Date this form was created: 9/15 - 9/16
Full name of Character: Riley Owen Gallagher
Reason, meaning or purpose behind the name: n/a
Nickname: None, really.
Reason for nickname: n/a
Race: Caucasian - 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Swedish.
Occupation/class: Student
Social class: Lower-middle class.
Age: 17
How old they appear: 16.
Eye Color: Hazel
Glasses or contacts? Glasses (specifically, these)
Hair color length and style: Very light blonde; worn down to his shoulders, usually tied back into a ponytail, with bangs dipping down along the right side of his face.
Weight and height: 154lbs & 5'6
Type of body (build): On the thinner, almost slender side, but he does possess a little muscle (like the third picture on the top row)
Skin tone and type (i.e., harry, slimy, scaly, oily, fair, burns easily): Fair skin, does burn fairly easily.
Shape of face: Oval (pictured here)
Distinguishing marks (dimples, moles, scars, birthmarks, etc.): Dimples & a birthmark on the right side of his neck, right where the shoulder and neck meet.
Predominant feature: Despite his somewhat slender build, he does have slightly broader shoulders.
Is s/he healthy? Yessir.
If not, why not? Or why are they healthy? n/a
Do they look healthy? Why/why not? Yes - he's on one of the school sport teams so he's active a lot and looks the part.
Char’s favorite color: Blue, darker shades closer to navy.
Least favorite, why? Anything neon/super bright - he doesn't like obnoxiously bright colors.
Music? He learns more towards alternative rock, but he also dabbles in pop and techno but alt. rock is his favorite.
Least favorite music, why? Country.
Food: Italian. He loves pasta, any kind, especially with meatballs.
Literature: He usually wanders around the young adult fiction section, which can range anywhere from fantasy to thriller to drama.
Expletives (curse): He uses them when he's by himself, trying to hold his tongue when he's around others. But, sometimes 'dammit' will slip more frequently than most.
Mode of transport: Bicycle, something handed down from his Dad.
Hobbies: Soccer, sewing, reading
How do they spend a rainy day? Usually sewing, working on one project or another.
Are they a daredevil or cautious? More on the cautious side.
Do they act the same alone as when with someone? Not all the time, no. Riley doesn't feel comfortable with certain things, certain aspects of himself, so he does hide things away until he trusts people enough to share.
Habits: When he's feeling shy/nervous, he tends to look down a lot. This happens a lot because, for the most part, he is on the shyer side.
Drinks: Iced tea, has to be sweetened though, like Snapple or Arizona or Sipps.
How much: If he's not drinking water, he's drink iced tea.
Greatest Strength: His agility and his determination.
Greatest Weakness: His shyness/somewhat meek personality
Soft spot: His sewing.
Is their soft spot obvious, why/why not: Not obvious at all because, at all costs, he keeps his hobby a secret.
If not, how do they hide it: When he's not home, he locks away all of his sewing materials/fabric into an old trunk he keeps at the foot of his bed, keeping the key in his backpack.
Biggest Vulnerability: Things that have to do with his personal life, outside of school. He's, at times, two different people when it comes to school vs. personal.
Hometown: Lived in the same town for all his life, just moved around from one house to another.
Type of childhood: He was constantly teased by his older brother, so his self esteem was never really the best, nor is it now.
First Memory: Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the kitchen table and being covered in jelly and his brother calling him stupid.
Most important child hood event that still effects him/her: Watching his mother and father go through a rough divorce when he was around 5 and watching his Mom move out, never seeing her again, losing that motherly figure in his life.
Education: Junior in high school.
Religion: Undecided, never really giving it too much though. His Dad is Agnostic while his Grandfather, his Dad's Dad, is strongly Catholic.
Finances: He gets spending money from his Dad here and there but he doesn't want to take from his Dad, so during the summer, he mows lawns and during the winter, he shovels snow.
Mother: Susann Gallagher (maiden name: Norling)
Relationship with her: Nonexistent - her and Riley's father divorced when he was 5 because she was cheating on him with another man with whom she was having a baby with, so she had her 'shiny new family' and never looked back.
Father: Liam Gallagher
Relationship with him: Pretty good. Liam is really supportive of whatever his son does and is very proud of his son's accomplishments when it comes to soccer and school in general. However, Riley doesn't share everything with his Dad because he's terrified of disappointing him because of certain choices he's made and so forth. So, he shares with his Dad the good things, how he scored a goal at the game and how he aced the math test, but nothing about his life outside of academics.
Siblings, How many, relationship with each: One older brother, Nolan. Nolan is about a year and a half older then him, a senior at his high school. He's on the football team and is usually rough-housing with Riley, who is smaller than he is in stature and much meeker. Since childhood, Nolan as tormented Riley with terrible, derogatory names, calling him 'queer' and 'pussy' because of his slender build and his interests in reading and things like that versus wrestling and things Nolan was into. He insists that Riley is gay, referring to him as 'faggot' when no one is around. Riley doesn't say anything, of course, because he doesn't want to involve/upset his father.
Children of siblings: n/a
Other extended family: Quinn Gallagher; grandfather.
Close? Why or why not: Not very close at all. Quinn is a devout Catholic, believing in pretty much everything they teach, including "marriage is a faithful, exclusive and lifelong union between one man and one woman, joined as husband and wife in an intimate partnership of life and love," and all that, so Quinn is pretty insensitive towards homosexuals. He's very open with that hatred too and Quinn too uses slurs like it's no big deal, which upsets Riley.
Most at ease when: he's in his room with his sewing machine.
Most ill at ease when: he's around his grandfather, listening to his ignorance or around his brother, when he's being harassed and called derogatory names.
Priorities: Soccer (if only to keep his Dad happy, because Riley knows how much sports means to his Dad) and his grades.
Philosophies: "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
How they feel about themselves: He has little to no self confidence because of the years of bullying from his brother. He tries to overcome these internal obstacles but it gets harder and harder as time goes on. This is why he hasn't dated in all his years in school, which furthers his brother's teasing.
Past failure they would be embarrassed to admit: Not making football tryouts in freshman year.
Why? He wanted to make his Dad proud but he didn't make the cut. Nolan found this hysterical, said he couldn't wait to tell Dad but Riley begged Nolan not to tell...so he ended up doing Nolan's chores for a month to keep him from telling...which is why Riley moved from football to soccer. But still...not making the team bruised his confidence a bit.
If granted one wish what would it be, why? To always be able to make his Dad proud.
Optimist or pessimist? Why? God, he tries to be optimistic but sometimes, he can't help but be pessimistic (broken record, but because of his brother's years of verbal abuse).
Introvert or extrovert? Why? When he's at school/on the soccer field, he tries to be more extroverted, so he can communicate with his team and so his Dad can think that he has all of this teammates/friends but he's really more introverted, keeping to himself when he's not playing soccer.
Drives and motives: His Dad. The only parent in his life, the only positive role model he has...he's all the drive and motivation Riley has.
Talents: Sewing. He's pretty good at it. He's made pillows, a stuffed animal or two, even a few shirts that he's worn to school (this one is one he's proud of)
Extremely skilled at: See above ~ he's also pretty good at soccer (obv. if he's on the team lmao)
Extremely unskilled at: Memorizing dates, which is why he's so bad at history. This is why Riley keeps a journal, jotting down something every day so he never forgets the date he did this or that.
Good characteristics: Forgiving, kind, always willing to help if it's within his power to do so.
Character flaws: He's basically a doormat. The first year he was on the soccer team, every week, he took the upper classmen's jerseys home and washed them because they told him to. He's really bad at saying no. Also, he doesn't stand up for himself, making him the perfect target for bullying.
Mannerisms: As mentioned, he's not very good at keeping eye contact if he's feeling nervous/anxious.
Biggest regret: Never reaching out to his Mom after she left and letting fear stop him from doing so.
Minor regrets: Not making the football team his freshman year (he still believes his Dad would have been happier to have two sons playing football)
Biggest accomplishment: Scoring the championship goal during his sophomore year. On a more personal note, sewing a shirt that he was able to wear to school and get complimented on it.
Minor accomplishments: n/a
Darkest secret: His homosexuality.
Does anyone know? No, God, no.
How did they find out: (might come back to this one)
One word they would use to describe themselves: Disappointment.
One paragraph of how they would describe themselves: (thinking about this)
What do they consider their best physical characteristic and why: He's not really happy with much of anything on himself (trying to find an actual answer to this)
The worst one? Why? He hates his eyes. They're boarding on brown and his brother used to tell him they looked like dirt (Nolan has lighter eyes, green, so he used that to tease Riley)
How they think others preserve them: A shy, meek little mouse who isn't worth much of anything.
What four things would they most like to change about themselves:
Why? His thinner features (slender fingers, thin wrists, ect), his eye color, his inability to stand up for himself and his sensitivity (over the years, his brother's words have gotten under his skin quite a bit and he can't stop thinking too deeply about what Nolan says, what Nolan thinks, which causes him to start to hate himself)
Would changing of number 1 make them more happy? Why/why not: In a way, because he'd be able to make his Dad proud and his irrational fear of losing his Dad like he lost his Mom wouldn't plague him as much as it does.
Interaction with other people:
How do they relate to others: The stresses of trying to make your parent/parents happy but he tries not to relate to anyone in that way because he doesn't want anyone to feel that way.
How are they perceived by strangers: The shy one.
Friends: A few of the members of the soccer team but they're more like acquaintances. He talks to them, goes out once in a while with them, celebrates after games with them, but in the end, he's usually at home, by himself.
Wife/husband/lover: n/a yet
The Hero/Heroin: His Dad, no doubt.
How do they view the Hero/Heroine: His Dad, like I mentioned, is the only positive role model he has. His brother is verbally abusive and his Grandfather, if he knew about his homosexuality, would never accept him/look at him the same way again, so knowing that his Dad loves him and, at least for now, is proud of him, makes it easier for Riley to push passed all of the negativity and strive for something more positive.
First impression of the char: The shy one.
why? His usually quiet demeanor and soft-spoken nature.
What happens to change this perception: The perception, for the most part, is right but people who get to know him and know his problems can at least understand why he's like that.
What do people like most about this char: His kindness and his willingness to help others.
What do they dislike most about them: How he's slightly difficult to approach because of his normally 'sad eyes' and how he normally doesn't actively try and start a conversation with anyone.
How do they react in a crisis: He does panic for the first couple of minutes before trying to calm himself down and attempting to rationalize the issue at hand.
How do they face problems: He tries to shy away from confrontation, so he's willing to swallow down his own pride if it means settling things without any hurt feelings.
Kind of problems they usually run into: Bullying (both at school and at home [not as often at school as at home but Nolan and his football buddies will sometimes give him grief in the halls, knocking his books to the ground and pushing him into lockers and such.]
How they react to new problems: There's more confusion than panic at first, so it takes him a little longer to understand and come to some sort of consensus.
How they react to change: Same as above.
Favorite clothing, why: He likes t-shirts, which he usually layers with long sleeve shirts (he does this to hide his thin wrists, which he is sort of self-conscious about.) Most of the t-shirts he wears are band shirt that his Dad gets for him whenever he finds out about a band Riley likes.
Least favorite, why: Turtlenecks. He doesn't like the tightness around his neck.
Jewelry: This necklace, which was given to him by his Dad, who got it from his grandmother. He usually keeps it tucked under his shirt but it's always on. He also has his right ear pierced, wearing a plain silver hoop.
Drives: He does have his licence, but money isn't the most abundant thing in his house and the two cars that are owned are Riley's Dad's and Nolan's, so Riley just takes his bike.
Where do they live: In a small, 4 bedroom house with his Dad, his Grandfather and his other brother.
Where do they want to live: He doesn't really mind living with his family, despite the drama, but he wouldn't mind, maybe, living somewhere where he doesn't have to hide his love for sewing.
Spending habits, why: He tries to be cautious with his spending. He brings lunch from home, tries not to splurge too often.
What do they do too much of, why: (still thinking about this)
Most prized possession, why: The necklace he wears.
People they secretly admire, why: It's not really that big of a secret, but his Dad. After his wife cheated on him and left, he pulled himself up from a bad place and not only took care of his 5 and 6 year old sons, but his aging father, and did it all with a smile on his face, never complaining, never saying he was lonely even if he was.
Person they are most influenced by, why: Same answer as above, really, his Dad.
Most important person in their life before story starts, why: forever a broken record but his Dad.
How do they spend the week just before the story starts: Soccer practice, working on a new sewing project (he found a nice flannel fabric that would make great sleeping pants) and trying to memorize dates for history. Same ol'.
