Personality

Naturally a leader, naturally a bit of a dick, everyone seems to both hate and admire Zachary. He's got the confidence to do anything and the competitive nature to prove it. He's always trying to one-up people and look effortless and flawless while doing it, and always trying to prove that he can do great things. He's not trying to prove it to himself, no siree, he knows that he can do great things, he's trying to prove it to other people, that's definitely it.

He's rather smug, always making sure to keep himself looking good and to keep his reputation stable. He doesn't swear, he doesn't allow himself to be nicknamed, and he doesn't allow himself to look stressed, except for the constant bags under his eyes. He refuses to let himself look soft. He has to be a role model, damnit! He never had a role model when he was younger and so he forced himself to be the role model he never had for others. That means that he can't look weak, he can't look emotional, he can't be anything other than the pinnacle of perfection. This has become an obsession for him; often, it's all that he can think about. All that he cares about. He absolutely needs people to think that he's intelligent, so he keeps Wikipedia tabs on complicated subjects open on his phone in case someone steals it and looks through it. He needs everybody to think he's intelligent. He needs everybody to think he's capable. He doesn't know what he'll do if people don't think well of him.

They're a bit chaotic, preferring to do things on their own terms. Most of this, though, is caused by them just going along with their more chaotic friends, Phyllis Smith and Martin Smith. He pulls pranks on others because they do, though it's not something he'd enjoy doing on his own. He's really a mom friend to the two of them. They're both really important to him, and it's important to him that they're okay. He and Martin have an unspoken friends-with-benefits thing going on, both of them knowing they're in love with the other but refusing to admit it. For Zachary, he refuses to admit it because of internalized homophobia. He's fine admitting and even flaunting that he's gay to others, but when it comes to the possibility of actually being with another man... It's different. It's scary. It brings up the possibility of introducing another man as his boyfriend to his dying father, and that terrifies him. He's the leader in his clique, and he feels like it's his reponsibility to keep them out of trouble.

He's a huge bookworm, though he doesn't really enjoy reading. It gives him a headache. He just wants people to think that he's intelligent. Now he finishes three novels in a bad week, maybe more if he's had a good week. He's not picky in what he reads; anything works.

After hearing that people gravitate towards people who seem laidback, he started doing yoga, and meditating, and listening to binaural beats; anything to help him relax. When that didn't work, he took classes on body language, and now he's an expert at pretending that everything's fine. Everything is not fine. He is stressed as hell.

Story

Zachary's dad was always very insistent that he grow up to be a manly man. He taught him that he's not allowed to cry, no matter how upset he is, and that he instead needs to yell and scream and be physically intimidating. He was never allowed to be soft, or do anything to make him seem weak. His dad often complained about the "disgusting" gay men that lived as their next-door neighbors, and Zachary internalized this homophobia for so long. He always knew he was attracted to men, but he forced himself to forget this, and spent his childhood and teenage years just not dating anyone at all, to the dismay of his father. His mother was emotionally absent, a ghost in their own home, never providing Zachary with comfort or protecting him from the wrath of his father. His dad controlled every aspect of his life, his mother rarely spoke to him, his classmates avoided the weird kid, he had no siblings. So Zachary grew up alone.

He moved out almost as soon as he turned 18. He didn't have the money for it at all, but he just had to get away. He moved to Florida, living with some roommates he barely saw, and finished saving up the money he'd need to go to university. Art became his solace; originally spray painted grafitti he did to prove to himself he wasn't scared of anything, then painting once he found some old oil paints for sale on Craigslist. Unsure of what his major would be until that point, he decided that it had to be art. He wasn't going to let himself live a life doing something he didn't enjoy.

Once enrolled at Independent University, he moved into the dorms and started learning how to do pottery along with his painting and spray paints. Here, he met his best friends, Phyllis Smith and Martin Smith, and his new worst enemy, Opal Jeanne. The two of them both topped their classes, both worked at the same place and competed for employee-of-the-month, and both were in the same art circles. Despite this newfound nemesis, and the stress of university and his self-enforced perfection, he found himself to be happier than he ever had been.

It was then he learned his father is dying.

This news shook him to his core, and almost undid all of the progress towards accepting himself, unlearning toxic masculinity, and dealing with the trauma his father brought on him. This is where he is now, struggling to deal with his father's impending death. Not only that, but he's dealing with his unspoken love of Martin, his refusal to admit that maybe he's found his soulmate. The stress he's under is immense and intense, but he won't acknowledge that. He's fine. Everything's fine. Everything will be alright.

Design Notes

Zachary typically looks put together, apart from the bags under his eyes. He stands and walks with confidence.

Skills

His skills include spray painting, oil painting, pottery, juggling (though he doesn't like it), speedreading, and as of recently, sculpting. He's also very good at reading body language, and at lying. He's great at his classwork as well.

Trivia

Martin Smith best friends with benefits

Phyllis Smith best friends

Opal Jeanne nemeses

Ermenwich Henriques roommates, disliked