Post by traviswhistler on Dec 6, 2010 0:23:30 GMT -5
[/b][/center][/blockquote]Travis Whistler
~~~~~~ BASICS[/b]
Full Name: Travis Troy Whistler
Nickname(s): Trav, Whistler
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Age/Birthday: Age: 25 / 2nd of March, 2436.
Race: Human
Place of Birth/Home Town: Little River, Georgia, United States
~~~~~~ APPEARANCE[/b]
Character Portrayal: Ben Foster
Hair: Blond, kept short in a military cut
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'6
Individual Features: Heavily tattooed, with a jagged shrapnel scar on his right leg from an explosion aboard his last ship.
~~~~~~ INFLUENCES[/b]
Family:
Father: Troy Whistler
Mother: Kasey Whistler
Little Sister: Amy Whistler
Friends: Aboard the Venia, none yet. Keeps in contact with a number of friends still serving in the UGAP armed forces.
Enemies: R4.
Job: Engineer, specializing in reactor mechanics.
~~~~~~ PERSONALITY[/b]
Personality:
- Determined and extremely hard working, when he sets his mind to accomplishing something, it gets done.
- While he has a low tolerance for mistakes and having to give directions twice, he has nearly infinite patience for someone he knows is trying.
- Is socially awkward, though he masks it by channeling his energy into being outgoing.
- Despite his no-nonsense attitude toward work, never lost his ornery streak. He is a habitual joker.
- Is deeply religious, though his faith is unconventional and extremely personal.
Likes:
- Loud music, and listens to musical constantly, especially when working. While sometimes an irritance to those working around him, he won't take offense to smack on the back to get his attention.
- Tattoos. Travis is wears full sleeves and is tattooed from the waist up, front and back, in addition to his lower left leg and the right side of his neck. They bear intense meaning to him and he considers himself lucky that the shrapnel that almost crippled him struck his right leg instead of his left.
- Energy drinks. Makes every effort to ignore medical officers' warnings about his caffeine intake.
- Cigarettes. See the above outlook on medical officers' warnings.
- Beer. Any and all.
- Honest effort. He respects a good work ethic and willingness to try above almost anything.
- Anything mechanical.
- Weapons of any sort. While serving in the UGAP naval forces he was one of the few engineering crewmen who was part of the visit, board, search and seizure team and can disassemble, clean, and reassemble most standard issue weapons in expert time.
Dislikes:
- Infidelity. Be it to a lover or a cause, he views this as one of the lowest acts a person is capable and is utterly unforgiving.
- Disrespectful behavior. Respect is an important component of his belief system and unless given a reason to withold it, he will make his best effort to show it.
- Condesention. With a small town, rural background and a poor upbringing he was subjected to a vast and colorful array of commentary on his competence. Will not react well to having his intelligence insulted.
- Arrogance. While he does believe one should always make the most of their potential, he dislikes flaunting it. In his mind, work counts for more than talent, and if one is really good at something, it will show for itself.
- Short jokes. He's heard 'em all. Though from a close friend, he considers it a sideways form of affection.
- Seeing the helpless exploited. It just pisses him off.
Fears:
- Helplessness. When wounded onboard the heavy cruiser Resonant, he had to be carried out of a radiation flooded space by two friends, nearly resulting in their own deaths from radiation exposure. While he appreciates their actions, their near-deaths weighs on his conscience and he holds on to the unreasonable belief that he could have escaped on his own.
- Failing aboard the Venia. Serving in the UGAP Navy was the first pursuit Travis had been successful with and was his sole plan for making something of himself. When he was discharged for his injury, he was left without a means for supporting himself and his family. After being recruited for the Venia, he again placed his hopes in on a ship and a mission.
~~~~~~ HISTORY[/b]
History: Travis Whistler was born a little too smart for his own good in a town a little too small for his aims. He became known as a good hearted but ornery troublemaker around town and a waste of potential in his hometown school, except on the football team. His small size was made up for by his speed on his feet, something he credited to 'that feelin' you get when something big enough to kill you is comin' straight for your face.'. After two years on the team he was declared academically inelligible to play and kicked off, after which his already lackluster grades declined sharply and his involvement with the law increased just as sharply. After a handful of nights in the county lockup and one too many rides in the back of the sherrif's patrol craft, he was given an ultimatum by the law. Serve the time that had been foregone before or put his well known cleverness to good use in the military.
Initially intending to take the time over a commitment to good order and discipline, he took a moment to look over his shoulder to see his family one more time from outside the confines of a correctional facility. He came up short one father and one mother, and found a little sister tearfully hanging her head. It then sank in that they had run out of patience with him. For the first time in his life, on the spot, he took an honest inventory of his youth and came up short there too. He hung his own head and gave his answer to the judge. He returned home and packed late that night and left without a word. On the front lawn his father caught him and shook his hand, and gave him another first. "Son, you're doin' right."
Against all odds and patterns of behavior, he excelled in the service, steeling himself and falling in line out of a sense of responsibility to his family and penance for hurting them, and found the camaraderie helpful too. People around him came to rely on his cool head and quick thinking. Upon graduating the rigorous schooling for engineering personnel, he reported the heavy cruiser Resonant for duty. He served honorably and without incident, coming to like the structure and constant tasking, and was known as a reliable workhorse who would gladly sacrifice a port call for a repair job on a bad power coupling or faulty actuator.
After a short time on board he decided on making a career of it, much to the delight of his family back home. His plan was, however, disrupted by an act of sabotage by R4. A saboteur recruited from his own section deliberately caused an explosion on board near his station that killed most of the men and women in the space. Travis's right leg was impaled by a flying shard of metal just above midthigh, breaking the bone and missing his femoral artery by inches. Unable to walk, he crawled and climbed as best as he could as a radiation leak began to fill the space. He found himself unable to make it up a ladder and began to succumb to the radiation. Two of his shipmates caught a glimpse of him at the bottom of the ladder and against good sense and his demands to leave him, they carried him up the ladders and passageways and out to safety. The three were badly poisoned by radiation and Travis survived by a narrow margin.
He was subsequently discharged after a recovery period due to his inability to move quickly on his injured leg and inability to reliably travel up and down ladderwells and stairs. He returned home to Earth angry and directionless but determined not to return to a pointless existence. With the help of his family, especially his younger sister, he regained a good degree of mobility (though he still has trouble with ladders and running is extremely painful) and began to look for work. When his former section officer contacted him with the opening on the Venia, he jumped at it, with a ferocious determination.
Random Facts:
- Walks with a limp due to his injured leg.
- His tattoos are all vivdly colored and depict a wide variety of themes from life and death to religion and family. Below his collarbone are the words 'Til death do us part, together we'll rot'.
- Most of his music library is hard rock, but in a separate folder he has an impressive collection of classic rock and country, they remind him of home.
- Likes to sing. Probably shouldn't, he's terrible at it.
~~~~~~ PLAYER[/b]
Name: Ben
Age: 21
RP Experience: Six years.
Any Other Characters? None.
RP Sample: Travis slid down along the old porch support onto the warm dirt and grass of his Georgia home. No matter how far across space he traveled, no matter how many places he saw, nothing was ever as good as this. He twisted off the top of a cold one with his calloused fingers and tossed the cap behind him. I'll get it later...ain't nobody here to mind. It was a shame he was the only one here, he could really use a late night out with the boys chasing girls or shooting pool. Maybe stay up late catching up with Amy about all the news in this small town, getting the lowdown on her new boyfriend so he could follow him home and have a nice, calm 'come to Jesus' talk with him. He laughed at the thought to himself and took a sip. His baby sister was tougher than most soldiers he knew, she didn't need her big brother to look after her anymore. But she still grinned when he tried. The last few times he saw her were always cut short, they had a lot of time to catch up on, he hadn't really been a good big brother. Maybe next time. Maybe he'd go to his old man's garage and help him turn a wrench and a profit. Maybe try and talk down his momma on all the tattoos he'd gotten. Sometimes he thought they bothered her more than all the time's she had to bail him out. He laughed again, there was always too much to do when he came home. Til then, he'd just lay back against the wood porch and enjoy the gorgeous Georgia sky...
Whistler! The loud bark from his superior snapped him back to reality. "Cut that out, there's something wrong with waste energy collector number eight. It's reading like it's about to explode, probably just a bad reading, it's been acting up all day. Better hope so, anyway, if one of those blows we're screwed." Travis almost made it up to his feet before the world went white and he was blown off his feet.
Rules: Understood. Over and out.
