Jackson Perkins

Jackson Perkins / Aaron Stanford

OOC

Game Journal Portrayed By
Underland notsoperky Aaron Stanford

Basic Stats

Full Name: Jackson Leonard Perkins
Nickname(s): Jack, Jax, Perky
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Date of Birth: November 26, 1986
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Single
Hometown: San Francisco, CA, USA
Diagnosis: Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
Justifications: Excessive sleepiness, coupled with trouble sleeping and restless sleep. Forgetfulness, confusion, disorganized speech, and dazed behavior are all secondary symptoms as a result of sleep problems. Lack of appetite. Talks to plants as if they can talk back to him; his previous counselor posits that he does so because it is easier for him than talking to people.
Ability: Botanical Communication

Family

Father: Matthew Perkins (deceased)
Mother: Laura Perkins (deceased)

Uncle: Liam Perkins
Aunt: Beth Perkins

History

cw: attempted suicide

Jack remembers the Time Before He Was Sick, which just makes Being Sick all the worse: he knows that he used to have the energy to do things and is prone to growing depressed when he's unable to finish things he wants to do. Before he was sick, he had a relatively normal childhood. He was your typical "boy" in that he liked to spend a lot of time outside. He swore that he could understand plants, which everyone around him laughed off. He just had a knack for plants, maybe he could pursue a future in botany. But he was 14 when he got sick, and his future shrank down into nothingness. His life became a blur of doctors, tests, diagnoses that were proven wrong. It was difficult for the doctors to pin down why he was exhausted all the time, even though he slept a lot. Because he lacked the energy to go to school, he ended up earning his GED online, though it took him longer than it should have with his [whatever the current diagnosis was], so he didn't earn it until he was 20.

Finally, when he was 21 (7 years after he first got sick), the doctors settled on a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome. He was able to work, as long as it wasn't physically demanding. He tried to get work with plants, but his ME/CFS made it difficult for him to hold down a job with regular hours. Eventually he got a job as a copy editor, where he could work from home at a slower pace. He couldn't generally care for himself, since he would have days when he couldn't even get out of bed, so he stayed living with his parents. They were his primary caregivers until they died in a car accident when he was 26. After that, he was taken in by his uncle and aunt, who did their best to care for him.

Caring for their grown nephew, especially when they didn't fully understand his illness, was difficult on Liam and Beth Perkins. One day when Jack was 28, he overheard his uncle complaining to his aunt about the burden of his day-to-day care. Feeling like a drain on everyone around him, he went back to his room and swallowed his entire bottle of sleeping pills. His aunt found him barely responsive and called an ambulance. He was hospitalized for two months, on a psych hold after they were done pumping his stomach. Just before Jack was to be released from the hospital, his uncle was approached by someone from Underland Asylum. Liam was promised that his nephew would be given much better care and he jumped at the opportunity to let someone else take care of his grown nephew. So Jack was taken straight from the hospital to the asylum, where he has been ever since.

Personality

When he was a kid, Jack was a cheerful and easygoing boy, content to go with the flow and just enjoy life. When he got sick, though, he started wondering if he was somehow being punished for that attitude: let's see how you do with this! As his life shrunk into almost nothing, so did his personality. It became too much effort to muster up cheerfulness. He still enjoyed hearing jokes and funny stories, but he spent a lot of time watching TV and movies, living vicariously through the screen because he lacked the energy to do any of the things the characters he watched could do. He also gets self-conscious around other people, because he has a hard time with finding the right word and will sometimes forget what his initial thought or point was.

Appearance

Jackson has perpetual shadows and bags under his eyes, as a result of his general lack of good sleep. He doesn't eat much and exercise makes his condition worse, so he's also on the skinnier, flabbier side with no muscle definition to show. Not trusted with a razor, his facial scruff is mostly unkempt, except for the occasions where someone shaves for him.

Mental Status Exam

"The patient has been observed seeming to have conversations with plants. He has frequently informed staff of plants that were in need of more care. He seems to have an easier time with speech when he's not talking to another person, and he has a history of studying plants."

Jack has the ability to talk to plants and understand them. They can tell him when they need more water (or less), or if they're itching for a pruning. He can't particularly control it, he just hears the plants talking when he's close enough to them. They're not great conversationalists, but he does have an easier time talking to them because he isn't being rushed to finish his sentences, and if he can't find the right word and ends up using the wrong one or something that's just similar, they don't judge. But if he's around a lot of plants, sometimes they will all be clamoring for him to hear them, which gives him headaches.

Extras