Crisp!

Physical Appearance

Malcolm ref by the amazing @crispmbee455

Overview: Malcolm stands at an average height with a build that initially appears far less sturdy than it truly is. He is lean rather than broad, built from long hours of physical work and practical labor rather than deliberate athletic training, his frame defined by wiry muscle hidden beneath a naturally slender silhouette. Even at a healthy weight, there is something deceptively delicate about him, a quality only emphasized by his expressive features and tendency to carry himself with a loose, relaxed posture when comfortable. Years of malnutrition, captivity, injury, and recovery have left their marks, however, and while he eventually regains much of his strength, traces of that history remain visible in the sharpness of his cheekbones, and the prominence of old scars.

His skin is fair with cool undertones and freckles scattered with a tapestry of healed wounds that speak to the horrors he has endured. A large claw scar cuts across one side of his face and over his right eye, leaving dark ridges that stand out against otherwise smooth skin. The eye beneath remains fully functional despite the damage, though the scar has become one of his most recognizable features. Additional scars cover much of his body in varying sizes and ages—old surgical scars, jagged claw marks, faded injuries from engineering accidents, and the extensive scar tissue left behind by the loss of his right arm and left leg.

His eyes are a vivid pceanic blue, expressive enough to betray emotions he often wishes remained hidden. They tend to dart constantly while thinking, taking in details with restless curiosity, but soften noticeably around people he trusts. Malcolm's hair is naturally a woody brown, though he rarely leaves it that way if given the choice. By preference, it is dyed varying shades of purple ranging from deep plum to bright ultraviolet, worn long on one side with the remaining sides shaved short. The asymmetrical style frames his face and draws attention to the scar crossing one eye, something he eventually learns to embrace rather than hide.

Even after receiving prosthetics, Malcolm's movements retain traces of adaptation and compensation learned through necessity. He walks with growing confidence as technology improves, but there is still an occasional unevenness to his gait during moments of exhaustion. His prosthetic arm and leg are heavily customized, covered in personal modifications, engineering upgrades, and small aesthetic choices that make them feel less like replacements and more like extensions of himself. When relaxed, he tends to gesture dramatically while talking, often forgetting that the prosthetic hand can be detached until an opportunity for a terrible joke presents itself.

Personality

Overview: Malcolm carries himself like someone who learned early that charm could smooth over danger faster than honesty ever would. There is a restless, magnetic quality to him that tends to draw people in before they fully realize it is happening, a mixture of sharp humor, easy confidence, and the sense that he is always just slightly amused by the world around him. He knows how to occupy space without overwhelming it, how to make himself memorable through timing rather than volume, and there is something deeply intentional about the image he presents to others. Even at his healthiest, Malcolm has always been someone who performs pieces of himself selectively, layering sarcasm, flirtation, and irreverence over emotions that run far deeper than he likes admitting outright. It is not dishonesty so much as self-preservation. He learned long ago that if he could control the tone of a conversation, he could control how vulnerable he appeared within it. As a result, people often underestimate the intensity beneath his humor until they are already emotionally entangled with him.

There is an unmistakable liveliness to Malcolm when he feels safe enough to relax, a kind of kinetic energy that seems constantly searching for somewhere to go. He fidgets while talking, gestures dramatically when invested in a subject, sprawls across furniture like gravity is more of a suggestion than a rule, and slips between sincerity and sarcasm with almost dizzying speed. His emotions tend to live close to the surface despite how hard he sometimes tries to bury them, and when he is excited, affectionate, or angry, it becomes nearly impossible for him to hide. He laughs loudly and genuinely, complains theatrically, and has a habit of turning even deeply unfortunate situations into jokes if only to keep them from swallowing him whole. That humor is one of the clearest expressions of who he is. It is clever, biting, often self-deprecating, but rarely truly cruel. Even at his sharpest, Malcolm tends to aim his wit toward absurdity rather than humiliation. He likes making people laugh because laughter feels like proof that everyone is still alive, still reachable, still capable of warmth despite everything.

Underneath the charisma and playful irreverence, however, Malcolm is profoundly emotional in ways that can border on overwhelming once someone gets close enough to see it. He feels attachment quickly and intensely, even when he fights against it, and much of his life has been shaped by the contradiction between desperately wanting connection and being terrified of what closeness allows other people to do to him. Affection matters to him more than he wants it to. Touch matters more than he wants it to. Attention, gentleness, consistency—once he starts receiving those things, he clings to them with an almost painful sincerity because some part of him is always expecting them to disappear. That vulnerability embarrasses him deeply. He would rather joke through emotional devastation than openly admit how badly he needs comfort, which means much of his softness initially appears sideways: lingering nearby instead of asking someone to stay, offering practical help instead of verbal reassurance, teasing people he cares about simply to keep their attention on him a little longer.

Malcolm’s intelligence expresses itself less through detached calculation and more through adaptability, instinct, and creativity under pressure. He is deeply resourceful, the kind of person who can look at broken machinery, impossible circumstances, or rapidly collapsing plans and immediately begin improvising solutions before panic fully sets in. His mind moves quickly, often leaping several conversational or logistical steps ahead of everyone else, and there is an almost chaotic ingenuity to the way he approaches problems. He enjoys tinkering, modifying systems, making things work in ways they technically were not designed to, and he carries the mentality of an engineer into nearly every aspect of his life. Even emotionally, he tends to approach survival like something to outmaneuver through stubbornness and adaptation rather than endure passively. That ingenuity becomes especially apparent under stress. Malcolm is frighteningly capable in emergencies precisely because he does not freeze easily. Fear sharpens him rather than stopping him, forcing him into motion even when that motion becomes reckless or self-destructive.

At the same time, there is a deeply self-sacrificial streak running through him that can become dangerous when combined with his tendency toward desperation. Malcolm is the kind of person who will quietly decide he is expendable long before he admits anyone else might be, especially if protecting others feels achievable through his own suffering. He does not naturally prioritize himself. In fact, much of his trauma stems from how accustomed he became to viewing his own body and well-being as negotiable resources rather than things deserving protection. Once he convinces himself someone else’s survival matters more than his own, he can become terrifyingly determined, enduring pain, humiliation, isolation, or bodily harm with an almost frightening level of commitment if he believes it serves a purpose. There is something tragic about that resilience because it often allows him to survive circumstances that should have broken him while simultaneously making it harder for him to recognize when he deserves rescue too.

Emotionally, Malcolm is defined as much by contradiction as intensity. He is affectionate but defensive, flirtatious but easily flustered once genuine vulnerability enters the equation, deeply loyal yet terrified of dependence. He craves intimacy almost desperately while simultaneously expecting it to become dangerous the moment he relaxes into it fully. This creates a push-and-pull dynamic in many of his relationships where he alternates between leaning into closeness with startling openness and recoiling the second he realizes how much power someone suddenly has to hurt him. Even when safe, parts of him remain wired for survival, waiting for affection to become conditional or transactional. That tension makes him emotionally complicated to navigate because his reactions are not always rationally connected to the present moment. Fear, shame, desire, and attachment tend to intertwine inside him until he struggles to separate one from another. Yet despite all of this, he continues reaching for people anyway. That willingness to keep trying after everything is one of the most defining things about him.

Malcolm’s relationship with his own body is particularly complex and deeply emotional beneath the surface. He is intensely aware of how he is perceived and has spent much of his life using presentation as a form of self-expression and control. Hair dye, piercings, clothing choices, posture, humor, flirtation—all of it becomes part of how he constructs himself outwardly. This means bodily autonomy matters to him in an almost visceral way. Alterations done by choice can feel empowering, grounding, euphoric even, while violations of that autonomy cut extraordinarily deep and linger psychologically long after physical wounds heal. As a result, reclaiming ownership over his appearance and body becomes emotionally significant in ways that might seem superficial to outsiders but are anything but shallow to him. Small choices become declarations: the color of his hair, the metal in his piercings, the modifications to his prosthetics, the scars he chooses not to hide. They are proof that he still belongs to himself.

Socially, Malcolm tends to thrive in environments where affection and banter coexist comfortably. He enjoys playful conflict, dramatic teasing, and emotionally charged conversations that allow him to feel connected without sitting in naked vulnerability for too long. He is incredibly tactile once comfortable with someone, often gravitating toward physical closeness almost unconsciously—leaning against people, tangling himself into shared blankets, draping across laps, hooking fingers into sleeves or belts just to maintain contact. Touch becomes grounding for him, reassurance made physical. At the same time, he is surprisingly observant beneath all the chaos. He notices mood shifts quickly, picks up on tension before most people acknowledge it, and often responds instinctively to emotional undercurrents even while pretending not to. Malcolm is particularly good at identifying loneliness because he understands it intimately himself. He knows how isolation sounds in someone’s voice, how exhaustion changes body language, how pain can disguise itself as irritability or silence. This makes him unexpectedly gentle in moments that truly matter. Beneath all the teasing and dramatics, there is someone profoundly attentive to the emotional states of the people he loves.

Where some people become colder under pressure, Malcolm tends to become more emotionally volatile. His anger burns hot and immediate, often fueled less by ego than by hurt, fear, or helplessness. He can lash out verbally when cornered, especially if he feels controlled, trapped, or emotionally exposed before he is ready. Yet his anger rarely lasts in a clean, uncomplicated way because guilt tends to follow quickly behind it. Malcolm is not someone who enjoys cruelty for its own sake. Even at his most reactive, there is usually pain underneath the sharpness, and once the immediate emotional surge passes, he often turns the frustration inward instead. This contributes to his tendency toward self-destructive behavior during periods of intense emotional distress. When Malcolm feels trapped by his own fear, body, or attachment, he is far more likely to hurt himself than intentionally wound someone he loves. That does not make him harmless—he can absolutely become reckless, impulsive, and difficult to manage when overwhelmed—but the danger he poses most consistently is toward himself.

Despite everything, there is something deeply hopeful at the center of Malcolm that refuses to die completely. Cynicism comes easily to him, sarcasm even more so, but genuine hopelessness never fully settles into his bones for long because some stubborn part of him keeps reaching toward connection anyway. He wants things intensely. Love. Safety. Touch. Laughter. Recognition. A future. Even after experiences that should have stripped that desire out of him entirely, he continues searching for moments of happiness with almost desperate sincerity once he feels safe enough to believe they might last. That emotional hunger gives him a certain brightness despite all his trauma. When Malcolm is happy, truly happy, it radiates from him with startling force. He becomes playful, affectionate, expressive, impossible to ignore. His joy is not quiet or restrained. It spills out of him in teasing remarks, dramatic gestures, loud laughter, lingering kisses, and the relentless desire to pull the people he loves closer simply because he can.

At his core, Malcolm is someone defined by survival, not in the hardened or emotionless sense, but in the deeply human sense of continuing to reach for softness after being given every reason not to. He is messy, emotional, funny, defensive, affectionate, self-destructive, resilient, deeply loving, and often far more fragile than he initially appears. He contains enormous amounts of grief and fear, but also extraordinary warmth once trust is earned. There is a rawness to him that never fully disappears no matter how much he heals, a sense that he experiences life intensely and feels every attachment down to the marrow. That intensity is both his greatest vulnerability and one of his most compelling qualities. Malcolm does not know how to care halfway. When he loves someone, it consumes him completely. When he hurts, it reaches deep. When he survives, he does so stubbornly, loudly, imperfectly, dragging pieces of himself back from ruin through sheer refusal to disappear quietly. Even after everything done to him, there remains something vividly alive at the center of him, something sharp-toothed and laughing and achingly human that keeps choosing connection despite knowing exactly how much it can hurt.

Likes:

Engineering and building things

Space exploration

Purple hair dye

Sourdough bread

Chicken noodle soup

Instant ramen

Cooking and baking

Physical affection

Stargazing

Music

Swimming

Terrible puns

Being useful

Horror movies

Making people laugh

Taking things apart and putting them back together

His hair being played with

Drawing and sketching

Self expression

Alien flora and fauna

Nature

Rain

Dislikes:

Hospitals

Being helpless

Feeling trapped

Cold fluorescent lighting

Being lied to

Pity

Needles

Being underestimated

Wasting resources

Bland food

Silence after arguments

Being treated as fragile

Restraints

Confinement

Being and feeling sick

Lack of control

Isolation

Substances

Habits:

Talks with his hands

Clicks his tongue piercing against his teeth when thinking

Makes jokes when stressed

Hums absentmindedly while working

Collects random trinkets

Bounces his leg when anxious

Falls asleep touching people he trusts

Names tools and equipment

Stares at stars when overwhelmed

Runs fingers through his hair constantly

Bites his lip unconsciously when stressed or nervous

Trivia:

Smells faintly like ozone, lavender, warm skin, fresh bread, and whatever hair products he's currently using.

Favorite color is purple in nearly every shade.

Names almost every machine he works on.

Left-handed before losing it and having to become right handed.

Cannot resist making prosthetic-related puns.

Loves being carried far more than he admits.

Snores lightly when completely exhausted.

Learned several card games during long space voyages. Very good at them and not shy about it.

Had multiple shades of purple hair before leaving Earth and intended to try every possible variation eventually.

Keeps broken components from important projects as sentimental keepsakes.

Cries much more easily than most people realize.

Secretly loves cheesy romance stories.

Prefers warmth over cold and steals blankets shamelessly. Additionally, he naturally runs cold.

Has a surprisingly nice singing voice but refuses to sing in front of people intentionally.

If comfortable enough, he will fall asleep directly on top of someone rather than next to them.

Despite everything that happened to him, he never completely loses his sense of wonder about space.

Has a competitive streak a mile wide and is incredibly stubborn once challenged.

Jokes that he and Simon are two halves of the same idiot. Also the one who started their two man gaming back before he got his prosthetics. The results were... chaotic to say the least.