Castor Edwards's Questionnaire

Castor was born and raised in a low income household in New York City. The city's always been home and while he dreams of traveling to the major cities of the world, he would never think of living anywhere else. He's accustomed to the noise and grime, the ins and outs of the different boroughs, and has grown attached to the graffiti, art, and music cultures that suffuse the streets with passionate expression. Originally from Brooklyn, Castor now lives in Queens, sharing an apartment with a friend and fellow artist, both of them part of a graffiti art collective that while small, makes itself known with tags across most of the boroughs.

Castor is lucky to have the support of his crew, which helps leverage costs for their work, and provides a network of people to lean on when times get tough. He currently works a slew of jobs, his regular job being at a cafe, but he occupies much of his off time with as needed gig work like moving crews, dog walking, food delivery, as well as art sales. He shares an apartment which helps leverage living costs, and spends little outside of basic needs, transportation, and art supplies. With the city having a constant need for small services and tasks, work is never slow unless he wants it to be, as he is able to pick up gigs nearly at a moment's notice. While Castor may not make much, he works enough to keep paying the bills and saves the rest for a rainy day.

Castor has always been enamored by the art that covers the city. He sees it as one living breathing tapestry formed by the minds and talents of countless people, from those just trying to leave their mark, to those trying to express a feeling or invoke a reaction. Art is living, and it must be shared. All the while, graffiti is often under credited, more often seen as a bother than art, and that doesn't just go for the walls of tagged names but for full murals. Somehow the corporate world has convinced people that seeing expressive pieces as opposed to searching for them is wrong. Castor strives to not only have graffiti be accepted - whether its on canvas or a wall, but also for the people to wake up from the monotonous droning of their day, and create. He works to make art that inspires thought and reaches peoples' own sparks of creativity locked away behind their fears, and already puts his freedom at risk nearly every night to achieve this. Throughout history art has been an intrinsic part of human culture and expression across the world, and to this day remains some of the old relics left over by old civilizations, and he is willing to put his life on the line to provide that for the modern age.

Castor's most defining moment was leaving home. It was his first conscious step to defining himself and who he wanted to be in the future. As a diligent student with average grades, it came as an unwelcome surprise to his parents that he had not planned to pursue higher education after graduating. He may not have applied himself to his fullest in school, but he always showed up and kept himself out of trouble, so the news hit them hard. Wanting to see their eldest son excel academically and make something of himself in the corporate world, they were disappointed and unsupportive of his decision to drop it all to work on art. Despite being urged to pursue an art degree, Castor refused and concluded that he would pursue art on his own terms, adapting his own style. Naturally, his parents were enraged, and told him he would do it all on his own dime, and that it was time for him to go walk his path on his own. Where many youths would see their parents disappointment and lack of support as a negative, Castor saw nothing but opportunity to chase his dreams uninhibited.

While not the most outgoing, Castor has managed to make friends easy throughout his life, but his penchant for being untruthful has made some of these ties strenuous. A defensive tactic to keep himself out of the eyes of the law, Castor creates alibis and identities wherever possible, regardless of need, though he remains honest with a tight-knit group of people.

His roommate and most trusted friend Alexander, who goes by Dice is who he is closest to. Dice comes from a walk much like his own, having dropped out of high school and left home, moving to the city with nothing but the clothes on his back and the small savings he squirreled away. They share an apartment in Queens, and are part of the same graffiti crew, but often butt heads on the message that their art should inspire.

Felicia - who goes by Felt, and has never shared her actual name is a fan of the crew's art, and a fashion student that often procures supplies for Castor and the crew. She advocates for them to make moves to monetize their art through clothing.

Norman is Castor and Dice's landlord, a retired salary-man who owns a few units in their building. He comes by more frequently than they'd like to hang out and better understand today's youth, but he always brings beer and pizza. Besides his subtle judgement and lack of understanding, he's not an abrasive guy and is cordial and kind, but the guys are always aware of his leverage over them which makes their interactions less pleasant to them.