Andrej Jadranko "AJ" Stojanovic- Serbian ancestry; Rafe's best male friend, AJ Stojanovic is generally known to be a nice, amiable, and sympathetic young teen, although he has a propensity for being naïve and childish due to his social obliviousness. He is a timid, overweight boy with light brown hair, dark hazel eyes, and a ruddy complexion who is teased by some of his classmates due to his appearance. He had a habit of sobbing uncontrollably when he witnessed something upsetting, which earned him somewhat of a reputation for being a "crybaby" among his peers back in elementary school. He also had recurrent nose bleeds that would contribute to his frequent bullying and sometimes isolate him from other children. Although he outwardly did not appear to be the most intellectual, AJ's diligence with his schoolwork allowed him to surpass his age group and skip a grade level, causing him to have somewhat of a naivety and innocence to his demeanor by contrast to many of his male peers. He would devote long hours to extensive study from a young age, which allowed him to exceed grade level expectations and be placed in the talented and gifted program, which can bring him slight embarrassment as he tries to fit in with his classmates. He sometimes appears to be somewhat of a pushover to his peers however due to his tendency to people please and do "favors" for them, which causes them to take advantage of his intelligence. He is shown to be smart and highly talented, instantly supplying the answer to a complicated math problem, as well as playing the drums. Despite the constant teasing he receives, AJ is a genuinely kind person with a secret talent for carpentry and woodworking that he picked up from his dad.
He daydreamed frequently as a child and was a skilled ventriloquist, often being found with a hand-crafted dummy of his own named Fosse that he would normally use to charm and humor his family and friends with. He likes rescuing tiny creatures, such as slugs or ants, and saving them from being flushed down the drain or drowning in a puddle of water. He also enjoys rock collecting and lapidary, having once cut and polished a gem to create a necklace for his long-term crush, Wendy Nowak, a tomboyish girl in his grade who serves as a counterbalance to his soft personality, as a means of impressing her. AJ similarly has an extensive collection of green monster cans that he will scatter throughout his room, in addition to keeping small objects such a bottle caps, leaves, miniature plants, and pebbles inside his drawers. He is a massive fan of the Power Rangers, having several action figures and has a few nerdy interests, considering "Indiana Jones and The Last Cruscade" to be among his favorite films. Like his best friend Rafe, he enjoys joining his male classmates in playing hackysack, in addition to devoting long periods to playing Call of Duty in his room. He also likes pumpkins and is a big fan of the Washington Redskins, owning a lucky pair of socks that he wears in support of the team. A running inside joke among his friends is that AJ enjoys listening to Nickelback, which causes Rafe to question his best friend's "poor taste in music". He is also a fan of Radiohead and The Fray, considering their songs to be deeply relatable and "marginally better than Coldplay's". He is exceptionally impressed when the emotions of the vocalist and the instrumentalists match the lyrics in a cohesive manner, which is one thing that can get her lost in a great track.
He considers his favorite song to be Gene Autry's "Don't Fence Me In" and will sometimes start humming it under his breath when he is stressed. AJ does celebrate Christmas, but he celebrates it in a different way than the other kids in Valley Stream, since his parents are from Eastern Europe. According to the region's tradition, they would dance and parade in traditional clothes on Christmas, which takes place on January 7th and eat traditional Christmas food. During the winter time, he can be seen wearing a green jacket with a red hat with flaps, meanwhile he wears a green shirt, short khakis, and green and white sneakers in the summer. He tends to pray and meditate regularly and knows how to dice, sauté, and flambé, in addition to having a director's chair with his name on the back in the middle of a gold star. He was raised in a lower middle-class household by a mom who works as a legal secretary and father who works as a corrections officer, he comes from a family that doesn't often express much affection to one another due to the stresses of having to raise 6 additional children, with AJ being the middle child. This causes him in turn to feel overlooked and overshadowed in attention compared to some of his other siblings. His only escapes from his frustrations are video games and the limited time he has to watch television, during which he enjoys watching programs like Friends and the Daily Show despite feeling irritated at having to share the television screen with his many siblings. He cares deeply for his older sister Kate, despite their occasionally tumultuous relationship and her frequent annoyance with him due to his intrusion upon her space. AJ will often go out of the way to protect or defend her if needed and has come to her defense on multiple occasions, most notably in regards to her questionable tastes in men.
A victim of parental neglect, he cares for Rafe deeply, harboring a brotherly bond with him, and greatly values his friendship trio with him and Olivia. A native Long Islander since his parents first emigrated from their homeland, Yugoslavia, a few years before his birth, he speaks with a faint Long Island accent, similarly to his father and his older brother Vlad, that becomes more apparent when he is excited, angered, or triggered. His interests mature significantly as he ages however, as he is the first among his peers to begin to deviate from video games and other childish pursuits and begin to develop long-term goals for the future, such as his aspirations to receive a scholarship to attend a good college and pursue a degree in nuclear engineering. After visiting a nutritionist at his family care physician's encouragement upon being diagnosed with prediabetes, AJ begins to practice clean, healthy eating and lead a less sedentary lifestyle, causing him to lose a total of 53 lbs. and slim down from his weight of 193 at age 14 to a healthier 140. As he begins to engage in more physical activity, his body becomes more noticeably toned and fit, gaining him more female admirers with his newly brawny appearance. His light hair darkens to a rich walnut brown and his voice also begins to deepen by the time he is 16, which many of his friends take note of. His complexion clears up significantly as his diet becomes healthier and he is revealed to have a relatively firm square jawline as his face slims down. AJ is also among the first to experience his sexual awakening as he develops a steady relationship with a smart, down-to-earth student in his class with large brown eyes and long, wavy blonde hair named Savannah Pearce.
The two are considered high school sweethearts, as they remain together for over 3 years during their late adolescence. His friendship and budding romance with Wendy allow him to develop the confidence to stand up for himself and openly voice his opinions as well, helping him set appropriate boundaries between himself and others. As a passive boy who requires a partner to bring him out of his comfort zone, he admires Wendy's blunt, no-nonsense attitude, which he describes as having the ability to "give you the kick in the ass you need to get your shit together". Although life circumstances never quite allow them to pursue a lasting relationship at first, as their feelings were never mutual or reciprocal at the right timing, they gradually mature and begin to date while attending Clarkson University. This leads them to eventually marry in their mid-20s and start a life together in Alexandria, Virginia while pursuing their engineering careers near the nation's capital. Wendy is never able to have kids of her own due to recurrent fertility struggles, yet they nevertheless lead a happy marriage together enjoying each other's company and filling their leisure time with constant travel throughout the US. Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park remains among their favorite destinations to visit in their RV. The two also enjoy spending quality time together during their routine nature hikes and enjoy mountain biking and rock climbing in their free time. AJ tries to perfect a few recipes and makes gibanica, an egg and cheese pie made with filo dough, in addition to eating pljeskavica, a ground beef or pork patty. He and his wife develop an online blog where they share pictures and writings detailing their many travel experiences and consider their dogs, Tinkerbell and Kip to be their children. ISFJ 6w5
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What's in a Name?
RandomThese are the lives and stories of a series of young people and their experiences as they mature and evolve in the outskirts of Valley Stream, Long Island. Although each comes from a distinctive background and place in life, they learn about the fab...
