Tony Acardi

[Aura]

Name: Tony Acardi
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: George Hunter High School
Hobbies and Interests: Cooking, martial arts and monster movies, cars, lucha libre.

Appearance:  Tony has an average stature, standing 5'10 and weighing 160 pounds.  In terms of shape, there isn't anything about him that stands out in any major way.  His arms have some definition, but not enough to fit the mold of the athletic type.  He's got a little bit of weight on him, but he's not chubby either.  Tony's body type really doesn't lend itself to catching people's eyes in one way or the other.  Rather, it's the way he carries himself with confidence and swagger that gains notice.

Tony's face is marked by high cheekbones and a nose that has been likened to a triangular mushroom.  His lips are slightly thin, and he has a small scar in the space between his lower lip and his chin on the right side.  His eyes are oval-shaped, expressive, and a soft brown color.  His eyebrows are very smooth-looking and have a small connecting line in the center of his forehead that he tries to keep shaved.  The most distinct feature of his head would be a very deep widow's peak, to the point that it hints towards the possibility of a receding hairline.  To compensate for this, Tony grows his bangs long and combs them forward to cover the space that his hairline leaves bare.  As a result, he has a very unusual hairstyle.  Most of his dark brown hair is cut short and tidy, but his long bangs form a wide downward arrow of sorts down his forehead, looking a bit like a flat, droopy, pointed imitation of a pompadour.

Tony's fashion sense is basic and not flashy at all.  His typical outfit consists of a plain T-shirt, blue jeans, and brown shoes.

Biography:  The events that brought Tony to Chattanooga were neither simple nor pleasant.  Born in Queens, New York as Tony Ortolani, his early years were spent being watched by two irresponsible, drug-abusing parents.  Glen and Linda Ortolani lived a very fast, reckless lifestyle, spending money almost as soon as they got it, and rarely towards anything meaningful.  Their apartment was stocked with random luxuries that they bought on a whim, most of which were only used or appreciated once or twice before being ignored for months on end until they were remembered, at which point they were usually either pawned or just thrown out entirely.

This environment lead to a very chaotic life for young Tony.  For the most part, his parents only paid the bare minimum amount of attention to raise him and keep him fed, preferring to spend their time getting high, fighting with each other, or trying to get money after one or both of them had been laid off from their jobs.  As soon as Tony was in school, he would spend as much time as possible either visiting his friends or doing whatever else he could come up with to stay out of the house and away from his parents' terrible personalities and violent tempers.  Unfortunately, he wound up developing quite the temper himself, largely thanks to his frustration with his home situation.  He was frequently in trouble at school for arguments and fights with other students, most of which would have been easily avoidable if not for his volatility.

One of the few pleasures that he had in this phase of his life took place late at night when his parents either weren't home or were deep asleep.  That was when he would watch TV and look for old martial arts or monster movies.  He didn't care about the quality of the translation or the special effects.  He just thought that it was cool to watch Bruce Lee kick fifty guys in the face, or Godzilla blast King Ghidorah with his nuclear breath.  It was a type of escapism that he cherished.  For the duration of each movie, he didn't have to pay attention to his parents or their cramped apartment.  He just had to watch people and monsters doing cool things.

Astonishingly, it took until Tony was nine years old for him to be removed from his parents' home.  He came to school with a bruise covering half of his face after Glen threw a boot at him during a furious outburst over breakfast, and after telling his story, he was taken in by Child Protective Services and his parents were arrested.  It was at this point that Tony officially entered the foster care system, and although he thought that things would be easier from then on, it was only the beginning of another difficult chapter.

Tony would spend the next few years bouncing around various foster homes, always either being sent back or taken away for various reasons.  With the Post family, he was bullied by his new siblings and would receive the blame for all of their fights.  The Meaney family sent him away because they couldn't handle his anger.  The D'Angelo family hated all the negative attention he garnered at school.  It was only a few times that any of his families gave any thought to getting him counseling for his anger, but none of them actually went through with it.  They either believed that it wouldn't be worth the cost, or they got tired and sent him away before actually scheduling a session.  At some point, Tony stopped expecting each new family to be the one that would keep him for good, and just wondered how long he would be with them before he was inevitably shunted elsewhere.

Around a week before he turned fourteen, Tony was placed with the Acardi family in Chattanooga.  He expected more of the same, a home the he would stay in for a few months at best before he had to pack up and move somewhere else.  However, this time he wound up with the precise people who could work with him.  Kavita Acardi was a child psychologist who specialized in children with anger problems, and she and her husband Ricky were confident that they had the necessary tools to handle Tony.

The first few months went by similarly to his last few foster homes.  He tried to stay on his best behavior, but inevitably, something would set him off, and he would fall into his old bad habits.  It took him no time at all to earn a reputation at George Hunter as a foul-tempered bully who could go off at any moment.  Other students feared him, and teachers were disappointed in his lackluster academic performance and impulse control.  It even reached the point where he got into physical fights with a few of his classmates, although that only occurred when someone deliberately chose to antagonize him.  Tony had a quick punch, and usually came out the victor as a result, but detention and even suspension were the results of his anger-fueled brawling.

He expected his new foster parents to go the same route as all of his previous ones, and send him back into the system once they had enough of the detentions and parent-teacher conferences.  But despite his expectations, that part of the cycle didn't come to pass.

Kavita and Ricky remained calm in their dealings with Tony, and although they posed restrictions and disciplined him when he acted out, they didn't lose their tempers, even when he brought them near their breaking points.  Rather, Kavita used her knowledge of the adolescent mind combined with the information from Tony's case file to slowly work her way into his good graces and get him to let his guard down bit by bit.  She got him to talk about his life, his birth parents, and the other foster families he had been with.  Although she didn't gain much information beyond what she already had, it was an important step that he was actually willing to share it with her.

An even bigger step came when she and Ricky decided to introduce Tony to something that they had both done frequently with their parents growing up: cooking.  The three of them prepared a family dinner together, and while they worked, it was as though it had flipped a switch in Tony.  He paid close attention to the dishes they made and the processes involved in making them, and asked a lot of questions throughout.  They had yet to see him take such an interest in anything since they had taken him in, so they indulged his curiosity.  These dinners became a frequent occurrence in their home, and as they continued, Tony's fiery emotions began to gradually subside.  Now that he had a hobby to invest himself in, he had less free-flowing energy that he didn't know what to do with, and he could channel his naturally passionate personality into cooking.  Within a few months he was making meals by himself without the assistance of either of his foster parents.

With the feelings of trust growing, he introduced them to one of his old hobbies, the movies that he would watch as a child.  He got the idea after seeing a few familiar titles on the shelf in the living room, and it became another thing that the three of them could enjoy together.  Now instead of being something that he would watch alone to get away from everyone else, he could use his favorite movies to bond with his family.  In fact, it was around that time that he had stopped seeing the Acardis as his latest set of foster parents, and instead thought of them as his actual family.  Kavita and Ricky had earned a title that none of his previous families had reached.  Midway through his sophomore year, they made it official and formally adopted him, and he had his surname changed to Acardi to make it unmistakable.

As he settled into life with his new family, his anger calmed considerably.  He was still an incredibly emotional and passionate person, but now that was directed in more directions aside from aimless rage.  He feels regretful for the havoc he caused in his first year at George Hunter, and he has spent the successive three trying to atone for it.  He became a diligent member of the school's cooking club and has tried to put off a more positive vibe in the halls, sticking up for the weaker students when he finds the opportunity.  To his credit, his academic performance has improved dramatically, and he has quite a few friends among his classmates.  A few still remain reasonably skeptical about him, though.

In terms of school performance, Tony does not really excel or struggle in many subjects, having a report card mostly consisting of Bs with the occasional A or C.  His main strength is his strong memory, which helps him retain a lot of information without much trouble, so studying and cramming for tests is actually quite easy for him.  He just tends to get a bit flustered under pressure, which causes him to make mistakes.  At the same time, he has to put up with increased scrutiny from the faculty, who frequently watch him more closely than the other students due to his past actions.  He tries to act like it doesn't bother him, but it does stress him out, which frequently plays into his nerves getting the better of him in tests.

Around the time Tony got his driver's license, he gained a particular interest in cars, more specifically what type of car he wanted for himself.  With Ricky being a mechanic for a living, he had precise knowledge of many makes and models, and was able to help guide Tony in figuring out which cars were worth his time, and which could safely be ignored.  They were able to find an old Dodge for sale for a surprisingly decent price, although the maintenance of the car would still prove to be a factor in their decision.  In the time since they bought the car, they have embarked on occasional tune-ups for some parts and replaced others entirely.  At the present time, thanks to their customizations under the hood, it actually runs a bit better than it did when they first bought it.

Tony eventually garnered a brief interest in mixed martial arts as a bit of an offshoot of his fandom of martial arts movies, but it didn't last for long.  He found the real fights to be far less exciting than the movies, and eventually tuned out.  However, he did find an enjoyment in lucha libre that did not waver so easily.  The high-paced and heavily choreographed action was far more reminiscent of the movies he watched, and it did a far better job of keeping his interest.  He mostly watches online, and through following strings of related videos, he has also very recently discovered puroresu as well, which he also enjoys, but not to the same extent.

Much of his time after school when he's not busy with homework or his friends is spent at Ibarra's, a local Mexican restaurant owned by a family of the same name.  It's not very large, holding a position on one of Chattanooga's strip malls, but the food is known for being of very good quality.  Tony was hired at sixteen because he wanted to earn some extra spending money, and he has been a cook for them for two years.  He makes a point of going above and beyond his employers' expectations, helping in prep, clean-up, and even chores around the restaurant that have nothing to do with cooking during his off-time.  He has managed to form a close relationship with the family that owns the restaurant, one that potentially rivals at of his closest friends at school.

After graduating, Tony plans to enroll in culinary school.  After that, he hopes to return to Ibarra's and get right back to cooking.  His ultimate goal is to have a restaurant of his own one day, but he's in no rush.  As long as he can keep cooking and being with people he loves, then he has no complaints.

Advantages:  Tony is energetic and determined, and he is not likely to give up in a fight, no matter what odds are against him.  He has been in fights in the past, so he knows how to throw a decent punch and take a hit as well.
Disadvantages: Tony's uneven reputation has many classmates suspicious of him, and SOTF would likely only sharpen those feelings.  In addition, although Tony's temper has been tamed, it hasn't been eliminated.  If he is put under enough stress, he may just blow up at an inopportune time.