sorry about the grammar xD i'll be using proper capitalization on my posts, i'm just doing this from mobile!!

[hider=Charlie Markov][center][h3]CHARLES ROMAN MARKOV[/h3]

[img]http://45.media.tumblr.com/d19df6a96659ddfc3fe10c23d486f9df/tumblr_nl2tzjMoW21tsq6qjo6_400.gif[/img][/center][hr]

[b]Gender }[/b] cisgender male

[b]Age }[/b] 24

[b]Race }[/b] descendant of dökkálfar ("dark elf" in norse mythology)

[b]Powers }[/b] much like your typical dwarf, charles is able to craft most anything beautifully, with limited resources and seemingly without prior knowledge. it's not so much of a supernatural ability than it is a particular aptitude for creating things. what is more unnatural is the fact that, as a dökkálf, he can induce bad dreams by simply whispering to sleeping individuals and set animals off to haunt them. aside from the talent he has for building, he is not in complete control of these powers.

[b]Physical Summary }[/b] since he's not "full elf" (as he likes to say), charlie is pretty average height, standing at five feet and seven inches. he is not thin at all - instead, he is bulky with muscle and some boyish pudge, weighing around 160 pounds. his shoulders mark the broadest part of his body, well-built and wide, descending into equally massive arms and a squared torso. he has pretty piss-poor posture, which is likely to thank (at least in part) for his lack of height. his face is not conventionally attractive, and in fact looks fairly doughy like real mythological dwarves; he looks perpetually disgusted, always wearing a scowl and furrowed eyebrows. his eyes are an indistinguishable hazel and his hair is worn long with an undercut, naturally blonde but appearing much darker from either heavy product appliance or lack of washing.

[b]Personality }[/b] charlie's life and personality are steeped in deception. his character is somewhat disjointed in ways. he spends so much time impersonating and conning others that he doesn’t have a solid identity to call his own. an inability to have his own identity drives his anti-social behavior, including (but not limited to) abrupt anger, bitterness, and mistrust. by contrast, his ability to easily place himself in the lives of others influences the low value he gives to what happens to others.

charlie often crosses lines that push away his family and anyone else he cares about. in his effort to protect, he often alienates because his hatred and bitterness is so strong. not having an identity of his own torments him and renders him unable to have the kind of humanity that allows him to trust people. he continues living in a world of deception and it has gotten to a point where he knows no other way to live. therefore, charles' persona remains stubborn and slow to mature.

he likes to make excuses for himself: he’s not a bad person by nature, he was just in a "really bad situation" whenever accused. most are always willing to overlook some of charlie's more glaring flaws in order to indulge the passion he pursues in all circumstances. charles is an utterly contradictory character; when he shows an act of romance he also, in some ways, says something harsh. despite his stern manner and not particularly handsome appearance, charlie wins others' hearts because he can pick you apart on sight and find your vulnerabilites. he feels a great importance in every situation he places himself in by emphasizing all aspects of his own character. 

charlie fuels his unhealthy traits on others, which are found to be (among other things) strange and unsociable, demeaning in his attitude towards others, and a human puppeteer of sorts. not in that every plan or idea he has involves his flawlessly controlling those around him in some grand scheme to rule the world a la doom, but in the sense that everything he does and says is geared toward manipulating you in some way, even if it’s just to make you feel inferior. even before the height of his megalomania, he still displays a very weak understanding of how other people work. he constantly berates others when a simple explanation could do, explains few of his actions, and becomes increasingly upset when he is questioned - he doesn’t want to tell you “why,” just the “what.” don't question him even though he just questioned you for ten minutes, just do it. he's got a plan and it needs to be stuck to - there’s no time for your complaints or emotions.

much of the negative side of charlie is only worsened by the fact that he likes what’s wrong with him - “sure, i’m arrogant, but how can’t i be? you’re stupid.” are the kind of things going through his mind and he sees no reason to change just because you can’t handle it. criticisms are tuned out or turned into compliments in his own mind, allowing him to continue on his own path, no matter how controlling and destructive it may be. this can be difficult for loved ones when his attitude is dismissive as they can’t see how his problem with them can’t be fixed by him changing.

charlie exhibits generally psychopathic behavior, acting extremely cruel, ruthless and vicious. his violent behavior stems from the fact that he suffers from a 'napoleon complex' of sorts, probably due to a short stature. charles could kill people as if they are nothing, although he usually is only really aggressive whenever he is provoked. he is constantly seen using sadistic violence to threaten others, and shows no apparent mercy for his victims. he also seems to be very familiar with utilizing fear and humiliation, despite not being smart enough to realise this is a manipulation tactic.

his overall “style” of interacting involves considerable, persistent, maladaptive aggression, which, when confronted, is met by either more insistent anger or very depressed withdrawal. charlie is typically called “antisocial” because his overall personality causes him to frequently violate major social norms and end up running afoul of the law (even though this is usually out of charlie's control). he is openly and unabashedly aggressive in his interpersonal style, relish in trying to “beat the system,” and because he detests submission, refusal to conform his conduct despite numerous negative consequences and sanctions. 

[b]Bio }[/b] charlie grew up in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in chicago. he was raised around dealers, mobsters, what have you, and predictably took up the habits of all of these people. most frequently, he took the weaker route of shoplifting, but was not very discreet about it. in fact, charlie picked 'favourites,' finding convenience stores that were run by other preteens-to-teens who were much weaker than him (or, compared to the heavyweight charlie, normal-sized), and worked them into his schedule in such a way that he could hit the shops when no one was able to stop him in his tracks. despite growing up relatively poor, then, charlie was able to get by with plenty of food. suffice to say that everything he received in abundance was stolen, time and time again.

his parents were unable to provide because, in his biological mother's case, she was six feet under, and his father was living off welfare. the living parent was injured during military service and decided that, at thirty-five years old, he was all set to retire. while he wasn't entirely disabled (left with a semi-functional shoulder), charlie's father believed himself to be unable to work entirely and earned pity from his own parents. so, charlie, his half-sisters rebecca and pamela, and his father moved in to two eighty-year-old retirees' run-down home in arguably the most criminally active neighbourhood in chicago when he was twelve years old. he was distant from his grandparents, but was easy enough on them because he was aware enough to recognise the complications that came from living on their set income.

he was the favourite child because his special talent was stealing. his half-sisters, eight-year-old twins, were worse off because they had no particular gifts. they were not even blessed with the ancestry that charlie carried, because his descendants were from his mother/his father's first wife’s side. not even charlie treated them very well, always forcing them to distract shopkeeps that he was unable to physically overpower, throwing his household responsibilities upon them, and more. frankly, it was apparent even from a young age that charlie held no regard for human life other than his own. his treatment of his younger sisters was always iffy, and worsened by the fact that he sometimes protected them. when they were being bullied at school or boys behaved like they were wont to around rebecca and pamela, charlie was the first one they came to, and he was the one that sent these abusers to the ICU. 

his misfit attitude is what got him sent to juvenile detention multiple times throughout his adolescence. charlie was even sectioned into behavioral health systems (or, what his father liked to insensitively call 'mental asylums'), and, despite being neurotypical in the truest sense of the word, was misdiagnosed with conduct disorder. professionals just could not pinpoint any (existent) empathy in him because of the extreme buildup of rage in such a young man. charlie never really grew from these visits, other than racking up an extreme amount of hospital bills (which he, of course, paid back himself, even if it took some time to launder all of that money). because of all this detention and institution business, charlie was unable to put in enough hours at school. he was expelled when he was fifteen, and finally dropped out on his sixteenth birthday ("about time," he'd say). 

his last trip to detention was when he was seventeen. charlie was scared from acting out so publicly again when his father kicked him out for an indefinite amount of time (which turned out to be only three months, once he'd earned enough to pay his way back through the door). despite being perfectly able to support himself in some shelter in the city or utilise any of his various connections, charlie took refuge in his mother's parents' home. only his grandfather was still alive, but even he was kind enough to take him in for a short time. it was here that charlie learned exactly why he was so short (and why he was more detail-oriented than any of his peers). his grandfather passed along the much-needed information that charlie was, in fact, a descendant of the infamous dökkálfar, and even brought to life the less passive abilities that existed in him. 

that new knowledge was probably not the best thing for charlie to have learned about himself. once he was back home, he quickly began practicing bending people's dreams to fit his thoughts exactly. he did not do so very well. sitting on buses next to sleeping patrons, he looked quite odd staring at them, trying to implant juvenile stories into their rampant brains, but charlie was only able to carry that process for so long before he woke up his victims - either by stimulating them to the point of lucidity or giving them nightmares terrifying to the point of waking. needless to say, charlie was very bad at using his own power, for good or otherwise. he was all right at the other half: sending animals to "haunt" humans. all this really did was stir some paranoia in his victims, but he still overused the ability to the point of being bored of it himself.

charlie lived a life that resembled his childhood even through his adult years up to now, the only difference being that he avoided imprisonment much better by comparison. he joined the alliance when he was eighteen, through typical means - just a flyer on some old streetlamp. when he was 22, he was out hunting in the forest when some little elven-looking kid started romping around him, and a particularly strange friendship formed out of their meeting. he was the one to recruit fletcher o’sullivan to the alliance.
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