T H E C H A R A C T E R
Full Name:Tino Väinämöinen
Age: 20
Birthday: December 6th
Gender: Male
Hometown: Rovaniemi, Finland
Appearance: Tino is a male of short stature, which often leads people to believe he's younger than he is. While he isn't muscular, and actually just a tiny bit chubby, Tino isn't actually scrawny. After his diagnosis, though, he does start to lose a bit of weight. He has a very pale complexion, not getting very much sun where he lives. Tino is past his teenage years and has clear skin, soft and usually a bit warm- despite where he lives, he's like a human heater, and very resistant to the cold.
Tino has a pale blonde head of hair, his bangs cut just at his brows and parted on the left. Tino Has a pair of light purple eyes, a bit wide still and always cheerful. Tino is one always quick to smile, and never hesitates to flash someone a little grin or a wide smile. With a very benign demeanor, Tino isn't an unapproachable person, but he does lack a certain trait that would make him the center of attention in most situations. Tino though, is rather happy with this, and doesn't make an effort to make him stand out more than he does as is.
Personality: Tino is a happy person, through thick and thin, he keeps a smile on his face. In life, Tino believes you should be happy before anything else, because really, it's not very fun to be unhappy. Before money and romance, Tino focuses on his friends and on his hobbies. He loves games, of any kind(computer games, video games, sports, board), and loves to spend time playing them with his friends. He really can enjoy anything, as long as he's with good company. Tino is shy to people he just meets, tending to be quieter and less enthusiastic around them, but as soon as he's warmed up to them, he's a very friendly person to be around, and always has something to talk about. Tino is a good friend to have, and always is willing to listen or talk. He rarely is snippy or mean, and always tries to lighten the mood, whether it be by jokes or just being friendly.
Tino loves to talk, his mind is always full of ideas, and he really can expand on anything once he's started talking, though he does easily get off topic. He doesn't mind any topic, though he does in particular like to talk about cartoons and shows he's watched recently. He's always up to date on current events, and tries to watch the news every day, even if it means getting up early to do so with his college schedule. He is, however, an honest person. With those few topics he doesn't prefer to talk about, he will admit he dislikes it, and try to change the subject.
Honesty is important to him, Tino likes to be able to trust his friends, and thus, never lies to them in the hope that they'll be the same with him. Not having to worrying about coming up with lies or complex ways of beating around the bush, Tino just would rather tell them the truth. He grew up being taught how important honesty is, and it stuck with him into adulthood. He tries to be tactful, but sometimes things just require him to be blunt, and so, he will be blunt. To people he finds out are lying to him, Tino tends to be a little less friendly and open with them, thinking it's easy to be honest, and silly to lie, as well as low. But he will tolerate them, even if only because he doesn't want to argue with them about it.
Simplicity is the way to live, or at least, that's what Tino thinks. Yes, education and having a job is important...but to him, it's not the most important. Being surrounded by people he enjoys, and possibly someone he loves, is the best for him. He doesn't have a desire to be rich or famous, nor does he feel the need to have a lot of possessions. All he needs is enough to survive on, and life is good. Though, because he does want to live comfortably and be able to get a job in the future, he does put a lot of effort into his schooling, not wanting to disappoint his parents. It was never a hard thing for him, learning, but Tino believes if he puts effort in now, it'll reward him later in life.
Tino isn't much of a pushover. He will be pretty lenient with his friends, though he will set boundaries. Tino hates when people try to use him or do him wrong, even more so than when they lie to him, and now that he's older, he's more cynical than he was as a child and teenager, and tends to see when people are trying to use him. He's got a dislike for people who try to manipulate others, but still, he doesn't hate them. That is left for people who use brute force to get what they want. Tino is short for a male, and he knows it, and has dealt with his fair share of bullies because of it. But he's much stronger than he appears to be, and in the case of a fight, he's not afraid to hit back. He does defend himself, though he'd never start a confrontation of any kind deliberately.
For the most part, Tino is a very cheerful and kind person, and tends not to worry too much about anything. He gets stressed sometimes, he gets angry every now and then, but he naturally is just a happy guy who wants life to be lived to it's fullest.
Diagnosis: Multiple Sclerosis, diagnosed at age 19, concussion resulting from a fall down stairs.
Symptoms: - Loss of balance or dizziness
- Muscle Spasms, some painful
- Numbness
- Difficulty moving arms and legs, walking
- Depression
- Weakness in one or more arms or legs
- Incontinence
- Vision loss
Incident: Tino had been attending college at a California school when he was diagnosed with MS. He was intending to return to Finland after completing college, not yet having many symptoms, and wasn't very worried about his disease. A while after he'd turned 20, though, he started getting sicker. More often than not, he went to school feeling ill and like he'd rather be at home. Around this time, he did start having small muscle spasms in his arms and legs. This in combination with the general fatigue resulted in him falling down a flight of stairs during lunch at school. The most serious injury from the fall was a concussion, though he did get nicely bruised up from it as well.
Other Notes:Episodes can last for days, weeks, or months. These episodes alternate with periods of reduced or no symptoms (remissions).
After his fall, Tino starts having difficulty walking, and begins getting very ill. Because he lives in a dorm and wouldn't be able to get adequate care, he is forced to stay at the hospital. While he has to be in a wheelchair to get around, Tino has a hard pushing himself, and usually needs assistance to get around.
History: Tino was born in Rovaniemi, Finland, on the 6th of December, on a rather cold morning. For all of his life, he lived there, but did venture around quite a bit. All through his childhood, he didn't like to travel very far, he was really too afraid of planes to travel out of Europe, and only visited a few other European countries. He did like to stay in Finland, where there wasn't a cultural or language barrier- and so, the only travel he liked was to somewhere in Finland. He never complained about the long train rides to other cities, because he always knew whenever they went out of town, they were going to a festival.
Tino enjoyed elementary school, though he was picked on a bit for his size. Even later when he starts attending college, Tino looks back to his elementary school as his favourite time, simply because of how easygoing life was then. He liked being able to have friends and not worrying about so much stuff, and made the best of the days he was picked on. One particular day though, did shake up the young Finnish boy's life. He was walking home after school in the middle of winter; it had been a normal day, and he was chatting heartily as he always did with his friends as he walked. But, right before he was to cross the road with his fellow fourth grade peers, a car sped past, a drunken driver inside. Tino was unharmed, but three students were injured, one killed. Tino had nightmares of the accident for months after, and was terrified to walk near the streets for a very long time after that.
Normally though, Tino wasn't going around the country with his parents. He attended school, as most kids did, and lived with his family. His parents were kind and usually very nice, albeit a bit strict and sheltering. Tino had high expectations from his parents, and always got good grades. He wasn't the most popular in school, though he wasn't unpopular, either. He only had a few close friends, but many other friends...Most of which used him to copy homework. Tino, while he liked to be honest, also liked to help his 'friends'. So, he always let people copy his homework if they asked. That never changed up until he reached middle school, where he finally got in trouble for it and stopped letting people copy off him. This didn't effect him much, except for a bit of harassment from some students who still wanted his work.
High school for Tino wasn't particularly hard. He was in the middle of the social food chain, a kid most people didn't pay a lot of attention to, but he was generally liked by most he interacted with. He never gave people much a reason to dislike him, and tried to always be the most agreeable as he could. Tino was always honest with people, and got along with most of his teachers. Tino did his best in school, and eventually, he got a scholarship for a college in California.
It was soon after he arrived in America that Tino started getting sick. For a semester, Tino ignored it, thinking it was just the change from the Finnish weather he was used to to the Californian weather he now had to endure. But, a friend at his college finally convinced him he wasn't just ill from the weather, and got him to go to the hospital. Tino was 19 years of age, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Tino's parents wanted him to return home, to get medical treatment for his disease there where he could be close to all his family, but Tino didn't want to leave. He decided he would finish college before he returned, even though he knew his family didn't have enough money to come visit him. His MS never acted up particularly badly, only a few days did he have to stay in his dorm because of his illness.
Tino went to Axis Memorial Hospital for his prescription and check ups. While he was never hospitalized there, he did become a familiar face to those who worked up front and who gave out his prescriptions.
Other Important Info: N/A
Roleplay Sample: Tino turned on his side and exhaled a warm breath, peeking his eyes open to glance over at the bright green lights on his alarm clock. Letting out a tired sigh, Tino shifted in bed and finally sat up, the 5:48 that read on the clock telling him he should be getting up soon. The warmth of his bed met the chilly air, giving Tino a wave of goosebumps, even through his long sleeved pajamas. Rubbing his hands together, Tino tried to get that heat back before climbing out of the blankets and to get ready for the day.
Eyes drooping and still feeling sluggish, Tino wandered down the halls of his still dark home, banished the darkness by flipping on the bathroom light. A soft, orangish yellow glare filled the bathroom and brightened the hall behind it. Tino waddled his short self in, rubbing the sleep crusties from his eyes and yawning widely. Glancing up in the mirror, he let his gaze linger a bit and examined himself...and let only a few seconds pass before a wide, cheerful smile spread on his face. It was how he always started his day. With a smile. It always helped his day...that momentary smile, just to himself, it told him to have a good day, that no matter what, he should be happy. It was a habit, but it was a good one.
His smile grew into another yawn, and Tino had finished the first part of his morning routine. Next, onto the less cheerful part of his preparation for the day. Unbuttoning that slightly faded, frayed navy blue pajama top of his, Tino shivered as he slid it off his shoulders and set it on the top of the weaved hamper. Tino looked at the counter and turned the sink on, and quickly dunked his head under it. Tino let the freezing water run over his head for a second, sloshing it through his hair with his fingers, then stood up and gasped, a 'yeek, it's cold!' slipping out his mouth before yanking a towel off the rack and wrapping it around his head. Quickly drying his hair as best he could, Tino tossed the towel on top of his shirt on the hamper, and looking into the mirror. He laughed at the spikes sticking off his head, then grabbed a comb and brushed it through his hair. His hair wasn't the thickest, no, it was actually quite thin. It dried rather quickly, which was nice!
After replacing his shirt, Tino strolled out of his bathroom and to his room once again, picking out a nice outfit to wear to day. He looked over at his clock one more; 5:58 was the time, he still had plenty of time. Getting dressed in a tan sweater and some brown pants, Tino got out a pair of clean white socks and slipped the over his feet before heading to the kitchen to get himself some breakfast. Breakfast was always the second most important part of his morning! Well...perhaps it was the third. First was his smile, otherwise he just might not have a good day! Second was clothes, because being naked was very bad. Thirdly is was breakfast. Fourth surely had to making it out the door earlier enough! Wait, no...that was fifth. The real fourth was definitely getting his backpack and everything required for school. Yes, that was right! Tino rambled on in his mind, listing the importance of his every day while be prepared a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal. He really wished his parents were awake, but he knew they like to sleep in on Wednesday. Their work shifts started later those days, and so Tino was alone in the mornings, and had no one to talk to. He didn't want to wake them, so, he just spoke to himself.
Tino sat at the kitchen table with his breakfast and began munching, swinging his feet under the table happily. Even if was was a lonely day of the week, he didn't mind much. Soon, he'd be able to be in school, and be surrounded by familiar faces everywhere. It was something he looked forward to. Even if he didn't speak up a lot or just approach people and talk to them, Tino loved the feeling of being around people. It just made life seem so much more friendly, when he could see his peers with their friends...even if not everyone was friendly, there was definitely more friendly than unfriendly! So, school was good. Tino loved it. Finishing up his oatmeal, Tino took it to the sink to clean the bowl, and headed off to finish getting ready, his face alight with a smile.
O O C I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Call me Allen.
Timezone: GMT-7
MSN/AIM;etc: zetsu-tsubaki@live.com You read the rules, right?: Da, yellow~
Anything else?: This is my absolute first time RPing Finland. In fact...as you are reading this, I still will not have RPed him because I only will get the chance to RP him if I'm accepted! D: So...I'm sorry if I'm horribly off.
Also, I would like to site everything used for my MS information:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001747/http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/index.aspx
