Zack Harlow

[Cactus]

Name: Zachary "Zack" Harlow
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: Eleven
Hobbies and Interests: SOTF-TV, Piano, Theatre, Band

Appearance: Zack stands at 5'11" tall and weighs 163 lbs. While he stands a little on the taller end of average, Zack doesn't cut an imposing figure as he is fairly lean and tends to slouch, giving him the appearance that he is a few inches shorter than his actual height. His body language often gives off the appearance that he is tired or aloof as he is often found leaning against things or sitting down. Zack is Caucasian, though his mother is half-Latino and his complexion is slightly darker because of that.

With short black hair that's slightly longer on the top and green eyes, Zack is conventionally attractive, his oval-shaped face and symmetrical cheekbones giving him a bright and open look. His hair is styled to be parted to the side, which he usually does, ensuring that it is carefully parted over to his left-side. Zack is the sort of person who is often approached by the elderly or by people looking for directions, largely due to his welcoming features, though his constantly narrowed eyes can undercut this. Zack often doesn't make eye contact or appears disinterested in the conversations that go on around him until something piques his interest. Once he is interested, his eyes are sharp and attentive, almost alive. His nose is of average size and has a rounded tip, not sticking out too much to be obtrusive in his face.

Fashion-wise, Zack dresses mostly to blend in. Whatever the fashion trends of the year are, odds are he'll be found following behind. Clothing trends don't really appeal to him all that much, but he does tend to skew towards muted colours, not wearing clothes that have bright colours or loud designs on them. Over the last year, Zack has been prescribed glasses as he is slightly near-sighted, though he only wears them when he absolutely has to.

On the day of the abductions, Zack was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with the school logo on the breast that denotes him a member of the Mangrove Garden High School band. Underneath, he was clad in a plain dark green t-shirt. On his wrist, he wears a silver analogue watch that he received from his grandfather for his sixteenth birthday. Zack was wearing slim-cut black acid-washed jeans and a pair of white and grey Adidas running shoes.

Biography: Zachary was born as the only child to Lucy Martinez and Geoff Harlow on January 8th, 2003. Both natives of Miami, Florida, Lucy and Geoff met while at a party when some of their respective college friend groups overlapped. After a year of dating, a mishap with some birth control led to Zachary's conception. The two got married rather quickly, Lucy being raised with strict Catholic beliefs that did not permit the idea of an abortion.

The marriage was more one of convenience and necessity rather than one of love, and it did not take very long for the constant arguing and bickering to take its toll on his home life. Before Zack was even two years old, his parents had divorced, both being fairly recent and young college graduates who were still trying to find their way in the world. Geoff Harlow enlisted in the military shortly after his graduation, so Lucy was granted full custody of young Zack. For the next two years of Zack's life, he would see his father only on weekends, and even then — the visits were relatively uneventful.

Tragedy would strike in the summer of 2007 when Geoff Harlow was killed in a training accident on the base at which he worked. While examining the underside of a vehicle, the winch holding the vehicle up failed, sending it down upon the unfortunate serviceman. Zack was still only four years old when his father was killed, and he cannot recall feeling any particular way about his father's death, only confusion at the idea that he would no longer see him. Since Geoff died in a training accident while on-duty, the family received a modest financial settlement from the military, one that was primarily put away to be used for Zack's further education. As Geoff was a child of the foster care system who had poor relationships with his foster parents and Lucy's parents were working blue-collar jobs, the two were left mostly to fend for themselves.

Growing up with a single mother who was still trying to establish her own career, Zack's childhood was quiet, if not slightly frugal. As a child, he had a vivid imagination but wasn't one to vocalize himself all that often, sometimes being caught examining picture books or staring off into the clouds when he became bored with whatever toy he was playing with. He always held an interest in the arts, though it became very evident that painting and drawing would not be his forte. Zack could often be found humming a song to himself or dancing to a tune that only he could hear. It was this interest in music that found Zack enrolled in piano lessons, which served the dual purpose of giving him somewhere to go after school while his mother made her way home from work as well as fulfilling his innate interest in music.

As a child, Zack was socially apt, though often seemed very disinterested in playing with his peers. Often he would stay off to the side of groups, aware of what was going on but attention outwardly focused somewhere else. If a conversation or a game reached a point that piqued his interest, he would become involved and energized. Many of his teachers attributed this disinterest to his intellect, believing him to be intellectually gifted and likely seeing a lot of the material or things being taught in the elementary grades to be beneath him. The sense of superiority was not the case (though he did test as gifted), but he found it easier to accept that label rather than combat it, leaving him with an often adversarial relationship with many of the educational authority figures in his life. It would generally start with a remark or a correction that Zack would offer innocently enough, but it irked several of his teachers to the point where he began to have a bit of a reputation.

Most of his peers enjoyed having him around for the occasional joke or the blast of energy that he would bring to the odd topic, but none of his fellow students really ever felt as though he were incredibly close with them. Indeed, Zack had many acquaintances but few — if any — real friends.

School never was all that difficult for Zack, his grades generally always in the higher range throughout school, but it was in artistic endeavours that he would truly show a zeal — and a talent. Taking piano throughout his young life, during the fourth grade, Zack also opted to start learning how to play the saxophone, an instrument that came with a different set of challenges. A woodwind instrument was a very different beast than the piano, and Zack found that it challenged him in a way that he hadn't been challenged musically in a while. Throughout high school, Zack has shown the drive to become better in his playing and his proficiency, joining every school band that he could in order to practice and submerse himself within it.

As Zack showed an aptitude for education when he decided to apply himself, he took the tests for admission to Mangrove Academy and was awarded a full scholarship. This was very beneficial for him, as it allowed him to save the money that had been put away for his education and use it towards his post-secondary studies. Throughout high school, he has done rather well and is usually ranked near the top of the academic school rankings, though his performance in certain subjects tends to fluctuate depending upon how interested he is in the material. Even then, he does well. As Mangrove is not located all that closely to where he lives, Zack tends to walk to school each day, always leaving with extra time to spare so he is not bothered or rushing. As he walks most places, his stamina has become quite strong.

In the ninth grade, one of Zack's teachers noticed his relatively aloof nature and suggested to him that perhaps it would be a good idea for him to try taking a drama class to help him get over the perceived fear of being social. While Zack's lack of interest in being social wasn't because of any particular fear, he decided that it couldn't hurt to give it a try, and so he enrolled himself in drama class. Something about the idea of putting on a costume and being someone else flicked a switch in his mind, and the Zack Harlow that his peers saw in drama class was a person that most of them had never seen before. Outgoing, enthusiastic, and somewhat talented — like with music before it, Zack found himself to be a natural on the stage. Through drama class, he found something that scratched the creative itch within himself and very soon thereafter he found himself auditioning for an acting role within the school play that year. While Zack's commitments to both the band and the school play tend to leave him preferring to play smaller roles, he enjoys portraying characters who are much more audacious than he is.

Most of the people that would identify Zack as a friend are those whom he knows from drama or from the band. As far as his sexual orientation is concerned, Zack has truly given it a minimal amount of thought. He believes that he can appreciate aesthetic beauty that comes in all genders, shapes, sizes, or whatnot, but has also never truly held an attraction to anyone — no one has come along that has captivated him in any way in a romantic or sexual manner.

Zack's mother still works very hard to support both her and her son, and as such he is left with much time to spend on his own. When she is around, the two get along, though he can occasionally be aloof with her. Lucy has understood that when Zack wants to have a conversation, he will — when he chooses not to, there is no point in even trying. Even still, the two have a loving relationship and his mother would describe them as close.

Aside from music and the theatre, Zachary has managed to find an absolute fascination with the SOTF-TV phenomena. The universe and the idea of a last-man-standing contest is one that has long fascinated him. Since his mother is often busy with her own work — having eked out a decent career as a project manager — Zack was easily able to watch and follow the event, even at an age before he should have been allowed. Each season, he has made a point of watching and following along online, frequenting many message boards and video sites about the event. It has given him another place of entry to some of his classmates, often being a surprising source of trivia about the various seasons as they go.

Advantages: Zack is intelligent and is very well-versed in SOTF-TV history, so he will know what to expect as far as game mechanics. He is an accomplished actor and is able to improvise well, hiding his true feelings easily. Zack is in decent physical shape and doesn't tire easily, even though he is constantly sitting or leaning. He is not prone to outward displays of emotion and is in clear control of his feelings.
Disadvantages: Zack is often aloof and not one to seek out social interaction. Often, he doesn't care for social niceties and can be easily dismissive of people if they are speaking about something that he doesn't care about. Zack can be easily lost in his own thoughts and can often overlook things that are very obvious or happening right in front of him. Most of his classmates know who he is and are on relatively decent terms with him, but when push comes to shove there are few — if any — who will seek him out or look to form an alliance with him.

[MurderWeasel]

Heya, mysterious desert succulent plant! Zack is looking pretty solid but he is DENIED pending a few tweaks and additions.

How short exactly is Zack's hair? A general "short" can cover a pretty wide range of lengths.

"Zack is the sort of person who is often approached by the elderly or by people looking for directions, much in part to his approachable features, though his eyes can betray this." <- this sentence is a little bit difficult to follow—maybe something like "Zack is the sort of person who is often approached by the elderly or by people looking for directions, largely due to his welcoming features, though his eyes can undercut this."

Can I also get maybe one or two more specific facial features for Zach? What does his nose look like? What shape are his eyes? How's his complexion? Does he have any piercings or notable scars?

Did Zack's mother receive any child support from his father, or any benefits following his death? Does Zack ever have any contact with his paternal grandparents? Also, "Zachary was born as the eldest child to Lucy Martinez and Geoff Harlow on January 8th, 2003." makes it sound like he has siblings, but the rest of his bio suggests the opposite—perhaps switch "eldest" to "only" if that's the intent?

Can I hear a bit more about Zack's strained relationship with teachers and authority figures? Did they feel that he thought himself above them? Did anyone ever try to help him find material more on his level?

How old exactly was Zack when he took up the saxophone?

Did Zack enter Mangrove Garden through the scholarship program, or through tuition? His bio makes the former sound a lot more likely (he's smart and comes from a family on the lower or middle end of the economic bracket) but I'd like to hear for sure. Also, where does he land in the class rankings?

Can I hear just a bit about Zack's current relationship with his mother? How does he feel about her? Do they get along? Do they spend much time together, or is she still out of the house a lot?

Can I maybe just get a line or two about Zack's good physical condition in his bio, explaining where it comes from (marching band? Working out intentionally)?

Post when you've got that taken care of, and we'll give Zack another look. Thanks!

[Cactus]

Edited.

[MurderWeasel]

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