S132 - Zima, Eden [DECEASED]

#1

Name: Eden Michael Zima
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Theater, philosophy, cheerleading

Appearance: At 5’5” and 125 pounds, Eden is slightly built but well-toned, with some muscle definition in their legs, back, and chest. He is white and generally pale, though he tends to tan and freckle during the cheerleading season. Eden’s shoulder-length hair is straight and naturally black, but it has been bleached platinum blonde; he usually waits until several inches of roots are showing before re-dyeing, and as such tries to make an even fade whenever he does so. His eyes are oval-shaped and dark grey, though he often uses contact lenses to change their color. He has a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and a defined jawline. His ears are pierced; his choice for earrings vary, but he tends towards silver hoops.

Eden tends to slouch when sitting, though his posture is excellent when he’s on his feet. His face is highly expressive, sometimes to the point of exaggeration. Eden tends to use his hands frequently while talking, and his hand motions and gestures generally give the impression of being precise, deliberate, and exaggerated.

Eden favors a flamboyant style of dress, with a particular taste for the gothic, and regularly wears makeup. On the day of the trip he was wearing a black graphic T-shirt, which read ‘Yeet, Pray, Love’, over a black long-sleeved UnderArmor undershirt; black-dyed distressed skinny jeans; a studded belt with an attached silver chain; black combat boots; 3 silver bangles on his left wrist and 3 silver chains around his neck; and a black longcoat. In addition, he was wearing white makeup powder on his face and smudged black eyeliner.

Biography: Eden was born on January 11, 2003, about 30 minutes after his twin sister Eve, to William Zima, a banker, and Candice Zima, who worked in tech support. The couple had been introduced to each other through church, as their extended family attended the same services, and it was this religious influence that lent Eve and Eden their names. However, the family is only nominally religious, attending church primarily for its social benefits, and the couple mostly settled on the twins’ names because they liked the way they sounded as a pair.

Though Candice’s pregnancy had been planned and the marriage had initially been a happy one, William and Candice’s relationship took a turn for the worse during the twins’early childhood. Because Candice could mostly work from home, William often asked her to look after the their children instead of paying for a babysitter or daycare. This in turn irritated Candice, who struggled with her husband’s apparent belief that she had sufficient free time to devote to caring for Eden and Eve during the day, and felt underappreciated as a result. William and Candice attempted to work on their marriage troubles with guidance from friends and elders in the church, and the community there also offered them assistance with childcare. These measures were met with some success; however, lingering resentment remained between the couple for much of the twins’ early childhood, and William and Candice were continually prone to letting minor disagreements get out of hand until the twins were a few years older.

As a result of this volatile environment in their early years, the twins quickly learned to avoid their parents; they enjoyed a good relationship with each other at the time, and often played with each other to pass the time while their parents argued. When first entering school, Eve and Eden stuck together and often shunned contact with other students, which eventually caused their teachers to become concerned when they noted that the twins struggled to speak up in class even when called upon. This behavior wasn’t extremely uncommon for twins, but since it was beginning to affect their performance in class, their teachers and parents encouraged the two of them to socialize with others more.

Eden was fairly reluctant to heed the advice of his parents and teachers, initially; he especially didn’t trust his parents, and in fact he initially stuck closer to Eve in an attempt to act out. It didn’t help matters that, having grown up around parents who were prone to quarreling over minor details, Eden was accustomed to frankly and vehemently expressing his negative feelings and opinions for others without restraint; this, naturally, won him few friends. Noting his expressivity, Eden’s parents decided that theater club may provide him with a healthy outlet, and signed him up; though he was initially resistant, this push was ultimately successful. Eden loved acting from a young age, finding in it a way to express his emotions loudly without fear of reprisal or social repercussion; it also provided him with a way to distance himself from the emotions he voiced on the stage.

Though the friction between his parents had eventually settled once the twins were in middle school and didn’t require as much hands-on care, they were still prone to fighting at times. The frustration this caused meant that Eden was still prone to lashing out at others, despite the outlet of theater. He did, however, learn to control his histrionic tendencies; while he didn’t lose his vindictive streak, it now mostly took the form of pointed jabs and mean-spirited jokes, which tended to be received better by his classmates than his previous angry outbursts. This development, combined with his extroverted tendencies, eventually lent him some social standing in middle school. At the same time, Eden gradually started drifting apart from Eve; his tendency to verbally abuse those around him was reciprocated by his sister, leading the twins to fight verbally and, at times, physically.

Theater continued to be Eden’s primary interest in middle school and he often neglected studying in favor of spending more time rehearsing. While he was able to coast through English with B’s, his other grades fell into the C range. Even when his parents tried to discipline him into working harder, often monitoring him to force him to complete his work, Eden often intentionally did badly on his homework out of spite, intentionally providing wrong answers and playing dumb whenever his parents tried to help him.

Towards the end of middle school, Eden realized that he was attracted to boys, and that he experienced no attraction for girls. As he had received minimal exposure to queerness as a child, Eden was extremely confused, and lacked the language to articulate his feelings. Thus, in contradiction to his tendency towards outspokenness, Eden kept his sexuality a secret from everyone. This apparent hypocrisy felt shameful to Eden, and he withdrew from his social circles somewhat as a result. At the same time, he threw himself into theater, and often used the stage as a medium to explore his sexuality by seeking out parts with homoerotic undertones and, soon enough, overtones. This pattern eventually caught the attention of his parents, who inquired whether he was gay; Eden confirmed that he was. William and Candice’s reaction to this news was mostly indifferent; while they weren’t hostile towards their son’s sexuality, they also tended to be somewhat dismissive, seeing it as the latest iteration of Eden’s rebellious behavior.

It was around the time when Eden entered high school that he became depressed due to a confluence of factors. Eden’s struggle with his sexuality took place concurrently with the election of President Canon, and, while he was only dimly aware of the election itself, he gradually internalized the shift towards pessimism that followed in its wake, with the consequence that his worldview when he entered high school was fairly cynical. By that point, he was convinced of the stupidity and selfishness of the human race, and skeptical of the possibility that he had any future to look forward to. This, in combination with his unstable home environment and the isolation he felt as a result of his sexuality, led to his developing depression, which mostly took the form of a tendency towards bleakness, pessimism, and apathy. Eden’s depression was exacerbated by his lack of close relationships and confidants, which meant that he received minimal support for his struggles—he was distant with his parents (something that wasn’t helped by his parents’ recent promotions, which meant that they spent less time together overall), vitriolic with Eve, and, though he maintained a number of friendships, they were mostly superficial.

Eden lost much of the joy that he took in theater as a result, though this shift resulted in little outward change; because theater remained Eden’s only major outlet, from the outside it often seemed as though his passion was only increasing, as he desperately searched for the joy that he had lost. This development was visible in other ways, however; Eden’s lifestyle became increasingly hedonistic as he progressed through high school, and his desire for stimulation made him a frequent visitor at parties.

Another effect of Eden’s depression was his increasing interest in philosophy. This interest began when one of his teachers jokingly called him Nietzsche after hearing him express some of his views. His initial research into Nietzsche led to him discovering other philosophers. Though he didn’t fully understand all the points that he came across, the grimmer outlooks of some of the philosophers appealed to him, both because they lent credence to his own views and because they helped him feel less isolated in his perspective; nihilism and antinatalism especially appealed to him. Eden sometimes referenced the philosophy he was reading around others, but rarely did so, as these references were typically ignored or, when acknowledged, not taken seriously.

One surprising development for Eden in high school was his joining the cheerleading team. He initially did so as a joke, after a classmate sarcastically suggested that doing so would mellow him out; to his surprise, however, he found that he genuinely enjoyed it. Cheerleading, much like theater, allowed him to be loud and flamboyant, and though he could never take the cheerleading chants very seriously, he found that he enjoyed shouting them nevertheless; if nothing else, the irony of the situation kept him amused.

While Eden maintains a fairly wide social circle in high school, he is lacking in close friends. Eden’s dramatic tendencies give him a certain amount of charisma, but they also sometimes make him a target for derision. He is extroverted and social, and others often enjoy his presence; however, his propensity for biting remarks means that few want to get close to him. He is well-known by the student body, but others’ attitudes toward him tend to be polarized, divided between those who like him, those who enjoy belittling him, and those who are entirely put off by his behavior.

Eden’s relationship with Eve did not improve when he entered high school. Neither of the twins were aware that their mental health problems were shared; on Eden’s side, this lack of mutual understanding meant that he tended to mock Eve’s struggles as insignificant, and he especially sees her habit of making videos as self-important. Their relationship wasn’t helped by the fact that, for all the vitriol, the twins shared many of the same interests, which meant that they were often forced to interact with one another. Eve’s tendency to snap at those who push Eden’s buttons did, however, take him aback, and caused him to soften his attitude towards her in turn. While Eden is still prone to mocking Eve, he sees his ribbing as more playful and less mean-spirited, though this intention is rarely apparent in practice. In addition, he sometimes responds in kind to Eve’s defense of him, stepping in when he feels that the mockery directed towards his sister is undeserved or inaccurate.

Eden intends to pursue acting after finishing high school, and has sent auditions to several fine arts programs, though he is aware that his low grades significantly dent his chances. He has difficulty taking his acting ambitions seriously; his pessimistic outlook means that he sees little point in holding lofty goals, and as such he generally affects a devil-may-care attitude towards his prospects. Privately, however, he is somewhat afraid of the possibility that he won’t be accepted anywhere, as, outside of theater, he mostly feels aimless, and is unsure of what he’ll do if he can’t pursue it.

Advantages: Eden is physically fit, possessing good stamina, flexibility, and dexterity, and decent strength. He can be charming when he wants to be, and despite their oft-vitriolic relationship, he is close enough to his sister that they make for likely allies.
Disadvantages: Eden’s tendency to verbally lash out could turn potential allies against him, and his lack of restraint or impulse control could lead to reckless decision-making. His nihilistic tendencies often serve to make him rather apathetic, which could hold him back from being a serious competitor.

Designated Number: Student No. 132

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Designated Weapon: Viking helmet and furs

Conclusion: The helmet offers a modicum of protection and the furs some additional warmth, but charm and fitness only do so much, and recklessness will end in death in a place such as this. - Boris Petrikov