Name: Matthew Dodson

Nickname: Tends to go by Dodson

Age: 22

Year: 1st Year

Discipline: Knowledge Magic (I was undecided about this until I started looking at the roster and thought, "It's interesting the correlation between which discipline someone picked and how long they stuck around. Like all the physical kids are gone and...Wow, I'm a Knowledge kid for even noticing that." :P )

Specialty: Undetermined - 1st Year (Probably moving towards Meta-Intuition based on his history)

Physical Description: Dodson is fairly unassuming at a glance. His height and build are average, and tends to dress in comfortable clothes that aren't particularly eye-catching like jeans and hoodies. He has wavy, brown hair that he keeps relatively short, and a dark, scruffy bit of a beard. He has dark brown eyes, and usually looks like he's lost in thought.

Distinguishing Features: Dodson has tattoos on each wrist of short lengths of chains (about five links each)

Personality: Dodson is an optimist, which is a sort of recent outlook for him. He's easily distracted by theories and new information, but if you can get his attention and keep it, he's usually warm and friendly. He's rather logic-driven, usually opting to explain factually why something isn't as bad as it seems rather than trying for an empathetic form of encouragement. Magic and mythology fascinate him, and he often has some random bit of trivia or an obscure quote the bring up in conversation, but he's remarkably humble in spite of his wealth of knowledge.

Personal Goals: To push the boundaries of magic theory and to make as many friends at Brakebills as possible (both to enhance his school experience socially, and to learn as much as he can about each discipline by observing others!)

Likes: Libraries, clearly-defined rules/plans/processes, spicy food, the sound of rain, his Spotify playlists

Dislikes: Bullies, large crowds, "winging it"

History: Dodson's life has always been a bit complicated. He was born the son of a evangelical preacher, and his childhood was all about appearances. The family couldn't have problems, couldn't act out in any way, but instead had to maintain the illusion of perfection. As a young man, Dodson was fascinated with mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, finding a world where Gods and magic were almost commonplace to be enchanting.

As Dodson grew older, his mind remained open to the idea of "magic" or whatever abilities and natural occurrences might have given rise to such a concept. This belief was only strengthened by his own personal experiences. Never anything concrete enough to serve as proof to anyone else, Dodson would find that on occasion, he would see something out of the corner of his eye that "wasn't there", or would simply know something was about to happen before it did. He generally knew better than to tell his parents about what he saw or knew, until his grandparents came to visit. Though he couldn't immediately tell what was wrong, Dodson became more and more aware, the longer he was in the room with his grandparents, that his grandfather was severely ill. No diagnosis had been made, so it came as a great shock to everyone when Dodson because to cry. When he tried to explain that he "just knew somehow" his father would hear none of it. He accused him of devil worship, or forsaking God and his family, and of insanity. From that point forward, Dodson was kept locked away in his room and "home-schooled", and only allowed to leave to go to church or to see a psychiatrist.

Dodson became depressed, despondent the longer he was shut away from the world. The only books he was given were versions of the Bible, or other works by contemporary Christian authors. He began to doubt himself and his personal beliefs, but tried his best to figure out a logical explanation for what he knew on some level he could do. Most of these theories were spun in his head, to avoid being caught, but on the rare occasion that he needed a visual for his thoughts, he learned to hide them in sketches that would seem entirely mundane to his parents if they noticed them at all. Still, Dodson's day-to-day life was taxing and there were times that he considered ending it.

Dodson's house arrest lasted beyond his 18th birthday, and his family, who convinced everyone that he was sick and needed to be "cared for" continued to force him into therapy. Even though he was an adult, he had no money, no job, and no way to escape them, so he continued to do as he was told. One day upon arriving at the clinic where his sessions took place, Dodson was informed that his usual therapist was out sick, and was offered to meet with a different one. Begrudgingly accepting, Dodson found a young woman, only a handful of years older than himself, who greeted him warmly. Instead of delving into his childhood and his behavior, she encouraged him, confirming that he was correct in his beliefs about magic and about himself. She offered him a chance to come to Brakebills, to prove himself and start a new life with people like him. With hardly a moment's hesitation, Dodson accepted.

Whisked away to Brakebills for the entrance exam, Dodson passed the test with flying colors, though he had no idea how he knew some of the answers. Brought before the Dean of the school, he was given a diagram of some unfamiliar spell and asked to figure it out. Despite having no knowledge of actual magic and how it worked, fragments of information formed in his mind and he was able to piece them together to explain that it was a memory-altering spell. Dodson was accepted to Brakebills and was almost immediately a very different person than he had been before. Where he had been defeated and grim, now he was enthusiastic and full of life. He began immediately to learn all that he could, and set out to advance as quickly as he could among his peers.

Dodson's first real experiment at using magic rather than studying it was to create the chain link tattoos on his wrists. They serve as a reminder not only of breaking free of the captivity of his old life, but also as a reminder never to consider ending his life again, because things always get better eventually.