Alex Webster is stocky in build--standing at only about five feet and ten and a half inches tall, he cannot claim to be particularly tall (hell, Izzie stands almost a half a foot taller than he is, much to her glee) but he finds little shame in the fact. Instead, he compensates with the build of a linebacker, heavyset and stable--there's nothing lean or slim about him. Coming in at a weight of a little over two hundred pounds of musculature and bulk, it's not what most would expect of an easygoing, laid-back guy like Alex, even though frankly his staunch adherence to physique was first inspired by an off-hand comment when he was twelve by Izzie that she 'hates wimps' (read: Alex prior to the age of twelve). It set him off on the decision to dedicate himself zealously to a routine of physical work-out, and even though at first it was about impressing Izzie it's now more simply to maintain his health and strength. He possesses fairly mild skin, neither exceptionally pale nor notably tanned, and you are hard-pressed to find any markings of note across it--neither scars nor tattoos, since he isn't one for permanent body alterations, nor for doing things that would likely result in him getting a scar.
Alex is blessed with a long sort of face characterised with gaunt, angular features that fit awkwardly on his larger body frame; he has high-ridged cheekbones that give his face something of a sunken quality, and a sloping, strong jawline that terminates in a pointed, rather squared chin. Sunken deep into his dark, contemplative face are dark brown eyes of a mahogany hue that peer out from the dark, angular canvas of his features, often overshadowed by his hair, which is, frankly, Alex's pride and joy. His basalt-black hair falls down about his shoulders in thick (and completely natural) curls, though much to his displeasure, his hair grows at a rate of about a centimetre a decade; in point of fact, the mere sight of a barber shop is enough to reduce Alex to a horror-stricken wreck at the very prospect of a hair cut. You'll sometimes find him with a bit of stubble gracing his features, a hallmark of his tendency to forget about shaving altogether, though luckily for Alex it doesn't come off slovenly and can even be seen in turn as handsome to some.
With regards to clothing, Alex wears largely the same kind of thing you'd see on any other average given person; much unlike Izzie you could pass right by him on the street and you wouldn't be compelled to take a second glance at him, at least not for his attire. He favours simple loose t-shirts unadorned by any designs, typically in shades of white or black so as not to attract an abundance of attention to himself (his build accomplishes that as it is); he'll also wear flannel shirts with the sleeves drawn up to his elbows. Oftentimes he'll tuck them into a pair of dusty regular-fit Levis, and in regards to footwear Alex gravitates towards simple fare such as converse sneakers. Colder days out and about may see him throw on an old flannel jacket of which he is fond, and as far as accessories besides a chain for his wallet (which he got off Izzie, the chain, that is) Alex doesn't go too much for them.
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☂First: Alexander
☂Middle: N/A
☂Last: Webster
☂Nicknames: Eh, he just goes by Alex. He's not too big a fan of the nickname 'Al', and being referred to as 'Xander' horrifies him. Izzie sometimes calls him Crespo ('curly', in reference to his hair), but obviously no one else does, and he'd just feel plain weird if they did.
☂Always Known As: As said above. Alex.
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╰☆╮Worst Memory: Quite frankly Alex has had a more or less ordinary life, with nothing all too tragic happening. Most likely the worst memory he has came about when he was about fifteen, when a conversation with his parents exploded into a heated argument over his friendship with a known delinquent who went by the name of Izzie. His parents had known her since she was nine, back when a youthful Alex had met her on a playground--a silent, bitter little girl who, judging by her reactions to all the other kids, knew two words of English: 'go' and 'away'. Somehow, despite her continued rebuffs of Alex's naive and innocent attempts at friendship, she found herself eventually getting used to him, even enjoying his presence, and at that Alex became the first friend Izzie had in the new country she now lived in. At this point, it was all fine for Alex's parents, but they began to rethink their assessment once Izzie suddenly began listening to 'horrendous noise' and dressing in leather, bullets, and dreadlocks--all the more so when, to their horror, she turned up with her first tattoo when she was thirteen. It was no shock to them, it seemed, when she took to smoking, drinking, and getting into fistfights--they had long since decided she was no longer fit for their son to associate with, a sentiment Alex reacted to with rage when they saw fit to share it with him. It was the first time Alex realised his parents were capable of judging someone they'd known--that he'd known and cherished--for years, by something as simple as the way she dressed and looked. He retorted that they had no idea who she really was and never would, and from there his relationship with his parents was a slow but steady decline--which they blame Izzie squarely for, and which Izzie still feels great regret for.
Another one would be (and this would normally take precedence except I entirely forgot about it until now) the day Izzie confided in him that she felt that she was a lesbian, when he was fifteen and had already realised that he was heads over heels in love with her. It was as though a door was shut permanently--he realised that no matter what, she'd never feel the same way towards him, and there was nothing he could do about that. He's tried to maintain their friendship as normally as possible since then, and he's done a good job of it--but it's getting harder and harder as his attraction to her refuses to abate even though he knows perfectly well it will not be returned. He's starting to feel like he can't possibly stand being regarded as 'just a friend' by her, much less the thought of someone else sharing with her feelings and emotions that she'll never share with him.
╰☆╮Best Memory: Arguably graduating from high school is his best memory, because he's now able to live on his own away from the watchful eye of his parents, which has become oppressive and overbearing to him. Never a man who was fiercely inclined towards independence nor known for being particularly reliant, Alex cherishes the prospect of being able to do what he likes, see whom he wishes to, and live as he pleases without his parents bearing down on him for it. Helps that he's gotten into a fairly good college that's also located nearby so he doesn't have to up and give up everything (only the things that irk him...like, y'know, his family), so Alex figures things are going pretty okay on that front.
╰☆╮Friends from Childhood: Isabelle 'Izzie' Moraes Vieira (he's one of few people who knows her middle name, or that her real first name is Isabelle and not Izzie). As said above, he met her when he was a little younger than nine and they immediately hit it off--that is, she treated him like shit even though Alex, with a naive curiosity as to why this strange girl was so tight-lipped and abrasive, tried to be as friendly and nice to her as possible. Eventually, it paid off, for he is now the one person in the world she trusts--and he wishes she could see him as just a little more than that.
╰☆╮Family:
* Mother: Gertrude Webster (nee Stein) - Currently forty eight years old.
* Father: Andrew Webster - Currently fifty one years old
* Siblings: Elaine van Dyke (nee, of course, Webster) - Currently twenty five years old
Brother in Law: Nicholas van Dyke - Currently twenty six years old
Nephew: Jack van Dyke - Currently four years old
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๑Brief Personality: Alex contrasts with Izzie's abrasive, violent demeanour so thoroughly it practically incurs whiplash on people who meet them together and can hardly think that they're friends--much less childhood friends. Alex is a laid back, easygoing type of guy, more than content to spend the day sitting on the porch with a book and a mug of steaming hot tea, watching the sun setting slowly over the skyline with his feet up on the railing, dozing in the warmth of the late-day sun. He likes the simple things in life, never much a man for extravagance or overspending--that much, he can claim to have learnt from Izzie, frugal as she is and has to be with her own money--and so he's never really wanting for anything, nor on a shortage of money whenever he needs it; in point of fact, for the most part he spends money purely on books, his favourites being science fiction classics such as the works of Frank Herbert, HG Wells, and Isaac Asimov, as well as tales of the fantastical and the terrifying, such as those of Jules Verne and HP Lovecraft. He never seems to be in too much of a rush to go anywhere, which can be pretty infuriating to friends and strangers alike when they're on a tight schedule or have to be some place at a specific time--but it just never seems to get to him, and he still prefers to go at things his own slow, leisurely pace.
Socially, Alex is an amiable, pleasant type; he's friendly and polite to most everybody, with an almost soft-spoken but affable way of communicating. He doesn't like harsh tones of voice and obscene, venomous words (from anyone but Izzie), especially when directed at himself or his friends; it is one of few things that will rouse him into a temper, and though he'd rather smooth over rough patches with some quiet humour and a bit of laughter, even Alex has his limits, and all that frustration he has to lock away and out of sight to maintain a mellow demeanour has to come out eventually. He regrets it whenever a break in his polite persona leads to a complete breakdown of his temper, and it does take quite a lot to get him to that point unless you know exactly what buttons to push, but when he does lose it, everything comes bursting right out, and even Izzie finds him a bit scary when he really goes off his rocker.
In general, however, you'll find him a good-natured, easygoing sort of man, cordial towards stranger and friend alike, and gentlemanly and polite as pie to any lady (much though Izzie begrudges it, considering it a chauvinistic sort of attitude--but that's just how he is). He appreciates the outdoors, enjoying a quiet, leisurely walk around in the open air, and though he does, after all, associate constantly with a delinquent who smokes, drinks, and fights, often in that order, Alex has failed to get himself caught up in that whirlwind that Izzie has gotten lost in the midst of. It's a matter of highly divisive nature to him--because on one hand, he doesn't want to sacrifice himself and lose sight of who he is, but he wants above all for her to share the feelings he has for her, as though turning away from who he is will somehow make her spontaneously decide she's heterosexual--he recognises the futility but the thought still beckons to him. He doesn't realise how much of an anchor he truly is in Izzie's life and how much she depends on his easygoing, amiable attitude.
๑Likes: Alex, as said, is not a complex man when it comes to his joys in life. Chief amongst his pleasures would be books--for him, there is no experience more satisfying in life than sitting back and relaxing with a good book. In general he leans towards science fiction books--but only ones which, he feels, are possessed of a degree of 'substance'. You won't find him reading Star Wars novelisations, that much is for certain. He likes books that make him think about the universe, life, and where humanity is headed in the future, but doesn't bother with books whose only selling point is cool lasers and impossible physics. Nevertheless, he and Izzie will often discuss from time to time books they have read or are in the process of reading, though Alex often finds Izzie's books to be frankly a bit long-winded and too wordy, and Izzie doesn't like having to wrap her mind around the complex physics and sciences that are often entailed in Alex's reading.
Like Izzie, Alex is a music-lover at heart--though admittedly he doesn't go quite as far as Izzie does. No matter how hard he tries, he can't wrap his mind around the vicious assaults of death metal and grindcore she so admires, though he often ends up having to listen to it anyway, and he's never said a word against it for fear that it'll cause Izzie to think less of him. Instead, Alex opts for more easygoing, peaceful music--if Izzie's personality represents the kind of music she predominantly enjoys, then the same can be said for Alex, who treasures the blues above all, considering it to be the highest form of music, easily trumping the fanciful pretensions of classical music and the complex arrangements of jazz (though he does also appreciate the latter); additionally, he is known to hold in high regards classic hard rock such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. In some ways, in terms of musical preferences, they do agree--after all, Izzie does also enjoy some blues and jazz, and in fact Alex can also claim that at times he's in the mood for some of the things she listens to, such as anarcho-punk and crust punk, sometimes even classic heavy metal like Black Sabbath or Judas priest, though that's as far as it goes for him.
Alex also enjoys drinking tea, considering it his beverage of choice in all matters. Green tea, black tea, oolong--and lesser known types such as noon chai, genmaicha, and masala chai. He finds most all kinds of tea to be very relaxing, and in combination with the above you will often find him reclining with a mug of tea, some soft blues playing in the background and a book held in his hands, eyes devouring each word one by one. All in all, this is what he holds dearest in life, and along with his friends they make up the bulk of his day to day activities. As an aside, he also actually likes the feeling of working out, the strain and the effort, because it makes him feel like he's really doing something good for himself when he exercises.
๑Dislikes: Alex does not hate easily, but there are things that he simply does not like. Chief amongst them is bad attitudes. He just doesn't like people who act rotten. He won't judge them and assume they are rotten (were he to do so, he sure as hell would never have befriended Izzie, considering she was treating him rotten as hell), but he's also not going to sit around and let someone ruin everyone else's day. He'll try to diffuse the situation with affability and the usual friendliness, but failing that he'll put it straight up to whoever it is being an ass that they're bugging people and they should stop. Similarly, he doesn't like vulgar language and venomous tones of voice--which is ironic considering who his best friend is, but in that respect, Alex is honestly kind of a hypocrite. If Izzie's being...well, if she's having one of her 'moments', Alex will do his best to calm her down, but he's never going to take a hard stand against her for fear that she'll see it as a betrayal (to be honest, she would). And when push comes to shove, in any situation, he'll always back Izzie up.
Like Izzie, Alex doesn't like most rap. The predominantly vulgar lyrical content is an immediate turn-off for him, as he doesn't like to hear someone rhythmically talking about the drugs they do, the gangs they run with, and the people they kill. He also dislikes pop music, though it has less to do with lyrics (however, that does partially factor into it) and simply that he doesn't like the sound of it. Unlike Izzie he won't hold it against a person if they do prefer to listen to rap and pop. He also has something of a predisposition against nu metal and metalcore--though that's only because of Izzie's passionate hatred for either genre, and he figures, well, he'll be damned if anyone knows metal better than Izzie does. If asked, he'll just say he doesn't really listen to either but 'a friend of mine who listens to metal has told me they're not representative of the genre'.
Besides that, there's not much. Arrogant assholes grate on Alex, but then, who don't they grate on? Ignorant or uncultured people can get on his nerves. He's not a big fan of cheese, carbonated soda, or peanuts, but acknowledges that it's no fault of the cheese/soda/peanuts, so he doesn't hold it against them.
๑Best at: Alex is pretty much the guy to go to if you want to diffuse a tense situation. He's an all-round unflappable guy when Izzie isn't concerned, so unless you really know how to push his buttons, he'll keep a calm head and politely but firmly resolve the conflict before it gets out of hand. He's fairly intelligent in regards to matters scientific, hoping to major in astrophysics in college and having built up a considerable base of knowledge in regards to the complex and fascinating universe of physics. And lastly, he's possessed of a pretty considerable measure of physical strength--he's no bodybuilder by any means, but if you're moving heavy furniture around or need a hand lifting something heavy, he's your guy. I'd say he can most definitely hold his own in a fight, except that he normally wouldn't get into a fight in the first place unless Izzie's involved and in that case, you're liable to have both of them beating on you and at that point there ain't much more to say.
๑Worst at: Alex is, all things said, not good at being punctual. He tries not to seem lazy and he doesn't like the thought of keeping people waiting, but he grabs a book, boils up some tea, says 'well, I've got half an hour, that's plenty time' and the next thing he knows two hours have passed--and the only reason he's realised it is because he finished the book and happened to glance in the general direction of the clock. His easygoing, laid-back persona can be absolutely infuriating to people, as can his adamant support for Izzie no matter what the situation. And he's got a long fuse--or rather, has very few things you can even use to light that fuse in the first place--but if you manage to push his buttons just right, you'll find that in those precious few respects Alex has a woefully short, rapid-fire temper. And unfortunately, Alex is plain and simple still blissfully naive as ever in some regards. You'll sometimes have to spell things right out for him because at times he just doesn't catch the subtext. He has god-awful balance and is known to trip up and down stairs like a character out of an old cartoon.
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❤Currently In Love With: You may not have worked it out quite yet (I know I've been very cryptic about it) but he is, in fact, in love with Izzie. Unfortunately.
❤Ideal Traits: Assertive, honest, forthright, sharp but good-natured, cultured, someone with dignity about them and independence--starting to sound like anyone in particular?
❤Dream Date: Alex hasn't thought that far ahead yet. It's a friggin' miracle if Izzie ever returned his affection at all (not to mention, y'know, completely unexpected, considering she's more or less secure in her sexuality), so he hasn't exactly started drawing out the plans for his theoretical 'first date'.
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☣Turn Offs: Vulgarity, perversion, rudeness, prejudice, discrimination, disrespect, things like that, he really doesn't like. Also not a fan of extremely conservative people (because frankly in his experience they tend to be pretty prejudiced and discriminating types).
☠You're Dead if: You hurt Izzie--well, if you hurt Izzie you're probably already dead, but that's more in regards to emotionally. He knows how emotionally fragile she really is and he's not going to stand idly if he thinks someone has hurt her emotionally. Also, if you chew with your mouth open or smack your lips--he hates that with a passion.
☹ Fears: Alex is afraid that if he ever tells Izzie how he feels about her, she'll get angry with him and decide to up and leave. He's so used to her presence in his life, so used to borrowing and lending books to and from her, to waving aside the smoke from her ever-present cigarettes, to being there for her whenever she's in a particularly morose state, that the prospect of that changing is strange and unhappy to him--yet he knows that, with a promising college life ahead for him and an uncertain future for Izzie, a future whose only certainty is that it doesn't seem to be headed anywhere prosperous or happy, eventually things are going to change for the worse.
❣Can't Live Without: His books, his music, his easygoing persona, and, of course, his friends.
☭Regrets: He regrets not acting on his feelings for Izzie when he feels he should have--he constantly wonders how it might be different now had he told Izzie those years ago how he felt for her instead of waiting until it was too late.
ღPlans For the Future: To find a career in the field of astrophysics and maybe someday become as influential as the great giants of physics--Einstein, Dirac, Heisenberg, so on--were in their time.
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☞ He's picked up a few words here and there of Portuguese from Izzie, but he could never get her to actually teach him how to speak it at least basically.
