|| Get to know NAVEEN MALDONIA who’s TWENTY-ONE years old and a JUNIOR in college majoring in UNDECLARED. He is from CORONA and is often times mistaken for ROME FLYNN while others say he reminds them of NAVEEN from THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. ||
HEADCANONS & HISTORY
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, the Maldonia family always took their status as royalty very seriously. While it was nothing more than a figurehead position, the family still believed they were more important than most, and that's the exact mentality Naveen was raised on. He was taught to believe that he was superior to everyone else, and it was demonstrated through buying Naveen superior clothes, toys, and electronics than most of his peers, demonstrating that status is everything.
Naveen grew up with a butler, Lawrence, that was at his beck and call to do absolutely anything that young man wanted. He never learned to cook, clean, or do laundry, because Lawrence was always there to do it for him. Managing money meant nothing to him, because Lawrence always took care of it. Up until he got his own place in college, he had never so much as done his won grocery shopping because whatever he asked for would magically appear in the pantry a few hours later. He never even had to do his own homework, as Lawrence was there to write in all the correct answers, and then proceed to convince his teachers to give him a passing grade despite subpar test scores. It wasn't that Naveen was stupid, it's that he never once saw the need to apply himself. Naveen was living his best life, while others were working tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen.
It wasn't until he was graduating high school that the Maldonia family realized they made a mistake when it came to raising their son. So concerned with giving him everything he wanted, they realized they made him want for nothing, never bestowing him with a work ethic, but instead giving him an arrogance and laziness that wouldn't suit him well in the real world.
The day Naveen was told by his parents that he was expected to attend college was a shocking one. He was so used to his parents giving him the freedom to do whatever he wanted with no push back that being told what to do with unwavering firmness felt like an attack. He had always been of the firm belief that after high school he would simply go to work at his father's company, taking a high ranking position on the board where he could get paid lavishly to sit around telling other people what to do, doing very little work himself. Learning that he had to earn his position was nothing short of a slap in the face. There was a big part of Naveen, the stubborn, spoiled part of him that resented being told what to do, was tempted to say fine, cut him off. He didn't need their money anyway. But as Naveen looked around the house he grew up in, he came to the earth shattering realization that everything he loved cost more money than he could possibly make on his own, especially as a high school graduate with no marketable skills. His love of material possessions weighed stronger than his pride, and as such he found himself attending Corona College before he even quite knew what was happening.
There was a big part of Naveen that expected to be above college — someone of his social standing couldn't possibly fit in on campus when he was so high above their social class. It was his freshman roommate that made him believe differently, so enthusiastic to both be at college and have Naveen as a roommate. Still bitter about having to live on campus and share a dorm room with someone else, he resisted at first, making it clear he had no desire to get to know the other boy. Yet his roommate was not deterred by his lack of enthusiasm, dragging Naveen to meals and every activity on campus, giving him no choice but to get to know the people he would have otherwise ignored. It was there that Naveen realized that maybe he wasn't better than everyone else — or not that much better, at the very least. Poor people could be nice, fun, and interesting too, and suddenly it was like Naveen was seeing a whole new world.
Similarly, Naveen never expected to enjoy attending classes quite as much as he does. By coming in as an undeclared major, Naveen realized that he could take whatever classes sound fun and interesting without the expectation of taking the boring, serious, or difficult classes. No business or math classes for him. No history or science or economics. Instead you'll find him taking art and philosophy, women's studies and film studies. Catch him signing up for physical education, music, and hospitality courses. Perhaps it's not the way that you're supposed to do college, but it's the way Naveen's doing it and he loves every second.
Despite being in his junior year, Naveen has found a way to avoid this dreadful "hard work" thing that everyone is talking about. It was a bit of a shock when he first attended classes and the professors expected him to do work, not at all caring who he is, but not to worry. Naveen found a way around it. He's willing to put in some work to avoid doing actual work. He uses his charm and a little bit of kindness to befriend a few particularly smart people in each class, depending on them to do all the work in any group projects, and counting on a lot their help for any individual assignments. They do all the work for him, and in return they get the delight of his company. Sure, his test scores leave something to be desired, but his high grades on his assignments are enough to pass the class, much to his professor's dismay.
After taking such a mismatch of classes, he's nowhere close to graduating because nothing he's taken can add up to an actual degree in anything. The advisors at school keep warning him about this, informing him that he'll be in college forever if he keeps this up, but Naveen simply doesn't see how this is a bad thing. He's having the time of his life, why would he ever want to leave?
At all times, Naveen is first and foremost focused on having a good time. He wants to be the life of the party and is fully convinced that wherever he is, the party is. He wants to be surrounded by people eating up just how charming he is, enthralled by his good looks, quick wit, and charm. Because of this he'll never miss a party or event around the island; he has both a fear of missing out on something fun, and also a fear of others missing out on his brilliance. For the very same reason he's started joining various clubs, both at the college and around the island.
As a bit of a player, Naveen has accidentally left a string of broken hearts around the island. Naveen is caring and attentive when he's with someone, making them feel as though they're important and special. And while others may not believe it, when he's with someone he truly does care. The problem is that he has a short attention span; always looking for the next best thing, he moves on in a whim. Some only get one night, others a few weeks, those that are really lucky get a month or two, but so far nothing has lasted longer. Some know about his reputation and expect it while others are left blind sighted, and while it does leave him with a pang of guilt every time, he simply hasn't found someone that he feels is worth sticking around for. Deep down Naveen knows he's capable of love, that there's someone out there that can convinced him to change his player ways, but while many have tried to be the one, he simply hasn't met them yet. He also firmly believes he's too young to be tied down — he has his whole life ahead of him and doesn't need a ball and chain just yet.
His favourite way to pick up the ladies (or gentleman — he's bi as fuck, baby, he doesn't discriminate) is to borrow his friend's dog and take a walk by the dog park. He likes to think that having a dog makes him appear kind, thoughtful, and sensitive (and deep down he really is all of those things), but most importantly, years of watching tv has taught him that no one can resist a man with a dog or a baby. And since he can't get his hands on a baby (nor does he particularly like being around children at this point in his life), the dog will have to do.
While he might be a little self centered, Naveen is one of the best friends you could have. He loves and believes deeply in his friends, hyping them up at every accomplishment, supporting them when they have a bad day, and is there to listen no matter what. He's always up for a fun and stupid adventure, prides himself in being an excellent wing man, and might even let you borrow a jacket if your outfit is in desperate need.
One of his most prized possessions is his car. Growing up, the one rich boy thing he didn't indulge in was being driven around by a chauffeur. While it certainly showed his status and wealth, something he always loved to brag about, he liked the freedom of being able to go wherever he wanted, when he wanted, without his parents or their staff knowing where he was going. Not that he was ever getting into that much trouble, but hat freedom was a rarity. From the moment he was old enough to drive, he convinced his parents to buy him the nicest car that money can buy and it remains his pride and joy to this day. He's very picky about who he lets in his car, and don't even think about coming near it with food or drink.
Music was one of his first loves, and it remains near and dear to him to this day. He knows the lyrics to most songs on the radio, he has a Spotify playlist for every mood, every every occasion, and makes a playlist for almost everyone he meets no matter how brief their time together his. His true love, though, is jazz. Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone; It's the music he grew up on, comforting, nostalgic, and inspirational. It's a love he keeps hidden from most people, but those who know him the most have seen him dance around his living room to the brass music and crooning voices blaring from the speakers.
Beyond his love of listening to music, he's quite a talented musician as well. The music lessons he was enrolled in as a child were the only thing he ever put any actual effort into, and he continues to play to this day. While he can play both the guitar and the saxophone, his personal favourite instrument is the ukulele. He thinks it's fun, unique, and charming, just like him, and while he doesn't often play it in public, if you're over visiting at his house there's a good chance he's broken it out. Especially after a couple drinks.
A connoisseur of game shows and reality tv. Just as he doesn't take himself too seriously, he doesn't take the media he consumes seriously either. He's here for something fun, and particularly likes watching people dumber than her is make fools of themselves on television. It's a great ego boost.
Very used to skating through life on charm alone, he doesn't know what to do when someone doesn't fall for that charm. He's so used to having people wrapped around his finger that he genuinely doesn't know what to do or say when someone sees right through him and doesn't fall at his feet. He finds himself getting a little bit flustered, and works that much harder to get their approval.
More than a little bit vain, Naveen takes great care and pride in his appearance. He insists on having fresh haircuts, wearing the latest fashion, and has an extensive skincare routine he does both morning and night. He goes for a run almost every morning (of course not too early in the morning, don't mistake him for a man that gets out of bed earlier than he has to) and lifts weights every day to maintain his physique. And when he walks by a mirror, he has to stop and check himself out, both to admire the beauty that's reflected back at him, and to make sure he's looking his absolute best.
Ever since being forced to go to college, his parents have also been asking more questions about exactly how Naveen is spending his money. While he still has free use of his credit card, he gets calls with questions when the statement comes in, eyebrows raised at some of his larger purchases. Sick of being under their watchful eyes and wanting some semblance of independence, Naveen has started doing the one thing he never thought he would voluntarily do — get a job so he can have some financial freedom of his own. There’s only one problem with that: after spending his whole life refusing to do any sort of hard work or manual labour, Naveen is a notoriously bad employee. While he has no problem charming his way into the job despite having not marketable skills to speak of, it’s keeping the job he has a problem with. Whether he’s being fired for not doing any work, doing the job poorly, or simply breaking things around the establishment because his best isn’t quite good enough, he hasn’t held a single job for more than a few weeks. He’s at a crossroads between deciding whether he should actually roll up his sleeves and work hard for the first time in his life, or throw in the towel and accept his parents conditions for his frivolous spending.
WANTED CONNECTIONS
friends - rich friends he’s known since he was little or friends he’s made in college or anything in between
flings/exes - it won’t have lasted for a long time, but he can promise it was a good time
enemies - listen, he’s annoying af and surely someone is gonna hate this man
employers - please let naveen work at your establishment for a few weeks and try not to hate him too much when you have to fire him
literally anything and everything!