Eric Cunningham

[Espi]

Name: Eric Cunningham
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
Hobbies and Interests: Online communities, photography and cinematography, vintage media, hiking

Appearance: Eric is a heavyset young man, standing at 5'9" and weighing 210 pounds. He is stocky and carries his weight well, but he still has a round, flabby face and gut. Eric is Caucasian with pasty skin and a lot of freckles on his cheeks and nose. He has medium-length straight, fine blond hair that he gels into a slicked-back style over his ears and partway down his neck. Eric's eyes are large, close-set and dark green in color. He has a round face with full lips and a cupid's bow, a large, downturned nose, and thick-framed glasses.

Eric dresses to downplay his weight, wearing clothes that complement his figure. He dislikes jeans, finding them uncomfortable, and prefer cargo shorts in hot weather. He mostly wears button-down shirts. He overheats easily and prefers cotton or breathable fabrics to keep him cool, but still often finds himself sweaty without copious antiperspirant. When permitted, Eric wears a black baseball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes. On the day of the abduction, Eric was wearing said hat, a blue and white checkered button-down shirt, beige cargo shorts, and Keens-type sandals.

Biography: Eric is the oldest of the three sons of Jana and Ken Cunningham, his brothers Steven and Andrew being three and four years his junior respectively. His father taught at a local technical school for high schoolers, while his mother worked from home as a graphic designer. His parents were older, in their late 30s when he was born, and both had sizable savings and were good with their money. As a result, Eric's life was spent comfortably in the upper middle class despite their modest professions. However, they were also both genetically predisposed towards obesity, and Eric followed suit, quickly becoming chubby as a child and remaining that way for most of his life.

A rather subdued young boy, Eric preferred to watch TV rather than spend time with other children his age. His parents were strict in keeping him away from SOTF at a young age, fearing it would be too stressful for him, and instead preferred he watch older television shows and movies, classics which they had grown up with. Eric grew very attached to these old shows, partly out of nostalgia, and partly because they were different. Even then, many of his classmates were interested in SOTF, but Eric liked that he had different interests, feeling it made him special. He mostly watched crime dramas and sitcoms, as these were his parents' favorites.

When Eric did begin watching SOTF, he didn't enjoy it. The unscripted nature of it meant that stories were often ended in unsatisfying ways, and, more strikingly to him, the camera setup meant scenes were less impactful. Eric had poor vision even with his glasses, and the position stationed cameras in the arena often made it difficult for him to make out. Even scripted recreations, such as movies, bored him, because he often didn't believe that they were accurate, and thus were wasting his time by 'pretending' to be real. This frustrated him, and he quickly fell out of interest, believing the shows he was used to to be better. This elitism made him unpopular with many of his peers, and he learned to keep his feelings to himself in school, leading to him being relatively unsocial.

However, when Eric received a laptop computer at age 14, he was able to find an outlet. Anti-SOTF groups were common, but Eric felt that many of them were against it for the wrong reasons. He began to believe that SOTF itself had become stagnant, and that a revival of classic television and movies was in order. As a result, he became involved with communities of vintage media enthusiasts who also missed the shows that came before SOTF. He is still part of these groups, and considers them to be his closest friends. He participates in a wide variety of groups, often spending hours chatting with them online, a lifestyle that further worsened his weight. His parents were relatively unconcerned, seeing as they were also overweight and weren't suffering any ill effects.

One day, while discussing his issues with cameras in SOTF with his online friends, someone joked that he could always film his own versions, and on a whim, Eric decided to try that out. He began researching cinematography, and was fascinated to learn of the techniques used in productions. This further cemented his belief that SOTF had sacrificed much of the charm and value of older shows for its current premise. He bought his own camera, and began studying and learning about still photography as well, thinking it a useful way to practice. He started off with nature photography, and continues to enjoy it, as it is both easy to find a 'willing' subject for and deceptively complex to get a good shot. He eventually began creating short movies, as well, though less frequently as he wasn't interested in trying to find groups for it.

Eric is very proud of his work, seeing himself as more engaged than an SOTF fan, since he is actually able to recreate aspects of his preferred shows, which most SOTF fans obviously can't. While he doesn't think of himself as an artist, he is legitimately passionate about camera work and now plans to go into it professionally.

As part of this, Eric has also begun making frequent visits to the Everglades National Park, which is relatively nearby and hosts a massive assortment of potential photography subjects. Of course, this has its drawbacks; naturally pale, Eric burns frequently when outdoors, though hats and sunscreen mitigate this somewhat. In addition, he was still very out of shape and didn't have the stamina to stay out as long as he would have liked. Realizing this, Eric began to study exercise methods, and took up hiking and jogging in order to lose weight. This is a recent development, but he is making good progress. Eric likes that he is taking care of his body and improving himself, feeling proud that he is able to achieve what many people wish they could do.

Pride has a central part of Eric's life. He has a somewhat inflated ego as a result of his elitist views of SOTF, his good grades, and his successes at many of the goals he sets. Eric does tend to dismiss tasks he finds beneath him or uninteresting, though, and thus is rarely challenged or forced out of his comfort zone. This shows in Eric's grades; having been accepted into Mangrove Garden on a scholarship, Eric now hovers near the middle of his classes, just high enough to not lose said scholarship. He likes English and history classes, being relatively good with words as a result of spending so much time messaging people online and wanting to present himself well, and because he likes to learn about what life was like before SOTF. He struggles with math and science, though, and so he puts in very little effort, barely passing in those courses and dragging his overall average down.

Eric doesn't get along well with most of his classmates. Even when he is not outright rude, he is stuck-up and judgmental. He is smart enough to know that making lots of enemies is a bad idea, though, so he mostly keeps to himself, and has almost no friends he speaks with in real life. This doesn't bother him much though, as he has extensive online communities whom he is friends with. To those people, Eric is well-spoken, mature, and thoughtful, with a good deal of insight into the subjects he is knowledgeable about, and he is well-liked among his peers there.

At home, Eric has a good relationship with his parents. Both Jana and Ken are happy that he is passionate about classic media, though they worry that he doesn't have many friends and don't seem to think his internet communities count. They often encourage him to meet with people at school, while Eric makes empty promises to do so. However, he is close to them, and they are the only ones offline who have seen most of his work, as well as funding his hobbies and needs with a sizable allowance. Eric isn't at all close to his brothers, though; there is no animosity, but they are both avid SOTF fans along with their classmates, as well as being more interested in sports and video games. Having almost nothing in common, Eric things of them as immature children and doesn't see any point in trying to get along with them.

Eric intends to attend Ithaca State College in New York, as they have an excellent film studies program. He also looks forward to living in colder weather, as the heat of Miami has never been comfortable to him and he'd like to be able to photograph snowy environments. He also knows several people in upstate New York, and looks forward to meeting them in person.

Advantages: Eric is observant, analytical, and patient, with a good deal of mental discipline when he sets his mind to a project. He is self-centered and may potentially be selfish enough to fight for the win.
Disadvantages: Eric is stubborn and obstinate, and struggles to motivate himself on topics or projects he doesn't care about. He is self-centered, and his independent nature means he will struggle to cooperate with other people in a team environment. Eric is in decent shape now but being prone to sunburns and having poor vision may still be a hindrance.

[Namira]

Hi Espi,

One tiny point of clarification, can you just make it clear what 'accepted into mangrove garden' means? I'm guessing you're referring to it being on scholarship but it's not explicit.

Once that's done I'll have another look at Eric.

[Namira]

Approved