Post by salem alaric burroughs on Jul 2, 2011 1:37:01 GMT -5
SALEM ALARIC BURROUGHS
Jesus don’t want me for a sunbeam. Sunbeams are never made like me.
| B A S I C S |
Name Salem Alaric Burroughs
Nicknames Lemon, Salem, Sales
PB Ville Valo
Age Nineteen years old
Sex Male
Year Freshman
Major/Concentration Musid/Vocal Perfomance
Minor Performance
Occupation N/A
Organizations N/A, he’s a bit of a hermit
Location Seattle, Washington| P E R S O N A L I T Y |
Salem is a hopeless romantic first and foremost. His heart is worn on his sleeve like a flashy cuff link and his face is a constant giveaway to what he's really feeling. He dreams often of the day he'll meet the one, the day he will find that person that makes his life whole. They say let your heart lead you and Salem takes this to an extreme. Logic is never a thought in his decisions concerning relationships and this fact gets him into a lot of trouble and leads to him being described as 'clingy'. He is desperate to keep from dying alone and is never truly happy unless he's in a relationship.
His mood could be termed 'bipolar' though he's had no formal diagnoses. His mood can change as rapidly as the wind on bad days leading him from being happy and friendly to withdrawn and depressive in a matter of minutes. Salem is a slave to his emotions and it seems that on some days he is a walking basket case. He has a hard time keeping friends and relationships because of his flippant mood. This, in turn, also causes a lot of bouts of depression that he suffers through by picking at his wrists till they bleed and losing himself in his songs and writing.
Salem has a tendency to be a hermit. He isn't a fan of going out and partying because he's terribly awkward around large groups of people. Though quick to trust, perhaps a bit too quick, he is constantly worried about his actions and reactions around people. His friends often get sick of his not leaving the dorm to go party with them and it causes animosity. He is perfectly content with a cup of coffee and a good book as most kids are with beer and hook ups. He is awkward upon first meeting people because he isn't on their same brain level. Growing up as an only child he was exposed to adults more than kids his own age and it makes him more mature in certain aspects like decision making but almost pre-pubescent in others like having 'college fun'. This isn't to say he's anti-social, rather he's just not exposed enough to know how to act.
Salem is a very anxious boy. He gets nervous very easily and is prone to panic attacks. This could be caused by a variety of reasons, from his parent's divorce, to his mother's disowning him, to the bullying, to the lack of sleep from nightmares. Or perhaps it's a culmination of all of these things. He tends to be flighty around the 'popular' set or anyone who is considerably normal. He is very anxious about people leaving him and will cry if he has done something to cause such. His hands shake a lot and this causes people to be curious if he's a drug addict, a question he gets a lot. He is very jumpy in new situations and the nights he doesn't sleep it seems to get worse.
Salem is open-minded and caring, willing to do just about anything he can for anyone who asks. He comes across as naive because of his overwhelming urge to help others. No matter the situation or who is wrong, he will come to their aid if asked. He is accepting of people despite their sexuality, gender, ethnicity, ect. He is, though, not quite as nice to Christian and Catholic kids because of his prior background. He also has a lower tolerancy for jocks and cheerleaders because of the bullying he sustained. Having such a big heart and open mind he gets a lot of people coming to him wanting advice that otherwise wouldn't seek help.
Salem is a musician and his stage presence is entirely different from his normal self. Where he hides in the backs of rooms and stays quietly out of dodge in person he is an animal on stage. Salem will get up, sing, shake his hips, and dance around when he is on stage. He has a personality when in the spotlight that draws people in like moths to a flame and makes them want to know more about this rock star in training. He comes out of his shell when you give him a guitar or microphone and it shocks people to hear this reclusive 'emo' kid belt out songs about love and loss. But this ends almost as soon as the high from being on stage fades and he is back to being his normal self.
Over-all, Salem is a hyper-sensitive kid. Easily swayed by his romantic brain and controlled by his rampant emotions. Though he seems shy and reserved put him on a stage and watch that boy turn into an entirely new person before your very eyes!
Strengths: Salem has a magnetic voice that seems to draw people in like moths to a flame. He enjoys sharing his talent with people and most, even kids who despise music, walk away with something from his lyrics.
Salem is very skilled at the guitar and since they would not allow him to have a double major he took Performance as a minor because he couldn’t bare not doing something with his guitar.
Salem is a very determined person and tries his best to do whatever is asked of him in terms of school work. Though he sometimes comes off as a perfectionist about his lyrics and his tone.
Salem is a highly artistic person and to him this is a strength. By being artistic he’s been able to better express his emotions through music and writing, reaching audiences who otherwise would see him as just another blur. He also thinks less logically due to a predominately artistic mindset, which can be a weakness.
Salem is a caring and soft-hearted person almost to a fault. He loves to help, to be able to show someone he cares, but sometimes this can be a bit much for people. He loves to spoil those he loves, offer anything he can give to his friends, and be willing to do whatever is within his power to assist.
Weaknesses: Salem is ruled firstly by his emotions. This gets him into a lot of trouble as he has a hard time thinking logically before rushing into situations. He can be a bit bipolar, his moods shooting off in all directions when he gets upset or exhausted. He also tends to flock towards ‘fixer up’ people because he feels sorry for them and makes him a target for abusers and users. He also tends to be very naive, sometimes seeming child-like.
Salem is also has an artistic mindset which makes logic the last thing he uses. He loves to be surrounded by creativity and sometimes tends to forget common sense because his head is in the clouds. He also tends to think with his artsy brain instead of his logic and that makes him prone to being abused by bullies. And the abuse takes a toll on him. Sometimes you’ll see his wrists bandaged up because he’s taken to picking at them in stress.
Salem is a hopeless romantic, always on the search for The One. Due to this he can get himself into a lot of trouble when he sets his sights on a girl who isn’t single or a guy who is straight. He’s gotten a lot of broken hearts from this but still continues his search for his one true love. He tends to become blinded by love and is willing to look past any faults or issues that might be happening around him when he falls for someone.
He is also prone to insomnia from terrible nightmares he’s been having since he started being bullied in high school. Sometimes his roommate will become mad at him for screaming in his sleep and half the time he is seen with cups of coffee in his hands to keep himself awake during the day.
| H I S T O R Y |Salem Alaric Burroughs was born to Jukka Virtanen a Finnish shop owner and Amelia Burroughs who is a journalist and musician on the twenty-second of October. He was born in the town of Helsinki, Finland and grew up an only child.
Salem had a very strict Catholic childhood in which he wasn’t allowed much freedom. He spent his days in school, evenings doing chores, and weekends spent with friends and at church. He wasn’t allowed any TV though his mother being a musician he got to go to work with her and was exposed to a lot of different music. His mother even went so far as to buy him a brand new acoustic guitar for his sixth birthday. He took to it immediately and began spending time with his mother at her studio, picking up singing in the process.
When he had finished his Primary school at the age of ten his parents got a divorce. It seemed sudden to him as his parents weren’t one to advertise their emotions. This is when his Empathy began to surface and he found he could sometimes make his mom happy when she was sad without trying.
Salem took his mother’s last name and the two uprooted and moved to Seattle, Washington. The weather seemed to help Salem hone is abilities and by the age of thirteen he was a regular Jim Morrison. He excelled even better now that he’d been given freedom by his mother and his grades flourished. He spent a lot more time with his guitar and singing, even going so far as to begin writing his own music. He formed a band with some guys from his middle school and they began doing small shows around town.
At fourteen he immersed himself in glam rock culture and began wearing tight pants, scarves, makeup, and dressing a lot more flamboyant much to his mother’s disgust. He began to get attention from girls and guys and discovered he was bisexual, having feelings towards both genders. This new take on life also led to his being terribly bullied by kids at school to the point he began to get depressed.
He took to manipulating one of the bullies and ended up getting the bully to sleep with him at a party drunk as heck. Video was taken without Salem’s knowledge that was shown to the school but in the process also got back to his mother. Salem was kicked out of his house and disowned by his Catholic mother and spent time living with various friends. His reputation was ruined and he became the walking target of everyone in the bully’s inner circle. Along with all of the stress of the events he began to pick at his wrists until they bled and started having nightmares several times a week.
Salem took up drinking at fourteen and by sixteen was a full-blown alcoholic. He also began to contemplate why he even bothered living anymore and ODed one evening. He was sent to rehab after an intervention with some friends and spent the entire rest of his Junior year and the following summer in treatment and has sworn off alcohol ever since. The wrist picking and nightmares are still very common when he begins to become stressed.
After therapy while he was in rehab he became the Salem most kids remembered before the bullying. He openly admitted he was bisexual, dressed the way he wanted, hung out with who he wanted, and ended the school year with a 3.75GPA and a scholarship opportunity to various colleges. He graduated at the age of eighteen (having started school late anyway because of his birthday), and made his college plans.
After considering his options, he decided Meringue Mountain University would be the best option and has come here for his Freshman year.| A P P E A R A N C E |
At first glance people tend to assume Salem is gay. His over-all sense of fashion and the way he moves makes it seem as though he belongs in a drag club somewhere. Salem has been obsessed with hair metal and glam rock for a few years and this is evident in his tight pants or jeans. He normally pairs this with a tee shirt or a fitted long sleeve top and scarf in the winter which depending on the shirt itself makes his appearance even more feminine. His signature black beanie is on thing he is rarely seen without either no matter the month. For shoes its simple skate shoes or converse.
His hair is very unruly due to it’s natural curls so it is kept under a beanie and it’s natural color. The texture is very soft to the touch and a few blonde highlights from the sun can be seen during the summer. Along with his unusually bright green, rounded eyes and high cheekbones one would assume he was a girl at passing glance. He accentuates his eyes with black eyeliner and occasionally wears nude pink gloss on his lips.
He stands at six foot and one inch and weighs roughly one hundred-seventy pounds. Salem is built very delicate despite his height with narrow hips and thin arms and legs. He has no muscle on him and seems to be very weak. He walks with a distinctive wiggle to his hips that shows even more when he’s dancing around on stage. Over-all he carries himself shyly but still seems to exude confidence.
He has pale, Finnish skin tone with the only scarring being on his wrists and arms from his picking issues. He does have many tattoos he’s gotten, some illegally, over the years.
-DILLIGAF (old sailor term for do I look like I give a f—k) on his wrist with some lettering and a heart
- Eyes on his shoulders
-a funny heart symbol on his lower stomach, stretching towards his hips
-a curly design over his right nipple
-The same heart design over his left nipple with vinework
-A heart on his left wrist
A full wave-type sleeve on his right arm
A noose on his right leg
An alien demon on the inside lower of his left leg
-the heart symbol on the back of his neck
-two portraits, one on either arm
-and his favorite the word ‘nidiot’ tattooed on his left buttcheek
| S K I L L S |
Salem’s green eyes winced at the blinding light that had begun snaking it’s way through his window. His pale arm which was decorated in a wave-type sleeve tattoo stretched out to cover his eyes as a soft groan came from his throat. His brunette hair was stuck in a mat to the back of his neck and his shoulders were drenched in sweat. He felt like he’d been running marathon as his heart thundered away in his chest and he felt his pulse throb under his wrists. It had been another one of his nightmares. This time he was looking at one of the bullies from school as they began to nail him to a cross screaming about how he was a fag and deserved to burn.
His guilt at what he’d done to his family had been gnawing away at his chest the last few days since school started and paired with his constant fear of being bullied it’d started those visions in his head going again. His brain flashed over the images again as he felt a pathetic whimper shiver out of this throat. He clamped his eyes shut, willing the taunts and jeers to go away.
After what seemed like forever though was probably only about ten minutes the visions finally stopped. Salem carefully shifted into a sitting position before reaching for the cigarettes on his nightstand. He lit one quickly and inhaled the smoke deep into his lungs. His hands were shaking like a drug addict without his fix, his cigarette dropping from between his fingers and landing on his leg.
”SHIT! Salem swore as he grabbed the cigarette in one hand and tried to get his leg to stop burning with the other.
He sighed before hanging his head, if this was any indication of how the rest of his day was going to be he might as well crawl back under his comforter and try to get some more sleep. It was a Saturday and he had no other plans since he hadn’t made a single friend since being here. Self-loathing was a cruel master, and it seemed to wanted Salem to be it’s slave today.
He set in his mind he was going to make the best of the day. So he set his full lips in a line and got to his feet. He grabbed some fresh laundry from the dresser at the foot of his bed and took a brief shower. After changing into a clean pair of boxers he jumped around until his thin legs and hips slid into the pair of skin tight black jeans. He pulled the Black Sabbath shirt over his head and headed back into his room. Digging through the dresser he located his favorite black beanie and shoved it haphazardly onto his curly hair and began looking for clean socks.
After locating clean socks and his Converse, as well as applying some black eyeliner Salem was out the door. He grabbed his guitar on the way out as well as his messenger bag. Salem moved through the halls, already empty of their residents, and made his way to the front hall. Salem breathed in the clean air and enjoyed the sunshine for a brief moment. Today was going to be a good day, he would make sure of it.| P L A Y E R |
Name Aberrant
Age 19
Gender Female
How you found us Proboards Support
Who else do you play? No one
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