Peece is a high femme model with NPD. Her self worth is built on her beauty.
She has an intentionally crafted innocent facade. She does not consider herself to be actually innocent or fragile.
Peece enjoys pop music and black metal. She daydreams about glamorous heists and blood as an accessory.
She uses drugs to keep up with her high-demand lifestyle, as well as for partying. She uses them in a romanticized way.
She plans to die at 35.
She bounces from romantic relationship to romantic relationship, using men mostly as eye candy and women mostly for hookups.
Fite is her twin. Larry is her older brother.
Storyline:
Peece left home to travel for modeling gigs for a period of time, then returned for a spell. During this time she stayed with Fite and talked shit about him without even thinking. Brutus overheard her and got Fite into some trouble.
After these events, she and Brutus started hanging out more. He becomes her "gay best friend" and they love to party and pole dance. They're also fwb and enjoy experimenting. Brutus calls her "Goddess" and "My Queen."
Peece actively plans for her death to occur on her 35th birthday. Once a model reaches 35, she's already aged and there's nothing left for her.
The day comes, and she's dressed in a bitchin' outfit, does a line, gets pills ready, lies back on the couch, and Fite walks in and catches her right before she can take them.
Fite panics, knocking the pills out of her hand and taking her to the ER. She's placed on suicide watch, which is really annoying because it's not that big a deal.
Throughout the next few days she continues folding her arms across her chest and closing her eyes, imagining the feeling of being a corpse.
After her attempt fails, she doesn't know who she is. She's not beautiful anymore, or won't be soon, so what's left for her?
Sexuality: bisexual and a slut but the two are unrelated
Gender: trans man
Height: 5'4"
Scars & Marks: He has many visible scars, the most prominent being on his right eye and his nose. He also has scars on his left inner forearm from a suicide attempt, and a missing left pinkie. There's also a scar across his tummy and his right ear has a chunk taken out of it.
Character Notes:
Brutus cares deeply about the people around him and loves intensely. He's bombastic, gregarious, and loyal, and he's a fierce protector of anyone who needs it. Brutus feels intensely and acts on instinct; he raised himself and Robin on the streets, so he learned to be decisive and worry about survival first.
Brutus finds comfort in order and justice. He wants to keep the scales even, for himself and others. Guilt plays as much of a role as anger in his worldview, and he's willing to submit to punishment if he makes a mistake as much as he is willing to fight someone else. This bleeds into other parts of his life, including his sex life, as he's very submissive and enjoys receiving discipline.
When things get more serious, Brutus is very capable. He knows how to handle himself in a fight, and he can take down someone twice his size pretty safely. If something's dangerous, he holds back on expressing any bubbling emotions until the danger has subsided. Once it has, he'll express himself to the fullest to the people he can trust to be vulnerable around, and he'll accept responsibility for anything he did wrong.
He sleeps with a rosary his parents gave him when he was very young. He doesn't observe.
Storyline:
Brutus was orphaned at a young age and grew up on the streets. He learned to fight and what not to show pretty early on.
He met Robin after she was kicked out in early adolescence. They learned sign language together and he's functionally her translator. They consider themselves siblings and are pretty much inseparable for much of their early life. Brutus wants to keep his sister safe at all costs and notes when making deals with the mob that, even if the contract is broken, Robin is off-limits.
He met Maura from her association with the mob, and they became involved in a complicated, toxic relationship. She was a sadistic dominant and he was an inexperienced submissive. She trained him to crave punishment. Neither of them were emotionally mature. She sometimes crossed boundaries. Her influence is certainly connected to the strength of Brutus' comfort with accepting when he gets comeuppance and discomfort with going unpunished.
Brutus paid off Glasgov, a mob boss, for protection. He was late to pay a few times and swiftly and severely punished. First he was raped, then his left pinkie was cut off. He became more and more stressed and afraid as this went on, having nightmares and developing insomnia.
Being young and stressed, Brutus made a pretty major mistake—he heard Peece shit-talking Fite and threw him in the CEO elevator without a disguise. When he realized what he'd done, he went in after him. While they were both captive together, they bonded over their shared gender identity and had sex to keep the isolation at bay. While they were waiting to escape, Brutus was rebellious and punished frequently; the final punishment was designed to take him past his breaking point. His back was badly scarred from this.
Brutus also had a casual, experimental friends-with-benefits situation with Peece.
Eventually, he reached a point where he once again couldn't pay Glasgov on time, and he was terrified of what would happen if he didn't, so he went to Larry—Fite’s brother. Larry helped him with the caveat that he face charges for what he'd done, which he accepted without argument. Disarmed by his gratitude, Larry changed his mind and decided not to turn him in after all.
A couple years later, they had a short situationship in which Brutus helped a very inexperienced Larry get more comfortable in his skin.
Noah is Brutus' eventual husband who moved to town from a very southern town. He's gay, but also very repressed because his family, being southern, is very homophobic. He had to go back home relatively shortly after they met to take care of his mom.
Brutus came to stay with him a few times, but they had to pretend to be best friends. He hated the hiding and the callousness with which Noah's mom talked about queerness. Eventually, in a fit of rage, he pulled Noah into a kiss in front of her to try to out him. He realized pretty quickly after that he had made a mistake but the damage was done. Brutus found Noah in a shed and tried to apologize, but Noah wanted nothing to do with him and screamed at him to leave. Noah told Alex about the situation, and they kicked Brutus in the balls about it, which made making up a little easier.
A few years later, he ran into Maura by happenstance. She invited him out to talk—he didn't trust her, so he brought Robin along—and she told him she'd been in therapy and apologized for the harm she'd caused. Brutus felt like she was being genuine, so he accepted her apology.
When Brutus proposed, Noah decided to finally come out to his family. They went to see his mom together. Brutus had to talk him down from a panic attack before they even knocked on the door, but it went well. What didn't go quite so well was Thanksgiving.
To come out to the rest of the family, Brutus joined Noah for his family Thanksgiving. Noah's brother Luke didn't take it well, and Brutus couldn't stand his bigotry, so they fought. He really tried not to hurt him—even though Luke was twice his size—but after he got him on the ground, Luke took advantage of his kindness to break his wrist, so he responded by beating him. The disruption and violence really upset Noah, and they argued.
Brutus started having nightmares and flashbacks about his punishments in captivity, and he decided to go to Maura for help. She was a dominatrix at this point, and she had whipped him before, so he asked her to do it again in a safe situation to help heal the mental wound.
Overall, Brutus is a very kind, caring, violent, and sexual person who leaves a mark on everyone he meets. He's a bleeding heart, a glutton for punishment, and the catalyst to change in many other people’s lives.
Robin is mute and uses sign language, but she is also good at simple nonverbal communication (i.e. gestures) and has very clear, neat handwriting.
Good with her hands, cool under pressure. Robin is the person you want when shit goes down.
Her greatest skills are first aid, cooking, and mending. Her favorite hobbies are knitting and stargazing. She knitted her sweater herself.
Her mask changes visually depending on her mood/thoughts, but only the audience sees it.
Robin is autistic and has little regard for frivolous social rules.
She can be very sharp-witted and sarcastic when she feels like it.
Storyline:
As a child, Robin had a very severe stutter. Her father also had a stutter, but it was less severe, and he managed it with vocal training. As such, he believed that Robin should do the same. Whenever she tried to sign or stimmed too much, he would punish her by tying her hands together.
At the age of 12, she was kicked out. She met Brutus shortly after. He was gentle with her, soothing her reactive tendencies from trauma and learning sign language with her.
She developed separation anxiety during this period; Brutus acted as her emotional rock (which she would later become for him).
She had extreme reactions to restraint, as a result of her abuse, which was problematic because of Brutus' proximity to crime. Because of this, she pragmatically decided to face her fear head on, giving herself exposure therapy by having Brutus tie her hands together for short periods, making her more comfortable with it over time.
Robin was very functional as Brutus' friend. She got good at first aid medicine very quickly and used her skills to stitch him up after skirmishes. When his finger was cut off by the mob, she stopped the bleeding and wrapped his hand.
In their teens, Brutus attempted suicide. Suddenly, Robin was in a situation where the boy she relied on to function was dying, and she was the only one who could do anything about it. This is the moment where she gains a sense of agency for the first time, realizing she could rely on herself.
Later, when Noah tried to drown himself, she was the one who administered CPR, keeping him alive until the ambulance came, in her bra, using her sweater to keep him from getting hypothermia.
In her childhood, she was stripped of agency, but in every moment after, she chose to take that agency back. As an adult, she's by far the most stable of the people in her social circle. She can navigate messy situations with ease, and in a crisis she manages the room with the skill of a trained surgeon. Even when she blends into the background, she plays a vital part in the lives of her friends, and they wouldn't change a thing about her.
Scars & Marks: Visibly, he has no scars, but there are secret self-harm scars under his shirt. Only Brutus has ever seen them.
Character Notes:
Noah was raised in a southern town, very religious, very homophobic. He's very repressed.
His fear response is almost always freeze. He's indecisive and out of touch with his emotions.
In the bedroom, he's dominant, although he's very awkward at it. He loves tying up his partner and feeling like he's completely in control.
His favorite hobbies in Buckstone are stargazing and horseback riding. These hobbies are considered effeminate to his family.
Storyline:
Noah grew up in Buckstone, a southern, socially conservative town, with a large family. He was bullied growing up, especially by his oldest brother Luke. His father taught him to throw knives and shoot guns, thinking it would make him less gay. His parents sent him to conversion therapy.
When he reached adulthood, he decided to move out and try to make it on his own somewhere new. He moved to Toontown, meeting Brutus and getting close with him and his friends. Being in a new, much more liberal place was scary, but he enjoyed the feeling of freedom that came with it.
But then, he got a call saying that his father had died, and his mom (Dot) needed someone to take care of her. Because of the sense of duty to family that had been instilled in him from a young age, he agreed to go back, leaving behind all his newfound friends and loving relationship with Brutus.
Brutus came to visit a few times, but because Noah was closeted they had to pretend they were friends. It was rough. Brutus finally snaps, trying to out Noah to his mom. It doesn't work, but it does out Brutus, and Dot slurs at him and tells him to get out of her house. He went to find Noah to apologize, but he had had enough and told him in no uncertain terms to go home.
He decided that he needed to be with a friend who would understand what he was going through, so he also took a short trip back to Toontown, visiting Alex and spilling his guts about what had happened. They comforted Noah, and then decided to physically punish Brutus, letting Noah watch. Brutus accepted his punishment with grace of course, and Noah impulsively hurt him again after it was over. Feeling like they had wiped the slate clean, their relationship was repaired and strengthened from the fight.
Noah then returned home, back into that meaningless rut that felt suffocating compared to the world he lived in when he was with his friends. It got heavier and heavier, until he decided to kill himself. He called Brutus, who could tell he sounded off, and eventually confessed what he was doing, but hung up before Brutus could convince him not to. Brutus and Robin came to rescue him. They found him at the bottom of the lake tied to a cinder block. Brutus cut him free and Robin administered CPR, and he survived, although he would end up with asthma after this point.
Waking up in the hospital, Noah talked to his mom, and then to Brutus, who told him what an idiot he was for trying to kill himself instead of just moving back home. He finally made the connection and decided to move back to Toontown, permanently.
One day, Dot calls Brutus, solemnly, asking him if Noah really was gay. Brutus panics and asks Noah what he should say. Noah says absolutely not, but Brutus asks if he's sure—his mom seemed receptive, maybe this was the opportunity. Noah again says no, so Brutus goes to call back, but Noah is triggered at this point. He grabs a knife, points it at Brutus, telling him not to out him. Brutus handles this well, and Noah has a breakdown when he realizes what he's doing. Robin kicks him out of the house and Brutus breaks down after he leaves.
Years later, Noah gets engaged with Brutus, and they decide together that it's time to tell the family. They go to his mom alone first, and Noah has a panic attack before knocking on the door, but it goes very well. By this point, Dot has worked through her bigotry and is prepared to accept them. They plan to come out to the rest of the family on Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving comes around, and they show up as "roommates" to the family dinner, and at dinner Noah comes out. Zeke and Gabe are pretty chill about it, but Luke flips out, sulking for much of the rest of the meal until Brutus calls him out, and they go outside to fight. Brutus takes Luke down quickly despite the size difference, but Luke fights dirty and breaks his wrist. Brutus reacts by beating him. The rest of the dinner, Luke is quiet.
Noah doesn't like the chaos and brutality of the incident. He confronts him in private later about getting physical and accidentally hurts Brutus' feelings.
The Themes are very important to Noah's story. He's constantly pulled back and forth between a comfortable rut and a terrifying freedom. He wants to make himself small and palatable, and Brutus foils that in a way that scares him—he's brash, unapologetic, and refuses to hide the parts of himself that Noah keeps locked away.
Marks & Scars: Many piercings, most notably a septum, left eyebrow, and many many ear piercings. Right ear is longer than the left, goes down to their waist vs a little below the shoulder. Cigarette burns on their shoulders and neck that are masked by a spider web tattoo.
Character Notes:
They're never seen without their beanie. It was the first thing they bought when they were on their own and independent, and it's a comfort item as well. Unless, of course, the drawing takes place before they were homeless, or if their little alter comes out.
Their natural fur color is lavender. They dye it emerald because green is their favorite color, and subconsciously to distance themself from their father.
Alex has a very flat affect and speaks very bluntly. They almost never smile—there needs to be a reason for it. They're often stoned, but even if they're sober they still behave very similarly.
They end up surprisingly self-confident for the shit they go through. They're a big music fan and enjoy forming bands with friends. It's possible they don't have a fully developed sense of self.
They have a lot of emotional and mental issues and have been in and out of psych wards. The sound of an ambulance triggers intense anxiety. They also may or may not have done arson. They've always been sent to psych wards instead of prison, though, because of precedent. (It's not a mercy, it's just a lack of care—Alex would rather go to prison.)
Maura's wife Melanie is an ex of theirs and also an ex-bandmate. Their relationship wasn't too rocky, for once. It was just a young fling.
Also notable, but generally not mentioned unless he's actively relevant to the plot: Alex's father is Lil Oldman.
Storyline:
They were abused by their father throughout childhood. At 15 they tried to pack up and leave, but their father caught on, called an ambulance and had them committed, claiming he was "concerned" about them. They were highly traumatized by the staff at the ward and got brain damage from excessive sedation. A year later at 16 they were let out—to discover their stuff was gone and their room was cleared out. The choice had been taken from them, but they were leaving anyway.
The 5 years after age 16 when they got out of the ward and didn't have anywhere to go were very rough. They couch surfed a lot and got into very toxic and sometimes abusive relationships just to have somewhere reliable to be. They have asexual qualities from all this trauma.
Eventually they met Murray, who was kind and patient and made them feel comfortable existing. Murray changed their name to Rose and started using any pronouns after taking influence from Alex's self-expression, but he still likes his birth name and doesn't consider it a deadname. Rose only uses the name Rose because she prefers it.
Brutus is Alex's best friend. He's also the only one allowed to touch them casually. They had a breakdown in front of him once and he was supportive and kind without taking advantage of them, and it hacked their brain in such a way that they can just trust him.
They have a bond with Noah, having mutual experience with conversion therapy and anti-queer family. When Brutus naively attempted to out Noah to his mom, they comforted him and beat the shit out of Brutus for him.
NSFW-specific notes:
They're generally not a fan of sex at all and touchy about intimacy, but they'll push through it it for Rose. They've also been treated horribly by exes, so if you're not careful, they start to dissociate.*
They do, however, have a fantasy about being flogged. When they finally got the guts to ask Rose about it, it was pretty awkward. Rose is a very gentle lover and feels uncomfortable in a sadistic role.
They realized it wasn't going to work pretty fast, but they wanted to make it work, so they brought a third party in to work as a domme. At first they didn't know how, but when Alex was venting to Brutus about it, he suggested they talk to his ex, who was now a professional dominatrix.
This was Maura, whose wife was Alex's ex. But it did end up working out. Alex got to process their trauma and get off through intense masochism and other kinks, and Rose could have the gentle affection they wanted as Alex gradually got more comfortable with intimacy.
