Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 21, 2023 15:24:31 GMT 9
Hearing the other player be completely new as well let Saint breathe a little better. He already felt self-conscious, being designed more plainly despite bearing a holy name as well. If he was really going to commit to this, he shouldāve done what the other guy did. He shouldāve grabbed the wings and halo.
But then Mom puts out the plates, the little puff pastries that smelled so much like cinnamon that they were mouthwatering. Nephilim leads the conversation, and as he asks about their fictional fathers, he turns to Saint, who has just stuffed his mouth with his pastry.
āMmrph?ā Saint freezes, flushing immediately upon realizing itās already his turn to speak.
āOh, Iām glad you like it, my dears,ā Mom coos, taking her seat opposite of the two player characters, and taking to her own cinnamon roll with a knife and fork. āYouād like to hear about your fathers?ā She pouts, though itās playful. āYouāre heading off on your journeys and youād rather hear stories about those silly men instead of everything I went through, raising you two?ā
Saint nearly chokes as he forcibly swallows down the all-too-big bite he took. āNo! Iā I mean, weād love to hear about um. Your stories, if youād prefer,ā he says this while frantically patting away powder sugar from his mouth with a napkin.
Mom smiles appreciatively (with only a hint of mischief), her orange hair beads glittering under the light. āIf you insist! Well, to be honest, both of you were a handful in your own ways. Saint, you were such a little contrarian. Always demanding proof of this or thatā you had me draw up paperwork so youād go to bed! You only knew him for a little while before he ran off, but you really took after your father. Youād better not follow his steps and disappear for half a decade chasing the bureau, understand?ā
Saint blinks, bewildered, barely having time to process any of that bomb or even ask about the bureau before Mom forges ahead.
āAnd Nephilim!ā She giggles. āYou were such a mysterious child, I could never read what you were thinking. Sure, there wasnāt any paperwork, but so many strange things happened while you were little, I actually went and had to hire an exorcist one evening.ā She purses her lips, tapping the bottom with the end of her fork in thought. āThough there wasnāt anything supernatural. Just a storm causing the rafters to fall, and leaky pipes led to a bit of flooding. That also might be why the backyard tree got set on fire.ā
Then she shrugs, humming pleasantly to herself as she stabs the fork in a cinnamon roll. āWell, at least your father wasnāt as obsessive, but he was still certainly a workaholic. The man never rested, not even a little bit, until the end of the week.ā
Saint slowly squints, finding somethingā strange about all this. He looks over to Nephilim beside him, brows furrowed as if to say, Should we let her continue?
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 22:18:33 GMT 9
A head of messy brown locks pokes through the door. The second player to arrive seems reluctant to enter, brown eyes shifting left and right, taking in the cozy interior of Momās house as if approaching a minefield. When his eyes finally meet Nephilimās, the door suddenly shuts.
And then it creaks open again.
āWait, youāre notā¦ā he peeks in again, takes in Nephilimās appearance and, confirming it isnāt the face of his tormentor, finally walks through and gently closes the door behind him.
āHello there,ā Saint greets, his mouth obscured by a comically large collar, voice soft as he approaches the table. He still seems cautious of Nephilim, but is openly curious about him. Compared to his own avatar, this player has some very eye-catching cosmetics. He stands out quite starkly among the humble furniture populating the home.
āSaint!ā Mom finally takes notice of him, her apron fluttering as she turns, putting on some fluffy oven mitts designed to look like cute paws. āCome, sit with Nephilim, weāre just about to start eating. Do you boys prefer cinnamon or butterscotch? Oh, Iām sure Iāve asked you this before, but thereās been so much going on, what with your fatherā¦ā
Saint scoots into the chair beside Nephilim, as instructed. He does love how the dessert smells. Pie, maybe? The image of a mother bustling in the kitchen tugs at his heartstrings. It's been a long time since he saw his own. As Mom goes into her tangent, he leans over and asks the other player a question: āYou are... a new player, right? Did the quest already start?ā
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 13:56:52 GMT 9
Saint doesnāt say anything as he observes Argentās reactions. Heās still standing in the mud, his caked fingers curling into fists by his side, but he doesnāt say or do anything. Heās finally backing off.
Gumball grins, waving affectionately after the Charmander as he leaves to rejoin his trainer, as if to say So long! Come back and play with me again!
āGumball,ā comes a quiet voice once the other two have left, and Gumball turns to see his trainer dragging himself out of the pool. Saint bends down and picks up his starter with his hands under his little flippers, pulling him close until heās smushing the popplio against his chest, his face burrowed against his round blueberry head.
Gumball honks curiously, but Saint only shakes his head, squeezing him, and stays like that for a long time.
āā¦āā¦āā¦āā¦ā
Angelo does not leave his room that evening. He doesnāt let himself be seen in the morning eitherāsneaking out of their shared dorm despite it being the weekend. He packs up all his study materials in his backpack and goes off, deciding to spend the Sunday working in cafes and the library.
And of course, he leaves the money. It sits on the tiny table in the living room, the exact amount to cover both the pirated UNOVR copy and WorldVievv, at Argentās known rates.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 12:53:16 GMT 9
Saint squirms, feeling mud slither down his skin, his collar stainedāeverything stained by this point. Every word Argent spills only makes him angrier. āI didnāt think youād care!ā He growls. āItās worthless! But I guess youāre a lot cheaper than I thought.ā
Argent is holding him back with two hands on his chest, but Saint isnāt pushing to cover his face anymore. He sighs, out of shape and out of breath as he wipes the mud from his face. He looks down at Argent, nose still scrunched with displeasure, but clearly exhausted. āIf... If I fucking pay you for the dumb knockoff, will you leave me alone?ā
Gumball giggles, getting in a few good tosses as his improvised ball starts protesting in an absolutely adorable voice. Giving it one more mighty toss with his noseāa resounding HONK!āGumball then catches Charmander in his flippers as if they were acrobatic twins.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 12:15:49 GMT 9
Seeing the mud ruin Argentās snooty little fratboy face is terribly satisfying. Itās a short-lived victory though, as his roommate immediately gets back to smothering his face in the pool of mud.
Until Gumball and the Charmander careen into them. Gumball cheers, having slapped his performance partner enough times to reach the second phase of their act. Taking advantage of the moment of chaos, Gumball dives, tossing Charmander in the air, trying to spin and bounce him on his head like a big olā flaming bouncy ball.
Saint scrambles back up, dripping with mud and rage. āItās not even real! Youāre giving me shit over a WorldVyuv!ā Oh, this has been a long time coming. He shoves Argent down, scraping more mud from the pool under them to cover his infuriating mug.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 3:46:48 GMT 9
Gumball laughs, even as the Charmander lunges at him with claws splayed, even as said claws rake up his blueberry body, missing his face only by virtue of his absolutely insane movements. He flips and flops throughout the melee, as malleable as a pool noodle. Heās having fun!
When opportunity presents itself, he bounces back up, before attempting to slap slap slap the little Charmanderās silly orange cheeks.
Saint slams into the mud, his palms bracing to keep his face from colliding with the muck, but to no avail. Argent hisses in his ear and a grip secures his hair before pushing him down. The sensation is disgusting.
Saint turns his head, his cheek dragging against the mud to keep breathing. āFinn, you are such aā¦ā His hand curls into the mud, anger rising inside him. āSuch a fucking dick!ā He twists his body, tossing a handful of mud in Argentās face.
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Saint
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Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 3:27:11 GMT 9
He can hear Argent cursing him and it only propels his feet further. Of all the places they couldāve started in, it really had to be a huge open plain?!
A hard metallic ball slams into the back of his skull as if it were a bullseye on a pub dartboard. His foot misses the next step and heās sent crashing on the dirt, groaning in a heap of cloth and limbs.
Gumball wiggled out of his shirt right before impact. The popplio lands perfectly on the ground in front of his fallen trainer, flippers spread out as if to say āTadah!ā before his smiling gaze takes in the Charmander that pops out of the ball. Now does nailing his trainer in the head count as a turn?
The answer is yes!
Saint slowly raises himself off the ground, soreness radiating from the back of his head. The soil under his palms is squishy. He turns his gaze over to where Argent stands, spotting Gumball surrounding himself in a hamster ball of water before launching at a Charmander with AQUA JET. āWait, Gumball, no!ā
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 2:21:28 GMT 9
The awkwardness that hangs between them is lethal. Argent staring at him with this dumbstruck look, Saint completely embarrassed and now experiencing the dawning horror that Argent seems to think heās serious.
But Gumball pops out of his collar, the popplio wiggling his little nose at Argent before sticking his entire head out of Saintās shirt. His smile stretches wide at the sight of the new friend, but then he notices the arm wrapped tight around his trainerās shoulders. Oh no, that simply wouldnāt do. Heāll need to teach this one how to play nice.
Gumball opens his mouth and uses WATER GUN on him.
Saint yelps, using the opportunity to duck out from under Argentās grip. āAlright good talk, gottagobye!ā He springs to a stand, and with Gumball still clutched against his chest (the popplio peeking over his shoulder to stare unblinkingly at Argent), he books it as fast as his legs can take him down the steppe.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 0:58:42 GMT 9
Saintās panic meter is about to top off. Thereās no telling what Argent will do, what heāll demand, and the grip around his shoulders is starting to feel like a tightened steel clamp.
And then Gumball honks, and Saint doesnāt even have time to brace himself before Argent grabs his chest, his heart leaping and blood rushing his face and neck. How can this guy just do shit like this?
āIāthatāsāIām justāā He wraps his arms around Gumball, the popplio getting restless over being covered, but Argent is staring at him with a look that bodes only bad omens, and he has to give an answer for the bump right fucking now orāāPregnant.ā
His lips roll inward, mortification setting in soon after he realizes what just came out of his mouth. It hadnāt been on his whiteboard, but he supposes heāll have to die now. This is fine.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 20, 2023 0:07:16 GMT 9
The sound of a familiar voice freezes his blood in his veins, his eyes shot wide as a weight throws itself around his shoulders, squeezing him. Squeezing the air out of him. A light bonk and suddenly heās mere inches away from the face of his roommateāundoubtably his roommate, from the mane of white hair to his cocksure face.
Saint is unable to speak until he feels the arm around him squeeze him ever tighter, argentās voice dripping with false chumminess.
āConsider it a maintenance fee,ā Saint grits out, the fatigue in him turning into frustration. He attempts to yank himself away from Argent, but thereās no escaping the guyās grip. His heart is beating fast.
In a fit of panic, he grabs Gumball and shoves him under his shirt, trying to protect and hide him. āWhat are you doing here?ā Saint hisses, keeping his voice low as if trying to hide their familiarity from the greater public. āYou donāt even like Pokemon!ā Heās been under the assumption he wasnāt, since he never saw him play UNOVR despite selling it for months.
Under his shirt comes a writhing shape, and faint honking.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 19, 2023 5:22:43 GMT 9
Despite completing his introduction and acquiring his starter, Saint had yet to move forwards. Between the sudden rush of project deadlines and having to cover the shifts of missing staff at the storeās already barebones crew, Angelo simply didnāt have time for videogames.
It took over a week before he finally found some time to play, at the end of his shift, late into a Saturday, as Sundays would be entirely dedicated to the school deadlines on Monday. And since this was a weekend, it was also safe to assume Finn wouldnāt be home (not that he was ever home much in the first place). Frats usually threw their busiest parties during the weekend, right?
āI wonderā¦ā Saint is sitting at the edge of the research camp, sat on a little boulder with Gumball in his lap. Heās looking over to the fantastical landscape, admiring the rumbling skies, the strange, floating spires that hang in the air ā an apparently recent development.
Gumball pauses where heās juggling a few rocks to look up at him. Saint smiles, cradling him closer. āJustā¦ Iām not sure what to do next. We could exploreā¦ do the tutorials, or maybe my first questā¦ā He sounds tired as he lists the last two. āA lot of these would require other players, thoughā¦ā
Gumball honks his nose at him. The popplio still hasnāt uttered a word, despite Saint having checked his settings, and knowing pokemon can talk by observing the other newbies loitering the camp with their starters. He thinks heās slowly getting a grasp of his signals, though. āWant to make some new friends?ā Saint asks, scratching the popplioās chin, which is rewarded with some (mildly painful) tail slaps on his leg.
Honk!
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 18, 2023 20:15:26 GMT 9
Saint accepts the Pokeball in both gloved hands. Poking the button in the center causes it to pop open, something falling out that he barely manages to catch in his arms.
A dog blinks up at him. A little blue dog with the body of a sea lion. āOh. Youāre a strange one, arenāt you?ā he says absently, adjusting to carry him as if he were a baby. The pokemonāPopplio, which he recalls to be a starter from the Alola gamesāsmiles wide, before moving to press his bright pink nose on his cheek.
Honk!
It startles a small laugh out of Saint. āAnd cute. I shouldā¦ name you. hmā¦ā As Saint falls into contemplation, the popplio appears wholly unbothered, preoccupying himself by blowing little bubbles from his nose and pulling silly faces.
He considered continuing after his username, but naming something so cute after saints or biblical figures just seemed ridiculous. And he was a sweet pokemon with that big nose soā¦ āGumball?ā he says as if asking the popplio. āWould you be okay with that name?ā
The popplio looks at him, still smiling, and he opens his mouth. Saintās attention is grabbed; right, he had chosen āYesā for Pokemon Speech, so maybe this willā
Honk! HonkhonkhonkhonkhonkHONK!
The popplio begins repeatedly jamming his nose in Saintās cheek, releasing a flurry of honks appropriate for clown traffic. Saint laughs, having to hold the little popplioās face away to stop him. Itās still concerning how his pokemon has yet to speak, but he seems happy. āIāll take that as a yes.ā
Saint turns, a little flustered, Gumball still cradled in his arms. āSorry, professor. I got distracted. Thank you for giving me my starter.ā
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 18, 2023 14:36:49 GMT 9
āA natural talentā¦ā Saint mulls it over, his eyes trailing from the Professor to a corner of the room. He knows his skills, the things he can do because heād spent hours practicing and planning. But a talent insinuates effortlessness, doesnāt it? āDoesā¦ organization count? No, thatās more of a skillā¦ā And then it comes to him. Heād forgotten. āSwimming. Surfing, to a degree. I took to both faster than any of my siblings, but it has been a long time since I visited the beach.ā
The second question he has no trouble with. āNo. Thatās unsanitary.ā Heās always been particular about cleanliness, but there is still some doubt in the back of his head. Had he done it? During those harsh times? Was he so ashamed he blocked it from his memory?
Saint blinks, and does not show his growing internal panic.
His effort is ruined by the time heās asked the third question. āDo I have to answer that?ā He says, voice going up a pitch, and head going down into his collar. Thereās no blushing with his complexion, but his embarrassment is clear in literally everything else. With his big saucer eyes, he looks exactly like the cat from Vanessa Stockardās paintings.
He does, eventually, manage to answer, but heās still sunk into the collar, so it comes out tiny and muffled. āI guess somewhereā¦ quiet. I just. Iām fine with anything. If Iām going out with them, then I already like them for who they are, soā¦ so the other stuff isā¦ā
He stares pleadingly at the professor to move on.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 17, 2023 22:36:36 GMT 9
Saint opens his eyes with ease, relieved to find himself in the shade. After a few days without sleep, heās uncertain how well his sight could take natural sunlight. But these arenāt his real eyes. They see the world without borders.
He turns at the sound of a womanās voice. āOh, yes. I amā¦ā She looked so real. They hadnāt been kidding about how theyād pulled all the stops in this game, though thereās no way for him to tell if this is the quality theyād intended, since the equipment heās using isā¦ sub-optimal. But he flexes his fingers, tugs the plush collar around his neck thatās tall enough to obscure his mouth, and thinks this will do nicely.
The poster on the wall is familiar. Saint is not a die-hard pokemon fan, but it had its presence in his childhood. Most of the little critters there are familiar, but anything past the Sun and Moon generation is lost on him.
He listens quietly and attentively as the professor dictates what will happen next, his hands feeling strangely empty. He feels like he should be taking notes.
At her smile, some of his nervousness eases. āUnderstood. Iāll take the testā¦ Uh. M-maāam,ā he quickly amends, inclining his head, because Professor Ash reminds him a lot of the stricter professors in his courses, and if heās learned anything in his abysmal experience in higher education, itās that even the little details can mean the tipping point for a teacherās good graces.
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Saint
•
Weekend Warrior
Round 2
Posts: 386
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Angelo Alvarez
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 10
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Post by Saint on May 16, 2023 14:36:04 GMT 9
PLAYER: Angelo Alvarez | CHARACTER: Saint | | | PRONOUNS: He/Him AGE: 25 ORIENTATION: Demisexual LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio, USA OCCUPATION: Burned out Pharma Student, Part-Timer | GENDER: M AGE: Adult ENABLE PKMN SPEECH? Yes PAIN THRESHOLD: Reduced TRAINER CLASS: Swimmer |
OUT OF THE GAMEAngelo hails from humble beginnings. Heās the eldest among four rowdy siblings and the favored son of two kind but strict working-class parents, which meant he was trained on responsibility from a young age. He relied on no one and thrived quite well, earning top grades and high regard among his family, teachers, and the friends his parents happily bragged to.
He surfed through most of his education, and by the time he finished high school, he was set to go abroad on an incredible opportunity to study and eventually become a doctorāthe very first in his family. It was the dream his parents had always wanted for him.
From his cozy home in the Philippines, he traveled to America, and began a new chapter in his life.
What he hadnāt anticipated was how short that chapter would be.
It wasnāt even that he hadnāt tried. He had never tried harder. Countless nights without sleep, cramming his head full of information, wearing his books to nothing, badgering his professors, and spending an unholy amount of time at facilities. He had bled for it.
By the end of his second year, his grades had plummeted to the point he couldnāt qualify for his scholarship, and he dropped out.
He is now scrambling to fix it.
It took some time, but he moved to Cleveland and found the smallest college there that would sponsor him. He chose a major that wouldnāt kill him, found part-time work at a little bookstore that also wouldnāt kill him, and got a roommate for a dorm that would maybe kill him but heās willing to take that chance.
His parents call him every week. He has told them nothing. And he will continue to tell them nothing, because theyāre always accommodating him; never asking even if he hasnāt returned home in years; always reminding him that they love him, that they believe in him. He will continue to tell them nothing, because he still has friends in actual medical school with stories he can appropriate.
And maybe, if he studies hard, heāll make the shift to his old major. Maybe if he lives frugally and saves each cent, heāll earn enough for his family to apologize. And maybe, if he waits, heāll get his shit together.
Or maybe the time will run out, and it will all come crashing down on him in a cathartic supernova.
Regardless.
Itās a quiet day. Heās alone in his shared dorm, because Finn is a rich brat who has better things to do than panic over a dorm inspection that could get them kicked out because of all the illegal merchandise he's been hoarding. Thereās an unread email on his clunky old laptop from a professor regarding his grades this semester, which he is pretending doesnāt exist.
He finds one of the many Nintendo WorldScreens and copies of UNOVR his roommate has been pawning off as genuine.
And decides, whatever.
His life is in shambles. Heās earned a vacation, at least. | INSIDE THE GAME Saint is Angelo if he had just a bit more time to himself, and also 20/20 vision. Thereās an element of wish fulfilment there that didnāt quite reach fruition because heād been too embarrassed to add anything too eye-catching or strayed from what he actually looked like in real life. Angeloās brain had demanded he tempered other peopleās expectations, even in virtual reality, so no fancy wings and no halos.
The key differences between Saint and Angelo are his lack of raccoon eyebags and prescription glasses, hair thatās actually cut to a length Angelo prefers, and a ton of equipment. Saint is always prepared with first aid supplies. He goes around in bulky, bell-shaped coats with a hundred pockets, and most notably a large collar that is used for when a situation calls for a hasty, turtle-style retreat.
In terms of play style, he is quite happily what you call a filthy casual. Heās allergic to competition and isnāt even fun to challenge because heāll back down in a heartbeat. His greatest motivation is to go around and help other players by acting as a healer, lowkey trying to rediscover his desire to take care of people after having that desire crushed by medical school and working retail. | FACE CLAIMS Thorns from Arknights All images by Manjyufroth.
| OOC NAME sleepy
| STARTER PKMN Do you want to receive your starter in-character at the Starter Lab?
YES, I CHOOSE POPPLIO! START ME A THREAD!
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