Ian Thomas Bastroe
The man who fears sleep.
age - 29
gender - male
species - human, dream strider
age - 29
gender - male
species - human, dream strider
Appearance
Ian likes to dress to impress, with not a t-shirt or pair of jeans in his wardrobe. Growing up, his outfits were either hand-me-downs, from the local thrift store, or uniforms given out by his school. The uniforms turned out to be his favorite clothing he owned, and he felt comfortable in blazers, dress shirts with their collars, and slacks. The clothes make the man, so they say, and he certainly has made himself into a stuffy or sophisticated individual, depending on who you're talking to.
Ian isn't very fit, though he eats healthy. He wouldn't last very long in a fight with someone who knew what they were doing. His coarse, light brown hair is usually styled longer, but is never shaggy unless he's just gotten out of a shower or woken up. The same applies for his facial hair, which is usually kept to a nice shadow unless he's attending special events or presenting for a conference, in which case he goes clean-shaven. Think: General Hospital staff. The way Ian walks is almost an extension of his stiff formalities, with rigid movements that are precise and quick. He isn't one to speak with his hands, or bounce his leg while sitting. His teeth are very straight, and kept white with care, though they are only straight due to orthodontic work in his past, seen only by those who get up and personal into his mouth to notice the wire underlays along the inside of his teeth. He is self-disciplined, and it shows down to his movements to his near monotonous, careful speech. |
Personality
He is the kind of man to be in bed by 10pm, Monday through Friday, and be up before the sun has fully crested the horizon. His coffee is waiting for him when he wakes up, set up to brew the night before, which he then takes black while he goes through his morning routine. And, understand, things must follow a routine. For him, it's the easiest way to accomplish any set goals, be they personal or work related. Having a routine keeps things orderly, organized, and official feeling. A day can be truly complete when the routine had been followed.
This kind of personality usually leads to someone becoming an interior decorator, or someone who works for the IRS. Ian Bastroe, however, is very good at keeping patients' files in order and it helps that he does not work in the chaos factor that is emergency care, despite him being commended for his triage care. No, those years of floundering through intense care are behind him, his trial by fire leaving him resentful of how little time some people actually have in this world.
Ian gets away from the God Complex some doctors develop, and instead is the quiet, tireless, and remorseful man who fears Death. In his line of work he rarely has to tell someone they or a loved one is dying. He works in family planning, having a steady stream of appointments to meet from fretting mothers or uncomfortable teenagers, and he truly enjoys his job. Or he would have enjoyed his promising career had he not entered a particular door.
He is externally a quiet man, preferring the company of himself and a good book after a day in the ward. He is, and always was, a prolific reader, dabbling in anything from political science to works of mystery. While rigid in his work ethic, Ian is an easy-going sort, valuing a level-head and cool demeanor in himself as well as others. He is self-reliant, with few friends, and content to keep it that way.
This kind of personality usually leads to someone becoming an interior decorator, or someone who works for the IRS. Ian Bastroe, however, is very good at keeping patients' files in order and it helps that he does not work in the chaos factor that is emergency care, despite him being commended for his triage care. No, those years of floundering through intense care are behind him, his trial by fire leaving him resentful of how little time some people actually have in this world.
Ian gets away from the God Complex some doctors develop, and instead is the quiet, tireless, and remorseful man who fears Death. In his line of work he rarely has to tell someone they or a loved one is dying. He works in family planning, having a steady stream of appointments to meet from fretting mothers or uncomfortable teenagers, and he truly enjoys his job. Or he would have enjoyed his promising career had he not entered a particular door.
He is externally a quiet man, preferring the company of himself and a good book after a day in the ward. He is, and always was, a prolific reader, dabbling in anything from political science to works of mystery. While rigid in his work ethic, Ian is an easy-going sort, valuing a level-head and cool demeanor in himself as well as others. He is self-reliant, with few friends, and content to keep it that way.
Skills
Before his arrival to Planet, Ian was in his second year of a three year residency at Johns Hopkins. He is trained as a doctor, did a year of emergency room care before working the obstetrician ward. He holds a medical degree. His vocational skills include, but aren't limited to, recognizing when a woman is pregnant, what those oozing sores really are, handing out condoms, applying bandages to cuts, and consuming more volumes of black coffee than thought humanly possible.
Other than this medical background, Ian has the unfortunate ability to have nightmares. Bad ones. Without understanding what his capabilities actually are, Ian is known as a dream walker or strider, similar to a nocturne's ability without actually controlling others' dreams. When a dream strider sleeps, he doesn't dream, but instead hones in on anothers consciousness. In Ian's case, he visits the consciousness of a dying individual, able to feel what they feel, know what they know, and understand what they think right up until they pass. It is unknown what effect nocturnes will have on him.
He was involved in a lot of therapy session throughout his young life.
Miscellaneous skills and hobbies:
Other than this medical background, Ian has the unfortunate ability to have nightmares. Bad ones. Without understanding what his capabilities actually are, Ian is known as a dream walker or strider, similar to a nocturne's ability without actually controlling others' dreams. When a dream strider sleeps, he doesn't dream, but instead hones in on anothers consciousness. In Ian's case, he visits the consciousness of a dying individual, able to feel what they feel, know what they know, and understand what they think right up until they pass. It is unknown what effect nocturnes will have on him.
He was involved in a lot of therapy session throughout his young life.
Miscellaneous skills and hobbies:
- hot wiring standard cars
- understanding basic engine and mechanical care
- self-study master
- favorite genre is history, but won't let anyone find his bawdy romance novels
History
Ian Bastroe is an orphan. He knew his parents had died when he was three, leaving his father's brother to raise him. It was a fact his uncle never tried to spare him from either, that life was unintentionally cruel. They were driving home from their anniversary dinner when a driver ran a red light. Apparently Tom's father had lived a few days past the accident, while his mother died instantly. Ian, when he thinks back to it, is almost convinced he can remember back to his uncle bringing him to the hospital room to say goodbye. Almost.
This incident hasn't completely defined Ian, though it certainly was a foundation for a life in which he had to stomach the harmless jokes, and see things from the jokers' points of view. Ian's uncle lived and worked out of a swath of land comprised of hulking metal frames and rusting gutted buses. Ian attended a charter school in Hershey, and with some luck and sheer, grit determination, was admitted to JHU in Baltimore.
In Baltimore, his early years were filled with emergency care and family clinic hours. After treating shootings, bad bike and car accidents, stabbings, boating accidents from the harbor, and car accidents, Ian decided he preferred the quieter lifestyle of family planning and high insurance premiums for malpractice. Through opportunities at the hospital, Ian could split his time between his appointment hours in Johns Hopkin's Gynecology and the local Planned Parenthood that, due to funding cuts, was struggling to hire a full-time family planning clinician.
As a male in the field, Ian was on the brunt end of some suspicion, and some otherwise untoward comments concerning his motives. Yet, despite that, Ian always had an answer that he truly enjoyed his work, and not for the reasons everyone seemed to think he did either.
It was around the time he started his emergency room hours that the nightmares started. They were occasional at first, but soon they invaded every night to the point where he needed to visit a campus therapist and only nap. Due to his overall lack of social life, not many noticed and just attributed it to stress. But nearly every night, Ian would dream and die as another person, rinse, repeat, recycle - hold onto your sanity butts.
This incident hasn't completely defined Ian, though it certainly was a foundation for a life in which he had to stomach the harmless jokes, and see things from the jokers' points of view. Ian's uncle lived and worked out of a swath of land comprised of hulking metal frames and rusting gutted buses. Ian attended a charter school in Hershey, and with some luck and sheer, grit determination, was admitted to JHU in Baltimore.
In Baltimore, his early years were filled with emergency care and family clinic hours. After treating shootings, bad bike and car accidents, stabbings, boating accidents from the harbor, and car accidents, Ian decided he preferred the quieter lifestyle of family planning and high insurance premiums for malpractice. Through opportunities at the hospital, Ian could split his time between his appointment hours in Johns Hopkin's Gynecology and the local Planned Parenthood that, due to funding cuts, was struggling to hire a full-time family planning clinician.
As a male in the field, Ian was on the brunt end of some suspicion, and some otherwise untoward comments concerning his motives. Yet, despite that, Ian always had an answer that he truly enjoyed his work, and not for the reasons everyone seemed to think he did either.
It was around the time he started his emergency room hours that the nightmares started. They were occasional at first, but soon they invaded every night to the point where he needed to visit a campus therapist and only nap. Due to his overall lack of social life, not many noticed and just attributed it to stress. But nearly every night, Ian would dream and die as another person, rinse, repeat, recycle - hold onto your sanity butts.