"O"



"Buster, your job will always be there when you get back, Seattle GamingCON is like five hours away, man!"

"O" is the unfortunate nickname for Buster Witwicky's childhood (and adult) best friend. And while "O" doesn't deserve any blame for Buster's occasionally driftless early college years, "O" was certainly an enabler, repeatedly encouraging Buster to skip school, cut off from work, or ditch any family responsibility for a gaming convention, fanzine publishing deadline, or road trip 800 miles to catch a midnight showing of Dune at a run-down theater outside of San Francisco. He may be the occasional bane to Jesse 's existence, but even Jesse admits to "O"'s near miraculous ability in bringing Buster out of his near-impenetrable shell.

Canonical/Pre-MUX/Theme History:
1985 wasn't a good year for Buster. After Sparkplug made what he thought was a "best for the family" decision to remain with the Autobots with Buster's older brother, Ron and Judy Witwicky agreed to be a "full-time" guardian for the youngest Witwicky (but leaving all parental decisions still in the hands of Sparkplug). This meant Buster starting a new school. Buster, still afflicted with a debilitating shyness, was subjected to being teased by his classmates for anything from his name, income status, not talking in class, and especially his family's association with an alien species.

"O", himself mocked by his classmates for anything from his pudgy weight to his disdain for sports, saw a kindrid spirit in Buster. Both lived in the same upper lower middle class neighborhood. It took him a few weeks to break through Buster's armor (Buster initially assumed "O" was teasing Buster in wanting to be friends), but "O"'s knowledge of Dune, old SCTV skits, Star Wars, and Tolkien quickly won favor with Buster. By the beginning of 5th grade, Buster had began to construct a sort of "replacement" family to counter the sense of abandonment he felt with his father and older brother. Though "O" was naturally curious about Buster's father and brother's adventures with the Autobots, he rarely showed more than a passing interest. For Buster, this was one of the few times since his mother died where he felt, at least in the eyes of one friend, what was going on in his life was more important than what was happening in his brother's or father's.

In high school, the alliance only got tighter as Buster's resentment toward his father and brother grew. Unfortunately, "O"'s influence didn't exactly help Buster in the grades department. In the junior and senior years leading up to college, the allure of late-night Pente sessions at Village Inn, or all-night fanzine publication meetings at Perkins with "O" bested any math or essay assignments.

Things only got worse in college. Easy class schedules, cheap rent with Buster and his friend Barry, and the allure of easy student loan money only fueled "O"'s driftless, semi-charmed life. For years, the three moved from house to house as each slowly amassed college credits. In 2009, Buster, "O", and Barry lost their rental home due to a weather control device orchestrated by Megatron. Thanks to a few insurance claims, all three were able to secure housing, but in late 2009, Jesse urged Buster to move in with her, thereby breaking up almost a decade worth of borderline arrested development with the three. In 2013, "O" remains a college student (pursing a masters in Greek Mythology) as he works part-time at a failing comic book shop as well as a part-time librarian at the campus library.

Would Jesse prefer Buster have a Chip Chase-like best friend to challenge her boyfriend? Sure. But she'll be the first to say that best friends don't come as dedicated and loyal as "O".

OOC Notes
"O" is a character from the Marvel Comics version of Transformers. His role was extremely limited, so much is up to interpretation.

Players
"O" is available for anyone who is willing to pull themselves away from their marathon Warcraft/D&D/Halo/Mass Effect/ sessions.