Post by Inouken on Dec 22, 2012 17:56:37 GMT -5
[Leonard Hofstadter]
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Rank: Lost
Fandom: The Big Bang Theory
Canon Pull Point: After S06E08, "The 43 Peculiarity"
Appearance: At 5'5", Leonard is, as his roommate Sheldon would put it, a homunculus. A perfectly formed, miniature human being. When Leonard stands tall it's only a figure of speech, and one that typically doesn't apply to him. It's not that he slouches per se, but that he carries himself with a general lack of confidence. He frequently hunches his shoulders when flustered, draws his head down and fidgets nervously with his hands. His build is average and non-athletic, the result of being an active participant in both the nerd subculture and the field of experimental physics. Expectantly out of shape would be one way of classifying his body type. Fan of indoor recreation would be another.
Leonard's skin is pale, his hair dark brown and curly to the point of being chaotic. He keeps it short as a result, favoring a mop cut that would fall just below eye level if he wasn't constantly combing it back and attempting to tame it with hair product. His eyes are brown and framed by a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Without them, Leonard's virtually blind. His eyebrows are incredibly expressive and convey emotion in a manner that is reminiscent of cartoon caricature. He can arch his brows in a fierce scowl when aggravated, but his baseline expression is actually quite friendly and even-tempered. It shows in the way he can easily relax into a grin and have it look natural, like it belongs there.
In terms of fashion sense, Leonard’s style reflects an overall desire to fit in while maintaining a somewhat geeky status quo. He tries to keep his clothing casual and low-key, typically pairing a science or comic book themed t-shirt with a hoodie, cargo jacket, and Converse sneakers.
Personality: Leonard is the type of person who doesn't know how to feel comfortable in his own skin. He has particular interests - geeky interests - that he personally enjoys and loves to engage in with his friends, but his enjoyment of these interests is easily dampened when people outside of his social group find out about them. Leonard doesn't want to be perceived as a "nerd" or "geek" or "dork," as some loser who sits around in Star Trek regalia playing Mario Kart on his N64 or Wii. He wants more than anything to be perceived as "normal," to be accepted by society as a whole. Thus, when his attempts at social acceptance fail in what is usually a spectacular fashion, Leonard finds it incredibly disheartening.
Leonard just wants to be liked, to have other people provide him with validation that he is someone worth knowing. He can't provide that validation himself on the basis that he never learned how to be self-confident. He's very insecure about his looks, particularly his height, and even his professional accomplishments fail to bolster his esteem. For Leonard, professional success and the respect of his academic peers go hand in hand. Or more specifically, the respect of those few academics whose opinions matter to him on a personal level. Even when the scientific community gives him accolades, if he doesn't have the respect of his mother, and to a lesser extent, his roommate and coworker, Sheldon, he finds it difficult to feel proud of his accomplishments. It's not that he wants their opinions to matter, because he doesn't, but since they both hold significant roles in his life and are well respected for the work they've contributed in their own fields, Leonard finds himself caring anyway. And every time they belittle his work by calling it derivative and hardly worth pursuing, a part of him internalizes that criticism, souring whatever sense of personal achievement he once had.
That being said, Leonard does take pride in his intellect. He knows he's smart, and his desire to make notable contributions to physics constantly drives him forward. As a scientist, Leonard is always analyzing, rethinking and postulating about the world around him. If he sees that he can be making strides to improve a project, he'll do it in a heartbeat.
The same can be said of his personal relationships, as he's constantly analyzing them. If he sees that he can modify the paradigm of his relationships to improve them in some way, he'll do so, but he's never bossy about it, and is in fact more likely to bend to the whims of other people in order to keep his relationships - both platonic and romantic - running as smoothly as possible. He's often the mediator of his social group, the person who attempts to keep the peace or suggest alternatives to some otherwise ridiculous scenarios created by his friends.
However, when Leonard himself is the source of conflict, which he can be at times whenever his personal insecurities take over, Leonard becomes defensive and somewhat inconsolable, often falling back on petulant moping and sarcasm until he's had time to process his emotions. Once he's calmed down, though, his conscience takes over and he's generally a big enough man to admit his own faults and apologize to those he unintentionally, and sometimes intentionally, upset.
Despite his social neuroticism that gets the best of him on occasion, Leonard has a good heart. He may come across as sarcastic and irritable (especially when the people he cares about are being unreasonable) but at his core, Leonard likes seeing his friends happy and genuinely feels proud of them for their own accomplishments, the way he never can about his own. He's not a bitter person by nature, and he much prefers working towards obtaining happiness over stagnating in a mire of self-pity and loathing. He's always willing to work through his problems, and he actively tries to step outside his comfort zone in social situations, whether it's a casual attempt at having a good time or out of professional necessity.
History: In New Jersey, Leonard was born the middle of three children to a family of, quote unquote, "crazy academics." Neither of his parents were emotionally available throughout his childhood. His father was frequently engrossed in anthropological research and preferred spending father-son time with a skeleton of an Etrusken boy rather than with his own flesh and blood. Leonard's mother was similarly immersed in her respective fields of psychiatry and neuroscience.
However, unlike Leonard's father who wasn't involved in Leonard's upbringing, his mother constantly monitored him, documenting and analyzing his development the way a researcher would study a test subject. In fact, her maternal instinct was so eclipsed by her clinical nature that all of her interactions with him were scientifically objective. Emotional nourishment never once entered the picture. She never gave him any sort of approval and even guilted him into returning a science award at his elementary school's ceremony once because she had convinced Leonard that his project was just a rehash of a project his brother had already done.
Her unsupportive parenting style caused Leonard to develop a major inferiority complex that carried with him into the school yard. His feelings of inadequacy made him an easy target for bullying, especially since he was physically weak and smaller than most of the kids in his class. It didn't help that he was also what one would consider a stereotypical nerd: someone who was intelligent, could ace every subject and had a keen interest in sci-fi, fantasy and comic books. Pairing these factors together, Leonard endured a torturous routine of frequent pantsing, swirlies, wedgies and various other acts of childish cruelty well through his high school years.
Luckily for Leonard, however, the rain cloud of his school experiences came with a silver lining. With an IQ of 173, he was able to breeze through grades and classes at an accelerated pace, obtaining his PhD with a Dissertation of the Year award for experimental particle physics from Princeton University at the age of 24. He then applied for a research position at the California Institute of Technology, and moved to Pasadena the instant he was hired.
It was here in California that he became roommates with the highly intelligent, socially inept and rigidly logical Sheldon Cooper, a man who likewise obtained a doctorate in physics and worked in the same Cal Tech department as Leonard. Despite Sheldon's many eccentricities that ranged from obsessive compulsivity to contractually holding Leonard to a list of ridiculous rules known as the Roommate Agreement, Leonard stuck around. They became best friends, able to tolerate and even find enjoyment in each other's company because of their shared interests in science and all things considered to be typically nerdy. At the university, Leonard also became friends with engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali, and for the first time in his life Leonard found himself belonging to a social group who liked the same things he liked, who he could relate to on a personal level.
Around Leonard's fifth to seventh year as Sheldon's roommate, they got a new neighbor across the hall. Her name was Penny. She was beautiful and spunky, an aspiring actress who moved from Nebraska to California to pursue her dreams. Leonard was instantly enamored with her. He spent much of his free time attempting to impress her, not in an overtly showy manner but through acts of friendship and thoughtfulness while simultaneously trying not to embarrass himself in her presence. His efforts paid off and Leonard and Penny entered a romantic relationship, albeit a relationship that was prone to on-and-off again dynamics because of their respective insecurities.
The day before Leonard disappeared from life as he knew it, his relationship with Penny had been on an upswing - for the first time since they had become involved, she had said that she loved him. Things were looking promising for Leonard in the department of love. If only he had been paying closer attention to other events that could affect his life, like the way Sheldon had been so intent on fine-tuning his design for a wormhole generator that could open portals to parallel dimensions...
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Rank: Lost
Fandom: The Big Bang Theory
Canon Pull Point: After S06E08, "The 43 Peculiarity"
Appearance: At 5'5", Leonard is, as his roommate Sheldon would put it, a homunculus. A perfectly formed, miniature human being. When Leonard stands tall it's only a figure of speech, and one that typically doesn't apply to him. It's not that he slouches per se, but that he carries himself with a general lack of confidence. He frequently hunches his shoulders when flustered, draws his head down and fidgets nervously with his hands. His build is average and non-athletic, the result of being an active participant in both the nerd subculture and the field of experimental physics. Expectantly out of shape would be one way of classifying his body type. Fan of indoor recreation would be another.
Leonard's skin is pale, his hair dark brown and curly to the point of being chaotic. He keeps it short as a result, favoring a mop cut that would fall just below eye level if he wasn't constantly combing it back and attempting to tame it with hair product. His eyes are brown and framed by a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Without them, Leonard's virtually blind. His eyebrows are incredibly expressive and convey emotion in a manner that is reminiscent of cartoon caricature. He can arch his brows in a fierce scowl when aggravated, but his baseline expression is actually quite friendly and even-tempered. It shows in the way he can easily relax into a grin and have it look natural, like it belongs there.
In terms of fashion sense, Leonard’s style reflects an overall desire to fit in while maintaining a somewhat geeky status quo. He tries to keep his clothing casual and low-key, typically pairing a science or comic book themed t-shirt with a hoodie, cargo jacket, and Converse sneakers.
Personality: Leonard is the type of person who doesn't know how to feel comfortable in his own skin. He has particular interests - geeky interests - that he personally enjoys and loves to engage in with his friends, but his enjoyment of these interests is easily dampened when people outside of his social group find out about them. Leonard doesn't want to be perceived as a "nerd" or "geek" or "dork," as some loser who sits around in Star Trek regalia playing Mario Kart on his N64 or Wii. He wants more than anything to be perceived as "normal," to be accepted by society as a whole. Thus, when his attempts at social acceptance fail in what is usually a spectacular fashion, Leonard finds it incredibly disheartening.
Leonard just wants to be liked, to have other people provide him with validation that he is someone worth knowing. He can't provide that validation himself on the basis that he never learned how to be self-confident. He's very insecure about his looks, particularly his height, and even his professional accomplishments fail to bolster his esteem. For Leonard, professional success and the respect of his academic peers go hand in hand. Or more specifically, the respect of those few academics whose opinions matter to him on a personal level. Even when the scientific community gives him accolades, if he doesn't have the respect of his mother, and to a lesser extent, his roommate and coworker, Sheldon, he finds it difficult to feel proud of his accomplishments. It's not that he wants their opinions to matter, because he doesn't, but since they both hold significant roles in his life and are well respected for the work they've contributed in their own fields, Leonard finds himself caring anyway. And every time they belittle his work by calling it derivative and hardly worth pursuing, a part of him internalizes that criticism, souring whatever sense of personal achievement he once had.
That being said, Leonard does take pride in his intellect. He knows he's smart, and his desire to make notable contributions to physics constantly drives him forward. As a scientist, Leonard is always analyzing, rethinking and postulating about the world around him. If he sees that he can be making strides to improve a project, he'll do it in a heartbeat.
The same can be said of his personal relationships, as he's constantly analyzing them. If he sees that he can modify the paradigm of his relationships to improve them in some way, he'll do so, but he's never bossy about it, and is in fact more likely to bend to the whims of other people in order to keep his relationships - both platonic and romantic - running as smoothly as possible. He's often the mediator of his social group, the person who attempts to keep the peace or suggest alternatives to some otherwise ridiculous scenarios created by his friends.
However, when Leonard himself is the source of conflict, which he can be at times whenever his personal insecurities take over, Leonard becomes defensive and somewhat inconsolable, often falling back on petulant moping and sarcasm until he's had time to process his emotions. Once he's calmed down, though, his conscience takes over and he's generally a big enough man to admit his own faults and apologize to those he unintentionally, and sometimes intentionally, upset.
Despite his social neuroticism that gets the best of him on occasion, Leonard has a good heart. He may come across as sarcastic and irritable (especially when the people he cares about are being unreasonable) but at his core, Leonard likes seeing his friends happy and genuinely feels proud of them for their own accomplishments, the way he never can about his own. He's not a bitter person by nature, and he much prefers working towards obtaining happiness over stagnating in a mire of self-pity and loathing. He's always willing to work through his problems, and he actively tries to step outside his comfort zone in social situations, whether it's a casual attempt at having a good time or out of professional necessity.
History: In New Jersey, Leonard was born the middle of three children to a family of, quote unquote, "crazy academics." Neither of his parents were emotionally available throughout his childhood. His father was frequently engrossed in anthropological research and preferred spending father-son time with a skeleton of an Etrusken boy rather than with his own flesh and blood. Leonard's mother was similarly immersed in her respective fields of psychiatry and neuroscience.
However, unlike Leonard's father who wasn't involved in Leonard's upbringing, his mother constantly monitored him, documenting and analyzing his development the way a researcher would study a test subject. In fact, her maternal instinct was so eclipsed by her clinical nature that all of her interactions with him were scientifically objective. Emotional nourishment never once entered the picture. She never gave him any sort of approval and even guilted him into returning a science award at his elementary school's ceremony once because she had convinced Leonard that his project was just a rehash of a project his brother had already done.
Her unsupportive parenting style caused Leonard to develop a major inferiority complex that carried with him into the school yard. His feelings of inadequacy made him an easy target for bullying, especially since he was physically weak and smaller than most of the kids in his class. It didn't help that he was also what one would consider a stereotypical nerd: someone who was intelligent, could ace every subject and had a keen interest in sci-fi, fantasy and comic books. Pairing these factors together, Leonard endured a torturous routine of frequent pantsing, swirlies, wedgies and various other acts of childish cruelty well through his high school years.
Luckily for Leonard, however, the rain cloud of his school experiences came with a silver lining. With an IQ of 173, he was able to breeze through grades and classes at an accelerated pace, obtaining his PhD with a Dissertation of the Year award for experimental particle physics from Princeton University at the age of 24. He then applied for a research position at the California Institute of Technology, and moved to Pasadena the instant he was hired.
It was here in California that he became roommates with the highly intelligent, socially inept and rigidly logical Sheldon Cooper, a man who likewise obtained a doctorate in physics and worked in the same Cal Tech department as Leonard. Despite Sheldon's many eccentricities that ranged from obsessive compulsivity to contractually holding Leonard to a list of ridiculous rules known as the Roommate Agreement, Leonard stuck around. They became best friends, able to tolerate and even find enjoyment in each other's company because of their shared interests in science and all things considered to be typically nerdy. At the university, Leonard also became friends with engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali, and for the first time in his life Leonard found himself belonging to a social group who liked the same things he liked, who he could relate to on a personal level.
Around Leonard's fifth to seventh year as Sheldon's roommate, they got a new neighbor across the hall. Her name was Penny. She was beautiful and spunky, an aspiring actress who moved from Nebraska to California to pursue her dreams. Leonard was instantly enamored with her. He spent much of his free time attempting to impress her, not in an overtly showy manner but through acts of friendship and thoughtfulness while simultaneously trying not to embarrass himself in her presence. His efforts paid off and Leonard and Penny entered a romantic relationship, albeit a relationship that was prone to on-and-off again dynamics because of their respective insecurities.
The day before Leonard disappeared from life as he knew it, his relationship with Penny had been on an upswing - for the first time since they had become involved, she had said that she loved him. Things were looking promising for Leonard in the department of love. If only he had been paying closer attention to other events that could affect his life, like the way Sheldon had been so intent on fine-tuning his design for a wormhole generator that could open portals to parallel dimensions...
