Work Text:
Name: Neal Jonathan Logan
Aliases: “New Farmboy” (Cathyl and The Other Minotaurs, Pans and Satyrs), “Neal-kun” (Cara, Mil [on occasion]), “Doc” (Robert Bjornstad), “Yoshi” (Kumiko Tsuburaya, Neal’s Step-mother)
Age: 25
Birthday: August 30 (Virgo)
Blood Type: A-
Height: 71.1”/180.5cm
Weight: 172lbs/78.0kg
Eye Color: Blue
Hair: Light Brown, medium length
Place of Birth: Sausailito, Marin County, CA
Parents: Steve Logan (Father, Deceased), Kerri Swafford (Mother, estranged from family since age 2), Kumiko Tsuburaya-Logan (Step-Mother)
Physical Description:
Neal is lean, lanky in places and generally well toned muscularly. Built like a marathon-runner, his training in the medical and therapeutic field has fostered a life-long interest in physical fitness and well-being. He is quick to admit however that muscle bulk is something he will never have; that working at it with everything he has would only yield mediocre results. He simply doesn’t have the number fast-twitch muscle fibers required for it.
His mid-section is defined, however not bulky, and his torso is long and lean as well as his legs. Deep-set blue eyes and a somewhat oblong, bean-shaped skull give him a slightly awkward look, however, despite his scrutinizing and anxious demeanor at times, he strives to adopt an easygoing, approachable manner.
Personality:
Neal has been forced to rapidly adapt to the rigors of new cultures frequently thoughout his life, and has been subjected to pressure from his peers, and from his family (especially his step-mother) to succeed in everything he does. This has left him with a strong work-ethic, a keenly rational mind-set, and drive to get the most out of life, however, coupled with his star sign has left him as a perfectionist, often to his own detriment.
Though he is very open and accepting of others, regardless of who or what they are, he is often self-critical and struggles with his self-worth at times and is often slow to trust himself and his own motives in many situations. This can sometimes spill over into trust issues with others, fueled by his struggles in being accepted into Japanese society as a foreigner. He has struggled with chronic anxiety and has a tendency to shut down in social situations where he does not feel comfortable.
However, this side of him lies in contrast with a desire to be appreciated, respected and generally liked by those around him. He has accomplished this through a desire to help others with their problems and generally make their lives better, thus allowing him to build connections and feel better about himself. However, he has become discerning and cautious in this endeavor, as this desire lead to a great deal of ridicule and exclusion, and even outright physical abuse from his peers during his time in the Japanese school system.
Nevertheless, his positive traits (his drive to experience life to its fullest and build connections with others), gives him an adventurous side, and the ability to throw caution to the wind when the benefits of such adventure outweigh the potential risks.
One of his strengths that has served him well personally and professionally is his ability to read people, their emotions, their intents as well as the general “energy” in a group. However, this empathic ability can backfire on him in some situations and can cause him to open himself too much to some, revealing information that can be used against him as fodder for ridicule.
To those he befriends, he is earnest and keenly rational, preferring to stick to the facts and get to the heart of the matter rather than beat around the bush with small talk and pleasantries (although his professional training has taught him to use these to his advantage when necessary). However, he can be slow to befriend others as many connections in his life, no matter how fun and fulfilling have been fleeting and impermanent in his life.
He considers close friendships precious and rare and will be fiercely loyal to those people, making himself easily available to help them deal with any issues, physical and emotional that they may be dealing with.
Because of his work-ethic, and issues with self-doubt, he has had little experience in long-term relationships. However, when he has found love, he is devoted, caring and thoughtful and believes strongly that doing “the little things” right as much as possible, is more important than grand gestures of affection.
To those he does not like, he has a tendency to ignore them and shut down, preferring to avoid them completely as they are not worthy of his time and bring up some of the bad memories he made during his upbringing in Japan. Further, his professional training and the influence of his step-mother and his Japanese upbringing have taught him to avoid direct confrontation whenever possible, lest it jeopardize his promotional prospects in his chosen career. This has left him with a deep-seated, yet latent anger and rage as he has had to restrain his emotions more often than not in awkward or unpleasant situations.
One of the triggers of this rage is nonsense (especially intentional) and needless struggle as this comes into conflict with his rational mind, which tends to let rule most of his motivations at times.
It has also caused difficulty in accepting jokes made at his expense, no matter how benevolent and well-intended they may be.
Hobbies/Interests:
As a man whose profession focuses around physical health and well-being, Neal has a keen interest in fitness and exercise. However the focus of his efforts tends to be towards endurance sports such as running, biking and swimming, as his body type is optimized for these sports. He did enjoy pick-up games of soccer and baseball when the opportunities presented themselves in school, however his true interest lay in endurance sports, as these sports tended to reward hard work over finesse, which, by his own admission, he lacks.
As Neal once put it, “There aren’t many shortcuts or magic formulas or secret techniques that can make you better, at least none that are legal. As long as you’re smart about your training, what you get out of running is usually equal to what you put into it. If you work hard enough and smart enough, chances are you will hit your goal.”
He competed in Japan’s national high school Ekiden relay for his alma mater, Taiyo High School, however was limited to running the shortest section of the relay due to the restrictions placed on foreign students in the race.
He has also competed in the Tokyo, Fukuoka, Los Angeles marathons with a personal best time of 2:28:03 in Tokyo. He has also competed in several triathlons in both the U.S. and Japan.
He also has an interest in music, and has a small collection of vintage guitars and analog synthesizers from the 70’s.
He is a social drinker, but prefers to be in control and at least somewhat lucid even while intoxicated. If he reaches this state, the inhibition that tends to leave his psyche first is his shyness and reservedness, rendering him a “happy drunk” or “social drunk”.
Romantic Interests:
Neal is a firm believer that to commit onself to a “type” of romantic partner is to severely limit oneself to other possibilities. He believes that “all bodies are beautiful”, but even that is only a part of what makes someone attractive. Neal believes that any true metric of attractiveness must also include intelligence (especially emotional intelligence), life values, passion, conviction and belief in said values, and depth of personality.
As such, he views liminal women as he would any human woman, regardless of their body type, and due to his background in the medical field, has a growing fascination at how liminals of different body types live their lives and adapt to human society. Though, he is keenly aware that different types of liminal species would present their own unique sets of challenges in a relationship with a human, his sense of adventure and open-minded attitude would prevent him from being deterred by body type alone.
When it comes to preferences, full-figured or curvy women tend to stand out above the rest. However, he would also admit to being attracted to larger, muscular women as well, however not to the point that it becomes a fetish.
However, because of his personality and interests, he has had precious little experience with this latter type of woman, and as a result can be somewhat intimidated by them on the rare occasion he does meet them.
His attitude towards strong-willed and/or muscular women is often driven by their personality and his issues with self-worth as well. While he is not meek or timid by any stretch, he is also not an “Alpha” male. His issues with self-worth have lead him to believe that he is not worthy of this type of woman, (or “Alpha Female”) as he believes they would not respect someone like him and almost always look for men as strong as they are.
Little does he realize how this view could be interpreted as presumptuous and narrow-minded and that some of these women might just find him attractive…maybe.
While Neal also does not believe in limiting himself to one “type” of personality, women who are down-to-earth and grounded in reality tend to stand out above the rest.
While Neal is slow to judge those in “open relationships” or those who are openly promiscuous, his biggest turn-off in a relationship is dishonesty as he has learned through bitter experience with humans in Japan and America that the cornerstones of any relationship are honesty, open communication and trust.
As a result, if the parameters of a relationship are spelled out in advance and agreed upon and adhered to by all parties involved, he sees no problem with the relationship. Outright infidelity or other dishonesty or emotional manipulation are non-negotiable deal-breakers.
Neal has been several in romantic and sexual relationships prior to “Got Milk.”Unfortunately, because of his personality, work ethic and devotion to his studies, none of them have lasted beyond the six-month mark. Sometimes, this has been due to personality clashes, cross-cultural miscues, or simple lack of time to devote to said relationships. As a result, he has never felt strongly enough about another person to consider himself “in love”. Yet, his feeling of being the perpetual “new guy”, “outsider” or “loner” has lead him to develop a longing for close companionship; for the stability, closeness and security it might provide, though he would never enter a relationship for this reason alone.
He is firm and unyielding in his belief that no one should ever be put up on a pedestal or treated as an object. Relationships occur between two PEOPLE each with their own personalities, values and quirks, and that this should never be taken lightly.