Birchwood Isle Family Roleplay

Basic Information

Full Name: Caleb Arthur Turner
Nickname, if Any: none
Age: 19
Birthday: November 14
Sex: Male
Pronouns: He/Him
Current Grade/Year in School, if Applicable: Grade 11 (returning student)
Current Occupation, if Applicable:
Special Needs: None formally diagnosed.

Appearance

Height: 6'0"
Build: Lean, athletic
Hair Color: Dark Blonde
Eye Color: Hazel
Distinguishing Features: Rough calloused hands. Smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. Small scar across one knuckle.
Brief Description: Caleb stands at six feet tall with a lean, wiry build that he got through years of doing physical labor. There's very little excess on him, which is the result of hauling lumber, unloading trucks, carrying groceries, or tackling whatever job that needed doing or that he could get his hands on over the years.

Dark blonde hair, usually in need of a trim, falls carelessly across his forehead in loose curls. His hazel eyes are observant and constantly moving, and a scattering of freckles stretches across the bridge of his nose and cheeks.

Personality

What are your greatest strengths? List 5-10: Responsible; protective; resourceful; hardworking; patient; compassionate; dependable; self-sacrificing; practical
What are your greatest weaknesses? List 5-10:Irritable; workaholic; guarded; stubborn; hyper-independent; controlling; self-reliant; explosive
What do you struggle with? Caleb's biggest struggle comes in believing that he has value outside of what he can provide for others. With years spent acting as the primary caregiver for his younger siblings, he has a difficult time accepting help, relaxing, or allowing anyone else to shoulder responsibilities that he believes belong to him. He instinctively puts everyone else's needs ahead of his own and often feels guilty doing simple things like buying himself a new pair of shoes or sitting while someone else is working.

Since arriving at Birchwood Isle, he's also struggled with losing the role that's defined him for years. Being expected to return to school, follow house rules, and allows adults to make decisions for him feels less like being cared for and more like having his identity stripped away from him.  His siblings are constantly on his mind, and any suggestion that they might be better off without him or no longer need him is likely to provoke an explosive response.
What are your hobbies or interests? Fishing; working on old cars; playing sports; camping; cooking; repairing things
What do you really enjoy? cooking for people; hearing younger children laugh; quiet evenings; fresh coffee early in the morning; being able to fix things that are broken; receiving letters or phone calls form his siblings
What do you really dislike? wastefulness; feeling helpless; depending on others; being told to "relax"; pity; loud arguments; seeing food thrown away;
What are your favorite things? pancakes for dinner; summer storms; hardware stores; well used cookbooks; thrift stores; book stores; oversized hoodies; family photographs; "just window shopping"; building things with his hands; handmade gifts; his savings jar
What do you fear? his siblings forgetting him; being insignificant; failing people who count on him; becoming a mirror image of the men who've drifted in and out of his life
Describe your personality in 100-500 words:
Upon first meeting Caleb, most people walk away with the impression that he's quiet, dependable and mature for nineteen. He rarely complains, works harder than anyone asks him to, and sometimes picks up on problems before others even see them coming. If something's broken, he'll fix it. If someone needs help, he'll be the first to volunteer.

Underneath that calm exterior, however, is someone carrying an enormous amount of grief and pressure. Caleb's spent years believing that his worth depended entirely on how well he could take care of other people. It's because of that, that he struggles to understand who he is when nobody needs him. Compliments make him uncomfortable, gifts make him feel guilty, and free time leaves him restless. He doesn't know how to relax because for years he hasn't had any time for that.

Even though he's naturally patient and gentle -- especially with younger children -- Caleb can protective of the ones he cares about. Most of the time he keeps his emotions under tight control, but when he feels powerless or believes someone is threatening someone important to him, that control can quickly dissolve. His anger is intense enough to surprise both himself and the people around him, and once it wears off, he struggles with guilt in the wake of it.

Despite everything, Caleb has a quiet sense of humor that surfaces around people he trusts. He enjoys making others smile, cooking meals for groups, and doing little things that make plain old regular days feel special. At the end of the day, he's a nineteen-year-old who never really got the chance to discover too much about himself and has found himself in a place where every part of the identity he's been clinging to has been stripped away from him.


Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? Usually pretty well. He's polite and cooperative, as well as willing to work hard, but years of making adult decisions have left him uncomfortable surrendering control to people he barely knows.
How do you normally get along with teenagers? It depends on the teenager. As a general rule of thumb though, he feels awkward and out of place around people his own age. He enjoys the company, but a lot of the time it's hard for him to relate about things he's not had the opportunity to do -- parties, dating, or even school.
How do you normally get along with other children? Caleb is incredibly comfortable with those younger than him. He has endless patience for scrapes knees, bedtime stories, homework questions, and sibling-like arguments. Younger children often gravitate toward him because he treats them with kindness while remaining calm and consistent. He's natural with them.
How independent are you? Exceptionally, perhaps unhealthily, independent. Caleb has spent years unable to ask for help without drawing unnecessary attention and so he doesn't really know how to do it. He will exhaust every possible option before admitting that he can't handle something alone.
How do you normally react when you get into trouble? It depends. Sometimes, he can accept responsibility without making excuses. Others? He can be suborn, argumentative, and even sometimes explosively angry.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here

Orphan Village

How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? Since June.
Which House do you belong to? Cedar
Are you currently enrolled at the Orphan Village Academy or BWI College? Orphan Village Academy
What jobs or responsibilities do you have at the Orphan Village? Officially, none. Unofficially, Caleb volunteers for almost everything and anything he can. If it's in his wheelhouse and he can help, he'll offer.

How did you come to live at the Orphan Village? Three years after his mother disappeared, authorities discovered that Caleb had been raising his younger half-siblings alone without legal guardianship. Despite all of his efforts, his siblings were placed in the custody of his aunt, who sent him to Birchwood Isle, where he remains under guardianship himself.

How do you generally get along with caregivers and authority figures? Caleb wants to respect the adult responsible for him, but he struggles. It's tricky territory for him. After all, he's spent years "not needing anyone," and suddenly he's expected to rely on people he doesn't know for things he used to do himself, for other people.

How do you generally get along with younger residents? Absolutely. Caleb naturally falls into an older brother role with younger kids, but he's also known for overstepping and crossing lines that perhaps he shouldn't.

How do you generally get along with your peers? He's friendly but reserved. Caleb sometimes has difficulty relating to experiences he missed out on growing up.

Do you prefer to be adopted or remain in the Orphan Village?Caleb, at least right now, would prefer for neither. What he wants is to rewind time and return to the way things were before, but that's at least in part because he doesn't realize that he has opportunities here to experience a lot of what he's missed throughout his life -- and that it doesn't have to cost anyone anything. 

I think that I, as his player, would prefer to see him adopted if or when the right opportunity should come along.

Describe your ideal adoptive family. Caleb would do well in a 2+ parent household, where there was at least one mother and one father, both of whom are actively involved in the lives of their children. He would be open to having siblings -- he's very good with kids.

Is there anything else we should know about how you get along in the Orphan Village? Caleb keeps himself incredibly busy. He's usually up before sunrise and finds things to occupy his time, whether they've been asked of him or not. He's eager to get his hands on a job because this is the first time since he was a young teenager that he hasn't had one. Starting at 13, he took a lawnmower that he'd repaired around and began mowing lawns to bring in extra money to help out, and his responsibilities continually increased the older he got.

Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: Caleb doesn't remember a time in his life when he felt particularly stable. His father was never a part of the picture, and over the years several different men drifted in and out of his mother's life, none of them staying long enough to become much of anything to him. His mother put a lot of responsibility on him from the beginning by often reminding him that he was "the man of the house" and relying on him to pick up the slack she couldn't -- watching his younger siblings, preparing meals, settling arguments, and helping out whenever she was most overwhelmed. Over time, it grew from the occasional responsibility to the expectation that he was always available for it.

Then, when Caleb turned sixteen, his mother disappeared after telling him, "I need to figure some things out." At first, he believed that she'd come back. Days turned into weeks, then months but he refused to let his younger siblings lose hope. He continued getting them ready for school every morning, packing lunches, helping with homework, reading bedtime stories, and reassuring them that everything would be fine. As money became tighter, he went from one part-time job to two, collecting as many hours as he could. It wasn't long before he couldn't balance work, school, and home life -- something had to give, and the only option, the way he saw it, was for school to. So, he dropped out without ever telling anyone the real reason behind it.

For the next three years, Caleb did everything he could to give his siblings as normal of a childhood as possible. He worked long hours, learned to stretch every dollar, taught himself to cook, repaired things instead of replacing them, and celebrated birthdays with whatever he could afford while never focusing on his own. He became talented at hiding how difficult things really were, convincing neighbors, employers, and even the children's teachers that everything was under control. His siblings remained fed, clothed, and in school -- everything appeared normal.

Eventually, the truth came to light when his sister got angry with him and lashed out by telling her school guidance counselor. Authorities discovered that Caleb had been raising three minor children without legal guardianship. Their maternal aunt was located, approved for custody, and took the younger children to her home. While everyone recognized the sacrifices that Caleb had made, the authorities determined that the children would be best off with a more stable adult and home life, and his aunt determined that his brother and sisters would adjust better if he weren't around. She offered him a vacation, insisting that he take it to give the kids time to settle in, while tricking him onto an island he couldn't get off of.

Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you?

Caleb likes to keep himself busy, mostly because he doesn't know what to do with sitting still. He's incredibly resourceful and capable. You'll often find him up well before sunrise because he spent years doing it -- making breakfast, packing lunches, waking his siblings up and getting them ready and off to school before he left for work. 

He also has an unusually difficult time spending money on himself. He's spent years comparing prices, savings spare change and hesitating to replace worn clothing or buy things he needs. Everything he has, has gone to making sure that he and his siblings made it through as a family and rewriting those habits is hard. He'll always look to the free option before relying on what costs money.

But the most important thing is that Caleb doesn't see himself as a victim. He spent years raising his siblings because someone had to do it. As far as he's concerned, it wasn't anything extraordinary.

Basic Information

Full Name:Canan Cyan Wilson
Nickname, if Any:Goes by Cyan,close Friends sometimes call them Blue.
Age: 14
Birthday: 5/25
Sex: non binary
Pronouns: they/them
Current Grade/Year in School, if Applicable: Entering 9th Grade
Current Occupation, if Applicable: Student
Special Needs: Deep scaring and trauma around religion and family, sometimes has panic attacks

Appearance

Height: 5.4
Build: Slight has lost weight,
Hair Color: medium  brown
Eye Color: bright blue eyes
Distinguishing Features: The eyes and being super pale
Brief Description:  Cyan looks small, nearly too small for their age. Blending in has made them learn to shrink themselves to make themselves smaller.  They are normally seen in an oversized hoodie, and jeans, the hoodie is probably ripped or dirty from hanging out around the farm animals whenever they can find time.  They wear jeans and a half dead pair of boots, don’t try getting them to replace them that's not happening at least not yet.
 mnnnnnnnnn
Personality

What are your greatest strengths? List 5-10: helping their friends learn skills they have, teaching, staying cool under pressure , good at making people laugh , getting stuff done, leadership ,passionate
What are your greatest weaknesses? List 5-10: overly dramatic, talks too much, forgetful, impatient, anxious
What do you struggle with?   Issues related to their birth family and the trauma around it, with being told something they believe in is wrong, prone to lying when they think someone willn’t handle the true
What are your hobbies or interests? Horse back riding, making things out of clay, ferrets, writing/reading poems
What do you really enjoy? blue, Poetry, Troye Sivan, horses, dogs, ferrets, romance novels, vet programs on tv, cheering on friends, animal shows, hats, ancient Greece, clay work, public speaking, horseback riding, the wind
What do you really dislike? Their  birth family (not my brother), being inside, getting told they are wrong
What are your favorite things? Horses and Ferrets, their baby brother, campfires, learning new skills and how things work
What do you fear? their family, snakes, bad weather, having to stay inside, not getting to be physically active, staying in one place to long, people using the wrong pronouns , being teased and made fun of, homophobia ,transphobia, their last name
Describe your personality in 100-500 words:
The best way to lay Cyan out is as a big softie. They are like little dog like. More soft and squishy than hard and tough. Cyan might be a good liar but that's just because it was the only way to stay alive and safe in their family. Cyan wouldn’t lie any other time, it's just not in their nature. Cyan struggles with what he knows to be true and what they are told to be true.

Humor is their shield and with it they feel they can beat anything.Cyan has a servant's heart, and they live to help others. They are always the one who volunteer to help others no matter how hard the work might be. They are often found hanging out with animals or hanging out with friends.

Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? Prior to everything happening they use to get along with adults but now they really dont trust them .  gets along great and is a good listener but it's going to take time and building trust
How do you normally get along with teenagers? Cyan’s the life of the party, they get along great with most people there age.
How do you normally get along with other children?  Cyan is the big sibling to every little kid they met along the way, they will play with them and get on their level to interact, they adore kids and look out for anyone they met,
How independent are you? Vary
How do you normally react when you get into trouble?Cyan is just gonna take it  unless they think they shouldnt be or that its a stupid think to be in trouble for
Link to your discipline sheet: click here

Orphan Village

How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? New
Which House do you belong to?Oak House
Are you currently enrolled at the Orphan Village Academy or BWI College? Orphan Village Academy
What jobs or responsibilities do you have at the Orphan Village? they have taken to helping take care of any of the animals they are allowed too

How did you come to live at the Orphan Village? Family dropped them off in foster care

How do you generally get along with caregivers and authority figures? good, might be shy or weird, takes time to trust now

How do you generally get along with younger residents? They are all their little siblings now so will

How do you generally get along with your peers?  will, Cyan is vary chill with other kids and teens

Do you prefer to be adopted or remain in the Orphan Village? remain for now
Describe your ideal adoptive family. kind and caring, LGBTQ or at least openly understanding and accepting  of it 

Is there anything else we should know about how you get along in the Orphan Village? they are a good kid that went though something really hard, they just want people to treat them like a normal person their age


Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: Cyan was born in Funkley, Minnesota. They are the middle child with two older sisters and younger brother.  They're sisters are Madison Claire aka Madi  and Adeline Rose aka Addi. And the last child in the family is the baby brother Ryan Lee. They knew they were different at a young age, even some would say far too young. By like the age of 4 or 5 but Cyan didn't fully understand it then and to be honest they still don't. They went to church and did they were told. Cyan wanted to be a good kid

Around 8 they started taking riding lessons at a local barn, and this became their safe place, a home of sorts, they rode as much as they could. They took on a role as working student and learned everything they could. When they were 10 their mom and dad brought them a horse.  Rollo quickly became the best friend they always wanted and needed. Around this time, they also met their long term best friend Amber and the co-owner of the ferrets they got around the same time together.  The ferrets still live with her even now. 

Age 12 came around and with it even more access to the outside world, and with it a kids crush on a classmate, and feeling even than it wasn't enough to figure out what was going on in inside of their head, it was hard enough to be the weird horse kid but they also weren't really dressing in the way people thought they should.  This is about the time when they heard the term nonbinary and their brain started to spark with the term, this is also the time their parents really started to act overly religious. Condemning those who were that way deeply, and Cyan retreated to the barn and their friends.  This is where they started to really struggle mentally too. This would go on for the next two years sadly

Five months ago Madi caught them in a lie, maybe she knew before that but Cyan isn't sure. Madi ran with a bad crowd and even they knew that but they didn't think she would do what she did. She outed them in the middle of the night, and their life quickly went downhill. Eith in a few short weeks they had dumped them off in Cps care. Bruised and beaten they rolled into their new world. And they have been moving around ever sense, no one wants them for so many reasons.


Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you?  note from Star here, they were getting beaten by their dad and im not sure they can/have admitted this too an adult

What do you hope to get out of being a member of Birchwood Isle? Looking forward to writing again and getting my characters a chance to tell new stories.

Did you come here looking for someone to care for your inner kid(s)? Not particularly 'take care of'. I want my inner kid to get to interact with people, but being taken care of isn't a priority.

What will you do if you post a thread for your inner kid and nobody replies to it? Not every thread gets taken up; that doesn't seem like a big deal.

What will you do if an adoption falls through for your inner kid? It depends what happened and why, but getting a character adopted isn't a particular priority for me.

If you are playing an adult character, what will you do if you find an unanswered thread in which a child or adolescent is acting out? It depends on the situation, but if it looks like a place where an adult's intervention is desired and appropriate (and I have the bandwidth) offer to have my adult intervene.

If the site needs it, are you willing to play an adult? Yes

Is there anything you want us to know about you? No

Link to your discipline sheet: click here

Basic Information

Full Name: Nora Jeanine Dawson
Nickname, if Any: Nora
Age: 12
Birthday: April 24
Sex: Female
Pronouns: She/Her
Current Grade in School: 7th Grade
Special Needs: None

Personality

What are your greatest strengths? List 5-10: Curious; optimistic; friendly; creative; compassionate; quick learner; enthusiastic; imaginative; adaptable; honest
What are your greatest weaknesses? List 5-10: gives up easily; low frustration tolerance; impatient; dramatic; competitive; easily distracted; dislikes asking for help; stubborn; easily discouraged; overeager; easily overstimulated
What do you struggle with? Nora struggles to keep going once something stops being fun or easy. She loves learning new things, but the moment she realizes that she isn't immediately good at it, she's quick to convince herself that it means that it isn't for her. She has difficulty finishing projects, sticking with long-term commitments, and pushing through frustration. She knows that she's capable of more than she gives herself credit for, but discouragement takes over quickly.
What are your hobbies or interests? Baking; gardening; woodworking; music; painting; drawing; reading; hiking; various sports; bird watching; learning random facts; collecting rocks and feathers; pressing flowers; trying new crafts
What do you really enjoy? Learning things she's never tried before, spending time outside, helping with projects, baking for someone else, discovering new hobbies, making friends, exploring nature
What do you really dislike? Being bad at something, being watched while she's learning, having to admit that she needs help, needing help, feeling left behind, being compared to someone more experienced, long periods of boredom
What are your favorite things? fresh bread with butter; blueberries; golden retrievers; wild flowers; the sound of rain on a tin roof; oversized hoodies; colored pencils; libraries; campfires; sunflowers; school supply shopping; shopping for things for a new activity or sport; brand new notebooks; sharpened pencils; hardware stores; bird feeders; craft aisles; county fairs; carnivals; funnel cakes
What do you fear? Being left behind. Discovering she isn't good enough. Death of another parent.
Describe your personality in 100-500 words: Nora's the kind of girl who throws herself into new experiences eagerly with wholehearted enthusiasm. Curious by nature, she's always looking for the opportunity to learn a new skill, start a hobby, or volunteer for the next interesting project. She asks endless questions, makes friends easily and has an infectious excitement that often encourages others to join in. Her optimism makes her fun to be around, and she genuinely believes that every new interest might become her next great passion.

Unfortunately, more often than not, Nora's excitement fades almost as quickly as it arrives. The moment she realizes that she isn't immediately good at something, she gets discouraged. She becomes dramatic, begins to insist that she's "just not meant for it", and often tries to walk away before giving herself the chance to improve. It's not laziness, lack of intelligence, or even ability -- she genuinely struggles to believ that mastery comes through practice rather than talent.

Despite her challenges, Nora is kind, thoughtful, and resilient in ways she's usually blind to. She recovers quickly after setbacks, apologizes sincerely when she's wrong, and never stops being curious about the world around her. Underneath her frustration is a very capable young girl who just needs someone to believe in her long enough for her to begin believing in herself. And maybe someone who's willing to hold her accountable for the commitments that she makes and demand follow-through.

Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? Nora generally gets along well with adults. She's friendly, talkative, and enjoys helping with just about anything, especially if it's new. She appreciates adults that are willing to teach her and answer her endless questions. 
How do you normally get along with teenagers? Nora looks up to teenagers and often thinks that they're the coolest people in the room. She curious about what they're doing and enjoys joining in when they'll have her. She can also be a little snoopy. Sometimes she compares herself them too much and becomes discouraged when they seem to "learn" or are better at things than she is.
How do you normally get along with other children? Nora makes friends easily. She's enthusiastic and imaginative, and she's almost always willing to include someone else in whatever she's doing. She enjoys sharing new interests with other children even if she occasionally becomes frustrated if they seem to pick up a skill faster than she can. Fortunately, she bounces back pretty quickly.
How independent are you? Moderately so. After years of moving between different homes, Nora's become adaptable and learns new routines quickly. She doesn't mind doing her own thing, but she's much more confident when she knows someone is nearby if she gets stuck. Asking for help doesn't come naturally once she gets frustrated.
How do you normally react when you get into trouble? Nora's usually aware when she's made a poor decision and doesn't spend much time denying it. If she's still upset about whatever led to the trouble, she might sigh dramatically, complain, argue that something is unfair, or even blurt out, "I don't want to!" Once she realizes the consequence isn't changing, she settles fairly quickly. Afterward, she's usually apologetic and eager to put the whole thing behind her.
Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village

How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? Since the beginning of June
Which House do you belong to? Cedar House
What is your grade in school? 7th Grade

How did you come to live in the Orphan Village? After years of moving between relatives and family friends, she was brought to Birchwood Isle and Orphan Village.

Who are your favorite people in the Orphan Village? to be determined
What are your favorite places in the Orphan Village? Science and discovery nook;  the Cedar House workshop; pollinator garden; LEGO and model-building room; music room; work pavilion; swimming pool; volleyball court; the trails
What are your favorite things to do in the Orphan Village? trying new projects; helping in the workshop; baking; exploring; collecting interesting rocks and feathers; craft projects; sports; swimming in the pool; building things; playing board games

How do you get along with caregivers and authority figures in the Orphan Village? Usually pretty well. Nora enjoys adults who are willing to teach her new things and answer her endless questions. Her biggest disagreements usually happen when someone expects her to keep working through frustration instead of moving on to something new
How do you get along with other children in the Orphan Village? She's eager to include others in her projects and activities and is openly friendly, making her easy to get along with.
How do you get along with teenager adolescents in the Orphan Village? She admires them. Maybe a little too much.
How do you get along with young adult adolescents in the Orphan Village? Comfortable. She tends to see them as micro adults, which can be confusing for her sometimes.

Do you hope to be adopted someday? Yes. Nora would love to have a family that she never has to leave and that never leaves her. She's a bit cautious given her past experience, but she still has hope.
Describe your ideal adoptive family. I would like to see Nora in a two-parent household with adults who are willing to allow her to explore her interests but not permit her to quit every time the going gets a little tough. She can be stubborn, and she could use parents who are willing to be both strict and harsh without necessarily holding things over her head and allowing her to work through them. It would be good if they were more physical than gentle, considering that tools such as grounding her only serve to feed her ability to not follow through on her commitments with an excuse of "well my parents said I'm not allowed". I'd like it if she could develop strong relationships, and I'm okay with her having siblings, whether that means joining a family that already has children or teenagers, or them adopting more.

Is there anything else we should know about your life at the Orphan Village? Nora is endlessly curious and approaches life with a ton of enthusiasm. If there's something new to learn, she's all about it. Her greatest challenge isn't finding interests, it's sticking with them.

Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: Nora was born into an ordinary family and spent her earliest years believing that life would always stay the way that it was. She remembers bedtime stories, birthday cakes, helping stir cookie batter while standing on a chair, and being told that she could do anything. Those are the memories she clings to when things get tough -- they remind her that she was once loved and how its done.

When Nora was young, her parents died in a car accident. They'd been there and gone in the blink of an eye. Rather than entering the foster system immediately, relatives and close family friends stepped in to take of her. For years, she moved from one home to the next -- first grandparents, then an aunt and uncles, and later a godparent's family.

None of the homes were abusive. Most of the adults genuinely cared about her. The problem was that every time she got settled things would change again. An elderly grandparent's health declined. An aunt accepted a job into another state. A marriage came under strain. One household discovered that adding another child wasn't as easy as they'd hoped. Another simply couldn't continue because of financial hardship. Every move had its own explanation and none of them made much sense to a little girl who only knew that she was packing her things again.

As she grew older, Nora became remarkably good at starting over. She learned how to make friends quickly, adapt to new routines, and settle into unfamiliar homes. She even began to see the moves as a fresh start -- a new bedroom, different rules, and a chance to do better this time. She approached each one with real excitement, convinced that this might finally be the place where everything worked.

Her curiosity flourished wherever she went. She wanted to try everything that caught her attention. One family introduced her to gardening. Another taught her to bake. A neighbor showed her how to fish. Someone tried teaching her to knit. Every new interest became her favorite thing in the world ... right up until it became difficult.

Nora never learned that becoming good at something takes time. Because her life changed so often, she rarely stayed anywhere long enough to develop mastery. She started plenty of hobbies and activities, but few lasted more than a few weeks or months before another move, another disappointment, or her own frustration convinced her to give up. Eventually, she developed a habit of deciding she "just wasn't good at it" whenever something stopped coming easily.

It was through a friend that her godfather had heard about Orphan Village on Birchwood Isle, and he'd genuinely hoped that it would be what she needed -- that they'd be able to provide her with the stability that she didn't have. And he hoped that their system would be better than the failing one in the states. Because she needed consistency, not another series of homes she'd walk away from, discouraged and frustrated.


Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you? Not right now.

Basic Information

Full Name: Charles Andrew Wilson
Nickname, if Any: Charlie
Age: 11
Birthday: March 9th
Sex: Male
Pronouns: He/Him
Current Grade in School: 5th
Special Needs: Charlie has some deep emotional scarring from his mother's abuse

Personality

What are your greatest strengths? inquisitive; curious; adventurous; independent; hard-working; willing to help; kind to animals
What are your greatest weaknesses? disobedient; defiant; independent; tends to walk into trouble; annoying; sensitive; juvenile
What do you struggle with? Charlie's biggest struggle is dealing with people being angry or upset with him. If he perceives that someone is upset with him, he is likely to simply shut down rather than asking questions. Rejection and abandonment are huge for him.
What are your hobbies or interests? playing baseball; video games; reading; model airplanes; rc vehicles (airplanes and cars); skateboarding
What do you really enjoy? watching YouTube videos of skateboarders; playing baseball; big family dinners; celebrations; desserts; Christmas; summer vacation; movie nights; having people come to his games; following after the older kids; swimming
What do you really dislike? spending too much time alone; being made to eat foods he doesn't like; being stuck indoors for too long; green vegetables; wearing shoes all the time; being left out; learning history in school; going to school; teachers who don't like him
What are your favorite things? his baseball glove; an old birthday card he can't part with; his pillow
What do you fear? abandonment; rejection; people being angry with him; getting lost
Describe your personality in 100-500 words: Charlie is a very active young boy. If his mind or body isn't active, he tends to get into a lot of trouble, especially since his mouth can run away with him. He's smart, but he's not the quickest learner, which means that he's prone to repeating the same mistakes over and over again, often expecting a different result. Since most of his poor behavior isn't about doing things for which he might or might not be caught (in that he often misbehaves directly to an adult through disobedience or defiance). At his heart, he's a good kid with a big heart, but his fear of rejection or people getting angry with him tends to color the way he behaves, giving them reasons to prove him right, which only hurts his sensitive heart even more. This can make him difficult. He's a boy, and like a lot of boys he was taught to "man up," so he does his best to hide his feelings, all while they fester and often produce poor behavior as a result.

Relationships & Behavior

How do you normally get along with adults? Because he is desperate to be loved, Charlie acts out a lot to force adults to prove their love to him. Most adults outside of the Village don't particularly like Charlie as a result. He's defiant, he's loud, he's often disrespectful, and he's disruptive in his classes at school. All of these factors contribute to him being a child who does not generally get along well with adults. It doesn't help that he's conscious of the fact they don't like him, and the more they dislike him, the more he acts out. It's a cycle that he doesn't know how to stop on his own and up to this point, no adult has been able to help him stop it, either.

How do you normally get along with teenagers? Charlie's one of those younger kids who follows teenagers around wherever they go, getting in their hair and under their skin -- and often getting them in trouble, to boot. Teenagers generally prefer to avoid him, either because they find him annoying or because they often get into trouble because he's "made them snap at him." Meanwhile, he doesn't get in trouble for doing the thing that drove them to snap in the first place, leading most teens to prefer not to hang around with Charlie. He either doesn't know that he's bugging them or he doesn't care. It's hard to tell which it truly is.

How do you normally get along with other children? On the one hand, Charlie gets along pretty well with other kids his own age and younger, and that's fine. On the other hand, he prefers to hang around with the "big kids" (teenagers, mostly), and so he doesn't spend a lot of time around kids his own age. This doesn't leave tons of room for him to make friends with people, so while he gets along with them, he doesn't necessarily become friends with them the way that a lot of kids befriend one another around this age. It would be very good for him to develop these kinds of friendships, of course, but he's going to take some work before he can. (We'll also know more once there are more kids in this age range on the site!)

How independent are you? Very

How do you normally react when you get into trouble? Charlie's first reaction to getting into trouble is to shut down emotionally. He will do everything in his power not to engage with the adult who is punishing him or about to punish him because he doesn't want to feel their anger and rejection. Fortunately, most adults at the Orphan Village know about this tactic and will push past it. Charlie needs that because otherwise he will be left to stew in a host of bad feelings, and that would not be healthy for him in the long term.

Link to your discipline sheet: click here ✅

Orphan Village
 
How long have you lived at the Orphan Village? Just Arrived
Which House do you belong to? Maple
What is your grade in school? 5th

How did you come to live in the Orphan Village? Charlie's mom was a single mother with a lot of problems. He's been in and out of foster care, often because she sent him to live with strangers, rather than him being removed by social services, and the last time she met a man she was more interested in than him, she sent him to Birchwood Isle -- which is, shall we say, permanent.

Who are your favorite people in the Orphan Village? The teenagers, mostly the "middle adolescents" around 15 or 16 years old. He's been following the girls around mostly so far, but that may be because there are initially more of them than there are boys. He has not, so far, bonded with any of the adults because he fears abandonment and therefore fears getting attached to them.

What are your favorite places in the Orphan Village? Easily the adventure camp. When he's not playing sports or building model airplanes, Charlie is outdoors and exploring, especially in places he's technically not supposed to be.

What are your favorite things to do in the Orphan Village? Explore. Charlie can disappear for hours and usually turns back up just in time to avoid anybody noticing he was out of bounds.

How do you get along with caregivers and authority figures in the Orphan Village? Charlie's been through the ringer when it comes to caregivers, and most of all he's quick to say that he has been lied to by most adults -- one of the reasons he's so quick to lie to adults. So while he struggles with typical adults (say, school teachers), caregivers are an entirely different classification that receives the widest and most significant distrust from Charlie. Caregivers lie. Period. He knows that. So he "knows" that when they tell him they care about him, love him, that he's a good kid beneath all of his toughness, he "knows" they are lying. This makes his relationships with caregivers in the Orphan Village especially challenging, at least in the beginning. His trust will need to be earned the hard way. The very hard way.

How do you get along with other children in the Orphan Village? Well, Charlie tends to be something of a ringleader with other kids his own age. He doesn't mean to be, but he's kind of fallen into a role where he proposes schemes that other kids wind up getting involved in, and the next thing anybody knows, there's a semi-large group of kids off doing something they aren't supposed to do and a wild search for kids who aren't where they are supposed to be. As previously stated, Charlie generally prefers to hang out with the older kids (teenagers), but that is obviously not always possible and in spite of his preference, he does spend more time either on his own or with kids his own age than he does trailing after teens.

How do you get along with teenage adolescents in the Orphan Village? That depends largely on who you ask. Charlie thinks he gets along great with the older kids because he considers himself one of them. On the other hand, the teenagers he's constantly trailing after find him pretty annoying, for the most part, and most of them aren't afraid to say that they find him ridiculous and annoying. He doesn't think much of it, and he quickly laughs it off, which is not something that the teenagers enjoy, but at least it doesn't seem to impact his self-esteem too much. For whatever reason, he can take their rejection, but not rejection from adults.

How do you get along with young adult adolescents in the Orphan Village? As far as Charlie's concerned, they're adults. He views them the same way and gets along with them the same way. Learning that they are classified like teenagers will be eye-opening for him.

Do you hope to be adopted someday? Yes

Describe your ideal adoptive family. It's actually hard to say. The most important thing for Charlie is that he attaches to his adoptive parents -- preferably both of them if there are two, but definitely at least one of them -- before the adoption process can even begin. From there, it is essential that they remain truly consistent with him as time goes on. He'd do best as the youngest in the family, but that is legitimately not set in stone.

Is there anything else we should know about your life at the Orphan Village? Charlie really struggles with following rules. He's never met a rule he didn't want to break just so he can find out what will happen if he does. It will help him a lot to have the structure of a system in place that forces him back into line when he steps out of it, but I imagine that he's going to wind up getting into a lot of trouble in the very beginning.

Background

Describe your history in 150-1000 words: Charlie's mother never wanted children. The story goes that she was actively preventing pregnancy at the time she became pregnant with him, and that she attempted to have an abortion but it "didn't work," according to her. She was forced to become a parent when she didn't even want to become pregnant, and Charlie spent most of his life before Birchwood Isle hearing about how she didn't want him, he was a nuisance, and she was in the way of the things that she wanted to do with her life. She had been "saddled with him" according to his grandparents. There was never a father in the picture at all.

He internalized all of this, and being unwanted became Charlie's identity.

Charlie was five the first time his mother put him in foster care. He spent two weeks sleeping on the floor of the social services building where he lived in Wisconsin before a family could be found for him. Then he had four months living with a decent foster family before his mother applied to have him back. Nobody told him why she wanted him back, but Charlie was... Well, relieved at first. No child wants to be placed in foster care, even when the caregivers are decent and the parent is not. So he returned to the familiar home, the familiar emotional and verbal abuse, the familiar neglect, and he stayed there until he was seven years old, when his mother met a new man who had no intention of allowing a little boy to ruin their relationship. Back to foster care he went, this time to a family that was rougher around the edges, rougher on him, and reinforced what his mother had told him. He stayed with them for a few months before being bounced to another family, and then... home again.

All in all, Charlie went into foster care and back to his mother five times between the ages of five and eleven, when she finally took him to Birchwood Isle and simply dropped him off there, alone, for a customs agent to take him to the police station, then to the department of social services, and finally to the Orphan Village. He'll never admit to it, but Charlie is deeply confused by the culture of the island and doesn't understand what it means that he can't simply go back to his mother this time around. Everybody says they are protecting him, but he's lived with worthlessness as his identity for so long that he doesn't understand why he can't go back home.

Other

Is there anything else we need to know about you? not at this time