"I've seen your world
With these very eyes
Don't come any closer
Don't even try
I've felt all the pain
And heard all the lies
But in my world there's no compromise"
-- I Stand Alone from Quest for Camelot
BASICS
NAME: Garrett
GENDER: Cis man
PRONOUNS: he/him/his
ORIENTATION: Heteroromantic heterosexual
BIRTHDATE: Summer of 2756
AGE: 21 as of Summer 2777
LOCATION: Fort Weyr
OCCUPATION: Beastcraft apprentice, wher candidate
WING: N/A
APPEARANCE
EYES: Green
HAIR: Reddish brown, shoulder-length
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 6'8", broad-shouldered
PLAY-BY: Garrett (Quest for Camelot)
EXPY SOURCE: Garrett (Quest for Camelot)
FULL APPEARANCE:
Garrett is tall and broad-shouldered. He has straight, shoulder-length reddish brown hair that falls into his face a lot. He has green eyes that are constantly unfocused thanks to his blindness, and he sometimes doesn't bother to even look in the general direction of who is trying to speak to him, especially if he finds them irritating or is just trying to ignore them.
He has a rectangular face and has large hands, and tanned skin from working outside a lot. He tends to wear simple, loose-fitting clothes that he takes care of, although stains are a common appearance on many of them. He uses a walking stick to get around, and has been known to use it to gesture with while speaking and prod herdbeasts who won't get a move on. He has a lighter voice than his build would imply, but not unusually so, and has a very expressive tone.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY:
Garrett is not always the friendliest person, coming across as gruff and guarded with a temper that will flare up any time someone bothers him. He tends to be pretty naturally chatty, though, and it doesn't take much to get him talking. He's a little starved for company, but he's allowed his bitterness at life to make him wary of strangers and unwilling to be vulnerable without a fight. He's not interested in making fair-weather friends, nor in being laughed at nor being taken advantage of, so he makes people work to gain his trust.
Despite his bitterness and his pessimism, there is still a little boy inside Garrett who longs to be a hero, a protector. While he'll resist and protest any call to join a cause, he can't stand to have someone be hurt right in front of him, can't stand bullies or needless cruelty, and will step in. He just won't go out of his way to protect someone in the abstract. Because even though there is still a part of him that wants to be a hero, if he has time to think about it, he will convince himself that he can't possibly help anyone. He thinks it's in everyone's best interests that he be left alone, even though that his not what he wants. He finds animals simpler to deal with, as it's very hard to be disappointed by them, or to disappoint them in turn. Garrett is practical and self-reliant. When he is hurt or made to feel helpless, he tends to get more withdrawn rather than angry.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Parents - average folks at Fort Hold
No siblings, some cousins
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None currently
BIRTHPLACE: Fort Hold
HISTORY:
CW: Childhood injury
Garrett was born in 2756 to perfectly average parents in Fort Hold. Like many young kids, he was taught to read and write, albeit reluctantly, loved animals, and dreamed of someday riding a dragon, hopefully a bronze. But as he got older and started to learn how rare dragonriders were, he decided that what he really liked about the idea of dragonriding was being able to help people. That was just as easily accomplished by joining the Hold Guard, so from about the age of eight, he started following guardsmembers around, mimicking them and playing at being one.
His parents, aware that having him constantly underfoot probably wasn't the most helpful, decided that he needed something else to occupy his time. They had him begin training as a beastcrafter, trying to engage him through his love of animals. He enjoyed the training, but he was still counting down the turns until he could begin training with the guard, or be searched by dragons.
His dreams for either were crushed in 2769 at thirteen turns old. During the night, the hay in one of the stables Garrett worked in caught fire, and he rushed in to help save the runnerbeasts that were being kept there. One of the animals kicked out in fear, clipping the side of Garrett's head with its hoof. Garrett survived, as did all of the animals, and the fire was contained. But Garrett lost his sight. No Weyr would search a young man who'd just lost his sight to fly thread, no Weyr Guard would train him. In one fell swoop, he'd lost both of his dreams. Understandably, he started lashing out at his parents in frustration, started lashing out at friends and teachers as well. As time went on and he learned that blindness was not quite the death sentence he had felt like it was at thirteen, though, the damage had been done. He'd all but isolated himself from everyone he cared about, but as a teenager he wasn't able to recognize that. He interpreted it as everyone turning their backs on him, so in 2772, at sixteen, he moved to Fort Weyr, deciding that if he was going to be isolated, he might as well make it official.
He's had a number of turns to come to terms with his blindness now, and is getting more comfortable with it. He continued working with herdbeasts, because he still found animals easier and because it was the only thing he felt genuinely qualified to do. After a few turns at the Weyr, he finally decided a firelizard might be helpful and even good company. He was right, as the white that hatched seemed to enjoy spending time with him and occasionally helping him out with things, although the flit seemed more interested in letting him do things on his own. As he's gotten to know how things work at the Weyr as well, he's decided that maybe even if threadfighting on dragonback is still outside of his capabilities, a wher might be something he'd be allowed to work with, so he's decided to put himself forward for candidacy in that way.
