↪ brief introduction to nikolaus stark.
BASICS
full name: nikolaus frederick alfonse stark. nickname(s): niko. age: twenty-seven. date of birth: 22 march 1995. zodiac sign: aries. place of birth: landstuhl, germany. ethnicity: white. nationality: american. gender: demiboy. sexual orientation: pansexual. romantic orientation: panromantic. religion: roman catholic — as an adult niko doesn’t practice his religion all that firmly. he hasn’t been to mass in years but when he was a child his mother took both him and his little sister frequently. education: bachelors in business administration from the university of southern california. occupation: former lance corporal in the united states marine corps. currently the owner and head florist at silver sun flowers. language(s) spoken: english ( primarily ). he knows bits and pieces of german and pashto for wildly different reasons but whenever he tries to speak either language it’s clumsy at best. accent: he doesn’t consider himself to have a discernible accent but he does have a ‘west coast’ american accent.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
face claim: charlie rowe. hair color: dark brown. eye color: brown. height: 6′0″. weight: 163 lbs. build: slim, lanky. tattoos: he has a watercolor iris tattooed on the inside of his right forearm ( here ), a gladiolus tattooed along his right ribs ( here ), his family’s initials on the inside of his right index, pointer and ring fingers respectively. piercings: he has a septum piercing and a stud in his left nostril. distinguishing characteristics: the fact that he always seems to be smiling, the cane he uses to help him walk on days when his leg is especially sore, how easygoing he is.
PERSONALITY
label: the flower child. positive traits: adaptable, adventurous, articulate, charismatic, charming, clever, compassionate, confident, creative, eloquent, intelligent, passionate, resourceful, witty. negative traits: competitive, sarcastic. argumentative, decadent, haughty, hedonistic, impulsive, obsessive, possessive, rowdy, vindictive. goals/desires: to make people happy, to live in a way that makes him feel like he’s more than his trauma, to fall in love, to be happy. fears: athazagoraphobia ( fear of being forgotten ). hobbies: cloud gazing, people watching, doodling when he can remember to bring a sketchbook with him, making flower arrangements, reading botany books, gardening, going for walks when his leg isn’t bothering him, playing with his cats, meeting new people, studying floriography, hanging out with his sister, listening to music, playing guitar, anything that lets him be creative, baking, working with his hands, flirting with people when he’s in the right mood. quirks: he chews at the skin around his nails when he’s especially stressed out, he tends to hum some song or another he has stuck in his head while he’s working if no one else is around, he tends to go pretty sharply from being a huge flirt to blushing every time someone smiles at him just right, he can talk about flowers with almost no provocation, he has a habit of making little daisy chains and flower crowns if he’s spending a lot of time alone or he’s manic-- just to put his energy into a productive habit. likes: pretty much every baked good he’s ever tried, the feeling of the sun on his skin, fantasy novels, nature documentaries, finding the best places to nap wherever he happens to be spending a lot of time, making people smile, hot chocolate on especially cold days, rpg video games, video games in general, finishing to-do lists, hanging out with his friends, surfing. dislikes: not being taken seriously, bigoted people in general, having to be patient for just about any reason, being referred to as ‘crazy’, intense cold, nightmares, fireworks, the smell of lit matches, the fact that he smokes regularly, being alone for long periods of time.
FAMILY
father: thomas stark. mother: mackenzie stark née carson. sibling(s): adelaide stark ( younger ). pet(s): he has a one year old maine coon named luna, a nine-month-old russian blue named lucas and a three-year-old burmese cat named lily. financial status: middle class.
BIOGRAPHY
(TW: mentions of bipolar disorder, injury and amputation, mental health rehab)
Niko Stark was born in Berlin to Thomas and Mackenzie Stark– his father was a US Marine and had been stationed in Germany shortly before Niko was born. Niko was their oldest child and he would eventually be joined by his younger sister two years later after the family had returned to Camp Pendleton again on orders for his father– as a result of the fact that they moved back to the United States when Niko was still very young he very much considers himself more American than anything else ( neither of his parents were permanent residents or citizens of Germany when he was born and he is solely American where citizenship is concerned ). He was an incredibly easy going person even in childhood– his mother often told him stories about his temperament as a baby and the fact that he rarely cried or fussed or gave them any trouble at all with temper tantrums and things of that nature. He was quick to make friends and often spent weekends with friends when his parents allowed it.
By the time he was eleven he was well aware that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Marines– his father was reluctant if only for the fact that he’d seen war and knew first hand how it could change a person and he worried constantly about something happening to his baby boy. Still, when Niko turned eighteen he enlisted immediately and was sent overseas for his first tour of duty within a year. Military service was something he took to easily though he had a difficult time adjusting to the violence of it all and the deep suffering the people around him ( both those who served with him and the local populations he interacted with ) were experiencing. He’d always been an empathetic person and it tore him apart the slightest bit not to be able to help anyone or feel like he was overseas for anything close to the right reasons. Still, he served faithfully and returned for a second tour of duty without batting an eye.
It was during a patrol on his second tour that his convoy ran into a series of IED’s that had been placed between sweeps of the road between outposts often traveled. Though he was med-evaced and brought to surgery as quickly as possible the accident eventually resulted in Niko’s right leg being amputated just above the knee before he was sent to a military hospital in Germany to recover properly. His family was there to greet him when he finally woke and though their presence was comforting to an extent Niko still fell into a deep depression that seemed to last months before it evaporated in an instant only to be replaced by a mania that his parents took notice of immediately. Several conversations with a psychiatrist later and Niko was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder– resulting in medical retirement from the USMC after his case was reviewed.
He was devastated by the turn his life had taken and he lived with his parents for nearly a year once he’d recovered enough to return to the United States. He relapsed several times in the first six months of being treated and wound up in a mental health rehab facility before he began to take his mental health seriously and threw himself into therapy and sticking to a medication regiment and doing everything in his power to take care of himself. During the course of his recovery he earned a business degree remotely from USC with the intention of opening a business of some kind– his broad idea was to do something that would serve the express purpose of making people happy. It was his mother who suggested a flower shop and his father who suggested he consider relocating to Providence Peak– where his father had grown up– to be in a calmer environment that might allow him more stability in terms of his mental health.
Niko moved to Providence Peak two months later– just shy of his twenty-fourth birthday and bought a space with an apartment above the shop so he wouldn’t have to travel at all to get it up and running. It took him a few months to open properly but he’s run Silver Sun Flowers happily since that moment. He’s doing his best to return to normalcy and feel like the same person he was before he’d joined the Marines– it’s difficult even on his good days but he’s never been one to shy away from things and he remains open and honest with his struggles while he’s in the pursuit of genuine happiness in his life as a whole.
