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Name
Marish Altend
Gender
Cis male, gender nonconforming. Marish loves to present himself femininely or androgynously, conducting himself and wearing clothes to fit how he feels each day. He switches between they/them and he/him pronouns.
Age
26
Birthday
September 12
Star Sign
Virgo
Race
Lebanese
Nationality
American, lives somewhere in Washington State
Sexuality/Romanticism
Grey Asexual, Panromantic
Personality
Misleading, Presumptuous, Snobby, Hardworking, Gentle, Unafraid, Leader
Likes wrote:Warm Showers
Misty Weather
Mushrooms
The Scent of a Forest After a Fire
The Crunch of Dead Leaves Beneath Their Feet
Dislikes wrote:Winter
Not Being in Charge
When He Rolls His Ankle When Wearing High Heels
Skirt Fabrics That are Too Sheer
Shorts
Favorite Foods
Broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce are their favorite foods. Their choices are severely limited by their plethora of allergies, lactose intolerance, general stomach problems, and celiac disease. Vegetables, which he grows himself in a garden behind his home, make up most of his diet. Roshan, his best friend, often teases him about his bland choice in foods, saying Marish's tastebuds must be numb to stomach so many veggies, but to Marish vegetables are both a staple and a delicacy.

Ecologist, Published AuthorMarish, as a child, was physically weak and unable to play with other children. Instead, he went off on his own, quietly wasting his time away among dirt, worms, and rotting leaves. His weak immune system caused him to be sick often and away from school, leaving him little to do other than grow plants indoors and mess around in the dirt of his home, much to his parents' chagrin. As he grew older, Marish retained an air of fragility, giving the first impression that they were as delicate as porcelain to those he met. On the contrary, Marish, tired of being treated like an invalid his whole childhood, gained a ferocious personality and takes no coddling from others. His peers always tell him how pretty he is, that he could be a model if he wanted to with his beauty, but Marish wrinkles his nose at such comments. He'd much rather be getting down and dirty, using his hands for something good than prancing around like a cherished object.
art by sly.blue
As an adult, their childhood hobby of growing plants turned into his career as an ecologist. He works first and foremost in his home community, managing upkeep of the local parks and nature reserves while also monitoring and analyzing the ecosystems that surround his hometown. They established the local green roof and gardening communities, who go around assisting townsfolk in installing places to grow their own food. An avid advocate for the earth, Marish constantly stresses the importance of soil upkeep, advising the city lawmakers on how to properly enforce ecological standards. They take their work very personally, and feels offended if they see someone on the streets disrespecting the earth’s precious dirt. On the job, Marish is usually the manager and leader. He runs a tight ship, and doesn't tolerate any insubordination. Being strict, Marish is the furthest from sympathetic when it comes to beginners' mistakes, valuing perfection and hard work over leniency.

However, despite Marish's goodnatured, ethical exterior, on the inside he is dying to experiment, manipulate genetic structures to devise what kinds of monstrous super-plants he can create. As wonderful and interesting as the earth's current species are, Marish believes that they haven't reached their fullest evolutionary potential. He has taken it upon himself to forcefully unlock that potential. Desperate to leave his mark on the world, Marish, fueled by his curiosity, has turned to practices deemed questionable by the scientific community to experiment on crossbreeding. He believes that DNA is there to mess with, to decode and use to one's advantage. In his backyard, secluded in a shed, he manipulates and splices species after species, with no clear goal in mind other than to see how far he can push nature. They don't have any malicious intent, but has no qualms against possibly creating a sentient plant that could wipe out entire species. He doesn't fancy himself as playing god, more as if he's pushing ecology to its limits and beyond. They often use concoctions of pesticides mixed with other chemicals to create mutations in seeds, then, if the seeds survive and germinate, observe what cruel horror of nature they have engineered.

Being both a responsible scientist and writer, he's been recording his methods and findings as he creates weirder and weirder plants, trying to decode the patterns he unearths that create certain mutations and behaviors. Marish has toyed with the idea of eating the creations he makes, to study their effects and see if they hold a key to curing people with the stomach and immune problems that he has. He hopes to one day publish his findings and contribute something worthwhile to the scientific world.
Talents
Marish is a talented writer, having
published many articles and theses online
and in magazines and newspapers. Their
works mainly focus around shedding light
on the corruption surrounded the farming
industry and the dangers big business and
pollutants pose towards the soil,
water supply, and health of species that
inhabit affected ecosystems.
Marish is also a fairly good dancer.
As a child, one of their many ventures was
to take up ballet. It proved to be too
much for them physically once his immune
system problems kicked in, but he never
lost his love for it. He admires the beauty,
grace, and finesse it takes professional
ballet dancers to pull off a well-done
performance. Some of their mannerisms
reflect their childhood hobby as an adult.
For example, he can often be seen
pointing his toes, and his arm movements
are fluid and graceful.
During college, Marish took up
fencing as a hobby, as a way to let
out his frustrations. The sport reminds
him greatly of the ballet he used to
take as a child, but with less risk and
less physical strain. He quickly rose
among the ranks and is considered by
many in his fencing club as a prodigy.
Marish is considered by many
to be an efficient problem solver and
an exceptionally creative person.
During field work, if something goes
wrong Marish's quick thinking and
outlandish solutions often save the
day, though more often than not
they prove to be dangerous, putting
his wellbeing on the line. Being
the type of person to put himself
between a bulldozer and trees slated
for constructions, many don't
understand just how deep Marish's
love of dirt runs.
Failures
In college, Marish originally intended to
become a pediatrician, hoping to help children
suffering from the conditions he himself has.
However, he found during an internship that
working closely with children really was not
his favorite thing, and his passion for the
medical field faded. He rediscovered
biology and switched his major to ecology,
specializing in microorganisms and autotrophic studies.
Marish has been trying and failing
for years to convince his community to
lease a plot of land to him for
cultivation of his original plant
species, but has yet to convince very many people
of his cause, due to the grotesque
nature some of his plants display.
Marish once adopted a puppy,
but had to give him to a friend because
the puppy dug and destroyed part of his
garden, something he just could not get
over.
art by slimedogOne time, Marish took his
coworkers up on trying to find modeling
work, if just for extra cash. They were
hired on to a local fashion group, but after
an hour of being ordered around Marish,
with a wounded ego, stormed out of the
photoshoot, still wearing the designer's
outfit. The clothes sit in his closet, waiting
for a special occasion to warrant being
exposed to the light of day.
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RelationshipsRoshan wrote:Marish is best friends with Roshan, having been
classmates in college. During their college years they were casual
buddies, but outside of the realm of classes after graduation they
became even closer, sticking together like superglue and going out
to lunch every Saturday. Marish’s job sometimes leads him to places
dangerous to traverse. In such cases, he drags Roshan, a doctor,
along im case of emergencies. More often than not, even with basic
fieldwork, emergencies happen and Roshan ends up bandaging more
than a couple scrapes and bruises. Marish, who can be quite reckless,
complements Roshan's patient and mature personality and encourages
him to exit his comfort zone, while Roshan reels Marish in when he gets
too intense.
Osier wrote:Marish met Osier
through Roshan, who was friends with both of them. He'd recommended
that Marish visit Osier to get the fertilizers and bugs needed for a
huge compost project Marish was spearheading at the time. Upon
meeting Osier, Marish was skeptical of him, not believing that an
alchemist would be knowledgable on bugs, but the two quickly
overcame their preconceptions and became fast friends. Osier
sometimes accompanies Marish on fieldwork days to collect
ingredients for his concoctions. Osier ends up supplying
Marish with potions to help fuel his experimentation on
mutating plants.
all art, if not otherwise specified, is by me.
my signatures not on everything tho lol.
winner may have the feral art!!