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Name: Chauncy J. Durant.

Nickname: Chance. Being named the traditional family name of Chauncy, especially when his father Daniel and uncle John managed to skip it, was a cruel cruel thing in Chance's opinion. You have to take stands against these things. So it's Chance and that's that.

Age: 19

Birthday: 22 April

Sign: Taurus

Gemstone: Emerald

Blood Type: A

Fav. Food: Meat is murder. Tasty tasty murder. He also likes fruit, especially apples and sweet seedless green grapes.

Hated Food: Imitation soya or tofu products and artificial sweeteners.

School:Occupation: Chance graduated from Meadowview last year but he hasn't gone on to further education because he's not entirely sure what to do with his life yet. No clue what career path to follow, what subject he wants to study, and that's okay because he'll figure it out. What's the point of deciding randomly to study to be a doctor or a lawyer or an artist just because he has to pick now - only to decide next year he doesn't don't want to be that after all? Better to wait, work/volunteer a while, think about his options and when he's really sure, go back to school next year... or the year after that...

In the meantime Chance works part time at the library. He actually started off there as a volunteer when he tagged along with his cousin to help out for a couple of weeks and somehow he ended up never stopping. So he ended up working there, which saved him the bother of jobhunting and he likes it anyway. It's a very calm place to work, it's straight forward and now he's learnt the ropes it's simple. He enjoys the quiet. It's also helping out the local community, gotta love that aspect too. The hours aren't too much either so he both gets money, meets his father's lax requirements that he do something and yet he still has plenty of time to laze away~

Hobbies:

Video games - Chance doesn't have the commitment for MMORPG games like World of Warcraft, he's too lazy. He started trying to play once with a friend but disliked the pressure to hurry up, level up, complete this armor set...and grew bored of killing dozens of pigs to collect three stomachs for a quest (why don't all the pigs have stomachs?). Instead he tends to favour either fighting games like Super Smash Bros that he can lightheartedly play with his buds or a story that can be completed (unlike MMORPGs, which never seem to end) at his leisure over time like a Zelda game. Ocarina of Time is best.game.ever, amirite?

Dominos - While he's usually more of a video game fan, his love of playing a game of dominos is something nostalgic from his childhood. When they were younger one of the best activities Chance and his sister bonded over after their parent's divorce was playing games of dominos. It's also quite simple, which means when he's frustrated about a paper he has to write or can't beat a dungeon boss on one of his video games it's a relaxing entertainment to turn to for a while.

Playing Guitar - There's something very soothing about strumming away on an acoustic guitar, maybe humming or singing along with the melody if it takes your fancy. Chance quite often likes to spend some time just playing his guitar and lazing away a couple of hours with it or taking it down the town to play. Chance got his from his father, when his father discarded it to his spare room after loosing interest in learning how to play himself - his son however is showing no signs of giving up. So far he has muddled through learning by himself, with the odd tutorial off Youtube, online tab sheets, and just playing by ear. He's actually pretty good, considering he's been self taught, but nothing amazing. If he had the drive and got some lessons he'd make a good musician but he's content for now just strumming away and learning very slowly on his own. Some days, he takes his guitar to the streets and goes busking. You know that guy in the subway that plays music and people occasionally toss a coin in his case? Chance does that. It amuses him that he makes okay 'tips' and besides, it's good practice. He's saving up for a pre-owned electric bass and the kit to go with it too. He has his eye on one in the second hand store in town.

Reading - Chance is not a fast reader by choice. He likes to read a book over time. So it's fortunate he works for the library, because he can renewing a book twice before having to give it back, and knows when it's back available again after someone else has read it. He likes to mull over what the themes are, the character dynamics and what in the book he can relate to personally. He prefers slice of life books, or mild fantasy and sci-fi, but he'll read pretty much anything that takes his fancy. He likes to read in small doses, a little here and there, while in some cosy place in his apartment or enjoying the sun in the park.

Smoking - A bad habit he shares with his cousin Jules. He's not sure if she started first or he did looking back, but at least he doesn't smoke as much as she does (Jules smokes like a chimey). Chance knows that smoking is bad for you but it's something he 'treats' himself with, it's one of those small guilty pleasures in life. Besides, he's just not got the drive to quit now. It'd be so much hassle and he's sure his health will be fiiiine...not to worry...

Virtues:

Laid back – Like father like son, this is something he gets from his dad. Chance is a casual kind of guy, serene, calm. He doesn't believe in worrying about things he has no control over. He doesn't tend to lose control most of the time (save the odd Outburst). Why not chillax out max and relax all cool? That's what Chance wants to know. He's a hard guy to provoke and usually will seek a peaceful solution, even if that means just walking away. He also tends to keep a level head in a crisis. He has a lot of patience (unless it involves repetative boring tasks or something that he doesn't find interesting) and will happily wait for something to happen rather than make it happen himself. However, this can lead to both his Laziness and Luke Warm flaws.

Secure - Chance is a very together guy, he's just fine being himself and doesn't feel threatened by others expectations of him. He dances to the beat of his own drum and if someone else doesn't like the music, then he's truly sorry but that's their problem. Chance knows his own mind and is comfortable in his own skin, which is pretty thick. It has to be, after growing up with the name Chauncy! He understands his own opinions and motivations well usually*, though he doesn't always choose to act on them (and if things get too intense, might lead to an Outburst). The only thing he's kind of fuzzy on is what he wants to be “when he grows up” (ignore that he's 19 and considers himself grown up enough for other things) but, eh, there's no rush. And he has one major insecurity however, his Possessiveness, which he recognises in himself and has failed at losing.

((* He won't realise he's falling/fallen in love with his roommate Aggie at first. This is partly because we want the cute plot, partly because Chance has never fallen in love before. While he'll realise that he feels for her intensely, it'll take him time to realise just what it means. Then once he has realised, he'll choose not to act on it for a time, content to carry on as they are, not wanting to risk their friendship/roomie relationship due to his insecurity about females leaving him alone. He'd rather stick around, waiting/hoping to see if she'll fall in love with him too.))

Good Intentions – His heart is in the right place. Chance generally tries to be a nice guy, believing that the world would be better if everyone tried to be kinder to each other. Except on changing himself to suit others (he won't, he is as he is) he's generous. Chance always has time for his loved ones if they need him or just want to hang out. He also is prone to giving random thoughtful little gifts of things that he saw and thought they'd like, for instance. If you need someone to stand with you, call on Chance and he'll be there.

Content - Chance is thankful for the good things in his life. Life can be tough, but there's so many things to be grateful for too. Because he doesn't ask for much, because he refuses to worry about things he can't change, Chance is generally very content. He finds happiness in the small things in life and his gladness can make him a very warm character. He's quick to find the fun in a situation, rather than mope about it. And if there is no fun? He'll just leave. There's plently of better things to be doing after all.

Flaws:

Lazy – He doesn't take things seriously that he should. His education choices for example. While it is true he can't decide on a career path or a course to take, and doesn't think it wise to act without a goal, he's not exactly in a rush to make up his mind either. He'll decide...sometime. Yeah. This does not mean that he never does anything, he's active in his own way, just that he's not prone to work hard. If there is a shortcut he'll generally take it. And unless something interests him (for Chance has the patience if it interests him) he's prone to give up with it entirely. His one real ambition is just to have a comfy place to live and time to hang out with his friends. He settles, if it means he can get away with doing less himself.

Possessive – What is your childhood trauma? Well, Chance knows what his was. No, it wasn't growing up having to insist on being called Chance rather than "Chawncy" or that scary birthday clown when he was five. He had family from his father's side around him growing up but he still felt the absence of his mother and sister, and that's had an effect on him. He knows it's irrational but he can't help it. He's possessive of those he cares about (especially girls). He worries that he'll lose them, that they'll leave him, and this fear can manifest itself as jealousy or as acting-aloof-while-actually-spending-the-whole-time-obsessing-quietly. It's his big insecurity and the one thing he's not laid back about at all.

Outburst – This is where his Good Intentions sometimes gets laid aside. While Chance does have a long fuse, it doesn't last forever. Sometimes, Luke Warm turns boiling hot. Because tends to let things mount up and up for so long, once in a while he'll have a sudden Outburst. He'll lose all of his usual control. The normally laid back, jokey Chance will suddenly punch someone whose been giving him a hard time or kiss the girl of his dreams with little warning. Sometimes it works and the bully backs off after that. Sometimes he ends up with a slapped face. It's kind of a mixed bag.

Luke Warm - The problem with being calm, level headed and patient is that it seems like you just don't care at all. It's true that Chance is lazy, that he has problems taking some things seriously and his calmness can mask his deeper feelings but it's not true that he doesn't care. It just doesn't seem like he does. This can lead to some huge problems, in communication with his loved ones and in his interactions with the world at large. For example, he used to work in an office. Despite getting his work done every day, despite being on time and generally getting along with his fellow employees he lost the job. He was let go because he just didn't seem to care about the company and because his unhurried (though steady) work methods raised concerns he wasn't giving it his all, that he could get more work done but settled just to do what he was was given.

Family: (All works out I think.)

Daniel J. Durant - Father
Chance and Sophie's father. Brother of John Durant and ____ Palomo.

____ Hawkins Mother
Chance and Sophie's mother. Reclaimed her maiden name of Hawkins after the divorce.

Sophie Hawkins - Sister
Chance's full sister, they just have the last names of the parent that raised them.

Marcella Palomo - Cousin
Cousin through his father's sister. Her father is _____ Palomo, her mother is _____ Palomo (formerly Durant).

Juliana J. Durant - Cousin
Cousin through his father's brother, John Durant. Her mother is Asli Nesrin Durant.
_____________________________________________

Chance is very much a product of his family.

His mother and father were wildly in love in the early years of their relationship but their marriage didn't last due to their conflicting personalities and parenting styles. They split, with his mother reclaiming her maiden name Hawkins and taking his sister Sophie with her to live in Australia.

Daniel J Durant is laid back but lazy and non committal, which was his contribution to the split of the family. Chance has inherited the first two of those traits and they've been nurtured by Daniel who rarely pushes his son to do anything. However, whereas his father was happy to separate from his wife rather than struggle on, it is not in his son's nature to give up on relationships. He might be laid back but Chance developed a possessive streak partly due to feeling the absence of his sister and mother in his life.

It took the death of a beloved grandmother to bring the two halves of the family back into contact. There were some vary awkward meetings when they were young where Chance and Sophie rebonded a little bit over games of dominos. With her moving to Destiny City, it worries him sometimes that as siblings they aren't actually all that close. Something to try to fix, maybe?

Meanwhile his cousins he's had more contact with.

Marcella Palomo is the first cousin on his father's side. He thinks she's wound too tight. And he doesn't understand why she doesn't take it easier, enjoy her wealth. He cares about her though they are pretty much polar opposites. He's watched Marcella work, work, work their whole lives and by his standards she's....just taken the harder route to get to where she wants to be. Rather than inspire him to work harder himself, his cousin's example has actually reaffirmed his idle nature. He knows how hard she has worked and while he'd never do it himself, he respects Marcella for it.

His second cousin Chance has on his father's side, Juliana J. Durant. He tends to call her Jules when he's not calling her a pain in the a**. While Chance is generally laid back, something about Jules just...gets to him. They bicker, they tease, they're incredibly close all things considered. Maybe it's because they were both cursed with the mysterious 'J' as a middle name. They also share the bad habit of smoking. And of not being in education, of working instead. And - yeah. They have stuff in common.

_____________________________________________

Dagmar Thorsen -love of his life roomate
Started off as a stranger, became the centre of the universe, which is really...awesome and terrible all at once.

Hey! Hopefully this will be a little helpful. I’m afraid I don’t really know how to critique, but I can ask questions to maybe get more ideas going?

First, I was curious about her hobby of playing guitar. Has she been playing long? Where did she pick it up? Did she take lessons or did a family member teach her?

Also, her photography. Where did she pick that hobby up? Did she just decide that she liked taking pictures or did someone show her how to do it?

I would also like to read more about her ironic viewpoint. Has it gotten her in trouble, before? Does she laugh in awkward situations or situations where she shouldn’t be amused?

Hope that helped some!

Crit!

The first thing I noticed - in your Dominos hobby, you mention that he's usually "more a computer or video game fan." But you never actually tell us more about this aspect of his life other than this passing mention. Given that there are a lot of video game lovers in the shop, this is an area that he could potentially connect to other characters with. If you're going to give it a mention at all, take a moment to describe a hobby section on it - let us know what sort of games he likes to play, how much he plays, etc.

Now, you say that he works at the library, but this brings all sorts of questions to mind. How did he get the job there? There's no mention of him being a particularly avid reader or book-lover; what connections brought him to that job in particular? If it was just about "giving back" to the community, there are more straightforward ways. Also, while I see why you bundled this with busking - they're both ways he brings in some income - I'd rather see the two split up. Busking might be better described under his guitar-playing, while working at the library - and the pieces of that which make it qualify as a hobby which defines some part of his character, and not just something that fills his time - should be its own entry.

As for the personality traits: I think you did a pretty good job in picking these out! They make sense for the character, and give us glimpses of depth that isn't explicitly written out. I'm not sure about how you named Introspective, though; to me, the trait just sounds like Confidence, while Introspective would imply something more like him being able to understand his own emotions (which, if you look at Outburst, doesn't seem to be the case) or else signify a character that is focused inward, not outward. I think what you were trying to get across with this was that he takes solace in himself, though, which could fit with Introspective if it were spun the right way. For now, though, the virtue's name is a bit misleading.

On Laid Back, I'd like to see... well, just more. It's a very brief description, and it feels more like a token virtue for a typical slacker character than something that is uniquely "Chance". If needed, give us an example of how he would act in a confrontation that displays this as a virtue - or else, talk a bit about how the trait developed (was he always laid back, or was it something he evolved into during his parent's divorce?)

When it comes to Morality Yo-Yo, I think that you ought to define the boundaries more clearly. He doesn't mind stealing public property - is that because he doesn't think of it as stealing? How's he feel about vandalism? What if it's private property - using the flowers example, say, tulips that someone's growing on their front porch? How about from a flower stand at a farmer's market? Is there any point at which the means are more important than the end, or is he the "big picture" guy that doesn't worry about those details?

I think that covers the most of the form, anyway. <3 Hope it helps!

For 'Reading', even librarians don't get unlimited renewals. After the second renewal, if someone requests the book? You need to return it ASAP or suffer late fees. At least, that's how it's been at the libraries I worked at. ^^; It's just a minor fact, but you may want to edit that out.

This is just a minor thing: you use "loose" and "loosing" a lot when it should be "lose"/"losing"? Just need to drop the extra 'o'. It's a small typo, but it's popped up several times in your profile. ^^

'Thisneedsaname' could easily be 'Grateful', or 'Content' or even 'It's the Small Things in Life.'

Overall, I really like how his virtues and flaws play REALLY WELL together. He's laid-back, but as consequence he's lazy and appears apathetic, but if you push his buttons long enough or give him reason to be insecure, he tries to be a good guy but sometimes it just doesn't happen. He strikes me as a VERY believable person, and one I look forward to seeing in RP. :3



[Edit!]
Er, your raffle prize is for Chauncy J. Durant" instead of "Amberly Hawkins," right? "Amberly Hawkins" is listed in the raffle stamping thread. XD ;;

Sorry 'bout the wait here, dude. @__@!!