FORSYTHE, Joseph

[Hornswaggler]

This is my side of the story
Only my side of the story...

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About You:
Your Name: Waggy
Age: 16 (17 in about two weeks)
Years Roleplaying: Almost 9. =3
One Random Fact: Criminal Minds has the ability to make me tear up over one stinkin' scene. ('Proof', anyone?)

Only my burden to bear
Nobody cares, nobody's there...

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You wash your hands and come out clean
Fail to recognize to enemies within
You say we're not responsible
but we are, we are...

Its all about power then
Take control
Breaking the rule
Breaking the soul
They suck us dry till there’s nothing left
my oh my...

The Vitals:
Name: Joseph Michell Forsythe
Playby: Ian Somerhalder
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Date of Birth: April 25
Ethnicity: There's a bit of German descent, but he's a born-and-bred New Yorker
Country of Origin: America - New York City, to be specific

School Records:
Position: Student
Talent: Telekinesis; basic manipulating objects at will
Years at Chalice: Five
House: Hades

No one will hear
My side of the story...

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Painting the Portrait:
Appearance:
At first glance, it's easy to label Joseph as a charmer. He has a smirk that rarely leaves his face, and there's a curious arch to his eyebrows that suggests he's constantly making some joke about something. He's all angles, really, with sharp cheekbones, shoulders, and even hands. Standing about 5'9" when he thinks about his posture, he can manage to be fairly intimidating, especially to the newbies. He has dark brown hair and refuses to cut it short. It usually is long enough to curl around his ears and be incredibly messy if he doesn't feel like doing anything to it. Joseph's eyes are a very dark brown and can look black in the right light. Though normally as teasing as his smirk is, they can be extremely piercing at times; it usually shows most when he's moving anything heavier than a textbook.

Though the dress-code at Chalice isn't extremely strict, Joseph finds himself more comfortable in uniform-type clothes than casual ones. He'll claim his school in New York rubbed off on him, but it's speculated that he simply won't pass up any opportunity to look good. At his most 'casual' he'll wear a button-down shirt under a dark jacket - regardless of the weather. One of the only times he'll wear what other people consider 'normal' is when he's training. In those cases a leather jacket replaces the others with a thin t-shirt underneath it. Whatever the case, Joseph is almost never seen without long sleeves. Only a select few people, including his roommates over the years, have seen the reason behind it - a large burn scar stretches from the right side of his chest to the underside of that arm, nearly wrapping around it completely. He views it almost as a weakness and has never willingly shown it to anyone.

Personality:
Joseph has an oddly faceted personality. There are enough layers to it that it takes years to actually find the 'real' person beneath it all, and very few have gotten that far. Most of the time the general population sees the outermost shell, the part that some have accused of being a shield. There, he's the joking one, the one who never fails to find some sarcastic remark or obscure reference to go with any situation. He gets no end of pleasure in finding the little things that annoy people and offhandedly tossing them out as if he had no idea it would be met with a bad reaction. The boy rarely crosses the line, though; he knows how far to push a person and will often back off just before they find incentive to attack him. It has happened on occasion, though, but those were 'special cases', as he says. Some people are annoyed simply by his smirk, the perpetual one that only falters if they manage to throw back something that wounds his ego. Some people, he'll say, are the kind that bug him as much as he does them. It's those people that sometimes end up visiting the nurse and, on occasion, make sure he joins them there.

Beneath the sarcasm and bad jokes, Joesph has an ego that rivals that of the stereotyped military snipers. Especially when it comes to his archery, he doesn't simply think he's the best; he knows for a fact he is. It's an odd self-confidence, though, in that it's obvious while being subtle. Rarely does he come out and state how wonderful he his; it's implied in the vague comments and almost weary shrugs when complimented - though most have learned by now not to bother complimenting him at all. He's a constant flirt with practically every girl on campus and will sometimes get a 'kicked puppy' type of expression when he's rejected as if he simply can't understand why anyone would turn him, of all people, down. Joseph's aware he has the looks to match the skills and uses it to his advantage on a regular basis. He isn't nearly as successful as he'd like to think, but one goal has been achieved; every student in the school has at least heard the name Joseph Forsythe, whether it be in good context or not.

Getting the Hades dorms was a bit of an odd coincidence for him. He certainly fits it and has become sort of the set example for the house. While he holds himself in very high esteem, Joseph has a temper that is almost as well-known as his ego. Though fewer people have seen it, the incident that landed one boy in the infirmary for three weeks is a tale that always seems to be brought up when he's mentioned. Usually he's perfectly capable of controlling himself, letting things slide and cools off quickly. There are times, though, when the wrong button is pushed and something seems to snap. He hates those times, honestly. Even if he proves himself a hundred times over, to him it appears to be a weakness. The rare moments he loses control show that he doesn't always call the shots, and that isn't a comfortable feeling for him. Needless to say, the boy doesn't let things appear that way. He'll shrug things off easily, move onto whatever's next. The stifled emotions don't show regularly. Of course, being pent up like that, when they do emerge it can often be volatile.

While many mental disorders are easily noticed, Joseph's is such that it takes quite a bit of time and putting pieces together to spot. Even then, many mistake it for OCD - understandably, considering how similar they are. In all technical terms, he has Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, centering around organization and numbers. The boy isn't exactly scientific and will simply refer to it as OCD if it's actually brought up. Really, he doesn't see it as a disorder at all. Organization is extremely helpful and he's always exceeded in math. The only times it really gets in the way is when he spots something out of place and has to fight the urge to fix it. It's easier, he's found, if there's something to distract him and has taken to keeping something in his hands, twirling it almost absently no matter what else is going on. The counting isn't a hindrance at all as long as he remembers to stay quiet. When he was younger Joseph would count everything out loud, something that he was scolded for on a regular basis. It still happens just as often, but he can keep the numbers in his head as he tallies exactly how many steps are down to the dorms or how often an earth-talent drops the rocks she's trying to juggle.

While it usually takes a lot to faze Joseph, there are a few subjects that strike home and do it hard. Any mention of his sister, his scar, or the first time he 'found' his powers will either cause him to fall silent immediately or, sometimes, raise his anger. It's usually the new kids that cause it, since most people who know him know better than to push those buttons. There are a few, of course, that will do so anyway just to see the reaction. Some of those already touchy relationships have by now escalated into full-blown rivalries, and none of them are exactly friendly. The boy finds it ironic that it seems to be those he would never share anything personal with that end up finding out everything.

History:
Joseph grew up in the East amidst the cold, rain, and bugs. Though they moved often, with his father's position in the military, it was always somewhere in the north. North Dakota, Michigan, New York, and Virginia are the places he knows the best, though he feels more at home in New York as that was where he spent most of his later elementary years. Their family was as normal as any military family could be. Joseph and his two siblings, Carol and Samuel, were always good at making friends no matter how many times they moved and there was rarely resentment felt about leaving in the middle of a school year.
Joseph's OCPD was 'diagnosed' his seventh grade year. Though never actually official, one teacher told them enough for them to draw the conclusion. It wasn't a very big deal at the time; he simply was far more organized and counted everything he came across. His father didn't feel the need to get treatment for something that wasn't doing any harm in the first place. Because of his love for numbers, the boy always exceeded in math. Writing was another matter entirely, and there were many weekends and summer days spent attempting to raise his English grade to anything that could count as passing. His intelligence is higher than average - an estimated IQ of 119 - but it didn't happen to include much with words.

The scouts found both him and Carol at the same time. She was two years older and her abilities with shape-shifting were already apparent. Though he was only 13 at the time and totally unaware of anything odd, the scouts insisted that powers like theirs were sometimes genetic and apparently could see something in him that proved he did have a talent - but no one was sure what it was. They were given the usual free tuition to the school, informing the family that they got enough funding from the international government to stay running without fees. Joseph, always looking for some break in the normal, was completely ecstatic to get out of the country. The first few months at Chalice, Carol started her specific classes immediately. As they were still waiting to see what exactly the young boy could do, he took only basic courses - an immense disappointment when he learned he couldn't just drop English.

To this day, no one really knows what happened to Carol. The day sticks out in Joseph's memory as plainly as if it had only just happened a few hours ago, though, even after five years. It started as a time of triumph; a salt shaker he had been staring at during breakfast suddenly decided to ignore gravity and floated for a few seconds before toppling. He would have usually blown it off as some other student messing around, but the headache that came afterwards and the pebble he was able to lift between classes proved otherwise. It hadn't taken as long as the professors had originally thought, apparently, and they spent a few hours trying to sort out classes before letting him out of the office. The first person to tell, of course, was his sister and Joseph set off looking for her immediately. After at least an hour, however, one of the professors found him instead and delivered the news that effectively shifted the boy's perception of the world in general. Carol had been found on the edge of the forest with wounds consistent to some animal attack. It might have been believable, really, if the blood hadn't failed to cover a burn on her neck.

His sister died a few days after the accident and Joseph immediately requested to become a year-round student. He distanced himself from his parents, only speaking to them if they actually travel to the school itself, in which case they're difficult to ignore. He's found he can't block out Samuel, however, and spends most of the visits showing his little brother the new tricks he's picked up.
Joseph's OCPD kicked in like a shield after the first week or two. His humor suddenly didn't exist and his temper flared at the slightest provocation. Any time he didn't have something to occupy his hands - training or working on his archery - he'd end up sitting in some corner of campus, muttering numbers under his breath. If it were possible to block memories with a string of senseless numbers, he would have found the way to manage it.

It was almost six months before someone actually confronted him persistently enough to make a difference. He can't remember exact details about the situation until the first rock hit the other boy in the shoulder. The fight only escalated from there and, as they were both still young and not well trained, quickly got far more serious than either had expected. Joseph always says he can do better work under pressure, and it was certainly true in that case. The large blows hit pretty much at the same time; somehow he managed to hurl a bench at his opponent just as an unexpectedly large burst of fire managed to find its target. The bench only clipped the other boy's head, but it was enough to knock him down - hard - and render him unconscious. The flame hit Joseph along his right side but he didn't notice it at first. After realizing he had won the fight, the combination of pain from the burn and exertion from lifting things far heavier than he was capable of successfully knocked him out as well.
The other boy was in the infirmary for more than three weeks. Joseph was stuck there for only two. Apparently the nurses had experience with kids nearly killing themselves while 'testing' their abilities. The burn was treated but they couldn't do anything to keep it from scarring. He started wearing long sleeves after that and very few people actually know about the scar itself, though the fight is fairly famous. Somehow his humor kicked back into action then, replacing his numbers as a shield. He found it was easier to laugh at everything than try to make sense of it and rarely comes across anything he can't make a joke out of. His vendetta against the school, however, has gotten stronger over time. The investigation into Carol's death stopped after they decided it was a rogue animal. A few international agents came to campus for a day to look it over but left without doing anything else. Joseph's made it his own mission, now, to somehow bring down the place and the people that let his sister get killed. It's just irony that the very same people are teaching him how to do it.

Family: Richard Forsythe - Father, US general ; Martha Forsythe - Mother, math teacher
Carol Forsythe - Sister, deceased
Samuel Forsythe - Brother, 13; still living Stateside with their parents
Roommates: Unknown at this point

Details:
Likes:

• Cracking jokes in the middle of what other people think to be 'serious situations'
  
• Math
  
• Roman numerals
  
• Studying different accents
  
• Sleight of hand tricks - though he isn't good at them
  
• Crossing the line between genius and madness
  
• Preparation
  
• Getting away with things
  
• Mint
  
• His bow
  
• The training area
  
• Flirting - it's even more amusing when it annoys them
  
• Showing up one of the elementals - especially fire-talents

Dislikes:

• Computers
  
• Authority of any sort
  
• Elementals
  
• Fire
  
• Fire-talents
  
• People who call him 'Joe'
  
• The smell of fresh wood
  
• Rain - it messes with plans
  
• Losing track of anything
  
• Interruptions
  
• Having his hair 'overly' short
  
• Someone implying his humor is a shield
  
• Losing control of himself

Strengths:

• Good memory
  
• Very accurate shot
  
• Very attentive to details
  
• Extremely organized - part of his OCPD
  
• Can easily switch between a joking demeanor and dead-serious as quickly as he needs to
  
• Skilled at imitating accents
  
• Doesn't stand out when he doesn't want to
  
• Intelligent - IQ once estimated at 119

Weaknesses:

• Obsessive compulsive - about numbers and organization
  
• Finds he has to take a mental tally of almost everything; steps in a flight of stairs, the number of people in a line, etc.
  
• His temper is well-known and there are times he can't control it
  
• Writing is not his forte
  
• Often gets headaches - exacerbated after pushing himself too far with his training - that he doesn't actually know the reason for
  
• Constantly moving - he often twirls things between his fingers if he has to sit in one spot for long
  
• Close to pyrophobic
  
• Rarely lets real emotions show; when they do emerge, it can be volatile
  
• Though social, he refuses to actually confide in anyone

Hobbies:

• Archery
  
• Avoiding homework
  
• Setting up 'pranks' of various magnitudes
  
• Counting - though it's more of a compulsion than a hobby
  
• Practicing accents he hears around campus

Hold on, don't turn and walk away
Save me -

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Other: Joseph really isn't a 'misunderstood soul'. He simply enjoys what he does and gets great amusement out of annoying people. Although he does have a few issues psychologically, they don't effect him to the point of instability. If he manages to be honest with himself - which rarely happens - he knows that the constant sarcasm and joking is somewhat of a shield. It just doesn't really concern him all that much.

And I cried these words but nobody came...

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Lyrics from “My Side of the Story” © Hodges.
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