Joseph "Max" Keys

[Joseph "Max" Keys]

JOSEPH "MAX" KEYS

....the mask

Your Name: Turkey
Where did you find us?: Through an ad on Capax Infiniti
How long have you been roleplaying?: Five-plus years
Password: [admin edit!]

...basic character information

Birth Name: Joseph Keys
Nickname: Max. Nobody knows why, but he hates the name "Joseph"
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12
Birth date: October 13th
Program: Bachelor of The Arts
Major: Theatre Studies
Major Explanation: Max has been into acting for as long as he can remember. He went to plays and musicals with his mother from a young age and was always very interested in both. He took gymnastics and dance classes growing up, so he's very agile, and tends to play roles that demand such talents, such as Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream. As a panther, you wouldn't normally think this as a fitting major, but you'd be wrong. Panthers are very agile creatures, easily adapting to anything that happens around them. With their black fur, they blend in easily, just as Max blends easily into his roles. Since Max is into Broadway acting rather than Hollywood acting, a panther is fitting due to the physical demands that Broadway places on its actors.
Animal Identity: Black panther

...personality

Likes:(at least 10)

• Acting
  
• Dancing
  
• Singing
  
• Playing the piano
  
• Writing (mainly plays and one-acts)
  
• Drawing (though he's not as good at it)
  
• Cooking/good food
  
• Movies, musicals, plays
  
• Video games
  
• Harmless pranks
  
• Girls AND guys (he's bisexual)
  
• Animals
  
• Sushi
  
• Books
  
• Soccer
  
• Spending time outdoors
  
• His younger sister Mischa
  

Dislikes: (at least 10)

• Red meat (he's trying to go vegetarian)
  
• Fast food/greasy food/etc
  
• Death
  
• Depression
  
• Not getting the part
  
• When a singer is off-key
  
• When people are way too serious and hate fun
  
• When people are cold and emotionless
  
• When people are afraid to be themselves
  
• Fighting/war
  
• Stupid comedy
  
• Homophobia
  

Fears: (At least 3)

• Loneliness
  
• A family member or close friend dying (especially Mischa)
  
• Not having control
  

Strengths: (At least 3)

• Outgoing
  
• Energetic
  
• Clever
  
• Ninja-ness (for lack of a better word)
  
• Confident
  
• Understanding
  

Weaknesses: (At least 3)

• Can be immature
  
• Overprotective of his sister Mischa
  
• Exaggerates a lot
  
• Loves standing out/attention
  
• His bisexuality can scare people off
  
• Can lose control over his emotions easily (anger, depression, etc)
  

Overall: The first thing you need to know about Joseph is not to call him Joseph. Ever. Nobody knows why, but he instead goes by the name Max. Anyway, Max has a dark past that he doesn't like sharing. He instead pushes it to the back of his mind in hopes of starting over, and puts on a happier front. This seems to work well, because he's a very outgoing, dramatic, and happy guy. Well, dramatic because he's an actor. He loves acting and loves theater. He even writes his own plays and one acts. Alongside acting and writing, he enjoys and appreciates art (like drawing) and reading.

Max is energetic and can be immature sometimes. He loves to have fun, whether this means playing video games or pulling harmless pranks on his friends. He has a tendency to befriend women, probably because he's been involved in theater from a young age. He also likes playing soccer. He tends to exaggerate sometimes and loves standing out. Also, he is bisexual.

Max likes animals and because of this, is trying to become vegetarian. He has managed to cut all red meat out of his diet and most chicken, but can't seem to let go of fish and other seafood, mainly due to his insane love of sushi. He likes spending time in nature. He's very protective of his loved ones, although other than that, he doesn't like fighting. He can let his emotions get the best of him sometimes, and it takes time before he calms down. He tries to be nice to everyone, though.

Max is a very flexible person, both physically and mentally. He took gymnastics, so that contributes heavily to his physical flexibility. He is also able to adjust easily to various scenarios. Planning on seeing a movie but your car breaks down? No problem, he can give you a ride. Working on a group presentation but you're gonna have to miss it? No problem, he's got your part down. He's very understanding and a very good listener. Many of his friends come to him with their problems, either seeking a kind ear to listen to them or even some advice.

A major reason why Max has always been good at acting is that he's really good at memorizing things. However, he has to be really into what he's trying to memorize. For example, he's not too into math, so he wouldn't try as hard to memorize various theorems and would probably memorize his lines for a play instead. He's good at memorizing things because he's very focused. This focus applies outside of memorization too, so like when he's playing a video game, he maintains impressive focus on it to try and get to the end of the level without missing anything.

Overall, Max is a fun guy with a good sense of humor. He loves adventure, people, animals, and hell, he's a really loving person in general. He's extremely talented and optimistic, but secretly, he's a hopeless romantic looking for The One. He's already positive that his calling in life is acting, so now, all he needs to find the one girl or guy who will make his life complete.

...appearance

x x

Celebrity Play By: Gaspard Ulliel
Appearance:
Max has brown hair that's not too long, but long enough to style, mess up, or run your fingers through. His eyes are a shade of dark blue-grey that, from far, looks a dark brown. He's slightly tanner than his sister from playing sports, and over a foot taller; he's almost six feet tall. Also, because he plays soccer, runs, and swims, he is in pretty good shape. He does push ups and sit ups and the like, but he doesn't go to the gym or focus on strength training, and thus has long, lean muscles instead of big bulky ones.

Max's parents are from France and England, yet Max was born here. Even though he doesn't have an accent, you can tell his heritage from his facial features. His nose is slightly curvy, yet slim, and his chin is pointed. His eyebrows aren't quite thick, yet they're defined. He tries to remain as clean shaven as possible, though if he's busy (such as during finals week or the week before opening night of a play), he will be too caught up to shave and a light dusting of stubble will sprout. However, he usually doesn't let such stubble live for longer than a week. If you were to ask him, though, he'd say his best feature is his smile. His mouth is long and thin and when he smiles, you can see his dimples. However, his smiled are always with a closed mouth, and he smirks more often than he smiled. Although his teeth are straight and white, you'll likely only see them when he laughs, talks, or eats.

His clothing has a pretty wide variety. He has a collection of button downs, blazers, and jackets he got from his father that he refuses to get rid of. He also has the grungier clothing, the t-shirts, singlets, and jeans. He rarely to never wears shorts; he's too used to wearing long pants and jeans. Also, you're more likely to see him in a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up or a singlet than in a t-shirt. Again, just what he's used to. Except for his jackets and the occasional tie or hat, he isn't one to accessorize either. Most of the colors he wears are neutral: greys, browns, black and white. Sometimes orange and green, but they're dull brown-orange or grey-green. You'll never see him in bright colors.

When Max is a panther, he maintains his height (now a length) of six feet, but adds a two foot tail and gains over 100 lbs in pure compact muscle. From afar, he looks like a giant cat with pure black fur, although upon closer inspection, you may notice that he has markings, just like any normal leopard or jaguar. His fur is short but thick and he now has the strength and agility to climb trees, carry objects his weight or more, or even both at the same time.[/size]

...history

Parents: Thomas Keys (father) and Clarissa Keys (mother)
Siblings: Mischa Keys (younger sister, 13)
Max grew up in a happy, typically normal family. His mother loved theater and so he was exposed to it a lot growing up. Even in elementary school, he'd play little roles in the local plays. These were mainly small roles, like a ring bearer in a wedding scene or an orphan in Oliver Twist. He loved being in plays, and grew up loving plays.

In his childhood, Max spent a lot of time on his uncle's farm. He would tend to the animals, feeding them, collecting eggs, and milking the cows. For his twelfth birthday, his uncle promised that he and his friends could sleep over in his barn. So that's what they did. When Max woke up the next morning, he decided to take a walk to check on the animals. When he saw all the animals eating, he felt his stomach rumble. He was really hungry, but his uncle was caring for the animals and his aunt wasn't awake yet. This is what triggered his first shift. His stomach rumbled, he keeled over until he was on all fours, and he could feel his body stretching and a tail growing. It was incredibly painful and, since he was so hungry, he found himself attacking the nearest animal: the pigs. After eating, he morphed back, finding himself amongst a pile of pig carcasses. Max was very confused, horrified by his actions, but once his parents came to get him, they explained it all to him. They hadn't expected him to turn into a carnivorous animal, as his father was a turtle and his mother was a bird. Both Max and his parents were afraid that if he didn't learn to control his shifting, he might accidentally attack a person. So, they did some research, and this is how they found out about Shifter Academy. Also, Max has been trying to cut red meat out of his diet since that day, although he often relapses when the panther in him gets the better of him.

When he was 14, his family was attacked by a mugger. Mischa was home with the baby sitter and Max had been out watching a movie with his parents (it was PG13 and Mischa was only 9). The mugger attacked both of his parents with a knife, stole their possessions, and ran. As per his father's instructions, Max was hiding, and after the mugger left, he crawled out. His mother was far more injured than his father (who was stabbed in the side instead of the chest like his mother) and the two Keys men watched Clarissa Keys die.

For the longest time, Max was depressed. He pushed all his friends away, effectively ostracizing himself. Of his parents, he was always closest to his mother. After a few months, he started going to therapy, and slowly but surely, found his way to recovery. He decided to push the past behind him, that although his mother should not be forgotten and will be missed, that she wouldn't want him letting his depression control his life. He started acting in plays again, which brought him to new groups of friends and got him to start being more social.

Now, Max is more social than ever. He plays lead roles in most plays he's done at Shifter Academy and has even written and directed a few. He is very tight with his thespian friends and has become the Max that everyone loves and remembers from before his mother's death.

...connecting human to animal

Like a panther, Max is a graceful, powerful creature. He is stealthy and, since he took gymnastics growing up, is very flexible. He is very focused, whether it's on a video game or on memorizing his lines, and whenever he has a goal, chances are, he will be successful in achieving it, similar to a panther focusing on its prey before catching it. He is adventurous, willing to try out new things and test his limits, pushing himself higher and further to be the best he can be.

...literacy

Not too many people stopped by the beach during the winter time, but the city of Kingsville was so busy sometimes, it was like there was nowhere else to go just to sit and think. The libraries, and even the coffee shops were bustling with people looking for a book, a warm drink, or a bit of muse.

Max was looking for the third of these.

Over the summer, Max would come here all the time, usually for concerts by local bands. The mix of good indie music with the warm sand pleased him, not to mention body boarding and flirting with the cute girl who ran the snow cone stand. Sometimes he'd stay and watch the sun set after everyone else left.

Max had been running earlier, so he was wearing a singlet and a pair of blue shorts -- the only time he ever wore shorts was when he ran -- and now, he sat on a blanket he'd stretched out in the sand, staring at the horizon. How he longed to jump into the water! It looked so inviting with its vast blueness, waves crashing on the shore over and over... But, as he knew, it was much too cold, and he certainly didn't want to get hypothermia. It was just odd being at the beach and staring at the waves, but not going into the water. It was something he wasn't quite used to, despite the fact that his beach side runs were, at most frequent, once a week.

The sun was bright overhead and Max's barely existent shadow told him it was time to eat. So he pulled a ham and cheese sandwich he had packed earlier out of the bag. Since the beach was practically deserted, the food stands were all closed. Too bad, he could really go for some fries right now, he told himself as he took a bite from his sandwich.

It was cold. The sandwich was cold, the sand was cold, and Max was growing colder and colder by the minute. He put his sandwich down and opened his bag again, shuffling around before taking out a grey sweatshirt with the words "Kingsville High ITS" scrawled across the front in green letters. He pulled it on over his head, ruffling his hair after he did so. Man it was getting cold. Maybe he should walk back to his car and eat there? He stood, grabbing his bag, towel, and sandwich, giving the deserted beach one last scan before... hey wait a minute, who was that? And why were they in the water? It was way too cold to be swimming!
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