Name: Azrael
Gender: male
Shine Design: red ansuz rune at base of tail. click to see on tail
- I based the shine design on Mufasa, as it has a lot to do with communication, wisdom, elders, listening, inspiration, passing of breath from one gen to another, etc. so I thought it fit really well despite not being African!!
☆ independent ⋆ solitary ⋆ taciturn ⋆ secretive ⋆ stoic ⋆ stubborn ☆
Azrael is a very independent person. He doesn't want to make compromises, especially when it comes to how his work is done. Why should he let another linguist help him translate the ancient runes when no one matches his skills? Simply to help their career out? Surely life is much more satisfying when you accomplish things on your own. At least, that's very much how Azrael looks at things. He also doesn't want to risk any sort of failure or humiliation that may occur from a mistake made by another linguist, as he has a deep rooted fear of both. To top it off, he simply hates asking for help and, at this point in his life, he is completely unable to allow himself to. He would much rather depend solely on himself, no one else.
His hatred of asking for help and fierce independence stem mostly from his solitary nature. It's not that he hates being around other kalons, as he doesn't. It seems to be more of a focus tactic. As someone that is completely success oriented, Azrael simply cannot risk being distracted to any extent by anything. He has a tendency to be easily side-tracked, so his solitary nature developed greatly out of necessity. Azrael doesn't really mind much because he likes to think in the quiet anyways. Plus he's quite bad at carrying on a conversation with someone else and keeping on topic. Every now and then it does definitely get very lonely, but it's all worth it for his work. After all, studying ancient and difficult languages is his greatest passion. There is nothing more rewarding than successfully translating a celtic text from centuries ago.
Due largely in part to his solitary and independent qualities, Azrael is a very taciturn person. He doesn't talk much at all, and when he does his voice is low and gravely from disuse. It's not an unpleasant voice at all, but he can be very self-conscious about the way he sounds. Actually, he doesn't tend to talk above a mumble because of his own doubts about his voice. Another reason his voice tends to go so long without use is because Azrael tends to avoid most people and social situations. And, whenever he's actually engaging with others, he still has a habit of not speaking a lot. It can be a bit tedious trying to carry on a conversation with him, but he speaks so infrequently that there's really no point for him to try to improve his skills.
Secrets are a large part of his life. His solitary and independent nature are yet again at least partially to blame for this. Because he's always been the loner type and doesn't like to talk, Azrael has never had someone to confide in. This makes it especially hard for him to open up to others at the current point in his life. Occasionally, he may befriend someone and tell them a long-held secret, which always offers a sort of relief unlike anything else he's ever felt. However, these friends are few and far between and they have a tendency to move away and / or lose touch with Azrael, much to his dismay. His secretive nature is likely a large part of the reason he can feel so gosh dang lonely someones. He's a completely closed book, and it's probably got something to do with why it's so hard for him to make friends.
Azrael is an exceedingly stoic person and others can rarely tell what he's feeling or thinking about. Of course there are some more perceptive people than others, but as a general rule of thumb he's next to impossible to read. He does find it amusing to go to fortune-tellers, though, and watch them struggle to read him like they do with their other clients. He was never taught the importance of showing your emotions. In fact, his experiences growing up were mostly emotion negative, making him learn that emotions are weak and wrong. Azrael's emotions are one of his deepest secrets, and they are almost never revealed to anyone. The only emotions that he doesn't mind showing are anger and annoyance, making most people think he is intimidating and rude. He does, however, feel emotions deeper than those, deeper even than a lot of others' emotions.
In case you haven't picked up on it yet, let me assure you that he is one of the stubbornest people around. When concerning his work as an ancient linguist, Azrael takes absolutely no advice and does things the way he wants to do them regardless of rules or other opinions. His particular process of translation is one that he brought over from his native Nigeria, but since moving to America to work at the Smithsonian, the process has been dogged. It has been ruled against many times by the Smithsonian board and condemned by many scholars. That doesn't stop him, though, and he holds to it, steadfastly refusing any change in his methods. Azrael isn't much better in his personal life, either, and will stubbornly hold to his opinions and beliefs without question no matter the consequences.
☆ follower ⋆ leader ⋆ contradictory ⋆ indecisive ⋆ naive ⋆ sweet ⋆ honest ⋆ comforting ☆
While some of his qualities might contradict with it, he is definitely more of a follower than a leader. Azrael won't blindly follow anyone, but if he agrees with someone's views he has no problem falling in line with them. His being a follower isn't to say that he follows all of the rules or that he won't have his own opinions and beliefs, though. He isn't particularly fond of authority figures, but when it comes down to it Azrael would much rather follow in someone's footsteps than be completely on his own. It's got a lot to do with a healthy sense of self-preservation, truth be told. With that said, following also makes him feel less lonely, even if he's not chatting to someone; it just feels good to know that he's not the only one that believes in something. He'd also rather be one listening, understanding and analyzing rather than speaking or being responsible for someone's well-being or opinions.
There's no doubt that Azrael much prefers following to leading. However, there are certain instances where he will absolutely be the leader and may even desire being the leader. The most notable of these instances is, of course, when it comes to his work. He would rather die or be cast out of the scholarly community all together than have to play second-fiddle to someone of lesser skill, and everyone is of lesser skill than Azrael when it comes to his job. He loves to lead teams of translators on recently discovered documents, as well as lead teams on the hunt for these old documents. Azrael possesses many of the qualities of a great leader, including dedication, loyalty and purpose, and has the potential to be an amazing leader if he wishes to be. He may never reach his full potential, though, as he really does dislike being in charge of most situations.
Azrael can be quite the contradiction at times. This has likely got a good bit to do with his stoicism, as his mood and words can contradict each other sharply as his emotions change. His contradictory nature is basically his own way of showing his feelings without actually showing them. It's the only way he's learned to cope with not confiding in others and keeping his emotions hidden. There are other reasons Azrael contradicts himself, as well, such as a changed opinion or environment. A good example of a contradiction in his personality would be his preference to follow unless it's concerning linguistics. Another example is his disinterest in social interaction and his fascination with it at the same time.
Decisions tend to cause a big riff in Azrael as he tries to balance what he should do with what he wants to do. He is very indecisive as a result, tending to change his mind about his coffee order five or six times before he finally orders it. Part of the reason for his indecision is that he tries to think of all the possible outcomes of an action before finally choosing one. This means that he has to adjust his decision as he thinks of new options and new outcomes, which can be quite time consuming. Another reason for his indecisive nature is that he can be unsure of himself at times, due mostly to lack of affirmation and encouragement of others. One thing he never doubts is his ability to do his job and do it well. Azrael also tends to be more decisive when concerning his work.
Most people think of him as exceedingly realistic and wise, so it can often be a major shock when they realize that Azrael is actually quite naive. Not in the sense that he is unwise or has bat judgement, but instead that he lacks experience and is pretty innocent. He obviously doesn't lack experience in some areas. However, he lacks a sort of world experience and social experience that most people have. Azrael very rarely has interactions with others and mostly spends his time locked in the Smithsonian with his ancient texts. This means that there is a lot about social etiquette, emotions and other common knowledge that he just doesn't understand. Azrael is often completely lost in any conversation to do with modern technology, or in most conversations about anything other than languages. He typically has a very hopeful, cheerful outlook on the world, despite everything that has gone wrong in it.
Azrael may not have the best social or conversation skills, and he can often be seen as harsh and unfriendly. Despite this, he is also an incredibly sweet guy. It takes him a while to warm up to people, but once he is more comfortable around someone he shows a much softer side than the one the world generally sees. Generosity, especially to those less fortunate, is practically a law in Azrael's eyes, and he would sooner die than betray those he cares for. His fierce loyalty even extends to his colleagues and other scholars, frequently defending them when they come under fire for something. His stoicism typically hides it, but he cares very deeply for all living creatures and refuses to even harm a fly. Azrael can be highly self-less at times, too.
One of his most prized qualities, both in himself and in others, is honesty. Of course no one is above lying sometimes, not even himself, but he sees great value in telling the truth at least most of the time. Azrael rarely lies, and when he does they are typically small white lies. With that said, though, he doesn't believe that lies of omission are real lies and has been known to use them. He never lies unnecessarily and always attempt to find a way around lying if possible. Most of his white lies are told before he has a chance to process the truth and what he should say. Azrael most often lies to his boss or colleagues when asked about progress on a translation or authentication, either because he's forgotten, procrastinated it or because he is finished but wants to look over it again to make sure he got everything right. He doesn't see it as bad, however, since he's not harming anyone or intruding on someone's rights.
As with his kindness, there aren't many that realize how comforting Azrael can be. As a child, he was born into a poor, run down Nigerian village and traveled throughout Nigeria with his family. As he got older, he attended a well respected university in Cairo, Egypt, and traveled all over Africa. Through his travels and experiences growing up, Azrael has seen and been through a lot. He believes that it's everyone's job to try to lighten someone else's load whenever they can, in any way that they can. For that reason, he is always available to those who want to talk or need comfort. His colleagues and friends frequently go to him when they need cheering up, as he always knows just what to say. Most of the time his comfort includes hot chocolate and a good story or pop-up book. Azrael has a soft spot for children, too, and volunteers in the pediatrics ward in local hospitals.
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sorry for any typos / spelling mistakes / etc. as I haven't slept in over 24 hours at the time of writing this!!
sweats, sorry for the length. I didn't realize it was that long until after I took a small break from it, just got on a role, oops. I had more traits that I was going to describe, but I figured it was best not to make this any longer.
hope it's not too much of a pain to read, and good luck judging this gorgeous babe!!
