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cometsweepandleonidsfly · 5 years

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Editor's note: Megan Rapinoe gave her brother, Brian, a birthday shout-out on national TV after winning the 2019 Women's World Cup, the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer and the Golden Ball as its top player. Here is the story behind their complicated relationship.

DAYS BEFORE THE first game of the 2019 Women's World Cup, Brian Rapinoe jokingly texted his sister, Megan Rapinoe -- co-captain and star midfielder for the U.S. women's national team: "Megs, breaks my heart that you couldn't fly me out for an all-expenses-paid trip to France." She shot back: "Oh yeah, so sad I couldn't pamper you for a month in France."

An hour before kickoff against Thailand on June 11, the rest of the Rapinoe family found their seats in the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims; Brian charged his ankle monitor and rounded up the other guys in the dormitory at San Diego's Male Community Reentry Program, a rehabilitative program that allows an inmate to finish the final 12 months of his sentence taking classes or working jobs outside of prison.

The MCRP common room might not be France, but it's a vast improvement over solitary confinement, where Brian has watched Megan play in the previous two World Cups. He sat on a couch in his red USA jersey, watching on a 60-inch flat-screen, and felt "f---ing great." He had accomplished a major goal for himself: to get out of prison in time to watch his kid sister play in her third World Cup.

Every time the U.S. scored, the room full of men cheered loudly. Nobody there thought the U.S.'s 13 goals against Thailand and exuberant celebrations after each were done in poor taste. "This is what soccer should always be like," one man said.

"It's the World Cup: There's no f---ing holding back," 38-year-old Brian says. "This is every four years."

And his sister didn't hold back. When Megan scored goal No. 9 for the U.S., she sprinted to the sideline, spun around twice and then slid to the ground for a foot-kicking celebration. As the camera zoomed in on her, one of the guys yelled, "Holy s---, it's Brian!"

He has the same face as his sister.

The face, the charisma, the wit, the tendency to burst into song: In so many ways, Brian and Megan are alike. But they are also a study in contrasts: At 15 years old, Brian brought meth to school and has been in and out of incarceration ever since. At 15, Megan played with her first youth U.S. national team and started traveling the world. As a young inmate and gang member, Brian was inked with swastika tattoos -- an allegiance to white supremacy that he now disavows; as a professional soccer player, Megan was the first prominent white athlete to kneel to protest racial inequality.

Despite their different paths, the brother and sister have stayed close through letters, phone calls and texts. "I have so much respect for her. And not just because she's the s--- at soccer. It's her utter conviction in the things that she believes in and the stances she takes against injustices in the world," he says.

"I was her hero, but now -- there's no question -- she is mine."

Megan, right, "worshipped" Brian when they were children. Brian, who is five years older, introduced her to soccer early on.

GROWING UP, MEGAN and her twin sister, Rachael, adored Brian. He was their hero, the charismatic jokester who did Jim Carrey and Steve Urkel impressions and danced ridiculous dances. The girls had three other siblings, but he could make them laugh harder than anyone else could. He taught them how to catch crawfish in the creek, walked them to the patch of field across from the church and taught them soccer until his mother called them in with a two-finger whistle. In the side yard, he set up cones and showed his 4-year-old sisters how to dribble the ball -- with the inside of the foot only, with the outside of the foot only, left and then right. "And it wasn't like he drilled them. He let them do it their own way," says his mother, Denise Rapinoe, her voice cracking. "It was just the cutest thing, and we remember it so clearly."

In elementary school, like her brother, Megan was rough and tumble, and spoke her mind. Her second-grade teacher's aide pulled Denise aside to relay the following scene: Megan came in from the playground, walked into the classroom, stood with her arms on her hips and announced, "Brian Rapinoe is my brother, and I am just like him!"

"I worshipped him," Megan says. "He played left wing, so I played left wing. He wore No. 7; I wore No. 7. He got a bowl cut, so I did too."

So when Brian first started smoking marijuana as a 12-year-old, a 7-year-old Megan was confounded. Why was he doing that? Brian still doesn't know for sure. "Right from the start, I was hooked," he says. "One drug always led to the next." He was also attracted to the "fast life," he says, to getting high, to driving nice cars and to the "hype around this lifestyle." She wanted him to stop, and she was still young enough to think there was something she could do. Three years later, when her parents sat her and Rachael down and told them the police had arrested Brian for bringing meth to school, she cried. He was going to juvenile detention. She did not understand: What had happened to her big brother?

"For many years, Megan and Rachael were pissed as hell," Brian says. "They still loved me, they still let me know they were there for me, but they were like, 'What the f--- are you doing?'"

"My mother is the queen of the family," Brian, left, says of Denise Rapinoe, right. "I just love her so much. I'm such a baby when it comes to her."

BY 18 YEARS OLD, Brian had moved on to harder drugs -- heroin, specifically -- and he became more reckless. He was charged with car theft, evading arrest and a hit-and-run while driving under the influence of drugs -- and now, as an adult, his juvenile detention days were over. He was sent to prison. Within months, he aligned himself with the white prison gang and was inked with Nazi tattoos. A swastika on his palm; lightning bolts on his fingers, sides and calves

These tattoos devastated his family. "The prejudice, the racism -- it was so against the way he'd been raised," Denise says. "He wasn't that kind of kid. He was kind, his nature was so loving."

To Brian, the swastikas weren't about prejudice and racism at that point -- they were about heroin and survival. To support his addiction, he needed to be, in his words, "an active participant in prison culture." The California prison system was segregated. That meant Brian lived strictly among the white population. "You come in as a kid, and there are these older dudes you think you respect, spouting ideas, and you kind of listen," Brian says. "I developed a protect-your-own mentality."

He tried to explain that to his mother. The gang was a family, he said; it was a place to belong. "I told him, 'This is not who we are,'" Denise says. "'This is not who you are.'"

Megan was as heartbroken as her mother. "I thought [the tattoos] were horrible," she says. "I still think they're horrible. I could rationalize them: I understood that when he first got in there, he was searching for identity, trying to survive."

But the big brother she had worshipped? It felt like she had lost him.

As a young player on the U19 U.S. women's national team, Megan wore the No. 7 jersey. It was the number Brian wore when he played soccer.

BRIAN BECAME HEAVILY involved in gang life and racked up charges while doing time: possession of drugs, possession of a deadly weapon, three assaults on other white inmates. He spent eight of his 16 years in prison in solitary confinement for this behavior. By 2007 -- as he was turning 27 years old -- he was transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern California, the state's only super-max-security prison.

While general population is segregated, solitary confinement is not, and every inmate gets one hour out of his cell to walk the pod. Here, the protect-your-own thinking began to fall away for Brian. "You start relating to people beyond your hood, your area, your color," he says. "It doesn't take long before you start talking with each other, seeing how much you have in common. Back there, it's just you in the cell, and the man next to you is just a man himself."

There's no radio, no television in the individual cells in the hole. Sitting in a cement box, counting the number of holes in the perforated door is "hard; it's definitely hard," he says. "But you find a way to escape. You've got books, you've got writing, some guys draw. And you develop these relations with other people, these connections."

Three times a week, inmates also get three hours outside, albeit in his own cage. "In the yard, you start talking [to other guys] -- sports, music, my sister is always a big ice-breaking conversation. You say [to them], 'When we go back in from yard, you can look at my pictures,' or you say, 'Here's something I wrote.' Maybe you become good friends -- like me and Monster did."

Monster, also known as Sanyika Shakur, is a black nationalist and the author of the bestseller, Monster: Autobiography of an LA Gang Member. He and Brian were on the same pod for two years. Using a line and a weight, they'd send each other long letters from cell to cell, fishing for them beneath the doors. Brian shared the song lyrics he wrote; Monster let him read drafts of his articles and essays. For years, Brian had been a serious reader, consuming everything from the classics, to books about social issues. He'd read The New Jim Crow and learned about how police disproportionately search black men and arrest them for nonviolent drug offenses, and how the War on Drugs decimated communities of color.

"He taught me what it means to be racist," Brian says, "and he taught me what it means not to be racist."

By 2010, the now 30-year-old had a new understanding of what the white supremacist insignias represented. He had his face tattoos lasered off. The swastika on his palm became a spider web; the Nazi lightning bolts became skulls. He did not want any racial insignias on his skin. They did not reflect who he was. But he was still using heroin -- and the next year, he was arrested for selling it.

Brian was behind bars once again -- this time at Donovan State Prison in San Diego.

When Megan scored in the 2011 Women's World Cup against Colombia, she seized the moment and sang Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" -- something, people say, Brian would do.

IN JUNE 2011, Brian had something new to talk about during his hour walking the pod: His little sister was playing in her first World Cup -- and he was going to get everybody to watch.

The 15-inch television was at the other end of the hallway, some 50 yards away. He built a tower out of 60 books and tied them together with torn sheets. Sitting on top of it, he could just see the TV through the window in the door. In an early game against Colombia, Megan roped in a goal, then immediately sprinted to the corner flag, grabbed a cameraman's mic and sang Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA." The guys got a kick out of this because Brian was the singer on the pod, and this flamboyant corner-flag serenade was so like him.

Days later, ahead of the quarterfinals against Brazil, all 30 cells on top and all 30 cells on bottom were watching, everybody perched at their doors. Megan -- young and audacious with her signature short blonde hair -- subbed in at the end of the game, and in extra time, sure enough -- boom! -- she sent a 50-yard cross-field ball to U.S. forward Abby Wambach, who headed it home to tie the game. "We were going wild," Brian says. "We were yelling and pounding on the doors."

Later that night, on the prison pay phone, Brian talked with his mom. She described the end of the game, how Megan, having just experienced the craziest, most awesome moment of her life, walked to the stands and stood there, searching through the some 20,000 faces for her mom's. Denise put her two index fingers in her mouth and let out her trademark whistle -- the same whistle she had used when they were kids. She had to do it a second and then a third time before Megan could hear her. Megan tapped her ear. "She was letting me know she heard me," Denise told Brian at the time, choking up -- which made Brian choke up a little, too. He could imagine it.

"Not being there -- it hurt," Brian says.

Another four years passed. This time he was in solitary confinement because of his violent record at the Vista Detention Facility, a lower-security prison, in San Diego County -- and Megan was headed to Canada for her second World Cup. The women would end up winning it all, the first time the team had done so since 1999.

"That was the hardest," Brian says. "I was super happy for Megs and super sad for myself. I fricking love my family so much. They were all there. It was like, f---, man, I'm like not really even a part of this. Yeah, I got a lot of support for her in prison, but when the game is over and the ruckus has died down, I'm sitting in my cell. I'm not there to give her a hug, I'm not there to witness it, I'm not there to be a part of it. It's just another thing in their lives that I'm missing out on. What the f--- am I doing with my life?"

Brian was almost 35 years old. He had spent more than half of his adult life incarcerated.

After Megan kneeled during the anthem in 2016, a former prisonmate called Brian to commend her actions. "What your sister is doing -- it means so much," said Sanyika Shakur, a black nationalist. "She is standing up for people who don't have a voice."

ON SEPT. 1, 2016, when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial profiling, Brian was briefly out of prison -- although he was still using heroin. Three days later, Megan kneeled in support while playing for her club team, the Seattle Reign. Then, while playing for the U.S., she did it again.

Brian saved the newspaper article with the picture of her solemn, angled-down face. He watched the YouTube videos of the coverage. He thought, Hell yeah. He also read the comments: "If she was on my team, I'd knock this idiot out. She should be banned from the national squad for life. Such disrespect." He understood that she would anger people, understood the impending fallout. He knew that enrollment in her summer camps and sales of her clothing brand, Be Your Best You, would go down. He thought, My sister is brave; my sister is bad ass.

Like every time before, Brian's freedom proved to be short-lived. By July 2017, he was back up north in Pelican Bay. Back to the regimented, day-to-day prison routine. Where tomorrow is the same as today. His whole life had been a habitual rut; Megan's anthem protest felt like the opposite of that. Her stance showed him there is a way to put a foot down on something in life, in spite of the fallout that will come.

Not long after, he had a breakthrough. His cellmate was helping him inject heroin into the back of his neck when the needle broke. "I freaked out on him, really lost it," Brian says. "And he said to me, 'Look at how you are acting right now.'" And for whatever reason, those words torpedoed into Brian and transformed into personal questions he asked himself. Your whole happiness and peace of mind is focused on this dirty-ass hypodermic needle: Is this what you want? Do you want this cell and this bulls--- powerful persona to be all you are?

He thought about the seven murders he'd witnessed out on the yard. He thought about his own knife fights -- about everything he'd done and been a part of -- just so he could continue to do heroin. He thought about Megan. Look at all she's done with her life -- look at what you've done with yours.

That's when he finally decided he was ready for change. He enrolled in the new self-improvement and rehabilitation classes the California prison system had begun to offer. Each completed class reduced time from his sentence.

Most importantly, after using and selling drugs for 24 years, Brian quit -- and he's been clean for 18 months.

"If I do drugs," he says, "I will go back to prison. I didn't believe that for a long time. Now, I believe that -- I don't ever want to go back."

Shortly before his first day of school at San Diego Community College, Brian met up with a friend from Pelican Bay, Cesar, who is also taking classes. "From the Bay to the books," Brian says. "I am so stoked to begin."

TODAY IS BRIAN'S first day at San Diego City College. As part of the Male Community Reentry Program, he's taking classes to finish up the final year of his sentence, and he has some butterflies. "It's been a long time since I've gone to school -- even when I was in school, it was juvenile hall -- I've never taken anything except regular math. I've never even taken algebra.

Plus, he says, it's a little unnerving to sit in a classroom with 18-year-olds whose experiences have been drastically different from his own. He's self-conscious about his tattoos -- particularly his neck tattoo, SHASTA, inscribed in large gothic letters, the name of the county in which he grew up. "These tattoos, I freaking hate them," Brian says.

But he also knows those tattoos could matter again in the future. He wants to get involved in the juvenile delinquency program, wants to talk to anybody who might be about to jump off the same ledge he did. "These tattoos, it's gonna get their attention," he says. "It's like, dude, you don't think I know what I'm talking about?

"I want to make a difference," he says. "I want to be like Megan."

He had "a really fricking deep conversation" with her about two months ago. They talked about racial profiling; they talked about police brutality; they talked about what Megan's kneeling meant to both of them. Megan saw that in spite of their very different paths, they'd arrived at similar conclusions.

"My brother is special," Megan says. "He has so much to offer. It would be such a shame if he left this world with nothing but prison sentences behind him. To be able to have him out, and to play for him, and to have him healthy, with this different perspective that he has now: This is like the best thing ever."

While Megan is in France, she and Brian text daily -- with game thoughts, encouragement and shared excitement.

"This is one of the most exciting things I can even remember ... just everything really, you, the school, the program," Brian texts.

She replies: "People always ask me what got me into soccer ... your wild ass of course."

"Luckily I played a cool sport. What if I'd been into arm-wrestling or something."

"Oh lawd, yea you really set me up."

"Get some sleep -- love you."

"Lovee you Bri! Let's f---ing go!"

-- Freelance writer Gwendolyn Oxenham is the author of Under the Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women's Soccer.

#megan rapinoe #espn #uswnt #us women’s soccer #women’s world cup

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marcherarrant · 6 years

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Hey Marcher! I'm following you on Instagram and as we couldn't meet in the Pyrenees for a chat, there's something I'd love to know. I'm a cataphile, and as such I always wonder what's behind the wall; what's the part we can't see; who's Marcher? How can you afford your trips? Do you also sell your art for a living? I wonder because you seem to be so free from everything, but money isn't easy to free ourselves from! Thanks man!

Yo what’s up cataphile brother/sister! It’s a good question. I’m actually very bound by money and it stresses me out quite a bit. I get money by selling art but mainly by teaching English and nannying and babysitting as well as cleaning houses. These are great jobs if you want to travel because you work under the table and don’t need a visa. You can do it anywhere too. I get 10 to 15 euros an hour for this work. I live very cheap too. The last year I managed to not pay rent! It was a mix between squatting (7 months), being homeless (3 months) and living rent free with a friend (2 months). Being homeless while working is an amazing way to save money. But I saved good with a place too. You just have to find a cheap place and have roommates. I was paying 250 a month before and making a thousand a month. I purposely live very minimally too. I don’t drink or smoke. I don’t eat at restaurants. I don’t smoke weed or habitually do drugs. I don’t have a car or insurance. I don’t have a social life. Don’t go to clubs or concerts. I’m not saving for the future. Another really important thing for me is that through searching and reading a lot I have created a certain ethos behind what I do. I have my heroes and inspirations. I even have my soundtrack. “Man does not live on bread alone.” I have found a way to make this lifestyle of mine very meaningful to me. These may be the most important things that help me. They give me strength when things are so hard, when I’m so poor and hungry and worried what the hell am I going to do if I get sick. I know I will die broke and alone. Nobody wants this kind of life. But I find strength through these fears when I think about my heros such as Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Vaschel Lindsay, Diogenes the Cynic, Bulkington, Mildred Norman etc. They all died poor and alone too. But they inspired me, made me feel life is something most fucking awesome and that’s amazing, that’s what I need and want. That’s what I was searching for all my life, to feel that. So they give me strength to face the fears society has given me for not following the normal life. I have poems that give me strength “...not to autumn will I yield...not to winter even (Bitch!!!!! The Vagabond by Robert Louis Stevenson is hands down the most badass of all mother fucking tramp poems holy fuck!!!! On the Road to Nowhere by Vachel Lindsay is a close second!). I have my tramp songs, folk songs, bluegrass and folk punk which give me strength. Songs that speak of travel and adventure and also about being lonely and poor. Sun Don’t Shine by Profane Sass. Lay Me Down by 2nd Street Rag Stompers. Freight Train by Elizabeth Cotton. Hitched Up Kids by Rosa. Wait at Milano by Tim Barry. Of course books have helped me immensely. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche I have read so many times. The mother fucking essay titled Walking by Henry David Thoreau!!! “Not chevaliers, not Ritters or Riders, but Walkers, a still more ancient and honorable class, I trust. The Chivalric and heroic spirit which once belonged to the Rider seems now to reside in, or perchance to have subsided into, the Walker–not the Knight, but Walker, Errant. He is a sort of fourth estate, outside of Church and State and People.” Fuck that’s good!!! Also the Book Erring by Mark C Taylor! I read that book more than any other. Anyway, all of this gives me a mythos, an ethos, a belief system of sorts, a community, and all this works together to give me meaning and strength. This is perhaps what keeps me going no matter what. It is what enables me to go through discomforts and face fears that most are not willing to.

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beings-from-the-otherworld · 6 years

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OC Summaries (revised)

I’ve decided to revise the post with the information about each of my OCs, especially since when I posted it, I’ve changed some of the character’s names and races. I’ve also made a better summary to the story I am writing.

The summary of the story is this: Siblings Alex and Robbie have lived with their grandparents for two years, after an incident that involved their parents occurred, and have often wondered why haven't they learned of their grandparents before from their mother...and what's with all the locked rooms in the mansion they're not allowed to go into, the locked shelf of books they're not allowed to read and the questions they're not allowed to ask. They find the answers to these questions one night, when their grandparents are out of the house and a mysterious being invades the mansion and attacks them. What are their grandparents' histories, who are these strange beings that keep showing up and trying to kill them, and what is this Otherworld that they keep mentioning?

And now information about each of the characters.

First, the human characters:

Samuel Verrat: Robbie and Rikku’s grandfather, who is a very level-headed and respectful man. Nobody knows where exactly he came from or how he and Beast got together, and that’s not the only secret he’s hiding.

Beast Wagner: Robbie and Rikku’s other grandfather, who is Samuel’s husband. He has some facial scars that he claimed he got in a “war”. What war it was, he never told his grandkids, and it doesn’t seem like he will anytime soon. He has a very high IQ and has knowledge of world history and cultures. He also tends to be very temperamental.

Alex Verrat-Wagner: A 6-year-old who is mostly innocent, if not a bit naive. She’s very sweet and caring of her family and friends, and is very enthusiastic about learning. She loves hanging around her grandparents, but it never dawned on her to question Samuel and Beast’s family history and why their mother never mentioned their existence to her or Robbie.

Robbie Verrat Wagner: A 16-year-old boy who is striving to make it in his teenage social life, such as by trying to have a lot of interesting friends and being great at a lot of things. So far, he’s had the people that he lives with on his list of “interesting friends” and using being a loner as being a thing he’s “great” at, but he still wants to have some sort of adventure. Maybe like one of the ones his grandfathers hide from him and Alex.

Darrian Jones: A woman who lives in the city far away from where the mansion is and is a friend of Zara’s. Darrian is a very strong-minded and proud woman who would do anything to keep her son safe, but she can be a tad strict at times.She is proud that Skylar is informed about social justice movements, but she’s worried that he might get into trouble because of it someday.

Skylar Jones: An 8-year-old boy who lives in the city and is Alex’s best friend. Skylar is also very big on human rights activism, especially Black Lives Matter, and he will not hesitate to call someone out when they’re being offensive to a marginalized group. He really likes hanging around the Otherworld beings, mostly Broker.

Clayton Jones: Darrian’s older brother, and Skylar’s uncle. He’s a pretty cool guy who can get along with pretty much anyone. He was aware of Darrian and Skylar visiting a “house that’s very far away from the city” where some friends live, but he’s never been to the mansion. When he does, he’s very taken aback by the Otherworld beings but he gets used to the chaos very quickly and sometimes helps the people fit into the Human World better.

Constantine Alvarez: A Cuban man who is a very enthusiastic and kind-hearted. He cares a lot about his wife, daughter, and friends. However, every now and then, he and his best friend, Ivan like to pull jokes on other people, and he can be a bit of a smartass sometimes, which drives Beast insane.

Zara Alvarez: A very loving and kind woman who almost always has a very sweet smile on her face. She rarely gets angry, but according to Constantine, her husband, when she is, she’s kind of scary. She also tends to be a little blunt with her opinions on things, which can be kind of painful since she seems like such a nice lady. Her biological daughter is Leah, but she treats Robbie and Alex like they were her own kids ever since they moved in, mostly because she feels bad about what happened to their mom.

Leah Alvarez: Constantine and Zara’s 18 year old daughter, who is very smart and cool, but she has a big of a sassy attitude and a bit of sarcastic sense of humor sometimes, something she probably inherited from her father. She is pretty protective of Robbie and Alex, since they’re like the younger siblings she’s never had.

Ivan Azarov: A Russian hacker, robotics expert and a bit of an inventor, Ivan came to America after Samuel discovered him after an incident involving a Russian robotics lab (though he won’t say what). Ivan is a goodhearted man despite his hacking hobby and he’ll help his friends when he has to, but he can be a big of a joker, usually assisted by his best friend, Constantine. He has a husband named Frederick Wage and a little daughter named Carina.

Frederick Wage: A British man who is very skilled in hacking. Frederick is a very dignified and friendly person, but he can kind of lose it when he’s angry or his anxiety’s through the roof, which is usually caused by someone doing something stupid or crazy, but he’s getting used to it. He has a little daughter named Carina, who he’s very protective of.

Carina Azarov-Wage: Ivan and Frederick’s 2 year old daughter, who they adopted not long after getting married. She’s a very sweet little girl who loves stuffed animals and knows a few Russian words from Ivan, specifically ‘da’, ‘nyet’ and a few curse words, much to Frederick’s chagrin.

And now for all the non-human characters!

Bog the Ampman: An Ampman is an amphibian-human being. Bog is a very amiable person, who offers his friends advice when they need it and answers any questions regarding biology that they have. He was a very respected scientist from Ampman Country in the Otherworld, so when he came to the Human World, he was very interested in studying the environments. He has a Nigerian accent and knows Hausa.

José the Playa: A Playa is a being that appears human but is slightly stronger than that of a normal human’s and has an strong immune system that can protect against a lot of STDs. José is a very outgoing man who cares a great deal about his friends’ well-beings, especially Broker, who he has a crush on. He is also very informed on the concepts of sex, reproductive health, sexuality and gender orientation, since sex education is taken very seriously in Playa City, where he’s from. He has the appearance of being Latino and knows Spanish.

Jane the Nymph: A Nymph is a human-looking being that wields a music instrument as a weapon, whether they use it to bludgeon their enemy to death or use the supersonic sound mode to blow their foe away. Their type depends on what genre of music they’re involved with and what instrument they play. Jane is a Rock n Roll Nymph with an electric guitar. Jane is a very bubbly lady who loves her friends and is always eager to learn new things about them and the Human World. Despite appearances, Jane is ready to kick anyone’s ass when they deserve it. She has long curly blonde hair, brown skin and bright blue eyes.

Broker the Loaner: A Loaner is a human-looking being that’s culture is mostly built around wealth, which can either be attained by mining or stealing. What differentiates Loaners from Humans is the fact that they all have super speed when it comes to running and thought-processing, so they’re quick physically and mentally. There is a caste system in Loaner Valley, where Broker is at the bottom, a Brown-neck, signified by a brown bandanna tied around his neck, meaning he’s the poorest, takes the least, and treated badly by the upper caste levels. He is very caring of his friends and always tries to do what he can to help them, though most of the time he doesn’t use the best method to do it. When he’s in the Human World, he’s surprised that they have a similar classism problem in their society like back in Loaner valley, but he’s even more surprised that people judge others based on their skin color more than their wealth, which doesn’t make sense to him since he’s used to being mocked for being poor rather than for being what humans say is “black”. Skylar does his best to explain what social injustice in the Human World is to Broker whenever he can. Broker is also a trans male.

Beatrice the Goth: A Goth is like a Nymph but the music genres they all play are mostly forms of goth rock, metal and punk. They broke away from the Nymphs centuries ago and became their own race, residing in Goth Grounds. Beatrice is a Punk Goth with a bass guitar. She’s a very bitter and blunt woman, and prefers to be by herself most of the time. Beatrice doesn’t show it, but she does have a soft spot for her friends and would fight anyone that would try to hurt them, especially Jane. She has the appearance of being Latino.

Kiowa the Askarian: An Askarian is a bit of a warrior race that is very skilled in fighting and hunting and well-known for their superhuman strength Kiowa is a very strong Askarian soldier, but he doesn’t let his strength go to his head. He has a lot of respect for his friends. Kiowa also has a pet micro-bunny (A bunny that’s the size of a 9-month old rabbit) a named Crooked-Ear, who’s been his companion ever since he was a kid and Crooked-Ear was the size of a cotton ball. Kiowa also has a lover back home named Sallali, or Sal, who he loves talking about and misses a great deal. He has the appearance of being indigenous.

Catty the Aristocrat: An Aristocrat is a very wealthy race that have very fancy lifestyle. They got their riches from mining, textiles, jewelry and other forms of production and they’re very proud of it. Catty is a very well-mannered and sweet lady, but that doesn’t mean she won’t act out when someone upsets her or one of her friends. She has a plus-size figure, which is common for Aristocrat women, but she dislikes how most humans seem to associate being fat with being ugly. Catty is also a brilliant baker, so she helps Alex and Skylar with making cookies or cupcakes when they need them for a class party or bake sale.

Platinum-Teeth the Tough-Tooth: A Tough-Tooth is a race of people who are known for three things: their large size, both height and weight-wise; their ability to use a large ax in combat; and having metallic teeth, hence their name. Platinum-Teeth has platinum teeth, hence his name, but he mostly goes by the name of Platinum. Despite his scary appearance, he is very level-headed and kind, not to mention very philosophical. He gives his friends advice when they need it and whatever wisdom he has to offer, which usually helps fix a situation that occurs. He tries to figure out if there’s a way to solve a problem logically, before anyone, mostly Nightshade, has the chance to do anything that worsen it.

Wimpy the Weakling: A Weakling is a human-like being with pale white skin and pastel or light colored hair. For instance, Wimpy has light green. They also tend to have very small frames and are generally low in strength, but their running speed is equivalent to that of a Loaner’s, which is good since they’re more so flighters than fighters. Weaklings also have this weird birthmark on their forehead, which is some sort of symmetrical shape, like a star in Wimpy’s case. Like most Weaklings, Wimpy has the worst anxiety and gets easily nervous and stutters a lot. He is a very sweet guy and he means well, but sometimes, it’s hard for the others to take him seriously. Since he’s moved into the mansion, some of the others, especially Kiowa, Platinum, and Jane have tried motivating Wimpy to get stronger and learn to cope with his anxiety better so he’ll feel more comfortable when he’s staying with the others.

Wolf the Werewolf: A Werewolf is a canine-human beings. (but you probably could figure that out) But these werewolves are pretty different from the ones we’re more familiar with. They usually appear as humans with canine ears, tails, sharper teeth, and claws instead of normal nails, and they’re very hairy regardless of what gender they are. They have a more monstrous form that resembles what we expect werewolves to look like which they use in combat and can also morph into full wolf forms. Wolf is a very tough werewolf, but he does have a bit of a temper and tends to try to avoid most problems his friends have,though he’s hardly ever successful. Despite his aggressive attitude, he cares a great deal about his friends. He is also sensitive to extremely loud noises, like thunder and fireworks, since he is after all part dog.

Florence the Fairy: A Fairy is a human-like being with insect-like wings, ranging from butterfly to housefly, that have power over magic, mostly of the elemental and healing sort. Florence is very serious and distinguished, getting easily annoyed whenever someone does anything stupid or annoy him…or both. Florence thinks of himself as being better than any of the other non-human world residents, thinking of himself as perfect and flawless, which isn’t true. He tends to get easily irritated and be very judgmental towards others. Florence can be nice to his friends sometimes, but it takes a lot to get his respect. Nezo and Nightshade still have yet to earn this.

Nezo the Shadow: A Shadow is a being that looks human, save one thing-they all have black hair and black skin, and when I say black skin, I mean black like a shadow you see when it’s sunny out, hence their race’s name. They use a form of dark magic and each have odd colored eyes, which are said to represent their personalities. For instance, Nezo has yellow eyes, which means he’s quick-witted, confidant, playful, enthusiastic, and easy-going, which he can be sometimes. However, yellow also describes dishonesty, jealousy, covetousness, and treachery, which also describes Nezo well. He tends to be a bit of a prankster, mostly picking on Florence and Wimpy, but when he’s not messing with people, he likes to sit back and relax, or have a friendly chat with the other people in the mansion, mostly Gloomy.

Gloomy the Alkristal: An Alkristal is a being that can have a variety of skin, hair and eye colors, usually associated with a gem or mineral color of some sort, like Gloomy has light blue skin, baby blue hair, and sky blue eyes. They also have crystalline wings that they can make appear and disappear and a form of light alchemy. Gloomy’s real name is Gloomstone, but lets the others call him Gloomy for short. Gloomy appears to be a very smart, respectful and content man, who helps his friends when they need it, cares about their well-being, and tries to make sure that none of them are feeling down. However, Gloomy himself as gone through some episodes of depression, where he isolates himself from the others for the whole day, which concerns the others, especially Nezo.

Abigail the Werecat: A Werecat is a feline-like person, who all have cat ears, whiskers, tails, and claws for nails, similar to a Werewolf. However, unlike Werewolves, Werecats tend to be a cat-person of a particular feline species, like Abigail is an Ocelot. She’s a very excitable and out-going person that just loves to get on everyone’s nerves. She tends to be a little sassy and enjoys poking fun at the other residents of the mansion, even when it’s probably not necessary. She and her best friend, Nightshade, like to play pranks on everyone and have a lot of good and happy fun together. However, Abigail also has some bad anxiety, which tends to cause her to be twitchy and stammer a lot whenever it acts up. She has a difficult time calming down alone and someone has to be around her whenever she gets like this to be sure that she’s okay. Aside from the cat features, she has the appearance of being Latinx.

Nightshade the Malopix: A Malopix is a being that is like a fairy, except they don’t have wings and their powers are mostly dark. They use the elements, like fairies, telekinesis, which can allow them to levitate objects and themselves, and can apparently manipulate death. Nightshade is a very energetic and overly excitable guy who adores pulling pranks on his friends, especially horror-themed pranks, with the help of his BFF Abigail, and tends to do the most ridiculous stunts. He seems to be very happy all the time, but there are moments where he goes through an episode of depression, which usually renders him inactive for awhile. His depressing episodes are very rare, but when he had his first one around the other people living in the mansion, the other residents were very surprised. He has gray skin, coily white hair and purple eyes.

#ocs #original characters

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