S010 - West, Marshall

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Name: Marshall West
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Photography, studying, weight lifting and exercise, body improvement, lacrosse, cross country and track, student council.

Appearance: Marshall is short and stocky, standing at 5’5” and 151 lbs, with substantial muscle. Marshall is Caucasian, with pale skin that tends to burn rather than tan. His black hair is short on the sides but wavier on top, usually well-combed but with a tendency to go haywire easily. Marshall has thick eyebrows and large, bright blue eyes that often look slightly crazed. He has a curved nose, a square face and perpetually pink cheeks. He is very expressive and his smiles are often too wide, which combined with his eyes give him a manic look. Marshall always stands with a straight back, with his legs further apart than necessary.

Marshall’s clothes are simple and somewhat formal, primarily consisting of plain, collared shirts and slacks, and a preference for vests. Marshall generally prefers darker shades, with dark blue or black being most common, with the exception of his shirts which are white if he's wearing vests. Marshall prefers sneakers, at odds with his otherwise more formal clothing style. Many of his clothes are second-hand. His outfits are kept in impeccable order whenever possible, but often have visible stitching where he's repaired them.

On the day of the abduction, Marshall was wearing a deep blue sweater vest over a white, collared and long-sleeved shirt. He had a thick, hooded and dark grey jacket with fluff on the inside of the hood that's slightly patchy and worn in places, a navy blue scarf and black, woolly gloves. He wore black slacks, thick black socks, and dark grey sneakers.

Biography: Marshall West was born 20th of October, 2003. His father, Terrence West, was a successful businessman who earned much of his money through the automobile industry, funneling much of his funds into real estate and stocks. His wife, Clara, was a stay-at-home mother that had married into the family young, due to an unplanned pregnancy from what would have otherwise been a short relationship with Terrence. Clara possessed regrets about being tied down so young, but the wealthy lifestyle was too comfortable to leave, and she loved it and her son enough to remain in a cold but cordial marriage.

Marshall grew up wanting for little, as his family was wealthy and influential. They lived in a roomy multi-story house close to the waterfront of Salem, and Marshall went to the best schools they could afford. Most of the people he was exposed to came from similar circumstances as a result. While he didn't see his father much, his mother doted on him, and being an only child meant he received all the attention. Marshall’s mother enforced in Marshall the importance of working hard to achieve his dreams and not to be dissuaded from them--some of this fueled by her own regrets on tying herself down so fast, though she didn’t phrase them this way to her son. This included enforcing the importance of working hard at school to not miss opportunities later, assisting him with his homework, and ensuring that his classwork was impeccable. Marshall took well to studying, and was a bright kid from an early age.

Clara introduced Marshall to photography, which was a hobby of hers that she had once wanted to pursue professionally. It started with giving Marshall a toy camera to play with while she did her own photography, and over the years spiraled into professional interest. Since he was little, Marshall has pasted pictures onto his wall, and kept many albums of photos.

Marshall's primary difficulty was with other children. Marshall was loud and honest, which often resulted in him complaining about other children to the teachers. He was pushy about how he thought things should be done, correcting reckless playground behavior, or about his thoughts in general. Combined with emotions that ran high and a very expressive face, this made him a magnet for bullies, and non-bullies often found him wearying at best. He grew up with few friends as a result, and although he was able to shrug off the bullying with little effect--though it made him aware people considered him irritating, he made no effort to curb his honesty--it did instill in him a dislike of such behavior.

Marshall's father was hit hard by the recession between 2007 and 2009. Most of his business and investments were tied up in areas affected. Terrence attempted to regain their wealth through multiple chancy investments which sunk the rest of the money the family had. He took on more debt to try and hold onto what they had, with little success. Loans kept their family seemingly wealthy until 2012, when dwindling finances forced Terrence to close the company, leaving the family in debt and with no way to return to their affluent lifestyle.

They moved from their large, comfortable house to a tiny, affordable apartment in West Salem when Marshall was nine. Terrence took on multiple jobs--as an office worker, a janitor and anything he could cram in between--to try and get them out of debt. With Clara no longer having the comforts of a wealthy home to distract her from following her discarded dreams, she left the family to pursue the life she regretted giving up. Her son wasn’t enough to keep her around, and she chose to leave without explaining to him why, unable to face telling him that he wasn't enough. She hasn’t visited or contacted either of them after the divorce was settled, done quickly since she took no assets with her, believing this would help Terrence and Marshall move on. Despite financial straits, Terrence never checked to see if she was able to pay child support, as he felt too proud to ask for money from the woman he'd supported until then.

Marshall took his mother's abandonment badly, remaining closed off for months before starting to open up again. It also factors into him working hard at adjusting to being poorer, as he feels that his mother took the easy way out of their situation and is determined to put up with it without whining. Although Marshall still won't talk about his mother, his tendencies towards studying have gotten to obsessive levels. Subconsciously he thinks that working hard will make his mother return, not really understanding exactly why she left.

Marshall, from this point on, grew up fairly independent. Marshall is fond of his father, and his father returns that sentiment. Despite this, his father’s relative absence from his life and continuous exhaustion has meant that they spend little time together. Terrence often leaves to gamble, which had been a habit when he was wealthy, but now an obsession in conjunction with the idea of earning back wealth. Terrence was loaned money on occasion early on by various relatives who hadn't lost as much under the recession, but they caught onto his gambling habits and stopped lending money once they realised Terrence often gambled it away. Marshall remains oblivious to the gambling problem, assuming Terrence's absences are work-based and the inconsistent finances are related to the initial debts.

Marshall was sent to John Endecott Memorial Academy instead of his originally planned high school as it was a compromise between private education and being affordable. He has remained a model student, maintaining straight A's and participating in student council, lacrosse, track and cross country, and the photography club. Marshall doesn't have a particular love of any class, throwing equal effort into every one of them and going into every advanced class he can. His study schedule is planned out in a study journal, and he leaves a period at the end of each week to study or work on anything he feels inadequate in. This is usually classes like English, that require more improvisation rather than a certain answer.

Marshall joined the student council because he wanted to contribute to the student quality of life, and is particularly focused on fundraising efforts to allow the school to give better opportunities for its students. Marshall brings the same enthusiasm to any fundraising events as he does to everything else, and brings in decent money due to sheer persistence. He ran for student council president in his senior year, although ultimately voted for Chloe Delaxroix instead due to admiring their ideas.

Marshall picked lacrosse largely because the school has a history in it, and track to fill out the winter months when the lacrosse season would wind down. Marshall enjoys lacrosse because of the physical exertion and the experience of being part of a team, and his critical but encouraging nature works better in a sporting environment if surrounded by equally enthusiastic players. Track and cross country are enjoyed for the simplicity of running. Marshall finds few things more enjoyable than running until either he's won or his legs won't run any further. Marshall manages to do well at both through effort and enthusiasm, rather than any natural talent. He was named captain of both the boy’s lacrosse team and the track team, and attempted to double his efforts to help the team improve and flourish as a result.

Marshall spends the majority of his time at school, only leaving when he absolutely has to, and school activities are his main source of interaction, partially due to his difficulty regarding making conversation with his peers over something they’re not both actively doing. Marshall spends most of his free time studying. Rare deviations from this, such as the occasional party, are under pressure from his father who feels guilt at what he perceives as Marshall lacking a childhood.

Marshall is aiming to go to college and has applied for numerous scholarships, knowing he will need them to afford it. His intention currently is to get a law degree due to its versatility. He hasn’t made up his mind on what he actually wants to do despite his drive to do something with himself. As he approaches the end of high school he’s starting to realise he doesn’t know how to do much except study and work within strict guidelines, and having to make choices for himself is causing him to become apprehensive about the future.

Marshall maintains a big focus on self-improvement. He got into gym and weight-lifting as an extension of his sporting activities in school, but grew attached to it for the sake of improvement rather than for the sake of running and playing lacrosse better. Marshall takes care of his general health, and seeing numbers increase in how much he can lift helps him measure his success in becoming stronger. It also helps his self-confidence, as Marshall has a vain streak and lifting weights to increase his muscles helps him look fitter. His focus on improving includes being a member of the unofficial Body Improvement Club run by a classmate, Lúcio Oliveira, which involves meeting regularly on the weekends to work out at the gym, followed by eating in town. It is one of the few activities he does that isn't school-sanctioned.

Marshall is a driven boy who puts his all into everything he does, and is often loudly perplexed when others do not. He rarely lies, even by omission. He is hot-headed and prone to arguments, and every argument sounds equally as important as the last when it comes out of his mouth. Intense, overbearing and critical of others, his brutal honesty cuts both ways - he has no issues expressing pride and support either. His tendency to be blunt about people's worse qualities or behavior is a genuine attempt to help people improve themselves, but it makes it difficult for him to make or retain friends. It also gets him in trouble with authoritative figures on occasion, as despite having good intentions Marshall can be both disruptive and overwhelming, the latter of which can cause more sensitive classmates stress. Marshall will usually quiet down in the presence of an authority figure telling him to, but if the authority figure is the source of the problem then Marshall will stand up to them with the same vigor as anyone else. This has landed him in detention on more than one occasion.

Despite his often abrasive, argumentative nature, Marshall does his best to be friendly and helpful. He is optimistic and looks to the bright side whenever possible. Anyone who breaks the rules in his presence is guaranteed to be yelled at, and this is even truer when it comes to bullies. He is often naive and forgiving about other people's intentions, assuming they are as honest as he is. He rarely holds grudges, though once it reaches that point it is near-impossible to earn his forgiveness. Emotionally, Marshall tends to explode a lot but in brief, healthy amounts, and is rarely truly rattled. The rare times something gets to him tend to knock him back for months.

In most areas, Marshall is very confident and very obvious about it. He is confident in his own ability to overcome obstacles and improve, but is more insecure regarding social matters, knowing that something about him tends to rub people wrong. He has convinced himself that this doesn't bother him, but is more lonely than he will admit to himself. However, he does have a few friends among those easygoing enough to put up with his blunt, pushy behavior.

Marshall is gay, but has yet to realise this fact. He is under the firm belief that his lack of interest in girls is connected to his focus on studying and other activities, and having a better control over himself than his peers. Similarly, he has attributed his interest in male bodies to his interest in physical fitness, and attributes crushes on male peers to admiration without questioning why it’s not the same for the girls he admires. He’s not in denial, nor does he have any issues with the concept of being gay, he just hasn’t realised it applies to him.

Advantages: Marshall is both physically strong and intelligent, and is also active and organised. He has the drive to work towards organizing alliances and plans quickly, rather than relying on others to do it for him.
Disadvantages: Marshall is naive when it comes to people's intentions, and likely to fall for attempts at trickery. He is abrasive and bluntly honest, which is likely to put a strain on any diplomatic or group situation.

Designated Number: Student No. 010

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Designated Weapon: Gas mask

Conclusion: You know that old gag about someone shouting so loud it triggers an avalanche? S10 had better hope nature takes care of him before his classmates get sick of his shit. - Veronica Rai