MM03: ELLIOTT-BLAIR ØSTERGAARD [DECEASED]

#1

DECEASED

Name: Elliott-Blair Østergaard
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Grade: 11th
Hobbies and Interests: Space Exploration, Sci-fi in general, Reading, People Watching, Social Media, Roller Skating

Appearance: Elliott-Blair stands at approximately 5’0” and weighs a worryingly underweight 95 lbs, as a result of his family's genetic predisposition. He has what could be considered conventionally feminine features; his face is soft, with an ovular shape to it and a small jaw. His nose, by contrast to the rest of his delicate features, is quite large. That said, it is symmetrical and blends in with his face. His body has an overall block shape, and what little height he has comes from his legs. His hair is pitch black and straight, the length of it touching his shoulders. His thick eyebrows are the same shade of black as his hair, and his eyes are light grey in color. His skin is unusually pale, due to a combination of his Dutch heritage and spending most of his time indoors.

As a result of his family’s recent windfall, Elliott-Blair’s clothing tends to be a mixture between worn down and just off the rack. Though he does not consider himself to be a part of the subculture, as he only finds it aesthetically pleasing, his style of dressing adheres to pastel goth, specifically it's subtype space goth. His wardrobe as of late has been dominated by space print, with the only colours available being black and pastels. His choice for bottoms is rather limited, as he is only comfortable with fabric pressed tightly against his skin or not there at all. As a result, he only wears leggings, shorts and tights. His ears are pierced, though he hardly wears his piercings in his ears. He prefers to pierce various articles of clothing, such as his beanie or his boots. His nails are often painted, usually a plain black or with designs, though they’re occasionally a plain pink. He often wears makeup, usually in the form of black lipstick or black eyeliner. He loves to wear something on his head; his favourite article of clothing is his black beanie.

On casting day, he wore a black v-neck sweater with obvious signs of wear-and-tear around the neckline and sleeves, leggings with nebula printed on them, black hi-max boots, a black beanie with a silver ring piercing pinned through the fabric, and black lipstick.

Biography: Elliott-Blair Østergaard was born in Orange Park, Florida to Oscar and Charlotte Østergaard. Charlotte worked as a waitress at a local diner, while Oscar worked as a dealer at the nearest casino when he was not working towards getting his certificate as an adult education teacher. As neither job paid very much, the Østergaard family was just barely above the poverty line. As a result of Elliott-Blair's recurrent episodes of coughing and wheezing, Charlotte had insisted on checking with a doctor on whether or not her son had asthma when he turned seven, as it was genetic on her side of the family. The price for a diagnosis and potential long-term treatments was steep, and the Østergaards came to the conclusion that they could only afford the costs if they worked overtime. This meant leaving their son alone for extended periods of time. Graciously, the daughter of their neighbours, Tawny, was willing to look after Elliott-Blair without charge. She had recently returned home from college and did not have a job at the time, so she was always available on call to babysit him whenever his parents were unavailable to do so. He had received a proper diagnosis for asthma at the age of nine.

At school, Elliott-Blair would infrequently miss classes due to asthma attacks, and however hard he tried to study, he would constantly be playing catch up. His grades would hover around B and C, infrequently receiving D's and only getting A's once in a blue moon. The subjects he was shown to have the most strength in the sciences and mathematics, while the subject he had the most difficulty was gym. These subjects currently remain to be his high and low points, respectfully.

In order to help reduce the symptoms of asthma, Elliott-Blair’s doctor recommended that he take up a physical hobby of some sort. Most suggestions didn’t take, but the one that did was roller skating. Elliott-Blair loved the freedom of movement roller skating allowed in comparison to other activities such as skateboarding, and fully picked up the activity when he was nine. While he could never participate in any competition due to a lack of stamina, the activity has made him quite agile.

Elliott-Blair’s mother held an interest in science fiction, and over the years had amassed a modest collection of books. Elliott-Blair initially didn’t pay the collection much mind, but when he started reading them at around the age of nine, he was instantly hooked. Sci-fi became his hyperfixation, particularly hard sci-fi. He was fascinated by the idea that something so fanciful could actually exist within his lifetime, or at least at some point within humanity's existence. After he tore through his mother’s collection, his parents got him a library card. This allowed him to comb through not only the sci-fi section, but any non-fiction books related to space, as such books helped him learn what was out there, and where humans might one day be able to go to. Though he prefers reading, he also watches sci-fi shows and movies, with Interstellar remaining his favorite movie to this day.

Around the same age, Tawny had noted that while he was well-behaved, he would also act strangely. He showed little interest in watching any show that did not involve space in some manner, he had trouble identifying emotions, either his own or someone else's, and he would rub his arms whenever he seemed nervous. Concerned, she brought up these issues to his parents. They informed her that they have been getting similar notes of concern from his teachers, but while it was likely that their son did indeed have autism, they could not afford the treatment needed for him right now. Since he seemed to be doing well even without a diagnosis, Tawny let the issue drop.

Once he had read all that the library had to offer and could do nothing more, Elliott-Blair discovered his other main hobby – people watching. He found fascinating that one could pick up one’s entire character solely from observing them for a couple of minutes. Through watching people interact with each other – such as a couple arguing, or a pair of friends meeting up – he was able to learn how certain emotions were expressed, which in turn helped him identify what emotions he was feeling. As an added bonus, he learned what one should and should not do when interacting with others, thus increasing his social skills. Originally he would simply just sit and stare at people passing by, though he quickly learned that this was an impolite thing to do, given that the staff would ask him if he could please stop doing that.

Elliott-Blair has since learned how to people watch subtly. He now does this in two different ways. The first way is by watching people out of the corner of his eye, then turning away when there is the slightest indication that they have noticed. The second and more preferable way is by talking to others, either one-on-one or as part of a group. By directly interacting with someone, he has found that he can get a better grasp at what that person is like via their body language or the tone of their voice. Still, his ongoing issue at identifying emotions can lead him to be wildly off the mark, and his general introverted disposition makes such a task mentally exhausting.

Though libraries remain among his favourite places to people watch, he has since expanded to places like malls or at parties. This extends online to social media, mainly Instagram and Tumblr, though he also likes to scroll through online forums such as Reddit. He focuses on posts that rant on about something, as that informs him on what that person's worldview is. Still, he does try to remain at least somewhat active; his posts on Instagram and Tumblr are mostly consist of photos of the sky or outfits of the day (though he always excludes his face from these photos).

To Eliott-Blair, SOTF also falls under the purview of people watching. He began watching the show at around the age of thirteen. He cared little for the drama and the gore, but rather the behavioural patterns of each contestant. He was one of the few who enjoyed the quieter moments best; they were the most likely to be authentic. Recently, however, his interest in SOTF has soured. He feels that the show has gone on far longer than necessary, and funds that have gone into its production could have been used for more useful things, such as landing a man on Mars. While he still watches with some interest, he despises its corporate side. He does not voice his opinion, however. He simply nods along to whatever someone is saying, be they a fan or a detractor.

During the summer between elementary and middle school, Oscar had received his certification to work as an adult education teacher, and had taken up a job offering in Miami to work as a teacher in the theatre and entertainment technology program at Miami-Dade College. Thus they would have to move. The move was expensive, as the family had little in savings. Fortunately, the faculty offered a relocation package in order to help ease the move.

Elliott-Blair was fine with the move; he did not have any close friends in his hometown due to his odd behavior, and he did not expect to have any in Miami. This was his line of thinking, up until his first day of 7th grade where he was introduced to Rashmi Misra.

Rashmi was a Indian boy in the same grade as Elliott-Blair, having immigrated from India some years ago. Their relationship began as something akin to a rivalry, as Rashmi was also interested in roller skating. The two would challenge each other into executing increasingly difficult tricks, but this soon became less of a competition and more of a shared hobby.

These feelings of friendship quickly turned to love. On a spring day after school during seventh grade, Elliott-Blair has spontaneously hugged Rashmi, who was in the middle of taking a selfie. This was surprising to Rashmi, as normally Elliott-Blair – who was very sensitive to touch due to his autism – refused to allow others to touch to touch him. After an exchange of words, Rashmi managed to pry out of Elliott-Blair that he held feelings towards him. Rashmi cheerfully responded that he had feelings for him too, and that they should date.

Even though they were dating, the relationship between Elliott-Blair and Rashmi was not physical in the slightest. The most intimate they would be is when they held hands, or gave each other a quick peck on the cheek. They had never kissed; Rashmi once tried to initiate one, but Elliott-Blair stopped him, stating that such a thing made him uncomfortable. Rashmi made no more attempts, wanting to respect Elliott-Blair’s wishes.

Do to the lack of intimacy between them, most people did not notice Elliott-Blair and Rashmi’s relationship. A few peers would make comments, but Rashmi would quickly shut them down. Such a feat was easy for him, as he was rather tall for his age and quite confrontational. Elliott-Blair’s parents were also quite accepting when their son informed them about his relationship with Rashmi. The ones who opposed the relationship the most were Rashmi’s parents. They felt that their son dating another boy was just a flight of fancy, and that he will eventually outgrow such a childish notion and settle down with a nice girl. Rashmi would relay their daily arguments to Elliott-Blair, stressing that he was confident that he liked boys, not girls.

Elliott-Blair, by contrast, was uncertain. He grew up believing that he liked girls, as he would still get butterflies in his stomach whenever a girl would smile in his direction. Whenever he was around Rashmi, he would get a similar reaction. At first, he thought that maybe he was like Rashmi and liked boys only, and that the feelings he had for girls was misplaced. But even while he was dating Rashmi, he would get flustered around girls. Such conflicting feelings confused him, however he did not tell anyone at this time, figuring that if he ignored the issue it would go away.

The relationship ended abruptly towards the end of 8th grade. On their way home from the mall, a group of middle school students from another school threw homophobic slurs at them upon noticing the two holding hands. Not one to take things sitting down, Rashmi confronted the group. Things quickly went south when, after a heated exchange of words, one of the boys threw a punch at Rashmi, injuring him. Noticing someone in the crowd making a call on their smartphone, presumably 911, the group quickly dispersed shortly after the punch was thrown.

While Elliott-Blair’s parents were simply relieved that the two were not hurt, upon being notified by the police about the incident, Rashmi’s parents doubled down on their disapproval on the relationship. They pointed out that his preference for males had him involved in a fight, and things would only escalated from there. When Rashmi brought this up to Elliottt-Blair the next day, he stated that maybe Rashmi’s parents were right. While Rashmi – though somewhat frazzled – bounced back from the incident rather quickly, Elliott-Blair was so thoroughly rattled that called the relationship off. That was the last Rashmi heard of Elliott-Blair for the next couple of years; he refused to return Rashmi’s calls, he ignored him on social media, and would avoid him if they saw each other in public. It was not that Elliott-Blair hated Rashmi, it was that he wanted to avoid a repeat of the incident as much as possible. Rashmi’s persistence eventually paid off, as Elliott-Blair began to return Rashmi’s attempts at communication around the end of 10th grade.

As of present, while Elliott-Blair and Rashmi are in contact with each other, the relationship has cooled considerably. While Rashmi has attempted to restart the relationship, Elliott-Blair had turned him down. On Elliott-Blair’s end, the spark has fizzled out, especially after the two went off into separate high schools. The two mostly stay in touch on social media, though they occasionally see each other in person. Though Elliott-Blair has accepted Rashmi back into his life, he still has a cool attitude around him, namely by trying to keep the conversations as short as possible. While Rashmi understands and respects Elliott-Blair need for distance, he is still quite hurt by it. He valued their friendship rather highly. He has let his feelings on the whole issue known to Elliott-Blair, who has assured him that someday they will be friends again, but today is not that day.

One could argue that Elliott-Blair’s spark for dating had vanished completely, as he has little interest in his classmates. His single lifestyle did give him time to contemplate the questions he had about his sexual identity during middle school, of which he has concluded that he is bisexual.

Elliott-Blair returned to his solitary lifestyle after that, though with much lower self-esteem than before. Throughout middle school, his only real friend was Rashmi; everyone else was an acquaintance at best. He was indeed used to being on his own, but now the loneliness was beginning to sting. Not helping matters was that he was branded as being disloyal to others, as he figured that no one would care where his loyalties lie. He might be friendly towards someone one day, but then give them the cold shoulder the next, all because said person did something that mildly annoyed him. All that said, he possesses a complete lack of attitude and is overall pleasant to be around, both of which have earned him the general approval of his classmates.

The Østergaards had decided that the best school to send their son to would be Mangrove Garden High School, due to its focus on the sciences and mathematics. The entry cost was steep, and despite the increase to the family’s budget, it still was not enough to cover the cost. With the way Elliott-Blair’s grades were, it was likely that his scores on the entrance exam would not be high enough to qualify for a scholarship, so he spent his entire summer studying for a chance to get in. He succeeded by a hair, but he quickly went through burnout as a result. His rank has been slipping since his initial scores, and his teachers have noted that he seems distracted during class. Concerned, the Østergaards arranged for their son to see a therapist around the middle of the 10th grade. Upon hearing the issues he was having in school, as well as those brought up by Tawny, he was diagnosed with both autism and depression. Currently, he still has not received any treatment; though his parents are arranging for him to partake in a group therapy session, he has yet to join as of present. As a result of his depression, his appetite had decreased, leading to his unhealthily thin build.

As a way to make the world less tiresome to him, Elliott-Blair started to lie with much more frequency shortly after he was diagnosed with depression. Though he was rather crude at it during elementary school, he has grown to be quite skilled at the art. Though he lies about all sorts of things, such as what he had been up to that day, his lying mostly comes in the form of spreading rumors and false information. As a result, however, his lying has become habitual. He generally only lies to his fellow classmates, though he will also lie to his parents and – on rare occasions – his teachers. While he does try to avoid telling lies that would hurt someone, those who have caught him out on a lie have a soured view of him. Combined with his fair-weather friend tendencies, this has lead to quite a few students to view him with distrust. As for his teachers, while he has never received detention for his fibs, he has had more than a few stern talking to.

As of present, Elliott-Blair’s relationship with his parents is quite distant. While he understands why they were absent for the majority of his life, he still is not overly attached to them. Nor they to him; his parents often let him go where he wants, figuring that – while he occasionally lies about where he is going – he is self-disciplined enough to not get in any trouble. Though he appreciates the freedom his parents give him, he does wish his parents would show more concern.

Elliott-Blair has been doing a bit better socially than he did in middle school, though he still does not have much in the way of friendship. His people watching hobby has made him more in tune with the wants and needs of his fellow classmates. His overall niceness and his general appearance has labeled him as being cute among Mangrove Garden’s students. Most of his classmates believe him to be harmless, though there are those who have been burned by one of his lies that believe otherwise. On Elliott-Blair’s side, he fears those who are physically strong but ruled by their emotions, as a result of the incident from middle school. He goes out of his way to avoid confronting those sort of people to the best of his ability.

Elliott-Blair continues to roller skate, though now it is more of a way to stay fit rather than as something he enjoys. He tries to get in at least one hour of exercise a day. He still suffers from asthma, however, and his exercise is often cut short whenever he experiences an attack. Sci-fi remains his hyperfixation, and it is said that he only truly comes alive whenever the subject of space is brought up within a conversation.

Elliott-Blair’s standing in Mangrove Garden is exactly in the middle, having slid down from his initial standing closer to the top. His teachers are often quite exasperated with him, feeling that he could have a better standing if he were to just apply himself more. Still, he is well behaved, and as such his teachers are less irritated with him and more concerned about him. He has no plans at the moment concerning what he will do after high school. He excuses this by stating that he is only in 11th grade, and he will think more about it when he is in 12th grade.

Lately, Elliott-Blair has been questioning his gender identity. He has been mistaken for a girl quite a few times, although that never insulted him, it simply made him curious. He once bought a makeup kit for himself on a whim, and has since discovered that (to him, at least) he looks good with makeup. That said, he has concluded that he does not perceive himself as female. Currently he is think that he may be nonbinary, however he still considers himself male if only out of convenience.

Advantages: As a result of his people watching hobby, Elliott-Blair is fairly perspective, being capable of reading people to a greater extent that average. His small frame and pleasant attitude can help him be perceived as a non-threat to potential allies and could cause potential enemies to underestimate him. He is also fairly dexterous, which could allow him to keep balance easier.
Disadvantages: Even with his roller skating hobby, Elliott-Blair is physically quite weak, with little to no strength or stamina. He risks having his asthma flare up whenever he is tired, over-exerts himself, or if he is in a cold environment. His lack of self confidence could lead him to doubt his actions. His lying habit could easily catch him in a bind, which when combined with his general lack of loyalty could brand him as untrustworthy by both friend and foe alike. He fear towards those he perceives as both physically strong and emotional could lead him to distrust any potential ally who fits that description.

Designated Number: Malcolm's Mariners 03 (MM03)

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Designated Weapon: Spyglass

Mentor Comment: "You know, I think a few people — our weirdo resident armourer included — saw the spyglass as a joke weapon, but I think Elliott-Blair might actually be one of the few people who could use it as an advantage. If he's really good with assessing behaviour, having the ability to see people coming is going to be very useful. I have high hopes for this kid; not at all to do with the fact that he might very well be on to something about his disdain for SOTF's front office. Amen, kiddo. Amen."

DECEASED