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APPLICATION

OOC

NAME: AJ
AGE: 30+
CONTACT: edgerunner
CHARACTER(S): N/A

IC

NAME: Tyler Ronan
AGE: 22
CANON: Tell Me Why (Video Game)
CANON POINT: 6 months post epilogue
CRAU: No
OTHER: N/A

SUITABILITY: Tyler missed out on a lot of childhood and adolescent experiences both due to his early childhood being quite isolated from society and also having been sent to a residential center for 'at risk' kids at the age of 11, where he spent a decade. His suitability for this game is based on the idea that he's trying to catch up on these experiences and the times he missed out on as a kid.

ABILITIES: He has an ability that he shares only with his twin sister Alyson which they refer to as the Voice. They can hear each other in their heads telepathically and can revisit memories together.

VICES: 

Headstrong

Having always been the more wild and outspoken of the twins, Tyler is incredibly independent and headstrong to the point of being stubborn at times when he digs his heels in. Despite being raised as a twin in quite in insular little family unit, his time at Fireweed residential center has forced him to learn how to think independently of outside influence, no matter how close or dear he regards them.

An example of this is his insistence to keep digging towards the truth of their past despite it upsetting his twin sister Alyson. He puts his own desire to uncover the truth over the feelings of his sister, causing a temporary rift between them.

Blunt

Without being overtly rude, Tyler can be incredibly forthright about his opinions and doesn't shy away from bluntness. He has the ability to be empathetic towards others but it seems he's oftentimes quicker to say what he thinks than to wonder how the other party will receive his words. He's not malicious in his intentions but at times lacks a softer approach.

Reserved

Throughout his childhood, the person he trusted the most was his sister Alyson and it took him some time before he was able to put into words how he felt about who he really was and share that with her. When his mom found out, he learned quickly that not everybody can trusted and that it's safer for everyone to keep important things to himself.

This is a worldview that has been continually stoked throughout his formative years. Too many people that he trusted in the past have done things that, in Tyler's eyes, have hurt him. Eddy sent him away to Fireweed and wouldn't let Alyson visit him. Tessa tried to give his mom a leaflet about conversion therapy camp for Tyler. His biological father never admitted the true nature of their relationship despite them being in his general store at least once a week.

VIRTUES: 

Loyal

Loyalty is a big part of what makes Tyler him at his core. He believes unequivocally that Alyson saved his life by defending him from his mother, and his loyalty to Alyson never waivers even as he's sent away to Fireweed to live as an "at risk" child. He takes the punishment for his sister's actions without a single moment of doubt or regret. 

We also see this loyalty come into play again when he voluntarily chooses to stay on at Fireweed an extra 3 years to help mentor the younger kids brought to the residential center. 

Passionate Advocate

Nature and wildlife speak to his soul and so his dream job is to become a park ranger at Denali to allow him to both look after nature and educate others about why they should look after it too. 

He's equally passionate about being a good mentor to the younger kids that arrive at Fireweed, who need people like him to not give up on them and patiently keep showing up for them. He is a passionate advocate, very especially for those who might be less able to advocate for themselves.

Humor

Tyler is a man whose love for puns isn't kept a secret. In fact, humor is a very specific type of effort to relate to and garner connection with people without having to reveal too much of himself at the same time. It's a quick and easy way for him to endear himself to people without them getting too much of a beat on who he is underneath his (admittedly questionable at times) jokes.

What's also good to note is that he genuinely does find puns funny and for the most part, he laughs at his own jokes without shame. A good pun will go a long way to make him feel favorably towards another person too (so long as they aren't a complete jerk otherwise).

SURVEY

▶ I REGULARLY MAKE NEW FRIENDS.
▷ 1 (strongly disagree) - Tyler is too wary of other people to make friends versus acquaintances. He's not unapproachable or unfriendly as a rule, but he certainly doesn't make it easy for people to cut to the core of him. This is based in the fact he hasn't properly unlearned to distrust as a starting point. Plenty of people who are important to him in his past have, in his opinion, broken his trust and so he doesn't make new friends easily out of choice.

▶ SEEING OTHER PEOPLE CRY MAKES ME WANT TO CRY TOO.
▷ 2 (slightly disagree) - Presented with somebody he doesn't know or isn't particularly close to crying, he's unlikely to cry himself though he would ask if there's anything he can do to help. However, seeing somebody he does care about cry, he would certainly feel tears start to prick at the corner of his eyes and he'd get a lump in his throat.

▶ I OFTEN MAKE A BACKUP PLAN FOR A BACKUP PLAN.
▷ 2 (slightly disagree) - He trusts himself enough that plan A is probably going to work, but if not plan B will take care of it. Failing that he's pretty solid in his trust in himself to figure out what to do in the moment, so doesn't see the need to have additional backup plans.

▶ I USUALLY STAY CALM, EVEN WHEN UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE.
▷ 3 (neutral) - It very much depends on what the pressure is as to how he deals with it. Pressure from people close to him is more likely to have him losing his cool as anything outside of that generally doesn't penetrate past a certain guard he has up.

▶ I AM VERY SENTIMENTAL.
▷ 5 (strongly agree) - He has a little wooden goblin toy from his childhood that he's kept hold of that represented him within his family unit (his mom, his twin sister and himself). He has mementos of his experiences pinned up or displayed around his room at Fireweed. He also wears a denim jacket with an embroidered phoenix on the back which was made for him by a mentee at Fireweed.

▶ EVEN A SMALL MISTAKE CAN CAUSE ME TO DOUBT MY OVERALL ABILITIES AND KNOWLEDGE.
▷ 1 (strongly disagree) - Spending his formative years (11-21) at Fireweed Residential Center has forced Tyler to become the most independent version of himself, especially as he was away from what little family he had left. Through help from a mentor while he was there, he has a solid reliance on himself and doesn't doubt his abilities or his knowledge, even when he makes mistakes.

▶ I AM MORE INCLINED TO FOLLOW MY HEAD THAN MY HEART.
▷ 1 (strongly disagree) - While Tyler would argue that he's using logic and his head when digging down for the truth of what happened in his past, the passion and bordering on obsession about getting to the truth really exposes that it's his emotions that are driving his actions. He's in places selfish about how hard he pursues the the truth, ignoring at times other people's feelings as he hunts down the answers to satisfy his own questions. I don't believe that it actually is his head that he follows but instead his heart.

▶ I AM PRONE TO WORRYING THAT THINGS WILL TAKE A TURN FOR THE WORSE.
▷ 3 (neutral) - Middling because it varies depending on what particularly the 'thing' is. For example, he expects that people will ultimately disappoint him as that's what he's used to from the people he considers closest to him. However, in terms of situations, he retains an open mind about outcomes of what may happen. E.g. he might have missed the window to apply for being a park ranger at Denali, but it won't stop him from applying when the application window does open.

▶ I ENJOY WATCHING PEOPLE ARGUE.
▷ 2 (slightly disagree) - He doesn't enjoy watching people argue but he absolutely understands the need for it, especially given the opinions that some people hold. He is however more likely to volunteer his own opinion and potentially back up a certain side rather than sit back and watch, especially if it's something he's passionate about.

▶ I TEND TO AVOID DRAWING ATTENTION TO MYSELF.
▷ 4 (slightly agree) - For most things, Tyler isn't automatically shy, but he is very aware and also wary of the fact that the world isn't always particularly safe. There's a very real threat to people like him and so he is very careful in some instances about how he may be putting himself or other people in danger. That said, assuming safety, he doesn't mind attention being on him.

▶ I OFTEN DO THINGS AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT.
▷ 1 (strongly disagree) - Once Tyler has something set in his sights, it's hard to convince him to put it down or leave it alone, even at the expense of other people's feelings. We see this in his canon when he is stubbornly forcing his twin to recall a painful memory so that he can understand the truth of the matter, despite his twin's objections. The two of them end up not talking for a few weeks because of it and Tyler doesn't reach out to fix that since he thinks he's in the right for wanting to get to the truth.

▶ I FIND IT EASY TO EMPATHIZE WITH A PERSON WHOSE EXPERIENCES ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM MINE.
▷ 4 (strongly agree) - Despite having a very different upbringing, Tyler sees the value in empathizing with people who come from different walks of life, especially as he's a transgender man and understands how crucial it is for different people to connect and work to understand each other. It means that despite not always opening himself up to people, people can rely on him not to make snap decisions especially where he is very aware of a lack of his own understanding.

▶ I BECOME BORED OR LOSE INTEREST WHEN THE DISCUSSION GETS HIGHLY THEORETICAL.
▷ 2 (slightly disagree) - As somebody whose early childhood was steeped in using his imagination creatively, Tyler can understand the merits of the theoretical despite also deeply enjoying putting things into practice. He's not necessarily put off by the idea of discussing as a theory, but there are some things he certainly enjoys following through on.

▶ I RARELY FEEL INSECURE.
▷ 4 (slightly agree) - Beyond things that he can successfully identify as a societally-driven insecurity, Tyler is confident in who he is and secure in how he interacts with the world around him. He's made a very conscious effort to give himself the tools to help with this. We see this as an example in canon whereby we see he owns a book called 'The Transgender Man's Guide to Healthy Masculinity' to help him avoid the common pitfalls of toxic masculinity as a vehicle to gender affirmation.

▶ I AM STILL BOTHERED BY MISTAKES I MADE A LONG TIME AGO.
▷ 2 (slightly disagree) - Had he been taken from slightly earlier in the game, the answer would have been a strongly agree. However, he has put in the work and time to navigate through this feeling of his past and things that have happened to him. He has put to rest plenty of things that had been troubling him such as what happened with his mom that night on the dock, or taking the blame of that instead of his twin sister Alyson. He's reached a point now with where he's made peace with what happened in his past.
 

SUIT REQUESTS: My first choice would be Hearts as Tyler considers himself a rational and logical man but is very much driven by his emotions. Finding these emotions impossible to subdue within himself would be a really fun mechanic to play with and force him to grapple with. Spades would be my second choice for Tyler as I'm really interested in seeing how he handles the more negative side of his personality dialed up to the extreme.
RANK REQUESTS: Preferably 4 or 5, essentially middling to give him scope to move either way
SAMPLES: Feb TDM top level with samples | July TDM comments