InsaneJournal

♦ On November 11th, 1984, Oscar William Linden was the sixth child born to David and Agnes Linden. He was the second boy and, as fate would have it, he was their last boy. A prestigious position he took full advantage of all throughout his childhood, but mostly by being the "cute one" with the dimpled smile you could never be mad at.

♣ As little Oscar grew up, his big sisters Ruby and Emily spent a lot of time taking care of him. Though he of course loved their parents, he especially looked up to them and would often follow them around like a little duckling, especially Emily. This changed with the birth of Sadie in 1989 because, by then, he spent more of his time trying to help with the baby than being the cutesy baby himself.

♥ November 1997, when Oscar was about to turn thirteen, he was pulled out of class by a member of Heritage High's administrative staff and told that his mother had just died of a heart attack. Thus began his slow spiral into delinquent-ism. He was normally quite a jovial, goofy young fellow, but his mother's death caused him to become depressed and moody. He never spoke with anyone about what he was feeling and what was going on in his mind, and he probably should have.

♠ Throughout the remainder of high school (1997-2002), Oscar remained depressed about the loss of his mother. His baby sister Sadie was broken up about it, too, and worried that everyone was going to somehow "catch" a heart attack. His oldest sister Emily kept in touch and he, too, started to fear for the safety of his loved ones. He started getting fanatically into charity bracelets, buying every kind under the sun and wearing them all at once like his arms were meant to be bracelet racks. He also became overly defensive and started more than a few fights at school, which lead to suspensions and detention time. He seemed like a pretty embittered, resentful teenager, but deep down he was just terrified. Once it came time for him to graduate, he attended the ceremony - even playing in the band as his classmates marched down the aisles - but he had no intentions of going on to college. Instead, he took a job as a bus boy in Portland and just disappeared for a while.

♦ When Oscar was 21, Emily and her boyfriend Nolan went off on vacation and came back not only suddenly married but suddenly expecting a baby. Oscar was surprised, to say the least. He had known Nolan since he was ten years old, because Emily met the young man way back in 1994, but it was still unexpected. It wasn't unpleasant, just a lot to take in at once. Suddenly, his sister, Little Miss Responsible, was even more responsible and proving herself to be such an exceptional person with just about everything she put her mind to. Oscar was proud of and impressed with her, but at the same time, he felt like it was an awful lot to try and live up to.

♣ Throughout his post-high school early 20s, Oscar got into so much mischievous lawbreaking that his dearly departed mother was no doubt rolling in her grave. He would go out clubbing and wake up the next afternoon in a drunken, naked stupor, wondering, for example, how his hand had come to be glued to his head. In 2003, he started having an affair with a married woman. He knew she was married, but he didn't care. He figured that she must not be pleased with the guy, if she was seeking sexual favors elsewhere. He kept on having secret rendezvous with her until she broke it off when things started feeling too risky. Maybe she developed a conscience? He was not really upset that it was over, but it was a shame to lose all of that free, regular sex.

♥ After working as a bus boy, because he is a big guy, he managed to get a job as a bouncer at a local Portland nightclub called The Strobe Light in 2005. He was mostly in charge of keeping unwanted people out, and the unwanted people usually did not take kindly to that. He got into more fights there than anywhere else. The last night he worked there, a particularly unruly wannabe guest decided, mid-fight, to pull a knife on Oscar and stab him in the gut. Oscar ended up in the hospital and now has a lovely scar to help commemorate his time as a club bouncer.

♠ He had enough of Portland after all of the craziness that had happened there, and so, in 2009, twenty-five and a little bit wiser, he packed his bags and returned home to the shores of Heritage Lake. Literally. He spent a night by the lake. Then, he sobered up (for the new day) and looked for an actual apartment, finally finding one that just so happened to be next door to sylviae. He's not often there, because holing himself up inside is boring, and does not help with his issues with depression, but whenever he is there, he can be heard practicing songs or cursing loudly at inanimate objects.

He looked around for a job, finally settling on one that seemed most relevant to his interests. Namely, a cashier/stocker position at Vinyl Records. He has been working there for two years and doesn't have much ambition to pursue something higher up. That is, unless Steven Tyler comes in one day and offers him a record deal. And please don't tell him that's not how it works; in his mind, the famous artists are the ones dealing out the record deals and contract offers. Shh.

♦ Sometime in 2010, after a night of raucous fun and heavy drinking, Oscar stupidly decided to drive himself home. He was pulled over - by EMILY! - and taken in for a DUI. He had to spend the whole night in the drunk tank. This was the most recent time he's broken the law (aside from smoking pot, which is still a federal offense!), and things have been pretty tense between him and his older sister ever since. He mostly feels guilty, but sometimes that manifests itself in grumpiness.

As his sisters might say, Oscar is like an M&M: tough on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside. Maybe don't say that last part to his face. He acts like he can handle anything thrown his way, and often can, but things do get under his skin. He's got a nasty temper when he's tested, and he will defend any of his family members or other loved ones til his very last breath. He never just walks away from confrontation, even if, inside, he might very much want to. Though he is a big, brave bruiser, he can also be quite sweet. He can charm the socks off of anyone, when he wants to. He's been that way ever since he learned to smile.

Growing up surrounded by a majority of sisters, with only one older brother, meant that he grew up sensitive and a little bit apprehensive about other boys. For example, the loss of his mother caused him to spend much of his time alone, either fighting off tears or openly crying and the reactions from his male classmates did not do much to make him change his views of his own gender. People of the female persuasion were more likely to listen to him and understand, so he preferred to hang around girl friends and his sisters, whenever they would deign to include him.

Also, since his mother died of a heart attack, his baby sister spent a time living in fear of it happening to everyone else in the world family, and his older sister has Dextrocardia Situs Inversus Totalis, Oscar is likewise not immune to fear of illnesses. For all of his leather-wearing, "rawr, I'll punch your head in!" moments, he is ridiculously obsessed with disease research and funding charities. It is a good deed he regularly takes part in, but instead of thinking of it as a redeeming quality, he sees it more as something that he must do so that these diseases will go away.

Thus, he does have a soft, gooey center. He just doesn't like to admit it, or let just anyone know it's there. He tries too hard, often, to prove himself a toughie. But how dangerous can the baby brother of a sheriff be, honestly?

+ Grew up across the street from the infamous Chalkers. He is closest in age to alex_chalker & patrick_chalker.
+ Palindromes excite him. He obsessively seeks them out. It's why 12:21 is his favorite time(s) of day.
+ His voice is a deep growl, not meant to be mean. It's uncontrollable. But it lends itself rather well to singing rock songs.
+ He once had a pet tarantula - for about a week - before he accidentally killed it with a baseball bat. He saw it loose out of the corner of his eye and mistook it for just a very large house spider. He may have been high. He can neither confirm or deny.
+ Once, in a bar fight, his opponent pulled a knife on him and stabbed him in the belly. Of course with everything that's happened, medical-wise, to his family, he got paranoid about ending up with a damaged liver. This didn't affect his drinking habits, though.
+ He had an affair with a married woman, for about five years until she got scared of being caught and broke it off.
+ He has been arrested for public drunkenness, fighting in public, vandalism and indecent exposure. If you mention any of the above, he'll just smile and/or laugh.
+ His made up last name of Racso is, of course, his first name backwards. It's pronounced "Rock so". Like "Oscar, you racso hard!" He thought of it when he was still in high school, but he's sticking to it.
+ Favorite music artists: Beck, David Bowie, Queen, The Animals, AC/DC, The Darkness, Radiohead & The Black Keys.
+ He can play bass guitar, regular guitar, piano and trumpet. Well, he played trumpet in high school band, so don't expect much of that nowadays. Unless you want him to play some vaguely-remembered "Pomp And Circumstance" for you.

Linden (Family) Tree
1972— Sister
1975— Brother
1976 - Ruby [rubylin]
1978 - Emily [livingem]
1982— Morgan [morganll]
1984— Oscar
1986— Shannon [shanden]
1989— Sadie [salinden]