Samuel "Sam" Winston Avery

[Abacaba]

Name: Samuel "Sam" Winston Avery
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th Grade
School: George Hunter High School
Hobbies and Interests: Law, debate, chemistry, and composition.

Appearance: Samuel has a thin, gaunt, underweight build of intermediate height bordering on the low side, at around 5'8" and 115lb. This results in a rather angular appearance overall, with several bones more obvious than they would be normally. He has relatively long limbs and fingers for someone of his size. His skin is light, bordering on unhealthily pale, with a few moles and freckles dotted around his face and arms. His hair is a very dark brown, and fairly short, neatly combed and parted down the middle or one side. His eyes are brown and often have dark circles under them. His nose is pointed, and his mouth is fairly small, usually curled into a slight frown.

Samuel generally wears a t-shirt and jeans, both in dull tones, usually greys and blues, patterned sneakers and relatively thick white socks, and a large, prominent coat. This coat is pale green, a little fuzzy, and neither waterproof nor all that insulating. However, it is rather heavy for a coat of its size. His posture, due in part to this and in part to his general low energy, is rather droopy and unenergetic. He also wears thick glasses with square rims and transition lenses, to correct very slight farsightedness.

Biography: Samuel was born in New York City to the caring but overworked Andrew and Melissa Avery on June 3, 2000. Andrew worked as an accountant and Melissa worked as a teacher, though she left the job to stay at home full-time soon after Samuel was born, to watch over him and his older sister, Emily, who had been born a year prior. She was able to do this because the family financial situation was improving at the time.

Samuel did fairly well academically in his early schooling, preferring subjects that involved doing things on one's own. This led to him developing interests in math, music, and reading very early on. His parents encouraged these interests and others as they came and went, before eventually settling into the fairly defined roles of music and science. He displayed almost no interest in other children, actively avoided eye contact, and displayed selective mutism when stressed, so he was diagnosed with mild ASD at the age of 10, and quickly developed an interest in psychology as a result, to compensate for lack of social intuition. His parents reacted very differently to the diagnosis. Both tried to be supportive at first, and he got a little help with his sensory issues during this time, but his mother's patience quickly wore thin, and she began to become less supportive, gradually distancing herself from the notion that her child was in any way defective.

Samuel was bullied a fair amount during 4th and 5th grade, as he was a quiet, shy, nerdy, oddly-dressed, highly sensitive and emotional child. This mostly took the form of ostracism and taunts, with occasional physical incidents that Samuel was more confused by than anything else. He developed mild depression as a result of this, quickly growing to see the bullying as inevitable, and his academic performance slipped somewhat, causing his interests to begin to shift away from math, a subject he'd declined in, and towards psychology.

Following a particularly nasty incident of bullying at age 11, Samuel decided to repress all emotions as much as possible. This decision was the result of multiple concurring factors. He thought it would increase his rationality, something he valued highly, and he also believed it would improve his mood, which was fairly negative overall at the time, and enable him to deal with the verbal bullying. This wasn't exactly a rigorous process, mostly taking the form of ignoring emotions until they went away, or chastising himself whenever he felt anything too much.

This lasted for several years and had permanent effects on his emotional processing, leading to a universally calm, cool, and measured demeanor. Internally, his emotions became much weaker, with the exception of those which were more difficult to control, such as irritation and boredom. Because of this, Samuel often comes across as cold, uncaring, and condescending. He has attempted to restore his emotions to a healthier state, with limited success, but he has not sought out help from others in doing this, preferring to keep his problems to himself. This was somewhat worsened by his mother's opinion that his social difficulties were the result of laziness.

Samuel's family moved to Chattanooga when he was 12 to reconnect with extended family on his father's side, consisting of grandparents, two uncles, and a few cousins Samuel found too young to be worth interacting with. This disconnected him from the few friends he'd had in New York, and disrupted his emotional state even further. He did not react well to being forced to change everything about his life for people he had never met. As a result of this, he feels frequent nostalgia for his life in NYC, and has had difficulty moving on and accepting the new environment. This is part of a general difficulty with accommodating change, a flaw Samuel is aware of and has done some work on fixing. For this reason, he tends to remain indoors, follow predictable routines, and generally feels nervous about trying new things or meeting new people.

After moving to Chattanooga, he homeschooled for two years with his mother teaching him (as they both agreed that the normal schooling system didn't really let Samuel fulfill his academic potential), but this strained their already-tense relationship even further, and he was sent to George Hunter High School as a freshman. He struggled to integrate into the community as a result of his lack of practice with socializing, and is generally something of an outsider, with only a few acquaintances and nobody he really considers a friend. Part of this is to do with his rather high bar for what he considers a friend, though. He remained fairly close to his sister, demonstrated mostly by the pair helping each other with homework, until she went off to college as Samuel entered senior year.

Samuel is an independent, introverted individual, and as a result has had very few friends. Most of his friendships tend to form around shared interests, primarily music, one of the few things he can reliably base a connection around. He likes composing his own pieces in various genres, personally preferring the modern minimalist and post-minimalist styles over most. His instrument of choice is an electronic keyboard, chosen because it's easy to compose on.

He hates being touched, and will often flinch away from even glancing contact. He also can't stand loud noises, particularly crowds, and bright lights, making concerts, something he would likely otherwise enjoy. He also dislikes most foods, especially those with slimy textures, but he is rather indifferent to taste, liking bitter and sour foods as much as salty and sweet ones. He's particularly partial to citrus-flavored items. He is rather skinny, in part as a result of his picky eating, and in part due to genetic factors. Just about the only physical activities he's any good at are walking and climbing, the former due to the fact that he walks everywhere because he is a little afraid of driving, and the latter due to a penchant for scaling trees whenever his parents make him go outside.

Samuel has rather sensitive senses, meaning he'll go out of his way to avoid loud noises, bright lights, and unpleasant textures, far more than a neurotypical would. He's quite observant and, aside from slight farsightedness, has very good vision, and is easily able to pick up and focus on small details. His hearing is also good, due to a lifetime of avoiding loud noises, and he has perfect pitch as a result of his early interest in music. His sense of touch is also very sensitive, particularly with regards to lighter touches. However, his senses of smell and taste are poor.

He tends to think of himself as a good planner, and this isn't entirely inaccurate, though he slightly overestimates his abilities. This is mostly due to his tendency to think in depth about every aspect of a situation, particularly if the situation is interesting. He likes games involving strategy for this reason. He is very cautious, partially as a result of bullying and social mistakes he made in the past, and partially by choice, which is both a blessing and a curse, as he often skips opportunities he isn't sure about.

He tends to view more typical activities, such as socializing, partying, attending concerts, and sports with some disdain, and doesn't attend them unless absolutely necessary. He also frowns upon any form of drug use, including use of alcohol and caffeine. He's learned, though, that this tends to lead to strife when pushed on others, so for the most part he just ignores it, or restrains himself to making small comments. Nonetheless, Samuel enjoys chocolate and other desserts, considering it a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Samuel also does not particularly like the concept of relationships, considering them a distraction and a source of irrationality. However, he often develops crushes on anyone of the opposite gender who shows him approval and kindness. He's aware that this is rather irrational of him, and doesn't actually want any sort of relationship, so this usually results in him bottling up his unwanted feelings until they go away. Crushes are one of the only exceptions to Samuel's otherwise consistent dislike of socializing, being touched, and trying new things, although he usually feels rather guilty and confused about it.

Samuel's family relationships are for the most part nonexistent, with the exception of his father and sister. He considers Emily the closest thing he has to a friend, due to a variety of shared interests and a genuine emotional connection between the two. His relationship with Andrew is much less prominent, but still definitely there. He considers his father a good teacher of life skills, and someone who actually cares about him. The rest of his familial interactions are for the most part obligatory in nature.

Samuel bases his ethical code around utilitarian philosophy. He's a bit of a nihilist, believing that he can't make that much of a difference, but he still sees the difference he can make is important. As subfacets of his wider interest in psychology, he began to look at law, finance, politics, and other means of having a bigger impact upon the world. These are still germinating interests for him, not totally set in stone, with the exception of law, which looks set to be more permanent, as it avoids the math of finance and the socializing inherent in politics. He's particularly interested in legal systems of other countries, and has a hobby of analyzing them and trying to determine the consequences from first principles.

He also enjoys debate in moderation, both as an intellectual challenge and as a social one, although he doesn't do so frequently, because it requires other people. His political views differed in some areas from those of his sister, as he generally favored government regulation of private companies in situations where she preferred the nationalization of services. This lead to a lot of debate throughout his teenage years, which Emily mostly won.

Samuel likes science due to its analytical and relatively objective nature. His favorite area is chemistry, as he considers physics complicated beyond his understanding, and biology rather arbitrary. Chemistry forms a nice middle ground. He also likes the various cool things that can be done with reactions, particularly oddly-colored fires, which he always found fascinatingly strange.

He does fairly well in school, consistently getting A's or occasional B's, and rarely scoring lower, with the exception of PE, which he really isn't good at. His favorite subjects are influenced by his interests, including science, music, writing, and history. He has not yet applied to college, as he isn't confident in his social abilities and life skills, and thinks he would be better off waiting a year to practice things like cooking, housework, and self-sufficiency.

Samuel wants to go into either law or finance as a career, as they don't require as much social acumen as politics, while still being capable of some influence. He finds law the more interesting of the two (as finance is based in math, which Samuel, though good at it, doesn't particularly enjoy), and sees it as a way to make a difference in a system that is frequently unjust and biased. He likes to think in terms of the long term benefit to humanity.

Advantages: Samuel is highly intelligent and a decent planner, who rarely makes poorly-thought out decisions. He also has a very wary and cautious disposition. He's quite rational and unlikely to be distracted by emotional considerations, and he's a quick learner.
Disadvantages: Samuel is physically rather unfit. His hypersensitivity also works against him in many cases, as do his picky eating habits and dislike of being touched, which could lead to issues with undereating and physical confrontations. His lack of social skills and connections may also work against him, and he's rather slow to adjust to sudden change.

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Hey there, Abacaba! We've talked a little bit in chat and now I'm here to critique your first profile. Sam is off to a good start, but he's temporarily DENIED pending some editing and expansion.

Where in New York was Sam born/did his family live before the move to Chattanooga. It's unclear whether you mean the state of New York or New York City; if it's the former, you should specify the city.

What's the age difference between Elizabeth and Sam? What made their mom decide to leave her job after Sam's birth rather than Elizabeth's?

In general, Sam's early childhood needs to be expanded upon. How did he do in school and what led him to develop the interests that he did? Why didn't he get along with others? How severe is his autism and what symptoms did he present that led his parents to have him tested and diagnosed? Does it affect his performance in school to any degree? Did he ever receive any sort of therapy or in-school assistance for it?

What sort of bullying did Sam experience? His decision to repress his emotions is strange to me; what's the connection between the bullying and this choice? How exactly did he go about it? You can't really just one day decide to turn your emotions off.

Why would Sam's mom assume that his social difficulties are due to laziness, if he's been officially diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum? That's pretty direct evidence that there are factors outside his control there.

Since the family moved to Chattanooga to be closer to relatives, do said relatives play any significant part in Sam's life? Are they grandparents, parents' siblings, etc.? Were the relatives going through some kind of trouble that made extra family support appealing, or did Sam's parents just want to reconnect?

Why was Samuel homeschooled following the move? Was his sister homeschooled also?

The idea that people with autism have heightened senses isn't 100% correct; it's more accurate to say that they have heightened sensitivity to certain stimuli such as noise and touch. It's a cognitive thing. The paragraph dealing with Sam's sensitivities here should be adjusted accordingly.

I'm a bit confused about the paragraph dealing with relationships and crushes. He thinks relationships are a waste of time, but he's always crushing on girls and likes being touched by them but nobody else? I need some clarification of the thought processes here, as that seems contradictory.

How does Sam do in school grades-wise? What are his favorite and least favorite subjects? Does he plan on going to college right after high school? He's a senior and it's near the end of the school year, so if he applied to any colleges he should know by now if he was accepted.

What are Sam's current relationships with his family like? His dad in particular isn't mentioned at all outside of the first paragraph of the biography.

In general, each item in the hobbies and interests section should have at least one paragraph dedicated to it explaining how the character first got into that activity, what they like about it, and how they participate in it. All of Sam's hobbies besides music are only mentioned in passing, so we need a lot more information there.

Similarly, most of Sam's advantages and disadvantages don't come up at all within the biography. Like hobbies and interests, these should be clearly stated and developed in the bio before they appear in the Advantages/Disadvantages section.

Post in here once you've made the requested edits, and I'll take another look at Sam. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

[Abacaba]

Okay, I've edited it, though I wouldn't put it past myself to miss a few.

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Sam is looking a lot better now, but there are still a few things that need addressing.

It's still not clear what sort of symptoms Samuel displayed in his early childhood that led him to be diagnosed with autism.

What is Sam's sister named? She's called Elizabeth early on in the bio but later it switches to Emily.

I'd like some better examples of Sam's advantages. I don't see his skill at planning being mentioned aside from a single sentence at the end of the bio. I'm also not sure what utilitarian means in the context of being an advantage; how would this give him an edge over others on the island?

In his disadvantages, it's mentioned that he's good at walking and climbing, but these don't come up at all in his biography. I'd like to see them addressed, since climbing skill could end up being an advantage depending on terrain. I'd also like some elaboration on how his picky eating and sensitivity to touch will put him at a disadvantage on the island.

A minor grammar issue: Sam is sometimes referred to as "they" rather than "he". If he only goes by male pronouns, keep that uniform in the bio.

Post in here again once you've made those edits and we'll go another round!

[Abacaba]

Done.

I have no idea how I mixed up the names Emily and Elizabeth, aside from the fact that they both start with E.

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Almost there! I'm still not sold on the utilitarian aspect as an advantage; it needs both more elaboration in the biography and a better explanation of how Sam would be efficient and what that efficiency would do for him in a survival scenario. That's all that's left though, so take care of that and Samuel should be ready for approval!

[Abacaba]

I decided to just remove that, because I think you're right that it's not a super big advantage, and the parts that are advantageous mostly fall under thinking things through.

Also, thanks for all the help and effort you put in to your criticisms!

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