Creekshade

Played by Rev

**Name:** Creekshade

**Age:** 20 moons

**Gender:** Male

**Clan:** FieldClan

**Rank:** Warrior

**Appearance:** Sleek, long-legged blue-gray tom with pale green eyes and a long, feathery tail.

**History:** His parents never intended to have kits. When the other kit born to the litter was stillborn, they nearly rejoiced - but, skinny and sickly as he was, little Creekkit was still alive. His mother abruptly dumped him on his father and broke off her relationship with him, disinterested in sticking around to take care of a kit she hadn’t wanted to begin with. Of course, they were still within the same Clan - so Creekkit had to grow up seeing his mother willfully ignore him everyday. Worse, since his father didn’t want him either, and blamed him for losing his mate, the few times he *did* get to spend time with him, Creekkit’s father was always vaguely dismissive, condescending, or passive aggressive. The queens in the nursery fed Creekkit, but none fostered a parent-child relationship with him. Creekkit grew up lonely, surrounded by a lot of negativity that soured his self-image. This worsened when his father was killed; his mother still cared for her former mate, and she blamed Creekpaw for his father’s death. Though she too died of illness before he became a warrior, Creekshade went into adulthood with warped opinions of himself and what relationships should be like. **Other:** He smells of mud, dry grass, and fresh water. In previous iterations of this character I have officially listed his sexuality as "desperate."

**Personality:** He has a fondness for stories, specifically ones of ancient leaders, tales of great battles, and general narratives of glory and grandeur, which all mostly add to the fact that he’s a pretty dramatic cat. He will often overreact to others’ words or actions, and is known to blow things out of proportion or get his priorities tangled up focusing on small, supposedly offensive details rather than seeing the bigger picture.

His dramatic tendencies lend to his ego, as he does take pride in his appearance and can act rather self-righteous by giving advice or butting in on things that really aren’t his business, or demanding others’ time over other things they could be doing. He has an extremely disdainful attitude towards any and all cats outside of his own Clan, and would have no qualms with killing them for crossing borders or causing offense (or even less than that, really) - if only it didn’t result in getting his claws dirty. Because of his ego (among other things), he will often fail to pick up social cues, sometimes not quite understanding that he’s being made fun of at first, or (most frequently) mistaking others’ behavior towards him as some form of flirting, even if it's nothing of the sort. He develops crushes easily, and often flits from one to the next, his attentions finicky depending on who he *thinks* is flirting with him at any given time. He will never say no to attention, and he does hope to find a mate and have some grand romance, so anyone he thinks he *might* have a shot at that with will be subject to his dramatic and overbearing “charms.” Despite his posh, arrogant attitude, and his multitude of attitude problems stemming from a jealous nature and general pettiness, he has lots of issues hiding behind his rather shallow outer shell. His clinging to those around him and attempting to flirt his way into others’ hearts with backhanded compliments and other such poor tactics actually comes from a place of insecurity, as he desperately wants to be accepted and loved, but is frequently pushed by the wayside due to his undesirable attitude. He is also known to lash out at others when he thinks they’ve wronged him, and his outbursts can be quite severe at times, ranging from very harsh verbal rebuked to even physical blows. Beneath his ego, he fears that he may actually be unlovable - or worse, that he does not deserve love.

On his worse days, he adopts a slightly nihilistic view of the world and of himself that can make him either completely apathetic/lethargic, or dangerously volatile. His biggest fear is being abandoned or forgotten, and he clings to the Warrior Code desperately to try to at least retain the loyalty and support of his Clan, even if his Clanmates themselves don’t really like him. He does have a softer side and a good heart beneath all his issues; his tough facade crumbles pretty quickly when he’s faced with those he actually cares about in distress. He will feel guilty for focusing on his own problems when he hears of his loved ones’ misfortunes, and he generally considers their problems to be more important than his own, both because of his self-esteem and genuine care. He’s starved for attention to the point that a only a few kind words or placations can bring him down from a complete rage. He has only a vague, idealistic vision of what healthy relationships look like, and often comes across as either too overbearing or a complete pushover in relationships as a result, as he’ll either try to make decisions for others rather than letting them have a say, or he’ll completely wilt and surrender to their every wish, even if it hurts him or isn’t really what he wants personally. Overall, he’s just an unhappy dude trying to pass off a facade of normalcy, wanting love even though he thinks he doesn’t really deserve it.