Post by anthonyblake on Jul 16, 2012 2:47:20 GMT -6
ANTHONYRICHARDBLAKE
Shine a light through an open door
Full Name>>Anthony Richard Blake
Nicknames>>Tony
Age>> June 11th 1998; 14
Staff or Student>> Student (freshman)
House>> Yellow Ribbon House
Gender>> Male
Sexuality>> Bisexual
Play By>> Donald Glover
Alias>> Summer
Turn away 'cause I need you more
Personality>>
The first thing to know about Anthony - or Tony, as he prefers to be called - is that he always wants to please. It's hardwired into him (a product of rather distant parents), and he'll go to ridiculous lengths to keep those around him happy. Because of this desperate desire to please, it can be hard to get a read on his personality, as he moulds himself to fit those around him, moulds himself to present what he thinks everyone wants from him. He can just as easily be a quiet, diligent student as he can be a bouncy prankster, and the way in which he changes can either confuse people, or give the impression that Tony never tells the truth and wants only to manipulate those around him.
While it is true that Tony does manipulate those around him, he does so mostly subconsciously, and only in the hope that everyone will like him, for he really wants little else from life but that. Discord and argument make him intensely uncomfortable, and though he slides between precise and controlled with his parents and loose and joking with his friends, he is really a very genuine person, who is usually happy. He can get excited about almost anything, and is ever enthusiastic, always the first to volunteer and the last to sit down and rest.
His desire to please makes him very susceptible to manipulation, and his equally strong desire to avoid argument means that it can be difficult to get an actual opinion out of him, for he is far more likely to enthusiastically agree with anyone. He is often a complete pushover, and has upon more than one occasion taken the fall for his friends, but there is also a rather passive aggressive side to him, and though he rarely openly disagrees, he can be very whiney in his displeasure.
Easily led, Tony considers himself to be a coward, for he is very cognizant of the fact that he avoids conflict like a pro, and that he also prefers to avoid problems, hoping that if he bounces along with a smile on his face then all of his troubles will just go away. However much he might torment himself for having no courage (privately, of course, for Tony's chatty nature belies the fact that he keeps anything that bothers him tightly locked away) he is in fact his own worst critic, and though he can be convinced into a great deal of things, if something goes against his strong moral grain then he will protest (eventually), however terrified he will be about doing so.
Likes>>
+ People! All of them! Well, most of them, anyway.
+ Everyone being happy.
+ Helping people.
+ The early morning hours before most people are awake, when everything is still and quiet.
+ Long rides across country.
+ Animals: not only horses, but everything from mayflies to blue whales captures Tony's interest.
+ The weather: be it storms or cloudless skies, Tony gets a thrill out of watching the weather, and can frequently be found jumping around in showers of rain.
+ Hot chocolate.
+ Music. Always having loved singing along to the radio, Tony started guitar lessons when he was 10, and violin lessons at 13, and uses music as a way to relax and calm down.
+ Call Me Handsome - however daft his horse is, Tony adores the gelding, and will defend him to anyone.
+ Learning new things. Never one to turn down opportunities, Tony quite happily gives anything a go at least once.
Dislikes>>
- Arguments and conflict; he will do almost anything to avoid them.
- Bullies, and those who either look down upon or are cruel to others.
- People being unhappy with him.
- Maths. It's completely evil. No, it is, really.
- Orange juice.
- Not understanding his school subjects. He knows he's not a genius, and is usually quite content with that, but he hates struggling with assignments and not doing well in class.
- Being new somewhere and not knowing anyone.
Fears>>
- Being alone, and having no friends or anyone to rely on.
- Disappointing others.
- Heights. While usually not crippling, heights do make him intensely uneasy, and the only time he's ever tried to climb a tree he only got halfway up before panicking and needing to be coaxed down by his elder brother.
Hopes>>
+ One day he wants to have a job where he helps people - or help animals. He hasn't quite decided yet...
+ To do well at Blue Ridge and make it onto one of the competition teams.
+ To make his parents proud of him.
+ Some day, he wants to travel and see the world. He's always thought that Kenya or Tanzania would be a really cool place to go.
Secrets>>
- He wishes he were braver.
- He wishes he got on better with his family.
- It is sometimes very, very tiring trying to be what everyone else wants you to be.
It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny
Appearance>>
Tony is at that stage in his life where all his limbs are growing and he isn't quite in control of any of them, so he looks rather long and gangly, and has a tendency to fall over things. Dark skinned, Anthony keeps his hair quite short (if he doesn't, it has this tendency to be ridiculously all over the place) and can almost always be found with a smile on his face. Slender in build, riding and working with horses has given Tony more muscle than one might think, and he has the enviable ability to eat whatever he wants and never put on any weight. Even at the beginning of his growth spurts he is tall, about 1.6m high, and the way he's growing he promises to top out quite a bit taller; being lithe in build and not particularly heavy he can ride both horses and ponies.
Though he usually dresses for comfort and practicality over fashion, he is quite capable of cleaning up for special occasions, and indeed quite enjoys the chance to put on a tie and a nice shirt. Otherwise, he can be found in jeans and t-shirts, or jodhpurs if he's riding.
Markings>> A tangle of nasty scars on his left thigh from a painful encounter with some barbed wire when he was 12.
But I’ve gotta let it go
Medical History>> Stitches to his leg for gashes caused by barbed wire when he 12.
Criminal History>> None.
Full History>>
Family:
Mother - Mary Susan Blake, nee Montague, 43, physics lecturer at California Institute of Technology.
Father - Jonathon Martin Blake, 45, astronomy lecturer at California Institute of Technology.
Elder Brother - Richard Henry Blake, 20, studying maths at Harvard University.
The Blake family is not a particularly close, loving family, and Tony has always suffered from feeling like the black sheep of the family. He prefers horses to maths, his guitar to thoughtful discussions upon the nature of black holes, and watching storms to analyzing why they happen. That's not to say he's had an unhappy upbringing, just that he often wishes his parents would actually hug him, or actually cared about his riding beyond whether or not he was beating other people in competitions, or would stop comparing all his achievements to his brothers (who is invariably better).
Born and raised in Pasadena, California, Tony became used to trying to be the perfect child from a very young age, the elusive perfection of his elder brother never quite within his reach. He adored (and still does adore, in fact) his brother, trailing Richard around and trying to emulate absolutely everything he did. In turn, Richard is the only member of the family who really supports Tony in doing what he wants to do, rather than what his parents want him to do, and before he went to university always made the time to come to Tony's riding competitions or orchestra performances.
Riding first came into Tony's life when he was nine, and a friend of his took him down to the stable where they rode. His first sight of a horse was that of a big bay jumping around a cross country course, and from that moment, Tony was lost. It took a great deal of persuading for his parents to let him start riding (and Tony is forever grateful for Richard's help) as they felt that Tony didn't really need to concern himself with anything but schoolwork, but eventually they were convinced, and Tony started taking lessons.
Once they were decided upon letting him ride, his parents were entirely certain upon the fact that Tony was going to do very well, and so spared no expense in his training. He had been riding two years when he took a horse on loan from the stables, a schoolmaster named Gertie's Luck, and his parents pushed him into competing at the same time. He soon found he enjoyed competing, liking the challenge and the goals that it offered, and by the time he was 11 it was clear that he had a natural talent for riding, and was being allowed to ride other people's horses.
Emboldened by the success of his riding, when Tony was ten he convinced his parents into letting him learn how to play the guitar, and two years later managed to angle for violin lessons as well, despite his parents continued worries that Tony wasn't nearly as academic as they had expected him to be. From about the age of 11 Tony was quite aware of the fact that he was rather a disappointment to his parents because he was clearly not going to follow in their footsteps: his maths and physics grades were only passable, his passions lay in animals and music, and he preferred scrambling through the countryside to studying (one such scramble which led to a trip to the ER, and scars on his leg he has to this day, from when he skidded down a rocky gully and tore his leg open on some barbed wire). Somehow, no matter how hard he tried, he was never quite good enough.
Even if his parents were not particularly emotionally supportive of his riding, they still wanted him to do well at it (for in their estimation, there was no point in doing something unless you were good at it) and it was this desire that led first to them buying a horse for Tony, and then to sending him to Blue Ridge, which also impressed them with its academic record. The first of these decisions led to Tony becoming the owner of Call Me Handsome, a horse that his parents don't really approve of because he's rather nervous and frequently an idiot, but whom Tony believes in fiercely.
The second of these decisions led to them sitting Tony down in the dining room, and gravely informing him that they were sending him to a riding boarding school. Tony hasn't quite been able to shake the thought that they're getting rid of him, shoving their disappointing son (the one who isn't Richard, who almost certainly isn't going to go to Harvard, the one who isn't the boy they want him to be) out of sight and out of mind. Still, it's not all bad, because at Blue Ridge he'll be able to ride as much as he likes, and maybe he'll do well enough in both riding and his school to make his parents really, truly, proud of him.
We found love in a hopeless place
Pet Name>> Reginald
Registered Name>>None
Age>> 6
Species>> Butler's Garter Snake (Thamnophis butleri)
Breed>> NA
Registry>> None
Personality>>
Even for a species renowned for being good in captivity, Reginald is a particularly friendly snake, quite happy to curl himself in Tony's hands or to hang around his neck like a vibrant, breathing necklace. He really likes human contact, in fact, and Tony has never had any issues with him being aggressive or shy; he's quite the opposite in fact, and even when Tony first got him he liked slithering across him. Fairly lazy, Reggie is most content when being allowed to lie around (preferably somewhere warm) and refuses to be upset by anything. Getting worked up just requires far too much effort, after all!
History>> Reginald was something of an accidental addition to Tony's life when Tony was 13. A friend from school who kept snakes had to leave the country, and so Tony - who had always been fascinated by his snakes, in the way he was fascinated by most animals - had agreed to take one of them on. The argument this had led to with Tony's parents was massive, but in the end Tony had prevailed (partly because he so rarely argued for anything that his parents were a little surprised) and so the easy-going Garter Snake gained a tank in his room.
Appearance>>
23 inches long.
Here
