the table is prepared for you. | cass.

[allthekingsmen]

[glow=#5c6091,2,300][gfont=Uchen]I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU HOW I DO.[/gfont][/glow]

BASICS:
the fundamentals of his character.

full name: jem "cass" jacob caswell
    jem is a diminutive of jeremy or james; the former comes from hebrew, meaning "yahweh will exalt," whereas the latter is similarly from hebrew, and shares the same meaning as the name "jacob." does this mean that he could technically be named jacob jacob caswell? yes. "jem" comes from his dad, though, whose name was jeremy.
    cass is his nickname, derived from his surname. on its own, in latin, it could mean "hollow, empty."
    jacob is his middle name, coming from the old testament, meaning "supplanter."
    caswell is a surname derived from old english, roughly meaning "the well where watercress grows."

referred to as: cass. don't call him "jem" or "jemmy" unless you're his sister—he finds it weird if you do. honestly, the only way someone would find out his first name is "jem" is by overhearing him and his sister talking in private; she calls him "cass" in front of most others.

gender & pronouns: male; he/him

age: thirty-three

date of birth: november twenty-second, 1997

ethnicity: diné, irish, english, mixed west african

role: he's just a dad, man. he's currently affiliated with flintlock lodge as a sentinel, but he wants to keep his kid out of disputes as well as he can. flintlock lodge is affiliated with the badlands, and he wants nothing to do with that now that he’s a parent.

current residence: flintlock lodge.

romantic & sexual orientation: biromantic bisexual, with a preference for women

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:
what he looks like.

          cass is a pretty intimidating guy—he tops out at just around six foot one, with roughened bronze skin speckled with a few dark beauty marks here and there, as well as an assortment of scars that either healed well enough to not show unless he grows very pale or very tan, or scars that are normally hidden by clothing. his hooded eyes are normally quite slate-like and cold, though the color is actually quite lovely: a soft, earthy brown, like what sits under a crop of poppies after a fresh rain. such eyes are usually half-lidded with exhaustion or narrowed in suspicion/irritation, though. he has a strong nose with an aquiline arch in the middle, the alignment of it slightly crooked from all the times he’d broken it in the past. he has a head full of inky black hair, along with a few strands of premature gray (hint: it's from stress), wavy and tousled, the top of the style longer than its sides, which are kept swept close to his temples (though when he wakes up with a bed head, it tends to go all over the place). he usually pushes his hair back from his forehead, though a few strands sometimes fall over his forehead once more. it’s shorter than it used to be. his thick, arched, expressive eyebrows have a tendency to raise in challenge or silent question. the line of his lips is set and solid, and his physique is strong, but not necessarily bulky—he’s a heavy guy, wrought with thick cords of muscle, with a little bit of natural squish around the waist and hips that keep him from being too hard and jagged, though he’s still a definite pain to punch. there are also numerous tattoos over his body (a full sleeve on his right arm and a few on his back, as well as some on his left wrist and forearm, then on his chest and peeking over his collarbone), miscellaneous and artsy; they're usually kept covered up, as he tends to wear long sleeves and shirts that cover his whole chest, but sometimes they can be seen. he sometimes appears with a bit of scruff on his jaw, but usually shaves due to most of his prospective beards being rather patchy, and has a perpetual presence of faint eyebags. made up of broad shoulders, a defined jaw, and strong hands, cass comes across as someone you really don’t want to mess with.

          his clothing is nothing fancy—plain or faded t-shirts and a few assorted jackets or overshirts make up most of his wardrobe, with sturdy, straight jeans adorning his bottoms. he owns two pairs of shoes—one pair of boots meant for roughing it out in nature and one pair of regular athletic sneakers—and one analog watch that he keeps strapped to his left wrist. he always wears a silver locket, usually tucked beneath his clothes, which has a small compass tucked inside of it, along with a picture of his family from when he was a child on the other side.

CONDITION:
how he's doing.

eyesight: fine, but he squints when he’s reading things up-close. he probably needs reading glasses.

allergies, intolerances, or ailments: n/a.

overall physical health: very good—he keeps active on a daily basis, and when he’s not doing combat-oriented activities, he’s helping move supplies, hunt, etc., or just spending time outdoors and moving around. he prefers not to sit still.

physical health notes: he has a lot of old injuries, and sometimes pain flares up in certain places, rendering him in a far less capable state than usual.

distinguishing mannerisms or habits: he’s gained the habit of tiredly massaging or rubbing the side of his nose bridge, or covering the lower part of his face and sighing when idle or exasperated. he also tends to play with his necklace and the locket on it, or aimlessly adjusts his sleeves or watch.

ailments, effects, or disorders: he sometimes experiences visual and auditory hallucinations due to sleep deprivation, but once his sister or his son force him to finally lay down and take a nap, he’s usually fine.

mental health notes: he’s very emotionally shut-off and worries a lot over his son.

handwriting: messy and slanted, but certainly not unreadable. it’s somewhere between cursive and print, and somewhat smeared at times due to him going back to fix spelling mistakes that he makes in his haste to write.

walking: steady and sure-of-foot, but with a standoffish stiffness to him. everything about him screams get out of my way!

SPEECH & COMMUNICATION:
how he communicates with others.

capability of verbal speech: very much capable, but believes in comfortable silences and that actions speak louder than words.

speech style: raspy and rough, lined with the prickling notes of exhaustion. he normally doesn’t string together super long, eloquent, clearly-audible sentences—pick one, okay? he can either talk for a long time (in which it will be made up of simple words and devolve into muttering about halfway through), talk like a poet (in which it’s a very short sentence—maybe even just one word—and be mumbled under his breath), or talk at a reasonable volume (in which it’s pretty short and composed of basic language. honestly, his volume is pretty low; not to the point where one needs to strain, but one might have to ask for him to repeat once in a while). cass rarely raises his voice, but when he does, everyone listens. he has two modes: drawling and quiet, etched with tiredness, or stern and firm, backed with steel, always with a closed jaw.

accent: according to his son, he has a funny habit of drawing out ending vowels but having very distinct consonants, but cass just describes his accent as “whatever.” it’s somewhat standard neutral american, though with especial tension around the consonants s, t, and r, glottalizing ending ts. his tone is usually monotonous, but he tends to add more pitch changes when around people he’s comfortable with.

eye contact: he normally doesn’t make eye contact with others, as when he interacts with people he tends to be working on other things. if he really doesn't like someone, though, he’ll stare at them straight in the eyes unflinchingly and unwaveringly in an effort to make them uncomfortable enough to leave, though still somewhat under the pretense of “holding his attention.”

body language: though he's a lot more expressive with his hands when around people he trusts (see a pattern here?), cass talks with his eyebrows and subtle screws of his face when his hands are busy. raising one or both of his eyebrows, silently rolling his eyes, pursing his lips, frowning just slightly, etc., he’s a very physically expressive person if you look closely.

resting face: somewhat both more relaxed and more tired than when he's putting emotion towards it—his worry lines fade and the look in his eyes is softer, but the shadows beneath them seem darker and his brows unintentionally draw together to furrow at times.

PAST:
his roots.

TW: MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE, IMPLIED DEATH IN LABOR

          cass was a troublemaker as a kid, that's for sure. he attended school normally while making it to most of his classes, sure, and he submitted his homework on time to teachers, but if something or someone set him off? if he was around friends and wanted to look cool? the ring of the three-o’-clock bell wouldn't stop him from decking instigators in the face if it grew arms and pulled his fists back.

          saddled with responsibility and rejecting the vast majority of it, he spent most of his adolescence dicking around and making sure that he at least passed his classes right up until he found himself without friends once graduation came and college slammed into him like a freight train. he was without companionship and present support for a while up until he met a certain someone: orla sato, who was probably his rock throughout his first year of college. it was a modern classic of boy-meets-girl-and-they-fall-in-love, and braved the world together when the data assault hit.

          when cass was saddled with another fresh crop of responsibility, however, from day one she was not there. he had to suck up all his recklessness and ensure that the new life in his hands—and the already-existent life of his younger sister—stayed safe and secure in this new world.

          nowadays, he’s practically unrecognizable from the person he once was—he’s patient, he’s cautious, and he seems to fall into a natural caretaker role now that he has a little one to take care of. he’s doing what he has to in order to live for those he has left, but he wants a better life for his son, without so much danger and crime affiliations. he supposes he’ll have to see what the future brings.

RELATIONSHIPS:
his affiliates, allies, and acquaintances.

    ☾ juniper “june” caswell: his younger sister. they were fairly close as kids as cass was usually the one looking out for her while their parents were working, but as they grew, their age gap somewhat created a rift between them. now, though, in a situation like this, they're getting closer again. he's especially grateful for the fact that she mostly doesn't mind keeping at least one eye on his son when he's out.

    ☾ ronan caswell: his little dude! he's eight and cheery, talkative, and very touchy (he makes sure that cass gets at least two hugs a day—one in the morning and one at night), with a large smattering of freckles, big brown eyes, and a headful of curly black hair that spills down his shoulders and falls over his eyes. ronan calls cass “paps”—not “pops,” but paps, with the a in ‘apple.’ got it? good! he takes after his mom, for the most part, with the same coily black hair and near-black brown eyes, but has a nose that resembles his grandpa's (and, therefore, his aunt's).

    ☾

PERSONALITY:
who he is on the inside.

          cass has practically done a one-eighty since he was a teen, and is nowadays a bit of a stern hand—he sticks by rules, eats as healthily as possible, makes sure to be more than competent when working, and keeps his kid on a strict (figurative) leash to ensure that he's safe. despite that, he still has some vestiges of his old self—he sticks by rules, but only if he agrees with them and deems punishments for them to be not worth breaking rules; he eats healthily, but fresh food can be hard to procure and he's not blowing his money and time on something he can't get for sure; he makes sure his work is done well, but he has other things to do and a household to help support so he won't necessarily be named the best member of the team; he tries to keep ronan safe and near, but he can't be there all the time and he can't be watched 24/7. he’s definitely an honest man, and seldom directly lies (because what use is that?), but lies by omission quite a lot so that less people know he has a son at the lodge, paranoid as he is. he's wary, he's protective, and he can actually crack a good slew of jokes, though they're usually quite dry.

MISC.:
additional tidbits.

    ☾ cass, when he can get his hands on them, cracks fresh apples in half with his hands and shares half with the person nearest to him, even if he dislikes them. perhaps it is the dad instinct

    ☾ he speaks diné bizaad, english, and a conversational level of spanish.

    ☾ cass learned how to sew so that he could patch up his son’s clothes when they get ripped up.

    ☾ if asked by someone he doesn’t know very well or dislikes what “cass” is short for, 99% of the time, he will answer with “casserole.” the only exception would be in a formal setting, in which he replies truthfully or doesn’t reply at all.

NOTES:
for personal use.

    ☾ changed his first name from "jude" to "jem." i'm always very fickle and finicky about his first name, though, so it's still subject to change! it just doesn't seem like anything fits!

    ☾ listen to his playlist here and read its analysis here.

    RP WANTS AND NEEDS:

          ☾ he wants:
              - a kind soul, really; cass softens up to genuinely nice people and will show them kindness in turn.
              - a good caretaker. he can't always keep an eye on his kid, and doesn't trust anyone but his sister to keep him safe. if he meets someone who seems competent and willing, he'd love that.
              - understanding. it's a tough world out there.

          ☾ he needs:
              - someone to challenge him. he knows he can't be passive, but with two other lives in his life that he plays a heavy part in, he finds himself leaning to the inactive side of caution. push him a little, won't you?
              - connections. he rarely interacts with others on a lengthy basis if they aren't family, and he's fine with that, but the guy really needs a friend or a playful rival or some tag-along annoyance to stimulate his social skills. it's been too long!
              - support. he needs help sometimes, which he can be a bit too proud to admit on the occasion.

          ☾ i want:
              - for him to go fucking batshit at some point ok. there's got to be a good reason for it but i wanna see cass throw some hands and get smacked in the face for it by the hands of authority or something idk i just think it would be fun (and also character-developy for ronan, if he sees or hears about it)
              - for him to get teased or playfully picked on! yeah his family does it but it'd be so funny if someone else did yk
              - for him to experience some gentleness. he's injured, or sick, or tired, or something like that at some point (let's be real, he's usually tired, anyway), and someone gets to be nice to him. a real "chicken soup and a blanket" moment is something that he deserves

    RP LIST:
          includes rps from the past and present, but not the future! (obviously)

              ☾ wishing you godspeed, glory. | hunting; open intro. | cass.

Code:

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[align=center][div style="border-right: 2px #00112b solid; border-left: 2px #00112b solid; border-bottom: 2px #00112b solid; border-top: 2px #00112b solid; text-align: left; background-color: #1a2d4a; width: 300px; height: 250px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; overflow: hidden;"][div style="width: 325px; height: 249px; padding-right: 20px; overflow: auto;"][align=center][div style="padding-right:13px;"][gfont=Uchen][glow=black,2,300][color=#b8b8b8][size=16]JEM "CASS" CASWELL[/size][/color][/glow][/gfont][/div][/align]
[align=center][gfont=Ramaraja][color=#62738c]"speech."[/color] [color=#4f4f4f]—[/color] [i][color=#8da9d9]thought.[/color][/i] [color=#4f4f4f]—[/color] [color=red][b]attack.[/b][/color] [color=#4f4f4f]—[/color] [color=#6e6e6e]normal.[/color][/gfont][/align]
[color=#6e6e6e][gfont=Ramaraja]Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels. Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the “loser,” and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round. I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world. Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment. When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3×5 card reading, “Please use this M&M for breeding purposes.” This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this “grant money.” I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion. There can be only one.[/gfont][/color][/div][/div][align=center]