out any articles of clothing he feels have overstayed their welcome. One of the few constants in Florence's wardrobe is a pair of slender black leather work boots (which he shines regularly), since they are both attractive and well-suited for traveling and walking long distances. He knows that if he were to have shoes sent to him he would be unable to get rid of any of them, as he loves footwear and would hate to part with any member of his shoe collection. Unfortunately, the warm climate of Decona is not well-suited to Florence's favorite articles of clothing: turtlenecks and nice coats and jackets. He will usually have one of both in his bag at any given time, just in case, but the weather almost always disappoints him. He can also very occasionally be seen wearing a sleek dress or skirt, though he usually is visibly uncomfortable doing so.
Personality:
Florence is perhaps best suited to being a casual acquaintance. He's someone you might call if you want to have a good time; he'll be your wing man at parties and clubs, and he'll joke around with you in a way that's a little bit mean, but he's cute and funny so most of the time it's forgivable. He is polite to strangers and charismatic, so he's well-liked overall. Florence is not, however, the type who easily makes close friends. He is extremely bad at sympathizing with others and offering helpful advice, and he is not a very good listener, as he is usually inclined to make every situation about him in some way, or he simply will not be able to understand where other people are coming from if their situation is different from his. He is selfish, childish, and quick to anger, and if someone does not put forth the effort of contacting him first he will almost never be the first to text or call someone else. In short, he is a very lazy and shallow friend to have, in most cases. There could be exceptions to this rule, cases where he grows very fond of someone and will seek out their company and look out for them, but at this point he becomes demanding and clingy and desperate for attention and validation.
The trouble with Florence is that, though he puts on a very confident and sassy facade, he is actually self-conscious and even self-loathing at times, and he has great difficulty seeing beyond himself. This makes it hard for him to sympathize, but it also makes it difficult for him to see any positive features he might have, at least as perceived by others. He will accept compliments, sure, but he rarely internalizes them and as such is in constant need of more pats to his ego just to stay afloat. He struggles with gender dysphoria, negative body image and sometimes disordered eating, and at least mild (but currently undiagnosed) depression. It is difficult for him to find enjoyment in life and the routes he usually chooses to take are self-destructive or fleeting. He desperately wishes to improve upon himself, as he is aware of his many flaws and is quite the perfectionist, but when he feels that there is no good in him at all beyond the mask he puts on and the appearance he manufactures, it is nearly impossible to find a good starting point for self-improvement on a personality and attitude level.
He does have some good qualities, whether he can see them or not, but they are often hard to see or frustrating to unwind from the personality that he puts on for casual acquaintances and strangers. For one thing, he is very generous with his money and is eager to share what he has with those he likes. As a close friend, he will be almost overeager to learn more about his friend and spend time with them, and they will be able to enjoy his unfaltering support and affection, although this can be overwhelming for some. He is also very good at identifying positive features in other people, so long as he likes them well enough to try seeking these features out; he is very quick to make negative judgment of others and will hold grudges for ridiculous amounts of time, but he is equally quick to positively judge someone who makes a good first impression. And, in rather stark contrast to his usual self, Florence will be self-sacrificing and attentive with someone he truly cares about. He will want to see them happy, and he will pick up on whatever it may take to make that happen, then execute a plan regardless of any inconvenience or even harm to himself.
Unfortunately, if someone were to try critiquing Florence's negative qualities in hopes that he might focus more on positive qualities or change his ways, he would be likely to get angry and unresponsive, or even violent if someone insisted on nagging him in a way that was offensive and mean-spirited enough. He would internalize any critiques he received, but he would not likely be inclined to fix any of these issues; instead, he would berate himself and hate these parts of himself that he is made newly aware of, feeling as though they are ingrained and unchangeable. He really does need a lot of gentle, careful help to improve himself at all, and that help would need to come from someone he respects and cares about. As a result, he will have a very difficult time going forward. He expects nothing less.
Pokemon are one of the few shining beacons of hope for him. He is currently rather directionless, and is moving forward primarily because he does not want to disappoint his parents by remaining stagnant. Still, he thinks that spending some time traveling with Pokemon might help him to figure out what he wants to do with his life.
History:
Florence Rey was born to a wealthy couple living in Laverre City within the Kalos region. They had struck it rich thanks to their exceptional talents, he as a musician and she as an artist, and had decided to settle down and start a family, as they were still young and felt quite ready to care for children. There were complications with Florence's birth, however. Though the child was born safely, albeit somewhat premature and in need of careful monitoring for a while, Madame Rey was rendered infertile; Florence would be their only biological child.
This placed a heavy burden on young Florence. The parents expected great things from their child; they were both somewhat famous for their talents and they anticipated that Florence would be equally great in time. The child was pampered and spoiled with every luxury in the world, in hopes that their "daughter" would have her innate abilities fostered by the attention. Florence was encouraged to try singing, dancing, art, and playing various instruments, and indeed by the age of 6 the child was singing like a songbird and expressed interest in playing viola.
She was a cooperative little girl in most ways, eager to please her parents and do whatever they hoped she would do. They had great expectations for her so she struggled to live up to them, and when she was young, she did. Yet as she grew, so did her displeasure with herself and her abilities. A 6-year-old capable of singing and dancing was cute and impressive, but with an older child, doing these things was only impressive if the child displayed considerable talent. Florence was not very talented. Sure, she was good, but she was never the star of the school plays or the music recitals. She was never the highlight of the art show. She tried, she did, but she was never quite good enough, and her grades were never quite flawless enough to make up for it. Her parents became steadily more disappointed, and even achievements that Florence thought were very impressive, like an "A" on a difficult test or a painting that she thought was pretty, were no longer enough to satisfy them.
When puberty hit, Florence's discomfort only became worse, for new and unpleasant reasons. She had always been a bit of a tomboy, though not particularly inclined towards sports; she simply preferred boy's clothes and climbing trees to skirts and playing with dolls. To be fair, she liked looking pretty, and she liked dressing up the dolls. But she never much considered herself to be like the other girls, even though she would warily get along with them. Now, though, she was becoming aware of secondary sex characteristics that alarmed her, and she frantically did everything she could to fight back against her body. She begged her parents to let her cut her hair short, and they grudgingly agreed. She bound her chest with too-tight sports bras, ignoring the pain and dizziness this caused even when it meant she had to sit out when friends were going out to play in the forest. She was miserable once a month, and dreaded when the next week of discomfort would come. She shunned skirts entirely for a while, wearing long pants and refusing to shave her legs like all her girl friends did, although she gave in when her parents started to look at her strangely.
She was unhappy. She felt wrong, and not good enough. She felt powerless to change this.
She acted out. As a teen she went through phases where she drank at parties, dressed in punk and grunge fashions, dated girls, got into fights. She starved herself sometimes, when she felt too big, and she never quite grew out of that, although her parents thought it was just another phase. When she was 16 she learned what it meant to be "transgender," and began to put pieces together. By 17, Florence was identifying officially as male, though his parents remained clueless and confused. At 18 he was leaving for university in Lumiose City, and the relief of being someplace new where he could be himself was overwhelming. The trouble then was the realization that he didn't like who he was.
He struggled through school and dropped out after 3 years, still undecided on a major and primarily using school as a means to meet people he could party with. He had not been happy at university, not really, but it had been better than living at home. His parents, when they weren't busy with work, would alternate between two positions: they would coo that "she" was so "beautiful and talented," and why didn't she just show the world what she could do; and they would bemoan that she was not trying hard enough, that she had wasted the money spent on tuition and that she needed to go back to school and be serious this time. Florence withdrew, preening himself to look like the daughter they wanted or the son he longed to be in turns, yet spending much of his time locked in his room and away from everyone. He tried to think about his future, about what he wanted to do, but it stressed him out, it terrified him, and he procrastinated. Sometimes he would do research on various occupations, Pokemon, locations. Most of the time that was also too stressful to continue.
At last he found a region that seemed innocuous and pleasant enough, a relatively small island region called Decona. He thought perhaps he could become a trainer, and in doing so he could escape from his parents' scrutiny and find some sort of goal in life. Maybe they would be proud of him then. He planned for weeks, beating around the bush, too nervous to burst out of the hole he had dug himself into. Finally the pressure and discomfort of staying at home became worse than the fear of the unknown, and Florence announced his plan to train Pokemon in Decona, requesting that he might catch a flight there soon after packing his bags. His parents were thrilled to see him go, and expressed hope that their "daughter" would be careful on "her" path to greatness. Florence was all too glad to be out of there.
He just hoped that he wouldn't blow it.
