Roger Vandelay

The Basics

Name: Roger Allen Vandelay
Nicknames: Occasionally called “Rodge”
Age: 17
Orientation: Homosexual
Desired Rank/Job: Student
Powers: Shape-shifting: Roger can transform his features to that of another human. He has gotten quite skilled at this, often shape-shifting into a variety of different people just for the fun of it; he likes to take on a new persona that fits with his new appearance and go around seeing who will “fall” for his little trick. However, because shifting is still very painful for him as he has not yet mastered his ability, he is often forced to revert back to his true form earlier than he likes, resulting in awkward, if not downright comical, situations. On the other hand, sometimes he will get stuck in his new form for longer than he wants - for up to an hour or so after he intended to switch back - leading him to occasionally have to go to class or other event as, say, a middle-aged man or a young girl.
Play By: Vladimir Averyanov

Hair Color: Light brown
Eye Color: Blue
Any Piercings? No, though he has a little box filled with clip-on earrings for his occasional female shape
Any Tattoos? No
Any Scars? No
General Appearance: One of Roger’s friends once referred to him as a “sex kitten,” and this title is appropriate describe both his appearance and his personality. In terms of his appearance, Roger has a lithe build, standing at a fair five feet, ten inches tall. He has a trim figure – as one of his role models once said, “nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels” – and while he’s not interested in becoming buff, he does like to keep his body in good shape. The boy’s light brown hair sits rather haphazardly on his head, eyes a light, calm shade of blue. His skin is pale from head to toe, for there isn’t much tanning to do in Vermont, and his is not the type of skin to take on a darker tone, anyway. His skin is also very smooth, as he rarely does any real work.

This is, of course, only his true form; as a shape-shifter, Roger can take on the appearance of any human, from a small child to an elderly adult. He has a lot of fun seeing what kinds of looks look good on him, experimenting often with different physiques to “try them on for a while,” so to speak.

Roger is stylish, and can often be found wearing fairly nice clothing on the preppier side of things. Clothes shopping is one of his many hobbies, and he often finds things that suit his skinny frame quite well. He has an extremely large wardrobe, as he likes to be able to clothe whatever sort of person he shifts into for a while. Because of this, he has many different styles of clothing crammed into his closet and has a lot of fun taking everything out and playing dress-up with his new shape. If it wasn’t for the fact that his parents were wealthy – not exorbitantly rich, but well-off – he probably would not be able to fund this little hobby of his.

Personality: Ever the “sex kitten” in both appearance and in personality, Roger absolutely loves to flirt. He is not the type of boy to go around whoring himself out, but he sees nothing wrong with making his attractions known, and if that leads somewhere, then so be it. This isn’t always well-intentioned, however: one of his favorite things to do, in fact, is to shift into someone completely different from himself and see who he can trick into becoming interested in him. This doesn’t always turn out well for him, though, as he sometimes loses shape in the middle of a conversation. Then, it’s time for Roger to see how fast he can run.

Beyond that, Roger is your (stereo-)typical sassy gay friend. His friends are mostly girls, in fact, and he loves little more than to gossip with them about boys, go shopping, and to be perfectly frank, start drama with everyone around him. He’s the type of boy who will tell you exactly how he feels whether you like it or not. Some people like this, but oftentimes he ends up alienating others and as a result has few real friends. People do get annoyed with him quickly, especially since he loves to hear his own voice; he will often start rambling about one thing or another, steering conversations in whatever direction he so pleases so that he can digress into whatever subject it is that his heart desires. One aspect of his personality that is perhaps less well-known than his more ostentatious traits is his strong love for his family: while he does not always see eye-to-eye with his father on all matters, he admires his grandmother and mother very much and thinks that his family is more important than most people his age probably do. Because of this, he is, in fact, very capable of being nice when it is necessary; he just doesn't particularly like to.

But as his appearance changes, so too does his personality. This is not part of his power, but rather something he has been working on since arriving at Hammel. He is very committed to what he calls his “characters,” oftentimes practicing how they would speak or react in certain situations before “debuting” them. It isn’t as though he has some sort of cast of regulars; every time he shape-shifts, it’s into someone different. But he thinks it’s hilarious to fool people with his ability, and that involves a certain amount of “rehearsal,” in his view. So his personality can adapt, intentionally, to whatever form he has taken on. After being someone else for a while, though, it starts to hurt, which causes him to become irritable.

Likes: Boys, flirting, shopping, fashion, dressing up as new and interesting people, playing tricks using his ability, gossip and drama, calling people by their full names, the sound of his own voice, a cigarette on occasion
Dislikes: Most people, going to class, losing his form before he’s done with it, feeling like people are having fun without him, drinking (it causes him to lose focus on his new shape), the smell of strong cologne or perfume
Strengths: Above all else, Roger is a very good actor: he can commit fully to whatever shape he takes on and really make people believe he is that person until he reverts back to his true form, whether intentionally or not. He is also very good at fashion design and can make anyone look good (not that he’d want the competition).
Weaknesses: He is still working on mastering his power with regards to the length of time for which he can remain in an assumed shape. He is also very bad at expressing any positive feelings, and as a result often resorts to light-hearted insults that get old fast around the wrong people. One could say that his inability to make real friends (as opposed to fellow gossipers and his “hags”) is a weakness.
Fears: He is dreadfully afraid of getting stuck in one of his shapes forever, and while his trainer has helped him become unstuck with more ease than was initially the case, it remains something he is concerned about. He also fears growing older; he likes being a teenager who can get away with just about anything and not have to support a family and all of that grown-up stuff. Adults never have any fun, it seems to him. Lastly, and perhaps on a more comical note, Roger is afraid that he will actually develop a relationship - be it friendly or more - as one of his other forms and that this person will like him for who they see, not for who Roger really is.
Secret: For all of his flirtations, he has never actually been on a real date. As in, something occurring outside the bedroom. He can also play the clarinet like nobody’s business, which he had started learning in middle school and continued at Hammel. Lastly, Roger really likes the color pink but avoids wearing it when in his normal form; sure they’re in Vermont, but one can’t be too careful…

Father: Arthur Vandelay, 48; architect
Mother: Michele Coakley Vandelay, 40; was a columnist at a fashion magazine, but left the job when she had Roger
Siblings: None
Any Other Important People:Roger’s paternal grandmother, Estelle Vandelay, 70, has been living with them since he was very young

Roger Vandelay was born to Arthur and Michele Vandelay in April 1995 in Cambridge, Wisconsin, about twenty minutes Southeast of Madison. From a young age, Roger had instilled in him a vibrant sense of fashion, his mother having been a columnist for a lesser-known fashion magazine. Because of this, he always enjoyed playing dress-up as a toddler, his mother often entering her bedroom to find him waist-deep in her laundry and wearing some of her more expensive high heels.

Arthur Vandelay chose to ignore this.

Roger’s grandmother moved in when he was five years old; she had required heart surgery which was successful, and his father had wanted her to stay with them for a little while. Of course, over ten years later, she’s still living there and is as lively as ever; Arthur swears “she’ll bury us all.” Quick as a whip and sharp as an axe, Roger looked up to his grandmother and received from her a love for all things extravagant and, as she would say, “simply faaabulous.” Roger loved this expression so much, in fact, that he started using it himself.

Arthur Vandelay chose to ignore this.

Life went on for the well-to-do family until shortly after Roger’s fifteenth birthday. The boy had been feeling sick all day, and had as a result holed himself up in his bedroom. As evening drew near, the brunette really started feeling awful, like every muscle in his body was pulsating at once. Struggling out of bed and over to his mirror, Roger let out a blood-curdling scream of horror, for looking back at him through the reflective piece was not Roger Vandelay, but somebody else entirely. His mother dashed into the room and, assuming somebody had broken into their house, began smacking this ‘stranger.’ But finally, Roger convinced his mother – and father, who had arrived by that time – that it was, in fact, their son, and so they sped off to the hospital.

By the time they got to the Emergency Room, Roger was already back in his usual state with no sign of the transformation ever having happened save for lingering muscle pain and the three Vandelays’ collective accounts. The hospital decided to keep him overnight for observation; when he awoke the next morning, a recruiter from Hammel was talking to his parents out in the hallway.

Upon arriving at Hammel, Roger immediately began training with a vengeance: the idea of actually being able to turn into other people was fascinating to the young man, and he wanted to be able to do it as often as he wanted. It took several months, but eventually he got this more or less under control and was finally able to shape-shift at will. He discovered some great clothing shops in downtown Pilot Ridge and started assembling for himself a nice collection of “costumes” to wear for whoever he felt like being at any given time. He dreams of working as a costume designer or something like that, and hopes to get a shot at La Maison Magnifique or The Globe in the near future.

Of course, training wasn’t the only thing he did at Hammel: stepping onto the campus was like stepping into a Playgirl shoot for how much fresh, glistening meat was walking around him. It was here that he developed a love for ostentatious flirtation, and it was here that he learned to love gossip and pseudo-drama. And this is where it stands now: Roger continues his training, while mostly coasting through his academic classes and spending a majority of his time playing with the various boys on campus and around town - whether as himself or someone entirely different.

Arthur Vandelay has a special little guy.

The squeaking of a damp cloth running over a formica countertop ran in time to the rhythm of the song playing from the jukebox over in the corner. This was intentional on the part of the cloth's owner, one Miss Barbara Robinson, owner of the ice cream shop whose bartop was now being cleaned.

"Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone,
Judy left the same time;
Why was he holding her hand,
When he's supposed to be mine?"

Barbara wore a frown on her face, one that was less due to sadness or anxiety and more due simply to exhaustion; it had been quite a long day, and at 8:45, it was just about closing time. Unlike some other diners, she didn't keep the place open 'til all hours of the night; this was, after all, an ice cream shop, and who wanted ice cream at two o' clock in the morning?

Well, in fact, she usually did, but she was the owner, not one of the customers. Frankly, she could help herself whenever she wanted, and Lord knew she did.

As the woman scrubbed a ketchup stain off the bartop, a soft sigh drifted between her lips; this song always got to her, simply tugged at the heart strings. Not that she had ever really known love, but everyone has that soft spot in their hearts, even those who keep it hidden from view.

"It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to,
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to;
You would cry too if it happened to you."

The woman kept scrubbing, more lightly than before, as though she really wasn't putting so much effort into it. She was alone in the diner by now, alone with her thoughts, and it was clear that something was on her mind. Something was troubling her, it seemed. Her brow furrowed, just a bit at first, then more, and suddenly she looked up from her work and barked, to nobody in particular,

"Hey, wait a minute! This song's not from the fifties!"

She practically cackled at this revelation, but the woman was also a bit annoyed: whoever had sold this jukebox to her had a lot of nerve mixing up all the decades. She didn't bother to change the song, though: she liked it just fine, and besides, there was nobody else in here.

The plump brunette looked up at the tacky lime green clock hanging up on the wall. Eight fifty. She could close up now if she wanted, as it was clear nobody else would be coming in. But where did she have to go? At any rate, she preferred it here to her apartment.

Name: Alex
Age: 22
Experience: About a decade
How Did You Find Us? Lauren and Rae were talking about it while I was watching them from the closet.
Ready To Play? Yes, please!