Post by Ethereal Chambers on Sept 19, 2011 14:27:37 GMT -5
Full Name: Ethereal James Chambers
Nicknames: Ether, Ethy
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Birthdate: December 8th
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 172 lbs
Appearance
Rather than the thick, muscular physique many boys of his age strove for, Ethereal possessed more of a lean, lithe figure, with evident muscle yet in a primarily bulkless way. Long maroon bangs spilled down across a handsomely angled face, messy and unkempt in contrast with the rest of his appearance. Violet eyes stared out from beneath those red lengths, their shape and hue giving him a soothingly calm yet serious and intent air. Even when at work, whether training or otherwise, the boy's posture never failed to be somewhat casual, though still tensed in its own way like a tightly wound spring concealed in a cardboard box.
Though rarely seen with his chest of back exposed, Ethereal did have a rather extensive tattoo curling its way across his torso. The intricate latticework of black ink vines weaving their way across his chest, stomach, back and shoulders, the ends of which disappear beneath the canopy of a tribal-style rose in full bloom. If asked, the male would admit that the tattoo itself was of noteworthy significance to him, though could never quite be found admitting why.
On a while, Ethereal was the kind of guy most wouldn't be surprised to see walk straight out of a fairy tale as a knight clad in shining silver armor.
Not that he actually did ever wear armor. Ethereal's choice in clothing was rarely seen as anything short of formal, the male most commonly found wearing a form-fitting white button-down dress shirt beneath a sleek black and red jacket, buttonless and trimmed with a dull gold, the rather extravagant ensemble completed with the odd choice of a pair of simple black pants held up by his forehead protector as a belt, worn on a leather strap rather than a cloth backing.
Around his neck at all times on a silver chain was a small rose pendent, also seeming to carry some significance to him while making it quite clear what his favorite flower was. The adornment of the necklace was something he only ever gave up when bathing, wearing it at any and all other times, even when sleeping, though it was occasionally tucked into his shirt when the situation demanded it.
Personality
A man who's reason for living is the the mere act of living an adventure, and the hidden hope that he will one day discover an even more worthy reason. By his appearance, most would assume him to live in the lap of social popularity, or at least be the outgoing type. Neither was the case, however. Ethereal had quite the quiet, reserved demeanor about him, and his noncommittal way of answering nearly all questions commonly caused him to be passed off as anti-social, or even cold and arrogant. Though the arrogance wasn't far from the mark; he did possess a certain degree of vanity, mostly in regards to his appearance.
Beneath the cold, placid exterior was a guy who was, at his core, a curious mix of easy-going and perfectionist. Most of the time he gave off an "I could care less" attitude, though when something out-of-place did catch his attention, such as a rule being blatantly broken or a picture frame hanging a little too far to one side, Ethereal seemed almost physically compelled to fix it. But, his favorite way to pass the time remained as the simple action of sitting in a luxurious arm chair facing a window and listen to the pitter-patter of the falling rain with a cup of piping hot tea, wasting his day away in fanciful day-dreams. When he wasn't out training, of course, which took up far more of his time than his preferred relaxation method.
Being a hopeless romantic at heard, Ethereal has always idolized the nobility of a code of honor, and attempts in most occasions to always uphold those ideals, from always fighting and competing fairly and beyond. His answers were invariably honest ones, or were blatant refusals to answer at all, though he did have a tendency to give an impressive lack of detail, or merely present one with a half-answer, telling part but not all of the full truth. Additionally, women are held in a higher regard than men, though not in a coddling 'You must not fight' kind of way, but rather in terms of respect given.
In combat, Ether changes into what seems to be an entirely different person, going from easy-going to an aggressive calm, often wearing the faint trace of a smile on his lips, looking to be truly at home on the battlefield.
Background:
Most children were raised being told "No one loves you more than your parents." Ethereal James Chambers was no exception to this rule. He didn't have a particularly happy family; he was an only child and his parents constantly seemed to be fighting about something.
But when you went to bed every night being assured that mommy and daddy loved you, what child couldn't help but be satisfied? He'd eventually come to fancy himself a bit of a superhero, viewing himself as the sole force that kept his parents together, a fact they did nothing but agree with whenever he brought it up. All-in-all, he was rather pleased with his life in their quaint little city home.
However, fate had decided that he wasn't going to be enough to hold the family together for long. One night after a particularly nasty squabble between his mom and dad, both seemed to have gotten it into their heads that leaving without telling the other was a good idea! Imagine poor Ethereal's surprise when he woke up one morning to find one note in the living room explaining how mommy couldn't stand daddy anymore and was leaving to live with family, then head to the kitchen to receive a similar note from daddy. Neither one had left information telling exactly where they'd gone, but at least daddy had left in an envelop next to the note a sizable sum of money. The eight year old unintentionally left behind by both parents, not quite grasping the severity of the situation, celebrated what he assumed would be a temporary relief from the watchful eyes of his parents by spending a bit of the money of massive quantities of candy, then engorging himself for days to come.
The problem with a child consuming copious amounts of candy is that they inevitably get sick from it. And when a child's sick, who else would they look for but their parents. It was at this time that Ether, after further study of the two notes left behind, finally realized exactly what had happened. He then did what any other little boy would do; cried. A lot. And when he was hungry, he took some of the money left by daddy and spent it on food, then fell asleep. And the process repeated for several days. But why didn't he go to a friend or neighbor for help? Well, that answer was simple; if mommy and daddy weren't going to take care of you, then who would? And since his parent's constant fighting wasn't a very good way for them to keep friends for long, no one seemed to notice their absence and come to check on him.
But, oddly enough, in the end, that proved to suit young Ethereal just fine. For a young boy, he proved to possess a remarkable degree of resourcefulness and intelligence. The money left behind from him by his father was enough to get him by just fine for a long while, and when he finally started noticing that his supply of cash was dwindling he started doing what he did for amusement as more of a profession; stealing. On top of being clever for a child, Ether had found that he was also far more agile than the average adult, often even able to outrun one in a straight sprint. When slight-of-hand wasn't enough to let him escape scott-free, running certainly was.
Around the age of twelve he got a respectable job as a paper boy, though this was only so he could have extra money beyond what he rationed from the remaining money from his father to attend martial arts lessons, though was a rather uncommitted, lazy student as far as kids went. Most lessons went skipped, and because of that he never ended up being very good, only ever actually getting the basics down pat. But as he liked to say, he was damn good at the basics by now!
This trend continued for a while, with no noticeable benefit to his martial arts being seen until he finally, after a full year of starting at his martial arts school, began changing his life-style to a more honorable way of living. His teacher drilled into him virtues and codes of conduct, while a growing fascination with tales of great knights and kings drove him to admire chivalry. He gave up stealing altogether to commit himself more fully
Sadly for Ether, lazing around for most of the day and only working a single paper route was hardly a successful way for one to earn a living. But where in the past fate had been cruel to him, it now seemed to smile upon him when a letter arrived from his long-lost father who, after hearing of the unfortunate aftermath of the night he though he'd left alone, decided to own up to his mistake and send a monthly stipend for his son to continue to live comfortably off of. This was not without its consequence though; accumulated bitterness toward his sire caused Ethereal to resent the house they'd once lived together in, since neither parent was there to take the anger themselves. He soon moved out (naturally after telling his father the new address to send the money to) to a small apartment nearer the heart of the city
Now a young man of seventeen, Ethereal has finally decided it's time for him to go on a Pokemon journey of his own, a decision he berated himself over and over for not being made sooner. But, still in the final throes of youth, the boy has finally decided 'better late than never' and set off on his travels.