alex wolff & he/him / male ‷ watch out , simcha allen levinson has crash-landed into roswell !! he looks 23 years old and celebrates his birthday on november 14th. he is from schenectady, new york, resides in tripp’s trailer park and currently works as a linecook at the crashdown café. one thing you should know about him is he has a small collection of books about the occult. so if you want to waste an afternoon, ask him about tarot cards. ‷
content warnings: mentions of drugs/drug use, bad relationships, dysfunctional parent/child relationship
note: simcha’s “full bio” is not comprehensive! gaps have been left, some purposefully, others not so much. i will likely edit/make adjustments as time goes on. this post gives simcha's stats first, then his bio — both are long. external links to simcha's full bio + stats live here.
stats
[ basic ]
full name: simcha allen levinson
pronunciation & meaning: sim-KHa; meaning “joy” (click here for more info)
nickname(s): sim (family + friends only), “little one” (parents only)
hometown: schenectady, new york
age: 23
birthday: november 14th, 1997
astrology: ☼ scorpio, ☾ taurus, ↑ sagittarius
gender: male, he/him pronouns
ethnicity: ashkenazi jewish; broadly european
[ intimate ]
sexuality: bisexual
spirituality: reform judaism, also interested in kabbalah and the occult
fears: dying alone, not living up to his potential, never changing, changing too much
guilty pleasure(s): fundamentally disagrees with the concept of a “guilty pleasure”; believes no one should feel remorse for a harmless indulgence (and at the same time, believes one should always be critical of their own desires)
biggest pet peeve(s): “street clothes” on the bed, people who talk at you instead of with you, art with no feeling
distinct mannerisms: makes direct eye contact when speaking. often absent-mindedly picking at cuticles, bouncing his leg, or scratching the inside of his wrist
allergies: pollen and mold, underripe avocados
enjoyer of: desert rock, doom metal, drawing with pencil, horror movies, cathartic crying
piercings: both ears (there is an eyebrow piercing in a lot of the gifs i use just ignore that ok hehehe)
[ traits ]
adaptive: passionate, dependable, proactive, curious
maladaptive: suspicious, defiant, easily distracted, stubborn
beliefs about self: possessor of reliable instincts. somewhat intelligent; forever curious. incredibly sentimental. prone to overthinking. terrified of yet interested in leaning into the things beyond control. could have done better, could have received better.
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full bio
content warnings: mentions of drugs/drug use, bad relationships, dysfunctional parent/child relationship
simcha allen levinson was the type of child to “disappear” at family gatherings, preferring to sit in a relative’s empty bedroom with a pencil and drawing paper rather than in a grandparent’s lap. and while he preferred his alone time, simcha was not unloving. he was dutiful towards his family — he helped his mother organize her art room, assisted his father in keeping the house tidy, covered for his older brother when he was hungover — but he felt more dutiful towards his own sense of peace. he was self-directed from a young age, butting heads many many many times with his parents over (somewhat arbitrary) matters of agency and self-actualization — what was (in)appropriate to wear to synagogue, what kind of music he should(n’t) listen to, how he ought to do what he was told, how he ought to, ought to, ought to, ought to — and as time went on, the relationship between progeny and progenitor only grew more tense. had his family been a quilt, by age 13, simcha was no longer a thread in its weave — a stray thread, perhaps; a raw hem, unkempt and fraying.
but the world turns; children grow older, they become what they will be as well as what they will cease to be. simcha’s faults (stubbornness, suspicion, defiance, an over-active imagination) become things to embrace; things he learns to use to his advantage. he turns to art, music, philosophy, the stars. by age 15, he is an adept illustrator, a talent which connects him (most frustratingly, most metaphorically) to his mother; a woman whose turbulence continues to rage on the perimeters of his existence like a tornado on fire. simcha is intelligent, adaptive, creative, observant — he learns to navigate, resentfully, this fiery storm.
at age 17, acceptance to new york university (NYU) allows him to leave his mother home. he has family in the city, an older cousin on his father’s side. she brings him into a world of strange, creative types: performance artists, avant-garde film makers, musicians whose music is more pedal than instrument, model-designer-skateboarders, and people with no talent but obscene amounts of money. he spends his university career in this world. indulgences (sex, drugs, rock and roll) abound. his grades slip, but he is happy. he feels like he belongs.
simcha graduates at 21. he wants to stay in the city with his cousin, but she wants to leave, and simcha won’t stop her. he gets it. his cousin moves to los angeles, leaving him with a kiss and her ancient, sturdy honda cr-v. simcha drives it back home to schenectady.
once more, simcha is that raw hem in the family quilt; the ingredient in the stew which makes it bitter (or, depending on your perspective, makes it sweeter). the unpredictability of his mother’s emotional state remains. simcha cannot understand how his father deals with it; why he stays. maybe it’s because they’ve been together so long (nearing 30 years), and what people really “love” is not anything but a sense of familiarity.
much to his dismay, simcha is not very different from either of his parents. he is at once docile like his father, and a tempest like his mother. in this time at home, he finds a social scene similar to the one he had in new york city, and enjoys a series of unsuccessful, unfulfilling, and sometimes awful relationships with members of all genders. hurt is received, and hurt is given. simcha tells his cousin, brother, and parents about precisely none of this.
one and a half years pass, and simcha is ready to leave again. his parents do not approve of his “directionless lifestyle”, a judgement whose sense of authority is so reminiscent of the one he was subjected to in childhood that it makes his head spin: are we really so unchanging?
simcha has very little money of his own, but he does have time to make some, and he still has his cousin’s cr-v. the fantasy of escape ferments; meanwhile, simcha’s older brother, ilan, visits home and boasts (as is his right) about the possible locations for his medical residency. new mexico is on the list, and when simcha hears ilan describe its desert terrain, expansive sky, and lack of seasonal allergens, the seed is planted.
ilan chooses washington state for his residency. simcha stays in schenectady and gets a job in a nothing-nowhere-whatever diner, saving up enough for however much gas and food he thinks he’ll need to get to new mexico. he tells no one his plans, and leaves home the day after passover in april. his parents are furious, but they’ll just have to get over it.
simcha’s first two months in roswell have been more challenging than he’d anticipated. he completely uprooted his life, and now it is on him to sow the fresh ground with new seeds. this task has not been easy — he has been crying often, sometimes without realizing it (the page of a new drawing will be marred by a sudden drop of salt water; his strumming hand will become wet in the midst of a song; the hot griddle at crashdown will steam with tears). he is aware that things get worse before they get better. he is aware that he has to reach out and make friends, find a support system here like the one he had in new york; but he is scared. it is his task to see this fear, dive headfirst into it, and to embrace the uncertain; to find himself, to find truth.
simcha allen levinson is a student of life; an observer. he is developing a keen awareness of his place in the world, and at times, finds himself acting as his own watchful parent. his journey has begun; and it will continue to begin again and again and again and again.
