Jacob "Styx" Graves (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tothemetal) wrote2020-06-18 10:20 pm
tothemetal) wrote2020-06-18 10:20 pm
Entry tags:
aefenglom app;;
Player Information
Name: Len
Age: 27
Other Characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Jacob "Styx" Graves
Canon: Original
Canon Point: Two years after he joined his band.
Age: 20
History:
content warning! Styx's history section contains a brief mention of abortion.
Styx's world is relatively similar to our own - technology is more advanced in some areas, such as transportation and biology, but no more than thirty years or so. The city he lives in (Eddan) is fictional, an island situated in the New York/New England region that was created as a 'model city' of sorts and has some degree of autonomy from the mainland. While there are some minor supernatural elements in this universe, they generally remain undetected beneath the surface - and don't effect Styx at all at his current canon point.
Styx himself was born Jacob Graves, in the red light district of the city that he would spend most of his life in. His mother was heavily addicted to drugs and often slept with people in exchange for another hit, leading to her (and Styx, by extension) having no idea of who the father of her child could be. After discovering she was pregnant and failing to acquire an abortion she resigned herself to Styx's birth and made at least a cursory attempt to stop using as heavily during her pregnancy. She fed and clothed him but was frequently absent and constantly distant; this has led Styx to retain no memories of her whatsoever, not even of her appearance.
When Styx was four she overdosed in the middle of the night; initially unaware of her death and simply assuming she was passed out on the sofa (a common occurrence), the young boy spent the morning watching television with her body in the room. It was only when he attempted to wake her for lunch that he realized something was wrong, prompting him to alert their landlady who subsequently called the police. This moment still weighs heavily on Styx's heart, who finds it proof that something is inherently wrong with him.
Miriam, their landlady, had watched Styx grow up and knew that a child like him would be lost in the foster system at best and irreparably broken at worst. Unwilling to let the boy suffer any more than he already had, she convinced one of the officers she was friendly with to unofficially surrender him over to her care. While her age and preexisting responsibilities prevented her from providing Styx with everything he needed, his 'auntie' - as he lovingly referred to her - was still a source of love and stability all the way through his adulthood.
School proved difficult for Styx. Not only did he struggle academically, but his rapid physical growth often left him towering over his classmates - a lethal combination that made him an easy target for bullies. The constant stream of negative attention from both children and frustrated teachers alike eventually grew too much for even his docile heart to bear, and soon after the start of sixth grade he dropped out of school completely. Around this time he gave himself the nickname "Styx", taken from the pages of a Greek mythology book he'd been given as a grade schooler.
At fifteen his relatively uneventful life took a turn for the worse when the 'friends' he was hanging out with one day decided to stop at a local deli to pick up some snacks, leaving Styx to wait outside for them as he hadn't brought any money. In actuality the boys intended to rob the store, and when the alarms sounded Styx was swept up in the ensuing stampede to freedom, unaware of what had happened and terrified when the police apprehended them all.
With no real loyalty to the boy they'd been using more as a gopher than a companion, the would-be thieves were only all too eager to take the plea deal offered by authorities and paint Styx as the one wielding the gun in exchange for a reduced sentence. Bewildered and too naive to understand what was happening, Styx continued to insist upon his innocence and was ultimately sentenced to a year in a juvenile detention center.
His time in the center was less than pleasant, as his hulking physical stature once again made him the target of those seeking to improve their own reputations. Quickly realizing that the boy was too meek to fight back, Styx became something of a rite of initiation for new boys looking to prove their worth; thrashing someone nearly twice their size in a public enough locale was often enough to keep themselves from becoming potential victims in the center's delicate hierarchy. Styx himself, having long had his opinion of his own worth beaten into nonexistence, saw this as his being able to help the other boys and found peace in knowing that his pain at least meant he was being useful for once.
Although Miriam had never once turned away from her adopted child, Styx himself felt that it was no longer right to live with her once his sentence had been served. He saw himself as an even bigger problem than ever, a weight that would pull his auntie down one way or the other, and so spent the next six months bouncing from one couch to another until he could find an apartment of his own in the seedy neighborhood.
During this time and after, he'd begun to help out part time at a local music store, mostly lifting heavy equipment in exchange for both cash and the chance to use some of the instruments himself. In this way Styx began to teach himself how to play the drums, occasionally listening in on the lessons being conducted in the building, falling more and more in love with it as time went on. Although he never saw himself as such he was immensely talented on the drums - and one day he caught the eye of a boy visiting the store while fooling around on one of the new sets.
Vincent was a surly young man looking to start a black metal band, and he approached Styx with the intention of recruiting him whether he was amenable or not...not that the big guy needed much convincing to sign on. A bassist, Ymir, was added not long after, and The Mouth of the Dragon was formed. They play mostly in underground clubs, although Vincent (their 'fearless leader') has no real interest in becoming commercially successful despite how well their performances are received. His only desire is to continue to play music, a sentiment which his bandmates all share in their own way.
Two years after the band's inception, a rash of gruesome murders hit the city, and authorities instituted a strict nighttime curfew in an attempt to keep the population safe as they attempt to track down this dangerous serial killer...but thankfully for Styx, his canon point is taken a bit before he or his friends get mixed up in all that mess.
Personality:
Styx is an incredibly simple person to understand: his heart is big, and his head is empty. Although he isn't nearly as stupid as most people assume him to be because of his size, the unfortunate truth is that in many ways he's extremely light on brains. Academics of any kind have always posed a major challenge for him, and even outside of heavy intellectual lifting it doesn't take particularly much to confuse him.
This weakness is exacerbated by the fact that Styx is both extremely trusting and gullible. Despite having been treated poorly by most of the world his entire life, he sees no reason to distrust someone and approaches everyone with the same open friendliness. He'll believe nearly anything told to him with a serious expression, leading to comical problems - he's extremely susceptible to rumors, no matter how wild - as well as darker consequences.
Because of his trusting nature, it's very easy for Styx to be used. Although not aware of every instance, he's experienced this throughout his entire life; most of the 'friends' he's had, especially in childhood, have in actuality been people only interested in keeping him around as an errand boy and source of cheap, cruel laughs. Even on the rare occasion that he realizes he's been had, he never harbors any ill will towards the people who've take advantage of him. In his mind he's at least been useful, which is all he can ever hope for in his life and is something to feel happy about.
Although he's a cheerful, easygoing guy, not so far beneath the surface lies a host of deeply entrenched insecurities. Having been bullied his entire life over the same traits and characteristics, Styx has come to believe that his tormentors are right - he's nothing more than a massive, hulking idiot, unable to do anything right and a complete burden to those around him on the best days.
While this caused him a great deal of anguish in his early teen years, at this point in his life Styx has come to terms with his perceived uselessness and made peace with that fact. In his mind the best he can do is mitigate the negative impact he has on others by making his presence as small as possible, both physically and in relationships. He frequently apologizes for becoming too enthusiastic or getting in the way, whether he actually has or not. Despite this he still views his life as a good one, and looks forward to every new day with the same quiet optimism.
This is because for all his failings as a person, real and imagined, Styx is incredibly resilient. He's weathered everything life's thrown at him with a smile on his face, never once wavering in the way he looked at the world with gratitude. Even his darkest points were events he could recall fondly, able to find something good that had stemmed from even such things as his unjust incarceration or the passing of his mother.
The trials he's passed through have made his already tender heart especially compassionate, naturally compelling him to put everyone's happiness - both human and otherwise - above his own. He's quick to become attached and even quicker to cry, usually accompanied by another apology. Despite his self-admitted dullness Styx is in fact incredibly savvy when it comes to emotions, able to pick up on the feelings of those around himself intuitively and with startling accuracy, even if he can't always express that understanding.
Having spent so much time with nothing to look forward to despite his positive attitude, Styx is constantly striving to keep other people from tasting that same sorrow. Bullying is one of the few ways to incite him into aggressive action; while he still allows anyone with such an inclination to push him around, doing so to another person will unfailingly cause him to step in with surprising assertiveness. He's happy to take blows meant for others so long as it means keeping people safe, and for those he cherishes as close friends he'd lay down his own life without a second (or first) thought.
Abilities & Skills:
While possessing absolutely no supernatural/otherworldly abilities, Styx is a big boy - 6'8", and nearly as wide, or so it feels. He's extremely muscular and powerful, albeit within the realm of a human being, able to lift most heavy objects with ease and do quite a bit of damage once finally provoked into a fight. While he doesn't like to engage physically with people, he can hold his own and is surprisingly fast for someone of his size, making it rather unwise to push him to the point of lashing out.
He is also an absolute demon on the drums, having been playing for years at this point, and is also a very nice singer to boot! ...even if he mostly uses it for metal growling.
Inventory/Companions:
Thankfully even Styx can't carry an entire drum set around with him - although he does have his sticks on him. He also has his (now useless) phone, a wallet full of (also useless) cash and a train pass, a few unhealthy snack bags, a bottle of water, and several folders full of music scores.
Choice: Witch.
Reason: Styx is not academically gifted in the least, and has grown up being told he was completely brainless by nearly everyone in his life. It'll be funny to watch him struggle to master magic because of this, but will also provide him a good opportunity to become more confident in himself.
Sample: A fourth wall network post from Aef, and an action thread from the same event.
Name: Len
Age: 27
Other Characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Jacob "Styx" Graves
Canon: Original
Canon Point: Two years after he joined his band.
Age: 20
History:
content warning! Styx's history section contains a brief mention of abortion.
Styx's world is relatively similar to our own - technology is more advanced in some areas, such as transportation and biology, but no more than thirty years or so. The city he lives in (Eddan) is fictional, an island situated in the New York/New England region that was created as a 'model city' of sorts and has some degree of autonomy from the mainland. While there are some minor supernatural elements in this universe, they generally remain undetected beneath the surface - and don't effect Styx at all at his current canon point.
Styx himself was born Jacob Graves, in the red light district of the city that he would spend most of his life in. His mother was heavily addicted to drugs and often slept with people in exchange for another hit, leading to her (and Styx, by extension) having no idea of who the father of her child could be. After discovering she was pregnant and failing to acquire an abortion she resigned herself to Styx's birth and made at least a cursory attempt to stop using as heavily during her pregnancy. She fed and clothed him but was frequently absent and constantly distant; this has led Styx to retain no memories of her whatsoever, not even of her appearance.
When Styx was four she overdosed in the middle of the night; initially unaware of her death and simply assuming she was passed out on the sofa (a common occurrence), the young boy spent the morning watching television with her body in the room. It was only when he attempted to wake her for lunch that he realized something was wrong, prompting him to alert their landlady who subsequently called the police. This moment still weighs heavily on Styx's heart, who finds it proof that something is inherently wrong with him.
Miriam, their landlady, had watched Styx grow up and knew that a child like him would be lost in the foster system at best and irreparably broken at worst. Unwilling to let the boy suffer any more than he already had, she convinced one of the officers she was friendly with to unofficially surrender him over to her care. While her age and preexisting responsibilities prevented her from providing Styx with everything he needed, his 'auntie' - as he lovingly referred to her - was still a source of love and stability all the way through his adulthood.
School proved difficult for Styx. Not only did he struggle academically, but his rapid physical growth often left him towering over his classmates - a lethal combination that made him an easy target for bullies. The constant stream of negative attention from both children and frustrated teachers alike eventually grew too much for even his docile heart to bear, and soon after the start of sixth grade he dropped out of school completely. Around this time he gave himself the nickname "Styx", taken from the pages of a Greek mythology book he'd been given as a grade schooler.
At fifteen his relatively uneventful life took a turn for the worse when the 'friends' he was hanging out with one day decided to stop at a local deli to pick up some snacks, leaving Styx to wait outside for them as he hadn't brought any money. In actuality the boys intended to rob the store, and when the alarms sounded Styx was swept up in the ensuing stampede to freedom, unaware of what had happened and terrified when the police apprehended them all.
With no real loyalty to the boy they'd been using more as a gopher than a companion, the would-be thieves were only all too eager to take the plea deal offered by authorities and paint Styx as the one wielding the gun in exchange for a reduced sentence. Bewildered and too naive to understand what was happening, Styx continued to insist upon his innocence and was ultimately sentenced to a year in a juvenile detention center.
His time in the center was less than pleasant, as his hulking physical stature once again made him the target of those seeking to improve their own reputations. Quickly realizing that the boy was too meek to fight back, Styx became something of a rite of initiation for new boys looking to prove their worth; thrashing someone nearly twice their size in a public enough locale was often enough to keep themselves from becoming potential victims in the center's delicate hierarchy. Styx himself, having long had his opinion of his own worth beaten into nonexistence, saw this as his being able to help the other boys and found peace in knowing that his pain at least meant he was being useful for once.
Although Miriam had never once turned away from her adopted child, Styx himself felt that it was no longer right to live with her once his sentence had been served. He saw himself as an even bigger problem than ever, a weight that would pull his auntie down one way or the other, and so spent the next six months bouncing from one couch to another until he could find an apartment of his own in the seedy neighborhood.
During this time and after, he'd begun to help out part time at a local music store, mostly lifting heavy equipment in exchange for both cash and the chance to use some of the instruments himself. In this way Styx began to teach himself how to play the drums, occasionally listening in on the lessons being conducted in the building, falling more and more in love with it as time went on. Although he never saw himself as such he was immensely talented on the drums - and one day he caught the eye of a boy visiting the store while fooling around on one of the new sets.
Vincent was a surly young man looking to start a black metal band, and he approached Styx with the intention of recruiting him whether he was amenable or not...not that the big guy needed much convincing to sign on. A bassist, Ymir, was added not long after, and The Mouth of the Dragon was formed. They play mostly in underground clubs, although Vincent (their 'fearless leader') has no real interest in becoming commercially successful despite how well their performances are received. His only desire is to continue to play music, a sentiment which his bandmates all share in their own way.
Two years after the band's inception, a rash of gruesome murders hit the city, and authorities instituted a strict nighttime curfew in an attempt to keep the population safe as they attempt to track down this dangerous serial killer...but thankfully for Styx, his canon point is taken a bit before he or his friends get mixed up in all that mess.
Personality:
Styx is an incredibly simple person to understand: his heart is big, and his head is empty. Although he isn't nearly as stupid as most people assume him to be because of his size, the unfortunate truth is that in many ways he's extremely light on brains. Academics of any kind have always posed a major challenge for him, and even outside of heavy intellectual lifting it doesn't take particularly much to confuse him.
This weakness is exacerbated by the fact that Styx is both extremely trusting and gullible. Despite having been treated poorly by most of the world his entire life, he sees no reason to distrust someone and approaches everyone with the same open friendliness. He'll believe nearly anything told to him with a serious expression, leading to comical problems - he's extremely susceptible to rumors, no matter how wild - as well as darker consequences.
Because of his trusting nature, it's very easy for Styx to be used. Although not aware of every instance, he's experienced this throughout his entire life; most of the 'friends' he's had, especially in childhood, have in actuality been people only interested in keeping him around as an errand boy and source of cheap, cruel laughs. Even on the rare occasion that he realizes he's been had, he never harbors any ill will towards the people who've take advantage of him. In his mind he's at least been useful, which is all he can ever hope for in his life and is something to feel happy about.
Although he's a cheerful, easygoing guy, not so far beneath the surface lies a host of deeply entrenched insecurities. Having been bullied his entire life over the same traits and characteristics, Styx has come to believe that his tormentors are right - he's nothing more than a massive, hulking idiot, unable to do anything right and a complete burden to those around him on the best days.
While this caused him a great deal of anguish in his early teen years, at this point in his life Styx has come to terms with his perceived uselessness and made peace with that fact. In his mind the best he can do is mitigate the negative impact he has on others by making his presence as small as possible, both physically and in relationships. He frequently apologizes for becoming too enthusiastic or getting in the way, whether he actually has or not. Despite this he still views his life as a good one, and looks forward to every new day with the same quiet optimism.
This is because for all his failings as a person, real and imagined, Styx is incredibly resilient. He's weathered everything life's thrown at him with a smile on his face, never once wavering in the way he looked at the world with gratitude. Even his darkest points were events he could recall fondly, able to find something good that had stemmed from even such things as his unjust incarceration or the passing of his mother.
The trials he's passed through have made his already tender heart especially compassionate, naturally compelling him to put everyone's happiness - both human and otherwise - above his own. He's quick to become attached and even quicker to cry, usually accompanied by another apology. Despite his self-admitted dullness Styx is in fact incredibly savvy when it comes to emotions, able to pick up on the feelings of those around himself intuitively and with startling accuracy, even if he can't always express that understanding.
Having spent so much time with nothing to look forward to despite his positive attitude, Styx is constantly striving to keep other people from tasting that same sorrow. Bullying is one of the few ways to incite him into aggressive action; while he still allows anyone with such an inclination to push him around, doing so to another person will unfailingly cause him to step in with surprising assertiveness. He's happy to take blows meant for others so long as it means keeping people safe, and for those he cherishes as close friends he'd lay down his own life without a second (or first) thought.
Abilities & Skills:
While possessing absolutely no supernatural/otherworldly abilities, Styx is a big boy - 6'8", and nearly as wide, or so it feels. He's extremely muscular and powerful, albeit within the realm of a human being, able to lift most heavy objects with ease and do quite a bit of damage once finally provoked into a fight. While he doesn't like to engage physically with people, he can hold his own and is surprisingly fast for someone of his size, making it rather unwise to push him to the point of lashing out.
He is also an absolute demon on the drums, having been playing for years at this point, and is also a very nice singer to boot! ...even if he mostly uses it for metal growling.
Inventory/Companions:
Thankfully even Styx can't carry an entire drum set around with him - although he does have his sticks on him. He also has his (now useless) phone, a wallet full of (also useless) cash and a train pass, a few unhealthy snack bags, a bottle of water, and several folders full of music scores.
Choice: Witch.
Reason: Styx is not academically gifted in the least, and has grown up being told he was completely brainless by nearly everyone in his life. It'll be funny to watch him struggle to master magic because of this, but will also provide him a good opportunity to become more confident in himself.
Sample: A fourth wall network post from Aef, and an action thread from the same event.