Lazuli Mercer
Ooookay. For some reason, the browser at work is... not posting properly to the forum; I hit Post and it just puts me back to the same place. I'll poke at it from home.
In the meantime...
Full name: Lazuli "Laz" Mercer Ijaka'lavri.
Age: 16 as of arriving at school. Born 6220/02/1/8, ID# 62200218-0913316.
Race: Xi'lavri.
Favourite class: History, especially Ancient History.
Greatest annoyance: Not knowing even a tenth as much about his own clan as other xi'lavri expect him to and assume he does.
Family: Father Jay(like the bird) Mercer, prospector/minerologist; mother Alyssa "Lyss" Mercer née Arunson (no, it doesn't make sense for the daughters of the family, but neither do modern-Earth Mac/Mc- and Fitz- names), author, historical nonfiction. Both human; Laz was adopted immediately after birth. No siblings, adopted or natural. Blood-parents both deceased.
Lives: On campus.
Quote: "You were there when I most needed it. I'll never forget that."
Wouldn't be caught dead at: A rally of any kind. He's not comfortable in crowds as it is; trying to change other people's minds by sheer numbers is, he feels, futile and just plain rude.
Wouldn't be caught dead wearing: A turtleneck. ("Do you have any idea what those do to fur?!")
Given the choice between hero and villain he'd be: Hero. ("It's the right thing to do... and it's what I'd want someone else to be if they showed up when I was in trouble.")
Grooming habits: Meticulous, but not according to a particular routine. He prefers to bathe just before bed (shower will suffice... barely), make sure his fur is good and neat before sleeping, and brush it out thoroughly in the morning. He always carries something with him to neaten it up if it should get overly ruffled. Generally, he doesn't mind too much unless it actually looks dirty, for instance if something gets spilled on him.
Favorite teacher: A prior Social Studies teacher, who saw his interest in his own race's culture and encouraged that to encompass others. He misses her.
Cannot stand: Machismo.
Scars, piercings, etc.: No scars. Two piercings in his right ear, white gold loops. Prince Albert with a captive bead, surgical steel, large gauge(4GA).
Favorite floor/hallmate:
Class he would intentionally miss: Social Studies. "Is this class not going to teach me anything NEW?!"
Wouldn't be caught dead with: Filthy fur. He'll put up with dust, he's not entirely mortified by being seen with wet fur(although it's uncomfortable), but he can't abide looking like he doesn't groom.
(If you want a different mix of 5, go ahead and say so. :) )
*deep breath*
Lazuli has had a rough time of it from birth. His parents were on their way to the hospital maternity ward when they were in a nasty traffic accident. His father was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital; his mother hung on long enough to bear him, but the damage was so great the doctors gave her no more than a few days to live, and that in excruciating pain.
Meanwhile, Jay and Alyssa Mercer had suffered another setback in their ongoing attempts to have a child. Years of fertility treatments seemed to have been in vain. They had just completed the paperwork necessary to adopt when Alyssa finally conceived, and that was put on hold - but just a few days into the second month of 6220, their child was stillborn. The same doctor who'd been assisting their attempts at parenthood was on ER duty the night Lazuli's mother was brought in - and while he was reluctant to approach the Mercers after such a loss, he also thought it might be an opportunity.
He was right. The Mercers agreed to adopt the soon-to-be orphan, and their doctor rushed the paperwork in time for Lazuli's mother to meet them, and sign her consent to their taking charge of her child, before she died. She hadn't been thinking clearly enough to even give the child a name. The Mercers selected something that would subtly suggest the sorrow surrounding him, but also how precious he was, without being too blatant - a semi-precious stone whose deep blue hue called tears to mind: lapis lazuli, shortened to Lazuli.
The xi'lavri kit's troubles weren't quite done at that point. Jay Mercer's job kept him on the move a great deal, and as Laz grew up, he wasn't really able to make many friends before getting yanked away again. Too, his being a completely different race than the small, insular, mostly-human communities he found himself raised in also made him something of a focus for racism and xenophobia. He kept on without losing his sunny outlook, though - and his adopted parents' diligent attempts to teach him of his racial heritage awoke a ravenous interest in not just his own race's culture, but all others as well. He's been studying Xi'lavri customs and mores from the outside, so in some respects, what he's learned is a fusion of them and other races - a blending that, in his case, leans toward the more liberal aspects of each. With a strong sense of honour and decency, but only confusion as regards most taboos, he grew up with an openness that teachers, for one, found refreshing. When his parents deemed him old enough, at nine, to make a reasonably informed decision on the matter, he was offered the chance to have his parents' clan name added to his own - something he eagerly accepted, and which drove him to learn what he could about that clan.
Since he still had no contact with other xi'lavri, however, that wasn't much.
As he grew from a child into a rather strikingly handsome youth - not to mention, for his surroundings, exotic - his parents fretted about the sorts of people who might take an interest in him. While they didn't discuss the matter with him, they were determined to let him follow xi'lavri sexual mores if he wished. His father gave him The Talk just before his thirteenth birthday, and made available some neutrally academic discussions on how the xi'lavri approached sex and personal privacy - all the while hoping he realised that human communities wouldn't grant such activities the "social privacy" that traditional xi'lavri might. They also encouraged him to learn to defend himself - he was hardly large even for a xi'lavri youth, and they worried his exotic features might make him a target for those who'd use force to take him.
At first, Lazuli was rather cool toward the notion, and didn't think much would come of it; his first few lessons, at the age of fourteen, didn't really engage his attention, either. But something seemed to change, and he found their logic to be rather compelling, suddenly, and applied himself fully to the lessons. He became quite good in martial arts - and if this left him toned in a way that only emphasized his looks, at least he was well able to do something about it if someone should ever take a hostile interest in him.
At sixteen, Lazuli is still not very big for a xi'lavri male, standing around five feet six inches tall. His coat is a light, sandy brown, marked with stripes the colour of milk chocolate, and immaculately groomed - Lazuli has been known to groom several times a day if something messes up his pelt, although he usually makes do with brushing, not wanting to use too much hot water. (And the thought of a merely lukewarm shower, much less a cool one, is not one he relishes.) His eyes are a deep blue, flecked with gold, just like his namesake stone. His clothing tends to be in the xi'lavri style - for practical reasons and for colour coordination as much as any attempt to identify with his race's traditions. This does, however, make it that much more confusing when the xi'lavri he actually starts meeting at Avelyon High expect him to know about those in his clan and how they're doing - and he doesn't. Still, he's undeterred, bright, optimistic, and eager, a keen student of history, whose main academic fault is that some classes bore him almost to tears by trying to "teach" him what he's known for years. As a friend, the main difficulty is that some people find his overall niceness and dedication something that needs to be lived up to. He's not so aggressive about it as, say, Saevrin - he doesn't ever imply that anyone's let him down in any way - but he doesn't need to. Some people can get that notion entirely on their own.
In the meantime...
Full name: Lazuli "Laz" Mercer Ijaka'lavri.
Age: 16 as of arriving at school. Born 6220/02/1/8, ID# 62200218-0913316.
Race: Xi'lavri.
Favourite class: History, especially Ancient History.
Greatest annoyance: Not knowing even a tenth as much about his own clan as other xi'lavri expect him to and assume he does.
Family: Father Jay(like the bird) Mercer, prospector/minerologist; mother Alyssa "Lyss" Mercer née Arunson (no, it doesn't make sense for the daughters of the family, but neither do modern-Earth Mac/Mc- and Fitz- names), author, historical nonfiction. Both human; Laz was adopted immediately after birth. No siblings, adopted or natural. Blood-parents both deceased.
Lives: On campus.
Quote: "You were there when I most needed it. I'll never forget that."
Wouldn't be caught dead at: A rally of any kind. He's not comfortable in crowds as it is; trying to change other people's minds by sheer numbers is, he feels, futile and just plain rude.
Wouldn't be caught dead wearing: A turtleneck. ("Do you have any idea what those do to fur?!")
Given the choice between hero and villain he'd be: Hero. ("It's the right thing to do... and it's what I'd want someone else to be if they showed up when I was in trouble.")
Grooming habits: Meticulous, but not according to a particular routine. He prefers to bathe just before bed (shower will suffice... barely), make sure his fur is good and neat before sleeping, and brush it out thoroughly in the morning. He always carries something with him to neaten it up if it should get overly ruffled. Generally, he doesn't mind too much unless it actually looks dirty, for instance if something gets spilled on him.
Favorite teacher: A prior Social Studies teacher, who saw his interest in his own race's culture and encouraged that to encompass others. He misses her.
Cannot stand: Machismo.
Scars, piercings, etc.: No scars. Two piercings in his right ear, white gold loops. Prince Albert with a captive bead, surgical steel, large gauge(4GA).
Favorite floor/hallmate:
Class he would intentionally miss: Social Studies. "Is this class not going to teach me anything NEW?!"
Wouldn't be caught dead with: Filthy fur. He'll put up with dust, he's not entirely mortified by being seen with wet fur(although it's uncomfortable), but he can't abide looking like he doesn't groom.
(If you want a different mix of 5, go ahead and say so. :) )
*deep breath*
Lazuli has had a rough time of it from birth. His parents were on their way to the hospital maternity ward when they were in a nasty traffic accident. His father was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital; his mother hung on long enough to bear him, but the damage was so great the doctors gave her no more than a few days to live, and that in excruciating pain.
Meanwhile, Jay and Alyssa Mercer had suffered another setback in their ongoing attempts to have a child. Years of fertility treatments seemed to have been in vain. They had just completed the paperwork necessary to adopt when Alyssa finally conceived, and that was put on hold - but just a few days into the second month of 6220, their child was stillborn. The same doctor who'd been assisting their attempts at parenthood was on ER duty the night Lazuli's mother was brought in - and while he was reluctant to approach the Mercers after such a loss, he also thought it might be an opportunity.
He was right. The Mercers agreed to adopt the soon-to-be orphan, and their doctor rushed the paperwork in time for Lazuli's mother to meet them, and sign her consent to their taking charge of her child, before she died. She hadn't been thinking clearly enough to even give the child a name. The Mercers selected something that would subtly suggest the sorrow surrounding him, but also how precious he was, without being too blatant - a semi-precious stone whose deep blue hue called tears to mind: lapis lazuli, shortened to Lazuli.
The xi'lavri kit's troubles weren't quite done at that point. Jay Mercer's job kept him on the move a great deal, and as Laz grew up, he wasn't really able to make many friends before getting yanked away again. Too, his being a completely different race than the small, insular, mostly-human communities he found himself raised in also made him something of a focus for racism and xenophobia. He kept on without losing his sunny outlook, though - and his adopted parents' diligent attempts to teach him of his racial heritage awoke a ravenous interest in not just his own race's culture, but all others as well. He's been studying Xi'lavri customs and mores from the outside, so in some respects, what he's learned is a fusion of them and other races - a blending that, in his case, leans toward the more liberal aspects of each. With a strong sense of honour and decency, but only confusion as regards most taboos, he grew up with an openness that teachers, for one, found refreshing. When his parents deemed him old enough, at nine, to make a reasonably informed decision on the matter, he was offered the chance to have his parents' clan name added to his own - something he eagerly accepted, and which drove him to learn what he could about that clan.
Since he still had no contact with other xi'lavri, however, that wasn't much.
As he grew from a child into a rather strikingly handsome youth - not to mention, for his surroundings, exotic - his parents fretted about the sorts of people who might take an interest in him. While they didn't discuss the matter with him, they were determined to let him follow xi'lavri sexual mores if he wished. His father gave him The Talk just before his thirteenth birthday, and made available some neutrally academic discussions on how the xi'lavri approached sex and personal privacy - all the while hoping he realised that human communities wouldn't grant such activities the "social privacy" that traditional xi'lavri might. They also encouraged him to learn to defend himself - he was hardly large even for a xi'lavri youth, and they worried his exotic features might make him a target for those who'd use force to take him.
At first, Lazuli was rather cool toward the notion, and didn't think much would come of it; his first few lessons, at the age of fourteen, didn't really engage his attention, either. But something seemed to change, and he found their logic to be rather compelling, suddenly, and applied himself fully to the lessons. He became quite good in martial arts - and if this left him toned in a way that only emphasized his looks, at least he was well able to do something about it if someone should ever take a hostile interest in him.
At sixteen, Lazuli is still not very big for a xi'lavri male, standing around five feet six inches tall. His coat is a light, sandy brown, marked with stripes the colour of milk chocolate, and immaculately groomed - Lazuli has been known to groom several times a day if something messes up his pelt, although he usually makes do with brushing, not wanting to use too much hot water. (And the thought of a merely lukewarm shower, much less a cool one, is not one he relishes.) His eyes are a deep blue, flecked with gold, just like his namesake stone. His clothing tends to be in the xi'lavri style - for practical reasons and for colour coordination as much as any attempt to identify with his race's traditions. This does, however, make it that much more confusing when the xi'lavri he actually starts meeting at Avelyon High expect him to know about those in his clan and how they're doing - and he doesn't. Still, he's undeterred, bright, optimistic, and eager, a keen student of history, whose main academic fault is that some classes bore him almost to tears by trying to "teach" him what he's known for years. As a friend, the main difficulty is that some people find his overall niceness and dedication something that needs to be lived up to. He's not so aggressive about it as, say, Saevrin - he doesn't ever imply that anyone's let him down in any way - but he doesn't need to. Some people can get that notion entirely on their own.