MICHELANGELO

American Disaster
Part 2, Splendour & Despair: Into the vortex of everything, nothing, and between it.

“... I don’t care.”

Michelangelo Romano American Disaster: Splendour & Despair
Name	Michelangelo Romano (born Maverick Colton)
Nickname(s)	Mike, Michelangelo
Age	23-24 (December 19th)
Height	5'11" / 180cm
Weight	140lbs / 64kg
Ethnicity	Unknown, speculated to be mixed (African American and Southeast Asian)
Sexuality	Gay
Relationships	Tony Blanco (Boyfriend) Olivia Spruce (Best Friend) Silas Dean (Roommate)
Theme Song	Frank Ocean - In My Room

Michelangelo Romano

Michelangelo Romano, better known as Mike, is a drug dealer in Everton, recognizable by his tattoos and snide personality. He's hostile to most, softening only at the slightest amount with those who are familiar with him. It's difficult to tell whether Mike likes you or not; he seems to have his own way of doing things, with disregard as to whether he'd be seen as favorable while doing it. He's roommates with Olivia Spruce and Silas Dean, whom he'd known since high school—and recently Tony Blanco, whom he has a complicated relationship with.

About

Mike is born in Everton to a mostly-broken home, hooping through different foster homes before fleeing the system the first chance he had with his two friends, Olivia and Silas. His rocky upbringing has shaped the man he is today; a haggard dealer who samples his own merchandise, leaving relationships when they'd just about bloomed, using others as he sees fit. He knows more than anything he's nothing short of an asshole; he simply chooses not to change. But that's really the most of what others know about Mike—there's no telling what he truly thinks of anyone, or anything. Mike seems to live his own world, with his own rules; his friends had gotten used to it. To others—he comes off as inconsiderate; condescending even. The fact that he doesn't speak often doesn't help; he doesn't speak unless necessary, sometimes going for days—weeks even—without speaking to others.

He’s often referred to as Mr. Switchblade as a running joke that his name is unknown, as he’s too quiet to introduce himself, relying on his friends to name him for others, leading others to nickname him with a placeholder name. Mike carries a switchblade with him at all times and often fidgets with it, and hence the resulting nickname.

Personality

Mike Romano's solutions to any problem are provided by his fists.  Despite his hostile, cooled look, Mike is mostly made up of hostility—as a result, he's picked up numerous fights, having his own shares of wins and losses. He hasn't softened for anyone, and doesn't intend to; at least, when he does, it's never meant to be. He's rather secretive of himself, and is the type of person to come and go uninvited. He's seen as untouchable to most; and hence, when he's being inconvenient, there's not exactly a person who has a heart to tell him he's being rude.

Mike displays just about three emotions: boredom, venereal interest, or intense anger. His quietness makes his anger explosive, often becoming destructive at the height of his rage, only calmed by others letting him cool off on his own time. His only real vulnerability seems to be limited to sex, literally only letting himself be vulnerable if he was exchanging pleasure with another person. He doesn't want to seem to change, or become somebody else—it's hard to know whether this was a good thing or not to Mike. He's seen just about everything—splendour, despair, the lowest of lows and the highest euphoria; maybe that's why he hasn't been excited in a while.

Well, except, maybe that boy Tony he's been fucking with for a while.

Appearance

Mike's facial expression does not soften at any circumstance, even when he's actively trying to look sympathetic (at the rarest occasion, anyway). He has tan skin with cold undertones, mostly discoloured throughout his body, as well as light acne scars on his face in general. He's rather intense to look at, even to his closest friends; his brown eyes seem to glare through people, as if he's trying to melt them away. Despite his lean, almost depraved appearance, Mike packs strength in his fists—his knuckles are lighter than his hands as a result, from answering with violence. Numerous tattoos dot his body, mostly stick and pokes. He has a buzzcut, often dyed green. He has a split in his right eyebrow, and has various scars across his face as a result from various bar fights.

Relationships

Tony Blanco
It's hard to describe Mike's relationship with Tony—the latter would call it "friends with benefits", but Mike seems so peculiarly possessive with the other, burning with jealousy every time Tony converses with other men of interest. While Mike doesn't reprimand him for it, he strangely turns a cold shoulder to Tony every time the other spends time outside of Mike's circle—leaving Tony confused, since Mike seems to display interest towards him only if sex was involved.

Olivia Spruce, "Goya"
Mike's roommate best friend since childhood, Goya is arguably the only person who knew Mike more than anyone, having known him the longest. She seems to understand Mike's offhand actions, whereas the same thing would be read as rude to others. Goya, as weird as it sounds, is Mike's only motherly figure despite only being a year older. While she's overall concerned of Mike's illegal occupation and his dangerous habits, she understands why he does things the way he does it—to others though, she may look like an enabler. It's hard to say if she is.

Silas Dean
Mike's roommate, whom entered their circle at the first year of high school. It's a well-known fact Silas is uncomfortable with Mike; Silas makes comments on Mike when they're within vicinity of each other, but they've seemed to tolerate each other just enough to share a house together. Silas only puts up with Mike since they're both friends of Goya; he doesn't really understand what Goya sees in Mike. Conversely, Mike doesn't really understand what Goya sees in Silas.

Trivia

• His real name is Maverick Colton, though even his closest friends introduce him to others by the name Michelangelo Romano. It's unclear why he doesn't want to be known as Maverick; it's possible he wants to dissociate himself as far as possible from the name he's given at birth, therefore separating himself further from his family—or keep a separate identity, being a dealer. Call him Michael and it'll cost you your eye, possibly a tooth.
• He has a gap between his upper two front teeth, as well as chipped teeth in general. He opens bottles and miscellaneous things with his teeth, which explains it.
• His nails are whittled down to slithers from biting them; they're often painted black.
• Not even Goya knows what his race is; nobody who's close with him has seen his birth parents.
• His weight fluctuates often, mostly from lean to stocky from working out/bodybuilding. He gets lazy very easily.
  

• His skin is yellow-toned and splotchy/discoloured mainly on his body; it's closer to yellow/green than red.
• Mike often wears jackets without a shirt, or sleeveless tanks. Sometimes he wears mesh.
• He has a split scar above his right eyebrow and a half-circular scar below his right eyesocket, and a small nicked scar below his left eyesocket. His acne scars are most prominent at his temples and forehead. He also has a scar over his left shoulder, right forearm, and a large two-tailed scar across his back. His knuckles are also scarred.

• Thin cross, left temple
• Smiley face, below left eyesocket
• Barbed wire, around neck
• “FUCK OFF!” below right clavicle
• Noose, six-figure tally, “REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE” over left clavicle
• Satan on a skateboard, right pec
• Outline of a daschund, “RIP LILY 09. 08. 1980”, left pec
• Burning globe, right upper arm
• “GOYA WAS HERE”, above right elbow
• Circular line and a half, above right elbow
• “IF U EVER LAID UR FACE HERE DON’T LOOK FOR ME AGAIN”, upper abdomen
• Ghost in boots, below left elbow
• Sleeved middle finger, left abdomen
• Dragon, beginning from right abdomen, wrapping around the back and left leg, tail ending above left knee
• Daisy chain, around right wrist
• Flames, around left wrist
• “IN MEMORY OF MAVERICK COLTON”, mid-upper right thigh
• Reversible smiley, mid-upper left thigh

• A hand with a shortsword, down the spine. Interrupted by a scar.
• Coiled black snake, “TREAD ON ME AND I’LL BITE!”, right shoulder blade
• Red heart outline interconnected with two symbols of Mars, right shoulder blade
• Two figures enclosed in a heart, lower left shoulder blade
• Pacman with three pills, left upper arm
• Completed hangman with solution “COLTON” and guessed letters P, E, X, I, U, B, D, M, D, E; below left shoulder blade
• “OUCH! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME”, placed near scar
• “HOW’S IT GOING BACK THERE?”, left midsection
• Pensive sun in boots, right midsection
• Figure in black of 1/2, above left elbow
• Figure in red of 2/2, above right elbow