Theme Song
"I'm more than sure I'm smarter than you."
Name
Robin Locke, like the bird, or the superhero, or both, whatever.
Nickname(s)
Critical, the alias he signs each letter with.
Role
The Wannabe Critic
Age
18
Gender
Male
Romantic Interest(s)
None at the moment. There was a girl in the past that he found himself attracted to named Annabelle and he followed her around for a while. He thought she was smart, and witty, and she could handle his flaws, and he liked her for that. He liked her a lot. But after a while of going through the motions of crushing on her (crushing hard), he came to the realization that it was a useless endeavor. Annabelle was killed in the fantasy world he'd engulfed himself in and it was then that he realized that she had only been a character, not a real, live human being from Earth, and that they never would have made it together, not for real, because she had her own storyline to follow, and in the end, it lead to her death. Now he's not sure how to trust liking anyone, not unless he's sure they're real, and it's hard to be sure of something like that.
Sexuality
Bisexual. He hasn't come out to anyone, but he's not exactly hiding it either. Just, nobody's asked.
"I don't know. What do I look like to you?"
Hair
Robin's hair is generally unkempt and rarely brushed back in a neat or orderly fashion. He doesn't care to mess with it other than keeping it clean, since he can't stand having dirty hair. It's soft to the touch, but he'd never let anyone do that anyway. If he's without his hat, he may run his fingers through it to even it out or subconsciously while he's thinking about something, but otherwise he simply wakes up and leaves it as it is. It's a light pink in color which, at one point, he thought was fake, until he left the fantasy world he'd been in to Earth and realized it was actually that ridiculous color. He doesn't really care though.
Eyes
Green. His vision definitely isn't the greatest and he can be seen squinting a lot, but he denies the fact that he needs glasses. He's nearsighted, so trying to see or read things at a distance gives him a lot of trouble, and it usually all just comes out too blurry to bother with. Sometimes, if he's around someone, he'll try to fake it.
Skin
He definitely isn't a very tan individual. He's almost pasty pale. He isn't the biggest fan of being outside, even when he's in various fantasy worlds, and prefers worlds with darker themes, or worlds meant to be in black and white. He doesn't exactly tan easily when he is stuck under the sun and usually just ends up getting burnt.
Markings
Robin doesn't have any notable markings or tattoos.
Build
Thin with a very slight athletic build, if any at all. He's on the move very often, so he's gained a tid bit of toning from all that moving around and from the occasional fantasy world that asks for action, but otherwise, he tries to stay out of the action if at all possible and for the longest time has preferred to stand back and watch it all instead.
Clothes
There's a bit of a half-and-half mix between casual and formal with the clothes Robin decides to wear. For the most part, it depends on which world he's going into at the time and how long he's been there, but he still tries. He likes to attempt to look like he put some effort into how he's dressed, but not so much effort that he looks like he's overdone it. Sometimes, he can get outright lazy and just wear a baggy jacket over everything. As for colors or style, he doesn't have a preference; whatever's available will do.
Accessories
Aside from the hat he finds himself wearing frequently, especially on the days he's feeling lazier about his appearance, Robin has a pen on him at all times. It's a very nice pen, one of those expensive ones with the fine tip and a pretty light, but still legible, pink ink. He always has it on a necklace that he wears around his neck at all times unless he's showering. The pen was given to him by his father and it has his name inscribed in it in little gold letters on the side.
Weapons
The only weapon that Robin keeps on him is a simple pocket knife. He may pick up something bigger and better depending on how dangerous the world he's visiting is, but the pocket knife is a constant.
"At least I know what I'm talking about when I say things. That's more than I can say for most people. You, too, probably."
Natural Skills
âWriting
âCalligraphy
âSilver-tounged
Learned Skills
âFast runner
âPick-pocketing
âMulti-lingual
Weaknesses
âSocial situations
âFighting
âCrowds
"To be honest, I don't know a single soul who'd watch my show or read my book. I'm really quite boring. But then again, so is everyone else."
Quirks
Robin enjoys making use of his "letters." While they're primarily used to put his hand-written reviews in each time he leaves a fantasy world, they also have another purpose. Sometimes, just to be a condescending smart-ass when someone's starting to grind a little too hard on his nerves, he'll hand them an envelope out of nowhere. Inside the envelope will be an insult of some sort. They've been known to be anything from a simple "you're an idiot" or "stop talking," to "there are dead birds more intelligent than you."
Likes
âDark genres
âMysteries/crime genres
âBooks
âVideo games
âFantasies
âFuturistic
âSci-fi
âReviewing
âWriting
âScary genres
âSupernatural
âAction genres
âOrganization/planning
âOld-style genres
âBirds/bird-like creatures
Dislikes
âStupidity
âRomance genres
âSpontaneity
âBoredom
âMost comedy genres
âFaction/historical genres
âDisorganization
âLaziness
âProcrastinating
Fears
âŁDisorganization. It's nearly bad enough to be consider obsessive compulsive disorder, but he doesn't have all the symptoms of that disorder, so he wouldn't claim to have it. He doesn't like chaos or things that are all out of whack. Controlled chaos is okay as long as he understands everything that's going on and that's supposed to happen from all the angles so he doesn't miss out on anything and get caught up in something terrible. On a smaller scale, he makes sure that what little stuff he keeps with him is kept in an orderly fashion, and if any of those things were to go missing or end up somewhere they weren't supposed to be, he would get irrationally freaked over it.
âŁInvasion of his personal space. Basically, don't sneak up on him. He doesn't like that. He is far from a touchy-feely person in any sense of the phrase and absolutely can't stand it when he thinks someone's too close to him or clinging to him. Robin has an imaginary space bubble and unless he gives someone his permission to break between the borders of that barrier, he gets extremely agitated. He's extremely paranoid about it, especially if it's sudden or if he's snuck up on.
âŁGhosts/Supernatural things. As much as he enjoys these things, he's actually quite afraid of them, although this is a fear he would have a harder time admitting due to ego issues. He enjoys delving into supernatural fantasy worlds because they scare him. This is one fear he takes advantage of by having a little fun with it, enjoying the rush he gets whenever he wanders through a haunted house or goes down an alleyway at night in the dark all alone.
Personality
Robin is, for all intents and purposes, a moody, anti-social, know-it-all prick. He's spent as much of his life on his own and he doesn't entirely hate the idea of spending the rest of his days in the same sort of fashion. Of course, the idea of having someone to talk to or relate to sounds a bit ideal, but he understands that that's a normal, typical human feeling and usually just brushes it aside. He doesn't think he's cut out for it and he wouldn't know what to do if thrown in a social situation anyway. More than just anti-social, he's socially awkward. While he can speak clearly and eloquently when need be, he usually prefers speaking for himself and he never enjoys having to explain himself. He plans things out in his head and he has a certain way things should be and how things should go and if those plans are interrupted in any way, shape, or form, then he starts to get a little overly edgy and maybe just a tad dramatic. While he may normally appear to have a cool and collected composure, when his plans are deterred, he's been known to completely lose all that and become a sputtering, aggravated, whiny mess.
While he may like to think that he's a cool guy who has it all together, Robin, in reality, is far from any of that. He's fickle, a scatterbrain, despite his obsession with keeping organization both in mind and in the physical realm around him. He's constantly thinking up different plans and ideas and, for the most part, constantly changing things around regardless of how much he claims to hate when things like that happens. He's quite hypocritical in that sense, always being so harsh and judgmental on others when he tends to do just the things he claims he hates other people for doing. He claims to hate people who can't make up their mind or those who don't think before they speak, or, especially, those who never finish what they start, but he does all of those things. Sometimes it's almost as if he talks just to hear himself speak and can be found frequently talking to himself when he's alone, laying out his plans in his head or "rehearsing" a conversation he wants to have with someone even though he knows it'll never happen that way.
When he is around others, he needs to know everything that's going on. He doesn't appreciate whispering or being talked about behind his back, or backtalk in general. One of his biggest peeves is when people mumble. He absolutely can't stand that. He thinks it's the most obnoxious thing in the world, right up there with people who invade his personal space and simple-minded idiots. Oh, yeah, definitely those other two things. He absolutely hates having his personal space invaded and being snuck up on is reason in itself to get him to scream like a little girl, although he'd deny it the second he came back to his senses. It doesn't seem like Robin has very many good traits at all. Really, he's rude, judgmental, hypocritical, nosy, and more insecure about himself and his surroundings than any should be, but he's not a bad person over-all. Well, there's worse out there, anyway.
Although Robin has a hard time handling people, he does care for them. While he claims to not be able to stand idiots or those who get themselves in trouble, he would make it his silent duty to make sure of their safety. He used to be the kind of person similar to everyone else who enjoyed diving into fantasy worlds to forget reality, but he's grown out of that since then. He doesn't think reality should be a forgotten thing of the past and every time he returns to Earth in between worlds, he can't help but stop and stare for a little while, sad about what it seems like it could of been, or used to be. Although he'd like to see reality for what it could be, he doesn't believe he's good enough to bring it back together himself. Not on his own. And, well, that's a project for another day. Maybe he'll get to it eventually, but in the back of his mind he doubts it.
"What a world we live in. Worlds, I mean. There's lots of them, you know. More than you or I could ever count. I would know, I've tried."
Significant Relationships
Robin isn't very close to anyone these days, fictional or otherwise.
Family
Mother - Navi Locke
Deceased
Navi was a very kind woman in the long run. She cared for her son and she worried for her husband. The fact that such a beautiful, tightly wound woman like herself ever ended up with a man like Jericho was a mystery to many people, but she found his imaginative self intriguing and fell for his silly sense of humor and the feeling of comfort he gave her. She was never one to be very into indulgences and always kept herself leveled on the ground, sturdy and strong at all times, ready to take reality head-on rather than try to avoid it and deal with the consequences later. She didn't believe in having fantasy worlds and thought those who cared so much about things outside of reality were wasting their lives away in a meaningless fashion. She wanted her son to grow up with a strong sense of determination and a good head on his shoulders and never appreciated her husband's more...creative habits, although she accepted him for who he was and tried not to change him too much since his hobbies seemed to be a source of enjoyment for him. When the world seemed to fall to depravity and wrecklessness, the last thing she wanted to do was dive into a made up world, but she eventually accepted that it was a safer bet for her child than to remain on Earth and went along with her husband's ideas. She did not know his book had been unfinished.
Father - Jericho Locke
Deceased
While being a very clutzy, scatter-brained man, Jericho still had a strong head on his shoulders and went into every situation with confidence and enthusiasm. He was the class-clown type of guy, always the one making jokes at social gatherings. He loved his wife to death and considered himself lucky to have her every day of his life, showing her off and bragging about her every chance he got. He cared for her more than anyone else in the world and, when they had a son, he was so delighted he swore he nearly died that day just from the pure excitement. He supported the family as best as he could with various odd jobs, but he never seemed to be able to settle down at one stable, permanent job. He never liked the idea of having a full-blown career and, in his mind, he wanted to be an author instead. He would always talk about all these plans he had to write a book some day and become a best-selling author and become rich and famous off of it, but whenever he actually settled down to write something, he never ended up finishing it. This proved to be the same when it was time to leave the realm of reality and he got the idea for his family to live in a world written by himself. He thought it would be the best and safest way to survive and managed to convince his wife that he would write a world that was completely safe and sound for them. Unfortunately, he only managed to write out half the book before deciding that it should be enough. His excitement to go into a world away from reality got the better of him and he ushered his wife and young son inside to live out their days...until he realized his mistake all too late.
History
Robin was born shortly after the peak of the unanimous decision to leave Earth by the people that inhabited it. He was born on Earth, but he didn't stay there for very long, not long enough to have any memories of it. By that time, Earth was starting to become a wasteland. Growth was taking over the buildings and the Shadows were rumors passing between those who still bothered living there instead of in their fantasy worlds. The only reason Robin's parents hadn't left yet was because his mother was strongly paranoid about the safety of just jumping in to some fantasy world. She had questions and there was nobody around to answer them and, while Earth had quickly depopulated, she didn't trust them. Fantasies were supposed to stay intangible and that was that.
However, Robin's father didn't think that way at all. He'd always been excited about the idea of being able to live a world away from reality, but his wife and new born child was keeping him from being able to do as he pleased. He was a self-proclaimed author who wrote in his free time, but never finished a single thing he ever started. He either procrastinated it so long he lost the idea or he simply grew bored of it and left it to start something else instead. With the threat of the Shadows looming over their heads, his wife seemed to be more keen on the idea of leaving Earth, but the only way to convince her to do so and calm her nerves was if he wrote the world that they would live in. He quickly went to work and, within a couple of months, finally claimed to have the world ready for them. Robin and his parents fled to this world and never planned to return to Earth.
Unfortunately, Robin's father seemed to screw it up for them yet again. When Robin was about ten years old, the world of theirs, that seemed to be so simple, yet so perfect, started falling apart. What happened when you live in the world of an unfinished story? It starts to write itself. It starts to take things from other worlds. It starts to blend and corrupt and become a horrible, unlivable place. It becomes empty and dead, and so do those living in it, and it closes in on itself, never to be returned to again. Robin managed to get away only by the dumb luck that he'd wandered outside of the book. He'd been doing it for months beforehand once his mother told him the story of what happened to Earth, the real world, and he'd been doing it in secret, since his parents would never allow him to leave their so-called safehaven. And the day that he was out, the book emptied itself. When Robin went to return to the world inside the book his father had written, he found that he couldn't. It had become an ordinary book with a blank for every page, a cover without words, a world without people. Empty. Gone. Just like his parents.
From there on out, Robin stayed on Earth for about a year to familiarize himself with all the different genres of life and all the options he had. He finally ended up becoming obsessed with this little world about a girl named Tess and her best friend Annabelle who traveled through time and space going on adventures on different planets and time periods, and he ended up going along with them in their world. He lived there for a while--he wouldn't be able to recall how long, exactly--until they came to an arc where Annabelle was killed. At that moment, it was like someone had pulled down the curtain of facade from over his eyes. He cleared the daze from his eyes and saw the world for what it really was: a fake. It wasn't real. It was never supposed to be. And just because he was living in it, nothing changed. It wasn't going to. So then, he started to wonder, which was really worse? The fake or the real?
After that nearly literal reality check, Robin left that world and decided not to return to it again. Staying in one world for too long started making him feel sick and closed off, and more than a little bored. He ended up with thehe habit of bouncing from one fake world to the next, exploring its story from a distance, and then reviewing it. He writes short little personal reviews about each world he goes into and leaves it outside the world in one of his seemingly never-ending supply of envelopes, all written out in legible pink ink. He signs each review simple as "~Critical."
"Have I mentioned I'm writing a book? I'll finish it someday..."