Mark Gillette*

[Cosmonologist*]

Name: Mark Gillette
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: Aurora High School
Hobbies and Interests: Archery, Medieval History, Out-Door Activities(Hiking, Canoeing, Climbing etc)

Appearance: Mark is a short (5'3") and slim (120 lbs) young man. His skin is light, making the few freckles on his face and spots on his arm clearer. He has large grey eyes that crinkle when he smiles. His thick hair is short, straight and ash blonde in color. There is a curve down his small nose and his thin lips are a richer shade of red then the average Caucasian. His face is oval-shaped and is usually pretty clear aside from the rare pimple that may appear.

Mark is very modern with his choice of clothing. It's one of the few things he has confidence in. He likes expensive, more formal clothing. His outfit of choice is a nice dark jacket over a button up shirt with dark and slim fitting denim pants with leather boots and sometimes dress shoes. His isn't afraid to wear certain colors and often wears a lavender shirt. He has very few accessories other then a simple steel stud in his pierced left ear, something he had done on a whim.

Biography: Mark was born to Lorraine and David Gillette on September 8, in Seattle and is their only child. When they were young, Lorraine, a project manager, and David, a graphic designer, met whilst working together and entered into a casual relationship. Less then two months later, Lorraine discovered she was pregnant. Rather then run, David convinced Lorraine to take a shot at a serious relationship with him and less then a month before Mark was due, the two were happily married. Even after 18 years of marriage, they are still as close as they day they were when they joined in hand.

As a young child, Mark would always wander where ever he went. He was a curious child to the world around him, and loved to explore it, causing a lot of stress for his parents in the rare occasions they lost track of him. At first this was limited to his neighborhood, or wherever his parents took him but as he got older, he liked to venture further. Whether he was at the park, in the city or out on a forest trail, he enjoyed the sense of adventure it gave him. Thankfully, he rarely got lost and would always manage to find his way back. Though his parents reprimanded Mark for his wandering nature, especially in his younger years, they sought to take advantage of it rather then discourage it completely. Both his parents enjoyed their time out-doors before they had Mark and as such, they tried to get him into their hobbies, hiking being among them. Mark was quick to join them in their hobbies, even as a child, and as he aged, he took on more of them, including canoeing and rock climbing. Though he was once intrigued by the idea, he never was able to get into cave exploration as he suffered from claustrophobia. The idea of traveling away from Washington and even America is appealing, but his ventures around Seattle and the Olympic National Park have been enough to satisfy.

As adventurous as he was, Mark suffered from a number of personality issues from a young age. Despite his parents efforts to bring him up otherwise, Mark was very insecure about almost everything, owed to his desire to have everything he did perfect. He second guessed every decision he made or word he said as a result, often regretting it as he thought he could have done or said something better. He was very self critical and often apologized even for things that weren't his fault. Along with his insecurity, he was pessimistic and often expected the worst outcome. The reason he often gave was that if he expected the worst, then he would always be pleasantly surprised.

On top of his insecurity and pessimism, Mark was also quite paranoid. What other people think was something that Mark took very seriously as he wanted others to see him in a good light. This was reflected in his preference in clothing, which was more of a formal nature. He was always worried he wasn't doing good enough in the eyes of others, especially his parents. Everything he saw, he hyper-analyzed and would see negatives in everyday gestures. For example, his mother would click her tongue and he instantly assumed he had done something wrong, when she had only been trying to get food out of her teeth. His parents tried to work this behavior out of him as he grew, but he never seemed able to shake it. He was still able to speak to others and make friends, but he would always scrutinize their every action for signs that they weren't happy with him. Thanks to this nature, it takes Mark a very long time to open up to others. Any close friends that he has, his relationship with them began long ago. He rarely accepted compliments and always thought it was just the person being nice, thanks to being pessimistic.

When he was ten, he joined the Boy Scouts of America after being talked into it by his parents. Regularly joining his parents in their out-door activities made it appealing to him. He remained with them for two and a half years, starting out as a cub scout and ending having achieved the First Class rank with six badges. With the scouts, he got to do what he loved and learn new things relating to his hobbies. He picked up archery as a casual hobby and was fairly good at it too, taking a merit badge in the sport. For a while, his confidence was a little better but it waned after he left the scouts to focus on high school. His parents were sad to see him leave, but acknowledged the importance of his studies. The other merit badges he earned were Hiking, Canoeing, Backpacking, Climbing and Fire Safety.  

In high school, Mark was able to fit into a good circle of friends but was always held back by his issues. He had been lucky in that he got to know one friend and they introduced him to the rest. Many attempts to make the approach others were shot down by his pessimism as he would often think it would go wrong. Mark believed that if people wanted to get to know him, they'd talk to him, and if they didn't, they wouldn't. Struggling to be social outside of his friendship circle, Mark would focus on his studies to distract himself when his friends weren't around. This allowed him to maintain higher marks then most, swaying between A's and B's.

Mark often enjoyed going to see movies just like other people his age, but his favorite type was any that had a medieval setting to it. He loved how many incorporated his love of exploration and the out-doors, with characters wandering where they willed, unbound of things like responsibility and coin. At first, his love for medieval history was limited to movies and games, but this changed after he took subjects in school that involved the time period. His enjoyment of archery helped as well as it was featured a lot in the movies that sparked his interest. He has been to a few fairs where the theme is medieval, but was so hooked on the actual thing that they fell short of his expectations.  

Later in his teen years, Mark developed a passive-aggressive temper as a result of frustration towards his personality quirks, faults in his mind, and because he took everything personally. He would never be vocal about the things that annoyed him and just let them simmer in his head. The only time he might have spoken about it was if he were alone. What angered him the most was when people looked down on him or judged him poorly when he hadn't had much to do with the person involved. For example, if someone called him creepy because of his quiet self, he'd take a lot of offense to that. If they knew him and criticized him for things he believed were true, then that didn't bother him. But when they didn't know him and still made fun of him, it really pissed him off. The most he would do physically, however, is glare when they weren't looking.

That was until he developed a vindictive side to go with his passive-aggressive temper. Even then, he wouldn't be vocal towards the person who had pissed him off. Mark enjoyed it most when he got back at people without appearing aggressive, such as taking a students stationary and hiding it when they weren't looking. It was best when they didn't notice it was him at all. This wasn't common as Mark didn't get picked on a lot, but when he did get picked on, he made sure to get the person responsible back. But like always, he often ended up regretting it afterwards.

Advantages: Though critical of his decisions, Mark puts a lot of thought into them and takes few actions people would consider brash. Mark's paranoia towards people makes him very perceptive, able to pick up on a lot that people would miss. He is at home in an out-door setting and has a natural love of exploration. Though brief, his time as a scout has left him with some basic skills that could be helpful on the island.
Disadvantages: Mark second guesses himself all the time and often regrets the decisions he makes, even the ones others might consider good. Trust won't come easily to Mark on the island as his pessimism and paranoia would have him suspicious of everyone outside of his friends. Even then, he wouldn't be completely trusting, making it hard for him to accept allies. Due to his paranoia towards other people, he can misinterpret body language and words to be something they aren't. His claustrophobia may hinder him in certain situations.