S096 - Hobbes, Fred [DECEASED]

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Name: Fredrick Stanley Hobbes
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: Senior
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Sports (particularly basketball), video games, internet culture, films and television

Appearance: Fred stands a lanky 6’4”, with only about 150lbs. on his skinny frame. His skin is pale and nowhere near as prone to acne as it was in his young teens, though not without blemishes- two moles on his left cheek and a dusting of freckles over his nose.

Fred’s face is round and pretty, though not quite to an androgynous extent. He has narrow hazel eyes, often accompanied by bags from sleeplessness, a soft nose and thin lips. His large ears are slightly jarring on his otherwise more delicate face, and often flush red when he’s embarrassed or just hot; he’s used to being teased over them. His brown hair is cut short and currently styled in a perm, and he keeps his face and neck clean-shaven, with a naturally hairless chest and conversely hairy legs.

Fred dresses casually and rather plainly. His t-shirts- the staple of his wardrobe- usually sport the branding of sports teams or indie bands, and tend to keep to a subdued colour scheme. He tends to wear hoodies in colder weather and jeans or sweatpants year-round, cycling between a few pairs of well-worn shoes. On the day of his abduction, this combination was a grey hoodie over a black t-shirt, light grey sweatpants worn just below the waistline of his boxers, scuffed-up navy blue sneakers and a black digital watch on his left wrist. He has a pair of prescribed reading glasses, but he tries to avoid wearing them when possible.

Fred’s posture is fairly poor, and he’s often hunched over or slouching in his seat. He has a few noticeable mannerisms, like wringing his hands when he’s nervous or embarrassed. At the time of the abduction, Fred was walking with a slight limp after spraining his left ankle on the court. It doesn’t usually cause him pain so long as he keeps his movement slow and doesn’t put too much weight on it, though it will sometimes experience a sharp, sudden pain if he steps on it the wrong way.

Biography: Fredrick Hobbes was born to Jackson and Mary Hobbes in Salem, Massachusetts on April the 23rd of 2004. The couple were already in their early forties when they had Fred, and he would remain their first and only child- a fact that would provide both greater attention from his parents and loneliness at different points throughout his home life.

Jackson was a construction worker, and the family considered themselves working class. For the first few years of Fred’s life, Mary was a stay-at-home parent. He was a shy but often clingy child who needed a lot of attention from his mother, and Mary began to struggle with the responsibility of caring for him. This was a problem especially since she intended to return to her old job as a supermarket cashier on the weekends to help provide for the family. One of Fred’s favourite things to do at the time was watch cartoons, so Mary and Jackson bought a television for Fred’s room to keep him out of the way around the house.

This had the intended effect of keeping him busy at home, but the young Fred still yearned for affection. When he begun school, he looked for it from his peers instead. This forced him into socialising more, and despite being somewhat shy, he started making friends among his classmates. His parents were relieved to see him opening up to others and withdrawing slightly from his life.

In spite of this, Fred retained a positive relationship with both his mother and father. In particular, he enjoyed spending time with Jackson, who fostered his son’s athletic interests through father-son bonding time, playing sports and encouraging him to join various clubs and teams throughout his childhood such as baseball and soccer, with basketball eventually becoming his favourite. Taking part in team sports further helped Fred to make new friends, and he grew into a sociable, well-liked kid. Eventually, Jackson’s age put a stop to their playing together, but he made sure to watch his son play whenever possible.

Fred continued to watch a lot of television, and with the rise of streaming services he’d often spend evenings and weekends binge-watching series and films. He gravitated towards action movies, especially those that didn’t take themselves too seriously and he could enjoy without having to put too much thought into them. He also watched a lot of sports, keeping up with all the major American sports throughout the year.

Going into middle school, the crowd of mostly popular, sporty kids Fred had immersed himself in started to pick on some of the less athletic children. Though the bullying never sat right with him, Fred never found the confidence to speak out against the actions of his friends and even found himself joining in on occasion, pressured into mocking and taunting his less popular classmates. Whenever he was able to be kind without sabotaging his status, Fred took the opportunity, but he knew it was too little to redeem himself. During this time, he lost a lot of respect for himself, as well as most of the genuine friendships he actually had and fell into a period of depression. He retreated more into the internet and television, and lost a lot of the passion he had for his more athletic hobbies.

Things got a little better when Fred enrolled at John Endecott Memorial Academy and started to make new friends. He signed up for the basketball team in freshman year, but never quite regained his passion for the sport. At first, he was one of the better players on the team due in large part to his height, but as his teammates trained and improved many of them overtook him in skill. Fred recognised that he wasn’t especially talented and, not seeing any future for himself in sport, worried about losing the camaraderie of the team when he went to college. He recently sprained his ankle whilst playing.

Another of Fred’s major hobbies is video gaming. This hobby came about as a way to socialise online; he preferred online games that he could play with his friends, with first-person shooters and sport simulators at the top of that list. He usually played for several hours at a time, often late into the night and into the morning. He enjoys the escapism that they provide as much as the social aspect.

The internet is another hobby that eats up a lot of Fred’s time. He tends to surf aimlessly, checking the same few websites over and over again, with Reddit and YouTube as his favourites. The latter in particular offers some variety from the shows and films he watches, and he can spend hours on the site binge-watching videos.

He also frequents parties and other social events, though he tends to be more withdrawn at such gatherings than the other popular kids and attends them more to keep up appearances. Through some of these parties he was introduced to alcohol, and has since started drinking more regularly than is healthy. Both of his parents have struggled with alcoholism in the past, and Jackson in particular doesn’t tend to notice when the odd can of his beer goes missing. When he has been caught, his parents have been fairly lenient, but they do worry to themselves about his habit.

Across all aspects of his life, Fred lacks much willpower. He easily gives in to peer pressure and seldom stands up for himself or others, and struggles to commit himself to work. His grades are average, and he tends to procrastinate assignments and do the bare minimum to get by. His favourite subject at school is PE, and he doesn't particularly enjoy any academic subjects, with maths as his favourite and English at the bottom of the list.

Socially, Fred exists on the periphery of the popular crowd. He is a kind and gentle person, though his disposition can be quite variable depending on who he’s with at the time. In general, he’s much more confident when surrounded by friends or charismatic leaders, and far less so when he’s on his own. This has made it practically impossible for him to pursue any romantic relationships or even friendships deeper than those he has with his teammates and others in his circles, and he isn’t anyone’s best friend despite his relative popularity.

His general lack of self-confidence has also convinced him that no one he knows is, or could ever be, attracted to him, so he regularly feels hopeless in regard to his romantic prospects. In particular, he’s very insecure about his weight and has tried on several occasions to put on weight and build up muscle mass, but has failed to commit to that each and every time.

Fred’s time spent online, particularly in gaming spaces and on Reddit, have occasionally brought him into contact with the Incel movement. Though he never found himself consciously agreeing with the often misogynistic viewpoints espoused in these circles, the stories of young men’s loneliness and frustration resonated with him more than he’d like to admit. Fred doesn’t have much of an interest in politics outside of memes but would consider himself a centrist if pushed, and is generally more sympathetic to the Democrats than the Republicans.

Recently, his parents’ relationship deteriorated, tarnishing his perspective of romance and further dissuading him from pursuing it. Currently, Mary and Jackson remain married and continue to live together, but the atmosphere at home is tense and hostile. Fred also started to suspect his parents of neglecting him, and relationships between the three grew strained. Fred does not enjoy his life, but feels it is out of his control.

Fred doesn’t have a concrete plan for the future. Somewhat dispassionately, he looks to study computer science at university, seeing it as the safest career choice in the modern world.

Advantages: On a good day, Fred’s relative athleticism puts him at an advantage against many of his classmates. His friends, coming mainly from the school’s sporting circles, have similar skills which could lead to strong alliances. He also has a lot of experience pleasing and appeasing people which could allow him to form new alliances, or at least defuse tense situations.
Disadvantages: Fred’s ankle is all but guaranteed to put him at a severe disadvantage, and might even single him out as a target. His general lack of hope for the future is unlikely to improve with his imminent death almost certain, so he’ll likely continue to exhibit negative traits like lethargy and frustration that could disadvantage him in survival situations. Finally, Fred’s teammates know him as something of a pushover, a rather non-confrontational guy who isn’t likely to pick a fight, and might exploit this nature.

Designated Number: Student No. 096

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Designated Weapon: Homemade Scalpel Flail

Conclusion: What the- Josie! Is this what you did with all the stuff we collected from the island!?

Okay, that's pretty funny. Too bad the only person he's likely to hurt with it is himself. - Veronica Rai