Zach Matranga

[Rivek†]

Name: Zach Matranga
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: Senior [12th]
School: Bayview Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Computers, Podcasting, Learning, Socializing, Being snarky

Appearance: Zach stands at a moderately modest height of 5'11'', and weighs in at about 155 pounds, more or less depending on his fast food cravings at the particular time. His seemingly raven-black short-spiked hair and similarly colored narrow eyes, both actually a very dark brown upon closer inspection, along with his olive skin are the last vestiges of his family's Italian heritage from a physical standpoint. He tends to keep his face clean shaven, but he's getting to the age where five-o-clock shadow is only a few hours late. His build is neither that of a runner nor a couch potato, falling somewhere between, a little closer to the potato. His usual attire consists of a nostalgic or ironic t-shirt, almost universally black, and relaxed-fit jeans with a belt to match the shirt.

Biography: With two still happily married parents and a middle class lifestyle, Zach had a fairly good childhood. Being the only child, his parents were a bit overprotective, and denied him the laissez-faire upbringing that he saw some of his school friends enjoy. This resulted in Zach's 'teenage rebellion' phase, now in its waning stages, being fairly mild compared to notable delinquents one might compare with, mainly due to a lack of knowledge of his options. Unfortunately it also left in him a bit of a lingering resentment for authority, and harbored in him a sarcastic streak that only gets stronger with his increasing awareness of the current state of the world.

A fairly intelligent child, Zach had a natural thirst for knowledge as soon as he'd learned to read. He started school in gifted education classes, and stayed in advanced studies to this very day. However, his inquisitive nature leads him to things that he thinks are entertaining or interesting, which in many cases have little to no relevancy to his schooling. He maintained a low to mid B average throughout school, mainly because of his propensity to choose the fun topic rather than the necessary one. His family, and parents in particular, drew much frustration from this, knowing he could do much better if he tried.

Being who he was, Zach took to computers and the internet quite quickly once he was introduced, forums and internet radio being two things he particularly enjoyed, especially at the same time. The entertaining conversation mixed with the utter on-air freedom of internet DJs provided the perfect climate for him to sink into during alone time. In his teen years Zach started to make his own attempts at these types of broadcasts, helped along by the advent of podcasting. After a few months of weekly shows, he built a respectable listenership for his eclectic mix of random topic-of-the-week discussion, his smug on-air persona, and a consistently entertaining style. There were even a few episodes here and there about the SOTF broadcasts, when they overtook the airwaves; he and callers debated the 'reality' of the show, their favorite picks, and which strategy might be best. The show continues to this day.

Zach was always and still is a very sociable guy. He has no problem striking up a conversation with a stranger, or at least attempting to, and many of his friends and acquaintances have been made this way. Unfortunately, he always tended to drive roughly half of them off by way of snarky comments and quick flashes of wit made at the expense of those around him. He has developed, over many years of passing advanced classes with minimal effort as well as achieving minor internet celebrity, a superiority complex and an air of arrogance. In his view, very few people can match him in a battle of wits, and none of them are ever in the immediate vicinity.


Advantages: Zach's friendly outward nature and sense of humor allows him to fit in to social strata with little difficulty and generally causes people to tend to trust him more easily than the average man on the street. He's fairly intelligent, and usually quick-thinking. His years of podcasting and general interest in things have made him a jack-of-a-lot-of-trades, so to speak, although most of his knowledge from theory and not practice.
Disadvantages: Zach has a habit of shooting his mouth off and making people angry, a lot. There are people who have been irked by this once, twice, or once too many, and rather dislike him for it. His sense of superiority and arrogance over his own abilities versus what he percieves of others often leads to gross underestimations of those around him, and he seems incapable of actually seeing the lesson involved when such underestimation leads to a problem situation.