{ RISH SHAH, 22, AGENDER, THEY/THEM } Is that ODYSSEUS “ODIE” REZA? A SENIOR originally from BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, they decided to come to Ogden College to study ASTROPHYSICS on a FINANCIAL SCHOLARSHIP. They’re THE SLACKER on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.
INSPO | PLAYLIST (WIP)
the basics
name: odysseus “odie” artharvaa reza age: twenty-two birthday & zodiac: october 11th. libra sun, scorpio moon, aquarius rising. virgo mercury, leo mars, sagittarius venus. gender: agender sexuality: bisexual positive traits: witty, debonair, honorable negative traits: jaded, antagonistic, sardonic
the surface
faceclaim: rish shah. height: 6′0 ft. weight: 170 lbs. eye color: umber brown. hair: coarse, naturally dark colored and cool-toned, clipped short. semi regularly bleaches and dyes hair different colors, mostly blues, greens, and purples. style: sleek, cozy, slouchy and simple. baggy, vintage tees and loose trousers. black and khaki cargo, flannel, and chunky sweatshirts. definitely thrifts most of their ensemble pieces, so lotsa timeless looks. wardrobe lacks a severe amount of colors; browns, 69 shades of grey, earthy greens, and black, black, black. can be described as some hybrid of soft punk, skater, & goblincore. distinguishing features: dark, alluring eyes. gloomy aura. prominent jaw & a cute lil forehead freckle occupation: line cook at a local diner. intern at a software company. status: single, broke, & fabulous. trope: THE SLACKER
When did Odysseus’ days as a child prodigy end? Instead, falling short of every single expectation their intellect bore from their youth. Partially thanks to the excessive drug use at an early age and what was likely undiagnosed ADHD, Odie struggled in school since their pre-teens. School was boring, and the teachers were too busy catering to the dumbest kid in class to notice the link between Odie’s fulfillment and their behavioral problems.
The schoolwork didn’t interest them, and despite the many lectures given to Odysseus about the importance of work ethic, the lessons never stuck. Though, their learning didn’t stop. They catered to their own niche interests outside of school, spending hours at the public library teaching themself computer language. Despite their insistence to avoid schoolwork, they aced every exam and kept up (or often lead) academic discourse about the subject.
Adults recognized this potential, yet no one possessed the patience to truly tap in to it. Instead, Odysseus was dismissed as a basket case, a know-it-all troublemaker with a chip on their shoulder against authority. Not only were they infamous for unfinished work, but Odie was labelled a disturbance for their classes.
This bred a resentment toward education, which in turn fostered their procrastination and lack of effort. Nothing could convince Odysseus completing a redundant study guide was anything but an absurd waste of time.
College, thus far, has been somewhat of a success story for them, largely in part to Odie being in control of their own curriculum. Odie never intended to go to college, yet their beloved high school physics teachers paid for the application fees himself and insisted they apply to a few schools in the area.
To this day, they are a frustrating, talkative, unfocused student, yet their contributions are often applauded for their depth. Odysseus is constantly hounded by their friends and family for not applying themself, yet they prefer to think their priorities are just greatly misunderstood.
SECONDARY TROPES: badass bookworm, asshole victim, meaningful name, black sheep, antagonistic offspring, anti-hero, don’t you dare pity me, lovable rogue, sore loser, society is to blame, deadpan snarker, intentional heartbreaker, misanthrope supreme, child prodigy, anarchy is chaos
the depths
personality: arrogant, dogmatic, apathetic, forthright, cynical, protective, cruel, articulate, lazy, cerebral, impatient, adventurous, shortsighted, perceptive, resentful, clever, aloof, noncommittal, vindictive, sullen, opinionated, temperamental, gallant (in that sleazy aquarius sorta way), reserved, skeptical, proud, disobedient, unforgiving mbti: estp. the entrepreneur. extraverted. sensing. thinking. perceiving. alignment: chaotic neutral hogwarts house: slytherin hobbies: watching anime, skateboarding, reading, graffiti art, coding, video gaming, running. history:
The second child of the long-married Artharvaa and Ghanavi Reza, Odysseus inherited the same responsibilities and expectations of their older sister without any of the tools to achieve them. They were a moody child, often reprimanded for talking back and blatantly refusing to bend to their parents’ commands. Causing an upset became their norm, the only real validation they received from their parents in the form of long-winded speeches and cruelties posed as punishments.
Odie felt comfortable in the role of the black sheep, seeing firsthand how their parents’ expectations crushed the souls of their siblings. They were determined not to end up a carbon copy of their parents, despite how desperately their father clung to the idea. Yet, their bright intellect caught the attention of several teachers who pushed the hopes of Odie’s eventual success onto their parents, much to their dismay. They have potential, their teachers would preach, you just need to learn to nurture it.
Neither parent had a nurturing bone in their body, instilled with tough love and having raised their kids under the same conditions. Their toughness failed to motivate Odie, instead forcing them to harden and detach lest they crack from the pressure. So what if they were smart if they were just as lazy? They couldn’t be expected for greatness if they didn’t try. It became their unspoken rule of sorts; you couldn’t fail at anything if you never really started it to begin with.
Much of Odysseus’ adolescence was spent in solitude, the tall brunette declining every opportunity to involve themself in anything. Besides a good book. Odie spent more of their time hidden in the aisles of the public library prodding and surfing than they did with kids their own age, but this was a blessing if anything. People were complex, and they tended to lie. They didn’t see the point in entertaining meaningless connection, just as they didn’t see the point in building up a future for themself that was never gonna happen.
People born into a family like theirs never truly had a chance to begin with. It was a simple fact of life Odysseus accepted in middle school, a decision made of self-preservation. They hated the world for making it seem otherwise, and they hated the fools who bought into it even more. More than that, they hated their father, who was a strict devotee to the “American Dream” and the individualistic notion of picking up his own bootstraps by sacrificing everything and putting in the gruesome work.
Marcus was a street rat, just like Odie. He was smart too and just as troublesome. The two instantly clicked, and the rebellious boy was the first person Odie felt had the slightest inclination of how they felt. They were inseparable after their first few hangouts, which consisted of hours of endless rambling about the state of the world and the latest Rick Riordan novel they finished.
Marcus’ home life was complicated. He didn’t like to talk about it much with Odie, but from what they gathered his mother was a hard drug user, often times slumped over in the recliner in Marcus’ living room on their frequent house visits. It was almost a blessing in disguise for Odie, as the two could smoke carelessly in Marcus’ room and come in and out whenever they pleased.
He was only a year older than Odie, though it felt like a decade to them sometimes. Marcus was full of potent rage, though it was something Odie never saw unless provoked. Or if Marcus had a bit too much to drink. He could be so wise, which didn’t align with the reckless, boyish behavior Odie was used to. And somehow, Marcus always had enough money for both of their subway fares. When they would tell him they couldn’t afford to go out to eat after school, Marcus tisked and paid anyway.
In passing, Odysseus wondered how a kid like Marcus always managed to have a few bucks on him, but they hadn’t realized the extent their friend went to guarantee they could eat well. Until a friend of Marcus’ pulled up to his house and he demanded Odie stay in the room and keep quiet. They went back and forth in the living room, until his friend demanded Marcus ride along with him and the boy reluctantly agreed.
They were only gone an hour, if that. Marcus popping up again with his hair in a mess with no words of explanation for Odie, though they’d pieced together the semi-private meetings and his severe distrust of strangers. They kept silent, knowing any words of discouragement wouldn’t sway Marcus and may very well disrupt their space free of judgement. Marcus knew what he was doing, and who was Odie to tell him his methods were wrong?
(tw: violence) As the two grew together, Odie watched as Marcus fell deeper into the scene, his crew and duties practically engulfed his life by the time Odie turned fifteen. On the second week of summer following Odie’s freshman year of high school, they were jumped on their way home from a mutual friend’s house. It should have been a typical beating, retaliation for whatever profits Marcus and his crew swept from under their feet, but Marcus refused to stop fighting and the boys refused to relent.
(tw: murder, graphic injury, blood) With their face shoved in gravel and their arm pinned painfully to their back, Odie pleaded for Marcus to stop and stay down. Their eyes stung with tears and blood as they watched the stubborn boy endure strike after strike, still aimlessly swinging his arms and legs against the assailants. It felt like an eternity, watching the life slowly drain from their friend before he collapsed to the ground beside Odie, pale, bloodied, and out of breath. Only then did they release Odie, running into the black of the night and leaving the dying boy in the arms of his best friend.
Every bone in his face was broken, smashed out of place to the point of almost being unrecognizable. Odie sat beside him limply, cursing at Marcus, telling him what a fucking idiot he was, trying to figure out how to pick him up and get him back to his room without hurting him. It was only a few blocks. If Odie could just pick him up. He would be fine.
He didn’t make it past the end of the street, a broken rib jutted into his lung preventing life from finding him again. Odysseus trekked the path to Marcus’, collapsing in his front yard upon realizing they’d lost him. Odie yelled for Marcus’ mother, yelled for anyone to help them.
When his mother came out to her porch to see Odie holding her son, she became hysterical and charged at them, spewing accusations and beating on their chest. Odie didn’t flinch away from her anger, instead embracing every hit until one of the neighbors intervened and pulled them away. Why? They couldn’t say. Odie deserved to die right beside him.
The police released them of any suspicion despite their refusal to answer any questions, seeing Odie for what they were; a traumatized kid lost in a pit of darkness. Their mother was hysterical upon their release, giving one firm slap across Odie’s face for their apparent involvement in gang activity (they didn’t even try to argue) before sobbing and openly embracing them.
It was a rough few months following Marcus’ death. Their parents had them on lockdown, claiming it was for their safety but Odie recognized it as the consequence to their years of lying. Marcus’ mother never spoke to Odie again, except to let them know they were not to come to the funeral. And they didn’t. They mourned their best friend silently for years, though in all this time they never managed to accept they weren’t accountable for what happened to Marcus.
Graduating high school with a barely acceptable GPA, Odie had every intention of working their family’s bodega for the rest of their life or until it went out of business. By the grace of their favorite physics teacher, an application for Ogden’s financial scholarship (and a lengthy recommendation letter and explanation of Odie’s tremendously poor grades) was submitted on their behalf. Their teacher urged them to go and finish a degree, lest they allow the hard-earned money he spent on their application fees to go to waste.
So, Odysseus went to Ogden and has a relatively unimpressive track record at the school. Not much is known about the laidback STEM major, Odie much prefers to keep to their inner circle and is proud of their status under the radar. Yet as things grow more tense on campus, Odie seems to thrive amongst the chaos of the other students.
the connections
relationship to greer: ex-fling.
Much like it is at Ogden, everyone knew and aspired to be by Greer’s side. She was the spawn of two incumbents of old money empires, and the pinnacle of white privilege Odysseus learned to despise from a young age. They should have resented her, and by all accounts they couldn’t care less about the gossip and rumors constantly surrounding the Golden Girl.
They weren’t friends. They’d barely spoken all throughout high school, despite attending the same institution and their family’s bodega being a routinely, afternoon stop for her group of friends. Odie was civil, if not a bit indifferent whenever she came around.
One of the only parties Odie attended in high school was at the behest of their close friend, at the residence of one of Greer’s many minions. They couldn’t recall where the night went, but eventually they were stuck on the empty patio of the affluent house, with their ride battling alcohol poisoning in the bathroom.
Eventually, Greer stumbled upon Odysseus hiding out in the cold rather than waiting inside with the remaining stragglers. She sat down beside them and asked to hit the spliff in their hands. The words of a pretty face were always so much more convincing, and Odie found themself not hating the company of the girl they’d often sneer at in school.
They sat beside each other until the sun rose, bantering and flirting and debating the purpose of existence. She was easy to admire, and she shattered Odie’s cynicism against her with ease. They were so wrapped in Greer’s world, they failed to notice when their friend finally emerged from the bathroom and left assuming Odysseus had long since returned home.
In the safety of the daylight, a sleep-deprived Greer offered to walk Odie to the station. It felt surreal, being filled with elation in the presence of the most popular girl in town. They gave their goodbyes, but not before Odie leaned down and planted a longing kiss on the Golden Girl’s lips. They stepped on the train, leaving with a heart full of hope and a pretty girl’s phone number.
The next few days, Odysseus watched the clock in anticipation to see Greer walk through the doors of the bodega. When she did, she paid them little mind while she laughed and chatted with her other friends. They gave her a friendly smile upon checkout, one that was returned with a half-hearted laugh and a grimace.
They understood instantly what role they would play for her. A comfort in the night, a heartfelt conversation, warmth by her bedside. Yet, they would never be something Greer could love with pride. They were her shameful secret, a guilty pleasure she couldn’t help but feel magnetized too.
The next several months, Odie played the role exceptionally well. The two would sneak around, wreaking havoc in the night and sending gushy texts throughout the day. Odysseus didn’t complain for the most part, until it became increasingly apparent how serious Greer’s relationship grew with the Big Man.
When they expressed qualms about being a consolation prize, Greer caved and promised the start of her college years would be the beginning to bringing their relationship to the public eye.
Having Greer was never about placing a claim on her, but rather Odie couldn’t fathom her closeness if it was not motivated by their love. They swept much under the rug for the belief she felt the same for them, yet it was becoming increasingly clear they were just as meaningless as the rest of her superficial relationships.
When Greer started at Ogden, she quickly fell back on her promises to Odysseus. “Just another semester,” she urged, yet the end of the semester brought about nothing but the clarity Greer would never be willing to change for them.
Odie broke off their mostly-concealed fling shortly after the first semester of Greer’s freshman year. Since then, any trace of their history together has been wiped clean off Odie’s slate.
friends: tbd enemies: tbd romantic interests: tbd wanted connections: flings flings flings, nepo babies for them to hate<3, alt gang!!!, hate fuck, complicated fwb, casual enemy or two, academic foil (rlly smart/dumb kid who tries super hard), close friends, smoking circle, past situationships, one (1) best friend LMFAOOOO, someone to incessantly argue with, conversationalist, the calm of their storm
the education
school year: senior major: astrophysics extracurriculars: robotics club, chess club, track & field (sprints), boxing club.
