[hider=Charles Owen Carrington.]
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[color=9f2c04][b]✎ N A M E ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Charles Owen Carrington. Prefers Charlie or Char.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ A G E ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]28.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ G E N D E R ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Male.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ O C C U P A T I O N ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Metal art sculptor/photographer; dabbles in other art forms such as painting and sketching.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ S E X U A L I T Y ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Bisexual.[/color][/indent]

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[color=9f2c04][b]✎ R E L A T I O N S H I P  S T A T U S ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]In a committed relationship with boyfriend of about ten years; hopefully, engaged quite soon.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ F A M I L Y  M E M B E R S ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c][url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3758173][color=d4431c]Eckhart Remington Wolff[/color][/url] - boyfriend hopefully turned fiancé.[/color][/indent]

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[color=9f2c04][b]✎ A P P E A R A N C E ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]No one would guess Charles comes from the household he does because of the way he holds himself. He appears an inch or two shorter than his 5’8 height would suggest, since he typically hunches down when feeling nervous or overwhelmed in public, and walks like someone not having an intense amount of confidence in themselves. He usually drags his feet everywhere he goes, unless he is at a more formal social gathering, then he attempts to fix his posture and pick up his feet, but like the saying goes, old habits die hard. Charles is almost in a constant state of slouching and dragging his feet, holding himself in a more awkward, nervous manner rather than what one would expect from someone hailing from such a highly respectable family. He is at a healthy weight for his age, no extremely defining muscles, though he does have some present in his arms from working with heavy pieces of metal for many years. He hates the way he gains a slight stomach from consuming too much - and he has a weakness for fatty foods - and if he is around others when this occurs, he has a tendency to try and suck it in. Though, even normally, he doesn’t have the flattest stomach in the world, but he isn’t anywhere considered chubby or overweight, either.

His skin complexion is more on the pale side. He may gain the barest of tans in the summer, since he does enjoy a good lay out in the sun, but typically, his skin is more of a creamy color. He doesn’t have any outstanding blemishes or beauty marks on any commonly visible parts of his body, however he does have roughened hands. His fingertips are calloused from his work with metal, not only from the act itself, but from also digging through scrap for the perfect pieces. He usually wears gloves, though when in the zone for his art, he has a tendency to be careless - which can be quite dangerous since he welds - and as a result of carelessness, he has a short, jagged scar on his left hand, curling from the outer side and reaching towards his palm; it had been a sharp corner on a piece of metal, and it had even required a few stitches. Another result of carelessness, and cheap gloves because he wasn’t always the richest bloke and he hadn’t wanted to ask his parents for money, caused him to have a nasty burn on the heel of his right hand. From just not caring an extreme amount, his hands do have quite a few smaller, minor scars from working closely with scarp, and from sometimes digging through it without gloves, though they aren’t as visible as the previous two mentioned. He doesn’t have any ink gracing his skin, though he is considering getting a couple tattoos when he has the extra money, just because.

Not only does Charles’ posture not announce he came from a privileged life, but just his overall appearance doesn’t announce that, the way he not only dresses himself, but also up-keeps with his physical appearance. His hair is a dark brown in color, naturally appearing lighter in the right setting, and he keeps it short, above his ears. It barely brushes the tops of them, and sometimes, that can get a bit bothersome, but the one time he had cut it even shorter, he hadn’t liked it, was too used to the length it is now. Typically, his bangs are spread out across his forehead, though if he is in the mood, going to an event, or somewhere he considers special - like dinner with his honey - he may style it in a more spiked manner, making the ends stick up in a slightly messy, but attractive, way. Most of the time, he takes little time for his hair, but his facial hair is another story. Sometimes, he may go clean-shaven, depending on what’s going on in his life, but almost always, he’s sporting facial hair. He has something akin to a goatee, same color as his hair, and he enjoys touching it up. Perhaps that’s the artist coming out in him, because when he does fix up his hair, or touches up his facial hair, he finds a joy in it, because it’s like touching up a painting, or perfecting a piece on the piano. His eyebrows are long, slightly thick, and appear to slant just slightly downward towards the inside. Set underneath his dark eyebrows, are a pair of vibrant blue eyes, oftentimes appearing a more icy blue that stands out against his long, dark lashes. Perhaps the glasses he wears helps in making them pop; he almost always has a pair of black, thick-rimmed glasses on. He may wear contacts, though it’s rare. The times he does is almost always when he’s working on a piece, and his glasses would be a nuisance. Under a slightly wide nose, he has pink lips that he often bites/licks into redness that could be said are borderline pouty, and are in a cupid bow's shape. A slightly pointed chin brings together his narrow face and he does make for one cute, yet handsome, man.

His style is one that not even he understands. It is much like his art - different, sometimes out there, but other times, put-together and clean. Depending on his mood, and what is planned for that day, he may dress in a way similar to his college days, all baggy and comfortable clothes. Though, the next day, he may wear something like khaki pants and a fashionable sweater. He wears what he feels like, be it if it feels appropriate for an event he’s attending, or just his mood, he can appear to have a fashion style one would label him a hipster for, or have something nicer, more smart, like some casual street wear. There is really no in between for Charles, nor any real planning in his outfits. He isn’t one to plan out what he’s going to wear, and that includes his color schemes; he can wear something bright one day, then dark the next. The only time he does plan his outfit is if he’s going somewhere he deems very important and he’s worrying himself over it. His half of the closet is a mixture of very random, and usually un-matching, items of clothing that he somehow always brings together to make a complete outfit that, sometimes honestly, can actually look very good. There are times he may dive into his boyfriend’s side of the closet, when he isn’t feeling anything on his side, and while they do vastly differ in size, he still likes wearing Eckhart’s shirts, and almost always wears one to bed.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ P E R S O N A L I T Y ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Growing up in a family such as the Carringtons, one would expect all the children to be suave, well-spoken, and most of all, sociable. Unfortunately for Charles, that does not apply to him. It seems he was not graced with the conversational skills his father has, nor was he ever. All his life, he has struggled with the ability to communicate with others, preferring instead to keep to himself rather than go out of his way in an attempt to make friends, be it with schoolmates or even his own siblings. He has always struggled with the ability to articulate his thoughts; it didn’t matter how many new words he learned, in a conversation, he just get so nervous, he’d find it hard to string together a coherent thought, let alone a coherent sentence. The inability he found with which to speak began to lead him feeling extremely nervous in social settings, and perhaps that was the start of his anxiety. Or, perhaps it was his parents’ treatment of their children, the criticism that caused Charles to feel put out and on edge. The combination of both certainly did not help. At one point, his parents did take notice of his difficulty to communicate, and that earned him lessons in the art of socializing. Those helped, but only to a point.

It did help teach him how to collect himself enough to carry on a full conversation, since that is a skill needed in adulthood. However, he still came off as awkward, in a way, and he never shook that. He still struggles with knowing social cues, or what’s the best thing to say in a situation. This leads to him having a dry sense of humor, and delivering bad puns at the most random of times. It’s a way to cover up his nerves, humor, and while some may find his type of humor funny, others do not, and that only leads to nervous laughter on his part, which in turn leads to further making the conversation at hand awkward. As he grew older, he, of course, grew better at controlling this behaviour. He still grows intensely nervous, and may struggle to first talk to a person, but he can actually hold a conversation and, depending on the type of day he has had, it can even be a decent one.

He still hasn’t shaken his anxiety, and he probably never will. He has found out he suffers from social phobia, which can be linked to the type of environment he grew up in. Social phobia is where a person has an excessive fear of social situations; self-consciousness can occur from a fear of being closely monitored, judged, and even criticized of others. It doesn’t take a doctor to figure out why, exactly, he had gained this while growing up. Every time he has to present a piece, or even had to give a presentation in class, he is always fearful, a fear of being judged harshly, of hearing negative criticism, or simply just being embarrassed surfacing strongly. He has suffered from plenty of panic attacks before, and it has led to him being prescribed an inhaler, for moments he has difficulty catching his breath. His preferred activity to do after having a panic attack is to either curl up with his favorite book, do something with painting - the strokes of a brush can be very relaxing - or play the piano.

At his age now, he has naturally gotten better at controlling his initial reactions to things such as presenting his art, but it doesn’t mean the anxiety isn’t there still. It all depends on the type of day he has had, or the mood he was in, or just what was happening at that moment, on how bad his anxiety will be, and how well he is at hiding, even controlling, it. If given the chance, he keeps to himself during social gatherings, preferring to fade into the background and observe, rather than engage in conversations himself. However, he has forced himself plenty of times to step up and speak, but that was in situations where his career was in discussion, and he was trying to get in good with someone that could give him a stronger footing in the NYC art scene. To handle social gatherings better, whenever the chance presents itself, Charles tries to find a place to have a private moment, just one to take a few deep breaths and collect himself a little.

Charles comes off as a nervous person, that he knows, but he also comes off as kind and respectful. If something is beginning to become too much, he does make sure to excuse himself in a friendly manner, not wanting to come off rude to anyone. He attempts to help where he can, unless something is just overwhelming, but little things, such as seeing a stranger struggling with an armful of something and jumping to help them, is something he actually enjoys to do. Naturally, he behaves differently around those he trusts, and feels comfortable with. Which, honestly, boils down to one person, his long-time boyfriend, Eckhart Wolff. He has a couple other people he can relax enough with to not be so anxious, but Eckhart has always been special to Charles, and with him, he can be himself without worry or fear. Of course, he’s more relaxed, more talkative, and more animated. He and Eckhart often engage in conversations strictly in German in public, which helps immensely with Charles’ anxiety in public settings. When Eckhart is around in public settings, there is always a more relaxed edge to Charles.

Charles does not hold disdain towards his parents, or anyone really, for that matter. He’s more of an understanding type of person, and if he’s in a dramatic situation, and cannot flee from it, then he attempts to hear both sides, and isn’t quick to anger or annoyances. He tries his best to be a listening ear, though if some sort of drama is unfolding before him, he may tune it out and try to pretend he isn’t there, but if he’s dragged into it, he tries to be fair to each party. If he isn’t about to burst from anxiety, that is. He has gotten a better handle on not fleeing from stressful situations, and handling them properly, though sometimes he still struggles with that. Even despite his anxiety, and his quiet nature, when engaged in a conversation, he typically doesn’t hold back. He forces himself to be more out-going, to push past his dry sense of humor, to speak his opinions on matters, and to be honest when asked a question. He tries to not shy away from questions, even if they may feel prying or even scary, but that is, again, something he’s still working on.

He is a lot better from when he was younger, in terms of handling his anxiety and engaging in conversations. He can hold one a lot better, though of course, he still struggles, and may come off a bit nervous and awkward. But, he has seen improvement in himself, can recognize that, and is proud. Though, on bad days, he can be very negative about himself, and other things, as well. Especially his own art. He is often criticizing himself, perhaps because of the rare praise he had gotten as a child, and seeing the criticism he received as harsh. He is not nice to himself, or his art, oftentimes, and he has a low self-esteem. It has improved, considering he has a boyfriend who makes sure to remind him he’s amazing and he has real, raw talent, but it isn’t an easy fix, and he still has days where he feels the worst about himself, and those days do put him in an irritated mood. That he always feels bad for later, and apologizes profusely to Eckhart who usually gets the butt end of his bad moods. But Eckhart is someone Charles not only adores till death, but also admires and respects greatly, since he’s so patient and kind to him. Charles will always feel like he doesn’t deserve Hart, but he’s so relieved he has him.[/color][/indent]

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[color=9f2c04][b]✎ L I K E S ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]✓ The arts - literally, any sort, he loves creativity.
✓ Snacky/junky food - pizza and crunchy chips and cheap, store-bought cookies are his weakness.
✓ Quiet places - good for reading, thinking, or just taking a breather.
✓ Mellow/relaxing/live music - smoothing jazz or classical music, anything with a soft tone to it, sign him up.
✓ Bright, sunny days yet cold, rainy days too - give him either, he'll just stretch out in the sun with a book or watch the rain from his window.
✓ Reading books - prefers holding a real book over a Kindle or something of the sort.
✓ Playing the piano - creating a beautiful sound always makes him feel better about himself.
✓ Coffee - preferably black and bitter.
✓ TV shows/movies - Netflix is a bit of an addiction though he tries to not indulge too often.[/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ D I S L I K E S ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]☓ Some of his habits - when working on a piece, he might possibly chain-smoke, and he hates the addiction; he has a tendency to chew on his nails when his hands aren't busy; if his hands are busy, he is often seen licking/biting/pressing his lips together in a nervous fashion.
☓ His family not getting along - he'd really love it if they'd all connect, but he doubts they all ever properly will.
☓ Being criticized - perhaps stemming from the household he grew up in, he hates any type, but considering he had to go through art school with teachers, he made himself take it (he didn't have to like it though).
☓ Losing his muse - that's any artist's pet peeve.
☓ Big social gatherings - with people he knows fairly well, he's more relaxed, but overall, he likes to avoid these.
☓ Loud, judgmental types - he doesn't like rude assholes, basically, but who does unless they're one?
☓ Drama of any sort - tensions being high is something he does not want to be present for. he attempts to slip off and if he can't, he just keeps quiet and pretends he isn't hearing it.
☓ A piece not turning out how he imagined - again, any artist's pet peeve.
☓ Wine - he hasn't tried all wine, but the few he's tried, he hasn't liked. he can't say why exactly.[/color][/indent]

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[color=9f2c04][b]✎ H I S T O R Y ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Typically when one hails from a prestigious family, they can hold themselves in such a way that dictates respect and they can handle themselves just fine, even admirably, in social settings. That had never been the case for one Charles Carrington. Being the fifth child born into the Carrington household, Charles had always been the awkward middle man. Even as a young boy, Charles had been quite unsociable, preferring to keep to himself and his toys rather than poke at his siblings or engage in small talk at formal events the children would sometimes get to attend. Rather, he shied away from communication, choosing to instead hide in his closet or underneath a table. At the age of roughly ten, because of his difficulty securing friends and shying away from conversation, he had finally caught the attention of his parents, attention he hadn’t gotten quite enough of, the only time he had gotten a lot of attention was when he took piano lessons but even that attention had been watchful and judgmental; but still, the attention had been welcomed. However, that attention led to him getting lessons in the art of socializing, and that made for one unhappy middle child. It helped - to a point. 

It led to Charles being more open towards his own siblings, and to vocalize his wants to his parents in a more put-together manner, but it hadn’t transformed him into a suddenly popular child in school with an abundance of friends. He never outgrew his lack of social skills, never learned how to smooth talk or approach an important issue. There could be a couple different reasons why he slowly gained anxiety over the years he was growing up - his difficulty articulating his thoughts caused for anxiety to rear up inside him every time he’d have to present something in school, or even approach his parents with a request, or perhaps the way his parents criticized anything he did, or attempted to do, caused him to feel anxious over other people’s judgement and caused him to always feel like he’d make a mistake and be made fun of for it. A combination of both, more than likely, caused Charles to suffer from acute anxiety.

It didn’t happen overnight, or all at once, naturally. By the time he was attending high school, it could probably be considered at its full peak. He never quite shook the anxiety, but when does one really? Charles tried his best to handle his anxiety without revealing it. He didn’t want to possibly disappoint his parents because he couldn’t handle simple small talk with someone in the grocery store without feeling like his chest was going to cave in on itself. It was a hard feat, one he barely achieved, since his parents could easily trigger him with a simple comment on an art project or essay he did. Even if the comment was helpful in its own way, Charles still heard it as the worse thing, and it led to him avoiding his parents during his teenage years. That didn't mean he hadn’t tried to gain their attention and praise. 

This new mindset led to him studying up on German, and becoming fluent in it. He had surprised his father by engaging in a full-blown conversation, strictly in German, one day when he was around sixteen. That was also where he learned he actually enjoyed socializing if it was in a language that wasn’t his mother tongue. It felt good, to provoke that shock in his father, but he had gotten just one - just [i]one[/i] - word wrong during the conversation, and that made his little moment of pride flutter away when his father had to point it out. Charles was anything if not determined, though, and learned some passable French, in which he tried again to impress his father, but again, it was passable French. So that hadn’t been the greatest idea. He learned a few words in Russian, thinking maybe he could wow his father, but during the process, gave up. He decided he could never wow his father and didn’t want to learn a language just to fail again. He had thought maybe, he could worm his way into a favored spot of his father’s, but he never could. He decided it was better to accept his place rather than try to change it.

He hadn’t even tried with his mother. He had never felt the love from her, though at his age now, he realizes that was unfair of him to think back then. At that time, a teenager with anxiety, confusing feelings for both genders, and parents he felt like didn’t love him, the thought seemed pretty fair then. His saving grace during high school actually occurred during his freshman year. While it didn’t solve his family, or anxiety, issues, it did help him quite a bit. Eckhart Wolff walked into his life - quite literally, since he accidentally slammed into Charles - and afterward, Charles had made his first best friend. He had managed to make a few friends before, but nothing deep or what a kid needs, and so it was a shock to him Eckhart and he, even with their differing personalities, got on so well. Eckhart had been one year ahead of him, and he had been devastated when he left for college in NYC, but he’d be following in a year’s time. The thing that kept Charles practicing in his art, rather than turning away and attempting to do something more pleasing for his parents, was not only the fact he knew his eldest sister, Samantha Carrington, was successful in it, but that because Eckhart had been a very supportive and backing force in his art. Charles couldn’t put into words how helpful and wonderful Eckhart had been to him during high school.

At eighteen, he graduated with average grades. He hadn’t been dumb, but he hadn’t been exactly smart, either. He was more so an art person, and it showed with his fluctuating grades in science and maths. He had always preferred classes like drama, art, or music. He moved on from his family afterward, going on to attend college in NYC as planned, with the intent to get a footing in the art scene there, hopefully while in college so he didn’t have to worry about money later. He didn’t want to have to go asking his parents for money just so he didn’t end up on the street. His freshman year of college, and Eckhart’s sophomore, the two finally took the long over-due step from friends to lovers. Charles had, with a bright red face, asked Eckhart if he wished to be his model - [i]nude[/i] model - for an art project, it led to a love declaration from Eckhart, and well, the rest is history. Charles had never thought Hart felt the same, considering Hart was always sending him on blind dates, but they both had been idiots. Thinking the other deserves better when all they wanted were each other. He had never quite dropped contact with his parents, and some of the siblings he did talk too. As he grew older, he grew more mature, and he realized he’d rather forgive his parents, and still talk to them, rather than hold a grudge against them. He didn’t blame them for his anxiety today, and so on holidays, or whenever he felt like he had a big enough announcement, he called them. He told them about Eckhart, not ashamed or feeling the need to hide, and his parents had met Hart the times he’d come over to their grand house. He felt not only obligated to tell them, but the want to tell them, as well.

During his senior year of college, he was struggling with finding work in the art community. It was a hard business to get into, but then he remembered his eldest sister, Samantha. He had honestly been to her gallery a couple times, but had always been too nervous to approach her. With Hart’s help, he contacted her, and much to Charles’ surprise, the two hit it off. Which was understandable, considering they both shared a passion for the arts. With Samantha’s help, Charles had a pretty firm footing in the art scene by the time he graduated, and he hasn’t struggled with money since. He wasn’t swimming in it, but he had enough to be comfortable, to support both him and Hart even, and that was good enough for him. He and Samantha didn’t talk every day, sometimes they’d even go months without talking, but Charles did enjoy talking with her. Something that surprised him, but he had always found it easier to talk to anyone when he was talking about his passion. 

Once he hit the age of 28, he had the startling realization he and Hart had been together for about ten years now. It was something that made him feel like a complete fool, because he should have married this guy a long time ago. Since Hart had made the first move and furthered their relationship, Charles wanted to be the one to propose. He had never thought hard on marriage before but now that he imagined matching rings on their left hands, he wanted to see nothing more. But, he wasn’t sure how to come about, when to do it, how to do it. His anxiety was chugging along and while he may have handmade the [url=http://i.imgur.com/taCnHCP.jpg]ring[/url] himself, he still hasn’t popped the question. Then, came the invitation for a family reunion with his family. It almost felt like fate. This would give them both time from their work to spend more time together, and it would give Charles a chance to involve his family in a part of his life, since he did want to attempt to connect with some, if not all, of them. Maybe not the best plan, considering he was expecting some type of drama to unfold, but he was tired of letting his own worries get in the way. So, now, it was time to decide, while there, when was the best time to pop the question, and… is he going to screw this up? [s]He thinks that yes, he’s going to screw this up royally.[/s][/color][/indent]

[color=9f2c04][b]✎ M I S C E L L A N E O U S  I N F O ✐[/b][/color]
[indent][color=d4431c]Fluent in German; passable in French; barely passable in Russian. Carries an inhaler around not for asthma but for the fact his panic attacks can be so bad, he has difficulty catching his breath (it isn't like his smoking exactly helps on that front though). Also has an intense potty mouth that he tries to not use but he can sound like a sailor at times.[/color][/indent]

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[hider=Relationships - heavy, heavy wip. like, not even started wip :x]
[sup][h3][color=???]Lee Carrington[/color][/h3][/sup]
[i]It is mandatory for you to write your character's relationship with the Carrington parents. Writing relationships for all other characters are voluntary, but highly encouraged! (Write what your character will say out loud about this person here)[/i]

Write a little more in-depth about what they really think about this person here.

[sup][h3][color=???]Cassiopeia Carrington[/color][/h3][/sup]
[i]"Write what your character will say out loud about this person here"[/i]

Write a little more in-depth about what they really think about this person here.[/hider]